Photo of Lake Kaniere (S. Island)
Trip to New Zealand’s North & South Islands
Near the end of 1988, I was planning a vacation to New Zealand, which was to take place during February of 1989. I hoped to climb Mt. Cook on this vacation. I was planning on doing it with some other people from the Seattle area (on a non-guided trip).
In preparation for this trip, Chuck and Bonnie presented a nice slide show from a vacation they took in New Zealand. I also got good advice about what to see and where to go from "Nik” [see note 3 below] who spent 6 months there a few years prior. Additionally, I talked to some friends (Ron & Jody) who recently lived there. In the back of my mind, I was aware that New Zealand is known as a wonderful fishing destination. Although he never went there, Roderick Haig-Brown listed it as one of his dream fishing destinations (see the November Chapter in reference 1). I read some of his writings (on my free time) while a freshman in college; during that time one might say I developed my own dreams of fishing in New Zealand.
I did quite a bit of climbing in the 1980s, including the North Ridge of Mt. Baker, so I believe I was prepared for climbing Mt. Cook. However, as it got closer to the departure date, I concluded that I encountered a checklist failure. The specific checklist item pertained to something I learned while attending an "Expedition Planning Seminar" (see reference 2). I soon decided that if I was not going to New Zealand to climb Mt. Cook, then I would turn it into a sightseeing, hiking and fishing vacation. In hind sight, this turned out to be a good decision [see note 2 below]. See note 3 also.
Note 1: The "New Zealand" photo albums can be viewed by selecting Sitemap->NewZealand->North Island of New Zealand, ->South Island of New Zealand from menu bar at top.
Note 2: Due to the checklist failure mentioned above, the author was compelled to write and submit an article to the Alpine Echo [see reference 3], which was published.
Note 3: Photos from the relevant [Easter] ’90 McClellan’s Butte trip can be found at Sitemap->States (US) -> Washington -> McClellan’s Butte
References:
1. "A River Never Sleeps", by Roderick Haig-Brown, 2nd edition 1974
2. See Sitemap -> States (US) -> Washington -> Preparing for Mt. McKinley Part 2
3. "Learning The Ropes", by Wayne [author], January 1989