The Great Walks were not the only multi-day hikes I’ve done during my time in New Zealand. The scope of my adventures was bound to expand to include lesser known, but just as spectacular hikes. I ended up including 5 other big trails into my plans, and I rank them here.

When I originally began looking into spending time in New Zealand, I knew I wanted to focus on exploring all the natural beauty the country was known for, especially in terms of trails. At the time, I had only heard of the Milford Track, but as I began to do research, I discovered that it was just one of 11 Great Walks New Zealand had to offer. Naturally, I expanded my goal to accomplish all of them.

In the short time since my last blog regarding the birds of New Zealand, I have managed to come across several more fascinating species I'd like to share. Many of these, I thankfully got to share with my parents, who both came to visit me for a couple weeks this past month.

As a way to share some of the other things I’ve done during the last few months in New Zealand, I decided to post some of my favorite day hikes. I tend to favor tougher, longer hikes, as they are usually a little quieter and a little more rewarding, but, as you shall see, all of these were photo-worthy.

Another year, another rounding up of literature. While during the first half of the year, my reading fell off, upon my arrival in New Zealand, it picked back up, and I found 5 books that stood apart.