Walks with Moss: Queenstown Hill

What a treat to find the Anemone Stinkhorn Fungus
Aseroe rubra

I decided I need to see Milford Sound and Queenstown before I leave New Zealand for good. Sadly my days in New Zealand are coming to an end. I will post details about that later.

The fonts are messed up for the next two paragraphs, maybe I'll fix it later.

I booked a flight and hotel to Queenstown via Hotwire.com and off I went. I took a bus and a train and a taxi to the Wellington airport. At the airport my carry on bag was subject to a lengthily inspection due to my rechargeable batteries.

I spent the first evening exploring a bit of the lakeshore trail in Queenstown and then it was early to bed for my 6:30am pick up for my Milford Sound Tour. More on that trip in another post.

The next day I climbed up Queenstown hill from a trail that started just behind my hotel. I though of going up Ben Lomand but my shoulder and my hip have given me fits the entire time I've been in New Zealand and I did not want to risk falling and hurting my shoulder on the way down such a steep track.

The track starts in a Douglas-fir plantation. This was a taste of home. The first Douglas-fir plantation I've seen in almost 8 months.

Queenstown Hill was just the right amount of work for me, it was almost too much, I thought I turning back early. But on the final push up the summit my daughter called me for a facetime with her large chicken flock and that helped to distract me.

The view at the top was nice. I could see all of the Queenstown CBD and the Queenstown airport.

On the way back down I found a new type of stinkhorn mushroom that I have never found before but have seen pictures of. I was very happy to see it!

I'm going to do one more hike before I leave New Zealand. I'll be relocated to Aberdeen for a few months and then back to my home in Shelton.

I'm so glad that I did not sell my house or my car!

6 miles roundtrip with 1,850 feet elevation gain.

I'm switching back to metric since I am on my way back to the USA.