Routeburn Track (Conical Hill) & Aspiring Mountains
“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.”- Anaïs Nin
Why This Peak?
Tami is hiking the Routeburn Track (the peak is Conical Hill). New Zealand is well known for hiking and it would have been crazy to leave out a visit to this beautiful country when hiking for a year. The Routeburn Track is one of the most famous treks in New Zealand and has long been on Tami’s must see list.
TJ will be completing an advanced mountaineering course in the Aspiring Mountains in New Zealand.
Peak & Route Facts
The Routeburn Track is approximately 25 miles and takes 3 days to complete. The highest point is Conical Hill which offers panoramic views of the Aspiring Mountains. At night, the hikers stay in lodges with warm meals and showers! The Routeburn Track starts from Queenstown, New Zealand which is the adrenaline capitol of the world – sky diving, bungy jumping, white water rafting, skiing, luges, est. The Kawarau Bridge is the birthplace of bungy jumping!
Historical and Cultural Information
New Zealand is an island nation in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses—that of the North Island, or Te Ika-a-Māui, and the South Island, or Te Waipounamu—and numerous smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 1,500 kilometres (900 mi) east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres (600 mi) south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. Because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans. During its long period of isolation, New Zealand developed a distinct biodiversity of animal, fungal and plant life. The country’s varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks, such as the Southern Alps, owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions. New Zealand’s capital city is Wellington, while its most populous city is Auckland.
Sometime between 1250 and 1300 CE, Polynesians settled in the islands that later were named New Zealand and developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight New Zealand. In 1840, representatives of Britain and Māori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi, which declared British sovereignty over the islands. In 1841, New Zealand became a colony within the British Empire and in 1907 it became a Dominion. Today, the majority of New Zealand’s population of 4.7 million is of European descent; the indigenous Māori are the largest minority, followed by Asians and Pacific Islanders. Reflecting this, New Zealand’s culture is mainly derived from Māori and early British settlers, with recent broadening arising from increased immigration. The official languages are English, Māori and New Zealand Sign Language, with English predominant.
New Zealand is a developed country and ranks highly in international comparisons of national performance, such as health, education, economic freedom and quality of life. Since the 1980s, New Zealand has transformed from an agrarian, regulated economy to a market economy. Nationally, legislative authority is vested in an elected, unicameral Parliament, while executive political power is exercised by the Cabinet, led by the Prime Minister, who is currently Bill English. Queen Elizabeth II is the country’s head of state and is represented by a governor-general. In addition, New Zealand is organised into 11 regional councils and 67 territorial authorities for local government purposes. The Realm of New Zealand also includes Tokelau (a dependent territory); the Cook Islands and Niue (self-governing states in free association with New Zealand); and the Ross Dependency, which is New Zealand’s territorial claim in Antarctica.