Dart River Valley, New Zealand

Always a sucker for a good marketing line, 'a journey that touches your soul' has me signed up for the Dart River Safari.

We leave the blue skies of Queenstown and drive along the shores of Lake Wakatipu to Glenorchy where the skies turn grey and low cloud has obscured the views. My guidebook says Glenorchy is set in stunningly beautiful surroundings but everything is suspended under mist.

The first part of my journey is by jet boat down the wide, shallow Dart River. The scenery is spectacular - turquoise rivers, ancient beech forests and the snow-capped mountain ranges of Mount Aspiring National Park, crossing into Paradise, a place named after a New Zealand duck. We pass the start of the Routeburn Track, a hauntingly beautiful forested valley in between mountains and strangely enough the only place I can see that's not under cloud. I'd like to come back and walk the 4-day track one day. The area is famous as a Lord of the Rings location but I've grown to learn that nearly everywhere in New Zealand is a LotR film location. Peter Jackson pretty much had the whole country covered. This remote area (there are no towns, houses or people here and travel is only by boat up the river) has been the location for many films. Apparently this is the location for Isengard, Fengorn Forest and Lothlorien. Despite the magical landscapes, after an hour in the boat I'm shivering and relieved when we stop to take a walk in an ancient moss-covered forest.

(Photo - Start of the Routeburn Track along the Dart River)