Hobo Honeymoon

Long Lost Update (brought to you by camel)

2009-06-17T06:22:00.000-07:00

Beamed up by aliens? Kidnapped by pirates? Adopted by Madonna? What else could explain our bewildering lack of blog posts? Alas, the only excuse we have is being too busy gathering material for the blog with a good dash of general laziness :)
We are currently in Egypt staying with my parents (I could write a book about how wonderful it is to have a temporary "home".) In between taxi rides and foul sandwiches ("foul" is like refried beans) we're having a great time being overwhelmed by the quality and quantity of ancient Egyptian ruins and artifacts. And even though I'm not exactly a dead-ringer for Lara Croft, I'm having fun playing the amateur archaeologist and I just might write the next post in hieroglyphics! Alas we will be back on the road in two weeks for the last leg of our trip in Europe and the UK. For now here are a couple photos (with many more waiting to be uploaded):

here we are at Medinat Habu in Thebes (Luxor) - the memorial temple of Rameses III

and this is in front of the step pyramid of Saqqara with my parents. We can see this pyramid from our balcony!

Happy Birthday Christina!

2009-03-25T20:09:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday, sweetheart. You seem as young as ever. Just don't forget to smile.

It's been a crazy year on the road. I think that if we can survive living side by side out of vans, landcruisers, and backpacks, we can take on anything! It's been my fortune to spend it with you, and - even if the day to day has driven us crazy sometimes - I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Here's to another year of new sights and old friends, new crafts to experiment with and old crafts to grow expert in, new foods to try and familiar foods to remind us of home. May your next birthday find you further along the path to your - and our - dreams.

Love,

Justin

(learning songket weaving)

(with my wonderful instructor, Komang)

weaving photoset

Selamat Pagi!

2009-02-23T18:39:00.000-08:00

Selamat pagi from Indonesia! We have finally made it to Asia :) We flew into Denpasar, Bali on the 19th and will be in Indonesia for 4 weeks. We'd already like to stay longer but our visa is only for 1 month and we still have Malaysia and Thailand to see after this. For now we plan to spend a couple weeks on the island of Bali and then, who knows - maybe Sulawesi to see the Tana Toraja area, or across to Java. Arranging transportation here is pretty easy and cheap so we don't have to plan too far ahead. Although we just heard that east Java is experiencing bad floods, so we might have to avoid those areas.

20Feb:
So far we've been really enjoying Bali. We spent our first day on the southern coast in Sanur, where we mainly ate lots of tasty food and walked along the beach (tough life!) The food here is great - I'm proud to say that for our very first meal, breakfast no less, we had mysterious fish head soup, fried fish and rice at a little street warung - and it was enak sekali (delicious!) I've been practicing Indonesian but I still can't say much :)

21Feb:
The next day we took a bus north to Ubud - another touristy area but more focused on Balinese arts and culture than just fun in the sun. We spent the rest of the day walking around town and I have arranged to take weaving lessons from a place called Threads of Life - an organization that promotes the use of traditional dying and weaving practices throughout Indonesia. Next week I'm going to get three days of personal training on how to use a backstrap loom - this is how they make ikat. If I have extra time I will also get to start learning how to tie ikat. For those of you who don't know, ikat is a special kind of weaving where the warp threads (the threads on the loom) are essentially tie-dyed with a pattern before the actually weaving.

22Feb:
Today we took a beautiful walk through rice paddies on a ridge along the Campuan river just west of Ubud. It was a hot and steamy day (of course) and we used our umbrellas as parasols :) it may look silly but it works!

We made our way north to a little village called Bentuyung where we were fortunate enough to find a food stand selling gado-gado (cold cooked veggies in peanut sauce). The woman running the stall was very friendly and we chatted a bit while we sat under her roof and ate in the rain. She also insisted that we try her lak lak (like a small crumpet with palm sugar and coconut) and pisang goreng (battered and fried banana pieces.) Delicious! Afterwards we got lost trying to find the right path home and after getting chased by a dog we had to backtrack and take the road home. There is so much to see here that just walking around is a treat. We passed a group of school boys using big leaves like umbrellas (straight out of Totoro!)

That night we went to a wayang kulit show, which is the balinese shadow puppets. This we really enjoyed - in particular we were amused by the "clown" characters.

next up, monkeys in the forest and a wacky spainard...

Birds Koalas Turtles and Goats

2009-01-07T21:01:00.000-08:00

One of the benefits of the antipodean Christmas is that it's early summer and all the trees are full of chicks and nests, and the fields are full of frollicking baby animals - it somehow fits the festive season very nicely. We've been lucky enough to witness some special animal babies these last few weeks and so I thought I would write up a nice post about all of them.

Firstly, the birds. We've seen trees literally full of nests- with busy parents, fledgling chicks, and juveniles as big as mama but still begging to be fed. North of Townsville I watched a pair of figbirds dutifully feeding their two chicks, and in the Bundaberg botanical garden we saw trees chock full of baby herons - all flapping their wings and jostling about. I never realized that herons roosted in trees or were so social!

On a hike on Magnetic Island, just off the coast of Townsville, we were lucky enough to see a koala mother and juvenile plus another mother with a much smaller baby. Cute beyond words! The juvenile was the most active - lazily reaching around for a few leaves to nibble. The second set let us get quite close so I managed to get some good pictures.

As you can see they are enjoying their favorite pasttime, sleeping! Koalas sleep around 18 hours per day to conserve energy due to their nutritionally poor diet.

A few days later near Bundaberg we visited the Mon Repos Turtle Rookery Conservation Area. This is the time of year when the giant sea turtles crawl up on the beach to lay their eggs and for a few dollars you can go on a tour along the beach at night to watch the egg-laying. It was a beautiful night for a long walk on the beach. Through the night we saw four loggerhead turtles - the first three turned back to the ocean before laying but the fourth succesfully dug her nest and laid her eggs while we watched. When she was finished they let us take photos:

and after she crawled back to the water's edge and swam away we got to help the conservationists relocate her 127 eggs to a new nest higher up on the beach - apparently it's quite common for these endangered turtles to lay their eggs too low and so the researchers always move them higher up.
We really enjoyed seeing the turtles but I have to say that we were both shocked by how rude, noisy and obnoxious the general crowd was! They let as many as 300 people go on these guided walks each night and we find it really hard to believe that it wasn't the cause of so many turtles turning back before laying eggs.

And now for the piece de resistance... baby goats!
While housesitting and wwoofing in southern Queensland I've gotten to tend to 4 pregnant goats and subsequently 8 newborn kids :) Big excitement for an animal person like me. The babies are absolutely adorable and are growing amazingly fast. Goat birthing is very quick so I've only witnessed 3 of the 8 actually being born - tending to my midwife duties with great aplomb. The goat mamas and the billy have all been very tolerant of me pestering them continuously and the kids are extremely friendly, leaping around and trying to climb on me.

Justin just rolls his eyes but I am determined to have some goats someday for milk, wool and companionship (just don't ask if I'll ever have the heart to butcher any of them.)

just a note: I've started linking to the detailed summary page for each photoset. This should make it easier to see all the pics and captions for those of you using slow connections :)

koala photoset
turtle photoset
goat photoset

Happy Holidays from Down Under

2008-12-22T22:47:00.000-08:00

In lieu of a real Christmas card...

I hope at least a *few* of you print this out and put it on your fridge! (click through for a bigger version)

Current update:

We've finally driven far enough south in Queensland that we aren't sweating buckets day and night. Despite the relative chill, it still doesn't feel quite like Christmas to us, being so far away from family and friends.

We've been to a lot of amazing places in the last few months - Uluru and the Olgas, the MacDonald ranges, Kakadu, Darwin, Singapore, the Atherton Tablelands, Daintree, the Great Barrier Reef - the list goes on and on. It's a lot of fun, even if Christina's pictures fail to convey the heat or the insect density.

The Queensland coast is spectacular, and we'd love to share a bit of the warmth and a vision of the bright blue skies and clear waters with everyone back home who is shivering with the midwinter doldrums. So hope you enjoy the Great Barrier pics in the post below :)

We'll be spending Christmas and New Year's housesitting and wwoofing on a farm outside of Brisbane - should be great fun.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year's!

Justin and Christina

Our Early Christmas Present

2008-12-22T22:46:00.000-08:00

The Early Christmas Present - Snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef

We decided to spend some of our Christmas gift money from Kathrine on a snorkeling trip out on the Great Barrier Reef. It's something we both always wanted to do, and now that we were over here on the Queensland coast, we were eager to go. We picked a snorkel trip which stopped at 2 places - Michaelmas Cay, where you can both snorkel and observe seabirds nesting, and Hastings Reef, which is an outer reef and has no island but much more varied and larger sea life.

We went with "SnorkelStar", who advertised a small boat with a maximum of 30 passengers. It was actually pretty nice. The passengers were mostly couples and families with grown children, and no one staggered on looking like he or she'd spent last night getting plastered.

The day was spectacularly clear with the kind of vibrant blue skies you see in advertising brochures for the reef. The boat itself was a catamaran, and the sea was fairly calm, so our ride out to Michaelmas Cay was quite smooth. The trip out to the cay took about 45 minutes, during which we had a snack, got fitted for snorkel and flippers, and learned a bit about the reef.

We got to Michaelmas Cay before any other tour boats - another advertised feature we liked - and then opted to walk on the cay and observe the birds. A small inflatable launch took us on a loop around the island and then landed us on the narrow strip of sand on which visitors are allowed to walk. The island is an important seabird nesting site and too much disturbance would probably chase them away.

Some bird shots:

After getting scorched for an hour or so looking at birds, we took the launch back to the boat, slipped on our snorkel gear and stinger suits, then clumsily lurched off the boat into the water. This time of year the tropical waters off Northern Queensland harbor poisonous jellyfish - the box jellies and the irukandji - neither of which is particularly pleasant to encounter. The stinger suits weren't too bad, though after watching everyone struggle in and out of theirs, I'm not sure all the other passengers would agree.

The water was fairly clear, and we immediately began to see fish. If you've never snorkeled, it's not quite what you expect. Without the need to constantly keep raising your head out of the water to breathe, it's easy to get lost in looking around at all the underwater life. We saw quite a few different fish.

The hour in the water went by all too quickly, and we climbed back onboard for lunch. The included lunch was quite nice - cold deli meats, prawns, fruits, and salads. Swimming does wonders for the appetite.

After another short boat ride, we anchored off Hastings Reef. One of the guides put on a short fish identification talk, then we jumped back in the water. Here, much nearer the outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef, the fish were more varied and larger. The coral varieties were also astounding. It's hard to imagine just how diverse the forms the corals take without actually seeing them first-hand.

Here are a few photos:

After 2 1/2 hours here, it was time to head home. We climbed back on the boat, stripped off our stinger suits for the last time, then settled back with coffee and tea to watch the waves roll by. The ride back to Cairns in the late afternoon was quick but not rough. We talked a little more to one of the crew, who, it turns out, was a girl from NZ. She was working her way around the world on boats, working as a member of yacht crews and as a dive instructor. We compared travel notes and talked about NZ.

All too soon, we arrived back in Cairns. It was a long day but a whole lot of fun.

Above Water set
Below Water set

Birthday Boy

2008-12-05T07:31:00.000-08:00

It's Justin's birthday today (Dec 6th) so let's all wish him a big...

Happy "good on you mate" Birthday!!

Here's a couple pics Laura sent us to celebrate Justin's humble beginnings - isn't he cute? (I know he'll get me back for this on my birthday!)

(Laura wondering just what exactly is so cute about baby brothers)

(Justin practicing for a future of 4wd tracks in the outback!)

Thanks Laura :)

Singapore was Great!

2008-11-26T18:28:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

We're back in Australia after a week in Singapore, where we really enjoyed ourselves! Everything was decorated for Christmas and very festive. Also Singapore is truly a food paradise - we indulged in a different cuisine for every meal: Malaysian, various Chinese styles, North and South Indian, Thai, Japanese, and even Egyptian! Yum. Plus lots of snacks - avocado milkshakes, pork buns, bubble tea, kaya toast, fried bananas and lots and lots of iced coffee.

When we weren't busy eating, we went to three animal parks where I got to hold a vulture, feed lorikeets and elephants (not at the same time!) The rest of the time we just walked all over taking in the sights and local colors. We stayed in the Little India neighborhood which was a lot of fun and very lively. We had a great time and hope to get back there again.

In other news, we've decided at the last minute to bail on Western Australia and to instead drive to Queensland to reduce our driving. We really want to see WA someday, but it's just going to have to be on another trip.

We've been too busy (and too hot!) to write any more posts yet, but I'll get some current ones up soon. What did you think of the last three posts? I can't believe I haven't gotten any comments on the "Arf burger" yet?!! haha.

A few more old posts

2008-11-12T22:10:00.000-08:00

Hi all - here are a couple more posts from our time before Ayer's Rock. I'm still working on the backlog :)

We're in Darwin right now (where it's very hot, humid and buggy.) We'll be going to Singapore for week next Monday to renew our visas - it only costs a little more to leave the country and come back than to stay here and pay for a visa extension. Singapore should be really fun!

-Christina

A Day on the Oodnadatta Track

2008-11-12T22:08:00.000-08:00

Muloorina to William Creek
09Oct08

Today we drove a long section of the famous Oodnadatta track which follows the old abandoned train line and telegraph line that were historically very significant. Everyone used this particular route through the harsh desert because it follows a string of natural springs.

First stop was in the town of Marree to see some old train tracks and an engine.

Next up was the not-so-historical Sculpture Garden full of various sculptures cobbled together from random junk. This airplane sculpture was inhabited by cockatoos (who were not happy with us!)

My other favorite was this robot-like statue of a film maker :)

And here's Justin playing the gongs...

The land in this area is extremely arid, harsh and flat - very surreal. At one point we were driving along listening to my favorite Dead album - Live Dead - and I realized that the song "Feedback" is the perfect compliment for this bizarre landscape.

Later on we stopped at the Wabmu Mound Springs National Park to see, you guessed it, mound springs. These are salty hot springs bubbling up from the giant underground aquifer that have built up large hill-like mounds from all the minerals in the water. The springs are pretty but unfortunately inhabited by biting flies that quickly chased us back to the car! This was our first encounter with the friendly biting fly... as though the bush flies constantly dive-bombing into our eyes, nose and mouth weren't bad enough!

Our last stop for the day was a ghosttown called Strangeways (how could we pass up a place with a name like that?)It was a town built around one of the telegraph repeater stations.

The telegraph line across the center of Australia was so extremely important because it linked the populated area of SE Australia with the rest of the world via an underwater cable from Darwin to Indonesia. Strangeways was an interesting place with many half-crumbled buildings and some good information about the town's history, but again there were clouds of bush flies following us around so we could only stand it for so long before running back to the car.

That night we stayed at the holiday park at the William Creek roadhouse - the only settlement within at least a 100 mile radius. This is a proper outback roadhouse - a tin roofed rambling building with a bar/restaurant/gas station decorated with everything from rusty lanterns and faded photos, to foreign paper bills and ladies underwear stapled to the walls! We were hoping to eat a real meal there so we hurried to shower before the kitchen closed at 8pm. But alas when we returned at 7:30 clean and hungry, the rather acerbic young women at the counter informed us that it was too late - the kitchen had closed. I started to argue about the time and she just snapped, "you're in the wrong time zone!" So frustrated and hungry we trudged back to the truck to scrounge up something to eat (more canned soup) and tried to figure out how we had crossed time zones! We didn't figure it out til about a week later in Uluru when someone clued us in that South Australia had switched to daylight savings time while we were camping in the Flinders - and by then we were completely confused because NT (Northern Territory) doesn't follow DST! So it seems that we now can't keep track of the date, day of the week or even the time of day :)

Oodnadatta track photoset

Muloorina Oasis and Lake Eyre Salt

2008-11-12T22:02:00.000-08:00

Muloorina Waterhole and Lake Eyre
08Oct08

In an attempt to see the dawn chorus we crawled out of bed just as the sun crept over the horizon, but these desert birds are extremely early risers and we had already missed the crescendo.

However it did mean we got an early start on the day, which is something we keep trying to do since it gets oppressively hot by midday.
After breakfasting with some curious galahs, I got my first driving lesson in the landcruiser. Yes, I'm terribly embarrassed to admit it but I'm not comfortable driving a manual and Justin did all the driving in NZ and in Australia thus far. However Australia is so large and we will be doing so much driving that I really need to be helping out. So since we had the campground to ourselves it was a great place for me to practice driving on the wrong side and shifting gears. Fortunately the truck is pretty easy to shift and not prone to stalling (like the VW which convinced me I'd never drive a stick!), so I did fine. Now all I need to get used to are roundabouts :)

After that bit of fun we drove north to Lake Eyre – I should say Justin drove because the road was terribly corrugated and sandy and I wasn't quite ready for that! Lake Eyre is a giant salt lake, currently dry, surrounded by very bleak and flat desert.

The lake itself is immense. We walked on it for a good thirty minutes towards the center and we only covered a fraction of it. When you're standing in the middle of it you can see a near 360degree mirage on the horizon. The mirage looks so much like water shimmering in the distance that we kept thinking that perhaps there was water in the lake after all – until we walked a bit further and realized that rock we thought was sticking out of water, was just stuck in the salty mud.

Back at Muloorina that afternoon we relaxed under the shade of a gum tree and under the protection of our fly net (the flies are horrendous here) and watched all the birds at sunset from the comfort of our folding chairs :)

Muloorina photoset

Arf Burgers and Parrot Sunsets

2008-11-12T22:00:00.000-08:00

Arkaroola to Muloorina Station
07Oct08

Today we were tempted to take one of the expensive geology or observatory tours at Arkaroola, but as they were all booked up or not running the decision was made for us. We did however need diesel before we could leave – gas stations are few and far between out here – but they were just filling the diesel tank with fuel that had been trucked in from Pt Augusta so we had to wait. This gave us an excuse to check out the small but charming geological museum and to learn more about Reg Sprigg, one of the founders of the Arkaroola Reserve and a fascinating man. He was involved in many important geological explorations and discoveries in Australia including finding the world's oldest fossil animals (the Edicarian era) in the 1940s. I'll have to read more about him when I have time.

The delay also led to us to guiltily indulge in lunch at the cafe. We both ordered the “Ark burger” which sounded good but turned out to be a towering monstrosity we've dubbed the “Arf burger”. It started with a huge patty that was more like a flattened meatball than a burger – what they call a rissole here. Plus lettuce, tomato, cheese, pickled beets, a fried egg, bacon, and bbq sauce. Amazingly we ate most of it, but we groaned about it for the rest of the day!

And here is what I consider to be my best photograph EVER of Justin and the Arf burger:

nice, eh?

After that we drove through more desolate arid county to the small town of Marree, where we refueled and headed to the Muloorina Station campground for the night. A station is what they call a really large ranch out here. We saw several sheep wandering with practically nothing for them to eat, which led to my brilliant idea of the Lucky Sheep Contest. (drumroll) I think that every year they should run a lottery to choose one lucky Australian sheep whose prize is to be moved to the lush pastures of New Zealand to live out his natural life. It's only fair considering what hard lives the sheep have in the desert!
On the way we crossed the famous “Dog Fence” - the longest fence in the world stretching over 3000 miles and built to keep dingos out of southern Australia. Don't worry, I remembered to shut the gate behind us :)

I was very excited to stay at the Muloorina campground as we'd been told by a friendly stranger in Pt Augusta that it was a beautiful oasis and a fantastic place for birdwatching. What the stranger forgot to add was that the campground had FLUSH toilets and only cost $2 per night! Sigh, I could have stayed here forever. The campground is located on the shores of a lake oasis that is fed by a bore (or well), and indeed has more birdlife than I've seen since NZ. We arrived just in time for a glorious sunset and a cacophonous dusk chorus.

Galahs, corellas, herons, ravens, coots, stilts, swamphens, and plenty of other birds I couldn't identify were all flying about and settling in for the night. Very enchanting...

Arkaroola photoset

What's New?

2008-10-24T15:34:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone! We've finally gotten some new posts and photos up. To get the big picture read Justin's summary of Australia so far. I'll still be writing detailed posts of everything - but be warned we aren't going to be in chronological order anymore.

I just posted our days at Ayers Rock and in the MacDonnells. And I'll be slowly filling in the gaps (between Sydney and Ayers Rock) when I have time. And I haven' forgotten about NZ either...

As a final update, we're just about to leave Alice Springs at the moment to drive north to tropical Kakadu NP and Darwin. It should be very hot and humid up there this time of year so wish us luck :)

Cheers!
Christina

Palm Trees and Art Lessons

2008-10-24T15:31:00.000-07:00

Palm Valley, Hermannsburg and on to Alice Springs
16Oct08

In the morning I was very excited to see a pair of Major Mitchell Cockatoos! I've been looking for these for awhile since reading about them in my bird book. They are spectacular birds with white bodies, pink under the wings and a very showy crest that has red and yellow stripes. Have I mentioned how much I love parrots yet?? The camp had lots of birds including butcherbirds and our old friend, "santa crow" who goes "ho-ho-ho" in a strange strangled voice.

The actual Palm Valley trailhead was a few kms up the road, but the "road" was a very rough 4wd track down a dry riverbed. I thought it was great fun - but I wasn't driving! Several times we had to stop and investigate on foot to find the best path over the rocks. The Landcruiser is a lot tougher than we give her credit :)

The drive was worth every rattle - Palm Valley is an amazing oasis of prehistoric palm trees in a lovely sandstone gorge. We took a 5km loop walk that takes you through the dry scrub and spinifex on the ridge above the gorge before dropping down into it and following the riverbed back to the trailhead. Once along the rivedbed you walk between towering red cliffs on one side and swaying palm trees on the other. I think it may be my favorite spot in Australia so far. I'll let the photos speak for themselves...

After that we drove to nearby Hermannsburg to eat the famous apple strudel that Lotti and Heike told us about. Hermannsburg is an aboriginal town with an historic center that used to be a Lutheran mission. We ate strudel in the cafe (very good) before checking out the buildings.

The older couple who live onsite and run the place were very amusing. First they insisted that we watch a short film from the 40's about Albert Namatjira, an aboriginal artist from Hermannsburg who became fairly famous for his western-style watercolor landscapes of the MacDonnell Ranges. The film was quite interesting and I really liked his paintings, although sadly his success did not make for a happy life. I bought a print of one that depicts a large red river gum tree in the foreground with rocky bluffs in the distance - a scene that he painted many versions of and that I'd been trying to capture with my camera for days!

Hermannsburg also has a nice gallery of original paintings, including two Namatjiras plus many paintings in the same style done by his descendants. But our favorite part of the visit was when the proprietor proceeded to point out dozens of hidden images in the Namatjira paintings, including some that were so racy he would only show Justin and I had to leave the room! haha... we could only see about half of what he pointed out and I have no idea whether any of the imagery was deliberate or not. Now I can't wait to hang up my print and invite guests to find subliminal content.

Palm Valley photoset
Hermannsburg and Alice Springs photoset

Emus at Breakfast and Kings Canyon

2008-10-24T15:30:00.000-07:00

Curtin Springs to Kings Canyon
14Oct08

While Justin took a shower I made the mistake of feeding a wild emu. When my emu friend became more interested in the open truck doors I quickly realized that it's hard to shoo away a 4 foot tall, sharp-beaked bird. Before I could find a way to stop him he took a chunk out of the rubber door gasket! Must not have tasted too good though, because he wandered off after that :)

Today we drove north to King's Canyon through more beautiful red dirt country, and camped at the caravan park inside the national park. Another resort inside a national park that doesn't have regular campgrounds. There were tons of playful galahs and several wild dingos. The dingos must be a real problem because they even had gates on the bathrooms to keep them out.

By the time we got checked in it was too hot to do a hike so we just relaxed. By relaxed I mean I poured over the maps to plan our itinerary while Justin reattached several bits and bobs that had rattled themselves loose on the car ;) Plus that night we indulged in an hour of very poor satellite internet access that was more frustrating than useful. I can't believe we ever complained about web access in New Zealand!

Kings Canyon
15Oct08

Today we did a very nice loop hike in King's Canyon.

You start the hike by climbing to the top of the canyon and then it's easy walking though amazing "beehive" sandstone formations with periodic views down into the canyon. About halfway you descend into a gorge with a year-round waterhole that is home to many birds, animals and plants. Dubbed "the Garden of Eden" it's a spectacular spot.

It used to be a popular swimming hole but the park asks you not to swim anymore since sunscreens and lotions can pollute the water. Speaking of swimming, as we left the water hole we passed an odd middle-aged couple - the man was nondescript, but the woman was wearing a strapless bikini... did you get that? She was hiking in a bikini AND wearing a mozzie net hat. It was the strangest thing I've seen in awhile!

Throughout Kings Canyon we passed many handsome examples of the "prehistoric" MacDonnell Cycad, a plant that doesn't grow anywhere else, but I'll leave it to the resident flora expert to elaborate :)

We also had the great luck to see a bower bird guarding his bower! These are very cool birds that build a "showroom" nest to attract the females, decorated with bits of trash and so forth that they have collected (like a magpie.) This particular bower bird needed to work on his collection and I would have donated something if I'd had anything appropriate.

After the hike we embarked on the dreaded "Mereenie Loop Road." This is a short cut in distance, but after driving it we aren't sure it's worth it!

We'd been warned by Lotti and Heike that it was a bad road - they didn't take it - but the woman at the campground reception said it had just been graded so we figured it'd be ok. So we bought the permit and headed off (you have to have a permit to go through the tribal land.) Needless to say it was heavily corrugated (washboarded) and full of bulldust holes and we had to lower the tire pressure considerably. The country was beautiful though and we saw wild camels and horses, which redeemed it slightly.

Eventually we reached the turnoff for the Palm Valley NP campground, another 16km on bad road, but we were rewarded with a fantastic campground that had flush toilets and solar-heated hot showers! Plus a merciful lack of flies and mosquitos - what more can you ask for? We relaxed and watched the full moon come up while bats darted in the twilight. Something, possibly a small bat (or a big roach) actually flew into the truck for a moment, but quickly found it's way out fortunately. While we washed up the dishes we had a nice conversation with another camper who told us all about going on safari in Africa. It sounds fantastic -maybe we'll have to amend our itinerary (if we ever get out of Australia!)

Kings Canyon photoset
Mereenie Loop photoset

The Magnificent Olgas

2008-10-24T15:29:00.000-07:00

The Olgas and more Uluru
13Oct08

Today our goal is to see the Olgas - a second rock formation in the park that isn't nearly as famous as Ayers Rock/Uluru but is just as wonderful. The Olgas are a group of monolithic rocks that are made of a conglomerate rock that the guide book describes as "plum pudding." Sigh - I was hungry for British pudding the whole day!

We took the "Valley of the Winds" walk through the Olgas which is fantastic, and in some ways more interesting than the walk around Uluru just because you can get so much closer.

The day was very hot and we were pretty worn out afterwards even though it is only a 7km hike. The heat here can really take it out of you and we are being very diligent about sunscreen, hats and drinking lots of water (yes, even me.)

We headed back to the resort complex for lunch and a little A/C, stocked up on ice and supplies at the store, wrote a few postcards, and then drove back to the official sunset viewing site of Uluru. Since watching the sun set on Uluru is the main attraction in the park the viewing area has a crowded, party-like atmosphere. Couples are drinking wine, and kids are running around with cameras. Determined to get a good photo I set up my tripod on the roof of the "troopy" and waited for the light.

Alas the light never really came - the sunset on this evening was dampened by some clouds on the western horizon. C'est la vie. At least we got to see one good sunset!

In the twilight and under the full moon we drove one last time around the rock - very eerie at this time of night. Then we drove away to Curtin Springs - another roadhouse that has free camping. You really have to watch out for wildlife at night and we came across both kangaroos and cattle in the middle of the road. Exhausted we ate cold sandwiches and went straight to bed.

Olgas photoset

Ayers Rock at last!

2008-10-24T15:28:00.000-07:00

Ayers Rock / Uluru
12Oct08

After breakfast, showers, and packing up we were finally on our way to Ayers Rock / Uluru. In the daylight our roadhouse campground looked much nicer - especially considering it was free. The eating area was shaded by a nice big ramada and the adjacent stucco building was turquoise with pink trim - it reminded us of the desert southwest US :)

Only 200km to Ayers Rock! Stopped for fuel at Curtin Springs roadhouse ($2.23 per liter - ouch!) and entertained a gaggle of tourists - including a man videotaping the gas pumps. We also stopped for a view of Mt Conner. The land here justifies the "Red Centre" name - beautiful red dirt with scrubby trees and golden spinifex grass clumps. I kept oohing and aahing wanting to stop for photos until Justin exclaimed, "just how much have you seen of Oklahoma?" hmm. Well, I still think it looks exotic.

The only place to stay near Uluru is the giant Ayers Rock Resort complex that encompasses five hotels, a big campground, caravan park, several restaurants and a shopping center. Before we started our trip I had always thought Uluru was right outside of Alice Springs, but it's actually fairly remote, so the resort is a hub of activity. The national park itself is owned by native Aborigine tribes and leased back to the government. Most of the land it covers is restricted as sacred so you can't camp in the park itself or wander off the few trails.

In Adelaide I browsed through a book on Aboriginal rock art that strongly recommended a self-guided rock art tour pamphlet that you could get at the visitor's center, but after much searching I was finally told that it had been out of print for a couple years. Probably due to increased restrictions on sacred sites.

So, disappointed at the lack of information we could get to guide us around the park (seems like collusion with the tour operators) we headed out for the 9km walk around the base of Uluru. However any disappointment quickly vanished as we approached it. Uluru is truly an awesome sight, towering over the flat plain around it - and of course a photographer's dream! The rock itself isn't completely smooth, but has a somewhat scaly or flakey surface and has eroded in the most stunning way.

When it rains waterfalls cascade down channels and chains of potholes - that in the dry season are stained dark.

And there are many enticing caves and overhangs - most of which you aren't allowed near unfortunately. The whole rock is actually composed of thick sandstone layers that have been lifted into a vertical position, perpendicular to the ground. So on the west and east sides you are looking at the edges of layers, and on the north and south sides you see the flat faces of layers.

The walk around the base took us longer than expected - particularly since I had to take a photo with practically every step! And so instead of watching sunset from the designated sunset viewing area, we watched the famous sunset right at the foot of the rock. I actually thought that this was a better way to experience the amazing range of colors the rock takes on as the sun sets. It absolutely glows and the subtlety of colors is more apparent up close.

Ayers Rock photoset

Australia Summary (so far)

2008-10-24T15:27:00.001-07:00

Well, we're way behind in posting our travels on the blog, so here's a brief summary of what's been going on in Australia. We'll come back to this later and post the interesting bits, but just so you guys know what we've been up to....

We fly into Sydney from Christchurch and stay in the Glebe Point YHA hostel. It's reasonably clean, and the staff is quite helpful, but rather impersonal and most of the guests are younger and more party-oriented than either Christina or I. After lots of car shopping, we end up with a 1988 Toyota LandCruiser Troop Carrier. She's not in perfect shape, but the cars have a great reputation over here for durability and reliability. Meahwhile we manage to walk around the Sydney Opera House, see the Botanic Gardens, and satisfy some long-restrained craving for food we just couldn't get in NZ.

After a couple of tedious days outfitting the car, we drive across SE Australia to Adelaide, passing through the Blue Mountains, stopping at a 'High Altitude Botanical Gardens', and seeing our first real small-town bits of Australia.

We spend several days in Adelaide regrouping and getting the front brakes on the car done. After this, we drive up through Port Augusta and into the Flinders mountain ranges. It turns out to be a school holiday week, and the campgrounds are busy! We meet a nice german couple (Lotti and Heike) in Port Augusta, and end up staying in adjacent spots in a couple of campgrounds. They're touring around Australia in a VW bus which they've had shipped over! Given that my first car was a 1975 transporter, I can't resist hanging out and talking shop with Lotti. He's happy to show me the details of their bus' custom setup.

After a couple of days in the Flinders ranges, we drive up through the Gammon ranges, stay a night at Arkaroola - a nature preserve with lots of interesting history and frightening 'hamburgers' - then drive up to Uluru and the Olgas, where we spend a couple of days checking out Australia's most famous natural icon. Then it's on to King's Canyon, Palm Valley, and up to Alice Springs, where we are currently staying and trying to plan out the next few months.

Where on earth are we???

2008-09-28T20:35:00.000-07:00

Hi all! Sorry for not posting for so long!

We are currently on the south coast of Australia in Adelaide getting ready to head north into the desert. More on that later :)

Since we're so far behind on the blog I'll probably start posting our current Australia activities as well as continuing to catch up on New Zealand. Hopefully it won't be too confusing. Also I just posted a lengthy (probably too lengthy) account of our last major tramp in NZ. Let us know what you think :)

Cheers,
Christina & Justin

Tramping the Abel Tasman Coastal Track (4 days)

2008-09-28T19:53:00.000-07:00

16Jul08

After a short night's sleep we got up very early, raced around the hostel to check out, and headed towards Marahau to catch the watertaxi to our start on the Abel Tasman coastal tramp. The drive to Marahau in the early dawn light turned out to be absolutely stunning – the rosy light reflecting off the still water. We were frustrated that we didn't have time to stop and enjoy it (or photograph it)!

Once in Marahau we checked in for the water taxi and were quickly on our way. The watertaxi is essentially a water-borne bus shuttling hikers to and from the various beaches up the coast in the Abel Tasman National Park as most of the park is inaccessible by roads.

We were going to one of the northern most beach on the taxi route, Totaranui, and so we had about an hour to hour-and-a-half ride. The boat ride turned out to be really fun – much more than just necessary transport. We got to see all the bays and coves along the coast, and the driver took us to a seal colony at a nearby island (with many pups) and into the Awaroa estuary since it was high tide. In the estuary we spotted several large manta rays gliding about – apparently they come into the fresh water to help get rid of parasites. Believe it or not, this large estuary is dry enough to walk across at low tide, and we'd be doing just that on our second day.

By the time we alighted on beautiful Totaranui beach it was time for lunch, but we settled for peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches – haha. The sandflies were murderous - we ate in a cloud of flies with several fantail birds zipping around and even landing on us to catch them. The fantails are a tramper's best friend :)

Totaranui beach has a huge campground that is supposedly brimming with hundreds of tourists in the summer – we had it all to ourselves. After lunch we headed north to our destination for the night, Whariwharangi Hut (try saying that three times in a row). The trail took us across the stream at Totaranui beach, then up the headland for some great views. Then back down to secluded Anapai beach with some large stone outcrops that looked like Easter Island heads.

Then up and over another headland to Mutton Cove beach, and since it was by now low tide we could take the tidal route along the beach and up another headland to Separation Point and the seal colony. And finally we headed west and descended to Whariwarangi Bay and the hut during dusk. On the descent we were lucky enough to spot a native NZ owl, the Morepork. Hoot hoot!

The Whariwarangi hut is a charming historic homestead house that DOC now manages. We foolishly didn't realize we needed to bring candles, but fortunately there were enough candle stubs for us to get by. We had flashlights, but candles are so much better at lighting up the room.

At first we thought we'd have the hut to ourselves, but sometime after dark two german guys showed up. Unlike most of the germans we've met on this trip, they weren't very friendly and just spent the evening talking in german and ignoring us. Oh well – at least they helped us light the cranky wood stove for some heat.

17Jul08
It rained during the night and in the morning, but fortunately stopped before we left the hut. Today we headed south 13km to Akaroa hut and had to hurry to catch the low tide crossing of Akaroa Estuary around 2pm. We started by backtracking to Totaranui beach, partly on the same paths and partly on alternative ones for a change of scenery.

I don't mind backtracking on a trails like this anyways – there is plenty to see and the beaches all look different at high versus low tide. South of Totaranui the trail led us along the beaches of Goat Bay

and Waiharakeke Bay, and then inland around a headland to arrive at the northern edge of the large Akaroa estuary. Even though we were running a little behind schedule we were luckily still close enough to low tide to easily cross the tidal flat. The estuary has to be nearly a kilometer across and full of shell fish that crunched under foot. We switched to chacos to spare our boots, but “real jokers” just walk across it with no hesitation!

Akaroa hut is just on the southern edge of the estuary, and so we had an early finish for the day. A group of three guys were at the hut when we arrived, but they decided to press on to the next hut so we lucked out and had the whole place to ourselves. And before they left they gave us some candles :)

Before dark, we walked out towards the ocean to watch the tide come in to the estuary – and it comes in very quickly. There is a little settlement of homes nearby and a tourist lodge.

Akaroa hut is very nice with great views and a central stove that heated up the whole place making for a cosy evening.

18Jul08
Today we hiked 21km south to Anchorage hut. We intentionally got off to a slow start in order to arrive at the Onetahuti tidal crossing at lowish tide. We started by hiking inland for awhile and our hopes of stopping at the lodge cafe for a coffee were dashed by the high tide! Oh well, we didn't *really* need it!

We arrived at Onetahuti stream to find that we didn't need to worry about crossing it as it's fairly small. We stopped for lunch on the beach here and contemplated taking some unguarded kayaks for a spin, but good manners got the better of us and we trudged ahead on foot instead.

Next up was Bark Bay which has an inland “all-tides” track, but since it was low-tide I wanted to take the shorter low-tide beach track... which turned out to be a mistake. We had to wade across a stream that was mid-thigh deep and had a quicksand-like bottom – we sunk up to our ankles – and then across a very mucky estuary plain. So much for the shortcut! Eventually we were back on the main trail headed to Anchorage Hut, but the largest estuary yet was still between us and the hut and we were running out of time due to the slow down at Bark Bay.

When we reached the estuary we were past low-tide, but since the high-tide track took an extra hour and would guarantee us to be hiking past sunset, we decided to push our luck and walk across the estuary hoping not to get flooded by the tide coming back in. This estuary was very large and mucky with lots of little stream rivulets to navigate around, but we made good time and reached the other side before dark and without getting too wet :)

Then it was a quick jaunt up and over a headland to the hut which is located on beautiful Anchorage Bay. Over water-taxi driver told us that around New Year's Eve the bay is bumper to bumper with “boaties” as it's a great holiday spot. It was hard for us to imagine as we walked along the beach watching a fantastic full moon rise.

The hut was nice enough, but unfortunately we had company. A group of six guys had kayaked in with a truckload of booze and food and proceeded to have a loud party (including singing) til late in the night. We were a little irked, to say the least, and jealous of their feast as we nibbled on powdered hummus and stale digestive biscuits! By this the third night we were really running out of food and had to budget ourselves for the next day.

19Jul08
Woke up this morning to a torrential downpour. Ugh, we still had about 10 km back to our van in Marahau. The party-guys were a little more subdued in daylight, although the Trent Reznor lookalike was coughing and hacking so badly I was worried we catch the plague! To be fair, they were nice enough and tempted us to catch the water-taxi home because of the rain, but instead we put on all our raingear and trudged off for the trail figuring it might let up.

One benefit of the heavy rain is that every little tricky becomes a gushing waterfall. The hike back to Marahau was wet but very pretty and the rain did let up eventually.

By the time we got back to the van we were starving for lunch but all the cafes were closed in Marahau so we had to drive all the way back to Motueka for a big greasy fish and chips, yum :)

Afterwards we headed north to Takaka via spectacular Takaka Hill. We came over the crest and could suddenly see snow-capped mountains and a beautiful green valley below. We checked into a hostel called Annie's Nirvana, which turned out to be kinda down at the heels, but it did have the all important hot showers!

All in all we really enjoyed the Abel Tasman Coastal Track - it was one of the areas we daydreamed about visiting before we started our trip and it was every bit as beautiful as we'd hoped. It's hard to beat palm trees, tree ferns and spectacular beaches.

day 1 photoset
day 2 photoset
day 3-4 photoset

The Green Monkeys in Queen Charlotte's Cowshed

2008-08-29T23:43:00.000-07:00

14Jul08
Cowshed Bay to Nelson

You would think that when camping we would wake up early because of the sunlight and unfamiliar noises, but our curtains block the morning light so well we never seem to get that dawn start I imagined back at the trip's beginning. Today, despite our usual slow start, we're determined to walk at least one leg of the Queen Charlotte track. It's a relatively sunny day, and the track itself is supposed to be quite easy. We drive a short distance from Cowshed Bay to where a road intersects the track, pack lunch, then head up a hill.

The track wends its way through the usual DOC-land regenerating bush, and the more overgrown spots are quite shady and cool, while others are completely out in the open. Here and there through clearings, we are treated to views across Queen Charlotte and Kenepuru. The waters are still and undisturbed except for the occasional boat.

Across the water small houses and sheep dot the hills; the views are all quite pastoral. It's very strange to me to look out at this and think of it as a vision of England filtered through New Zealand. I've never been to England, but the views I see call up memories of pictures of English farms, hedgerows, stone fences, and green, green, rolling hills. We stop to eat lunch at the high spot of this leg of the tramp, and watch the clouds drift by.

The length of track allocated for this day's walk is much less than we expected. I suppose it's meant as one of the easier tramps. In any case, we get back to our van much earlier than we had expected. With a couple of hours of sun left, we detour down to the Queen Charlotte side of the peninsula and admire a beautiful little cove tucked away between the hills. There's a tiny pier here; its legs are encrusted with shellfish and dotted with starfish. The water is clear and shallow and almost demands that we come back with kayaks. Across the water a tiny boathouse, palm tree, and dock hint at the bach half-hidden up in the bush.

Eventually a strange assemblage of boats smokes into view. By the time it reaches the middle of the cove, we can make out the details, but they only add to the mystery. It's a tiny fishing boat, engine smoking heavily under the load, a smaller launch, and a tiny flat-topped barge, laden with junk. All of these are somehow lashed together and slowly puttering along. Aboard is a salty-looking guy and a dog which jumps back and forth between the 3 boats excitedly.

We leave the cove and drive out the way we came in, then westward to Nelson. There are far more mountains to climb over than I anticipated from staring at a flat road map, but our slow progress is rewarded by coming into Nelson with the last of the fading day. It's chilly, but the lights of Nelson on the hills are welcoming, and the sunset over the mountains and what must be far-away Farewell Spit is stunning.

We check into the Green Monkey, which turns out to be a really nice hostel, then go out for kebabs at a place recommended by the owners. After a few days of camping it's really pleasant to shower and put on some clean clothes.

The hostel itself turns out to be named in honor of the hosts' less-than-pleasant encounter with a group of green monkeys in Africa. I make a mental note to never take a nap someplace where monkeys could pee on me.

One of the other guests at the hostel is a guy named Charlie, who turns out to be a British expat doing mostly contract IT work in Asia. He's well-read, and we spend some time comparing books we are currently reading. He's going through Thomas Paine's "Common Sense", and I'm dredging my way through David Henry Thoreau's "Walden", and we chat on a bit about them. Charlie's just finished an alpine loop through the Nelson Lakes, and he regales us with stories of trudging through snow. He also suggests we take instant hummus powder along with us as an addition to our tramp food, an idea we are excited about because it's something not sweet, not junky, not granola-ey, not gooey, and not sausage-y.

Eventually the long day gets the best of us and we crawl in bed.

15Jul08
Nelson for a day

Though we've just made it into Nelson, we are already planning to leave. The forecast this morning shows a window of decent, 'mostly-dry' weather for the next 3 days, followed by a period of serious rain. Weather forecasts haven't always been the most accurate here, but it's the best we've got, and we know that if we don't do the Abel Tasman Coastal walk now, we may not get another chance.

The Abel Tasman park is home to lots of stunning scenery which I've been dying to see first-hand since I first started researching NZ, so I don't really mind the fast turn-around. We're coming to one of the parts of NZ I am most excited to see.

The easiest way for us to cover most of the Abel Tasman is to take an 'aquataxi' boat up the coast to near the NW end of the track, then walk back SE out of the park and to our van. We go ahead and book a ride for next morning at 9am. People we ask at the hostel opine that it'll take about 45 minutes to get from Nelson to the Aquataxi launch in Marahau.

This done, we venture out to see a bit of Nelson and buy any supplies we need for the trip. Charlie, our acquaintance from last night, walks along with us to the DOC office/I-site, then heads off on his own errands. It's an overcast but mild day. We book the huts for Abel Tasman, check for any warnings or alerts, then head out and around the town.

Nelson is a bustling, lively little town nestled into the hills surounding the south end of the Tasman Bay with an obvious art scene, lots of cafes, many charming old houses, and plenty of sights to rubberneck at for free. We wander around the downtown for a bit, which is nice enough, although the Nelson Central Post Office and clock tower loom over the rest of the buildings like a prison complex. We head up the main street and walk through the landscaped Christ Church Cathedral grounds, then peek at the church's interior before wandering back out in search of coffee.

Eventually we make it to Lambretta coffee house, with a (surprise!) Italian Lambretta motor scooter mounted over the door. It's a nice break from the busy streets; the coffee is great and helps wake us up. We people-watch out the window, wondering why the 80's fashions which are back are the ones which stunk the worst the first time around. I guess that's what geezerdom does to you.

The rest of the day pretty much passes without note, and aside from hitting the grocery store and cooking dinner, we don't do much besides pre-pack our bags for the tramp.

Marlborough Sounds and Nelson photoset

Unbefouled by Peafowl

2008-08-29T23:21:00.000-07:00

13Jul08
Robin Hood Bay to Cowshed Bay

The morning is chilly, but still clear. While our backs are turned during the usual breakfast clean-up, the pea-hen hops into our van. After a few seconds of tense-but-restrained hand-waving, hoping not to stimulate a load-lightening flight response, we chase her back out. Luckily, inspection confirms we acquired nothing worse than a couple of muddy footprints on the floor during her visit. Our van is not quite yet ready to be turned into a poultry house!

North winding along the coast, we drive through skies so blue they almost hurt, stopping periodically to look down and across the sparkling turquoise sea. Each cove, inlet, and bay is its own little world. A few of them have houses; many are unpeopled. The area we are driving through is part of the Marlborough Sound region, and here the land and the sea so intertwine that the coastline seems a perfect example of a real-world fractal as described by Mandelbrot in "The Beauty of Fractals". The land itself is hilly and often steep, rising right out of the water except for tiny half-hidden beaches that can only be reached by boat.

It would all seem idyllic and unspoiled were it not for the fact that aside from a few homes, every slope is either managed pine forest or devastated clear-cut. If you squint your eyes a bit, it's still mostly just green hills against beautiful, almost still waters, but close-up the sterility of the pine plantations is pretty obvious. Aside from the trees, little else grows except a few shrubs and ferns on the roadsides. The number of birds and other wildlife is markedly lower than we've seen elsewhere. I remember looking at pictures on flickr of this area and noting the green, green hills against the sparkling water, but completely failing to remark the fact that the green was plantation and not native.

Even so, it's a most spectacular day. We drive through the sunshine and daydream. Towards noon, we drive into one of the few tiny seaside cluster of homes, and stop for lunch on a gravelly spot down beside the water. We pull our van's table out and sit facing the sea. A few local boats bob slowly and the occasional car drifts by.

Eventually we make it through to Picton. We hurry on west out of town and up the peninsula sandwiched between Kenepuru Sound on the North and Queen Charlotte on the South. Out here it's a mix of rural homes - modest farmhouses with enormous boats parked in the front yards - and holiday bachs perched on the edge of the water. Everywhere along the water's edge continues to be gorgeous, and we agree that the area is at least as striking as the bay of islands if not more so. Marlborough seems to have suffered less of the posh development that seems to be turning the bay of islands into a pretty-but-dull rich-person's playground.

Near dark we pull into a DOC campground on Cowshed Bay and park near the water. So buffered here is the sea from the ocean's surging that the waves barely lap the shore. Tonight's avian camp docent is a weka, who motors over to the van, begs shyly, then runs away.

Midway through dinner, a spanish couple show up. They are very friendly and turn out to be on a weekend jaunt up from Christchurch. It's apparently their first couple of days out in a van, and we do our best to help when their gas stove turns out to be fiddly. The guy drives their van with a great deal of energy, and after observing him spinning his tires repeatedly while repositioning the van within their site, we suggest they move to higher, more gravelly ground near us. After so many nights of going to sleep on dry ground and waking up in a bog, we don't want to see them get stuck. Moreover, as they turn out to be leaving at 6am the next morning, we don't really want to have to wake up at 5:30 and help dig them out!

It's another very quiet night. Though we are perhaps only 20 feet from the edge of the water, the sound of the waves against the land is so slight that I have to strain to hear it as I drift off to sleep.

Crashing Blinds and Curious Peahens

2008-08-29T22:49:00.000-07:00

12Jul08
Kaikoura to Robin Hood Bay

It's an incredibly blustery night in Kaikoura. The whitecaps we saw in the fading evening light were obviously a foreshadowing of the storm to come. There's a window with a broken latch in the bathroom adjacent to our room, and the wind that howls about our hostel sucks it open no matter how I try to jam it closed. The venetian blind on that window then proceeds to smack into the frame with thundering crashes at the rate of around 2-3 a minute. Around 2am I get up and raise the blinds. This lets all the heated air in the house whistle out, but at least it's now possible to sleep.

In the morning we find out that the storm winds reached 140 km/hour. The streets are full of debris, including a large sheet of styrofoam trapped under our van. We eat breakfast, say goodbye to Eva and Stephanie, and head out on the road. It's a beautifully clear day, and we are eager to see new sights.

We take a few minutes to see Kaikoura in the daylight. We stop back at the headland we visited last night to see it in the sun, but the parking lot is soon overrun by a 'Kiwi Experience' bus and passengers, so we head back through town, stopping at a small memorial park on the waterfront. The park has a monument to fallen soldiers in WWI, and a walkway lined with arches of weathered whale rib.

Kaikoura was a local center for whaling in the 19th century, and just across the street are a few 'try pots', giant cauldrons used for the rendering of whale blubber. Now they are simply rusting monuments amidst a few quiet trees.

On the way out of town, we visit a locally-popular pie shop, then drive north back towards Picton.

At Blenheim, we stop for groceries and coffee, then strike out towards the coast on a winding 2-lane road. Through little sea-side developments, then up into the coastal mountains we drive in search of a place to spend the night. As the light begins to really fade, we drive into Robin Hood Bay and decide to stay at the very basic DOC campground. At least there's a long drop! Another couple's also parked for the night, but we never actually meet.

The campground is patrolled by a ravenous peahen. The evidence of its daily route is the fact that the parking area is a minefield of peahen-poo. She loiters about the van most of the evening while we cook dinner, peering inquisitively at our activities and waiting for the inevitable or inadvertent handout.

It's nice to be camping for free, but the local sandflies still demand a payoff. I cook dinner while dancing around to keep the worst of them off, then we eat in the van with the windows closed.

It's a beautiful, quiet, star-filled night.

Kaikoura to Picton photoset

Cook Strait, hobo holiday park, and stunning Kaikoura

2008-08-29T02:21:00.000-07:00

10Jul08
ferry crossing to Picton

We got up and out early to catch the car ferry across the Cook Strait to Picton in the South Island. Though it's sad for us to say goodbye to the North Island we're really looking forward to the south!

We had a little time to walk around Wellington before the ferry left, so we went inside Old St. Paul's Church - a rare example of timber gothic architecture and a very nice place.

We also walked around the famous NZ government house nicknamed the Beehive. It's very modern and iconic, but not very pretty.

The ferry was quite large – like the one we took to Victoria Island from Vancouver several years ago. The cars all drive into a lower deck – including several semi-trucks, and you aren't allowed to stay below in your car. We thought it was kind of stinky when we boarded, but it wasn't until we disembarked that we noticed a semi of fertilizer was on board!

The weather was forecast to be fairly calm – something I consulted when making the booking! So we spent some time up on the top deck watching them ready the boat to leave the dock, and then watching the views as we sailed out of the harbor. The ferry ride lasts about four hours, but you are never far from land and there's great people-watching onboard. The last third of the voyage is sailing up Queen Charlotte Sound and is absolutely spectacular. These sounds are very convoluted and would be great fun to explore on a boat.

Back on dry land in Picton, we stopped at a cafe for a coffee and to decide where to spend the night. We ended up choosing a holiday park that turned out to be fairly run down AND the lousy desk clerk gave us a spot only a couple meters from the freight train track! As the trains rattled by all night it just reminded these two hobos of living near the freight trains in Norman in college. It was also very cold and we were glad to have the heater.

ferry photoset

11Jul08
Picton to Kaikoura

Based on the weather forecast we decided to head south to Kaikoura before looping back to see the Sounds area. We drove through Blenheim which looked like a nice town, and stopped at an historic cob house just outside town that Justin had to investigate for our future homebuilding plans!

After awhile the road begins to closely follow the coast – squeezed between beautiful beaches to the west and steep hills and mountains to the east. We stopped a couple times- for a walk on the beach, and to see a seal colony that had lots of babies/juveniles playing on the rocks.

Then into Kaikoura and around to the headlands to look for more seals and to have a “photo reverie” as the late afternoon light dramatically lit up the ocean.

Haha – it's going to take me years to properly go through all my photos and tweak the RAW files when I get home! But I think I have captured a few gems. As sad as I was to not bring a film camera on this trip it sure has been nice to not worry about buying film and getting it developed and all the additional costs. Of course the downside is that I have so many more “snapshots” to sort through! I've been uploading no more than one-fifth of my photos to flickr. Ah the photographer's burden.

Anyways, that night we checked into a hostel and met a friendly pair of German girls – Eva and Stephanie – who were traveling and gave us lots of recommendations for things to see in Australia. Including a WWOOF farm where you get to feed and take care of orphaned kangaroo babies!! Oh, I can't wait!

Also at the hostel we ran into the two quiet German guys we met at Moana Lodge in Plimmerton. One of them had had his camera stolen the day before (not at this hostel) and was very unhappy. It reminded me to backup my photos! Late that night a huge storm blew through, rattling the house and ruining our sleep.

Kaikoura photoset

Cable Cars, Sundials, and Temperamental Weather

2008-08-27T03:50:00.000-07:00

08Jul08
Wellington

Today we went into Wellington again mainly to see the botanical gardens. We took the historic cable car uphill – sitting across from a friendly woman and her two daughters. At the top we stopped for a coffee and snack at a cafe (carrot cake) and enjoyed the great views of the city and the harbor. We visited the cable car museum - my favorite was the antique cable car that had slanted seats thus creating level seats when on the steep incline.

Then we meandered our way downhill through the large park stopping at several attractions – an old observatory, an Australian desert garden, a human sundial,

(Justin telling time or praying to the gods of astronomy - you decide!)

a rare NZ plants garden, a section of native forest, a cacti and succulent garden, a “tornado” sculpture, and finally the Victorian hothouse.

This is a really nice park and since we had fairly good weather it was full of people and kids. Very cheery.

Then we made our way back to downtown, via the government district and drove back to Moana Lodge for the night.

During dinner we talked to a couple girls who were traveling together about things to see in NZ and Southeast Asia. One was from Ireland, and the other from Corpus Christi! Haha... although the Texan girl was trying very hard to affect a kiwi accent and did not seem very happy to talk about our mutual Texas connection. They had a very funny story about zorbing in Rotorua. For those of you not in the know, zorbing is a kiwi-invented adventure sport where you climb inside a huge inflatable ball and get rolled down a hill inside it. To make it more exciting they put some water inside the zorb to splash around with you. Well when the Irish girl was ready for her turn, the supposedly warm water turned out to be freezing cold and she was literally blue when she climbing out of the zorb at the bottom of the hill! Brr!
I must confess, that I really, REALLY wanted to go zorbing while we were here – but we were so turned off by Rotorua that I didn't. Plus it's expensive :(

09Jul08
Plimmerton

On this blustery day we explored the coast north of Plimmerton a little, until we got driven home by the bad weather. For lunch we had tasty fish and chips (or as the Brits say “had a chippie”) at MacLean Street Fish Supply in Paraparaumu. It was takeaway and we ate at a picnic table overlooking the sea (with lots of “friendly” seagulls). Afterwards we headed out to the Queen Elizabeth park on the coast and took a short walk. By then the nice day had turned cold and cloudy so it was back to the hostel to get everything prepared for leaving tomorrow. And by sunset, the clouds had cleared again and we were able to go for one last walk along the beachfront in Plimmerton.

Wellington photoset

Wellington Art Museum, and a Quiet Day at the Hostel

2008-08-27T03:29:00.000-07:00

06Jul08
Wellington

After deciding to stay in Plimmerton for a few days instead of moving to a hostel downtown, we headed into Wellington to sightsee. We visited the great Te Papa Museum, that has everything from NZ natural history exhibitions to displays of ladies fashions from the 40's. We only had time to take in less than half the museum on this very crowded Sunday – the natural history exhibit, a rotating exhibit on Scots in New Zealand, and a charming exhibit about Mary-Annette Hay, "The Queen of Wool." She was the enterprising spokeswoman for the NZ wool board and promoted NZ wool garments with elaborate fashion shows in the early 50's. Even her own wedding dress was wool! We skipped a large exhibit featuring the compelling paintings of Rita Angus because we planned to come back another day. (and alas - we never did!)

(wellington waterfront)

After we were sufficiently cross-eyed from the museum we walked around downtown window-shopping and people watching. We walked through the popular Cuba Street arcade and stopped for a coffee and pastry at a real French bakery!

Then back to the hostel for a home-cooked meal.

That evening we met a nice family from West Virginia who were sightseeing in NZ for a couple weeks with their daughter who is studying abroad here. They had just crossed the Cook Strait on the ferry the night before in a tremendous storm. They said the ferry ride was very rough with glassware flying out of the racks and people falling down. The ferry staff even handed out seasick bags to all the passengers... fun! Later on we talked for a long time with the father of the family who runs a handmade natural soap company, about everything from politics to real estate. Very pleasant folks.

07Jul08
Plimmerton

Today was a designated “do-nothing” day :) So we stayed in the hostel all day, mostly camped out on a sofa in front of the fire reading and surfing watching the windy and wet day through the windows.
After browsing the hostel's bookshelf I settled on a wonderful little book of true stories about a woman in Canada who raises orphaned wild owls. I'll definitely have to dig up a copy when I get home! It's called, A Place for Owls, by Katherine McKeever.

(view from the hostel - on a sunny day)

Alas, this evening Justin went out to the car to fetch something and found that someone had tried to break into the van by shoving something into the passenger side lock! Fortunately the would-be thief was pretty inept, and didn't get into the van – although he did manage to jam the lock. Surprising that this happened in such a sleepy little town, but we'd been warned that campervans are popular targets. Our friends Jen and James had theirs broken into in Auckland and the thieves stole all kinds of pointless stuff – clothes, books etc. Oh well, all we could do was to move the van to right outside the hostel and under a streetlamp.

Fairytale Playground, Distant Relatives and a Friendly Hostel

2008-08-27T03:07:00.000-07:00

04Jul08
Turangi to Palmerston North, via Wanganui

This morning it was still raining some with heavy clouds. We debated about heading west to the Mt Taranaki region, but after looking at the forecast (rain and more rain) we decided to skip it and just head south to Wellington. We drove past the Tongariro mountains and saw some snow, but all the mountain tops were hidden in clouds.

So we did a short walk to a waterfall and kept going. This is an area I really wanted to see and do some tramping in – so we will have to come back here someday in the summer!

We took the route south to Wanganui which turned out to be a fantastic drive down a river canyon. A very windy road, but very scenic (and apparently a real pain for the road crew to maintain). And the town of Wanganui was cute enough – the real gem being a fairytale-themed playground! We had to run around and explore it :)

Then it was back in the car to Palmerston North and a hostel for the night. The hostel was nice enough, but the owners (who lived in back) were strange, and all the guests acted weird and unfriendly because of it. Oh well...

05Jul08
Palmerston North to Plimmerton

This morning we called up Justin's sister-in-law's cousin, Robyn, who lives in Palmerston North. And fortunately even though we called at such short notice they were home and generously had us round for lunch. We had a nice afternoon chatting with Robyn and her family – while it clouded up and sleeted outside! Her boys were very excited :)

Afterwards we drove south to Wellington, but as most of the hostels were booked up for a big rugby game, we ended up staying just north of the city in a town called Plimmerton. We completely lucked out – the hostel we choose by chance turned out to be fantastic and became one of our favorites. Right on the oceanfront, a room with a view AND a fantastic kitchen, giant six-burner stove and all. Good thing we couldn't move in!

The owners were quite friendly and we talked about world travels -in particular they had been through Dubai recently, but they hadn't really liked it. Also, the big rugby match was on tonight, so the hostel was fairly empty. Plus a big storm had closed all the mountain roads and several guests were having trouble getting to the hostel.

That night we chatted with a very hip and affable German guy who was in NZ on a working holiday for a year. Strangely enough, at home he had worked for a company that makes sheet laminates – ie. the fake-wood stuff on the particle-board furniture. I just always find it amusing to be reminded that companies like that exist – someone has to do it. Especially since I've noticed that the fake-wood furniture in NZ is made to look like native NZ hardwood. That $10 bookcase comes in “Rimu” instead of “Oak” here. Regional fake-wood is not something I'd ever thought about before!
There were also two German guys who were friendly but very shy and nerdy. They were scheduled to make the ferry crossing in the morning and were nervous about the bad weather reports. Both were touring NZ for about 6 weeks before going home to start university.

Tongariro and drive south photoset
Wanganui playground photoset
Palmerston North photoset

Hamilton Gardens, "Taking the Cure" in Rotorua, and Thermal Wonders

2008-08-12T16:44:00.000-07:00

02Jul08
Hamilton to Rotorua

High-tailed it out of our unfriendly holiday park, stopped for a quick daylight viewing of the Riff Raff statue,

and then headed to the grand Hamilton botanical gardens.

The gardens turned out to be not so grand, especially the “Paradise Garden Collection” section which consisted of poorly-designed small themed gardens such as the underwhelming “Japanese Garden of Contemplation”, the extensively hardscaped “Indian Char Bagh Garden” with only poppies in the beds (what does that imply?) and our favorite, the “American Moderist Garden” consisting of a swimming pool, modern art sculptures and a picture of Marilyn Monroe! Where's the “garden” in that?

Hamilton obviously spent a lot of money on these gardens, but we were not impressed. And the fact that tour buses of Asians were being taken to these poorly rendered gardens was laughable. Fortunately the rest of the large botanical park was more traditional and much nicer, with an inviting hothouse that we got trapped inside during a torrential downpour.

After the gardens, we drove to Rotorua. It was raining pretty solidly by then, so we just checked in early at the holiday park and took advantage of their thermally-heated mineral spa. Rotorua is known for its geothermal activity and so all the accomodations have thermal pools for guests. This pool was outside, but under a roof so it was nice to relax and boil ourselves in the spa while watching the rain. The park even had naturally thermal-heated tent sites! Of course, the downside is that the whole town stinks of sulphur :)

03Jul08
Rotorua to Turangi

We spent the morning in the Rotorua museum which was fairly interesting.

The building used to house a fancy Victorian Bath House, where people from around the world came for treatments (called “taking the cure”) or just to enjoy the thermal mineral waters of Rotorua. The heavy mineral content of the water wreaked havoc on the Bath House – corroding everything in sight and causing constant upkeep, eventually closing the operation and leaving the building in ruins. The museum has one wing dedicated to the Bath House museum with some of the remaining fixtures and tiles.

It tells all about how mineral water treatments were high science and thought to cure everything in the world with many variations of treatment, from mud to electrified baths.

The other half of the museum has a nice Maori exhibit and details on the devastating Tarawera volcanic eruption of 1886 that buried entire villages and the famous Pink and White Terraces – a beautiful area of mineral deposits forming cascading terraces (like at Yellowstone).

Rotorua is one huge tourist trap so we didn't want to see much here, but we did want to take in some of the thermal landscape so we headed to the Wai-O-Tapu thermal park – which seemed a little less touristy than most. The park is similar to Yellowstone with geysers, boiling mud, colored thermal pools and mineral concretions.

We enjoyed walking around and seeing it all, but about three-quarters of the way through it started to pour down rain and we had to run back to the car. We were completely and thoroughly soaked (we might as well have jumped in one of the pools!) So we changed clothes and headed to a hostel in Turangi. We drove past Lake Taupo which is supposed to be beautiful, but in the heavy rain we couldn't see much.

Hamilton photoset
Rotorua photoset

Kiwis, Bunnies, Another Cave and RIFF RAFF!

2008-08-12T16:21:00.000-07:00

30Jun08
Raglan to Otorohanga

Got up, escaped the “Point Break” scene and headed out to two of the famous surfing beaches nearby. A famous film called “Endless Summer” was filmed here... we'll have to check it out someday. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed walking on the beach.

On our drive south we stopped to see Bridal Veil Falls,

and eventually arrived in a town called Otorohanga – home of a great native bird park (scheduled for the next day). We stayed at a very little holiday park that turned out to be run by the local Lion's Club, and the proprietor gave us a hard sell on the town and urged us to by our souvenirs there instead of in the big city! He also tried to get us to eat dinner at the Lion's Club private restaurant (he would “make a call”). We declined, but later realized that it was the only restaurant open in town! So we ate some leftovers instead. The holiday park was adjacent to the bird park and at dusk huge numbers of birds flew in to roost in the trees – you know how wild birds love to hang out near aviaries!

01Jul08
Otorohanga Bird Park, Shearing Shed, and Aranui Cave – to Hamilton

This morning we got up fairly early and headed straight for the bird park. The highlight of which was the indoor kiwi exhibit that kept the kiwis on reverse time so that we could see there nocturnal antics. There were two kiwis on display, but I mainly watched a female Great Spotted Kiwi who was absolutely wonderful! She was very active running all around looking for food, preening, etc. They look for food by probing their beaks into the leaf mold and under rocks sniffing for bugs. I wish I had pictures but they weren't allowed in the kiwi house...

We also watched the keas and kakas (separate cages) get fed which was quite entertaining. The keas are the alpine parrots that are very smart and mischevious. Kakas are similar parrots, but much more rare and forest-dwelling. The park has many other native NZ birds on display – including some very rare ones, and was a lot of fun.

If we hadn't been on a schedule, I would've stayed at the bird park all day -but we had to make it to The Shearing Shed by 12:45 to see the angora rabbits! So we raced to Waitomo and made it there just in time. I've already posted about these funny rabbits HERE.

Too bad Justin turned out to be so allergic to them... I'd love to have one someday :)

To end our very big day, we decided to take in one of the famous Waitomo caves. Since we'd already seen a glowworm cave we took a tour of Aranui cave which has lots of formations, but no glowworms. The cave was beautiful BUT we were extremely disappointed at how touristy the whole area was and how brief and canned the tour was. The guide literally herded the large group through the cave, with very little time to stop and look around properly and she couldn't or wouldn't answer any real questions. We'd been warned that Waitomo was a real tourist trap and it's true!

Not wanting to stay overnight in Waitomo, we drove north to Hamilton for the night, driving through Te Awamutu on the way – the birthplace of the Finn brothers of Crowded House fame. Justin wouldn't let me stop and be a groupie...

In Hamilton we stayed at a strange holiday park right in town. The park itself was clean and in good shape, but the owners were weird and acted like they didn't want us there. Plus there were dozens of nit-picky signs in the kitchen and bathrooms saying don't do this, and don't do that. Too Orwellian for our tastes. And the showers had miserly pushbutton controls that you had to hit every ten seconds to get more water – like larger versions of the washbasin ones. It did not leave us with a good impression of Hamilton.

However we did manage to find two bright spots in this city – one a great, authentic Chinese restaurant (where all the clientele spoke Chinese and we had to order off a picture menu because we couldn't)

and second, a fantastic bronze statue of Riff Raff (ie. Richard O'Brien in Rocky Horror!)

Turns out he spent some formative years in Hamilton that helped him write the Rocky Horror Show. Hamilton is boring enough now, we can't imagine how bored he must have been stuck there back then!

bird park photoset
Aranui cave photoset

Harry Wakatipu, Cave Swimming and Surfers

2008-08-12T15:42:00.000-07:00

24-27 Jun 08
Takapuna Beach Holiday Park

After Great Barrier we spent several nights in a holiday park in Takapuna beach – on the North Shore of Auckland. Mainly we used the time to catch up on email, run errands, and hide from the horrible gales that kept blowing through every day! Literally, every time we decided to venture out for a walk on the beach or in town, the blue sky would rapidly cloud up and start pouring rain!

We did manage to go down to Devonport, which is a little village just north across the harbor from downtown Auckland (and just south of Takapuna). It's a somewhat posh touristy shopping area but it has one saving grace, several EXCELLENT used book stores. Amazingly we resisted most, and only bought a cheap SF short story collection. Also of note, this is when we broke down and purchased a power lead (or extension cable) so that we could hook up to the power points at holiday parks and have electricity in the van. The van itself isn't wired, but we feed the cable in through the window and can plug in a heater and our motley assortment of electronics :)

And last but not least, this is where we befriended an English couple about our age, Jen and James, who gave us lots of good suggestions of things to see further south.

28Jun08
Takapuna to Port Waikato

Today we finally rousted ourselves out of Takapuna, stopped for a quick lunch of fish and chips in Devonport, and then drove south of Auckland and west to the coast – stopping for the night in a holiday park in the little village of Port Waikato. We had the place to ourselves and the bathrooms had bad classic hits on the radio :)

29Jun08
Port Waikato to Raglan, via Nikau Cave

As we left the holiday park this morning, the owner called ahead to Nikau Cave for us, but didn't get through (turns out they had a power outage) and recommended we stop at a local beach along the way. The beaches in this area are apparently renowned for good surfing...

We took a back road near the coast down to Nikau Cave (heartily recommended by Jen and James), driving through some fantastic limestone outcrops and formations and very scenic countryside. According to the map we drove past Mt Weathertop from LOTR, but we didn't really notice it!

At one point we stopped on a hilltop to get out and photograph the view. As soon as we got out of the van, a big horse came galloping across his pasture straight for us! I've never seen a horse so eager for company – for a second I thought he was going to jump the fence, but he skidded to a halt and proceed to beg :) I dubbed him Harry Wakatipu (the name of a horse in stories by a NZ author named Jack Lasenby.)

Harry was very persistent, so we scrounged an old carrot out of the van (it's convenient to have your whole kitchen with you!) But the carrot was too old or Harry was just too picky because he wouldn't eat it. He did accept copious patting though.

Next stop Nikau Cave. This is a great little glowworm cave on private land with tours run by the family that farms the area above it. It's much less advertised and much more personal than the famous glowworm caves of Waitomo to the south. So, wondering what a glowworm is by now?? Of course you are! Glowworms are the larvae stage of the glamorous fungus gnat. These tiny larvae live in wet caves and weave sticky threads that hang down from the cave ceiling. To entice bugs into their webs, the larvae glow faintly, which you can see in the cave.

For our tour of the cave we were warned that we'd get very wet (and cold), so we changed into our best caving attire... old t-shirt and fleece jacket, shorts with rain pants on top, and socks and chacos – topped off with a very fashionable hard hat. Our tour guide was the son of the owner, and it was only the two of us plus the guide's sister-in-law and her friend who were visiting for the weekend. Like I said, very low-key :)

To get to the cave we walk a short distance across the sheep pasture to a limestone outcrop with a creek running out of it. We enter the cave and proceed to follow the stream for the length of the cave, frequently walking in the stream itself, since it has rained recently and the stream is about as high as it can be before they have to stop the tours. The limestone cave isn't a particularly formation-rich cave, but it is thrilling none the less, and every once and while the tunnel would open into a larger cavity and we would all turn off our lights and look up at the constellation of glowworm lights. The glowworms really remind you of stars in the night sky and give you a strange perception of the volume and shape of the cave that you obviously wouldn't have otherwise.

About halfway through we reach a very narrow section that requires us to slide down a rabbit hole and crawl on our stomachs for about twenty feet. What fun!! And this section was flooded with the swollen stream so that you had to let your flashlight float on the water in front of you as you shimmied along on your elbows and stomach, just barely able to keep your mouth above the water line! It was freezing cold, but really exciting. After that we continued to follow the stream, no more really tight spaces, and eventually came out the other side of the hill after about an hour and half underground.

Then it was back to the cafe/ticket office where we showered and changed into dry clothes. Oh, and on the way back Justin talked to the guide about farming in NZ.

After cleaning up, we went inside the cafe and had a huge pot of tea while sitting by the fire and chatting with the family, the sister-in-law and friend about everything from politics to law. (The two girls were law students in Wellington.)

Needless to say, we really enjoyed our visit to Nikau Cave :)

After we finally left, we drove further south to the small coastal town of Raglan and stayed at a holiday park overrun by a group of uber-cool surfers from Canada, California and Brazil. They found us boring and vice versa. Oh well...

photoset

GBI: Life After the Tramp

2008-08-12T15:40:00.000-07:00

21-22Jun08

The day after our tramp, we wake up late. We're both tired, and without any particular time pressure, it's hard to find a reason not to let ourselves sleep in. Eventually we make it out of bed and drive slowly north. We stop again at the Claris, Texas Cafe and nibble some meat pies, tea, and coffee. It's again rather drizzly, and we sit outside under the porch watching beggar sparrows evaluate their chances of sneaking a bite of pie crust before we gobble it all. Halfway through the meal, the middle-aged couple we briefly met on the top of Mt. Hobson wanders up for lunch, the man stumbling painfully. It turns out he'd twisted his ankle shortly after they saw us and been forced to hobble down the trail back to the car park. He's not exactly a wispy-looking fellow, and I wince thinking about how it must feel for him to walk.

After a bit, the rain eases and we drive up Maby's road to the north end of Whangapoua beach. It's really just about as far up as you can easily drive on the island, and the beach itself is virtually deserted. Maby's road dead-ends at a bare patch of mowed grass set off by the familiar green silo camp-toilet-long-drop. Beyond this parking space, several rows of the locally farmed pines, branches trimmed half-way up their trunks, block the wind coming off the Pacific as well as any view of the sea.

As we pull up, a lady pops out of the long drop, cleaning supplies in hand. Her companion, a chubby dachsund, has run up to our vehicle and barks fiercely at it from a position nearly, but not quite, under the wheels. She grins apologetically, and chases her dog off back to wherever they were headed next.

The beach is empty and gorgeous. It's a day of mingled sunlight and clouds, warmth and chill. The sky is many shades of blue and gray all swirled together and shot through with clouds.

On the north end of the beach is a pair of mass graves, markers for people who perished in the shipwreck of the SS Wairarapa in 1894.

Beyond that our path is blocked by a rocky headland, half-swamped by tide and runoff from the heavy recent rain. No one disturbs our peace. A disintegrating driftwood beach shelter attests to occasional inhabitation, but little else reminds us that the beach is visited by other people.

(photo: footprints from a bird that pried open this clam)

Far out in the water rises the tall form of Rakitu Island.

It's one of the few private offshore islands around NZ, and apparently still operated as a sheep farm. The island seems to climb almost vertically out of the water, and I wonder exactly where the harbor necessary for any such cattle operation is. I momentarily envision a Scottish Sheep Caber Toss loading process, but decide that'd be a tad hard on the sheep.

Eventually, the sky begins to cloud up. We end the night back at Medlands beach, enduring more awful cans of Watties “Light” soup and distracting ourselves by watching an MST3K (“The Giant Gila Monster”) before crawling in bed.

The van shakes and shudders all night long. Rain howls about us, dripping in through the rough spots at the back hatch. We sleep fitfully, and I worry throughout the night that we'll wake up in a van-sticking mud-pie, even though I had carefully parked on a high and gravelly spot the night before. The wind blows so much I keep half-dreaming about the van moving sideways.

At some point after sunrise, we give up on sleep and drive to the higher, non-official-campground park site in Medlands. The wind dies down a bit and we manage breakfast. I type up a few notes on our trip and we observe the early morning activity.

(photo: Medlands Beach after the storm)

In late morning, we drive south to Tryphena to catch the ferry, only to find out that it's been postponed a day due to the very bad weather and rough seas. Depressed at the thought of spending yet another drizzly day stuck in the van, we step into the new cafe, the "Rose", and have a pot of tea and some coffee.

We linger as long as we can over our drinks, trying to ignore all the savory smells from other people eating lunch, before we venture back out into the rain and drive to Medlands.

We park again in the high, non-DOC parking spot, then while away the day reading books and doing essentially nothing. During a quiet period, we venture out onto the beach, but do little more than walk up and down and watch the clouds.

It's a quiet night.

23Jun08
last day on GBI and the ferry

We're up and off back to Tryphena, stopping at Kaitoke beach on the way.

Luckily the ferry is on for the day.

We stop at a beach to eat lunch, and watch the waves roll in, wondering how rough the ride will be.

An elderly but hale man wanders down the road carrying trash to the local trash collection spot and stops to talk to us. Turns out he moved here from Canada a long time ago. He's full of information about GBI, and it's fun to talk. It makes me a little sad to hear him describe how the population has dwindled and how there are so few full-time residents these days.

The ferry ride back to Auckland is rougher than the ride to GBI, but not all that bad.

The ferry is very small, and the crew and the locals all know each other. They hang out in back near the snack bar, laughing, joking, drinking cheap beer, and watching the cars dance about on the deck.
They're all real characters. One of them, a middle-aged guy I remember from the ride to GBI, tells us about moving out to the island with his "girl" back in the 70's, He grins animatedly, exposing a wide smile and missing front teeth, gesturing expansively while telling us about his garden. Another old coot, whiskery and red-eyed, cackles so loudly that you can hear him from one end of the boat to the other. When he finds out we're staying at the holiday park, he invites us to spend the night with him at his very elderly father's house.

"It's criminal to have to pay for a place to sleep!" he tells us.

While the thought of saving 30 bucks is appealing, we're both exhausted and just want to hide. Moreover, our new friend is several beers gone and has been up above puffing at something you can't get out of a cigarette machine. He seems like a genuinely nice guy, but we're just not up to dealing with someone quite this whacked tonight. We kind of figure he'd wake up in the morning having forgotten the whole thing, and then we'd have to explain just who we were and why we were snoring in the next room.

In the end, we drive off the ferry, politely decline his offer, then drive on to Takapuna, very ready for a quiet night.

photoset

GBI day 8: There and Back Again

2008-08-08T05:11:00.000-07:00

20Jun08
GBI, Kaiaraara Tramp

It's nice to spend the night in the Kaiaraara hut, even if I never get the fire lit. We sleep like logs, waking up towards morning to the sounds of rain. By 8:30 am it's no longer possible to screw our eyes tightly shut enough to ignore the hazy light filtering in through the east windows of the bunkroom. We munch granola bars mechanically and drink a bit of tea while waiting for our brains to catch on to the fact that it's daytime.

The rain sputters on and off, but is just strong enough to make us put on rain gear as we leave the hut. Inevitably, this means it stops within 5 minutes. It won't pick up to the same level until we reach Mount Hobson.

Our route back to the car follows a different track from the hut to Mount Hobson, then we plan to retrace the rest of our original path back to the parking lot. It'll be a bit different scenery-wise, and (we hope) let us avoid the worst parts of yesterday's descent.

We start out by backtracking a few steps to gaze on the last stream we forded. In the daylight, the trail entrance on the other side is blindingly obvious, and we realize that all of the crossings we struggled with were probably easy given sufficient light. Somewhat chagrined, we turn down today's path, following the Old Forest Road for perhaps 5 minutes before turning onto South Fork.

Old Forest Road is an easy walk, being an old jeep/logging trail, but it's not especially scenic or interesting, and we are glad that we've bailed on our original tramp plans which would have had us following the road for several hours today. South Fork trail is much prettier, and we are shortly walking beside rushing streams under the native nikau palms, listening to birds and evaluating the best places to cross.

Our hours following South Fork take us from low, lush wet streams up around the edges of some of GBI's higher mountains, and across a nice wire-mesh-bottomed "swing bridge". We first spy the bridge from a spot high up on a hillside. It's obvious that the bridge is not the usual wooden edifice by the very slow passage of a couple of hikers across it. We can't quite tell the details at that distance, but it's rather evident that the bridge's construction demands considerable attention to crossing.

At the point I notice this, Christina says brightly: "Oh, yeah! I read that this track has one of those bridges!" She seems a bit more excited by the prospect than I am. In the end the bridge is no big deal. It's a bit disconcerting walking across a bridge with such a sway - at the middle you find yourself several feet lower than at the ends, but other than the rocking of the wire mesh, it's not so bad. Christina does get hooted at when halfway across, though. It turns out to be the guys we saw crossing it earlier. They've bushwhacked their way up a nearby mountain and are eating lunch from a spot near the top. They yell and wave cheerily, then we are on our way.

Shortly thereafter, the South Fork trail becomes rather rougher, and we are again clambering up steep slopes writhing with exposed tree roots. Unlike Palmer's track, the last several hundred meters up Mount Hobson are not filled in with boardwalks. There are lots of tiny wooden stakes with pinkish-orange splotches to guide us, but little else in the way of help.

As we near the top of Mount Hobson, the rain comes on again, and we put our rain jackets back on. The clouds are thick and we are shortly rather wet. There'll be no grand views from the top today, either. I begin to suspect that it's pretty much always raining on Mount Hobson. A few days later the proprietor of the Claris grocery store confirms my suspicions, rolling her eyes at my question.

Though it means we're back on the same path we've already walked, we're glad to see the return of the boardwalk, as our feet are tired and we're moving slower than desired. It's nearly an hour before we're back down out of Mount Hobson's rain "halo".

Looking back at the cluster of peaks, we can see the clouds pass swiftly across them, dumping loads of moisture before drifting off across the island. Looking forward to our left and to our right, we can see the late-afternoon sun shining on the beaches and small floodplains. We are tired but happy to be past the halfway point for the day.

The rest of the tramp is a muddy trot through reddish early evening light, punctuated by the occasional stop for photos and to rest our tired feet. We pass between the high walls of Windy Canyon in virtual twilight before reaching the haven of our van.

After what seems like a long drive, we arrive at the island's pub - The Currach. I toss down a very tasty hamburger and fries, while Christina eats lamb shank and potatoes. We linger as long as we can in the welcome warmth and the feeling of anonymous sociability, half-listening to the conversations of the few locals in tonight, before driving back to the Medlands campsite and collapsing for the night.

GBI day 7: In search of the elusive hut

2008-08-02T02:25:00.000-07:00

19Jun08
GBI, Kaiaraara Tramp

It's our last morning in Manuka lodge and we are sad. The weather is still regularly rainy, and neither of us are particularly thrilled at the idea of spending our nights huddled in a cold van while rain drips in the back hatch and wind shakes us like a reluctant bottle of ketchup.

We get up, eat cereal, eggs, the rest of the bacon, then repack the van and say goodbye to our hosts. (Editor's note - ie. Christina's addition: Before we leave Barbara gives me a tour of her pottery studio and we have a nice chat about her work. She also gives me a tiny teapot shaped trinket as a gift!)

It's after 10am and once again obviously going to be a day of rain and clouds at best leavened by occasional glimpses of the sun. We decide to go ahead with the hike, pending a reasonable weather forecast. We also decide to try again to contact some of the WWOOF hosts on the island to see if anyone has an opening, since we are still considering spending some more time on the Barrier after our tramp.

At a pay phone in Tryphena, we attempt to ring some WWOOF hosts. Unfortunately, both of our first two choices are a washout. The listed cell phone for our first choice is no longer in service and our second choice already has all the WWOOFers they need for the forseeable future. We agree to postpone further action until after our tramp.

We drive north under cloudy skies, zipping through Medlands and into Claris. The i-Site is still closed, thwarting any hopes of getting an official weather forecast. Stopping in Claris we get the same vague: "Supposed to clear off today and tomorrow and be worse on Sunday" bit we have been hearing the last few days. We decide to go ahead with the tramp, suspecting that this is the best we can hope for during our remaining time on the island. The drizzle follows us all the way to our starting point at Windy Canyon.

It's about 11:30am when we pull over at the Windy Canyon parking area, a lightly-graveled patch of clay roadside high above the coast and slightly inland. Packing goes more quickly than for Cape Reinga; we're carrying much the same equipment and supplies, with the notable exception of tent and sleeping pads. We also pack less food since it's only a 2-day hike, and Christina elects to only carry her smaller camera. The end result is packs that don't drag nearly as hard at our shoulders as on the Cape Reinga tramp.

Since it's noon, we wolf down a couple of PBJs and mosey out on Palmer's Track. While we are eating, a middle-aged couple heads out on the track. By the time we leave the van, it's 12:30pm. We have a 5-hour hike ahead of us. It's also nearly the winter solstice, and the trail is quite wet from a week's worth of rain. Still, we hurry on, hoping to make better-than-average time and reach the hut before dark.

Windy Canyon is striking. A short walk along a manicured path and up some wooden stairs, and we are threading our way through narrow passages between tall granite outcrops. The glistening green leaves of bushes and ferns hang from cracks in the rocks where they have established colonies. The occasional tree fern rears up beside the wooden boardwalk and arches overhead like some verdant parasol against the gloomy sky. For a short distance it reminds me of the near-vertical hills you see painted in Chinese scrolls.

A few minutes of walking and we are out of Windy Canyon, past the boardwalks, and walking along the tops of hills. Up and down - more gently than at Cape Reinga - we tramp steadily towards the interior of the Great Barrier Island. To our north the hills are dark green in the gray light, and the floodplain at Whangaroa fronts the beach. At the top of hills we can see the ocean both to our left and to our right.

Before us lies the regenerating forest of the interior and the highest point on GBI - Mount Hobson.

Though the sky is gray and we are occasionally subjected to drizzle, it's a very pretty hike. The early part of the trail is quite easy, but as we climb towards Mount Hobson our work begins in earnest. The track here is quite muddy and we gain 100 feet only to lose 50. As we climb higher and higher through the peaks surrounding Mount Hobson, the regenerating forest becomes denser and the light filtering through the foliage, dimmer. Finally we are dragging ourselves up muddy, slopes and over huge tree roots. Deep in the forest here, the drizzle is almost continuous. At this point we start to notice all the pink plastic strip markers tied to trees, and before long we start running into bundles of lumber and other supplies. Moments later we come to the current bottom edge of the boardwalk leading up to Mount Hobson. It's still under construction, though no one is working on it that day. A helpful sign on the boarded-off end of the walk tells us "BOARDWALK UNDER CONSTRUCTION: DO NOT ENTER". These words have been halfway marked through, and handwritten notes above and below offer such pertinent advice as: "Ask a builder to guide you through." and "Do not walk on unfinished construction." A smiley face in permanent marker completes the effect.

We climb up and around the boarded-off end and head upwards on the boardwalk. It's perfectly safe and complete, despite the dubious-looking signs. Given the fact we can climb the last few hundred feet on stairs rather than over tree-roots and water-drenched stone, we are both grateful for its existence. Everywhere around us are more bundles of airdropped supplies. Broken tree limbs and random dispersement of bundles make it abundantly obvious that the lumber and other bits were not somehow carried up. Halfway up the boardwalk, an airdropped green silo outhouse completes the effect, pink plastic strips fluttering from its spinning air vents.

The air is so thick with moisture we are now walking through fog whenever it is not outright raining. Trees vanish in the distance. Any brush with leaf or branch results in you being drenched from condensation or unshed drizzle. Towards the end of our climb, new boardwalk gives way to old. The old construction has much narrower stairs, perhaps all of a foot in width. Without the rectangular plastic webbing nailed to the stairs, we would have already fallen, since in this environment of constant damp, pervasive mildewy slime coats all wooden surfaces. I discover that the underside of the handrails is drier and offers considerably more purchase than the top. In this region there are still a few decent-size kauri trees, apparently too inaccessible for logging.

A few minutes from the top, the trail branches. A spur leads up to the highest point on GBI; the right-hand path leads forward on Kaiaraara track. Even though we are now in solid fog, we climb the remaining feet to the top of Mount Hobson. At the top we meet the couple who started the trail before us. We exchange a couple of bad jokes about the magnificent view, then they head back down the steps while we inspect the trig (a survey marker), sign the guidebook, and munch a cookie.

It's time to move on. We still have quite a ways to go, and the day is passing more swiftly than we like. Back down the spur and forward on the Kaiaraara track we go. The boardwalk continues on this side of Mount Hobson. Our guidebook helpfully informs us that there is an entire kilometer of boardwalk on this part of the trail. The boardwalking is in place to protect the breeding grounds of a very rare petrel. Just below the peak, the track branches, with a spur leading away south on the South Fork. It is from that direction we hope to return on the morrow, making a loop and avoiding the need to completely retrace our path.

Forward down the endless steps we go. They wind and twist in segments a foot wide and 30 feet long, steeply down the side of Mount Hobson. Periodically there are small landings, presumably spots to allow groups of people to pass each other without backtracking.

The forest is bright with occasional sunshine and a few bird chirps keep us company as we descend across several rushing streams.

Once the stairs end, the path becomes considerably more rough. Around a bend we come upon the top of what turns out to be by far the worst section of the trail. Here water has worn at the dirt until the track is nothing more than an eroded ditch twisting and turning steeply down the face of exposed, smooth rock. The rock itself ripples and plunges downward with hardly a rough spot to brace feet on. Its grain is parallel to the direction of the path and therefore no natural ledges or handholds have formed. It looks much as if a waterfall had frozen and turned to stone.

This surface is wet and slimy, and we lower ourselves slowly down it, bit by bit, holding onto the small shrubs fringing the track, hoping that their roots are more solidly anchored than appearance suggests. It's a miserable, slow descent, and we are both glad when it is over and frustrated by how much further we are behind schedule.

Past this, the path is wet and muddy, but never as poor. The afternoon sun has now cast the world in a hazy glow, and green leaves glitter gold against the hillsides. We tramp on, passing a few boards still wired together, remnants of an old kauri dam, but continue without taking much time to examine them, as we know a better-preserved example lies further below.

Down and down and down we wind, crossing a swing bridge, feet bouncing as steel cables flex and sway.

The daylight is beginning to wane and we push on as rapidly as we can. The track is fine most places, although here and there we find ourselves slogging through heavy mud. Finally we come to the turnoff spot for the overlook on the big kauri dam, and trot down to see it. It's an immense piece of work, and almost unbelievable that it should still be here, 70 years later.

We try for a few pictures, read about the history of kauri and logging on GBI, then head back to the main track and forward through the nikau/tree fern forest. The light is really going, and all is half-colored shadow as we hurry through. This area is obviously one of great beauty, and we wish that we had made it here earlier in the day, but at this point all we want to do is reach the hut before too late.

On and on we go. We manage the first of our 5 stream fords before light totally fails. It's just as well that we do, since it's probably the most awkward. Dusk comes. Darkness falls. We pull out our flashlight and head lamp and stumble forward over rocks and tree roots. In their faint light, the ferns are ghostly shadows above us. The night birds begin to call. It's slow going.

Our remaining 4 stream crossings take increasing amounts of work. It's not that they're physically difficult. The problem is that the streams are wide enough that the trail is not always obvious on the other side of the stream, and we walk up and down, waving our tiny maglite back and forth, trying to figure out exactly where we are supposed to cross. By this point Christina is wearing her chacos full-time, but I am stubbornly wading across barefoot and shifting back into my hiking boots, since I do not feel very footsure in the sandals.

It's completely dark. The stars are out in the blue-black sky above us, and when we are not completely overshadowed by trees, it's a beautiful night. We are both really tired. The last couple of crossings prove to be rather confusing. The trail forks to multiple crossing points without signs. Eventually we get it right and wade through what we think is the 5th crossing. According to the map, Kaiaraara Hut should be just up a trail that forks off to the right. Immediately after the ford is what looks possibly like a junction, but, unsure, we continue down the trail. The trail at this point looks like some sort of jeep track. The map makes it appear that we have now gone too far, as our trail is supposed to deadend on Old Forest Road, and that we should backtrack and take the right branch we noticed a minute ago.

We slog back through the mud and head the way indicated. There are no signs whatsoever, just an intersection of tracks. Perhaps 100 feet up this branch we hit another trail. It's a pristine gravel path! Surely Kaiaraara Hut is just up this track a few feet! We try both directions on the gravel path for perhaps 5-10 minutes each way. The trail winds back and forth around the hills and over new-looking wooden foot bridges with nary a sign of hut and nary a sign of sign. The trail we are on does not appear to be marked on any of our official maps. Our feet are dragging with tiredness. We speculate on the reason for the path and contemplate bedding down on the trail for the night if we fail to find the hut, thinking unpleasantly about the inevitable nightly rain.

Finally we convince ourselves that we had not gone far enough on the original trail and head back to it. A few hundred meters further than we had gone before and we hear the sound of rushing water again. We slog through one more water crossing and there it is! Looming out of the darkness of the trail, a sign announces that we have reached Old Forest Road. A few meters up the road to the right and we see the signs for Kaiaraara Hut. We turn up the trail to the hut, and our noses announce the presence of camp latrines. Still, the hut is quite a welcome sight at 7:30pm. There are tiny, weak, flourescent lights in each room running from the day's solar energy, 2 empty bunkrooms, and a kitchen with running (albeit non-potable) water and a monster of a woodstove. Christina boils some water and makes tea while I fiddle with the stove. I eventually manage to get chunks of bark burning, but the damp wood logs light then smolder out. We eat more instant noodles and crawl into bed.

photoset

GBI days 5&6: "following the stream" and Blind Bay

2008-08-02T02:23:00.000-07:00

17Jun08
GBI day 5

Slept in this morning - relishing our cozy room before heading out for a hike. We stopped in the local grocery store in Tryphena, the Stonewall Store, and were impressed by the selection it had for such a small and remote store.

Our hike for the day was near Whangaparapara harbour, a roundtrip circuit on the Withey´s and Pack tracks that should have taken 2.5 hours, but turned into a 4.5 hour excursion! The hike started out innocently enough following an old logging track through wonderful lush rain forest.

Tree ferns upon tree ferns and nikau palms and fungi everywhere.

However, about halfway in we got to a section coyly described in the brochure as ¨following the stream¨ - which in reality meant crossing back and forth over the stream FOUR times. Each time taking off our boots and socks, wading across, and sticking our wet feet back into the socks and shoes just to walk for five minutes before repeating again.

(this stream was bridged - the one's we were crossing were 2-3 times wider.)

Wouldn't have been so bad if we'd been prepared – oh well. Plus our topo map and track description didn't agree and so we wasted a lot of time looking for the proper trail intersection. Other than that, it was a lovely hike :)

On our way back to the car as we walked across a pasture we suddenly noticed a man standing on the road watching us. As we approached he turned out to be none other than the aforementioned Laconic Man! When we got within earshot he said, “looks like you've been sticking to the roads” - haha. Justin said, “what are you doing here” and he said “I live here” gesturing to the house nearby. It's a small world on a small island with only 700 year-round residents!

So back to our cozy B&B for some reheated Rogan Josh (curry) that we had to ammend with a ton more cayenne and cumin.

photoset

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
18Jun08
GBI day 6

This morning Justin agreed to go to the store for ingredients if I would cook up pancakes – so we feasted on pancakes, thick bacon, and REAL maple syrup. We felt like kings.

It was a windy and wet day, so we didn't plan to do much. We had a nice chat with our hosts and they recommended Blind Bay. So we drove to Blind Bay – first to the wharf where it was so windy we could almost fly, and then to the beach which was much more protected. There were some huge and ancient trees right on the beach and three very happy looking horses keeping a close watch on us (I guess we looked suspicious!) We ate lunch on the beach and had a nice walk and even saw several dolphins swimming by.

Then we headed back to the Manuka Lodge and took it easy for the rest of the day.

GBI day 4, Our Favorite Islander

2008-08-02T02:15:00.000-07:00

16Jun08
GBI day 4

After a wild night of wind and rain we awoke to find ourselves in the middle of a newly formed lake. Deciding to get ready and have breakfast before digging out the van and still thinking that we would tough it out and start our tramp today, Justin braved the elements and took a cold shower in the rain! He's certainly more dedicated to hygiene than me.

And by the time we try to get the van back on the gravel road, the impromptu lake has deepened (ie. we shouldn't have waited) and after some wheel spinning, we realize that we'll need to be towed out. Fortunately this campground is adjacent to the DOC headquarters (the NZ park service), so we head over there to enlist some help. It's still raining cats and dogs and the office is completely empty. We wait, and soon enough a woman comes over from across the street and explains that everyone is in a meeting. After giving us the latest weather forecast, which is rain and more rain, she recommends we get “one of the boys” across the road who do the dirty work for the DOC to pull us out. So we walk over to the DOC/road work truck yard and Justin approaches the first guy he sees and asks for a tow. I had to play interpreter though, because this man had trouble understanding Justin, and Justin couldn't make sense of his heavy kiwi accent and soft voice! He was friendly enough and readily agreed to help, throwing a length of rope in his truck and saying he'd meet us over there. We never caught his name, but he will forever be known to us as “the laconic man” because he was the very definition of the word. He was a weathered, wirey old guy who had certainly done a lot of manual labor in his life, with a dry wit and a very reserved and well, laconic, mannerism. He reminded me of the guys I met in Maine at Bath Iron Works. He was much better dressed than us for the rainy cold weather with gumboots (tall rubber boots), a heavy wool sweater and a reliable rain slicker. He was also sporting a blond beard that according to wikipedia falls under the category of “friendly mutton chops.” It consisted of neat sideburns that extend across the cheeks and connect to the mustache. I wish I had his picture!
Anyways, he meets us back at the van and proceeds to tie a rope between the vehicles – I don't know my knots, but he put a stick in each knot to make them easy to untie afterwards (everyone on this island is a sailor.) He was pulling the van from the rear and since Justin didn't have any visibility out the back I was the official signal giver. However I failed in my job because once Laconic Man started pulling up the slack I didn't get Justin going in reverse fast enough, so the rope snapped in two. No worries though, Laconic Man just got out, retied the rope like he expected it to happen, and said very matter-of-factly like it was the punch line to a joke, “he wasn't driving”. I promised it wouldn't happen again, and sure enough this time he pulled the van back onto the gravel and all was well. We thanked him up and down while he was retrieving his rope, and all he said was “better stay on the roads” with what had the be a wink. This guy was great!
So having had enough excitement for the day by 10am, we decided to postpone the tramp and check in early to our B&B. When we booked passage to the island, the ferry company had a winter special that essentially gave us 3 nights free in a local B&B. We weren´t scheduled to check in for a few more days, but we called to see if we could check in early and it was no problem. Hooray - a place to dry off!

On the way there, we stopped at Claris Texas Cafe for lunch - mussel chowder for me and Justin had fish n´ chips. The owner was in a tizzy because he was supposed to be flying to Auckland but all the flights were cancelled due to the storm. One of the perils of living on the island...

The B&B was in Tryphena and called the Manuka Lodge. We had a nice little self-contained unit with kitchen, bath and a view of the ocean – we could have moved in! The owner, Pat, was a retired long-line fisherman and very talkative and friendly - his wife Barbara was trapped in Auckland due to the storm. After checking in we happily whiled away the rest of the day reading, knitting and watching the storm outside. How civilized...

GBI day 3, Harataonga Walkway and Brown Teals

2008-08-01T16:02:00.000-07:00

15Jun08
Great Barrier Island, day 3

This morning we woke up and realized it had rained overnight and were immediately concerned that we might be trapped in by the muddy road. Fortunately after a quick breakfast, Justin successfully drove the van out (not slowing down for any of the big mud holes) and although everything got thrown around a lot, we made it to the sealed road. Hooray!

The rain had mostly cleared up – so we did a 4 hour hike on the nearby Harataonga Walkway. This is a nice track that takes you around the side of the headlands with views of the oceans and beaches below as you hike through manuka/kanuka forests.

There was quite a bit of damage along the trail caused by the wild pigs (although we didn't see any), so there were large stretches of manuka forest with little or no undergrowth. The trail follows the edge of the coast line so you frequently wind inland to cross a stream and then back ocean-ward to a lookout. The stream areas were lush - teeming with tree ferns, nikau palms, moss and other ferns. Just beautiful.

We had particularly nice views of Rakitu Island and some very tantilising beaches – that for some reason we didn't bushwhack down to.

The trail was also very slipperly – lots of wet clay... but this was just the beginning of our mud hiking on Great Barrier!

After the hike, and with more rain clouds developing, we decided to play it safe and try a different campground – one that didn't require a drive through a muddy field. So we drove over to Port Fitzroy for the night and parked the van on what seemed like high ground. Once again, we had the campground to ourselves... mostly. As we sat at a picnic table, drinking tea and just having watched the sunset, two dark shapes waddled towards us in the waning light. Did I mention that brown teals are nocturnal? Haha... apparently nocturnal ducks have no trouble begging from campers in the dark! It was a pair, and they were very persistent, even circling around the van while we cooked dinner – I'm surprised we didn't accidentally step on one! So I can now cross “get begged by world's fourth rarest duck” off my life to-do list :) There were banded rails (another native bird) running around the park as well, and these and the ducks made a ruckus all night.

It wasn't raining yet, but by the occasion gale-force gusts of wind we were getting, we figured something was blowing in. This did not forebode well for our planned tramp the next day...

Great Barrier Day 2 - beautiful beaches and stinky long drops

2008-07-23T02:55:00.000-07:00

back to catching up...

14-June-08
Great Barrier Island, day 2

Today we spent lazily exploring the island. In the morning we appreciated the nice campground that we had all to ourselves. It was sheltered from the ocean by some sand dunes, and situated between pasture land and a large estuary river.

We saw some of the native parrots fly over the night before, but this morning we had to settle for brown teals :)

These are a very rare duck that has a last stronghold on the Great Barrier Island and they're everywhere. At one end of the campground there was a large walking bridge over the estuary with several houses on the other side and a few residents walking back and forth. So we crossed the bridge and explored a little bit – this was where we first saw the brown teals.

We also saw this amazing modern house/cabin. The weather was sunny and pleasant and we were quickly smitten with the island.

A little while later we packed up and drove north to explore more of the island and check out one of the main villages, Claris. This major hub of activity turned out to be mostly closed – no surprise since we were here in the dead season – but a few shops were open. We made the obligatory visit to the Pigeon Post gift shop, but since I'm banned from buying any knick-knacks all I got was a topo hiking map. sigh. It's called the Pigeon Post shop because the Great Barrier Island used to use carrier pigeons to fly telegrams to and from the mainland!
We also eyeballed the Claris Texas cafe next door. Yes, that's right, just like Paris Texas. We didn't stop for anything today, but it looked good and was full of people.

Then we continued north through more beautiful countryside and up and over a couple headlands with fantastic views until we reached the Whangapoua Campground where we planned to spend the night. The road into the campground was just a couple muddy ruts through a pasture and even though we were afraid of getting stuck again we braved it and parked the van on the highest grassy knoll we could find! Since it was too late for a serious hike, we just spent a couple hours exploring the estuary around the campground – full of mangroves and nervous oystercatchers. It was low tide and we walked way out on the tidal flats and watched a nice sunset.

Then it was dinner, a movie and straight to bed. Oh, I also have to mention that even though this was a lovely campground it had the scariest long drop (pit toilet) that we've seen so far. If the bushes had been any bigger we wouldn't have used it!

Woefully Behind on the Blog... so here are some cute bunnies to tide you over

2008-07-22T05:33:00.000-07:00

Hi all - we are, not surprisingly, a little behind on the blog. (Please don't leave too many comments on how predictable this is considering our personalities!)

So in the meantime, I offer up this set of impossibly cute angora bunny pictures.

We went to a place called The Shearing Shed near Waitomo Caves that demonstrates how to shear an angora rabbit every day to draw tourists into their expensive angora fibre gift shop. We escaped without buying anything, but the "show" was great!

The bunny of the day gets restrained and stretched out on a device that is half rack half rotisserie spit, and is then sheared like a sheep.

You have to see it to believe it. And we owe it all to our new-found friends in Auckland, Jen and James, for telling us about it :)

here's the full flickr set - including a short video

New Updates

2008-07-09T03:28:00.000-07:00

Howdy all - finally got a couple new posts up... although we seem to be perpetually several weeks behind! In "real time" we are currently just north of Wellington and scheduled to take the ferry to the south island tomorrow. Hopefully we'll have good sailing weather!

And as always, leave some comments - let us know you're out there :)

-Christina & Justin

We Sail to the Great Barrier Island!!

2008-07-09T02:56:00.000-07:00

Friday 13-Jun-08

Takapuna to Medlands Beach, Great Barrier Island

ferry photo set

Tryphena and Medlands photoset

Today we got up before the crack of dawn, packed up the van and drove into downtown Auckland to catch our 6am ferry. I had foolishly thought that the ferry would be at the ferry terminal – haha. After some frantic driving around and asking for directions we found the “other” ferry dock and proceeded to check in. The ferry wasn't nearly as big as we had expected – it could only hold about 12 cars and already had an interesting assortment of passengers. Everyone from a group of scruffy flannel-wearing guys who were going to the island for some dirt-biking and fishing (things we thought you could do much more cheaply on the mainland) to a management consultant for HP New Zealand who was headed for a weekend of diving and spear-fishing.

We set sail on time at 7am, just as dawn was breaking over the city and it was gorgeous.

I was a little worried about getting seasick, but I needn't have been – the water was smooth as glass.

The ferry ride takes about four and half hours, so we spent about half our time up on the second deck watching the islands go by, and the other half sitting in the van (more comfortable than the lounge.) Although we did sit in the lounge long enough to eat the steak pies we'd bought – inadvertently torturing a very good dog that was on board and sitting directly across from us. In fact we must have been torturing everyone because not ten minutes after we ate our pies, half the lounge went down and bought their own! Like we said before... the pies are really good here :)

The views were spectacular – we sailed past lots of islands and the northern tip of the Coromandel Peninsula (where we went a few weeks before). I thought it was an island at first – until I recognized our campground!

And the approach into Tryphena Harbour was stunning. Amazing patterns on the water that I tried to capture with the camera.

By this time we were sitting up at the front of the boat chatting with a really nice woman who used to live on the island and owned a plot of land, but now has to work & live in Auckland so her teenage son can go to school there (no high school on the island). She was coming back for a week's vacation with her younger son and we discussed what it's like to live in such a remote area.

As we approached the harbour, we were surprised by how small the dock was for the ferry – but they had no trouble maneuvering the ferry into place.

As we waited we saw a huge ray lurking under the dock – he must have been at least 4 feet across. Then before we knew it, we were back in the van and driving onto the island!

First order of business was lunch – so we stopped at one of the first little coves and made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (our favorite...ugh) and enjoyed the beautiful day. Then we drove into “central” Tryphena and explored the cove and the few little shops there. We met a teenager on the beach who was collecting seaweed in a wheelbarrow for his mother's garden.

After fooling around in Tryphena, we made our way across the island on the very windy roads to our campground for the night at Medlands Beach. This is a lovely sandy beach and we walked along it til sunset... this is the life :)

Last Few Days in Northland

2008-07-09T01:58:00.000-07:00

Sat 07Jun08

Waitiki Landing to Pahia

After the tramp we were very tired and just drove straight back to Pahia and the Mousetrap hostel to take in some creature comforts and catch up on email and other necessities (ie. laundry and bathing!)

We even decided to treat ourselves to a restaurant for dinner which ended up being harder than we expected. Most of the restaurants had already closed by 8:30pm - even though it was Saturday. So we finally found a pizza place with decent prices that was open, but as we were trying to get in the door a large party came out and a women fainted/had a seizure and in all the confusion we ducked into a second door which seemed to lead into the same restaurant. But by the time we had been seated and given our menus we realized it was a more expensive seafood "sister" restaurant to the one we had meant to go into. Alas, at this point we just decided to go with it and had a nice seafood dinner. C'est la vie.

Sun 08Jun08

Pahia

We stayed for a second night at the hostel and so on this particular day we could be found lazying around, catching up on the blog, taking a stroll on the beach to the grocery store and watching some horrible NZ tv (we only had wifi reception in the tv lounge...)

We also met a really nice women from Dunedin, Jane, who we plan to look up when we get to that part of the country.

Also, I have to mention that "creepy guy" and his girlfriend were still ensconced at the hostel. sigh... not sure if I mentioned him the first time around, but let's just say that not everyone we meet at the hostels is nice and friendly. (Rollin and Dianna - I had the "creepy girl" mst3k song stuck in my head for days after meeting this weirdo.) Otherwise, the Mousetrap is an ideal hostel.

Oh - and I almost forgot, while we walked around town we spotted "Harry" the van - one of the vans we took for a test drive in Auckland. The camper van set is small here!

Mon 09Jun08

Pahia to Puketi Forest

Today we rousted ourselves out of the Mousetrap and headed inland for the Puketi Forest Park. The forest is one of the largest tracts of native forest in the Northland and has a nice cosy campground. We walked the one hour nature trail in the late afternoon which was quite nice because they had examples of all the main flora of the kauri forest labelled. We tried to memorize as many as we could, but don't quiz me!

This is true rain forest with hundreds of trees, bushes, grasses, mosses, lichen, fungi and even slime moulds. Everything is growing on top of everything else and all is green.

That night we had the entire campground to ourselves (very nice) and even almost had a campfire. The logs were wet and so just smouldered, but it was still fun to sit in front of while we ate dinner and listened to the animals crashing around in the bush. We're pretty sure we heard kiwis here - but we haven't seen one yet.

Tues 10Jun08

Puketi Forest to Rawene

This morning we went on a second short hike north of the campground to a small grove of old kauris called the Manginangina Kauri Walk - it was recommended by one of the park employees and was well worth it. Then we hiked the two-hour Waihoanga Gorge Kauri Walk on the southern end of the park to another kauri grove. What esle can I say - it was absolutely beautiful!

After this we drove toward Hokianga Harbour and the small bayside village of Rawene where we decided to spend the night in a holiday park. We didn't need the showers yet, but there weren't any campgrounds nearby.

The holiday park was nice and we thought we had the place to ourselves as we watched the sunset over the bay, but alas moments later the park was inundated with 3 huge motor homes and two more camper vans...

But it worked out fine and we enjoyed talking to one British couple, Stuart and Kayle, who had lived all over the world (most recently Vanuatu) working mainly as scuba diving instructors and had just gotten office jobs in the New Plymouth region of NZ. Very interesting folks.

For dinner we resisted the very tasty looking fish and chips takeaway in town and instead cooked up a nice kidney bean and lentil curry. Yes, more beans... it's surprising anyone will talk to us!

Puketi photoset

Wed 11Jun08

Rawene to Baylys Beach via Waipoua Forest

This morning we woke up and the little peninsula of Rawene was completely lost in thick fog - the first thick marine fog we've encountered here. After breakfast we bought some internet access at the local green grocers in the center of town - yes, fresh vege and internet :) I love shops that sell incongruous wares/services!

Then we walked around town to see some of the historic buildings and watched the car ferry appear out of the mist.

Back in the van we drove around the coast to Opononi and Omapere near the mouth of Hokianga harbour, had lunch at a picnic table and then got snared by the information booth/historical museum. We'd planned to only go in for a minute, but they insisted that we watch a 10min film from the 50's about Opo the dolphin who lived in the Harbour and was extremely friendly with humans - playing with swimmers and kids, following boats, etc. She was quite the sensation and tourists from all over crowded the beaches to see her, but sadly she died after only a couple years of this - most likely hit by a propeller. Anyways, the film was classic MST3k short material. We especially giggled at the scene when they take a ball away from a little girl and throw it to the dolphin. She looks extremely unhappy about this and watches as Opo takes her treasured toy way out in the water. Eventually it is returned to the poor girl who probably never let it out of her sight again!

After this we tried to leave gracefully but an older man who was working at the museum caught us in conversation and talked our legs off for at least an hour! Haha, he was very nice though and had lived in Vancouver and travelled extensively in the US so he told us lots of tales.

Free at last we drove to a lookout point at the mouth of the harbour where the old signal station used to be located. The harbour used to be a very busy commercial port and the signal master would raise signal flags to control boat traffic in and out of the harbour which was complicated by a large sand bar. Nothing remains of the station house now, but it is a lovely view.

Next we drove south to Waipoua Forest to see some more kauri trees and forest, including the two largest kauri still alive (although mere babes compared to the great kauri that were logged.) Tane Mahuta is the largest living kauri (not sure if this is by height or volume) and is quite magnificent...

but it's the second largest, Te Matua Ngahere that is the most amazing. It has an immense girth and a huge crown that is like a little city inside the forest bustling with birds and (presumably) insects. The pictures don't do it justice.

The forests are beautiful and full of lots of other giant kauri trees that deserve to be named as well! And this is where we first noticed the big wood pigeons whose wings make a whistling/whooshing noise as they fly laboriously from one treetop to the next. These wood pigeons are very important as they are the only native bird left that is big enough to swallow and spread the kauri seeds.

Afterwards, we were almost out of daylight and so drove south to Dargaville for groceries (resisting an amazing array of takeaway shops) and back to Baylys Beach for a nice holiday park stay.

Hokianga/Rawene photoset

Waipoua photoset

Thurs 12Jun08

Baylys Beach to Takapuna

This morning we walked on Baylys beach for awhile - a huge stretch of flat beach that people drive on like 90 mile beach to the north. Very beautiful.

Having finally decided to bite the bullet and go to the Great Barrier Island, we called Sealink and made the reservations and then headed towards Auckland since we needed to be at the ferry dock at 6am the next morning.

We drove through some nice country, mostly kumara-farming regions, and stopped for lunch near a huge Moreton Bay Fig Tree in Pahi,

and eventually arrived at our chosen spot for the night - Takapuna Holiday Park in Auckland. Worn out from driving and knowing that we'd be roughing it for 10 days on the island, we splurged and ate dinner at a Japanese restaurant in Devonport. yum...

photoset

Catching up on posts

2008-06-27T05:25:00.000-07:00

Hi all - finally got the Cape Reinga Tramp blogs and photos all up - hope you enjoy them :)

In the meantime we've been on the Great Barrier Island for a week and half, and will hopefully have our soggy adventures there posted soon!

Next we're headed south for some caving, geothermal areas and of course more beautiful coastline...

Cape Reinga Tramp Day 4: No Longer Beasts of Burden

2008-06-26T23:22:00.000-07:00

I wake up in the early pre-dawn and lie quietly in my sleeping bag. Christina is still asleep. Through the mosquito netting that makes up half of our tent, I see at least a couple of dozen mosquitoes buzzing about quietly, hiding under the rain fly. They drift back and forth across the netting, trying desperately to get into the tent. I suppose the heat which we are putting off is visible to them from that distance and that they have spent the whole night wandering back and forth searching for a door into bloodsucker's paradise.

With true dawn comes the chorus of a few birds. The mosquitoes eventually go away, and we strike camp, eat a few more cereal bars, then walk on the beach. It's a gorgeous, sunny morning and I can almost forget just how disgusting I feel after sweating and stumbling through the muck for the last 3 days.

It's nearly noon, so we head back to the park entrance and wait for our ride. He shows promptly, and it's back to Waitiki Landing. We clear up the bill, buy an ice-cream cone, then are off down the Peninsula as reasonably fast as the van will go, glad to be driving and not walking the 100+ kilometers.

Cape Reinga Tramp Day 3: These Boots were (not) made for Walking (in the Sand)

2008-06-26T23:17:00.000-07:00

06Jun08

photo set

Dawn comes way too early. I've set the alarm for 6:30 a.m., and we drag ourselves up, put on the same stinky clothes we've been living in for the last few days, and strike camp.

At around 7am we are looking at the estuary. It's higher than it was when we first looked at it last night, and we walk upstream, searching for the crossing point casually mentioned in the track description. Following the muddy ruts of a jeep track, we eventually come to a place where they bear sharply left across the sand and into the rising water.

It's the usual routine - roll-up trousers, take off shoes, and wade. The periodic "incoming tide" waves roll slowly upstream while we do this, cresting the current edge of the estuary and lapping at the sandy floodplain. We hurry across, wincing at the chilly water, pausing for a moment on a sandbar island, then going ashore.

After hopping about for a minute forcing shoes back onto numb feet, we head inland on the boggy jeep trail. Around us rises the regenerating bush and the air is filled with the early morning chatter of birds. We begin to wonder if we're on the right path, but another 10 minutes brings us to a sign marking where the track branches off and leads up the mountain. We eat cereal bars and continue onward.

Lead up the mountain it does, and with no concern whatsoever for grade. The trail is a mountain goat track leading straight upwards at something like 60% grade. We huff and puff and almost crawl up the slope, covering in 30 minutes what is supposed to take nearly an hour.

By the end we are seriously out of breath, but pleased with ourselves, until we inspect the part of our forward path which this higher vantage point has brought into view.

We have a long, long day of ridgeline ascents and descents, and there's nothing for it but to keep walking. Below us the estuary we crossed is more than twice as wide as it was when we passed it and growing steadily.

We stop and drink some hot tea, then continue along the ridgeline in a somewhat more gentle ascent. Fantails flutter around us, snapping up tiny insects that we are stirring up, but refuse to sit still long enough for Christina to take a decent picture.

For the rest of the morning. We trudge up and down through magnificent views. At some point ahead, the trail branches. One fork leads down to Pandora Beach; the other leads upwards to Te Paki mountain, the highest point in Northland. It's actually only perhaps 100 meters higher than what we've been climbing for the last couple of days, but even though there's supposed to be some interesting remains from a wartime radar installation, as well as gorgeous views, we are not in the mood to add another hour to a day already full of walking.

Eventually we round a corner, come down a ridge, and see the turnoff sign for Pandora Beach! Even though we have a long ways to go, it feels like we're home free. There will be no more serious ascents on the tramp, and our legs are glad.

Pandora Beach used to be a resort, and we are following the heavily eroded dirt road that once led to it. The bush gets thicker and thicker as we descend. Hopping over gullies and slopping through mud puddles, we near the bottom of the road. In the bush as we are, it's impossible to see the ocean until we round the last corner, though the sound of the stream paralleling the bottom stretch of the road gradually merges into the roar of the surf, letting us know we are nearing the beach.

The road dead-ends in an overgrown pasture-swamp. There's a worn sign on the gateway telling us where we are. Its back is a sign painted for a different location. Evidently the park is not into wasting money on new signs. The grass choking the meadow is a mass of tangled roots and runners over a foot deep on top of trickling water everywhere. It's thick enough to keep our feet out of the muck for the most part, but the 3-foot high scrub we have to push through makes for slow going.

We wander about, looking for the best path through the grass, and eventually make our way onto the actual beach.

It's absolutely deserted, and we toss our bags under a tree and against the rocky bluffs, then wander out through the surf for a few minutes, letting the cool water soothe our aching feet.

We eat a belated lunch - sausage, crackers, apples - under the tree, watching the surf roll in. We feel completely like not moving again. With our backs against the warm rocks and our feet out in the sun, it's almost possible to forget how tired and grimy we are.

To the east, some thunderheads threaten, and we drag ourselves to our feet, shoulder our packs, and walk east along the beach to the final tide-dependent part of the path. There's a rocky headland separating Pandora Beach from Spirits Bay, and at low tide it is possible to walk around it. At high tide it's necessary to climb up and over a couple of headlands. We are very tired of climbing. Though we're a couple of hours before low tide, the crossing is relatively easy. We peer into a couple of exposed caves in the rock as we wind our way over to Spirits Bay.

Spirits Bay is gorgeous - it's a long, gentle, sandy curve, cupping the Pacific ocean and backed with sand dunes merging into green rolling hills.

The operative word in that description is long, for though it doesn't seem like it should take so much time to walk, 5 miles in sand turns out to be slow going. We pass the time by picking out random landscape features as distance markers along our path. Half-way, two-thirds, three-fourths, and then we are done.

The beach is, as usual, gorgeous - I'm not sure I've seen ugly coastline in NZ - but we are almost numb to its beauty by the end. The sunset over the sea , however, wakes us back up, with brilliant orange, yellow, and red hues filtering through the black-blue clouds. To the east, the clouds over the ocean hang purple shot through with crimson, and behind us, to the south, the clouds are glowing pink and fringed with blue.

Finally, we see a pair of figures at the end of the beach, and realized that we've reached the campground. It's a couple of guys setting up at the spot nearest the ocean, and we make our way inland a couple of hundred meters before dropping our gear and proclaiming ourselves home for the night.

Cape Reinga Tramp Day 2: Dolphins, Lighthouses, and Rubber Legs

2008-06-26T23:12:00.000-07:00

05Jun08

day 2 photo set

We drag ourselves up as early as we can. I set the alarm for 5:45, but as it's not even dawn til 7am, we don't drag ourselves up for an hour. 2 more alarms do little to stoke our enthusiasm. Stuffing tent and bags into our packs, we trudge forward, eating cereal bars and hurrying towards our first water crossing.

In daylight, the next marker, the one we could not find last night, is blatantly obvious, and we trudge along the trail as rapidly as we are able. Our shoulders hurt from the heavy packs and poorly adjusted straps of yesterday. We're still in the sand dunes and coastal, beach-grass covered hills. The path continues to be nothing more than untracked dunes, rosy-tinted in the early morning sun, and regular orange-capped signposts. Behind us lies Cape Maria Van Diemen with its twin (old and new) lighthouses. We parallel the coast for a ways, following the trail along the top of the hills. A pod of dolphins pops to the surface periodically in the cove below us.

We resist clambering down to the beach for a closer look and continue up and over the next low headland, coming at last into sight of the estuary. It's well after 7am, and the tide is coming in fast. From our vantage point high on a bluff, the estuary doesn't look rough or deep, except perhaps at its mouth. We follow the trail over to where the usual crossing would be, but the climb down to the water is more difficult than expected and the incoming surf is stronger than anticipated.

Backtracking inland, we make our way through a swamp to an easier crossing spot. Thankfully it's relatively calm here. We wade across the cold waterway and pause upstream to refill our water bottles.

It's our first field-test of the water filter, and it seems to perform admirably. We get a pot of tea going, and then stock up on water. Meanwhile a pied shag wanders by and checks us out, followed by a small flock of ducks. We barely get the water bottles filled before a strong tide sweeps up the estuary and over its banks, nearly swamping our equipment. We move uphill a few feet, then sit and drink our tea. The occasional strong tide seems to come every 5 minutes or so, and I wonder at the reasons for its apparent periodicity.

After finishing our tea, we climb back to our feet, refreshed, and head down Te Werahi beach. It's quite pretty, but by the end, we are once again tired of walking on a beach.

At the end of the beach we are confronted with our second tide-dependent water crossing of the day. The trail up to Cape Reinga lighthouse leads around the tall bluffs on the west edge of the headland and up a steep track. Perhaps at low tide one could walk casually to this part of the trail, but now it's necessary to thread our way up and down over large slippery rocks and outcrops, and to time our crossings so as not to be swamped by the larger waves. Christina loses her balance and crashes down early on, then gets caught by an eager wave and half-soaked. I get a little wet, but nothing like Christina. Regardless, she carries on without complaint and we eventually make our way to the protected inlet at the bottom of our coming steep climb. The air is thick with the stench of rotting kelp, and we regroup hurriedly, then begin the ascent.

It's a steep climb and we are both ready for a break. The original trampers must have had iron muscles and an unending appetite for views. Every leg of the tramp is either along the top of a 1000-foot ridge or a steep ascent towards or away from one. After a time we come into hearing and sight of the Cape Reinga lighthouse park. A group of schoolkids is up there yelling and running and generally having a good field trip. It's all rather surreal after the last couple of days. Bus rides and teachers and packed bologna lunches seem a million years ago at this point.

Finally we climb up the last switchback of the trail and arrive at the restrooms. We walk over to the park map signs and sit on the grass to eat lunch and look out at the ocean. A few minutes down a narrow paved road, the schoolkids ruckus around the Cape Reinga lighthouse.

We chew through part of a big stick of pepperoni and some crackers while the occasional tourist or schoolkid wanders curiously past. By the time we are done with lunch, the lighthouse is almost deserted. We walk down to it and read the signs, take a few pictures, and look out at the endless ocean. Below us on the last bit of land is the tree where Maori believed their ancestors went to jump off to the netherworld when they died. Here, too, the Pacific and Tasman seas meet. The ocean is very rough, and the sight of one set of waves crossing paths at almost right angles to another set of waves is startling.

After a few minutes we walk slowly back up the road. At the top, we pass a couple of people from a construction crew. The whole Cape Reinga site is being redesigned. The car park and the restrooms are being moved, and we struggle to find the starting point for the rest of the trail. Eventually we run into the same construction crew, who point out the half-hidden entrance. Meanwhile a german couple pauses to ask us how long it takes to walk down to Te Werahi, as they are interested in camping. We give honest answers and urge them to be careful with the tides.

We are on our way out of the car park and down from Cape Reinga. The surrounding hills are steep and thick with regernating bush. It's late in the day and we hurry in the fading reddish light. The whole world is that rosy hue it turns sometimes before sunset. Our legs are weary and we stumble down the steep ridgeline towards our campsite on Tapotupotu Beach.

We turn inland for perhaps a hundred meters, walk through dank brush, and come into the campsite in the growing dusk.

It's a regular DOC campsite. There's a road to it and a couple of campervans already parked. We struggle up the road to the tent sites, drop our bags, then investigate the facilities. The usual long drop and non-potable water supply round out our list of luxuries for the night. We eye the tidal estuary in the middle of a huge sand bar. It's our first challenge for the morrow. I put up the tent while Christina rummages for our dinner. We barely manage to get these tasks done before collapsing, and determine that cooking chicken curry noodles in our tent - no matter how bad the mosquitoes - is always a mistake. I wander over to the estuary immediately east of the campsite and investigate how rapidly it's rising. In the dim glow from my flashlight, it's obvious that the intervening hour has added at least 50 feet to its width. Though the other campers twice invite us to join them at a bonfire on the beach, we decline. We have to cross the estuary early tomorrow and can barely keep our eyes open.

Cape Reinga Tramp Day 1: Sore Shoulders and Soggy Shoes

2008-06-26T22:52:00.000-07:00

04Jun08

day 1 photo set

Wednesday begins a bit chilly and slightly overcast. Christina and I rustle up breakfast - eggs, cereal, and toast, and coffee - while we make a list of all the items to pack for the tramp. After cleaning up, we quickly stuff all of the necessary camping gear into our packs:

1 tent and associated stakes and such
2 sleeping bags
2 thin inflatable pads
a change of clothes apiece, plus extra socks.
fleece jackets and rain coats, plus rain pants.
chaco sandals
camp stove and 2 fuel canisters
food for 3 days
3+ liters of water and water filter
toiletries and camp shovel
maps and guidebooks
two cameras
(etc.)

Our packs are now considerably heavier than anything we've ever hiked with before, but we shoulder them on and head up to the Waitiki Landing office to catch our ride. It's a few minutes after 10am, and no one is in the office. A moment after we get there, a Maori lady pops out from the adjacent fuel station/quick-stop and tells us that she's to drive us to our drop-off point today, but asks us to wait for a minute while she grabs some belated breakfast. Breakfast today is apparently a bag of crisps, a microwaved "hot pocket", and a large mug of tea with milk. Within 10 minutes, the man whom we originally arranged the trip with drives up in a 4WD van and we clue in to the fact that she is his wife. He agrees to take us straight-away in order to speed up matters.

Our ride to the drop-off point is uneventful. We heave our packs in the back of the van and are soon speeding out towards the west coast at a rather startling rate. After a kilometer or so on pavement, we skid onto a muddy, potholed gravel drive and continue without loss of speed around blind corners, over 1-lane bridges, and on the edge of sharp drop-offs - sometimes in our lane, sometimes in the middle of the road, depending on what is necessary to make the next turn without slowing down. Only the appearance of a fully-loaded logging truck - both trailers sagging under its cargo of pine - barrelling towards us over a 1-lane bridge occasions a full stop on our part.

15 minutes and we we reach the drop-off point at the end of a muddy track. Between us and the Tasman Sea are a few kilometers of tall sand dunes, cut through by Te Paki stream, the shallow, sandy river that constitutes the first part of our hike. Our driver wishes us well as we reclaim our packs, promises to pick us up in 4 days time, then zips off to whatever task awaits him. We make use of the nearby DOC long drop, put on our sandals and roll up our pants. Meanwhile a local woman shows up in a van and sets up shop, waiting for the off-season sand-surfing enthusiast. It's the first I've heard of the sport, but Christina informs me that it's popular in NZ to rent body-boards and ride down the sand dunes.

The day is still moderately sunny, but within half an hour of our start, blue-gray clouds begin rolling in from the west. I begin to regret my decision not to purchase a pack cover. We continue walking very slowly, slogging through the shallow water and saturated sand, trying to figure out how to best adjust our pack straps. To our north, the sand dunes continue out of sight. To our south and east, the dunes are bordered by rolling green hills. It's still a pretty day, but the original strong breeze is now turning rapidly into a serious headwind. A gentle rain begins to fall. At the point, the wide, shallow stream is little more than a set of intersecting rivulets, perhaps 20 meters wide, criss-crossing the flat sand towards the ocean. We meet a car driving upstream; its inhabitants wave cheerily at us as it passes. We ponder its fate in the heavier, less stable sand upstream and mentally wish them luck. Looking back as they pass, we see from the paint job that it's a rental car, so whoever is driving it has been doing their best to ignore the clause in all rental vehicle contracts which forbids you from driving on 90-mile beach. According to what we've been told (again and again), vehicles quite regularly get stuck in the sand and then dragged under by high tide.

As we come around a curve and into sight of the Tasman Sea, the rain begins to fall more steadily. We trudge on, but by the time we pass the last dune, we're walking in a downpour. At this point we realize the first lesson of rain gear, which is that you put it on *before* you are caught in the rain. We drag out our jackets and rain pants and weasel our already-soaked selves into them, then huddle behind the last sand dune for the meager shelter it affords from the wind.

Today we are lucky; the rain dwindles to a fine mist after perhaps only 20 minutes or so, and we sit amidst the beach-grass and gorse and eat half-squashed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Lunch concluded, we set off north along 90-mile beach. The sky is still thick with clouds, and periodically the heavy mist turns into light rain, but never into the sort of downpour just experienced. To our west the Tasman Sea roars and crashes onto the sand. It's a far cry from the gentle waves we saw just a few days ago at Matauri Bay. The beach is littered with shells, driftwood, kelp, the occasional dead fish, and small bits of the kind of industrially-manufactured flotsam you find on every beach - plastic bottles, short lengths of net, etc. The surf is loud enough to make conversation difficult, and for the most part we trudge northward in silence. Near the end of the beach, we are passed by a small truck heading north. It stops perhaps a kilometer beyond us and picks up someone, then turns around and passes us going back south. The driver waves cheerily and then we are alone. Behind us a great arch of rock to our south in the sea seems almost to be following us as we walk - closer one moment, then further away the next.

At the north end of the beach, the trail climbs up a very steep set of stairs for a few hundred meters, zig-zagging back and forth up the rock. We pause for a moment at its base to adjust packs and drink some water, then begin our ascent. This initial climb sets the pattern for our next few days, which is one of continual steep ascents followed by steep descents, punctuated by regular high ridgeline walks. It's a path designed to maximize spectacular views without any concern for one's legs or back. Out at sea, white-capped wave follows white-capped wave in unending succession.

From the top of that first headland we look out and around the world. To our north and west lie the Tasman /Sea, crashing on the shore of Twilight Beach. To our east rises Cape Maria van Dieman and beyond that Cape Reinga. To the immediate south lie rolling half-grassy dunes such as we have been paralleling on our walk northward. The southeast, incourogously, is all gentle green hills dotted with sheep and cattle. It's mid-afternoon, and we still have a long way to go.

Before we start forward again into the brush, we note a pair of figures slowly toiling down the beach, perhaps half an hour behind us. Walking through the brush is not really that exciting. When you can't see very far ahead or behind you, and when the view to either side is blocked, points of interest are limited. The birds seem to agree. Either it is the universal naptime or anything which can fly aside from a few bugs has left for more stimulating environs. Periodically we emerge from brush near the top of some hill and gaze out at the ocean, only to lose it moments later as we plunge down 50 hard earned meters of altitude. It's obviously rained recently, for the whole track is muddy. The lowest spots are actually car-sized mudholes, and squeezing by these is difficult, since the woody brush is thick enough to prevent easy passage. Perhaps with a chainsaw it might be straightforward, but not without. Here and there the undergrowth becomes thicker. Frequently these spots are accompanied by a musky stench which I suppose must be wild pigs, as the path is punctuated by torn-up patches of earth where something has been rooting and digging..

The brush we are walking through is criss-crossed by tracks. Whenever ours intersects with another track, an orange marker points out the correct direction.

Some of the other trails look enticing, but without a map, navigation in brush several feet taller than our heads seems like a bad idea. The track we are walking on at some points was obviously some sort of rough driving track, but it's been years since anything larger than a quad-bike has driven this way. The gullies and crevices which cross the narrow track would bog down anything larger.

An hour or so into the brush, we are ready for a break. It's very humid and still, and in the middle of the day we are nearly drowning in our own dank sweat. Shrugging off our packs and collapsing on the trail, we munch on peanuts and chocolate. There is really no other place to sit other than the least wet patch of muddy rock, and at this point we don't care. In a minute, the sound of voices becomes audible, and the young couple who must have been trailing us back on the beach comes around the corner. They smile, say hello, and carry on. We wish them well, then glance at their cheery faces and lightweight packs as they pass. How are they getting by? Perhaps it's all cold dehydrated food for them on this tramp, or maybe they're just in for a day, or maybe they don't feel the need to carry the kitchen sink on their backs around NZ.

After a few more minutes we struggle to our feet, adjust our pack straps for what seems like the millionth time, and set out. Shortly thereafter we are rewarded with a grand view to the southeast over the verdant texture of the bush-coated hills and a sight of our trail looping down towards Twilight Beach, which marks the official end of our first day's tramp. A bit heartened, we stomp down over the eroded track - which at this point was definitely at one time a rough bush road - and towards the beach. Having come out of the shadowy, overhanging scrub and buoyed by a bit of sunshine and receding claustrophobia, we decide if possible to push onward past the planned campsite and take the first of many water crossings.. It's nearing low tide, and according to the DOC brochure, we need to attempt this crossing within an hour either side of low tide.

Over a couple of hills and down we go! An hour passes and we reach the beach. It's sunny and beautiful in the waning daylight, and we trudge hurridly down the sand. Twilight Beach doesn't seem that long, but it's the described 45 minutes before we reach the east end. By this point, the sun hangs low on the horizon, casting blue and purple shadows on Cape Maria Van Dieman to our east. We wander about at the end of the beach and finally find the marker pointing the way up towards the official campground. If we'd only followed our noses, we would have known where to go, since the path off the beach is marred by a distinctly bathroom odor. Why the prior hordes of trampers all chose to pee so close to the track remains a mystery.

We climb up and up until we find the next set of signs. They mark the intersection between our tramp and another trail leading back towards the farmland to our south. We continue on, following the orange-topped posts which mark the path, and climb higher, passing the couple we met earlier. They are busy pitching their tent in the waning light, high up on a grassy protected meadow. Over one hill and another and then we are walking in the dusk. We've left behind the grassy hills and are now struggling across sand and eroded rock. The growing wind whips up the sand, and we stumble repeatedly, our feet caught by the immensely long runners of the grass which seems to be holding together this corner of New Zealand. The sky is dark, and in the twilight, the dunes and bluffs are that weird, barely-colored reddish-purple that meets your eyes before color vision gives up completely and the world turns gray.

Up again and we are walking behind a large sandy bluff, flashlight in hand, casting about for footprints or other signs of a trail. In the sand and on the rock, the only way to know you are on the trail is to see an orange marker at some random point ahead. A set of footprints is suggestive, but not a guarantee. Who knows where the person who made those was going? We persist until it's no longer possible to find another marker, then look for a place to camp for the night. The best we can manage is a spot behind a tiny, grass-topped hillock. It's the least-unlevel patch of sand in sight. We pitch the tent in darkness and wind, juggling flashlight and tent stakes, then crawl gratefully inside its shelter. Dinner is 2 packets of 'Pasta Carbonara', boiled hastily over our camp stove and shoveled down. Zipped into our sleeping bags, we fall asleep to the sussurration of the wind, the rustling of the grass above and behind us, and the endless crashing of the distant ocean.

Several New Posts and lots of pics

2008-06-10T15:49:00.000-07:00

Hi All - another glut of posts has arrived :)
Read on about our exciting adventures at not so Hot Water Beach, auto salvage yards, artistic toilets, digging clams, beaches of paradise, and the start of our Cape Reinga Tramp!

And thanks for all the comments - keep 'em coming :) We don't have as much time to respond as we'd like, but we love reading them.

Cheers,
Christina and Justin

photostream is here

The Way to Waitiki Landing - Dogs and Mud

2008-06-10T15:36:00.000-07:00

June 3, 2008

The drive up the Cape Reinga peninsula is quick but not spectacular. We drop back into Kaitaia to get supplies at the large Pak 'N' Save there, leaving our campervan rather nervously near the front entrance, as the Lonely Planet guide we are using cautions us against the likelihood of theft in the region and even in the parking lot of this very grocery store. Of course nothing eventful happens, and we stock up on food for our upcoming tramp, pick up some rather lackluster but cheap meat pies at a bakery, then drive back north up the peninsula.

The peninsula itself is rather quiet. From the main highway, which sticks to the middle part of the land, it appears to be mostly grazing land, punctuated by the occasional pine plantation. These plantations come in 3 varieties: young and tender, tall and proud, and completely razed to the ground. Periodically we pass through what passes for local towns. Most of these are doing well to manage more than 5-10 houses, and in the late afternoon not much appears to be going on. The land itself is mostly low and rolling. Aside from the pine plantations, there aren't a whole lot of trees. The houses themselves are quite modest. Evidently the tourist and vacation-home driven development has not hit this area. I suppose the general lack of sunny beaches has something to do with that.

Near Te Kao, we round a corner and spy an enormous tawny hound at rest in the opposite lane. He lies there on the road with his head pillowed on his paws and watches us approach. I slow down a bit in case he is preparing to do something stupidly doglike, and am more richly rewarded than I could have dreamed, as at the last minute he leaps to his feet and attempts with great energy to throw himself under our front wheels. Swerving and braking, I squeak around him, his body hidden from sight by his closeness to our van, knowing I haven't smacked him mostly by the lack of audible or tactile *thump*s.

Looking in the rear-view mirror as we drive away, we see him standing in our lane looking after us with what I can only assume is a pleased expression. I suppose just like in horseshoes and hand grenades, 'close' to driving off the road counts as a success for the dog.

Christina marks the location of the dog on our map so we can watch for him on our trip back and we drive on. Near dusk we roll into Waitiki Landing, which is instantly familiar. It's the truck stop on the edge of nowhere, the last place to fill up on gas, catch a bite to eat, or buy what passes for essential groceries in this neck of the woods. There are several buildings arranged in kind of a compound. I back the van into a parking spot next to the preserved top of an old lighthouse (with dust and fly-spot covered sign proudly proclaiming its availability for regular display), and we walk into the room labeled 'office', calling out politely until someone appears.

A voice calls out: 'Just a minute.' Momentarily, a rough-boned man with weathered workman's hands walks in from a side door. He's amiable enough, and shortly we arrange to be dropped off the next morning, Wednesday, and picked up at the end of the tramp Saturday at noon. We also make camping arrangements for the night. He warns us that some of the spots are a bit soggier than others, waggling his eyebrows at us as he says this. I fail totally to clue in as to what level of emphasis eyebrow waggling constitutes.

We walk back to the van. The light is almost gone. Christina goes down to scout out the kitchen, bathrooms, and general layout of the campsites. I start the van back up and drive through the gate and down the slope onto the small grassy field. It's nearly dark by this point. I roll around a few sad trees - apparently no one at Waitiki Landing is much into landscaping - and towards a part of the field that appears flat enough to let us sleep without rolling or sliding on our bed. After a moment, I see Christina walking back towards me from another area across the gravel drive, so I turn towards her and pull to a stop as she reaches me. The squelching noise as I brake is my first clue that something unfortunate is happening.

Christina steps to my window and tells me that the field is pretty boggy and perhaps we should park across the road - closer to the dorms, but at least on solid ground. I agree, put the van in gear, then completely fail to move forward. The rear tires spin in the water-soaked grass and rapidly dig themselves into the underlying mud.

The problem is as follows: Behind me is a slightly drier slope. Getting our underpowered van to tug itself out of its ruts and up the slope is unlikely. Ahead of the van quite possibly the boggiest 15 feet of the field separate it from the secure footing of the gravel drive. The van itself is conspicuously absent a rear bumper, so even if I was willing to stomach the remnants of my pride, I was still going to require someone willing to try to tow me out to have any luck asking for help. Meanwhile it has gotten completely dark. An 8-year old kid zips around the van at high speed on his quad-bike, pausing every couple of minutes to ask us with great excitement if we're stuck. Meanwhile, up the hill and around the corner, the local road crew sits out front of the truck stop restaurant talking. It's hard not to think that their laughter runs a bit louder than before while I dig.

At first I try to get Christina to drive while I attempt to push the van. After my feet slip in the darkness and slime and I crash to the ground, I give up on this approach and start digging. Luckily we have a small spade which came with the van, or I would be working with the folding camping toilet shovel. By this point the wheels are solid cylinders of mud. No evidence of tread is visible on even the new rear tires under their coating of muck.

Digging in a bog would be easier if the top 6 inches of it were not solid knotted grass runners, but after a good half-dozen passes, I manage to dig trenches forward far enough, and line the trenches with swiped gravel well enough that the van finally spins its way onto the drive. After an hour of this I am so filthy that I've stopped caring about further mud and am just glad to be done. I shiver a little bit, thinking about the huge muddy rutted curves we slid down on the 309 road while crossing the Coromandel Peninsula, and how close we must have been to a long, unpleasant walk in the dark.

Christina whips up a sort of beef bourgogne with noodles in the kitchen while I clean up a bit and relax. The truckstop feel holds up under closer inspection. Everything is functional but worn, and cleaned up in the sort of rough fashion you find in bachelor havens.

The kitchen has 2 ancient gas countertop ranges, wrought ensembles made half of rusting iron and half of burnt but unidentifiable foodstuffs. One of them is missing a leg, but conveniently held up by a chipped, upended sugar dish. Despite their rough appearance, the ranges work fabulously, burning with the kind of flame you could spit-roast a whole steer over. From the faint smell percolating from the stainless steel sink, and from the numerous grumpy signs about disposal of scraps on the wall, it seems the meat of choice is more likely fish.

The dining area is one part massive hand-made furniture and one part cheap surplus junk. We eat at a giant wood table whose top is made from a single rough-edged slab of what appears to be pine. The other table is a cheap folder, and has a couple of chairs upended on top along with an old guitar. One of the glass doors is broken and papered over. It rustles in the breeze as we eat. Finally, tired, we finish off our mugs of tea and crawl in bed. Tomorrow will be busy enough.

Bay of Islands and Digging Clams in Paradise

2008-06-10T15:30:00.000-07:00

29May Wenderholm to Mousetrap:

Got up this morning not really sure where we wanted to go except north. We fooled around in Warkworth for awhile, I bought some yarn :) and we got great takeaway fish and chips which the seagulls desperately wanted. It was even wrapped in newspaper! And we found some free wifi...

Then we drove north to Pahia on the Bay of Islands and stayed at a fabulous hostel called the Mousetrap. A really cosy place with a nautical theme. Oh and on the way we stopped to see the public bathroom designed by Hundertwasser in Kawakawa. He lived there and apparently designed this place for the town. It's wonderful and typical Hundertwasser style – see the pics for more.

30May Mousetrap to Kerikeri:

Today we fooled around in Pahia trying to decide if we wanted to stay on a WWOOF farm in the area or not. Then we took the ferry across the bay to the historic town of Russell. Apparently it used to be a wild port town popular with whalers and such roughnecks, but now it is quaint, historical and very sleepy. In fact everything closed up at about 2:30pm and we missed going to any shops! Oh well. The ferry ride was fun and the town was cute. Oh and there was a restaurant there called Birdie Num-Nums :) No sign of Peter Sellers though!

Then we drove around the bay to Kerikeri and spent the night in another holiday park right on a river with lots of ducks. Quite nice.

31May Kerikeri to Matauri Bay:

After a quick visit to the Kerikeri library (I was looking for knitting patterns) we headed north of town for a scenic walk. Oh, and I had to buy a lamb and kumara pie from the "famous" Kerikeri pie shop – it was excellent :)

The walk we went on was short but gave us fantastic views of the Bay of Islands. Really the best way to see the area would be to go on one of the many cruises, but we're saving our money for the Great Barrier Island.

After this we wound our way up the coastline until we happened upon Matauri Bay – and it was so beautiful we had to stay for the next two nights :)

When we arrived the tide was high and we spent a couple lazy hours beachcombing and enjoying the views. We found out that low-tide was predicted for ~11pm that night, so we went for another walk then and the tide had receded an enormous amount! (We hadn't realized how shallow the beach was.) I always like walking on beaches at night, but this beach was particularly beautiful because the expanse of wet sand reflected the stars.

01Jun Matauri Bay:

Started off the day by watching the sunrise (through the window of the van) from our primo campsite right on the beach. It really warmed up today and we went out for another walk on the beach and immediately found clams – everywhere! There were a few locals digging them as well, so we figured why not, and dug up about 50. We could have easily collected ten times that many – the beach was just covered. Anywhere you stood, as your feet sunk into the sand you would feel them under the surface.

We got pretty wet digging them up – I was wet up to my shoulders from the waves, so I say we went "swimming", but Justin says that since I didn't get my head wet it doesn't qualify. Anyways... according to me we went swimming in NZ for the first time :)

So we steamed the clams for lunch and made a tasty garlic butter sauce for dipping and they were great :) You can see a picture of our carnage on flickr.

Let's see, we spent the rest of the day lazying around on the beach... quite enjoyable. Oh and we hiked up the headland to watch the sunset and to see the Greenpeace Rainbow Warrior monument which is sunk off the coast here for diving.

02Jun Matauri Bay to Matai Bay

We spent the morning saying goodbye to beautiful Matauri Bay and around lunchtime headed up the coast. We stopped at another fantastic beach at Tauranga Bay for lunch and another beach walk (I could get used to this!)

Next we drove around Whangaroa Harbour, and past Doubtless Bay and up to the very end of the Karikari Penninsula to a DOC campground at Matai Bay. This was another postcard-perfect beach and even though we arrived at dusk, we had to go for a walk :)

It was high-tide and the beach was a very rounded cove, so when a big straight wave came in, it would hit the beach like a sucession of slaps as it collided with the curve. This wave action had created humps and ridges at the shoreline that just accentuated the phenomenon. Anyways my description does not do it justice – it was fascinating. I did video tape it, but we'll see if I ever have enough bandwidth to post the video.

03Jun Matai Bay to Waitiki Landing (jumping off point for Cape Reinga Walkway)

Spent a good half of the day exploring Matai Bay which turned out to be two twin coves – both absolutely beautiful with crystal clear water and nice fine sand. Similar to Matauri Bay at low tide the water line went way out and I got some beautiful photos. Lots of shells here too of course. The seashells here make me wonder why I ever picked up a shell in California... oh well.

Then off for our Cape Reinga trip, and the next post...

Back to Auckland for a Seatbelt

2008-06-10T15:29:00.000-07:00

27May Thames to Ambury Park:

Let's see, woke up today and drove back around the Firth to Miranda to catch the shorebirds at high tide (that's the best time to see them.) We had some luck, but we were a little late for highest tide so the birds were further away form the shore. We had a nice walk through the mangroves though, and another nice chat with the gal from S. Africa who mans the desk at the centre.

After lunch on the beach, we headed up to South Auckland to run some errands – mainly to get the oil changed in the van. And we spent the night at a nice Auckland regional park called Ambury Park – in a paddock with sheep and cows.

28May Ambury Park to Wenderholm Park:

We spent the morning going to parts shops to find a replacement seatbelt for the van – the passenger side one has been on the fritz since we bought the van. We eventually found a used one in great shape for only $30 (they were $200 new), so we were happy and I no longer have to sit in the middle seat :) And the guy at the salvage yard gave us his card for when we want to sell the van... haha. Hopefully it will not come to that :)

After running some more errands in Auckland we drove north out of town and camped in another Auckland Regional Park – Wenderholm. It was in a nice location on the water, but too close to the main motorway – we could hear truck traffic all night.

Last 2 days in Coromandel (and Hot Water Beach)

2008-06-10T15:27:00.000-07:00

25May

Fletcher Bay to Whitianga:

Today we woke up at beautiful Fletcher Bay and really didn't want to leave. This is at the northern tip of the Coromandel Penn with fantastic views of little islands and the Great Barrier Island in the distance, and steep green hills inland. The campground is surrounded by pasture and we had cows grazing around us all night. We saw the farmer zip by a couple times on a motorcycle and one of his dogs made friends with us - I'm sure the dogs get lots of handouts from campers in the summer! He was friendly, but VERY stinky - definitely living the dog's dream :)

We strolled on the bay again, and then started on the drive south back to Coromandel town. Fortunately the roads had dried out some, so we made better time - even though it's hard not to stop at every turnout to enjoy the spectacular views...

We stopped in the little town of Colville for lunch/brunch at the Colville Cafe. I had pancakes and bacon (the pancakes were almost crepe-like, very eggy) and Justin had a huge steak sandwich. Excellent :)

Then we headed for Driving Creek Railway and Pottery in Coromandel - a great place that encompasses the three passions of it's owner: a 3km long narrow-gauge railway, a pottery studio (with resident and visiting artists) and bush regeneration. If only I was a better potter, I would have applied to stay! The land is rich with terracotta clay and many of the potters dig their own, plus they have a variety of kilns - from standard electric ones to handbuilt brick kilns that are wood-fired... They had lots of great ceramic pieces decorating the place and plenty of tempting items for sale, but I resisted buying anything. We caught the next train-ride which was great fun. Over the past 20-30 years they have built 3km of track that zigzags up the mountain to a lookout tower at the top called the "Eyefull Tower". The train literally zig-zags up the mountain since it's so steep - there is an engine at both ends and the driver periodically stops, gets out, switches the track, and gets in at the other end. Plus several bridges and tunnels - lots of fun! The train goes through regenerating native NZ forest (bush) full of tree ferns and baby kauri and rimu. The ride takes about an hour and we really enjoyed it.

After that we headed out of town on the scenic 309 road that cuts through inland forests and has several points of interest including a waterfall and a few remaining old growth Kauri trees. The descent on the other side was scary though as the road was horribly muddy, narrow, and very curvy. We made it down though...

We spent the night at a holiday park south of Whitianga with a parrot collection – more on that later :)

26May

Whitianga to Thames:

Woke up at the holiday park and toured the Bird Park next door. A great collection of parrots plus many fancy game birds. I could have spent hours here talking to the birds :)

Then we drove through Whitianga to run some errands (groceries) – a very touristy town with a lot of new housing developments... we were unimpressed, and then off around the coast to explore some beaches. First stop the “Ferry Landing” - directly across the harbour from Whitanga with some great views and the ruins of a Maori Pa site – the site of a strategic fort that once guarded the harbour. Next stop the very beautiful walk to Cathedral Cove, with stops along the way at a couple other coves. Cathedral Cove is the highlight though, because at low tide you walk through an archway to get to the beach (see the pics). And the views are magnificent. Oh and this was where we encountered our first tour-bus load of twenty-something tourists. It was like a college-dorm reality show, with girls in heels hiking to the beach and hipster boys ogling them. We are SO GLAD we did not try to get around NZ on a tour bus...

And lastly we went to Hot Water Beach, which wasn't very hot! This is a beach with a hot thermal spring bubbling up in the sand and at low tide you can usually dig a hole in the sand and have your own hot tub. But today the low tide was not very low, and the ocean was rough due to a storm so to feel the hot spring you had to stand nearly waist deep in the COLD ocean, and only your toes would be warm. If you let your toes sink into the sand they would actually burn – so I'm sure it would have been nice and warm if the conditions had been better. Oh well :)

After that we drove back across the penninsula to spend the night at a holiday park in Thames.

New photos

2008-05-29T14:55:00.000-07:00

Check the photostream for new sets: here

Fantail Bay to Fletcher Bay

2008-05-29T14:10:00.000-07:00

Fantail bay to Fletcher Bay.

The night is filled with half-waking moments as rain spatters through the heavy branches of the tree we have parked under and smack into the roof of our campervan. Finally we give up on sleep and really open our eyes to air so thick with moisture it is practically raining inside our van.

Breakfast is the usual - Fake-o-Wheatbix for me and oatmeal with raisins for Christina. After unrumpling ourselves the best we can and making the obligatory visit to the less-fearsome of the campsite's long drops, I pull forward around our sheltering tree and out of the park's, as the way we drove in is beginning to look boggier than I trust our campervan to back through.

The rain is basically done as we drive north along the coast. The unsealed road ahead of us is certainly no better than it was last night, and under the onslaught of what must have been at least a couple of inches of rain is rather muddy in places and full of bone-jarring potholes. We wind up and down, dodging the occasional other vehicle and enjoy the views. Up here there are no holiday homes, just the occcasional worn farmhouse and the undulating hillside patchwork of cattle-tracked green, pine forest plantation, and regenerating bush. After a bit, we skid down a muddy clay stretch of the road into Port Jackson, which is nothing more than a cluster of a few farm buildings and some road maintenance equipment parked in a neat row on a nearby rise. A bit of confusion ensues as we debate which path of the road's fork to take, but a careful examination of the rather unhelpful road signs eventually clears matters up. Course decided, Christina pops out to open a gate and I drive through into Fletcher Bay Recreational Reserve. For a bit, the road seems to have improved, but that turns out to be a delusion fostered by the fact that its course runs briefly through a flatter, broader way. Momentarily, we find ourselves once again climbing and descending the outside lane of a narrow, gravel path which appears to have been surveyed by a rather drunken engineer. Though we are in a protected area, we are still surrounded by grazing land and cattle and sheep. I still have not found out exactly how that arrangment works, since it's pretty obviously (from the visible amounts of erosion) not good for the conservation aspect of the park, but perhaps it's like we were used to at Point Reyes, where privately-owned farms were allowed to continue within the park, but no new development was permitted.

A few kilometers along and we find ourselves faced with the first ford of the day. It's at the bottom of quite a dip in the road and is swollen and running swiftly near the middle from last night's rainfall. We get out of the van, find a stick, and begin poking as far towards the center of the watercourse as we are able. It turns out that the stream is really no more than 6-8 inches deep at the worst (at least that we can feel), and that the bottom appears to be layers of gravel rather than mud. We get back in the van and through we go! Perhaps on the upslope the tires slipped a bit, but we were soon through and on our way.

A couple more kilometers along the north coast of peninsula, and we drive down into the DOC campground at Fletcher Bay. The wind is blowing strongly, and the surf is crashing just a few meters from the beach, then gushing up the sand in frothy waves. We park a ways back from the water in a cowpie-strewn meadow that is at least somewhat sheltered from the wind, quickly nibble lunch, then set off on the hike which runs around the NE tip of the peninsula to Stony Bay. As with virtually everywhere we have gone on the Coromandel peninsula, we are criss-crossing in and out of beef cattle and sheep farms. The track is muddy and half-overgrown with the thick green grass which seems to carpet this entire section of the world. We clamber uphill, looking north out over the Colville Channel at Great Barrier Island, crossing fences, getting suspicious stares from skittish cattle, and fighting a strong headwind and the occasional burst of rain. The views everywhere are beautiful, and we make far slower time than expected on the track because we find ourselves stopping every 5 minutes to take pictures or investigate some unfamiliar plant or bird. Right at the coast, there are sections fenced off from grazing which are thick with native brush. Where the hillsides plunge into ravines, water trickles down to the ocean through groves thick with tree ferns, mossy trees and rocks.

After an hour and a half, we begin to descend from our path high above the sea. Here the trail runs steeply through switchbacks covered by 10-metere tree ferns and overhung by great gnarled trees whose hanging branches are half-covered by a nest epiphyte which we have seen elsewhere, but not yet in such great numbers. (epiphytes in NZ: http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-Bio28Tuat02-t1-body-d1.html) Nikau palms dot the undergrowth, elder specimens occasionally breaking through the canopy to point their shaving-brush fronds at the sky. Light is dim until we come to the bottom of the trail and walk out into Poley Bay.

Poley Bay is very small, not much more than a beach perhaps 50 meters wide and 20 meters deep, bordered on each edge by steep, rocky bluffs. Though their numbers are nothing compared to some of the other beaches we have seen in NZ, the shell selection on the beach is fantastic, and we alternate between staring out at the island-dotted sea and peering at the shell-spotted sand. Perhaps our favorite find are the numerous small-but-whole abalone shells, glowing with their iridescent sheen. Here and there in niches on the bluff edges are left the collections of previous visitors, which we examine but leave in place.

We clamber over some slippery rocks and watch the waves roll in. After awhile, conscious that we really don't want to be making the return trek in the dark, Christina and I set out back to the van. We make much better time on the way back, and after eating dinner listening to the local farmer round up his cows on a motorbike, finish out the night with a walk on the beach, watching the moonlit waves roll in. It's chilly again and despite a clear sky and a breathtaking view, we are soon crawling back in the campervan for the night.

Coromandel to Fantail Bay

2008-05-29T14:09:00.000-07:00

Woke up this morning in our campervan outside the Lion's Den Hostel.  The
windows were thick with condensation inside and out.  It doesn't really feel
like early winter here.  The mornings are quite chilly, but on days when the
sun comes out, by 11 am it becomes quite pleasant.

After a bit of breakfast - enjoying the luxury of having a toaster! - Christina
did some laundry and I cleaned up the van, then we walked around downtown
Coromandel - a town of about 1600 people.  It's a very pretty, rather quaint
seaside sort of town, full of cafes and shops in old, mostly Victorian and
later wooden buildings.  We stopped by the tiny town library, and Christina
bought an old novel from their 'for sale' rack for a dollar, then we grabbed a
pie and a sausage roll from the bakery shop, had our propane tank filled by
a rather taciturn local down at the petrol station, and headed north out of
town along Highway 25.  The passenger side seatbelt is misbehaving again, so
Christina is forced to sit in the center seat of the van.  I suppose we must
look like newlyweds, driving along shoulder-to-shoulder.

Highway 25 continues to wind its way north along the west coast of the
Coromandel peninsula, only occasionally dodging inland for a few km.  When it
does head inland, it always does so with a steep, twisting climb over the
hills.  The road is often narrow and drops off abruptly on the left.  Everywhere
we drive through bits and pieces of coastal rainforest.  5-10 meter tree
ferns hang over the roadway and cluster in patches of the remaining forested
hillsides.  There are bits and pieces of the native first- or second-growth
forest left, but many of the hills away from the road are either grazing
land - thick with greenery, but obviously eroding and criss-crossed by mazes
of cattle trails - or owned by logging consortiums, and covered by replanted
pines or their stumps.  Still, the scenery is beautiful.  The coast curls in
and out around the sea, and every turn of the road reveals a new view full
of different small islands and verdant green headlands.

The further north we drive, the less traffic we see.  With each kilometer, we
drive further and further into an area where people only live by very
deliberate choice.  The only industry up here is tourism and logging.  For
the first hour or so after Coromandel, we drive by one tiny seaside
settlement after another, each made up of a dozen or so holiday homes
("batches") tucked away in their own tiny bay, looking across
shell-strewn rocky beaches at the firth.  Around 1pm, we pull off the highway
for lunch, and eat ham-and-cheese sandwiches at the table of our van,
sliding door open, looking out at the glittering sea.  Everywhere there are
tiny islands popping up steeply out of the Hauraki Gulf.  Some are denuded of
trees, evidently due to past logging or agricultural usage; others are
still thick with forest.  Once in awhile we spy tiny houses peeking out above
sheltered sandy beaches on these islands, many of which must be no more than
5-10 acres in size.  Here and there, great flocks of sea birds sit out upon
the waters - eating, socializing, or just passing the time.

By the time we reach Colville, we are truly in the sticks.  Colville itself is
not much more than a cafe, a general store, and a school.  Not many houses are
in evidence in the town itself, and I suppose most of the population which
calls Colville home must live somewhere up in the surrounding hills.  A bit
north of Colville the pavement ends.  Unpaved roads here are called
'unsealed', and that term can apply to anything from gravel to muddy clay.
It is the latter that we encounter as we continue along the coast.  What was
a narrow paved road becomes an even more narrow unsealed one.  The edges fade
away ambiguously, which is not too bad on the landward side, where the worst
you face is a brush with the grassy, muddy hillside into which the road has
been cut, but is a little more nerve-racking on the seaward side, where shallow
drainage ditch slides off 10 meters through steep hillside of tree ferns,
gnarled trees, and rocks down to the ocean.

It has been mixed sunlight and thick blue-gray clouds for most of the day.
We pull over on one of the many 'slow vehicle' turnouts and watch a double
rainbow pop into sight over the hills to our southeast, then continue north.
It begins to rain lightly, but we press on, desirous of reaching our campsite
and figuring that rain is less of a driving hazard than darkness.  High up
above the sea, we meet one of the giant Isuzu trucks I keep seeing roll by,
and manage to squeak by each other after the truck backs close to the hill
and I swing out, creeping by the truck with our passenger-side wheels treading
the edge of the road.  It is a bit of a hairy moment, but soon over and
forgotten.

Finally, after 3 hours of one-lane bridges and shifting up-down-down-up through
2nd, third, and fourth gear, our campervan lumbers around a bend and we reach
the DOC campground at Fletcher Bay  We are eager to stretch our legs, but
it continues to rain sporadically, and we are not gung-ho enough on the hike
from the campground to test out our rain gear.  In the cool air and shadowed
light, and with the sound of the light rain on our roof, we nod off in the
back of the van.  An hour later, there is no longer enough daylight for a
hike, but plenty for a walk at the rocky beach across the road.  In the early
evening light, fish jump out in the water, and a pair of pied shags loiter
about, then fly away as we get closer.  A couple of far-away fishing
boats are visible out on the water, and to the north we can see the
mountainous shape of Great Barrier Island, to which we hope to take a ferry
in a few weeks.

I move the van to a spot under a great spreading glossy-leafed tree that is
also rather importantly further away from the campsite's pit toilet, locally
(and accurately) known as a 'long drop'.  I suppose my physics education
would enable me to calculate the depth, but it doesn't seem worth the figuring.

Dinner is quick - leftover 'Italian' meat sauce with rice heated up in the
growing darkness while small flies immolate themselves upon our camp stove,
then we cross the road once more to take in the sunset, and a sky filled with
blue-black clouds.  Against the fading light, the twisted trees near the
waterfront make strange black silhouttes from atop their rocky perches, and
far across the water a lighthouse flashes.  Waves lap the shore and drain
back through the smooth rocks with a gushing sound.

Almost dark, we return to the van, wash our dishes, then sit at our respective
keyboards trying to remember the events of the last few days.

Waharau Park to Coromandel Town

2008-05-29T14:08:00.000-07:00

Quick summary for today - we woke up and headed south along the coast. Stopped to see lots of shorebirds and popped into the Miranda Shorebird Centre to by guidebooks. Met a really nice woman there from S. Africa. Kept driving south around the Firth and over to Thames. Did some shopping, and then continued on the very scenic road up to Coromandel (Town).

Omana Beach to Waharau Park

2008-05-29T14:00:00.000-07:00

Wednesday

Our first morning in the van and we woke up in a beautiful place! Several people at the hostel told us how exhilerating it is to arrive at the campsite at night and have a spectacular view revealed in the morning. We were right on a beach, a beach made of seashells instead of sand, with a glorious view over the ocean to some islands and back towards Auckland. It was however very windy so we decided to drive down the road to a more sheltered spot to make breakfast. We drove to Duder Point Regional Park (which we had tried to camp at the night before - but it had been gated.) This was a much more sheltered spot, so we cooked breakfast (oatmeal, Wheet Bix, and tea) and sat outside watching all the local birds. The parking lot was in a very pastoral setting, surrounded by pasture and there were dozens of these big native birds called Pukeko. I haven't gotten a good picture yet. They are very pretty birds, but slightly comical with their big legs and feet.

We went for a nice hike around the point that leads through cattle and sheep pasture and gives great views of the ocean and inland. The point (and a lot of the coastline) reminds us strongly of Pt Reyes in California. Duder Pt, and a lot of NZ, used to be all dense native forest, but has since been logged and turned to farmland. It's depressing to think about how much it has been changed, but it is still quite beautiful. Besides the logging, all the non-native introduced species are a big problem here. Opossums, rats, cats, and stoats are endangering the native birds and plants, and we saw numerous traps on our hike.

The tide was very low with the full moon and the beaches are very shallow so we saw lots of different shorebirds (that I can't identify.) And on the way down the hill we saw our first wild parrots! We could hear the squawking in the trees and suddenly a pair flew out and over our heads. We didn't see them for long, but they were medium-sized parrots with red heads, green bodies and blueish tails. I'm fairly certain they were Eastern Rosellas - a non-native introduced from Australia and fairly common in this area of NZ. (I think I caught a glimpse of one during breakfast too - but I wasn't certain.) Anyways, they were beautiful and I can't wait to see the native NZ parrots :)

And to cap a perfect afternoon, a complete rainbow appeared in the sky over the Firth of Thames (the body of water east of Duder Point.)

After the hike, we had lunch - peanut butter and jelly sandwiches... again, and then drove south along the coast for a ways. We stopped at a local fruit stand and bought some madarins and local raw honey (very good) and continued on to our next campground at Waharau Regional Park.

We were the only people at the campground which was great, and we cooked a big meal with the meat and veggies we bought the day before - don't worry, they were kept cold in our "chilly bin" - the kiwi term for a cooler :)

I should tell you a little about our van. It is a Toyota Hi Ace van that has been nicely kitted-out for travel. The back converts into a queen-sized bed or two benches and a table, with plenty of storage underneath. And the kitchen is at the very back, with a dual burner camping stove, a small sink with a 20L water tank, and some storage. It's all very convenient and we are very happy that we didn't get a smaller van instead. A lot of the vans are just a bed in back, and so you have to set up your kitchen outside (ie. in the rain) and you have nowhere to sit inside. Ours is very cozy and stays pretty warm at night too.

First week in Auckland

2008-05-29T13:45:00.000-07:00

Auckland, Monday 12-May

Lost a day as we flew over the date line from Rarotonga to Auckland. Nice flight, and no trouble getting to the hostel - although the shuttle bus driver drove the van like a race car!

We checked into the Lantana Lodge, a hostel in the Parnell area of Auckland.

Tuesday 13-May

Since we had no groceries, we got up early and walked up to Parnell Rd for breakfast. Pastries and little pies (both sweet and savoury) are very popular here and all the convenience stores and cafes have them, so we found a nice cheap place and had great coffee and pastries for breakfast. The fact that you can get a fresh baked lamb & mint, or steak & mushroom pie for $2-3NZ at every corner shop has me wanting to stop twice a day!

Then we wandered around Parnell for a little bit - it's a very nice neighborhood with charming shops and many Victorian houses. Auckland is hilly and has lots of coastline so this older part really reminded us of San Francisco. Eventually wandered back to the hostel, got directions to the nearest supermarket, Foodtown, and went there to stock up. Food and household goods seem fairly expensive here - even considering the exchange rate. We will definitely be eating a lot of oatmeal, sandwiches, rice, beans and pasta while we're here. The cheapest meats are fresh sausages and they're pretty good. I expected lamb to be really inexpensive but it's about the same price as ground beef (called "mince") at ~$9-10NZ per kg. We bought some marinated lamb chops on sale for dinner - very good :)

In addition to jelly babies (my favorite), they have lots of strange gummy candies here, everything from gummy volcanos to mushrooms to eskimos. Lots of wine gums too, but I can't find the good pastilles. Oh and good licorice of course.

After shopping, we walked around Parnell some more and had a nice chat with a mobile library bus driver... who turned out to be from Shreveport, LA! He'd been in NZ for about 10 years and sounded like a native kiwi to us. He told us when he first came over he did roofing, and impressed everyone here because he could take the "terrible" summer heat better than the locals... haha.

Wednesday 14-May

Today we went to the nearby Auckland Museum which has a fantastic collection of Maori and pacific islanders art and artifacts. Amazing handicrafts - woven, carved, beaded, stamped, etc. (Dianna - you would have loved it!) They also had a nice exhibit on NZ flora and fauna - included a stuffed moa... they are truly huge. We only managed to see about half the museum before we ran out of time, so we'll have to go back. The museum is situated in a large park called the Auckland Domain and we walked around for a bit - just beautiful and full of tree ferns and magnificent old knarled trees. That evening after dinner we went out with some folks from the hostel and had a great time- Artur, Felix, and Francie from Germany, and Harry from London (originally France). Everyone of course has perfect English...

Thursday 15-May

Today we started looking for a van in earnest. We went to the backpacker car mart and test drove a van owned by a nice German couple. The van was nice, but not exactly what we wanted so we kept looking. That afternoon we walked the length of K Rd and Ponsonby Rd... lots of shops and people watching. We went inside a promising used bookstore, but the prices were very high so we didn't get anything. I had hoped to visit a famous pie shop that is in the lonely planet guidebook, but sadly they have moved. Then we caught the bus home and spent more time researching vans...

Friday 16-May

Today we test drove another van, named "Harry", but it was kind of on its last legs (or wheels?) So we didn't buy it. The owners were a very friendly Finnish couple - everyone has been really friendly here. We walked by another promising van and called the owner, but the van had completely died in just the past few days... And the guy would've talked to us about it forever :)

Since we hadn't found a good van yet we decided to check lumber prices at a local hw store to see how much it would cost to kit out a van ourselves. Lumber and tools are a little more here, but if we had had a place to do it we could certainly build a bed platform and kitchen stand.

After that we walked home through the Auckland Domain park and got to spend a few minutes in the tropical hothouse before it closed. Justin asked an employee about a particular plant and they guy turned out to be extremely friendly and told us it was the largest cycad sinesis in the southern hemisphere and that "she" was a really special tree. She was outgrowing the hothouse though and so they were trying to decide what to do with her when she hits the roof in a few years... Probably move her to another hothouse. Anyways it was a beautiful place and we planned to go back. By the time we got back we were dead tired so we splurged and went to the local Irish Pub for dinner, The Bog,... more steak pie for me :)

Saturday 17-May

Today we went to another car market but didn't find anything good. Went back to the backpacker mart and test drove a really nice but big van owned by a dreadlocked couple from Spain - very nice and amusing... but we couldn't agree on a price. Had lunch at an Indian restaurant because we we're too far from the hostel to go back, haggled about the van price some more but still couldn't get anywhere so we gave up and went home. Stopped at Foodtown again on the way. Shopping for vans is NOT a holiday... ugh.

Sunday 18-May

Today we caught a ride to the big weekly car fair in Ellerslie with Francie who was trying to sell her station wagon. We found a nice looking red van that was all kitted out, but the mechanical inspection found severe rust damage and various other problems that would've cost a lot to fix before it would pass the NZ inspection. So we had to pass and go back to the mart. We felt terrible for the owner - an extremely nice but shy German girl who had been here working on horse farms for the past year and was leaving the next day...

Then we talked to an American named Ryan who had a nice van that we hadn't considered before due to price, but he had lowered it by the end of the day, so we test drove it and agreed on a price - hurray! It was too late for the mechanical inspection, so we agreed to meet in the morning and get it inspected...

He gave us a ride back into town and dropped us off on K Rd, where we stumbled upon a great international foodcourt and asian supermarket... finally some good prices! Justin got to eat at a similar foodcourt all the time in SF.

Monday 19-May

Waited all morning to hear back from the mechanic (NZ has it's own version of island time), but we eventually got an appointment at 3pm. The van passed with no problems so we did the transfer of ownership and afterwards went to a pub with Ryan - a very nice guy - to celebrate and to get some tips on where to go and camp in NZ. The name of the pub was The Dog's Bollux. Lamb for me and chili for Justin.

Tuesday 20-May

Today the plan was to get up, stock up the van with supplies and head south to a campground but it didn't work that smoothly...

First our shopping took longer than expected, then we couldn't find our shops because we had lost our good map, but a stranger on the street offered to help and actually called Information on his mobile for us to get directions! This act of charity was by far the highlight of the day :) but it was sadly followed up by mean ladies in the fabric store chewing me out for taking photos of the store - humph. So I have posted the ones I managed to take just to spite them.

And then the coup de grace - we walk back to our van, but it had been towed! Argh... we had unknowingly parked in a lane that is parking during the off-hours and a bus lane during rush hour... fortunately some nice folks at a nearby petrol station helped us out and we called the police and walked to the impound lot and got the van back. Way easier than it would've been in the US... and the ticket was only $112.

Then we still had to go to the supermarket and when we were almost done the fire alarm went off and everyone had to vacate... By now we were hungry, tired and just a little cranky. Eventually we got to go back in and buy our stuff.

Then we hightailed it out of Auckland - stopping at a Burger King on the way (which is decorated as a 50's diner here). We made it out of town, found a campground and went to bed - whew!

Photos of Auckland

Last post for Rarotonga

2008-05-29T04:24:00.000-07:00

Hi all - we finally splurged and stayed in a hostel (indoors) for a night, so we can take advantage of the high speed internet to catch up...

Here's the last post for Rarotonga, and hopefully before long we'll be caught up on NZ posts as well:

Rarotonga Day 6, Saturday 10-May
Today we headed to the south side of the island again to tour the Maire Nui Gardens that we had only glanced at a couple days before. We took the bus and arrived at the gardens after what appeared to be a heavy rain shower - good thing we missed it. The garden was kind of boggy but the water droplets on all the flowers and leaves made for some beautiful pictures. The gardens are full of big blooming tropical plants, palms, and wild versions of all the house plants we have at home.

After that we strolled down the road to Tikioki Beach expecting to eat lunch and rent snorkel gear again, but alas the shop was closed for the weekend - "island time" at work again...
So instead we walked along the beach for awhile taking in the scenery until I had my Jimmy Buffet moment - I "blew out my flip flop"! I didn't "step on a pop-top" but we did cruise on back home. now I understand the song completely :)
So we had lunch at the hostel, repaired the flipflop (trusty sewing kit) and went back to the beach for a swim and another sunset walk. This was our last full day and we were not ready to leave - we'll definitely have to go back someday!

Rarotonga Day 7, Saturday 11-May
Didn't do much today other than pack up and lug our giant packs to the airport via the bus. The airport is very small and quite pleasant, with an outdoor waiting area at the gate! So it's off to Auckland, and we crossed the date line and lost a day. Absolutely beautiful clouds during the flight as well...

Here are the photos

Progressive Dinner in Rarotonga

2008-05-29T04:21:00.000-07:00

We'd been debating for a few days about whether we wanted to go to one of the "island nights" that were advertised everywhere. They were supposed to be big events with food slow-baked in hot rocks, buried in a pit, and traditional dancing by the locals. While this might have been fun, I have to confess it sounded a bit too tourist-oriented for my tastes. On one of the days we were in town, we stopped by the local tourism office and asked about the "Progressive Dinner", for which we'd seen a couple of very small fliers. The lady at the desk was happy to set us up for the one that week, and that night we were picked up by one of the organizer's sons and dropped off at the first location. It turned out the first home we were to dine at was just a block or so away from our hostel!

There we were met by our first host, Dan, who explained that his wife was busy with her new shop, and that he was in charge for the night! After a van carrying the rest of the guests arrived, we set out on a tour of Dan's garden, which stretched out behind his house towards the center of the island and covered a good 2-3 acres. There were quite a few familiar and unfamiliar fruits and vegetables, from 2-3 varieties of mangos - sadly not in season - to papayas, starfruits, cacao, vanilla beans, 2 varieties of taro, pistachios (our second host, Timu, informed us that the islanders ate the fruit and not the nut!), Several kinds of bananas, pineapples, coffee and numerous citrus trees whose varieties were not named. There was also a fair-sized vegetable patch, full of green leafy plants locally known as "rocket" like those we'd already seen for sale in the supermarket as well as several other vegetables.

After the garden tour in the fading daylight, we retired to an outdoor patio on the south side of Dan's father-in-law's house, which sat immediately behind Dan's house, where we were served steamed taro, a lemon-juice cooked fish soup with bits of scallions and tomatoes in the lemon-juice coconut milk base, and fresh starfruit. Champagne and homemade tropical fruit juice blend were available to drink. The 'fish soup' was both Christina and my personal favorite - we'd been used to a similar dish in Tucson, but made without the coconut milk. The steamed taro was very mild, and not especially flavorful, but tasted fine. I think that I liked it better than Christina. To my palette, it would have been better used as a base for a more involved dish with a few spices added. Whatever else, it was certainly filling - like eating starchy bricks! I suppose I'm not doing a very good job of selling taro; it really seems to be one of the polynesian cultural equivalent of potatoes, along with kumara. The starfruit we had already been enjoying since we'd picked up a bag at the local supermarket. Their taste was watery but refreshing - in a manner reminiscent of grapes.

After about an hour, we got in the van and moved on to our next hosts, Timu and his wife. On the drive over, which took perhaps 15 minutes, we found out that virtually all the other dinner guest were Kiwis, a set of 4 middle-aged couples who were long-term friends and took vacations together. Once they found out we were heading to NZ next, we were deluged with suggestions as to where to go and what to see. Everyone seemed rather concerned that it was going to feel terribly cold to us, although given the weather we've been having, I haven't quite figured out why. While we drove, Dan and a friend played island (and other) music on ukeleles.

At Timu's house, we had barbequed chicken drumsticks and fresh-caught fish, along with a bit of salad, cookied greens (spinach-like) in coconut cream, and slices of cool watermelon. While we ate, Timu told us a bit about his business, which was a black pearl farm. It's one of the few industries which the cook islands supports besides tourism. We were serenaded towards the end of the course by Dan and friends on ukeleles and some sort of upright instrument made out of a box with a single pole running upright through it and supporting a single string from a pivoting bar at the top of the pole. By pulling the end of the bar, they could stretch the string tighter and thereby produce notes of different pitch.

Finally, with the sun completely gone and twilight almost over, we got back in the van and travelled to our final hosts' house Tim and his wife, whose name I did not catch. Tim was a decendant of the famous William Marsters, who travelled with 3 of his 4 wives to the Palmerton North and founded a great clan. There we enjoyed orange upside-down cake (made from local oranges), fruit salad made from papayas, starfruit, guava, watermelon, passion fruit and oranges; and coconut macaroons, along with a bit of ice cream if one wanted. The evening ended quietly with tea or local coffee at your choice, and finally we all got back in the van to be dropped off wherever we were staying.

a note from the Coromandel Penninsula

2008-05-24T20:52:00.000-07:00

Hi all - just a note to let you know we're still here :) We've been touring the gorgeous Coromandel Penn. and the internet access has been limited. Will post lots of photos and entries in a few more days.

Cheers :)

Rarotonga - Days 4 and 5

2008-05-17T03:34:00.000-07:00

more catching up on old entries:

Rarotonga 08May:

Hmm, today we took the anti-clockwise (that's how they say it) bus into Avarua and bought local flip-flops... A purchase we should have made the moment we landed. Then we window shopped around town as I tempted myself with lots of nice souvenirs that I couldn't buy (those of you who saw our packs when we left know why!) Beautiful black pearl and mother-of-pearl jewelry, woven baskets and bags, wood carvings, etc. I did pick up a colorful sarong - or pareu as they're called here - for wearing on the beach and to use as a wrap when I come out of the shower at the hostels. My little REI camp towel doesn't exactly cover me up!

For lunch we indulged and ate at a touristy place that had pretty good food - we split a paw paw (papaya) salad and grilled fish. Yum.

Then we visited the local information center and the very nice woman who runs it helped book us for the "progressive dinner" that night. We had considered an expensive "island night" at one of the resorts - a polynesian feast and performance, but instead opted for this and it turned out to be great fun. It consisted of a three-course dinner of local food, with each course served at a different local family's house. Including a descendant of Marsters - the man who "colonized" Palmerston island in the late 1800's (with the help of his four native wives.) We had a fantastic time, but I'll leave the details for Justin...

Rarotonga 09May:

Today we went to another beach renowned for snorkeling on the south-east side of the island, Muri Beach. This part of the coast has the biggest lagoon on the island and within the lagoon are three islands or motu that you can swim to and explore. After renting our gear, we headed for the southern most island that is supposed to have the best snorkeling. The swimming was great, but the snorkeling wasn't nearly as good as Tikioki beach so we were a little disappointed. Although we did see several new fish - including the unicorn fish and a fancy tropical flounder. And it was fun to swim out to the islands and walk around. Afterwards we went to a local cafe for another tropical smoothie and then walked along the beach until the sunset. The sunsets here are spectacular. Magnificent clouds and colors and all reflected in the calm lagoon waters.

Rarotonga - Days 2 and 3

2008-05-17T03:29:00.000-07:00

Rarotonga, 06May

Jetlagged, we didn't get going until about 11am this morning... already on "island time". After failing to snag a couple free bicycles from the hostel, we caught the bus to the south side of the island which is known for it's good snorkelling. We had planned to eat lunch at a place called Maire Nui, but the bus driver told us it had just burned down - too bad. So instead we walked along the road for awhile and explored the area and eventually ate lunch at Fruits of Rarotonga - sandwiches and tropical smoothies... Very good!

Located directly across from the best snorkeling beach on the island, they of course rent out snorkel gear - so after lunch we went snorkeling for a couple hours, which is great here! At first we were just in the shallow water, with an impressive array of fish, but once we got out further to about 10-12ft deep, the coral gets better and there were whole schools of big beautiful tropical fish (tasty looking too.) We would slowly float through the coral maze following a particular school of fish or just observing all the activity on the coral. After awhile we realized that we could hear the parrotfish chomping on the coral underwater! It was a great experience... I tried out my waterproof camera bag, and it certainly kept my camera dry, but my pictures were just so-so. I think it takes some practice. Many of the fish were very curious about us and followed us around. And at one point, I had to stand on top of some dead coral to adjust my mask, and these tiny electric blue and black fish started nibbling on my legs! It didn't hurt, but I guess I was in their territory :)

After snorkelling we walked partway back - which was a mistake. We killed our feet by walking in wet Chacos... We learned later to just wear flip-flops like the locals.

Anyways, we caught the night bus (runs after 5pm) and made it back to the hostel in time for the bbq party (the hostel has activites planned each night.) The party was a lot of fun and very tasty - they grilled fresh-caught tuna steaks - excellent. We got to chat with some other folks at the hostel too, and even bought a new Lonely Planet NZ book (to replace my 9 yr old Rough Guide NZ) from a German girl who was on her way home. She thought we were Danish btw... haha.

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Rarotonga 07May:

Woke up to dark clouds and overcast skies so decided to avoid snorkeling. Instead we went down to the beachside house, spent a little time catching up on email and watched part of a NZ movie that a guy had on called Once Were Warriors, about a modern-day Maori family. Looked interesting...

Then we lucked out and got a couple bikes (free) from the hostel. They were not in very good shape, but the brakes worked - mostly -and we took off to ride on the inner island road all the way into town. The inner island road is the older road (pre-european) and goes through breathe-taking countryside and farmland with amazing views of the mountains. We really enjoyed leisurely riding along as there is much less traffic on it and a lot more to see. I made Justin stop every few minutes to take photos but he didn't seem to mind :) He just kept threatening to repair the bikes with his leatherman...

At one point we missed a turn and ended up going up a very steep road to the hospital - it has the best view on the island! Of course, our bikes were completely rusted out and couldn't shift gears, so we had to walk them up - and the brakes barely worked so we had to walk them down too! We got passed in both directions by a pro cycler who was probably training for the Rarotongan triathalon on Saturday. Needless to say, his bike was not so rusty...

After that we made it back to the main inner road and passed all the school kids on their way home. (The island has lots of kids and we got a kick out of riding the bus with them - the main bus is their school bus.) Shortly after this, I got the bright idea to stop at a gas station and air up my low rear tire... Bad idea. The station attendant was very helpful, but the tire had a strange air valve and between the attendant and Justin I soon had a completely flat tire! After some more fiddling they managed to get a little air back in the tire. It was enough to ride home, but that was one bumpy road!

As I reread what I just wrote, it sounds like we didn't have a very good day - but quite the contrary. The bike ride was very enjoyable. That night we ate more of our huge batch of curry and watched some Fry & Laurie (tv show) on the laptop. This is a full day in the tropics!

Rarotonga - Day 1

2008-05-13T15:49:00.000-07:00

catching up on the Rarotonga entries...

Rarotonga 05May08

After a nine and a half hour flight from LA (relatively painless) we arrived on Rarotonga shortly before dawn. The airport is very small and laid-back, and you exit the plane onto the tarmac and walk to the terminal. As we did the sun was just starting to come up and the island was very quiet and still.Everyone took the opportunity to take photos in front of the plane - including us.

Inside the airport we were greeted by a local guitarist playing polynesian music.. Very festive!

Anyways we made it through customs easily enough, even though we had camping gear and had been to a farm recently (they didn't seem to care). However we had trouble getting local money. Even though we had notified the bank ahead of time, our ATM cards didn't work and the airport bank was closed. Fortunately the hostel folks didn't mind and later loaned us 20 NZD for bus fair to the bank downtown. Problem solved :)

The hostel had a van to pick us and several other guests up at the airport, and the ride around the island in the quiet, early dawn was spectacular. I lucked out and got to ride in the front seat (wonder if they call it "shotgun" here?) The island has one main road that circumnavigates the island and is all of 32km long. There is also an inland circular road that goes around most of the island and is very scenic... more on that later. Anyways, we were on the main road and most of the time you have fantastic views of the lush, volcanic mountains, the beautiful coral lagoon or both. The buildings are mostly rustic cinder block construction with corrugated metal roofs. Some are brightly painted and all have many chickens, dogs, goats, etc wandering in the yard. The vegetation is lush and tropical as you would expect, but I'll leave it to the flora expert (Justin) to describe it in more detail :)

We're staying at Rarotongan Backpackers on the west side of the island - at the hillside location. The hostel is in a great place, tucked into the lush hillside with views of the ocean, and the beach only a 5 minute walk away. The hostel has a beachside location as well, but it is more crowded and closer to the busy main road, so I think we made the right choice. We lucked out and got to stay in a bungalow for the first two nights with our own private bathroom, kitchen and balcony because our standard double room was still occupied. We were tempted to pay extra to stay in it the whole week, but decided that wouldn't be a good way to start off our "budget" trip ;)

Our first day here, we took the bus into town to get cash and groceries, and had lunch at a nice little chinese restaurant. I know Chinese sounds funny, but there weren't any inexpensive local cuisine shops!

Buying groceries was an experience as well. We stocked up on local fruit (papaya, starfruit, avocado, lemon) but the meat and drygoods are mostly imported and very expensive! Fresh milk was $7NZ per liter, but fortunately we found the cheaper UHT milk (milk in aseptic cartons that doesn't require refridgeration until opened - like the individual half & half for coffee in the states.) We decided to make a big batch of curry and rice to eat for several days with a curry packet. And for breakfast we got the cheapest cereal, Wheatbix - a NZ staple (kind of like wheaties but compressed into bars like big shredded wheat.) Tastes fine, but goes soggy instantly.

Of course our first day wouldn't be complete without a visit to the ocean... We went to the nearest beach and waded way out in the lagoon. In some places you can walk all the way to the coral "wall" separating the lagoon from the deep ocean without even getting your knees wet. There are millions of sea cucumbers here (although we did not snack on them raw as the locals do!) And you have wear sandals in the ocean to avoid cutting yourself on the coral. The beach is gorgeous and we got to watch a very nice sunset.

After it got dark, we went back to the bungalow where I got to display my MacGyver talents (haha)! For the curry and rice we needed two burners, which we thought we had, until we realized that one would only light and flicker for a minute before going out. Using a needle from my trusty sewing kit I was able to clear the clogged gas outlet and voila, we had two working burners! and Justin thought it was silly to bring sewing supplies... now if I can only find a dual use for those knitting needles...

Link to full flickr set

Cook Islands Update

2008-05-11T15:17:00.000-07:00

Howdy - it's our last day on Rarotonga and we hate to leave, but we are looking forward to NZ. We should be able to update the blog with loads of pictures etc as soon as we get to Auckland. The internet here is limited and expensive...

anyways, in short we've had a great time - snorkelling, eating, snorkelling some more :)

cheers,
Christina

IMG_0379

2008-05-04T21:36:00.001-07:00

IMG_0379
Originally uploaded by cmcfall

In Laura's garden, right before leaving for the airport

Departure Day

2008-05-04T21:07:00.000-07:00

Hooray! We are mid-air on our way to our first stop - the South Pacific paradise of Rarotonga, Cook Islands. We'll be staying at Rarotonga Backpackers hostel as we while away 6 days swimming in the coral reef lagoons, hiking in the tropical jungle, and of course eating loads of papaya and coconuts. We are really looking forward to it.

We'll probably just stay on the main island of Rarotonga the whole time... a couple of beach bums. I bought a waterproof enclosure for my little Canon, and so if I'm brave enough to immerse my new camera (eek!) I should have some fantastic photos of the tropical fish to post in few days. Of course, the islands are supposed to be beautiful above water as well.

We just finished up visiting Justin's family in Oklahoma, and my family in Kansas City and fortunately got to visit with most everyone before we left. Spring has sprung and it is just beautiful in both places. It's been a long time since we've been there in spring so it was great to see again.

We're flying out of OKC through LAX (as I type this in fact!) One of the great trip gadgets that we got is an ultra-compact PC - the Nokia N800. For my Agilent friends: the N800 has an Arm processor, runs linux, great battery life and power mgmt, NO FAN and only weighs 8ozs :) impressive, huh?

We'll that's all for now. The internet on the Cooks may not be so accessible (the tubes are narrow there - haha.) So I'll post again in the next few days.

After that we'll be touring NZ for a full 3 months... more on that later :)

Cheers,
Christina

We are finally on our way

2008-05-04T21:04:00.000-07:00

I almost can't believe it. We've been talking about this for what seems like forever. Pretty much our entire lives outside of work have been absorbed in one project or another related to this since April 2007, and you could argue that we were deep in the 'planning/dreaming' stages of this for some time before that.

What are we doing?

We are fulfilling our dreams of seeing more of the world, and of doing so at our own pace and on our own terms. Both of us have travelled outside the USA before, but never like this. In general, our trips have been the kinds of vacations that most people we know are familiar with - family or personal jaunts to some desired location for a few, short, jam-packed and exhausting days, or endless drives across North America, Scenic Attraction on the horizon, Texaco in the rear-view mirror, and empty McDonald's wrappers jammed in the car's ashtray.

Not that we haven't enjoyed those trips, but they've always felt like being allowed 5 minutes at an epic feast. We would find ourselves chased away by iron-clad schedules with the bittersweet realization of finding places and people we wanted to know better but to which we would probably never return. How can you see any place in 2 weeks, much less 3 days? I know we will still leave each new location we visit with experiences forfeit by the push to travel onward, but hopefully we will have at least burned some strong images and impressions into our memories to carry with us.

What was the impetus for our trip? I like to tease Christina that it was her doing. Years ago, after spending 6 weeks with her family in Beijing, we talked about travelling more, and she introduced me to the idea of round-the-world tickets. We aren't travelling on this kind of ticket, and many years have elapsed since we first considered long-term travel, but the dream is essentially the same. Since the time we first talked about such a trip, both of us finished college (several times), got jobs, bought a house, and in general didn't think much about long-term travel. But though we lived in a beautiful place, had a house that we liked and had invested much time and effort remodelling, and were employed in careers that paid well, we both still had itchy feet. In this last year we came to the decision that now was the time to take our trip. We were both ready for a break from our jobs, and we already knew that Sonoma County, though full of charm, was not to be our permanent home. The cost of living, if nothing else, would force us to both keep working full-time indefinitely or else move away.

We are engaged in travelling to see as much of the world as we have time and energy to spend. Our itinerary begins on Rarotonga in the Cook Islands, then moves on successively through New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, SE Asia, India, Nepal, China, Russia, Eastern and Northern Europe, the UK, then back to North America where, after spending some time with family and friends, we hope to continue onwards and see Mexico, Central America, and South America. It's a long list of places, and quite honestly, there are many others we would like to see as well that we are currently not planning on going to for reasons of cost or political stability. I have no idea if we'll get to see every place I have listed, and I'm sure we'll go to ones I haven't. We are making travel arrangements as we go, which gives us the flexibility to slow down, speed up, and change our route at will.

The idea is to travel lightly - although our packs do not appear to have heard about this part of the plan - and inexpensively. We are looking to mostly camp or stay in places like hostels, depending on what makes more sense for the location, as well as to cook much of our own food when possible. By travelling at this kind of 'street-level' I hope to meet more people and see places more as locals do, as well as save money. I've always had the most fun in places I visited when I got away from tourist attractions and just spent my time doing what the people who lived there enjoy doing.

-Justin

Welcome

2008-04-29T22:26:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the new blog!