On The Road Again

Saturday & Sunday July 18-19

The Trusty Stray Bus

Lake Matheson

West Coast Beach/Lake/Rimu Forest

Blue Pools

Karaoke at Macarora

Lake Wanaka

45 Parallel (really down under!)

Glacial Goodness

After Barrytown we said goodbye to a few of the crew and picked up a couple more in Greymouth. We stopped through the town of Hokitika which is the source for most of New Zealand's greenstone (jade). We got to see how it is fashioned into the intricate patterns- it looks like a very involved process!

We pulled into Franz Joseph and tumbled off the bus to sign up for the following days adventures- glacier hikes! Glaciers are responsible for carving out the landscape of southwest New Zealand, and Franz Joseph and Fox are the most famous in NZ because of their size, speed (by glacial standards) and accessibility. They also descend into temperate rainforest, the terminal face being only about 12 km from the Tasman Sea.
Most of us opted for the full day guided tour of the glacier to maximize our time on the blue ice- the terminal face picks up all sorts of boulders and dirt and isn't that pretty to look at.

Friday was our hiking day and it was really dreary- cold and wet and grey. We arrived at the shop at 8am to get kitted out with "waterproof" pants and jacket, hat and gloves, and most importantly boots and crampons, the spiky bits you strap over your boots so you can walk on solid ice. It was pretty legit!

There was a 10 min bus ride and about a 2km walk before we even got close to the ice. We were split into groups of about 10- Tif and I opted for the fast medium group and Scooter and Ann Marie from the tour were also in our group. Our guides were Nick and Rob, who carried big ice axes and had to help carve out steps and screw in hand lines along the way. Because the ice is constantly moving- up to 1.5m at the face, sometimes as much as 5m in the middle every day!- guides are constantly cutting new paths and finding different routes.

Walking on the ice was pretty weird at first. You had to "step aggressively" to get the crampons to sink in. It was a pretty constant hike for the 6 hour day, and the rain barely let off, but the views of the valley from the glacier were amazing and the ice itself was incredible. It looks blue because all the pressure of the ice on top forces air out and it absorbs all the other colors and only reflects the blue.

As the ice shifts it also forms crevaces and caves, tunnels and

 holes. Our guides were keen to get us crawling through these and taught us the shuffle step. We slid

 and shimmied our way through the first crevace- and all of us got a bit

 wedged in there. The ice walls were well over our heads and it was so narrow your feet had to face forward but you had to turn your

 body sideways and squeeze through. They say people with

 claustrophobia have issues with the hikes, and this made me understand why! After (barely!) making it through the first crevice we moved on t

o a tunnel and were crawling on hands and knees through a tiny passage and climbing a verticle tunnel to get out. The w

hole thing was pretty mindblowing, but spectacular. 

There were some serious stairs and ridges to navigate, a 

hesp more crevacies, and a lot more ice! We reached the high point for some more 

brilliant views. On the hike back down we saw some keas, mountain parrots that are very mischevious and will pull windshie

ld wipers off cars or open backpacks if left unattended. Apparently if they're desperate

 they'll also land on sheeps backs and peck until they can eat their insides, but that's just gross. 

After what felt like forever we made it back down off the ice, through the valley and the woods and onto the bus. I had thought the whole thing was amazing and Tif and I 

were pretty excited about it all. Everyone else, however, found it to be one of the most miserable experiences. All that high tech clothing really paid off- so thanks REI for helping me part with all that money!

After an exhausting day we had a big night at the local that included "horse races" and a lot of group bonding. 

Straying

Wednesday July 15

Today was a solid travel day getting to the top of the wild West Coast. We stopped at a few beautiful spots including a walk at Cape Foulwind with spectacular scenery and a seal colony.  There were a few more beaches and we watched the sunset at Punakaiki, also known as the pancake rocks which are 35 million year old limestone and mud formations created by the waves pounding against the cliffs and creating strange, twisted forms. There are areas that become blow holes at high tide, but while we were there the water just surged in and out. Our stop that night was Barrytown, or Barry-no-town as the locals call it (no one else has a nickname for it because no one else knows it exists). Because the whole place is just a pub and a backpackers we had a Stray dress up party and amply amused ourselves for the evening.

Some quality links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdVHZwI8pcA&feature=related

(Beached As)

http://www.straytravel.com

Cape Foulwind walk

The weka, an endemic New Zealand bird, not to be mistaken for a kiwi

Mambo, bus driver and tour leader extraordinaire! 

Stormy beachPancake Rocks

Able Tasman

Monday- Tuesday, July 13-14
We dropped off the illicit Jenny II at the ferry terminal and met up with the rest of the Stray bus group who came across the ferry from Wellington. Mambo was our trusty bus driver and tour guide and was full of history lessons and local legedns and all sorts of random trivia. Our bus was a bright orange 24 seater that never wanted to get into second gear, which made climbing the many narrow, windy mountain passes especially, erm, exciting. I think we only ever fully stalled once, but there was always a lot of jerking and shaking and coming to a full stop before crawling off in first again. Apparently the bus will me retired after our trip.

The first stop of the day was at... the Marlborough wineries! A lot of the guys who stayed in Picton went on a wine tour the day before as well (sounded the same as what Tif and I did, but ours was free!) and a few of us opted to do a liquor tasting instead. Nice, but possibly not the best idea before a day on the bus!

We had a quick stop in the town of Nelson and picked up another girl and fresh mussels for the BBQ that night. As we were driving we played different "get to know you" games like international speed dating. People on the bus were from England, ireland, Germany and there was the "token Aussie dude", with tiffany and me representing "team America".

Our destination was Able Tasman National Park, which is in the far north of the South Island. We stayed at a place called Old Mcdonalds Farm, which had little cabins and a central kitchen and grill where we had a big group bbq and tasted some more mussels. The ones out here are enormous and beardy- good, bit also kind of oogy.

In the morning we got to explore the park. A group of us opted for a half day hike and anafternoon sailing trip. We did 12.5 km from Marahau, where we were staying, up to The Anvhorage. It was a beautiful walk, partly through forests and over waterfalls, some of the time along beautiful goldenbeaches. We were told that a few days before some of the beaches were white because they had inches of ice on them. They were frosty, but luckily not that cold! The water everywhere was so so clear and varying shades of blue. I don't know what New Zealands secret is to their amazing water! It's always so clear that I think it'll be warm and tropical and want to jump in. Luckily no one has let me yet!

It started drizzling early in the afternoon, and by the time we met the sail boat it was cold and really dreary. It was also very still- good if you are walking, not so much if you want to be sailing. We ended up motoring everywhere, which was still good fun. Darell was our skipper and Scotty was his crew. They were both real characters and we were entertained- albeit freezing- all afternoon. I got to steer the boat for a bit and didn't crash into anything! Good job me, I know. We saw some seals, shahs, a grey heron and a few intrepid kayakers.

The boat poked into a bunch of little bays and inlets, around islands and up a few streams. We ended the day seeing split apple rock, a big round rock that's cracked in two, hence looking like a split apple. We spent the rest of the evening huddled together under the heater at the fatm thawing.

baby seals, wineries, and chocolate! life is good!

Sunday July 12

The draw to Kaikoura is the marine life. There is good fishing, lots of whales and dolphins, and tons and tons of seals. In the summer you can actually go swimming with seals- which seems a bit sketchy to me. It might be all those years of watching Animal Planet and how they say "anywhere you find large groups of seals, there you'll find sharks feeding on them". Sure enough, upon further reading I also found out you can go cage diving with sharks just off the coast. I decided to keep both feet firmly on land.

We did drive along the coast to a seal colony where the giant blubbery animals were just feet away snoozing and playing in the water. We did a lot of aawing and squealing and watched them frolic and galumph about. However, we had a tip for an even better place about 20 min up the coast.

It was another rainy morning but the coastline was gorgeous with crashing waves and further along black beaches. It reminded me a lot of driving down Stuart Highway to the Kenia Peninsula- especially one bit that had train tracks on the edge of the bluff next to the ocean.
We stopped at Ohau and walked for about 10 min to a waterfall, and what we found was almost too good to believe. Under this beautiful fall was a pool full of seal pups jumping and playing and swimming about. It was like seal kindergarten. There weren't any adults around, and all the pups have to climb upstream to get here, but apparently they do it for about 4 months every year. It really was one of the best things either Tiffany or I have ever seen. It's pretty impossible to describe the cuteness factor of 50 baby seals playing in a pool, combined with the fact that it's under a giant waterfall. It's definitely in the Top 10 list.
To make the day even better we passed through the Marlborough wine region in the early afternoon and did

 a self guided (aka "this one looks nice") wine tour. The first stop was Montana, who's export label is

 Stoneleigh, and they had some really wonderful wines. The region is best known for their Sauvignon Blanc, and their Pinot Noir is also gaining acclaim. These, along with the 7 or so others that the wonderful Robin poured for us, were excellent- and about $40 a bottle, an additional $240 if you wanted a case shipped back to the States! So we were happy with our free tasting. (Tiffany was the afternoon driver and was very responsible about everything, utilizing the spit bucket).

We drove around for a while and found ourselves at Nautilus, a much smaller winery and cellar door. Sara

 was pouring and we were the only ones in there and became fast friends with her. Tiffany had asked her about the SPCA down the road and she told us an involved story of finding a stray cat and sharing her

 sausage roll with it and going back to rescue it later and having it reunited with it's family. She also told us she only worked once a fortnight so she could get her wine discount and the good biscuits the place provided. She actually just did it to get out of the house and talk to people because she's a full time mom at the moment and her 1 year old loves to chew on the iron table legs as well as shoes. She was amazing.

We went to a chocolate place- free samples!- and Saint Clair's, the only NZ winery to be named to the top 100 wineries by some prestigious list. Clearly, Tif and I know hope to pick em!
We finally rolled into The Villa in Picton full and happy. We chose to stay here because they offered free apple crisp at 8pm in the winter. It turns out Stray bus had the same idea because they stay here as well. It worked out really well because we met one guy that was joining the tour the next day with us and 6 people that had been on the bus since Christchurch. Everyone was really friendly and we didn't have any trouble getting in with the group which took any stress out of joining the next day.

Leaving the North Island

July 10-11

Tif and I said goodbye to Caitlin and saw her off on the bus to the airport. We spent the afternoon at the Auckland museum which was a nice way to finish our time on the North Island- kind of full circle from starting at Te Papa museum in Wellington. Auckland had a good amount of Maori artifacts including a giant war canoe and one of only two remaining "birdman" kites. We picked up some interesting information- for example, the greenstone hand clubs we had been seeing were used in combat, but in a jabbing motion at the face and neck. That explains a lot!

We had a really nice dinner at a Thai restaurant and an early night to bed before heading off to the airport early the next morning.

We arrived in Christchurch after an easy flight. There was some confusion. Picking up our rental car- we hadn't realized it was a school holiday in NZ and Oz and therefore super busy, but after a few slightly desperate phone calls and conversation we had Jenny II and were off. (Turns out once I was able to check my email a few days later the rental car company had initially confirmed our reservation then had emailed me to say they didn't actually have a car for us. Oops)

We armed ourselves with maps and headed north out of the city to Hamner Springs, an area known for it's natural thermal pools. After enjoying the ones in Rotorua so much we figured these were worth the hour or so detour. Again, we forgot that it was a school holiday and also a Saturday. The pools were swarming with people and crawling with kids and it was anything but relaxing or peaceful. We tried a few of the quieter pools but they were too cold to sit in for long and we ended up in the hottest- and most "natural" pools. Unfortunately everyone was practically shoulder to shoulder and there was an older couple next to us singing to each other and a family giving one another foot massages. Combined with the rotten egg smell of the sulfur it couldn't have been much less pleasant. We stuck it out as long as we could, then high tailed it to Kaikoura.

Our backpackers here was the Dusky Lodge which was a whole warren of rooms interspersed with kitchens and sitting rooms and big fireplaces. They had a pool and spa and in the summer a Thai restaurant- it was a substantial place but still felt cozy. There were all sorts of funky furnishings- lots of big slabs of wood and old rusty farm tools and above the fireplace where we spent the evening was a big whale vertebrae. We sat in front of the fire all night and made friends and found good conversation. It was a nice way to spend a cold, stormy night.

An Update From the Road

It's Rachel again- thanks to Caitlin for all the excellent updates, I haven't been online for a week now! Tiffany and I hired a car in Christchurch and drove ourselves up through Kaikura where we saw loads of seals and pups and onto Picton where we met the group traveling on our bus and officially joined the bus the next day. We spent a couple of nights hiking around Abel Tasman National Park and then went to Barrytown for a party night (there is literally nothing else to do in Barry-no-town). Today we climbed on Franz Joseph glacier- another one of those insane activities that just has to happen. It was rainy and cold and I've never been so happy to have high tech long underwear! I stayed warm and really enjoyed the whole thing, but some of the others were pretty miserable.

We have a few more days with our group, one more week in New Zealand:( I'll put more photos and stories up soon- but I am still alive- and having a great time!

Lord of the Forests

Wednesday, 8 July

We had only a short drive down the coast to the famed Waipoua Forest, home to the last great kauri trees. Kauris grow enormously tall, thick and straight, with few low branches making them ideal for timber and great Maori canoes. The arrival of European settlers in the 1800's signaled the destruction of these magnificent and ancient forests. There remains only about 3% of the native forests that once covered much of the land. Trees were felled to build the new settlements, and the milled lumber was shipped worldwide (including to San Francisco, where it was used to rebuild after the 1906 earthquake, according to Danny). Luckily, the tiny patch of Waipoua was saved due to its inaccessibility. The SH 12 wasn't built until the 1920's, when the oldest trees were identified, who are now around 2,000 years old. The most famous is Tane Mahuta (God of the Forest), the largest living kauri, who is conveniently located just minutes into the forest. Nothing can quite prepare you for the awesome size and majesty of this tree. Even after seeing tons of photos and reading the stats (168ft tall, 46ft girth) I was still taken aback by really just how tall and beautiful it is. It seemed very lonely, in a grove of lusher green, with only a few young kauris around.

1 km down the road was the entrance to the kauri walks, where the other famous kauris lived. We took the first trail to the Yakas Kauri, which was supposed to be very impressive, and it didn't disappoint. The trail led through amazing sub-tropical rainforest filled with tall brilliant nikau palms, prehistoric looking black fern trees towering above, and many slender kauris with hosts of epiphytes growing in their canopies.

The Yakas kauri, only slightly smaller than Tane Mahuta, was partly encircled by a raised boardwalk, allowing us to get up close and personal with the tree. It seemed much larger from such a close perspective! We also saw the Four Sisters, four trunks growing out of the same (or merged) roots, and The Father of the Forest, Te Matua Ngahere, who is not as tall as Tane Mahuta but much wider (52ft girth) and flatter. It seemed that the tree had recently suffered some damage to its upper branches, and there were many dead or damaged trees in the immediate area. (Possibly due to severe storms in 2007?)

After much needed lunch, we headed south toward Auckland. On recommendation from our lovely Globetrekkers hostess, Sue, we stopped in Matakohe at the Kauri Museum. It was a little recreation town from the kauri logging era, complete with creepy mannequins modeled after actual people. We went to the B&B cafe for coffee and yummy cakes, and Rachel made a new cat friend who happily sat on her lap while drooling all over itself and the table. We hadn't planned on going in the museum, but since we were already there we went. Unfortunately we only had 40mins to look around the whole thing, which was impossible. It was an excellent museum, with tons of artifacts, kauri logs and planks, and milling machinery. Some planks from swamp kauris had been preserved in swamp mud for 44,000 years before being dug up in the last century or so. The best feature was one wall painted with rings representing the trunk girths of the largest known kauris, of which at least the 3 largest documented are no longer living. We also got to peek at the shining gum room, housing a beautiful collection of amber kauri gum. The gum is the sap from the kauri, which solidifies, is then buried and fossilizes into hard amber gems, sometimes perfectly preserving tiny insects, and some of which was more than 40 million years old! Gum digging was a big industry alongside logging, sadly supplying the priceless treasures to manufacture lacquers and linoleum.

It was dusky as we departed Matakohe for the last leg of our drive. We arrived in Auckland over the Harbor Bridge a few hours later, and got to have a look at the colorful city skyline. It was lovely, but very strange to be in a big, sprawling city with multi lane roads and traffic and getting lost.

Ruapekapeka, Pahia, & Opononi

(Another post by Caitlin. As Rachel is currently having an internet-free adventure round the South Island, I'll try to catch up to where I left them...If my posts are insufficient, I'm sure she'll add on.)

Tuesday, 7 July

Farewells to the 'pacas and back on the road. Our route took us n

orth to Paihia and then west toward the Kauri coast. Almost got to the Far North, but we just didn't have enough time to make it out to the very furthest point, Cape Reinga, but next time...

On advice from the friendly woman at the Whangarei i-Site, we took a detour to the Ruapekapeka Pa, a significant Maori fortified village, 5km off state highway 1 near Towai. The pa was the site of the last battle of the Northern War between the Maori tribes and the new British gov't. It took place in Jan 1846, lasted for 10 days, and only ended when the Maori abandoned the village leaving the British soldiers with an empty victory. The pa was so well defended that British engineers later surveyed and studied the site to develop new battle techniques, such as the use of trenches. All that is left of the pa n

ow are mounds, holes, trenches and tunnels. It is quite beautiful with grass and small flowers growing over everything, and it sits on top of a hill with sweeping views of the countryside.

We did encounter some wildlife, however, as we crossed into a sheep pasture to view some giant puriri trees. Rachel tried communicating with them which worked less well than with the turkeys we'd seen at the beginning of the trail. But I guess she's got some talent since they let us get close enough for some photos. We slid down some muddy hill to gaze up a really giant puriri and get some tree cuddles.

We also spotted a real live feijoa fruit! Very exciting. On the way back to the highway we got an authentic New Zealand experience: herding cows! We had the pleasure of driving behind them...all the way down the one-lane gravel road, for about half an hour.

We arrived in Paihia in the Bay of Islands just at lunch time, and had a picnic on the waterfront. It was a lovely day, and we walked down the pier and to a little look-out, enjoying the sun and beautiful views. The bay is dotted with over 100 islands, which are best seen by boat, but we'd had enough water activities to not regret missing out. We poked around the few streets of town and got some ice cream before heading off to our day's destination.

We had pretty much driven through Opononi/Omapere by the time we'd realized we were there. Not quite sure why they have 2 names, it might as well be the same town since it is pretty much all one stretch of about 2mi on the road, and even my comprehensive guide book didn't distinguish correctly between them. Opononi has the bar/restaurant and only take away, and Omapere has the gas station, and there's a tiny general store at each end. Stopped at the i-Site, where we were specifically going to see the 1950's film reel about a dolphin that our friend at Sunkist recommended. Opo "the friendly dolphin" is Opononi's claim to fame - a dolphin that hung around the harbor for one summer and befriended the town, and captured the attention of the national media. This was in 1955. Its still the only thing they're known for. The film was really funny ("Don't try to shoot our Gay Golphin" what?), and a worthy attraction. It featured a wonderful song composed especially for Opo, with very interesting lyrics that I can't remember. We paid our respects to Opo with a visit to her grave, in front of the district's memorial hall, and took our photos with her slightly questionable memorial statue.

After that we headed to the Boar & Marlin bar which was cozy and had lots of good trophy heads, then to Opo Takeaway for the best meal of my trip. Excellent garlic fries that were just too much of a good thing for all of us, and the largest most delicious fish burger that I unfortunately finished, and food champs Tiffany and Rachel couldn't. We all thought we were going to be ill, but me most of all.

Retired to the quaint and comfy living room of the Globtrekkers, which had a view of the ocean from the kitchen windows. It was a good find, especially for not knowing where we were going to stay before arriving. It had the coziest, warmest bed I had the whole trip!