I'm at Singapore's flashy Changi Airport (free wireless!) waiting for my flight home. It's on one of the new Airbuses so I'm geekily excited about that, and I managed to get an aisle seat with leg room to save my leg from going dead like it did on the way here.
Singapore was fun, though exhausting. It is boiling hot here and very humid, making it a bit uncomfortable. Also I had to trek round in flip-flops/jandals as I haven't yet replaced my trainers, which were on top of the deckhouse roof and accordingly went overboard when we got hit by the wave. Not the best footwear for a whole day! Anyway I managed to see the national museum, do a spot of shopping on Orchard Road, and see Little India, Chinatown, the colonial district and Raffles, and of course the Arab/Malay district where I was staying, as well as catch up with my friend Lauren who I used to row with in the UK. It rained yesterday which took some of the humidity away but made it harder to take photos!
It's a very multicultural sort of place, though the cultures are dominated by Chinese and even Little India was ringed by Chinese shops and people. Everything's very colourful and busy and smelly - the smells of various different foods, medicines, that sort of thing. Chinatown is quite touristy and there's a lot of hassle from stallholders as you walk by (hint, photo people, if I'm carrying a digital SLR I probably already have a spare battery ...) I was extremely annoyed to have to fork out $50 for breaking a lacquer boat thing in one shop - backed into it with my bag and it went flying. I don't know why I couldn't have broken something small and cheap!
Anyway, duty free calls so I'd better get moving. Next stop, Heathrow.
Thursday 25 June 2009
Monday 22 June 2009
Onwards!
Time in the Cooks at an end - a lovely relaxing ten days. At the airport now; plane to Auckland then on to Singapore. :) Home on Thursday though.
Saturday 13 June 2009
Made it!
Well, I'm in Rarotonga at last - after a pretty horrible flight actually. We had some nasty turbulence and all the while I was looking down at a nice Force 6/7 sea below and thinking it was perfect sailing weather. I normally don't have too much of a problem with turbulence but yesterday it was pretty unpleasant. However I slept like a log, it's warm, and I'm off to Aitutaki this afternoon for five nights and doing nothing.
I just wish the ship and her crew were here too.
I just wish the ship and her crew were here too.
Wednesday 10 June 2009
The Wave
None of us actually saw the wave that ended the Søren Larsen's voyage to Rarotonga. Those of us on watch, standing aft by the helm, had automatically looked away when the helmsman Boris remarked “wave coming”. Those in the deckhouse were preparing breakfast and those below were asleep, or catching a few more minutes in the warmth of their bunks.
So the first we knew of the devastation that a few seconds and several tonnes of water had caused was the loud cracking noise, swiftly followed by the sight of various bits of fruit and wood floating by. I noticed a jacket with a bright orange hood, but couldn't see anyone in or close by the jacket. Then we looked forward.
The deckhouse, where the galley was situated, a cosy little shelter against the elements, had all but disappeared. In its place was wreckage. Over by the port shrouds Dave, the newly-recruited second cook, was hanging on to a rope looking shaken. The engineer was covered in blood, Paul the cook was clutching a beam above his head, white as a sheet, and volunteer crew member Andrew was staggering around at the top of the companionway.
My watch hurried forward. We persuaded Jarren the engineer to go aft and get below, and Dave to follow him. Andrew had disappeared down the companionway and purser Amanda was looking up, shock all over her face. The mate, Nic, began calling orders – get the main companionway covered, get lifejackets, tell the captain, get everyone awake and in the port saloon. We tried to get Paul to go below but he kept clinging on to his beam, apparently unable or unwilling to move.
About this time I realised that not only had we lost the deckhouse, but the whole midships section of the starboard rail had vanished. Instead of a comforting wooden bulwark between us and the raw power of the Pacific, there was just slippery deck. I got myself over to the companionway and started helping with the hatch cover. Two of the deckhands, Hannah and Heather, appeared on deck with lifejackets, and shortly afterwards the ship's carpenter Rusty arrived with hammer and nails and we got the covers on.
I went aft after that to find out what should happen next. Amanda came on deck doing a muster – the bo'sun, Cubie, was unaccounted for and I remember looking with horror into the waves and wondering if she had been in the deckhouse when the wave hit. None of the debris was to be seen; we'd already sailed on past it and past any hope for someone swept overboard. Luckily Cubie was shortly found forwards. Voyage crew member Neal pointed out that the gas seemed to be on in the galley, so Nic darted forwards into the wreckage to turn it off. Captain Jim was on deck, calm as he surveyed the scene. Nic called me forward again to hang on to the ropes that had been attached to a destroyed pinrail, while she went further forward to find out what the damage was there. One of the doors on the forward hatch had been torn off, so she and Cubie sealed the hatch with more plywood.
We shifted the mainsail over to turn around and begin heading back towards New Zealand and our hopes of rescue. I got a lifejacket on, and together with deckhand Kent went to fetch more lifejackets from the locker, on top of the deckhouse roof. We got spares, too many to carry, and I never found out if anyone went back for those extra lifejackets or if they went overboard.
The next job was to clear the deck of debris, lash down things that we could use, and throw food and personal items sloshing around on deck into the food net below the deckhouse roof. At the same time we had to get the manual bilge pump (fondly known as Divine Brown for the colour of the water it throws out, or alternatively The Gusher) going. That involved people pumping and someone holding the valve down to keep it primed.
About this time someone pointed out there was smoke rising from the main hatch, just aft of where the deckhouse had stood. Luckily the second mate Ally was below with a radio and a fire extinguisher dealing with it – a small electrical fire in the ship's larder, Botany Bay.
All the while Rusty and Ben the chippies were using bits of debris to cover up places where water was getting in below – mainly where the timberheads, vertical supports along the ship's side, had been torn off.
The biggest job with regards to getting rid of the debris was shifting the aft wall of the deckhouse into the sea. The wall had landed half across the main hatch, all in one piece including the door, so Kent sawed through the frame above the door to make it more manageable and a bunch of people hefted it over the hatch and over the side.
After that the biggest job was really keeping the pump going. On the starboard side, clipped on safely, was a queue of people waiting to take their turn, 50 pumps each. On the port side, also clipped on, was me with a bucket and Ben with a sea bucket, trying to keep the pump primed. Reasonably early in this effort came the sound of an aeroplane from above – the New Zealand air force's Orion, diverting from a flight to Samoa to check us out. It was incredibly good to see the Orion and know that someone was keeping an eye on us.
Mid-morning Nic came around and told all of us to go below and collect any personal belongings we might want to take with us if we had to leave the ship. The request brought the possibility of abandoning ship rather close. Down below the power had been cut due to the fire, and water was sloshing from side to side as I slipped and slid down the saloon to my cabin. The question of what to take was a tricky one – in the end I grabbed my camera and computer bag, already packed, threw in travel documents, my wallet, and my battered old teddy bear that's travelling home with me. Then I slipped and slid all the way back aft and went back to the pump.
It was also about mid-morning that we sighted the MV Tarago, a cargo ship operated by the Norwegian company Wilhemsen Line. The Tarago was en route to Auckland and diverted to escort us; they stuck by us all day, all night and most of the next day until a police launch arrived to take over. The massive bulk was a very welcome sight on the horizon, particularly while the weather remained heavy. During the morning there was also a pod of whales swimming about in our wake; normally I'd have been thrilled but there were other things to worry about!
A little later on I managed to cut my finger on something after a slide across the deck, which by now was covered in oil from the bilge. I swapped places with Cubie and went to find a bandage, and afterwards had a short sit down and a breather. I wasn't sure how much longer the adrenalin rush would last and, having been up since 3.40am anyway, was pretty knackered.
At 11.30am Nic drew up two groups of five people and told us to pump half an hour on, half an hour off, which at least gave us the chance to sit in the relative warmth of the navigation room and eat something. Paul, assisted by Andrew, had retrieved some wraps, tuna, mayonnaise and cheese from the larder and we all munched our way through wraps and chocolate (a seriously large amount of chocolate got eaten that day and the next). I wasn't actually that hungry, but felt I ought to eat something.
As the pumping shifts went on the deckhouse became creakier and creakier. The starboard side had semi-collapsed when the wave hit, but we were expecting the port side to go at any moment. Piers, the captain due to relieve Jim in Rarotonga, and Cubie cut the seizing that linked the aft davits – metal supports for lifting things – to the mainmast shrouds. If the deckhouse collapsed we didn't want it taking the mast with it. By about 2pm the creaking was bad enough that Jim pulled us off the pumping. We all crowded in the navigation room and Jim gave us an update on the situation: a helicopter was on its way with extra, powerful pumps for us and we should stay out of the way unless needed for the helicopter operation.
The chippies were detailed to go and reinforce the main companionway and forward hatches from the inside, and rig a tarpaulin under the main hatch in case the deckhouse came in and caused the main hatch to give way or for the glass to break. I had no job for the time being, so curled up in a corner in Jim's cabin and tried to get warm. I was soaked to the skin (as was everyone) but there didn't seem any point in getting out of wet weather gear quite yet. The helicopter arrived and deposited its load with several loud thuds on the deck above my head. Others joined me in Jim's cabin and, snuggled damply together with lifejackets as pillows, we tried to get some sleep.
I succeeded and woke about an hour later to find Nic organising people to set the lower topsail and setting four three-hour watches for the rest of the trip. I went up on deck, but there were enough people and I was frozen, so ended up going to my bunk, taking off wet things, and falling asleep properly.
By the time I went on watch at midnight the weather had begun to calm a little, but it was freezing cold. The bilge pumps helicoptered in had worked a treat, but had been turned off for the night, so we got to stay warm with a couple of short stints on Divine Brown again. Then back to bed.
I woke about 10am the next morning to a much more cheerful ship. Everyone had slept, the chippies were constructing a makeshift galley on deck out of the pitch pot and its small gas canister, the sea was significantly calmer, and Nic and Cubie had retrieved the kettles from the ruins of the galley. Best of all, the kettles worked, so we all had hot drinks followed later by hot food – wraps again, this time with scrambled eggs and tinned spaghetti. It was sunny and warmer and we were actually sailing home.
Had a bit more sleep after watch, but not quite enough – I got up on the call of “food”, only to get caught out passing tin plates of curried fish and couscous to others and having to wait 45 minutes for my portion. Slightly annoying, but my own fault and I really shouldn't have been so grumpy about it. The police launch had arrived by this point and was following off the starboard quarter. Nic was still giggling about their request on arrival that we make sure everyone knew how to use our lifesaving equipment – given that we'd spent most of the previous day in lifejackets it was really a superfluous thing to say.
When we were woken for the night watch it was dead calm. The 9-12 watch had taken in the sails once the wind had died. Despite both the middle and main staysails having small tears in them they had survived the whole trip magnificently. The bilge didn't need pumping and we were keeping a watch forward again. I was able to call my parents at about 2.30am as we approached Whangarei Heads to reassure them everything was okay.
The anchor was dropped early the next morning in the river near the dockyard in Whangarei, and the plywood sealing the forward companionway was taken off with much hammering. The cooks had done a big pan of sausages and rescued some oranges and pineapples, and we feasted in the morning sun while waiting for the Customs man to arrive. In the meantime the boat was launched. Nic drove off and came back with the Customs man, Søren's owners Steve and Rosie, Jim's wife Terri and a long-time friend of the ship, Miranda. We all felt enormously sorry for Steve and Rosie as they sighted the damage for the first time and there were hugs and a few tears as the newcomers came aboard.
While the Customs man did his thing we all got a tour of the outside of the ship from the boat. It was sobering to see the damage, and there was renewed relief that we'd all made it. We went ashore after Customs had left, for a wonderful brunch in a Whangarei café, savouring the coffee and good food. Later on we moved Søren upriver, back to the berth she had recently left after refit, her home until she's ready to leave again.
We were initially very lucky for the wave to hit how and when it did, causing no damage below the waterline and early enough for very few people to be in the deckhouse. The early hour also meant we had the whole day to stabilise the situation. However that everything else went so calmly and smoothly is due to Jim, Nic, and the rest of the crew. Jim led from the front – at the helm for hours, and later on cleaning the heads – and was utterly unflappable throughout. His calmness was passed on down and though I think we were all scared at least some of the time, we all knew what was going on, and we worked together to make sure we were all safe. It wasn't an experience I care to repeat but it's one I'll definitely remember.
Søren's now set for several months of repair in Whangarei, but the shipwrights are talking positively of getting her back to rights. I've hung around for the week, which has been mostly spent cleaning and getting food and other stuff off the ship for storage. We also took down the square sails and all the staysails except the upper staysail – some need repairing and the squares need safe storage. Demolition of the deckhouse began today and there's not much left now. Meanwhile the crew is dissipating, and a whole bunch of people left this morning. It's not the ending we all wanted.
Pictures are on Flickr as usual and I'll be adding more videos tomorrow hopefully.
So the first we knew of the devastation that a few seconds and several tonnes of water had caused was the loud cracking noise, swiftly followed by the sight of various bits of fruit and wood floating by. I noticed a jacket with a bright orange hood, but couldn't see anyone in or close by the jacket. Then we looked forward.
The deckhouse, where the galley was situated, a cosy little shelter against the elements, had all but disappeared. In its place was wreckage. Over by the port shrouds Dave, the newly-recruited second cook, was hanging on to a rope looking shaken. The engineer was covered in blood, Paul the cook was clutching a beam above his head, white as a sheet, and volunteer crew member Andrew was staggering around at the top of the companionway.
My watch hurried forward. We persuaded Jarren the engineer to go aft and get below, and Dave to follow him. Andrew had disappeared down the companionway and purser Amanda was looking up, shock all over her face. The mate, Nic, began calling orders – get the main companionway covered, get lifejackets, tell the captain, get everyone awake and in the port saloon. We tried to get Paul to go below but he kept clinging on to his beam, apparently unable or unwilling to move.
About this time I realised that not only had we lost the deckhouse, but the whole midships section of the starboard rail had vanished. Instead of a comforting wooden bulwark between us and the raw power of the Pacific, there was just slippery deck. I got myself over to the companionway and started helping with the hatch cover. Two of the deckhands, Hannah and Heather, appeared on deck with lifejackets, and shortly afterwards the ship's carpenter Rusty arrived with hammer and nails and we got the covers on.
I went aft after that to find out what should happen next. Amanda came on deck doing a muster – the bo'sun, Cubie, was unaccounted for and I remember looking with horror into the waves and wondering if she had been in the deckhouse when the wave hit. None of the debris was to be seen; we'd already sailed on past it and past any hope for someone swept overboard. Luckily Cubie was shortly found forwards. Voyage crew member Neal pointed out that the gas seemed to be on in the galley, so Nic darted forwards into the wreckage to turn it off. Captain Jim was on deck, calm as he surveyed the scene. Nic called me forward again to hang on to the ropes that had been attached to a destroyed pinrail, while she went further forward to find out what the damage was there. One of the doors on the forward hatch had been torn off, so she and Cubie sealed the hatch with more plywood.
We shifted the mainsail over to turn around and begin heading back towards New Zealand and our hopes of rescue. I got a lifejacket on, and together with deckhand Kent went to fetch more lifejackets from the locker, on top of the deckhouse roof. We got spares, too many to carry, and I never found out if anyone went back for those extra lifejackets or if they went overboard.
The next job was to clear the deck of debris, lash down things that we could use, and throw food and personal items sloshing around on deck into the food net below the deckhouse roof. At the same time we had to get the manual bilge pump (fondly known as Divine Brown for the colour of the water it throws out, or alternatively The Gusher) going. That involved people pumping and someone holding the valve down to keep it primed.
About this time someone pointed out there was smoke rising from the main hatch, just aft of where the deckhouse had stood. Luckily the second mate Ally was below with a radio and a fire extinguisher dealing with it – a small electrical fire in the ship's larder, Botany Bay.
All the while Rusty and Ben the chippies were using bits of debris to cover up places where water was getting in below – mainly where the timberheads, vertical supports along the ship's side, had been torn off.
The biggest job with regards to getting rid of the debris was shifting the aft wall of the deckhouse into the sea. The wall had landed half across the main hatch, all in one piece including the door, so Kent sawed through the frame above the door to make it more manageable and a bunch of people hefted it over the hatch and over the side.
After that the biggest job was really keeping the pump going. On the starboard side, clipped on safely, was a queue of people waiting to take their turn, 50 pumps each. On the port side, also clipped on, was me with a bucket and Ben with a sea bucket, trying to keep the pump primed. Reasonably early in this effort came the sound of an aeroplane from above – the New Zealand air force's Orion, diverting from a flight to Samoa to check us out. It was incredibly good to see the Orion and know that someone was keeping an eye on us.
Mid-morning Nic came around and told all of us to go below and collect any personal belongings we might want to take with us if we had to leave the ship. The request brought the possibility of abandoning ship rather close. Down below the power had been cut due to the fire, and water was sloshing from side to side as I slipped and slid down the saloon to my cabin. The question of what to take was a tricky one – in the end I grabbed my camera and computer bag, already packed, threw in travel documents, my wallet, and my battered old teddy bear that's travelling home with me. Then I slipped and slid all the way back aft and went back to the pump.
It was also about mid-morning that we sighted the MV Tarago, a cargo ship operated by the Norwegian company Wilhemsen Line. The Tarago was en route to Auckland and diverted to escort us; they stuck by us all day, all night and most of the next day until a police launch arrived to take over. The massive bulk was a very welcome sight on the horizon, particularly while the weather remained heavy. During the morning there was also a pod of whales swimming about in our wake; normally I'd have been thrilled but there were other things to worry about!
A little later on I managed to cut my finger on something after a slide across the deck, which by now was covered in oil from the bilge. I swapped places with Cubie and went to find a bandage, and afterwards had a short sit down and a breather. I wasn't sure how much longer the adrenalin rush would last and, having been up since 3.40am anyway, was pretty knackered.
At 11.30am Nic drew up two groups of five people and told us to pump half an hour on, half an hour off, which at least gave us the chance to sit in the relative warmth of the navigation room and eat something. Paul, assisted by Andrew, had retrieved some wraps, tuna, mayonnaise and cheese from the larder and we all munched our way through wraps and chocolate (a seriously large amount of chocolate got eaten that day and the next). I wasn't actually that hungry, but felt I ought to eat something.
As the pumping shifts went on the deckhouse became creakier and creakier. The starboard side had semi-collapsed when the wave hit, but we were expecting the port side to go at any moment. Piers, the captain due to relieve Jim in Rarotonga, and Cubie cut the seizing that linked the aft davits – metal supports for lifting things – to the mainmast shrouds. If the deckhouse collapsed we didn't want it taking the mast with it. By about 2pm the creaking was bad enough that Jim pulled us off the pumping. We all crowded in the navigation room and Jim gave us an update on the situation: a helicopter was on its way with extra, powerful pumps for us and we should stay out of the way unless needed for the helicopter operation.
The chippies were detailed to go and reinforce the main companionway and forward hatches from the inside, and rig a tarpaulin under the main hatch in case the deckhouse came in and caused the main hatch to give way or for the glass to break. I had no job for the time being, so curled up in a corner in Jim's cabin and tried to get warm. I was soaked to the skin (as was everyone) but there didn't seem any point in getting out of wet weather gear quite yet. The helicopter arrived and deposited its load with several loud thuds on the deck above my head. Others joined me in Jim's cabin and, snuggled damply together with lifejackets as pillows, we tried to get some sleep.
I succeeded and woke about an hour later to find Nic organising people to set the lower topsail and setting four three-hour watches for the rest of the trip. I went up on deck, but there were enough people and I was frozen, so ended up going to my bunk, taking off wet things, and falling asleep properly.
By the time I went on watch at midnight the weather had begun to calm a little, but it was freezing cold. The bilge pumps helicoptered in had worked a treat, but had been turned off for the night, so we got to stay warm with a couple of short stints on Divine Brown again. Then back to bed.
I woke about 10am the next morning to a much more cheerful ship. Everyone had slept, the chippies were constructing a makeshift galley on deck out of the pitch pot and its small gas canister, the sea was significantly calmer, and Nic and Cubie had retrieved the kettles from the ruins of the galley. Best of all, the kettles worked, so we all had hot drinks followed later by hot food – wraps again, this time with scrambled eggs and tinned spaghetti. It was sunny and warmer and we were actually sailing home.
Had a bit more sleep after watch, but not quite enough – I got up on the call of “food”, only to get caught out passing tin plates of curried fish and couscous to others and having to wait 45 minutes for my portion. Slightly annoying, but my own fault and I really shouldn't have been so grumpy about it. The police launch had arrived by this point and was following off the starboard quarter. Nic was still giggling about their request on arrival that we make sure everyone knew how to use our lifesaving equipment – given that we'd spent most of the previous day in lifejackets it was really a superfluous thing to say.
When we were woken for the night watch it was dead calm. The 9-12 watch had taken in the sails once the wind had died. Despite both the middle and main staysails having small tears in them they had survived the whole trip magnificently. The bilge didn't need pumping and we were keeping a watch forward again. I was able to call my parents at about 2.30am as we approached Whangarei Heads to reassure them everything was okay.
The anchor was dropped early the next morning in the river near the dockyard in Whangarei, and the plywood sealing the forward companionway was taken off with much hammering. The cooks had done a big pan of sausages and rescued some oranges and pineapples, and we feasted in the morning sun while waiting for the Customs man to arrive. In the meantime the boat was launched. Nic drove off and came back with the Customs man, Søren's owners Steve and Rosie, Jim's wife Terri and a long-time friend of the ship, Miranda. We all felt enormously sorry for Steve and Rosie as they sighted the damage for the first time and there were hugs and a few tears as the newcomers came aboard.
While the Customs man did his thing we all got a tour of the outside of the ship from the boat. It was sobering to see the damage, and there was renewed relief that we'd all made it. We went ashore after Customs had left, for a wonderful brunch in a Whangarei café, savouring the coffee and good food. Later on we moved Søren upriver, back to the berth she had recently left after refit, her home until she's ready to leave again.
We were initially very lucky for the wave to hit how and when it did, causing no damage below the waterline and early enough for very few people to be in the deckhouse. The early hour also meant we had the whole day to stabilise the situation. However that everything else went so calmly and smoothly is due to Jim, Nic, and the rest of the crew. Jim led from the front – at the helm for hours, and later on cleaning the heads – and was utterly unflappable throughout. His calmness was passed on down and though I think we were all scared at least some of the time, we all knew what was going on, and we worked together to make sure we were all safe. It wasn't an experience I care to repeat but it's one I'll definitely remember.
Søren's now set for several months of repair in Whangarei, but the shipwrights are talking positively of getting her back to rights. I've hung around for the week, which has been mostly spent cleaning and getting food and other stuff off the ship for storage. We also took down the square sails and all the staysails except the upper staysail – some need repairing and the squares need safe storage. Demolition of the deckhouse began today and there's not much left now. Meanwhile the crew is dissipating, and a whole bunch of people left this morning. It's not the ending we all wanted.
Pictures are on Flickr as usual and I'll be adding more videos tomorrow hopefully.
Wednesday 27 May 2009
Off we go - again!
We finished our refit today - after a month of very hard work, the awnings came off, the staging came down and Soren Larsen looks like a ship again. At high tide tomorrow we set off for the Bay of Islands where we'll get fuel, a few more people, and clear Customs. On Friday, we set sail for Rarotonga. Again. Hopefully this time, after all the work that's been done on filling in seams and plugging leaks, we'll get there! I'll check in again when/if we do. :)
Monday 25 May 2009
Almost done
The refit's nearly over; we're working now on getting the ship back together and shipshape before leaving Whangarei. The original plan was to sail down to Auckland tomorrow, but the weather forecast is nasty so we're staying put until Thursday morning. This is good as it gives us a little longer to get things done and dusted. Hopefully we'll then be able to clear Customs in the Bay of Islands and not have to travel further south before heading towards the Cooks. We've all got a half-day off today or tomorrow, so I've been uploading photos again; won't get another chance.
It's been a fun month though tiring and I've come down with a bit of a cold now. I've completely lost my voice, which is a pain because it's difficult asking questions and telling people where the black enamel's gone! :)
On Saturday we all got dressed up in outrageously unfashionable clothes from the opshop and went out to celebrate the bo'sun's 30th birthday. She left quite early but the rest of us had a blast at the Irish pub - including Captain Jim in a fetching yellow Hawaiian shirt! Good fun, but everyone slept in yesterday morning and spent the day nursing headaches. However we all worked a full day too on top of the hangovers.
Anyway, last batch of photos on Flickr. Will upload plenty more from Rarotonga, weather gods permitting.
It's been a fun month though tiring and I've come down with a bit of a cold now. I've completely lost my voice, which is a pain because it's difficult asking questions and telling people where the black enamel's gone! :)
On Saturday we all got dressed up in outrageously unfashionable clothes from the opshop and went out to celebrate the bo'sun's 30th birthday. She left quite early but the rest of us had a blast at the Irish pub - including Captain Jim in a fetching yellow Hawaiian shirt! Good fun, but everyone slept in yesterday morning and spent the day nursing headaches. However we all worked a full day too on top of the hangovers.
Anyway, last batch of photos on Flickr. Will upload plenty more from Rarotonga, weather gods permitting.
Sunday 17 May 2009
A week to go
We're planning to finish the refit next Sunday, leaving us a few days to tidy up before setting sail for Rarotonga. It looks like we'll be good to go, which is a relief.
The last couple of days have been fine, a blessing after a week of rain. The sunshine means we've been able to repaint the starboard side and the starboard waterways (the bits of the deck next to the hull) and finish the caulking on that side too. All the new hanging knees are up inside the ship, and we're cracking on with the cabins. It's all looking good.
Today's my day off, potentially the last one before we go (though there's another tentatively scheduled in for a week on Tuesday). I borrowed one of the ship's bikes and cycled up to Whangarei Falls, which are pretty impressive, and then on down to the AH Reed Memorial Kauri Park, a nice bit of bush with a canopy walk through a kauri grove. It's nice to get off the ship occasionally and breathe in fresh air untainted by the paint fumes!
More pictures up on Flickr.
The last couple of days have been fine, a blessing after a week of rain. The sunshine means we've been able to repaint the starboard side and the starboard waterways (the bits of the deck next to the hull) and finish the caulking on that side too. All the new hanging knees are up inside the ship, and we're cracking on with the cabins. It's all looking good.
Today's my day off, potentially the last one before we go (though there's another tentatively scheduled in for a week on Tuesday). I borrowed one of the ship's bikes and cycled up to Whangarei Falls, which are pretty impressive, and then on down to the AH Reed Memorial Kauri Park, a nice bit of bush with a canopy walk through a kauri grove. It's nice to get off the ship occasionally and breathe in fresh air untainted by the paint fumes!
More pictures up on Flickr.
Thursday 14 May 2009
Dolphins and paint
Work aboard Soren continues apace - two weeks until we're due to set sail. After turning around on Monday, we spent a day or so putting up the awnings again and now most of the crew are busy scraping paint off the port side of the ship. The caulking team spent yesterday and today, which were mostly fine, finishing off the open seams on starboard and I helped the mate with painting the side. That involved some amusing manoeuvres with paddles in the ship's boat as well as getting wet feet on the wooden staging things we have to put over the side. Generally I think we're still on schedule, but the rain has not been helpful.
Yesterday there was a huge pod of large dolphins swimming upriver. They swam up about lunchtime and came back an hour or so later. Some were being especially acrobatic. That lifted everyone's spirits (together with the lovely weather). Dolphins are always nice to see, and it's good to see them so close to the ship.
Yesterday there was a huge pod of large dolphins swimming upriver. They swam up about lunchtime and came back an hour or so later. Some were being especially acrobatic. That lifted everyone's spirits (together with the lovely weather). Dolphins are always nice to see, and it's good to see them so close to the ship.
Monday 11 May 2009
Turned around
A fortnight into the refit, we turned the ship around today. That involved quite a lot of work - taking off the frame supporting the awnings, taking down some of the awnings and tarpaulins lining the ship's side, casting off the mooring lines and weighing anchor (covered in grey gloopy Whangarei mud). Captain Jim turned the ship on a dime, beautifully, and we went back in bow first. We dropped the anchor again only to give the guys who work at the shipyard a heart attack; they reckoned we'd dropped it on their railway that lifts ships into dry dock. Jim disagreed, but we lifted it again anyway to keep them happy and attached a long rope borrowed from the dockyard to the bows. It's shackled around a pohutukawa tree on the opposite bank and should enable us to bring the starboard side out so we can get it painted. The awnings and so on are mostly up again, and work's already begun on the port side. Meanwhile below decks we're wrestling with the appalling paint job that had been done in the ship's larder - it's all peeling, so we're trying to find the quickest way to get it off before repainting it properly. Anyway, all on schedule still, which is good news.
Wednesday 6 May 2009
Opshop excitement
It's possible I've been aboard too long - the highlight of today was a trip to the hospice shop in Whangarei where you could buy a whole bag of clothes for $1. Bargain! I got some clothes to trash while painting and thus preserve my own.
Otherwise the refit is progressing well, I think. On deck there are big holes where they're raking out the seams and then re-caulking them, and the holes in the hull are slowly being filled up by other caulkers. I spent yesterday and the day before rolling oakum; oakum is hemp, tarred with Stockholm tar. It comes in bales of ribbons and smells lovely, but it has to be rolled into ropes before you can use it. Rolling is incredibly dull but we need loads of it, so we're taking turns.
Down below the cabins are slowly starting to look presentable, with new paint and varnish. They should be lovely when done.
On Sunday we're turning the ship around to start work on the other side.
Otherwise the refit is progressing well, I think. On deck there are big holes where they're raking out the seams and then re-caulking them, and the holes in the hull are slowly being filled up by other caulkers. I spent yesterday and the day before rolling oakum; oakum is hemp, tarred with Stockholm tar. It comes in bales of ribbons and smells lovely, but it has to be rolled into ropes before you can use it. Rolling is incredibly dull but we need loads of it, so we're taking turns.
Down below the cabins are slowly starting to look presentable, with new paint and varnish. They should be lovely when done.
On Sunday we're turning the ship around to start work on the other side.
Thursday 30 April 2009
A day in the life of a refit
So we're several days into repairs now, and settling into a routine.
At 7.15am the captain comes round and wakes us all up - fifteen minutes until breakfast. At 7.25am he comes round again and tells us it's five minutes to go, in case of snoozers.
Up on deck one of the cooks has put out breakfast. There's always cereal, coffee and tea, and toast, and something cooked too; usually eggs of some description. Just before 8am there's a brief meeting. Captain Jim gives a weather report and any notes, and then first mate Nic assigns jobs to everyone and we go and get started. Currently I'm involved in making over the starboard cabins, which all got water damage during the storm/leak affair and needed a refresh. So I've been sanding and chipping and grinding and generally getting thoroughly mucky.
At 10am the conch is blown and we all down tools for morning smoko - coffee, tea and fruit. By 10.20am we're back at work, until the conch goes again for lunch at 12.30pm. Recently every meal has involved beef as the freezer containing all the beef broke down, so the cooks are trying to get through it. Today we had pasta with a beef and pumpkin sauce.
Just after 1pm we're back to it for a hard graft until 3.30pm, which is afternoon smoko. The cooks try to bake something to eat for this one; today we had mini eclairs which went down enormously well. Then back to work again until about 5.45pm, when it's clean-up time to leave the ship tidy for the night. Dinner's about 6.30pm or 7pm, and we all eat together in the deckhouse or on deck, before settling down to check email, read or play music, and have showers! The ship's currently got three guitars, one ukelele, and two South American recorder/flute things. I want to get a fiddle if I can find a really cheap one. I think the ship needs one.
By 9 or 10pm we're all in bed, ready for the next day.
I think things are running generally to schedule; the plan is to turn the ship around on May 10th or 11th to start work on the port side.
At 7.15am the captain comes round and wakes us all up - fifteen minutes until breakfast. At 7.25am he comes round again and tells us it's five minutes to go, in case of snoozers.
Up on deck one of the cooks has put out breakfast. There's always cereal, coffee and tea, and toast, and something cooked too; usually eggs of some description. Just before 8am there's a brief meeting. Captain Jim gives a weather report and any notes, and then first mate Nic assigns jobs to everyone and we go and get started. Currently I'm involved in making over the starboard cabins, which all got water damage during the storm/leak affair and needed a refresh. So I've been sanding and chipping and grinding and generally getting thoroughly mucky.
At 10am the conch is blown and we all down tools for morning smoko - coffee, tea and fruit. By 10.20am we're back at work, until the conch goes again for lunch at 12.30pm. Recently every meal has involved beef as the freezer containing all the beef broke down, so the cooks are trying to get through it. Today we had pasta with a beef and pumpkin sauce.
Just after 1pm we're back to it for a hard graft until 3.30pm, which is afternoon smoko. The cooks try to bake something to eat for this one; today we had mini eclairs which went down enormously well. Then back to work again until about 5.45pm, when it's clean-up time to leave the ship tidy for the night. Dinner's about 6.30pm or 7pm, and we all eat together in the deckhouse or on deck, before settling down to check email, read or play music, and have showers! The ship's currently got three guitars, one ukelele, and two South American recorder/flute things. I want to get a fiddle if I can find a really cheap one. I think the ship needs one.
By 9 or 10pm we're all in bed, ready for the next day.
I think things are running generally to schedule; the plan is to turn the ship around on May 10th or 11th to start work on the port side.
Wednesday 29 April 2009
In Whangarei
I'd hoped to be in the middle of the Pacific by now, but there you go, life sometimes throws a spanner in the works. A few days out from NZ Soren caught a Force 8, and then a Force 10, and the end of the tale was a very leaky ship. The captain decided repairs needed to be made and turned us around. We got back to the Bay of Islands last Thursday and came down to Whangarei on Sunday night. I'm now hanging around to help with the repair work. So far a sort of stage has been built down the starboard side of the ship, with an awning over the top, and the waterways (scuppers, and other bits) have been taken out. We've also attacked the ship's larder, emptying it completely, and have begun makeovers on the starboard cabins. It's filthy work but fun enough!
Now I just need to sort out my journey home - getting there, slowly.
Now I just need to sort out my journey home - getting there, slowly.
Tuesday 14 April 2009
Last few days on land ...
Back in New Zealand. As little as I like Auckland it's nice to be back – it kind of feels right.
Had a lovely Easter weekend in Sydney however. On Saturday, shortly after I arrived from Katoomba, my friend Jess and some of her friends and I all went off to Cockatoo Island for the night. Cockatoo Island is pretty much in the middle of Sydney harbour, not far from land. When the Europeans first arrived it was used as a prison for convicts transported from Norfolk Island; later it became a reformatory school; and then a shipyard until the 1990s. In 1992 they closed the shipyard down and it's been empty until recently. A couple of years ago they reopened the island to the public and you can get a ferry there during the day. At night you can camp – they have tent sites as well as quite a lot of permanent tents, and there are barbeques for cooking. We got a couple of the permanent tents and pitched two ordinary ones and had a very pleasant evening, first exploring the island a bit and then just hanging out, chatting and playing cards. Slept okay apart from being woken by the rain in the night and the kids doing an Easter Egg hunt at about 6.30am (there were a number of families there. Annoyingly the kids all stole the little chocolate eggs thoughtfully placed outside each tent by the campsite managers – but one of Jess's friends very kindly gave us all Easter bunnies, so there was chocolate after all.)
In the afternoon, after we'd packed up and left the island, we did a walk along the coastline from the Spit Bridge to Manly. It's a good walk, about 10km but not generally difficult, with pretty views back towards the city and even some Aboriginal petroglyphs along the way. There were also some decent-sized lizards, pelicans and lorikeets to be seen. Australia does have interesting wildlife!
Yesterday morning, after dropping people off at the airport and the railway station, Jess and I went to the Royal Easter Show. Sydney has found a good use for its Olympic park, hosting shows there a lot according to Jess, and the whole central chunk of it was taken up with the show. We spent quite a bit of time in the food hall sampling things, but also watched a couple of heats of single-handed sawing in the woodchop arena (seriously – they race to see who's the fastest at sawing through a log) and managed to catch glimpses of the pig racing. We wandered around the smelly enclosures for the alpacas, llamas, cows, horses, sheep and pigs as well as the flower show where there were an enormous number of amazing dahlias on display. We finished up at the food hall again for a lunch of more samples! On the way back to Jess's we had a swim in her local outdoor 50m saltwater pool – it's a lovely pool apart from the salt, which I'm not a huge fan of really. Then the airport, and the flight back to Auckland, arriving at midnight as the Aussie flights tend to.
Today I'm trying to sort out my luggage for sailing, but tomorrow hopefully I'll get a chance for a last bit of sightseeing before leaving NZ. If it's nice, I'm planning to visit Rangitoto. If it's not, I might go to the Antarctic centre or maybe the museum again.
Currently uploading photos after finding a cheap internet cafe with an actual fast connection. Woohoo.
Had a lovely Easter weekend in Sydney however. On Saturday, shortly after I arrived from Katoomba, my friend Jess and some of her friends and I all went off to Cockatoo Island for the night. Cockatoo Island is pretty much in the middle of Sydney harbour, not far from land. When the Europeans first arrived it was used as a prison for convicts transported from Norfolk Island; later it became a reformatory school; and then a shipyard until the 1990s. In 1992 they closed the shipyard down and it's been empty until recently. A couple of years ago they reopened the island to the public and you can get a ferry there during the day. At night you can camp – they have tent sites as well as quite a lot of permanent tents, and there are barbeques for cooking. We got a couple of the permanent tents and pitched two ordinary ones and had a very pleasant evening, first exploring the island a bit and then just hanging out, chatting and playing cards. Slept okay apart from being woken by the rain in the night and the kids doing an Easter Egg hunt at about 6.30am (there were a number of families there. Annoyingly the kids all stole the little chocolate eggs thoughtfully placed outside each tent by the campsite managers – but one of Jess's friends very kindly gave us all Easter bunnies, so there was chocolate after all.)
In the afternoon, after we'd packed up and left the island, we did a walk along the coastline from the Spit Bridge to Manly. It's a good walk, about 10km but not generally difficult, with pretty views back towards the city and even some Aboriginal petroglyphs along the way. There were also some decent-sized lizards, pelicans and lorikeets to be seen. Australia does have interesting wildlife!
Yesterday morning, after dropping people off at the airport and the railway station, Jess and I went to the Royal Easter Show. Sydney has found a good use for its Olympic park, hosting shows there a lot according to Jess, and the whole central chunk of it was taken up with the show. We spent quite a bit of time in the food hall sampling things, but also watched a couple of heats of single-handed sawing in the woodchop arena (seriously – they race to see who's the fastest at sawing through a log) and managed to catch glimpses of the pig racing. We wandered around the smelly enclosures for the alpacas, llamas, cows, horses, sheep and pigs as well as the flower show where there were an enormous number of amazing dahlias on display. We finished up at the food hall again for a lunch of more samples! On the way back to Jess's we had a swim in her local outdoor 50m saltwater pool – it's a lovely pool apart from the salt, which I'm not a huge fan of really. Then the airport, and the flight back to Auckland, arriving at midnight as the Aussie flights tend to.
Today I'm trying to sort out my luggage for sailing, but tomorrow hopefully I'll get a chance for a last bit of sightseeing before leaving NZ. If it's nice, I'm planning to visit Rangitoto. If it's not, I might go to the Antarctic centre or maybe the museum again.
Currently uploading photos after finding a cheap internet cafe with an actual fast connection. Woohoo.
Friday 10 April 2009
Blue Mountains
So my Good Friday was spent "bush walking" (hah!) in the Blue Mountains. I did walk, and it was nice, but it wasn't what I'd call bush walking with the road pretty handy most of the time! I've been spoiled in NZ's isolation I think.
To start off with it was pretty quiet, apart from two groups of Japanese tourists shouting (really, shouting, quite unnecessarily). However as the day went on and I walked towards the must-see sights it got busier and busier. Hordes of Asian tourists - Chinese and Japanese as well as Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi - many dressed entirely inappropriately for a walk on anything except a high street. I saw dresses, handbags, and every sort of footwear including flip flops, ballet shoes, suede boots - but very few decent trainers or walking boots. The Europeans and Aussies were marginally better-equipped. I think the source of the problem was two-fold; one, the visitor's centre at Echo Point where there's a nice lookout, and two, "Scenicworld". Scenicworld (who named it, they need shooting?) has a cable car, a funicular railway, and a sort of horizontal cable car, and attracts loads of people. At the bottom of the cable car and the railway there's a boardwalk around what used to be the Katoomba coal mine, which was interesting, but, again busy.
So I walked most of the day, to see some waterfalls and the Three Sisters (rock formations) and down the Giant Staircase (878 steps, I wasn't walking up it!). Got the funicular railway up to the top of the cliff. It's the world's steepest and I thought it might be fun, which it was, though I didn't feel the need to scream as some other passengers did. Took a couple of pictures of other people for them and got generally irritated at having to avoid people taking pictures of themselves/girlfriends/boyfriends/friends/family in front of perfectly good views. The most random shot of the day was that of a Chinese lady who had asked me and an Aussie couple (who'd just climbed up a long flight of steps and were knackered) for help. She wanted a picture of herself and the Aussies in front of a sign. Nothing special about the sign ... I duly obliged, though I was as puzzled as the Aussies!
It was actually a pretty nice day, but would have been nicer with fewer people around.
Uploading to Flickr is ridiculously slow. I'm persevering, but I think it's unlikely I'll get anything from Brisbane or here up before I get back to Auckland.
To start off with it was pretty quiet, apart from two groups of Japanese tourists shouting (really, shouting, quite unnecessarily). However as the day went on and I walked towards the must-see sights it got busier and busier. Hordes of Asian tourists - Chinese and Japanese as well as Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi - many dressed entirely inappropriately for a walk on anything except a high street. I saw dresses, handbags, and every sort of footwear including flip flops, ballet shoes, suede boots - but very few decent trainers or walking boots. The Europeans and Aussies were marginally better-equipped. I think the source of the problem was two-fold; one, the visitor's centre at Echo Point where there's a nice lookout, and two, "Scenicworld". Scenicworld (who named it, they need shooting?) has a cable car, a funicular railway, and a sort of horizontal cable car, and attracts loads of people. At the bottom of the cable car and the railway there's a boardwalk around what used to be the Katoomba coal mine, which was interesting, but, again busy.
So I walked most of the day, to see some waterfalls and the Three Sisters (rock formations) and down the Giant Staircase (878 steps, I wasn't walking up it!). Got the funicular railway up to the top of the cliff. It's the world's steepest and I thought it might be fun, which it was, though I didn't feel the need to scream as some other passengers did. Took a couple of pictures of other people for them and got generally irritated at having to avoid people taking pictures of themselves/girlfriends/boyfriends/friends/family in front of perfectly good views. The most random shot of the day was that of a Chinese lady who had asked me and an Aussie couple (who'd just climbed up a long flight of steps and were knackered) for help. She wanted a picture of herself and the Aussies in front of a sign. Nothing special about the sign ... I duly obliged, though I was as puzzled as the Aussies!
It was actually a pretty nice day, but would have been nicer with fewer people around.
Uploading to Flickr is ridiculously slow. I'm persevering, but I think it's unlikely I'll get anything from Brisbane or here up before I get back to Auckland.
Thursday 9 April 2009
Last state-hopping complete
Well, I'm now in the Blue Mountains in the small town of Katoomba - staying at a really rather nice YHA, which is large but extremely clean and comfortable, and has wireless. Yay. I am uploading some photos to Flickr but it's taking a long time - dunno why, but I'll get as many online as I can. Sitting on the sofa is about all I should be doing right now anyway as I managed to bash my head standing up too fast earlier on; whacked it on the bunk above mine. Bit of a headache, but I don't feel sick or anything!
Katoomba seems to be a nice little place. There are some walks to do, so that's tomorrow sorted, and I might go to the cinema too because they have a big one (and an Olympic-sized pool according to my map, which just reminds you you're in Oz - no town this small in the UK would have a 50m pool. Most wouldn't have any pool.) It's a tad hippyish, with several organic/wholefood cafés - had a lovely salad for lunch - and a crystal shop and that sort of thing. But not in a bad way.
New South Wales is, anyway, my last Aussie state before going back to NZ. It has been a bit of a whirlwind highlights tour, but it's been fun.
Katoomba seems to be a nice little place. There are some walks to do, so that's tomorrow sorted, and I might go to the cinema too because they have a big one (and an Olympic-sized pool according to my map, which just reminds you you're in Oz - no town this small in the UK would have a 50m pool. Most wouldn't have any pool.) It's a tad hippyish, with several organic/wholefood cafés - had a lovely salad for lunch - and a crystal shop and that sort of thing. But not in a bad way.
New South Wales is, anyway, my last Aussie state before going back to NZ. It has been a bit of a whirlwind highlights tour, but it's been fun.
Better day in Brisbane
Another quickish update from Brisbane, after a really lovely day. Possibly my miserable mood was to do with the fact I'm a bit toured-out, after so many organised days in a row. I do like my independence, and today I did just what I wanted and it was great.
The run I sort of planned last night didn't happen, but I just about walked the same distance I'd thought of running with stops en route for culture and photographs. Went to the contemporary art gallery, which had a big exhibition of contemporary Chinese art that was really good - thought-provoking and visually interesting. Their contemporary indigenous section wasn't half bad either. Skipped the main art gallery, but wandered around the Queensland Museum (like the contemporary gallery, free entry). Then on to Brisbane's South Bank, a blatant rip-off of London complete with a big wheel, though there's a beach/lagoon thing instead of a Tate Modern and a Globe! It was nice though to wander around and watch the ibises - for some reason they're everywhere here, like pigeons in London but a bit more interesting (though smellier). Got the ferry across the river a while later and walked back through the Botanic Gardens and the city's shopping district, both of which were nice.
Just got back from a very pleasant dinner and catch-up with my former colleague from London, again on the South Bank; up at 7am tomorrow to catch my plane to Sydney.
The run I sort of planned last night didn't happen, but I just about walked the same distance I'd thought of running with stops en route for culture and photographs. Went to the contemporary art gallery, which had a big exhibition of contemporary Chinese art that was really good - thought-provoking and visually interesting. Their contemporary indigenous section wasn't half bad either. Skipped the main art gallery, but wandered around the Queensland Museum (like the contemporary gallery, free entry). Then on to Brisbane's South Bank, a blatant rip-off of London complete with a big wheel, though there's a beach/lagoon thing instead of a Tate Modern and a Globe! It was nice though to wander around and watch the ibises - for some reason they're everywhere here, like pigeons in London but a bit more interesting (though smellier). Got the ferry across the river a while later and walked back through the Botanic Gardens and the city's shopping district, both of which were nice.
Just got back from a very pleasant dinner and catch-up with my former colleague from London, again on the South Bank; up at 7am tomorrow to catch my plane to Sydney.
Tuesday 7 April 2009
Sailing (a bit) the Whitsundays
A quickish update from Brisbane - no more photos until I find wireless, which may not be until Sydney.
Spent the last couple of days on a yacht cruising the Whitsundays, which was fun enough with a nice bunch of people but didn't quite live up to my (possibly too high?) expectations. I maybe should have booked earlier to ensure the right boat, but didn't. The boat I was on is indeed a fast racing yacht, what I wanted, but the company's just split off from another company and clearly maintenance (or lack of) could be a reason. The yacht was a little run down, and right at the start our skipper couldn't get her in forward gear - kind of essential for leaving the harbour. They fiddled with the engine until they'd mended it, but that meant we were late leaving, and we only motorsailed the first afternoon under a gennaker despite all the other boats around sailing properly. Partly we were late, but also, we discovered when we asked, the mainsail had a tear in it. Actually I don't think the skipper was terribly impressed with a ripped mainsail either, it was his first trip with the company (see how I keep getting first-trip guides?) and he wanted to sail too. Additionally another yacht out at the same time had too many passengers on board for beds, and we had spare beds, so we had to meet up with her at night. That meant a decidedly more "party" atmosphere than I'd been looking for and I think the same went for most of the others on board - though not the four Swedish girls travelling as a group! Not that the socialising wasn't fun, but it meant less sleep than I'd been hoping for. Still a bit short.
Day two started with a trip ashore to see Whitehaven Beach and go for a swim, all togged up in stinger suits to guard against jellyfish. Lovely beach, absolutely white, turquoise sea, the works, so that set us off to a good start. Then we motored to a snorkelling/diving site, which was okay though not up to the standards of the reef further north. Visibility was a bit cloudy, but there was a lot of fish. I did see a fair bit of coral damage however, mostly algae of some description. :( After that we motored to a different mooring, had dinner, and then linked up with the other boat again. The party went on well past my bedtime and was noisy past the time I was trying to get to sleep. Grrr.
Today we started out with a morning snorkel - a quick one, as pretty shortly after getting in we started seeing jellyfish. We all made a fairly sharp exit from the water, despite the stinger suits! Then, thank heavens, we set both sails (the skipper had, I think, realised there were grumpy passengers on board) and had a good sail back to Airlie Beach. Wasn't long enough though and there wasn't a huge amount of audience participation. I helped a bit with the main halyard and that was it. However, a nice end to the trip.
Back in Airlie, a quick swim and a shower helped to freshen up. I'd planned to catch the local bus to the airport but on arrival at the bus stop realised I'd misjudged that one. Hadn't booked a shuttle. Had to get a taxi. Some $78 later, regretted the taxi and my uncharacteristic mismanagement. It's not like I'm skint yet, but the fact remains I didn't want to spend that on a taxi fare! Add to tiredness and by the time I finally got to the backpackers tonight I was thoroughly miserable. However, I decided trying to save a few more dollars would be silly while being miserable, and discovered a really excellent pizza, a glass of red wine and an icecream (lots of favourite food) have cheered me up a lot.
Tomorrow I plan to try and go for a morning run to get some decent exercise, and then I'm just going to wander around Brisbane for the day. I've contemplated going to Australia Zoo but then I wouldn't see anything of the city, and it's a long way and expensive. So I'm not going to bother. In the evening I'm meeting a former colleague for dinner, which I'm very much looking forward to.
Spent the last couple of days on a yacht cruising the Whitsundays, which was fun enough with a nice bunch of people but didn't quite live up to my (possibly too high?) expectations. I maybe should have booked earlier to ensure the right boat, but didn't. The boat I was on is indeed a fast racing yacht, what I wanted, but the company's just split off from another company and clearly maintenance (or lack of) could be a reason. The yacht was a little run down, and right at the start our skipper couldn't get her in forward gear - kind of essential for leaving the harbour. They fiddled with the engine until they'd mended it, but that meant we were late leaving, and we only motorsailed the first afternoon under a gennaker despite all the other boats around sailing properly. Partly we were late, but also, we discovered when we asked, the mainsail had a tear in it. Actually I don't think the skipper was terribly impressed with a ripped mainsail either, it was his first trip with the company (see how I keep getting first-trip guides?) and he wanted to sail too. Additionally another yacht out at the same time had too many passengers on board for beds, and we had spare beds, so we had to meet up with her at night. That meant a decidedly more "party" atmosphere than I'd been looking for and I think the same went for most of the others on board - though not the four Swedish girls travelling as a group! Not that the socialising wasn't fun, but it meant less sleep than I'd been hoping for. Still a bit short.
Day two started with a trip ashore to see Whitehaven Beach and go for a swim, all togged up in stinger suits to guard against jellyfish. Lovely beach, absolutely white, turquoise sea, the works, so that set us off to a good start. Then we motored to a snorkelling/diving site, which was okay though not up to the standards of the reef further north. Visibility was a bit cloudy, but there was a lot of fish. I did see a fair bit of coral damage however, mostly algae of some description. :( After that we motored to a different mooring, had dinner, and then linked up with the other boat again. The party went on well past my bedtime and was noisy past the time I was trying to get to sleep. Grrr.
Today we started out with a morning snorkel - a quick one, as pretty shortly after getting in we started seeing jellyfish. We all made a fairly sharp exit from the water, despite the stinger suits! Then, thank heavens, we set both sails (the skipper had, I think, realised there were grumpy passengers on board) and had a good sail back to Airlie Beach. Wasn't long enough though and there wasn't a huge amount of audience participation. I helped a bit with the main halyard and that was it. However, a nice end to the trip.
Back in Airlie, a quick swim and a shower helped to freshen up. I'd planned to catch the local bus to the airport but on arrival at the bus stop realised I'd misjudged that one. Hadn't booked a shuttle. Had to get a taxi. Some $78 later, regretted the taxi and my uncharacteristic mismanagement. It's not like I'm skint yet, but the fact remains I didn't want to spend that on a taxi fare! Add to tiredness and by the time I finally got to the backpackers tonight I was thoroughly miserable. However, I decided trying to save a few more dollars would be silly while being miserable, and discovered a really excellent pizza, a glass of red wine and an icecream (lots of favourite food) have cheered me up a lot.
Tomorrow I plan to try and go for a morning run to get some decent exercise, and then I'm just going to wander around Brisbane for the day. I've contemplated going to Australia Zoo but then I wouldn't see anything of the city, and it's a long way and expensive. So I'm not going to bother. In the evening I'm meeting a former colleague for dinner, which I'm very much looking forward to.
Sunday 5 April 2009
Off sailing
I'm in Airlie Beach in the Whitsundays, off sailing shortly for two nights. Airlie Beach, frankly, isn't really my type of place and the bar was right below my dorm room last night - though I did manage to get to sleep despite the music blaring out. (I put earplugs in and they fell out during the night! I knew there was a reason I don't like earplugs.)
Weather's a tad variable now, but there is some wind which is what's important when sailing. Still extremely warm.
Weather's a tad variable now, but there is some wind which is what's important when sailing. Still extremely warm.
Friday 3 April 2009
Uluru, etc.
Day 1
I was picked up for the Uluṟu tour bright and early and we were on the road after formalities soon after. We were a mixed bunch of one Brit (me), an Irishman, a Chinese couple, six Germans and three Austrians – so German was the majority language, though English the lingua franca. Our guide, Chris, turned out to be a Kiwi from the Hawke's Bay on his first trip as a guide (he'd obviously been on the tour himself a few times while training). He did a good job too, telling us about the landscape and the plants and so on as we drove away from Alice. We stopped at a camel farm first; I don't think any of our group did one of the short $5 rides but we stretched our legs and looked at camels, an emu and a couple of kangaroos in an enclosure for a bit. Central Australia is full of feral camels, over 500,000 of them at least and all descended from the camels brought out by the early European settlers and explorers. We spotted a few on the tour, by the side of the road and once a couple crossed in front of us.
Shortly after the camel farm we turned off the main highway on to the Ernest Giles road, 100km of unsealed bumpiness. We passed lots of “rivers” - being dry riverbeds – and collected firewood for the night's campfire. Chris showed us how to look for witchety grubs under acacia bushes. A small snake appeared and slithered away (I didn't see it) and he had better luck with the second bush, finding a hollow root where a grub had been though there was no grub. Apparently they're easier to find after rain.
Lunch was had at King's Creek Station. Like many of the cattle stations in central Australia, it doubles as a campsite, shop and petrol station – they've all been supplementing their income from tourism for about 60 years. It was in the 1960s that some farmers alerted a bloke called Jack Cotterill to the existence of King's Canyon, or Watarrka as the Aborigines call it, and tourists started heading out there. The canyon was our afternoon's walk, about 5.5km round the rim. It's red rock, in various weird shapes but predominantly looking like beehives (the old-fashioned sort, or resembling the NZ parliament building). We were there late enough that the light on the rock was really beautiful, particularly at the end of the walk when the sun was setting.
That meant it was dark by the time we got back to King's Creek. The campsite was a couple of kilometres down the road, and we discovered on arrival that one of the connectors providing power to the shelter had fallen off. Chris set about trying to fix it while the rest of us unloaded food from the back of the van.
Chris had been fiddling with the wires for about five minutes, trampling the sand by the truck while a couple of people provided torchlight and the rest of us looked on. I didn't see it happen, but suddenly Chris was calling for water and pouring it on his leg – a small snake had appeared from nowhere and had bitten him just above his sock. He wasn't sure if he'd been properly bitten or not and was initially going to carry on with getting the camp ready while he waited to find out if his leg was getting sore. (Cue “what!” from yours truly, who had visions of him collapsing in front of our eyes.) Luckily he saw sense and decided to get us all back to the station. He got his leg bandaged – by a medical student, though he didn't realise it at the time – and enlisted the Irishman's help to drive the van back. En route he spotted a quad bike from the station and called the guy over; he radioed ahead so when we arrived some of the station hands were out with their torches and help. They'd called the local nurse, who was based some 40km away, and they held Chris's hand and looked after him until she arrived.
Once she'd got there a couple of the station hands and three of us went back to get the food we'd unloaded, scanning the sand intently with very large torches for snakes. Because we didn't have the camp set up, and we hadn't eaten, the station put us up in little canvas cabins and let us use a kitchen and barbeque. We ate burgers and sausages at 10pm before collapsing into bed, exhausted after a slightly more dramatic day than planned.
Day 2
By the time we got up for breakfast at 6.30am a rescue team had arrived – Brad and Tony, who had driven overnight from Alice and had got to the station at 2.30am. But they were both up before us. Brad was there to mend the broken power and drive a ute back to Alice, while Tony was our replacement guide. We'd swapped new boy Chris for an old timer; Tony being your typical Aussie bush bloke with a long long beard. He was less talkative on the loudspeaker in the bus, but knew his stuff on our walks and was also very good at avoiding crowds. All about timing, he said.
We drove from King's Creek to Yulara, or Ayers Rock Resort, arriving by lunchtime. Yulara – it means “howling” in the local language – was purpose-built in the 1980s to control tourists, replacing a different settlement on the other side of Uluṟu. That place is now an Aboriginal community and is closed off, you need a permit to visit. Yulara has several hotels, a campsite, and, though we didn't see it, a shopping centre. In the middle of the desert. The organised tours have a separate campsite and our particular spot was away from the crowds, thank heavens. It's just starting to get busy right now, so it wasn't too bad generally but the campsite was full.
After lunch we headed to the Uluṟu cultural centre, which explains the significance of the site to the Anaṉgu people as well as the various “stories” associated with the rock. There are two major ones – one about a big battle between two snakes, and one about an interrupted ceremony. The centre also explained the history of the national park, which these days is run as a jointly managed effort between the Anaṉgu and the Australian government. They have rangers of both Aboriginal and Australian origin, and try to strike a balance between tourism and preserving the lifestyle and traditions of the local people. It seems they're doing a reasonable job and the centre was interesting.
Then we went out into the heat to see the rock itself. It's really an extraordinary thing, this huge lump of sandstone sticking out of the desert. The actual rock is really grey but it's covered in layers of red dust. It's not regular in any sense, with lots of bits sticking out and caves and so on. There's rock art, a major waterhole, and various places you can't take photos of because they are sacred to the Anaṉgu. The base walk is 9.4km but it was way too hot to do it all, so we did bits of it and drove around most of the rest. The climb was closed due to the heat – they shut it if the temperature is forecast above 36ºC. I wouldn't have climbed anyway; partly because they ask you not to, and partly because frankly it looks terrifying and horrible.
We were done with our walking by about 5.30pm. Tony took us to the sunset viewing point and showed us a good spot, again away from the hordes of coach passengers who settle down at tables with linen next to the coach park. We opened our fizzy wine, made Buck's Fizz and watched the rock change colour until the sun went down. It was rather lovely.
Getting back into the bus Tony said to me, “watch where you're sitting, there's a kangaroo tail in there”. Lo and behold there was indeed, a frozen tail in a plastic bag which he'd bought to cook. Not the nicest thing to see.
Back at the campsite Tony got the fire going and as a group we prepared a massive feast to cook on it – we had all the food we didn't eat the previous night as well! There was a big pot of vegetables, cooked slowly with spices; some pasta with spinach and feta; chicken; and kangaroo mince. And some garlic bread which I cooked in some embers. It was all fantastic, even the kangaroo which tasted somewhat like venison. Felt a bit stuffed afterwards and was happy to fall into my swag for the night. A swag is a sort of leather sleeping bag affair. There's a mattress and pillow inside, and you add your sleeping bag and zip yourself up so only your face is exposed to the night air. It's remarkably comfy and despite the snake incident of the previous night I wasn't at all worried. I think I'd been reassured by Tony's insistence that Chris's bite was absolutely extraordinary (and by now we knew he was safe and had come to no harm) as well as the fact it's a well-used campsite and they wouldn't let you do it if it wasn't safe. Some of the others felt a bit nervous though I think. It was nice lying there looking at the stars, with the fire gently burning behind me, and I slept pretty well through the night.
Day 3
Up even earlier on this day in order to have breakfast and pack up before sunrise. We went to a viewing point near Kata Tjuta, otherwise known as the Olgas, where you can see both Uluṟu and Kata Tjuta. Uluṟu gets the sun behind it, so is silhouetted against the sky, while Kata Tjuta gets the morning sun on red rocks. It was fairly busy but not uncomfortably so.
As soon as the sun was up Tony got us into the bus again so we could get the walk around Kata Tjuta done before it got too hot. Again they close it at 11am if it's forecast to be warm. We were on the track before 8am. The path's called the Valley of the Winds walk and near the beginning it was extraordinarily windy, but later on it was much more sheltered. Kata Tjuta is a collection of large dome-shaped rocks, essentially; but that doesn't quite do it justice.
Tony showed us how the various rocks in the area were formed, using pebbles to illustrate. Basically there was a big flood once upon a time which washed debris into a pile, creating the composite stone of Kata Tjuta. The sandstone of Uluṟu was left on its own, as was the nearby mesa of Mount Conner (which we'd seen on the road the previous day).
On the walk we saw a couple of dingoes up ahead, and a short while after two kangaroos in the bush. I was delighted when one of them bounced away, though my pictures are dreadful. I really wanted to see a wild kangaroo bouncing.
The walk takes you up to a sort of saddle, a divider between two gorges in the formations. Here all Tony's careful crowd-avoidance went to pot because we got up there at the same time as a horde of American teenagers arrived from the opposite direction. There seemed to be hundreds of them. Not fun. We left before they did, because they were coming back the same way they'd come and we wanted to get ahead.
We had lunch at the campsite again and then hit the long road back to Alice, stopping a few times on the way for drinks, stretching, and kangaroo tail for those that wanted it. I really didn't, it looked disgusting as it's all fat and sinew. No proper meat on it.
The last stop was at “Jim's Place”. Jim Cotterill is the son of Jack (see day 1) and he runs a roadhouse about 90km from Alice Springs. He's a down-to-earth Aussie in his 60s and he owns a singing dingo. Dinky the dingo and Jim do a little show for those who are interested. Basically Dinky was a victim of dingo poisoning – all his family was killed but Dinky was rescued, about eight years ago. He grew up in Jim's household as a dog, basically, and got used to the Cotterill daughters playing the piano. Soon they discovered Dinky would “sing” along to the music and learnt to hit the keys with his paws. Of course word spread and now Dinky's a worldwide celebrity with a question in the Aussie version of Trivial Pursuit. We had a performance – a bloke from another tour group played the piano. Dinky began to whine and then got up on to the keyboard and began to howl. It was totally out of tune and time with the music and we all found it completely hilarious. Jim said dingoes are very communicative, and basically Dinky is using music as a way of communicating with the family. There's a few videos on YouTube.
We got back to Alice about 6.30, time to shower and do laundry before a last meal as a group. Everyone was very nice and despite the various language barriers we got on well – I found myself helping the Chinese couple with rental car booking queries at the airport the next day because they were on the same flight as me. But I was exhausted after all the early starts, and was happy to collapse into bed!
I was picked up for the Uluṟu tour bright and early and we were on the road after formalities soon after. We were a mixed bunch of one Brit (me), an Irishman, a Chinese couple, six Germans and three Austrians – so German was the majority language, though English the lingua franca. Our guide, Chris, turned out to be a Kiwi from the Hawke's Bay on his first trip as a guide (he'd obviously been on the tour himself a few times while training). He did a good job too, telling us about the landscape and the plants and so on as we drove away from Alice. We stopped at a camel farm first; I don't think any of our group did one of the short $5 rides but we stretched our legs and looked at camels, an emu and a couple of kangaroos in an enclosure for a bit. Central Australia is full of feral camels, over 500,000 of them at least and all descended from the camels brought out by the early European settlers and explorers. We spotted a few on the tour, by the side of the road and once a couple crossed in front of us.
Shortly after the camel farm we turned off the main highway on to the Ernest Giles road, 100km of unsealed bumpiness. We passed lots of “rivers” - being dry riverbeds – and collected firewood for the night's campfire. Chris showed us how to look for witchety grubs under acacia bushes. A small snake appeared and slithered away (I didn't see it) and he had better luck with the second bush, finding a hollow root where a grub had been though there was no grub. Apparently they're easier to find after rain.
Lunch was had at King's Creek Station. Like many of the cattle stations in central Australia, it doubles as a campsite, shop and petrol station – they've all been supplementing their income from tourism for about 60 years. It was in the 1960s that some farmers alerted a bloke called Jack Cotterill to the existence of King's Canyon, or Watarrka as the Aborigines call it, and tourists started heading out there. The canyon was our afternoon's walk, about 5.5km round the rim. It's red rock, in various weird shapes but predominantly looking like beehives (the old-fashioned sort, or resembling the NZ parliament building). We were there late enough that the light on the rock was really beautiful, particularly at the end of the walk when the sun was setting.
That meant it was dark by the time we got back to King's Creek. The campsite was a couple of kilometres down the road, and we discovered on arrival that one of the connectors providing power to the shelter had fallen off. Chris set about trying to fix it while the rest of us unloaded food from the back of the van.
Chris had been fiddling with the wires for about five minutes, trampling the sand by the truck while a couple of people provided torchlight and the rest of us looked on. I didn't see it happen, but suddenly Chris was calling for water and pouring it on his leg – a small snake had appeared from nowhere and had bitten him just above his sock. He wasn't sure if he'd been properly bitten or not and was initially going to carry on with getting the camp ready while he waited to find out if his leg was getting sore. (Cue “what!” from yours truly, who had visions of him collapsing in front of our eyes.) Luckily he saw sense and decided to get us all back to the station. He got his leg bandaged – by a medical student, though he didn't realise it at the time – and enlisted the Irishman's help to drive the van back. En route he spotted a quad bike from the station and called the guy over; he radioed ahead so when we arrived some of the station hands were out with their torches and help. They'd called the local nurse, who was based some 40km away, and they held Chris's hand and looked after him until she arrived.
Once she'd got there a couple of the station hands and three of us went back to get the food we'd unloaded, scanning the sand intently with very large torches for snakes. Because we didn't have the camp set up, and we hadn't eaten, the station put us up in little canvas cabins and let us use a kitchen and barbeque. We ate burgers and sausages at 10pm before collapsing into bed, exhausted after a slightly more dramatic day than planned.
Day 2
By the time we got up for breakfast at 6.30am a rescue team had arrived – Brad and Tony, who had driven overnight from Alice and had got to the station at 2.30am. But they were both up before us. Brad was there to mend the broken power and drive a ute back to Alice, while Tony was our replacement guide. We'd swapped new boy Chris for an old timer; Tony being your typical Aussie bush bloke with a long long beard. He was less talkative on the loudspeaker in the bus, but knew his stuff on our walks and was also very good at avoiding crowds. All about timing, he said.
We drove from King's Creek to Yulara, or Ayers Rock Resort, arriving by lunchtime. Yulara – it means “howling” in the local language – was purpose-built in the 1980s to control tourists, replacing a different settlement on the other side of Uluṟu. That place is now an Aboriginal community and is closed off, you need a permit to visit. Yulara has several hotels, a campsite, and, though we didn't see it, a shopping centre. In the middle of the desert. The organised tours have a separate campsite and our particular spot was away from the crowds, thank heavens. It's just starting to get busy right now, so it wasn't too bad generally but the campsite was full.
After lunch we headed to the Uluṟu cultural centre, which explains the significance of the site to the Anaṉgu people as well as the various “stories” associated with the rock. There are two major ones – one about a big battle between two snakes, and one about an interrupted ceremony. The centre also explained the history of the national park, which these days is run as a jointly managed effort between the Anaṉgu and the Australian government. They have rangers of both Aboriginal and Australian origin, and try to strike a balance between tourism and preserving the lifestyle and traditions of the local people. It seems they're doing a reasonable job and the centre was interesting.
Then we went out into the heat to see the rock itself. It's really an extraordinary thing, this huge lump of sandstone sticking out of the desert. The actual rock is really grey but it's covered in layers of red dust. It's not regular in any sense, with lots of bits sticking out and caves and so on. There's rock art, a major waterhole, and various places you can't take photos of because they are sacred to the Anaṉgu. The base walk is 9.4km but it was way too hot to do it all, so we did bits of it and drove around most of the rest. The climb was closed due to the heat – they shut it if the temperature is forecast above 36ºC. I wouldn't have climbed anyway; partly because they ask you not to, and partly because frankly it looks terrifying and horrible.
We were done with our walking by about 5.30pm. Tony took us to the sunset viewing point and showed us a good spot, again away from the hordes of coach passengers who settle down at tables with linen next to the coach park. We opened our fizzy wine, made Buck's Fizz and watched the rock change colour until the sun went down. It was rather lovely.
Getting back into the bus Tony said to me, “watch where you're sitting, there's a kangaroo tail in there”. Lo and behold there was indeed, a frozen tail in a plastic bag which he'd bought to cook. Not the nicest thing to see.
Back at the campsite Tony got the fire going and as a group we prepared a massive feast to cook on it – we had all the food we didn't eat the previous night as well! There was a big pot of vegetables, cooked slowly with spices; some pasta with spinach and feta; chicken; and kangaroo mince. And some garlic bread which I cooked in some embers. It was all fantastic, even the kangaroo which tasted somewhat like venison. Felt a bit stuffed afterwards and was happy to fall into my swag for the night. A swag is a sort of leather sleeping bag affair. There's a mattress and pillow inside, and you add your sleeping bag and zip yourself up so only your face is exposed to the night air. It's remarkably comfy and despite the snake incident of the previous night I wasn't at all worried. I think I'd been reassured by Tony's insistence that Chris's bite was absolutely extraordinary (and by now we knew he was safe and had come to no harm) as well as the fact it's a well-used campsite and they wouldn't let you do it if it wasn't safe. Some of the others felt a bit nervous though I think. It was nice lying there looking at the stars, with the fire gently burning behind me, and I slept pretty well through the night.
Day 3
Up even earlier on this day in order to have breakfast and pack up before sunrise. We went to a viewing point near Kata Tjuta, otherwise known as the Olgas, where you can see both Uluṟu and Kata Tjuta. Uluṟu gets the sun behind it, so is silhouetted against the sky, while Kata Tjuta gets the morning sun on red rocks. It was fairly busy but not uncomfortably so.
As soon as the sun was up Tony got us into the bus again so we could get the walk around Kata Tjuta done before it got too hot. Again they close it at 11am if it's forecast to be warm. We were on the track before 8am. The path's called the Valley of the Winds walk and near the beginning it was extraordinarily windy, but later on it was much more sheltered. Kata Tjuta is a collection of large dome-shaped rocks, essentially; but that doesn't quite do it justice.
Tony showed us how the various rocks in the area were formed, using pebbles to illustrate. Basically there was a big flood once upon a time which washed debris into a pile, creating the composite stone of Kata Tjuta. The sandstone of Uluṟu was left on its own, as was the nearby mesa of Mount Conner (which we'd seen on the road the previous day).
On the walk we saw a couple of dingoes up ahead, and a short while after two kangaroos in the bush. I was delighted when one of them bounced away, though my pictures are dreadful. I really wanted to see a wild kangaroo bouncing.
The walk takes you up to a sort of saddle, a divider between two gorges in the formations. Here all Tony's careful crowd-avoidance went to pot because we got up there at the same time as a horde of American teenagers arrived from the opposite direction. There seemed to be hundreds of them. Not fun. We left before they did, because they were coming back the same way they'd come and we wanted to get ahead.
We had lunch at the campsite again and then hit the long road back to Alice, stopping a few times on the way for drinks, stretching, and kangaroo tail for those that wanted it. I really didn't, it looked disgusting as it's all fat and sinew. No proper meat on it.
The last stop was at “Jim's Place”. Jim Cotterill is the son of Jack (see day 1) and he runs a roadhouse about 90km from Alice Springs. He's a down-to-earth Aussie in his 60s and he owns a singing dingo. Dinky the dingo and Jim do a little show for those who are interested. Basically Dinky was a victim of dingo poisoning – all his family was killed but Dinky was rescued, about eight years ago. He grew up in Jim's household as a dog, basically, and got used to the Cotterill daughters playing the piano. Soon they discovered Dinky would “sing” along to the music and learnt to hit the keys with his paws. Of course word spread and now Dinky's a worldwide celebrity with a question in the Aussie version of Trivial Pursuit. We had a performance – a bloke from another tour group played the piano. Dinky began to whine and then got up on to the keyboard and began to howl. It was totally out of tune and time with the music and we all found it completely hilarious. Jim said dingoes are very communicative, and basically Dinky is using music as a way of communicating with the family. There's a few videos on YouTube.
We got back to Alice about 6.30, time to shower and do laundry before a last meal as a group. Everyone was very nice and despite the various language barriers we got on well – I found myself helping the Chinese couple with rental car booking queries at the airport the next day because they were on the same flight as me. But I was exhausted after all the early starts, and was happy to collapse into bed!
Thursday 2 April 2009
Great Barrier
Another quick entry - wireless is down at my otherwise lovely hostel in Cairns, so I can't upload the long entry I did about Uluru (etc). Yesterday morning I went to Alice Springs' telegraph station, which was very interesting and really worthwhile and I survived the walk! Today I went snorkelling on the Great Barrier, and managed to find a small operator. They were really good, we did three dives and saw loads of different coral and fish and best of all a green turtle that swam around us for ages. Lots of fun. Tomorrow off to Cape Tribulation, a rainforest area further north.
Tuesday 31 March 2009
Back from the Outback
Back from my trip to Uluru (etc). It was fun. It was also baking hot and I am heartily sick of flies - they're everywhere! Everything went smoothly apart from the not-so-minor matter of our guide getting bitten by a snake on the first night while trying to connect power in the campsite. Luckily the snake only caught the top of his sock and no venom got into the bloodstream, but he still had to go to hospital back in Alice before they'd confirmed that. The company was brilliant and sent a relief guide out to us, so we didn't miss out on anything except one night's sleeping under the stars; the station the campsite was on put us up in little cabins for the night because it was getting so late.
Anyway, more when I have wireless, when I'll also upload some of the very many pictures I took!
Anyway, more when I have wireless, when I'll also upload some of the very many pictures I took!
Saturday 28 March 2009
Too hot!
In Alice Springs. It's too hot. Way too hot. I'm melting. I tried to go for a walk to the old telegraph station and gave up after ten minutes - now I'm planning to get up early-ish when I'm back here after my Uluru trip and go first thing in the morning, when it might actually be cool enough, or I might have acclimatised a bit. There are also quite a lot of annoying flies. However my hostel has a (small) pool and I think I'll have a dip after finishing emailing and so on.
Friday 27 March 2009
Mmm, wine
Slightly sozzled (only slightly) after a day's wine tasting in the McLaren Vale and the Adelaide Hills. A small tour group, which was nice, and a mixture of ages and nationalities, also nice. We did five wineries, morning tea, olive oil tasting and lunch. The McLaren Vale's not too far outside Adelaide; it has around 85 wineries apparently but most of them are boutique, small family-owned businesses rather than the multi-national conglomerates.
First stop after morning tea was the Fox Creek winery where we had a tour of their very modern sheds before tasting several whites and I think seven reds, including a fizzy Shiraz which was yummy. After that, Woodstock Wines (named after the Oxfordshire village) – I particularly liked their expensive $60 Shiraz and their dessert wines, but the grenache rosé was pretty good too. We had lunch at Woodstock, one of those antipasto platter affairs.
The next two wineries after lunch – Hugo Wines in McLaren Vale and Petalumba in the Adelaide Hills – made me worry I'd drunk too much because they weren't as good. Not terrible, just not quite as good as the first two. Luckily winery number five was superb. Arranmore Wines is a tiny little operation producing 1000 cases a year and run by one man, who knew his stuff and made excellent wines. Up there it's colder than down in the vale, so the wines reminded me far more of the stuff I've been drinking in NZ – especially as he makes a rather nice pinot noir. A good last stop actually.
Off up to Alice Springs tomorrow. I hear it's hot.
First stop after morning tea was the Fox Creek winery where we had a tour of their very modern sheds before tasting several whites and I think seven reds, including a fizzy Shiraz which was yummy. After that, Woodstock Wines (named after the Oxfordshire village) – I particularly liked their expensive $60 Shiraz and their dessert wines, but the grenache rosé was pretty good too. We had lunch at Woodstock, one of those antipasto platter affairs.
The next two wineries after lunch – Hugo Wines in McLaren Vale and Petalumba in the Adelaide Hills – made me worry I'd drunk too much because they weren't as good. Not terrible, just not quite as good as the first two. Luckily winery number five was superb. Arranmore Wines is a tiny little operation producing 1000 cases a year and run by one man, who knew his stuff and made excellent wines. Up there it's colder than down in the vale, so the wines reminded me far more of the stuff I've been drinking in NZ – especially as he makes a rather nice pinot noir. A good last stop actually.
Off up to Alice Springs tomorrow. I hear it's hot.
Thursday 26 March 2009
Port Adelaide
Port Adelaide was small, but I enjoyed my trip out there anyway. The maritime museum was excellent, especially the section on immigrants to Australia – I particularly liked the reconstruction of steerage cabins through the ages and the ketch they have in the main lobby. Not a large museum, but a nice one. The rest of the town is very, very sleepy with old port buildings dotted about; the port itself is somewhat industrial and ugly. There's a community of bottlenose dolphins living in the estuary but I didn't see any. Anyway I had a nice wander.
Got back to the hotel early enough to make a trip to the aquatic centre worthwhile. I do love the fact that in Australia you can guarantee a 50m pool – Adelaide's was busy with the local swim squad but there were three public lanes and they weren't too busy. (The centre also had two leisure pools and a diving pool.) A bonus was the white parrots or cockatoos I saw in the surrounding park en route and on the way back from swimming. You wouldn't find those in the UK, or indeed NZ!
Got back to the hotel early enough to make a trip to the aquatic centre worthwhile. I do love the fact that in Australia you can guarantee a 50m pool – Adelaide's was busy with the local swim squad but there were three public lanes and they weren't too busy. (The centre also had two leisure pools and a diving pool.) A bonus was the white parrots or cockatoos I saw in the surrounding park en route and on the way back from swimming. You wouldn't find those in the UK, or indeed NZ!
Wednesday 25 March 2009
Adelaide
The Overlander, Tuesday 24 March
On the train on the way to Adelaide. Miles and miles of very flat, very brown Aussie scenery rolling by (I'd say rushing, but it'd be wrong as this train doesn't rush, it rolls). There's still a good couple of hours left in the journey and then I somehow have to find tonight's motel ....
Melbourne was fun, good to see friends and relax a bit. Yesterday I spent the morning wandering around the shops with Bea (on holiday from the UK). Nice to see proper shops, it's one thing Wellington doesn't have in abundance. Bought a new wide-angle lens as mine has died; it will probably be fixable but I'm not staying anywhere long enough to get it fixed and I found a decent deal on a Sigma 10-20mm digital lens. Bea and I met up with Helen for a yum cha lunch, which was highly enjoyable. I like being a lady what lunches. :) After that we split up as Bea had already been to the city museum and I wanted to go. I got to play with the new lens outside and inside the museum, which is beautiful from an architectural point of view and interesting from a cultural point of view. I didn't bother with the generic science/natural history galleries because you do get those everywhere and went straight to the Melbourne gallery, telling the city's story. I followed that with the Te Pasifika gallery (small, with a variety of canoes and other Pasifika artefacts including a kiwi-feather cloak from NZ) and the Aborigine gallery. That raised the question of whether it's right for museums in other countries to hold indigenous artefacts in their collections. The Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders don't think it is – I'm of two minds. Human remains should, I reckon, remain in their home countries. Bits of rock and objects given by indigenous peoples to explorers and collectors is a slightly different matter; I understand the point of view that those things belong to the tangata whenua (to use the Maori term for people of the land) but if every nation on earth took that view we'd be a very closeted species, unaware and unappreciative of the greater world on our doorstep. Especially because relatively speaking not that many people get a chance to travel outside their borders.
Finished the museum with the forest gallery, which was a rather good sort of giant aviary full of trees and tree ferns and other plants, waterways, birds and some animals and so on. I managed to arrive just when the alpine copperhead snake was being fed its weekly dead mouse – a very scrawny little white creature – so I watched for a while. Still don't like snakes. I preferred the pretty little birds twittering about among the trees.
Next stop, just before it closed, was Cook's Cottage. Some time ago some Melburnians decided to buy the old stone cottage once lived in by Captain Cook's parents, dismantle it, and ship it from Great Ayton in Yorkshire all the way to Oz. As you do. It now stands incongruously amid the palm trees in a Melbourne park, complete with an English-style cottage garden and very non-English birds flitting about. In the interests of being a complete Cook geek I had to go inside for a quick look.
The sun was beginning to set, turning the churches and modern architecture a lovely golden, and I sat in Federation Square for a while people-watching and waiting for friends. Helen took us rowing that evening, a short outing in a coxed four on the Yarra which was fun. Always good to get out in a boat.
Up early this morning to catch the train, and I've generally relaxed all day. Comfortable seats, alternating between reading, scenery watching, snoozing and eating. Could be worse ...
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Adelaide, Wednesday 25 March
Back from a day exploring Adelaide; my feet hurt!
Caught a taxi to my hotel from the train station last night – it was raining and I really had no idea where I was! Only the taxi driver appeared to have no idea either and had to consult a map before putting the hotel address into his GPS thing. Sometimes I miss London cabbies.
I'm staying in North Adelaide, which is a nice neighbourhood with lots of really pretty Victorian houses and a main street with plenty of restaurants and so on. However it's also within walking distance of the city proper, and that's where I headed this morning. Booked a wine tour in the McLaren Vale for Friday before hitting the Central Market, a large covered market with lots of fruit, veg, meat, cheese and bakery stalls. I didn't need to buy anything but had a lovely wander around (and a really good coffee).
Then I went to a contemporary arts gallery called the JamFactory – they have a glass studio attached – some lovely pieces of glassware, jewellery and a great exhibition of quirky creatures made out of glass. I carried on being cultural at the South Australian Museum, mainly for the Aboriginal cultural gallery; lots of art and other objects from across Australia. The art gallery next door was good too, though had a baffling range of art from across the world. I actually liked the contemporary Aborigine art best. So I went on to the national Aboriginal cultural centre, Tandanya, where they were changing exhibits so there wasn't much to see. Aboriginal art is awfully expensive.
Finished the day with a wander through the Botanic Gardens, especially the rose garden. I do love roses and they had lots of different ones, including some test roses. A funny little bloke driving round on a quad bike told me I ought to be taking pictures of the test flowers because they might get chucked out if they're not successful. He was actually the third random old Aussie bloke who's struck up a conversation with me in the past few days. In Melbourne on Monday after I'd said bye to Bea one old guy told me we looked very relaxed and was I on holiday; and then earlier today outside the state library another man suggested that I go round the back to look at the old police buildings (I did, it was a good suggestion).
I'm planning to catch the train tomorrow morning to Port Adelaide and go to the maritime museum, and then if I'm back in town early I might check out the aquatic centre and have a swim.
On the train on the way to Adelaide. Miles and miles of very flat, very brown Aussie scenery rolling by (I'd say rushing, but it'd be wrong as this train doesn't rush, it rolls). There's still a good couple of hours left in the journey and then I somehow have to find tonight's motel ....
Melbourne was fun, good to see friends and relax a bit. Yesterday I spent the morning wandering around the shops with Bea (on holiday from the UK). Nice to see proper shops, it's one thing Wellington doesn't have in abundance. Bought a new wide-angle lens as mine has died; it will probably be fixable but I'm not staying anywhere long enough to get it fixed and I found a decent deal on a Sigma 10-20mm digital lens. Bea and I met up with Helen for a yum cha lunch, which was highly enjoyable. I like being a lady what lunches. :) After that we split up as Bea had already been to the city museum and I wanted to go. I got to play with the new lens outside and inside the museum, which is beautiful from an architectural point of view and interesting from a cultural point of view. I didn't bother with the generic science/natural history galleries because you do get those everywhere and went straight to the Melbourne gallery, telling the city's story. I followed that with the Te Pasifika gallery (small, with a variety of canoes and other Pasifika artefacts including a kiwi-feather cloak from NZ) and the Aborigine gallery. That raised the question of whether it's right for museums in other countries to hold indigenous artefacts in their collections. The Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders don't think it is – I'm of two minds. Human remains should, I reckon, remain in their home countries. Bits of rock and objects given by indigenous peoples to explorers and collectors is a slightly different matter; I understand the point of view that those things belong to the tangata whenua (to use the Maori term for people of the land) but if every nation on earth took that view we'd be a very closeted species, unaware and unappreciative of the greater world on our doorstep. Especially because relatively speaking not that many people get a chance to travel outside their borders.
Finished the museum with the forest gallery, which was a rather good sort of giant aviary full of trees and tree ferns and other plants, waterways, birds and some animals and so on. I managed to arrive just when the alpine copperhead snake was being fed its weekly dead mouse – a very scrawny little white creature – so I watched for a while. Still don't like snakes. I preferred the pretty little birds twittering about among the trees.
Next stop, just before it closed, was Cook's Cottage. Some time ago some Melburnians decided to buy the old stone cottage once lived in by Captain Cook's parents, dismantle it, and ship it from Great Ayton in Yorkshire all the way to Oz. As you do. It now stands incongruously amid the palm trees in a Melbourne park, complete with an English-style cottage garden and very non-English birds flitting about. In the interests of being a complete Cook geek I had to go inside for a quick look.
The sun was beginning to set, turning the churches and modern architecture a lovely golden, and I sat in Federation Square for a while people-watching and waiting for friends. Helen took us rowing that evening, a short outing in a coxed four on the Yarra which was fun. Always good to get out in a boat.
Up early this morning to catch the train, and I've generally relaxed all day. Comfortable seats, alternating between reading, scenery watching, snoozing and eating. Could be worse ...
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Adelaide, Wednesday 25 March
Back from a day exploring Adelaide; my feet hurt!
Caught a taxi to my hotel from the train station last night – it was raining and I really had no idea where I was! Only the taxi driver appeared to have no idea either and had to consult a map before putting the hotel address into his GPS thing. Sometimes I miss London cabbies.
I'm staying in North Adelaide, which is a nice neighbourhood with lots of really pretty Victorian houses and a main street with plenty of restaurants and so on. However it's also within walking distance of the city proper, and that's where I headed this morning. Booked a wine tour in the McLaren Vale for Friday before hitting the Central Market, a large covered market with lots of fruit, veg, meat, cheese and bakery stalls. I didn't need to buy anything but had a lovely wander around (and a really good coffee).
Then I went to a contemporary arts gallery called the JamFactory – they have a glass studio attached – some lovely pieces of glassware, jewellery and a great exhibition of quirky creatures made out of glass. I carried on being cultural at the South Australian Museum, mainly for the Aboriginal cultural gallery; lots of art and other objects from across Australia. The art gallery next door was good too, though had a baffling range of art from across the world. I actually liked the contemporary Aborigine art best. So I went on to the national Aboriginal cultural centre, Tandanya, where they were changing exhibits so there wasn't much to see. Aboriginal art is awfully expensive.
Finished the day with a wander through the Botanic Gardens, especially the rose garden. I do love roses and they had lots of different ones, including some test roses. A funny little bloke driving round on a quad bike told me I ought to be taking pictures of the test flowers because they might get chucked out if they're not successful. He was actually the third random old Aussie bloke who's struck up a conversation with me in the past few days. In Melbourne on Monday after I'd said bye to Bea one old guy told me we looked very relaxed and was I on holiday; and then earlier today outside the state library another man suggested that I go round the back to look at the old police buildings (I did, it was a good suggestion).
I'm planning to catch the train tomorrow morning to Port Adelaide and go to the maritime museum, and then if I'm back in town early I might check out the aquatic centre and have a swim.
Sunday 22 March 2009
In Melbourne
I've left NZ for a few weeks and am now in Melbourne on the start of my Australian travels. Staying with a friend from rowing at home, who's been out here for a while, and there are a couple of other mutual friends here too so it's been good to catch up. In a bit of a spur-of-the-moment thing we did a team triathlon this morning - I did the 750m swim, which was a bit scary because of the chaos at the start. However I managed to overtake quite a few people and did a good time, and as a team we think we were the first or second quickest female team. Annoyingly they decided to merge the male and female teams as all male on the results so it's hard to tell for sure.
Melbourne still tomorrow, before heading to Adelaide by train on Tuesday morning.
Melbourne still tomorrow, before heading to Adelaide by train on Tuesday morning.
Friday 20 March 2009
East Coast
Gisborne, Tuesday 17 March (update from the last post)
Spent the late afternoon walking around Gisborne's hill Titirangi and seeing Cook-related sites. There's a memorial up roughly where Cook landed – a memorial and a bit of grass, right next to a logging yard. A container ship from Hong Kong was loading. I couldn't help wondering what Cook would have made of it all now. It was, slightly, depressing. Cook's achievements were such that he rates more than a stone memorial in a logging yard. I think he'd have been happier with the Endeavour.
After seeing the memorial I climbed up Titirangi for views of the town and the bay, and down to the very large marae below it. Back towards the holiday park I paused at the statue of Cook and the one of his cabin boy Young Nick, who first spotted NZ. I bet Nick never realised what he did and how important it was.
Fish and chips for dinner. Mmm.
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Te Araroa, Wednesday 18 March
When the Lonely Planet said the amenities blocks here at Te Araroa Holiday Park needed an upgrade, they weren't kidding – I feel like I've gone back in time. Back in time with the price, too – just $12 for me and my little tent for the night. The whole day in fact has been a bit back-in-time; the East Coast seems as though it hasn't moved on much from the 60s or 70s. Faded buildings, old vehicles, farmers driving quad bikes around, roads that need improving, no mobile reception and no internet. Instead of modern stuff which you can do without, there's miles and miles of wild empty beaches, green green hills, sheep and cows, and trees. Not much else. The main industry appears to be logging – timber trucks kept passing me all day on those windy roads carrying their cargoes to Gisborne. Apart from that, it's agriculture or road maintenance, apparently. I did a feature on East Coast schools at one point and I remember they were predominantly low-decile, overwhelmingly Maori and trying to deal with all sorts of problems. You can see why, driving the coast. Everywhere's so isolated. I turned down into Waipiro Bay, a ten-minute narrow windy road off the main state highway, and there's a school down there. The town's just a few houses, the church is in disrepair, and yet they're trying to run a school.
Despite the general run-downness of the coast, however, it's stunningly beautiful in a very North Island sort of way. Lots of evidence of seismic activity in the landscape. I imagine it must have looked relatively similar when Cook got here, though there was probably more bush and less grass. My first stop this morning was Cook's Cove walkway, going to a cove he landed in in late October 1769. There's a random plaque on a block of concrete overlooking the cove, informing you that Endeavour took on wood and water and Banks and Solander collected plants. It was a nice walk, first up through farmland and then down through bush, and there was a rather nice hole in the rock to look at as well.
Had lunch by the Tolaga Bay wharf, the longest pier in the southern hemisphere, built in the late 1920s and rather run down now. It's long out of use except by fishermen.
I'd planned to stop a lot more than I did – I missed the turnoff for Whangara, where Whale Rider was set and filmed, which was a bit annoying. I thought I'd stop in Tokomaru Bay, after Tolaga, but there wasn't anything to stop for. Waipiro was a nice little diversion and I'm glad I did it, though was puzzled by the road back to SH35 which was sealed for a bit, then unsealed, then sealed for about 50m, then unsealed, and so on. Made no sense whatsoever.
After that I planned to stop for an ice-cream in Ruatoria, but even the Lonely Planet was being rather kind to what turned out to be a very depressing sort of place, and I turned round and got out of Dodge.
Once I'd arrived at tonight's holiday park (and had pitched my tent away from the pig and two piglets that were nosing around) I went for a nice walk on the absolutely deserted beach and watched the surf for a bit. That was lovely. Then it started to rain, and absolutely chucked it down for a while.
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Awatiri, Thursday 19 March
It seems like today's been a long day, but I'm ultimately chilled out thanks to 40 minutes in the hot pool attached to tonight's holiday park and some lovely Hawke's Bay rosé. Blogging offline while sitting outside (mainly because that's the only way I can a) sit and b) have the computer plugged in to recharge) and it's warm and sunny. Lovely.
Woke up at 6am and wondered what I was doing getting up before dawn, before remembering that I wanted to be the first in the world to watch today's sun rise. I was a bit late leaving according to the timeplan the holiday park guy gave me, but the road was fine – only partially unsealed – and it was getting light by the time I reached the East Cape (having successfully avoided running over one rabbit, two unspecified birds, and a large dog en route). I was worried I'd missed the best of it, so hurried up the stairs to the lighthouse. It's supposed to take 25 minutes, I did it in ten. Up there were six or seven people who'd been more sensible than me and had camped by the roadside at the bottom of the hill, and together we watched a beautiful sunrise by a very well-maintained lighthouse. It was all rather lovely.
Had breakfast back at the park, packed up my things and hit the road. I wasn't sure how much I'd stop – there seemed to be things of potential interest on the map and in the Lonely Planet, but things that say they're interesting aren't always and vice-versa. In the end I didn't stop much at all. Some things that seemed interesting weren't signposted, and by the time you notice them they're gone. Others (the church in Tokere, for instance) were somewhat dilapidated and I didn't bother stopping. I did however pause in Ruakorere[CHECK] where there's a beautiful little church built in 1894 by the shoreline. Definitely worth a look. Their graveyard was a family one, for many generations of Stirlings, and a sign asked you not to go in. Also I had to take my shoes off to go into the church, to protect the carpet.
After that, I didn't stop at all until Opotiki apart from a coffee at Te Kaha. Nevertheless it was a great drive, with more stunning East Coast scenery – deep green bush bordered by the bright blue Pacific. The interior looked pretty mystical and spooky, cloud-clad and dark. I'd like to go and look at the Ureweras at some point. On the way I passed loads of little marae, all beautifully carved and well looked after. In fact the marae are a lot better looked after than the churches, which says a lot for community spirit and not much at all for religion out here. It would have been wonderful to get a look inside the marae, but unfortunately – unlike churches, which invite you in for a wander around – marae are the sort of places you need invitations for. There's clearly a strong Maori spirit that still influences the East Coast, and with slogans adorning a lot of the vehicles around people are evidently proud of who they are and where they've come from.
Around lunchtime I arrived in Opotiki. I'd planned to stay the night here but it was way too early and the town way too small. I had a wander down the main street, looked at the old buildings and the nice church, put more petrol in the tank for tomorrow's drive to Auckland, and carried on! I paused at the nearby Hukutaia Domain, a small space devoted to native plants and trees, where there's a half-hour bush walk through some lovely bush. Lots of tree ferns and so on. There's also a puriri tree which is estimated to be well over 2000 years old (!!!) that used to be used as a “burial tree” by the local hapu. They dug up bones a few years after death and re-interred them inside the hollow trunk. There was an earthquake some time ago that exposed the bones, so the iwi moved them and lifted the tapu on the tree and now you can go and see it. It's an extraordinary old tree, all gnarled and knotted, with a great hollow bit inside. I wished I'd had a tripod; my photos are all a bit blurry. Anyway I liked the walk and the domain and the tree and was glad I'd made the detour.
As I was so early I decided to carry on past Opotiki and cut down tomorrow's drive to Auckland. After a bit of Lonely Planet and map-consulting I settled on Awatiri, just off the road north towards Rotorua, where the holiday park has hot springs. It's a nice holiday park and the hot springs pool, a proper swimming pool size, was wonderful. I soaked and relaxed for a while. $15 well spent!
---
Auckland, Friday 20 March
Finally in Auckland after a sloooooow drive up this morning. Lots of traffic, lots of slow traffic. However I didn't get lost in Auckland despite the diversion in place and got the car back only half an hour late (which wasn't a problem).
Have repacked my bags for Australia and I catch an early flight to Melbourne tomorrow. :)
Flickr all updated.
Spent the late afternoon walking around Gisborne's hill Titirangi and seeing Cook-related sites. There's a memorial up roughly where Cook landed – a memorial and a bit of grass, right next to a logging yard. A container ship from Hong Kong was loading. I couldn't help wondering what Cook would have made of it all now. It was, slightly, depressing. Cook's achievements were such that he rates more than a stone memorial in a logging yard. I think he'd have been happier with the Endeavour.
After seeing the memorial I climbed up Titirangi for views of the town and the bay, and down to the very large marae below it. Back towards the holiday park I paused at the statue of Cook and the one of his cabin boy Young Nick, who first spotted NZ. I bet Nick never realised what he did and how important it was.
Fish and chips for dinner. Mmm.
---
Te Araroa, Wednesday 18 March
When the Lonely Planet said the amenities blocks here at Te Araroa Holiday Park needed an upgrade, they weren't kidding – I feel like I've gone back in time. Back in time with the price, too – just $12 for me and my little tent for the night. The whole day in fact has been a bit back-in-time; the East Coast seems as though it hasn't moved on much from the 60s or 70s. Faded buildings, old vehicles, farmers driving quad bikes around, roads that need improving, no mobile reception and no internet. Instead of modern stuff which you can do without, there's miles and miles of wild empty beaches, green green hills, sheep and cows, and trees. Not much else. The main industry appears to be logging – timber trucks kept passing me all day on those windy roads carrying their cargoes to Gisborne. Apart from that, it's agriculture or road maintenance, apparently. I did a feature on East Coast schools at one point and I remember they were predominantly low-decile, overwhelmingly Maori and trying to deal with all sorts of problems. You can see why, driving the coast. Everywhere's so isolated. I turned down into Waipiro Bay, a ten-minute narrow windy road off the main state highway, and there's a school down there. The town's just a few houses, the church is in disrepair, and yet they're trying to run a school.
Despite the general run-downness of the coast, however, it's stunningly beautiful in a very North Island sort of way. Lots of evidence of seismic activity in the landscape. I imagine it must have looked relatively similar when Cook got here, though there was probably more bush and less grass. My first stop this morning was Cook's Cove walkway, going to a cove he landed in in late October 1769. There's a random plaque on a block of concrete overlooking the cove, informing you that Endeavour took on wood and water and Banks and Solander collected plants. It was a nice walk, first up through farmland and then down through bush, and there was a rather nice hole in the rock to look at as well.
Had lunch by the Tolaga Bay wharf, the longest pier in the southern hemisphere, built in the late 1920s and rather run down now. It's long out of use except by fishermen.
I'd planned to stop a lot more than I did – I missed the turnoff for Whangara, where Whale Rider was set and filmed, which was a bit annoying. I thought I'd stop in Tokomaru Bay, after Tolaga, but there wasn't anything to stop for. Waipiro was a nice little diversion and I'm glad I did it, though was puzzled by the road back to SH35 which was sealed for a bit, then unsealed, then sealed for about 50m, then unsealed, and so on. Made no sense whatsoever.
After that I planned to stop for an ice-cream in Ruatoria, but even the Lonely Planet was being rather kind to what turned out to be a very depressing sort of place, and I turned round and got out of Dodge.
Once I'd arrived at tonight's holiday park (and had pitched my tent away from the pig and two piglets that were nosing around) I went for a nice walk on the absolutely deserted beach and watched the surf for a bit. That was lovely. Then it started to rain, and absolutely chucked it down for a while.
---
Awatiri, Thursday 19 March
It seems like today's been a long day, but I'm ultimately chilled out thanks to 40 minutes in the hot pool attached to tonight's holiday park and some lovely Hawke's Bay rosé. Blogging offline while sitting outside (mainly because that's the only way I can a) sit and b) have the computer plugged in to recharge) and it's warm and sunny. Lovely.
Woke up at 6am and wondered what I was doing getting up before dawn, before remembering that I wanted to be the first in the world to watch today's sun rise. I was a bit late leaving according to the timeplan the holiday park guy gave me, but the road was fine – only partially unsealed – and it was getting light by the time I reached the East Cape (having successfully avoided running over one rabbit, two unspecified birds, and a large dog en route). I was worried I'd missed the best of it, so hurried up the stairs to the lighthouse. It's supposed to take 25 minutes, I did it in ten. Up there were six or seven people who'd been more sensible than me and had camped by the roadside at the bottom of the hill, and together we watched a beautiful sunrise by a very well-maintained lighthouse. It was all rather lovely.
Had breakfast back at the park, packed up my things and hit the road. I wasn't sure how much I'd stop – there seemed to be things of potential interest on the map and in the Lonely Planet, but things that say they're interesting aren't always and vice-versa. In the end I didn't stop much at all. Some things that seemed interesting weren't signposted, and by the time you notice them they're gone. Others (the church in Tokere, for instance) were somewhat dilapidated and I didn't bother stopping. I did however pause in Ruakorere[CHECK] where there's a beautiful little church built in 1894 by the shoreline. Definitely worth a look. Their graveyard was a family one, for many generations of Stirlings, and a sign asked you not to go in. Also I had to take my shoes off to go into the church, to protect the carpet.
After that, I didn't stop at all until Opotiki apart from a coffee at Te Kaha. Nevertheless it was a great drive, with more stunning East Coast scenery – deep green bush bordered by the bright blue Pacific. The interior looked pretty mystical and spooky, cloud-clad and dark. I'd like to go and look at the Ureweras at some point. On the way I passed loads of little marae, all beautifully carved and well looked after. In fact the marae are a lot better looked after than the churches, which says a lot for community spirit and not much at all for religion out here. It would have been wonderful to get a look inside the marae, but unfortunately – unlike churches, which invite you in for a wander around – marae are the sort of places you need invitations for. There's clearly a strong Maori spirit that still influences the East Coast, and with slogans adorning a lot of the vehicles around people are evidently proud of who they are and where they've come from.
Around lunchtime I arrived in Opotiki. I'd planned to stay the night here but it was way too early and the town way too small. I had a wander down the main street, looked at the old buildings and the nice church, put more petrol in the tank for tomorrow's drive to Auckland, and carried on! I paused at the nearby Hukutaia Domain, a small space devoted to native plants and trees, where there's a half-hour bush walk through some lovely bush. Lots of tree ferns and so on. There's also a puriri tree which is estimated to be well over 2000 years old (!!!) that used to be used as a “burial tree” by the local hapu. They dug up bones a few years after death and re-interred them inside the hollow trunk. There was an earthquake some time ago that exposed the bones, so the iwi moved them and lifted the tapu on the tree and now you can go and see it. It's an extraordinary old tree, all gnarled and knotted, with a great hollow bit inside. I wished I'd had a tripod; my photos are all a bit blurry. Anyway I liked the walk and the domain and the tree and was glad I'd made the detour.
As I was so early I decided to carry on past Opotiki and cut down tomorrow's drive to Auckland. After a bit of Lonely Planet and map-consulting I settled on Awatiri, just off the road north towards Rotorua, where the holiday park has hot springs. It's a nice holiday park and the hot springs pool, a proper swimming pool size, was wonderful. I soaked and relaxed for a while. $15 well spent!
---
Auckland, Friday 20 March
Finally in Auckland after a sloooooow drive up this morning. Lots of traffic, lots of slow traffic. However I didn't get lost in Auckland despite the diversion in place and got the car back only half an hour late (which wasn't a problem).
Have repacked my bags for Australia and I catch an early flight to Melbourne tomorrow. :)
Flickr all updated.
Tuesday 17 March 2009
Sunshine in Gisborne!
For the first time in a few weeks, I'm boiling - despite waking to rain this morning and having to pack the tent up in the rain, the sun finally came out by the time I got to Gisborne and it's now pretty hot. It's supposed to be sunny here so I'm pleased, and am camping again. I missed out on Te Mata Peak however, there was no point visiting a lookout when rain was all that could be seen.
So far I've just been to the museum, which was nice enough though small (they were renovating a bit of it so I missed that, but on the plus side, entry was only $2). Am going to walk up to the lookout point after this, I thought I'd wait until it was a little cooler. I'm debating whether or not to go to the cinema this evening - not sure I can be bothered really! May just chill out with the rest of yesterday's wine. :)
Tomorrow I head up the East Coast, with plans to sleep in Te Araroa and get up to be the first in the world to see the sunrise on Thursday.
So far I've just been to the museum, which was nice enough though small (they were renovating a bit of it so I missed that, but on the plus side, entry was only $2). Am going to walk up to the lookout point after this, I thought I'd wait until it was a little cooler. I'm debating whether or not to go to the cinema this evening - not sure I can be bothered really! May just chill out with the rest of yesterday's wine. :)
Tomorrow I head up the East Coast, with plans to sleep in Te Araroa and get up to be the first in the world to see the sunrise on Thursday.
Monday 16 March 2009
Back up north
I'm back in the North Island after my southern travels. Got back to Wellington on Friday afternoon, which was weird because it felt like coming home though I had no home to go to! The flight was wonderful - it was mostly clear, so the pilot took us the "scenic route" and I had lovely views of mountains and the West Coast from my window seat the whole way. (See Flickr for pictures.) I didn't see Mount Cook because it was on the other side of the plane, but we had better views the rest of the time on my side so I didn't mind. It's amazing how narrow the island is - you can see right across.
Once in Wellington I went straight to the aquatic centre, where my club was hosting the NZ masters long course nationals. Friday was all long distance, and I wasn't swimming but did help out on the registration desk. Saturday I swam some sprints and relays, which was fun, and handed out lunches. :) In the evening we had the meet party, also fun as our social occasions always are. Sunday was just the morning and I was mostly timekeeping, feeling terribly official! The meet went exceptionally well and as always at masters' events I was inspired and impressed by the older competitors - we had two 92-year-olds swimming and they're just remarkable. To be still getting in the pool and racing, albeit extremely slowly, at that age, is amazing.
Caught up with friends in town during the afternoon, which was a perfect sunny windless Wellington day. I shall miss Wellington, it's a superb place to live.
This morning I popped into work to say a final goodbye and find out how things were going, which was nice. Oddly it felt rather as though I'd never left, despite me being there in shorts and t-shirt all ready to head off on the next stage of travelling.
After that I picked up my rental car and headed north towards Hawkes Bay. The drive was a bit slow though the scenery was pretty and I didn't arrive in Havelock North until 3pm (via getting slightly lost twice and a stop for groceries in Masterton!) I pitched my tent for the evening before dashing off on a whistlestop tour of three of the local wineries - I'd planned to cycle, but there wasn't time to work out where to hire a bike and I probably wouldn't have made it anywhere before the cellar doors closed if I'd cycled. So I drove, and was a bit careful about what I tasted, and anyway it wasn't far. I went to Craggy Range which has an exceptional location next to Te Mata Peak (I plan to go up there tomorrow morning) and exceptional architecture - really a beautiful building. Good wine too, though they produce wine from grapes grown around NZ and I tasted a Martinborough sauvignon and a Central Otago pinot as well as Hawkes Bay chardonnay, syrah and cabernet merlot. I got a bottle of the latter and am drinking it now - it's yummy, though was far too good for my dinner (a left-over freeze-dried lamb fettucine thing I never ate down south). After that, on to Te Mata Estate and then I just had time for Black Barn before all the cellar doors closed.
The weather's perked up, thankfully; it rained a bit en route but was nice this afternoon and is dry now. Hopefully it'll stay that way until I hit Auckland on Friday!
Once in Wellington I went straight to the aquatic centre, where my club was hosting the NZ masters long course nationals. Friday was all long distance, and I wasn't swimming but did help out on the registration desk. Saturday I swam some sprints and relays, which was fun, and handed out lunches. :) In the evening we had the meet party, also fun as our social occasions always are. Sunday was just the morning and I was mostly timekeeping, feeling terribly official! The meet went exceptionally well and as always at masters' events I was inspired and impressed by the older competitors - we had two 92-year-olds swimming and they're just remarkable. To be still getting in the pool and racing, albeit extremely slowly, at that age, is amazing.
Caught up with friends in town during the afternoon, which was a perfect sunny windless Wellington day. I shall miss Wellington, it's a superb place to live.
This morning I popped into work to say a final goodbye and find out how things were going, which was nice. Oddly it felt rather as though I'd never left, despite me being there in shorts and t-shirt all ready to head off on the next stage of travelling.
After that I picked up my rental car and headed north towards Hawkes Bay. The drive was a bit slow though the scenery was pretty and I didn't arrive in Havelock North until 3pm (via getting slightly lost twice and a stop for groceries in Masterton!) I pitched my tent for the evening before dashing off on a whistlestop tour of three of the local wineries - I'd planned to cycle, but there wasn't time to work out where to hire a bike and I probably wouldn't have made it anywhere before the cellar doors closed if I'd cycled. So I drove, and was a bit careful about what I tasted, and anyway it wasn't far. I went to Craggy Range which has an exceptional location next to Te Mata Peak (I plan to go up there tomorrow morning) and exceptional architecture - really a beautiful building. Good wine too, though they produce wine from grapes grown around NZ and I tasted a Martinborough sauvignon and a Central Otago pinot as well as Hawkes Bay chardonnay, syrah and cabernet merlot. I got a bottle of the latter and am drinking it now - it's yummy, though was far too good for my dinner (a left-over freeze-dried lamb fettucine thing I never ate down south). After that, on to Te Mata Estate and then I just had time for Black Barn before all the cellar doors closed.
The weather's perked up, thankfully; it rained a bit en route but was nice this afternoon and is dry now. Hopefully it'll stay that way until I hit Auckland on Friday!
Thursday 12 March 2009
Chilling in Glenorchy
I really did next to nothing on Wednesday morning. The weather was iffy again, so I just went for a wander around the Glenorchy walkway, which circuits the town. It was a nice enough little circuit.
After lunch I did a horse trek – it sounded like a nice thing to do and I thought it would be an interesting experiment to see whether or not I was still allergic to horses. Apparently I am; it didn't take that long for the sniffles to start. But it wasn't unbearable so I coped okay. My horse was an obstinate beast called Winston who likes to follow the guides and be second in line – when other horses tried to get in front he got snippy about it and it took me a while to work out how to control him properly. We trekked up the Dart River in the direction of Paradise, but didn't get as far as Paradise itself. Lovely views up into the mountains and lots of willow trees (which Winston tried to eat).
Had dinner at the hotel for the second night running and then read a trashy crime novel they happened to have handy – it was really bad, but diverting for a couple of hours.
This morning it was clear, so I hurried out to the lagoon I walked past yesterday and took some photos before the bus back to Queenstown. I've mostly mooched since getting back; done laundry and so on. I considered doing a jetboat trip but I'm not that fussed and would rather spend the cash on something else really.
Tomorrow it's back to Wellington for masters nationals (swimming) at the weekend, a final catch up with Wellington friends and then up round the East Coast on Monday.
After lunch I did a horse trek – it sounded like a nice thing to do and I thought it would be an interesting experiment to see whether or not I was still allergic to horses. Apparently I am; it didn't take that long for the sniffles to start. But it wasn't unbearable so I coped okay. My horse was an obstinate beast called Winston who likes to follow the guides and be second in line – when other horses tried to get in front he got snippy about it and it took me a while to work out how to control him properly. We trekked up the Dart River in the direction of Paradise, but didn't get as far as Paradise itself. Lovely views up into the mountains and lots of willow trees (which Winston tried to eat).
Had dinner at the hotel for the second night running and then read a trashy crime novel they happened to have handy – it was really bad, but diverting for a couple of hours.
This morning it was clear, so I hurried out to the lagoon I walked past yesterday and took some photos before the bus back to Queenstown. I've mostly mooched since getting back; done laundry and so on. I considered doing a jetboat trip but I'm not that fussed and would rather spend the cash on something else really.
Tomorrow it's back to Wellington for masters nationals (swimming) at the weekend, a final catch up with Wellington friends and then up round the East Coast on Monday.
The Routeburn Track
Day 1
I spent the night before doing the Routeburn stressing about the fact I'd forgotten to pick up my hut tickets from the Doc office in Queenstown and hoping the bus driver would be happy to stop at the Doc office in Te Anau so I could get them there. As it happened I shouldn't have stressed, because the bus stops at Doc in Te Anau anyway! So that was all all right.
Instead, the weather was the thing to worry about. A short way out of Queenstown it started to rain and didn't stop until Te Anau, when things looked a bit brighter for a little while. But once we got on the Milford Road it really looked bleak. At the Divide, where the track begins, it was still raining and there was a bedraggled Belgian girl there who said she'd decided to turn around from Lake Mackenzie Hut and not go over the top of the saddle. That concerned me and the German girl who were there, but we shrugged our shoulders, donned waterproofs and set out.
In actual fact it didn't matter about the rain too much that first day, because the track is mostly through bush and is relatively sheltered. The sun even came out for a bit just below Key Summit and there were mountains through the mist. All very atmospheric, though the clouds rolled in again by the time I'd climbed the detour to Key Summit and that was mainly a trip to see alpine plants.
Had lunch at Lake Howden Hut, which was packed with walkers on the guided tour. I'm afraid I can't see the point of doing the guided walk unless you actually can't carry a full pack (they provide food and accommodation, which reduces the stuff you have to carry quite considerably). The Routeburn is not a track you could easily get lost on.
After lunch the track continued on upwards through lots of lovely bush and past the truly majestic Earland Falls. The falls were, as expected after all the rain, in absolute torrents and walking past them was like walking through an extremely cold shower! Pretty amazing though especially for a waterfall fan like me. I managed to get some shots from a distance when I'd walked a little further.
As I got closer to the hut the rain got harder and it was a relief to see the smoke rising from the stove and the thought of warmth and dryness awaiting. Earlier arrivals had already got the fire going and there were a lot of wet clothes and boots drying by the stoveside. The atmosphere was very convivial and it was nice warming up and chatting to the other trampers. There was a wide range of nationalities and ages and most people were very friendly.
Later on the hut warden, Clive – I think he was probably British by birth, as he didn't have much of a Kiwi accent – gave his famous introductory talk. My companions on the non-kayak trip had already done the track and told me that the Mackenzie hut warden did this talk. He was brilliant, full of mad stories about the track and people he claimed to have seen on it; drily and effortlessly funny. I don't believe his tale about worms that bore holes in the rocks on the track (the holes, seen the next day, are way too large and regular to have been formed by anything except mechanical means) but the stories about the woman walking the track in a bikini and jandals could be true, as could the one about the Japanese guy who wanted to cycle the track and ended up carrying his bike all the way from Lake Howden. Anyway Clive's talk sent us all off to bed in a cheerful mood.
Day 2
When I got up on day 2 it was cloudy, but the cloud quickly began to dissipate to reveal snowy mountains surrounding the hut. Utterly stunning, and it got better as the day continued. I set out all wrapped up though because it was chilly and showers were still forecast; the layers came off gradually as I climbed up towards the Harris Saddle. The path went through a bit of bush and then came out, with views down to Lake Mackenzie and the hut below. It zigzagged upwards before turning a corner, with new views into the next valley and across to the next mountain range. Absolutely stunning. By now I was also at the snow line from the previous night's fall, which meant prettiness right by the track too.
The track basically kept on upwards to the Harris Saddle, where there's a day shelter (and a slightly fancier one for the guided walkers!) It was still clear, and only just past noon, so I dumped my pack and armed with a camera went on up to Conical Hill, a viewpoint above the saddle. Quite a lot above actually – Harris Saddle is at 1255m and Conical Hill over 1500m, and the track is steep and rocky. I puffed and panted my way up there and on the way back passed a lot of other people puffing and panting. But it was worth it, with 360º views around and the mountains all dusted with snow. We were so lucky with the mostly clear skies.
After the saddle the track skirts Lake Harris (I rather liked the name!) before beginning its descent. I don't like downhill very much and not after a morning of uphill, so made somewhat heavy weather of the last 90 minutes to Routeburn Falls Hut. The falls themselves were beautiful and also running full thanks to the rain the previous day.
Routeburn Falls Hut is pretty flashy, with single bunks – none of the traditional Doc long mattresses – and a large kitchen/common room. It was also cold! The stove wouldn't light properly and after a while shivering in the main room I retreated to my sleeping bag to warm up, and then added extra layers to stay warm over dinner.
Spent the evening chatting to some of the other trampers going in my direction – the German girl, Stephanie, who'd been on my bus to the Divide, a French guy who'd also done the Caples Track before the Routeburn, and an Israeli couple. It was good fun, though the Falls hut warden was nowhere near as eloquent as Mackenzie's Clive. I think she may have been new, she seemed rather nervous about the whole talking in public thing. We also spent some time trying to identify the languages on a big sheet on the wall welcoming people to the hut and wishing them happy Christmas, which was diverting.
Day 3
The glorious weather of the previous day had vanished in gales and rain by the time I got up. Everyone going in the opposite direction was looking decidedly miserable at the prospect of crossing the saddle in the gales. We were glad we were going down through bush.
Had an unhurried start because the bus wasn't until 2pm, though I left as much time as the sign said it would take because of the whole going downhill slowly thing I have going. Actually the track wasn't too steep and it was fairly easy walking the whole way to the Routeburn Shelter, through more bush and across a number of somewhat swingy swingbridges. I dawdled a lot but still made it down an hour quicker than the official sign suggested. We were all glad to see the bus when it arrived.
Just outside the car park we came upon the larger bus carrying the guided walkers, which had managed to go off the road and land itself half in a ditch in an effort to stay out of the way of our track transport bus when it was coming the other way. The guided walkers were shivering in the rain while everyone offered opinions as to the best way to get it out of the ditch – eventually messages were put through to the local farm to call for a tractor. We continued on to Glenorchy, where I got off the bus and checked in at the hotel to my splash-out double room to myself, had a hot shower and did very little for the rest of the day!
I spent the night before doing the Routeburn stressing about the fact I'd forgotten to pick up my hut tickets from the Doc office in Queenstown and hoping the bus driver would be happy to stop at the Doc office in Te Anau so I could get them there. As it happened I shouldn't have stressed, because the bus stops at Doc in Te Anau anyway! So that was all all right.
Instead, the weather was the thing to worry about. A short way out of Queenstown it started to rain and didn't stop until Te Anau, when things looked a bit brighter for a little while. But once we got on the Milford Road it really looked bleak. At the Divide, where the track begins, it was still raining and there was a bedraggled Belgian girl there who said she'd decided to turn around from Lake Mackenzie Hut and not go over the top of the saddle. That concerned me and the German girl who were there, but we shrugged our shoulders, donned waterproofs and set out.
In actual fact it didn't matter about the rain too much that first day, because the track is mostly through bush and is relatively sheltered. The sun even came out for a bit just below Key Summit and there were mountains through the mist. All very atmospheric, though the clouds rolled in again by the time I'd climbed the detour to Key Summit and that was mainly a trip to see alpine plants.
Had lunch at Lake Howden Hut, which was packed with walkers on the guided tour. I'm afraid I can't see the point of doing the guided walk unless you actually can't carry a full pack (they provide food and accommodation, which reduces the stuff you have to carry quite considerably). The Routeburn is not a track you could easily get lost on.
After lunch the track continued on upwards through lots of lovely bush and past the truly majestic Earland Falls. The falls were, as expected after all the rain, in absolute torrents and walking past them was like walking through an extremely cold shower! Pretty amazing though especially for a waterfall fan like me. I managed to get some shots from a distance when I'd walked a little further.
As I got closer to the hut the rain got harder and it was a relief to see the smoke rising from the stove and the thought of warmth and dryness awaiting. Earlier arrivals had already got the fire going and there were a lot of wet clothes and boots drying by the stoveside. The atmosphere was very convivial and it was nice warming up and chatting to the other trampers. There was a wide range of nationalities and ages and most people were very friendly.
Later on the hut warden, Clive – I think he was probably British by birth, as he didn't have much of a Kiwi accent – gave his famous introductory talk. My companions on the non-kayak trip had already done the track and told me that the Mackenzie hut warden did this talk. He was brilliant, full of mad stories about the track and people he claimed to have seen on it; drily and effortlessly funny. I don't believe his tale about worms that bore holes in the rocks on the track (the holes, seen the next day, are way too large and regular to have been formed by anything except mechanical means) but the stories about the woman walking the track in a bikini and jandals could be true, as could the one about the Japanese guy who wanted to cycle the track and ended up carrying his bike all the way from Lake Howden. Anyway Clive's talk sent us all off to bed in a cheerful mood.
Day 2
When I got up on day 2 it was cloudy, but the cloud quickly began to dissipate to reveal snowy mountains surrounding the hut. Utterly stunning, and it got better as the day continued. I set out all wrapped up though because it was chilly and showers were still forecast; the layers came off gradually as I climbed up towards the Harris Saddle. The path went through a bit of bush and then came out, with views down to Lake Mackenzie and the hut below. It zigzagged upwards before turning a corner, with new views into the next valley and across to the next mountain range. Absolutely stunning. By now I was also at the snow line from the previous night's fall, which meant prettiness right by the track too.
The track basically kept on upwards to the Harris Saddle, where there's a day shelter (and a slightly fancier one for the guided walkers!) It was still clear, and only just past noon, so I dumped my pack and armed with a camera went on up to Conical Hill, a viewpoint above the saddle. Quite a lot above actually – Harris Saddle is at 1255m and Conical Hill over 1500m, and the track is steep and rocky. I puffed and panted my way up there and on the way back passed a lot of other people puffing and panting. But it was worth it, with 360º views around and the mountains all dusted with snow. We were so lucky with the mostly clear skies.
After the saddle the track skirts Lake Harris (I rather liked the name!) before beginning its descent. I don't like downhill very much and not after a morning of uphill, so made somewhat heavy weather of the last 90 minutes to Routeburn Falls Hut. The falls themselves were beautiful and also running full thanks to the rain the previous day.
Routeburn Falls Hut is pretty flashy, with single bunks – none of the traditional Doc long mattresses – and a large kitchen/common room. It was also cold! The stove wouldn't light properly and after a while shivering in the main room I retreated to my sleeping bag to warm up, and then added extra layers to stay warm over dinner.
Spent the evening chatting to some of the other trampers going in my direction – the German girl, Stephanie, who'd been on my bus to the Divide, a French guy who'd also done the Caples Track before the Routeburn, and an Israeli couple. It was good fun, though the Falls hut warden was nowhere near as eloquent as Mackenzie's Clive. I think she may have been new, she seemed rather nervous about the whole talking in public thing. We also spent some time trying to identify the languages on a big sheet on the wall welcoming people to the hut and wishing them happy Christmas, which was diverting.
Day 3
The glorious weather of the previous day had vanished in gales and rain by the time I got up. Everyone going in the opposite direction was looking decidedly miserable at the prospect of crossing the saddle in the gales. We were glad we were going down through bush.
Had an unhurried start because the bus wasn't until 2pm, though I left as much time as the sign said it would take because of the whole going downhill slowly thing I have going. Actually the track wasn't too steep and it was fairly easy walking the whole way to the Routeburn Shelter, through more bush and across a number of somewhat swingy swingbridges. I dawdled a lot but still made it down an hour quicker than the official sign suggested. We were all glad to see the bus when it arrived.
Just outside the car park we came upon the larger bus carrying the guided walkers, which had managed to go off the road and land itself half in a ditch in an effort to stay out of the way of our track transport bus when it was coming the other way. The guided walkers were shivering in the rain while everyone offered opinions as to the best way to get it out of the ditch – eventually messages were put through to the local farm to call for a tractor. We continued on to Glenorchy, where I got off the bus and checked in at the hotel to my splash-out double room to myself, had a hot shower and did very little for the rest of the day!
Tuesday 10 March 2009
Safely off the Routeburn!
A quick post from Glenorchy - will post more when I'm back in Queenstown and I can type up an entry before using internet time! The Routeburn was wonderful, despite rain on Sunday and today. Luckily those days were mostly in the bush, so pretty sheltered and survivable in the wet. Yesterday was lovely, mostly clear and sunny with amazing views at the Harris Saddle. Felt very sorry for everyone at the hut this morning setting off to climb up there in rain and strong winds! It's nice though to be in civilisation with a warm room and a hot shower. :)
Saturday 7 March 2009
Ready for the Routeburn
Not a bad day, all told, with a rushed bit in the middle. Slept like a log in my tent but was woken by the fire siren (sounds like an air raid siren) at about 7am – some sort of event going on, apparently. Got up and had a leisurely breakfast before packing up the tent and going to dump bags at tonight's hostel.
After that I needed to take the car back, so I went via Deer Park Heights. This is a private farm on a hill overlooking Queenstown with some really incredible views, a random movie set from an old Disney film, and several Lord of the Rings locations. And a lot of tame animals that are too used to being fed, including donkeys, pigs, llamas, deer and goats. It was worth it for the views though and I was quite glad I'd never made it up there on my bike yesterday as I had planned – the hills could have killed me!
Dropped the car off at the airport and then had to wait for the bus back to town, having ascertained that a taxi would cost me $35. That almost made me late for the 4x4 tour I'd booked into Skipper's Canyon, but I made it and managed to grab a sandwich for lunch too.
The tour – something I'd picked because I was intrigued by the rental companies' edict that rental cars are not allowed in Skipper's Canyon – turned out to be remarkably good fun, helped by a good driver/guide. The road itself is hair-raising, built in the 1880s over a couple of years (it's 16km long), still unsealed with vertical drops to one side. But it takes you into a really narrow canyon with wonderful views and the very very blue Shotover River below. We stopped for pictures a lot, Malcolm our driver told stories in a terribly Kiwi way, and we also paused to pan for gold by the riverbank close to the location for the Ford of Bruinen in The Fellowship of the Ring. Malcolm predictably had stories about getting horses down there, as well as another one from his boss concerning a utilities vehicle driving way too fast down that road in 1999, containing Peter Jackson himself. I found two small specks of gold in my pan, hardly enough to make a fortune! (We also got bitten by sandflies that then invaded the jeep. Grrr.) We had afternoon tea at the old Skipper's settlement, where a farmstead and a school remain, before heading back. It wasn't something I'd have seen alone and the others on the tour were good company, so all in all I'm glad I went.
Now I'm repacking bags so I can carry everything for the Routeburn, hoping I have enough clothes and food. Should be okay. I think.
Pictures on Flickr are all up to date.
After that I needed to take the car back, so I went via Deer Park Heights. This is a private farm on a hill overlooking Queenstown with some really incredible views, a random movie set from an old Disney film, and several Lord of the Rings locations. And a lot of tame animals that are too used to being fed, including donkeys, pigs, llamas, deer and goats. It was worth it for the views though and I was quite glad I'd never made it up there on my bike yesterday as I had planned – the hills could have killed me!
Dropped the car off at the airport and then had to wait for the bus back to town, having ascertained that a taxi would cost me $35. That almost made me late for the 4x4 tour I'd booked into Skipper's Canyon, but I made it and managed to grab a sandwich for lunch too.
The tour – something I'd picked because I was intrigued by the rental companies' edict that rental cars are not allowed in Skipper's Canyon – turned out to be remarkably good fun, helped by a good driver/guide. The road itself is hair-raising, built in the 1880s over a couple of years (it's 16km long), still unsealed with vertical drops to one side. But it takes you into a really narrow canyon with wonderful views and the very very blue Shotover River below. We stopped for pictures a lot, Malcolm our driver told stories in a terribly Kiwi way, and we also paused to pan for gold by the riverbank close to the location for the Ford of Bruinen in The Fellowship of the Ring. Malcolm predictably had stories about getting horses down there, as well as another one from his boss concerning a utilities vehicle driving way too fast down that road in 1999, containing Peter Jackson himself. I found two small specks of gold in my pan, hardly enough to make a fortune! (We also got bitten by sandflies that then invaded the jeep. Grrr.) We had afternoon tea at the old Skipper's settlement, where a farmstead and a school remain, before heading back. It wasn't something I'd have seen alone and the others on the tour were good company, so all in all I'm glad I went.
Now I'm repacking bags so I can carry everything for the Routeburn, hoping I have enough clothes and food. Should be okay. I think.
Pictures on Flickr are all up to date.
Friday 6 March 2009
Doubtful, but Remarkable
Manapouri, Thursday 5 March
By rights I should be out in the middle of nowhere tonight, camping in Hall Arm in Doubtful Sound. Unfortunately I'm back in last night's backpackers after the kayaking trip got cancelled due to bad weather. There's a convergence of fronts from the Tasman creating storm warnings – today the sound was choppy and swelly, and it's supposed to get worse so they made a safety call and cancelled our trip. Annoyingly they cancelled once we were all togged up in wetsuits with kayaks packed, rather than any earlier. So we got the dawn boat ride across Manapouri – gorgeous – and bus drive over Wilmot Pass, and all the pre-kayak stuff and it was all looking quite positive for a while. Deep Cove, where you launch, is really sheltered so we couldn't see conditions out in the sound and our guide was relying on radio from a more senior guide who was out in the sound with a group. We were all ready to go when she radioed through cancelling our trip, at which point it was action stations to unpack kayaks and change into normal clothes in order to catch the cruise up the sound.
So we cruised instead of kayaking along with a huge number of other people, mostly aged grockles, on a big boat. Some of our group sulked. I tried not to sulk but wished I'd had my decent camera with me as my pictures aren't totally brilliant (and the battery died on me despite me charging it last night). Doubtful Sound is beautiful, but it would have been nicer to see it from a kayak and not a cruise boat. I also think we'd have had fun as a group, everyone was nice and we seemed to be getting along.
The meeting with the guide who'd made the cancellation decision was fractious, with a couple of the guys demanding more than the $100 refund (or kayaking Milford tomorrow) offered. Apparently their demands paid off later as I've now got $150 refunded. I would still go with the company again, and if I've got time when I'm back for World Champs next year I'm going to try and fit in the trip.
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Queenstown, Friday 6 March
I decided to camp tonight instead of hunting for a backpackers here, which would have been tricky because it's Queenstown and always busy. Luckily it wasn't raining when I arrived so I set up my tent in the dry - then I rented a bike, and it started raining while I was out. It's still going. I haven't yet dared check the inside of the tent, but it should be waterproof if I set it up right, and I think I did for once! Hopefully the rain will stop later, anyway. It's kind of brighter now than it was ...
Not sure what I'll do tomorrow, I think it may depend on the weather a bit. As I start the Routeburn on Sunday (forecast is okay) it'll probably be a chilled-out kind of day.
By rights I should be out in the middle of nowhere tonight, camping in Hall Arm in Doubtful Sound. Unfortunately I'm back in last night's backpackers after the kayaking trip got cancelled due to bad weather. There's a convergence of fronts from the Tasman creating storm warnings – today the sound was choppy and swelly, and it's supposed to get worse so they made a safety call and cancelled our trip. Annoyingly they cancelled once we were all togged up in wetsuits with kayaks packed, rather than any earlier. So we got the dawn boat ride across Manapouri – gorgeous – and bus drive over Wilmot Pass, and all the pre-kayak stuff and it was all looking quite positive for a while. Deep Cove, where you launch, is really sheltered so we couldn't see conditions out in the sound and our guide was relying on radio from a more senior guide who was out in the sound with a group. We were all ready to go when she radioed through cancelling our trip, at which point it was action stations to unpack kayaks and change into normal clothes in order to catch the cruise up the sound.
So we cruised instead of kayaking along with a huge number of other people, mostly aged grockles, on a big boat. Some of our group sulked. I tried not to sulk but wished I'd had my decent camera with me as my pictures aren't totally brilliant (and the battery died on me despite me charging it last night). Doubtful Sound is beautiful, but it would have been nicer to see it from a kayak and not a cruise boat. I also think we'd have had fun as a group, everyone was nice and we seemed to be getting along.
The meeting with the guide who'd made the cancellation decision was fractious, with a couple of the guys demanding more than the $100 refund (or kayaking Milford tomorrow) offered. Apparently their demands paid off later as I've now got $150 refunded. I would still go with the company again, and if I've got time when I'm back for World Champs next year I'm going to try and fit in the trip.
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Queenstown, Friday 6 March
I decided to camp tonight instead of hunting for a backpackers here, which would have been tricky because it's Queenstown and always busy. Luckily it wasn't raining when I arrived so I set up my tent in the dry - then I rented a bike, and it started raining while I was out. It's still going. I haven't yet dared check the inside of the tent, but it should be waterproof if I set it up right, and I think I did for once! Hopefully the rain will stop later, anyway. It's kind of brighter now than it was ...
Not sure what I'll do tomorrow, I think it may depend on the weather a bit. As I start the Routeburn on Sunday (forecast is okay) it'll probably be a chilled-out kind of day.
Wednesday 4 March 2009
Kiwis are brilliant
Kiwi-spotting last night was a huge success. It was a lovely night (though a little chilly). The sunset on the boat ride out to the spotting site was wonderful, and we also saw albatrosses flying and landing by the boat. Once at the secluded beach the guy uses as his spotting place - there are three breeding pairs there - we got ferried ashore in a motor boat and then followed him through the bush in the dark with torches. All great fun. We saw one kiwi in the bush and then two on the beach; the ones on the beach were better because we were all able to fan out and watch them for a while in the single light of the guide's torch. So glad I managed to do the trip!
Today I've mainly driven to Fiordland; am staying near Manapouri. It's sunny and very very windy - stopped at a lookout point en route and couldn't keep the car door open, it was so windy! Hopefully tomorrow and Friday I'll be kayaking Doubtful Sound, so won't be updating until Saturday from Queenstown.
Today I've mainly driven to Fiordland; am staying near Manapouri. It's sunny and very very windy - stopped at a lookout point en route and couldn't keep the car door open, it was so windy! Hopefully tomorrow and Friday I'll be kayaking Doubtful Sound, so won't be updating until Saturday from Queenstown.
Tuesday 3 March 2009
Birds, birds and more birds
My day on Stewart Island has been excellent, and luck seems to be holding - I'd thought that I was going to miss out on the kiwis because it seemed impossible to get hold of the kiwi man, and the information office said he was booked. But just now he called and said he can take me, so kiwis beckon!!
I went for a brisk walk this morning out to a lookout point, to see NZ's oldest stone house (it's a little cottage, and it shows that I've been here long enough to be impressed by something from the early 1800s now!) I carried on to the water taxi wharf for Ulva Island - cutting the time a little fine actually, but a bit of running up and down the many steps made sure that I made the taxi at the time I'd booked it.
Ulva is a wildlife reserve, predator-free and packed with birdlife. I saw most of the birds on the little booklet you can get, including kaka, green parakeets, bellbirds, really cute little tom tits and Stewart Island robins, and saddlebacks. Got some moderately decent pictures too, though many came out blurred. Am trying to put a few pics on Flickr while I'm here but it doesn't half slow down the internet.
Anyway, off for a quick shower and then fish and chips for dinner before kiwi watching.
I went for a brisk walk this morning out to a lookout point, to see NZ's oldest stone house (it's a little cottage, and it shows that I've been here long enough to be impressed by something from the early 1800s now!) I carried on to the water taxi wharf for Ulva Island - cutting the time a little fine actually, but a bit of running up and down the many steps made sure that I made the taxi at the time I'd booked it.
Ulva is a wildlife reserve, predator-free and packed with birdlife. I saw most of the birds on the little booklet you can get, including kaka, green parakeets, bellbirds, really cute little tom tits and Stewart Island robins, and saddlebacks. Got some moderately decent pictures too, though many came out blurred. Am trying to put a few pics on Flickr while I'm here but it doesn't half slow down the internet.
Anyway, off for a quick shower and then fish and chips for dinner before kiwi watching.
Monday 2 March 2009
The Catlins
Catlins, Saturday 28 February 2009
In the loveliest backpackers possible – quiet, clean, almost luxurious, new bathroom fittings, a nice kitchen ... and a twin room to myself. Bliss. I thought I was going to have the whole place to myself for a while, but am sharing with a nice older Dutch couple and a younger couple of uncertain origin. I've got laundry done and have also backed up a bunch of photos, so am right up to date and prepared for a good night's sleep. Hurrah.
Day in the Catlins was nice despite overcast weather. It rained for a bit this morning and then there was just very low cloud all day, but it was at least warm. Starting out this morning I missed the petrol stations in Dunedin and had an anxious few miles with the empty light flicking on and off until I found fuel in Mosgiel. Phew. I had an indifferent coffee in Balclutha (smaller than I'd imagined, for some reason) and then pushed on to Nugget Point. There's supposed to be a wildlife viewing hide but it's closed at the moment, however the little walk up to the lighthouse was worth it. Very wild. After that, I stopped in Owaka, purchased my obligatory kiwi (knitted, adorable, needs a name) and went to Jack's Bay for lunch.
Nearby there's a blowhole which is 200m inland but was utterly cool – 55m deep and the sea was pounding the sides. An awesome noise and sight. Also, I may have solved the blisters problem with tape and Icebreaker. Should've known Icebreaker would be the answer.
Onwards on the teeth-crunching gravel roads to Purakanui Falls, which were beautiful. The bonus of lots of rain, I suppose. I was annoyed though by the two ladies with dogs, walking them along the track despite the very clear “no dogs” sign at the start. After that, Matai Falls, which were prettier if possible though smaller. I do like a good waterfall.
Then I found my way to the hostel – which is the wrong word for this place really, was thrilled at how nice it was, and have spent the evening eating well, drinking Pinot Gris and chilling. It's a hard life.
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Curio Bay, Sunday 1 March
Horrible weather. Blowing a gale outside with intermittent rain, so have retreated to tonight's hostel – a beach house with a nice view of Curio Bay. Glad I'm not camping, it's freezing.
Diary interrupted suddenly to dash on to the beach and watch Hector's Dolphins surfing. They actually swam around beyond the break, waited for a wave, and then surfed in on it. Remarkable. Extremely brilliant. In 45 minutes or so I'm going to head up to Curio Bay in the hope of seeing some hoiho come ashore; earlier on there was a solitary early arrival on the beach but it'd be good to see more.
Another steady sort of day, no point pushing it really. It rained torrents overnight so McLean's Falls first thing were spectacular and gushing water. After a good coffee (hurrah) in the café near the falls on to Cathedral Caves, which are very big and you can walk around inside them. Photos dreadful though, I forgot to take my big flash which might have helped (have barely used it since I got it). Also getting repeated problems with the wide angle – whatever Error 99 is it's annoying me.
Had a picnic by the Waikawa Museum, didn't go round the museum really or look at the amateur art exhibition in the village hall! Did have a look at the cute old church which would have been nicer without the local craft gallery inside it ... then to Curio Bay, which I reached at a low enough tide to explore the fossilised forest as well as take lots of pictures of the aforementioned penguin. I had this crazy idea that the fossil forest was actually just lots of fossils, but it turned out to be an actual forest, fossilised, and you can see the knots in the wood and all sorts in the stone. Fascinating really.
Plan for tomorrow – visit Slope Point, and then drive round the coast to Bluff from where I catch the ferry to Stewart Island in the hope of adding to my endangered wildlife viewing list.
(We did see some penguins in the rain, and then more dolphins over dinner in the bay.)
----
Oban, Monday 2 March
On Stewart Island. It's quiet. The hostel has free internet, which is extraordinary and very cool. A little slow but not drastically. Got the 5pm ferry here, checked in, washed my trousers and walking socks, showered, dashed out for dinner at the local pub - had to eat in the bar because the restaurant was full, a slight annoyance but I got to local-watch which is always amusing. Saw a kaka(po?) on the way back to the hostel; no camera but I'm sure there'll be more tomorrow.
The weather was, finally, better today - woohoo. I discovered a random waterfall walk that I think was recommended in the visitor's book at Curio Bay. It was a lovely walk but kind of adventurous with lots of slippery bits and two streams to cross that were deep enough to necessitate taking off boots. I was ankle-deep in mud at a few points and my trousers got completely covered in the stuff. The waterfalls were spectacular in a primeval sort of way but my camera lens fogged up because it was pretty humid!
Once I'd de-booted and taken off the bottom half of my trousers (thank heavens for walking trousers) I carried on to Slope Point, the southernmost bit of the South Island. It was, mainly, very windy. But I liked it more than coach-ridden Cape Reinga really. Next stop, and the last bit of the Catlins to see really, was Waipapa Point where sea lions lived. I saw two, both doing the "we're just sleeping and aren't interested in being interesting today" thing.
That was about it - the drive to Bluff was spectacularly uneventful and the ferry ride over to Stewart Island equally so really. Going to spend the rest of the evening catching up, reading, and an early night to make the most of my day here.
More pictures to go on Flickr when I can.
In the loveliest backpackers possible – quiet, clean, almost luxurious, new bathroom fittings, a nice kitchen ... and a twin room to myself. Bliss. I thought I was going to have the whole place to myself for a while, but am sharing with a nice older Dutch couple and a younger couple of uncertain origin. I've got laundry done and have also backed up a bunch of photos, so am right up to date and prepared for a good night's sleep. Hurrah.
Day in the Catlins was nice despite overcast weather. It rained for a bit this morning and then there was just very low cloud all day, but it was at least warm. Starting out this morning I missed the petrol stations in Dunedin and had an anxious few miles with the empty light flicking on and off until I found fuel in Mosgiel. Phew. I had an indifferent coffee in Balclutha (smaller than I'd imagined, for some reason) and then pushed on to Nugget Point. There's supposed to be a wildlife viewing hide but it's closed at the moment, however the little walk up to the lighthouse was worth it. Very wild. After that, I stopped in Owaka, purchased my obligatory kiwi (knitted, adorable, needs a name) and went to Jack's Bay for lunch.
Nearby there's a blowhole which is 200m inland but was utterly cool – 55m deep and the sea was pounding the sides. An awesome noise and sight. Also, I may have solved the blisters problem with tape and Icebreaker. Should've known Icebreaker would be the answer.
Onwards on the teeth-crunching gravel roads to Purakanui Falls, which were beautiful. The bonus of lots of rain, I suppose. I was annoyed though by the two ladies with dogs, walking them along the track despite the very clear “no dogs” sign at the start. After that, Matai Falls, which were prettier if possible though smaller. I do like a good waterfall.
Then I found my way to the hostel – which is the wrong word for this place really, was thrilled at how nice it was, and have spent the evening eating well, drinking Pinot Gris and chilling. It's a hard life.
----
Curio Bay, Sunday 1 March
Horrible weather. Blowing a gale outside with intermittent rain, so have retreated to tonight's hostel – a beach house with a nice view of Curio Bay. Glad I'm not camping, it's freezing.
Diary interrupted suddenly to dash on to the beach and watch Hector's Dolphins surfing. They actually swam around beyond the break, waited for a wave, and then surfed in on it. Remarkable. Extremely brilliant. In 45 minutes or so I'm going to head up to Curio Bay in the hope of seeing some hoiho come ashore; earlier on there was a solitary early arrival on the beach but it'd be good to see more.
Another steady sort of day, no point pushing it really. It rained torrents overnight so McLean's Falls first thing were spectacular and gushing water. After a good coffee (hurrah) in the café near the falls on to Cathedral Caves, which are very big and you can walk around inside them. Photos dreadful though, I forgot to take my big flash which might have helped (have barely used it since I got it). Also getting repeated problems with the wide angle – whatever Error 99 is it's annoying me.
Had a picnic by the Waikawa Museum, didn't go round the museum really or look at the amateur art exhibition in the village hall! Did have a look at the cute old church which would have been nicer without the local craft gallery inside it ... then to Curio Bay, which I reached at a low enough tide to explore the fossilised forest as well as take lots of pictures of the aforementioned penguin. I had this crazy idea that the fossil forest was actually just lots of fossils, but it turned out to be an actual forest, fossilised, and you can see the knots in the wood and all sorts in the stone. Fascinating really.
Plan for tomorrow – visit Slope Point, and then drive round the coast to Bluff from where I catch the ferry to Stewart Island in the hope of adding to my endangered wildlife viewing list.
(We did see some penguins in the rain, and then more dolphins over dinner in the bay.)
----
Oban, Monday 2 March
On Stewart Island. It's quiet. The hostel has free internet, which is extraordinary and very cool. A little slow but not drastically. Got the 5pm ferry here, checked in, washed my trousers and walking socks, showered, dashed out for dinner at the local pub - had to eat in the bar because the restaurant was full, a slight annoyance but I got to local-watch which is always amusing. Saw a kaka(po?) on the way back to the hostel; no camera but I'm sure there'll be more tomorrow.
The weather was, finally, better today - woohoo. I discovered a random waterfall walk that I think was recommended in the visitor's book at Curio Bay. It was a lovely walk but kind of adventurous with lots of slippery bits and two streams to cross that were deep enough to necessitate taking off boots. I was ankle-deep in mud at a few points and my trousers got completely covered in the stuff. The waterfalls were spectacular in a primeval sort of way but my camera lens fogged up because it was pretty humid!
Once I'd de-booted and taken off the bottom half of my trousers (thank heavens for walking trousers) I carried on to Slope Point, the southernmost bit of the South Island. It was, mainly, very windy. But I liked it more than coach-ridden Cape Reinga really. Next stop, and the last bit of the Catlins to see really, was Waipapa Point where sea lions lived. I saw two, both doing the "we're just sleeping and aren't interested in being interesting today" thing.
That was about it - the drive to Bluff was spectacularly uneventful and the ferry ride over to Stewart Island equally so really. Going to spend the rest of the evening catching up, reading, and an early night to make the most of my day here.
More pictures to go on Flickr when I can.
Friday 27 February 2009
Otago
Otago Peninsula, Thursday 26 February
A rather shabby but comfortable enough backpackers (my first choice was full) on the Otago Peninsula, which apparently is full of German speakers.
Meandered from Oamaru here, stopping where it took my fancy. First stop was the Moeraki Boulders, which were way too busy with loads of people, none of whom were paying the slightest bit of attention to anyone else so getting photos without people was extremely difficult. Doable, but difficult. I planned a coffee at the restaurant but they were a) packed and b) inefficient, so I walked away and didn't pay the $2 fee to see the boulders (Doc doesn't make you pay it so why should you?)
After that, I turned off for Shag Point where there were some seals, some bright green kelp, and some gulls with fluffy chicks. Awww. Then it was lunchtime, so I turned off at Karitane and found a spot by the beach which was pretty enough. That led to a lovely coast road drive, crossing and re-crossing the railway line.
Had to drive through Dunedin but it turned out to be relatively painless and easy. Then on to the peninsula road, which hugs the coastline closely. Decided to stop at Larnach Castle (“New Zealand's only castle”) as the weather wasn't looking too hot and it would be indoors. It was actually a worthwhile visit. The gardens were quite pretty and the castle itself very attractive in an elaborate Victorian sort of way. Lots of carving and plasterwork and that sort of thing, pretty tiles on the floor and great views from the castellated tower. I ended up enjoying it more than I thought I would, which is always a bonus.
I reckoned I still had time to spare, so drove to what the Lonely Planet described as the “impressive Chasm” - without explaining what the Chasm was, though I had a pretty good idea which wasn't too far off the mark. There was a long dirt road and then a hill with a lookout, which I failed to get to after reaching a overgrown patch of gorse that was not worth battling through. The Chasm proved – as I'd guessed – to be a sort of gully in the cliff. The angle of the lookout point was such that I couldn't see the bottom, but looking the other way was good too with the turquoise water foaming at the foot of the cliff.
Then to the hostel, including hazardous parking on a steep hill and scary departure for the penguin reserve. My penguin tour was led by a squeaky-voiced lady named Rhonda who talked quite fast but quite simply, presumably for the benefit of the furriners in the group (two other Brits, three Japanese, one American or possibly Canadian and four French). She was a little on the annoying side but am sure she meant well. First we saw the penguin hospital, sheltering some underweight juveniles rescued from further down the coast. After that into a bus to the reserve, where Rhonda led us at breakneck pace from one hide to another to find penguins. The first few were not particularly visible, bits of them being hidden by foliage and the like, but right at the end we saw a parent penguin and its very cute chick right close up. I only wished I'd had a tripod to get less wobbly shots, some are a bit blurry. Anyway it was worth doing to see the penguins up close rather than a million miles away.
Tomorrow on to Dunedin.
----
Dunedin, Friday 27th February
Not much done today. Weather better than anticipated and I wished I had shorts on rather than jeans. Nice hostel with odd name of Hogwartz (one assumes the z is to prevent any sniffiness on the part of JK Rowling or associates). Anyway, despite the silly name it's spacious and clean and I have a double bed. :)
Had a nightmare finding my way around Dunedin and initially, instead of trying to get to the hostel, went to the museum and paid for two hours' parking. The museum was pretty good, a variety of exhibits including a particularly good one on the South Island. Then I found my way (eventually) to the hostel and parked on the horrid narrow street behind it, which I'm not leaving until tomorrow morning!
Lunch, art gallery – free, with a good selection of European paintings that you could get right up close to. I stuck my nose up to a Monet, a Constable or two, a Pissaro, plus some Gainsboroughs and Reynolds and wondered where the security was. Bless NZ. Next stop the cathedral, which was extremely English and had the organist practising plus some annoying Japanese tourists being noisy and taking photos of each other in the nave. Grrr.
I wandered up the main street to the university campus, by which time the sun had come out, and took photos of the clock tower and the also very English-style old buildings. They so copied Oxford and Cambridge in building Otago.
Tomorrow, the Catlins for a complete change of scene.
A rather shabby but comfortable enough backpackers (my first choice was full) on the Otago Peninsula, which apparently is full of German speakers.
Meandered from Oamaru here, stopping where it took my fancy. First stop was the Moeraki Boulders, which were way too busy with loads of people, none of whom were paying the slightest bit of attention to anyone else so getting photos without people was extremely difficult. Doable, but difficult. I planned a coffee at the restaurant but they were a) packed and b) inefficient, so I walked away and didn't pay the $2 fee to see the boulders (Doc doesn't make you pay it so why should you?)
After that, I turned off for Shag Point where there were some seals, some bright green kelp, and some gulls with fluffy chicks. Awww. Then it was lunchtime, so I turned off at Karitane and found a spot by the beach which was pretty enough. That led to a lovely coast road drive, crossing and re-crossing the railway line.
Had to drive through Dunedin but it turned out to be relatively painless and easy. Then on to the peninsula road, which hugs the coastline closely. Decided to stop at Larnach Castle (“New Zealand's only castle”) as the weather wasn't looking too hot and it would be indoors. It was actually a worthwhile visit. The gardens were quite pretty and the castle itself very attractive in an elaborate Victorian sort of way. Lots of carving and plasterwork and that sort of thing, pretty tiles on the floor and great views from the castellated tower. I ended up enjoying it more than I thought I would, which is always a bonus.
I reckoned I still had time to spare, so drove to what the Lonely Planet described as the “impressive Chasm” - without explaining what the Chasm was, though I had a pretty good idea which wasn't too far off the mark. There was a long dirt road and then a hill with a lookout, which I failed to get to after reaching a overgrown patch of gorse that was not worth battling through. The Chasm proved – as I'd guessed – to be a sort of gully in the cliff. The angle of the lookout point was such that I couldn't see the bottom, but looking the other way was good too with the turquoise water foaming at the foot of the cliff.
Then to the hostel, including hazardous parking on a steep hill and scary departure for the penguin reserve. My penguin tour was led by a squeaky-voiced lady named Rhonda who talked quite fast but quite simply, presumably for the benefit of the furriners in the group (two other Brits, three Japanese, one American or possibly Canadian and four French). She was a little on the annoying side but am sure she meant well. First we saw the penguin hospital, sheltering some underweight juveniles rescued from further down the coast. After that into a bus to the reserve, where Rhonda led us at breakneck pace from one hide to another to find penguins. The first few were not particularly visible, bits of them being hidden by foliage and the like, but right at the end we saw a parent penguin and its very cute chick right close up. I only wished I'd had a tripod to get less wobbly shots, some are a bit blurry. Anyway it was worth doing to see the penguins up close rather than a million miles away.
Tomorrow on to Dunedin.
----
Dunedin, Friday 27th February
Not much done today. Weather better than anticipated and I wished I had shorts on rather than jeans. Nice hostel with odd name of Hogwartz (one assumes the z is to prevent any sniffiness on the part of JK Rowling or associates). Anyway, despite the silly name it's spacious and clean and I have a double bed. :)
Had a nightmare finding my way around Dunedin and initially, instead of trying to get to the hostel, went to the museum and paid for two hours' parking. The museum was pretty good, a variety of exhibits including a particularly good one on the South Island. Then I found my way (eventually) to the hostel and parked on the horrid narrow street behind it, which I'm not leaving until tomorrow morning!
Lunch, art gallery – free, with a good selection of European paintings that you could get right up close to. I stuck my nose up to a Monet, a Constable or two, a Pissaro, plus some Gainsboroughs and Reynolds and wondered where the security was. Bless NZ. Next stop the cathedral, which was extremely English and had the organist practising plus some annoying Japanese tourists being noisy and taking photos of each other in the nave. Grrr.
I wandered up the main street to the university campus, by which time the sun had come out, and took photos of the clock tower and the also very English-style old buildings. They so copied Oxford and Cambridge in building Otago.
Tomorrow, the Catlins for a complete change of scene.
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