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!
Tuesday 31 March 2009
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 ...
----
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.
---
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.
---
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.
----
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.
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