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Friday, February 24, 2012
New Zealand - Lake Matheson & Wanaka
Day 29 - Monday, February 20
We left Franz Joseph and headed down the coast a short way to Lake Matheson, one of New Zealand's many "black water" mirror lakes. The water is more like a brownish color but it doesn't let much light in, and thus reflects the mountains and such around it. In any case, we were lucky to have the clouds clear for a few minutes while we were there and I got a little camera happy for a bit. Here's a few photos from the lake:
Then we left the coastline and headed up over the mountains to Wanaka, which oddly enough is located on Lake Wanaka. We stopped on the way in to get a few photos of the lake:
We got in about mid-afternoon, and I relaxed the rest of the day. The town is quite nice and I think I may have stayed an extra day or two, but I didn't want to leave all the folks on my bus that I'd gotten to know pretty well. That night we did some karaoke, and by that I mean other people sang and I watched and provided moral support.
Day 30 - Tuesday, February 21
The next morning it was drizzling. We had the option to hike Mt. Iron on the way out of town, and I wasn't going to let a little rain stop me. A photos of Lake Wanaka, the town, and the cloudy skyline from the top of Mt. Iron, which is really more of a hill than a mountain:
After that we headed on into Queenstown, the so-called adventure capital of the world, where I was planning to spend at least a week. The standard KEX stop is 4 nights, but I had some extra time before I had to leave and most of the folks I talked to in Fiji said they really enjoyed their time in Queenstown and would've spent more time there if they had time to spare.
We left Franz Joseph and headed down the coast a short way to Lake Matheson, one of New Zealand's many "black water" mirror lakes. The water is more like a brownish color but it doesn't let much light in, and thus reflects the mountains and such around it. In any case, we were lucky to have the clouds clear for a few minutes while we were there and I got a little camera happy for a bit. Here's a few photos from the lake:
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| From New Zealand - Lake Matheson & Wanaka |
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| From New Zealand - Lake Matheson & Wanaka |
Then we left the coastline and headed up over the mountains to Wanaka, which oddly enough is located on Lake Wanaka. We stopped on the way in to get a few photos of the lake:
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| From New Zealand - Lake Matheson & Wanaka |
Day 30 - Tuesday, February 21
The next morning it was drizzling. We had the option to hike Mt. Iron on the way out of town, and I wasn't going to let a little rain stop me. A photos of Lake Wanaka, the town, and the cloudy skyline from the top of Mt. Iron, which is really more of a hill than a mountain:
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| From New Zealand - Lake Matheson & Wanaka |
After that we headed on into Queenstown, the so-called adventure capital of the world, where I was planning to spend at least a week. The standard KEX stop is 4 nights, but I had some extra time before I had to leave and most of the folks I talked to in Fiji said they really enjoyed their time in Queenstown and would've spent more time there if they had time to spare.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
New Zealand - Franz Joseph
Day 27 - Saturday, February 18
Left the Poo Pub and kept heading south along the coast towards the next stop - Franz Joseph, home to the Franz Joseph glacier, which is one of only a few spots where you can go hiking on a glacier.
Saturday we arrived early afternoon and had the day to just check out the town. Though they offer half-day glacier hikes, it really takes a full day to get up on the glacier, so the standard KEX stop in Franz Joseph is for two nights to allow everyone to do the full day hike. I used the free time to relax, get some exercise, and sort through some photos.
Day 28 - Sunday, February 19
The weather forecast for Sunday was cloudy with showers, which would've put a bit of a damper on the glacier hike, but I figured it was only a matter of time before our luck with the weather ran out, especially since the west coast of the south island is mostly rain forest and gets a ton of rain annually due to the Southern Alps just to the east. Luckily, it was dry and pretty sunny in the morning and quite nice. Eventually some clouds settled in, and it actually started to rain right as we finished the hike, but the weather for the hike was definitely better than expected.
They separated us into groups such that the slow folks wouldn't be slowing down the fast folks, so I jumped into the front group to try to get as high up on the glacier as possible. I guess when I thought "glacier" - I was thinking a big sheet of blue ice, but as it turns out, this glacier, and apparently a lot of glaciers tend to have a lot of rocks and dirt and such, especially on the terminal/front face that it collects as it carves through the valley. Here's a picture of the glacier from the bottom. Note that what looks like rocks in various places is actually a large chunk of ice with a thin layer of rocks and such on the outside.
I took way too many pictures while hiking around - feel free to check them out in the album. I guess I also thought of a glacier as being somewhat of a flat piece of ice, probably based on some picture in a grade-school science book. But at least in this case, there were lots of large cracks, tight crevices, large "pinnacles," a few caves, and generally terrain that was rather challenging to traverse. Our guide was constantly digging steps into walls of ice with a pickax and without our little spiky shoes called crampons we would've been totally unable to get anywhere. But it was a lot of fun, and quite different from anything I've ever done - a pretty cool experience. And now some pictures:
The price of the hike also included entry into the glacier hot pools, so after a good 8 hours on the ice we relaxed for a bit and then went out and enjoyed a few of the local bars.
Left the Poo Pub and kept heading south along the coast towards the next stop - Franz Joseph, home to the Franz Joseph glacier, which is one of only a few spots where you can go hiking on a glacier.
Saturday we arrived early afternoon and had the day to just check out the town. Though they offer half-day glacier hikes, it really takes a full day to get up on the glacier, so the standard KEX stop in Franz Joseph is for two nights to allow everyone to do the full day hike. I used the free time to relax, get some exercise, and sort through some photos.
Day 28 - Sunday, February 19
The weather forecast for Sunday was cloudy with showers, which would've put a bit of a damper on the glacier hike, but I figured it was only a matter of time before our luck with the weather ran out, especially since the west coast of the south island is mostly rain forest and gets a ton of rain annually due to the Southern Alps just to the east. Luckily, it was dry and pretty sunny in the morning and quite nice. Eventually some clouds settled in, and it actually started to rain right as we finished the hike, but the weather for the hike was definitely better than expected.
They separated us into groups such that the slow folks wouldn't be slowing down the fast folks, so I jumped into the front group to try to get as high up on the glacier as possible. I guess when I thought "glacier" - I was thinking a big sheet of blue ice, but as it turns out, this glacier, and apparently a lot of glaciers tend to have a lot of rocks and dirt and such, especially on the terminal/front face that it collects as it carves through the valley. Here's a picture of the glacier from the bottom. Note that what looks like rocks in various places is actually a large chunk of ice with a thin layer of rocks and such on the outside.
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| From New Zealand - West Coast |
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| From New Zealand - West Coast |
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| From New Zealand - West Coast |
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| From New Zealand - West Coast |
New Zealand - Coastal Drive & Lake Mahinapua
Day 26 - Friday, February 17
The next morning we headed down the coast, which was absolutely gorgeous. First we stopped at Cape Foulwind and did a short walk along the cliffs that line the shore:
Then down to a really cool small beach at Truman Cove near Te Miko:
Then on to the pancake rocks, a more popular spot, that were pretty incredible. I think it should be obvious why they're called the pancake rocks (but you may need to check out the full size pictures)
Lots more pictures of all the above spots and others in the picasa album. Finally we ended up at Lake Mahinapua (aka the Poo Pub), which is an old hole-in-the-wall motel run by an 85+ year old scottish guy named Les. It is only ever occupied by KEX people. It is literally the only sign of civilization for miles, and would no-doubt be closed down if not for KEX.
What was a gorgeous day ended with a gorgeous sunset, and even though we were at Lake Mahinapua the beach was actually closer than the lake:
The night at the Poo Pub is always a costume party with a different theme for each bus. Our theme was that you had to dress up as something that starts with the same letter as the first letter of your name. We stopped at a little dollar store / costume shop along the way to aid in costume creation. I decided to go as Rudolph, but was not fortunate enough to find a red clown nose as I had hoped, nor a set of costume antlers, nor a cheap brown shirt. So I had to improvise with some lipstick, a headband and some sticks, and voila - two-toned Rudolph (with my English friends):
It seems Kings Cup is an internationally accepted drinking game:
And one of the whole group:
And finally one with the proprietor of the Poo Pub:
The next morning we headed down the coast, which was absolutely gorgeous. First we stopped at Cape Foulwind and did a short walk along the cliffs that line the shore:
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| From New Zealand - West Coast |
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| From New Zealand - West Coast |
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| From New Zealand - West Coast |
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| From New Zealand - West Coast |
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| From New Zealand - West Coast |
What was a gorgeous day ended with a gorgeous sunset, and even though we were at Lake Mahinapua the beach was actually closer than the lake:
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| From New Zealand - West Coast |
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| From New Zealand - West Coast |
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| From New Zealand - West Coast |
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| From New Zealand - West Coast |
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| From New Zealand - West Coast |
New Zealand - Westport
Day 25 - Thursday February 16
As I mentioned in the last post, the typical stop in Kaiteriteri is just for a single night, but I opted to stay there for two nights to do the full day kayak. So I 'hopped off' off the bus. The problem with hopping off the bus is that if the subsequent busses that come through are full, it can be difficult to hop back on the bus. I didn't realize until I had hopped off that there was a 20+ person waiting list already in Kaiteriteri, which is always bit of a bottle neck because people are coming from the north island and from the earlier stop in the loop around the south island. So I became quite concerned that I would be stuck there for a while. Luckily, KEX decided to clear up the backlog of people by sending a second bus. So instead of one bus and a group of 50 heading from Kaiteriteri down the west coast to Queenstown, we would have 2 busses and 80-90 people for the trip, which has its plusses and minuses, but definitely better than being stuck.
The next two stops on the KEX bus (Westport & Mahinapua) are both similar in that they are in places where there's not really much to see, and it's basically just a place to stop (and party) for the night.
The morning of the 15th we just hung out at the beach for a bit and then headed to Westport, a small town known for its rather interesting locals and not much else. The drivers organized a three-legged pub crawl / fun run, with a prize for best picture with a local sporting the best hair and teeth combo. My partner Sarah and I found a guy with a shaved head except for a pony tail and about 4 teeth. Unfortunately, he didn't smile for our picture, but he did sneak in a nipple grab on me:
Unfortunately it wasn't good enough to win, as a few of our competitors got a rather choice picture with a local mooning the camera between them.
As I mentioned in the last post, the typical stop in Kaiteriteri is just for a single night, but I opted to stay there for two nights to do the full day kayak. So I 'hopped off' off the bus. The problem with hopping off the bus is that if the subsequent busses that come through are full, it can be difficult to hop back on the bus. I didn't realize until I had hopped off that there was a 20+ person waiting list already in Kaiteriteri, which is always bit of a bottle neck because people are coming from the north island and from the earlier stop in the loop around the south island. So I became quite concerned that I would be stuck there for a while. Luckily, KEX decided to clear up the backlog of people by sending a second bus. So instead of one bus and a group of 50 heading from Kaiteriteri down the west coast to Queenstown, we would have 2 busses and 80-90 people for the trip, which has its plusses and minuses, but definitely better than being stuck.
The next two stops on the KEX bus (Westport & Mahinapua) are both similar in that they are in places where there's not really much to see, and it's basically just a place to stop (and party) for the night.
The morning of the 15th we just hung out at the beach for a bit and then headed to Westport, a small town known for its rather interesting locals and not much else. The drivers organized a three-legged pub crawl / fun run, with a prize for best picture with a local sporting the best hair and teeth combo. My partner Sarah and I found a guy with a shaved head except for a pony tail and about 4 teeth. Unfortunately, he didn't smile for our picture, but he did sneak in a nipple grab on me:
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| From New Zealand - West Coast |
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
New Zealand - Kaiteriteri
Day 23 - Tuesday, February 14
As I mentioned in the last post, the stopover in Wellington was only for about 12 hours - got there at 7pm, left at 7am to jump on the ferry to head from the north island to the south island. It was cloudy and rainy, so no pictures from the ferry ride.
After the ferry we headed west along the northern coast to Kaiteriteri, which is a small beach town at the edge of the Abel Tasman national park. The northeastern part of the south island (Malborough region) is home to a lot of wineries. I've really enjoyed all the time I've spent in wine country in CA, so I was a bit sad that I was on the bus and couldn't stop in to do some tastings. Apparently most of the wineries offer free tastings or charge a nominal amount. But from what I can tell about the only thing they do well in New Zealand is a few varietals of white wine, so I'm just gonna tell myself that it probably would've been a disappointment compared to Napa and Sonoma.
I had heard amazing things about the full day kayak up into the shores of the Abel Tasman, so I was planning to do that the next day. Unfortunately, the standard KEX stop in Kaiteriteri is only for one night, and the full-day kayak trip requires 2, so that night I had to say goodbye to a lot of the folks I had been traveling with for a while.
Day 24 - Wednesday, February 15
Woke up early and headed out to the beach in Kaiteriteri where our journey started.
Those weren't our kayaks because the full-day kayak involves a water taxi up the coast a fair way into the national park where our kayaks were waiting for us, so that we didn't have to double back, and because the prevailing winds tend to make it easier to paddle back towards Kaiteriteri. One of the selling points of kayaking through the Abel Tasman is that there are a lot of seal colonies, both adults and pups at various points in the park. One of my fellow kayakers got to see one up close and personal:
Okay, not really. That's from the website of the company I went with. Unfortunately none decided to come swim out to our kayak. But we did get pretty close to quite a few them that were playing along the shoreline, and I must say baby seals are pretty darn cute. I didn't get any great pictures of the pups, but here's one of a handful of pups playing in a little pool close to shore:
We also saw some penguins, but they tend to keep their distance from the kayaks. It was a gorgeous spot to kayak - beautiful coast line with clear blue water. Lots of pictures in the picasa album if you're curious. After lunch we had a fairly large bay to get across, so rather than paddling, we just threw up a sail. Sailing in a kayak, no big deal:
The last little stop of the trip was in a bay that's home to "split apple rock."
As I mentioned in the last post, the stopover in Wellington was only for about 12 hours - got there at 7pm, left at 7am to jump on the ferry to head from the north island to the south island. It was cloudy and rainy, so no pictures from the ferry ride.
After the ferry we headed west along the northern coast to Kaiteriteri, which is a small beach town at the edge of the Abel Tasman national park. The northeastern part of the south island (Malborough region) is home to a lot of wineries. I've really enjoyed all the time I've spent in wine country in CA, so I was a bit sad that I was on the bus and couldn't stop in to do some tastings. Apparently most of the wineries offer free tastings or charge a nominal amount. But from what I can tell about the only thing they do well in New Zealand is a few varietals of white wine, so I'm just gonna tell myself that it probably would've been a disappointment compared to Napa and Sonoma.
I had heard amazing things about the full day kayak up into the shores of the Abel Tasman, so I was planning to do that the next day. Unfortunately, the standard KEX stop in Kaiteriteri is only for one night, and the full-day kayak trip requires 2, so that night I had to say goodbye to a lot of the folks I had been traveling with for a while.
Day 24 - Wednesday, February 15
Woke up early and headed out to the beach in Kaiteriteri where our journey started.
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| From New Zealand - River Valley & Kaiteriteri |
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| From New Zealand - River Valley & Kaiteriteri |
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| From New Zealand - River Valley & Kaiteriteri |
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| From New Zealand - River Valley & Kaiteriteri |
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| From New Zealand - River Valley & Kaiteriteri |
Sunday, February 19, 2012
New Zealand - River Valley & Wellington
Day 22 - Monday, February 13
We were only in River Valley for the one night. It's a stop that's pretty much only on the route because it's considered the best white-water rafting in NZ. But it was only a couple of hours of rafting, the water level was low, and it was quite expensive. Having done a good bit of rafting in the States, including an awesome 2-day trip on the Kern River not long ago, I decided to pass on the rafting, and take the opportunity to sleep in for the first morning in a while.
Another day, another hike. I decided since I wasn't going rafting, I'd do a couple of the short hikes around the lodge, while we waited on the rafters. Here's a couple of photos that I took while hiking around. In the first you can see the lodge where we stayed.
We didn't leave River Valley until about 2pm, at which point we headed to Wellington, the capital of NZ, which other than being a city, isn't know to be much of a popular destination. More than anything else, it's probably known for it's bad weather - very windy and rainy, cloudy and cold. Our bus driver touted wellington as a great party town, noting that it had more bars and clubs per capita than NYC. So we ventured out of the hostel bar and down the street at like 11 only to find the town completely dead. When we asked a couple of people on the street where a good place was to go, they said that it was monday night and so the only place that wouldn't be completely dead was the hostel bar. Oh well, we tried. I think the highlight of my 12 hours in Wellington was seeing this video playing in the bar, featuring the always awesome Betty White.
We were only in River Valley for the one night. It's a stop that's pretty much only on the route because it's considered the best white-water rafting in NZ. But it was only a couple of hours of rafting, the water level was low, and it was quite expensive. Having done a good bit of rafting in the States, including an awesome 2-day trip on the Kern River not long ago, I decided to pass on the rafting, and take the opportunity to sleep in for the first morning in a while.
Another day, another hike. I decided since I wasn't going rafting, I'd do a couple of the short hikes around the lodge, while we waited on the rafters. Here's a couple of photos that I took while hiking around. In the first you can see the lodge where we stayed.
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| From New Zealand - River Valley & Kaiteriteri |
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| From New Zealand - River Valley & Kaiteriteri |
New Zealand - Taupo
Sorry about being MIA for a while, and sorry that this is another long one. Those of you with short attention spans may prefer to just look at the pictures...
Day 19 - Friday, February 10
I decided to stay in a different hostel in Rotorua than the main group because I had heard from a couple in Fiji that the hostel arranged by KEX was not the nicest and there was a much nicer YHA next door. So I did that. The biggest drawback to staying in a different hostel is that not everyone is on the same schedule, so you can't rely on others to wake you up, and usually others are sleeping in the room, so I had to pack really quietly and kind of in the dark. Because it's a hop-on hop-off bus, and people stay behind all the time, the drivers leave right on time and don't concern themselves if someone isn't on the bus -- they can just get the next one - Friday morning the bus was leaving at 830. That morning my alarm didn't go off (probably user error), so I woke up at 812 and started to panic a bit because rounding up all my stuff and packing usually takes 15-20 mins. I ran out of the hostel at 832, and the bus was scheduled to leave at 830. As I ran up the street, the bus door was already closed and the driver had his signal on to turn out into the street, but I managed to make it on, a little too close for comfort, though.
On the way out of Rotorua, we had the option to stop at a geothermal park type thing, with geysers and hot springs and whatnot, but it was like $30 for admission, and I had heard from others it wasn't really worth it. I was also pretty certain that it would pale in comparison with what I had seen just a few months earlier at Yellowstone, so I skipped it. Those of us who skipped it headed over to a redwood forest area with a lot of hiking/walking trails and such. The bus driver let us off there and said to be back in an hour. There were trails with walking times of 30 mins, 60 mins, 90 mins, 120 mins, etc. I decided that it'd be a good chance to get some exercise, so rather than walking, I'd run a bit of it. The bus driver said the times are granny walking times, so moving quickly, I should be able to do it in about half the time. I checked the 2-hour trail and it was 7.5km, so i figured I'd have sufficient time to do it an hour. I started out on the trail, which quickly turned to a significantly steep climb, and I was a little concerned that I might've bitten off more than I could chew given my time restrictions, but forged onward. As I continued on, I started to get worried that I was getting close to an hour (I didn't have a watch, so I was just having to guess as to elapsed time). After what felt like about an hour, I came across a sign/map that indicated the end of the trail / parking lot was pretty close by. Relieved, I continued on, and came to a fork in the road, where I opted to continue following the signs for the yellow (2-hour) trail that I had been following all along. After about 10 more minutes, I started to get concerned again because I hadn't yet reached the parking lot and I thought it had been over an hour. And based on the map I saw, I should've been there by then, and then a few minutes later I realized I had already been where I was, at the very beginning of my run. So now I was really concerned because now I knew it had to have been more than an hour, and I was exhausted and I had to backtrack for a while, and then head the rest of the way to the parking lot. So I broke out into a full on run, and felt like I was going to die, and as I got to the parking lot, I see the bus pulling in. Apparently the bus had already left without me only to realize a bit later they had left me and turn around. I later realized that unlike the tracks he suggested that started and ended at the parking lot, the yellow trail I did was a loop that I had climbed up a bit to get to. Oops. I don't think the driver liked me very much that day. At this rate, it's only a matter of time before I miss the bus.
On the way into Taupo we stopped at Huka falls, a pretty serious waterfall that has claimed a few lives over the years.
When we got into Taupo, I decided to just relax for the afternoon and socialize a bit and then head to bed early because we were being picked up at 530am the next morning to do the Tongariro Crossing.
Day 20 - Saturday, February 11
Today's plan: the Tongariro crossing - a 19km hike up a mountain ridge and back down, with optional additional climbs to a couple of summits. It was a little over an hour ride there, and just the main track takes on average 7-8 hours, so it required an early start to the day. Despite ear plugs, between the bar underneath us, the others in my room coming in in the middle of the night, the guy snoring beneath me, and not quite fitting in the top bunk, I didn't manage much sleep before my alarm went off at 5am. There's no place to get food or water along the track, so I quickly packed a bag full of food and 3L of water and jumped on the bus.
Most of the hike is through volcanic rocky areas without much vegetation. We started up through a valley between Mt. Tongariro and Mt. Ngauruhoe (aka Mt. Doom of Lord of the Rings fame). When we got the foot of Mt. Doom, we started up what's known as "devil's staircase".
A view of Mt. Doom from the bottom of the staircase:
And one of the valley (where we started) from the top of the staircase:
At the top of the staircase is the beginning of the optional track to the summit of Mt. Doom. The guide had said that if it was cloudy at the top, not to go up, and had generally said that it was really dangerous track that shouldn't be attempted without pants and hiking boots and proper hiking gear. A few of us sat at the bottom and debated whether it was too cloudy. Finally, I decided to head up and climbed about 1/3 of the way up at which point I was surrounded by clouds and slipping all over the place in my running shoes (and also lacked the requisite pants). So I decided to head back down. Also, we didn't have time to do that summit and the other summit (Mt. Tongariro). So I figured this way, I could do the second summit. I was little ticked though, because only a few minutes after I got back to the start of the Mt. Doom summit track, it totally cleared up around the top:
We then headed up another somewhat steep ascent, but stopped for a bit to take a some photos while it was pretty clear. Here's one of me and 3 English girls that I met in Fiji and got to know pretty well, and it seems we have similar itineraries because we've run into each other a couple of times since originally meeting in Fiji:
After getting to the top of that ascent, we had the option to do the additional 3km roundtrip climb to the summit of Mt. Tongariro, which I decided to do. Unfortunately, at the summit, it was quite cloudy. I waited for a bit to see if it would clear up, but it didn't, so no pictures from the summit. After that, it was descending most of the rest of the way. including a rather steep scree down to some lakes. The view from above the lakes:
After that, it was a long descent from up in the clouds down to the bottom, with the same view essentially the whole way. If you look at the album, you'll see I snapped quite a few similar photos on the way down. Here's one from just below the cloud line:
I think I ended up going about 24km with the additional hikes towards the summits, by far the longest hike I've ever done, but it was worth the early morning and the several days of soreness that followed. One more photo that I kind of like of a stream toward the end of the hike:
Day 21 - Sunday, February 12
On the way out of Taupo, we stopped in the Whakapapa National Park, which is pretty close to where we started the Tongariro crossing the previous day and did a 2-hr hike to a Tanakari falls. After doing the crossing the previous day, about the last thing people wanted to do was do more hiking, so many decided just relax at the trailhead, but I sucked it up and went along. Not quite as picaresque as the crossing but here's a photo of some of our bus down in front of the falls:
From Taupo, we headed over to River Valley, a rustic lodge kind of out in the middle of nowhere. We got there fairly late in the afternoon, and I just relaxed that afternoon and evening.
Day 19 - Friday, February 10
I decided to stay in a different hostel in Rotorua than the main group because I had heard from a couple in Fiji that the hostel arranged by KEX was not the nicest and there was a much nicer YHA next door. So I did that. The biggest drawback to staying in a different hostel is that not everyone is on the same schedule, so you can't rely on others to wake you up, and usually others are sleeping in the room, so I had to pack really quietly and kind of in the dark. Because it's a hop-on hop-off bus, and people stay behind all the time, the drivers leave right on time and don't concern themselves if someone isn't on the bus -- they can just get the next one - Friday morning the bus was leaving at 830. That morning my alarm didn't go off (probably user error), so I woke up at 812 and started to panic a bit because rounding up all my stuff and packing usually takes 15-20 mins. I ran out of the hostel at 832, and the bus was scheduled to leave at 830. As I ran up the street, the bus door was already closed and the driver had his signal on to turn out into the street, but I managed to make it on, a little too close for comfort, though.
On the way out of Rotorua, we had the option to stop at a geothermal park type thing, with geysers and hot springs and whatnot, but it was like $30 for admission, and I had heard from others it wasn't really worth it. I was also pretty certain that it would pale in comparison with what I had seen just a few months earlier at Yellowstone, so I skipped it. Those of us who skipped it headed over to a redwood forest area with a lot of hiking/walking trails and such. The bus driver let us off there and said to be back in an hour. There were trails with walking times of 30 mins, 60 mins, 90 mins, 120 mins, etc. I decided that it'd be a good chance to get some exercise, so rather than walking, I'd run a bit of it. The bus driver said the times are granny walking times, so moving quickly, I should be able to do it in about half the time. I checked the 2-hour trail and it was 7.5km, so i figured I'd have sufficient time to do it an hour. I started out on the trail, which quickly turned to a significantly steep climb, and I was a little concerned that I might've bitten off more than I could chew given my time restrictions, but forged onward. As I continued on, I started to get worried that I was getting close to an hour (I didn't have a watch, so I was just having to guess as to elapsed time). After what felt like about an hour, I came across a sign/map that indicated the end of the trail / parking lot was pretty close by. Relieved, I continued on, and came to a fork in the road, where I opted to continue following the signs for the yellow (2-hour) trail that I had been following all along. After about 10 more minutes, I started to get concerned again because I hadn't yet reached the parking lot and I thought it had been over an hour. And based on the map I saw, I should've been there by then, and then a few minutes later I realized I had already been where I was, at the very beginning of my run. So now I was really concerned because now I knew it had to have been more than an hour, and I was exhausted and I had to backtrack for a while, and then head the rest of the way to the parking lot. So I broke out into a full on run, and felt like I was going to die, and as I got to the parking lot, I see the bus pulling in. Apparently the bus had already left without me only to realize a bit later they had left me and turn around. I later realized that unlike the tracks he suggested that started and ended at the parking lot, the yellow trail I did was a loop that I had climbed up a bit to get to. Oops. I don't think the driver liked me very much that day. At this rate, it's only a matter of time before I miss the bus.
On the way into Taupo we stopped at Huka falls, a pretty serious waterfall that has claimed a few lives over the years.
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| From New Zealand - Rotorua & Taupo |
Day 20 - Saturday, February 11
Today's plan: the Tongariro crossing - a 19km hike up a mountain ridge and back down, with optional additional climbs to a couple of summits. It was a little over an hour ride there, and just the main track takes on average 7-8 hours, so it required an early start to the day. Despite ear plugs, between the bar underneath us, the others in my room coming in in the middle of the night, the guy snoring beneath me, and not quite fitting in the top bunk, I didn't manage much sleep before my alarm went off at 5am. There's no place to get food or water along the track, so I quickly packed a bag full of food and 3L of water and jumped on the bus.
Most of the hike is through volcanic rocky areas without much vegetation. We started up through a valley between Mt. Tongariro and Mt. Ngauruhoe (aka Mt. Doom of Lord of the Rings fame). When we got the foot of Mt. Doom, we started up what's known as "devil's staircase".
A view of Mt. Doom from the bottom of the staircase:
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| From New Zealand - Rotorua & Taupo |
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| From New Zealand - Rotorua & Taupo |
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| From New Zealand - Rotorua & Taupo |
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| From New Zealand - Rotorua & Taupo |
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| From New Zealand - Rotorua & Taupo |
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| From New Zealand - Rotorua & Taupo |
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| From New Zealand - Rotorua & Taupo |
Day 21 - Sunday, February 12
On the way out of Taupo, we stopped in the Whakapapa National Park, which is pretty close to where we started the Tongariro crossing the previous day and did a 2-hr hike to a Tanakari falls. After doing the crossing the previous day, about the last thing people wanted to do was do more hiking, so many decided just relax at the trailhead, but I sucked it up and went along. Not quite as picaresque as the crossing but here's a photo of some of our bus down in front of the falls:
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| From New Zealand - Rotorua & Taupo |
From Taupo, we headed over to River Valley, a rustic lodge kind of out in the middle of nowhere. We got there fairly late in the afternoon, and I just relaxed that afternoon and evening.
Monday, February 13, 2012
New Zealand - Rotorua
Day 18 - Thursday, February 9
The bus left Waitomo at 845 to head to Rotorua. By checking in last in Waitomo, I lucked out - they ran out of space in the dorms, and so they started putting people in rooms with two twin beds, but since we had an odd number I ended up with a room to myself, which after sharing dorm rooms with between 3 and 11 other people for the last two weeks, was a nice luxury. I hadn't been sleeping that poorly in the dorms, but having my room definitely made for some better sleep.
We stopped in the morning to do a short little hike/walk through some of the exterior portions of the caves and some waterfalls and such. Nothing that seemed particularly photo worthy after all the cool stuff we saw the day before. But, in case you were curious and didn't check out the KEX website, here's one of the bus I'll be spending much of my life on over the next 3 weeks:
Rotorua is a larger city on a lake that provides many options for those seeking to do extreme-sport-type activities. Elsewhere in NZ are better for bungy and skydiving, but Rotorua provides a luging track that's supposed to be one of the best and offers an opportunity to go zorbing. Luging involves driving a tiny little cart on a downhill track at high speeds, not too dissimilar from the olympic sport with which it shares a name. Zorbing involves one or more people getting inside a huge rubber ball / balloon and rolling down a hill. The bus driver said he definitely preferred luging and that it provided more hours of entertainment for your dollar, so I went with that. A few photos:
It might not look very dangerous, but a fellow bus passenger wiped out going pretty fast and took most of the skin off his shin.
That evening we went to a traditional Mauri (original native New Zealanders) village and ate a traditional Mauri feast. The experience felt a little touristy, but it was still pretty neat and the food, which was cooked in an underground pit, was good. If you're curious, there are a few pics in the picasa album.
The bus left Waitomo at 845 to head to Rotorua. By checking in last in Waitomo, I lucked out - they ran out of space in the dorms, and so they started putting people in rooms with two twin beds, but since we had an odd number I ended up with a room to myself, which after sharing dorm rooms with between 3 and 11 other people for the last two weeks, was a nice luxury. I hadn't been sleeping that poorly in the dorms, but having my room definitely made for some better sleep.
We stopped in the morning to do a short little hike/walk through some of the exterior portions of the caves and some waterfalls and such. Nothing that seemed particularly photo worthy after all the cool stuff we saw the day before. But, in case you were curious and didn't check out the KEX website, here's one of the bus I'll be spending much of my life on over the next 3 weeks:
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| From New Zealand - Rotorua & Taupo |
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| From New Zealand - Rotorua & Taupo |
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| From New Zealand - Rotorua & Taupo |
That evening we went to a traditional Mauri (original native New Zealanders) village and ate a traditional Mauri feast. The experience felt a little touristy, but it was still pretty neat and the food, which was cooked in an underground pit, was good. If you're curious, there are a few pics in the picasa album.
New Zealand - Waitomo Caves
Day 17 - Wednesday, February 8
Got up early and headed from hot water beach over to Waitomo, home of the gloworm caves and black water rafting, which isn't really rafting so much as it is tubing. Along the way we stopped and did a hike through Karangahake Gorge, which was home to an old gold mine, so the hike included walking through some old mine tunnels and such, which was pretty neat.
At Waitomo, we had the choice of (1) walking down into the caves, (2) tubing through the caves, or (3) repelling down into the caves, ziplining in the pitch black down through caves, tubing through the caves, swimming and walking our way through the caves, and then finally climbing up through underground waterfalls to get out of the caves, each option a little longer and more expensive than the previous. I opted for the latter, which was about a 4 hour excursion and other than the water being frigid, and the wetsuits not getting the job done, it was a ton of fun, especially the last part, climbing up through the falls, which was kind of combination of rock climbing and playing in waterfalls. The gloworms were really cool too. It was very much like looking up on a clear night with a sky filled with stars. Given the nature of the activity, a camera wasn't possible to take down into the caves, but here's one all geared up before we headed down into the caves:
The Black Water Rafting website has some good photos as well. If you look at the website, the excursion I did is called "the black abyss." And here's a photo of the gloworms I stole from the internet:
Got up early and headed from hot water beach over to Waitomo, home of the gloworm caves and black water rafting, which isn't really rafting so much as it is tubing. Along the way we stopped and did a hike through Karangahake Gorge, which was home to an old gold mine, so the hike included walking through some old mine tunnels and such, which was pretty neat.
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| From New Zealand - Hot Water Beach & Waitomo |
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| From New Zealand - Hot Water Beach & Waitomo |
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| From New Zealand - Hot Water Beach & Waitomo |
Thursday, February 9, 2012
New Zealand - Coromandel Peninsula, Hot Water Beach
Day 16 - Tuesday, February 7
The Bay of Islands & Cape Reinga is kind of like an add-on loop to the standard Kiwi Experience circuit. As a result, many of the people on that bus trip were not continuing south from Auckland, and the bus going south from Auckland was a different driver, largely different group of people, etc. But going south from Auckland, you're essentially with the same group of people and the same bus driver for a long stretch of time, potentially your entire multi-week trip. So on Tuesday, I met a lot of the people I'd be spending the next couple of weeks with.
As an aside for a second, I probably didn't adequately explain what the Kiwi Experience is (KEX for short). To some degree, it's not very different from any other bus tour. Basically, they run buses daily between neighboring locations along a large circuit stretched across the north and south island, and most people get on the bus in the morning, get off at the next location that evening and then get back on the next morning. But some people choose to stay in places longer than one night, and in some places a multi-night stop is standard. The KEX is marketed towards the young backpacking crowd, and as a result, virtually all bus passengers are 18-35, with an average age of early/mid 20's. As a result, it is also known as a bit of party bus, with most people drinking and going out most nights on the trip. I'm definitely one of the oldest on the bus. At each location, they provide information, discounts and guaranteed spots for a variety of activities, most of which are of the extreme sport / adrenaline rush variety that New Zealand is famous for. They also set you up with a hostel to stay in each night. If there isn't a supermarket close to the hostel for that night, the bus will stop at a supermarket so you can get groceries to make your own meals, alcohol, etc. The vast majority of people make all of their own meals. The bus also stops along for cool hikes, nice spots for photos, etc. Though it provides a lot of flexibility in how you choose to see the island in terms of how long you take and what activities you do, it also provides the convenience of you not having to figure out where to go, or what to do, or booking any hostels or activities because they take care of all of that for you - and they're quite good at it. It's also great for independent travelers like myself because it's a great way to meet a lot of people.
Okay, so back to Day 13. We got on the bus in Auckland and headed down to the Coromandel Peninsula, which is just southwest of Auckland. The great thing about visiting New Zealand in the middle of summer is that there is about 15 hours of daylight each day (6am to about 9pm), which means if you get to a location at noon or 1, you still have 8 hours of daylight to enjoy the day. One of the biggest attractions at today's location is the hot water beach, where you can dig a hole in the sand, and all the hot springs and geothermal activity fill the hole with really hot water. Most people go out at low tide, when it's easiest to dig down far enough to get hot water. We arrived down there about 130, which was perfect because low tide was at 215. The beach was filled with people all trying to dig holes to enjoy the hot water beach. I stuck my foot in one of the existing pools and it felt like I put my foot in a fire - much hotter than I expected. You can also just walk out into the ocean and dig your feet into the sand and it is very hot even though the ocean water is like 65-70 degrees (F) - pretty rad. I forgot my camera, but don't worry - google image search to the rescue:
After that we headed over to Cathedral's Cove, which was a really nice beach that we hiked (trekked if you're a Kiwi) down to, with really cool limestone rock formations. Apparently, they shot some scenes in one of the Narnia movies there. It was a gorgeous location and the weather couldn't have been better. Lots of pics from there in the album, but here's several of them:
We stayed at a campground that was right by the hot water beach. I had a lot of fun getting to know many of my fellow KEX passengers that evening, and then we all headed back out to the beach for midnight natural hot-tubbing:
All in all, a great first day to start my trip south from Auckland. Waking up the next morning to get on the bus at 730, however, was not so fun.
The Bay of Islands & Cape Reinga is kind of like an add-on loop to the standard Kiwi Experience circuit. As a result, many of the people on that bus trip were not continuing south from Auckland, and the bus going south from Auckland was a different driver, largely different group of people, etc. But going south from Auckland, you're essentially with the same group of people and the same bus driver for a long stretch of time, potentially your entire multi-week trip. So on Tuesday, I met a lot of the people I'd be spending the next couple of weeks with.
As an aside for a second, I probably didn't adequately explain what the Kiwi Experience is (KEX for short). To some degree, it's not very different from any other bus tour. Basically, they run buses daily between neighboring locations along a large circuit stretched across the north and south island, and most people get on the bus in the morning, get off at the next location that evening and then get back on the next morning. But some people choose to stay in places longer than one night, and in some places a multi-night stop is standard. The KEX is marketed towards the young backpacking crowd, and as a result, virtually all bus passengers are 18-35, with an average age of early/mid 20's. As a result, it is also known as a bit of party bus, with most people drinking and going out most nights on the trip. I'm definitely one of the oldest on the bus. At each location, they provide information, discounts and guaranteed spots for a variety of activities, most of which are of the extreme sport / adrenaline rush variety that New Zealand is famous for. They also set you up with a hostel to stay in each night. If there isn't a supermarket close to the hostel for that night, the bus will stop at a supermarket so you can get groceries to make your own meals, alcohol, etc. The vast majority of people make all of their own meals. The bus also stops along for cool hikes, nice spots for photos, etc. Though it provides a lot of flexibility in how you choose to see the island in terms of how long you take and what activities you do, it also provides the convenience of you not having to figure out where to go, or what to do, or booking any hostels or activities because they take care of all of that for you - and they're quite good at it. It's also great for independent travelers like myself because it's a great way to meet a lot of people.
Okay, so back to Day 13. We got on the bus in Auckland and headed down to the Coromandel Peninsula, which is just southwest of Auckland. The great thing about visiting New Zealand in the middle of summer is that there is about 15 hours of daylight each day (6am to about 9pm), which means if you get to a location at noon or 1, you still have 8 hours of daylight to enjoy the day. One of the biggest attractions at today's location is the hot water beach, where you can dig a hole in the sand, and all the hot springs and geothermal activity fill the hole with really hot water. Most people go out at low tide, when it's easiest to dig down far enough to get hot water. We arrived down there about 130, which was perfect because low tide was at 215. The beach was filled with people all trying to dig holes to enjoy the hot water beach. I stuck my foot in one of the existing pools and it felt like I put my foot in a fire - much hotter than I expected. You can also just walk out into the ocean and dig your feet into the sand and it is very hot even though the ocean water is like 65-70 degrees (F) - pretty rad. I forgot my camera, but don't worry - google image search to the rescue:
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| From New Zealand - Hot Water Beach & Waitomo |
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| From New Zealand - Hot Water Beach & Waitomo |
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| From New Zealand - Hot Water Beach & Waitomo |
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| From New Zealand - Hot Water Beach & Waitomo |
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| From New Zealand - Hot Water Beach & Waitomo |
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| From New Zealand - Hot Water Beach & Waitomo |
All in all, a great first day to start my trip south from Auckland. Waking up the next morning to get on the bus at 730, however, was not so fun.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
New Zealand - Bay of Islands & Cape Reinga
Day 13 - Saturday, February 4
As mentioned in my last post, I was picked up at 715am by the Kiwi Experience bus to head up to the Bay of Islands. Got up there by about noon and checked into the hostel. Didn't really do much the rest of the day. Finally had relatively fast internet, so I used the day to upload photos, get together the blog, etc.
Day 14 - Sunday, February 5
Most people who head up to the Bay of Islands also do a day trip up to Cape Reinga, which is the northern most point in New Zealand. On the way up to the Cape, we stopped by the Kauri forest. Kauri's are basically just giant trees - probably somewhat similar to the giant sequoias in the US. I'll spare you a photo of trees, but later in the day, we went by a place that makes all sorts of stuff out of the trunks of the trees, including this $55,000 couch:
From there we went to the giant sand dunes not far from the cape, and did some sandboarding, which is basically just boogie/body boarding down a giant dune. I probably would've been happy hanging out there for several hours more - it was a lot of fun, and a good workout as well, climbing the dunes.
We grabbed some lunch on the beach. Not a bad spot for lunch:
Then we headed up to Cape Reinga, which is quite a picturesque spot. I got a little camera happy up there. At the cape, the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean, which you can see in this first photo:
After the Cape, we drove back to Paihia (where we were staying in the Bay of Islands) along 90 mile beach, which is a long straight beach that functions as a highway, because it's much flatter and straighter than the paved road. So it is actually the quickest way to get south from anywhwere around the Cape, but only accessible at low tide. The bus driving on the beach:
Day 15 - Monday, February 6 (i.e. Superbowl Monday)
Another early morning, as I had booked a dolphin cruise/swim that left the dock at 8am. -- I think most of you know I'm not a morning person, but the bus back to Auckland left at 3pm, so I couldn't do the afternoon cruise/swim. -- For those of you doing the math, the 3pm bus departure meant it left at 9pm EST on Sunday in the US (We're 18 hours ahead here). I failed to do the math when I booked the bus, so that meant I missed the second half of the Superbowl. But I didn't really want to sit around in Paihia another night, so I missed the Superbowl for the first time since I was old enough to remember stuff. And for the record, the first Superbowl I remember watching was 1988, when Doug Williams and the Redskins trounced Denver.
Anyway, the dolphin boat is designed as a cruise around the Bay of Islands with a focus on finding dolphins for dolphin viewing and if they aren't feeding, and aren't moving too quickly, and don't have any babies with them, and the seas aren't too rough, there is an opportunity to get out and swim with them. I got the impression that even though it is billed as a chance to swim with dolphins, the actual swimming only ccurs about half the time. With it very windy, and the water pretty rough, I wasn't too optimistic. We quickly came across a pod of dolphins, and it was really cool to watch the dolphins follow along with the boat and act very playfully - jumping around along all sides of the boat. The boat is designed so that you can get very close to the water, and I felt like I could've literally reached out and touched them on multiple occasions, but we were told that was frowned upon. The shortcomings of my crappy little point and shoot camera became obvious as I tried to shoot the the dolphins doing tricks, jumping out of the water etc. A fine example of my amazing camera work can be found in this shot, which with a better camera or better photographer, probably would've been a pretty good one:
More poor attempts at pictures of dolphins in the picasa album,
Sadly, they never left the open water where it was way too rough to get in. The Bay of Islands themselves were gorgeous - small secluded beaches everywhere, just a really pretty spot. Again I got a little camera happy, but I'll only force one of them on you:
After the dolphin cruise, I caught a little bit of the Superbowl before heading back to Auckland for the night, where it was another uneventful night, thanks in part to a long day and another early morning to follow.
As mentioned in my last post, I was picked up at 715am by the Kiwi Experience bus to head up to the Bay of Islands. Got up there by about noon and checked into the hostel. Didn't really do much the rest of the day. Finally had relatively fast internet, so I used the day to upload photos, get together the blog, etc.
Day 14 - Sunday, February 5
Most people who head up to the Bay of Islands also do a day trip up to Cape Reinga, which is the northern most point in New Zealand. On the way up to the Cape, we stopped by the Kauri forest. Kauri's are basically just giant trees - probably somewhat similar to the giant sequoias in the US. I'll spare you a photo of trees, but later in the day, we went by a place that makes all sorts of stuff out of the trunks of the trees, including this $55,000 couch:
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| From New Zealand - Auckland, Bay of Islands, and Cape Reinga |
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| From New Zealand - Auckland, Bay of Islands, and Cape Reinga |
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| From New Zealand - Auckland, Bay of Islands, and Cape Reinga |
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| From New Zealand - Auckland, Bay of Islands, and Cape Reinga |
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| From New Zealand - Auckland, Bay of Islands, and Cape Reinga |
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| From New Zealand - Auckland, Bay of Islands, and Cape Reinga |
Day 15 - Monday, February 6 (i.e. Superbowl Monday)
Another early morning, as I had booked a dolphin cruise/swim that left the dock at 8am. -- I think most of you know I'm not a morning person, but the bus back to Auckland left at 3pm, so I couldn't do the afternoon cruise/swim. -- For those of you doing the math, the 3pm bus departure meant it left at 9pm EST on Sunday in the US (We're 18 hours ahead here). I failed to do the math when I booked the bus, so that meant I missed the second half of the Superbowl. But I didn't really want to sit around in Paihia another night, so I missed the Superbowl for the first time since I was old enough to remember stuff. And for the record, the first Superbowl I remember watching was 1988, when Doug Williams and the Redskins trounced Denver.
Anyway, the dolphin boat is designed as a cruise around the Bay of Islands with a focus on finding dolphins for dolphin viewing and if they aren't feeding, and aren't moving too quickly, and don't have any babies with them, and the seas aren't too rough, there is an opportunity to get out and swim with them. I got the impression that even though it is billed as a chance to swim with dolphins, the actual swimming only ccurs about half the time. With it very windy, and the water pretty rough, I wasn't too optimistic. We quickly came across a pod of dolphins, and it was really cool to watch the dolphins follow along with the boat and act very playfully - jumping around along all sides of the boat. The boat is designed so that you can get very close to the water, and I felt like I could've literally reached out and touched them on multiple occasions, but we were told that was frowned upon. The shortcomings of my crappy little point and shoot camera became obvious as I tried to shoot the the dolphins doing tricks, jumping out of the water etc. A fine example of my amazing camera work can be found in this shot, which with a better camera or better photographer, probably would've been a pretty good one:
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| From New Zealand - Auckland, Bay of Islands, and Cape Reinga |
Sadly, they never left the open water where it was way too rough to get in. The Bay of Islands themselves were gorgeous - small secluded beaches everywhere, just a really pretty spot. Again I got a little camera happy, but I'll only force one of them on you:
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| From New Zealand - Auckland, Bay of Islands, and Cape Reinga |
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