2009 New Zealand Trip: Nov. 4 - Dec. 15
The main event during my temporary retirement.
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Bay of Islands: Upon arriving in Aukland, went directly by bus to Paihia for 3 days. Went on a few hikes in reserves and a day-long tour on the bay checking
out the islands and sea life. An ok town. Probably spent 1 day extra that I didn't need to. Nice first hostel as I got a room with just one other person, some girl from Brazil
that drank a lot of wine and slept all day.
Far North: Got another bus and stayed in a really cool town called Ahipara at the bottom of the 90 mile beach. Hostel was the nicest
by far. Right on the beach almost like a bed and breakfast. I wish I could have traded a day from Paihia to extend my stay here. Took a big
all-day tour down the 90 mile beach, did sand boarding, and checked out a cool bay near the top and then finally Cape Reinga, where the
Tasman and the Pacific Oceans meet and you can see the currents fighting each other.
This was the beach right across from the Enlessless summer lodge. The hills are actually giant sand dunes with vegetation.
Taken just sfter the previous photo, contrasting light in this direction. Lots of wind.
Really nice place. Could have enjoyed more time here. Best bathrooms by far on trip.
This beach is actually an official road on the map.
If you drive too far up the sand, you can get stuck. And the bus won't stop to help you.
Some dude from NZ tried to test his Indian motorcycle here in prep for achieving the land speed record in Utah. See World's Fastest Indian film.
I regret not taking photos without all the people in the way now.
Just south of Cape Reinga
Tongario National Park: From Ahipara, I took a long bus to Aukland where I spent a night in a refugee camp style hostel for 100s in the city center that
had a guy in the room that was moaning and smelled real bad. Next day I got on another bus for the town ofNational Park in preparation for the Tongario Nothern
Circuit. Plans were altered due to weather and it would have worked out perfectly, but made a bad decision to not cross the main feature crater pass on a nice day
and the next day was a huge storm, so missed out, but it was still pretty cool. I'll have to go back someday. Huts on trail were packed with people.
Bus driver was driving really fast on this scary road. Even verteran riders were alarmed.
Did counter-clockwise due to weather being better the next day for higher portion.
As seen from the first hut I stayed in. This place was packed with Germans that were very lively.
Forget the name. There were over 23 people in this thing. Tight fit.
I was so happy to see it clear this day. Really nice sun. Still very cool and at times incredible wind when exposed.
Another view from the hut before leaving.
This day the hike went through really stark terrain
Some other volcano from same spot as previous. Really windy in this spot.
This was laying all around and was incredibly light. Who knows when it spewed out of the beast.
Beginning to enter the area I felt resembled a set from Star Trek where Kirk fights the lizzard. Click Link for audio.
Click link for Star Trek Fight Music to go along with this photo.
They had pretty good trail markers to guide you since it was pretty hard to follow.
Some gas floating out; more to come
Steep climb ahead
Nice colors
Desolate landscape behind
Volcanic gas venting
Little waterfall outlet for this glacial pond
The main feature I never got to look down into because I was a fool and didn't climb the summit (see all the little people) during the good weather. Others made same mistake as me.
The junction where I made the wrong decision to stay in a hut down the trail rather than cross the summit. Damn!
Everyone said (that made the crossing fully) that it is really sweet to look into this thing. I will never know, unless I go again.
In the other direction from the main crater heading down to this other hut which I would spend the night
Should have gone over the pass when it was nice! Had to exit out the other end and some guys from Holland who had a guy picking them up gave me a lift back to town.
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Wellington: From National Park, took the train through a very scenic interior of the North Island that I'd like to explore. Lots of train enthusiasts on there that got
very excited whenever we crossed a viaduct. I saw some excellent rivers that would be great rafting down. Sheep all over the place running from the train passing.
Wellington, the capital of NZ, I could live in. Real nice town, great botanical garden that was very relaxing and had incredible variety. Lot of steep hills. Lucked out on
the hostel as I got a 4-share room, but no one in it for the 2 nights. Stumbled on the NZ Reserve Bank museum which was cool. Just basically walked around a lot.
Really nice paths all over make for hours of walking and weather was great.
Look up at the "tree house" observation deck. Good for viewing the tops of the tall trees which follow.
View of surrounding fancy hill dwellers
Amusing notes on this one bird. This is a good representation of how "unstuffy" NZ is.
From Te Papa, the national museum. I wasn't crazy about it as much as everyone else was that raved over this place, but it's a nice museum.
From another part of town, this involved a major climb and the wind picked up big.
Color stands out in the dark undergrowth.
Nice lilly pads
Real nice-smelling roses down there. I enjoyed sniffing them.
Another view from the "tree house"
High up on a hill with nice view of the sea.
Nelson: I took the ferry over from Wellington where it was pouring rain to the sunny South Island. Real nice passage through the sounds, though wasn't in a picture
mood. Took a bus to Nelson where I chilled for a couple days an prepared for the Abel Tasman hike. Main activity there was to borrow one of the hostel bikes and ride
down to a beach which was not bad, but a bit windy. Good for getting a bit of sun and fresh air. Had a lot of wine in this town, I recall with some Americans. We were
all excited to have people to talk to since the majority of the travelers were German and you feel bad making them speak English by being in their conversations.
Not much to say for this section other than chilled at a beach and explored the small town a bit. Not too excited, but nice break.
Nelson Airport was not far and planes came by a few times, but small so not too loud.
Abel Tasman: Some nice German girls also heading to the park from the Nelson hostel gave me a ride early in the morning to the start of the 32 mile Abel
Tasman track. They drove a bit scarily, but it saved me shuttle fare. I made the mistake of taking all my posessions on this tramp. While it's a fairly easy trail, the weight
nearly killed me; I should have arranged some transport of gear, which I would do for the next tramp. Huts were packed. I paid for 3 nights, but on the final stretch I
joined some local Wellington dad and son and they offered to give me a ride into my next town so skipped the last hut. Really nice sights. Pretty good weather.
The people that arrived at the Day 2 camp first were amused as each person that approached these birds were harrassed.
Odd British girl in background that was 17 and so got to stay in huts free. She was sort of a loner.
It was amazing to know that all this water would be gone in the morning.
Ran into German Girl from National Park here who saw my name in the Guest Book. There were about 16 people in this room like sardines.
Rested here a bit with my Wellington crew who decided to skip day 3 hut. They weren't crazy about all the tourists packed in so decided to head home which worked out well for me.
Real nice guys. They had their mom/wife picking them up and gave me a ride to some house they were watching and we had some beer and cheese then gave me a ride to Takaka which allowed me time to rest and still see sights around Takaka which were sweet. Kid worked for NZ Reserve Bank.
Dropped off the packs and took a little side trip. Smelled bad from bad seal hygiene.
We hung out here hoping for a big seal to flop into the sea, but they were not moving for a while, it appeared.
A Look East
Luckily, we were able to rest a bit in the hut before the finish so I could change out of my sweaty clothes and didn't scum up the people's car much. I really sweat like mad because of all the weight I was carrying.
Golden Bay: I was really happy to have have an extra day to rest in Takaka before the next big hike, both because I needed the break for my back and also for
checking out the sights. I was staying in Takaka mainly because it would be close for transport to the start of the Heaphy Track, but there were several sweet things to
see, which I did with the help of a crappy bike the annoying hostel owner provided. Also did some laundry (bad dryer), bought provisions, and arranged for baggage
transport for the incredibly low price of $10NZ from some woman who was driving to the other end of the trail to relocate someone's car. This scruffy American guy that
was also doing the Heaphy got me that and also owed me $10 that I spoted him for his bags and they he skipped town, but I saw him on the trail and got my money.
Anyway, this was a cool little portion. The town was really dead and everything shut down at 7pm. I was begged the first night by this French girl for some of my steak
because she got in late, but I said it was my last meal before the hike and offered her potatoe chips which she refused as being "bad for my complexion." Lots of
interesting characters in this hostel including a stranded guy who was waiting for his car to pass inspection and a despondent British guy that had a great photo he took of
people using old microwaves as mailboxes in town. Oh, I also really liked saying TA-KA-KA. I had a real cool shuttle guy to Heaphy track, 9/11 conspiracy dude that
loved Steely Dan and was a Prop guy for the Lord of the Rings movies, but said he had never watched the credits to see his name. Great crazy part of the country. Also,
there was this somewhat large British couple that owned an icecream shop and took the winters off to travel who were doing the big Heaphy Track too and I ran into them
on the West Coast where they gave me a nice sandwich. Nice to see active large people. Wish I had more photos. Must have been tired. There was also this gormet
salami (of all things) producer near The Grove which I checked out. Their "store" was just a shack manned by some old-time geezer with refrigerator in it. Too pricey
since I'm not a huge salami fan and the smallest pack was too big.
Short, but incredibly steep trail to get here. Also got lost for a while on my crappy bike and then had to go along bumpy farm road. Was sweating like a pig. Luckily, cave was cool. Really sweet area.
I went in a bit as the trail was marked, but stopped as I was scared of slipping on the slimy rocks and didn't expect to be found for a long time if I was disabled.
This was a cool experience. Riding back from the caves, I did a double-take and reversed along the road as I saw this caboose in some guys backyard. Guy was working on it and invited me in to look around and said he was building a bed and breakfast. Looked sweet. Gave me some water. Real nice Duth immigrant. Found out there are many that migrated to NZ during the mid 1900s.
Crazy. This was in The Grove Scenic Preservfe, a sweet little spot in the middle of all this farm land. Really gives you a feel for how the country was before all the people came and plowed it down.
Nice farm with ocean, though it's sort of sad that all the lush vegetation was gone.
For such a small amount of space, I really enjoyed this reserve and it gave me a good 45 minutes of enjoyment just embrasing the feeling of prehistoric times.
I recall being amazed by the roots of this tree surrounding a giant rock. Must have taken ages for this to happen.
You'd like the prices wouldn't be too bad, but this shack held some pricey salami.
Heaphy Track: The final Great Walk was this 82KM which connected the Golden Bay to the West Coast via a one-way path that orginally was considered to
become a road before the locals nixed the idea. This walk went through such great different terrain. The first 2 days were actually not that exciting, but I later realized
it was worth doing the whole thing to get a sense of really trekking from one region to the other. There was a great group of 8 older Wellington folk and I loved how they
wore shorts in the cold. A couple "good ol' boys" from Motueka, and a German tour group with a guy that brought a liter soda bottle of wine and shared with me, and the
other American guy that owed me $10. I had some nice freezed dried meals, my favorite being Beef Teriyaki. Hiked about 5 hours a day, so it wasn't too bad, but
the cumulative effect of all the previous walking during this trip had my feet being in real bad trouble. Was really lucky to avoid rain, except overnight. Just got off the
trail before a deluge hit the next day.
Really wish I had audio to record my conversation with the driver. Really liked the guy. Might have something on my voice recorder. Check back.
First day was sort of boring and consisted of all the uphill of the trip. Nice weather.
Enlarge and you see the tip of this mountain that is actually across the Tasman Sea on the North Island.
Where previous photo was taken
Fred, one of the "good 'ol boys" from Motueka was nice and took a shot of me. These guys talked so fast and with an accent that even the Wellington folk had a tough time understanding them.
Major tussock to be walking through next day. See Link.
Major packed in, but I slept OK. By the end, the smell was bad because the mattresses which were pretty much just gym mats were never washed and had a bad ordor, not to mention the BO.
Day 2, didn't have much interest to capture. It rained overnight big time and luckily stopped for Day 3, when the landscape changed drastically and was the beginning of the awesomeness.
First view of the river to bike hiked down to
Taking a break at the Lewis Hut, just before the mega swing bridge crossing.
The Good 'Ol Boys were staying here to extend their time on the trail. I think they wanted to get away from the city folk and foreigners so they were happy.
Not too bad.
The wind was firece while crossing and it seemed like the bridge would flip. With a big pack on, it was tough. Wish I had a photo of me going. I was screaming at the wind I was so pissed at it.
another minor bridge to cross. 2 days later, this bridge might have been underwater, for all I know.
I think this river appeared to be flowing backwards due to the wind or ocean tides.
At night, major sandflies would be terrorizing us, but the wind and light kept thing clear. I just ran out of my bug spray this evening and luckily didn't need any for rest of trip.
Almost stole some chocolate from my pack.
A look down the river
German dude walking around.
Great weather continued for the final portion along the ocean. Outstanding views throughout and nice breeze.
And beginning of the West Coast road. Shuttle would drive us to Karamea, but wouldn't come for a couple hours so hung around enjoying the rest and soaking feet.
Karamea: I had booked 3 nights to recover at this place called The Last Resort. I took the cheap $30 shared rooms. It turned out to not be quite as cool as I had
thought, but the beds were nice and the shower was really good and it was the only place that had soap and shampoo during my entire trip. It poured seriously hard the
first day in town and really flooded the trail. There was a group of runners doing the trail in one day that got stuck, but eventually made it out. They were staying at the
place and looked exhausted. Had a pretty good greasy meal at the one bar/restaurant in town and enjoyed hanging with the Wellington folk who were in town for a few
days. The main town was pretty much nothing and you needed a car to get out to the Operara Basin and this cool guy that was a former rugby player and sort of did
odd jobs around the hotel was nice and lent me his car so I could see the sights and not have to rent one for $75. He lived in a sweet trailer on the property and his wife
was some doctor doing a stint in a remote area I can't recall. Anyway, this town served well for just relaxing and some sightseeing. Ran into the British couple from the
Golden Bay hostel who had done the hike and got in the flooding. Ran an ice cream store back in the UK, but took winters off for travel.
I forget what caused the water to be this interesting color, but it was other-worldly.
I would have loved to have taken a leisurely raft down this river.
