The Tongariro Crossing

Well, what a long, hard and supremely rewarding day. We're in central North Island, next to Lake Taupo with three volcanoes very near by. So we went for a closer look!
Got up at 6.15am and it was Cold, we're talking two jumpers, hat and gloves. Bus takes us up to the start of the Tongariro Crossing. Its a beautiful clear, crisp morning at high altitude (about 9OOm). Before us is an 18km trek through and over active volcanic mountains.

It starts fairly easily with about an hour of walking next to a stream which came from a soda spring. Then there was a steep clamber up 300m of solidified lava in the form of giant steps known as the 'Devil's Staircase'. Once at the top of this we had a choice to make: continue along the track or take a 3 hour side track to the top of the classic cone shaped Mount Ngauruhoe. An idea of the steapness of this hill can be recieved from the fact it is a 1km walk over a 600m ascent and all this up a huge pile of gravel with steam coming off the top. We HAD to do it.

Before we'd even started the climb a shout come from up the mountain. We looked up to see a rock the size of a chair hurtling down the walking track at high speed. It didn't hit anyone but we began to question the wisdom of our choice. We scrammbled up the only evident rock ridge towards the steam. Exhausted, we reached the top, 2287m up. The steam was coming from the ridge of the crater. The rocks round the rim were warm/hot with steam belching, kettlelike from cracks between them. There was one small patch of snow up there and inside the crater were actually icicles. Looking outward we saw a huge amount of the North Island but most prominant of course was the other two volcanoes: Tongariro and Ruapehu, which last erupted in 1996. As usual the photoes cant possibly convey the scene but you'll get an idea.

Having finished with the top it was time for the dreaded descent. We had been warned not to go too fast because if you trip you dont stop falling and tumbling 600m down volcanic rock is bad for the skin. So the trick is to practrcally ski down the skree, which we did. At the bottom there was a feeling that we were lucky to be in one piece.

Anyway, back to the main track. We walked across the floor of 'South Crater', then skirted a dark red crater followed by three small 'emerald' pools. As we reached Mount Tongariro we saw the Blue lake in its crater. From then on it was downward to the end via some more steam, this time it was from some hot springs.

This was one of those days where we've seen so much we can't remember it all but with our aching limbs and dust in every oriffice we also have a bundle of photos. A selection of which are attached for your perrusal.

All the best
Jamie

Wanganui Journey

Well we left Wanganui City ( at the river mouth) and headed upstream along a winding road which was basically carved out of the huge clay banks of the meandering Wanganui River.

We arrived after 64km at Pipiriki. From there the road and river take seperate routes. The next road access is 88km upstream. Sounds like a good place to park up and get on the river.

We paid the old guy at the carpark 5 dollars to park in his garden ( quite entreprenuerial really) and got our jetboat 30km up river to the old landing.

The landing existed to serve an area of bush which was leased to returning WWI veterans to use for farming. The trees were felled and gradually more and more veterans and their families came and set up home. The deforestation, however led to severe erosion and revealed only relatively poor soil. The inaccessibilty of the region and the poor environment led to the gradual decline in population but not before the building of a bridge to span a deep gorge and enable car access from the main highway to the river. The bridge was atoo late though and soon the area was un-inhabited.

The bridge remains in perfect condition and is now known as the Bridge to Nowhere and is a strange site indeed. It comes from Nowhere, it goes nowhere and is in the middle of nowhere.

We then paddled on down in our Canadian canoe 10km to the Bridge to Nowhere Lodge. A good sized B&B come backpackers still 21km upstream from any road.

The owners were great, Joe the man of the house lived in the bush as a youth for 3 years at one point. We shared a beer with a few middle aged american from Chicago and hit our pit at 11pm.

Next morning we boared the trusty canoe again and headed on down to Pipiriki again. The river is a slow moving but vast body of water with steep bush clad banks.

There are some fast parts and sure enough we took a swim at one point. Having navigated our way down the worst rapid of the journey our joy was interrupted by a log as it tipped us up and, almost in slow motion, dumped us into the river. It was nice and warm though and we held on and managed to keep everything in the boat before we scrambled ashore and hastily bailed her out and set off again before anyone else came by.

We made it back with no more swimming.

We're up in Taupo now and off to do the Tongariro Crossing tomorrow. Thos who went today tell us it was sleeting and frost was forming on their bags. Should be fun.

I'll tell you about that later then.

Should be a few photos up today too.

Some colour...

Sunset at Paekakariki on Sunday night. I swum out past this yacht and stood up in water about waist deep. The 'crew' had been scrabbling around in the waves and eventually just jumped ship with a few crates of beer and waded into the beach leaving the boat to the elements.

Looked great as the sun set over the South Island though.

I've uploaded a load of new photos too if anyone is bored.

Below is a photo of something we never saw in Curio Bay, in Abel Tasman, in Hector or in Queen Charlotte Sound. You can just see them in Wellington Harbour.

Wellington

Well we've been taking a wee break from the hectic lifestyle of travelling. It's so exausting all this sun, sea and surf you know.

On Friday we left the YHA in Wellington City and headed about 50km up the West Coast to Paekakariki (I think they just make up these names to make you look stupid). The hostel is perched on a hill above the long grey sanded beach and we've watched the sun set over the South Island every evening except Saturday when we went into the big City to watch the one day cricket match between New Zealand and the West Indies. It was a bit of a mis-match and new zealand ran out comfortable winners.

It's a strange kind of atmosphere at cricket here. Because they sell beer it's like a big pub. The crowd is made up mostly of people in their late teens and twenties out with their mates for a good time. So after about 7 hours it's a bit of a party. The cricket is kind of by the by but the sunny weather just adds to the whole festival feel. Not guide your English Gentlemans club you get back in Blighty.

Before we left Wellington we went for a look round Korari Nature Reserve. A large parkland section of the city surrounding two old reservoirs and completely surrounded by a huge fence to keep out the predators which have destroyed so much of NZ's natural riches.

It's an amazing place with many birds we'd not seen in the wild and a few of the endemic Tautara, large lizards which sit motionless in the sun often in the same place. So despite being free to roam they can be seen in almost exactly the same spot every day.

Paekakariki is only 45 mins on the train to Wellington so we popped in again on Saturday for the cricket and Sunday to watch the start of the next leg of the Volvo Ocean Race. 5 60ft racing yachts heading off for Rio on their race around the world. They fairly speed along and are an awesome sight when they are heading off down the harbour at 20 knots. It was another carnival atmosphere as the crowds gathered round the harbour and the little yachts and boats attempted to keep up with the racing boats as they sped off on the beginning of a 22 day journey through the mighty Southern Ocean.

Anyway a last day relaxing in Paekakariki today then off to Whanganui tomorrow to prepare for a 2 day kayak down the Whanganui River.

The sun has left us today but it's still lovely and mild it doesn't look to be too far away. It hasn't been for the ast 3 weeks or so. It's a hard life.

Back in the North

Well it's been a quiet few days.

We stayed at the agreeable Yellow House Backpackers in St Arnaud in the Nelson Lakes area on Monday night. A nice alpine kind of area with a couple of glacial lakes. A playground for the New Zealanders at Holiday time but that has passed and it was very quiet but exteremely scenic.

The next day we headed up to Picton and stayed the night at Bayview Backpackers where we stayed last time we were in Picton. It chucked with rain all afternoon so we stayed in and watched the Cricket on the TV.

Next day was time to leave the South Island and head off across the Cook Strait on the Interislander ferry. It was alot busier than when we came down 10 weeks ago.

After three hours we entered the sunkissed Wellington Harbour. It's so strange taking a ferry right into a city centre with office blocks all around and cars and planes buzzing all around. It must be even more strange at night.

Today is a scorcher and the forecast expects the same for 3 to 5 days atleast. We watched the Round The World yachts race into the harbour this afternoon. They are taking a short pitstop here before they head off across the Southern Ocean to Cape Horn.

There were two boats within meters of each other battling to cross the line first. It was quite a sight. Those things can hit a fair speed even in the relatively light breezes of today.

Anyway another quiet few days ahead until we get to the Whanganui River sometime early next week.

We're staying at the 322 bed Wellington YHA and the laundry room has a great view across the city. Quite weird. Cracking city Wellington and it's nice to be back. It's alot more like summer here now. There are people swimming just beside the city centre and rowers cruising around the bay. The city also seems to be populated by joggers. I've never seen so many. You'd think there was a marathon on at tea time but it's just the healthy ones coming home from work at pace.

Anyway back off into the sunshine and down for a look at these yachts.

Bye for now.

Golden Bay

After leaving Morueka we headed north to Golden Bay and Takaka. A town of a few thousand people and not much else. It's the main town in Golden Bay and we stayed at the rather average Annie's Nirvana Lodge.

In the afternoon we headed up to the top end of Abel Tasman National Park, taking a short walk on the way to Wairui Falls which looked like something out of a film, I expected to find Kevin Costner swimming in the pool below actually but thankfully it was a no show.

We drove on to Totaranui. The fursthest north we'd got the other way when we took the water taxi. This beach is at the end of a 12km gravel road and home to an astonishing 800 site campsite. Deserted now but full to the brim over the January NZ holidays. It must be quite surreal during the season.

Anyway after our night in Takaka we headed up to Collingwood, named after Nelson's second in command at Trafalgar and once short-listed as the capital of NZ due to it's gold fields and good harbour etc. Those days are long gone and the population of 250 is mainly centred around art studios and the tours of Farewell Spit (which I'll explain later).

We were staying at The Innlet Backpackers about 10km further north. A very rustic place with the toilets outside and into a stinking pit below. Apart from that it was pretty agreeable.

That afternoon (Friday) we decided to have a go horse-trekking. We hoped to get on one of the treks to Whairariki Beach. An amazing, windswept beach on the west coast and surrouned by strange rocks.

We tried phoning but no reply so we drove up to the stables and sure enough in true NZ fashion they took us out even though we hadn't booked.

It was everything New Zealand is about. Nice, friendly people, amazing scenery, laid back and a closeness to nature.

Both our horses were inpecibly behaved although mine did have a well-known tendancy to go as slowly as he could get away with which he lived out for me and lead to almost continual kicking and smacking from myself. Despite being called Sultan he was perfectly timid and Copper, Jamie's ride was equally well behaved.

We took a couple of trots down the beach but the family jewels just couldn't take the battering so we left the German stable girls to gallop off up the beach at breakneck speed.

Awesome.

Next day was the eco-tour to Cape Farwell (most northerly point of the south island) and then on to Farewell Spit. The spit bends off the Northern tip off the South Island like a whip into the Cook Stait. It is over 28km long and consists almost entirely of sand produced by the erosion of the Southern Alps washed up the West Coast by the rivers and prevailing winds.

The Spit is home to various birds (although not too numerous on our trip) along with flotsum like the shark heads we saw, dead seals and stranded whales (of which we saw a few sizzling like huge sausages under the sun).

The lighthouse on the end of the spit was automated in the 1980s and is over 100 years old. It used to house 3 keepers and their families and it is a little oasis of trees and grass (grown by one of the keepers in the 1920s) in the sandy desert of the spit. Speaking of deserts, the rainfall at the lighthouse can be as low as 14 inches a year which is actually defined as desert conditions.

Anyway, this morning we drove back to Nelson and we're back at The Bug backpackers. A very homely spot we stayed in a week ago.

Tomorrow we're off to the Nelson Lake District for a night, then Picton for a night then we pull at the heartstrings as we have to bid farwell to the South Island and head across Cook Strait to Wellington.

We've pretty much done it all down here. What a place!

Oh and........

Go on the Dons!!!!!!! 2-0!!!!

Abel Tasman National Park

Well after a nice weekend stay at 'The Bug' backpackers in Nelson we headed for the Laughing Kiwi Backpackers in Motueka, the gateway to Abel Tasman National Park and a place where they grow a serious amount of fruit.

We were off to kayak around the park the next morning (Monday). Despite some earlier storm warnings we woke to a lovely morning and arrived at the kayak place at 8:30am. The beach at Kaiteriteri was buzzing with activity. Kayakers prepairing for guided trips and water taxis buzzing off up the coast with trampers for the coastal track.

We were soon introduced to our kayak, a two man sea kayak, and shown how to pack it. So we squeezed in the tent, sleeping bags and mats and enough food to keep us going for the 3 days.

After two hours we were on the water and asked to prove we weren't complete idiots by finding our way to the nearby Ngaio Island. Which we did no bother. The sun was shining and the water calm and we were off on our own a couple of hours later as we said good bye to the guides and headed into the wilderness.

OK it's not quite a wilderness, especially on a bank holiday monday. Speed boats and yachts are all around and you just have to pray they spot you. First stop was for lunch on Fisherman's Island. We found a wee beach and hauled up for a look around and a bit of a leg stretch.

We headed off after lunch, round the back of fisherman's island, past Paradise Beach and across to the larger Adele Island. None of the islands are inhabited by anything other than birds and we stopped in at Adele and took a steep track to the top for some stunning views across to Nelson on one side and the Park on the other.

Anyway back down to the kayak, back the 200m or so to the mainland and off round the beaches and coves to our first campsite. Te Puketea is a cracking paradise cove and strangely has no sandflies. We beached up and set the tent in amongst the bush.

After the last of the stragglers had been water-taxi'd away we were left in peaceful tranquility to boil up the pasta and sit back and relax. We took a short jaunt to the point and over to the nearby DOC hut for some filtered water but the evening mainly involved lying on the beach and watching the darkness close in and the colours rise across the north island and along the horizon. We counted the emerging stars and headed off for a luxurious night in the two man tent.

Next morning we woke to even calmer seas and the sun screaming down at us. What a way to get going in the morning. We paddled on through Anchorage and across seemingly invisible waters through coves and bays spying the odd fish below us. After a good hour or two we had reached the point where we were heading off to Tonga Island. It's about 1km from shore and only 1km long and is home to a seal colony. After what had seemed an apparently endless paddle (the island was like the gold at the end of a rainbow) we came across the seals. Most of the ones in the water lying head down with flippers in the air, don't ask me why.

As we approached and ultimately passed through them they came around blowing spray from their noses and ducking under the kayak as we passed over. They soon got bored though and continued on with their strange underwater habit.

That was us. Paddle back to Onetahuiti beach on the shore opposite Tonga Island and set up camp for night 2. This was where we gave back our kayaks to continue on by foot the next day, when the tide allowed.

Onetahuiti beach was your standard Abel Tasman beach. Long golden strand with crystal clear seas lapping the shore. We just had to go for a swim. It was like being inside a holiday brochure.

Around 2:30am it started to rain. It didn't stop until around 10am. So we quickly packed everything up and after the water taxi driver telling us the worst was over we started walking the track. It proceeded to absolutely chuck it down. Not quite on a par with Milford Sound but close at times. After an hours walk we were at Awaroa Lodge. A roof! What a relief. One lovely cup of tea and a muffin later we were on the beach waiting for a water taxi to get us home and dry. After about 20 minutes it arrived and after another hour or so we were back at Kaiteriteri and back in the car to Motueka.

What a trip! Like paddling around some huge hotel swimming pool. Yet again the weather was kind to us when we needed it and when it wasn't so important it showed us it's bad side.

We're now in Takaka, North of Abel Tasman and we'll be in the very North of the South Island tomorrow and the next day.

The ferry to the North Island is booked for Wednesday 16th so it will soon be goodbye to the south after more than 10 weeks.

Plenty to do before then still though.

To Nelson

For those of you wondering how the weather's been here's a photo of Ship Cove at the start of the Queen Charlotte Track which we completed yesterday.

We finally made it to the end of the Queen Charlotte Track. The last day started with a 450m climb but it was the best day of the 4 and the highlight of the trip surely occurred when we reached the end.

We just dangled our tootsies in the cool Sounds water off the peir while we waited for the water taxi to take us back to Picton.

From Picton we drove to Havelock and stayed the night at Blue Moon Backpackers. It was pretty standard stuff though the host was a serious sufferer of the 'Sweet As' syndrome, finishing every sentence with the phrase. 'Good as gold' was another favourite.

Anyway this morning we drove the pine clad road to Nelson.

This is holiday town by the look of it. It's a glorious sunny day mind you. It's a bank holiday weekend here and the place is pretty busy.

We've booked our trip in Abel Tasman National Park. 2 days kayaking (in a twin kayak) and a days walking (well three hours) then back to the start by water taxi. We'll be staying in the tent for the two nights and we have to wait for low tide to get across a couple of parts on the walking section. We start that on Monday and it should be great.

Just need a couple of days to recover from the 'tramping' and get the busy holiday weekend out the way.

Cheers for now
Peter