Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in adventure_boy's LiveJournal:

[ << Previous 20 ]

Friday, June 9th, 2006
4:53 pm	Coming home Well, my time in New Zealand is nearly at an end. Honest. :) I am back up in Christchurch at the moment and I am due to be flying from Christchurch to Auckland on Sunday, then Auckland to Kuala Lumpur on Monday. I have a 13 hour stopover on Monday night followed by a flight to London with a quick 2 hour transit before hopping a flight back home. So I will be back in the country on Tuesday evening but I imagine that I will be in poor condition. The family are taking me out to dinner on Saturday night to say good-bye. It will be nice to see them all together and have an opportunity to say farewell. After this I will probably be in transit and then back in Ireland, returning to my ordinary life so this will probably be my last entry. Adieu, Adventure_Boy (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, June 8th, 2006
4:43 pm	Getting to know the family... Well for the last week and a half I have been getting to know the Oamaru part of my family better. Uncle Graham invited me down to stay with him while I waited for my flights to come around and I took the opportunity to get to know them better. My stays as I have been traveling around New Zealand have always been brief, never really seeing them for anything longer than two days. My uncle's house is full of books which kept Gerard busy while he was here and I have to confess that I spied the "Arabian Nights" on the shelf and had to pick it up. Very interesting stories except for the "Voyages of Sinbad", where Sinbad went on seven journeys and they all seemed to have very similar properties. Sinbad gets lost (usually through his own incompetence) and then gets into dangerous situations, everyone else dies, finds treasure and brings it home. Both Graham and his wife Oona are school teachers and work very hard. Gen is their only child and was coming up to exams while I was there. I am hoping that I didn't put her off her study. :) (Comment on this)
Thursday, May 25th, 2006
12:15 pm	Longest placename in New Zealand Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu Tau-mata-whaka-tangi-hanga-koauauo-tama-tea-pokai-whenua-kitana-tahu Settle/Perch/Land/Arrive/Lover/Suitable- countenance/eye/face/green/unripe/raw/uncooked- boat/canoe/conveyance/vehicle/spirit medium- fork? take/cry- build/create/fashion/make- flute- child- white/clear- grave/hole/pierce- country/land/ground/afterbirth- firm/tight- spouse Green land where the crying white flute child made a grave for a firm spouse? That is my best guess. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
12:12 pm	Loose ends... With just over a week left in New Zealand, I have been spending the last couple of weeks trying to tie up the loose ends here in NZ. The car was the biggest issue but I have also been redistributing any little things that we picked up over the course of our trip that we won't be bringing home with us. This is pretty much all done now and yesterday I sold the car. It wasn't entirely a happy parting as I had to let it go for about a quarter of the price that I bought it for. When I first got back to Christchurch I started doing research and talking to people about selling a car in Christchurch but the initial news was not hopeful. The market was depressed and saturated as it was the low season for tourists and they had already sold their cars and moved on. The market value of the car was still holding at about the price I bought it at but I wasn't confident of finding a buyer for it. Before I left for the Queen Charlotte track I had a plan for sale which would cover the most bases possible. It involved looking at the auctions and seeing what the potential was, the markets themselves and talking to the dealers in Christchurch. In summary, the auctions were not giving me a favorable price (not much more than I got from the car in the end), the other markets were (as expected) saturated and not many buyers around. I walked into the Christchurch branch of the Backpackers car market which I bought the car from and there were little or no buyer traffic coming through and plenty of worried looking sellers. So much so that they had overflowed onto a gravel area out the side of the building. The other option that I investigated was talking to the second hand dealers in town. After covering pretty much all of the dealers in town I only received one offer. The rest of the dealers were also overflowing with cars, many of them didn't even get to look at the car because they said they were already full up, those that did ask more questions heard the age and the kilometerage of the car and said 'Thanks but no thanks'. It was nice because they were all polite about it and many of them directed me to other places that might be interested. The dealer I ended up selling to was pretty stingy on price. I appreciated that dealers would not give prices anywhere near market value but all attempts to sell privately had met with no response (internet and newspaper). So I understood that I would not be getting back nearly as much money as I wanted but with only one offer for the car, I decided to take what money I could while I could. The money will insure my safe return home and a little left over to keep me alive once I return to the Emerald Isle. Another way to view this is that I did indeed sell the car for a loss but I got plenty of good driving out of it and comparing what I lost on the sale to what I would have spent on buses trying to do what I did here makes it much more favorable. I am happy that I had the car for this time because it was of great use but I don't have a real emotional attachment to it. Right now, I am still sleeping on the floor of my Aunt's place and I am spending most of my time reading those books which I never got around to reading before now. I am currently reading “The Penguin History of New Zealand” and when I get bored of that I transfer over to the computer and I am reading some of the lecture notes from MIT. I am reading some on operating systems theory and I have found them just as badly written as the ones I received during my degree. We fly out of Christchurch on the 29th to Auckland where we will have three days before our international flight. At the moment, we are due to be spending a week in Kuala Lumpur and another in Singapore but having already spent a week in KL, knowing that I would only need two days to sightsee Singapore and my dwindling bank balance, I am keen on flying straight through to home without stopovers. Gerard looks like he has a job lined up too but is unsure when it will start so he too is keen to get back. We are still hammering out the details with Air Malaysia but I am sure we can come to some agreement. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, May 10th, 2006
10:07 am	My time in New Zealand is coming to a close.... With less than a month to go before I leave New Zealand and I have decided to pretty much hang up my boots and start getting ready to leave. While there are plenty of other places in New Zealand to see and many other tracks I would like to do, however my time is short and with autumn taking hold, night falling sooner and the weather being more clement, I feel it is time to finish tramping for the season. The car is also a concern as the market appears to be saturated with backpacker cars and prices are a little depressed so I have invested some time in getting it ready for sale and some money on repairs so I am almost at the point where I am ready to sell it. I have a game plan and enough time to do it in I believe. Wish me luck. If anyone is in the market for a nice 1993 Mitsubishi Galant Viento, I can give you a good price on it. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, May 5th, 2006
3:57 pm	Random statistics I had some free time so I generated these statistics: Distance driven: 8,894km Distance tramped: 607.5km Days tramping: 43 Distance kayaked: 125km Days kayaking: 6 Number of people who listed their profession as Jedi in the last NZ census: 54,000 Strong here is the force! Mmmmmm. :) (Comment on this)
10:07 am	Queen Charlotte Track The weather seemed to offer us a window so we set off for Picton which would be our base for this walk as the track is accessed by water taxis and Picton is their home. I made the point of checking up on taxi times and booking the accommodation on the way so I thought all my preparation was done, I was soon to be proved wrong. We headed up to Picton and checked into the Sequoia backpackers which is a very nice place and infinitely superior to The Villas where we previously stayed. Nice Sky TV, clean kitchen, really nice bunk rooms and very friendly staff. Dinner was spaghetti bolognese and the movies for the evening were 'Jerry Maguire' and 'Million Dollar Baby' (shudder and pretty good respectively). At this point I felt that I had picked up the cold that had been doing the rounds and my nights sleep was not a fun one. However seeing as I we had found a window of weather and were ready to go I was not keen on letting a minor cold get in the way of a nice walk. Day 1: Ship Cove to Ferneaux Lodge We arrived at the water taxi company in perfect time to catch the 10am taxi, if it were sailing. Unknown to me and not covered on the automated message on their answering service nor by the operator that I spoke to did either of them mention the phrase “winter sailings” nor that the timetable changed to winter sailings today! Grrrr..... We checked the other companies in the area and heard a similar story. The only thing to do was hang around Picton until the taxi left. We sat on the waterfront, chatted, eat lunch and watched two couples go out for a kayak. One of them was a big baby and complained when his ass got wet (that is how these kayaks work) and made pitiful attempts to paddle so much so that we were trying to contain our laughter when they came back to shore and threw his paddle across the sand in a temper tantrum before storming off to the operator to complain. The taxi eventually came along and we hopped on board. I was starting to really feel the cold at this point and I began to wonder if I packed enough tissues with me. We stopped off at one or two places along the Sounds to drop some other people off (usually locals). Just before we got to Ship Cove we encountered some dusky dolphins and I got a couple of pictures. We arrived at Ship Cove at about three o'clock and set off almost immediately as we appreciated that we had lost the best part of the day already. The area between Ship Cove and Endeavour Inlet only takes about four hours to walk, has a little more up and down and crosses a lot of private land which I believe is the basis for not letting mountain-bikers on this section of the track until the 1st March. The track was well graded and wasn't too steep at any particular section. It also didn't rise too much anywhere along the track which made for a nice easy walk. About 5:30pm we started to notice that it was getting darker and quickened our pace. Later we were walking along the track with our torches and staring at the stars. This was an unexpected effect of our late start and I would have preferred if the taxi company had warned us about this. At one point we were not sure if we had passed our accommodation or not so I went uphill to a house and inquired if we had passed it or not. We hadn't so we pressed on, and we tried to use our mobiles to ring ahead and let them know that we were on our way. About ten minutes out from the lodge we met one of the staff that was out looking for us. There wasn't too much fuss regarding it and he radioed back to Ferneaux that he had found us. We then walked the last ten minutes chatting away and arrived just about seven o'clock. The nice thing about the Queen Charlotte track is that it doesn't have any huts. There are lodges, backpackers and camp sites along the way and it makes a great change from DOC huts. When we arrived, we passed beside the bar and restaurant area and I heard the bartender say to the people in the common room that we had been “found”, there was some cheering in the background too. While I appreciated the warm sentiment, I would like to point out that I was never lost, I just had not got to my destination on time. Carolyn found the incident embarrassing and later declared that when people used to ask her “What is the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you?”, she never really had anything to talk about but this will now be the answer to that question. :-) Day 2: Ferneaux Lodge to Mahana Homestead Lodge Not having to wait for a water taxi this day we were able to start at a reasonable time and we arrived at our destination just before lunch. The track takes you around Endeavour Inlet and passes a couple information plaques which tell you about the area and some of the mining operations in the area. Mahana itself is the most worth of mention here as it is a quality hostel. It is in fact a BBH hostel that is only accessible via water-taxi or tramping and it has one of the highest percentage rating off all hostels in the book. Its rating is well deserved. We arrived and John and Mary were sitting on the porch and greeted us cordially and quickly got us organised and up the building that we would be staying in. I could spend a long time talking about its positive benefits but it was one of the cleanest, best organised and well furnished hostels I have seen. Full credit to John and Mary for creating such a wonderful place to stay. Caro went off to do some kayaking while I nursed my cold and read a book. The hostel was to be pleasantly busy that night with Mary cooking up some nice food for those who didn't bring their own. Yuki and Miho were a couple of Japanese people who were also staying, went out and picked oysters from the rocks and brought back loads and cooked them up. We also had two Aussies, an Austrian and a Canadian. The conversations was lively and friendly all night and some people couldn't eat all their desert so some of the wonderful chocolate pudding was donated to a worthy cause.... my cold of course. :-) Day 3: Mahana Homestead Lodge to Portage Resort Hotel The next two days were to be the longest and would take us up the Kenepuru Saddle and along the ridge line. It doesn't get much above 400m but goes up and down along the ridge-line making it interesting enough but not challenging. For this day we were joined by Barbara who stayed in the same place as us the previous two nights but her cousin that she was walking with (Ralph) had injured his knee and decided to taxi around with the luggage and meet up with us at Portage. So we had some extra company for the day. She was a former researcher over in Oz, looking into the Koalas and we had plenty of good conversation. The ridge-line offered plenty of good views across the Sounds while the day wasn't particularly sunny, it did make for some nice photos. About eight hours after leaving Mahana, we arrived at Torea Saddle which is the mid-point between Torea bay and Portage so it is a short ten minute walk either way. There is a memorial to veterans who died during the war at the saddle and I managed to get a photo of Caro (who doesn't like being in photos). The hotel was a little weird as I stand in the reception in my muddy boots and checked into their backpacker accommodation, surrounded by plush carpets, well dressed and mannered staff as I look upon all the people getting ready for dinner in the fancy restaurant. A little bit of contrast I suppose. It was nice enough place and had a TV so those (who shall remain nameless) could keep up with Lost. God forbid that you fall behind otherwise you would be... lost. ;-) Day 4: Portage Resort Hotel to Anikiwa Barbara and Ralph were to stay in Portage for a rest day while myself and Caro continued one to Anikiwa and our water-taxi back to Picton. Caro left earlier as it was meant to be at least six hours to Anikiwa and the taxi was coming at 3pm. I waited around to check out and pick up our key deposit. Somehow I had managed to pull a muscle in my posterior and had a pain in my right hip which made walking fun but I managed okay. Along the way I tried to get some shots of birds known as fan tails that were dancing around me but got no good shots. Later I saw a goat, rabbit and heard two pigs, oinking away in the undergrowth. They have caused a lot of damage to the ground along the way, at first I thought it was the DOC gardening but Barbara set me straight. While the track was open to mountain-bikers, there weren't as many as I expected. I only saw four and that was on the last day. With the terrain I think it would have been nice to mountain bike it but that can be for another time. We arrived at the dock just under an hour early and had plenty of time to relax, eat lunch and enjoy the nice sunny day that was in it. Then back to Picton where my car was still in one piece and back to Christchurch that night. We almost ran out of fuel at one point but Shell was there to save us. Photos for the Queen Charlotte Track will be available soon. (Comment on this)
Saturday, April 22nd, 2006
8:40 pm	Christchurch With cousin Caro back in the country and a collection of relations all in the Christchurch area for a while I decided to drop by and say hi again seeing as my last two visits were so short. This is something I will have to make amends for over the next month before I leave. Also a new member of the family is due to be born any day now so that will make a great moment. I will be on hand to record the moment with my camera. Caro is also interested in doing the Queen Charlotte track which I had intended on doing anyway so it will be great to have her along. Gerard has taken up the opportunity to stay with the OGGs (Oona, Graham and Gen) in Oamaru for a while. He has became "travel-weary", it appears that he can't keep up with the pace which I holiday at. I will try and pick him up again before I leave but I make no promises. :) Right now it is nice and sunny and I am taking a nice rest. If you looked outside right now you wouldn't know it was autumn. Just one of the differences between Ireland and New Zealand. (Comment on this)
Sunday, April 16th, 2006
8:26 pm	Warbirds over Wanaka After a couple of nights in Kinloch resting and relaxing after the Milford. Gerard spent the first night running around like a kid seeing what had changed since his last (extended) stay. He seems to have an affinity with this place. We moved on to Wanaka where we had passes to see the largest airshow in the southern hemisphere. Warbirds over Wanaka is a biennial airshow which encourages many types of military aircraft and other war era items to come and be displayed. We had prepurchased a three day pass which allowed us to watch the practice day on Friday and the two airshow proper days of Saturday and Sunday. The list of what was available was impressive. Aircraft on display included Bleriot XI, Sopwith Camel, Fokker Triplane, Supermarine Spitfire, Hurricane, Kittyhawk, L-39 Albatros, Hawker Hunter, C130 Hercules and the Huey and Seasprite helicopters. This is but a few of the aircraft on display and in addition to that there was an Airforce museum, a trade show for many aviation and non-aviation companies displaying their wares. More displays for Workhorses (military vehicles), retired fire-engines and tractors. There were also two LAVs on display from the army and some old anti-aircraft guns. To be honest it took me the best part of three days to see the whole show and I couldn't dream of fitting it into a single entry so I will just bring you some of my highlights. I was casually walking through a pavillion tent where the trade show was on and I was browsing away along with another hundred people or so when out of nowhere we all hear this thundering sound that rolled through the tent. We were all stunned by this and quickly exited the tent to find out what had made this noise. The Hawker Hunter had decided to get the crowds attention by doing a high speed, low altitude run along the runway to announce its presence and boy did it ever. Later the Australian Airforce brought an F-111 bomber along for the show. It's most notable moments was when it performed a "Dump and burn" where it dumps fuel out between its two rear facing engines and the afterburners light up this fuel in a very pretty display. The commentator from Oz called it the worlds fastest zippo lighter. :) There were also a couple of re-inactments from WW1 and WW2 with the appropriate aircraft, blank ammunition and some pyrotechnics from the other side of the field. To cap it all off there were some aerobatic displays from some world champions such as Svetlana Kapanina and Jurgis Kairys which, as you sit on the ground, make you wish you hadn't eaten that breakfast. :) To put it simply, I could keep going on and on about all the toys and what they did with them but my fingers would fall off doing so. We both had a lot of fun over the three days and have over 1,000 photos between us which we will have to spend some time reviewing before upload but we hope to have them for you soon. Photos from Warbirds over Wanaka are available. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, April 11th, 2006
8:19 pm	Milford Sound We spent a night in the Milford Sounds Lodge which is a nice place but the best thing to recommend the place is the fantastic drying room that they had. It was an average sized room with shoe racks, pegs and clothes lines to allow you to dry your tramping gear at a quite warm temperature. By this time most of our gear was wet so we took full advantage of the facility and less than an hour later most of it was dry. The Lodge is owned by the same people that own the bar and cafe so they run shuttle buses back and forth. We took advantage of a meal there, had a cider and played some pool. We escaped before the place started hopping and I returned to reading. The next day we had a bus booked to take us back to our car at 2:30pm but we decided to kill time by trying hitch a lift to see if we could get back any faster. Unfortunately, we got up a little late to be doing this so it was an unsuccessful venture but it passed the time. We then returned to Milford Sounds to wait for the bus and my suspicions about the town were confirmed when I finally saw the town during daylight. There is almost nothing there. Apart from the wharf (the biggest building in the town), the airport, the bar/cafe, the lodge and a small amount of housing behind the cafe, there is nothing in Milford Sounds. I swear there is more area for parking than there is for other bombs. It seems that the sounds never usually has much active population but has a large amount of tour buses that come through from Te Anau for the day. I can only imagine what would happen if the tourism industry went sour. Our bus arrived and we saw some of our fellow walkers from the Milford track again. They were getting dropped off at the Divide so they could do the Routeburn track but people we picked up from the Divide told us that there had been an avalanche on the Routeburn and the track was closed. Once we traveled around to Kinloch to stay for a couple of nights we found out that the track was open again so hopefully their walk wasn't affected. (Comment on this)
Monday, April 10th, 2006
7:14 pm	Milford track We arrived at Te Anau with a day to spare before starting the track which allowed us the time to get our gear together and me to catch up on some sleep. I also started into the Bourne Supremacy which is very much removed from the movies and while I could see why he didn't attempt to take the books directly to the screen, I still don't have a great love for Robert Ludlum's writings and so I will probably avoid the sequels and just watch the movies. Joselyn was in town too and insisted on taking us out for dinner. We went to the Moose Bar which is on the waterfront and we had a lovely venison steak with salad. Day 1: Te Anau Downs to Clinton Hut The next morning we got up early and arrived at Te Anau Downs where we were to get the ferry to the start of the track (Glades Wharf). There only appears to be two things in Te Anau Downs, the wharf and the hotel on the hill, so we left our car at one and hopped on the other. The journey only took an hour or so but we spent it racing ahead of the rain coming from the south-west. The ride was smooth and they even had free tea and coffee. The upper deck was open air and as it was a catamaran it was described by the driver as being a fully air-conditioned upper deck and when he got out into the main part of Lake Te Anau would turn on the AC full. He wasn't joking. He also forbid bringing tea and coffee to the upper deck. Arriving at Glades Wharf it was remarkably surrounded by a glade. As we stepped onto the wharf we were asked to step through a decontamination pool so that we wouldn't spread foreign weeds. Again, New Zealand takes biosecurity seriously. The first day of the Milford track is considered a joke by many people because the first days walking is only an hour and a half till the Clinton Hut where you are forced to stay. So you are at the hut before lunch and wondering how you are going to idle away the rest of the day. Fortunately I brought the Bourne Supremacy with me. Pretty much as soon as we arrived the rain turn from light to heavy and poured for the rest of the day. Day 2: Clinton Hut to Mintaro Hut This day takes you along the best part of the Clinton Valley and due to rain the valley sides had turned into waterfalls and made for the most spectacular views. Milford at its best in my opinion. The day was spent walking on mainly flat surface passing waterfalls and the lakes that they create. It rained for the first half of the day, cleared for a bit just to make you think it was going to get sunny before it started hailing. By that time I was in the Mintaro hut so I didn't mind so much. Except for the fact that I was soaked through. First time I had really seen rain worth talking about in my time here so it was interesting laying out all my clothes in front of a fire to let them dry as I changed into my other clothes. It was even so cold there that I could see the steam rising off my body. Day 3: Mintaro Hut to Dumpling Hut This day contained all the fun. It started out with watching the keas skating on the hailstones across the roof and the helipad. Later I took a tumble on the stairs heading to the toilets as it was covered in hailstones that had compacted and frozen together. So all you have to imagine is one of those Laurel and Hardy gags where one of them slips on a banana skin to get the appropriate imagery. After that I took the spade from the coal bucket and cleaned the steps. It appeared others had similar experience during the night too. To reward myself, I decided to make an iceman (not a snowman because it wasn't snow) and there should be a picture in the gallery. The day started slow with a short walk to the start of the switchbacks that would take us up McKinnon Pass. As we rose we passed out of the slush area and moved into the true snow area. This allowed me to start throwing snowballs at Gerard. As I continued further up the pass I started to play snow songs in my head. White Christmas, Jingle Bells, Let it snow and more of my favorites. Once we reached the top of the pass it was covered in snow and the visibility was poor. We easily made it up as far as the pass and rested in the shelter for a while, which felt more like a sauna because of the snow outside and the humid warm air in the shelter. The shelter also has a pit toilet, which as one of its great features, has a window looking out back down the Clinton valley and has two ply toilet paper so the warden Jolie (Mintaro Hut) suggested that we should make a point of using the throne with a view and take a camera with you. Unfortunately with the low visibility you didn't get to see much other than a white-out. The way down was slow and I became bored waiting for the next shelter. I think in made it worse that I had a map and I was estimating where I was and disheartened when it wasn't where I thought I was. Plenty of the feature on these maps that I follow and note don't actually align with the track that we walked so after a point I stopped paying attention to the map. Later after that I stopped in at the side of the track and had lunch because I couldn't wait to get to the next shelter. After lunch and a nice rest I found that the shelter was five minutes away. Typical! Quintin Hut is just at the bottom of the pass and is a welcome sight to guided walkers who will know it as home for the night. Unfortunately, the independent trampers must continue for another hour to make it to Dumpling Hut but before heading off to Dumpling Hut there is a side trail that will take you on a 1.5 hour return journey to Sutherland Falls. Sutherland falls are the highest falls in New Zealand and the sixth highest in the world. The path is mainly forested and is a pleasant enough walk with one or two views up to the falls but the real surprise comes with how close you can get to the falls themselves. The path leaves you on a grassy hill just in front of the lake that the falls create. As soon as you walk into the area you feel the spray but as you get closer you actually feel it arriving at speed. It would be a perfect place to take off you clothes and with the speed of the spray you could have a shower while you stand about 50 metres from the falls. Due to social constraint I decided not to do this. :) The last hour to Dumpling hut was pleasant enough with some nice views and fairly level track. The lens on my camera had gotten wet and I didn't have a dry piece of fabric to clean the lens on as I was soaked through. The photos that I did take really didn't come out well so I deleted those photos and made space for better ones. I met the ranger from the Dumpling Hut on my way down and it turns out that someone in our group had injured their knee on the second day and he was climbing over the pass today so the ranger was going out to check on them. Fair play to him I say. Day 4: Dumpling Hut to Sandfly Point The track for today mainly follows the river all the way down to Milford Sounds. There are one or two interesting points along the way including a couple of waterfalls and a bell shaped rock that was carved out from the top down but was knocked down during an avalanche and landed upside-down. It was tall enough that even I could stand inside it. I also caught my first sighting of the fantail bird. What really sold the track for me was the constant view of snow capped mountains almost wherever you look. we also had a fair bit of thunderstorms during the nights which make it a beautiful walk especially at this time of year. Sandfly point itself is predictable in that it has sandflies but not more so than other places that I have seen. There is a nice shelter there were you can wait for the ferry so most people hide in there. The ferry docks a little further down the river than you would expect and once you are all on board it delivers you right to the wharf terminal in Milford Sound. Photos from the Milford track are available. Current Mood: accomplished (Comment on this)
Monday, April 3rd, 2006
11:28 pm	A mad dash south... Time is short and the Milford track is booked for the 7th. We quickly left New Plymouth and made our way down to Wellington where we were getting the ferry back to the South Island. I have become a regular at a internet cafe called IPlay where they have Battlefield 2 worthy and in my spare time I have been working on some of the awards. I have become slightly addicted to winning the awards as it takes a great amount effort and time to get them. At this point I have achieved almost all the the awards I am likely to achieve for a long while so I have cooled down on that. I even got to play a couple of games where I was just playing the game for fun. Also I found that they had another game that I was meaning to play for a long time. It was called "Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy" so I played, finished and enjoyed it very much. Now it is time to get some sleep before another days traveling. (Comment on this)
10:54 pm	New Plymouth After finishing the Whanganui journey we quickly made our way south to Wanganui and then north to New Plymouth. The reason was two fold. Firstly, my car started making a puttering noise about two weeks ago and I decided that I needed to consult an engineer. Secondly, I was hoping to fit the Taranaki upper circuit into the schedule before we had to catch the ferry south again. I knew that I probably wouldn't be able to it in with the car repairs but I thought I should try. The car was also due a warrant of fitness (NZ equivalent of the NCT) and new road tax so I decided to merge it all together. The first step was to get a WOF to see what needed to be taken car of. The summary was that the car needed a new set of tyres and a new bulb for an auxiliary lamp so I first got new Firestone tyres and a wheel alignment. I also consulted an engineer at the AA about the puttering noise and he said he had seen something similar before in a Mitsubishi where the hydraulic lifters** were clogged and that an oil change would clear it out. I checked it in to be serviced and have the remaining issues dealt with but as I couldn't check in the car in for a service in two days and be up a mountain at the same time, I traded the tramping for the car repairs. So I had a couple of days in New Plymouth so I took the opportunity to relax, chill out and recuperate. It mainly involved dozing on the sun porch, reading books and watching TV. What also helped was that when Taranaki wasn't covered in cloud in was forecast for gale force winds. I wasn't too keen on either so you could say that fate decided it for me. We stayed at a nice place just outside the town called Shoestring Backpackers. It had a nice feel to it and it beat the Sunflower lodge which is further in town and on the first night we were there we had an egg thrown at us from out of nowhere. *shrug* ** If anyone thinks I know what I am talking about, you are so wrong. :) (Comment on this)
Friday, March 24th, 2006
9:39 am	Whanganui River Journey Whanganui National Park is located just to the west of Tongariro National Park and to the east of Taranaki. The area was of strong importance to Maori with three tribes living on its banks. It was used as a primary transportation route by the Maori even taking their canoes upstream to reach their settlements. When the Europeans arrived, it was identified as a primary transportation route as it stretches so far inland. The area is so mountainous that it became very impractical to construct roads in the area even today there are very few. The length of the river has plenty of history where the settlers would attempt to construct settlements and 'tea rooms' along the banks to service the river traffic that passed through. But all that has faded away now and the area has been reclaimed by mother nature. The river even has its own creation legend in the Maori culture: "When the great mountains Tongariro and Taranaki came into conflict over the love of the beautiful Mount Pihanga, a mighty battle ensued. Tongariro eventually won this fierce battle and Taranaki, wild with grief and anger at he loss of his love, ripped himself out of the ground, and tore a path through the country towards the setting sun. When dawn arrived, Taranaki had reached the ocean, where he paused and then turned north before coming to rest in solitary isolation on the West Coast of the North Island, where he still sits today. Soon after the mighty battle, a stream of clear water sprang from Tongariro, which filled and healed the wound Taranaki had made in his flight towards the ocean. Green forests, filled with the songs of birds, grew throughout the valley of this new river, known as the Whanganui River." The Whanganui River Journey has been designated as a great walk which annoyed me a little but you will be glad to hear that the term 'great walk' has now been changed to 'great journey'. It is nice to see there is someone who is just as exacting as I am. :) We signed up for a six day journey from Yeti Tours leaving from a small ski town just to the south of Ruapaheu called Ohakune. We decided to go with a guided tour in this case as Gerard can't swim and didn't have much canoeing experience. While I am a fair swimmer and have some experience with a kayak I didn't feel comfortable being the one to save both our asses in case something went wrong. So while it was more expensive, we both felt it would be a better idea to have a guide who could help us out if things went wrong. The package includes a night in the Hobbit motel where they sent the guide to introduce you to what you would be doing over the next couple of days and give you dry bags and barrels. Our guide for the six days was a nice girl called Julie Fraser. The briefing was short as she cover some basic safety aspects (you can't breath under water, try not to fall out, that kind of thing... :) and some of the more practical matters. We had very few questions so the meeting was over quickly and we packed up our stuff. Day 1: Ohinepane to Poukaria campsite The bus picked us up in the morning and we stopped off at the depot which is a little out of town to pick up the gear before heading to Ohinepane, where were started our trip. Ohinepane is the site of a DOC campsite and has a slip which makes it a good place to start. We quickly got our gear loaded on the canoe and we threw some dry-bags in and on the back of my kayak. Gerard would be riding in the front of Julie's canoe for the rest of the trip while I elected to take a kayak for the fun. What surprised me was the amount of gear that Julie had in her canoe. It was so tightly packed she had to sit on the back end of the canoe to have any leg-room. It also meant to that it rode lower in the water. This was all to be an advantage for her which I will cover when we reach some rapids worth talking about. The first day was a nice easy paddle with lunch stop at a private museum along the way which was a collection of old pieces of everything. Too numerous to mention. We also encountered a calf that had managed to get himself stuck down by the riverside. Julie being from good dairy farming stock that she is, decided to help the calf out. Check out the photos for a little fun. :) We arrived at our campsite at about two o'clock and spent the afternoon relaxing. With so much time on my hands I took the opportunity to take a nap. Dinner was a fish stew on rice. Day 2: Poukaria campsite to Maharanui campsite Starting at a leisurely hour we made our way further downriver. Early on Julie stopped off a picked up some bushes from the side of the river and told us about a river monster called the Tanifa who would cause problems if you did not pay them tribute by placing these branches on a rock which we passed early on our second day. I elected not to just to challenge the myth. Later that day we stopped in at a waterfall which fed into the side of a rapid so on the way out Julie said to turn upstream and paddle hard upstream and come out on the calm back channel. I got these instructions a little late and I didn't turn quickly enough so while I was digging hard on my left side to turn the kayak right and the rapid had caught the front of the kayak which turned the kayak left. The net effect was that I put myself off balance. The interesting part was that I rebalanced just enough to hold myself on an angle with the water at my waist for just long enough to think I might avoid an early swim but the next wave of the rapid splashed onto the kayak which was the straw that broke the camels back. While I have some kayak experience I don't have the skill to righten my kayak so I elected not to try and simply pulled my spray deck off and bailed out. Surfacing I took hold of the paddle and kayak and attempted to head for land with it. Doing this with a kayak and paddle in hand while in a rapid is hard work but I was getting there slowly when Julie arrived and offered to tow the kayak for me. So all I had to carry was me and the paddle. Quickly drying out and emptying the kayak we were back on the water and had our lunch stop at the Niu Poles which were constructed during the time of the Mouri and European unrest. The first pole was constructed to call all warriors from all lands to fight the European invaders. Later after the failure of the uprising, a second pole was constructed with closed hands to signal the end of the uprising. Day 3: Maharanui campsite to Ohauora campsite After a quick stop at Whakahoro to pick up the rest of the crew we would be traveling with for the rest of the journey we were off again. After Whakahoro you are into the National Park proper. The land we had been passing for the last couple of days had been private farmland or Maori land. The day was a long one but it balanced the next couple of days out better. Along with the extra seven paddlers we picked up we also got another guide by the name of Garth. He was well briefed on his history and during the next couple of days we got plenty of history and local legend from him. What I noticed now was the fact that both the guide canoes were well loaded down. I also noticed that while they took on more water during rapids as they were lower, they were also more stable and would pass through rapids more easily and with much less chance of losing balance. The other canoes didn't far so well and we had a spill just coming out of one of the rapids. Nobody was hurt but some pride was dented and after a little time getting dry and bailing canoes we were back on the water. Day 4: Ohauora campsite to Mangawaiiti campsite. This day was more strenuous as we would be paddling on flat water for most of the day so it was more exercise. A quick stop off at the John Coull Hut to check in with the hut warden and we were back on the river. What I found most impressive was the height that the campsites were at. Apparently the river floods at least twice a year in heavy rain and due to the steep sides and length of the river the level rises in the matter of metres. During extreme floods they had to rescue people from the top of shelters in campsites by jetboat. So it was a real mission to move all the gear and food up to the campsites. I was looking for some exercise and I got it. :) Day 5: Mangawaiiti campsite to Tieke Kainga Hut Another relatively uneventful day other than a quick stop at the Mangapurua to see the 'Bridge to Nowhere'. The bridge was constructed during the prime phase of development in the area. The land in the valley had been given to war veterans from the first world war and they carved their living out of it. Later, a road through the area was proposed and the bridge was constructed but the road never made it that far. The settlement eventually faded with only remains of houses to be found among the forest. The bridge still stands though. We also met a Dutch couple along the way who insisted that they didn't need to wear a life jacket because they had experience. It became the running joke along the way as we passed them that they still were not wearing the life jackets. We spent the night at a DOC hut at Tieke Kainga where there is a Maori Marae. The Marae is an enclosed space in front of a meeting house where the Maori meet, discuss and debate. Unfortunately there were no Maori present but in fairness if I were them I would be avoiding the tourists too. :) Day 6: Tieke Kainga Hut to Pipiriki The last day held more rapids for us. The first was stupid mistake on my part. I wasn't paddling hard and the current was taking me there for the most part but I was destined to collide gently with a wall side on. In accordance with the advice I had been given I leaned into it a little. Unfortunately, the collision in combination with my leaning threw me right off balance and I was destined to see the other side of the river once again. :) Calling Garth over to give me a tow, I became the human chain between Garth's canoe and my kayak. I learned a lesson there, in a kayak it is better to power through the rapids rather than let the flow do most of the work. A quick lunch stop and a change of clothes for me and we were off again. The last three rapids before our were challenging and the second was most interesting. It was described by Julie as "a bumpy, bumpy wave train" and it did indeed live up to its description. It all but sunk Garths canoe, Julie avoided it skillfully and three of the five other boats that went down it. I was not one of them. Oh, yeah! :) The bus was early and we packed all the gear on as well as some of the other people that arrived and headed back to Ohakune. My car was still there which is always nice and we said our goodbyes as we went our separate ways. Photos for the Whanganui River are available. They don't have titles at the moment and I am getting one or two good ones from other people on the trip so watch this space. There is apparently one great one of me coming down the bumpy wave train and all you can see is me under a wave. I hope to have that soon. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, March 14th, 2006
1:41 pm	Tongariro Northern Circuit The weather finally came good for me on the 9th but to be sure I decided to wait for the next day and see that it was going to consistently get better. Having done so I set out to Whakapapa village leaving Gerard behind in Taupo. He didn't seem inclined to return to Whakapapa after our cold night in a chalet up there. Day 1: Whakapapa village to Mangatepope Hut I set off from Whakapapa at about lunchtime but the first leg is only a three hour walk north to the Mangatepope Hut which mainly passes through scrub-land with the occasional grove of trees. There is a waterfall about 45 minutes off the track but you will pass right by it on the way back so I suggest leaving it until your return journey as it makes it more pleasant and saves time too. The day was cloudy but infinitely better than the freezing temperatures and gale force to storm force winds that had been going on for the last week or so. The huts are not as well developed for the masses and as most people seem to do the crossing section as a one-day walk, it is understandable why the DOC haven't had to upgrade the huts. It also makes the huts cheaper (20 Dollars per night) than most of the great walks (40 Dollars per night). In the hut I met an Alaskan by the name of Drew who told me about guiding hunters in Alaska and a couple from New Caledonia. I also went for a stroll before dark to have a look at the area. I was happily wandering up and down the valley wrapped up in my new Merino wool/possum scarf, hat and gloves. Day 2: Mangatepope Hut to Ketetahi Hut This day is known as the Tongariro Crossing which is the most popular one day walk in New Zealand. It takes you past the best sights of Tongariro and Nguarahoe and has road access at either end. Often people choose to do the Crossing and stay in the Ketetahi Hut for the night and then make the quick walk down to the car park which will give them more time to enjoy the area. The day began rainy so I didn't even leave the hut till 10ish. The track follows the valley floor for about an hour until it begins the climb up to the Mangatepope Saddle which is a fair climb even without a full pack on your back. Due to the elevation and the gradient you are stopping every once and a while to catch your breath and look back on the scenery that you have passed through but the clouds blocked many of the views for me. Once you reach the top of the saddle you quickly come to a junction offering you a route to the peak of Mt. Nguarahoe. This is a volcano that last erupted in the 1850s but is considered by most to still be active. The climb is listed as taking three hours return but the route is only marked to the base of the mountain, after that you are left to find your own route up. During one of the rare holes in the clouds I got a full view of Nguarahoe and decided that there wasn't any well defined way to get up there. Initially I followed another couple of Czechs who were climbing it as well. However I discovered quickly that the surface of the mountain was loose rocks and gravel. Worse the gradient was a flat 40degrees and at some points it felt even steeper so every time you took two steps forward you slid one step back. This became tiring so I moved across to some loose rocks and found this a much better surface. However the patches of these rocks were few and far between and there was always the chance that they could slip underneath me and start an avalanche so once I came level to some ridges of solid rock that were sticking out of the mountain and rose vertically I decided to switch to them. This was a much better way of climbing and after this I proceeded much more quickly. The visibility was poor all the way up as the clouds were flowing past us and the number of times I got clearings in the cloud could be counted on one hand. You could always tell they were coming because there would be a burst of sun before it came and it gave me plenty of time to get my camera out. The wind was also a strong factor as the winds were gusting around us and often a gust would put you off balance but fortunately I avoided falling over and sliding down the mountain. :) It took me the best part of two and a half hours to get to the crater which is about five metres lower than the summit which is on a neighboring ridge at the top but as there were steaming vents between me and it I decided not to try my luck. The crater at the top is about 100 metres in diameter and quite deep but you had to wait for the cloud to break before you could see it clearly. To my great disappointment there was no boiling hot lava at the bottom nor did it appear that Dr. Blowfelt had set up his lair down there. I stayed up there for a while trying to get a picture of Mt. Ruapehu and I have one or two pictures of the peak just sticking out of the clouds but nothing worth writing home about. The journey down was a lot quicker. Initially I started down and found that I didn't even need to walk anymore. I was actually skiing down the mountain as my momentum and the loose rocks were carrying me along, all I had to do was keep my balance. While this was cool for a bit I didn't like the rocks that it was sending down to the others leaving the peak so I used my GPS to get back to the ridge that I climbed up and made my way down that way. The entire journey took me four hours and but it wasn't exhausting as I left my main pack at the junction and just took a day pack with food and water up with me. On the way down I met two American girls Kirsten and Sarah who were staying at the same hut I was so we traveled the rest of the Crossing together. From the junction were I picked up my pack again, we head across the South Crater and up a ridge which gives excellent views to the west. It was at this point that I appreciated the warnings from DOC about people dying on this section as we were standing on a knife-edged ridge with 150m drop on one side and about 500m on the other. Fortunately the wind had calmed down and we easily made it up to the Red Crater. I will let the photos speak for themselves but really you have to see it yourself. I had intended to climb across to Tongariro too but due to the time factor I decided against it. The two hour return journey would have had me tramping to the hut in the dark which would have been a bad idea. From the Red Crater you descend quickly to look over the Emerald lakes and across to Blue Lake. This section of the track leads you across the Central Crater passing the junction for the rest of the Northern Circuit and up a ridge by Blue Lake before taking you down a valley to the Ketetahi Hut. The switchbacks just before the hut annoyed me a little. You have to descend to reach the hut but the area is posted as a sensitive alpine section but the switchbacks that they have going back and forth across the hillside to get you down is a little ridiculous and it takes up much of the alpine scrubland they are trying to protect. I know why they put it in though. They were trying to make the climb easier for the less experienced people who need to take the climb more slowly but from a conservation point of view it is a little ridiculous. We reached the hut just before dark and got ourselves settled. There were another two American girls at the hut a crowd of Germans and the DOC ranger Chris. It was a merry crowd. Later I discovered that my pasta (standard dinner for me on tramps) had magically moved into the Germans food pile. I recovered it tactfully and wrote it off as accidental. For those of you that are interested in the names of these huts, Ketetahi translates to "one bag" which refers to Maori creation legend which has a Maori lost at surrounded by water and he cries out to the gods of fire to save him from drowning. They save him by sending demons (they don't consider demons evil necessarily) with baskets of fire. However the baskets were made of wicker and burned through dropping the fire to the sea where it caused volcanoes to form. This apparently saved the drowning man... *shrug* Day 3: Ketetahi Hut to Waihohonu Hut The track returns back up the switchback, the valley, past the blue lake and back to the junction in the Central Crater. There you take a turn and pass the Emerald Lakes and drop along a prominent ridge down onto a plateau that looks like you are in a moonscape. There is very little vegetation and strange rocks stick up out of the scenery. It makes for a bit of a bizarre walk. The day was completely clear and made for great photos. At the end of this plateau, the Oturere hut is positioned and is an alternative if you want to skip the Ketetahi Hut. I decided to call this an early lunch stop and rested for a bit. The next section of the walk takes you along the eastern edge of the mountain and you spend most of the rest of the day passing over valley after valley with small streams and eventually make it to the Waihohonu Hut which is nestled in a grove of trees looking out at Mt. Ruapehu. Waihohonu Hut translates to "Deep water". Funnily, the river wasn't that deep. Day 4: Waihohonu Hut to Whakapapa village The final day takes you back up the valley where the Waihohonu river flows down and for the entire day you are between Nguarahoe and Ruapehu. Along the way you can visit one of the oldest huts in the Tongariro National Park which has been preserved by the DOC and in its day was used as the ski lodge for Ruapehu. Interesting things about it include the segregated and smaller women's quarters. Along the route you can also take a detour and visit the Lower and Upper Tama lakes but for time reasons I decided to give that a miss. But as you are about an hour out from Whakapapa there is a turn off to visit the waterfalls. Both tracks lead to Whakapapa and take about the same time so I recommend you take a look at the falls. After returning to my car I drove back to Taupo and got myself a very nice gourmet pizza from Hell. It had gerkins, honey mustard and tons of meat. Nicest pizza I have had in a while and MUCH better than Pizza Hut which charges about the same. Photos for the Tongariro Northern Circuit are available. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, March 7th, 2006
5:53 pm	I have invented a new diet... I just lost 3 stone on the tramp-fast plan. I can recommend this plan to anyone who likes walking at least 18kms a day carrying 15kgs on your back. :) (Comment on this)
5:19 pm	Waiting... the true test of patience. Since Rakiura we have been making a mad dash up the west coast. I have to admit that this is my fault. The next Great Walk on my list is the Tongariro Northern Circuit and as I expected (and was warned by fellow trampers) the area suffers from more extreme weather conditions than most. In anticipation of this we made a quick two night stop off in Oamaru to see Graham, Oona and Gen. They were very accommodating (pun intended :) and we had a nice time there. Gen even became our tour guide around the city. We saw Blue Penguins and Yellow-eyed Penguins and some seals. I also ate the biggest fry I had ever seen in a nice cafe in town and called it lunch. They made it look very impressive by finding the thickest slices of bread I have ever seen. It was still an excellent meal and was worth ever penny. After that we made the next hop up to Christchurch to stay with Helen for a night. She was once again well prepared for our arrival and we had a nice peaceful evening. The next morning was a little tight as we had to wait for Gerard's shirt to come out of dry cleaning before we made the last 5.5 hour hop to the ferry in Picton. What I find most funny is that this shirt is designed for outdoors and Gerard tells me it is great but it either needs to be dry-cleaned or undergo some bizarre washing ritual (probably involving sacrificing a sheep to the gods of laundry :). Doesn't seem very practical for someone who is intending on using it long term and can't make it to a dry cleaners. The ferry ride was pleasant enough as the weather front that had been chasing us all the way up the South Island hadn't caught us yet. It did catch up to us as we stayed in Wellington for two nights before the WWE came to town and there were no more beds available. I spent some time playing Battlefield 2 and managed to pick up six unlock weapons and four veteran badges. We then headed to a small village called Whakapapa which is the starting point of the Tongariro Northern Circuit. This track passes between the peaks of Ngaurahoe and Tongariro and allows you to climb both. Some of you may recognise Mt. Ngaurahoe from the Lord of the Rings movies. It was apparently used as the basis for Mt. Doom. I also find a really nice photo of Ruapehu and Ngaurahoe. However it was damn cold when we got there and all the weather advisories were predicting worse including gale force winds, storm force winds, snow storms, freezing level at 1600m (only 500m above Whakapapa and easily covered in the first day). So I have elected to wait it out. I am checking weather forecasts and DOC advisories on this matter daily and filling in my time by finishing more books. Dan Brown's "Deception Point" read to me like a standard thriller. While "Da Vinci Code" impressed me a little, this book did nothing but if you are looking for a good page turner you will definitely have a good candidate here. The Whanganui journey is booked so that forms a definite point when I can no longer wait but I *might* be able to fit it in afterward. But time will tell... (Comment on this)
Sunday, February 26th, 2006
7:56 pm	Stewart Island (Rakiura) After Kinloch and the Routeburn, we made our way quickly down to Invercargill which is one of the most southerly cities in New Zealand. From there we took a day to get organised and I got a chance to catch up on journal entries and photo uploads. Early the next morning, we headed to the airport where we were to fly to Stewart Island on standby for one NZ Dollar more expensive than taking the ferry (95 Dollars in total). The flight was interesting as the plane was full and I got the opportunity to sit in the co-pilots seat and see all the action. I feel that my time in "Flight Simulator" on the Apple II GS would allow me to fly the plane if necessary. There was a little gust of wind at takeoff which meant that we were sliding across the sky for a while. I thought it was quite classy when the pilot lets go of the yoke for a minute to write up some notes and the plane starts listing to the left. :) The landing was uneventful and we were met by some vans to transport us to Oban which is the only settlement on the island. Oban itself is a small but contains most of the 400 residents of the island. We had decided that we would start off on the track immediately if the places were available. Stewart Island is called Rakiura by the Maori and Maori legend says that the South Island is the boat, the North Island is the fish and Rakiura is the anchor. The Rakiura track is a three day track that starts in Lee Bay which is about an hour and a half north of Oban. A visiting family were kind enough to give us a lift. They had been lent the vehicle by a local who they only met for a couple of minutes and then offered them the car to drive out to Lee Bay. That is the kind of friendliness that I didn't expect to see but then again it is not as if they could get off the island with it. :) Day 1: Lee Bay to Port William Hut The Rakiura track makes its way north from Lee bay and follows the coastline for most of the three hour walk to Port William Hut. The track starts at an observation area and a large chain that is meant to symbolise Stewart Island as the anchor. Billy Connelly has an interesting story about how a local didn't like the chain monument when it was erected so he came out and shot it. You will see the bullet hole in one of the photos. The track continues from there along the coastline in an easy fashion and no great climbing is done during the day. There are one or two tidal sections with high tide alternatives but the option as the lady in the DOC office presented it was that you could either get your boots wet or get them muddy. After the first high tide route I understood her words and having wet boots didn't seem so bad. :) The Port William hut is a category two hut and only costs ten dollars a night so this was the cheapest of the great walks that I have done. I only got 5 hours sleep last night so when we arrived about lunchtime I decided to eat and then sack out for a while. Later, I rejoined the land of the waking and hung out with the people in the communal area. Plenty of interesting characters including the DOC warden that gets my prize for friendliest warden that I have met so far. Later I decided to take a walk and look for Kiwis. Most of the material I had read suggested that they come down to the beach to feed off the washed-up material at night. I didn't see any kiwi though but I did see two big eyes at a reasonable height off the ground and then it disappeared into the undergrowth. I didn't shine my torch on it because I didn't want to scare it but in the morning the warden told me that there are white and red tailed deer on the island. So I assume it was that. Day 2: Port William Hut to North Arm Hut This is a six hour day crossing to the Paterson Inlet and is mostly forest. The track returns for about 45 minutes back to a junction and then begins on a board-walk that will be followed for most of the day. From there the track crosses over valley after valley and then eventually crests a hill where a watch tower has been erected. Unfortunately, the day was raining lightly and the view was obscured by quickly moving cloud. The wind was also quite strong and made for interesting walking where it could access the track. The mud on the track was about ankle deep in the places where the boardwalk finished and made an interesting change of pace. The hut itself had pretty much the same crowd as the previous night so we were pretty sure we didn't leave anyone behind in the mud. :) The occupation of the evening was food, conversation, card games and kiwi hunting. The wind was still fairly strong but the rain had died off so I went wandering along the track in the dusk. Some were watching the beaches so I spent my time examining the track so I knew where I could walk in the dark. The gods were smiling on me though as I was further up the track and was having a quiet conversation with an Englishman by the name of Colin about the best ways to find kiwi and out of the bushes comes one. We both stayed silent and quietly pulled out our cameras. DOC says not to use flash photography so I tried all the setting on my camera that could possibly work but they all generated black pictures. At this point the kiwi was right at my foot, just outside the torchlight that was pointing in front of me and was feeding away happily. It stayed there for about a minute before it scurried away. Perhaps it realised that these two people and the light were out of place in the forest. So having achieved my objective I returned to the hut and played some more card games. Day 3: North Arm Hut to Halfmoon Bay (Oban) We got up at about nine and hit the track. The first half of the day was more up and downs on boardwalks and we made one quick stop with Colin in a campsite along the way to share a coffee and chat. In the last hour or so we joined a wide track that was obviously used as a road to get to one of the more remote bays. From there it was easy walking to join the main roads and return to Oban. We had learned the previous night that there was a wedding taking place in Oban and we decided that we would leave as quickly if there was a flight available. So we dropped our intention slip off with the DOC and returned to the terminal to find that there was a flight leaving immediately so we happily accepted it. The town was looking fairly busy so it seemed like a good choice and some others who had to stay in Oban because they couldn't get transport out said that it was also hard to get accommodation too so I think we made a good decision. The plane ride was even more fun as the gusting winds were still blowing strong and the pilot said that we might find the takeoff a little rough. The trip was definitely fun as we bounced up and down once and a while and slid across the sky some. This time I wasn't offered the co-pilots seat. :( After we landed we headed back to the Southern Comfort hostel and we had to wait till 3pm for the management to come back so we went to the worlds most southerly McDonalds. The food was just as bad but after three days in the bush, it didn't stop us tucking into it. Next day, I met up with a relation Jocelyn and took me out out to lunch and showed me around town. Tomorrow sees us making a mad dash up the west coast hitting Omaru and Christchurch on our way to the north island to proceed with the rest of the master plan. Photos for the Rakiura track are available. (Comment on this)
Sunday, February 19th, 2006
2:34 pm	Routeburn/Greenstone The Routeburn is another of the great walks but unfortunately it leaves you on the other side of the Humboldt Mountains. To solve this I decided to go out on the Routeburn and return along the Greenstone to get back on the right side of the mountains to get back to Kinloch. Due to high demand I had to wait a couple of days for my booking so this gave me an opportunity to relax and read some books while I cowarded away in my tent (from the sandflies). I finally finished "The Name of the Rose" and "The Bourne Identity". Incidentally, the Bourne Identity is very different in the book from the movie. My budget also came good about this time so I checked myself into the Lodge and prepared for the coming walk. I also watched a whole load of movies and on a grocery run to Queenstown we stopped in the cinema to see Munich and Jarhead. Both good movies. Day 1: Routeburn Car Park to Falls Hut The track follows the Routeburn valley as it makes its way for about an hour and a half to the Flats hut. This is a mainly forested section so not to many views other than the river. Along the way we met Japanese person after Japanese person and so I stopped two of them and asked how to say hello in their language. Unfortunately their english wasn't good so I was force revert to miming what I was looking for. I then said hello to all the rest that I met and received many pleasant smiles in return. It appeared that they were with a guided tour that has its packs transferred by helicopter from hut to hut for 1000 Dollars. Too pricey for me. :| After the flats hut you begin the ascent to Harris Saddle and the views back along the valley get a lot better. The Falls hut is positioned half way up just in front of a small falls. Due to the terrain it is in fact a house on stilts. Had met the people who were staying at the lodge and going on the Routeburn so we stuck together. However I also met most of the people that were on the Kepler track with me as well so I had a hell of a time remembering names and putting them to faces that I already know. As some of you already know I am terrible with names. :( Day 2: Falls Hut to McKenzie Hut The first part of the day sees you climbing up to the Harris saddle that overlooks the Hollyford valley. Just beside the saddle is Conical Hill which stands at 1538m and provides great views in all directions. While this is a tougher climb you can drop your pack at the shelter at Harris saddle and walk up there with your camera. The clouds didn't allow many good shots though. I left my camera back in the car so I had to borrow someone else's. You will notice that I make it into photos more often this time. :) The next 2-3 hours has you traveling south along the valley sides to the McKenzie hut. The Lake beside the hut is good for swimming but is a little cool. I managed to do one lap of the lagoon before my muscles began to spasm with the cold. The wonders of glacier waters. Day 3: McKenzie Hut to McKeller Hut This is another forest walk as you quickly return to the bush line. Along the 3 hour trek to Howden Hut (the last hut on the Routeburn track) you pass Erland falls which are definitely worth a visit. I also met the American couple that I met in the Shallow Bay hut. As I had some time on my hands on this stretch I decided to put some pace into it and I completed the 3 hour section in under 2 hours. Then I had a nice break at the Howden Hut while I waited for the others to catch up. This marks the end of the Routeburn and the beginning of the Greenstone track. The destination for this evening was meant to be the Howden hut but as I had an annual hut pass I elected to save a day and move on to the McKeller Hut. Lake McKeller itself makes a nice reflection which you will see in the photos. There were window fitters working in the hut when we arrived. Later a helo arrived to pick them up so they loaded all their gear and took off. Unfortunately because the helo was so heavy they couldn't get the whole load off the ground so they had to drop the bag they were carrying underneath so that they could get over the trees. It was quite funny watching it in operation. I was also chatting with an Aussie by the name of David and discovered that the author of the tramping book that I am using Lonely Planet "Tramping in New Zealand", Jim DuFresne was in the McKeller Hut only 3 days ago. It appears that he is heading to Stewart Island next so I might catch up with him there. I would like him to mention Kinloch in his book and I would also like to buy him a drink. Day 4: McKeller Hut to Greenstone Hut This was a long five hours of walking along the valley floor. The valley is used for cattle grazing so their is always someone watching you as you walk. The Greenstone hut itself is quite new and spacious. There was an Israeli girl there when we arrived who was meant to be meeting her friends in the McKeller Hut but wasn't physically able as she hadn't done anything like this before. She was also remarkably unprepared so I was glad to hear that she was returning to the carpark where she came from. Day 5: Another mainly, forest walk with nothing special to mention. There were a couple of minor slips and small waterfalls along the way. As I arrived in the car park, I appreciated that as I was a day early I was also a day early for my bus so I was about to set out for the 12 km walk back to Kinloch when a van pulled up and the Aussie David that I met in the McKeller hut hopped out and offered us a lift. Sweet! When we got back we sat outside under a canopy and I bought him a beer and a crowd of us who had just finished the walk were chatting away. It was a nice end to a great walk. Photos of the Routeburn and Greenstone tracks are available (Comment on this)
Saturday, February 11th, 2006
12:17 pm	Kepler Track The Kepler track is located just south of Te Anau in Fiordland. The town itself is described by the locals as being packed with tourists for half the year and almost dead for the other half. It provides many good facilities for the local area and is the gateway to the Milford track and the Milford Sounds. Gerard was not accompanying me on this one so I was flying solo. The drive took me about an hour to get back to Queenstown and another two to get to Te Anau. Once there I pitched my tent in the garden of Lakefront Backpackers (I am still being cheap at this point :) and organized that my car could stay in long term parking. I also made a horrible mistake adding chili powder to a pasta dish I was making but I managed to stomach the mixture with a little milk. I now have new respect for chili powder. Day 1: Te Anau to Luxmore Hut The track officially starts at the control gates of the dam which are on the other side of the lake but there is a nice lakeside track that leaves from the DOC office and only takes about an hour to walk to the control gates. Along the way it passes through a nature enclosure which houses many interesting birds including the protected and rare Takahe bird. Passing over the Control Centre, you encounter the start and the end of the track. I also encountered my first stoat. I saw it darting along the Control Centre and it gave me a wide berth but I didn't know what it was. Now that I know it is a pest that is killing the native flightless birds like the Kiwi and the Takahe I would have thrown stones at it. I elected to do the east side first so I had a nice hours walk along the lakeshore among the trees to reach Brod Bay which is a favourite picnic spot for private jet-boaters. The track then begins to climb from the lake level of 202 metres and makes its way up the mountain with a series of switch-backs and eventually breaks the bushline at about 1000 metres to make for great views back across Lake Te Anau and onto the city itself. About half an hour after passing the bushline you arrive at the Mt. Luxmore Hut which reminded me more of a ski lodge. The fun didn't stop there though. My map showed a series of caves about fifteen minutes away from the hut and so I grabbed my head torch and walked up to see what they were like. I examined some smaller caves along the way but they weren't too impressive. However at the end of the path there was a stairway down into a large cave entrance and I met a Belgian by the name of David who didn't have a torch so we explored the caves together. I have to confess that I never understood the attraction of caving myself but we spent about an hour in there, squeezing past two rock faces, crawling under low overhangs and passing stalagmites and stalactites. I can only guess how far along the system we got but later the warden told us that the cave system stretches for about 800 metres. We eventually turned around because we agreed that getting out without my head-lamp would be tricky so we had better not push it. Later in the evening, the hut warden offered to take us on a nature walk which was quite interesting. She taught us that we could eat the tussock grass and educated us about some of the plants and animals in the area. Well worth it if you are offered. Day 2: Mt. Luxmore Hut to Iris Burn Campsite The second day began by getting lost within the first five minutes. I blame the fact that the signpost telling you were the track is was covered in tussock grass. I retraced my steps and found the signpost when I attacked it from the other side. The first hour takes you the last 400 metres up around Mt. Luxmore itself. Once you are on the other side you can drop your pack and make the quick walk up the hill to the trig point which I highly recommend. I got there about 10am and I was sitting on a nice stone seat eating an energy bar. It was a very nice moment as I had just climbed over 1200 metres unaided and I was sheltered from the wind and warm in my fleece. I stayed there for a while and enjoyed the moment. About this time I got chatting with some people who were doing the walk and it seems that there is a race over the Kepler track in early December and the record time stands at 4 hour and 32 minutes. I was very impressed. The rest of the day is spent walking along ridge lines and admiring the views. Far away mountains, hanging valleys litter the terrain. The day ends with a quick descent of 900 metres along switchbacks down to the Iris Burn hut and campsite. I was staying in the campsite this night and brought my two-man tent with me. It made my pack about three kilos heavier but it was a nice challenge to carry it. About 20 minutes away from the hut is a nice waterfall with a pool below that is ideal for swimming except for two factors. The place is riddled with sandflies and they BITE. Second the water is pretty cold, I lasted about 30 seconds in there before I was crawling out again, shivering. Day 3: Iris Burn campsite to Shallow Bay Hut This is a fairly straightforward walk with nothing particularly interesting to see as it follows the valley floor until it reaches Lake Manapouri and then follows it around to the next hut. However I elected to skip this and continue around to the Shallow Bay Hut which is a non-great walk hut and therefore I could use my annual hut pass. It had six bunks and my feet were sticking out through the rungs of the ladder. These huts were made for smaller people than me. :) Also at the hut were the Belgians, a Scot named David, a Kiwi named Hamish (don't ask me) and an American couple and another random American. It was good to site and chat by the lakeside as a group while it rained outside the cover of the trees. Day 4: Shallow Bay Hut to Te Anau Many people simply get off at the Rainbow Reach swing bridge and hitch a lift back to Te Anau but I elected to do it the hard way. The track follows along the Waiau River with one or two stops in the marshland areas to educate you on plants and animals. Nothing special to mention here but it is reasonably flat walking. It came to the point where I was wondering where the hell the control Centre were and I was just about to stop a couple and as where the Control Centre was, but they showed themselves just around the corner. I took a moment to rejoice at completing my longest (81kms) and highest (1200m) and heaviest loaded walk (the tent adds another 3 kilos) before returning to Te Anau by the lakeside walk and checking back into the same hostel. Many of the people I had shared the walk with would end up staying in the same place so we played card games into the night. The Belgians were heading back to Queenstown and seeing as I had a pretty empty car I decided to give them a lift. In return they made me a nice breakfast of coffee, pancakes and honey. Needless to say I was pretty happy with this deal. :) Photos for the Kepler track are available. (Comment on this)