New Zealand Diary, Day 4

Day 4: Oops!

Today we start our 5-day hiking and kayaking adventure with the Wilsons group. We awake early, get semi-packed (since we'll be repacking for the lodges), and head out for the headquarters in Motueka. We had about 35 km to go, and nearly 3 hours to get there. Piece of cake. First stop, brekkie at a McDonald's in Nelson with a McCafe, where we are given another loyalty card. Now this one, we might be able to use back home.

Onward, forward, to Richmond--less than 5 km away. Nelson and Richmond are sort of twin cities, almost suburbs of each other. In Richmond, there are several roundabouts in quick succession, but I confidently keep following Highway 6 all the way out of town. We travel through a couple of small towns, past vineyards, hops fields, and apple orchards, and even over a small pass. I'm thinking Motueka should be getting close, but wondering why we can't see the sea. After about 45 minutes, I see a sign: Motueka Valley Highway, right turn; Motueka 51 km.

What?! We were now farther away from our destination than when we started? Apparently, at that 2nd or 3rd roundabout in Richmond, I was supposed to take a right onto Highway 60, not 6. Good thing we left in plenty of time.

The Motueka Valley was even more packed with hops and apples, cattle and sheep, with streams and creeks to cross and backpackers to avoid hitting. Beautiful country, but no time for photos, since we now had to find the place with less time to spare.

As it turned out, it really was no problem finding the Wilsons office, and we were packed up and ready to go before their bus was ready to take us. We met the other nine clients in our group, and Whitey, our guide for five days. Onto the bus, and off to Kaiteriteri, where we would board the boat for the ride north to our starting point.

The intrepid group, awaiting the boat. Whitey is in black.

We're on a boat!

You may notice there are more than 11 folks on the boat. It seats about 60 people, and it's used to ferry both people on arranged trips and people out on their own to several points along the Abel Tasman coast. On our trip up, there was a family going to a birthday party in Torrent Bay, where our group would spend the nights of Christmas and Boxing Day.

Split Apple Rock

The first pause--not a stop for loading and unloading --was at Honeymoon Bay, site of Split Apple Rock, a granite boulder about 3m diameter that has been split by water and time. A little over 20 km more, after unloading our lodge bags at Awaroa, we were at the northern end of our journey: Totaranui, named so by the Maori for the big (nui) Totara trees prized for making waka, their dugout canoes.

In Totaranui the group members took a few minutes to introduce ourselves to each other, then started off walking. It was almost 3pm when we started, and we had a little over 6 km to go to the lodge at Awaroa.

Totaranui beach

Hikers in front!

Pikers in the rear.

We walked down a road past campgrounds, then onto a foot track that climbed a short way up to a vista point where we could see the beach where we landed.

Whitey pointing out Rata
vines on a Rimu tree

From there it was back down through the forest, where Whitey told us about a few of the native species. He read a poem about Rimu and Rata, describing a fanciful loving relationship. Rimu is a large, long-living tree of the cypress family, which plays host to several parasites and symbiots, most notably the Rata. Rata starts in the forks of Rimu branches, sending vine-like roots down the trunk. As the Rata grows, the roots begin to intertwine and completely cover the trunk of the Rimu. After a few hundred years, the Rimu dies (whether because of the Rata or of age is not known), and in time rots away, leaving a large, hollow Rata tree.

Down we went to the next beach at Goat Bay, where we saw pied shags (a species of cormorant), black oystercatchers, and a colony of mussels. There were also quite a few jellyfish bodies, sans tentacles, one of which Whitey picked up to show us how harmless they were. We all agreed they looked a lot like breast implants. (Sorry, no photo of the jellies!)

Pied Shags, or Cormorants

Oystercatchers foraging in the surf

Mussels clinging fast

I couldn't resist this pattern.

We spent a little time and had a snack on the beach, then set off again to go over one more point before we got to the Awaroa inlet. Once we got there, I understood why we'd been advised to bring water shoes in our day pack: we had to cross the inlet to get to the lodge! If you've ever walked through the fine silt mud deposited where a river meets the ocean, you can imagine what our crossing was like.

We got to the lodge a little behind schedule, and the appetizers of broccoli-cheese balls were just about to come out of the oven. We climbed the carpeted staircase to our cozy little room and cleaned up, then went down to the deck overlooking the bay for beer and balls. The main feature at supper was a strip steak, grilled over an open fire with just the right spices.

The living room at Awaroa Lodge

 After supper, we all gathered in the comfortable living room of the lodge to watch a short video about the family who settled in the part of the South Island that became Abel Tasman National Park. This family eventually became the Wilsons who started with a water taxi and inn, and built up a tourism business from that. They had built a house in Awaroa Bay, and this lodge was built on that same plan (albeit a mirror-image). The story told by the video, and in more detail by a book (both offered for sale by Wilsons), was not without betrayal and tragedy, but in the end it was a story of success. We all considered the day's adventures to be a success, and retired to our rooms to rest up for the next day.

Up next: what does one do in an estuary at high tide?

New Zealand Diary, Days 2 and 3

Day 2: Tongariro

We continued south along the shore of Lake Taupo until we got to Turangi, where we found a nice little bakery for "brekkie" (breakfast). Bless that English heritage, they had lots of little meat pies to choose from. I chose a steak, bacon, and cheese pie. DW had something less adventuresome, like a croissant with bacon and egg. The people there were so nice, and let us use their phone--several times--for some arrangements we had not yet made.

Just at the far edge of town was the highway that took us through the north fringe of Tongariro National Park: the Te Ponanga Saddle Road. We passed a couple of beautiful lakes (Rotopounamu and Rotoaira), and saw a small outdoor adventure shop. We had heard about the Tongariro Crossing walk, and stopped to find out what we could. They said it took about 6 hours one-way, and offered transportation from the shop to one trailhead, then back from the other end to the shop, for NZ$35/person. No guide, no food, nothing else; just transportation. We thought that was a little steep, so they recommended we drive about 15 minutes into Whakapapa (pronounced Fah-ka-pah-pa) village, which is similar to National Park villages in the US, such as at Yosemite or Zion. They told us that there we would find several smaller loop trails that would only take an hour or two apiece.

When we arrived there, we were a little surprised to find a relatively huge hotel (in the photo below, it's around 1-1½ km away from us), along with the expected information center, café, campground, and souvenir shops. At the info center, they told us the best trail for our limited time would be the Taranaki Falls track. It's about a 6 km loop, estimated for a 2-hour walk. It took us less than an hour-and-a-half.

Ruapehu from its base, looking south

Manawatu Valley, looking west

Silliness on return trail

Taranaki Falls

Upon finishing that walk, we had a look at the café in the village for lunch, but nothing appealed to us. We drove another 20 minutes to the town named "National Park" at the intersection with Hwy 4, and picked up a couple of sandwiches and ginger beers at the convenience store. The brand was Bundaberg, and it is excellent. The label suggests that one "invert gently before opening," to help distribute the bits of ginger.

Cascade in the beautiful
Wanganui Valley

A closer look at the cascade

We went on south, because we had a reservation on the ferry from Wellington to Picton, across the Cook Strait, for the next afternoon. We planned to spend the night in or around Wellington, the political capital of New Zealand. On the way, the highway followed the Wanganui River, at one point in which there was this cascade.

We arrived in Wellington at just about rush hour (lucky us), and drove around downtown for a bit until we reached the harbor and found the ferry terminal so we'd know where it was the next day. We then ventured back north a bit, along a slightly different route that took us a short way up the (Lower) Hutt Valley, to Petone. We started looking for lodging, and drove around the streets until I didn't know which way I was going--although I did know pretty much how to get back. We drove all the way out Seaview Road, which became Marine Drive, which finally turned into Muritai Road in Eastbourne, which ends about 5 km south of Petone. There were a few B&Bs and Homestays in the area, but they were all fully booked. It was a very nice drive, though, even if I did think I was going mostly north.

We ended up at a little motel in central Petone (I said I knew how to get back!): the Settlers Inn, whose proprietor told us was part of a network called "Host Hotels." He gave us a booklet and a stamp, so that if we stayed 11 nights in Host properties, we would get a 12th night free! Of course, there was no way we could use it. So if any of my readers plan to visit New Zealand, let me know and I'll send the booklet to the first one who wants it. It actually has two stamps now--we stayed in a Host property in Nelson the next night.

Day 3: Timekilling, Thai, & Transit

The Settlers proprietor was good enough to recommend a great little place for coffee and brekkie--Caffiend--and it was only a few blocks away, so we walked. They didn't open for another half-hour, so we walked one more long block down Queen Street to the waterfront, passing some charming older houses, some of which had been or were being renovated. The beach walk, or "Esplanade", is very nice in Petone.

Back at Caffiend, we glanced over a copy of the local newspaper. There was a story about a white kiwi chick that had recently hatched, and another headlined "Young Kiwis Migrating to Australia". We at first wondered how the flightless nocturnal birds were getting to Australia, then realized they were using the nickname for New Zealanders.

DW had picked up some brochures at the motel, and one was for a Thai restaurant in downtown Wellington. We were supposed to queue up for the ferry at 1:00, so we decided to have lunch at that restaurant. We saw a lot more of Wellington, and when we finally arrived at the restaurant, we learned they didn't open until 12:00, about a half-hour. So we walked across the street to the New World supermarket to see if there were any snacks we wanted to take on the ferry. Nah.

We went back to the restaurant at 11:55, and they let us in! But they told us they had a large party coming at 12:30, so they'd appreciate it if we could order right away. Hmm. Anyway, we were hungry by then, and we had our 1:00 check-in time at the ferry, so we did order quickly and the food arrived, not quite as quickly as I would expect if they were really rushed. It was very good, though, and other than acting rushed, the staff were very friendly.

We made it to check-in at just about 1:00, and we were in the first one-third of cars to board for the 3½ hour crossing. That didn't mean we were in the first one-third off, assurances by the check-in clerk to the contrary. *sigh* After disembarking from the ferry, we drove to Nelson, the gateway to the Abel Tasman National Park region. We passed vineyards, sheep,

green rolling hills dotted with sheep, mountain passes, 

lots of sheep, and even some deer being raised commercially.

We found out some days later that at least one of the pizza chains in Oz and NZ uses pepperoni made of venison. We also found out that what they call "pepperoni" tastes more like what I would call "salami." But I digress.

One of the rivers we had to cross was the Pelorus, which is spanned by a one-lane bridge at the bottom of a particularly steep and winding pass. Unfortunately, it was getting too dark by then to get good photos of this beautiful area. Oh, did I mention the sheep?

On the next day, we would begin our grand adventure in Abel Tasman National Park! We were excited, but exhausted from another day of travel, so when we found our Host motel in Nelson (and got our stamp), we went straight to the room to freshen up. We made a short trip down to the city center, featuring a pretty square on the hillside and lots of little shops and cafés that were mostly now closed, to pick up some spaghetti and garlic bread to take back to the room to eat. It was delicious, and with full tummies, we fell fast asleep to dream of hiking and boating.

Kia Ora! New Zealand Diary, Day 1

Over the Christmas & New Year 2011-2012 holiday period, my dear wife (DW) and I spent 15 days vacationing in the beautiful island nation of New Zealand. I will present a series of posts about our experiences there--a sort of diary, but no promises that the posts will be daily. I hereby commence with:

Day 0: Travel
We began our relaxing vacation in near panic, attempting to ensure our luggage conformed to the international carrier's weight restrictions. Fortunately, our flight left late in the day, so we were able to arrange our things and get our luggage checked in several hours before the flight, so that we didn't have to be at the airport quite so early for the flight itself. We flew on an Embraer Regional Jet to LAX, where we were bused from the "commuter terminal" for such small airliners to Terminal 5. Once there, we learned we would have to exit the terminal and walk over to the (Tom Bradley) International Terminal--about 100 yards. The frustrating part was that we were then told we had to wait in line to check in at the international carrier, and go through security again. The good part was that I found a Pink's Hot Dogs in the terminal, and the prices were not much more than I would expect to pay at Pink's itself. Mmm, Polish dog with kraut!

After that, it was the old story of passing security, waiting in the gate area, and a long flight where we could sleep uncomfortably. That flight landed in Nadi (pronounced Nahn-ji), Fiji, where we again had to verify our check-in and pass security. A few hours later, we finally landed in Auckland and made it to the hotel, where we promptly crashed until the next morning.

Day 1: Tolls
We started with the included continental breakfast, and were then shuttled to the car rental shop where we picked up our beautiful, sparkling white 2002 Hyundai Accent 5-door hatchback, with a 5-speed manual transmission. Don't get me wrong. It had four wheels and air conditioning; what more did we need? There was even plenty of room in the covered boot for all our luggage!

When we were planning, we had decided to visit the Goat Island Marine Reserve for some snorkeling. We told the rental clerk about our plans, and he said, "There is only one toll road in New Zealand, and you're going to be on it." It cost NZ$4 to go up and back, and then we learned there was a way to go to avoid the toll. It's just that it probably would have taken another hour each way.

Our lunch attracted some attention

When we reached the portal beach to Goat Island, we had a look at the dive shop where we'd planned to rent snorkel gear. We then drove the 1.5 km out to the park on the bluff at the end of the road to have a look at where we would go. We had brought our lunch with us, so we ate it while considering what we wanted to do.

Nice weather for ducks, though!

We decided the day was a little cold and windy for us; wasn't it supposed to be summer? We'd seen a couple of wineries on the way to the area, so we decided to visit one or two of them rather than snorkeling. They were small operations, very friendly people, but overall very similar to wineries in the Napa and Sonoma valleys of California. We didn't taste any of the wines.

After heading back south on the toll road we'd already paid, we traveled through Auckland, after which the Motorway (freeway) turned into regular two-lane highway, which became a 4-lane boulevard as we passed through Hamilton. We were on our way to take a ferry across the Cook Strait in two-days' time, so we didn't linger long in any town until the evening approached, when we arrived in Taupo.

Now, Taupo both sits on the shore of the largest lake on the North Island, and is a college town. You can just imagine the row of little cafés, restaurants, and bars at the corner where the highway meets the lake and turns to follow the shore. We found one where the music wasn't much too loud and the food wasn't much too overpriced. DW had fish and chips, and I had a steak sandwich: an 8 oz. rib steak, grilled medium well, on a French roll with lettuce, onion, and mushrooms. It would probably have been best to eat it with knife and fork, but I was ravenous and picked it up like any old sandwich. Delicious!

After supper, we went looking for lodging. Nothing near the lake was as inexpensive as we wanted, so we started driving down the shore. When Highway 5 turned east away from the lake, we took the right fork, Highway 1, to stay on the lake, as we were headed for Tongariro National Park south of Lake Taupo. About a half-hour out of town, we came across a little fisherman's lodge where the rates were reasonable, run by a very nice older couple. It consisted of an L-shaped row of rooms on an elevated platform, with parking spaces underneath. The room itself was simple and spare, but very warm and comfortable. After all, Lake Taupo is a mountain lake, and even in summer it gets quite cool when the sun goes down.

Not too long after sundown, we heard some noise from the room next door. We poked our heads out, and found out a couple of teenagers decided instead of staying in the room with their parents they would carry their large air mattress down to the back of the pickup truck they were traveling in and sleep there. We helped them to negotiate the stairs and load it into the truck, laughing all the way.

The next morning…ah, but that's another day, and shall wait for another post!

Postcards from the Rim, conclusion

Part two, the conclusion of pictures taken on trails around Lake Tahoe, plus an epilogue.

The background image of this blog!

On Thursday 9 July 2009, we took the lower part of the Mount Rose Summit Trail. First, though, we went around the opposite way for a bit to try to get to the lake in this picture, Tamarack Lake. It is the immediate source of Galena Creek.





The Summit Trail starts at around 8,900' (2,713m) elevation, and climbs to the very top of Mount Rose, at 10,776' (3,285m). Partway up that trail, I saw this boulder resting in the forked trunk (3 or 4 trunks) of a tree. I assume the tree grew up around it.













At the end of the lower part of the Mount Rose Summit Trail (c. 2.6 mi.), there is a cascade. In July, there was just enough water coming over it to make a nice sound and a decent creek. I can imagine in March or April, after a good winter's snow, it's quite a torrent.

The Summit Trail goes on for another nearly 7 miles to the summit. We were not in good enough shape to go that far at that altitude in one day, so we went back down from there.






On Saturday, 11 July, we drove to one of the many pullout parking areas on NV SR 28, on the East side of Lake Tahoe. Our goal was a small cove called Skunk Harbor. We learned that this "trail" was actually an old road that led down to an abandoned stone building on the shore of the cove. The road is still maintained as a fire road, so it was a very easy hike.

While we were putting our boots back on after wading in the lake, a couple of chipmunks came down to see if we had any food for them. We didn't, but I got a picture anyway!





Epilogue

On Saturday, 4 July (Independence Day), we went to a presentation about photographing trees as art, in a city park in Reno. It was a part of the Artown activities.

While we were standing around the first tree getting an orientation, I noticed a couple of robins flitting around, and it looked like one was carrying a worm. So I started looking up in the tree and found a nest. It took me a few minutes to realize that there were two chicks in it.







Finally, earlier this summer I happened to pass by a small pond near our power company offices. I noticed a goose family out for a stroll, so I pulled over (across the street) and snapped a few pics. This is the best one of the proud parents and their six goslings.






I hope you've enjoyed seeing some of the sights near my home.