Dorte and Andy Travelling

February 15, 2014

The Southern Alps

On the boat ride up the Abel Tasman coast we chatted with a woman who had been in the tourism industry in New Zealand for 30 years. She recommended that we stayed at the Okarito Campground as it was a beautiful location on the beach, and 16km off the beaten path, so few people bothered go there. And she was right! Wonderful to have the Southern Alps as a backdrop!

A Little Geography

The Southern Alps extend along much of the length of the South Island, and run 450km from north to south. Mt. Cook is the higher point at 3,754 metres (12,316 ft). There are 16 other peaks over 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) in height. The mountains are cut through with glacial valleys and lakes. A beautiful area.

A Little Biology

New Zealand has no large predatory animals, but do beware of the black sand flies. These are nastily little bastards predominantly located on the west coast of the South Island, and their bite hurts for days and leave wedges. Only the female sand flies bite!

We drove to Franz Josef to book the heli hike, and the very helpful Department of Conservation (DOC) representative recommended that we took a bottle of wine, our head lamps, and hiked the 4.2km up to the Okarito Trig to see the sunset over the Southern Alps - what a great idea!

The view of the lagoon and the campground.

The following day we did the 9.8km Three Mile Lagoon via Costal Route Walk, also recommended by the DOC rep. She even gave us the tidal times as the coastal part of the walk can only be done two hours on each side of low tide. The first half of the walk was through the lush native forest.

Then we reached Three Mile Lagoon.

Took a break taking in the stunning views.

Dorte won the Inukshuk building competition.....

The walk back to the campground was fun, as we sometimes had to run from the waves to avoid getting wet feet - it wasn't quite low tide yet! Another wonderful walk!

Thanks to local recommendations, we had two wonderful days here full of experiences we would otherwise never had had! It pays to listen and act!

February 14, 2014

The Rugged West Coast

We left Abel Tasman behind and drove south west to the West Coast. Hemmed in by the wild Tasman Sea and the Southern Alps, the West coast is like no where else in New Zealand. Only about 32,000 people reside in this area being 1% of NZ's population scattered amid almost 9% of the country. It definitely has a end-of-the-road feel.

WESTPORT

We reached the ocean in Westport, and had a relaxing day recovering from the Abel hike. We went to Cape Foulwind and saw a few seals.

Have to keep an eye on the gas in this area.....

PANCAKE ROCKS

We followed the South Highway 6 along the surf-pounded coastline to Punakaiki and stopped to see the Pancake Rocks.

Nature's pancake receipe:

The world's first lazy boy chair, about 70 million years old, making Andy a living fossil!

We are far away from home....

We stopped for lunch at the beach, and was met by a couple of very curious weka birds. The flightless bird is considered an endangered species in New Zealand, but somewhat plentiful in this region.

HOKITIKA

'Hoki' looked like a Wild West town with its wide and fairly quiet streets.

After 3,5 weeks in the Spaceship, we longed to have a little more space, a good bed and some privacy - always sharing washroom and kitchen facilities with other people is tiring - so we checked into a motel. The only room available had had a fire in the oven, so it smelled a little of oven cleaner, but that got solved by opening all the windows and doors, and cooking a nice juicy steak!

GOLD

New Zealand's largest gold nugget, the 2,772kg 'Honourable Roddy' was found in Ross in 1907, and created quite a stir in this area.

HARI HARI

Hari Hari made headlines in 1931 when the Australian aviator Guy Menzies completed the first solo trans-Tasman flight from Sydney. The flight took 11 hours, and he crash-landed his plane at the souther end of town.

A perfect spot for lunch.

February 12, 2014

Abel Tasman Costal Track

It was a beautiful 3.5 hour boat ride from Wellington on the North Island to Picton on the South Island.

We are definitely getting closer to Antarctica, but we didn't see any penguins!

Most of the roads are two lane roads, and windy, so it takes a while to get from A to B, so we have learned to go by the suggested travel times and not kilometres. We stopped for lunch at a beautiful lake.

A Little History

We stayed in Marahau, a tiny village with 200 inhabitants! As it is the main gateway to the Abel Tasman National Park. Abel Tasman was a Dutch seafarer, and the first known European to reach the Australian island now called Tasmania, as well as New Zealand.

We were taking a boat up the coast and then hike the 24km back to Marahau. The Abel Tasman area has crazy tides; up to 6m difference between low and high tide, so we entered the boat on land, and got transported into the ocean by a tractor.

Quite funny to sit in a boat with the life jacket on driving on the road! We saw Split Appel Rock.

It was a beautiful ride up the coast.

We got dropped of at Bark Bay, and headed south along the track.

Most of the hike was in the trees but there was some beautiful view points along the way.

We took a 'small' detour of 3km to have a swim and lunch at the secluded Watering Cove.

It was the easiest 28km we had ever done, but we were tired of walking at the end of the day. We just made it before the end of Happy Hour at the bar. What a relief!

February 7, 2014

Wellington - The Coolest Little Capital In The World

A Little History
Wellington is the capital of New Zealand, has around 200,000 inhabitants and is located at the southern tip of the North Island. The earliest Maori name for Wellington is Te Upoko o te Ika a Maui - which means ‘the head of Maui's fish’ - stemming from the Maori legend that polynesian navigator Maui fished up the North Island. Wellington takes its name after Arthur Wellesley (1769-1852), the first Duke of Wellington and victor of the Battle of Waterloo (1815).

We knew the RV park was right down town, but hadn't expected it being a paved parking lot.

It was, however, a very convenient location right next to the ferry to the South Island, and to attractions and shops. New Zealand is known as wine country, but they certainly make some great craft beers as well.

A former colleague from Tourism Vancouver had introduced me to a friend of hers living in Wellington, and we met with Sally. She was very hospitable, and took us on a beautiful drive around Wellington. The view from Victoria Hill.

We had a great lunch at the Crab Shed, and spent the rest of the day drinking wine and chatting at Sally's place. Sally is a facinating woman, and she runs an online company called AssistedWear, specializing in clothing and apparel for those facing physical challenges dressing.

We visited the museum of Wellington City & Sea, which is celebrating Wellington's social, cultural and maritime history. As well as the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa, which is the national museum, and very informative and interactive.

They are turning the old port into a very nice waterfront area.

Sally had kindly invited us for dinner, she had cooked lamb for her and Andy, and fish for Dorte. Thank you for your hospitality, Sally.

This was a great finale for our time in Wellington, and on the North island for now.

Lazy Days On The West Coast, North Island, NZ

After a VERY good nights sleep after the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, we headed south west to Whanganui. We found a campground close to the beach, and relaxed.

We then headed further down the west coast to Kapiti, a beautiful area.

At this campground we had our own toilet and shower in the little shed - luxury!

We enjoyed a glass of wine while watching the sunset.

Life is good!

January 30, 2014

Tongariro Alpine Crossing, NZ

A Little History
Tongariro National Park is located approximately in the middle of the North Island, and is a World Heritage area. The mountains of Tongariro are recognized as being central to the lives of the Iwi people who have historically occupied this area. The spiritual and cultural values are part of the landscape.

We stayed in the Whakapapa Village Holiday Park, and they arrange our transportation to and from the trail. The village is located at 1119m, and it was considerably colder at night than we had been used to. We did a 2 hour hike in the afternoon to get the legs going and explore the area.

It was a wonderful weather, but very cold at 7:00am the following morning, when we took the bus to the trail start of the 19.4km one way Tongariro Alpine Crossing (TAC). We had been warned that the wind speed would be around 60km/hr at the top, but the wind had already started picking up.

We started off with a gentle gradient climb alongside a stream and around edges of old lava flow. The lava has different colours; the younger lava is darker and absorbs much of the sun's heat - not that we could feel that at that time of the morning!

The track climbed steadily, gaining 340m up to the South Crater at the foot of Mt. Ngauruhoe. We crossed over two lava flows from eruptions in 1870 and 1975.

We walked up the ridge, and started smelling sulphur from the Red Crater, which is still active. The red colour is from high temperature oxidation of iron in the rock - beautiful.

It was a struggle to get to the summit of the Red Crater, the highest point of the TAC at 1886m. The trail was steep, and the wind was very strong, pushing us sideways, with sand and small stone flying around. This video was taken there while holding on to a sign due to the high winds:

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From there we descended steeply to the Emerald Lakes. Minerals leaching from the adjoining thermal area cause their brilliant color. These lakes freeze in winter.