Friday 30 April 2010

Sporting Kiwis




Everyone knows Rugby is the powerhouse sport of New Zealand. We were reminded of this throughout our tour from south to north. But when I asked if New Zealand was anxious to host the World Cup, I was reminded that such a small country may not be capable of putting on a big enough show. With tiny stadiums (the largest being about 60,000) most matches will be held in very intimate arenas. I personally don't think this, nor the distance fans will need to travel, will take away from the spirit a NZ World Cup will broadcast abroad.


Yet the first sports we were introduced in the south island were those of the rugged outdoorsman. This lifestyle was all explained at the ‘Bushman Museum’. This museum then brought to life many of David’s hunting stories from his past and opinions about the governments role in managing land.

We were warned many times that ‘West Coasters’ are already an odd bunch. The population is a tiny fraction of the mere one million inhabitants of this sparse south island.

Four dollars bought our way into a glimpse of the “heroic” hunters and odd people who are ‘west coasters’. The introductory DVD glorified the lives of the helicopter hunters in what was a best of hunting video clips. These government-paid hunters shot down deer from choppers in a ’heroic struggle’ (to the tune of Top Gun’s Highway to the danger zone) all for the sake of population control. When venison hit the $1/kilo, helicpoters dragged pyramids of carcasses over mountaintops for export to countries like Germany. The qualifications need for this job was only a $12 hunting license at a time when a deer would earn you $2000 (or one months wage). With huge incentives caused the plan backfires in the 1970s when under population was now the threat. A “genius” idea was thus needed - the deer hunters were true “innovators” when they thought to farm deer by catching them alive instead of killing them. They then used the helicopters to capture and populate, jumping out and tackling the deer, before they discovered netting.







The selection of magazine at the Marlborough library in Blenhiem. At the Speedy’s home we enjoyed hunting stories. Speculation, rumours and deer talk was the talk of the house when David or the boys were around.


And then there is adventure sports. They are almost synonymous with New Zealand. - jumping out of planes, off bridges and mountains. This country is home to a huge menu of all that is extremely thrilling. And just when it seemed like the kiwis had thought of everything and more, you'll be offered 'black water rafting' in the darkness of caves. Many of these adventure sports so popular amoung tourists were invented right here in New Zealand. An early and successful attempt was even made here at flying by Richard Pierce. When the risk taking inventor was informed his stunt predated the wright brothers first flight by 8 months (had he bothered to record it), he was pretty unimpressed. More recently the jetboat was invented in New Zealand and is a popular way to stake a spin up rivers at blazing speeds. Then there is the bungee that AJ Hacket trialed on this bridge near Queenstown and demonstrated to the world by illegally jumping off the eifel tower in 1986. Here backpackers and grannies alike love ignoring their human instincts and confronting their fears in these safe, organised stunts. Why not go crazy down under? Let me tell you it's quite paralyzing just to watch a 50-year-old mom plunge from a bridge and dunk her face in a river.


As for these two backpackers, we both chose our adventure sports practically. Steph has taken up knitting sheep wool. My birthday scarf is already in the works from a sheep on the Speedy farm, thanks to Pam and her encouragement.


I decided my adventure sport would be fishing the gin-clear rivers that makes this country's fishing so famous. Using the rod we bought at Big W, rivers, lakes and coastline was in abundance. Sadly the only catches I made were those we ate in Kaikoura. I tried to explain to Steph that this wasn't the point. The point was sitting, thinking, in front of jaw-dropping scenery - a spectacular distraction to our fast-paced travels - and the peace that lasted until someone came along to ask 'Any luck?'.



Thursday 29 April 2010

Napier > Mt Maunganui


Leaving sunny Napier behind us, Nigel took us north up through the hills to briefly show us the historical Maori battlegrounds at Opepe. It was here where the battling tribes came to a fierce climax of the highest proportion. This battle site that saw many casualties is still today a sacred place where tribes visit annually to this day.


Nigel later explained to us that graves in NZ cemeteries always face the nearest body of water whether it be an ocean, lake river or pond. According to Maori legend this is to welcome a spiritual protector in the afterlife who has the body of an eel and the head of a bird.


Unfortunately, the rest of the day was a bit of a waste of our time to be honest. The northbound itinerary had us shuttle bus passengers in and out of popular stops like Taupo and Rotorua (where we have already spent considerable time), finally arriving in Mount Maunganui late in the afternoon ...

Wednesday 28 April 2010

Wines Shaking Both Islands



New Zealand has not been growing Pinot Noir for very long. Only in the past few years has it begun to really make it big. The famous Burgundy grape is now set to overtake Chardonnnay as New Zealand’s second most important variety. And this is just the beginning of the journey for red wine.


Having been knocked sideways by my first bottle of New Zealand pinot noir, I decided to investigate a lot further.

One positive side effect of global warming has been the weather that paves the way for red wine in varieties that ripen later than whites. French winemakers might not need to worry, yet... But warming weather could potentially make Bordeaux and Burgundy too hot for their classic grape varieties in a decade or two. An interesting thought. New Zealand, surrounded by a cooling ocean, may benefit or at least escape these kind of effects that hurt the competition. For now the doorways have blasted opened for Pinot Noir, and maybe soon other varietals!

Since we arrived in New Zealand, I have been researching some of the best Pinots on the market in the Under-$25 range. Most are available from supermarkets, others were tasted on site at the vineyards. Here is how the best of the lot fared :

Pinot Noirs
Vidal - Marlborough 2007 $25 ***
Boatshed Bay by Goldwater 2008 $22 ****
Dashwood 2008 $21 **
Bladen - Marlborough **** (a bold surprise from a smaller underdog)
Shingle Peak 2008 $22 ***
Terrace Edge 2008 $23 **
Allan Scott 2008 $21 * (really dissapointing)


Our recap of dominating Sav Blancs and exciting new Chardonnays:

Sauvignon Blanc
Montana - Marlborough *** (Sadly the best in Marlborough was from the biggest outfit)
Mission - Hawke's Bay ***
Villa Maria - Marlborough **
Highfield - Marlborough **
River Farm - Marlborough *

Chardonnay
Montana - Gisborne * (Honestly crap, and disappointing)
Mission - Hawke's Bay **
Old Coach Road - Hawke's Bay ***
Mill's Reef - Bay of Plenty **** (Stunning quality, for an ordinary supermarket household name)

Tuesday 27 April 2010

Napier in a New Light


We only spent one afternoon in Napier which is possibly enough for tourists visiting in Autumn as the main thing we wanted to do was to walk around and admire the fascinating Art Deco buildings - this is easily possible in an afternoon. There's also a long stretch of stony beach which is great for a looong walk but we were warned about going for a swim due to the strong currents.

Even our hostel, The Criterion, was completely Art Deco - it reminded me a lot of Tameside Theatre inside actually, which is over 100 years old so couldn't be art deco, I suppose.

A huge earthquake in 1931 devastated the town and as a result, the re-building in the 30s was all done in the style of the day which happened to be Art Deco. Tourists flock here every February to enjoy the huge Art Deco weekend festival. It was really interesting to see photos taken immediately after the earthquake, showing the destruction and eventually how the town was rebuilt. It was fitting to see photos of this reconstruction after the Haitian, Chilean and Chinese earthquakes that have struck within a matter of weeks. Chris especially loved walking around and taking photos - he loves the art deco style and this town really is something special. In the meantime, I gained an education in everything Art Deco, of which I was almost completely ignorant beforehand.


We were eager to sample some of the regions famously delicious wine - wine from the Hawke's Bay region is very popular back home. Chris' friend Jamie from Paris is from Napier and had him all excited about wine from Hawke's Bay. Our decision had been to rent bikes from our hostel but alas, this was not to be - the bikes were out of order. Just our luck... we hardly had much time left in the day. Now we had to go on a search around town for bikes before embarking on what looked like a rather massive bike ride. The tourist office wasn't much help, saying it was too late to rent bikes from them or indeed anyone else. Hmmmph. On our grumpy walk back to the hostel, feeling defeated, we bumped into our coach driver who, with his Liverpudlian girlfriend Sophie, was about to take the Magic bus for a refuel. He admitted how close it was to the vineyards we wanted to visit and kindly told us he would take us there on his way! Score!

And so it was that Chris and I arrived at both Mission winery and Old Church road vineyard. We all four hopped off the huge coach (Sophie having decided to join us for the tastings too, with Nigel as our designated bus driver!) and rocked up to the tasting rooms of these very fancy wineries. We had to feel for the owners who must have thought it was their lucky day with a coach-load of people coming to buy wine; the only people who jumped off were a couple of flashpackers and the driver!

What a great afternoon! Art Deco, wine and new friends!

Monday 26 April 2010

Wellington > Napier


Today a new driver picked us up in Wellington but we had some old faces on board. We were starting to bump into fellow passengers from the south island and enjoyed catching up. The bus started it's hilly climb through the Rimutaka ranges. Our first stop was at the oldest bird sanctuary in the country in Mt Bruce. Unfortunately there were almost no birds to be found as we walked through the trails today. However we did enjoy viewing a kiwi bird poke around in their almost pitch black shelter. I never thought we were actually going to get a chance to see one. I was also excited to actually get to see a Tuatara, the world's last 'living dinosaur', and the country's rarest inhabitant.

Sunday 25 April 2010

A Tip Top Birthday in Wellington



Who would have ever thought I would be spending a birthday way down in a farthest corner of the world? And what better place in New Zealand to play host than Wellington. This city had a warm cultural and artistic buzz right from the start.

We began with a view from up on Mt Victoria and then went for a beer in an ex-fire station called St John’s Ambulance. My friend Mark from back in Paris sent us to this place which is right in the heart of things down in the harbor. The beautiful building was filled after work inside and outside with people soaking the last bits of sun from the lawn. It was another shock to see some stylishly dressed workers, as opposed to the fleece and jeans kiwis we've been hanging out with on the road. We stuck out enough that a group of three people came over to make sure we had a good agenda in Wellington and were properly welcomed.



We continued our exploration the next day by starting with Wellington's top attraction, the Te Papa national museum of New Zealand, which literally means "our place". The beautiful museum was rich in natural history and kitchy kiwi facts. Steph went off for an hour to get to the bottom of her curiosity about the Waitomo treaty between English settlers and indigenous Maori tribes. But the centerpiece for both of us was a colossal squid, preserved on show, with eyes the size of soccer balls!

What is it with cities that have trams? Wellington, Melbourne, Milan, Amsterdam and San Fran are all civilized hotbeds for art, culture, fashion and of course, cafes.




Steph packed a handy picnic (ham, cheese, salt & vinigar crisp sandwiches) for us to eat in the harbor while one of the town's many buskers strummed Bob Dylan and canoes paddled by. The afternoon was then one big exploration of town. We found the high fashion department stores on Lambton Quay and the independent arts shops on Cuba Street. We then took the famous cable car up to the top of the botanical gardens. Jamie, another buddy back home, suggested we head up since this used to be one of his daily commutes to university. Steph fell asleep in front of the Crater Observatory on the top.



What was already a top birthday ended at restaurant called Matterhorn. It reminded me of Freeman's in New York. The attitude was so effortlessly good and unpretentious. The cosy dim restaurant is also a bit tucked away without trying to be too secretive. This was a treat. So we both chose a succulent Merino lamb with a delicious sauvignon blanc. Not a bad day at all !

Saturday 24 April 2010

Taupo > Wellington


Today we headed south on one of our longest journeys - 8am to 4pm. We got a late start since the bus leaves after leaving time for an early morning sky dive, if you didn’t get a chance to jump out of a plane the day before. We first drove past the lake and the crossing from yesterday. The bus then continued through New Zealand’s only official desert, Rangipo, which was also used in the Lord of the Rings (is there anywhere Peter Jackson forgot to film?). Steph and I were anxiously waiting to get to Wellington.


We decided to choose our own hostel without Magic’s help booking and door-to-door service...hmm...And our choice was a fair walk away with huge bags. We clearly have been cradled by Magic for too long. Unfortunately I added on to our long day by leading us to the wrong hostel - a former brothel on the top of one of Wellington’s hills. Steph bit her tongue. This was supposed to be my birthday trip, and she was as patient as a saint. Finally we made it back across town to ‘Wellywood’ where we were booked in. The blessing was that it ended up being one of the best places we have stayed in NZ. It had a huge loft room with 60-inch plasma TVs and free wifi everywhere so we could talk to friends and family.

Friday 23 April 2010

Tramping the Tongariro Crossing

It was a stunning full day hike through the other side of the three massive peaks of Tongariro, Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe.

Mt Ngauruhoe - This intimidating volcano served as 'Mount Doom' in Peter Jackson's interpretation of the The Lord of the Rings.

It seemed that everyone in Taupo was buzzing about how they managed to climb the Tongariro track. Tongariro was the world’s third listed heritage park, Yellowstone being the first. The crossing trip itself rivals some of the more illustrious tracks on the south island. Steph and I were eager to accept this adventure since we ran out of time to do any of those south island treks. However we have also accepted our weaknesses. We are very much fair weather trampers (hikers in kiwi speak) without huge endurance levels since we have been sitting on a bus for much of the last few weeks. I personally need to be heavily rewarded at the end of a climb with some pretty spectacular views. And with all the buzz around, the expectations were growing larger and larger.


Steph wore 6 layers under her jacket to take on and off to deal wirh the many weather extremes we were about to pass through. At the starting line it was only one thing, COLD.

At 6am we boarded the bus that brought us around the lake and to the northern starting point of the track by 7am. We set off from this central plateau, a desert that receives 1000 mls of rain per year but dries out really quickly and the strong winds. This prevent plants from growing over 2ft due to fierce winds. North faces pulled over our heads, we could barely hear each other yell.

The Devil's Staircase

Our eyes were focused on Mount Doom. Then all of a sudden arid bush shrubs abruptly turned to jagged volcanic rock as we approached “Devil’s Staircase”, the biggest physical challenge. Now I wasn’t trying to prove youthfulness by climbing Mt Doom on this last day of being 30 before turning 31. But I must say it made us feel more than a little tired and tested.

As for the rewards, we were in luck. Tongariro is known as the world’s best one day trek because of it’s extreme diversity. The scenery completely changes every 20 min - the plants, terrain, views, climate. At the end you feel like you’ve been through a living encyclopedia of plants in one day.



The crooked black volcanic rocks on the devils’s staircase, were behind us. The vegetation began showing one side windswept with icy frost. Next we crossed the first crater on what can only be described as a moonscape under a thick blanket of cloud. It was a little strange to think what we were walking over. Ruapehu apparently erupts the most often. The last eruption in these parts was two years ago. We were given an evacuation strategy - basically run down the hill. Run for your life. Nonetheless, the absence of wind made this walk incredibly peaceful.

Trail through the first crater, blanketed in clouds.

The next climb boasted even more demonic red volcanic rock as we ascended into more clouds, wet and cold to the bone. The terrain turned to icy mud and dense fog. Then we were on a straight along the summit. The path was no more than 2 meters wide from cliff edge to edge. I think all our vertigo was masked by the clouds. We were starting to question whether the weather was going to ruin our promised “coast-to-coast” views by the Taupo locals. We sucked on a few chocolate pineapple lumps to keep us going through the tough bit. Then the loose gravel caused us to fall stumble a few times. Steph was getting frustrated. I reminded her of our other carrot at the end of the stick - bangers and mash at the local pub in town.

The Summit

And then all of a sudden, everything began to brighten up. The clouds lifted. The sun started to shine through. And through the mist we started to see the turquoise pools of sulfer we were approaching. We walked across the second crater, again thinking this is just something from another planet. After passing a massive lake, we began the walk down through stunning alpine scenery and the rewards were immense - Coast to coast views as promised.





The last 5ks was all down hill for pure enjoyment of the stunning scenery everyone had raved about. We stopped to eat the lunch from our packs at one of New Zealand's many tramping huts. These are a service provided by national parks and serve as simple cabin shelters for the many hikers across the country. We were thoroughly impressed. The view from this camping chateau was priceless.



Our final home stretch was past a few hot springs spewing steam and sulfer smells. The landscape changed a few more times - as if to remind us there are still three more chapters of flora and fauna to learn from this impressive course on mother nature. We ended up in lush forest with streams, loud birds, and more different types of fern than you could count. We were overwhelmed and just a little tired at the finish line!

Happy Trampers

Thursday 22 April 2010

Lake Taupo

For some reason I had expected Lake Taupo to be a tiny settlement much like Lake Tekapo in the South Island. However, when we finally arrived here we found a large (by New Zealand's standards) city with all the popular chain shops and two supermarkets. There was even something of a 'buzzing' nightlife (again, by NZ standards). The town itself sits on the North Eastern corner of the lake so the town enjoys lake views from pretty much everywhere. Like in Rotorua, our hostel even had an outdoor spa pool.

Lake Tuapo is the geographical centre of the North Island.


This lake is the largest in Southern Hemisphere, can be seen from space and could fit Singapore inside. Kiwis are very proud of this. Amazingly, it fills a volcanic crater which is very much active! Again, I can't believe there is a city sitting on top of this and seemingly no fear about imminent eruption. They are sitting on a timebomb with no clue when it may next erupt. Apparently no one knows how deep the lake is because the furthest they can go is 500m down before the instruments become confused - the water is boiling at this depth due to volcanic activity. It's nuts.

Chris and I were to choose between one or three nights here due to the Magic bus schedule. Despite fears that we could be treading water in lava if an eruption occured, we decided to brave it and extended our stay here to three nights. This meant we could hike up Mount Doom from Lord of the Rings which you need a fully day for. In the meantime, Chris decided to make use of his child's fishing rod from Oz on a couple of occasions...

Sadly, he didn't catch a monster trout from the what is one of the trout fishing capitals of the country. Instead, he preceded to get his hook tangled in the rocks on more than one occasion leading him to go paddling for it in the lake.

Chris: "One souvenir we did walk away with was Pumice stone. The stuff that's thrown out during an eruption is everywhere and this rough, aerated rock is a welcomed tool to trampers with pretty scary feet. Pumice and ash were spewed out for 750 cubic km during the last eruption 26,500 years ago."

That evening, Karl showed his driverly kindness once more by giving us a lift down to a local pub with a few more of the Magic bus passengers. Chris was thrilled - not only did they have a meal deal (including the best bangers and mash we've tasted for a loooong time and three pints each), there was a pub quiz on.
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Huka Falls: Lake Taupo is the origin of NZ’s longest river, the Waikato, that roars through Huka falls and carries on all the way up to Auckland. We stopped here on the way to Taupo and were told that 20000L cubed water per second travels through these falls.


Wednesday 21 April 2010

Waitamo Caves

Today, our drive from Rotorua to Lake Taupo should've taken around an hour and a half. Instead, we drove a few hours west to the famous Waitamo Caves where people on our bus were given the chance to pay over $100 for to take part in numerous activities such as seeing glow worms, abseiling, or black water rafting. Hummmph.

"What if we don't want to pay for any of these activities? Is there anything to do for free here?", I complained to the driver and the rest of the bus. Finding out that we were going to be stopping here for three hours after a two hour detour there followed by two hours back to Taupo didn't make matters any better. We could all sense the driver's rising guilt as he realised what a silly idea this detour was for many people. It wasn't his fault though - it was part of the Magic bus itinerary so we had to go. And sure enough around ten people parted with their money to get involved in an activity. I was becoming quite sick of all this expensive, organised fun being thrown in our faces - we really wanted to enjoy our one afternoon in Lake Taupo and now we weren't going to arrive for another few hours.

When we arrived at the Waitamo Caves, the driver promised to take all those who wanted a 'free' activity on a special walk he knew of... this sounded good to us and very reasonable of him so we waited around for an hour or so before he took us in the bus to a national park.

He revealed his love for caving and, as we walked around the national park, instructed us to climb up a wall and into a very thin gap which would lead, we soon realised, into a pitch black cave. Oh, one more instruction - don't touch the walls.


I went first and must admit how difficult it is not to touch the walls when you're standing in pitch blackness and don't know whether there will be a hole right in front of you or a step. The reason for such caution was revealed to us when the driver shone his torch at the wall in front of us...


The Cave Weta - there are around 70 species of Weta, exclusive to New Zealand and here we were staring a these creepy crawlies all around us in the pitch black. They are huge. The driver assured us that they only jump sometimes but when they do, they jump FAR due to the strength in their back legs. We were quick to get out of there after hearing this.


Chris and I enjoyed the rest of our time here, walking through the Ruakuri National tunnel, looking at the cave formations and different fauna. It ended up being a pretty nice, if unnecessary, stop on the way to Lake Taupo. The driver's (Karl) kindness, showing us our own cave trip for free and introducing us to New Zealand's Cave Weta, made up for it all in the end.





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By the early afternoon we performed our enormous u-turn and made haste back east to Taupo.