Tongariro Alpine Crossing
October 30, 2009
Helen and Rob had planned most of our itinerary, so I wasn’t exactly sure what the next few days were to bring. As we drove through the countryside, seeing thousands of cows and sheep, we came to the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. I was innocent to what we were up against, until some tour guide met us at the start of the trip and told us that the weather was so bad that he was sending his group on a detour, and that we should reconsider our plans to make the crossing. Evidently, up in the mountains the wind gets so strong it is difficult to stay on the path. I found this a bit over precautionary, it was sunny and 50 degrees outside! The weather was so nice! So, we decided we’d go for it. As we started the hike, we had someone snap a photo for us… just to show our spirits at mile 0.
The trek was boardwalked for the first 6km or so, and it was so well done, it must have taken ages. The planks had this really nice rubber anti-slip grid affixed to it so walking was really easy. The views were phenomenal. We were at the point where the lush greenery gave way to alpine scrub, so it was quite the contrast in colors!
After about 2 hours we rounded a bend and saw the old volcano looming up over us. It was huge! In fact, most of the time it was completely obscured by clouds… We thought the path would wind around the volcano and into the next valley. No problems so far… in fact, we were sweating in our gear! The weather was looking perfect for a long hike!
As the path kept winding around, we went higher and higher… and before we knew it, we were half way up the volcano and the wind and cold starting picking up. The clouds rolled into us, and little specks of snow started falling. Then, a huge fog came through and we couldn’t see very far at all in front of us. At this point, we wondered if we should continue, as the weather was starting to get a bit serious. We weren’t even to the midpoint of the trek, so to go on would mean a significant amount of risk if conditions worsened.
Magically, just as we were about to turn around, the skies cleared up, and it got sunny again. We headed over the top of what we thought was the last “pass”, only to find out we weren’t even close to the top yet.
We walked through a very eerie section that was completely flat from the last time the volcano erupted. It was like walking on Mars, little small rocks here and there, but nothing but mountains on all the sides around us. In one direction you could see a huge volcanic cone, and the other directions, just mountains that formed the ring of a giant crater that we happened to be walking through. Kinda scary to think this spot was at one point ground zero for a massive eruption.
The weather started to get pretty treacherous again, and we were trying to decide if we should continue over the pass to the lakes on the other side. We happened to run into a couple of other hikers on their way back, and they said it was absolutely worth it. Of course, we looked at their gear, and they were all decked out with cramp-ons, walking sticks, heavy coats, all proper mountain climbing gear. Here we were with tennis shoes, no gloves, and 3 hats for four people. So, of course we decided we’d give it a go, until it got too much and we were forced to turn around.
We don’t have good pictures for the actual hike up this last bit, because we were all too frozen to take time to stop and actually use a camera. The winds were blasting around 100km/hour, and they really did try to knock you right off the side of the mountain. The path was virtually impossible to see, and with the wind, sleet, and freezing cold, we were trying to get to the viewpoint as quickly as possible so we could turn around and head back down the mountain. But oh was it worth it.
The three lakes were brilliantly colored: blue, green, aquamarine… it seemed to change even as the weather patterns changed. Off to one side the whole area was smoking with vents from heated areas under the ground. We found a place to sit down which was partially sheltered from the blistery wind, and the ground was actually warm! It was quite strange being so cold yet having warm soil beneath your feet. We took a few moments to admire the natural beauty, then double timed it back down to a lower elevation. All our fingers were numb, faces wind burned, and toes frozen…pretty much the exact recipe for one of Rescue 911 shows where they have to helicopter dumb tourists from the face of a mountain because they were ill-prepared. Just kidding… it was miserable, but not scary or life threatening. In fact, after about 30 minutes of our trek down the mountain, we were peeling of layers left and right to cool off… amazing the differences in temperature in just a small area.
One last shot of Helen and Rob looking over the valley towards the place where we had started the trek. In total, we trekked 19km, walked through an active geothermal field, climbed up the side of a volcano, admired a beautiful ice crusted waterfall, and saw the colored alpine lakes of the Tongariro Crossing. Not bad for a day!
Maori Village, New Zealand
October 29, 2009
I don’t know how much you know about the history of New Zealand, but it really isn’t that different from the history of the United States. Europeans came to the ‘New Land’, waged war with the Maori locals killing whole tribes with gunfire and disease (which is worse?). Actually, once the Europeans had introduced gunfire to the Maori’s they used the guns to kill each other off as well. Those that survived overwhelmingly succumbed to another European vice – alcohol. Life for the future Maori generations was never the same, and now the best way they can retain their traditions is by turning their villages into tourist attractions. While that sounds rather doom and gloom, opening the village to tourists for a cultural experience really is far better than just starting a casino on the property.
The trip to the village started on our bus (canoe), the “wiki waka”. Our Maori driver converted our modern day bus into an ancient canoe for the trip there. Once there we had to pass a test to get into the village. The warriors would come out and perform a warrior dance, where they would make funny faces. Supposedly, these were the faces they carried into war to confuse the enemies. We weren’t supposed to laugh at this, as it was pretty serious. I had to look away several times though to keep from cracking up. Eventually, the village chief found us worthy of entering the village as guests.
The four of us were keen on trying the famous Maori Hangi dinners. We’d heard all about how fabulous they are. The traditional Hangi dinner is a big hole dug in the ground, where they put tons of hot wood and burn down to charcoal. When the time is right, they throw down rocks and dirt on top of the charcoal, then layers of grasses, and then stack food on top. Next, they add another layer of grass, and seal the whole thing up with more rocks and dirt. After some period of time, they dig it all up and serve the cooked food. We didn’t actually see them cook our food in a Hangi, they just told us it was prepared that way. We did however see what a traditional Maori village looked like, as well as a few dances. The whole experience felt a little bit like a forced theme show, but it was entertaining. And while I didn’t find any dirt or rocks in my food to suggest it actually was prepared traditional style… it was pretty good! I really only went for the food, the act was just a bonus!
Helen posing with one of the village “warriors”. I think she was either learning a game, or how to use the stick…
This dance consisted of a lot of chest beating, eye bulging, and tongue sticking-out. If it wasn’t to Maori music, I’d say they were doing the Macarena.
This is the village chief… we called him silver dollar. You can only guess what part of his body might be that size. But, he had great character, and all those tattoos are real.
New Zealand, Wows!
October 28, 2009
Our first full day in New Zealand was definitely full! We woke up at sunrise, four wide-eyed, jet-lagged but excited travelers ready to see and do it all. The night before, we’d traveled from Auckland to Hahei, a fairly long journey – especially with their very narrow and windy mountain roads, just so that we’d be in town for one of New Zealand’s spectacular sunrises.
What started out as a small mishap – we didn’t realize that we had a 45 minute hike to our first destination – gave us a perfect coastal viewing point for the rising sun. At the trailhead to Cathedral Cove the four of us posed for a photo while we watched pinks and blues spread across the sky. In the parking lot, just a few meters away, several backpacker vans were foggy from warm bodies. They’d driven the same distance as us, but not mustered up in time for sunrise. Boy did they miss out!
There were 240 degree views at the trailhead towards steep white cliffs, a ribbon of islands, and of course the South Pacific Ocean and sunrise.
Once the sun had risen, we set out on the 45 minute hike down to Cathedral cove. We saw wild pheasants along the way – would have liked to bring one of those home for dinner. The trees shimmering in the early morning light were just beautiful.
Cathedral Cove is one of the most famous sights in the North Island and supposedly if you visit it any time other than sunrise it’s heavy with tourists. We totally lucked out and had the place all to ourselves. This natural rock archway is huge – truly cathedral sized. What we didn’t realize before we got there was that the entire area was blocked of because there had been some small landslides. The sides of the cathedral are no longer stable. You could see piles of rubble all through the archway, probably from the seismic activity of late. Being the ever cautious travelers that we are, we crossed our fingers, then slipped under the yellow warning tape. No worries, we’re safe so far!
The landscape there was so dramatic. It was exactly the image of New Zealand that I had in my mind as a new traveler to the region.
For all of you reading who don’t know Helen and Rob, they are two of our favorite board game and card playing friends. This could be a really long story all in itself, but the short of it is summarized in the two photos following.
And she said yes; so the celebrating began!
Hahei has another natural attraction that is almost as famous as Cathedral Cove. There are two thermal vents adjacent to each other along Hot Water Beach as it is aptly named. We rented shovels and walked along the coast looking for an ideal spot to dig ourselves our own private hot tub. Turns out, the warmest places had already been scooped out. We’re talking well over 104 degrees Fahrenheit water here. I talked nice with some 70 somethings and they let me share their hot water pool with them.
Several pre-dug pools were abandoned. Why would anyone abandon a natural hot tub with ocean views? Ahh, the reason was apparent as soon as I jumped in – this one was NOT hot. Yikes! Where’s my wet suit?
On our way out of town we drove past a winery and cafe. It was just about lunch time – amazing how much you can accomplish before noon when you wake up at dawn – so we stopped for a truly awesome lunch. The best we could tell, the winery and the restaurant were run by a husband and wife. They chatted us up while we dinned and told us we couldn’t miss the nearby hiking trails. The trails meander along a river led through what used to be an old gold mine. I can’t imagine that anything like this would ever fly in the states. You walk along old railway lines through tunnels in the cliffside. There is the occasional window where in the olden days they’d push the miners refuse down into the river below. Heavy iron doors bolted some of the passageways closed. They were so cool though – long and dark (headlamps required!) and just like something right out of Hogwarts.
Blue Mountains & Sydney, Australia
October 26, 2009
Sydney, next stop in our Australia Adventure. Home of the famous Opera House, and the “Blue Mountains.” We had arranged to meet up with two friends we met in Indonesia, but they weren’t going to be available the first two days we were in town. So, instead of going into the city, we went from the airport, direct to the town of Katoomba, NSW. (New South Wales). The train ride was really nice… I even slept through most of it!
The blue mountains have a very photographed rock formation called the “three sisters.” Our hostel person gave us an area map and drew some routes we could take to circle the area. So, the next morning we took off on a 3 hour walk, which turned into an 8 hour trek through the mountains. It was warm and sunny and quite nice to get some nature in.
Jenn stopping to smell the flowers. The wildflowers here are amazing – so much color and different varieties. Sadly, the scotch broom was also in season, which Jenn is allergic to. Thankfully we had some meds for that!
Stopping to rest in the sunshine on a rock outcropping overlooking the mountains.
They built up a nice platform from where you can view the three sisters. They weren’t as impressive as we’d expected! There is a legend about the formation of the rock spires which deals in magic and folk lore. Evidently the locals are still waiting for them to return to their human form!
After the Blue Mountains, we headed into Sydney proper to meet up with Jess and Doug. They were fantastic hosts, and their apartment had an amazing view! This is a picture from their deck, overlooking the business district. Doug and Jess took us out to a local bar to celebrate their official new status: Australian permanent residents! Congrats guys! Besides giving us a place to stay for a couple days, they cooked us two amazing meals. Hopefully they come to Seattle so we can repay the favor!
We took a walk downtown through the city to see the sites. It was cold and rainy, much like a Seattle winter day. In fact, the city reminded us much of home. Tall buildings on the water, grey skies, and bridges! The ferries here are more colorful than the ones back home though!
All of the pictures we’d seen of the opera house were magnificent. So, when we got there, we couldn’t figure out what was wrong. The place was pretty grey and drab! The architecture was stunning, so I think it was just the weather which seemed to damper its awesomeness.
At least the birds were entertaining. They didn’t seem to fear us at all, and when we’d run at them, or startle them, they would just hop a few feet away and look at us like we were stupid. This one must have thought Jenn was hiding a can of worms in her jacket, or he was just really hungry!
Next to the Opera House are the Royal Botanical Gardens. We meant to take a short stroll through them, but ended up staying for a few hours. There was so much life to be found inside! Beautiful flowers, birds, insects, eels, bats, and more!
Jenn’s turning out some amazing pictures… this one is so simple, yet mesmerizing to me.
This little guy turned out to be pretty friendly. However, he was wild, and wouldn’t let us touch him, but we could get fairly close. The few times I tried to put my hand near him, he showed me a pretty sharp and ferocious looking beak. I took the hint after the second attempt at losing a finger. Peace out bird, I just wanted to pet!
This mama had three little chicks swimming with her. She was swimming around looking for food, and then feeding it to the little ones. One was a total crybaby and would not shut up. I think he got the most attention. One of the others wouldn’t leave the nest… and the third was out and about doing it’s own thing. They were all swimming in a little pond that was full of eels. A sign nearby said that the eels often eat the little chicks when they are small. We kept waiting for one to be snatched up, as we could see the eels swimming under them in the water… alas it didn’t happen. They must have been full already!
Perth, Australia
October 22, 2009
After seven months of travel through Asia, we had mixed feelings about heading back to the ‘Western World’. We were really looking forward to wine, cheese, and steaks – those had been decidedly absent from our travels through Asia. Koalas, Kangaroos and Oz’s other strange creatures were also high on the list of ‘To Dos’. Less exciting to us, was the strong Aussie dollar and how retched it made all of the prices. Yikes!
First stop: The Pinnacles Dessert! It’s located about 300km north of Perth’s Airport. Sounds like a long ways, but a local informed us that Perthinians think nothing of even a 600km daily drive. We were exhausted from our flight though – we’d taken the red-eye from Bali to Perth and barely gotten any sleep. So even the 300km drive was a bit too much for us in a straight shot. We ended up pulling over the parking lot of a gas station for a snooze mid-way there.
We’d seen these amazing photos of The Pinnacles – soaring limestone outcrops set against bright red desert sand – and were psyched to take some of our own. We were surprised to find that these ‘soaring outcrops’ were sometimes only a few feet tall. Hmm? Creative cameras at work?
We left the pinnacles and headed down to sand dune territory along the coast. The beaches had beautiful white sands and were completely deserted. It was a lovely place to take a lazy romantic walk.
Getting to and from the Pinnacles we saw so much kanga road kill. We were both disappointed that our first few views of these animals were as they lay mangled on the side of the road. Obviously there were a lot of kangaroos about, but where were they hiding themselves during the day? We spent an afternoon searching them out in a national park and came up empty until just about dusk. Then hundreds of them wondered out from the grasses to lounge about in the dwindling sun.
Australia has so many strange beasts! Check out this Emu. She jumped out of the grasses moments later and sauntered across the street with her two babies.
And we also were lucky enough to see some Koalas! They were roaming in the protected areas of a National Forest. As cute and cuddly as they are, the koalas aren’t really that interesting to watch. They basically just sit there, eat eucalyptus leaves, and then sit there some more!
Before we left Perth, we drove downtown at night to take in the cityscape. Quite the view with the Ferris wheel in the skyline and a great parting memory.
