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Published: December 4th 2006
Well I have been away from Wellington for the past two weeks and been enjoying the sunshine in the North of the North Island. We were working up in the Coromandel Peninsula, a truely beautiful part of the world. It's been an eventful two weeks and a great end to my stint on the volunteer program. Tomorrow I rejoin the working world in the office. However before that I wanted to share some of the things we have been up to.
The Journey
It takes two days to drive from Wellington to the Coromandel, that meant 4 days in total in The Van! I really don't think my back and legs will ever be the same after that mammoth journey with ten of us crammed into the back but it was great to see a bit more of the country. We first headed up to Taupo and yet again the weather was not with us. We arrived at Mount Ruapehu and could see nothing. Well not nothing, we saw some very healthy clouds! We were staying that first night in a Bach. This is a New Zealand version of a small wooden hut. The journey for Toby and I
was quite intense as we ran out of petrol about 40 minutes away from any petrol and as the van struggled along we quietly prayed we would make it. I stated there was no way I was pushing to van to Taupo so it was a good job we made it. Tea was from the fantastic fish shop in Taurangi and was enjoyed immensely by all. I really would recommend it. The lake was also shrouded in cloud and it was bucketing it down so the swim I had promised myself in the lake will ahev to wait again.
After an early night we headed off at the crack of dawn to Rotorua.
The Kiwi Encounter
We were working for the day in Rainbow Springs, Rotorua. This is a visitor centre where they take kiwi eggs that would not survive in the wild and incubate them, raise them till they are 1000g and then return them to the wild. It is a wonderful place with the most helpful and kind staff going. We were helping in cleaning out the kiwi pens and weeding the outdoor enclosures. Before we started work though we got to go around the Kiwi
Encounter. Here we were introduced to a number of the babies and then got to meet three rather inquisitive adult birds. Kiwis are really cute and have a rather striking resemblance to weebles. As we were working in the Kiwi pens we got to be really close to the birds and I even got to stoke one. They are furry rather then feathery and their beaks are incredibly long. However you would not want to get on the wrong side of an adult bird as their feet are really powerful and can take out a possum easily. The day was wet, both because it was raining and because we were given a hosepipe to clean and couldn't resist a wee battle.
After work we headed to the Polynesian Spa where the water was super heated by the natural thermals. The water was ridiculously hot coming into the pool and Sean scalded more then just his ankles when dared to walk right up to the outlet pipe. Honestly these Canadians!
That night we were staying in two different places as the hunting cabins could only hold 6 people. Most of the guys stayed at the cabin and four of us oldies
headed off to stay with the head keeper at Rainbow Springs. A fantastic lady called Carmel who lived in the most amazing wooden house. She fed us home made honey from her own hives and we had a wonderful sleep in real beds!!
Captain Cook Arrives!
So we spent another day in the van but as the weather was poo it didn't really matter. Today I was in the back instead of luxuriating shot gun. I was sat with Ben and Will, who although are not huge guys have shoulders bigger then Joan Collins. I seriously considered a shoulder bypass by the end of the day. The drive was not that exciting until we headed off onto the Coromandel Peninsular and then the views were breathtaking. Barb couldn't control herself and we had to listen to her Wows and Fantastics for the remaining 3 hours of the drive. Just past Coromandel town we ran out of cement road and had to do the last hour and a half on gravel. This slowed Toby down even more and meant that the van jumped around even more then usual! The ride was long but picturesque and eventually we pulled into
Big Sandy Bay, our home for the next 8 days. Whilst driving along the bay, Toby's face changed. We soon realised why. The garden of the house we were staying in had been taken over for the afternoon by the locals and they were throwing a Captain Cook BBQ and party in our yard. It was hilarious to see them all dressed up in colonial gear with a DJ and huge hog roast. We were starving and desperate for the loo but being too polite loitered round the van for a while. Then we sent Rod in and were soon invited to the BBQ and met a few of the locals, all very friendly. The hog on the roast had been caught earlier that day and was huge. I resisted the temptation to try some but Sean said it was delicious! We were also treated to a very impressive fireworks display from the beach. The noise from the surrounding hills of the echos was amazing!
Meet up with Laetitia
Sunday was our first day of work and due to the rugby, France v NZ we started late. We won't mention the score as Damien might get sad again.
Poor Frenchman!
We were taken up to the house of the leaders of the Moehau Environment Group, Laetitia and Diane, who we were going to be working with. Laetitia is a very direct woman, not too easy to warm to but very passionate about the environment and Kiwis. We were to weed some rather huge planter boxes. This was not the most thrilling job, especially as it was more like mowing without any tools. We sweated and rebelled and were glad when 5 o'clock rolled around so we could head home. Some of the lads headed straight into the sea. They also headed out pretty quickly!
The place we were staying in was so remote that every night we had an uninterupted view of the stars. They were so cool. Millions and millions of them. Barb, Sean, Will, Damien and I took to lying out in our sleeping bags on the lawn afetr dark, just looking up. One night Sean and I saw three shooting stars in the space of 10 minutes. Another night I saw three bright sparks in a perfect triangle move across the sky. Will didn't believe me when I said they were moving but we
watched them as they went all the way from one side to the horizon. They must have been satellites but were still cool to see.
Ill again!!
Unfortunately the next two days I cam down with the dreaded lurgy and was left home while the rest of the guys headed off up Death Gulley to check and rebait the rat traps. Will almost killed himself by plumeting head first into a stream from 20 feet up! Adrian and him were named Team Dangerous after that! I managed to give Toby my cold and we suffered loudly together. Barb refused to share a room with me so Toby moved in for a few nights. After his alarm clock woke me on three succesive mornings I was glad when he moved back into the boys room.
On Wednesday I was back on my feet and we were back in the bush, this time removing Climbing Asparagus. Another non-native plant that was killing the native bush. This was fairly dull but easy work and we played random games. Tom showed how very random he was by asking the most out there questions. For example: If you were in a 10
by 10 room with one door and no weapons, and every 30 seconds 2 small people came in with a baseball bat to kill you how long do you think you would last?
That night a few of us headed over to the next bay, Stoney Bay to explore a little. It was stunning, as is all the scenery out there. We had a good scramble on the rocks and saw loads of sea urchins and starfish.
Shopping
Thursday was our day off and we headed into Coromandel town. This is the nearest town where we could do some shopping. It took 2 hours each way to get there so to be honest there was not much time to do anything else but the grocery shopping. We did however have a fantastic lunch with some very delicious cocktails.
Wetland trail cutting
On Friday and Saturday we were working with a great guy named Wayne, who was in charge of the Wakewau wetland area. We had the job of cutting new tracks into the bush to place more rat traps. The area is a huge conservation area for many birds, not just Kiwi. In fact within
ten minutes of entering the bush I had seen 2 very rare birds. One of which, the Spotless Crake, noone else in the area had ever seen. I got very excited. I'm quite the twitcher now! Cutting tracks is painful work as most of the time you have to beat down the plants and they like to fight back. I have no idea when the scars will heal. Wayne was a fountain of knowledge on the area and conservation. He showed us ancient Kauri tree gum and how to carve it. After a day spent in the boiling heat of the wetland we headed off to the beach and were astounded by the view. The white sand and numerous shells on the beach were spectacular.
Sunday was our last day and mine and Damien's last work day of the whole project. We asked Diane to find us something simple so were given a short rat line to complete. I was given a machete and loved it. I amused Damien with my pure joy at swinging it with wild abandon. I just loved the sound it made!
I didn't however enjoy the skeleton I found in one of the rat
traps and the fact that it was so old I had to peel it off the trap. We finished the work with a bit more weeding and Sean entertained us by climbing a tree and then not being able to get back out of it. There was also a Wood Pigeon on the same branch as him and he had to make sure he didn't fall into it's copious droppings!
That night I had a lovely swim in the sea which was not as cold as the boys had made out. I was gutted that I had been too poorly to enjoy it all week but at least I got to go in once.
Ben and I were cooking that night so we put on a BBQ, the 4th one of the trip. There was enough meat on the grill to make Old McDonald jealous, much to Tom's delight as he feared that he would disappear if he ate any more vegetables.
The hideous drive home
Well that was it, our trip up to the Coromandel was over. We had drunk a ridiculous amount of wine and beer. I felt really sorry for the recycling van having to
haul all the bottles away. We had a two day trip home and it really turned into a two day trip. On Monday we were 12 hours in the van and were so desperate to get out. It was pure torture. I had also had to say goodbye to Damien my friend for the last three months and that was really hard. I will miss the Frenchman!
The Tuesday was much better as it was a shorter day and we stopped at the most amazing cafe for lunch. The french toast was smoothered in maple syrup and bacon, yum!
It was so good to be back in the Hutt! The washing pile was ridiculous but it had been two wonderful weeks.
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