Fishing for Water!


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Published: April 11th 2007
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Once again we have left it too long, and done far too much to make this a quick blog!

On our second day in Kaikoura we went swimming with fur seals. These are territorial on land, but we were reassured that once we were in the water with them that they would happily swim around us without attacking! Unlike the dolphins, once in the water it was a matter of bobbing around waiting for the seals to come to us, and not chasing them. The seals were really inquisitive and would often make eye contact and swim right up to you, swerving away only at the last minute. They are really quite big so it was a bit scary! One came really close to my face, appeared to blow bubbles at my face and then swam off - I am not sure what that was all about!! The boat ride was all part of the adventure as the sea was choppy and as we raced across the waves there was more than a little spray coming at us!

From Kaikoura we headed to Blenheim, where we had planned to do some wine tasting. Things didn't pan out quite as we had planned, with a poor campsite, bike hire expensive and the weather not great so we decided to give it a miss. After all, we can do our own wine tasting in the comfort of Sally!

Abel Tasman National Park was our next stop, and the weather was grey and miserable, which was a real shame as we had wanted to do some more walks/kayaking and enjoy what should have been stunning scenery. We made it up to Farewell Spit at the top of the south island, and could just about see it through the rain clouds. We bought an amazing print of very similar scenery to what we later saw on the Queen Charlotte track.

Disappointed we retraced our steps back to Nelson, which previously we had just driven through. En route we bought ourselves a fantastic wooden bowl, which should be on its way back home now. The woodturners had a superb house, complete with dog, who we enjoyed playing with. We left with a bowl, apples and peaches due to a glut they had!

Next stop was Picton, which is where you get the ferry across to the north island. We had a few days to spare, and decided that we would fill our time with some walking - a lot of walking! We organised a water taxi to drop us off at the start of the Queen Charlotte track, and then to come and collect us from a point 60km along 3 days later. This company also offered to transfer your packs for you, so you could walk with just a day rucksack. Rob decided that this wasn't quite 'proper', so off we set with our big rucksacks full of camping gear, food and other so called 'essential items' (including to my surprise a thick piece of string for a washing line!). We were the only fools that had not taken up the offer of pack transfer!
Day 1 was 26km, and this being New Zealand it wasn't all flat. It started with a gruelling uphill slog (like all good walks do as I am beginning to believe!), which left us both wondering what we had let ourselves in for. The sunshone and the views were fantastic. Exhausted after walking for about 6hrs we reached our campsite, pitched the tent, ate slop, and were in bed as soon as it got dark.

The next morning we repacked our bags, treated some water, and then set off. Both of us were adamant that somebody had snuck some extra items into our bags! The aim was to camp at the top of the ridgeline, after having completing another 23km. This was supposed to take 6 hours, and we came in on time (with a bit of moaning from both of us along the way!). Our shoes were quickly whipped off, and we lay on the deck of the hut enjoying the last of the days sun. By now, we really were developing blisters on blisters! What we had failed to notice in our eagerness to remove shoes and relax, was that there was no water supply. We had banked on the water for cooking, and for drinking on our onward journey the following day. We considered walking for a further 3hrs to get to the next campsite and water source (but only briefly!). Rob then had a look in the water butt, and saw that there was a little water left, below the level of the tap. Once again his boy scout skills came into good use, and he fashioned a 'water fishing rod' from one of our water bottles, gaffer tape, a stone and yes, that essential piece of string! With a water supply we were able to relax again and rest our weary bones.

The final day was grey, but we managed to get the tent down dry - We didn't need to carry any additional weight. The 3hrs to the next campsite took only 1hr - had we known this we may have made the walk the night before. We had left ourselves the fewest kms to do on the final day, so after the steepest climb yet, we soon made it to Mistletoe Bay. The rain started, and we sat and waited for 3hrs for our water taxi pick up - The whole time deciding what our fish and chip order should be on our return - it soon went from 2 scoops of chips to silly numbers!!

We were pleased with our accomplishment, but had we known the time it would have taken to do some of the sections we were disappointed that we hadn't decided to walk the final 11kms to finish the entire track.

The following day we caught the ferry to Wellington. What a shock it was when we arrived! There were people and busy roads! Things we haven't seen a lot of over the past 6 weeks. The following day was a contrast however, as it was Good Friday and absolutely nothing was open in the capital. Apparently shops get fined if they open here on Good Friday. With not a lot to entertain us in Wellington we drove to Napier on the East coast, and arranged bike hire for the following day.

Having walked 60km was not enough - we embarked on a 20km bike ride, but at least there were plenty of wineries along the route. The bus collected us in the morning to take us to our bikes. It felt like one of our Asian bus journies where you weren't quite sure where they were taking you! We wound up in this residential street, and walked into this tip of a house. The office was just piles and piles of paper, and the rest of the house was no better. We were quickly ushered through to the garden, where we spotted some bikes - so we were at the right place!! These bikes, much to our amusement came complete with big orange flags on the back - there was no losing each other today!

We teamed up with another English couple, and headed for our first stop - an ale and cider house. Here we could purchase 6 tasters (the largest tasters I have ever seen) for $6, from a choice of a possible 20. This was quite dangerous considering we were only a few kms into the cycling and it was only about 11am! Valiantly we struggled on polishing off the tasty samples.

We wobbled onwards on our bikes to Brookfield Winery. There was a guide there and he taught us a lot about what we were actually tasting. The final bottle we tried was what Gordon Ramsey sells in his restaurant at 94quid a bottle - Very tasty, but you can buy it here for less than twenty pounds.

Next stop, more wine was imbibed, and then the sweet smell of fudge was very alluring, so no surprise, some of that was bought. We needed the energy for all that cycling!
We next had to make a decision as to whether we went up to the top of a hill or not. We opted to cycle the hill, as we could then reach another winery. The girl was very friendly and encouraged us to sample all 8 bottles she had open!

The final stop was the Mission Estate, and again we had our fill before we cycled back to the house. Happy to hand the bikes in (Rob's with one very limp flag!), we headed back into Napier for some dinner.

Taupo was our destination the next day, a little muzzy headed. We had both convinced each other that a skydive was a good idea, and made it into the shop to book. Because of Rob's back, they would not let him do it, and I did not fancy doing it on my own with nobody to share the experience with. So if anybody fancies doing a skydive with me, let me know because I am still keen! (Mum you can stop worrying about me doing it for a while!).

We started the day by watching some bungee jumping - now this does not appeal! The most entertaining people were the screamers! We visited the geothermal area known as the 'craters of the moon'. This was eerie, seeing all the steam rise from the ground. Next stop was a honey shop, with lots of different honeys to taste, and also some very good mead. From here we went to Huka Falls (feeling like a proper tourist with everybody out over the bank holiday!).

In Taupo we had organised transport so that we could do the Tongariro Crossing, supposedly New Zealand's best day walk. We camped overnight for free at what barely could be described as a campsite, and set the alarm for 5am. In the morning it was foggy, and we had to find the car park at the end of the track to park the car and meet our pick up to take us to the beginning. After a lot of driving up and down the some piece of road (Rob becoming a hare killer in the process!), we finally found the carpark with only a few minute before the minibus arrived. We don't like being in a rush!

We started the track just before 7am with the fog just beginning to clear. The weather report had forecasted 40-50km/hr winds but the day started still. After a bit of flat terrain, we then had to scramble upwards for about 800m following a poled route. Everyone picked out their own route to the top. We walked through the crater - it was really foggy and you could barely see the next pole in front of you. We reached the next incline and we then felt the full force of the wind - I thought that I was going to be blown off the side! Images of Michael Burke presenting treks on '999', came rushing through my mind! On the top of the ridgeline there was very little shelter, but got a few minutes out of the wind hunkered behind a rock.

The lack of view meant the camera was stowed and we pressed on. We reached the summit at 1900m, and started the descent towards the emerald lakes down scree. The clouds began to be blown away, and both at different times spotted what was in front of us. Trying to get the photo before the cloud was blown back across was difficult. The further we came down, the better the views became of the lakes and of the red crater. These for us were the highlight of the walk. We carried on with 4 more hours to go, stopping for a bite to eat at a hut. The 17km walk took about 6hrs, and we were pleased to have Sally waiting there for us so we didn't have to wait the further 2hrs for a minibus pick up.

We have now reached Waitomo, where we have signed up for 'rap, raft and climb' - details to follow soon, when we know what we have let ourselves in for!



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