Heading North-West to the South Island

---

---

Auckland-Wellington
Michael Sneddon HEADING NORTH-WEST TO THE SOUTH ISLAND

I'm on the ferry just now, on the way to the south island. Since the north island actually dips below the south island, you are actually travelling north-west from Wellington to Picton! Didnt end up spending as long on the north island as I thought, just means more time to spend visiting the many more lakes, mountains and scenes of the south island...

Picking up where I left off, after 2 attempts I finally made it (back) down to Rotorua. Matt's mate Fred picked me up at bus station and I headed round to Matt's to catch up with him over a few beverages... Waikato of course.

A night out on the town ensued (Matt didnt make it out though due to 'over indulgence') which was good fun. I met some Kiwi's who invited me biking the next day - which was good as I was caught in several minds about what to do - I was thinking of a trip to Waitomo to see the caves there - sadly this wont happen now 😞 Amongst the endless list of activities in and around Rotorua, mountain biking is one I wasnt aware of - just out of town is a huge hill range with tracks which were used to host the 2006 world mountain biking championships.

Having just arranged the sale of my bike in Auckland, I didnt think I would be back on one so soon! Matt had a really good bike he let me borrow - sadly it had no suspension though, so I didnt think I would make the mountain biking tracks... However, upon stopping in a shop for a map I was told that this wouldnt really matter if I stuck to the easy tracks (which I would have done anyway).

So I decided to head out to the hill, not before a stop in the lovely Government Gardens, which holds the Rotorua museum. I had picked up a free ticket included in the package for the show I was going to see that evening (more on that later!). Interesting museum looking at all the geothermal activity in the area. Of interesting note is the explanation for why there are so many volcanoes in New Zealand. The scientific explanation is that it is a result of two of the Earth's plates grinding together underneath NZ. That's a little bit boring though. The Maori explanation is a lot more fun: the volcanoes and geothermal activity are the result of a demon who was trapped under the Earth by Maori ancestors hundreds of years ago and is trying to escape!

After a cycle around town I went out to the tracks, taking a bit longer to get there than I thought due to one of the worst maps I have ever seen! Sadly this meant that the Kiwi group I met the night before had already hit the tracks - with miles and miles of track and about 50 different routes there was very little chance of finding them...

I thought I was in pretty good shape for mountain biking but I had no idea how difficult it was! Working my way up the main beginners road, appropriately named Nursery Road, was hard enough! A steep hill was cycled up, accompanied with much puffing and panting.... It was worth it for a good view at the top though... I attempted one of the intermediate tracks, cycling very cautiously of the humps and bumps due to the lack of suspension!

Arriving back at Matt's I was absolutely knackered! However, after a long hot shower I felt better and ready for the evenings entertainment - a Maori cultural show. There are a lot of Maori shows around Rotorua, but I had been reliably informed by Matt and Fred that Mitia (My-tie-a) was the show to see (actually Fred questions the whole idea that the Maori are indigenous - but I didnt know enough information on this to contribute to this particular discussion!)...

Unlike traditional Fijian culture, Maori villages do not exist anymore as Maori's have adapted to the modern world... But their traditions were very similar to Fijians in many ways as I'll explain. However, this means that these traditions are specifically re-created for these shows. I had to remind myself of this during the show which was just a tad tacky and laid on to begin with... I think if you approached it as just a 'show' like theatre or a movie then you would enjoy it - I was actually looking to experience some Maori culture though, so was a little disappointed.

Anyways, our host seemed to know how to greet people in every language under the sun - upon informing him I was from Scotland I was told 'fit like' and 'gonnae no dae that'! Very random.

There were about 120 people there. First of all a 'Chief' is selected as we are 'visiting' the Maori village, so a male leader is needed to represent us. This was bestowed upon a lively Indian fellow named Sanjeev. We then proceeded outside to see the 'hangi' - the underground oven where our food was being cooked - the same as a 'lovo' in Fiji. We were invited to take photos of course.

We then went down to a little stream to see the Maori warriors 'arriving' in a canoe. We were once again strongly encouraged to take photos. Like I said before, this appeared a bit tacky, as everyone lined up alongside the stream cameras at the ready - and the Maori boat even went back and forward a few times so everyone could get that perfect photo! We then head to the 'village' where the Maori chief performs a welcoming ceremony and offers a peace token to our 'Chief' - there is lots of Maori chanting and weapon slinging. Again this was interesting to see, but a bit tacky.

However, after the tacky start to the evening, I enjoyed the rest of it immensely. The Maori chief meets our Chief and they say hello with a traditonal Maori hungi greeting - touching nose to nose twice (dont confuse this with the 'hangi' where the food is cooked!). The Maori chief then speaks English and introduces some (modern) information about their culture. Then they perform some Maori music which was very cool - using traditional Maori instruments which are very crazy and how they got sounds out of some of the things they used was awesome!

A demonstration of Maori weapons then follows - very cool and extremely intimidating. The 'haka' is then performed - which is of course famous worldwide due to the version performed by the NZ rugby team - the All Blacks - before games. The real haka is a Maori war dance and lasts for quite a bit - again very cool to see. Throughout the whole evening the Maori facial expressions - particularly the 'wide' eyes - are very intimidating! And of course Maori's love sticking their tongue out and doing strange things with their mouth and teeth too!

The show is finished by the Chief explaining Maori tattoos and face paints, before we join him in a Maori dance. We return to the dining room to eat our hangi cooked foods, which was great even though I was sitting at the most un-talkative table ever! After dinner we got a trip through a small forest to see some glowworms. These are the larvae of slugs that exist in certain conditions (wet and rocky - so usually caves) and glow to attract things to eat! It was interesting to see them but the novelty wore off extremely quickly!

A really cool night is finished off with more information about the Mitai family that owns the land and runs the show - almost all the workers are part of this family. Definitely a great experience and a great night - once the original tacky parts were over!

Oh and most importantly I finally found out the Maori word for cheers (at long last!): Maoriora (M-ow-ree-oh-ra). Ive not idea how many languages I now know this in, I will count at some point!

The next day I finally joined up with my Magic Bus tour! A full day was planned, firstly stopping at Wai-Tapu 'thermal wonderland'. Since geysers are not orderly in anyway and erupt at random times and intervals, some people here discovered a way to interfere with nature - using soap to make the geyser erupt! Quite cool. Homer enjoyed it. A bunch of us decided not to pay the $20 to go into the wonderland so sat around in the kitchen till it was time to leave. This is one of the downsides to tour buses... However it is cool to meet a good group of people!

We got a good group going on the bus - Dave, Beccy, Vicki and Steph (all English travellers, although Beccy is often confused with Australians!). Having discovered it was the birthday of an American guy on the bus, Evan (who we thought was called Adam!), we sang happy birthday to him (Adam) before he set off for a skydive.

Next up was a ropes and swings adventure park. You could do a rope swing for $10 but I chose to pass as I wasnt feeling that great (at least that's my excuse anyway!). The biking in the chilly wind the day before, accompanied with trips in and out of the cold (and a bus with a broken heater!) had meant I was starting to get ill - but I got better as the day went on 😊.

We finished the touring day to Taupo with a stop at Huka falls - quite cool to see a huge load of water channeled through a thin falls.

I was excited heading into Taupo, a place I was really looking forward to see... But this turned out to be a huge anti-climax though. To begin with the hostel we were staying in lied in their brochure about not only the price of the rooms but the availability of free bikes. Not a great start.

After that we went on a walk to see Lake Taupo. I had read about this lake, supposed to be 'bigger than Singapore' and formed by a volcano eruption. However, it wasnt really that great. So our group decided to walk up alongside the Waikato river, which comes out of Lake Taupo, spurred on by my promises that it was only a '20 minute walk' to the bungy site - which is supposed to be a cool view...

It was. The bungy site was probably the highlight of Taupo - although none of us jumped. To top off my visit to Taupo the walk I was going to do the next day called the Tangariro crossing - an 8 hour hike up Mt Ngaugahoe (spelling is probably totally wrong, let's just call it Mordor (from Lord of the Rings)) - was cancelled due to poor weather. NZ has an array of great walks which are supposed to be spectacular. Most of them are 2+ day hikes so I dont really have time for them. But this walk is supposed to be NZ's 'best one day walk' so I was gutted I wasnt getting to do it. So I decided to just spend the one night in Taupo...

Nonetheless, as disappointed as I was with Taupo, I still managed to create some fun while I was there! After a stop at the shops to pick up some booze and food - 'borrowing' the trolley to take it home in - the nights festivities began. We also picked up a birthday cake and candles for Evan, which was cool - he was 21, so quite a big occasion.

Evan, Connor (Irish traveller from the bus) and I set off into town - Beccy, Dave and Steph joined us later - in search of a round pool table! I had read and heard somewhere that a bar in town had a circular pool table and I wanted to find it! It was another occasion, much like the 'pool bar' in Whitianga in the Coromandel, where everyone thought I was crazy - and like that occasion I proved to be right!

I can now state that I am undefeated on round pool tables, with an 100% aka 1 win out of 1 game record! It took us a bit to get into the bar - which was part of a hostel and was closed - but eventually we got up there so we could play on the round pool table!

After that, it was a case of getting Evan considerably wasted for a 21st birthday - which we achieved easily - and a few games of 'rectangular' pool - pretty good night considering how quiet Taupo was (it was a public holiday day for the 'Queen's birthday ' - dont get me started on that nonsense!). However, we didnt get Evan so drunk that he would get into the 'trolley taxi' we had prepared for him to come back in!

I managed to drag myself out of bed the next day and on to the bus. Despite some great scenery off the road - as we drove alongside National Park down to Wellington - we didnt really do much or stop anywhere. I really wanted to do some things, but when they're not on the buses schedule you cant - again another downside of tour buses...

We did see cool views along the road though, getting closer up view of Mordor, travelling down the appropriately named 'Devils Road' - which was a scary experience in our bus with our driver!

Arriving in Wellington, Connor and I decided to take the cable car up to the top of a hill (Wellington is even more hilly than Auckland!) where we got some great views of the city and the beautiful surrounding hills and water. Both of us agreed that there was something about Wellington that made it kind of instantly likeable. The cable car was not quite what I expected - it is basically a tram running up the hill.

We made time to visit the 'free' Wellington museum - I had heard good things about it. It was good, not great. Some similar exhibits to Auckland's museum, some interesting ones on immigration to New Zealand. A lot of the museum was like a science centre, the catch being you had to pay for all the little activities to do... Fact of the day would definitely have to be that the Kiwi fruit is not actually originally from NZ, but China! It was only changed to the name 'Kiwi fruit' for marketing reasons!!

Sadly it is getting colder and colder as I head down, so a stop to pick up a couple of winter clothes was needed. After that we went to experience the night life which is supposed to be top notch... After a (pointless) trip to a bar the hostel receptionist recommended (which turned out to be a hut rather than a bar!) I wanted to see some live music, which is supposed to be easy to find in Wellington... It was, we saw an Irish band trio playing a mixture of instruments including sax and banjo! Very cool. Naturally, it being my last night on the north island, I once again donned my 'last night' shirt and tie!

So after only a few hours sleep I have successfully managed to drag myself out of bed and on to the ferry. It takes almost 4 hours to navigate round the hills and down to the south island - but it certainly isnt boring with some stunning scenery already, sun rise was immense.

I have11 days on the south island. I've got a rough plan but otherwise just gonna go with the flow. The south island is more remote than the north, so I may not post a blog for a while (also mobile signal appears to be rare outside of Auckland!)

The south island is also supposed to be the more scenic and beautiful of the two. Given the fact that I loved the north island, I cant wait.

Maoriora!

Mich

---

Photos

Cycling
The start of a long days cycling: firstly the museum in Government Gardens...

World Mountian Bike Championships 2006
View from one of the hills used during the championships, doubt the cyclists would be paying much attention to this though!

Maori Concert
Note the lack of clothes on a very cold night!

Lady Knox Geyser
Homer at Lady Knox Geyser as it is forced to erupt around 10.15am...

Huka Falls
Huka Falls just outside Taupo, a lot of water through a thin passageway...

Lake Taupo
Vicky, Steph, Me, Dave and Beccy at Lake Taupo

Taupo Bungy
It was worth the '20 minute walk' to get to site of Taupo Bungy - didnt fancy jumping though!

Round Pool Table!
Proof that this exists, and I am undefeated I'll have you know!

Mordor!
Well...actually not really as you cant see it - views on the way to Wellington

Wellington Views
Homer and I at the view point overlooking Wellington

Fun n Games
Connor and I were playing around with some random statues in Wellingon...

View from the ferry
Some of the stunning scenery in the Marlborough Sounds I was looking at as I wrote this blog!

Comments

[Dawnus]

AMAZING!!!
That's all I have to say Michum. It looks incredible and though I know you will be sad to leave we will be glad to have you back! Bon Voyage x