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Published: December 18th 2006
Picton
some tell you there is no need to stop here, but I liked it.After an early night in Christchurch (mostly spent writing my blog!!), we headed back to the beautiful town of Kiakoura. Unfortunately, seal swimming was cancelled due to unfavorable conditions but a group of us decided to go fishing instead...
There was six of us in a little 10 ft speed boat and I had a perma-smile on as we went crashing over swells...we stopped to watch some seals, before we continued our journey away from land to catch better fish. I caught my first fish and I was loving it, until...10 minutes later when I was like..."I don't feel so good"...so needless to say, the rest of the boat trip was spent concentrating on not losing my lunch. But the group did catch a ton of sea perch (some two at a time), and crayfish (using crab pots)...a baby shark and some barracouta. We had a great feed that night with our fresh fish and I went to bed very full yet still a little queasy.
Picton (12/6/06) - Top of the South, where the interisland ferry departs What a gorgeous day for our drive north from Kiakoura to
Fishing in Kiakoura
Emma and I with our sea perch (before the rough waters caught up to me!) Picton (vol. 2!)...We drove by the famous surf spot "Meat Works" where a lot of snow/surf competitions are held, and it was my second time seeing the Oahu Seal Colony.
Upon arriving in Picton, Emma and I spent our last hour with our south island driver, Taxi. It was time for us to go our separate ways...Emma and I will miss Taxi, but he was also a bad influence on our drinking habits! Kiwis love their piss! (beer)...it's all about us, ya know...that's nice!
After our goodbyes, I spent the afternoon with Emily Lake, a glass designer I discovered while touring galleries in Nelson. I had taken it upon myself to get her email and asked to meet her. It was a great surprise that it all ended up working out, and I enjoyed a great three hour learning experience with her inside her own studio in Picton.
We didn't have to take the ferry till after lunch, so I took a wander around Picton and ventured up one of the hills to "Bob's Bay". The coastal walk had great views of this little water town where the ferry departs for Wellington. The weather turned sour as
we took the 4 hour journey across the Cook Strait, but I was excited to see Carolyn who was waiting my arrival in Wellington.
Wellington - "Windy Welly" NZ's capital located on the bottom of the North Island A famous saying was coined in the 90's..."Absolutely, Positively, Wellington!"...and what can I say, I fell in love with this scenic deepwater harbour where artistic sculptures line the beautiful and hip coastline.
The capital city of New Zealand offered a few free and very interesting museums. First we hit the "Wellington City & Sea Museum"...an interactive and aesthetically pleasing array of descriptions about how 20th century brought about the rise of indigneous rights, mass travel and global communication. The second and third floor focused on the history of Wellington's harbours and it's cultural water stories.
We also visited the MASSIVE "Te Papa Museum" which was also free, you could spend an entire day here. It was fun...lots of differenttypes of set ups about all the crazy things that make New Zealand the beautiful and diverse place that it is. NZ is one of the most storm ridden countries in the world because it sits in the "roaring 40's"
The "Albatross" Sculpture
Kiwis believe Albatrosses (birds) are the souls of sailors lost at sea therefore they are never hunted...but here is another cool sculpture in Wellington. (latitudes between 40 and 50 degrees South)...so the mild air with the North collides with the cold air from the South creating low zones and crazy storms. Their lush and beautiful landscapes are constantly changing and it sits upon one of the most active fault lines in the world. Every floor and exhibit focused on something different...it was like a science museum for natural disasters mixed with interesting historical and cultural backgrounds! Great places for kids too, they had playgrounds and learning centers on every floor.
The evenings in Wellington were spent cruising Courtenay Place's row of pubs and dance clubs. There is lots of things to do in Wellington (unlike most NZ towns that consist of only one or two pubs)...we saw a fun cover band one night, and spent hours each night dancing and drinking snakebites.
Monday 12/11/06 - Express to Auckland On the drive North we stopped to view Ruapehu volcano (which is still active) and we drove along the "desert road"....the volcano has taken away all the trees here and because of the eruption, only long straw-like grass grows here...the scenery of the North is much different from our drives in the South
(but it allows for more time to catch up on some sleep)!
After an 11 hour drive, we quickly dropped off our bags, met up with Matt and headed out to visit Jason, Ann and Delly Langis out at their home in Baywater for dinner. After a nice meal and walk around their big green backyard, Matt took us by the overlook point of Mt. Eden for a view of the city at night before we headed home for some much needed sleep.
Tuesday 12/12/06 - To Hahei (hi-hey) and the Coromandel Peninsula (East coast of North) GORGEOUS....absolutely stunning!! We had a few nights in Hahei and as we drove around the lush rainforest and weird shaped volcano hills, I was pleased to know we had more than just a day here.
After we arrived, we headed out to the Cathedral Cove walk where we saw Gemstone Bay, Stingray Bay, the Adlerman Islands and the Mercury Islands. These volcanic domes became islands 10,000 years ago when sea levels rose...the plains became reefs and sandbanks. The Coromandel Peninsula is surrounded with the famous "Pohutukawa" tree, which is known as the kiwi christmas tree because it blooms beautiful
red flowers only in the month of December. Not all the trees had bloomed even when we were there, but I thought to myself...what a great place to spend xmas, beautiful pristine beaches, and flowering red blossoms...a nice and quiet place for an adventurous family Christmas.
After dinner, we grabbed some shovels and headed out 6km to Hot Water Beach. The geothermal activity underneath this beach allows you to dig yourself hot pools during low tide. The water was almost too hot though..."my bum is burnin!" It was a great way to see the sunset and drink a few beers...but making and then keeping the pools going took some effort.
Wednesday morning was overcast, but luckily the clouds cleared by afternoon for our sea kayaking "Remote Coast Tour"...We paddled spectacular volcanic remains heading out and around Mahurangi Island. We went in and out of caves, tunnels, blowholes and we saw things you can't see if you don't kayak.
We saw breast island (a tree makes it look like a nipple) and an island that looked like a champagne bottle. The algae growth in some of the caves was amazing...dark purples, bright pinks, greens, oranges and browns...upset I
The Langis
The Langis's new home in Baywater! did not get a photo of this. We saw the old blow hole "OBH" which is no longer a blowhole and the more spectacular "NBH" (new blow hole), where we passed through a tunnel to a hole in the sky lined with trees. We stopped for some OJ and cookies. And when I arrived back at the beach 4 hours later, I was covered in what looked like a thousand spiderwebs (it was dried salt crusted on my arms from drips of water).
Thursday 12/14/06 - Raglan, the surf town on the west coast of the North On our way out of the Coromandel Peninsula, we stopped at Paku Hill for some amazing views (see photo) and off to Raglan we went. Raglan is home to the famous left point surf break at Manu Bay. We spent the first night in Raglan at Karioi Lodge which is a hostel situated in the bush outside of town. We spent the afternoon exploring "Te Toto Gorge" on a 3+ hour return walk over the mountain with gorgeous ocean views, ferns, and lots of cows! We tried to hitchhike the long way home, but that only lasted 10 seconds because we
Cathedral Cove
In the Coromandel were too heavy for the car! Come evening we had a go at Karioi's "flying fox", although all three of us came out with minor injuries!
On Friday, we moved into town for a couple of night at Raglan Backpackers...lovely hostel. We had a few nights out at the "pub" (there was really only one) and our hostel had free bikes for us to use. Emma and I headed to Wainui Reserve on bikes while Carolyn took a surf lesson with Karioi surf school. The sand at Wainui is black due to the high content of Iron ore. There is a large petition in Raglan at the moment to stop the mining of their beautiful beaches by Chinese companies looking to manufacture the iron ore. We took our part and signed the petition, I am always impressed with how active Kiwis are in preserving their beautiful natural wonders.
We headed out to a Volcom surf competition at Manu bay on Sunday after a 3 hour horse back riding session in the morning in Ruapuke. Each of our horses had their own personalities and surprise surprise Emma ended up with "Jack" (she's madly in love with Mr. Jack Daniel!).
Hot Water Beach
Sorry picture is blurry, but you can get the gist! I was a little scared going down steep hills and down sand dunes but overall I had a great experience. There was an odd sensation when we trekked in the water...as if you were moving in two different directions, hard to describe. Emma at first said I had the same look I did before I bungied! Carolyn almost got knocked off her horse when the guide's horse had a temper fit and we all got nervous when we got the "don't do this" speech before heading on the beach.
Sunday 17/12 - Wiatomo Caves (stopped at caves on our way to inland town of Rotorua) Went abseiling in the limestone caverns called the Wiatomo caves, and I had mixed emotions about this experience. Overall I did enjoy it, yet I had a hard time getting used to the gear I had on... the wetsuits were so thick I felt like I had limited mobility and my helmet made it hard to see things, another caver accidently kicked me in the face and almost broke my nose, and the caves were so low (and I so tall) I felt like I was always nervous to stand upright. Overall, I
Sea kayaking in Hahei
camera stopped working here, hoping to have friends send better pictures of actual sights. found caving difficult and somewhat annoying yet still adventurous and worthwhile. And I was scared sh!tless when our guide swung us out over the ledge before our first abseil into the abyss.
We abseiled down a 25 meter hole right at the beginning, and then down another 2 (freezing) waterfalls each about 8 meters, in total they said we were about 50-60 meters below ground before we started our climb out. We crawled through low tunnel systems, and rockclimbing wet steep walls in slick gumboots was a little nerveracking as well.
But I can't forget to mention my famous part...the glowworms! Wiatomo caves are famous for their glowworms, or should I say their "cannibalistic shaggin magets with shiny shit".
Let me explain...the term "Glowworm" is a marketing tool because they aren't really worms at all...they are special insects in their larvae stage of life. When they become adults they spend all their time reproducing and then die from exhaustion in just a few days OR they die in their own food traps (thin sticky goo that hangs near the glowworms)...the glow though actually comes from enzymes they have in their poo to make it reusable energy...and thus
Paku Hill
Overlook hill leaving Coromandel. make their bums glow...kind of gross eh? but SUPER cool!
I am now in Rotorua for a few days (and will see Sara and Jake here in a few days!) I hope everyone is enjoying work holiday parties and time with family (I sure miss mine!) Things are great as usual although my nose is still pretty painful, but I look forward to seeing everyone in just three weeks time! (but then I might want to come back...HA! LOL!)
Much love...
Kristen
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