N.Z North- Hobbits, Hot Springs and Hakas

Craig writes: New Zealand. At first I was surprised to learn that the entire population of New Zealand is only a little over 4.5 million.  Then not so surprised when you learn that while Ghengis Khan was conquering most of EurAsia, while William Wallace was giving the English a good hiding and while some of the great Gothic cathedrals of Europe were being built, New Zealand lay completely uninhabited . Not a single human being to bother it.  That all changed when seven canoes full of Polynesians paddled over in 1246 and decided to call the place home.

They lived happily by themselves till all of a sudden in 1642, a Dutchman called Abel Tasman, arrived for a short and inglorious stay. While stopping to replenish water they had a run in with the Maoris and several men on both sides were killed.  As Tasman's white sails billowed off into the sunset the Maoris must have wondered what the hell had hit them and who were these white devils. They had a long time to think about it because that would be the last white man they would see for some time. They would have to fight among themselves for another 127 years before the "Eddy Everywhere" of exploration, Capt James Cook arrived in 1769 and proceeded to map most of the coastline. From then on several different European countries, and some North American whaling ships, started to visit and trade. They thoughtfully introduced muskets, potatoes and several diseases. Thanks to the bubonic appearance of "civilized man" and the inter-tribal "Musket Wars" that killed 40,000 Maoris warriors between 1801 and 1840,  by the 19th century the pre -settlement Maori numbers had decreased by 40%. In 1840 the Brits signed a treaty with the Maoris when they were petitioned by the Maori chiefs to help defend them from the French. The Brits forthwith claimed sovereignty over the country and made it part of the realm of Her Maj.  The rest as they say, is history.

The country itself is only 1600kms long and 400kms at it's widest.  The two islands are only separated by a meager 22kms with two thirds of the population, and most of the Maoris, living in the North.  Auckland draws the biggest crowd with about one third of the total population living there.  The rest scatter themselves between, Wellington, Christchurch and Hamilton. That leaves a paltry 1.5 million to spread around the whole South Island. Another reason why I really like the South Island.

We flew out of the beautiful South and headed North to Auckland. The best hire car we could get was an old cluncker called a Nissan Sunny. Where do they get these names?  First thing about the drive is, where are the mountains? The South has 23 mountains over 3000 metres, the North has three over 2500 metres and they're all volcanoes.  There are lots of cows grazing and maize growing, it's hard to find a sheep. For what the north lacks in stunning mountain ranges it definitely makes up for with its abundant, and slightly alarming, volcanic activity.  There are steaming mud holes, active volcano's and thermal springs a plenty.

6/03/13

Off to Hobbiton today and I must admit, feeling a little giddy with excitement. Wow. If you can remove yourself from the throng of tourists and find a spot to yourself, which wasn't that hard, it took very little imagination to believe you were there, in real life Hobbiton, and Gandolf was just about to round the bend in his is old horse drawn cart with a chatty Frodo Baggins beside him.

The view over the lake up to Bilbo/Frodo's place under the big oak

I swear I saw the curtain move

For a country undergoing the hottest and driest summer ever and the surrounding country side looking varying shades of grey and brown, Hobbiton is an oasis. The village is not spared a single drop of water to keep the gardens, the grass and the veggie patches in full bloom.  The place is meticulously groomed and watered to maintain that old lived in Hobbiton feel. There are tiny wheel barrows parked outside tiny woodsheds, little brush brooms leaning against gates patiently waiting to be used to sweep up a few errant leaves scattered across the path, hobbit size work benches with hobitty tools and trolleys ready to roll in a few cords of wood to keep the hearth going. Huge veggies freshly picked and lying there, ready to be thrown in the pot for tonight's supper.

 Hobbit Quidditch anyone?

We're just popping out, come back later!

The highlights were definitely Bagg End with the original bench where Gandalf and Bilbo sat to watch the sunset before Bilbo's eleventieth birthday party. Here's a snippet. The scene was set at sunset but because they were facing East to get the sun where they wanted it they had to shoot the scene at sunrise and pretend it was sunset. Tricky.  The big green door of Bilbo and Frodo's Hobbit hole was left tantalizingly ajar and roped off.  The big party tree, the stone bridge over to the Green Dragon and the old mill were all special moments. We finished at the Green Dragon where we were all given either a choice of a free cider or an ale.

Gandalf and Bilbo sat on this bench to watch the sunset (sunrise!)

Yer just want to poke your nose in don't ya

The bridge over to the Green Dragon

The Old Mill and Bilbo's big Party Tree on the far right

The whole tour lasts about about two hours and at $75 NZD an adult, $35 for Callum and $10 for Charlie, it was good value. Even Christina, who is not a LoTR fan, liked it.

7/03/13

Well we're definitely back in the swing of touring now. Hobbiton yesterday, Te Puia today and Huka Falls tomorrow.  Just as well really, Callum informs us today is our 50th day on the road. Seems like we only left last week, till I stop and read the blog.  We have done some stuff in the last few weeks.

Te Puia is a Maori Arts and Crafts Institute and home to the largest geyser in the Whakarewarewa valley, the Pohutu geyser. Every 30 minutes or so the immense build up of steam, gas and boiling water in the underground chamber builds to a point where it cant be contained forcing a violent explosion of water 30 metres up through the geyser vent and out into the air.

The Pohutu Geyser showing off

There are also the sinus cleansing mud pools and hot springs with temperatures over 90 degrees C. AArrh , I love the smell of sulphur early in the morning. You want to be careful about sinking a bore in this area. The earths crust is only 5km thick, not the average 40km, and there is an active lava flow which super heats the crust above resulting in all the geo-thermal activity.

Mud holes make for lousy action shots...and they really smell

Keeping the old arts alive

There are traditional wood carving and weaving schools here where a select group of locals are being taught to keep the old skills alive. It's amazing what they can do with the fibre of the flax plant.  In a matter of minutes our guide had stripped a large wide leaf using nothing more than a traditional mussel shell and a shapely bit of thigh to roll out a double thread of flax fibre strong enough to tow a small car with.   Ohh, we also got to visit the Kiwi Sanctuary where we got to see the furry arse of a sleeping Kiwi, the bird not the person. Very exciting.  All in all worth a visit.

8/03/13

A very casual start to a day which held a nice surprise at the end. First stop was Huka Falls which is fed by the Waikato River. Waikato drains Lake Taupo and the flow rate is regulated by the Taupo Control Gates as part of a local Hydro Scheme. At Huka Falls the water is squeezed through a narrow channel about 15 metres wide and a couple of hundred metres long. At the falls end the water regularly topples over at around 200,000 litres per second resulting in a massive washing machine of swirling pounding water of the most beautiful soft aqua blues, light jades and frothy white peaks.

Stunning Huka Falls

Onto Lake Taupo, the largest lake in New Zealand at 616 sq km and 189 metres deep. This massive body of water is actually sitting in the cauldera of the  worlds largest active super volcano. Without boring you lets just say the last super volcano of that size to erupt covered most of North America in two metres of volcanic debris and was possibly responsible for the last mass extinction of life on the planet. Having said that, it's a beautiful place with some lovely little restaurants along the lake front and a cheeky hole in one golfing pontoon sitting 100 metres off shore offering $10,000 for any lucky hacker wanting to chance their arm. It's all very nice, I'm just not going to buy any lake side property there.

After that we were going to head back home but were given a tip that there were some hot springs worth checking out in a place called Waikite Valley. Having not been all that impressed with the hot springs we saw at Te Puia we were ho humming about taking the 6km detour but in the end thought, what the heck....  Best thing ever!

When you arrive you must take the short Eco walk that leads to the source of this amazing natural phenomenon.  An absolutely prehistoric setting of the largest eruption of boiling water in New Zealand.

The moss growing here dates back 340 million years, the 2nd oldest thing on the planet

"The Source" water from the boiling Otamakokore River gushes out at 98 C 

Water bursts out at a scolding 98 degrees C.  Huge clouds of steam billow up and swirl around this tiny valley so that one minute your looking into the heart of a bubbling cauldron and the next your desperately trying to cover your camera from a cloud of hot clammy steam.    The waters have long been know for their mystical therapeutic value and while my hair was still grey and my sprained groin from an over enthusiastic lunge session was still niggling me, damn it, I felt great after a 40 minute soaking.   There is a choice of six different pools of varying temperatures that you can soak in and all the pools are emptied at the end of the day and refilled overnight with fresh water from the spring.

One of six steamy pools

And another

And another

You can even hire your own indoor pool if you fancy stripping off and boiling your tender bits in private. My favourite was the hot pool at 42 degrees C. There are no accommodation units on site but they have a camping ground that takes about twenty camper vans. The facilities look good. The toilets and showers are clean and tidy and there's a handsome little bar and entertainment area there.  Plus if you camp for $40 NZD per night, you get to use the hot springs free! Highly recommend this one. Ooh and very affordable, family pass of 2 plus 2 for $38NZD. 

"THE NAIL" by Callum V.W.

9/03/13

Turns out the whole Glow Worm thing is a bit of a con. Their not worms, their actually maggots. They mix up this glowing concoction that they shoot out of their butts to attract insects. To trap the unsuspecting bugs they spin these fine fairy floss threads that work like a spiders web. Once trapped they literally reel the fresh meat in, eat em and lay some more sticky threads.  They do this for up to nine months till their fat enough then they spin themselves a cocoon to hatch as grown up Glow Worms.

Glow Worm death traps

Glow Maggots...... glowing

The girls live for two days, the guys for up to five.  The girls get to have a couple of hundred babies before kicking the bucket while the guys get to hump everything that glows before dying of exhaustion.

We learnt all this at the Waitomo Glow Worm Caves.  It's a short tour of about 45 minutes. There is a working amphitheater there where many a concert is held. Dame Kirri Karwashe has apparently performed there many times. The tour is finished with a slow and very hushed boat ride through the main Glow Caves. Apparently they don't like a lot of noise.  The guide pulls the boat through the caves using a suspended rope to keep any noise to a minimum, you turn a corner and suddenly the roof lights up like a moonless desert night sky. It is spectacular and worth a look at. You can forgive them their little fib, I'm not sure that Glow Maggots would have the same appeal and that would be a shame.

The Ruakuri caves were brilliant.  A large spiral walkway descends 65 metres down to where the caves begin.  There are some stunning displays of Stalagmite and Stalactite formations. It takes 100 years to form a 1cm cubed piece of Stalactite. On a rough calculation some of what we were looking at were over one million years old. It was a two hour tour but the time flashed by.  

The most amazing cave entrance you'll ever go in.

Stalactites, these little ones are only slightly older than the pyramids

I would love to come back and do the Black Water Rafting. There are underground rivers and waterfalls that run through the same cave system that you can negotiate on rubber tubes, in pitch blackness.  If the screams echoing through the caves were any thing to go by it's a must do.

Look familiar Sydney?

Stunning harbour views

Our flight was put back six hours so we decided to head into Auckland and go up the Sky Tower.  I'm glad we did. We had a nice walk around parts of the city then headed out to Ponsonby. It reminds me a bit of St Kilda or Mt Lawley - Beaufort st. 

New Zealand is Awesome!!

Christina writes: When we left the South island, I felt sure that I would be disappointed with the North island in contrast to the majestic mountains and lakes we had been enjoying. How wrong I was, I find the whole geothermal region fascinating and the hilly landscape quite beautiful. Being in NZ made me feel closer to home - resulting in a little home sickness. The best part was cooking with the local produce and enjoying the freedom of eating when we want and having a car to jump into anytime we please. Craig has summed up our two weeks so well, all I have to add is a few photos of the good meals we enjoyed.

Corn cakes with bacon, avocado and salsa from a lakeside cafe in Taupo

Peanut Butter, caramel and chocolate cheesecake - in a jar

Kiwi Cheesecake - made by the supermarket, and me.

Smoked salmon risotto

Callum with leftover pizza from The Pizza Library - HUGE slices

Mountains and lakes and a time to relax

Christina writes: This is what I saw as I got off the plane in Queenstown. Big mountains and bright blue clear sky. The air was dry - not a hint of humidity. The sun was warm as we crossed the tarmac, yet there was a soft breeze with a crisp clean feel to it. After more than a month in Asia, it was a gift and I breathed it all in and felt blessed. New Zealand is a holiday in our holiday - a chance to recharge and catch up on laundry and homeschooling. 

We stayed in the idyllic Lake Hawea, in my friend's holiday home, right on the lake. Just out that gate and down a little path and you are on the pebbled beach of the clearest lake I have ever seen. The weather was warm and hardly any wind so the lake was calm and still.

Perfect lake and shoreline for skimming stones - I tried and tried, finally mastering it before we left.

The boys loved the lake - it was cold but they didn't mind

The stones - in water - the water is so clear you cannot see it.

We ate out a few times, however I enjoyed cooking after such a long break from it and consequently we had some of the best meals at home. NZ produce and wine is amazing.

Slow cooked lamb shanks with a salad of eggplant and goat cheese

In Wanaka, a great place for coffee, hot chocolate, ice cream and hand made chocolates.
In ten days we went here eight times

And also visited their airport branch before heading North

One last coffee and Alfajor for the road...

N.Z South. Lake Hawea

Craig Writes: New Zealand, South Island, Lake Hawea. As we approached the landing strip there was a noticeable absence of water buffalo and the drenched landscape of paddy fields.  The sight through our tiny thick windows instead were towering snow capped mountains to the right and to the left, jagged mountain peaks daubed in the many different shades of camouflage green. Nestled at the base of the mountains were stretching farmlands,loose hay bales piled high, some wrapped and bound tight looking like giant wheels of white cheese. The airport is small and neat. The view through the massive floor to ceiling windows in the airport cafeteria is priceless.  A panorama of mountains, majestic and proud. A few months from now they'll be covered in snow.  The ride up the Crown Ranges was breath taking.  The sweeping views back down into the valley made negotiating the hair pin turns very difficult to concentrate on. The drive over the ranges to Lake Hawea was only 51 kms but it would take an hour and a half to complete.  

Heading up the glorious Crown Ranges 

The three storey A frame we are staying in is on the edge of the lake. Plum and pear trees groaning with fruit sit just inside the back yard fence. A row of Liquid Amber and Silver Birch form a natural barrier between us and the neighbours.  An old wooden gate leads out to a narrow strip of worn grass that runs off into the distance and disappears over a small hill. We cross the grass and a well used mountain bike track to join a narrow winding path that weaves through 50 metres of scrub and down onto the smooth pebbled shore of Lake Hawea.

You had to pinch yourself every day

No CGI here. This is our actual balcony view

It is an imposing body of water.  It has a total area of 142 sq km, it is 32 kms at its longest stretch and 390 metres at its deepest point.  The beach is all round, smooth pebbles, not a grain of sand.  You will not find clearer water than this... anywhere.  This is a glacial valley, like most here, and is fed by the mountains themselves. To dive in is a sensory sensation.  It literally takes your breathe away. The initial response is total numbness and then you sprint a few metres, duck dive a couple of times, swim a bit more and gradually the numbness fades and you experience the most amazing tingling. You want to shout you feel so alive. I've never experienced anything like it.  To my total surprise and absolute delight, Christina stripped to her knickers and followed me in. That night we sat on the balcony watching the sun slowly put the mountain ranges to bed. As the sun set a shadowy blanket was pulled up over the mountain side.  We sat on the balcony, vodka tonic in hand and breathing in the beauty of this amazing place.

Told you it's clear. It's like the water doesn't exist,
 the pebbles have just gotten darker

25/2/13

My plan was to wake up early, do some yoga then take the kayak down for a paddle. 10.15am was not early enough. We were 6 hours out of whack between NZ and Thailand and my body was still playing catch up. I opted for the yoga and an icy swim in the lake. Refreshed and tingling, I wandered along the beach to fossick among the drift wood. I was looking for another log to bring back to our little bit of beach so we all had something to sit on.  I found a great hunk about five feet long and carted it back down the beach. Then, big chunk of drift wood in place, I just sat.  Such stillness.  The very occasional sound of a car in the distance but otherwise, crickets chirping in the scrub behind me, a large bush fly passing close by and the lapping of the water, so gentle on the shore it sounded like the soft musings of a house cat at its milk bowl.  I sat, eyes closed, just listening.  I haven't done  that for so long. I've never been taught meditation but if it is letting your mind go and letting the sounds and the spirit of your surroundings envelope you and hold you, then I guess that's what I was doing . I was having an ooommm moment.

I was gone much longer than the quick dip I had said I was going for so pulling myself up from my drift wood bench I head back up the hill. Today was in to Wanika, a trip to the dentist to try and sort out a tooth problem and a general look around.  What a charming peaceful place. Not sure where the time went but three hours later and back home, pick up the sling shots we bought in Luang Prebang and down to the beach for a lesson. No doubt, memories are made of moments like these.  Standing on the shores of this stunning lake teaching my two boys how to skim stones and shoot gings.  What a great day.

Charlie seems ready

Time for "thread the needle"

Or not!!

26/02/13

Thought I would take the kayak out today and paddle to Corner Peak. It lies about 10kms away on the right side of the lake at the base of the Grandview Mountain ranges. Half an hour there, pull up onto the deserted shore, explore a bit then a casual paddle back.  Hhmm, it was like paddling in the Twilight Zone . After 45 minutes, had I moved at all?  It seemed like the water was moving under me. Doomed insects spinning in hopeless circles and floating puffy seed pods folded under the bow of my kayak at more than a brisk walking pace but that damn mountain wasn't getting any closer.

Corner Peak, but it looks so close.

The six holes in the bottom should have told me
 this was not meant for distance

A little over an hour had passed and I reckon there was another thirty to fourty minutes to go. The " little squirt" was only a fun paddler meant for scooting around the shore line. I'd promoted it way past it's abilities and the longer I went the more I was realising this. Time to turn around.  Any wind had now completely dropped and the lake was as flat as a pin.  You could pick out every fold and crease of the mountain, every tree and scattered bush, every lazy cloud in it's perfect reflection.

27/02/13

I wake up to the sound of the house stretching and yawning as the early morning sun starts to warm its old wooden bones. The gentle creaks and pops are joined in a strange chorus  by the early morning song of skylarks and wattle birds camped in the surrounding trees.  The sky is a cloudless pale blue palette through the large picture windows of my bedroom. If I raise my head just a few inches I can see the tops of the neighbours  large pine tree.  The cold jade water of the lake beckons.  Time to throw off the warm embrace off the doona and stretch my own well rested bones, shoulder the "little squirt" and go for a paddle.

I chose not to set my sites too high today and opted for a paddle out to Round Hill on the left of the lake, only a 40 minute effort as it turned out. There were scattered sheep grazing up its steep sides seemingly fond of the top leaves of some specific plant they were all chewing on. On the northern side of the hill there was a small nook, like a giant axe had fallen and cleaved a wedge shape gap in the side of the hill.  My little kayak fitted perfectly. I wedged it in and climbed a few metres up the shale cliff to a small flat rock, and sat. And sat some more. 

I found my stride on the paddle back, my muscles warmed by the sun and my trip over. Before I knew it I was sliding into the crunchy shoreline, grabbing my towel, shouldering the " little squirt" and heading up for breakfast.

28/02/13

The reprieve from our touring schedule has been a most welcome relief to all off us. Life by the Lake is casual and unhurried, we come and go at our leisure. A walk along the winding lakeside track, a slow  paddle on the calm water or some yoga in the warm morning sun on the old warped boards of the balcony.  No tour guides waiting patiently in the lobby, no breakfast service to rush too lest we miss our inclusive buffet brekky, no early morning flights to catch. We rise when we wake, we eat when we're hungry and we turn the lights out when we're ready. Time to breath and reflect and ready ourselves for the next adventure. 

We were all feeling like doing a little something today so after lunch we headed to Stuart Landsboroughs Puzzling World just on the outskirts of Wanaka.

But.. but....but....

 It has the worlds first 3D maze and its a damn nasty piece of works. There is the "standard maze" version, 30 to 60 minutes or the "advance maze" version, 60 to 90 minutes. Thankfully we opted for the standard version as it was approaching mid afternoon and heating up a bit.  Seventy minutes later, Callum is the only one out and sitting in the air-conditioned comfort of the puzzle room. The rest of us are trapped. The sun seems at it's peak, it's sweltering, sweat is cascading down the back of our necks and we're not helping our cause by trying to stay in the shady parts. We've  found our way to the four main towers but the final escape gate is eluding us. I'm not sure we can hold out much longer.  Already Chinese tourists are sneaking under maze partitions for a quick way out and a Dutch guy has his girlfriend on his shoulders looking for some semblance of direction. 

oohh yes, it may look like just an innocent set of stairs..

There are some emergency exit gates but damn it we cant even find those.  As desperation takes hold and the thought of the final indignity crosses my mind, do we follow the Chinese under the fence, we come across an emergency gate. There is no discussion, no second thought, we bolt through the exit and straight into the air-conditioned relief of the cafe. Ohh, we may have neglected to tell Callum we had to use an emergency exit too.  The shame would have been too much to bear.  The Maze of Death aside, Puzzling World is a great place to kill a few hours. The highlight was probably the tilting room where everything looks like its leaning down but it's actually leaning upwards.  Running water and pool balls seem to defy gravity and run up hill. It's very odd. Oh yeh, the loos are worth checking out too.

Kids, dont try this at home

Damn paparazzi are everywhere, 

2/02/13

Today I had a brief conversation with Sharron, the friend of Christina's who owns this beautiful lake side house. It would appear that this becalmed jewel has a nasty side and a deadly past. The vagaries of being a glacial valley with towering mountainous ranges means that along with the prettiness comes an unpredictability.  There are certain times of the year when the weather that whips down through the mountain passes can turn.  It turns quickly and it turns badly.  Within fifteen minutes a casual paddle can turn into a serious struggle.  In fifteen to thirty minutes the high cold winds that can course down through the valleys can whip up waves that will pound you to the very bottom of the lake. Waves big enough that the nearest shore would be lost to you and the struggle would be to simply keep your craft afloat or give yourself over to the lake. On a calm flat day, if you are anywhere near the middle of the lake you are sixty to ninety minutes from the nearest piece of land. On the day I went out into the middle Christina couldn't even find me with binoculars.  Sharon says she has pictures of waves on the lake that big that they were surfing them with boogie boards.

In August of 2011 a young German tourist working as a chef at the Lake Hawea Hotel borrowed a kayak to fish for trout on the lake. He left at 10.30am and after taking a couple of hours to reach the middle of the lake texted a friend to say he was about to start fishing.  That was the last anyone heard from him.  The weather came up but not till much later in the afternoon when it was assumed he was long back on shore. Later it would be reported that mid afternoon as the weather started to change people did see what could have been flashes of sun reflecting off a wet paddle. At 9.30am the next morning he hadn't shown for work. The alarm was raised and a search was commenced. His kayak and paddle were later found, in two separate locations not far from the shores that we swam at. His body was never recovered. He was not wearing a life jacket .

Unlike the ocean where the waves would be pummelling you from one general direction, being in the lake, when it is in a frenzy, would be akin to being in a mixing bowl, bashed from one side to the next with no idea where to turn. It would not take long to weary the most competent of swimmers and once the chilly waters had you, they would not let you go.  I'm glad she told me all this after I'd been out in the middle myself otherwise I may have had second thoughts. It is a harsh reminder to not be lulled into feeling too comfortable by the beguiling beauty and calm surface that Mother Nature presents.  These glorious mountains with their shadowy peaks that I lazily gaze at whenever I choose, would have been the same mountains, and the last things, that 25 year old Rene Weisswange would have seen the day the Lake took him.