Two Years in KiwiLand: January 2009

Monday, January 26, 2009

Redneck BBQ

As mentioned in the previous entry, on Sunday, the group decided to go to a local river (Retaruke River) to hang out, swim, barbecue and try some fly fishing for some trout. This was a great way to relax after all of the hiking from the previous day, and a good opportunity to soak my blisters in the cool water. Steve taught me and Jeremy how to fly fish...well, he was a great instructor, but I don't think we were the best students. I had to untangle my line about 100 times including getting it unwound from the tree branches. Steve is a very patient person though and offered to take us out again sometime - looking forward to it. I've added this post because I previously didn't have very many pictures from the Redneck Barbecue. Deon was kind enough to share some of hers. Steve and Deon have a great blog about their time in NZ as well if you want to check it out. In the meantime, enjoy the pictures as she took some great ones.

Me firing up the BBQ under the bridge- this thing has been put to great use since I've been here.

Doesn't that just make you hungry??

Steve teaching Jeremy how to fly fish

Steve teaching me to cast

Look at that form...perfect

Steve showing me how it's really done

Me and Jeremy attempting to throw Chi in the River

Jeremy lost the hotdog skipping bet so he had to be the first to jump in

Me in a candid pose - beer in hand

On the drive home we saw these Red Deer - look at the size of those racks!

A well-deserved meal and some drinks to complete a great relaxing day

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Tongariro Crossing (24 - 26 Jan)

We had a long weekend in Auckland as it was the Auckland Anniversary Weekend. I went with a group of 12 friends from work down to make another attempt at the Tongariro Crossing. This was the same trip that Dan and I attempted to do over the Christmas Holiday (see link) but did not finish due to terrible weather. This time around, it was a completely different story - the weather was absolutely beautiful.

We caught the 7:00 bus on Saturday morning from the lodge we were staying at (The Park) to take us to the beginning of the hike. We set off around 7:30 and were up to the South Crater by around 9:30 (this was the point where Dan and I turned back last time). This time, there was hardly any wind and we had bright blue skies. It was a pretty tough uphill hike to the South Crater which turned a few of the group off to the next idea, but 6 of us (me, James, Jeremy, Paul, Jacco, and Michelle) decided to try to hike up Mount Ngauruhoe which was Mt. Doom in the Lord of the Rings movies. In an earlier post, I said that Mount Ruapehu (which was right next door) was Mt. Doom, but just found out that it was actually Mt. Ngauruhoe.

Anyway, hiking up Mt. Doom was one of the toughest things I've done in recent memory. There was a lot of loose gravel and some larger rocks that made it difficult to navigate. It wasn't actually mountain climbing like with pick axes and stuff, but most of the time we had to use our hands to pull us along up the mountain (scrambling). It took about two hours to get to the top (2,291 meters which is 7,520 feet), but the view was certainly worth it. We could see for miles. The climb was tiring and my leg muscles kept cramping up - I think I was pretty dehydrated since I drank about 2 liters of water on the way up. There was still a good bit of snow at the top then another 10 minute climb up loose lava rocks to the actual crater. We were able to stand along the edge of the volcanic crater which was a little unnerving but really cool as well. There was a lot of steam coming up from the rocks around us.

After admiring the views for a bit, we had to get back down. This was much easier. We were able to scree down the entire side of the mountain. This was basically like skiing down the loose rocks in our shoes. It was pretty fun, but I fell a couple times and cut up my legs and arms a bit.

Afterwards, we continued on and met up with the others at the Emerald Lakes. These were really pretty lakes a colorful turquoise bluish color from all of the minerals. We stopped for a bit for some food then continued on as we had to catch our bus home at 4:30. We made it the rest of the 19 km with just a few minutes to spare.

The following day, the group decided to go to a local river (Retaruke River) to hang out, swim, barbecue and try some fly fishing for some trout. One of the guys, Steve, is into fly fishing and had a few extra rods so he taught us. Unfortunately, we didn't catch anything but had a great relaxing day hanging out like bums under a bridge by the river drinking beers, barbecuing, and taking dips in the swimming hole. The whole weekend was very relaxing with beautiful weather and a great group of people. Looking forward to the next long weekend two weeks from now.

UPDATE: Have a look at my friends' Steve and Deon's Blog for some really great pictures of the trip. Deon is a photographer and she took some amazing pictures.

Group shot at start of trek (From Left: Paul Cheshire, Fiona Finlay, Paula Kilcolm, Jeremy Ciaccia, Erin Ciaccia, Jacco Moison, Me, Stephen James, Chi Le, Deon James, Michelle Christensen, Mike Gray, Tara Gray, James Casey)

Mt. Ruapehu

Rock formations on the beginning of the Tongariro Crossing hike

Mt. Ngauruhoe (This was actually Mt. Doom but couldn't see it well last time due to heavy cloud cover)

Almost up to the South Crater where we would begin the hike up Mt. Doom

Everyone made it to the South Crater and stopped for a bite to eat

Me at the South Crater with Mt. Doom in the background (this is the same place where I was a few weeks ago when it was freezing cold and winds of 80km / hour. The video on earlier post of me talking was taken on the other side of the rock I'm sitting on. Completely different weather this time).

James and Jeremy taking a break on the hike up Mt. Doom

Paul and me hiking up the mountain

Finally almost to the top of Mt. Doom where we started to see snow

View from the top. South Crater is down below where the light brown patches are.

Me finally making it to the top of the Crater.

Group shot posing at the top

View inside the crater

Me at the Summit

Inside the crater again.

Continuing the journey (the mountain we just climbed is the one in the background)

Red Crater

Blue Lake

Emerald Lakes

Emerald Lake

Steve teaching how to fly fish.

Redneck Barbecue under the bridge

Mt. Ruapehu

Me calling AA when my radiator boiled over. The guy fixed it in about 1 minute when it turned out the hoses were backwards or something.

Ski lifts up Mt. Ruapehu

Skiwi sign with Mt. Ruapehu in the background

Sunday, January 18, 2009

New Zealand Badminton

The New Zealand rugby team, which is one of the best in the world, is known as the All Blacks.

The other mens sports played in New Zealand have names with reference to the All Blacks. For example, the cricket team is the Black Caps, softball is the Black Socks, and the men's basketball team is the Tall Blacks. One of my friends from work was telling me that the men's badminton team name followed suit and was named after the shuttlecock used in badminton. I thought for sure it was a joke, but apparently not. See for yourself...only in New Zealand, I guess:

New Zealand Badminton team article.

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Christmas Break (Days 10 & 11)

Unfortunately, our trip was now winding down. We checked out Lake Rotorua a bit on the morning of the 2nd of Jan. and played around in the hot pools underneath the sand then headed over to the Ruck & Mall (a gambling joint / sports bar) where we were hoping to catch the Rose Bowl. Fortunately, they were able to get the game on for us; unfortunately, Penn State lost which put a bit of a damper on the already rainy day. It was just me and Dan surrounded by a bunch of degenerate gamblers who were there at 10AM already betting on horse races.

After the depressing loss, we hit the road back towards Auckland. On the way back to Auckland, I took Dan up to Mt. Eden (an old volcano in Auckland that is the highest point in the city which appeared in a previous post). Afterwards, we headed on back to my place and were out after a couple episodes of True Life on the TV. It was kind of nice to be back to the conveniences of my apartment but a shame that the trip was over.

Jan. 3 was Dan's last day. We pretty much just relaxed and watched other college bowl games on TV as it was another rainy day. That evening before Dan's flight, we went over to Paul and Fiona's flat for a little get-together, so Dan was at least able to meet some of my friends over here. I took him to the airport at around 8:30 to catch his 10:30 flight back home to the U.S. It was great having him out here as my first visitor to NZ and we had a fantastic holiday - well, back to work on Monday and looking forward to the next vacation.

View out over Lake Rotorua

Me digging into the hot (very hot) sand at Lake Rotorua

One of the annoying birds at the Holiday Park that sounded like a Pterodactyl screaming all night long

Watching the Rose Bowl while it was still early and we still had hope

Dan on Mt. Eden with a view out over Auckland City

The crater at Mt. Eden

This tree is a Pohutukawa which is also known as a New Zealand Christmas Tree as the red flowers bloom each year at Christmas time

This is about the extent of my beard growth for the trip. Unfortunately, I've shaved it off already since I have to go back to work (sorry, ladies).

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Christmas Break (Day 9)

Happy New Year! Dan and I woke up at 6:30 this morning in order to pack up, make breakfast, and get into the town of Whakapapa Village to catch our bus to the start of the Tongariro Crossing at 8:00. As usual, we were a bit late pulling in at 8:05, but luckily the bus was still there. We made it to the start of the 15 - 20 KM track (not sure of the correct distance because every brochure said something different) and set out on our way. The weather forecast said it would be pretty windy but we thought they must have been wrong as everything seemed fine. It was overcast, but that was supposed to clear up in a few hours. We saw a bunch of people turning back who said it was too windy and cloudy up near the top to continue but we wanted to see for ourselves so we carried on up the huge sloping trail (with many 1 minute breaks along the way). Once we got to the top, we could understand where they were coming from. The visibility was only about 10 feet due to the clouds and the wind was blowing at about 80 Km/Hour from what we were told. We probably could have carried on as many other people did, but since we couldn't even see much, we decided to head back. Our bus driver came back (I think he was a bit annoyed but we were only a couple of many people who turned back). He was pretty rude and only would take the people back that he drove up although there were many others that used his company waiting there. Oh well, Dan and I got back OK.

From there, we set off towards Rotorua where we planned to spend the night. Along the way, we made our first stop at the Tokaanu Thermal Pools walk. We were going to go for a dip, but the bathing pools were closed. We were, however, able to still take the walk. It was a short 20 minute track around a geothermal area where we saw lots of hot thermal pools and bubbling mud. We tested the water by dipping our fingers in it and they almost burnt off it was so hot. Pretty cool to see, though.

From there, we made a quick stop at the Huka Falls near Lake Taupo that Dan really wanted to see because approximately 200,000 liters per second flow through. It was a bit of a let-down though as it wasn't so much of a waterfall as it was a very strong river flowing downwards. The water was a pretty blue, though. At least we didn't have to hike to see it.

From there we hurried to the Orakei Korako Thermal Park that we read about in our Lonely Planet travel book. This is a big geothermal area where there are many geysers, a historic cave, hot springs, and boiling mud. It was really pretty with all sorts of mineral deposits, beautiful blue hot springs, and orange thermal algae. We strolled around for about an hour getting a bunch of good pictures. Unfortunately, none of the larger geysers went off while we were there, but we did see a couple smaller ones shooting up water.

Afterwards, we continued on to Rotorua which is a well-known town for all of its geothermal activity. The park - Kuirau - right in the middle of town has a bunch of hot springs and boiling mud with a few thermal pools that we were able to dip our mosquito-bite covered legs in for some relief. The whole town of Rotorua stinks like sulfur from all of the geothermal activity.

We stayed at the Cosy Cottage Holiday Park where we camped again. It was right next to a boiling stream and Lake Rotorua which has hot springs under the sand that you can dig into to make your personal hot tub. We grabbed a bite to eat and a couple of drinks at the Pig & Whistle bar in town which used to be the old police station before calling it a night after an eventful day.