First off, apologies for the long delay in posting. As you'll read, Adam and I have been busy off-the-beaten-track ...
We didn't end up doing the Tongariro Crossing, as hoped. The Crossing is currently open to independent hikers, but closed to guided groups due to access issues involving private landowners. (To our surprise, it seems not everything in national parks is government owned.) And, the Crossing is still covered by ice and snow, with a 'moderate' avalanche risk, so it requires avalanche-related equipment, crampons, and ice axes (which are not for climbing but for self-arrest should you slip and start falling down the mountain!). Adam and I thought that it was just a wee bit too dangerous for us to attempt this without a guide, and certainly not relaxing. We were also told that since the whole Crossing is covered in ice and snow, we wouldn't actually get to see much of the incredible volcano-created thermal landscape that is the main attraction. That was the kicker for us -- we'd seen enough ice and snow in Toronto this winter -- and so decided on another day tramp. We did the Tama Lakes trek, which was a beautiful 5 hour hike between two of the three volcanoes, mostly above the tree line, through alpine tussock grassland. The highlight of the day though was seeing Mount Taranki, which is several hundred kilometres away. It was poking out of clounds that obscured everything around it, so it appeared completely unconnected from the ground below. It reminded me of the mythical Mount Olympus, home of the greek gods.
After our day of hiking in Tongariro National Park, Adam and I quickly changed our clothes, loaded into the van, and drove south. The night before it was very, very cold in the park and hence, very, very cold in the van overnight, and we were determined not to freeze again. We ended up driving all the way to Martinborough, in the south end of the North Island. It looks like a long way on the map, but was only about 5 hours drive. (Distances just aren't the same in NZ as Canada ...)
Although you may not have heard about Martinborough, it is one of NZ's main wine regions. The wineries there are all quite small, boutique style, and the region as a whole doesn't produce nearly as many bottles as Hawkes' Bay, Marlborough or Otago, but the emphasis is on quality. Also, a real attraction of Martinborough is that there are more than a dozen wineries that are within walking distance of the town centre. So on Sunday morning, our hosts at Martinborough Village Camping (an amazing little campground, btw) dropped us off 5 km away at one of the further vineyards, and left us to walk back to the campground, stopping for tastings and food along the way. What can I say, it was an excellent day. We visited 11 vineyards in all (we just couldn't handle any more than that) and tasted more wine than I thought possible in a short period of time. Martinborough (like most of NZ) excels at white wine, but also pinot noir, and Adam and I were in heaven tasting/drinking high-quality pinot, including several vertical tastings that were a real treat. At Vynfiends, we even managed to convince them to part with a bottle of their 2003 pinot, which was part of a special vertical tasting but was 'not for sale'. (Adam is now going to have to grill up a worthy dinner to accompany it.) The weather was also great, as Martinborough is one of the driest places on the North Island. Windy, but dry.
The following day (Monday), we had to leave Martinborough and head to Wellington. There wasn't much point in staying - the whole town seemed to have shut down after the weekend, and Adam and I were also moving slowly after our indulgences of the previous day. But we were almost immediately saddened upon arriving in Wellington - the weather was yucky and it was unfathomably windy. Literally, wind that could knock you over. (Wellington is the windiest city in the southern hemisphere, aparently.) In Wellington, we did go to the Te Papa museum, which is quite interesting, and worth a trip even for the non-museum types (like Adam). I got a final fix of Burger Fuel. And that's about all I can say that's positive. I'm sure Wellington is great, but the weather was so nasty (with no hope of changing) and our stay at a hostel there so horrible, that we decided to book a ferry ticket and cross the Cook Strait to the South Island.
And on the South Island, with one exception, we've had sunshine! It's still a wee bit cold (about 15 C in Nelson today), but sunny and beautiful. As soon as we arrived in the port town of Picton, which is quite nice itself, we started making arrangements to do the 4-day Queen Charlotte Track, located in the Marlborough Sounds along the north-east coast of the South Island. We also made a short side trip to Blenheim, the centre of the Marlborough wine region (although we restrained ourselves and only visited 3 wineries, in part because one of us had to drive).
The Queen Charlotte Track (QCT) is 71km long and travels (roughly) along a ridge between the Queen Charlotte and Kenepurhu sounds. Trampers take a 1 hour water taxi to the beginning of the track, then another water taxi from the end back to Picton. Happily, this was not a trek which requires tents. Throughout the track, there are lodges where trekkers can stay and the accomodations range from backpacker hostels to premium chalets. The first night we stayed in a backpacker room with a double, the second night we ended up (to our surprise) having our own cottage, and the third night we stayed at an eco-lodge and ended up with an upgraded suite as hardly anyone else was there. Not exactly roughing it.....We cooked our own meals in the shared kitchens at each of the lodges save for the last night where we treated ourselves to a fantastic meal at the eco-lodge (Lochmara Lodge). We also did some sea kayaking at Lochmara and soaked in their hot tub. The whole track, and especially Lochmara Lodge, are highly recommended. Where else can you walk through the woods all day, then enjoy a sunny afternoon sipping great Sav Blanc and eating phenomenal food? (If you don't fancy the walk, you can take a water taxi to any of the lodges.)
We did have rain on our last day of the tramp (although I had made a deal with the rain gods that if it held out for the first few days, I wouldn't complain about rain on the last day), and ended up cold and wet by the time the water taxi arrived in Anakiwa to pick us up and take us back to Picton. After a quick coffee in Picton, we bolted to Nelson, where the weather is once again sunny, and we are catching up on email and gathering supplies (i.e. food) for our trip into the Abel Tasman National Park/Golden Bay area where we will be rock climbing in Paynes Ford and trekking on the Abel Tasman Coastal Track.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Friday, September 19, 2008
Central North Island
From Wharepapa, Adam and I headed to Roturua for a day of rest. Roturua is a 'thermal' area, with hot springs, bubbling mud, and geysers created as a result of the volcanic and geological activity in the area. Some of the locals refer to it as Roto-vegas, however, giving you some sense of how tourism has affected these natural phenomena. (Although I don't think that's really fair to Las Vegas ...) Our first stop after a long overdue internet spree was a city park that includes several areas of bubbling mud, hot pools, and steam. Unsurprisingly, (if you know Adam), he was rather unimpressed. He quickly divised a 3 step recipe to replicate the 'attractions' of Roturua: 1. boil some water; 2. add mud; 3. fart, a lot, preferably after eating eggs. Okay, it's a bit crude, but remarkably accurate. Roturua does smell quite bad, and needless to say, after Adam's assessment of the thermal phenomena at the city park, we did not go to any of the over-priced thermal theme parks in the area. Instead, we opted to spend the afternoon soaking away our climbing pains in the Polynesian Spa, which has beautiful stone lined pools of hot minearl water set on the edge of Lake Roturua. Not a bad way to spend the day.
The next day we drove south to Lake Taupo, a mere hour away. Although there was copious fog and cloud in the morning and it had rained overnight, we were cautiously optimistic that the weather forecast for sun would bear out. Fortunately, it did. (I've since accepted that looking outside in the morning is a very poor predictor of the day's weather, in New Zealand.) By noon we were in the lakeside community of Kinloch, and hiking a small trail through the forest to remote Kawakawa Bay, for more climbing. It is a beautiful 1 1/2 hour walk, in and of itself, as you're hiking through the hills with periodic look-outs over the lake, with the three snow-capped volcanoes of Tongariro National Park in the distance. But as access to a climbing area, it's epic! We did a few climbs in the bay, which were worth the scrambling through dense forest and onto precarious ledges to belay, because from the top, there were great views out over the whole lake. And we ended up having the best weather of the trip so far, it was sunny and warm and maybe even 18 C. Adam discovered how hard a 22 (5.11) slab can be. We did leave the bay a little later than we had wanted, and the sun was going down as we hiked out of the bay and over the first ridge. It made for a beautiful sunset, but a long, cold, and dark walk back to the van and civilization.
Back in Taupo, we had some Burger Fuel to recover, and stayed at a 'Thermal Resort' - a hot springs park with attached hotel, motel, cabins, campsite, etc. It was a very nice place and the cheapest campground we had stayed at until that point. Adam especially enjoyed the proper BBQ with a cover, as most of the BBQs we've encountered have had no lid. Overall, Taupo is a relaxing, cute little town that I reminds me a tiny bit of Penticton.
Yesterday we braved the bad weather to drive north-east, backtracking a bit, to go climbing in Mangakeowa, a new area near Waitomo that has been called the Payne's Ford of the North Island. The rock here is very overhung, which means that the rock is dry, even while it's raining. Unfortunately, the access trail was very wet and muddy, and while the rock was dry, it was quite cold. It's difficult to hold onto rock when you can't feel your fingers. Adam had some fun on a overhanging arete, and I discovered how different crack climbing is on 'French Ethics', a clear trad line that has been bolted.
Today we're off to Tongariro National Park, home to those three volcanoes I mentioned earlier, as well as the Tongariro Crossing, which is called the best one-day hike in New Zealand. Right now, we're unsure whether we will get to do the Crossing. NZ has had huge amounts of snow this past winter, and the Crossing is still covered with snow and there is avalanche risk in some areas. As a result, a guided trip would be necessary, and we've heard that there are some access issues that might prevent guided groups from doing the Crossing. An alternative is to do the 'Traverse', another all day hike in the area, but for now we're keeping our fingers crossed.
Cheers,
Robin
The next day we drove south to Lake Taupo, a mere hour away. Although there was copious fog and cloud in the morning and it had rained overnight, we were cautiously optimistic that the weather forecast for sun would bear out. Fortunately, it did. (I've since accepted that looking outside in the morning is a very poor predictor of the day's weather, in New Zealand.) By noon we were in the lakeside community of Kinloch, and hiking a small trail through the forest to remote Kawakawa Bay, for more climbing. It is a beautiful 1 1/2 hour walk, in and of itself, as you're hiking through the hills with periodic look-outs over the lake, with the three snow-capped volcanoes of Tongariro National Park in the distance. But as access to a climbing area, it's epic! We did a few climbs in the bay, which were worth the scrambling through dense forest and onto precarious ledges to belay, because from the top, there were great views out over the whole lake. And we ended up having the best weather of the trip so far, it was sunny and warm and maybe even 18 C. Adam discovered how hard a 22 (5.11) slab can be. We did leave the bay a little later than we had wanted, and the sun was going down as we hiked out of the bay and over the first ridge. It made for a beautiful sunset, but a long, cold, and dark walk back to the van and civilization.
Back in Taupo, we had some Burger Fuel to recover, and stayed at a 'Thermal Resort' - a hot springs park with attached hotel, motel, cabins, campsite, etc. It was a very nice place and the cheapest campground we had stayed at until that point. Adam especially enjoyed the proper BBQ with a cover, as most of the BBQs we've encountered have had no lid. Overall, Taupo is a relaxing, cute little town that I reminds me a tiny bit of Penticton.
Yesterday we braved the bad weather to drive north-east, backtracking a bit, to go climbing in Mangakeowa, a new area near Waitomo that has been called the Payne's Ford of the North Island. The rock here is very overhung, which means that the rock is dry, even while it's raining. Unfortunately, the access trail was very wet and muddy, and while the rock was dry, it was quite cold. It's difficult to hold onto rock when you can't feel your fingers. Adam had some fun on a overhanging arete, and I discovered how different crack climbing is on 'French Ethics', a clear trad line that has been bolted.
Today we're off to Tongariro National Park, home to those three volcanoes I mentioned earlier, as well as the Tongariro Crossing, which is called the best one-day hike in New Zealand. Right now, we're unsure whether we will get to do the Crossing. NZ has had huge amounts of snow this past winter, and the Crossing is still covered with snow and there is avalanche risk in some areas. As a result, a guided trip would be necessary, and we've heard that there are some access issues that might prevent guided groups from doing the Crossing. An alternative is to do the 'Traverse', another all day hike in the area, but for now we're keeping our fingers crossed.
Cheers,
Robin
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Gluten-free in NZ
For anyone who is curious how I'm surviving in New Zealand, in terms of food, I've found NZ to be surprisingly gluten-aware and glutard-friendly. The first few days in Auckland were very promising, as the first grocery store we went to had an embarassingly large selection of GF bread (none of which was frozen!) and every grocery store I've been too, even the discount ones, have had some kind of GF bread available. I was able to have the infamous 'mushrooms on toast' at Dizengoff in the Ponsonby area of Auckland (thanks Matt + Ally for the recommendation) because they had gluten free bread available. The trend continued with many cafes and restaurants having GF options or at the very least labelling their GF items as being GF. Even in the middle of nowhere, at a climber's cafe in Wharepapa South, they had a GF feta and spinach pasta pie which was crazy delicious.
And then there's Burger Fuel ... which we literally stumbled upon in Auckland. Burger Fuel would be an amazing find for anyone who loves burgers. They make big, juicy burgers (beef, chicken, fish and veg) fresh to order with 'real' ingredients, homemade toppings (like aioli), and have great fries. It's not really fast food, as it usually takes about 10 minutes to get your burger, but it's not exactly a restaurant either. But it's how a burger should be. And, best of all ... get this ... they have gluten free burger buns! Yes, that's right, not hard, dry biscuit type buns like you find in Canada or gummy rice bread, but real burger buns that you could market under the slogan you-won't-believe-it's-gluten-free. The first time I ate one I had to keep checking my burger bun against Adam's burger bun to ensure that mine was different and they hadn't simply made a mistake and it was a regular bun, because it tasted so good. And that's when I realized that this was the first real burger that I had eaten in years.
Not that I don't make good burgers (word is I make great burgers), but I can never really enjoy the complete experience because I'm either using rice bread, or a crappy biscuit type bun or no bread at all and just covering the burger and toppings with my patented roasted-pepper-toque contraption. This was the real burger deal.
Needless to say, we've eaten at Burger Fuel a lot. I've made Adam stop the Spaceship (van) at just about every Burger Fuel we see ... two more in subburban Auckland (one on the way out to Northland, and one on the way back), Rotorua, and Taupo. There's Burger Fuel in Wellington and since sadly, there are no Burger Fuel outlets on the South Island, you better believe I'll be getting my Burger Fuel fix in Wellington before I get on that ferry.
But I think I'll manage on the South Island in any event. It's striking that so far, at almost any cafe, coffee shop, or restauarant, I can walk in and ask if something is GF and the staff knows. They often don't even have to check with the kitchen - they know. GF options are almost invariably available, and yummy. Canada, it's time to catch up.
And then there's Burger Fuel ... which we literally stumbled upon in Auckland. Burger Fuel would be an amazing find for anyone who loves burgers. They make big, juicy burgers (beef, chicken, fish and veg) fresh to order with 'real' ingredients, homemade toppings (like aioli), and have great fries. It's not really fast food, as it usually takes about 10 minutes to get your burger, but it's not exactly a restaurant either. But it's how a burger should be. And, best of all ... get this ... they have gluten free burger buns! Yes, that's right, not hard, dry biscuit type buns like you find in Canada or gummy rice bread, but real burger buns that you could market under the slogan you-won't-believe-it's-gluten-free. The first time I ate one I had to keep checking my burger bun against Adam's burger bun to ensure that mine was different and they hadn't simply made a mistake and it was a regular bun, because it tasted so good. And that's when I realized that this was the first real burger that I had eaten in years.
Not that I don't make good burgers (word is I make great burgers), but I can never really enjoy the complete experience because I'm either using rice bread, or a crappy biscuit type bun or no bread at all and just covering the burger and toppings with my patented roasted-pepper-toque contraption. This was the real burger deal.
Needless to say, we've eaten at Burger Fuel a lot. I've made Adam stop the Spaceship (van) at just about every Burger Fuel we see ... two more in subburban Auckland (one on the way out to Northland, and one on the way back), Rotorua, and Taupo. There's Burger Fuel in Wellington and since sadly, there are no Burger Fuel outlets on the South Island, you better believe I'll be getting my Burger Fuel fix in Wellington before I get on that ferry.
But I think I'll manage on the South Island in any event. It's striking that so far, at almost any cafe, coffee shop, or restauarant, I can walk in and ask if something is GF and the staff knows. They often don't even have to check with the kitchen - they know. GF options are almost invariably available, and yummy. Canada, it's time to catch up.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Pictures from Northland ... not yet
Our attempts to post pictures have so far met with zero success. It seems the internet connections here aren't fast enough to load our photos in any kind of numbers (and we have lots of pictures we want to share). We're in Rotorua for the next few days, so hopefully we will have the time and resources to figure this out. Until then, I will say that it's incredibly green here, with rolling hills and lots of baby sheep!
Cheers,
Robin
Cheers,
Robin
Northland/Wharepapa Update!
Hello everyone! Its been a full week since we've had interweb access so I'm going to update our progress. Its long so I apologize in advance....
We left Auckland last Monday in our "spaceship" (also known as a campervan) and headed north to the town of Whangarei where along the way we stopped at a couple of wineries and made sure their wine was of decent quality! ;-) We spent the night in Whangarei (pronounced "Fangarei"). Our first night sleeping in the van was interesting. Remarkably comfortable and warm under the duvet but pretty cold once you throw the cover off. I'm pretty sure I woke up about 5 or 6 times being the light sleeper I am. That and that it has rained off and on since we arrived. (Sept 14th was our first full day without any rain)...
The following day we drove north and found to one more winery just outside the beautiful resort town of Paihia. Its not summer yet here so although the weather is nice (15-20 during the day when its not raining), very few tourists were in the area. The winery was amazing and we ended up enjoying a lunch on their terrace overlooking the vineyards. The interesting thing about wineries here is that there are palm trees growing around the property; something you don't normally see in other wineries around the world.
We spent the night in another motor camp just north of the area and had a wonderful mosquito experience. Pretty sure I killed about 20 or so mosquitoes before sleeping.
The following day we drove all the way to the northern tip of New Zealand to Cape Reinga. This is where the Pacific Ocean meets the Tasman Sea. Its very cool to see exactly where the two currents meet in the water and cause the waters to swell in every direction. The wind was also blasting here at about 60+ km/h so we didn't spend to much time as it got cold real fast. We drove back down the peninsula and stopped along Ninety Mile Beach. This stretch of sand is actually about 65 miles long. There are tours which start at the south end of the peninsula and drive all the way along the beach until near the top where they connect back onto the main road. Our van is not suited for the terrain but we parked just shy of the beach and walked out along a trail to the main beach. As we arrived at the beach I heard the sounds of engines behind us and we turned to find 5 Police SUV's barrelling down the trail at us. We "jumped" out of the way as they arrived. They stopped and talked to us and explained that they were doing some late day off-road training along the beach. Now at this point I have to add that the tide has come back in and almost any vehicle travelling on the beach would get caught in the water and....well that'd be the end of the vehicle. But these police officers appeared to relish the idea of doing 80 km/h down the beach in their modified SUV's.
We drove south until dark where we had to do an evening ferry crossing then find a camp ground to spend the night. Luckily we found a decent one close to the road and even luckier, we were able to get a decent meal at the hotel nearby. Just to point out, unless you are in the larger cities, most restaurants close by 7:30 outside of the summer and its almost too cold to BBQ at the camp grounds at night so we have been trying to time our dinners right when arriving in new towns.
The following day we drove south to an area which is home to the giant Kauri trees. These trees are the second largest to the giant Redwood Sequoias found in California. We took some perspective shots to show how wide the base of the trees are (13m circumference). But since they are only trees we did not spend too much time as it was raining (what a surprise). We continued onto Auckland where we ended up visiting one of the local climbing gyms. There is very little climbing north of Auckland and I was getting a bit ancy not having climbed in a couple of weeks. The gym was pretty large but after doing a couple of routes we quickly realized the route-setting was not exactly "top-notch". Robin was done after a couple of routes and I followed suit not long after. Since climbing there, I have heard that the route-setting at most NZ gyms is pretty craptacular. After this experience we spent the night just south of Auckland.
This leads us to Friday. We headed south to our first climbing destination; South Wherepapa. This was about a 2.5 hour drive from Auckland. We arrived at a cafe/lodge called Bryce's and this place is clearly the hub of all climbing in the area. Bryce is the owner of the place and he knows every nook and crany of not only the local climbing scene, but almost every crag in NZ. He has a gear store which is probably the best stocked anywhere in NZ.. Luckily we did not forget any gear in Canada as the cost of gear here is at least double what you'd pay for it at home. We decided to spend two nights at the lodge and Bryce hooked us up with all the Beta we needed to get to the first crag calld Froggart Edge. My descriptions will not do any justice to this place so we will hopefully post some pictures soon. The area is in active farmland (as are most climbing areas in NZ) and the rock is a volcanic ignimbrite with tonnes of tendon snapping pockets. We parked and had access to 6-7 different walls within 5 min walking distance. The routes looked pretty exciting and we took note of the "starred" climbs in the guide for the next day. That night we cooked a great pasta dinner and I was able to sample of the phenominal meat pies from Bryce's cafe....damn good!!!
The following morning it was a bit wet early on but by 10am it had dryed out and just before leaving for the crag (3 min drive from Bryce's) we met Sally who is a gear rep and was looking for a partner for the area. She was originally from Auckland and new the crag very well. She joined up with us and off we went to Froggart. We started with a bunch of classic climbs and I had to get my pocket pulling power on pretty quick. The grading in NZ is done using the Australian grade scale (10-3?) and I've seen a couple of differing conversions to the Yosemite scale so I'll just use the local scale. We did a couple of 17's and 18's and then moved onto Monsterpeice Theatre (20) which starts off on a hard slab and moves right into an AWESOME roof section (Tony..think Brokeback Mountain at LH). At one point I had about 25 feet of rope run out on the slab to the roof and Robin was "not too happy with me about it" as a fall would have been a mild disaster . After this we moved over to another wall and I flailed on a classic layback route (Mister Daddy Long Legs) (beta intensive) and then sent the last classic of the day.
That night we had a great BBQ with steak and veggies!
The following day we visiting another crag which was a bit further away. After a muddy walk in we found the rock to be wet and mossy. Clearly it had not been visited by anyone since last fall and was looking a bit rough. If we had been with a "local" it would have been easier but we opted to pass on climbing here just in case we ran into any problems. That and we couldn't see some of the anchors as the forest runs right into cliff with no pathway. The rock is amazing and would be great later in the season. We ended up returing to Froggart and Robin was able to send a couple of routes now that she had been able to get a feel for the type of climbing. I went back to Mister Daddy Long Legs and sent it first go. Felt pretty good after good. There were other people there on the last route we wanted to do and we ended up bailing as there were a couple of them waiting in line to TR the route. We may be back though....
We left the crag and headed back to Bryce's for a snack and said our goodbyes to Sally and Bryce although I'm quite sure we'll be seeing them before our trip in NZ is over.
We drove to Rotorua which is a resort town built on geothermal vents and found oursevles a motor camp which has heated mineral pools at our disposal. I'm sure we'll make use of them at some point today.
That is pretty much it for the past week! Sorry its been a long post but not having access for a week meant we had a lot to tell! We're hoping the rain has subsided a bit more and we see more sunny days than rainy ones but we prepared for all weather!! Hope all is well with everyone and we'll try to post some pictures soon.
L8r
AC (and Robin)
We left Auckland last Monday in our "spaceship" (also known as a campervan) and headed north to the town of Whangarei where along the way we stopped at a couple of wineries and made sure their wine was of decent quality! ;-) We spent the night in Whangarei (pronounced "Fangarei"). Our first night sleeping in the van was interesting. Remarkably comfortable and warm under the duvet but pretty cold once you throw the cover off. I'm pretty sure I woke up about 5 or 6 times being the light sleeper I am. That and that it has rained off and on since we arrived. (Sept 14th was our first full day without any rain)...
The following day we drove north and found to one more winery just outside the beautiful resort town of Paihia. Its not summer yet here so although the weather is nice (15-20 during the day when its not raining), very few tourists were in the area. The winery was amazing and we ended up enjoying a lunch on their terrace overlooking the vineyards. The interesting thing about wineries here is that there are palm trees growing around the property; something you don't normally see in other wineries around the world.
We spent the night in another motor camp just north of the area and had a wonderful mosquito experience. Pretty sure I killed about 20 or so mosquitoes before sleeping.
The following day we drove all the way to the northern tip of New Zealand to Cape Reinga. This is where the Pacific Ocean meets the Tasman Sea. Its very cool to see exactly where the two currents meet in the water and cause the waters to swell in every direction. The wind was also blasting here at about 60+ km/h so we didn't spend to much time as it got cold real fast. We drove back down the peninsula and stopped along Ninety Mile Beach. This stretch of sand is actually about 65 miles long. There are tours which start at the south end of the peninsula and drive all the way along the beach until near the top where they connect back onto the main road. Our van is not suited for the terrain but we parked just shy of the beach and walked out along a trail to the main beach. As we arrived at the beach I heard the sounds of engines behind us and we turned to find 5 Police SUV's barrelling down the trail at us. We "jumped" out of the way as they arrived. They stopped and talked to us and explained that they were doing some late day off-road training along the beach. Now at this point I have to add that the tide has come back in and almost any vehicle travelling on the beach would get caught in the water and....well that'd be the end of the vehicle. But these police officers appeared to relish the idea of doing 80 km/h down the beach in their modified SUV's.
We drove south until dark where we had to do an evening ferry crossing then find a camp ground to spend the night. Luckily we found a decent one close to the road and even luckier, we were able to get a decent meal at the hotel nearby. Just to point out, unless you are in the larger cities, most restaurants close by 7:30 outside of the summer and its almost too cold to BBQ at the camp grounds at night so we have been trying to time our dinners right when arriving in new towns.
The following day we drove south to an area which is home to the giant Kauri trees. These trees are the second largest to the giant Redwood Sequoias found in California. We took some perspective shots to show how wide the base of the trees are (13m circumference). But since they are only trees we did not spend too much time as it was raining (what a surprise). We continued onto Auckland where we ended up visiting one of the local climbing gyms. There is very little climbing north of Auckland and I was getting a bit ancy not having climbed in a couple of weeks. The gym was pretty large but after doing a couple of routes we quickly realized the route-setting was not exactly "top-notch". Robin was done after a couple of routes and I followed suit not long after. Since climbing there, I have heard that the route-setting at most NZ gyms is pretty craptacular. After this experience we spent the night just south of Auckland.
This leads us to Friday. We headed south to our first climbing destination; South Wherepapa. This was about a 2.5 hour drive from Auckland. We arrived at a cafe/lodge called Bryce's and this place is clearly the hub of all climbing in the area. Bryce is the owner of the place and he knows every nook and crany of not only the local climbing scene, but almost every crag in NZ. He has a gear store which is probably the best stocked anywhere in NZ.. Luckily we did not forget any gear in Canada as the cost of gear here is at least double what you'd pay for it at home. We decided to spend two nights at the lodge and Bryce hooked us up with all the Beta we needed to get to the first crag calld Froggart Edge. My descriptions will not do any justice to this place so we will hopefully post some pictures soon. The area is in active farmland (as are most climbing areas in NZ) and the rock is a volcanic ignimbrite with tonnes of tendon snapping pockets. We parked and had access to 6-7 different walls within 5 min walking distance. The routes looked pretty exciting and we took note of the "starred" climbs in the guide for the next day. That night we cooked a great pasta dinner and I was able to sample of the phenominal meat pies from Bryce's cafe....damn good!!!
The following morning it was a bit wet early on but by 10am it had dryed out and just before leaving for the crag (3 min drive from Bryce's) we met Sally who is a gear rep and was looking for a partner for the area. She was originally from Auckland and new the crag very well. She joined up with us and off we went to Froggart. We started with a bunch of classic climbs and I had to get my pocket pulling power on pretty quick. The grading in NZ is done using the Australian grade scale (10-3?) and I've seen a couple of differing conversions to the Yosemite scale so I'll just use the local scale. We did a couple of 17's and 18's and then moved onto Monsterpeice Theatre (20) which starts off on a hard slab and moves right into an AWESOME roof section (Tony..think Brokeback Mountain at LH). At one point I had about 25 feet of rope run out on the slab to the roof and Robin was "not too happy with me about it" as a fall would have been a mild disaster . After this we moved over to another wall and I flailed on a classic layback route (Mister Daddy Long Legs) (beta intensive) and then sent the last classic of the day.
That night we had a great BBQ with steak and veggies!
The following day we visiting another crag which was a bit further away. After a muddy walk in we found the rock to be wet and mossy. Clearly it had not been visited by anyone since last fall and was looking a bit rough. If we had been with a "local" it would have been easier but we opted to pass on climbing here just in case we ran into any problems. That and we couldn't see some of the anchors as the forest runs right into cliff with no pathway. The rock is amazing and would be great later in the season. We ended up returing to Froggart and Robin was able to send a couple of routes now that she had been able to get a feel for the type of climbing. I went back to Mister Daddy Long Legs and sent it first go. Felt pretty good after good. There were other people there on the last route we wanted to do and we ended up bailing as there were a couple of them waiting in line to TR the route. We may be back though....
We left the crag and headed back to Bryce's for a snack and said our goodbyes to Sally and Bryce although I'm quite sure we'll be seeing them before our trip in NZ is over.
We drove to Rotorua which is a resort town built on geothermal vents and found oursevles a motor camp which has heated mineral pools at our disposal. I'm sure we'll make use of them at some point today.
That is pretty much it for the past week! Sorry its been a long post but not having access for a week meant we had a lot to tell! We're hoping the rain has subsided a bit more and we see more sunny days than rainy ones but we prepared for all weather!! Hope all is well with everyone and we'll try to post some pictures soon.
L8r
AC (and Robin)
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Auckland
Adam and I arrived safe and sound in the wee hours of Thursday morning (local time). It was a long haul to get here -- just over 5 hours to San Francisco and then 13 hours to Auckland after a 2 hour layover. The flights were mostly uneventful, aside from a screaming baby behind us on the red eye (ugh), and surprisingly, both flights arrived early.
Customs in New Zealand was also a breeze, which surprised me, because the Kiwis have a strict biosecurity policy that requires you to declare almost everything, including any food whatsoever (whether processed or not), hiking shoes/boots, any outdoor gear, swimsuits, etc. Needless to say, we had a lot to declare. But after a few questions and looking at the bottom of our shoes, we were on our way.
Auckland is a very pleasant place, sitting in the harbour on the ocean. It reminds me of Vancouver in many ways (there are areas that smack of Coal Harbour and North Vancouver) and also of Britian at the same time. The Kiwis are far more British than we Canadians.
We spent our first day just strolling around, getting our bearings, and fighting the urge to go to sleep. Yesterday was more ambitious, as we headed out to Rangitoto Island to do a hike up to the top of a dormant volcano and a little trek around the island. It was a good hike, but the weather turned foul while we were on the summit. We tried to look at it as a good opportunity to test our rain gear (it performed admirably). Today we're going to stroll and lounge around again, and tomorrow I think Adam is desprete to find some climbing. If the weather doesn't cooperate, I believe he's located some indoor climbing gyms.
We're in Auckland until Monday. Hopefully we'll have a chance to post pics before then.
Cheers. R.
Customs in New Zealand was also a breeze, which surprised me, because the Kiwis have a strict biosecurity policy that requires you to declare almost everything, including any food whatsoever (whether processed or not), hiking shoes/boots, any outdoor gear, swimsuits, etc. Needless to say, we had a lot to declare. But after a few questions and looking at the bottom of our shoes, we were on our way.
Auckland is a very pleasant place, sitting in the harbour on the ocean. It reminds me of Vancouver in many ways (there are areas that smack of Coal Harbour and North Vancouver) and also of Britian at the same time. The Kiwis are far more British than we Canadians.
We spent our first day just strolling around, getting our bearings, and fighting the urge to go to sleep. Yesterday was more ambitious, as we headed out to Rangitoto Island to do a hike up to the top of a dormant volcano and a little trek around the island. It was a good hike, but the weather turned foul while we were on the summit. We tried to look at it as a good opportunity to test our rain gear (it performed admirably). Today we're going to stroll and lounge around again, and tomorrow I think Adam is desprete to find some climbing. If the weather doesn't cooperate, I believe he's located some indoor climbing gyms.
We're in Auckland until Monday. Hopefully we'll have a chance to post pics before then.
Cheers. R.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Last full day...
Well, it's our last full day in Canada before we depart for NZ. Today will be a full day of packing our backpacks as well as packing all of our clothes which we are not taking. I hope my clothes survive 7 months in boxes. Otherwise my trip clothes will become a more permanent wardrobe.
I am, surprisingly, not feeling any nervousness but that may have something to do with the lack of coffee this morning. I'm hoping that I don't have to give up my coffee habit while travelling too much but I'd better get used to not having a fresh cup of espresso every morning...and Robin had better get used to not having it brought to her in bed!!
Yesterday we finalized our decision on our method of transportation for New Zealand. I'm not going to post what it is until we've arrived and have some pictures to post along with it.
I wish I had been able to get in a bit more climbing over the past week but organizing and packing for this trip has been a full time job! Not really a big deal though as Auckland has an abundance of amazing granite very close to the city. I will definitely need to print out a grade conversion chart; Australian grading to Yosemite grading. I don't want to try to warm up on some 12b and not realize it until having blown a tendon. That and I don't think Robin will appreciate it either.
Not sure if either of us will be posting anything else until we arrive so I will sign off by saying...SEE YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD!!! :-)
AC
I am, surprisingly, not feeling any nervousness but that may have something to do with the lack of coffee this morning. I'm hoping that I don't have to give up my coffee habit while travelling too much but I'd better get used to not having a fresh cup of espresso every morning...and Robin had better get used to not having it brought to her in bed!!
Yesterday we finalized our decision on our method of transportation for New Zealand. I'm not going to post what it is until we've arrived and have some pictures to post along with it.
I wish I had been able to get in a bit more climbing over the past week but organizing and packing for this trip has been a full time job! Not really a big deal though as Auckland has an abundance of amazing granite very close to the city. I will definitely need to print out a grade conversion chart; Australian grading to Yosemite grading. I don't want to try to warm up on some 12b and not realize it until having blown a tendon. That and I don't think Robin will appreciate it either.
Not sure if either of us will be posting anything else until we arrive so I will sign off by saying...SEE YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD!!! :-)
AC
Preparing for Departure
I'm always anxious before leaving on a big trip. It's a mix of excited anticipation for another great adventure, and serious anxiety about what could and should be done before we take off. It's not 'real' stress (in comparison to what my old day job used to inflict), but everything I do and each decision I make is tinged with an unusual significance.
Do I pack this t-shirt or that one? It seems like an unimportant choice, but when I have to live what that choice (and that t-shirt) for seven months, its a decision that I could come to regret each and every day. It's not always possible to purchase specialized clothing (especially for a six-foot tall woman with long limbs like gumby) in other parts of the world. Case in point: when I travelled to Egypt and Jordan with my sister in September 2006, I neglected to pack a t-shirt of technical wicking fabric or an appropriate sports bra. My smart little sis had brought multiple MEC wicking t-shirts and was kind enough to loan me one for the duration of our three-week trip, which made the 47 C temperatures just a little more bearable. But I was out of luck with the sports bra. (I now have a master packing list that I consult before each trip to make sure that I don't repeat that mistake and forget such an essential item.)
On this trip, Adam and I are headed to New Zealand then Sydney, Australia for a few days before going to Nepal and Asia, so I'm fairly confident that unlike other trips, we will actually be able to purchase anything we forget. Our key problem is getting all those essentials to fit into our backpacks. For those of you following the backpack saga, we finally did get our hands on two Gregory packs - a 95L Whitney for Adam and a 90L Deva for me. (Quick summary: Gregory packs were sold out in our sizes almost across North America and no packs could be found in Toronto or Vancouver. We had to order from a retailer in Quebec, and had some serious snafus with the shipping. We didn't get them until after we'd moved out of our house in Toronto.) You'd think with packs that huge that space wouldn't be an issue, but all our climbing gear (rope, draws, harnesses) almost fills a 35L pack on its own, and then there's the extra climbing clothes and two pairs of climbing shoes for each of us. We also have sleeping bags, sleeping mats, and considerable cold-weather trekking gear for New Zealand and Nepal, as well as (on the other extreme) swimwear, shorts, etc. for hanging out on the beach in Thailand. Given that we will see temps in excess of 30 C and approaching -30 C on this trip, it's a lot of gear and clothing. And I can't make it all fit in my backpack. I've resigned myself to the fact that until we leave Nepal (and send our cold weather gear and sleeping bags home) that I'm going to be lugging around a huge backpack, a duffle bag and a day pack, while Adam has a huge backpack, a bag of climbing gear, and a day pack. (Six bags! Ugh.)
I am very excited though, and even though it's another two sleeps until we leave on Tuesday, I'm already having trouble going to bed each night. I'm like a six-year old kid on Christmas Eve waiting for the big day. My heart is beating just a little bit faster just thinking (and writing) about it. I'm definitely anxious for another adventure to begin.
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