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exumenius

170 Blog Entries
2 Trips
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Trips:

Down Under trip Preparation
Kiwis and Kangaroos

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Up the Ben Lomond Trail - Night 95

Te Anau, New Zealand


The Remarkables

After a bit of running around town I finally managed to come up with a map of local day hikes to be done. My preference was to get high up into The Remarkables, the eponymous, craggy range across the lake from town; however, I was informed by the guides at both track transport places that they don’t do summer runs to those locations and I would have to hitch a ride with some climbers. I rated the possibility of this happening fairly low so I settled for an assault on Ben Lomond peak directly above Queenstown. The trail switchbacked through the thick pine forest to a point just above the Luge Park and Gondola lookout. From here on out it emerged from the tree into a

Climbing on the Ben Lomond Trail
sort of scrub-brush, typical fauna for an area above the treeline. Offering great views of the Ben Lomond peak, the trail followed the ridge straight to the main saddle. Thankfully it was a cloudy day, or the sun would have been vicious. I reached the Saddle in good time and was fully prepared for an attempt at the 5,400 foot peak (Queenstown sits at just over 1,200 feet elevation) but the weather had other ideas. Just as I set foot onto the peak trail it began to rain. Fearing an absolute downpour on the ridge to the summit, I turned back down the mountain. I met an elderly trio decked out in rain gear who looked exhausted but were determined to make it to the saddle regardless of weather.

On the way down I took a detour on an auxiliary trail that followed the precipe hanging out over the city, giving way to some fantastic views. By this time the rain had relented so I stop for a quick lunch. I continued down through the hang-gliding launch, the Luge Track and the amazingly modern, glass and steel visitor’s center located at the terminus of the gondola. Complete with café and gift shop, I finally found a decent Aotearoa stocking hat for less than $40.

Later in the afternoon on of the guys in my


High Above Queenstown
room, David, and I went down to the Rugby field to catch some of the 7 on 7 action. Regular rugby is played with 15 players, so this was a ‘sprint’ version. Ten minutes halves and the spread out field meant a much faster-paced game and a surprising amount of scoring. Luckily David was British so I had someone to explain the rules and strategies to me. A few more games and I think I’ll have mastered the art of watching rugby (as I am already a prolific beer drinker and sports critic, two of the most important qualities of any rugby fan). I caught a movie, I Am Legend, in the evening. On the way home there was a crazy street performer juggling flaming batons, balancing on an elevated board of nails and begging for money all at the same time. While other rich tourist types filled his collection bag with $5 and $10 notes, he got nothing from me but a round of applause and a smile.

What I Learned Today: Don’t forget your damned rain coat on a hike, for if you do, no matter what the forecast it will certainly rain.


7 on 7 Rugby Action

permalink written by  exumenius on January 13, 2008 from Te Anau, New Zealand
from the travel blog: Kiwis and Kangaroos
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Arriving in Queenstown - Night 94

Te Anau, New Zealand

The magic bus was not set to roll through Wanaka

The Purple Cow
until 2pm, so I spent the morning relaxing at the Purple Cow. Reading in the sun with a cooling breeze coming down from the snowfields of Mt. Aspriring and across Lake Wanaka time seems to float on by. I’d be lying if I told you that there weren’t times during a trip of this length when things may seem a bit boring, but what are the alternatives, what else would I be doing? I’d much rather feel bored by an alpine lake in the middle of a New Zealand summer than in my cubicle amidst the dreary gray of a Seattle winter.


The Original Bungy
Despite all this, my mind wasn’t perfectly at ease. There was a nagging feeling of anxiety over the bungy jump that I was planning on doing on the way to Queenstown. Upon boarding the bus our driver told us that do to extreme volume at the jump center we may not get to go. We arrived at the Kawarua Bridge/A.J. Hackett Bungy Jump Center around 4:30. By this time I was calm and had accepted that I was just going to do it. Swaggering up to the counter with my pride on display, I was shot down like an opening day duck – all the spots for the afternoon were booked. Not surprising, considering it was a Saturday during absolute peak season. I may or may not have time to make it back out during my stay in Queenstown. No big loss I guess it is a quite expensive 2 seconds of freefall ($200 once you include the DVD).

As we pulled into Queenstown, it looked eerily like a scene from Panama City, FL in the middle of March. Drunken teens staggered this way and that, gaggles of girls in short shorts and huge sunglasses warily jaywalked enroute to another bar. Welcome to Queenstown, New Zealand’s number one tourist destination. Compounding the fact that it was a Saturday during peak season, there was also a large 7-man rugby tournament going on as well. The city was a madhouse and it was only 6pm.

The last ones off the bus, it was nearly 7pm by the time I checked into the Pinewood resort. In front of me in line were two girls and a guy wearing a UW-Lacrosse shirt. I struck up a conversation with them and eventually they asked me what town I was from. When I replied, “Bonduel” they just laughed and pointed at the payphone in the corner where Lucas Rank was busy trying to call home. As it turns out he and 19 other UW-Lacrosse kids are here on a one-month adventure vacation. After a bit of story sharing, he gave me the bad news: the Packer game would not be televised in this town. Apparently he and another guy went to every bar in town and asked if they would be showing NFL playoffs, all replied negatively.

That evening I met a few people from the bus at the Red Rock Bar. As I briefly alluded to earlier, there is some serious talent in this town. Down the west coast of New Zealand we were consistently playing with minor league (AA at best) quality, but this was an immediate step straight through to the All-Star game. To be completely honest, for every hot girl there were three drunken guys in trucker hats and wife-beaters fresh in from the Nevis jump. We enjoyed a few beers and everyone headed home early, tired from a long drive and needing some sleep for the big plans tomorrow. Queenstown is one of those places that is hard to pull yourself from the bar, but equally hard to justify spending the whole next day hungover.


permalink written by  exumenius on January 12, 2008 from Te Anau, New Zealand
from the travel blog: Kiwis and Kangaroos
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A Piece of New Zealand Dies - Night 93

Te Anau, New Zealand

Arguably the most famous Kiwi in all

Lake Wanaka
of the world passed away this morning. Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to climb Everest (along with the Sherpa Tenzing) and the first to drive a motor vehicle to the South Pole, dead at the age of 88. According to many, he exemplified all that New Zealanders stand for; determination, strength, and the ability to laugh at oneself. A hero for this small island nation if ever there was one.


Wanaka from Mt. Iron
While the nation mourned, I relaxed at the beach. I also shopped. Over the last three days my pair of shorts has suffered a rip pocket, a torn crotch and a large stain of tuna juice…it was time for some new cloth. I stumbled upon one of the most interesting pieces of public art I’ve ever seen on my walk to the store. Along its waterfront walkway the City of Wanaka has placed 2000 one-foot square ceramic tiles, one for each year starting at the birth of

The Sidewalk of History
Christ up to the year 2000. Major events have been added on the corresponding years by the city, while businesses and private donors have added minor events in the intervening years. Basically every tile from 1800 on is full; however, many large stretches prior to 1000 remain empty. Something must have happened in 513, 934 and 1429. A stroll down the sidewalk has been turned into an Intro to History Lesson.

In the afternoon I decided to honor the fallen adventurer with a hike of my own. Granted Mt. Iron is in no way as glorious or difficult as Everest, but damn it was hot today, so thus I felt like my act was every bit as heroic, especially since I did it without the help of a Sherpa. After the perilous hour long hike, I stopped at Wanaka’s favorite tourist trap, PuzzlingWorld. Created by local Stuart Landsborough in 1973, the original attraction was focused on a large human maze. Since that time


PuzzlingWorld
a hologram hall, tilted rooms, and the eerie Hall of Following Faces have been added. They’ve also cashed in on the Lord of the Rings craze by adding a room that shows how the movie directors created the apparent height differences between the hobbits and the men. The souvenir shop was full of M.C. Escher etchings and Mensa books. In all honesty, it was a well spent $8 and I have to admit that the maze was difficult.


Sunset over Lake Wanaka

What I Learned Today: Life is all about perspective. While PuzzlingWorld is basically an amusement park for adults it secretly harbors a deeper life lesson; that is “Everything depends on how you look at it.” In the Hall of Following Faces, Einstein’s unmistakable mug follows you around the room (or so it seems); however it is his genius regarding the theory of relativity, both in the world of physics and in everyday life, that is in fact the most important realization of the moment. Our attitudes are more important than our situations.


permalink written by  exumenius on January 11, 2008 from Te Anau, New Zealand
from the travel blog: Kiwis and Kangaroos
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Welcome to the Otago - Night 92

Te Anau, New Zealand


Lake Matheson

Our journey today took us down the narrow coastal highway down to the town of Haast, the southernmost town on the west coast of New Zealand. After this, the land gives way to the Fjordland national park, an area no self-respecting engineer would even dream of building a road. The way to Haast is amazingly scenic, with views of snow covered peaks to the left and the cerulean blue Tasman


Southern Alps
Sea off to the right. We must have crossed at least a dozen short, fast moving glacial streams along the way. Because of the terrible rains that befall this area, the bridges here are incredibly prone to washing out. As a result the local councils don’t put a lot of money into building what they see as a temporary structure. This means that all the bridges are one lane only and limited to one vehicle at a time. A few of them even share the crossing with a railroad going right down the middle of the road.

The bus made brief pit stops at Matheson Lake and Roberts Point along the way for some photo opportunities. Two hours after leaving we made the hard left at Haast and headed up the Haast River valley to the pass. Very quickly the road becomes wicked steep. Our pace slowed to about 40kmh for a number of miles. The full bus ground on faithfully, all the while Cameron, our driver, unflinchingly pitched the upcoming adventure activities in Wanaka and Queenstown. After 45 minutes of painful climbing we inched over the Haast Pass and out onto the Otago Plateau. The vegetation quickly changed to an arid scrub brush, the hills passing from the verdant green of the western rain forest to the daub brown of the highlands. It was somewhat akin to driving from the Oregon Coast to the high plains of Wyoming in just under an hour.

After a dangerous drive along Lake Wanaka, our tired coach finally pulled into town around 3pm. With most of the bus going straight through to the glimmering lights of Queenstown, only a handful of us brave souls disembarked in the small, lakeside community of Wanaka. The minute I stepped off the bus, I was glad I made this detour. The weather had been picture perfect, mid 80’s, not a cloud in the sky. The lake shimmered blue and reflected the snow covered peaks in the background. The Purple Cow hostel, my accommodation for the next two nights, looked out over the lake. As usual, the first thing I did after checking in was to go on a reconnaissance mission to scope out the place. The natural beauty of Wanaka is unquestionable; it is simply top shelf. My walk revealed, however, a slight stench of affluence rising. For the first time on the South Island I saw new subdivisions full of ultra-modern second homes. What was likely once a quaint downtown is rapidly being transformed into a kitschy, pseudo strip mall of Billabong stores and upscale jewelers. Make no mistake, it is nothing as gross and blatantly bourgeois as say, Whitefish, MT, but it is definitely a place undergoing some radical changes. From what I gathered from the locals, nearby Queenstown has simply become too pricy for most New Zealanders, so they’ve begun to move down the road to Wanaka. It appears that the great pendulum of haute living has commenced its swing and likely within five years it will take nothing less than a 6-figure income to call this place home.

What I Learned Today: The benefit of being on a lax timescale such as I am is that I can afford to stop at the little out of the way places and I can also afford to once in awhile just take a day off, lay on the grass, read a book, basically, relax, without feeling that I’m wasting a day. Even slightly reducing a small portion of travel to everyday life can sometimes go a long way to keep the spirits up and the body lively.


permalink written by  exumenius on January 10, 2008 from Te Anau, New Zealand
from the travel blog: Kiwis and Kangaroos
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Who is Alex Knob? - Night 91

Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand

The low, thick clouds nor the hangover were

Franz Josef from Above
enough to deter me from attempting the Alex Knob hike this morning. I set off on foot down the long road to the trailhead sometime around the 8am hour. About halfway down the 5km road an elderly Australian couple pulled over and offered me a ride to the trailhead; I graciously accepted. A trip to New Zealand just wouldn’t be complete without a little bit of hitchhiking. The trail was rather primitive and steadily rose up the hillside, offering little in the way of views. About two hours into the hike I had probably gained about 2000 feet of elevation when finally a sweeping vista of the Franz Josef Glacier appeared around a corner. Twenty minutes later I was up into the clouds and visibility began to decrease with each step upwards. I sat down for a quick snack and decided to cut my losses and

Along the Alex Knob Trail
head back down for the clouds hadn’t given the slightest hint of breaking. I was hoping to get to the advertised sub-alpine meadow high above, but the hike seemed to drag on and my alcohol-induced dehydration was beginning to set in. Oh well, as they say, “The journey is the reward.” On the way down I took a small detour to lunch by the lake. (Sidenote: I believe that using the word ‘lunch’ as a verb is annoyingly pretentious.)

I arrived back in town around 3pm by which time the clouds had cleared. Determined not to waste the rest of the improving day, I returned to my room and promptly took a glorious nap. The evening was spent on domestic chores such as laundry, packing and dinner preparation. Half of the guys in my room headed down to the bar, however, my quota of two nights straight had been reached so I gladly stayed behind and read for a bit.


High Above the Glacier

What I Learned Today: Sometimes the early bird does not get the worm. For the umpteenth time in my life I’ve gotten to the peak of a hike during immense cloud cover in the morning only to find the day much improved by the time I’ve gotten back to the parking lot as I never have the patience to wait it out. I guess being an early riser is my cross to bear.


permalink written by  exumenius on January 9, 2008 from Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand
from the travel blog: Kiwis and Kangaroos
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Franz Josef...the Glacier - Night 90

Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand

Buckets of rain greeted us in the morning as the foul weather in Greymouth continued. The Magic Bus was nearly full, having picked up a number of add-ons who had just journeyed over Arthur’s Pass by train. Our first stop was in Hokitiaki, the center of the Greenstone (Jade) mining business in New Zealand. Additional pit stops were made in the small gold mining town of Ross, where one could pan for gold in the town hall, $6.50, and at some roadside Redneck museum where you could see a live possum for $4. I neither panned the gold nor pet the possum. Each segment of the Magic Bus trip is filled with these small diversions, mom and pop businesses hoping to get a few dollars from enough bored bus riders to stay in business. It appears the Redneck Museum wasn’t doing too well, as it was being offered for sale for $300,000. More importantly, these small stops allow everyone to stretch their legs and use the bathroom.


The Glacier

Lefty also like to play little games on the bus to pass the time as well. Since we had a few beers together at the bar last night, he knew me fairly well, and this gave him the opportunity to nominate me as the contestant for today’s game, Blind Date. Basically I got to sit in the front of the bus and read a number of questions to which contestants answered on pieces of paper and then I read through the answers and picked my “date.” The questions are a bit ridiculous and only five people turned in responses. The winner ended up being an Irish girl named Sandra. More on her later. Though admitted a foolish game, it was advantageous to be the contestant since instantly everyone on the bus knew who I was and made the night out at the bar much more fun. Even small bits of fame can be quite enjoyable.

We arrived in Franz Josef, a quaint little


Southern Alps
alpine town, around 1pm. Much of the bus had paid a ridiculous fee to go on a half day hike up on glacier. Having been on plenty of glaciers in my day, I wasn’t about to cough up $100 to trudge alongside Japanese tourists and obese Australian women to see a little bit of moving ice. Instead I took a long, five hour hike to the foot of the glacier myself for free. The glacier itself is quite ugly at the terminus, given the rocks and dirt that litter the area. The entire scene, however, the ice coming down from the frozen peak all the way into the green valley with the gray, water rushing out from the bottom is almost too beautiful for words.


Danger Calls
That evening we had all agreed to meet at the Blue Ice Café for drinks. A good portion of the people that had been on the bus the last few days showed up. Lefty managed to get us a few free shots. The Blue Ice has a happy hour from 9-10pm in which beer are $3 a pop. Something about paying for drinks with coins really makes me happy. Amidst drinking games and general conversation the night wore on and we all got drunk. I had made a point of it to wander on the down the table and meet my “date”, Sandra. Nearly the whole end of the table was Irish and had been traveling together for some time. Sandra was a nice enough girl, but to be honest a bit on the boring side and I wasn’t really into her. Being the drunken wanderer that I am, I gradually left the Irish scene and went to go talk to the cute Canadian girl

The Blue Ice Bar
from Toronto whose computer I had fixed in Greymouth. A bit later two of the Irish blokes chastised me for “blatantly hitting on another girl while my date was watching.” One of them asked me if I even found Sandra physically attractive, which in my drunken state I answered honestly “No.” They became a bit pissy and headed back to the table. I guess they didn’t understand that it was just a game. Oh well, fuck them. Somewhere in the background a local band was murdering Sublime.

On the walk home I realized that I think some pretty strange shit when I’m drunk. I vividly remember looking up at the Southern Cross and thinking to myself (likely out loud) “Bury me in Franz Josef when I die.” What a weird time to be thinking about death.

What I Learned Today: Today I had one of those moments where time seems to stand still and you are at complete peace with the world. Sitting at the Chateau Franz on a wooden swing, drinking wine and reading Puzo with the sun setting over the ocean to my left and the towering spires of Mt. Cook and the Southern Alps to my right I paused and thought to myself, “Wow.”


permalink written by  exumenius on January 8, 2008 from Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand
from the travel blog: Kiwis and Kangaroos
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Wet Ride to Greymouth - Night 89

Greymouth, New Zealand


Pancake Rocks at Punakiaki
As soon as we left Nelson the rain came down in buckets and hardly let up for the entirety of the day. Lefty, the bus driver, made the obligatory stops at the view points, but the sweeping vistas were obstructed by clouds and the only ones to leave the comfort of the bus were those with weak bladders. Around 1pm, we rolled into Panakaiki, home of the world famous pancake rocks. The rain had slowed to a slight mist, so we all made a mad dash around the walkway to view the sea stacks, blowholes and the oddly formed pancake rocks. Some form of sedentary rocks, local geologists have a number of theories on their origin, but no solid proof.

In order to pass the time on the drive we played “The Roadkill Game.” Basically, everyone throws in a dollar and guesses the number of dead animals we will pass along the way and the closest without going over gets the pot. Sitting near the front, I was the first one to proffer a guess. Knowing that New Zealand has no native mammals, I figured that roadkill would not be all that prevalent and ventured a guess of 19. Everyone after me guessed higher. The final count was 42.

We finally arrived in Greymouth at 5 pm


Enjoying our Free Beer at Monteith's
amidst a torrential rain. About the only touristy thing to do in town in the Monteith’s Brewery Tour. The eight of us from the YHA piled into the shuttle bus around 6 for our trip to the sacred origin of Monteith’s Original Ale. Our tour group was quite large, about 35 people, but with the promise of free beer at the end everyone moved along in an efficient manner and didn’t ask too many questions. The brewery in fact is very small and pales in comparison to places to like Red Hook in Woodinville. Also, surprisingly, much of their processes are still done by hand, such as packing the 6-packs and cleaning the brew vats and those things that are mechanized have been built by hand by the local Edison, an engineer/inventor of some fame (whose name eludes me). Finally, after listening to the enthusiastic tour guide ramble on about the sterility processes and the overall superiority of their product we arrived at the bar. Everyone was allowed a taste (about 4 oz.) of each of the seven varieties of beer that they produce. At the end we were each given to opportunity to fill our glasses with our favorite flavor. It was at this point that the tour guide committed a grave mistake; she left the taps unmanned and wandered into the gift shop. The wrong thing to do with me, a pair of Irish guys and a gaggle of German girls standing nearby. We attacked the open taps like polar bears on a seal colony. Downing beer as fast as we could, I certainly got my money’s worth.


Pouring a Pint at Monteith's

Also included in the tour package were a BBQ dinner and a pint of beer at the les s than luxurious Crown Hotel in downtown Greymouth. The meal was quite weak, but the pint was enormous, thus satisfying all but the vegetarians who had to pay extra for their meal. Lefty joined us down at the hotel bar for some storytelling and revelry. Around 11pm we realized that we were the last ones in the bar and were kindly asked to leave so that they could close up. I closed down a bar in Greymouth, New Zealand; check that off life’s list of things to do.

What I Learned Today: There are some places that seem so dour, so beat down by the passage of time that they are best seen in an absolute downpour. Greymouth is such a place.


permalink written by  exumenius on January 7, 2008 from Greymouth, New Zealand
from the travel blog: Kiwis and Kangaroos
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Kayaking Pepin Island - Night 88

Nelson, New Zealand

Glen, a guide from the Cable Bay Kayak company, picked me up at 8:30 and gave me a lift to their home base, just a short, 20-minute drive north of Nelson. The sky was overcast and a bit windy, hardly the picture perfect kayaking weather of yesterday. Our half day trip would take us up and around Pepin Island, lunch at a beach, and back the way we came in the afternoon. Often half-day groups are able to circumnavigate the island, however, today’s tides would prevent us from doing so.


Lunch in the Cove

There were 12 other kayakers beside myself. We would be taking double kayaks, with the exception of the group leader, Nick, who was outfitted in a sleek single yellow Necky. Since I was one of the only ones with any


Pepin Island
experience, I was matched up with a novice, Elise, a young girl from Israel, who was deathly frightened of the rough seas and didn’t talk (or paddle) a whole lot. I think most of her energy went toward trying to balance herself and hang onto her paddle.


Pepin Island Kayaking
They way out to the beach was against the wind and swell and was a difficult paddle, especially when pushing yourself and a chubby teenager through the chop. Early on, we paddled through some low, elongated caves, narrowly escaping the crashing surf. This was easily the most fun I’ve had kayaking; Elise, on the other hand, was white in the face. About two hours after we started we pulled into a hidden cove for a lunch break. On the way back to the landing we spotted a number of fur seals and some great gliding albatross(es)…how do you pluralize albatross? Upon returning to the landing, I jumped in the cool Tasman Sea for a quick swim, I had, after all, worked up quite a sweat pushing all that dead weight around.

The afternoon was employed by my favorite pastime; getting lost in a new town. I wandered the streets of Nelson, strolling down the river walk, up through Church Hill (a cathedral befit for a city ten times the size graces the top of the hill), and finally to the Infocentre where I was able to hook up to


Downtown Nelson
some wireless for long enough to update my journal. Nelson has a good bit of history and the town pulls out all the stops to pitch it as a tourist destination. Also, rather strangely, alongside the historical markers are markers explaining the history of the largest trees in the immediate vicinity. It seems as if the local council, shamed by the denuded hills and logging history of the area, imported rare trees from all over the world and planted them in the town center. The fruits of their forsightfulness now bear, among other arboreal delights, a 100-year old California Sequoia, an 80-year old Turkish Oak, and some variety of palm trees from Brazil.

What I Learned Today: Nearly every Kiwi I’ve talked to since arriving here on the south island holds a number of interesting jobs in order to make ends meet. Perhaps it is the fact that I’ve existed primarily in the tourism realm, however, I think that the adequate social safety net is also a serious factor in the overriding sense of entrepreneurialship I find ingrained in these people. Just imagine how many Americans would start new business ventures if they didn’t have to worry about health insurance. Were I a skeptic, I would attribute big industry’s (and laissez-faire Republicans in general) opposition to state health care is that the fact that it would create thousands of new, smaller and more flexible competitors eager to take market share in every niche possible.


permalink written by  exumenius on January 6, 2008 from Nelson, New Zealand
from the travel blog: Kiwis and Kangaroos
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Havelock to Nelson - Night 87

Nelson, New Zealand

I wandered the side streets of Havelock for my morning walk and stumbled upon the Havelock Cemetery. A brief investigation showed that no one had been buried here since 1996. Many of the old tombstones had tipped over, likely the end result of some juvenile prank, yet the lawn was freshly mowed around said toppled stones. An odd mix of overall apathy and diligent landscaping maintenance all mixed in.

In case you are wondering why I’m writing


The Pelorus Bridge
about a graveyard, its because that’s about as exciting as it gets in Havelock on a Saturday morning if you aren’t somehow involved in the marine industry. Unfortunately my bus wasn’t due until 1pm, so I had plenty of time to reflect on the serenity of small town life until then. Shortly after boarding we stopped at the Pelorus River wayside for a toilet stop; the majority of the bus having been riding since Picton. The Pelorus River travels through a bit of a gorge at this spot allowing for a picturesque bridge high above the deep water and plenty of swimming pools below. As is common with such bridges, every year or two a drunken youth misjudges the wind and ends up diving into the rocks, instead of the water, below.


The Geographic Centre of New Zealand
We arrived in Nelson, the so-called Sunshine Capitol of New Zealand at 3pm. I’ll be calling the Paradiso Hostel home for the next two nights. The place is located on the outskirts of Nelson, a city of 60,000. The Paradiso has a sprawling front yard with pool, hot tub and volleyball court – Erin, you’ll be pleased to know that the games were serious picnic ball…I could not bring myself to partake. In the back parking lot is a Thai food trailer offering huge portions for $7. They weren’t kidding about the portion size. Easily the cheapest meal I’ve purchased in New Zealand yet. Just outside of town is the geographic center of New Zealand. Being a bit of a geophile, I made the 45-minute hike to see the moment marking the center of the country. I spent the evening grocery shopping and drinking wine and talking travel in the hot tub with a British girl, a Swedish woman and a Dutch couple.

What I Learned Today: Due to the dominance of soccer on the European continent, it is often easy to pick out European youths on the volleyball court strictly by their abysmal hand eye coordination.


permalink written by  exumenius on January 5, 2008 from Nelson, New Zealand
from the travel blog: Kiwis and Kangaroos
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Nydia Track, Day 2 - Night 86

Havelock, New Zealand


The Nydia Bay Pier
I arose around 7am, had a short breakfast and packed my bags. The sign said 5 ½ hours hike to Duncan Bay (where our shuttle is meeting us), so we had plenty of time. After a bit of reading, I left Te Mahoerangi around 8:15, Teresa decided to stay for awhile so I pushed on alone. The weather had pulled a complete 180. Low clouds clung to the hills and breeze off of the water necessitated long sleeves. Much better hiking weather than yesterday.

The trail crossed a few bridged creeks and


Duncan Bay
the front yards of some vacation homes for about a mile before it began to rise gently. Continuing on this soft gradient, I arrived at the Nydia Saddle two hours later. On one side beautiful Nydia Bay, on the other the equally scenic Tennyson Inlet. Though the views were similar, the north side of the saddle was not reached by Browlee’s logging 80 years ago and thus held old growth forest; the Nydia Bay side, unfortunately, had been cut and was in various states of regeneration. Another two hours downhill and the Duncan Bay pier and parking lot

Our Hike
signaled the end of the track. The 5 ½ hour estimation was a bit off. By this time, however, the clouds had lifted and sun again shone bright. Since I was three hours early for our shuttle, I ditched my pack in the woods, took off my boots and headed for the beach to read and nap.


Tennyson Inlet

Bruce showed up at 3 to give us a lift back to town. The hour long drive took us up and over another steep saddle and then down into the Rai River valley curving around and over the Pelorus River and finally back into Havelock. As it turns out Bruce is the new proprietor of the Havelock (Rutherford) YHA and is also making improvements to the place. In the backyard he has been busy constructing new wooden bunks and has moved the official town information centre to his office. Next up: refitting the now unused second story of the old school building into loft apartments. His work seems to have a purpose and an ease to it. Secretly, I want to stay and help, but the road calls.

What I Learned Today: The tiny village of Havelock is the boyhood hometown of two the world’s greatest physicists, Ernest Rutherford and William Pickering. Rutherford, who attended school in the very building in which I am sleeping, went on from these humble beginnings to co-invent, with Geiger, the first radiation measuring device. He was also responsible for developing the original particle collider. Pickering was once head of the U.S. Jet Propulsion Lab and co-designed the first successful American satellite. All this from a town of less than 500 people…imagine even one genius coming from Nichols, WI or Thorpe, WA.


permalink written by  exumenius on January 4, 2008 from Havelock, New Zealand
from the travel blog: Kiwis and Kangaroos
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