THE TRIP - WEEK 6,7,8,9 (part 4) - NEW ZEALAND
My final full day on the South Island of New Zealand saw me the hard side of a mountain crossing I had experienced the day before in the other direction. This view is of, in the distance, the most northern point of the south island, 'Farewell Spit'.
On a quick stop to view the task ahead, I tried to remember the route through the mountains, it's in there somewhere.
Never anywhere to park around here!
As always it seems that even the hard routes reward with some nice spots to visit.
Now there is a story here. You will remember that I had a great day trip to 'Doubtful Sound', dolphins and all that, remember? On that trip I met a young lady from Ilkley, small world. She told me about some of her exploits here, including buying 'DAVE' her (not so) trusty campervan. 'Dave' was later sold on to a needy folk band. Guess who was in the queue for the ferry next to me? Yep, 'Dave' who, unlike me, had a free crossing to the north island by virtue of the band doing a gig on the crossing. I really should have learned the bagpipes, might have saved me $190!! Of course, McDuck had to get in on the scene!
A fond farewell to the south island.
Goodbye south island!!
Hello north.
1st day north I spent in Wellington, doing the tourist stuff. It's alright, I thought, I'm a tourist! Everyone had said "do the cable car" so I felt obliged to. Was true the view and the history were very interesting but when you've done Switzerland! By the way, the design for this cable car was done by engineers from Thun, that's in Switzerland!
It wasn't the worried waxwork that was of interest here, it was the brass plaque on the cable car winch motor that was of interest. Made in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire!
Not so many silly signs here but this was worth inclusion, not for the words but for what is missing.
'Prisoner' for the 21st century?
Get out of that.
The above and the below both came from a fascinating museum in Wellington. I really liked the thought behind a bull made entirely from corn beef tins!
Here is one for those that know the significance!
Still geocaching. This was enroute north in a beautiful park full of trees of all sorts.
At the entrance to one of the campsites I came across these old timers. I used to be really interested by these machines but after one ran over my foot, I became an ??????? Answers on a postcard to ...... (not you Graham, to recent!!!) If anyone cant get it, just ask.
This was a lucky find. I had just got very tired of driving for the day and was on the lookout for a campsite nearer than the one I was heading for. So I followed a sign from the main road and came across this wharf. There is a long and interesting history to this place, which I will tell you about some other time. Sadly, as you can see, time and tide have begun to destroy the concrete. There is group trying to save it, I wish them luck. It would be a shame to lose it all together.
At least you can use it for a nice and windy walk. Again, I am pretty sure the UK health and safety mob would have it chained off by now.
The view back to the campsite from the wharf was not to bad either, like I said, lucky find.
Now I had an experience like this a couple of years ago where one of those nice animals took the door mirror off the car! I thought to myself, 'now there's an interesting way to lose the deposit on the van'! No harm done I'm pleased to say.
A lot of them are!!
It took the duck longer than me to work out the meaning here!
Now, as you all know, I have not got a cynical bone in my body....... I do, however, have a bit of a cynical muscle between my ears! Marked on the maps of the thermal areas of the North Island is a Buried Village. Now please don't take this the wrong way, I know it must have been a horrid thing when the nearby volcano blew its top and people sadly died as a result. It has to be said though, I spent most of my visit trying to get $25 worth out of it. I wondered that if I could find a field back home, stack a few poles together to make it 'what it might have looked like' throw in a few old pots and broken plates then charge tourists £15 a head to wander round, I might not need to find a real job at all. Anyone know of a suitable field?
In fairness, they had strung the walk around the grounds out to take in a walk along a pretty stream, 'full of native rainbow trout', oh dear! There were a few that were alive!
Happily, they never got past Preston!!
On a quick stop to view the task ahead, I tried to remember the route through the mountains, it's in there somewhere.
Never anywhere to park around here!
As always it seems that even the hard routes reward with some nice spots to visit.
Now there is a story here. You will remember that I had a great day trip to 'Doubtful Sound', dolphins and all that, remember? On that trip I met a young lady from Ilkley, small world. She told me about some of her exploits here, including buying 'DAVE' her (not so) trusty campervan. 'Dave' was later sold on to a needy folk band. Guess who was in the queue for the ferry next to me? Yep, 'Dave' who, unlike me, had a free crossing to the north island by virtue of the band doing a gig on the crossing. I really should have learned the bagpipes, might have saved me $190!! Of course, McDuck had to get in on the scene!
A fond farewell to the south island.
Goodbye south island!!
Hello north.
1st day north I spent in Wellington, doing the tourist stuff. It's alright, I thought, I'm a tourist! Everyone had said "do the cable car" so I felt obliged to. Was true the view and the history were very interesting but when you've done Switzerland! By the way, the design for this cable car was done by engineers from Thun, that's in Switzerland!
It wasn't the worried waxwork that was of interest here, it was the brass plaque on the cable car winch motor that was of interest. Made in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire!
Not so many silly signs here but this was worth inclusion, not for the words but for what is missing.
'Prisoner' for the 21st century?
Get out of that.
The above and the below both came from a fascinating museum in Wellington. I really liked the thought behind a bull made entirely from corn beef tins!
Here is one for those that know the significance!
Still geocaching. This was enroute north in a beautiful park full of trees of all sorts.
At the entrance to one of the campsites I came across these old timers. I used to be really interested by these machines but after one ran over my foot, I became an ??????? Answers on a postcard to ...... (not you Graham, to recent!!!) If anyone cant get it, just ask.
This was a lucky find. I had just got very tired of driving for the day and was on the lookout for a campsite nearer than the one I was heading for. So I followed a sign from the main road and came across this wharf. There is a long and interesting history to this place, which I will tell you about some other time. Sadly, as you can see, time and tide have begun to destroy the concrete. There is group trying to save it, I wish them luck. It would be a shame to lose it all together.
At least you can use it for a nice and windy walk. Again, I am pretty sure the UK health and safety mob would have it chained off by now.
The view back to the campsite from the wharf was not to bad either, like I said, lucky find.
Now I had an experience like this a couple of years ago where one of those nice animals took the door mirror off the car! I thought to myself, 'now there's an interesting way to lose the deposit on the van'! No harm done I'm pleased to say.
A lot of them are!!
It took the duck longer than me to work out the meaning here!
Now, as you all know, I have not got a cynical bone in my body....... I do, however, have a bit of a cynical muscle between my ears! Marked on the maps of the thermal areas of the North Island is a Buried Village. Now please don't take this the wrong way, I know it must have been a horrid thing when the nearby volcano blew its top and people sadly died as a result. It has to be said though, I spent most of my visit trying to get $25 worth out of it. I wondered that if I could find a field back home, stack a few poles together to make it 'what it might have looked like' throw in a few old pots and broken plates then charge tourists £15 a head to wander round, I might not need to find a real job at all. Anyone know of a suitable field?
In fairness, they had strung the walk around the grounds out to take in a walk along a pretty stream, 'full of native rainbow trout', oh dear! There were a few that were alive!
Happily, they never got past Preston!!
Actually steeper than they look.
At least there were steps down, they cant expect me to get back up on that! Found the steps round the corner, phew.
Ok, enough of the rant. On the map my son had given me (thanks Adam) there was a picture of a thermal valley which I had decided to visit even before I left home. So I found it. JOY! What an utterly fantastic place! Sorry to say that I went camera mad, so that is something to watch out for when I get back! To think that just below my feet through a thin crust of earth there is enough heat to warm the water to nearly boiling point and melt the mud. All of this valley was actually created by the same volcano eruption that buried that village. It was as recent as 1896. There was a big white cross on a hillside which the guidebook explained was where 3 tourists in the early 20th century, went to an area they had been told was unsafe and were killed when a geyser blew off! Most often a 'keep to the path' warning works for me. So I left the path and went to feel the water just to test if it was really hot. Only 2nd degree burns so that's ok then!
I had picked a pretty quiet day tourist wise. In addition to that, the lady at reception advised me that there was a choice of route half way round, a nice level well laid out path or the hikers
At least there were steps down, they cant expect me to get back up on that! Found the steps round the corner, phew.
Ok, enough of the rant. On the map my son had given me (thanks Adam) there was a picture of a thermal valley which I had decided to visit even before I left home. So I found it. JOY! What an utterly fantastic place! Sorry to say that I went camera mad, so that is something to watch out for when I get back! To think that just below my feet through a thin crust of earth there is enough heat to warm the water to nearly boiling point and melt the mud. All of this valley was actually created by the same volcano eruption that buried that village. It was as recent as 1896. There was a big white cross on a hillside which the guidebook explained was where 3 tourists in the early 20th century, went to an area they had been told was unsafe and were killed when a geyser blew off! Most often a 'keep to the path' warning works for me. So I left the path and went to feel the water just to test if it was really hot. Only 2nd degree burns so that's ok then!
I had picked a pretty quiet day tourist wise. In addition to that, the lady at reception advised me that there was a choice of route half way round, a nice level well laid out path or the hikers
way round which, although "quite a climb" rewarded the adventurer with "lovely peace and quiet together with spectacular views". Living life on the edge, like I do, the true hiker route was for me, I prepared well, bought a bottle of water! On the way up the 'quite a climb' (I had forgotten that I was at fairly high altitude before I started!!) I noticed a yellow cable lined the side of the track. Oh good, I hoped, that will be for the defibrillator which I will need when (if) I make the top! In reality, I worked out, it was there so that any seismic activity could be logged through sensors like the one below.
It was true to say the effort was well worth it. I'd really taken my time viewing all this and was lucky to catch the last coach back to the car park. If I had missed it, I would have had another couple of hours to see the sights as I walked back again!
I've mentioned the road safety barriers before. Here's one someone tested. Efficient eh?!
Let me tell you about State Highway 43. I found it on a map. It went where I wanted to go. By this time I had notched up about 3000km on my trip and had not come across 'unsealed' roads. With no real choice (apart from a couple of hundred km detour) I drove on, counting down the longest 12k I have driven. At one point, I came across a nice lady coming the other way (I could substitute the word nice and possibly the word lady) who thought, I am sure, that she was in Rally NZ! That was as close as I want to come to having a crash (or dingle if you prefer).
Only had the camera phone since September and found out it has a self timer function! No more long arm shots!
As I was searching for my latest geocache find, McDuck was trying to find out why there was a big bottle over there and how to get the top off!
Well my search was a success, another cache found and logged. I wonder how McDuck got on, I'm thirsty.
Same day and another search for a geocache. This GPS game takes you to some wonderful spots. This one was through an old gold mineing site. My trusty GPS was telling me to go this way, over a closed for repair, old rope bridge. When I got across it (!) the path took me to....
.....this. An old rail tunnel, 3/4 of a mile long and a lot darker that this picture makes it look. A very spooky walk (and great fun spooking the kids coming the other way!) It was a failed cache find though. Maybe I should have picked up on the advice to take a torch. Oh well, next time!
If you've not got the right money we cant play, sorry.
My 1st NZ traffic jam. Heading north through Auckland to the north of northland on the north island, got it? and in torrential rain as well.
Got to my resting place and decided to stay in and avoid the even heavier rain, read my book and listen to the radio. When the news came on, I was told about the cows standing neck deep in water and the fact they have just recorded 3 months of rainfall in 24 hrs!! It was a tad damp.
Avid readers will remember I like big trees. I had promised myself the big gum trees in Oz, done, the Kauri here in NZ done, as you will see and the Giant Redwood, to do. My search for the Kauri started about 100yds from my watery campsite in the Kauri Museum. It was a well put together place where you really do learn about the history surrounding these trees. Nowhere was there any appology for nearly killing them off through logging and fire. It takes 2000 years to grow one and a day to fell one. Happily, now the only Kauri wood that can be used is either reclaimed or taken from ancient swamps.
Depicted here, in the museum, was a replica of the post office during the old logging days. Maybe that is why my postcards took 3 and a half weeks to get to the UK.
This is an example of what the wood was used for. Quite an impressive stairway. (shame about the rubbish photo!)
And now for the real thing. A walk in the bush and I came across my 1st growing Kuari and I thought this was big!
Then I got to this one, wow, and this was only the 2nd biggest.
It was true to say the effort was well worth it. I'd really taken my time viewing all this and was lucky to catch the last coach back to the car park. If I had missed it, I would have had another couple of hours to see the sights as I walked back again!
I've mentioned the road safety barriers before. Here's one someone tested. Efficient eh?!
Let me tell you about State Highway 43. I found it on a map. It went where I wanted to go. By this time I had notched up about 3000km on my trip and had not come across 'unsealed' roads. With no real choice (apart from a couple of hundred km detour) I drove on, counting down the longest 12k I have driven. At one point, I came across a nice lady coming the other way (I could substitute the word nice and possibly the word lady) who thought, I am sure, that she was in Rally NZ! That was as close as I want to come to having a crash (or dingle if you prefer).
Only had the camera phone since September and found out it has a self timer function! No more long arm shots!
As I was searching for my latest geocache find, McDuck was trying to find out why there was a big bottle over there and how to get the top off!
Well my search was a success, another cache found and logged. I wonder how McDuck got on, I'm thirsty.
Same day and another search for a geocache. This GPS game takes you to some wonderful spots. This one was through an old gold mineing site. My trusty GPS was telling me to go this way, over a closed for repair, old rope bridge. When I got across it (!) the path took me to....
.....this. An old rail tunnel, 3/4 of a mile long and a lot darker that this picture makes it look. A very spooky walk (and great fun spooking the kids coming the other way!) It was a failed cache find though. Maybe I should have picked up on the advice to take a torch. Oh well, next time!
If you've not got the right money we cant play, sorry.
My 1st NZ traffic jam. Heading north through Auckland to the north of northland on the north island, got it? and in torrential rain as well.
Got to my resting place and decided to stay in and avoid the even heavier rain, read my book and listen to the radio. When the news came on, I was told about the cows standing neck deep in water and the fact they have just recorded 3 months of rainfall in 24 hrs!! It was a tad damp.
Avid readers will remember I like big trees. I had promised myself the big gum trees in Oz, done, the Kauri here in NZ done, as you will see and the Giant Redwood, to do. My search for the Kauri started about 100yds from my watery campsite in the Kauri Museum. It was a well put together place where you really do learn about the history surrounding these trees. Nowhere was there any appology for nearly killing them off through logging and fire. It takes 2000 years to grow one and a day to fell one. Happily, now the only Kauri wood that can be used is either reclaimed or taken from ancient swamps.
Depicted here, in the museum, was a replica of the post office during the old logging days. Maybe that is why my postcards took 3 and a half weeks to get to the UK.
This is an example of what the wood was used for. Quite an impressive stairway. (shame about the rubbish photo!)
And now for the real thing. A walk in the bush and I came across my 1st growing Kuari and I thought this was big!
Then I got to this one, wow, and this was only the 2nd biggest.
On the way to the biggest one, it struck me that I had not done honour to famous NZ fern, as sported by the All Blacks. So here you go, a nice fern picture. Bet your happy with that eh?!
The biggest one!
It really had been a bit of a tree day, so I was not surprised to end it with a campsite view like this. (spot the portrait of the artist?)
Where next McDuck?
The biggest one!
It really had been a bit of a tree day, so I was not surprised to end it with a campsite view like this. (spot the portrait of the artist?)
Where next McDuck?
posted by Hamish at 7:15 am
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