Day 27 (Actually Day 21): Crossing the Tongoriro

Before I arrived in New Zealand, in the little research I did, I knew that the Tongariro Alpine Crossing was an absolute must on my list of places to see and things to do.

What I have found here in New Zealand is that every place is described in a way that makes it seem that it is grander than it is in reality. Any where in New Zealand there is a "the most unique _____  on the east coast", "the oldest _____ in the country", "the biggest _____ on the west coast". And so it goes the Tongariro Alpine Crossing happens to be in the countries oldest national parks, deemed to be the best one day hike in New Zealand, with others saying that it is in the top 10 day treks in the world. See what I am saying here? Bold statements about EVERYTHING. In most cases it is easy to make a joke about these statements. However, in my little experience of treks worldwide, I can safely say that the Tongariro lived up to the hype. This was one of the most beautiful hikes I have ever been on. The volcanic landscape was incredibly diverse, the whole trek was breath taking, and I would tell anyone, if you come to NZ you MUST do the Tongariro Crossing. This day of hiking, from start to finish, was seriously a perfect day, possibly one of the most perfect days I will have in the whole time I am in New Zealand.

The track is 19.4 km start to finish. Being the fantastic on-the-ball travellers we are, we were late arriving at the location where the shuttles take you to the start point by. So we decided to drive 30 minutes to the Mangatepopo Valley and park there, which is the starting point of the hike. We originally decided we would just hitch hike back to the car once we arrived at the end of the hike. Once we were on the trail and had been walking for a while we decided it would be best to just walk to all the land,marks along the trail, turn around after we saw the last viewpoint and walk back to the car. The trek from end to end is 19.7km. I do not actually know the distances from point to point so I cannot say how many kilometers we covered, but I do know it was a lot and likely more than the 19.7km of the full trail. We saw Mt. Ngauguroe, made famous by Lord of the Rings being filmed as Mt. Doom. We stopped off at Soda Springs, saw the South Crater and Red Crater (this trek is partly on/near an active volcano hence all the craters), Emerald Lakes, Central Crater and Blue Lake. We returned back to the car as the sun was setting and enjoyed a glorious sunset, the perfect ending to a perfect day.

Mt. Ngauruhoe

Soda Springs

      

Kissing Rocks

Day 26: Finding Comfort in a Place

I made it to Wellington to partake in some of the weekend festival activities with my friend and then I was on the road again, this time North to Taupo to meet up with some friends I met while I was in Paihia. Taupo, basically in the centre of the North Island, is a nice little town at the edge of Lake Taupo with a plethora of activities to partake in, as well as many beautiful natural sites to see. We found, in my opinion the perfect spot at Reid's Farm Free Campground. We were situated right next to the river, where we have perfect views of the sunrise, sunset and the incredible star filled night sky. There is a dam upstream which is used for hydroelectricity so each day we would wake up to find the river at a completely different level from what we saw before retiring for the night. The river proved to be great fun, and on more than one sunny day, there was a unanimous decision to waste the day lazying around the camp site, jumping in and out of the river, letting the blazing sun give us a good air dry before jumping back into the swift, cool river. Pure comfort. And hey, who does like being greeted by a group of quacky ducks upon exiting your tent every morning.

I ventured to Huka Falls, Craters of the Moon, which was an underwhelming geothermic site not worth the $8 we paid to walk around in the scorching sun for an hour, the free hot springs, went kayaking and even made a few trips in to the local Salvation Army to see what kind of deals we could find to stock up our camp site. It was easy to spend a whole week here. It was amazing how time seemed to stand still when surrounded by good people, beautiful nature and are relaxed beyond belief. 

Huka Falls

Craters of the Moon

Day 17: Staying Connected

In my past travels I always loved the exhilarating feeling of leaving my hometown, leaving behind my family and friends who all know me well, knowing that I am going to a world unknown where I am a complete stranger to everyone. There is really nothing quite like waking up by yourself (or rather in a dorm room with at least 4 other people) in an unfamiliar place with nothing to do but explore and find adventure. It is so invigorating and unnerving all at the same time. I think that is all part of the draw to traveling alone. I am driven by the desire to wander and experience unfamiliar and uncharted territory. I just absolutely love it. While travelling here a Scottish friend wisely quoted George Harrison, "If you don't know where you're going, any road'll take you there". The best adventures usually happen when you do not make plans, set out in a random direction and be open to what/who crosses your path. This all being said, I still have moments where I ask myself why on earth am I leaving the comfort of my homeland and everything it has to offer. These moments obviously do not last very long though because then I think about how there is so much adventure to be found in the unknown and I develop an inability to resist such fun. 

Having done quite a bit of traveling I now know people in so many places around the world and I love it. It is wonderful to think about all the countries I could travel to and have someone there to meet me. Traveling and knowing that I have friend abroad who I am comfortable with while still being able satisfying my extreme wanderlust and desire for new experiences, culture and adventures is perfect. These friends are connections to my past life and experiences, providing me with just enough familiarity to be comfortable. And the connection with people I meet when I travel is different. I have not put much thought into why this is. I imagine it has something to do with the fact that I am interacting with complete strangers, attempting to find some sort of link or similarity that is going to to connect us somehow in a short period of time. If there is no immediate connection it is quite easy to move on but if there is a connection, you want to hold on to that and see where it goes and where it takes you. 

There are always adventures to be had when you meet a kind soul that harmonizes with your own.  

Now you will have to bear with me here, I am not a very good story teller, especially when the story is not my own, so there are likely details incorrect and/or wrong in here but you will at least get the important parts. Years ago my grandparents told me a story about a man, who we shall call "the man who crash landed" from New Zealand crash landing his plane in my great grandparents field because he had run out of fuel. I cannot remember where he was coming from or where he was going but my great grandparents put him up in their house for a few days or so and ended up maintaining contact with him over the years. A horrible rendition of the story but you get the gist. Recently I was told this story again by the son of "the man who crashed landed", while visiting his farm in Waipu. Due to my grandparents diligence at keeping in contact, I was able to spend three amazing days with this family on their beautiful dairy farm. This visit is truly one of the highlights of my time in this country so far. The welcome I received, along with the friends I brought along, was with the most wide open arms you can imagine. Upon arrival I felt like we had been long time family friends and it was beautiful.

 It was very interesting to experience farming in another country. To see the different landscape and farmland. Especially experiencing a dairy farm, which is obviously quite different from a grain farm. Herding the cattle multiple times a day, gathering them all up to be milked, morning and night, and then having to remember all the markings that show which cows get milked twice a day, which only once a day, and so on. It was hard to feel the tough work of this job with the incredible land surrounding you. However, I am sure after the awe of it all wears off, it all becomes normal and the grind sets in. I would still rather be a dairy farmer in NZ than in Canada. Just saying....After this whole experience, it is a sure thing to say that farmers here are just as hard workers as they are back home.

We traveled to the Waipu Caves, by way of the farm jalopy, on a very rainy day. The caves turned out to be just one cave but this one cave provided us with a gorgeous view of glow worms. They look like stars. So beautiful.  

After two evenings of jovial conversation, many stories told, and just generally an incredible time on the farm and in Waipu, we had to bid farewell to this amazing family. We were on the road again off to Auckland and more adventures. But of course we had to stop at Waipu Cove and go for a swim in the beautiful ocean. And so to the beach we went...

Day 14: Walking

 Walking by Thomas Traherne

To walk abroad is, not with eyes, 

But thoughts, the fields to see and prize;

Else may the silent feet, 

Like logs of wood, 

Move up and down, and see no good

Nor joy nor glory meet. 

Ev'n carts and wheels their place do change, 

But cannot see, though very strange

The glory that is by;

Dead puppets may

Move in the bright and glorious day, 

Yet not behold the sky. 

And are not men than they more blind, 

Who having eyes yet never find

The bliss in which they move;

Like statues dead

They up and down are carried

Yet never see nor love. 

To walk is by a thought to go;

To move in spirit to and fro;

To mind the good we see;

To taste the sweet;

Observing all the things we meet

How choice and rich they be. 

To note the beauty of the day;

And golden fields of corn survey;

Admire each pretty flow'r

With its sweet smell;

To praise their Maker, and to tell

The marks of his great pow'r. 

To fly abroad like active bees,

Among the hedges and the trees, 

To cull the dew that lies

On ev'ry blade, 

From ev'ry blossom; till we lade

Our minds, as they their thighs. 

Observe those rich and glorious things, 

The rivers, meadows, woods and springs, 

The fructifying sun;

To note from far

The rising of each twinkling star

For us his race to run. 

A little child these well perceives, 

Who, tumbling green grass and leaves, 

May rich as kings be thought, 

But there's a sight

Which perfect manhood may delight, 

To which we shall be brought. 

While in those pleasant paths we talk, 

'Tis that tow'rds which at last we walk;

For we may by degrees

Wisely proceed

Pleasures of love and praise to heed, 

From viewing herbs and trees. 

Day 11: Northland to Cape Reinga

Te Rerenga Wairua (Cape Reinga), where the Pacific Ocean meets the Tasman Sea, is the most spiritual place in New Zealand. This is the most northern point of the country, marked with only a lovely light house and a lonely kahika tree named Te Aroha. After the death of a Maori, it is believed that their spirits travel up the coast to Te Aroha. It is said that spirits descend into the underworld (reinga), by going down steps the are formed by the tree's roots. The spirits continue their journey on to Hawaiki, their spiritual home. This was a beautiful place, where I feel most people likely do not grasp just how sacred this part of the country is. 

Since I drove up to the Cape with a new found friend, we had the freedom at stopping at other beautiful bays along the ocean on our way back to Paihia. Our first stop was Tapotupotu, a nice little bay with a camping area. We stopped to have our lunch and just then three local kiwi's walked up, looking rather expectant, with large packs on their backs, two of the three were wearing flip flops, one walked with a stick and the other was wearing proper hiking gear. The guy wearing the proper hiking gear asked us in his words, a "strange request". "Could you please help us out by driving our friend here (who had the walking stick, was wearing flip flops and was looking worse for wear) up to Cape Reinga?" Following up with "we will pay you $50". It turned out that the three of them were old friends, had been talking about hiking along the Cape for years and finally decided to do it, with little preparation I might add. They had already walked 10km that day (it was only 1300hrs when they made their request) and still had another 9km to go. The one needing the ride had twisted his ankle and could not force himself to walk any further. (Who would think that twisting your ankle while hiking in flip flops up and down coastal rolling hills would be a likely possibility...certainly not many people....) Of course we declined the offer of the money and insisted that it would not be a problem to take him back up to Cape Reinga. While finishing our lunch, our new passenger had a nap in the sun and waited. We drove the 15 minutes back up to the Cape, bid a farewell to the poor injured gentleman and drove off, finding $50 tucked in the console of the car. 

Te Paki Sand Dunes was the next stop. Massive sand dunes, which are amazing, but really freaking sandy. Shocking eh? One could rent a sand board and slide down these massive dunes, which is supposedly an incredibly fun experience. I decided that having sand blown at me by gale force winds and then sliding down these steep sandy dunes only to have more sand come flying at my face, covering every part of my being, was a bad idea. So as I usually do these days, I just walked...and I still had sand absolutely everywhere...

I could have stayed forever at the next bay we stopped at. Spirits Bay was absolutely breathtaking. Seriously absolutely breathtaking. I can't capture just how incredible this bay was. Every single step I took it became more and more beautiful. Pictures seriously do it no justice. It was one of those places that you could sit for days, absorbing the beauty, not caring about anything in the world but the present moment. Driving down a winding, narrow road, the first thing you see is a picturesque hill with horse's grazing at the base. Once on foot, you catch your first glimpse of the gorgeous Spirits Bay. Which I might add had some of the most beautiful sand I have ever seen (rivaling Zanzibar's red coral coastal sand, which was incredible). I sat for far too long sifting my hands through the beautiful shells atop the warm golden sand. The textures and the absolutely stunning views of this bay had me mesmerized for quite some time...

Hard to top Spirits Bay, but good thing we had 90 Mile Beach, which was not actually better than Spirit's Bay but still fun. 90 Mile Beach is a legitimate registered highway with a speed limit of 100km. 90 Mile Beach, in fact, is only 55 miles long. It is a mystery to me why it is called 90 Mile Beach when it is not actually that long...who knows. 

A lovely way to end a near perfect day.