Surfs Up!

Last week was fairly uneventful. The weather was pretty nice so Craig got to paddle his kayak in the ocean a little bit, which was exciting for him. We went for a bike ride through the city and down to the path along the water on Thursday. Otherwise, it was just a normal work week, nothing too exciting to report.
Starting on Friday though, temps shot up into the upper 20’s (80’s) and we even saw one report that said 32, which is in the 90’s, Farenheit! It was pretty hot. So, we took advantage and went surfing Friday night, and then for a walk on the beach as it was still warm and light at 9:30. I was a little nervous surfing because there had been a shark hanging out at that beach last week. So, every little piece of seaweed floating by underwater made my heart jump a little. However, no signs of an actual shark, thank goodness!


Katie showing off her moves at Waikouati Beach

Saturday turned out to be even hotter and we roasted at the Farmers Market in the morning. We got to see an antique car show in the octagon on the way down which was interesting. The sun was cooking us at the market so we didn’t hang out too long. We walked home and stopped for an ice cream lunch on the way. That afternoon we decided to hit the beach again to cool off with some more surfing. This time, we checked out a new beach, Warrington, and it turned out to be awesome.


Craig the surfer dude at Warrington Beach

We ended up surfing (still showing signs of improvement) for over 2 hours, which was pretty exhausting. Then it was home to grill dinner and hang outside for the evening.
Sunday brought some cooling morning rain but as soon as that stopped, it heated right back up again. We drove out to Tunnel Beach in the afternoon to check out some really cool caves and tunnels carved out by the ocean. To get to the beach, we had to walk down a steep hill and through a tunnel that was actually carved out by John Cargill, a son of Captain William Cargill, who founded the Otago settlement (where we now live) in 1848. He had the tunnel carved out in the 1870’s so that his family would have access to the beach, which was otherwise unattainable. We hung around there for a little while, watching the crashing waves and taking in the views.


View from Tunnel Beach


Tunnel Beach

Then, back home for a quick dinner and we were off to try out a new mountain biking trail near our house. The trail was pretty cool so we biked there for a bit and then down through the city to the bike path again. We’re definitely enjoying summer!

Action Shots

Homecoming

While our North Island trip was amazing and fun and we were sad to see it end, it was nice to come home to our new house with improved floors at the same time. We got home on Saturday evening, unpacked, ooh'd and aah'd over our now sanded, stained, and gleaming hardwood floors, cleaned a little, and went to bed exhausted. We then spent Sunday doing some serious cleaning (it needed it) and grocery shopping as our supplies were pretty much non-existent. The house looked great after much dusting and scrubbing, and we even took all the rugs and curtains outside to beat, vacuum, and air out. So, the house also smelled better (it was a little musty after being closed up for so long, and the floors smelled like varnish).


Unfinished floors when we moved in


Finished floors

During the week, we didn't do much, recuperating from our trip, getting back into the routine of work, and loving all of our new space. The following weekend, we hit up the farmers market for the first time in quite awhile. Berries and stone fruits are now in season, so we bought raspberries, blueberries, and kakana (I think) berries, which are a tasty cross between boysenberries and blackberries. There were also tons of apricots, nectarines and peaches. It's fun to go to the market and wonder what will be new every week! As this is also strawberry and cherry season, the are street vendors selling them daily for pretty cheap, so we have had a fridge well stocked with fruit for the last couple of weeks! The cherries here are amazingly good, huge, dark red, juicy, and sweet. And the strawberries are equally as good. You can smell them just walking down the street!
We also did some work on our gardens, which was a fun new thing for us to do.
Last saturday, we decided to take advantage of our out-of-control backyard mint bush and invited our friends over for burgers (cooked on our newly acquired barbecue!), Craig's german potato salad (nice and vinegarry, complements of the family recipe), yummy brownie, pudding, and strawberry dessert (thank you for discovering that recipe Todd!), and mojitos. This turned out to be a great combination for our first gathering in the house. We managed to finish off an entire bottle of rum with the mojitos and made a large dent in the food supply.
The next day, we hiked up to a new mountain biking path that looked challenging but cool. We were looking forward to trying it out, and Craig did the following evening, with Dan. Good decision by me to not go as it turned out. Craig arrived home a couple hours later, holding his arm gingerly with a pained expression on his face. Turns out, the trail was extremely difficult and both he and Dan took some falls. Unfortunately, the last fall for Craig was particularily nasty. He described it as flying over his handle bars, landing on outstretched arms, and then with all of his weight on his right forearm which was on a log. So, looking at his arm, a fracture was definitely a possibility. Luckily, after a restless night for him, a couple of people at work determined it was not broken, applied a laser treatment to aid in healing, and after a couple days, his arm was about 95%.
So, we were able to enjoy a sunny evening midweek by going surfing. We both still stink but are showing signs of improvement. Craig actually stood on his board for about 6 seconds, a new record. And I actually got my feet on the board a couple of times instead of just kneeling. Take note that 50% of the time, my feet were on the board but I was upside down but this was deemed as success nonetheless!
This weekend is just winding down (it is Sunday night). Friday night we tried out a new japanese restaurant for appetizers of crispy squid tentacles, octopus balls, "flash" spring rolls, spicy pork, shrimp skewers, grilled meat skewers, seafood mix, and chicken something. They were mostly pretty good but small portioned so we moved on to another restaurant for pizza and chocolate cake for dessert.
On Saturday, we drove over to Queenstown to pick up a kayak for Craig. I had forgotten how beautiful that drive is, and it was nice to go over that way in summer. Previously, we had only been there in winter to ski. We ate a Thai dinner there, and walked around down by the water and in the gardens until his boat arrived. Then back in the car for a rainy drive home. Craig was dying to try out the new toy and took it out on the harbor today. So far so good, and he was excited to be back in boating action.
No plans for this week. My brother Andy arrived in Christchurch on Friday after some difficulty with cancelled flights in the States due to the freezing temps. Speaking with him on Friday night, he was tired and sunburned (big change from home!) already, and getting ready for bed at 6pm. Ahh, jet lag. He leaves for his 10 day hiking trip tomorrow (Monday) and we will meet up with him next week, which will be fun. Our first visitor!
Hope all of you in the northern states are staying cozy and warm. And Go Steelers!

Happy New Years

The New Year’s Eve drive from Waitomo to Stratford provided two options. We could either choose to drive the Forgotten World Highway or we could drive along the coast on the Surf Highway, and we chose the prior. The Forgotten World Highway got its name from the fact that the road is so windy and road conditions so poor that people forgot it was there as everyone takes the Coastal Route, or at least that’s why it should have gotten the name. The road is about 150km long and was the most direct route for our journey. It started out well enough and we drove through the Whanganui National Forest and then down through the Tangarakau Gorge. The road was a very tight two lane, probably close to 1.5 lanes and had several “saddles”. Apparently, the term saddle refers to an exceedingly windy and narrow road with no chance of seeing oncoming traffic or avoiding it. Thankfully, all Kiwi’s had forgotten about the highway anyway as we saw a rare few cars during 4ish hours along the route. The scenery along the route was mostly rugged farmland with sheep pastures among steep hilly terrain. Once in the gorge the landscape changed to dense rainforest up the side walls. There are no petrol stations along the road and only one town, Whangamomona Village, which claims to be a republic and not part of New Zealand. See the link for details.


Tangarakau Gorge

Republic of Whangamomona

Once through the republic, we pressed on with more of the same farmland until the road finally straightened out, as we rolled into Stratford.

Stratford is a small town on the edge of Mt. Taranaki National Park. We had booked a campsite the day before as many were filling up for during the holiday season. We found our site and set up around 5, then headed into town to get some tasty treats for the evening’s celebrations. Just as we left for the grocer the rain started to dump. We got pounded with rain for a good 4 hours before it let up. Fortunately, the holiday park had a nice lounge connected to a kitchen where we made our New Year’s feast of spaghetti with vegetables, hard cider (Grannypash) and some tasty desserts from the grocery store bakery. We spent most of the evening in the lounge until it was closed for the night around 11. During that time we watched The Sound of Music and attempted to tolerate the revolting strawberry flavored champagne we bought. I made it through a cup and Katie made it through 4-5 sips. The last hour of our year was spent in the tent, which was surprisingly dry with all the rain. We had a mini-countdown with a football drop at midnight, and tried to go to sleep. The partying camp neighbors had other plans and we were awake until 3 or so with their racket. Kids these days!


New Years in a Tent

We decided to start off our New Year kiwi style, with some tramping around Mt. Taranaki, another volcano. Unlike Mt. Tongariro, the other volcano we hiked, this one is set by itself. As you are driving you can see it from quite a distance as it stands alone among mostly plains and some rolling hills. We did not summit the mountain as crampons and ice axes were required because the top was still covered from last winter. Instead, we chose a couple short hikes around the base of the mountain within Mt. Taranaki National Park.

We pulled into a parking lot loaded with cars of other like minded people wanting to walk off a hangover or just start their new year with a day outside. The weather was sunny and warm. We started with a loop tramp called Wilkes Pools Loop Track. This was a cool short tramp that hiked a bit uphill and then upstream to a series of small waterfalls carved into the bedrock streambed which created Wilkes Pools. There was only a trickle of water coming down the creek so the waterfalls were small but really neat. There were also old lava flows to see. We then hiked away from that creek and over to another which lead us downhill back to where we started. This creek had a fair bit more water and had many waterfalls and waterslides as well.


Wilkes Pools


Mt. Taranaki

Following a PB and J picnic lunch we hit another short loop tramp, on the Kapuni Track toward Dawson’s Falls. This was the more popular track which highlighted an 18 metre waterfall. We walked down to the base, took a few photos, and headed back up to complete the loop.


Dawson's Falls

It was still only mid afternoon and small town Stratford was mostly dead since it was New Year’s Day so we decided to check out New Plymouth. We did have a small detour on the way to Lake Mangamahoe Park. There was a lot of water foul and some great views of the peak with the lake. It was worth the 5 minute drive for some nice views and a few pix. New Plymouth is the biggest city near Mt Taranaki and is on the west coast. We spend an hour or so walking along the shore on a paved bike path and then returned to the car via the main road of the city. The city centre was mostly deserted as 95% of shops and restaurants were closed for the holiday. The shoreline walk was nice and it felt good to be hot, as the sun was beating down on us the whole time. We don’t get too hot in Dunedin, ever. The evening was mostly organizing and cleaning the car and trying, unsuccessfully, to call and wish Happy New Year to those back home who arrived into the new year much later than we did.


Mt. Taranaki in the Background

Friday was all about driving from Mt Taranaki to the ferry in Wellington. It was a good day to drive with light rain and then sun. The drive took around 5 hours but we stopped at a few places along the way to eat and check out a small town. We arrived in Wellington a couple ours before we were to get on the ferry and the wind was howling. We assumed the ferry ride would be delayed and rough due to the weather but were going to take advantage of the time we had to check out the city. It was strange to be a “big” city as we haven’t seen one since we arrived. Wellington is the capital city and there is a “real” downtown with multiple story buildings and theatres etc. We walked for about an hour and got our choice of takeaway food for dinner. Katie had Pad Thai and I got an Indian chicken curry with rice. We then got to the ferry terminal and quickly ate in the car before boarding soon after. To our surprise the ferry was on time and smooth sailing but taking in the sights on deck was not fun due to all the wind.

We got into Picton (the other ferry port) and breezed through a DUI checkpoint to our campsite which was overbooked. So we put up our tent in the playground. That night was torrential downpours, but the tent stayed really dry.

We were up early as we hoped to get back to Dunedin that day. It was about a 10 hour drive back home. We did make a stop in Christchurch, the main city on the South Island, to check out an arts and farmers market, which was rumored to have a vendor for some of the wonderful German sausages we had a few weeks ago (See Quiet Crazy Week post) . The arts were plentiful, the produce was non-existent, and the sausages were in the house. We ate a couple, bought a few packs to take, checked out some art, ate a chocolate, banana, and cream crepe, shared a blueberry frozen yogurt, and headed out. Katie had read about a beach volleyball tourney also in Chch, so we rambled over to investigate. It was cooler and drizzling on the beach. The weather and level of play weren’t great so we quickly checked out the local landmark, Cave Rock, and finished our journey home. The last leg of the drive was studded with rain, wind, hail, thunderstorms, sun, and cool temps. We finally got home around 8 to find our house all dusty with newly polished hardwood in the living room and kitchen. We spend the rest of the night cleaning the house and unpacking from the trip.


Katie in Cave Rock

Overall the trip was a great time and we were glad to see the varied terrain and landscape of the North Island. We may head back to Wellington for a weekend but will unlikely make another voyage to the central locations we saw. It was strange to not be with friends or party on New Years, but we hope everyone had a great party and a Happy New Years! Ahhh, back to work.

Final Round of North Island Pictures

Wine, Water, and Worms

On the 27th, we packed up, Craig’s shoes and all, and drove over to Napier. Napier and Hastings are on the east coast of the North Island and are known for their wineries. We didn’t really have any set plans but wanted to do some wine tasting so we stopped at an info site in Napier for some info. There were all sorts of options for wine tours but most wineries closed at 5pm and it was already about 2pm. Craig found a wine tour though, called Twilight Odyssey, that began at 5.30 that evening. We called and they had space so we booked it, went to our campsite in Hastings, and relaxed for a couple of hours.

The shuttle was running late because of the previous tour and finally picked us up at 6.45. There were 6 other people: a couple from NZ and their parents from Ireland, and a girl our age from Hong Kong with her British sugar daddy. All nice people. We went right to the first winery, Vidal, where we tasted about 6 wines and were served an appetizer platter. The platter (see pics) was an array of fancy foods including squid, green-lipped mussels, smoked salmon, red wine mushrooms, breads, beef, and I can’t remember what else. It and the wine were amazingly good, and the winery was really cool, with big wooden barrels throughout.


Wine Tasting at Vidal

Vidal Winery

From there, we hopped back into the shuttle for a ride up to the top of Te Mata, a high peak in Hastings famous for it’s panoramic views over the area. We arrived a few minutes before sunset and were served champagne while enjoying the evening air and beautiful sunset. Also from up there, we could look straight down to see the next winery, Craggy Range.


View from Te Mata Peak

Back in the van and on to Craggy. This winery was modern, gigantic, and gorgeous. It was set near a river and had a large lake next to it. There was a huge sphere shaped thing next to it with a roof over it. Our guide informed us it was a huge wine vat! It was about the size of maybe 4 large houses. Amazing! We were led through the winery restaurant and out onto a large patio on the lake for more wine and our main course. I had Bluenose fish and Craig had Filet Mignon. Both were really really good but Craig’s Filet took the cake. The one morsel Craig shared was the best meat I have ever tasted.


Craggy Range from Outside

Craggy Range Winery

With full, happy tummies, we left for the third and finaly winery, Mission Estate. This one was in a huge old church and was also very beautiful. Once again we were seated outside. Ice wine and dessert were served, followed by tea and coffee. Craig had some Rhubarb fluffy stuff and I had a warm chocolate, fudge filled cake thing with ice cream. Heavenly is all I can say. Followed up with some hot tea, the evening was complete. A 3 course meal at 3 different wineries, good wine, and good company on a beautiful evening. Can’t beat that!

Mission Estate Winery

The next day we wanted to check out a new farmers market in Hastings. It ended up being quite a bit bigger than the one in Dunedin, with a wider variety of stuff. Also some good live music being played with people relaxing in the grass in the middle. Lots of fresh fruits, veggies, and breads, and also lots of homemade goods such as jams, jellies, oils, dips, and canned goods. There were tons of vendors selling food such as brick oven pizza, smoothies, fruit drinks, waffles, breads and lots more. Craig tried a cheese and bacon bread which was all right. We shared a berry smoothie, made with strawberries and blueberries blended with yogurt. Pretty good, and healthy too. Then we decided to try the waffles and oh, what a great decision that was! We started by sharing one but I ended up ordering one of my own because they were so good. It was like a light, fluffy, rectangular belgian waffle topped with a little syrup and some whipped cream. I don't know how that guy made his batter and he wasn't about to tell us (although he did divulge it was his grandma's recipe) but it was a tasty one.


Commence Drooling

After digesting, we drove the 15 minutes or so into Napier to check it out. This had more of a city feel than Hastings’ wine region feel, but was pretty cool. It was set right on the ocean so we walked along the waterfront for awhile before leaving to drive north to Rotorura.

Napier

When we got to our campsite in Rotorura, we were able to relax and nap a bit before dinner. We ended up just hanging out at the campsite for the evening which was a nice break. The next day, we woke up to lots of rain, so packed up quickly and went to check out town. We wandered around into a few shops, bought nothing, and decided to go see a sheep shearing show we had heard great things about. We also decided that since it was still raining and was forecasted to continue, that we would get a “cabin” to sleep in that night. We called a campground and reserved our cabin and then went to check in. The “cabin” was really a tiny shed-sized, free standing room with a bed. It was just what we needed to keep dry though so we moved in and left for the show.


New Zealand "Cabin"

Now, if it weren’t for all of the rave reviews about this sheep show, I never would have been interested. However, it ended up being really cool! When we first arrived, the sheep were lined up along the walls and we were able to go pet them and take pictures. When the show started, the sheep were brought up on stage one at a time and a guy told us about each different kind of sheep. Next, he picked one of them to shear onstage and completed the whole thing in less than 5 minutes. It was crazy! This guy definitely knew what he was doing because it did not look easy to restrain a large, unhappy sheep with a bear hug while shearing it naked with a sharp electric razor.


Shearing

Next, he brought some kids up onstage to milk a cow and feed some lambs. Entertaining. Then he held a pretend auction. Love listening to those fast talkers. Finally, he brought 2 separate dogs up to demonstrate herding. These dogs were amazing! They followed both verbal (turn left, flat, and walk them in) and whistle commands. At the end, they were commanded to run along all the backs of the sheep! While jumping from sheep to sheep, they were ordered to STOP. The dog immediately stopped on the back of whatever sheep it was on and stayed there until commanded to move. It was crazy! Definitely a really cool show. Afterward, we went outside (in the rain) to watch the dogs a bit more herding sheep in a field, and then inside to see how wool is processed. This was a surprisingly really cool way to spend our day.


Merino, The King of Sheep

Next day, on our way out of town, we hiked along the Kaituna river, which Craig rafted when he was here with Katie a few years ago. The river was beautiful and we got to watch some rafters come over the waterfall it is known for. Then we walked around a thermal area park (the only free geothermal site in the area) to see some boiling mud and steaming ponds and such. Apparently the area last erupted in 2000 so it was cool to see something so active.


Geothermal Craig

That was enough of touristy Rotorura for us, and it was still raining so we drove down to Waitamo, a tiny “town” known solely for its glowworm caves. We booked a blackwater rafting trip through the caves for the next morning and drove to the nearest grocery store to stock up on food to get us through the new year holiday. In the morning, we met for our tour at 8am. We were given thick, rubber wetsuits (very attractive), booties, gumboots (also very attractive), and helmets equipped with lights, and then were taken to a practice site. Here we picked our inner tubes (yes, the old black ones from when you were a kid, just minus the long metal stem that caused so many injuries). Once we had our tubes, we had to practice jumping into the water with them for the waterfalls we would soon be launching off of in the caves. I, lucky me, was chosen to go first. I was instructed to stand on the edge of the practice dock on the creek, with my back to the water, bend over, and stick my inner tube on my bum. Then jump backward and land in the water on my tube. Success! I landed with a large splash, stayed on my tube, and all was well. After everyone in the group performed this task, we piled back into the van and drove to the cave entrance.

The entrance was basically just a hole in the ground. We climbed down in and hike a little ways deeper into the cave. We got to crawl through this cool, small little cave passageway, and our guide met us at the other end with out tubes. Here was our first jump into the water and then we had to lie on our backs on the tubes to float under a low cave roof (about 18 inches between rock and water). Super fun! The rest of the trip was spent paddling our tubes through the caves (sometimes in the pitch black which was a challenge), a cool jump off of a 5 foot waterfall, and a stop in one part of the cave to see and learn about glowworms. The worms were so bright in the pitch black cave that we felt like we were outside looking at a starry sky! It was really amazing.

After floating through the caves and looking at the glowworms, we reached the exit, climbed out, and then walked in the creek to the pickup point. It was a really great trip, and we were served hot soup and bagels at the end! After our soup and bagels, we hit the road to drive the “Forgotten Highway” down to Taranaki Park for the final few days of our trip. We’ll describe that drive in the next blog. Stay tuned!

Rotorua

Whanganui River Trip

It was during out backpacking trip in Stewart Island that someone mentioned we should do a multiday kayaking trip on the Whanganui River (the “wh” is pronounced like an “f”). It was only a week before we left for our Christmas holiday that we actually decided to go and booked the trip. The Whanganui river is in the central North Island and it is the longest navigable river in the country. We chose to do a 3 day, 2 night river trip over Christmas in order to avoid crowds on the river and to find a place that wouldn’t be closed for the holiday. We hired a couple kayaks and gear from an outfitter who would also shuttle us to and from the river. We got all packed on the 23rd in the evening and stayed in the hostel next to the outfitter, then it started to rain. It rained hard all night and as we woke up Christmas Eve it was still raining. The shuttle picked us up to take us down to the river put in around 7:30 in the morning. We drove for about an hour until the paved road was no more and then on to the dirt roads. As we drove along we were all chatting and he was mentioning how the river would be high and fast moving. While driving, he stopped along the road and got to look at a creek and waterfall that he “never knew was there before.” The river we could see was a tributary to the Whanganui and we were to paddle on it for a couple hundred metres until we entered the main river. The driver mentioned several times how he had never seen the river so high or fast as we watched large logs and small trees float on past. Katie’s eyes and voice were saying she didn’t like the looks of the high flow or continued rain. The driver gave us a “safety talk”, wished us luck, and sent us onto the muddy class II wave train that was supposed to be a relaxing gentle flow.


A Little Treat before the Rains Came


Brown Water and Green Surrounds

The rain kept falling all morning and it, the air, and the water were warm but the continued exposure was chilling. The plan was to paddle a few hours each day and sleep in huts along the way. As we set out the rain went from steady to hard and we got colder all along. We chose to not stop for lunch, as it would be warmer to continue paddling to keep warm and get to the hut quicker where we hoped there would be a woodburner, as we had seen in other huts we had used. The river flows through several distinct canyons as it moves from the central North Island into the Tasman Sea. This is a temperate rain forest and we were seeing more of the rain than the forest. The canyon walls rose steeply from river level. The forest floor is mostly volcanic remnants and thus it does not absorb much of the rainfall. This created literally hundreds of waterfalls dropping of the canyon walls down to the river. There was times in the deeper sections of the canyon that you couldn’t float 25 metres without seeing another fall drop in on one side or the other. Some were small trickles cascading down, others you could hear from quite a distance away as they emptied larger streams down on either side of us. We kept ourselves motivated and warm by continually commenting, “look at that one it’s taller than the last 20…” We also passed wild goats hanging out on the cliff walls a few times. Who knows how they got down there. After a couple hours on the water we saw some canoes tied along the river’s edge. This was one of the designated campsites along the way. These, along with the huts, are maintained by the Department of Conservation (DOC) and consisted of a covered picnic tables, outhouses, and leveled and cleared camping terraces. I ran up to check it out and use the facilities. While chatting with a family playing cards in the shelter I learned the river had risen 1 to 1.5 metres overnight night and it was still rising. They were content to stay put until the waters started receding. I wished them well and we continued downstream to our intended hut.

After 3+ hours on the water, we finally arrived at the hut. Dave and Jeannette, the hut wardens, greeted us. They were a couple in their late 70’s who volunteered to spend their holiday at the hut on a 2-week volunteer assignment. They had separate living quarters next to the hut and work with the DOC to ensure all hut users have paid their fees for using the facilities. They were very hospitable and had a toasty fire lit and waiting in the hut. A young couple from Belgium was already taking advantage of the stove and we quickly unloaded the boats and headed in to join them. Within 45 minutes we were dry, warm, and snacking around the large group table watching others perform the same routine. By dinner time there were several groups including 4 Irish girls, 4 Israeli guys, a couple from London, and the Belgium couple, along with us. Everyone was very friendly and it felt homey sitting around the big table chatting and eating our Christmas Eve dinners. We enjoyed some vegetable soup with rice. After dinner we went outside to get some fresh air as the fire, people, and dinner made the hut a little stuffy. We ended up chatting with Dave and Jeanette for a couple hours and had some tea and Tim Tams (think chocolate covered cookie sandwiches with caramel in the middle). It was really interesting to hear many stories of the 45 plus years they had been enjoying the river and now acting to aid the DOC and hut users to do the same.


Our Christmas Eve Accommodations

Christmas Day came and we had continued drizzle overnight. The river level dropped about a foot overnight but was still moving quick and muddy. We said our farewells to the hut wardens and the others, and set off around 10 hoping for clearing skies. The day was much warmer and drier, but we were still treated to several dozen waterfalls dumping down the cliff walls, although not as many or fierce as on Christmas Eve. The river was mostly fast moving current with a couple waves here and there. We stopped a couple hours down for a hike to the “Bridge to Nowhere”. This was a 45 minute hike along a creek to a bridge which connects rainforest on one side to rainforest on the other. It was built in right after WWI for soldiers who had been given land by the government for farming as reward for their service. The cleared land apparently was overrun with ferns and other trees which is why the bridge now connects two forests. Anyway, we had some lunch, saw the bridge and pressed on to the hut. By mid afternoon the sun made it’s first appearance on our trip and the canyons had mostly passed. Our destination hut this evening was next to a Maori meeting hall. There were two cabins, one for the kitchen one for sleeping. We had the same crowd as the night before with a few more people who ventured down from the campsite we visited the day prior. We spent the evening playing cards on the porch of the meeting house. That night was also the first time we heard a kiwi. We have been informed that kiwi sound like “a baby crying” or “loud screeching” and that description is quite true. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any, but we are getting closer. That night we were tired and went to bed pretty early.


Katie on the River


Craig Whanganui Style


Meeting House

Boxing Day we woke up and headed on down for our last day on the river. We were supposed to meet our driver at 2pm. We were again greeted with sun and thus smaller and fewer waterfalls but still many were seen. The sun was pretty hot but it felt good on our wet pruned bodies. We spend much of the morning playing river bocce. This consisted of throwing pumice stones (which float) toward a target stick some distance away. We arrived at our intended take out around 12:30 and the bus met and took us out at 2 as anticipated.


Typical Waterfall

It is always bittersweet getting off the river after an overnight trip. I always wish I could stay and see the scenery and enjoy the river longer, but it does feel good to wash up and get some food that isn’t boil and eat. Once back at the outfitter, we were quick to unload the boats and get showers in attempt to get a move on to our next destination, Napier. After nearly 2 hours of driving, I remembered that I did not bring my shoes and they were sitting next the van that picked us up from the river. A quick phone call and 2 more hours in the car and I had my shoes back. We made little progress that evening as we decided to stay there instead of driving late that night. Boxing Day is a public holiday in New Zealand and most of the restaurants and stores were closed. We treated ourselves to some Chinese food that night, as it was the best of a couple not great options. It should be noted we would have had many more and better options had we not been in Ohakune, where I left my sneakers. The holiday park (campground) was really busy that night and we were treated to a strangely New Zealand phenomenon. The Rotel is a rolling hotel. There was a group of older folks who travelled on a big tour bus and slept on a trailer of a semi truck. From the outside there appeared to be over 50 bunks for sleeping. It reminded me of the “hotels” you see in Japan which is only a bed/sleeping compartment.


"Das Rollende"

Overall, it was a great river trip, not that I complain about many of them. Katie was able to go on her first multiday trip and it was the second best option for Christmas. If we were in Buffalo, we could have gone to visit our new nephew, Holden Jeffrey, in the hospital. He is a few weeks early but healthy and home now. Congrats to Jay and Erica!

River Pictures Album