a week in turangi, the trout fishing capital of the world

sunday
left napier bright and early sunday morning to hitch to turangi. i always feel a bit safer hitching on sunday mornings - surely any shady characters are asleep somewhere at that time... as i was walking out to the edge of town, a car stopped and a woman shouts across 2 lanes of traffic "are you hitching?" well, not at the moment, but "yeah, to taupo" "GET IN!" as i do, my happy stream of thank-yous is interrupted by a sharp voice. "what do you think you're doing hitching by yourself? that's dangerous! does your mother know what you're doing? does your mother even know where you are? when was the last time you called her?" etc etc etc... it was very kind of these two women to drive me the first 20km or so of my journey, but i've never been so happy to get out of a car. they were relentless. no amount of charm or the blatant falsification i resorted to could make them stop. tag-team nagging.

arrived in turangi before noon, 3 1/2 hours ahead of my pre-arranged meeting time. picked up a map and took a self-guided walking tour, then had just 3 1/4 hours to kill... the trout fishing capital of the world is no metropolis.

orientation
a whole week of it. necessary, but not very exciting. firstly, 2 days of mostly office-based orientation. things you'd expect from any orientation - how to fill out paperwork, what to do in case of a fire, earthquake, major volcanic eruption... then, wednesday morning... finally! into the mountains! the park is amazing - i can't wait to explore... and more orientation - this time with fresh air and giant volcanoes in the background - the best shortcuts, which creeks make good baths, and how to set the possum traps around the hut. yup, i think i'm going to like this gig...

weekend!
beginning monday, only 2 of us will be out of the mountains at the same time, but we have a whole weekend together now... how to spend a hot summer's day in turangi? in the water!
friday afternoon we scavenged some innertubes from jimmy, scouted the local rafting outfitter, and decided we would float down the "family float" section of the river. probably pretty mellow in a big raft, but in a little black tire tube, just big enough to drop your butt through the middle where it could hit every rock just under the surface... plenty of excitement, thank you. the river moves, and there are plenty of rocks and such to stir things up. it was FUN though and we made it 2/3 of the way back to town without incident. that's when chris dumped, and all we could see was his legs sticking straight up. by the time he righted himself, his glasses and his tube were lost. but he was fine and we all had a good laugh... and a slightly longer than planned walk home.

saturday's afternoon activity was cliff jumping at lake taupo. woohoo! something i had never done... reacquainted myself with my fear of heights. and had some great jumping. it wasn't really all that high - probably only 15-20 feet - but that was plenty high for me. lake taupo is a HUGE lake resulting in the crater of the largest volcanic eruption in the last couple thousand years, surrounded by mountains and heated in part by the ongoing geothermal activity in the area. swimming with a view.

and now it's sunday morning again... and tomorrow morning it's off into the park.

in case you were getting the idea that mine was just a happy life of leisure...

...i offer you this little anecdote:

you see, i'm one of those people that bugs generally don't bother. at least not as much as most others... except on special occasions like that night at tuolumne meadows this summer when the mosquito kings turned every one on me, just me. but i've recently discovered their cousins... very evil cousins.

so i had a restless night of sleep wednesday night... it was warm in the hostel and i kept waking up itching my ankles. i didn't think anything of it until thursday morning, when i was driven out of bed by the fire burning up my lower legs. my legs were positively covered in little red dots.

when the pharmicist tried to sell me a value-sized tube of anti-itch cream, i selected the smallest one instead ("i won't want to carry around that extra weight.") yet another example of my foolish optimism. i'm now rationing my sanity-in-a-tube, which never leaves my pocket, hoping that it can somehow outlast the devil in my skin.

it's been 3 days. 3 days of sanity preservation applied every couple of hours, around the clock. i counted today - as carefully as i could sitting on a public park bench. 42 on my left leg, 24 on the right, and 3 on my hand. oh, and they've grown. so each one is now a large red mound on my leg, broadcasting "itch-me" incessantly. oh and did i mention i have only shorts to wear on this trip, so i can't even hide my leper-like state?

the medical encyclopedia at the library assured me that there is nothing deadly, nor anything that i can do.

except maybe execute one of the many schemes of revenge i've dreamed up for that hostel....

so there you go, just a little window into my world.

a great walk: lake waikaremoana

mon, 16 jan
there are 8 tracks in nz designated as "great walks" - the track around lake waikaremoana being one of them, although probably one of the least travelled. because of their popularity, reservations for huts and camping sites along great walks are often required well in advance, so i was surprised when i had no trouble booking in for the same day. i had planned to do a "strenuous" track in the nearby mountains but decided to do the "easy" great walk instead. hey, it must be designated that for a reason, right?

1040a - after a quick water taxi ride across the lake, i was at the start of the track. according to the track brochure, 5 hours climbing from the first hut, where i would be spending the night... if this is an easy track, i'd hate to see a strenuous. steeper than cape brett - often enough requiring hands and feet to pull myself up. roots everywhere, except where the moss-covered rocks dominate.

as i climb, the forest becomes denser. the occasional breaks in the bush reveal fantastic vistas of the lake and the surrounding mountains. but the forest is fascinating, too. big knotty trees with knarly branches growing out in every direction, all the way down to the floor. covered in gobs of moss and shiny lichens. cool and damp and fantastic fuel for the imagination at midday, but the kind of place that would spook me out of my wits after dusk...

later a kiwi tells me that the forest here is one of the last wholly native, and therefore one of the last places in new zealand where the fairy tale people still live. and i believe them...

i arrive at the hut about 2p. it was a tough climb, but hard to believe that i'm stopping for the day this early... i take a nap in the shade, read, visit with a few dayhikers... the hut sleeps 30-some but the only other resident for tonight arrives around 7p. i've just finished my dinner... we visit for awhile and then i retire early.

tues, 17 jan
what a difference a day makes! according to DOC, i had 8 hours of walking today, but i knew it would be less, so i got a purposely late start, trying to take it slow and stretch out the day. i made the first "4 hours" of crazy steep descent off the ridge to the lakeshore in just over 2 and reminded myself to SLOW DOWN. so i promptly stopped for a snack break on a rocky beach, and spent a little time just watching the wind on the lake surface...

less than an hour later, i came to a sidetrail up to a waterfall. never found the waterfall, but did find the perfect lunch spot. a few big down trees and boulders, extending out into the middle of the creek, but still shaded. sat on my little "island" for over an hour, snacking, reading, watching the water run by me...

less than an hour down the trail again, i met another couple just resuming the track after a swimming break. swimming? that sounds fantastic. a few steps off the trail and i was completely hidden. well except from a few boats, but they were pretty far... ahh, the simple joy of a cool swim and then lying in the sun to dry. it was 3p now and i hadn't made it far from the halfway mark, might be time to start covering some ground...

track was mostly along the lakeshore, through lots of towering ferns and some crazy trees with long green tendrils of mini pine needles...

and finally, about 5p, i arrived at the hut where i would be spending the night. along with a group of 10 on a teen youth group trip and two families. 20 people packed into a bunkhouse that slept 25. oh what a difference a day makes...

wed, 18 jan
up with the crowd, but i was fed and packed and off while they were still heating water for morning tea. only 5 hours of walking again today... all pretty mellow. at the last hut, 45 min from the end, i met two young germans... one was just finishing her 8th (of 8) great walk. got lots of good advice, talked gear for awhile... walked the last bit to the water taxi pickup together... their taxi arrived at 1p and i had another hour to kill until mine arrived at 2p. a nice ride across the lake, a little perspective on the terrain i had walked the last couple days, and it was farewell to lake waikaremoana...

by bus, by thumb

spent most of the last two days just getting from one place to another...

sunday i finally convinced myself to leave russell and the bay of islands and explore a bit more of the north island. i had a few errands to do in the morning, though, so it was about noon by the time i actually caught the ferry back across the bay.

i had planned to hitch down to auckland, but was feeling a particularly high level of self-pity - not exactly an ideal state for hitching - so i bought myself a bus ticket instead. besides, i was able to get all the way to rotorua that way, almost twice as far as auckland. bus travel in nz is quirky. the schedules are spare, the routes marginal... but the prices surprisingly high. the buses are comfortable. but the stops are remarkably few. and meal/toilet stops even fewer. once every 4 hours or so if you're lucky. and absolutely no food or drink allowed on the bus. met two argentinian guys on the same route who had missed lunch in the rush to catch the bus... and were nearly ready to pass out by 9p when we got to rotorua and they still hadn't had a chance to eat anything.

monday dawned in much improved spirits and i set out to hitch to lake waikaremoana, in te urewera national park. i couldn't find a decent map or any tramping information in rotorua, but i had the impression it was a little off the beaten track. i had no idea how far off the beaten track.

again, i wasted the morning and finally started hitching from the edge of town a little before 2p. the very first car i thumbed stopped, and it was a friendly college student who drove me about 20km to the junction where i needed to leave the main highway and take a smaller one. as i was getting out of the car, a pickup stopped and asked if i needed a ride. i wasn't even out of the first car, hadn't put out my thumb, and i had another ride. unbelievable. this time it was two locals, about my age, returning from a fishing weekend to the dairy farm up the valley where they worked/lived. they invited me to camp in the forest at the back of the farm, but it was still early and i was keen to get down to the lake so instead they dropped me at the DOC center to pick up some maps/tramping info. after i had acquired such, i returned to the shoulder of the little highway and waited for cars to pass. for the first time all day, a car passed me without stopping. but the second one stopped, and the four inside made room for a fifth. jehovah's witnesses, returning to a group campout in the forest up the road. another 20k or so later, we reached the junction where our ways parted and they let me out.

and there i was, at the end of the paved road, in front of a large sign indicating that i was 82km from rotorua, and a further 80km from lake waikaremoana. 80km of unpaved mountain road, and i was going to hitch this? it was about 315p when i arrived, and about 335p when the first car passed me. it was hot and i was in the middle of a forest, who knows how far from any settlement... and feeling stubbornly optimistic. about an hour and a half passed in my little spot. a total of 5 cars passed heading the direction i wanted to go. a couple stopped to say there were only going a bit up the road. a few cars going the opposite direction stopped to offer advice: "be safe", "don't stay there too late"... i was just deciding what my cut-off time would be, when i would settle for the backup plan of walking up the side road in search of the camp where the jehovah's witnesses were staying and returning in the morning to try hitching again. when a car stopped! it was an older woman, travelling by herself, going all the way through past the lake, and she would love the company! hooray!

it turned out to be a crazy little gravel road through the mountains, often one-lane, always winding... lots of cattle and horses and sheep grazing along the edges (unfenced)... only once running into the road in front of us (2 horses - yikes!). the conversation was a little heavy on the "doesn't your mother worry?" kind of questions, but lovely. and i was dropped at the office to the motor camp at lake waikaremoana about 630p.

no bus would have taken me here.

eating like a local

i think i've mentioned janet before, the manager of the backpackers in russell where i've spent most of the last week. she's a fabulous host... has been feeding me little treats since i got here. when we left for the cape brett hike thursday morning, she had casually mentioned that friday was her birthday so there would be a bit of a barbeque friday night we might want to be back for. by friday afternoon, we had hiked enough to feel that familiar hiker hunger, and the barbeque invitation was suddenly VERY motivating.

but i should have known better than to believe this was going to be a mellow little gathering. lots of neighbors, some family drove up for the night... and they ushered janet into her 53rd year in quite a fashion. and invited us to share in the whole feast.

as promised, there were grilled burgers and chicken. we contributed a few steaks... and then there was the hangi. a maori tradition, usually cooked by digging a pit and lining it with heated rocks, this one was cooked in a substitute fashion that involved packing a modified keg instead of a hole in the ground. but it was SO good - potatoes, cabbage, kumera, pumpkin, pork - all slow cooked with lots of steam. lots of salads. and then dessert. ohmygod, i could have just eaten the dessert spread. two kinds of chocolate cakes, and two pavlova. pavlova. another local treat - some kind of creamy meringue sort of cake, topped with a kiwi fruit sauce. i'm salivating just remembering it.

and great craic. i was exhausted from the long day in the sun and hiking, but stayed up well into the night, drinking lion red and chatting with everyone. and feeling really lucky to be welcomed into their lives, if just for the evening... yup, this is how it happens that one could stop into russell for a couple days and find themselves there still a week later.

cape brett

when i looked into tramping around russell, the first thing i heard about was the cape brett track. it's billed as a longish, "moderately strenuous" track out to a lighthouse with fantastic coastal views along the way.

sounded good to me.

after a few days of sailing, i decided that i would head out to cape brett. when i announced my intentions at the backpackers, i found out that two others i had met there had the same plans. even better.

so thursday morning, clayt, jurgen, and i packed our bags and started hitching the 30km or so to the start of the track. it was more remote than the DOC center had let on, but we managed to get rides as far as whangamumu. the track from there to the lighthouse was a couple hours longer than the standard route from rawhiti, but included a detour to an old whaling station that i was interested in seeing so i convinced the boys we could do it.

based on absolutely no knowledge of what we were getting ourselves into, of course. my perspective may have been skewed by the fact that i was with two others who really weren't sure they were going to make it and would have called in the water taxi if there was any cell phone reception. but it was a brutal track, especially the extra bit from whangamumu. steep steep steep. up and down and up and down. nothing "moderate" about it, to be sure.

the whaling station was bit of a bust. the scenery was stunning, though, especially after we got on the main track. cape brett is the tip of a narrow bit of land sticking out into the sea, and we were following the ridge at its peak. the track itself is mostly in bush, but the views are all of the bay. carribean blue-green water, gorgeous sandy beaches inbetween rocky heads and lush green bits of land rising up all around... capped by blue skies, with just a few fluffy white puffs of embellishment.

finally, though, we reached the tip of the cape, about 700 vertical feet above the sea. first down to the old lighthouse, and then a further 400 or so vertical feet down to the hut. they've converted the old lighthouse keeper's house to a hut for trampers. it sleeps 20, but we had the place to ourselves. unfortunately it was about 8p by the time we rolled in so we didn't do much exploring beyond the picnic table on the front lawn. but it was a fine perch to watch the sun set over the sea.

and then, the following day, we got up with the sun and turned around and headed back over the same hills. except we took the more direct route out, so we were swimming in oke bay by 3p. the perfect treatment for hiker filth and sore legs.

and for my next trick (trip??)...

... i will magically transform myself into a sailor, acquire a boat, and follow the winds around the world, chasing summer, and generally living the life.

admittedly, the last two days have been a small taste, but i'm a quick learner. and if i thought it sounded good in abstract before, i'm quite certain now that i am meant for the cruising life.

it probably helps that i had fantastic hosts. my sister had forwarded me an email that some friends of theirs, currently cruising, were in nz. after a quick exchange of emails, we realized that we were both in the same place. so i showed up at the boat club with a description of their boat and inquired to another couple on the dock. the man was just telling me how i would need to paddle or swim around to find the boat, when the woman asked, "have you tried the yahoo?" "huh?" and she starts shouting "YAA-HOOOO" and sure enough, a few minutes later there was bruce and tiffany rowing towards me. unbelievable. they invited me to dinner that night, and then to go sailing overnight the following day.

i think i've only been on a sailboat once before, back in north dakota when i was in high school. i LOVED everything about the last two days on the boat. the first day, we headed out of russell, to one of the islands that was largely public lands. when we arrived, the little bay was swarming with tourist boats and dolphin cruises but they had largely cleared out by the time we finished a late lunch. we had a good swim from the boat, watched a giant ray hanging out under us, then swam ashore, explored a couple of lagoons, layed on the beach examining all the shells, hiked up to the top for a view...

it was a gorgeous starry night so i slept on deck. after a relaxing morning, we pulled up the anchor and sailed around another of the small islands in the bay. anchored in a little cove for lunch again, and then sailed back to russell around mid-afternoon.

mostly i worked hard at trying to stay out of the way, but bruce did humor me with some "pull that rope" sort of tasks. but i'm still convinced that i could pick it up. i think i've nearly got the lifestyle already; it'd just be that boat operation bit... and a little vocabulary...

swoon...

i mean, really, how could i not?

based solely on lonely planet's phrase "russell, which has all the charm and character that paihia lacks," i decided to book a bed across the bay from the hub of the bay of islands area, here in russell. and the town is adorable. only about 1000 people. organic market. internet cafe that charged me local instead of tourist rates. gorgeous beach. views to kill. excellent bakery.

... and the sheltered waters backpackers. i booked a bed at the only backpackers (that's kiwi for hostel) i could get ahold of, even though it was a few dollars more than i expected to pay. the hospitality of janet, the resident manager, though, is worth more than any backpackers could charge. when i arrived, she was lounging in a hammock on the front patio. she showed me around, offered me a cold bottle of beer, and we settled ourselved back on the front patio to visit with the only other guest there, clayt. other than a quick trip to the shop, that's where i stayed, along with an ever-growing collection of fellow guests, until it was time to go to bed.

today then, i stopped back around noon-time. janet had some freshly-dug tutu (sp??) in a bowl on the counter and cracked one open for me to sample. like a little mussel... it was a salty morsel of yumminess. a few minutes later, she brought me a whole bowl of them that she had steamed. divine.

and then... this afternoon, i find the community message board. that has both of these notes tacked to it:

* who would be interested in house- and cat-sitting during the winter months from may to october 2006? free of rent, beautiful property close to russell, complete privacy, lots of fruit trees, deepwater mooring available. for further information please call...

* who would like to sail on a genuine square rigger for free? during the summer months in new zealand waters and in the winter to the south seas islands (tonga, wallis, fiji, vanuatu). some sailing, the willingness to learn and help with maintenance jobs would be required. for further information please call...

if that's not enough to fuel an afternoon of daydreams i can't imagine anything could... can i just stay??

more ninety mile beach photos

long and straight and flat...



















speed limit on the beach is 100 kph

car that got caught in the tide and is now part of the beach...

cape reinga to ninety mile beach

let's see... dirty? sandy. haven't seen much dirt yet... smelly? yup, i received very detailed directions for the shower and laundry facilities when i checked into the motor camp today. hobbling-about? also true. stiff more than sore, but stiff in that takes a few minutes to stand up sort of way.

05 jan, 12 noon... made it to cape reinga, the tip of the north island. i walk down to the lighthouse, watch the the tasman sea and pacific ocean collide, and ask one of the countless tourists to snap a photo of me. with the post there. i had hauled my full pack down anticipating a photo op with the post full of signs pointing in every direction and indicating my distance from the corners of the earth (as shown on all sorts of tourist brochures), but when i got there, all the signs were gone. so i have a photo with an empty post.

set off southbound, positively floating despite my fully loaded pack. i don't know how far the route is, but i've decided that it will take me 4 days. so i'm carrying 5 days' food and marveling at how liberated i feel - how can i know if i'm walking far enough or fast enough if i don't know ANY distances? it's brilliant, really...

after about 20 minutes, i've descended from the bluffs and am walking along te werahi beach. and i swear, it was not until i was ON the beach that it first occurred to me, but 4 days of beach walking meant 4 days of SAND. sand gives me the heebee-jeebies. i'm that person who walks across swimming beaches in shoes and socks, stepping gingerly. who sits on a beach blanket like it's the last outpost of safety in shark-infested waters. 4 days... how did i completely miss this little detail?

the first day was a mix of beach walking and track through dunes and bush. mostly uneventful... except for the place where i climbed 15 min up a dune before realizing i was following markers for the wrong track. doubled back, waited about 1/2 hour for the tide to go out, and found the correct markers across the inlet. curiously, there was no mention of tide in my planning either, but ohwell.

about 5p, i found myself humming and tuned in... "and i-i want to tha-ank you, for giving me the best days of my li-ife." a bit melodramatic, but i was very happy to be out and walking...

day 2... woke up at the very tip of ninety mile beach, fried to a crisp. i had heard the special news report on the uv here and the highest incidence of skin cancers, etc but it just didn't feel that warm... with the clouds and the breeze off the sea... but i slathered on the sunscreen and opted for the long-sleeved shirt today. of course i didn't pack a pair of long pants on this trip, inspired by everyone who did without them on the pct this summer. but even the early morning sun was too much for my poor legs, so i fashioned some pant legs out of bandanas... looked foolish i'm sure, but i think i had captured that when i decided to walk the beach.

ninety mile beach... not actually 90 miles, a little better than 60, i'm told. LONG. flat. remarkable straight. my new home. followed wild horse tracks for a km or so... saw a little penguin, injured, standing in the surf... a couple of cars that have been lost to the tides and the sand... about 30 tour buses (the beach is an actual roadway here, with speed limit signs at the entrance points, etc.)... the tide coming in... and going back out...

i managed to walk a little better than half the beach on day 2, so i was looking forward to reaching the end at ahipara by dinner the following day. but by day 3, all the novelty of the experience had worn off. and i was just walking down a long flat entirely monotonous beach.

so when i reached waipapakauri a little after noon, i didn't even think. i just turned inland, walked 2 blocks to the motor camp, and set up under a big shady tree, on a patch of soft grass. showered, did laundry. pure bliss.

those last 15k to ahipara? i think i know about what they look like. it's almost as if i walked it...

(and in case you are wondering, i seem to have miraculously recovered from the sand affliction. it really didn't bother me. whew.)

first day... mixed bag

i passed through customs and immigration without any issues but my tent was quarantined. they released it after about 5 minutes, though, so i guess the particular variety of american soil it held wasn't deemed deadly.

just as i was leaving the airport, i discovered the free internet. ready to leave again... found the free showers. sparkling clean, unlimited hot water, totally private, free showers. who doesn't need a hot shower after a 13 hour plane ride? hell, yeah!

so i finally made it into the city about 3 hours after i landed, a little after 9a. i stopped to drop my bag at the hostel, and the woman just checked me in. "brilliant! thanks a million!" what the hell is that? yeah, that's what i would like to know. because that's what came out of my mouth, in some awful version of an irish-kiwi-american accent. i noticed it later today too... it's hideous. MUST STOP.

figured out by mid-morning that it's a public holiday here so loads of things are closed, even retail and food service. checked out the da vinci's machines exhibit at the auckland museum with everyone else in the city who wasn't working today. cool exhibit, though.

lots of errands tomorrow and then i plan to leave the following morning, to explore the far north by foot. really looking forward to being a dirty, smelly, hobbling-about hiker again.

ode to mail

ok, i haven't actually written any prose on the subject, but don't tempt me... i love mail. that whole moment of sheer anticipation, of possibility, before you open your mailbox, when there could be anything inside... yup, completely robbed of that little pleasure in life every day - one of the downfalls of not having a real address.

but... you can send me mail! and then i'll get mail! and it will be even better than at home because it will be letters from you instead of unsolicited credit card offers and pleas for charitable contributions.

how? you say... but of course:

between jan 23 and mar 20, i'll be collecting mail sent to this address:
c/o department of conservation
turanga place
private bag
turangi
NEW ZEALAND

the rest of the time, i'll be relying on poste restante, the equivalent of the USPS general delivery system.

poste restante
(insert city here)
NEW ZEALAND

in this case, i have to GO to the post office and ASK for my mail. so if you try to surprise me, i won't know to ask, and i probably won't get it. so when (isn't that optimistic? i said when, not if) you send me something, please let me know via email.

oh yeah, electronic communications. also welcomed. leave a comment here, send me an email... i expect that i will check about once a week - when i cross an internet cafe travelling or on my days off while at the park.

POSTE RESTANTE SCHEDULE - the city i indicated to be inserted above and the approximate date i plan to be there (i'll add to this as i sort out my plans)

14 jan - paihia

yup, not much to it now. but i'll get around to fixing that at some point.

welcome to kiwi-dom

if you found your way here, you probably know that i'm headed to new zealand for a few months. for 8 weeks beginning jan 23, i'll be working as a volunteer hut warden in tongariro national park (staffing a hut where backpackers in the park stay). before that, i'll be exploring the north island; after, the south island. probably a fair amount of hiking, maybe some biking or kayaking...

so... what's up with this whole blog thing? well, there a few of you that insist on checking up on me (that's you, mom) and this makes it easier. and lots of you that i'll miss... so maybe this lame little blog will remind you that i exist and induce you to write back, which would be excellent.