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Epic World
  • Eric Schaefer
Apr – Aug 2016

Epic World

A 125-day adventure by Eric Read more
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  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer

    Copeland Track

    May 22, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    The weather has finally worked out for us…well sort of. We had prepared for our first multiday trek in New Zealand. It was only a 2 day jaunt but it’s a start. We had found a highly rated trek called the Copeland Track which followed a glacial river for 18km and ended up at a 30 person bunk hut. The additional perk was that free natural hot pools were located 5 minutes from the hut.

    On the way to the trailhead we stopped at Lake Matheson. This lake is one of New Zealand’s first tourist attractions and is renowned for the picture and paintings of it. The attraction is that the lake creates a perfect mirror of the mountains in the background. We arrived early and at first we were worried that the mist wouldn’t lift which was obscuring the views. Fortunately, we lucked out as the mist cleared just enough so that we could see the reflection of the mountains as we rounded the far end of the lake side trail. It was very tranquil.

    Excited to get our hike started, we headed out. By this time it was a beautiful, sunny day. We pulled into the Copeland Track trailhead and started to pack our bags and then...THE SANDFLIES ATTACKED. We were surrounded and outnumber. Like mosquitoes buy smaller. To top it off, the start of the trek had a river crossing so I was wear shorts and no shoes. We got ravaged. We quickly finished our packing and started running down the path. The flies don’t bother you as long as you are moving. The river cross was a first for me. We wadded through knee deep rushing glacial water. It was actually really cold and quit painful for the final few steps. Sadly, Rebecca lost one of her sandals in the crossing. Once on the other side we were harassed again by sandflies as we put on our hiking boots.

    The trail was graded an easy trail so Rebecca and I had created certain expectations in our mind. In reality, it was not easy. The trail was rocky and muddy and was constantly undulating. We did have some splendid river views and cool swing bridge crossings but alas the rain returned and the wet dampness of the surrounding rain forest weighed on our mood. Since we anticipated it would be an easy hike we left late in the day which resulted in the final 20 minute stretch of the trail in the dark by headlamp.

    When we arrived at the hut we were the first to arrive (a few other late hikers arrived after us) and were greeted by a friendly warden that had made to much tuna noodle casserole. Not wanting her to throw it out we gladly accepted her left overs. The hut itself was giant 2 story structure with 4 bunk rooms. Each bunk room had about 8 beds lying sided by side on a platform. We chose an empty room and changed into swim suits for the hot pools. After a short walk in the cold we found the pools which were delightful. There was a hiking club from Dunedin University sharing the pools with us. The pools were very shallow as we snuggled into the mud to look up the stars. It was an incredible experience with the stars and mountains in the background.

    The following day we awoke and after a quick breakfast set out to backtrack all the way to the car. I much prefer loop tracks. Backtracking is no fun. It was a slog, drizzly and overcast until the final kilometers. There was also supposed to be bridge work that day which could cause delays but we lucked out and didn’t run into any rangers working. We jumped into the car and hit the road right away to avoid the sandflies. No set destination, we headed north.    Read more

  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer

    Hokitika

    May 24, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

    A day to rest our legs. No big hikes. We headed into Hokitika to explore the small town and do some shopping as our supplies had run low. Hokitika is full of shops selling jade which is prevalent in the area. We also found a nice café to have lunch. They sold honey in the café and actually had a bee hive in the store. It was behind glass (like an ant farm) and had a tube leading out the roof. A neat idea. They actually harvest honey from those bees. We left town after lunch to head up to Arthurs Pass for the night.Read more

  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer

    Arthur's Pass

    May 25, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    We awoke to a fresh layer of snow…there goes our planned hike for the pass. I’ll have to come back here someday, they have some great off track hikes in this region. Just need some river crossing and avalanche training.

    We opted to flee the frigid weather and make the long drive up to Nelson (only 5 hours, longest drive yet). Along the way we finished our first audio book Dune and have now started Lord of the Rings which the surrounding landscape really brings alive.

    We have arrived at Nelson which feels like a big city compared to the recent places we have been. We have settled in to plan our next 4 day trek in Abel Tasman and treated ourselves to a movie night.    Read more

  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer

    Nelson

    May 26, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    Our freedom camping spot was in a shopping plaza parking lot last night. It was super convenient as it was right in the center of town. Surprisingly, the town was pretty much a ghost town after 5pm as everything seemed to close. We headed to do a local walk that provided great views of the town. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t want to agree with us and it started raining 5 minutes into our hike. We pushed on as it was only 15 minutes to the lookout. The views were really nice and you could look off and see the rain clouds moving around and all the dry locations that we were not in. After heading back down we bee lined for a nice café to wait out the rain. We spent a couple hours here emailing and the like.

    Next it was time for some shoe shopping. Rebecca’s hikers had taken a beating and were taking on water like the titanic when it rained so it was time to upgrade. There were quite a few hiking shops around town so we checked them all out and settled on a nice new pair of Meindl’s. I’ve always wanted a pair of these but they don’t sell the in Canada. Rebecca lucked out. The only issue is we didn’t have any break-in time so we would have to bring both pairs of boots on the next hike.

    Shopping completed, we hit the road to drive out to Moteuka for the night to camp. Moteuka is only an hour from the Abel Tasman Trail head. The freedom spot would actually have been great if it was summer. It was right on the beach and they had an interesting Ocean swimming pool. Kind of like of fenced in rectangular that filled with seawater.    Read more

  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer

    Abel Tasman

    May 27, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

    Eager to go, we set out a sunrise and drove to Marahau where we parked in town and sorted out our water taxi pick up for the end of the trek. We had a 2 kilometre walk from there to the trail head.
    With 4 days of storms and bad weather planned we didn't know what to expect. The weather turned out to be excellent except for one hour of rain on day 2. A wicked storm did come along the first night but we were safely in a hut. The trail was very well laid out and groomed which made walking easy. Gravel and dirt for the most part, there were many sandy beach sections. For the next 4 days we wound in, out and around the coast line.

    We were surprised when booking that it was apparently hard to do the entire trek in the summer in one continuous trip because there are some many bookings. Another reason we are glad it is the offseason. Bugs were also non-existent for the most part. During the trip we had the company of 4 ladies from the Christchurch hiking club as we stayed at the same hut each night. A couple we over actually around 70 so it was impressive to see them trekking the 18km days with full packs. We enjoyed playing quibbler, a word game with cards, with them one night. They were quite entertaining. Each night we stayed at comfortable huts with fireplaces, bunk beds, cooking areas and fresh water. The huts could hold up to 25 people typically but the most we shared with was 9.

    The first day walk took us along many pretty beaches. A short detour took us to Cleopatra’s pool which has a natural water slide which I could not help but trying. The water was frigid so it was quick dip but it was the cleanest I’d been in days.

    Day 2 was really short and we got to camp early. To fill the time I decided to make some kindling for the fire and accidently cut the tip of my thumb off with my knife. It was pretty good wound that went clean through and took a couple millimetres off the tip. I quickly bandaged it up. It didn’t bleed too much which was good and as luck would have it one of the other campers was a doctor and took a look at it the next morning and didn’t think stitches would do much better with the location of the wound. Based on that assessment and that it didn’t look infected, we decided to finish the hike.

    One interesting aspect of this hike is that you had to take in account tides for certain section. For example to cross one bay we had to wait for low tide or else the trail was inaccessible. We had one of these crossings on the morning of day 3 and had to set out early to cross the bay. The bay hadn’t completely dried so we had to walk barefoot through ankle deep water in sections. The crossing wasn’t very long only 500m but if you arrived at the wrong time you were stuck. The rest of day 3 was more coastal walking with a side track to Separation Point a scenic lookout. We ended up at this old historic house from the 1890s that was turned into Whariwharangi hut. It was like staying in an old farm house. I really enjoyed it.

    The final day took us inland as we looped back over a 400m summit to our taxi pick up location. The water taxi was fun and put a nice finishing touch on the trip as we motored along the entire coast we had just walked. In total we walked about 60km.    Read more

  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer

    Picton

    May 31, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    We stayed in a campervan park last night in Nelson and cleaned up after the hike. Today was a travel day as we headed towards Picton where we would be catching a ferry to the North Island. Along the way we popped into a few wineries for some free samples! We stayed for a cheese and meat board in one location. Picton is located in Maralborough Sound which looks like a great location to explore on our next New Zealand trip. Picton was a cute little harbour town that thrives off the ferry traffic. We strolled the harbour and stopped at café to warm up.

    We freedom camped a short way outside of town. We have found with the cold weather and early sunsets we haven’t talked to many other campervaners. It would probably be quite a different experience in the warmer months.    Read more

  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer

    Wellington

    June 1, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 9 °C

    Over 3.5 weeks on the South Island, it’s time to head north. Before hopping on the ferry we explored a short way up the coast to Bob’s Bay which had excellent views of the incoming and outgoing shipping traffic. It really is a beautiful harbour and sound. The ferry ride itself is supposed to be one of the most scenic in the world which was. We had about 1hr winding up through the Marlborough Sound surrounded by forested hills and rocky outcrops and inlet after inlet. One thing I found interesting is that we saw logging all over New Zealand but it appeared to be way more than they would require. What we learned is that that they have extensive logging programs which they export to Japan. When we final arrived at the open water we were greeted by giant waves. The ferry itself was huge but the waves still made it a really bumpy ride.

    Our final destination was Wellington on the North Island. It was an actual city and we drove on a freeway for the first time in New Zealand. Wellington is a busy city with lots of restaurants, museums and theatres. We spent the afternoon exploring the city after struggling to find parking for the first time on our trip. We actually had to pay for parking, crazy. In the evening we had some fine beer sampling at Goldings Dive Bar and head to the Ortega Fish Shack and Bar for dinner. It had great reviews and turned out to be a high end restaurant rather than a shack. We ended up having a delicious sea food dinner.

    As a bonus, we were able to freedom camp at a Marina that was only a 10min drive from the city centre.    Read more

  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer

    Palmerston North

    June 2, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ -9 °C

    It’s strange being back in a city after all our time in the small towns and national parks in the south island. Everything seems to cost money in the city to have fun. That being said and the poor weather forecast we decided to replenish our groceries and hit the road. The roads are flatter on the north island and less windy which makes driving a bit quicker. There is also traffic; not a lot but still more than we have seen in a month. We took the coastal route up towards Palmerston North and stopped in Kapiti for a short walk and coffee break. We found an interesting little café right off the beach. Back on the road we made another pit stop to browse a strip of outlet stores on the side of the highway. Some success, Rebecca got a new top. When we arrived at Palmerston North it was late in the day so we just continued on to our camp site at the Ferry Reserve. Palmerston North is an army and university town. It was really busy but had the cheapest gas we have seen on the trip. The drive to the campsite was a bit interesting as the road followed a deep gorge for several kilometers. We couldn’t see how deep it was but it felt like a bottomless with the thick fog that night. To add to it there were tons of signs warning of high crash zones.Read more

  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer

    Tongariro

    June 3, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 4 °C

    A short 2 hour walk this morning to stretch our legs at Manawatu Gorge. It was a beautiful sunny day. Afterwards we decide to keep heading north and see if we can do the Tongaririo Northern Circuit. We weren’t sure if the crossing was already snow covered so we put a few more miles on the van.

    On arrival we checked-in we the park offices and learned the Tongariro Crossing was iced over and we would need alpine experience to cross it. With the beautiful weather window we decide to cut out the crossing and do an out and back to a few of the huts on the northern circuit.    Read more

  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer

    Tongariro

    June 4, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 8 °C

    It was a cold night. Well not in our sleeping bags but outside the van was iced up in frost. It fell well below zero yesterday. After defrosting the van we headed to trail head and set out on a 5 hour hike to Waihohony hut. We had learned it was a New Zealand long weekend and brought a tent in case the hut was full. It was a large 28 bunk hut so we didn’t think we would have an issue. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful cloudless day. The hike was at 1,100 meters altitude and we walked through high alpine tundra. A different environment than we have had so far. The walk is famous because it goes around Mt Ngauruhoe (Mt Doom from Lord of the Rings). An ominous volcano which was currently snow covered so it looked more like a ski hill. Along the way we passed some crisp blue crater lakes. It really was a nice walk.

    We arrived early and to our surprise the bunk house was already full. There were several families that took a shorter route in and snagged all the beds. We opted to camp out and get away from the horde of people. There was actual over 40 people at the site. Too many for my liking. We ate in the warmth of the hut and after dark headed to our tent. The temperature turned bitterly cold at night and dropped between minus 6 and minus 10 Celsius. Thankfully our sleeping bags are rated for colder weather but it was still a cold night. I actually had to sleep with the beer cans in my sleeping bag so they wouldn’t explode in the cold.    Read more

  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer
    2

    Taupo

    June 5, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 8 °C

    After a bitterly cold night and the hordes of people we decide to scrap the rest of the hike. We’ll have to come back and finish this circuit on our next trip to New Zealand. Since we couldn’t do the crossing we would have to come back anyways.

    Upon exiting the park we drove a couple hours to Taupo. They have some great freedom camping in Taupo right on the waterfront and only a hundred meters from the city center. We called it an early night and would explore the town on the morrow.    Read more

  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer

    Taupo

    June 6, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

    It was still surprisingly cold this morning. We could still see our breath as we rolled out of bed. Taupo was a great little town. Kind of like Queenstown but less touristy. It is situated at the top of New Zealand’s largest lake. There is a lot of geothermal activity in the area and a portion of the beach are actually heated by thermal runoff. Temping to go for a swim. We spent the morning walking along Waikato River and ended a Huka Falls. It was a clear sunny day but the condensation and mist from the heated water made it difficult to see until the land heated up around 10am. Along the way we passed more thermal pools that were fill of bathers. After lunch we headed to the lake which has a great 8 miles waterfront path.Read more

  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer
    1

    Napier

    June 7, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    We were on the road a little after 8am for a 140km drive to Napier. We had heard big talk of visiting this town for its Art Deco style. The town sends you right back to the 1930 as the buildings and architecture have changed little in the downtown core. At the same time it has a very beach town feel. We spent the morning walking up to bluff lookout and along the waterfront to Napier Yacht Club. We made a quick stop at one the playgroups that looked like it was straight out of American Ninja Warrior so we could not help but try and do a circuit on it. We explored the downtown core but just missed out on the Art Deco tour. There were lots of antique shops filled to the brim with Art Deco paraphernalia. This has also been our warmest stop for many weeks so it was a nice change.Read more

  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer
    1

    Gisborne

    June 8, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    Our east coast driving tour continues. We drove a few hours to Gisborne only to stop for a few pictures and lunch. Along the way we stopped in Wairoa to enjoy the Osler’s Baker award winning steak and cheese pies and stretched our legs with a leisurely stroll along the river. We continued onto our destination in Gisborne and headed to the Sunshine Brewery for a flight of beer. They had a really good selection with 13 beers on tap. We particularly liked the double happy IPA brew.Read more

  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer
    1

    Cooks Cove

    June 9, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌬 17 °C

    We started the day heading to Tologa which had a historical wharf that jutted 660m into the bay. It was a beautiful sunny day but the wind was roaring. We walked to the end of the pier and got some great photos. From there we drove up the road to Cook Cove trail head. This 7km return walk took up and down and through cow and sheep pastures to arrive at one of the landing point of Captain Cook. Signs along the way told the story and we really enjoyed the walk and surrounding coastline.

    Back on the road we detoured to Te Puka Bay. A great beach but not much happening here. We did stop for some coffee and fries as the clouds rolled in and it began to rain. We put a few more hours of driving to get around the coat. The roads are so windy here that every 1 hour drive here takes 2 hours.    Read more

  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer

    Rotorua

    June 10, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 17 °C

    Today was really just a long drive to Rotorua. We made a quick stop in Opotiki to use Library but otherwise we drove all day in the rain. When we arrived in Rotorua the list of things to do was endless. We would definitely be staying a few days. The day was almost over so we did a short city walk that took us by a few thermal sites. One location was called sulphur bay and as the name would suggestion reeked of sulphur. They had a freedom camp spot there but with the overwhelming smell I don’t think we will stay there if we can help it.Read more

  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer

    Rotorua

    June 11, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

    We awoke to a park ranger knocking on our campervan asking about fees. We actually bought a national park pass which covered most camping spots. This pass was great as it was cheap and normally we had really nice campgrounds to ourselves. We showed him our pass and he gave us a nice postcard of Rotorua and the lake we were camping on. Great marketing for the campground. The campground itself was a well-groomed 10 car parking spot right in front of a large lake. Can’t get much better for morning views.

    Rotorua is filled with so much fun stuff to do. The town itself feels small but everything around is close and interesting or thermal. We started off at the Waimangu Valley. This walk took us along a thermal valley of bubbling pools and springs. The highlight is what is referred to as Frying Pan Lake which is a large crater lake that appears to be boiling like a hot frying pan. There is lots of interesting history about this location that you read along the way. The last big eruptions that changed the face of the valley was quite recent 1904. It unbelievable to see how the land that was decimated by the eruptions is now covered in vegetation and forest. The location has been a tourist trap going back to it’s discovery. We also largely had the place to ourselves which made the stroll even better.

    After walking around for most of the day. We drove further down the road to Rainbow Mountain track for a short jaunt up to the peak. The views were way better than expected. It revealed some of the greenest and hilliest sheep pastures we have seen in New Zealand. The setting sun added to the colours and in the distance you could see some steam from the thermal activity.

    To finish of the day we had been really keen on taking in a New Zealand rugby match. We actually were just off on timing to see the All Blacks play live so we headed to a bar to take in the atmosphere. The bar was packed and it was a great time. We both really like the warm up chat chant they do at the beginning of the match. You should YouTube it.

    We liked the campsite from the prior night so much we headed back for our second night.    Read more

  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer
    1

    Rotorua

    June 12, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    Another long list of things to do today. We started off at Okere Falls. A nice short walk along a river that took us past various waterfalls. Staring out at the falls we wondered if anyone kayaked and rafted them because they were so large. To our surprise a short while later we heard excited voiced going down the river. This was a popular kayaking and rafting route. We hadn’t originally wanted to raft but this looked like some much fun we couldn’t pass on the opportunity. Looking further into it after the walk we learned this was the highest commercially rafted waterfall in the southern hemisphere at 7m. This was now added to our Rotorua to-do list.

    We next headed to Hamurana Springs for a walk amongst Red Woods. I have always wanted to go see redwoods and haven’t yet made it down to San Francisco so this was a real treat. These red woods were young and only 100 years old but they towered overhead and were amazing to behold. It was a really tranquil walk that led through a small patch of redwoods along the Hamanure Spring and a golf course. The spring itself was interesting as the water bubbled upward out of a cave and is not running down from above. It takes about 70 years for water to move through the aquifer and out the spring. The water is so clear it was hard not to go for a swim but the signs prohibit it.

    For the afternoon we rented mountain bikes at Red Wood Forest back in town. This was some of the most fun we have had on the trip. The trails were amazing and wound through redwoods and up and down the hillside. Considering our lack of mountain bike experience we did easier trails but they still had some technical corners and obstacles. The park is so extensive we were on the bikes for 3 hours and hadn’t repeated any tracks. We finished the ride with our biggest and longest descent. I may have to buy a mountain bike back home because it was so fun. It seemed like everyone in Rotorua must own a mountain bike.

    We headed south to a different campsite that was closer to the next day’s activity.    Read more

  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer

    Rotorua

    June 13, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    The day started with a geyser eruption at Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland. The geyser is set off each morning by the park ranger with soap. Funny enough, this reaction was discovered long ago when miners tried washing their dishes in the hot water. From there we took a tour and wandered the geo thermal site. We saw a lot of steam and pools of every which colour. My favourite was the devils bathtub, a bright neon green pool. For the afternoon we headed back into town to visit the redwood forest. This forest was bigger than the forest we saw on the prior day and was on the same mountain with the mountain bike tracks. At the end of the day we found a climbing gym in town. They had an interesting set up as they were part of a hostel which probably helps their business. We were too lazy to drive out to a campsite so we ended up stay by Sulphur Bay which smelled as bad as the first day. You kind of get used to it.Read more

  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer

    Rotorua

    June 14, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

    We had contacted a rafting company the previous day and lined up rafting for the afternoon. To fill the morning we headed to the Jubilee Walking Track which was a short 1hr forest track up Mount Ngongotaha. The primary draw is the giant Rata tree you see which dwarfs the trees around it. We had learned that possums are a real problem to these trees as they eat all the seeds and new trees aren’t growing. Unfortunately at the top of the mountain there isn’t a view but it was still a nice walk. From the walking track we headed to Mamaku Blueberry Farm. We had seen an ad for this place and couldn’t resist trying their blueberry pancakes. These were hands down the best blueberry pancakes I have ever had. They sold everything blueberry at this shop. We also treated ourselves to some blueberry covered chocolates and tasted some blueberry wines.

    Full and ready for rafting, we headed to River Rats Rafting to attempt the Kaituna River. The rafting was so much fun. I have done rafting a couple times and hadn’t thought much of it but this experience was totally different. The run was short and only 45 minutes but are guide was excellent and stopped in places along the river to tell us about the local culture and interesting facts. The river itself was located in a deep narrow walled canon and is very fast moving. There are not many rapids buy several waterfalls you shoot off of. You even pass by an old obsolete generation station. It is very popular among kayakers. As mentioned in a previous post, the final waterfall is a 7 meter drop, the highest commercially rafted waterfall in the southern hemisphere. The ride was awesome and definitely one of the highlights of the New Zealand.

    With the fading light of the day we headed to Arapuni Landing for the night so we would be closer to Waitomo in the morning. It was so dark at this campsite that I almost drove into the lake trying to find a spot.    Read more

  • Eric SchaeferEpic WorldEric Schaefer

    Waitomo

    June 15, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 10 °C

    We woke up early and finished our drive to Waitmomo Caves. We had a caving activity planned for the day. Our caving trip was 5hrs of crawling, scrambling, climbing repelling and zip lining around a pitch black cave with only headlamps. Waitomo caves are famous for their glow warms so switching off your head lamps reveals an eerie green glow. At points we were climbing along 50 feet above a running river or squeezing through an inconceivably tiny crack. The tour was fun but I don’t think caving is our thing. The tour operator also offered a tour where you float through the caves on an inner tube which we think would have been more fun.

    Caving complete, we headed into Hamilton and found the Good George Brewery for a flight of beers. Great bar and atmosphere. With not much freedom camping in the city, we headed Keeley Reserve which was closer to Hobbiton.    Read more

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