More Hawkes bay
14. November 2018 in Neuseeland ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
We spent another full week in hawkes bay area but moved on to Hastings, a city more inland from Napier. It was a pretty chill week with some rain and cooler weather. We got out for a couple more rides at Te Mata peak because it's just so fun! And we checked out a couple beaches - Ocean beach and Waimarama beach. Keegan recently bought a surf board so he was very excited try it out!Weiterlesen
Taupo
17. November 2018 in Neuseeland ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C
We said goodbye to the ocean for a couple weeks and headed towards Taupo. This city is basically right in the middle of the north island. Taupo and area have some great biking trails so we did a bunch of exploring by bikes (of course). With a giant lake there too we decided to get in some water activities as well. We signed up for a guided tour by kayak out to some Maori rock carvings. We also checked out another geothermal area that was right by the bike park.
We stayed a couple nights at a free campground but 2 nights was plenty for us. After camping with at least 40 other caravans or campervans and hanging out with our sneaky rat neighbour (he was cute and I named him Fergus) we moved on to a quieter spot with a shower - you can really only bath in the river for so long before you need to actually get clean!
From here, we weren't sure where to go. The forecast wasn't looking good for our original bike plans so we both agree it was time for a bike break so we could hike:)Weiterlesen
Kaimanawa Forest Park - Solo Trip
19. November 2018 in Neuseeland ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C
So Lisa and I had spend approximately all of our waking hours together since getting to New Zealand, and most of these being in a van crammed with a bed and all our equipment. These hours, for the most part have been epic... But when rain, illness, and road bumps in logistics get thrown into a trip like this, Lisa and I can get on each others nerves. We decided to take a few days to ourselves, which I used to hike Mountains in the Kaimanawa Forest Park, Just south of Lake Taupo. This involved 65ish km of walking and 2 nights at the Waipakihi Hut.
If this hasn't been made completely clear, tourist hoards can get on my nerves. I recently read an article about a 45 minute "Social Media" queue at the top of some mountain overlooking Wanaka on the South Island of NZ. I understand the view from this mountain is probably epic, but this behavior makes me irrationally angry. Why? Because the mountain next to it is probably offers a better view, and does not have a person on it. I will gladly put in any extra effort to hike that mountain. Anyways, this adventure into the bush is a possible example of this.
With prior engagements in a few days in Taupo, my options for backpacking were Kaimanawa or Tongariro Forest Park, a massive volcanic highland containing 3 volcanos, one of which being Mount Doom from LoR (Ngauruhoe). While Tongariro has lots of epic trekking opportunities, it is somewhat of a tourist trap. Huts and campsites in the park have to be booked well in advance and are expensive. Kaimanawa on the other hand is remote wilderness, with less maintained hiking tracks, and backcountry huts, and is visited by way fewer people. In fact, no one at the tourist information center 10 km from my starting point had ever heard of it, but were at least able to sell me hut tickets (remote huts are first come first serve, all you need to do is prepay). Great joy came from knowing I had a place to stay, and knowing I likely wouldn't be overwhelmed by tourists.
Day 1: 25km, ~1200m gain
Lisa and I hiked up Mt Urchin (1,392 m) a small peak with an awesome view. We cooked up some instant noodles at the top which I argue taste great anywhere and Enjoyed a view under partly cloudy skies. She turned around while I carried on a ridge to Mt Umukarikari (1,591 m). It started snowing about an hour after we parted ways and did not stop until I dropped down the ridge to the hut. So I can't say that it was all that exciting, but not often do you get to do a hike where you gain most of your elevation in the first 3 km, then maintain it along a ridge for 19km. So there's that.
I got the the hut around 6 pm and thought thought I had the hut to myself. I start a fire, and laid claim to the kitchen area with wet cloths and steaming boots and crushed some food and beer. 8:30 pm still raining hard at the hut, still snowing on the ridge, and a young kiwi couple wearing hunting gear roll in. They are cold, wet, miserable, and she is super angry at him. They are happy there is a fire, as did not bring pack covers, so their gear is soaked! I surrender my kitchen and the fire and retreat to bed.
Day 2: 21km, ~1100m Gain
I awaken to quite a sight. First, it's beautiful outside. Clouds roll down the valley giving way to clear skies and an unobstructed view of the snow dusted peaks . But more interestingly the Kiwi couple have pulled mattresses out of the bunk room, and have converted the kitchen/fire area into a sweet cloths drying/ mattress fort, in which they spend the night. Over in Tongariro Forest Park, I imagine tourists who have awoken to early to the sound of snoring and farting in their overcrowded superhuts. No one has made a sweet mattress fort. I imagine they are miserable.
I spend my day hiking in the "Middle Range" and head up an unnamed peak (1660 m), again following the spin of a ridge line for most of the day. This time I can enjoy the views in sunshine and take a ton of pictures. I get lost on my way down and have to bushwack. I get back to the hut and realize I have lost my pack cover, and sunglasses somewhere in the process. I eat dinner and retrace my steps up into the middle range in search of my sunnies and pack cover, although I find neither. When I get back, the kiwi couple have re-stoked the fire; their mattress fort still in tact. That night they tell me what they do for fun, what animals you can shoot, and they teach me how to catch an eel. I may or may not have got to shoot his hunting rifle.
Day 3: 18km, ~800m Gain
The weather on Day 3 is even better then that of day 2, sunshine, no wind. I get up early, breakfast coffee. I pop into the kitchen area to say goodbye to the Kiwi's and once again to mire at their mattress fort. I notice that all they have packed were instant noodles and chips, pretty sweet. The hike out is fast, even with all the breaks to stop and take pictures. It follows much of the same track as that of the first day, t once agian traversing Umukarikari peak above the trees on a really long ridge line, only this time in the sun. I am treated with views of the Kaimanawa Forest, Lake Taupo, Lake Rotoaira, and the 3 Volcano in Tongariro.
Pretty Sweet. Lisa picks me up from the trail head, and I am happy to see her. While it was nice to have a couple days of alone time, I felt like Lisa would have really enjoyed the experience, and I would have most likely enjoyed it more with her. Either way it was still amazing, I saw two people the whole time I was out there. The visitor book at the hut showed that days can go by without an occupant. I had arguably better views of Tongariro then anyone actually in Tongariro, and the nearest tourist center had never heard of the Kaimanawa Forest. No 45 minute " Social Media Queue". New Zealand has hidden gems, you just have to work for them a bit.Weiterlesen
Turangi area
20. November 2018 in Neuseeland
Taranaki
4. Dezember 2018 in Neuseeland ⋅ 🌧 12 °C
After spending the weekend (Nov 23/24) with friends watching/cheering them on for their bike race in Taupo we headed out to the west coast to check out the Taranaki area. We spent almost weeks in the area checking out some different spots along the west coast. Taranaki also has a pretty incredible volcano (Mt. Taranaki) which we were hoping to explore.
First stop was New Plymouth. We hung out for a few days with a plan to do some surfing and exploring the city. Did a bit of freedom camping on the waterfront which was basically a parking lot but perfect access to the beach. Keegan got out for a day of surfing while we were here. I relaxed on the beach instead. I'm still feeling a bit nervous about surfing so looking for an opportunity to take a lesson. New Plymouth was cool and we probably didnt give it enough time to see everything that is there but over the few days we biked at there mtb park, bikes along their coastal trails and checked out the outdoor velodrome (we were just on our mountain bikes and it was crazy windy out but still fun!), had a picnic dinner at Pukekura Park and explored the streets a bit (mostly on a search for yummy ice cream)
After a few days here we headed down to Oakura where we rented a guestsuite for a couple nights and got in another couple days of surfing. Day 1 didnt go great for me and after being run over by an intense surfer bro, Keegan and I decided on a private lesson the next day together. This was great and I finally enjoyed myself again in the water. Sticking to the baby waves for now but definitely feel more excited to keep at it.
We continued down the coast to a small town called Hawera. Mostly a great place for some RnR. Cheap and quiet campground and a good spot to relax for the both of us. The weather hasn't been the greatest with alot more rainy days which is making it tough to plan a hike up mt Taranaki. So we surfed again. Keegan did 2 days and I got out for 1. We found a nice surf beach in Ohura. The waves started to get huge with a swell coming in - like 10 to 16ft! But luckily the weather improved and we got a great day out hiking the fanthom's peak track. This is the peak that is right next to the top of mt Taranaki. Great hike, weather turned on us once we got past the treeline and was actually a super steep up but we made it!
We decided to leave the area and head to Whanganui city where we met some travelers who were also biking around just like us. We were looking for a longer distance bike trail to do prior to our upcoming canoe trip. They had recommended the Timber trail so we decided to check it out!Weiterlesen
Timber Trail - Bikepacking Adventure
7. Dezember 2018 in Neuseeland ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C
Since we started touring around the North Island, we have come across several couples/ groups traveling in similar fashion to us, that is with mountain bikes, and the intentions of riding everywhere they possibly can in NZ. Many of these groups have recommended an adventure mountain biking trail called the Timber Trail, and we are grateful that they had. In a last minute decision ( the day before).
The Timber Trail is a 85 km long track which passes trough a remote area of the Pureora Forest Park, about 50 KM West of Taupo on the North Island. The trail is well built, half purpose built mountain bike trails and half repurposed historic tram line The forest is situated on a volcanic plateau, and is comprised of native bush (massive black pines, palms, and a bunch of shit we'd never heard of) and regenerated timber (red wood, pine). The lushness and diversity of the forest, and the quality of trail made for a spectacular bike ride. Oh, also if you do the trail from North to South you descend a lot more then you climb, so theirs that.
We decided to split the ride into two days, so we would not destroy our bodies, and also so we would get some much needed practice bikepacking. So bikepacking, if you are unfamiliar, is a type of biking which falls between cycle touring and mountain biking. You travel on full on mountain style trails, with rocks, roots, and stream crossings, thus necessitating fancy mountain bikes, although camping gear (tent, sleeping bags, food and cloths) are needed for multiday travel. This is accomplished by carrying the gear either in a backpack, or strapped onto the frame or handlebars of the bikes. While its kind of cumbersome to carry an extra 25 lbs on your back whilst trying to rip sick lines through a forest, the ability to travel huge distances into remote places more than makes up for it.
We hired a shuttle company (Epic Adventures) to pick us up at the end of trail, and drop us off at the trail head. Sidenote: they can drop your camping gear off at the 40 km mark for a nominal fee. The trail begins with a gentle and enjoyable climb up a volcano through a mix of old growth forest and through cut blocks with about 500m gain spread over 14 km. The next 25km was a constant decent down the volcano through native and regenerated forest, and was made interesting by the numerous suspension bridges spanning narrow overgrown canyons.
The remaining 16 km of day 1 kind of sucked. While it was pretty, it was mostly climbing. We were happy to make it to camp, which we shared with 4 hikers of the Te Araroa, an insane long distance hike, which traverses the entire length of New Zealand, both North and South. We spent the entirety of the evening learning just how insane the Te Araroa hikers just actually are, and how borderline malnourished most of them are (they eat Instant noodles exclusively).
The second day was much easier. We only had to bike 30 km, most of which downhill on repurposed tramlines used for moving timber prior to the 1960s. The views in this section were epic with much more vistas then the previous day. It was also interesting riding through a gradual transition of dense forest to sheep-filled pasture land. The highlight of the second day was a spiral in the track. When we saw this described in the tourist pamphlet I was half hoping that the spiral was vertically oriented, like a loop-de-loop. Sadly it was not, the direction of travel was entirely horizontal.
But yeah, the Timber Trail is sweet; not to challenging, and super scenic. Oh also, next last minute epic adventure we need to bring more food. We seriously brought half as much food as we probably needed. Whoops.Weiterlesen
The Whanganui Journey - A 5 Day Paddle
10. Dezember 2018 in Neuseeland ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
New Zealand kind of has a genius way of both making money off of tracks through nature, and of funneling us tourists into parts of nature which have the infrastructure to support us. What I am referring too are formally known as the Great Walks of New Zealand, and include 10 tracks scattered throughout the country. The Whanganui Journey is one of the Great "Walks" but is not actually a walk , is a 3-8 day ride down the Whanganui river on some sort of self propelled floating machine such as a canoe. This sounded awesome to us as you can actually take as much gear/food/booze as you want without physical consequence, provided you drink booze responsibly. This, the Journeys description and google images of the place, signaled a must-do for us.
We decided to do a 5-day section of the river which starts just outside of the town of Tamaranui, and travels 160km through Whanganui National Park, ending at another town called Pipiriki. The first two days of the Journey featured frequent class 1-2 rapids through mostly hilly farm land. The latter three required a lot more paddling on a lazy river, but travel through very scenic dense native brush with no civilization in sight.
Preparing for this type of paddle we really just needed to prebook campsites along the river, and contact a canoe rental company (we went with Tamuranui Canoe Company), which generally provide a canoe, all the equipment (paddles, dry barrels, life jackets), and a shuttle from the end of the paddle to the start. Compared to other backpacking trips we have done in the past, packing for this was easy. The canoe rental company provided us with dry barrels to store 160 liters of stuff, so we were able to bring all of our camping gear, normal food, and beer.
The day before we started our paddle, the rental company rang us, and asked if we were cool with having a solo kayaker tag along with us. We said yes. The solo kayaker turned out to be an 18 year old German kid named Marten who like us, was also spending close to year work traveling around New Zealand and he was a beauty.
Day 1 – Rapids
After a quick orientation in safety and canoe skills, we (Lisa, Keegan and Marten) started paddling at about 10 am right from the Tamuranui Canoe Company. It took us about 4 hours of paddling to reach the first campsite at Poukaria. The day was great, fast moving river and sets of class 2 rapids every 5-10 minutes. We saw lots of sheep, and rolling hills and stopped at a lavender farm for a quick coffee. Sun was in full force and we all got sunburnt, Especially Marten, the rental company supplied him with an open-faced kayak.
Day 2- Pasture to Jungle
The morning of the second day was much like the first, rolling hill scenery and had tons of rapids. We stopped at a sweet waterfall for lunch. In the afternoon, pastureland slowly made way for jungle, and the banks of the river became stepper and more rocky. It pissed rain for the last hour of our paddle giving the river a mystic feel. We camped in the village of Whakahoro (Wh is pronounced with the “f” sound). The campsites along the trail were pretty lux as they were all well setup with outhouses, roofed kitchen areas, and rain water collectors for drinking water. Whakahoro also had a cafe with cheap baked goods that were awesome.
Day 3 – The Blue Duck
Day three and four were the most scenic although required the most physical paddling. This stretch of river is free of markings of civilization, aside from a hut at the John Coull campsite, where we stayed on the third night, and a 40 meter high concrete bridge in the middle of nowhere. The banks of the river along this section where generally vibrant moss colored rock with dense native bush atop, which Marten and I agreed were simular to Fjords in Norway, if Norway was near the equator.
We had a fortuitous wildlife siting, thanks in large to a party of Kiwi canoers who shared our camping itinerary on the Journey. Two of the three of them were actually conservationists at a bird sanctuary in the Taranaki region and knew a bunch about birds. This ment they had a keen eye and ears for birds and their songs. We had stopped at the Mangapurua Campsite for lunch, were we found the group of Kiwi canoers who were excited as hell watching a duck hunt in the rapids just of shore. Turns out this particular duck was an endangered Blue Duck. To us this was like a normal duck, except had a distinct blue hue. But excitement is contagious, and you don't see endangered species everyday, so we also got excited as hell and took a bunch of pictures of it. Also, this duck was not scared of people at all, it hung out right next to canoes, waiting for the respective canoe owner to return to their canoes, take off, thus stirring up dirt and the bugs it contained. Its not hard to believe that a duck which does not camouflage well, and who isn’t scared of humans, is endangered.
Day 4 – A Bridge to Nowhere
Halfway through the fourth day, we hiked up a walking track which heads up from the river along a stream to massive 40-meter tall concrete bridge spanning the stream in the middle of nowhere, literally known as “The Bridge to Nowhere”. The bridge was built in the 1930’s to service a settlement which was actually abandoned in the 1940s. It is kind of ironic that the Bridge to Nowhere now gets more use then it ever did, thanks to a steady stream of tourists brought into “nowhere” via canoes or jetboats. All of which brought in so they can observe true nowhereness, and laugh at the poor planning of pre-war governement civil planners. But like our previous rants about the tourist-lemming mentality, and I guess, in the spirit of the New Zealand great walks, If you build it they will come, and eventually nowhere will become somewhere.
That night we camped at Tīeke Kāinga which is an active Pā (Fortified Mauri Settlement). It was really neat as the whānau (Mauri Family) who live and look after the Pā held a pōwhiri (welcome ceremony) for all visitors. This was neat as they welcomed us both in Mauri and English, then sang a bunch of songs for us. In return we were expected to rebut the speech and sing them songs. Something that really surprised us was how many of the Kiwi visitors knew Mauri songs, and had simple vocabularies. The non-bird-conservationist in the group from Taranaki, who was not of Mauri descent, spoke on behalf of us, all in Mauri. His speech was followed up by a sing-along led by one of the bird-conservationists, again on behalf of us.
While this might not have been a regular occurrence at pōwhiris in Tīeke Kāinga, judging by the appreciation of the whānau, and the fact that most of the visitors that night were overwhelmingly kiwi on a journey designed for tourists, it kind of made us reflect on how first nations are treated back home in Canada. Perhaps learning a few songs or even just basic greetings in a North American indigenous language might go a long way in breaking down some of the “cultural barriers” between indigenous and non-indigenous North Americans which still exist today.
Day 5 – Last Day
With heavy overnight rain, the river had come up a meter or two and was running much faster. This meant that while we could travel about twice as fast as the previous two days, most of the super fun rapid that were supposed to be their were not. Regardless we still had a blast and took a bunch of pictures, and still almost got bucked off the boat by a set of rapids. We were met at Pipiriki by a shuttle bus, which returned us to Tamaranui.
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The trip was awesome and we would recommend it to anyone. It also was surprisingly uncrowded once on the river, as the rivers flow does most of the work for you. The trip left us wanting to navigate through more rapids, which we will most certainly do in the near future.Weiterlesen
Part 1 - Christmas with the Saunders
19. Dezember 2018 in Neuseeland ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
Both Keegan and I really enjoy the Christmas holidays. I love the decorating, baking, silly movies, social get togethers, the family time and the winter wonderland back drop we often have on Christmas day. For as long as I can remember, all of my Calgary family would get together for Christmas. As all of us cousins get older, we don’t see each other that often so Christmas was always a great time to catch up. For both Keegan and I, this is our first Christmas away from home. It's also my first Christmas in summer! Although we are missing our own families this year, we are both feeling very grateful for an invitation out to the Saunder's (Luke’s family) sheep farm for some xmas celebrations.
Now to give you a bit of back story since both Keegan and I have our own weird connection to the Saunder’s family. Mine is pretty straight forward – I use to live with Lana and then eventually with Luke when he moved in. Luke and Lana are now married with a baby and we had an opportunity to meet the Family in Canada when they were out for the wedding and to meet baby Mataya. Keegan’s story is a bit more random, but it turns out that Keegan’s mom’s best bud Cecilia from Vulcan AB has cousins in NZ and Luke’s mom, Gwenda is good friends with these cousins and Cecilia! Its kind of funny to think if Keegan and I hadn’t met before, we both still may have ended up at the Saunder’s farm in NZ one day. Small world!
On the farm, there are 2 houses: Gwenda and Sam’s (parents place) and Benny’s (sister’s place). We stayed over with Benny but had alot of visiting between both houses. Besides thousands of sheep all around, they have a few pets too: Frank, the goat, Roger and Dodger the Alpaca’s and Luigi and Diego, the pet sheep. I got into the Christmas spirit once we arrived and did some Christmas baking, made some eggnog (they don’t have eggnog in NZ), put up xmas lights, cut down and decorated a tree with Benny. We even had a few xmas presents under the tree for us:). Traditions here are very similar to back home and we even had a bit of turkey on Christmas day! We celebrated Christmas with Gwenda’s extended family out on the east coast. Unfortunately it poured rain the whole day so it wasn’t exactly the beach Christmas we were hoping for but it was still great to visit with the new NZ fam. We both really enjoyed farm life and I'd say we are basically sheep farmers now...Weiterlesen
ReisenderWe missed you both at Christmas...but love hearing about your special Christmas with the Saunders.
I think it’s pretty cool how small the world is! I’ve know Gwenda since the early 80s!! I’m sure they gave you the traditional warm Kiwi welcome!! Enjoy your travels and Happy New Year!
Sanders Farm - Part Two
20. Dezember 2018 in Neuseeland
Part 1 of the Sanders farm hopefully did its job of describing the Sanders family, how absolutely awesome they are, and how much christmasey Christmas was while away from our own respective families. Part 2 is all the other fun stuff Lisa and I did while we were staying with the Sanders.
The Sanders Live on farm 30 minutes drive South East of Masterton on the North Island. Their land is beautiful; green rolling hills manicured by their herd grazing sheep , overgrown access roads winding their way up said hills, planted pine blocks, a river lined with native brush, and a stream with a giant waterfall. You could film a video promoting tourism for the North island here. This was great news for Lisa and I as we could happily hike, and even mountain bike for hours without leaving the farm.
The planted pine blocks also offered entertainment on the rainy days, errr at-least that’s what I called it much to the chagrin of the Sanders. I found out that planted pine blocks are perfect for building mountain bike trails on as the loamy soil under the pines are free of underbrush, and can easily be moved with a rack. Over two days of pushing dirt and pine needles, and digging out some banked switch-backs I built a mile long section of trail that wondered along a rocky ridge through the pine block. We were able to ride the trail, which Lisa described as “raw”, “narrow” , and “could be better with a few more days of building”. I agreed with here assessment.
We also made a day trip out to the coastal village of Castle Point. The day was sunny and the town was super scenic. I was also able to surf for a couple hours on a beach break which I had all to myself. I think Lisa read, I don’t know… I was in the zone.
KeeganWeiterlesen
Wellington
28. Dezember 2018 in Neuseeland ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
We were sad to leave the farm but felt it was time, mostly because we still had alot to see and do before we catch the ferry to the south island. We headed down towards Wellington. It was our first time back in a bigger city since Auckland. Of course, there are a bunch of mountain bike parks in and around the city we wanted to check out and apparently a really cool museum too. Since the sun finally came out we decided to stop on the way down to Wellington at the Putangirua Pinnacles by Cape Palliser for a little hike. Another LOR filming spots Haha. It reminded me a bit like the hoodoos we have at home.
We spent 4 days around Wellington, which was broken up by a 2 night detour back up to Tongagriro area for a visit with old friends and some more hiking for New Years Eve. While we were in Wellington we checked out a few biking areas: Matara Peak, Mt.Victoria and lower Hutt area. All were pretty great, with Matara peak being my favourite. We did our touristy duties and checked out the Te Papa museum and went for a walk around the waterfront as well. The museum had some cool parts - mostly these amazing life-like gigantic statues of world war I soldier but besides that it was just a crazy tourist zoo! We also went exploring to find a friend we met back in Taupo who was a coffee roaster and made the best chocolate cake ever! But unfortunately he was still on xmas holidays. So we found a brewery instead. Both Keegan and I really enjoyed Wellington. For me, its the perfect size city and has a really beautifully set up. They call it windy Wellington for a reason and the only crappy part is the crazy winds and often really rainy weather. But on a good day, it definitely made me want to stay.Weiterlesen
Tongariro Crossing/NYE
31. Dezember 2018 in Neuseeland ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
I was pretty excited this year for New Years Eve. Keegan and I were heading back to National Park area to do the Tongariro Crossing. But mostly excited to bring in the new year with friends! Tanis is actually one of my oldest friends. We met back when I was 14 playing field hockey. We started out playing against each other in high school and eventually became great friends after many years of playing Provincial field hockey together. I don't get to see Tanis or her husband Josh very often because they live in Macau China. They are both elementary teachers and are going on six years away teaching, first in Korea and now for the past 4 years in Macau. This year they picked New Zealand to spend their xmas holidays which meant I also got to spend some quality time with them😊.
We did the tongariro Crossing together and celebrated up at Whakapapa the New year. The hike basically passes between 2 volcanoes - Mt Ngaueuhue (aka mt. Doom) and tongariro, with Mt. Ruapehu in the background.
We had incredible weather and the views were stunning! Hands down the busiest hike I have ever done but that was somewhat expected. Still so awesome and such a special day visiting and catching up with great friends:) It was the best!Weiterlesen
North of the South - Abel Tasman area
4. Januar 2019 in Neuseeland ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
So we have officially arrived in the South Island! We took the ferry over at night and woke up in Blenheim. We weren't exactly sure what we were going to do for the next few days but lots to explore. There is alot to do in Blenheim but our main activity here was getting some new tires on Betty🙄. Then we headed up towards Abel Tasman for some biking and hiking time!. We checked out the bike park in Kaiteriteri and did a bit of exploring and hiking in Abel Tasman National Park. Nice way to spend a long weekend and enjoy some great weather!Weiterlesen
Nelson
7. Januar 2019 in Neuseeland ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
Since getting to the South Island, we decided to try out something new. Friends introduced us to helpx which is basically a help exchange service - you work for 2-4 hrs a day and your host provides you with accommodations and food. This was appealing for a few reasons: 1 - easy way to stretch our money, 2 - could be a nice way to socialize and get to know people better, not just small talk all the time!, and 3 - (and probably the most important) we can't sleep in Betty any longer!
Our first week of helpx was planned for Nelson. We stayed with an awesome couple, Brandy and Kyle who are actually originally from Colorado. We planned to stay for 1 week with them so we could check out Nelson area and before we started on bike packing trip on the west coast. For 3 hrs of work a day we had our own granny flat and had supper meals with them most days. Kyle was an amazing cook and so we ate REAL good! They also really enjoy to drink wine and gin, and seemed happy that we did too! Basically our job was to putz around and do garden work. There is something really relaxing about pulling weeds so I was happy to be back in the garden:) Other task included oiling the deck, and cutting up wood for the spa. We both really enjoyed our stay and feel like we may be back at some point! At least for a visit.
Besides garden work and hanging out with Brandy and Kyle, we actually had a social life this week haha. While traveling through the North Island, we had met some sweet couples along the way who happen to be in Nelson at the same time as us. We met up with Abby and Nick (our TA walking friends) and went out for Indian food and beer 1 night. We also planned a few bike ride dates with Nolan and Jess (bike travelling friends) and went to the movies one night (saw Free solo - it as insane!). Kind of funny that all of our new friends ended up being from the States haha.
The biking in Nelson is so great and we barely stretched the surface of the trails in the area. Definitely the most challenging riding to date with a lot of technical trails but a great way to build up our skills. I took quite a few tumbles during the week, mostly because I was having some brake issues (or lack thereof) but was cool to see how much our biking skills have improved! In the 4 months we have been in NZ, we have been out for at least 50+ rides and it shows:).
All in all, our week in Nelson was wicked!Weiterlesen
Old Ghost Road Bike Epic
15. Januar 2019 in Neuseeland ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
The Old Ghost Road (OGR) is an 85 km track which winds through the South Island's Glasgow Range situated on the westcoast, starting or finishing at the historic ghost town of Lyell in the South, and Seddonville in the North. This relatively new trail has gotten a ton of national and international hype, and is either on the bucketlist, should be on the bucketlist, or has been returned to the bucketlist after a successful completion, for all mountain bikers, trail runners, or trampers.
Trail Background:
-------------Every hut contained the same book about the construction of the trail, which turned out to be interesting and well written. May as well share the highlights. -----------------------
So the story goes, an old map resurfaced in the mid-2000's showing a proposed road linking Lyell to Karamea (Northernmost town on the West Coast) with the purpose of servicing a booming gold mining industry during the 1880's. While construction of the north end had been completed, and was now being used as a tramping track, historical records suggested that only a small portion of the road from the south have been built, and was left to overgrow after the mining industry collapsed towards the end of the 19th century. The map made it into the hands of an ambitious American ex-pat named Marion Boatwright, who seemed to have way to much free time (probably money too) on his hands. He took it upon himself to first, find the historic and overgrown road, find out how far it went into the bush, then gather volunteers, and subjugate them to the task of uncovering and completing the road.
As told in Boatwright's book "Spirit to the Stone", they discovered that the original road climbed 17 km up through native beach forest to the Lyell Saddle, some 30 km from the existing Northern track at ending at Mokihinui River Forks. Long story short, they were awarded a massive grant, did a whole bunch of fundraising, scrapped the rest of road as surveyed done in the 1880's, as it would be prohibitively expensive follow the route, and spent 6 years building the trail and a series of huts along the trail. The track, in its entirety, was opened to the public in 2016. Interestingly, the grant they applied for and received (New Zealand Cycle Trail Grant) was for the construction of a purpose-built mountain bike track. Boatwright's initial plan was for a multipurpose trail, the acceptance of the grant kind of changed the plans to be geared towards mountain biking, although it could still be used by trampers, hunters, and trail runners.
Ok, so our hot take on the old ghost road is it is the coolest bike trail on the planet! From further research (beyond the book) showed that the trail cost north of $6 million to complete, and is considered one of the New Zealand Cycle Trail Great Rides. While this alone would suggest that the trail is so well built that anyone and their grandparents could ride it, nothing could be further from the truth. This trail is intimidating and not for all bikers. Hell, there was a 4 km stretch that wasn’t even for Lisa and I, were still great to walk non-the-less.
Our trail experience:
Lisa and I were both excited and a bit nervous about biking the OGR, both from first hand accounts and from online trail descriptions and ratings. We trained for it…. Or atleast we used it as an excuse to put more km on our bikes, and we also decided to utilize the hut system, and stretch the trip over four days. We stayed in Seddonville (Northend of the Trail) the night before, left our vehicles at the trailend the morning of the ride, and jumped on a 2-hour shuttle to the trailhead in the ghost-town of Lyell.
Our first day of riding was fairly easy, a steady climb of 900 m over 17 km through forest. We arrived at the Lyell hut shortly after 1 PM, which gave us almost too much time to chat with other cyclists and trampers, cook, watch a family of feral goats play, and read “Spirit to the Stone” (Background section).
The second day started much like the first, with a low grade climb over 6 km up to and above the bushline. From their things got a whole bunch more interesting. The views from the tops, were splendid, and featured much of the Glasgow and Saint Arnaud Range, basically half the width of the South Island. The trail followed a soft ridgeline to cliffs encompassing a peak called Rocky Tor. The trail then side-skirted the very steep and rocky west face of the mountain for several kilometers and was easily the most frightening part of the second day. Parts of this section were no more than 60 cm wide, so any mistake would be pretty rough, and probably fatal. Lisa and I walked our bikes through lots of this section. The trail did eventually meet back up with the softer ridgeline, which then dropped back into the bush for a bit, until reaching a lake and an overlook, on which the Ghost Lake Hut sat; our home for the evening.
Again, we had arrived in the early afternoon, so after a short nap, Lisa and I scrambled up to the top of a peak just behind the hut. We were treated with great views of the surrounding mountain ranges, and a sweet vantage point of the trail behind us and ahead of us. It seems that much of the New Zealand’s mountain ranges are nearly continuous, where smooth walk-able ridges tie the mountains together like webbed feet. To a hiker, this is enticing, as you can “bag” several peaks without loosing and regaining much elevation. Lisa and I decided to do just that, so we wandered a ridgeline for several kilometers. Looking back in the general direction of the hut, we decided that dropping into the valley and climbing back up a separate peak could be an interesting shortcut back. Sadly, it was not. We totally underestimated the longness of the really long grass, the uneven rocks from which it grew, and the steepness of the terrain. But we did eventually make it back to the hut, tired, thirsty, sneezing, and covered in prickly native grass seeds.
Knowing we had a difficult and full day ahead of us, we woke up reasonably early and headed back onto the trail. The first 5 km of trail heading north out of the hut in infamously difficult. It was no joke, tight and steep switchbacks down a crumbing rock face, then up an equally steep but technical climb onto a knife edge ridge, followed by flowy turns through a bolder field atop the ridge. For us, this involved a great deal of walking our bikes, although the sections which could be ridden were maybe the best build of any trail Lisa or I had ever ridden. The ridgeline abruptly becomes steeper, and the smooth flowy trail was replaced by a staircase, consisting of over 300 steps (according to the book, F counting) which climbs down the tops back into native brush. The following 30 km, apart from a short climb up through a boulder field, was cruisy , winding down some 1000 meters through dense forest to the Mokihinui Hut, where we were set to stay. We were happy to find that 20 of those km did not require pedaling!
Upon inspection of the hut, and based on our energy levels, Lisa and I decided to skip the stay, and the subsequent sand-fly bites, and head for the trail exit. After eating some food, taking a quick nap, and going for a swim in the Mokihinui, we jumped back on the bikes and headed for our van. We had expected the last 20 km to be an easy straightforward section, as it had once been used as a pack trail, servicing a now long gone forming community in the Mokihinui Valley, but were mistaken. The remainder of trail was somewhat of a rollercoster; constantly climbing into and out of the steep-walled gorge formed by the Mokihinui River, onroute to the Tasman Sea. While this section was beautiful, it was also difficult, and narrow in places. It also featured several skinny suspension bridges linking ridable breaks between cliffs through the gorge.
We made it off the trail around 7:30 PM , tired but stoked about the day. We headed into Westport, grabbed some cheap and greasy takeaway and beer, and found a hotel room for the night. Thinking back, it was an interesting decision to keep going and finish in three days, instead of extending our trip over four days. But it was easily one of the best bike days either of us had had, and I think when that happens, you should probably drink beer and have the luxury of a shower.
KeeganWeiterlesen
West Coast
21. Januar 2019 in Neuseeland
Keegan and I are booked to do the Routeburn track, one of NZ great walks, towards the end of the month. Until then the plan is to work our way down the West Coast from Westport (which was our first stop following the Old Ghost Road). We found ourselves another helpx place to stay which turned out to be an awesome spot! We stayed just outside of Hokitika with a sweet couple, Heather and Dave, their 3 kiddos Susie, Isla and Dougal and their visiting grandparents from Scotland, Joan and Hamish. We slept out in the playhouse which had just enough room for a bed but we spent a lot of time hanging out at the house with everyone and we both felt right at home. We didn’t get the best weather while visiting so unfortunately weren’t able to check off as many of our ‘to do’ activities but still really enjoyed our time on the Coast. We spent part of the day staining the house and part of the day relaxing, socializing and were able to get out for some fun. Heather and Dave love their water sports and we were lucky to have a canoe to borrow for a little lake/creek canoe adventure. We also got out to Arthur’s Pass National Park for a pretty amazing hike called Avalanche peak. It was a short, steep hike and our first summit hike with the best views! We also got to see at least 6 Kea birds hanging out at the top which was pretty cool. Kea are alpine parrots. They are super curious birds and like to pick apart little shining objects or rubber, like tents or rubber on cars. Some might call them a pest but they are on the endangered bird list and, we thought, pretty neat!
Because of the rain we didn’t get to do all the biking we wanted but did get out for a bit of a ride on the near by rail trail. Other activities that we got up to at some point during our west coast time included some surf days (up in Westport), did the tourist lap of the pancake rocks just north of Greymouth, and hiked up to Fox glacier.
Highlights for me was having such a great place to spend our time. Spending time with the kids was great fun, even though it was full on at times. Also Heather is in the process of finishing her masters in child psychology so was awesome for me to talk a bit about work stuff which i’m actually starting to miss! We were sad to leave after a week but definitely plan to come back up for a visit.Weiterlesen
Routeburn & Greenstone Track Hiking Tri
28. Januar 2019 in Neuseeland
Alas we did our first of the NZ Great Walks which actually involved tramping (First great walk was actually a canoe trip). And it was downright awesome! Back in December, when we were in the “lets do Great Walks” mindset, we found out the Milford Track, which might be the most lauded hiking trail on the planet., costs about $130 Canadian per person per night to sleep in the huts, and took 4 days to complete. That was prohibitively expensive, and the track was also fully booked until the end of our trip (July!) so we looked for the alternative. The Routeburn Track is described as “the ultimate alpine adventure, taking you through ice-carved valleys and below the majestic peaks of the Southern Alps/Kā Tiritiri o te Moana” (DOC website), and is considered by some to be the poor mans version of the Milford Track. The trail covers about 33 km and takes either 2 or 3 days to complete. While it was still expensive even to camp on the trail ($40 CAD/person/night), its cost was at least manageable, and there was still plenty of available sites in late January. So we booked a one night stay at the Mackenzie Lake campground, roughly the mid point of the track.
Our plans kind of evolved when we found out how long and expensive the shuttle linking one end of the trail head to the other, so we decided to hike East to west (less common direction), and return to our car via the Greenstone Track. The Greenstone can be accessed about three km from the end of the Routeburn, and follows the Greenstone river through a valley of tussock flats and beech forests, eventually ending at the shores of Lake Wakatipu. This ultimately would turn our 2 day trip into a Ffour day trip and add another 65 km to the total distance. Because the last 28 km of our route was a gravel road between the start of the Routeburn and the end of the Greenstone track, we decided we would stash our bicycles near the end of Greenstone and bike back to our van. This turned out to have been a slight oversight on our parts.
Day 1 Hiking:
We stayed at an Air B&B the night before the hike about 10km west of Queenstown, and set out decently early for the trail. We drove passed the turn off for the Routeburn and headed for the Trail end of the Greenstone, some 20 km south along a gravel road. A lot of roads in NZ opt for river fords as apposed to bridges or culverts and what we failed to plan for was the chance that the road could be impassible due high fords from heavy rain fall, which it was. So we left are bikes about 12 km from the trail-end, accepted that we may be walking a whole bunch on our last day, and drove off to the Routeburn trail head to start our hike.
The first 13 km of the track starts with a steady climb through beech forests along the Route Burn (Burn is actually a real geographical feature and means a water course sized somewhere between a large stream and a small river). The track gains about 800 m in this stretch, but was easier tramping in expected thanks to the over maintained condition of the track. We were greeted at the brush line by the most ginormous back-country village we had ever seen. Between the hut, and a private lodge for guided hikers, the Routeburn falls area sleeps well over 100 people. We continued past through the village, up along big old waterfall, and into a wide open alpine meadow surrounded by rocky mountains know as the Humboldt Range; some with snow on them. It was very amazing The trail ascended up above a large kettle lake, encased by glacier topped mountains, and up and over the Harris Saddle.
From the saddle, the trail followed the contour of Ocean peak for roughly 8 km, all above treeline and running parralell to the Hollyford River. This section was the most interesting part for Lisa and I, as the trail got a bit rougher, and we were given a grand Vista of the Darran Mountains on the other side of valley. The trail finally rounded the mountain, allowing us the view of a very blue and inviting Mackenzie lake, our home for the evening, which was some 200m below us. The trail quickly weaved its way down a rocky ridge back into Beech forests, and around the lake. Again we passed a backcountry village capable of sleeping over 100 people and headed straight for the campgrounds on the side of the lake. We set up camp, jumped in the lake, and ate a large dinner. Sleep came early.
Because this hike is a great walk, it is really popular, and its also somewhat accessible for non-hikers in large part because of the guided hiking service (provide a real bed with blankets, chef-cooked meals, and pretty much provides everything besides extra cloths. Also costs over $1300 per person!). We figured more than 400 people a day are on the trail at any one time, which averages to 13 people for every km (if they are all walking in your direction, and you are going 4km/hour, you will pass someone nearly every minute). Also hiking the trail against the normal flow of foot traffic made Lisa and I a bit weary in regards to our desired levels of solitude. However, our timing must have been perfect as we passed a few hikers on the way up to the Routeburn Falls (probably less than 10), passed maybe another 20 people between the falls and the top of the Saddle, and 10 others the rest of the way (including passed the MacKenzie Lake tourist community). More math, but we probably only saw 10% of all hikers in more than half the distance of the entire trail. What i’m saying is we won and I am both happy and a bit petty about it.
Day 2-3 Hiking:
The next day we packed up and took off towards the Mackellar Hut on the the Greenstone track, some 18 km away. The trail once again followed the contour of a mountain along the Hollyford River, this time staying in the Beech forest. The trail was pleasant, more roots, rocks and, and waterfalls. We also chatted with an American on a sabbatical leave from his job as a physiologist with Facebook in Manhattan. It dawned on us very quickly that he could very well be, the reason we are all addicted to Facebook. Still he was virtually unhateable and the conversation was interesting. After having lunch outside the Howden Hut, which was cut short thanks to an angry cloud of sandflies, we headed off down the Greenstone Track.
The Greenstone Track was great but was much less remarkable than the Routeburn Track. Both days we walked about 20km. For the most part it traveled through a wide open valley grazed by cows, which reminded us of Alberta, especially of the Ya Ha Tinda area. What was different were the amounts of random waterfalls spitting out from mountains high overhead. Also they have mountain parrots. The highlight of this section came in the middle of the night. We were awoken by something landing on the roof of our tent, which I promptly punched. It kind of slide of the tent and flew away. I cannot confirm this, but it was almost certainly a parrot. Alberta has bears, wolves, coyote, and bigfoot, New Zealand has punchable mountain parrots called Kea (they are an endangered species, and there is only 5000 left in the wild). I’ve never really associated with apex predators before.
Day 4
The last 12 km of the trail were over very quickly. Much like the last two days, the river valley was very pleasant, and we were still not tired of looking at mountains. We then had another 12km to cover on the road along the side of Lake Wakatipu. Anyone who has ever been to Queenstown will know that Lake Wakatipu and its surroundings are beautiful , so that was nice. But 24 km is a long day when you don’t hike much, and it got hot. No wind and 30 degrees. When we finally got to our bikes we were wiped, but we hoped on the bikes and headed a couple km to the small village of Kinloch.
We decided that we probably should get some real food, and a beer so we stopped at the Kinloch Historical Lodge for dinner and a drink. We also decided that we wanted to sleep in a bed that night so we overpaid for a room at the lodge and had a nap. Eventually, say later in the evening, we mustered enough energy to get on our bikes and finish our journey with a 16km ride on a gravel road back to our car. Luck would have it that we were biking into a 45km wind pretty much the entire way. But we made it. Our stay was good enough, it had showers and free popcorn.
Its understandable why the Routeburn is considered one of the great tracks, and why so many people travel on it. Its also nice that NZ has hikes with infrastructure which can support this many hikers. Trails like these literally funnel tourists in, are built in a way that can handle them, and leave the less-traveled tracks like the Greenstone much less traveled. Lisa and I learned we are also in terrible terrible hiking shape, and if we want to punch more parrots, we need to train.Weiterlesen
Hawea Flat - Feb 1st to 20th PART 1
1. Februar 2019 in Neuseeland
The Routeburn Track was the last of our pre-planned activities and we were excited to find a spot to stay for a bit while we were in the Otago Region. (This is where you find the southern alps, glacier lakes and places like Wanaka and Queenstown). Through the website Help-X, we found a great place to stay just 10 mins out of Wanaka, in Hawea Flat. We stayed at John and Diana's place, in an awesome tiny house, and helped to build a swimming pond on their property. This was actually fun work and pretty sweet to add masonry to the ol' NZ resume. Our tiny home had everything we could need, and was right close to stunning lakes and mountains! With a few weeks here, it gave us some time for more biking and hiking in the area but also a really amazing place to relax. Keegan started doing some online course-work and it was a nice place to get started on that too. We also decided that we wanted to get back to some trail running, and since John was both a local and an avid trail runner himself, he had some great suggestions to get us started.
During our first week here, we got out for our first trail run up Rocky Mountain summit by Diamond lake. This was a perfect 7 km run with a great view of the near by mountain ranges and a lookout of lake Wanaka. We also were able to get away for an overnight hike into Mt. Aspiring National Park, where we headed up the Cascade Saddle Track for some great views of Mt. Aspiring itself, and the surrounding glaciers. After a day’s work we hiked into the park and camped just outside of Aspiring hut. This hut holds 40 people and was packed! We were happy to have the tent with us, although, we did dine that night with hundreds of sandflies! Cascade Saddle Track starts from the base of the hut and climbs quickly upward. Over 4km you gain about 1500M of elevation! This track actually has the highest fatality rate of any trail in NZ, but we felt pretty safe being summertime and the weather forecast showing good conditions. Because of time, we didn’t go all the way to the saddle but did manage to get to the Pylon, which is the high point of the track and had amazing views of the Dart Glacier in the distance. At the top we met some researchers and DOC members doing some Kea work. They were basically ‘fishing’ for Kea’s; tagging them and testing their blood for lead. High alpine fishing involved using what looked like a fishing rod with a loop on the end, attracting Kea’s with bird sounds over a bluetooth speaker and shinny pink ribbon, then snagging the bird when curiousity got the better of them. Since Kea’s like to eat just about anything, especially on the roof’s of huts in the area, we learned they end up taking in a lot of lead, and as consequence are declining in number. Keegan and I both loved the hike and would definitely recommended spending some time in Mt. Aspiring National Park! It is worth it.Weiterlesen
ReisenderYes we do, but are limited to only 10 pics per post.. it didn't make the cut haha.. It's a pretty cool interior - 2 loft bedrooms, full kitchen, bathroom, shower, table and bench seats. With a few modifications, keegan and I both could manage in one of these full time. Only part we didn't like is you can't stand up in the bedroom.
Hawea Flat (Feb 1st to 20th) PART 2
7. Februar 2019 in Neuseeland
On our 2nd week in Hawea Flat, we managed to get out for several bike rides. They talk about mountain biking being pretty amazing in the area however Wanaka was not a favourite. We checked out their bike park, the Sticky forest, a few times however it had really short laps and nothing too impressive to talk about. We did get out for a couple of day trips into Queenstown area which did indeed have some awesome spots! First was 7 mile bike park which is just 7 miles outside of Queenstown and is a pretty fun network of cross-country trails. We also ventured out to Coronet Peak which is one of the ski hills in the area. They don’t have the chair lift going in the summer months here so we biked up to the top for some incredible views of the area and the bike down was good fun! Wish we had more time to check this place out since we couldn’t quite get to all of the trails this time around.
People talk about how awesome the downhill biking is in Queenstown, where they have a gondola-assisted mountain bike lift at Skyline park. It was on both of our lists of things to try out but with bike rentals and a 1 day lift pass it is not cheap! Unfortunately we decided to pass this time but hopefully we will be back another time to give it a go! I’ve never rented a downhill bike before and this seemed to be a pretty great spot for it! There is still time so we will see what happens:)
Closer to home, in Hawea Flats, we also attempted to bike up Grandview mountain but only made it up about half way since we both (well mostly Keegan;)) didn’t have it in our legs for a summit view. Still a really beauty evening ride out.
Aside from all the biking this week, we did a pretty spectacular hike up breasthill mountain. This one starts just off of Lake Hawea and has another steep start but the top offers some amazing views of the lake, mountains and farmland in the area. You can do this as an overnight trip with Pakitihu hut just sitting over the top but we did it as a day hike and had lunch at the top instead.Weiterlesen
Hawea Flat (Feb 1st to 20th) PART 3
14. Februar 2019 in Neuseeland
Our last week here was an exciting one because it was Keegan’s Birthday! He is officially 31 and I wanted to surprise him with something fun that wasn’t just the same old biking and hiking activity (although, I don't think he would have complained). I learned that there was a couple of bouldering spots close by, and since we hadn’t tried out any climbing activities yet in NZ I thought this would be perfect. For those who don’t know, bouldering is a form of rock climbing that is done on small rock formations without the use of ropes or harnesses. We unfortunately didn’t bring our climbing shoes with us but was easy enough to hire a pair for the day. It wasn’t possible to hire a crash pad though so instead we checked out the local waste busters which is a second-hand shop and found a couple of large patio furniture cushions which did the trick! It was an awesome day out and had the whole bouldering spot to ourselves. I picked up some of Keegan's favourite foods and we had a fancy lunch which included hot dogs and sauerkraut haha. Fun fact: hot dogs are not really an NZ thing and if you see hot dog on the menu it will actually be similar to a corn dog that is battered and fried, and served with tomato sauce.
After 3 weeks here, Keegan and I both felt ready to switch things up. Although we still had a few hikes and bike rides on the list to do, we knew we would be back at the end of April with my parents for round two! We didn’t quite get the pond finished during our time but plan to return for a visit and to check out the finished product soon!Weiterlesen
One of those ponds would make a really nice birthday present for your mom Keegan and probably you too Lisa!
Hokitika (round two)
21. Februar 2019 in Neuseeland ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
Keegan and I were asked if we wanted to come back up to Nelson to house sit/watch the cat at Brandy and Kyle's place. They were our first helpx host and new friends:). We both wanted to bike more in the area and so we decided to head back up the west coast. We couldn't go by hokitika without stopping in to visit the Heather and Dave and the kids so stopped in for a couple days to catch up with them.
Although short, it was great to catch up with them! Of course it decided to rain on the coast while we were there so spend most of our time indoors. We did a little trip to the kiwi centre since we both still hadn't seen a Kiwi bird and thought it would be a fun rainy day activity. I wish the kids could of joined us since they get so excited about fish and birds haha, would have made it fun! But we still have a fun time exploring the centre and we did finally get to see 2 kiwi birds. They are tricky birds to see in the wild since they are noctural and aren't as many around anymore from introduced predators (like dogs).
We planned a pizza night with the fam as a thank you for having us and it was a great time making pizzas with the kids. Dougal decided to make mini star shaped pizza's and Isla went for a big heart. They were definitely made with some love!Weiterlesen
Nelson
24. Februar 2019 in Neuseeland ⋅ 🌧 13 °C
We made it back up to Nelson for a couple weeks to visit with friends and do a little house sitting. We were happy to be there but a bit sad about the biking situation. Nelson's been super dry since christmas and with the fire risk so high, all of the biking trails were closed. Not exactly what we were hoping for but with a bit of a drive we still managed to get in a few fun rides!
Staying at Brandy and Kyle's was so so great! Love the company, and hanging out with Garfunkel their cat. We kept busy but also really enjoyed the downtime. I did yoga most days, read lots, and even did a puzzle:)
Oh! Keegan also decided it was time for a bike upgrade so we went fancy and bought him a full suspension bike! Trance 2 Giant:) he is one happy boy!Weiterlesen
Nelson Lakes
9. März 2019 in Neuseeland ⋅ ☁️ 6 °C
I was ready for some adventure after a couple of weeks in Nelson and we had about 3 weeks before my parents showed up for a visit. During our time in Nelson it was hot and sunny with the last dose of rain in December and, of course, the second we decide to leave, it rains... but I've committed to not let the rain get in my way so the adventures continued! We were booked to camp up at Angelus hut, an alpine hut at 1650m that is up between Lake Rotoiti and Rotoroa in Nelson Lakes National Park. There are a couple ways to get there but I wanted to take Robert Ridge route since it would give us the best views of the area. It’s considered a challenging hike with exposed ridge and at times poor visibility but definitely doable and is pretty cool since you are up on a ridge for the majority of the time. Based on the weather forecast the rain was likely going to hold off for a day or two and if it rained it would probably just be light rain. Unfortunately we did not got so lucky in the weather department and the clouds and rain rolled in earlier than expected. It was light rain as promised but we had almost no visibility for the majority of our ridge walk. It seemed pretty safe but really we couldn’t tell what was around us. The ridge starts out very wide and eventually turns in to traversing large rocks and scree field.
The hut is just down from the ridge between 2 small alpine lakes. We decided to tent (as usual) because the hut was fully booked for 40 people that night. Our tent spot was quiet and eventually the clouds broke so we could see what was around us. I woke up hoping for clear skies so we could at least get some views on the way back. Although better than yesterday, it was still very foggy and cloudy so we decided to take a different way down since the ridge was likely not the best option. This was a longer way around with an initially steep drop down to the river below and then a long river walk back to the car. In hindsight we should have done this hike the other way around and saved the ridge for day 2; especially since our crappy weather cleared up by the afternoon... I kept looking back up at the ridge wishing we were on it but eventually I had to let it go. Can’t have it all I guess!Weiterlesen
Queen Charlotte Track
12. März 2019 in Neuseeland
With plans to meet Lisa’s parents at the end of the month in Christchurch, Lisa and I made a rough plan to head south from Nelson, stopping in for a hike at Nelson Lakes Provincial Park, then do a multiday bike ride somewhere in between Nelson and Christchurch. Initially, we had chosen to bike the St. James track, which is an 80km alpine track running out of the Lewis Valley popular with mountain bike enthusiasts. After hiking out from the Angelus Hut in Nelson Lakes NP, a quick look at the weather forecast changed our bike plans. Cold and a potential for early autumn snow were in the forecast for the St. James area, while just 200km away, the forecast for the Marlborough Sounds was slightly warmer with rain instead of snow. Biking long distances in cold and snow sucks, so we decided to take a detour up to Marlborough Sounds and bike the Queen Charlotte Track (QCT) instead. The next day we were on our bikes, traveling through ancient forest in the rain.
The QCT is a trail that was on Lisa’s and my own mountain bike trail “wishlist”. It is a 75 km track which undulates along a rain forested peninsula separating the Queen Charlotte (where the inter-islander ferry lands) and Kenepuru Sounds. While popular with trampers, the track is open to bikers during the low season, and generally takes 2-4 days to ride depending on the riders ability to climb hills, push bikes, or just genuinely suffer. Generally, hikers and bikers access the trail via water shuttles, which pick them up from the town of Picton, drop them near the Eastern end of the peninsula at Ship Cove, and pick them up at the crotch of the Queen Charlotte at Anakiwa, then returning them to Picton. Most of the shuttles offer a convenient service (free of charge with Cougar Lines) which will also pick up your bags and move them to the next point of camping or lodging, thus you don’t need to carry much besides food, water, and beer money. Yup, beer money; there are multiple drinking establishments and restaurants along the track, so you can really adventure in style.
We were dropped of at Ship Cove with just our bikes and our daypacks and it was still raining. The first 2 km of the track required pushing our bikes due to the rain, but also the extremely steep grade. Honestly we were a bit intimidated. But after cresting the top of the hill, the rain ceased, the clouds parted, and we were gifted a sweet view of the Queen Charlotte Sound, and several km of easy downhill. The rest of the day was pretty mellow, we biked about 30km to our campsite at Camp Bay along well formed track which was never flat but also never very steep. We picked up our bag with our camping gear from the wharf and set up camp. After a quick nap, we walked over to a hotel/hostel several hundred meters down the cove and grabbed a pint of beer. We were more or less warm, dry, and shamlessly boastful about how great of a decision it was to bike the QCT instead of the St. James track.
The next day we continued on for 25 km to Portage Bay under blue skies. The day started out again with a combination of uphill riding our pushing, this time to the highest point on a ridge at 450m above sea level. While the ridge had a tiresome amount of undulation to it, where we gained and lost over 1500m of total elevation, it was generally fun and scenic riding. Much the same as the day before, we grabbed our bag, set up camp and walked over to the local bar for a pint.
The last day from Portage Bay to the wharf at Anakiwa probably had the most pleasant riding although there were far more people hiking and biking the trail. We probably passed 4 times as many people on the last 20km of track then we did through the first 50 km. Many of the these people were less then excited to see bikers on the track, and even shared there displeasure with us as they stepped to the side of the track to let us bike passed.
I get it, bikers are fast, quiet, and take up a lot of space. At the parking lot we noticed a large group of high school kids with bikes, who had presumably passed all the same people moments before us. As a hiker, who might mire at this trail for being seemingly in the middle of nowhere while being highly accessible through well serviced access points to society, might be a giant piss off. Fortunately either because of the weather, or because less people hike or bike any other sections, we hadn’t noticed the negative part of this dichotomy until the very end of the trail. Instead, we were just happy to bike an awesome trail with light weight packs, and drink cold beer by the pint at the end of the day.Weiterlesen
They are us - Chch terrorist attack
15. März 2019 in Neuseeland ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
What I had once jokingly characterized as a strive for mediocrity, signified by common slang like “she’ll be right” or “Sweet as [quince]” (quince isn’t even really that sweet, its somewhere between tart and sour), was completely off-base. Instead, I think kiwis are generally and wonderfully hopeful, and non-judgmental, regardless of skin colour, or whether or not someone is wearing shoes when they walk into a supermarket. I think this gives them an identity, and even though New Zealand has a population under 5 million, this makes it feel even smaller. Compared to Canada, New Zealand is a very new country, and through most of its lifetime non-European immigration has been nonexistent. Our experience up until this point is a general acceptance toward non-Europeans with some fearful racialist undertones, but mostly a genuine curiosity for other cultures. So basically like Canada only with better treatment of their indigenous.
Anyways,
After finishing the Queen Charlotte Track, we headed down the east coast, stopping in Kaikoura and Gore Bay for a surf. While we certainly glazed over this part of the country, we were both in awe of how dramatic the coastline was, both full of wildlife (we saw seals, dolphins, and possibly even a whale), and rugged the terrain was, wave hammered rock, green hills, and the towering coastal Kaikoura Ranges. We are not to sure if we will make it back, but the hope is to head back this way before we head home. Our initial plan was to head into Christchurch and stock up on groceries, then head for Cass our next Destination, but on-route disaster struck.
Literal disaster, we first overheard a group talking about it in a coffee shop not more then 20 km north of Christchurch. This was confirmed by the radio. A shooter was at large in Christchurch, multiple casualties, and the city was in lock down. As the events unfolded we learned that it was an attack on a mosque, a terrorist attack, hundreds of people injured or dead. We were in shock. New Zealand felt so safe. New Zealand feels so safe. The county is so isolated, it typically modern, and progressive, and you honestly do feel a strong sense of security. We later heard, that one of the reasons why the attacker (who is not a Kiwi) chose New Zealand as a target was because he felt like it would be the last place on earth anyone would expect it. What an asshole.
But from all the sadness something truly amazing happened over the following weeks. The country banded together, an outcry of support for the New Zealand Muslim community was felt and almost overwhelming, rival political parties unified reverberating the words of the PM Jacinda Arden, “They [NZ Muslim community] are us”. Nearly half the city of Christchurch showed up for the memorial ceremony. Nationwide gun laws were changed within 10 days and it was illegal to own a copy of the shooters manifesto even sooner. Under the international spotlight, Jacinda Arden exemplified what a great leader should be. She said all the right things, she showed composure and compassion, she even unknowingly started a movement among non-Muslim mourners in attendance at the various memorials throughout the country by wearing a hijab while visiting mosques following the attack to show support for Muslims. She had the support of the country. Honestly, it was like the entire country shared here sentiment.
In the weeks that followed, the entire country embraced their own Muslim community. And they still do. The newness and curiosity of Muslims in New Zealand seemed to vanish overnight. The feeling that “they are us” is universal. This, to me is how a country should act, in stark contrast to what goes on in the US. I can’t say if the Muslim community, especially the people who lost loved ones during the attack feel safe or alienated. I don’t know, and it will never be a valid repayment for the lives of 51 innocent people. But I do think this showed a country new to non-European immigrants that love and mourning are universal, and that immigrants are integral parts of their communities. I can only hope that the resulting binding force between Muslims and non-Muslims will extend beyond the boarders of New Zealand, and embed into future generations. There may always be people like the shooter so out of touch with what it means to be human and so disillusioned that are capable of causing so much physical and emotional harm. But for every one of them, there will be millions from all faiths and all socioeconomic branches, like Kiwis, who stand against them and lovingly support the victims.
So thoughts and prayers to all Muslim communities who have to deal with shit like this, rahamahom Allah jamee'an (Rest in Peace) to those who lives ended before they stopped being good people, and to everyone else, act like a kiwi next time tragedy strikes.Weiterlesen
Cass, Craigieburn and Castle Hill
16. März 2019 in Neuseeland
The Cass Settlement and it’s lone citizen:
Back to work. Lisa and I spent a few hours looking around the Help-X website for a few weeks of home-stay close to Craigieburn and Castlehill on the Eastern Slopes of the Southern Alps, destinations notorious for mountain biking and rock climbing respectively. We found a place offering a bed, and all the food we could eat in exchange for 3 hours of work, which included tending to his large fleet of egg laying hens, and a bit of gardening. The place was in a settlement called Cass, located about 10 km to the east of Arthurs Pass, which we learned from the internet [http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/8025081/C…] has a population of exactly one, Our future boss: Barrie. We got in touch with him, and he quickly excepted our tender for 2 weeks of work.
When we arrived he wasn’t home, so we wandered around to get our bearings. The settlement is nestled in an alpine mountain valley surrounded by farmland (Farm in the first Picture taken from Sugarloaf). Cass is on the rail line linking the east and west coasts and still has an active train station. It also has a few other cottages, a University of Canterbury research station, and a campground and putt and chip golf course, both which were built by Barrie. He either had the best retirement package ever or is the worlds most awesome and shameless squatter.
Barrie worked for KiwiRail almost his entire life. Some 30 years ago, he was transferred to the Cass station, where he was provided a house, owned by KiwiRail, to live in. At first the house and property were pretty basic, 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, a small living area, situated on a small yard next to a bunk house for travelling rail workers. Over the years he kind of took ownership of it, by building the golf course, a party barn (I'll get to that), campground, extending the house to include a bar room, and annexing more of KiwiRail’s land for the purpose of raising over 400 chicken and 13 sheep. Apparently when he retired, KiwiRail offered to let him stay in the house for as long as he wanted.
Barrie is a character. He is around 70 years old, and at first came off as a grump and perfectionist. We quickly learned that this was just his sense of humour and in fact, he really enjoyed people and was almost over generous, especially when it came to food and beer. He also told it as he saw it, if he didn’t like something: “that’s fucking terrible”, and if he did: “that’s alright”. His friends came by for visits often and spoke highly of him.
The Work:
In exchange for food and a place to stay, our daily tasks focused on the chickens. We would wake up, let the chickens out, feed and water them, steal there eggs, clean the eggs and put into cartons, then put some of the cartons out at the highway in an honesty box to sell for $5 dollars each. We also had to feed his peacocks and doves, which he kept in a separate pen, as well as other odd jobs like gardening, and cleaning out his party barn. The work was generally enjoyable. Barries free range chickens are kind of awesome they are very entertaining, provide delicious eggs, put themselves to bed, and sleep standing up. I don’t think we ever worked more than 3 hours in a day, Barrie didn’t think it was healthy.
The Area:
After we put in our few hours of work we had the rest of the day to adventure around the area. 10 km to the east of Cass was the Craigieburn forest, which provided heaps of mountain biking and trail running possibilities. Or first adventure into the forest was epic, it was a mountain bike ride along the Craigieburn edge track which starts at the base of a small community ski field above treeline, and side-skirts the Craigieburn Valley into a beech forest until eventually passing over a saddle into the next valley over. The ride was kind of insane. Long stretches crossed scree runs with angles of greater than 50 degrees on a small 30 cm wide trail. You wouldn’t die if you fell off the edge, but it would probably not end up so well. The rest of the trail was narrow and very technical. Between the craziness of the trail and the views provided, it was an awesome ride.
From the saddle we headed up to the top of Helicopter hill, which provided a great view of the surrounding mountains. From the saddle downwards the trail got a bit more technical due to an increased volume of wet roots, although was much wider. I took a pretty big fall, nearly impaling myself on an exposed root. While i was able to get back on my bike and finish the ride, I had bruised my abdomen and was out of commission for the next week!
While I spent my afternoons playing music and doing some online coursework, Lisa kept adventuring. She went on a 10 km trail run in Craigieburn on a trail which she described as “runnable, in a beautiful forest”. She also scrambled up the mountain next to Cass called Sugar Loaf. She returned about 4 hours after she set off, describing how she had gotten a bit lost, how the views were epic, the climb up was interesting and overgrown, and how the decent was absolutely nuts. She pointed out her tracks down the scree face of the mountain, which appeared to be nearly vertical.
Once my stomach healed, we biked a few more times in Craigieburn, once with our new friends from Christchurch Sarah and Jenny who we had met on the Old Ghost Road. Both times the weather was great and he had spectacular bike rides. I also got to head up Sugar Loaf, which was incredible. My experience was similar to Lisa’s, I got lost, the climb and views were great, and the decent was really fun! Basically a 600m decent down a scree shoot, which was almost entirely runnable.
My friend Chelsea and her partner David were in the area so they came out and stayed at the campground for a night. We showed them around the farm then went bouldering (rock climbing without ropes) with them at Castle Hill. Castle Hill is this really cool limestone boulder field in the middle of the mountains. We had a pretty great time. And it is 100% worth stopping at whether you climb or not.
Party Barn :
Okay, so after building the campground Barrie began holding an annual get together called Cass Bash which involved a Locals vs Railmen cricket match and a whole lot of beer drinking. Eventually Barrie built a shed to house the event which featured a stage, a bar, a fancy commercial kitchen, a sweet wall mural, and some funky decorations and lights. They no longer through the Cass Bash, i guess because to many people started showing up to it, but at it's height over 300 people came, several bands played, and they easily finished off something like 25 kegs over the weekend. The building is used from time to time by Barrie's buddies who camp there on the weekend or for lawnmower storage, but otherwise just collect dust. Either way the next party held there will be a great one no doubt.Weiterlesen
You know that now you know how to build all these cool things I am going to expect you to build some cool things here!