I'll tell you what: a good night's sleep and a hot breakfast will do wonders for a gal. I was in much better shape this morning, even though it was still drizzly. My goal was to end up in Opunake, a small surf town sandwiched between the volcano Mt. Taranaki and the lovely ocean on the North Island's west coast. My friends Amie and Chris, avid surfers, had moved there from up here in N.H. and I was going to visit them. But first, I wanted to stop by Putangirua Pinnacles mentioned in Scott Cook's "NZ Frenzy" book *SCRMW.
As you probably have realized, I love mountains, particularly rugged mountains (although the softly rounded Appalachians are probably dearer to my heart). The promise of a "geological oddity" of these pinnacles featured in LOTR sounded like a good first item on my day's itinerary.
I took the highway (this is important--it was a highway), Rte. 2 east of Wellington. And at first, I too believed this road was a highway. Until it hit the mountains.
I am no stranger to driving long distances all by myself, sometimes in bad conditions. I have never been afraid to tackle a mountain pass via car (like when I broke the soul of my poor little Saturn driving on "Hellbender Highway" near the Smokies--she has never been the same since). But I was so freaked out after this drive that I was actually shaky.
Think: hairpin turns, one after another, on driving lanes that are really too small to encompass the entire width of a vehicle. On the right: sheer cliff going up, no room for error (especially when the double trailer big rigs are coming into your lane); on the left: partial remainder of the white line, crumbled away into the mountain pass thousands of feet down. The "guardrail" was fashioned from tomato stakes (or their equivalent) and twine. But indeed, it was amazingly gorgeous and of course I have no photos because I was driving and there's that whole "death" thing I was scared of.
Anyway! Drove past some farmers herding cows in the road with their short shorts, gumboots while riding motorcycles. Onward, trying to find the pinnacles...
Look, it was a lovely countryside, but I could not for the life of me find those darn rocks. I drove around for most of the morning until I realized it was lunchtime and I had to get to Opunake sometime. Bummer!
While driving back, I got pulled over by a cop for speeding. *sigh* Luckily I just got a warning. I told the cop about my driving plans through the mountain pass (a different one that would be a shortcut to go north) and she raised her eyebrows. "You're heading through THOSE mountains?" she asked incredulously. "Well, I guess as long as you don't get carsick you should be okay..." I figured maybe I ought to take a different route if even the local cops are wary about driving through certain mountains. Yowza!
The rest of the day, I gotta say, was boring driving. Lots and lots of boring driving, until I got to Opunake! Amie and Chris live literally right next to the beach. Their backyard is a cliff down to the surf. I arrived while they were still at work so I walked down to the black sand beaches. So pretty!
It was soooo nice to see Amie and to get to know Chris better. Yay!! I missed them so much. My Monday nights without Ladies' Night have been sad since she moved to NZ. But upon arrival at their house, I found that my honey had sent flowers to me for Valentine's Day! Wow!! I don't even want to know the cost. They were beautiful! I am loved and missed.
My friends and I enjoyed a great home-cooked stir-fry, I love all the fresh fish and seafood in this country!! Soooo tasty. We had good NZ wine (red, who knew?) and great conversation and I felt ready to explore more around the Taranaki region without missing home too much.
I look terrible in this photo but it is a nice one of Amie! We had good chats about all sorts of things and it was nice to catch up, see their little garden and think about what do tomorrow. Time to stretch out on a bed bigger than the van can offer...
I dropped Wendy off at the Chch airport for her flight and I was very sad. My travel partner left and my homesickness had taken up the passenger's seat in her place. I turned up the radio wherever I got reception and tried to concentrate on the views.
The drive along the South Island's eastern coast was also rocky, bright orange bull kelp strewn about.
I stopped in Kaikoura for lunch and found a very touristy town on the water. Plenty of whale watch tours and swimming with the dolphins if you're willing to pay the hefty price. Given the cost plus the chilly, slightly overcast weather, I decided to pass on those. Plus I had to make the ferry by 5 p.m. at the latest. So instead, I had a tasty seafood lunch (green mussels) and watched the people walk by.
The town is situated next to the ocean but also has a river (or maybe a channel diversion?). They built up a terraced concrete ledge to keep the road from flooding. Interesting way of going about these issues. It functions as a hang-out spot the rest of the time.
NZ is different than the U.S. in many respects, but one big difference is related to personal responsibility. People don't really sue in NZ, and instead emphasis is placed on individuals needing this weird thing called common sense. So hikes next to sheer cliffs don't have warning signs or fences to keep you away. If you fall, it was your own stupid fault. Likewise, there is no law or sign saying you must stay away from the wildlife. However, if an endangered alpine parrot bites you, don't blame NZ. So the fur seal colonies right alongside the highway don't have signs that encourage people to stay away. And so we walk up but keep a healthy distance, just in case one is in an unpleasant mood.
Wow. Fur seals are bigger than I imagined. But what a gem to find a large colony lounging on the rocks, snoozing until the tide comes in to swim out and find dinner.
As I continued further north, the steep, dry pasture returned and started to look like the Marlborough region.
I was rushing at this point, trying to make the ferry with some time to spare so I could call Jeff. We hadn't had much time to talk while I was away and I mistakenly thought he was upset and angry about that. In my hurry, I pulled up too hard and quick to the curb and slammed into it with the tire on the front left-hand side where my travel partner used to sit and warn me I was getting too close. I knew I had blown the tire. Sure enough, I did. I had one hour to get a new tire in a country where all the shops close down early and still make the ferry. I drove with the quickly deflating tire to three gas stations before I found one where the garage was still open. By this time, the tire was toast, a huge gash on the outside where I had hit the curb. Oh no! I had spent loads of money on the non-refundable ferry ticket and simply had to make it by 5, how am I gonna get there in time?!
Luckily, the guys at the garage, although amused at the woman tourist with the car issues, were kind enough to drop what they were doing and help me get fixed with a new tire (unfortunately an expensive one). I chatted with a local guy who was super nice and friendly, I like how kind everyone is in NZ! Although I did take a ribbing from the one mechanic, whose eyes sparkled as he jokingly said, "strange thing about that tire...it only had a flat on the outside..." I understood that he was poking fun at my driving, and so I laughed and claimed full responsibility for it. It was 4:51, I needed to hustle to make the ferry!!
Whew, made it!! I was the proud new owner of a huge Toyota campervan tire that I couldn't take back to the U.S. with me. But I was all shaken up about the experience and was homesick and now I got upset and was an emotional wreck. Tried to soothe my nerves by knitting, journaling, watching the scenery on the ferry ride.
The Wellington area and Cook Strait are extremely windy and so they have "wind farms" nearby.
And after my upsetting day, I was rewarded with perhaps the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen in my life.
That made my bad day worth it. Upon disembarking the ferry in Wellington, I made my way back to the holiday park and called it a night. I was beat and had another long day of driving tomorrow.
On a bit of a whim yesterday, we decided to head south towards Ashburton rather than our original plan to hit up Christchurch. Why? Well...
I love yarn, wool, knitting, spinning (even though I'm a novice), just generally being around crafty type stores. There are so many possibilities to express creativity and to learn something new! And Ashburton is home to the Ashford spinning wheel, my favorite!! So this trip was something of a pilgrimage for me. I hoped they had at least some spinning wheels and maybe we could finally find some NZ wool, so well known for its merino in particular.
A cute little cluster of stores and artisan shops comprised the Ashford craft village, yay! And surrounded by gorgeous rose bushes, so many cultivated in NZ in yards and public gardens, perhaps the English and Irish cultural influences?
Anyway, in we walked and WOO HOO!!! Yarn, yarn, and more yarn! Roving! Spinning wheels! A spinning wheel museum on the second floor! Weaving supplies and looms! Books! Jewelry! Patterns! HEAVEN! hehehe. Even Wen got excited, now that she knows how to knit!!
I want so badly to have my own wheel, a gorgeous upright double treadle Ashford. Someday. But for now, this is my mecca and it is awesome. Wendy and I were gleeful. And the upstairs museum held all sorts of treasures!
I watched a short documentary on the company. Apparently, spinning came into vogue during WWII as a means to support troops. Did NZ send troops into that war? *shrugs* In any case, it fell out of fashion once the war was over and the man who developed the Ashford spinning wheel went back to making chairs, stools and wooden toys. However, during the 1960s, a famous sheep shearer was making his rounds at all the county fairs and demonstrating the usefulness of taking that wool to spin and make your own garments. Suddenly spinning was fashionable again! Ashford started making more of their wheels and couldn't keep up with demand at first. It developed into a worldwide market and the rest is history.
The socks were knitted using wool that was collected from the tufts left on barbed wire fences when wool rations were running low during the war. Crazy!
Check out this photo of a woman spinning in Antarctica! My kind of chick!!
And yes, I ALWAYS have to touch things, particularly wool in its raw form. My hands smell all sheepy afterwards and are oily from the lanolin. Aaahhh...lovely!
Wen and I *mostly* controlled ourselves and each spent less than NZ$100. Not too shabby! Especially because I could have easily spent hundreds more. After spending over an hour in that shop, we spent more time walking around the other artsy shops and we both ended up buying some beautiful jewelry. A perfect day for retail therapy since it was cold and drizzly outside. We had a very tasty lunch (me: smoked salmon omelette with the typical NZ salad topped with julienned carrots and beet root) and headed onward to Christchurch.
Chch (as they commonly abbreviate Christchurch) is a bustling city that meshes the natural world (lovely green parks, plenty of trees, a river running through the city), the old architecture (and trolleys) along with newer, edgier types of art and architecture.
I wish we had more time to explore the city itself, but we did spend a bit of time in the arts center looking at the local artist shops, photography, wool socks, a native Maori woman with tattoos under her chin as is traditional, jewelry, some tourists. The arts center is located in a neat old church-like building, still retaining its old wooden floors. Also, Chch has funny disturbing street signs.
We hurried through the city to find our campground for the night nearby. Wen needed time to pack for her flight out and relax before leaving on her loooooong trip home. We knitted, journaled, had the worst dinner ever by trying to use up what we had--the most digusting can of baked beans ever (think beans with ketchup), "oriental" noodles and champagne! hehehe. Tomorrow morning I begin my solo journey in NZ!
Wendy and I were blown away (almost literally) by the grandeur and stark beauty of the landscape, but we wanted to see so much more. Further down the highway we met up with the tiny town of Arthur's Pass.
The Visitor Center discussed the native vegetation and landscape, but they also incorporated the Maori art and history into their exhibits. Very cool!
We grabbed lunch at "The Wobbly Kea" (I highly recommend their vegetarian pizza after a tough hike, along with a dark beer) and watched the wicked kea birds lick up spilled coffee and threaten the tourists across the street.
The evil kea bird, stalking its next victim--spilled ice cream or my face, which shall it be?
After Wen and I filled our bellies, we did a brief hike nearby to see the Devil's Punchbowl, the coolest name ever for a waterfall!
But honestly, it was so congested with tourists at the falls that our best views were from far away. We had done pretty well thus far with avoiding most tourists but this was just plain crowded. Ugh! Let's get outta here.
The rest of Arthur's Pass was spectacular, even without the snow. It was quite surreal, strong reminders of LOTR scenery. I believe near here is the place where Helm's Deep is located.
Such a problem with feral cats that some of these places actually smelled like cat pee by the road. Still a gorgeous sight.
Areas of caves with underground rivers, rocks jutting out from the ground all around, and some sheep and cows to enjoy the view. Castle Hill, a lovely rocky area, is a popular stopping area and was traditionally a good spot for food gathering by the Maori.
Wendy patiently put up with my hundreds of photos, stopping every half mile or so for another shot--ooh! ooh! look! a mountain! look! another one! with sheep nearby! We headed south of Christchurch towards Ashburton in hopes of a hot shower and maybe some yarn shops tomorrow.
Ahhh! Lovely warmer weather off the mountains, at a nice campground with a pond and a gorgeous sunset. Tall eucalyptus trees (me being a treehugger) and bad, cheap NZ white wine.
Still a happy camper, but please ignore the hair and general appearance as I have been living out of a van (down by the river) for the last week or so. It felt great to finally take a shower, but I was so smelly that I needed two scrub-downs.
We found a playground, and sorry Wen, I'm gonna post this (but only because it has happened to me in the past as well!). Seems like sliding boards aren't designed for the lovely, more mature female figure!!
A great evening wind-down after a fabulous day in the Southern Alps. Wendy only has one more full day in NZ before she leaves me!
Tomorrow we will be on the lookout for crafty shops!
Our tenth day of the trip, which happened to be Valentine's Day for us (but Feb. 13 at home), showcased the spectacular beauty of the Southern Alps. I think Wendy is starting to tire of my constant phrase..."oh, just let me stop real quick to take a photo..." She would not be surprised to find out I took hundreds of photos of mountains. Okay, I admit it. I like mountains. A LOT. hehehe.
So we started heading east on Arthur's Pass, a road that cuts across the top third of the South Island towards Christchurch. We had to face the sad reality that we simply could not make Queenstown and Milford Sound to the south without driving day and night just to get there and race back without seeing much. But we decided to make sweet nectar out of that news and so we hit the Southern Alps in search of great views and maybe some hiking.
A beautiful valley flanked with some fairly large mountains greeted us. Bridge over the river only allowed a few people on at a time. Some crazy bicyclist kept passing us as we stopped for photos and Wendy named him Apollo for his extreme fitness level. We decided that Apollo probably beat us to Christchurch and swam across Cook Strait with the bike strapped to his back. People are super in-shape in that country!
Holy smokes, photos cannot even show how crazy this road is. There is a sign for Death's Pass (turn left in 100 m)! It has a 16% grade--16%!!! There were diversions above the road for waterfalls and rockfalls, and we honestly had to dodge large rocks!
The "viaduct" roadway was built with much thought given to the native Maori traditions. This passage through steep mountains was a common route for their people and so the road was built above the pass rather than through the mountain to reflect their traditions of respect for nature. This viaduct style had the lowest environmental impact of all roadway options. It reminds me of photos I've seen of roads in the Swiss Alps.
Speaking of the environment, it was a whole lot colder up in these mountains, brrr! This area is home to the endangered kea bird, a strange green and red alpine parrot that is quite mischievous. They hop on cars and try to bite the rubber seals on car doors, they peck away on bike seats. This is the only place in the world where they live and they are not bashful creatures for as few as there are. Wendy offered her hand towards one and it bit her finger!! She can now rightfully claim she was bitten by an endangered alpine parrot.
We entered the Otira Valley and pulled into a relatively empty gravel lot surrounded by steep peaks that are covered with snow probably 11 months of the year. Right now they are simply gray gravel with rock rivers running down where snow typically slides.
Time for a tramp! That's what they call "hiking" or "backpacking" down there. We had to bundle up because alpine tramping required plenty of warm layers. There was a gravel road winding its way up a mountain so we struck out in hopes of a nice view of our surroundings. Sometimes it's too much to take it all in from the ground.
Up we hiked, further and further into the very strong wind gusts. Short alpine grasses, a skinny stripe of waterfall. The gravel road turned into a trail that involved a little more rock climbing. Views of a glacier up on the mountain, look for the light blue!
We took a short break on a bench (what a strange place for a bench! Although I personally needed a rest--the coughing from my cold was really bad).
Wendy went up a bit higher and I sat and admired the sparkling beauty of this region. Fresh chilly mountain air in the lungs, views of amazing mountain peaks holding glaciers in their grasp. I couldn't ask for a nicer place to spend some time. Just breathtaking.
Look, it was a lovely countryside, but I could not for the life of me find those darn rocks. I drove around for most of the morning until I realized it was lunchtime and I had to get to Opunake sometime. Bummer!
It was soooo nice to see Amie and to get to know Chris better. Yay!! I missed them so much. My Monday nights without Ladies' Night have been sad since she moved to NZ. But upon arrival at their house, I found that my honey had sent flowers to me for Valentine's Day! Wow!! I don't even want to know the cost. They were beautiful! I am loved and missed.
My friends and I enjoyed a great home-cooked stir-fry, I love all the fresh fish and seafood in this country!! Soooo tasty. We had good NZ wine (red, who knew?) and great conversation and I felt ready to explore more around the Taranaki region without missing home too much.
I look terrible in this photo but it is a nice one of Amie! We had good chats about all sorts of things and it was nice to catch up, see their little garden and think about what do tomorrow. Time to stretch out on a bed bigger than the van can offer...
