Days begin to blur
Room service breakfast!
Brisbane flight ok, Cyclone downgraded to tropical storm.
Didgeridoo purchase
Landing at Singapore - Death penalty announcement
Singapore to Abu Dhabi non-eventful
Abu Dhabi to Manchester Non-eventful - Didn't get to sit together
Saturday, 28 February 2015
Day Nineteen - The Voyage Home - Part One
Delay from 6am to 3pm
Melbourne Flight delayed due to Cyclone, Christchurch runway work so curfew stops it landing.
Christchurch Airport Lounge Fleas
Thoughts on Australian Visa - easy to get one when it's their fault!
Brisbane hotel - room service!!
Melbourne Flight delayed due to Cyclone, Christchurch runway work so curfew stops it landing.
Christchurch Airport Lounge Fleas
Thoughts on Australian Visa - easy to get one when it's their fault!
Brisbane hotel - room service!!
Day Eighteen - Return to Christchurch
Christchurch Gondola
Quick tour around Christchurch - playing with phone action pics setting
Frustrating drive to Hagley Park - trying to park!!
Reading in the drizzle at Hagley Park
Japanese food!!
Flight Delay
Day Seventeen - Hanmer Springs
We drove from Seddonville to Hanmer Springs via Buller Gorge and Lewis Pass. It was a fairly simple drive compared to what we’ve experienced over the last few weeks, but we still got some amazing photos.
Pics:
After we arrived at our motel and checked in, we took a walk up conical hill, and tried out the panorama features on our phones. If only we’d figured it out earlier!
Pics:
Finally, we visited the pools that give Hanmer springs its name. There were three smelly sulphur springs and a plethora of thermal pools of different temperatures. Yo had fun making a fool of herself in the currents of the river-like portion that dragged you around and around with its current, primarily aimed at children (we assume). Most of our time was spent dipping in and out of various hot pools, relaxing and watching the world go by.
And that’s really all I’ve got to say about that.
Day Sixteen - Karamea, or the place that time forgot
We awoke in the middle of nowhere, mist covering the land outside our window. Like all our other west coast mornings, though, it burned off quickly and soon you could see the mountainous vista.
Pic:
Without any mobile phone signal, we found ourselves sitting by the end of the motel room that was presumably closer to the wifi router - in our case, hanging out in the toilet or bathroom with our arms waving in the air, desperate to get a bar or two of wireless. Email checked, we set off along a windy and remarkably high road through the rainforest to the place of Yo’s earliest childhood: Karamea.
After around an hour’s drive through some of the windiest roads we’d yet been on, we arrived. Karamea: Population 575. Also in the middle of nowhere. If Seddonville was in the ass-end of nowhere, Karamea was clearly the anus. There were plenty of buildings, a smattering of shops, and about three people. No phone signal, no free wifi anywhere to be seen, just cows. They were good at cleaning their own nostrils. Slap with the tongue - left one done. Slap again - right one done too. Yum!
We had lunch in the Karamea Hotel. Probably the only hotel, although there were a few other accommodation type places about - but they all must have been empty because there were no people.
It only took a little while for Yo to look at a place that might have been her house - but it was all changed from the house she remembers of 25 years ago, so she couldn’t really be sure. With little else to do, we headed out to the Oparara Basin. Our first attempt at following the local guide leaflet led us directly back into Karamea ten minutes after we set off, but upon our second attempt we managed to find the long windy unpaved road we were looking for. It was approximately 16km of uneven, gravelled, rally-track style road, where, if you wanted your car undamaged at the end, you could really only go 30 km an hour, max, to avoid the hazards.
The track was actually an old logging track that had been maintained ever since and eventually ‘done up’ to allow tourists to walk around and view local caves, limestone arches, wildlife, and just the rainforest in general. We decided to go to Box Canyon Cave and Crazy Paving. Crazy paving was simply a cave with mud that had dried in the crazed-cracked look that sometimes happens when mud becomes really dry, but Box Canyon Cave was pretty awesome. It was probably the biggest natural cave we’d ever been in, with a ceiling towering into the darkness above us, and a width of at least ten meters, which twisted and turned menacingly into the depths of the earth. The walls had accretions of moisture that glowed mysteriously in the wan light of our mobile phones, and the high-flood debris marks on the walls were well above our heads.
Outside, the sign had told us that a particular species of spider made this cave its home, and boy it didn’t disappoint! With a size of around 15 cm, it was easily the biggest spider I’d ever seen outside a cage, and kinda creepy to come across in the darkness.
Video links, pics of spider:
Caves done, we took a walk along the rainforest, and whilst tamer than some rainforest walks we’d been on already, the wildlife was particularly cute.
Video of robin:
As soon as the robin had gone, a curious Weka wandered up, but wasn’t quite interested in getting close enough to try out the cookie crumbs we offered it.
A bit later on, there was a fantail who had a thing or two to tell us, and followed along fanning its tail and generally flitting about:
Video of fantail.
The Moria Arch was the final part of the walk, and whilst it didn’t resemble anything from Lord of The Rings (Perhaps a cash-in?) it was still an impressive natural wonder, the limestone reaching all the way across the trout-bearing river, with caves that allowed us to access it from above.
Arch pics:
Walk done, we headed home via the windy pass, which we learned was called Karamea Bluff, (someone had modified the sign to say karamea puffs, but we were smarter than their tricks)
Pics:
Tea was a pot of cooked pasta at our motel, and then we went to bed.
Sunday, 15 February 2015
Day Fifteen - The Long Drive North
It was a weird feeling as we said goodbye to Poppy and Gus to start the long drive north to Seddonville. A few days ago, I posted on the discomfort of having to spend four days in a B&B; a place where you're essentially given a room in someone's house. Whilst I would still say it's not my preferred method of accommodation, Poppy was an incredibly nice host, and we got on very well. She's had an interesting life (trained helicopter pilot and gold miner) and was only too happy to indulge in stories. She was also keen to learn about the time we were having in NZ and often seemed wistfully jealous as we explained how we'd been glacier walking and white water rafting.
So whilst I still wouldn't recommend B&Bing in general, I'd recommend to anyone to stay at the Franz Josef Alpine Lodge.
The plan was to first drive to a place called Shantytown, on the outskirts of Greymouth. I'd expressed an interest in panning for gold (inspired by Poppy's stories) and apparently Shantytown was an old gold mining town and a place where tourists could try their hand at it. It was about a two hour drive, so approximately half way to our ultimate destination. This meant we had plenty of time to kill and could freely wander around and see if there was anything else we could do.
Shantytown was not what I expected; I'd expected a real, working, ex / current, mining town where people lived and went about their daily lives - where there might also have been a small tourist attraction where you rented a pan, got told how to use it and sent to the local river to try your hand at gold panning. Instead, what we got was a frontier-style amusement park. Sure, there were no rides or anything, but it was a pay-to-get-in fully and faithfully recreated gold-mining town from the 1850/1900 period. You were free to wander about the little (unmanned) shops and services that were available at the time, whilst reading the boards and placards explaining what life was like and the history of the Shantytown area / West Coast.
Whilst it wasn't what I expected, I found it quite fascinating, and we stayed well longer than we'd initially planned. There was a steam train that took you for a short ride into the rainforest, where a faithfully rebuilt sawmill gave you a history of the logging in the area. The West Coast was subject to a gold-rush remarkably similar to the Wild West - it was the same period after all - and logging was of top priority in order to create the planks required for housing and mine shafts.
Pics of the steam train:
At the end of the line (deep in the rainforest), we got to get out and examine the steam train in more detail. There were more boards for us to read about early loggers, including a guy who accidentally chopped his toe off with an axe! When a fellow logger offered to go fetch help, he told him not to rush, as he still needed to have lunch! He purportedly then sat down, peeled down his sock, tossed his toe into the rainforest, and calmly ate his lunch whilst help vanished into the distance! Hardy folk indeed!
I also did get to pan for gold, but not in the way I'd expected. In part of the town there was a gold panning station, where you paid to be given a pan with some river-dirt already in it. You were then shown how to clear the dirt and stones from the pan whilst retaining the flakes. I had a few of the tiniest flakes in my pan, which were poured into a small vial for me to keep.
We probably stayed there for about three hours, and could easily have made a full day of it, but our next stop along the way was Punakaiki - or Pancake Rocks - which was a coastal treasure consisting of limestone rocks being battered by crazily heavy waves. The limestone rocks had layered themselves on top of each other to resemble pancakes, and erosion from the forceful waves created 'blowholes' which boomed loudly as the water rushed through them.
Pics of pancake rocks:
Finally, there wasn't anything else we had planned but to drive up to Seddonville, our basecamp for the next two nights while we explored the region where Yo spent her early, early years - Karamea.
So whilst I still wouldn't recommend B&Bing in general, I'd recommend to anyone to stay at the Franz Josef Alpine Lodge.
The plan was to first drive to a place called Shantytown, on the outskirts of Greymouth. I'd expressed an interest in panning for gold (inspired by Poppy's stories) and apparently Shantytown was an old gold mining town and a place where tourists could try their hand at it. It was about a two hour drive, so approximately half way to our ultimate destination. This meant we had plenty of time to kill and could freely wander around and see if there was anything else we could do.
Shantytown was not what I expected; I'd expected a real, working, ex / current, mining town where people lived and went about their daily lives - where there might also have been a small tourist attraction where you rented a pan, got told how to use it and sent to the local river to try your hand at gold panning. Instead, what we got was a frontier-style amusement park. Sure, there were no rides or anything, but it was a pay-to-get-in fully and faithfully recreated gold-mining town from the 1850/1900 period. You were free to wander about the little (unmanned) shops and services that were available at the time, whilst reading the boards and placards explaining what life was like and the history of the Shantytown area / West Coast.
Whilst it wasn't what I expected, I found it quite fascinating, and we stayed well longer than we'd initially planned. There was a steam train that took you for a short ride into the rainforest, where a faithfully rebuilt sawmill gave you a history of the logging in the area. The West Coast was subject to a gold-rush remarkably similar to the Wild West - it was the same period after all - and logging was of top priority in order to create the planks required for housing and mine shafts.
Pics of the steam train:
At the end of the line (deep in the rainforest), we got to get out and examine the steam train in more detail. There were more boards for us to read about early loggers, including a guy who accidentally chopped his toe off with an axe! When a fellow logger offered to go fetch help, he told him not to rush, as he still needed to have lunch! He purportedly then sat down, peeled down his sock, tossed his toe into the rainforest, and calmly ate his lunch whilst help vanished into the distance! Hardy folk indeed!
I also did get to pan for gold, but not in the way I'd expected. In part of the town there was a gold panning station, where you paid to be given a pan with some river-dirt already in it. You were then shown how to clear the dirt and stones from the pan whilst retaining the flakes. I had a few of the tiniest flakes in my pan, which were poured into a small vial for me to keep.
We probably stayed there for about three hours, and could easily have made a full day of it, but our next stop along the way was Punakaiki - or Pancake Rocks - which was a coastal treasure consisting of limestone rocks being battered by crazily heavy waves. The limestone rocks had layered themselves on top of each other to resemble pancakes, and erosion from the forceful waves created 'blowholes' which boomed loudly as the water rushed through them.
Pics of pancake rocks:
Finally, there wasn't anything else we had planned but to drive up to Seddonville, our basecamp for the next two nights while we explored the region where Yo spent her early, early years - Karamea.
Saturday, 14 February 2015
Day Fourteen - White Water Rafting! (15th Feb)
Firstly, a little about white water rafting itself. Each rapid is graded anywhere between grade 1 (the easiest) and 5 (the most extreme). The idea is that you then jump in an inflatable dingy / raft whatever you want to call it, with six or seven other people and paddle downstream, navigating lots of rapids with different grades.
We chose to go with Eco Rafting, and initially planned a mid-range affair of hitting a river that offered mostly grade 3 rapids. As noobs, I (probably not so much Yo) felt that would be a much better way to introduce us to the trials of white-water rafting, and probably ensure we didn't go breaking bones or anything.
So we booked one a couple of days ago. It was a little disappointing, as the one we'd initially looked at doing was unavailable, but there was a (slightly) cheaper one launching that offered grade 2-3 rapids. Still, we'd get a reasonable taste of what white-water rafting was all about, right?
Last night, just as we were entering the hot pools (so around 7-8pm) we got a call from the rafting place, saying the track up to where the rafts launch from was closed due to the government doing a 'controlled burn'. However, as she felt pretty bad for us she was willing to offer a discount for their single day heli-rafting option. At a discount, it still meant around twice the price of our previous one, so we ummed a little bit and told her we'd get back to her shortly. Whilst checking the bank to see if we could budget it, we got a phone call saying that she'd spoken to the helicopter company, and could offer a better discount. As we were already inclined to say yes before the phone call, this was a pretty sweet boon and we signed up.
Heli-rafting was a little more hardcore (read: the hardest one they offered in single-day trips), where they choppered you 22km's up stream, and along with your guide and five or six others would have a pretty extreme day. There were plenty of grade 5 rapids (the river was full of grades 3-5), and it sounded exciting. Frightening (considering how hard work the kayaking was), but also exciting.
We got to the designated helipad in the middle of nowhere a little early, and got bitten by dozens of sandflies as we waited for the rafting guys to appear. When they did arrive, they suited us up in thermals, wetsuits, 'booties' (wetsuit versions of shoes) crash helmet, splash jacket (raincoat) and life vest.
Our two guides were very much of the 'surfer dude' mentality. One 'Weka' wore dreadlocks, goatee and was pretty well built. He'd been rafting those waters for around 9 years so was pretty well experienced. He was clearly a lover of the extreme, and I could just as easily see him rock climbing or skydiving for a living as white-water rafting. In the back of his car was a hunting rifle; he said he never paid for his own meat. If he saw a deer in the wild he'd shoot it, and took a very 'human is elite' view of animals in general.
The other (I forgot his name) wasn't so experienced, and was working there as a summer job before flying over to California 'to live like a bum for the summer, then come back here and work hard again'. I thought he had an interesting take on life. Very different, and I'm a little envious.
There were six paying rafters in all, and two guides, so when the helicopter arrived it needed to take us in two loads (especially considering the gear that needed to be lifted). Myself and Yo got the second ride, and we watched with interest as they hooked the deflated raft to a rope and hung it from the bottom of the helicopter. With such a load dangling from the bottom, the pilot took his door off so he could look down and monitor things better. This made the flight all the cooler (and draughty), especially considering we got to ride up front again.
The 22km flight last about 7 minutes - so not long - and before we knew it we were in the middle on nowhere with no roads for miles around. Weka observed that we were so remote not many New Zealanders even had ever seen it.
First job was to inflate the raft, which had 4 compartments on the sides, three inflatable 'ribs' in the middle, and an inflatable bottom. We all took it in turns to help as it was a fairly big job.
Then came the safety lesson. Weka told us where and how to sit properly (along the sides of the raft, not the middle seats). You jammed your feet into the bottom of middle ribs to stabilise yourself, as you'd need both hands to man the paddle. He then told us about the different commands he'd be yelling at us during the voyage - the usual 'forward paddle', 'back paddle' 'paddle right' etc... then the more interesting ones; 'hold on' which involved hastily securing the paddle on your lap, grabbing hold of the rope that ran outside of the raft with one hand, while leaning and tucking yourself in to the centre of the boat. Then there was 'get down', where you'd again secure the paddle in your lap, and bunker down in the bottom of the boat. That was a 'shit, there's real danger ahead' kind of command. There were also things like 'jump left / right' where you'd all dive to one side of the raft - useful for avoiding rocks, I guess.
Finally he told us the need to know information about being thrown out the boat. How to lay on your backs or swim, never stand up, cos that'll throw you back on your face in the rapids. He buddied each of us up with a partner, and told us we were each responsible for getting the other back into the raft should they fall, and showed us the tools he had such as ropes and such to ensure that should we be dragged too far form the boat then he can throw us a line.
By now we were both realising that this was actually pretty dangerous stuff we were embarking on, and even Yo admitted she was somewhat frightened. Wow!
When we did get into the boat, we had a few practice sessions of his commands until we got them right (we all sucked at first), and then we set off. Most of the rapids came in too fast for me to describe, so I shall only say this: Holy fuck it was fun. We hunkered down a few times, so the rapids were pretty heavy going, but Weka was an excellent guide and only a couple of times did I feel any real danger. The other guy alternatively ranged ahead and followed behind in a kayak, taking photos and generally helping out with hands up where needed etc.
We then stopped at a big rock in the centre of the river, climbed to about twenty feet, and all jumped off into the waters below. The river was glacial, so pretty cold - but that's why we had thermals and wetsuits, and soon it became un-noticeable.
I can't elaborate on the rapids too much, because there were so many of them, but notable highlights include:
We chose to go with Eco Rafting, and initially planned a mid-range affair of hitting a river that offered mostly grade 3 rapids. As noobs, I (probably not so much Yo) felt that would be a much better way to introduce us to the trials of white-water rafting, and probably ensure we didn't go breaking bones or anything.
So we booked one a couple of days ago. It was a little disappointing, as the one we'd initially looked at doing was unavailable, but there was a (slightly) cheaper one launching that offered grade 2-3 rapids. Still, we'd get a reasonable taste of what white-water rafting was all about, right?
Last night, just as we were entering the hot pools (so around 7-8pm) we got a call from the rafting place, saying the track up to where the rafts launch from was closed due to the government doing a 'controlled burn'. However, as she felt pretty bad for us she was willing to offer a discount for their single day heli-rafting option. At a discount, it still meant around twice the price of our previous one, so we ummed a little bit and told her we'd get back to her shortly. Whilst checking the bank to see if we could budget it, we got a phone call saying that she'd spoken to the helicopter company, and could offer a better discount. As we were already inclined to say yes before the phone call, this was a pretty sweet boon and we signed up.
Heli-rafting was a little more hardcore (read: the hardest one they offered in single-day trips), where they choppered you 22km's up stream, and along with your guide and five or six others would have a pretty extreme day. There were plenty of grade 5 rapids (the river was full of grades 3-5), and it sounded exciting. Frightening (considering how hard work the kayaking was), but also exciting.
We got to the designated helipad in the middle of nowhere a little early, and got bitten by dozens of sandflies as we waited for the rafting guys to appear. When they did arrive, they suited us up in thermals, wetsuits, 'booties' (wetsuit versions of shoes) crash helmet, splash jacket (raincoat) and life vest.
Our two guides were very much of the 'surfer dude' mentality. One 'Weka' wore dreadlocks, goatee and was pretty well built. He'd been rafting those waters for around 9 years so was pretty well experienced. He was clearly a lover of the extreme, and I could just as easily see him rock climbing or skydiving for a living as white-water rafting. In the back of his car was a hunting rifle; he said he never paid for his own meat. If he saw a deer in the wild he'd shoot it, and took a very 'human is elite' view of animals in general.
The other (I forgot his name) wasn't so experienced, and was working there as a summer job before flying over to California 'to live like a bum for the summer, then come back here and work hard again'. I thought he had an interesting take on life. Very different, and I'm a little envious.
There were six paying rafters in all, and two guides, so when the helicopter arrived it needed to take us in two loads (especially considering the gear that needed to be lifted). Myself and Yo got the second ride, and we watched with interest as they hooked the deflated raft to a rope and hung it from the bottom of the helicopter. With such a load dangling from the bottom, the pilot took his door off so he could look down and monitor things better. This made the flight all the cooler (and draughty), especially considering we got to ride up front again.
The 22km flight last about 7 minutes - so not long - and before we knew it we were in the middle on nowhere with no roads for miles around. Weka observed that we were so remote not many New Zealanders even had ever seen it.
First job was to inflate the raft, which had 4 compartments on the sides, three inflatable 'ribs' in the middle, and an inflatable bottom. We all took it in turns to help as it was a fairly big job.
Then came the safety lesson. Weka told us where and how to sit properly (along the sides of the raft, not the middle seats). You jammed your feet into the bottom of middle ribs to stabilise yourself, as you'd need both hands to man the paddle. He then told us about the different commands he'd be yelling at us during the voyage - the usual 'forward paddle', 'back paddle' 'paddle right' etc... then the more interesting ones; 'hold on' which involved hastily securing the paddle on your lap, grabbing hold of the rope that ran outside of the raft with one hand, while leaning and tucking yourself in to the centre of the boat. Then there was 'get down', where you'd again secure the paddle in your lap, and bunker down in the bottom of the boat. That was a 'shit, there's real danger ahead' kind of command. There were also things like 'jump left / right' where you'd all dive to one side of the raft - useful for avoiding rocks, I guess.
Finally he told us the need to know information about being thrown out the boat. How to lay on your backs or swim, never stand up, cos that'll throw you back on your face in the rapids. He buddied each of us up with a partner, and told us we were each responsible for getting the other back into the raft should they fall, and showed us the tools he had such as ropes and such to ensure that should we be dragged too far form the boat then he can throw us a line.
By now we were both realising that this was actually pretty dangerous stuff we were embarking on, and even Yo admitted she was somewhat frightened. Wow!
When we did get into the boat, we had a few practice sessions of his commands until we got them right (we all sucked at first), and then we set off. Most of the rapids came in too fast for me to describe, so I shall only say this: Holy fuck it was fun. We hunkered down a few times, so the rapids were pretty heavy going, but Weka was an excellent guide and only a couple of times did I feel any real danger. The other guy alternatively ranged ahead and followed behind in a kayak, taking photos and generally helping out with hands up where needed etc.
We then stopped at a big rock in the centre of the river, climbed to about twenty feet, and all jumped off into the waters below. The river was glacial, so pretty cold - but that's why we had thermals and wetsuits, and soon it became un-noticeable.
I can't elaborate on the rapids too much, because there were so many of them, but notable highlights include:
- Climbing a rock in the middle of the river.
- Canyoning up to a waterfall, jumping off another ledge, and then swimming underneath the waterfall where the waiting hands of Weka ensured we didn't get swept away. The water here was approximately 23 meters deep, and the waterfall as pretty high - too high to easily guess. Weka knew the depth of the area by the waterfall because he'd had a previous tourist drop their GoPro to the bottom, and had to send someone down with scuba gear several times before they managed to retrieve it.
- After swimming under the waterfall, we had to jump off into the waterfall and let the current sweep us out of the churn. The clamber over permanently wet (and thus presumably mossy, and very certainly slippery) rocks was somewhat frightening. I was half afraid I'd slip and break my neck or some other precious part of me. No one did, though.
- The portage: not long after the canyon, there was a section of rapid that was too narrow for the raft. We got sent off to climb rocks on our own, then watched as first the raft was hauled over the rocks, then the kayak was hauled on top of a 'rock' that was 6 or 7 meters high. He climbed in whilst still on the rock, and then.... whee! slid down the rock and straight into the water fearlessly. After that, we had to abseil down the rock and into the waiting raft.
- The final good thing: lunch. After some more lovely rapids and paddling, we came to the confluence of two rivers and pulled up on to the sun-warmed rocks to watch as the two guides prepared our food. They opened up a bucket with a watertight seal and pulled out cabbage, carrots, celery, a grater, a bag of corn chips, cheese, aioli, a can of mixed chili beans, and a can of sweetcorn. Once they were all chopped up/opened/grated, they were poured back into the same bucket, and a paddle was inserted to mix it all up. Finally, we were each handed a wholewheat tortilla wrap (Weka called them 'twisties', but later owned up to having made that term up on the spot), and the delicious mix was spooned onto our wraps with the flat side of the paddle.
The rest was, well, plain sailing. Weka and the other guy (I feel really bad for not remembering his name!) swapped over, so that we were guided by the other guy all the way back after lunch. The rapids were not too frighteningly rapid, and we even hopped out and swum through one of them.
A brilliant day, even with all of the freaking bitey sandflies. Unfortunately we left our phones behind due to the expected wet dunkage, but we've been told photos will appear on facebook imminently - hopefully exciting action photos of us navigating rapids and jumping into water!
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