Cows, Volcanoes, Rivers, and Glow Worms

Dorthe paddling down the lower sections of the Whanganui River Gorge.

The north island trip is fully underway - we are currently in Auckland, after about 10 days or so working our way up from Timaru and Christchurch. The voyage north has been quite an interesting experience, featuring hiking, canoeing, beautiful new zealand backcountry, and, um, lots of cows.

Dorthe and I left Christchurch on the 7th January when my parents picked us up. They were going to look at some cows in the North Island, and so we decided that we would come along, and then stay in the North Island for a while after that, thus starting our North Island trip. First, we headed north along the east coast of the south island, crossing across cook strait over to Wellington, the capital. We stayed there for a couple of days with Mums cousin, Jennifer, for a relaxing weekend - one day spent collecting shells along the beach, and the other visiting Te Papa, the Museum of New Zealand. Then from there we ventured north into Tarankai for a further three days of looking at cattle. This was a particularly interesting experience for Dorthe, as she got to see some of the real rural back country of New Zealand that few kiwis and even less tourists get to see. Very rough land with very steep hills interspersed with native bush. We were also able to ride horses at one of the farms, and even got to sample "Whitebait" (the larvae of four different species of fish that is caught in New Zealand river mouths and sold at a great price), a classic New Zealand delicacy.

Dorthe on a purebreed Arabian stallon.

Soon after we returned back to Wellington briefly to drop Mum and Dad off, so that they could head back to Timaru, leaving Dorthe and I with the car. We headed north once again, initially over the "Desert Road" to Tongariro National Park in the centre of the North Island. This park features three large volcanos: Ruapehu, Ngaurohoe, and Tongariro. There is a rather famous track in this area known as the "Tongariro crossing" that can be completed in a single day which we walked the following day. We were picked up at 6:15am by the shuttle service (having slept in the car in the carpark at the end of the track) and dropped off at the start of the track. The walk then proceeds up over a saddle between Tongariro and Ngaurohoe, passing through a desolate moonscape of volcanic lava flows, pumice, red iron deposits, yellow sulphur deposits, and vivid blue lakes. The air was rich with the smell of sulphur, and the entire enviroment was extremely dry. It really was a hostile place, the type of place that you felt that animals and plants didn't belong.

Sunset on Mt Ngaurohoe (aka Mt Doom, from Lord of the Rings)

From the saddle between Tongariro and Ngaurohoe, we were able to climb Ngaurohoe (2278m) itself. Ngaurohoe was used as the template for Mt Doom in Lord of the Rings, and it basically looks exactly like it does in the movie (minus the lava, gollum, sauron etc) - steep and covered in loose scoria. However, the climb rewarded us with spectacular views of the surrounding countryside, and was in many ways the highlight of the trip. Two hours of climb up was rapidily undone in 20 mins of scree running, we continued through the rest of the landscape, descended through beautiful alpine zones, and classic New Zealand bush, to arrive back at the car at 8pm, a long tiring but brilliant day's walk.

Tongariro was followed immediately by the start of the Whanganui River journey, three days canoeing (in Canadian style canoes) down the Whanganui river, through some of the most remote and inaccessible parts of the north island. This was a spectacular trip - for most of the 70km, the river is surrounded on each side by ~8-10m cliffs, with pristine native bush covering the steep, rugged hills behind it. For three days we barely saw another person on the river, and there were only a few other canoes in the huts we stayed in. A particular highlight was the second hut we stayed in, which was a Maori marae. We were both welcomed onto the Marae with a Powhiri (a traditional welcome) and thus became whanau (part of the extended family). We then shared the evening people with the family that was there, and talked until we ran out of light. we both enjoyed the experience a lot. The whanganui journey has been the highlight of the trip thus far - three days of floating down a beautiful river, with the only stress being the prospect of being "blessed" by the river (ie going for a swim!) at some of the rather challenging rapids along the way!

Finally, we headed to Waitomo to see the famous glowworm caves there. These pitch black limestome caves are famous for their beautiful stalagtites and stalagmite formations, and for the small larvae that inhabit them - the luminescent lures they use to attract prey literally lights up the roof of the caves with a constellation of cool blue-green stars. We have both seen a few glowworms around in small clusters, but certaintly nothing on this scale before. We both enjoyed it a lot, even if the trip was a little on the short side.

We are now in Auckland, where we spend a few days, before heading to the very north of the island at Cape Reinga. There are also some new photo albums up online for you too! Ka kite!

Timaru to Tongariro
Tongariro Crossing
Whanganui River Journey