Mud, Geysers & Maoris

This is the final part of our circuit of New Zealand - the North Island. We'd planned to spend less time here than the south island, so after getting hopelessely lost when we got off the ferry in Wellington, we headed straight to the main attraction - a strange place called Rotorua. This is actually the main town in an area of geo-thermal activity, and is also the centre of Maori-culture.

We visited several different sites, each of which was more spectacular and weird than the previous one. Neither of us had seen anything like it before. Amazing! We watched 'Lady Knox' geyser, which spouts 20m into the air every morning. We saw pools of bubbling mud, streams of yellow, red and white minerals running through rocky landscapes, creating 'artists palettes'. There were pools of various colours including the 'Champagne Pool' which was steaming and bubbling, like Champagne and a particularly amazing bright yellow pool. The bubbling mud pools were pretty cool too! These other-worldly landscapes were always accompanied by an ever-present stench of sulphur, like rotten eggs.


Trying to pretend it doesn't stink



Amazing colours

Artists Pallete

Mud pools, where are the Hippos :)

Liz at Champagne Pools - shame it's not drinkable!

Lady Knox does her daily routine

Yellow/Green lake

Champagne Pool difficult to show how large it is!

We had a hot mud-bath using mud from the sulphur pools, at Hell's Gate, Wai Ora Spa. It good for the skin and circulation - so they tell us. All I can say (Liz) is that it wiped me out for the rest of the day! We luxuriated in the tub of mud like two pigs in a sty, followed by a cold shower washed the mud off, then it was into a hot pool for a soak in the open air until the heat became too much to bear. It was really good fun though.

Mud packs don't normally smell like this

It's a hard life!

All these geo-thermal places are really difficult to describe, so we'll let the photos speak for themselves.
As well as taking in the landscapes, we really wanted to learn something about the Maori people and their culture. We took a guided tour of an old village at the edge of Rotorua called Whakarewarewa (pronounced fukawakawera or something like that!), where 60 or so Maoris still live. Our guide, who's grandparents lived there and who still bathes in the natural hot sulphur baths there every day, showed us the meeting house, the baths and the 'kitchen'. This consists of several pits dug into the ground, and the food is place inside. Natural steam rises through the ground into the pits, cooking the food faster than a conventional oven. This type of cooking is called Hangi. That evening we would get to try Hangi food for ourselves...

Hangi Meal being cooked via natural steam from geothermals!

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Village on geothermal area. Can you imagine living here :)

Marc and his new friend. Where's Wally?

Protector of the village

We spent that evening at another village. This one was a replica of the way Maoris lived before the Europeans arrived, created specially for tourists. It was carried out really imressively. Before we were allowed to enter the village we had to go through a traditional Maori 'welcome'. I (Marc) was elected chief of our 'tribe' (our coach party). As visiting chief I was welcomed by the host chiefs four best warriors, who performed Haka-like dances right in front of me, complete with spears, chants, and much tongue-waggling in an effort to intimidate me. (I have to say it was pretty intimidating, and also difficult not to smile or laugh, but we'd been told that would be disrespectful, so I kept my best poker-face on.) Once the haka was done, the host chief and I exchanged the traditional greeting of rubbing noses. He had very impressive facial tattoos covering most of his face, and the rest of the Maori's (men and women) had smaller ones befitting their status.

Chief Marc being welcomed with a traditional Hongi

Once I passed the test of 'friend' rather than 'foe' we were invited into the village. There were several Maori's demonstarting some of their traditional skills such as carving, canoe making and making clothes from animal hides. Then we were treated to a show of Maori song and dance, which was incredibly mesmerising and exhilerating!

Maori Poi Balls Dance

Finally it was time for our hangi meal. As chief of our tribe I was shown how to dig through the mound of earth covering the hangi pit, then uncover the many layers of cloth used to protect the food, which was in metal baskets on top of red hot rocks which had been heated earlier by a fire. Chicken, lamb, potatoes and veggies all came out of the same pit, all cooked to perfection and delicious.

The unveiling of the Hangi



The Hangi meal in all its glory! Yum Yum


 The whole evening was fun and not as cheesy as it probably sounds!

We were both sad to leave New Zealand. We could happily have spent much longer there. It has the amazing scenery and the friendliest people we've met, everything works and getting around is a doddle, other than our campervan hicups ;) And having the camper van meant we hadn't had to carry our backpacks the whole time we were there. After such luxuries, the next 11 weeks in South America seemed quite daunting...

Warning: This blog contains adventure sports!

But first, we left the the traditional home of extreme sports, Queenstown, and headed around beautiful Lake Wanaka an past Lake Mapourika. Unfortunately we had to admire the view from the comfort of the van since we were behind schedule due to the snow.

Moody Lake Wanaka

Early morning - Lake Mapourika

Our next stop was Franz Josef Glacier, a very unusual place where the glacial ice has flowed down almost to sea level making it one of the most easily accessable glaciers in the world, which suited us just fine. (It's unusual, except that there's a similar one a few miles up the road- Fox Glacier) We joined a guided walk, as that's the only way you're allowed onto the ice. We were given a pair of crampons each (a metal plate which ties onto the sole of your boot, with large spikes sticking out) to help us stay upright on the white stuff. We walked for 30 minutes over a dry rocky valley that was full of ice 10s of metres thick just 10 years ago - the glacier grows and shrinks regularly. Once we got to the edge of the ice we got cramponed up and walked gingerly onto the ice. The crampons weren't as cumbersome or as lethal as they looked. We visited ice caves, crevaces, waterfalls and flights of steps the guides had made with pickaxes. It was such a surreal landscape, with amazing shades of blue ice just below the surface. It was a fantastic experience.

Franz Josef Glacier - It's MUCH bigger than it looks in this picture

Intrepid ice explorrer

In one of the ice caves - The ice is blue because the ice is highlycompacted

Following the glacial trip we were ready for some serious R&R. Luckily our glacier hike included a pass to the hot springs across the road from the campsite, and for just a few extra dollars we were able to upgrade to a private pool. It was great, sitting under the stars with the steam billowing skyward from our little pool, maybe a bit too relaxing, as we were comatose afterwards. If the hot tub had not drained out automatically once our time was up we might still be in there now!

After Franz Josef, we headed over a mountain pass in the middle of the island. The camper proved surprisingly wieldly over the snaking mountaineous roads, and Liz proved to be a surprisingly good passenger! On route we had a sugar craving and headed for what we thought was a shop, it turned out to be a youth hostel but a super-kind youth leader gave us a very large bar of yummy chocolate - oh the Kiwi's are a smashing bunch :). Just one example of the kindest, friendliest people anywhere. Our destination was Hanmer Springs, a town dripping in adventure sports. Neither of us quite commited to a bungy jump, but we chose an alternative each; jet-boating and horse riding. You should have no trouble guessing who picked which one!

The jet-boating was great fun, in a 55mph boat with two big V8s that can turn in it's own length like a jetski. The driver took us through a narrow, twisty, steep sided gorge, which made for a great place to show off what the boat could do. Liz thought she might be a bit scared, but spent the whole time with a huge grin on her face!

The horse-riding was rather more sedate. You might not think of it as an extreme sport at all, but for Marc, it was more scary than anything else we've done. And it wasn't helped by the fact there was snow on the ground and the horses kept slipping on the loose ground (Liz says horses often 'trip' whilst walking :/ The scenery was spectacular, nonetheless, Marc was very glad to get off at the end! Liz said I did very well for his first time EVER on the 'devil's creatures' as I like to call them!

Jet Boater Keates

The beautiful scenery that blurred past our jet boat

Marc on one of the devil's creatures

We celebrated with a night out - a very late one which ended with us being taught the Haka by a part-Maori Kiwi and his friends in a car park.

We left next day with sore heads, heading for Kaikoura. This town is in a beautiful setting, on the coast where the mountains meet the sea. We saw seals basking on the rocks and even sunbathing on a boardwalk in a car-park.

It's a hard life being a seal

A beautiful stretch of Kaikoura coastline

But our reason for visiting was to swim with dolphins. We were nervous of doing it as it's the middle of winter in NZ so the sea was 10 degrees! We togged up in thick winter wetsuits, balaclavas and boots as well as snorkel masks, we looked more like cat burglers than snorklers!! After our disappointing experience of kayaking with dolphins in Oz, we hoped we would at least see one this time. So imagine how we felt when after just a few minutes at sea, our boat was surrounded by literally hundreds of Dusky dolphins! What a sight for hungover eyes lol. Duskies are smaller and even cuter than their bottle-nosed cousins. With some trepidation we flung ourselves off the back of a catamaran into the freezing cold water. It was an amazing experience to see the dolphins swimming below and aound us. They came really close, even brushing against our wet-suits and jumping clear out of the water right near us, blatant show offs ;). We followed them round for an hour or so, getting in and out of the water until the cold got the better of us. Thankfully we were greeted by a hose pipe with hot water to warm our wetsuits and mug of hot tea to warm our stomachs. It was an amazing, once in a lifetime experience. Can't wait to do it again!

New Zealand fetish-wear expo 2011, or preparing to swim with dolphins?

Show-off!

Up close with Dusky Dolphin

With our adventures on the south island at an end, we drove to Picton, a quaint old harbour town, to catch the ferry to the North island.

Picturesque Picton

Kiwis here we come

Our flight to Christchurch was delayed so we had to wait until the following day to collect our campervan! The following day happy with our van and excited to be on our way, we headed for the city, aware that it would be mostly closed following the earthquake. We both found it sad to see the whole centre cordened off. Along with a few other tourists we looked at the demolished buildings, from behind the safety fenses. The most damage was to the beautiful old buildings. Typical.

Demolished church in Christchurch

As we ventured further afield we discovered that our campervan had quite a significant leak under the sink so we had to return to Christchurch, luckily we weren't too far out of town. We changed vans which meant unpacking and transferring all our belongings to van No 2, which was a pain, but once completed we headed south through the flat Canterbury Plains. Nothing like the Canterbury of Liz's youth! The scenery was already great, with snow capped mountains to one side and the Pacific to the other. Our first stopping point was Dunedin, a very Scottish-feeling town. We later discovered that much of the South island has a feeling of Scotland as many Scots moved there over the years. We were surprised to see a Cadbury's factory there. We made a bee-line for their coffee shop, only to find there wasn't one :(

Van 1, 2 or 3?

Dunedin Railway Station

From the Otago Peninsula we got a great view of Dunedin. Taking the coastal road on the way up and the high road on our return to the city we got a fab views. When we arrived we pretended to be twitchers as we went to view the baby Albatross and Penguins which nest on the headland. Did you know that Albatross live to be 80, and spends it's first 7 years living at sea without ever setting foot on land, until they return to where they were born? Neither did we, but we do now!

Yello-eyed Penguin

Otago penisula at sunset

We then set off around the Caitlin Coast - the southern tip of the island, and learnt how big the island is and how low the speed limits are in the process. We stopped off at a few lovely spots along the way, visiting waterfalls, cliffs and beaches with crashing waves . We stumbled upon a particularly magical beach where semi-precious gemstones get washed up. Liz filled her pockets and mine with an assortment of colourful stones including red jasper. Eventually we arrived at our next destination, Te Anau.

Gemstone Beach

After a chill-out/planning day, we went to Milford Sound, the main attraction in the area. We braved the snow and ice to drive over the mountain pass from Te Anau along an amazing road. Once we arrived, we took a boat trip along this stunningly beautiful stretch of water, leading into the sea, with snow-capped mountains on either side and waterfalls along the way. We saw seals and a couple of penguins. The weather was beautiful too, so we got some cool pics. On the way back we stopped off at a few of the lakes, waterfalls and viewpoints, but there were almost too many to choose from. The biggest danger on the road was not the ice, but the amazing views at every turn and the risk of running over a kea. These are the world's only alpine parrot, which lives nowhere else, and seems to like nothing better than landing on camper vans and staring through the windows, hoping to get fed. But as requested, by the sinage, we didn't feed them, which was actually quite difficult as they were very social and cute!

Road to Milford Sound

Milford Sound

Tea at Milford Sound!

Breathing in the very fresh air of Milford Sound!

Our little friend the Kea on our campervan door!

Milford Sound

Reflections on our return journey

Snow was forecast the following day, so we decided to delay the next leg of our journey and go to the glow-worm caves instead. Big mistake! The glow worm caves were great (very dark, hundreds of glow-worms), but the snow didn't arrive until late in the day, and it was the worst snow-fall in New Zealand for 50 years. It was so bad it trapped us in Te Anau, with all roads in and out closed off. We tried to make the best of it the following day,driving to a deserted forest and going for a lovely walk . But on the way back disaster struck - I (Marc) pranged the van on a canopy overhanginging from a building. I was driving at about 1mph, but the canopy smashed through the side window of the van. Not cool and probably very expensive, especially as I'd declined the additional insurance! As it was late in the afternoon and no-one could get in or out of the town, there was nothing for it to spend a night in a chalet on the campsite.

Wibbly wobbly birdge!

The following day we headed to Queenstown, along yet another beautiful road, with snow chains on and the broken window taped up to keep out the cold. We finally made it to Queenstown, 2 days late after stopping to swap the van yet again. That was fun in an airport carpark with a foot of snow on the ground! It was a challenging couple of day but with Campervan No 3 we headed into Queenstown in hope of entertainment to cheer us up :) We weren't disappointed.

Typical coastal view

Queenstown is the capital of extreme sports, where bungy jumping was invented, and where there are hundreds of ways to scare yourself stupid. We opted for a couple of the more sedate options. (Don't be too disappointed, our more adventurous activities are coming in the next blog...!) We tried our hand at the luge, which sadly wasn't done on snow, but was done on a mountain-side track in go-karts without engines. You simply point these little trolleys downhill, and gravity does the rest. You only have to brake an steer. By our third run we were getting quite brave and competitive, so much so that we both nearly crashed. After that we decided to slow down...We rounded off the activity with hot chocolate at the top of the cable car and with the town and mountains draped in snow it was truly a magnificent view!

Queens town from the top!

Marc mentally preparing for the Luge

Luge track

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Us at the top overlooking Queenstown

We then had a quick stop to see the Kiwi - the bird which gives New Zealanders their nickname. It's rare, black and nocturnal, so there's little chance of seeing one in the wild, but we saw some at the bird-park in Queenstown in darkened rooms. They're a bit like black chickens with long beaks and legs so far back it looks like they should topple over. We were lucky enough to hear the female's elaborate call to her mate, which we were told doesn't happen that often.

A true Kiwi!

To sum up the first part of our New Zealand journey, I'd say we'd had some great fun and experiences, amazing scenery, interlaced with some real challenges thrown in to boot! But that's life, right? Life isn't all ha ha ha, hee hee hee!