Thursday, February 24, 2005
What is the plural of volcano?
Valconi? Volconos? Volcanoes?
Well, whatever, we saw a plurality of them. But before I get to that, let me clear up a few details. That park with the big tree (and I mean big) that I couldn't remember the name of, was the Waipoua Kauri Forest - see what I have to deal with - these names aren't obvious. Also typing on different keyboards everytime I use a computer is tough, I tell you. I'm a bad typist with a poor memory to start with. I'm backspacing every 10 seonds to correct something and half the places we visit have names I forget an hour after leaving. Maybe I should just tell you all about the food, beer and wine I'm drinking and forget the culture, history, geography crap.
Well, I'll keep trying for now, but it's tough, I tell you, even if I'm repeating myself.
OK. We're now on the south Island, but to get here from dragville (really Dargaville) we had to traverse most of the north island and we didn't do that directly. We stopped for a few days in an area called the "central north island" in the Rough Guide to New Zealand. (a great guide by the way - thanks B). We were surrounded by volconoes - not that any were active while we were there. Some have been active in the last 10 years - I guess that's "now" in geologic terms. North of Tangariri is Lake Taupo. We didn't stop there on the way here, but we plan to on the way north again. It's the largest lake in the southern hemisphere. It was created when the Taupo volcano errupted around 200AD. It was 10 time greater than Krakatoa and St Helen's combined, and put so much dust into the atmosphere that Romans noted unusually red sunsets in their records of the era. I could go on with amazing volcano facts, but I doubt anyone has read this far without skipping to the next paragraph.
Anyway, to be specific, we stopped in Tongariro National Park and stayed at a lodge called Skotel (I presume for Ski Hotel, since it's a ski area in winter and apparently this year they were even skiing there at Christmas). We had thought we would do the Tongariro Crossing, which is billed as the best and most popular one day hike in New Zealand. We arrived on Monday and planned to stay three nights. Tuesday to recconoitre(sp), Wed to do the hike, and Thurs to pack up and move on tot he next adventure. On Tues we dedcided to recconoitre by taking a 3hr hike (each way) to some falls and a lake further on - 6 hrs in total. By the time we returned, we had decided (Maureen and I anyway) to not do the Crossing as it was a lot more rugged and we were aching already - so we wimped out. Day 3 we Maureen and I did a much tamer walk to another falls and called it a day. Barry claimed he had a sore back and had never planned to do the Crossing. He sure razzed us about not doing it ourselves though.
In summary Tongariro was a fascinating and unusual landscape and we were glad we went there, even if we didn't do the famous walk. Maybe next time. Karen - when you think skiing in NZ - think Tongariro - even if the lava sometimes does flow 2 metres away from the ski lift - it only happens occasionally.
Thursday we drove to Wellington where we took the ferry to the south island. Thats were I am now. It's also 1:30 AM, so I'll stop now and catch up later. What a great hotel we found. Hi-speed internet and they loaned us a laptop to use overnight (all free)
Well, whatever, we saw a plurality of them. But before I get to that, let me clear up a few details. That park with the big tree (and I mean big) that I couldn't remember the name of, was the Waipoua Kauri Forest - see what I have to deal with - these names aren't obvious. Also typing on different keyboards everytime I use a computer is tough, I tell you. I'm a bad typist with a poor memory to start with. I'm backspacing every 10 seonds to correct something and half the places we visit have names I forget an hour after leaving. Maybe I should just tell you all about the food, beer and wine I'm drinking and forget the culture, history, geography crap.
Well, I'll keep trying for now, but it's tough, I tell you, even if I'm repeating myself.
OK. We're now on the south Island, but to get here from dragville (really Dargaville) we had to traverse most of the north island and we didn't do that directly. We stopped for a few days in an area called the "central north island" in the Rough Guide to New Zealand. (a great guide by the way - thanks B). We were surrounded by volconoes - not that any were active while we were there. Some have been active in the last 10 years - I guess that's "now" in geologic terms. North of Tangariri is Lake Taupo. We didn't stop there on the way here, but we plan to on the way north again. It's the largest lake in the southern hemisphere. It was created when the Taupo volcano errupted around 200AD. It was 10 time greater than Krakatoa and St Helen's combined, and put so much dust into the atmosphere that Romans noted unusually red sunsets in their records of the era. I could go on with amazing volcano facts, but I doubt anyone has read this far without skipping to the next paragraph.
Anyway, to be specific, we stopped in Tongariro National Park and stayed at a lodge called Skotel (I presume for Ski Hotel, since it's a ski area in winter and apparently this year they were even skiing there at Christmas). We had thought we would do the Tongariro Crossing, which is billed as the best and most popular one day hike in New Zealand. We arrived on Monday and planned to stay three nights. Tuesday to recconoitre(sp), Wed to do the hike, and Thurs to pack up and move on tot he next adventure. On Tues we dedcided to recconoitre by taking a 3hr hike (each way) to some falls and a lake further on - 6 hrs in total. By the time we returned, we had decided (Maureen and I anyway) to not do the Crossing as it was a lot more rugged and we were aching already - so we wimped out. Day 3 we Maureen and I did a much tamer walk to another falls and called it a day. Barry claimed he had a sore back and had never planned to do the Crossing. He sure razzed us about not doing it ourselves though.
In summary Tongariro was a fascinating and unusual landscape and we were glad we went there, even if we didn't do the famous walk. Maybe next time. Karen - when you think skiing in NZ - think Tongariro - even if the lava sometimes does flow 2 metres away from the ski lift - it only happens occasionally.
Thursday we drove to Wellington where we took the ferry to the south island. Thats were I am now. It's also 1:30 AM, so I'll stop now and catch up later. What a great hotel we found. Hi-speed internet and they loaned us a laptop to use overnight (all free)
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Dragville
I'm now in Tongariro National Park but, I haven't written about dragville, so I need to go back. Today is Wed 23 Feb , but we went north from Auckland because we couldn't get a ferry to the south island as soon as we wanted. Our original plan was to race as far south as soon as we could and then leisurely head north, arriving back in Auckland in time for our flight to Sydney. Because we couldn't get the ferry when we wanted, we went north from Auckland and then headed south after a few days.
While north we stayed in Dargaville (aka dragville). Maureen thinks it's like Fort Saskatchewan in the 1950s. Perhaps, but it wasn't bad. Very quiet and a good base for touring the north of the Nort Isaland. The motel had great facilities and we cooked in every night - great food! Day 1 we went to (the name escapes me now after a few glasses of wine with dinner) a NZ national park and saw a 2000 year old Kauri tree. Very tall and rotund - about 30 metres in girth near the base. In fact we saw a few of these, although most Kauri were cut down in the 1800s - tsk...
We also went to Weitanga (see, I'm not that pissed) where the treaty with the Maori was signed. The treaty was largely ignored by the white Europeans for many years but today is having a positive (from the Maori viewpoint) impact on relations with between the whites (called Pakehas by the Maoris) and Maoris. Our last day in dragville was spent on Bayly's beach - a seemingly interminable expanse of beach where locals race up and down on cars, motorcycles, 4-wheelers and anything else that comes to hand. Nonetheless, it was nice to be on an enormous beach where you can walk forever and never see the end. What we didn't get to was 90 Mile Beach at the extreme north end of the North Island. It is a beach so vast and long that it is formally part of the NZ highway system.
From dragville we went south past Auckland to Tongariro National Park - volcano country (not to mention skiing in winter and lots of walking/tramping/hiking in summer). That will be my next post.
While north we stayed in Dargaville (aka dragville). Maureen thinks it's like Fort Saskatchewan in the 1950s. Perhaps, but it wasn't bad. Very quiet and a good base for touring the north of the Nort Isaland. The motel had great facilities and we cooked in every night - great food! Day 1 we went to (the name escapes me now after a few glasses of wine with dinner) a NZ national park and saw a 2000 year old Kauri tree. Very tall and rotund - about 30 metres in girth near the base. In fact we saw a few of these, although most Kauri were cut down in the 1800s - tsk...
We also went to Weitanga (see, I'm not that pissed) where the treaty with the Maori was signed. The treaty was largely ignored by the white Europeans for many years but today is having a positive (from the Maori viewpoint) impact on relations with between the whites (called Pakehas by the Maoris) and Maoris. Our last day in dragville was spent on Bayly's beach - a seemingly interminable expanse of beach where locals race up and down on cars, motorcycles, 4-wheelers and anything else that comes to hand. Nonetheless, it was nice to be on an enormous beach where you can walk forever and never see the end. What we didn't get to was 90 Mile Beach at the extreme north end of the North Island. It is a beach so vast and long that it is formally part of the NZ highway system.
From dragville we went south past Auckland to Tongariro National Park - volcano country (not to mention skiing in winter and lots of walking/tramping/hiking in summer). That will be my next post.
Monday, February 21, 2005
First Week in NZ
If you are coming to NZ I have a few words of advice:
1 clean your shoes (even the ones you are wearing and the ones in your checked luggage)
2 don't bring any food with you
3 don't bring any organic items (like wood or woven items)
The lineups are looooong, move very slooowly and the inspection is detailed. Expect to have your shoes disinfected. Fortunately I had clipped my fingernails in Fiji, or I think they would have disinfected me too. Yet the imigration's mission statement is "to have the mmost welcoming and best customs entry experience in the Pacific". If NZ is the best, Australia should be fun. Anyway, I made it through and M&B where there to meet me - joy.
We spend the first few days in Auckland. What a great city. Interestingly varied architecture, OK pubs (not the best, but definitely good), parks, galleries and lots of water (not rain, bays, rivers). Our hotel was central and there was lots of interesting restaurants around. We explored the north side of the harbour on our second and had great views of the city. My camera is getting a lot of use. It's easier to carry but nowhere as nice to use as my big camera.
My time is coming to an end and I can't see how to save this as a draft so I'm going to have to post this. Please excuse the typos..
TTFN
1 clean your shoes (even the ones you are wearing and the ones in your checked luggage)
2 don't bring any food with you
3 don't bring any organic items (like wood or woven items)
The lineups are looooong, move very slooowly and the inspection is detailed. Expect to have your shoes disinfected. Fortunately I had clipped my fingernails in Fiji, or I think they would have disinfected me too. Yet the imigration's mission statement is "to have the mmost welcoming and best customs entry experience in the Pacific". If NZ is the best, Australia should be fun. Anyway, I made it through and M&B where there to meet me - joy.
We spend the first few days in Auckland. What a great city. Interestingly varied architecture, OK pubs (not the best, but definitely good), parks, galleries and lots of water (not rain, bays, rivers). Our hotel was central and there was lots of interesting restaurants around. We explored the north side of the harbour on our second and had great views of the city. My camera is getting a lot of use. It's easier to carry but nowhere as nice to use as my big camera.
My time is coming to an end and I can't see how to save this as a draft so I'm going to have to post this. Please excuse the typos..
TTFN
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Fiji
Well, I left for Fiji as (re)planned on Thursday at 10:30 PM. I didn't find any art galleries on thursday while I waited. I just wandered around the LA transit system.
The flight was loooooong but uneventful. I slept fitfully and by the time I got there, I had one of those annoying sinus headaches I get, that wouldn't go away. I stayed up most of the day, did a bit of wandering and went to bed about 4:00 PM. 12 hours later I woke up without much of a headache. I don't know why I slept so much, the time difference between LA and FIJI is only 3 hours and I did sleep on the plane - anyway no headache is good.
After leaving LA Thursday, arriving Saturday AM (due to the day loss that I'll get back at the end of the trip) and then sleeping or dozing all Sat away, Sunday was the real first of my few days in Fiji. Fortunately I met an Australian guy (Ian) at breakfast. He was on is one day off of the week, but fortunately, offered to drive me to the Garden of the Gods. That's a local orchid plantation originally created by Raymond Burr (actor - Perry Mason), that was now operated by the government as a park and conservation area.
We went and visited it. According to Ian it had not changed in 10 years since he'd been last there. I took a lot of pictures of flowers, but can't figure out how to get them into this blog. After spending a couple of hours there, we were driving back to the motel and simultaneously had the same idea - going for a beer or 2. It was more than 2, in the end.
On Monday, Ian had to work so I decided to spend my last day in Fiji by taking the local bus into town (Lautoka - the second largest town in Fiji). Taking the bus was my idea of a thrid world experience - there weren't chickens on the bus, but I suspect there were on other days.
On my way to the bus I was joined by a local Fijian who started talking to me and basically adopted me for the day. Looking back, that was most likely what he did for a living - meeting tourists, befriending them and eventually asking them for a bit of money. That was not his story though.
According to his story, he had had an operation (he should me a large fresh abdominal scar) and was was going into Lautoka to see a doctor at the hospital. That may have been true, but he didn;t go there. He spent the day with me in Lautoka showing me around, introducuing me to various friends and relative that we ran into. Around 2:00 PM I decided to head back to the hotel and he helped me find the correct bus (no mean feat) and then asked me if he could join me on the bus (that meant me paying for his fare and return to Lautoka - $1.40). I agreed. Once we were on the bus I thought about getting off at our eventual stop. It was a bit isolated and thought, what if he mugs me? Hmmmmmm?!?!
I considered getting off the bus while still in Lautoka and taking a taxi. He really seemed not the type and quite a gentle person, but you never know. In the end I decide to take a chance. He didn't mug me but he did ask me for money after we left the bus. It was not threatening in any way - he seemed embarassed to ask and asked only for $5. I gave him $25, which was less than what a taxi would have cost.
It was an adventure to remember Fiji by. Tues AM I left for NZ and was met by M&B. That's the next story - less of an adventure but great fun.
The flight was loooooong but uneventful. I slept fitfully and by the time I got there, I had one of those annoying sinus headaches I get, that wouldn't go away. I stayed up most of the day, did a bit of wandering and went to bed about 4:00 PM. 12 hours later I woke up without much of a headache. I don't know why I slept so much, the time difference between LA and FIJI is only 3 hours and I did sleep on the plane - anyway no headache is good.
After leaving LA Thursday, arriving Saturday AM (due to the day loss that I'll get back at the end of the trip) and then sleeping or dozing all Sat away, Sunday was the real first of my few days in Fiji. Fortunately I met an Australian guy (Ian) at breakfast. He was on is one day off of the week, but fortunately, offered to drive me to the Garden of the Gods. That's a local orchid plantation originally created by Raymond Burr (actor - Perry Mason), that was now operated by the government as a park and conservation area.
We went and visited it. According to Ian it had not changed in 10 years since he'd been last there. I took a lot of pictures of flowers, but can't figure out how to get them into this blog. After spending a couple of hours there, we were driving back to the motel and simultaneously had the same idea - going for a beer or 2. It was more than 2, in the end.
On Monday, Ian had to work so I decided to spend my last day in Fiji by taking the local bus into town (Lautoka - the second largest town in Fiji). Taking the bus was my idea of a thrid world experience - there weren't chickens on the bus, but I suspect there were on other days.
On my way to the bus I was joined by a local Fijian who started talking to me and basically adopted me for the day. Looking back, that was most likely what he did for a living - meeting tourists, befriending them and eventually asking them for a bit of money. That was not his story though.
According to his story, he had had an operation (he should me a large fresh abdominal scar) and was was going into Lautoka to see a doctor at the hospital. That may have been true, but he didn;t go there. He spent the day with me in Lautoka showing me around, introducuing me to various friends and relative that we ran into. Around 2:00 PM I decided to head back to the hotel and he helped me find the correct bus (no mean feat) and then asked me if he could join me on the bus (that meant me paying for his fare and return to Lautoka - $1.40). I agreed. Once we were on the bus I thought about getting off at our eventual stop. It was a bit isolated and thought, what if he mugs me? Hmmmmmm?!?!
I considered getting off the bus while still in Lautoka and taking a taxi. He really seemed not the type and quite a gentle person, but you never know. In the end I decide to take a chance. He didn't mug me but he did ask me for money after we left the bus. It was not threatening in any way - he seemed embarassed to ask and asked only for $5. I gave him $25, which was less than what a taxi would have cost.
It was an adventure to remember Fiji by. Tues AM I left for NZ and was met by M&B. That's the next story - less of an adventure but great fun.
Thursday, February 10, 2005
The start
My departure from Ottawa was unusual. The security check guy made me remove and scan my shoes and then proceeded to frisk me. I must have been flustered by it all, because sometime between that point and when I went to depart from LA for Fiji, my passport went astray. I have never lost my passport before, and hope I never lose it again. If I could have it tatooed onto my arm (or back or whatever, within reason) I would.
As a result of losing my passport, I missed my flight to Fiji and was delayed two days in LA (not the most interesting part of LA either). Anywayafter a day of running around in downtown LA and learning about public transit in LA, I now have a replacement passport and am scheduled to leave at 10:30 tonight.
Now I'm looking for something to do for the next 12 hours. Maybe I can find one of the art galleries around here (around, meaning within 20 miles) . Anyway, right now, I'm doing this - setting up my blog and shortly, I'll let you all know where it is.
As a result of losing my passport, I missed my flight to Fiji and was delayed two days in LA (not the most interesting part of LA either). Anywayafter a day of running around in downtown LA and learning about public transit in LA, I now have a replacement passport and am scheduled to leave at 10:30 tonight.
Now I'm looking for something to do for the next 12 hours. Maybe I can find one of the art galleries around here (around, meaning within 20 miles) . Anyway, right now, I'm doing this - setting up my blog and shortly, I'll let you all know where it is.
