Archive for December, 2002
It’s another beautiful sunny day in Queenstown, great weather for New Year’s Eve! I’m sitting in the waiting room of the medical clinic in town, waiting for desperately needed drugs to save me from the terrible hayfever I’ve had ever since landing in NZ. I just couldn’t take the itchy eyes and stuffy head anymore. My new friend Sharlene was nice enough to make the appointment for me AND drop me off at the clinic while she runs some errands. She’s also invited me to spend New Year’s with her, her boyfriend Kent, and some of their friends on an overnight trip to the Routeburn Track and I’m definitely looking forward to it. We’re all meeting up sometime this afternoon to start the hike up the track.
Yesterday I went into the bustling town center (full of tourists and holiday makers) to run some errands and then Sharlene met me later to go for a hike in the afternoon. We drove out to Arrowtown to do a really nice 2-hour walk up a valley and down a river on the other side. The weather was perfect again and it was a great day for being outside.
We were having a laugh actually over the Kiwi’s definition of going for a ‘walk’ which can mean anything from a 2-hour stroll to a 6-hour climb up a mountain. Then, when we came down to the river there was a 4-wheel drive truck going right up the center of the river and I said what are they doing are Sharlene said, ‘oh just going for a drive’. It’s a different world down here.
December 31st, 2002
Many good and interesting things have happened in the last 5 days since Christmas.
I woke up on the morning of the 26th (Boxing Day in OZ/NZ) to rain (of course), sleet and SNOW in Arthur’s Pass! Mind you, it’s the middle of summer here in New Zealand. Didn’t know what I was going to do since I didn’t want to go hiking in that weather but at the same time I knew it would be hard to get a hitch. So I layed on the couch of the hostel in my sleeping bag and proclaimed to no one in particular that I was going to sit on the couch all day and ask people coming in and out if they were headed to Christchurch and that was going to be the extent of my hitch-hiking. Just as I said it a guy in the kitchen said hey I’m going to Christchurch if you want a lift. Brilliant! That was just about the easiest hitch I’ve gotten yet. So I was able to get away from the bad weather of the west coast and head to sunny Cantebury for a few days of R&R.
The guy who gave me a lift’s name was Roger from North Carolina. He’s in his 50′s and this is his 5th time to New Zealand and he’s got a car which he keeps in Auckland when he’s back in America. He also gave a lift to another guy, Austin, also from NC, who’s doing a year abroad in OZ and came over to NZ for summer holiday. The 3 of us drove through the mountains towards Christchurch and the ride was so beautiful, with all the fresh snow on all the surrounding peaks and so many flowers blooming in the valley. We had a great time making the 150 km journey, stopping several times along the way to go for short walks, take photos, and admire the scenery.
In Christchurch we dropped off Austin at the bus depot (he was heading to Kaikora) and then Roger asked me where I wanted to go. I was hoping to stay with some friends of my parents but I hadn’t been able to get in touch with them in the short time in which I’d decided to come to Christchurch (since that morning basically). Roger offered to let me stop by where he was staying and have a coffee while waiting to try to contact them again. I said sure so we went to this place, which, for lack of better words, I’d have to describe as a commune. It’s an old historic building in Christchurch which is owned by some type of trust and is being renovated by 10 or so people who live in it. Roger has stayed there before, and the money he pays to stay there ($10/night NZ) goes towards the renovation of the house. It’s a beautiful brick building with hardwood floors and high ceilings and used to be the main house of a 150-acre farm in downtown Christchurch. Really cool place. Mostly all the people who live there are artists or sculptors or film makers and they were all so nice and friendly to me when I arrived with Roger.
We tried to call my father’s friend a few times but when I couldn’t get in touch the housemates offered to let me stay there for the night. Which I did. We all watched a movie together in the evening (Amelie) and then I crashed, exhausted from a long day.
The next day Roger asked me if I wanted to go for a bike ride and I said why not so he took his bike and I borrowed one of the bikes from the house and we drove over to the Port Hills and did a 3-hour ride, starting in Governor’s Bay then going around the peninsula and up up up the 1000 m (3000 feet) high summit road to the top of the hills. It was a grueling uphill and I only managed to do about half of it on the bike then walked the rest of the way, but the effort was well worth it because the views from the top were great. From the summit we cycled down to Cashmere, one of the suburbs of Christchurch, where my parent’s friends live and we were able to stop in for a visit. There I met Gloria and Garth and we had a really nice visit with them and I was finally able to pick up some things that the folks sent from home. Turns out Roger and Garth had a lot in common since Roger has been a professional landscaper for 30 years and knows everything about plants (even the NZ ones), and Garth is a real enthusiast as well, having spent the last 30 years rehabilitating his 10 acres of land with all native growing NZ plants and trees. We walked around the property for a tour (compulsory with any visit of his home Garth says) and Roger actually knew more about many species than Garth did! So they enjoyed comparing stories and ideas on the plantings and such.
I wound up staying another night at the commune since the house mates were kind enough to offer again and Roger and I went out that evening to a small gathering of friends of one of the housemates, Dave. Dave’s a librarian at one of the Christchurch libraries and so it was basically a librarian party of work mates. They were all really nice and friendly people and I enjoyed spending the evening with them. The woman whose house it was is a mosaic tile artist and she had 3 big walls outside her house done in mosaic and many more small pieces inside. The stuff was beautiful.
Next day I decided to leave Christchurch to get back into nature and more tramping. I wasn’t exactly sure where I wanted to go because I was still unsure where to spend New Years so I decided to just head south and picked Mt. Cook Village as a destination. I spent the morning running around town doing errands and then said goodbye to the commune folks and got on a bus heading south to get a better spot for hitching. The bus driver was really friendly actually and gave me a tour of the city as we drove out of town. About 25 km out of Christchurch I got off the bus, found a good spot on the road, and stuck out my thumb with my sign to Mt. Cook.
I waited about 5 minutes then started to worry a bit because it was late in the day (4pm) and I was hoping to get a fair distance still. Then a car stopped. It was a single woman, Sharlene, and she said she was heading to Queenstown but would gladly drop me off on the way. So I got in and said well if you don’t mind I’ll take a ride all the way to Queenstown and she said well it’s up to you and yeah, I just decided to go for it! What luck! So just like that and I got a 5.5-hour ride all the way to Queenstown! And I knew I had done the right thing because Sharlene seemed really cool as soon as I got in the car and we wound up having a great time talking with each other the entire way. She’s 34 years old and has been living in Queenstown for 10 years but has also travelled on her own for 5 years and has done a fair bit of hitching on her own as well so we had a lot in common right from the start.
The time in the car seemed to fly by and before I knew it, it was 9:30pm at night and we were in Queenstown! Man I was excited to be there and the scenery was so unbelievable with the lake and the surrounding mountains and the sun just starting to set.
Sharlene helped me find a campground to pitch my tent for the night and invited me to meet her and her friends for breakfast in the morning. She said she would have offered me to stay the night at her place but she was off to her boyfriend’s house for the night and I was already so grateful for the ride that it was more than fine for me to camp. But she invited me to stay with her the following night.
So the next day (yesterday) I packed up my tent at the campsite and walked down to the cafe to meet Sharlene and friends. There was a full table of 10 people in the restaurant when I arrived! They were all NZers, really nice and friendly, and I had no problem feeling welcomed and comfortable to chat with them all.
After breakfast Sharlene took me up to her house where I dropped off my backpack. In the afternoon I went on a hike with one of the women at breakfast, Sally, and her friends from Auckland, Ellen and Graham. It was so nice of them to invite me along for the day. And the weather was perfect for a hike.
We went up to the Ben Lomond Saddle, a straight up climb from Queenstown into the hills, first through a pine forest, and then up into the hot sun and grass of the mounatins. The view from the saddle was incredible – with Queenstown below and the lake and the mountains and the paragliders in the air – wow. I was so enjoying the view and the fine weather that I just wanted to sit and take it all in so I did just that, and waited for over 1.5 hours while Ellen and Graham went up to the summit of Ben Lomond and back. I sat at the saddle with Sally and we talked about Queenstown and travelling while enjoying the views. Once Ellen and Graham came down the 4 of us headed over the saddle to the other side and down around the valley all the way to Arthur’s Point. From the saddle it took about 3.5 hours and the whole time we were in the hot sun and it was tiring for us all. The sun is setting late in Queenstown (10pm) and it’s amazing how it can still be hot at 8pm at night.
Finally we saw the town at the end and came down from the mountain to the road, straightaway to Arthur’s Point Pub! A cold beer never tasted so good! We sat around over a few beers and enjoyed some chips and my American pretzels sent from home. So far my intro to Queenstown has exceeded all my expectations. And it’s only just the beginning!
On the road from Arthurs Pass to Christchurch
Cave Creek
Cycling up to the Port Hills
December 30th, 2002
It’s Christmas in New Zealand and guess what, it’s raining! Hah. I don’t even think I need to mention the rain anymore – it’s understood that it rains every day. Well I’m in a beautiful place and surrounded by mountains for Christmas. I wound up spending an extra night in Greymouth because it was pouring (of course) and I didn’t feel like packing up a wet tent or trying to hitch in the rain and the hostel was a nice one so I enjoyed spending a day there.
Yesterday the sun came out in the morning and I was able to dry out my tent before packing up and I set out to hitch from Greymouth to here, about 100 km or 66 miles. The Christmas spirit must have been going strong because I got rides straightaway – four one after another, and wound up sharing the last 2 rides with a NZ guy who works in Franz Joseph and was on his way to Christchurch to spend Christmas with his family. Nice guy. They let me off at Arthur’s Pass and I set up my tent at the public shelter/campsite for $4 NZ/night ($2 US). By that time it was 2pm and I didn’t want to start any major hike that late in the day, so I chilled out all afternoon in the grass by my tent, enjoying the sun but not the high winds! I guess it’s always something with the weather in New Zealand. Last night it rained, naturally, and I woke up at 5am this morning (Christmas morning) to the sound of rain on my tent. Merry Christmas from New Zealand, pitter patter, pitter patter.
Well my plan today was to do a day hike to the summit of Avalanche Peak, at 1833 m, but I didn’t want to go above tree line with rain and high winds looming. I finally got out of my tent to make a coffee at 7am and by then I could clearly see sun and blue sky to the east and rain and clouds to the west. Well at least I could look in one direction and see sun. Better than I expected.
Spent the morning chatting with some other campers at the shelter and by 9am the sun was out so I made the decision to go for it. After all it is Christmas and I really wanted to walk after 2 day’s rest. So I packed up my stuff, took my backpack across the street to the hostel where I planned to tent (and shower) tonight, and I hit the Avalanche Peak trail at 9:30am.
It’s only a 7 km loop to the peak and back to the road but it’s over 1000 m (300 feet) up and down and that takes you above tree line so it’s definitely considered a challenging hike. Took me 2.5 hours to get to the summit. I didn’t see another soul the entire way. After about 1 hour 15 minutes I was at tree line and from there to the summit it was very exposed and VERY windy! I followed the rocky spine of the mountain to the summit and the wind was really trying to blow me off at times. It was ‘challenging’ just as the trail book describes it. I was sure I was the only person crazy (or stupid) enough to be up there. At times the gusts were so strong that I had to brace myself down with my hiking sticks and just wait for it to pass. I was determined to keep going. The last bit to the summit was a scramble over a knife edge of rocks but I made it. Didn’t stay at the top long at all – the wind was just too strong but the views were amazing. Snow-capped mountains all around. I quickly started to head down, dreaming of getting below tree line and out of the wind. About 10 minutes down from the summit I met an Irish guy coming up – my first encounter with a human all day! He took the easy trail up and the hard trail down. I did the opposite – hard trail up and easy trail down. We talked for a minute and then he continued up. I was anxious to get down. The wind was so strong that when I would spit, it flew back behind me every time! It was the kind of conditions where you just had to keep talking to yourself to stay focused and deal with the wind and keep moving to get to tree line. The clouds were looking darker and darker and I did not want to get caught in the rain up there.
One hour from the summit and I was at the bush line; took a 5-minute break and kept going down. An hour after that and I was at the road. All in all it took me 4.5 hours. Guidebook says 6-8 so I think I did ok.
Back at the hostel I managed to set up my tent before the rain started (and it has been raining quite steady all afternoon). Then hot shower and now I am getting ready to make my Christmas dinner of refried beans in burritos and red wine. It’s not the same as a home-cooked Christmas feast but it will have to do. Won’t be a white Christmas either but it will surely be a wet one. Hope everyone at home has a good holiday!
Views from the summit of Avalanche Peak
Summit flag!
Christmas evening playing cards with folks from the hostel
December 25th, 2002
Movin’ right along. I’m hanging out inside this very cool hostel with my tent pitched in the yard and I’ve just eaten bean burritos for dinner and all is good. Today I finished the Inland Pack Track, but it all started yesterday back at the motor camp with the bad neighbors when I woke up to rain…
I had wanted to get an early start on the track but waking up to rain was not exactly motivating and more importantly I needed to check the weather conditions and find out if it was still advisable or even possible to do the tramp since the trail itself follows a river bed down a narrow gorge and can easily be susceptible to flooding.
I had a hard time getting out of my warm sleeping bag with the sound of the rain on my tent, but I finally dragged myself out of bed and walked the 1 km up the road to the park office at 9:30am. The girl working there was new and didn’t have a clue what to tell me but the weather was only calling for chance of light showers so it was more of a question of did I feel like walking in the rain AGAIN. I knew I needed a jump start so I went next door to have a coffee (a’flat white’ which is a brilliant NZ version of a strong cappucino with less milk). Then I did some internet on a second flat white. It was just enough caffeine to get me jazzed and I decided then and there I was going hiking.
So I packed up my backpack and headed to the start of the tramp. I was able to walk to the start in less than 5 minutes and began the walk up the Pororari River Gorge. By then the rain had stopped and it was still cloudy but I knew I had made the right decision. Felt good to be walking in the woods again.
2 hours upriver to the first ford and the crossing was fine. The trail was really muddy but I’ve become used to that in New Zealand and it was a very interesting landscape – as the trail description says -’this section of the walk passes through some of the more dangerous parts of the Paparoa limestone syncline. The track winds between numerous potholes and sinkholes, crossing many narrow but deep chasms. For saftey’s sake, off-track exploration should be avoided.’ Pretty cool, eh?
As an added bonus to my decision to carry on with the hike I chose to carry my discman in case I needed some tunes for extra motivation. So I put the headphones and sang (very badly) while I hiked. I was thoroughly enjoying myself. It’s a good thing they don’t have bears in NZ or I may have scared off other hikers. I did run into 3 guys at one stage – they were heading out and I asked them how the Fox River was running. The one guy was like’you do have enough food to get you thru a few extra days if you’re stuck waiting the flood out DON’T YOU?’ I felt like saying’oh mi god, like there’s not a McDonalds at the beginning of the gorge? I thought there was a mall there too, I was looking forward to the shopping!!’ Yeah buddy, I’m cool thanks. I don’t hate men, I just hate testosterone.
Continued on another 2 hours from the big burly men encounter and arrived at the beginning of the walk up Fossil Creek. It was 5pm and there was a good campsite there and it seemed like a good idea to stop there and set up camp. The ever-so wise people at DOC suggested another campsite 30 minutes more downstream just at the convergence of two rivers, but I ask, in the case of a flash flood, would you rather be dealing with one river or two? I was happy with my choice. And there was no one else there, even better!
I set up my tent, made dinner, and then decided I was going to make a fire. It may be hard to believe with all the time I’ve spent in the woods, but I’ve actually never made my own campfire before! Usually when I get to a camp the guys are all fighting with each other over who’s going to do it so I never even had a chance. Well I was very proud of myself that I managed to start a decent little fire, especially considering how wet all the wood was. It was my own personal accomplishment. No one else showed up in the evening and so I slept at the campsite all alone.
Amazingly it didn’t rain last night. I woke up this morning to a semi-cloudy day and was happy knowing that given the conditions I could continue the walk up the gorge and I didn’t have to go back. It was a 2-hour walk up Fossil Creek and then through Fox River\Dilemma Creek where the actual gorge begins. One guidebook says there are 17 river crossings and another one says there are over 50 – I can tell you there are more than 17 but less than 50 and none of them were that bad at all, highest one to the tops of my legs and low current.
It was a very nice walk but I can honestly sat that it’s nowhere near as beautiful as the Narrows at Zion Canyon or the Subway walk up the right fork of North Creek at Zion National Park where I worked as a backcountry park ranger a few years ago. Nevertheless I enjoyed the walk and didn’t see any other people through the gorge which was cool.
After that it was another 1.5 hours to the trailhead and then I was out at the main road a mere 12 km north of Punakaiki. Managed to get a ride down with a NZ couple from Christchurch who were also hiking in the park. Picked up my storage at the motor camp and decided to try to get a ride south to Greymouth because it was still early in the day and I’d seen everything I wanted to see in Punakaiki. Got a ride right away with 2 women in a campervan – they turned out to be really cool (from the UK) and we talked the entire 50 km and arrived in Greymouth in no time. They were so nice to help me find the place I wanted to stay and took me right to the door. Thanks for that! I arrived here at the hostel around 2pm and set up my tent and then went to the supermarket to buy some food. After that it was laundry, shower, and interent, then dinner. Turns out the woman from Holland (Anya) I met at National Park and again in Wellington is also staying here so we spent a good part of the evening catching up on our travels. She’s been to Abel Tasman and Arthur’s Pass since I’ve seen her last.
Anyway I think I’ve already decided to take the day off tomorrow from hiking and spend an extra day here to relax and enjoy this hostel a bit. It’s a nice place, with good music, free kayaks and bikes, and a chilled-out atmosphere and it’s a nice place to spend a rest day. Wow it’s after 10pm now – that’s late for me – time to sign off -
One girl at her campsite
Walking up Dilema Creek
The gorge at Fox River
December 22nd, 2002
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