Category Archives: New Zealand

The Wet West Coast

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6 March, 2015 – Motueka to Hokitika

Wind gusting, wipers wiping, downed branches on the road. One lane bridges crossing torments of brown water. Quite a change in weather from yesterday.

I skipped an anticipated waterfall detour and didn’t get to the pancake rocks in Punakaiki because one of the roads to the coast was closed due to slides (another commonality with California: mud slides after heavy rain). It took almost five hours to get to Hokitika and it rained continuously, sometimes light, sometimes deluge. The rain stopped as I was eating my lunch, in the car, overlooking the beach. The local artists have had a great time with driftwood.

After lunch, I strolled through town, and then drove up to Hokitika Gorge. Instead of the beautiful blue water seen in photographs, the river was grey, filled with sentiment after the recent rain.

I drove back to town, made my daily trip to the supermarket, posted a blog entry, and read a bit. The Luminaries, by Eleanor Catton, is a historical novel / murder mystery set here in Hokitika during the gold rush. It’s a good thing I’m reading it on my Kindle; had I realized how long it is, I probably wouldn’t have started.

7 March – Fox Glacier

Given the forecast, downpour followed by showers, I took my time getting ready this morning. I did a bit of online research and finalized a few trip details. It was raining when I headed south, following a grey path through green walls. It was quite meditative with little traffic. As the sky cleared, details emerged and the walls became ferns backed by a variety of leafy trees. By the time I reached Fox Glacier a couple hours later, it was barely drizzling and the sun was emerging.

I had lunch at a café near Lake Matheson and then took the hour and a half track around the lake. Ooh la la, this was nice, lush foliage with flowing water and occasional vistas overlooking the lake with the mountains reflected. Clouds obscured the peaks (Mt. Tasman and Mt. Cook) much of the time, but it was still beautiful.

I then drove just south of town to Glacier Vista Road. High water has blocked access to the trail leading to the foot of Fox Glacier, so I settled for a glimpse in the distance beneath the clouds.

8 March

When I woke, the sky was clear, not a cloud in sight. And as I was heading out of town, sun was just starting to hit the peaks. Now, I’m off to Queenstown.

North End of South Island

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3 March, 2015 – Ferry and Drive to Motueka

Trish gave me a ride to the ferry terminal where I caught the Interislander to Picton. I spent much of the three-hour trip sorting my Wellington photos. From Picton, I rented an old Nisson and took the scenic route to Motueka. When they handed me the keys, I instinctively headed to the left side of the car; the lack of a steering wheel reminded me to enter on the right. Fortunately, I left town quickly, so it wasn’t too challenging to stay on the left side of the road. However, I kept turning on the windshield wipers whenever I wanted to signal. It’s a good thing the brake and accelerator aren’t reversed or I’d be in big trouble.

I stopped just past Nelson to visit WOW, the World of Wearable art and collectible cars, an interesting combo. It was late afternoon when I arrived at the Laughing Kiwi, the hostel where I’m staying. I have a private room with a bath and access to a large kitchen. I took a stroll through town, grabbed a falafel salad for dinner, and headed back to the hostel to finish my Wellington blog post.

4 March, 2015 – Abel Tasman National Park

A bus picked me up and took me to Kaiteriteri to catch a water taxi. It was about 45 minutes late, but fortunately they held the boat for us. (Though this wasn’t a Naked Bus, several people getting around with that company’s buses tell me that they are late more often than not). The water taxi shuttled me up the coast so I could hike a four-hour slice of the Abel Tasman Coast Track, from Bark Beach to Anchor Cove.

Much of the track is cut into the hillside right through the forest above the coast. The 11 km (almost 7 miles) section that I did was relatively easy with rolling ups and downs. There were often ocean vistas through the trees. I heard more beautiful calls of unseen birds and the ever-present cicadas. The forecast rain never materialized and I spent the day in shorts and short-sleeves. I had lunch with a nice couple from New Hampshire, escaping their horrendous winter. I reached Anchor Beach in time to stroll barefoot on the gritty golden sand and cool my feet in the water before the boat returned to pick us up.

When I got back to the hostel, I soaked in the hot tub and ate deli food for dinner. It was pleasant enough to sit outdoors and putter on my laptop until 9:00.

5 March, 2015 – Near the Spit

The drive from Motueka north to the end of the road takes about two hours. Incredulously this windy road is signed for 100 kph (62 mph). It slowly dawned on me that this is the maximum, attainable in only a few straight stretches, and drivers are expected to use good judgment. When I reached the car park for Wharariki Beach, there were only a few cars in the lot; it was full when I left a couple hours later. Wow, what a beautiful beach! I thoroughly enjoyed the walk to and along the beach, photographing rock stacks, birds, and sand dunes.

Afterwards, I stopped at Cape Farewell, the northernmost point on the island and enjoyed a picnic lunch overlooking an interesting rock formation. On my way back I stopped in Takata for a decaf latte and a short detour to the Grove Scenic Reserve, a small park with sculpted limestone formations covered with the vine-like roots of Northern Rata trees. It felt like a cross between a jungle and a palm tree oasis.

New Zealand has much in common with Northern California. In addition to golden hills, drought, and a beautiful coast, it had a gold rush (right after ours), it has earthquakes, invasive plants (they have our Monterey Pine), and in both cases, Europeans displaced native peoples. Except in NZ’s case, Māori is one of three official languages, the third being New Zealand Sign Language.

Wellington

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28, Feb 2015 – Mount Kaukau and Artists in Action

After a leisurely breakfast, with delicious bread that did not bother me, Trish dropped me off near her house with a hand drawn map, so I could stretch my legs by hiking up Mount Kaukau. The way up, along a steep trail, reminded me of California with rolling golden hills, windmills in the distance, and cypress-like Macrocarpo trees. Along the way I got a good overview of Wellington Harbor. The way down the other side was totally different. I felt like I was back in the jungle with lush greenery, noisy cicadas, and the calls of unseen birds. I thoroughly enjoyed it. At the end I met Trish for a delicious lunch at a café in the park.

In the afternoon, we visited a dozen or so artists’ studios as part of an annual Artists in Action event (perfectly timed for my visit). There was quite a variety, from mosaic mirrors to whimsical sculptures. Trish then drove me to a couple nice viewpoints, Mount Victoria and a Wind Turbine in Brooklyn, one of the highest points around. Overall it was a glorious day.

Shortly after we finished out dinner, the doorbell rang. A friend of Trish’s granddaughter (Trish has more than a dozen grandkids) had crashed on his skateboard only a block away. We spent the evening patching him up and then going to the pharmacy to restock my first aid kit. He will definitely be sore in the morning.

1, March 2015 – Downtown

From the kiwi perspective, today is the first day of autumn. (I think they’re a few weeks early, but I’m not going to quibble with the natives). I went to church with Trish in the morning, at an inclusive Presbyterian congregation, then left her to go do touristy things. I rode a cable car up from downtown, walked down through the botanical garden, then along the wharf. It was a beautiful sunny day, much warmer than I expected New Zealand to be. I ended up at the Te Papa museum, the national museum of NZ. There is quite a variety of things to see, from dioramas of native wildlife to a beautifully carved marae, a Maori meeting house. They also have a preserved giant squid almost twice as long as I am tall. Trish rejoined me as I was enjoying a tea in the patio. Afterwards she took me on a very pleasant walk in the Otari-Wilton’s Bush, a reserve containing the largest remaining remnant of original forest in Wellington.

I met Trish almost a decade ago on a goddess pilgrimage to Crete. She visited San Francisco several years ago and I’ve finally made it down to her part of the world. She has a very cute double-A frame house decorated in charming colors. We had a lovely chat over dinner discussing our spiritual paths, social justice, and the critical need for women’s voices.

2, March 2015 – Beaches

Today we went sightseeing to the north along the coast of the Tasman Sea, which separates New Zealand from Australia. We took walks along two beaches (Paraparaumu and Waikanae). Maori words and woodcarvings both remind me of Hawaii, perhaps reflecting a common ancestry. We saw a variety of shorebirds and Kapiti island; a permit is required to visit this bird sanctuary. In the distance we could occasionally see the hazy outline of the South Island, where I’m headed tomorrow. In between beaches, we had a pleasant outdoor lunch of “stuff on toast”, my favorite being salmon with dill and aioli. After our beach strolls, Trish took me for a drive to another amazing view of the area. We stopped at a bird blind, but the local drought had dried up the pond we were overlooking.

Our next stop was to a reflexologist who massaged the foot that’s periodically been bothering me. I hope it’s enough to allow me to continue with all the hiking I have planned. We had dinner at a restaurant called The Roundabout, located not surprisingly on one of the numerous traffic circles around here. (It’s been good to spend a few days as a passenger getting used to traveling on the “wrong” side of the road). After my Tarakihi fish dinner, we split a yummy meringue-based dessert, Pavlova, named after the Russian ballerina. The New Zealanders claim to have invented it; I’ve been warned not to believe the Aussies when they claim otherwise.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

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28, Feb 2015

“I’m leaving on a jet plane, don’t know when I’ll be back again”.  This tune is on my mind, though I do have a return flight scheduled.  “My bags are packed, I’m ready to go”. When I got out my suitcase to begin packing a couple days ago, Timbre, one of my cats, walked over and peed on it. Now that’s a clear message. I’ll miss him, and friends and family, while eagerly off exploring our world.

“There is no past or future, all time is now-time”. I’m paraphrasing one of the sentences in the book I read on my flight to Sydney, en route to New Zealand (Potiki by Patricia Grace, a Maori descendent). It resonates with how I feel when I travel, living in the moment, the past and future both distant, like an ancient story that informs the present but no longer exists.

This is only my second trip south of the equator, Peru was the first, and the second furthest I’ve been from home. As planes fly, India was further, though it took me longer to get here, 33 hours total from the time Tara picked me up to give me a ride to the airport to when Trish brought me to her home in Wellingon. (Thank you both for transportation). Fortunately I had two empty seats next to me on the longest leg of my trip so I was able to lie down and sleep, a bit, and my planned trip to Oceania is more than long enough to justify the time.

With all this plane travel, and time to kill on my long layover at Sydney airport (while listening to a loud, annoying announcement system), I searched the web to determine how much carbon my travel is contributing to global warming. Based on scanty research, hampered by slow WiFi, my round-trip flight will contribute two tons of carbon to the atmosphere! On average, one tree will absorb one ton of carbon in its lifetime, so I need to plant a bunch of trees. Looks like Friends of the Urban Forest will be getting a donation when I get home.

Today I’m off to explore Wellington. It looks like a gorgeous day.