We stayed at that DOC site because one closer was jam packed. The crazy thing was, so was the one we were at. And it only had one pit toilet that smelled so bad it burned my eyes and throat. So crazy to have such terrible facilities at a campground with so many people. I'm not quite sure how they expect it to stay nice...
We left in the morning for the glaciers. We did a couple walks, including one to the base of the Franz Josef glacier. It was a bit chilly, but decent weather. To go on the glacier you have to do a guided tour.
Next we headed for Fox glacier. Due to the recent rain apparently the river valley was dangerous, so we couldn't get very close to Fox glacier. We ran into the same German couple that we've seen a few times now (the one that went Bungy jumping with Joe). We talked them into doing the hike on the other side of the river that went to a view point of the glacier. We both drove to that parking area, but by that time it was raining. We headed out anyway. The walk wasn't a long one, but there was one river crossing that was a little hairy. We made it across without getting wet and saw the great view of the glacier. Well, it would have been great if it hadn't been so cloudy and rainy.
We headed back, but right next to the river, I slipped. It wasn't a big deal, except I keep my camera in the side pocket of my pants. Of course a rock hit the corner of the LCD screen. Now the screen doesn't work at all. It still takes photos, but I can't see what I'm shooting at all. Oh well. :p
We reached the Haast last night and, because we were wet and cold from our hike, decided to get some dinner and stay at a holiday park. The dinner was expensive, but good. They had a pseudo salad bar. On it was a salad, potato salad, coleslaw, roasted potatoes, baked squash pieces, peas and carrots, and fries. We finally got a full and decently healthy meal, which has been a little hard to come by in these smaller towns. When we got to the place we planned to stay, we showered quick and then I did laundry. Unfortunately, it was via tokens and the dryer didn't get everything dry.. . . I really didn't want to pay another $3 just to dry the clothes more, so we separated out the stuff that was still damp and hung it up in the van to dry. Fortunately, today, it's sunny and clear, so I think the clothes will eventually dry out.
We currently in Queenstown. We don't really have any plans yet, but there are a couple DOC sites not too far from here, so we may hang out in town for a bit, then head over there.
-Miranda
Franz Josef glacier.
;)
Amusing signs by the glaciers. (Click on image to enlarge.)
Another new and amusing sign near the Haast visitor center.
The sun poking through the mist this morning!
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We left the next morning and headed towards the west coast. We stopped along the way to buy a bag of apples for $1 (8 apples) and then a little later, there was another fruit stand with pears for $2. It was a pretty big bag, so we'll be eating crunchy pears for a bit, but they're pretty good. The fruit stands are a lot cheaper than buying at the grocery store. We're also trying to be a bit healthier and not have dessert quite as often. We're making sure we have fruit available for a sweet treat after dinner instead.
We stopped at the Pancake Rocks. They are limestone that squished a long time ago into skinny layers. Now that they're above the sea floor and some erosion has occurred, they basically look like pancakes stacked on top of each other. Near there was also a cavern. We walked in there and checked it out some. It didn't go in very far, but enough that we did need the flashlights that we brought. When we got back to the car, we saw a flightless rail walking around the cars, checking the grill for bugs!
In one town we passed through, we found an Indian restaurant open. We found out that if we ate in, it would cost an extra $4... A lot of restaurants here are 'takeaway'. We're thinking that eating in must be taxed more heavily? Not really sure. The tax is always included in purchases. So, we decided to try Indian takeaway. We got the rice, a sauce and an order of papadum. They came in a couple little tupperwares! Now we have some nice tupperwares if we need more.
We were aiming for a DOC site for the night, but it was already dark and we weren't sure how far off the highway it was. We finally got there and had a heck of a time finding a place to park since it had been raining most of the day. The grass was sopping. We eventually found a spot that worked.
This morning, we watched a couple more of those rails run around the campground. There were even 3 chicks that were fun to watch. We did go on one hike even though it was raining, then we headed off down the road. It has been between raining and pouring all day so far. The weather forecast claims it's not supposed to rain tomorrow. Since we're almost to the glaciers, hopefully that's true. We both really want to check those out, but if it's raining or too wet, then we won't be able to.
-Miranda
The neat erosion on the rocks from the previous entry.
Pancake Rocks!
;)
The rail. Second one is it checking the car's grill for bugs. (Click photo for larger view.)
A horse poo for sale sign! Bags of horse poo were sitting below the sign. This is not the first sign like this we've seen. This one was just the cutest.
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We headed back north, aiming for Abel Tasman National Park. Yesterday we drove within 35km of Takaka, down a narrow, gravel road. It was 11km long, but not too bad of a drive. A cheap campground was at the end. We went for a short walk to Harwood's Hole, which is the deepest hole in New Zealand. 175 meters down. There isn't much to the cave down there though, from the sound of it.
From there, we headed up to a view point that was gorgeous. The rocks were weathered from the rain, which looked very neat. I didn't get any photos of the view, because the sun was coming right from that direction, so it wouldn't have shown anything anyway.
That night was super cold. Joe even broke out the second sleeping bag to put on top of us. After breakfast, we headed to Takaka and have been using the free internet at the library. Unfortunately, we only get an hour, and we've already exceeded that, so, off we go!
-Miranda
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The hot water beach ended up being quite interesting. You dig a hole and the water that comes up is hot. In some spots, it was too hot to touch. We stayed for about an hour before heading back to the van.
The next day, we headed back up to Cathedral Cove because it wasn't raining anymore and we decided to swim around the point to the cove. The water was pretty murky, which meant visibility wasn't great (we had the swim goggles on). We made it without incident, though we're not positive it was worth it.
We actually had a schedule to keep, so we headed for Matamata, which is near where Hobbiton is (where the Shire was filmed for the Lord of the Rings trilogy). The tour was very neat. It started with a sheep show where a guy sheered a sheep, then they brought some lambs out to feed. It is a working sheep farm, so they wanted to show people some of that side. hen we headed for the set. Because The Hobbit is in production right now, the actually had the set all set up and ready for filming, which was supposed to be happening now. The filming was delayed for some reason, so the film company is allowing the family to continue with the tours. Because of that though, we all signed confidentiality agreements and are not allowed to post any photos online anywhere. I don't know if it would have been worth it if it was just what the tour normally is/was, which is just 7 (or 17, now I can't remember) white boards that framed some of the hobbit holes that were left when the weather got too bad for the crew to keep demolishing.
After the tour, we headed to Otorohanga. Here we are staying in a small park next to a Kiwi House. In the morning, we checked out the Kiwi House which has a number of native bird species and a very nice nocturnal house for a couple kiwis.
Nearby by are the Waitomo caves. There are just tours by companies to go deep inside them to varying degrees. Some companies even do 'black water rafting'. It took us a while to figure out exactly what was going on, but apparently 3 (or so?) separate companies own different caves. So you have to decide what type of experience you want and then pick the company. Seems a little odd, but we went with something that seemed to include the neat things without getting super pricey. We'll see how it goes. There's one company that has just one guide go with you and you get to explore and do, basically whatever you want. Sounds like it would be a neat thing, but would be super dependent on your guide.
Anyway, there were a few free things to do around there. It's been raining all day, but the walks were still pleasant. There was a Natural Bridge that was gorgeous. Our favorite walk was the Ruakuri Bush Walk. The trail went through tunnels in the rock. There was even a crevice in the rock up from the trail a bit. Joe went to check it out and it just opened up inside. It ended up overlooking the stream down below from inside the cave. Also inside were a lot of weta, which are a large, grasshopper like insect that is endemic to New Zealand. All in all, a fun couple days.
-Miranda
The amusing 'toilets' at the Shire's Rest Cafe where we started our Hobbiton tour.
Lambs being bottle fed.
Pukeko. A New Zealand flightless bird.
Marakopa Falls. This was apparently a common backdrop for the Hercules series.
;)
Weta. See Joe's hand for size reference. (Click on photo for larger.)
A neat part of the natural tunnel during the Ruakuri Bush Walk.
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Beginning our long journey South now from the Northern tip of NZ. We stopped at the giant sand dunes, and boy were they big. Maybe twice the size of the Oregonian dunes we were used to. We did a short, grueling hike to the top of a dune displaying a grand shoreline view.
From there, we continued south and went through the Waipoua forest. It was very cool. The highway was super windy (of course all the roads are pretty windy). We stopped at a couple, relatively short hikes to see Kauri trees. We saw the largest and the second largest Kauris. They're pretty impressive. It looks like an entire garden is growing in their branches. They're pretty short though.
That night we stayed at another DOC site. There were only two other vehicles there. One thing I was super excited about is we were in kiwi territory! The communal kitchen (most DOC sites don't have one, but this one was fancy) mentioned that you could go right at the start of night to possibly see on. So, we headed out to the trail with a flashlight.
It was looking pretty grim to start, but then something ran a bit off right next to the trail. Joe shined the flashlight over and saw something, but kept insisting it wasn't a kiwi. Then we heard another one just a little farther up the trail on the other side. I got a look at that one briefly (only saw its body) and it was definitely a kiwi!! We sat there for a while listening to them (they sound like clumsy people walking through the woods, just without the above branch breaking). Then we continued on since they were too far from the path.
Farther down, we heard one near the path up ahead. After some 'stalking' we saw it run across the trail a ways in front of us. So, that was our kiwi siting. We didn't get any really good views, but I'm just excited that we got to see any at all. It sounds like it's not super common.
The next day, Tuesday, we just headed for Auckland and made it to a town just north of the city. We stayed there and got a little work done.
Today, we got back to driving. We got south of Auckland and aimed for Cathedral Dome Cove. Unfortunately, it was a 2 hour walk and the driving took a lot longer than we expected (again, super windy). We probably would have had just enough time, but a sign said the area was closed and then it started raining. There were two other shorter hikes, so we did those instead. By the time we got back, we were completely drenched.
The other adventure in the area is the Hot Water Beach. A low tide, you go dig yourself a hole, or a 'spa' as they call it, and sit in it... Apparently the water that comes up is really hot. We're sitting now waiting for low tide, which is supposed to be at midnight. Should be interesting.
-Miranda
View from Cape Reinga
Our RV parked near the pretty river side at a DOC site.
The crazy huge sand dunes.
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