random tales from strange lands

South to Taranaki

brentoc — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 17:54:00 GMT

Before leaving Marakopa, we decided to have another game of tennis, since it’d been so much fun the previous evening. And again we enjoyed patting the ball back & forwards, although there wasn’t as much running about this time. Hooray for the Marakopa Tennis Club! :)

South from Marakopa we stopped to check out a couple of other beaches – Kiritehere & Waikawau. Waikawau was unique for the tunnel access through a cliff to the beach. It felt like a gateway to another world (a deserted Middle Earth shore perhaps). It looked like the high tides washed right up to the base of the cliff and had eroded various caves & step formations over the centuries. Climbing over the rocks at the north end brought us to the base of a waterfall which was spilling down from the flax-covered horizon above. Colonies of fluorescent green algae were clinging to the dark rocks, some as dripping stalactites and others like weird radioactive lava flows crawling from one rock-pool to the next. The holes and cracks in the rocks were crawling with crabs too, some as big as a hand.

Back towards the southern end of the beach we were surprised to see a face carved into the soft rock just above the sand. The rock had eroded to create a point, which the artist had incorporated into the sculpture as a protruding chin. It was hard to know if the face had been watching over the beach for a few years or for hundreds? Were we even in 2008 still?? Had the tunnel transported us to another time??

We explored the rock pools at the south end, in search of some edible shellfish or crustaceans. Rachel spotted a good sized crab & went to pounce on it, but it scurried away beneath a rock just in the nick of time. So no fresh kaimoana for us that day.

Back in the ‘real’ world, we drove on southwards until a sheltered grassy area beside the road enticed us to stop for a picnic. There was even a little old hut beneath the first branches of the trees, constructed almost entirely from ponga logs. Was this the home of some surprisingly ingenious kiwi or perhaps a lost hobbit? Regardless of such intrigues, it didn’t take long before we were getting overwhelmed by the heat. So we continued south towards Mokau, where we enjoyed yummy cold ice creams overlooking the Mokau River. It was a short drive from there to Tongapurutu where we planned to stay, but we took a detour to sample some local organic beer at the White Cliffs Brewery. It was so good we bought four packs of their lager and pale ale, as well as a local feijoa wine, to enjoy back at Marks bach.

Once we arrive at Mark’s we set about gathering firewood for the outdoor bath, although we didn’t end up using it until the following night. We did go for a mission of a walk in the middle of the night up to the highest point on Mark’s property. Our path was lit by isolated clusters of glow-worms and obstructed by a couple of resident goats. We kept our ears open for any kiwi in the neighbourhood, but we did head moreporks (NZ native owl) in the surrounding bush. Luckily they didn’t come closer with their insistent demands for more pork – maybe they knew I was a vegetarian??

Our mission for the following morning was to catch more fish! This time from the mouth of the Tongapurutu River. A steep, bush-lined path took us down from a random road-head carpark to the river bank. A posse of chilled out cows stood guard, but we weren’t afraid and found our way through. Hooray! Unfortunately, our brave efforts in reaching the river weren’t rewarded with the haul of kahawai we were expecting – Rachel just got one small fish, which went back to swim another day.

We decided to abandon our unsuccessful fishing efforts and move on to a new adventure. Before we could leave the carpark area, Rachel went to introduce herself to a couple of nearby lambs – one of which had “cute little horns”. Unfortunately they weren’t as tame as Rachel hoped and refused to eat the offered grass from her hand. But they still put a big smile on Rachel’s face.

A little further up the coast was the Whitecliffs Walkway. And there were more cute little lambs than Rachel could count. But she still wanted to cuddle all of them. Lucky for us the walkway had reopened after closing for a couple of months for the lambing season. The walk followed a farm track along close to the coast and eventually brought us so close that the waves seemed to be breaking on the shore almost directly beneath our feet, only 100m below us. We decided that this would be a perfect picnic spot – an extreme picnic!! Luckily the cliff didn’t collapse while we enjoyed the view and our yummy snacks. We searched the northern coastline for signs of Mt Karioi (near Raglan), from where I had once tried to convince Rachel that the White Cliffs of Taranaki were visible.

On our return walk we stopped by a small stream for some rehydration – a bottle of beer left to cool in the stream for 10 minutes before drinking :) Well-deserved too, we thought, after a few hours walking. The local fish population came to see what was going on in their water world; darting out from hiding places in the sides of the stream. If only we had a net, we could’ve had whitebait for dinner!

We did have some kahawai left from our earlier success at Marakopa and this got turned into a yummy fish curry four our dinner. We had also lit a fire beneath the outdoor bathtub and it was hot by the time our dinner was ready – so dinner in the bath :) The location of the bathtub was unique too – beneath a canopy of manuka and ponga tress, beside a small creek, with a colony of glow-worms on the opposite bank and stars peeking through the leaves above.

We ate our dinner under the glow of a candle, the now-dim fire below us, the stars above and with the glow-worms as our neighbours. For dessert we had marshmallows on a stick, roasted over the glowing embers of the bath-fire. The perfect final course for one of our most romantic dinners.

Marakopa

brentoc — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 17:50:00 GMT

Our trip began with Rachel having a head start of a few hours on me. I hoped to catch her before she got too far though! She had made a bee-line for the dentist while I finished packing the car (her mum’s 4x4 actually). Fate had thrown a proverbial spanner in the works and delayed our departure by somehow making a teacup jab at Rachel’s tooth, chipping off half of a porcelain veneer.

With the tooth repaired, we turned our sights to our first destination – the local car wreckers. Maybe not on most tourist itineraries, but essential for us, since the car jack was missing the crucial winding handle part. How could we expect to travel confidently for 3 weeks without being able to change a tyre? We did pack in some spinach however (freshly harvested from our organic garden), so perhaps a ‘Popeye the Sailor Man’ burst of strength could’ve been employed for heroic tyre-changing??

Our first destination was a tiny west coast town called Marakopa, beyond the well-worn tourist trails of Waitomo. Rachel had spent many summer days there with her family, but I had yet to spend any time there exploring the coast & casting for kahawai. We had a stopover first at Otorohanga, to visit Rachel’s Grandma. She was very happy to see us and provided us with some delicious fresh baking & home grown strawberries to sustain us on our travels.

The road from Waitomo to Marakopa passed a few natural wonders – pockets of untouched and regenerating native forest, the spectacular Marakopa Falls and a gigantic natural rock arch. A river had first carved out a cave through the limestone rock then most of the roof collapsed, leaving a 50m deep gorge with only one roof section remaining. Trees clung tenaciously to the sheer rock walls, oblivious of the fallen trunks of past neighbours, now littering the riverbed below. Endless drips of water fell from the ceiling of the arch above, slowly growing stalactites for future generations of tourists to marvel at.

We arrived at Marakopa with a few hours of daylight up our sleeves, so decided to head off to the harbour mouth to try our luck and hopefully catch our dinner fresh from the sea. And hooray! Tangaroa rewarded our efforts with a gift of a pair of kahawai (after we’d returned the first one to the sea). By then, the sun had set over the Tasman Sea and our stomachs were insisting that we hurry back to the camp kitchen. We baked two of the fillets with herbs from our supplies & a squeeze of fresh lemon (picked that morning from Mick & Jen’s tree). Yum!!! :) Rachel experimented a bit with a drink to accompany the dinner and discovered that red wine doesn’t really complement fish too well. But a nice cold beer certainly did. :)

Our first morning waking in the tent was certainly not what we were expecting… we heard a strange, repetitive noise of something beating on the ground and drawing closer and louder… of course, a wild horse on the loose!! We felt very vulnerable, with only a thin layer of nylon between our cosy bedroom and the world outside, which now included a crazy horse! By the time we figured out where it was a local farmer came roaring in on his quad bike and chased the horse out, hopefully back to its paddock? We were too jittery to go back to sleep after that, so decided to get out to the coast again in search of more fish!

We lugged our rods, tackle & lunch around past the harbour entrance and south along the shore, until our progress was interrupted by the tide washing up a rocky channel with no easy way around. Rachel decided to scout up the steep hill for a path, but didn’t have much fun in all the toitoi and flax. She returned with razor-thin cuts around her legs, and no news of a path. Luckily the tide was ebbing and we got past the obstacle after a bit of sunbathing & relaxing. However, Rachel wasn’t so lucky when she discovered later in the day that her back was turning to a lobster shade of red. Fortunately she remembered a past sunburn incident here and being treated by aloe vera from a neighbour’s garden. We found the plant again and borrowed a few leaves to moisturise and soothe Rachel’s skin.

The next beach beyond the tidal channel looked promising for some surfcasting so we got started and patiently continued through the heat of the day. But the fish just weren’t cooperating. :( After a couple of hours, we’d only caught a small one each, so we decided to try again closer to the harbour mouth, where we’d had some success the previous night. And it worked! I got a good sized kahawai again, but Rachel struck out.

Back at the campground we decided to try a game of tennis. The Marakopa Tennis Club was based at the campground and conveniently provided two rackets for free use. I think the rackets were probably older than me though! Rachel hadn’t played much tennis before so we tried to just use the front squares of the court. But I think she enjoyed it when I had to run after ‘accidental’ shots that went a bit too far. It was a fun way to spend the last of the afternoon though, even if my feet got sore from running around barefoot on the concrete surface.

Our second fish dinner was a delicious fish pie with creamy sauce and mashed potato on top. Fresh from the sea to our tummies. :)

Heading Back Home

brentoc — Sat, 17 May 2008 17:41:00 GMT

The last leg of our trip began by boat; retracing our steps (or wake, I guess) across Cook Strait, back to Wellington. The sea had changed since our previous trip though; where the ferry had rolled gently like a lullaby cradle, now it swayed like a hammock on a windy day. I found this kinda exciting, but it didn’t agree too well with Rachel’s tummy. She was very relieved when we safely chugged into the shelter of Wellington harbour. But we were both sad to farewell the South Island – the place which had given us two weeks of adventures, hot springs, snow, sunshine, forests, a family reunion and countless miles of stunning scenery.

From Wellington we headed north, bound for Mark’s bach at Tongapurutu, north of New Plymouth. A stop at a roadside seafood vendor provided us with some fresh mussels and oysters, which we decided to batter & fry for our dinner.

As we drew closer to Taranaki, the sun sank to the horizon and Mt Taranaki showed itself above the nearer green fields of farmland. The conical mountain had a good cover of white snow, which gradually changed colours as the dusk settled towards night until it became a spearhead of orange thrusting up into the black sky.

The stars were out as we arrived in Tongapurutu and let ourselves in to Mark’s bach – a furnished old shipping container. The big attraction here was the opportunity to have a hot outdoors bath – old style. Mark has a few bath tubs beside a small stream, sheltered by manuka trees and ponga ferns, with a few glow worms hiding on the opposite bank :)

We gathered our wood & got a fire started beneath the tub as it filled with water. A few manuka leaves on the fire gave the smoke a beautiful sweet smell, although it still stung our eyes a bit. While the bath water heated, we devoured our battered shellfish, then returned to check the temperature. Adjusting the bath temperature was a tricky balance of letting in more cold water through the tap from a spring, or stoking up the fire and waiting. It didn’t take long to get the temperature right for us & we jumped in :)

After an hour of soaking our travel-weary bones, and turning our skin as wrinkly as prunes, we had to get out & try to quickly get dry & out on some warm clothes (Taranaki nights in early winter being rather chilly).

After a cosy night in the steel box we packed up again for the last time & continued on the last leg of our trip, back home to Raglan.

Abel Tasman Park

brentoc — Wed, 14 May 2008 17:37:00 GMT

At last! Abel Tasman National Park! This had been the original motivation for our trip to the South Island and now we could go explore it :)

Our entry point was from the east, but we didn’t have enough time to complete the trek to the western boundary of the park, so we settled for a shorter overnight in and out hike. We didn’t rush to leave Marahau, since we weren’t aiming to hike too far anyway. And the pukekos around the rural campsite were pretty entertaining anyway. We even got to see a few of them ward off an unwanted rival pukeko with some loud squawks and aggressive charges. It was a bit like having a front row seat for a genuine kiwi nature docco.

Once we organised our packs with supplies for a couple of days they seemed kinda heavy; even though we were leaving behind the airbed and duvet which had made our camping to date very comfortable. A proper light weight hiking tent could’ve been very useful! But we were determined to go exploring and take all of our supplies on our own backs.

The first stage of the hike was a rather symbolic bridge, leaving behind modern life to return to life in the forest. Once we had penetrated the fringes of the park, the native trees surrounded us and the birds and insects provided a peaceful soundtrack to our stroll through the woods. The track wound around the coast, sometimes only metres from the shore, sometimes climbing higher into the forest and crossing tame little streams. We stopped to check out a couple of these and relieve our shoulders from the unaccustomed burdens. We felt a million miles away from civilisation & ‘ordinary’ life and the only people we saw were walking along, like us, with smiles on their faces.

After a couple of hours (we guessed – no watches needed), we came to a beautiful deserted beach. DOC had supplied it with a tap to supply fresh water and a classic long drop for other bodily needs. There was also a sign warning campers to beware of the high tide. But the water was well down the beach and still going out, so surely it couldn’t come up too high?? The driftwood on the beach gave some clues though, so we pitched our tent as high on the sand as we could, behind a sturdy looking log.

There was also an old bach nestled between the beach & the forest, safely above the highest tide lines. We decided to heed the warnings of the signs, however, and kept out of the private property. There was plenty of beach to explore though and maybe some mussels to find for dinner? It was a bit like landing on an uninhabited tropical island; everything was undisturbed & unexplored. No footprints on the beach, no plastic debris from careless beachgoers and just the two of us and our tent :)

As darkness fell we dug out our dehydrated meals & boiled up some water with our gas cooker on the sand. It wasn’t quite as flash as some of the feasts we’d conjured up in campgrounds before, but we were happy to be having our dinner on a secluded beach in one of NZ’s finest national parks.

Our night’s sleep wasn’t quite as satisfying though; we only had towels to cushion us from the sand (which is surprisingly hard and cold for sleeping on, especially in May!). Consequently, we woke up a few times during that night; Rachel got really cold so we tried sharing our sleeping bags for warmth. We also woke to the sound of waves lapping onto the sand quite close to our tent. Uhoh! Was this why there were warning signs about the tide?? I poked my head out of the tent and saw the sea reaching to only a couple of metres below us! And our gas cooker was on the other side of our protective log. Luckily it was still there. We rescued our gear to higher ground and crawled back into the warmth and comfort of our luxury tent ;) But for the next couple of hours I kept waking to (or perhaps dreaming of) the sound of waves very close to our tent.

At last daylight arrived and we could warm up again and check how close the sea had actually come up. The sand was smoothed right up to our protective log; just as well it was there or we would’ve been swimming in our sleep!!

We decided not to push on further into the park and instead return for a night’s sleep with our airbed & warm duvet at the campground outside the park. This also meant that we had most of the day free to explore around the area :) Our first foray was following a stream up the hill where it was flowing down. We managed to keep our boots dry by rock-hopping & clambering through the foliage surrounding the stream. It was quite a surprise to us when we found ourselves under a bridge where the main track crossed the stream. We had been happily ignorant of such man-made constructions for the past couple of hours. We continued upstream past the bridge until a waterfall blocked our path. Who knows what we might’ve found beyond that? A tribe of pixies or pygmies? It was a beautiful spot though – river-rounded boulders with cloaks of algae and trees sprouting from seemingly impossible spots amongst the rocks and fallen logs. If it was a bit closer to summer we wouldn’t have been able to resist jumping in for a bath. (I had been in the sea earlier and that was pretty chilly!)

Our next little stroll was much easier – we followed the trail along further from our campsite beach to explore the next headland. We were surprised to notice that our beach wasn’t as private as we’d thought; it was easily visible from the main track! I hope no one had seen anything they shouldn’t have!!?? At least we could see that our tent was still there :)

At the end of the headland we were exploring, the land dropped down abruptly into the sea, with only a few trees and shags (aka cormorants) hanging over the edge. We quietly climbed down as far as we could and spied on the domestic life of the shags; mothers and babies in their nests and bird couples flirting. They seemed quite oblivious to us being only 10 metres away and clicking away with our cameras.

The view out to the north was stunning – crystal clear blue water lapping against the base of craggy cliffs. The hills were covered in shades of green from the spectrum of local native trees. Sadly we had to turn our backs on this and make our way back to pack up our gear & hike out before dark. We only just made it too! The setting sun gave us a great farewell from the Abel Tasman though; the sky turned shades of pink and orange and also transformed the water from its natural cool blue to warmer hues in a slow motion visual duet with the heavens above. As if Mother Nature was saying to us ‘Why are you leaving this wonderful part of the world? Don’t you want to spend more time here?’ Of course we did, but the ‘real world’ had put some time constraints on us. Anyway, I know we’ll be back for another visit. Maybe by kayak rather than by foot next time? I can’t wait to explore there more :)

The Monteiths Brewery!

brentoc — Mon, 12 May 2008 17:35:00 GMT

Our adventure continued on to an appointment the following day with a brewery; the original Monteiths brewery in Greymouth, no less :)

I was suffering from a cold so wasn’t really as excited as I should’ve been about the brewery, but it was a welcome diversion from further hours stuffed in the car. And the free beer was pretty good too :)

Our guide was one of the handful of lucky employees, many of whom had been there for over 20 years. I don’t blame them really! A batch of Monteiths Black was slowly fermenting while we were shown around the site. At the end of the tour we each got to jump in behind the brewery bar and pour ourselves a drink. Quite a novelty to be allowed to help yourself at a brewery :) Thanks Monteiths! The bar was also something of a museum, featuring bottles and photos from over a century of West Coast ales.

Our tour guide had recommended some regional food matches for their beers, which we tried to remember in case our path wound along to one of those spots. A few days later we did arrive at one of the recommended eateries, only to be disappointed that they were out of venison pies! Well, Rachel was disappointed; it didn’t worry me too much. There were other yummy snacks for us there though.

We decided to bypass the Punakaiki (pancake) rocks that afternoon and take the inland route, to find more hot springs :) The Maruia hot pools had developed into more of a resort since my last visit. The new Japanese owners were bringing in the style of the onsen resort, with private pools surrounded by smooth granite and beautiful views of the lush native bush. Rachel was excited to see a bunny rabbit hop around outside our window too :) “Ohhh, it’s so cute!”

We reluctantly left the pool, feeling very relaxed and having forgotten about the hours and hours spent in the car. A hit of caffeine was definitely required to get us back on the road. Although we didn’t know where our destination for the night was. Nelson? Somewhere closer? A random campsite beside the road?

Our free tourist guide had some good comments about this place in Nelson, so we headed there. It both was and wasn’t what we expected. It was on the doorstep of a peaceful bird sanctuary. But it wasn’t really a normal campground. More like an old caravan park / school camp. A bit strange, but we just found a spot for our tent & crashed out.

We did get to explore some of the native forest the next day and buy a jar of delicious homemade lemon honey from the info centre. Yum! :) Rachel also got to imagine herself as a lonely forest creature, trapped behind the example section of predator-proof fencing. Lucky she could find her way back to me from there! :)

Glacier Country

brentoc — Sat, 10 May 2008 17:32:00 GMT

What better way to get your day started than hiking & climbing up a glacier? We had two to choose between even! What luxury! We decided to drive a little further north before indulging in such wonders and tackle Franz Joseph Glacier.

Before we said goodbye to Fox Glacier village we followed a small sign to a vantage point for our highest peak – Aoraki/Mt Cook. We had only the briefest of glimpses of it from the east side a few days earlier, so why not try out luck from the west? And we struck it just right this time! There were only a couple of lonely clouds, adrift in the blue expanse above us. No way were they going to spoil the vista this morning. J A simple circular table was inscribed with numerous arrows and names for nearby mountains, glaciers and rivers; among them Mt Cook and Mt Tasman, neighbouring peaks, and the two highest in the land.

The West Coast Highway from Fox to Franz Joseph lead us through lush, untouched native rainforests - apart from the curving black scar of the tarmac we cruised upon. An obvious contrast of the old and new worlds of New Zealand.

Time had taken its toll on the Glaciers too; our guide pointed out where the terminal face of the ice had hovered in past decades. A grim reminder of the power of a warming climate. Consequently the first stage of our glacier adventure was a hike across the grey field of scattered rocks before we could climb upon the ice. The icy river beside us was littered with car-sized chunks of ice – a result of the collapse of several tonnes of ice from the glacier face only a few hours earlier. We felt lucky that it hadn’t occurred while we were exploring around up there!

Our guide, Donkey, ensured we all had our crampons on right and then went ahead, cutting steps into the ice with his axe. It was a bit strange to be walking on the ice with spikes protruding from beneath our feet; how safe were they for preventing us sliding away to our doom?? Pretty damn good it seemed :)

Donkey lead us away from the main path up the centre of the glacier, instead towards the northern edge, where he crept to the lip of a giant ice cave and chipped off some couch-sized chunks of ice. It was spectacular to see these pieces cut loose and plummet to the rocky floor with a crash that boomed off the walls around us. I also tried hacking away some pieces of glacier, but with much less success than Donkey. But I did get to pose with the axe, looking like an amateur mountaineer.

On our trip down, the path almost disappeared - there was a giant gash through the ice as if some careless Ice God had swept his axe through the glacier. We were supposed to walk through here?? We could only shuffle along sideways, squeezed between the claustrophobic walls of eerie blue ice.

And then before we knew it, we were out and saying our farewells to the ice. On the hike back to the van, a couple of American girls decided to test the waterproofing of the jackets by posing for photos in the middle of a freezing waterfall. Result: waterfall 1, Americans 0. But they came out smiling anyway; another crazy story for their travel tales no doubt!

Awesome Otago

brentoc — Sat, 3 May 2008 10:04:00 GMT

As we drew towards Dunedin, it seemed like the weather gods were playing a cruel trick on us. We thought we had left the snow behind at Mt Cook that afternoon, but no, it was back, all over the road! This was Rachel’s first time driving in snow and she didn’t really enjoy it. We got through safely though :)

And waiting for us in Dunedin was a nice warm flat – my sister Kylie’s place. We had arrived in town with a day to spare until Kylie’s house warming party. Our sister Cara was also in town – back from Ireland for a few weeks, renewing her visa. It had been a long time since the three of us had been together in one place, so it was great to have a couple of days to spend all together.

Kylie took us for a drive out along the scenic Otago Peninsula on Saturday, in search of some rare wildlife and deserted beaches. Our first destination was a remote beach which featured a natural pyramid some 30m high, with small prickly plants covering its slopes. Maybe the ancient Egyptians used to holiday in New Zealand and left this as a clue???

We decided to avoid the tourist spots for penguin-watching, in favour of a beach that only a handful of people visited. We trekked down huge sand dunes, along the beach, then up into a shelter, from where we could observe the penguins (hopefully) without disturbing them. We waited and waited and eventually a solitary yellow eyed penguin waddled up out of the sea. It then began to hop and wobble its way 100m up the steep hill at the end of the beach, back to its secret burrow I suppose. It was a pretty special sight, but worth the hour-plus wait? I think so.

That night we met many of Kylie’s Dunedin friends and enjoyed a few beverages with them. We made our excuses and avoided being taken on a tour of the local nightclubs though.

Once we had stuffed ourselves full of café breakfast and recovered from the night’s excesses we were off again, to the beautiful Central Otago. We made our way through little old towns, cold, sheltered valleys, and past huge, peaceful lakes, stopping occasionally for photos, or just snapping them out the car windows.

We arrived in Wanaka after dark and were disappointed to find the Glendhu Bay campground closed. I had stayed there a few years earlier, on a fun trip with some University friends. But at least there was another option in town, so no freezing the night away in the car!

We woke to beautiful, clear morning skies and stunning views of Lake Wanaka and the surrounding mountains. A short drive lead us to a view of the snow capped peak of Mt Aspiring, the centrepiece of Aspiring National Park. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to explore the trails through the wilderness there, only to admire the distant summits. We did spend a while at the lakefront in town though, enjoying the sunshine and watching the ducks, trout and eels thronging around the wharf.

The road west from Wanaka was absolutely stunning. A few lonely clouds drifted along the sky as we cruised highway 6 to Lake Hawea, then alongside Lake Wanaka again. Both lakes were stunning blue with only gentle ripples disturbing the surface. What better place for a picnic lunch? :)

Beyond the lakes, the road entered the unspoilt forests of the Southern Alps. We stopped by one of the DoC signs and walked through the forest with our eyes and ears wide open to the beautiful sights and sounds of the native trees and birdlife. We crossed a freezing cold river on one of the swing bridges typical of NZ’s national parks. I had to jump up and down a bit to see how much it would wobble, but it was too sturdy to really get going.

We made it out to the west coast just before dark and were surprised at the calm state of the usually very rugged Tasman Sea. But that also meant that the skies were clear for our walk under the stars at the Fox Glacier township, where we spent the night. We took a bottle of good Otago wine to ward off the chill and strolled along with our heads back, in awe of the shining heavens above us. We even saw a couple of shooting stars that night :)

We felt incredibly lucky to have been in the midst of such beautiful places, in the space of a couple of days, driving from east coast to west. And there were still plenty more adventures waiting for us in the South Island.

Yay Snow!!

brentoc — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 11:49:00 GMT

After a beautiful couple of days in Hanmer Springs, we aimed south again and were off. It was surprising to see the landscapes that we had driven through in darkness to reach Hanmer Springs, now revealed to us by day – gorges, rivers, plains and distant mountains. It was a bit sad to leave behind the closeness of the Southern Alps and the striking scenery of the mountains for the continuous reaches of the agricultural Canterbury plains. We bypassed the South Island’s biggest city, Christchurch, in favour of the scenic detour route. Although not so impressed by the scenery here, we were pleasantly surprised to discover a couple of moa on the roadside, near a disused community hall. Moa are thought to be extinct in NZ, for over 200 years, but here was a couple, with an egg even, just posing beside the road. There did seem to be something strange about them though… Maybe their nonchalance at the passing traffic and our close approach? Maybe their unusual hollow appearance? Or perhaps their lack of feathers? Their outlines seemed to be formed by meshed steel wire, rather than organic skin and bones.

It was a good spot for a picnic lunch though. We fired up our gas cooker for the first time and made some nice warm treats to sustain us.

Our path then lead us back towards the Southern Alps and an understandable drop in temperature. Just on dusk we reached the township at Lake Tekapo, an historic farming area of New Zealand, home to the old stone church and sheep-dog statue. (Historic by NZ standards being over 100 years) We bypassed them for the time being though; our priority was finding a warm cabin for the night. It was definitely going to be too cold for our tent!! Luckily there was a hot pool complex nearby, which we made use of that night :) We woke to a bitterly cold morning with frost on every surface around – plants, cars and bikes included. We went walking anyway, to check out the lakefront, but soon felt the unmistakeable touch of snowflakes on our cheeks. This was Rachel’s first experience in snow! She was amazed at the sight of it and how it felt to catch a falling snowflake in your mouth. The South Island really was out to impress us!

This taste of snow wasn’t quite enough for us, so we set off to the village of Mt Cook (named for NZ’s highest mountain which towers above you from there). We passed a flock of sheep on the road, reminiscent of a picture Rachel has of sheep being driven along that very road. Only the skies weren’t quite as blue for us as they were in her picture. We faced an ominous black cloud, obscuring any view of Mt Cook and even swallowing up the road itself, not far ahead of us. The snow on the ground thickened as we slowly drove up towards the village, until we were in the carpark, surrounded not by grey asphalt, but by a soft white carpet of fresh snow. Rachel experienced another first here – a snow fight!

After perusing the DoC information office, we set off, with our warmest clothes, on a short walk through the alpine native forest. It was like walking into Narnia, under full control of the snow queen. We marvelled at the clumps of snow gingerly clinging to branches and tried to capture the magic of it on camera, but it just doesn’t work the same. At the highest point we had a view over the frozen valley below and the surrounding mountains with their peaks in the clouds. We waited for a while and were rewarded with a brief view of Aoraki / Mt Cook (we’re pretty sure it was!). We also put our creative energies to use and built a snow-woman. Another first for Rachel that day!

It was hard to drag ourselves away from that beautiful, magical place, but the road was beckoning, with further adventures in store. Our short time at Mt Cook would however, remain in our minds as one of the highlights of our trip.

Top of the South

brentoc — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 13:16:00 GMT

At last we were on the ferry, bound for new and exciting lands – New Zealand’s South Island to be precise. It wasn’t long before Rachel got her first glimpse of the Mainland – a rough, magical looking coastline with lush, tree-covered slopes. Luckily the sea was fairly calm for the crossing and we reached Picton with our breakfast still safely in our tummys. With no deadlines to meet now, we found a spot of grass by the sea for a picnic before heading off on mountain bikes to explore nearby tracks. We both managed to wipe out on bumpy or muddy sections of track, but eventually made it to Snout Head. Rachel was in awe of the beauty of the expansive views – the crystal clear waters just below us, stretching away to the deceptively distant shores of the Queen Charlotte Sounds. Definitely too far (and too cold) to swim! The mussels growing nearby were very tempting, but they were saved by our fear of the cold water.

The following day we were heading south, maybe to Kaikoura? Our first stop was not far down the road at an appealing bakery, where we stocked up on essentials – biscuits, more biscuits and a bit of bread too. We managed to bypass the famous Marlborough vineyards, with their rows of autumnal leaves, hoping to have time for them on our return trip north.

Soon we were within sight of the Pacific Ocean and crossing rivers flowing east to meet it. A little further south, the road seemed to be cut into the side of coastal cliffs and it wound its way around bays and headlands where the only residents are the content-looking seals. We found a couple more seals snoozing near Kaikoura too and I tried to sneak up on one of them, but not within range of his sharp teeth. We also found a beautiful little spot for a picnic beneath a Pohutukawa tree by the beach :)

As dusk crept in we were heading for the mountain resort town of Hanmer Springs, lured there by the promise of beautiful hot springs. We didn’t count on it being school holidays though, which meant the pools were not as peaceful as we’d hoped, but still a great way to relax after a long day in the car :)

I spent the next day exploring trails through the extensive forests surrounding the township; alone with my mountain bike and then walking with Rachel. We were amazed by the beauty of the forests in their autumn splendour and felt as if we had stumbled into some fairytale forest and might meet Little Red Riding Hood just around a corner, chatting to a couple of pixies. I think we probably would’ve if we’d tried some of the funky-looking mushrooms growing there!!??

An Anzac Departure

brentoc — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:03:00 GMT

Our adventure began at the crack of dawn on Anzac day, although there was no gunfire following our footsteps, as those of our true ANZAC forebears. Our challenge was relatively simple; load the car with whatever we might need for the trip, in less than half an hour. I was heading off with my girlfriend, Rachel, on her first ever trip to the South Island.

Our first stopover was the metropolis of Otorohanga, to accompany Rachel’s Grandma to the Anzac service. This was also the scene of our first miscalculation (but not as costly as the ANZACs geographical error). We had arrived 2 hours earlier than we needed to! And woken Grandma up too! The flipside being that we got a nice hot brekky and cup of tea. We paid our respects at the service, walked Grandma home, then got back on the road. Our target for that evening was Wellington, where we had a concert to attend the following day. Not just any concert either – this was ‘Homegrown’, 100% kiwi music! Many of our favourite acts were performing and we had only got hold of late tickets thanks (or no thanks) to a scalper on the internet. Salmonella Dub, Black Seeds, Tiki, Ladi6, Shihad… so much good music that you’d need a whole tree to shake at it.

Before we set foot in Wellington, we passed a couple of iconic Kiwiana sculptures – Ohakune’s giant carrot and Taihape’s giant gumboot (made of corrugated iron, no less). We duly admired, photographed, climbed and worshipped these icons, hopefully bringing good fortune to our trip that followed?

When we arose from the hotel room on Saturday, I think I must’ve crawled out the wrong side of bed, or maybe the elevator really was out to get me?? The bright sunshine didn’t manage to fix my cranky mood, but the first beats of Salmonella Dub certainly did :) From then on, I was smiling and boogeying my way through the day. We even managed to run into a couple of friends randomly amidst the crowds.

As the evening was drawing towards the end, Tiki hit the stage. But by then we were all tired out and couldn’t muster the energy to get on our feet to enjoy the beats.

We had Sunday in the city to recuperate and do some touristy things – like Te Papa (NZ national museum). It was Rachel’s first visit and she gave it the deserving label of ‘choice’. A very solid recommendation in kiwi-speak. We managed to sneak into one exhibit designed perhaps more for children – a life size (but hollow) whale’s heart, as if we had stumbled into the Moby Dick fairytale like Alice into Wonderland.

We also spent a while entertaining the Sunday strollers along the waterfront with some juggling antics. One day we really will run away and join the circus! Until then, I guess we’re just apprentices.

Lost on Mt Karioi??

brentoc — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 10:46:00 GMT

After 3 summers in Raglan, I finally got around to attacking Mt Karioi. I had spend a lot of time looking at the mountain, from the beach, from the surf club, from the road into Raglan. I could almost picture myself standing on the summit amidst the lush native forest.

Finally the time had come! Rachel & Mick were keen to join me on the mission to the summit one fine saturday morning.

We started our trip at the Karioi lodge, on the fringes of the native bush, leaving our names chalked on their board in case we got really lost. We were packing cameras, food, water and a little celebration bottle for when we reached the peak. It all felt surprisingly heavy as I began the narrow track up from the lodge. Surely it'l get lighter as i drink the water?? I was hopeful.

Rachel & I had already walked the first half(?) of the track a couple of weeks earlier, up to a lookout point. There was a little sense of deja vue, passing familiar trees and tripping on roots growing out of the track. We had a rest, as we did last time, at a giant Puriri tree which was fun for climbing (a few monkey noises may have been made too).

After a while we passed the lookout pint which had been the turnaround point of our previous trip. We were into unknown territory now!

After more uphill slog we reached a steep exposed rock, presumably with the track continuing on the other side. So we careful clambered up, to be well rewared with spectacular views over the lower reaches of the mountain's forest and the surrounding countryside. Luckily it wasnt too windy, because it felt like a strong gust could have easily blown you right off, down to the trees some 50m below.

Further up, the bush thinned out a bit and we struggled to see the irregular wee triangular markers indicating where the trail went. We did find a couple on a rather poor trail along a ridge, but this didnt lead anywhere except into thick bush above what seemed to be a rather high cliff. Back a bit we found a sort of trail down a steep slope, so off we went, holding on to trees and vines, only to find a slip had taken away all of the land in front of us. We contemplated trying to find our own way across, but decided not to. Probably a good choice! After back-tracking for about 15min we discovered another branch of the trail and an official DOC sign pointing to the summit. Woohoo!!

The trail from then on was very well marked and easy walking. We were just stoked to have found the main track again, so we could hopefully get all the way up...

And we did!! Hooray!!

As soon as we sat down under the radio mast and dropped our bags, out came the bottle of bubbly! It had even managed to stay fairly chilled on the 3 hour climb. But im sure we woldn't have minded too much if it was warm anyway.

The cork duly popped out an flew away into the forest below us (it is biodegradable ay). Then we got our first sips of the celebratory plonk :)

Rachel managed to get a text message through to Jen to pick us up at a different trail end on the opposite side of the mountain to where we had begun. So this saved us having to descend back the way we'd come. Phew!

Descending was considerably easier - lighter backpacks, no fighting against gravity and the warming feeling of bubbly in our stomachs and heads :)

The last part of the descent took us through some farm land, where Mick was amazed to see a couple of wicked looking old cars rusting away quietly in the paddock. He couldn't resist jumping in and letting his imagination transport him back to the 50s.

Back in Raglan, Mick & I headed to a friend's place for a well-deserved spa. It was a great end to the mission, up the hill, almost lost amongst the vines, then the joy of reaching the summit.

Maybe I'll give it a go next summer too...

Best Surf of my Life???

brentoc — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 19:37:00 GMT

At the start of this summer i got myself a new surfboard. Not exactly brand new, but as soon as i laid eyes on it i liked it :) It was 9'1" with a beautiful round nose and white fins arching down below the tail.

It took me a few times to get the hang of it, since it was completely different to the shortboard that i had been riding until then. But the more i surfed it, the more i liked it :) And i spent more & more time surfing because i was enjoying it so much!

One particular day in January there were only a few surfers out at my local beach but the conditions were wicked! 3-4ft sets and a light offshore breeze vainly trying to hold up the weight of the cresting waves. I paddled up the beach to a deserted sandbar break where i was picking up left & right handers whenever i wanted. The rights were fast & walley and closed out after an exhilirating 10 seconds or so. The lefts were more mellow - a shoulder that just pushed along, allowing me to carve some wide turns to match the growing grin on my face.

I had this break to myself for alomst an hour, until another couple of guys paddled over to share in the fun. By then i was almost satisfied with the morning's efforts and my arms were also giving me the satisfying feeling that I'd been paddling & popping up again & again :)

The next day the surf was a bit smaller and there were a consistent few guys on the break throughout the day. But that previous session stuck in my mind as the most fun that ive ever had on a surfboard. I cant wait til i get a chance to top that experience now....

Fresh water - whats going on??

brentoc — Sun, 7 Oct 2007 22:17:00 GMT

I ended up in a tent on a lake shore, only a few other people around and a few trees leaning to the sun. Not bad for a destination that i didnt really know anything about! :) I had been in Kobe city for a couple of days, catching up with Josh & Sue (who i met on my wandering in Shikoku island). Sue had a map of Japan unfolded on the floor & we were thinking of where to visit - a big expanse of water, without many towns around - sounds great! We broke the hitch-hiking habit & got on the trains to find our way north & west to Biwa-ko, Japans biggest lake. Our little spot on the beach felt a bit abandoned - old tourist buildings, obviously not too popular now and only a few locals fishing along the shore. There was enough firewood around for us to cook a simple dinner & provide light & warmth well into the night. Sadly we didnt have any marshmallows to roast on the fire - have to wait til i get home to do that! The still night & calm water seemed very inviting for a midnight dip too - maybe the first time ive been night-swimming in a lake? A bit different to the sea for sure, but still fun. And a fire to warm up by afterwards :) After waking in time for a beautiful sunrise, we were surprised to have a local woman turn up with a notebook & explain to us that we had to pay a camping fee. Damn! We saw later there were signs in Japanese & Portugese (for the Brazilian immigrants), but none in English. It wasnt that expensive anyway considering the view that we had through our tent door & over our dinner table the previous night :) We kept on asking 'How lucky are we??' :) Very lucky, for sure! The sun was shining bright throughout the day, so we lazed on the beach, threw juggling balls, photographed the trees, insects, sky and had a good siesta. A very productive day :) Our 2nd night at the lake was at a different spot where we wouldnt get hit by a camping fee. But we did get hit by a few bucketfulls of water from the low, heavy skies. That didnt stop us from lighting a little fire & crawling into the tent. Not quite as perfect as the previous night, but still another beautiful experience in a quiet corner of Japan.

Life on the Beaches

brentoc — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 14:04:00 GMT

Ive just had a fun week cruising around the eastern side of Shikoku island. I found a few beautiful beaches, a temple in the clouds, friendly locals to give me rides around and a couple of other travellers too :)

My first stop was a little bay just outside of Tokushima city. There was a youth hostel there, separated from the beach by a few trees and not much else. Unfortunately though the water in the bay was pretty brown - almost like the waikato river at home. It was hot enough that i had to go for a swim anyway, and i didnt get sick so the water obviously wasnt too bad! There were a few tracks through the forest on the north side of the bay too and i spent the last couple of hours of daylight exploring around & watching the sun slip down through the leaves and eventually behind the distant hills, signalling time for me to head back for dinner.
Later in the evening i walked to the beach with Josh & we found a group of Japanese musicians playing some very cool traditional music. They invited us to join them & later taught us a little local dance. I think we were really lucky to stumble across this group & see a taste of old Japan still alive today :)

The next day in Tokushima city we found another, more organised, performance of traditional music & dancing. A small stage had been set up floating on the river in the city centre and adorned with red carpet & golden railings. For over an hour, different acts were performed from periods of history reaching back centuries. One star performer was dressed as a sort of devil & stomped around the stage, accompanied by drums, chanting & softer tones from wooden flutes.

From Tokushima i headed to the south-east corner of Shikoku, where i expected to find a hostel near a famous temple. I had a tough hike up a stone-staired hillside through the mist and rain, to finally reach the temple. But i soon discovered that the hostel was closed, which left me to chose between the hotel or heading back out into the rain? The comfort of the hotel won me over pretty quickly & i soon met another traveller caught in the same situation.
The coastline here was all rocks & wind-blown waves - not very inviting really. So i spent a while walking around with Sue, checking out the temple and the paths through the ancient forest. I found a nice big leaf to improvise as an umbrella, although i still got kinda drenched. Maybe the leaf wasnt big enough??

A few lazy hours after the sun had risen, i was on my way again. This time heading back north, with Sue, aiming for a nice sandy beach to camp at. It didnt take too long to get a ride hitch-hiking and after a couple more, we turned up at Shishikui beach. Sishikui is a cool little town with a white-sand beach, tree-clad skylines and clear blue skies :) We found a bit of beach above the high tide line to set up camp with tent & drift-wood fire. The full moon joined the party too and slowly slid across the sky, spying on the sleeping surfers below.
Our day in Shishikui was spent between the beach & the local surf shop where we'd hired a board from. I had a couple of fun hours surfing the small waves on the longboard and Sue had her first ever surf session & was riding like a natural in no time!
We enjoyed this spot so much that we had to stay a 2nd night there too :)
During dinner at a local restaurant there was a bit of commotion & someone got a few english words together to explain it to us - a whale was swimming by! It surfaced lazily about 1km from shore, in the path of the moonlight reflected off the sea. A very special moment for all of us :)

After more hitch-hiking through the heat of the day we arrived at dusk on another beach near the highway linking Shikoku to the mainland. The wind forced us to be a bit inventive & gather rocks & an old drum to make a windbreak for our fire place to cook dinner. We were successful though. Hooray!! I felt that we were much luckier than the people safely isolated from nature in the nearby luxury hotel. A few hundred metres away physically, but a world away in experiences.

Tropical islands & Tranquil Temples

brentoc — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 13:18:00 GMT

Ive been doing a few trips to beautiful islands & secluded temples recently - around Takamatsu, on Shikoku isl.

Shodoshima was just 30 minutes away on the fast ferry, where we were welcomed by more humidity & glaring sunshine. Its defintely still summertime here :)
One of the main attractions on this island was a cable-car ride up above a deep gorge, with panoramic views down to the township & sea below. But since it isnt the official season for the cable-car ride (sept is the only month like that), we had to take the bus the long way round. Some of the trees in the gorge had begun their autumn change of plumage, producing pockets of orange amidst the carpet of green.
Along the coast a bit was a taste of the Mediterranean transplanted into Japan in the form of an olive orchard, complete with a Greek-style windmill & some random sculptures. The souvenir shop had all sorts of unexpected olive-themed goods, so we picked up a bottle of olive wine. It wasnt that flash tho, so i won't be hurrying back to buy more!

The next island on my itenerary was Naoshima. The harbour there was surrounded by towering hills clad with unbroken acres of forest and a mix of traditional & more modern houses along the waterfront. I hired a bike to get around, with the aim firstly to find a beach to cool off at - altho the waters still about 25 deg!! :)
Just up the road above the beach was an art gallery, which featured some interesting & some odd artworks. There were a couple more pieces set up down by another beach - they seemed a bit like something left behind by an alien spaceship. No aliens around tho. Or maybe theyre just invisible??

Around Shikoku isl (Japan's 4th main isl) theres 88 famous temples and if you visit all of them then you're blessed with amazing good fortune. So far Ive got to 3, so i dont think il be able to see them all on this trip. I feel lucky enough already anyway :)
One of them was set near the summit of this really big hill near Kate's place (where im staying for now). I decided to walk up & save myself a few dollars from the cable-car ride. There were alot of friendly trees along the path providing some shade for me but it was still too hot. The temple was beautiful though - centuries old, with stone lions guarding the entrance from evil spirits. I thought one of them had a smirk on his face though, like he was laughing at some private joke? Good for him i guess :)

Osaka Spa Resort!!

brentoc — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 22:19:00 GMT

We had an awesome stop over on our road trip back north after a few days in Shikoku (thats a different story...).
H-san found it for us & the in-car GPS showed us the way there.
The hotel was awesome!! Up on the 8th floor was a swimming pool & water-slide complex. So thats where i headed first, with Emma & Camo, the 2 Aussie lifeguards here. One of the waterslides we did all together - down around a corner, then a steep drop & up this giant orange skate-ramp looking slide then about 15m backwards down to crash in the pool! The other slide spat you out into a big bowl, where you circle round a few times before dropping thru a sink hole in the middle & shooting down to the end :)

The next 2 floors down were repsectively mens & womens bathing with different themed pools & architecture. The mens floor was european themed - old greek/roman sort of thing. So there were statues of women and angles etc, done in fake marble & limestone. There was also one bath with a fragrant combination a herbs - jasmine, mint, thyme, rosemary etc. Apparently there was a big pile of salt to rub over yourself too, but i never found that. I think i get enough salt on me anyway ;)

We spent the night there, snoozing in a room full of reclined lazyboy chairs, with a chorus of men snoring merrily away.

It was a great injection of luxury for us after being in the sea & sun for a long time and sleeping on little futons in sometimes uncomfortably hot houses.

Shikoku Swimming... and dancing

brentoc — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 12:22:00 GMT

I just spent a few days down south on tropical Shikoku island, with 2 aussies & 3 Japanese lifeguards. Our mission was to do water safety patrol for a swim event at Anan beach, but we had plenty of spare time to check out a few other beaches & hunt for local speciality udon noodles.

Anan beach was beautiful - far less developed than where ive been so far. The sea was glassy as most of the time, and below the surface it was pretty clear too and about 26deg :) Almost too hot for any strenuous swimming! A few of the people doing the event were donning their wetsuits, but there was no need for that, except to keep off the glaring sunshine. It was hitting about 35deg out of the water, so it was great to get in & cool down a bit, even though the warm salty water quickly turned my skin all prune-like.

There were different swim events on that day - a 50m fun splash, 1.5km & 3km courses just offshore and a 6km swim across from the far side of the inlet. Only a dozen swimmers took on the 6km challenge, but a couple of hundred completed the other events. The best effort i think was a 10 year old boy who swam the 1.5km event with his father constantly at his side. He was one of the last finishers, but probably got the most applause :)

The event part that evening featured some local traditional dancers in wicked kimono & hats that looked kinda like oversized taco shells. They had a band providing authentic rhythyms as the girls & boys alternately swirled around the improvised stage. Following their performance, it was on for the whole crowd, dancing around on the sand, imitating the moves we had been in rapture at minutes earlier. Everyone seemed to love it that us 3 gaijin (foriegners) got into it & attempted to mimic the locals' style.

The next day we headed south a bit to go on a 'leisurely swim tour' with some of the competitors. We didnt really know what we were in for though... we were expecting a bit of snorkelling, lazy in the sun etc. But the swim group had planned a 3km route from one bay around to another. And we were volunteered to look after the swimmers on the way. I was lucky tho, because id brought my fins, thinking that would make the snorkelling easier - but they defintely made the 3km distance a bit less taxing. There were a few little fish to see along the way, as well as some unfriendly jellyfish. I just got a little sting, but Emma got attacked by what she presumed was an army of sea-lice. They seemed to thrive in the tropical water there. We had a stopover half way through the swim in this beautiful, isolated bay. The beach area was only small, but was all of golden sand, and hemmed in by tree-covered slopes. But because the little bay was so shallow, the water was kinda hot - maybe close to 30deg. Enough to make you swim nice & slow!

Ive got a few photos from this adventure online

what i dont like...

brentoc — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 21:00:00 GMT

First, a disclaimer of sorts... this might not be a fun story to read, but i wanted to write about some problems here...

So not everything in Japan has been amazing & fun on this trip...
Every day at the beach i was reminded of a problem which i was not expecting in this country - too much rubbish. Sure, its not on the scale i saw in India, but for a developed country with a reputation for culturally ingrained politeness & respect for others, i have been disappointed.

Many people who visited the beaches left their rubbish behind at the end of the day - plastic, cans, bottles and thousands of cigarette butts. Sometimes unwanted umbrellas and plastic sheets too.

More rubbish washed up daily with the passing tides. Some from ships, some from the land. All poisoning the beach.

This pissed me off for a few reasons. The most direct effect on me was that us lifeguards spent many hours each week picking up all this rubbish. The potential environmental damage was another sore point for me. The environment here seems to be already stressed by the high human population, without the added burden of plastic & polystyrene crap scarring the coastline.
It seems to defy the impression of Japanese as a people being considerate to others...

The attitude/policy of the local goverment officials doesnt seem to help either. They dont want to provide rubbish bins at the beach (or most other public places) because people are supposed to take their rubbish home with them, to then be collected by the regular trucks.
From my observatations, this doesnt work.

I hope that somehow things will change here soon...???

Takahagi waves & lifeguarding

brentoc — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 20:38:00 GMT

I guess ive been in Takahagi for a couple of weeks now? Its been alot of fun really :) The beach is a bit like Mt Maunganui or Mangawhai Heads (for you kiwis) - mellow surf, clear water and white sand. Well, the sand seems more grey on the cloudy days and sometimes a bit golden, depending on my mood perhaps?
Weve got really warm water - like 25deg!! and theres been some nice waves now & then too - mostly small waves (2-3ft), but theres a good break right in our swimming area, which we take advantage of before & after work virtually every day :)
Ive been trying some new tricks surfing on the rescue board too - standing up & walking to the nose of the board, headstands, paddling the board backwards into a wave & standing up and also paddling sitting on the board. Funtimes in small surf!!
I think i mite be a bit outa practice with being in bigger waves like we often get at home?. But it feels like its not that long to go til il be back for the NZ summer??

We had a visit from the Yakusa (Japanese mafia) recently too. They heard that something was going on at the beach, so they turned up in 3 luxury buses for their version of a company day out. They were all pretty happy & didnt try to do any ninja tricks on us, even when we warned them (politely) against swimming too far out of their depth. phew!! I got to use a couple of my now standard phrases in Japanese to warn a couple of Yakusa guys, but they just looked surprised to hear a gaijin speaking japanese :)

Ive been getting a few rescues recently too, so thats been a bit of excitement - a few Japanese bikini girls even! :)
Today was the most rescues for me for a long time - 7 people (all by rescue board, for you lifeguards out there). Plus 5 yesterday and 2 tube rescues a few days ago - more than i managed last summer in NZ!!!
Some might call this being a rescue-slut.... maybe theyre right??? ;)
Ive been patrolling (or playing?) on the jetski a bit here too, but no rescues on that yet. Just blat around and yell a few words of Japanese out to people & hope they understand me? ;) Theres a few Brazilians around too (immigrant workers), but i have to speak Japanese to them as well since i dont know any portugese (yet). Havent seen anyone playing capoeira on the beach yet tho... maybe il have to visit some Brazilian beaches... :)

(theres a couple more photos online from here now too)

Takahagi Beach Funtimes

brentoc — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 21:02:00 GMT

So now ive moved on up the coast, to Takahagi. I didnt know what to expect ata all, but I think ive struck some good luck :) The apartment that Im sharing with the other 4 lifeguards is right on the beach, about 20 min walk from our patrolling area. Not bad ay :)

The novel thing on this beach is the man-made concrete breakwaters every so far along the beach, 60m or so from shore. I guess theyre meant to protect the beach from erosion, or maybe rogue tsunamis?? Dunno if they'd do much to stop a tsunami really, but im not that anxious to find out!! They do make the occasional good surf break tho :) So we've been out on the rescue boards every day, doing some 'training'. Theres no surfboards here for me to borrow tho.
We also got the jetski out for more training a couple of days ago. Its been a little while since i was on one, but its pretty easy :) and fun too :)

The 2 young guys working with us both got to do rescues too, so they were pretty happy! None for me yet tho.... ive got my fingers crossed.... ;)

The beach has a nasty shorebreak along most of the length too - bit scary for the kiddies, but fun for me - sprint down the slope & fly through the air, just over the crest of the waves. Feel a bit like superman, for half a second! ;)

I experienced one of the standard occurences for foreigners in Japan on the weekend - being mobbed by school kids. They were a friendly bunch of 10 year old boys who'd just been swimming while i was down by the waters edge. I think they knew almost as much english as i do japanese!! My bilingual dictionary has certainly been getting a good workout during the quiet times, so my vocab is slowly growing... :)

ahhhhhh, i love this endless summer game :)

(theres a couple more photos online from here now too)

Beaches + Waves + Storms + Fine Cuisine

brentoc — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 20:15:00 GMT

Well, i tried to post a story a few days ago, but it never got there :(

Anyway, i was hunkering down as a typhoon broke over us, with some pretty strong winds and rain & horrendous humidity. I had been out early that morning for a surf with a couple of the guys at neighbouring Hasaki beach - the wind was offshore so it was pretty sweet for surfing :)

Ive been 'working' at Nikkahama beach, on the pacific coast, north-east from Tokyo. But in the week i spent there, there werent really any people swimming :( apart from the lifeguards of course. There were up to 10 of us there for a while, trying to practice our respective language abilities in Japanese & English. I was lucky that Yuta & Taish had both travelled a bit so had pretty good english. The younger guys only knew about as much (or little really) english as i did japanese. But im sure we all improved over the week i had there :)

We went out for a few yummy Japanese meals, as well as cooking some at our cramped apartment. Maybe youve seen in a movie a sushi bar where everything comes round on a conveyor belt?? Well we went to one of them! But it gets better... there was a mini shinkansen (bullet train) to deliver special orders placed on a touch-screen at your table!! hows that for Japanese technology & culinary delights? :) There was sooo much great seafood to try, and some not so great too. But the guys generally gave me good advice about what to eat, although they couldve tricked me pretty easily i think!!
I repaid the guys helpfulness by cooking a big pasta feast for them a couple of days later. They seemed to like having some 'foreign' food, but japanese-style still, eating with chopsticks. Im doing ok with the chopsticks too, just a bit slower than the locals of course!

We went out to one of the traditional Japanese hot baths too. It was a pretty new experience for me - bathing naked with a bunch of other men. It seemed pretty natural tho. The semi-outdoor pool had nice round stones set in the sides to make it feel a bit more authentic, and the bamboo fence outside added to the effect too :) The water was really really hot, so we only stayed in for about 15min, then it took about twice as long to cool down again afterwards! But damn i felt soooo relaxed :)

I spent my first few days in Japan in Fujisawa, just south of tokyo, more or less on the coast, but without much surf. But i was staying at the apartment of my new boss, H-san. It was only 5min by bike down to the local beach, where i found gravelly sand, bits of rubbish & kinda murky water (but thats not so different to port waikato sometimes!!). I was pretty surprised to see a surf comp underway over the weekend, in about 1ft waves. But at least those people didnt have to surf in between the crowds like everyone else along the beach - there mustve been 800 surfers in about as many metres along the beach! Further along, the lifeguards were patrolling and keeping the surfers out, so i had to splash around there for a bit to cool down :)
I was pretty lucky having somewhere to stay that was close to the ocean anyway. It was a damn nice way to relax & get accustomed to the climate & all that. And H-san has been real helpful & friendly too :)

ps. dont worry about that earthquake - it was on the other side of Japan to me! We didnt get any effects here :) ....who knows whats in store tho...???

My Japan Photos

Summer 06-07

brentoc — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 10:00:00 GMT

So its been a pretty up & down summer for me at home...

When i got back from my travels in India & Nepal I was struck down by some nasty disease which played havoc with my stomach. After a few visits to the doc, they figured out it was a tough strain of giardia & had to get advice from a specialist for some strong antibiotics.

It took me almost a month to get back to being healthy, if somewhat underweight. But i eventually started work lifeguarding at Raglan on xmas day! I was happy to be back working on the beach at last, and working xmas day is nothing new for me now. Raglan is a cool place to be too - a little town by the sea, with great surf & lots of good people around :)

We didnt really get busy on the beach until January, but then we had some really busy, dangerous days - good fun stuff for us :) One action-packed week we rescued about 25 people & spent hours & hours trying to stop people getting into dangerous areas too. There was even one guy we rescued who couldnt feel his legs! But after a while resting & warming up, he was ok again. phew!

I had a bit of free time during the day usually too - to go for a swim or surf... and one day in particular i was riding the lifeguard board & got into a barrel & got someone taking a photo too! one of the highlights of the summer i reckon :)

I had a not-so-happy surf incident back at my home beach tho - Sunset Beach, Port Waikato. We had been out bodysurfing some medium size waves and i was the last to come in to the beach, but when i caught my wave & went to roll out of it, I rolled up a bit too much & whacked my knee into my nose! I heard it go crunch under the water & then there was all this blood coming out :( lucky i wasnt too far from shore then so i could get back in while holding my tender nose with one hand. After an hour or so and a few ice cubes, the bleeding stopped and i went to join in the party at the surf club and had countless offers from people to straighten my nose for me! Luckily i could evade their drunken attempts and hold out to visit the doctor a while later. Aparently the technique now is a general anaesthetic, which seemed a bit overboard for a broken nose, but what would i know??

That little accident kept me out of the water for a little while again :(

Near the end of Feb there was an annual reggae festival in Raglan - Soundsplash!! Of course i had to get along to that! I managed to get a free ticket too, by helping to make some pieces for artworks around the site - luckily there wasnt too much artistic skill required!
I got to catch most of the acts that i'd been hanging out to see - Katchafire, Black Seeds, Shapeshifter, Kora... and many more bands & djs to groove along to as well :) Yay barefoot dancing on the grass!! :)

After the paid lifeguard season ended in late february, i started working for the surf school here in Raglan. Most of the students are tourists who've never surfed before, but theres a few kiwis too, who havent tried surfing either. Most of them are really excited & keen, so that makes it a pretty fun job :) And i get to live in Raglan a bit longer, while i try to sort out my next overseas adventure....

Trapped in Varanasi

brentoc — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 14:00:00 GMT

Varanasi, or Benares to the Indians, is a pretty special place. Sure its dirty & theres alot of people after your money, just like other Indian cities, but theres something else....

I heard from many other travellers there that they were still in Benares much longer than they had originally planned. Something about the city just makes you forget about time. And so it happened to me too. I had planned on spending at most 5 days there, but a week just flew by and then it was almost time for the big festival at the full moon, so I had to stay for that!

My hotel was only a stones throw from the river, with a brilliant view from the rooftop restaurant over the old city, the river and to the distant, hazy horizons. And all for about NZ$5 per night! And I met some cool people there too, which definitely made my stay more fun :)
Only thing was, we got a bit suspicious about the quality of the food at their restaurant after after a few of us contracted a mysterious bug that played havoc with our digestive systems. But the medicine that I'd picked up at the start of my journey did the trick to kill off the little microbes. Hah!

All along the river Ganges there's many, many ghats (concreted steps and flat spaces). Some are used for bathing, some for laundry (who knows if the people & clothes actually come out cleaner??) and then theres the cremation ghats. Its considered to be a direct path to heaven for Hindus to die and be cremated beside the Ganges. So 24 hours a day there are fires burning and bodies being delivered, wrapped in red or golden cloths. And scores of frail elderly Indians awaiting their final journey.
Its quite unnerving that its all so public - anyone and everyone can walk along and watch the cremations, only no photos are allowed. The trouble for westerners is that you always get a local guide attach himself to you to explain the rituals, then of course he asks for some money.
Its just impossible to get any peace....
Except at one of the luxury hotels of course. But they were well out of my price range. So we came up with the great idea to go & spend an afternoon lounging next to their pool. That was within the budget, and damn it was nice :) There was even a little waterfall built at one end of the pool and classic reclining chairs to sunbathe on :)
It was just a bit of a shock to head back into the madness of the city after a few hours of relaxation.

The full moon festival was in honour of Shiva - one of the most revered of the many Hindu gods. It seemed like there were a million people thronging around the ghats that day, in a million different colours too. I did get out and amongst it, but didnt have the energy to stay fighting through the crowd for too long.
Later in the evening I went with a couple of friends for a cruise in one of the small boats. A much more civilised way to see everything! But even then you cant escape from the intrepid sales-kids. They just paddle their own boats around and attach themselves to yours to continue their sales pitches. We splashed out 5 rupees (~NZ 15c) each for little candles & flowers in a small leaf, to be released into the river as an offerring to Shiva. Im sure he was very pleased with us!

I felt after that that it was time for me to move on. I'd experienced enough of Benares, without any permanent damage (i think). Next stop Bharatpur and visiting the Taj Mahal....

Himalayan Sunrises

brentoc — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 13:00:00 GMT

After a few days around Pokhara, I finally got organised to head up into the Himalaya for a bit of a walk. I had met a friend of a friend (Rami) who was a trekking guide & we decided to do 10 days, hiking up to the Base Camp in the Annapurna Sanctuary (4130m!!), then coming back via some natural hot pools :) Julie & her Dad were heading off on the same day on almost the same route, so we started off together. And damn i was excited!! I may have overdone the stupid grin and general excitement a bit, cos I got the nickname of 'tickle-me-Elmo' thanks to Julie. But I can live with that :)

The trail didnt take us straight into waist deep snow or anything unfortunately. But we did get to walk by some beautiful clear rivers, through different forests and up & down a few too many stairs. I think its impossible to describe it in few paragraphs really - you just have to do it yourself! But il try to give you a taste....

The skies had been very grey for the first couple of days, but that all changed as we got higher... We arrived for lunch at the Machapuchhre base camp (at a similar altitude to the summit of Mt Cook!) and I was amazed by how close we were to the west face of Machapuchhre (literally 'fish-tail'). It seemed to reach up & up into the sky, like Jack's giant beanstalk. A few puffs of cloud were brushing by its slopes, just to give the mountain an air of mystery and majic.

After another couple of hours slowly making our way uphill through the mist and past a deserted shepherds hut, we found our goal - Annapurna Base Camp (ABC), at 4,130m. Higher than anywhere in NZ!! And the surrounding montains still towered 3 or more km above us! Its just wierd. But defintely worth the 4 days of slogging away step after step :)

Dawn at the ABC was without a doubt one of the best shows that nature could possibly put on! Perfect clear skies slowly transforming from starlit black to cool, clean blue, with the cresent moon staying on to see what was happenning too. Every way we looked there were massive snowy peaks, slowly being illuminated with bands of orange light as the lazy old sun sneaked up and poured golden light down into our valley.
Of course all the tourists (including me!) were busy ooohing and aaaahing and snapping photos of everything that glowed.

It was very sad to head back down the trail after that spectacular dawn show. I felt like I was leaving one of my favourite places before I had a chance to get to know it properly. I'll just have to go back I guess :)

The next few dawns brought us different scenes of Himalayan peaks flecked with clouds and towering above the nearer green slopes and valleys. On day 9 we started stupidly early (before 5am), to get up to the top of a nearby hill (Poon Hill, ~3,100m) which commanded another spectacular view of the Annapurna range and also Daulgiri (8km+) and his neighbours. We were actually the first ones to the peak of the hill, after the industrious tea-stallers of course. But at least it was a bit warmer there than the sub-zero dawn at ABC :)
The show was again amazing, but different because of the kms of empty space that separated us from the peaks, compared to the intimidating closeness at ABC. Theres a few photos online here

By early that afternoon we had made it down the 2 million steps to get to Tatopani (literally 'hot water'). It was a very well-deserved rest i think, after 9 days clambering around some of the most beautiful landscapes on the earth. And the glacial river right next to the hot pools was great to dip in when the heat got a bit too much :) Very good for tired legs and shoulders I think :)

Heading back into Pokhara was quite depressing and boring after all that. But my visit to the Annapurnas is just on hold, I'll be back before too long.... Who wants to come with me?

Loafing round Lumbini

brentoc — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 13:00:00 GMT

I just spent a few days in Lumbini - the birthplace of Buddha around 2500 years ago, according to the Buddhist history. The central temple marking the exact site is quite simple, and surrounded by ruins from the original temple built on the site.
The most visualy impressive part of the park here was the giant tree next to the sacred pool - a replica, i guess, of what it might've been like when Buddha's mother visited here?
There were quite a few other pilgrims around, mostly Nepalis and people from neighbourng Buddhist nations. It was a bit strange to see an orange-robed old monk from Sri Lanka walking around with his digital video camera in hand. But then I didnt feel so bad to be snapping a few photos myself :)

It was nice & cool under the giant old tree too, so i sat with David for a while & played another game of chess in our series. We failed to recieve any great inspiration from our mental efforts beneath the tree tho, so no emulating Lord Buddha's enlightenment just yet...

There's also about 10 more temples and monasteries within a couple of km of the main temple too, each supported by different nations' Buddhists and supposedly designed in a corresponding style. The 'German' temple didnt seem very German to me, but it was probably the most impressive of them all. Every surface was covered in paintings of Buddha & his followers in different settings, or various nature scenes, representing the peacefulness of coexisting with nature :) There were also 4 giant golden prayer wheels outside the temple, which the devout (or curious) would turn in order to send their prayers to the heavens automatically. I gave the wheel a little spin too - it cant hurt can it??

The Vietmnese temple just down the road was still partially under construction, but we decided to hop over the gates to have a look around anyway. They were trying to create an alpine setting by building some snow-clad mountains either side of the stairs leading up to the main temple. It felt a bit like beng inside some new theme park that was as-yet unfinished. But I can imagine the tourists & pilgrims that visit a century or more from now will be amazed at the effort that went into building so many elaborate temples.

It also seems a bit ironic to have many millions of dollars invested in building temples, when the majority of the citizens of Nepal struggle to find a job or earn enough money to feed & educate their families.