January 18th: Bus Otaki to Paraparaunu Beach
We took a bus out of Otaki Township back to the TA at Paraparaunu Beach (I dare you to try and sound that one out) Stopping for the night to stay at the historical Barnicle Inn. Our room had this photograph of the hotel in the early 1900's...not much has changed.
January 19th: Priorua Beach to Camp Eldson
We said goodbye to the Barnacle Inn and walked down the beach, finally back on the TA. Compared to our experience on the beach yesterday conditions had changed to being quite stormy . At least it wasn't raining, just very windy and cloudy which didn't stop people from swimming and fishing on the beach. As cody pointed out "the winters here must be rough if people are willing to swim in this horrible weather". Both of us have determined that we could not live in New Zealand for a number of reasons; but winter here definatly would be top of the list. We walked down the beach for about 2 hours; then the tide really started coming in forcing us to walk on the soft sand, which is not very fun with heavy packs. We heard from a local that we had some sand dunes coming up; we already knew what walking in sand dunes with heavy packs is awefully frustrating so we opted to start walking on the road. We bailed on to the nearest hwy and immediately got a hitch to the next beach. Wanting to stay close to the trailhead we stayed at Camp Eldson, which should be named camped Smelldsons, or some other horrible name.
The weather looked as if it was going to be a little wet so we had booked a room in their "lodge". The "lodge" closely resembled a jail cell; an overpriced jail cell. The surrounding area wasn't much better so we traded a dead bolt and some peace of mind for an obvious rip off. At least staying in a dump would motivate us to get on the trail early. As if to set the jail mood, that night I had a minor run in with a Maori family while I was making dinner. They thought it would be fun to bully the lone American tourist. Funny how all of that stopped as soon as Cody entered the kitchen. Having a guy around can be pretty useful.
January 20th-23rd: Wellington to the South Island!
That morning we walked some of the prettier sections of the track, then hitched and bused the rest of the way into Wellington.
We finally made it! One island over and done with and the next one was just a short boat ride away!
We stayed at the YHA-which was awesome! They took our low carbon discount which made the room relatively cheap for NZ standards(63$ per night split between two people) This also happened to be the fanciest YHA we'd ever stayed at so future TA hikers should take note. Literally every TA hiker that was on the trail near us stayed at the YHA with us for those few days. We met some new faces and hung out with the old gang as well.
Here are some of the highlights that we did while in Wellington.
We went to the Te Papa museum-which was free. We spent 4 hours running around which made our visit totally worth every penny and then some ;)
Giant Moa!
Giant whale heart!
Giant whale skeleton!
Interesting display of marine skeletons
We walked down Cuba street which is their main street for day and night life
We ate overpriced Mexican with some of our friends from the trail. Chips and salsa were very limited and we had to pay $4 or 3 extra tortillas. The wait staff made a mistake and brought us 6 so I guess we won in the end. Or at least that's what I like to tell myself. All in all it was good Mexican but the service was so deplorable, and portions so small, that it soured the experience.
But we all had fun anyways!
We headed out to the South Island on NZ's largest ferry company the Inter Islander. The ship was a lot bigger than expected. More of a cruz ship than ferry.
Inside we had access to gambling, cafeteria, television, and expensive internet...I did none of these things as I was glued to the floor debilitated by sea sickness.
Cody was using my hair as an eye mask
After a few hours we finally docked in Picton; a very ritzy and artsy little beach town. Boat ride #1 down!
Now onto the smaller and more fun ride up to the start of the Queen Charlotte track with Beach Comber ferries.
Smelly TA packs all in one corner of the boat
We took a bus out of Otaki Township back to the TA at Paraparaunu Beach (I dare you to try and sound that one out) Stopping for the night to stay at the historical Barnicle Inn. Our room had this photograph of the hotel in the early 1900's...not much has changed.
Only in New Zealand: Tractors pulling boats
January 19th: Priorua Beach to Camp Eldson
We said goodbye to the Barnacle Inn and walked down the beach, finally back on the TA. Compared to our experience on the beach yesterday conditions had changed to being quite stormy . At least it wasn't raining, just very windy and cloudy which didn't stop people from swimming and fishing on the beach. As cody pointed out "the winters here must be rough if people are willing to swim in this horrible weather". Both of us have determined that we could not live in New Zealand for a number of reasons; but winter here definatly would be top of the list. We walked down the beach for about 2 hours; then the tide really started coming in forcing us to walk on the soft sand, which is not very fun with heavy packs. We heard from a local that we had some sand dunes coming up; we already knew what walking in sand dunes with heavy packs is awefully frustrating so we opted to start walking on the road. We bailed on to the nearest hwy and immediately got a hitch to the next beach. Wanting to stay close to the trailhead we stayed at Camp Eldson, which should be named camped Smelldsons, or some other horrible name.
The weather looked as if it was going to be a little wet so we had booked a room in their "lodge". The "lodge" closely resembled a jail cell; an overpriced jail cell. The surrounding area wasn't much better so we traded a dead bolt and some peace of mind for an obvious rip off. At least staying in a dump would motivate us to get on the trail early. As if to set the jail mood, that night I had a minor run in with a Maori family while I was making dinner. They thought it would be fun to bully the lone American tourist. Funny how all of that stopped as soon as Cody entered the kitchen. Having a guy around can be pretty useful.
January 20th-23rd: Wellington to the South Island!
That morning we walked some of the prettier sections of the track, then hitched and bused the rest of the way into Wellington.
We finally made it! One island over and done with and the next one was just a short boat ride away!
We stayed at the YHA-which was awesome! They took our low carbon discount which made the room relatively cheap for NZ standards(63$ per night split between two people) This also happened to be the fanciest YHA we'd ever stayed at so future TA hikers should take note. Literally every TA hiker that was on the trail near us stayed at the YHA with us for those few days. We met some new faces and hung out with the old gang as well.
Here are some of the highlights that we did while in Wellington.
We went to the Te Papa museum-which was free. We spent 4 hours running around which made our visit totally worth every penny and then some ;)
Giant Moa!
Giant whale heart!
Giant whale skeleton!
Interesting display of marine skeletons
We walked down Cuba street which is their main street for day and night life
We ate overpriced Mexican with some of our friends from the trail. Chips and salsa were very limited and we had to pay $4 or 3 extra tortillas. The wait staff made a mistake and brought us 6 so I guess we won in the end. Or at least that's what I like to tell myself. All in all it was good Mexican but the service was so deplorable, and portions so small, that it soured the experience.
But we all had fun anyways!
We headed out to the South Island on NZ's largest ferry company the Inter Islander. The ship was a lot bigger than expected. More of a cruz ship than ferry.
Inside we had access to gambling, cafeteria, television, and expensive internet...I did none of these things as I was glued to the floor debilitated by sea sickness.
After a few hours we finally docked in Picton; a very ritzy and artsy little beach town. Boat ride #1 down!
view of the Inter Islander
Now onto the smaller and more fun ride up to the start of the Queen Charlotte track with Beach Comber ferries.
Happy I'm not seasick
Our next ride was less direct but a lot more fun. We zipped all around the Sound "in geography a sound is a large sea or ocean inlet larger than a bay, deeper than a bight, and wider than a fjord; or a narrow sea or ocean channel between two bodies of land"
Beach Comber ferries was also the mail delivery for the remote houses of the Sound. All the tourists would clamber to the side of the boat (myself included) to get a photograph of the skipper handing off a bag of mail to its recipient. I've never been more fascinated with mail delivery than I was on that ferry.
The place we were dropped off was also Captain Cooks favorite hangout spot.
For those who are unfamiliar, Captain Cook is credited with discovering and charting all of New Zealands coasts (although the dutch actually discovered New Zealand). But Cook put NZ on the map and blew the popular undiscovered super continent theory out of the water. Cook is also known to be a genius and the best sea navigator that ever lived (or so I'm told)
Interesting fact: the local tribesman of the island ended up killing and eating a few of the sailors of Captain Cooks sister ship-Yummy! That still didn't stop Cook from having good relations with the local people and returning to the New Zealand several times in the years after his initial discovery.
We also discovered what Weka were immediately after leaving the boat. Anything shiny or edible had to be put it in the packs
The trail we walked up was trap central! NZ has a serious rodent problem! Never have I appreciated snakes, hawks, cats, and any other animal that take care of our pest control back home. With no predators around New Zealand is for lack of a better word screwed.
Our campsite for the night was in a quiet little bay with sailing boats moored just off shore.
We camped with our new TA hiker friends Serina (Canada), PJ (Norway), Patrick (USA), and Eef (Belgium).
One really fascinating thing about the trail is that it attracts people from all over the world. For instance our old TA group had people from Britain, Israel, USA, and Scotland. I've never had access to so many people from vastly different parts of the world. This has been a very special and enlightening experience for me.
Going to close the Blog for now, Cody and I have been doing very well. As most of you know his knee problems were pretty severe before this trail so he's had to wear two heavy duty knee braces while hiking on the steep/rough trails of the Te Araroa.
It was a bit of a gamble because there was no way to prepare for how muddy, rooted, and steep the terrain actually is on the North Island. Thankfully he's been doing brilliantly and hasn't experienced any knee problems. Taking on a hike like this with his background requires a lot of courage, I know his folks are very proud; as am I to see him come this far. Looking forward to the South Island which has been rumored to be less muddy and more beautiful. So far the trail has proved both of these truths. We'll see what the future holds for us. Thank you to everyone who is reading this blog, it has been a lot of work to keep it up but it's worth it knowing that there are a few people who visit it from time to time.
Thanks for continuing to post and share a bit of your adventures, Jaz! I hope your time on the South Island brings you more good memories, nice people, mild weather, and stunning views.
ReplyDeleteLove from DC,
Elisabeth Perry
:) thanks for appreciating it. So far we've been getting mild weather (for NZ) I hope it continues to play nice
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