Fall Catches Us
From Down Unda in North Island, New Zealand on Apr 30 '08
The Silence is deafening. We are currently in Brisbane Australia and have been for a couple of days, and I still can't bring myself to update the blog properly. Mostly this is because one of my clients caught up to me and I have actually been WORKING! Terrible! But duty calls, and we had a Mac, Photoshop and Internet so I couldn't bring myself to say, "piss off".
The other problem is that the North Island left us chilled to the bone, weary of the ultra rural New Zealand countryside and generally feeling jaded concerning the Finest Two Islands in the Extreme South Pacific in the World. A title I have just invented for them but I think the Kiwis would appreciate. I will return to this and the South Island update soon with Magda's pictures, as soon as we can, but I wanted to check in and make sure everyone knows we are doing just fine, just not doing anything especially interesting. Which I think is my main critizism with the beautiful isles of En-Zed (NZ) in late autumn. A bit too cold to do much.
Despite the fact that were finally ran into nasty weather and our eight month summer turned sourly to fall almost over night. there were some really lovely things to see on the (or as the Kiwis say, "in the") North Island. And so, The Ian and Magda Travel Association of America and Polska present to you the final installment of Great Moments in New Zealand, "The North Island Edition":
Wellington
We arrived on a windblown ferry in Wellington on the 31st of April. We were met at the ferry by our CouchSurfing hosts who had agreed to meet us wearing 'brightly colored hats'. Sure enough as we left the ferry there stood a man who looked slightly like my step brother Peri wearing a gaudy multi-hued cap. His name was Daniel, and along with his wife they have fled the US in search of a government that they can in good faith pay their taxes to. As I do with all ex-pats, I pressed them for their reasons for leaving and they responded with great thoughtfulness and sincerity. Obviously their thoughts on the matter were complex, so to try and simplify they said they could sum up their criticism of America with one word: Entitlement. I thought that was pretty clear. In further discussions (in most of which I felt well out of my intellectual depth) Daniel proposed that it wasn't Why they left America that was the question, but why they Wouldn't have. It was a troubling statement and one that got me thinking, but I'll save my thoughts for another, more political blog. That said I did finally satisfy myself with a cheeky answer but kept it to myself and let the matter drop as to not seem ungrateful for their hospitality. And it was hospitible. Despite the unanswered question left floating, we felt welcome and warm, and they graciously ferried us around the city or to the nearest train station since we were once again without a car. Their home is warm and well situated on a hill overlooking Wellington on the right and a town call "The Hutt" on the left. When storms come in, as happened as soon as we arrived, they are lashed by wind and rain, making the warmth of their little hearth that much more cozy. Wellington itself is a great little city. First class museums and transit, good affordable food, and plenty of interesting stores to poke around in. The biggest and best museum is the Te Papa Museum downtown which is filled with Maori artifacts, well designed exhibits of New Zealand geology and environment and a very good history of all the people of the country, but primarily the amazing stories behind the arrival of the Maori people to Aotororea. It also holds, in a tiny chamber hidden from light and traffic, the feather coat and hat given to Captain Cook by the King of Hawaii at their first meeting. Not where I would have guessed that would have shown up, if I'd known it existed. We met up with another ex-pat who works as a video game developer and photographer. He and Magda had met while discussing large format cameras online (shocking!) and we met for lunch during our first day in the city. He had an excellent energy and we talked about travel, photoshop and photography for much longer than he could spare to be away from work. We were all very glad to have met and I didn't even mind sitting through the numbing details concerning photographic equipment, apatures and archival printing. In fact I even threw in my two cents here and there which is about twice what it is worth.
Wanganui
Long ago Magda made friends with an Oregonian, in Begium, who she has thankfully stayed in contact with. Apparently not finding Oregon 'Oregony' enough for her, she moved to New Zealand a few years ago, shacked up with a bloke and had a baby. Alissa, Trent and litte baby Chace :) all live in this funny-ly named town on the west coast of the North Island. We stayed with them for several days and then either their extreme generosity, or the crowded house, led them to offer their car to us so we could have some more freedom roaming around the country. Probably their generosity. We didn't do much while we stayed with them other than exploring the city and visiting the chilly local beach, but we did appreciate the home-like environment where we could vegitate, watch some ridiculous American reality TV, drink a goodly amount of beer and play with Chace who has a sparkling baby personality and a laugh like Woody Woodpecker which never failed to amuse. When we left them we headed North in their spare car and headed up the Wanganui River which was a curling, twisting road that headed into the bush.
Mt Ruapehu
After twisiting up the river, passing miniature little towns and Maori Marais along the way we made it to the slopes of Mt. Ruapehu. This and its sister mountain Tongariro are two of the most extraordinary sights in the North Island, if you could see them through the dense cloud cover. Which we couldn't. As we approached the lodge area at Whakapapa Village the driving rain that we'd been splashing through turned icy, and up ahead the passes were being closed due to snow, probably for the winter. It was miserable. Fortunately we found a cozy room at a backpackers call the "Skotel" complete with a heater (rare for NZ) and a roaring fire in the bar. We spent the evening warming up and reading and drinking more beer while the rain and wind crashed against the pane glass windows you can usually see the mountain out of. It was cozy and quiet and I nice way to spend a wintery evening, had it been winter.
Lake Taupo
We reconnected with our Israeli friends the Milford Trak in Lake Taupo, or, next to lake Taupo, New Zealand's largest lake. The whole Lake Taupo district is a massive volcano crater and is pockmarked by thermal vents, hot springs and boiling mud puddles. We had a fine time with the Israelis going to 'Craters of the Moon' in the driving rain and fog. Something about the eerie steam coming from the dry craters and the low clouds made for a very atmospheric afternoon, but by the time we were through we were all a little chilly and damp. We met up later for beer pizza and movies on their laptop back at the common room at their campground.
In the morning the weather had cleared somewhat, though the mountains were still invisible, and we contemplated bungee jumping for the last time, finally turning tail and fleeing after watching one British girl bail out at the last second and her friend dangle lifelessly like a broken marionette after plunging off of the high platform. It didn't really seem like a smart way to spend our money.
We instead invested in a cruise on a sailboat that usually held about 20 people but luck was with us and we were the only ones that signed up for that day. We had the 40 foot yacht to ourselves and the captain took us out to see Maori carvings that were inexplicably accessable only by boat. They were also craved in the seventies. They were actually worth seeing though, large detailed carvings done in the same style that had been reserved previously only for wood. Like I say, they were fine, but the private boat ride, sails full as we headed back to Taupo, was priceless. Included in the priceless price was an entry to the thermal spa in the area, so, slightly chilled from two hours on the lake we headed there to warm up. The hotsprings were fine but the main attraction was a thermally heated water slide in the shape of a dragon. It was thirty seconds of fun that ended each time by entering a dark tunnel that suddenly sharply turned several times, battering one's self against the sides and then spitting you out into a frothy warm pool like a chewed piece of gum. By the 10th time I staggered out and limped up the stairs, bruises were starting to form on my legs and feet. It was excellent.
We left Taupo the next day, pleased with what we'd accomplished there. We'd had a great time without spending too much money and sort of expected more of the same at Lake Rotorua, the most famous of the North Island vacation spots. Our first stop there was a Maori village built on a collection of thermal vents and pools. This is probably the last 'living' village in New Zealand as it has proven over the past hundred years to be a very good tourist draw. That said, it was pretty clear it was only still existing for our benifit, but was thankfully devoid of Maori people dressed in fake traditional garb pretending like that was how they were living. Instead it was a small collection of pretty victorian houses with a cafe, garages, and a meeting hall where they held a fine welcoming celebration. Two times a day. We were welcomed twice. We also took a tour of the hot springs that the village still use to cook their food and bathe in. It was pretty interesting to see how much the vents and boiling pools are still used in their daily life, unless she was pulling our legs. Our guide kept refering to us as her 'family' which came across as pretty lame. If we were family surely we'd be invited up to the porch for a few beers and a barbeque like the other people in the village were doing as our big group of white tourists tromped around.
Other than that Rotorua was a bit dull. I think you can have fun there for a price, but not too much fun or you'd go broke. We did Couchsurf with a very kind couple who live on a farm outside of town. We could pet the sheep and the cows and horse were all very friendly. We went for short walks, but the impending rain stopped us from doing anything too adventurous. We took a short white water rafting trip which included a large waterfall that they convinced us was quite dangerous, but apart from the fall (which was quite dangerous) it was a pretty sedate ride. At the end of the trip I asked the guide (who encouraged questions) what the best things to do in Rotorua for free were. Suddenly everyone was very quiet. It was a long drive home as he thought about it.
We returned the car to Wanganui, said goodbye to our friends there and hopped on a bus North to Auckland. As we passed Mt. Ruapehu it was still shrouded in fog. On the way down from the mountians, our bus caught fire. Amazingly, nothing like this had happened to us in any of the thrid world countries we'd visited. But suddenly, there in New Zealand, we were herded off the bus as the bus driver examines the smoking brakes. We watied long enough for another bus to come along, and we all got on board that. For some reason the two drivers insisted we leave our bags on the first bus, the one that was clearly in trouble, and we followed in a slow caravan, trying to make it to the next town. At a certain point there was a loud bang, as the newly lit fire blew out a tire and our little bus caraven ground to a halt. This time, flames were visible from the outside of the bus and the driver sat on the side of the road with his head in his hands, clearly shaken. The fire department came, the police closed off the street, the bus was hosed down (thankfully after we insisted on taking our bags back) and the whole tiny town came out to watch the fun.
Once we got there, Auckland was an okay little town. The biggest in NZ. We stayed with friends of friends and had a very good time with them. We took a three day trip up the coast (in a car we'd managed to rent for $20 for the entire three days) and saw the Northeren tip of the North Island. Quite beautiful, but a little dull. We couchsurded again in the little town of Whangarei and again were treated to warm hospitality.
Finally, we returned to Auckland, spent one last night with our new friends, and then woke up at 4 in the morning to drive to the airport to catch a plane to Australia. It was a very cold morning, and we were looking forward to Brisbane.
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