(no subject)
On Friday the 25th, the bus left for Christchurch, which was a very long and very dull journey, and hardly worth mentioning. We stopped at a very pretty lake for lunch, and I met some of my fellow travellers, but otherwise nothing really happened. Christchurch was similarly quiet, though the hostel managed to effectively rouse my ire by making us wait half an hour in a queue and then giving me a key that didn't work twice. Otherwise it was alright, though I was dismayed to realise that a couple of the nicest people I'd met were leaving NZ the next day.
The trip to Kaikoura on Saturday the 26th was thankfully far less time consuming, and the stock of nice people was replenished by those starting their trips at Christchurch, so all was well. The hostel at Kaikoura was amusingly laid back; the reception was a guy with a clip board who spent most of his time lounging on the deck and flirting with young ladies. I didn't have much time to appreciate it then, however, as I and a couple of comrades left fairly promptly to go dolphin swimming.
That was amazing! Fortunately I didn't know until afterwards that the water was 400m deep, because I was struggling enough with not hyperventilating as it was, and freaking out whenever I saw a harmless jellyfish. (I do not like deep water.) But the only things that swam out of the dark green depths at me were dusky dolphins: we found a pod of them several hundred strong, and the boat dropped us in front of them to let them swim past us. We weren't allowed too touch them, but several came close enough that I could have if I wasn't obedient! Then we got back on the boat and watched them being very acrobatic - doing leaps and flips and back flips, and generally showing off. Very impressive to see.
After that I only got a couple of hours to recover before going seal swimming with JR (a very fun guy). This was organised by the hostel reception and one of his mates. We got to snorkel out from the beach to this little reef - past lots of cool seaweed and fish, and since I could see the bottom I was very cool with the jellyfish - where the seals like to play. Sometimes we saw them in the water, moving surprisingly fast, and when I looked up in shallow water, there was often one sitting there staring at me. One actually came about half a metre away, giving me very curious looks!
The next day, Sunday the 27th, was far less exciting, just being a trek up to Wellington. The ferry ride was fun, though; I went to see I am Legend with Johannes, in the on board cinema. It was very good! After that we caught up with JR, who took the alpine train instead of the bus, and we proceeded to the city. I didn't do much with the afternoon there, except to find out from River Valley that they have no room for more slaves. I'm rather disheartened about this, but perhaps it's for the best; since now my travels are over in time to attend the Family Day next Saturday.
Anyway! On Monday the 28th we left Wellington and moved up to Taupo. I didn't do much that evening, just went kayaking with JR (in a slightly better kayak than last time, so I hurt less afterwards.) On our way back to the hostel, though, we made an awesome discovery of a thermal pool right on the beach! It was kind of shallow, but a lovely temperature, and so we... I think the verb is probably 'wallowed' there for quite a while before wrenching ourselves away. I couldn't stay as long as I'd have liked because I needed an early night - I was doing the Tongariro Crossing the next day!
That started at 5 am - or, since I overslept, 5.20. I then flailed around frantically, getting ready to go. I got out front about a minute after I was told to meet the bus, and then had quarter of an hour's intense anxiety about whether I'd missed it before it finally showed up! The earlybird shuttle bus is pretty cool; they rent out all sorts of hiking equipment on the bus, so I was able to gratefully borrow a pair of hiking boots before beginning the trail.
It was really good! The Devil's Staircase was predictably hellish (when I hit the pancake-flat South Crater afterwards, I felt like I could fly across it) and climbing up the Red Ridge, all slidey underfoot, was almost as bad. Sadly that fell in one of the few cloudy patches of the day (and windy! Brr) and the coast-to-coast views were effectively obliterated. But the rest of the time the scenery was amazing - if rather like being on Mars some of the time! The Blue Lake and the Green Lakes were especially lovely - perhaps it was thanks to my gazing at them that I fell twice on the way down, twinging both my knees just a little.
I think the last section, through Ketetahi, was my favourite; not only was it consistently downhill, the view of Lake Taupo and the surrounding countryside went on forever. The only drawback was a peculiar breed of flying insects, who would periodically let out a loud and threatening buzzing noise and hurl themselves at my face, causing me to flap at them in a frenzied fashion that must have been most amusing to any onlookers.
I finished in under six hours, about eighth out of the very large group using the shuttle buses (note the smugness). This was actually a drawback, in fact, as I had to wait over an hour for the first bus to leave with some of the accumulating horde of people. If I'd known I had enough time, I would have done the side track to the summit of Mt Tongariro, too - though truthfully the 18.5 km track was plenty for me.
Thanks to the early start, I still had a fair amount of the afternoon free. Initially I'd planned to go windsurfing, but though U wasn't aching toooo much, I decided I was still too tired to risk it with my inexperience. Instead I went back to the hostel and collapsed for the rest of the day.
On Wednesday the 30th - today! - I found myself walking somewhat gingerly, but still I packed up my stuff, left my perishable supplies as a gift to other travellers, accepted the end (temporarily, at least) of my backpacking, and got on the bus to Auckland.
It was a very quiet journey, since JR had gone to Gisbourne and Johannes got off in Rotorua, but Matty, our driver, was very nice - even if he did accidentally leave two girls behind in Rotorua. (It was their own fault, anyway). In Auckland we went to the Kiwi Experience office, where I found (to my great woe) that they lacked the t-shirt I liked best in my size, and so to comfort myself I... may have purchased another hat. But in my defense it was cheaper than the t-shirts and will be useful when doing active things because it won't blow off.
Then I was dropped at Britomart, where I found my way to Heather's with an unprecedented minimum of helpless inefficiency, and here I am! I don't quite know what the future holds, but I'll keep people informed once I find out.
Farewell!
The trip to Kaikoura on Saturday the 26th was thankfully far less time consuming, and the stock of nice people was replenished by those starting their trips at Christchurch, so all was well. The hostel at Kaikoura was amusingly laid back; the reception was a guy with a clip board who spent most of his time lounging on the deck and flirting with young ladies. I didn't have much time to appreciate it then, however, as I and a couple of comrades left fairly promptly to go dolphin swimming.
That was amazing! Fortunately I didn't know until afterwards that the water was 400m deep, because I was struggling enough with not hyperventilating as it was, and freaking out whenever I saw a harmless jellyfish. (I do not like deep water.) But the only things that swam out of the dark green depths at me were dusky dolphins: we found a pod of them several hundred strong, and the boat dropped us in front of them to let them swim past us. We weren't allowed too touch them, but several came close enough that I could have if I wasn't obedient! Then we got back on the boat and watched them being very acrobatic - doing leaps and flips and back flips, and generally showing off. Very impressive to see.
After that I only got a couple of hours to recover before going seal swimming with JR (a very fun guy). This was organised by the hostel reception and one of his mates. We got to snorkel out from the beach to this little reef - past lots of cool seaweed and fish, and since I could see the bottom I was very cool with the jellyfish - where the seals like to play. Sometimes we saw them in the water, moving surprisingly fast, and when I looked up in shallow water, there was often one sitting there staring at me. One actually came about half a metre away, giving me very curious looks!
The next day, Sunday the 27th, was far less exciting, just being a trek up to Wellington. The ferry ride was fun, though; I went to see I am Legend with Johannes, in the on board cinema. It was very good! After that we caught up with JR, who took the alpine train instead of the bus, and we proceeded to the city. I didn't do much with the afternoon there, except to find out from River Valley that they have no room for more slaves. I'm rather disheartened about this, but perhaps it's for the best; since now my travels are over in time to attend the Family Day next Saturday.
Anyway! On Monday the 28th we left Wellington and moved up to Taupo. I didn't do much that evening, just went kayaking with JR (in a slightly better kayak than last time, so I hurt less afterwards.) On our way back to the hostel, though, we made an awesome discovery of a thermal pool right on the beach! It was kind of shallow, but a lovely temperature, and so we... I think the verb is probably 'wallowed' there for quite a while before wrenching ourselves away. I couldn't stay as long as I'd have liked because I needed an early night - I was doing the Tongariro Crossing the next day!
That started at 5 am - or, since I overslept, 5.20. I then flailed around frantically, getting ready to go. I got out front about a minute after I was told to meet the bus, and then had quarter of an hour's intense anxiety about whether I'd missed it before it finally showed up! The earlybird shuttle bus is pretty cool; they rent out all sorts of hiking equipment on the bus, so I was able to gratefully borrow a pair of hiking boots before beginning the trail.
It was really good! The Devil's Staircase was predictably hellish (when I hit the pancake-flat South Crater afterwards, I felt like I could fly across it) and climbing up the Red Ridge, all slidey underfoot, was almost as bad. Sadly that fell in one of the few cloudy patches of the day (and windy! Brr) and the coast-to-coast views were effectively obliterated. But the rest of the time the scenery was amazing - if rather like being on Mars some of the time! The Blue Lake and the Green Lakes were especially lovely - perhaps it was thanks to my gazing at them that I fell twice on the way down, twinging both my knees just a little.
I think the last section, through Ketetahi, was my favourite; not only was it consistently downhill, the view of Lake Taupo and the surrounding countryside went on forever. The only drawback was a peculiar breed of flying insects, who would periodically let out a loud and threatening buzzing noise and hurl themselves at my face, causing me to flap at them in a frenzied fashion that must have been most amusing to any onlookers.
I finished in under six hours, about eighth out of the very large group using the shuttle buses (note the smugness). This was actually a drawback, in fact, as I had to wait over an hour for the first bus to leave with some of the accumulating horde of people. If I'd known I had enough time, I would have done the side track to the summit of Mt Tongariro, too - though truthfully the 18.5 km track was plenty for me.
Thanks to the early start, I still had a fair amount of the afternoon free. Initially I'd planned to go windsurfing, but though U wasn't aching toooo much, I decided I was still too tired to risk it with my inexperience. Instead I went back to the hostel and collapsed for the rest of the day.
On Wednesday the 30th - today! - I found myself walking somewhat gingerly, but still I packed up my stuff, left my perishable supplies as a gift to other travellers, accepted the end (temporarily, at least) of my backpacking, and got on the bus to Auckland.
It was a very quiet journey, since JR had gone to Gisbourne and Johannes got off in Rotorua, but Matty, our driver, was very nice - even if he did accidentally leave two girls behind in Rotorua. (It was their own fault, anyway). In Auckland we went to the Kiwi Experience office, where I found (to my great woe) that they lacked the t-shirt I liked best in my size, and so to comfort myself I... may have purchased another hat. But in my defense it was cheaper than the t-shirts and will be useful when doing active things because it won't blow off.
Then I was dropped at Britomart, where I found my way to Heather's with an unprecedented minimum of helpless inefficiency, and here I am! I don't quite know what the future holds, but I'll keep people informed once I find out.
Farewell!