Picton

I took the Overlander Train to Wellington without mishap. Once in Wellington I took a city bus to the Cambridge Hotel. This was not quite straight forward but there were a few others there with me to figure it out. The Cambridge Hotel is a historic hotel converted to a backpacker. It seemed nice but I wasn't there for long. I arrived at around 8pm and took a shuttle to the Interislander Ferry the next morning at 7am.

The Ferry was huge. It holds something like 900 people and has 10 levels. The crossing to the South Island took around 3 hrs. I sat on the top open air observation deck most of the time. It was a bit chilly but I had plenty of layers so I was fine. It was another blue sky day. The scenery once we entered the Queen Charlotte Sounds was so pretty. I have some pictures but I am not able to upload them here at the Internet Cafe. Some stupid rule about not connecting anything to their computers.

The backpacker that I am staying in here in Picton is called the Sequoia Lodge. It is really nice. My room has an attached bathroom. Everynight they serve a chocolate dessert with ice cream FREE.

I arranged the final details for the Queen Charlotte Track. A company is going to transport my bags each day to my night's lodging. I only have to walk the Track which is between 14 and 23 km each day with a day pack. I will walk the Track in four days ( three nights - Dec 28-30). When I get off the Track I am heading to Nelson (Dec 1) and then on to Marahau (Abel Tasman) (Dec 2) .

This morning I did a warm up hike here in Picton and will finish preparing for the track later today.

I am not sure what the Internet situation will be in the near future. I will post when I can.

Happy Birthday Erica and Austin !

Ramblings as I wait for the train

It has occurred to me that this asthma/ cold/ allergies things may have an advantage. Last night I was showing Barbara, a German chick, I met on the hike my photos. She was commenting on how bad the smell was on one part of the hike. I hardly smelled anything. I guess that is a bonus.

I also realized that I forgot to mention the funniest thing I saw on the hike. I man pulling a woman up the steepest part using a long white pole (not a hiking pole). This was at the beginning of the walk. I have no idea if she finished.

Last night I went out to dinner and had that good spinach pumpkin burger. Then I asked for desert. This was at 7:30pm or so on Saturday night. The waitress said "No dessert the kitchen is closed. We ran out of food. The food delivery didn't come today". That was kind of funny.

There was a beautiful sunset last night. Check it out here

This morning I woke up to a blue sky day. I went for a hike out to the Mount Taranaki Lookout. The view was pretty good. There were nice views of Mount Ruapehu on the way back.

I am just wasting time until the train comes.

Tongariro Crossing

The weather report this AM was even better so I headed off at 6:15AM to do the Crossing. There was an option to start at 7:15 but since two girls in my room were doing the early bus so did I because I knew they would wake me anyway. The bus left a little late much to the disdain of a German guy. I was a bit worried that he and the late Brit were going to come to blows. I don't think the German guy knew or cared that the Brit and his 14 friends were the reason that there was a 6am bus. Normally there is only the 7:15.

The hike was simply amazing. The landscape was constantly changing. There was low alpine scrub, streams, waterfalls, sulfer springs, barren volcanic areas, and rainforest. The hike itself was challenging especially since I am suffering from asthma, cold and allergies. It was 18.5 km and gained something like 700m elevation. However, I took it slow and was generally fine. I met and chatted with several people along the way. However, it was not so crowded. I had several stretches where I was walking alone and didn't see others.

On one of the later (downhill) sections of the hike I came across a woman and a man. The woman was in obvious pain. I inquired about it to see if I could help. They said it was her knee. I offered her some Ibuprofe n but they said they had painkillers. I also offered some duct tape to strap it but they didn't want that either so I went on my way. Later at the Ketetahi Hut (the last major stop - approx 1.5 - 2hr from the end) I saw her being piggybacked down by another guy. Her boyfriend was looking for a hut warden/ ranger. There was none. I told him that there was cell phone reception there (the transport company had told me when I inquired about emergency situations). Long story short - he used his cell phone to have his girl friend evacuated off the mountain by helicopter. Interestingly enough he didn't go with her. He ended up on our bus back to get his campervan and meet her in Taupo at the hospital.

Photos from the day are at http://picasaweb.google.com/kris.olson.au/NationalParkAndTongariroCrossing

Tomorrow I leave for Wellington. I am planning on doing part of the Fisher Track before I go as my train is not until 1pm.

I may go for that pumpkin spinach burger again tonight.

The Overlander

The Overlander Train from Auckland to National Park was a good form of transportation for me. I like being able to stretch my legs. There was an observation platform that you can go to and look out - no windows. We crossed through some very pretty countryside on the way to National Park - lots of green rolling hills with sheep and cows grazing by streams. See a few photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/kris.olson.au/OverlanderAucklandToNationalPark

I walked to the National Park Backpacker. It was only 800m (uphill) but carrying all my stuff was a strain. When I got to where I thought it was I couldn't find it. I only saw the YHA. Turns out that the YHA and the backpacker are one and the same. I have not seen that before. The surprises don't end there. When I was shown to my room, they took me to the climbing hall. There were several recessed doors in the climbing area.


We went into one of these and that is where my room was. Very strange ! However, the place has excellent views of Mt Ruapehu. and Mt. Ngauruhoe (Mt Doom). It was clear when I arrived and both were visible.

I checked the weather report to help me make a decision as to whether or not to attempt the Tongariro Crossing. The weather report had previously been poor. However, it improved. I decided to try the Crossing. (If the weather looked bad in the AM I could get a full refund.)

For dinner I found a place that severed a pumpkin (squash) and spinach burger. VERY NICE !!

Day 3 - Rangitito Island

First excursion - Rangitito Island

I took a ferry out to Ranitito Island. It was quick trip - only 20 minutes. Once there I climbed to the top of the volcano. I think it was about 2 miles up. On the way I visited some lava caves. I brought my (weak) flash light and was able to walk through the caves. It was pretty cool and I only bumped my head a few times. They were much bigger than the caves in Vietnam and I could always see the light at the end of the tunnel. (ha, ha).

Views from the summit were nice. There was a very large group of school kids visiting at the same time as me. When I was walking around the crater, I noticed a boy all on his own. Later I saw a man and asked him if it was his son. He said no. So when I got back to the other side, I let the school know. Then I saved them from going down the wrong path. They were pretty happy they met me. A few minutes later a woman tells me she lost her son. It turns out that the boy I saw was hers not part of the school group. I told her where I last saw him and went on my way having done my good deeds for the day.

I traveled the road less travelled and went down a different way than I came up and walked the coastal track back. I have to say that this part of the day was not that appealing. It was hot because the black rock radiates the heat. I thought it would be a pretty coastal walk but it was really alot of walking over lava fields. I am glad I did it because it kind of gave me a feel for how I will feel hiking in terms of the ongoing coughing/ asthma. That is not great but bearable.

You can catch a couple photos from the day at http://picasaweb.google.com/kris.olson.au/RangititoIsland

Tomorrow I take the 7:30AM train south to the Tongariro National Park. I am not sure what my Internet access will be there. I will post again as soon as I can.

Day 2

Well I went to bed early last night and had one of the most restful nights sleep. I guess the asthma is SLOWLY clearing up.

Today I walked into downtown Auckland (not far a mile or two), bought my train/ferry pass and made my bookings for the next week or so on the train ferry. I leave the day after tomorrow for National Park to hopefully do the Tongariro Crossing. The current weather forecast for there is

Cloudy periods and a few showers. Fresh westerlies.
Freezing level around 3000 metres.

I will decide when I get there if I will do it depending on my asthma and the weather.

Today I also checked out the ferry to Rangitito Island. It is a volcanic island. I plan to head there tomorrow at 9:15am. The weather here today was good. I expect it will be a little hotter on the island as it tends to be warmer there. I plan to walk the summit and coast tracks. There should be a few photo op there.

After gathering all the information, I went to Foodtown and did a bit of shopping. From there I walked back up the hill to the backpackers where I am staying. I was glad to note that although there was some coughing. It was not too bad. I really think I am getting better. Yeah!!!

The rest of the day was spent confirming reservations, doing some hand laundry, visiting a French farmers market (overpriced) and resting.

That is all for now.

Travel to NZ

My trip to New Zealand has started out very well indeed. There was an empty seat on the plane next to me on the longer flight (10 hr) so I had a bit of room to stretch out. Transit in Fiji took FOREVER but once it was my turn there were no issues.

I got a shuttle from the Auckland Airport to the City Garden Lodge where I am staying. The only hitch (which I knew before I arrived) was that the Lodge was closed from 1-4. I arrived around 2:30. I walked around the area to acquaint myself and tried to get used to looking right when crossing the road instead of left. I have to readjust.

I found a ANZ bank here. I have an ANZ account in Australia but they said that if I withdraw money at the ATM I have to pay the International banking withdrawl fee. That seems pretty stupid as I am sure that ANZ stands for Australia New Zealand. Then I went to a Vodaphone store to check out cell phones. You can get a pretty cheap unlocked one but the cost to make a call is 89 cents per minute. Of course, incoming calls are free. I am feeling pretty cheap at the moment so I am going to hold off on buying one until I feel that I have a need for one.

The City Garden Lodge seems quite nice. Tomorrow I am going to make my ongoing travel arrangements and look into going out to a volcanic island for the day on Thursday.

Coughing/ asthma continues to be a problem but has definitely improved over the last week.

Hopefully, the next post will be more interesting.