Round Trip

We made it! Although our trip has not yet concluded, we have returned to Kaikoura, which was our southernmost stopover on the west coast about a month and a half ago. We have now completed a circuit of both the North and South islands. We celebrated with pizza and cider and a hot tub at our hostel with a few of our Magic co-riders. The hop-on, hop-off system of Magic means you are with some people for long periods of time while other people pop back into your ride days or weeks later, which makes the friendships interesting. We took the time to share travel advice and swap stories, soaking up moonlit mountain ranges next to the sea. There is twice as much snow in the hills as the last time we were here.

Christchurch

No pictures today, the pain of this area does not need more sharing.  I have never before been through an earthquake zone, and although Christchurch is recovering with a nation’s hope behind it, the pain is eerily evident.  We did not go near the central business district, which is still cordoned off, nor did we stop, as tourists have been asked to vacate the city.  Still, even from a mile away, we could see tilted high-rise buildings in the town center.  We passed rows of evacuated shops, homes with holes in their roofs or missing walls, and strips of streetlamps all leaning at slight angles.  People are moving on with their lives, but the specter of disaster is still palpable, an echoing silence.  Our thoughts are with the people of Christchurch.  To donate to the recovery effort, click here.

High country church

I believe I mentioned it earlier, but one of our main reasons for coming to New Zealand was to skip a Northern Hemisphere winter in exchange for three summers in a row. I mention this because our next and breathtaking stop, was Tekapo, and it was freezing. Precisely one degree below zero celcius in the morning, on the bus. Diesel engines take a while to warm up. The cold was well worth the stop as we rolled through Mackenzie country, passing along the feet of the Southern Alps, Past the battlefields of Pelennor Fields (yes you read that right) and on towards the huge glacier blue lake Tekapo. Having traveled and lived a bit in Europe and the UK, I have a love of old stone churches, and a weak spot for tiny ones, but the church on the shore of Lake Tekapo has maybe the best location on the planet. Just check out the view from the Altar. Who cares if it was built to distract the remote sheep farmers from over tending their vulnerable flock, I’d sit in that church all day. Also, it took me a second to remember this, but the architecture of the church is someone unique. Sometime in the 50’s, most churches shifted their altars away from the back wall of the church; where pastors had originally performed most rites facing the cross, they now faced the congregation; Catholics could also now know what they were saying as they stopped using Latin. As this altar was built into the wall, it retained the old fashioned flair. The air was crisp and clear. There were just enough clouds to obscure the highest peaks, including Aoraki/Mt. Cook. The Maori name means “cloud piercer” as it often is the only peak that stands above cloud layers that cover the ranges. This mountain is considered the original ancestor, a creator god, and the Maori fought and won legal battles that ensure it must be first referred to as Aoraki and have pushed the climbing community to acknowledge the summit as Tapu, or sacred, and a place where people are not to stand. The whole are certainly makes an impact, and is one of the most scenic landscapes we have passed.

46 degrees South

 St. Joseph's (Catholic)

 St. Paul's (Anglican)

Welcome to Dunedin, also known as the Edinburgh of the south.  Liz and I had really been looking forward to this city for a number of reasons and had the good luck to stay a few days.  Firstly, the city is very Scottish, which is plus for us as we are both Scots at heart and by heritage.  The whole town felt very old world with its architecture and love of stone buildings; the resemblance to Edinburgh made it special for me as I used to live there and hold it close.  The churches here were amazingly beautiful and we visited and photographed several in architectural styles ranging from Flemish to gothic.  The Catholic cathedral was my favorite, and I made a point to stop in, look around and pray.  The interior of the Anglican cathedral was light and classic, while its apse had a modern design.  My love of stained glass aside, the atmosphere was also dominated by a huge pipe organ which turned out to be the largest in the southern hemisphere with four separate registers and over 3,000 pipes.  Imagine cleaning or repairing that!  Beyond the churches and stone everything, we took a long walk to find the botanical gardens, which are reputed to be among the best in the world.   

After wandering through more varieties of Rhododendrons than I knew existed, we arrived at a beautifully manicured pond with terraces overlooking the city, well laid out and signed rose garden (appeals to my Rose City nature) and an exquisite glass house.  An Arabica Coffee tree, Air Plants, Orchids and exotic blooms complemented a succulent room with bizarre cacti, many in flower, and absolutely massive aloe plants with aggressive looking spikes.  I’m new to the plant-loving thing, but this place was a real treat; we definitely felt the long walk was justified.  Our wanderings were also rewarded with an excellent art gallery containing a Monet alongside a Dutch painting from the 1300’s, and a pipe band accompanying a university graduation ceremony.  I have mentioned that the great part about Magic is that they make sure they hit all the interesting stops along the way, and our trip out of Dunedin was no exception, where we stopped long enough for a jaunt up the steepest street in the world, Baldwin Street.  Officially logged in the Guinness Book of World Records with a slope of 1:2.862, it makes for some interesting games with perspective.  After our short but trying walk, we were greeted back at the bus by one of its regular visitors who likes to come on board at this stop and say hi: a cat.  Apparently he likes to jump along the seat backs.  No word yet on whether he has made it full circle around the South Island, but he seems eager.

Otago Gold

Hopping over the Haast pass, we drove out of the rain clouds and into the mesmerizing labyrinth of alpine valleys that constitute the Otago region. The whole place is a system of glacial valleys, lakes long and deep and gorgeous mountain ranges everywhere. Absolutely everywhere. Our first stop for a few days was Wanaka, a small town that floods with skiers in the winter, but I think must be most beautiful now, in the fall. Vineyards in full color bordered sheep pasture while Maple and Oak shed their leaves around the skirt of the lake. Our walk along the shore led us to discover riparian zones that had just been planted. There along the trail was a sign and a barrel, saying the trees were thirsty and we should give them a drink! So we did, helping to encourage the buffer of nature between farms and lake. Riparian zones are an essential tool to keep fertilizer, pesticide and stock effluent from running directly into our waterways. The complex system of native plant roots, fungus and minerals soak up runoff and filter the heavy chemicals and poo water. Along our walk, we also discovered a beautiful, twisted tree growing out of the lake! Apparently this tree is famous and on our return to town we not only found many gorgeous photos of it in galleries, we were told it has its own facebook page (try as I may, I have not been able to verify this, although I know I want to be friends with this tree). Otago is home to beautiful wine and food as well as singular trees, and we particularly enjoyed the stop at a not so tiny Mrs. Jones’ Fruitstand. The ice-cream is made in front of you from fruit picked out back, you can buy fresh veggies in combo packs and the raspberry nougat is wicked tasty.

We are pretty grateful that Magic makes stops at little gems like this, but the funny thing is, some of these little stop offs are even visited by the regional bus routes. Go figure New Zealand. Can you imagine Greyhound stopping at a farmer’s market? Unlikely. We are now nestled for a night or two in Queenstown, arguably the adrenaline capital of the world. Although we are resisting the multiple ways to spend a lot of money for a quick thrill, there are plenty of opportunities to watch other people jump off of or ride down perfectly good bridges / hills / platforms in the sky. It feels intense just watching. Our Magic drivers always give us the low down on upcoming sights and adventure options; we even get discounts. As if we had the money anyhow. We opted for an affordable choice and took the gondola (one of the steepest in the world) up Mt. Bob, yes Mt. Bob, to get a grand view of the Remarkables mountain range. We also went to watch people luge in little plastic carts, unload mountain bikes from gondolas, parasailing on the lake, a coal-fired steamship in the distance and bungee jumpers leap or be thrown from a platform off a cliff –all at the same time. Welcome to Queenstown, it’s a crazy place, and that’s just the start.

Wet West

 

Our ride south has brought us to the small town of Hokitika, home of odd collections, ancient eels and one of New Zealand’s most iconic art mediums, Pounamu.  The sock museum and teapot collection were added bonuses, but what made us decide to stop and stay was the presence of the National Kiwi Centre, where we could be nearly assured of a seeing a live kiwi, or so we thought.  For those who have not visited New Zealand, I will share with you that the kiwi bird is not only rare but grumpy, sleepy and shy.  This seems to be true for kiwis in enclosures as well.  After looking into a darkened enclosure for about half an hour and a return trip, neither of the kiwis decided to wake up, even when poked by a friendly staff member.  So instead, we consoled ourselves by feeding the giant eels, some of which were said to be 130 years old.  That one they called Grandma, she had a hunchback.

 If you think the eels were old though, we also saw dinosaurs.  Real dinosaurs.  New Zealand’s only indigenous reptile is the Tuatara, which has not evolved in 150 million years.  To show this is true, they have a third eye, which is more like a light sensor, but still, how many animals can say that?  Hokitika’s other main draw was the famous greenstone, known as Pounamu.  Pounamu is a green nephrite stone, a kind of Jade; 80% of which is found within a 20 kilometer radius from Hokitika.  While this town was once a massive port for gold mining, the history and importance of the greenstone for Maori has a much deeper history, making this part of the west coast a significant area for trade and art.  Being one of the hardest materials to which the Maori had access, the stone was of great value and the finest tools, weapons and art were made from it.  

These were extremely valuable for family life, ceremony and trade.  Gift giving is an integral part of many aspects of New Zealand’s native culture, especially so when visiting neighboring iwi (tribes).  Items that were rare to a region were especially important gifts, be they food or material, thus Pounamu would have flowed from the south island to the far parts of the country, facilitating friendships far from its home.  The variety of its coloring and beauty of its sheen also have led to its becoming an art medium closely linked to New Zealand’s national identity.  We were amazed at its presence here, as every other shop housed masterful carvings and massive boulders of unfinished greenstone.  We also came because we heard it was so plentiful, you could find it on the beach, and although not the highest quality of samples, we struck it green.

On the Road, one last time

 Must be woodworkers about - Greymouth

So it's been nearly eight months of surf, sand and sun and the seasons down south are changing into late Fall.  This leads us towards the end of our journey as we're looking forward to our third summer in a row, and have finished working and are selling most of our large possessions.  Unfortunately, this includes our surfboards, wetsuits and beloved chariot Lucy.  She will be missed along with all her character.  We have run across a fantastic way to travel this country though, the delightful Magic Bus.  No it can't fly, but it will give you a lot of info on everything Kiwi on your way.  Honestly, I was skeptical at first, as other backpacker buses have garnered reputations for being parties on wheels that do not have much respect for the culture (one even having the colloquial name of 'the giant green f*** truck).  But the polite and informative nature of our driver and the opportunities to stop at many of the little out of the way sights along the way quickly won me over.  I am also very grateful to Magic for granting us discounted travel in exchange for blog links and photos, of which we are happy to provide.  So, its a whirlwind tour of the South Island starting with the wild west coast.  Yesterday: Pancake rocks, tomorrow, greenstone (Jade) hunting.  The limestone sea cliffs here have fantastic erosion patterns, in one location so striated as to look like stacks of flapjacks (American flapjacks, as that's a chewy granola bar over here).

The amazing scene at Punakaiki looks as if you're living in a landscape that was printed from a linoleum cut art piece and is made only more spectacular by the presence of giant blowholes!  Sea stacks, blowholes,  and giant sunken tidal sinkholes emerge out of a maze of tall flax plants, an eerie bass thud-whoosh drawing you towards the sandy limestone.  Although none of the blowholes were exploding that day, I realized this probably kept us dry as they were massive and although our viewing platform was 45 feet above the sea level, we looked at the postcards and saw spouts that were easily another 20 feet above where we had been standing.  We determined that the bass notes were coming from the undercut cliffs, when sea waves or sinkhole wash fills them up and launches out horizontally.  Even on a day without large tidal shifts, it was a spectacle.  Also, missing my board as the west coast has a ton of surf, even on an off day like today, you can see the potential in coves and along the vast beachy stretches.  I was also consoled by Weka, a native flightless bird that looks like a wild penguin chicken.  Lord knows I love quirky animals.

A Practical Approach...

...to changing your life, and maybe even just the world.

http://scienceblogs.com/casaubonsbook/2011/04/10_ways_to_go_seriously_green.php

Just ran across this and I thought it was very reasonable and reflects a lot of what I've been trying to enact in my own life.  Check it out.

Kaikoura Magic!

 
As I will be soon be returning to my beloved Portland, and since I have spent the last two months living surf starved in Nelson, it was high time for one last, good, surf-related road trip.  Unfortunately, the forcast was truly crap.  Undeterred by incoming rain and onshore winds, I steered the faithful surf campervan south to the legendary and gorgeous Kaikoura peninsula.   Kaikoura has a well deserved reputation as a surf and tourist hub.  The highway here hugs the coastline in and out of town, while gorgeous mountains loomed straight out of the surf.  I cannot describe how wonderful it is to drive with seal colonies on one side, lush hills on the other and sit in a line up staring at snow capped peaks in a sunset light.  This is the beauty of the place.  The town is small, but has lots of hiking and walking to do in town and nearby.  For those with more savings than us, this is also a hub of whale watching and dolphin swimming, so it really is a town where you shouldn't get bored.  As for me, I was looking for one last good surf and found it in a big way.  I already mentioned the view, but even with a shifty, small, somewhat onshore forecast, I pulled up to several small breaks, none of them working, until we parked on the side of the highway north of town and walked across the railway tracks to Mangamaunu.  The initial glance looked a bit junky but as I watched the solitary surfer out, I was amazed as he whipped his longboard through sharp turns for over 200 meters on a beautiful 4 foot point wave with a seemingly endless shoulder. 

Paradise found!  I ran back to the van and squeezed into my now battered suit not caring how many semi trucks drove by, I had to get out there.  I was rewarded by the longest rides of my entire trip, on waves from two to four feet in size.  Kaikoura is known for its point breaks and Mangamaunu (say that five times fast, or once for that matter) is a classic, with several sections and regularly reports rides of over 400 meters.  Over the two days I surfed there, I regularly saw the locals getting rides so long they would get out and walk back up the point.  Although I wasn't scoring rides that long, I put in my fair share of turns and got plenty of time to practice my cutbacks, including a truly fantastic head over heels dismount.  Two days of gorgeous views and waves, well worth the trip, I highly recommend stopping in for a few days if you're ever in this neck of the woods, even if you don't surf.  Although I find it easy to recommend this popular spot readily, I have long been struggling with an issue close to the heart of many surfers and I believe is extremely important to any surf writing, mainly, when to keep a spot secret.  If you have noticed a gap in my blog, it is because I spent a while in a fantastic surf region that is somewhat off the tourist map.  For me, it is in part so genuine and worthwhile because its not a tourist town, and I believe it is important it stay that way as long as possible.  If you come to New Zealand for surf or any travel really, you will not be disappointed and with a little effort, may find your own out of the way place.  So I will share a few stories from the past months that have yet to be included, but I may not include break names or even specify a region.  Each of us must keep up our own search, respect the locals and the effort that pioneered the breaks we arrive at, if we are to keep the magic of surf travel alive.

Like many surfers, I am a fan of the Endless Summer films, but the original holds special value.  To travel around the world and spread the joy of surf in a time when America was changing and foreign countries were really unknown landscapes to the average surfer is hands down amazing.  When I watched the film, one remote exotic location stood out to me and its gentle peeling point wave has been in my mind ever since.  I am not huge on the idea of conquests, and try to enjoy surfing and improving my water related abilities through fun more than goal setting, but I have always wanted to make it to Ahipara.  The draw of Shipwreck Bay was huge and as we aren't horribly likely to be on this side of the Pacific for a while, I got to fulfill a thirteen year old dream and surf the spot.  To get there, we had to visit the Far North, an area which has a reputation for being wild and even lawless.  Leaving your car unattended is mostly out of the question.  Given that this reputation had come from other surfers we had met who had their own possessions stolen, we were a bit nervous.  This is the backcountry, with high poverty, biker gangs and some tourist destinations that are a two hour drive from the nearest hospital.  Pulling off the highway, we quickly learned that the village was divided in two, with the local, mostly Maori population living somewhat separately from the stretch of vacant beach houses.  Even in such a famous surf spot, road sections were unpaved and steep, including a drive down a riverbed to get to the beach.  We parked, walked out and were greeted by the local pig, taking a stroll down the beach.  When we got down to the beach, we discovered that the waves were only about 2 feet tall.  No matter, they were beautiful!  Even at such a size, the point broke perfectly over a smooth sand bottom.  The ride was a miniature ball of cruizy fun and the tiny waves had a fantastic wall to sling across.  I wish I had an Alaia there at the time, it would have been a fantastic proving ground.  As the day's sets were sometimes far between, I had the opportunity to strike up a conversation with a true local, born and raised right on the hill above the break.  Jade is a local surfer, Maori and all around great guy.  Like many who live there, he lives off the land and sea, surfs as often as he can (he primarily stays over the sand bottom Shippies rather than rocks out of consideration for his young family, a choice I find honorable), and was truly hard.  Busted a hole in your knee?  Big ugly looking scar?  Why go to the hospital, it'll heal.  When he found out we were living out of our van, he didn't hesitate to invite us to stay in his yard and make use of his home.  We stayed for three days and had an amazing time.  Our host shared his quality life with us and made a hallowed, intimidating at first glance place grow into an area familiar and full of depth.  Before we left, we exchanged gifts from what we had with us, expressing our gratitude and our hope to have left a mark on each other.  As he had mentioned wanting to do more body surfing, I left him my first hand plane, and hope he enjoys it on the smaller days.  More than any time on this trip, I felt the spirit of the place I was in.  I am thankful for my host and his sharing with me the life of Tangata Whenua, the people of the land, with a great love for the place and the sea that that surrounds it.

Projects on the Go

Just because we're on the road, doesn't mean I can't get my hands stuck into a piece of wood and make some art, car improvements, etc.  Here's a few of the projects that have been keeping me busy on my trip around Aotearoa.

A few rainy weeks that drove me insane with lack of surf produced a decorative wooden spoon, with Maori style waves and a land/sea/sky creature known as a Manaia.  Pretty good for a pen knife project.

Here's a false headboard taking shape from driftwood, an endeavor to leave my artistic mark on our current colorful abode in Nelson (South Island).

It's not all wood- a snapped fin has been repurposed as decorative hood ornament.  Well roof ornament really, as this sucker is now epoxied to the roof of our full of character van, Lucy.  Yeah, that's not coming off any time soon.  Nor is that paint.

Alright, we did a lot to the beloved van, but we needed more storage space, so we made the dash into a small shelf.  While we have been here we have had a lot of success in keeping our projects green and affordable.  We sourced almost all of our materials from items we already had, scraps, found pieces and paints and tried to pay homage to the art of the land we are in.

Power to the Purchaser!

And we’re back with a quick post about responsible shopping.  Using the existing economic forces to show we care about our environment and social causes is one of the quickest and best ways to begin changing our world for the better.  I’m not saying things shouldn’t change on a large scale with the way capitalism is currently running, but while we’re doing that, lets utilize the positive side of what we already have.  For an example, I hate buying shoes, or spending time buying clothing of any sort really; I wear things into the ground as much out of laziness as I do because of frugality or a responsible lifestyle.  So when I must buy shoes, it makes sense that if I have to put in the effort, I should put in the effort to do it well.  My latest purchase is a from the Oboz brand, partially because they were on clearance (yay) and also because the company plants a tree for every shoe they sell (double yay).  Check out their in-depth ethics program here.  A while back I also received an excellent gift of Guyot Designs MicroBites Utensils from a family member.  Love of sporks aside, the gift would be well thought out for any conscious consumer as the small spork and spatu-knife set (which are light, handy and click together in a possibly postmodern spoon spooning? Anyhow) are actually carbon negative to the tune of 25 pounds CO2 through the company’s purchasing of carbon offsets.  This is in addition to using sustainable labor and a closed loop waste cycle.  While on the subject of gifts, I should mention that I am definitely a child of the suburbs, and as such have had a long love of Stuff.  Learning to live with less and avoid impulse buying and receiving has not been easy for me, but I have found joy in one great alternative: the gift of donation.  In either giving or receiving, donating to a good cause is a way to show you care for a person, a cause and avoid cluttering life with things we don’t really need.  You can send your loved ones a gift of carbon deposits, charity donation, or one of my personal favorites, purchasing livestock to assist families in the developing world through Heifer International.  Besides the fun of having your name attached to a goat in Africa, Heifer makes sure the recipient families know how to care for their stock/ flock and achieve increased independence and long-term financial improvement from your gift. Who said responsibility had to be boring?