From North Island Travel

We're back at the boat in Whangarei! Both of us along with Bob & Sue decided to make a run for it yesterday after realizing that the Easter holiday weekend crowds had already started. At first glance, everything appears to be in order, albeit a little dirty on deck. Faced with lots of work ahead of us and an abrupt halt to hiking & biking all over, we're focusing on the things we've missed so much these past 2 months. A nice, soft, bed rather than an air mattress, a big mug of real brewed coffee since we've gone the past 2 months on instant alone, our own shower where you don't have to wear sandals on your feet (or jandles as they call them here), comfortable places to sit, limitless internet in the comfort of our own boat rather than a parking lot and all of our stuff right here with us. We would typically do about 10 trips each back and forth between the van and the campground facilities each morning just to get ready. But what a trip it was and we had such a great time, plus learned a lot. I have a whole bunch of random thoughts that we've come up with during the past several months, our own version of Kiwi insight and when I get time to sit down for long enough, I'll put them together.

We did do the Tongariro Northern Circuit great walk in Tongariro National Park. We hiked it over 2 nights and 2 ½ days. It includes a sidetrack right up the side of Mt Doom from the Lord of The Rings. It turned out to be the best hike we've done in NZ and what a finale to wrap things up! We'd never been able to backpack in such a volcanically active area so it was unique, we had great weather, the landscape was interesting and beautiful. So many color hues of pinkish, purple, red, browns & tans, blues and grays, on rocks, plants & sky made the scenery jump out at you. Throughout the hike, you could smell the sulfur gas and in many places, you could see the steaming fumaroles and feel the warmth of the ground under your feet. Climbing up Mt Doom was really steep but the top was so crazy- no question you were standing on the cone of a volcano and then the trip down was a 25 minute semi-controlled slide down the scree which Jon loved. There's a popular day hike called the Tongariro Crossing that is partially closed after an eruption late last year but the circuit trail for backpackers, which crosses the same area, is still open. You're just not supposed to stop while you're hiking through that section. We didn't see any flying rock but got a chuckle out of the sign and the fact that backpackers are OK but day hikers are not. Both nights we camped in the campsites next to the huts and for this trail, we were allowed to use the huts for hanging out & cooking (the other "Great Walks" we did had the campsites separated from the huts and you weren't allowed in) so we got to know several people. One thing about this past 2 months is that we've gotten really used to meeting people from all over the world who come here to see NZ. And it's not uncommon to see the same people over again as we are traveling the same roads. I meant to mention previously that one day we were driving along NZ's very curvy, hilly roads and we see a pickup truck go by with a guy holding a stop sign out the window. We were wondering what this meant when we saw another pickup go by with a guy hanging OUT the window frantically waving a red stop sign. As we pondered this, we slowed down and pulled off the road just in case he was trying to tell us something and then this huge truck came barreling toward us with a WHOLE HOUSE on the trailer! It took up the entire road. I guess that's how they do it here!

From North Island Travel

On the second day of the Tongariro, we were hiking along an especially gorgeous part of trail when we met up with Karen & Falcon off the sailboat Beau Soleil! We met them years ago in Honduras, then crossed the Pacific with them this past year. It's fun to pop into people like that when you feel so far away. We caught 2 really beautiful sunsets which almost looked unreal and then a sunrise as well which isn't hard to do now since it doesn't rise until around 7:20. Not much of any wildlife but we're used to that now since there really isn't much of anything here aside from some really nice birds. And a lot of what there is like possums, bunnies, stoats & deer, they spray and trap to kill to protect what few "native" species they have like kiwis & other birds. It would seem like a futile battle and not good to be using so much poison all over and we have noticed varying opinions among Kiwi people so maybe things will change.

The day after we came back to the North island on the ferry, we toured around the capitol city of Wellington. It was a sparkly day and not too windy although Wellington is known as "windy Welly" since they get something like 200 days/year of wind over 30kts coming off Cook Strait. Not for me! We did a very informative tour of the Parliament House and were surprised to learn that NZ still has a Governor General appointed by the Queen of England who has the last say in government decisions. I felt like a little kid on that tour since it reminds me of childhood field trips to the capitol. We also spent hours in the well regarded Te Papa history museum. It's huge, very well done and free for all! The most interesting exhibit for me was one called Passports and it presented personal story after story of immigrants & refugees who'd been given the chance to come to NZ for a better life. It really brought home how lucky Jon & I are to have been born where we were and not in a country where squabbling politicians cause severe strife for the people of a society who are just trying to have a good life. People do seem pretty happy here in NZ.

From North Island Travel

And we spent the last 2 days of our trip with Bob & Sue since we made plans to meet up at a beautiful beachside campground in one of Auckland's coastal regional parks. It turned out to be one of the prettiest campgrounds we'd stayed at the whole trip because it was once an old farm so it had huge trees, lots of green space and hardly any people. An outdoor cold shower actually felt good in that scenery. Anywhere else & we would've been complaining. We stuck to our tradition of popping a "bottle of bubbly" as Sue calls it (sparkling wine is very reasonable in NZ) and had dinner with the full moon. The following day, the four of us headed into Auckland to meet up with Axel, a friend we met in Panama. He & his wife Liz are now living in Auckland. It was great to see him again and it made Auckland not feel so impersonal.

From North Island Travel

And then we came back to Town Basin. It's just as pleasant as we remembered it. But I have a feeling the incredible dry weather we've all enjoyed this summer is going to end soon and we'll be struggling to get our boat projects done in chilly, wet conditions. We'll see. Well, I never paid a lot of attention to the background scenery of the Lord Of the Rings previously, but now I have a new-found interest, having now climbed Mt Doom. So we'll pop up a big bowl of popcorn, sit back on comfy cushions and watch one tonight, choosing not to think about all the things we have to do. Just enjoy being comfortable for a spell.