I forgot I took pictures of the pleasant lakeside campground. It was a nice spot.
And I didn’t spend the night in my car this time – I have a tent now!
Category Archives: Travel
North, East, South
Having visited the Northern-most area of New Zealand (Cape Reinga), the East Cape for the easternmost, I figured to finish up my North Island experience with the southernmost spot on this part of New Zealand. An area called Cape Palliser.
Windy Welly
Wellington is the southern-most city of the North Island, and one of the major cities in New Zealand. It’s the political capital of the country, and it also claims to be the cultural capital. While I’m staying 50km north of the city in a sleepy little beachside town called Paraparaumu, I can’t miss out on the chance to go explore the capital a little bit.
I’ll have to update the sitename to ‘Years’
Look what Santa brought me this year!
So this time next year, I should be celebrating the holidays somewhere in Australia…well assuming a snake, shark, spider, crocodile, kangaroo, wallaby, dingo, koala bear, jellyfish or some dangerous animal hasn’t made an afternoon snack of me by then. 🙂
The Tongariro Northern Circuit Great Walk
A ‘Great Walk’ evokes quite a few images to me. Beautiful/stunning landscapes. Unique structures and things that will remain in your memories for years to come. Good huts/campsites. My first Great Walk was a bit underwhelming in those aspects. The Tongariro Northern Circuit on the other hand was THE definition of a Great Walk.
For this hike I wasn’t going by myself, I’d met up with another traveller, Sara, from Italy. We would be tackling the circuit in 3 days, 2 nights, as well as doing some of the optional paths along the way. An ambitious plan but both of us were used to hiking, Sara moreso than I. We’d start at Whakapapa and headed to Mangatepopo Hut (at just under 1200m elevation) for the first night, complete the Tongariro Crossing part of the circuit on the second day and push onwards to the Waihohonu Hut, and return to Whakapapa on the 3rd day. All told it would be about 45km of hiking without any detours, including a challenging 2nd day of over 20km and at minimum a 650m climb then descent. It didn’t work out quite that way – the 2nd day ended up being over 25km and 1100m climbing/descending.
We all have a bit to learn
There are several things that New Zealanders have as part of their life that really could enhance life in Canada if we adopted them. And the same can be said the other way. Here is what I’ve found so far.
Biding time
After a quick stop for a night in Napier I’m back in Taupo, waiting for the rains to clear. It’s rained now for 5 days straight – ever since I got here on Wednesday. I’m waiting because I want to do the Tongariro Circuit, and there isn’t much else left I want to do on the North Island anyways. So here I sit, waiting. Tuesday I should start hiking – I’ve already made my hut bookings for that day, based on a very favourable forecast next week. Naturally, that means lots of others have as well. I won’t be alone this time in a hut, they will likely be full when I make my stops for the night!
And so I wait. It’s Sunday here now, with a good forecast for weather tomorrow I should at least get some walking done tomorrow to get my legs ready for another 40+km of hiking.
The Lake Waikaremoana Great Walk
In New Zealand, a series of 9 walks stand above the rest in stature. They are classified as ‘Great Walks’, and are New Zealand’s pride and joy when it comes to hiking. All of them are multi-day treks, and one is actually a kayak/canoe trip instead of an actual walk. 3 are on the North Island, 5 are on the South Island, and the 9th is on New Zealand’s 3rd island, Stewart Island. I touched on one already, the Tongariro Northern Circuit, when I hiked to Tongariro Crossing – the Circuit incorporates the crossing as part of a 3-4 day hike. All that being said, my direction was east, not south, as I went to the oft forgotten Lake Waikaremoana track for my first multi-day hike.
