Steaming pools and Sulfur smells

Waikato is riddled with this sort of thing; steam rising from the odd pool by the side of the road, mud pools etc.  The commercial ones (Craters of the Moon, Thermal Wonderland) are simply remarkable.  Nothing else (apart from a volcanic eruption or an earthquake) can convey how flimsy the earth's crust is and how different the world is on the inside.  A thin skin on the surface of custard perhaps.

...and sitting in a river that's as hot as a bath as it flows gently along is pretty surreal too...

Te Mata Peak, Napier, hats and art deco

The view from Te Mata Peak done as a panorama looking towards the Hawke's Bay vinyards.  This is a remarkable place to stand and see this part of the world.  Walk, cycle or drive to the top if in the area whatever you do.

To Napier which suffered an earthquake in 1931 and chose to rebuild itself in the Art Deco style; excellent decision Napier! The vivid light perfectly reveals the California like town

Kapiti Island and the Kiwis

To Kapiti Island by boat from Paekakariki, mostly for the chance of seeing kiwi in the wild.

Kapiti island is about10km long and lies 5km off the coast, which has allowed it to stay mostly mammal free for most of its existence.  The short version of the history of the island seems to be this; for a few million years nothing happened and the local bird population got on with its peculiar habits, including lots of living on the ground.  Then the maori arrived and had a bit of fun eating the larger ones and (as it was strategically desirable and defensible) having a good old punch up with each other over who owned it. Next europeans arrived and decided they owned it, and persuaded the maori this was the case.  They improved the environment by burning the whole island ecosystem and settign up goat and sheep farming followed by whaling stations.  Eventually some sensible people realised that as this was one place kiwis might survive they might actually try to a bit of conservation and it became a protected area; the farmers were bought out and the land allowed to recover into what will eventually become mature forest.  It was vital it be rid of stoats and rats so vigoruous poisoniong and trapping was used to remove them (and still is done as necessary today).  Apparently stoats will swim a km or so but not 5, so the kiwi has a chance to re-establish itself.  At the time of writing there are thought to be about 1200 on the island and it is used to populate other areas where re-introduction is being tried.

There may be 1200 but they are truly elusive.  Living in burrows several metres into the hills and only coming out at night, then only to feed in scrub and thick grass, they are very hard to spot.  Their calls are loud and distinctive so you can at least hear that you can't see them.  Anyone got a thermal imaging camera they can spare?

Abel Tasman Track (and trustworthiness of i-site assistants)

The Abel Tasman track weaves through the forest going up hill and down dale dropping in on the odd beach, visiting campgrounds and viewpoints.  The forest is varied and dense, with Scots Pine, tree ferns, ground ferns, broom, gum trees, birch, cabbage trees and all manner of things in between.  Kewa abound, picking through the undergrowth, but the tracks are well made of compacted shingly stones.

We set out on a trip which the idiot in the tourist information office suggested would be 4-5 hours but which turned out to be nearly 20km with no opportunity for extra water till near the end.  Harumph... on the other hand the beaches are all stunning and nearly deserted and the views outstanding.

Cicadas (Pohara, Able Tasman National Park)

The New Zealand cicada, Amphipsalta zelandica; what a guy!  For absolutely nothing he will serenade you for hours and hours.  And hours and hours.  And days and days...

When there are a few together in the right mood they will stop the vibration of their tymbals (which makes the hissing kind of noise) and switch to synchronised slapping of wings in a 5 beat pattern.  Quite cute to look at and I'm sure they're don't mean to drive you up the wall, but they certainly do...

Queenstown and drowning

If you go to Queenstown you are required to either jump out of an aeroplane, jump off a bridge, zoom up a river in a jetboat or bumble down a river in a raft.  We chose the white water rafting.

First stage is to drive the Skippers Canyon Road - in our case the driver was Justine, who managed to squeeze a 4WD minibus with 5 rafts on a trailer on the back along this mad road, reckoned to be the 8th most dangerous road in the world.  It's not a walk in the park!

Second stage is the black humour heavy safety briefing.  Much easier.

Third stage is to fall out in a rapid, get sucked under by a tumbling current and become trapped looking up at the light realising that you are stuck under a tapering pair of rocks and thinking - oh, this is how people drown.

Fourth stage is to somehow get free, be thrown a safety line and dragged into a raft.

The rest of the trip passed mostly uneventfully...

Franz Joseph and Fox Glaciers

To Franz Joseph glacier by helicopter; it's a big glacier quite close to the coast but really much the same as alpine glaciers.  It's very hard to get the scale of the snow field until you land and see the other helicopters which seem to be a mile away, but from the air the whole thing looks the size of a couple of football pitches.

From there round a few corners to the Fox Glacier on foot; a gentle stroll up the glaciated valley up which it is rapidly retreating.  Great chunks of ice fall off it all the time, maybe the size of a car every five minutes.  Again very hard to get the scale of the thing.