If you ready my blog yesterday, my apologies. I have more time tonight, and was appalled when I read back through it. If you have a chance, read it again as I have fixed the numerous errors that were the product of rushing.
As today was not nearly as interesting as yesterday, before I move on, here's some more about yesterday.
The kayaking trip was really an amazing time. Our guide was full of all kinds of stories about the area. For example...
HISTORY TIME WITH HUGH: The bay we were in, Mercury Bay, is so named because when Captain James Cook (I wonder if he had a hook for a hand too...) was mapping New Zealand for the first time, he was using the sun and the planet Mercury in the night sky to calculate the latitude and longitude of the region. On the night he spent in Mercury Bay, the planet was directly overhead in the night sky, hence the name. The next beach down is Cooks beach, where Capt. Cook planted the Union Jack in the soil and declared New Zealand for England. This presented a problem, however, because the Mauri were already here.
This disturbed a local Mauri Cheif named Ka, so while on an expedition in Mercury Bay, he remarked how the island Motueka, looked just like his nose (It has two caves in the side that faces the beach, that's about the extent of similarity). To most, this may have seemed like a trivial statement. However, the Mauri believed that if a land feature looked like you, or some part of you, then it was yours; along with all that could be surveyed from that particular piece of real estate. Naturally the audience of Mauri with him immediately and enthusiastically agreed. Therefore, the island is named Motueka, which translates into, "the Island of Ka." And the name of the beach (can't remember that one or find it on google maps) translates to "the breath of Ka," as the winds on that beach supposedly come from the "nostrils of Motueka"... you should see the tweezers they use to pluck THOSE nose hairs.
Mercury bay in Hahei was also used in "The Chronicles of Narnia, the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." Down the beach a ways is a huge hill, where the castle Cair Paravel (sp?) was built. They did eight months of work and shooting, for footage that made up about 3 minutes worth of the actual movie.
Today was relatively uneventful. Hahei is on the east coast, we have now driven to Raglin on the west coast. Raglin is world renown for it's surfing. There was actually a guy who surfed a single wave at a beach here for more than 10 minutes. That's a bit of a record as you might imagine. Those who chose to could take surfing lessons, for a nominal fee. Given my level of coordination (which is about the same as a tree), I opted out, and instead spent the afternoon at the beach.
Tomorrow we spend the day at the Waitomo caves, and tomorrow night we will have a Mauri "cultural night," so I most likely will not be able to post tomorrow night.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
And we're off...
Today started my tour of the north island.
We left from Auckland, making a quick stop at mount Eden; which I have talked about before, its is a dormant volcano in the middle of the city. It is still owned by the Maori people, and they use it for cattle grazing... which leads us to...
HUGH'S TRIVIA FACT OF THE DAY: When calves are born on Mt. Eden, after they have been weened and are released from their stalls, they must make a very important decision. They must decide whether to turn right, or turn left. While this may seem trivial to some, WAIT there's more! You see, since they live out their lives on the side of a mountain, depending upon the direction they first turn onto the slope of the mountain will determine the direction they will go around the mountain for the rest of their life. If they turn left, their right legs will grow slightly longer to compensate for the slope of the mountain, and if they turn right, their left legs will grow longer to compensate. Kinda makes you glad that you're not a cow born on a mountain, eh?
From Auckland we headed out to the Coromandel Peninsula. Our end destinations for today were cathedral cove and hot water beach. Once we had arrived and settled in at the hostel, those of us who had elected to do so, headed down to the beach for some sea kayaking. From the beach at the hostel in Hahei (ha-he) we kayaked down the coast to cathedral cove. Cathedral cove is a limestone cliff face that has eroded away over the years due to the sea water, and is today two separate beaches with a huge limestone passageway connecting the two. It is really quite stunning, especially from the water. On the way to the cove, we passed through a marine reserve, and past a sheer limestone cliff that goes up what had to be 200 ft., all the way down to the water's edge.
Once we arrived at the cove, just off either of the beaches there is a huge limestone rock jutting out of the water that has been eaten away on the bottom by the sea water. It looks something like a huge mass of rock sitting atop a pedestal, that is how narrow the base was.
From there, we kayaked out from the coast a bit to Poikeke and Motueka islands. The whole trip was really stunning, but this par was really cool, there is a cave that goes through Poikeke island, and we kayaked through it! It was amazing.
After getting back to the shore, we hopped on the bus and went just down the road to hot water beach. This beach actually is what it says. You can dig a hole in the sand and it will actually fill with hot water, provided by the tectonic activity in the area. It works similar to a hot spring, just heating the ocean water already in the sand. Depending upon where you dug your hole, the water could be cold, or scalding. The difference between the two could be six inches. The whole experience is an exercise in finding just the right spot. If it gets too hot, just throw in a bucket of ocean water, and you're good to go. There was a mob of people there digging holes. But inevitably the activity is an exercise in futility, as all if this is done at low tide. At high tide, the ocean comes right up to the cliffs that are there, and all the holes are covered up.
We left from Auckland, making a quick stop at mount Eden; which I have talked about before, its is a dormant volcano in the middle of the city. It is still owned by the Maori people, and they use it for cattle grazing... which leads us to...
HUGH'S TRIVIA FACT OF THE DAY: When calves are born on Mt. Eden, after they have been weened and are released from their stalls, they must make a very important decision. They must decide whether to turn right, or turn left. While this may seem trivial to some, WAIT there's more! You see, since they live out their lives on the side of a mountain, depending upon the direction they first turn onto the slope of the mountain will determine the direction they will go around the mountain for the rest of their life. If they turn left, their right legs will grow slightly longer to compensate for the slope of the mountain, and if they turn right, their left legs will grow longer to compensate. Kinda makes you glad that you're not a cow born on a mountain, eh?
From Auckland we headed out to the Coromandel Peninsula. Our end destinations for today were cathedral cove and hot water beach. Once we had arrived and settled in at the hostel, those of us who had elected to do so, headed down to the beach for some sea kayaking. From the beach at the hostel in Hahei (ha-he) we kayaked down the coast to cathedral cove. Cathedral cove is a limestone cliff face that has eroded away over the years due to the sea water, and is today two separate beaches with a huge limestone passageway connecting the two. It is really quite stunning, especially from the water. On the way to the cove, we passed through a marine reserve, and past a sheer limestone cliff that goes up what had to be 200 ft., all the way down to the water's edge.
Once we arrived at the cove, just off either of the beaches there is a huge limestone rock jutting out of the water that has been eaten away on the bottom by the sea water. It looks something like a huge mass of rock sitting atop a pedestal, that is how narrow the base was.
From there, we kayaked out from the coast a bit to Poikeke and Motueka islands. The whole trip was really stunning, but this par was really cool, there is a cave that goes through Poikeke island, and we kayaked through it! It was amazing.
After getting back to the shore, we hopped on the bus and went just down the road to hot water beach. This beach actually is what it says. You can dig a hole in the sand and it will actually fill with hot water, provided by the tectonic activity in the area. It works similar to a hot spring, just heating the ocean water already in the sand. Depending upon where you dug your hole, the water could be cold, or scalding. The difference between the two could be six inches. The whole experience is an exercise in finding just the right spot. If it gets too hot, just throw in a bucket of ocean water, and you're good to go. There was a mob of people there digging holes. But inevitably the activity is an exercise in futility, as all if this is done at low tide. At high tide, the ocean comes right up to the cliffs that are there, and all the holes are covered up.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Merry Christmas?
Perhaps it's the Northern Hemisphere-ese (what exactly does a resident of the northern hemisphere call one's self?)in me, but this holiday season did not feel like a holiday season at all. I really think it had more to do with the fact of Christmas and the new year being in the middle of summer, than the holidays being celebrated differently here. Although, they are not nearly as big a deal here, at least so it seemed. What was perhaps funniest is that the Christmas carols are all the same. It is an odd sensation to be heading to the beach wearing shorts with the windows down, while listening to "Frosty the Snowman." Both days snuck up on me, and I only realized the day before each that they were arriving shortly.
Christmas Day, the Elys, the Peters, and I all went out to Karekare beach. This beach is on the West coast, south of Piha beach, which I have talked about before. They go south to north, Karekare, Piha, Bethells (which is my favorite). All three are absolutely gorgeous. We spent a while there, and played in the water. The waves on the west coast of NZ are huge. Much larger than the east coast beaches, which in some places have almost no waves at all, most of the time. After that we took a short hike from the beach (only about 10 min. walk), so some gorgeous water falls. There were a few smaller falls on the way in, but the main fall was absolutely amazing. It fell from what seemed to be, probably close to 200 ft. from the mountains, into a pool. I have a picture where a man had climbed up on the base of the fall, and he is tiny in comparison to the fall. It was really amazing.
Today I leave for my trek/tour of New Zealand! I begin my north Island tour today, it will last about 8 days. The south island tour will come after I am done with the north island. I decided to cut down the length my tours, for budgeting and timing reasons, but they are going to be great just the same. I will try to blog as often as I can, as I will have a great deal to talk about most every day; but will be limited to weather or not the hostels we stay at have computers, as I am not taking my laptop. Most of them do have computer access, but who knows. If you need to get in touch with me, email me (though it may take me a day or two to get back with you); or give me a call on my mobile.
Christmas Day, the Elys, the Peters, and I all went out to Karekare beach. This beach is on the West coast, south of Piha beach, which I have talked about before. They go south to north, Karekare, Piha, Bethells (which is my favorite). All three are absolutely gorgeous. We spent a while there, and played in the water. The waves on the west coast of NZ are huge. Much larger than the east coast beaches, which in some places have almost no waves at all, most of the time. After that we took a short hike from the beach (only about 10 min. walk), so some gorgeous water falls. There were a few smaller falls on the way in, but the main fall was absolutely amazing. It fell from what seemed to be, probably close to 200 ft. from the mountains, into a pool. I have a picture where a man had climbed up on the base of the fall, and he is tiny in comparison to the fall. It was really amazing.
Today I leave for my trek/tour of New Zealand! I begin my north Island tour today, it will last about 8 days. The south island tour will come after I am done with the north island. I decided to cut down the length my tours, for budgeting and timing reasons, but they are going to be great just the same. I will try to blog as often as I can, as I will have a great deal to talk about most every day; but will be limited to weather or not the hostels we stay at have computers, as I am not taking my laptop. Most of them do have computer access, but who knows. If you need to get in touch with me, email me (though it may take me a day or two to get back with you); or give me a call on my mobile.
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