Monthly Archives: June 2015

GPS Tracks, New Zealand, Photography, Tramping

39. Waipawa – Cape Kidnappers – Taupo

Saturday, March 21: Sunny the whole day with very few clouds, warm

Tramping: Clifton to Cape Kidnappers along the beach and back, 19.1 km

Stag Park Diner, 151 Napier Taupo Highway, State Highway 5, Taupo 3379, tel.: +64 7 378 6403, twin as single, shared facilities ($55)

Layers leaching
Leaching lime is most commonly seen, but also iron oxide, forming strange patterns

It was nice to have slept in a real bed again, above all, with a real pillow. The room was spotless and the fridge with freezer rebooted the chilly bag; a short trip to the supermarket procured everything that was needed for breakfast and lunch, and I was away back on the road to Hastings by 9:30.

In Hastings the library opened as I arrived and they were charging for the wifi @ $2.5 per half hour. Tried the BBH places in Taupo, but all booked out, then for the 0800 number for the Taupo i-site to call when I came back from the walk in the afternoon. Read more…

GPS Tracks, New Zealand, Tramping, Travel Planning

38. Whanganui Bay – Track End – Wairoa – Waipawa

Friday, March 20: Cold at night (down to 5°), variably cloudy in the mountains, fine and warm on the coast

Tramping: Waikaremoana Great Walk, Whanganui Bay – Track End (water taxi landing), 2.2 km

River’s Edge Holiday Park, 26 Harker St, Waipawa 4210, tel.: +64 6 857 8976, double cabin ($35)

I had slept in periods of about 100 minutes a piece with waking in between and was finished with sleeping by about 7:00 when it had reached 5°, which was the limit for sleeping in the thermal underwear, sox & turtle necked sweater. Breakfast was quickly dealt with as was the last part of the track – all of about 40 minutes, so the whole thing could be done in two days if you could get a water taxi to pick you up at 6:00.

Morning over Waikaremoana
Morning over Waikaremoana, just before the water taxi landing area (snapshot panorama)
Read more…

GPS Tracks, New Zealand, Tramping

37. Waiopaoa – Whanganui Bay: Waikaremoana Great Walk 3/4

Thursday, March 19: Cloudy at first with variations during the day; some sun

Tramping: Waikaremoana Great Walk, Waiopaoa – Marauiti – Waiharuru – Whanganui Bay: 26.6 km

Whanganui Bay Hut (DOC, $32)

I was up with the sun and fairly much ready to go within an hour or so. Hadn’t got much sleep due to the snorers (but some at least, when they turned on their sides they were silent) and not even the earplugs were very effective. At least it had not been cold, so that t-shirt and spiderman outfit were not really both necessary. Testimony for a €15 sleeping bag. Read more…

GPS Tracks, New Zealand, Tramping

36. Wairoa – Waikaremoana – Onepoto – Waiopaoa: Waikaremoana Great Walk 1/2

Wednesday, March 18: Cloudy throughout with some sunshine but no rain

Tramping: Waikaremoana Great Walk, Onepoto – Panekire 9.6 km & Panekire – Waiopaoa 7.8 km

Waiopaoa Hut (DOC, $32)

Home Bay
Home Bay, Lake Waikaremoana, sunrise

Beat the compass alarm again and was up at 5:45, before even Jude, who wanted to get up at 5:30. Had some coffee, two eggs and two muesli bars for breakfast, packed the rucksack for the tour and threw everything into the car to start as planned at 6:30.

At the petrol station bought the toilet paper that is necessary for this trip and then took off down the road as the sun was rising. Not much is still unsealed but it does slow down progress quite a lot and I arrived at Waikaremoana @ 8:00. Sorted things out (remembered not having packed the condensed milk into the pack), locked the suitcase & the car, got the spot to send an OK and waited at the little hut for the water taxi to arrive. Read more…

New Zealand, Photography, Travel Planning

35. Gisborne – Wairoa: Te Reinga Falls

Tuesday, March 17: Cloudy the whole day with occasional showers and a little cooler

Jude’s (airbnb, $48)

The storm had passed by last night without too much to notice it by, except the rain, and certainly the winds were much weaker than had been predicted. I had my breakfast and then Ethel had to go to the doctor’s about the fall that she had had last week, and visit a friend as well, so Mischief, the dog, the attention-seeking cat, and myself were left to our own devices.

I started off by getting a couple of pictures into the blog posts, mainly of the Tongariro Crossing. All the posts had been scheduled for publication right up to departure date, and three more had been transcribed onto the computer, so all I need to do when I have another technical day is to find some photos for them and schedule them as well. Read more…

New Zealand, Travel Planning

34. Gisborne

Monday, March 16: Moderately strong rain and somewhat windy as cyclone Pam moved south to the east of New Zealand

Ethel’s

Pam arrived during the night and by the time I was up it was clear that nothing would be on the agenda today except for sitting in front of the computer. Ethel’s breakfast was peaches and cereal, then toast, and of course, coffee. Then it was time to transcribe the diary. Read more…

New Zealand, Travel Planning

33. Whakatane – Gisborne

Sunday, March 15: Sunny for a brief spell then clouding over and a few rain showers gradually increasing in intensity as Pam approaches

Ethel’s, spacious bedroom with shared facilities (airbnb, $50)

Danger Watermelons
Danger Watermelons/back at petrol stat[ion], Ohope Beach

Breakfast and packing were very quickly dealt with and I was on the road before 10:00. Took the coastal route to join the SH2 near the unfindable kayak place then along to Opotiki and the shorter route to Gisborne.

Very abandoned looking places up in the hills and nothing much like civilisation until Ormond with its vineyards. The going up until now had been fairly slow and I had stopped for two pictures (Dangerous Watermelons, and Other people make mistakes) earlier along the way. Read more…

GPS Tracks, New Zealand, Photography, Topo Map, Tramping, Travel Planning

32. Whakatane: Nga Tapuwae o Toi

Saturday, March 14: Sunny and very warm, clouds appearing in the evening, and some rain

Tramping: Nga Tapuwae o Toi, 16.9 km

Windsor Lodge

The weather was very tempting for a paddle so I was up and organised early, and Kenny the kayak man offered a freedom hire, the only problem was that it was from his place. I indicated that I would take it, and set off with a Google Map in mind to drive the 30 or so km down to his place. Was ready to leave here just after 9:00. Read more…

Kayaking, New Zealand, Photography

31. Rotorua – Whakatane

Friday, March 13: A little cloudy to begin with, but very sunny & warm in Whakatane

Windsor Lodge, 10 Merritt St., Whakatane 3120, tel.: +64 7 308 8040, double as single, shared facilities (BBH, $45 + $3)

There was just a little bit of business to be cleared up after the excitement of yesterday. A trip to the closer and smaller i-site just revealed that I had to go to the main office and speak with Tyra-Lee which I promptly did, and told my story of how the boatie jumped in and took me back. Got my money back, and a promise that there would be consequences. Read more…