Tongariro crossing

In a country that sells itself on extreme sports, it's not surprising to find that wherever you look the locals are marketing their trip as the best in New Zealand. Consistent with this, the Tongariro Crossing is supposed to be THE best one day hike in New Zealand. I'm always a bit sceptical of claims like these, and it leads me to think that the Tongariro Crossing is perhaps the busiest one day hike in New Zealand. However, when it comes to it, we didn't want to miss out on this.

The crossing goes through some dramatic and unforgettable scenery. The 18.5 km track crosses a saddle between the Tongariro and Nagauruhoe volcanoes which rise suddenly out of the plains of central North Island. The trail is billed as a demanding alpine track that takes between 7 and 9h. The weather on the top can be different from that at the base and it's recommended to be prepared to turn back when the visibility is poor or in strong winds.

Of course poor visibility or strong winds are fairly relative, and with this in mind we booked transport to and from the start and finish of the track for the next day, despite the poor weather forecast. The alarm went early in the morning, a glance out the window confirmed that the weather was far from perfect, and not being disheartened I cheerfully pointed out that it'd be just like Scotland. "Or Finland", Anni added. The majority of other people who had signed up for transport cancelled, clearly having no desire to go hiking in what resembled Scottish weather. I was quietly relieved, that today was one of the few days where the Tongariro Crossing was probably not the busiest trek in New Zealand.

The bus driver didn't inspire much confidence when he said that if it was up to him he wouldn't allow people to go up the mountains as it was much too dangerous in this kind of weather. We didn't pay much heed to his warnings of getting lost, although we did take the precaution of back plotting our trail on the GPS. We set off from the car park in drizzle and imperfect visibility. I wouldn't have described the conditions as dangerous, the weather forecast suggested that we'd get wet, we wouldn't have great views but didn't look like we'd be in for any trouble, and the our current observations didn't suggest any differently. We started up the marked and really fairly obvious trail, wondering what the bus driver would have said if he'd seen the conditions in which we'd tried to climb Foggy Peak.

View of Mount Ngauruhoe, famous to Lord of the Rings fans as Mount Doom

We'd hiked "primative trails" in America, and knew that when the tourist board say strenuous or poorly marked, that they probably mean that the trail isn't made of asphalt. We expected differently, of the Kiwis. The trail began with a gently rising and well graded path. The trail then rose steeply to a col between the two mountains, and for two fairly fit people provided little challenge. As we reached the top the cloud rolled in and reduced visibility to a few tens of meters. You might think that navigating through a col between two mountains in poor visibility wouldn't be too difficult. You'd have distinctive contours on either side to navigate from, you could take a bearing from the compass and following mountain spurs can't be too challenging. Indeed it wasn't too challenging; there was a wand placed every ten meters, so even if all but closed your eyes navigation would be bare blåbær (only blueberries).

Bleak scenery between the two craters.

The views of Tongariro were constantly obscured by low cloud.

Your not particularly wet correspondents looking undaunted close to the high point.

After a couple of hours of uphill walking we reached the Red Crater, which unfortunately we couldn't see. At 1900m, this formed the high point of our trek. Although the track had gained about 1000m in a shy 9km, it hadn't felt either demanding or dangerous. For two Europeans, a more daunting task would have been to do it in full sun! The track had past through some eerie and near lifeless scenery. We walked over lava fields inhabited only by lichen and the odd mountain daisy. The mist added to the atmosphere and gave the whole place an otherworldly feel.

From now, the trail descended. We stopped by the Emerald Lakes. Although partly hidden by the mist, we could see how they got their name. The colour is caused by minerals leaching out of the volcanic rock. We didn't linger long amid the sulphurous smell, but continued downhill.

On the shore of one of the Emerald Lakes.

Minerals leached from surrounding rocks.

As we descended the lifeless lava gave way to grassy and boggy slopes and finally forest. Streams ran down the mountain bringing with them the stench of amonia and sulphur. Acrid steam clouds billowed up from springs on the mountain side. Although we'd left the summit zone, it seemed that Tongariro wanted to remind us it was still a volcano.

Steam rising from Ketatahi Springs

Five hours after starting we arrived at the car park at the end of the trail, a good three hours before the bus was due to pick us up. We'd done a fantastic trek. The weather had added to the atmosphere, but never felt threatening. We'd avoided the crowds, we'd avoided the heat and we were pretty pleased with ourselves. After deciding not to wait for the bus and hitching back to the hostel and eating chicken burgers, we find ourselves hiking and photographing yet another waterfall and using our excess energy at the climbing wall in the hostel. No one had exaggerated the splendour of the Tongariro crossing, but we felt the difficulty had seen considerable escalation. There seems a fine line between warning the general tourist and giving accurate information about treks. When activities that are billed as strenuous aren't really, you end up in a "cry wolf" situation. We were entering this dangerous territory, tomorrow we were going mountain biking on a "demanding" trail. Despite the fact that I hadn't ridden anything more demanding than a gravel track for years and Anni hadn't ever been mountain biking, we were of the opinion that the New Zealand tourist definition of demanding would only make a fat middle aged person out of breath. But the next day we learned differently......

Abel Tasman

Abel Tasman Kansallispuisto on taatusti upeimpia puistoja koko eteläsaarella. Se sijaitsee aivan eteläsaaren pohjoisrannikolla, suojassa Tasmanian meren aalloilta. Sää on kesällä trooppinen, saapuessamme hakattiin lämpöennäyksiä. Vuokrasimme kahden melojan merikajakin kolmeksi päiväksi.
The Abel Tasman National Park is definitely one of the most gorgeous parks in the South Island. It is sheltered from the heavy seas of Tasman in a large bay, and harbours numerous beaches, wildlife and forests. We hired a double kayak for three days.

Water taxi about to unload. Very typical sight around here.

Vesitaxit surffasivat eestaas pitkin rantaa vieden kajakkeja ja melojia eri rannoille. Vesitaksi on itsessään melkoinen elämys. Koska lähtöpaikassa (tai missään) ei ole laitureita, taksit ajavat suoraan traktorin vetämään traileriin, ja traktori kiskoo veneen vedestä. Sitten vene kuskataan jonnekin kajakkivuokraamojen liepeille ja jengi hyppää kyytiin. Traktori kuskaa koko läjän rannalle, peruuttaa taksin veteen, ja taas mennään. Kajakkien lastaus toimii periaatteella: "Aina on tilaa yhdelle."

The water taxis surfed back and forth the coast dropping and picking kayaks and paddlers as they went. A taxi ride is an experience in itself. There are no jetties, so tractors pick the boats up from the surf, and drive them to be loaded inland. Then the tractors reverse the taxis back to the shallow surf, with the passengers.

The weather being gorgeous, and in the middle of the high season, this is how most of the beaches looked like. Onetahuti Bay, where the water taxi dropped us off.

Bark Bay, evening.

Reittimme käsitti kaksi yöpymistä teltassa retkeilyalueilla. Telttapaikat olivat Medlands ja Observation rannoilla. Sää pysyi hävyttömän hyvänä koko ajan.

Our route included two nights in a tent at the Medlands and Observation beaches. The weather did not let us down in all that time.

Bark Bay lagoon at low tide.

Aika nopeasti opimme seuraamaan vuorovettä. Korkean vuoroveden laguunit olivat upeaita, tosin emmen oikein onnistuneet ajastamaan melontaamme niin, että olisimme osuneet niihin korkean vuoroveden aikaan. Sen sijaan kävelimme niissä paljon. Melkein joka paikkaan pääsee jos ei pelkää kastumista. Kajakin vetäminen tarpeeksi korkealle rannalle yöksi oli myös jotain, jota ei mielellään unohtanut. Jos käännät täällä rannalle selkäsi edes puoleksi tunniksi, veneesi saattaa kellua kaukana ulapalla ja hiekalle jätetyt reppusi ovat puolen metrin syvyydessä.

One learns pretty quickly to follow the tides here. Especially, you need to keep your kayak safe even during the very short stops on the beaches. The high tide can come in amazingly quickly, and you do not want to turn your back on your kayak, unless it is moored high up on the beach. High tide lagoons are beautiful paddling places, we just managed to miss the tide almost always. Mostly we walked around, sometimes wading through chest deep water.

Torrent Bay, one of our lunch stops.

Torrent Bay had some weird rocks and caves.

Kolmen päivän melonta osoittautui varsin kevyeksi puuhaksi. Aamupäivällä meloimme kolmisen tuntia, mikä toi meidät käytännössä seuraavaan leiripaikkaan. Tämän jälkeen hohhailimme ympäriinsä tehden kaikenlaista. Veden kanssa puljaaminen on tietenkin pääasia, mutta vaeltelu sisämaahan osoittatui myös aika rattoisaksi. Tony onnistui snorklaamalla bongaamaan melkoisen määrän mereneläviä. Minulle vesi oli hiukan liian vilpakkaa sukelteluun.

Three days of paddling turned out to be not so strenous. In the morning we paddled about three hours, which took us to our next camping site. The rest of the day we had 'off', mostly meaning walking, snorkeling (Tony, too cold for my taste), and photographing. Some low tide traverse attempts between beaches were in the itinerary too, although these were not so successfull, and potentially could have made us very wet.

Little stream flowing to the sea at Observation Beach.

Observation Beach at dusk.

Observation Beach, kayak moored for the night.

Observation Beach, again at dusk.

Adele Island seen from the Observation Beach.

Star trails. Abel Tasman suffers very little from light pollution. The bright lights are sailing boats anchored in the shelter of Adele Island.

Jokaisessa paratiisissa on aina se käärme. Abel Tasmanissa kärmeen roolin ottaa ehdottomasti hiekkakärpänen, joka eniten muistuttaa kotoista mäkäräistä. Kuulimme inhottavia faktoja tästä ötökästä. Kuten kotonakin, kärpänen puraisee palan ihoa irti. Tämä on se reikä. Kutina syntyy siitä, että pureman jälkeen kärpänen pissii haavaan. Pikku pisu kutiaa päiväkausia ja on yksi inhottavimpia kokemuksia mitä täältä on tullut kerättyä. Et mitenkään voi unohtaa hyvää ötökkäkarkotinta repusta, muuten olet ongelmissa. Meidät pelasti norjalais-englantilais-ruotsalainen retkikunta. Kiitos heille.

In every paradise, there is a pest. In Abel Tasman it is certainly the sandfly. We heard some icky stories about these flies. Apparently they bite a chunk off you, like our homely midges do, and then they pee on you... This miniscule widdle is the thing that stings, and itches for days. Dirty.

Fisherman Island. Some free exploring amongst the low tide rocks.

West coast

Tony: After the showers of Arthur's Pass we drove West to the coast. The vegetation changed to subtropical and palms and tree ferns dominated. We visited the Jade museum in Greymouth and then headed to the coastal town of Punakaiki. Punakaiki is perhaps most famous for the Pancake Rocks as well as it's stunning beaches and dense forest.

Palm trees on the beach.

The Pancake Rocks comprise layers of hard weathering limestone with thin strata of easily weathered mudstone between. It's a mystery to geologists what circumstances led to the deposition of material in such a manner. Now the rocks stand in rows or fins and experience the full force of the Tasman Sea, which continually shapes them into stranger structures.

Pancake Rocks, Punakaiki

Water forced up through a blow hole between the rocks.

The Tasman Sea crashes into Sea cliffs.

We followed the coast to examine some of the local geology. Many of the rocks were very soft and we could break chunks off with our fingers. Compared with our fingers the sea is an awesome force in breaking rocks and we could see huge cliffs where the sea had cut large overhangs.

This cliff was about 30m high. It might look like good Blue Mountain sport climbing but the rock was way too soft to pull on.

Anni enjoying the West Coast.

As well as the geology, we were also intrigued by the biology. In the dense forest we could hear much animal life but with the exception of a goat, we couldn't see any of it.

Goin' Bush (as the locals say)

Sometimes the vegetation looked like an impenetrable wall.

A small frond uncurls - one day to be a mighty tree fern?

All this wet forest, feeds huge rivers.

The sun sets on our West Coast adventures and we head North towards Abel Tasman National Park.

Arthur's Pass

On the way to Arthur's Pass

Ihan aluksi meidän oli tarkoitus patikoida Arthur's Passissa, mutta kuten aiemmista tarinoista käy ilmi, sää ei meitä suosinut. Tästä johtuen päätimme ajaa puiston läpi, ja pysähtyä lyhykäiselle kävelyretkelle, katsomaan puiston kuuluisimpia nähtävyyksiä: vesiputouksia. Matka Artur's Passiin oli (taas) pirun mutkainen, mutta maisemat sitäkin upeammat. Huono sää oli selkeästi siirtymässä jonnekin muualle.

Right at the beginning we were supposed to hike in the Arthur's Pass, but as you can read from the previous postings, the weather was very much against us. Instead, we decided to drive through the park on our way to West Coast, and go see the most famous features of the park: its water falls.

River Bealey just before the Arthur's Pass.

Matkan varrella saimme lisätuntumaa eteläsaaren tiestöön. Välillä omat perävalot näkyivät. Mutkat on merkitty hyvin ja niille on annettu valaiseva nopeusehdotus, hitaimmillaan ollaan ryömitty 25 km/h mutkasta noin kympin tuntivauhtia. Tämä on alkuun aika pelottavaa, varsinkin kun tieto ovat kapeita ja ajetaan väärällä puolella hämmennyksen lisäämiseksi. Toisaalta, vuoristotiet on varustettu aika sopivin väliajoin levennyksillä, joilla hitaammat kiltisti(!) väistävät nopeampia.

On our way we got to know better the windy mountain roads of the south island. The bends are clearly marked and equipped with spot-on suggestions for speed. In the beginning driving these bends is a little alarming, the wrong-sided traffic adding to the confusion. On the other hand, all roads are nicely supplied with broad shoulders for the slow to give way to the fast.

Devils Punchbowl falls. About at the distance from where it was possible to photograph it.

Vesiputousten valokuvaaminen ei osoittautunut ihan helpoksi. Kuten sanottu, Arthur's Pass on paikka jossa sataa usein ja paljon. Sikäläinen metsä voidaan kai luokitella sademetsäksi. Edellispäivän sateen jäljiltä vettä oli liikkeellä erittäin paljon, mikä teki putouksen lähestymisen usean sadan euron kameran kanssa vähintään jännittäväksi. Päätimme pitää arvokameramme piilossa. Yritin näpätä kuvan vedenpitävällä pikkudigillä, mutta tulos on heikko. Ainoa hyvä kuva tuli erittäin kaukaa polun varrelta. Polku vie aivan putouksen eteen, mutta yleisölle tarkoitettu lava on kuin vesisateessa, putouksesta sinkoaa vettä ja vesihöyryä usean sadan metrin päähän.

It turned out not to be trivial to photograph the big falls right after rain. There was so much of water in move that it made approaching the falls with an expensive camera just insane. I tried to snap a photo from the wet viewing platform with our water proof little digi, but the result is not too good. The best pictures were always taken from afar. The falls can sprinkle water on a day like this over a distance of hundreds of meters.

Bridal veil falls, smaller fall down stream the big one.

We ended up walking to two falls in the end, first the Devil's Punchbowl, and then the Bridal Veil. Bridal veil walk wnt through a thick Beech forest, which was a new experience to us.

Bridal veil from a distance.

A random stream we happened to come across with.

Foggy peak

Foggy Peak (1740 m) seen from the road-side.

Anni: Matkalla länsirannikolle, pysähdyimme Springfieldiin, jossa meillä oli varaus kahdeksi yöksi Smylies-hostelliin. Springfield on vain tunnin ajomatkan päässä upeasta Arthur's Pass kansallispuistosta. Alkuperäinen suunnitelmamme oli patikoida enemmänkin Arthur's Passissa, mutta sää teki mutkan matkaan. Arthur's Pass kansallispuistossa satoi vettä (ja ylempänä lunta) koko sen pari päivää, jotka meillä olisi ollut aikaa tehdä pidempi retki. Hostellin isäntä Colin sen sijaan suositteli paikallisten nyppylöiden kiertämistä, vaikka aiotuksi päiväksi olikin luvattu kamalaa tuulta. Kun Uudessa Seelannissa tuulee, niin täällä Tuulee isolla t:llä. Alavilla mailla vauhti on normaalistikin luokkaa 20-30km/h, ja ylempänä 50km/h (tyyntä). Patikkapäivänä aamu oli hyvä, ylhäällä vain 80km/h tuulta, mutta se koveni koko päivän ajan.

On our way to the west coast we stopped in a place called Springfield, a smallish town an hour's drive away from Arthur's Pass. We had a reservation for two nights in Smylies, the local hostel. The weather being quite awful in Arthur's Pass, our host Colin recommended exploring the local peaks. He suggested Foggy Peak, the weather being (mild) 80km/h wind at the top, in the morning. The town was expecting a proper gale for the afternoon, and Colin reckonned that it might be better to be off the peak by that time.

It was windy.

Nousimme aikaisin ylös, ja aamiaisen jälkeen kevyesti pakattuina lähdimme Foggy Peakille. Jo tien reunan parkkipaikalla tuntui, että takki lähtee päältä. Tämä oli paikallisten mielestä ihan normaali ja hino sää, airinkohan paistoi, eikö vaan? Mitä ylemmäs nousimme, sitä kovemmaksi tuuli kävi, ja kello ei ollut vielä edes kahdeksaa. Rämmin jyrkkiin nousuihin tottumattomilla pohkeilla vastatuuleen koko ajan heikkenevin odotuksin. Olennaista Tuulessa oli se, ettei se ollut puuskaista varsinaisesti, vaan yksi puuska saattoi puhaltaa hellittämättä parikin minuuttia.

We got up early, ate our breakfast, and got going. Already at the car park it felt like the wind would blow my jacket off me. With legs unused to steep uphills I struggled up with diminishing expectations. The impressive bit about the winds in the pass is that they are relentless. A gust can keep going for minutes without letting go.

This view is definitely worth some struggle. Pretty soon after this we had to turn back. Shame.

Loppujen lopuksi meidn täytyi tehdä jotain mitä en ole koskaan aiemmin tehnyt: kääntynyt aiotulta reitiltä takaisin. Mitä lähemmäksi itse huippua pääsimme, sen kovemmaksi tuuli nousi, ja se oli selvästi voimistunut myös alhaalla. Odotettu myrsky oli lähestymässä. Pienellä olanteella juuri ennen huippua tuuli nakkasi minut jaloiltani kahdesti. Jouduin todellakin tasapainoilemaan soralla, ja odottamaan puuskan loppua, mitä ei sitten meinannut tullakaan. Tilanne alkoi olla pelottava. Nakkasimme pienessä kivisuojassa suuhumme voileivän, ja käännyimme takaisin.

In the end we had to do something that I have not ever done before: Turn back from an already decided track. The higher we go, the stronger the gale grew, and it was clear that it was not just due to elevation, but the wind was picking up also at the foot of the mountains. The expected strong gale was approaching from the pass. For me the situation was tiring and scary, couple of gusts had already forced me to stop and regain balance. We found a small rock shelter, sat down, had a sandwich, and turned back.

The gale: Loppujen lopuksi odotettu myrsky katkoi kuudessa paikassa sähköjohdot, aiheutti yhden tulipalon (jonka Colin juoksi sammuttamaan, ollen toiselta ammatiltaan paikallinen palopäällikkö). Myös hostellin sähköt hävisivät pariksi tunniksi ja tuuli tempoi kaiken irtonaisen mukaansa. Paikalliset olivat kuitenkin hyvin varautuneita, eikä onnettomuuksia sattunut. Olen melkoisen helpottunut, että emme olleet missään lähelläkään vuorenrinteitä tässä säässä.

Finally the story ends with the gale cutiing electricity in six different locations, causing one fire (which Colin ran to put out, him being the local fire officer as well), and letting the hostel without power for a couple of hours, too. The locals are quite well prepared for these events, and no major accidents happened. I'm mighty glad we were nowhere near the slopes by the time the weather hit.

July - Scotland

Anni had never been to Scotland. On our week tour with our good friends Gwilym and Caroline we ended up seeing an incredible amount of it, and still found time to go climbing and trekking.

3 small figures at the bottom of Spantastic (F5 R/X) at Flodigarry on the Isle of Skye. We had just abseiled down to do this rather unique route.

Anni following the exposed pillar, even seconding this pitch was serious as a fall would result in swinging into the opposing wall. Thanks Caroline for the fantastic telephoto snaps.

The easier (but loose) second pitch (F4+ R)

Steeper but safer; Anni did a fantastic job seconding this route. On the North West the sandstone sea cliffs at Reiff make wonderful cragging. (Unknown route about F6a+)

Castles and lochs - truly this is Scotland

A lone orchid beneath Stac Pollaidh

A wet hiker on top of Stac Pollaidh

The beautiful Smoo caves on the North coast close to Durness

The Ring 'o Brodgar Standing Stones - one of many visits to Neolithic sites

The visiting of such places involved considerable crawling underground.

Rackwick bay on the Island of Hoy

The Dwarfy Stane was carved in the sandstone by neolithic man without metal tools.

The Hackness Martello tower provided protection of a "more modern" kind.

The Glenmorangie distillery in Rosshire