Well, my last post from my Fellowship. I have been home since Sunday following a rough flight home. I have just about recovered but am finding it somewhat cold. The temperature was 29 degrees when I left Christchurch and it is minus 1 here today at home.
All it remains for me to say is a HUGE thanks to the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust for giving me the once-in-a-lifetime fantastic opportunity to spend my 5 weeks in New Zealand, meeting lots of lovely people, walking in some awesome places and learning a lot about the way tramping/walking is organised there. I think the two countries can learn from each other and benefit walking both home and abroad.
I guess the high points were doing the Tongariro crossing with Taupo Trampers, nearly climbing Mt Arthur but doing Winter Peak adjacent to it instead due to time shortage and of course the New Zealand scenery in general.
Some statistics: I drove over 1500 miles, walked with or gave talks to 9 clubs, highest point reached was the top of Mt Tongariro 1978, I am not sure of total distance walked but the longest tramp I think was about 16km (10 miles).
Finally, thanks also go to all the people who made me feel so welcome in New Zealand - on their walks and in their homes. The whole Fellowship wouldn't have been possible without them. Thank you all.
..and thanks to all who have been reading my blog and following my travels.
Audrey
Friday, 17 December 2010
Thursday, 9 December 2010
last full day
Today (Friday) is my last full day in New Zealand and the weather has turned grey with the risk of rain...so perhaps not as hard to leave had it been gloriously sunny as it has been a lot of the time I have been here.
My talk to Christchurch Tramping Club went ok. It was a small audience of about 12 but I was told that was because the Alpine Club were having a book launch last night so I guess that isn't too bad as competition for my talk! The club is the first I have come across that has its own Training Officer - who happens to be from Derbyshire - and they run courses in river crossings, navigation, winter skills etc. They plan their walks slightly differently from the OFTC that I met the other day in that CTC have one person in the club who is responsible for ALL contact with landowners for access permission (OFTC leave that to the individual tramp leaders to do so), so it is interesting to see how different clubs approach things in different ways. We had a good discussion on the insurance aspects and on UK Ordnance Survey maps and NZ Topo maps. I reckon about half the audience were actually Brits so I didn't need to do the hard sell on walking in the UK this time!!
Today, I return my hire car and start to think about packing. I am out for a meal with the family tonight in town to say Goodbye and Merry Christmas etc and can't believe 5 weeks have passed already. I have to re-read my own blog to see where I have been and what I have done.
Watch this space for a round up posting when I get back to snowy UK!!!
My talk to Christchurch Tramping Club went ok. It was a small audience of about 12 but I was told that was because the Alpine Club were having a book launch last night so I guess that isn't too bad as competition for my talk! The club is the first I have come across that has its own Training Officer - who happens to be from Derbyshire - and they run courses in river crossings, navigation, winter skills etc. They plan their walks slightly differently from the OFTC that I met the other day in that CTC have one person in the club who is responsible for ALL contact with landowners for access permission (OFTC leave that to the individual tramp leaders to do so), so it is interesting to see how different clubs approach things in different ways. We had a good discussion on the insurance aspects and on UK Ordnance Survey maps and NZ Topo maps. I reckon about half the audience were actually Brits so I didn't need to do the hard sell on walking in the UK this time!!
Today, I return my hire car and start to think about packing. I am out for a meal with the family tonight in town to say Goodbye and Merry Christmas etc and can't believe 5 weeks have passed already. I have to re-read my own blog to see where I have been and what I have done.
Watch this space for a round up posting when I get back to snowy UK!!!
Wednesday, 8 December 2010
nearly over....
Well, today (Thursday) is my 2nd last day in New Zealand as I fly home on Saturday. I am giving a talk to the Christchurch Tramping Club in town tonight and have added a lot of the information I have gained in my 5 weeks here so I hope it makes sense to them! Today, I went for my last swim here - in the 25m indoor pool this time as there were 700 children in the outdoor facility - end of term school trips - then did some Christmas shopping. I have to admit that I don't feel Christmassy yet as it is back up to 19 degrees and very sunny today. No doubt I will do when I get back to the minus 8 degree temperatures at home. Everyone here has commented on how awful the UK weather is and how their petrol prices have gone up here in NZ as the result of the demands being placed on oil in frozen Europe...It is still half the price that it is in the UK though.
View from the window of the house in Governors Bay where I am staying:
View from the window of the house in Governors Bay where I am staying:
coldest day so far!!
Today (Wednesday), I went for a tramp with the Christchurch Over 40s Tramping Club to High Peak in the Malvern Hills near Darfield and Glentunnel. Darfield had the misfortune of being virtually the epicentre of the Sept 4th Christchurch earthquake and many buildings still show the damage caused by the 7.1 scale 'quake.
We had a very easy morning walk to the top of High Peak via grassy farm tracks with good views despite the coldest weather I have experienced so far on my travels - it was only 9 degrees!!
Me on the left at the top of High Peak (1400m)
At lunchtime, I had to give an impromptu presentation on my Churchill Fellowship and how walking in the UK differs from NZ. I then had 3 minutes to eat my lunch!
After lunch, the party split, with some taking the easy path back to the cars (1 hour) and the majority of us opting to climb to a ridge and then take the longer route back. Well, an hour's detour turned into 2 and a half hours as we "bush bashed" a path through head high broom, gorse, "supple jack" vines and beech forest!!! We were never lost as the leader had excellent map and compass skills but he was following someone else's recce notes and so we were not sure exactly where to descend from the ridge to the bottom. After being scratched and slipping on muddy terrain, we eventually found the road and an easy walk back to the cars. The group were at great pains to insist that it was not their usual walking style!!! Still, we all got back in one piece, even if we did all need a good hot bath!
A mountain goat having a good laugh at us:
I learned a lot about the way the group works through chatting to members on the walk and they are very well organised, with over 400 members. They have different grades of walks from 1 (easy) to 4/5 (hard/technical) and walks are planned in 4 month blocks with each person on the planning group allocated a month to look after, whereby they find leaders willing to lead the chosen walks for that month (although some leaders do come forward with their own ideas for walk) and then the leaders are responsible for recceing the walk and contacting landowners for permission if needed. I also learned a lot more about landowners' attitudes to access.
We had a very easy morning walk to the top of High Peak via grassy farm tracks with good views despite the coldest weather I have experienced so far on my travels - it was only 9 degrees!!
Me on the left at the top of High Peak (1400m)
At lunchtime, I had to give an impromptu presentation on my Churchill Fellowship and how walking in the UK differs from NZ. I then had 3 minutes to eat my lunch!
After lunch, the party split, with some taking the easy path back to the cars (1 hour) and the majority of us opting to climb to a ridge and then take the longer route back. Well, an hour's detour turned into 2 and a half hours as we "bush bashed" a path through head high broom, gorse, "supple jack" vines and beech forest!!! We were never lost as the leader had excellent map and compass skills but he was following someone else's recce notes and so we were not sure exactly where to descend from the ridge to the bottom. After being scratched and slipping on muddy terrain, we eventually found the road and an easy walk back to the cars. The group were at great pains to insist that it was not their usual walking style!!! Still, we all got back in one piece, even if we did all need a good hot bath!
A mountain goat having a good laugh at us:
I learned a lot about the way the group works through chatting to members on the walk and they are very well organised, with over 400 members. They have different grades of walks from 1 (easy) to 4/5 (hard/technical) and walks are planned in 4 month blocks with each person on the planning group allocated a month to look after, whereby they find leaders willing to lead the chosen walks for that month (although some leaders do come forward with their own ideas for walk) and then the leaders are responsible for recceing the walk and contacting landowners for permission if needed. I also learned a lot more about landowners' attitudes to access.
Monday, 6 December 2010
Penguins and boulders
Today (Monday), I travelled to Oamaru about 4 hours south of Christchurch in order to visit a Little Blue Penguin Colony. The site is an old quarry which was abandoned in the 1970s and the penguins began to come ashore and nest on the site. During the 1990s and the 2000s, the area was taken over by the local development corporation and a visitor centre and monitoring scheme developed. The penguins come ashore at night after a day's fishing and go to their nest boxes then go back out to sea in the morning. Visitors watch them coming ashore in the evening from a grandstand but no photography is allowed as it would frighten the penguins. The sodium lighting used to light the ramp they use to come ashore is not visible to a penguin evidently!! You can, however, photograph any in the nest boxes during the day....I tried....
A penguin beak sticking out of a box (best I could do!!!!):
A weekly check of nest boxes and the flipper tags on every bird enables breeding success to be monitored and compared with a "control" colony nearby which has no public access. Breeding success is the same at each site, so the public viewing seems to have no ill effects on the birds.
I also visited the Moeraki Boulders - a group of almost completely spherical boulders on the coast south of Oamaru.
A penguin beak sticking out of a box (best I could do!!!!):
A weekly check of nest boxes and the flipper tags on every bird enables breeding success to be monitored and compared with a "control" colony nearby which has no public access. Breeding success is the same at each site, so the public viewing seems to have no ill effects on the birds.
I also visited the Moeraki Boulders - a group of almost completely spherical boulders on the coast south of Oamaru.
Sunday, 5 December 2010
Mt Herbert
On Sunday, I joined Christchurch Tramping Club for a walk up Mt Bradley on the Banks Peninsula. Graded an "easy" walk, we set off in 26 degrees and blazing sunshine and made it to Packhorse Hut in just over an hour where it clouded over!.
We then decided to walk to the top of Mt Bradley via the "round the mountain" track. However, we missed the turn off to the top of the mountain so we decided to press on and go to the top of neighbouring Mt Herbert instead - which is actually higher than Mt Bradley and the highest peak on the Banks Peninsula.
We then descended to meet up with two members of the party who had stayed behind and who had agreed to meet us at the hut. They weren't there so we carried on down to the cars expecting to see them there. They weren't......With no mobile signal and no other way they could have gone, we decided the best option was to leave the walk leader (and wife of one of the missing people) to wait until they appeared and for the rest of us to drive to a mobile signal area and phone their home... which we did and discovered the two of them had taken a lift out of the valley and back to Christchurch with two people they had met on the track. They had left a note at the hut but none of us saw it!! Glad that all was well, we drove back to the track start to tell the leader she could go home after all!! We agreed that it was a classic case of how things can go wrong if the party splits up.
The tramping club is very active in its training and offers training on river crossings, first aid, winter skills and map skills. It seems they have been called upon a few times to help others in difficulty while they have been out on club tramps.
We then decided to walk to the top of Mt Bradley via the "round the mountain" track. However, we missed the turn off to the top of the mountain so we decided to press on and go to the top of neighbouring Mt Herbert instead - which is actually higher than Mt Bradley and the highest peak on the Banks Peninsula.
The tramping club is very active in its training and offers training on river crossings, first aid, winter skills and map skills. It seems they have been called upon a few times to help others in difficulty while they have been out on club tramps.
Around Christchurch
On Friday, I did the tourist bit in Christchurch - had a swim in the fabulous 50m outdoor pool at Jellie Park then went to the Antarctic Centre by the airport and had a fantastic 3 hours wandering around the exhibition - but didn't feel the need to go into the "what snow feels like" room.......!!! A highlight for me was the little blue penguin colony - rescued and disabled penguins now living in their own pool and nesting area in the centre.
On Saturday, I went on a charity walk at Fisherman's Bay near Akaroa on the Banks Peninsula, organised by the Banks Peninsula Conservation Society to raise funds for their conservation work.
The walk began at a fabulous garden created by Jill and Richard right above the bay and consisting of native NZ and exotic plants. Created over the last 5-7 years from bare farmland, it is wonderful and contains some strange sculptures!!
After lunch among the seals in the bay, we visited an area of land that they have "covenanted" in perpetuity to the QEII Conservation Trust. By fencing it off from cattle grazing, the native vegetation is being allowed to naturally regenerate and some very rare plants are now thriving.
While not a traditional "tramp", I did chat to some people who do go tramping with local groups and it was interesting to hear one lady say that the reason she joined a tramping club was to enable her to see more of New Zealand and particularly to get access to land that she couldn't access without being a member, i.e. areas where landowner permission is needed for access and this is often easier when with a club than on your own. In addition, Jill, as a working farmer, was of the opinion that she would LIKE people to have access to their land in order that they better appreciate the countryside and learn to respect it as a working landscape, particularly people from towns who may not have an understanding of farming and the countryside. From dicussions I have had with tramping groups, not all farmers share this willing attitude, however, and in fact my planned trip for the weekend was cancelled partly due to the landowner withdrawing access to his land.
The walk began at a fabulous garden created by Jill and Richard right above the bay and consisting of native NZ and exotic plants. Created over the last 5-7 years from bare farmland, it is wonderful and contains some strange sculptures!!
After lunch among the seals in the bay, we visited an area of land that they have "covenanted" in perpetuity to the QEII Conservation Trust. By fencing it off from cattle grazing, the native vegetation is being allowed to naturally regenerate and some very rare plants are now thriving.
While not a traditional "tramp", I did chat to some people who do go tramping with local groups and it was interesting to hear one lady say that the reason she joined a tramping club was to enable her to see more of New Zealand and particularly to get access to land that she couldn't access without being a member, i.e. areas where landowner permission is needed for access and this is often easier when with a club than on your own. In addition, Jill, as a working farmer, was of the opinion that she would LIKE people to have access to their land in order that they better appreciate the countryside and learn to respect it as a working landscape, particularly people from towns who may not have an understanding of farming and the countryside. From dicussions I have had with tramping groups, not all farmers share this willing attitude, however, and in fact my planned trip for the weekend was cancelled partly due to the landowner withdrawing access to his land.
Wednesday, 1 December 2010
A few quiet days
I arrived in Christchurch yesterday (Wed) and am spending a couple of days chilling out and doing laundry!! Unfortunately, my planned tramp to Godley Peak with the Geraldine Club on 4/5 Dec has been cancelled due to the leader being in hospital and a landowner withdrawing consent for us to cross his land to access the track. So, instead, I have arranged to go on a walk with the Banks Peninsula Conservation Society on Saturday to help raise money for local conservation work, including saving the tui ( a native NZ bird) and, on Sunday, I will do a day tramp with Christchurch Tramping Club so reports to follow on those trips.
Monday, 29 November 2010
Albatross encounters
Today (Tuesday), I took a boat trip from Kaikoura to view the albatrosses and other seabirds. In total, in the 2 hours, we saw 8 different species of albatross, including 3 Royal Albatross and 8 Wandering Albatross, 5 species of petrels, 4 species of shearwaters (including over 150 Hutton's Shearwater who nest in the surrounding mountains in burrows and are very rare) and a number of gulls and terns. It was fantastic to be so close you could almost touch them as we fed them from the back of the boat. One paid its thanks, however, by messing on me.....great!!!
Giant Petrels and albatross following boat
Young Black Browed albatross
Giant Petrels and albatross following boat
Young Black Browed albatross
to South Island
On Saturday, I took the early morning ferry from Wellington to Picton on the South Island, with the most stunning scenery through the Marlborough Sounds.
I arrived in Nelson at lunchtime and my host, Patrick, from the Nelson Tramping Club took me on a walk through the Brook Waimarama Sanctuary nearby. Patrick is one of a number of volunteers who give up their spare time to help run the 715 ha reserve which aims to restore the area to native flora and fauna. Patrick is one of the "track builders" and we followed one of the tracks soon to be opened to the public. It is a stunning site and a credit to the volunteers who manage and monitor the site. A website www.brooksanctuary.org gives lots more information.
On Sunday, Patrick and I met up with David Blunt, another member of the club, and we climbed Winter Peak (1750 m, 5740 ft) next to Mount Arthur in the Kahurangi National Park. We climbed over 2000ft and did a total of around 15km. Time and a lot of snow near the top of Mt Arthur were the only reasons we didn't do the latter!
David and I at the start:
View:
At the top:
Resident weka at Mt Arthur Hut
Today (Monday), I drove to Kaikoura for a couple of days' sightseeing. The temperature has been about 24 degrees and the sea a fabulous colour. I had a swim in the 33m outdoor pool:
and then had a walk along the beach and a track along the cliffs to see the seals and bird colonies.
I arrived in Nelson at lunchtime and my host, Patrick, from the Nelson Tramping Club took me on a walk through the Brook Waimarama Sanctuary nearby. Patrick is one of a number of volunteers who give up their spare time to help run the 715 ha reserve which aims to restore the area to native flora and fauna. Patrick is one of the "track builders" and we followed one of the tracks soon to be opened to the public. It is a stunning site and a credit to the volunteers who manage and monitor the site. A website www.brooksanctuary.org gives lots more information.
On Sunday, Patrick and I met up with David Blunt, another member of the club, and we climbed Winter Peak (1750 m, 5740 ft) next to Mount Arthur in the Kahurangi National Park. We climbed over 2000ft and did a total of around 15km. Time and a lot of snow near the top of Mt Arthur were the only reasons we didn't do the latter!
David and I at the start:
At the top:
Resident weka at Mt Arthur Hut
and then had a walk along the beach and a track along the cliffs to see the seals and bird colonies.
Thursday, 25 November 2010
Kapiti and Capital
Catching up now that I have access to a computer again!!
On Monday, I drove to Takapau in Central Hawkes Bay to stay with some friends. Karen and Richard are both vets so I spent Tuesday morning being a vet's assistant as Richard visited 3 local deer farms to do some work. In the afternoon, I had a walk round the sheep and deer farm with Karen and then went for a swim in the local pool while one of the boys had his swimming lesson.
On Wednesday, I headed down to the Kapiti coast to Raumati South and stayed with Patrick, from Parawai Tramping Club, and his wife Ann. Patrick and his daughter, Katy, took me on a couple of local walks along the beach and up above the town where we had gorgeous views of Kapiti Island.
That evening, I gave a presentation to the Parawai Club - about 25 people - which went well. It was interesting to see that tehre are any similarities in, for example, finding walk leaders but they have actually got around this slightly by calling them "tramp organisers" who suss out the walk but who may not necessarily be expected to be experts in ALL aspects. There may be people on the walk better able to use GPS or a map or whatever, and these skills are shared.
Thursday was my birthday and I was wakened by "Happy Birthday" texts from Peter, my husband back at home. Patrick, Ann and Katy very kindly gave me a lovely present of a NZ walks calendar.
Pat, Katy and I then went for a walk near Otaki Forks in the Tararura Forest Park and had lunch by the Otaki River in stunning scenery and lovely weather.
I then headed for Palmerston North where I stayed with David and Gaewyn from the Tramping Club. 4 of the club took me out for a birthday meal before I then gave a talk to about 12 people from the club. Again, the issues of the differences in our access (the UK Rights of Way system versus the need to get landowners' permissions for access in NZ and the track and hut system) were discussed and fascinating in their comparisons.
Today (Friday), I am in Wellington and first of all met up with Wasantha Marasinghe from the Dept of Internal Affairs, who looks after the Churchill Fellowship in NZ. We had a coffee and a chat and compared and contrasted the WCMT in the UK and NZ. I am the first Churchill Fellow that Wasanthe has met from the UK! I then took AGES to find my hotel in Wellington's one way system but eventually found it then did some sightseeing along the harbourfront.
Fun on a Friday!!
Te Pape Tongarewa (Museum of New Zealand)
On Monday, I drove to Takapau in Central Hawkes Bay to stay with some friends. Karen and Richard are both vets so I spent Tuesday morning being a vet's assistant as Richard visited 3 local deer farms to do some work. In the afternoon, I had a walk round the sheep and deer farm with Karen and then went for a swim in the local pool while one of the boys had his swimming lesson.
On Wednesday, I headed down to the Kapiti coast to Raumati South and stayed with Patrick, from Parawai Tramping Club, and his wife Ann. Patrick and his daughter, Katy, took me on a couple of local walks along the beach and up above the town where we had gorgeous views of Kapiti Island.
Thursday was my birthday and I was wakened by "Happy Birthday" texts from Peter, my husband back at home. Patrick, Ann and Katy very kindly gave me a lovely present of a NZ walks calendar.
Pat, Katy and I then went for a walk near Otaki Forks in the Tararura Forest Park and had lunch by the Otaki River in stunning scenery and lovely weather.
Today (Friday), I am in Wellington and first of all met up with Wasantha Marasinghe from the Dept of Internal Affairs, who looks after the Churchill Fellowship in NZ. We had a coffee and a chat and compared and contrasted the WCMT in the UK and NZ. I am the first Churchill Fellow that Wasanthe has met from the UK! I then took AGES to find my hotel in Wellington's one way system but eventually found it then did some sightseeing along the harbourfront.
Fun on a Friday!!
Te Pape Tongarewa (Museum of New Zealand)
Sunday, 21 November 2010
Wet on the Waitotora
I travelled to Wanganui on Friday from Taupo and my friend, Blue, suggested I go via the River Road by the Whanganui River as it was "much more scenic" than the main road. Well, yes...it was...if you were able to look at the river below as you negotiated the gravel road!!!! He had omitted to tell me that the road was mainly gravel - more like our forestry roads than a highway!!! Anyway, I made it to my hosts' farm eventually.
On Saturday morning,we met up with 5 members of Wanganui Tramping Club and drove an hour to the road end along the side of the Waitotora River. We then split into two groups for the tramp - the "boys" were taking the hard route to Trains Hut - by climbing an uncut ridge and basically making their own path through the bush, while we 3 "girls" followed the track to the hut. The boys had to first kayak across the river to start their route.
After seeing them off, we girls set off and it took us 4 hours to reach the hut, negotiating swing bridges and narrow tracks along the bluff edge along the way.
Once at the hut,we drank tea and waited for the boys.
We dunked our hot feet in the pool by the waterfall (that's me on the right below)
The boys arrived 4 hours later...just as we were serving up our supper...as I had predicted earlier they would!!!
After spending the night in the hut,we started back...in pouring rain! For only the 2nd time so far, I donned the waterproofs but, within an hour, the sun came out and the weather warmed up as we retraced the track back to the van and an hour's drive to the ice cream shop.
I found it interesting on the walk that they face some of the same access issues that we do. At the end of the track, the landowner has erected a fence but has put a tiny gate in for access but, about 20m on, has dug a huge culvert, so preventing any vehicular access along what is a "public road". The tramping club has taken up the case with the local council.
As with some of the other clubs I have met, the club does not offer any training to its members, but many have done Search and Rescue training for their own interest. S and R is essential in the thick bush of NZ!!!
On Saturday morning,we met up with 5 members of Wanganui Tramping Club and drove an hour to the road end along the side of the Waitotora River. We then split into two groups for the tramp - the "boys" were taking the hard route to Trains Hut - by climbing an uncut ridge and basically making their own path through the bush, while we 3 "girls" followed the track to the hut. The boys had to first kayak across the river to start their route.
We dunked our hot feet in the pool by the waterfall (that's me on the right below)
The boys arrived 4 hours later...just as we were serving up our supper...as I had predicted earlier they would!!!
After spending the night in the hut,we started back...in pouring rain! For only the 2nd time so far, I donned the waterproofs but, within an hour, the sun came out and the weather warmed up as we retraced the track back to the van and an hour's drive to the ice cream shop.
I found it interesting on the walk that they face some of the same access issues that we do. At the end of the track, the landowner has erected a fence but has put a tiny gate in for access but, about 20m on, has dug a huge culvert, so preventing any vehicular access along what is a "public road". The tramping club has taken up the case with the local council.
As with some of the other clubs I have met, the club does not offer any training to its members, but many have done Search and Rescue training for their own interest. S and R is essential in the thick bush of NZ!!!
Wednesday, 17 November 2010
Recovery day
Today (Thursday - yes I know my computer is still on UK time and the blog posting days are not matching but never mind!), I had an easy day to recover from yesterday and did the touristy things around Taupo including a trip to Huka Falls, Craters of the Moon Geothermal area and Taupo Botanic Gardens.
Off to Wanganui tomorrow for a weekend trip with Wanganui Trampers.
hot, hot, hot
On Wednesday, I fulfilled an ambition and did the Tongariro Alpine Crossing - the "best one day walk in New Zealand" with Taupo Trampers. To be absolutely accurate, we didn't actually do the whole crossing from end to end. To avoid the crowds on the main track, we struck off and went up Hardman's Ridge to the top of Mount Tongariro where we had lunch, before walking round the rim of South Crater to Red Crater and on to the Highest point of the main Crossing to join the crowds!! We then followed the main track back to our minibus. The temperature was about 24 degrees and views were STUNNING. While I may not have done the whole crossing, we did do 16km (the crossing distance is 19km) with a lot of height gain (to 1968 metres)and boulder clambering at the top. A wonderful walk in wonderful conditions.
The map of the walk:
The group at the start:
Me with Mt Ngauruhoe in the background
The Emerald Lakes from the highest point on the crossing
Me at the summit of Mt Tongariro
View down to the South Crater
The map of the walk:
The group at the start:
Monday, 15 November 2010
Birthdays and Batteries
I picked up my hire car on Saturday and drove from Auckland to Whangamata on the Coromandel Peninsula on the east coast of North Island. I have to agree with one lady I met who said it is “Paradise on Earth” - stunning beaches backed by mountains cloaked in forest - and the weather to match.
My hosts at my homestay in Whangamata – Ian and Ann – were absolutely lovely – so friendly and welcoming and made me feel at home from the moment I arrived...and this was made all the better by Ian inviting me to join him at the local school pool for a swim. 25 m, 7 lane heated outdoor pool with virtually no-one else in. Bliss!!
After an afternoon stroll along the fabulous beach where surfers and sunbathers were enjoying the warm, sunny weekend weather, I headed back to the homestay for a surprise birthday BBQ that Ann had laid on for Ian's 75th. He thought one or two friends were coming for a little soiree. Instead about 20 people turned up and it was a perfect excuse for Ian to get his guitar out and finish the evening with a singalong.
On Sunday, I met up with the Whangamata Ramblers. The group is just one of a number in Whangamata: the Whangamata Trampers, the Ramblers etc...each group doing different lengths and difficulty of walk.
After a photocall with my own gift of a Whangamata Ramblers T-shirt, we did a 5 hour walk up to the site of the Luck at Last gold mine outside Whangamata. Ivan, our leader, and Mel, the backmarker, took us past the remains of the mine and the surviving artefacts of an operation that lasted only 3 years from 1898-1901. A community of over 200 lived on the site and had their own hall, billiard room and school. Mine shaft entrances and the explosives store are still in place, as are many of the ironworks such as the quartz crushers and the cyanide baths used to separate the gold from the quartz rock. We ate lunch at the battery – the site of much of the final operation to extract the gold. Along the well marked track are points of interest such as Mel's new track, Peter's waterfall, The Soapbox, the Bus Stop and John's track. These are all named after the “track fairies” - 12 or so members of the club who spend every Monday clearing and maintaining the track in order that walkers and cyclists can enjoy them. In 2006, they had a HUGE job to tackle – a massive flood surge down the valley raised the water level 7 metres and washed out large sections of the track – some of which can never be reinstated – and we saw evidence of the damage and power of the water. I found the walk both interesting from an ecological point of view but even more so to hear the history behind the site from Mel and Ivan.
After the walk, Faye, one of the members, took me on a whistle stop tour of the environs of the town – to the dotterel protection area on the beach where we saw 2 chicks; then out to Onamana and to Oupetere beaches – truly paradises on earth – white sandy beaches and a turquoise sea.
On Sunday evening, we once again partied. The club had organised a pot luck supper at the house of one of the members and, again, I was made to feel very, very welcome.
My hosts at my homestay in Whangamata – Ian and Ann – were absolutely lovely – so friendly and welcoming and made me feel at home from the moment I arrived...and this was made all the better by Ian inviting me to join him at the local school pool for a swim. 25 m, 7 lane heated outdoor pool with virtually no-one else in. Bliss!!
After an afternoon stroll along the fabulous beach where surfers and sunbathers were enjoying the warm, sunny weekend weather, I headed back to the homestay for a surprise birthday BBQ that Ann had laid on for Ian's 75th. He thought one or two friends were coming for a little soiree. Instead about 20 people turned up and it was a perfect excuse for Ian to get his guitar out and finish the evening with a singalong.
On Sunday, I met up with the Whangamata Ramblers. The group is just one of a number in Whangamata: the Whangamata Trampers, the Ramblers etc...each group doing different lengths and difficulty of walk.
After a photocall with my own gift of a Whangamata Ramblers T-shirt, we did a 5 hour walk up to the site of the Luck at Last gold mine outside Whangamata. Ivan, our leader, and Mel, the backmarker, took us past the remains of the mine and the surviving artefacts of an operation that lasted only 3 years from 1898-1901. A community of over 200 lived on the site and had their own hall, billiard room and school. Mine shaft entrances and the explosives store are still in place, as are many of the ironworks such as the quartz crushers and the cyanide baths used to separate the gold from the quartz rock. We ate lunch at the battery – the site of much of the final operation to extract the gold. Along the well marked track are points of interest such as Mel's new track, Peter's waterfall, The Soapbox, the Bus Stop and John's track. These are all named after the “track fairies” - 12 or so members of the club who spend every Monday clearing and maintaining the track in order that walkers and cyclists can enjoy them. In 2006, they had a HUGE job to tackle – a massive flood surge down the valley raised the water level 7 metres and washed out large sections of the track – some of which can never be reinstated – and we saw evidence of the damage and power of the water. I found the walk both interesting from an ecological point of view but even more so to hear the history behind the site from Mel and Ivan.
After the walk, Faye, one of the members, took me on a whistle stop tour of the environs of the town – to the dotterel protection area on the beach where we saw 2 chicks; then out to Onamana and to Oupetere beaches – truly paradises on earth – white sandy beaches and a turquoise sea.
On Sunday evening, we once again partied. The club had organised a pot luck supper at the house of one of the members and, again, I was made to feel very, very welcome.
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