Along the Away

While in Queenstown, I went horse riding at Glenorchy, arranged with Dart Stables who came and picked up a group of us in town. It was a 45 minute scenic drive to the stables travelling along Lake Waktipu with a couple of photo stops along the way which was appreciated… I mean, look at this scene.

When we got to the stables we had the option of borrowing gear for the ride which was a good idea given the river crossings we would be making. I borrowed some gumboots and a big waterproof riding jacket – I felt like I was off on a mountaineering adventure, but better to be prepared than sorry (and wet and cold).

I went on the two Hour ‘River Wild’ ride which was perfect for all riding abilities – especially beginners!

It was breathtaking.

We meandered along the northern part of Lake Wakatipu with a mountain range backdrop and lots of glacial river crossings.

I rode a beautiful horse named Merlin – he was very kind, and only a little bit curious about wandering off the track a couple of times.

The two female riding guides travelling with us were great, they kept all the horses happily in line and gave us plenty of instruction in regards to riding through the river crossings and how to lean backwards to make it easier for our horse.

I was just enthralled by the beauty of the mountains and the golden light.

As the sun set the temperature dropped – my feet were so so so cold! My toes felt like little pebbles in my shoes by the time we got back – I couldn’t feel them at all, and that was with two pairs of merino socks on, so be warned if you read this ahead of doing the ride – rug up your feet!

Totally worth it though!

My time in Queenstown was jam-packed with activities – fittingly so, as Queenstown has the reputation of being one of the world’s adventure tourism capitals.

I skiied! I luge-ed! I horse-rode! I danced!

I loved the winter village feel of Queenstown. The streets were bustling and everyone was rugged up warm and cheerful.

Every direction offers a postcard view – it’s the mountain horizon that does it. Even the view from our apartment was pretty special.

I explored with some friends from the bus tour over the three days we were there. On one night I went with Mel and Michael to a fabulous whisky bar with a big fireplace and hard-core bartenders who laboured intensely to create a very fancy Old Fashioned for my friend and an expresso martini for me – both were awesome.

We kicked on to meet a large group at the quintessential backpacker nightclub, The Buffalo Club, where we drank cocktail jars and danced the night away.

The next day I rode the Skyline Gondola up to Bob’s Peak on Ben Lomond Mountain, which was well worthwhile for the amazing views at the top.

While I was up there I figured I may as well ride the luge – it was fun for novelty’s sake and not expensive, but the view is definitely the highlight.

We traveled back down and walked into town to meet some others at Fergburger – the famous burger hotspot. Being a vegetarian I wasn’t sure if I’d get the same experience as it’s the Fergburger original that everyone raves about – but they had a few veggie options so I tried the “Bun Laden” – a falafel burger. It was pretty damn good actually!

In the afternoon I wandered around on my own for awhile – time for some solo time-out! The evening was beautiful down by Steamer Wharf, I even appreciated the chill as I walked around, it lent a special atmosphere.

That night we went to the Below Zero Ice Bar – which, you guessed it, is made of ICE! Including the cups…

And the decor…

And the light fixtures…

Basically everything! It was fun to visit for awhile, we stayed for about two hours. To be honest, it’s not really that cold (compared to being outdoors in NZ haha!) There is a photo booth in there plus an ice puck table and vodka on the rocks – plenty to amuse oneself for a couple of hours.

For dinner, Mel, Michael and I kicked on down to Steamer Wharf where we’d independently walked around earlier that day and seen some interesting restaurants.

We walked back and forth a few times before deciding on ‘Public Kitchen‘ which was quite special. Their menu is based on collective dining and sharing food, so while we all ordered our own ‘main’ meat or seafood we ordered a number of delicious veggie side accompaniments – yummo! We were there for a few hours, chatting and laughing and sharing tales from their life in Darwin (fascinating – I want to go even more now!) and my travel stories from India. Seriously, it’s the people you meet while on the road that make the most lasting memories; it was one of my favourite nights.

I’ll share more in my next couple of posts about my skiing and horse riding adventures. I would love to return to Queenstown again, either in winter so I could properly learn to ski, or even in Spring or Summer to go hiking and enjoy these great outdoors.

If I HAD to pick one single highlight of my trip to NZ it would probably, most likely, OK definitely be the glacier heli-hike I did on Fox Glacier. It really was one of those top-of-the-top travel experiences. Sure, everything you do when traveling is a special experience and rates high on the life scale far above the base line of sitting at home on the couch. But there are some once in a lifetime epic experiences that skyrocket off that scale to be seared into your memory forever. The glacier hike and opportunity to poke around in some ice caves was absolutely amazing – plus, you get there by helicopter!

There was a lot of debate on the road and even amongst travellers online about whether it’s worth doing the half day (4 hour) heli-hike, which is expensive at NZ$400, or doing a much cheaper half day hike or even a drive-and-hike instead. I understand that there’s a point where you just can’t multiply the dollars in your pocket, but if you do have the cash and you’re just weighing up where else you could spend it – don’t hesitate. This is one of those things you have to do while you’re there.

I went with the company Fox Guides. They fit you out in any gear you need; I was wearing water resistant hiking pants already but opted to wear one of their water-proof, insulated jackets plus their leather hiking boots. I had my waterproof Palladium boots but because you wear crampons on the ice I preferred the assurance of a perfect fit and performance on their own hiking boots.

We were assembled into groups based on on our individual weights and then had to stand together on a massive scale to check we weren’t over the helicopter requirements. I went with a few of my travel buddies from the bus tour which was great – we were all giddy with excitement! We were group 2 out of 4 helicopter loads, so we got to watch the group in front of us follow procedure as they ran to the helicopter and hopped in. It took off in a thunder of noise and arc-ed up and disappeared in between the mountains. The excitement mounted for our group as the second helicopter landed and it was our turn to beeline for the door, jump in and enjoy the ride!

It was a very smooth flight, all of us grinning ear-to-ear with our headphones on and eyes pinned out the window. The mountains loomed up and around us, the higher up we went it dawned on me just how high and big they are, a perspective you just can’t fathom looking up from land or birds-eye from a plane.

The glacier is an expansive long stretch of ice holding apart the opposing stark mountain sides that it runs between.

I was studying it for a long time before I noticed that a couple of the specks below were actually the other helicopter and the first group standing on the ice! Seriously, just as you think you’ve wrapped your head around the scale of the area it knocks you over again. We circled around as the group below all crouched down with their heads tucked and hands over their ears.

The helicopter lifted off the ground and drifted away back to pick up another group. Ours descended to the drop off spot and we touched down lightly. I stumbled out and beelined carefully over the ice to the group, we crouched and braced as the helicopter lifted off sending gusts of wind and sheets of ice across our huddle. Once it was gone we gingerly stood up and with the help of our guide put on our crampons which was not too difficult.

What a godsend they were! As soon as they were on I felt sturdy and safe, I could walk on the sleekest patch of ice and stay totally in control.

We followed our guide in a single file, taking care to step where he stepped (don’t want to fall through into a cave!) It was unreal, unlike any other environment I’ve ever been on.

Fox Glacier is one of the most accessible glaciers in the world with the odd distinction of ending in rainforest, 13km away from its beginning in the Southern Alps. It has both retreated and expanded over the years – the vegetation revealing its past.

My favourite thing about the hike was walking through the ice tunnels.

They’re cave-like, but not far below the surface, most of the time you can see the sky through gaps and holes in the ice above – they’re more like crevices I suppose.

They are just so beautiful.

Peaceful and ethereal.

Smooth and glossy, surprisingly dry to touch.

At times the tunnel was so tight I had to contort my body to slide through – and slide is the right word. If it weren’t for the smooth slippery walls of the tunnel I’m not sure I could have pushed myself through. I had to contort, lean into the wall and slide around, trying not to fall in a puddle once I’d made it through the tricky part.

Sometimes the ice was solid above me, but mostly I looked up to see a sliver of the sky between the curve of the ice above.

We climbed back up to the ground level of the glacier and crunched our way back towards the helicopter pick-up point, stopping for some group happy snaps.

Our guide chopped up the ice so that once we took our crampons off we didn’t slip and slide.

We repeated the whole crouch and brace routine again before it was our turn to hop on for our ride back to base.

Lucky me – I got to sit in the front! I was the ‘co-pilot’ (in my head). Susie looks a bit worried but was happy really.

The whole morning was just wonderful, I loved very minute! If you ever have the opportunity to go in your lifetime – do it!

This was a day I woke up with excitement fluttering in my stomach. As soon as my eyes opened I remembered what the day ahead held and I jumped out of bed with giddy anticipation, a bit nervous but with a big smile on my face. It was one of those holiday days where you’re going to do something you’ve planned to do before even leaving home.

A once in a lifetime thing.

Like SWIMMING. WITH. DOLPINS.

DUSKY DOLPHINS!

But the Dusky Dolphin pod lives off the east coast, and I was still in Nelson on the northern tip of the South Island. So onto the bus we got for the drive to Kaikoura, back through the Rai Valley and the Marlborough Wine Region. The early morning start was beautiful, I had my eyes and camera pressed to the bus window.

As we drove down the coast we stopped at Ohau Point to watch some New Zealand fur seals. They were cute, but pretty lazy, so we stopped long enough to take photos and stretch our legs then got on our way again.

While most of the bus group went on a whale watching cruise, myself and my new friends Susie, a fellow Aussie from Sydney, and Emma, from England, went out on the dolphin swimming cruise with Dolphin Encounter. It was expensive but worth it for the most amazing day!

‘Most amazing’ is an epic statement to make considering I spent some of said awesome day emptying my stomach into a plastic bucket.

AND into the ocean.

Metres from a Sperm Whale.

This is the price one must pay on intrepid sea adventures.

The sea swell was classified moderate-rough and the pod proved a little elusive to find, so we were on the water for over an hour before we spotted some small groups from the pod.

A lovely girl on the crew, who spent most of the time handing out and rinsing out plastic buckets, said it took us twice as long as normal to find them which would be why so many of us experienced sea sickness, and why I had it even though I’ve never been sick at sea before. Motion sickness has never been my problem, I can read a novel in 8pt font in a 4WD jeep driving on rural dirt tracks and I won’t even notice. But this time, I won’t lie, I felt pretty rotten.

Luckily, I fell into a cycle of 10 minutes feeling queasy, 5 minutes over the bucket, 10 minutes feeling just fine and dandy.

I’m grateful for small mercies, those 10 minute periods of dandiness meant I got to get in the water with the dolphins and have an absolute blast doing so.

Once we found the whole pod the captain positioned the boat a short distance away and we all popped into the ocean off the back of the boat. It took a bit of coordination with all the gear on and the excitement coursing adrenaline through our veins. It was then up to the dolphins to join us – they did not hesitate for a second!

It’s hard to describe, but let me try.

I plunged into the icy water and bobbed between the hectic chaos above surface and the eerie calm underwater. I pushed away from the crowd trying to get away from the flippers kicking my head, the arms splashing air bubbles in front of my goggles, the noise and disturbance all around me.

I swam toward some calm and started seeing flashes past my goggles; flippers of a different kind. Long noses, sleek dusty grey blurs, eyeballs passing right by my eyeballs. My breath caught in my chest, my heart thudded, I couldn’t breathe. The coldness of the water and the adrenaline seized me. A golden moment in time, pure joy, the power of the universe flowing into me and out of me as it does in only the most special of moments.

I bobbed up to the surface to take 10 seconds to pull myself together. I wanted to laugh, to cry, to throw up, to leap, to reach out.

I took some deep breaths. Adjusted my goggles. Calmed the hell down.

I ducked back under and took my time just hovering, watching. There were hundreds of dolphins darting all around me, every which way, it was unbelievable. I was conscious not to touch them but they had no qualms brushing past me, but oh so fast. I probably couldn’t have intentionally hugged one if I tried (I didn’t). I remembered what we’d been told and started to mimic their behavior. We wanted them to think we were just like them, a special kind of dolphin that had come to visit. I squealed through my snorkel, I flipped one hand back and forth and spun in a circle while they did the same around me. I was playing with dusky dolphins! Bloody amazing!!

I’m sure to the dolphins, we’re just indistinguishable to them as they are to us. But there were moments where I locked eyes with one for a fleeting moment and I wondered; what is this connection? Two species playing, one land based, one ocean dwelling. No reason to be here doing this together other than heartfelt curiosity on the part of one with the intelligence and means to adapt to an alternative environment, just for awhile. And the other, heartfelt curiosity and the intelligence to recognise the opportunity.

I was seriously blown away.

It was the best day, ending in a sunset cruise back to shore.

We drove into Nelson just as the sun was going down. We drove through the town to our accommodation close by Tahunanui Beach. It may be winter, but that’s not going to hamper the enjoyment of a sundown stroll along the sand.

The sun set boldly into the horizon, the clouds changing their colour every few minutes.

As I was fiddling around with the mysterious settings on my camera I saw a group posing for photos in the fading light so I snapped a few of my own.

Before arriving, I was mostly looking forward to visiting the arty, laid back town of Nelson just to have down time exploring the town’s galleries, cafés and pubs, but then the opportunity to go on a quad biking adventure at Happy Valley came up and I unexpectedly decided to give it a go! There are so many things to do in New Zealand and a lot come with a significant price tag so I have been picking and choosing as I go. The quad biking offered a chance to see some of the local bush though and I find it hard to turn down nature time so I signed up with some buddies from the tour.

It was so much fun! We went with Happy Valley Adventures who picked us up from the hotel and took us to the property. When we arrived we were fitted with our helmets and hopped on our quad bikes for a quick lesson how to use the gears, accelerate and brake.

We rode around a circular practice track for awhile to build a bit of confidence which I was grateful for; I was stop-starting a bit at first and braking down the little hills haha! But soon felt like I had control and could pick up the pace.

One of the girls in my group couldn’t quite get comfortable with it (she doesn’t even have her drivers license so I can understand) and the guys were great, they put no pressure on her at all and she was still able to come on the ride with us by riding on the back of the guide’s quad bike.

We went on the Bay View Circuit track led by our guide Fletcher and accompanied by the charismatic Border Collie, Jenna, who very happily sat on the back of Fletcher’s bike the whole time.

We winded up through the mountain on a well worn 14km track through native forest. There was never any particularly hairy bits, just twists and turns, ups and downs, over bridges and through big puddles. Over the two hours I picked up speed and had more thrills. I only ever went as high as 30kmh (hey it felt faster on a twisting dirt track!) but the guys from our group that went on the tougher track went as fast as 60kmh!

Once we reached the top of the mountain track we had the option to go on the Skywire, which is a paid extra. It is basically the world’s longest flying fox. There is a hanging car with four racing car seats; we got securely strapped in and told to brace ourselves for the chill factor – I soon realised why! The first 800m is a freefall drop onto the flying fox where we apparently reach up to 100kmph! It was stomach dropping but a lot of fun! The wind chill sliced right through me in the drop but then we slowed as we flew 150m across the valley.

The view was beautiful, it felt like my feet could touch the native forest densely packed below us.

From there we headed to a lookout where we stopped to drink Milo and refuel on biscuits. It was a nice opportunity to stretch the legs and appreciate the view.

Back at the bottom we got about ten minutes for some crazy freestyle riding on a track laid out between some farmland. Somehow a sheep found his way on the track and took off running at the sight of me bearing down on him. Of course I slowed down, but did the silly bean get off the track? No, he kept running on the track taking peeks over his shoulder at me as he went. I tried pointing and waving at him to move sideways off the track which he eventually did, but not before we were all banked up behind him doing 5kmph hahaha!!

After our ride we got driven back into town where our first priority was food. I did my usual online cafe researching and led the quad biking crew to The Morrison St Cafe, we sat at a big round table and had a wonderful hearty tummy-warming lunch.

After that we all split up and went our own ways for a wander around the town of Nelson. I checked out some of the art stores with a couple of the girls and the Christ Church Cathedral at the end of the main street.

Then I struck off on a mission to visit a jeweller I had read about, Louise Douglas. I had seen photos of her work and loved the reflection of nature in her designs. I splurged on a treat to remember NZ by and bought a beautiful freshwater pearl ring designed like a seed pod… It is like the pic below but I got the gold tone pearl not a black one. I love it, wear it all the time, and remember NZ and Nelson every time I wear it.

As enjoyable as my North Island adventuring has been, I headed off to the South Island with a skip in my step knowing that the consensus among many is that things only get better the further south you go. It’s no secret that the South Island takes the prize for jaw dropping scenery and it’s no secret that nature is my thing.

So I travelled over the Cook Strait nice and early in the morning on the inter-islander ferry.

The trip took over three hours crossing through the Marlborough Sound, my eyes peeled for whales (which never showed). It was a relatively smooth trip though and I was there in a jiffy!

For the next part of my trip I decided to do with the tour company Topdeck to make it easy to get about the icy island, particularly traveling over to the glaciers (the place I’m most looking forward to!)

There was a full bus of about 30 of us which is the biggest group of people I have ever travelled with! Everyone was really nice, a mix of Aussies, Canadians and Europeans, though I was the oldest at 32, they ranged down to about 20 which was an adjustment. I have previously travelled with Intrepid tours who have smaller groups (12 maximum), a wider age group (mid twenties to fifties, with the average around 30) and who travel on local transport not their own dedicated tour vehicle. I think by nature I’m more suited to the Intrepid style, but I enjoyed what Topdeck had to offer and had a great time.

Our first stop was to a winery I’m the Malborough region – Forrest Wines.

There was lots of taste testing but my favourite thing was the picturesque landscape and the first glimpses of mountain ranges along the horizon.

And the sheep ;-)

From here we piled back in the bus and drove down to Nelson, via a night stopover in Christchurch. More on that in the next post!

Blowing into windy Wellington, New Zealand’s hip capital city, on the back of rainy weather, it was refreshing to see the clouds clearing just as we arrived.

First up was a drive past the long waterfront, craning our heads up the hill at the residential homes complete with cliff side personal gondolas installed to make the hefting of groceries from the car to house a bit easier. Don’t think I haven’t thought of rigging something similar to my third floor apartment balcony back in Sydney!

We stopped at the Weta Cave, an interesting hole in the wall museum at Weta Workshops, the special effects and prop studio co-founded by Peter Jackson. It’s part collector’s gift shop, part museum (some of the price tags were a pretty penny such as $700+ for a hand calligraphied contract owned by one Bilbo Baggins).

The coolest thing there was a tiny theatre where a 15 minute film showcasing the prop making and visual effects genius Weta have contributed to such films at The Lord of the RIngs, The Hobbit, TinTin, Planet of the Apes and Avatar to name but a few. It showed some behind-the-scenes talent, the creative minds working on such projects in their day-to-day job of a lifetime.

After that we drove up to the top of Mt Victoria for city wide panoramic views over Wellington.

We drove through the Mount Victoria Tunnel which our bus driver honked the bus horn through, oh, about twenty times. It is apparently a tradition to honk your horn while driving through the tunnel for no other reason than to get someone to honk back at you. Apparently it has recently been clamped down on by the police, which may explain why no one honked their horn back at us… :-(

In the afternoon, I took a wander through Civic Square down to Te Papa (the National Museum). There was a series of city art pieces with quotes from poems and literature about New Zealand. It was really cool.

I wandered down through Cuba Place where I stopped for lunch at Felix Cafe, a good place to eat and people watch.

A guy I chatted with there suggested I take the cable car up to the Botanic Gardens so of course I did!

There is a loop walk starting from the cable car station at the top, which takes about 45 minutes and includes a sculpture walk, rose gardens and benches in pretty, peaceful spots.

It was windy! Time for a random selfie :-)

The gardens feature a sculpture trail with some really interesting pieces.

This one creates music when you run a stick along the outside of the cone!

I spent about twenty minutes down on the ground taking about two hundred photos of the cutest inquisitive bunch of little sparrows. I’m still trying to figure out my new camera so it was fun to play around with it while these little guys hopped in and around me.

And the ducks :-)

I watched the sun set with pretty colours.

I went into the observatory where there is the usual astronomy exhibits as well as an interesting showcase on New Zealanders who have contributed to global space and astronomy achievements and another on the Maori interpretation of the stars and use of the sky for navigation.

I joined a show session in the planetarium which included a screening of ‘Dynamic Earth’ narrated by Liam Neeson and then a tour through the sky by a resident astronomer. He brought up the night’s Wellington sky on the dome roof and pointed out star patterns and shapes and their European and Maori names and interpretations, it was really fascinating. For example what we know as the lion, Leo, is interpreted by Maori’s as a kind of fishing hook!

The astronomer also told us about ‘Matariki’ which is a cluster of stars that only appears once a year in winter and heralds the start of the Maori New Year. When it appears in the sky in May-June it means the new season has arrived.

Afterwards I caught the cable car back down the hill to the city (it takes about 6 minutes) and wandered down to Courtney Place for dinner at Enigma Cafe a busy cheerful place with hearty and affordable food. When I was in there a diverse range of characters sat at the tables; groups of friends having tea, couples eating dinner, a running group calling in for smoothies, three guys playing a board game, and me eating vegetarian nachos and reading my kindle, just making myself at home.

I walked back to my hotel through the relatively quiet night-time streets just soaking up the European-esque laneways and making note of quirky hole in the wall bars and restaurants (like the crumpet bar… Seriously, a crumpet bar? If only I had the time!)

As I was walking down one dark street I noticed a lost looking fellow coming towards me who stopped to ask for directions – as the words left his mouth we recognised each at the same moment from having chatted in a bar a week before in Rotorua! What in the world? Moments like this make you think maybe it’s not so big after all!

When I spotted this man and his dog I knew I was home for the night, my hotel being just behind it. It helps to have such handy landmarks in a new place!

This marks the end of my NZ North Island adventures, tomorrow the South Island is only a ferry ride away!

New Zealand is home to an epic series of ‘Great Walks’ which I have read about and hope to tick some off of my bucket list sometime in my lifetime. I was really excited to go to the World Heritage Listed Tongariro National Park where the only Great Walk you can do in one day, the Tongariro Crossing, is located. The Crossing is 19.4km long and is incredibly steep in parts (there is a part called The Devils Staircase. Enough said.)

There are three mountains in the national park – Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu, which are important landmarks to the Maori people for spiritual and cultural reasons.

We stayed two nights in an alpine lodge in Whakapapa Village, which was cosy but rustic – it reminded me a bit a school camp to be honest, lots of pine furniture, bunk beds, shared common rooms with board games and fireplaces. There is a kitchen and bar there, the food was good and the staff were friendly and helpful – especially in regards to giving me a cup of uncooked rice – more on that later.

I love bushwalking and hiking outdoors, I try to walk everyday but even still I wouldn’t say my fitness is at a high level because I don’t train or intentionally challenge myself to tackle steeper terrain or anything – I mostly stick to coastal tracks. So I was a bit nervous about doing the Tongariro Crossing but I knew enough of its beauty to sign up immediately anyway. When our bus arrived in the national park the night before it was raining pretty heavily but the forecast was looking good for the next day. We were getting picked up by a guided hiking company called Adventure Outdoors at a very early hour, so I prepped all my hiking gear at the end of my bunk bed ready for a quick and quiet rise in the morning (lesson number one in being a considerate room-mate). When the morning came I woke to the sound of rain pattering down but I jumped up, got ready and assembled optimistically with the rest of the group ready for the pick-up. Alas, Mother Nature had other plans for us. Sarah and Perrin, from Adventure Outdoors arrived with the sad news that the wind higher up on the crossing was too fierce to make the trek – the Tongariro Crossing was closed. For those that haven’t heard of it before, here is what I missed out on:

So sad, I felt really disappointed as I had psyched myself up to take on the challenge. Hiking through snow and navigating ice on the track was going to be a new experience for me, I was really mentally preparing myself for the challenge of using crampons and ice picks to earn that incredible view. But as travel always (always) teaches us, when something doesn’t work out, just roll with it onto the next amazing experience. Sarah and Perrin were revved up with enthusiasm and wouldn’t let our spirits stay down for long – they proposed we head out and do some hiking along the base of the mountains, some of which was part of the Tongariro Crossing anyway. So we did!

It rained. The entire 6 hours.

But look, I’m smiling! With rain drops on my nose.

Coz it was fun! Seriously, we’ve developed into such precious souls when it comes to getting a bit uncomfortable. I would never normally go hiking in the rain. Even if it’s forecast to rain later during the day I’ll cancel an intended hike. I’d get wet! And cold! And uncomfortable!

Well, so what. I did get a bit of all of those things, but I didn’t stop smiling! Neither did anyone in our small group of 8 or so. We laughed at ourselves and each other. We stumbled and bounced back up. We stopped for photos, to listen to stories from the girls, to try and picture the scenes in Lord of the Rings which were filmed here.

We started at Mangatepopo Car Park and walked as far as Soda Springs, stopping before ascending the Devil’s Staircase.

The track was beautiful in the rain. The fog hung low and heavy, the silence of the land except the rain hitting the ground and our feet crunching on the rocks.

Sarah and Perrin were wonderful guides, they acted as if it was a perfect blue sky, sunny day and we were out for a leisurely stroll. Sarah was actually 7 months pregnant at the time! Which none of us even realised til about two hours in – we were all so bundled up in fleeces and rain jackets that her bump was hidden and her unbelievable energy would never have given it away. Once realised that, it put us all in our place – if she can keep going then we can!

I learnt from the walk that Lake Taupo was once a volcano that blew up in about 1180. It threw lava and rock over a third of the north island. All the trees were flattened creating the lava fields we walked through on our walk. Lake Taupo is hours away – so that gives you an idea of the how powerful the volcano eruption was.

I might have missed out on hiking with crampons on the ice, but I got to step over some. It was this cold. 

I can only wonder at how the walk looks and feels on a gloriously sunny day. Our experience was oh so different, but appreciated.

Soda Springs popped up in view, our walk’s target.

On we trooped, letting the rain soak in and roll off.

Finally we reached Soda Springs. A quick photo op and we turned around and trudged back to the Mangatepopo carpark.

Once we got back in the van and had the heaters pumping we all laughed and kidded around, trying a hopeless battle to keep seats dry when everything about us was soaked. We had the giddy high you get after doing something you probably wouldn’t have thought you would do, relief mixed with achievement. Then Sarah turned from the front seat and proposed we head to a lake walk – only about 2 hours and mostly under a rainforest canopy so we wouldn’t get much wetter (can you get wetter than 100% soaked?) The van got quiet. We all made non-committal noises sliding side-long glances at each other. Was anyone going to object? Was the seven months pregnant woman going to be shut down? Non-committal noises turned into non-committal head bobs as we all waited for someone to say the words that would send us all home to a shower and dry towel, food and a heater. The words never came and Sarah and Perrin clapped their hands and took off toward the walk. We all rallied as we realised ‘OK, we’re doing this!’ Later we all laughed when we realised not one of us thought we had it in us to do another rain walk, surely 4 hours had been enough. But we were all so glad that we’d followed the crowd – we had another fabulous walk!

Rotopounamu Lake is located at the foot of Mt Pihanga in the Pihanga Scenic Reserve, believed to have formed about 10,000 years ago by a landslide. The walk is 6km around, and took us about 90 minutes.

The name translates to ‘greenstone’ which apparently reflects the colour of the water on a clear day – I will have to trust our guides on this one seeing as my view was rather grey…

Dreary, but strangely still beautiful and rather invigorating to be there!

I mentioned at the start of this post a cup of rice which was given to me without question from the kitchen at our accommodation. Along the walk I couldn’t help but keep getting my iPhone out to snap photos. Of course I hadn’t brought my camera along due to the rain, but with my phone slipping into the inside pocket of my trusty Kathmandu Gortex raincoat I figured I could chance it.

I took lots of photos – amidst lots of rain drops.

I made sure to wipe it dry every time I put it back in my pocket, but by the end of the day the combination of constant downpour and the humidity inside my jacket due to my body heat, my iPhone was NOT happy. As in the front screen was completely streaked with water marks and condensation under the screen. I could barely read a thing. I did a Google and read that I should turn it off and sit it in a cup of rice. I gave it a go as I LOVE my iPhone and would have been devastated to have it die, mid-trip no less. I kept it in the cup of rice overnight to no avail. I moved both rice and the iPhone into a clip-lock bag and kept it in there for another 48 hours with still no luck – it looked just as bad. I felt sad and decided to turn it on and use it as much as I could til I could get home and replace it. Well, gradually, over the next three weeks my iPhone healed itself. I suppose it dried out over time in my pocket next to my body heat. I was stoked! So for anyone looking  for a solution to a water damaged phone – time, heat and a little TLC should see it right :-)