We arrived home yesterday afternoon after a looong flight from Vancouver. The first flight, that is, Auckland-Vanocuver was quite pleasant, we and space and the plane and service were quite nice. We slept a little and actually tried to start our 12 hours daytime zone adaptation, but I can tell you already that for me it has not worked.
When we got to Vancouver, we had 8 hours of wait till the next flight, so we just came out of the airport and made a very brief visit to Vancouver. It turns out this city is quite beautiful and worth a longer visit. It has a very nice waterfront on the bay and is surrounded by snowy mountains. We took a two hour stride around a seaside park called Stanley Park and then headed back to the airport.
The fresh air and walk helped us face the last leg of the trip. Unfortunately, this last leg was with my most favourite airline, KLM and my fears turned out to be true. The drop in overall quality is astounding when you get down from a normally nice airplane and get into a KLM one. I will spare you the tales of my woes, suffice it to say that I will try very, very hard to not get into a KLM plane again very soon.
Anyway, even after this last tiring leg of the trip, we made it in one piece to Schiphol airport and completed our trip around the world!
It has been an incredible adventure almost non stop. We have done lots and lots of crazy and fascinating things and to be honest, I was not really tired of having so much fun, but the time ran out and now it is time to get back into reality!
Today was our last day in New Zealand. It has been an amazing holiday, and we agreed that we could not finish it without doing a last hike in the mountains. We were sleeping in a smallish (for the north island) town called Thames, just a hundred kilometres from Auckland and right by our side there was the Coromandel Peninsula natural park so he profited that the plane was not leaving until 8 pm and decided to go climb a mountain or two before going to the airport.
The hike was excellent, yet another change in scenery, this time we had to walk through very dense wet forest and in order to climb the steep walls of the mountains, someone had carved lots and lots of steps in the bare rock. The result was a hike that reminded us the Indiana Jones movies, like getting near an abandoned Mayan temple or something.
Anyway, we completed the hike, got back in the car and drove to Auckland airport. There we left our rental car, got in the plane and hoped for an nicer journey than the first one.
One last interesting tidbit, we are not coming back the same as we left. In fact, we are coming in from the other side!
Well, second to last day in New Zealand and we have decided to do a very, very special visit!
I had considered visiting this particular spot previously, but it is normally quite uninteresting, just an empty field for crazy, crazy fans.
But as it turns out, this moment in time is very special indeed, because where things happened before, things are going to start happening again next week. And the empty field is now not empty at all, but full of very, very interesting stuff that has been prepared for months already. The place we visited is going to be closed for visits probably this week so the special things can happen. We got to see it in almost the perfect moment.
Unfortunately, I am not this vague for a reason. We have taken photos and would love to tell you guys all about it, but we have signed one of these:
So we just cannot post any of the AMAZING photos we took or tell you anything about how incredibly cool and special it was.
Fortunately, this will change, as in what I estimate will be roughly two years time, you will all be able to see what we saw today and we'll be able to tell you everything about it.
Suffice it to say, it was another unforgettable experience in I do not know how many we've lived here.
So to give you the last geographic information, we got up in Rotorua, drove to Matamata and tonight we are going to sleep in a town called Thames and getting our backpacks ready for the airport. This is our last night in New Zealand!
Well, today we could wait no longer, the weather was still not good, but our plane is leaving soon and we still have stuff to do, so we decided to toughen up and get to business: The Tongariro Alpine Crossing, considered the best one day hike in New Zealand. The route takes you up to a pass between two volcanos, one of them Mount Tongariro itself, and through several craters to go down on the other side of the mountain.
Mount Tongariro is famous because it was filmed in the Lord of the Rings film as Mount Doom, the place where all evil lies and where the actual story unfolds its final surprise.
We had decided to aim for a fast climb and if time and weather permitted, attempt to turn left at the Pass saddle and climb to the actual summit of the volcano. It seemed doable, specially if we hurried.
The day came out very cloudy and rainy and as we approached the track start, we realized, we were going to do the whole climb inside clouds. It was going to be a pity, to spend so much effort and see nothing. Still, the epic of the trip required us to get there, so we started climbing fast and were in the saddle one hour ahead of the normal schedule. The clouds engulfed us from the beginning and as we got to the saddle, the wind started.
We had been warned about the wind at the top. it seems it makes a vortex and reaches speeds of more than 50 km/h, so it seemed pretty dangerous to stay there. Still, as we had time, we decided to push for the top of Tongariro, left the normal path and attacked the summit following a long series of marking poles, because the terrain was too active to have a real path.
Those were difficult moments, Josele and me climbing in very dense fog, seeing just one pole ahead of us and rain and wind hitting us from the side. We were drenched very soon and saw many groups turning back. There was nothing to see, so why bother?
But we had not gone through 1100 kms on the bike to turn back that easy, so we endured and finally, after less than an hour of climb from thew saddle, at around 11 am, we got to Mount Doom!
The weather there was awful, so we stayed there very little time, took some photos and completed Frodo's quest.
As we were going down, we realized the weather was getting slightly better, the wind was less strong, it stopped raining and there was more light, so when we got to the saddle, we decided to wait a little before pushing down to see if the clouds would move away and let us see all these volcanos around us.
And it did.
And again, this country is freaking amazing. We were in the middle of the moon, looking down into the gates to hell. It was truly the best day hike I have ever done.
Tonight we are sleeping in Rotorua, a center of Maori culture, but as we are one day late, we will not have the time to make any kind of visit. We are very, very busy tomorrow, you'll see!
Not many opportunities to cite the Lord of the Rings left now, so you'll have to endure two or three more, please bear with me...
Today we had planned a big mountain climb, but the weather in the north is not good to us so we have changed plans and decided to go visit some geothermal sites, where we have seen incredible Geysers, fumaroles and weird chemicals boiling in the surface of pools of mud.
It has been very interesting and quite a nice day to pass a rainy day, but there was a catch. We had to use the car quite extensively, and to be honest, it is just not the same. It is more boring, surprisingly more tiring and above all, you lose the contact with the place.
We first visited the "Craters of the Moon", near Taupo:
The most interesting place we visited is called Orakei Korato, an incredible site of sulphur, boiling waters and unnatural colours.
So we've had some nice walks and gone back to the hostel to rest and have an early night. Tomorrow we attack the mountain!
The ferry to Wellington is quite spectacular, as you can see in this photos.
Wellington itself is quite nice, despite being really big. It is a mountain city on the seaside, very steep streets and lots of greenery. In wellington we visited a very nice bird sanctuary and saw the last living species of dinosaur on Earth. This particular sancturay is a animal reserve in the middle of the city, you would think you ar ein the deep, deep jungle but in fact the park is designed with vary strong defenses against predators so that local species can thrive. It is a very interesting visit, a little nature in a sea of concrete.
(edit from Josele)
The Kaka, a rainforest parrot species... very inteligent and playful, not so cheeky as the Kea:
The Tuatara... It is not a lizard, but a survivor of the dinosaur era. It was able to survive in New Zealand thanks to the lack of predators:
In case you think it easy to spot such a non-lizard/dinosaur, try to spot the one in this picture (I'll give a hint where to look at below the photo):
(hint: try harder, you lazy piece of meat!)
This is the Tui, a rare bird famous for its very strange singing... it seemed to be eating some sort of gigantic hamburger, but at the same time it was quite beautiful:
(edit ends here)
And we finally, sadly went to leave our bikes in the rental shop in Wellington. It was sad for both of us, we have LOVED these bikes and they have loved us back. I think this bike model is the best possible option for this kind of trip and I will try as hard as I can to use these kind of bike in any future adventures.
These were the final numbers in the bike's computer, accumulated distance and maximum speed...
It is an understatement to say that after our love for the bikes, getting a shitty corean rental car was a BIG letdown...
The only good thing I can say about the car is that it is going to take us to our last destination, and that is no mean feat, the landscape in the north island is beautiful but not very flat...
The parallels with the Lord of the Rings are becoming more and more clear, so...
If we are on a quest in Middle Earth, where are we trying to get?
Yesterday we arrived in Picton, the last point of our bike adventure. We did the last 25 kms in a very, very relaxed way, and to be honest, quite sad to be at the end of the route.
As a result of this last 25 kms, unfortunately I have to correct my statement from yesterday. The road between Havelock and Anakiwa is NOT the most beautiful road in the world. In fact, the road between Havelock and Picton is the most beautiful. And we rode it in ideal conditions, sunny weather and low traffic.
This is Picton, out last city in the South Island....
After that, we had an excellent celebratory beer in the most scottish pub in australasia and headed for the ferry. We were finally, after I do not know how many days, leaving the south island and going to the north. It has been a thrilling place to visit and as I already have felt many times during the trip, is the best already behind us?
Well, we still have some interesting things to do in the north and this blog is far from over.
But the bikes, our trusty rides all these days, will not go on with us. We are going to leave them here in Wellington and take a car instead. I know, it is shameful, isn't it?
What is pretty cool in this stage of the trip is the face people puts when we explain to them that we come biking all the way from Queenstown. Bike freaks have seen our bikes and come to talk with us about routes, resting places and favourite roads.
We've become like the Forrest Gump of south island biking...
We are almost, almost there!
Today we had the last real bike ride in our trip and it felt like living a small brief version of the whole 1000 km. ride.
The beginning was very tough, we had a very, very strong headwind for the first 30 kms. It was a beautiful valley, but we are tired and it sapped the energy out of us. So as every day in this trip, New Zealand made us pay before giving up what there was to see. And as always in this trip, once you have payed the price you are not let down!
I will make a BIG statement and i do not really care if you think I exaggerate, but i honestly think it's not the case:
The roughly 15 kms between the small town of Havelock and the even smaller town of Anakiwa is the best strip of bicycle road on Earth.
We seriously thought about this and I am sorry, but places like Lake Como, Switzerland or coastal roads like Calufornia or Norway can go stuff themselves. The best is here. It is simply perfect, you climb from a picturesque fishing town on the side of a fjord covered in vegetation to a beautiful lookout point where you get to see two fjords at the same time. The climb is easyish, less than 100 mts altitude and no nasty ramps. The road then snakes down the second fjord twisting so that no car can go fast (actually there are not too many) and the bikes can take the whole road. That downhill is also magical because for more than 4 kms you do not need to pedal... or touch the brakes. It is just a gentle descent with the bike entering all those curves at the right speed, never slowing down or accelerating too much. And to finish, a flat road on the edge of the water until you cross a short flat patch of land between forests so that you can get into yet another beautiful fjord and reach Anakiwa. Absolutely picture perfect ride, like the advertisement of an expensive car.
Now we are resting a little, as I am not joking when I say we are exhausted. My legs hurt all the way coming here and I really suffered in the headwind so we could do a decent average. Josele is also a little spent, so starting tomorrow night, we'll both be quite happy to change the tone of the adventure. Tomorrow we'll do the last kilometres in this amazing ride and will move on to something completely different!
Well! Yesterday, as we were crossing Blenheim, we clocked 1000 km, not bad!
We are very near the next change in our our adventure, but as always I will just tell you about past events...
(edit from Josele) I wanted to take a picture exactly when the counter showed 1000 km. but it reset itself to 0 as I have been using the trip counter and not the total counter! So I only have the photo taken 10 meters before.
It was a pity to leave Kaikoura, it really is a beautiful place and we had great times there, but time ran out and we had to move on. We took road number 1 to the north and after a pretty nice stretch of seaside road, we finished our day in a lonely farm in the middle of the Ure valley. Total population: 2 and a dog... as usual.
We were able to buy products from the farm and cook for dinner a very, very excellent barbecue together with the wine made out of the farmer's grapes. All of it in a sunny afternoon overlooking the rows of vines. Yes, we were clearly entering grape country!
The next day we did our easiest distance so far, just 56 km and we came through Blenheim to sleep in the middle of the very, very famous Malborough Valley. It is the biggest wine producing region in NZ and we intended to visit some wineries.
So between today and yesterday we have been able to have some much more fancy food and taste some good wine. We also have tasted a lot of normal wine, I have decided that with exceptions, NZ wine is not my favourite. We visited famous places, Clouby Bay, Seresin, Isabel and Wairau River and had lots of fun.
And still, even after all this poshers, we are having barbecue for dinner again!
(edit from Josele) I added to our latest entry one picture and two videos of our swim with the seals. Please check again that post to watch the videos as they are worth it. Also, the computer at the hostel does not read my Canon SD card, so I posted some photos I take with my IPhone while on the bike (the 999.99 km one I took standing).
Kaikoura is about the sea, all the kinds of sea you can think about. This village is a thin, thin and long strip of road along a great bay with beautiful mountains closing the horizon. In the middle of your eyes, no matter where you are in the village, is the sea.
When we got here, after many hazards already told in previous posts, we were shattered, dusty and tired of mountains and a big change of rhythm and scenery was needed, and boy, did we get it!
First, we booked in a luxurious hotel to rest our hurting legs, got a spa and fed our tired stomachs. Of course, this is Kaikoura, so we had fish, and it was delicious.
The next day, we took the bikes to the repair shop (850 kms on the onboard computer and they are starting to screech and groan all over the place) and got back to the hostel to prepare the afternoon. There we met a British couple who had gone on a fishing tour that morning and had been lucky enough to get two big crayfishes. Being British, they never ate fish, did not look too keen to eating a huge crayfish and they were looking to sell at least one to anyone who wanted it. Josele and me took the opportunity, they were asking for 6 times less price than in a restaurant and we fancied a little cooking.
The photos will show what a crayfish actually is and what we did with it.
This first photo shows the live crayfish:
This second photo is after we laid our hungry paws on it and had some special moments with a big pot, some fire and the crayfish:
And yes, for all you British readers, we did all the disgusting things you are supposed to do when eating seafood, biting, sucking and making horrible noises. We just left an empty shell, none of the insides was spared. It was delicious!
I would say it was an absolute success, awesome lunch and lots of enjoyment.
After that, we took a long walk on the cliffs. We had absolutely stunning views of the ocean, the birds and the seals. And after that, we had fish for dinner.
So, it seems like we had a lot of fish and sea, no?
Well, we just were getting warmed up, because I remind you that officially that day we were not supposed to be here, but on the road, so it was and off day, so to speak.
Today it was really Ulmo's day. For those who have not read the classics, first of all, shame on you and second of all, use Wikipedia, that's what it's there for!
First thing, today we went whale watching.
Kaikoura is famous for it's whale watching tours, you can basically get on a boat and tour around an area where there are big chances of seeing sperm whales. As an average, each tour gets one or two whale sightings, so it is pretty cool.
We had four sightings, got videos, saw the whales, saw hundreds of dolphins jumping all around us, saw the big Wandering Albatross (around 3 meters wingspan!)... We had an excellent tour, an awesome experience and we both said it would be an unforgettable and insuperable memory we'd cherish for a long time...
And in then, we went for the afternoon activity, swimming with the seals.
Only five places in the world allow swimming with the seals in the wild, and of those, the safest and less shark infested place in the world is Kaikoura. We basically had a snorkel, flippers and a wetsuit and were taken by boat to a rock cliff where the seals slept, took baths and basically played all over the place.
Now, that was f***ing an unforgettable and insuperable memory we'd cherish for a long time.
I have lots of trouble describing the feeling of floating less than 50 cms away from a seal biger than you that is basically lazily swimming by your side and that then decides to play with you by diving, changing direction, swimming very fast straight at you and in the last second, changing direction again and basically playing with you until it gets bored and then another comes in, and another, and another...
It has been incredible, absolutely bonkers, this animals are territorial, have big teeth and are actually very big. And yet in the water it's like playing with kitties.
Kitties with teeth.
Ulmo's kitties.
I will never forget today, I am pretty sure of that.
(edit2 from Josele) Here come the videos!
(edit from Josele) Well, for obvious reasons I don't have photos of the seals while we were snorkeling, as my camera is not waterproof and I did not bring a waterproof case with me to the trip... What I can say about the seal swimming activity is that it has been my best dive to date (I do 3-4 dives per year in the Mediterranean); being able to see a wild animal as big or bigger than you so close to you is pure magic, and their eyes! They were constantly getting closer to inspect us and then swam around us... at the beginning it was a bit scary but soon it was clear they were just playing... The guides told us that Fur Seals are very territorial on land but not in the water, so a great activity if you ever have the chance to do it, because you don't need to have a diving license to do it... The guide did take some videos, and he told us he would try to burn a CD with some of them so that we can pick it up tomorrow... if we get it, we'll post a video in this blog entry.
(Hi, I'm Josele again... Change of plans... An English couple fished two crayfishes, similar to a lobster, and offered one to us for only 20NZ$, so we could not pass the opportunity and are going to have it for lunch at the Youth Hostel. This means I have time to create the second promised blog entry about yesterday's bike stage).
We started the day a bit later than usual (about 10am) but well rested after our 1-day stay in Hanmer Springs. Our plan was to bike 50km. to Waiau, then decide whether it made sense to keep on cycling to Mount Lyford through the Pacific Alpine Triangle Road, an extra 20km. of hilly terrain.
We were incredibly lucky, and we did our first 50km. helped by a powerful tailwind that allowed us to arrive to Waiau in less than 2 hours!
We daydreamed about continuing to Kaikoura so that we could stay two days there, but we decided it would be too much (it would make a 130km. stage) and that it would be wisest to stay at a lodge in Mount Lyford. We started the ascent to the Mt. Lyford, a total climb of 350 meters, with several annoying 6-7% slopes and arrived at the lodge very tired... Unfortunately for us, the lodge was closed! It turned out it opens mainly during the ski season... The choice had been made for us: we should reach Kaikoura (there was no bar, shop or village between Waiau and Kaikoura except Mt. Lyford)... Fortunately, it was only 2:30pm and, according to our map, we were "only" 61km. from Kaikoura, mostly downhill...
The road was beautiful, full of gentle curves through wooded hills, creeks, and the most terrible predator of the New Zealand wild lands: the sheep!! (insert ominous music here). We had an interesting encounter with a swarm of them:
And I have uploaded to youtube an interesting video in which you can see us helping the shepherd with his sheep (Bikemaggedon style) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6eqOCIDrik
After 20+ km. (by then we had already biked around 90km.) of legbreaking biking, I started to be annoyed with every short or long uphill section of the road... I would start every climb thinking I would not be able to do it, cursing every single meter of the road, only to grind my teeth and push to my energy limit (probably a similar sensation to what the marathon runners call "The Wall")... The going was slow and painful, the views magnificent and inspiring...
In km. 115 we both stopped exhausted and tried to regain some energy (we had no food and no water by then)... another uphill section loomed on the road, and we felt we would need another hour to finish the trip... Then, after that uphill section, the road went downhill, and downhill, and downhill!!! It was 13km. of joyful ride, at 30kph speeds, so we reached the outskirts of Kaikoura in only 30 minutes... At the entrance of Kaikoura from the south, you have to climb a small 50m. hill... the toughest climb of my life!
We soon found the best Lodge in town, with spa bathtub and great views over the Kaikoura bay; it was drizzling in the distance, and I was able to catch a bit of the rainbow with the last rays of the sun at my back... the amazing Kaikoura is awaiting us... but that's for a future blog entry:
