2019 AU-NZ: New Zealand Napier to Uretiti April 6 - 10

By mid-day April 06 travelling northeast towards Napier, Bob remarked that the northern island of New Zealand is "not yet very remarkable." Maybe it is the overcast weather, similar to the Saanich Peninsula on a rainy, grey early October day. Also, we are close to going home, so we are starting springtime-activity-on-our-property talks, facilitated by happy springtime photos from our gardens via house-mates Katy & Frances (staying at our house for two UVic terms, September 2018 - April 2019).

Aotearoa (approximately pronounced, a-oh-tea-roh-a; and approximately translated, place of the long white cloud) is the current Maori name for New Zealand. In 1645, Dutch cartographers renamed the land Novia Zeelandia after their province of Zeeland. British navigator James Cook anglicized the name to New Zealand.

The population of Aotearoa (NZ) is 4.8 million, which is similar to the population of BC (4.9 million). About one third, or 1.6 million NZ people (Kiwis) live in Auckland, and the population of Kiwis on the whole south island is about 1.1 million.

We often see "Staff Wanted" signs on farms, on industrial buildings and in shop windows. We have read that it is apparently quite easy for Canadian young people to obtain a two-year visa and get work in NZ. Canadians aged 18-35 can apply for what is called a "working holiday visa", that gives young Canadians up to 24 months in New Zealand. After that, Canadians are sometimes able to apply for a "skilled migrant visa" that allows one to live and work in New Zealand indefinitely. BC's comparative minimum wage is $13.85 (June 1, 2019); NZ minimum wage is going to $17.70 July 1, 2019. BC is committed to reach $15.50 by 2021. Currently, $13.85 Canadian dollars is $15.35 New Zealand dollars. Petrol is about $2.20/liter, but distances are not huge; food is about the same as in BC (local products are a little less); as are camp fees, accommodation and sundries.

Our mid-day April 06 visit to Napier had more to experience than we had expected. There were far more Art Deco buildings than we had imagined - worth a return trip to Napier to see them all, and mid-February is their Art Deco Festival, with jazziness, and etc., as in the late 1920s & early 1930s.

Yolanda was pleased to learn that Napier is also a "Sea Wall: Artists for Oceans" project community! An avid supporter and coordinator of, and past participant in a number of community public art projects, she was reminded of the impact of public art! Also to explore further on that return trip to Napier!

In the late afternoon April 06, we drove to Whakapapa camp by 6:45pm. The camp is located in Tongariro NP, a UNESCO World Heritage site encompassing two active volcanoes and a steaming caldera. It was pouring rain so for $25 extra we took refuge in a camp bunk room, rather than put up our tent on wet ground and sleep under the deluge that was to dump down overnight. The campsite at Whakapapa is in the path of a "lahar", or volcanic mud flow from nearby active volcano Mount Ruapehu. In the event of an air raid siren, we are not to evacuate, but if the lahar advances a loudspeaker will announce (with "a whooping sound") that we are to :"evacuate the campground immediately." Comforted that things are relatively under control, we put our shoes near-by under the bunk.

Our first of two 7K walks April 07 was to see waterfalls. Part way into the walk it hailed a bit, but the walk was otherwise lovely.

We saw both sections of Taranaki Falls and enjoyed the colour of the underbrush, and the very nice stained glass at Chateau Tongariro, where the walk ended.

The Chateau was closed for a private function, so we walked back to the camp kitchen and made soup before heading off for our afternoon lake walk. At lunch, we had a good chat with a French bike touring couple, who told us about their 10-mo ride from L.A. to New York and about their current N.Z. Christchurch to Auckland ride. We told them about our three-part ride across Canada and our 9-day bike tour in France. It was super to be chatting about bicycle touring.

We had stopped by the regional i-site (pronounced eyesight ;-) by the campsite. The system of i-sites throughout New Zealand provides endless interpretive and ticketing options. In previous BLog posts we have referred to the i-sites as "interpretive centres" and said how much we appreciated the enthusiastic and helpful staff. The i-sites are extensive and have displays, learning videos, and National and Regional staff to help plan visits.

On our drive to Lake Rotopounamu, we saw geothermal plumes of steam gushing from many crevices near Mount Ngauruhoe. The lake walk was mostly through a lovely ancient forest, with a few beach sections. We saw and Bob photographed a few new-to-us birds, and near the end of the walk, we met Mark, who was retired from the park service and knew a lot about wildlife, including birds. Mark helped us to identify the sound of one bird we heard, but could not photograph, a Tui. We have a definitive Tui photo from previous, but hoped to get others.

Just before we arrived back to the car, lightning started and it began to hail shortly thereafter. The setting sun was brilliant across the landscape, raking under the black clouds and through the damp atmosphere, creating a full rainbow arc that could not fit into our picture frame. We ended the day up at the Whakapapa Gondola Project work site and then made a double dinner (two nights worth) at the camp kitchen and played two games of Bananagrams by the camp sitting room wood fire (built by the French bike touring couple).

We've only 5 full days of exploring left in New Zealand, and hope to reach the far northern tip of the north island, where birds are apparently plentiful. We have April 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, mostly to survey for a future return trip... maybe with our bicycles. That would be a nice pace, at about 80Kms/day!

April 08 we took the scenic circle route (via the Rangipo Desert Highway) from Tongariro NP to an estuary walk spot. However, the visibility en route was v.low and socked-in foggy beyond 500m. At one point we passed through fresh snow. It was, however, empty on the roads, so travel was quick to the Waiotaka River estuary near Tokaanu.

A short, but nice stroll at the estuary and weir netted no new species. Further along the route to Taupo, we did see three species of cormorant at a single stop: Pilated, Sooty and Spotted.

Orakei Koraku was a New Zealand geothermal spot we dropped by at the suggestion of Wellington Pippa and Peter. There is a little boat shuttle that takes visitors to the geothermal features boardwalk and a cave, and there is a nice cafe and shop. We couldn't fit in the boat ride and walk, but did have lunch and looked at the laughed about the kiwi stuffies in the gift shop.

We've been told most Kiwis (New Zealanders) have not seen kiwi birds. Not necessarily for the lack of kiwi birds, though that is an issue with the habitat devastation that is going on. It is that kiwi birds are nocturnal, and people don't go out in the forest at night. We've heard them from our tent, but not gone out in the dark. Sanctuary islands are where most people go to see Kiwi. These are kept free of introduced predators, such as rats, loose dogs, stoat, mice, loose cats and introduced competitors, such as starlings, industry, domesticated animals, tree and plant species, and etc. By 2050, New Zealand hopes to not only have sanctuary islands, but also for the country to be predator free. Competitor free will be another consideration.

Before reaching our Lake Okareka camp for the night, we stopped at two camps on Lake Rerewhakaatu, in case the Lake Okareka camp was full. Both Lake Rerewhakaatu camps were flooded, and Bob reported they had poor ratings on the internet, for various reasons. Bob took photos of Kingfisher and a pheasant, none-the-less. Once at Lake Okareka camp, we did an hour forest walk, but headed back to set up the tent before it was dark. After dinner we did a 40min night walk, but did not see kiwi birds.

Once the dew was dried from our tent fly and ground sheet we headed away April 09 from very beautiful Lake Okareka. We took a long-way-around route via the coast to the Cormandel Peninsula.

At Maketu, we learned about the 1340 arrival of the Maori Arawa canoe, watched fishermen and clam diggers and learned about the local Dotterel shorebird nesting area. After dottering a bit long, we needed to pick up groceries in a hurry in the town of Cormandel and then head directly to the Cormandel Peninsula DOC east coast camp we had chosen.

After an hour of winding, narrow (and in spots half-washed-out) coastal, then mountain roadways, we hit a road under construction. After about 3Kms on gravel, we were on tarmac again, but about 6Kms before the campsite we saw a notice saying the campsite was closed. In the dark, we drove back to the town of Cormandel and found a private site that was still open. A fortunate outcome of being on the route at sunset was seeing "the long white cloud" above Auckland, in the hues of the evening.

April 10 started well, with an anticipated visit to Seabird Coast, east of Auckland.

At the south end of the Coast, we happened across the Miranda Wetlands, managed by the Miranda Naturalists' Trust. It is an outstanding, extensive area. It includes a former fertilizer factory where seashells were burned and ground for "sweetening" farmland. There are remnant shell sandbars along the lagoons. We didn't have a chance to visit the interpretive centre due to a miscommunication about our picnic lunch, but did see posters for many shorebird events and course offerings. Maybe we'll plan to get back sometime.

We reached our Uretiti camp a bit earlier than expected, as the drive up through and beyond Auckland went relatively quickly, in spite of Auckland's rush hour traffic. Still it was dark when we arrived at camp, as daylight savings has resulted in 6pm sunsets in the past three evenings.

On our final two exploring days in New Zealand, April 11 & 12, we hope to learn more about the arrival of the first Maori canoes and more about the Treaty of Waitangi.