Atene Viewpoint Walk

Last weekend we drove south to Wanganui to tramp a short way (1 hour up) on the Atene Viewpoint Walk.
It was very pretty and it overlooked the Whanganui River. It was well marked and had good stairs for the way up.

Yeah I wasn't sure if this was the last visitor on the walk, but I was hoping it wasn't an ominous sign.

                 At the top

On the way down we saw a huge fungus

 camouflaged wild goats

palm tree berries

  and a funny looking guy

Along the road beside the Whanganui River we came across the Waitaha Pa.

 It was a very steep climb to the top of a ridge. Historians believe that about 200 years ago an iwi (tribe) lived on top of the ridge for protection during the Maori wars.

They don't know what iwi it was but they were sophisticated in the fact that they had deep trenches built on the flats leading to the ridge.

They also had pit cellars to store their kumara (sweet potatoes) which they harvested from their crops along the riverbed.

It was another great weekend.
Thanks for reading!

Birthday Celebrations

Another year!

We went to the Okaiawa Hotel with Willy and Josh on a Friday night. It is a true country pub full of locals, dart boards, pool tables and draught on tap.

Simon had been introduced to this pub by his dairy farm friends, and had raved about it. $7.00 for a huge meal and a beer. Lots of noisy chat with heads leaning in around tables, two old guys on the wooden bench outside exchanging views on the possibility of rain, and cricket on the tele.

If you look closely at the fellow in the back, he has a beautiful little bun on the top of his head. A lot of boys at the daycare wear their hair in buns. Very cute!

These hats went completely around the pub.

They served humongous burgers and plates of chips. The burgers had a fried egg, slices of beet root, carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, melted cheese, burger between a sesame bun.

The bar tender had an earring and bare, hobbit feet and we were served by a Maori woman with a huge smile.

Before we left, a man approached me with a wooden barrel. He asked me to draw out a number for their weekly lottery. Alas, #34 was not a winner so the $100 would be kept until the next week.

It was a great evening and Willy and Josh had a grand finale by serving gluten free chocolate cake with candles and ice cream.

Thanks Guys!

Paritutu Rock, Ratapihipihi Track and the Horse

Paritutu Rock (154m) is a steep-sided and craggy hillock whose name translates as 'Rising Precipice'. It is just west of New Plymouth and overlooks the Sugar Loaf Islands. You'll remember that we visited the islands on Chaddy's Charters boat. Paritutu and the islands are eroded volcanic remnants that pushed up from the ocean.

It is a 20 minute climb and not for the faint hearted. There are steps for the first 10 minutes then a chain that one uses to pull oneself up to the top. There is a beautiful view from the top.

After climbing the rock we went for a bush walk through a scenic reserve called the Ratapihipihi Track.
It was now overcast and it was quite dark on the tramp as there was a heavy canopy overhead. It was pretty and the trail rambled up and down.

We have done about 50 walks since arriving in September. Many of the locals have said that we have seen more of their country than they have, which is to be expected I suppose.

After climbing and tramping about we returned home. We are lucky to have a horse in the adjoining yard. The owners had a white one in their yard before Christmas but now they have a brown one munching down the grass. The boys have befriended it by feeding it carrots.

All in all a good day was had by all. There is never a dull moment around here.

Thanks for reading!

Rerekapa Track and Hut

We wanted to stay for an overnight in one of the hundreds of DOC (Department of Conservation) huts that are scattered throughout New Zealand. The Rerekapa Hut was a perfect one for us since it was an easy drive to the start, it was only a 1 hour tramp to the hut, and there were the Rerekapa Falls to see as well.

We invited our new friends Myska and Piddy to tramp with us.

We picked them up at their house and drove north. Our first stop was Mike's Brewery for a cold Pilsner. I have blogged about 'Mike's' in earlier blogs. I was thrilled to find out that they just bottled a new batch of my favourite brew, 'Strawberry Blonde'.

From there we went to another favourite site, Three Sisters Rocks. Unfortunately, we had stayed too long at the brewery as the tide was up and we couldn't walk very far out to the ocean.

The road to the start of the track was quite exciting. It was a narrow road and there was a drop into the gorge on my side of the car with no safety rails, all the way along. It was us and the sheep and tunnels. There were 3 of these tunnels that looked like they were hand chiselled through the range.

We found the head of the trail and donned our packs. Luckily there were 16 bunks in the hut, and no other cars at the start of the trail, so we knew we could leave the tent and tarp in the car.

Piddy and Myska have done a lot of hitch-hiking and long tramps with their backpacks. They knew how to pack light, but still have all the essentials for a trip. We were used to car camping and had not carried a heavy pack tramping for many years. so it was evident we had packed too heavily. I was sweating profusely about ten minutes into our trek. I was carrying 4 litres of water, all of the food (which included jars of peanut butter and nutella, cans of tuna, a container of cooked noodles, bread, crackers, cheese, dip, tea, coffee, cutlery, pots, stove, first-aid kit, flashlight and my clothes. Cary had the sleeping bags, thermo rests, and his clothes. I KNOW........I COMPLAINED! In Cary's defence, I did have the better backpack with a waist belt.

Piddy very kindly took 2 L of water from my pack and carried it for me. He wasn't sure why we took so much water. This particular hut had running water and he finds generally that he only needs .5 L on most trips. There is always water somewhere he said and a 3 minute boil will kill anything bad.

We arrived at the hut after a beautiful tramp through a forest of Tawa and Kamahi  trees.

There was evidence that someone was living in the hut. The place was a mess! Leftover food and spills on the table, dirty dishes and garbage everywhere. A fellow had taken up residence in the back room and his pack and stuff was littered throughout the hut. Myska said this wasn't too bad as she says that most huts are not very clean. She immediately started to scrub and tidy. I swept the floor. In no time everything was spic and span.

We then went outside and I swept the cobwebs away from the long-drop seat and Myska collected some wood for the outdoor fire pit. (Not sure what the boys did all this time.)

We settled into the hut and got our supper. Myska and Piddy are vegetarians and cooked some onion, garlic and courgettes and had that with their homemade bread.

While we were eating, the resident came into the hut. It turned out he was a possum hunter. He had an array of knives on his belt and a bag of fur. He luckily didn't say anything about his stuff being moved (good or bad) and obligedly made some small talk with us. He said he gets $100 for every kilo of fur. He hunts year round and this hut has served him well.

He stuffed his leftover spaghetti between two slices of bread and paced the floor, eating and smoking rolled cigarettes. He every now and then offered some comments but he basically kept to himself.

The hunter was the first to bed. While he coughed and coughed in his bunk, Piddy taught us a card game. It was called 'The Big Two'. Piddy said that there are a few things that can be understood around the world- laughter, music, and card games. It involved strategy and of course luck. It was fun!

We settled into our bunks and I was determined NOT to use the long-drop during the night. It was pitch black out there and the hunter said that he left the guts of the posssums out for the wild pigs.

After breakfast we walked for an hour through fields and bog to the Rerekapa Falls. They are 10m high and there is a beautiful pool at the bottom of them. We were warned though, not to go swimming as there are huge eels that live in there.

Here we sat and talked about meditation, vegetarianism, religion and dreadlocks. All rather fascinating!

We headed back to the hut and got ourselves sorted for the tramp back to the car. When walking out I thought about all the things we had done (I had never slept with a possum hunter before!) or learned during the weekend. I thought about how we left the hut in a better state than how we found it.  We had learned a new card game. And we had learned about how other people live their lives and we had some time to evaluate our own.

We visited Urenui Beach on the way home to have some lunch. A pretty spot.

Thanks for reading!

Pae Pae in the park in Patea

Last weekend we attended a Waitangi Day celebration in Patea, 30 minutes south of us along the coast.
This is a Maori village and is known for its' two monuments, one being a war canoe (waka) with 8 people sitting in it, and a whale bone structure, (art work not artifact).

Waitangi day, is a celebration of a treaty that was signed 171 years ago, between the Pakeha,            (Europeans) and the Maori tribes. It was intended to be a foundation document outlining how it's two principal peoples would live along side each other. It was drafted rather hastily and critics say that it contained promises that could never be delivered, much less understood and key points were lost in translation.

It traveled around the country and eventually over 500 chiefs signed the document. Many Maori feel that the treaty has brought them nothing but a perpetual struggle for recognition. It is felt that the treaty should be revisited by a cross -section of Kiwi, renamed as a constitution and rewritten to honour all of the country's significant cultures, speak to their heritage, their struggles and their aspirations in their multicultural world.

But in the end, everyone loves a good party so hundreds showed up to listen to music, dance, eat and sell their crafts. Sounds like Islendingadagurrin!

For eats we had a Hangi meal. It contained chicken, pork, and beef. It's three vegetables were pumpkin, kumara (yams) and white potato. It had all the juices and it was quite yummy. It is traditionally cooked in a mud pit  and the meat and veggies divided into wrapped packages, and slow cooked over coals and rocks. This meal was cooked in a foil packet on a BBQ. 

For dessert they had a stall selling small watermelons cut in half with lime ice cream scooped on top.

There were martial arts demonstrations, experimental garage bands and a female artist (about 15 yrs called Abbie). Watch for her! She was talented.

It was quite hot out so we decided to head to the beach.

There was an abandoned barge, a collection of driftwood, and a pier.

Of course these are black sand beaches and they are incredibly hot on bare feet. These kids were sliding down the dunes, then running into the water.

We drove home with our souls warmed by the sun and our heads full of music and our stomachs full of food from the land.

Thanks for reading!