Today is the day, no way to turn around, about 2  years and a half, that I left France for New Zealand. On the way back to Rotorua I was hoping to visit Pureroa Forest Park but unfortunately the weather decided something different. Luckily, the sun was out in Rotorua enabling me to climb the rainbow mountain which is actually a volcano. Nothing much to say otherwise. Just waiting for my bus to Auckland. Tomorrow will be another country, a new adventure a lot shorter...

https://plus.google.com/photos/113495650656525472061/albums/5969289179327753713?banner=pwa&authkey=CJnDnrijh6OWLA

The start of the day was crap concernng the weather so I needed to visit some town. There are a few nice buildings in Cambridge and Te Awamutu so it was the perfect occasion. After that I went to a dormant volcano hoping that the rain would stop but unfortunately it got worse. I climbed up the Kakepuku Mountain anyway but did not end up with good views at the top just a few nice one on the way up. Once finished, I went to Tokoroa but there are absolutely nothing interesting there except a lookout. At Mangakino, the backpackers was full so I ended up in Taupo, meeting up with a good friend. I should stay in the next two days and hopefully have a good time one last time in this awesome country.

Cambridge

https://plus.google.com/photos/113495650656525472061/albums/5968313669723833041?banner=pwa

And the rest

https://plus.google.com/photos/113495650656525472061/albums/5968314200239855825?banner=pwa

Ok, to sum up the day, very weird. The thing I had planned to do was not exceptional and at some point in the rain and two things coming out of the blue.

Right, Kaimai-Mamaku forest park was meant to be my destination of the day. I wanted to hike on one track up to sentinel rock. I started out in the morning and it was drizzling. After an hour I have reached the lookout and the mist was blocking the view. Utterly nothing exciting. Having finished after two hours (time to go back to the car) and being disappointing by the weather and the lack of real sightseeing, I stopped in a cafe along SH2 to get an access to the wifi and seeking for something else to do. I found another track in the same forest, to be completed in 5 hours and pretending to offer nice view, supposedly... I have finished the tramping in 2 hours and a half and concerning the view, not many and not spectacular. However, I did something worthy of being broadcast in a comic video show. At some point of the track, a tree clearance appeared but there were still some of them blocking the view. I decided to climb it and obviously the branch could not carry my weigh so it cracked and I fell down, ripping off my short and losing my camera. After digging down for a couple of minutes, the camera showed up and seemed broken but after taking off the battery and popping it back in, everything came back to normal, except for my short. Anyone cannot be Tarzan...

Now the unexpected. Still having some time I wished to do something else on the way to my next step. I spotted a gorge a few days ago without paying more attention along SH2 (another one). When I arrived there, the car park was full, likely to be a good sign. Indeed The site is a historic gold mine. Many tunnels were dug straight on the gorge rock face to extract the quartz ore that would be transform in gold using different process. The place is a huge maze but most of the tunnels are today inaccessible and lock down due to the instability of the location. On top of being a historic site, the gorge is picturesque with sheer cliff. After about an hour on-site, I had to carry on toward Cambridge and on the way I drove through a township called Te Aroha. You don’t need to spend a all day there but the town centre houses a few nice buildings.

After all those adventures, I settled down in Cambridge for the night in a quiet Backpackers that time.

Kaimai Mamaku forest park

https://plus.google.com/photos/113495650656525472061/albums/5967915667726159217?banner=pwa

Karangahake reserve

https://plus.google.com/photos/113495650656525472061/albums/5967916572333957985?banner=pwa

Te Aroha

https://plus.google.com/photos/113495650656525472061/albums/5967917325932848177?banner=pwa

Today was exceptionnal

After :

- North Island

- South Island

- Stewart Island

- Ulva Island

- Urupukapuka Island

I finally visited the last island I will ever see in New Zealand, White Island, an active volcano, the most active in New Zealand.

It take an hour and a half from Whakatane to reach the island and because the ground is too unstable, there is no deep water wharf on the island, so you need to disembark the cruise boat a few meter off the shore to board an inflatable boat and finally touch down on a block of concrete. Once there, the helmet is compulsory due to the dangerosity of the place and a gas mask is provided just in case. On the two hours guided tour, we learnt about the history of the island. The most remarkable thing is that once was a settlement. Indeed a mining project was up and a few volunteer were working for three months (no return ticket to the mainland before the end of the contract) for a wage of 20 shillings an hour (about 20 NZ cents). As there was no way to make drinking water on the island, Water container were shipped. A day an landslip occured, destroying the dwellings and killing 9 out of 10 men. the only survivor was rescued after 8 days owe to the rough weather.

Here are a few anecdote that I remember, the rest is all about picture and it is quite impressive.

https://plus.google.com/photos/113495650656525472061/albums/5967527136523362705?banner=pwa

Alright, what to say about today. I have planned to go to the northern Te Urewera National Park, but it was quite far from Gisborne and I expected to see a rainforest so I wanted to do something along SH2 on the way to Opotiki. I found a track after browsing on the Department of Conservation website but the description was not really exciting, steep, muddy, strenuous, not well-marked. When I set off it sounded not too bad but after ten minutes, I understood what the truth was after crossing a first stream.

After 20 minutes I have given up but at least I did not lose everything. On the trackside grow many blackberries. My heaven for another 15 minutes, I filled up my tummy and went back to the car.

Once there I had two options, either going to Opotiki or driving back to the start of the Waioeka Gorge. I have chosen the second option. To go to Opokiti from Gisborne a scenic road (SH2) passes through a picturesque gorge for about 40 kms. As I thought I would have a tramping today, I drove straight to the track but once I knew I would not do it I needed to find something else to do to keep me busy. The drive through the gorge was really pleasant so I went back to the start and did it all over again but slowly that time.

Two hours later, I was finished so it was the moment to go to Opotiki, enjoy the sunshine on the beach, and having a look in the township.

waioeka gorge

https://plus.google.com/photos/113495650656525472061/albums/5967137184722755761?banner=pwa

Opotiki

https://plus.google.com/photos/113495650656525472061/albums/5967139416092634177?banner=pwa

Mahia Peninsula was the destination today. It is lovely, very hilly and rugged in some places with dramatic cliffs. What I was expected, and I was not wrong, is a day on the road. Indeed When I did my research to plan my trip, I could not find many walks on the Peninsula. And finally when I got there, I found out why. There are a lot of private properties with trespassing notices. That means there are no ways to have a good hike in and around the peninsula only a couple of strolling over a hill in the main township and in a scenic reserve.

That is quite a shame considering the potential of the place according to what I have seen but anyway you cannot blame private owners and driving along the roads through the peninsula gives a good sight of the place. My legs are grateful for that.

A special thanks to the weather that was supposed to be crap and ended up quite nice as long as I was visiting. A few shower on the road and in Gisborne (every time I come here it is raining anyway, oh well was only twice but it is a sunny place most of the time) but that is it.

https://plus.google.com/photos/113495650656525472061/albums/5966749384311514449?banner=pwa

North Island at last, it was not the clear blue sky forecasted in Rotorua and a bit of drizzle bothered me on the way to Te Urewera National Park, but once there nothing to say but awe-inspiring.

What to tell about the road, an ordeal. Passed Murupara, the last township before the National park, the road gets winding, then unsealed and to finish narrow. As you drive through some settlement the sealing reappear but it never lasts long. When you spot the first shore of Lake Waikaremoana (main attraction of the park), it comes like a blessing award. 120 kms from Rotorua but 2 hours and a few minutes to reach the lake. Seeing it is well deserved. To entertain myself, I was trying to say the name of the lakes in the park and the park itself, it is unpronounceable (Te Urewera, Waikaremoana, Waikareiti, Kiriopukae, ...).

Oh yeah, one more thing. I visited that Park in 2012 in the rain; it was pouring, blablabla...  It was more than worth it to pop back in, climbing up the bluff, drifting around the lake and taking a bath in it. Some people say it look like a fiord, I cannot do anything but agree with them. For the night I ended up in a holidays park on the eastern border of the park, a peaceful place amongst the nature without internet but still the real comfort of a backpacker. As I wrote, awe-inspiring.

 https://plus.google.com/photos/113495650656525472061/albums/5966723788005374561?banner=pwa

Last day to visit the South Island, even if I leave it tomorrow, and the rain is back.

At least when I set out there was still a bit of sun and it really started to heavy rain when I was back to my car.

Concerning the sightseeing, I have walked the Cable bay walkway north of Nelson, the start of the track is not well-marked and I had to wander around ere I find it. On my way back, a thin drizzle started falling and when I reached the car it was simply pouring.

For the anecdote, Cable Bay was named after the installation of the first submarine cable between New Zealand and Australia, it linked cable bay to Sydney and it enabled new zealand settlers to communicate with their next of kin within 4 days by sending telegram, while it was taking up to 6 months to ship mail to Europe.

Now I am just waiting for the flight back to Chch.

https://plus.google.com/photos/113495650656525472061/albums/5965936790901286641?banner=pwa

While I was uploading my picture on the blog yesterday, I received a text message from a friend telling me that he will be in Nelson today. It was quite a pleasant unforeseen so I decided to hike early morning to get enough time to drive back to Nelson and meet up with him.

The plan today was to tramp in the Mt Richmond Forest Park in the Red Hills area. While I was expected a strenuous climb, it appeared that the slope was not too steep. Passed the first hut, the track become a route and is utterly muddy. It did not discourage me and I went off the beaten track for a while to reach a ridge. 2 hours and a half after starting out it was time to turn around and come back to St Arnaud to have a feed and look after the few picture before heading back to Nelson.

https://plus.google.com/photos/113495650656525472061/albums/5965567984428674257?banner=pwa

A very annoying day today, my goal was to climb Mount Arthur in the Kahurangi National Park.

While the sky was supposed to clear by late morning, many clouds were still upon the national park. Unfortunately passed the tree line on the track, it was too harsh to carry on. Indeed the wind was battering the ridges, the rain was coming and going and the mist was blocking the view. So it was time to turn around, fortunately the wind was strong enough to clear the valleys and allow some nice view sometimes. Back to the main road, my frustration was huge as the weather down there was blessed.

I decided to go to St Arnaud, my stopover for the night stretching along Lake Rotoiti, part of the Nelson lake National Park. I decided to climb up to the ridge on the eastern lakeside. An hour and a half after starting out, I was exhausted as I already walked 4 hours and a half, moreover the weather was still changing so I just gave up and hiked back to the township.

An anticyclone will be settling over the country tomorrow for a day and I had some good view today though the weather so it was not that bad anyway.

https://plus.google.com/photos/113495650656525472061/albums/5965303550855738881