I've always spent Christmas at home other than the 3 weeks I once spent on a North Sea Oil rig working for a pittance. Therefore, this Christmas was extremely different as it was spent on a sun lashed beach and the clear blue waters of the Abel Tasman National Park in the Northwest corner of New Zealand's South Island. The park is the smallest of NZ's National Parks but its still stunningly beautiful with tiny, secluded bays around each corner complete with golden sands and inviting waters. The entrance to the park is from Marahau, where camped under starry skies!
The stay in Marahau (pronounced Mara-how) was part of a week long trip with friends which also involved a few days at Kaikoura, on the South Islands East coast. Although the trip started back in Wellington on a wet and windy Saturday morning as boarded the Wellington to Picton Ferry which set sail into the rain and mist. The following day, the weather hadn't improved as the whale watching trips out of Kaikoura was cancelled although the albatross trip which I had decided to take was still on!
So, out onto the sea which had 6 to 8 foot swells for 3 hours of fun in a tiny boat with 6 other people, a bucket full of fish livers and only the sea birds for company. Once clear of Kaikoura's tiny harbour, the seas calmed, the boat stopped and the birds flocked, with numerous albatross, shearwaters and petrels sitting within 1foot of the back of the boat.
The following day we went swimming with (dusky) dolphins. Our hopes were dashed slightly when we learnt that the previous trip that morning had been unsuccessful but with minutes of cutting the engines we were given the all clear to jump into the water. Although we were all clad in wetsuits complete with helmets plus flippers, masks and goggles, it was still unbelievably cold. However, within seconds, a pod of dolphins were swimming through our group, within millimetres even. The pod moved on, and so did we, clambering back onto the boat and setting off in pursuit of the dolphins to repeat the experience. This happened about 3 or 4 times before we stripped and dried off. The skipper then positioned the boat so that we could take photos!
Fast forward to Christmas Eve, and Jo and I are sitting freezing cold in a kayak, soaking in the rain wishing lunch would come sooner rather than later! It didn't although the day brightened up and the xmas kayak became more enjoyable!
Friday, 26 December 2008
Sunday, 14 December 2008
Cimbing contrasts
Last week, Jo and I joined a trip organised by the Wellington Alpine Club to Whanganui Bay (pronounced fan-ga-nui) at Lake Taupo. One of New Zealands best rock climbing venues with over a 1000 routes spread out over several crags which overlook Lake Taupo. So stunning vistas and weather meant that there were no excuses.
Drove up Friday night and stayed in Turangi, which is best described as a ghost town the locals visit for food shopping! We found the pub but it shit at ten so we quickly ordered a couple of rounds and hoped that we wouldn't be turfed out before we finished. The backpackers was quite good especially as it had its own climbing wall, and a decent one at that, certainly better than the one in Wellington.
Unfortunately Saturday night was worse than Friday, everything closing at 9pm!
The climbing was good though, the highlights being a leads of Tibia, a three pitch classic involving 'traditional' gritstone chimney techniques as well as some 'out there' bridging and which comes complete with its own Maori skeleton and Ego Trip, a large slab climbed using a thin and unrelenting crack.
The crags are located on Maori land and some of the crags can't be climbed plus you have a to pay a small fee for the privilege of climbing. The venue is stunning though and well worth the trip.
Yesterday, Steve Michin and myself went in search of the mythical Tinui Slabs. Rumour has it that no-one has climbed here in a couple of years and some previous trips never made it to the crag, having become lost in the bush below and given up. We were made of sterner stuff, but only just! It all started well with an easy to follow walk in, but then we entered the bush and wondered what we'd let ourselves in for. Not sure how longer it took, but we eventually found the slabs.
We happened to approach our chosen climb from the top so abseiled in and made our second mistake by not leaving an evacuation rope (our first mistake was to visit Tinui!). It soon became apparent that no-one had climbed here in years although the bolts were surprising new, as all the slab was covered in lichens and dirt which made the climbing all but impossible. So suitably beaten and without any easy ascent, we began to search for alternatives which included abseiling further down to try to find a route out but to no avail and aid climbing one of the harder routes, a process which was halted when distance between the bolts increased and I wasn't able to gain any purchase on the rock to make the necessary moves!
We eventually found a route up through another gully, although it did require a fair bit of bush bashing, but in the end we were reunited with our rucksacks and more importantly our water, having both harboured thoughts of getting stuck at the bottom!
Steve has vowed to return!
Drove up Friday night and stayed in Turangi, which is best described as a ghost town the locals visit for food shopping! We found the pub but it shit at ten so we quickly ordered a couple of rounds and hoped that we wouldn't be turfed out before we finished. The backpackers was quite good especially as it had its own climbing wall, and a decent one at that, certainly better than the one in Wellington.
Unfortunately Saturday night was worse than Friday, everything closing at 9pm!
The climbing was good though, the highlights being a leads of Tibia, a three pitch classic involving 'traditional' gritstone chimney techniques as well as some 'out there' bridging and which comes complete with its own Maori skeleton and Ego Trip, a large slab climbed using a thin and unrelenting crack.
The crags are located on Maori land and some of the crags can't be climbed plus you have a to pay a small fee for the privilege of climbing. The venue is stunning though and well worth the trip.
Yesterday, Steve Michin and myself went in search of the mythical Tinui Slabs. Rumour has it that no-one has climbed here in a couple of years and some previous trips never made it to the crag, having become lost in the bush below and given up. We were made of sterner stuff, but only just! It all started well with an easy to follow walk in, but then we entered the bush and wondered what we'd let ourselves in for. Not sure how longer it took, but we eventually found the slabs.
We happened to approach our chosen climb from the top so abseiled in and made our second mistake by not leaving an evacuation rope (our first mistake was to visit Tinui!). It soon became apparent that no-one had climbed here in years although the bolts were surprising new, as all the slab was covered in lichens and dirt which made the climbing all but impossible. So suitably beaten and without any easy ascent, we began to search for alternatives which included abseiling further down to try to find a route out but to no avail and aid climbing one of the harder routes, a process which was halted when distance between the bolts increased and I wasn't able to gain any purchase on the rock to make the necessary moves!
We eventually found a route up through another gully, although it did require a fair bit of bush bashing, but in the end we were reunited with our rucksacks and more importantly our water, having both harboured thoughts of getting stuck at the bottom!
Steve has vowed to return!
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