Respect for the Hobbits

For Easter weekend, Uni closed from Friday until Tuesday, so Jonne, Chad, and I took the chance to venture towards the center of the North Island and do one of the 9 Great Walks of New Zealand - http://greatwalks.co.nz/.  Each one is different and more beautiful than the last, but we chose to do the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, which is the day hike of the 3-4 full Tongariro Northern Circuit. Perhaps the main reason we chose to do the hike is because we wanted to climb Mt. Ngauruhoe, which is more commonly recognized as Mt. Doom from the Lord of the Rings. Anyways, I'll get to the hike shortly.

Enjoying the patio at the backpackers.

Friday morning we met by the waterfront to await our bus to Turangi. The bus ride was pretty typical making stops along the way. Turangi is located about 30 minutes drive south, away from Lake Taupo, which is the massive lake in the center of the north island. The backpackers that we stayed at was located in Turangi and it was definitely the most homely and comfortable hostel I've ever stayed at. While most backpackers have kitchens to use, this one had everything, from French presses to an array of knives and specific utensils, with an herb garden in back. Almost every inch of wall space was occupied in the hallways as well by maps and flyers and things to do around the area, and it really made for a cool feeling and effect. Even better, the manager's dog was hanging around and visiting the patrons as we relaxed and enjoyed the hammocks and patio out back so it was certainly nice to play with a dog again. Following a bit of relaxing and getting everything in order for dinner, we decided to do a local hike along the river which was filled with fly fishermen and people swimming. 

Saturday morning was another wakeup before the sunrise so that we could catch our shuttle at 6:30 to take us to Tongariro National Park, which is listed as National Park on the map above. Upon our arrival to the park we started the hike around 8AM. The Tongariro Alpine Crossing is supposed to be a hike from one carpark to another carpark, but because of some recent volcanic activity halfway through the crossing, it has become a there-and-back hike until the volcano subsides. Thus, the start and end point of our tramping adventure was the Mangatepopo Carpark at about 1100m elevation. 

The hike climbs at a relatively constant rate over volcanic terrain and past a little stream before reaching a turn off at 1400m to go to the soda springs. The turn off to soda springs is about 4k into the hike or about 2.5 miles. Following soda springs is the toughest part of the hike, which is called the Devil's Staircase. It's basically about 1k long and gains 250m in that distance of alternating extremely steep stairs and steep hills with loose scree on either side. At the top of the Devil's Staircase is a massive crater, the South Crater, that is situated between Mt. Tongariro and Mt. Ngauruhoe. The trail cuts directly across the crater in an almost perfectly straight line, while the entire crater has a very unique 

South Crater

The South Crater (notice that the trail cuts across the floor)

and flat valley floor. Following the Devil's Staircase the flatness was a welcome relief. At the end of the South Crater was the steepest part of the hike, that climbs up loose gravel and small rocks to reach the summit of the crossing and looks down on the Red Crater at a bit over 1900m. 

The summit of the crossing is another landscape all it's own, with another relatively flat plane covered by a boulder field. It was here, at the summit that we decided to eat lunch before venturing down the backside of the peak to see the Emerald Lakes. 

We even got lucky enough by midday for the clouds to burn off so that we could see Mt. Ngauruhoe clearly. It was quite interesting to notice the way we went from below, then through, to above the clouds and how they shifted and moved around the different geographic features on the volcanoes. After some site seeing of Mt. Doom, we hiked down to the lakes. On the way we encountered some hot spots on the trail that we used to warm our hands. Well, in actuality when we hiked down, we more slid and skied down the backside of the peak. The gravel and scree were so loose, and the mountainside so steep that each time we took a step we slid anywhere from 6inches to 2feet further down. It made getting to the lakes fun, scary, and exciting! 

The view of all three lakes compared to a view of the lakes up close compete closely for which one is more beautiful. For a landscape that is so arid I'm not quite sure how these lakes stay put, and no, they aren't geothermal and you can't swim in them. I was sad to find out that there was no swimming allowed. 

Lunch break with the crossing summit in the background

 After enjoying the beauty of the lakes we decided it was time to head back up to the summit, up the ski/scree slopes and return to the carpark. The 200m climb from the lakes back to the summit gave the Devil's Staircase a run for the toughest part with the slipperiness and steepness of it. But we made it and enjoyed the rest of the hike being all downhill.

Red Crater

While we originally thought we wanted to hike Mt. Doom, upon climbing on the scree, we decided that hiking to the summit of a scree covered mountain that is 2200m tall would be a bit more than we felt like doing. After all, the hike was over 5 miles long to reach the lakes and we still had to double the distance hike out. So, respect to Froddo for hiking up Mt. Doom, it certainly defeated me without me going near it.

The rest of the hike was pretty easy going and the stairs on the Devil's Staircase made going down a lot more relaxing then going down on scree slopes.

And upon our arrival back to Turangi we found a local take away and got victory burgers to enjoy and reward ourselves for a hike as we looked forward to the soreness that the next day would bring.

Emerald Lake with Crossing Summit in background

Emerald Lakes

Mt. Ngaurahoe

Climbing and Sand Flies

Last Tuesday night was a wine tasting on campus provided by Goldie Vineyards. It turns out that the University of Auckland owns the vineyard on the nearby Waiheke island and that is part of the reason that the university can offer wine science courses and majors. It was very fun and informative and we got to taste 6 different wines for free from the vineyard. Yay free good wine! We started with a sauvignon blanc, then had a chardonnay, a merlot cabernet mix, a pinot noir, then had a syrah, and finally finished with a cabernet sauvignon. Each one was totally different than the one before it. It was a cool experience that the campus can serve alcohol like that. Which also lets me mention that the University has a bar, called Shadows, on campus in a building right in the middle of the quad. Wow, things here keep surprising me.

Anyways, the rest of the week was the usual until the weekends climbing trip. This past weekend was the Orientation trip for AURAC. We arrived to a campground at about 9:30PM on Friday. And after my previous week's dilemmas - see last week's post - with having my stuff in a different vehicle, I must say, that I was very happy to keep everything in the car safely stowed in the trunk. After arriving to our destination I pitched my tent and everyone hung out as we waited for the cars to arrive.

Saturday morning we were awoken by the club's membership VP playing horrible music at the ungodly hour of 6:30AM - way before sunrise. While waking up early was not the most fun, it did provide me the opportunity to photograph the sunrise over the lake that we had camped adjacently to. The music continued for at least 20 minutes until everyone was awake, we all ate a quick breakfast, packed up the tents, and repacked the cars and made our way towards the climbing crag.

The Wharepapa area is essentially a large area of private plots of land. The large number of climbing areas in the area are almost entirely located on these properties, but luckily the property owners allow climbers to utilize them for free. AURAC tradition has its O-Trip at Froggatt Edge. The crag is on private land, cow property in fact, and is made up of volcanic rock. So, while the grass and stream made the area very comfortable and relaxing, we had to stay wary to avoid the masses of cow crap that was everywhere. Somehow the cows find ways up the steepest hills to the tops of the climbs and the stuff really was everywhere.

Upon our arrival to Froggatt, I and several others lead easy warm up climbs and set up a top rope anchors on them so that the 50 people on the trip could climb after they were taught how to belay. Like the local Malibu crag back home, this volcanic rock is equally sharp and pockety. Ouch. We spent the day climbing, and I wondered off with some of my friends who had climbed before to do our own thing occasionally. At the end of the day, we packed up and headed to Jones' Landing to camp on another even prettier lake. About 10m away from the lake shore was a little island with a rope swing on it. So of course, everyone changed into togs and went for an evening swim before the barbecue and slacklining began.

The evening concluded with everyone hanging out and fighting off the sandflies. They are the most annoying little bugs ever. Their bites itch worse and longer than mosquito's do but hanging out was good fun. I woke up and went outside of the tent in the middle of the night, after everyone had gone to bed so no headlamps were on and I guess the moon had set because it was no longer out, and the clouds were gone. And wow, it was gorgeous. So many stars, Orion's belt, the Southern Cross and plenty more that I don't know. But you could even see the think denseness that makes a band across the sky to mark the Milky Way. It was all amazing and gorgeous, and I'm sad my tripod did not come on the trip so I couldn't photograph it. After getting lost in the stars I went back into the warmth of my sleeping bag and fell asleep to be awoken at a better hour by natural daylight. 

Sunday was another day of climbing at Froggatt and enjoying the beauty of the New Zealand outdoors before heading back to Auckland in the evening. The trip was a ton of fun and I'm super keen to go climbing with some of the local Kiwi climbers who know the areas. I think the lasting impression, at least right now is the near two dozen sand fly bites that are pesteringly itchy as I write this post.

Stripes on Stripes

This past weekend was the orientation trip for AUCC, kayaking and rafting on the Ful James rapid on the Waikato island and camping/partying nearby. The weekend was quit the event.

Friday night afternoon was packing day and then meeting at the quad at 6PM to get ready to leave for Taupo. Now Taupo is about a 3.5-4 hour drive away, but the plan actually intended for us to arrive at the campsite between 1:30AM and 2AM. Why? Well we did a massive pub crawl all the way down the country. Four buses loaded with about 17 people each ventured south, along with carloads of others to the event. While the pubs themselves were fun, I think the bus was way more fun. Oddly enough, drinking (alcohol) in a car is totally legal here, in fact the driver can even drink as long as his BAC is below the legal limit. Don't worry mom, the drivers didn't drink. Anyways, the drive was amazing, meeting new people and drinking and playing games on the side of the highway all the way down.

My bus and one other arrived at 1:45AM as planned. Unfortunately, one of the other buses had a flat tire the town back, which was about an hour away. And of course, that was the bus with everyone's stuff on it. So, our bus dropped us off and went back for the other since their flat tire had a sheered bolt and they couldn't get it off to use. Without explaining too much of the complication, we ended up watching fire twirlers for a little while. And then, once everyone else with tents went to bed, my fellow travelers and I spent time walking around a pitch black campsite and sitting outside the bathroom dressed in our costumes. Finally the bus came at around 4:30 and after making my tent in the dark I finally fell asleep around 5 to 5:30.

A full night of sleep ensued with wake up call at 8AM. Sign ups for rafting or kayaking, breakfast, and then getting dressed in polypro tops and togs (swim trunks). Polypro is basically a plastic material that retains heat when wet so it's good for water sports, and it's infamous for being striped. So I found the stripiest of the bunch and wore them with my striped togs. Anyways, Saturday's river sport for me was rafting. We were on a mini raft with a professional raft guide who took every opportunity possible to flip the boat over. So we ended up swimming or paddling an upside down raft over almost every rapid. We also took a break at one point to eat wild blackberries growing on the side of the river. After one recovery from flipping the boat I ended up in the back of the raft in the guide position so I ended up guiding the boat. It was fun getting to steer and I accidentally rammed us into a tree so the people in front were not the happiest; luckily I was in back of the raft.

Huka Falls (waterfall behind me)

 Following a day on the river and the sausage sizzle for lunch, my friend Matt and another one of the kayakers from the club decided to go kayak the evening run with on the nearby Huka falls. Basically a narrow gorge with a massive waterfall at the end. It was very cool to watch and a gorgeous area in general.

After returning to the campsite and cooking dinner with Rose and her friend from a previous trip the partying began. All 100 people on the trip put on costumes and there was a massive party set up in the campground. Some notable costumes were Lance Armstrong, a morph suit, and myself as Mario, and Matt as a penguin.  Luckily I was able to go to bed around 1 on Saturday, listening to the ending of the party. The party was all good fun and sleep certainly didn't come too difficultly.

Sunday morning was sign ups for rafting or kayaking again. This time I ended up going white water kayaking. It is much harder than I would have expected and the boat does not track in nearly the same way as a sea kayak does. And of course, practicing my T-rescue with Rose who is an amazing kayaker resulted in my second swim and wet exit in a white water kayak. Somehow I fell out of the boat (unintentionally) when I flipped upside down (intentionally) even with the spray skirt still on. The rest of the kayaking was good fun and the current eddies and other water features certainly make it difficult to know how the boat was going to react to an inexperienced kayaker like myself.

After the run we hung out at the take out for a while. Since the Waikato river is geothermally heated, and the edge of the river had a beach we were able to dig ourselves hot pools lined with rocks at the riverside. I'm pretty sure we built such a long makeshift hot tub that about 20 people were in it. The mixture of hot and cold water was perfect, but digging too deep resulted in some painfully hot sensations on hands and feet. The rest of the day was pretty easy: lunch, return to camp, clean up, and drive back. We got back at around 10 and the evening concluded as I took a much needed full night's sleep.

Let the Adventures Begin

The rest of the week was pretty mundane and normal. I went to AURAC's club night on Wednesday, and the beach with some friends on Thursday. The water was super warm and we threw a rugby ball around while we were there. Friday I went back to the Panmure gym with actual club members and had some fun meeting and climbing with new friends. I got back from that at around 10PM.

Notice the burn/tan line on my left shoulder (after 4 days)

Saturday was the first Canoe Club event of the semester. It was a flat water river paddle on the Puhoi River, about 30 minutes north of Auckland. I was going up there with my friend Matt, from England, and Rose, from Australia, who both are avid and amazing white water kayakers. So, the three of us loaded up into Matt's '85 van, along with the two boats, and proceeded on towards Puhoi, intending to pick up food for the BBQ afterwards as that was Matt's responsibility as the club's social officer. We had put Rose in charge of navigation and within two minutes we were heading directly South, in the opposite direction from Puhoi and the town of Onewa. Anyways, we realized this and got the sat nav properly organized. With the variety of detours to get food, petrol, and find the river we made it there before everyone else was on the river somehow. In our late arrival I had forgotten to put sunblock on and now have a very good looking life vest burn. Anyways, we got in the kayaks, with skirts on, and entered the river by being pushed down a muddy hillside about 4 meter above water level. It was quite the entrance to white water kayaks and they handle and maneuver way differently than the sea kayaks that I've been in.

The 40 people or so there ended up being 2 too many people for kayaks and we were two kayaks short. Matt let me use his kayak, and he and a friend decided to tandem kayak down the river using Matt's inflatable mattress. Well, it didn't work out. The inner stitches that kept the mattress in a flattened shape ripped and he now owns an inflatable cylinder. The two of them took turns switching on running in the knee deep mud on teh banks, swimming, and making their way down the river. At the half way point somehow a giant mud fight ensued and I became covered in mud. One of the other people said to hold on to the front of his boat and roll over to clean off. Well... I guess I let go because I couldn't get back up and quickly discovered the art of the wet exit in a kayak. So, mud fights, sore shoulders, awkward burns and a barbeque. Oh! And to top it off, since we were two kayaks short, following the mud fight Matt and I attempted to tandem kayak his boat with me sitting on teh back and my feet in the water. We ended up having someone tow his boat and the two of us decided to try and find a shortcut through mangroves. It was definitely not a faster alternative, although I found a random little foresty area wtih some sheep and that was awesome! All in all... a good day. Unfortunately I didn't bring a camera on this trip because it was just paddling and I didn't want to lose a camera when I went upside down.

The evening continued with Rose and myself going slacklining in the domain and watching fireworks from in front of the War Memorial Museum. Another perhaps rookie mistake. Our abs were exhausted from the kayaking so keeping any core tension just didn't work and we ended up covered in bug bites.

And Monday evening Lucy and I went back to climb with club at the other climbing gym. And she now has a car so we have a ride! Last night, on Tuesday, was the first night of pool training with the canoe club. Rose helped me learn how to T-rescue in a white water kayak. Basically how to use your hips and flick the boat upright when you go over without having to do a full roll. Someone else comes over and you push on the bow of their boat to right yourself. It's all in the hips and really doesn't require too much strength surprisingly. But willingly flipping myself was not the most fun. I'm super excited to keep going and work on learning how to do a full roll on my own. Even if I don't get that much river time it will be good to know and have the skills for later on.

Classes Have Begun

On Sunday before papers (that's what courses are called here) began, I went to the Auckland War Memorial Museum. The museum is situated on the top of the extinct volcano that is Auckland Domain. It had tons of exciting historical relics and artifacts, a natural history museum and the war museum on the top floor. There was also a very cool simulation of what would happen if a volcano erupted in the Auckland Harbor. I'm not a huge history fan but it was cool to see the museum. Here are a few photos from the museum that I thought were kind of cool. They also have a stuffed moa which is an extinct bird that used to live in New Zealand and was the biggest bird in the world.  

A Moa

The photo and the next are from outside the museum

The museum was good fun but I think the domain around it is just as exciting and even more gorgeous. There are all of these spectacular trails throughout the denser wooded parts of the park. I didn't realize that there was so much to be found in this park. Here's a cool photo that I took while exploring one of the trails. http://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid=dc7adad0-01f8-4df0-920e-0542abe6758c it's a 360 degree photo so can't be embedded.  It also has a green house, a duck pond somewhere, and the usual park elements like playgrounds and ball fields and such. Also the view from the top really isn't something to complain about the hike in order to see. At night the Sky Tower is lit up in blue and is gorgeous so I'll have to make it to the top with my camera at some point soon.

After going to the museum my friend Evan, who is a Kiwi and thus has a car (win!), took us on a brief, impromptu tour on the way to the grocery store. We stopped at the top of Mount Eden, the tallest volcano in Auckland and the view from the top is AMAZING! I will definitely go back with my camera. The top of it also still even has a crater and is very cool.

Monday was the first day of Uni. Before classes, I signed up for to clubs. AURAC or Auckland University Rock and Alpine Club, and AUCC or Auckland University Canoe Club which is now more of a white water kayaking and white water rafting club so I am excited to learn how to white water kayak! AURAC also gives us a membership card that gets us discounts at climbing gyms and outdoor stores. Along with signing up for the club I registered for the orientation trip the third weekend of Uni. After signing up, I started off with my software construction course, followed by a long break and some exploration of Auckland Domain which I have already described. After some exploration and walking back on a new trail I went to my flat and had lunch and enjoyed the afternoon before returning to Uni for my last two classes of the day. The first was Introduction to Music and the second was Microeconomics. It was all easy introductions but the walk to campus may get a bit tiring. It's about 1.7km to campus, a little over a mile each way, and the return walk is through the domain and up the volcano.

Tuesday morning was my last class, Human Computer Interaction, which is basically where we learn how to make good interfaces and everything that goes along and behind the scenes with that. The class is taught around web interfaces and websites so I'm glad to have some experience with it already since it's a senior level course.

The left yellow was is about 30 degrees at the steep part

After class my friend Lucy, from Australia, and I ventured to another suburb, Panmure, to spend the afternoon climbing. The hour long trip, bus ride and walking included, was certainly worth it. The gym seemed to be almost entirely lead climbing focused. So basically, it's tall walls and you clip the rope into carabiners on the wall as you climb. These wall were also at all different angles, from positive to long 15 foot long 30 degree overhanging walls. It was tons of fun and I'm glad to know it's not too difficult to get there. And there's a chance Lucy may be getting a car and we could drive there. Plus the club usually goes and getting a ride with a club member is an option as well. Anyways, point is I am happy I was able to get some solid climbing in and find such a great gym.

The Week Before Uni Starts

Unfortunately this week has not been the most exciting. I have spent a lot of time around Parnell Student Village (PSV) getting to know my fellow flatmates and neighbors. A few highlights since my last blog are getting a new sleeping bag and finding more delicious lamb for cheap prices. I also got the correct size eggs. I got 7s this time. 7s come in 10 in a pack but the size 8s only come in 8 in a pack and aren't much bigger. I've also gotten my Auckland University ID card and discovered I have no required text books. YAY on saving money. But after getting my ID card my friends and I gave ourselves a brief tour of campus to find our classes. Here's a bit of campus. It still amazes me. It's a bit weird going to a University that has 4 banks, a hair salon, a technology store, a bookstore, a pharmacy, a clothing store, a travel agency, and multiple food areas in its student union. Plus the other cafeterias and eating areas that I haven't even found yet. 

Jonne, my Dutch friend, and I booked plans to go hike the Tongariro Crossing over Easter Break. Here's a link http://www.tongarirocrossing.org.nz/ One of the big highlights is that the hike passes Mount Doom from the Lord of the Rings. 

An even better highlight however is climbing related. Every Wednesday night AURAC has a meeting at the on campus climbing gym. Auckland University Rock and Alpine Club provides students with all the gear and training they need to discover the sport and be safe. They also run trips almost every weekend and get us discounts to the local climbing gyms and outdoor stores. So in a few weekends they will be having a huge trip. I met a girl, Lucy, who lives in the flat next to me who is from Australia and is a huge climber. So I'm glad to know I have a climbing parter and she said that she is looking into getting a car. And that means more climbing.

Another one of my friends new is Matt. Matt is from Essex and is a member of the Auckland University Canoe Club. While talking to him he invited me to join the club and learn how to white water kayak. The club has over 40 kayaks and also runs tons of trips. And Matt too has a car. So I can't wait to learn this new and exciting sport! It also turns out that they go kayaking and rafting down the Kaituna, which is the river I just went rafting down that has the 7m drop. So I would love to be able to get good enough and kayak down it on my own.

Friday night was the official welcome BBQ at Parnell. We met the Head of Hall and ate burgers and sausages and socialized. Following the BBQ was a party in my flat for my flatmate's birthday and then we went out and discovered some of the night life in and around the CBD (Central Business District) of Auckland. 

Today, Saturday, we had an orientation beach day with more sausages and inflatable games. It was very crowded. The queue for the sausages took about 10 minutes and it was extremely crowded. Tonight is an orientation toga party and tomorrow is the last day before classes start on Monday. 

Oh and since I forgot to answer the question from the end of two posts ago here it is. Yes, the toilets DO flush backwards. Although the toilets here have two buttons, one uses half the water of the other. All of the toilets are like this and it is just one of the many examples of how eco friendly everyone and the culture here is.

And here is Jonne being a Koala after the beach day.