Kaikoura, land of the Crayfish

Kaikoura

Kai - Food and Koura - Crayfish was our next destination after a short, tiring and nightly crossing by ferry to the South Island. As we are both in NZ with a working Visa we decided to do a woofing stay in a vineyard. WOOFing, which we were later told means Working On Organic Farms, nowadays means working a few hours a day in exchange for accomodation and food. After sleeping in the car for several weeks, it is a nice change in having a small private room with all the comfort included. On the other hand, working 4 hours a day in a vineyard with either face to the ocean and back to the mountains or otherwise back to the ocean and face to the mountain, most of the days with around 25 degrees, didn't proof that terrible at all. Our job consisted in wire hanging, meaning taking the grape branches and hang them on the steel wires so that grapes get as much exposure to the sun as possible and no mildew builds up under the leaves. The experience was even nicer as our stay was on a farm surrounded by a bucolical quietness, sheep, peacocks, chicken a sheep dog and a very nice land lady.

Uno de los objetivos del viaje largo, ademas de conocer otros lugares, conocer otra gente, otras culturas... otros idiomas, era poder trabajar en algo que sea totalmente distinto a lo que veníamos haciendo estos últimos 5 anos en Chile. Siempre habíamos hablado de trabajar en un campo o con animales, y bueno... encontramos un trabajo bajo el sistema Woofing (trabajar un par de horas al día a cambio de alojamiento y comidas) en una vina, en la que ademas estábamos rodeados de ovejas, gallinas, pavos reales y un perro ovejero. (Wilson) 

Por lo general empezábamos a las 8am y al medio día ya estábamos libres para irnos a conocer Kaikoura. Este lugar en la Isla sur, es muy turístico por las ballenas y delfines. 

We would spend most of our mornings doing the work early in the vineyard so we would be ready for a picnic lunch on the beach or on one of the cliffs and spend the afternoon doing magnificent beach and coastal walks or just relaxing and fishing. The Kaikoura peninsula has the particularity of having very deep canyons very close to the shore which pushes up the ice cold nutrient rich waters and which makes the place home to giant sperm whales, NZ fur seals, Dusky dolphins and Hector's dolphins, crayfish, octopus, stingrays etc etc. One of the highlights of our Kaikoura stay was a whale watching trip which was postponed several time due to strong winds and rough seas. Having been on a boat for several times now, I deemed I was fit and it was unnecessary to take seasick pills. Nevertheless, the several postponements and reiterated warnings made us go to the local pharmacist for his special potion famous with the locals. Fortunately, as we saw 3 magnificent sperm whales, roughly 10 dolphins, 3 albatros and bunches of vomiting Germans, Japanese, Australians and French. I will come back on the wildlife.

Hicimos caminatas por toda la costa de Kaikoura (aprox 12 km), donde pasamos por playas preciosas, con el agua transparente, colonias de gaviotas, colonias de focas y lobos de mar. 

Una de las mejores tardes fue cuando fuimos a un tour que nos llevaba a un avistamiento de ballenas, por lo general pronosticaban que podíamos ver 1 o 2 ballenas a lo mucho, pero ese día vimos 3 ballenas y muchísimos delfines que nadaban alrededor de ellas. 

Fueron 9 días en Kaikoura, donde disfrutamos trabajar en la vina (el trabajo no era duro, pero si un poco agotador cuando nos tocaba un día soleado) era bueno tener comida hecha en casa... después de haber estado varios días comiendo enlatados o ensaladas a la rápida, un día me toco dar de comer a los animales que habían en la vina, y otro día nos toco ir a una feria mercado de productos de la zona, para vender los vinos de la vina donde trabajábamos. 

Wildlife wise, Kaikoura was a fascinating place. The giant sperm whale to start with, is the biggest toothed whale only threatened by the orca (or from there the name killer whale) and humans of course. He feeds on sharks and big fish which he detects through its sonar and it is even said he crushes the body structures of these animals with the low frequency sounds he emits. He dives for 30 to 60 minutes to depths of up to 3000m and manages depth and pressure by solidifying or liquifying resins in his head and then comes to surface to breath or aerate his blood. I can go on with these facts but I wont bore you with more except for this one. The giant sperm whale eats sharks, even whites, and big fish and giant octopus, nevertheless he is harmless to humans and to dolphins which annoy him during his breathing pause. The guide told me that apparently they have some ethic which makes them not eating mammals. I find this fascinating and incredibly human, an impression which also the dolphins would later give me.

Clear blue waters and a bright sky, no big waves and favorable wind, perfect conditions for some spearfishing. Just one detail, what about the seal colony and a secondary thought, is a seal not the preferred item on the menu for a white shark? A Kiwi grin, a "they scare the shit out of you but are harmless" to the first question and an even bigger grin with a "not that I know of" to the second question, gave me just enough courage to get the wetsuit and the leadbelt on. The fishing was fascinating and I sometimes would forget that I was after fish. Big octopus, beautiful fish, anemones, crabs, stingrays and incredible underwater flora all in close up. I became real ecstatic when on the last day I caught my first lobster (3 hours before unaffordable in town due to Chinese market pressure on the lobster prices), unfortunately it was undersized and it had to be put back.

  

Wellington, Windy Welly

Time to hit the road again towards our NY Eve destination, and where better than in the world's greatest small capital. After the East coast with all its bays, small sandy beaches, sheltered coves and good spearfishing, the West coast seemed a bit boring, flat, tasteless and windswept. I think it is a matter of finding the beauty in it...Wellington or Windy Welly, due to its western and southern gales coming in, received us with a bright and shiny day towards or small AirBnB room which in my opinion came the closest to a cave in the basement of a house on a hill but which was worth every penny due to the magnificent view on the sea, watching kayaks, sailing yachts and the South-North Island connecting ferries pass 

Continuamos camino a Wellington, ciudad donde recibiriamos ano nuevo, el cumpleanos del Chiwawin, y ultima ciudad visitada de la Isla Norte, puesto que desde Wellington tomariamos el ferry que nos llevaria despues a la Isla Sur. 

Llegamos a nuestro hogar temporal que conseguimos por AirB&B, una habitacion con vista magnifica a wellington harbour. 

El primer dia, llegamos a acomodarnos, comer algo, salir a conocer la ciudad y visitar el jardin botanico de Wellington. (Precioso, con vistas de la ciudad que parecian sacadas de postales) ... terminando la caminata por el jardin botanico fuimos a refrescar las gargantas a un bar frente a una laguna donde podiamos tomar una cerveza y una sidra sentados en unos puff en la terraza del bar, todo un placer! 

Gallipoli to me sounded like an italian beachfront town, which I vaguely knew was involved in one of the World Wars, but with Ypres, Paschendaele, Bastogne there was no need to go much further during my primary school career and after. The Te Papa National Museum had a Gallipoli exhibition, based on testimonies, memories and relics of people involved with impressively real images of these people made by the Weta Cave (normally involved in making hobbit feet, elf ears and King Kong heads for Hollywood movies directed in NZ). The exhibition was very good, emotional and mind boggling. You wake up one day and suddenly, through your link to the empire which you are so proudly and thankfully part of, you are at war. You come from NZ, leave farms and fishing, to support and fight with the Australians, for a shitty and desert piece of land with the back against the sea against the Turks supported by their land supply lines. A one day truce was held to burry the rotten bodies by both Turks and Anzac. Sleeves where cut off to support the summer heat in order to loose fingers and toes to frost bite when winter came. After a few heroic battles for another hill or crest the operation was abandoned and Gallipoli became calm again. Useless and pointless in sacrifice for our European peace young boys enlisted and died, fortunately humanity learned its lesson ... or didn't it. I can not help feeling very grateful to these NZ and Aussie army corpses although I am not sure what for. 

El 31 empezamos con una visita al museo de Wellington (Te Papa) especialmente a la exposicion Gallipoli, en la que nos contaban con maquetas, imagenes, audios, etc la paricipacion de NZ en la primera guerra mundial (participacion que costo muchas vidas para que finalmente se abandone la operacion). Despues de Te Papa, fuimos a alistarnos para recbir el ano nuevo... empezamos con unas copas de Sidra frente a la laguna, luego nos dirigimos al restaurante Istana (comida de Malasya) bueniiisima... realmente delicioso. Saliendo del restaurante fuimos a la laguna donde disfrutamos de una orquesta y fuegos artificiales al llegar las 12.00 pm ... finalizamos la noche en una fiesta latina en el bar mas grande de Wellington (The Grand) bailando y celebrando el ano nuevo ... y claro! el cumpleanos del chiwawin. 

A visit to one of my Mums childhood residencies and a walk to the botanic gardens gave us a good first view of the city. A delicious Malaysian dinner, public concerts, local beers and a Fiesta Latina took us to 2016. By then we had figured the provincial character of Wellington, not a capital at all, but with a laid back atmosphere and great setting it is a beautiful city to live in. On the 1st of January, coincidentally my 30th birthday, we did a beach walk and in a nostalgic moment expressed my wish to have a cheese and wine table exactly as Mum used to prepare for me all these years when I would wake up late and hung over on my birthday, together with the entire family around the round table at the Canadalaan. 

This was professionally and deliciously catered for by Belen, and the round table was changed for a round rock in the Harbour with views on Wellington. Thank you Belen, te amo. With the loss of 2 incomes and careful spending, a birthday present didn't seem to come until, discussing on the same round rock, I said "after all the wildlife we have seen so far what is missing are doplhins, whales,...." 43 seconds after saying these words, a bunch of dolphins was jumping in front of us, graciously traveling the bay. Now I see where Michelangelo got his inspiration for the Sixtine Chapel, God sitting on his cloud, pointing down to Wellington Harbour and with a thundering voice "give him his dolphins". Cheese, wine and dolphins, a happy chappy went to bed.

El 01, hariamos lo que mi cumpleanero favorito quesiera por su dia, por lo que empezamos con un suculento desayuno levanta muertos, para despues irnos de caminata por la costa pasando por distintas playas, montanas, playas nudistas etc. Despues de la caminata, nos fuimos a hacer un picnic a la playa, con una tabla de quesos,pan, tomates cherry, aceitunas y un vino... para luego cantar HB al chiwawin... que estaba fascinado viendo el atardecer sentado en una roca frente al mar y viendo a los delfines pasar. 

En wellington quedaba el Weta Cave, pequeno museo de la empresa que se dedica a hacer toda la produccion de vestuario y maquillaje de peliculas como: The Lord of the rings, Hobbits, King Kong, Avatar...etc, no podiamos dejar de ir a visitarlo. 

Wellington, actualmente capital de NZ, (en ningun momento sentimos que estabamos en la capital) es una pequena ciudad acogedora, con lindas vistas, buenos restaurantes asiaticos y un buen ambiente de after office con los bares y restaurantes frente a la laguna, donde se aprecia a la gente que sale a andar en Kayak, o a los calurosos que deciden darse un chapuzon saltando desde un trampolin en medio del muelle. 

One of the things that I like about a capital like Wellington, as well as Santiago, is that with a 2 hours drive you can be in the middle of nowhere, and that is exactly what we did. One hour towards Martinborough, a small wine area which produces 1% of the wine in NZ which in its turn produces 3% of the world's wine production. As we saw the big clouds coming and the first drops falling we decided to buy one of the Syrahs and then drive south to the coast opposite of Wellington harbour. For the next 24 hours it wouldn't stop raining bringing to a first real test the small physical space the back of our van provides as well as our ability and patience to spend long hours there. With a beautiful rainy ocean view, big waves, the Syrah and the cheese left overs, this didn't proof too difficult and the next day we woke up to the remnants of the storm which soon converted in a bright blue sky. Driving further down the coast we then got to the NZ fur seal colony, small baby seals included, where we spent a good part of the day observing the seals. They are cute, stinky, playful animals with an exceptional quality to swim in huge ocean waves beat to white spume against the rocky cliffs. Our camping spot was on the grass right next to the beach where there would be at least 50 bulldozers hooked up to trailers to bring the boats going for crayfish to the sea or to shore. To the question why a few common bulldozers wouldn't be sufficient for the town, the answer was that many boats come ashore at the same time and that much time is also spent leveling the beach again after big southerlies.

Back to Wellington and to the ferry for the South Island....

Te Urewera National Park

I was introduced to hiking by the Scout Group from Hoevenen, my hometown, years ago. Ever since I have enjoyed hiking especially multiday hikes, with my parents, my brothers or alone. Hiking in a national park gives you time to think, to contemplate and to admire, as well as to discuss, while you rest, set up camp, walk, suffer a climb or enjoy a view. One of my big frustrations in Chile was the apparent lack of time to do some proper multiday hiking (I did some, not enough) and due to the steep terrain and mostly rather rudimentary facilities I had not intended yet to take Ana Belen along. Te Urewera, through NZ North Island native rainforest around a natural lake in 4 days was the opportunity.

Y quien dijo que en este viaje ibamos a estar solo echados frente al mar, viendo las gaviotas pasar...? Despues de nuestros dias relajados en Tolaga Bay, en realidad estabamos reuniendo energias para lo que se nos venia (al menos yo)... la primera caminata de 4 dias consecutivos, la que para mi significo ponerme a prueba yo misma y ver si era capaz de lograrlo... pues lo maximo que habia caminado eran 22km, y esta caminata seria de 45km. 

Water taxi to the starting point, a flat day of 15 km, a relatively flat day of 12 km, an 9 km climb and a 7 km descent would take us back to the starting point. The beauty of such a long hikes is the feeling of a continuous positive mood with a few peaks of excitement and sometimes downsides when you realize you took the wrong turn or rain is imminent. The highs in this walk were the nightly encounter with 4 or 5 possums eating blossom in the manuka trees, spotting wild boars foraging for food in the forest, several rewarding dips in the lake after a long days walking and the smoked trout given by a fishermen who had so much trout he couldn't keep it fresh and which was the most welcome change in our beans and dried pasta diet. On a side note, the possum is an introduced species from Australia which for a European is a new and exciting species to meet in the wild, but which has done an enormous damage to the incredible native bird life. The continuous reminders of traps and poison for possums thus gives a bit of a mixed feeling.

Empezamos el trayecto tomando una lancha que nos llevo a nuestro punto de inicio, atravezando el lago Wakaremoana... (lago que rodeariamos en toda nuestra caminata). El primer dia hicimos 14km, termine exhausta, casi ni sentia las piernas, pero era un cansancio gratificante ya que durante toda la caminata habiamos tenido vistas preciosas, que hacian que valga la pena. En la primera noche, cuando nos dirigiamos a los banos, escuchamos que algo corria entre los arbustos cerca de nosotros, enfocamos con nuestras linternas... y vimos varios possums, a menos de 3 metros caminando y trepando y bajando de los arboles... yo corri a esconderme a la carpa, Johan fue a buscar la camara y volvio a tomarles foto. 

Los siguientes dias, ya estaba mas acostumbrada a la caminata, entonces fueron menos duros que el primero ... vimos un par de chanchos salvajes, nos dimos unas refrescadas en el lago junto a los cisnes, comimos una trucha ahumada que nos invito un senor que acampaba en un sitio por el que nos tocaba pasar y habiamos decidido tomar un descanso, tuvimos tiempo para hacer siestas despues de cada almuerzo, y para contarnos toda nuestra etapa del colegio y universidad mientras teniamos tramos largos de caminata... fue divertido para ambos recordar esas epocas y compartirlas mutuamente. 

While their had been some uncertainty about the hike, what if it rains 4 days, what if it is just too much for a person who has not done this before, what if we get blisters or other injuries.... it turned out to be a wonderful experience. We suffered a little together but we shared a lot of good things during the 4 days the views, the meals, the finishes, stories about our high school times. The arrival at the final point was nothing but satisfaction and another good memory. The first of the 9 Great Walks of NZ on our record, that many might come....

El ultimo dia, subimos una montana que estaba a 1200 mts sobre nivel del mar... ambos terminamos agotados, pero llegamos a una cabana donde pudimos relajarnos, cenar, jugar cartas a la luz de unas velas, leer nuestros libros, y celebrar el haberlo logrado sin ningun contratiempo. 

Sin duda fue una linda experiencia juntos, venci casi por completo el miedo a las alturas y abismos, me sorprendi al ver desde la cima de la montana todo lo que habiamos caminado, en cierto modo me senti orgullosa de mi misma... fue muy gratificante.