I woke up relatively early to give myself plenty of time to get ready for my first day of tramping (tramping is the NZ way of saying camping). After a good morning feed I hopped into a Fruit Van with Salvis, a Latvian wwoofer, who was selling at the southern most spot around Auckland. He dropped me off at an on-ramp to the #1 highway where my hitch-hiking adventure south would begin. It had been a little while since I had hitch-hiked, so I figured right on the expressway would be a good place to start. I found a spot I thought was good, held my sign for Rotorua up, and stuck out my thumb.
It was morning rush hour so many vehicles were on the expressway, but even though many waved at me or gave me the thumbs up, none stopped. About twenty minutes went by when a police cruiser pulled up and informed me that the location I had chosen was an illegal one and that I should set up on an on-ramp. So with a warning that I could have been ticketed, she gave me a ride to a good on-ramp. Once there, I waited about another twenty minutes before a fellow named Toby picked me up. He wasn't going far, but I wanted a change of venue, so I got in. He took me out of Auckland's city limits and dropped me at a gas station/truck stop in the countryside... I wasn't sure when I'd next get a chance to eat, so I filled up at a restaurant before making my way to the highway on-ramp.
After about ten minutes a couple of young girls, Mary and Kate, picked me up. They were going kind of in my direction and I figured 'why not?'. They were taking a scenic route so I got to check out some north island New Zealand countryside for an hour or so. They dropped me off at some middle of nowhere crossroad with the assurance that most vehicles passing through there were headed for Rotorua. I hiked up the road a bit to what looked like a good hitching spot, pulled out my sign, and stuck out my thumb. Within twenty minutes a woman who went by the name "Ray" picked me up... she was headed for Hamilton, a town on the way to Rotorua and my destination for the day, Waitomo Caves. Ray dropped me off at the intersection of highways in Hamilton, one of which headed to Waitomo. I walked about three or four kilometres till I reached the edge of town on the highway I wanted, but only after picking up some bread, cheese, and sausage. With food, water, and my tent I really had no worries about how my day might pan out.
I waited about ten minutes at the spot I had chosen and received many waves and thumbs up, but no rides. I decided to cross the road and inquire at the gas station about possible better spots the get picked up. As I was inquiring, a customer in the store, a woman named Nikita, offered to give me a ride to Te Awamutu where she was headed to get back to work. I graciously accepted. Along the way, when she learned I was wwoofing, she gave me some contact information of some of her friends near Wellington who might be able to offer me some work and a place to stay... awesome!
In Te Awamutu I walked across the town to its edge where I set up under a roadside tree because it had started raining a bit. Within about 15 minutes I was picked up by a woman named Louise. She was headed down island to visit her sick father and had barely more of a plan than I did, plus she was out of money and nearly out of gas, so I put $10 in her tank and she took me as far as Waitomo Rd. within 4 or 5 kilometres of my destination. I was so happy I had more or less made it to my destination that when it started raining I put my rain poncho on with a smile and started hiking down the road. I was content to walk the rest of the way, but stuck out my thumb every now and again just for fun. Sure enough, 10 minutes later I was in the car of some local youngsters who thought my journey was worth a laugh. They dropped me off in front of the Waitomo general store... seven rides and six hours had got me from Auckland to Waitomo Caves, I was ecstatic.
I wandered into the general store/cafe and had a coffee to warm up. I asked some locals about the caves and they directed me to the tourist info centre next door. The people at the info centre were super helpful on helping me choose a tour to get the most bang for my buck. So I booked a blackwater rafting, abseiling, glow worm tour for the next morning at 9 am. With my next day sorted out, I surveyed the landscape outside the info centre for possible guerrilla camp spots. It looked like a nice stand of forest amongst the rolling hills of fields held some potential, so I grabbed my bags and began trekking up the road towards the trees.
Lucky me! About one kilometre down the road was a trail into a local park which I quickly and discreetly entered. I crested a ridge and spotted what looked like a cave entrance in the limestone hillside and decided to explore it. To my good fortune the crack in the limestone held a trail of sorts up into a stand of giant black fern trees amidst cool limestone formations... I had found my Waitomo Caves home for the next few days.
Like many places in New Zealand, Waitomo Caves had been named in Maori, Wai- meaning water, and -tomo meaning hole in the ground... so Waitomo means "watery hole in the ground", which seems apt given the over 300 known caves with rivers flowing through them in the area. The key ingredients for caves here are limestone, water and time. Limestone is a sedimentary rock made from calcareous remains of marine organisms. 30 million years ago, much of NZ was under water - a shallow sea. The rock we see today is composed of remains of tiny shell fragments (mainly bryozoans), and a few spectacular deposits of giant oyster shells, giant scallop fossils occur sporadically also. Layers built upon layers and compacted under additional layers of mud and sand. Eventually tectonic forces lifted all this material above sea level to form the elevated landscape we know today. Much of NZ has a maritime climate, Waitomo on the Western side of the North Island receives 1800-2400mm rainfall per year. But water alone will not dissolve limestone, it needs to be acidified with the help of dissolved Carbon Dioxide gas derived from biological activity in the soil. Water cannot percolate through the dense, pure Waitomo limestones. Instead, water will flow along the matrix of fractures occurring within the limestone. The slightly acidic water slowly hollows out cavities along the fractures, some develop into caves.
The surrounding landscape of the place I had set up camp in was very... hobbity... rolling hills, sheep and cattle, and a very warm rural feel to it. After setting up camp I reconnoitered the area a bit to get a feel for it all, then headed back into town for some internet and a few extra supplies. The rest of my day was spent enjoying the bucolic setting of my New Zealand surroundings. Because I had chosen such a secluded spot, I was able to have a small fire to keep me warm through the night, nevertheless, with only a tent, a blanket, and layers of clothes, the early morning hours were a bit chilly. No matter, the cacophony of birds woke me up around 5:30 am as dawn was breaking. I ate some cold breakfast, got a small morning fire going, and kept warm till I had to start trekking to the pick up point for the blackwater rafting tour.
There were five of us in the group as we drove out to the site of the cave we would be descending into. After a little safety spiel we one by one abseiled into the darkness of the Mangawhitikau Cave System. Mangawhitikau is another of those Maori words... Manga = stream, whiti = swim across, kau = don't. So the name means "Don't swim across this stream". With everyone safely in the cavern, we began our trek upstream to a bend in the cave where with our lights out, we marveled as hundreds, if not thousands, of glow worms slowly came into focus as our eyes adjusted. Arachnocampa is a genus of four fungus gnat species which are, in their larval stage, glowworms. They are found mostly in New Zealand and Australia in caves and grottoes, or sheltered places in forests. The name, Arachnocampa, means spider-grub, for the way the larvae hang silk threads to trap prey attracted to them by the glow they emit.
Next we all hopped into our inner-tubes and started floating down the underground river through some gentle bumps and various twists and bends. After a while we stashed our tubes on a gravel bar and explored some caves on foot wriggling through tight squeezes and sometimes partially submerging ourselves to make it through tricky squeezes. Three hours later we re-emerged from the depths, dried off, and departed the sheep dotted hills to return to Waitomo village. I was feeling a bit tired, so I headed back to my secret camp and had a nap. Later I spent a couple hours improving my guerrilla campsite before darkness fell and I called it an early night.
The next morning I was up fairly early and broke camp. I stashed my backpack in the bush and wandered into town for a morning coffee. Now fully awake I headed for the booking office for the Ruakuri cave walk. According to Maori legend, Ruakuri Cave (‘rua’ meaning den, and ‘kuri’ meaning dog) was first discovered 400-500 years ago by a young Maori hunting for birds. He was attacked by wild dogs just outside the original cave entrance. Ruakuri Cave was first opened to visitors in 1904 by James Holden, an ancestor of the family that still owns much of the land above the cave system. It was the second cave in the region to be opened as a visitor attraction and was quickly announced by early visitors to be visually impressive and an experience that was almost spiritual. The Government claimed ownership of Ruakuri Cave and the attraction was then operated by the former Tourist Hotel Corporation until February 1988, when a legal and financial dispute forced its closure. Ruakuri Cave was closed for over 18 years and was officially reopened for underground guided walking tours by the New Zealand Prime Minister in July 2005. This followed extensive redevelopment by Tourism Holdings Limited and an agreement with the Holden Family Trust of Waitomo. The re-opening marked the culmination of 18 months of underground construction work on walkways, bridges and a new spiral entrance way.
After a couple of hours wandering through the Ruakuri cave I went back to my campsite, grabbed all my gear, and started walking out of town towards the highway. About two kilometres out of town a Singaporean couple picked me up and drove me as far as Te Awamutu. I walked through town and bought some provisions before heading down the highway towards Cambridge. After walking about three kilometres a fellow named Peter picked me up. He drove me to the far end of Cambridge to a great hitch-hiking spot. Within fifteen minutes a mother and son picked me up, they were going all the way to my next destination: Rotorua.
I got dropped off near the southern end of Rotorua and decided to hike the rest of the way to my next camp spot about four kilometres out of town. I entered the Whakarewarewa National Forest at dusk and made my way far enough into the bush that my tent and fire wouldn't be noticed then set up camp for the night. I had walked around 10 kilometres with 25 kilograms of gear that day, so I was tired and hit the hay soon after complete darkness had set in.
I awoke at day break to a hiker's least favourite sound... rain. I was dreading the 20 or so kilometres I was going to have to hike in the rain, so I rolled over and went back to sleep. By 10:30 I was fully awake and the rain continued, so I begrudgingly began the process of breaking down my camp. Good fortune was on my side as by the time I was all packed up the rain looked liked it was abating. With relieved excitement I started trekking through the Whakarewarewa forest. On a simple map 12 kilometres doesn't seem like much, even with 25 kilograms on your back, but the reality was that this forest contained ranges of hills, small mountains, and gullies.
About six sweaty hours later I found myself at the Lake Tarawera landing where I had hoped to hop a tour boat for $15-25 to get me to the Te Rata Bay hot water beach campsite. Turns out my information was three years out of date. The outfit that used to do such trips had shut down in 2008. The chef at the landing cafe told me that there was a trail along the lake to the hot springs and that it should only take around an hour and a half to hike it... I budgeted three hours to make it which would see me there at dusk... I left immediately. Lucky for me the map I had (which didn't have the trail I was on on it) did a pretty good job of outlining the bays I would be passing, so with a little common sense and observation I had a pretty good idea of where I was.
Two and a half hours of hard hiking got me to a very long uphill section of trail ascending a ridge line with no visible sign of going down towards the lake where I wanted to be for the night. I found a good vantage point and compared the surrounding geography to my poor map... I seemed to have gone too far according to the peninsulas and bays... and the sun was setting. At the base of the ridge I had passed a stream which had an overgrown path near it... I figured that would be my best bet to reach the lakeside before dark, so I nearly ran back down into the valley racing the setting sun.
As I explored the path, I came upon a bush hut and outhouse... a good sign. A little further and I found a nice little hot spring pool with a strip of moss nearby to pitch my tent on. With the sun gone and dusk darkening I decided to have a muscle relaxing soak in my private hot spring before getting my camp together... the last 3 hours had been a hard 8 kms. With 20 kms behind me that day sleep came easy that night.
I awoke to yet another cacophony of bird songs shortly after sun up. The chill of the morning was quickly cured with a hot spring soak. I took my time getting going, nursing my soar muscles, washing my last three pairs of holey socks, and drying out all my gear... it was looking like it would be a beautiful day. According to my calculations I had 3-6 kms left to achieve my destination... the Waimangu Volcanic Valley. By 10:30 I was packed and back on the trail. After an hour or two of lots of hilly terrain I descended once more to the lake. In the distance I saw a couple of boats and the steaming tell-tale signs of a fairly hot spring.
As I made the beach I found a sign that finally confirmed my location... Te Rata Bay Hot Water Beach. I chatted up a couple of old-timers and inquired about possible trails in the direction I was headed. They told me of a trail that sounded like the one I was looking for... I knew I was getting close, probably only a couple hours from my destination, so I forged on. As some point I crossed into Maori territory near the end of Lake Tarawera as was evidenced by the memorial I found to the former village of the famed Pink and White Terraces.
The day was growing hot and I had yet to match the sketchy map I was following with actual trails. After about 90 minutes of wandering around trying every reasonable looking track, I made one last effort up a trail that, for its direction and incline, seemed to head up to Mt. Tarawera. As I discovered about 15 minutes later, my assumptions were wrong... the track lead to Lake Rotomahana located below the remnants of Mt. Tarawera and abruptly ended at a boat dock with several markers of what I assumed to be a tourist company's design. After about 45 minutes of frustrated bush-whacking, I concluded that a safe route over the last 3-4 kms of my planned journey DID NOT EXIST. I was solo and the area is known for its geologic instability (due to its highly volatile volcanic nature) so I, sadly, turned around and prepared to make the 25 km hike back to Rotorua. Once I reached Lake Tarawera again, I noticed that a boat remained near the Te Rata site... I headed there with hopes of avoiding the painful 6 hour slog back to the nearest road. After a little conversation with the family packing up their weekend trip to the hot springs, I managed to hitch a ride with them on their speedboat back to the Landing at the other end of Lake Tarawera. Thank goodness! Six hours of grueling return hike just turned into 20 minutes of afternoon cruising across the lake.
Only 5 minutes after beginning my trek down Tarawera Road back to Rotorua, I managed to snag a ride on a school bus making its return trip to Rotorua. The driver dropped me off in downtown Rotorua and I promptly found a hostel to check into. After a nice hot meal, a little bit of laundry, and a looong hot shower, I took proper advantage of the soft comfy bunk after four nights of roughing it in a tent with little more than cardboard hitch-hiking signs to soften the earth below me. I slept like a baby.
Next morning I checked out of the hostel after asking the desk clerk where the best hitch-hiking spot going south out of town was. The morning was cool and the sun had not yet gotten scorching, so I opted to walk across Rotorua to the southwestern end of town where the highway headed in the direction I wanted. After spending two days slogging through the bush trying to get to Waimangu Volcanic Valley I was determined to ACTUALLY see it. I found a good hitching spot, stuck out my sign and my thumb and, wouldn't you know, the third car that drove by stopped to pick me up. The fellow was working at a quarry within 2 kms of the Waimangu tourist offices, so he dropped me off right at the doorstep of my morning destination... awesome!!
The place I had been less than 24 hours prior to arriving at the entrance to the Waimangu Volcanic Valley was at the base of Mt. Tarawera (the picture above shows the jetty on Lake Rotomahana - middle left - I was standing on like 23 hours earlier... a mere 3-4 kms from my desired destination -- frustrating!). The Waimangu Rift Valley, as well as many of the surrounding lakes and the area where the Pink and White Terraces tribe were wiped out, were created when Mt. Tarawera last erupted on June 10, 1886. The Waimangu Rift Valley as well as Lake Rotomahana form part of the 14 km rift that was opened up when Mt. Tarawera erupted. Pictures from just after the eruption show the area to be a desolate expanse of martian-like landscape with steam plumes rising up from many crater points. After only 15 years of geo-thermal activity and rain, Lake Rotomahana was formed filling the volcanic rift valley. Beneath the surface of the lake geysers still regularly erupt adding to the lakes water levels. "Waimangu" means "black water" in Maori... this name comes from the water that was thrown up by the famous Waimangu Geyser, which was black with mud and rocks. While this geyser was still 'alive', from 1901-1904, it was recorded as the world's most powerful geyser sending materials from its daily eruptions up to 460 metres into the air above.
Just getting to the Waimangu Valley put a smile on my face. Actually seeing the wonders in store for me left me grinning like a fool for the rest of the day. I spent about 3 hours wandering the 4 kms of trails through the valley and up to Mt. Haszard. Entering the reserve I was first greeted with a panoramic view including a glimpse at Echo Crater and Frying Pan Lake which fills it, along with the algae and red floating fern, Azolla, covered Emerald Pool in the Southern Crater.
As I progressed down the beautifully manicured trail system, I approached Frying Pan Lake up close and was greeted by plumes of steam issuing forth from various vents around the lake, not to mention the light clouds rising up from the hot water of the lake itself. On April 1, 1917 the western basin of Echo Crater violently erupted. The deepened and enlarged crater quickly accumulated water and formed what is now known as Frying Pan Lake. The lake covers 38,000 square metres, being the world's largest hot spring, with an average depth of six metres. The average lake temperature is about 55 degrees Celsius. As I made my way around the lake I could hear eerie gurgling sounds and hissing as carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide gas bubbled up from the vents around and below the lake. Overlooking the northern end of the lake were the Cathedral Rocks made up of 60,000 year old ryolithic lava, somewhat altered during the 1917 eruption, with several steam vents ceaselessly pumping volcanic gases and steam into the atmosphere. Exiting the lake at about 110 litres per second is a steamy creek lined with more small hot springs. Along its margin the stream forms colourful orange, brown, green, and yellow deposits which contain traces of elements such as antimony, molybdenum, arsenic, and tungsten.
I continued along the path past the site of the now extinct Waimangu Geyser complete with memorials for tourists who had died during some of its more explosive eruptions before 1904. A little further brought me to Nga Puia o te Papa (Hot Springs of Mother Earth) where a cluster of vigorously boiling hot springs have built up intricate and strikingly coloured miniature silica formations. Before beginning the climb up Mt. Haszard I got a look at Te Ara Mokoroa Terrace (Long Abiding Path of Knowledge). These silica terraces have been built by 'Spring N' which suddenly started life in 1975 as a small erupting spring. At the time, because of its site within the old Waimangu Geyser basin, it was felt by scientists that it might be the forerunner to larger events and visitor access to the crater was restricted for a short time. The name of this spring group may have been chosen to reflect scientists' attempts to understand nature here.
I then ascended an offshoot path headed up Mt. Haszard along the overflow channel for nearby Inferno Crater Lake - created during the 1886 eruption as a portion of Mt. Haszard was blown off. This blue jewel of a lake follows complicated rhythmic cycles as the water levels rise and fall over 5-7 week periods. Its most common behaviour is to overflow for two or three days, recede about eight metres during some 15 days, partly refill over three to four weeks, oscillate for a while, and then start to overflow again. Its depth when full is 30 metres, and overflow temperatures can reach 80 degrees Celsius. The water is highly acidic with a pH sometimes of 2.1! Inferno Crater is the largest geyser-like feature in the world although the geyser itself cannot be seen since it is at the bottom of the lake. It has a unique relationship with Frying Pan Lake and when Inferno Crater lake is overflowing, there is a decrease in the discharge from Frying Pan Lake and when Inferno Crater lake is receding the discharge from Frying Pan Lake is greater than usual.
I continued on up Mt. Haszard to get some views of Lake Rotomahana and the not so distant jetty I had been standing on only 23 hours early, frustrated in my attempt to reach Waimangu Valley through the back door. As I descended back to the valley floor I passed several more steaming fissures in the cliff sides always accompanied by gurgles and hisses. Back in the valley I came upon the Marble Terrace and Buttresses. These terrace buttresses are formed by silica depositing out of solution and building in successive layers over time. The silica rich water is supplied from a large hot spring in Iodine Pool (so named for the brown colouring on rocks and banks). The water leaves Iodine Pool at an average of 97 degrees celcius to flow across Marble Terrace in shallow waves.
Nearing the end of my hike down the Waimangu Valley I approached the last of the major geo-thermal sites to behold... the Warbrick Terrace. Warbrick Terrace was named after Alfred Patchet Warbrick who had been a guide in the region around the time of Mt. Tarawera's eruption. He was also involved in the first rescue expedition across Lake Tarawera after the eruption. The terraces are a set of multi-coloured fast growing silica platforms forming over an old stream terrace in a similar way to Marble Terrace. In addition, algae in recent years have assisted in the silica deposition to build a dam across the warm stream draining through the crater. A further series of ripple terraces are now forming at right angles to the original ones.
As I reached the end of the trail I came to a boat dock where the Waimangu Volcanic Valley boat tour departed from. Apparently the boat dock at the other end of the lake I ended up at the previous day was theirs, only they hadn't been running that part of the tour for a few years. Oh well, at least I got to see it all! I hopped the tour bus that drove people back up the valley to the main offices, grabbed a bite to eat and my stuff, then headed down the road towards the highway and my next destination. About 2 minutes of walking and the first car that came along gave me a lift the 3 kms or so down to the junction. Another 5 minutes went by when a German fellow on his way to the Tongariro Range (where they filmed portions of The Lord of The Rings) stopped to pick me up. He drove me to the northern outskirts of Lake Taupo where there was a road off to Acacia Bay.
Lake Taupo has a surface area of 616 square kilometres making it the largest lake in New Zealand and the second largest lake by surface area in geopolitical Oceania. The lake itself lies in a caldera created by a super-volcanic eruption which occurred approximately 26,500 years ago. It ejected an estimated 1170 cubic kilometres of material and caused several hundred square kilometres of surrounding land to collapse and form the caldera. The caldera later filled with water, eventually overflowing to cause a huge out-wash flood. It is possible that the Lake Taupo event contributed to starting the Last Glacial Maximum. Several later eruptions occurred over the millennia before the most recent major eruption, which occurred in 180 CE. Known as the Hatepe eruption, it is believed to have ejected 100 cubic kilometres of material, of which 30 cubic kilometres was ejected in the space of a few minutes. This was one of the most violent eruptions in the last 5000 years. The skies and sunsets formed from this eruption were noted by Roman and Chinese observers.
One of the wwoofers at Fruit Vans had told me about a spot around Acacia Bay where I could get away with free camping, so I started the 4 or 5 km walk to where the spot was supposed to be. I had made about 2.5 kms when I decided to try getting a ride the rest of the way. About 10 minutes of thumb work got me a ride with a fellow, Ian, and his eight year old daughter, Tyler. We neared the spot where he was going to drop me off when he invited me to join his family for a BBQ that evening and use their spare bedroom for a night. I graciously accepted the invitation... this country is super friendly!
After a massive night of BBQ and a marvelous sleep, as well as some XBox 360 with Tyler, I headed down the road to Acacia Bay where I found an overgrown trail next to the lake edge. I set up camp there and relaxed in the sunny, warm weather for most of the day. Once dark had set in I crawled into my tent and started nodding off when I heard some rustling very close to where my head was. I knew that there are no dangerous critters in New Zealand, so my curiosity demanded I investigate. Turns out I had set up my camp amidst a hedgehog highway of sorts. After I spotted the first one, it was mere minutes before a second and third hedgehog made their ways through my campsite. The fourth time I heard the rustling I was ready to relocate the little guy so I could get some shut eye... the surprise was on me when a large Possum jumped up from the ground seemingly right towards me as it went for higher ground in the tree next to me. Apparently Possums are quite a nuisance and blight in NZ, but this guy was cute.
The next day was a chilly morning so I broke camp by around 7:30 am. I hiked up to the main road headed from Acacia Bay to Lake Taupo proper and stuck out my thumb. About 10 minutes passed before a college girl picked me up and dropped me off in the city centre where I could grab a much needed morning coffee. I decided to walk some of the way across town and around the lake before trying to hitch a ride to Wellington, but I left my sign out as I walked along the road. Without even trying a businessman stopped and offered me a ride, he was heading for Wellington that day with a few stops along the way. We reached Waiouru and he needed to stop for a couple hours to do some business, he told me that if I hadn't been picked up by the time he headed out of town he would give me a ride. No need, after an early lunch at a diner, the first car to pass me picked me up, a fellow named Joe, he was really into tramping (the NZ version of camping) and hunting. He took me as far as Sanson.
While setting up my sign and thumb in Sanson, a local woman named Mel wandered up to me. She asked if I was heading to Wellington and if she could join me on my next ride... of course! We were picked up about 10 minutes later by an ex-military Maori fellow, a really nice guy who even went out of his way to drop us off at a safe spot on the outskirts of Foxton. We chilled out on the side of the highway for a bit while I explained to Mel my theory of waiting for the right moment to polish off your thumb and make your move. Sure enough, the first car to come along once we put out our thumbs stopped to pick us up. It was an Australian woman, Talei, and a English guy, Andrew. They had just finished a stint working at a ski resort up the island a bit and were headed for Wellington... score! We dropped Mel off on the outskirts of Wellington and drove the rest of the way into downtown. Once there Talei and Andy invited me to hang out with them for a bit while we orientated ourselves in the city. Turned out they had a friend with a place downtown who later invited me to crash on his couch, what luck!
The next day we wandered around Wellington together and enjoyed a lazy afternoon hanging out at Mount Victoria park overlooking the small city. I also managed to scope out my next camping spot, I love cities with large parks within walking distance of downtown! Later in the day Thomas and Andrew had a swim in the harbour which was extremely clean and then Talei and Andrew had to shove off and check out a couchsurfing place they had lined up for the next couple of days. I got a bite to eat and then made my way back up to Mt. Victoria to get my camp set up for the night.
The next couple of days I spent wandering around Wellington, finding cheap food and generally enjoying the great weather, although it's not called windy Wellington for nothing. Right by the waterfront the city had set up an x-mas tree (yeah, it's nearly that time of year and I'm suntanning in a downtown park!) with public use bean bag chairs all over the place. This was my 'reading room' for the next two days while I sorted out my next wwoofing location. Speaking of which, I need to catch a train to Upper Hut to get to my next wwoof spot, the Self-Sufficiency Store, should be a great week!
It was morning rush hour so many vehicles were on the expressway, but even though many waved at me or gave me the thumbs up, none stopped. About twenty minutes went by when a police cruiser pulled up and informed me that the location I had chosen was an illegal one and that I should set up on an on-ramp. So with a warning that I could have been ticketed, she gave me a ride to a good on-ramp. Once there, I waited about another twenty minutes before a fellow named Toby picked me up. He wasn't going far, but I wanted a change of venue, so I got in. He took me out of Auckland's city limits and dropped me at a gas station/truck stop in the countryside... I wasn't sure when I'd next get a chance to eat, so I filled up at a restaurant before making my way to the highway on-ramp.
After about ten minutes a couple of young girls, Mary and Kate, picked me up. They were going kind of in my direction and I figured 'why not?'. They were taking a scenic route so I got to check out some north island New Zealand countryside for an hour or so. They dropped me off at some middle of nowhere crossroad with the assurance that most vehicles passing through there were headed for Rotorua. I hiked up the road a bit to what looked like a good hitching spot, pulled out my sign, and stuck out my thumb. Within twenty minutes a woman who went by the name "Ray" picked me up... she was headed for Hamilton, a town on the way to Rotorua and my destination for the day, Waitomo Caves. Ray dropped me off at the intersection of highways in Hamilton, one of which headed to Waitomo. I walked about three or four kilometres till I reached the edge of town on the highway I wanted, but only after picking up some bread, cheese, and sausage. With food, water, and my tent I really had no worries about how my day might pan out.
I waited about ten minutes at the spot I had chosen and received many waves and thumbs up, but no rides. I decided to cross the road and inquire at the gas station about possible better spots the get picked up. As I was inquiring, a customer in the store, a woman named Nikita, offered to give me a ride to Te Awamutu where she was headed to get back to work. I graciously accepted. Along the way, when she learned I was wwoofing, she gave me some contact information of some of her friends near Wellington who might be able to offer me some work and a place to stay... awesome!
In Te Awamutu I walked across the town to its edge where I set up under a roadside tree because it had started raining a bit. Within about 15 minutes I was picked up by a woman named Louise. She was headed down island to visit her sick father and had barely more of a plan than I did, plus she was out of money and nearly out of gas, so I put $10 in her tank and she took me as far as Waitomo Rd. within 4 or 5 kilometres of my destination. I was so happy I had more or less made it to my destination that when it started raining I put my rain poncho on with a smile and started hiking down the road. I was content to walk the rest of the way, but stuck out my thumb every now and again just for fun. Sure enough, 10 minutes later I was in the car of some local youngsters who thought my journey was worth a laugh. They dropped me off in front of the Waitomo general store... seven rides and six hours had got me from Auckland to Waitomo Caves, I was ecstatic.
I wandered into the general store/cafe and had a coffee to warm up. I asked some locals about the caves and they directed me to the tourist info centre next door. The people at the info centre were super helpful on helping me choose a tour to get the most bang for my buck. So I booked a blackwater rafting, abseiling, glow worm tour for the next morning at 9 am. With my next day sorted out, I surveyed the landscape outside the info centre for possible guerrilla camp spots. It looked like a nice stand of forest amongst the rolling hills of fields held some potential, so I grabbed my bags and began trekking up the road towards the trees.
Lucky me! About one kilometre down the road was a trail into a local park which I quickly and discreetly entered. I crested a ridge and spotted what looked like a cave entrance in the limestone hillside and decided to explore it. To my good fortune the crack in the limestone held a trail of sorts up into a stand of giant black fern trees amidst cool limestone formations... I had found my Waitomo Caves home for the next few days.
Like many places in New Zealand, Waitomo Caves had been named in Maori, Wai- meaning water, and -tomo meaning hole in the ground... so Waitomo means "watery hole in the ground", which seems apt given the over 300 known caves with rivers flowing through them in the area. The key ingredients for caves here are limestone, water and time. Limestone is a sedimentary rock made from calcareous remains of marine organisms. 30 million years ago, much of NZ was under water - a shallow sea. The rock we see today is composed of remains of tiny shell fragments (mainly bryozoans), and a few spectacular deposits of giant oyster shells, giant scallop fossils occur sporadically also. Layers built upon layers and compacted under additional layers of mud and sand. Eventually tectonic forces lifted all this material above sea level to form the elevated landscape we know today. Much of NZ has a maritime climate, Waitomo on the Western side of the North Island receives 1800-2400mm rainfall per year. But water alone will not dissolve limestone, it needs to be acidified with the help of dissolved Carbon Dioxide gas derived from biological activity in the soil. Water cannot percolate through the dense, pure Waitomo limestones. Instead, water will flow along the matrix of fractures occurring within the limestone. The slightly acidic water slowly hollows out cavities along the fractures, some develop into caves.
The surrounding landscape of the place I had set up camp in was very... hobbity... rolling hills, sheep and cattle, and a very warm rural feel to it. After setting up camp I reconnoitered the area a bit to get a feel for it all, then headed back into town for some internet and a few extra supplies. The rest of my day was spent enjoying the bucolic setting of my New Zealand surroundings. Because I had chosen such a secluded spot, I was able to have a small fire to keep me warm through the night, nevertheless, with only a tent, a blanket, and layers of clothes, the early morning hours were a bit chilly. No matter, the cacophony of birds woke me up around 5:30 am as dawn was breaking. I ate some cold breakfast, got a small morning fire going, and kept warm till I had to start trekking to the pick up point for the blackwater rafting tour.
There were five of us in the group as we drove out to the site of the cave we would be descending into. After a little safety spiel we one by one abseiled into the darkness of the Mangawhitikau Cave System. Mangawhitikau is another of those Maori words... Manga = stream, whiti = swim across, kau = don't. So the name means "Don't swim across this stream". With everyone safely in the cavern, we began our trek upstream to a bend in the cave where with our lights out, we marveled as hundreds, if not thousands, of glow worms slowly came into focus as our eyes adjusted. Arachnocampa is a genus of four fungus gnat species which are, in their larval stage, glowworms. They are found mostly in New Zealand and Australia in caves and grottoes, or sheltered places in forests. The name, Arachnocampa, means spider-grub, for the way the larvae hang silk threads to trap prey attracted to them by the glow they emit.
Next we all hopped into our inner-tubes and started floating down the underground river through some gentle bumps and various twists and bends. After a while we stashed our tubes on a gravel bar and explored some caves on foot wriggling through tight squeezes and sometimes partially submerging ourselves to make it through tricky squeezes. Three hours later we re-emerged from the depths, dried off, and departed the sheep dotted hills to return to Waitomo village. I was feeling a bit tired, so I headed back to my secret camp and had a nap. Later I spent a couple hours improving my guerrilla campsite before darkness fell and I called it an early night.
After a couple of hours wandering through the Ruakuri cave I went back to my campsite, grabbed all my gear, and started walking out of town towards the highway. About two kilometres out of town a Singaporean couple picked me up and drove me as far as Te Awamutu. I walked through town and bought some provisions before heading down the highway towards Cambridge. After walking about three kilometres a fellow named Peter picked me up. He drove me to the far end of Cambridge to a great hitch-hiking spot. Within fifteen minutes a mother and son picked me up, they were going all the way to my next destination: Rotorua.
I got dropped off near the southern end of Rotorua and decided to hike the rest of the way to my next camp spot about four kilometres out of town. I entered the Whakarewarewa National Forest at dusk and made my way far enough into the bush that my tent and fire wouldn't be noticed then set up camp for the night. I had walked around 10 kilometres with 25 kilograms of gear that day, so I was tired and hit the hay soon after complete darkness had set in.
I awoke at day break to a hiker's least favourite sound... rain. I was dreading the 20 or so kilometres I was going to have to hike in the rain, so I rolled over and went back to sleep. By 10:30 I was fully awake and the rain continued, so I begrudgingly began the process of breaking down my camp. Good fortune was on my side as by the time I was all packed up the rain looked liked it was abating. With relieved excitement I started trekking through the Whakarewarewa forest. On a simple map 12 kilometres doesn't seem like much, even with 25 kilograms on your back, but the reality was that this forest contained ranges of hills, small mountains, and gullies.
About six sweaty hours later I found myself at the Lake Tarawera landing where I had hoped to hop a tour boat for $15-25 to get me to the Te Rata Bay hot water beach campsite. Turns out my information was three years out of date. The outfit that used to do such trips had shut down in 2008. The chef at the landing cafe told me that there was a trail along the lake to the hot springs and that it should only take around an hour and a half to hike it... I budgeted three hours to make it which would see me there at dusk... I left immediately. Lucky for me the map I had (which didn't have the trail I was on on it) did a pretty good job of outlining the bays I would be passing, so with a little common sense and observation I had a pretty good idea of where I was.
Two and a half hours of hard hiking got me to a very long uphill section of trail ascending a ridge line with no visible sign of going down towards the lake where I wanted to be for the night. I found a good vantage point and compared the surrounding geography to my poor map... I seemed to have gone too far according to the peninsulas and bays... and the sun was setting. At the base of the ridge I had passed a stream which had an overgrown path near it... I figured that would be my best bet to reach the lakeside before dark, so I nearly ran back down into the valley racing the setting sun.
As I explored the path, I came upon a bush hut and outhouse... a good sign. A little further and I found a nice little hot spring pool with a strip of moss nearby to pitch my tent on. With the sun gone and dusk darkening I decided to have a muscle relaxing soak in my private hot spring before getting my camp together... the last 3 hours had been a hard 8 kms. With 20 kms behind me that day sleep came easy that night.
I awoke to yet another cacophony of bird songs shortly after sun up. The chill of the morning was quickly cured with a hot spring soak. I took my time getting going, nursing my soar muscles, washing my last three pairs of holey socks, and drying out all my gear... it was looking like it would be a beautiful day. According to my calculations I had 3-6 kms left to achieve my destination... the Waimangu Volcanic Valley. By 10:30 I was packed and back on the trail. After an hour or two of lots of hilly terrain I descended once more to the lake. In the distance I saw a couple of boats and the steaming tell-tale signs of a fairly hot spring.
As I made the beach I found a sign that finally confirmed my location... Te Rata Bay Hot Water Beach. I chatted up a couple of old-timers and inquired about possible trails in the direction I was headed. They told me of a trail that sounded like the one I was looking for... I knew I was getting close, probably only a couple hours from my destination, so I forged on. As some point I crossed into Maori territory near the end of Lake Tarawera as was evidenced by the memorial I found to the former village of the famed Pink and White Terraces.
The day was growing hot and I had yet to match the sketchy map I was following with actual trails. After about 90 minutes of wandering around trying every reasonable looking track, I made one last effort up a trail that, for its direction and incline, seemed to head up to Mt. Tarawera. As I discovered about 15 minutes later, my assumptions were wrong... the track lead to Lake Rotomahana located below the remnants of Mt. Tarawera and abruptly ended at a boat dock with several markers of what I assumed to be a tourist company's design. After about 45 minutes of frustrated bush-whacking, I concluded that a safe route over the last 3-4 kms of my planned journey DID NOT EXIST. I was solo and the area is known for its geologic instability (due to its highly volatile volcanic nature) so I, sadly, turned around and prepared to make the 25 km hike back to Rotorua. Once I reached Lake Tarawera again, I noticed that a boat remained near the Te Rata site... I headed there with hopes of avoiding the painful 6 hour slog back to the nearest road. After a little conversation with the family packing up their weekend trip to the hot springs, I managed to hitch a ride with them on their speedboat back to the Landing at the other end of Lake Tarawera. Thank goodness! Six hours of grueling return hike just turned into 20 minutes of afternoon cruising across the lake.
Only 5 minutes after beginning my trek down Tarawera Road back to Rotorua, I managed to snag a ride on a school bus making its return trip to Rotorua. The driver dropped me off in downtown Rotorua and I promptly found a hostel to check into. After a nice hot meal, a little bit of laundry, and a looong hot shower, I took proper advantage of the soft comfy bunk after four nights of roughing it in a tent with little more than cardboard hitch-hiking signs to soften the earth below me. I slept like a baby.
Next morning I checked out of the hostel after asking the desk clerk where the best hitch-hiking spot going south out of town was. The morning was cool and the sun had not yet gotten scorching, so I opted to walk across Rotorua to the southwestern end of town where the highway headed in the direction I wanted. After spending two days slogging through the bush trying to get to Waimangu Volcanic Valley I was determined to ACTUALLY see it. I found a good hitching spot, stuck out my sign and my thumb and, wouldn't you know, the third car that drove by stopped to pick me up. The fellow was working at a quarry within 2 kms of the Waimangu tourist offices, so he dropped me off right at the doorstep of my morning destination... awesome!!
The place I had been less than 24 hours prior to arriving at the entrance to the Waimangu Volcanic Valley was at the base of Mt. Tarawera (the picture above shows the jetty on Lake Rotomahana - middle left - I was standing on like 23 hours earlier... a mere 3-4 kms from my desired destination -- frustrating!). The Waimangu Rift Valley, as well as many of the surrounding lakes and the area where the Pink and White Terraces tribe were wiped out, were created when Mt. Tarawera last erupted on June 10, 1886. The Waimangu Rift Valley as well as Lake Rotomahana form part of the 14 km rift that was opened up when Mt. Tarawera erupted. Pictures from just after the eruption show the area to be a desolate expanse of martian-like landscape with steam plumes rising up from many crater points. After only 15 years of geo-thermal activity and rain, Lake Rotomahana was formed filling the volcanic rift valley. Beneath the surface of the lake geysers still regularly erupt adding to the lakes water levels. "Waimangu" means "black water" in Maori... this name comes from the water that was thrown up by the famous Waimangu Geyser, which was black with mud and rocks. While this geyser was still 'alive', from 1901-1904, it was recorded as the world's most powerful geyser sending materials from its daily eruptions up to 460 metres into the air above.
Just getting to the Waimangu Valley put a smile on my face. Actually seeing the wonders in store for me left me grinning like a fool for the rest of the day. I spent about 3 hours wandering the 4 kms of trails through the valley and up to Mt. Haszard. Entering the reserve I was first greeted with a panoramic view including a glimpse at Echo Crater and Frying Pan Lake which fills it, along with the algae and red floating fern, Azolla, covered Emerald Pool in the Southern Crater.
I continued along the path past the site of the now extinct Waimangu Geyser complete with memorials for tourists who had died during some of its more explosive eruptions before 1904. A little further brought me to Nga Puia o te Papa (Hot Springs of Mother Earth) where a cluster of vigorously boiling hot springs have built up intricate and strikingly coloured miniature silica formations. Before beginning the climb up Mt. Haszard I got a look at Te Ara Mokoroa Terrace (Long Abiding Path of Knowledge). These silica terraces have been built by 'Spring N' which suddenly started life in 1975 as a small erupting spring. At the time, because of its site within the old Waimangu Geyser basin, it was felt by scientists that it might be the forerunner to larger events and visitor access to the crater was restricted for a short time. The name of this spring group may have been chosen to reflect scientists' attempts to understand nature here.
I then ascended an offshoot path headed up Mt. Haszard along the overflow channel for nearby Inferno Crater Lake - created during the 1886 eruption as a portion of Mt. Haszard was blown off. This blue jewel of a lake follows complicated rhythmic cycles as the water levels rise and fall over 5-7 week periods. Its most common behaviour is to overflow for two or three days, recede about eight metres during some 15 days, partly refill over three to four weeks, oscillate for a while, and then start to overflow again. Its depth when full is 30 metres, and overflow temperatures can reach 80 degrees Celsius. The water is highly acidic with a pH sometimes of 2.1! Inferno Crater is the largest geyser-like feature in the world although the geyser itself cannot be seen since it is at the bottom of the lake. It has a unique relationship with Frying Pan Lake and when Inferno Crater lake is overflowing, there is a decrease in the discharge from Frying Pan Lake and when Inferno Crater lake is receding the discharge from Frying Pan Lake is greater than usual.
I continued on up Mt. Haszard to get some views of Lake Rotomahana and the not so distant jetty I had been standing on only 23 hours early, frustrated in my attempt to reach Waimangu Valley through the back door. As I descended back to the valley floor I passed several more steaming fissures in the cliff sides always accompanied by gurgles and hisses. Back in the valley I came upon the Marble Terrace and Buttresses. These terrace buttresses are formed by silica depositing out of solution and building in successive layers over time. The silica rich water is supplied from a large hot spring in Iodine Pool (so named for the brown colouring on rocks and banks). The water leaves Iodine Pool at an average of 97 degrees celcius to flow across Marble Terrace in shallow waves.
Nearing the end of my hike down the Waimangu Valley I approached the last of the major geo-thermal sites to behold... the Warbrick Terrace. Warbrick Terrace was named after Alfred Patchet Warbrick who had been a guide in the region around the time of Mt. Tarawera's eruption. He was also involved in the first rescue expedition across Lake Tarawera after the eruption. The terraces are a set of multi-coloured fast growing silica platforms forming over an old stream terrace in a similar way to Marble Terrace. In addition, algae in recent years have assisted in the silica deposition to build a dam across the warm stream draining through the crater. A further series of ripple terraces are now forming at right angles to the original ones.
As I reached the end of the trail I came to a boat dock where the Waimangu Volcanic Valley boat tour departed from. Apparently the boat dock at the other end of the lake I ended up at the previous day was theirs, only they hadn't been running that part of the tour for a few years. Oh well, at least I got to see it all! I hopped the tour bus that drove people back up the valley to the main offices, grabbed a bite to eat and my stuff, then headed down the road towards the highway and my next destination. About 2 minutes of walking and the first car that came along gave me a lift the 3 kms or so down to the junction. Another 5 minutes went by when a German fellow on his way to the Tongariro Range (where they filmed portions of The Lord of The Rings) stopped to pick me up. He drove me to the northern outskirts of Lake Taupo where there was a road off to Acacia Bay.
Lake Taupo has a surface area of 616 square kilometres making it the largest lake in New Zealand and the second largest lake by surface area in geopolitical Oceania. The lake itself lies in a caldera created by a super-volcanic eruption which occurred approximately 26,500 years ago. It ejected an estimated 1170 cubic kilometres of material and caused several hundred square kilometres of surrounding land to collapse and form the caldera. The caldera later filled with water, eventually overflowing to cause a huge out-wash flood. It is possible that the Lake Taupo event contributed to starting the Last Glacial Maximum. Several later eruptions occurred over the millennia before the most recent major eruption, which occurred in 180 CE. Known as the Hatepe eruption, it is believed to have ejected 100 cubic kilometres of material, of which 30 cubic kilometres was ejected in the space of a few minutes. This was one of the most violent eruptions in the last 5000 years. The skies and sunsets formed from this eruption were noted by Roman and Chinese observers.
One of the wwoofers at Fruit Vans had told me about a spot around Acacia Bay where I could get away with free camping, so I started the 4 or 5 km walk to where the spot was supposed to be. I had made about 2.5 kms when I decided to try getting a ride the rest of the way. About 10 minutes of thumb work got me a ride with a fellow, Ian, and his eight year old daughter, Tyler. We neared the spot where he was going to drop me off when he invited me to join his family for a BBQ that evening and use their spare bedroom for a night. I graciously accepted the invitation... this country is super friendly!
After a massive night of BBQ and a marvelous sleep, as well as some XBox 360 with Tyler, I headed down the road to Acacia Bay where I found an overgrown trail next to the lake edge. I set up camp there and relaxed in the sunny, warm weather for most of the day. Once dark had set in I crawled into my tent and started nodding off when I heard some rustling very close to where my head was. I knew that there are no dangerous critters in New Zealand, so my curiosity demanded I investigate. Turns out I had set up my camp amidst a hedgehog highway of sorts. After I spotted the first one, it was mere minutes before a second and third hedgehog made their ways through my campsite. The fourth time I heard the rustling I was ready to relocate the little guy so I could get some shut eye... the surprise was on me when a large Possum jumped up from the ground seemingly right towards me as it went for higher ground in the tree next to me. Apparently Possums are quite a nuisance and blight in NZ, but this guy was cute.
The next day was a chilly morning so I broke camp by around 7:30 am. I hiked up to the main road headed from Acacia Bay to Lake Taupo proper and stuck out my thumb. About 10 minutes passed before a college girl picked me up and dropped me off in the city centre where I could grab a much needed morning coffee. I decided to walk some of the way across town and around the lake before trying to hitch a ride to Wellington, but I left my sign out as I walked along the road. Without even trying a businessman stopped and offered me a ride, he was heading for Wellington that day with a few stops along the way. We reached Waiouru and he needed to stop for a couple hours to do some business, he told me that if I hadn't been picked up by the time he headed out of town he would give me a ride. No need, after an early lunch at a diner, the first car to pass me picked me up, a fellow named Joe, he was really into tramping (the NZ version of camping) and hunting. He took me as far as Sanson.
While setting up my sign and thumb in Sanson, a local woman named Mel wandered up to me. She asked if I was heading to Wellington and if she could join me on my next ride... of course! We were picked up about 10 minutes later by an ex-military Maori fellow, a really nice guy who even went out of his way to drop us off at a safe spot on the outskirts of Foxton. We chilled out on the side of the highway for a bit while I explained to Mel my theory of waiting for the right moment to polish off your thumb and make your move. Sure enough, the first car to come along once we put out our thumbs stopped to pick us up. It was an Australian woman, Talei, and a English guy, Andrew. They had just finished a stint working at a ski resort up the island a bit and were headed for Wellington... score! We dropped Mel off on the outskirts of Wellington and drove the rest of the way into downtown. Once there Talei and Andy invited me to hang out with them for a bit while we orientated ourselves in the city. Turned out they had a friend with a place downtown who later invited me to crash on his couch, what luck!
The next day we wandered around Wellington together and enjoyed a lazy afternoon hanging out at Mount Victoria park overlooking the small city. I also managed to scope out my next camping spot, I love cities with large parks within walking distance of downtown! Later in the day Thomas and Andrew had a swim in the harbour which was extremely clean and then Talei and Andrew had to shove off and check out a couchsurfing place they had lined up for the next couple of days. I got a bite to eat and then made my way back up to Mt. Victoria to get my camp set up for the night.
The next couple of days I spent wandering around Wellington, finding cheap food and generally enjoying the great weather, although it's not called windy Wellington for nothing. Right by the waterfront the city had set up an x-mas tree (yeah, it's nearly that time of year and I'm suntanning in a downtown park!) with public use bean bag chairs all over the place. This was my 'reading room' for the next two days while I sorted out my next wwoofing location. Speaking of which, I need to catch a train to Upper Hut to get to my next wwoof spot, the Self-Sufficiency Store, should be a great week!
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