New Zealand '17, Part 2

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Sculpture marking the geographical center of New Zealand in Nelson.

ABEL TASMAN NATIONAL PARK

We came down from the mountains on Friday and headed for the Tasman Sea.  Our home for the next two nights was the Awaroa Lodge, accessible by a ninety-minute boat ride or by a long trek along the  Abel Tasman Track. 

Our boat made several stops along the way, mostly to pick up or drop off hikers.
A few hearty souls in our group chose to disembark for a four-hour trek to the lodge.  Some of us stayed with the boat to Tonga Quarry Bay, from where the hike was only two hours.  I wanted a hike, but I also wanted to get to the lodge in time to check out the surroundings and perhaps have a frosty Kiwi beer before dinner. 

We hiked through the beach campground and up into the hills where we made our way through the forest along the Abel TasmanTrack.  It was very warm.  At one point, the trail descended to a lovely beach, where we took off our boots and allowed the surf and sand to massage our feet.

On the trail toward Awaroa Lodge - one damned beach...

...after another!

Carol and a couple others had taken the boat all the way to Awaroa.  When we arrived and dropped into cushioned lobby chairs, I said to the others that all I needed right then was to have my wife appear with a cold draft beer.  And then, Carol appeared and asked if I wanted a beer!

Awaroa Lodge is a bit of isolated luxury, offering gourmet dining, full bar and grudging internet.  From the balcony of our room we looked out over a marshland ringed by thickly forested hills and listened to bird songs, the only sounds to be heard.

Morning Coffee on our Balcony at Awaroa Lodge

Things began to get interesting after dinner.  Carol and I passed by the bar as we left the dining room, where we encountered Matt, from Redding California, and a few of the others.   Six shot glasses were lined up on the bar and Matt was directing the bartender in making duck farts.  Matt was buying the round, so I said why not?  A duck fart might be one thing in the marsh outside our room.  In a bar, it is equal parts Kahlua, Baileys, and whisky.  No sipping.  Throw your head back and down it like a hearty Kiwi.  The concoction was silky and sneaky smooth.  At that moment it would have been easy to have another.  And another.  But we had other things to do that evening. 

At ten p.m. we gathered  for a walk in the forest.  First we stopped at a platform over the marsh where some rather healthy-sized eels made their home.  Jan said we could return in the morning with some bacon saved from breakfast and lie on the deck to dangle the bacon above the water until an eager eel rose to take the treat.  I chose to skip that particular highlight, although a few of the group  participated.

Then it was into the darkness of the forest, where we gathered at a stream and turned off our flashlights.  On the hillside across the stream there appeared hundreds of pinpoints of lights, the first glow worms I’ve ever seen.  (I don't think that the United States has any of these mysterious sparkling creatures, but we once did have the Mills Brothers, who entertained Americans in the ’50’s with their version of “Glow Little Glow Worm.")

Finally we walked to a clearing where the sky opened up and we looked for the Southern Cross.  Jan explained where to look and what to look for.  It was a bit too early, the sky still a little too light a week before the summer solstice and the constellation still partially hidden behind the hills.  In the northern sky, however, Orion the Hunter dominated the sky, looking a little silly standing on his head.  I was quite surprised to be able see Orion on this island south of the equator.

Much later, I awoke in the darkness of early morning, dressed and slipped out of our room to search for the Southern Cross.  Down on the pier, with eels swirling in the black water (or sleeping or doing whatever eels do at four a.m.),  I looked up and saw the Southern Cross directly overhead.  Below it and to the right were two bright stars that pointed to the Southern Cross, just as Jan had described.

Totaranui Beach

The next day we boarded the shuttle boat to head up the coast to Totaranui Beach.  We disembarked at a beach campground to begin a lovely hike through the coastal forest.  There were a handful of sunbathers on the beach.  Jan and Elysia informed us that in a week, right after Christmas, the campground and beach would be packed with Kiwis on holiday.  (This beach was unique in that it is the only one accessible by car in Abel Tasman National Park (or camper van, a preferred Kiwi form of vacation travel).

Rest stop on the Totaranui Hike

 We descended from the forest to another lovely beach where we settled in the shade of a massive pine at the edge of the forest for our lunch.  But first, a plunge into the Tasman Sea, pretty chilly early in the season, but a good break from hiking.  After lunch, it was time for beach cricket!

The view from our lunch spot

Beach Cricket - more fun than building a snowman

After a quick introduction to the rules, we started the game.  Jan produced a tennis ball and a bat.  The bat was a piece of bark from a palm tree that Jan and Elysia had discovered on a previous hike.  It seemed to be perfect for the job, although I've never actually seen a cricket bat up close.  Jan and Elysia hide it in the woods for use on succeeding hikes.  Clever women.

Timing is everything on this particular hike.  To get back to the comfort of our lodge, we had to cross a channel at low tide.  Good thing we didn't get too caught up in the game.

Low Tide at Awaroa Inlet

After Abel Tasman NP, we were off to the Marlborough Sounds.  Our destination was Raetihi Lodge on Kenepuru Sound.  The last leg of a long day's journey was on the mail boat to the lodge.  Along the way, we stopped at a mussel bed, where Pete, the owner/farmer of the bed, treated us to a taste of green-lipped mussels right from the sound.

Pete, mussel farmer, boat taxi operator

I was expecting a delicate black-shelled inch-and-a-half mussel like the kind we get served in curry sauce at Mill Valley Kitchen back home, but these guys were huge, almost as big as my open hand.  They were tasty enough that I ordered them a couple times in the next few days.

My first New Zealand green-lipped mussel, fresh from the water

Raetihi Lodge is another place that would be easy to settle in for a long stay.  Highlights of our time here were more mussels, a great ten-mile hike along the Queen Charlotte Track and...
...bocce ball!  When Carol and I heard that the lodge had a boules set (so not exactly bocce, but close enough), we recruited Grant, Sarah, Bob and Barb for a game.  I found a stretch of lawn (okay, not a bocce court, but close enough) large enough to accommodate a game.  We taught our friends the rules and proceeded to have a good old time.

For a good while, Gwennie the Border Collie watched our game with rapt attention, sitting obediently each time we threw out the pallina, although she quivered with the itch to chase it.  The owner of Raetihi Lodge told me that Gwennie has a quirky relationship with a kingfisher.  Gwennie will spend her afternoons near the beach, where the bird will dive bomb the dog and the dog in turn will run wildly in pursuit of the bird. 

Bocce Players Down Under

Gwennie took a break from chasing her kingfisher to watch us toss the pallina.

Room with a View, Raetihi Lodge

A quiet spot at Raetihi Lodge

A deck with a chaise longue outside your room with a view provides strong motivation to laze away an entire day, but I turned my back on temptation and joined the group for a ride on Pete's water taxi across the sound to the starting point of our hike.  I was rewarded with many sights like the one below. 

Kenepuru Sound as seen from the Queen Charlotte Track

Our last stop was in Hanmer Springs, a charming little town in the mountains that boasted thermal springs smack in the middle of the town.  To get to Hanmer Springs required the second of two long days in the van.  Even traveling the highways between destinations in New Zealand, the scenery is stunning.  There were some other distractions to make our two travel days a little less tiresome.

We stopped at a couple vineyards on our travel days, just enough to pique my interest in the wines of New Zealand.  There are numerous small vineyards that produce excellent sauvignon blancs and pinot noirs.  A wine tour of the south island, I thought, would make a very nice vacation.

We had lunch and a wine tasting at this vineyard, with buildings bedecked
with bougainvillea, reminiscent of Tuscany.

Elysia told us early in the trip that a popular ice cream in New Zealand is hokey-pokey.  She promised that we'd be able to taste it at some point.  We finally got our chance on the road to Hanmer Springs.  Hokey-pokey is speckled with dots of crunchy candy bits and, I decided, worth the wait.  Is it better than dulce de leche?  Better than raspberry chocolate chip?  Hmmm.  Reasonable people could argue about this.

Everybody loves hokey-pokey ice cream.  The hokey-pokey is what it's all about!

Also on the road to Hanmer Springs, we stopped for a lovely walk through the open fields of the Alpine Nature Walk, high above the sea.

Intrepid Trekkers on the Alpine Nature Walk

Lone Pine Along the Alpine Nature Walk

HANMER SPRINGS - TAI CHI AND A LAST  HIKE

Carol was chatting with Jan at some point and happened to mention that we take Tai Chi classes back home and that we do Tai Chi regularly.  Jan asked if we would lead a morning session, and Carol agreed.  So on our first morning at Braemar Lodge, six of us gathered in the lounge outside the hotel dining room before breakfast.  With the mountains before us framed by floor-to-ceiling windows, I led the group in Tai Chi Chih and then Carol took over and led them through some movements in Tai Chi Yan.  Stepping out of the role of student to become the teacher was a great experience.

A Perfect Setting for Tai Chi

Our last hike was on gentle paths through Hanmer Forest to a final climb up Conical Hill.  Carol and I were feeling a bit under the weather, so after the stroll through the forest we slipped away from the group at the base of Conical Hill and headed for a grueling afternoon trying out the thermal pools under sunny skies.

On the trail in New Zealand

A place for contemplation, Hanmer Forest

Near the End of the Trail

Tree Pose - Our Sterling Guides, Elysia and Jan

We boarded our plane in Christchurch for the return home on the summer solstice in New Zealand.  Many hours later, we landed in Minneapolis on the winter solstice.  A week ago I swam in the Tasman Sea.  As I type these final words, the temperature outside is -12 degrees F.  Hot chocolate, anyone?

Until next time, safe travels, everyone.  May your New Year be filled with love, good health and peace.