Tsunami in paradise

A five-hour-flight from New Zealand and you’re literally in paradise. Paradise is called the Cook Islands. A group of 15 small islands (landmass only 240 square kilometers) spread out over 1.8 million square kilometers ocean. John and I planned to visit two of the fifteen islands, Rarotonga and Aitutaki. Nevertheless, just a couple of weeks before we were scheduled to arrive a huge cyclone (called Pat) hit Aitutaki. The biggest cyclone ever recorded. Although, luckily, no people died a lot of damage was done. How much damage would become clear later on…

Our first stop was Rarotonga were we stayed at Muri Beach Cottages. A pleasant and private place owned by Gwen Welland and her friendly dog Zoë and her two cats. A lovely sparkling American lady who’ve lived there for over 35 years.

Since we were on Island-time we did nothing more than eat, sleep, read, cycle around the island a bit, getting my Cook Island’s driver’s licence and snorkel. At least until early one morning when we were woken up by Gwen to tell us a Tsunami-warning had been issued (apparently caused by a major earthquake in Chile) and it was up to us if we wanted to go to higher ground (we were situated directly at the beach).
First of all, the Tsunami-warning explained the sirens at 04.00 in the night and people honking their car horns. My first thought at the time was that the local rugby-team won a match and they were celebrating. Guess I was dead wrong.
At the time there were four other people staying with Gwen. All of which decided, together with John and I, to be better safe than sorry and move to higher ground. Luckily Gwen had a lot of friends on the island and so we drove to a friend’s place more inland. Apparently we were not the only ones deciding not to chance it, because 6 other people had come in looking for shelter (and finding it) also.
The Tsunami was supposed to hit around 08.00. So when after a couple of hours nothing unseemly happened, we headed back down to Gwen’s.

After a couple of days in Rarotonga we were supposed to go to a motu (small island) called Akaiami on the other side of the eye-candy lagoon of the island of Aitutaki. On the motu Akaiami there were only two small accommodations (max. around 10 people) so it was intended as a castaway-experience. Just a day before flying out from Raro to Aitu we were e-mailed by the owner of our accommodation (Gina’s Beach Lodge) that, because of the turbulent weather (cyclone Pat and the Tsunami-warning) of lately, they didn’t think it was safe to have us stay on the island. So John and I quickly found another picture-perfect spot, Samade on the Beach, to chill out.

Our first peek at Aitutaki was by plane and it was both shocking and beautiful. Shocking because you could see the devastation caused by the cyclone on land. Not much had remained of the normally lush vegetation. Beautiful because the lagoon was still magnificent, in both color and size.

On Aitutaki we did some swimming, kayaking, the usual wining and dining, and while John went for another kayak-trip I went on a lagoon cruise (which sounds more touristy than it really was). The cruise also stopped at Akaiami which enabled me to see the damage done to Gina’s Beach Lodge myself.

After some snorkeling and a lot of mozzies on Akaiami the cruise went on to One-Foot-Island were I ate a gourmet lunch consisting of grilled fresh fish with tasty (potato) salads.

At One-Foot I also had my passport stamped at the on-island-postoffice (one can never have too much stamps in one’s passport) and then returned to Samade were I was introduced to the petpig Nana. Pigs are just like humans, they loooooooove a good mud-bath. Only Nana didn’t have to pay top dollar for it

All-in-all, the Cook Islands were definitely worthwhile.

The next day our time in paradise was already over. We had to fly via Raro via Auckland via Singapore back home (picture me crying, yelling and fighting not to get on the plane). A looooooooooooooong tiresome trip which was only made bearable by the fun two couples sitting next to me on the flights back and the fact that we flew with Singapore Airlines, which in my book still is the best airline around.
At Schiphol we were picked-up by Dennis, a good friend of mine, who sacrificed his beauty-sleep to make sure all the excess bagage I accumulated along the way (mostly books) got ferried home safely.

More photos of the Cook Islands:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/the_dude_in/sets/72157623610447570/

Lazy, Lake Tekapo, Time

Our time in NZ was almost up. Next stop the Cook Islands. As a warming up for our final beach bumming days in the Pacific we figured it was a good idea to go to Lake Tekapo for some R&R. Lake Tekapo is famous for its intense blue colored water, caused by certain sediments in the water. Furthermore, from there it’s a small hike up to Mt. John which on his top has an observatory to explore heavenly bodies and the so called Cafe Astro with panoramic views of the surroundings and orgasmic icecream (I am not kidding, that’s really the brand’s name!).
And since John had to climb his namesake mountain (a whopping 1030 metres low ) we did just that.

Furthermore I took several short -lived dips in the lake. The water was really cold, but after 10 minutes or so the water was just fine. Largely due to the fact that I couldn’t feel my freezing limps anymore anyway…

More photos of Lake Tekapo:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/the_dude_in/sets/72157623488144590/

John’s blogpost on Lake Tekapo:
http://www.oldenhuizing.com/2010/02/22/nz-lake-tekapo/

Southern Scenic Route

Instead of telling you how stunning the Southern Scenic Route is, I’ll just convince you by showing it.

Opening shot of the first LOTR, The Fellowship of the Ring (Anduin River)

Colac Bay

Waipapa Point

Slope Point

Curio Bay

The living kebab train

Nugget Point

Taieri Mouth

More photos of the Southern Scenic Route:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/the_dude_in/sets/72157623461667048/

John’s blogpost on the Southern Scenic Route:
http://www.oldenhuizing.com/2010/02/20/nz-southern-scenic-route/

Sounds like… Fiordland NP

After Queenstown we drove to Te Anau, a small township on the edge of Fiordland National Park. This national park is renowned for, and I quote, its jagged misty peaks, glistening lakes and an air of forbidding remoteness.
Its also home to Milford and Doubtful Sounds. According to our guidebook the road which leads from Te Anau to Milford (which is the kick-off point for cruises of Milford Sound) is a beautiful 2.5 hour drive. Enough reason for us to choose Milford Sound over Doubtful Sound. We decided to book a tour with a small company called Trips & Tramps. This allowed us to chill in a small bus with a group of only 8 (us included) and after our cruise in Milford Sound to hike to Key Summit, a point on the Routeburn Track.

So said, so done!

Both the road to Milford as the cruise on Milford Sound were spectacular. Our hike to Key Summit was a bit disappointing though. The weather was so lousy that after reaching the top (in the pace of John and I only an hour from our starting point) we could see nothing but clouds instead of an overview of three beautiful valleys. You win some, you lose some.

More photos of Fiordland NP:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/the_dude_in/sets/72157623458413976/

John’s blogpost on Fiordland NP:
http://www.oldenhuizing.com/2010/02/20/nz-fiordland-national-park/

Queenstown & Wanaka

Queenstown is a little bubbly Kiwi city full of backpackers and outdoor options. You can go bungee jumping, para gliding, hang gliding, jetboating, rafting, hiking, mountain biking, and on it goes.

In the face of so many adventurous  options John and I did what we do best. We went on a shopping spree instead
Which pretty much means we took a break in Queenstown and nothing much happened there.

After a day of inactivity we needed to get the blood flowing again, so we drove to Wanaka and hiked the Rob Roy Track. A beautiful hike through valley and forest ending in an outstanding view of the, who would’ve guessed, Rob Roy Glacier.

For more photos of Wanaka and the Rob Roy Track:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/the_dude_in/sets/72157623333011087/

For John’s blogpost on Queenstown and Wanaka:
http://www.oldenhuizing.com/2010/02/18/nz-wanaka-queenstown/

Aitutaki hit by cyclone Pat – still alive and kicking

B4 I left The Netherlands I was making jokes with friends, family and colleagues about me probably ending up in a cyclone on the Cook Islands. This to top off my string of experiences ranging from being caught in between the Guatemalan army and rebels, earthquakes in Peru, peasant riots in Bolivia, almost getting hit in a high speed police car chase in The States, to electoral tensions in Fiji after a coup.

And guess what we heard today on our boating trip in Milford Sound (which by the way is very very very nice and post/pics will follow shortly)….

A cyclone hit the Cook Islands just two days ago. And not just the Cook Islands in general, but specifically one of the islands of the Cook Islands that John and I will be visiting. Aitutaki, which is renowned for its beautiful lagoon, got hit by cyclone Pat. Over 90% of the housing sustained damage, but luckily no deaths occurred.
For those interested:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/south-pacific/3315061/Cook-Islands-cyclone-weakens (newsmovie with actual footage of the damage)
http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-world/cook-islands-cyclone-weakens-20100211-nu42.html (newsitem)
http://www.safetravel.govt.nz/news/index.shtml#pat (travel advice)

Since the travel advice given by safetravel states that it is probably best to check with your accommodation if all services are available, I just e-mailed our contact person over there. I hope we will find them all in good health if or when we get there.
I will fill everybody in by posting on this blog if there are any newsworthy tidbits.

I guess my personal-cyclone-experience will have to wait for another year

A wicked West Coast cruise

I’m having a bit of a post-post-depression, so I am not in the mood for any long posts today

Not to worry, I’ll nevertheless give you a quick rundown of our wicked West Coast cruise.

We went looking for seals at Cape Foulwind, near Westport. There usually are around 20-200 fur seals there. I spotted neither fur nor seal. Ok, I’m exaggerating a bit, but there were no more than a couple of seals I could see.
Just click the photo on the left and let’s see how many you can spot!

After this disappointing experience I needed some comfort-food so we drove to the Punakaiki Pancake Rocks. They definitely sounded more tasty than they looked

Then we went onwards to Hokitika, a small and cosy beach town, where we spend the night at Birdsong Backpackers, a great place were John once more made a great home-cooked meal in the well stocked kitchen. That same evening we visited the small Glow-Worm dell. Although you could easily see all the glowworms with the naked eye, my camera apparently didn’t have the 20/20 vision in the dark

The piece the resistance at the West Coast was definitely our helicopter tour over both Franz Josef Glacier and Fox Glacier. Stunning views and to top it off, a snow landing on one of the glaciers. A real treat!

Of course John and I are living life on the edge here, so after we got on our helicopter and were airborne for about 5 minutes something went wrong. There was an indicator flashing on the control panel of the helicopter. Our pilot decided not to chance it and went back to base immediately. After a 20 minute wait we were able to board another chopper and this time all went well. I would recommend this tour to everyone! Especially the snow landing is a bizarre experience.

More magnificent photos on our wicked West Coast cruise:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/the_dude_in/sets/72157623281477051/

John’s blogpost on the wicked West:
http://www.oldenhuizing.com/2010/02/11/nz-west-coast/

Marlboro(ugh) – unfiltered

You probably all know Marlboro, the cigarette brand. Well, the Marlborough I’m posting about doesn’t kill you, but definitely is addictive and can make you smell I’m of course talking about both the Marlborough Wine Trail and the Marlborough Sounds. The first is an area around Blenheim and Renwick a bit north of Kaikoura and is famous for its wines. The second is a beautiful area in the upper northeast of the South Island and is famous for its scenery and the Queen Charlotte Track, a 71 km long tramping track winding through one of the most beautiful parts of New Zealand.

Let’s get this partypost going with the Marlborough Wine Trail.

John and I borrowed some bikes from the motor lodge we were staying at in Blenheim and headed out early in the morning to our first stop on our wine tasting trip. This meant that a bit after 9 o’clock we were gulping down our first 4 wines at Saint Clair Vineyards. A multiple award winning vineyard with a devastating Pinot Gris which we of course bought to consume later on! Our motto for the day was: don’t spit it out unless it is really really really really really really tasting like crap.

After Saint Clair we continued cycling, this time a bit more unstable, until we came to the Wairau River Vineyard. Another tasting and we added a Sauvignon Blanc 2009 to the load in our backpacks. We figured it isn’t a sin to be an alcoholic as long as you drink organic wines. So we continued cycling, this time a bit more slow, until we came to Seresin Vineyard. They grow their grapes and produce their wines totally organic. We did another tasting, this time of 6 wines, under the guidance of a beautiful Argentinian girl (flirt flirt) who left her country to live in New Zealand. According to her it was like ‘finally coming home’. I wonder whether someday I will experience something similar during one of my travels. Who knows, only time can tell. We finally bought a brilliant Pinot Noir and a Gewürztraminer at Seresin. Besides the wines they also sold organically made olive oils. Since John was planning on some callanetics in the kitchen, we bought two small bottles of them as well. After this shopping spree we decided to chill out at the Highfield Estate, a winery beautifully set on a low hill (high field). After a lovely lunch, no more wines (burp), we slowly made our way back to our motel to sleep off our stupor.

The next day we drove to Anakiwa, a small village at the end of the famous Queen Charlotte Track in the Marlborough Sounds. We stayed there at the YHA. A small place but with a nice deck all around the lodge, a big kitchen and a spa for relaxing after strenuous hikes. And hiking is what we did. After a short boat tour of the various inlets en bays of the Marlborough Sounds we were dropped off at Torea Bay, a passing point along the Queen Charlotte Track. From there we hiked via Mistletoe Bay back to Anakiwa. In total about 21 km which, according to the signposts, should take about 8 hours. John and I figured we’d make it in 4. And we were more or less right. We finally arrived back in Anakiwa 5 hours after starting out at Torea Bay. The reason that we didn’t make it in 4 hours… we got lost along the way. For those who know the Queen Charlotte Track probably think that’s an impossible feat, but trust me, we did it We got lost around Mistletoe Bay, because we missed one of the sign posts. As a result we ended up walking on the Jacob Vogel Trail and had a strenuous hike up a hill and afterwards ended back on the Queen Charlotte Track, at a point we passed more than an hour earlier. Pffffffff.

Nevertheless it was a great hike!

I can’t remember exactly which day it was, but at one of the evenings in Anakiwa John got all haute-cuisine on me and made an exquisite meal. You can see more of the mealmaking in the movie I posted previously.

After Anakiwa we drove on to Nelson, which is known as a hippy-city.  It was ok, but nothing special. As usual when we get bored in a place, John and I went to the movies. We watched some Mel Gibson movie in which he pretty much killed everyone he met. I guess he’s come a long way from Braveheart

More photos of the Marlborough Wine Trail, the Marlborough Sounds and Nelson:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/the_dude_in/sets/72157623386239958/

John’s blogpost on everything Marlborough:
http://www.oldenhuizing.com/2010/02/11/nz-blenheim-marlborough-sounds/

How to backpack in STYLE

No introductions necessary

Marine Miracles in Kaikoura

After a short drive, 2.5 hours, from Christchurch to Kaikoura we were ready to be amazed by the marine life miracles that have made Kaikoura a must have on the Southern Island loop.

Our first day there we went whale watching, our second day swimming with dolphins.

Both were an open ocean experience. So we had no guarantees of either spotting whales or encountering dolphins interesting in frolicking with Flipper-happy humans. But more importantly, it was exactly what we wanted. A relatively eco-friendly and animal-friendly experience. The animals weren’t lured by putting out bait or by any other unnatural means.

Luckily our chances of spotting the whales were enhanced by the use of a special listening device which the skipper of our boat used now and then in the water. But no sonar was used. They didn’t want to disturb the marine life.
Our chances of encountering human-happy dolphins were by no means influenced. We were either lucky or we were not. The only good fortune we had was that we went on the early morning trip, which started around 05.30. The dolphins usually return around that time from individually hunting fish way out in the open ocean and then gather closer the shore for some playing around and chitchatting with eachother..

Our time in Kaikoura was magnificent. We not only spotted 3 whales, but we also encountered huge groups of dolphins. We were able to swim and fool around with them for quite some time.

The swimming was exhausting though. The dolphins are so quick it takes a lot of agility and energy to keep up with them, even for a little while.

Nevertheless, It was really an experience I will never forget and would recommend to anyone going to New Zealand.

More photos of whale watching and dolphin swimming in Kaikoura:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/the_dude_in/sets/72157623339531222/

John’s blogpost on Singapore, Christchurch and Kaikoura:
http://www.oldenhuizing.com/2010/02/03/nz-christchurch-kaikoura/