Category Archives: Tramping

GPS Tracks, New Zealand, Photography, Tramping

14. Oturere – Tongariro Crossing – Mangatepopo – Whakapapa: Tongariro Northern Circuit 3/4

Tuesday, February 24: Rain overnight clearing to foggy and then sunny with patchy clouds

Tramping: 20.9 km

Danni’s ($200 for 3 nights)

Nick had taken one bed of the triple that I had occupied and, unfortunately, he snored – mainly when on his back, so waking him & telling him to turn over produced a significant improvement. Towards morning the snoring also started in the side position, and not much else could be done, but poke him every now and then.

Tongariro Valley
Looking back over the Tongariro Valley at sunrise
Just before 6:00 people started getting up. Two dormitories were separate from the kitchen but not by much and the third was in the bedsitter, so to speak. I boiled some water for coffee and had some salami, cracker and muesli bars for breakfast before packing my stuff outside. It looked like I would be starting the tramp today with Nick & Slater, all the others except Khalil were going in the other direction.

We pushed off around 7:30 and looking back from the first hill was a photo opportunity for another time: Sunrise over the Tongariro Valley, with fog covering the river and the sun from behind. What a pity that we had to push forward. After a longer plain we reached a lava tongue and from here onwards it was pretty steep uphill until the Crossing was reached. I left the other two behind at this point as I was coming into stride. Read more…

GPS Tracks, New Zealand, Photography, Tramping, Youtube Videos

13. Waihohonu – Oturere: Tongariro Northern Circuit 2

Monday, February 23: Rain overnight, overcast at first, clearing to fine with a few clouds and warm. Later very changeable

Tramping, 7.7 km

Oturere Hut (DOC, $32)

Ngauruhoe promised to give a bit of a sunrise so I set up the A470 with infinite focus and it seemed to work OK. We were later for breakfast than the others who were headed directly to Whakapapa because their bus was to pick them up at 2:00.

Lava Tongue
Track across a pretty barren lava tongue between Waihohonu and Oturere
Had some of the bread and salami for breakfast, with 2 double coffees with condensed milk for breakfast, then packed my stuff together and spent some time discussing this & that with Khalil, Nick & Slater, who were all headed in the same direction. Eventually we decided to move off.

The path today traverses a number of lava flows, albeit with different vegetations. The first couple were mountain beech and very full of epiphytes. I took a number of pictures of small berries in red and purple. We stopped briefly at a river, and then moved into the more recent volcanic/alpine communities. At this point I decided that I had reached my warm-up point and set off at my preferred pace, which was considerably faster than that of my companions. I made a point of photographing the landscapes, and still I was almost an hour ahead of the others. Read more…

GPS Tracks, New Zealand, Photography, Tramping, Youtube Videos

12. Whakapapa – Waihohonu: Tongariro Northern Circuit 1

Sunday, February 22: A bit cloudy to begin with, less cloud during the day and quite warm

Tramping, 21.8 km

Waihohonu Hut (DOC, $32)

Managed to beat the compass/alarm this morning and even managed a shower. After all the work of tidying up Danni’s place opposite I wasn’t really expecting Simon to be up and he wasn’t. After the shower I made my own breakfast of muesli, 2 fried eggs and coffee. Packed the loaf of bread in with the rest of the food for the hike.

Got most of the stuff into the suitcase and dragged it down the hall, and was in good time for the bus. Two German women were coming along for the ride, one just to do the crossing, the other, Ina from Kiel was doing the circuit, albeit in clockwise direction. The bus trip was provided by Dempsey’s Buses via the Station Lodge, for $30 in cash, which I presumed to be a return ticket. Further passengers were collected along the way. After the turnoff there was a very dusty old dirt track, and at the stop everyone except me and Ina got off. Read more…

GPS Tracks, Kayaking, New Zealand, Photography, Topo Map, Tramping, Youtube Videos

3. Auckland, St Heliers: Rangitoto Sea Kayaking

Friday, February 13: Cloudy at first, clearing to light cloud with a bit of a southerly breeze

Chinara’s

Kayaking: 10.0 km
Tramping: 5.2 km

There wasn’t much sound from above, so at around 8:00 I went upstairs and the two were sleeping in. Couldn’t quite stomach breakfast and only had a coffee. Pretty soon the courier with my emergency equipment arrived which was audible because the guy had his radio playing loudly and I was able to intercept him before he had to search far. Eventually I. made an appearance and then Chinara, who busily telephoned around to organise the remainder of her day. Read more…

GPS Tracks, New Zealand, Topo Map, Tramping, Youtube Videos

2. Auckland: Coast-to-Coast

Thursday, February 12: Overcast throughout the day, clearing a little in the evening

Tramping: Coast to Coast (Te Araroa), 16.3 km

Chinara’s

Slept through to 9:30 and didn’t hear Chinara leaving at 8. I wanted to do the Coast-to-Coast Walkway today (a section of the Te Araroa Track) and had a map prepared but … First of all, couldn’t find the glasses, then couldn’t find the file, except finally on the safe page on the web. WTH. Saved it to the laptop, packed the pack with only the laptop and some water, and was eventually ready to go by 12:00. Read more…

GPS Tracks, Tramping

Ironman III: Tramping

And yes, the land had to be conquered as well. After having struggled for so long to try to find what remains of the Weser Path between Porta Westfalica and Bremen, I went through all the stages in the early part of the year, but this time from north to south. Not many signs left, so I will have to see about publishing the results sometime. Read more…

Photography, Skeptics, Tramping, Travel Planning

Off to New Horizons

Cathedral Rock, Waimangu.
Cathedral Rock, Waimangu. Static. For the last time?

Nau mai, haere mai!

Time to start the blog up again.

Journey to Te Ika-a-Māui is the next project, a trip to the North Island of New Zealand, arriving on February 11 in the wee minutes of the morning and leaving on April 7, 2015. There is still a lot to see and do.

First and foremost on the programme are the remaining Great Walks of the North Island, the Whanganui River Journey and the Tongariro Northern Circuit. Twice on previous visits have I tried to go over the Tongariro Crossing, but to no avail. Having more time this time around and a better season for mountain climbing, this should be doable at some point. Read more…