The Northern Lights...

So last one in NZ for a bit before heading up North for a bit more winter. Spring is trying to push into summer here and the rugby posts are down and its now all about cricket on the local sports ground! The exam time is over, but last week was a not to be missed opportunity to head out into the depths of the North Island for some exploring. Here is what happened on the little circuit:

The Steam excursion at Dannevirke

Tuesday 23 November left Wellington for Napier, however the first challenge was walking down to the rail station to pick up the InterCity Coach - a strong northeasterly was about and I think it beats even the winds of Geal Charn and Fionn Beinn two most ‘fine munros’ which have been bagged on two particularly miserable end of LUHC winter trip days! The Wellingtonians heading to work found themselves blasted along the cavernous streets at high speed! The weather became even worse once we crossed onto the Wairarapa and headed for the East Cape and upon arriving at Dannevirke (a New Zealand settlement with Danish roots) we advised that the state highway to Napier was closed. This gave a fine opportunity to experience smalltown NZ, however I was distracted by the smell of a coal fire on the wind and headed to the station. Here I was greeted by a steam loco in with a excursion train. The line out to the East Cape is of course now closed to passenger traffic, the once ‘Bay Express’ (Wellinton-Gisbourne) being victim of the 2002 massacre! However the odd steam special heads out, this one awaiting to pass a freight train. After some waiting in Dannevirke, it was decided to head back to Palmerston North and wait for the wind to ease and hopefully get through on the later coach. The waiting paid off and we made it through on the later coach and arrived in sunny, mediterranean Napier early evening.

Art Deco Napier, complete with palm trees and clear blue sky

Napier is New Zealand’s ‘Art Deco’ city and is an important sea port. An earthquake in 1936 flattened the old town and altered the terrain - requiring a complete new build, hence the colourful collection of modernist Art Deco style buildings. The seafront sports a fine assortment of palm trees emphasising the fact that this is one of the warmest parts of New Zealand, being out on the east cape sheltered by from the rain by the North Island’s mountain spine. Although not as pronounced or well known as the ‘Alps’ of South Island, there is a near continuous frontal range of 1000-2000m peaks running parallel to the pacific-Australasian plate boundary, this having always formed a barrier to communication with the Eastern parts of the Island. It was time for shorts and t-shirt, suncream, the works in a very tolerable 25C, unfortunately the beach was not quite safe for a dip with a steep shingle bank and strong rip! Wednesday afternoon it was back on InterCity for the journey inland through first through the Hawkes Bay wineries and then cutting inland through Eskdale - without a L’al Ratty!

The destination was Taupo, up on the North Island volcanic plateau on the shores of the great caldera of Lake Taupo. This really is active Earth with hotsprings, geysers and smoking vents. Also the great Waikato River drains from lake Taupo - NZ’s longest. After heading out along the riverbank of the Waikato River for a little jog, I came to the Huka Falls where the full force of the river is channeled through a narrow chute of resistant rock. From here it was only a short detour to the ‘Craters of the Moon’, an area of smoking vents that formed recently as a result of a the construction of a geothermal power station down the valley - this having altered the works underground. Unfortunately by the time I got up there, they were closed so I only got to peer in from the edge. Instead I headed back towards Taupo, stopping off for a soaking at a thermal stream that plunged down into the Waikato River, rather exciting in the evening sun, whilst watching some kiwi nutters doing backflips of a bridge into the river!

Thermal Stream at Taupo

Thursday was time for a fairly long stint on InterCity to the City of Sails, Auckland! The Waikato region leading into Hamilton being very Devon like with rolling green hills, plenty of dairy farms - with the addition of the odd extinct volcano or volcanic neck protruding rather unexpectedly from the terrain. From Hamilton its a two hour run into Auckland and the state highway even becomes a motorway for parts of the way! This is New Zealand’s population centre with just over a million people living in the Greater Auckland region. Thats larger than the entire South Island, the population of which, was announced to have just tipped the million mark this year! Disregarding the city buzz and skyscrapers of downtown, Auckland is quite a baby city by global standards, the centre can easily be done on foot, and the complex array of tidal inlets restrict the centre to a thin strip of land between the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean. From the downtown quay, ferries fan out to various suburbs across the Waimata Harbour including some of the islands of the Hauraki Gulf. Friday I picked up a city transport rover ticket which includes the ferries and headed out to some of the suburbs to bag as many of the little extinct volcanic cones as possible. Firstly heading across the harbour to Devonport with great views back to the city from Mt Victoria and North Head - both former fortifications. Then it was a ride over the Harbour Bridge on the bus and time to head out to the south on the suburban railway to One Tree Hill, a little country park amongst the vast sprawl of outer Auckland. The centrepiece of the Auckland Skyline is the Sky Tower, constructed for the Millennium. Friday evening I popped back across the Devonport on the ferry to see the city lights from the Mt Victoria viewpoint.

Downtown Auckland from Devonport Beach


The lights of Downtown Auckland including the pink Sky Tower from Mt Victoria above Devonport

Saturday was another day of sun for heading out to the 600 year old Rangitoto Island, the most recent of the basalt cones forming a perfect ring shaped island in the Hauraki Gulf. There are a number of tracks on the Island leading to the points of interest, the island has a fairly young and limited vegetation cover as well as vast open patches of broken basalt lava. The summit crater is the high point and a track leads the day-trippers up to the rim. the island is riddled with tunnels but those most accessible lie along the ‘lava tunnels track’, where there are many fine tunnels heading off the beaten track to be explored with a headtorch. Although the sea looked very inviting in the sunshine, it was low tide, exposing thick mud at the otherwise sandy beaches. Saturday night the plan was to head up the Sky Tower, however a monsoon came in and so was confined to a brewery/ pub.

Ragitoto Island - looking up at the summit crater, with broken basalt in the foreground

One of the lava tunnels on Rangitoto Island

Sunday was time to head back to Wellington, but the trip was by no means over, for the 600km Overlander rail journey lay ahead. Running down the Main Trunk line through the centre of New Zealand from Auckland to Wellington - a journey which most Kiwis would make in an hour with Air New Zealand, we left the shiny new Britomart transport centre at 0730 for the 12 hour journey! Back through the rolling Waikato and up on to the Volcanic Plateau. After a chat with the driver at Hamilton I managed to grab myself a seat in the loco for the hour long assent from Taumarunui through the Tongariro National Park including the Rangotoi Spiral. This was definitely the highlight, although the Overlander also has a viewing lounge in back carriage with a big window looking out backwards.

The Overlander at National Park Station

After the final week in Wellington its back off to Auckland on the overnight InterCity Coach, and then for the NZ2 via Los Angeles will bring me into Heathrow on Tuesday 6 November. Just to finish off with - something that got me excited in the sidings just outside Auckland were some ex-UK Mark 2 coaches (don’t worry about the details) from Virgin and Anglia, as stacks of them were shipped over here when they finished their turns with XC on the West Coast and GE Mainline. Many of them have been completely gutted and churned out on the Wellington/ Auckland suburban routes, so we finish with a picture of a couple of them sat around de-bogied, awaiting a New Zealand lease of life!

Ex-Virgin Trains Mark 2's! The go faster red/ black is almost unreconisable with the scribbles, pehaps its a new livery - Branson Pickle!

Exotic Birds, EGG...MONT (Taranaki) and Wellington City...

Its is the end of term here at Victoria and we are officially in what is known as Exam Study Time! So here is some revision...of what has been happening over the last 6 weeks of Southern Spring.

An Inquisitive Weka on Kapiti Island.

One fine sunny Sunday in September I took the first tranz-metro train to Paraparamu where I took the bus from the station down to the Beach, it could have been walked (which I did in fact do on the way back) but feeling like it would be worthwhile to support the local service, as I was the only one around I boarded for the tour of just about every backroad in Paraparamu with a rather enthusiastic driver who told me just about everything you need to know about ‘Paraparam’ and whose bach (holiday house) it was tucked down there on the left etc... So that was fun! Down at the beach it was onto the boat, which you board in a car park) to be towed into the sea by a tractor and then make the 15 minute crossing to Kapiti Island. Kapiti is essentially a bird reserve and has successfully eradicated all European pests (excepting the tourist type) such as mice, rats, sheep along with the worst offender, the Australian marsupial of the Possum. The rainforest is also quite impressive with it gradually maturing since replanting after the end of farming on the island. Most of the rarities were seen except the Kiwi - of course being nocturnal.

Now time for a quick side report on the Welsh Baa, the only Welsh Bar in the Southern Hemisphere! It is pretty much as Welsh as it could get attracting not only the Welsh tourists but also most of the English too. The walls are draped with tea towels depicting things such as Welsh Castles, the Ffestiniog Railway, Legends, Snowdonia and of course a number of Welsh rugby shirts and things signed by Tom Jones. The only dissapointment is no Welsh beer (on tap that is). There is the opportunity to have Brains Bitter and SA, but only from cans!

Looking into the crater of Mt Taranki, with Sharks Tooth on the left and the main Summit on the right.

The last weekend of September was a chance to see the last of the winter with a trip to Mt Taranki. Also known as Egmont, it is out on the bit of North Island that juts out into the Tasman Sea and is surrounded by a near perfect volcanic ring-plain! This is emphasised even more by the fact that the Egmont National Park with its protected native forest is almost perfectly circular in shape and forms an approximate 10km radius right around the volcano. You certainly know whether your in or out of the National Park as the boundary is extremely abrupt farmland - dense vegetation! Due to fine settled weather a group of us headed up on Thursday 27 September and after some issues with punctures in tyres ending up with a local farmer lending us his spare car! We were on our way up to Syme Hut on Fanthoms Peak, again for the geologists a subsidiary vent on the South side of the main cone. Arriving up at the hut at 4am it was time for a decent rest while we awaited Ben to re-join us after getting a new tyre sorted out first thing! At midday we left the hut and headed aux summit. A rather steep 500m of ascent over just about a kilometre. Arriving up at the summit crater in the afternoon sun we of course bagged the summit and spent plenty of time absorbing the warmth! Tents were pitched and dinner was had at sunset just before the temperature plummeted well below freezing, a good excuse to climb into the sleeping bags. Saturday we awoke at sunrise, about 6am and spent some time climbing up the other high point on the crater rim, Sharks Tooth while everything was still nice and crisp, with great views of Mt Ruapehu, Tongariro and Nghaurhoe. By lunchtime some other tramping club members (who had decided to leave Wellington at 11pm the night before and make the 4 hour journey to Taranaki and then climb to the summit starting at 4am) joined us on the top. We descended back to Syme hut, where the others were to spend the night, before heading back down to the car park and back to Wellington.

The campsite atop Mt Taranki, from the summit!

Fanthoms Peak from the Crater Rim.

And now to finish off with some Wellington stuff, as I haven’t included any pictures of my accommodation and the city yet, so here we go...

Flat 2, Everton Hall - the lounge featuring Jake (L) and Jon (R).

Wellington Waterfront featuring Jon (L) and Jake (R)

Downtown Wellington, (Photo: Jake C)

A taste of summer...down on the icy South!

Part 2 of the Mid-Semester Break was time for some proper exploring of the South Island. Departing on the fine sunny afternoon of Friday 24 August aboard the ‘Aratere’ interislander vessel, the South Island greeted with crisp clear skies at sunset through the Marlborough Sounds to Picton. Then it was quickly onto Nelson for an overnight stop in the little seaside city, where I found myself sharing an all British dorm at the City YHA! No time to hang about however as the West Coast was calling with the 0715 Saturday morning departure of the Inter-City Coachlines Nelson-Fox Glacier service, which I was to take for most of its journey, to the little town of Ross. Gliding over the frosty passes between the Kahurangi and Nelson Lakes National Parks, we soon descended into the deep Buller Gorge, home of White Water rafting, the ‘Flying Fox’ wire bridge and various Lord of the Rings river locations. Soon we were out on the Tasman Sea at Westport, from where the road almost hugs the coast all the way to Ross. The first section passes along the rugged limestone coast of the Paporoa National Park, where steaming temperate rainforest rises steeply from the thin strip of battered rock and sand. The lunch stop was made at Punakaikai, with enough time for a whiz round the Pancake Rocks, a limestone headland with spires, caves and bays carved into the pancake-like layered rock formation. Back on the bus, it was on through Greymouth, Hokitika and the gold rush township of Ross, my destination for the day.

Pancake Rocks at Punakaikai, the dense rainforest of the Paparoa National Park rises straight from the Tasman Sea

Like many of the sleepy West Coast towns, the golden days seem all but over, however unusually Ross is still gleaming with the stuff and digging began again in 2004 - if the miners had their way the town would be shunted a few miles up the coast in order to scrape out every last nugget. Spent the night just outside Ross with a glaciologist from Victoria University, Brian Anderson to get in the know with the New Zealand glaciers and get tips for my dissertation. Sunday afternoon I boarded the Coach at Ross to continue South to Franz-Josef Glacier, the village named after the big icy cascade that descends from the main divide of the Southern Alps right down to 300m above sea level. Various activities are on offer at Franz-J, including walking on the glacier, ice climbing, sky diving and ‘heli-hiking’ (buzzing up to about 2500m to stand on the upper glacier)! Rather than exchange a panful of west coast gold to partake in one of these activities, my plan of action for the full day (Monday) I had in Franz-J was to go on a jolly good tramp - totally free, and with views that you’d struggle to get even from the helicopter! The main objective was the ascent of Alex Knob, 1303m for fine views of the glacier and the main divide of the Southern Alps. According to a Department of Conservation (DOC) leaflet, it was best to arrive on the summit a.m., as there was a tendency for cloud to roll in off the Tasman in the afternoon. Arriving on the summit at approximately 1127 and sitting down to admire the views and recuperate, it was not long before two big fluffy white things became trotting up-valley to obscure the scene - most unfortunate for the group of Americans that arrived a couple of minutes after midday to find the, as promised by DOC, thick mist (however it did clear again later)!

Franz Josef Glacier from Alex Knob 1303m

Tuesday morning I headed north out of Franz-J back up to the port of Greymouth. This being the western terminus of the ‘tranz-alpine’ railway to Christchurch, my pathway across the Southern Alps. The ‘tranz-alpine’ along with the ‘tranz-coastal’ are all that is left of South Islands passenger railway network, heading west and north from Christchurch respectively. The suitably named ‘southerner’ to Invercargill ended in 2002, and judging by the number of passenger on the tranz-alpine (7 carriages worth) I’d call for its re-instatement despite the NZ government favouring internal flights! Heading inland and away from the Tasman, the line trundles alongside broad braided river valleys before climbing steeply and diving through the Otira tunnel and emerging at Arthurs Pass at 743m. Then its all downhill before the flats of the Canterbury Plains leading into Christchurch.

Christchurch, South Islands largest city, English by name and very much English by nature. The city sits on the River Avon which complete with punts makes it the Oxbridge of the Southern Hemisphere. Wednesday morning I visited the disappointing Antarctic Centre, where you get to stand in a freezer and experience -20 wind chill or something, although I’m sure standing high on Rannoch Moor in shorts and t-shirt in summer would feel colder! The Little Blue Penguins were entertaining though. Wednesday afternoon, I attended an NZ Snow and Ice research group meeting at Canterbury University, as recommended by Brian, which was very flash with video-links to people all over the country. Just before sun-down I nipped out of town to get the Christchurch gondola up to the crater rim of the extinct Lyttleton volcano. This is the first of two basalt cones forming the craggy Banks Peninsula, extending East from Christchurch out into the Pacific. At munro-worthy elevation, the view is not surprisingly amazing, and the crater itself has been filled by a deep tidal inlet, forming Lyttleton Harbour. Thursday was moving on day again, but not before checking out the Canterbury Museum with far better Antarctic displays than the National Antarctic Centre and an excellent stuffed bird display. Then I nipped out to Sumner Bay for lunch with a swarm of Red Billed gulls before catching the 1600 northbound Inter-City Coach.

Sun rises from behind Christchurch Cathedral spire

Two hours later I was in Kaikoura (meaning ‘to eat shellfish’ in Maori). Out of all New Zealand destinations so far, this must score as the top, if only for the amazing setting, a little peninsula jutting out into the Pacific with the impressive backdrop of the Seaward Kaikoura Range. Like with many NZ places, it has a two phase history, starting out as a Maori settlement who were drawn by the abundance of shellfish (hence the name), the arrival of the Pakeha (Europeans) in the late 1800’s soon led to the town becoming established as Whaling settlement. And today its all about Whale Watching! Friday morning I boarded the Maori owned and run ‘Whale Watch Kaikoura’ high speed catermeran ‘Aoraki’ for the trip out to the Kaikoura trench. This is the 1500m deep trench where the up-welling occurs bringing all the nutrients up from the deep and attracting all sorts of marine life. All in all saw four Sperm Whales and numerous Albatross, the much hyped by our commentator highlight being the ‘showing of the tail’, as the Whale heads down into the deep for a 45 minute feeding session. Thursday afternoon I checked out the seal colony out on the peninsula, the usual collection of NZ fur seals hauled out all over the place to the point where you almost trip over them! And in the evening I sampled the best local establishment, complete with live music from a good old checked shirt clad bunch of blokes, perfect for post card writing!

Sunset behind the Seaward Kaikoura Range, from the north bay

Well this really has ended up a long’n however Saturday was a perfect last day, to be back on the ‘tranz-coastal’ and see the Pacific coast in 20°C sunshine all the way up to Picton, where ‘Kaitaki’ was waiting to cruise us back across the Cook Strait into Wellington. Managed to keep the waterproofs safely in the bottom of the rucksack for the whole trip to the summery South, with the only drop of daytime rain falling for a few minutes at Sumner Bay, Christchurch! However despite the warmth of the South, winter is well and truly still up and running here in Wellington as I sit here in down jacket!

A Sperm Whale dives into the 1.5km deep Kaikoura trench

Snow, Sun and Sulphur Dioxide...

Friday 17 August, was the first opportunity to head into the depths of North Island, with the destination being the barren central volcanic plateau area of the Tongariro National Park. Arriving at the village of Whakapapa, Ollie, Andrea, Simon and myself sharpened our ice axes and donned the waterproofs in preparation to head up and make camp in the ski fields of ‘Mordor’. Plodding up through the ski highways, avoiding the tractor like ‘groomers’ we selected a secluded valley, in which to pitch up. Then we spent a fine couple of hours in torrential drizzle digging a pit in which to pitch the two tents. Awaking Saturday morning to just as pleasant weather (which hadn’t put off those keen skiers and boarders) we continued on our plod to gain more height on the mountain. At some point in the afternoon we reached the area known as the summit plateau of Mt Ruapehu, a 2600m high ice plateau. Having decided the weather was not favourable to camping and after a few minutes of attempting to dig a snow cave in the side of Dome Ridge before hitting rock hard layers in the pack, we decided to head to the Dome Ridge Hut, a fine little shack complete with all the facilities you would need including a steaming spa pool just minutes walk (the highly acidic Crater Lake). After digging into the metres deep snow drift in front of the door and removing the plated steel armour from ourselves (the rain from lower down had gradually turned to snow as we headed up mountain, and thus our waterproofs/ rucksacks had frozen solid) we settled into our home and cooked a fine stew!

The Entrance to the Dome Ridge Hut

Sunday turned the weather gradually started to get better, and we spent the day ice bouldering on the hut roof, and admiring some fine views of the icy, volcanic scenery. Kieran and Craig headed up to join us, whilst Simon and Andrea headed back to Wellington. Monday myself and Kieran headed out for the Crater Rim traverse, whilst Craig and Ollie headed to Cathedral Rocks to find an ice route. The Crater Rim traverse was indeed what it said on the tin, a fine circuit on the airy ridge up above the bubbling lake. It included the highest point on Mt Ruapehu and the North Island, Tahurangi! We also had the opportunity to cross the hot Crater outlet stream, by means of a perfectly stable snow bridge! Monday evening it was time to head down to a more comfortable accommodation, that of a bach (pronounced ‘batch’, the Kiwi word for a prefab-like holiday home) on Lake Taupo, belonging to a friend of Craig’s.

From the Crater Rim and summit ridge of Tahurangi, the Crater Lake steams in the midday sun!

On Pyramid, the final peak of the Crater Rim route, with Cathedral Rocks (R) and the summit plateau (L) in the background.

Tuesday was another fine day with clear skies and blazing sunshine, so while Kieran and Craig headed out to ski the Whakapapa routes, Ollie and myself headed to climb amongst the snowy Whakapapa Pinnacles. Ended up nipping up a fine neve filled scoop onto a col between two of the pinnacles, for the view over the Mt Nghauruhoe (Doom) and Tongariro volcanic complexes. Then it was back down the same way and nipping across the ski highways to the Waterfall cafe, where we managed to grab a lift down the mountain on the Waterfall Express chairlift, a fitting finish to the trip, with fine late afternoon sunny views across to the Pinnacles.
So that was Ruapehu, ‘The Andesite Beast’.

At the Northern End of Dome Ridge, above the Whakapapa Ski Fields, with Nghauruhoe and Tongariro in the background

Christmas...in the middle of Winter!!!

The first half term of study is drawing to a close and a whole two weeks of holiday looms after Friday. Have some exciting plans, but more about those after they have happened. A few weeks ago I went on my first trip to the Tararua Range with the tramping club. The theme of the weekend was ‘Midwinter Christmas’ - anything strange about that, well for Kiwis yes! Christmas for them usually consists of visiting a beach in the sun and having a barbecue in the long light evening. It is also possible to have a white christmas if you’re keen, on the summit of Mt Cook for example. The Tararuas are the first range of sizeable mountains to the north of Wellington, having said that, however they are largely a vast jungle of temperate rainforest. The bush line lies at 1000m+ the highest summit being ‘Mitre’ at 1571m. And unfortunately we didn’t manage to scale any significant summit despite climbing to the grand height 600m (but still being in thick undergrowth). The lack of summit ‘ticking’ on this trip might have something to do with the amount of supplies we had in our rucksacks. No luxury was spared for this christmas meal - even a pressure cooker was brought to the hut! There were probably about 40 on the trip and the aim was to walk down the Mangahao River track to the Hut of the same name, cook christmas food and do other christmassy things, like receiving presents from Santa and drinking mulled wine. The Sunday involved the reverse of the valley route, however not wanting to miss the opportunity to see a bit more of the Tararuas, Nicolai (Germany), Sam (Alska) and myself decided to walk further up-valley from the hut to get some views from a ...clearing... of the snow dusted summits. The trip of course involved some interesting river crossings (thigh deep), where the track had been taken out by a landslide. Some even decided to swim complete with pack through some deep sections of river on the walk out! Plenty of bush-whacking skills were practiced too, as some sections involved crawling through dense vines and ferns. At times it seriously felt like we were discovering unchartered regions of the Amazon basin.

The tent sees the first action - campsite next to the Mangahao Flats Hut, Tararua Range

Even Santa made it on 'Midwinter Christmas', in a trampers' rucksack!

Some members decided to 'swim out' down the valley! Photo by Kieran (at the time I was somewhere up-valley exploring the undergrowth, however this is a classic 'mad-tramper' shot, thanks Kieran for capturing the moment)

So that was ‘christmas’ - the last few weekends have been spent sampling the trad rock climbing on some of the sea cliffs out at Titahi Bay, which was most excellent if a bit loose in places. Have also used the spare sunny days to continue explorations of the Wellington region coastline. There was a plan to head to Mt Ruapehu for some Ice Climbing this last weekend, but a rather frisky storm that lasted from Friday through to Saturday night put a stopper on that - 110km/hr winds on North Island with torrential downpours. Surely would have made the climbing somewhat epic. It felt like our little shack of a hall of residence was going to succumb to the elements on Saturday - but in true NZ spirit, it fought on through.

Breaker Bay on the Miramar Peninsula, the narrow expanse of water is the entrance to Wellington Harbour. According to Maori legend the peninsula is body of a beast that used to live in Wellington Harbour!

Hopefully the weather will be slightly more forgiving for the coming weekend where the plan is to dig a 20 man snowcave on the summit plateau of Mt Ruapehu, have a barbecue on Saturday night (on snow) and then play cricket against the Auckland University Tramping Club on Sunday. Whatever will these mad trampers have me doing next? All is good fun though!

So these ‘Trampers’ then...

Last week was the first of having to attend compulsory learning! Am doing 1st, 2nd and 3rd year courses (one of each). Just the usual introductory lectures so nothing exciting to report there - much the same as you might expect from a Lancaster lecture, just the lecturers have funny accents - not all Kiwi however, the GIS lecturer is Irish. The most interesting course is the Year 1 ‘Antarctica, Unfreezing the Continent’, which is quite interesting and rather different to anything previous as it focusses on certain things, such as the early expeditions, the ecosystems, the science rather than just talking in general terms, as some courses tend to do.

After nearly three weeks in New Zealand, Friday was another opportunity to be welcomed to the country by the international office, in every language except English itself, I guess British people are not International enough for that! It was also a good chance to meet up with all the people who I met in the Nomad’s hostel and during the orientation week. We were even provided with free New Zealand beers, wines and (international) food!

A little bit of Lancaster got lost - by 12 000 miles, and ended up as a small street in Karori, suburban Wellington, NZ!

And then for Saturday - the first of the trips with the ‘Tramping Club’. This was to the Rimutaka range on the East side of Wellington Harbour, the aim was to walk up to Mt Matthews, the highest in the Forest Park at 941m. The day started clear and frosty, however the plans were slightly altered due to the rather extended lunch break, nearly two hours of (faff) frying all luxury components of a cooked breakfast polished off with hot puddings and drinking chocolate. I decided to settle for the more traditional mountain lunch of sandwiches, home-baked flapjack and an apple, which I polished off in about 10 mins. For the remaining 1hr 50mins of the ‘lunch break’, I harnessed the fine aroma of a greasy cafe in the middle of a NZ temperate rainforest!

After the lunch break, those who had found it difficult move decided to descend, whilst I and a group of keen followers (intent on burning off all the well earnt calories) ascended to a bush-free shoulder on Mt Matthews, above the South Saddle. From this vantage point we got great views of the surrounding rainforest choked valleys, but unfortunately no sea view, as the cloud had started to roll in.

Johnstone Hill summit, looking East over Wellington, the Harbour and East to the Rimutaka Forest Park. Mt Matthews with summit dipping into the cloud

Sunday was another clear and sunny day and after visiting the fruit/ veg market with Jon (from flat) I headed out to explore the Wellington Suburbia. This expedition took me west out to Karori and then up to Johnstone Hill just before sunset, for fine views all around Wellington and down to South Island.

So these ‘trampers’ then... Firstly, they certainly don’t mind getting wet feet - we crossed the Orongorongo river that was often nearly up our waists about 10 times, this is fairly normal for a Tramping trail. I think my recent investment in Scarpa SL’s may have been a mistake, waders, or even a wetsuit may have been a better idea! Secondly, the shorts thing! I guess it would be generalising to say that all Kiwi’s opt for shorts when out and about on Tramps (for whatever reason) but this was 100% true on Saturday, and it’s only the equivalent of UK January over here! The only strange ones in trousers were myself and another northern hemisphere counterpart, Nicolai from Germany. Thirdly, these hardened people, unlike yer average rambler, are not kept going by the prospect of a cosy fire ‘n a pint a Cumberland at end ot ‘day... shocking!

All wrapped up for the weather above South Saddle, Rimutaka Forest Park

I think I’ll stick to being a 'TRambler' for the time being!

The ‘Tramps’ of Greater Wellington...

A frosty Korokoro Valley, complete with native bush!

The tramps in question of course being of the type that tend to lead you through forest and moorland, along coast and up and down the Hobbiton like rolling green hills, of which there are many in the Wellington area.
I have now taken up residence in Victoria University’s equivalent of Grizedale College - not that I mean to say I’m living atop of a pile of rubble surrounded by a safety fence, as that wouldn't quite keep the Wellington wind and rain at bay very well, but I’m sure it would be far less warmer and less draughty if I were sleeping in my tent. Anyway it’s a nice corridor with fine Kiwi people and even a communal lounge/ dining room. The lack of central heating is quite interesting though as it seems more necessary to be wearing a down jacket when inside than out - as Wellington’s hills tend to do a good job of keeping you nice and warm when walking out and about.

So I moved in on Sunday 1 July, and spent much of last week being educated about what being an international student, and of course this meant standing in queues for hours on end to check that I did want to sign up for 3 whole courses! In the end I have a first, second and third year course this semester.


NZ Fur Seals hauled out at Sinclair Point

In between all the talks/ waiting there were days off - so I managed to get out and see some more of the sights of Wellington and around. Tuesday I headed south down to Island Bay where you can walk along the coast to the ‘Red Rocks’ and ‘Sinclair Head’, the former being the remnants of a submarine basalt eruption and the latter being home to New Zealand’s largest Fur Seal colony - which you literally just walk through. There are seals lying all over the beach, totally oblivious to the fact that you are taking photos, eating lunch etc. they merely opened an eye to a rather loopy dog that passed by, on a lead of course! The next significant event was Thursday evenings international quiz night - the first opportunity to try out one of the many ‘Irish Pubs’ of Wellington. It seems compulsory for any building that is remotely pub-like to be given the prefix ‘Irish’, I’m yet to discover why such a phenomenon should be so celebrated, and whether they have ever considered more exciting names such as “Ye Olde Fighting Cocks” (Arnside), or “The Drunken Duck” (Barngates). Incredible as it may seem there is one anomalous tavern that goes by the name of “Welsh Bar”, complete a massive Welsh dragon on the side, but this is yet to be investigated, watch this space. Anyway this particular Irish Pub, called JC Murphy’s was unfortunately rather lacking in leprechauns - I’m sure they must have done a runner when they found out there were hundreds of Americans, Germans and Chinese descending on their local. The quiz was actually pretty good, my team consisted of 4 British, 3 American, 1 Dutch - and seeing as the questions were not too taxing for anyone slightly British i.e. “What sport does Steve Redgrave do?”, we managed to sweep the board of prizes - firstly a free pint each, and secondly a $20 book voucher - all in all a very successful event!

Friday it was a tough decision between a 3 hour long ‘Study Skills and Communicating effectively in English’ session or more exploring of Wellington in driving rain and a strengthening southerly gale - it was a tough one but thought that I had learnt enough new phrases for one week, for example the highly complex ‘terms and conditions’ (courses in NZ have these by the way - and apparently you actually have to meet them to pass - unbelievable!), and headed for the waterfront and the National Museum, Te Papa, where I spent the afternoon discovering the geological history/ human settlement of New Zealand.
Saturday was another wet one so this time it was the Wellington Museum of City and Sea that was visited with lots of pictures and relics of Wellington’s maritime past.


Belmont Trig summit, looking East across Hutt Valley to the Rimutaka Range

Finally today, probably the finest winter’s day so far. Not a cloud in the sky and only a slight breath of a southerly wind. I jumped on an early ‘tranz-metro’ service up the Hutt Valley to Petone the start of the Puki Ariki, a fine ridge walk through the hills to the North of Wellington Harbour. The tops are up above the bush and you get great views of all of lower North Island from the snowy Tararuas right through to the Kaikouras and the Abel Tasman Coast of South Island.
Well thats it for this action packed first full week in Wellington, next week I’ll hopefully be able to report on who these people that call themselves ‘trampers’ are and maybe even become one myself by joining the Victoria University of Wellington Tramping Club or VUWTC...


North from Boulder Hill to the Tararuas

Wellington to Christchurch (first NZ Rail Journey)...

After being in New Zealand for two days I thought it was about time I got out on my first rail journey to of course test out the network over here. The planned journey to Auckland on ‘The Overlander’ was fully booked so instead I booked myself up on the ‘Tranzcoastal’ to Christchurch. This of course involves crossing the Cook Strait to South Island, so the journey started on Friday aboard the 0820 interislander sailing from Wellington to Picton at the very N of S Island. The ferry itself 'Kaitaki' - Maori for The Challenger, as it turns out is the ex Pride of Cherbourg from what was our very own P&O Portsmouth-Cherbourg route back in the UK - just shows the range of destinations these ships get to visit during their liftimes! The crossing was awesome, unfortunately no sun - but the rain held off. The second half of the journey involves entering the narrow Malborough sounds, so the ferry travels at a slightly reduced speed. We were also lucky to get a school of 50+ dolphins swimming alongside the boat in the sounds, jumping right up and out of the water, riding the bow wake and some in small groups with young ones too.


Another of the interislander vessels Aratere in the Malborough Sounds, South Island, bound for Wellington

The small town of Picton is the northern terminus of the South Islands railway, these days largely a freight line but with the one each way ‘Tranzcoastal’ service from/ to Christchurch. The journey takes five hours and runs for 150km right alongside the Pacific coast. The NZ network being of narrow gauge of just over a metre limits the top speed on the line to 100kmph, but even so it certainly seems like you’re racing along - especially from the outdoor observation carriage - which of course has a roof to keep the NZ rain at bay. The coastal stretch was just fantastic - with the 2000m+ Kaikoura mountains inland coming right down to a narrow coastal plain with simply the railway line, the East coast road, the beach and then the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean. It passes one NZ’s largest colony of Fur Seals just N of Kaikoura town. Literally hundreds of seals hauled out on the rocks a few metres from the train. The line trundles along long expanses of black sand beaches and through numerous tunnels before heading inland across the Canterbury plains, from where you would see the Southern Alps (except it was dark by the time we crossed on Friday night), towards Christchurch - the largest city on South Island.


The outdoor observation carriage on the "Tranzcoastal"

Arriving in Christchurch I was greeted by lashing rain, so naturally decline the offer of a $5 dollar shuttle which would have dropped me at the hostel door to take a scenic 2km walk into the city - most satisfying! Arriving at the hostel rather drowned, I warmed up a bit before heading out to brave the rain again to find some food and a pub. Tried out the local beer (nothing special, and freezing cold for some strange reason - and it claims to be Ale!) and then got a curry. The morning shuttle to the station is free, by which time it had stopped raining, but I took it anyway to avoid awaking even earlier. Left Christchurch in the dark again at 0700 for the Northward trip on the ‘Tranzcoastal’. I also got my first view of the Southern Alps foothills. After chatting to the train manager about the awesomeness of Virgin Trains and all things transport, I managed to bag myself a ride in the cab of the diesel locomotive for the final 30mins of the journey to Picton which was really fun to get the drivers eye of the line.


Black sands and the Pacific Ocean, the snow capped Kaikoura mountains dip into the clouds in the background

It was rather wet in Picton, so rather than wait for my booked 1805 sailing I decided not to hang around and take the 1415 back to Wellington, It was a rainy and foggy voyage with no dolphins this time unfortunately - they must have been hiding from the wet...

Travels to the upside down world...

Our Air New Zealand B747-400 stands at the gate at Heathrow, ready for its 12 000 mile journey around the globe

As you may have guessed I have arrived in New Zealand, after nearly two days of crossing the globe! A really fantastic journey with Air New Zealand - enjoyed every minute of the 28 hour journey (in real time) which means two days after all the additions. Departed a cloudy and dark Heathrow onboard the B747-400 Monday night at about 2300 - unfortunately two hours late due to a passenger checking in but then not turning up at the gate - so his luggage had to be located in the hold and removed from the aircraft. Soon zipping Eastwards across the N Sea and then dinner over Poland. I think I must have fallen asleep over Belarus and most of Russia, as I missed Moscow. But dozed in and out of sleep over the sunlit Centre-East of the former USSR. Was fully awake again over the Gobi Desert, Mongolia, and they served our breakfast as we were cruising over mile after mile of green terraced hills, toffee brown rivers and rice paddy fields of China. Then it was time for touch down in Hong Kong for a two hour refuel/ clean, whilst a thunderstorm passed over. By the time we were airborne again, it was dark - a day having gone by in half the time it should have. Heading southbound over the S China sea we soon passed over the lights of the numerous islands of SE Asia, followed by a really clear and smooth crossing of the Equator. Next up was Eastern Australia which lasted for about 3 hours, so I slept again for most of this. Seeing the lights of Brisbane meant we were off the East coast and on the final 3 hour hop across the Tasman sea to Auckland, the first evidence of NZ was the sudden appearance on the horizon amidst a sea of low little white clouds, of the perfect white cone of Mt Taranaki.

It was a fine crisp, clear winters day in Auckland and so the hours flight down to Wellington, aboard one of Air NZ’s B737’s, was not surprisingly quite picturesque. Was sat on the western side of the plane so got awesome views of the snowcapped Mt Taranaki, the perfect volcanic cone out on the western peninsula of N Island.


Mt Taranaki framed by the wing of the B737

Touched down in Wellington at about 1430 on Wednesday 27 June. Made my way aboard the Stagecoach Flyer into Wellington City Centre and to the Hostel which goes by the name of Nomads, where I am spending the first few nights before I move into my accommodation.

Last 2 weeks in the land of fine Ale...

Mainly spent enjoying all things British and the like, and making the most of decent ale as I don’t expect to find such quality alcoholic produce in the Kiwi land. Took a trip to Exeter to visit Chris, this was cool - seeing the result of 24 hours of devising a film noir from scratch, and strolling round a rather damp but nice city centre.

Then I headed off to Snowdonia with Rowan on Tuesday 19 for a three day expedition through the Rhinogs. This is a really cool range in Southern Snowdonia, off the beaten track and away from the crowds of the North. Starting at Talsarnau we strolled over all of the 2000 footers that form the range with a night by a small Llyn on the way through. Second night was spent on a campsite at Fairbourne after completing the ridge on the second day. Really recommend these little chain “Y Rhinogydd” for those who speak Walisisch! Really rugged bolder strewn/ heather slopes at the northern end with deep corries, with a sudden change to rounded broad grassy slopes further south for the last bit to Barmouth.

After returning from this it was time for the final weekend in the UK during which I had a wonderful goodbye visit from many relatives and we took a family trip to Flat Holm (a small island in the Bristol Channel), where we enjoyed being dive bombed by nesting gulls.

And as for tomorrow it’s up to Heathrow, via a trip up to Paddington on First Great Western of course, and then on to the Airport on the Heathrow connect!
Next report: from a wintery island somewhere in the Southern Hemisphere!

Epic Rail Travels...

Following on from the previous post on the theme of baggin' but this time of quite a different type. Railway line baggin must be something of a Daf..ydd speciality as I can't really see it catching on much, but still, here is a description of my latest travels. Over the last two days have been out enjoying our fantastic British National Rail Network again, this time starting off on Monday with a quick nip up on the 0844 Voyager from Lancaster to a rather wet and miserable Edinburgh, after spending an hour there mainly in Waverly station it was time to head south down the East coast on GNER to York. On arrival the weather was somewhat improved, now nice and sunny. Couple of hours in the national railway museum followed by a sprint round York to find the York Brewery as recommended by JP, and 'reht good it were too - polished off a pint there before heading back to the station for the train to Derby. VXC down to Derby and then across to Beeston, just outside Nottingham where I settled for a few more pints and a fine meal at the Vic pub with Liz and Steve.

York, one of Britains' railway cities, GNER 91109 leaving with the down Newcastle express.

Tuesday the march southwards continued with midland mainline down to London St Pancras - a most exciting rail hub which will become the finest station in Europe if not the world in November this year when Eurostar moves north of the river with the opening of High Speed 1. Underground to Charing Cross, followed by southeastern through Kent to Dover. Spent a few hours strolling along the seafront and gazing from the top of the white cliffs at ferrys coming and going from Calais. Then time to begin the journey northwards to Lancaster. On the return I took the slightly longer route through East Kent to Victoria and then across to Euston ready for the home leg - and what is always my favourite part of any travels: the West Coast mainline aboard Virgin. I started on the Holyhead bound Voyager from Euston to Crewe, where I changed onto the following Carlisle bound Pendolino, arriving in Lancaster dead on at 2238.
All in all a great trip, on the move pretty much constantly for two days, saw plenty of places - just my cup of tea!

Dover's international port with the Seafrance Rodin arriving from Calais.

Langdale - last Lakeland trip...

What an awesome trip this was, in typical LUHC style. Good bit of climbing on Middlefell Butress with mouse, JP and Jamie on Friday in the sun, followed by a trip to the NDG. Saturday a rather hazy and humid day with an ascent of Scafel Pike along , back over the usual Esk Pike and Bowfell, down the band - the classic Langdale walk, thanks Graeme, Andy, Mince, Jim, Heiko for a good stroll. What can be said of Saturday nights festivities in the ODG? Well surely only one phrase can describe it...TOP STUFF!!! Which was followed most rightly by our fellow entertainer by"Where the f**k are you from?". After tales of 'lal Skidda' n 'elvellyn donning white winter caps we retired to the bridge just up the road from the ODG where festivities continued for a few hours, and of course checking JP was still stargazing every few minutes!!!
Sunday, notsurprisingly not much happened but was still a good day of hanging around on the campsite - literally as we practiced prusiking in a tree. Bus down to Ambleside for fesh and apple pies followed by a refreshing cruise back to Bowness along Windermere.
Awesome weekend, one I'll remember for quite a while, hope everyone else who went enjoyed it. Look forward to more adventures like these again soon.





Ahh - a nice comfortable seat. Mouse belaying on Middlefell Butress, JP below.

Last spot of Munro baggin' for a bit...

Have discovered the wonderful world of blog's and thought as I'll be out the country for a year this would be a good way to keep in touch with everyone back home, so here it is. Please feel free to browse when you have a few minutes.

Well anyway have just got back from a great trip to the West Highlands with Mouse and James, was totally amazing, with nice late spring snow lying on all the North faces. We were even met with a proper snow storm on the summit of Ben Nevis. Had 5 nights wild camping around Mamores, Glen Nevis and even 10 minutes from Fort William in the woods.





Here is our camp below Aonoch Beag, where we spent two nights.