AOTEAROA - NEW ZEALAND: December 2008

Thursday, 11 December 2008

THE WE(S)T COAST

Wanaka
Donnerstag, 11. Dez. 2008 19:25
S44 41.801 E169 07.917

Man nehme ein paar schroffe Berge und reichlich Regenwald, ein paar Schafe, eine Prise Gold, 3 Rinder und 4 Farmer und vermengt alles im einem Topf. Dazu mischt man ein paar Wekas*, streut 1000 Sandfliegen darüber (damit bitte nicht sparen) und schäumt alles mit viel Salzwasser auf. Wenn alles gut gemischt ist, ertränkt man diesen Brei mit der 10fachen Menge Regenwasser und bläst dreimal kräftig drüber. Und schon hat man vereinfacht eine kleine neuseeländische Westküste gezaubert. Bitte gekühlt servieren! Zimtkaffee und ein gutes Buch passen perfekt dazu.

Die Westküste hier war natürlich schon serviert und wir mussten sie nur noch genießen. Nur manchmal war dies nicht so einfach. Die Landschaft ist atemberaubend und mancherorts wild. Das Meer ist auch bei schönstem Wetter tosend und rau. Der Wind peitscht über die Wellen, strandnahe Bäume haben Fönfrisuren. Die Strände selbst sind ein Sammelsurium von unzähligem Treibholz. Glattpolierte Wurzeln oder ganze Bäume würden so manche Galerie bereichern. Flüsse und Bäche sind oft von Tannin rotbraun gefärbt, und dennoch erstaunlich klar. Zu einem Schauspiel kommt es an Flussmündungen. Bei steigender Flut drängt helles Salzwasser den Fluss zurück, fast fließt er jetzt rückwärts. Wie Öl und Wasser bleiben die beiden Flüssigkeiten getrennt oder kreieren umfließende Formen.

Zu Beginn wurden wir in heftigen Regenfällen ertränkt, an einem entlegenen Strand sogar regelrecht eingeschlossen. Einen Tag zuvor hatten wir einen winzigen Bach in einer Furt durchquert. Dieser schoss nun reißend und hüfthoch über den Weg. Mit Kaffee und Keksen verkriechen wir uns ein paar Tage im Auto und verschlingen Bücher. Wehe wenn sie ausgelesen. Oder man flechtet mal etwas zur Abwechslung. Neuseeländischer Flachs wächst fast überall. Mit einer Anleitung, 8 Stunden Zeit und ein paar Knoten in den Fingern kann man daraus wunderschöne Taschen zaubern. Der Regen scheint scheinbar nur die possierlichen Wekas nicht zu stören. Wie der Kiwi sind es fluglose Vögel mit einem übersteigerten, fast respektlosen Interesse an herumliegenden Camputensilien. Die anfängliche Scheu ist schnell überwunden und der kleine Zeh wird schnell mal mit einem dicken Wurm verwechselt. Ouch! Wehe man lässt den knallgelben Abwaschschwamm irgendwo liegen. Den kann man dann in den umliegenden Büschen suchen, wo sich auch die vermisste Seifendose wieder findet.

Der raue Wind bläst einen mancherorts fast weg, zum Glück auch den ständigen Schwarm gemeingefährlicher Sandfliegen. An geschützten Stellen stürzen sich Tausende dieser obstfliegengroßen, stechenden Plagegeister auf jedes Stück unbedeckte Haut und man wird schnell zum nervlichem Wrack. Manchmal suchen wir einfach nur das Weite, verfolgt und in die Flucht geschlagen. Im Auto hängen noch 50 damit man auch die Fahrt genießt. Sprays und Cremes helfen nur bedingt. Hände und Füße sehen aus als hätte man die Masern, und man könnte sich zu Tode kratzen.

Die riesigen Gletscher weiter südlich sind nicht schwer zu finden (einfach den ganzen Mietwagen hinterher, dort wo die Helikopter kreisen ;-). Schwieriger wird es wenn man seinen privaten, kleinen Goldrausch startet und sich mit Goldwaschpfanne und Spaten auf die Suche nach ein paar Nuggets macht. Der unermessliche Goldboom vergangener Zeiten ist längst vorbei, doch findet sich an einigen Ecken noch ein Hauch davon. Ein Local zeigt mir sogar, wie er im feinen Sand am Meer Goldkrümel wäscht. Vor Jahrtausenden haben es die Gletscher bis dorthin getragen. Nach Stürmen kann man den von der Brandung zermahlen Goldstaub am Stand finden. (Ich hab ihn noch nicht gefunden). Auch in Bächen und den eisigen Flüssen soll man noch Stücken finden (Da hab ich auch noch nichts gefunden – außer Sandfliegen – aber ich arbeite dran) Der Wert von ein paar Krümeln ist nicht zu verachten. Ein Teelöffel voll bringt über 1000 Dollar. Nun habe ich mich erst mal mit einer schicken Goldwaschpfanne ausgestattet und im Netz ein paar geologische Anfänger-Tutorials ergoogelt. ->link
Auf dem Weg nach Fjordland werden wir die nächsten Tage Otago durchqueren. Genannt auch: The Gold Country. Vielleicht hat man ja mal Glück. Es sind schon Stücken von 2,5 Kilo gefunden worden ;-)

pics: (1) rainforrest with tannin colored stream; (2) flooded road; (3) our windswept coastcamp near karamea; (4) endless beach near Haast (5) franz josef glacier; (6) the weka; (7) southern alps including Mt.Cook from Gillespies beach lagoon

**hehe, hab gerade gesehen dass wir bei google maps verewigt worden. Geht mal auf http://maps.google.com und gebt S36 50.800 E174 46.313 ein. Bei "street view" gibts die street cam vom google mobil. Steht unser Auto vor der alten Wohnung ;-) **

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U-TURN

There’s a road where all rental cars are prohibited and travelguides explicit warn you to drive it. Happy to get away from the crowds it was the perfect choice for us. Following the gold rush past decades, we’re driving the skippers canyon road – a winding, single lane dirt road at high altitude. Deep cliffs and narrow passages. Oncoming traffic is an adventure.
We spend some days in the ghost town “skippers” and admire the harsh live the people here once had. It’s awesome and scary to see, how greed transforms the land. The whole canyon is digged up and everywhere are remains of rusty machinery.
I try my luck with a bit panning and even find some bits and pieces. Maybe you need this experience to understand the old gold rush – I spend all day digging trough the creekbed.

The grassy slopes are full of hares and rabbits. I got some with the rifle and we enjoy a tasty, but chewy dinner.

FJORDLAND

This vast chunk of wilderness is a world of its own. Deep fjords, misty mountains and lots of rain. It’s a grand spectacle to see hundreds of waterfalls pouring down the steep cliffs.
We had big intensions to explore this largely inaccessible national park, but we left it mostlyby intensions. The few beautiful tracks to access the park are regulated with a strict booking system. High transport costs to and from the trackends and some exaggerate luxurious backcountry “huts” is not really our thing. Up to 45 $ a night just to be alone in the wild with 20 other hut guests. Even the car eats money for some save parking area to be locked away from break-ins and vandalism. Some more remote an challenging tracks are closed because of flooding. All together a bit disappointing. A own small powerboat would be the best way to go.

Nevertheless, the landscape is breathtaking.
We camp some days with heavy rain at the touristy Milford Sound. The rain temporarily wash’s away the millions of sandflies. After two day the weather surprises us with sun and perfect blue sky. We pack the kayak and paddle for hours along the fjord. Dolphins and Seals are only meters away.

A small highlight are the Kea’s on the car park. They are clever and extreme kleptomaniacs. You could watch them for hours tyrannizing cars and visitors. Leave your doors open and 5 min later your doorseals are gone. The wiper blades are also of main interest as antennas and the windscreen rubbers. We hear stories from incautious hut guests standing in front of the
remains of their walking boots next morning – some stripes of leather and pieces of shoe laces. They also pull the loose nails from hut roofs and steal your sandwiches.

CHRISTMAS IMPROVISATIONS

Christmas on the road is a bit different. We spend it at a nice campsite on a crystal clear lake in Fjordland. A small beech-tree gets fashioned with plaited flax. Stars and elks and
fish and plait-accidents. We wrap the last goodies we have in stock and unwrap them later. –easy
We have some drinks on the cracking fire, self smoked eel and the best view ever.
The self made sailboat works well and I sped some time cruising on the lake ;-)

Reaching the south coast, we leave Fjordland behind. Windswept beaches full with Fur Seals and driftwood are a common thing to see. The rocks are full with kelp plants pounded by the heavy surf. Mussels and delicious Paua growing everywhere in between ans we spend the days here till New Year before heading direction Dunedin.
Reaching the bottom of the south island is a bit the turning point for our journey. With lots of detours we’re heading back direction Auckland now for selling the car and other stuff. It
gets time to organize the “coming home”. Nobody knows if we still like it over there, but the first time will be like on holiday in another country…

THE WE(S)T COAST
Throw some rugged mountains and some rainforest in a pot, add some sheep, a couple of farmers, some small towns and some cattle. Don’t forget a pinch of gold, foam everything up with a good portion of saltwater and sprinkle heaps of sandflies over it. Now you drench the whole mix with a good portion of rainwater and blow over it as strong as you can. That should give you a good little westcoast ready to enjoy. Serve chilled with some hot coffee…

We made it all down the coast from the very top with its palms to the icy glaciers and snow covered mountains of the south. On the way we got a good wash with heavy rainfall, which even trapped us once. Within hours the small creeks turn to muddy streams who no one dares to cross.
The places are sometimes kind of wild here, with deep forested mountains, rough beaches full of driftwood and clear streams colored with tannin. The sea is almost every time rough, but at least the sandflies get blown away. At some more sheltered places they drive u mad, thousands of them almost eating you. Some places are nice to stay, but the flies make u run.
You look like you got the measles and everything is itchy.

We had a good time in and around the car with coffe, books and cookies. Waiting the rain to pass by. The Flax all around makes some good baskets. With a guidebook and 8 hous time you finally get your little flaxbag.
Funny creatures are the wekas, some flightless birds like the kiwi. They get spoiled fast and sneak around the camp, trying to steal everything that looks interesting.
With better weather we made some kayak trips and some nice walking tracks, enjoying the fantastic landscapes the westcoast has to offer.

I bought a gold pan with the hope to find some of this treasure. The Gold rush is long ago and not much is left. But a local even shows me how to pan for gold on the beach. The glaciers placed the gold there thousands of yeas ago, and with a good storm shaking the sea u may find some in beach sands. There are even some nuggets left in the streams, waiting to be discovered by me ;-) Had no luck until now, but lets give it a try. You never know..

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THE WAY SOUTH
We’re back from Northland and made our way south through the thermal areas around Rotorua. There’s an abundance of steaming pools and boiling mud all around and the air sometimes gets a not of fouling eggs. It’s a spectacle to see and no wonder: it’s a big market too. The attractions sometimes get a little bit overrun, whole loads of coaches are emptied at some thermal areas. Nothing for us. We search for our own thermal spot and found it at kerosene creek. A bath tub warm stream which makes a good bath.

Arriving in Taupo, we got rewarded with perfect weather. Perfect to jump. Within some hours we find ourselves in a light plane, climbing steadily over the 12.000 feet mark. People up here are kind of mad, half of it made even a job out of it. The town underneath gets smaller, snow covered mountains on the horizon and the deep blue Lake Taupo right under us. There is some fear behind the smiling in some faces. Say hello to your live support for the next minute or so. You put on your little leather cappie and those funny plastic goggles u got when they geared u up. Head back, smile for the last shot and out you go. Arms open, the last glimpse of the plane which leaves your sight, free fall..
What a feeling, no words to describe. Its a new element. A minute until the chute opens and slowly you get back to earth.

After all this fun up thee we tried the other direction some k’s further on. Caving. Nicole made two guided caving trips which I missed out. Can’t afford everything with these kind of long travel. While Nicole’s crawling through dark gaps somewhere down there, I crawl through the paddocks above hunting some rabbits for tea with the new rifle. The scope needs some more adjustment and it’s not that easy as I thought. We end up with noodles ad tomato sauce. All this caving sounds really good, so we start a not so commercial trip together with a guide. It gets the ultimate adventure. We climb trough the darkness, crawling trough smallest gaps and cracks, abseil waterfalls or swim along the icy gorges down there. It gets even more adventurous when the guide tells us at the deepest point to find our way back up alone just go upstream. He stays somewhere behind and we stop only once when it seemed to be now way further. The underwater creek disappears in some little hole. The guide comes back in sight just to tell us: this is the way. Hold your breath. …we made it.

Tongario National Park was one of the next highlights. To some better known as “Mordor” and Mt. Doom. While waiting for better weather to tramp the alpine tracks I’ve tried some whitewater grade I-III with our little kayak. It’s a double sit on top and not really made for these waters. It got a scary horror ride, but I had heaps fun. Sometimes the rapids throw you down backwards and I ended up in the icy flow a couple of times.
Now it was time to hit the mountains. The track was first pretty crowded, but it went to almost zero with the climb of Mt. Nangaruhoe. (Mt. Doom) The steep gradient made this an exhausting and challenging side trip, but the view from top was more then rewarding.

AOTEAROA - NEW ZEALAND

Thursday, 11 December 2008

THE WE(S)T COAST

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