Tramping Mount Fyfe in the Seaward Kaikoura Range

Hiking north from the summit of Mount Fyfe

We have been enjoying a couple of camping-free days visiting with our new friends, Ralph and Ali, who emigrated from the US to New Zealand and now live in the little coastal town of Kaikoura. We were introduced to this couple by Kurt and Nancy from S/V Raven whom we sailed with in Mexico and Canada. Ralph reminded us immediately of Kurt - both men are social and environmental activists and an evening in the company of either man is invigorating because they both challenge one's views on so many issues. Rani and Ali hit it off immediately and both our hosts made us feel completely welcome. They have a lovely home on a knoll looking out over the mountains and sea. The back yard has been transformed into a richly productive garden and we had the most diverse meal last night almost entirely from their own vegetables.

Our hosts in Kaikoura - this view is from a lookout a few minutes walk from their house.

Yesterday we left our comfortable base to climb Mount Fyfe. A inversion layer had formed over the town and surrounding valley and a bank of fluffy white low-hanging cloud was scudding across the base of the Kaikoura mountains. We decided to go for the hike anyway, despite the risk of zero visibility at the top, and were rewarded by spectacular views when we climbed out of the cloud about half an hour up the trail.

Rani hiking up out of the clouds

The trail soon gave us stunning views on either side.

The hike runs up a well maintained 4WD road and is a bit of a grind for the first half hour, but then opens up onto a series of ridges. To the east, the low clouds gave the illusion that we were flying far above the earth, but to the west the land dropped away and rose and fell in a series of ridges leading to the 2000 meter peaks of the Seaward Kaikoura Range.

Rani re-adjusting the fit of her brand new hiking boots.

Rani had decided to break in a pair of new leather boots on this walk, but had left her good hiking socks in the UK. The pair of socks borrowed from me were too slippery and she was soon suffering from chafe. I gave her my socks so she could create more padding and with two layers and some tissue paper, she was able to make things comfortable enough to continue to the hut.

Ryan snapped this shot for us at the hut.

We met Ryan - a Newfoundlander from the Corner Brook area - at the hut and we all decided to push on for the summit after a rest to eat lunch and refill water bottles at the hut's cistern. Ryan proved to be an enjoyable companion and we had a good chat en route to the summit (still following an increasingly rough 4WD track) and then beyond along a series of ridges that gave stunning views down into a valley of clouds on one side and across to the main Seaward Range on the other. Ryan is working and travelling in NZ for 7 months and has a well written blog that you can read here.

Ryan and Rani with a backdrop of the Seaward Kaikouras

Perched like two seals on a rock high above the Kaikouras

View looking north toward the trail that continues along this ridge and then drops back to the south and down to the next hut (part of a 3 day traverse)

Rani points out the route, which is marked by poles and cairns.

A bouquet-like cluster of blossoms near the summit plateau.

The descent was easy and we returned in time for a late supper with our hosts. I would rate this tramp as a real bargain in terms of views for effort, at least on a nice sunny, windless day like the one we enjoyed. Return time was 7 hours including dealing with hiking boot issues, a generous lunch stop, and about an hour spent exploring beyond the summit.

A few more photos from our car camping trip in New Zealand. The first few are from an area called Craters of the Moon, which is full of steam vents and mud pools caused by geothermal activity. The remainder were shot in Napier, famous for its Art Deco buildings. Napier was flattened by an earthquake and rebuilt beginning in 1931.

Chris and Mike (from 'Chapter 2') being naughty

This whole area is active - especially since the geothermal plant down the road began to siphon off water, increasing the steam produced in this location.

Rani enjoys a steam bath

Napier store front

Classic cars and dress are part of Art Deco Days, which were slated to begin in a few days.

Another Art Deco commercial frontage

The Anglican cathedral. Built, like most of Napier, after an earthquake flattened the old town.

Lilies in the fountain at a park in Napier

Even the cathedral stained glass exhibits Art Deco motifs

Climbing Mount Doom re-post with better pics

We hiked the open half of the Tongariro crossing a few days ago and put in a side trip up Mount Ngauruhoe, which was used as Mount Doom in some scenes from Lord of the Rings. It was Rani's dream to do this hike since her last backpacking trip to New Zealand in 1997. We were fortunate with the weather as the sunshine and blue sky added to the enjoyment.

Near the start of the Tongariro crossing hike.

Starting up the scree field of Mount Ngauruhoe (aka Mount Doom)

View across the scree field back towards the red crater

Rani and Chris at the crater summit

Rani climbing up beside the scree field

Rani and David (an Irish hiker we met on this climb) at the plateau below the crater 

Crater view

Another crater view

Chris and David head back down

I think this is the actual summit - above the crater.

Rani screes downhill

Back down again - the scree field is the area to the right with the light 'scree runs'

Continuing to the Emerald Lakes lookoff

Lunch break over-looking Emerald Lakes

Heading down for a better view of the lakes

Red Crater with Mount Doom behind

Mount Ngauruhoe is always present on this hike

We climbed that!

Crossing a 1975 lava flow on the way back

Did I mention that we climbed that?!

Pictures from Whangarei area

We have access to wifi today at the library, so I am posting a few pics from the last couple of weeks:

We found some time to hike near Whangerei Heads. This is a view from Mount Manaia.

Rob and Chris working on the deck at McLeods Bay

Jo and Rob - our friends off 'Blue Moon' enjoy a break on what will be the first floor of their new house

I am not actually allowed to start the new mower at Homeport because I was instrumental  in ending the old mower's life.

Avocados at an avacado farm

Roz and Holger at their off-the-grid home

My favourite window at Homeport -all the windows were hand made by Holger, including the stained glass work

Holger helps me replace the gutter after I pulled it down - I have been  very helpful around the house...

Rani talks to Roz from the patio at Homeport. The kitchen is built almost entirely from  native macrocarpa.

Holger in the 'music room'

Peter and Jan are excellent folk musicians and organizers of a New Zealand folk festival.

Pleasant days in Whangarei

We have been spending the last couple of weeks preparing for a car camping trip around New Zealand and arranging our spring flights home. Our cruising friend's from 'Blue Moon', Rob & Jo, have graciously allowed us to use their home and internet connection for this. Jo has a busy work schedule teaching yoga and doing personal training and Rob has been flat out building their new house/health retreat, so unfortunately, we have had only a few evenings together during this time.

Rob has been working on a large wrap-around deck on the new house. He is very experienced and manages to do virtually all of the building on his own, using cunning rather than brute strength, for example, to move into place the heavy beams that are required by the local building code. On a few occasions I have lent him an extra pair of hands and enjoyed working with someone who is so competent. Rob also helped me bring our rusty anchor chain into Whangarei to be re-galvanized. New chain is very expensive and most of it now comes from China and is of doubtful quality (several boats have had chain failures with the Chinese chain links parting). Galvanizing costs about $3 NZ per kilo and re-galvanizing our 200 feet of chain will probably set us back between 300 and 400 NZ dollars.

We have also enjoyed visiting Homeport - the off the grid farm where our friends Holger and Roz live. They have gone back to work now out of Russell, about 2 hours drive north of here. They live on their boat on a mooring near Russell and go to work as painters on various jobs in the area. We spent the weekend with them and they kindly allowed us to spend a couple of days here on our own getting ready for our trip. The weekend was packed with music and good food. Holger is an excellent electric guitarist and played several original compositions for us. Holger and Roz's friends, Jan and Peter, dropped by bringing their guitar and mandolin. They are accomplished folk musicians and we had fun jamming with them and listening to their beautifully harmonized singing. As I mentioned in an earlier post, this is a truly lovely place and being here makes us yearn for a more settled life. Maybe we will build our own Homeport some day in Canada.

Rani bus'd her way into Auckland a couple of days ago and returned with a Nissan 'Sunny' - a nice little sedan that will be our magic carpet for the next 6 weeks. We plan to spend about 10 days on the North Island and will then take the ferry across Cook Strait to the South Island where we will travel for 3-4 weeks. We are basing the trip mainly around hikes as well as a few days in Napier (famous for Art Deco architecture) and Christchurch. More on this when we are on the road.