So we’re back at Tongariro National Park. And again, the weather is shit. This just really really really bothers me. When we were here last time, over two months ago, the weather forecast showed nothing good for the next few days, and today’s the third day in a row we’re doing absolutely nothing here because the weather’s just too bad to go out there. Two days ago; dense fog. Yesterday; drizzle and fog. Today; dense clouds starting at about 1000m (you are walking above that so it’s the same as walking in dense fog). Tomorrow; showers. The day after tomorrow; heavy rain and thunderstorms. Can you &*^@%&$&* believe that? Well, we’re off to sunny Napier once again anyway, so screw them nice crater lakes and volcanic pits and all.
Monthly Archive for January, 2007
Two days ago we did a Glowworm Tour in Waitomo. Glowworms are not actually worms but are the larvae of the Fungus Gnat, a creature looking somewhat like a large mosquito but without the mouth pieces. The glowworm lives in caves, where it spins spider-like threads and emits a faint blueish light. Insects that have strayed into the caves are attracted by this light, get stuck in the threads and *munch* *munch* *munch*…
This might sound kind of groce but it was actually the most stunning thing I have ever seen. The tour starts off with the group putting on helmets equipped with torches, and then walking into the cave. A good few meters in, all lights are switched off, and you are in total darkness. You can’t see anything at all. Nothing. The guide then lights the torch again, and we set off to the boat. In this dimmed light, your eyes already adjust somewhat to the darkness, and once in the boat, with all lights dimmed, you can suddenly see the lights above your head: thousands and thousands of small, blueish lights a few feet above. The longer you spend in the boat, the more you begin to see. At first, the lights itself were the only visible things, but later on you can discern the boat, and the people around you, and the sides of the cave you are in.
Since the light that the glowworms emit is really dim, it’s virtually impossible to make photo’s of them without a tripod: even a ISO 1600, f3.5 and a shutter of 30 seconds, they were only faintly visible, and a bit blurred 
Our tour operator has a small photo gallery though, and I’ve posted two of the photo’s below. Visit their gallery for more photo’s and bigger versions.
The past week has been a busy one. We’ve been whale watching in Kaikoura, kayaking in the Abel Tasman, celebrated Nienke’s 19th birthday, drove a total of 800km and now took a three hour ferry ride back to the North Island. Some photo’s of our last week here have been uploaded in the gallery.
We’ve also planned ahead for the rest of this month. We’re going to follow the west coast for a bit, to take in Mt. Egmont. From there we’ll head north to Waitomo’s Glowworm caves (actually the larvae of a creature that lives only three days after it has coccooned since it has no mouth). After that we’re headed for the National Park in the centre to walk the Tongariro Crossing, and then, somewhere around the 27th, we’re off to Napier once again.
First off, we’re picking up the pace, no more slacking around. You might think that stopping and taking a breath allows you to value what you see and have seen, but that’s only true to some extent. If you stop too long, you’re only going to be more aware of what you’re not having that you would be having at home. So we’ve left Dunedin, went to Oamaru and then to Mt. Cook, where we are now. We’ve also decided when we’re gonna leave the South Island and head back up north, namely January 15. On that day, we’ll take the Interislander from Picton to Wellington. It’s gonna be a hassle with the car, but hey…
Furthermore, I’ve added 14 photo’s of the last four days. It’s amazing what you can do in such a short period: we’ve been to a chocolate factory, made a train journey in coaches from the 1920′s, seen the university and the steepest street in the world, spotted numerous fur seals, walked on hughe spherical boulders and tried to convince ourselfs that those black dots were really penguins. As opposed to doing nothing noteworthy the four days before that. Or the four before that, for that matter. See? That’s what I was talking about.
Dunedin heeft een bevolking van ongeveer 130.000, waarvan bijna 29.000 studenten, en is daarmee de vijfde stad van Nieuw Zeeland. De ideale plek om oud en nieuw te vieren, dachten wij. ‘s Avonds begaven wij ons naar de Octagon, het achthoekige plein in het centrum van Dunedin dat door de Lonely Planet wordt beschreven als “the hub of activity in Dunedin” – en de ‘hub of activity’, daar moet in een stad met 29.000 studenten wel wat te doen zijn, dachten wij. Ter vergelijking: in Amsterdam schommelt het aantal studenten rond de 32.000 (bron).
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Het begon zo goed: al dagen van te voren was begonnen met de bouw van een podium, we hadden oliebollen gebakken (je denkt toch niet serieus dat je in een land waar de enige ronde kaas “La Vache qui Rit” is – dat hier overigens “The laughing Cow” heet – oliebollen kunt kopen?), bowl gemaakt en Scrabble gespeelt (…). Enfin, we begaven ons rond half twaalf naar de Octagon, en het lawaai nam toe naarmate wij dichterbij kwamen. In een straal van ongeveer 250 meter gold er echter een alcoholverbod. Geen knallende Champagne dus. Eenmaal bij het podium aangekomen bleek dat de acts bestonden uit nummers van Bruce Springsteen en Michael Jackson, gecovered door lokale zangers en zangeressen (niveau Idols derde ronde).Het aftellen begon: 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. … Opeens horen we een bekend geluid: het pssssscht van kruit dat ontploft. We draaien ons om, en zien één (1) Romeinse kaars lichtkogels afschieten, twee meter de lucht in. De Octagon juichte en joelde, en wij lagen slap van de lach. Even later gingen er nog twee of drie conventionele pijlen de lucht in, en iedereen ooohde en aaahde. Wij sloten ons aan bij drie kleine meisjes die de polonaise begonnen waren en baanden ons zo een weg door de starre mensenmassa, weg van de Octagon.
Met weemoed dacht ik terug aan de Amsterdamse Grachten, waar de oliebollen gretig geconsumeerd werden, waar de drank rijkelijk vloeide, waar vuurwerk de straten nog uren zou blokkeren en de lucht zou kleuren…
