No Trekking Allowed!

January 25, 2014

Another black sand beach looking out to the Tasman Sea

 

A 100 year old tunnel dug into the cliff side.  They used to bring the cattle down the coast and through the tunnel.

Absolutely no trekking and definitely no hiking allowed.  In this country, it’s all about tramping.  So I guess you could call us a couple of tramps now. 

Which I suppose is quite suiting since we are living in a van, which I guess is one step away from living in a cardboard box.  It has been a slippery slope for us – having gone from living in an apartment in Istanbul and one in Tehran to living on a 44-foot sailing yacht to now living in a minivan.  I used to say we were within arms reach on the boat but now in the van, well it’s just that much cozier. 

We are quickly getting used to the Kiwi lingo where a sweater is called a jersey, an SUV is called a ‘ute’ and a cooler is called a chilly bin or an eski.  And we either go for a walk or if it’s more than 2 hours it qualifies as a tramp. 

Taranaki & Whanganui

The last couple of days, we have been making our way South, heading towards New Plymouth.  You would almost think we were in Great Britain with these names.  Or Ontario even, as we have come across towns called Raglan, Stratford, Hamilton and Dunedin.  The British have certainly left their prints here, but the Maori are slowly changing things back to their original names.  We have made it to Maunga Taranaki, or as the British called it Mount Egmont.  Taranaki sounds so much more impressive though, and this mountain comes with its own legend. 

Anyhow, along the coast we stopped at another beautiful black sand beach, took a hike out to the “Three Sisters” which are now two because one collapsed but it looks like a third is forming again, hiked along the Whitecliff Walkway and stopped in at Mike’s Brewery to test a little organic beer.  We bought a coffee flavoured beer (still to be tested) and tried some of their pale ales.  All very tasty and tempting to sit and sip a few more. 

The Three Sisters

View from the Whitecliffe Walk

Curious sheep

The local brew house and it's latest production.

We arrived to Taranaki and prepared for our first big hike of the season.  Sorry, I mean tramp!  It’s a good thing we brought along some decent hiking shoes this time.  Our hikes in South America were done in running shoes and trekking sandals.  Not ideal for those long tramps. 

We started with the Enchanted Track which met up with a couple of other tracks; passed through what is called the goblin forest, some beautiful ancient lower alpine forests; stopped at some spectacular view points; crossed many small wooden bridges and a long swing bridge; not to mention the thousands (okay, maybe hundreds) of steps up and down for a total tramp of about 3 ½ hours.  We arrived back to the car a little tired but feeling quite pleased with ourselves for having managed such a long hike in less time than the signposts indicated it would.  Not so bad for a couple of tramps!

Mount Taranaki - 2518 meters

We climbed up as high as 1141 meters.