My adventurous stay in Aotearoa

As I have already mentioned to some of you, there was a German film crew (RTL) on the Kaituna 8B1 block, shooting a documentation about emigrants from Germany. Through his tourism company, Des (my host) got involved into this project: his job was to bring the crew and the German woman to a spot on the beach where they could pick some “pippies” – special nz mussels. In order to combine this job with a promotion of Kaituna 8B1 on TV, he brought them to our block. I am sure this was a good decision: the many sand dunes as well as the long and lonely beachside must have been a great scenery for the documentation. The only unfortunate thing was the fact that – in contrast to Des’es opinion - there were no pippies there. Maybe we should have stacked to our intention and checked the beach for some mussles before we went there…
The emigration series were supposed to be broadcasted on TV, starting on June, so don’t be suspicious in case you see us and the block…

Lake Waikaremoana is the name of a lake in New Zealand’s biggest natural rainforest – the TE UREWERA National Park.

Inspired by the first time that I’ve been there (while travelling with my father), I decided to inform myself about this lake and its quite famous Great Walk. Therefore you get different maps and brochures at the DOC – Department of Conservation offices - they are responsible for the maintenance of most walks and huts in NZ.

After some initial problems (which changed the planned travel date about 4 times), there finally was a small group of interested hikers that agreed on the Easter weekend to be a good time to do the track – though spending the nights in tents wasn’t considered very comfortable as the temperatures had already decreased qite a bit. We were 5 ICYE volunteers – Céline à Cé(France), Mie (Denmark), Riikka (Finland), Minsik (South Korea; has done the Tongariro Crossing in gumboots) and myself, planning to meet in Onepoto, a tiny little village in the middle of the 212700 hectare park at the eastern end of the lake -Friday afternoon 5 pm.

While four of us came by car from the Western side, Minsik had to take the Eastern entry as he started from Napier (by himself). Just before sunset, after a very long drive on gravel road we eventually arrived at the meeting point – two hours delay.

Despite this delay and despite the fact that Minsik had planned to leave Napier at 6 in the morning to cover the 160 ks, he had not been there yet. This did not surprise us, considering the fact that he only used two wheels to get there… Probably the craziest decision he made during this year and which he must have regretted during his ride; however, what can you do without a car, no bus and no one else coming with you? Well, not everyone, being in this situation would decide to stay at home. Minsik had found a little children’s bike at his school, had put his stuff on the carrier and out he went!!

Not knowing what was going on with him, where he was, whether he was still on his way and whether he had carried a tent with him, we were not able to enjoy our (actually pretty nice) dinner - Spaghetti with tomato sauce. A young couple that sat in their caravan next to us claimed that they had seen Minsik twice during the day (approx. 60 ks away), hence why Cé and I decided to drive down the road he was supposed to come up. The windows cranked down, we were screaming all way through, waking up the whole forest, except Minsik whom we could not find.

On the next morning we therefore had to start another searching campaign: standing next to the road we stopped every single car that passed, asked them about Minsik and gave instructions, what to do in case they would see him. It was around 11 am when an old man in his motor home finally reported our missing mate. That were great news for us – knowing that he was ‘alive’ and that the trip could begin! It was a laugh seeing him on his small bike when I picked him up, about 5 ks away from the meeting point. Being in a very good physical condition is probably not enough to put such an idea into action. Good on you Minsik – this was a highly respectable performance!

After a happy welcoming, a lot of acknowledgement and a short breakfast we finally started the walk around noon.

It was a beautiful day in an exquisite environment, seeing the blue/green water of the lake and its numerous bays. The densely growing bushes, the high trees with all the different pasasides growing on them and the many streems created a very special, relaxing athmosphere.

Everyone was quite tired though when we arrived at the Waiopaoa DOC hut, after having covered the first 17ks. Many steep parts at the beginning and the fact that we had to carry all the equipment on our shoulders had made the occasion quite exhausting. However, all of us were enthusiastic about the beautiful hut, its big campground and toilets. The only unfortunate thing was that we were not allowed to stay there – without any hut passes. We therefore found our own camping area – next to the hut, behind a little hill and right on the beach front. Together we managed to prepare a very tasty vegetable soup that we could enjoy next to a nice warm fire. There was a lot to talk about, even after everyone had gone to bed - too much for Cé, who complained the next day about the "annoying" noice that came from the neighbouring tent...

Smile, please...

Walking on the track - ponds, high grass and suspension briged were only a few of the many obstacles ;)..

Well placed in a row; we all hoped that our wild camping would not be spotted..

Cé - enjoying the fire (by her own)..

Here you can have a closer look on the special meal of this trip: the "Easter pot" - a mixture of everything we found in our backpacks^^ There was nothing wrong with that, aye?

This track was definitely a GREAT WALK, awesome trip with many funny moments, a very nice atmosphere and good teamwork – probably the best trip I`ve done here in NZ!!

Cheers mates