There is a cleanness to the air found in mountains; a fresh taste. This freshness can bring both the snows that cover the peaks and the rains that obscure them. Rains turn to fogs and clouds, so that the vistas to been seen from the peeks can only be momentarily glimpsed. Their elevation has drawn many men to seek the highest vantage points.
I have always loved mountains. Either looking up to their framing of the valleys below or being able to stand on their summits and view the distant vistas they offer. New Zealand has offered some of the most amazing mountains I have seen outside the ski fields of Europe and I share with you now some of those discoveries here.
North Island - Mount Tongariro
Mount Tongariro is actually an entire volcanic complex and World Heritage site. It is located 10 miles southwest of Taupo, and comprised of three active volcanoes dominating the landscape of the central North Island. We first saw the complex from the van on our arrival at lake Taupo. Its snow caped peeks were visible in the far distance over the lake above the shoreline. The park itself is roughly split into two parts. The main mountain town of Whakapapa is half way into the mountains and the base of the ski fields that sit atop its leading road. It has all levels of accommodation and comfort but we made tracks straight for the DOC campsite that sits between the road and a river. The average DOC site is a simple affair, but this one was much more. It had hot water – one of the few! – powered sites, a laundrette and a shop. All unlikely findings in a DOC camp. It also had one of the greatest views in the world.
The majesty of the Cape was long lived in our minds, but we had to move on eventually. We climbed back into The Mammoth and headed back down the coast towards Hokianga Harbour, which marks the lower end point of 90 Mile Beach and the start of the Kauri Coast.
The journey down took the best part of the day and it was getting dark and raining hard by the time we got to the road leading to the Kohu Kohu ferry. As we drove down the access road I heard the sound I had been dreading; the sound of a flat tire. We managed to limp onto the jetty and look at the time table. A ferry was due in 5 minutes – no way to change the tire by then – and the last of the day was due 20 minutes later.
The ferry did arrive and the crew offered their apologies but insisted that we must change the tire before boarding. I could hear a slight chuckle in their voices and they whistled and shook their heads.
Thus we had our challenge: could we change it before their return?
A short fun film highlighting our trip to Australia, showing some of the fantastic things we saw in this wonderful country. A tribute to the nation before we move on to New Zealand…
Kangaroo Island is my favourite place out of the whole of Australia. That this holds true after our experience of WWOOFing here just goes to show that the beauty of this island is unsurpassed by anything else OZ has to offer, and that, on the other hand, our experience wasn’t really as bad as all that.
WWOOF stands for Willing Workers On Organic Farms and is a way of getting around the fact that one may not have a work visa. The nature of the whole enterprise is “exchange“, where the “willing” “exchange” their “work” for free board and food. That is a lot of high concepts for WWOOF to hold up, so perhaps it is better to say that while WWOOFers aren’t supposed to have any specific skills they are also not supposed to use their host for free accommodation. Freeloading, the WWOOFing guide says, is not in the spirit of the adventure. To become a WWOOFer one simply purchases a membership book for AUS$25, which acts as membership card, list of hosts in that country and a set of guidelines for the scheme.
The main guideline is simple. Half a days work for a full days board.
Exhausted and disheveled was how we arrived here. A night on the Greyhound makes hostels into hotels! We were dropped off in town, despite requesting a drop off closer to our new digs, our driver said “it was not possible to stop near there”. So our heavily-laden walk down the beautiful, but long beach to Belongil Beachouse was not particularly welcome. The hostel sign outside was pleasing to my designer’s eye and James’ love of Helvetica. Our room was not ready so we stored our rucksacks and crashed out in the next door cafe over a capp. and flat white. I played with AV (aperture) and TV (shutter speed) to develop my depth-of-field technique with James as my muse. Tired of sitting we ventured into town, a 20 minute walk and discovered Mokha a really lovely cafe that had free wireless with your refreshments. The menu was eggs through and through, from omelette to scrambled and beyond, all delicious and with really good banana smoothies too.
I am working hard on the next one and have something a little special in mind from then on. I love creating them and hope to show some vastly improved technique over the coming months! I have some simply amazing footage of Kangaroo Island coming up and a special film about Uluru!
Anyway, with apologetic smiles for some of the camerawork, here is Blue Mountains / Hunter Valley!
KatanaDave: I remember the very first training session I had on martial arts when we were asked to do warm-up exercises just like the ones on the video. I...
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wincent: Hey when you get the opportunity, you should also visit the other singapore tourist attractions . What you have visited might have been good, but...
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