National Park (aka Megan’s Day of Pain)

Along we continued, heading south through the North Island towards National Park.  One of the primary features in National Park is Mt Ruapehu – otherwise known as that volcano that Peter Jackson used for Mount Doom.  One of New Zealand’s best day hikes is the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, a 19.6km odyssey, up and over the pass in between the two volcanoes (the very ambitious can summit the volcanoes – I am not one of the very ambitious) but I had been toying with the idea of doing the crossing.  It seemed like the thing to do when you’re in New Zealand.

Mount Doom - the day before.  It doesn't look that big does it??  The pass that I hiked is to the left.

Smiling now - but inside I'm thinking "What have I signed up for??"

The day started early – the shuttle bus to the crossing left at 7:00am.  Already I’m thinking “what have I gotten myself into”.  Luckily on the Magic Bus I’d met people who had also chosen to complete the walk, so at least I’d have people to walk with.  The hike started off easy enough – a couple of kilometres on relatively flat terrain.  But then we got to the stairs (which the shuttle driver had helpfully pointed out that the locals refer to these as the Devil’s Stairs).  Midway up, we had to stop for a snack break, and to take pictures of the amazing vista.  At the top of the stairs, you hit the South Crater, which is beautiful, and desolate.

Yeah - we all look happy now.

Looking back towards the car park about 1km in - can you see the path?

The start of the stairs.  Ugh, the stairs.

Looking back over how far we've come.

Glo gets in on the action.

I'm smiling because I think the worst is over.  Hah - little did I know.

Inside the crater.

Looking back across the crater.  I'm feeling pretty proud now.

It was then time for another incline – what I like to refer to as the Devil’s Sick Joke.  It wasn’t so much a walk up a hill as a hands-on-the-ground scramble up and over boulders on the side of a mountain.  But then you got to the top and saw the Red Crater.  The terror starts to fade in the face of beauty.

Doesn't look too bad - does it?  That's part of the sick joke.

Mount DOOOM!!

See - sick joke.

The Red Crater

One more little ascent to go, and then begins the descent, down towards the Emerald Lakes.  I can’t even describe what it was like to see the lakes.  But I can describe the descent down to them – terrifying.  You walk/slide/fall down the side of a mountain on loose volcanic scree – think gravel, but looser, and it hurts more when you fall on it.  And you have to empty your boots when you get to the bottom.

The Skree Slope.

Jenny, Diane & I.

This begins the long descent back to the carpark, where the shuttle picks you up at the end of the walk.  It’s brilliant, up until the last 3km.  I don’t know what it was, but at the 16.5km mark, I hit a wall.  I’d walked far enough, my blisters were starting to get blisters, and all I wanted was for the walk to be done.  But the sense of accomplishment when I walked into the carpark was immense.  Although I do maintain that there should be a congratulatory sign at the end at the very least.  Although we did treat ourselves to Nachos, Cake and Wine that night.

Looking back!

Off t New Zealand

With New Zealand being so close to Australia (only a 3 hour flight) there was no question in my mind that at some point, I would make the journey across the Tasman Sea.  And what better time to go than mid-Summer when the weather would be glorious.  So, at the beginning of February, I hopped on a flight from Melbourne to Auckland to begin my journey around the country.

I decided to buy a pass on the Magic Bus – a hop on, hop off bus that runs circuits of both islands.  It  was the most economical way I could find to see a great portion of the country in the limited amount of time that I had.  I was a little apprehensive at first, as I’d heard stories of party buses, unreliable connections, and general craziness, and after one initial hiccup (where the entire population of the bus had to stand up and introduce themselves, and explain what their problem was that morning – I hate having to do that) I was pleasantly surprised.

Our first notable stop on the journey was the Shire’s Rest Cafe – the jumping off point to tour the set of Hobbiton from the Lord of the Rings movie.  You could eat Second Breakfast, and then jump on a tour of the set – which I did.  Sadly, that’s all I can say or show about that, due to the confidentiality agreement I had to sign, as the site will soon be used to film portions of The Hobbit. 

The New Zealand Countryside.

Sheep!!

Entrance to Hobbiton - and that's all I'm saying or showing.

Then it was off to Rotorua – quite possibly the smelliest town I’ve ever been in.  Due to the volcanic activity underneath the township, it’s a hotbed for geothermal activity.  Bubbling mud, geysers, and that distinctive sulphur smell abound.  It was still a beautiful place to spend two nights. 

Black Swans on the lake.

Then it was off to Waitomo, the jumping off place to explore the Glo-Worm caves.  It was a necessity that I visit the caves, and bring Glo along with me.  There’s something to be said for taking a picture of your glo-worm in the glo-worm caves!

The entrance to the caves.

Glo-Worm strings.

Glo

Can you find the glow worms?  The little blue lights are the glow worms.

Tasmania – Port Arthur (or Megan’s Day of History Geekdom)

OK – as anyone who knows me can attest, I’m a little bit of a history nerd.  I don’t know why, but I love history.  I loved Social Studies as a kid – learning about the history of different countries, examining behind the scenes to see how things worked.  I was that nerd in school.  So when I heard about Port Arthur, it was something that I had to do.

The City Lookout over Hobart

So, it was another early morning, as I waited for the van to come pick me up at 7:00am.  And we were off.  The first stop was in the town of Richmond, just outside of Hobart and home of the Oldest Bridge in Tasmania – built by convicts in 1823.  It’s a very picturesque little village, complete with the old Millers house, and the oldest Catholic church.  As a result of my ghost tour experience a couple of days before, I couldn’t help but wander through the cemetery to look at some of the old headstones.  Morbid, but I found it fascinating.

The Richmond Bridge

The original Mill Owner's home - still a private residence.

The Church.

Back on our way to Port Arthur, we stopped along the way to view some of the stunning ocean cliffs.  Pictures are always better than words.

And then we finally reached Port Arthur.  Port Arthur is the old convict settlement on Tasmania.  Essentially, it’s the collection of ruined buildings that remain – although some have been reconstructed and refurbished to give you the idea of what life was like for both the convicts and the officials who lived in the settlement.  It’s a little eerie to be quite honest, but quite interesting.  Also included was a harbour cruise so that you can see the Isle of the Dead – where they buried both convicts and officials – and the Boys prison island, because it wasn’t only adults who were transported.  All in all, it was an excellent day .

Tasmania - Wineglass Bay

In an attempt to get out of the city and into some nature, I joined a guided tour to the Freycinet National Park in order to see the iconic Wineglass Bay (which consistently ranks in the top 10 beaches).  The van came to pick me up at the ungodly early hour of 7:00am, we picked up the rest of the travellers, and were off. 

One thing that I really enjoy about these little day tours is that they stop off at places that I normally wouldn’t if I were driving myself.  And you get some local background information.  About an hour outside of Hobart, we stopped at a little roadside rest stop which had a great view of Maria Island.  In its previous life, Maria Island had been a convict settlement, and a cement plant (don’t ask me why they decided a concrete plant on an island is a good thing – particularly since there is no bridge), but now it’s a national park – and biologists and animal scientists are using the island to create separate colonies of healthy populations of animals.  Apparently the goal is to study these populations, and if diseases break out on the mainland, hopefully the animals on the island will be quarantined.  Sadly this plan came to fruition after the Tasmanian Devil populations have been decimated by a contagious cancer.

Maria Island in the distance.

A nice little look out over the countryside - yes those are grape vines.

Back in the van we all went, and onward we drove until we got to the National Park.  The sun finally came out, but let me tell you – I was glad that I’d bought a jacket in Melbourne, as the wind coming off the water was so cold.  Up the “mountain” we hiked, until we got to the lookout.  The view was absolutely stunning – I could see from a distance why the bay ranks in the top 10 consistently.  Time for some pictures, and then the clouds rolled in and the rain came down, ruining any plans to continue down for a swim.

The "mountain" we had to hike to get to the lookout.

Cool Rock formation.

Wineglass Bay.

Not to let a little rain ruin the rest of our trip, we continued on, doing a coastal walk to a special “secret” place that our guide knew about.  Up a hill, down a hill, climb over this rock, now over this rock – by the end of the hour long hike, I was thinking this better be a really good secret place.  Imagine my surprise when it turned out to be a cave – one that was discovered by our guide when him and some buddies went “fishing” and were too intoxicated to drive home afterwards.  I don’t know how they found it, but it was a pretty neat experience.

Ocean Scenery on our Hike

Crawling into the cave

And back out again.

Afterwards, it was back into the Van to drive out to the final lookout.  If you squint your eyes, and use a lot of imagination – you can almost see Antarctica.  Almost.  Not really, but it’s nice to imagine.  No wonder it was so bloody cold.

Looking back towards Wineglass Bay.

There are seals on the rocks.

Squint.  Really Really hard.

Megan's Scary Scary Night in Hobart

As my sister Sarah can attest – I don’t do scary.  I don’t like scary movies, and I’m really not a fan of horror books (I read Pet Cemetery and it haunted me for weeks).  So it really didn’t make a lot of sense for me to sign up for the Battery Point Ghost tour in Hobart, but in my quest to step outside my box, I signed up – promising myself that I’d keep an open mind (and telling myself that if it got to scary, I could always leave).  And besides, it’s not like I really believe in ghosts.

I met my group in the evening down in the Salamanca Square at the Salamanca Bakery.  I had been a little pessimistic about the entire evening as it had poured rain for the entire day, but just as I was getting to the bakery, the clouds broke, and a rainbow lit up the sky.  I took it as a good sign.

Let me just say that it was probably one of the best tours I’ve ever been on.  It was a wonderful way to walk about a neighbourhood, and learn the history of the area – particularly the seedy history of an area.  From housemaids impregnated by clergy, to the poltergeist house, to the church tower where a convict was hidden by a cleaning girl, each site that we stopped at had multiple stories to be told.  I don’t want to say too much, because if anyone ever goes, I don’t want to ruin the experience. 

Does it look like the church tower is leaning?  Because it isn't.

It's apparently haunted by a poltergeist.

You'd never know it from looking at it, but apparently this used to be a whorehouse with quite a reputation.

Probably the most terrifying part of the evening was the entrance to the tunnels that run under the Princes Park.  These tunnels were dug when Hobart was settled, and used as the storage areas for the ammunition for the cannons used to protect Hobart from invasion.  Hanging out in a small dark area – not my most favourite thing to do, but it was incredibly interesting to hear about how the soldiers spent their time, and the resident ghost who likes to make his presence known to young girls.  Two of the girls on our tour say they felt something while in the tunnels.  Me, I kept taking pictures of the walls, trying to get some of the centuries old graffiti.

The entrance to the tunnels.

They tell me that the spots are "orbs" or spirit energy.  Hmmm.

While I had a great time on the tour, and I didn’t get that scared at all (basically because I was too interested in the history of the area and the stories that could be told), afterwards, on my walk back to the hostel, by myself, with nothing to distract my mind from what I’d heard, I started to get a little nervous.  And then, as I was making my way through my rambling centuries old hostel back to my room, I started to spook myself.  So maybe, just maybe, I do believe in ghosts after all?