On the road, again, and making a second lap of the South Island. Drove from Murchison to Blenheim on Wednesday to visit Emilene (friend from NZKS kayaking class). I stayed with her until Friday morning. We chatted, ate, and I did laundry - very nice. I then drove to Kaikoura to "whale watch" from a boat. We saw three sperm whales, which was fantastic, but I discovered that I get sea sick, not so fantastic.
Stayed the weekend in Christchurch with some folks that I met on the Waiatoto trip. Three of them share a house in Sumner, which is a little surfing community right outside of Christchurch, beautiful place. Explored the area a little on Saturday. Went down to a rocky beach where some penguins roost - got to see a few of them. Further down, there were rocks just covered in mussels. We harvested a few of them, and had them with our dinner. I haven't been a huge fan of mussels in the past, but we cooked them on the BBQ and they were awesome. Very tasty. On Sunday, a large group of Christchurch paddlers (and I) went up to the Hurinui (sp?) River and paddled a couple of laps on the "Gully" section. Fun, so fun. I successfully surfed myself out of a hole. That was something new for me. I probably shouldn't have been in it in the first place, dropped into it a little sideways, whoops, but I was able to ride it out without too much drama. After that, (and a nap), a group of us went to see the NZ band, Rhombus. I hadn't seen any live music for awhile, so it was great to do a little groovin'.
I'm heading back towards Invercargill to help Sr. Robinson with a few projects on her farm, so I'm working my way back down the East Coast and checking out a few places along the way. Tonight I'm camped in Moeraki Village. First thing tomorrow morning I'm going to walk down to the Moeraki Boulders - huge round rocks that are scattered along a certain stretch of beach. Looking forward to it.
Here's an interesting tidbit that I've forgotten to add to my previous posts - the "mullet" is alive and well in NZ! I know that won't mean much to some of you, but others of you would much appreciate the variety of subtle mullets that pepper the landscape here. There are so, so many! I haven't had the opportunity to take any pictures, yet, (haven't wanted to draw that kind of attention to myself), but I've been making mental notes of some of the different types. At first, I wasn't quite sure that they were considered mullets b/c they are quite creative mullets, but then one of the guys at the raft training was complaining that he needed "to trim his mullet because the business in the front was joining the party in the back". I almost fell over! For those of you not so familiar with mullets. . . think Billy Ray Cyrus during the Achy, Breaky Heart phase. The mullets here are much more subtle than that, but you get the idea.
Anyway, hope things are going well with all of you. Take Care!
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Monday, December 1, 2008
Back in Murchison
After the rescue training, I packed up with the intention of heading back towards Invercargill, but I didn't get very far. I camped for the night just a couple of towns away from the Rangitata. The next morning, as I was about to leave the campground, I received a phone call. (Yes, I did get a cell phone here.) A number of kayakers that I'd met and paddled with previously were heading towards Murchison for the weekend. Since I'd been feeling a bit homesick to be spending "Thanksgiving" alone, I thought it would be nice to spend some time around a group of people I'd already gotten to know, so I changed directions and headed north towards Murchison for the weekend.
On Saturday, we paddled the Earthquake Section of the Buller River:
This gives you an idea of the scenery on the banks, but doesn't give you any sort of idea of what the rapids were like. I've recently noticed that I have this tendency to forget about my camera before, during, and after the rapids. Generally, I don't remember to take pictures until we get to a calm stretch where we're all just chatting and looking around at the scenery.
On Sunday, a group of us paddled the O'Sullivan's to Ariki Section of the Buller. Fascinating hydraulics. Huge boils, surges, and swirlies. . . and, yes, that is the technical term.
On Monday morning, I paddled with a couple of folks on the Matiri River. You may remember the Matiri as the river that a group of us ran while it was "out of it's banks, but not quite to the road." This time it was at a super low flow, which gave me a chance to see the huge rock formations that were mostly under water during flood stage. I'd never seen anything like it in a riverbed - massive rock slabs that were tightly touching on the bottom, but then further apart on the top. . . similar to when books on a shelf fall over to the side. . .V-shaped gaps.
That afternoon, we paddled the Lower Matakitaki. I didn't remember to take pictures as the boats were coming through the rapid (was a bit more concerned with their safety), but I finally took some pictures close to the rapids:
Little by little, I'll figure out how to get good kayaking shots.
On Saturday, we paddled the Earthquake Section of the Buller River:
On Sunday, a group of us paddled the O'Sullivan's to Ariki Section of the Buller. Fascinating hydraulics. Huge boils, surges, and swirlies. . . and, yes, that is the technical term.
On Monday morning, I paddled with a couple of folks on the Matiri River. You may remember the Matiri as the river that a group of us ran while it was "out of it's banks, but not quite to the road." This time it was at a super low flow, which gave me a chance to see the huge rock formations that were mostly under water during flood stage. I'd never seen anything like it in a riverbed - massive rock slabs that were tightly touching on the bottom, but then further apart on the top. . . similar to when books on a shelf fall over to the side. . .V-shaped gaps.
That afternoon, we paddled the Lower Matakitaki. I didn't remember to take pictures as the boats were coming through the rapid (was a bit more concerned with their safety), but I finally took some pictures close to the rapids:
Little by little, I'll figure out how to get good kayaking shots.
Rangitata River - Peel Forest
After Invercargill, I drove to the Peel Forest Scenic Reserve along the Rangitata River for the New Zealand Rafting Association's River Rescue Workshop/Training. These pictures were taken the night before the course. We'll call this series - "The Calm before the Storm."
I didn't take any pictures during the course because I wasn't sure that my camera would survive some of the activities. The course was pretty full-on. We practiced knots, rope systems, mechanical advantages, abseiling, assisted climbs, zip lines, assisted swimming, tethered rafts, helicopter safety, wilderness first aid, and then applied them all to various scenarios. The scenarios were played out on the flooded Rangitata River. On the first day of the course, the river was over 1000 Cumecs (close to 35,000 CFS). To give some perspective, the commercial cut-off for this river is 200 Cumecs (7,000 CFS), i.e. they don't raft it when it's over 200 Cumecs. We stayed close to the bank that first day, but as the river came down over the next couple of days, we worked our way upstream and were able to use more of the river. By the third day, we were able to run from the regular put-in with one major portage. The flooding and the steepness of the banks definitely added some urgency to the exercises, but created a pretty amazing learning environment.
I didn't take any pictures during the course because I wasn't sure that my camera would survive some of the activities. The course was pretty full-on. We practiced knots, rope systems, mechanical advantages, abseiling, assisted climbs, zip lines, assisted swimming, tethered rafts, helicopter safety, wilderness first aid, and then applied them all to various scenarios. The scenarios were played out on the flooded Rangitata River. On the first day of the course, the river was over 1000 Cumecs (close to 35,000 CFS). To give some perspective, the commercial cut-off for this river is 200 Cumecs (7,000 CFS), i.e. they don't raft it when it's over 200 Cumecs. We stayed close to the bank that first day, but as the river came down over the next couple of days, we worked our way upstream and were able to use more of the river. By the third day, we were able to run from the regular put-in with one major portage. The flooding and the steepness of the banks definitely added some urgency to the exercises, but created a pretty amazing learning environment.
Oreti Beach - Made Famous by Burt Munro
On the Sunday of my visit with Sr. Robinson, we went to a Maori mass, which was in a Marae (Maori Meeting Hall) and in the Maori language. Very beautiful. After mass, we had lunch with Sr. Raewyn, and then went to Oreti Beach. (Pictured below)
Oreti Beach is a beach that's firm enough to drive for miles. It's where Burt Munro ("The World's Fastest Indian") and his friends would race motorcycles.
Invercargill - Land's End & Riverton Rocks
For most of the pictures I've just posted, you'll find the narrative in my post on November 20th. After I wrote that post, I had the chance to spend some time in Invercargill with Sr. Judith Robinson.
Sr. Judith, a Dominican nun, lives on a small farmlet where she has created a peace garden and a permaculture garden. I learned of her from an American Dominican, Sr. Margaret, who I met, while I was at lunch with my sister, the day before I flew to New Zealand. Upon Sr. Margaret's suggestion, Sr. Judith invited me to stay with her so that she could show me around the area and explain the work that she does. She grew up in Invercargill, so she was able to tell me much about it and it's history.
Just south of Invercargill is the Southern most point of the South Island of New Zealand - Land's End:
Sr. Judith, a Dominican nun, lives on a small farmlet where she has created a peace garden and a permaculture garden. I learned of her from an American Dominican, Sr. Margaret, who I met, while I was at lunch with my sister, the day before I flew to New Zealand. Upon Sr. Margaret's suggestion, Sr. Judith invited me to stay with her so that she could show me around the area and explain the work that she does. She grew up in Invercargill, so she was able to tell me much about it and it's history.
Just south of Invercargill is the Southern most point of the South Island of New Zealand - Land's End:
After a wonderful lunch at Land's End, we drove to the nearby town of Riverton to visit the Riverton Rocks. It was here that Sr. Judith blessed the greenstone necklace that she had given me. Greenstone is a type of jade that's found on the West Coast of the South Island. It has deep meaning for the Maori people. There is a tradition here that you don't buy greenstone for yourself. The greenstone should come to you as a gift. Sr. Judith gave me a beautiful whale's tail pendant, and blessed it in the waters here at this beach:
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