Today was the second summer solstice I’ve had this year. Since I’m in the southern hemisphere the seasons are reversed and today is the longest day. I think I could definitely get used to this!
This morning I took the local shuttle to Whakapapa Village to do some hiking. My first stop was to the visitor center, which had interesting exhibits and videos about the Tongariro Crossing and NZ volcanic activity. New Zealand has several active and inactive volcanoes, I learned that the most violent volcanic eruption in the world in the last 5,000 years created Lake Taupo. The visitor center also was giving out free Covid tests and facemasks.
My first hike was to Taranaki Falls. It was a brilliant morning, sunny and almost no clouds, I was so grateful that I decided to wait until today to go hiking near the volcanoes. One of the few people I met on the first part of my hike was a young woman from Wyoming who is spending five weeks traveling around New Zealand. She said she’d been in the country for eight days and I was the first American she had met. She was headed out on a three day backpacking trip around the volcanoes staying in the different tramping huts in Tongariro. The track to the falls was lovely, half open and exposed high desert the other half in cool, moist beach forest with lots of streams. I don’t know how many different bridges I crossed on the 6 km hike, there were dozens! I came to a bridge that spanned a very steep canyon and saw a lovely waterfall that at first I thought it was Taranaki Falls, but there wasn’t any signage, and nobody else was stopped there.
I kept going down the trail, and not much further discovered the Falls, they were impressive! I had wonderful views of Mounts Nguaruhoe and Ruapehu, though the clouds were starting to move in over Ruapehu as the morning went on. There was quite a steep series of staircases on the next part of the hike as the trail climbed to the ridge above the waterfall. There was a trail junction here where you can hike to various lakes or tramping huts, so this was the area where I saw the most people, and was also when I needed to use the bathroom. Looking around I couldn’t find any private places to do my business, so I resigned myself to waiting until I got back to the visitor center, an hours walk away. I turned the corner to get to the next part of the trail and there, hidden next to a little hill, was a set of toilets! I was so happy! They were covered in photos of the surrounding tussock grass to make them blend into the scenery. I did discover they did not have toilet paper, in fact, there wasn’t even a toilet paper holder, maybe because of the weather on the mountain, or perhaps, it’s too hard to keep them stocked. Luckily, I came prepared as I try do when I go hiking.
During my hike I passed a little boy and his mom, he was explaining what would happen if one of the volcanoes erupted, how it related to the Ring of Fire, etc. It reminded me so much of my nephew Cam now and my son Kieran when he was little.
While it’s nice to have company when I’m hiking, I find when I hike by myself I notice so much more. I’m not distracted and spend more time looking around me to see the source of sounds and light. It’s just so relaxing and peaceful and in New Zealand even in popular areas, it never seems to be very crowded on the trails. This morning I hiked on the most popular short hike (6 km, two hours) in Tongariro National Park and in the first hour only saw two people. And I wasn’t starting out at 6 o’clock in the morning like I often do, I didn’t hit the trail until 8:30 AM! By the time I finished my hike, close to 11 AM, there were a lot more people on the trail, though nothing like the types of crowds you see in American National Parks in the summer.
After I ate lunch and read my book for a bit, I headed out on a short but steep hike up the Ridge Trail. There were great views of the valley and Mounts Tongariro and Ngauruhoe, at that point Mount Ruapehu was totally obscured by clouds. I met a young man from Oregon who had immigrated to New Zealand with his girlfriend. His parents were visiting and he was showing them around. He and his girlfriend ended up living in Wanganui, an unusual place for a foreigner to choose to move to (it’s relatively rural). His girlfriend is a doctor and that part of the country was in need of doctors, so it was easy for her to get a job and New Zealand residency. He said that the area had really grown on them, and they were very happy living there being close to both the beach and mountains. Actually, most populated areas in New Zealand are close to both beaches and mountains!
The last hike I did was along the Whakapapanui River, the trail meandered over the river a few times, so I got to see lots of water tumbling over rocks. The trail was mainly in beech forest, with lots of moss and lichen. As I left the parking lot, I noticed a sign reminding drivers to drive on the left. This is an area with many tourists, so it’s an important sign.
I had made my own dinner the last few nights, but decided tonight to get takeaways. There was a trailer converted into a food truck nearby called Camo Kai. It was painted in camouflage hence the name (Kai is Te Reo Māori for food). The owners dog was very friendly and came up to everyone for some cuddles. They did a very brisk business, so he had plenty of company.
Watched the end of tonight’s news broadcast, which was just the upcoming weather. It was done mostly in English, but days of the week and place names were also said in Te Reo Māori.