- Hallowe'en - not much trick-or-treating going on
- Shan finished her book on a dare - if she didn't finish by midnight, Dave got foot-rubs - came down to wire: 11:40pm
Saturday, October 31, 1998
Circle Pacific 1998/99 - Day 60 - New Zealand
Friday, October 30, 1998
Circle Pacific 1998/99 - Day 59 - New Zealand
- Walked in for groceries - took scenic route - relaxing day
Thursday, October 29, 1998
Circle Pacific 1998/99 - Day 58 - New Zealand
- Farted around in Thames
- Caught bus to Tairua (NZ$10 ea) to stay @ Walker's camper
- Found the camper about 30-45 min walk from town - Manaia Rd to Paku Dr to Tairua Terrace
- Nice - hot water! - great view of Tairua Bay out "dining room" window
Wednesday, October 28, 1998
Circle Pacific 1998/99 - Day 57 - New Zealand
- Longest day of the trip so far!!
- Left hut about 11:45 - don't want to pay to camp any longer
- Descended on Billy Goat Track - long + hard on knees/ankles/hips - too much excess food in packs - some pretty scenery, though
- Flat part at bottom gorgeous!
- Made it to forest road by 3:30pm - walked to visitor's center
- Caught ride with last logger out
- Stayed @ Sunkist again
Tuesday, October 27, 1998
Circle Pacific 1998/99 - Day 56 - New Zealand
- Hiked up to the Pinnacles - fun trail - bouldering, etc
- Nice on top - wind relief on far side - great 360* view
- Nice green valley to southeast
- Dave has balls of steel
- Relaxed rest of day
- Baked cake for dessert + used vanilla Power Gel for frosting - good! :)
Monday, October 26, 1998
Circle Pacific 1998/99 - Day 55 - New Zealand
- Still too tired in the legs to hike up to the Pinnacles, so hiked to "The Hilltop" just across the stream by our campsite
- Trail very informal - pretty steep - fun bouldering + tree root-climbing
- Great view - not windy - Shan wished she'd brought her book
- Only about 8 people here tonight
- Good beans + cornbread for dinner
Sunday, October 25, 1998
Circle Pacific 1998/99 - Day 54 - New Zealand
- Hitched to road's end in Coromandel Forest Park - only walked 5 min before pickup
- Followed Webb Creek track to Pinnacles Hut - tough! - lots of stairs - really heavy packs - carrying a week's worth of food (or more)
- Amazing new hut - looks like a ski chalet - about 40 people here tonight
- Troubles: Pinnacles Hut is a category 1, so our hut pass is supposed to allow us to camp outside it for free - hut warden Grant says rules are different depending on region - so we have to pay NZ$12 every night to camp by the old hut - if we had stopped in at the visitor's center below, we'd have found this out - bummed!
Saturday, October 24, 1998
Circle Pacific 1998/99 - Day 53 - New Zealand
- Caught bus as far as Thames
- Checked into Sunkist Lodge - supposed ghost activity here
- Found nice open air market happening + good used bookstore
- Watched Power of One tonight - still a good movie, but great liberties taken w/ book
Friday, October 23, 1998
Circle Pacific 1998/99 - Day 52 - New Zealand
- More movies - Via Satellite - ANTZ
- Unbelievable amount of food to carry tomorrow
- Plus 5 more books
- Bought bus pass to Wellington (NZ$99 ea)
Thursday, October 22, 1998
Circle Pacific 1998/99 - Day 51 - New Zealand
- To Newmarket for groceries
- Movies - Dr. Doolittle - Gingerbread Man
Wednesday, October 21, 1998
Circle Pacific 1998/99 - Day 50 - New Zealand
- Ferry back to Auckland took 8 hrs!
- Ferry hauling cattle this time - felt bad for them - they were panicky
- Despite pity for cattle, first things we ate in city were Whoppers
- Checked into Auckland Central Backpackers again
- Checked email
- Found 3 used bookshops
- First shower in 8 days felt great
Tuesday, October 20, 1998
Circle Pacific 1998/99 - Day 49 - New Zealand
- Walked into Port Fitzroy tomake phone calls, get groceries - found out ferry only leaves this town Wednesday mornings - decided to head out tomorrow
- On way back, more waterfalls, then Kauri dam ruins on Mt. Hobson (Hirakimata) Track - tougher than expected but good photos
Monday, October 19, 1998
Circle Pacific 1998/99 - Day 48 - New Zealand
- Met fellow this morning who's worked in Alaska every summer for 10 yrs - gave us lots of info on cannery work - suggested Alyeska Ski Resort outside Anchorage for winter work + Prince of Wales Islands for cheap rentals
- Set out for Kaiarara Hut - sign @ our hut said 4 hrs
- Nice falls a few minutes from first hut
- Followed signs to forest road - sign said 4 hrs - hmmmm!!!
- Hut easy to find - right off road - just a long walk on road - about 3 hrs - arrived exactly 4 hrs after leaving first hut - guess that sign was the accurate one
- Again had hut to ourselves for awhile - joined later by 3 others who're bidding to rebuild nearby kauri dam ruins
Sunday, October 18, 1998
Circle Pacific 1998/99 - Day 47 - New Zealand
- Scouts up @ 6:30am + loud!
- Left around 8:45 for hike to hot springs - found Kaitoke hot spring area, but took wrong turn for Peach Tree hot spring
- Walked along beautiful wooded track toward Whangaparapara Rd
- Followed road to lodge store - hijinks w/ whale scapula
- Back @ hut by 1:30 - scouts left in next hour - peace! - quiet!
- Enjoyed grilled cheese snack
- Tomato-curry rice for dinner - yum
- Shan unwisely reading Stephen King's Night Shift - GB Island has no power - very dark @ night - good thing, but Shan totally spooked by her book - had to be escorted to latrine - dumbass!
- Nice fire in the stove tonight - gin + solitaire - good evening
Saturday, October 17, 1998
Circle Pacific 1998/99 - Day 46 - New Zealand
- About 10 scouts + 6 adults arrived this morning - didn't say much, just moved in - brought food for an army - 2 of the adults just returned from running a restaurant in France
- Took off to hike Whangaparapara Harbor (western side)
- Took trail past campground, came out onto beach - low tide so followed the shoreline around a couple bays
- Small cemetary
- Lighthouse Point
- Crossed tidal mud flats to get ice cream @ lodge store
Friday, October 16, 1998
Circle Pacific 1998/99 - Day 45 - New Zealand
- Got ride to Claris
- Hiked from Claris to near the forest road between Whangaparapara + Port Fitzroy
- Got ride into Whangaparapara + trailhead
- 15-minute walk to Whangaparapara Hut - very nice - central room w/ counters on 3 walls, sink, metal-topped table, benches, wood stoves - bunk room on either side - 24 beds total
- Enjoyed being the only ones here
- Yummy bean dinner
Thursday, October 15, 1998
Circle Pacific 1998/99 - Day 44 - New Zealand
- Caught 9am ferry to Great Barrier Island (NZ$65 return ea) - thanks to John + Johanna for hosting us!
- Landed @ Tryphena
- Got 2 rides to Medlands Beach to camp
- Cool surf - very windy
- Cute lambs in paddock next door
- Camped free - no self-pay envelopes - darn!
Wednesday, October 14, 1998
Circle Pacific 1998/99 - Day 43 - New Zealand
- Waiting to catch ferry to Great Barrier Island tomorrow
- Laundry
- More American TV
Tuesday, October 13, 1998
Circle Pacific 1998/99 - Day 42 - New Zealand
- Got applications today to extend visitors' permits
- Stocked up on food for Great Barrier Island walk - came in a lot cheaper + lighter on this batch of food than for Cape Reinga
- Sent home a 5-kg box of unneeded stuff - NZ$50! - clothing, Oktoberfest mugs, gift book about New Zealand
- Got to watch X-Files tonight
Monday, October 12, 1998
Circle Pacific 1998/99 - Day 41 - New Zealand
- Jo took us to nearby town so we could check out a used bookstore there - found a couple Stephen King books
- Baked chocolate chip cookies tonight - too cakey for Shan's taste, but Kevin liked them
Sunday, October 11, 1998
Circle Pacific 1998/99 - Day 40 - New Zealand
- Had a great lazy day off
- Walked perimeter of nearby regional park - got to pet a stray lamb
- Served lamb @ dinner - o, cruel fate
Saturday, October 10, 1998
Circle Pacific 1998/99 - Day 39 - New Zealand
- Caught Northliner bus to Auckland (NZ$29 ea)
- Met Mike's dad @ terminal - he brought us back to their house @ Maraetai Beach (40 in east of Auckland) - house has two large sets of window looking out onto the harbor - great view
- Went to Oktoberfest w/ Steven - got souvenir mugs - had one awful beer, then filled them with lemonade
Friday, October 09, 1998
Circle Pacific 1998/99 - Day 38 - New Zealand
- Nearly didn't see dolphins! Finally found pod of ~10
- Pod included baby: no more than 2 months old, 3-4 ft long - very cute - took short, spazzy jumps out of the water - baby was common dolphin, had been adopted by a pod of bottlenose dolphins
Thursday, October 08, 1998
Circle Pacific 1998/99 - Day 37 - New Zealand
- Dave's birthday!
- Left Kerikeri in wrong direction - short ride w/ older fellow headed north on holiday
- Next ride from professor-seeming fellow to crossroads on Hwy 10 - walked toward Paihia - picked up by French mechanical engineer for trip into Paihia
- Looked around town
- Checked email - good gossip from Magik
- Checked into Centabay Lodge on Selwyn
- Booked Swimming w/ Dolphins with Dolphin Discoveries (NZ$72 ea) - first company of this type in Bay of Islands - good history + success rate
- Bought underwater disposable camera
- Finally found canned refried beans @ market, so had a beans/rice/broccoli feast for birthday boy
Wednesday, October 07, 1998
Circle Pacific 1998/99 - Day 36 - New Zealand
- Met bus, rode down 90 Mile Beach
- Got off bus @ Giant Kauri Kingdom wood workshop
- Got ride to Manganui - walked from there onto highway - after few kilometers got ride to turnoff toward Taupo Bay - got ride in back of pickup to Kerikeri
- Stayed @ YHA - nice beds - colorful duvets
Tuesday, October 06, 1998
Circle Pacific 1998/99 - Day 35 - New Zealand
- Shannon fighting ear + throat infection
- Stayed around camp rather than hike Spirits Bay to east
- After warm lunch, explored tidal pools + rocks on Tapotupotu Bay's eastern end
- Decided to catch bus tomorrow at picnic area, try to get to Paihia (+ swimming w/ dolphins) for Dave's birthday
Monday, October 05, 1998
Circle Pacific 1998/99 - Day 34 - New Zealand
- Took Harrison's Cape Runner toward Cape Reinga (NZ$36 ea) - drove thru beautiful pine forest on what used to be sand dunes - green hilly farmland and forest now
- Got off bus where we had lunch - Tapotupotu Bay camp area ($6 ea/night)
- Set up camp next to tidal inlet
- Explored tide pools on western end of bay - awesome - lots of fun climbing on rocks + watching waves break
- Full moon tonight shining on inlet - lovely
Sunday, October 04, 1998
Circle Pacific 1998/99 - Day 33 - New Zealand
- Walked Kaitaia from end to end
- Found large Walmart-type store - found Tandia, sequel to Power of One
- Most other shops closed
- Booked bus to Cape Reinga area
- Stayed again @ YHA - owner interested in selling - Dave interested in running hostel
Saturday, October 03, 1998
Circle Pacific 1998/99 - Day 32 - New Zealand
- Took Intercity bus to Kaitaia (via Paihia) - NZ$51 each
- Arrived after close of used book store + bulk food store :(
- Stayed @ YHA hostel, 160 Commerce St - given private room for price of dorm - hostel not crowded but very nice, especially the kitchen
- Tried scone mix for coconut scones w/ banana + raisins - good - need more coconut flavor than can get from coconut cream
- Advised not to head north till Monday due to weather
Friday, October 02, 1998
Circle Pacific 1998/99 - Day 31 - New Zealand
- Walked to Ponsonby area - upscale
- Took Link bus to Newmarket area for Woolworth's grocery - only large supermarket we could find near downtown
- Tested new oven shield w/ pineapple upside-down cake - great!
- Stayed @ ACB again
Thursday, October 01, 1998
Circle Pacific 1998/99 - Day 30 - Fiji to New Zealand
- Flew out early to Auckland - great vibe here
- Checked into Auckland Central Backpackers
- Bought shield to convert our stove into an oven - yay - cornbread, etc
- Sightseeing in downtown Auckland
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