Waitangi Waikaremoana!

Roadtrip 2008! =) Gordon and I set off for our big camping adventure around New Zealand on the 6th of February- Waitangi Day (a big public holiday that commemorates the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi between the British Crown and the Maori Chiefs in 1840). Our intentions of an early start were slightly unrealistic- there’s always a lot to do before a big trip- and we couldn’t miss one last lunch with Gordon’s folks, so we didn’t get on the road until well past one… We passed through Clive, where the Waitangi celebrations were in full swing (big party and people out on the river in wakas), and after a brief stop in Wairoa for bread and coffee (the local dairy and delightful Café Nina being the only things open on Waitangi Day), we enjoyed a scenic (yet drizzly) drive on the winding, wild-goat riddled, partially-unsealed road to Lake Waikaremoana, inside Te Urewera National Park. (The name Te Urewera, by the by, actually translates to “burnt penis,” referring to the story of a Maori chief who died by rolling over in his sleep while lying a little too close to the campfire. Just a bit of trivia…) Though the main industry in the district is forestry, the mountains around the lake have never been logged, so it remains surrounded by lush, green, ferny native forests- home to many native bird species like the New Zealand pigeon (pictured here) and the morepork, a cute little owl who has a very distinctive call that sounds like he’s asking for more pork, when actually all he’s trying to do is keep the pesky humans from sleeping. (These claims may be completely unsubstantiated by conventional ornithology, but circumstantial evidence strongly suggests that depriving tenters of much-needed beauty sleep is the morepork’s raison d’etre.) By the time we arrived at the lake the sun was about to set, and it was so overcast that the lake was very dark and quite eerie. Though its name is Maori for “sea of rippling waters” there were no ripples to speak of; it was a big, black, mirrory cauldron- amazing. The rays of light that did manage to slip through the clouds made it even more spooky- stunning, really. The first night was a good test of our sleeping bags and thermals- it was raining and COLD. The second night was more of the same, but owing to our uphill hike into the bush and to our previous night’s experience enjoying the pleasing calls of the local birdlife (“We don’t have any more pork!!! We’re vegetarians!!! Go to sleep!!!”), we were well-nigh asleep on our feet, so we slept like babies. =) The weather was never great during our stay, but the dark and damp made the lake look weirdly spectacular, the creepy effect only intensified by the group of black swans we observed gliding around after an afternoon shower… By the time we were ready to make tracks on day three, the sun had come out just in time for us to hit the road, and we got previously unimaginable views of what was actually a bright blue lake in the sunlight as we made our way out of the park... It's fun to be camping again, and Te Urewera was a great start to what promises to be an awesome adventure. =)