I like the idea of hiking. Wide open prairies that lead to petrified forests where what used to be trees are now solid rock. Winding mountain paths in the woods to find crystal clear waterfalls. Discovering ancient petroglyphs after a mile or more journey over ancient lava. Canyon trails that lead to emerald green pools in the cool early morning. Wild looking rock formations shaped by wind and water in a volcanic canyon. They all sound great, right? Romantic, peaceful, wistful, a return to simpler times. And since I started this blog, I've made every one of these hikes right here at home in the U.S. of A. and always in one of my trusty pairs of Timberland boots.
Have to take the Timbas on vacation with me.
So what's the problem? Why do I just like the "idea" of hiking and not the hiking itself? Well, I do really like the hiking too. If I didn't do you think I would have done everything I listed in the first paragraph above? It makes me feel like slowing down is a good thing and I love the scenery and the clean air (especially with a little old man's beard around to make me feel really good about what's entering my lungs). I just don't want to meet any of the wildlife that I love watching and photographing from afar. And for sure that inhibits my enjoyment of hiking a little bit. No way do I want to meet a bear or mountain lion in the woods or a bison or wolf out on the range or an African oryx in the middle of the New Mexican desert (seriously; apparently those things are kamikazes).
Done laughing yet? I know, I know, I'm a chicken. Or worse. Go ahead. Take your best shot. I don't care.
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| View from the beach on Ulva Island during a half day's tramp. Mussels on the rocks at the bottom. |
So why am I writing about all this when I just got back from New Zealand? Well because New Zealand doesn't have any native mammals so that country is like the perfect place for me to go hiking. Only they don't call it hiking in New Zealand; they call it tramping. Is a tramp a predator-free hike? I have absolutely no idea although I don't really think so. I just knew I was pretty excited to do some tramping in New Zealand.
New Zealanders (using this term so I don't confuse you by using the term kiwis) apparently love tramping. They love it so much that they have created a series of Great Walks which range in distance from 32 kilometers long to 145 kilometers long and are outfitted with reservable huts for sleeping in. Just bring your own sleeping bag and food. There's no place to buy snacks along the way.
If 32 or 145 kilometers seems like a long way to tramp, or walk, you'd be correct. The New Zealand Department of Conservation recommends between two and five days to get any one of these Great Walks done. Want to do all ten? Well, that's going to take a whole lot of time.
So this post is about us conquering one of the Great Walks while on the other side of the world, right? Nope. No way. Not even close. No way were we going to do that on this trip. But we did do plenty of tramping. Around Auckland and Stewart Island and Fiordland National Park and Wellington and Ulva Island and even past a few hobbit holes in Hobbiton in some place called Middle Earth. We always seem to do a lot of walking when we are away from home; personally I think it's the best way to see wherever you are. All told, I averaged (according to the pedometer built into my iPhone) an average of 4.7 miles per day. That's a little more than 7.5 kilometers per day, which would be good enough to get a 32 km Great Walk like Rakiura Track on Stewart Island or Routeburn Track across the Southern Alps in about three days if you ignore the fact that we weren't carrying a backpack full of stuff with us.
If 32 or 145 kilometers seems like a long way to tramp, or walk, you'd be correct. The New Zealand Department of Conservation recommends between two and five days to get any one of these Great Walks done. Want to do all ten? Well, that's going to take a whole lot of time.
So this post is about us conquering one of the Great Walks while on the other side of the world, right? Nope. No way. Not even close. No way were we going to do that on this trip. But we did do plenty of tramping. Around Auckland and Stewart Island and Fiordland National Park and Wellington and Ulva Island and even past a few hobbit holes in Hobbiton in some place called Middle Earth. We always seem to do a lot of walking when we are away from home; personally I think it's the best way to see wherever you are. All told, I averaged (according to the pedometer built into my iPhone) an average of 4.7 miles per day. That's a little more than 7.5 kilometers per day, which would be good enough to get a 32 km Great Walk like Rakiura Track on Stewart Island or Routeburn Track across the Southern Alps in about three days if you ignore the fact that we weren't carrying a backpack full of stuff with us.
While this post may not be about New Zealand's Great Walks, it is about some of the places we did walk purposefully and deliberately to slow down, take in the scenery and breathe in the clean air. And yes, we did see some old man's beard along the way. Let's start right where our trip started in Auckland.
One Tree Hill
If you own U2's The Joshua Tree, you might have heard of One Tree Hill. You also might know the story. In case you don't, or (like me) your U2 collection skips from War to Achtung Baby, read on.
One Tree Hill is a (not necessarily extinct) volcanic cone not far from the middle of the city of Auckland. Much of New Zealand, like many of the other island nations in the Pacific, owes its existence above the ocean to volcanic action, and despite the danger of eruption which eventually seems inevitable to come to pass, both Māori and European setters were determined to build their homes in what would end up as Auckland. Something about the harbors, if I'm guessing.
The Māori called the hill Maungakiekie which means "mountain of the kiekie vine" and it happened to be the site of the one of the most important and impenetrable pā, or forts, which sheltered and protected a population estimated to be approximately 5,000 people. That is before the Europeans arrived and inevitably and permanently altered Māori history for the worse. Something about the muskets, if I'm remembering right.
There is no tree on Maungakiekie today but there was one when the place got it's current name. Let's see if we can recap the tree / hill status quickly. The Māori in their pā were defeated by the Europeans (again...something about the muskets) leaving a single tree which was sacred to the Māori (this is when the name came in). In 1852, that tree was cut down by a European settler angering the Maori. To make amends (don't laugh) John Logan Campbell planted a series of pines in the 1870s, which died. Pines!!! Well, all but two died anyway. Those two lasted about 90 years until Māori activists cut one down. They tried for both but were thwarted. In the year 2000, others finished the job. So from one to some to two to one and then none. Got all that?
For an urban walk, tramping to the top of One Tree Hill is a bit of a workout. It's all uphill on the way there and it's about the highest point in Auckland so the view to the city and the water beyond is pretty spectacular. We kept the obelisk shown in the second picture above in our sights and kept following the signs. It's longer than it looks because after the initial climb, the walk takes you all the way around the base of the hill before you start going up in earnest.
So about that obelisk. The same John Logan Campbell who tried to grow a stand of pines on the hill also paid for the obelisk, a monument to the Māori people, whom he apparently admired. There is a statue of a Māori warrior on the front of the the thing and two panels with some words on either side. You can decide for yourself if they are a little patronizing. Oh...and Campbell is also buried right in front of it, so it's also one of the tallest and most grandiose headstones that I've ever come across.
In all likelihood, unless you take a taxi or drive as close as you can to the summit, you'll end up walking to the Hill through Cornwall Park, a combination of planned, formal roads and allées of trees surrounded by informal landscapes and maybe the odd one or two or whole herds of sheep (it wouldn't be New Zealand without sheep, even in the largest city in the country). There are tons of trees in the Park which provide much needed shade on a sunny day. Once you start the last ascent, there's no relief from the sun, unless (unlike me) you take a hat with you.
For us, this tramp was important as our first connection to some place sacred to the Māori, which we wanted to learn more about on this trip. And the view was pretty cool. There's something satisfying about climbing a hill and seeing how your perspective changes once at the top. I'd say tramping up here was worth it.
When we visited Stonehenge in 2014, I listened to Spinal Tap's epic song about that mystical circle of rocks. We therefore had to listen to U2's One Tree Hill when we reached the top. I may have skipped The Joshua Tree in U2's catalog but my wife did not.
The best thing about climbing to the top of a hill? It's all downhill on the way back. On to something less urban.
If you own U2's The Joshua Tree, you might have heard of One Tree Hill. You also might know the story. In case you don't, or (like me) your U2 collection skips from War to Achtung Baby, read on.
One Tree Hill is a (not necessarily extinct) volcanic cone not far from the middle of the city of Auckland. Much of New Zealand, like many of the other island nations in the Pacific, owes its existence above the ocean to volcanic action, and despite the danger of eruption which eventually seems inevitable to come to pass, both Māori and European setters were determined to build their homes in what would end up as Auckland. Something about the harbors, if I'm guessing.
The Māori called the hill Maungakiekie which means "mountain of the kiekie vine" and it happened to be the site of the one of the most important and impenetrable pā, or forts, which sheltered and protected a population estimated to be approximately 5,000 people. That is before the Europeans arrived and inevitably and permanently altered Māori history for the worse. Something about the muskets, if I'm remembering right.
There is no tree on Maungakiekie today but there was one when the place got it's current name. Let's see if we can recap the tree / hill status quickly. The Māori in their pā were defeated by the Europeans (again...something about the muskets) leaving a single tree which was sacred to the Māori (this is when the name came in). In 1852, that tree was cut down by a European settler angering the Maori. To make amends (don't laugh) John Logan Campbell planted a series of pines in the 1870s, which died. Pines!!! Well, all but two died anyway. Those two lasted about 90 years until Māori activists cut one down. They tried for both but were thwarted. In the year 2000, others finished the job. So from one to some to two to one and then none. Got all that?
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| Atop One Tree Hill looking towards Auckland. The fenced area is where the trees used to be. |
So about that obelisk. The same John Logan Campbell who tried to grow a stand of pines on the hill also paid for the obelisk, a monument to the Māori people, whom he apparently admired. There is a statue of a Māori warrior on the front of the the thing and two panels with some words on either side. You can decide for yourself if they are a little patronizing. Oh...and Campbell is also buried right in front of it, so it's also one of the tallest and most grandiose headstones that I've ever come across.
In all likelihood, unless you take a taxi or drive as close as you can to the summit, you'll end up walking to the Hill through Cornwall Park, a combination of planned, formal roads and allées of trees surrounded by informal landscapes and maybe the odd one or two or whole herds of sheep (it wouldn't be New Zealand without sheep, even in the largest city in the country). There are tons of trees in the Park which provide much needed shade on a sunny day. Once you start the last ascent, there's no relief from the sun, unless (unlike me) you take a hat with you.
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| Māori warrior statue with John Logan Campbell's obelisk. |
When we visited Stonehenge in 2014, I listened to Spinal Tap's epic song about that mystical circle of rocks. We therefore had to listen to U2's One Tree Hill when we reached the top. I may have skipped The Joshua Tree in U2's catalog but my wife did not.
The best thing about climbing to the top of a hill? It's all downhill on the way back. On to something less urban.
Rotoroa Island
One of the things I wanted most to do in New Zealand was to get out onto the water in the Auckland harbor (and beyond) to Hauraki Gulf and maybe spend some time on an island for the better part of a day. Ultimately it would have been nice to head further north to the Bay of Islands, but we didn't think we had time on this trip so we settled for a day in the Gulf. Settled may be underselling the experience by a ton.
The island we chose to visit was Rotoroa Island (not to be confused with Rotorua where we headed right after we were done in Auckland), an island inhabited by two permanent caretakers, a number of different species of birds and the occasional overnight lodger. While it might have been cool to stay on the Island for a night, we decided a day trip would do us just fine. Maybe next time...
Now, if I had been heading to Rotoroa about 15 years ago, I would likely not be going for an day trip or an overnight stay. That's because from 1905 to 2005, the Island was operated by the Salvation Army as an alcohol and drug rehabilitation center. Nothing like some time on an isolated island to detox for a while, right? It ended up being so effective that people actually didn't want to leave and some fell right off the wagon when they left so they could get back there. I mean why would you want to get off an island where you were taken care of and return to society where there are challenges and temptations all around you? I'd probably want to stay too.
The Salvation Army still owns Rotoroa Island today but the property is leased on a 99 year term to the Rotoroa Island Trust which operates the island as a wildlife sanctuary. And in New Zealand, a place with no endemic mammalian species except for a short-tailed bat, that means birds.
Unless you have your own boat or intend to hire your own boat or seaplane, you'll likely need to take a ferry over to Rotoroa and you'll need to make an all day commitment. The ferry drops off passengers at about 10 in the morning and picks everyone up at 3:45 in the afternoon. Need some lunch? Bring it. There's no food available for purchase on the Island.
Our tramping agenda for the day was to basically cover from the north to south end of the island seeing as many species of birds as we could along the way. There's a guided walk available for purchase as a supplement to the ferry ticket. We started there and then took care of the rest of the island on our own. The guided walk, led by our guide Toni, who is one half of the permanent resident caretaking couple, got us a good look at the north side of the Island including some history and some information about the birds. And the Trust's efforts to eradicate all mammals, most especially rats, from the Island.
Rotoroa is semi-tropical, which meant when you got off the paved or gravel paths that are marked around the island, you are essentially in a less humid and less hot version of a jungle. Even some of the paths that are created around the Island are overgrown in parts which makes you feel like you are crashing through someplace a lot less tame than New Zealand. The first photograph of this post was taken on Rotoroa. It's sort of cool in a stupid sort of way.
It's a decent almost one hour walk from the north end of the island to the south so spending about six hours on the Rotoroa is perfect. It gave us time to spend about 90 minutes on the guided walk, stop for some lunch and then make it all the way to the south end where there is a sculpture overlooking the water and the adjacent islands. Along the way there was plenty of time to check out the flightless birds (New Zealand has more than its fair share) including the endangered takahē, the mischievous weka and the pukeko, which makes me totally believe dinosaurs and birds share common ancestors.
Two things stick with me from our tramp around Rotoroa. First, the water in Hauraki Gulf is just the most gorgeous blue-green color. I expect to see water as cool and inviting as that in places like the Caribbean; I didn't expect to see it in New Zealand. Second, spending a day on an island with nothing to do but walk and surround yourself with nature is good to do once in a while. We spend a lot of time rushing from one place to the next while we are traveling. We deliberately slowed down on this trip a couple of times. Rotoroa was the first of a couple of days where we made ourselves relax a little more than we normally do.
One of the things I wanted most to do in New Zealand was to get out onto the water in the Auckland harbor (and beyond) to Hauraki Gulf and maybe spend some time on an island for the better part of a day. Ultimately it would have been nice to head further north to the Bay of Islands, but we didn't think we had time on this trip so we settled for a day in the Gulf. Settled may be underselling the experience by a ton.
The island we chose to visit was Rotoroa Island (not to be confused with Rotorua where we headed right after we were done in Auckland), an island inhabited by two permanent caretakers, a number of different species of birds and the occasional overnight lodger. While it might have been cool to stay on the Island for a night, we decided a day trip would do us just fine. Maybe next time...
Now, if I had been heading to Rotoroa about 15 years ago, I would likely not be going for an day trip or an overnight stay. That's because from 1905 to 2005, the Island was operated by the Salvation Army as an alcohol and drug rehabilitation center. Nothing like some time on an isolated island to detox for a while, right? It ended up being so effective that people actually didn't want to leave and some fell right off the wagon when they left so they could get back there. I mean why would you want to get off an island where you were taken care of and return to society where there are challenges and temptations all around you? I'd probably want to stay too.
The Salvation Army still owns Rotoroa Island today but the property is leased on a 99 year term to the Rotoroa Island Trust which operates the island as a wildlife sanctuary. And in New Zealand, a place with no endemic mammalian species except for a short-tailed bat, that means birds.
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| A family of takahē. Rotoroa Island. |
Our tramping agenda for the day was to basically cover from the north to south end of the island seeing as many species of birds as we could along the way. There's a guided walk available for purchase as a supplement to the ferry ticket. We started there and then took care of the rest of the island on our own. The guided walk, led by our guide Toni, who is one half of the permanent resident caretaking couple, got us a good look at the north side of the Island including some history and some information about the birds. And the Trust's efforts to eradicate all mammals, most especially rats, from the Island.
Rotoroa is semi-tropical, which meant when you got off the paved or gravel paths that are marked around the island, you are essentially in a less humid and less hot version of a jungle. Even some of the paths that are created around the Island are overgrown in parts which makes you feel like you are crashing through someplace a lot less tame than New Zealand. The first photograph of this post was taken on Rotoroa. It's sort of cool in a stupid sort of way.
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| Chris Booth's sculpture Kaitiaki at the south end of Rotoroa overlooking the Hauraki Gulf. |
Two things stick with me from our tramp around Rotoroa. First, the water in Hauraki Gulf is just the most gorgeous blue-green color. I expect to see water as cool and inviting as that in places like the Caribbean; I didn't expect to see it in New Zealand. Second, spending a day on an island with nothing to do but walk and surround yourself with nature is good to do once in a while. We spend a lot of time rushing from one place to the next while we are traveling. We deliberately slowed down on this trip a couple of times. Rotoroa was the first of a couple of days where we made ourselves relax a little more than we normally do.
Redwoods Treewalk
Of all the tramping we did in New Zealand, our walk in the woods at the Redwoods Treewalk in Rotorua (why any place has two places worth walking named Rotoroa and Rotorua is beyond me but it is what it is...) was definitely the most unusual and not just because we were walking among a forest of California redwoods.
Of all the tramping we did in New Zealand, our walk in the woods at the Redwoods Treewalk in Rotorua (why any place has two places worth walking named Rotoroa and Rotorua is beyond me but it is what it is...) was definitely the most unusual and not just because we were walking among a forest of California redwoods.
But since I mentioned it, let's start there. I mean why is there a grove of California redwoods in an island country thousands of miles from California? Well of course there's a logical explanation that speaks right to human greed.
When European settlers first arrived in New Zealand, the entire landmass was mostly old growth forests. So, being European and used to plundering natural resources of newly discovered lands as soon as possible, they started cutting down the forests for lumber. I mean, why not, right? They found lumber from the kauri tree perfect for use in ships due to its height and exceptionally straight growth. Then they started realizing the forests were disappearing at a pretty alarming rate and would need to find something that grew faster than the native trees if the lumber industry was going to survive.
Enter the California redwood, which was introduced by the New Zealand government in 1899 to the Whakarewarewa Forest near Rotorua and then in other areas in the 1920s and 1940s. This initiative was after experimenting with several species, including the Monterey pine, since the mid-1800s. Turns out the redwood takes very well to certain parts of New Zealand, particularly the area near Rotorua.
So what's so great about roaming around a stand of redwoods in Rotorua? Well, you aren't walking on the ground. You are walking on a series of bridges suspended from the trees anywhere between 30 and 65 feet off the ground. For someone who is constantly in search of getting a new perspective on things, I had to do this. I've never walked around a forest from this sort of vantage point. I mean...why would I? And how?
There are some rules. There are person and weight limits on the bridges that span between trees and there are weight limits on the platforms that circumvent the each tree. Don't want to strain the cables holding up either the platforms or the bridges and certainly don't want some kind of wild swaying of the bridges due to tons of people walking in step with one another. And don't worry about the bridges harming the trees. Everything is hung off the branches and there are no mechanical connections, which admittedly makes everything sway a little bit.
As for the person and poundage limits? Not an issue, at least not when we were there. We rarely had to cross a bridge at the same time as another group.
I'd have to say this experience is one of those that fits into the "where else can you do this?" category. The best part was never having done this before and never in all likelihood going to have the chance to do it ever again. It for sure got us a different look at a redwood forest. I'd only ever walked through one at Redwood National Park north of San Francisco before and this was definitely a unique experience. As a tramp, it wasn't particularly difficult but I am counting it as one of my personal great walks in New Zealand. We went there to walk and nothing more. Therefore it's on the list.
Even if one day I return to New Zealand, I'm not likely to ever tackle any of the real Great Walks, if for no other reason than I can't see myself slowing down enough to do nothing but walk for three days or so. One day is fine. Three days separated by less walking is also fine. Heck tramping every day is fine if I can do something new or exciting when I get to the end of my walk. For this trip, these three will have to suffice. Each meant something to me and I'm glad I did them all. I got something out of each one, which is not something I can say about every experience I've had in the last almost six years.
Would I have done these in a place other New Zealand? Maybe. But I can't say for sure. The fact that the kiwis (the human ones; couldn't resist using it once despite the earlier disclaimer) have Great Walks and call this stuff tramping made it irresistible. I have a feeling I'll be doing some tramping in the very near future on another continent. And maybe some more towards the end of this summer.
When European settlers first arrived in New Zealand, the entire landmass was mostly old growth forests. So, being European and used to plundering natural resources of newly discovered lands as soon as possible, they started cutting down the forests for lumber. I mean, why not, right? They found lumber from the kauri tree perfect for use in ships due to its height and exceptionally straight growth. Then they started realizing the forests were disappearing at a pretty alarming rate and would need to find something that grew faster than the native trees if the lumber industry was going to survive.
Enter the California redwood, which was introduced by the New Zealand government in 1899 to the Whakarewarewa Forest near Rotorua and then in other areas in the 1920s and 1940s. This initiative was after experimenting with several species, including the Monterey pine, since the mid-1800s. Turns out the redwood takes very well to certain parts of New Zealand, particularly the area near Rotorua.
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| California redwood. Rotorua, New Zealand. |
There are some rules. There are person and weight limits on the bridges that span between trees and there are weight limits on the platforms that circumvent the each tree. Don't want to strain the cables holding up either the platforms or the bridges and certainly don't want some kind of wild swaying of the bridges due to tons of people walking in step with one another. And don't worry about the bridges harming the trees. Everything is hung off the branches and there are no mechanical connections, which admittedly makes everything sway a little bit.
As for the person and poundage limits? Not an issue, at least not when we were there. We rarely had to cross a bridge at the same time as another group.
I'd have to say this experience is one of those that fits into the "where else can you do this?" category. The best part was never having done this before and never in all likelihood going to have the chance to do it ever again. It for sure got us a different look at a redwood forest. I'd only ever walked through one at Redwood National Park north of San Francisco before and this was definitely a unique experience. As a tramp, it wasn't particularly difficult but I am counting it as one of my personal great walks in New Zealand. We went there to walk and nothing more. Therefore it's on the list.
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| Timbas. Walkway. Fern. Not often you can have this perspective. |
Would I have done these in a place other New Zealand? Maybe. But I can't say for sure. The fact that the kiwis (the human ones; couldn't resist using it once despite the earlier disclaimer) have Great Walks and call this stuff tramping made it irresistible. I have a feeling I'll be doing some tramping in the very near future on another continent. And maybe some more towards the end of this summer.
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| Didn't need this on this trip. Maybe one day... |
How We Did It
One Tree Hill is located about five miles from downtown Auckland at the very highest point of Cornwall Park. You can walk there if you want. We opted to take the light rail known as the Auckland Train Network to the Greenlane station on the Southern Line. It's pretty easy to use. From there, it's a pretty good mile and a half walk (or tramp) to the top through Cornwall Park. If you get into the Park and it seems like you have been walking forever, I found that the last walk up the hill was steep but quick. Don't give up. Reward yourself with some hokey pokey ice cream at the Creamery on your way back if you must. I must.
If you decide to go to Rotoroa Island and you opt to take the ferry instead of procuring your own custom transportation, it leaves from the Auckland docks at 8:45 a.m. on the water side of downtown. It does not run every day. Check the Fullers360 website for details and to reserve tickets. Follow the directions to the dock and be sensitive to the instructions for arrival time and for packing food. Fullers runs other boat trips to other islands in the Hauraki Gulf if the Rotoroa trip is not available on the day you want to go.
Redwoods Treewalk is located south of the town of Rotorua. While you could tramp there, it's probably too far to bother. Better to take a taxi or the Number 3 bus from downtown; it drops you off right at the end of Long Mile Road and it's about a 1km walk from there. We got to the Treewalk by walking from the Māori village of Wharekarewarewa which seemed like a quick walk but depended on us cutting through an office property which was prohibited. We went around through the woods, which was longer but not as long as walking on the road.
One Tree Hill is located about five miles from downtown Auckland at the very highest point of Cornwall Park. You can walk there if you want. We opted to take the light rail known as the Auckland Train Network to the Greenlane station on the Southern Line. It's pretty easy to use. From there, it's a pretty good mile and a half walk (or tramp) to the top through Cornwall Park. If you get into the Park and it seems like you have been walking forever, I found that the last walk up the hill was steep but quick. Don't give up. Reward yourself with some hokey pokey ice cream at the Creamery on your way back if you must. I must.
If you decide to go to Rotoroa Island and you opt to take the ferry instead of procuring your own custom transportation, it leaves from the Auckland docks at 8:45 a.m. on the water side of downtown. It does not run every day. Check the Fullers360 website for details and to reserve tickets. Follow the directions to the dock and be sensitive to the instructions for arrival time and for packing food. Fullers runs other boat trips to other islands in the Hauraki Gulf if the Rotoroa trip is not available on the day you want to go.
Redwoods Treewalk is located south of the town of Rotorua. While you could tramp there, it's probably too far to bother. Better to take a taxi or the Number 3 bus from downtown; it drops you off right at the end of Long Mile Road and it's about a 1km walk from there. We got to the Treewalk by walking from the Māori village of Wharekarewarewa which seemed like a quick walk but depended on us cutting through an office property which was prohibited. We went around through the woods, which was longer but not as long as walking on the road.
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