Snowboarding @ Mt. Ruapehu: Episode 1 & 2

15 October 2006

White, pure, feathersoft, bone-breaking hard, blinding, cold, wet, winter… All these nouns would do well do describe snow. A month ago 2 friends and I hit the snow-clad slopes of mt Ruapehu for the fist time and added “andrenalised, fun, laughter, joy and pain” to the list of nouns describing snow!

Our little troop of brave men included 3 South African Expats. Marchant “Marc” Jooste - previously of Pretoria, Pieter du Plessis – previously of Richards Bay, and yours truly - Superfly “boskind” of Pretoria. Marchant and his entire family have been residents of Aotearoa “Land of the long white cloud” for seven years. He’s employed at the infamous WETA-studios (King Kong, Lord of the Rings ring a bell?) and performs his wizardry as an animator. Pieter and I will be sharing a house soon :o)

So we organised half a day of from work hit the road at 13:00. The surrounding scenery changed so many times over the next 4 hours that it felt like it was over in an instant. The only common denominators were green fields covering rolling hills and basking under the sun which seemed suspended from a surreal blue sky. Oh yes, don’t forget the sheep, they’re everywhere! Grazing and sleeping on ridiculous gradients (I would not be able to climb up some of the places they were sleeping) like they were some cross-bred Merino-mountain-goat thing. To be quite honest, they’re actually quite cute….

WHAT!!!??? Did I just say that??? Nooooooooooooooo!!!! Hehehe You know I was just kidding right? RIGHT!?

Right, back on point… A few scenic tourist attractions on the main highway between Wellington and National Park Village are:

-The picturesque Hutt Valley

-Plimmerton – The home of wave sailing (just so you know, windsurfing rules)

-The awe inspiring Kapiti coast and Kapiti Island

-The Car museum that houses Adolf Hitlers’ car.

-The town of Bulls … hehe no really it’s called bulls. And the police officers are const-a-bulls… for real!

The closer you get to mt Ruapehu the more rugged the terrain becomes and ultra green pastures with natural patches of daffodils give way to rocks, shrubs and brownish things. Mt Ruapehu (Maori for "exploding pit") and it’s little brother – mt. Ngauruhoe (actually a secondary vent of mt Tongariro) are active volcanoes and as such have a massive influence on the surrounding area. By the way, mt Ngauruhoe was mt Doom in the “Lord of the Rings” film. Awesome…

We reached the mountains just as the sun bid us farewell and bathed the white slopes in fiery hues. Freezing yet beautiful! We booked into our lodge ($25 a night for BBH members – great!) and went to hire our gear. “Base Camp”, a very authentic pizzaria / pub in National Park Village provided some entertainment and grub before we retired for the evening. Dawn seemed to play hide and seek with pillowland. Daybreak finally came and we set off for the mountain!

Marc took us down to “Happy Valley”, the beginners area and gave us a few pointers. Within 20 minutes we were panting like dogs in summer and my ass reminded me it was not made to fall on! (Actually it continued reminding me of this for a few days to come!)

Pieter and I were first timers so we checked in for boarding-school at 9:30 (no not the one with bad food, the one with snowboards hehe) There were plenty of us that pitched for the first lesson so the group got split into 2 and off we went. Imagine my surprise as our snowboarding instructor, a very hip dude from Argentina, asked “who of you have done windsurfing before?” HA! I could not believe my luck! I promptly said “yea, I’ve done a bit of sailing” to which he coldly replied: “Snowboarding isn’t anything like that!” hehehe hook line and sinker! The lesson lasted 2 hours by the end of which our coach told me I’ve got the basics down well enough to go explore the lower mountain. Woohooo! After gleaning a few last words of wisdom from the dude we went to have some lunch after which we hit the “rock-garden trail on the lower mountain. I have to tell you it was freaking awesome. By 4pm I’ve had many really cool runs, managed to take a few skiers out (hehehe) and survived 3 hours of cramping legs. I thought that my legs could act up tomorrow, now was time for boarding, not cramping up like some freaking wiener. Anyway, we got loads of boarding done!

Some really heavy weather blew in over Saturday evening and consequently shut the snowfields on Sunday. We watched the last SA – NZ tri nations test and got to bed at 3:30 am… To tell you all the truth, I would not have made it up the mountain that Sunday anyway! I was knackered! We headed home and started planning the next trip…

Check the photo’s!

Not exactly an African sunset but pretty none the less. Anyone care to join me for a glass of Port???

Is this a full moon or what?!

Mt Doom doesn't look so threatening when cloaked in pure white now does it?

I'm enjoying this, could you tell??? In the background is Peter. These chairlifts were sooo much fun. This was taken in "HappyValley" aka - Beginners paradise, where many a man is broken, pride lost and fun gained.

And we played in the snow too... Jealous yet? hehe

Right – fast forward 4 weeks to 9 October…

I sold the idea of going snowboarding to half the North Island in the last few weeks :o) and in the end a small crowd got ready for the exodus from Wellington to mt Ruapehu at 3pm Friday afternoon… Then the rapture came and only a few of us were left here, so we went snow-boarding anyway. Hehe. 4 of our friends cancelled due to other commitments (nothing as dramatic as the rapture though…) so in the end, Marchant and I were joined by only one other couple, however the 2 of them are galaxies of fun so we had a blast! We were joined by Marc and Karen Honeychurch-originally from the UK. They are truly some of the wittiest, fun people I know! We arrived at National Park by 8pm and were welcomed by cloudless skies and a full moon lit up the mountains beautifully. So far so good.

Marchant joined us for a quick beer and then headed to another lodge where his family was staying for the weekend. His family currently lives in Auckland and as mt Ruapehu is halfway between Auckand and Wellington it makes for a good family weekend.

Morning came and the snow report was excellent, 20mm of fresh snow on the upper mountain and all lifts were open. Springtime has the best weather conditions for snow sports but dwindling amounts of snow proves summer is coming.

Saturday was just amazing. We boarded the entire length of trails on the upper, lower and western slopes. All I can really add to that is my BUTT was much happier this time around! The view from the upper and western slopes is just breathtaking. You can actually see mt Taranaki (mt Edgemond) on the far western coast! (Check a map, it really is quite remarkable!)

Saturday evening we had dinner with Marchant’s family. I have to tell you, absolutely nothing comes close to South African hospitality. We welcome from the first moment and had a roaring time. Great company, lovely food and good wine… what more could you possibly want! Thanks a mil to the Jooste family, you guys are great!

Sunday morning arrives, lo and behold, weather is BAD! Nooooo, the weather-man said it was going to be as sunny and perfect as Saturday, what the heck is going on!!!??? We headed up the mountain anyway. Only Happy Valley’s lifts were open so we had a play on the ice… That’s right… ICE. No fresh snow means that the slope is VERY icy until ski’s, snowboards and some morning sun softens it up… Miraculously the wind subsided and the lower mountain’s lifts were opened. Yea baby! We were up in a flash and got a many good runs in before we had to leave. What a rush, what an awesome weekend

I was amazed at how many childred were blasting around the slopes, some as young as 4 years old. One mum on a snowboard was teaching her daughter in tiny ski’s while the kid was in a brace with a leash… I laughed so much at seeing this kid-on-a-leash duo that I almost fell of a cliff… hehe

Anyhouw… Here are the photo’s for this trip… See if you can spot mt. Taranaki in the distance!

This was taken from the upper mountain... what a view!

On the western slopes, Marc strapping up in the foreground. Did I mention the views were awesome?

Another "non threatening" view of the infamous mt Doom!

While on the chairlift heading back from the west side - Mt Ngauruhoe...

The world through the eyes of a boarder...Anyone who's worn ski goggles before would recognise this!

The upper mountain trails... fun fun fun...

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What a place!

12 September 2006

This post contains more photo's so it might take longer than usual to download. :o)

I truly wish you all could se this city through my eyes. No really! Wellington is a full-on city, well, a first world city... Skyscrapers, hundreds of coffee shops and restaurants, open air malls, harbour waterfront, suburbs... aaannnddd Rivers, forest covered hills, beaches, natural bays, did I mention beaches? Oh yea... If a city needed lots of violent crime to be called a city, Wellington would be a town... or anything else.

The type of crime South Africans take in stride as normal parts of life does not exist here and the locals are absolutely horrified at news reports coming from South Africa. It makes you think, doesn't it?

Anyways... As a wise man once said, life goes on... Last weekend John rented a car so we can do some grocery shopping and sightseeing. I've tried to equate Wellington to towns in South Africa and the closest I came is a combination of Cape Town crossed with Stellenbosh... We have found some remarkable resemblances to Balito, Scarborough and Simonstad too... In short I am left with a distinct lack of graceful words when trying to describe what an awesome city this is.

We started our mini-tour by driving up Mount Victoria. It is quite like the suburb Clifton in Cape-Town being extremely hilly but it is situated in the middle of town and gives you awesome 360 degree views of the city. A bullish North Wester started blowing in early morning so visibility wasn't too good. I'm sure you'll be able to get some of the detail from the photo's though! So we stood on Mt Victoria and tried our best not to gape in amasement at the picture playing itself out infront of us. (Gotta tell you that wind was strong!)

We headed down the hill and started in the direction of Lyall bay, the notorious surfing beach with regular swells in excess off 2 ft. No really not 2 meters, 2 foot swells... I'm sure a longboard will do just fine! (Ok so it's not J-Bay, actually it's not even close) For better surfing action I'd suggest Plimmerton, Raglan and Phia. We followed the coastal road through gorgious little suburbs nestled between hills and the sea, quite like Simonstad in the Cape, just smaller. The seawater, however, is crystal clear, providing awesome spaces for freediving, snorkeling, scuba and spearfishing. Later the day John and I had a walk next to the Hutt River. I have to be completely honest, when summer arrives I'll be swimming that river like it was a backyard pool!

Let me take you on a little virtual tour. We start off at our flat in the CBD. As we climb into the car you're amazed at how many cars are parked safely on the roadside. Imagine that, your car is exactly where you left it and the radio is still there, windows intact! We start off down Boulcott Street, then turn right onto Willis st. A few lighthearted students pass cross the street at the intersection... Young ladies walking around in the inner city wearing jewelry, no fear, no worries. Think about that for a second, it actually is worth mentioning. As we turn right into Willis st your eyes catch the silhouette of St Mary's cathedral against the bluest sky you've ever seen. You inhale deeply and strangely, you don't smell the usual stench that is the normal baggage carried by city atmosphere... Eventually we're heading down the Parade. As if from nowhere, the glimmer of a million crystals grab your attention. Lyall Bay... You expect the onshore breeze to carry a strong warning of saltwater but it doesn't. Could this be the sea? When we reach the Esplanade you can hear the soft breath of a tide and a gentle salty scent confirms your suspicion - the sea it is! The breeze is just salty enough to invite you to a barefoot walk on the beach. Could seawater be so clean... It's unreal. The alps of the south island are just visible to the south, to the west are some more bays and to the east unnamed hills. We turn left toward worser bay. Every turn in the road reveals more peacefull hills and pristine bays. We pass some divers in Worser bay. They chat lightheartedly about the mysteries they've uncovered... Someone's gonna have crayfish for dinner! All the time you keep asking yourself: "am I really living here?" What a place!

A Map of the pics! Areas marked in big red squares were photo spots.

As requested, wellington harbour on a windy day... The pond grew waves overnight!

JUST A REMINDER - THIS IS WINTER...

Oriental Bay Parade... Fancy a walk?

Is it just me or is it slightly gusty!?

From mt Victoria - The CBD

From mt Victoria - Central Suburbs

From mt Victoria - Looking toward South Island

Worser Bay from above... As I said, CLEAN water!

Worser Bay - Ground level, peacefull ain't it?

Almal wil 'n huisie by die see he...

One of the smaller bays immitating a tiny pond... land of the long white cloud, Aotearoa.

Here we go, South Island's alps as seen from a Wellington beach...

This ship ring a bell? It was the original ship used in the movie King Kong! Currently moored in Wellington

I hope these pics shares a part of our every-day with you!

Be back soon,

Superfly.

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It's my Birthday! It's my Birthday!

12 September 2006

And so I hit a healthy 26... When my 21st birthday came around I was in the Netherlands and never ever thought I would even visit New Zealand and here I am... Enjoying my 26th in Wellington!

A few friends and I spent the weekend at the snowfields of mt Ruapehu. I'll write a bit more about that later. On monday evening some friends came over to our place to share the joyous day. Everyone brought some desert and I must say it was quite an exotic selection! We got to bed at 1AM tuesday morning after an awesome social and way to much sweet stuff!

So now I can introduce you guys to some friends! All of them made sure that I have loads of sugar in my diet hehe. Emily got me a great set of cooking tools, I have no excuse now! :)

John and Annelize decorated my room with some baloons and stuff. It was a excellent surprise waiting for me when I came back from the mountain, sore muscles and all! They really spared no effort to make my bday special. Dinner, balloons, movies... Thanks guys, love you both!

Does this look festive or what!?

Here we have "kameelperd" he's a gift from my niece... awesome hey!?

The fooood

Ma buddy Kelvin from Malaysia

In the foreground Mario from Uitenhage (Nood Kaap!) He's one of the best fast bowlers in New Zealand! John and Liza at the back with Emily from Dunedin.

From left to right Jeff, Ben, Rachelle, Leona, Shinead and Joy

Some flowers my sister sent me... awesome! I did however receive it at work! Try explaining that one to the ladies! hehe

Well then... soon I'll give you the run-down of how I lost my b-u-t while snowboarding...

Cheerio!

Superfly - out!

Ps. Thanks for all the emails, calls and text messages. You all really made this bday special! Love ya!

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First Flyfishing attempt in New Zealand!

25 July 2005

The official score

Trout 1 - Louis 0 :)

Hi everybody!

I just came from work and decided to stop over at my favourite Starbucks, get caffeinated to my eyebals and share a little about fly-fishing in New Zealand.

My good friend Bertus came to New Zealand for the Underwater Hockey world championships a few years ago and he couldn’t stop talking about how awesome New-Zealand’s trout streams were. He told tales 'bout mountains and hills of green, rivers that were ever clean… there’s that rhyming thing again, doh!

It might just become a habit! Anyways, I’ve been craving to try out some flies ever since Bertus sparked my imagination about monstrous trout swimming in crystalline streams. So I did…

Like a few other stories in this blog it all starts with renting a car… hehe… I organised a fresh water fishing license from a local sports store in Wellington (thanks to the guys at Sterling sports on Willis st. The service is always great!). With the paperwork done and my kit packed I set out on a meticulously planned mission. (whatever! I read in a brochure about this stream with name I still can’t pronounce and decided it would be a good place to start hehe) Luckily the plan worked out great, and grew considerably as the day progressed.

My rented Nissan Sentra found it’s path through Wellington CBD like an old rental, hey wait, it is an old rental! Hehehe One minute you’re in a 1^st world city, the next you’re driving along a motorway (elsewhere known as highways, freeways etc) with a pristine harbour to your right and hills covered in lush bush to your left. This literally starts 5 km from the heart of Wellington CBD. This road took me through the suburbs of lower and upper Hutt at which point I took moonshine rd. into the hilly country. In a few short minutes this deserted road changed it’s colour and became incredibly twisty as it writhed it’s way around hills. Some turns were more than hairpins, hugging the hillside for dear life. The pace got so slow in these parts that I might as well have gotten out of the car and pushed it around the bend! (Lekker vertaal ek daai ene ne! giggel my “a dubbel s” af)

This tiny onelane, 2 way path meandered it’s way through the moonshine hills, drenched in a cloak of sirene rainforest… Taking in all of this while consentrating on driving got me into a few hairy close encounters of the vehicular kind! In good keeping with my track record I didn’t drive straight to the access point of this mountain stream but took the scenic route… NO, I did NOT get lost hehe, focus people, scenic route hehehe

After a momentary detour and photo moments with the local Lama population I found the dead end that provided access to the stream I was looking for. A few tips for fly-fishing in New Zealand… Small streams are invariably crystal clean, fish will see you before you see them. You don’t fish blind, you hunt what you see. Kiwi trout, quite like any other fish live in water, if you find this water in mountainous regions it is bound to be really, really cold so make sure you have a wader or you will loose something to the liquid form of frost-byte – no jokes! Hehe I learnt these little pearls of wisdom the hard way and almost lost use of my lower limbs hehe. I waded through this stream for a few hours and drank in my surroundings. (note to self – wading barefoot through a mountain stream in winter can and will freeze any adrenaline you have…) around lunch time I made my way upstream and mounted my Nissan Sentra steed to head to friendlier, more crowded waters. Even though this little sport deserves a place on some “most beautiful place” ranking it will not be known for it’s trout population… yet… a change of season might be all it needs…

Soon I wound my way back down the moonshine hills and out onto the motorway, over the Rimutaka hills (some more mountain passes) and toward the Ruamahanga river… This river is slightly broader than mountain streams and apparently holds good trout and salmon year round… I probably picked the most picturesque part for the river to wet the lines… There is also a big chance that I chose the perfect lure and cast in precisely the right locations… I didn’t catch anything though. Maybe I just suck at fishing but it’s great fun anyway…

Eventually I got back to my ride, dried myself off and set off for home. After a day surrounded by a thousand hills, misty cliffs and rain-forest ravines I returned home with empty arms but a full heart!

If anyone reading this post loves the art of fly-fishing or would like to try their hand at it, come to New Zealand. The fish really are plentiful, especially in the Taupo region (which is where my next fly-fishing trip will be headed). What a day, what a place!

Till next time!

Superfly… or not so superfly… hehe

Here’s a few pics to help your imagination on the path of the silver fern...

The only remotely straight section on Moonlight rd

The Lama's looked on in amusement ... silly human, trying to fish in the middle of winter...

At the unpronouncable stream... Told you the water was clear as air...

I didn't catch anything but I made it look gooood.... (and the crowd goes... YEA RIGHT!!!)

These little feathery friends mate for life... no really!

The Rimutaka range (somewhere out there a few trout are laughing it up...)

The Ruamahanga

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Wellington - an overview of our new home!

23 July 2006

Hiya!

So after a short absence I’m back and ready to do some more story telling! At this point in time we’ve seen most of
Wellington’s inner city, a few beaches, and had a few glimpses of the upper and lower Hutt, Karori and Johnsonville suburbs. For our first 10 days in
Wellington we stayed on the Terrace. (No, not terrace as in huge lawn, Terrace as in THE Terrace… Where all the ministers used to stay… but you knew that of course!

John’s new employers were kind enough to set John and Annelize up with a self catering appartment for the first 2 weeks of their stay. John and Annelize on their part were kind enough to allow me to stay there as well (thanks guys!) So our time in the colourful town of Wellington started in luxury!
Wellington is best known as the windy city… One wellington-dweller remarked jokingly that “Welli” has a hill or two and it’s known to be a little breezy now and then… This was the euphemism of the century though! The problem with describing a place like
Wellington is choosing a place to start… Well then, let’s begin… at the beginning! Our short stay on the terrace started off in brilliant weather! Even though the most of the
South Island was gripped by the claws of winter during that period “Welli” was really quite moderate. On sunny days (and contrary to popular opinion there are many of those) it seemed like the entire populace would spill onto the streets. Some sitting outside coffee shops, reading or hanging out with friends, others jogging along the harbor beachfront or enjoying a day of sailing in the harbour itself. Even on the dreariest of days Welli is a beehive of activity. The city’s energy really is intoxicating, in a good way hehe. Everywhere in public areas and all along the huge harbour waterfront you’ll find huge blocks of concrete inscribed with poetry and prose laying praise on Welli’s hills and people. There are more theatre’s, coffeshops, restaurants and pubs in the Wellington CBD than can be explored in a year. And should one embark on a silly mission like experienceing all of these puddles of entertainment you’d end up grossly overweight and develop some yet unkown entertainment overload disorder! A boring day in Wellington – Unheard of! One of the concrete inscriptions that describeWellington the best is found in the town square opposite the library. It states: “It’s true you can’t live here by chance, you have to do and be, not simply watch or even describe, this is the city of action. The world headquarters of the verb.” Another found at the harbour reads: “I love this city, the hills, the harbour, the wind that blasts through it. I love the life and pulse and activity and the warm decrepitude. There is always an edge here that one must walk that is sharp and precarious, that requires vigilance…” We had the most intense views from our Terrace appartment. On clear days we could see far across the harbour all the way to snow capped peaks of the Rimutaka range. A pretty and inspiring sight for sure. Some mornings the harbour would be whipped into a raging torrent by winds gusting across the Cook Straight and on others it would be the most serene pond you’ve ever seen. A city of extremities. One day you’ll find comfort in a coffee shop’s embrace – the abundance of java sheltering you from the cold and wet. The very next day, however, you could find youself in paradise. Skies the blue of an enchantress’ eyes and a bay so calm you’ll attempt to walk it’s waters. I might just have fallen in love with this place. We soon moved to our own rented appartment, this time a wee bit closer to the cbd. Words fail to express the pleasure of WALKING to work! I leave home at 8:25 and reach the office at 8:30, exactly on time for work… To make things even more rediculous - I’m home before 6 pm every night. Crazy hey!? Gym’s around the corner, works’ just there… lovely! Here are some pics to back my words up with some substance…

A tribute to some Maori chieftains. This, ladies and gentleman, is what blue skies should look like!

A stormy day on the bay (Windsufers ahoy)

Town Square at night - enchanting isn’t it!

Allow me to state the obvious, yet again… The picture above was taken at 9 pm on a sunday evening. It is in the city centre. People were still out and about, jogging for fun. No sirens, no gunshots, no hijackings… Now that that has been said, I’ll leave it at that.

Our first place on the Terrace

At the doorway to our new place on Boulcott st

Rainbow’s the order of the day

City and Harbour longshot

City view, a mix of old and new… hey, that rhymes!

Till later, Superfly!

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