The Fellowship of the Ring

You know that awkward moment when a volcano explodes. Well most of you probably won’t as the country you live in probably doesn’t have any volcanos or any that have been active for thousands of years. As it was I happened to be in New Zealand when Mount Tongariro decided to go off. Not that we didn’t have fair warning, the locals had warned us that it may play up. We were passing by the area the next day, the same place that another volcano, which figures as Mt Doom in Lord of the Rings. It would have been cool if that one erupted but instead it was covered in snow.

Wolves in sheepskin - volcanos in disguise

So we started off in the capital city of Auckland. It happened that my uncle was in town after a business trip in the south, so our first night was at a barbeque with local kiwis, a great introduction to New Zealand (NZ) hospitality. This city houses 1/3 of the population of NZ (total pop is 4.49 million). For a country twice the size of the UK, this stat prepares you for sparsely populated the country is.

City to harbour

Coming off the back of S.E. Asia, it was a strange turn of events to experience a British like climate of intermittent showers and jumper-weather. Only when the sun does make an experience it can certainly be felt, due to its sheer intensity, so sun cream is a must. We went to the National Museum (and the un-British admittance fee) and got an insight to its cultural beginnings with the Maori (pronounced like ‘mouldy’) through to the current times. It also had a section of the natural side of the Islands with stuffed kiwis abound as well as the volatile aspects of its volcanic activity.

Insight gained, we went in search of volcanos. Off the shore of Auckland lies Rangitoto, a volcano that last erupted 550-600 years ago. Now it’s been set up for tourists to have a walk up to the rim and experience the stunning views back over the city and out toward the ocean. This was my first volcano encounter and I was rather shocked by the volcanic terrain of grey igneous rock with the character of a churned up field.

Volcanic shoreline

To get there, you take a ferry from the harbour. Being in the middle of the ocean, the dock is a hub of activity. Leading to this, Queens Street is the main road of shops and the CBD also encircles the area. The city has a small but modern feel but a twist of the States with its sheltered walkways (useful shelter from the sporadic showers). A walk out from the centre brings you to Mt Eden, which gives even more spectacular views from coast to coast of the country, as Auckland sits in the neck of the North Island.

After Auckland we moved south to Rotorua and its infamous smell. This place lies directly on top of a tectonic plate so the surface is alive with geothermal activity, so when the wind is blowing in a certain direction, you get a whiff of bad eggs (sulphur). The local Maori people that live in traditional villages around Rotorua utilise this volcanic energy. The water pools are naturally heated to very high temperatures, so it is used for cooking their dinner and also funnelled into communal baths. Steam cooking is also possible with hot boxes placed in the ground.

We did a tour of such a village. We visited traditional buildings that are built to reflect the body. The carvings on the pillars are what they had instead of a written language, which showed their ancestral lineage. Their religion is monotheistic and beliefs followed closely with Christianity, so when the missionaries came over the Maori quickly took up the faith. Our tour finished with a traditional dance show, which included the famous Haka and a demonstration of Poi (balls on string that are used to make a rhythm as part of the dance).

Rotorua is the birthplace of the Luge experience. Essentially it’s similar to the go-kart, in which you hurtle down-hill on different grades of track. Such fun! As part of the package you also get a gondola ride to the top of the track, which gives beautiful views of Rotorua, which nestles in a ring of hills, on the shore of a lake.

View from the top of the Luge

Nearby to the Luge is the Redwoods Park, a secondary forest that boasts some of the best cycling tracks in the world. We opted for running around a track that took us through the forest to a vantage point over the trees. It has to be one of the most scenic jogs I have ever done, though to be fair all of the North Island is beautiful!

References:
Mt Tongariro explosion
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-20422856
New Zealand population
http://www.stats.govt.nz/tools_and_services/tools/population_clock.aspx
Rangitoto Island
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rangitoto_Island#History