Kia Ora.

Until now if I wrote a description of a walk or gave tramping advice, I always had in mind trampers who are fit or at least can walk on rough terrain. But not everybody is that lucky and people with different disabilities also love nature and want a chance to experience it. Luckily, DoC have provided many walks that are suited for such people. Some of the walks have wide walkways suited for wheelchairs and facilities in convenient places. Here I will describe some easy access walks of the South Island.

Bellbird Walk at Nelson Lakes National Park
It is a short gravel surfaced walk taking about 15 minutes to complete located at Kerr Bay, St. Arnaud. One of New Zealand’s “Mainland Islands”, the Rotoiti Nature Recovery Project is a sanctuary in Honeydew beech forest and excellent for bird watching. Extend your walk to Honeydew walk (1.2km/ 45 min) which is wheelchair assisted.

Tawa Walk, Pelorus Bridge Scenic Reserve

This is gravel and boardwalk surfaced walk located on SH6 (State Highway 6) between Blenheim and Nelson. It takes about half an hour to complete. From the cafe, walk through one of Marlborough’s last river-flat forests, which has towering beech, rimu and kahikatea trees and plenty of birds.

Totara Path, Pelorus Bridge Scenic Reserve

This is another short walk located near the Tawa Walk. It takes about 15 minutes to complete walking on grave surface with gentle slopes. You’ll walk through podocarp, broadleaf and beech trees. A magnificent ancient totara tree is a feature.

Waikoropupu Springs Walk, Golden Bay

This walk is located 9km north of Takaka. It will take you about 35 minutes to complete its 750 meters of gravel surface and boardwalk. This is New Zealand’s largest natural spring and a sacred place for Maori. The water of Pupu Springs are crystal clear, and you can see to a huge depth through. Have in mind that toilets there have no handrails.

In my next post I will continue writing about easy access walks, so come back soon!

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If you are planning a trip to New Zealand, you should know its customs and regulations, and since New Zealand has a very strict policy on this issue I will write here some of the most important regulations, so you won’t be surprised on your arrival to New Zealand.

• Import and export of national and foreign currency is unlimited.

• At the borders of New Zealand introduced a detailed examination of persons, baggage, goods and even the mail. Sanitary and veterinary control is very rigid, using electronic detectors, trained dogs and hand inspection of all luggage. Also, customs can ask for a return ticket, cash, travel checks or credit cards.

Allowed duty-free imports (citizens over 17 years):

• Up to 200 cigarettes or 50 cigars or 250 gr. tobacco or a mixture of all three weight measurements of no more than 250 gr.

• Up to 4.5 liters. wine or beer

• Up to 1,125 liters. spirits or pure alcohol

• Items of personal use of the total value of up to NZ $ 700

Strictly Prohibited:

Bringing Food products (including most types of canned food), drugs, weapons, any product of animal and plant origin (including soil), bee products, pet food, ivory in any form, crafts made of tortoise shell or sea animals bones, tusks, rhinoceros horns and tiger skins, as well as products made from cat family members leather.

Also Prohibited:

Importation of a number of diuretic, sleeping-pills and nervine, heart drugs, tranquilizers, all types of vaccines and drugs, which is used for production of musk, if their need was not confirmed by the relevant medical prescriptions.

Firearms and bladed weapons are subject to mandatory customs control.

• The importation of pets from countries where the rabies virus or a lack of control is registered, is simply not allowed. The only way for getting a pet from such country into New Zealand is by putting it through a long quarantine period (up to 6 months) in a country where rabies virus is absent (for example in UK). Owners are required to display the appropriate certificate confirming the passage of a special animal quarantine.

• Export of specimens of plants and animals under state protection, as well as leather, bone, bird feathers, shells, corals, etc is strictly prohibited.

You should know that these rules are very strictly followed and be prepared and patient when you arrive at New Zealand’s airport.

Researchers found ancient tuatara remains in New Zealand, which forced them to revise history of the country. Having studied petrified ancient tuatara’s jaw, the scientists concluded that islands of New Zealand have never fully went under water (which was until now the most common theory).

You can read more about Tuataras in my article titled Tuatara – The surviving Dinosaur

Current Theory

According to current theory, about 500 million years ago New Zealand was part of a giant continent Gondwana. Approximately 167 million years ago Gondwana started cracking, forming a smaller continents. New Zealand, Antarctica and Australia have long been connected to each other. It is believed that New Zealand has begun its separate life at about 130-85 million years ago. According to one theory, some 25-22 million years ago, it fully plunged under water, but later resurfaced. Such a conclusion was made due to the fact that in New Zealand haven’t been found fossils belonging to that period.

New Exciting Foundings

The discovery of this petrified ancient tuatara’s jaw by scientists who worked under the leadership of Marc Jones from University College London forces to revise this theory. Location of the teeth traces found in the remains of the jaw points to only one group of reptiles – tuataras. Age of discovery dates back to the period when New Zealand supposedly was under water.

The owner of discovered jaw must have got to the island after its resurfacing. Animals would have swam to New Zealand through the ocean. It is unlikely that tuataras could survive such a journey. In addition, in Australia, which is the only possible location from which these animals could arrive, remnants of tuataras have never been found.

The Alternative

The researches of UCL put forward an alternative version New Zealand’s past. In their view, it wasn’t completely plunged under water. Animals and plants survived on the dry parts of the islands. Scientists suggest that dry surface could be a very small part of New Zealand – up to one percent of its current territory. As proof of this assumption scientists point to Stephens Island. It has an area a thousand times less than one-hundredth part of New Zealand (!), but more than a thousand tuataras are living there.

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During the twentieth century New Zealand became world famous wine producer, and nowadays stands at same level with France Italy, Australia and other renowned manufacturers.

Even when visiting an ordinary supermarket in New Zealand, let alone specialized wine stores, one can’t help noticing the abundanse of wines from local vineries. But as it turns out you can also find New Zealand’s wines in the finest shops and restaurants all over the world, since a big part of New Zealand’s wine is being exported.

photo by Sandy Austin

The Beginning
Mother Nature blessed New Zealand with everyting that is so crucial in creating great wine – rich soil, abundance of rainfall, sunshine, and natural bays, which protect the vineyards from strong winds. But despite this, the indigenous Maori population has never grown grapes and made wine, and outer world would never know the taste of New Zealand’s wine if it were not for missionaries who came there, and among them priest Semuel Marsden.

Semuel Marsden founded first New Zealand’s vineyards near Kerikeri in 1819. Sixteen years later James Busby (1801-1871) planted grapes from France and Spain. Ever since that time New Zealanders have adopted the winery lifestyle, in which rural life, study, and work closely intertwined with winemaking.

photo by PhillipC

Growth of Wine Industry
Rapidly developing technology and wine research made it possible to expand the wine industry over to the territories, which were previously considered unsuitable for vineyards, and also improved the properties of grapes. The vast variety of soils found in New Zealand gave familiar types of wines exceptional taste.

Numbers and Details
Between the years 1993-2000 the total area of New Zealand’s vineyards increased 2-fold reaching by the year 2000 120,000 hectares. In some cases wine making took over the sheep breeding grounds! The yield is quite high – being in average of 90 gallons of wine per hectare.

Grape harvest is usually from February till May. The primary type of wine grown in New Zealand is Sauvignon Blanc (about 41% of all vineyards), which is followed by Pinot Noir (about 18%), Chardonnay (15%), Merlot (6%), Pinot Gris (5%), Riesling (3%), Cabernet Sauvignon (2%), and Gevyurtstraminer, Sira, and Semillon (1%).
There are more than 30 wine producers in New Zealand, the largest being Montana Wines, Corbans, Nobilo, Villa Maria, Vidal Wines, Esk Valley Estate, Te Mata, Stonyridge, Sacred Hill, Saint Clair, Goldwater, Matariki, Babich, Clearview, Claudy Bay, Matua Valley, Wither Hills, and others.

photo by adselwood

And this is how just over one hundred years of winemaking New Zealand became a new home for the great culture of wine!

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Meet the Yellow TreeHouse:

18 people can be seated in the threehouse together with all the neccesary waiting staff. It has a bar and you can see the open meadow and a stream while enjoying your meal. Kitchend and toilets are at the ground level.
The entrance to the treehouse is via the 60 meters wooden walkway, which blends organically with the environment and “flows” into the treehouse. The architectural concept of this whole project is very interesting and in my opinion is a bood blend of childness, fairytales and green-structures building. The whole restaurant looks if not as a part of nature then as a very close to it.

The yellow treehouse project manager is Tracey Collins, and the whole idea was to source all products and services through Yellow Paes listings. The restaurant is completed and open, but it is all booked for the near future, so if you absolutely must visit it – you will have to wait.

You can visit the yellow trehouse’s project site at:
http://www.yellowtreehouse.co.nz/

The report is very impressive. Duing 2008 Te Araroa trust has opened 14 tracks for the general public access. The total length of these fourteen tracks reaches 134 kilometers (83.26 miles).

While previously Te Araroa trust had to fund even the tracks across lands that are under DoC (Department of Conservation), 2008 was the first full year in which DoC began funding the Te Araroa tracks going through its estate. DoC also signed up 340 kilometers (211.27 miles) of Te Araroa’s route across existing DoC tracks, which is almost half of the 827 kilometers that needs signage! Wow, this is just great.

The report elaborates on Te Araroa’s activity in many regions including Southland, Otago, Canterbury, Marlborough, Wellington, Manawatu, Whanganui, Waikato, Auckland, and Northland.

Ta Araroa’s deadline for the complete walking trail across New Zealand comes on December 2010, and they seem to advace greatly toward this wonderful goal. I wish them all the best and Good Luck!

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Tips that will make your stay in a tent more pleasant:

• Buy a good tent. Don’t settle for something cheap. Your tent has to be absolutely waterproof, but also has to be ventilated, and have a good insect netting. It also should have enough room for people and gear. It is best to buy a tent that can stand by itself, without being held by pegs because sometimes you’ll have to put up a tent on a hard surface and it will be difficult to hammer in pegs. If you will use pegs – buy a hammer.

• Sleeping mats. Go for self-inflatingcamping sleeping mats. They will provide better comfort together with good isolation from the ground.

• Sleeping bags. Buy a professional sleeping bag for cold conditions (-5 or even -10 degrees Celsius). It is better to sleep on top of your sleeping bag in a warm weather than feeling cold when camping in highlands.

• Flashlight. You want to be able to see thing inside your tent after dark. It is best to buy a headlamp so that your hands will be free.

• Put up your tent while you still have sunlight. It will be much easier and more convenient.

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If you are planning a trip to New Zealand, I bet you have a tough time deciding which means of transportation to use there. So here is a brief advice that I hope will help you.

Using buses as your general transport is mostly reasonable if you come to New Zealand only for a short period of time, lets say a couple of weeks, and you have planned in advance all your destinations, so that you can book all the tickets you need in advance. Even for such a short periods I still recommend hiring a car.

That said there are several companies that perform targeted organized tours. Their advantage is in their good knowledge of the area, therefore such companies will enable you to see and experience more than you could by yourself. It is also a good way to meet new people. So you might consider using their services as part of your trip.

photo by Daniel Kelpe

If you come to New Zealand for about a month you should consider renting a car, and probably book your car in advance on the Internet. Many rental companies will pick you up from the airport, drive you to their office and give you the car, so that you will have it from the very moment you arrive to NZ.

photo by Jams_123

If you intend to be in NZ for a period longer than a month, best choice for you would be to buy a used car. This also you can do on the internet, before beginning your trip in order to save precious vacation time. There are many car yards that have web sites. Here are just a couple examples:

http://www.autotrader.co.nz/

http://www.thecaryard.co.nz/

Remember, that you can also sell your car at the end of your trip on the internet. Just start publishing the selling add (on the same sites) about a week or two in advance.

Spencer is American guy who lives in Asia. I first met him in Thailand, where I was rock climbing. I came there only for one month, but Spencer was living there for quite a long period. He extensively traveled throughout Asia, and has  magnificent photographs from his travels.

The photos that you can see here are just a small portion of Spencer’s work. Many more you can find on his web site:

http://www.weedmoments.com

He is a very talented and interesting person. I enjoyed meeting him and hope you will get to know him through his photographs.

Keep in touch Spencer !