codex nocturna

Just when I decide it's a good time to do Tongariro Crossing, the mountain has a small tantrum and throws some rocks around. The result? Half the track is closed. I am talking of course about that recent eruption that happened in November 2012. I guess these things just sometimes happen when you are dealing with mountains that come with their own ventilation and sub-woofer systems.

Nevertheless, going half the track and conquering the summit of mt. Tongariro has been a pretty damn cool experience. Even though climbing the devils staircase left me breathless with a stitch at my side wondering if it is below my dignity to just crawl the rest of the way up. Unfortunately, the weather forecast didn't get it quiet right and the day wasn't as clear and cloudless as was promised so I couldn't get a lot of clear photographs. Also, half of the "cloud" cover was steam blown over from the smoking vents. It's pretty cold at the top of the mountain but the steam is like warm wind. The ground is also warm to the touch in some areas and you can see "heat haze" over some spots. I was lucky to hear the volcano rumbling as well. Since about 2 pm it started rumbling periodically.

The landscape is amazing, it's like being in a whole different world. Very prehistoric Old Earth feel.

Tongariro's north face. The larger smoker is Te Maari crater, and the reason half the track is closed.

Mt. Ruapehu - the largest ski field in the southern hemisphere.

The red crater

Hardened lava flow

The Emerald lakes

Mt. Ngauruhoe, more commonly known as "Mt. Doom" from that NZ movie...

What looks like the top of batman's head is actually two orcas.

In Te Reo Maori, which is the Maori language kai means food and koura means crayfish (a type of lobster). So Kaikoura basically means "meal of the crayfish". Which indeed can be found and fished for easily here (which I opted not to even try, because I didn't want to deal with cooking a giant LIVE moving around lobster)

Instead, in Kaikoura I had the best wildlife experience in all of New Zealand.
The town itself is nothing to write home about, but the area is just gorgeous. Surrounded by snow capped mountains in the winter (well in the summer too, to be fair), and greenery. I enjoyed it so much I been there twice.

In wintertime I went with the Whale Watch and got to spot a few sperm whales and a large pod of dusky dolphins. I also did the peninsula walk and came across a colony of fur seals. Literally came across. As in, one was sprawling across the sidewalk.

In the summer time I went with the Dolphin Encounter and was very very lucky to see Orcas (also known as killer whales even though they are not whales at all but rather the largest dolphin). They only come during the summer and aren't a common sight. I swam with a pod of dusky dolphins which was most definitely one of the most amazing experiences I had while traveling.

To swim with dolphins one pulls on a wet suit and some snorkeling gear and jumps into the water when the boat gets close enough. For about every dolphin you see on the surface, there are about 2 underwater which you don't see. They pass under you, sometimes so close you think they will bump into you, only for them to change direction last moment, agile little slicks. They are also big, about my height.

Wild dolphins move fast. They also usually don't give a crap about you, unless of course they find you entertaining. How do you entertain a dolphin? you make sounds through the snorkel. And by diving and circling them if you caught ones attention (I had one circle me, so close! but we were told not to touch them. It did lose interest quickly since I am balls at swimming in a suit and in general and couldn't keep up).

Honestly, I think I was more entertained by us than the dolphins did. A bunch of grown men and women making silly sounds underwater. I still laugh a little when I think about it.

Dolphins are also such show offs. Some of them jump out of the water. And at least two kept doing backflips. Dolphins in the wild doing that, in their natural environment, untrained and of their own free will are much much more thrilling to watch than any show I been to. When I was snorkeling I was just so thrilled, but now that I think back on it... I am just so glad I got to see that and I feel so privileged... I think nature gets me too emotional.

On a sillier note, after the swim, the boat peeps served us some ginger cookies and hot chocolate. The ginger cookies were amazing (and apparently help with sea sickness). But I can't find any in stores anywhere! I am not usually a cookie person but I am a ginger-everything person, and where the heck can I get those cookies?