north to the (sub)tropics
Dec. 20th, 2008 07:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ilanaramaWhat is this "snow" you all are talking about? *sheds another layer of clothes*
The last few days were spent in New Zealand's Northland, which still, dammit, connotes snow and cold to me. I guess Kiwis and Aussies think that naturally north=hot, but it's still weird to think of everyone pouring north to get to the warm weather and beaches.
The "Kauri Coast" is so named because it is the home of the last forest of New Zealand's kauri trees, big honkers that are as much as 50 feet around and 150 feet tall, with incredibly smooth and straight grain (as the lower branches fall off when the tree is young, resulting in the first branches of an adult tree being way the hell up there) and therefore were extensively logged and exploited and mostly eradicated from the country between about 1880 and 1940. Now there are a couple of small groves, and one forest which only survived because it was in a difficult-to-log area. So we visited the museum of "how we cut pretty much every kauri tree in New Zealand", and hiked in the nice preserved forest of "giant kauri which are still only pikers next to the ones there used to be," then camped next to the harbor of "used to be navigable until all the erosion from cutting down the forest silted it in." Yeah, makes you feel good about the future, doesn't it?
I wish I could show you all the pictures of the beautiful forest (not just kauri, but tree ferns and other flowering conifers) and most especially of the extraordinary view coming over Pakia hill to the abrupt and odd view of sand dunes on the other side of Hokianga Harbour, another harbor on the west coast, but Anne's computer won't read our camera memory card, so you'll have to wait.
We camped a second night at Rawene, and were going to take the ferry north over Hokianga Harbour and then make our way to the tippy-top of NZ, there to hike. But Britt, who had been feeling kind of icky for the past week with headaches (and he never gets headaches!) and sort of a dizzy numbness decided he was really feeling bad, so I drove back to Devonport and we went to a clinic. He had taken a bad fall on some rocks near the beach when we were visiting Nat and Jenine, and the doctor quickly determined that he had whiplash! So we have some prescriptions, and a referral to a physiotherapist, and for the rest of the weekend I have to hold his neck and give gentle traction every so often, which attention he certainly doesn't mind but is quite a bit of a workout on my arms. (And for those wondering: yay mostly-socialized medicine, as the doctor visit cost us around $22 US and the prescriptions another $12 or so, and the physio should be free since NZ completely covers accidents to visitors.) Unfortunately it messed up our northern hike plans, but the doctor thought he'd be improved within the week, and we can head out and go explore more once the symptoms have eased.
Anyway, it will be a sedate weekend, but that's okay. We will rest up and Britt's neck will get better and then we will head for MOUNT DOOOOOOOOM!
ETA: 6 photos from this trip
The last few days were spent in New Zealand's Northland, which still, dammit, connotes snow and cold to me. I guess Kiwis and Aussies think that naturally north=hot, but it's still weird to think of everyone pouring north to get to the warm weather and beaches.
The "Kauri Coast" is so named because it is the home of the last forest of New Zealand's kauri trees, big honkers that are as much as 50 feet around and 150 feet tall, with incredibly smooth and straight grain (as the lower branches fall off when the tree is young, resulting in the first branches of an adult tree being way the hell up there) and therefore were extensively logged and exploited and mostly eradicated from the country between about 1880 and 1940. Now there are a couple of small groves, and one forest which only survived because it was in a difficult-to-log area. So we visited the museum of "how we cut pretty much every kauri tree in New Zealand", and hiked in the nice preserved forest of "giant kauri which are still only pikers next to the ones there used to be," then camped next to the harbor of "used to be navigable until all the erosion from cutting down the forest silted it in." Yeah, makes you feel good about the future, doesn't it?
I wish I could show you all the pictures of the beautiful forest (not just kauri, but tree ferns and other flowering conifers) and most especially of the extraordinary view coming over Pakia hill to the abrupt and odd view of sand dunes on the other side of Hokianga Harbour, another harbor on the west coast, but Anne's computer won't read our camera memory card, so you'll have to wait.
We camped a second night at Rawene, and were going to take the ferry north over Hokianga Harbour and then make our way to the tippy-top of NZ, there to hike. But Britt, who had been feeling kind of icky for the past week with headaches (and he never gets headaches!) and sort of a dizzy numbness decided he was really feeling bad, so I drove back to Devonport and we went to a clinic. He had taken a bad fall on some rocks near the beach when we were visiting Nat and Jenine, and the doctor quickly determined that he had whiplash! So we have some prescriptions, and a referral to a physiotherapist, and for the rest of the weekend I have to hold his neck and give gentle traction every so often, which attention he certainly doesn't mind but is quite a bit of a workout on my arms. (And for those wondering: yay mostly-socialized medicine, as the doctor visit cost us around $22 US and the prescriptions another $12 or so, and the physio should be free since NZ completely covers accidents to visitors.) Unfortunately it messed up our northern hike plans, but the doctor thought he'd be improved within the week, and we can head out and go explore more once the symptoms have eased.
Anyway, it will be a sedate weekend, but that's okay. We will rest up and Britt's neck will get better and then we will head for MOUNT DOOOOOOOOM!
ETA: 6 photos from this trip
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(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-20 08:31 am (UTC)Hope you enjoyed the warmth while you were there... the weather just heads downhill as you drive south.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-20 08:38 am (UTC)It is weird to think of it getting cooler farther south. It's definitely a lot more spring-like (as opposed to summery) here; the Kiwis are all anticipating summer in their shorts and tank tops and I am freezing in my long sleeves and long pants.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-20 10:50 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-20 09:15 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-20 11:47 pm (UTC)We are in the La Nina part of the cycle, so no. Also NZ tends to be wetter at the best of times.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-22 11:08 am (UTC)The Cafe is good, but don't leave valuables in your car.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-22 02:54 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-20 09:15 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-20 09:16 pm (UTC)