Indiana Jones V: Journey to the Tasman Sea

After a week of volunteering, the group was very excited to go on their first expedition. Little did they know that they would be put through some of the most challenging obstacles of their lives. Day one began at 5:30 AM with a three hour car ride from Auckland to Waitomo. The drive was long and winding, but the team was anxiously awaiting their arrival to the base of Absolute Adventures. Upon arrival, the group was introduced to their leader Doug. Doug was very knowledgeable about all of the activities were about to embark on, but had somewhat of an intense demeanor.

Once the group got briefed about their upcoming 5 day venture, they were issued wetsuits (which fit some people better than others) and polypropylene (a thin material that keeps you warm under your wetsuit). After the clothing was divided amongst the group everyone was required to make room for the weeks food and cooking supplies in their backpacks. Shortly after, Doug gave the group a lesson on how to read a compass and follow a map. Most of us were still confused after the lesson, but hoped that we would learn as the week progressed.

The adventure began with a long walk uphill to the top of a 300 foot cliff. Once atop the cliff, the group needed to abseil (or repel down) to the bottom in order to reach the next part of their journey: the cave. The team enjoyed the abseil, but were relieved to reach level ground. After abseiling, the group walked another path towards a cave. They then spent 2 hours working their way under ducks, tight squeezes and underwater passageways throughout the cave. Once they reached the end of the cave (which included a steep, muddy incline to the surface), they began a trek in search for shelter. Katie was chosen as the days' leader and had to navigate us towards our shelter. The trek was not easy, and the team was required to bend and twist their way through a thick wooded forest. Luckily they finally managed to find their way. GREAT JOB Katie!

The team was tired from the days hard work, but a great spaghetti meal made by Katie and Dominic was just what they needed at the end of the day. Before it got too dark, the group worked hard to construct their first shelter. With only a rope and a few tarps, the team had to put their heads together to develop a reliable place to sleep. Luckily ex-Boy Scout extraordinaire Scott was there to help the group put up a safe home for the night!

AUDRA

Expedition 1: Canoeing!

Hi Everyone,

Our last day of the expedition we canoed down the Marakopa River to the Tasman Sea. Canoeing definitely puts a good burn in the arms. We only had one boat tip over, poor Margaret and Piper! Luckily they didn't lose anything. After we beached our canoes at the black sand beach we drove back to base and then onto Taupo to spend a few days relaxing. We stopped for dinner along the way and everyone ate too much food after all the working out we had done during the week. It was nice to end our expedition with everyone in one piece!

Jordan

Expedition 1: Waitomo bound

DAY 9 - A traveling day. We woke up at 5:30am Jan 25 to go to Waitamo. It was about a 2 hour drive from Auckland. Once we got to base camp we all met Doug (our expedition guide), got suited up to go caving and repelling (abseiling). We had to dress in long polypro (warm clothing - pants and long sleeves) and hike 45 minutes UP with wetsuits, harnesses, and helmets to a 350 ft abseil, which was so much fun coming down! It was super high up and I think I found out I am a little afraid of heights - but I have since conquered that.

Once we got down the abseil, we hiked another 15 minutes through "Indiana Jones" like forests, where we had to climb over hanging trees, abseil again, and make sure we didn't fall off a cliff...that was a tiny bit scary. After the abseil we made it to the cave! I was so excited until I saw the first SQUEEZE we had to go through. It was TINY and we all barely got through, but we all did after some fancy manouvering. Once we got into some bigger caverns and saw the cool formations it was clear that my hands were going to be raw coming out because some of the rocks were super sharp to hold onto. What was scary about this part was that we had to go into freezing cold water that made it almost hard to breath, esp when we have to completely submerge ourseleves. I was not happy about that, but looking back, it was pretty awesome. We saw glow worms too, and made it through after an hour and half under the ground. I was exhausted after that because it was mentally trying, BUT the day was far from being over. We got out of the cave around 3:30pm (maybe) and hiked back to base camp. We then re-packed our backpacks with all the essentials (clothing, food, some snacks, etc), and then started our tramping (backpacking) journey at 5:20pm. With 20 extra pounds on your pack and going up and down hills...is NOT easy.

After tramping through lots and lots of suple jack (a horrible thick vine that tangles you into everything around you) we found our first campsite near a stream (it was a random clearing we found) around 7pm. We had to cook dinner and set up our tents quickly (tents being a tarp). The water is clean to drink so we didnt have to worry about that. End of day 9.

Piper

Expedition 1: The group trekking towards camp on day 3

Expedition 1: Audra and Dominick navigating the Tawerau River

Expedition 1: The group at Double Drop Falls

NZ Australia Program: Expedition 1

We are now relaxing in the lakeside resort town of Taupo after an arduous five days of backpacking, scrambling, climbing, slipping, rapelling, tubing, canoeing, caving and camping on our journey from Waitomo to the Tasman Sea. For some this was their first backpacking trip. For all of us, the challenges of slippery moss covered rocks, tangles of vines, and having to find the energy to make camp after 9 hours of exertion was at times overwhelming. Everyone found the trip more difficult and unrelenting than they had expected but I hope that after some well deserved R&R and upon reflection, everyone feels a great sense of acomplishment and pride in doing so well on this fantastic journey.

Scott

North to the Bay of Islands

The day we went to The Bay of Islands, we woke up really early, made some breakfast and packed the trailer. It was about 3.5 hours up to the Bay of Islands, which actually went by pretty quickly. On the way we got onto a ferry to get to Russell, where we stopped to get lunch and snacks for the week of volunteering. We met Chris, the DOC (Department of Conservation) man we would be working with the most. Once we packed all our packs and food onto the small boat we started our ten minute journey to the island, which was beautiful. Our campsite was pretty much on the beach. We had to unload the whole boat...food, packs, DOC equipment etc, and than we set up our tents - which was an adventure. Then we all went exploring. Some went for a hike, some swimming and some just relaxed by the campsite. It was a nice easygoing day...which didn't last...dun dun dun :)
Piper

Bangkok: It's Hot In Here....But Look At All The Pretty Colors!!

Friday, January 23, 2009 - Shannon

So Bangkok is a bit humid.  Nothing to worry about, you will soon get used to the constant out of the shower feeling.  Not too many bugs, but you know, most people say that when they have been in a mosquito infested country and haven't been bitten in 24 hours.  I felt that I was a little over-prepared for the trip out here, and thought I would share my top 10 pre-departure information for those destined to backpacking orientated adventures.
 
1. If arriving in Bangkok, buy nothing but medication and a good pair of shoes.  You need not buy a backpack.  You'll get a much better deal here, and have a much better time buying one and filling it with everything you could ever imagine buying... all for a few hundred bucks.
 
2. Drink water - like 2 liters a day.  Finding a bathroom is no problem and you will mostly be sweating it out anyways.
 
3. Talk to everyone you meet.  The host country nationals are friendly and talkative.  They want you to have the best time possible, so that you tell your friends back home.
 
4. Blisters are part of life.  Clean often.
 
5. Bargaining is about finding the right price for the seller and the buyer.  Chances are you aren't being cheated, you are just converting wrong.  So just relax - should be more like a conversation than a competition.
 
6. Look the other way before crossing the street.  Traffic in Bangkok operates on the other side.  In addition, you never know what kind of driver is behind the wheel.
 
7.  Eat everything.  But be reasonable - stop when you feel like you are going to be sick. Also, pass on favorites from home.  The local food is much better and much cheaper.
 
8. Have a map.  Locals like to point out where you are and what is going on in the area.  All of this makes much more sense with directions.  Plus, chances are they know more about what is going on in the area than you do.
 
9. Smile - a lot.  People are very friendly.  But don't be stupid - they probably want you to buy something as well.
 
10. Look up.  So often the streets are congested with so much activity that you miss what is going on above street level.  Also keep in mind your toes are on the ground - with all the cars, tuk tuks, and motorbikes.

Bangkok - here we are!

After many hours spent squeezing one's body into a static, economy sized seat everyone has managed to unfold into Bangkok without a hitch. Craig walked us through 'Southeast Asia 101' yesterday to help us settle into the crazy world of Bangkok before letting us loose on the city today. A flying tour of one of the oldest and most exciting cities in the world. Visits to ancient temples and beautiful traditional thai buildings was interspersed with high speed tuk-tuk rides through hot, smog filled Bangkok streets and relaxing long-boat rides down some of the city's rivers and canals. With a visit to one of the largest markets in the world to top it off, it was one hell of a big day! Tomorrow we head out to Northern Thailand feeling much more street wise and adventurous than we did acouple of days ago. Bring it on!

"Fun" Day on Volunteer Project 1

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Today we had our last full day of volunteer work in the Bay of Islands. We definitely got off lightly and were able to clean underwater signs that snorkelers can see from the surface. Some of us also took a steep hike up to a look out point. All in all it was a chill morning before heading back into the DOC boat to look for marine life. We saw a couple penguins when we were driving around and then we spotted some dolphins, finally!! They swam and jumped right next to our boat, it was amazing! We were all pretty happy that we could check that one off the list. Some of the group went to a resort bar "over the big hill" once we got back to camp. A well deserved break! We hung out with some of our neighbors during our last night on Urupukapuka. Everyone is ready for a hot shower and a bed.

Talk to you later,

Jordan

Journey back to Auckland

Today we got up and packed up all of our gear and tents.  We hiked back over the hills to round up a few more sheep to herd back over to the pasture by our campsite.  It was a hot morning and we were all sweating by the time we finished!  We loaded all the gear up and said goodbye to our first real "home" of our trip.  We stopped in Russell for some lunch and window shopping (or real shopping, if you were me, and just couldn't resist a few presents for back home!)  When we got back to Auckland everyone raced to get into hot showers and clean clothes and to catch up on laundry, email and phone calls.  We ordered a bunch of pizzas which were delicious!  We finished off the evening by either relaxing or heading out for some fun on the town, including a karaoke night at a local bar!  It was a nice day to get back into civilization and get cleaned up a bit before our next adventure!

-Katie

NZ Australia Program: Volunteer week 1 update

We are now back in Auckland for some well deserved R & R after a fantastic first week of camping and volunteer work in the beautiful Bay of Islands - see the photos below. We've all had far too much sun and are looking forward to spending time in the forest next week on a caving, rapelling, backpacking, canyoning, tubing and canoeing expedition, so that our sunburnt bodies get a chance to recover. Keep a look out for posts from the others about their experiences over the coming days.
Scott

NZ Australia Program: Volunteer week 1

We were lucky to come across a pod of Bottlenose dolphins who swum around our boat.

PS. click on pictures to see them larger

NZ Australia Program: Volunteer week 1

Piper and Katie cleaning underwater interpretation panels on the Roberton Island snorkeling trail.

NZ Australia Program: Volunteer week 1

Jordan, Dominick and Audra working on cutting a new trail to the Cape Brett lighthouse.

NZ Australia Program: Volunteer week 1

Audra and Piper using 'scrub bars' to cut grass on our first day of volunteer work in the Bay of Islands.

NZ Australia Program: Volunteer week 1

Sunrise over our campsite on Urupukapuka Island.

NZ Australia Program - First day

Today was the first day that we all got together and had our first meetings. It was all alot of fun, and in some ways adventurous; we were running/sliding down hills, dodging sheep paddies, and hanging off monkey bars! Then took I much needed R&R at Mission Bay beach. Everyone in the group seems to have a certain dynamic to add and I think we are all excited to get started on our adventure, I know I am. Tomorrow we depart at 6:30 am for the Bay of Islands, our first volunteer trip so we need lots of sleep...

till then, Marg