The World As I See It – Page 2

Easter Island

Easter Island! The mystery island, called Rapa Nui in Polynesian language, a name used for both the island and its inhabitants. It was claimed by many European powers in the eighteenth and nineteenth century but nowadays it is a province of Chile. The island is filled with large ancient man-like statues called ‘moai’, mainly along the coast, that were made to worship ancestors and to watch over the living. Easter Island has been on my list for a long time but it is not easy to reach, it must be one of the most remote places in the world as there is absolutely nothing of interest within a 3500 km radius. The island is very small so it doesn’t really function as a destination by itself from Europe. There are flights from Tahiti once a week and daily from Santiago de Chile (with a LAN Dreamliner), making it a nice extension to a long holiday in Chile or a stopover on a world tour that takes you past the Pacific.

Ahu Tongariki - Very famous for its sunset pictures — Ahu Tongariki – Very famous for its beautiful sunrise pictures. Still beautiful if you don’t enjoy getting up early.

The history of Easter Island is still relatively unclear. The first people to arrive were probably Polynesians around 1200 EC. They formed a fairly advanced civilization around the moai cult and when the island was first spotted by Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveen on the Easter Sunday of 1722 (hence the name), moai were still standing erect. However, there were almost no trees and estimates by the Dutch explorers on the population on the island ranged between 2000 and 3000 inhabitants. Scientists now think that the island may have held up to 20.000 inhabitants in its prime period several decades earlier but that the complete deforestation of the island led to soil erosion, conflict and a lack of food and resources (no wood to build canoes means no fishing).

Without large fish supplies, the Rapa Nui diet was limited to birds and molluscs and therefore these sources of protein also quickly disappeared from the island. After that happened, the Rapa Nui may have turned cannibalistic for a while. With the soil depleted, the land and sea birds gone and streams dried up, there were no means for pollen and seeds to spread and grow into new trees and so the destruction of the original natural environment was complete. Popular science writer Jared Diamond wrote an interesting book about the decline of the Rapa Nui civilisation (among others) called Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. I like Diamond as a writer for his magnificent award winning book called Guns, Germs and Steel about why civilisations thrive or not. However, his man-made deforestation theory in Collapse is much debated in recent years as there is no consensus on whether the Rapa Nui themselves cleared the trees or whether millions of Polynesian rats with no natural predators ate the seeds and gnawed the bark, preventing the forest from renewing itself.

Fifty years after Roggeveen, Captain James Cook visited the island but many moai had been toppled by then, possibly due to tribal wars. More outside contact followed, bringing pests, diseases and slave trade. Peruvian slave raiders in the nineteenth century took half the population and when after international pressure the remaining Rapa Nui were allowed to return, they brought with them diseases, mainly smallpox, that decimated the population. The first Christian missionary that arrived shortly after was affected by tuberculosis which spread on the island, killing a quarter of all people. Additional strive and conflict continued until the point where only 111 original Rapa Nui remained. Luckily, numbers have rebounded to about 2000 since then but much of the history, folklore and culture was lost. This is a pretty sad story but in the past 40 years much has been done to revive the culture, grant the original Rapa Nui people more rights and excavate and reconstruct the moai statues and other historical places.

The ancient moai quarry Rano Raraku with scattered moai, some half buried in the ground, some only partly carved our in the rock wall. — The ancient moai quarry Rano Raraku with scattered moai, some half buried in the ground, some only partly carved out from the rock wall.

When visiting Easter Island, there are many options to go out and explore. Most people hire a car, scooter or arrange a guided bus tour and it’s also possible to hire quads. I decided to take the sporty and environmentally friendly option and hired a mountain bike for two days. Many of the roads leading to interesting sites are unpaved so any type of cycle other than a mountain bike is not a good idea. There is a nice 55km loop that you can follow that starts in the capital Hanga Roa on the western part of the island and that takes you past a large number of historical sites. The road follows the coastline for about 20 km past the Moai quarry, towards the Ahu Akariki row of moai and the volcano in the east. It’s then on to the Anakena beach in the North and back to Hanga Roa through the center of the island. When you stop at all the points of interest along the way it’s a full day tour. However it’s also great cycling trip and I was tempted to take the bike out for an extra day to do the loop again in one go.

A shorter but more difficult ride is the road north from Hanga Roa of which the largest part is unpaved. This takes you past the Tahai moai (the only one with eyes) and the inland Ahu Akivi row of moai on the way back. The path also takes you past caves that were once used by the ancient civilization that sculpted the Moai and together with some French people I met on the way we were able to descent in one of the main caves and crawl out of a smaller hole in the ground some 50 metres further.

Ana Kakenga cave complex - crawl to the exit — Ana Kakenga cave complex – crawl to the exit

And frankly, that is it. If you are an avid surfer, Easter Island may have more to offer you with its big rolling waves but once you’ve seen all the moai, the volcano’s, caves and burial sites, you’ve seen it all. Four days is more than enough unless you like to take things very slowly. Still, it’s a great once in a lifetime experience.

A word of caution: Wifi is so poor and patchy on the entire island that you can’t really do much online. This shouldn’t be a problem for most people but it made my style of planning and booking everything last-minute very inefficient. Book your hotel and tours before you get there, especially in high season.

Bora Bora

After the very sunny days in New Zealand I decided to give Tahiti one more chance. I had only two days left before my flight to Easter Island and had to make choices. Would I go to the famously beautiful Bora Bora atoll in the Society Islands group, would I visit the large Rangiroa atoll in the Tuamotu island group to see a pearl farm and to do a tasting at the Vin de Tahiti estate, the only vineyard in all of French Polynesia with grapes grown on coral soil. Or would I go to Fakarava, also in the Tuamotu group with its pink sand beaches and abundance of fish.

Availability of flights made the decision easy and so I flew to Bora Bora in the early morning. It was a fifty minute flight from Tahiti where I arrived late the night before. Bora Bora is an almost-atoll with a core that is not submerged yet. Atolls develop out of volcanoes that rise up from the sea floor. Around the edge of the volcano a coral reef develops over time which continues to grow upward into a reef barrier while the volcano itself sinks back into sea under its own weight. This process takes millions of years, creating a shallow lagoon inside a coral barrier reef enclosure.

The view from the air when flying towards Bora Bora airport was breath-taking. It’s easily the most exotic and colourful island I have ever seen. Granted, I’ve not been on many atolls but the many different shades of blue and green of the water, the white sand beaches and the tropical vegetation all over the island can only be described by one word: paradise.

Of course, it rained in paradise, as I expected. I decided I didn’t care and took a kayak out to sea late morning. That lasted about 20 minutes when I got hammered by a monsoon-like shower and had to return to shore soaking wet and at risk of sinking. I booked a boat-and-snorkel activity in the afternoon against better judgment for which a grand total of three people showed up. I think diving and snorkelling are some of the most fun things you can do in Bora Bora but this tour took us to something called the Lagoonarium, a small piece of the lagoon fenced off with fish in it.

I am not in favour of trapping animals for the entertainment of humans and therefore I had a bit of a problem with my conscience doing this activity. However the damage was already done by making the payment and I decided to make the best of it. The guide assured me that the sharks and rays had a door to come in and were also free to go out. I did see these but you’d have to be a very smart fish to understand the system.

Swimming with the sharks, rays and other fish was a very relaxed experience as the rain was unable to mess things up. I floated over a block of coral and scared all the small colourful fish into hiding but they came out quickly after and I was able to capture that on camera.

The verdict on Tahiti and all its islands is mixed. I’m convinced that it is one of the most beautiful regions on earth when it’s sunny. However, in heavy rain the tour operators don’t go out, the water becomes murky which limits diving and snorkelling and life becomes a bit lonely with all the honeymoon couples and no real cities (apart from Pape’ete on Tahiti itself where I did some proper clubbing). I did learn about a great way to see a different side of Tahiti if I ever come back. There is a short two-week cruise on a mixed freighter / passenger boat called the Aranui that stops at a large number of remote islands and it’s got raving reviews from everyone I spoke to. Alors, au revoir.

Tiritiri Matangi Island, Part 2

Before our ferry to Tiritiri departed we were checking out some fish in the water next to the dock leading to the ferry. On the far end, a local was feeding bait to snappers and kingfish. He told us to come back at 4pm after our visit to the island as there would be more feeding at that time.

The ferry returned at 3.50pm and we lingered to check out the fish again. At around the same spot, a local boat owner was feeding the fish but in addition to the snappers and kingfish, a number of stingrays had arrived. I thought they were too large for the shallow water but the rays themselves didn’t seem to mind. Apparently the fish have been coming to feed for many years and the boat owners were not surprised to see them.

The locals then showed us how to lure the rays to the side of the dock by clapping hard on the wood just above the surface. After a while, amazingly, a stingray climbed partly out of the water up the side of the dock to get handfed with baitfish. We found out that the nearby ice-cream shop and café Ripples sold the baitfish frozen by the dozen for only 8 NZD. This was an easy 5 minute walk so we decided to get some bait ourselves.

After probably 30 mins of trying, hitting the side of the dock and feeding the other fish, quite suddenly a ray came up the side and we were able to feed it ourselves. This was such a fun unexpected experience and a great tip for anyone visiting Gulf Harbour or Tiritiri Matangi island.

Tiritiri Matangi Island, Part 1

Just off the coast of Gulf Harbour in the Whangaparaoa peninsula, an hour drive from Auckland, is Tiritiri Matangi island. The island serves as a sanctuary for many endemic species, mainly birds, and is free from pests and rodents that trouble the mainland.

New Zealand, in its earliest stages when it first broke off from the ancient Gondwana continent 84 million of yeas ago, developed into a unique ecosystem without the four-legged predatory mammals that populate so many other regions. Birds were free to fill the evolutionary gap and many two-legged flightless birds evolved. Most notable of course is the Kiwi but also the extinct 3.7 metre long giant Moa, a huge bird similar to the ostrich, roamed the islands until a few centuries ago.

When the Maori came in their Polynesian double-hull canoes some 800 years ago, they brought with them dogs and Polynesian rats. Not being able to fly and the instinct to stand still in the face of danger, a tactic to avoid detection by eagles, proved to be very poor evolutionary mechanisms against these new predators and the bird population was quickly decimated. European settlers, bringing with them feral cats, stouts, weasels and opossums, further aggravated the situation, not in the least by cutting down large patches of forest, thereby robbing the birds of their natural habitat.

Nowadays, the kiwi and other flightless victims have all but disappeared from the mainland but in the last decades many conservation areas have been set up to provide new shelter for the endangered species. While it is impossible to rid the mainland of dogs, cats and other predators and pests, it is possible to do this on the many small to medium islands that surround the bigger North and South Island.

Tiritiri Matangi Island is such a conservation area and the interesting thing about it is that it has mainly turned into this due to the efforts of thousands of volunteers and private companies. In the last forty years, scores of ordinary citizens, schools, company off-sites and trained volunteers have come to the island to plant native trees and rid it of unwanted inhabitants. The island has been thoroughly transformed from scrub and farmland to a lush unspoilt forested landscape. Native birds have been re-introduced as well as other species such as the giant weta and they are thriving as far as possible on such a small island. The best thing however, is that it is open for visitors and a ferry crosses the distance almost every day, carrying about a hundred people. It’s even possible to spend the night on the island but you’ll have to be entirely self-sufficient and take food with you. This is a great idea if you’re trying to spot the nocturnal kiwi, which is nearly impossible during the day.

You can take a ferry (20 mins) plus guided tour from Gulf Harbour for about 60 NZD. The same ferry also goes directly from Auckland for a slightly higher price but then takes 1h 15 mins. The island has a nice rocky beach to relax when you are done walking as well as a lighthouse on the top of the island that for a while was the brightest in all the Southern Hemisphere. Kids can fill in an activity book for the island after which they receive a Kiwi Ranger badge in the visitor centre.

The elusive Takahe — The elusive Takahē, once thought extinct, of which 263 birds remain. Easy to spot on Tiritiri Matangi.

Goat Island Marine Reserve

New Zealand is an excellent destination if you like snorkeling and diving. The water is not quite warm enough for the very colorful fish that hang around tropical coral reefs but the country has its fair share of whales, sharks, rays and other big and exotic fish.

One of the easiest places to go snorkeling must be Goat Island near Leigh, in the north of the Auckland region. Throughout the world there are many islands called goat island for the tendency of European ships to leave goats on islands as food for future voyages or for marooned sailors. We were told that this particular island has never held any goats but was just generically called the same (it did have pigs but they swam to the mainland and disappeared).

The island and surrounding waters are a marine reserve, no fishing is allowed nor are visitors allowed to take anything from the beach. The island itself is of little interest but for a few caves that adventurous snorkelers can enjoy. The surrounding waters however are teeming with fish. Just a few meters into the water from the beach, you can encounter different species every few meters. Apparently due to the cyclone that ravaged Fiji and kept me from enjoying Tahiti, the waters were fairly murky but this is normally not the case. I was able to spot a stingray and an eagle ray, snappers and many other fish I couldn’t identify. There are not many places in the world where you can get this experience just off the shore.

Daily at 12.00 and 13.00 sharp, the so-called Glass Bottom Boat leaves from the beach for a 45-minute entertaining tour around the island. Not only is the tour very interesting but the glass bottom of the boat also allows you to see the wonderful fish slightly further out without having to dive or snorkel, with a chance to see the two very old and huge snappers that live around the island. Costs are 25 NZD per person which is well worth it. Info at: www.glassbottomboat.co.nz.

The beach itself is a nice place to stay for the afternoon. We found that the shallow rocky patches next to the water held interesting creatures such as crabs and starfish, which was very entertaining for the little ones.

Turn over some rocks to see these little creatures

Ia Ora Na, Nana

Tahiti Nui from the Mo'orea ferry — Tahiti Nui from the Mo’orea ferry

Hello, Bye bye

Tahiti. One of the highlights of my trip. Land of so many myths, books and beautiful stories. My sister gave me a great book just before I left called Tupaia – The remarkable Story of Captain Cook’s Polynesian Navigator. It covers an important episode in Polynesian history from a very interesting viewpoint. I was looking forward to seeing many of the locations that are covered in this book first hand.

That will have to wait.

I was aware that it is the rainy season in Tahiti and that shower bursts are common. However, after four days of endless rain and at least a full week more to come, I have changed my itinerary and will be going back to Auckland for a week. I have looked into many other options but throughout the South Pacific there is no island that is not covered by heavy layers of rainclouds. Fiji even made international headlines today after being ravaged by a cyclone. I’m sure Tahiti is absolutely stunning when the sun comes out but that hasn’t happened yet (the weird thing is that I did get sunburn!). Tahiti to me is about beach life, diving, surfing, sailing, overwater bungalows. There’s none of that to be had in this weather.

Bora Bora, Rangiroa, Fakarava, their gods have silenced me for now but I hope I get to write about these wonderful places soon.

Waiheke Island

Tasting at Stonyridge Vineyard — Winetasting at Stonyridge Vineyard, Waiheke Island

There are a number of islands off the coast of Auckland that are excellent for a day trip. This holiday I had my mind set on well known Waiheke Island (40 min ferry) and bird sanctuary Tiritiri Matangi Island (1h:15min). Unfortunately the ferry to Tiritiri was cancelled just before departure due to stormy weather. There was not a real alternative in the city as I am not a big fan of zoos and aquaria where animals spend their life locked up but we did spend an agreeable time in the Auckland museum.

That left Waiheke Island, a place that regularly hits the annual lists of best places to live or visit. I had spent a few nights on Waiheke before in early 2005 in a secluded private mansion on the beach. That was a great experience but this time we decided to do something completely different. Waiheke is famous for its abundance of vineyards and has a climate that is particularly suited to grow the Bordeaux-type grapes as well as some Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. In fact, vineyards are so prevalent that many tourists visit the island just for the wine and so did we.

It is possible to go on many different organised tours (120 NZD or more) if you do not want to do any planning but it is pretty easy to set up a trip yourself. The Fullers ferry organisation sells Vineyard Hopper tickets for 60 NZD that include the ferry ride (36 NZD) and that allow you to use a circle bus that stops at a large number of vineyards every hour. If you start early it’s perfectly doable to visit four or five vineyards provided you have the stamina for it. Every vineyard typically charges 2 or 3 NZD per (small) tasting glass. Not every vineyard is on the busroute or map, apparently this depends on whether they pay for the privilege or not, but most of them are a short walk away from the others.

We started at 11 am and stopped at four vineyards; Cable Bay, Wild On Waiheke, Stonyridge and Mudbrick. We had also wanted to go to Te Whau with its amazing views over the water but it was closed on Tuesday, something that wasn’t very well communicated or known because the bus had dropped of some unfortunate visitors there. Lucky for us, after an hour, they were still there to warn us. There was no waiting at all for tastings at any of the other vineyards which somehow added a sense of exploration and adventure to the trip.

Overall, we tasted about 20 wines. Most were average with positive Sauvignon Blanc and Syrah exceptions until we arrived at Mudbrick. Almost all of the vineyards are beautiful locations, perfectly suited for the many weddings they host throughout the year. Mudbrick was also very idyllic but more importantly, their wines were of great quality. In particular we liked their Reserve Chardonnay and Onetangi Valley Syrah, both from Waiheke, and I couldn’t resist buying a few bottles (sending them home through friends as shipping was 250 NZD). The vineyard’s flagship wine Velvet 2014 is an undisclosed Merlot / Cabernet blend of the best grapes of the vineyard. The wine was therefore very reminiscent of the French Bordeaux region and even though I much prefer the Rhone Valley grape blends, I thought the taste was exceptional. The Velvet wines are apparently not produced every year if quality is subpar so as not to taint the name which adds to the exclusivity (and the steep price surely!).

We had a great time at Mudbrick and they allowed us to stay far past tasting hours asking questions and discussing the wines. While we thought this was the best vineyard by far, it is also fair to point out that we had a great lunch at Wild at Waiheke. At this vineyard it was also possible to do beer tasting, creating a similar experience for people that are not all that into wine.

Hobbiton

No trip to New Zealand is complete without a visit to the most magical of fantasy worlds. I fell in love with Middle-Earth when I was 16 after I was allowed to put both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings on my high school English literature list. I had read many fantasy and science fiction books before but none came close to the depth of Tolkien’s world. Even now, having read dozens more, to me there are only a few writers that manage to come close, most notably George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire saga and Robin Hobb with her epic Farseer storyline.

New Zealand has Middle-Earth filming locations scattered around the country because the it has such a wealth of different landscapes and most of the movies were filmed here. The Lord of the Rings was primarily filmed in 1999 and 2000. After the movies were released to cinema in 2001-2003, the locations attracted a lot of tourism. A 2004 survey found that six percent of visitors to New Zealand cited The Lord of The Rings as one of their main reasons to come. 2014 research (following the release of the Hobbit trilogy in 2012-2014) also showed that the marketing of New Zealand as Middle Earth had a significant effect on visitors.

Probably the nicest and easiest place to visit is Hobbiton near Matamata, North Island, a scenic three hour drive from Auckland. I had been there before in 2004 when the remnants of the famous hobbit village unexpectedly turned out to be a huge visitor attraction. The Lord of the Rings filming crew had used cheap and flimsy materials to create the hobbit village, as is common in filming, and they lasted just long enough to shoot the necessary scenes. Hobbiton at that time was not more than a few holes in the ground with cardboard in front of them. Still a lot of people came to see it.

Probably with this huge interest in mind, New Line Cinema completely rebuilt Hobbiton using durable materials for the filming of the Hobbit Trilogy and it looks spectacular. They keep adding locations every year even though filming is over, turning it into a regular theme park. The tour is now strictly guided and more expensive (80 NZD) but includes a visit to the Green Dragon with complementary beer, ale or ginger beer, specifically brewed for Hobbiton. The movie-set-turned-theme-park now holds 44 hobbit holes, including Bag End, the largest and highest hobbit house which was the home of Bilbo Baggins and later Frodo. It also features Sandyman’s Mill, the Green Dragon Inn and the famous Party Tree.

If you’re interested, more information can be found on www.hobbitontours.com.

Coromandel Peninsula, Waikato

Coromandel Peninsula

The Coromandel Peninsula is considered by many as one of the most beautiful regions on the North Island of New Zealand. During nice weather it is visible from Auckland over the Hauraki Gulf, 55km to the west. However to get there from Auckland overland will take a few hours, depending on where you want to go.

The name stems from the British Royal Navy ship HMS Coromandel that stopped at the peninsula in 1820 to buy the famously strong timber from the ancient Kauri trees that are endemic to the northern part of the North Island. The ship itself was named after India’s Coromandel Coast.

Hot Water Beach

There are a few tourist hotspots that almost everyone visits. Hot Water Beach is a beach on the east coast of the peninsula, 175 km from Auckland by car. It gets its name from the underground hot springs that filter up through the sand between high and low tide. During low tide, people go out on the beach with a shovel and dig holes that fill with warm water heated by the thermal activity. Towards high tide, the waves come slowly rolling in further and further every time until they reach the holes in the ground, break their barriers and fill them with colder ocean water. It was pretty busy wen we were there but coming late, we were able to get an abandoned pool from people that were only interested in the warm water experience and we dug it out further to comfortably fit 5 people.

Cathedral Cove

Not far from Hot Water Beach is famous Cathedral Cove, a cave that is open on both sides, located on a pleasant beach. The cave was used in the movie The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian as the location where the kids re-enter Narnia. The cave can be reached from the main parking area by a walking path sloping downhill which is a 20-30 minutes hike. Only at low tide it is possible to walk under the formation into the ‘cathedral’. I found that the nicest pictures to make were silhouettes of people from inside the cave, but it took some time to have a clear shot without other people, boats and swimmers.

Lake Waimamu Area, Waitakere

Black Sand Dunes

The Lake Waimamu area is a local hidden gem 30 minutes west of Auckland that hosts a number of cool free playgrounds. From the car park just off the long winding Bethells Road, a 20cm deep creek leads into an equally shallow estuary to the lake. Bordering this estuary are the Black Sand Dunes. They are steep enough to create an easy slide down on a boogie board. This is heaps of fun except for the constant climb uphill through the sand and the pain in your legs the next morning.

New Zealand is a land of volcanoes and its west coast is characterised by sparkling black sand beaches. The black colour exists because of volcanic minerals, mainly iron oxide, that are mixed with the sand. With the sun beating down during the day, it is impossible to stand on the sand for more than a very brief moment but the sparkling sand is a beautiful sight to behold. The Black Sand Dunes are made up of the same stuff and luckily it was cloudy when we arrived as it would not have been so much fun getting scorched when climbing the dunes.

Shallow water sliding

The estuary itself makes for nice sliding too as long as people on the boogie board are not too heavy (if they are, you’ll get sandbanked). It is easy to drag the little ones all the way back through the creek to the car park.