One of new Zealand’s great cycle treks, the 90 km Twin coast cycle track between Opua in the Bay of Islands and peaceful Horeke in Hokianga Harbour travels by coastal views, wetlands, native forest and rolling farmland through some of New Zealand’s earliest Maori and European settlements. Our shuttle took one and a half hours to bring us to the beginning of our 2-day ride. By 10:30 we were dropped off at the starting point in Opua, we have our back packs on the back of the bike rack and we are ready to go. We start biking on the trail that used to be a railway in the 1880s so here and there you can see little bits of old train tracks. When the train was working it brought lumber and crops to the coast for trade. The scenery is gorgeous along the river and by big fields of farmland. Occasionally dairy cows would stare at us with their big black eyes; awe so cute, I literally fell in love with cows in the past two days. Other times we ride through forests of pine trees or valleys of giant New Zealand flax, and the towering fern trees reminded me of the jungle trees in Costa Rica. Everything was awesome besides the 27 km wind in your FACE! After 50km I was exhausted. Happily, we stayed in the greatest little cottage with great hosts who brought us a tasty “tucker box” so we could prepare a nutritious dinner and breakfast. If you ever stop in Kaikohe, make sure to stop at Mulga Bills Stopover.
cycling through pastureland
one of many train bridges to cross
untucked tucker box
Next day we had a fresh start but rode with the sorest behinds in the world. The scenery was stunning and more beautiful than the day before, there was no wind just a breeze and soon the trail was more downhill – Yay! We passed a farm with crazy and curious chickens where are stopped by a creek for a snack. We knew we were nearing the bay when the breeze picked up and carried the scent of the ocean. Soon we reached a long boardwalk through the mangroves with pretty grasses of reddish gold and some sort of fruit trees. On the last kilometer the wind came back to say “hi “, thankfully tires smoothly roll on wood so it was not that difficult. When we reached the hotel, I felt the best feeling of victory! My first long multi-day ride in my pocket.
A LITTLE BIT MORE OF MAORI HISTORY
The Maori sailed from Polynesia and settled in New Zealand around 1200 and they lived closely to the land mainly in the North. Starting in the late 1800s more and more sealing and then whaling ships visited New Zealand, mainly stopping at the Bay of Islands area for food and supplies and rest and relaxation. Here they met the Maori people. Many traders wanted kauri timber for ship building and flax for rope and nets. We saw some of these amazing trees that can live for 3-5 thousand years and it is strange to think the pretty pastures we rode by are areas of cleared forest that is so lush. Because of trade, Māori society changed a lot up to the 1840s. They changed their society from one of subsistence farming and gathering to cultivating useful crops for trade. In February 1840 the British wrote a treaty to negotiate exclusive rights to sale of land by the Maori and a voluntary transfer of sovereignty from the Māori to the British Crown. Our bike ride went through towns where the treaty was debated and signed by the majority of Chiefs, though some refused. This treaty was first signed in Waitangi and then passed through the country for more Maori chiefs to sign. Ever since there has been debate over the interpretation and the translations of the treaty and whether the Maori were given an honest deal.
About a week ago my mom, my sister, and I felt like we were in fairy tale, but we weren’t, we were just inside the dim blue illuminated caves in Waitomo, New Zealand where glow-worms live. I didn’t really have any expectations, but I would sum up the experience as something magical.
On a clear sunny day in the north island we drove through rolling hills of pastureland , it was hard to image there would be anything more than dirt below us. We ended up at the bottom of a hill, along a creek where a cave mouth opened leading us into the darkness. When first entering the cave it seems like a normal cave, besides the 100’s of stalactites and stalagmites all around us, but soon we turned off our lights and waited 5 minutes for our eyes to adjust to the darkness; slowly but surely dim strings of blue light started to appear all around us in clusters. Looking closer in between every little dangling strand of transparent blue web-like formations, there was a glowing worm. Traveling further into the cave, the air getting cooler and the sound of a distant water fall louder, we boarded a small raft. Floating silently down the underground river, we turned the corner and there they were thousands of specks reflecting off the water and lighting up the walls and ceiling of the cave with a sort turquoise glow. I felt I was right under the Milkyway looking up at the dotted stars across the pitch-black night sky, only they weren’t stars they were glow worms. Their light defined the contour of the cave and we could see their world. We gradually made it back the the mouth of the cave, leaving this wonderland behind us and I was filled with awe that such an amazing ecosystem exists on our planet.
floating down a stream in a glow worm cave
Wanting to understand this more I did little research on glow worms. Glow-worms are not actually worms, they are the larval stage of the fungus gnat. Glow-worms live in damp, dark, and still forests or cave systems where there is appropriate prey (other types of flies), they hang from gully walls, cave ceilings, and along stream banks. The prominent feature of the fungus gnat is hinted at in its larval name (glow-worm). The larval stage takes the predominant portion of the life-cycle, about a year. Then the remaining few weeks and days on either end of the cycle changing form egg to larva and larvae to gnat. The natural glow emitted during the larva stage is called bioluminescence. Glow-worms have a light-producing gland in their tail that is a byproduct of an enzyme called luciferase reacting with the multitude of chemicals.
How does a glow-worm find its food in a dark cave? Glow worms are blind and so create “fishing lines” to catch flies. It takes glow worm 1-15 minutes to form a line up to 500 mm long, glow worms in caves tend to have longer lines then the bush-dwelling-glowworms where the wind can tangle their lines. The glow worms web is made by their mouth and once the web is down, they will coat it in sticky mucous to catch their prey (usually flies). With the bioluminescent light in their tail they can attract/trick flies into thinking that their tail is light to the open sky, thereby catching their prey. Glow-worms then emerge from their tube to eat their prey. Sometimes, if the tension or vibration in the line suggests it is too far down the line to be considered safe they can reel the prey in or cut the over-sized unwanted prey from their line.
Interestingly Glowworms are only found in the southern portion of the ancient continent of Gondwana. 550 million years ago this ancient component of Pangea was comprised of South America, where I just was; Australasia, where I am now; and Africa, where I am going next.
This month we have done a lot of walking through Chile and Argentina. In Patagonia we did lots of hiking. From the Patagonian forests of tall trees and pretty water falls to the grassy shrubby steppe, there are miles under our feet. They say they have four seasons in one day in Patagonia and it is true. We hiked in all kinds of weather – Rain, snow, sun, fog.
Torres del Paine National Park, Chile
We did some challenging hikes to the bottom of Mt Fitz Roy (named after the captain of the Beagle – Darwin comes up everywhere) and Torres de Paine; both had a turquoise grey lake just below the spires and a little bit of snow. These hikes are 10 to 11 km each way and take you through the forest and near the end above the tree line to very step sections where you go up 1,300 feet in the last kilometer! I enjoyed the Fits Roy hike the most; the flowers smell so sweet and give a nice sent to the air, the glaciers are beautiful with lots of vibrant blue colors (like literally the blue is like something out of a Disney movie) and best of all, I got to play in snow yeess. Ps: my brother did not get tp come on the Fitz Roy hike because he had hurt his hamstring muscle.
Perito Moreno GlacierPuddle hopping in El Chaltain, Argentina
At the very end we visited Buenos Aires. Now I only spent 2 days there. We arrived near midnight and then had to wait a crazy 1.5 hours for our luggage so after crawling into bed at about 2am we slept in late, at least I did. We enjoyed a scrumptious brunch at my now my favorite café in Buenos Aires, La Pandera Rosa. My recommendation is the of Nutella and fruit on a Belgian waffle. Our first day was also New Year’s Eve and we walked around the town. There are lively street cafes with music and there is so much great colorful street/graffiti art on the sides of the old buildings that it is like walking through a modern art museum. That evening the mood was very different because my dad flew back to Seattle and then all the shops and restaurants closed at 4pm for the New Years. The next day the streets were quiet with everything closed so we went for a walk, and gradually ran into more and more families doing the same. We headed for Bosque del Paloma which is a big park in the city and one of the few places open on New Year’s day to visit. My brother wanted to jog and so meanwhile my mom and I rented a funny bike car or pedal go-cart to pedal around a lake in the park. That night was January first, we took a non-stop flight to New Zealand and we landed on January third. We lost January second flying past Antarctica somewhere
Flying from Fin Del Mundo to Buenos Aires in the twilight of December
January 1 2020
By Haakon
While we have been rolling down these long never-ending Patagonian dirt roads with enormous mountains to our left and right, I have had a couple things on my mind. One food craving, and two things I miss about Seattle. I have been craving a Dairy Queen blizzard, Hot Cakes (in Ballard), and good Indian food in general. The thing I am really bummed out about missing are, team sports, friends, ski-bus!!, not having to spend an hour and a half searching various stores for somewhat healthy food, and easy routines you can stick to. So, this brings me into what this blog post will be about, how traveling has put perspective on my everyday activities in Seattle.
The main element
I appreciate about Seattle is being able to have all your friends around
you to
hang out with, play sports with, talk with, etc. When traveling,
inconsistent Wi-Fi
is guaranteed, and you are always on different time zones so it can be
hard to
even talk with friends. The past 3 months I have really realized how
nice it is
to have all your friends within a mile from you so you can just do what
you
like to do together. The second thing I am just really going to miss is
ski-bus,
last year we talked the whole way to the summit, skied for three hours
before
hopping back on the bus and riding back to school where we got picked up
by our
parents we could ask to sleep over because it was only a Friday night
and we
had the whole weekend to go. The third
thing that I have come to really like about Seattle is team sports, not
only
are they a great way to get some exercise in but you can also be around
friends
while doing something you love. When traveling it can be very hard to
get much exercise
in like running for example; if you are somewhere that is unfamiliar you
can
get lost, and in bigger cities you don’t know how safe it is to run on
your own. That doesn’t mean you don’t go on hikes; we have
gone on a lot more hikes than we would in Seattle so that is a plus
about
travel. We have been hiking several times a week through South America
in some awesome
places.
I expected to miss what I miss
about life at home, so I am not surprised. I didn’t think how fast the year would fly by,
it’s the New Year already. I don’t know if time feels like that in Seattle but that’s
what it feels like on the road. I haven’t got the shock, like oh woah I am
really traveling the world; it’s more like I am happy to experience all the
things that I am and it helps me be more happy with what I have and what I have
learned because of my experiences. As ski bus comes closer, I will get more homesick,
but I will just have to remember I have surfed, snorkeled, and mountain-biked
while everyone was in school
P.S. Tonight
I am flying to Auckland, New Zealand and will be missing out on January 2d
because of the time zones, just thought that was wacky.
