Francesca and Henk-Jan's Backpacking Trip!
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Rotorua - Reststop
Ah, a few days without posts! We felt we needed to take a break from our crazy traveling, so we left our fellowship (ha ha!) behind in the town of Rotorua. Rotorua has the highest percentage of Maori-people and it shows when you walk around in town. Nana explained the name comes from the words ‘roto’ and ‘rua’; which mean ‘lake’ and ‘two’ respectively. Don’t start looking for a difficult explanation or a deeper hidden meaning; the person that found the lake found another lake first. This was simply the second one he happened to find. Other than its high Maori-population Rotorua is also famous for its rather distinct smell: the smell of rotten eggs. The region has an extremely sulfur-saturated soil, which surfaces due to a lot of geothermal activity below the thin earth-crust. More about that later!
We arrived in Rotorua on the Tuesday the 7th of July around 12:30PM. We had just dropped off the three American girls and the Canadian girl, because they wanted to go sledging (body-boarding on a river). We gave them hugs and said our goodbyes. Not long after we arrived at Base Hot Rocks, our hostel for the days to come. We grabbed our bags and jumped off the bus. It was a bit too early to check in, so we sat down in the tv-room and watched more Lord of the Rings, whilst uploading the pictures that you can find in our previous posts. After concluding this part of the day we could check into our room and found a comfy double waiting for us, with some clean white towels as a nice present. Obviously, we made use of these and had a very welcome hot shower.
The afternoon passed rather quickly, just loafing about until dinnertime. We had seen some ads for free pizza in the bar across from the hostel. We sat down and grabbed some drinks in the Lava Bar (as it was called), waiting for our pizza to arrive. Not long after one of the barmen brought us a whole pizza! Every other pizza was shared between like 5 people, but since nobody sat where we were hanging out we could munch on our pizza in relative peace. Unfortunately, some other people caught on to our freebies and stole some slices. We were not completely satisfied yet, so we ordered a bowl of fried onion rings, chicken nuggets and wedges. Whilst we were waiting another pizza arrived and we kinda had our fill before even getting our meal! We returned to our room for a well-deserved night of sleep.
The next day we didn’t plan anything either, other than getting some groceries around noon. We asked for directions at reception and hiked off into town. We were both pretty hungry, so we stopped at the ‘Fat Dog’, a rather well-known café with a playful theme. The walls have children’s poems on them about animals and are painted in bright colors. The food wasn’t bad either! We opted for the fish burger, and got an enormous pile of food, which we happily shared! With a full tummy we continued our walk, stopping at several souvenir-shops along the way. We looked at some of the greenstone jewelry, which is rather plentiful in this region. Some of the best carvers of New Zealand live here. We also randomly bumped into a Dutch guy, who was working in one of the shops. He had moved here 8 years ago to start a new life. Sounded like a pretty good move to us! We eventually made it to the Pak ‘n Save and stocked up on fruit (yay for cheap kiwi’s), bread, spreads, cheese and drinks to last us for the coming days. When we got back we watched another movie and got some more needed sleep.
Thursday brought us back on the activity-track. We had decided we wanted to go Zorbing and perhaps also Schweebing after seeing the brochures about them. We jumped on one of the local buses and after a short ride we made it to the reception. Zorbing is basically rolling off a big hill in a large plastic ball. Schweebing is biking a course on a bike suspended in the air; perfect for one-on-ones. Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?! We talked to some of the guys that worked there and they told us not to go Schweebing, because it wasn’t anything special. We guessed they’d probably know better and ended up only going downhill.
We had also read we could add a little fun to our roll by adding hot water to our Zorb; it is then called a Zydro (I’m sure you can all figure that one out). We chose to get wet and changed into our bathing suits. We were driven uphill to the starting point and after waiting a while seeing a few people roll to the bottom.
When it was our turn our Zorb was brought up to the platform and filled with warm water. I jumped in first through this tiny hole on the side. Francesca followed me and we were both soaked before we even started! The employee hit our Zorb and we had to get it going! Seconds after we were rolling and obviously no longer standing! It basically feels like you’re in a washing machine (not that I would know what that feels like, but I guess that compares to it best) for a good 20 seconds. Too short for sure! The photographer took a few pictures of us whilst we were rolling. We got out of our Zorb and brrr! Cold! We got changed quickly. I made a few more photos and videos whilst Francesca purchased our photos. We got back on the bus and chilled for the rest of the day. I cooked for Francesca and we watched Hot Fuzz; pretty funny movie.
For the Friday we had different plans: we had booked a tour to Wai-O-Tapu, the Thermal Wonderland. We were picked up around 09:00AM and driven to the Lady Knox Geyser. This natural geyser was discovered by some of the inmates that were doing time in this area working the land. As the story goes one of the inmates was washing himself when he accidentally dropped his bar of soap into a hole in the ground. This disturbed the water below and caused the geyser to erupt. To be more precise, the geyser has two separate compartments of water with different temperatures; the upper chamber is around 90 degrees Celsius (210F) and the lower chamber around 150 degrees Celsius (330F). From time to time the higher chamber would heat up too much and cause an eruption, but by throwing in a bar of soap the surface tension got disturbed manually. This is also how the people that own the geyser now manage to let it go off at the same time every day of the week. One of their employees shared this information, dropped the soap in and then left us to enjoy the show. At its peak the geyser reached around 20 meters (66 ft)! Pretty impressive!
After the compulsory pictures we headed back to the bus and were taken to Wai-O-Tapu (sacred waters):
The Wai-O-Tapu thermal area is part of Scenic Reserve administered by the Department of Conservation and has the largest area of surface thermal activity of any hydrothermal system in the Taupo Volcanic Zone.
Covering some 18sq. km, with the volcanic dome Maungakakaramea (Rainbow Mountain) at its northern boundary, the area is literally covered with collapsed craters, cold and boiling pools of mud, water and steaming fumaroles. The general public sees only a very small portion. The area is associated with volcanic activity dating back about 160,000 years and is located right on the edge of the largest volcanic caldera (depression) within the active Taupo Volcanic Zone.
The Wai-O-Tapu stream forms an integral part of the drainage system which ultimately flows into the Waikato River and out into the Tasman Sea. Boiling springs and volcanic gases introduce numerous minerals into the water which account for no fish life in the stream.
As a Scenic Reserve all native flora, fauna and geological formations are strictly protected. The surrounding manuka scrub vegetation is extremely flammable as are some of the minerals.
Beneath the ground is a system of streams which are heated by magma left over from earlier eruptions. The water is so hot (temperatures of up to 300 degrees Celsius (630F) have been recorded) that it absorbs minerals out of the rocks through which it passes and transports them to the surface as steam where they are ultimately absorbed into the ground. The so called “rotten egg smell” of the geothermal areas is associated with “hydrogen sulphide” (H²S).
The wide range of colors in the area are all natural and are due to different mineral elements. The predominant colors being: green, orange, purple, white yellow-primrose, red-brown and black.
We had about an hour and a half to explore the park and started the hike by crossing a little hot stream. Unfortunately it was rather foggy, so we did not get the full view of the park, but as we made our way down we saw quite a few impressive displays of Mother Nature’s power. The ones that stood out most for us were:
The Opal Pool
A sulfurous spring on the edge of the sinter terrace named after its greenish yellow color.
The Oyster Pool
Viewed from the timber boardwalk and located in unstable ground this natural sulfurous pool is named after its distinct shape.
The Sulfur Cave
Viewed from the track, there are magnificent examples of undisturbed crystallized sulfur formed as hot sulfur gases have cooled in the sheltered atmosphere of the overhanging cliff.
The Champagne Pool
This spring is the largest in the district, being 65m (200ft) in diameter and 62m (190ft) deep. Its surface temperature is 74 degrees Celsius (158F) and bubbles are due to carbon dioxide. The pool was formed 700 years ago by a hydrothermal eruption the rocks from which can be seen at the top of the embankment by the track. Minerals contained in the water are gold, silver, mercury, sulfur, arsenic, thallium, antimony etc and are presently depositing in the surrounding sinter ledge. The various sinter ledges have been associated with tilting of the pool as a consequence of earthquake activity.
The Devil's Bath
A large ruggedly-edged crater adjoining the bush line with an amazing natural water color at its base. The color is the result of excess water from the Champagne Pool mixing with sulfur and ferrous salts. Changes in color through green to yellow are associated with the amount of reflected light and cloud cover.
Other highlights:
Right around 12:00PM we made it back to the bus and the driver took us to our last stop: boiling mud pools. As you read earlier in my post, the mud is heated up by the underlying magma, making it boil. It sounds and looks quite impressive and volatile. Unfortunately we didn’t have a lot of time to stop here and just ended up taking a few snapshots. We headed back to town, stopping at the Pak ‘n Save once more to do some more shopping. We ate pizza and did our laundry, falling asleep pretty late because the dryers were broken and we had to hang all our clothes out to dry.
That brings us back to today! Today was another day of rest! Hurrah! We just came back from the movies, since that’s what backpackers do. I had wanted to see Brüno, and got Francesca excited by looking at the trailer. It was definitely worth it! Don’t expect the bar to be raised too much, but if you just want to go have a laugh go see it. Francesca is about to make me food (heat the soup up and make me some sandwiches) so that’s it for today. Tomorrow we head for Taupo, where Francesca shall jump out of an airplane (willingly)(if the weather permits), so stay tuned for more action!
We arrived in Rotorua on the Tuesday the 7th of July around 12:30PM. We had just dropped off the three American girls and the Canadian girl, because they wanted to go sledging (body-boarding on a river). We gave them hugs and said our goodbyes. Not long after we arrived at Base Hot Rocks, our hostel for the days to come. We grabbed our bags and jumped off the bus. It was a bit too early to check in, so we sat down in the tv-room and watched more Lord of the Rings, whilst uploading the pictures that you can find in our previous posts. After concluding this part of the day we could check into our room and found a comfy double waiting for us, with some clean white towels as a nice present. Obviously, we made use of these and had a very welcome hot shower.
The afternoon passed rather quickly, just loafing about until dinnertime. We had seen some ads for free pizza in the bar across from the hostel. We sat down and grabbed some drinks in the Lava Bar (as it was called), waiting for our pizza to arrive. Not long after one of the barmen brought us a whole pizza! Every other pizza was shared between like 5 people, but since nobody sat where we were hanging out we could munch on our pizza in relative peace. Unfortunately, some other people caught on to our freebies and stole some slices. We were not completely satisfied yet, so we ordered a bowl of fried onion rings, chicken nuggets and wedges. Whilst we were waiting another pizza arrived and we kinda had our fill before even getting our meal! We returned to our room for a well-deserved night of sleep.
The next day we didn’t plan anything either, other than getting some groceries around noon. We asked for directions at reception and hiked off into town. We were both pretty hungry, so we stopped at the ‘Fat Dog’, a rather well-known café with a playful theme. The walls have children’s poems on them about animals and are painted in bright colors. The food wasn’t bad either! We opted for the fish burger, and got an enormous pile of food, which we happily shared! With a full tummy we continued our walk, stopping at several souvenir-shops along the way. We looked at some of the greenstone jewelry, which is rather plentiful in this region. Some of the best carvers of New Zealand live here. We also randomly bumped into a Dutch guy, who was working in one of the shops. He had moved here 8 years ago to start a new life. Sounded like a pretty good move to us! We eventually made it to the Pak ‘n Save and stocked up on fruit (yay for cheap kiwi’s), bread, spreads, cheese and drinks to last us for the coming days. When we got back we watched another movie and got some more needed sleep.
Thursday brought us back on the activity-track. We had decided we wanted to go Zorbing and perhaps also Schweebing after seeing the brochures about them. We jumped on one of the local buses and after a short ride we made it to the reception. Zorbing is basically rolling off a big hill in a large plastic ball. Schweebing is biking a course on a bike suspended in the air; perfect for one-on-ones. Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?! We talked to some of the guys that worked there and they told us not to go Schweebing, because it wasn’t anything special. We guessed they’d probably know better and ended up only going downhill.
We had also read we could add a little fun to our roll by adding hot water to our Zorb; it is then called a Zydro (I’m sure you can all figure that one out). We chose to get wet and changed into our bathing suits. We were driven uphill to the starting point and after waiting a while seeing a few people roll to the bottom.
When it was our turn our Zorb was brought up to the platform and filled with warm water. I jumped in first through this tiny hole on the side. Francesca followed me and we were both soaked before we even started! The employee hit our Zorb and we had to get it going! Seconds after we were rolling and obviously no longer standing! It basically feels like you’re in a washing machine (not that I would know what that feels like, but I guess that compares to it best) for a good 20 seconds. Too short for sure! The photographer took a few pictures of us whilst we were rolling. We got out of our Zorb and brrr! Cold! We got changed quickly. I made a few more photos and videos whilst Francesca purchased our photos. We got back on the bus and chilled for the rest of the day. I cooked for Francesca and we watched Hot Fuzz; pretty funny movie.
For the Friday we had different plans: we had booked a tour to Wai-O-Tapu, the Thermal Wonderland. We were picked up around 09:00AM and driven to the Lady Knox Geyser. This natural geyser was discovered by some of the inmates that were doing time in this area working the land. As the story goes one of the inmates was washing himself when he accidentally dropped his bar of soap into a hole in the ground. This disturbed the water below and caused the geyser to erupt. To be more precise, the geyser has two separate compartments of water with different temperatures; the upper chamber is around 90 degrees Celsius (210F) and the lower chamber around 150 degrees Celsius (330F). From time to time the higher chamber would heat up too much and cause an eruption, but by throwing in a bar of soap the surface tension got disturbed manually. This is also how the people that own the geyser now manage to let it go off at the same time every day of the week. One of their employees shared this information, dropped the soap in and then left us to enjoy the show. At its peak the geyser reached around 20 meters (66 ft)! Pretty impressive!
After the compulsory pictures we headed back to the bus and were taken to Wai-O-Tapu (sacred waters):
The Wai-O-Tapu thermal area is part of Scenic Reserve administered by the Department of Conservation and has the largest area of surface thermal activity of any hydrothermal system in the Taupo Volcanic Zone.
Covering some 18sq. km, with the volcanic dome Maungakakaramea (Rainbow Mountain) at its northern boundary, the area is literally covered with collapsed craters, cold and boiling pools of mud, water and steaming fumaroles. The general public sees only a very small portion. The area is associated with volcanic activity dating back about 160,000 years and is located right on the edge of the largest volcanic caldera (depression) within the active Taupo Volcanic Zone.
The Wai-O-Tapu stream forms an integral part of the drainage system which ultimately flows into the Waikato River and out into the Tasman Sea. Boiling springs and volcanic gases introduce numerous minerals into the water which account for no fish life in the stream.
As a Scenic Reserve all native flora, fauna and geological formations are strictly protected. The surrounding manuka scrub vegetation is extremely flammable as are some of the minerals.
Beneath the ground is a system of streams which are heated by magma left over from earlier eruptions. The water is so hot (temperatures of up to 300 degrees Celsius (630F) have been recorded) that it absorbs minerals out of the rocks through which it passes and transports them to the surface as steam where they are ultimately absorbed into the ground. The so called “rotten egg smell” of the geothermal areas is associated with “hydrogen sulphide” (H²S).
The wide range of colors in the area are all natural and are due to different mineral elements. The predominant colors being: green, orange, purple, white yellow-primrose, red-brown and black.
We had about an hour and a half to explore the park and started the hike by crossing a little hot stream. Unfortunately it was rather foggy, so we did not get the full view of the park, but as we made our way down we saw quite a few impressive displays of Mother Nature’s power. The ones that stood out most for us were:
The Opal Pool
A sulfurous spring on the edge of the sinter terrace named after its greenish yellow color.
The Oyster Pool
Viewed from the timber boardwalk and located in unstable ground this natural sulfurous pool is named after its distinct shape.
The Sulfur Cave
Viewed from the track, there are magnificent examples of undisturbed crystallized sulfur formed as hot sulfur gases have cooled in the sheltered atmosphere of the overhanging cliff.
The Champagne Pool
This spring is the largest in the district, being 65m (200ft) in diameter and 62m (190ft) deep. Its surface temperature is 74 degrees Celsius (158F) and bubbles are due to carbon dioxide. The pool was formed 700 years ago by a hydrothermal eruption the rocks from which can be seen at the top of the embankment by the track. Minerals contained in the water are gold, silver, mercury, sulfur, arsenic, thallium, antimony etc and are presently depositing in the surrounding sinter ledge. The various sinter ledges have been associated with tilting of the pool as a consequence of earthquake activity.
The Devil's Bath
A large ruggedly-edged crater adjoining the bush line with an amazing natural water color at its base. The color is the result of excess water from the Champagne Pool mixing with sulfur and ferrous salts. Changes in color through green to yellow are associated with the amount of reflected light and cloud cover.
Other highlights:
Right around 12:00PM we made it back to the bus and the driver took us to our last stop: boiling mud pools. As you read earlier in my post, the mud is heated up by the underlying magma, making it boil. It sounds and looks quite impressive and volatile. Unfortunately we didn’t have a lot of time to stop here and just ended up taking a few snapshots. We headed back to town, stopping at the Pak ‘n Save once more to do some more shopping. We ate pizza and did our laundry, falling asleep pretty late because the dryers were broken and we had to hang all our clothes out to dry.
That brings us back to today! Today was another day of rest! Hurrah! We just came back from the movies, since that’s what backpackers do. I had wanted to see Brüno, and got Francesca excited by looking at the trailer. It was definitely worth it! Don’t expect the bar to be raised too much, but if you just want to go have a laugh go see it. Francesca is about to make me food (heat the soup up and make me some sandwiches) so that’s it for today. Tomorrow we head for Taupo, where Francesca shall jump out of an airplane (willingly)(if the weather permits), so stay tuned for more action!
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Rocks Are Stupid, Throw Boys At Them!
Hey everyone! Yesterday was another really long day filled with tons of classic New Zealand activities. First, we packed up from our hostel and jumped on the bus to head out for some early morning blackwater rafting at Waitomo Caves! There were tons of different options we could pick, and we decided on a package which included cave tubing and the opportunity to see glowworms.
First we changed into our swimsuits… and then there was the interesting part: wetsuits. I’ve never worn a wetsuit before, but I figured it wasn’t going to be too comfortable. Correct assumption! Cold, tight and sticky, wetsuits are loose where you want them tight and vice-versa. We even had little cold booties, a jacket to go over the wetsuit, and tough gumboots and lighted hardhats to brave the cave with. After we were suited up, we walked through the fields where sheep were grazing, and learned a bit more about the caves.
Owned by the same farmer whose sheep we were looking at, the cave we were going to tube in was located in Waitomo, and was one of the numerous caves for blackwater rafting. The owner of this cave simply rents out the right to his land (the cave is located underneath his land, obviously, and is thus his property) to a tour company and the profits roll on in for him. He doesn’t really need to focus too much on his sheep as a result. :D
Before we even got to the caves, I got my first shock. Literally! Henk and I were holding hands as we mucked through the slimy grasses making our way to the cave, and my hand happened to brush against the fence next to us while we were making our way. I felt a shock race throughout me, and because he was holding my hand, Henk felt the shock as well. Our guides to the cave had forgotten to mention to us that the fences we were walking next to were electric! Greeeeeat! That might have been nice to know before I ended up touching one.
It turns out that glowworms are actually little maggots. And what’s even worse, they produce their tiny greenish-blue light only after they have eaten and digested food. As an alternative to producing a fecal waste, the maggots use their energy consumed from food to let off this small light in order to attract more food towards them. Other insects think the small bright spots on the cave roof are “exits” (sunlight shining in) to the cave, and thus fly towards them when they try to exit the cave, getting eaten by glowworms in the process.
Seeing the glowworms was awesome. We sat on a flat part of the cave wall and turned off the lights on our hardhats to see them better. It reminded me of a planetarium almost … the little shiny lights looked like they could be stars in the distance; you could almost imagine little constellations among the worms. (Almost!) Our guides explained the glowworm lifecycle, starting from larva (the stage where they “look” like glowworms which lasts 6 to 9 months) and ending with the result being an adult fungus gnat fly. I know… sounds delicious! (Yuck!)
After getting our fill of glowworm viewing, we continued through the narrow, wet caves (very wet – half the time I swear we were swimming waste deep in freezing cold water in that cave!) until we reached the water tunnels. Our guides helped us climb up to a high rock ledge while holding our tubes behind us. In turn, we jumped off backwards from the ledge, flying through the air trying to hold tight to our tubes. The shock came when we splash landed in the icy water – I ended up absolutely soaked and shivering, and Henk fell out of his tube!
Each member of our party latched themselves to those behind and in front of them and we were pulled slowly down the darkest, coldest lazy river I’ve ever experienced. But also the most interesting! With our hardhat lights off again, our glowworm constellation show returned – and we watched the show as we made our way through the river in the cave.
Shortly after, we stopped at the “Hard Rock Café” (sorry, no pins at this one Uncle Randy!) inside the cave. Our guides gave us some treats here: a Cadbury chocolate-covered marshmallow bar and a hot cup of… liquid that I first thought was water. This was confusing – we were surrounded by water, why the hell would they give us more! Then I took a sip and it was surprising good… it was this bittersweet lemon flavor, tasting kinda like a sweet soda. I didn’t learn until later that the drink was Lemon Toddy. Here’s the recipe; try and make some and let us know if you like it!
Lemon Toddy:
Ingredients:
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup lemon juice concentrate
3 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 ounces whiskey (optional, not recommended if blackwater rafting)
Directions:
Mix above ingredients in a small sauce pan.
Simmer over low heat until honey dissolves.
Serve hot.
The real reason they gave us this sugary drink and dessert was because the worst of the cave venture was yet to come. Next was the area with super slippery rocks, including very sharp limestone rocks, and even more cold-water swimming than before. Henk had to walk behind me (I always go very slowly and carefully over wet rocks – because I swear I have weak ankles! I twist them on everything. ß Henk thinks that is because I don’t tie my shoes correctly, but we all know that must be a lie!) in order to make sure I was alright.
At the end of the cave, we had to grab onto this wet, muddy piece of rope and pull ourselves up to the surface. Henk basically pushed me up the whole way… but somehow I still ended up covered in mud! Since Henk was the only guy in the male locker room, I got to go into the guys’ stalls with him and get to have a long hot shower and get all of my frozen limbs working again! Even though we ended up so dirty, sweaty, and tired, we had some fantastic pictures from the cave.
After our glowworm and cave adventure, we had a quick stop at the first swing bridge built in New Zealand. Built in 1925, the Arapuni Swing Bridge was interesting, but nothing too spectacular after seeing the cool glowworm caves. Our group members joked with me to be careful, because there were more electric fences in the area!
Next was a really long drive to the Maori marae (a meetinghouse where the Maori people would gather to eat, sleep, and discuss important political matters with each other) in Maketu. This marae was not a traditional one; instead, it was run by this interesting guy called Uncle Boy. There are many different types of cultural overnight stays in New Zealand teaching people about the Maori culture – it’s a very popular attraction. However, rather than running a large commercialized venture, Uncle Boy goes for the no BS approach; trying to make things traditional, yet honest, and perfect for a small group like ours.
For example, dinner was a hangi – a meal consisting of lamb, chicken, veggies, stuffing, and fish all cooked together. The traditional method is that the meal is supposed to be cooked together underground, however, for health reasons Uncle Boy doesn’t make the meal this way. He still cooks everything together, but above ground; to cook below ground would be hazardous due to the pesticides used by the farmers in the region.
After our hangi and a dessert of cake, fruit, and jello, we had to follow our chief (Bernard, the oldest guy in our group) into the marae to meet the Maori. As Uncle Boy explained, a peace offering between the Maori and an approaching group (us, in this case) is placed on the ground. If our chief does not pick up the offering, our group would be walked out of the marae. If our chief stepped over the offering, a fight would break out and he would be taken down. And if everything went well, our chief would pick up the offering and then step back – a peace agreement would be reached.
Obviously we weren’t going to risk anything, and we made peace with the Maori right away. We watched them perform traditional dances, complete with angry, stamping choreography for the men and hip-shaking action for the women. Later, we were broken into separate male and female groups; the men learned how to do the Haka and the women learned the Poi.
The Haka is an angry war dance where the men wear short, decorative thick straw skirts and they stomp, slap their legs, and make really scary (and ugly!) faces with their eyes really wide and their tongues stuck out and twisted. Henk was really excited about perfecting this dance. :D And he did a really good job at it! (I know I was scared…)
Here is the haka in the Maori language, along with an English translation:
Ka mate, ka mate! ka ora! ka ora!
Ka mate! ka mate! ka ora! ka ora!
Tēnei te tangata pūhuruhuru
Nāna nei i tiki mai whakawhiti te rā
Ā, upane! ka upane!
Ā, upane, ka upane, whiti te ra!
’Tis death! ‘tis death! (or: I may die) ’Tis life! ‘tis life! (or: I may live)
’Tis death! ‘tis death! ’Tis life! ‘tis life!
This the hairy man that stands here...
…who brought the sun and caused it to shine
A step upward, another step upward!
A step upward, another... the Sun shines!
While he was busy learning this, I received a small colorful bag with a string attached to it, called a poi. Originally, the poi was a bag full of stones that young men would swing around to strengthen their wrists, in order to use Maori weapons with great agility. Women eventually began using the poi as a dancing accessory, and learned how to swing it along with their hips in time with music. I picked out a cute pink poi, and started practicing.
Although the Poi looks really difficult at first, the lyrics help you remember the choreography easily. For example “ki runga” means “up high” and “ki raro” means “down low.” Guess what direction you swing the poi as you sing these lyrics? Not so difficult at all. :D
Here are the Maori language lyrics to the Poi and an English translation below:
E rere taku poi
E rere taku poi
Ki runga (repeat x2)
Ki raro (repeat x2)
E rere runga
E rere raro
E rere roto
E rere waho
E rere taku poi
E rere taku poi
Ki runga
Hi aue hi!
Oh fly my poi, fly
Upwards, upwards
Oh fly my poi, fly
downwards, downwards
Fly upwards and then fly downwards
Fly inwards and then outwards
Fly my poi, oh fly!
Fly upwards and then downwards!
After practicing, the male and female groups performed the dances for each other. Henk did an awesome Haka face… it is so scary that I really hate seeing it; so that means it works! And he took a video of my Poi dance – which wasn’t half bad at all. :D I took a video of his Haka dance too. As soon as we can, we’ll upload some video clips so you guys can all see what it looked like!
After the dancing, Uncle Boy took some time to explain to us a few of the pictures and carvings he had displayed up on his walls. The main carving he showed us (one that was done about 10 years ago) was carved by a 14-year-old boy. Henk guessed correctly that the boy had carved his father. The father had full facial markings carved on himself – the sign of a chief. The father was holding a younger figure, the boy’s older brother, who also had a full facial design. Clearly, his brother was next in line to be chief.
Furthermore, the type of design used for the chief and son’s facial images, a type of swirl pattern, represented their specific tribe. Finally, we learned an important fact about Maori carvings: you can only make a carving of someone if they are deceased. Meaning this boy was carving the image of his father and brother after they had died.
Family is extremely important to the Maoris, as you would imagine it should be with any tribal-based culture. However, the Maori have an interesting way of keeping record of their family tree. Uncle Boy showed us an ornately carved walking stick and explained that the circles on it represented important people in a family’s history and the additional designs were their life events/stories.
Uncle Boy also had some weapons on display. While explaining them to us, he was upfront about his ancestors’ culture: they were cannibals. They had long wooden stabbing spears and axes with greenstone tips/blades as well as shorter decorated knives and clubs. In battle, a Maori would use a special blade specifically designed to take off the enemy chief’s scalp.
Once the leader of the enemy had been scalped, the Maori tribe’s leader would approach the enemy chief and rip out his brains, eating them in front of his tribe and other onlookers. In theory, this was supposed to represent a transfer of all of the power and knowledge from the dead leader’s mind into the mind of the conquering leader. In actuality, I must imagine these guys had really strong stomachs – I don’t know how you wouldn’t get sick from eating so many different people’s brains!
Finally we got to grab our mattresses and make up our beds. (OK, Henk is saying he made the bed, but I did carry over some pillows! AND I had FOUR duvets! I originally had three but I woke up and Henk had put another one on me; he thought I was going to get really cold or something.) The next morning we woke up to ABBA and breakfast waiting for us in the kitchen area. Then we jumped back on the bus and headed out to Rotorua, which is where we’ll be jumping off the bus to rest for a few days.
After all this constant activity, we REALLY need some downtime! Now a chance to rest up…
Francesca
First we changed into our swimsuits… and then there was the interesting part: wetsuits. I’ve never worn a wetsuit before, but I figured it wasn’t going to be too comfortable. Correct assumption! Cold, tight and sticky, wetsuits are loose where you want them tight and vice-versa. We even had little cold booties, a jacket to go over the wetsuit, and tough gumboots and lighted hardhats to brave the cave with. After we were suited up, we walked through the fields where sheep were grazing, and learned a bit more about the caves.
Owned by the same farmer whose sheep we were looking at, the cave we were going to tube in was located in Waitomo, and was one of the numerous caves for blackwater rafting. The owner of this cave simply rents out the right to his land (the cave is located underneath his land, obviously, and is thus his property) to a tour company and the profits roll on in for him. He doesn’t really need to focus too much on his sheep as a result. :D
Before we even got to the caves, I got my first shock. Literally! Henk and I were holding hands as we mucked through the slimy grasses making our way to the cave, and my hand happened to brush against the fence next to us while we were making our way. I felt a shock race throughout me, and because he was holding my hand, Henk felt the shock as well. Our guides to the cave had forgotten to mention to us that the fences we were walking next to were electric! Greeeeeat! That might have been nice to know before I ended up touching one.
It turns out that glowworms are actually little maggots. And what’s even worse, they produce their tiny greenish-blue light only after they have eaten and digested food. As an alternative to producing a fecal waste, the maggots use their energy consumed from food to let off this small light in order to attract more food towards them. Other insects think the small bright spots on the cave roof are “exits” (sunlight shining in) to the cave, and thus fly towards them when they try to exit the cave, getting eaten by glowworms in the process.
Seeing the glowworms was awesome. We sat on a flat part of the cave wall and turned off the lights on our hardhats to see them better. It reminded me of a planetarium almost … the little shiny lights looked like they could be stars in the distance; you could almost imagine little constellations among the worms. (Almost!) Our guides explained the glowworm lifecycle, starting from larva (the stage where they “look” like glowworms which lasts 6 to 9 months) and ending with the result being an adult fungus gnat fly. I know… sounds delicious! (Yuck!)
After getting our fill of glowworm viewing, we continued through the narrow, wet caves (very wet – half the time I swear we were swimming waste deep in freezing cold water in that cave!) until we reached the water tunnels. Our guides helped us climb up to a high rock ledge while holding our tubes behind us. In turn, we jumped off backwards from the ledge, flying through the air trying to hold tight to our tubes. The shock came when we splash landed in the icy water – I ended up absolutely soaked and shivering, and Henk fell out of his tube!
Each member of our party latched themselves to those behind and in front of them and we were pulled slowly down the darkest, coldest lazy river I’ve ever experienced. But also the most interesting! With our hardhat lights off again, our glowworm constellation show returned – and we watched the show as we made our way through the river in the cave.
Shortly after, we stopped at the “Hard Rock Café” (sorry, no pins at this one Uncle Randy!) inside the cave. Our guides gave us some treats here: a Cadbury chocolate-covered marshmallow bar and a hot cup of… liquid that I first thought was water. This was confusing – we were surrounded by water, why the hell would they give us more! Then I took a sip and it was surprising good… it was this bittersweet lemon flavor, tasting kinda like a sweet soda. I didn’t learn until later that the drink was Lemon Toddy. Here’s the recipe; try and make some and let us know if you like it!
Lemon Toddy:
Ingredients:
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup lemon juice concentrate
3 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 ounces whiskey (optional, not recommended if blackwater rafting)
Directions:
Mix above ingredients in a small sauce pan.
Simmer over low heat until honey dissolves.
Serve hot.
The real reason they gave us this sugary drink and dessert was because the worst of the cave venture was yet to come. Next was the area with super slippery rocks, including very sharp limestone rocks, and even more cold-water swimming than before. Henk had to walk behind me (I always go very slowly and carefully over wet rocks – because I swear I have weak ankles! I twist them on everything. ß Henk thinks that is because I don’t tie my shoes correctly, but we all know that must be a lie!) in order to make sure I was alright.
At the end of the cave, we had to grab onto this wet, muddy piece of rope and pull ourselves up to the surface. Henk basically pushed me up the whole way… but somehow I still ended up covered in mud! Since Henk was the only guy in the male locker room, I got to go into the guys’ stalls with him and get to have a long hot shower and get all of my frozen limbs working again! Even though we ended up so dirty, sweaty, and tired, we had some fantastic pictures from the cave.
After our glowworm and cave adventure, we had a quick stop at the first swing bridge built in New Zealand. Built in 1925, the Arapuni Swing Bridge was interesting, but nothing too spectacular after seeing the cool glowworm caves. Our group members joked with me to be careful, because there were more electric fences in the area!
Next was a really long drive to the Maori marae (a meetinghouse where the Maori people would gather to eat, sleep, and discuss important political matters with each other) in Maketu. This marae was not a traditional one; instead, it was run by this interesting guy called Uncle Boy. There are many different types of cultural overnight stays in New Zealand teaching people about the Maori culture – it’s a very popular attraction. However, rather than running a large commercialized venture, Uncle Boy goes for the no BS approach; trying to make things traditional, yet honest, and perfect for a small group like ours.
For example, dinner was a hangi – a meal consisting of lamb, chicken, veggies, stuffing, and fish all cooked together. The traditional method is that the meal is supposed to be cooked together underground, however, for health reasons Uncle Boy doesn’t make the meal this way. He still cooks everything together, but above ground; to cook below ground would be hazardous due to the pesticides used by the farmers in the region.
After our hangi and a dessert of cake, fruit, and jello, we had to follow our chief (Bernard, the oldest guy in our group) into the marae to meet the Maori. As Uncle Boy explained, a peace offering between the Maori and an approaching group (us, in this case) is placed on the ground. If our chief does not pick up the offering, our group would be walked out of the marae. If our chief stepped over the offering, a fight would break out and he would be taken down. And if everything went well, our chief would pick up the offering and then step back – a peace agreement would be reached.
Obviously we weren’t going to risk anything, and we made peace with the Maori right away. We watched them perform traditional dances, complete with angry, stamping choreography for the men and hip-shaking action for the women. Later, we were broken into separate male and female groups; the men learned how to do the Haka and the women learned the Poi.
The Haka is an angry war dance where the men wear short, decorative thick straw skirts and they stomp, slap their legs, and make really scary (and ugly!) faces with their eyes really wide and their tongues stuck out and twisted. Henk was really excited about perfecting this dance. :D And he did a really good job at it! (I know I was scared…)
Here is the haka in the Maori language, along with an English translation:
Ka mate, ka mate! ka ora! ka ora!
Ka mate! ka mate! ka ora! ka ora!
Tēnei te tangata pūhuruhuru
Nāna nei i tiki mai whakawhiti te rā
Ā, upane! ka upane!
Ā, upane, ka upane, whiti te ra!
’Tis death! ‘tis death! (or: I may die) ’Tis life! ‘tis life! (or: I may live)
’Tis death! ‘tis death! ’Tis life! ‘tis life!
This the hairy man that stands here...
…who brought the sun and caused it to shine
A step upward, another step upward!
A step upward, another... the Sun shines!
While he was busy learning this, I received a small colorful bag with a string attached to it, called a poi. Originally, the poi was a bag full of stones that young men would swing around to strengthen their wrists, in order to use Maori weapons with great agility. Women eventually began using the poi as a dancing accessory, and learned how to swing it along with their hips in time with music. I picked out a cute pink poi, and started practicing.
Although the Poi looks really difficult at first, the lyrics help you remember the choreography easily. For example “ki runga” means “up high” and “ki raro” means “down low.” Guess what direction you swing the poi as you sing these lyrics? Not so difficult at all. :D
Here are the Maori language lyrics to the Poi and an English translation below:
E rere taku poi
E rere taku poi
Ki runga (repeat x2)
Ki raro (repeat x2)
E rere runga
E rere raro
E rere roto
E rere waho
E rere taku poi
E rere taku poi
Ki runga
Hi aue hi!
Oh fly my poi, fly
Upwards, upwards
Oh fly my poi, fly
downwards, downwards
Fly upwards and then fly downwards
Fly inwards and then outwards
Fly my poi, oh fly!
Fly upwards and then downwards!
After practicing, the male and female groups performed the dances for each other. Henk did an awesome Haka face… it is so scary that I really hate seeing it; so that means it works! And he took a video of my Poi dance – which wasn’t half bad at all. :D I took a video of his Haka dance too. As soon as we can, we’ll upload some video clips so you guys can all see what it looked like!
After the dancing, Uncle Boy took some time to explain to us a few of the pictures and carvings he had displayed up on his walls. The main carving he showed us (one that was done about 10 years ago) was carved by a 14-year-old boy. Henk guessed correctly that the boy had carved his father. The father had full facial markings carved on himself – the sign of a chief. The father was holding a younger figure, the boy’s older brother, who also had a full facial design. Clearly, his brother was next in line to be chief.
Furthermore, the type of design used for the chief and son’s facial images, a type of swirl pattern, represented their specific tribe. Finally, we learned an important fact about Maori carvings: you can only make a carving of someone if they are deceased. Meaning this boy was carving the image of his father and brother after they had died.
Family is extremely important to the Maoris, as you would imagine it should be with any tribal-based culture. However, the Maori have an interesting way of keeping record of their family tree. Uncle Boy showed us an ornately carved walking stick and explained that the circles on it represented important people in a family’s history and the additional designs were their life events/stories.
Uncle Boy also had some weapons on display. While explaining them to us, he was upfront about his ancestors’ culture: they were cannibals. They had long wooden stabbing spears and axes with greenstone tips/blades as well as shorter decorated knives and clubs. In battle, a Maori would use a special blade specifically designed to take off the enemy chief’s scalp.
Once the leader of the enemy had been scalped, the Maori tribe’s leader would approach the enemy chief and rip out his brains, eating them in front of his tribe and other onlookers. In theory, this was supposed to represent a transfer of all of the power and knowledge from the dead leader’s mind into the mind of the conquering leader. In actuality, I must imagine these guys had really strong stomachs – I don’t know how you wouldn’t get sick from eating so many different people’s brains!
Finally we got to grab our mattresses and make up our beds. (OK, Henk is saying he made the bed, but I did carry over some pillows! AND I had FOUR duvets! I originally had three but I woke up and Henk had put another one on me; he thought I was going to get really cold or something.) The next morning we woke up to ABBA and breakfast waiting for us in the kitchen area. Then we jumped back on the bus and headed out to Rotorua, which is where we’ll be jumping off the bus to rest for a few days.
After all this constant activity, we REALLY need some downtime! Now a chance to rest up…
Francesca
Surf’s up! Or is it?
Gidday again!
We’re sitting in the bus right now on our way to the Waitomo-caves for some blackwater rafting. The perfect time to write a little update about yesterday! We haven’t had time to jump on the internet, so you’ll have to do a bit of extra reading to catch up. Yesterday we left Hahei early o’clock to cross the country from the east coast to the west coast. We stopped a few times on the way for some food. Highlight for me was a stop in Paeroa. Paeroa is famous because it is the hometown of L&P, New Zealand’s best soda. Back in the 1880s they found a mineral spring there and added some lemon to the mix (and obviously some secret ingredients) to make a great flavor. We tried some L&P ice-cream, which tasted really good. We also took some pictures with a giant L&P-bottle standing outside.
Halfway through our drive we ‘lost’ Nat, who was replaced by Nana, our new driver. Since Nat had been driving nonstop for the past week she had earned a break. With Nana now leading us astray we soon made it to Raglan: New Zealand’s surf-capital. Obviously, we could take some surfing-lessons or grab a boogie board. However, we decided not to, since the weather was not that fantastic and we were both pretty tired (now Francesca’s claiming she was not tired! She really wasn’t tired! She wasn’t. She doesn’t get tired; ever.) we skipped surfing altogether.
Instead, we went up to the flying fox. I jumped on once to show Francesca how it was done. She got pretty scared though, so when it was time for her to try we started halfway. We gradually went higher up until she jumped off the platform herself! Go girl! After the flying fox we tried the rope course to show our balancing skills. We got some great pictures, and unfortunately also mud on our clothes.
We thought we deserved a little break after this so we did the five minute walk to the ‘Sunset Boulevard’. The owners of the hostel had made a little platform overlooking the rainforest and the sea. Again, great shots and a great place to sit around for a while to talk and soak up a tiny bit of sun.
Finally, we went over to the sports-barn to play some table-tennis. Francesca did not really know how to play so I set out on my mission to make her a better player. I taught her about serving, smashing and using effect. She got a lot better!
The rest of the evening was pretty relaxed. We listened to music together and fell asleep. We’re having breakfast right now on our way to the caves, so I have to start preparing myself mentally for things to come.
See ya!
P.S. YOU CAN COMMENT AGAIN! WE FOUND OUT WHY IT DIDN'T WORK! GO US!
P.S.2 I CAN BE REACHED @ FRAN'S CELL @ +1 407 284 0933 (ALSO ON MY B'DAY!)
We’re sitting in the bus right now on our way to the Waitomo-caves for some blackwater rafting. The perfect time to write a little update about yesterday! We haven’t had time to jump on the internet, so you’ll have to do a bit of extra reading to catch up. Yesterday we left Hahei early o’clock to cross the country from the east coast to the west coast. We stopped a few times on the way for some food. Highlight for me was a stop in Paeroa. Paeroa is famous because it is the hometown of L&P, New Zealand’s best soda. Back in the 1880s they found a mineral spring there and added some lemon to the mix (and obviously some secret ingredients) to make a great flavor. We tried some L&P ice-cream, which tasted really good. We also took some pictures with a giant L&P-bottle standing outside.
Halfway through our drive we ‘lost’ Nat, who was replaced by Nana, our new driver. Since Nat had been driving nonstop for the past week she had earned a break. With Nana now leading us astray we soon made it to Raglan: New Zealand’s surf-capital. Obviously, we could take some surfing-lessons or grab a boogie board. However, we decided not to, since the weather was not that fantastic and we were both pretty tired (now Francesca’s claiming she was not tired! She really wasn’t tired! She wasn’t. She doesn’t get tired; ever.) we skipped surfing altogether.
Instead, we went up to the flying fox. I jumped on once to show Francesca how it was done. She got pretty scared though, so when it was time for her to try we started halfway. We gradually went higher up until she jumped off the platform herself! Go girl! After the flying fox we tried the rope course to show our balancing skills. We got some great pictures, and unfortunately also mud on our clothes.
We thought we deserved a little break after this so we did the five minute walk to the ‘Sunset Boulevard’. The owners of the hostel had made a little platform overlooking the rainforest and the sea. Again, great shots and a great place to sit around for a while to talk and soak up a tiny bit of sun.
Finally, we went over to the sports-barn to play some table-tennis. Francesca did not really know how to play so I set out on my mission to make her a better player. I taught her about serving, smashing and using effect. She got a lot better!
The rest of the evening was pretty relaxed. We listened to music together and fell asleep. We’re having breakfast right now on our way to the caves, so I have to start preparing myself mentally for things to come.
See ya!
P.S. YOU CAN COMMENT AGAIN! WE FOUND OUT WHY IT DIDN'T WORK! GO US!
P.S.2 I CAN BE REACHED @ FRAN'S CELL @ +1 407 284 0933 (ALSO ON MY B'DAY!)
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Cathedral Cove
Hello people,
This is your Dutch reporter reporting from Raglan, surf capital of New Zealand. My trusted sidekick and partner-in-crime, Francesca, is right beside me. Yesterday was quite the active and rain-covered day. We started our real Stray trip; the Moe-pass. We also had a new bus and a new driver. Our new driver’s name was Nat. She had just come back from a full circle around New Zealand, but had to fill in for another driver, who had broken a few ribs snowboarding. Needless to say, she was pretty tired. We also had a new crew to travel with. Surprisingly, there were three more American girls, three Germans, a Dutch girl and a British girl. I’ve never really seen that many Americans backpacking, but I guess it’s the season. Anyway, we jumped in the front of the bus and introductions were made.
The morning started early with a drive towards the Coromandel Peninsula, located on the far east of the northern island. We stopped at a marketgarden and picked up some fruit for the following days. Nat also purchased some veges and kumara (Maori sweet potatoes) for a classic Kiwi BBQ that she would make for us later that day. We made good time getting to Hahei, the small town we were to stay in. Our drive was pretty scenic, through a hilly landscape, just very rainy. We bought a purple fleece jacket for Francesca, as an extra layer, thinking ahead for future hikes and other adventures. Early in the afternoon we made it to our destination. There was not that much to do in Hahei, other than a great little hike to Cathedral Cove. Francesca and I had already decided we would do this hike, regardless of the weather. We dressed up warmly and packed some drinks.
When we got outside we saw we were not the only ones ready for the hike: pretty much everyone else had also unpacked their hiking boots/sneakers. We all headed out together to the beach, where the hike would start. We had to jump over/run through a little river that ended in the sea to get to the starting point. As we were climbing up the cliff we had to get over to the Cove the rain started coming down more and not long after people started looking like drowned rats. We kept going though, unphased by a few drops of water. After an hour the track started going down again, and we ended up on a quiet beach. On the left side we saw the Cathedral Cove and walked over. We took quite a few cool pictures and had some water. After that we walked down to the right side of the beach, where a nice little waterfall had started. Another great place for some epic pictures!
The weather did not permit us to stay much, much longer so we started hiking back. The group had fallen apart by then, so Fran and I walked back together. We took a little detour through Puriri Grove, which was hardly a track at all. It was covered in ferns and more importantly, mud. It was also a pretty steep way down, so we had to go slow. Eventually we made our way through and ended up on the old track again. We got back to the hostel around 16:30PM and had an awesome hot shower.
This is your Dutch reporter reporting from Raglan, surf capital of New Zealand. My trusted sidekick and partner-in-crime, Francesca, is right beside me. Yesterday was quite the active and rain-covered day. We started our real Stray trip; the Moe-pass. We also had a new bus and a new driver. Our new driver’s name was Nat. She had just come back from a full circle around New Zealand, but had to fill in for another driver, who had broken a few ribs snowboarding. Needless to say, she was pretty tired. We also had a new crew to travel with. Surprisingly, there were three more American girls, three Germans, a Dutch girl and a British girl. I’ve never really seen that many Americans backpacking, but I guess it’s the season. Anyway, we jumped in the front of the bus and introductions were made.
The morning started early with a drive towards the Coromandel Peninsula, located on the far east of the northern island. We stopped at a marketgarden and picked up some fruit for the following days. Nat also purchased some veges and kumara (Maori sweet potatoes) for a classic Kiwi BBQ that she would make for us later that day. We made good time getting to Hahei, the small town we were to stay in. Our drive was pretty scenic, through a hilly landscape, just very rainy. We bought a purple fleece jacket for Francesca, as an extra layer, thinking ahead for future hikes and other adventures. Early in the afternoon we made it to our destination. There was not that much to do in Hahei, other than a great little hike to Cathedral Cove. Francesca and I had already decided we would do this hike, regardless of the weather. We dressed up warmly and packed some drinks.
When we got outside we saw we were not the only ones ready for the hike: pretty much everyone else had also unpacked their hiking boots/sneakers. We all headed out together to the beach, where the hike would start. We had to jump over/run through a little river that ended in the sea to get to the starting point. As we were climbing up the cliff we had to get over to the Cove the rain started coming down more and not long after people started looking like drowned rats. We kept going though, unphased by a few drops of water. After an hour the track started going down again, and we ended up on a quiet beach. On the left side we saw the Cathedral Cove and walked over. We took quite a few cool pictures and had some water. After that we walked down to the right side of the beach, where a nice little waterfall had started. Another great place for some epic pictures!
The weather did not permit us to stay much, much longer so we started hiking back. The group had fallen apart by then, so Fran and I walked back together. We took a little detour through Puriri Grove, which was hardly a track at all. It was covered in ferns and more importantly, mud. It was also a pretty steep way down, so we had to go slow. Eventually we made our way through and ended up on the old track again. We got back to the hostel around 16:30PM and had an awesome hot shower.
What comes after a well-deserved shower? Right, a well-deserved meal. Whilst we were hiking Nat had started preparing the food. We sat down in the communal room and played some card games waiting for dinner to be served. The BBQ meal consisted of a steak, a sausage, some kumara, a pepper-salad and a regular salad. Good stuff! We both finished a large plate full. But wait, that was not all! Nat had also made an apple crumble pie with custard and Hokey Pokey. Hokey Pokey is New Zealand’s favorite ice cream; a mix of toffee and vanilla ice cream. Delice!
After dinner we played a few more games, which were great fun. We got to know our group a little better, which made the atmosphere much more agreeable. Nat had told us about Hot Water Beach earlier that day, and said she had inquired whether it would be possible to go check it out. She gave it the go-ahead, so around 9:30PM we headed out in the bus. Some people thought they could dig a hole to relax in, but Fran and I were not so brave. We just rolled up our pants and went with. Hot Water Beach has some geothermal activity fairly close to the surface which heats up the sand above it. We had to cross an ice-cold river that went knee-high. When we got to the small patch where the source of the heat was supposed to be there was only a little area that felt hot enough. Or, to be more precise, it was too hot! Furthermore, the tide was not low enough and the sea a little too rough. The water filled up the holes that were dug. We were glad we had kept our clothes on because not one hole was actually filled with human, rather than sand and/or water. After this little adventure we went back to the hostel for some sleep.
Ciao!
