McCrain's
in Middle Earth
A travel dialogue of our adventures
in New Zealand
In February 2004, Jim and Kathy McCrain began a five month oddessy in New Zealand. Kathy was transferred to Auckland for a temporary work assignment, and Jim followed her for moral support. (Isn't he just the greatest husband?) What follows is Jim's account of this adventure.
Road Trip: Unexpected Fun!
April 1-3, 2004
So
what do you do after tramping for three days in the rain? You hitchhike
back to town and get some hot food! Then, you start trying to figure
out your next "plan of action." Amy and I made our way back
to Arthur's Pass to regroup and rethink. While waiting for
a bus, we met Jerry and Marnos. This young couple had
gotten married in October and were half-way through with a one-year
world tour as their honeymoon. They were traveling around
New Zealand in a van. They heard Amy and I discussing
our plans, and got interested. They had several empty days before heading
back to Christchurch. Would we be interested in a ride? Of course, we
said Yes! Amy knew of a place called Hanmer Springs, just to the north
of Christchurch, that had public hot springs available. Our
fate was sealed! We would go soak for a few days!
Somewhere along the way, I mentioned that
I had not been to New Zealand before, and that I wanted to take some
pictures. Jerry is a photographer, so he said "Cool! Let's stop!"
So, we 
stopped
at EVERYTHING! The two of us hiked down to "Cave Stream" and
then over to some really nice looking rocks. (Jerry and Marnos are avid
rock climbers.) The girls stayed in the van, keeping warm! (Women, in
general, are smarter than us Men!) Cave Stream is a river
that runs underground for a couple of kilometers, and then re-emerges.
We didn't wade underground, as we had just gotten out of a lot of rain.
(No sense tempting fate!) However, we did hike from the entrance to
the exit. It is a beautiful river.
That evening, in Oxford, we stayed at a place called "The Magic Waka" backpacker. Our decision to stay here was based on two things. One, there was no other town anywhere near us, and two, the proprietor claimed to be a "story teller." The backpacker was clean, cozy, and cheap. We stayed. After a great nights sleep, Faye, our Hostess took us to a "place of power" as she told us stories of the Waitaha. The Waitaha are the ancestors of the Maori people. (They are the New Zealand equivalent of America's Anasazi, or "Ancient One's.") She told us the story of the "birth of the Waitaha Gods" and took us to the sacred Hill where all life began.
We
walked through the sacred stones for over an hour before reaching the
summit of the "Castle Hills" area. It was here
that our hostess let us know that she was a witch! No,
not the kind that turns young boys into toads, but the kind that worships
the power of the earth, similar to the Druids. (Of course, there were
a lot of Teddy Bears in her home. Maybe she had been turning her previous
guests into these bears!) The four of us looked at each other, grinned
a real big grin, and continued to listen politely. No sense making a
witch angry, you know! The stories she told were very interesting,
though, and reminded me of the stories told by Native Americans about
the beginning of the world. We enjoyed our stay with Faye,
and ended up spending most of the day with her. She is quite a character.
Of course, by this time, it was late afternoon and we still hadn't got to those hot springs! We arrived in Hanmer Springs around nine that evening, found a place to camp, and went to sleep. The next day we spent over 8 hours soaking in the natural hot sulphur pools. We all looked like giant prunes by the end of the day! It was a wonderful trip!
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