Last Monday we arrived in the town of Taupo, which sits on
the shores of Lake Taupo (which is about 60 miles around), a popular tourist
destination in New Zealand. The lake primarily attracts tourists interested in recreational
fishing. Where we were staying on the lake, we could look over the water to
massive snow-capped mountains. On our first night in Taupo, we ventured to a
series of small geo-thermal rivers and waded in them under the moonlight
enjoying the natural heat of the water. Also while we were in Taupo, we spent
one day and night on a farm called Awhi Farms (shown on the right) on the opposite side of the lake than
the town and learned about the establishment that had been set up there. A few
years ago, a small group of people inherited old land that used for industrial
purposes and was dense bush, and they are currently successfully converting it
to a sustaining living space. There was a series of gardens all over the
property growing a variety of crops (mainly garlic, which was their favorite).
The property also had a lovely compost toilet, a series of old jail cabins that
were converted to guest houses, which we stayed in, an outdoor kitchen that
used no electricity but had a magnificent pizza kitchen, as well as a earth
house that was in the process of being built. Before and after lunch, we got to
help with different projects around the farm and learn about all of the
different projects that were going on. I helped concoct earth brick mix, which
is made from soil and clay, concrete powder, and lime powder, and used a
contraption (and all my weight) to press this mixture together to produce dense
bricks that they were going to use to finish constructing a house. At night
after washing our dishes with sawdust (because there was no trace of soap on
the farm), we sat around the campfire under a full moon and roasted
marshmallows—a perfect ending to any day spent outside.
The
following days in Taupo were used for classroom discussions and reflections on
what we’ve learned so far. It’s astounding how much I feel like I’ve already
learned about this country’s environmental issues. We had a big discussion on
how we are going to carry the experiences that we’ve been fortunate enough to
have here back to the states. The lingering questions was why did we come half
way around the world to learn about New Zealand’s environmental issues when
there are hundreds of issues in our backyard at home?
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| Ngati Rangi Marae |
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| Mount Ruapehu |
Following
our time in Taupo, we went on a retreat of sorts to Ngati Rangi Marae at the base of Mount Ruapehu for three
nights. A marae is a Maori meeting house, that each group (or tribe) of Maori
has. It is a common place that they come to meet and inside there are pictures
of their ancestors that have passed away. We spent the next couple days
learning about Maori and their intimate relationship with the earth. It was so
interesting to hear how they regard the earth, and humbling to learn their
perspectives and learn how much respect they have for the land. Ngati Rangi
(the name of the group of Maori that we were staying with) is prominently
facing issues with their rivers being diverted. The government has set up a
number of diversions in each stream and river that brings the water to an
underground tunnel, which then flows out to a manmade lake. We got to visit the
Moawhango Dam, which creates the lake from the collected water. It was angering
and sad to see the process of nature being interrupted. We had quiet time at
many of the bodies of water, which Ngati Rangi considered to be their sacred
sites, and often waded into different bodies of water to “greet” it. It was a
really powerful experience to be with the Maori at their special sites and it
made me consider what my ‘sacred’ places are at home in the States. It was
really valuable to gain the Maori perspective and their outlook that “mankind
should learn to manage itself around mountains, rather than expect a mountain
to manage itself around us”.
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| Standing on top of Moawhango Dam |
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| A few friends on a day hike |
Following
our spiritual time at the Marae, we piled into our vans and arrived at a Forest
and Bird Lodge in Whakapapa Tongariro National Park. We were given a lot of
free time, which was much needed. A group of us were interested in doing
Tongariro Alpine Crossing, one of the most famous hikes in the world to emerald
pools, however weather (90 km winds, which are deadly) prevented us from
accomplishing it. Instead, we went on a beautiful day hike to Lake Tama, which
had a striking blue shade. The national park also has a number of snow-capped
mountains around it (Mount Ruapehu and Mount Doom, featured in Lord of the
Rings), which were mostly immersed in clouds, however we got a few views of
them. We also did a couple other smaller loop hikes in the park on our other
days here and encountered powerful waterfalls and pretty rapids.
We’ve finally started hunkering
down on schoolwork and have our first paper due on Sunday. I can’t believe we
only have a week and a half left of our travel portion of the trip, and then
we’ll be in Wellington following a week of ‘spring break’ doing a homestay and
working at an internship. For break, a few friends and I are taking a ferry to
the south island and hiking the Heaphy Track, the longest of the nine Great
Walks in New Zealand. We’re hiking fifty or so miles in five days through
beautiful, varying terrain, starting in the mountains and ending along the
coast surviving on trail mix and granola. I can’t wait to continue this
wonderful adventure that I’m lucky enough to be a part of. Next stop, a Quaker settlement in Whanganui.
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