Kayaking to the Maori Carvings, Part II
Wow, okay - really didn't mean to take so long on the updating. You guys can blame work. I finally have a day off today after some truly insane hours, so I'm going to finally post this thing. (By the way, for those of you guys out of the loop: 77 hours in one week. New personal record.)
So when I last signed off, Viola and I had just battled our way through some rough waves and gotten within a stone's throw of the carvings, only to turn back at the last moment. The kayak people were very cool about the whole thing and got our contact information right away to make sure that we got out there ASAP. Well, I had work for another couple of days, so I couldn't go back and do it immediately, but Viola was moving on to bigger and better places within the week, so we had to time it just right. That gave us a time window of about two days when we were both free to do it. It's been so long...I think it was a Wednesday or Thursday? Anyways, long story short: on my first day off, we rang up the Kayak to the Carvings people and got an appointment in. Score!
I can't stress how different the two days were. Absolutely everything that stands out for me about the first day was the exact opposite for Day Two. The weather was perfect, and the water was like glass the entire way. We didn't have Elliot the second time around, and there were a lot more of us - not just us and the other couple. All in all, I'd say it was so, so much cooler. No offense to Elliot because he was a pretty nice guy, too, and he did the best he could with the conditions, but Brian just blew him out of the water. Yes, Brian. After all this time, I'm not even 100% sure of his name anymore, so "Brian" he shall be from now on. Apologies if it's Bernard or whatever. He was the original owner of the company and had been the main guy for a few decades at least - so he really knew his stuff. As I mentioned before, he had just recently sold the company to someone else and started training Elliot for his job, so that was why he wasn't there the first day. Turns out that Elliot was out sick with a particularly nasty case of gastroenteritis. Since I've been hit with that small slice of hell for a few days in the past, I had complete sympathy for the poor guy.
Viola and I walked down to the iSite and met him down there, and it was a lot more routine the second time around. We already knew the basics, so it was just a question of doing it better with some practice. The other group consisted of some truly awesome Australian women on vacation - I think there were about four or five of them altogether. They were all old friends who went way back together, but they didn't just stay closed off in their own circle and exclude us because of that. I sat next to this one woman in the van who was a lady police officer and took down bad guys for a living, so that was pretty hardcore. Between them and Brian, it was a very nice atmosphere of cool people.
Day Two - A Whole Lot More Kayaks and Slightly Hazier Weather. Oh, and there's Brian.
We arrived at the same little docking area as the first time, and Brian proceeded to lead them through the safety procedures. It was mostly a review for us, but I paid extra attention anyways because he went into detail about a few other things that I had had trouble with before. I also figured out the positioning of my feet and and hands once and for all, so that was a definite plus. After a little debate, I decided to volunteer for the back again and let Viola take the front because I had kind of gotten used to it, and it made sense to let the person more experienced with that position take over. It was a whole lot easier with the lack of monster waves.
Viola, ready to hit the water from the nose
We made those rubber skirts work for us
And we were off! While the other ladies paddled around and experimented with their kayaks, Viola and I perfected our synchronization and practiced a bit. I was determined not to be left behind again like we were with the Austrians. Viola assured me that it wasn't a race, but I guess I'm a little competitive by nature. My pride was at stake. Turns out that the practice paid off, too, because we managed to stay out front pretty much the entire time, and when we did fall back, it was just a matter of giving people room and relaxing a bit. I just hate that feeling you get when you're holding people back because they're waiting for you *cough*snowboarding*cough* and you feel like you'll never catch up. Luckily, that didn't happen at all for us this time.
Brian led the way with his storytelling hat on
It also made a difference with Brian's timing. I'm not sure if it was because of the choppy conditions or part of his own personal style, but Elliot didn't really have any breaks with each marker. No, I'll rephrase that. The Austrians got a break while they were waiting for us to catch up, but once Viola and I rejoined the group, they would just immediately take off again. So we were constantly rowing and wearing out our arms because we happened to be slower than the others while the faster kayaks got to rest their muscles waiting for us. With Brian, we all stayed together and had little chats at each stopping point. He waited until we had all stopped alongside each other and then proceeded to give little anecdotes about the lake, Taupo, and random local history. It was awesome. Here are some of the stories that he told us:
I think I mentioned before that Mount Tauhara looks like a pregnant woman lying down. I thought it was just a kind of funny coincidence, but apparently there's an old Maori legend attached to it. Way back in the day, there was a village just beyond our launching point, and the Maori chief there had a wife and young son. I guess one day, their village was attacked by a neighboring tribe, and he sent his wife and son away to save them from the slaughter. As the place burned behind them, she took off swimming across the lake with the boy tied to her back, saving them both. She managed to survive the swim but drowned a few days later when her boat capsized. The mountain is supposed to be her, and the smaller hill off to the side is supposed to be her son. I've heard another story about Tauhara since then that involves the mountains fighting each other, but I think I'll leave that one until I've done the Tongariro crossing because it's a bit more relevant for that area.
Another thing he mentioned is the immense size of Lake Taupo. Apparently it's roughly the size of Singapore at 616 square kilometers, which is just insane. To put that in perspective, the population of New Zealand is a little over 4 million and the population of Singapore is about 5 million, so it's basically like all of people of New Zealand (and then some) crammed into a space the size of Lake Taupo. Remind me not to look for housing in Singapore.
But the coolest thing he mentioned (in my opinion) was the apocalyptic explosion that happened to form Lake Taupo roughly 26,500 years ago. The whole lake is one giant super volcano that went off like crazy back in the day and formed the lake. Then it erupted again in 180 CE, and everyone from Rome to China knew about it. I guess it blotted out the sun for like six months or something and turned the sky red, so it's pretty well documented in its epicness. Thank God no one was actually living in New Zealand at the time or they would have been instantly disintegrated. The whole thing is still considered "dormant" instead of completely "extinct," too, and I guess there's still activity going on way at the bottom of the lake. Whoa. Just a bit daunting.
But back to rowing. Like I said before, it was so much easier the second day, and the weather was perfect for it. Hardly anyone was out on the water for some reason, so it was even smoother than normal for those conditions. Except for this one boat. Okay, this was weird. I'm going to skip ahead a bit and say that just as we reached the carvings, we happened to look over our shoulders and see this houseboat coming up behind us. Which is perfectly acceptable and normal. What was strange was the fact that every single person - and there had to be at least 20- was dressed up in full superhero regalia. Like Captain America and The Flash and every other combination you could think of. Swear to God. And they were so, so drunk! I think I normally would have found the whole thing hysterical in its utter randomness, but I was actually just a bit annoyed with them because they were ruining the atmosphere with all of their yelling and partying. It was absolutely still except for the fact that they kept shooting skeet from the top of the boat.
The party boat - can you see the costumes?
But anyways, it seemed like we had barely broken a sweat by the time we reached the furthest point from before. I can't believe just how close we got the first time, because the carvings were literally just five minutes away from where we had to turn back. I felt a sense of accomplishment as we rounded the final bend and took in the carvings at last.
Behold!
Pretty amazing, huh?
The thing to remember about the carvings is that they're not actually all that old. They were created in the 1970s by some Maori craftsmen led by a guy named Matahi Whakataka-Brightwell, and they had to go through a ton of formalities to get permission from the local Maori tribes and the New Zealand government to complete them. Brian told us an entertaining story of a bar fight that went on right in Taupo at the time. I guess some young, hot-headed Maori guys got drunk at one of the local pubs and challenged the craftsmen to a fight over the ownership rights. I guess how they used to do it, old-school style. So there was this big fight with lots of punching and broken bottles, but in the end, the craftsmen won, and they got to continue on with their work. It took about four years to finish, and they had to chisel away at the rock by erecting elaborate scaffolding over the water or hanging sideways from a rope. There's really no other way to reach them, and boats aren't really trustworthy for that kind of thing because they're constantly rocking. Anyways, they managed to do the whole thing free of charge, and now it's there for everyone to see.
The main 30-foot carving is supposed to be the face of Ngatoroirangi, a legendary Maori navigator and priest who helped settle the area of Taupo. If you read all of the stories about him, he seems like this larger-than-life figure with godlike powers. He's often described as creating rivers and hot springs with his footsteps and stuff like that, and some accounts credit him with naming Mount Tongariro. One story that I kind of believe has him climbing Mount Tauhara and looking out over the land before saying, "the night has settled, let us stop here." Hence the name Taupo - "tau" is settle and "po" is night. So there you go, a bit of local history for you guys.
In front of the main face
Some of the other carvings are pretty cool, too. One in particular caught my attention - the Taniwha. Now, for those of you paying attention, that also happens to be the street name that I live on over here, so I was curious as to what it really means. I guess the Taniwha are actually water demons in the shape of dragons who are blamed for all drownings that happen. So if your boat is tips over, it was the Taniwha. If you fall asleep and drown in your bathtub, it was the Taniwha. Kind of unfair to blame them for everything, but there you go. (By the way, it's pronounced "tan-i-fah" with an f sound for the "wh") Some myths have them looking more like sharks who eats people rather than dragging them to the bottom of the lake, and other stories portray them more as domesticated guardians, but those are the basic facts.
The Taniwha is up on the top right (left), kind of hidden behind the rock
One of the other major figures is the lizard directly across from the face. Images of lizards are all over the place here and are especially revered by the Maori, so that made sense. I guess they're supposed to bring good fortune and protection to those who are nice to them, and all lizards in New Zealand are protected by law. I could go on about the Tuatara down in Invercargill, but that's a whole other story. Anyways, this particular carving of the lizard used to have a great long nose that extended out like a beak, but some idiots defaced it at some point and broke off the tip, so the carvers had to come back and repair it. Now it has a shorter, rounder nose. Honestly, some people...
The cute little lizard guardian
Some of the other figures represent the blending of different artistic styles. The carvings of the South Wind and the mermaid to the side look really Celtic in design, and you can definitely tell how the two overlapped over time. I think one carving is supposed to be Matahi's mother or something as well. The rest of them are a little harder to see from the photos, but you guys get the general idea. I think some of them are supposed to be keeping the Taniwha in check and others are just there for decoration. Overall, pretty unbelievable. We stopped to pose for a few pictures in front of the carvings as best as we could, and then we turned around to make the return trip home.
Heading back
Last time with Elliot, I mentioned that we stopped at this little cove right behind that expensive housing community, and I expected to take a break at the same spot with Brian, but he had something else in mind. Right next to the carvings, just on the other side of the rock face, there's this strip of flat, rocky terrain with little natural docks for your boats. The Maori warriors used to park their canoes there hundreds of years ago and called them "The Rocks That Rest" or something like that. The whole place was very ahh--ahh-AH-whooo (See: Eddie Izzard's description of Stonehenge for clarification --> www.youtube.com/watch) Very mystical and mysterious area with lots of fog and shrubbery around. We decided to beach there and take a look around while Brian set up camp by the shore. Viola and I climbed to the top of this lookout station and got a pretty fantastic view of the lake. I'll mention again how empty the lake was that day - the only boat in the entire area was that superhero party boat, and they had gone quite a ways out by that point. So the result was an absolutely silent landscape with gorgeous weather and a light breeze blowing around you. Just perfect.
The Rocks That Rest
Very cool
Pose, pose. How we got up to the top.
After a little exploring, we all returned to camp and gather around Brian, who told us a few more stories about local gossip and whatnot. He produced a canteen full of juice, some water, pineapple lumps, and some more of those great muffins for us to snack on while we all caught our breath. All in all, it was a great way to round out the day. The return trip was pretty much more of the same kind of thing - just paddling along and enjoying the scenery. Brian dropped us all off next to Pac-and-Save, and we gave a big hug as a thank you. I think he had fun as well because he's not able to do it as much as he used to. He says he'll retire once he can no longer lift the kayaks onto the trailer. Nice guy. We invited the Australian ladies back to Blackcurrant to show them how to find DeBretts Hot Springs and Spa on the map, and then that was pretty much it. Day done, mission accomplished. I'm so glad that we were able to go back a second time, because it really made the experience worth while. Again, nothing against Elliot, but Day Two was just a whole other ballgame. Thanks for hanging in there with me, guys! Onwards!
So when I last signed off, Viola and I had just battled our way through some rough waves and gotten within a stone's throw of the carvings, only to turn back at the last moment. The kayak people were very cool about the whole thing and got our contact information right away to make sure that we got out there ASAP. Well, I had work for another couple of days, so I couldn't go back and do it immediately, but Viola was moving on to bigger and better places within the week, so we had to time it just right. That gave us a time window of about two days when we were both free to do it. It's been so long...I think it was a Wednesday or Thursday? Anyways, long story short: on my first day off, we rang up the Kayak to the Carvings people and got an appointment in. Score!
I can't stress how different the two days were. Absolutely everything that stands out for me about the first day was the exact opposite for Day Two. The weather was perfect, and the water was like glass the entire way. We didn't have Elliot the second time around, and there were a lot more of us - not just us and the other couple. All in all, I'd say it was so, so much cooler. No offense to Elliot because he was a pretty nice guy, too, and he did the best he could with the conditions, but Brian just blew him out of the water. Yes, Brian. After all this time, I'm not even 100% sure of his name anymore, so "Brian" he shall be from now on. Apologies if it's Bernard or whatever. He was the original owner of the company and had been the main guy for a few decades at least - so he really knew his stuff. As I mentioned before, he had just recently sold the company to someone else and started training Elliot for his job, so that was why he wasn't there the first day. Turns out that Elliot was out sick with a particularly nasty case of gastroenteritis. Since I've been hit with that small slice of hell for a few days in the past, I had complete sympathy for the poor guy.
Viola and I walked down to the iSite and met him down there, and it was a lot more routine the second time around. We already knew the basics, so it was just a question of doing it better with some practice. The other group consisted of some truly awesome Australian women on vacation - I think there were about four or five of them altogether. They were all old friends who went way back together, but they didn't just stay closed off in their own circle and exclude us because of that. I sat next to this one woman in the van who was a lady police officer and took down bad guys for a living, so that was pretty hardcore. Between them and Brian, it was a very nice atmosphere of cool people.
Day Two - A Whole Lot More Kayaks and Slightly Hazier Weather. Oh, and there's Brian.
We arrived at the same little docking area as the first time, and Brian proceeded to lead them through the safety procedures. It was mostly a review for us, but I paid extra attention anyways because he went into detail about a few other things that I had had trouble with before. I also figured out the positioning of my feet and and hands once and for all, so that was a definite plus. After a little debate, I decided to volunteer for the back again and let Viola take the front because I had kind of gotten used to it, and it made sense to let the person more experienced with that position take over. It was a whole lot easier with the lack of monster waves.
Viola, ready to hit the water from the nose
We made those rubber skirts work for us
And we were off! While the other ladies paddled around and experimented with their kayaks, Viola and I perfected our synchronization and practiced a bit. I was determined not to be left behind again like we were with the Austrians. Viola assured me that it wasn't a race, but I guess I'm a little competitive by nature. My pride was at stake. Turns out that the practice paid off, too, because we managed to stay out front pretty much the entire time, and when we did fall back, it was just a matter of giving people room and relaxing a bit. I just hate that feeling you get when you're holding people back because they're waiting for you *cough*snowboarding*cough* and you feel like you'll never catch up. Luckily, that didn't happen at all for us this time.
Brian led the way with his storytelling hat on
It also made a difference with Brian's timing. I'm not sure if it was because of the choppy conditions or part of his own personal style, but Elliot didn't really have any breaks with each marker. No, I'll rephrase that. The Austrians got a break while they were waiting for us to catch up, but once Viola and I rejoined the group, they would just immediately take off again. So we were constantly rowing and wearing out our arms because we happened to be slower than the others while the faster kayaks got to rest their muscles waiting for us. With Brian, we all stayed together and had little chats at each stopping point. He waited until we had all stopped alongside each other and then proceeded to give little anecdotes about the lake, Taupo, and random local history. It was awesome. Here are some of the stories that he told us:
I think I mentioned before that Mount Tauhara looks like a pregnant woman lying down. I thought it was just a kind of funny coincidence, but apparently there's an old Maori legend attached to it. Way back in the day, there was a village just beyond our launching point, and the Maori chief there had a wife and young son. I guess one day, their village was attacked by a neighboring tribe, and he sent his wife and son away to save them from the slaughter. As the place burned behind them, she took off swimming across the lake with the boy tied to her back, saving them both. She managed to survive the swim but drowned a few days later when her boat capsized. The mountain is supposed to be her, and the smaller hill off to the side is supposed to be her son. I've heard another story about Tauhara since then that involves the mountains fighting each other, but I think I'll leave that one until I've done the Tongariro crossing because it's a bit more relevant for that area.
Another thing he mentioned is the immense size of Lake Taupo. Apparently it's roughly the size of Singapore at 616 square kilometers, which is just insane. To put that in perspective, the population of New Zealand is a little over 4 million and the population of Singapore is about 5 million, so it's basically like all of people of New Zealand (and then some) crammed into a space the size of Lake Taupo. Remind me not to look for housing in Singapore.
But the coolest thing he mentioned (in my opinion) was the apocalyptic explosion that happened to form Lake Taupo roughly 26,500 years ago. The whole lake is one giant super volcano that went off like crazy back in the day and formed the lake. Then it erupted again in 180 CE, and everyone from Rome to China knew about it. I guess it blotted out the sun for like six months or something and turned the sky red, so it's pretty well documented in its epicness. Thank God no one was actually living in New Zealand at the time or they would have been instantly disintegrated. The whole thing is still considered "dormant" instead of completely "extinct," too, and I guess there's still activity going on way at the bottom of the lake. Whoa. Just a bit daunting.
But back to rowing. Like I said before, it was so much easier the second day, and the weather was perfect for it. Hardly anyone was out on the water for some reason, so it was even smoother than normal for those conditions. Except for this one boat. Okay, this was weird. I'm going to skip ahead a bit and say that just as we reached the carvings, we happened to look over our shoulders and see this houseboat coming up behind us. Which is perfectly acceptable and normal. What was strange was the fact that every single person - and there had to be at least 20- was dressed up in full superhero regalia. Like Captain America and The Flash and every other combination you could think of. Swear to God. And they were so, so drunk! I think I normally would have found the whole thing hysterical in its utter randomness, but I was actually just a bit annoyed with them because they were ruining the atmosphere with all of their yelling and partying. It was absolutely still except for the fact that they kept shooting skeet from the top of the boat.
The party boat - can you see the costumes?
But anyways, it seemed like we had barely broken a sweat by the time we reached the furthest point from before. I can't believe just how close we got the first time, because the carvings were literally just five minutes away from where we had to turn back. I felt a sense of accomplishment as we rounded the final bend and took in the carvings at last.
Behold!
Pretty amazing, huh?
The thing to remember about the carvings is that they're not actually all that old. They were created in the 1970s by some Maori craftsmen led by a guy named Matahi Whakataka-Brightwell, and they had to go through a ton of formalities to get permission from the local Maori tribes and the New Zealand government to complete them. Brian told us an entertaining story of a bar fight that went on right in Taupo at the time. I guess some young, hot-headed Maori guys got drunk at one of the local pubs and challenged the craftsmen to a fight over the ownership rights. I guess how they used to do it, old-school style. So there was this big fight with lots of punching and broken bottles, but in the end, the craftsmen won, and they got to continue on with their work. It took about four years to finish, and they had to chisel away at the rock by erecting elaborate scaffolding over the water or hanging sideways from a rope. There's really no other way to reach them, and boats aren't really trustworthy for that kind of thing because they're constantly rocking. Anyways, they managed to do the whole thing free of charge, and now it's there for everyone to see.
The main 30-foot carving is supposed to be the face of Ngatoroirangi, a legendary Maori navigator and priest who helped settle the area of Taupo. If you read all of the stories about him, he seems like this larger-than-life figure with godlike powers. He's often described as creating rivers and hot springs with his footsteps and stuff like that, and some accounts credit him with naming Mount Tongariro. One story that I kind of believe has him climbing Mount Tauhara and looking out over the land before saying, "the night has settled, let us stop here." Hence the name Taupo - "tau" is settle and "po" is night. So there you go, a bit of local history for you guys.
In front of the main face
Some of the other carvings are pretty cool, too. One in particular caught my attention - the Taniwha. Now, for those of you paying attention, that also happens to be the street name that I live on over here, so I was curious as to what it really means. I guess the Taniwha are actually water demons in the shape of dragons who are blamed for all drownings that happen. So if your boat is tips over, it was the Taniwha. If you fall asleep and drown in your bathtub, it was the Taniwha. Kind of unfair to blame them for everything, but there you go. (By the way, it's pronounced "tan-i-fah" with an f sound for the "wh") Some myths have them looking more like sharks who eats people rather than dragging them to the bottom of the lake, and other stories portray them more as domesticated guardians, but those are the basic facts.
The Taniwha is up on the top right (left), kind of hidden behind the rock
One of the other major figures is the lizard directly across from the face. Images of lizards are all over the place here and are especially revered by the Maori, so that made sense. I guess they're supposed to bring good fortune and protection to those who are nice to them, and all lizards in New Zealand are protected by law. I could go on about the Tuatara down in Invercargill, but that's a whole other story. Anyways, this particular carving of the lizard used to have a great long nose that extended out like a beak, but some idiots defaced it at some point and broke off the tip, so the carvers had to come back and repair it. Now it has a shorter, rounder nose. Honestly, some people...
The cute little lizard guardian
Some of the other figures represent the blending of different artistic styles. The carvings of the South Wind and the mermaid to the side look really Celtic in design, and you can definitely tell how the two overlapped over time. I think one carving is supposed to be Matahi's mother or something as well. The rest of them are a little harder to see from the photos, but you guys get the general idea. I think some of them are supposed to be keeping the Taniwha in check and others are just there for decoration. Overall, pretty unbelievable. We stopped to pose for a few pictures in front of the carvings as best as we could, and then we turned around to make the return trip home.
Heading back
Last time with Elliot, I mentioned that we stopped at this little cove right behind that expensive housing community, and I expected to take a break at the same spot with Brian, but he had something else in mind. Right next to the carvings, just on the other side of the rock face, there's this strip of flat, rocky terrain with little natural docks for your boats. The Maori warriors used to park their canoes there hundreds of years ago and called them "The Rocks That Rest" or something like that. The whole place was very ahh--ahh-AH-whooo (See: Eddie Izzard's description of Stonehenge for clarification --> www.youtube.com/watch) Very mystical and mysterious area with lots of fog and shrubbery around. We decided to beach there and take a look around while Brian set up camp by the shore. Viola and I climbed to the top of this lookout station and got a pretty fantastic view of the lake. I'll mention again how empty the lake was that day - the only boat in the entire area was that superhero party boat, and they had gone quite a ways out by that point. So the result was an absolutely silent landscape with gorgeous weather and a light breeze blowing around you. Just perfect.
The Rocks That Rest
Very cool
Pose, pose. How we got up to the top.
After a little exploring, we all returned to camp and gather around Brian, who told us a few more stories about local gossip and whatnot. He produced a canteen full of juice, some water, pineapple lumps, and some more of those great muffins for us to snack on while we all caught our breath. All in all, it was a great way to round out the day. The return trip was pretty much more of the same kind of thing - just paddling along and enjoying the scenery. Brian dropped us all off next to Pac-and-Save, and we gave a big hug as a thank you. I think he had fun as well because he's not able to do it as much as he used to. He says he'll retire once he can no longer lift the kayaks onto the trailer. Nice guy. We invited the Australian ladies back to Blackcurrant to show them how to find DeBretts Hot Springs and Spa on the map, and then that was pretty much it. Day done, mission accomplished. I'm so glad that we were able to go back a second time, because it really made the experience worth while. Again, nothing against Elliot, but Day Two was just a whole other ballgame. Thanks for hanging in there with me, guys! Onwards!