New Zealand Part 5 - Otanewainuku

    There are countless things that I still haven't mentioned on the trip (and may never get around to) - for instance, going to a concert on New Years Eve (NZ is one of the first countries in the world to celebrate new years!) with J's cousins. There was also a sailing adventure, in which I, along with J and his brother and dad, got to sail around the Bay for a few hours - it was my first time on a sailboat, and a LOT of fun! There were also a few quiet days in-between, one of which was spent getting family portraits taken, and another with a trip to the movies to see The Hobbit. The adventure I will be sharing today is that of our hike up Otanewainuku.
     Otanewainuku scenic reserve is just a hop skip and a jump from Tauranga, and a place where J and his family have often hiked, so it made sense for us to visit here. On the drive there, we passed a pick-your-own fruit place called Somerfields.

 
    We came primarily to pick up some strawberries for later consumption, but I was more interested in the kiwis. Along the drive to Rotorua, we had seen numerous kiwi orchards, but most are surrounded by huge hedges to protect them from the wind, which made them difficult to see. Here, I got to see them up close and personal (and take a few pictures). For those of you who didn't know (I didn't before this trip), kiwifruit grow on vines, much like grapes in a vineyard. In fact, if you didn't know any better, you might think it a vineyard of very large non-bunched grapes.

    The rest of the drive took us down a winding dirt road (occasionally very bumpy), through rolling fields and pastures and into the bush. After climbing out of the car, and applying copious amounts of sunscreen, we made our way to the trail head. 

    Before we trekked, I stopped to take in the literature - which involves a lot of warnings and no dog signs (as dogs are known to eat kiwi), as well as some fun facts about the kiwi. It also includes a little legend summary, which reads as follows:

    "In Maori legend Otanewainuku is a chiefly mountain, powerful and proud. The beautiful mountain Puwhenua chose Otanewainuku over Mauao (Mt Maunganui). The bereft Mauao asked the patupaiarehe (fairies) to drag him out to sea, but was caught by the daylight and remains stranded on the edge of the ocean."

At the trail head... let the hiking commence!

    The trail we took is the Summit Loop, and trails up and along the mountain (which is yet another extinct volcano) up to its peak and then back down the other side. The path is pretty rough at times, and since it isn't always clear which way to go, there are these handy neon arrows to point the way!

     Above are two examples of the trail on the way up the mountain. The ground was very rough, and, at times, very steep. I particularly loved this one natural staircase made entirely of tree roots (left). As you can see, the trail is almost completely covered by the canopy of trees and climbing vines, with only small rays of light finding their way through to the ground to the reach the ferns below. The shade kept us cool as we trekked up and up. Though the trail doesn't gain a whole lot of height, there are a lot of dips and steep hills along the way, which made me feel as though I'd climbed a much higher peak.

    These two are great examples of just how wild and overgrown this bush trail is. On the left is a photo taken directly to the side of the path, showing the net of vines growing up and around us. On the right, is just one great example of just how interesting and unique some of these trees are - the way it bends and twists, as well as the covering of vines, ferns, and other plant life. It truly felt as though we were in the middle of a jungle wilderness - with the canopy above, the fern-coated ground below, and the happy chatter of birds all around us.  (check out the video below to hear a sampling of NZ bird songs)

    As with most peaks in New Zealand, you know you've found one when you find it's marker. In this case, there is a surveyor marker on the ground as well as a large wooden platform. A short trip up the stairs and onto this platform, is an amazing 360 degree view of the Bay of Plenty. J tells me, that on a really clear day, you can see all the way to Mt Maunganui. Unfortunately, this day turned out to be cloudy and a bit hazy, but the view was still pretty fantastic - it was as if we were on top of the world.. or, at least, above the forest canopy.

And now I give you... the view from the top of Otanewainuku!

 
    The path down was much faster, although slightly treacherous, especially for someone with short legs, like me. I put my camera away until we reached the base, where there is an incredibly large tree (one of the tallest in NZ according to it's little sign).

J in front of the tree we thought was
THE tree, but which turned out to be
only another rather large tree. 

    From here, it was a short (and relatively flat) journey back to the trailhead, where the rest of the party were waiting. Several bottles of water later, it was time to make the journey back home. Back home to the sunset view from the balcony, dinner and drinks, and a basket or two of fresh picked strawberries.

Will Rogers State Historic Park

   Yesterday, J and I went to check out the nearby Will Rogers State Historic Park. As the name implies, it is a historic park which was once the home of cowboy philosopher/film start Will Rogers - more on him later. (Travel Note: Since this was a State Park, there was a fee for parking on site $12. There are other places to park below, if you don't mind walking the rest of the way, but J and I don't mind paying - supporting our State Parks is a good cause)
   We arrived a bit later than originally planned, and we discovered that we had missed the first tour through the home, so we decided we'd go hiking about the park and then return for a later tour. So, we headed up above the house to the main hiking trail: Inspiration trail. At first I wasn't too impressed. The trail is very dusty, and there are a lot of bikers/runners also using these trails, so it's not as secluded as I like. I also have to note that, in part thanks to the heat, and in part thanks to the kick-up of dust, the general path area is a lovely shade of brown. But, after climbing up for a couple hundred feet, we reached a nice vista point. From here, you can see all the way from Westwood on the left to the Santa Monica mountains on the right.

   We continued climbing upwards, and split off onto the Betty Rogers trail, which cuts back towards the park and around Inspiration Point. Just a little up the path, you'll come across a small overgrown trail to the left. I was a bit worried that J may have issues with all the low-hanging branches, being as tall as he is, but he was game, so up we climbed!

   From Inspiration Point, we basically had a 360degree view of the entire area. We could actually see Downtown LA (it was pretty amazing considering how hazy it typically is) and all the way out the the Palos Verdes peninsula in the distance and the ocean on the horizon. As we sat for a while, rehydrating, a group on horseback came up the trail from the opposite side. I couldn't resist catching a few photos of them as well!

    We followed the line of horses down the wider path to the Inspiration Trail. We came to a crossroads with a map that showed how the park connected with several other parks with numerous other multi-mile treks that we'd have to save for another day. The way back down to the main park area was mostly downhill, and the nicest part, in my opinion, as it was shaded by rows and rows of Eucalyptus trees.

Clearly, this tree had been thirsty, and some nice person had brought it a nice cup o'joe.
J, being the responsible guy that he is (and seeing that the tree had finished its coffee),
removed the cup and threw it away.

   Back at the ranch house, we found that we had just missed the tour again. So, with a bit of spare time on our hands, we sprawled out on the lawn and had a drink. While waiting, a rather hilarious scene unfolded across the lawn. It was clearly this little boy's birthday, and his dad had gotten him a Spiderman piñata. But, of course, it would be too simple to just let the little guy take a few whacks at the thing, so his father proceeded to run away with it, causing the little boy to chase after him with his miniature bat raised high. I have to say, watching that boy running around with a bat and chasing his father around was one of the funniest things I've seen in quite a while!

   While we were waiting, we also took the time to read through the pamphlet they gave us at the gate, which had a lot of information about the ranch and about Will Rogers. The only thing I really knew about him prior to this trip was that he was in in movies, westerns to be exact. The pamphlet went on to explain that he was not only a movie star, but a cowboy and professional roper - considered to be the best of all time (we got to watch some video of this, and it was amazing!). He also wrote a newspaper column that was read all across the country, hosted his own radio show, and most notably in our minds, a very funny, humble, and generous guy. "The more I read about him, the more I like him"- J kept saying over the course of the hour. He was one of the most famous and highest paid actors in the 20's and 30's, and despite all of this success, his main goal seemed to be completely focused on helping others, and he gave a lot of his wealth away. For more information about Will Rogers and the State Historic Park, you can check out the park's website -> http://www.parks.ca.gov/

   Finally, it was time for the tour. Unfortunately, we weren't able to take any photographs inside the ranch house, but I was able to sneak one through a window outside.

   It's a bit blurry and difficult to see, but as you can probably see, it is very American Western style. From the Native American throws - a tribute to his Native American heritage - to the animal heads and saddles and drawings/paintings/sculptures of ranch animals. My favorite thing in the house were the lighting fixtures. The one at the very top of the screen is made of an Ox Yoke, the second much smaller light is a collection of horseshoes set around a Texas star, and the third chandelier is an old wagon wheel. Another unique feature that I love, is due to the expansion of the house. When he decided to raise the roof of the house to accommodate more guests, he only raised half of the house. The other half remains as it was originally, so it gives it the feeling of being a house inside a house. It's difficult to explain, but I thought it was really interesting. He also had an enviable collection of books - many of them, first editions.

   The last stop of the day was the stables. Will Rogers was an avid polo player, and would often have people over to visit and to play matches. For that reason, he had a LOT of horses, and thus needed a large structure in which to house them. Images of the exterior can be found on the parks website, but most of the photos I snapped were in the interior.

Okay, so maybe not our last stop...

We were in the neighborhood, so we just had to stop at Diddy Riese for some ice cream sandwiches!

pardon J's finger ;)