H2O Maniaks

H2OManiaks

The guys from H2OManiaks are a group of Czechs who love kayaking down rivers - the more wild the better!  They're not just about kayaking though - they love all adventure sports! Three of the group - Martin, Tomas and Vlada - decided to go to New Zealand, travel around and try every adventure activity they could find! (And of course enjoy the scenery, culture etc as well!)

H2OManiaks are filming all they see here and are doing a series of short movies about NZ attractions, which they will publish regularly on their website.  When they return home they will produce a 30 minute long movie about NZ as well. Two months on the road sounds like a lot of time, but there is so much to see and do, they want to be able to cover the whole New Zealand.

Spaceships camper vans New Zealand are pleased to sponsor H2OManiaks on their journey around New Zealand.

Update 25th March 2009

Rest of the North Island
We had about two weeks to see the rest of North Island – not too much. So we hit the road as we got out from the ferry and headed northwest, to the Egmont National Park, where we wanted to climb up to the top. The weather was probably more than bad, really cold, windy and strong rain. It wasn't better the second day as well and the forecast told us it should look like this for a few more days – no way we would go up without freezing out.

So it was time to move and try our luck in Tongariro National Park. However, the situation was about the same, but the sun should be here in a few days. Not a problem for us, we can return.

Going across the Island, up to White Island and having time to stop to see the Huka Falls, we wanted to jump. But not with this water, it should be quite fine up to 100cubics but at the moment there is more than 160cubics and it looks really bad. Aratiatia rapids are next and it is really an awesome sight. Just imagine really narrow gorge, which is pretty deep, and they pour a lot of water inside it every two hours just for half hour. You can feel how strong the water is and just admire the beauty when the gorge get filled up. When you imagine, that a few kayakers see it, the shiver just run across your backbone.
Finally we got to the White Island, which is the only active marine volcano in New Zealand. And it is really nice, smelly everywhere (and we were smelly for another week and our clothes maybe even longer :-)), a lot of steam coming from underground, really nice colors around (especially yellow because of sulphur everywhere) and we were even able to taste the sulphur and drink the water. Not really tasty stuff. On the way back we come across some dolphin school and spent quite a long time just watching them in silence. It is really beautiful to see them surfing in the waves or jumping around and it looks absolutly impossible how quickly they are able to change the direction. They are so quick that taking good pictures is really hard.

Saturday is here and it should be sunny back in Tongariro NP – time to move there. It is really good idea to start early as we did; however, a lot of people had the same idea and first hour we just trying to get in front of the queue. Side trip to Ngauruhoe Summit is awesome idea, but you have to be fit. Not because of the climb up, but because of the descent. The ascent is pretty hard as you constantly shift downwards, but you can make it if you have time and patience. On the other hand the descent is really quick, as you half run, half slide and hope that no stone would hit you from behind. We were more exhausted after the descent then the ascent, but it was worth it – the views were awesome and there was even snow on top. The Emerald Lakes are really nice and good place to have a short lunch and they we were running out of time and almost run the last 10km – wouldn't do the same next time, as the end wasn't really interesting, would prefer to return to the beginning.

We weren't able to try the blackwater rafting in Waitomo Caves as we arrived quite late, but we did the Ruakuri Natural Tunnel walk and it was nice as well, you just cannot believe what the water is able to create.

Heading north, the diving at Poor Knights Islands is next on list. One of the 10 things you must do in New Zealand and one of the best subtropical diving destination on the World as well. And it was really nice, full of life, we even saw three huge stingrays going out of their cave. Even snorkeling there must be nice.

Stopping at Ngawha Springs is good idea as well – completely different to all other hot pools we saw so far, more cosy with minerals in hot water and it really helped to relax our bodies.

Cape Reinga, the place where Maori spirits depart their journey for eternal home. It is really magic there, especially when you got the cloudes so low as we had. You can see nothing, just the gate and you can think it is really the end of this island.
Sand surfing at Te Paki was pure fun – we found really steep slope which ended in a stream and spent there a few hours, surfing on our kayaks. If you want to have sand everywhere and be pretty exhausted, this is a good place to do some sport.
Even though our car wasn't insured on 90 Mile Beach we wanted to see it. It is pretty long (but doesn't have 90 Miles at all not even it is the longest beach in NZ) and there is nothing to see. Except when you are lucky and spot dead stingray on beach.

Koutu Boulders just after Hokianga ferry is small alternative to Moeraki Boulders near Dunedin and was really nice stop. We had just perfect light for shooting and did a few nice photos.

If you are into puzzles and have a time you should go to Labyrinth Woodworks near Waiotemarani. Louis is really charming man who welcome you with puzzle in his hand and you'll spend there a few hours. We planned to stop just for 15 minutes and went away maybe after three hours. Three hours full of fun, solving puzzles and talking, really nice experience.
Kauri coast was next with all these nice huge trees. It is just incredible how thick and old they are, which facts can you more appraise after your visit to Kauri museum at Matakohe.

And then the Auckland is here again, time to return the Spaceship, in which we spent two months going everywhere we wanted to and which survived our handling and went 11 732km without any problem. Which is just incredible when you take a look back and see where we have been to and what we did to it. When it is back in warehouse it is still pretty visible which car was our, as all the others are shining and this one is almost impossible to recognize under all the dust which covers it.

Back to Europe with memories in our heads and feeling we have to return soon, because there is still too many places we didn't explore or where we want to return.
See you again, hopefully soon.

Update 13th March 2009

Heading north
Arthur's Pass – what a windy and rainy place. We had a few problems going against the wind especially with our kayaks on the roof. Sometimes it even looked as they wanted to fly and we had to slow down even more. There were two really nice stops – Castle Hills with really strange rocks, which are great for bouldering; and Cave Stream – awesome cave curved with stream (you can tell from its name), where you go in the stream and are just shocked with the beauty around.

Back to Hokitika, we have been there around 3 weeks ago, and had fish & chips at our favorite place. And then (again) hunting for some nice jade jewellery.

Because we loved the crossing we decided to cross the country one more time, this time via Lewis' Pass. Nothing special there, we wanted to have a bath in hot springs, which are near the first rest place at the end of Lewis' Pass, but we found they are pretty small, two people would fit in but more probably not. Arrived to Hanmer Springs just before they were closing and didn't have time to be there till the other day. Instead went to Kaikoura and had some short sleep there.
In the morning we went whale watching and found it is a pretty popular attraction among Spaceshipers – saw another 3 cars there. The whale watching was great, ocean pretty rough and the boat did a nice splashs on its way. We were really lucky as we saw double fin submersion (two whales at the same time) and after a while we found another whale just come up to surface. It was really great experience and we arrived back to shore full of enjoyment.

It was just short way back to Picton, where we took a ferry to Wellington and are ready for another look at the North Island. We want to see Waitomo Caves and its blackwater rafting, jump the famous Huka Falls, fly to White Island and see some active volcanos and then to the top North surfing the sand and enjoy all the attractions there.

Here is our latest video...

http://n-joy.cz/video/videozprava-novy-zeland-ocima-kajakaru-4-wellington/1gx9mc5ixm431f7x/

Update Friday 6th March

Milford Sound - what an awesome place to visit. We aren't sure if it is better on a rainy or sunny day, as both are nice and completely different. When it's raining you cannot really see the peaks of surrounding mountains and you have waterfalls everywhere while in sunny day you can admire the mountains but have just a few waterfalls around.

The cruise on the fiord (yes, Milford Sound is actually a fiord) is nice as well and you can see a lot of life in the water and admire the hills even more. And the Underwater Observatory is just fantastic if you aren't a diver and want to see what's under the water.  If you like hiking just do a walk, there is plenty of them from short to long ones. We went to Lake Marian, which is really nice, waterfalls falling into it and you see some small glacier behind it. If you like to return to the history just go to the Hollyford Valley and take fuel at the emergency pump - it is nice to see how they pump the petrol by hand.
Further we went, the next stop were Clifden Caves, where you can go freely on your own. It is narrow in places and ends with deep pool we were too scared to go around. But when you start from the end you have several ladder there and it looks like easy job to go around the pool. Anyway, there isn't a lot of decoration just a lot of stupid inscriptions everywhere.
At Waipapa Point we saw two sealions laying on the beach and sleeping, they didn't mind when we got quite close to them. Slope Point is the southermost point of South Island of New Zealand and it was pretty windy there. But the most beautiful part of Catlins was probably the Curio and Purpoise Bay. There is a petrified forest (not too bad) but there are some animals as well - the rarest yellow-eyed penguins and hector's dolphins. We saw both and it is really great feeling when you swim (or paddle in our case) with dolphins all around you.

After long time there was city on our way - Dunedin. Really nice old railway station, Cadbury Factory (where you'll get samples during the tour and you'll learn that they send the old chocolate which nobody wants to Australia - just kidding :-) and the steepest road in the World. We were probably the only car which made it to the top and it was incredible feeling when you see the steep road and feel the limits of the car. And you can make really funny photos over there.

Moeraki Boulders is the place where you should spend some time doing a great photos. However, we didn't have the time nor the sun and our photos aren't so nice as those you can see everywhere. It is just incredible how round the rocks are and really interesting how they were created.

You cannot miss the Mt Cook village. It is one of the most popular places for Spaceships as there are heaps of them. Go for 3D movie which is really nice and you would like to go to place you saw there, take a boat on the Tasman Lake and cruise around the icebergs - they are huge, colourful and the sight would blow you away. We were really surprised as we went to the Glacier Lookout the day before and didn't see anything interesting on the lake, but the second day when we went to the lake - we were really blowed away. And would you like walking - go for Muller Hut. It is about 6-7 hours return trip with gorgeous views and it is worth the time and energy. You wouldn't believe but we spent there 3 days instead of 1 we originally planed.

Christchurch, the biggest city of South Island, is nice small city. Pleasant historical centre and great staff at the Spaceships office. They did the necessary service on our Newt in record time and Kelly is really nice guy :-) We went for Antarctic Centre where you can see blue penguins (and they are really quick under the water) or enjoy polar storm (you'll get pretty cold in few minutes). And after that we went for a ride in Hagglund - the all-terrain vehicle. Pretty rough drive but we survived.

Few more days in South Island and we want to see the Arthur's Pass, have a rest in Hanmer Springs hot pools and then back to North Island.

Update Saturday 21st February

South Island – awesome from first moment. Everything looks really isolated here, a lot of nature around and not too many people.

We started at Picton, saw the famous Edwin Fox vessel, where we got a glimpse on New Zealand's history and could just admire the work of our ancestors. Cannot imagine that the voyage took about 3 months, had enough of our flight after 30 hours.

Queen Charlotte road is fantastic, very windy with a lot of nice spots around. It can teach you that speed is for nothing as we did it in about 5 hours (and it is just about 150km). Didn't have time to do the Queen Charlotte walk, we hurried to Motueka, the gate to Abel Tasman national park. Sea kayaking is really popular there and it was the perfect idea to reserve two days for it. Paddled around nice beaches with gold sand, exactly as you can see them in all guide books. Seal and penguins swimming around you and just wishing to spot some dolphins as well.

Farewell Spit looked at first just an extra long detour as you have to return the same way, but it was more than worth the time it took. The Takaka city on the way is probably some kind of bewitched place as we ran out of fuel there as many other people around. At Abel Tasman we found the Farewell Spit Nature Experience company with its chatty guide Chris, who explained to us the whole history, present and future of this place including all the wildlife here including one of the famous birds nesting here, which was able to flight around 11 000km in one piece.

Murchison is sometimes called the white water capital and there are a lot of rivers around. It's a real pity that the water is low and we were able to go just the Matakitaki river. It was quite fun with this flow and really good place to practise our paddling.

This is also the place with the longest swingbridge in New Zealand, which looks like the only attraction of the place, but there is more to see and do – take a walk around the peninsula, use the flying fox to get back or run the jet boats. We did all of it and enjoyed it a lot. Jet boats here aren't just about speed, spins and water but also about the panoramas and talks about local history. We can definitely recommend them for those who are scared.

Maruia Falls our own stop as well as another paddling place. Just imagine the chance to jump the 11m high waterfall, which is really beautiful. Just be prepared – you need to be skilled in it and have all the safety equipment with you. Otherwise take a look, especially on sunny days.

West Coast is here and Denniston our first place. The old coal city is quite isolated place with a few artefacts, but its history is incredible as well as the stories written on information panels there. Just imagine the school inspector who refuse to visit local school because he was too scared of the way there.

The Jade city – Hokitika – was our next stop. A lot of shops with jade and a lot of beautiful jewellery from or with it. And there is also perfect fish & chips shop, which is our favourite food.

Glaciers everywhere, we chose Fox as our stop, because it is probably located closer to the carpark. We stared at it for a while and then saw the Fox river run out of it. The plan was done in a few seconds and after a while we have been on the water. Pretty cold and hard to read, as you usually don't see ice rocks in water, but was an incredible experience.
Wanaka and its Puzzle World is perfect stop on your way to Queenstown. If you want to sport a bit you can choose from a lot of walks around, for example the Mt. Roy we chose and did in about 2 hours (both way but we almost run the whole time).

Queenstown – our last stop for the moment – is really an adrenalin city. Shotover jet boats are really fast and the canyon nice and narrow, you cannot believe you can survive all those spins which almost kiss the rocks around. The Ledge Sky Swing with its 20m swing was next and a bit scary experience with fantastic views on Queenstown. It is really good idea to take the cableway to top and enjoy it here. We also did the highest bungy in Australasia – the Nevis Highwire Bungy is incredible with its 134m drop. And as we have been here we also did the Newis Arc, new attraction, where you can choose how brave you are and swing on maximum 120m long wire. And because life is not just about attractions we also found the free internet in local information place (where you can book the Bungy, Shotover Jet and other attractions as well) and huge burgers at Fergburgers restaurant.

Another 2 000km in our Spaceship camper van and the car is getting bigger and bigger. At the beginning we have a problem to fit in and nowdays we can almost fite another person. Also some things are missing but should be somewhere inside – it is almost incredible that you can spend 15 minutes looking for something without success and after a while you'll get it on first look. The first rain we had here cleaned it a bit, which is shame as it lost its outdoor look a bit.

Heading further to south, want to see the famous Milford Sound, Mt Cook, Dunedin and head north again. A lot to see and do and we have just another month. And it looks like the annoying sand flies are gone. Hopefully.

Check out their latest videos here!

http://n-joy.cz/video/novy-zeland-ocima-kajakaru-3-east-cape-a-maori/r79jhyz93wry4kc2/