Karamea July 6th

We got out early today to see what the rest of the town looked like and then headed over to our hostel to leave our backpacks and go hiking. Karamea is the end of the line on the west coast and has the feel of a frontier town. It's isolated from the rest of the country and likes it that way.

We stayed at the Rongo Backpackers and from the moment we entered we knew we had gone down the rabbit hole and through the looking glass. We were transported back in time to a place that might never have existed but if it did it would have been the ideal version of 60's counterculture. The place is run in large part by volunteers and has a real commune feeling. You're right in the center of Woodstock as it was meant to be, organic farming and art all over the walls and ceilings.

We met Brian the manager who checked us in and said we could leave our backpacks in the corner unattended while the rooms were cleaned and we were hiking. We decided to take them with us and leave them in the trunk but later got hooked into the no locks on doors, tune in, drop out atmosphere of the place real quick.

The hostel has an organic garden you're welcome to use and an oriental garden in the back with orchids, ginkgo trees, japanese lantern trees and magnolias. The stove and fireplace go all day both to keep the place warm and along with solar panels on the roof to supply the hot water.

We left to walk around the Opara Basin and some of the largest arches in the Southern Hemisphere but like everywhere else in New Zealand the climate changes around every corner and after a few miles on a gravel round we started gaining elevation and the ice stopped us from going any further.

That was not problem because one of the long hiking trails - the Heaphy Track - is just up the road and stays close to the coast where the weather is much more temperate. To walk the entire trail takes five days but we just started at the trailhead and walked for a few hours. We had a quick lunch by the ocean at a spot where someone had carved a tiki statue and headed over the to walk. It starts at the ocean, hemmed in by a large headland with crashing surf. A quick walk up a small river and over a suspension bridge and just a few minutes from the icy road we're back in the jungle, with the snow capped Southern Alps in the background.

A warm Gulf Stream like current makes it possible for a species of palm trees, the Nikau Palm, to grow here. We left the main trail for a walk through the palms and headed straight into another case of nature gone wild. It was like walking through a movie from the 30's or 40's where they would have thrown together every species of plant to show the jungle. If Marvel Comics had a jungle series this would be it - everything on steroids.

Back on the Heaphy Track we walked along with waterfalls on the inland side and ocean on the other. It opened onto a huge beach with huge waves that almost made it difficult to hear each other. We met a guy from North Carolina going to college for a semeter in Christ Church who had been on the trail for four days. Other than him, we met no one.

Getting back to the hostel we talked more with Brian. He first came to the hostel a little over three years ago after leaving a job in Aukland and felt "revitalized" after three days. He headed south for a while, worked with a carpenter and then when he had two week break came back. That was three years ago and whether he gets paid or just has free room and board I'm not sure. He runs the community radio station from a shack out back and they have movies every friday night in a garage with old couches and chairs. They suggested that we do a show. Didn't have any Rolling Stones music so we opted not to.


There was another worker, a girl from Southern California who is working her way around the world and may head to Australia next.

Paul. the owner came by and stayed to chat. He lives close by and keeps a farm for chickens and more vegetables. When he started the place it was a derelict shack, once a maternity ward for the two room hospital next door. Somehow people heard about it and just showed up to help. Ever since people come by to volunteer - carpenters and electricians are always welcomed.

We all sat around the fireplace chatting and trying to keep warm. It has a large common room with a great dining table for eating but everyone hovers around what little warmth there is. This isn't all that uncommon, there's very little central heating in New Zealand. We haven't seen any anywhere we've stayed - the national motto for the winter months should be "put on your coat and stay awhile."

Paul, who looks like Errol Flynn as a farmer in his 40's is waging a campaign against poisoning possums by dropping pellets. It's made in the US and 90 percent of it is used in New Zealand; we buy their mutton in return. He was dressed in an old wool sweater and wool hat and Brian was barefoot, how I don't know, with baggy drawstring pants over old long johns with a flap hat that just about covered his ponytail. Deb, a woman from South Africa who yes, was travelling around the world for a few years, had made supper for everone joined us. She follows festivals around Australia and New Zealand to meed other travelers and may stay in a place for a few months to work. She just came from up north where she rented a bus converted into a house for 50 dollars a week.

It was time to get warm for real though so we headed to our room, turned on the little electric radiator and got under the covers. A shower tonight, or the next day was out of the question. It wouldn't take long though to convince yourself that you were on the right side of the looking glass here, the place really works.

toots here...rainbow people and hopping along with the white rabbit.

brian wasn't really brian.. he had a pony tail but that was a hair piece.. the rest of his tennis outfit hung in the kitchen... a secret life as a tennis player.,. yes, it was daniel nestor hiding out... after his big doubles win at wimbledon he needed and randr and karamea was the place... no tennis for you buster... just tend to that fire and keep us warm...firestarter....next to the fire on one of the 2 tiny stools was where we had to sit, cause the fire never reached the couches and chairs straight from the 50's and 60's..

just like that lady who ran the grocery store with her son and daughter, all with same sweaters on.. the work outfit... and her friend.. the ladies hummed to "mockingbird hill " as it came on the radio... that's when our eyes rolled... not only humming but singing... they are aliens.. just like the hydroponic tomato plants that were covered like tobacco plants... there were big green things under it... aren't aliens green...???

brian did tell us that they once had a cow... part of his ultimate sustainability... but... someone shot his cow by accident.. there were two in the field.. slaughtering one for meat... got the wrong one...

the house was painted in rainbow stripes... alot of visitors helped in this project.. it did stand out on the street... of pretty normal looking homes...but the yard of cactus and other flowering plants and trees made it stand out from the rest....

no rap on brians radio program.. silly music and anything but rap... folk etc... weekly comedy show.. we heard one... john cleese and some kiwi comedians... also a place in town, around the corner next to grocery store where musicians played every saturday night.

paul, the owner who used to work in japan for 10 yrs in a very small room without windows.. no wonder he left... now he owns 80 acres and has the dream of oneday having a woodstocky music festival here.. only problem says brian is that the field was in a swamp... sooooo .... if you cant get in over the mountain pass you can be helicoptered in.. and you may never leave... you can stay at rongo's with the rongolians..... goin' back to the 60's man....