2011-12-03 Day 23 Saturday
New Zealand Day 1:
Fly from Sydney to Auckland, Wander Mt. Maunganui
Day began with a nice muffin and coffee for breakfast. Sandy and Keiran dozed on, both in very uncomfortable positions. Once again, Sandy had bad things to say about parents and yelling babies.
Sydney looked very nice from the air, although the airport wasn’t particularly sparkling, especially after our recent experiences. Went through the usual additional security scan, then sat in our departure lounge for the next hour or so.
Flight to New Zealand was much shorter than I expected. Two and a half hours, and we lost 2 more hours. Yet another short day.
Kim was waiting for us, in spite of having just taken Teagan to the hospital for stitches in shin a few hours before. A short stop to remove an air dam from the front of his car, get the GPS synched and a destination set and we were off and running. Once again, we were back on the left hand side of the road. So far our trip has been: RIGHT, RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT. Two-ish hour of New Zealand country-side and we pulled in to our luxury apartment that Kim and Karin had accepted from friends. Gorgeous, and THE location for Mt. Maunganui.
Walked around the block to see the sights, and then back for dinner. Karin had cooked lamb chops and pizza for the fussy people. In spite of the early hour, we were starting to get stupid from jet lag, and were pleased to have made it to 9:30 pm. Bedtime.
2011-12-04 Day 24 Sunday
New Zealand Day 2: Walk around Mt. Maunganui
Slow and easy day. Of course, the rain started, and was only going to get worse over the next two days. I am not sure that we did anything other than go out for a walk around the base of Mt. Maunganui. Slept in, which didn’t make the day any longer.
Breakfast was excellent: Kim and Karin had bought coffee and a press for us to use. Also bacon for Keiran. At this point in time, we were pretty much into lunch.
Things cleared up for a little bit, so we went for a walk around the base of Mt. Maunganui. The trail stays about 5 meters above the waves, so we got a chance to dash down on to little beachs. Highlights were the big trees, the waves crashing onto the rocks, and the seagulls and their nests.
Of course, it started raining halfway around, but this didn’t really change anything, other than make the view mistier.
As we rounded the last turn, we could smell the kebab place, so stepped in and bought a pair a large ones, one for each family. This kind of ruined appetites for dinner, so after Bang we delayed Karin’s stir fry, and Sandy put together some small pizzas instead.
2011-12-05 Day 25 Monday
New Zealand Day 3: Mt. Maunganui
Rainy day and Mt. Maunganui was fogbound. Rain stopped and we waited for things to clear. Gave in, went to the top anyways. NO view. Started down and the sun broke through. Nice view from halfway down anyways.
Went boogie boarding on the sharp sand. Water was cool for me, but still spent a little time getting scraped up by the sharp shells etc. Fun. Tegan was grounded on the dry sand because of his stitches.
Forecast was for things to get worse, but they never really did. Karin and Sandy put together a stir fry for the evening meal and we played yet more BANG.
Payed $10 for 2 hours of internet, from the hotel portion of these Ocean Side resorts. Nice that I could access it from inside our apartment. Not nice that it died after an hour of use, and all the staff had gone home (note that I did beg for, and get a free hour to make up for it the next day).
2011-12-06 Day 26 Tuesday
New Zealand Day 4: Missing?
Missing?
2011-12-07 Day 27 Wednesday
New Zealand Day 5: Rotorua Day 2: Zorbing and Sledging. This one needs photos!
We checked out of the Rydges hotel and headed to McDonalds for wifi and a fancy coffee. Then out to Zorb Rotorua. On the way, we passed Ogo, another Zorbing place, which we cleverly took note of. Zorb Rotorua had a sign in the entrance saying they were closed, waiting for engineers to repair the “escalator” which drags the Zorb balls up to the top of the hill. I talked to them, and they said they still didn’t have a clue when the engineers where actually going to get there, and that the sign used to say 10! :-). We thanked them, and headed back to the other Zorbing Place, Ogo.
At Ogo, we discovered that our only option was straight wet ride. They were still waiting for the grass to grow on the zigzag track, and the tail wind made the dry run (where you are harnessed in) unusable, because the Zorbs tended to not make the final corner, entering the trees instead.
So, in spite of the cool weather, we got into our swimsuits, Sandy included, sat down on the waterproof covering on the back seat of the Ute, and got ferried up to the top of the hill. Much to our delight and pleasure, they filled the Zorbs with warm water. Keiran dived through the entrance and was off. We followed 30 seconds later. I tried to take a movie from the inside, but it was only a few seconds until the lens was covered with water and mist.
It was fun being decanted at the bottom, Sandy and I didn’t realize that it would be a squeeze the two of us coming out at once. Since they volunteered to give us a deal on the photots, and even to put them on an SD card for me, I had to get them.
Step 2 for the day was to go out and go sledging or something. We headed back to McDonalds for wifi and lunch. We still needed to figure out exactly where Kaitaiki was. Eventually punched in an approximate location on the GPS and we drove out. 15 minutes later we arrived and chatted to the staff about what we wanted to do. In spite of the rafting having some really impressive falls, we agreed to go sledging. But we also found out that it wouldn’t be for a couple of hours so we had time to kill. The staff suggested that we might want to head out and watch the activity on the river.
This was both good and bad. It was a short drive and we got there with only one wrong turn. Then we saw a group … ToDo
2011-12-08 Day 28
New Zealand Day 6: Driving to Whitianga
Slow start in the morning, and the 3 hour drive became much more.
We enjoyed the short stop in the gold mining town of Waihi, BIG open pit mine. And had a lunch of meat pies, and for fuss budget Kieran, a plate of bacon and sausage.
Finished the drive at “The Warehouse”, where we bought a sleeping bag and a pair of rash shirts. Then pulled up at a very cute (and 1970s) bach. Unloaded the car, and while the girls went off shopping for dinner, the rest of us went for a big walk around the block. We walked along a long beach with long, continuous waves rolling ashore, then climbed on stuff in the playground. We also ran up and around a skateboard park, playing on the half pipes. A short stroll along main street brought us home.
BANG and then a dinner of chicken skewers, potatoes and asparagus. Then a second game of BANG.
2011-12-09 Day 29 Friday
New Zealand Day 7: Hot Water Beach and Cathedral Cove
Nice to have our “locals” guiding us on this one. We forced ourselves to get up earlier than normal and were at the beach 3 hours before low tide. I had already swung by “Tides” and gotten coffees for the addicts, so everyone was ready for the long haul.
Kim guided us to with 20 feet of THE spot, then we walked in small circles, in the waves, wriggling our feet down into the sand. The novices kept saying “This might be warmer here”, but Shay was the one who found the real spot. Everyone else came over to feel it, and then went “Oww!” as the scalding water bubbled up in other spots, around the real source. The water was still about 6″ deep at this spot, and with the waves, there was no way to start work on our hot tub for some time. We did stick a spade in the sand and plan though.
Of course, we started construction way to soon, and spent most of our time replacing sand barriers that had been washed away by rogue waves. But, an hour later, we had the first completed hot tub, and the best one. The key was to be able to adjust how much hot water flowed into the tub. Too much was the problem for almost everyone below us. In fact, most of the pits eagerly constructed below us started out by enclosing the source, and then struggling to route the water somewhere else! 🙂
We lay about in our tub and gloated. We had a hot side, and a cooler one. Could have been deeper, but our sand walls kept eroding back into our tub, making this a futile goal.
After a few hour, and a few quick body surfing runs (in an area with a fierce drowning reputation), we passed our hot tub onto some other late comers and went for lunch at the nearby cafe. Excellent, and fancy and with an espresso coffee selection.
Next destination was Cathedral Cove, only a 10 minute drive away. We elected to take the longer walk in (about an hour each way) to make it more of an event. The hike was well worth it, an up and down wander through lush vegetation, interspersed with view of various bays and cliffs.
Dropped down into Cathedral Cove and everyone ran off exploring. Mushroom rock, little cave, big tunnel through to next cove, sand, waves, swimming, body surfing and a large stingray. Karin had also chosen this site for her Xmas photo, dragging out the props she had carried half way around the world, just for this day.
Back to Whitianga for dinner and BANG. Karin and Sandy did a barbie with satay chicken skewers, potatoes and asparagus.
2011-12-10 Day 30 Saturday
New Zealand Day 8: Drive Whitianga back to Mt. Maunganui.
Weather looks iffy. Got coffee from Tides again. Went to the library for a few hours of free wifi. Yet more coffee from Tides. Back to the “bach” for a final cleanup, then started driving. And then immediately took a turn into the upscale part of town, where all the big houses back onto a man-made canal system, so that they can park a big boat in their backyard.
First real stop was Shakespeare’s Cliff. And then a quick walk down into Lonely Bay to play in the caves and tidal pools at the base of the cliffs. Lots of swoopy shapes carved by the waves. We loved it, climbed around on the rocks and squeezed through caves.
More driving through windy roads for a long time, and we arrived back in Mt. Maunganui. Downstairs to “Turkish To Go”‘ where we all got chicken + lamb kebabs. Yet another BANG and bed. Not willing to pay another $10 for 2 hours of internet…
2011-12-11 Day 31 Sunday
New Zealand Day 9: Drive from Mt. Maunganui to Te Awamutu, Adenaline Forest enroute
Spent a large part of the morning trying to see what we could stuff into the Mitsubishi Dion… It turned out to be a lot, but we still left several boxes and packs behind. And did a good thorough clean up of the apartment. Must get it spotless for the newlyweds who are coming in the next day.
The usual windy drive and we arrived at Adrenaline Forest. Just in time too. We got there at 2 pm, which is the latest possible time to start and complete the 3 hour course before close. As seems to be typical, we had to start out on the trivial stuff and work our way up to Level 6. 15 challenges in each level made it a long course. It was great. The slippery gloves were a detriment on vertical ropes, but otherwise provided useful protection. Time limited us, and while everyone made it through the first 5 sections, only Keiran was deemed fast enough to attempt level 6 before closing. They allowed me to tag along with him. Level 6 was worth it, but a lot of the sections were long, and the whole thing was really tough to do fast. Being 50+ feet in the air, and the wind blowing the trees about, made even the cable walks tough, with the cables being stretched tighter and looser as we clambered across. With forearms cramped up, both of us were thrilled to discover that the last 3 challenges were all flying foxes. Easy to just sit there and fly from tree to tree.
We left high on adrenaline and with swollen forearms. A short drive to Rotorua for an Indian dinner, same place that we had visited 5 days before. An excellent dinner and we then continued driving into the deepening gloom. Not much rain, but no sun either.
Now in Awamutu, dropped in on Paul and Jenn for a cuppa and biscuits. :-). Nice to be able to start associating faces and people with everyone that Kim and Karin have spent a lot of time with.
Jenn made an attempt to remove Tegan’s stitches, but they turned out to be buried too deep.
Pulled up to Raewyn’s place in Ngahinapouri in the dark. Thrilled to be here. Really neat little cottage beside the big house. Can’t make out anything in the dark, but it looks nice. Took photos of a little hedgehog we saw on the driveway as we pulled in.
2011-12-12 Day 32 Monday
New Zealand Day 10: Visiting around Te Awamutu, in the rain.
Woke up with the rain pounding on the tin roof. Just as it had been doing all night. I have decided that I like the noise and want a roof just like this at home. Karin and I tiptoed around while the rest of the house slept on.
Sometime around 10, the rest of the house came alive. Kim made an excellent breakfast with boiled eggs, fresh from the farm around us. Eggs had all been gathered from the “chooks” recently, and Tegan and Shay were desperate to do some more egg hunts.
Went out and petted the prize calves. All very interested in people, but also skittish.
Drove out and met Chris and his pets: lamb, rabbits, cat and dog, all of which circled us and tried to get in to the house. Chris passed on keys and information on his chalet for our Tongariro Alpine crossing adventure.
Next we drove into Hamilton and went to the Base shopping center. Checked out Katmandu, the local equivalent of MEC, while Kim and Tegan made an attempt for stitch removal at a “doctor’s walk through”‘. But the line was too long, so they figured they would come back later. We visited the food court where I discovered the ultimate “Masala Dosa”. I also found a Vodafone store, with an IPad SIM card, which is now installed in this iPad. I am now a very happy camper, with full time connectivity, and enough megabytes so that I don’t think I am going to be able to use it up before leaving New Zealand.
The rain continued, so we dropped in, unannounced, at the “Castle”. After playing musical cars for awhile, along with some skulking around the outside of the house, we invited ourselves in. Helen and Howard have built a unique house, modeled after a castle. Lots and lots of clever little ideas. I really liked the way that Helen and Howard just did things “their way”.
By this time, the day was starting to to end, and we still needed to pass by Paul and Jenn’s to pick up the promised fish, that Paul had caught the day before. We left with bags full, including two big “crayfish”, ready to be eaten. Crayfish here are what we would call a lobster. These puppies must have been 3 lbs each.
Dinner back at our shed was Ravioli in a tomato sauce, with lobster on the side for those who wanted it.
2011-12-13 Day 33 Tuesday
New Zealand Day 11: Waitomo Caves
Didn’t really even attempt to get up early. Lazy breakfast, then watched Raewyn feeding the “chooks”. We dropped Closson’s off at the library and left for Waitomo Caves, about a 45 minute drive south. At the turn off, we stopped and ogled the ostriches, then continued to the caves. It was too late to see all 3 caves (the guided tour, only option aren’t synched between caves, so it isn’t possible to do all 3 quickly, back to back)’ so we picked two.
The first part of the Glowworm caves was okay. Interesting to see the difference, but otherwise not too remarkable. Seeing the glowworm strands was neat when illuminated so you could see the strands, looking like fishing line, with blobs in it. And when the lights went out, the blue glow ofmthe worms. And when we got the the boat part, we were at the back of the line and didn’t make it on. However, our 15 minute wait was well compensated for: we got to lie down on the seats and stare straight up at the worms on the ceiling as we drifted along. Well, actually, our guide pulled us along a steel cable, which was invisible in the dark. Fantastic. The movement of the boat helped exaggerate the 3D effect, making the shape of the cave more obvious.
The second cave we chose to do was Aranui. Only a short drive from the first, and then a little walk up the side of a hill to the entrance. Path was carved through fairly dense forest, which made it fun in and of itself. Entrance immediatley opened into a much bigger cavern. Lots of fantastic shapes, and again, neat to see the difference between a river-formed cave and the ones in North Dakota. Picked up the Clossons in Te Awamutu and went back to Raewyn’s place and dinner. Sandy put together tacos 🙂 and we all stuffed ourselves.
Light rain all night of course, but we are feeling optimistic about the Togariro Alpine Crossing because there seems to be a 6 hour slot in the middle if the day with sunshine… We head down tomorrow.
2011-12-14 Day 34 Wednesday
New Zealand Day 12: Drive to National Park
Wake up, pack and clean up the cottage. Drizzle starts and stops, over and over again.
Easy drive in the rain. We visit Wayne and Amanda (and little one) on the way out of town, then start driving for real. Multiple McDonalds stops, for food, McCafe and wifi. Rain continues, and we arrive at National Park at 5.
We are very impressed by Chris’s cabin. Much more of a ski chalet than a cabin. Which is exactly what it is, right in the middle of the local ski resort. The chalet is able to sleep more than twice our measly 7 people. I think we will be very happy here.
But it is still raining, and the forecast for the next couple days has not improved.
Dinner (pasta and tomato sauce), Johnny English, BANG, and bed. We should have brought sheets and towels, so it was a stretch getting our bed set up. We eventually found a single bed sheet which would do the job for Sandy and me. Keiran was all set up in the cheap sleeping back we bought a few days before.
2011-12-15 Day 35 Thursday
New Zealand Day 13: Gave up on National Park in the rain, drove to Ngahanipouri
Even though we were having fun in the chalet, with pool table and BANG, the driving rain made outdoor stuff no longer an option. Keiran, Tegan and I went down to the hostel to chat to the staff about the possibilities. And discovered that the short window in the rain we saw in the forecast for Friday was not going to help. Apparently, the high winds would make one of the ridges uncrossable. Having just walked in the low level version of it getting to the hostel, we understood. 🙂
With a sigh, Sandy and Karin packed everything up while Kim and I took the kids to the climbing wall for an hour. We then headed north, back to Raewyn’s milker’s “shed”. Even though rain was still in the forecast for just about everywhere, the hope is that Auckland should have more indoor activities.
Lots more driving in the rain, and a quick Thai dinner as we passed through Te Awamutu. Late night, so no BANG, I think.
2011-12-16 Day 36 Friday
New Zealand Day 14: Hamilton Gardens, pick up rental car, move into Auckland
Pack up and clean up Raewyn’s place. We did a good job, but since the Clossons were expecting to be back again soon, it didn’t have to be stellar. This also gave the Clossons a chance to leave some stuff behind (again). We almost had enough room in the van.
Enroute through Hamilton, we stopped off and spent a few hours wandering through the very impressive Hamilton Gardens. Fifteen-ish different kinds of gardens, some promoting different styles from various countries or time periods, while others showed of varieties of herb gardens, vegetables, trees and even environmental ones, with composting and similar less glamorous stuff.
Then on to the airport where we picked up our little rental at Jucy. Cute little car. Then a traffic jam as we wound our way into Auckland proper and our home
We had chosen to rent a hotel in Auckland, and found one via Expedia, the Waldorf Celestion, which could happily accommodate all of us. But, it wouldn’t let us book it that way, so we booked as 4 adults and 1 child… then snuck the other 2 kids in. Since the Clossons had many sleeping bags, this was easy to do, and the fact that the Waldorf Celestion was more of an apartment building made it plenty roomy. Parking was a pain. The traffic jam making it much more of an issue, since we could see,the front door of the the hotel for 20 minutes before we got to it, only to discover there was no place to even stop in front.
After one night, we immediately decided to book for a second night, again going through Expedia, to make sure we got the same rate as the first night. We have been burned several times this trip by not doing this. Slowly learning.
We had a good kafefuffle when we ordered pizza from Hell’s Pizza, and ended up trying to pick it up from the wrong location. We ended up guessing an order at random, which was nowhere near enough, then having to order a bunch of Indian food from downstairs to make up for the lack of calories. Oh well, it was good anyways. At least I got a preview of Mission Bay. And got a chance to watch Kim get pulled over and get tested for alcohol consumption.
2011-12-17 Day 37 Saturday
New Zealand Day 15: Auckland, Parnell Farmer’s Market, Auckland Museum
With the cars parked in a semi-remote location, and Auckland being a parking nightmare at the best of times, we opted to walk to the Parnell Farmer’s Market and then the Auckland Museum. With the rain turning on and off, we blundered in the general direction. And then Kim spotted a young kid coming out of a narrow path walking a dog and he bravely asked if the path was the way to Parnell Market. It was, and we wound our way down a steep narrow path into a small pocket park, and right out the other side was Parnell Market. Of course, the rain increased in intensity as we got nearer, then mysteriously stopped as we stepped under the canvas umbrellas.
We waded into the crowd, and discovered that it was more of an open-air munchie market. We split up and quickly checked everything out, wanting to optimize our dollars. Between the 7 of us we bought: coffee, chai latte, hot chocolate, pain au chocolate, crepes, hot dogs, chick pea salad, prawns, multiple loaves of pizza bread and many other things I am sure I have forgotten.
The rain hit hard once or twice and we retreated under shelter as appropriate. Allocated time was up, so we headed off in the general direction of the Auckland Museum. A brief discussion as to whether or not we should sneak in the back way, pretending to be locals or just pay the $10 per person resulted in us paying the money. The Moari floor was the best I have seen, and was well worth seeing. The other floors were interesting, and good to wander through, but it is hard to compete with the Smithsonian in Washington D.C.
We wandered back to the apartment, and then squeezed into the van and headed out to Mission Bay to go to the Ruan Thai restaurant. Excellent food, and once again, we ordered far more than we could finish in one sitting.
Before going to sleep, we made up some flexible plans to head out to Piha the next day (yes, in the rain), and then the Longs could opt to head south and try to complete the Tongariro crossing before leaving New Zealand.
2011-12-18 Day 38 Friday
New Zealand Day 16: Drove out to Piha, explored in the rain, drove south back to Te Awamutu
Packed up and left the hotel in 2 separate groups… And the rain started. Kim and the kids went to the playground in Mission Bay with the kids and we caught up a little later. A few runs on the zipline and we drove out to Piha. As usual, a windy road, and the scenery now reminded me of Hawaii. Rain continued and got harder.
Arrived in the rain, and Kim opened up the caravan. An old classic. And pretty darn roomy with the big tarp/tent attached to the side. Quick dash to the corner store for coffees. The Longs and Karin went down to the beach and watched the surfers. Highlight was watching the lifeguards getting re-certified. Rain continued.
Back to the trailer and shelter. Karin prepared the steaks, and we watched TV, sad to say…
Went for another walk in the rain, and got to see more of the beach at Piha. Amazing cliffs which looked like they were built from concrete and large boulders. More rocks, caves and pounding waves, all experienced in the driving drizzle! 🙂
Decided that we will book it south, so that Sandy will have a chance to visit a winery. Also going to risk Tongariro… We left as darkness started to fall, but still made it through the slow windy roads out of Piha before it got really dark. As we hit the big highway, the rain became a deluge as we sped south at high speed. Pulled into Raewyn’s place, turned on a heater and climbed into bed.
2011-12-19 Day 39 Saturday
New Zealand Day 17: Drove to National Park, Floating Rocks, Prepare for Tongariro
Got up and started driving. Sandy was desperate to try out a winery, so we opted to visit the Kuratau Winery, on the shores of Lake Taupo. Pretty much en-route (one of the routes anyways) to National Park, and would give us a chance to see Lake Taupo.
Of course, the drive was longer and slower than expected. And when we got to the winery, it looked kinda not open. So we drove down one of the gravel paths to another house which might have someone in it. And got sprayed by a crop duster. Turned out to just be stuff to fight mildew on the grapes. Turned around and met the owner back at the entrance, looking down on us from the balcony above. Even though closed, and not due to open until Christmas, Will invited us up to his office and wine tasting room. This was a beautiful glass room, with a 270 degree view over the orchard. Sandy tasted and purchased.
Before we left the area, Sandy really wanted to walk,around on the beach, so we drove the 2 minutes to the waters edge. And discovered FLOATING ROCKS. Yes, rocks that float, just littered all over the beach. Keiran amused himself by seeing how well he could make round rocks skip. Sandy tried to collect only a few, and failed. Definitely a highlight for the day. Back to the car, a quick pass by a grocery store, some okay “take away” chinese food (which we ate on a table in front of the Visitor Info building) and then onwards to National Park.
We arrived, and luckily, I wanted to check in with the hostel to,hear about the chances of hiking the next day. Turned out that there was to be a meeting in 20 minutes, so we dashed up to our “bach”, turned on the heat, and returned to hear about the hike. The manager gave us a good half hour summary of what to bring and what to expect. Just what we wanted, and it seemed that we were pretty well prepared. Weather was expected to be as good as it gets.
We tried heating and eating the Indian TV dinners we had bought at the grocery store, but they were only a pale imitation of what we get in Canada, never mind what we had recently been eating during our travels. We packed and repacked stuff for the next day and went to bed, dreading the early wake up.
2011-12-20 Day 40 Sunday
New Zealand Day 18: Hike Tongariro and drive back to Mt. Mauganui.
Things looked gloomy when we dragged ourselves out of bed at 6 am: everything was shrouded in mist and fog. We walked to the hostel and joined the 30 or so people lining up to get on the bus. As we drove to the trailhead, Mt. Ngauruhoe (Mt. Doom) kept fading in and out of the clouds.
We started the hike just before 8: us and about 300 other hikers, who all started with us, plus or minus about an hour. We tried to get out of sync with the mob, and only partially succeeded. There are always people passing you or being passed. We tried to relax and go slow, but not too slow: don’t want to miss the bus or have to rush. It is also harder to stop and take a break to admire the scenery when lots of others pause, take a quick glimpse and then rush off. Did they know something we didn’t? Was the weather going to hold?
The first hour was a gentle stroll, up a gentle slope, along a a path which could have been a sidewalk, except for all of the crumbly lava. This always rolled under foot, and made it hard to make smooth progress without slipping and sliding, unless you paid a great deal of attention to where you put your feet. Since the path paralleled a stream coming down the valley, big long boardwalk had been built over sections which might be flooded or wet. Otherwise, it looked like the Nevada desert scrubland.
The second hour had us ascending into the mist. Easy stairs and boardwalks all the way to the top. This was the major altitude gain for the hike. The sun came and went. The mist came and went. It got windier near the top, and we were constantly readjusting our layers, too hot or too cold. Before crossing the first crater floor, we huddled behind some big rocks and had a snack. Although only 10, it felt like lunch time to me. Still a long way to go, but as far as we could tell, we were on schedule.
Another half hour, and we were across the crater, and across the divide. We were now able to see the other half of the world. Played on the edge a bit, then continued upward, along the ridge. This took us to another plateau. We could now see down into Red Crater, and were all suitably awed by it. For some reason, the trail continued up onto the peak beside Red Crater. So we went up, looked around at about the same view as we had had from lower down. Into and through the steaming sulfurous peak. And then we saw the Emerald Lakes below. Now this was a view worth climbing up for. In the distance, we could see Blue Lake, our targeted lunch spot. The way down was steep, sandy and slippery. Keiran and I found it easier to run and hop down, so we did, passing scores of more cautious people. We poked around the Emerald Lakes, amid the warm steam, while waiting for Sandy to catch up.
Across another crater floor over to Blue Lake. And another climb up a crater wall before we arrived at Blue Lake. We were warned to be here at least by 1:30, otherwise we would probably miss the bus. No problem, we were 1 1/2 hours ahead of schedule. Took our time and appreciated out lunch. Looks like we had far too much water with us… In fact, we ended the hike with 3 unused liters of water… Lunch was small tins of flavoured chicken, crackers, cheese, salami and chocolate. Excellent, and more than enough for the likes of us.
Half an hour later, we were up and heading around the bend. Pretty flat, and until we made it into the misty valley, we had no idea that we were about to start descending. Plants reappeared as the trail wound round the side of mountain. When the mist cleared, we could see Lake Taupo in the distance. Eventually, we had made it far enough around the mountain to see the steam from the hot springs (private land, no trespassing). We could also see the trail ahead of us, twisting and winding down through the scrubland, continuing on down forever. It looked like it did a whole pile of unnecessary turns, but as we descended, it was still plenty steep, so it was all in the eye of the beholder.
Passed the Ketetahi hut on the way down, and a few kilometers later, dropped into an unexpected, lush tropical jungle. By this,point, we were starting to drag a bit, and didn’t appreciate the moist beauty as much as we could have. In spite of our efforts to not arrive too early, we still ended up at the pickup point almost 2 hours ahead of schedule. We hung around with the 100 or so other people also waiting for their pickups, although different companies had arranged different pickup times, so it wasn’t as though everyone was as early as us. Nice to lie around and relax, although it would have been nice to get on with it, as we still had a long drive back to Mt. Maunganui.
Bus was ready and everyone was loaded up ahead of time, so we left a little bit early. Nice to have an accurate passenger list. Before the bus even started moving, the skies opened up with a torrential downpour. We rode back to National Park, keeping one eye on the trout that the driver had caught in a stream while we were hiking.
GPS said the drive would be a little shorter than we had originally guessed at, especially when we forced it to route us through Taupo instead of Hamilton. This alone decreased our travel time by an hour. Stupid GPS. Ate at “Best Kebab” in Taupo as we drove through. Very good, and unusually, all women working behind the counter. We dashed down to look at Huka Falls, then continued on to Mt. Mauganui, arriving early enough to meet Kerri and Dave befrore bedtime. Wayne’s condo was VERY nice, and we were thrilled to stay there.
2011-12-21 Day 41 Monday
New Zealand Day 19: Kiwi360, Body Surfing, Dinner at Ruan Thai
We had hoped to go out on a boat today and see dolphins or whatever, but it turned out that very few of the companies were running yet: still too early in the season. And we weren’t ready to pay $400 per person for some of the one which were running.
Plan B was Kiwi360, a kiwi plantation which also did tours. This ended up being much more interesting than we expected. The guide, Simon, never failed to answer any of our questions. And the kiwi growing was amazing, for its scale, seasonability (hire 20k workers every year for a 6 week picking) and orientation to EXPORT. Nothing except rejects are destined for the local market. No-one can get vine-ripened kiwis, all are picked early and put into cold storage to be ripened according to global demand.
Back to Mt. Maunganui, where we met up with the Clossons and headed down to the waves, armed with multiple Boogie boards. Even got a chance to try out my new neoprene rash guard. Sandy, Keiran and I also walked out the peninsula, where we watched guys fishing, and the younger generation leaping off rocks to impress girls.
For dinner, we went out to Clossons old stomping grounds, Mission Bay, and had an excellent dinner at Ruan Thai. Play in the dark playground, then a short drive up the hill for a quick view of the harbour and Auckland.
Back home and packing for our flight home tomorrow. Since Kim and Karin had given us a suitcase to take home, we had a bit more room than what we had started out with. We wrapped Sandy’s giant door mat around Keiran backpack, and it was now pretty much full, but at least the doormat was packed. Sandy bought a cheap “grandmother” shopping bag and was prepared to carry the rest of her souvenirs on board with her.
2011-12-22 Day 42 Tuesday (first one)
New Zealand Day 20: To the airport and flying home
Woke up after a gorgeous but short sleep in big fluffy beds. The whole Closson clan came to say goodbye, as we loaded up the car and prepared for the 2 1/2 hour drive, the rental car drop off, and the whole queuing experience at the airport. All to be completed before 3:05 pm, which should have been easy to do, but we ended up cutting it much closer than I like.
Drove through the sun, and then, the pouring rain to Auckland airport. Dropped the car off at Jucy, and the shuttle drove us in a panicked rush to the airport. Not because we were late, but because the driver had failed to pick up another passenger 3 times in a row. So, we made it in record time, and then stood in line for a long time. Then another line… Then another line… Then made it to the gate, and it looked like we were going to walk straight on to the plane… But no, another line.
Anyways, flight left on time, they fed us and we dozed. No screaming kids! 🙂
2011-12-22 Day 42 Tuesday (again)
Still Flying Home, La Brea Tar Pits en-route
Day began somewhere over the Pacific. During the 12 1/2 hour flight, we lose 4 hours and gain a day. Or, easier to think that we jump back in time and gain 20 hours. Whatever, we end up in Los Angeles 8 hours before we left Auckland… And we also have 8 or 9 hours to kill. We checked our bags in at United, the world’s worst checkin experience to date, and we have gone through some doozies. But, at least, we had HOURS to kill.
Keiran and I were willing to just sit in the airport and just zone out. Luckily, Sandy had more ambition than us, and when she said “La Brea Tar Pits”, both Keiran and I perked up. We thought we had lots of time, and thought we might as well take a city bus, since it wasn’t far. So, we used the airport shuttle to take us out to city bus stop. We spent the next 45 minutes asking each bus driver if this bus went where we wanted. “No, you want to get on to the #42” was the answer we heard most often. But, the #42 never came by, so we gave in and went back to the airport to take a taxi instead. This was quick and painless, and the driver also promised to meet up with us for the return trip. In retrospect, public transportation would have been painful, especially as it looked like transfers would have been necessary.
We got to La Brea and figured we had better feed Keiran soon, as he was already more than grumpy. We found a Baja Fresh one block away, but it wasn’t going to open for half,an hour so we went in to Starbucks next door. There we joined a large queue, but were drinking coffee soon.
Baja Fresh opened and we had a taco brunch. Then off to the La Brea Tar Pits museum. Pretty much what we remembered, but still worth visiting. Then back to our taxi, who was also ready a little ahead of schedule, and we were back at the airport. It was very nice to be away from it for 4 hours.
Things went okay at the airport, but Sandy lost her jar of passion fruit jam as we went through security. We really didn’t have anything to complain about, other than the fact that,they should have confiscated it as we were leaving New Zealand.
Short flight to Denver, which was cold and snowy. Denver was busy, and it was now starting to look more like people traveling for Xmas holidays. A couple of hours later, we were en route to Saskatoon. It was about 1 am when our taxi finally pulled up at our house. We would pick up our Murano, with a new transmission, the next day.
Nice to be home. Not even miserably cold here. 🙂