Happy New Year From New Zealand

  January 7, 2011

Can it really be 2011?  I’m sure you’ve asked yourself the same question. Time just seems to keep moving along almost faster than we can keep up.   We hope the new year brings wonderful experiences your way along with happy families, good health, good friends, and fine wines!

So here we are starting off 2011 in New Zealand.  Since our last post on December 20, 2010,  when we were in KeriKeri, we have traveled down the eastern coast of North Island:

• Visited  the historical Waitangi Treaty Grounds where the Indigenous Maori and the settling UK settlers gave birth to a new nation of co-existence protected by the British Crown in 1840.

Maori people open their eyes wide and stick out their tongues to look intimidating to the enemy.

Does this man look initimidating?

• Stayed in the lovely little bay side village of Russell, formerly known as Kororareke (Sweet Blue Penguin), 

• Toured around and hiked one of several islands in the Bay of Islands via a Fuller’s Cream Run Trip

Leaping Dolphins

Daily Mail Delivery

• Visited Opua where we reconnected with our friends Gene and Gloria on Pincoya,

• Saved a German couple from certain death (maybe slightly exaggerated, but cute story)

While in a communal campground kitchen cooking our dinner, the couple next to us opened up a package of stinky fish with bones sticking out every which way from a mutilated scaly corpse.  The man proceeded to put some oil and onions in a fry pan.  Curious, I asked him, "Did you catch that fish?"  "Oh No," he replied with a heavy German accent.  "I bought this fish."  I asked him what kind of fish it was.  He puzzled a minute and  said he wasn't familiar with it, but it was inexpensive. (Food in NZ is expensive).  He thought perhaps I might be familiar with the fish called "Fish Bait"?  Needless to say, after we explained to them, they chose to eat something else for dinner.

• Spent an evening with  Nancy and Donald Edge in Ruakaka.  

Nancy is the mother of Shona Williams whom we met in Samoa.  Shona connected us with her mother and stepfather in Ruakaa.  Nancy and her husband have a self contained farm.  We enjoyed their company as well as a wonderful home-cooked meal, got to see the lovely new home the Edges are building, and visited the scale model presentation of NZ oil refinery at Marsden Point.

• Enjoyed Christmas Eve with New Zealand friends in Red Beach.

Lion Chalky, Roz, Lion Russ, Lion David, Verla, Shirley, Stephan, and Mary

• Spent Christmas Day and had dinner with cruising friends in Gulf Harbor

Ed Gould (Acapella); Don Irvin (Freezing Rain); Russ (Worrall Wind)

Gene & Gloria (Pincoya)

Marie (Freezing Rain)

Festive Lamb Feast

Pecan Pie and Traditional NZ Pavlova

 

• Spent Boxing Day at the Pinewoods Campground eating German pancakes and playing Baja Rummy

Herb's Award Winning German Pancakes

The Gang! Herb, Roz, Don, Marie, Cornelia, Ed, Russ, Gloria, and Betty

Returned to Manukau City just outside of Auckland  for a few days of catchup and errands (We bought a new mattress for the campervan and had to cut it to size).  New Zealanders were still on holiday break so some of our chores were delayed.  It gave us time to cool our jets.

• Slogged through the Auckland Botanical Gardens in a rain storm and look for geocaches.  Enjoyed the indoor museum and art gallery while it rained outside.

From Auckland we headed through the central part of the North Island to avoid the holiday crowds along the coast line.  We bypassed the Coromandel peninsula, but will see this on our return trip to Auckland in April.  As we traveled southward in the north island interior, we:

• Visited the Rangiriri Heritage Center located near the site where the British and Maori fought a bloody battle over  fertile farm lands.  The British military were shamefully successful in a greedy grab of Maori land in 1863, despite the treaty of Waitangi.

• Enjoyed a tour of the Otorohanga Kiwi House where visitors observe the elusive Kiwis in a faux nocturnal environment.

• Toured the Waitomo cave to see the magnificent glow worms

Glow worms create sticky fishing lines to capture dinner

Glow worm's bioluminesence attracts prey

Like stars in the night sky (this photo and two above are commercial)

• Hiked to the Ruakuri caves and reserve

Beneath the surface there are 350 km of caves

• Spent New Year’s Eve Day hiking and floating through Ruakuri cave streams with the Blackwater rafting company.  This was a great, chilling, adventure.  Donned in wetsuits, lighted hard hats, and rubber boots we splashed our way through dark currents.  When the water got too deep we got in our trusty inner tubes. (Years of Bear River tubing prepared us for this adventure).  We had to jump backward  (leaps of faith) over two waterfalls into black pools, one of which was over a meter high.  The payoff was seeing a universe of glow worms in grottos that only the brave of heart will ever see.

Russ in Maori Intimidation Mode

Yipes!  It's Cold!

Galaxies of Glow Worm (Waitomo Commercial Photo)

Traveled to Rotoroua where we saw :

• Lake Rotoroua

• Government Gardens, formerly a health bath/spa in late 1800’s and now a museum

• Whakarewarewa Living Thermal Village where we got to see the Pohutu and Prince of Wales Feathers geysers as well as Maori Culture Performance

• Walked around Blue Lake where we also camped for three nights in a campground so chokka-block (NZ term for full), people could share tent pegs

• Toured the buried village of Te Wairoa.  The village was buried in 1886 when Mt.Tarawera blew its stack and has been recently excavated.

• Walked through a beautiful California Redwood Forest.  We were at Latitude 38 S, same distance from equator as San Francisco, Latitude 38 N.  NZ wanted to see if the California Redwoods would do well in NZ at this latitude and planted a grove over 100 years ago.  The end result is like a Muir woods with the beautiful silver ferns of New Zealand growing in the shaded forest below.

When we left Rotorua, we:

• Headed toward another thermal area, Orakei Korako Cave and Thermal Park where silica terraces and geysers cascade down a mountainside to the lake below.  The colors created by the silica and thermal algae were stunning.

• Camped at Whakapapa Village in the Tongariro National Park between three volcanoes Mt. Ruapehu that erupted last in 2003, Mt. Ngauruhoe and Mt. Tongariro.

• Hiked to the Taranaki Waterfall with Jessie and Simon (Jessica and Garyn's NZ friends).

Taranaki Waterfall

• Enjoyed a great dinner with Touhy family in their holiday rental within a 1/2 hour of our campsite

Simon and Jessie

• Trekked (Russ did) across the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, a 19 km hike that takes 7-10 hours across lava mountains and ash flats.  Russ made the crossing in exactly 7 hours while I stayed back in camp working on this blog.  Mind you, I'm not complaining.  

• Spent a day reading, doing laundry, and generally kicking back during a rain storm.

• Hiked to Silica Rapids when the sun came out and the sky cleared off.

Driftwood Art - Giant Kiwi

Well, that pretty much brings us up to date with the first week of the New Year already behind us.  Today, we are in a campground between the volcanoes and the coast as we head towards the Taranaki Volcano and Wellington.

All is well with the 2 Sail R's and wishing you a Happy and Healthy New Year!