Taupo / Waitimo/ Port Waikato

Well we have had a very interesting trip so far and have enjoyed our time around NZ. We have discovered that one of the country's biggest exports is their red pine. They have one of the largest man-made forests in the world. From what one fellow was telling us, the red pine will grow to its maturity in about 25 years. The ones that we have seen while on the trails and pathways were unbelievable. They were a good 4-6 ft around and 50-60 feet high whithout a limb on them. Apparently, they cannot ship enough of it to China. I think about the days when I would be searching for a nice piece of pine at home to make something with and it was hard to find a nice clear piece of wood.

Taupo was a nice relaxing time for all of us. Melissa was able to go for her run in the morning while Di and I had coffee and got organized for the day. The motor home has been fun but it is still a confined area for three people. We have all done well though and are enjoying the time. The Holiday Park in Taupo had a nice hot tub and pool. Temp was around 32 degrees celcius which made it very comfortable.

Aview of the river leading up to Huka Falls. the water was crystal clear and had hot springs feeding into it that people were lounging in.





After a couple of days in Taupo we decided it was time to head out to see the Waitomo Caves so we packed everything up and away we went. So far we have had beautiful weather and the sun has been shining on us. Well, I guess the gods felt it was time that the rain came - it rained off and on today during our travels and once we arrived, it came down pretty good for about an hour or so. So here we are on the 27th of April and we are heading off to the Aranui Cave and then to see the glow worms. We headed out for Aranui first and were fotunate that only one other couple were on our tour. Apparently the norm is about 50 people per tour but the buses had not arrived yet from Auckland. Our tour guide was a local fellow and was very humorous and entertaining. Di and I have never been in caves like these so we found them very beautiful and amazing to look at. The stalactities were huge and had mulitple colours of brown, pink and white shading. They grow at about a millimetere per 100 years. We were looking at some extremely old ones in this cave.

Left - Entrance to Arani Cave       Right - Passage way inside the cave.

The Aranui cave was discovered in 1910 by a local hunter and his dog who were chasing a wild pig down the mountain and chased it into the entrace of the cave. I will upload a picture of the entrance and you will see it is not very much. The cave itself goes on for many meters and has a large cathedral (highest point in the cave) which is stunning.

After leaving there we headed back to the main cave where the river actaully runs through the cave. Wewere now in a larger tour and were informed that they normally put through about 2000 people a day. They have to limit the amount of light and people because the carbon monoxide and lights have a major effect on the limestone. Our tour guide was informative and made it all very interesting. As we went down into the cave we came to the river and all 50 of us boarded a boat in the complete darkeness and our guide pulled us along by a cable through the dark tunnels. When you looked up all you could see were thousands of little lights glowing on the ceiling. The Glow Worm which is actually a maggot attaches itself to the ceiling and lets down long strings of gel that hang in the open air to catch any insects such as flies and moths in order to feed. If they do not catch enough they will munch down on one another. Our tour guide explained to us that someone felt advertising glow maggots would not be as attractive as glow worms and I have to agree with her.

The following morning the girls decided for our last day and night we would head off to Port Waikato which is on the west coast just south of Auckland. We had great plans to find a restaurant and have a nice meal out rather than cook something in the camper. Though I have to say we have eaten excellent meals over the last week or so. We arrived in Port Waikato in the mid afternoon only to find we had arrived in a very small village that must be a vacation area mainly in the summer. There was one restaurant and this was the only business in the village and guess what? They were closed. Thank goodness we had a few odds and sods left over in the cupboard so no one starved at least. We had a nice game of cards and everyone relaxed for the night. They had a beautiful beach on the west coast with almost black sand. The surf was loud and the breeze was still warm.

Well the start of the holiday in the North Island has come to an end. We turned the campervan in at the Britz drop off center around 02:30 pm on the 29th and caught their shuttle over the airport to catch our flight to Chirstchurch which departs at 07:30 pm tonight. Unfortunelatly, Melissa could not get on the same flight so she will be arriving about 01:15 later than us so we will stick around and drive into Christchurch together.

Anyway that is about it for now. I will try and add a little more later on.

Rotoura and Taupo

Well lets see, what has been going on since the last time that I had a chance to put something on this site. We left Papamoa Beach on the 24th and decided to head down to Rotorua which is a large Maori center. Melissa had prewarned us about the sulphourous smell coming from the geothermo activity in the area. They are well known here for their geysers and hot mud pools that keep bubbling up from the ground. As soon as we got near the area, we could actually see the steam and smoke rising in the area from the pools of hot water. The next thing that hit you was the smell of rotten eggs that goes along with it. If I did not know better, I would have to say that we were driving through Saint.John and the pulp mills were going strong.


We stayed just outside of Rotoura at Blue Lake ( they were advertising no smell). It was a great spot and we were able to hike the 6km trail around the lake on a couple of occassions.

You cannot come to this part of the world and not take in a cultural event to learn more about the Maori people so we signed up for a cultural tour and dinner. They came and picked us up at the lake and took us into the cultural centre in town before we headed out to the village outside of town. The village was designed to represent how the Maori people lived and dressed in the early 1800 's and some of the rituals  they performed.

John, our bus drive,r picked us up sharp at 5:00 pm. Is was quite a chatter and culd go on for ever. On our way out to the villlage he stopped and picked up 30 Russian/Ukranines who going to the village as well. In total there would be 130 of us there for the evening. They have just stopped doing 3 shows a day because it is now in the slow season.

Left - Tattoo process for the Maori


Right - Dianna - Melissa and the Chief





In order to get into the village you had to have a tribe, a tribe name and a tribe leader. Some poor guy from Sydney, Aus got picked for tha,t thank goodness. We were called the Weka Tribe and our Chief had to greet the village chief with the traditional greeting which was to clasp hands, one hand on each others shoulders and touch your forehead and nose together twice. Our bus was turned into a Waka ( great Canoe) in order to transport us to the village as this was the main form of transportation back in the 1800's. So here we are in the Weka Waka heading to the Marae (Village) where we all gathered in the Wharenui (Big House) to accept the Te Wero (Challenge) from the Chief. Wait till you see a picture of this guy.

We had a great show put on for us called the Haka which I was able to video and the meal  called a Hangi. The meal itself was cooked on top of hot rocks buried under the ground and wrapped in leaves and cloth. We ate in the Wharekai ( Food House) until the Poroporoaki (Closing Ceremony) took place and we headed out with Han-Jay.

Driving with John (Han-Nay - Maori name) was quite an experience. He was trying to drive this big 50 passenger bus while playing tour guide. He did not have a headset which would allow him to talk and use both hands but instead had this big honking mic that he had to keep playing with in order for it to work properly. Of course this took his attention from the road a fair amount but not once did I hear Dianna tell him that he was too close to the line or that he had actually gone over the white line and driving on the edge of the road. All in all it was a great night and all enjoyed ourselves.

Today the 25th we decided to pack up the camper and head on down the highway to Taupo which is another community that sits on a lake. We have found another great camp site so are going to stay here probably for 2 nights.

The weather has been fantastic and the sun has been shining on us everyday so we have nothing to complain about. We decided to hike to Huka Falls today which was about 6 km and then came back and climbed into the hot pools that they have on site. Anyway we will fill you in on more later on.

Papamoa Beach in Tauranga

Well it has been a really relaxing day at the beach. We have had some really hot and sunny weather though when you first wake up it may be cloudy all you have to do is wait and the sun will come out.

We had a nice hike up Mount Maunganui only to have some spectacular scenery laid out in front of us.

Almost to the top, what a view.










They have some really great beaches along this stretch. It is not hard to see why this is such a summer destination in New Zealand.  they have trailers in the camp grounds like we do at home along the shore line and everyone comes and spends their summers.

Anyway we will be off to Rotatora tomorrow. A friend from BC happens to be here at the moment but we seem to be criss crossing paths at the moment.

On the road to Tauranga

Well we said goodbye to Auckland today after picking up the campervan. First stop was at the Countdown super market to stock up on food for the trip. Melissa at first said the roads around Auckland did not really represent the roads in New Zealand and that I would soon see what she meant. Boy was she right and I will explain later about the roads.

Britz Campervan Explorer. Very nice little motorhome but the sterring wheel is on the wrong side.







We traveled from Auckland down the #1 Highway and crossed over to the #2 heading east to Thames. Once we got close to Thames we turned North heading up the Coromandel penisula but cut across to Whitianga and then down to Tauranga where we have settled in for the night at the Papamoa Beach Camp Ground.

Now the story about the road around the Coromandel Penisula. Melissa decided to have a nap while we were heading up the Penisula so she put her mother up front as the navigator. Well let me tell you old white knuckle Dianna had quite a day. The roads are a chip seal so they are loud with the tires and the roads have two lanes with absouletly no shoulders to the road. For some reason when you drive on the wrong side of the road and the passenger is sitting to the opposite side than normal they get really nervous when they are looking at that white line that is suppose to mark the shoulder of the road which I was accused of being to close to on more than one occasion. Then try crossing a very narrow bridge at 70 kpm, you could actually see Di try and bury her head as she was certain we were going to hit the bridge and all die a quick death. Such confidence in her husbands abilities does not go un-noticed.
The roads up and down the mountain were constant hairpin turns and it was not hard to pick out the locals who were flying around the turns like they were in a formula race. You would be driving along at 70-80 and all of a sudden a sign wouild show a hairpin turn and reduce to 25 and guess what you really need to slow to 25 kph.

They have some of the most fantasic scenery we have ever seen though. It reminds you in away of the cabot trail. We finally made our destination at Papamoa Beach only to be delighted to find we had come to the most beautiful beach area ever. We are thinking about staying here an extra day just to get a chance to look around a little better.

Papamoa Beach , Pacific Ocean

Auckland & Waiheke Island

Well it has been a great couple of days. Dianna and I were a little draggy the first day here but we went out strolling around downtown Auckland. We decided to look at a place in the brochure called the Victoria Market..what a bust it felt like we were back in Freetown. What we did not know was that we had walked by the busy street in Auckland called Queen Street. We did find our way back and found a fabulous International Food Court and had some fantasic Thai food. Melissa arrived  around supper and we  had a quiet night at the apart ment with supper and a glass of wine.

On wednesday the 21st we headed out for Waiheke Island a small island just 45 minutes east from the harbour in Auckland. We did a hike around the shore to catch a couple of wineries. Fantasic views. We were all hot. When the sun comes out it is extremely hot.
Here is a shot of the three of us overlooking the harbour entrance.

To the left is a shot of the wharf landing at the Matiatia Ferry Terminal on Waiheke Island. We hiked for 2 hours before we found our way to the first Winery.

Our first Winery was the Jurassic Ridge. A small winery that only produces 12,000 litres a year. He is the sole employee and hires out only for certain things that need to be done at specific times. He has 4 different grapes and only makes four wines. He just won a gold seal for his rose wine and was completely sold out.

The Winery next door called the Mud Brick was a fabulous spot that had a great restaurant and fabulous view.

We took the ferry back to Auckland and picked up some supper and headed back to the apartment to end a great day.
Tomorrow we pick up the motor home and head around the north island. I have left it for the girls to plan our route so we will see where they take us.

The Land downunder

Well we made it finally. For some reason Dianna and I thought that the trip from Vancouver to Sydney was 13 hrs when in fact it took us 17 hrs of flying non-stop. Our flight was late getting into Sydney so we missed our flight and had to catch one a few hours later. In total without layovers we were in the air for 27 hrs. All in all it went well but we are glad to be here. The apartment at the Quadrant is nice little unit and centrally located. We were out for a walk to night on a t-shirt and sandals so I can certainly handle that. We are going to get some much needed rest tonight and hit the town tomorrow.  Melissa should be with us by supper time tomorrow and we will spend the day around Auckland together. Anyway readers so far so good. Auckland is a big city and certainly resembles a north American city. A nice hot shower really felt good once we got here. Signing off for now.

Vancouver at 3AM

You have to love the airports with free internet, as it gives you time to catch up on a few things. Well we are safely on the other side of the country awaiting our flight to the land of AUZ. Nothing exciting so far,lots of movies though so that kills a little time. Anyway see you in Auz or NZ next.

On our Way

Well the journey has begun. Thanks to Paul Calder for the lift to the airport, or it would have been a long walk. Really crowded at the airport in Halifax with all the passengers travelling to Europe since they have been stranded here since Thursday.  Not to add that everyone is heading to St.John's NFLD for the JUNOS. Oh well our flight pulls out at 1625 hr for Toronto and then to Vancouver & Sydney. That's Australia not Cape Breton. Talk to you soon.

One week to go.

Time has been flying by and hopefully it will slow down as soon as we leave. Melissa and the girls are moving from their apartment to another location in Queenstown.

Melissa in Sony Commercial in Queenstown, NZ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2wMPouw8WU

Time to get serious and pack.

The countdown is on. 15 days to go. Time to get the bags out and get ready. I hope the time slows down while we are gone because it is flying by here at the moment.