Week 12 - 10th 11th & 12th Dec

Papamoa & Mount Maunganui
10th Dec

We went back to the Mount and hiked the trail around it one last time. It is such a beautiful spot. Once again we met up with many school children on camping holidays with their classes. Today we saw a group out snorkeling....can you imagine! They were having such a great time finding the crayfish...they are like small lobster. They were also examining the jelly fish we could see from the shore.

We have to do the serious packing today. Much of the equipment we purchased for our holiday has to be donated as we do not need to bring back pots & pans!


11th & 12th Dec

Tomorrow we are driving to Auckland to return the car. We will spend the night at a hotel near the airport as our flight to Hawaii is in the morning. Hard to believe that our NZ adventure will soon be over!

Week 12 - 8th & 9th Dec.

9th Dec. - Mount Maunganui - hiked the trail. Saw a freighter leave the harbour and travel through the narrow opening out to sea. Saw a stingray along the shore. Lots and lots of jelly fish. Also, we saw school camping trips that were hiking the trail and playing on the beach. They were camping at the base of the Mount.

The New Zealand Christmas tree is called the Pohutukawa. They are in full bloom all around the mountain and all over NZ.

In the downtown we saw these christmas trees!

Also, the palm trees are quite spectacular with their orange clusters of flowers.







8th December - Mount Maunganui - hiked up to the top. We took the difficult stair climb up and walked back on the easier track. What a spectacular view! On the way up we passed a grade 10 class hiking the mountain...they were exhausted as it is a diffiult climb. At the top we met their bus driver who said it would take that group ages to get to the top.

At the top we find the California Quails.

Below are pictures of the views from the trail as we climb up then down Mount Maunganui.

Us at the top!

This is one of the easy stair cases in the sheep's field as we climb up. They have these fields to act as a fire break, protecting the top of the mountain.

Week 12 - 6th & 7th Dec

Dec 7 - Drove to Papamoa

The beach outside of our cabin is beautiful. It is so long stretching overt 10 km all the way to Mount Maunganui.

This Maori carving is outside one of the local schools. Many of the schools have beautiful carvings, mosaics or paintins.

Along the roads there are lots of Kiwis growing.

Taupo, Huku Falls, Crater of the Moon, Hydro Dam
Sunday Dec 6th, 2009
We are off to find the falls. It is a short drive out of town to the walking bridge over the river. The water flows down a deep gorge about 15 m wide and 10 m deep. From the bridge you can see up and down the Waikato River. The water is teal and very clear. It is hard to believe that kayakers ever used this river… in fact nine have successfully run the river and over the falls. The drop is not extreme; it is the volume of water channeling through this narrow canyon that makes it a beautiful falls. The trail continues down to the falls where we stop to watch this surging blue mass as it spills out into the lower river. What an amazing sight.

Further down the river is one of the control dams for the massive hydro electric, Wesystem. It is the largest in New Zealand, generating 65% of the north islands electricity. Further down river a hydroelectric generating station provides electricity to the people of NZ. We plan on arriving in time to see the flood gates open at 4 pm.

Next we stop at the upper lookout. The upper lookout is also very beautiful, giving you a bird’s eye view of the falls and the teal blue colour of the water. We chat with a couple from Israel as they too have stopped to see the falls. As we are talking, the Huka Falls jet boat speeds up the river and we get to see it going through the rapids at the bottom of the falls.

Another interesting stop is the Crater of the Moon. This is a volcanic valley that includes a walkway past gueisers and volcanic rock. The whole area looks like a crater. The walk is nice and level as the trail has been developed as a wooden path. It leads past many deep holes, craters, with specific viewing platforms into some of them. We take the upper trail to see the whole valley. It is a bit unsettling as you realize there is lava closer to the surface here.

We arrive at the flood gates on the Waikato River with plenty of time to hike down the trail and view the river from different vantage points. There is only a trickle of water in the river at the moment. When the gates opened it fills up quickly rising 3 meters. They give a few warning sirens to let people know, in case they are hiking on the river bed, to get out. The speed that the water flowed down the river would wash anything away.

Week 11 - 4th & 5th Dec

Ohakune to Taupo
Saturday Dec 5th, 2009
Morning arrives and we have had a great sleep at Ohakune. Once packed we take the advice of the inn attendant and drive up the mountain. It is a long 16 km’s up and the weather looks nice in Ohakune, but as we get farther up the mountain the fog starts to come in then it begins to rain. Finally, at the top, we meet a fellow directing traffic. It seems there is a round the mountain half-marathon today, what a terrible day for a run! We ask him if there is anything to see and as we can pretty much figure out for ourselves with the rain and fog you can’t see a thing. We turn around and head back down the mountain.
We spend the day driving to Taupo.

Made a couple of stops on the drive through the desert. We found a quiet stop in the dessert, to have our lunch. The water and wind has carved some interesting scupltues into the rocks. Also, I found many unusual tiny alpine flowers growing in the rock.

This is the prettiest town we have seen on our travels... We booked into the cabins, unfortunately they didn't have our $55 per night special. We turned to leave and the manager agreed to give us their $120 a night for $90. Later I found out we have the deluxe cabin that goes for $150 a night. We can certianly tell as we have a 28" flat screen tv, fridge, microwave, queen bed, full shower, table and chairs and all the kitchen necessities. It is also brand new!

Wellington to Ohakune
Friday Dec 4th, 2009
This morning we are up early to drive to Ohakune. It is a long drive. We stopped in Graytown which caters to the antique hunters. There are many antique stores here. We stop for a quick cup of coffee then off to Masterton.

Alan and I walked around the downtown of Masterton before carrying on to Palmerston North.
Tonight we are in a motel as there is no backpacker’s accommodation available. We walk up the river trail to the old coach road and discover that there is much more town than anticipated. One house is quite cute, it is made from steel roofing that is bent, much like a Quonset hut, only artistic.

We still have to find accommodation in Hawaii! Tomorrow we are off to Taupo.

Week 11 - 2nd and 3rd Dec

Downtown Wellington, Botanic Gardens and the Tram
Thursday Dec 3rd, 2009
Thursday morning and we are getting to the last leg of our journey.

This morning Alan and I made coffee for Merrill and George Willson. They have a ranch in Colorado and are travelling NZ much like us. After about 2 hrs of chatting, we are acting like two couples who have know each other for many years. We exchange emails and addresses then they must be heading off to Napier and we are off to the big city of Wellington. Before they leave, they invite us to the ranch in Colorado or down to their summer house in Cozumel, Mexico. We may just have to take them up on that offer.

Having been to Downtown Wellington before we quickly find the downtown core which we missed on our first trip thorough town. Wellington is a modern city, but very windy near the wharf. We are almost blown over a couple of times till we get a bit away from the bay. Once in the heart of the city the buildings provide some protection and we wander the streets looking for the tram to the garden. This life size scuplture of shells is made of scrap corragated steal and accented with tools.
We stop in a tall building to admire a mural and take the opportunity to question a lady as to how to find the tram. She gives us directions and mentions Kirkaldies and Stains (Kirks) Department store and to take a look around it before heading up to the gardens.

We find Kirkaldies and wander through. It is a very old department store set up like Harrods in England. They even have a door man. We have our morning coffee here in the café.

Back at the tram, we pay for a return ticket and take the tram to the top of the hill. It takes 3.5 minutes to climb to the top and the tram runs every 10 minutes.

Outside the upper gate is the Tram Museum. It is a historical recollection of the 100 years that the tram has been in operation, both since its conception, development, operation, upgrading, and today the modern tram that we rode up the hill. It is quite fascinating to learn how it worked. We found out that there are many personal trams here in town as well.

The garden starts at the top of the hill winding its way down both sides. What you are supposed to do is take the tram to the top and walk down to the town. Oh well, we need some exercise, so we walk down, to the rose gardens and have flat whites again, then climb back up the other side. We saw most of the garden this way.

The tram is waiting for us and we take it back to the bottom. We wander a different route through town, this time towards the railroad station and the parliament buildings. It is a nice walk but we are getting tired, so we head back to the pier where we are parked.

Picton, Wellington
Wednesday Dec 2nd, 2009
Today we spent the morning blogging, emailing and packing. We took the ferry at 13:10. Today there are no southerly winds. The weather has turned lousy and it is raining with a steady light rain.

At 12:20 the man signals it’s our turn and we are off to board the boat. This ferry is the largest one in the fleet and is at least twice the size of the first ferry we crossed on. Safely parked on board, we exit the deck and procure our window side seats.

The trip is uneventful, very calm thank goodness.

Upon our arrival in Wellington, we are to check in at the Lower Hutt Top 10 as we have made prior arrangements for a kitchen cabin for two nights. The drive to Lower Hutt is a little slow as the rush hour traffic has started. We plod along and eventually get there. Our cabin for two nights is in a row of cabins, much like the old barracks of the 40’s. A bit of paint and some modern touches make them look a little fancier but the walls are still thin and the rooms tiny.

We head out to get a few groceries for supper and hit our favorite grocery store the PacNSave. It has a good selection and the prices are definitely reasonable.

We end up making browned chicken breasts with melted cheese on top, laid over a bed of penne type noodles. The whole plate is then smothered in spaghetti sauce with fresh mixture of peppers and spinach. It is very good.

I went and knitted in the TV room while Alan computed. Here I met an American, Merill. She knits, and has daughters the same age as Lisa. The two of us ended up chatting all evening and decide to meet for coffee the next day.