Week 2 - Day 11 - Mt Maunganui

Spent the afternoon walking the boardwalk up to Mt Maunganui. The beach was a wide expanse of sand. Lots of shells wash up on the beach. Infact further along the whole beach was shells.

Alan and I will have to go back next week to walk the beach and climb Mt Maunganui. The waves at the beach were huge.

Lots of surfers were out playing in the waves. No one was in swimming...the water is too cold. The wind off the Pacific was strong. We all have rosy cheeks from the afternoon.

Something interesting I have noticed in the grocery store is the pet food. At first I was amazed at the variety of ground meats New Zealanders eat. Then with closer inspection I realized that it was the fresh cat and dog food section. The section was a full cooler about one and half meters wide with at least twenty choices for both cats and dogs. The meat is packaged in plastic tubes, like I sometimes see as bulk hamburger.

Alan picking oranges in the back yard of the holiday home.

With food as a continued theme, I cannot believe the variety of gluten/milk free foods that are available. I even had a hamburger in a bun, in a restaurant, that was regularly on the menu. I have found excellent breads, cookies and cake as well.... no dieting here.

Week 2 - Day 10 - Tsunami Warnings

There has been an earthquake in Samoa that reached 8.3 on the richtor scale. It is very sad that so many lives were lost there.

They have put a warning out for the east coast of New Zealand that a Tsunami is expected to hit at ten this morning.

We are currently located in Tuaranga which is directly on the east coast. So, we are packing for the day and and heading for the hills, to Rotorua. Will fill you in later...

... the tsunami that reached New Zealand was quite small. It certainly alarmed a lot of people. The people of Samoa are having difficulties and are expecting another earthquake and tsunami tonight.

On our drive into the Waimanu volcanic valley the scenery was lovely.

We spent the day at the hot springs outside of Rotorua. The gorge is beautiful. We walked along it on a long trail. There was quite a variety of hot springs and craters.

This is the river that once lead to the pink terraces I talked about yesterday. There were many bubbling springs with spectacular colours in the rock. The water was quite hot to touch...of course Alan and I had to try it.


The gorge walk took 2 1/2 hours long. The craters were amazing and did not have the sulphur smell that the Rotorua geothermal springs have.

When we reached the lake we saw nesting black swans and pairs of swans with their gosslings. This lake is called Lake Rotomahana which is a warm water lake.

Once we were done at the gorge, we went into Rotorua on a shopping expedition. Peter was looking for gifts to bring home.

Week 2 - Day 9 - Aukland Museum

Spent the day at the Auckland Museum. The Maori history is well done. In fact I spent so much time on that floor, I didn't make it through the whole museum. Couldn't resist this fine example of rug hooking. It is a hanging of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip.

Another area I explored was the exhibit "Wonderland - The Mystery of the Orchid." That was well done with hundreds of examples of orchids from around the world, maps from around the world and art work. Kew Gardens in England believes there are over 500 orchids yet to be discovered.
The Maori carving is very intricate. Here are some examples. The house is a ceremonial house that the chief would store special and meaningful, personal items.

I identified two birds we have been seeing, but had nothing to write their names down - will have to rectify this problem.

Had a long day finishing it with a swim in the hot pool and then a turn in the spa pool. That was very relaxing.

Week 2 - Day 8 - The Kiwi Cart!

Had an interesting day today. Visited a Kiwi farm. Learned how much healthier kiwis are for you than orange juice. I tasted golden kiwi juice and had to buy some, it was super. We had a tour around the farm on a Kiwi Cart. That was quite informative. One kiwi plant produces 1500 kiwis each year.

We went to Rotorua to the Museum. That is quite a beautiful old building. We learned about the eruption Tarawera Mountain in 1886. It is such a shame that the pink and white terraces no longer exist. Then we saw a movie about it where the seats moved with the volcanic explosions which really gave you the feel of volcanic activity. (source for post card - Early New Zealand Postcards, 30 Sept 09, www.jeffpylenz.com)

Another interesting feature of the museum was that it used to be a health spa or bath. The bathtubs in the ladies section were made by Royal Doulton. In the basement they also had mud baths available. People came from all over the world to "take the cure".

Outside of the museum you can walk foot paths around the natural sulphur vents and mud holes as well as hot springs. It was unbelievably smelly. This path is along the edge of lake Rotorua. There were small islands covered in nesting birds. I couldn't believe the number of black swans. I counted over forty.

Week 2 - Day 7 - Arrived at Bay Of Plenty

On our way to Tauranga we stopped off for coffee in Cambridge. Outside the information building was this life size bronze of a mare and foal. It is so life like.

The drive was quite interesting today. It was like a miniature trip across Canada. Throught the Raglan hills down to the plains through Camberidge and back into the mountinous area of Tauranga.

Tauranga has a great expanse of sea shore with lovely white sand beaches. Quite a change from the jet black iron sands around Raglan.

This holiday home is fantastic. It truly is like staying in a spa home. It is so new, clean and warm! There are camelia bushes in pink, white and red, along with lemon trees and palms growing around the back garden. There are cyclamines flowering unders the palms. Out front they have geranium bushes. Oh, and we ate Tangelos straight from the tree!

We have a lovely patio with a barbecue, heated pool and spa jacuzzi. They had a well drilled that is 400 meters deep to tap into the hot water below. It heats the house, pool, jacuzzi and the bathtub in both the holiday home and the main home.

Week 1 - Day 6 - Sun & Surf

What a beautiful day today. The children have started their two week school holiday and get to enjoy a sunny Saturday.

These lilies are found growing everywhere. In gardens, on hillsides and in riverbeds.

Alan and Peter drove in and about town this morning. I walked to town.

I walked across the bridge from the town to the beaches. The tide was out so I enjoyed quite a walk down the beach towards the sea. Raglan is situated in a bay, which is quite far from the open sea. You could see white caps in the distance, but the water around me was quite calm. Across the bay you can see the limestone cliffs. In good weather they kayack over.

This is my favourite cottage in Raglan!

I met a volunteer fisheries officer on my beach walk. He was scouting out the bay for illegal fishing. Apparently these bays are protected as there is a species of miniature dolphins that can be found in the area.

I found the boys in town. We went to the grand hotel for coffee, then we drove out the coast road once again to Manua Bay. The surf was 4 to 6 meters in height, which was unfortunately too high for the surfers. Usually they surf when the waves are a maximum of 2 to 4 meters. Of course we went right down onto the rocks to check out the surf, Peter stayed back to take photos. It was beautiful.

After a quick trip home for lunch, we came back in the afternoon to the surfer's education centre.

Here on Ngarunui Beach, part of the Wainui Reserve, the surfers were starting to arrive. Very few attempted surfing as the surf remained too high. We spent time on the beach walking and enjoying the view.

Week 1 - Day 5 - Off to Hamilton

On the way to Hamilton we pass this hill. It is huge, almost a mini-mountain. It is Alan's favourite spot.

This is another view out the back seat of the car! The hills are quite spectacular.

We are off to Hamilton to see the gardens and to the Maori Museum. Oh, and it is raining again, but the temperature has warmed up.

The gardens are quite impressive. We only saw a portion of the gardens as spring has only just arrived. Our favourite part of the garden was this section of the Chinese garden.

The price of Shell gas is much better in Ontario even with the exchange rate!

I just noticed that the date is wrong above each post. That is Ontario's date, we are actually a day ahead here...time travel at its finest!

Week 1 - Day 4 - Another Rainy Day

We are having a lazy morning as it is very rainy.

Alan and Peter went to town to use a phone to book accommodation for next week. We will be on the east coast next. I found an interesting place to stay called the Carlton Thermal Retreat. Here we have our own personal thermal pool! Luckily the boys were successful booking the place.


I plan on staying home today as it is bucketing rain to try and work with the internet.

On our travels the past few days we saw many interesting trees. My favourite looks like a fern ontop of a tree trunk. It is quite beautiful.

These fronds, before they open are the size of Alan's fist.

Another interesting place I forgot to mention is the black sand at Repuke Bay. The sand is black and it sparkles. It was quite interesting.

Week 1 - Day 3 - Glow Worm Caves

We had an amazing experience at the Waitomo Caves. It was quite exciting to see this cave. We walked through this amazing cave, then took a short boat ride in the darkness to see the glow worms. It was beautiful.

Glow Worms in Cave. Glow Worms

Unfortunately it was still raining when we left and continued to rain all day. We found a coffee shop called the "Clockwork Cafe." There was an unbelievable amount of clocks in the shop adjacent to the cafe. Good coffee and interesting shop.

Week 1 - Day 2 - Raglan Coast

We woke to pouring rain. It was four in the morning, but with the time change our bodies were quite mixed up. I went back to bed.

Alan navigated the seriously narrow gravel coastal road south of Raglan. We spent the day driving down the coast past Whale Bay on Wainui Road, which was a very narrow gravel road.

Alan has certainly become a local with his driving. The speed limit is 100 km on narrow windy roads.

Luckily for the curves it is posted to slow down to 35. The back seat passenger has found it was a bit challenging taking photos out the windows. It was often too narrow to pull over often.

The scenery was beautiful with sharp hills, orange soil outcrops, limestone cliffs and the most amazing flora and limited fauna.

We have seen very interesting black and white birds, like the crow, but not like the Calgary Magpies. Also, we have seen hawks, rabbits, wild turkeys and many pheasants.

I thought there would be sheep everywhere here in New Zealand. For the last two days we have hardly seen any sheep. Oh, I did see one sheep on the front porch of a house and Alan saw sheep on a golf course. We stopped to chat with the golfers and they explained that it makes money for the club and saves money on green's upkeep - cutting grass and fertilzer.

There seems to be more cattle here in New Zealand. Their milking parlours for the dairy herds are outdoors!

At lunch we had Lamb and Mint potato chips...eat

your heart out Andrew!

We finished the day at Bridal Veil Falls. These falls were 150 feet in height. The area is almost pre-historic when you see the plants. The tall Fern Trees are unbelieveable.