Rotorua

The holiday park in Rotorua where we’re staying is ideally situated near the lake and a very short drive into town. Probably the coolest thing about it is there is a resident flock of Pukekos, which are New Zealand birds about the size of a chicken but very colorful, with dark blue plumage and red splotch on their heads. They’re really funny to watch and the sound they make is very interesting. In addition to the Pukekos, there is also a black swan (one of my favorite birds) on the premises that likes to hang out with the other birds. They are all so tame you can feed them by hand which I did with some old bread we had. Makes it kind of fun having them hang out around the campervan!

Sadly, we didn’t Zorb today…….but we Ogo’d!! When we went into the park office to ask for directions to the Zorbing place, she suggested we also check out the Ogo place, which is closer than Zorb, and their runs are longer. The Ogo place looked fine to us and they had the exact same set up as Zorb, so we decided to do it. The weather was perfect today and there were only a couple of other people doing it, so it was nice not to feel rushed. Jim went first and I after him. They took each of us up the hill in a pick up truck to where the balls are once up there, we crawled inside the ball and got strapped in. I didn’t know quite what to expect but it was AWESOME! They give you a good push and you start rolling down this long, grassy pathway, losing all sense of orientation along the way. Of course, it ended much too soon but it was so worth it! We took our own pictures and videos, but decided to buy the ones they made as well since it was such a memorable experience.

After that, we decided on something a little more “nature oriented” and drove to the Rotorua Redwood Forest, which is just outside of town. This was truly a spectacular experience, and it looks very similar to the redwood forest in California with one exception - the forest here has an amazing under canopy of tree ferns that were so cool looking. These tree ferns were anywhere from 15 to 35 feet high and made the place look so primeval that you would not have been surprised if a dinosaur walked around the corner! There were several paths of varying lengths you could take from the visitor center through the forest, and we ended up walking the 1 hour loop. There was even an 8 hour loop if you were feeling really adventurous or you could ride horses or mountain bikes around other trails.

Finally, we visited a buried village called Te Wairoa, where nearby Mount Tarawera erupted on June 10th, 1886 burying the town in mud and ash and killing more than 150 people. Since most of the structures were made of wood, the ruins were not as impressive as Pompeii, but still a really educational and moving event to learn about. Apparently, prior to the explosion, there was an area on the other side of the lake called the Pink and White Terraces, which were cascading geothermal pools (Rotorua is in the middle of New Zealand’s geothermal region with lots of geysers and heated pools around) that the minerals in the water colored pink and white. It was a very popular place for people to visit and enjoy what they thought were the health benefits of the hot pools. The terraces were actually classified as the 8th wonder of the world and the pictures looked really amazing. Unfortunately, all of it disappeared under layers of ash. The walk through the grounds was really interested and you could read all about the hotel that stood on the grounds where people would meet the guides who would ferry them across the lake to the terraces.

Life in the campervan is going well and we’re learning the art of living in a small space. Since the kitchen is in the middle of the campervan, it’s really impossible for two people to work in there. So, we’ve just been trading off the cooking and cleaning and all is going well. The bed is remarkably comfortable and even though they call it a twin, it’s really more like a queen size bed by the time you fold out the cushions. The best part is, no matter where you go, you have a bathroom if you need it!!

Hello North Island......Finally!

Well, if anything, the weather was actually worse the next day. Throughout the night, we had strong wind gusts come through the holiday park and our little campervan would actually rock back and forth from the wind! We woke to continued blowing wind and rain the next morning, but we were able to get to the showers and get the campervan packed up for check out time at 10 a.m. with no problems. We didn’t need to be lined up for the ferry until 1 p.m. so we had a few hours to kill in Picton and decided to just park the campervan down by the waterfront and walk into town for a cup of tea. Have I mentioned the weather was crazy??? There were times the gusts of wind would actually PUSH us along the street - no kidding!! Man, oh man. We found a café to tuck into and also browsed in a bookstore until it was time to head to the ferry. With the weather as crazy as it was, we also stopped into the tourist information shop to confirm the ferry was running and they were kind enough to call them and check (these Kiwis are so darn nice and helpful!!) and sure enough, everything was a go. We got lined up with all the other vehicles and finally boarded on time for the 2 p.m. sailing. Having only had experience with Washington State ferries, it was quite interesting to drive onto a ship that was at least twice the size of the ones that ply Puget Sound. I couldn’t guess at how many vehicles and people were on it, but there were a lot!! There was even a cattle truck onboard with a dozen or so cattle making the journey with the rest of us. If only they knew what was in store for them……..

Once we had the campervan soundly positioned, we headed up to the passenger level. There are actually two floors that people can hang out on during the 3 hour crossing, with two areas set up like a theater showing movies (Turner and Hooch…..no thanks), a cafeteria and a separate wine and coffee kiosk. In addition, there were lots of different sitting areas, from comfy looking couches to tables with seating around them. We ended up in a corner around a table and were joined by two Kiwi couples who had been on holiday on the South Island. Had a great time chatting with them and comparing notes between our countries!

So…….I think I mentioned the crazy weather……well, it just got worse as the ferry headed out through Queen Charlotte Sound. An overhead announcement was made about an hour into the journey saying we were about to enter the Cook Straight which is wide open to the sea and that the swells would be getting pretty bad. They recommended that everyone stay seated unless they had to get up and that if anyone suffered motion sickness, to use one of the MANY bags that were available in plastic containers on the walls rather than try to get up and go to the bathroom. Well, all I can say is thank goodness neither Jim or I have that problem. In fact, as the ship dipped up and down on the wild waves, I got sleepy and actually snoozed for a bit! One of the women who shared our table though didn’t find the rocking motion quite as relaxing and before long her friends were rushing to grab paper bags for her. Poor thing probably hurled for almost the rest of the trip!!! Finally we made it into the harbor at Wellington on the North Island but the seas were still so rough the ferry couldn’t pull into the dock on it’s own, so they had to call in tug boats to guide us in…..yikes!!! By the time we finally docked and were driving off the ferry, it was about 8 p.m. and our 3 hour crossing had turned into a 6 hour ordeal! I supposed if you count the fact that we had to be in line for the ferry by 1 p.m. it was actually longer, but why add insult to injury, right??? At least we made it to the North Island, and that was all that mattered and the holiday park we chose - thank God - was just a 20 minute drive from Wellington, so even through the crazy wind and rain, we made it there no problem. Safely parked in our spot, we were able to tuck into the restaurant on the premises before they closed and have a relaxing meal after the trials of the day. You can bet we slept soundly, that’s for sure.

This morning we got headed out of Wellington around 9 a.m. with the blustery weather still hanging around. Today was our longest driving day by far since we were driving up to Rotorua, about a 5 hour drive or so north. Fortunately, not too far out of Wellington, the weather calmed down and for the last couple of hours of driving we actually had sunny beautiful weather. As most of you probably know, the Lord of the Rings movies were filmed here, and as we drove through the rolling green hills in the center of the North Island, we could easily see why they chose this area to be the Shire, where the Hobbits live……really beautiful countryside!!

So here we are in Rotorua and tomorrow is the big day when we go “Zorbing” - for those we haven’t told, it’s this crazy activity where you get inside a big see-through plastic ball and go rolling down a hillside. I’ve been wanting to do this for years, so I’m really psyched!! Not sure if they’ll let us take pictures on our own camera (you know how they like you to buy the ones they take) but if they do, we’ll definitely post them!

Also, I may not be putting as many pictures in each blog posting as I would like since the internet time we buy at the holiday park gets eaten up by how many megabytes we use but when we get back to the Quadrant Hotel in Auckland, with their LOVELY unlimited free internet, I’ll definitely make up a photo album so you see a lot more of what we’ve seen. So that’s it for now…….hugs to everyone!

Goodbye South Island, Hello North Island

We made good time getting to Christchurch and, after dropping the car off about 3 p.m. or so, the nice folks at the car rental company drove us over to the Backpacker campervan location, which wasn’t too far from them. When we got there, they checked us in and gave us a 10 minute DVD to watch which told us everything (supposedly) we needed to know about operating the campervan. As I watched this, I started thinking it was sounding a little more complicated than I expected - hooking up to electricity when you get to the campervan park, turning on the propane tank, how to operate the water pump, how to flush out (pardon the pun) the waste tank - geez, what did we get ourselves into???? Jim assured me it wouldn’t be that hard and, in fact, it turned out not to be too difficult after all. Who me, overreact????

The campervan size we reserved is called “The Wanderer” and it basically looks like an extra long van with a high roof. You have the two seats in front from where you can walk into the back, but there’s also a side door that slides open as well as the back doors if you want to use them. There’s a REALLY small bathroom that can also be used as a shower, a kitchen area with refrigerator, microwave, stove, grill and sink in the middle and in the back, two bench seats which convert into a comfortably sized bed when you place some boards and the table top between them. So, all in all, quite a comfortable set up.

We selected a holiday park (as they’re called in New Zealand) that was only 33 kilometers north of Christchurch for our first night, since we knew it would be fairly late in the day when we got away. Although we didn’t go through the heart of the city where their recent earthquake was most devastating, we did pass a couple of buildings that were basically piles of rubble which we could only assume had come down in the quake, or were damaged enough that they had to be torn down. Either way, it was really sad to see but from what folks told us, it sounds like the city has really pulled together and is committed to rebuilding and coming out of the experience stronger and better than before. That’s the Kiwi spirit!

The holiday park was on the beach, but unfortunately, we didn’t get the beachfront parking space like I had envisioned. Oh well…..since we didn’t get there until about 5:30 it wasn’t like we were going to see much of the area anyway! The woman who checked us in was a real kick and greeted us with that friendly New Zealand accent we’ve come to love. When we told here we had lived in Dallas, she explained that she was originally from Arkansas and moved here with her husband, who is a Kiwi, 6 or so years ago. I’ll tell you what, during the course of our conversation, it didn’t take long for that Southern accent to come out!!! The place was okay, but we learned from the folks parked next to us that the best parks in the country are called Kiwi Holiday Parks, which they felt had nicer facilities. At this place, all the parking spots were gravel and we were given two tokens which allowed you 6 minutes of a hot shower in the bathroom. At least we didn’t have to use our own water, so I wasn’t going to complain!

We woke up this morning to quite a weather change from yesterday, with clouds and light mist to start the day. We had been warned by our Arkansan park attendant that the weather was expected to change, so we weren’t too shocked. Our plan was to drive up to Picton, which is the town on the northern edge of the South Island where the ferry takes you over to Wellington on the North Island, about a 4.5 hour drive. Since we have to be at the ferry terminal by 1 p.m. tomorrow, we didn’t want to have to drive too far to get there. The holiday park we found was one of the Kiwi Holiday Parks (an added bonus) and it’s right in the center of Picton and about a 10 minute drive to the ferry terminal. From what we understand, the ferry ride over takes about 3 hours and is supposed to be gorgeous, so we’ll let you know how that goes for sure. After getting settled in, we walked through town to the waterfront, and were pleasantly surprised by how lovely the place is. We found out the Aquarium on the waterfront also shows regular movies, so we decided to see “Get Low” which was excellent. You can’t go wrong with Robert Dinero and Sissy Spacek as far as I’m concerned…….

It has been interesting traveling through the country on a big holiday weekend for them, being both Easter and ANZAC Day (more about that in a sec). I’ll tell you one thing, Easter seems to be a much bigger deal here than back home. It seems like there are Easter celebrations going on everywhere, tons of sales from what you hear on the radio and everyone generally partying it up!!! Plus, it’s a national holiday, so everyone has it off from work along with ANZAC Day, so it was basically a four day weekend for the country.

So ANZAC Day…….ANZAC stands for “Australia New Zealand Air Corp” and it is a REALLY big deal here. It’s basically their version of Memorial Day, and it seems to center mostly around the massive loss of troops both countries incurred during World War I. I think every town we passed through has at least one major memorial park with a statue of a WWI soldier in it. Apparently, one of the battles fought in WWI was at Gallipoli, which I need to research some more (with our sporadic and costly internet access, I haven’t had a chance to do as much as I’d like to!) but I believe took place in or near Turkey, where Australian and New Zealand troops where sent to the battlefront like lambs to slaughter. So, like I said, it’s a REALLY big deal here and there were lots of fresh wreaths on the beautifully maintained memorial park on the waterfront here in Picton when we walked into town. The holiday has since evolved to incorporate all veterans, living and dead, but it’s origins are still firmly rooted in WWI.

So that’s the history lesson for today, kids. The ferry should arrive in Wellington on the North Island about 5:20 tomorrow evening, so we’ll be camping close to town and then the next day up to Rotorua where we’ll spend two days - enough time to go Zorbing! More on that later……..

Dunedin, NZ

We dropped Tina and Sharon off at the airport here in Dunedin and are already missing them!!! We’ve had a great ten days with them in New Zealand…..since the last posting, we continued our drive up the Southern Scenic Route on the South Island. Our accommodations have been really great along the way….after Waikava Cove, we spent the night in Pounawea, another tranquil and picturesque town on the southeast coast. Where we stayed was a small eco friendly hotel with just about 8 rooms or so that was just built in 2009. It was run by a very nice couple who take excellent care of it. Our rooms seemed brand new and the beds were really comfy!

The next day, we made it up to our last destination together, the Otago Peninsula. It’s a spit of land that shoots just off of the city of Dunedin, which is where I’m writing this from now. We rented two cottages that were next door to each other, about halfway up the peninsula. The peninsula itself is a spectacular piece of land surrounded by the ocean on one side and Otago Harbor on the other, and is home to an abundant variety of wildlife. Probably the two things it is best known for are the royal albatross colony and the yellow-eyed penguin colony. We visited both places yesterday and were really impressed with both. The royal albatross colony is the only mainland breeding colony of albatrosses in the world, with the rest breeding on more remote islands in the South Pacific. At the visitor’s center, you get a really informative introduction about the albatrosses, and then the tour guide walked us up to the glass enclosed observatory build into the side of the hill overlooking the ocean. At this time of year, the albatross chicks had already hatched and were about a month old or so. We didn’t get any good views of the adults flying, which would have been really cool since their wingspan is about 6-7 feet across! There were several fat, white fluffy chicks in nests which were pretty darn big!

In the afternoon, we visited Penguin Place, which despite the somewhat corny name, is a really well run conservation project. The yellow-eyed penguins are the rarest in the world which only live here and on a few islands off the coast of New Zealand. Apparently, they were very plentiful in New Zealand before Europeans arrived, but when they did, they brought with them rats, cats and other predators which they’d never had to deal with before. At any rate, this really has decimated their population so they’re doing their best to protect the penguins. While all other types of penguins are very sociable, these guys are quite solitary, and don’t hang out in groups.. Instead, they live in pairs, making nests in the hills just up from the beach. To see them, we were accompanied by our guide through some cleverly designed trenches dug through the hills near the beach where you looked out through hides to view the penguins. We saw several adult penguins as well as chicks as we walked through the trenches, and later we went down some trails near the beach where a number of New Zealand fur seals were hanging out. Talk about a great day for wildlife viewing!!

Yesterday, we drove out to the Otago Peninsula again and did a couple of great walks - or “tramps” as the Kiwis call them - around a couple of different beaches. At one of them called Sandfly Beach, we had to walk down some really steep sand dunes where our feet sunk pretty deep into the sand (yes, we had a lot to empty out of our shoes when we got back!) but it was so worth it when we got the end of the beach and there were about 5 or 6 huge sea lions sleeping on the beach. It was really awesome to be so close to them and get some great pictures.

Today we walked around Dunedin and walked up the steepest street in the world, Baldwin Street. Pretty cool!! The sidewalk up is actually a collection of steps which are much easier to traverse when going up such a steep angle. The street goes straight up a hill and offered amazing views of the city. We could have gotten a certificate saying we completed the climb, but we opted for our own pictures instead.

On a different note, I have to say that New Zealanders have got to be some of the friendliest people in the world. Everyone we’ve met has been happy to chat with us and always willing to help out with directions or suggestions on things to do. In many ways, it’s like meeting up with your long lost cousins - you speak the same language, but they’re just a little bit different!

The other interesting thing I’ve noticed since being here - not sure if this is because we’re in the southern hemisphere or what - is that in the late afternoon, it often feels and looks to me like mid-morning. Kind of disconcerting, as you can imagine!!!

Tomorrow, we’ll drive up to Christchurch, where we’ll drop off the rental car and pick up our campervan. Woo Hoo!!! That should be lots of fun......stayed tuned........

Queenstown NZ to Waikava NZ

It’s been a bit of a challenge to get our blog entries posted, mostly due to the fact we’ve been driving around the South Island and our internet access has not been as consistent as I‘d hoped…….anyway, here’s a quick recap of where we’ve been: We flew into Queenstown on the South Island from Auckland and were so impressed with the view as we came in. The South Island is very “alpine” in appearance, with gorgeous mountains, lakes and trees everywhere. Of course, it’s Autumn down here in the southern hemisphere so the air is crisp and clean, and the countryside is dotted with beautiful trees blazing with fall color. Really a strange experience for us to see in April!! After picking up our car at the Queenstown airport, we drove straight away to one of the “must do” activities in the area, a high speed boat trip along the river. Shotover Jets were the original jet boat tour operators in the area and they have a really great reputation, so we went with them. Wow, what an experience!!! We all piled up in the back seat of the boat, and off we went. Talk about an adrenaline rush…..man, we shot up and down that river like nobody’s business!! The whole trip took about a half an hour and was worth every penny. We also really lucked out (or, as we were corrected by a local we should be saying “got lucky with”, since to them, to say you lucked out means you didn’t have any luck at all) with our accomodations in Queenstown. We rented a HUGE two bedroom apartment that was absolutely gorgeous with an exceptional view of the lake. This was one time we really wished we were staying longer than one night in one place! Ah, but the itinerary called, so we packed up the next morning and headed to Te Anau, a town just a couple of hours down the road where we would be embarking on our overnight cruise on Milford Sound, as well as visit the Te Anau Glow Worm Caves. The town itself is small and cute, situated on the shores of Lake Te Anau. We stayed at the Lakeside Motel and the plan was to stay there the first night and the third night, with the second night being our overnight cruise on the Sound. The managers of the Lakeside Motel were nice enough to allow us to leave our car there the second night, which helped a lot! Both the Glow Worm excursion and the overnight cruise on Milford Sound were operated by a company called “Real Journeys”, which is a pretty large tour operator in New Zealand. I have to say, they run a really nice program and were impressed with every part of both excursions we went on. The Glow Worm caves were really cool……to visit them, we took a catamaran boat across the lake to a way station on the other side that leads to the entrance of the cave. After a short orientation, you walk down a short trail to the cave entrance and once inside, you walk along an elevated walkway along an underground river which leads to the cavern where the glow worms are. The walkway is lit up in just the right places so you get a really nice view of the inside of the caves - kind of reminded me of Carlsbad Caverns, but with a river rushing by below you!! At the end of the walkway, you get into a small boat with the guide, who pulls the boat along a rope - in the dark, mind you - to the cavern. Once there, you look up and begin to pick out hundreds of what appear to be blue pinpoints of light on the ceiling, kind of like small led lights. From what we were told, the glow worms are actually the larval stage of a small fly that only lives for a few days. The worms live on the top of the cave and spin out mucous strings that have a bioluminescent chemical in them to attract bugs which the worms eat. So basically, they look like hundreds of pale blue lights hanging from the room of the cave - pretty cool!! The next day the Real Journeys bus picked us up around noon for a three hour drive up to the wharf on Milford Sound, where we would catch our boat for the overnight tour. The drive up there was truly spectacular and probably some of the most magnificent scenery we’ve ever seen. It’s one of those experiences which I’m sure lots of you have had where you’re driving through gorgeous scenery thinking the views can’t get any better and they just do!! After the bus dropped us off at the terminal, we boarded the Milford Mariner for our overnight cruise. There were probably about 45 passengers on board, which is a kind of a low number (good for us!) due to the fact it’s getting late in the season. We had a great little cabin with two single beds (drag) and a small bathroom. After leaving the dock, we visited a beautiful waterfall and then anchored where we had the option of doing some kayaking or go out on a smaller boat for a guided nature tour. Of course, Jim and I jumped at the chance to get in the kayaks, which is one of our favorite things to do! It was such a peaceful and calm bay to paddle around on and I’d guess we were out there for 45 minutes or so before the sun started to dip below the mountains. Only later did I find out that they have seen sharks in this bay before - YIKES!!! Anyway……we had a really tasty dinner on the ship followed by an informative talk by the naturalist on board about what we could expect the next day when the ship headed out to the Tasman Sea. We were warned that with the weather being fairly changeable, it could either be a nice calm day or pretty darn windy and stormy……hmmm……than goodness neither of us are prone to seasickness!

Good fortune won out, though, and the next morning broke clear and sunny. We sailed out to the Tasman Sea and were rewarded with breathtaking views out over the open ocean and the opening to Milford Sound. It really is hard to find the right adjectives to describe how lovely the fiord lands are, as they call it, but just picture immense, sheer mountains plunging into emerald green water and you start to get the idea. It was definitely an experience we’ll never forget.

So that brings us up to the present for the most part. After returning from the cruise, we spent another night in Te Anau and then left this morning to continue our drive down the coast. We stopped for lunch in Bluff, a small fishing town on a peninsula that is renowned for the oysters and blue cod that is harvested in the area, so we enjoyed a little of both. Jim was really the only one in the group who is a connoisseur of oysters and he said they were some of the best he’s ever had. Sharon, Tina and I each tried one but were not very turned on by the taste or texture. Oh well…..at least we enjoyed the fish & chips! Tonight we’re staying in a cabin in a town called Waikava, a very remote stretch of coastline known as the Catlins. It’s been on and off windy and rainy today but we’re keeping our fingers crossed that the weather will improve tomorrow for some serious beachcombing!!!

Auckland, New Zealand

After a 2.5 hour flight to L.A. from Seattle, an 8 hour layover in L.A. and a 12.5 hour flight to Auckland, we made it here!! Since we crossed the international dateline, we lost Sunday, so ended up arriving here Monday morning, which is always kind of wild to think of. Anyway, we arrived to absolutely flawless weather, with temps around 70 degrees and bright, blue sunny skies. What a gorgeous city! In many ways, it reminds me of Seattle with the hilly terraine and all the water that surrounds it.

Today we took a fantastic afternoon tour with a company called New Zealand Wine Pros, where we visited three wineries as well as a beautiful black sand beach. The drive took us north of Auckland where the countryside consists of green, rolling farmland. John, our guide, was a wealth of information as well as being tons of fun to hang out with! He truly made the experience worthwhile. It's no secret that New Zealand produces excellent wines, but they are particularly well known for their Sauvignon Blancs and Chardonnays. Honestly, neither Jim or I have ever been big fans of Chardonnays (reds are more our speed) but I have to say, these really changed our minds.......quite delicious!!

Tomorrow we fly down to Queenstown on the South Island, which will be about a two hour flight. We'll be renting a car there and driving around the southern tip of the island, where we'll visit the glowworm caves, take a cruise on Milford Sound and check out the royal albatross colony. Sounds like a pretty busy week ahead!!

Jim's 50th Birthday Party

Hey Everyone,

We're actually already in New Zealand, but we thought we should go ahead and post some pictures from Jim's 50th birthday party in Seattle before we left. It was a great evening, with lots of fun to be had by all!