New Zealand Trip

We decided to head down to the east coast of the North Island for my last few days before returning home. We drove to Napier and Hawke Bay, which are known for art deco architecture, fruit growing, and wine. It was a fantastic few days of warm sunshine, delicious outdoor meals at wineries, and relaxed kiwi hospitality.

We decided to stay at bed and breakfasts for this little trip and started out with one night in Napier. The B and B was in a nice house on a hill right in Napier. There had been some rain that day for the first time in a while, and it was also hot and sultry. As we settled in for the night, we heard that horrible high-pitched whine of mosquitoes. No one has screens on their windows in NZ, so we had to have the windows open to get some air. After being eaten alive for hours, we finally closed the windows, spent half an hour killing bugs, and got some sleep in the sauna that was our room. I will have to get comfort from this memory when I am freezing at home.

We then spent two nights at Redcliffe, a working kiwifruit orchard. We stayed in a beautifully restored house with a wraparound veranda. It was so beautiful, and our hosts were amazing. In addition to lovely breakfasts which they prepared for us, we also decided to have dinner prepared by our hosts one night. Sue made lovely fresh bluenose (a local fish known as Bonita in Florida), and all the vegetables were from their garden.

We spent one day riding around to visit seven wineries on a tandem bike. That was a lot of fun, and Phil and I discovered that we are more compatible cyclists than kayakers. By the seventh winery, we could barely swallow another taste of wine, and were a bit wobbly on our wheels as well. We were so lucky with the weather, as it was cool and overcast - perfect for cycling.

We left Hawke Bay yesterday and started heading toward Auckland. We stopped in Rotorua again on our way and visited some more geothermal sites right in a public park. The boiling pits of mud were especially amazing. Those photos will be posted soon.

We are spending my last two nights in Tauranga, on the Bay of Plenty. This is a pleasant seaside town too, and we plan to have lunch today at a fish and chip place right on the wharf.

Bye for now!

We were lucky enough to have old friends who live in Auckland to visit us this weekend. Lindy and Marty, who played rugby with Phil at the University of Waterloo, spent Saturday night at a motel down the street. It was great to spend time together, and we enjoyed some sauvignon blanc, a nice al fresco fish meal, a walk on the beach, and other similar pastimes. Although we live across the world from each other, we still have a lot in common. Lindy also introduced us to friends of hers who live in Raglan and may be able to help Phil find a place to live after I go home.

We have gone to a surfing beach most days this week. Phil rented a board a few times and did quite well. I have enjoyed long beach walks and dips in very warm tidal pools.

We will be leaving Raglan tomorrow and heading to Napier and Hawkes Bay. We are hoping to sample more wine and even ride a tandem bike between vinyards...stay tuned!

We've now entered a more stable phase of living in Raglan for just over a week. Phil has begun work, meeting with NZ colleagues from Univ of Waikato, researching new material, and reading the book "How to Decide" for ideas on writing style and structure for the general audience (good advice from Kim Nenniger on this). Anne has been knitting at every opportunity and met with a group of Raglan knitters over coffee at a local cafe.

Some excitement last weekend when Phil had an article on sport violence published in the Insight section of the Sunday Toronto Star.

Two sidetrips were taken.

First, we drove inland to see Bridal Veil Falls. The 50metre waterfall was caused by water flowing over Basalt, a hard volcanic rock, and then eroding soft rock at the end of the basalt. Our photos pretty much do it justice. Like most things in NZ it is simply signposted, has a few paths built, but no hot dog stands or souvenir shop!

Second, we were talked into a Sunset Harbour Cruise by a nice lady. With the assurance of the availability of Polish sausage on a bun and a bar we sailed off accompanied by approx 30 multinational tourists in their early 20s. The scenery was pretty cool. We saw the location of where the Maori community had lived before the Europeans arrived - now non-existent of course There were also really cool 'stacks' of rocks (pancake rocks) where columns of rocks were balanced on narrow bases caused by erosion. There are pics of this as well as columns that have ultimately collapsed. Besides the scenery the rest of the time was essentially a 'booze cruise.' Phil drank a few beers to keep everyone happy.

We are looking forward to a weekend visit by Marty and Lindy. Marty is an old rugby teammate from his U of Waterloo days. Marty lives in Auckland with his Kiwi wife Lindy.

After shedding a few tears seeing Andy and Nick off at Auckland Airport (OK, all the tears were shed by me), Phil and I traveled down the coast back to Raglan, where Phil will be based for the first part of his sabbatical visit. He is a visiting scholar at the University of Waikato in Hamilton (same town, very different country). On Saturday, we drove there and walked around the campus, which is very pretty. There is a lovely lake right in the middle, with a boardwalk and seats around it (see photo). We spent the rest of the day doing some errands to set up our little apartment, visited a cafe or two, and also explored some of the lovely beaches here in town. There are two estuaries flowing into the ocean in Raglan, and there are consequently lovely tide pools and many beaches to be explored. The sand is black and very fine, due to its volcanic source, and is pleasant but hot to walk on during the day. On our early evening walk, the tide was low, and we came across hundreds of living sand dollars and starfish - beautiful.

On Sunday, we went to an art market here in town. I had been really looking forward to it, as I am continuing to look for interesting artisanal yarns and other things, but I was disappointed. The "art" was too cutesy, and even the home-baked bread we bought was not as nice as what we could buy at the grocery store at home. We had a great afternoon, though, starting at Whale Bay and leading via dirt roads further down the coast to an extremely remote beach called Ruapuke Beach. We had to walk half a mile from our car to get to a vast expanse of black sand, cliffs, vegetation, and ocean. It was beautiful, and we couldn't believe that there were several other people there. Most beaches we have visited have few people on them, with the exception of Hot Water Beach, which was jammed.

This week will be Phil's first week of work, and we will settle into perhaps a new routine. More soon. Love, Anne

We departed Wellington for the drive North to Taupo having enjoyed a more positive vibe from the Waterfront area and the museum. Phil missed the museum due to a mysterious urge to throw up during a laundry trip to the Backpacking Centre. An hour prone in bed revived him enough for the long (in NZ terms) drive to Taupo.

Taupo is on Lake Taupo which is the biggest fresh water lake in the southern hemisphere. Blithely imagining that hotel rooms were for the taking we ended up scraping rooms at the Hilton due to a cancellation. Taupo was fun in a very Grand Bendish kinda way -- bars, restos, amusements etc. We picniced on our balcony to prep us for the 4 hour kayak adventure to the MAORI CARVINGS. In doubles kayaks replete with waterproof skirts, lifejackets etc we set out for the carvings. Anne and me, nick and Andy. 90 minutes later, drenched in sweat (i.e. me), we arrived at the carvings. Anne was apologizing for being a bad paddler. The carvings are on a vertical cliff and around 40ft high, just above the water line. Enter the guide: "the carvings were completed in 1976 by two local men working from a scaffold". This punctured the moment somewhat given the expectation of them being from millenia past, but what the heck!! On the way back I put Andy in the rear of a kayak with Anne to theoretically save me for an all-out cardiac infarc. Bad theory. Anne and Andy proved to be a proficient team in their kayak. Only a massive effort allowed me to preserve an iota of masculine pride on the return trip.

On to Rotorua, the hub of volcanic activity in NZ. Very impressive volcano shapes emerged on the horizon as we crossed an Arizona-like landscape en route to bubbling mud pools. Anticipation was high. Then we hit the motel strip which made Niagara Falls seem quaint. Early evening fell when we hit our hotel -- we arrived behind 10 bus loads. The sulphorous aroma from the various emissions was hard to ignore. We slept fitfully before appearing for the breakfast buffet at 8am -- after the buses had departed. Diane Arbus would have had a field day. BUT then we drove around and found a delightful area of Rotorua for an early lunch from whence we repaired to the world famous "Lady Knox Geyser". $16 later and following a wait while the 1000 people parked and found their seats the guy who rushed from parking the cars appeared to announce that the geyser needed him to drop a bar of soap in it for it to erupt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The bar of soap did its job and we cynically made our way to the mud pools etc. They were reportedly impressive since I was otherwise employed driving back to Taupo to retrieve an article left behind by a family member who shall remain nameless.

Responding appropriately, Rorotua also had a charming area where we licked our wounds at a terrific Thai resto and an ice cream parlour.

Somewhat fatigued travellers then drove onward to the Coromandel Peninsula, endpoint for the day being Whitianga. Stunning, beautiful etc but not prior hotel booking. We trolled, rejected a futon/slease option, and then paid an arm and a leg for a nice place -- next days meals all picnic or there. For some reason (no prior reservations) we opted for an Indian resto which garnered 2 stars out of five. A brief 9pm stroll confirmed that "things get late early" in NZ resort towns. We repaired to bed in our fancy digs ready for the THE DAY NICK AND ANDY LEAVE TO RETURN TO CANADA.