Tuesday 25 December 2012
Merry Christmas To All
Mary and I just want to wish everyone a joyous Christmas. We are in Christchurch, New Zealand celebrating this beautiful country and this resilient city that is rising from the terrible city that hit this city in 2011.
Today we had a picnic in the beautiful botanical gardens.
Today we had a picnic in the beautiful botanical gardens.
Friday 21 December 2012
Wellington
Wellington
We had a long drive to Wellington and wound up taking a very windy longer route than the main route. We arrived right in the city at rush hour and because we'd come a different route than I'd planned we had no idea how to get to our hotel. Through some divine intervention I saw the right exit on the freeway and we managed to pull over about 1/2 a block away from the hotel and figure out how to get into their parkade on some incredibly narrow streets. Fortunately, I'd pre-booked a parking spot as we got the last one in the tiniest corner of narrow garage. We will ask for a smaller car like a Corolla when we pick up our new car in Picton after the ferry.
Our hotel seems to be very well located and we managed to find a relatively good Vietnamese restaurant a few blocks down the street. The next morning we got up and had a fantastic day of walking. We found a camera store where Richard bought a new flash card right across the street from where we caught the cable car up the hill to the Cable Car Museum & Botanic Garden. It was a gorgeous day and we were glad we got to the gardens early. There were a lot of paths we could have taken had we a whole day to explore, I'm sure the residents take advantage of this as it's a lovely free park. The main path was well marked with colourful (hot orange and pink) flowers printed on the pavement. We saw endangered species of trees, a huge rose garden, a large hot house filled with begonias and orchids, a succulent garden, a fern garden, a fragrance garden and a duck pond. There were also some pretty awesome views of houses nestled in the hills and the harbour.
The main path from the gardens took us through an old cemetery that had been split into two halves to build the urban expressway. I gather they relocated a lot of graves. Then we found ourselves right behind the parliament buildings and the law school. We saw an old pub called The Backbencher that looked like it has seen a lot of history. We saw some beautiful shops as we worked our way towards the harbour. Richard made me wait with him while a helicopter took off so we could get pictures. We were in some large park that had a large pond you could paddleboat on right next to the main museum Te Pap, also free. We passed a Sea Shepard boat called "Bob Barker" tied up on the wharf that was kind of entertaining to see. They were offering free tours but we had other things to see. The museum was open until 9 p.m. so we made our way to Cuba Street that Richard said I had to see.
I wasn't terribly impressed, it seemed like a grubby part of town where you could get overpriced skateboard gear (sorry Shael) but we did find a nice pub (Duke Carvell) where we had some citrus marinated tiger prawns and bruschetta (spelling?). We'd had power bars and apples in the gardens so this was a nice pick me up. We asked the nice waiters in the pub where all the homeless people were in NZ, did they have a better handle on the mentally ill and homeless people than we and the U.S. do? They assured us they were around and that we were at one of the spots that gets the late afternoon sun and the homeless tend to travel around following the sun and that there was a shelter and soup kitchen nearby. Back out onto Cuba and we did manage to find a few shops that interested me and I got some (late) Christmas presents for a few people (still haven't made it to a post office yet!). And lo and behold, we saw our first homeless person getting a ticket from the police.
Then we hiked back to the main museum and saw the colossal squid and a bit of Maori art and artifacts. We were pretty exhausted by then and agreed we'd already seen a lot of Maori history earlier in our trip so we made a stop at the (awesome) gift shop and picked up a few souvenirs.
We had seen (in my opinion a very overpriced) glassblowing studio just outside of Rotarura. They did have some lovely pieces that were interpretations of Huka Falls but I just couldn't see spending NZ$900 on a hunk of glass. They had them at the museum gift shop and they were the same price there so I guess some people do actually hand over that much money. Maybe if they'd ship it free, nah. On a side note, it did tickle my funny bone that someone had put duct tape over the G & the L on their glassblowing sign out on the highway.
We dragged our tired butts back to the area of our hotel at about 8 p.m. and had hoped to eat at a nice looking place across the street but it was closed so we decided to eat at Eclipse, the hotel bar/restaurant. They had a poker game going on in the back room for a $10 buy-in, it was very tempting but we were exhausted and I don't think Richard would have liked me playing poker until 2 a.m. The restaurant had a two mains (what we call entrees) for $30 so we each ordered a ribeye steak. They both came back rarer than we had ordered and I have to say it was the worst meal we've had in NZ and by far the worst steak I've ever had. Fortunately we've had some great beef while we've been here so I'm sure it was just a one off.
We had a fairly brilliant idea that maybe instead of driving like fiends once we finish seeing the south island that we should just fly from Wellington to Auckland and spend an extra day in each city.
After a good night's sleep we got up and hit the pharmacy and asked about a weird rash I have above my ankles, he thought an antihistamine should help but as it's not itchy or painful it's probably nothing. Then we hit two stores we'd seen near our hotel that were always closed when we left and came back each day! One had about 30 artists who all made jewelry and Richard bought me a Christmas gift and I found a few things I picked up. Then we went to a neat pottery store and bought a small vase that has a stylized tui on it. We'd spent more money than we planned so we came early to the ferry terminal and returned our car (they won't let you take it across the channel and we have to pick up a new one on the other side). Then I had an even more brilliant idea that rather than drive all the way back up the south island maybe we should fly from either Dunedin or Christchurch to Auckland. Ferry's here, we'll figure out our plans later tonight. Hope it's a smooth 3 1/2 hour journey!
We had a long drive to Wellington and wound up taking a very windy longer route than the main route. We arrived right in the city at rush hour and because we'd come a different route than I'd planned we had no idea how to get to our hotel. Through some divine intervention I saw the right exit on the freeway and we managed to pull over about 1/2 a block away from the hotel and figure out how to get into their parkade on some incredibly narrow streets. Fortunately, I'd pre-booked a parking spot as we got the last one in the tiniest corner of narrow garage. We will ask for a smaller car like a Corolla when we pick up our new car in Picton after the ferry.
Our hotel seems to be very well located and we managed to find a relatively good Vietnamese restaurant a few blocks down the street. The next morning we got up and had a fantastic day of walking. We found a camera store where Richard bought a new flash card right across the street from where we caught the cable car up the hill to the Cable Car Museum & Botanic Garden. It was a gorgeous day and we were glad we got to the gardens early. There were a lot of paths we could have taken had we a whole day to explore, I'm sure the residents take advantage of this as it's a lovely free park. The main path was well marked with colourful (hot orange and pink) flowers printed on the pavement. We saw endangered species of trees, a huge rose garden, a large hot house filled with begonias and orchids, a succulent garden, a fern garden, a fragrance garden and a duck pond. There were also some pretty awesome views of houses nestled in the hills and the harbour.
The main path from the gardens took us through an old cemetery that had been split into two halves to build the urban expressway. I gather they relocated a lot of graves. Then we found ourselves right behind the parliament buildings and the law school. We saw an old pub called The Backbencher that looked like it has seen a lot of history. We saw some beautiful shops as we worked our way towards the harbour. Richard made me wait with him while a helicopter took off so we could get pictures. We were in some large park that had a large pond you could paddleboat on right next to the main museum Te Pap, also free. We passed a Sea Shepard boat called "Bob Barker" tied up on the wharf that was kind of entertaining to see. They were offering free tours but we had other things to see. The museum was open until 9 p.m. so we made our way to Cuba Street that Richard said I had to see.
I wasn't terribly impressed, it seemed like a grubby part of town where you could get overpriced skateboard gear (sorry Shael) but we did find a nice pub (Duke Carvell) where we had some citrus marinated tiger prawns and bruschetta (spelling?). We'd had power bars and apples in the gardens so this was a nice pick me up. We asked the nice waiters in the pub where all the homeless people were in NZ, did they have a better handle on the mentally ill and homeless people than we and the U.S. do? They assured us they were around and that we were at one of the spots that gets the late afternoon sun and the homeless tend to travel around following the sun and that there was a shelter and soup kitchen nearby. Back out onto Cuba and we did manage to find a few shops that interested me and I got some (late) Christmas presents for a few people (still haven't made it to a post office yet!). And lo and behold, we saw our first homeless person getting a ticket from the police.
Then we hiked back to the main museum and saw the colossal squid and a bit of Maori art and artifacts. We were pretty exhausted by then and agreed we'd already seen a lot of Maori history earlier in our trip so we made a stop at the (awesome) gift shop and picked up a few souvenirs.
We had seen (in my opinion a very overpriced) glassblowing studio just outside of Rotarura. They did have some lovely pieces that were interpretations of Huka Falls but I just couldn't see spending NZ$900 on a hunk of glass. They had them at the museum gift shop and they were the same price there so I guess some people do actually hand over that much money. Maybe if they'd ship it free, nah. On a side note, it did tickle my funny bone that someone had put duct tape over the G & the L on their glassblowing sign out on the highway.
We dragged our tired butts back to the area of our hotel at about 8 p.m. and had hoped to eat at a nice looking place across the street but it was closed so we decided to eat at Eclipse, the hotel bar/restaurant. They had a poker game going on in the back room for a $10 buy-in, it was very tempting but we were exhausted and I don't think Richard would have liked me playing poker until 2 a.m. The restaurant had a two mains (what we call entrees) for $30 so we each ordered a ribeye steak. They both came back rarer than we had ordered and I have to say it was the worst meal we've had in NZ and by far the worst steak I've ever had. Fortunately we've had some great beef while we've been here so I'm sure it was just a one off.
We had a fairly brilliant idea that maybe instead of driving like fiends once we finish seeing the south island that we should just fly from Wellington to Auckland and spend an extra day in each city.
After a good night's sleep we got up and hit the pharmacy and asked about a weird rash I have above my ankles, he thought an antihistamine should help but as it's not itchy or painful it's probably nothing. Then we hit two stores we'd seen near our hotel that were always closed when we left and came back each day! One had about 30 artists who all made jewelry and Richard bought me a Christmas gift and I found a few things I picked up. Then we went to a neat pottery store and bought a small vase that has a stylized tui on it. We'd spent more money than we planned so we came early to the ferry terminal and returned our car (they won't let you take it across the channel and we have to pick up a new one on the other side). Then I had an even more brilliant idea that rather than drive all the way back up the south island maybe we should fly from either Dunedin or Christchurch to Auckland. Ferry's here, we'll figure out our plans later tonight. Hope it's a smooth 3 1/2 hour journey!
Whangerie to Napier
Whangarei (pronounced Fangarei)
Stayed at an amazing place called Eden House (B & B) with our hosts, Richard and Carol. Their house was a bit hard to find on a windy road but our room had a fabulous view. I had no idea when people talked about living in the bush that they meant a gorgeous green forest with a mix of trees including palms. They had a pool and a garden with about 11 acres but we never did make use of that. They made delicious breakfasts and fixed us a great dinner one night. They were so fun to talk with that it was hard to leave in the morning and get anything done. They gave us excellent suggestions on things to do.
In the morning we went to A.H. Reed Memorial Park, which had a number of very pretty walks, we went to see a waterfall that turned out to be more like what I expected to see in Hawaii. Some people were swimming at the base of it but we hadn't brought bathing suits. Then we went to the town basin and had lunch at Serenity, I had crepes with lemon and sugar, which turned out to be crepes, with slices of lemon and a dish of sugar, and an iced coffee, which turned out to be a coffee flavored milkshake, yum! Then we strolled around and did some shopping.
In the afternoon we went to the museum and kiwi centre but Carol had told us that they have the Whangarei Native Bird Recovery Centre there and that they have a kiwi (bird). We met Robert who started looking after Kiwi's specifically after he was forced to retire from trucking but has now started looking after all injured birds that are brought to him. His intent is to nurse them all back to health and return them to the wild but some that can't be returned he keeps and shows to people for educational purposes.
We had a one legged Kiwi named Sparky that he brought out and let us pet. Sparky liked having the area around his ears rubbed and seemed very sweet. Then Robert put him down on the ground and we watched him use his long nose to dig in the dirt to find insects. We also saw two tuis that have learned how to talk, mimicking Robert. Usually tuis don't like to be near each other but these two liked to get in the same cage and talk to each other.
Next Robert brought out a little blue penguin (Fairly Penguin) and let each of us hold it for a short while. It was so soft and cute. Touching them with our hands removes the water repellancy of their feathers but this penguin had to stay for about 8 more weeks before it could be released. Once it was a week prior to release Robert would isolate the penguin from human contact and then let it go. Next Robert brought out a Harrier Hawk that had been hit by a car and it seemed quite relaxed as Robert held it and showed us its wings. He even put his finger in his mouth, first further back where the hawk couldn't hurt him, and then he brought his finger forward so that the hawk could pierce it if it wanted to. Then Robert finished off by taking us into an education room where he had all kinds of birds that had been taxidermied. It was amazing to see how big some of the birds are, especially albatross.
Later that night back at Eden House we heard the New Zealand owl, called the More Pork. The reason why it's named that is because it sounds like the owl is saying "more pork, more pork", rather than hooting. The "r"'s are quite soft and it's quite a quiet bird. Richard and I agreed we could have spent a week to 10 days in the Whangarei area and hope to come back to stay with Richard & Carol again one day.
Rotarua
We had a long drive to Rotarua where we stayed at the Aroden B & B, hosted by Paul and Leonie and their guide dog Enzo who assists Paul. We got there around dinner time and they recommended that we go less than a block away to the Redwoods Chippery and Pizzeria for dinner. We had possibly the best burgers we've ever tasted.
We went to the Rotarua Museum that was fascinating with lots of Maori history and art. At the start of the building's life it was a bathhouse (geothermal mineral water), then after the first world war it turned into a medical treatment spa. Later, in the 1970's it had a short life as the only disco in town. More recently it has finally been completed and gutted to create scrub rooms for all the artifacts. They had an exhibit called World of Wearable Art that was fascinating. We plan on buying a book about it when we get home from Amazon (cheaper and we don't have to carry or ship it).
After wondering around the museum grounds and the downtown shopping area we went to a restaurant called Indian Star where we had a delicious meal. Unfortunately I got a touch of food poisoning so we didn't have a great day following that. Richard dragged me off to the Agrodome but we didn't time it quite right and the show we wanted to see wasn't on for a couple hours. I slept in the car and Richard wandered around. We finally did see the sheep show, which was quite good. They showed us 19 breeds of sheep, some for wool, and some for dinner. They even had one called the Romney breed, it didn't look too bright. We also saw the working dogs heard some ducks and run across the backs of the sheep. They also had a nursery where they had piglets, bunnies, lambs, two jersey cows and more ducks. One thing we have noticed is that there are more cattle in the countryside than sheep. Apparently they've gone from 60 million to 30 million sheep as they've found cattle to be more profitable.
Taupo
On the way here from Rotarua Richard made me go to some hellish place called Thermal Wonderland. I forgot to mention that I gagged at the few thermal pools near the Rotarua Museum. Leonie had assured me that only the first few pools at the "wonderland" were stinky and that it got better. She lied. It was the most disgusting experience of my life. Between the gagging and retching Richard realized I wasn't going to make it on the 3 kilometre walk. I did the shorter 1 km and thought I might die. My throat and stomach ached for the rest of the day. Honestly, mono, chickenpox (as an adult) and appendicitis combined were less uncomfortable than this nightmare. There had been a Polynesian Spa in Rotarua but I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to stand the sulphur smell of so we avoided that, glad we did.
Once we arrived at Taupo it was very pretty and next to the largest lake in New Zealand. We stayed at a weird motel, called Anchorage Resort, we agreed it wasn't very resort-like despite having a pool. The A/C unit was in the sitting room but didn't actually do any good. Luckily we had a big stand up fan we could move around to whichever room we were in to keep it bearable. It has been surprisingly humid here.
We went to the dam and managed to time it right to see gates open up and release a lot of water, they do this a couple of times a day. Then we caught a tour of the river that was very nice, we wound up at Huka Falls, which is the strongest falls in New Zealand. They had jet boat tours that also went there but they were quite expensive for 1/2 hour. Richard plans on us doing that in Queenstown for the same price but for an hour. I'm sure it will be thrilling. I must remember to pick up some adult diapers before we do that. We saw a lot of lovely birds including some beautiful black swans that are considered a pest and have to be culled every year as they have no predators. We also saw cormorants, pukeko, and Australian Coots that look exactly like the north american species.
Napier
We stayed at the Quest Apartments again and we quite like them. They have the cutest little dishwasher in a drawer. They only have two of everything so it's not like the guests even need a dishwasher but I gather this makes everyone happy. We could certainly use some A/C or a big fan here, again it's warmer and more humid than we anticipated. The jacaranda trees have all been past there glory so far but there are a few still hanging on here and they are beautiful. I'm hoping that as we continue south we'll see them in full bloom.
We had dinner at a place called Lone Star that was trying for a western feel. They played Anne Murray's Snowbird and Shania Twain and we had a server from Saskatchewan. Richard says he had the best ribs in the southern hemisphere there. We had a delicious banana, caramel, cream pie/cake thing for dessert.
This morning we got up relatively early to try to beat the heat and did most of the walking tour of downtown. Napier is the Art Deco capital of the world. In 1931 an earthquake destroyed most of downtown and they rebuilt in 2 years all in the art deco style. It's very picturesque. Napier is also on the Pacific but the beach is very smooth grey pebbles and not at all sandy. The earthquake raised the beachfront by quite a bit so it's very shallow and then a large drop off and they warn that freak waves can come and scoop you off into the sea. They also have birds of paradise and hibiscus along with palm trees so it does feel a bit like California here.
After we toured most of downtown Richard and I split up for some alone time. He went off on a 3 hour tour of a Gannet colony (mmmm, mounds of bird poop everywhere! how could I resist). Apparently he had a great time. I took myself to a cafe called Cappadonnas and had a marvelous thai prawn salad and the ubiquitous ginger beer that we've been having every chance we get. Then I set out for some serious shopping but I find along with all the pastries I've been eating that my clothes are not fitting as well as I would like. That combined with the wildly colourful clothes the kiwis seem to wear I didn't find anything too my liking. After a few hours I found myself back at Cappabellas for a chai latte and a slice of tirimisu cake. I know, I have no willpower but Richard has been alarming me with tails that Australia does not have pastries on every single corner like New Zealand!
For dinner we went to Kilim, a turkish place and got baklava and turkish delight for dessert. Then we came home and did some photo editing and I decided I'd better make a blog entry before I forget everything we've done this week. We decided to bring traveller's cheques for some reason (I think to avoid giant charges at the ATMs) and the banks have been looking at us like we're nuts. So far we have been successful in getting money but I think this may be the last time we try to use that form of money.
Looking through my pictures of Hawaii I realize that the hibiscus covered walk we went on the Big Island was actually strew with African Tulip blossoms.
Stayed at an amazing place called Eden House (B & B) with our hosts, Richard and Carol. Their house was a bit hard to find on a windy road but our room had a fabulous view. I had no idea when people talked about living in the bush that they meant a gorgeous green forest with a mix of trees including palms. They had a pool and a garden with about 11 acres but we never did make use of that. They made delicious breakfasts and fixed us a great dinner one night. They were so fun to talk with that it was hard to leave in the morning and get anything done. They gave us excellent suggestions on things to do.
In the morning we went to A.H. Reed Memorial Park, which had a number of very pretty walks, we went to see a waterfall that turned out to be more like what I expected to see in Hawaii. Some people were swimming at the base of it but we hadn't brought bathing suits. Then we went to the town basin and had lunch at Serenity, I had crepes with lemon and sugar, which turned out to be crepes, with slices of lemon and a dish of sugar, and an iced coffee, which turned out to be a coffee flavored milkshake, yum! Then we strolled around and did some shopping.
In the afternoon we went to the museum and kiwi centre but Carol had told us that they have the Whangarei Native Bird Recovery Centre there and that they have a kiwi (bird). We met Robert who started looking after Kiwi's specifically after he was forced to retire from trucking but has now started looking after all injured birds that are brought to him. His intent is to nurse them all back to health and return them to the wild but some that can't be returned he keeps and shows to people for educational purposes.
We had a one legged Kiwi named Sparky that he brought out and let us pet. Sparky liked having the area around his ears rubbed and seemed very sweet. Then Robert put him down on the ground and we watched him use his long nose to dig in the dirt to find insects. We also saw two tuis that have learned how to talk, mimicking Robert. Usually tuis don't like to be near each other but these two liked to get in the same cage and talk to each other.
Next Robert brought out a little blue penguin (Fairly Penguin) and let each of us hold it for a short while. It was so soft and cute. Touching them with our hands removes the water repellancy of their feathers but this penguin had to stay for about 8 more weeks before it could be released. Once it was a week prior to release Robert would isolate the penguin from human contact and then let it go. Next Robert brought out a Harrier Hawk that had been hit by a car and it seemed quite relaxed as Robert held it and showed us its wings. He even put his finger in his mouth, first further back where the hawk couldn't hurt him, and then he brought his finger forward so that the hawk could pierce it if it wanted to. Then Robert finished off by taking us into an education room where he had all kinds of birds that had been taxidermied. It was amazing to see how big some of the birds are, especially albatross.
Later that night back at Eden House we heard the New Zealand owl, called the More Pork. The reason why it's named that is because it sounds like the owl is saying "more pork, more pork", rather than hooting. The "r"'s are quite soft and it's quite a quiet bird. Richard and I agreed we could have spent a week to 10 days in the Whangarei area and hope to come back to stay with Richard & Carol again one day.
Rotarua
We had a long drive to Rotarua where we stayed at the Aroden B & B, hosted by Paul and Leonie and their guide dog Enzo who assists Paul. We got there around dinner time and they recommended that we go less than a block away to the Redwoods Chippery and Pizzeria for dinner. We had possibly the best burgers we've ever tasted.
We went to the Rotarua Museum that was fascinating with lots of Maori history and art. At the start of the building's life it was a bathhouse (geothermal mineral water), then after the first world war it turned into a medical treatment spa. Later, in the 1970's it had a short life as the only disco in town. More recently it has finally been completed and gutted to create scrub rooms for all the artifacts. They had an exhibit called World of Wearable Art that was fascinating. We plan on buying a book about it when we get home from Amazon (cheaper and we don't have to carry or ship it).
After wondering around the museum grounds and the downtown shopping area we went to a restaurant called Indian Star where we had a delicious meal. Unfortunately I got a touch of food poisoning so we didn't have a great day following that. Richard dragged me off to the Agrodome but we didn't time it quite right and the show we wanted to see wasn't on for a couple hours. I slept in the car and Richard wandered around. We finally did see the sheep show, which was quite good. They showed us 19 breeds of sheep, some for wool, and some for dinner. They even had one called the Romney breed, it didn't look too bright. We also saw the working dogs heard some ducks and run across the backs of the sheep. They also had a nursery where they had piglets, bunnies, lambs, two jersey cows and more ducks. One thing we have noticed is that there are more cattle in the countryside than sheep. Apparently they've gone from 60 million to 30 million sheep as they've found cattle to be more profitable.
Taupo
On the way here from Rotarua Richard made me go to some hellish place called Thermal Wonderland. I forgot to mention that I gagged at the few thermal pools near the Rotarua Museum. Leonie had assured me that only the first few pools at the "wonderland" were stinky and that it got better. She lied. It was the most disgusting experience of my life. Between the gagging and retching Richard realized I wasn't going to make it on the 3 kilometre walk. I did the shorter 1 km and thought I might die. My throat and stomach ached for the rest of the day. Honestly, mono, chickenpox (as an adult) and appendicitis combined were less uncomfortable than this nightmare. There had been a Polynesian Spa in Rotarua but I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to stand the sulphur smell of so we avoided that, glad we did.
Once we arrived at Taupo it was very pretty and next to the largest lake in New Zealand. We stayed at a weird motel, called Anchorage Resort, we agreed it wasn't very resort-like despite having a pool. The A/C unit was in the sitting room but didn't actually do any good. Luckily we had a big stand up fan we could move around to whichever room we were in to keep it bearable. It has been surprisingly humid here.
We went to the dam and managed to time it right to see gates open up and release a lot of water, they do this a couple of times a day. Then we caught a tour of the river that was very nice, we wound up at Huka Falls, which is the strongest falls in New Zealand. They had jet boat tours that also went there but they were quite expensive for 1/2 hour. Richard plans on us doing that in Queenstown for the same price but for an hour. I'm sure it will be thrilling. I must remember to pick up some adult diapers before we do that. We saw a lot of lovely birds including some beautiful black swans that are considered a pest and have to be culled every year as they have no predators. We also saw cormorants, pukeko, and Australian Coots that look exactly like the north american species.
Napier
We stayed at the Quest Apartments again and we quite like them. They have the cutest little dishwasher in a drawer. They only have two of everything so it's not like the guests even need a dishwasher but I gather this makes everyone happy. We could certainly use some A/C or a big fan here, again it's warmer and more humid than we anticipated. The jacaranda trees have all been past there glory so far but there are a few still hanging on here and they are beautiful. I'm hoping that as we continue south we'll see them in full bloom.
We had dinner at a place called Lone Star that was trying for a western feel. They played Anne Murray's Snowbird and Shania Twain and we had a server from Saskatchewan. Richard says he had the best ribs in the southern hemisphere there. We had a delicious banana, caramel, cream pie/cake thing for dessert.
This morning we got up relatively early to try to beat the heat and did most of the walking tour of downtown. Napier is the Art Deco capital of the world. In 1931 an earthquake destroyed most of downtown and they rebuilt in 2 years all in the art deco style. It's very picturesque. Napier is also on the Pacific but the beach is very smooth grey pebbles and not at all sandy. The earthquake raised the beachfront by quite a bit so it's very shallow and then a large drop off and they warn that freak waves can come and scoop you off into the sea. They also have birds of paradise and hibiscus along with palm trees so it does feel a bit like California here.
After we toured most of downtown Richard and I split up for some alone time. He went off on a 3 hour tour of a Gannet colony (mmmm, mounds of bird poop everywhere! how could I resist). Apparently he had a great time. I took myself to a cafe called Cappadonnas and had a marvelous thai prawn salad and the ubiquitous ginger beer that we've been having every chance we get. Then I set out for some serious shopping but I find along with all the pastries I've been eating that my clothes are not fitting as well as I would like. That combined with the wildly colourful clothes the kiwis seem to wear I didn't find anything too my liking. After a few hours I found myself back at Cappabellas for a chai latte and a slice of tirimisu cake. I know, I have no willpower but Richard has been alarming me with tails that Australia does not have pastries on every single corner like New Zealand!
For dinner we went to Kilim, a turkish place and got baklava and turkish delight for dessert. Then we came home and did some photo editing and I decided I'd better make a blog entry before I forget everything we've done this week. We decided to bring traveller's cheques for some reason (I think to avoid giant charges at the ATMs) and the banks have been looking at us like we're nuts. So far we have been successful in getting money but I think this may be the last time we try to use that form of money.
Looking through my pictures of Hawaii I realize that the hibiscus covered walk we went on the Big Island was actually strew with African Tulip blossoms.
Thursday 20 December 2012
Cape Kidnappers outside Napier , December 18th
Cape Kidnappers was named by Captain Cook when he first visited the North Island. A Tahitian boy that had worked as a Cabin boy was almost kidnapped by local Maoris. Captain Cook fired on their canoes and this frightened the Tahitian boy so he jumped into the water swimming back to the ship.
Cape Kidnappers is now home to 10,000 Gannets. We first took a 40 minute tractor ride along the beach. Once we arrived at the base of outcropping where the Gannets nest was another 30 minutes hard walk. The hike was well worth the walk up. I was rewarded with an incredible experience.
Cape Kidnappers is now home to 10,000 Gannets. We first took a 40 minute tractor ride along the beach. Once we arrived at the base of outcropping where the Gannets nest was another 30 minutes hard walk. The hike was well worth the walk up. I was rewarded with an incredible experience.
Sunday 16 December 2012
Thursday 13 December 2012
December12
Today we drove from Whangarei to Rotorua , a distance of some 400 kilometres. It took us close to 7 hours to drive this route. New Zealand has a very hilly topography , that coupled with the narrow roads make for challenging driving. Both of us are feeling a little more comfortable driving on the left side , but still remind each other first thing in the morning.
We are staying at a delightful bed and breakfast on outskirts of Rotorua, population of 60,000. It is an easy town to navigate around. Every city in New Zealand has many round about s which help with traffic flow but can be unnerving during rush hours. Having arrived late in Rotorua we headed over to the local burger joint and had one of the best hamburgers yet.
December 13th
Today is our first full day of rain. We shall not complain much since it is the first taste of bad weather in a month of travel. We bundled up with our fleece and rain gear and headed over to the Rotorua museum which was a famous bath house in the early 20th century, famous for it's geothermal ,sulphur hot springs and mud baths. It had many fascinating displays on the bath house history, including a period in the 1960 - 70's when it was turned into a night club. We took a guided tour which pointed many seldom know facts.
After the museum I and Mary did an historical walk of the surrounding gardens, geysers, cottages and even included a totem pole given as a gift from Canada.
We are staying at a delightful bed and breakfast on outskirts of Rotorua, population of 60,000. It is an easy town to navigate around. Every city in New Zealand has many round about s which help with traffic flow but can be unnerving during rush hours. Having arrived late in Rotorua we headed over to the local burger joint and had one of the best hamburgers yet.
December 13th
Today is our first full day of rain. We shall not complain much since it is the first taste of bad weather in a month of travel. We bundled up with our fleece and rain gear and headed over to the Rotorua museum which was a famous bath house in the early 20th century, famous for it's geothermal ,sulphur hot springs and mud baths. It had many fascinating displays on the bath house history, including a period in the 1960 - 70's when it was turned into a night club. We took a guided tour which pointed many seldom know facts.
After the museum I and Mary did an historical walk of the surrounding gardens, geysers, cottages and even included a totem pole given as a gift from Canada.
Monday 10 December 2012
Auckland - pics attached
We had a long flight from Honolulu to Sydney but they had free movies and delicious food. I asked how much the cocktails were and they are free! Too bad drinking is not a great idea when you are flying. I tried a vodka and ginger beer, which was quite tasty. The meals even came with real glasses and plastic utensils that were quite sturdy. So much nicer than what we're used to. They even gave us mango ice cream bars!
We got delayed out of Sydney going to Auckland as there was a tornado that day in Auckland that killed 3 people and made 250 people homeless. We got to our hotel at 3:00 a.m. We stayed at the Bella Vista Airport Express, very sad mattress but we were both so exhausted we fell asleep instantly.
We are really missing the tour guides we had on our trip to Asia last winter, they were fantastic. Courtney and Megan we really wish you were here! We forgot our jet lag pills in our checked bag and no one made us delicious goody bags. Our restaurant choices have been questionably and Urban Spoon isn't in NZ yet.
Back to the airport in the morning to pick up our rental car. We asked for a bigger car so we could fit most of our luggage in the trunk. Great idea until you try to drive in a city on the left hand side of the road. I think I have the left side down but 30 years of muscle memory telling me the turn signals are on the left is causing a lot of windshield wiper action.
We spent 3 nights in Quest apartments downtown and were much happier with the accommodations there. Our first night there we wandered down the street and tried a Malaysian restaurant called the Mustard Seed but found it kind of bland, afterwards we picked up some groceries. The next morning we walked down to the harbour and tried to get on a boat to a wildlife refuge but missed it by about 10 minutes. We had a great morning walking around the harbour and then decided to have lunch at the Waterfront that was really good, I had a Mexican coffee (Kailua and Bailey's) and a spanish omelet. While we were walking around we saw lots of beautiful boats and restaurants, then we found a park that had giant lounging chairs where you could fit at least two people, a beautiful play area for children, and the cleanest bathrooms installed in a shipping crate. We also stumbled upon an area where they had information about New Zealand's history in the America's Cup and a NZ team store.
In the afternoon we decided we could walk to the Domain from the harbour. We walked up Queen street that had lots of shopping and good people watching, we passed the art gallery and almost made it to the Domain but found we couldn't get there because there was a freeway in our way. We were near the Auckland University and St. Paul's Church, we turned back and stopped briefly in Albert Park and then went to the art gallery and saw an exceptional photographic exhibition that was pictures of many bands and musicians, some before they were famous. We really enjoyed that but were pretty exhausted so we took a cab back to the apartment. We had dinner at the pub in the Albion hotel. The place was dead and the food not great but it was close to where we were staying.
Caught the boat the next morning to Tiritiri Matangi, which is an island that has been turned into a bird sanctuary. Volunteers have planted endemic and local trees and vegetation and rid the island of all predators like rats and mice. With a varied habitat the endemic and endangered birds are returning and being reintroduced. We didn't see any kiwis or takahes but saw lots of tuis, fantails, saddlebacks and stitchbirds. We went on a two hour guided hike, had lunch, checked out the gift shop and were back in Auckland around 5 p.m. Richard had had enough of the crappy restaurants near our apartment so we stayed down near the harbour and had a great thai meal at Thai Chilli (sic) and then went to Movenpick, an ice cream place for dessert.
We had planned on driving to the Domain but were running slowly this morning and decided to head out to our next stop, which was Whangarei. We stopped in Waipu and had a surprisingly good lunch at the bakery (pre made sandwiches and slices) and I checked out the local art collective. We saw some cute calfs in the back of some guy's truck, hope they weren't somebody's veal dinner. Had a bit of a challenging drive (very windy uphill road) to our B & B, Eden House. It's gorgeous here, stunning scenery everywhere you look. Lovely green rolling hills, ocean views and clear blue skies. Had dinner at the local tavern in Parua Bay, excellent fish and chips made of the local catch of gurnard.
We got delayed out of Sydney going to Auckland as there was a tornado that day in Auckland that killed 3 people and made 250 people homeless. We got to our hotel at 3:00 a.m. We stayed at the Bella Vista Airport Express, very sad mattress but we were both so exhausted we fell asleep instantly.
We are really missing the tour guides we had on our trip to Asia last winter, they were fantastic. Courtney and Megan we really wish you were here! We forgot our jet lag pills in our checked bag and no one made us delicious goody bags. Our restaurant choices have been questionably and Urban Spoon isn't in NZ yet.
Back to the airport in the morning to pick up our rental car. We asked for a bigger car so we could fit most of our luggage in the trunk. Great idea until you try to drive in a city on the left hand side of the road. I think I have the left side down but 30 years of muscle memory telling me the turn signals are on the left is causing a lot of windshield wiper action.
We spent 3 nights in Quest apartments downtown and were much happier with the accommodations there. Our first night there we wandered down the street and tried a Malaysian restaurant called the Mustard Seed but found it kind of bland, afterwards we picked up some groceries. The next morning we walked down to the harbour and tried to get on a boat to a wildlife refuge but missed it by about 10 minutes. We had a great morning walking around the harbour and then decided to have lunch at the Waterfront that was really good, I had a Mexican coffee (Kailua and Bailey's) and a spanish omelet. While we were walking around we saw lots of beautiful boats and restaurants, then we found a park that had giant lounging chairs where you could fit at least two people, a beautiful play area for children, and the cleanest bathrooms installed in a shipping crate. We also stumbled upon an area where they had information about New Zealand's history in the America's Cup and a NZ team store.
In the afternoon we decided we could walk to the Domain from the harbour. We walked up Queen street that had lots of shopping and good people watching, we passed the art gallery and almost made it to the Domain but found we couldn't get there because there was a freeway in our way. We were near the Auckland University and St. Paul's Church, we turned back and stopped briefly in Albert Park and then went to the art gallery and saw an exceptional photographic exhibition that was pictures of many bands and musicians, some before they were famous. We really enjoyed that but were pretty exhausted so we took a cab back to the apartment. We had dinner at the pub in the Albion hotel. The place was dead and the food not great but it was close to where we were staying.
Caught the boat the next morning to Tiritiri Matangi, which is an island that has been turned into a bird sanctuary. Volunteers have planted endemic and local trees and vegetation and rid the island of all predators like rats and mice. With a varied habitat the endemic and endangered birds are returning and being reintroduced. We didn't see any kiwis or takahes but saw lots of tuis, fantails, saddlebacks and stitchbirds. We went on a two hour guided hike, had lunch, checked out the gift shop and were back in Auckland around 5 p.m. Richard had had enough of the crappy restaurants near our apartment so we stayed down near the harbour and had a great thai meal at Thai Chilli (sic) and then went to Movenpick, an ice cream place for dessert.
We had planned on driving to the Domain but were running slowly this morning and decided to head out to our next stop, which was Whangarei. We stopped in Waipu and had a surprisingly good lunch at the bakery (pre made sandwiches and slices) and I checked out the local art collective. We saw some cute calfs in the back of some guy's truck, hope they weren't somebody's veal dinner. Had a bit of a challenging drive (very windy uphill road) to our B & B, Eden House. It's gorgeous here, stunning scenery everywhere you look. Lovely green rolling hills, ocean views and clear blue skies. Had dinner at the local tavern in Parua Bay, excellent fish and chips made of the local catch of gurnard.
Tuesday 4 December 2012
Waikiki, Oahu - pics attached
Sadly, this app keeps mixing up the order of the pics. Hopefully the captions help.
We had a short (1/2 hour) flight from Maui to Oahu and took a Robert's shuttle to the hotel/condo we are staying at. On the shuttle we met a really nice family from Sydney, Australia and had good long chat while we drove through Honolulu. It's certainly a lot more urban than the Big Island or Maui and feels like a big city. Richard likens it to Hong Kong, lots of Asian writing everywhere, tour buses and trolleys, lots of impressive looking buildings, and humid!
We rented a condo in the Ilikai hotel that is at the start of Waikiki beach. It's a pretty snazzy little studio that has a nice view of the ocean but is much more noisy than our last condo in Maui. We are on the 6th floor and our lanai faces the Hilton and they have a luau every night so we are treated to some free music. You can sit and watch the planes come in on the same approach all day long. There is a nice pool that we haven't taken advantage of. There is a lagoon in front of the Hilton next door that we have been taking dips in, nice and refreshing. We were both going to swim a bit in the lagoon and then we both noticed some not very nice stuff floating so we got out before any real exercise occurred (phew!). The following article is about the lagoon if you're interested.
http://www.send2press.com/newswire/2008-01-0121-003.shtml
You can also go on to Youtube and look up the opening sequence of the old Hawaii Five-O show and see the hotel/condo we are staying in, Jack Lord is standing on the top balcony. I'll attach a few photos down below.
Richard went up to the condo about 2 hours earlier than I was ready to, I had a good book. And lo and behold, a guy actually hit on me at the beach! This is shocking to me as not only am I overweight and middle-aged but I was wearing a bathing suit, had no make-up on and had been in the lagoon. I thought perhaps this was a delusion on my part, but Richard assures me given the questions he asked that he was in fact hitting on me. Again, shocking!
I've had a sore throat and swollen glands since we got here (enough already!) so I called our insurance company to see if I could go see a doctor and they directed me to the hospital. Saw an ER doc and he said he thought I had acid reflux. I thought he was off his rocker but after taking the medicine I feel a lot better. This bit of advice is apparently going to cost my insurance company at least $550!!! Good grief! I'm glad I'm a Canadian! Sadly we missed a few days of sightseeing but I enjoyed the relaxation portion. Last night we had a delicious meal at a restaurant just down the street from the condo called The Fat Greek. Good mediterranean salmon and tiramisu.
Today we went on a tour called Home of the Brave that took us to Pearl Harbor and a few other sights relating to the war. We were picked up at 5:55 a.m. from our hotel and thus missed the filming of the new Hawaii Five-O in front of our hotel! I was so close to seeing Alex O'Loughlin in person, argh!!!! Google him, he's gorgeous. Instead we had a very sobering day contemplating the fate of the crew of the USS Arizona and learning more details about what led up the bombing of PH and how the US reacted afterwards.
Tomorrow we are getting picked up at 6:30 a.m. for our 10:00 flight to Sydney and then on to Auckland. It should take us 15 hours and we arrive at midnight local time. We're spending the night near the airport and then closer to downtown once we pick up a rental car the following morning.
Duke Kahanamoku Lagoon
View from Kihei, Maui condo lanai (Maui Sunset, Unit 106)
Ilikai Hotel/Condos
Happy Richard!
View of the lagoon & Hilton
State flower of Hawaii (hibiscus has to be yellow)
Ilikai condo 624, Waikiki, Honolulu, Oahu
U.S.S. Arizona Memorial, Pearl Harbor, Oahu
Old Hawaii Five-O headquarters
King Kahemahema I
Ilikai Marina
Ilikai condo 624
Looking towards Waikiki beach and Diamondhead
Richard on 40mm quad gun assembly (anti-aircraft, 120 rounds per minute)
Really???
We had a short (1/2 hour) flight from Maui to Oahu and took a Robert's shuttle to the hotel/condo we are staying at. On the shuttle we met a really nice family from Sydney, Australia and had good long chat while we drove through Honolulu. It's certainly a lot more urban than the Big Island or Maui and feels like a big city. Richard likens it to Hong Kong, lots of Asian writing everywhere, tour buses and trolleys, lots of impressive looking buildings, and humid!
We rented a condo in the Ilikai hotel that is at the start of Waikiki beach. It's a pretty snazzy little studio that has a nice view of the ocean but is much more noisy than our last condo in Maui. We are on the 6th floor and our lanai faces the Hilton and they have a luau every night so we are treated to some free music. You can sit and watch the planes come in on the same approach all day long. There is a nice pool that we haven't taken advantage of. There is a lagoon in front of the Hilton next door that we have been taking dips in, nice and refreshing. We were both going to swim a bit in the lagoon and then we both noticed some not very nice stuff floating so we got out before any real exercise occurred (phew!). The following article is about the lagoon if you're interested.
http://www.send2press.com/newswire/2008-01-0121-003.shtml
You can also go on to Youtube and look up the opening sequence of the old Hawaii Five-O show and see the hotel/condo we are staying in, Jack Lord is standing on the top balcony. I'll attach a few photos down below.
Richard went up to the condo about 2 hours earlier than I was ready to, I had a good book. And lo and behold, a guy actually hit on me at the beach! This is shocking to me as not only am I overweight and middle-aged but I was wearing a bathing suit, had no make-up on and had been in the lagoon. I thought perhaps this was a delusion on my part, but Richard assures me given the questions he asked that he was in fact hitting on me. Again, shocking!
I've had a sore throat and swollen glands since we got here (enough already!) so I called our insurance company to see if I could go see a doctor and they directed me to the hospital. Saw an ER doc and he said he thought I had acid reflux. I thought he was off his rocker but after taking the medicine I feel a lot better. This bit of advice is apparently going to cost my insurance company at least $550!!! Good grief! I'm glad I'm a Canadian! Sadly we missed a few days of sightseeing but I enjoyed the relaxation portion. Last night we had a delicious meal at a restaurant just down the street from the condo called The Fat Greek. Good mediterranean salmon and tiramisu.
Today we went on a tour called Home of the Brave that took us to Pearl Harbor and a few other sights relating to the war. We were picked up at 5:55 a.m. from our hotel and thus missed the filming of the new Hawaii Five-O in front of our hotel! I was so close to seeing Alex O'Loughlin in person, argh!!!! Google him, he's gorgeous. Instead we had a very sobering day contemplating the fate of the crew of the USS Arizona and learning more details about what led up the bombing of PH and how the US reacted afterwards.
Tomorrow we are getting picked up at 6:30 a.m. for our 10:00 flight to Sydney and then on to Auckland. It should take us 15 hours and we arrive at midnight local time. We're spending the night near the airport and then closer to downtown once we pick up a rental car the following morning.
Duke Kahanamoku Lagoon
View from Kihei, Maui condo lanai (Maui Sunset, Unit 106)
Ilikai Hotel/Condos
Happy Richard!
View of the lagoon & Hilton
State flower of Hawaii (hibiscus has to be yellow)
Ilikai condo 624, Waikiki, Honolulu, Oahu
U.S.S. Arizona Memorial, Pearl Harbor, Oahu
Old Hawaii Five-O headquarters
King Kahemahema I
Ilikai Marina
Ilikai condo 624
Looking towards Waikiki beach and Diamondhead
Richard on 40mm quad gun assembly (anti-aircraft, 120 rounds per minute)
Really???
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