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.