New Zealand Diary - Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Breakfast turns out to be very good and we decide to buy some coffee both decaf and regular so that we can make our own. Most places make espresso which neither of us likes and where we have been traveling hasn’t had a lot of McDonald’s to get something that tastes closer to home.

Our drive is not as long today since Lady Garmon behaves. The sun is welcoming although a cool and sometimes chilly breeze confirms the cold front that is predicted to come our way soon. If it will just hold off until after our planned beach experience, it will be great.

Spring is breaking out all over and while they don’t get really hard winters here on the North Island, you can still see lots of trees that had lost their leaves and are now taking on that wonderful spring green and reddish color that comes from new growth. Seasonal flowers are in bloom. Wisteria blankets fences. Calla lilies and snow drop flowers carpet the roadsides. There is an occasional garden where a hot pink flower blooms. I haven’t yet gotten close enough to see what it is. The Kiwis are friendly but I wouldn’t want to impose by invading a garden I wasn’t invited to enter.

The sign for the Cathedral Cove walk signals it’s time to stop and get some exercise. Along the way when we stopped for coffee a the young lady asked our plans. Her comment was, “Cathedral Cove? That’s a bit rugged.” So I am a little concerned. She was young and considered it rugged. I’m a bit old and, well, we shall see.

It turns out to be a challenge but worth the twenty-five minute walk/climb to the shore. The “cathedral” is a huge arch carved in the rocky shoreline. There is a small beach being enjoyed by some of the younger people. Or is that older people trying to get the energy for the climb back up those steps that led all the way down here?

The walk back to the car park is longer with a few more rest stops to catch my breath and calm my heart rate since much of it is uphill and up steps. We chat along the way with a couple from Germany who eventually move on ahead. We are obviously slowing them down.

I tell Lady Garmon what our next stop is and she obligingly directs us to the pink road we need to start out on. The way to our motel leads us past our afternoon excursion, Hot Water Beach. We turn off to check it out and find that there are two places to park, one in town and one at the other end of the beach. The beach itself stretches for quite a ways but the part that is most interesting is the area where thermal water springs up onto the beach mixing with the cool sea water.

The hot spot is reached during low tide so we move on and check into our motel. Our host gives us a shovel and some towels for the beach and says once we get there, we’ll get the hang of what’s going on. Sure enough, when we arrive at three o’clock, just a little before the actual low tide time, the small beach area is full of people digging holes in the sand.

The idea is to dig a hole about a foot or two deep, pile a little barrier around it and wait for it to fill with hot water. There’s actually little waiting. It fills pretty fast and if you dig in the right spot, you get REALLY hot water. You can actually see the places where the hottest water bubbles up. And if the sand shifts and you are standing in a stream of it, you get a hot foot real fast.

Now here is where I have to admit, it isn’t my thing. It was fascinating but I’m not a beach person. I love beaches. I just hate sitting in sand. I mostly watch Bob enjoy himself as much as the kids in the hole next to ours. They keep repairing the wall between the two pools. I must admit though that the warm water feels good on my feet and ankles as the cold front is obviously getting nearer. You can see the steam rising from the hot water as it meets the colder air.

After about an hour of play time, we give our spot to some others and head to our car. My feet are caked with sand and I’m quite sure Bob is carrying a load (of sand) in his bathing suit. We do the best we can to rid ourselves of it. When we arrive at the motel, Bob rinses off as much as possible and we spend a few minutes enjoying the spa tub that is in a small room. Not much of a view but the water feels good.

Outside our room is a long porch that extends past the several units of our building. There is a small plastic table and chairs for us to use and we set up for our dinner of takeaway Japanese food. I reheat our afternoon purchase of miso soup and katsu don over rice and we finish eating just before it starts to rain.

The rain is more of a mist and stops just long enough for us to decide to walk into town for some desert. The only thing open is the grocery store and we find Tim Tams, a delightful cookie made in Australia, and a Magnum bar. I snap a few pictures of Tairua. It’s a cute little town. The rain comes down a little heavier on our way back but it doesn’t pour until we arrive back to our room. I make coffee using the new skill I’ve acquired of coffee plunging and we enjoy our desserts in front of the TV which is showing some unusual New Zealand mystery show. Another day in the land of the Kiwis ends. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?

New Zealand Diary - Coromandel Peninsula

Monday, October 7, 2013

Another sunny day greets us as we set off for Coromandel Peninsula. But first, we decide on a stop at a place we’d passed on our way in to Snells Beach. Puhoi is a historic Bohemian settlement according to the sign at the turn off for the road. It is a tiny little place along a small river. It was settled by a group of  83 Bohemians from villages near Pilsen in Bohemia. The offer of free land was what encouraged them to leave their homeland in 1863 and emigrate to New Zealand.

Each adult was given 40 acres and each child 20 under the Waste Lands Act. In Puhoi the land was steep, the bush thick, the only access the river and only a rough shelter house. Te Hemera Tauhia and his men brought the immigrants to Puhoi and helped them to learn a bit about the bush and survival. The Bohemians, a hearty people, managed to survive by using what they found in the bush as a means to generate income and slowly put their settlement together. Steamers began coming up the river to receive the timber and other goods for shipment and by 1881, about 3000 acres were beginning to be farmed.

Why is this so fascinating to me? Well, because my grandfather came from Bohemia. He was a farmer and immigrated to America not too long after these people. Under different circumstances, I could have been a Kiwi!

We are here so early in Puhoi that nothing except the general store is open. We mail some post cards and take pictures of the old hotel and the stables and set out on the road again. Surprise, surprise! Our next stop is another waterfall. Hunua Falls. This one is quite impressive. The Kiwis have erected a frame so that you can take a postcard-like picture. Kind of funny. I like the more natural scene a lot better.

Our route to the town of Cormandel takes us along a magnificent coastline. Lush green islands dot the water and contrast with the deep blue of the sea. It is rockier here than any other place we’ve been yet and it makes the shoreline even more dramatic. Around every turn there seems to be another breathtaking view. Of course some of the turns are pretty breathtaking too especially when you are met by a huge logging truck coming the other way.

We check in to our motel, again finding it much nicer than expected, and quickly drive to the Golden Stamper Battery. It is a place to learn more about the gold mining that went on in this area. Unfortunately, we arrive about ten minutes too late for the last tour which seems didn’t happen anyway because we are the only car in the parking lot. Disappointed, we turn and head for the other site on our list, the Driving Creek Railway.

 

 

Thankfully we arrive just in time for the last train run of the day. The train is narrow gauge and diesel driven and was originally used to bring clay down from the mountainside for use by the artist’s colony that formed there. When the man, Barry Brickell, who originally built the whole thing was running out of money, he began to use it to take tourists up to the top for a view of the surrounding area. Eventually he built a lookout he calls the Eyefull Tower and it affords a panoramic view of the ocean, the peninsula and the surrounding islands.

Again, we find the friendliness of the Kiwis amazing. The engineer sat with us on the way down (we were in the last car which became the first car on the return) and asked us about home and Bob’s volunteer job with our Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad. He answered all Bob’s questions about the little train we were on and even gave us a great suggestion for dinner.

Coming into town, we had noticed the low tide revealed several square patterned areas on the exposed beach that were lined evenly. Obviously an area where something was being farmed. We learned it was mussels and when we checked out the restaurant suggestion of the engineer, we found it had mussels on the menu. Ah! A no-brainer. Our dinner of mussels is wonderful. We order fries to go with it like we did in France. The sauce is lemongrass and coconut with a slight kick of something—maybe cayenne?

As we eat, we ponder what the long black roping with loops on it is that is draped across the restaurant. Finally we ask. It is the rope that is used on the beach for the mussels to attach to and grow. How appropriate.

After dinner, we shop for some things for breakfast. The cost of breakfast at the motels is a bit much and for a lot less, we can eat well. We get English muffins-whole wheat with raisins- a couple of bananas and some jam to go with the peanut butter we brought with us. I will learn to make plunger coffee in the morning. A new skill to acquire.

New Zealand Diary - Glow Little Glow Worm

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Several people we have spoken with who live in the area suggested that we visit the Kawiti Caves to see glow worms. They told us we would get closer to the glow worms there than in the large cave down south that is a popular destination. We say goodbye to our hosts at Allegra House, sadly take one last look at the beautiful view we have enjoyed for three days and set off toward our next destination with a planned stop at Kawiti Caves.

It is early Sunday morning but the sign says the caves are open every day. In a small white booth, we find the tour guide who sells us our tickets and asks us to wait at the entrance. I ask if I can take some pictures and he tells me I can take them outside the cave only even if I turn the flash off on my camera. We find this so often. I think it is because people don’t know how to turn their camera flash off or they take advantage and flash anyway.

The stalactites are huge hanging at the entrance to the cave. We wait there a few minutes and are joined by a dad with his two kids. There is a school holiday going on for another week. The kids go to school year round in four quarters with breaks in between. Our guide joins us, lights the lanterns and we begin. He carefully explains how stalactites and stalagmites are formed and then a few yards further into the cave, he turns out the lights.

Above our heads it is as if the roof of the cave has opened and we can see into a night sky. Hundreds of pinpoint bluish lights dot the roof of the cave. Our guide says they have called the section the Milky Way. I can see why.

The glow worms, our guide explains, hatch from eggs and become larvae. In this worm stage, they find a spot up high to attach to and spin a cocoon like tube that is like a hammock. This is the worm’s home for its transformation time. The worm then spins several long threads that hand down from the tube. Each thread has drops of sticky saliva along it. When the lantern is turned on, we are close enough to several glow worms to be able to see this. The threads resemble a strand of silvery beads.

As we walk on, the guide talks of how little flying insects enter the cave and are caught in the sticky threads when they are attracted to the light in the worm’s tail. The light is a bioluminescent chemical that is created in the worm’s body much the same as the fire flies we have at home in the summer except that the glow worms don’t flash off and on. The lights will get brighter the hungrier the glow worm according to our guide. Once the insect is stuck, the thread is sucked up by the glow worm “like sucking up spaghetti.”

We stop several more times to wonder at this amazing creation. Once the glow worm has changed into a small flying insect resembling a mosquito, it can no longer take nourishment as it has no digestive system. It has about three days to mate and lay eggs before it dies.

At the exit to the cave, we are directed to the “bush walk” that will take us back to the car park. Along the way the dad strikes up a conversation with us and begins to point out the different kinds of trees and bushes native to the area. He grew up on the North Island in this region and was an outdoor person. He and his kids are added to the growing list of wonderful friendly Kiwis we have met in just this short time here.

We find our next stop, Whangarei Falls, to be a park like setting. The walkways surrounding the falls are easy to navigate and we enjoy the bit of exercise after our drive. Back in the car, we decide to ignore Lady Garmon and take a side trip on a road that looks like it will take us along some coastline. It doesn’t really get close to the water but we enjoy some more beautiful countryside.

At Snells Beach, our stop for the night, we check into our motel. It is much nicer than we expected. We walk down to the beach area and find that the tide is low. Some people are out we suspect finding mussels or oysters. And way in the distance, we can see a tractor with a boat trailer behind it. When you can’t bring the boat to shore, I guess you take the tractor to get it.

Dinner is take away from a place across the street from us. The restaurants are all closed but the takeaway place is doing a great business. Our hamburgers are paper thin and not very tasty. We’ll have to try again somewhere else but I suspect there will be a definite difference in taste from our beef back home. It appears that the cattle here are all grass fed.

 After dinner we walk back down to the beach to see what it looks like with high tide. The change is striking and the change in the temperature is significant as the sun begins to set. Time to snuggle into bed and rest. Tomorrow is another day to explore.

New Zealand Diary - A Kauri Tree, A Waterfall, A Train

Saturday, October 5, 2013

There are several clichés that come to mind to describe the start to our day: Best laid plans. . .foremost. Bob had preprogrammed our Garmon for each of our destinations before we'd left home so confidently we clicked on the Tane Mahuta Walk and let Lady Garmon lead the way. "Turn left in 1.7 kilometers. Then turn right in 3.3 kilometers" and so on she chirps happily. I sit with the road atlas on my lap. It's not that I don't trust her exactly, it's more that I want to know where I am in relation to all the other areas around me. As my finger on the map slips further south of where the logical turn should be, I casually mention to Bob that we look like we're a bit off track.

"Impossible," he said. "She wouldn't lead us astray, would she?" That said, we make a U-turn and program the next attraction on our list which is supposed to be near the Tane Mahuta Walk. We arrive in the Waipoua  Forest and find the Tane Mahuta trail sign. We put Lady Garmon in time out in the glove compartment.

See Bob in the ferns?

 The Waipoua Forest is full of Kauri trees. They grow tall (about 150 feet) and old (some up to 2,000 years) and can have a tremendous girth (up to 48 feet). The North Island was once covered in Kauri trees used by the Maoris for canoes, carving, and house building. When the Europeans arrived, they ravaged the  tall straight trunked trees using them for masts on ships and their buildings as they settled the area.

The Kauri tree we were about to see on this walk is called the Lord of the Forest because it is the largest and oldest living tree in New Zealand. The height of the tree is over 150 feet and its girth is about 40 feet. It is thought to have grown from a seedling that sprouted sometime during the life of Christ.

The path we follow is actually a boardwalk that protects the delicate roots of other Kauri trees in the forest. We arrive at the viewing platform and find the tree. It is unbelievable. While the giant sequoias in the States are really tall this one is not only tall it is wider than I could have imagined. The shape looks like something out of a fabled movie. Pictures, I’m sure, are not going to give the tree its due. It is huge.

After saying goodbye to a family of New Zealanders (Kiwis) we set Lady Garmon back on the dash and hope for the best. Our next stop is to be in two side by side towns, Opononi and Omapere but as we arrive, we find that there doesn't seem to be any place to stop for refreshment so we travel through noticing as we do that the water in the bay is deep blue and the beach lovely. It would be nice to stop but thanks to Lady Garmon's escapades in the morning, we don't think we have the time.

Down a long long gravel road we find our next destination. Just about the time we thought we’d made a wrong turn or passed it by, there was the sign: Waiotemarama Loop Track where we will find the Waiotemarama Falls. It is a ten minute walk to the falls which really can’t be seen very well without stepping out into the middle of the stream on some boulders. Bob steadies me a bit as I hop onto a large rock and from there to one where I can get my pictures. I figure the worst that would happen is that I’d get wet up to my knees if I slipped in. Thankfully I don’t and our trip back down the muddy path is without incident as well. Mission accomplished.
 

A stop at Kaikohe, a town that had a hidden walk that would take us past some thermal pools is on our list but we pass it up deciding that we’d see plenty of thermal activity in Rotorua and we drive on to Kawakawa. It is a great decision. We haven’t had lunch but really aren’t that hungry so we decid to find a place where we can get coffee and something sweet.

Kawakawa says it has the most beautiful bathroom in the world so of course we have to check it out. It is quite impressive as you can see by the photos. And right across from the bathroom is a coffee shop. We stop in and order a latte and a flat white (a less milky version) and two absolutely delicious muffins. The manager stands and talks with us for quite a while and encourages us to stay and wait for the train to pass by.

The train which used to be a steam train runs right down the middle of Kawakawa’s main street. Originally it ran to Opua 14 kilometers away. The steam train is being refurbished and for now the train is pulled by a diesel engine. Until all the bridges have been deemed safe, the train only travels to Taumerere. Sure enough, just as promised, the train rolls around the corner and right past the coffee shop where we sit, cameras ready. Our patience rewarded, we move on toward our B&B to freshen up before dinner. It has been a great day despite Lady Garmon. That’s what is so nice about setting our own itinerary and time schedule. We can be flexible and just enjoy.

Wordless Wednesday

New Zealand Diary - Giant Sand Dunes And White Sand Beaches

Friday, October 4, 2013

The north island of New Zealand has an area called the twin coasts. It is a narrow strip where both coasts, the Tasman and the Pacific, are a short distance from each other. We drive south from Cape Reinga and see between the green hills one of the giant sand dunes that rises on the Tasman Sea coast. That is where we are headed next.

Clouds come and go but the sun shines mostly and brings out the deep greens of the pastured hills, the sandy brown of the dunes and beaches and the brilliant blue of the sky. Before long, we find the turn off for the Giant Te Paki Sand Dunes. It's a gravel road that suddenly brings us to a stop in front of a giant pile of sand. The dunes can reach a height of 6000 feet and are a popular spot for sand surfers. Yes, you heard me right. People rent surf board type sleds and slide down the dunes. Of course first you have to climb up.

Bob and I pass on the $15 NZ/person fee for a board rental. There is no way we are climbing up there as we crane our necks to watch some of the younger and braver souls make their way to the top. No one is surfing though which is disappointing. We had hoped to watch a bit of someone else's fun.

While we watch people on the dunes, several tour buses arrive and pass our vantage point to go around the end of one of the dunes and enter the 90 Mile Beach stretch that allows them to drive on the sand. There's a small stream that they need to ford before hitting the beach. We are glad that we stopped earlier to see the beach. It would have been impossible to get to it from here without getting wet.

When we realize no one is going to surf, we return to our car and continue south while looking for a turn off to go and see the white sand beaches. The white sand is made of silicon and we've caught glimpses of the gleaming sands on our way to the Cape.

Before we can see the white sand, we find the general store that has Bonnie's Ice Cream inside. Bonnie was a favorite person in the area and was said to have the best ice cream around. Unfortunately she died a few months before our trip but others are carrying on the tradition. Bob orders vanilla with honey chunks in it and mine is boysenberry/vanilla. A nice afternoon treat.

A sign points to the east near a turnoff telling us it is for Ruwara Beach and we take the turn. It pays off as we find ourselves at the end of another gravel road but facing gleaming white sand dunes. We linger a bit and walk out near the water's edge. The tide is out and it's a long walk but as we turn to go back, we can see the length of beach as it stretches out in all its sparkling whiteness.

On our way back to Paihia we find a MacDonald's. Ah, a little bit of home away from home. And internet! We order filtered coffees and check our email before calling it a day and arriving in Paihia for dinner.

New Zealand Diary - North to Cape Reinga

Friday, October 4, 2013

Our jet lag fairly overcome by a great night's rest, we strike out for our goal of visiting the northern most point of New Zealand. The point is known as Cape Reinga and there is a beautiful lighthouse there we plan to visit. The drive is just under three hours. Our host at Allegra House has given us a few hints of what to see that we hadn't already planned including a stop at the Ancient Kauri Kingdom to pick up our sandwiches for lunch.



The Ancient Kauri Kingdom is hard to miss. It's a huge building that houses a workshop and gallery featuring all sorts of things made from ancient Kauri wood. The wood was excavated from swamps on the North Island and is carbon dated to 45,000 years. It is the oldest workable wood in the world. Living kauri trees are among the oldest and largest trees in the world and are protected. The only wood that can be worked is the old trees that have been dug up from the swamps. Once finished, the wood has a beautiful grain and sheen.

We admire the works in the gallery and peek in at the workshop before going to the café to see if there are any sandwiches to be had. If we don't get something here, we're not sure we'll find lunch any where else. An egg salad sandwich appeals and so does a bottle of ginger beer that tastes a bit like ginger ale but with a much stronger ginger taste.

Brita, our host at Allegra, has told us to take a side road for a detour that will give us opportunity to see 90 Mile Beach. This beach is a bit like Daytona where cars can drive out onto it because the sand is so solidly packed. Even tour buses drive the beach! It can be dangerous though if you don't know what you are doing and it is tide dependent so if you aren't paying attention, you could be floating away into the Tasman Sea before you get to the next exit. The origin of the name is unknown since the beach is actually only 55 miles long and of course everything else is counted in kilometers.

We park just at the end of the entrance to the beach where the tracks of others can be seen heading north in the sand. It's as far as we dare go with our rental car. Bob takes off his shoes and walks out onto the beach and out to the water. He taunts me to follow but with a whole day ahead of us, I'm not keen on having sandy feet.

Back on the highway (a two lane twisting and turning road) we encounter lots of logging trucks. There are numerous forests in the area and logging is quite an export business. Lots of fields are filled with cattle and some sheep. We've been told that there are more sheep farms on the Southern Island.

Before long, we arrive at the car park for the Cape Reinga Lighthouse. The lighthouse sits out on a point and is reached by way of a very nice paved walkway that winds down to the water. Down is the operable word here and as I enjoy the sunny walk down my thoughts turn to what the walk will be like coming back up.

The landscape is green with sandy beach meeting blue, very blue water. Along the way are lots of signs giving information about old Maori legends. One sign points out a tree growing precariously out of a rock cliff below. The sign says it is an ancient tree that is known as a kahika, "It survives, as pohutukawa trees often do, in what seems impossible conditions--even a rock face lashed by salt winds."

The lighthouse is bigger than it appears from the top of the hill. It has set here since 1941 and is the first light that sailors see when arriving from the Tasman Sea and the North Pacific. It was automated in 1987 and is monitored from Wellington. The original light was replace with a 50 watt tungsten halogen bulb that is powered by a battery charged by solar panels.

Trekking back up to the top of the hill and the car park, I am winded but satisfied to have made it standing. Shortly after pulling out of the car park, we turn off for Tapotupotu Bay. A small campground lies at the end of a long gravel road which winds its way down with hairpin turns. There's a very nice beach and several picnic tables where we find a nice spot to enjoy our sandwich and chips and ginger beer. This is what we enjoy so much about traveling on our own. No tour buses. No crowded bus stops for lunch. Just a handful of others who have escaped the mainstream and are enjoying a wonderful afternoon in a spot too pretty for words.

Time comes to navigate our way back to the paved roadway and begin our trip back south. But there are yet some spectacular sights to see along the way.

New Zealand Diary: Auckland to Paihia-The Bay of Islands

Thursday, October 3, 2013

After saying goodbye to our friends near Auckland, we set the Garmon for Paihia where we are to stay for three nights. Paihia is on the North Island of New Zealand and near the Bay of Islands. We travel north on Highway 1 marveling at how many shades of green there are in the landscape. The several days of rain before our arrival coupled with the sunny day are bringing out the best that the New Zealand spring has to offer.

We stop for coffee in the hopes that it will help keep us awake. Around lunch time, we make a little side trip to what is marked on the map as a beach town thinking that we will find a restaurant or café. The one we find doesn't have anything that appeals to us so we check out the little convenient store just down the road. It has the bottled water we need but no sandwiches. We retreat to the car and find our way back to the main highway while I fish in our backpacks for the two peanut candy bars I stowed away for a snack. They turn out to be our lunch.

It takes us a little over three hours to drive from the Auckland area to Paihia due in part to lots of construction on the roads. Just like back home what we call "orange barrel season" but they use orange cones instead. The road isn't wide enough for barrels.

In Paihia, we wind our way up the hillside to Allegra House, our B&B for three nights. We are greeted by Heinz our host who tsk tsks our choice to drive all the way on the same day we have arrived in New Zealand. He is quick to plug in the water heating pot for tea and present us with some wonderful cookies. He gives us the rundown of the room, the services, and of course where breakfast will be served in the morning.

I only half hear what Heinz tells Bob because I am standing in front of the sliding glass doors that lead out to our balcony space drinking in the spectacular view. We face the town of Russell on the peninsula across from us and off in another direction, we can see several small islands. This is the Bay of Islands. On a cruise to NZ and Australia a few years back, we stopped here, anchored, and took tenders to one of the islands. We learned that it is a big-game fishing area made popular by the writer, Zane Grey, when he wrote of it back in the 1930s.

Keeping true to his philosophy of staying awake as long as possible to adjust to the time change and jet lag, Bob has planned that we will go look at Haruru falls just a few kilometers away from where we are. I wistfully look at the soft pillows and inviting comforter on the bed and sigh.

We find the falls without a problem (love that Garmon) and take the requisite pictures. We try to find a meeting house where a treaty was signed but can't seem to locate it. So, okay, the Garmon isn't perfect but then we are tired and maybe not functioning as well as the Garmon either.

At a nice sized grocery store we find an inexpensive insulated bag, some bottled water, apples, and chips but no sandwiches. We plan to pick up some the next day perhaps at a bakery before we set off on our trip to the northern most point of New Zealand.

Thanks to Tripadvisor we find a restaurant that is recommended. It's a little rough around the edges almost qualifying as a hole-in-the-wall place but the menu looks good. I am surprised and pleased with an excellent meal of chicken, pork, rice, and salad.

It is still early when we return to our BB but I slip into bed to warm up. It has cooled down quite a bit since the sun set and I am chilled as well as dead tired. A few pages into the novel I'm reading and I can't keep from nodding off. I give up and turn off my reading light. As soon as I close my eyes, I'm out, a prayer lingering on my lips that we will sleep through the night and wake refreshed for our first real day of experiencing New Zealand.

New Zealand Diary - Now Arriving in Auckland

Thursday, October 3, 2013

After passing the beagle sniff test at the airport (thankfully vitamins, blood pressure meds, and Lipitor are not on her list of illegals), we grab our ride to the Apex car rental place. It is about 6 a.m. Auckland time. I can’t do the math to figure out what time it is at home but I know that somewhere over the Pacific, we lost October 2 in the blink of an eye or rather, in my case, a jerking nod of the head that woke me again.

Working on little sleep, I wonder how I’m going to survive Bob driving on the left side of the street. Thankfully he got a bit more sleep than I did. While he fills out the papers and kibitzes with the young man I sneak off to the restroom and brush my teeth and splash water in my face. It has been twenty-four hours of travel and we still have several more to go before I sleep, before I sleep. Frost must have felt that when he wrote his poem.

We check out the red Toyota Corolla that has seen some surface abuse, say thanks to the nice young man and promise again not to drive on 90 Mile Beach and plug in our new Garmon that Bob has programmed with all our stops for the next five weeks. Our first destination is just outside of Auckland in Silverdale. There is a couple there we met on our April cruise to Galapagos who have invited us to stop by and visit for a bit. They are travel addicts too and know that we aren’t going to be in great shape but they were eager to meet up with us again.

Morning rush hour traffic is picking up but we manage to make our way through and out of the city limits to find our friends. They live in a spectacular area on top of a hill that overlooks the greenest hills and dales you can imagine. Their yard is filled with semi-tropical plants that are beginning to bloom and refresh as spring is just arriving in this part of the world.

They tell us we are fortunate to have arrived when the rain has finally ended. There were three or four days of it but now the sun is warm on our faces as we sit outside on their patio enjoying the view, great coffee and muffins and conversation. We feel ourselves begin to relax a bit too much and finally excuse ourselves so that we can get back on the road. We have miles to go. . .make that kilometers to go before we sleep.

Wordless Wednesday

New Zealand Diary - What Day Is It?

This may be confusing to some of my readers who know that we left on October 1 for New Zealand and here it is October 9 and this is my first post. Before each trip we take, I always write a few posts ahead and schedule them (thanks to Blogger) to appear on my blog during the first few days of our journey. For one thing, we usually lose a day with travel and then we can't always be sure of internet connections. And this time we have the added delight of also losing a day by crossing the International Date Line. We left Cleveland on the afternoon of the 1st and arrived in Auckland the morning of the 3rd. If you think you're confused. . .

But here we are in Auckland and even though it is the 9th, we'll act like it's the 3rd (here in NZ) and I'll start posting as if the journey were just beginning. Which it is because you see I'm actually writing this as I begin our trip but it won't post until the 9th thanks to the scheduler on Blogger. Still confused? Okay, let's change the subject.

We flew United to San Francisco and then boarded an Air New Zealand for Auckland. When I discovered what airline we were flying, I remembered an old post I did about "the airline with nothing to hide." I checked. Yup, it was Air New Zealand. I won't make you click on a link. Below is the safety video from a few years ago. And yes, the clothing is all body paint. And you thought the Aussies were edgy.



Actually, ANZ has changed its safety film and now features one with Bear Gryllis who is a survivalist on a reality show. Its every bit as good as the other one. When I searched for it, I found that ANZ changes their safety film quite often. There are quite a few to look at if you're interested. Just go to YouTube and search for Air New Zealand safety video.



Auckland to Paihia now that we've landed--safely without having to use any survival techniques other than those needed to get through immigration and customs. A word to the wise: be sure you don't carry any fresh food into the country even if it's packaged. Those little dogs sniff out more than illegal drugs.

Books For The Road - The Heist by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg

I haven't read a whole lot of Janet Evanovich though I have met lots of her fans. I have overheard many speaking of her "crazy" stories and characters. So, I figured it was time to try another one of hers and I downloaded The Heist.

The Heist is all about an FBI agent, Kate O'Hare who's main goal in life is to put notorious con man, Nicholas Fox behind bars for good. Too often he has made a fool of her and she's out to get him. Unfortunately she finds herself terribly attracted to him as well and when the department decides to work a deal with Fox, Kate ends up working with Nicholas to con another con man. The results are both hilarious and fascinating.

Evanovich and Goldberg keep you page turning and their tongue-in-cheek humor adds lots of surprise chuckles. The characters are lovable and enjoyable. The plot intriguing and the Toberlone incident near the end had me wondering as much as Kate O'Hare. Cleverly done. A good read for the road or the airplane or wherever else you may be
.

Through My Lens - Alaska

Souvenir? Bring Me a Baby Bear!

When you have eight grandchildren, there is bound to be a request or two that seem a little out of the realm of reality. When I was asked to bring back a baby black bear as a souvenir, I reacted as though it was something anyone would do. I figured I had a week on a cruise ship to figure it out.

And figure it out we did. In Skagway we managed to find a cardboard box just about the size a really small baby bear might fit in. I put a little newspaper in the bottom and then got truly creative.

We had packed some candy to nibble on as we traveled and in the bag was a couple of midget Tootsie Rolls. I stuck them in my jeans pocket while I did my morning walk on the ship. By the time I got back they were warm and pliable. I stretched them a bit and molded them and stuck them to the newspaper in the bottom of the box. Voila! Bear poop!

I tore a hole in the top of the box to look like that was the escape route of our baby bear and readied myself for all the questions I knew I would get when we arrived with our missing souvenir. (In all fairness, I did buy a small stuffed black bear as a substitute.)

The box was received with awe. Not one of them thought I would really get a bear. I apologized for the missing bear saying I had no idea where it went. When they looked inside, they saw the "bear poop" which elicited several "eewwws."

My granddaughter would not be fooled so easily however. Several time she sniffed the box and then stuck her pencil in a "turd" and sniffed it. When she was satisfied, she took a big bite out of the turd and sent her siblings screaming to their mother, "She ate bear poop!"

When they realized it was chocolate, I was afraid they might be upset with me but they looked at me with a twinkle in their eyes. They knew they'd been had but they were enjoying the ruse and besides, now they had a Grandma who could teach them how to make bear poop.

Wordless Wednesday

Port of Call - Seattle, WA

Seattle was the starting and ending point for our cruise. Because of our family living there, we have visited often. It is a great city to spend some time in either before or after a cruise. On our way out of the harbor, I grabbed some great shots of the skyline and Mt. Rainier was kind enough to show itself as we sailed away. Mt. Rainier is a bit like Mt. McKinley (Denali). It manufactures its own weather system and is often shrouded by clouds. But when it clears, it is glorious.

There are beautiful mountain areas that surround the Seattle area. The waterways lend an unsurpassed beauty to the city and surrounding towns. Downtown Seattle is fascinating in itself with its history. We have explored the underground where the old part of Seattle still lies after the new Seattle was built on the ruins of the burned buildings after the great fire of 1889. The city was subject to flooding so it was all built up higher to prevent further problems. It's a fascinating tour and story.



Of course there's the space needle, the landmark of the city, and the Farmer's Market where you can watch the infamous "fish toss." The first Starbucks is right around the corner from the market. Plenty of places to shop, eat, and lots of coffee places to get your caffeine hit. If you'd like to see some of the things we've done in past visits, check out my travel index for Washington.