May 14, 2008 - Rotorua to Pahia

May 14, 2008 – Rotorua to Piha Beach

 

Weather: Mostly fine

 

Today we had to hit the road again.  Some headed to the Waitomo Glow Worm Caves but Joan and I decided to head directly to Piha Beach with a stop at the build site where we are going to work.  I had done Google Map directions to get there trying to avoid the main Auckland Motorway interchange but after driving the alternate route that I had selected I was starting to think that the Motorway would have been the better way.  The route was OK but a lot of winding around in suburban areas with traffic but with only two stops to ask directions were required.

 

We had a call and were advised during the day that the affiliate had not been able to secure building permits yet and we would not be able to start on the build the next day however they had a welcoming lunch for us, the partner family, past partner family, and a number of people from the local affiliate for tomorrow (Thursday).  So we decided to go on to the campground at Piha Beach and stay there at least one night and then if the permit didn’t come through we would go ahead and sightsee some more through the weekend and return to the Auckland area on Monday.

 

The trip down to Piha Beach from the build site was an adventure.  It was about 45 minutes of twisting turning roads but the most interesting was the last 15 minutes or so as you go down the side of the mountain to the shore.  It was the most beautiful scenery that you could find anywhere.  As the others got in I could tell that it would be a hard sell to stay there for the next two weeks.  The campground was not quite up to what we had been used to but would probably have been OK except the timeout on the motion detector for the shower room lights was set for about half the time that the control for the shower water was set for.  The shower timer we could deal with as it worked with a security card that also worked the gate to the campground so you could just reach out and swipe the card on the control again.  But no matter how much you waved your arms or jumped up and down in the shower you couldn’t make the lights come back on.  So you then had to walk back out to the entrance in the buff, wave your arms to turn the lights on, dash back to the shower, swipe your card by this time and then finish the shower.

 

The president and director from the Auckland affiliate drove down to the beach to welcome us and brief us on Thursdays program and we set the plans for the next couple of days.  It was decided that if the permit didn’t come through Friday we would return to the Manukau area on Monday and work at the Habitat ReStore there in Manukau.

 

After a walk on the beach (the movie “The Piano” was shot around this beach) at sunset and trip to experience the showers it was to bed and listen to the surf.

 

 

 

 

 

Piha Beach at sunset.

 

 

Habitat build site - waiting for permits and Habitat super Loo.

 

 

 

Rainbow over the loo.

 

It was another good day.

 

Kiwi Word of the Day: Smoko – Coffee break, mainly on work sites.

May 13, 2008 Rotorua

May 13, 2008 – Rotorua

 

Weather: Mostly fine

 

Today was Rotorua Day.  We actually stayed two nights in the same campground giving us time to do some sightseeing around town.

 

One of the reasons that we stay at the particular campground that we stay at is because of the mineral baths there and the soaking last night was very therapeutic for my cold.  This morning we all headed over to the Agrodome for the sheep show there.  We learned and saw 19 different varieties of sheep the king of them all being the merino.  The sheep show is interesting and includes: shearing of a sheep, milking a cow, feeding young lambs, sheep dogs herding geese on stage, etc.  Then it’s outside for a demonstration of sheep dog trials and then inside a smaller building for a demonstration of a mechanized wool processing machine.  It’s a good time there.

 

Across and down the road from the Agrodome is the Zorb facility.  We stopped in there and watched a number of Zorber’s go down the hill.  Looks like fun but not for me.  They put you in this big ball at the top of a hill and then give you a shove down the hill.  The ball is transparent plastic and about 12 feet in diameter with a smaller ball inside suspended with plastic strands.  You crawl into the inner ball through a short tunnel.  Once in there they strap you in so you basically can’t move.  As you go down the hill youmight have rotation in two different directions.  The other method is to go “wet” where they put water in the bottom of the inside ball and you lay in that as you go down.  “Wet” would be my choice if I was to do it since you’re remaining stable floating in the water and not rotating with the ball as you go down.  No one from any of the Habitat trips that we have been on have ever down this as far as I know.  A Zorb concession might be a good thing to have in the US as I have never seen one there.  Someone from The Morning Show did it live a couple months ago however so there must be one there someplace.

 

 

 

Zorber's

 

The Acreman’s, and Joan and I stopped in Rotorua and had lunch and then went to the Rotorua Art and History Museum.  Joan and I had been there before so we walked the grounds while Roy and Marjorie toured inside.  The grounds there are beautiful and we enjoyed the rose gardens (still blooming), all the different trees, and the bowling greens all finely trimmed.  We noticed a group of people that were having a lot of “fun” by the hot mud pool.  We had seen the pool earlier and it was guarded with a fence and there is a sign on it saying that it was around 210 degrees.  These people were taking eggs and putting them in mesh bags and then dropping them in the pool with a fishing pole and line.  They were working in teams and having to boil the eggs and then eat them.  Some were not so hard boiled.  We started talking with them and it turned out they were a corporate group doing team building exercises around the grounds.  They were in general having a great time.

 

In the evening it was off to the Tamaki Mauri Hangi feast.  It’s a whole evening of enjoyment put on by mauri’s starting with the bus trip from the campground out to their place outside of town.  It’s a great evening with a lot of singing, the buffet feast, and the indoctrination and education about the Mauri culture.

 

 

 

Bowling greens at art museum.

 

 

 

North Island Brown Kiwi.

 

 

 

 

 

Rotorua Art Museum.

 

 

 

Big Sheep Dog!

 

 

 

Wool Processing Machine.

 

Well we did a lot of things today but it was relaxing as well.

 

Life is good.

 

Kiwi Word of the Day:  Lollies - Candy

May 12, 2008 - Napier to Rotorua

May 12, 2008 – Napier to Rotorua

 

Weather: Started cloudy then turned mostly fine.

 

Today we drove through Taupo over to Rotorua.  It’s a pleasant drive starting out through some lower mountains and across some plateau areas and then down into Taupo.  The sun was out early and the first part of the drive through the hills was really neat with the sun being low it highlighted all the undulations in the hill sides.  The hill sides were bright green and you could see all the Hobbit Houses there.  Didn’t see any Hobbit’s moving about though.

 

The green pasture hills turned into forestry areas where the main crop is lumber.  We drove through many miles of patchwork quilt areas where clear cutting had been done and trees replanted.  The squares were of varying maturity and stretched as far as you could see.  Then we came to an area where they had not replanted and the scrap from the cutting had been put into very large piles.  This left large areas of field that had been leveled and planted with grass.  Joan and I thought that maybe the land was going to be developed for housing but Jay (team member) says that the land is being converted back to pasture land.  It would be interesting to know the story behind this conversion.  Are the forestry companies required to convert the land back for ecology, maybe more money in cattle than lumber production, etc.?

 

Then it was down into Taupo at the top end of Lake Taupo.  The downtown area along the lake is especially nice with manygift shops and then more stores further back of a more supportive nature such as groceries, pharmacies, etc.  Along the shore runs a beautiful city park and is a nice place for enjoying the view of the lake with the snowcapped mountains beyond.  At one point on the lake is a golf tee for driving balls out into the lake.  They have a hole set up on a platform and apparently if you can put a ball into the hole there is a substantial prize.

 

Just north of Taupo we stopped again at the overview for the wellheads for the geothermal power generation plant.  Totally amazing place.  They are currently using around 59 wells. The wells are about 6,000 feet deep and the superheated fluid (their term but water) comes up at around 240C and then travels through pipes (big ones) to the power plant about 5 km away at 200 kmph.  We crossed paths with the Krohn’s there and then headed on up to Rotorua. 

 

 

Lake Taupo

 

 

 

Taupo Public Toilets - very nice!

 

 

 

Taupo ducks!

 

This evening after our devotions and meeting I went and soaked in the mineral baths at the campground.  That’s very relaxing and hopefully will have some medicinal effects on the cold I have been trying to shake.

 

Another good day.  Tomorrow the Farmshow and Hangi Feast in the evening.

 

Kiwi Word of the Day – Pot plant – potted plant (not marijuana)

May 11, 2008 - Wellington to Napier

May 11, 2008 – Wellington to Napier

 

Weather:  Mostly Fine, a littler warmer 10C

 

Leaving Lower Hutt we have about one hour of mountainous driving providing some white knuckles on Joan’s side of the cab.  She’s the one sitting on the edge of the road with the thousand foot drop offs.  We kid about the guardrail being 2x4’s with #10 wire strung between them.  Actually I don’t think that it’s a guard rail but the fence for the space below.  Now that I think about it though I don’t know how you could put cattle into those areas for grazing.

 

Once you get over the mountain range it’s a very nice drive with more and more vineyards as you get closer to Hastings and Napier.

 

Napier is the city that was pretty much destroyed in a 1931 earthquake.  It was rebuilt in the style of the time which was Art Deco.  It was discovered over the years that the city had more attraction to visitors as the Art Deco city than if newer construction reverted to contemporary architecture.  As a result new construction or renovation of existing structure is done in the Art Deco style resulting in a very unique city.

 

 

 

Joan's steak dinner. 

 

At the campground we had an informal Happy Hour and a number of toasts to our ladies for Mother’s Day.  Joan and I had decided to maintain our custom of eating dinner at the Acous seafood restaurant in Napier and everyone else decided to join us.  The restaurant is in what was the original Masonic Hall and maintains the Art Deco style.

 

 

Our favorite waitress there now is Rebecca.

 

 

The day ended well.

 

Kiwi Word of the Day:  Loo – Bathroom of course.

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May 10, 2008 - Picton to Wellington

May 10, 2008 – Picton to Wellington (Ferry)

 

Weather:  Mostly Fine for the crossing, seas a little rough.

 

Upon arriving at the ferry line up area around 9AM for the 10AM ferry the ticket taker at the gate advised us that the ship was going to be late by about 2 hours due to storms.  Hmm!  She said that we may want to go back to town for a while or go have coffee in their terminal using the free coffee coupons that she gave us.  We opted for the coffee so we left three of the Kea’s in the queue climbed in ours and drove back around and over to the café at the terminal. 

 

After getting our caffeine fix we headed back and got to the line up area again.  It was about 11AM and the ship had arrived.  We began getting little warning signs that all might not be well out in open water.  The illuminated weather sign was showing STORM in red.  OK, nothing to worry about because the ship got here OK and they’re going back to Wellington.  We waited patiently for the signal to drive on and we got our motorhomes all loaded without any problems plus cars, semis, etc.  We all headed up to the upper decks to find a place to sit and enjoy the trip.  Uh-Oh, another ominous sign.  There were sick sacks everywhere – on the tables, chairs, in the bathrooms, everywhere!  A subtle hint I guess that we might be expecting some rough water and that theydid not want their boat soiled.  Maybe I should put one in my back pocket just in case.  Naw! 

 

Joan and I were hungry and it was after noon now so we went directly to the café, got a nice toasted pinini and something to drink and went back to where the others were and had lunch.  By this time the boat had started moving out through the sound from Picton. 

 

The water was smooth going out the sound but as we got into open water it did start getting a little rougher with some whitecaps and rolling action but it’s a big boat and we didn’t suffer too much.  At one point though when they asked for the owner of the BMW with a certain license number to report we had visions of the car sliding around down in the hold banging into our KEA’s.  Might have just been a car alarm or something.  The rest of the trip I read my book and tried not to think of the movements of the boat.  Jay said later that he was starting to feel a little green and was glad when we docked.

 

Joan and I and Roy and Marjorie went directly to the campground while the others stopped in Wellington at the TePapa Museum, also known as the People’s Museum of New Zealand.

 

Well we all made the crossing OK and unscathed albeit a couple hours late.

 

Life is good!

 

Kiwi Word of the Day: Crook – Be Ill or Sick

May 9, 2008 - Greymouth to Picton

May 9, 2008 – Greymouth to Picton

Weather:  Rain on and off, same with the sun.

 

Today was the longest driving day of the trip so far.  From Greymouth to Picton is slightly over 400 km or about 240 miles.  You normally wouldn’t think of this as a long drive but the early part of the trip is getting back over the Southern Alps and it is rather slow going.  Once you get past them it is a straight shot down to Blenheim and Picton following a river valley and an amazingly straight highway.

 

Upon leaving Greymouth we follow the coast north stopping first at the Pancake Rocks. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi from us!

 

These are very unusual layered rocks that look like they were stacked up but are the result of years of wind and sea erosion.  For any geologists reading this I think they are called dolomite rock.  A worthwhile stop and then just a little further we stop at the fur seal colony.  This year there seemed to be more pups than usual and all in all probably more than a couple hundred.  They are fun to watch – some just laying around sleeping in the sun, a mother nursing a young one, a mother apparently weaning a youngster that seemed a difficult task for both as evidenced by a lot of yelling back an forth, one of the younger seals chasing a weka bird over and around the rocks, and some just playing.

 

 

 

 

Contest - count how many there are.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the seal colony Hiway 6 turns inland and over the Southern Alps.  Along the way there is a rest area that we’ve stopped at before to stretch our legs.  This time there was a couple there from Nelson, a town at the north end of the south island and not far from Picton.  They had a strange dog with strange coloring. 

 

 

 

 

As it turned out it was part collie and part poodle.  It turned out that the man was an expert woodworker and had worked on shipbuilding (older sailing ships).  They had worked in a Boston on a project there.  It never fails that you meet some really interesting people in the least expected places.

 

As we got closer to Picton we started going through vineyards.  It is an incredible site with vineyards all the way from the river valley to the side of the mountains.  We drove for miles and miles with vineyards on both sides of the road.  There were thousands and thousands of acres of vineyards.  For the most part other than an occasional odd one all the vineyards were expertly manicured with mowed grass between the rows and with the vines all espaliered in line with the rows.  Just beautiful to see.  A lot of these are new vines just a couple of years old and most also have a rose bush at the end of the row.

 

Everyone arrived safely in Picton and it was another good day.

 

Kiwi Word of the Day:  Brekky  -  Breakfast

May 8, 2008 - Fox Glacier to Greymouth

May 8, 2008 – Fox Glacier to Greymouth

 

Weather:  Started out in rain and fog but ended mostly fine 10C.

 

Two days ago we had gotten on route 6 just outside of Te Anau and we have been following it ever since.  Route 6 is the main north-south highway that crosses over the Southern Alps on the north side of Fiordland National Park and then continues north up the west coast of the south island eventually ending in Picton on the northeast corner of the south island.  It is one of the most scenic highway in New Zealand.  The ocean and surf views along the west coast are especially beautiful.  There are very few straight stretches of highway anywhere on it.  On the Queenstown to Fox Glacier part we always have a contest counting one lane bridges between team members.  Even though the team leaders count may not be right it is the right answer for the contest.  This year the answer was 28.  You have to aim well going across because they are usually quite narrow also.  The interesting one’s are where you share the bridge with railroad tracks also. 

 

The Greymouth Top 10 campground is one the nicest campgrounds that we stay at and is right on the beach.  It has nice showers, laundry, TV room, etc.  Plus it’s just a short walk to the beach as it’s in our back yard so to speak.

 

The Rush’s and Joan and I decided to go on a tour of the Monteith Brewery in town. 

 

 

It took about an hour and a half and was quite interesting.  I don’t think that we’re ready to try making any beer at home however, at least not until we study up a little more.

 

 

 

Joan getting fermented.

 

 

 

The yeast at work.

 

 

 

Sampling takes a while.

 

Afterwards we all went to eat at the Union Hotel which was suggested by the tour guide at the brewery.  They have a good buffet there at very reasonable prices compared to other restaurants we have been to here in NZ.  After we were in the restaurant for a while Joan and I were having feelings of déjà vu and that we had eaten in a place just like it somewhere.  They have kind of a unique way of ordering and delivering your food.  Well, long story short,we had eaten there four years ago.  It was a bizarre kind of feeling until we got it all figured out.

 

All in all a good day.

 

Kiwi Word of the Day:  Rattle your dags – Hurry up!