May 16, 2008 - Orewa to Pahia

May 16, 2008 – Orewa to Pahia

Weather:  Started out very foggy but turned fine.

 

The day started out with some sunshine but then the fog rolled in and by the time we hit the road it had become foggy.  We later heard that a number of flights in and out of Auckland were cancelled due to the weather.  We had a chat with a couple that was camped across from us and in the course of the conversation we think that we may have recruited a volunteer for Habitat.  He had been in the construction industry, retired and now looking for something to do.  They live in the area that we will be working on the house.  We left the phone number of the affiliate and invited him to come out to the site next week.

 

The drive up to Pahia was uneventful.  Just another day filled with beautiful NZ scenery.  We have never had a drive in New Zealand yet that failed to amaze us with beautiful things to see and nice people to stop and talk with.

 

We arrived at Haruru Falls Twin Pines Campground (close to Pahia) late in the afternoon, relaxed, and had a nice evening.

 

Another nice day in NZ.

 

Kiwi Word of the Day:  Right as Rain – Perfect!

May 15, 2008 Auckland Habitat Welcome

May 15, 2008 – Auckland to Orewa

 

Weather: Mainly fine

 

Today we drove from Piha Beach back up to the Glen Eden (build site) suburb of Auckland and to the Baptist Church where the first of our welcome ceremonies were to be held.  We met the current, past, future partner families, construction manager for the build, and a number of others that volunteer and work with the affiliate.  A very large spread of food was laid out.  Ra and his family sang some songs both in Mauri and English.  A beautiful family that sings together very well.

 

From the lunch we went to the local Maori Marae.  A Marae is the Maori’s ceremonial meeting house.  Before leaving the Baptist Church we were instructed as to the proper protocol to follow during the Mauri welcoming ceremony.  It is considered an honor to be invited to enter a Marae and we were very pleased that they gave us that invitation.  We were told that we might or might not be invited to enter the Marae as the ceremony might be held outside on the green in front of the Marae or we might be invited inside.  Eventually we were invited inside but the ceremony started as we were on the edge of the parking lot and in front of the large grassy area in front of the Marae.  We followed Ra’s instructions and waited until a Maori woman chanted an invitation to come across the grassy area to the Marae.  I had become the leader or “chief” of the tribe (Habitat group) and along with Ra went first with the others following.  With Ra’s instructions we crossed to the entrance to the Marae and were invited to enter and of course we removed our shoes before entering.  The Maori tribal representatives sat to the left of the entrance on cushions on the floor.  The Habitat tribe  sat on chairs to the right side of the entrance.  The acting Maori chief began by giving a welcoming speech that Ra later explained told about how their tribe had come to NZ, about their ancestry, and about their achievements.  Apparently since a lot of them had moved to that area of Auckland for work or other reasons from other tribes or ancestral lines they had joined together and became the tribe of the four winds.

 

The speech was in Maori as was the song that was sung next by the tribe.  Ra gave a speech in Maori and then it was my turn.  My speech was briefer but apparently acceptable after which we sang “This is the Day”.  I then placed a small peace offering on the floor between us which completed the ceremony and we were accepted.

 

The Maori chief then gave us a tour of the Marae and the adjacent school grounds (K-12) of which they are rightfully very proud.

 

After the Maori welcome a tour had been arranged by the Auckland affiliate of a community of 32 residences called Earthsong.  Adjectives such as Eco-Neighborhood, Permaculture, sustainability, and a touch of commune added in.  The housing units are a variety of sizes for a variety of family size.  The units are ecologically designed with solar heating of water, positioning to take the best advantage of the sun for heating during the changing seasons, etc.  They have a website at www.earthsong.org.nz  that we haven’t looked at yet but probably explains it well. 

 

It was a well planned day for us Care-A-Vanners by the hosting affiliate.  It was entertaining, educational, and very much appreciated by all of us.

 

The affiliate has had trouble getting the building permits issued for the build.  The bureaucratic system here is apparently worse than ours.  We mutually decided that the Care-A-Vanners would use the three days of travel we had planned at the end of the build now and then work right through to the end of the month.

 

After the Earthsong visit we drove up to Orewa from west Auckland.  Orewa is on the north side of Auckland and is a Pacific beach town.  We camped at the Top 10 campground at the south end of the beach.

 

 

 

A Habitat welcome lunch!

 

 

 

Ra and family.

 

 

 

It was a very good day.

 

Kiwi Word of the Day:  Torch - Flashlight

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