Next Saturday October 8th, Chad and I set out on another big adventure, this time in celebration of our 60th birthdays! JAPAN! We have plenty of yen (since it's a cash society, especially in smaller towns), our 14 day Japan Rail Pass ready to be activated on the 11th and all our hotel reservations...and the rest we plan to figure out as we go along.
Our first night will actually be spent in the Dallas Airport Marriott so we will be closer to DFW airport for our Sunday morning 10:30 am direct flight into Tokyo's Narita Airport. We cashed in all our Aadvantage miles accumulated over years of flying and are traveling first class to Japan, which will be a huge thrill and huge relief to our aging joints LOL. We arrive at 2:30 pm Tokyo time on Monday October 10 after a 13-hour flight and by the time we get to the hotel after immigration/customs and the hour train ride into town, we'll probably be ready to crash. Especially since we're considering getting in line the next morning at 4:00 am to get tickets to see the early morning fish auction at Tsukiji Market and then have our first (of hopefully many) sushi breakfasts.
Our entire 15 days will be spent on the biggest island of Honshu. Get out your maps now and track our plan. We will spend the first 4 nights in Tokyo, before hopping on the bullet train Friday the 14th for the hour ride to Mt. Fuji where we'll spend the night in our first traditional ryokan, hoping to bathe in some natural thermal springs....and attempt to do some hiking around Mt. Fuji, weather permitting. On Saturday the 15th, we take the afternoon bullet train west to Kyoto where we'll spend 5 nights, taking side trips to Nara, Osaka and possibly Hiroshima. The next two nights are in the northern coastal town of Kanazawa and then we go into the mountains for 2 nights to stay at another ryokan in Takayama. Our final night, we travel back to Narita Airport to spend the night for our early morning flight back to Dallas and then back to Florida.
We will be traveling in autumn so we're hoping for perfect weather in the 60's and 70's and gorgeous trees in all shades of red, pink and purple in the gorgeous sculpted gardens and surrounding all the shrines.
Thursday, September 29, 2016
Saturday, January 16, 2016
What Rachele didn't know...
Before we left, I sent Rachele copies of our itinerary, pictures I saw online of places we'd visit, UTube videos of adventure packed drives we'd take and miraculous things we'd see in our three week New Zealand road trip.
She. didn't. look. at. anything. She knew about bungy jumping for her 23rd birthday. period.
She didn't know about high speed jetboating through narrow canyons, handgliding off mountaintops, or cruising through Milford Sound or The Bay of Islands or across the Cook Strait. She didn't know about crystal clear blue, turquoise and green water, the massive glaciers, snow capped mountains and the endless drives over twisty roads to see it all. It was a surprise for her to see waterfalls and bubbling mud, rainbow colored, mineral filled rivers and lakes, lava fields and sand dunes, cliffs over turbulent seas, glacial valleys, or rock filled glacial water fed estuaries. It was a surprise to kayak in the Sound, and the Bay, and the Sea. She didn't know about moss covered trees, rocks and pastures, about 6 foot tall silver ferns and tall redwoods and massive, old kauri trees. She didn't expect hundreds of hills and pastures filled with sheep, or meals of succulent lamb chops. She didn't know about tracks and tramps and Great Walks through misty, cool forests, or along rock scattered beaches, or above remnants of dormant volcanos and across volcanic craters. She didn't know about steaming geysers, sulfuric gases, dark caves, glow worms, hot springs and steamy waterfalls in hidden niches in rocks where we could bathe. She didn't know about Maoris and birds that can't fly and kiwi smash martinis. About the B&B's where we would meet wonderful hosts and eat fresh eggs and fruit harvested from garden trees. About the many picnics we would eat along streams, gorges and forests. But now she does. We all do. What a miracle of nature and what a joy to see.
New Zealand you are miraculous!
She. didn't. look. at. anything. She knew about bungy jumping for her 23rd birthday. period.
She didn't know about high speed jetboating through narrow canyons, handgliding off mountaintops, or cruising through Milford Sound or The Bay of Islands or across the Cook Strait. She didn't know about crystal clear blue, turquoise and green water, the massive glaciers, snow capped mountains and the endless drives over twisty roads to see it all. It was a surprise for her to see waterfalls and bubbling mud, rainbow colored, mineral filled rivers and lakes, lava fields and sand dunes, cliffs over turbulent seas, glacial valleys, or rock filled glacial water fed estuaries. It was a surprise to kayak in the Sound, and the Bay, and the Sea. She didn't know about moss covered trees, rocks and pastures, about 6 foot tall silver ferns and tall redwoods and massive, old kauri trees. She didn't expect hundreds of hills and pastures filled with sheep, or meals of succulent lamb chops. She didn't know about tracks and tramps and Great Walks through misty, cool forests, or along rock scattered beaches, or above remnants of dormant volcanos and across volcanic craters. She didn't know about steaming geysers, sulfuric gases, dark caves, glow worms, hot springs and steamy waterfalls in hidden niches in rocks where we could bathe. She didn't know about Maoris and birds that can't fly and kiwi smash martinis. About the B&B's where we would meet wonderful hosts and eat fresh eggs and fruit harvested from garden trees. About the many picnics we would eat along streams, gorges and forests. But now she does. We all do. What a miracle of nature and what a joy to see.
New Zealand you are miraculous!
Thursday, January 14, 2016
When in New Zealand...
What we noticed that is different here in NZ...
Driving curiosities...
Ok, the obvious, they drive on the left side of the road and the steering wheel is on the right blah, blah, blah, but that's not all... I don't think we saw a stop light in the South Island for over a week and then we only saw a few when we hit Christchurch. Turning circles are everywhere and easy to maneuver because the signage is so good and because Rachele and I are the perfect back seat drivers! Most bridges in the rural areas are one way bridges, with one direction having the right of way, while the other side "gives way". This generally works! Big warning: you must drive under the speed limit! There is only a 4 km grace, strictly enforced on holidays, and we got a ticket for going 12 km (7 mph) above the speed limit...ouch! Set your cruise control for 99 km if the speed limit is 100 km, which really is the only speed limit in NZ except when you enter the towns. Oh and make sure you have plenty of gas for those rural areas because stations can be few and far between (especially in the middle of the South Island from Wanaka through Arthur's Pass). The car must be unlocked to open the tank and our chip cards don't seem to work at the pumps without a PIN, so pump, then pay inside. While they drive cars on the left on the highways, all boaters must comply with international boating standards so boaters drive on the right, and the wheels on the jetboats are on the left like our cars. Drive into hotels and parking centers from the first (left) entrance that you come to or you will be going in on the exit side...and don't turn on your windshield wipers every time you think you are hitting the turning signal with your left hand; yep use your right hand to signal. Got that?
Oh, remember some of the fun names to rent from other than Avis or Hertz...Wicked (for wilder travelers)!, Kiwi and Maui for campers, Jucy for cars, campers and vans, and Europecar. We had a full size car and it worked, but it had low sides and a lot of the roads we were on were rocks and bumpy and it's super easy to rub your low tires on the left when parallel parking...it would have been better to have a SUV. And remember it's easy to trade cars at the ferry if you don't want to pay to transport them. No extra fee, just arrange it beforehand per online instructions.
Bathroom/plumbing curiosities...
Free public toilets are in every city center and marked with a blue sign and usually have running water and toilet paper, except for that one time when we found a public toilet that looked like a giant round tube sitting by itself in a field...suggestion: always have TP in your car and wet wipes in your bag. It's very common to find sinks with separate hot and cold faucets like 1960's America and every toilet has two buttons to flush, for "small loads" and bigger ones. And in some places, toilets are art! We even came across a combination washer and dryer in one place we stayed...never saw that before.
Electricity curiosities...
Of course, bring your NZ adapter plug to charge, but also remember to turn on those small buttons next to the outlet to actually get electricity to the outlet. Because of this, those large modern multi-country adapters are usually impossible to use because they interfere with the on/off switch. Use those individual single country adapters. iPhones, cameras, etc usually don't need those heavy converters because they work with both 110 and 220 voltage.
Pronunciation curiosities...
Can't figure out them all, but the "e" seems to always be a long e like in "veer", so the word "very" is pronounced "veery". Lever is leever. This is very different sounding than United Kingdom accents. I think this is because everyone is from all over the United Kingdom and when you combine that with Maori, it is just different. I think "wh" sounds like an "f" (all the Maori words seem to start with wh) and "g" in the middle of the word sounds like "t". Paihia is pronounced like "Pie-here" so the "a" in NZ doesn't sound like what we think an "a" should sound like. The words therefore are impossible to pronounce and we have to listen with both ears to understand. Rachele pointed out that to them, we are the ones with the accent...LOL! Other than the funny pronunciation, it seems more like America here than any place we've traveled, definitely more so than the United Kingdom which does seem like a foreign country.
Food curiosities...
No surprise, lamb is about $7 US a pound and very fresh...that's what we're having for dinner on the porch tonight, grilled and covered in a fresh garlic and peach mango chutney. Everything else seems the same for the most part. I've talked about food in an earlier blog, but the shout out to the lamb's sacrifice bears a re-mention!
People curiosities...
Very little diversity here in NZ that we could tell. Most have English, Scottish or Irish roots (or Maori in the North Island) and it seems like a vibrant, youthful, healthy group of people. No obesity, not much smoking, seemingly stress free, extremely friendly. People recycle, compost and feed their farm animals all leftovers. The English feel very at home here and there are many transplants...similar roots and philosophies and much better weather. Other than Asian tourists in Queenstown and Rotorua, we've seen few Asians and can count on our hands the number of black residents/tourists we have seen. Most diversity is from Polynesian roots I would guess. Last but not least, to a Kiwi, America is not the center of the Universe...in fact, other than knowing that Trump may be the next GOP candidate, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of interest in what we're doing, other than what they see of American TV. Too busy just living their lives and being happy to be doing it down here!
Driving curiosities...
Ok, the obvious, they drive on the left side of the road and the steering wheel is on the right blah, blah, blah, but that's not all... I don't think we saw a stop light in the South Island for over a week and then we only saw a few when we hit Christchurch. Turning circles are everywhere and easy to maneuver because the signage is so good and because Rachele and I are the perfect back seat drivers! Most bridges in the rural areas are one way bridges, with one direction having the right of way, while the other side "gives way". This generally works! Big warning: you must drive under the speed limit! There is only a 4 km grace, strictly enforced on holidays, and we got a ticket for going 12 km (7 mph) above the speed limit...ouch! Set your cruise control for 99 km if the speed limit is 100 km, which really is the only speed limit in NZ except when you enter the towns. Oh and make sure you have plenty of gas for those rural areas because stations can be few and far between (especially in the middle of the South Island from Wanaka through Arthur's Pass). The car must be unlocked to open the tank and our chip cards don't seem to work at the pumps without a PIN, so pump, then pay inside. While they drive cars on the left on the highways, all boaters must comply with international boating standards so boaters drive on the right, and the wheels on the jetboats are on the left like our cars. Drive into hotels and parking centers from the first (left) entrance that you come to or you will be going in on the exit side...and don't turn on your windshield wipers every time you think you are hitting the turning signal with your left hand; yep use your right hand to signal. Got that?
Oh, remember some of the fun names to rent from other than Avis or Hertz...Wicked (for wilder travelers)!, Kiwi and Maui for campers, Jucy for cars, campers and vans, and Europecar. We had a full size car and it worked, but it had low sides and a lot of the roads we were on were rocks and bumpy and it's super easy to rub your low tires on the left when parallel parking...it would have been better to have a SUV. And remember it's easy to trade cars at the ferry if you don't want to pay to transport them. No extra fee, just arrange it beforehand per online instructions.
Bathroom/plumbing curiosities...
Free public toilets are in every city center and marked with a blue sign and usually have running water and toilet paper, except for that one time when we found a public toilet that looked like a giant round tube sitting by itself in a field...suggestion: always have TP in your car and wet wipes in your bag. It's very common to find sinks with separate hot and cold faucets like 1960's America and every toilet has two buttons to flush, for "small loads" and bigger ones. And in some places, toilets are art! We even came across a combination washer and dryer in one place we stayed...never saw that before.
Electricity curiosities...
Of course, bring your NZ adapter plug to charge, but also remember to turn on those small buttons next to the outlet to actually get electricity to the outlet. Because of this, those large modern multi-country adapters are usually impossible to use because they interfere with the on/off switch. Use those individual single country adapters. iPhones, cameras, etc usually don't need those heavy converters because they work with both 110 and 220 voltage.
Pronunciation curiosities...
Can't figure out them all, but the "e" seems to always be a long e like in "veer", so the word "very" is pronounced "veery". Lever is leever. This is very different sounding than United Kingdom accents. I think this is because everyone is from all over the United Kingdom and when you combine that with Maori, it is just different. I think "wh" sounds like an "f" (all the Maori words seem to start with wh) and "g" in the middle of the word sounds like "t". Paihia is pronounced like "Pie-here" so the "a" in NZ doesn't sound like what we think an "a" should sound like. The words therefore are impossible to pronounce and we have to listen with both ears to understand. Rachele pointed out that to them, we are the ones with the accent...LOL! Other than the funny pronunciation, it seems more like America here than any place we've traveled, definitely more so than the United Kingdom which does seem like a foreign country.
Food curiosities...
No surprise, lamb is about $7 US a pound and very fresh...that's what we're having for dinner on the porch tonight, grilled and covered in a fresh garlic and peach mango chutney. Everything else seems the same for the most part. I've talked about food in an earlier blog, but the shout out to the lamb's sacrifice bears a re-mention!
People curiosities...
Very little diversity here in NZ that we could tell. Most have English, Scottish or Irish roots (or Maori in the North Island) and it seems like a vibrant, youthful, healthy group of people. No obesity, not much smoking, seemingly stress free, extremely friendly. People recycle, compost and feed their farm animals all leftovers. The English feel very at home here and there are many transplants...similar roots and philosophies and much better weather. Other than Asian tourists in Queenstown and Rotorua, we've seen few Asians and can count on our hands the number of black residents/tourists we have seen. Most diversity is from Polynesian roots I would guess. Last but not least, to a Kiwi, America is not the center of the Universe...in fact, other than knowing that Trump may be the next GOP candidate, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of interest in what we're doing, other than what they see of American TV. Too busy just living their lives and being happy to be doing it down here!
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
Oops! And Wow!
Oops! we actually needed a reservation (in the middle of summer) to do black water rafting, repelling and small group viewing of glow worms unless we wanted to wait from 10 am until 3 pm. And we learned this after we drove about 1/2 hour south out of our way because we didn't believe the website. Our only option was to try to hop on one of the touristy boats that leave every half hour just to view glow worms and we decided we didn't want that experience, so sadly we left Waitomo and started to drive north towards Auckland. Make reservations for this activity a few days in advance!!!
I should mention that NZ was having a bit of a cyclone today and there was persistent rain and clouds all day, all over the North Island. We regrouped after our epic fail at Waitomo, but then had to forget all thoughts of stopping to see Bethel Beach on the west coast or hike nearby or visit Auckland's harbour for lunch or visit all the beautiful coves along the east coast and just kept driving north for hours. A 7 hour drive that was supposed to be spread out over 2 days happened in one day, in pouring rain, on often twisty roads or on an interstate through Auckland. Shout out to Chad for amazing driving under stress on the left side of the road! Yikes, passing trucks is terrifying on curves!
Anyway, we called ahead to our next lodging host, and to our great joy learned that our 2 day beach house at Paihia in the Bay of Islands was available if we arrived a night earlier, so we kept driving and arrived at a spectacular beach house with a full kitchen, 2 bedrooms, a laundry, 3 kayaks and situated towering over the beach on a steep bluff overlooking the beautiful bay. Joy! Good karma!
We booked a 4 hour ferry trip through the Bay of Islands with Explore and stopped at the town of Russell for the afternoon and took the passenger ferry back. (Update: don't waste any time stopping at Russell). This cruise visited Hole in the Rock and also stopped at one of the larger islands and we had a barbecue lunch, enjoyed sunbathing and hiking, stayed as long as we wanted and caught a later boat back to Paihia. Our last day in Paihia was a morning of kayaking and a glow worm cave vist and a drive through some Maori towns. On the way home we picked up some lamb chops at $7 a pound and grilled the chops on the porch and had a peaceful, delicious dinner on our porch...maybe one of the best meals in NZ. On Friday, we left Paihia for the west coast,visiting a gorgeous beach with sand dunes and a beautiful harbour, saw the largest Kauri tree in NZ 153 feet tall and 40 feet in girth, and saw the black sand beach at Bethel Beach at sunset. We found an efficient hotel in downtown, had a great dinner at a fun place,and spent a morning visiting Auckland's harbour and shopping before our 7:30 pm flight home Saturday night. Cheers!
I should mention that NZ was having a bit of a cyclone today and there was persistent rain and clouds all day, all over the North Island. We regrouped after our epic fail at Waitomo, but then had to forget all thoughts of stopping to see Bethel Beach on the west coast or hike nearby or visit Auckland's harbour for lunch or visit all the beautiful coves along the east coast and just kept driving north for hours. A 7 hour drive that was supposed to be spread out over 2 days happened in one day, in pouring rain, on often twisty roads or on an interstate through Auckland. Shout out to Chad for amazing driving under stress on the left side of the road! Yikes, passing trucks is terrifying on curves!
Anyway, we called ahead to our next lodging host, and to our great joy learned that our 2 day beach house at Paihia in the Bay of Islands was available if we arrived a night earlier, so we kept driving and arrived at a spectacular beach house with a full kitchen, 2 bedrooms, a laundry, 3 kayaks and situated towering over the beach on a steep bluff overlooking the beautiful bay. Joy! Good karma!
We booked a 4 hour ferry trip through the Bay of Islands with Explore and stopped at the town of Russell for the afternoon and took the passenger ferry back. (Update: don't waste any time stopping at Russell). This cruise visited Hole in the Rock and also stopped at one of the larger islands and we had a barbecue lunch, enjoyed sunbathing and hiking, stayed as long as we wanted and caught a later boat back to Paihia. Our last day in Paihia was a morning of kayaking and a glow worm cave vist and a drive through some Maori towns. On the way home we picked up some lamb chops at $7 a pound and grilled the chops on the porch and had a peaceful, delicious dinner on our porch...maybe one of the best meals in NZ. On Friday, we left Paihia for the west coast,visiting a gorgeous beach with sand dunes and a beautiful harbour, saw the largest Kauri tree in NZ 153 feet tall and 40 feet in girth, and saw the black sand beach at Bethel Beach at sunset. We found an efficient hotel in downtown, had a great dinner at a fun place,and spent a morning visiting Auckland's harbour and shopping before our 7:30 pm flight home Saturday night. Cheers!
Monday, January 11, 2016
The stinkier, the better! Rotorua and Waitomo...
After figuring out how to physically move again after our long tramp to Tongariro, we headed north towards Lake Taupo and the vast thermal region surrounding Rotorua. Our first stop scared us immediately upon arrival when men with flags directed us where to park, and we thought we were at the grand opening of an IKEA store or Disney NZ. We clearly had arrived at the top local tourist attraction Wai-o-taupo and strangely, we were not at all disappointed because the place was amazing! Sinkholes, blowholes, bubbling mud, steaming vapor and geysers (we missed the big one which goes off at 10:15am daily), silica terraces, and the most magnificent glowing colored mineral pools. Walkways and natural brush made this viewing seem as natural as possible given the crowd (which thinned out once we reached the 3-4th display). We spent about 2 hours walking and enjoying what I hope was the best example of a natural thermal phenomenom as there are many to choose from, some of which force you to also watch tattooed Maori men stick out their tongues, bulge their eyes and dance crazy dances in front of you. Oh, did I mention the smell? Let's just say Rachele and I have been craving egg salad sandwiches ever since. We stopped in the city center and actually had a pleasant, hearty lunch at Henneseys, an historic Irish Bar. Chad had lamb shanks and mashed potatoes and peas, Rachele had beef shepperds pie and I had lamb Irish stew, celebrating part of NZs roots!
We arrived mid-afternoon at our only farmstay at Lakeside B&B, set on a bluff overlooking Lake Rotatua, and we were blessed with a stunning day (which seemed to be the exception in the North Island this week). Chad and I enjoyed rounding the barnyard with our host Alan during the evening feeding, getting up close finally to 22 of the 4,000,000 sheep we've passed grazing on every hillside in NZ, plus 3 goats, 3 alpaca, 2 pigs, and a dozen hens and roosters. FYI we ate farm fresh free range eggs again for breakfast (as we usually do at B&Bs) which have yolks of cad yellow, plus fresh picked fruits from the garden. What we didn't finish is tomorrow's pig dinner.
For sunset we walked along the deepest spring in NZ just minutes from our lodging and through a 100 year old North American redwood forest. Black swans and ducks, massive tall redwood trees, gorgeous fern lined banks of a crystal clear, freezing cold spring and river. And the smell of a forest at sunset! No hills and just a pleasant evening stroll before heading into Rotorua for a (mediocre) late dinner at Pig and Whistle (seen in Trip advisor but highly overrated).
We woke up 6 times this morning to a rooster crowing. We booked a last minute expedition which turned out to be an absolutely wonderful and completely unique experience just south of Rotorua with NZ Riverjets and doing "the squeeze". (FYI...this place is very close to Wai-o-taupo south of Rotorua on the way from Taupo and Tongariro...departures were at 11 am and 2 pm and reservations are required, so if you can do both these adventures the same day, you would save driving time from Rotorua and better to do them coming from the south.) After changing into our "bathers", we boarded a jet boat with 6 other guests for a leisurely hour boat ride on the clear Waikato River, the longest in NZ, lined with so much towering, overflowing greenery that the entire River valley seemed to glow green. Another LOR site! Our driver stopped and gave informative information about the area from time to time. Along the river we passed steaming geysers on the banks and saw Maori burial sites in the limestone caves and cliffs lining the shores. We moored the boat and got out into lukewarm water and started walking through a narrow passage or gorge into the forest, squeezing our bodies between boulders in a narrow hidden pass. We ended up in a crystal clear, warm pool surrounded by boulders 2 stories high with 2 high volume hot waterfalls flowing into the pool. Omg! So powerful was the force it untied Racheles bather top. You will get wet! You might want to bring a towel, but not necessary in summer because the water and air are warm. We were able to relax in the warm pools for about 45 minutes and it seemed private since there were only 9 of us. Then we returned to the boat for a typical high speed, spinning jet boat ride back. The whole experience took 3 hours and got us on the water, exploring the volcanic backcountry, relaxing in thermal springs and falls and fun jet boating.
Headed back to Rotorua for an early dinner on "Eat Streat" at an Italian eatery Nuvo and had a very tasty pasta dinner. Now we're planning tomorrow...heading west to Waitomo Caves to visit the glow worm caves and maybe do some "black water rafting". FYI...we waited too long to make reservations for the blackwater rafting and repelling!!!! Popular companies seen on Trip Advisor like "Legendary Black Water Rafting" and "Kiwi Cave" and "Spellbound" were all booked until 3:00 pm and we learned that when we got to Waitomo and we had to get on our way! We decided not to just do a "mass produced" viewing with lots of other tourists and will wait to see glow worms near Paihia. Must make early reservations. Tomorrow night, we head north towards Auckland to find lodging on our way to Paihia in the Bay of Islands in the north. Hoping for wifi...
We arrived mid-afternoon at our only farmstay at Lakeside B&B, set on a bluff overlooking Lake Rotatua, and we were blessed with a stunning day (which seemed to be the exception in the North Island this week). Chad and I enjoyed rounding the barnyard with our host Alan during the evening feeding, getting up close finally to 22 of the 4,000,000 sheep we've passed grazing on every hillside in NZ, plus 3 goats, 3 alpaca, 2 pigs, and a dozen hens and roosters. FYI we ate farm fresh free range eggs again for breakfast (as we usually do at B&Bs) which have yolks of cad yellow, plus fresh picked fruits from the garden. What we didn't finish is tomorrow's pig dinner.
For sunset we walked along the deepest spring in NZ just minutes from our lodging and through a 100 year old North American redwood forest. Black swans and ducks, massive tall redwood trees, gorgeous fern lined banks of a crystal clear, freezing cold spring and river. And the smell of a forest at sunset! No hills and just a pleasant evening stroll before heading into Rotorua for a (mediocre) late dinner at Pig and Whistle (seen in Trip advisor but highly overrated).
We woke up 6 times this morning to a rooster crowing. We booked a last minute expedition which turned out to be an absolutely wonderful and completely unique experience just south of Rotorua with NZ Riverjets and doing "the squeeze". (FYI...this place is very close to Wai-o-taupo south of Rotorua on the way from Taupo and Tongariro...departures were at 11 am and 2 pm and reservations are required, so if you can do both these adventures the same day, you would save driving time from Rotorua and better to do them coming from the south.) After changing into our "bathers", we boarded a jet boat with 6 other guests for a leisurely hour boat ride on the clear Waikato River, the longest in NZ, lined with so much towering, overflowing greenery that the entire River valley seemed to glow green. Another LOR site! Our driver stopped and gave informative information about the area from time to time. Along the river we passed steaming geysers on the banks and saw Maori burial sites in the limestone caves and cliffs lining the shores. We moored the boat and got out into lukewarm water and started walking through a narrow passage or gorge into the forest, squeezing our bodies between boulders in a narrow hidden pass. We ended up in a crystal clear, warm pool surrounded by boulders 2 stories high with 2 high volume hot waterfalls flowing into the pool. Omg! So powerful was the force it untied Racheles bather top. You will get wet! You might want to bring a towel, but not necessary in summer because the water and air are warm. We were able to relax in the warm pools for about 45 minutes and it seemed private since there were only 9 of us. Then we returned to the boat for a typical high speed, spinning jet boat ride back. The whole experience took 3 hours and got us on the water, exploring the volcanic backcountry, relaxing in thermal springs and falls and fun jet boating.
Headed back to Rotorua for an early dinner on "Eat Streat" at an Italian eatery Nuvo and had a very tasty pasta dinner. Now we're planning tomorrow...heading west to Waitomo Caves to visit the glow worm caves and maybe do some "black water rafting". FYI...we waited too long to make reservations for the blackwater rafting and repelling!!!! Popular companies seen on Trip Advisor like "Legendary Black Water Rafting" and "Kiwi Cave" and "Spellbound" were all booked until 3:00 pm and we learned that when we got to Waitomo and we had to get on our way! We decided not to just do a "mass produced" viewing with lots of other tourists and will wait to see glow worms near Paihia. Must make early reservations. Tomorrow night, we head north towards Auckland to find lodging on our way to Paihia in the Bay of Islands in the north. Hoping for wifi...
Sunday, January 10, 2016
We've left the planet
We arrived at Tongariro in a rain storm, the 3 volcanos completely obscured from view by mist. Optimistic the next morning, we hopped on the shuttle bus at 5:30 am, only to be told our transport was cancelled due to high winds at the top. It took us awhile to regroup (although we should have gone into the small village to consider a different transport company), and then decided to go to the trailhead at the popular starting point, hike up until it got windy, and then turn around. It was a glorious day, sunny and clear and hundreds of people were beginning the ascent; every other transport company seemed to be operating. We started up and ended up doing the whole track! Luckily a shuttle service, driving back and forth to both trailhead parking lots, transported Chad back to our car for $30 and he returned to get us! 19 km, 11.4 miles, 8 hours, 3 people who could barely move at the end, but were extremely proud!
The track varied throughout...at times we were trekking up steep black lava rock steps; sometimes we crossed over flat moon-like craters, at the highest point we passed the red crater that recently erupted; we struggled down the sandy lava ash from the eruption (each of us falling it was so unstable and slippery). At the windy spot, we used thick wire ropes attached to the mountain to pull ourselves over rocks. Thank goodness for the trekking poles which most trekkers did not have. I thought my earrings would pull out of my ears from the wind. We descended from the peak over the lava ash to 4 glowing lakes in the distance; 3 were varying shades of brilliant, glowy, milky green and another bigger lake across the central flat crater was blue with wind whipping across it, trying to pull us in. The lakes are beautiful, but are toxic sulfuric acid. Steam is shooting out from blowholes and the area has a slight rotten egg smell. We still sat by one of the lakes in a moonlike setting and ate our lunch. The last (boring and tedious) part was the traverse down for nearly 3 hours across rocky (moonlike) terrain slowly making our way down, one lead foot at a time!
But were we ever proud! What a day! What an experience! It made our trip!
The track varied throughout...at times we were trekking up steep black lava rock steps; sometimes we crossed over flat moon-like craters, at the highest point we passed the red crater that recently erupted; we struggled down the sandy lava ash from the eruption (each of us falling it was so unstable and slippery). At the windy spot, we used thick wire ropes attached to the mountain to pull ourselves over rocks. Thank goodness for the trekking poles which most trekkers did not have. I thought my earrings would pull out of my ears from the wind. We descended from the peak over the lava ash to 4 glowing lakes in the distance; 3 were varying shades of brilliant, glowy, milky green and another bigger lake across the central flat crater was blue with wind whipping across it, trying to pull us in. The lakes are beautiful, but are toxic sulfuric acid. Steam is shooting out from blowholes and the area has a slight rotten egg smell. We still sat by one of the lakes in a moonlike setting and ate our lunch. The last (boring and tedious) part was the traverse down for nearly 3 hours across rocky (moonlike) terrain slowly making our way down, one lead foot at a time!
But were we ever proud! What a day! What an experience! It made our trip!
Saturday, January 9, 2016
Abel Tasman National Park and off to the North Island
We're on the 9:05am Interislander Ferry heading north on a 3.5 hour cruise through the Marlborough Sound and the Cook Strait after 2 nights in a tropical resort on the north shore and a layover in the port town of Picton. Just FYI, I booked the ferry tickets online and it was a breeze to return the rental car at the terminal, get our boarding tickets and check our luggage before settling in a giant space that looks like a cafeteria with big viewing windows (and free wifi...whoop whoop). Also FYI, when I rented the car online I rented from Queenstown to Auckland and then sent emails to the Avis NZ office to arrange drop off in the South and pick up of the new car in the North, although it is possible to take cars on the ferry. For future reference, don't forget to leave your key with the contract when you return the car on the south side because it's embarrassing to still have it in your pocket on the north side. It's quite a blustery day here in NZ...rainy, waves, gale force winds so it's good not to be on land hiking today. The crossing was a bit rough at times, the outer decks were closed and unfortunately, we had no views of the Sound. Let's hope the weather clears in time for our Tongariro hike in the morning (and our drive from Wellington to Tongariro this afternoon.). Update: weather never improved entire ferry ride or on drive to Tongariro!
The days at Abel Tasmen were quite pleasant. We arranged (through our hotel, but there are many outfitters offering a variety of water/land trips) for a water taxi to take us to a cove where we hiked 2 hours north to a beach where we enjoyed a picnic lunch and some sunbathing. The water is magnificent but freezing to our Florida standards! Another water taxi picked us up and we went south a bit to another cove where we boarded kayaks to begin a 2 hour sea kayak trip back to the main port. Saw a few seals resting on rocks along the way, but not much sea life, especially after seeing thousands of sea lions last year in the Galapagos. We wished we had inquired about Cleopatra Falls/sliding rock before we departed because we missed that. Had a yummy meal at the local/tourist favorite, The Fat Tui food truck, where we waited an hour for a hamburger covered in shredded salad, aoili, carmelized onions & relish. The night before we also had a yummy meal at Hookers, talking to the waitresses, having cocktails and lamb! Marahau is a beachy town and everyone is so laid back and friendly; our lodge hosts had moved their young family from London to live in this peaceful friendly environment. The Kiwis are so natural. Hard to describe people who just seem happy to be alive.. Our gracious hosts, Joce and Scott, the new owners of the Abel Tasman Marahau Lodge, had such pride in their newly renovated lodge, with most chalets updated with a clean look (we had a triple), a spacious, clean and well stocked community kitchen where we prepared breakfasts (and could have cooked a full dinner too) and large commercial laundry machines. Funky birds (black feathers, blue belly feathers, orange legs with big orange claws that looked like a chicken) woke us up with shrieks and pecking on our sliding doors.
AT has a lot of hikes if varying length, but generally a water taxi is needed to get you to a trailhead. The beaches and sea water were absolutely beautiful, but cold and windier than a Florida beach. A great tropical diversion, but by the 3rd day we were ready to head off towards Picton. After a quick beach hike to see Split Apple Rock, we drove through Nelson and the Marlborough Sound region, even heading up into one of the "fingers" extending up into the Sound, the Charlotte Track, a twisty road through tropical beauty, but could have easily head into wine country for a tour. We stopped in Haverlock for locally harvested green mussels and spent the night at Kippilaw House in Picton. Our host Margaret made us a multi course gourmet dinner with wine and a magnificent 3 course breakfast at 7am before we headed to the ferry.
The days at Abel Tasmen were quite pleasant. We arranged (through our hotel, but there are many outfitters offering a variety of water/land trips) for a water taxi to take us to a cove where we hiked 2 hours north to a beach where we enjoyed a picnic lunch and some sunbathing. The water is magnificent but freezing to our Florida standards! Another water taxi picked us up and we went south a bit to another cove where we boarded kayaks to begin a 2 hour sea kayak trip back to the main port. Saw a few seals resting on rocks along the way, but not much sea life, especially after seeing thousands of sea lions last year in the Galapagos. We wished we had inquired about Cleopatra Falls/sliding rock before we departed because we missed that. Had a yummy meal at the local/tourist favorite, The Fat Tui food truck, where we waited an hour for a hamburger covered in shredded salad, aoili, carmelized onions & relish. The night before we also had a yummy meal at Hookers, talking to the waitresses, having cocktails and lamb! Marahau is a beachy town and everyone is so laid back and friendly; our lodge hosts had moved their young family from London to live in this peaceful friendly environment. The Kiwis are so natural. Hard to describe people who just seem happy to be alive.. Our gracious hosts, Joce and Scott, the new owners of the Abel Tasman Marahau Lodge, had such pride in their newly renovated lodge, with most chalets updated with a clean look (we had a triple), a spacious, clean and well stocked community kitchen where we prepared breakfasts (and could have cooked a full dinner too) and large commercial laundry machines. Funky birds (black feathers, blue belly feathers, orange legs with big orange claws that looked like a chicken) woke us up with shrieks and pecking on our sliding doors.
AT has a lot of hikes if varying length, but generally a water taxi is needed to get you to a trailhead. The beaches and sea water were absolutely beautiful, but cold and windier than a Florida beach. A great tropical diversion, but by the 3rd day we were ready to head off towards Picton. After a quick beach hike to see Split Apple Rock, we drove through Nelson and the Marlborough Sound region, even heading up into one of the "fingers" extending up into the Sound, the Charlotte Track, a twisty road through tropical beauty, but could have easily head into wine country for a tour. We stopped in Haverlock for locally harvested green mussels and spent the night at Kippilaw House in Picton. Our host Margaret made us a multi course gourmet dinner with wine and a magnificent 3 course breakfast at 7am before we headed to the ferry.
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