Home again!

After much time in airports and airplanes, we are finally home.  Dave and Sandy have returned home and Greta and I are settling in.  There is much to do - pay bills, take care of leaves and fuschias, get ready for Christmas, but all good things to get done.  It was a great trip and many great experiences.  Now to start thinking about our next great adventure!

Five and a half weeks, and we are still on schedule.

A Cockatoo saying goodbye.

One last boat race.

Our last afternoon in Auckland we spent taking a ferry over to Devonport and walked around.  Then we finished packing, went to bed early, got up and headed to the airport.  Return our third rental car for this trip to the Auckland Airport Rental cars by  

The moon over Devonport in Auckland

11 AM.  In line for our 2:15 trip to Fiji,  until the lady in front of us started sounding exasperated, because her son had texted her that the flight had been canceled.  (The original plan was for us to fly from Auckland to Fiji, 6 hour layover, and then fly on to LA, and Portland.)  When we got up to the desk, the agent said that because we had a continuing flight, we would sit in Auckland until 10:45PM, and then have a direct flight to LA, including $24 in food vouchers per person.  We will be getting into Portland within an hour of the original plan, and have a much easier time of it.  A VERY GOOD THING WHEN YOU ARE EXHAUSTED!

Hobbiton

Sam Gamgee's home

Steve in front of Bag End

Ann Currie in red coat

No comment needed

On our way to Auckland we stopped in Matamata.  Greta, Dave, and Sandy looked around town and did emails while Steve took a tour out to the film set of Hobbiton where part of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit were filmed.  When we got off of the tour bus, we noticed a film crew was there and they started to film us.  Then a lady in a red coat started to interview some of us (but not me).  I tried to ignore them and then some of the Americans among us had their pictures taken with her.  I started paying closer attention and realized she was Ann Currie from NBC and found out they were going to show parts of our tour on this coming Friday's NBC morning show (unfortunately it didn't happen).  She was there because the premier of the first part of The Hobbit is in Wellington tonight and tomorrow the Prime Minister and some of the actors are going to be in Hobbiton.  So maybe my face will show up on NBC this Friday.  In any case, wandering around Hobbiton, seeing Bag End, and the mill and Green Dragon Tavern, and more scenes from The Lord of the Rings films was great!  It did my Tolkien loving heart good to be there.

Visit to Tamaki Maori village

A welcoming challenge

Uncovering the fire pit

Our last night in Rotorua we visited a Maori village named Tamaki for an introduction to their heritage and a hongi meal.  We rode there by coach.  When we got there we were met by various warriors in costume doing their welcoming dances/challenges.  After that we went to various village locations where they  talked to us about their traditions and asked for volunteers to try them out.  Then we went to their village meeting house where they performed songs and dances.  When that ended they took us to the eating lodge for their roasted meats and vegetables along with a buffet of several other items, drinks, and desserts.  I enjoyed their lamb and tried a mussel and Greta tried their fish.  We both had their roasted kamura potatoes.  For dessert we tried Kiwi pavlova, a meringue with kiwis and passion fruit.  It was all very good!

Rotorua

Okere Falls

Kayaker over Okere Falls

Blue Lake (Tikitapu)

Green Lake (Rotokakahi)

We were fortunate to sit next to a couple from Rotorua, when we came across the ferry from Picton to Wellington.  

They had some good advice for us tourists.  "Don't stop at any places in town where you see bus loads of tourists getting out!  See the thermal fields at Wai-o-tapu, hike the trail past four waterfalls at Okere Falls, see the blue and green lakes (he didn't know the Maori names of Lake Tikitapu and Lake Rotokakahi), and take a heli ride over the craters.  Sound advice! Unfortunately, the sun wasn't in a good position to bring out the blue and green colors.

Lady Knox Geyser - Wai-o-tapu

Lady Knox

Mud pool

Artist's palette

Champagne Pool

Bird's nest in side of crater.

There's a reason the sign says the Lady Knox erupts at 10:15.  The story is, this area was the local prison, and the prisoners were given the job of clearing the brush.  When they found the hot springs, they realized they could save time not having to build a fire to heat water to wash their clothes.  They also realized that it would be more intriguing to build it up like a tower and have the water come out the top.  (The hottest water is down below, and the cooler on top, and to create a geyser something has to happen to break the stasis). If they tossed some soap in, the water would come bubbling out.  So now, in 2012, they can and do, toss soap into this very same geyser at 10:15 each day, and enthrall bus loads of visitors.  After seeing the geyser, we checked out some bubbling mud pools, complete with plopping sounds, and then walked a "trek" that led us up, around, and past 25 unique thermal sites.   Unique, with the color produced by the different minerals, the shape, and the way some are being used.  The birds have discovered, that if they lay their eggs in some of the holes on the walls of the craters, the heat from below will incubate their eggs.  We did just fine with the odor!  

Taupo and Nellie

Nellie and the hot creek.

Active volcano is flat mountain on right

Lake Taupo

Black swans at Taupo

After a weekend tramp into a hut and back, Nellie, a friend of Kierstin's from Stanford, met us at our motel for dinner.  New Zealand is now her home while she works for her Phd.  It was so good to visit with her, and be able to ask all our questions.  After dinner, we walked across the street to Lake Taupo, the largest lake in New Zealand.  She scooped up a handful of water from a little stream running down to the lake, and, as expected, it was warm.  She was also able to straighten us out on the volcanos, and show us the one that is currently emitting gas.  After we said goodbye to Nellie, some people have to go to work on  Mondays, we filled our mineral pool spa on our back deck.  "The hot water is natural  mineral water extracted directly from 30-40m below where you are standing.  It is very  hot 70-80 degrees Celsius, so please do NOT put any part of your body directly in the hot stream, as it may scald."  The water came out of one 4" pipe, scalding water on top, and cold water on the bottom.  We slept well after that.  

Wellington

Wellington 

Beehive Bldg and the Parliament

Original Parliament now archives.

Before leaving Wellington, we walked around the Parliament Bldgs,  Beehive Bldg (supposedly in reference to Kate Shepherd who led the women's movement), and the National Library, which has also made the front page of the paper here.  The original Parliament is now the national archives managed by the National Library. Half way to Taupo, we stopped for our picnic at The Army Museum, with a beautiful snow capped mountain in the background. 

Picton North

The road to Picton

The Alaskan transplant with his salmon.

The ferry to the north island.

At 7:30 AM, four people buckled in, trunk filled with suitcases, back backs, collapsible cooler with the cold food, duck taped cardboard  box of dry ingredients and the trusty "Holstein Cow" lunch bag.  On to Picton, via the Queen Charlotte Drive, that the "rhubarb man" said we shouldn't miss.  It saved us 30 kilometers, followed the coastline, was extremely curvy and beautiful.  In Picton, we happened upon a Farmers' market, that was also not to be missed.  We added Hazelnuts to our luggage, from a man who gained his expertise at Oregon State.  He planted 3,000 trees as a retirement venture, and now sends them all over the world .  Salmon will be one of our next meals, bought from a man from Juneau, Alaska, who started raising them in Queen Charlotte Sound.  The smoked fish pie, and roasted strawberry shortcake needed a home, and then we needed some treats to take home.

The green mussels we didn't get to try.

The salmon farm

Once we checked our bags for the ferry to Wellington, we spread out our sula tablecloth, and enjoyed our Thanksgiving meal, roasted chicken on croissants with cream cheese and Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce.  The 3 1/2 hour ferry ride to the north island, felt like cruising through The San Juan's of Washington.  We saw two commercial mussel farms, and also the two salmon farms owned by the man we met at the farmers' market.  The rest of the trip was a leisurely cruise through the sounds and over to Wellington.

Abel Tasman Park

Kayakers enjoying Tasman Sea.

On the bush walk

Still tramping

The four of us were out front the Balmoral Motel this morning at 7:45 to be picked up and taken to Kaiteriteri for a cruise through Abel Tasman Natl Park.  The ship cruised in and out, around some scenic rocks, islands, and beaches.  The skipper slowed the boat to a stop to point out the fur seals, nesting cormorants, and a pair of penguins, that also turned out to be cormorants.  Sandy and Dave got off the boat with one other couple, to walk down a pristine beach and have a lunch that they both raved about.  There were also more shells in Sandy's pockets when the boat picked her up later in the afternoon.  Steve and I got off at Torrent Bay and did a 4 1/2 mile bush hike to Bark Bay.  The hike was mostly up above the beaches, but every time the Tasman Bay came into view, at least one of us, would remark about the amazing color.  When we came to the point where we were to be picked up, we saw a sign about tent camping or staying in a hut.  It was time to check out our options for a future visit.  The hut turned out to be three large rooms, one kitchen set up with tables and counter space for many individual Bunsen burners, and two rooms with enough bunk beds for maybe 20 people in each.

Split Apple Rock

The  bushwalking ladies

These were not 20 year old backpackers.  15 of them, were a group of older friends from Christchurch who loved sharing their stories with us.  When it was time to leave them, or miss our boat, I asked if we could take their picture.  One lady said " NO, YOU DON'T WANT MY PICTURE, I'VE GOT KNICKERS ON". (She's in the picture, knickers and all.)

Dinner out!

Enjoying the local brews

Rounding the spit.

Returning home.

It was also a day to go out for dinner.  The guys, with help from the office staff, chose The Boat Shed, a small restaurant, sitting literally over the Tasman Bay.  If you dropped something between the wooden slats in the floor, the object was immediately floating in the water.  Our dinners with:  John Dory (a local white fish), grilled prawns, roasted lamb, fresh asparagus, and pumpkin filled tortellini, were exquisite.  The sun was shining brightly and the "yachties" were out on the water putting on a magnificent show for us.  First it was as if they couldn't get in a tight enough circle to share the day's news, then they maneuvered into a very close line and all of a sudden, they were off, as if in a fast paced parade!  They glided to the left, curled around a marker out in the water, sailed behind an island, and as they came back to circle in front of us, each one dropped their spinnaker sail, which Dave said had to be done at the exact moment that they changed direction.  From the largest yachts, crewed by several people, down to the small sailboats piloted by a single sailor, they all looked very proficient.  When we get up in the mornings, we usually only have a general idea of what our day will hold.  Seeing these gorgeous, graceful sailboats glide across the water was definitely a serendipity!

Bad Day Cookies

5 weeks ago, Donna vacuum packed the ingredients for Tara's, Bad Day Cookies.  Plus the new can of condensed milk got packed.  We've been waiting for a motel with a reliable oven. Yes!  It's here in Nelson.  The lady at the desk had a 9x13 pan.  The girl at KFC thought she had foil, the man at the pizza shop DID have foil.  I thought they were as good as made, until I realized I didn't have our trusty measuring cup along, and wasn't sure how much of our 500 gram package of butter to put in.  Now I know, one cup of butter, is 226 grams.  The cookies are made, and we're enjoying them, and its not even a bad day!  What a deal!

Milford Sound Revisited

A change in our stops, when leaving Milford Sound, could have changed our trip completely.  They shut down the road shortly after we left.

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This large slip blocked the road to Milford Sound in Fiordland. Photo / Supplied

A 500-tonne boulder that crashed onto Milford Road in Fiordland last week was blown apart with explosives today.  Enormous boulders were brought down by a landslide on Friday, blocking the only road to the popular tourist area.  The slip had covered about 200 metres of the road. The biggest rock had now been successfully blasted and cleared away, along with other rocks.  New Zealand Transport Authority Southland area manager Milford Sound Lodge manager Japke Doodeman said yesterday the closure meant the lodge was losing about 30 people a day.Mr Robinson said Milford residents were well set up to live without the road.

"But considering all the boat companies and kayak companies that [usually] have buses coming in on a daily basis as well, it's quite a lot more than that."

There were 26 people staying at the lodge when the road was closed. Most had been flown out of the area.

Milford was "regularly" cut off, and the business was prepared when it happened, but the weekend slip was "massive", she said.

"Over winter it does happen a bit more often, definitely towards the spring season because that's when the avalanche risk gets higher."

- APNZ

On to Nelson

NZ's longest swinging bridge

Greta's home away from home

The Tasman Sea really is turquoise.

Tara's plant grown up

Buller Gorge is our avenue out of Westport.  It is a scenic reserve with shorter mountains, and lacking the waterfalls from the southern part of  New Zealand, but it has the longest swinging bridge in New Zealand, 110 meters. 
It is in the area of Murchison, an area devastated by earthquakes, but also known for its gold mining.  Today's picnic was at a lookout where we had a 360 degree view of the surrounding mountains, some some snow covered, and rolling hills below us.  

Heading North

An artisan working the jade.

Some of the Pancake rocks

A NZ fur seal

She does get around doesn't she.

Lonely Planet gave us our agenda for today.  Our first stop, was in the town of Hokitika, where most businesses are involved with the arts of blowing glass, stone carving, or jewelry making.


It is from the river bottom that people use to get jade by the truck load.  Now it is only available to the Maori people.  We watched the intricate process of carving the pieces with electric dental tools, water attached, then sanding and buffing.  Their designs are formed from the Maori legends.  Punakaki is home to The Pancake Rocks and Blowholes.  It was a short walk out to the beach where the face of the rocks appeared to be piles of thin pancakes, perhaps crepes, stacked on top of each other.  The rocks were very tall and rugged, but all had the same characteristic stack of pancakes look to them. Knowing we were going to see a blowhole, I kept imagining the one at Depot Bay, on the Oregon Coast, where when it blows, the water sprays over the sidewalk and part of the street.  This path, took us past many strong surges of the ocean, and one blowhole, where Steve's patience payed off, and gained him a picture of the spray.

Franz Josef Glacier

Franz Josef

Some of the glacial debris

On the way to Franz Josef

This morning we slept in, and got up to bright sunshine, perfect for hiking up to the glacier.  The  Franz Josef Glacier, a forty minute walk from the car park is "one of the most dynamic glaciers in the world."  We walked through "the bush", and then out across the dry river bed, until we came to a life size cutout of a forest ranger, who kindly asks you to stop 500 meters before the glacier, for your own safety.  On the way back, we enjoyed more waterfalls, and all the mineral filled rocks that make up the path.