Bonus blog--random thoughts and observations

Here are some random thoughts and observations of our trip, so far.

In NZ, truckers and boaters are called truckies and boaties.

I seldom hear anyone saying "yes."  What they say is more likely to be "yehyeh," spoken quickly; sometimes it sounds like "eeya."

Exits are marked "Way Out."  Yield signs say "Give Way."  A rubber sink stopper is called a "Self parking plug."  In fact, a sink is called a wash basin, not a sink.  A shifter on an older car is called a "column changer."  A camper or travel trailer or RV is called a "Caravan."  

The people from Australia and England and Scotland use their knives and forks in a way different from what I'm used to.  They hold their knife in their dominant hand, and their fork in their other hand, and they never put either one down through the entire meal.

Let's talk about meals.  The breakfasts at all our hotels have been buffet, and they've all been about the same.  There are several cereal choices, including something called a weetbix, which is like a flat Shredded Wheat.  I haven't tried one yet, but I'm going to.  I had a poached egg this morning that was shocking when I cut into the yolk, which was a very bright, very vibrant, dark orange, almost red.  Kind of off-putting, if you know what I mean.  Along with the little packages of margarine and honey, is something called Vitamite, which is spread on toast like peanut butter.  It's very dark brown.  One of my co-travelers from Australia insisted I try it, telling me it is an Australian staple, and no pantry in Australia is without it.  I tasted it, and it was exactly like licking a salty vitamin pill--pretty icky to my taste.  Maureen told me that every mother spreads Vitamite on a wooden spoon, and lets their babies (who love the stuff) lick it off.  The bacon at every hotel looks like it was just steam cooked, and everyone eats it as if that were normal.  Coffee is available at all hotel breakfasts, but is not very available at coffee shops.  At the coffee shops, they want to know what kind of coffee I want, and "regular brew" is not a choice.  So, I've been buying "flat white" (espresso, topped with steamed milk) which is delicious, but expensive.  Everything is expensive, actually.  The breakfast buffets, if we were buying them ourselves (which we are, of course...) are about $25 or $30 per person (New Zealand dollars, one dollar of which equals about 82 cents American).  A candy bar that would cost $1 in the U.S. is $2.75 here; on the positive side, that stopped us from buying the candy bar.  

A kiwi is all of these things: a nickname for a New Zealander; a kiwi bird (flightless); kiwi fruit, which is grown here.  

Our wake-up call is usually at "hahf-pahst seex."  :)

Into Wellington

We rode from sunny Masterton, south through the Rimutaka Mountain Range.  The drive would have been scenic, but we were kind of in a cloud at the top.  Down we went, into Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand.  It sits at the very southern point of North Island, where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean.  The city itself sits down near the water (Cook Strait), while the homes have been built up into the hillside.  Quite scenic, especially from the top of Mount Victoria, a scenic overlook in the city.  The drive up to that spot was very pretty, like a park.  In fact, some of the scenes of Lord of the Rings were filmed in the very cool and interesting woods there.

Pretty view of Wellington and its Harbor, from Mt. Victoria

John and I, with Wellington down below

We saw the Parliament Executive Office building (called The Beehive because of its unique shape), the beautiful, marble Parliament House, and the more Victorian Parliament Library.

John, in front of the Beehive Executive Office Bldg.

Parliament House and Parliament Library

We also toured the beautiful and unusual Old St. Paul's Church, built in 1866.  It was built entirely of native timbers, and looks like the inside of an old ship's hull.  It's no longer used for regular church services, but is used for weddings and funerals.

Wellington's Old St. Paul's Church

We'll be spending the night in Wellington, our last night in North Island.

Rotorua to Napier and Masterton

The driver says that today was our longest drive of the week.  We were basically making our way from Rotorua, south.  We made a stop at Huka Falls, more of a whitewater river than a falls.  The water is a beautiful turquoise.

Beautiful Huka Falls

 On we went, stopping in pretty Napier for lunch.  This city on the coast of the Pacific Ocean was completely destroyed by an earthquake in 1931.  It was quickly rebuilt in the architectural style of the time--meaning, it's now known as "The Art Deco Capital."  We didn't get a city tour, but what we saw of the shopping district was lovely.  John and I bought a sandwich, and sat on a bench facing the aqua ocean while we ate.

Art deco building in Napier

Beautiful Pacific Ocean beach in Napier

We rode by steep, beautiful hills, many dotted with sheep or newly-planted evergreen trees.  We're spending the night in Masterton, just a bit north of the southern tip of the North Island--got it?  :-)

Sheep, Ducks, Geysers, and Maori

(I may be having an issue with the date and time of this blog posting.  To be clear, I'm posting it on March 16, 5:50 p.m., New Zealand time.)

We attended an interesting attraction today in Rotorua.  There is a venue called the Agrodome, where we saw many sheep and a shearing display.  Sheep are cute; who wouldn't like them?  But, I had no idea there were so many different kinds.  There were maybe 20 different kinds of sheep on a stage--big, little, horned, long wool, short wool--all kinds.  A man described them all, then brought one out to shear.  It was amazing to see how completely relaxed the sheep was as it was being sheared.

All different kinds of sheep were on this stage.

Our group then went on a Duck ride--one of those WW II amphibious vehicles that can be driven on the land or in the water.  There are several nice lakes near here, and we went into two of them.

John and I, quacking

Lin and I, in the Duck

In the afternoon, we went to a place called Te Puia.  It's a Maori cultural center that is in an area of several geysers, mud pools, and warm and hot ponds.  We had a tour of the steamy area, and then attended an entertaining Maori concert.  The performers, in traditional dress, sang and danced for us, and explained what they were doing.  They were very talented.  After that, we had a hangi, which is a traditional Maori feast.  The meal--meat and vegetables--had been cooked for us on top of hot rocks.  There was lots of food and more Maori songs--a really nice evening.

Steamy geyser at Te Puia

Maori concert

We had rain most of the day, but the sky seems to be clearing now that we're back to the hotel.  I think tomorrow will be sunny.

I can mention one more couple.  John and Jean live in England.  In a couple of days, they're leaving our tour group and going to Tasmania, where their son lives with his Australian wife and 3 little grandchildren.

Rain and Hobbits

First, I want to mention cyclone Lusi.  We've had rain all day, but not like a flood.  And, we had wind, but not extreme wind.  So, if I hadn't known it was called a cyclone, I would have called it a rainy day.

Our bus group had a tour of Auckland this morning, including a visit to the Sky Tower.  At 1,076 feet, it's the tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere.  John and I opted to skip the visit to the observation deck because of the rainy views.  Apparently, we didn't miss much.

Rainy view of the Sky Tower, from inside the building

We got on the road, and headed south out of Auckland.  Our first stop was in the town of Matamata, where we ate lunch at a really interesting place called Longlands Farm and Restaurant.  The family owns a working sheep and dairy cattle farm, and also has created a beautiful space on their property where they prepare and serve delicious home-cooked meals.

Also in Matamata is Hobbiton, the outdoor sets from the Hobbit movies.  I haven't seen the movies, but I was instantly smitten with the darling, adorable, lovely Hobbit homes.  Oh, my goodness!  They are just perfectly charming.  The man who owns the farm arranged a deal with the movie makers--he allowed his proprty to be used for the Hobbit settings, on the condition that the sets would not be removed when the filming was completed.  So, he now has two businesses--sheep and cattle farming, and a very successful tourist attraction.

John and I are peeking out from the doorway.

We had a little bit of drizzle today.

See the cute, little, pumpkin hanging over the doorway?

We drove on to Rotorua for the night.  This city is famous for its boiling mud pots and geysers.  The entire town smells like sulphur, but I'm trying to get over that.  Tomorrow, we'll explore the area--in the rain, I believe.

Here are some notes on a few more travelers.  Max and Lyn live in Australia.  They own a 4,000-plus acre wheat farm, and love to caravan (which means "camp").  Margaret and Faye are friends from Australia.  They barely knew each other, and then one day their mutual hair stylist told each of them that the other wanted to travel to Canada.  They connected for that trip last year, and decided to plan this trip together to New Zealand.

Dolphins, then back to Auckland

Our tour group began our day with a boat ride in the large bay of the Bay of Islands.  The boat is a big catamaran that took us out through the islands, where we were very happy to see lots and lots of dolphins.   Besides dolphins, the ultimate destination for the outing is a feature called the Hole in the Rock.  It's just what you would imagine--a big, rocky outcropping that nature has carved a hole through.  If the weather and the waves are cooperating, the boats can travel through the hole.  Today was not one of those days.  The seas were choppy today, my friend, with big swells and waves.  The boat was able to get right next to the hole, but could not safely go through it.  I doubt if anyone cared, actually.  We were out in the choppy swells for four hours, which was plenty long enough, if you know what I mean.  (In fact, right now, eight hours after I got off the boat, I'm still rocking a bit.)  The scenery was very pretty.  However, on a sunny, blue-sky day, it would be gorgeous.  After that excursion, we left Paihia and rode south four hours, back to Auckland, where we're spending the night.

Pretty scenery out in the Bay

This is the Hole in the Rock.

The weather forecast is pretty ominous about the approaching Cyclone Lusi.  It will be crossing over both islands, with high winds and an amazing amount of rain.  The forecasts say the rain should arrive in Auckland tonight, and will continue for about 48 hours.  Obviously, this will affect our tour plans, but we'll have to just wait and see what happens.  

Let me add something about a few more of our fellow passengers.  Steve and Sandy are from Scotland, near Edinburgh.  We asked them lots of questions about traveling around Scotland, which is high on my list of future trips.  Loki and Priti are an Indian couple who live in San Jose.  (I was mistaken when I said John and I are the only ones on this trip from the U.S.)  They are both very friendly, always eager for any conversation.  He worked in Silicon Valley, and is very happy to be retired.  She worked off and on as she raised their two sons.  They've done quite a bit of traveling.  Marjorie is an Australian who is traveling alone. She was a secretary, and lives in a small town near the ocean.

Bay of Islands

We're staying in the cute, little seaside village of Paihai, in an area of northern North Island called the Bay of Islands.  There are somewhere around 140 islands near here, but only a handful are inhabited.  Across the harbor, is another village called Russell.  Cruise ships (and, obviously, buses like ours), come here. There are several activities to entertain us (tours of the villages, parasailing, fishing, helicopter and plane rides, and boating excursions).  John and I decided to take a ferry to Russell, where we wandered around for awhile. This is a beautiful day--78 degrees and sunny, with a gentle tropical breeze.

John, on the 70-yr old ferry we rode 

John and I, on the beach in Russell

However...a cyclone is headed our way...a.k.a., a hurricane.  There are three in the South Pacific.  I think the one that's coming to northern NZ is called Lusi.  It's arriving tomorrow afternoon.  We'll be leaving here late tomorrow morning, driving south back to Auckland.  Our bus driver is not at all concerned, so I guess I'll trust his experience.

Interested in our fellow travelers?  Maybe I'll try to say something about them, as I get to know them.  Lyn is a Malaysian woman, about 55, who lives in London.  She's traveling alone, and does that frequently.  In fact, she has five more bus tours planned for 2014, all around the world!  She went on a helicopter ride today.  Nick, also traveling alone (although he has a wife back home), is 69.  He's an engineer who lives in The Netherlands, and speaks 7 languages.  Maureen and Bob are a senior couple from Australia.  Bob is quiet; Maureen is a hoot.  She and John have had a lot of fun joshing each other.  Helena and Tony are Australians.  They live in a pretty town where retirees move to enjoy the scenery and weather.  Andy and Shirley, also Australians, went shopping in Auckland a few days ago.  They went to a chocolate factory, and Andy bought some candy.  He wants to share it with me; I don't know why; maybe my eyes lit up when he was talking about it.  Andy is a deep-sea fisherman, so he and Shirley went out to catch a marlin today.

Everyone has a story.  :-)