Gisborne - Rotorua - Turangi (2016-03-24)

We are now back in Wellington after a great week travelling to Gisborne, Rotorua and Turangi.

 

In Gisborne re re-visited the Eastwoodhill Arboretum (Arboretum of New Zealand) and enjoyed several hours walking various trails.  We were almost the only visitors on the day of our visit, and only saw one other family (as we were leaving), so it felt like we had the place to ourselves.  If you are interested in photos, check out the posting from our visit in 2014.

 

We also checked out something new in Gisborne, the Footrot Flats statue which has recently been erected temporarily in a riverside park, while it waits for its permanent home to be redeveloped.  Footrot Flats is a cartoon by New Zealander Murray Ball, a local Gisborne boy, and was very popular in the 1980s and 90s.  The main characters are a farmer named Wal, and his dog named Dog, who lived at Footrot Flats.  In the photo below I tried to do my best Wal pose.

 

Jim, Wal & Dog

 

While cruising the residential streets of Gisborne, I spied the road safety sign shown in the photo below....food for thought.

 

Road Safety Sign

 

From Gisborne we headed to Rotorua, where our destination was the Blue Lake Holiday Park, which is a little out of town, beside the Blue Lake, and close to the Green Lake and the Buried Village.  We only had two nights in Rotorua, but managed to fill our time well.  On day 1 we visited the tea house at the Buried Village (great scones) and later did the walk around the Blue Lake, which stayed close to the lake, and was primarily in native bush. 

 

Blue Lake, Rotorua

 

On our second day in Rotorua, before heading to Turangi, we walked in a Redwood Forest, amongst the massive trees, which reminded us of the Douglas Firs on Vancouver Island.  There was a great network of trails within the forest, and certainly more for us to explore next time.

 

Redwood Forest, Rotorua

 

Turangi was intended only as an overnight stop to break up the journey from Rotorua back to Wellington, but it turned out to be a highlight.  Firstly, our accommodation at Creel Lodge was a great surprise - an excellent unit in a quiet location, with direct access to 15 Km of walking trails along the Tongariro River.  If only we had brought our fishing rods.....next time maybe?

 

As children we enjoyed several summer holidays in a bach (holiday house, pronounced "batch") at Pukawa, a few miles from Turangi, on Lake Taupo, and we decided to go and see if it was still there.  Fifty five years ago, Pukawa consisted of 3 houses somewhat back from the lake and 1 house on the lakeshore, with no electricity, all accessed down a narrow dirt road if it had not rained too much.  Today, the area is covered in houses, fully-serviced with utilities, accessed down a 2-lane asphalt road.  Without too much trouble, we managed to find the childhood bach, tucked in behind a Maori marae, and the other 3 houses were also still standing and recognisable.  The area brought back many memories of our childhood holidays, making for a very nostalgic visit.

 

Bach at Pukawa

Before heading out the next morning, we did a short walk along the Tongariro River, but again, much more to explore on our next visit.

 

The trip back to Wellington was uneventful, with coffee in Taihape and lunch at a (noisy) picnic area along the Himitangi straight.  We delivered Tricia to the 5:30 pm train back to Featherston, and so ended another great family vacation.  I wonder where we will go next year?

 

Always being on the lookout for items of interest, I noticed the sign below in a Kiwibank branch.  Interest rates in New Zealand tend to be higher than Canadian rates at the moment, as the New Zealand economy has not needed as much stimulus, although that is likely to change.  The 2-year mortgage rate of 4.39% is a little higher than the current RBC (Royal Bank of Canada) rate of 3.25%, and the 150-day term deposit rate is substantially higher than the RBC rate of 0.35%.  But what is most noticeable is the difference between what the bank charges in interest on loans and what they pay as interest to depositors - Kiwibank survives on a 1.14% spread, while RBC takes a whopping 2.69%.  It is worth noting that RBC also charges a monthly fee to deposit our money with them, but Kiwibank charges no account fee.  I know where I would rather keep my money.

 

Kiwibank Interest Rates

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Waikaremoana (2016-03-17)

On each visit to New Zealand we try and do a short touring holiday with my sisters, and each year it gets harder to include places that we have not visited before.  This year's trip began with a new place for us all, Lake Waikaremoana, which lies within the Te Urewera National Park, about 65 Km inland from Wairoa & 160 Km East of Rotorua.  Te Urewera contains some of the most rugged and remote areas in the North Island, and was a place of refuge for Maori warriors during the land wars of the 1860s. 

 

Not knowing what services to expect, we bought lots of groceries, filled the car with petrol and set off from Napier, up the East coast towards Wairoa, our destination being the Lake Waikaremoana Holiday Park. The guide books and maps tell you that the road from Wairoa is sealed all the way, but the reality is that a large portion of it is actually gravel / very clayish looking earth.  Our accommodation, the only game in town, was far from new, but was clean and functional.  Margaret & Tricia took the beds and Marlene & I took the mattresses on a sleeping platform which was up a ladder in the peak of the room (our tree house).  Our mattresses were very comfortable, but it was somewhat difficult to get Marlene's large suitcase up there.  At the holiday park there is no television, no internet and no cellphone service, so we were forced to disconnect from the world.

 

Lake Waikaremoana is the site of one of the New Zealand Great Walks, a multi-day hike on the West side of the lake, but we contented ourselves with several of the shorter walks on the East side of the lake, close to the highway.

 

Tuesday was forecast to be the best weather, so we did four of the walks in the vicinity of the holiday park.  First up was the Aniwaniwa Falls, a series of 3 waterfalls that cascade down from the visitor's centre to the lake.  After crossing the river on the road bridge, the walk was through dense native bush.

 

Aniwaniwa Falls

We four below Aniwaniwa Fall

Next up was the Papakorito Falls, on the same river, but upstream from the visitors centre.  Access was on a quiet gravel road, then a short bush walk to the falls.

 



Papakorito Falls

After lunch we followed the Hinau Walk from the holiday park, past the site of an early hotel, then continued on the Tawa walk, to visit the largest Rata tree in New Zealand.  The Rata is an interesting tree as it begins life as an epiphyte, growing in the fork of an existing tree, and then extending its roots down, eventually smothering the host tree.  This large specimen is estimated to be 800-1000 years old, and is about 13 metres (43 feet) in girth.   As shown in the photo below, this tree has grown very tall atop its long-dead host.

 

NZ's Largest Rata

 After heavy rain overnight, Wednesday brought fine misty rain, and walking was much more difficult on the bush trails.  In the morning we walked a short portion of the great walk, to reach the Armed Constabulary Redoubt, the remains of a fortification from the land wars of the 1860s.  Soldiers of the time carved dates and their names / initials in a nearby rock face.  A short walk from the redoubt took us to Lake Kiriopukae, a pretty little lake surrounded by large rocks, and the site of a cemetery with graves from the time of the land wars.  As we pulled into the car park, our cell phones beeped and chirped, telling us that we had service again, so we all rabidly checked our emails, texts and the latest news.

 

After lunch we did the much more adventurous Onepoto Caves walk.  Lake Waikaremoana was formed about 2200 years ago when a large rock slide blocked the end of the valley, causing it to fill with water.  The rockslide was 200-300 metres thick and consisted of large slabs of sandstone.  The piling of large slabs of rock resulted in gaps between the slabs, now known as the Onepoto Caves.  The area is littered with bluffs, holes and caves, and the path winds its way amongst them.  Being wet, the path was very slippery and we had to be somewhat careful to avoid sliding off the path into the holes.  We all agreed that the walk challenged us in several ways, and would not be a good choice with young children.

 

One of the Onepoto Caves

 The rain continued through Wednesday night and into Thursday, but on our way out of the park we did the Lake Kaitawa, Green Lake, Fairy Springs walk.  This took us around the two lakes and the springs which are fed by water from Lake Waikaremoana, forced up through gaps in the rock.

 

 

Swans on Lake Kaitawa

By 11 o'clock we had checked Lake Waikaremoana off our bucket list, and headed back to Wairoa, then North to Gisborne, our home for the next three nights.

Napier week 4 (2016-03-13)

I have to begin this week with an admission of error, it seems I did not have the full story when I spoke of the price difference between gasoline and diesel in New Zealand.  I have since learned that the pump price of gasoline includes road tax, but if you drive a diesel vehicle you must pay road tax separately (purchased in blocks of Km to be driven) and put the tax sticker on your windscreen.  So once the road tax is factored in, the price difference between gasoline and diesel is much closer to the Canadian difference.  See what happens when you don't have all the facts.

 

Something else that has caught my eye recently is the obsession by New Zealand national sports teams to put the word black in their team name.  We have all heard of New Zealand's national rugby team, the All Blacks, and perhaps other teams just want to ride on the brand awareness, but it seems a bit excessive (or "over the top" as one would say down under).  I have found the following team names, but there are likely others -

• All Blacks - rugby
• Diamond Blacks - baseball
• Ice Blacks - ice hockey
• Iron Blacks - American football
• Tall Blacks - basketball
• Wheel Blacks - wheelchair rugby
• Black Caps - cricket
• Black Ferns - women's rugby
• Black Fins - surf life saving
• Black Socks - softball
• Black Sticks - field hockey

 Then there are those that get noticed by being the opposite -

• All Whites - soccer
• White Ferns - women's cricket
• White socks - women's softball

But now back to our trip.....

 

No new destinations this week, just final rides to some of our favourite biking destinations, & visiting friends and family.  Last week I provided photos of the Zepplin Cafe in Clive, so this week, we have the garden / patio area at Snapper Cafe in Bay View, another great coffee stop.

 

Snapper Cafe

While on the subject of food, we had one last dinner with cousins Maureen and Denzil on Wednesday night, and I just had to have an iconic New Zealand dish, the Kiwi Burger....a standard burger, with the addition of a fried egg and beetroot (note the healthy choice of salad rather than chips).

 

Kiwi Burger

On Thursday we met our local friends Alan and Glenys for lunch, and then visited their house to check out their new kitchen.  They live in a 100+ year old home, on the hill, with great views of ocean, hills and port.  Alan is a retired builder and decided to redo the kitchen with a more old style, country-kitchen look.  The photo below is the just-finished product....now he can move onto bathrooms.

 

Alan's Country Kitchen

The forecasted rain never arrived so on Friday we did one last ride to Clive (battling a strong southerly wind), before returning the bikes to Maureen's garage in the late afternoon.  We have really enjoyed being able to bike around the Napier area, which is the most bike-friendly city (nice and flat with lots of trails) that we have come across in our travels.  Thanks again Maureen.

 

As our time in Napier draws to an end, so a new adventure begins.  On Saturday I took the bus to Wellington, and on Sunday I drove Margaret and Tricia back to Napier, so that tomorrow we can set off on an 8-day mini-vacation.  Hopefully I will find some new blog material along the way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Napier week 3 (2016-03-06)

It has been a busy week, but with our first real rain day.  On Monday, Marlene went raspberry picking with her friend Glenys, and came home with a good haul, lasting us most of the week....made the Weetbix a bit more interesting in the morning.

 

We managed to fit in several longish bike rides.  The secret is to get out as early as possible, before the wind picks up.  It always starts off calm in the morning and then the wind starts gusting around noon, so if we are out early enough we can get out and back without undue wind and before the heat of the day.  Clive has been a frequent destination, due partly to wind direction, but largely due to the Zepplin Cafe, which is our favourite coffee destination.  It does not look like much from the road, but it has a really nice back patio covered with grape vines.  They also have the best date scones that we have found in the Napier area.

 

 Zepplin Cafe - front side

 

 Zepplin Cafe - back patio

 

Tuesday was generally rainy, so we snuck into town between rain showers and went to the movies, to see "The Lady in the Van".  We thoroughly enjoyed the movie and Maggie Smith was perfect for the part of the lady.

 

With our time in Napier rapidly diminishing, on Wednesday we took the bus to Hastings and on to Havelock North, which are just a little beyond our cycling comfort zone.  We had a good look around both towns, and rode the bus with all the best people....on the trip home from Hastings we sat in front of a group who had appeared in Hastings court earlier in the day, one of whom had appeared in Napier court in the morning, and was then arrested and taken to appear in Hastings court on another charge.  The language was fairly colourful, but it was interesting to watch the interaction with the other passengers.

 

On Thursday we biked north, then met Maureen for coffee in Ahuriri, and had dinner with her and Denzil, as they are leaving town on Wednesday of next week, leaving us limited time for visiting with them.

 

Our farming friends, John and Marilyn, from Palmerston North arrived on Friday for the weekend, so the 4 of us did a lot of catching up, and did the tourist thing.  We went up to the Bluff Hill lookout, which has great panoramic views over Hawke Bay.  The photo below was of the port area from the lookout, with a container ship being loaded.  Cruise ships come into Napier every 3-4 days, and they dock on the far right side of the port, but none in port this weekend.

 

Port of Napier from Bluff Hill 

 

Later in the day, searching for a sandy beach (the Napier beaches are primarily pebbles), we headed to Clifton, where we walked a short distance on the beach towards Cape Kidnappers.  As we walked along the beach we saw a seal lying in the sand.  He made no attempt to move away from us, and we were concerned that he might be injured, but we had seen signs posted on other beaches in the area saying that seals don't need rescuing, they just need rest.  So we left him resting, and hopefully he went back to sea on the incoming tide.

 

Seal on beach at Clifton 

 

On Saturday night we picked up fish and chips in Ahuriri and the 4 of us ate them out of the paper, sitting on a bench at the beach, where we watched the container ship heading out to sea, and the tugs bringing in another container ship for unloading, while two more lay at anchor in the bay, awaiting their turn.

 

Today we biked out to Taradale and back, and stopped at Mitre 10 Mega (New Zealand's version of Home Depot) to check out all of the latest gadgets and gimmicks.  The weather is warming up again, with a high of 31 forecast for Tuesday.

 

We are now entering our last week in Napier, and so will have to revisit all of our favourite haunts, before we head north on our next adventure, although there are a couple of good movies coming to town, so we may break down and see another show.