Tongariro Alpine Crossing

The Tongariro Alpine Crossing is over 19km long, and was described to us by Paul as 'one of the best one-day walks in the world'. Needless to say, the rest of us were dragged along with him to check if this was true. Andy approached the day complaining that he was an old man with vertigo, and that Paul was trying to kill him, again! However, the day dawned sunny and clear and we were treated to some stunning scenery from the word go. Unfortunately I decided that maybe 19km was too much for me, especially at the pace the boys would set, so I completed only 10km, and didn't get to the top this time. Andy, Paul and Joe, however completed the whole walk and arrived back at the hotel somewhat weary, but absolutely amazed by the whole experience. I think you will agree that the pictures speak for themselves.

Setting off, with a snow-capped Mt Ruapehu just visble

The day was so clear we could even see Mt Taranaki in the distance!

Mt Tongariro letting off steam!

The red crater

The blue lake

The emerald lakes

From the top!

We had a tired carful on the way back to Wanganui, where it was a pint, fish and chips and an early night.

Leonard Cohen

Paul and Joe have arrived to spend Christmas with us and it is lovely to have them here. We did a bit of Wanganui sight seeing on Monday and on Tuesday evening saw the Hobbbit at the cinema. What a long film and I am sure that a lot of it wasn't in the book!

On Wednesday we set off for Wellington and had a lovely day. The sun was shining, but being Wellington it was windy! Joe and I had a look around, parliament buildings, waterfront and of course Te Papa, while Paul went off to the botanical gardens to do his own thing, and Andy was at the Vietnamese embassy trying to get a visa for his trip in March. 

All met up later in the afternoon and had a pint sitting in the sun on the waterfront,

then on for an early supper, the best meal Andy and I have had since arriving in New Zealand!

The highlight of the evening however was the Leonard Cohen concert in the TSB Arena. We have had the tickets for months and it was well worth the wait. Amazed at how he remembers all the words to songs and poetry. His supporting band was great, made up of successful musicians in their own right. The best for me was the violinist from Moldovia. The violin is not normally my favourite instrument, but I could have listened to him play all night.

Fishing on the Rangitikei river

It was another beautiful day today, and we went back to Hannah and Marcus's place in Taihape. Hannah has gone to the UK for Christmas, but Marcus kindly let us go back so that Andy could have a couple of hours fishing in the Rangitikei river. On the way to the river, again on the back of the quad bike, Marcus took us to the shearing shed, where we watched the shearing team in their back breaking work.  Apparently they each shear about 400 sheep/day, amazing! Then on to the river which was as beautiful as we remembered it to be. Andy managed to catch two rainbow trout, small ones so steak for tea, but a good day again. 

A Christmas Carol, Wanganui Repertory Theatre

Well, my week as a thespian has come to an end. I really enjoyed it but can't believe how tired I was after a week of rehearsals every night followed by 8 performances. Overall the reviews were good and the audiences receptive. I am amazed at the capacity of some of the actors for remembering lines, and not just the young ones either. It has been a very interesting experience for me.

Andy came to see the show, not through choice I think, but because he had a free ticket!

Me as Miss Loveday! the organist.

The cast

Now it is back to preparing for Christmas and the long trip home. The family starts to arrive next Sunday, 15th, and we are getting excited about seeing them all after such a long time. It is nearly six months since we waved goodbye to Steve and Kath at Lancaster station!

Fran goes home - 25th November

So it was briefly back to Wellington again to take Fran to the airport for her trip home. We decided to go on Sunday night so that we had time on Monday morning for a spot of sight seeing. 

We had a look at the parliament buildings and a walk along the waterfront, before spending the last hour or so in Te Papa. Fran, of course, managed to get herself lost, she is so like my mother! So I spent much of my time in the museum trying to find her! Then it was on to the airport and a wave goodbye. It has been lovely having Fran to stay. I must make a trip to the tip with the empties ;) !

The lovely waterfront at Wellington

Yet another Len Lye masterpiece! This one is the Water Wand I think.

So, a drive back to Wanganui and straight on to my rehearsal for 'A Christmas Carol'. It is opening night on Friday and the next couple of weeks are going to be very busy. However, once that is over, it will only be a week until Paul and Joe arrive and 2 Weeks until Kate and family get here. I am so looking forward to seeing them all.

New Plymouth

I had wanted to see New Plymouth, but Andy wasn't so keen, said there is nothing there, so Fran and I decided we would take a drive out there one day last week.

We started off at around 9.30 am, hoping to be there in a couple of hours. This may well have been achievable had I remembered to fill up with petrol! Now, petrol stations are not plentiful on NZ roads, and after about 40 minutes, the warning light began to flash and I had a little panic. Not like me I hear you cry! We stopped and asked a friendly Kiwi if we should try to get back to Wanganui, but he assured us that there was a garage about 10 km further on, so we went for it, flashing lights and all. Petrol bought and panic over, we continued with our journey. 

The road divides at a place called Hawera, and loops around Mount Taraniki with New Plymouth on the far side of the loop. Unfortunately there was low cloud, and we couldn't see the mountain so we stopped en route at a settlers village museum near Stratford and spent a happy hour or so wandering around the houses and other village buildings which dated back to the late 19th century. I was particularly impressed with the rules for teachers behaviour and thought they might interest Kate. Although I haven't posted it, a second set of rules for teachers allows male teachers one afternoon off per week for courting!

Settlers village

So on again to New Plymouth, which was very much like Wanganui really, except that it is on the coast. We walked along the front for a bit, looked at an 'interesting' work of art called 'the wind wand' by a local chap called Len Lye  and had a coffee, but that was it. To be fair, we didn't really have a long time to spend as it had taken much longer to get there than I thought. So we continued around the loop and returned by the coastal route. We visited a lighthouse, which didn't seem to be near enough to the coast to be of any use. However, it was described as functioning. Still no signs of Taranaki, so we headed off home.  

New Plymouth Coastal walk and the Wind Wand

The inland lighthouse with Mt. Taranaki cloaked in cloud

It turns out that Andy was reasonably accurate in his assessment of the place, but we had a good, if tiring day anyway.

Rotorua

Andy and I had taken a long time deciding what we should do for the only full weekend whilst Fran is with us. We decided on Rotorua, with a visit to Taupo on the way there and on the way back. Andy took a day off work on Friday so that we had an extra day, good job too as it was a long drive and we arrived back in Wanganui last night very tired indeed. But I am getting ahead of myself. 

On Friday morning we set off in brilliant sunshine, stopping a few times on the way to take photos of the views. 

Mt Ruapehu looking as lovely as ever:

We arrived in Taupo for an excellent lunch, taken in a cafe overlooking the lake which was stunningly beautiful in the sunshine. We drove on then to show Fran the Huka falls, which we saw last time in Taupo, but which are a must on a visit here. On again to a prawn farm, which Andy had heard about. Apparently you can spend some time there catching prawns which they will then cook for you if you like! Unfortunately they were about to close, so we bought some already packed prawns to take for our supper.

On again then to Rotorua, about another 1.5 hrs, where we arrived late afternoon, with the sun still shining. The appartment we had booked was really nice, with a balcony and an outdoor sitting area. It's always a bit of a relief when the accommodation comes up to scratch! 

Saturday was another beautiful day. We visited Te Puia, a centre of Maori culture, where we were shown around by Carla, a Maori guide. We saw some genuine Maori buildings, some of which were still in use. We saw how the Maoris made rope from flax, wood carving and weaving. We were also treated to a Maori welcome by warriors in full dress - a bit scary! Te Puia also has mud pools and a large geyser, so we walked around and saw all of this too. A bit pongy with the bad eggs smell of Hydrogen Sulphide everywhere.

In the afternoon, we visited more steaming mud pools in Kirau park. Carla had told us that the whole of Rotorua is built inside the crater of a super volcano, which last erupted about 250,000 years ago. I think the next eruption is expected in about another 100,000 years, so I think we should be safe enough! Also had a look at the redwood forest, stocked with redwoods from California we understand as an experiment at some time in the past. On we went to our evening meal on mount Ngongotaha. We travelled up the mountain on a gondola, with lovely views of Rotorua and the lake. At the top we bought tickets for a luge ride back down. Great fun, so we went down again! There was a wedding party at the top and the guests were all 'luge'-ing down to the resturaunt for the wedding breakfast. A bit tricky for the women in heels and tight skirts!

Andy and me waiting to Luge!

Then back to Taupo

Sunday was another lovely day. We headed off back to Taupo, stopping on the way at the thermal pools at the Waikite valley, where we spent an hour or so in the very warm pools. The river here bubbles along with the water reaching 98 degrees C. It is described as boiling, and emits so much steam it is often difficult to see the water!

Finally we ended up back at lake Taupo and spent another lovely afternoon fishing with Ivan and Maggie in their boat on the lake. Apparently we were in another super volcano, our second of the weekend. We were all lucky enough to catch some rainbow trout, which we are planning to have for tea tomorrow. Going to try out the new barbie which we bought to cook Christmas dinner!

Beautiful lake Tupo and Andy with our supper!

Wellington again 12th November

Back to Wellington again today to collect Fran who is going to stay with us for a couple of weeks. It was lovely to see someone from home after all this time and I hope she has a good time. I suspect she will find the North Island somewhat tame after visiting the beautiful South Island first.

Wellington was freezing cold as usual. Very windy waiting for the arrival of the Cook Strait ferry!

Taihape

This weekend we visited Hannah and Marcus on their farm near Taihape. We had never met them before, but Hannah is the daughter of a school friend of Andy's, Des McHugh. Andy has known Des for nearly 50 years and I have known him nearly as long, so it was lovely to meet his daughter and her family, who made us very welcome. We had lunch, and this was followed by a trip around the farm on a quad bike, a first for me! The picture below is a bit of a cheat as I didn't drive it. Marcus drove with Hannah behind, and Andy and I clinging onto the sides for dear life! You can see the beautiful river and beach which forms part of their land.

The views from the farm are beautiful. We travelled up and down steep slopes, through fields of cattle and sheep. We learned what a hogget is (any guesses?). A hogget is a year old sheep. They go on to become a two-tooth at a two years old, a four-tooth at 3 years, a six-tooth at 4 years and a full-mouth after that. So you determine the age of a sheep by how many teeth it has, if you are brave enough to check of course!

Finally, Marcus treated us to a display of the skills of his sheepdogs, which were all trained by him. Each dog has its own whistle, with different sounds for left, right, lie down etc., so Marcus can use several dogs at the same time all doing different things. Absolutely amazing! We had a really lovely day. Thank you both.

Bees!

Next door's bees escaped and swarmed in our garden this week. Craig from next door got suited up and came to rescue us!

Auckland and the flight home

Our flight back from Vanuatu landed just before midday and we had a five hour wait for the flight to Wanganui so decided to take the bus into Auckland to have a quick look around. We were impressed. After the 'wild west' feel you get from towns like Wanganui, Auckland was at last what we would recognise as a city. We hope to go back for longer perhaps in January, but this time we just had time to visit the waterfront, where a huge cruise ship was docked, and to enjoy lunch in the sunshine.

Then, were treated to some lovely views of the 3 large mountains of North Island on the flight back to Wanganui.

This is Tongariro I think

And this is Ruapehu

Vanuatu

Well, first impressions were not that good, but I think it's safe to say that, halfway through the week, we are warming to the place. 

Port Vila, the capital, is not a pretty town, but the coastline is beautiful so the potential is there. Food is expensive to buy and eating out is equally so, yet there is a sense of poverty everywhere. We hired a car one day and drove around the Island hoping to find a beach to explore. Unfortunately, there is a habit of selling off portions of the coastline to private owners, and other portions are sold along with building plots for holiday homes. This means that if beaches ARE available to tourists, you have to pay to use them. Such a shame. Andy tells me this is to do with French colonialism, so he will have to add details later to explain. Still, we are lucky in that our resort has its own short stretch of coastline for us to enjoy, along with a lovely pool.

Yesterday we took a tour to a local river and hired kayaks. A team of 3 guides took a group of 12 of us on a 7km trip along the Rentapao river. The scenery changed from a narrow river winding through tropical rainforest to a wide and beautiful river passing through the mangrove lagoon areas to the coast. Really enjoyed the trip. I didn't find kayaking at all strenuous. This may have had something to do with the fact that I was in a 2 man kayak with one of the guides? The Luksza family, who have first-hand experience of my rowing skills, will appreciate this! At the end of the trip we were invited to use a rope swing to launch ourselves into the river for a swim. I decided to be the official photographer, so unfortunately had to miss out on the swing. Still, I have a picture of Andy in action which I will add to the blog when we get back to New Zealand and I can download the pictures.

I can't really believe it, but I counted up today, and it is only 8 weeks until Paul and Joe arrive and 9 weeks for the Lewises. Really looking forward to seeing them all. However, that means that it's just over 9 weeks until Christmas, so this is a heads up to you all!

View from our room

A custard apple (I think) which we found in the fruit market. Very strange, but quite tasty!

9th October

Getting ready for Vanuatu on Sunday.

Feeling very rich, but actually this is worth about £6.50!

Taupo

Last weekend we drove to the centre of North Island to stay in Taupo, a town on the edge of the lake of the same name. Lake Taupo is beautiful and vast, being about 160km around. Apparently there is an annual cycle race around the lake, with some competitors going around several times - mad or what? We stayed in a very nice bed and breakfast, next door to a pub called the mole and chicken, which did excellent meals - another bad weekend for the diet!

The weather on Saturday was iffy, but we managed to visit the Huka falls, the craters of the moon - an area of bubbling mud pools and steaming geothermal landscape - and had a dip in the thermal baths between showers. Sunday was a much better day and we went on a fishing trip on the lake with our B&B host. Lake Taupo is only stocked with trout, both brown and rainbow, and Andy and I managed to catch 8 rainbows between us. We were very pleased with our efforts. We put all the fish back, mainly because trout is a pretty dismal fish to eat, but a good day, we enjoyed it very much. On the way home we got some lovely views of Mount Tongariro (I think, could be Mount Ngauruhoe) with snow on the peak.

We think we will stay around Wanganui next weekend, as the following week we are going to the pacific island of Vanuatu for a little holiday!

Huka Falls

Lake Taupo 

A snow-covered peak!

23rd September 2013

It's Monday, and Andy has just finished a weekend on call. We are both glad it's over as now we can get on with our travels. Heading into the centre of North Island, to Lake Taupo on Friday and we are looking forward to it. 

The whole of New Zealand has been abuzz for the last couple of weeks with the Americas cup, being held in San Francisco Bay at the moment. We have been caught up in it all, despite not knowing a thing about sailing. I think I know what tacking is, and I'm learning what a jibe is, but what the heck is a 'code zero'? New zealand have been doing really well, but after leading by 8 races to 1 last week, the USA won on saturday and then both of today's races bringing the score to 8-5. New Zealand need only one more race to win and I really hope that they do it, even if just to get something else on the news!

We are settling down to life here, though I must admit I find things a bit strange. Had expected it to be just like home but on the other side of the world. Not so! Andy and I went to the pub the other day and the landlady had the nerve to tell me that kiwis think that the UK is a bit backward! This because we didn't pay for 2 beers with a credit card! However, I did find an area where the UK could learn a thing or two. Look at the registration plate we could get if we lived here -

Or even this-

Wanganui races and Bushy park

As we've  had a busy couple of weeks, we decided to spend this weekend in and around Wanganui. It wasn't a bad day on Saturday, so we decided to take a look at Wanganui races, the first race meeting since we arrived. The race track is a short walk from our house, and we could hear the loudspeakers from our garden, so we donned boots and macs - just in case, and walked over to the race track. Unlike race meetings in the UK, there was no charge for admission. I guess they think they will make their money on the cash you spend on food and drink whilst you are there, they obviously don't know Andy at all well! No money was spent on refreshments, but we did manage to lose about $20 (£10) betting on the horses, so I suppose that's something.

Another nice day on Sunday so we drove out to Bushy park, an old New Zealand homestead and grounds which have been left as the landscape was when the Europeans first landed. Walks here are described as bush walks, and we saw many native trees and some birds. apparently they have kiwis there but we weren't lucky enough to see them, nocturnal we understand. Only seen a stuffed kiwi so far!

Our horse was 5th in this race, about the best we did all day!

I think this is called a Ponga - a rather beautiful tree fern. The emblem of New Zealand is the silver fern and that's a Ponga too.