Letter No. 232
Dear all,
NEW ZEALAND’S NORTH ISLAND – Rotorua,
Taupo & Wellington
We left Hamilton
on Tues 5th January and drove to Rotorua. Our first stop was Hell’s
Gate, a highly active thermal area which has a fantastic thermal spa. You
hop into a large pool of hot mud and smear it all over your body and then sit on
the edge of the pool in the sun to let it dry on your skin. You can only stay
in the mud pool for 20 minutes as it is so warm. Next you rinse off and then gradually move
through a series of other pools gradually getting cooler and clearer. The mud bath
and hot springs were great and we all thought our skin felt much softer
afterwards, probably because the outer layers were removed by the acidic
waters! It was a fun morning, despite the constant smell of sulphur dioxide gas
in the air which pervades much of the region around Rotorua. We ate lunch at
the cafe before driving to our apartment.
After lunch and
checking in we went on to Skyline
Rotorua. This is a large cable car you can catch up the mountain behind the
city. At the top there are lots of activities to do. We all went on the luge
which is a little go kart track. You ride down the mountain to the bottom and
then get a chairlift back to the top. There were three different tracks and we
had to try them all. It was great fun and we could have done it all day. We
went back to our apartment for dinner and had another shower to try to get the
smell of sulphur out of our skin!
The next morning
we drove around to the other side of Lake Rotorua to the Kaituna Falls where
Matt, Jessie and I went White Water Rafting.
Jessica was fairly concerned and not sure she wanted to go, especially when she
heard we would be rafting over a 7-metre waterfall. Apparently this is the
highest commercially rafted waterfall in the world. We had a 30-minute safety
briefing which included details of what to do if you fell out and what to do if
the raft capsized and you were trapped under it. By this time Jessica was
really freaked out and I thought that she might bail out, but with one last hug
for Katie we were in the rafts paddling down the fast flowing river. The rapids
were awesome and we were having a great time but were all a little nervous
about the huge waterfall downstream. There were quite a few opportunities to
get out of the raft and swim alongside which was fun as the water was quite
warm. Very soon we were at the top of the waterfall and given last-minute
reminders on where to hold on, how to stop crashing heads together and what to do
if we capsized. Over we went – the raft was fully vertical down the falls and
in an instant we were at the bottom. The raft, with all of us in it, submerged
totally to a depth of around 1m before we popped back to the surface. It was a
huge thrill. Meanwhile Katie was walking alongside the falls taking photos of
us all the way. She said it was a lovely walk along the river and she took some
great pictures. All too soon we were back in the minibus then back to the
rafting centre to clean off and warm up before going back to our apartment.
In the
afternoon we went out to Whakarewarewa
Forest to see the Californian giant redwood trees. There was a lovely 1½ hour
walk through the forest up to a lookout over Lake Rotorua and back. There are a
lot of cycle trails in the area but we decided that a gentle stroll would be a
relaxing change after the morning’s high-energy activity. That evening we went
to the Mitai Maori Village for a Maori
cultural experience. We were picked up from our apartment for a short drive
to the village. It was an authentic introduction to Maori culture which left us
amazed and in awe. At least that is what it said in the brochure. Actually it
was pretty good. There was a short walk in the forest to a stream where Maori
warriors paddled a war canoe along the stream wearing traditional dress and
singing war cries. There was a full performance highlighting traditional dress,
arts, weapons, customs, carvings, tattoos, songs and musical instruments. We
also went to see the traditional Hangi feast being extracted from the pit in
the ground before we went on to devour a huge meal of roast lamb and chicken.
We were a little surprised to see such traditional Maori foods as garlic bread,
stuffing, mint sauce, pavlova and chocolate log but it was certainly a feast
and we all had a great night. The kids befriended a 27-year-old backpacker from
Taiwan and practiced their Mandarin on her all evening, which was an added
bonus.
On Thursday
7 January we got up early and drove to Matamata, about an hour away, to Hobbiton, the set for the Lord of the
Rings and The Hobbit movies. It is a sheep farm about 10km outside the town.
Thirty-nine Hobbit holes were originally built of untreated timber, ply and
polystyrene. A large oak tree was cut down and transported to the site to
overlook the village. Artificial leaves were imported from Taiwan and over
200,000 leaves were individually wired to the tree by hand!! A mill and a double-arch
bridge were also built out of scaffolding, ply and polystyrene. The whole thing
was demolished following filming of the Lord of the Rings trilogy but was then rebuilt
with permanent materials, including a new artificial tree built from steel and
silicon, in time for The Hobbit trilogy. This reconstruction took two years and
the whole site is now a vast money-making exercise for a once simple farmer. We
did a two hour tour which was really fantastic, especially as we had an
incredibly enthusiastic and entertaining guide who was passionate about the
movies and seemed to know every trivial fact about them. The tour took us around
the lovely Hobbit holes, along the winding paths, past the maypole where the
kids joined the maypole dance and ended up in the Green Dragon pub for a cider.
It was really lovely. Matt and Jessie hadn’t particularly enjoyed the movies, but
they loved the tour. The hobbit holes were built at different sizes proportionally
so that actors being filmed next to them either looked larger (Gandalf), or smaller
(Hobbits). It was very clever. The Green Dragon pub had delicious pies and the
décor was really great. We would have liked to stay longer but we only had
twenty minutes for photos, drinks and snack. It was really a great morning. We
will have to watch the movies again now and see if we can spot the places we
have seen.
We went back
to Rotorua and had a late lunch at our apartment. In the afternoon we meandered
around the town, stopping at the park which was riddled with thermal vents and
mud pools. There was even a thermal foot pool so we stopped for a while and
soaked our feet in the warm water. That evening we discovered the Eat Street night market which had every
possible kind of street food. We then we strolled back to our apartment to
watch one of the kids’ Christmas movies on DVD.
We packed up
and left Rotorua the next morning, heading for the Wai-o-tapu Thermal Wonderland. The Lady Knox Geyser spouts off at precisely 10:15am every day and shoots
water to a height of about 20m for about an hour. The geyser receives a little help
in the form of organic soap which allows it to erupt to such a regular
timetable. The soap reduces the surface friction of the top layer and causes
the spout. It was very powerful and much more impressive than we had expected
it to be. We walked around the Wai-o-tapu thermal area, which is a steaming
moonscape of collapsed craters, boiling pools of mud, poisonous pools and
sulphurous fumaroles. In some places the water temperatures are up to 300
degrees centigrade. There are many different coloured pools including green,
orange, purple, red, yellow, white and black. We especially liked a bright
green pool called the Devil's Bath. There is a thin layer of poisonous gas over
the green water and if birds fly into it they are gassed, fall into the water
and are dissolved in a few days by the high acid content. Our other favourite
was the Champagne Pool, a 65m diameter pool which is also 65m deep and full of
crystal clear boiling water. Vast clouds of warm sulphurous steam envelope you
at the viewing areas. It was pretty cool and we could imagine it as the film
setting for lots of futuristic movies. There was a 4km walk around all the
sites in the park and we did it all. Just as we finished it started to rain so
we ate lunch in the car. On our way out of the area we passed the aptly-named
Mud Pool which was basically a huge pond of boiling mud.
We drove on
to Taupo and found our kitchenette apartment.
It was still bucketing down rain when we arrived. Despite this we decided to go
to the Spa Thermal Park which had a
hot water stream flowing into the Waikato River. It was a short drive and a
five minute walk to the river. The kids and I went in and it was lovely. We sat
in a pool of very hot water and then jumped into the river to cool down. Katie
watched and took photos under her umbrella but ended up getting nearly as wet
as we did. We went back to dry off and have showers before heading into the town
for dinner. My brother-in-law Andrew had told us of a great place to go for
dinner called the Pub ‘n’ Grub. It was much nicer than it sounds and we had a
nice dinner.
On Saturday
9th January we had a sailing trip planned on a boat called The Barbary. I went for an early
morning run on Saturday to find the harbour front and departure point. It was
overcast and threatening rain but fortunately by the time we’d had breakfast
and driven down to the harbour it had turned into a miraculously beautiful day with
not a cloud in the sky. The Barbary boat was very impressive. It was a 44ft
sailing yacht built in 1905. It had once belonged to Errol Flynn who had won
her in a card game. Our half day sail was taking us right out onto Lake Taupo
to see the Maori Rock Carvings on a cliff overlooking the lake. It was about an
hour’s sail each way and it got quite exciting once we were out of the harbour.
We had to stow all the bags below deck and there was a very heavy swell. The
kids and I stood right at the bowspit and as the boat went through the swell we
would go up about 4m above the water to come crashing back down into water to
our knees. It was great fun. The boat got up some fair speed and was right on
its side with water lapping over our feet and we were lying almost vertically
as she sped through the water. Very exciting.
The rock
carvings were very spectacular but I was a little disappointed to find out they
had been carved in 1979 by some drunken Maori Art students. There was a huge
Maori face, an impressive lizard and a naked women who was supposedly one of
their girlfriends! It was pretty good but I had been expecting something really
ancient!
We sailed on
to a quiet bay around the headland and Matt, Jessie and I went swimming. The
water was a crystal clear blue colour but very cold. I was the first in and
told everyone that it was quite warm, through gritted teeth, despite the fact I
could hardly speak from hypothermia. I even convinced two other people to get
in! It was actually quite refreshing but we didn't stay in too long. We had a
nice hot chocolate and lay in the sun while we sailed back to port. There were
lovely bean bags to lie on all over the deck and the wind had dropped so it was
a much more gentle sail on the return leg. A highly recommended morning out in Taupo.
We had a nice
picnic lunch on the harbour then a short drive down the river to the Aratiatia Dam. There is a release of water
from the dam four times a day and the water level rises spectacularly in the
narrow riverbed downstream, creating powerful rapids in which the river rises
by about 6 metres in just 10 minutes. We just made it in time for the 2pm
release. Afterwards we went on to a Volcanic
Activity Centre which showed short films of recent eruptions and earthquakes
in New Zealand as well as a simulator showing what the ground motions would
have been like in the Christchurch earthquake. It was quite alarming.
Afterwards
we viewed the spectacular Huka Falls
waterfall and then drove to a nearby activity centre to watch people Bungy
jumping and going on a "Big Swing" from a cliff over the river. We
decided that we were not at all keen on Bungy jumping but enjoyed watching
others do it. We went back to our apartment and had dinner in and a TV evening.
The next day
was mainly a driving day as we drove 382km from Taupo to Wellington. It was 382km and took us 5½ hrs, including a lunch stop
in Paraparamau Beach with a view of Kapiti Island. On the way we got to 1089 metres
above sea level, on the slopes of Mt Ruapehu, which is the tallest mountain in
New Zealand at 2797m. There was quite a lot of snow on it despite it being
mid-summer and the landscape was very bleak and cold. Mt Ruapehu is the most
active volcano on the North Island and we saw quite a bit of smoke coming out
of the summit.
We arrived
at our apartment by 2:30pm. It was a great location almost in the centre of
Wellington. After we dropped the girls off, Matthew and I went to find a car park
for the car and stumbled across the lovely beach Oriental Bay where we had a refreshing
swim in the very cool water. In the evening we explored the town, having a
drink on harbour front at Queens Wharf and then on to Cuba Street for dinner. Cuba Street is a very hip area with bars,
restaurants and lots of street art. In fact there is lots of great street art
everywhere in Wellington and we really liked it. The city felt much more
vibrant and humming than Auckland.
Our last
full day in New Zealand was Monday 11th January. We strolled a few blocks from our apartment
down to the Te Papa Museum of New
Zealand. My brother-in-law Chris had told us this was the best thing to do
in Wellington and he wasn't wrong. It was a fantastic museum right on the
harbour front with wonderful displays of volcanoes, earthquakes, natural
history and New Zealand social history including immigration, refugees and
Maori History. There was a very interesting exhibit on the Waitangi Treaty
between the British and the Maori Chiefs.
We had lunch
overlooking the harbour and watched some girls leaping into the sea from a
jumping platform. It was about a 10m high platform called The Jump constructed above the harbour front especially for people
to leap off. It was very beautifully constructed so it looked like a piece of
art as well as being a functional platform. Naturally the kids immediately
wanted to do it so we said we would come back later in the day. We then drove a
short distance to the New Zealand
Parliamentary complex. Three buildings form the complex and the most
distinctive of these is the modernist executive office known as the Beehive. It
does look exactly like a beehive and it is the architectural symbol of New
Zealand, even though it is not great architecture! Next door to the Beehive is
the old Parliament House, which was completed in 1922, and next door is a
Neolithic Parliamentary Library Complex. We did a one-hour tour of all three
buildings.
In the afternoon we drove up to the Mount Victoria Lookout behind our
apartment. It had fantastic 360 degree views all around Wellington. The drive
up was along some very narrow and winding streets which was an adventure in
itself. After we had finished admiring the view we went back to our apartment, grabbed
our togs and went back to The Jump. One platform was at about 5m above the
water level and the other at 10m. There was a large audience of spectators
cheering people on which was a bit intimidating. We had a few practice jumps
from the lower platform before doing the taller jump. Jessie was really brave
and leapt straight off the top level without a thought. I had to take a moment
before the big leap, but I couldn't let her be braver than me! We did quite a
few jumps and it was great fun in the end.
Our last day
in New Zealand was Tuesday 12th January. We packed up and checked
out of our apartment before going to the Wellington
Cable Car which took us high up into the hills overlooking Wellington.
There were spectacular views and a tiny museum on the history of the cable car.
We spent an hour walking down through the lovely Botanic Gardens and then stopped for lunch in a rather quirky
floating boat restaurant overlooking Oriental Bay. We headed on to the airport
for our flight back to Brisbane; the end of another terrific touring holiday.
Cheers,
Derek,
Katie, Matthew, Jessica & Molly
On the Highway to Hell.
Arriving at Hell.
Hot and muddy!
They did tell Matthew not to put mud above your mouth!
Cleaning up in the thermal spa.
Speed demon!
Speedier demon!
The speediest Demons.
Looking worried at the white water rafting safety briefing.
Too late now.
Going.
Going!
Going!!
Gone!
Still alive!
Can we do that again?
After going through the waterfall.
Welcome to Hobbiton.
In the Hobbit Hole.
Just like in the movie.
Hobbits are so small.
In the Green Dragon Pub.
.
Lady Knox Geyser - in the rain.
Boiling sulphur pool.
The Devil's bath.
Sailing.
Titanic moment.
An active volcano.
Jessica's leap of faith.
Flowers.
Waiting for Smaug to awaken.
