Annie,
from Waihiki,
picked up the three of us and we drove up the northeast coast to a
place called Leigh.
She had an official appearance to make at a marine reserve gathering
and we followed along for the experience. The day began dark and
rainy, but turned absolutely beautiful the further we got from the
city. Auckland
has been having unusually heavy rains this summer, but at least we've
had some sunny days as well. After our adventure in Leigh, we drove
to the ferry landing in Auckland and caught a ferry to Annie's
island. She gave us a tour around the island and then took us back to
her
place. She co-owns 50
acres on the island. They keep sheep
to manicure the place, have two homes and a boathouse and two private
beaches. Her house sits on top of a ridge overlooking the island, the
sea
and distant islands. Simon and I quite like this place and will
seriously consider it as a new homeplace for New Zealand. I awoke in
the middle of the night and went outside to look at the sky. It was
my first sight of the stars from New Zealand and I was drunk on the
Milky Way, stumbling back to bed to dream of ridiculous
things.
Please double - click
me:)
The countryside of New Zealand is
one awe-inspiring view
after another. It is a mixture of the very best of England, Hawaii
and California. The volcanic terrain provides plenty of hills,
valleys and long
views and the
wildflowers
are profuse - Not just the demure, roadside variety, but entire
forests of large flowering shrubs. Tall pines cover vast tracts of
land and alternate with emerald green fields dotted with sheep and
cattle.
With the exception of about 125
miles of freeway (north and south of Auckland), the main highways are
two lanes, all very well maintained. Subsequently, the road speed
limits are lower and there is not a lot of mad rushing about. We
travel gently around curves and really have the chance to soak in the
beauty.
New Zealanders meet everyone with
an inquisitive smile. They are a very warm and welcoming
people.
Please double - click me:)
From Waitomo near the west coast
of the north island, we drove toward the east coast and our
destination of Rotorua,
famous for its hot
springs. This is
considered the most geothermally active region in the world. The town
is located on a very large lake and all hot water is supplied via the
hot springs. The hotel we stayed in and every other hotel in town has
a heated pool as well as private thermal pools. We drove south of
town to a place called Wai O Tapu and visited a wonderland of hot mud
pools and geysers. The colors in the thermal pools were the most
amazing, ranging from Jayne's signature sulphur-lime
through acid
yellow and into the
vivid
oranges. We stood in the
hot steam blowing off of one of the pools and then a cooling breeze
would blow away the steam and then the steam would take over again.
It was enchanting being in the whirling mist, accompanied by the
sound of tiny bubbles bursting (thus the name "champagne pool"). Only
later did we discover that all of our silver jewelry had been
tarnished by this brief encounter. The entire experience smelled of
sulfur, of course, but in a pleasant way.
Please
double - click me:)
The government hosted park was a
fabulous value for the admission price. It was clean, beautifully
maintained and offered a variety of wonders around each turn of the
path. They were even so thoughtful as to place umbrellas along the
path for those sudden sunshowers that NZ is famous for. We came
across a bin of them just as it began a good pour and were able to
continue along on our exploration without getting wet. After the sun
came back out, I used my umbrella as a parasol.
After our hike around the geysers,
we drove back to town and had tea in a recently restored historical
building that had been built during the heyday of folks taking the
baths (much as was done in Arkansas in the 20s and 30s).
Our weather has been pleasant,
though a bit rainy for the taste of a tourist. However the results
are marvelous--rain
forests abound and amazing
forests of tree
ferns (pongas). Mostly it
is just overcast and about 68 degrees, dropping to the low 50s at
night. Occasionally the sun pops out and the landscape looks even
more glorious in the light. It also gets a lot warmer when that
happens. The average temperature range for the Rotorua area is
between 47 and 64 degrees. It averages a little warmer the further
north you go, but it never gets hot here (at least not to the
standards of a Texan).
Back to
home |
Page 1 | Page
2 | Page
3 |
