Day 20, Tuesday, January 31, 2006. Today we drove to Westport. As the name implies, it lies on the north west coast of the South Island. Just a short distance down the coast from here is Cape Foulwind, named by Captain Cook when a storm kept him at bay so to speak for an extraordinary length of time. We walked along the track as it is called here which follows the cliffs for several kilometers. We encountered the weka, a very tame bird that will come right up to you, very handy for taking pictures.
Earlier today we stopped at the old gold mining town of Reefton whose origins date to the 1880’s. Many of the original buildings still exist. Two veteran miners staff the “slab hut”, crammed with relics from the past. One of these bearded gents showed us samples of gold, garnets, and iron pyrite (fools gold) which they call here leverite- “leave her right were you found it”. At the local confectionery, I purchased a “gold rush” ice cream cone, mango ice cream imbedded with large chocolate nuggets. A double cone cost 50 cents, the best bargain in New Zealand. Photos to Follow.
Bob’s Blog
Day 17, Saturday, January 28, 2006. Because we had arrived too late at Wai O Tapu yesterday to see the “Lady Knox Geyser” erupt, (it erupts precisely at 10:15 am daily) we were given a free pass to see it today. A sizeable crowd had gathered in the grandstand as 10:15 approached when a park employee walked up to the geyser cone (it’s only about four feet high) spoke a few words of explanation and then poured 300 grams of soap down the throat of the geyser. It did what you would do in similar circumstances, it erupted, right on time. Oh well, I guess nature needs a bit of a nudge every now and then. Anyway, here is what it looked like.
The next stop was at Huka Falls. The river was an incredible blue, the photo doesn’t do it justice.
Napier is the only place in the world where all of its downtown buildings date to the early 1930’s, having been rebuilt entirely after suffering a devastating earthquake in 1931. It was built in the “deco” style which portrayed the mood of the day, or so the brochure says.
Bob’s BlogOK, so the computer refuses to upload photos now. While I disipline my computer, let me describe these photos. The geyser is a lot of white and a little blue. The river is a lot of blue and a little white. Napier is a lot of different colours. There, why do we need photos.
Day 15, Thursday, January 26, 2006. Part 2 The Mitai Maori Cultural Show was very well done, educational, humorous, and entertaining. It portrayed their customs, dress, music and warlike history. The Maori feast afterwards was exceptional, lamb and chicken, sweet potatoes, salads, even trifle for dessert.
Day 14, Wednesday, January 25, 2006. Frequent showers. The Buried Village at Rotorua has been undergoing excavation since 1936. Many artifacts have been recovered from the devastating Tarawere volcano of June 10, 1886. A small museum and a one kilometer walk through the digs provide a vivid account of life before and after the explosion. We dined at the Tarawere Landing Restaurant on the shore of Tarawere Lake, literally on top of the 1886 explosion. Sharron had mussels chowder, I had lamb kofla and a Speights gold ale.
Bob’s Blog
Day 13, Tuesday, January 24, 2006. Strong winds, heavy rain, all day. No matter, we drove east to the Miranda Nationalist Trust, a sanctuary of migratory birds, on Firth of Thames, southeast of Auckland Harbour. The birds were lying low in the wind and rain and so were we. This photo of Sharron braving the elements shows a flash of yellow and orange on the right. That was the last I saw of my umbrella. The interpretive centre was excellent describing the migration routes of hundreds of species of birds from New Zealand to Siberia and Alaska. This is Nelson, Hugh and Rae's dog.
Bob’s Blog
Day 12, Monday, January 23, 2006. We picked up our rental car and headed to Papakura, just a short drive south of Auckland. After checking in at our B&B we spent the afternoon sightseeing along the west coast. Kariotahi Beach is a beautiful spot, with fine black sand as far as you can see. We drove up the peninsula to Te Toro and Awhitu. It’s wine country and dairy farms. We stayed until the cows came home. The first day driving on the left side of the road was exciting, and I only hit the left curb three times.
Bob’s Blog
Day 11, Sunday, January 22, 2006. Today we caught up on our blogs, bought some “nibbles” and did some window shopping. We dined at the Waterfront again, Sharron had calamari, I had snapper. We capped it off with a rum and raisin gelato. Hey, Tony. This is what comes with a coke here in New Zealand.
Bob’s Blog
Day 10. Saturday, January 21, 2006.
Got up about 7:00 and had some fruit for breakfast. Then made our way to the harbour to catch the Waiheke ferry to visit Laura, our friend from the Sierras in Calgary. We caught the 9:00 ferry as planned. The ferry ride takes about 40 minutes and consists of a rapid ride in a catamaran to Waiheke Island in Auckland harbour. It is a beautiful island, about three km. across and 12 km. long and has world famous vineyards and wineries, gorgeous beaches and some truly breathtaking scenery. It is volcanic, so its geography is mountainous, with an abundance of greenery. The people Laura stays with, Peter and Ngaio, have a delightful home with a breathtaking view of several little bays and a number of neighboring islands. Peter and Laura met us at the dock and we went back to the house, where Ngaio had tea and coffee prepared for us. Then Laura took us to visit another friend, Phyllis, who lives nearby. We had a light lunch and Ngaio took us on a whirlwind mini-tour of the Island, showing us some of the highlights in the way of vineyards, orchards (olives), art galleries and beaches. We finished up with a visit to the shopping area of Oneroa, a walk on Oneroa Beach and a quick meal before walking back to the port to catch the ferry back to Auckland. Waiheke has the same easy-going, artist colony/holiday retreat feeling as Salt Spring Island. We can see what has brought Laura back every year for her holidays.
Sharron’s Blog
Day 9. Friday, January 20, 2006. The New President Hotel (the President must be new because the hotel sure isn’t) is only about four blocks from the harbour. A walking path along the harbour passes the Ferry Docks, several fish markets, marine businesses, many restaurants, and what we were looking for, a fruit and vegetable market. Having acquired breakfasts for the next couple of days, we continued along toward the Harbour Bridge. Along the way we saw a small penguin busily darting to and fro in the shallow water seemingly feasting on the abundant minow-like fish. It seemed to us that he was a bit out of place here, but there he was. Auckland boasts the tallest tower in the Southern Hemisphere at 328 meters. Observation decks are at 194 and 220 meters. For the adventurous, there is the Skyjump, a plunge from 192 meters, and the Vertigo climb, scaling further upward to the 270 meter “crow‘s nest“. We just couldn’t fit these two activities into our schedule. The Waterfront Café has a marvelous selection of seafood, Sharron tried the terihiki, I had Green Lipped Mussels (yes, mussels have lips) with coconut and red curry, and a Monteith’s Summer Ale, made in New Zealand.
Bob’s Blog
Day 8. Thursday, January 19, 2006. The 10 hour flight to Auckland provided an opportunity to reflect on the beauty and charm of Singapore. Here are a few of our experiences.
Singapore observations:
Weather: Only a few showers, never when we were out. About 30 degrees C every day, very comfortable for us.
Prices: Singapore Dollars: Regular gasoline, $1.54 per litre
Single scoop of ice cream, $1.00
One pair of Teva sandals, $50.00
One Tiger beer at the Bird Park, $5.50
Batik fabric, $6.00 to $12.00 per meter on Arab Street
Good Friends in beautiful places, Priceless.
A huge thanks to Tze Wei for helping us update our Blogs.
A word on our flight to Auckland. We have dubbed this flight “Midnight” for two reasons. First, that was the time that we arrived here. Second, it was akin to riding the world famous bucking bronk of the same name.
Bob’s Blog
Day 7, Wednesday, January 18, 2006.
Today we went to Mt. Faber, Singapore’s “mountain”. The mountain permits great views of much of Singapore. Bob got a picture of the statue of the Merlion in the harbour with his telescopic lens that was fantastic, considering that it must have been at least 2 km. away.
From Mount Faber we went to Tolok Blangah Market (another hawker market) to have the fishball soup that Dad liked so much when he was in Singapore. We also sampled several types of noodles. Then I tried a new drink--ice jelly water. The jelly is a gelatinous substance made from seaweed and softened and mixed into a sugar syrup--quite thirst quenching.
We went to a couple of bookstores and, to my delight, I found several books of Zen poetry. We also went to a mall that seemed to specialize in sporting goods and Bob was able to get a pair of Teva sandals, so he’ll be able to walk a little more comfortably now.
Before going to supper, we went back to the Sri Mariamman Hindu Indian temple that had been closed on Saturday. There was some sort of ceremony going on that involved drums, a huge brass bell and a long wind instrument, and chanting and incense. The temple is the oldest Hindu national monument in Singapore. It is located in Chinatown and is about half a block down from a Muslim mosque, also in Chinatown. Quite a tribute to Singapore’s ecumenical attitude toward religions. 
Supper was at the Teochew Restaurant, where Poh Seng and Swee Chin had also invited Goretti, Bob and Marisa; Andy and Swee Hua to join us. We tried a number of new dishes starting with a traditional dish to celebrate the New Year called raw fish salad. It involved a very touching ceremony, and one that we felt honored to have been allowed to participate in. The rest of the dishes were also new year celebration dishes--a jellied pork, roast goose, sweet potato greens, prawn rolls, and a number of different sauces and a desert with taro and pumpkin.
.
Sharron’s Blog
