New Zealand: day 5 - Taupo to Wellington

We woke in our lovely moderately-priced hotel on the shores of Lake Taupo, rejoiced that we didn't have to get out the door at the butt crack of dawn, and hit the road at 10am.  Our lovely hotel clerk sent us on our merry way with a boatload of well-wishes and enthusiasm for this terrific bluebird crisp day.  

Our first stop was just north of Taupo at a place called Huka Falls.  These falls aren't particularly high, but they are LONG.  The runoff from the whole of Lake Taupo gets funneled down a slot canyon that's barely 40' wide, so the water moves through fast.  when it gets to the other end of the slot, it shoots out at a huge velocity, shooting much further out than its descent.  The city built a bridge over the middle of the falls, so visitors can stand directly over the rushing channel.  We all three talked about how cool (and scary) it would be to raft it.

From the falls, we drove just a few minutes further to Craters of the Moon Geothermal Park.  The park was little more than a 2k walk through a geothermal field.  There were some informative signs to share some interesting aspects about the ecosystem.  

Then, it was time to say goodbye to Taupo.  We drove back through town, down along the eastern edge of the Lake, stopping for lunch and gas in Turangi.  From there, we drove into Tongariro National Park.  The park encompasses a few ecosystems, including dense forest and arid planes.  It also hosts the mountain that played Mount Doom in the LoTR films.  We stopped to do the short walk to Tawhai Falls, which was the location of Gollum's Pool, also in the LoTR films.

my preciouses

We headed further into the park and the visitor center, only to be stymied by the lack of good magnet selection.  S had eyed a longer hike, but it was getting late in the day and we still had four hours of driving ahead of us.  So, we skipped the hike and opted for a handful of fun stops along the way.  

The first stop was at a playground in Ohakune, which boasts NZ's largest carrot.  The playground was built for kids in honor of the deep agricultural roots from that area.  Bunny was in heaven.

We continued SE to the Tangiwai Memorial site, commemorating a Christmas Eve train crash in the 1950s that killed over 150 people.  There were memorials to the dead, informational displays about the crash and the recovery, and a short walk to the crash site.  It was pretty moving.

We hopped back in the car and kept driving.  We decided to stop for dinner in Bulls, a town known for embracing their big pun (who do you call when someone breaks the law?  The consta-BULLS), but the restaurant options looked for crap, so we continued on to Palmerston North, where we found a terrific brewery that made some delicious pizzas. 

Kiwis love their puns.

I had a half-pint of an IPA that was lovely.  

Fortified for the last leg of the drive, we hopped back in the car.  We had just over two hours to go, and the sun had set.  As soon as we left Palmerston North, the rain started.  So, we're on narrow winding two-lane highways, driving at 90 kph, without streetlights, in the rain, driving on the left.  The rain lasted for about 45 minutes, and when it finally gave way to clear skies, my fingers were sore from the white-knuckling.  But, we made it safe and sound. 

We got to Wellington at around 9pm, unloaded everything, and H was knocked off by around 10.  S followed soon after.   I stayed up to blog and do some laundry.  Big day tomorrow!

New Zealand: day 4 - Hobbiton, birds, worms, and Taupo

We got up early this morning and said so long to Jo, Zeb, and Treetops as we headed down the mountain and into the Shire!  S is a bit LOTR fan, so we spent this morning at Hobbiton. The film set was entirely destroyed after the LOTR films were made, but when the company came back to film The Hobbit, the set was rebuilt with the intent of making it permanent, so that visitors like us could come to see it!  Most of Shire was Hobbiton, and we got to look at the exteriors of so many Hobbit holes, including Bag End!  The weather was perfect - sunny and cool, with occasional rain showers sprinkled throughout.

S is 'Wizard-sized.'

On the grounds, they had also crafted three stone trolls!

And, two of the hobbit holes had been dressed inside so that guests could wander through and feel like they were hobbits!  None of the interiors were shot in the shire, but it was still a cool experience.

After the shire, we leaded west and stopped off at an aviary, where we saw lots of birds, including some kiwis!

From the aviary, we headed further west to the Waitomo Glowworm Caves.  The caves were Maori burial grounds, but now they're open to respectful visitors.  We were guided through the caves and saw the glowworms up close.  Our guide invited someone to sing in the caves to hear the acoustics, and H regaled the tour with the first verse of Rainbow Connection.  We ended the tour on an underground boat cruise, with glowworms high over head.  Magical.  We were all silent and in awe.

From there, we headed to Taupo and our hotel for the evening.  S and I had booked a dinner at fancypants Embra, and it did not disappoint.  This is my starter - a crab tart with apple and macadamia foam.  Stunning!

We're back at our hotel for the evening, trying to get warm and settle in.  Tomorrow is a waterfall day!

New Zealand: day 3 - Te Puia & more

I set my alarm this morning for 6am in order to hike the trail to Bridal Veil falls, a 4-story waterfall that is featured in paintings and photos all around the lodge.  Sadly, the final steps of the trail was washed out due to rain, so I couldn't get a clear photograph of it, but I got this photo of a smaller waterfall just below it, surrounded by the green of the rain forest.

 

Then I rushed back to the lodge to get cleaned up before our visit to Te Puia, one of the Maori cultural centers here in Rotorua.  We stared with a guided tour of the grounds, which included visiting the arts and crafts academy, seeing kiwi birds, seeing mud pools and geysers, and then watching a Haka and cultural performance.  The grounds are full of craftwork, and after our tour was done, we spent more time checking out the geothermal features.  We thought we'd spend about two hours here, but we ended up spending over four hours.

This geyser erupted for 10 minutes.

Weaving craftspeople.

Woodworking craftspeople.

A traditional food storage structure, elevated to get it off the warm ground.

Afterwards, we headed back to the lodge for some relaxation time before dinner.  S & H hit the hot tub.  

Then, one last opulent dinner, and back to the villa for a good night's sleep.  We move on tomorrow, south from Rotorua!

New Zealand: day 2 - hiking & Rotorua

Last night we turned off the lights at 8pm.  We were all awake between 5 and 5.45am, feeling tired but rested.  The villa has huge windows that open into the valley, and when we drew the drapes, the low sunrise made everything glow.  The birds were also active, with some sounds that were familiar and many that weren't.  The three of us took our time getting ready.

Breakfast was cooked to order and was delicious!  I had a smoked salmon and ricotta on rye toast.  S had a mushroom omelette, and H had brioche french toast (because of course she did).  After our meal, we met our morning guide, Kauri, who took us on a guided hike deep in the grounds.  We had hoped for a foraging expert who was knowledgeable about all the flora in the area, but that's only really available in the high season. Kauri didn't have that knowledge, but he was a great guide anyhow - enthusiastic, excited, and very friendly.  He drove us deep into the grounds for a nice tromp around to see the woods.   

Along the way, we passed a herd water buffalo!

Foggy hillsides.

Monkey tail ferns.

S & H & Kauri in the woods.

Nothing creepy about this at all.

H got to drive the golf cart!

After the hike, we had lunch and then headed into Rotorua, the nearest big town and the center of Maori cultural activity on the North Island.   We walked the town, which was full of wide sidewalks and lots of storefronts catering to tourists (backpackers, adventure sports, restaurants, etc.). Notably missing were the hordes of tourists; Rotorua felt like a ghost town.  We found our way to the lake edge and S took a photo of me taking a photo of H

From there we headed south, visiting Blue Lake (a local fave recreation spot) and its neighbor Green Lake (sacred to the Maori and closed to visitors).  There was a look out from which you could see both lakes in a panorama:

Green Lake on the left, Blue Lake on the right.

We continued down the road to Lake Tarawera, which formed fairly recently out of the caldera of an erupted volcano.  All is peaceful now...

Then, the light was getting low, so we headed back to the lodge for a lovely (and rich) dinner from Chef Zeb (Zev?) and our server Emma.

The road into Treetops.

New Zealand: days 0 & 1 - arrival and settling in

On Friday, after H got home from school and I finished a full-day faculty retreat, I officially started my sabbatical and H started her three-week fall break.  After saving dough for many years and carving out a chunk of time in our schedule, the three of us are embarking on a big trip to New Zealand.  We started off with a pleasant ride to LAX - the car picked us up at 5.30pm, so we were prepared for 120 minutes of stop and go traffic, but instead we were door to door in 70 minutes.  The travel gods blessed us the whole trip, with a breeze of a check-in, no wait at security, decent food in Bradley terminal, and the best premium economy seats I've ever sat in.  The food on the overnight flight on Air New Zealand was not very good, but it was edible and we got surprisingly decent sleep.  S and I each had about 7 hours, which is more than either of us expected.  H didn't fare as well - she got stuffy and a sore throat and blew her nose most of the trip.

We landed in Auckland a little early, breezed through passport control and customs (the NZeta & NZTD apps let us do all our travel visa & declaration stuff before we even left LAX, which let us skip all the long lines), picked up our rental car, and were on our way out of Auckland just as the sunrise was kissing the edges of the clouds.  S and I chanted 'drive on the left. drive on the left.' through all of the surface streets and roundabouts, but once we hit the highway, things got easy.

H continued to feel crummy, so we stopped at a drugstore to buy some pills to help her feel better.  And a coffee!  I had a flat white (verdict: too little coffee. I'll return to my cappuccino).  We had about a 3 hour drive from Auckland to our first stay.  The highways were fine, but once we got onto a little section of surface roads that were a little twisty, H (who also watching her iPad) got sick and barfed all over the backseat of the car.  We stopped to get her cleaned up a bit, rub her back, etc.  At 11am, we finally got to Treetops Lodge, an over-the-top luxury stay that will easily be our fanciest stay of the trip.  We booked it to have a place to rest and adjust to NZ and the time zone.  It's about 25 minutes from Rotorua, up a series of steep gravel roads, but it's idyllic.  Jo the manager met us, introduced us to the chef, and toured us through the area.  The lodge only sleeps about 24 people total, and there's only one other couple staying here (it's not the high season yet).  We unpacked in our small villa and settled in.  H continued to feel crummy.

At 1.30 we met up with guide Jordan for an archery workshop with the other guests.  Jordan had set up a series of targets in a field that we practiced on.  H & S's girl scout archerying helped them with consistency and form.  I was a hot mess at first.

Somebody got a bulls-eye!

After the target practice, S & H returned to the lodge (headache, exhaustion, and it was also pretty chilly), and I went with Jordan and the other guests into the woods to shoot at some foam animals they had set up in the woods.  A turkey, a few deer, a boar, and a bear!  

After archery, S, H, & I dipped in the hot tub before cleaning up for dinner at the lodge.  We arrived in time for drinks and canapes.  H and I played a round of chess before dinner.

Dinner was a lovely four-course affair.  The ingredients weren't unusual, but everything was excellently prepared and presented family style. The most creative bites were the canapes, but it was all delicious.  The potatoes were absolutely perfectly crispy and fluffy, and the pickled strawberries with the honey panna cotta had a lovely tart balance to the sweetness of the honey.

H, who hadn't sleep much on the plane and was feeling crummy, fell asleep at the table.  What a trooper.

After dinner, we drove the golf cart back to the villa, brushed H's teeth and poured her into bed.  S and I were soon to follow. I turned the lights off at 8pm