New Zealand Day 27 onwards

New Zealand  Day 27 onwards

Having trouble with internet connections so will be finishing blog when we get home.

See you all then

New Zealand Day 26

New Zealand   Day 26   Wednesday  February 12th

What to do in a big city (no not a bus tour at nearly $40 a piece) - look for a tall building.  So we headed for Sky City and took the plunge - well no the opposite and took the lift to the heady heights at the top of the tower.  Where we competed with the usual cruise ship customer for places.

One of 3 cruise ships in harbour.

Here we could watch as several brave customers literally took the plunge on a zip wire and jumped passed the observation platform to lots of oos and ahhs by old people sitting watching them go past (including us).  Not even John said that doesn't look so bad.  One person with grey locks and a tubby build did jump but most were young girls (as at the bungy jumping).  

The view was stunning from both the observation platform, upper viewing platform (a few more floors up) and the coffee lounge where we talked with some very interesting and original Australians.

Coffee high up over Auckland

We then came back to Bayswater on the ferry.

Looking back to Auckland on the ferry.

 We then took the car to Devonport a Victorian seaside resort and Naval area just to the south of our hotel.  Lovely trees there, some huge specimens.  It is sheltered in the harbour area so able to grow to the great heights.  Very nice area and had some very good ice-creams.

It was a very pleasant area and the some of the houses were spectacular (one we saw in an estate agents was for sale for + $7.000.000.  We didn't buy any but saw a few we liked in our dreams.

Then back to our hotel which is one of the best we have stayed in.  Our room is certainly the best.  it has a separate bedroom with ensuite from the living room and is very modern in decor.  We had not expected a view but we had a lovely view of Auckland harbour from the balcony which made it stunning.

Nearby were yet more stunning trees and an even better view of the harbour.

Auckland harbour bridge through the trees.

Auckland harbour at dusk from near our hotel.

MAGIC

New Zealand Day 25

New Zealand   Day 25 Tuesday  February 11th

Well gues where we went today.  No prizes for guessing.

We set out for Auckland and called in Matamata aka Hobbiton.  The film set is on a large sheep farm outside Matamata.  This set was rebuilt for The Hobbit, the original one had been mostly dismantled only being made of polystyrene etc.  This was at the farmer's request but so many people wanted to see it that they left part of the original set.   For the new films they rebuilt it in stone, brick and proper building materials, although there is nothing behind the doors it is still worth a visit.

There is not a lot to say but I will just put in some photos.

Even John enjoyed it.  (It was a bit expensive though). 

New Zealand Day 24

New Zealand  Day  24     Monday  February  10th

  Definitely a cultural experience day.  We visited the Te Puia Maori centre today.  This is on the outskirts of Rotorua and the site also contains geothermal  elements.  Our tickets gave us entry to the main site with  a typical pre-European Maori village,  traditional carving and weaving schools.

The photos above show the entrance hall and space - very impressive.

There was also a kiwi house (real kiwis - the birds that is) - but we were not allowed to photograph them, geothermal mud pools, geyser

and also a Maori cultural experience in the form of a welcome ceremony and concert.  So plenty to keep us busy.

Our guide was really informative and interesting and led us to the different areas while explaining the Maori culture, history and language. Everything was very well presented unfortunately not only were the normal bus loads of Asian tourists but a very large party from an American cruise ship so it was very busy but well worth visiting.

The welcoming ceremony and concert was excellent but unfortunately many of the photos were blurred.



 John took lots of video so we will be able to watch it again.  I liked the traditional crafts especially weaving the NZ flax into mats, baskets, skirts and other traditional items.  Both traditional weaving and carving are taught on the site and some of the work is stunning - very expensive too.



All in all a bit like St. Fagans but with some fierce looking warriors doing a superb welcoming ceremony
 and an excellent short concert.

New Zealand Days 22 and 23

New Zealand  Day 22   Saturday  February  8th

Taupo to Rotorua

We left taupo at about 10 o'clock for a relatively short journey to Rotorua which we arrived at just aft er 11 o'clock.  We left the car there even though the room wasn't ready.  We walked into Rotorua and visited the i centre to find out whats what.  This very much mainly thermal / volcanic areas with Maori tradtions thrown in.  It was raining , the worst weather we have had but it was still very warm and it dried up eventually.

We walked around the lakefront and checked out the museum and Polynesium Spa for future reference.

New Zealand  Day 23  Sunday  February 9th

 Rotorua

First stop of the day was Wai O Tapu geothermal area 27 kilometres south of Rotorua.  We had to be there by 9.45 to be on time for the Lady Knox Geyser which erupts every day at 10.15.  This was very popular with crowds of people there.

 After the geyser we walked around the park which is billed as the most colourful geothermal area and it certainly has some colourful pools, hot springs and mud pools the biggest is called the Champagne pool, another was a lurid lime green.

In the afternoon we visited the Rotorua Musuem, this was originally the Old bathhouse of Rotorua and contained lots of history of Rotorua and of the local Maoris.  The building itself was interesting and we were able to climb to the roofline for a view of Rotorua.

Rotorua Museum

New Zealand Day 21

New Zealand  Day 21  Friday  February 7th

Taupo

Visted Huka Falls this morning.  This is a set of rapids with a waterfall at the end of them on the Waikato river that drains lake Taupo.  There are lots of boat jet boat tours to them but we drove to it and managed to get photos from both sides of valley. This was very popular and loads of tourists there.

Rapids on Waikato River

Falls at end of rapids

From there we went to the 'Craters of the Moon' volcanic area.  This was quite good but hardly a moonscape.

From there we went to the Aratiatia Dam further down the river, where they let out the head of water every 2 hours throughout the day.  The released water floods the otherwise low level river in a narrow gorge.  We had to rush to get to the viewpoint in time but made it.  Worth rushing up that hill to see.

We tried to see some glassblowing but the glassmaker had stopped for the day so we went on to see the silica terraces at Wairakei.  These are in a thermal spa complex but we only went for the walk around the thermal area.  The terraces were started by humans to recreate the nearby famous pink terraces lost during the eruption of  Mount Tarawera in 1886.  There is also a geyser in the grounds.

Thermal area

Terraces

Geyser in area

New Zealand Day 20

New Zealand Day 20  Thursday February 6th   

Taupo  

Waitangii Day public holiday commemorating signing of treaty with Maoris in mid 19th century.

We are her on Lake Taupo a neat modern holiday resort.  Everything looks clean and well cared for.  Our motel is very upmarket with lots of nice features own spa bath, thermal mineral outdoor hot pool and heated swimming pool.  Some of the beachside suites are really fabulous.

Heated pool in bottom left corner thermal mineral pool above.

Beachside luxury rooms

Beach on Lake Taupo at sunset behind motel

We set out to look around town to see what was on offer and decided to go on a sailing ship tour of Maori carving sited on east side of lake.  The day was a very good sailing day sunny and breezy.  The ship was called the 'Barbary ' and was reputedly owned by Errol Flynn for a while.  He had it in lieu of a gambling debt for about 6 months until the debt was paid off.  They can't prove it but there are photos of him on the 

boat.

The Barbary

We went out at 2 o'clock in afternoon and there was a strong breeze.  The skipper was a woman as was her mate.

We were sitting along seating area running along deck.  When we got under sail the boat (I'm not a sailor so excuse lack of nautical terms) listed to the side that we were on and our feet were under water -absolutely terrific feeling -very exciting.  We seem to get most of the waves and our feet were frequently in the sea - literally.

After a really exiting voyage out to the carvings we reached quieter waters and were able to get a good look at the carvings.  These are not old but were created by Maori artists in the late 70s on a rock face and represent the face of the leader of the main Maori settlement to New Zealand and the minor ones represent stories connected to Maori legend.

We should have had a drier time coming back but we still seem to have more than our fair share of the waves particularly the people on the prow of the boat.

They were a lot wetter than this looks

   

New Zealand Day 19

New Zealand  Day 19  Wednesday February 5th

Travelling up to Taupo today, this is one of our longest journeys about 280 miles.  We had our usual start in Wellington fighting our way out, by far the worst traffic (and traffic system) we have had in NZ.  We had a few small stops when we passed something interesting and a stop for coffee in a place called Fielding.

We didn't realise we would drive next to the Tongariro National Park on the way.  We saw both the snow covered Mt Ruapehu and Mt Ngauruhoe which they used for Mt Doom in Lord of the Rings.

Mt. Ruapehu

Mt. Doom

We eventually got to the southern side of Lake Taupo which is the largest lake in NZ (I think).  It looks more like and inland sea but is fresh water.  It is surrounded by volcanoes and was formed by volcanoes.

We finally reached or very nice motel room after 5 hours travelling and it was a quick supper and relax.

New Zealand Day 18

New Zealand   Day 18  04.02.14

We are having a quiet day in Wellington again and started by driving out to Miramar suburb out on the peninsular to the south of the city.  It may be a familiar name as it the name of a film company used by Peter Jacksom.  Yes we are off to the Weta Cave, the place they do the special effects for many films including Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit.  

They do the physical effects there - making models, facial effects, weapons, costumes etc.  

Next door is Weta Digital but you can'y go in there.  The cave is basically their shop with some of  their models etc.  Very expensive.  There is also a film charting the history of the company.   They now do a tour into part of their workshops, unfortunately we weren't allowed to take photos in the workshop but it was very interesting with the guide one of their craftsmen (woman) explaining their techniques.  There were lots of their weapons, hobbit feet, dwarf arms and models in there  which we were allowed to handle.  Excellent.

In the afternoon we went to the Te Papa museum.  This is the national museum of New Zealand and contained natural history, geology, history and art.  It also had an exhibition of The World of Wearable Art.  The museum is exceptional.  It is hands on, stimulating, innovative and we really enjoyed it.  The skeleton of a young Blue Whale was immense until you stand under it you don't realise the size.  Whilst the preserved specimen of a 'Colossal Squid'  was also very big - lots of calamari there.

There was a re-creation of a Maori meeting house, which was exquisite and we hope to see more when we go to Rotorua.

Woven walls inside of house with wooden carvings between each different section.

A fun extra for me was the exhibition of wearable art.  This is a renowned international  textile art competition that takes place in Wellington every year.  The entrants are from all over the world often from textile design courses.  They are really fun.

This was covered with hundreds of shells.