Annual Christmas Epistle - Decemer 2014

 

When is a highlight not a highlight?

So it is my turn yet again to be creative with words and stuff. It certainly has been an interesting year! First up – Reinhold had fun packing a friends van – to the rafters. We had a practice run a few days before Christmas, then celebrated the holy day here. Roger and Julie came for dinner and while the ladies cooked and chatted the boys packed. It was literally packed to the rafters. That included 6 laptops and several desktop computers and LCD screens. Yes, yours truly was responsible for setting up and running an Internet cafe during the Jamboree. So with the van packed we left the next morning bright and early and drove to Picton to catch a boat to get to the North Island. We bunked down at a friends place in
Wellington and then had a ball at the Scout Jamboree held in Feilding. 10 days later we were exhausted and had to drive back to Christchurch – we got back just after midnight having been another 12 plus hours on the road. While driving up to Feilding we tallyed up the miles we would have done together and got way past 10 000 km of sharing the road in Roger's van. My boy just dryly asked if after all this time together in a van – did we still have stuff left to discuss / say to each other?!?! You bet we did!! You may be pleased to hear that this years jamboree was mostly a dry affair – not like the last one we had there in 2005 where we had major floods to contend with.

We just caught our breath from that and then the highlight of the year hit us – yes my cousin
Doris and her lovely hubby AND a good friend of ours came for a short holiday. We took  them on a long tiki tour through the bottom half of the South Island. Naturally it has been a busy time with seeing lots of places, exhausting, exhilarating as well. We ended up, between the four of us, taking over 6000 pictures. Which to print – which to leave out???? Hokitika / Lake Tekapo / Queenstown / Te Anau / Invercargill / Catlins / Dunedin and back to Christchurch – a total of 3000km plus. We had a great time and missed them after they left for Austria again, yet we have lots of happy memories.

We sent Grandad out to a senior cooking class where they were supposed to learn about cooking for yourself a single meal. On his second time out he had a fall and we took him to the gentle people in white – or do they now wear blue uniforms?? Anyhow – they poked him – prodded him and hooked up various cables at various body parts – and long story short – at his right young age of 80 years they fitted him with a pacemaker. Supposedly he now can step out in rhythm!!

After that little episode both Reinhold and Pam had a thrill of a semi life-time – we flew up to Auckland and saw Michael (not our boy) Buble in concert!! He's such a major Babe (and as a man I am confident enough in my own being that I can say that like that)!! We had fun bobbing and rocking to his tunes! The concert by the end almost ended up like a massive Kareoke session!! Songs well known and loved – 20000 people singing in tune – awesome!! Sadly it soon came to an end and we had to go and find our place of bedding – and catch up with a dear friend!! I took us longer to get out of the car park building than to drive across Auckland City!! Actually we hit the famous Auckland traffic congestion from the Airport to the Concert venue – a trip that should have taken no more then 30 minutes at best took actually almost 80 minutes. At times walking would have been quicker.

June rolled round and the mad boy that I am – I took a group of scouts again across to the
Westcoast for the annual camp over there. We visited Steve again and carved our own Pounamu (NZ Jade). Roger and myself again acted as mules - carting all the gear in his van. It was a relaxing camp as one of the leaders took on the role of running said camp and I was just there in case things went pear-shape!! Chris did a fantastic job and he will take his group across again next year – without me – so that will be a weird feeling. I have however been conned in taking another group across – so will still be involved with Scouts then.

Arguably another highlight – every parent dreams of THAT moment – when the kids leave the nest happend. After looking for ages – Michael and 2 lady friends he gets along very well with managed to find a 4 bedroom place in town for rent and so he moved out from our home around beginning of August. Yesss!! His 'new' place is older then ours and had some earthquake damage (which has been fixed) and he is a happy chappy. One of the girls he flats with had since then had a boy of her own – so he is getting a front row lesson in early baby birthing/caring/etc!! Michael is coming every Saturday Night (bang on 5.30pm) for tea and a catch up with his family – so we tend to hear his news then!

The next (and some say – THE most important highlight) was celebrating Pam's birthday in
August, so we decided to treat ourselves and booked a few nights at our favourite South Island spot – Lake Tekapo. Part of the treat was actually being in a hotel – so no cooking was involved – even breakfast was served and of course no doing dishes – after all what would be a 51 st celebration if you have to do your own dishes!!!. Wohoo!! My waist line certainly took happily on the extra nice food on offer!! It was great to be there in the middle of winter and yours truly this time REMEMBERED to bring with him a tripod – so had two nights down by the lake frontage where the Church of the Good Shepherd is and took some night shots –
until the battery got to cold and gave up!! Regular readers of www.oldbearnews.blogspot.co.nz/ will have seen some of the night photos I took. We also had day trips – to Lake Pukaki and saw the famous Mt. Cook – where – yes – we did the traditional thing with wine and salut!! We also bought some salmon from the local Aoraki Salmon farm!! yummmm!! Lunch up at the Mt. John Observatory with sparkling clear views of Lake Tekapo!! Too soon it was time to come home again and do the mundane everyday
thing – called work!! Just as well – we need the extra cash in order to repeat these special holidays!!

Reinhold (being a good scout that he is) had the opportunity and work during the general
election for New Zealand's parliament. He ended up stationed at his place of work – issuing votes to the public – then after close of time count all the votes. The team of 6 there had one healthy person on the night and the rest at various stages of illness – so extra counters were brought in and – so the story goes –we posted the second fastest result for the night. wohooo

The next highlight – yes another child left the nest. As I type Jonathan is on his way to Canada on a years adventure. The first 5 or 6 months he is stationed in the middle of absolutely nowhere and is “employed” as a ski lift operator! After that he hopes to be able to travel around or maybe find some more work in Vancouver. He may also choose to go over to Europe for some time – so keep your eyes peeled!! Walking home from work today – I realised that I have moved from being a 'home-dad' for 25.7 years to being – just – a DAD. We wish him well and know he will have a blast!! We did put on him one condition – given the family history – that he had to give us 4 weeks notice if he intends to marry a Canadian girl (so that we can book ourselves in for his wedding – in Canada). Turns out the girls over
there adore the kiwi boys – so he is having a good chance . . . . . Michael dryly commented that he now has to ring us before he is coming round, given that the two of us are now home alone he never knows WHAT we might get up to. Ahhh his mental images – need straightning out! :D

Highlighting Christmas this year and yours truly will be away again with scouts for 7 days ( I will be running a Photography base) and then we have booked a camper van in Australia early March. This IS a treat, as we celebrate 30 years of marriage in February – so we will fly into Brisbane and have 10 days to find Sydney. Mamabear plans to spend a whole day on a Gold-Coast beach doing nothing but having her feet in the sand/surf - while reading her e-book!! ^^ We might make a detour to the Hunter Valley famous for its wino-fino and plan to catch up with a couple of people we got to know via Scouting. This is not only a treat but also a test, to see if we can survive 10 days in such an enclosed space. Ultimatley we plan to buy a large caravan and do one years worth of travel around NZ = but that highlight will have to wait until we can afford to retire.

Well – I am working on another highlight – of finishing this letter and get it printed. Should really add photos . . . . hmmmmm WHICH ones to pick????? When is a highlight not a highlight?? When you have too many and we sure had a few this year!

Merry Christmas and a decent 'rutsch' into 2015

Mamabear & Papabear

Pohutukawa near Auckland

As you can see we had two motels to bunk down with / in and their kitchen's - well - could not be much more different.  In the first motel we stayed the floorspace was HUGE while in the second one one was afraid to breath in - or should that be breath o u t  ^^.   The first kitchen had 10 cub-boards and it is miles from the fridge to the stove (well ok - just short of 10 meters) and in the other - hmmmm the fridge is under the sink.  It amused Mamabear that if you wanted to USE the Microwave oven you had to physically lift it of its resting place and put on top of the counter between Oven and sink!  They did have 2(!!! ONLY) of everything though - plates knife etc. and best of all - a wireless internet connection - which was great as it was the first time I could catch up and deal with outstanding emails!!
Oh and seeing that we had some sort of Italian meal out in a nice place in Orewa - which was not licensed,  we - or that should be me - the old bear - had a glass or two of some very nice flavoured red medicinal drink!





The Sand dunes at the Woodhill Forest!  A pity that the still photo does not capture the glint!! It was like having zillions of tiny diamonds scattered in the sand! Very nice and mesmerizing to look at!






The entrance to the beach - mentioned at yesterdays blog entry!!

After a quick and easy roast chicken lunch (courtesy of NW in Helensville) we continued to drive around eventually got lost just north of Orewa. Next morning we stopped at the Kauri museum just south of Warkworth. With Mamabear working in the Timber industry she was keen on guessing the log on display and she got most of it right - impressive!!  The Museum itself is along the same lines as our famous shantytown on the westcoast (south island) but on a much simpler case.  There is only one house and it has many static displays - including a "fashion" display that features urm - many garments I almost wish mamabear could see herself in ^^
There is a interesting walkway through the bush with many stations explaining the growth of the various trees (all I could see is timber for wood working and a fire place) and pride and honour are the two main Kauri trees - reported to be 600 and 800 years old.





The last thing that was cool to see were plenty of silverferns.  You have to turn the leaves over to see the "Silver" part of the fern and of course it comes in handy if you are lost in the bush as the 'silver' fern can be seen for miles in the dark and the rescue chopper people really like this to guide them and help find the lost people in the bush!





Meant to say before - there is this certain SBS advertisment in TV - and we kinda guessed the location and yup - a very quick drive across to Thames on the Sat morning found the location of the TV shoot. 

The add features Sandy's supperette and a nice boy/girl interchange at the end.




My pic taken from almost the same spot - I knew I had seen this location before -from a previous trip through Thames - Coromandel.  we had lunch there but did not see Sandy's Supperette - I think that was just a temp fake store for the Tv's!! 

Anyhow - Moo-ving along

Ever seen the Film - "the Birds" from Alfred Hitchock??  We certainly had that feeling while eating our lunch at Warkworth - which was very nice - except for being watched. As soon as we stood up and had moved ONE pace away from the table it was all on and any leftovers where gone in a flash!!
Scarry stuff




These locals where a pleasant surprise.  Came across the street to take a bath in the local gutter.  Funny thing was, that afterwards the little ones looked dirtier then before.  Something about a bird in the gutter . . . . .  ^^  Reminded me of someone - can't think of who at the mo.





Last stop over we had before hoofing it back to Auckland (and give Mamabear the severe road rage - urm - make that road fright (due to the 4-lane-ing on the Auckland motorway and the sometime chaotic evening rush hour traffic))  was at the aptly named RED beach!!  No red-necked anyone there - it is so named for the local shells who have a very distinct red shell and of course over time mother nature pounds them up into tiny pieces who eventually become sand - whence its name. I must go and look up the name for the shells - eventually - but yeah - it made for a last and interesting stroll round the beach! 

That's all folks - another road trip in to Pohutukawa country completed!  Must say - we are looking forward to the time when we can retire and live up there more permanently - eventually!  Must go and save some pennies for the next trip!  Tudeloo - PB








 

From Auckland to the Coromandel to Tauranga and Rotorua

Our trip has finally concluded. I am sitting at Auckland Airport - and reflecting on our wee trip.

Lasting Impressions:

1. ANTS; they were like everywhere, and I do mean everywhere. You cannot leave unclean dishes in the kitchen sink, and they are in the garden and yeah every Motel we stayed in had them. So creepy. Must be the warmer weather that allows them to bread. Speaking of weather - we are here and despite some passing showers (some more heavier then others) it is still a pleasant 20 Degree Celsius!! Christchurch is reported to have 11 degrees. all of a sudden - a extended stay in Whitianga looks very tempting indeed. We sort of have decided that we can and will retire into the Coromandel - probably Whitianga!!
2. WATER; we who live in Christchurch just do not appreciate how clean our drinking water is. For myself - I have never known chlorinated water in Austria and of course not in Christchurch. Coming north however is a different taste. Worst was in the town of Rotorua - and I do remember a particular gray and foul taste near Hamilton. Maybe Rotorua has been the worst because the local smell is also contributing to your senses being over run!!
3. SILVERFERN; Until now I have never seen one in the wild!! So when we stomped through Hells Gate - we came across the lovely story of the fern and its meaning. I will need to extract the info from the photo and re-type it and then blog it at a later stage.
4. GARLIC BREAD; We (or should that be mamabear) decided that we need a true holiday and THAT apparently included a no cooking / dishes week. So we did manage to eat on the cheap and on the run at times, but we also did eat out a few times and every time we had some garlic bread. They came in a variety of sizes and forms - so much so that I will sit down and at a later stage create a garlic bread - food critic (on a separate blog) and continue to update that every time we go out for a meal (which no doubt includes a garlic bread). This could be a bit of fun - data to be included ought to be where and when consumed and of course a description of the garlic bread - it's consistency / shape/ flavour / crunchiness etc / cost / service and maybe a email / web page link of the place to be critiqued!
5. SCENERY; just stunning - and ok - the sunshine helped - but yeah it has to be seen to be believed! The only downer was the increased commercialization of the various enterprises. The huge crowds in a small spot of Hot Water beach and Cathedral Cove!! Then if we compare some of the mud pool places in Rotorua. Hells Gate was just right - it had the right balance of value for money, The info was short and to the point and the self guided tour was just long enough. The various hot pools and mud things / geysers where in a relative concentrated space - so no great distance to be walked. Compare this to Te Puia - which I guess had more a focus on increasing the local Maori culture in terms of arts and crafts / carving and language school. The mud pools etc where almost like a after thought and where a bit more spaced apart, and it cost more in entry fees. Now I don't mind the growing of the local Maori identity - but if you just want to go round the pools - trust me your better of with Hells Gate. Interestingly enough both the Buried Village and Waimangu boat lake trip are still a fledgling tourist venture and as such still provided excellent value for $$, especially if you are interested a bit in the local history. There is a place for tourism in NZ and in sharing our beautiful country - but there needs to be a balance of people involved. Certainly (in my opinion) places like Milford Sound have got the balance wrong!! Maybe it is time to instate a visiting visa application and limit that to xxx nr of tourists per year, and maybe charge a flat fee that will go straight towards upgrading the infra structure in high tourist places. Anyone still wanting to disagree - just check out the damage some freedom campers are causing. There are a number of places - for example a short 20 min walk into the the bush to see the Kauri trees, where (IF you look hard enough) you can see used toilet paper on the side of the walk!! EEEEK
   

so in order of my top three attractions:

1. Kelly Tarltons - (as someone who has three fish tanks at home [180l; 80l; 50l] and enjoys the aquariums) I feel inspired by the massive tanks and aqua display. Awesome display's!!!!
2. Cathedral Cove - By a whisker (and it won only because there was some very attractive wild-life wandering up and down the beach)
   
3. Hells Gate - The close proximity of the various types of mud pools / boiling steaming water / silicon covered rocks / native bush walk / understated quiet Maori presence was indeed impressive!!
   
   A very unlucky 4th place needs to go to the town of Whitianga. It has nothing special to point to - but its close proximity to everything - almost central located to all sights / sounds / tastes/ etc and it's quiet life style, high sunshine count, not in your face tourist income, rated very highly with this bear. I can't speak for mamabear - so she will have to give her top 3 choices / reasons later.
   
   hmmmmm still waiting for the plane - time to contemplate all the jobs waiting for us back home that did not get done while we were away.
   
   Have fun
   PB
   
   
   Tuesday Feb 16
   
   FOUND IT. . . . . The story about the silver fern - I copy and paste it here . . .
   
   NATIVE BUSH WALK AROUND HELLS GATE THERMAL PARK
   
   The native bush walk contains a number of plant species that are unique to New Zealand - none more so than the silver fern.

   New Zealand native bush walks at Hells Gate thermal park

   
   This fern’s leaves are green on top but silver underneath. It is worn as a symbol on all of New Zealand's National Teams uniforms such as the All Blacks, the Silver Ferns netball team and Team New Zealand in the Americas Cup.

   The reason why this is used as a national symbol, is not well known by New Zealanders, but like many symbols used today its importance was to our Maori people first and then transferred across into our modern society.

   In days gone by Maori would go on raiding parties to nearby Pa (villages) for food, tools or most importantly woman to safeguard the tribes future. To increase the element of surprise warriors would attack at night without the use of burning torches, using only the upturns of a fern leaf as a pointer indication of the direction that the warrior party was being led.

   The war party of 20 to 30 warriors would be one to two meters apart in a single file and were able to easily see where the leader was taking the war party through the reflection of the luminous silver fern. The last warrior in the war party would turn the leaf back over so that no one would know where they had been or where they were going. Thus for Maori the silver fern has always meant going for a goal, going to achieve something.

   When the first Rugby team left New Zealand shores in the late 1880's the team players and management were looking for a symbol for their jersey. Two choices were considered, the kiwi and the silver fern. The Maori team members advised against the use of the Kiwi as it does not fly, only comes out at night and that maori eat them, which is not really the message that we believe we need to state. The silver fern however shows clearly that we are going with one objective in mind and that is to win, to achieve a goal. Since that time all of our NZ sporting codes have carried the silver fern to symbolise "striving to achieve a goal" or "to win".
   

   So from a Maori perspective the silver fern has always symbolised 'going for a goal' hence its use on all of our national teams uniforms.

   Another very important symbol used today is that of the Koru. The Koru is the growing frond of the fern. Its design is a series of circles that completely surrounds the growing tip of the new fern fond or branch. This symbol is used by Air New Zealand. Where that symbol comes from and its significance once again has its origin with Maori.

   From this design our Maori people believe that it stands for growth, nurturing and protection. In Air New Zealand’s case they use the symbol to convey to their clients and potential clients that they will nurture and protect their clients when flying with them and that the airline is continually growing and improving.

   After your bush walk why not enjoy a relaxing mud bath or spa, click here to indulge!

   ---------------------------
   

   I am also told that it is a very effective tool in SARS - that is, our NZ pilots are trained to look out for the reflective silver fern on the ground. Should you ever be lost in the bush and come across a silver fern - three or four leaves of the silver fern turned over / upside down and in the same spot, can be as effective a signal as a bright shiny torch!! Now that is something worth remembering - next time you go bush!!
   

   
   

   
   
   
   
   

From Auckland to the Coromandel to Tauranga and Rotorua

http://www.buriedvillage.co.nz/
http://www.waimangu.co.nz/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_and_White_Terraces
http://images.google.co.nz/pink and white terraces


We drove out of Rotorua (Roto = lake, rua=2 ergo the second lake) and headed to a spot called waimangu where we got on a boat and drove over the Lake Rotomahana. Lots of geothermal activity around the lake bed and sadly the water table of the lake is now some 40 meters ABOVE the former pink and white Terraces - a former New Zealand 8th modern wonder of the world which where totally destroyed during a terrible volcano event in June 1886. These terraces are being credited with the first tourist venture in 1860 for New Zealand.


However having been on the boat and seen some thermal activity like this one, where a constant hot bubbling water is being pumped out - I can confidently predict that in - oh about - 800 years or so, there will be some more wonders to be seen. I of course won't be around to enjoy them then, but hey - nature does what nature does best - in its own sweet time.





It is amazing - a constant hot water streams out from this little whole - at oh around 95 degrees!!
The whole point of the trip to Waimangu was to see the actual location of the once disaster area - and see the ongoing activities. It is amazing to see how the landscape has changed because of it - and is continually changing!!






Afterward we headed to the Buried Village, where we saw a mock model of the now famously defunct terraces. A impressive structure that took a long time to build - some 100o years or so.
Anyhow - the eruption also killed some 160 people in several outlying villages and this particular village was the closest you got the early tourist center. From here they where taken via boat and some walking and another boat trip to the Terraces.



We were taken round by this lovely Lady called Sandy (who has pretty much lived her entire life in this region) and has heard first hand eye accounts of the event from some distant surviving folks, and ergo has some very interesting stories to tell about the people who lived and worked here. The entire village first of all got flattened by the mud from the eruption and then the secondary eruption - which spew water up - thus showering the village with a second layer of dust/mud of up to 2 meters deep. Many of the places have since been dug up again and along with photos and storyboards make for a very interesting walk about.

Here mamabear is inside the former Village smith's place with the 2 distinct layers showing. You can observe the height - above her head.









Afterward's we had a quick drive down to lake Tarawera and of course saw the semi dead volcano (distant top right side of picture) - another lovely sunny and hot day! We so gonna be cold when we get back to Christchurch - their days hi temp was a solitary and very sorry 14 C
- and THAT at 7 pm!!





Having seen enough mud and hot stinky (lots of sulphur smells around here) water geysers we actually wanted to see the local town - so we did! Here is the Bathhouse in Rotorua - complete with some roof missing!! (far right) They must be rebuilding something, dunno it was so nice outside we couldn't bear going inside and find out!!






Pam Sister (who shall remain nameless) has her own pool - and she NEVER told us. Shame.
Incredible - this is a solid pool of hot water - providing plenty of warm water. Amazingly enough u can have your house in the section and maybe one day (literally overnight) have a small eruption take place in your garden. It is not unheard of that some houses had to shift, simple because nature decided right there was a good spot to spout forth some central heating!!


Anyhow - back home wards tomorrow - via a special Blueberry farm. This should be fun.
sigh then back to "normal" reality


March 6th - a post script
I was hunting for stuff on the net when by chance i came across these 6 video clips - which is obviously a TVNZ on air production - subject - the destruction of the famous pink and white terraces. Having just visited there - i felt strongly enou8gh about the subject matter - and post the code here - maybe someone else will watch it

Enjoy
PB

From Auckland to the Coromandel and Tauranga and Rotorua

http://www.kiwi360.com/Kiwi360/WELCOME_IDL=7_IDT=538_ID=3025_.html
http://www.hellsgate.co.nz/
http://www.tepuia.com/things-to-see-and-do/index.html


We left real bright and early and decided we really want to stop at this Kiwi orchard!!
Seems Kiwi 360 is the only outfit that promos the locally grown product on our local scene. anyhow had an interesting tour round the garden and then a very good gander through the shop, where - yes - we succumbed to temptation and bought a few things!! I also wanted to take a pic like this
<-------- however as you will see from the next picture - on the day we arrived they put up scaffolding to Repaint the thing - tough luck!!



The scaffolding is up. They are going to repaint it on 2 colors - half as it is and the other half with the new zespri kiwi fruit colors!!









The Kiwi fruit is a surprising packaged food and has some amazing healing properties - if you can trust the sales blurb!! Here is the orchard. The seasonal pickers are employed for three months and can earn about NZ $ 15 per bin filled - which should take about an hour to fill. And they do literally strip down all as in ALL kiwi fruit of the vines.






Our lunch table - often we would grab a snack on the side of the road or beach or wherever it was convenient to stop.
I was the healthy type and had a orange and some blueberries and maybe a bite of chocolate plus some form of drink!!
This made for no dishes and no washing up and easy peasy meal!! Keen observers will spot my Scouting survival gear on display, and yes it has been on two trips to Europe and is a very handy gadget to take well anywhere really!








One cannot describe the smell via a picture. Lets just say the sulfur and other things combined remind me best of rotten eggs.
You really have to see the action to go with this to appreciate the whole thing. This particular blub blub action was snapped in a place just north of Rotorua (hells gate) and was fun to watch for a while. mamabear was very impressed with the whole thing - smell and all!!
Basically a huge swath of NZ sits on volcanoes and a very thin earth crust (about 1000 to 1500 meters) - and here in this part (Rotorua) it heats the water up to 150 degree Celsius and THAT makes for good thermal action on the ground. With it comes the smell. However local maori being ingenious also used the boiling water pools for cooking and some of the pools for healing!! I can imagine - after a succesful raid on another tribe for food and woman - a soak in the hot pools to wash away any lingering aches and pains would just be the right ticket!! Hmmmm I am tempted - especially the mud bath pools - but im sure there are some restrictions re who can smear how much where on whom!!

From Auckland to the Coromandel and Tauranga

http://www.karangahakegorge.co.nz/mainpage.html
http://www.quarrypark.org.nz/
http://www.waihi.org.nz/
http://www.marthamine.co.nz/
http://www.tauranga.co.nz/


Sadly we had to leave Whitianga. It was a place I could have spent a whole more time there. We ended up having dinner back to back in Dinos Pizza - mainly because we thoroughly enjoyed our first visit there. The food was superb and the sitting outside and enjoying the warmth of the evening sun - along with a very fine vino . . .

Anyhow - it was time to move on to Tauranga so we grabbed a bit of the sand from the beach and took the photo and then we were of.


Along the way we stopped in Waihi - which as you can see has an open cast gold mine - actually they get more silver then gold - but shhhhh who are we to dispel the myth. Anyhow would you believe THIS mine is bang in the middle of the local town and has to work with a great number of restrictions and consent issues. Eventually once mining is stopped this will be come a lake for recreation! Should take about three years to fill.
We took the guided tour which I hasten to add while informative was not as good as the guided tour you get with the Reefton Gold mine on the Westcoast of NZ. Anyhow by the time we got back to the car we discovered a flat tire. Seems on the last few meters into town we picked up a rather large nail that did some damage. Still the locals where very helpful and $20 and some 15 min later we had everything back in order and well all the luggage back in the car - and where of to see the local beach - which is supposed to be some sort of white special sand place.

One of the large dumpster trucks. One of these wheels alone costs NZ $ @20 000. Mamabear took an interest - and it is no surprise that the company prefers female drivers - something about being less of boy racer nature . . . .








Yep this is the Beach at Waihi - and yes it did threaten with rain - which never came. However it made for another nearly uncomfortable hot and humid weather day. The sand was hot to tread on and the water was so so warm. - Still - again not many folks on the beach, lovely to walk along on and enjoy!!






Hihihihi I did have to take this one - and yes - it is named in our Honour - :P NOT!!!!! Keen observers of the picture will notice that a former NZ Prime Minister has a street named after himself too - so we are in good company!!















We made yet another detour - into the Karangahake Gorge!!
Again - there was originally some gold rush and the miners had an interesting time working there. Not much gold was found in the end and so they left in a hurry - leaving behind endless tunnels and relics - for us to explore. One short little walk we did - needed a torch, as you go through the tunnels. The aptly named windows walk had some natural windows in the side - which the miners used to dump some tailing's . Anyhow - it was pitch black dark and I was glad I had my Lego man torch with me - which as some of you know - is part of my scout survival gear (pocket knife, whistle, teddy bear, lego-man torch)








More ferns - like I said yesterday - they grow up here in the zillions!!











Next day we spent the day in Tauranga. We did the loop walk around the base of Mount Maunganui (4.9km) and then mamabear flagged the 230 meter climb to the top for a good lookout. It was a very hot day and both of us were more or less knackered. In the end we went to a place called quarry park - which was recommended to us from the guy at the internet cafe!! Bit of a yawn in some ways - but was interesting enough. The Quark gardens needed lots more work and was not as nice, as sold to us form the bloke at the Cafe. Still it had interesting bits an pieces - including this view towards Mount Maunganui.


Before we got to said quarry - yep this is the camping ground right outside Mt Maunganui- and whoever said camping was a basic experience - forgot to tell these folks. Roger - pleeeeeease can we have a satellite dish on our next Scout Camp????







I have seen this beach on a number of occasions on TV - it is where they hold some annual Surf live saving competition!! Naturally we saw some people in the water - various practice drills taken place and of course we grabbed some more sand to take home.







In the evening we met SnowAngel - a young lass I knew via Scoutlink. We met for a quick bite at the local Burger King - as she had school and then an evening game of netball and as she really does live in the wotnops - it took a long time to get home and back out again (for her), so we did not have that much time to meet. However we ended up having a great time - albeit short - and even managed to swap a scarf!! hmmmm wonder who won the netball???