Hello Everybody! It has been a few days but we have been very busy - having fun in the sun. Tough eh? We rang in the new year in the city of Gisborne, the most Eastern City in the world and the place where Captain Cook first landed in New Zealand. Here we are in front of guy himself. We toured around the city's waterfront mostly looking for a dolphin, Moko, that has become friendly with locals and is known to hang out in the area. Kate was very disappointed not to see him. We moved on to Napier, on the East Coast.
Napier is definitely a place where we will visit again. It is a fantastic little town on the water in the centre of wine country. There are vineyards surrounding the city in every direction. The city itself is a bit like Juneau in that it is built on the side of a cliff. The houses are accessible by a range of wild road options or stairs. Very beautiful. The town was destroyed by an earthquake and subsequent fire in the early 30s. It was entirely rebuilt in the Art Deco Style. Fabulous to look at the whole down town in this style. And most importantly for traveling kids, they had a great pool. The pool complex is all outside at the oceanside with a wading pool, leisure pool, warm pool and two hot tubes plus a lap pool. You can bring your coolers in and have a picnic to boot. Nice.
Our next destination was Taupo. Although the place is set on a giant crater in the centre of the country's North Island and surrounded by big mountains with places to hike, our main objective was connecting with the Sparks Family from Whitehorse so that Mira could see her good friend Cayley. It was wonderful to see familiar faces in a different land, one so far from home. The kids took no time getting re-acquainted and headed off to play. I believe I can speak for all the parents, it is very easy and peaceful when the kids are all together - they play for hours and we have lots of time to hang out.
The weather has been sketchy. We had a break in the afternoon and headed off on a hike to see the Huku Falls - most photographed spot in NZ. The water is a surreal colour of turquoise and really kicks through the falls. Jet boats play games for the tourists in the froth below the falls. Kate and I turned back but the rest of the gang hiked on to the falls and took a quick dip in the hot springs along the way.
After Taupo, we have decided to spend a few more days with the Sparks. We are all enjoying the company. Mira is so happy to be with her friend - one thing she asked for Christmas :(...
We are in a very small spot call Maketu in the heart of Kiwi Country down from Mt. Maunganui on the coast. Paul and I quickly decided to rent a cabin instead of braving the gale-force winds in our K-Mart special tent - which doesn't like to stand up at the best of times. Mike helped re-enforce it in Taupo with Gaffa Tape (NZ duct tape). This definitely helped but we have to realistic. So we are staying in a very rustic cabin that sits up on the hill overlooking the ocean. The cabin has a bit of a lean but again not as bad as our tent would have. The place has a feel of the maritimes and the look of fishing cabins I remember from my youth. The high tide come right up to the sea wall in front of the Sparks' tent and at low tide, the kids find endless hours of fun playing in the rocks, seaweed and sand. We saw dolphins in the bay yesterday.
We spent at the beach at the Mount.
So this is all I have to report for now. See you for now from the sunny ocean side of Maketu.
I see in the background that many Kiwis enjoy RVs. Maybe you should look at getting one of those. Can't be any worse than a broken down car and a K Mart tent. I'm thinking of getting one for Sandra. She's out grown the Suburban. (not physically)
ReplyDeleteLove,
Scott