Holiday Reading

I can't believe we've been home a week now and that Christmas has already come and gone. Now we are looking forward to New Year's Eve celebrations at our place and I am contemplating plans for 2019. In the meantime I'm back to reading.

Whilst at Rotorua we visited a Friends of the Library book sale and I picked up a copy of The Zoo on the Road to Nablus, the story of Palestine's last remaining zoo and its dedicated vet, Dr Sami Khader who dreams of transforming the zoo into an international enterprise. Wonderful true story by British journalist Amelia Thomas. Its funny, its sad and always entertaining. Reading status: finished.

Photo Ark, by National Geographic nature photographer Joel Sartore, is a tribute to the animal world and especially those species which are endangered. The foreword by Indiana Jones' Harrison Ford, who is Vice Chair, Board of Directors, Conservation International, is thought provoking and the full page photographs are truly inspirational. Reading status: nearly halfway through, but one of those books I will look through time and again.

And then there's our very own Poles Apart by editors Anita Hansen and Brita Hansen, a production of The Royal Society of Tasmania. The editors have researched a large collection of volumes held by the Society about the Arctic and Antarctic including the search for Sir John Franklin's doomed expedition to the Northwest Passage. Reading status: just started.

What's next?

Whanganui to Auckland

Monday 17 December

We arrived in Whanganui and after settling into our hotel drove to Lake Virginia. First we wandered through the Winter Garden with its vibrant floral display and then took a 25 minute walk right around the lake – never have we seen such bird life!

Winter Garden

Remind anyone of a famous painting?

At Lake Virginia

Tuesday 18 December

Our first visit was to Bushy Park Homestead and Sanctuary. The homestead is a beautiful 22-room Edwardian homestead built in 1906 and was bequeathed to the sanctuary. The surrounding 98 hectare forest is filled with birds, many of which we saw including the Tui and the rare Toutouwai (North Island Robin) which came right up to us to be photographed. One endangered species, the Hihi (Stitchbird) of which only a few thousand remain worldwide, has been reintroduced at the sanctuary and small populations are thriving there.

We then drove to the Bason Botanic Gardens and wandered through their lovely conservatories and cottage gardens.

And we finished back at Whanganui with something completely different. There we took a ride on the Durie Hill Underground Elevator which descends 66 metres underground and arrives at a 213 metre long tunnel which leads to the river, then an easy walk into town. The Elevator, which was built in 1919, is still used by commuters and is the only one of its kind in the southern hemisphere.

View of Whanganui from Durie Hill

Later that day we received the tragic news that one of our five gorgeous hens had passed away unexpectedly. Rest in peace my beautiful girl. 😪

Wednesday 19 December

From Whanganui we drove around Mt Taranaki, New Zealand's largest active volcano at 2,518 metres high. Moderate to large eruptions have occurred on average every 500 years with smaller eruptions occurring about 90 years apart. But the last major eruption was around 1854 so we weren't too concerned....

At New Plymouth we drove along the coastline to check out its beaches which are all black sand. Then we visited the 52 hectare Pukekura Park, a Garden of National Significance, and the Brooklands Park Zoo where an Eclectus Parrot took a liking to Jim!

Thursday 20 – Saturday 22 December

We drove from New Plymouth to Waitomo. We passed a lot of little villages of just a few houses but they all had cafes and their coffee was delicious. At Urenui we had a delicious breakfast at the Mud Bay Café and then coffee mid-morning at the Fat Pigeon Café in Piopio.

Mud Bay Cafe

We didn’t visit the famous (and magical) Waitomo Caves this trip as we were short on time. Instead we went for a short drive which was recommended by our hosts at the B&B and then dined at the nearby Tomo Restaurant and Bar. Waitomo is certainly a growing place with thousands of overseas visitors every year – and the caves are well worth a visit!

Tomo Restaurant and Bar

On Friday we left Waitomo and headed to Auckland on the last leg of our trip. We stopped for coffee at yet another village called Pirongia. The coffee machine was a very old but beautiful Italian brass dome-shaped machine, and it certainly made good coffee.

Then it was on to the Auckland International Airport to drop off the hire car and catch a shuttle into the city. Our serviced apartment is very central and we walked to dinner at Portofino Italian restaurant at Viaduct Harbour near the Princes Wharf where the cruise ships dock.

The next morning, Saturday, we caught public transport to the Auckland Zoo and spent four hours walking through Africa, South America, South-east Asia, New Zealand and Australia. Amongst other things we saw the elusive Kiwi and the ancient Tuatara – and watched giraffe having their morning tea. A fabulous few hours.

Southern White Rhino (endangered)

Asian Elephant (endangered)

Nesting boxes (decorated by school children) for African Masked Love Birds

The Leopard Tortoise lives to 150 years!

 

Capybara from South America

We have one of these at the Tasmania Zoo, but unfortunately none of the previous animals...

Its been yet another wonderful holiday and tomorrow we fly home. And what we really loved about New Zealand? The spectacular views everywhere we went - and great coffee! Until next time.

Thermal Explorer (Highway)

Thursday 13 December

Arriving in Auckland we disembarked and caught a shuttle to the airport, then picked up our hire car. It was a lovely scenic drive to Rotorua and we easily located our hotel on a very long strip of hotels. That night we dined at a Thai restaurant on Eat Street, a block of restaurants and bars with food from around the world.

Friday 14 December

We spent the morning at the Buried Village, a village settled by both Europeans and Maoris, which was destroyed in the Mount Tarawera volcanic eruption of 10 June 1886. We enjoyed walking the 1.6 km track around the remains in a beautiful setting complete with gurgling stream and waterfall as we viewed the excavations, archaeology and artifacts. 150 people died that day and the wonderful modern museum tells their stories in words, pictures and videos.

Modern museum

Original blacksmith's house, excavated

Traditional Maori house, excavated

The landscape, completely regenerated since the volcanic eruption

In the afternoon we took the Hobbiton tour bus from Rotorua, a two hour round trip through lush green hills and valleys. At the film set we drove and walked for two hours, viewing the Hobbit Holes and hearing tales of the making of Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. We finished with a refreshing beer/cider at The Green Dragon pub – much needed, as it was 28°C!

They look real...

Hobbit Holes including Bilbo and Frodo Baggins' residence

Man-made lake

At the Green Dragon pub

Saturday 15 December

This morning we left for Lake Taupo via a local market at Kuirau Park in Rotorua, one of many beautiful parks in the town. In addition, the Friends of the Library were hosting a book sale which I couldn’t resist.

We continued on, stopping on the way at Orakei Korako, a thermal park. There we walked over a kilometre up and down some 500 steps and saw hot springs, boiling mud pools and the odd geyser, of which there are 23. It’s a fascinating and extremely historic landscape, including silicone steps and the Ruatapu Cave which is one of only two geothermal caves in the world.

Ruatapu Cave

We then came to the town of Turangi where at 3.05pm an earthquake warning siren sounded three times. As we drove through we became worried when we saw people massing on the footpaths. But then, to our great relief we realised the town’s annual Christmas parade was in progress, featuring colourful floats belonging to the fire brigade, police and various community groups – and we were in the middle of it! Glad to know we weren’t about to be evacuated we drove on to our accommodation.

 Sunday 16 December

We left Turangi and drove to the Lava Glass facility where we watched the most fascinating glassblowing demonstration and toured the beautiful sculpture garden. Then it was on to Huka Falls, where five swimming pools worth of water cascade over the falls every minute!

Glassblowing by two master glassblowers 

The beautiful glass sculpture garden at Lava Glass

Haku Falls

Next stop were the Wairakei Terraces. The Wairakei Tourist Park comprises a golf resort and various thermal sites, and the terraces give a great view of the adjacent massive Wairakei Power Station which uses steam from the geothermal fluid produced naturally in its steam field to generate electricity.

Only a week to go - so much to see, so little time!