For our annual Christmas trip back to the United States, we decided to make a stop over in New Zealand. It was a busy morning – closing up the house for an entire month is always a bit fraught. Tim added to the drama by breaking his toe on the bike stand just as the taxi to the airport was pulling in the driveway. The whole flight he kept telling us the toe was dislocated and Elliott and I were going to have to pop it back in place upon arrival at the hotel. Luckily for us, the toe did seem to pop back into place on its own, but poor Tim was a bit hobbled for the remainder of the trip! I will try and do more photos this blog, but I’ll spare you the ones of his purple toe.
Auckland itself was an interesting city. We had read the city was surrounded by many volcanoes, so we weren’t quite sure what to expect. We were slightly disappointed to realize they really were inactive and the grass had grown over them. Still, it was all very beautiful, but just not as thrilling as we first thought it might be! We went out to see a few of the higher volcanic areas – Mt. Eden and One Tree Hill. It was lucky that the Governor’s gardens were open to the public on the one day we happened by.
We also enjoyed the Auckland Art Museum. It had a very interesting display of Maori artifacts, including a meeting house and a war canoe. We were struck how different the Maori culture is from the Aboriginal culture in Australia. There were some very unusual Maori textiles that I had never seen before.
New Zealand is known for exciting and dangerous adventure holidays. A trip to the Sky Tower in Auckland is a good place to start. At 328 meters, it’s the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere. We rode up in a glass elevator to the observation deck. My palms were sweating the whole time! Looking down, you could see a giant red bulls eye that serves as a target for the bungee jumpers. Tim threatened to do it, but I told him he’d have to make sure his life insurance covered it before he jumped. Elliott and Tim both
enjoyed freaking me out by jumping up and down on the glass floor.
After exploring Auckland, we headed south. We had to stop in Matamata to check out Hobbiton. We felt we had to at least get a photo of the place for Uncle Shane – a big Lord of the Rings fan. Upon arrival, we found out you had to have a tour of the place, or else we really couldn’t see a thing. Luckily a tour bus was just pulling up as we arrived, so there was no time to debate the exorbitant price we would have to pay. The Hobbit scenes were filmed on a sheep farm so far in the middle of nowhere. There was only one tiny hay barn roof you could see in the distance. Other than that, there was no sign of anything
man made as far as you could see in any direction. Lovely spot! We enjoyed the guided tour very much and loved hearing all the gossip about the director Peter Jackson. The tour ended back at the sheep farm where we got to see a sheep shearing demonstration. But the funniest was getting to sample the Hobbit beer. Peter Jackson realized the Hobbits would get quite drunk during the filming if they drank real beer. Another problem was that a lot of Hobbits were played by little kids and they couldn’t be giving little kids real beer. So he bought a brewery and had them make a 1% alcohol beer just for the movie. The beer is called “Sobering Thought” and is only available in Matamata. We had to try it out for ourselves of course…tastes just like the real thing! 
Auckland itself was an interesting city. We had read the city was surrounded by many volcanoes, so we weren’t quite sure what to expect. We were slightly disappointed to realize they really were inactive and the grass had grown over them. Still, it was all very beautiful, but just not as thrilling as we first thought it might be! We went out to see a few of the higher volcanic areas – Mt. Eden and One Tree Hill. It was lucky that the Governor’s gardens were open to the public on the one day we happened by.We also enjoyed the Auckland Art Museum. It had a very interesting display of Maori artifacts, including a meeting house and a war canoe. We were struck how different the Maori culture is from the Aboriginal culture in Australia. There were some very unusual Maori textiles that I had never seen before.
New Zealand is known for exciting and dangerous adventure holidays. A trip to the Sky Tower in Auckland is a good place to start. At 328 meters, it’s the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere. We rode up in a glass elevator to the observation deck. My palms were sweating the whole time! Looking down, you could see a giant red bulls eye that serves as a target for the bungee jumpers. Tim threatened to do it, but I told him he’d have to make sure his life insurance covered it before he jumped. Elliott and Tim both
enjoyed freaking me out by jumping up and down on the glass floor.
After exploring Auckland, we headed south. We had to stop in Matamata to check out Hobbiton. We felt we had to at least get a photo of the place for Uncle Shane – a big Lord of the Rings fan. Upon arrival, we found out you had to have a tour of the place, or else we really couldn’t see a thing. Luckily a tour bus was just pulling up as we arrived, so there was no time to debate the exorbitant price we would have to pay. The Hobbit scenes were filmed on a sheep farm so far in the middle of nowhere. There was only one tiny hay barn roof you could see in the distance. Other than that, there was no sign of anything
man made as far as you could see in any direction. Lovely spot! We enjoyed the guided tour very much and loved hearing all the gossip about the director Peter Jackson. The tour ended back at the sheep farm where we got to see a sheep shearing demonstration. But the funniest was getting to sample the Hobbit beer. Peter Jackson realized the Hobbits would get quite drunk during the filming if they drank real beer. Another problem was that a lot of Hobbits were played by little kids and they couldn’t be giving little kids real beer. So he bought a brewery and had them make a 1% alcohol beer just for the movie. The beer is called “Sobering Thought” and is only available in Matamata. We had to try it out for ourselves of course…tastes just like the real thing! 
I planned to stay in Rotarua just for one night. I had heard the town was quite odiferous due to all the thermal activity. I booked a hotel right on the lake thinking how nice and scenic it would be, not realizing that it was the lake itself that stank. If you stay in Rotarua yourselves….don’t choose the hotel with a view of the lake! They say you get used to the smell, but I’m not convinced. It was stinky, but it was interesting! We saw a lot of bubbling mud pools and hot springs.
Rotarua has a large Maori population. There are many opportunities to visit Maori villages and eat a Maori feast. We went one evening to Mitai Maori Village where they prepared us a ‘hangi’ – a feast prepared in a pit. They also did some traditional songs and poi dances where the women do some twirling thing with flax balls. It’s hard to describe, but it was fun to watch. The highlight, of course, would be seeing the Haka, the traditional Maori war dance. The All Blacks Rugby team still does this before every match to intimidate the opposition. The next day, we went to Whakarewarewa Thermal Village. Yes, that is what it’s called – no typo. It is a Maori village with a lot of thermal activity. I think we would have enjoyed that day more, had it not rained quite so hard!
On our way to Lake Taupo, we stopped at Waimangu Volcanic Valley. This was created during an eruption in 1886, so it is relatively new in geological terms. There is a lovely walk that heads down into the volcanic valley. You walk by all these thermal hot springs and geysers. The photos will do it more justice than my telling about it. Luckily, there was a free shuttle bus that picked you up at the bottom of the hill and took us back up to the top. To be honest, by this point, Elliott was getting a bit fed up with all the walking. Seen one hot spring, you seen them all!
We stopped in Lake Taupo for a few days. Luckily, the weather did clear up. We have gotten soft after living in Australia. We have realized tramping about in the wet is not nearly as fun as in the sun! One highlight of the area was “The Craters of the Moon” – yet another hot springs, volcanic area. But this one was relatively unspoiled by over-development and we enjoyed a good hike around.
Our guide book was a second hand Lonely Planet that Aunt Becky had used a few years before. There was some confusion about her notes in the margins. Did the star mean she had been there and it was good? Did it mean she had wanted to go but hadn’t made it? What was the X? Too expensive? Or fully booked? Well, we went to one starred place in the guide book: Taupo Hot Springs and Health Spa. It turned out to be a public swimming pool where most of the pools were fed by hot springs. It wouldn’t have been so awful if there weren’t signs posted everywhere saying “Keep Your Head Out of the Water to Prevent Amoebic Meningitis.” Yuck! There was a water slide that Elliott and Tim couldn’t resist, but Tim got a bit worried when he kept getting a nose full of water every time he crashed into the pool! We had a few worrisome days wondering how Amoebic Meningitis would present itself.
Rotarua has a large Maori population. There are many opportunities to visit Maori villages and eat a Maori feast. We went one evening to Mitai Maori Village where they prepared us a ‘hangi’ – a feast prepared in a pit. They also did some traditional songs and poi dances where the women do some twirling thing with flax balls. It’s hard to describe, but it was fun to watch. The highlight, of course, would be seeing the Haka, the traditional Maori war dance. The All Blacks Rugby team still does this before every match to intimidate the opposition. The next day, we went to Whakarewarewa Thermal Village. Yes, that is what it’s called – no typo. It is a Maori village with a lot of thermal activity. I think we would have enjoyed that day more, had it not rained quite so hard!
On our way to Lake Taupo, we stopped at Waimangu Volcanic Valley. This was created during an eruption in 1886, so it is relatively new in geological terms. There is a lovely walk that heads down into the volcanic valley. You walk by all these thermal hot springs and geysers. The photos will do it more justice than my telling about it. Luckily, there was a free shuttle bus that picked you up at the bottom of the hill and took us back up to the top. To be honest, by this point, Elliott was getting a bit fed up with all the walking. Seen one hot spring, you seen them all!We stopped in Lake Taupo for a few days. Luckily, the weather did clear up. We have gotten soft after living in Australia. We have realized tramping about in the wet is not nearly as fun as in the sun! One highlight of the area was “The Craters of the Moon” – yet another hot springs, volcanic area. But this one was relatively unspoiled by over-development and we enjoyed a good hike around.
Our guide book was a second hand Lonely Planet that Aunt Becky had used a few years before. There was some confusion about her notes in the margins. Did the star mean she had been there and it was good? Did it mean she had wanted to go but hadn’t made it? What was the X? Too expensive? Or fully booked? Well, we went to one starred place in the guide book: Taupo Hot Springs and Health Spa. It turned out to be a public swimming pool where most of the pools were fed by hot springs. It wouldn’t have been so awful if there weren’t signs posted everywhere saying “Keep Your Head Out of the Water to Prevent Amoebic Meningitis.” Yuck! There was a water slide that Elliott and Tim couldn’t resist, but Tim got a bit worried when he kept getting a nose full of water every time he crashed into the pool! We had a few worrisome days wondering how Amoebic Meningitis would present itself.
Next stop was Tongariro National Park. This park was another Lord of the Rings filming location. Mount Doom in the movie was really a composite of several of the mountains here. Some of the Orc fighting scenes were filmed at the Whakapapa Ski Field. The first afternoon we arrived, the weather was clear and we had some great views of the mountains. Sadly, the next day, the mountains were barely visible under a heavy cloud cover. We had only one day to try to do the Tongariro Crossing – an 18.5 km hike that takes you over the rim of the crater and down over some spectacular lakes. We hiked in for about 8 km, but going thru the South Crater visibility was very poor. As we climbed up the rim, it was very windy and rainy. We couldn’t see anything over the side – very scary for a person afraid of heights at the best of time! We turned back at that point, figuring there was not much point in torturing ourselves for a great view when there was going to be no view in the fog anyway! It was disappointing though to only have one day scheduled to do it. 
The next day, we went to Waitomo Caves. We went to check out the Black Water Rafting thru the glow worm caves. After I read the waiver and something about jumping backwards over a waterfall, I decided to let the boys do this adventure on their own. I was still shaken from the Tongariro Crossing! I stayed dry up top while Tim and Elliott donned wet suits and got into inner tubes. It sounded like I missed a great trip with spectacular scenery, but when they mentioned floating on their backs thru a tiny little cave opening – faces an inch from the rock wall – I think I made the right choice.
In Waitomo, we stayed in a hotel listed in the outdated guide book. It was possibly the worst hotel we had ever stayed in for a variety of reasons. When we got to the US, we checked out the latest Lonely Planet guide book. Sure enough, the hotel review had been re-written. It was something like…If the Bates motel from “Pyscho” and the hotel from “The Shining” had a bastard child….this hotel would be that offspring! Too right! Note to self….buy an up to date guide book!
On the last day in New Zealand, we went to see a Kiwi bird. As they are nearly extinct, there are very few around in the wild. We really enjoyed the Otoronhanga Native Bird Park. Kiwis are a very strange looking bird. It is easy to understand why they struggle in the modern world. They just aren’t equipped to fight off any introduced predators. On the way back to the Airport in Auckland, we stopped at the Hamilton Botanical Gardens. It was a lovely sunny day and the gardens were very well done. The last day was totally unplanned, but we were lucky to stumble across two great things to see.
If you look at a map of New Zealand, you will realize we didn’t cover much ground. We stayed only on the North Island, and didn’t even see all of that. New Zealand has so much to offer that we didn’t want to rush it. That leaves us with another trip to plan someday…a tour of the South Island.
*Editor's Note: The pictures are a pain to move around in this blog format - so I apoligize they're not exactly in the right place. No matter where I moved the photos - I still get a wierd paragraph format!
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