Central North Island New Zealand

We had all showered on Friday evening to remove the minerals from Kerosene Creek, but Susan and Wesley wanted to get our money's worth from our luxury digs, so they went at 7 am to the Spa Park hot springs right in Taupo and took a second shower to remove the new mineral deposits.  The spring is in a city park, so no entrance fee.  We were hoping for a nice sunrise, but it was quite foggy/cloudy (although it cleared nicely as the day progressed).  The spring is up the hill from the banks of the Waikato River, but is too hot to get into if you go too far up stream.  The last pool before the river was the one used and the river itself is warmed considerably near the shore.

Susan and Wesley in the Spa Park hot springs.

Where the hot springs enters the Waikato River.  The water is warm to tepid to cool as you go farther out into the river.

After the showers, we backtracked a bit to first visit Huka Falls.  It's more of a cascade than a true falls, but is quite impressive nonetheless.  The Waikato River narrows from about 50 m wide to only 15 m for this short segment, so the water velocity is quite high.  A really good kayaker might be able to negotiate this section, but it would certainly be  a challenge. This is one of the "must sees" for every foreign tourist on a commercial tour, so we got to share this spot with several tour buses full of our contemporaries (i.e., old  people).

Huka Falls looking downstream from the bridge.

Susan at the downstream end of the falls.

We next went a bit farther back toward Rotorua to see the Craters of the Moon.  This is a large thermal field with multiple vents, mud pools, craters, etc., that gives an other-worldly vibe  It's interesting that this thermal area only became active and started to expand after the first geothermal power plant was opening in 1958.  The two immediately noticeable results of this power plant were 1)  the extinguishing of nearby geyser activity (for example, a place previously called Geyser Valley had to be renamed to Thermal Valley) and 2) an increase of vents and other thermal activity at Craters of the Moon and other locations.  We spent about an hour and a half wandering about in what would appear to be the smoldering remains of a grass or forest fire, but was, in fact, simply steam venting.

A steaming vent at Craters of the Moon.  Photos were sometimes difficult because visibility was low.

General view showing the smoldering-fire effect and indicating the scale of the place.

We then headed into town to meet Wesley's friends Anne and Mike Godfrey for lunch.  We had some time before our scheduled meet, so Susan and I wandered through a farmer's/arts/crafts market.  We bought a turned honey dipper from a guy who unsolicited told us to go home and do something about our president (a not uncommon reaction when meeting folks here).  Anyway, we had a very pleasant lunch with a view out over Lake Taupo, watching paragliders, sea planes and water skiers pass by.  I haven't mentioned the lake because we didn't really interact with it at a personal level, but it is a beautiful setting with vivid blue water surrounded by volcanic peaks with some high enough to have snow at the top.

Lake Taupo from our lunch spot showing a parasail and the snow-topped  mountains in the background.

Susan by Lake Taupo after leaving the tourist mayhem in the city of Taupo.

After lunch we headed west to the other end of the lake (about 40 km) and stopped at Tokaanu Thermal Pools.  The pools themselves were not remarkable after others we have seen, but on is hot enough to cook with and Susan wanted to try it out by boiling and egg suspended in the pool in a sock.  She held it there for 12 minutes and claims that the egg was perfect.  While on her hands and knees holding her sock, a high school group came by, became captivated and waited until the egg was done before they left.  (I suspect they stayed longer than was scheduled for the stop, but at least they saw a crazy Yank boil and egg!)

Susan hanging her sock with egg in the hot pool.

Successfully opening and eating her finished egg--cooked "perfectly" according to her.

At this point, we saw a motel with a vacancy across the street and took a room there for the night instead of  proceeding a bit farther as planned.  This opened up the possibility of visiting Tongariro National Park, about 40 km south and having a confirmed room waiting for us if we got back late.  The approach to the park was not so impressive as it was rather flat though lava flows and fields of rubble, but in the distance were several higher peaks, including the snow-topped mountain we saw from Taupo, Mt. Ruapehu. We turned off the highway to  Whakapapa Village, at the base of the mountain (elev ~1000 m).  It is a somewhat typical ski village with a large hotel and several other lodging options.  However, it is still 6 km from the ski lifts, so we drove on up to take a look.  At the base of the Whakapapa ski field, we were at about 2000 m, and took a short walk to a nearby ridge.  From there we could see Mt. Ngauruhoe (Mt. Doom in the Lord of the Rings Mordor movie) and the locale of some of the shooting for the movie.  The slopes at this point (and up as far as we could see) were extremely rough and rocky--they really need a deep base to ensure that skis don't scrape on  rocks.  On the way back down, we got a meal at Whakapapa Village and then took a couple of short walks on the way out of the park.

Chateau Tongariro Hotel with Mt. Ruapehu.

At the ski area showing how rugged the terrain is.  They were running the lift for hikers to get to higher elevations.

From the ski area looking across the "Mt. Doom."

Tawhai Falls, a short walk we took on the way  out of the park.

Another walk we took on the way out was an overlook of several mounds creeated by a rubble sllide about 12000 years ago.

The motel we chose, due to it's location near the springs, offered bath house with heated mineral and clear water, so Susan and I were able to have one last soak before we head north tomorrow and leave the thermal area of the island.  Hopefully this mineral water has cured whatever ails me--but I'm sure my memory is too much to hope for!
On the road the next morning we headed west to Taumarunui then turned northward towards someplace north of Auckland.  This was a day to make mileage (or  kilometerage?  Metrification doesn't seem to work well here!), but there were a couple of stops we managed along the way, both of them cost-free to help out the budget.
The first was at Omaru Falls, about 50 km north of Taumarunui.  At the end of a 1.8 km track was a beautiful, 40-m high waterfall--probably the highest we've seen on the trip (at least the highest with water flowing!).  What I enjoyed most about this stop, however, was the walk to get there--it was very surprising.  It started with crossing a couple of fences with styles, then walking along a very sedate, somewhat muddy creek that appeared to be barely flowing between the sheep pastures.  After a short time, we plunged into a rain forest environment with cool shade and lots of birds (but the sound of baaing sheep stayed in the background).  In a bit, the creek started to gurgle and show signs of life, then at about 1 km, there was a sharp turn and we were crossing the creek (now probably 12-15 m wide) on a swinging cable bridge.  After crossing, we were back beside pastures for a while when a real (though small), 1-m waterfall appeared.  A bit farther, we could see the creek disappear over a precipice ahead, although to this point there was no hint of anything more than a slight drop and the entire track was very flat.  In another 200 m, with a view of the creek hidden by vegetation, we suddenly are at the view point and can see the full 40 m of the falls dropping into a narrow canyon.

Crossing the fence on a style on the way to Omaru Falls.

Susan on the swinging bridge over the creek.

Arrival near the falls.

Susan at the viewpoint of the falls.

Our other stop was at the Ruakuri Tunnels track at Waitoma, near Te Kuiti.  Waitoma is another of those very commercial spots with cave tours of various kinds, tubing, rafting, etc.  We drove past all of that to the public reserve and walked about an hour through a fascinating landscape of caves, underground rivers, natural tunnels and (if we'd been there after dark) glowworms.  In addition, it was in a very lush forest in a narrow canyon with nearly vertical walls.

We then made a beeline north, but got snarled in some traffic (reinforcing our first impression of NZ traffic being worse than Australia--although to be fair, we did avoid driving in cities to a large extent).  Another observation that become obvious as we drove is that New Zealand has incredible diversity (landscape, geology, flora, etc.) within very small areas--within a 50-km radius, you can see English countryside, Alpine pastures, above-the-tree-line volcanoes, commercial logging operations, pristine lakes, steaming springs, ...  I can't imagine anyplace with more variety closer together.  The traffic, of course, delayed our arrival into Warkworth, our ultimate goal for the day, until almost 6 pm.  The information office, of course, was closed, but worse, had no practical info posted (such as  a town map).  We managed to find the listing for one motel and knew about where it was, but missed it as we drove past.  After that, we made a wrong turn heading out of town towards the coast.  For about 4 km, the traffic against us (heading back to Warkworth) was bumper-to-bumper/stop-and-go and since we couldn't turn around (and didn't really want to), we went farther on till the traffic lightened.  Nearing the town of Snells Beach, we saw a sign advertising a vacancy and turned in.  It turns out it was not a motel, but simply a couple with a room to rent out.  It is in a steel, garage-type building, not looking like much from the outside, but very nice inside, and situated in a beautiful garden with fruit trees and hundreds of Monarch butterflies.  (Not sure where the butterflies came from as they are North American, but they are definitely here.)  In fact, we not only decided to stay, we booked it for next Wed, the night before our flight home, so we can be within easy reach of the airport.

Twilight view from the deck of our room in Snells Beach.

New Zealand

We were up early and took a cab to the airport at 6:00 am to catch our flight to Auckland.  All went smoothly and after 3 1/2 hours in the hour (and a two-hour time zone change), we landed in Auckland about 2:30 pm.  Immigration and baggage went very smoothly, but we ran into some issues at the bio-hazard inspection.  New Zealand is very diligent to inspect everybody and everything coming into the country to at least try to keep out invasives and new pathogens.  We had to have our shoes inspected since we had been bushwalking within the past 30 days and that went fine.  The rub was that some of the shells that Susan collected on the beach are apparently form endangered species.  Her choices were:  1)  toss them or 2) pay a NZ$10 "storage" fee and have them returned to her on departure.  She opted for the latter, so she and the agent spent 1/2 hour or so filling out paperwork.  We then left the quarantine area and were to go to window outside to pay the fee.  After another 10 minute wait, it was determined that the shells were small enough that it was ok to simply keep them, so off we went with shells in hand.
We next caught the shuttle to the rental agency and in short order were on our way heading south out of Auckland.  In the first 45 minutes, we managed only 10 km (rush hour with some construction), but after a stop for dinner, it cleared out and we started to cruise at the speed limit, finally arriving in Cambridge for the night (140 km from Auckland).  First impressions:  worse traffic than Australia, much greener and lusher and lots of non-native trees.  It was another unusual day with no photos to post--maybe some tomorrow.
We left Cambridge for the one-hour drive to Rotorua to begin our "real" Kiwi experience and Rotorua is truly like no other town I've been in.  We are using a guide book that Erin and William recommended (NZ Frenzy) and I think our view aligns with the author:  it's a highly unique and worthwhile place to visit, but it is also very commercial and has all manor of places that are all very keen on separating you from your money.  You can:  parasail, take helicopter or sea plane rides, lunch/dinner cruises on the lake, kayaking, rafting, mini-golf, rolling down hills inside of large plastic balls, ...  In fact the author says that locals refer to Rotorua to Roto Vegas.
Driving into town,  one is immediately met with the smell of sulphur and steam arising from Kuirau Park (a city park) beside the road.  We first went to the park and strolled around the different thermal features--some are clear, some are muddy, some are just steam vents.

Susan by one of the thermal pools in Kuirau Park.  Generally they were fenced off, but there were a few places without fencing.  The vents end to move some, so you can see in paces where the fencing had to be moved.

View of steaming, bubbling mud pot.  The smell was rather potent all over town,, but especially close to the pool locations.

One of the largest warm water pools in Rotorua with a group of school kids on a field trip in their uniforms.

There were even vents in places like yards, boulevards, parking lots, etc.  This is a vent right beside the main road into town (not sure if the steam will show up in the photo).  On one street, we saw a small hole in the asphalt that was caused by a hot vent forcing its way through the pavement.

We then did some walking through town, starting with the Government Gardens where the Rotorua Museum is located.  The museum is an old, beautiful, Tudor-inspired bath house (for the thermal baths) from the early 1900's but is currently closed due to earthquake damage.  They are trying to reinforce the building while still maintaining historic integrity and cutting budgets at the same time.  We then went past the Blue Baths (still in use, but inside a private enclosure) and the Polinesian Spa (a commercial spa) on the way to the shore of Lake Rotorua at an aptly named place called Sulphur Bay.  We then followed the shoreline back to the north (past a lake-side golf course that is reputed to have steaming mud hazards) to a Mauri neighborhood called Ohinemutu before heading south along the Thermal Explorer Highway.

Rotorua Museum building from across the Governmment Gardens.  The view here shows only bowling greens, however the park aso had floral displays and monuments to various wars and the visits of British royalty.

Looking out at Sulphur Bay in Lake Rotorua.  This bay is basically dead biologically, but to the left in the main part of the lake, there are gulls, swans, ducks, etc., apparently able to find food.  If you look in the picture, you can see steam rising directly out of the lake water in the distance, giving the appearance of being on fire.

A recently made (not historic) Mauri war conoe on display.  It's very impressive at 20 meters long, 2.5 tons, with elaborate carving all over.

A whimsical sculpture we ran into with old bicycles and parts welded into a pine-tree shape.

Erin gave us a tip on something to do, but unfortunately we were confused as to which geyser was "insoapiated"  (her word;  apparently at some geysers, they used soap or some surfactant to "induce" geyser eruptions on a convenient-for-toourists schedule!), so we never found it.  However, Erin & Wm's handy-dandy guide book was very useful as we experienced three very cool places on our way south.  The first stop was Kerosene Creek, a spot about two km off the highway on a gravel track where there is a thermal stream that goes over a small waterfall.  The termperature is about 40 C (104 F), so it is quite warm and the waterfall turbulence is much better than Jacuzzi jets.  We put on swimwear and sat around being soothed for a bit.

On the road to Kerosene Creek, we passed t his eerily colored green lake.  The water was not hot, but warmer than otherwise expected and steam was rising from the far side.

Susan just under the waterfall at Kerosene Creek.

Another photo of me in the water to show what a sport I am.  Actually, this  isn't a real sacrifice as it's basically a hot tub.

Next we went to Rainbow Mountain for a short bush walk.  We didn't have time to go to the top, but did pass a couple of beautiful crater lakes on the way up.  Finally, we made a stop at the mud pool, a feature reminescent of Yellowstone, but each mud pot at Yellowstone is only a couple of meter across, whereas this is one continuous pool probably 40 or 50 meters across.  In  fact, this part of NZ all reminds one of Yellowstone, but much more accessible since many of the areas are available without charge.

Rainbow Mountain.  With more time, we could have gone to the top and had a great view with the clear weather.

A crater lake along the Rainbow Mountain track.  It's also an uncommon color for bodies of water but much more appealing than the lake near Kerosene Creek.

Overall view of the mud pool to show the large scale.

Close-up of the mud.  Boiling mud is strangely mesmerizing.

Another view of the mud.

After the mud pool, we inquired about a room at a nearby pub/hotel.  The had a room for three for NZ$90 (US$63--a great price), but it was right on the noisy highway, not air conditioned, shared bath, etc., so we opted to go farther towards Taupo.  About half-way there, we stopped at a road-side motel to check it out.  The clerk was Chinese and literally spoke no English--used pantomime to see if we wanted to sleep, then put the price into a calculator to show us.  It was NZ$180, which seemed too rich for our taste, so we went on to Taupo.  Taupo is a resort town on a beautiful lake, but school has started so it is not peak season and we expected o problem finding a room for the night--WRONG!  Turns out there is a big swimming race on Sat and literally every hotel/motel had no vacancy.  Finally we stopped at a random motel to see if they might recommend a nearby town or someplace more likely to have a vacancy, but luckily, they happened to have one last room with two bedrooms available for only NZ$310.  After almost choking at the price, we calculated that it would be approximately US$70 each, so we swallowed hard and took the room.  It was a nice room, but we didn't use the jaccuzzi, the gym, the TV's, the private balcony, etc., so Im not sure we got our value out of it (although we did not have to sleep in a park).

Last days in Australia

After arriving back in Melbourne late Sunday, we were ready for a day of being a bit more sedentary.  We were due for another laundry (after our ill-fated laundry experience in Katoomba, so spent the morning doing laundry.  By noon, everything was done, so Susan and I went downtown to the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI), a museum of film, TV, video, gaming, virtual reality, etc.  I particularly enjoyed the historic overview.  Most interesting were the early movies and TV since the exhibit focused on Australian media, much of which I was not familiar with.  One interesting one was Skippy the Kangaroo--roughly the bush equivalent of the old TV program Flipper, in which the animal hero worked all sorts of miracles to thwart the human bad guy or save the human from harm.  The was also an exhibit of the work of Phillipe Parreno, which we found completely incomprehensible.  This was an unusual day in that I took no photos (photos of LCD's and CRT's don't make good pictures).
On Tuesday, Wesley went to school with David to observe a day in an Australian school.  Susan and I decided to make use of the last day of the car by driving east through the city to the suburb of Belgrave, the home of the Puffing Billy historic railway.  The trip went up into the mountains for an hour, we had an hour layover for a picnic at Emerald Lake Park, then took the train back to Belgrave.  It is a very well run operation and quite popular--there were about 20 carriages as we left Belgrave and we had two steam locomotives to pull it.  The train was later split, so our trip back for with a single locomotive.  This line was actually in use until 1953 when a landslide closed it.  Right away, a volunteer group was organized to resurrect the line and had it running within a year.  Then in 1958, several miles of track was taken over by the suburban commuter service and it took a couple of years to build shop and station facilities to reopen again.  Both the locomotives and the cars are the same ones that would have been used 100 years ago.

Getting ready to leave Belgrave station with two locomotives.  Locomotives were built before 1910.

Starting to climb a grade while crossing a wooden trestle.

A rare open spot with a panoramic view.  This is looking generally south towards Phillip Bay, but it's a bit hazy to see.

Susan in one of the open-air carriages.

On the trip back.  Note that the locomotive is going backwards since there is no turn table at the turn around point at Emerald Lake Park.

After the train ride, we took a little side trip up to Sky HIgh Mt. Dandenong, a day-trip destination with a nice view of Melbourne, a cafe, some gardens, playing fields, a maze, etc.  We enjoyed a tea with cake on the terrace and strolled around a bit.

Looking west from Mt. Dandenong with the cafe terrace in the foreground.  You can faintly see the skyline of Melbourne in the distance.

Susan enjoying her tea on the terrace.

Wood sculptures found in the car park, but without any explanation as to who or why.

Another sculpture at the park, this one carved in situ from a large stump that is still in the ground.

They also have what may or may not be the largest chair in the Southern Hemisphere.  (We know there is a bigger on in Geneva, although it is missing a leg.)  Susan wanted my picture here and t his should put to rest for good the ugly rumor that I'm not a good sport about things!

Wednesday was our last full day in Australia.  We started by returning the car to downtown Melbourne, a stressful event in itself.  At the end, we had put 7950 km (5000 mi) on the car is about six weeks (including many days in Brisbane where the car never moved).  If can have the same good luck with cars in New Zealand, we'll be pleased.  Since we were downtown anyway, we decided to visit the Old Melbourne Gaol.  We had seen hundreds (perhaps a slight exaggeration, but certainly many) old gaols throughout Australia, but had never visited one.  This one was built in the 1840's and had an array of exhibits related to inmates, guards, executioners, etc.  One of it's biggest claims to fame is that it was the execution site of the famous bush ranger Ned Kelly in 1880.

The main cell block area for male prisoners.  (The female wing has been torn down.)  There are three levels with about 30 cells per level.

A typical cell as furnished.  Note the ball-and-chain.  The theory then was complete solitude and quiet to "break their spirit," which supposedly was to lead them back to the path of respectability.

Death mask of Ned Kelly, who died here in 1880.  They also an exhibit about a man executed in the 1920 who was exonerated with later forensic methods--unfortunately, there were no re-dos.

The entrance also included the City Watch House, which had holding cells for short-term stays and was used from 1909 to 1994.  Here the guide was a "Charge Sergeant" who led us through a simulation the intake process:  searches, lockup, recreation, etc.  The building is complete with the graffiti that was there when it closed in 1994 and many of the inmates did not think much of the police!

A "wet" cell.  The cell for drunks were a concrete floor with floor drain so the cells could be hosed out each morning.

It's not just a myth--they really do have padded cells.

After a lunch 😞😞 downtown, Susan and I decide to return to David and Beth's to do our final prep for leaving tomorrow morning.

I couldn't resist adding this quintessential Australian scene.  On a large jumbotron-type screen in Federation Square at about 1 pm on a Wed, they were showing in real-time a women's professional cricket match.  Australians truly are sports fanatics!

We've also been looking at possible routes in New Zealand and it's become obvious that a week is woefully inadequate for even the North Island, but it's also clear that we'll have a week filled with wonderful things to see and do.