NZ Photos - 1

Okiere Falls

I loved this scene with the water flowing over the underwater boulder

Thermal Zones

Rotorua - A City built on a thermal zone

Scene of a Rotorua for across Lake Rotorua - you can see the plumes of sulpherous steam rising - and yes it does stink!


Closer view of one of the city's outpourings

Wai-o-tapo - Thermal Scenic Area

Looking at the visitor center and the area from the parking lot overlook

Pond colored by dissolved minerals

Sulfur deposits in a cave

Location of the New Southern Pacific Office of my company where Lakeview Coffee will be transferring

Bubbling mud in a caved in crater

Sinter Deposits - some of the largest in the world

Weird yellow algae that was all over the place

New Zealand 2009 - Tales of the Camera Sherpa - Part 7

Sorry another quick post. We're on a short stop between Napier and Wellington. We catch the ferry across to the South Island tomorrow afternoon. That means a four hour drive in the morning. The motel we're staying in has 'pay' internet so I'm afraid uploading pictures is going to have to wait.

Glorious, glorious sunshine today!

It was cold when we left Lake Taupo and they've changed to daylight savings time so it means we lost an hour. It is a long a winding road through the mountains to Napier but there were some fabulous views including a waterfall that isn't even on any of the maps or guides. Lots of picture ops from my photographer. Good camera sherpa karma.

Then on to Napier, a town by the coast in the Hawkes Bay area (a wine region). The town itself was destroyed in an earthquake in 1931 and was rebuild completely in art deco style. So lots of photo ops there plus some great gardens. I promise I will get all the pictures up.

Next Wife wanted to see the remains of Maouri village that were outside of town. This meant finding it (not really on the map). I did a superior job of zen navigation if I do say so myself. Then it turned out to be quite the hike up a series of steep hills. But the reward was a fabulous view of the southern chain of mountains.

Will be posting from the South Island tomorrow.

Cheers

New Zealand 2009 - Tales of the Camera Sherpa - Part 6

Lots and lots to tell about but it is way late so I'm going to have to make this just the high points. Plus I took a bizillion pictures and the internet at our hotel is way slow so those will have to wait as well.

• Woke up in Rotorua - it was pouring rain - boo :(
• Go to neat church in town for photo op - There are hundreds of people dressed in black at the church - there's some major funeral going on
• Wife says she's ready to just slit her wrists but we head out anyway to do the tour around the lake
• Drive 45 minutes and find we missed the turn off and are heading back north to where we were yesterday.
• Turnaround come back to some Okere Falls. Rain miraculously stops and we get over an hour and a half of picture taking.
• Start around lake again. Rain starts.
• In spite of rain we still find places where she can stop and take pictures.
• Eat lunch in car in parking lot of hike to spring where it is pouring
• Go back to Rotorua and check on church again. Still packed. Police tell us funeral will be going on until Tuesday. Boo :(
• Head out of Rotorua towards Taupo. Rain is stopping
• Get to Wai-o-tapu, a major thermal springs area. Blue skies ensue. Wife gets 2 + hours of great picture taking.
• On to Lake Taupo. Get there early enough to check in and walk to lake for 'golden hour' pictures of lake area and the mountains of Tongariro National Park.
• Go to dinner at a local place - pretty darn good - NZ mussels - excellent, seafood chowder - really good (and I'm not that big a fan of chowder), flounder - not so hot, twice cooked pork belly (think crispy thick meaty bacon) - out of this world, creme brulee - excellent, wine - a shirz/grenache from Australia - yummy.

New Zealand 2009 - Tales of the Camera Sherpa - Part 5

Who says Born Again Aztec ritual won't work in the southern hemisphere?

While Wife was asleep I crept into town to find the local pub and found an appropriate sacrifice. The steps down to the beach made for a makeshift pyramid stepped temple and an offering to the appropriate gods was offered.

So this morning I was up really early and I noticed light. A peak outside the window and low and behold there was blue sky and sun! Wife fortunately was up and we both hustled out so she could get some early morning shots (golden hour time for you photographers). As a good sherpa I was sent to get some bread for breakfast. We wanted to eat fast so we could get on the road and take advantage of the sun.

Our trip south out of the Coromandel Peninsula was much better than the previous day. Although there was some rain there were plenty of opportunities for photo ops so it was a much better day. Our destination for the day is Rotorua which is known for its lake and its geothermal activity.

On the way we stopped in a small town Katikati that is known for its murals. We grapped lunch at a Cafe/Bar/Restaurant. We've seen these all around and they're kind of a cross between all three with the range between just coffee, breakfast, sandwiches, and a full bar. We had fish and chips. The fish was good but the frying wasn't so great. The owner was a treat however. So far we've had great luck with just about anything with fish in it.

When we got to Rotorua we had to find a place to stay. Even though it is the off season, there really aren't a lot of bargains to be found. But there's plenty of good wine in the grocery store so we picniced at the room. Almost all the places have little kitchenettes so it makes it very easy to save a bit of money and not over eat by doing the picnic thing. We bought a chilly bag, the NZ term for a cooler (this one with soft sides) and some freezer packs so we're packing with us cheese, meat, our wine, butter, fruit and veggies, etc. Makes things a lot easier.

Les Photos

Sample of a road side picnic

The Cold Rainy Beach the afternoon we reached Whangaproa

Here is the type of thing you see on a regular basis as a camera sherpa

OMG that's a spot of blue sky...it was gone in 10 minutes

The next day things are better - though you can' tell from this picture :(

The murals of Katikati

And they had this Haiku walk with poems put on stones. There was a bird sculpture walk too but we got rained out on that one.

In Katikati there is a street where all the red headed little girls that can only communicate by screaming unintelligibly are housed.

Interior of the Cafe/Bar/Restaurant

And our fish and chips

New Zealand 2009 - Tales of the Camera Sherpa - Part 4

We had a long drive today from our initial stop north of Auckland to our next on the east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula. After 3 weeks of no rain and sunshine, New Zealand is being hit with and extended low and cold front. This means we were driving through clouds, mists and rain most of the time.

We got to Whitianga around 2:30 and found a place to stay. Whitianga is on the Mercury Bay and is a resort town. It's pretty deserted this time of year (it is very, very early spring). We were able to get an hour or so of walk on the deserted beach before it started to rain in earnest.

Since there wasn't much that happened today, I will give you a few impressions about New Zealand so far.

Friendliness - The level of friendliness and willingness to be of assistance is really pretty amazing. Maybe it is the time of year to since it is not crawling with tourists yet.

Coffee - Pretty bad. They seem to have a liking for instant - even on Air New Zealand.

Driving - New Zealand drivers are about as placid as I've run across anywhere. That's one thing that has taken some stress out of the getting used to driving on the left. Today was much better in that regard.

New Zealand 2009 - Tales of the Camera Sherpa - Part 3

We both got a good night's sleep last night. But having gone to bed at a little after 9 PM, I was up at 4:30. The weather is not cooperating so far. Our B & B hosts told us that they have had beautiful weather the last three weeks but for us it is rain and drizzle.

We are planning a hike in the regional park nearby. With the rain looking like it will hold off we decide to give it a try. Although this in no major attraction, it was still a neat place to go.

It starts off going through up a stream valley. This section is almost like a rain forest with unique trees and giant ferns. There are birds all over. There songs are different and they look different. We caught a pair of native pigeons (about 1.5 times the size of a city pigeon with very different colors) just a few feet from us.

Then you break out into an area that is farmed with sheep herding. This means very low cropped grass with plenty of sheep turds to be avoided. Finally you arrive at a look out point where you can get a 360 degree view. Wife is doing plenty of photographing while we do this as is the point of it all.

As a surreal touch to all this, right next to this park is a military firing range. A group of helicopters were making firing runs during the whole hike. We could see the smoke coming from the guns as they fired while we were hiking. And there was a competition of local schools doing orienteering so all these kids in track uniforms kept running past us.

We cut the hike off early because it was close to lunch time and it looked like some rain was approaching and we were getting cold. We drove to a nearby town to pick up some supplies - some lunch stuff, a cooler so we don't have to eat out all the time and a good road atlas.

Tomorrow we'll be off and get the real touring started.

Eating Notes:

Ha, you really didn't think I would write about a trip and just ignore food did you? Our first dinner was with our B & B hosts. They are avid fishermen and had caught a large snapper just the day before. It was excellent. For our lunch today we were just going to grab a bit at the food court of the mall we were shopping in. But we saw this shop advertising "Roast". Going in we found they specialize in roasted meat including pork, beef and lamb. It's fast food only without any overly processed food...just roasts and few veggies including roasted potatoes. They were even offering pork cracklings. Dinner tonight was more seafood with Wife having a brochette of seafood and I a salad. It was well prepared and enjoyable.

Les Photos:

Scenes from the Forest
Some big ass way old looking tree

Really Big Ass Ferns.
These are ferns the size of what grew in the Permian Era

Not so great picture of very large local pigeon

The Look Out Point

Looking up at the Lookout. One has to cross minefield of sheep poop to get there

The Views

The Roast place

Look at all that great meat. Those are cracklings to the left - Ya got a love it.

Fast Food Roast style - a meat sandwich with roasted potatoes

I just loved this sign. More things like this are neede.

New Zealand 2009 - Taies of the Camera Sherpa - Part 2

We got on our flight on Air New Zealand without a hitch. Thank you air travel gods even if you are magical ponies. With my myriads of frequent flier miles, I've scored us business class tickets. And on this airline and this flight that means we get the full reclining bed type of seats. Sweet.

Wife enjoying the life she would like to become accustomed to. The back of the seat comes down and creates a flat surface for sleeping. You will also notice the separate foot rest by her feet for when you are just sitting.

The flight is totally uneventful. There are a lot of things that make this a less disruptive flight than our trips to Europe. First, even thought the flight is around 13 hours we only go over 5 time zones. Second, we leave at 10:30 PM LA time and we arrive at 6:30 AM Auckland time. This leaves us plenty of time for a normal sleep cycle that third is much easier with the full reclining seats. I can't quite get a full sleep on them because of their hardness but it is better than anything else I've flown on.

When we get to Auckland, getting off the plane and through immigration and customs is a breeze.

Wife and I having successfully arrived in Auckland and on our way to get our rental car.

Next however, comes the trial by GPS system. We've intended to rent a GPS from our rental car company. It is a portable device not like the ones from the same rental company in the US. We work for 30 minutes trying to get it to function without success. The main problem comes from fact that the touch screen interface seems to have glitches and certain commands just can't be done. I bring it back and we try another one only to have the same issues. After an hour of trying, I just give up, return it and get a map. Wife and I are good with maps and get to our destination.

The Gulf Harbour B & B

The view from our room

B & B garden

After arriving and getting settled into the B & B we walk down to Gulf Harbor for lunch, a little Indian place. Then we head over to a nearby bay so Wife can start taking pictures in earnest. We catch some nice scenes around the bay and see the first of what I think will be lots of great looking flora. New Zealand has a unique plant environment as a result of its millions of years of isolation.

Samples of Trees

Scenes across the bay - an extinct volcano - I hope it is extinct!