North Island, New Zealand
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RotoruaFri. 5/8 - Mon. 5/11, 1998: There's a lot of thermal activity around Rotorua. It's like Yellowstone, except there are steaming vents all over the town itself and the air is quite pungent from all the gasses. It's very green. Saturday, we condensed all our sightseeing here into one day with Carey's Tours (more great folks.) We saw the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland and Waimangu Volcanic Valley, the Te Wairoa Buried Village, the Maori Arts & Crafts Institute, and Whakarewarewa Thermal Reserve. Afterwards we were grateful to soak at the Polynesian Spa under a full moon. Sunday was our second actually rainy day so we took a bus south to Lake Taupo, & had a long, leisurely lunch before heading back to Rotorua. |
 View from our porch. |
Northland Mon. 5/11, 1998: We continued by bus north from Rotorua through Auckland to Whangarei. We finally rented a car to travel further north to Tutukaka and the Sands Motel. Our unit was at the edge of the beach on Whangaumu Bay; it couldn't have been more perfect. We pretty much had the place to ourselves and Doug the caretaker made sure we had a good time by suggesting things to do, including the Snappa Rock Cafe (which was excellent.) Tuesday, we practiced driving <g> and planned another dive. |
 Tutukaka Harbor |
Wed. 5/13, 1998: The Tutukaka Harbor couldn't have been more scenic if Disney had built it, complete with 3 resident Manta Rays. Our dive trip to Poor Knights Islands Marine Reserve began here with Aqua Action. |
 More Dramamine, Please |
Before leaving home, we had only thought we might possibly get this far north in NZ. It was John, the divemaster back on Fitzroy Island, AU, who convinced us we had to dive Poor Knights as it's one of the top spots in world. He was right. It was spectacular! We were extremely impressed with David, Luke & Richard at Aqua Action, too. Great people with good equipment, dive briefings and procedures. |
 #1 Cutest Place |
Thurs. 5/14, 1998: We drove north to Paihia with Ellie (we met on the dive,) for company. We dropped her off, and found a great place to stay with a view of the Bay of Islands. There were 10 separate, new little cedar cabins tucked into the Pahutukawa trees. We enjoyed talking with Belinda, the owner. In the afternoon, we took a Blue Ferry over to Russell to see the sights. The Russell Museum was a great treasure, documenting the town's rowdy and historic past. |
 Us Again |
Fri. 5/15, 1998: We signed up for a Northern Exposure tour to see waterfalls, forests, Cape Reinga and points beyond. By this time, our eyes were on green overload. Phillip, the guide, was born in the Northland and gave us a great day as he showed us his "backyard." The morning tea stop was at his favorite bakery in Kaitaia. |
 Tasman & Pacific Meet |
At the northern tip of the North Island, the Tasman Sea (left) meets the Pacific Ocean (right.) We had time for a nice picnic here. |
 Sand Surfing |
In addition to knowing lots of historical info and all the words to Savage Garden's "Truly, Madly, Deeply," Phillip also knew lots of other cool things to do on the trip. |
 On 90-Mile Beach |
This tour was another fun group of people. We drove south for an hour on 90-mile beach, which is actually 90 km, or about 65 miles. We stopped to see ancient Kauri tree woodworking, and then for genuine fish and chips in the Mangonui harbor. |
 Maori War Canoe |
Sat. 5/16, 1998: We toured the Waitangi Treaty House & returned to The Sands to enjoy our last night in NZ under a stupendous display of stars. |
 Private Plane? |
Sun. 5/17, 1998: We drove back to Whangarei, stopped to see an actual kiwi at the museum, and then headed to the airport. Turned out we were the only people on the flight to Auckland. The co-pilot Gregg took our picture while pilot Richard fired up the 15-seat plane. |
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trip from Auckland to LA to Denver was uneventful. The only glitch in our travel was in
Denver, of course, as United scrambled the flights to Colorado Springs. (Throughout the
trip, we were impressed with Ansett and Air New Zealand, and underwhelmed by United
Airlines.) Our kitties were glad to see us and we took a day to wade through a month's
worth of mail and 25 rolls of film. Coming from fall back to spring and daylight savings time, coupled with the time zone differences, got us out of sync but good. We were going to bed at 3 a.m. and getting up at noon for a couple of weeks before we got back to "normal." We liked Australia, but we would go back to NZ in a second. We're not sure we met all the sheep. It's a beautiful place with friendly, welcoming people. The motor lodges we stayed in had kitchen facilities, and usually separate sitting and bedrooms. Although the restaurants were great, we were able to fix our own breakfasts & snacks. Laundries & markets were easy to find. The public transportation was great and every town had an office of tourism to help out. Hey, are you still awake? Hope you enjoyed our travel log. If you haven't figured it out by now, WE HAD A FANTASTIC TIME!!!!! Let us know if you have questions or comments! Back to No Worries Page Back to Australia Page Back to South Island of New Zealand |
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