Category: 2022 12 New Zealand
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Abel Tasman and a lot of broccoli.
New Zealand is very green. Everything grows here! We took a sailing tour out of Kaiteriteri, viewing Abel Tasman National Park from the water. From that perspective, it looked like a whole lot of broccoli!!!
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Stalactites, stalagmites, Moas and one helluva Pass.
A ‘c’ means it hangs from the ceiling, a ‘g’ means it grows up from the ground. When they join up it is the very imaginative “pillar” or “column”. And that is your geological lesson of the day, with illustrations from the Ngarua cave, sitting at the apex of the Takaka pass between Nelson and…
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Tigh-Na-Mara South and “The Blues”.
If you saw the tide photos in our section on Tigh-Na-Mara, you will totally understand the title. Nelson has some impressive water movement! In between we checked out a pub called “The Honest Lawyer”. C’mon, who wouldn’t?? It suggests a truly rare establishment.
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A ferry too far.
We made a really bad decision this day: to ride bikes 50+ kilometres. It sounded lovely. A 1.3 km tunnel at the start. Mostly downhill to begin, then flat. Some of it seaside through wetlands. An island. Pass by chicken ranches, cow and sheep pastures. Lovely towns and many pleasant eateries along the way (it’s…
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Leaving the Great Green North.
Our last stop on the north island was in Wellington. Unfortunately for me, it is a beautiful city chock full of steep hills and lovely parks. Perfect for tortuous walking. Which we did for one full day, covering 10+ km on our urban hike. Wellington is also home to Weta Studios, where some of the…
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P.S. Guess what massive portrait is hanging in the main lounge of the Chateau?
(See our blog entitled “No easy trek.”)
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A Grand Lady near Doom and more falling water.
You have probably guessed that I LOVE the grand hotels from the late 19th/early 20th century. Well, Serendipity smiled on us, and we found – after checking many times – a reasonably priced room at the “Chateau Tongariro Hotel”, the Grand Lady of the Tongariro National Park. Opened in 1929, she stands alone at the…
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Dwarf barrel run and nature’s paint palette.
We went to the Aratiatia Dam this morning. This hydro dam receives so much water that it opens its flood gates 4X per day. The empty chasm below turns into raging rapids in less than a minute. Then, the floodgates are raised … The chasm fills: The water rushes to fill the chasm below the…
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Craters of the moon and Bora Bora.
Our first stop today was the “Craters of the Moon” near Lake Taupo. This is another part of the Taupo Volcanic Zone (which includes Mt. Tarawera, the eruption of which was detailed in a prior post) and is a subject unto itself. This particular area was quite the attraction, dating from the late 1800’s. A…
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Gibraltar and a goat track.
“Bernie-time” yesterday, so that meant hiking with a stupid amount of vertical. We went to Te Mata peak. First we went UP. Then we hiked DOWN, joining the “yellow trail” where we parked the car. It went further down. Much further down…eventually plunging into the Florin/Guilder Fire swamp (surely you have seen “The Princess Bride”…
63 and free 