Lake Wanaka

A few of our friends (The Carey's and the Smith's) have been here.   They know about this lake and its surroundings.   It seems that New Zealand just keeps throwing something more spectacular than the last area we were in.   Lake Wanaka fits that.   It is stunning.  

It is a glacial lake formed in 10,000 BC.   It runs for 50 km north and south, from the small town of Wanaka at its southern base to the foothills of Mt. Aspiring.   We left the West Coast of NZ yesterday, and followed the Haast River up to the NZ continental divide, and crossed down to the east slope of the NZ Alps.   Our boat trip on the Waiatoto River yesterday was on the western slope of Mt. Aspiring, now we were looking across Lake Wanaka at its eastern side.  

Once across the divide, the views of Lake Wanaka were just beautiful.   I am hoping that Bob Speckman can paint one of these.   The water is the prettiest blue, and there was not an ounce of wind.   We had perfect weather, so all that is left is to share some of these pictures of this part of New Zealand.

Our walk this morning along the shores of the lake, with Mt. Aspiring in the distance.

A California Redwood that was planted here around 1870 along the shore of Lake Wanaka.  It took 20 long steps to walk around the base.    Notice it is the Weeping Redwood, as you can see it branches sag.

It's sister is planted 50 yards away. It is the more traditional Sequoia Redwood.   The perfect Christmas Tree.

Wanaka is a cool little town, that reminds me of Vail or Aspen.   It is full of young folks who are backpacking, or camping around the shores of the lake, walking the many miles of trails that present themselves, or sunning on the beach a block from town.  It is also the playground of the rich, as there are some beautiful homes along the western shore of the lake.   All in all a place to be.

                                                             Waiatoto 
                      (The River of Blood)

No it did not gets its name from the color of the water, but from the bloody battles that took place along its banks.   The Maori (pronounced Merry by the New Zealanders) were the first indigenous people to live on this land.   The Waiatoto River had something of great value to them.   Rocks.   Not just any rocks, but Green Stones, which were obsidian.   Obsidian is a very hard rock that they could make into war making tools.  Green Obsidian is found in droves in this river bed, which drains down from one of NZ's largest mountain, Mt. Aspiring (just a bit over 3000 meters).  

The Waiatoto flows down the northwest side of Mt. Aspiring, then makes a sharp turn to the west where it flows 20 some km to the Tasman Sea.  The picture above is that curve in the river.   It was as far as we could get at this level of water.  The water was clear and light green .   Just beautiful.

We lucked on to a website that described NZ's only Jet Boat tour that would take you from the sea to the Alps.   We could not resist.   Our guide was Ruth, who along with her husband Wayne,  run this river jet boat from Hannah's Clearing on the West Coast just below Haast.  A jet boat has a very shallow draft of less than one ft. and is driven by water sucked in then shot out the back in a jet.   It goes really fast.    Really Fun.

Our Guide Ruth

Ruth started flying when she was in her teens, and ran a bush flying service in NZ for years.  She met her husband, Wayne, while she was flying small planes around NZ, but she sold the business, and they bought this Jet Boat business in Hannah's Clearing.   She exudes confidence when she is flying up or down this river at 50 kph (31 mph) dodging rocks and big logs or snags.  It was a great ride.   But the best part is that she stopped often to explain what we were seeing and the history of the river.  It was a great 3 hours.  

The NZ government runs a Nature Preserve for many km along this river where they have a project to assist the engendered Kiwi birds with the birthing of their eggs.  Kiwi's mate for life and the female lays 3 eggs per year.   But the Stoat's (a small weasel) brought in on British ships in the late 1800's to rid the island of rabbits (which the British also brought to the island), are a vicious little creature that loves Kiwi eggs.   They nearly put the Kiwi into extinction.  The conservation process has been to rid the island of those mean ole Stoat's, and then help and preserve the Kiwi eggs.    Much of that process is going on along the banks of the Waiatoto.   In this preserve alone, they started with two breeding pairs of Kiwis. and are now up to 54 pairs.  Unfortunately for us, the Kiwi is a nocturnal bird, so we wee unable to see any along the banks of the Waiatoto.  

 This waterfall high up the mountain......














Flows into the Waiatoto below.

 

There was one other couple on the boat with us, Alan and Suzanne from Te Anau, New Zealand.   They were a very nice couple and fun to be with.   They invited us to their home in Te Anau, which is on our agenda in 10 days as we get to the very south part of the island.   Cool.   These New Zealanders are a very friendly group, you know.  

The first picture of Ruth above was taken at the mouth of the Waiatoto as it poured into the Tasman Sea.   To be able to run from the ocean 20 km up the river, until rocks prevented us from going further, was really  a great adventure.  

We even spent time on the river bank looking for Green stones.

                                The Southern Alps

Part of my issue when I travel, is that I get locked in.   I like to set an itinerary and stick with it.   Well that did not work out so well this week.   Our plan was to spend several days in the far Northwest tip of the South Island, on Golden Bay and the Abel Tasman National Park.  It's supposed to be beautiful.   But as I mentioned, it started to rain.   And rain.   And rain, and the forecast was for more rain.  I could not even see across the Holiday Park for the rain, let alone go walk into a National Forest.

So I had to get out of my comfort zone and change plans.   We checked the forecast for the West coast and low and behold, the rain was to stop the next day down there.   So off we went, driving in the rain to Greymouth.  (Just like it sounds...Grey Mouth, because the town is at the mouth of the Grey River).

Greymouth is a small town.   The Grey River is flowing into the Tasman Sea, on the west coast of New Zealand, which is part of the Indian Ocean.   I had never seen the Indian Ocean, so this was pretty cool.

We parked right along the beach and took a nice walk down this beach in the rain.   The beach has very little sand, and is very rocky....small rocks that fit into the palm of your hand, but all rocks.   We found some beautiful rocks, of every color, shape and size.  Naturally our bag will have a few specimens when we come home.  Get ready Grandkids.  

The forecast was right, and the rain stopped just in time for us to move south along the shore to where the highest mountains in New Zealand rise from the ocean.  I like geology, and New Zealand is a geologist's paradise.  You have heard of the Ring of Fire that is the Horse Shoe shaped fault line running 40,000 miles long, starting at the tip of Chili on the South American continent and runs up North America, along the Aleutians in Alaska, down through Japan and to the tip of New Zealand.  This is the most active fault line in the world with hundreds of active volcanos, and frequent "Shakes" as they call earthquakes here in NZ.  

New Zealand lies at the junction of the Indo-Australian plate and the Pacific plate.   Surprisingly the North Island of NZ is being pushed up by the Pacific plate riding up over the Indo Australian.   However, the South Island is the opposite.  It is growing about 6 cm. each year as the Indo-Australian plate rides up over the sub-ducting Pacific plate.   Go figure.  Our path took us right along the coastline at sea level.   So to see these mountains rising straight up to Mt. Cook at 3754 meters (12,300 ft) is impressive.   Impressive is not the right word.   It is downright beautiful.  Definitely a Wow factor.   

Two glaciers fall off the west and southwest side of Mt. Cook.   The Franz Josef and the Fox Glaciers.   If there is one major tourist attraction in NZ, this is it.   We spent the night at the base of the Fox Glacier, and there are no less than 5 helicopter companies bidding to take you up and land you on the snow for 5 minutes, then whisk you back to town.   20 minutes round trip for a mere $230 per person.   Or you can spend big money ($400 per person and land for 10 minutes on each glacier).   I'm cheap.   No thanks.   So we did what any cheap person would do, we drove to the base valley of the Fox Glacier and walked up to as close as the rangers would let us get to the base of the glacier.   You cannot climb up onto the glacier as it is moving and falling, and changing all the time.   But you can see it for free.   

We started our walk up to the glacier around 9:00 am, well before the sun rose enough in the morning sky to shine down into this canyon.   So all the pictures are a bit gray.   But clearly you can see the end of the glacier.   In 1735 it extended a good two miles down this valley, according to a sign we passed on the road while driving to the glacier.  It has been melting back for not only these last 282 years, but actually for thousands of years in this valley.   I won't get into politics about global warming, but the earth has been on this natural trend for a very long time.  Not much of that warming trend is due to man or fossil fuels, nor is the pace of the melting accelerating.    So call me a "denyer" but regardless, it is a precious site, well worth seeing.

I enjoyed the half hour walk from the car park up to the base, for the sheer beauty and awe of seeing this glacier.   Shelley thought it was neat, but really saw it as an opportunity for exercise.  After spending 3 minutes at the top, then "Let;s go, give me the keys to the camper and I  will see you when you get back down".   Crazy.  On the way up, she was in full "Shelley Walk" mode for those of you who know her.    I'm a good 50 yards behind.

Here are some photos of the Fox Glacier and the surrounding valley.

The water flow on the lower right,  is actually out of rocky gray ice that runs just below the glacier

From the Fox Glacier, we continued south down the West side highway until the road ends in Jackson Bay.   There is still 150 miles of coastline below Jackson Bay, but it is the Fiordlands, which are highly unaccessible, except by water.   Undeniably the beauty of the West Coast was amazing. 

 We just missed the seals and penguins, who left for the other places that seals and penguins go, just a few weeks ago.

Jackson Bay, which is the only natural bay on the West Coast.  This is the end of the road.

One of the many estuaries that catch tidal flow every day and are a botanical wonder.

As I mentioned the rain stopped, and we had a beautiful day and a beautiful sunset.

                                                   Marlborough

What's not to like about driving out into wine country to visit as many vineyards as possible, after which,  I feel I can properly drive on the left hand side to get home.  Four. Five vineyards.  OK Six.   

Three Sauvignon Blancs, Gewurtztraminer, Pinot Noir, Riesling

These vineyards are nice.  Very nice, and the wine is great.  Why does it always seem so fabulous when you taste it at the Cellar Door, then when you buy it at the store?  Naturally, we bought wine at every stop.  We are carrying around enough wine....well... to last three weeks.   Yet we still have to visit the Central Otago region in the mid part of the South Island.  Whew,  tough duty.  I am going to have to come home to sober up.   Seriously this is the "Hoity Toity" part of New Zealand.  There is a big airport, lined with corporate jets, plus hourly flights from Auckland, Wellington, etc, bringing the beautiful people to Marlborough and the food and wine it provides.   This is the new Napa Valley.   Lots of American Beautiful people.  

Notice that pretty blue sky from the picture above taken yesterday.   All gone!  We have had 14 days of beautiful weather, but last night it started to rain.   We drove through rain all day to the farthest northwest corner of the South Island, which is the Able Tasman National Park, Golden Bay, and the Farewell Spit.  We have such great ambition to walk these beautiful treks though the park, walk the beach at Pohara, and doing some salmon fishing.   (You catch a salmon, they clean it, then smoke it over a fire, for lunch or dinner.)  Alas, the forecast is for three days of rain.   Heavy rain.   Now that is not a problem to these Aussies and Kiwi's.   It is in the low 60's, rainy, cloudy, but they don't care.   They are swimming in the pool at our Holiday park, walking around in shorts, and just in general being really "outdoorsy".   Pisses me off.   I have every bit of clothes I can find, plus my raincoat, just to go to the john.   Wimpy American.  

One bright spot in an otherwise dreary day, was an early lunch in Havelock.  Shelley had been reading about this small cafe, called The Captain's Daughter, known for its Green Lipped Mussels.   Ummm Good.  Those babies are 4 inches long.  

It was 10:00 am and she had to ask the owner if they would make her lunch.   Of course they would!!

It's raining still tonight.  I get claustrophobic.  I had to wash clothes today since we have been confined to quarters with the bad weather.   That does not stop Shelley from making a great dinner in our little camper.   New Zealand lamb sausage and pesto cream sauce with green onions!!

Fabulous dinner, but as I write I can still hear the rain on the roof.  I can't stand it.  Change of plans tomorrow.  The forecast is 3 more days of rain, so we are moving on.  Let no grass grow under these feet, let's move on.  We're heading south to the Glaciers in the Southern Alps.  

(Of course they say that the wettest spot in New Zealand is the west coast of the South Island where the Southern Alps are located)  

We have raincoats.

                             New Zealand/Kansas/Texas

When I was a kid, I was not into flowers.   Mom grew some Tulips each year, and I remember my Grandmother Colby had roses around her house.   But I was always too scared of the beating my big brother Chris was going to provide, or how I could escape his next deadly plot, to appreciate and enjoy life's simple beauties.   In Texas right now the country side is filled with Bluebonnets and all kinds of beautiful wildflowers.  But alas, they only last a month, and then they are gone.

So we travel half way around the world and visit the Botanical Gardens in the capital of New Zealand, Wellington.   (Surely you all remember your lessons on the Capitals of the World).

I can't say much about Wellington itself.   It is nice enough Capital city of 200,000 squeezed into this mushy land between a magnificent harbor and the mountains to the west.  I felt claustrophobic there, wondering if these buildings were going to fall on me in the next earthquake which is due anytime.   But a short ride up a cable car to the top of Mt. Victoria frees you from the death trap,  only to arrive at the fabulous Botanical Gardens, an Observatory, and a beautiful Rose Garden high above the city.

Austin touts Lady Bird Lake, but this place is pretty special.   It covers the entire mountainside, with about every tree and plant species in the world.   I am no botanist, but I was in awe of this very peaceful place.   Monterey pines that are endangered on the California coast have been planted here years ago and are thriving.  Redwoods, cactus, Beech trees with 15 ft. trunks, and of course all the unique trees to New Zealand, like the famous Pohutukawa
(I know, just sound it out).

These are magnificent trees that tower above the herd.    We spent very little time in Wellington itself, but much of the afternoon in the gardens.    Much to learn here.

Juxtapose the peacefulness of the Botanical Gardens with the magnificent ocean that surrounds these islands and determines their life.  I am a Pisces you know  (that explains so much) so I find great comfort in being on the water.   Strange for a kid from Kansas to love the ocean so much.   This is a serious ocean here, with swells that have traveled thousands of miles untouched by land.    Big swells, that you don't see in the Gulf, or the inner islands of the Caribbean.   Storms and hurricanes have taken their toll on the sailors in this part of the world.   We looked at one chart in the Wellington museum,  just in Cook Strait that separates the North and South Island,  there have been over 200 shipwrecks.    150 mile winds in a narrow straight, lined with deadly rocks is not a good outcome.

The forecast for the crossing many days ago was winds in excess of 50 mph.   Yikes!!   Today for us, it was calm.   One could not ask for a better day to leave Wellington, and cross to Picton on the South Island on the ferry, Kaitaki, a massive 182 meter ship (that is about 600 ft.).

Notice the Semi Trailer truck on the back deck, to give you a sense of her size.     We drove our little camper (along with hundreds of cars, over 50 camper vans, and dozens of large semi trucks) through the nose of the ship and into its interior to our parking space on the back deck.   Pretty cool.

Yes, that is our little home on the outside edge with the gray nose, and yes that is the same semi truck on the back deck that we could see from shore.   I loved this.   This fit right into my wheelhouse of a perfect day.    Take a ship to cross the strait, out into this big ocean, even if we did have a 1000 other folks along for the ride.   I am at peace on the water.

But watch out for those rocks please.

It is a 3 and a half hour ferry ride from Wellington to Picton on the South Island.   Half is across Cook Strait, and half is working your way up the Tory Channel and into Queen Victoria Sound, where Picton lies at the far west end.   I can already see that the landscape on the South Island is very different and spectacular.  

It is now Friday here, and we are spending two nights in the small town of Blenheim on the Northeast shore of the South Island.   Blenheim is the gateway to one of the world's best known wine regions....the Marlborough.    What could be better than a full day of driving about to several Cellar Doors (tasting rooms), then back to our Holiday Park to tap into the play by play of the KU-Purdue Sweet 16 game.   Go KU.   Let's hope our day finishes as nicely as it has started.  

                                                        Martinborough

What a great day!!   It was a beautiful day in the mid 70's, no wind, sunny skies, so it was perfect for taking a wine tour in this region.   The trees are starting to turn and the grapes are ripe.  Martinborough is a small area, where only 2% of the total wine production of New Zealand is produced in this region.  It is known for it's Pinot Noir's, and after 5 different vineyards today, I can safely say that the Pinots are great.   Ours is not a large camper van, but we found a cupboard that will conveniently hold 12 bottles of wine.   Pinots, Sauvignon Blanc, and even some Rieslings are now cruising around with us.   That makes for some very relaxing afternoons once we get parked.

Our friends, Carla and Roger, toured New Zealand by camper van a few years back, and they were the first to tell us of these neat places to stay, called Holiday Parks.  All of us are familiar with the typical RV park in the US, where you may be parked 10 ft away from your neighbor on an asphalt slab, with very little amenities.   Not so with Holiday Parks.   They are everywhere, wide spaces, mostly on grass, and are quite nice.   Most simply have an electrical plug in for the camper, so that part is pretty easy to set up.   But they are tailor made for the many travelers across this country that stay in many different formats.   Last night, we had a young couple sleeping in the front seat of their car  in the spot next to us.   Many of the younger kids are backpacking, sleeping in the tent on their back, or driving through with a tent in their trunk.   We have met many German tourists, and surprisingly many have come with their small children for a month long holiday.  Tonight in this Holiday Park in Martinborough, there is a young German couple with their 6 month old baby in the camper next to us.   Really nice people.  Long way to come with a little baby.

The key to all this is that each Holiday park has spotless clean bathrooms, laundry rooms, and the big differentiator, full on kitchens.  These kitchens, along with the bbq grills outside the kitchen,  are the social focal point of each park.    There is no need to pack all your bowls, skillets, etc.   The kitchen has it all.   Just bring your food and wine and join all the other campers each evening who are preparing and eating their food in the common area.    I grilled a steak tonight on their gas grill, while another couple from Canada were cooking their vegetables and lamb on the same grill.   There were two other couples from New Zealand who were on Holiday, enjoying their meal at the picnic table.   Naturally this is a really fun part for me, as I like to engage all these folks to find out who they are, where they are from, and what they have seen in New Zealand.   Lots to talk about.

After dinner, I took all of our dirty dishes back to the kitchen and used their sink to wash all the dishes.   This keeps me from filling my gray water tank in the camper, or using up our fresh water.    Shelley is happy to see me scamper off to the kitchen for whatever, as:

A.  She cooked, so it is the least I can do to clean up
B.  She knows how much I enjoy talking with people.
C.   It gets me the hell out of this tiny space we are sharing.....I'm betting this is THE reason

Shocker here:    Martinborough was established by a guy named Martin.  Who would have thought?   Mr. Martin apparently migrated here from Germany in the mid 1860's, and established this town in a nice neat square pattern surrounding a town square.   The picture of our camper above was taken as we parked in the town square today for lunch and to do some grocery shopping, in between visits to vineyards.   Also on the town square (Pictured above) is the shared bottling factory for all the surrounding vineyards.   They grow the grapes, produce, and age the wines at their vineyards, and then after the proper amount of time to age, transport the final product into town to be bottled.

Mr. Martin traveled quite a bit between 1860 and 1883 when the last street in his town was named.   All the street names were of places he visited around the world.  There is New York street, Cambridge, Strasbourg, Cologne, Dublin, Naples, and Venice street all in nice ever larger squares around town square.  However, criss crossing diagonally through this small town, that is only 8 blocks square, is Texas and Kansas streets.  (The ST refers to street, not Kansas State.  Sorry you Wildcats)

   Naturally we had to find the answer to this mystery.    Remember Mr. Martin named these streets in the 1860 to 70 timeframe.   After several glasses of wine, and interrogating several of the locals, the only answer we found was that Mr. Martin came to the Central US to check out the cattle industry.   So he was there during the times of the Chisholm Trail days when cattle
were driven from Texas up to Abilene, KS and the railhead.

I guess he was pretty impressed.

We had to laugh however, as we had our morning coffee at the local cafe, being waited on by the cute 20 something young lady.   Shelley asked her, "You have a Texas street right here next to the cafe", in her best Robin Carmichael West Texas accent.   "What is the story?"    The girl responded,
"We do??   I didn't know that!"

"Aaaa...Yea.   Right there.  And Kansas street is one block over, and they are THE ONLY diagonal streets in this entire square well laid out town".    She was stumped.  I choked on my croissant.   Oh well.

Then what are the odds of this:   Several vineyard tasting stops later....we pull into a really nice vineyard called Ata Rangi Vineyards.

      (PS:  This is my new favorite ideal for a house in the country)

They have a beautiful tasting room surrounded by large fields of grapes just ready to be picked (starting this week).  As is typical, there is a nice young lady behind the counter ready to pour us our samples, and she is talking to a customer who arrived just before us, another young lady.   Turns out that the customer is a 30ish girl from Washington DC, who was very distraught from the US election, so much so that she is moving to New Zealand.   She was talking to the other girl about how to get a job and successfully navigate the difficult immigration system of New Zealand.  Go figure, those damned Kiwi's.   Oh the interesting conversation Shelley had with her!!

As you would have it, the girl behind the counter of Ata Rangi pouring our wine was born in Hays KS, moved to a small town near Norton, (which she could not remember the name as she was a baby) then on to Wyoming, where she graduated from high school.   She met a boy from the Willamette Valley in Oregon years later who was from NZ, and the rest is history.   We were there for an hour, drinking their samples, getting really smashed, and throwing out every small town name we could think of in NW Kansas, to see if she could remember the town she lived in.   She never did, but it was a great party.  You gotta love new adventures, and places.   You just never know what and whom you will find, and frankly....it is a small world.

Prairie View....I just know it was Prairie View.    Maybe Oberlin.

                                        OK, This is Crazy

I mentioned earlier that we knew we were planning this trip to New Zealand during the Big 12, and NCAA Championship tournaments.   And yes, we knew that this "could" be the year for another KU National Championship, which is nirvana for Shelley and I, and our entire family.    Alas, we thought that this was the right time to tour these two islands, and have the Vacation of a Lifetime.    It has lived up to its billing so far, but today was just crazy.   

Here we are driving south on Hwy 2 in the southern part of the North Island headed for our destination in the wine regions around Martinsborough.   We have a good Wi-Fi router in our camper that costs $10/day, and it has been great.   It is 10:30 on Monday morning, and KU is tipping off in its game with Michigan State.  We read all the hype last night, and know that this is a huge game for KU, and they need to make a statement on their way to the Final Four.

I'm still trying to get used to driving on the left side of the road, but Shelley has ESPN on her phone getting the play by play updates.   Our four kids, spouses, and 7 grandkids are all on one group text message, and each of them is piping in their thoughts on the game.   The game is tense and Shelley is telling me that I may have to pull over if it is still close at the end, for her to stand on her head for good luck.   She threw something at me when I suggested it would be really impressive if she could do that while we were driving....  think of the good luck that would bring....maybe not.  Not even the Flying Wolinskis could stand on their head in this tiny camper van while I drive down these NZ roads.   

Then I am asking her to get off the basketball site, to get back to the Google maps so she can tell me when our next turn is.   Begrudgingly she changes, tells me quickly, "Go left in 2 km", and then she is back to the text site.  Great we're up by 6.    Shana sends a video of her entire family sitting around the TV in their basement in Wichita watching the game.   The kids can barely take their eyes off the game to say Hi to their long lost Grandparents,  half way around the world.   I get it,  I would be the same way if KU was on the TV in a big game.  We had to pull over to watch the video from Shana, catch up on all the plays, then move on.   Bryan and family are watching from Lawrence, Erin from Austin, and Charlie, Cait and Luke are glued to the TV in Pasadena.    Perfect!

We knew something big happened, when Charlie texted "JJ and simply a WOW!!!   Must have been another great dunk by Josh.   Then the Vick technical made us pull over to figure out who did  what, and if that was swinging the game back to MSU's favor.   Luckily not.   

By the time we got to our Holiday Park the game was over, KU wins by 20, and all is right with the world.   NZ looks prettier than ever, it is a bright sunny Monday afternoon, we are in wine country, and there is not much more you can ask for.    We got settled and spent the next two hours reading every website on the game, watched a few of the videos (the lob to Svi from Devonte was a thing of beauty), and now our night is really perfect with Duke LOSING!!!!    Villy and Duke out.    Come on Shelley, lets go drink some wine.  Rock Chalk Jayhawks!!

                                                     Opposites

I'm still trying to get my head wrapped around the fact that we are on the other side of the world, and not just far west, but far south.  Everything is opposite in this land.

The obvious is that they drive on the left side.
It is our first time south of the equator.
It is another day, on the other side of the International Date Line
The sun is in the north in March
The trees are starting to turn as fall approaches
Families just finished their summer break and are back to school
I cannot see the North Star in the northern night sky.
For the first time, I can see the Southern Cross
We are 18 hours different than Central Time zone, so hard to get used to our afternoon being your evening (of the prior day).
Right hand turns are a challenge to turn into the far lane.
Every time I cross a street, I have to concentrate to look to my right for traffic.
Wine harvest has started....in March!

There are many times when we just have to laugh.  The people are all very friendly, but many have asked us what we think of "Mr. Trump".   We like him we say, and they all want to know how the press got it so wrong.  Politics is a big topic it seems, and no one we have met,  has as bad of image of Mr. Trump as the image the papers seem to paint.   Everyone we have met, like Americans, and like the US.   That is good to know.   We can all share a good laugh over politics.

I do miss March Madness.  I did not think I would, but to not be able to see the games has been a problem.   We are checking our phones all day long to see the scores.   Go KU.

We passed the gates of Mordor today.   Last night we stayed along the shore of Lake Taupo.  It is the sunken caldera of a gigantic volcano that reaches 22 miles across.   It is a beautiful lake surrounded by high peaks, all volcanic.

The peaks of Mt. Tongariro (2250 meters) and Mt. Ngauruhoe (1900 meters) are off to the south of Lake Taupo, and covered in clouds in this photo.   Steam is escaping from Mt. Ngauruhoe, which erupts every hundred years or so.   It is due.   (Do not ask me the proper pronunciation of these words.)    

Tongariro is the mountain used as the backdrop in the movie series for the  Lord of the Rings.  It is a pretty bleak mountain as you get close.

You can almost see Frodo and his faithful companion Sam, as they tried to enter the Black Gates of Modor.

We are making our way south down the North Island.   Tomorrow we will be in the wine region around Martinborough.    We will be there two nights as we take some time to visit several vineyards and do some wine tasting.   I do not plan to drive too much tomorrow.  

Our biggest disappointment is that even with a month to explore, there is so much to see, and no time to see it all.   We were unable to go north of Auckland to the Bay of Islands, which is a sub tropical region much like the Caribbean.  Now as we go south, there are National Parks, hiking trails, water falls, that we just cannot get to.   We have to be in Wellington by Wednesday evening in order to make our ferry crossing to the South Island on Thursday morning.   

We are having a few issues with the camper, and will have to spend some time in the morning at a repair shop, which further limits our exploration time.   But that is the nature of the beast.   But then it will be on to the vineyards.   

Our phone rang at 4:30 am this morning, it was Lauren Hogan with news of the death of his wife Joyce   He had been trying to reach me for a day, but for some reason his texts, and calls were not making it through.   Joyce fought a 15 year battle with Ovarian cancer, and was fortunate that she lived long enough to see her kids graduate from college, and her son marry, then they had twin baby boys last summer.   Lauren seems to be holding up well considering the circumstances.   The service is Sunday in Northbrook, IL.   

She will be missed.

                     Hahei Beach to Papamoa Beach

I have seen many beaches in my life.    But this was really a very nice beach.   It had to be 7-8 miles long, nice white sand, gentle waves that the locals were surfing on,  and lots of shells.   We have a bag full of shells to bring back to Rylee, Stella, and Frankie so they can add to their existing shell collection.....and you too Leo.

You have to love these New Zealanders.   They are a hardy group.   They love the outdoors and everywhere we go, they are out in numbers enjoying it.   The water is cold, but not to them.   They surf in it, they crawl around digging in the sand looking for Pipi's
(a small clam that they dig out of the sand at low tide) and when I am wearing a shirt, long pants, and a jacket, they are barefoot, in shorts and a muscle shirt.   Arrrg matey.

We have really enjoyed these Holiday Parks.   There are hundreds of them, and in great locations.   Look at the above picture.  That is where we are parked in this Holiday park in Papamoa Beach.   We are literally 10 yards from the walk down to the beach.   Next to us last night were three tents all from a family unit, who obviously have been doing this their entire lives.   Gramps had to be in his 80's and he helped set up the tents.   Then there were the 50 something parents, and then three sets of kids in their 20's/30's.   They were up at dawn this morning in their shorts and T-shirts, bare foot, and embracing the day.   Believe me it was cold out.  I put on all my clothes to take this photo.  It was worth it.   Beautiful sunrise.  The Kiwi's laughed at me.

Our impression of the New Zealand folks so far, is that they are a very warm, friendly, outgoing group of people, that would love to kick the shit out of you in a friendly rugby game.  I'm to old.   But they are very friendly.  

After 3 days at the beach we headed to the mountains in the center of the North Island to the NZ equivalent of Yellowstone park.   The small town of Rotorua is situated in the middle of a thermal zone with lots of mud pots,  steam vents, and even an "Old Faithful" type geyser.   It is clearly the stinkiest town in NZ...although Shelley thinks it is very medicinal.   I think it stinks.    But all very interesting.  Look at this mudpot.

Stinky!!

I have not been to Ireland, whom everyone who has been there,  characterizes it as "Very Green".   That is how I would describe New Zealand.   It is the end of summer, and they have had lots of rain, and it is just beautiful.   Everything is green.   Talk about cattle.   I thought we would see nothing but sheep.   There are pasture after pasture of cattle here.   Thousands of Angus, Herefords,  Charolais, Holstein's and Jersey cows.   4.2 million cattle, they tell us, which is more than the population of people.   Then there are sheep.   Lots of sheep.  For a couple that grew up on the plains of Kansas, this place is a farmer's paradise.  

Speaking of which, I keep saying to myself, I could live here.   It is just beautiful, and there are so many different types of climates and terrain.  You could live at the beach, which is as nice as any beach in Florida, but it is much cooler and less humid here.   You could live in the rolling hills, that are lush, and look like Hobbit Land.  Then there are mountains, where you can go skiing.   Not so much for me now, but it is there.  We have only been here for 5 days, but we are really impressed.

I am ready to start the campaign to all our four children, and their spouses that this is the place to which we need to immigrate our family.   I am sure there are rules that would keep our clan out, but what an adventure.   I would miss KU basketball however.   It is March Madness, and we can only get updates on our iPhone with play by play.   No live video!!   That might be a deal breaker.    But still this is a beautiful country.  But then there are these things called Earthquakes.   Lots of them here.  Yikes.   Worse than Oklahoma. 

We're having a few problems with our little camper.  The LPG gas system is not working. Your Mother is not happy when she tries to make dinner, and the three burner stove, has only one burner that works, and the one burner has a flame that is so tiny, that it can't heat up anything.   So boon docking (or what the Kiwi's call Freedom Camping) is not an option right now, because it is the gas that cooks our meals, and runs the refrigerator.   So we are having to stay at these Holiday Parks and plug in.   That is about $50/night.  

Freedom Camping on Lake Taupo.  

I need a sailboat for this lake.  

We had to leave this beautiful spot once we discovered that our refrigerator and stove would not work because they are not getting a gas supply.   So we have to move to a Park to plug in.  

We are headed further south down the North Island and into wine country before we get to Wellington and our ferry to the South Island on Thursday.  So hopefully we can get our gas problem fixed, and find some wineries to enjoy some New Zealand wines.  

Rock Chalk....Beat Michigan State.