We've been having a fantastic time here on the South Island of New Zealand. The scenery is gorgeous...snow capped mountains reaching the sea or lakes. We walked on a glacier the other day, which was really fun, but freezing! At least we had a sunny day to do it. We then drove down to Queenstown, NZ, which is amazing. It's this great little city set at the bottom of a lake surrounded by mountains. Although many of the ski mountains were closed when we arrived, they've now opened due to a recent snow storm and more snow in the forecast. Yesterday we boarded a jet boat to view the Shot River Canyon. It was really fun. The guy drove really fast through this really narrow passageways surrounded by rocks on either side. He did 360s occassionally. It was really fun. We'll be in Queenstown until midday, then we're headed for a cruise on Doubtful Sound, which is supposed to be beautiful.
Well, the bad news is that the motherboard on our computer died. Therefore, we're unable to download/upload our pictures or update our blog frequently. So, although we've lost our camera, video recorder, and computer, we're having a terrific time! New Zealand is beautiful, although a little chilly and a bit expensive. We're hoping to take a hot air balloon ride in a few days in Christchurch, but that all depends on the river...if it's too windy, we don't get to go. Perhaps we'll do it elsewhere! Anyway, hope all is well with everyone.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Wai-o-tapu June 18, 2008
We woke up, ate some breakfast, and headed out to a geothermal wonderland called Wai-o-tapu. We arrived around 8:30 am. When we got there, we were the only car in the parking lot, making us wonder if it was open. Luckily, it was open…just seems like many people here don’t get a start until later in the day as we are often the only people at attractions early in the day…it is winter here, so the tourist season isn’t in full swing. The walk around was approximately 75 minutes long. That gave us just enough time to walk around as a geyser would be erupting at 10:15 am, and it was a short drive away, so we wanted to make sure we would be there in time.
As we began our walk, we saw huge craters in the ground with boiling mud and/or water inside. The mud was very soupy looking because it had rained a bit the day before. The most recent crater was formed in 1986 when some geothermal activity caused the ground to collapse. While walking, there were many danger signs warning us to stay on the path because our weight could cause a collapse. The smell emanating from the park was pretty wretched…just as we started getting used to it, the wind would bring a new smell of sulpher or something else pretty smelly. After seeing the craters, we walked over a bridge with the champagne pools on one side and a mud terrace on the other. The champagne pool side was very steamy and had an orange rim. We then walked through a wooded area with really cool trees to another section of the park. We saw an approximately 10 foot high waterfall colored fluorescent yellow by sulpher. We continued walking to another lake. Everywhere you looked there was bubbling water and you heard hissing sounds. While walking, we saw really cool rock walls that were wavy and had many different colors in them. Lastly, we walked down to a waterfall at the end of the park which cascaded into another lake. When looking over the lake, you could see mountains in the distance. It was very beautiful. As we were finishing our walk and heading back to the visitor center, we saw a place called “Devil’s Bathtub”. It consisted of fluorescent green water…crazy! We hurried back to the visitor center as it was nearing 10:00 and we didn’t want to miss the geyser. We actually had to drive there, so we got in the car and drove a short distance to the car.
We got to Lady Knox Geyser at 10:05 and took a seat in the mini amphitheater. Slightly after 10:15, a park ranger came and began a speech about the geyser. He also dumped soap into the geyser telling us that the soap helped mix the hot and cold water, which forced the explosion of water. Although the soap helped bring the eruption on, the geyser would naturally erupt everyday without the soap. The soap was added so that tourists could watch is at a specific time each day. While he was talking, water started bubbling and trickling out of the geyser. As time went on, the water force became more powerful, until it eventually shot approximately 20 meters in the air. It was pretty cool to watch.
After the geyser, we headed back up to town. There were two lakes near the airport which were supposed to be really cool…called the blue lake and the green lake. You were supposed to be able to walk between the two lakes to see the contrast in color. When we arrived, the walk was closed, so we were only able to view the blue lake…which looked like a pretty standard lake…no special blue hues. From there, we headed up to the airport in Rotorua to take our flight to Christchurch. It was a short and uneventful flight. After landing, we picked up the rental car and realized the camera bag was missing. All the videos of the Grand Canyon and North Island New Zealand in addition to some of our Los Angeles pictures and North Island New Zealand pictures are gone. Worse, our brand new camera and camcorder are gone. We were not happy, but what can you do?
We headed out towards Darfield. It was a pretty small town with not many accommodations, so we continued on to Springfield. On the drive out, we passed many wineries. As we got closer to Springfield, we were able to see the Southern Alps off in the distance as the sun was setting. The snow seemed to glisten as the sun set. We found lodging in a place called Springfield Motor Lodge. Although it provided a backpackers type of accommodation, it was quite nice. We were the only people staying there. We had a full kitchen, a living room, two and a half bathrooms, laundry, outdoor cooking and hot tubs, and four bedrooms available. The only bad thing was that the heating stunk and we were freezing until we went to bed…the comforter was quite warm! There was only one main restaurant in town, so we headed into town to grab some dinner before it closed at 7:00. At this restaurant, we realized what they called “pies” is closer to what we call “pot pies”. When speaking with the cook/owner/waitress/everything, she told us that New Zealand doesn’t really offer fruit pies. Ed had a venison pie and Jeanette had a chicken pie. They were quite tasty. The lady felt bad for us, so we wound up getting two pies, two salads, some potatoes, and a beer for $23…which is quite cheap for New Zealand. We’ve found eating out here to be really expensive…by US standards anyhow. Breakfast the next day consisted of bacon and eggs on toast for Ed and eggs on toast for Jeanette (they only offered eggs…nothing else!) cost $25. Luckily, almost every accommodation has a mini kitchen in it so we can cook food. We need to start doing that!
After dinner, we headed back, watched some television, and then fell asleep…we got under the covers in layers…Jeanette had on two sweatshirts and a long sleeved shirt and pants and Ed wore a sweatshirt and pants to bed because it was so cold. Luckily, we stayed warm during the night. From everywhere we’ve stayed, it appears that the places are heated with little space heaters and nothing else.
As we began our walk, we saw huge craters in the ground with boiling mud and/or water inside. The mud was very soupy looking because it had rained a bit the day before. The most recent crater was formed in 1986 when some geothermal activity caused the ground to collapse. While walking, there were many danger signs warning us to stay on the path because our weight could cause a collapse. The smell emanating from the park was pretty wretched…just as we started getting used to it, the wind would bring a new smell of sulpher or something else pretty smelly. After seeing the craters, we walked over a bridge with the champagne pools on one side and a mud terrace on the other. The champagne pool side was very steamy and had an orange rim. We then walked through a wooded area with really cool trees to another section of the park. We saw an approximately 10 foot high waterfall colored fluorescent yellow by sulpher. We continued walking to another lake. Everywhere you looked there was bubbling water and you heard hissing sounds. While walking, we saw really cool rock walls that were wavy and had many different colors in them. Lastly, we walked down to a waterfall at the end of the park which cascaded into another lake. When looking over the lake, you could see mountains in the distance. It was very beautiful. As we were finishing our walk and heading back to the visitor center, we saw a place called “Devil’s Bathtub”. It consisted of fluorescent green water…crazy! We hurried back to the visitor center as it was nearing 10:00 and we didn’t want to miss the geyser. We actually had to drive there, so we got in the car and drove a short distance to the car.
We got to Lady Knox Geyser at 10:05 and took a seat in the mini amphitheater. Slightly after 10:15, a park ranger came and began a speech about the geyser. He also dumped soap into the geyser telling us that the soap helped mix the hot and cold water, which forced the explosion of water. Although the soap helped bring the eruption on, the geyser would naturally erupt everyday without the soap. The soap was added so that tourists could watch is at a specific time each day. While he was talking, water started bubbling and trickling out of the geyser. As time went on, the water force became more powerful, until it eventually shot approximately 20 meters in the air. It was pretty cool to watch.
After the geyser, we headed back up to town. There were two lakes near the airport which were supposed to be really cool…called the blue lake and the green lake. You were supposed to be able to walk between the two lakes to see the contrast in color. When we arrived, the walk was closed, so we were only able to view the blue lake…which looked like a pretty standard lake…no special blue hues. From there, we headed up to the airport in Rotorua to take our flight to Christchurch. It was a short and uneventful flight. After landing, we picked up the rental car and realized the camera bag was missing. All the videos of the Grand Canyon and North Island New Zealand in addition to some of our Los Angeles pictures and North Island New Zealand pictures are gone. Worse, our brand new camera and camcorder are gone. We were not happy, but what can you do?
We headed out towards Darfield. It was a pretty small town with not many accommodations, so we continued on to Springfield. On the drive out, we passed many wineries. As we got closer to Springfield, we were able to see the Southern Alps off in the distance as the sun was setting. The snow seemed to glisten as the sun set. We found lodging in a place called Springfield Motor Lodge. Although it provided a backpackers type of accommodation, it was quite nice. We were the only people staying there. We had a full kitchen, a living room, two and a half bathrooms, laundry, outdoor cooking and hot tubs, and four bedrooms available. The only bad thing was that the heating stunk and we were freezing until we went to bed…the comforter was quite warm! There was only one main restaurant in town, so we headed into town to grab some dinner before it closed at 7:00. At this restaurant, we realized what they called “pies” is closer to what we call “pot pies”. When speaking with the cook/owner/waitress/everything, she told us that New Zealand doesn’t really offer fruit pies. Ed had a venison pie and Jeanette had a chicken pie. They were quite tasty. The lady felt bad for us, so we wound up getting two pies, two salads, some potatoes, and a beer for $23…which is quite cheap for New Zealand. We’ve found eating out here to be really expensive…by US standards anyhow. Breakfast the next day consisted of bacon and eggs on toast for Ed and eggs on toast for Jeanette (they only offered eggs…nothing else!) cost $25. Luckily, almost every accommodation has a mini kitchen in it so we can cook food. We need to start doing that!
After dinner, we headed back, watched some television, and then fell asleep…we got under the covers in layers…Jeanette had on two sweatshirts and a long sleeved shirt and pants and Ed wore a sweatshirt and pants to bed because it was so cold. Luckily, we stayed warm during the night. From everywhere we’ve stayed, it appears that the places are heated with little space heaters and nothing else.
Happy Birthday Mom!
Hi Mom,
Just wanted to wish you a very happy birthday. Sorry that we couldn't be there for it, but we hope you have a terrific day!
Love you!
Just wanted to wish you a very happy birthday. Sorry that we couldn't be there for it, but we hope you have a terrific day!
Love you!
Lost
Unfortunately, we won't post pictures from the North Island as we've lost our brand new really nice camera (our Sony) and also our video camera with Ed's chief ceremony and everything. It's quite a bummer as we remember having it to a certain point and we're not sure if it is actually lost or stolen...we remember having it to a certain point after landing in Christchurch. Oh well. We still have our little camera left and will have pictures of the South Island.
Rotorua June 17-18
Once arriving in Rotorua, we proceeded towards the information center as weren’t quite sure what to do. We knew the city was a geothermal hotbed, since it was actually in a volcano, but we weren’t sure how to pass our time. We got a quick bite to eat and then ended up deciding to go to the Rotorua Museum. The museum was in the Government Gardens, which is an area known for its geothermal activity. The museum was originally built as a bathhouse. We walked in the rain around the gardens and then ended up going inside. The building is the most photographed building in New Zealand. The main lobby inside was very nice. We looked around and headed to the basement to kill time before a movie started. The basement had low ceilings so we had to wear helmets as we walked around. We saw the pipes that brought the water in from the springs and some of the rooms that people were treated in. Then we headed back upstairs to the movie. Although cheesy, it explained some of the legends of the area. It talked about the time when the New Zealanders first came to the area and the main priest fought an evil warrior. He locked the evil warrior in the ground which was their explanation for all of the steam. It also told the story of a warrior on an island that fell in love with a lady from the mainland. Since their tribes didn’t get along, they were not allowed to see each other. One night, she swam to visit him in the dark with only the sound of his flute to guide her. They also explained how there were many battles over this land since it was very useful to be near the hot springs for heating and cooking. Finally, the movie got into details of the British colonization. In the 1800’s, more and more British came to the area. The locals profited from showing the British around the springs. In the 1880’s, there was an increase in activity. The elders said the gods were mad that the New Zealanders were profiting. In 1886, the volcano erupted, killing 120 people. At this point in the movie, the benches were shaking around to simulate the earthquake that went along with the eruption. The movie ended with the explanation of the rebuilding and the construction of the building we were in during the early 1900s. We went to the roof to see the panoramic view of the city, but it was closed due to weather. Then we saw a few more rooms where treatment was given. We crossed back over to the other half of the museum to see 3 more exhibits. The first was about the volcano, with many more pictures and details. The second was an exhibit about the culture of the locals. They had totem pole like structures and canoes in the building. The final exhibit was about Kiwi soldiers from WW2. They were actually stationed in Egypt and Italy, not the South Pacific.
We headed back to the town to get a power adapter because the three we brought didn’t work here, only in Europe. After a decent walk in the rain, we headed to NB’s for a bit to eat. We were looking at the menu and the owner offered us free beer. We couldn’t turn that down so we headed inside. Ed had a dark local beer with lamb stew and it was very good. Jeanette had a chicken sandwich. Then, since the rain had subsided, we walked to the lakefront and a free geothermal park. They were really nice, but the park was nothing compared to the ones we would see later. We got soaked as it rained more and more. We headed to our hotel, which was a Best Western but not really. It was a local looking place with a nice hot tub, a bushwalk, and a putt putt course (too wet however). We had gotten passes to go on a gondola ride to the top of a hill and then do some luging. It had cleared up, so we got a good view on the way up. The luge was a little plastic cart with a brake that you ride down a fairly big hill. We strapped on our helmets and headed down the intermediate path. Ed flew down, with the cart almost tipping over on several occasions, while Jeanette went nice and slow. We took a chair lift back to the top. The second trip, Ed opted for the advanced track while Jeanette stuck with the easier one. The advance track had much steeper places where you could get some air and some fairly steep banks around turns. We got up to around 20 mph on the way down. We took the chair lift up and the gondola down. The way down was windy and the gondola rocked a bit. We jumped in the hot tub for a few seconds before getting ready for our dinner show at the Tamaki Village.
On the way to our Maori show at Tamaki Village, we were the first people picked up and talked to the bus driver, Darren. He was part of the tribe and was very friendly. We talked about Tiger Woods and all the famous New Zealanders around the world…the richest New Zealander sportsman is actually Tiger Woods caddy. He was very proud of his country. We picked up a guy from Maryland and we talked to him about scuba diving on the way there. After picking up some more people, we had to pick a chief from our bus. The driver picked Ed after no one volunteered. When we arrived, Ed had to learn the traditional greeting, which was shaking hands and then touching noses twice. It seemed very similar to a Wesley Willis head butt. Ed had to stand in the middle with six other chiefs for the peace offering. They instructed everyone that they could not laugh, move, or smile during this portion of the show. Ed stood up there while the four warriors danced with their weapons, stuck out their tongues, bulged their eyes, and made noises. They also danced with fire. After the ceremony, the chiefs led the people inside. We got to look around at a village that showed what the people would do over the course of the day. There was a tent for cooking, sewing, and giving tattoos as well as several others. Then the chiefs had to stand in the front for another ceremony before entering the sacred building. One of the Tamaki women sang as we walked into the building. The chiefs had to get on stage and greet the main singer. We were seated and then they put on a show of dancing that children would have to do to prepare them for weapons training. Then they did a traditional war dance. After that, they used a guitar to show how they are adapting to modern times, but keeping the same songs. They sang the song about the girl that swam to this island following the sounds of the flute. Then we headed into the dining room for dinner. It was a nice buffet with carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes (with a local name like Yamari), stuffing, fish in coconut sauce, chicken, lamb, gravy, mint sauce, salad, pasta salad, and bread. Everything was cooked like a clambake. It was delicious.
After dinner, Darren drove everyone back to their respective hotels. While Darren was driving us home, he had each nationality on the bus sing a song from their home country. All the countries sang a song. When it came to the United States, we all decided to sing, “The Wheels on the Bus”. After pretending to kick us all off the bus, Darren led us in a rousing rendition of “God Bless America”. He also had a lot of fun driving us home, leading us to believe that he may be a little intoxicated…but he wasn’t. He would honk when he got excited and drove around more than one traffic circle multiple times. He was hysterical! After finally reaching home, we fell fast asleep.
We headed back to the town to get a power adapter because the three we brought didn’t work here, only in Europe. After a decent walk in the rain, we headed to NB’s for a bit to eat. We were looking at the menu and the owner offered us free beer. We couldn’t turn that down so we headed inside. Ed had a dark local beer with lamb stew and it was very good. Jeanette had a chicken sandwich. Then, since the rain had subsided, we walked to the lakefront and a free geothermal park. They were really nice, but the park was nothing compared to the ones we would see later. We got soaked as it rained more and more. We headed to our hotel, which was a Best Western but not really. It was a local looking place with a nice hot tub, a bushwalk, and a putt putt course (too wet however). We had gotten passes to go on a gondola ride to the top of a hill and then do some luging. It had cleared up, so we got a good view on the way up. The luge was a little plastic cart with a brake that you ride down a fairly big hill. We strapped on our helmets and headed down the intermediate path. Ed flew down, with the cart almost tipping over on several occasions, while Jeanette went nice and slow. We took a chair lift back to the top. The second trip, Ed opted for the advanced track while Jeanette stuck with the easier one. The advance track had much steeper places where you could get some air and some fairly steep banks around turns. We got up to around 20 mph on the way down. We took the chair lift up and the gondola down. The way down was windy and the gondola rocked a bit. We jumped in the hot tub for a few seconds before getting ready for our dinner show at the Tamaki Village.
On the way to our Maori show at Tamaki Village, we were the first people picked up and talked to the bus driver, Darren. He was part of the tribe and was very friendly. We talked about Tiger Woods and all the famous New Zealanders around the world…the richest New Zealander sportsman is actually Tiger Woods caddy. He was very proud of his country. We picked up a guy from Maryland and we talked to him about scuba diving on the way there. After picking up some more people, we had to pick a chief from our bus. The driver picked Ed after no one volunteered. When we arrived, Ed had to learn the traditional greeting, which was shaking hands and then touching noses twice. It seemed very similar to a Wesley Willis head butt. Ed had to stand in the middle with six other chiefs for the peace offering. They instructed everyone that they could not laugh, move, or smile during this portion of the show. Ed stood up there while the four warriors danced with their weapons, stuck out their tongues, bulged their eyes, and made noises. They also danced with fire. After the ceremony, the chiefs led the people inside. We got to look around at a village that showed what the people would do over the course of the day. There was a tent for cooking, sewing, and giving tattoos as well as several others. Then the chiefs had to stand in the front for another ceremony before entering the sacred building. One of the Tamaki women sang as we walked into the building. The chiefs had to get on stage and greet the main singer. We were seated and then they put on a show of dancing that children would have to do to prepare them for weapons training. Then they did a traditional war dance. After that, they used a guitar to show how they are adapting to modern times, but keeping the same songs. They sang the song about the girl that swam to this island following the sounds of the flute. Then we headed into the dining room for dinner. It was a nice buffet with carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes (with a local name like Yamari), stuffing, fish in coconut sauce, chicken, lamb, gravy, mint sauce, salad, pasta salad, and bread. Everything was cooked like a clambake. It was delicious.
After dinner, Darren drove everyone back to their respective hotels. While Darren was driving us home, he had each nationality on the bus sing a song from their home country. All the countries sang a song. When it came to the United States, we all decided to sing, “The Wheels on the Bus”. After pretending to kick us all off the bus, Darren led us in a rousing rendition of “God Bless America”. He also had a lot of fun driving us home, leading us to believe that he may be a little intoxicated…but he wasn’t. He would honk when he got excited and drove around more than one traffic circle multiple times. He was hysterical! After finally reaching home, we fell fast asleep.
New Zealand Arrival June 16
We boarded Qantas airline Saturday evening, June 14th, at 8:00 pm. There was a slight delay, but we were soon in the air. We ended up sitting in the very last row, next to the bathroom. Although we were originally saddened by our seating prospects, things soon looked up when we realized there was an empty seat in our row and that the seats still reclined. We started the flight by reading, watching a movie, and eating (Ed had salmon, Jeanette had chicken). After about three hours, we decided to try to sleep. We took turns lying down across the seats and ended up sleeping on and off for the next seven hours. Therefore, they were fairly well-rested upon arrival. After waking up, we ate breakfast, read, and watched another movie to round out the last three hours. After a thirteen hour flight and a seventeen hour time difference between east coast time and New Zealand time, we arrived at Auckland International Airport. We went through a painless customs interrogation, collected our bags, and headed off to find a rental car.
Because we wanted a one-way rental between Auckland and Rotorua, a small airport, the charge was more than expected. However, by picking up a manual car, we were able to save over half the price of an automatic…in addition, the Avis representative gave us an “accidental” deal and couldn’t take it back once it was given (we didn’t even argue). We lugged our backpacks to our car for the next few days, a Mitsubishi Lancer, and began our journey of driving a manual car on the wrong side of the road. Quite our style (i.e. stupidly), we began driving without consulting a map. After realizing we didn’t know where we were going, we looked at a map, asked a pedestrian who had just moved to the area last week, and finally got to the main road that would take us to the day’s destination, Waitomo Caves. On the way down, we stopped a small rest area, hoping wireless internet would be available as we were unsure if our reservations for the cave tour and the bed and breakfast were confirmed. Fortunately, wireless internet was available with the purchase of a cup of coffee. Unfortunately, we had not received any confirmation e-mails. We continued along the way and hoped for the best.
We arrived at The Legendary Black Water Rafting Company after only one wrong turn and one incorrect stop at a different rafting company. Whoops! We were going to stop for lunch, but decided to stop into the rafting company first to get a reservation for the 2:00 tour, as advertised on their website. Luckily, when we got there, there were only available spots on the 11:00 tour. It was about 10:59. We skipped lunch, changed into our swimming trunks, and hopped on the tour. The water was expected to be 8 degrees Celsius – translation ~48 degrees Fahrenheit. We were told the water gets up to 68 degrees in the summer, but the water is much deeper in the winter, which makes for a much better trip. Because the water was so cold, we put a thermal lined sweater underneath our wetsuits to help keep us warm. We put on booties and rubber boots. We then put on our harnesses and helmets with lights as we would be abseiling (rappelling – going down a rope) first. After putting on our gear, we hopped into a van that would take us to the cave entrance.
Once arriving at the cave, we received a quick lesson in how to use the clip that would control the speed of our descent. We practiced on a hill twice each, which didn’t really do much to calm Jeanette’s nerves. We headed over to the hole in the ground which we would be descending. It was 37-40 meters deep (over 100 feet). Jeanette decided to let the other two couples go first to ensure that they made it down alive. The hole we descended was approximately 3 feet in diameter. When it was our turn to go, the guy hooked us up (individually as only one person abseiled at a time) and we rappelled down. Because the rope was fairly stiff at the top, we descended fairly slowly, even when not using the braking technique. Once getting through the hole, we continued our descent in a larger diameter, but still close to a wall. Ed didn’t have any trouble controlling his speed, but it was not a smooth ride (rather jerky) as he often slowed to look around. You weren’t able to see the bottom of the cave because it was pitch black. After what seemed a shorter than expected time, he reached the bottom, still expecting the worse part to be ahead. Jeanette descended after Ed. She also went down rather slowly and jerkily and reached the bottom sooner than expected…maybe it took a minute or a two. After walking a little bit ahead, we all had to turn off our headlamps as it was time to do zip lining in the dark. It reminded Ed of Space Mountain as you did not know what to expect in the dark. We went last again and heard the others scream in terror and/or delight as they went down. When some reached the end, the tour guide would make loud noises that echoed through the cavern to scare people. We all made it down alive. It was probably a 3 second trip for approximately 100 yards over the stream down below.
After zip lining, we all sat down on a cliff looking over the stream and had a snack. We got to choose coffee or tea and were each given a honey-oat-coconut sort of combination cookie. After eating our snack that helped warm our bodies for the cold water, we were shown how we would be entering the water below. Ed was first this time because the British guy asked Ed why we were always last. Ed took the rubber tube, placed it behind him, and jumped off the cliff into the dark water below. It was an approximately 12-15 foot drop. He landed with no problem. The others followed suit. Surprisingly, we all landed in the tubes. We paddled over to a rope and followed the rope for approximately ten minutes, looking around the cave with our headlights on. The tour guide then told us to turn off our headlamps so we could admire the glow worms inside the glow worm caves. He explained that glow worms were actually a fancy name given to the maggots that had fluorescent poop. It turned out that not many people came to the caves when they thought maggots were inside, so they call it glow worms instead. We then returned, with Ed as the leader, in the dark with our headlamps off so we could admire all the glow worms. Once getting back to the place where we jumped off the cliffs, we got off the floats and threw them up to the tour guide up above. We then started walking, or swimming when it got deeper, for a while. The water was quite cold, but not unbearable. We went down a slide over a little waterfall and continued our journey. Throughout the walk/swim, we had to crawl and squeeze through tiny passages. We saw a bluish/purple eel in the water. After a half an hour of walking around, we drank some warm liquid that tasted a bit like warm Tang and ate a few pieces of chocolate. We then headed to the Twin Falls, where there were actually three waterfalls. We shimmied up them one at a time with the tour guide telling us to where to place our feet. Each waterfall was an approximately ten foot climb up with water pouring down on our faces. The hole we ascended the cave through was smaller than the hole we descended to enter the cave. We caught a ride back to the rafting company, took our equipment off, took a warm shower, and then were given tomato soup and bagels.
While eating, we spoke with our new friends from the tour, one couple from Ireland and one from England. We found out that one couple was traveling for one year and the other was traveling for nine months. Here we thought we had a long vacation! One couple had spent four months in Asia (China, Vietnam, Japan, Thailand, and a few others we can’t remember), three months in Australia, and would be spending three months in New Zealand with a little while longer in Fiji and the United States. The other couple had traveled to South America (Peru, Bolivia, Chile), a few months in Fiji, a few months in Australia, and would be spending a couple months in Asia. We were jealous! After chatting and eating, we drove towards where we thought our bed and breakfast was located. After several kilometers on the road and a few headed through their 1600 acre sheep and beef farm, we arrived. No one was there to greet us, but there was a note on the door telling us to head to our cabin. We carried our luggage in through the drizzle and settled in. At this point, we were both tired, and since it was dark and rainy, we decided not to drive back to town for dinner. We relaxed, read, and started eyeing the breakfast food for dinner. Around 6:00 or so, our host, Rachel stopped by. She said she had sent us a confirmation e-mail telling us to bring food up with us as there was a mini kitchen in our cabin, but we never received it. As she felt sorry for us, she returned with a few kiwis and ramen noodle packages. We ate our makeshift dinner and went to bed around 8:00.
We woke up the next morning at 6:45 because we wanted to get an early start on the day. It was pouring when we woke up. We decided to take a short walk on the property down to see some glow worms. After looking at them, we showered, ate, and packed up our stuff. We were on the road to Rotorua by 8:00, when the sun was just coming up. It rained the entire two and a half hour ride to Rotorua. We drove through many green rolling hills that were often filled with sheep and/or cows.
Because we wanted a one-way rental between Auckland and Rotorua, a small airport, the charge was more than expected. However, by picking up a manual car, we were able to save over half the price of an automatic…in addition, the Avis representative gave us an “accidental” deal and couldn’t take it back once it was given (we didn’t even argue). We lugged our backpacks to our car for the next few days, a Mitsubishi Lancer, and began our journey of driving a manual car on the wrong side of the road. Quite our style (i.e. stupidly), we began driving without consulting a map. After realizing we didn’t know where we were going, we looked at a map, asked a pedestrian who had just moved to the area last week, and finally got to the main road that would take us to the day’s destination, Waitomo Caves. On the way down, we stopped a small rest area, hoping wireless internet would be available as we were unsure if our reservations for the cave tour and the bed and breakfast were confirmed. Fortunately, wireless internet was available with the purchase of a cup of coffee. Unfortunately, we had not received any confirmation e-mails. We continued along the way and hoped for the best.
We arrived at The Legendary Black Water Rafting Company after only one wrong turn and one incorrect stop at a different rafting company. Whoops! We were going to stop for lunch, but decided to stop into the rafting company first to get a reservation for the 2:00 tour, as advertised on their website. Luckily, when we got there, there were only available spots on the 11:00 tour. It was about 10:59. We skipped lunch, changed into our swimming trunks, and hopped on the tour. The water was expected to be 8 degrees Celsius – translation ~48 degrees Fahrenheit. We were told the water gets up to 68 degrees in the summer, but the water is much deeper in the winter, which makes for a much better trip. Because the water was so cold, we put a thermal lined sweater underneath our wetsuits to help keep us warm. We put on booties and rubber boots. We then put on our harnesses and helmets with lights as we would be abseiling (rappelling – going down a rope) first. After putting on our gear, we hopped into a van that would take us to the cave entrance.
Once arriving at the cave, we received a quick lesson in how to use the clip that would control the speed of our descent. We practiced on a hill twice each, which didn’t really do much to calm Jeanette’s nerves. We headed over to the hole in the ground which we would be descending. It was 37-40 meters deep (over 100 feet). Jeanette decided to let the other two couples go first to ensure that they made it down alive. The hole we descended was approximately 3 feet in diameter. When it was our turn to go, the guy hooked us up (individually as only one person abseiled at a time) and we rappelled down. Because the rope was fairly stiff at the top, we descended fairly slowly, even when not using the braking technique. Once getting through the hole, we continued our descent in a larger diameter, but still close to a wall. Ed didn’t have any trouble controlling his speed, but it was not a smooth ride (rather jerky) as he often slowed to look around. You weren’t able to see the bottom of the cave because it was pitch black. After what seemed a shorter than expected time, he reached the bottom, still expecting the worse part to be ahead. Jeanette descended after Ed. She also went down rather slowly and jerkily and reached the bottom sooner than expected…maybe it took a minute or a two. After walking a little bit ahead, we all had to turn off our headlamps as it was time to do zip lining in the dark. It reminded Ed of Space Mountain as you did not know what to expect in the dark. We went last again and heard the others scream in terror and/or delight as they went down. When some reached the end, the tour guide would make loud noises that echoed through the cavern to scare people. We all made it down alive. It was probably a 3 second trip for approximately 100 yards over the stream down below.
After zip lining, we all sat down on a cliff looking over the stream and had a snack. We got to choose coffee or tea and were each given a honey-oat-coconut sort of combination cookie. After eating our snack that helped warm our bodies for the cold water, we were shown how we would be entering the water below. Ed was first this time because the British guy asked Ed why we were always last. Ed took the rubber tube, placed it behind him, and jumped off the cliff into the dark water below. It was an approximately 12-15 foot drop. He landed with no problem. The others followed suit. Surprisingly, we all landed in the tubes. We paddled over to a rope and followed the rope for approximately ten minutes, looking around the cave with our headlights on. The tour guide then told us to turn off our headlamps so we could admire the glow worms inside the glow worm caves. He explained that glow worms were actually a fancy name given to the maggots that had fluorescent poop. It turned out that not many people came to the caves when they thought maggots were inside, so they call it glow worms instead. We then returned, with Ed as the leader, in the dark with our headlamps off so we could admire all the glow worms. Once getting back to the place where we jumped off the cliffs, we got off the floats and threw them up to the tour guide up above. We then started walking, or swimming when it got deeper, for a while. The water was quite cold, but not unbearable. We went down a slide over a little waterfall and continued our journey. Throughout the walk/swim, we had to crawl and squeeze through tiny passages. We saw a bluish/purple eel in the water. After a half an hour of walking around, we drank some warm liquid that tasted a bit like warm Tang and ate a few pieces of chocolate. We then headed to the Twin Falls, where there were actually three waterfalls. We shimmied up them one at a time with the tour guide telling us to where to place our feet. Each waterfall was an approximately ten foot climb up with water pouring down on our faces. The hole we ascended the cave through was smaller than the hole we descended to enter the cave. We caught a ride back to the rafting company, took our equipment off, took a warm shower, and then were given tomato soup and bagels.
While eating, we spoke with our new friends from the tour, one couple from Ireland and one from England. We found out that one couple was traveling for one year and the other was traveling for nine months. Here we thought we had a long vacation! One couple had spent four months in Asia (China, Vietnam, Japan, Thailand, and a few others we can’t remember), three months in Australia, and would be spending three months in New Zealand with a little while longer in Fiji and the United States. The other couple had traveled to South America (Peru, Bolivia, Chile), a few months in Fiji, a few months in Australia, and would be spending a couple months in Asia. We were jealous! After chatting and eating, we drove towards where we thought our bed and breakfast was located. After several kilometers on the road and a few headed through their 1600 acre sheep and beef farm, we arrived. No one was there to greet us, but there was a note on the door telling us to head to our cabin. We carried our luggage in through the drizzle and settled in. At this point, we were both tired, and since it was dark and rainy, we decided not to drive back to town for dinner. We relaxed, read, and started eyeing the breakfast food for dinner. Around 6:00 or so, our host, Rachel stopped by. She said she had sent us a confirmation e-mail telling us to bring food up with us as there was a mini kitchen in our cabin, but we never received it. As she felt sorry for us, she returned with a few kiwis and ramen noodle packages. We ate our makeshift dinner and went to bed around 8:00.
We woke up the next morning at 6:45 because we wanted to get an early start on the day. It was pouring when we woke up. We decided to take a short walk on the property down to see some glow worms. After looking at them, we showered, ate, and packed up our stuff. We were on the road to Rotorua by 8:00, when the sun was just coming up. It rained the entire two and a half hour ride to Rotorua. We drove through many green rolling hills that were often filled with sheep and/or cows.
Los Angeles June 12-14
We checked into the hotel and got all set up. We decided to go to Santa Monica for the evening. We took a wrong turn out of the hotel and went a few miles the wrong way before we got straightened out. Since it was rush hour, we skipped the highway and went down the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) the whole way. It is not too scenic through the city. We found a pretty sweet parking lot and were off. We went to the 3rd Street Promenade and looked around for a place to eat. It was a very nice outdoor mall with dinosaur water statues in the center. No cars were allowed so there were people walking everywhere. Every little bit there were street performers. There were a lot of musicians, a guy that balanced plates and utensils on his head and threw more stuff (candelabras) up there from his foot, and the typical gold or silver painted “statue” people. Jeanette saw a little Greek place, but Ed thought it looked kind of shady. We decided to keep walking towards the beach to see what else was going on. It had been overcast and cool, about 65 degrees. All of a sudden, it got a little sunny, so there was hope of a nice sunset. We looked at the beach area; it was very nice with trees and flowers and bums everywhere. It was really nice, but there are a lot of homeless Americans on benches (Jeanette doesn’t like the word bum). We saw the pier off in the distance with a roller coaster and Ferris wheel. The sunset was nice for a few seconds, and then it got all cloudy again. The boardwalk was getting close to closing so we played two quick games of skeeball and headed back to the town. Ed wanted to try PF Changs so we headed over that way. We got in to the restaurant without a wait since it was pretty late. Jeanette had Chicken Lo Mein and Ed had Lemongrass Prawn with Garlic Noodles. The little sauce they mix for you was really good on the noodles, but much too spicy for poor Jeanette. Just to mention, this was the night of Game 4 of the NBA finals. Since the Lakers were playing the Celtics, we expected bars to be crowded with people watching the game. Most people seemed fairly indifferent. We saw as many Celtics fans as Lakers fans. We always heard LA wasn’t a sports town, but we were shocked. After dinner, tt was late, so we headed back to the hotel.
The next morning, we did some laundry to avoid early rush hour traffic and because some of our clothes were caked in red clay dirt from our Grand Canyon trek. We left around 10 to go to the post office and car wash. Then we headed back out around 11. The freeway was still packed, so we got off and went on some side roads to Beverly Hills. The houses on the way were nice enough, but fairly small (there were a few larger ones) and very close together. Beverly Hills was nice, but only a small area. We walked around quickly and took a few pictures. Jeanette got a chocolate shake from Baskin Robbins and we headed out. We stopped at an In n Out burger for lunch. After eating lunch, we continued on to Sony Studios for a tour. We got there and they showed us a movie about the history of Columbia/Sony. It featured clips of all their famous movies like Spiderman and Men In Black. Then they showed a “sneak preview” of Hancock that was the same as the one we just saw in the theaters. We headed into the studio lot and saw Main Street. It was an old fashioned town they use for movies by changing a few things here and there (i.e. change signs in front of stores, etc). All of the buildings had offices behind the facades, which is different from many other sets that don’t have anything behind the facades. Our tour guide took us into the main building where the producers work and showed us the 9 Oscars the studio had won since its inception. They are called Oscars because a lady working in the artist’s office saw the picture of the original design and said that looks like my Uncle Oscar. The name stuck. Then we went to soundstage where they were striking a set from the new Beyonce thriller Obsessed. A sound stage is called a sound stage because the old silent movies used glass stage which couldn’t be made sound proof. They used the term to differentiate between the two types. Then we went past the Happy Madison building (Adam Sandler’s production studio). He was inside and filming a movie Bedtime Stories but we didn’t see him. We saw his Escalade golf cart and a picture of his bulldog. Then we went to another soundstage for Obsessed. This one was a house with props all around. Then we went into the Till Death soundstage. Most of the set was gone since the show is likely to be cancelled. We did walk up the stairs to see that there was no second floor because that would be a separate set. After that we walked past the Angels and Demons set which we couldn’t look at. They were recreating the Sistine Chapel. Then we headed to the building where they made the background scenery paintings. They cost about $40,000 to rent one. To make it, they take a picture of a real location and trace it onto a huge canvas then paint it. It takes 16 years to be a master that is allowed to paint them. Then we headed to Jeopardy! I guess neither off us has watched in a while because the set looked much different then we remembered. Every single show was on hiatus so nothing was being filmed. We learned that there is an online test to see if you are smart enough to get on the show. Only 10% are, and then they are whittled down based on personality at tryouts. So if you tryout, don’t forget to smile. That wrapped up the tour.
We then headed to Hollywood since the studio was in Culver City. People were saying how hot it was, but it was only 70 and sunny. We parked about a mile away and walked down to Hollywood Boulevard. Ed thought it would be a nice walk past Sunset and other famous places, but it wasn’t. It was kind of shady and mostly fast food places. Then you get to the main street which is about 4 blocks long. We saw the famous Chinese Theater, Kodak Theater, and the Walk of Fame. We went through all that quickly and tried to figure out if we should take a bus tour. While deciding, we saw some terrible street performers. A guy from the Jimmy Kimmel Show offered us free tickets so we took them instead of going on the tour. We ran up to California Pizza Kitchen (real California cooking) for some cheesy garlic bread, a Mediterranean salad, and a BBQ chicken salad. On the way out, we caught a glimpse of the Hollywood sign in the distance. We got in line at 6:15 instead of the suggested time of 6:45, but it worked out because when they let people in at 7:30, we were almost the last ones. We waited for the Friday night show to wrap up and then got in our seats. They were taping a show for Sunday before the NBA finals. David Cook, the guy that won American Idol was on, so we were going to a show that we had never seen to watch a guy from another show we had never seen. There was a fat bald guy that warmed the crowd up. The girl sitting next to Jeanette was going crazy and they gave here a free shirt. Jimmy Kimmel came out after a bit and introduced the band and the announcer (Dicky Barrett of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones). He made some jokes, mostly about one unemployed guy in the front row. Then he left and we had to clap for some taped clips. Then the show started and he came back out. They showed a satellite interview with Barack Obama. Jimmy and Barack didn’t seem to be on the same page answering questions, probably because they weren’t in the same place. During the taping, they had to have commercial breaks, not quite sure why. It seems like they could cut them since it isn’t a live show, but they didn’t. Then David Cook came out and answered a few questions. Jeanette wanted him to sing, but Ed was glad he didn’t. That was the end of the show. We had a long walk back to the car and headed home.
In the morning, we had to pack and gather all the information that we needed for New Zealand. We got out of the hotel at noon or so. That didn’t leave us enough time to go to Griffth’s Park, so we went to Venice Beach. Our first impression was some flea market like stores and dirty street performers. We walked for a bit and realized we were headed back to Santa Monica. We went up there for lunch at the Greek place we saw the other day. It wasn’t great, but better than the airplane food we will be enjoying soon. We stopped for a crepe with dark chocolate and strawberries. We walked back to Venice Beach and our second impression was the same as our first. It was cool and cloudy, but the sun came out. That was a nice change. Very cloudy and cool all weekend. We found the outdoor gym and watched kids climb on some gymnastics equipment. We also saw a weight lifting competition. That part was pretty entertaining. We headed back to the car and drove over the airport.
The next morning, we did some laundry to avoid early rush hour traffic and because some of our clothes were caked in red clay dirt from our Grand Canyon trek. We left around 10 to go to the post office and car wash. Then we headed back out around 11. The freeway was still packed, so we got off and went on some side roads to Beverly Hills. The houses on the way were nice enough, but fairly small (there were a few larger ones) and very close together. Beverly Hills was nice, but only a small area. We walked around quickly and took a few pictures. Jeanette got a chocolate shake from Baskin Robbins and we headed out. We stopped at an In n Out burger for lunch. After eating lunch, we continued on to Sony Studios for a tour. We got there and they showed us a movie about the history of Columbia/Sony. It featured clips of all their famous movies like Spiderman and Men In Black. Then they showed a “sneak preview” of Hancock that was the same as the one we just saw in the theaters. We headed into the studio lot and saw Main Street. It was an old fashioned town they use for movies by changing a few things here and there (i.e. change signs in front of stores, etc). All of the buildings had offices behind the facades, which is different from many other sets that don’t have anything behind the facades. Our tour guide took us into the main building where the producers work and showed us the 9 Oscars the studio had won since its inception. They are called Oscars because a lady working in the artist’s office saw the picture of the original design and said that looks like my Uncle Oscar. The name stuck. Then we went to soundstage where they were striking a set from the new Beyonce thriller Obsessed. A sound stage is called a sound stage because the old silent movies used glass stage which couldn’t be made sound proof. They used the term to differentiate between the two types. Then we went past the Happy Madison building (Adam Sandler’s production studio). He was inside and filming a movie Bedtime Stories but we didn’t see him. We saw his Escalade golf cart and a picture of his bulldog. Then we went to another soundstage for Obsessed. This one was a house with props all around. Then we went into the Till Death soundstage. Most of the set was gone since the show is likely to be cancelled. We did walk up the stairs to see that there was no second floor because that would be a separate set. After that we walked past the Angels and Demons set which we couldn’t look at. They were recreating the Sistine Chapel. Then we headed to the building where they made the background scenery paintings. They cost about $40,000 to rent one. To make it, they take a picture of a real location and trace it onto a huge canvas then paint it. It takes 16 years to be a master that is allowed to paint them. Then we headed to Jeopardy! I guess neither off us has watched in a while because the set looked much different then we remembered. Every single show was on hiatus so nothing was being filmed. We learned that there is an online test to see if you are smart enough to get on the show. Only 10% are, and then they are whittled down based on personality at tryouts. So if you tryout, don’t forget to smile. That wrapped up the tour.
We then headed to Hollywood since the studio was in Culver City. People were saying how hot it was, but it was only 70 and sunny. We parked about a mile away and walked down to Hollywood Boulevard. Ed thought it would be a nice walk past Sunset and other famous places, but it wasn’t. It was kind of shady and mostly fast food places. Then you get to the main street which is about 4 blocks long. We saw the famous Chinese Theater, Kodak Theater, and the Walk of Fame. We went through all that quickly and tried to figure out if we should take a bus tour. While deciding, we saw some terrible street performers. A guy from the Jimmy Kimmel Show offered us free tickets so we took them instead of going on the tour. We ran up to California Pizza Kitchen (real California cooking) for some cheesy garlic bread, a Mediterranean salad, and a BBQ chicken salad. On the way out, we caught a glimpse of the Hollywood sign in the distance. We got in line at 6:15 instead of the suggested time of 6:45, but it worked out because when they let people in at 7:30, we were almost the last ones. We waited for the Friday night show to wrap up and then got in our seats. They were taping a show for Sunday before the NBA finals. David Cook, the guy that won American Idol was on, so we were going to a show that we had never seen to watch a guy from another show we had never seen. There was a fat bald guy that warmed the crowd up. The girl sitting next to Jeanette was going crazy and they gave here a free shirt. Jimmy Kimmel came out after a bit and introduced the band and the announcer (Dicky Barrett of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones). He made some jokes, mostly about one unemployed guy in the front row. Then he left and we had to clap for some taped clips. Then the show started and he came back out. They showed a satellite interview with Barack Obama. Jimmy and Barack didn’t seem to be on the same page answering questions, probably because they weren’t in the same place. During the taping, they had to have commercial breaks, not quite sure why. It seems like they could cut them since it isn’t a live show, but they didn’t. Then David Cook came out and answered a few questions. Jeanette wanted him to sing, but Ed was glad he didn’t. That was the end of the show. We had a long walk back to the car and headed home.
In the morning, we had to pack and gather all the information that we needed for New Zealand. We got out of the hotel at noon or so. That didn’t leave us enough time to go to Griffth’s Park, so we went to Venice Beach. Our first impression was some flea market like stores and dirty street performers. We walked for a bit and realized we were headed back to Santa Monica. We went up there for lunch at the Greek place we saw the other day. It wasn’t great, but better than the airplane food we will be enjoying soon. We stopped for a crepe with dark chocolate and strawberries. We walked back to Venice Beach and our second impression was the same as our first. It was cool and cloudy, but the sun came out. That was a nice change. Very cloudy and cool all weekend. We found the outdoor gym and watched kids climb on some gymnastics equipment. We also saw a weight lifting competition. That part was pretty entertaining. We headed back to the car and drove over the airport.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
