The Journey Home - Pauline's to The Cottage

It's history now but one the journey home I did take some photos and I thought I'd share a few with you. 

I stopped in Taupo which was bustling.  All the water activities were taking place.

 

 Mt Ruapehu - a live volcano - in the Tongariro National Park South of Lake Taupo

 

 The Ernest Kemp on which the family sailed round Lake Taupo in January 2008 (and upon which I naturally posted).

Friends Café - where we always stop for coffee or lunch.  It is an excellent meeting place on the lake front and I've never yet not managed to park nearby.  If I'm meeting someone in Taupo this is where we meet.  The coffee and food are excellent.

A Less Colourful House

In February I showed you a colourful house on Napier's West Shore. It was colourful rather than spectacular by the City's standards. However when I was in Taupo with Mo and Fiona we saw a lived in house which was rather a contrast:

Taupo's Fish Theme

Taupo has a theme: fish. The fish (and the occasional prawn - prawn farming is a huge business nearby) appear in street furniture and in some quite unlikely places.

A Few Days Away

We've been away for a few days in Taupo, Rotorua and to Mount Ruapehu.

Whilst we were away the weather at home was cold and very very wet. So wet that when I drove the hire car into the drive this evening and decided to get a bit nearer the house to avoid the mud one of the car's front wheels disappeared into the mud. As it is front wheel drive it wouldn't drive out again. So there it will stay until the morning when, hopefully, it will have stopped raining and, again hopefully, we will be able to free it without having to resort to towing it out.

However whilst we were away once we had left Hawkes Bay we saw no rain at all - and, indeed on the whole, we had lovely weather - until we left Taupo this evening for the return journey which was undertaken in heavy rain and, over the Ranges, heavy mist too.

We stayed last night in Rotorua. It is now out of the summer season so accommodation was easy to find and the girls found a family 'suite' in a rather indifferent but perfectly adequate motel for $80 - a tiny fraction of what it would have cost a few weeks ago. Indeed in high season January I'd have been hard pressed to find a room for anywhere near that price.

Rotorua is interesting for a stay for many reasons but one in particular is the ever-present smell of sulphur from the hot springs and other geothermal activity on which the town stands.

To make our stay even better we found a restaurant attached to a nearby motel which did breakfast. An excellent breakfast it was too. It's the first time I've had absolutely perfect thick, light multi-grain toast to complement perfectly cooked shoulder bacon, sausage and tomato garnished with orange slices and parsley. How cool is that?

After that we went to see the Blue and Green Lakes but from the ground (I saw them from the air in January) they were very disappointing and neither green nor blue for the most part. We passed on a visit to Te Puia, a Maori 'total experience' including a thermal area (we'd seen one on Monday) and concert (which we could not have stayed for and had all previously seen elsewhere in more authentic circumstances albeit on previous visits) because the weather was closing in and the cost was pretty exhorbitant.

Instead we followed the sun to Taupo and south to Mount Ruapehu (the volcano upon which I have previously posted on this blog). Once you get near the top it's rock and more rock and very large chunks of rock at that. Interspersed with the rock is the ski area. Except that it's not a ski area at the moment because there is no snow because it's the end of summer and Mt Ruapehu is not tall enough to have year-round snow sufficient upon which to ski. It reminded me of Andora (which Mo and I visited some years ago) out of season and on a much smaller scale (albeit a scale which could suddenly erupt and make skiing a very unpleasant activity). It was sad and deserted and dark and, to be truthful, as a result lacking in the majesty that a great volcano should have. This photo was taken from the road to Ruapehu's base and in sunshine - neither of which appeared when we were up at the ski area near the summit.

A Few of Taupo's Sights

The last few postings have been rather uncolourful so I thought that I'd just liven the page up with a few photos. The Bus operates tours around Taupo and McDonalds Plane is part of the large Taupo McDonalds. I'm told by the Geddes Children that it's great eating in there apart from the fact that everything is on a slope. Of course as you don't have to worry about plates or cups and saucers in a McDonalds the only problem is trying not to slide off your seat.

A Tallented Trampoliner

A double back-flip? No problem. "Would you like a high slow one or a low fast one?" was Fraser's response when, on the tramp at the timeshare in Taupo I asked him if he would do a double back flip for me so that I could see if I could photograph him in mid air.

These are the results:

A Sail on Lake Taupo

On Thursday before we came home we all went for a sail on Lake Taupo on the 'Ernest Kemp'. Described as a 'vintage steamboat' in some articles on the Web was, in fact, launched in 1980 and is a replica of many boats built in New Zealand in the 1930s.

It has a splendid history and I was rather hoping to tell you about it. Unfortunately I didn't make any notes and can't find anything on the web which is reliable. So I'm just going to show you a few photos and ask you to admite the detailed work which went into the ropework covering almost every part of her iron and brasswork.

The 2 hour cruise was relaxing and interesting - as you will see in the next post.

The Journey Home: How Driving Should Be

I drove home from Taupo - 150 k drive usually taking about two and a half hours - along SH5 which is the principal road from this area towards Auckland. Like all roads outside the main cities it is a single carriageway with one lane in either direction. On steep hills there are passing lanes at intervals. They can occasionally be frustrating when someone decides to potter along at 60 kph for kilometre after kilometre. The highest speed allowed on any road is 100 kph. The majority of New Zealand's road system winds round, through or over one geological feature or another ie they are rarely straight for very long. The road out of Taupo does, however, have a few straight stretches until it reaches The Ranges. The photos show the road before the Ranges. After that taking photos was not so easy!

It is, on the whole, an absolutely wonderful road for a sports car like the MX5 where grip and handling are more of an element than power (the Nighthawk is far more powerful and can accelerate much faster).

When I returned on Thursday in the late afternoon I had expected a lot of traffic - it is the middle of the holiday period. The road was deserted. I travelled the whole distance and only encountered a couple of vehicles going in my direction.

It was the hottest day so far so I had the hood down the whole way and didn't even need to wear a bodywarmer.

I stopped twice to take photos and the whole journey took just less than two hours and I didn't break the speed limit at all.

In fact the journey can be summarised as being the very essence of what owning a small open-topped sports car is all about. Wonderfully exhilarating.

State Highway 5: Leaving Taupo

Taupo is now 30 k behind me

Gosh! There's a station (farm) ahead

One of the four watering holes between Taupo and Napier

- all but one of which are within 40 k of Taupo

The Ranges in sight

Craters of the Moon

North of Taupo on SH1 (State Highway 1) to Rotorua is the Wairaki Thermal Valley with a geothermal power project producing about 5% of the Country's electricity. Not far away is an interesting and unexploited thermal area called Craters of the Moon. We went to see it on Wednesday afternoon. Although not as visually interesting as the Waiotapu area a few kilometres away which I went to in 2005 it is nevertheless pretty spectacular. It is run by the Department of Conservation (DOC) and is less touristy that other commercially exploited areas. The area sprang up in the 1950s when the power station lowered underground water levels, reducing the pressure of the heated water and causing more vigorous boiling and steam. New mud pools and steam vents appeared and one can wander amongst them on board walks. The ground can be extremely hot - hot enough if you stray from the path and sink into a soft area to cause very severe burning.

Jet Boating

Wednesday's morning highlight was Jet Boating. Two massive supercharged Buick engines thrusting us along the Waikato River at speeds up to 90kph with only 10cm of the boat's keel in the water. It is an awesome experience. Needless to say you don't just wander along the river looking at the Black Swans and ducklings. We careered up and down the river inches away from the bank and various obstacles in the river and in and out of channels narrower than the boat - it didn't matter because at that speed so little of the boat was in the water who cared if the channel was only a yard wide. We also did wheelies. Serious, fast wheelies over our own wake.

Catriona had been seriously concerned about the activity (it looks really scary from the bank) and at one point it looked as though she was going to bottle out. Once we were on the water it was a different matter and she thoroughly enjoyed it.

We were very lucky because the other people booked for our boat didn't turn up so we had a bot to ourselves which not only meant that we were not squashed in with other people but our boat could go faster than a fully loaded boat by about 10kph.



We went up river to the Huka Falls. The water level in the falls was fairly low but even at that level 300,000 litres fall over it every second: enough to fill an Olympic sized swimming pool in four seconds. Impressive from where we were. When we went to the viewing point (from which everyone is waving in the picture) it looks far less impressive.

How Did You Spend Midnight?

At midnight I was standing in a queue for 20 minutes. I was at an open-air pop concert. I was wearing jeans and 'trainer' type shoes. I hadn't had an alcoholic beverage all evening. I could hardly have had a less GB style start to a year if I had tried. As all my friends know I hate queues, have never worn a pair of jeans (although at a friend's behest I bought a pair during 2007 for a specific purpose only to be told by a (nameless) friend and CJ that that the proposal would look terrible) nor owned a pair of trainers. Pop concerts are an unlikely venue for me although I've been to several in New Zealand with the family and friends and enjoyed them very much. No drink??

The reason I was in the queue was because I'd joined a (fairly short) queue 20 minutes before in 2007 to buy coffees. I was wearing jeans because it was a bitterly cold evening (after a very hot day) and I'd not thought to bring long pants and was wearing a pair of Martin's. I bought the trainer type shoes in The Warehouse (I must do a posting on New Zealand Institutions) for $20 to use on just such occasions. The last abberation was because of an alcohol ban in public places for the evening in, as far as I can work out, almost all of New Zealand.

Martin and I and the three boys had gone to the Pop Concert in the park at 2030. It started with a popular Wellington Group with two very good female leads. The rest of the evening was a Latin American band and six extremely energetic Salsa Dancers. Wendy was at their appartment looking after Catriona who had been really poorly all day and, in fact, had slept for 5 hours of it. Wendy had spent a hot summer's day of her holiday indoors reading a novel. At midnight there was, of course, the usual firework display. It was good and brought some oohs and aahs from the crowd although I think we are now fireworked out and more blasé about things unless they get more and more spectacular. The Stornoway display at New Year is much more spectacular which will, of course, have something to do with the setting as well.

Preparations

Performance

Fireworks!

To Taupo

What had started as a flawless sunny day turned into a dull day with promise of rain. As I pulled up for petrol on the outskirts of Napier at the last petrol station on State Highway 5 for 150 k or thereabouts, it started to rain. The hood went up. In fact despite the promise of rain over the Ranges through which I was travelling (and of which I'd hoped to get some good photos for the Blog) it didn't rain at all. About 30 k from Taupo as I came down from the Ranges the sun started shining again. I completed the journey with the lid off as I had originally intended. Hopefully I'll get the photos on the way back.

New Year Holiday

As if my life wasn't one long holiday I'm of to Taupo in the morning (Monday) for a few days to see in the New Year and spend some time with Wendy and Martin and the children who are on holiday at their timeshare there this week. I was lucky to get accommodation because Taupo is a major holiday destination (you'll see why in future postings) and this is not only the School Summer Holidays but also the Christmas and New Year break for many New Zealanders ('though not, of course, if you happen to work in a shop when this is as busy as it gets).

Now you may be thinking that you've heard of Taupo before. Well you have if (a) you've been to New Zealand, (b) you've read my postings on this Blog about recent earthquakes or (c) you are interested in motor sport because Taupo is home to the New Zealand A1 GP.

Taupo is about 147 k or 2 hrs 30 mins drive Northwest towards Auckland from Napier on State Highway 5 over (or through) the Maungaharuru Range. Apart from several (three from memory) small settlements once one leaves Eskdale on the northern side of Napier there is virtually no habitation along the road. As the weather forecast for tomorrow is fine except for a few showers around Napier I should have a good journey with the lid off.

Hopefully I'll manage to do a few posting whilst I'm away but if not I'll be off air for a few days - I'm back on Thursday afternoon.