Happy third birthday son. A fun day for sure. Three years went by very quickly. You grow and change so quickly that it is hard to keep up with you. I am sure this will be a theme for many years to come, but it is an absolute treat to watch this.
I love you very, very much.
The tour showed us many parts of the village including some of the steam vents, the mud pools, the cooking areas, and the bathing areas.
We learned that the mud pools were too hot to sit and soak in, but the mud was excellent for therapeutic uses. It gets harvested in the winter when the mud is more pliant. It felt very primitive seeing the bubbling steaming mud pools.
The cooking pool was called the champagne pool. This is where they cook all their veggies. They are placed in the pool for a few minutes and pulled out when done. Obviously this means the water is extremely hot (120º). Scientists studied the pool and tried to measure its depth, but ran out of tape at over 50 metres (if I remember properly). This pool gets its name from its eruption. The ground shakes a little bit then the water level in the pool raises 4-5 inches then settles again. This is followed by lots of tiny bubbles rising through the pool.
Meat is cooked in boxes built over steam vents. Very simple to use. Cooking times were easy to remember. Corn in the water for 5 minutes, a whole frozen chicken in the steam box for 1 hour. Everything else was in between.
The carved houses were pretty amazing. Different parts of the house symbolized various parts of the body. The carvings also told of the family genealogy. The main house in the village was over 400 years old.
The baths were pretty amazing too. Some of the water from a hot pool was channelled to the bathing area and fed into the tubs. Through the open air process, the water cooled to 26º by the time it was in the tub. It was also filled with lots of minerals that refresh the skin. And they were outside. The communal baths overlooked a river, and you could either watch a sun rise or a sunset as you bathed. Breathtaking.
Then we got to see the Pohutu Geyser. This was a beautiful and amazing sight.
Finally, it was just bizzare to see steam rising from the ground in so many places. Front yards, streams, holes in the ground, even from some of the above ground graves. It was interesting to see how they use their environment in so many ways.
The guide we had in the village was awesome. He was full of lots of interesting information and had quite a sense of humour about him. I highly recommend this tour to others.
At 4pm New Zealand time we headed for the airport. At 7pm local time we were getting off the ferry (7pm Victoria is 4pm New Zealand). Around 8, both kids were in bed, and now I am just relaxing a bit before heading to bed.
Lots of fun, lots of memories. I am a little sad the adventure is over, but it is nice to be home.
A nurse pumped what felt like several cups of water through my ear while Sprout watched. He was very interested in what she was doing, but didn’t say a thing. Finally she got the wax out and I could immediately tell the difference.
After getting my hearing cleared up, Sprout and I bought Sox a Valentines Day gift. After nap time for Beet, Sprout got play time at a playground right down on the lake. Dinner at Breakers again, then back to the motel for bed time.
I didn’t mention it was 13° and raining. Still, I wanted to make sure I got at least 1 luge ride in. We ended up buying a pack of 3 luge rides since it was cheaper than buying 2.
I got my butt totally soaked, and froze on the return lift ride, but it was totally worth it. The luge ride was a blast. You sit on the little cart and follow a paved path down. Controlling the cart is easy and you can go as slow as you like. All first timers must go down the scenic loop which was lots of fun. On my second trip down I took the intermediate track. It was fun, but not as fun as the scenic loop. The intermediate is faster, but that meant you got to the bottom quicker. Sox used the third ticket to try it out.
When she returned, she convinced me Sprout would like it and that I should take him down, so I did.
Sprout had a blast and actually wanted me to go fast. At one point we caught another group of people. I pulled over and stopped to let them get ahead of us. Then we caught up to them again. Sprout started saying something so I pulled over and stopped, concerned that we were going too fast for him. He just wanted me to stop so we could catch them again 🙂
The lift ride up was fine, but I was worried he would fall. He was just sitting there on the seat with his legs crossed enjoying the view, asking me to move my arm (which I had behind him to hold on to him a little).
For his trip down he was given a couple tattoo’s. Luge Ranger, Fun Patrol. I did a terrible job putting those on.
In the cafe at the top we had coffee, tea, and snacks. Their coffee was amazing in my books.
The kids had had a few longs days in the car, so we thought we would do a shorter drive, and end up in Rotorua. This meant no Hot Water Beach, which really didn’t sound like a child friendly area. We hit the road at a little past 9:30.
Back on the 8th during swim at Waipatiki I got some water in my ear, and decided to hit the clinic before leaving town. No such luck there as their first free appointment was at 4:30.
We stopped in Tairua for lunch, and I checked out the local clinic to see if they would have time to fix up my ear. We were there for close to 1.5 hours, and yet they were closed for lunch the entire time. Not helpful. The kids got some time in the fresh air which was great for them.
From Tairua we backtracked a bit then headed west through the Coromandel Forest (yay we got to see at least part of it). In Thames we drove around the town a bit, and did get to see the Firth of Thames. The ocean water was very brackish that day, and very choppy.
From Thames it was south toward Rotorua. We passed through Tirau which had an infatuation with corrugated steel.
Once in Rotorua we had to find our way to our motel. While driving the car filled with a disgusting smell. I asked Sprout if he had tooted (passed gas), and he replied no. A few minutes later I smelled it again. I was starting to suspect one of the kids again when I remembered that Rotorua is laden with volcanic activity. Ahh, sulphur. The whole town periodically smells like rotten egg. Nice.
We found the Pohutu Lodge and settled in. Form this motel we could see the Pohutu Geyser which was pretty cool.
We asked the front desk where to go for dinner that was child friendly and they directed us to Breakers. Imagine Red Robbins, crossed with Kelseys, but with a surf theme. The other nicety here was that you prepay for your food. When you are done you can make a hasty or leisurely escape. Perfect.
One of the sights on the way to Opotiki was the Waoieka Gorge. This was a rainforest to the fullest extent. Steep lush hillsides, crazy twisty road, tight roads, and steep roads. It was also rainy, and very misty through this section of the drive. This was definitely the greenest area we had seen thus far. The hillsides were a little unstable in this area too. The rockfall warning sign mentioned it lasted 46 km, and it certainly didn’t lie. I saw lots of rock on the road, and at least one area where a complete lane was blocked by fallen rock.
So far we had been following highway 2, but just west of Opotiki we jumped on to a smaller highway that followed the coast and took us through Ohope. We ended up stopping in Tauranga for dinner. From Tauranga we called our destination in Waihi Beach only to discover that they had accommodation for us for one night only, not the two nights we needed. Plans needed to be rearranged.
On the road again we saw some amazing coastline. The beach extended as far as you could see and had the gorgeous turquoise colored water that looked very enticing. The huge swells crashing on the sandy beach were picture perfect. Since we were driving and the kids were happy we didn’t stop to take pictures. You’ll have to trust me that it was beautiful.
At the end of the day we made it to Waihi beach. Our place was just fine if not a little pricey.
The ambiance and atmosphere was spectacular. The winery grounds are amazing, so anywhere you sit in the restaurant, you are treated to a great view.
For the first time ever in a restaurant, Sox and I ordered a bottle of wine. We got the 2007 Mission Estate Cabernet Merlot (pdf link). I think this was the best wine I have ever had. I am not a wine connoisseur, and I can’t explain why I like a wine, or describe what it tastes like. I can tell you if I like it or not. This wine I loved.
For dinner Sox got a pork cutlet that was excellent. I ordered the Fillet of Beef. It was astounding. When it arrived it was still steaming hot which is something I don’t get at a lot of restaurants I go to. Accompanying the beef was some scalloped potatoes, baby beets, and baby carrots, and drizzled over everything an au jus to die for. The beef was cooked perfectly for me (medium), and was the most tender beer I have ever tasted.
After dinner we grabbed our wines and went for a little walk and let our dinner settle. Looking out over the vineyard after the sun had set was pretty nice.
Back at our table we ordered dessert, maple rice pudding for me and berry crème brûlée for Sox. Mine was good, but Sox’s was excellent. We then had coffee and tea to end the night.
It was wonderful to spend the evening with my wife in a grown up setting with no kids. It was also the first time since we landed that I have worn pants and shoes instead of shorts and flip flops.
After breakfast we trooped down to the beach to build a sandcastle. Down the beach we could see a group of people in the water all together. It was a little odd so we walked down, and there was the dolphin Moko. I went in to get a close look. I eventually made my way to a spot, and Moko swam right by me, close enough to touch (which I did). I later learned that was frowned upon. Oops, sorry Moko. Sox and Sprout took their turn in the water with Moko as well.
Although it was cool to see Moko, I was very disheartened by the other peoples actions. Lots of little kids trying to get close, and when they did started shrieking and thrashing about. People trying to catch a ride and grabbing on to Moko. I actually saw Moko flail with his/her tail at someone to grabbed the dorsal fin. It was very saddening. Something that could be so beautiful and amazing turned ugly by thoughtless people. It didn’t seem like people were respecting the animal.
Still, Mahia Beach was a wonderful, picturesque location, and it would have been great to spend more time there, but we had more sights to see.
One really funny thing about the place we stayed was in the water closet. The toilet paper holder was a combo unit. A toilet paper holder radio. Weird.
Sox and the kids and I headed up a day early from the rest of our gang, and drove a very, very twisty turny road to Mahia Beach. Thankfully the kids slept most of the way, or I am sure they would have been felling pretty green. It was a warm day, close to 30°, so being in the air conditioned car was a great break for us.
Along pretty much any road in New Zealand you will see livestock; sheep, cows, and goats are plentiful. On the drive to Mahia we actually saw turkeys in a field. Cool!
The highway was inland a little, but when we did emerge back on the coast, it was quite a spectacular sight. The turquoise water sure looked enticing, and the large waves looked fun to try and play in. Since this wasn’t our destination, we kept going.
We found our bach and it was pretty rustic. Particle board floors with throw rugs over top, cupboards stuffed with throwaways from other houses, and not as clean as we had hoped. Still, we were only there for a couple nights, and it was more than adequate. The upside was we were only a two minute walk to a fabulous sandy beach. Yoshi would have loved it!
One interesting thing about Mahia Beach was that there were a lot of tractors parked in people’s yards. There were also lots of boats. The tractors were used to launch and recover the boats from the very shallow entry beach. When recovering the boat, they would come into the bay, someone would jump out, wade in to shore, back the tractor in, then the boat driver would just drive the boat up onto the trailer. Cool.
That night I got out to take some pics of the sunset. It sort of fizzled, and the light was never quite right, but there was a nice rainbow that I took a few shots of.
