COOK ISLANDS - AITUTAKI

The plane ride to Aitutaki was interesting!  The normal plane was being repaired so we went in one of two small about 16 seater planes.  The cockpit was open, so we had a wonderful view of where we were going.  The safety demo was pretty minimal and since everyone seemed to know each other except for a couple of tourists - it was pretty low key.  We had been so worried about the weight restrictions for our baggage, but it was really a non event.  I was glad we had left most of our stuff at our hotel on Rorotunga though - cos really, what did we need other than a bathing costume and flip flops and maybe a skirt for dinner.  

We were met at the airport by the hotel driver, who gave us all these beautiful leis

We spent our time, walking the beaches

Looking at the sunset

Relaxing on the deck

Watching another sunset

Then we thought we were being too lazy so we walked up to the top of the highest point which was not far from our hotel and looked out over the water.  Such beautiful colours.

Our view of the water every day.  Every day it was warm and sunny and beautiful.

Oh and we ate!  This little restaurant was right next to our hotel.  We sat outside at a picnic table, under the shade of some palm trees.  The owner, it turned out came from Calgary!  She was tired of the rat race and came to the Cooks for a visit with a friend.  She met her soon to be husband and the rest is history.  They built up an Organic farm and propagated many plants both interesting and healthy to eat.  Then they served these delicious foods in their restaurant

We enjoyed the food at our hotel too and particularly enjoyed the Gala night where they served local food and we enjoyed a Pina Colada as well.  Our time in Aitutaki was over so quickly.  We really enjoyed the laid back atmosphere and rural nature of the island.  We walked quite a lot of it but I certainly could have spent more time there.  The story of our trip.

COOK ISLANDS - ROROTUNGA

After our hectic schedule, we were ready for a little down time.  Our view out of the window revealed that this would be a wonderful place to chill out.

When our luggage arrived, one of the suitcases was badly damaged, to the point that we would not be able to use it again.  But it was serendipitous as this meant we met Paul who kindly found us another suitcase that at least closed even if it wasn't the best.  He told us about how on his down time he led tours in Aitutaki and so we make a deal to meet him later on our trip.

We had a beautiful cabin with this view.  We would only be here a couple of days, but it was beautiful.

Lots of time to relax

Everything was so beautiful.  Even the posts on the outdoor restaurant were decorated

We had an outside shower with coconut shampoo and the heavenly smell of the surrounding flowers.  What a treat!

CATHEDRAL COVE - NZ

We drove up to the Coromandel peninsula for a quick stop before we had to catch our plane.  Thank goodness we waited until the end of our trip to drive this area! The roads were even more windy and narrower than the great Ocean Road if that was possible.  When we got to Cathedral cove, we hiked down to the beach, knowing of course that we would have to hike back up!

It was really beautiful and we had timed it to be there at low tide, so we were able to walk around and through the rocks.

Again, there weren't a lot of people and we spent a lovely time puttering around.

We had time before the tide turned to walk to the other side of the rock, for a different view.  Then we slogged our way back up the path.  Not too bad considering the spectacular view of the ocean and other various shaped rocks on our way up

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Then on to Auckland airport and on to the next stage of our adventure.  We were so sorry to be leaving New Zealand - we had such a little time to spend there and there were just so many things we wanted to see.  It reminded me of Canada in some way, as the natural beauty was largely unspoiled.  People really enjoyed hiking and camping and there were lots of amenities to do both.  I have a friend who comes here every year and I can see why.  She still feels she has only just scratched the surface of things to explore. We will just have to come back one day!

WAITOMO

We drove across country to get to the Waitomo Caves.  Wai means water and tomo means hole. We stayed at a really nice little bed and breakfast called Waitomo Caves B&B Guest Lodge, with a great restaurant just across from it called Huhu with the most delicious food.  We were really impressed.

Our first tour was in the Glow worm caves.  We went by boat into the caves at which point all the lights were turned off and the glow worms were so numerous they were like tiny pin pricks of stars - it was just magical.  It was a very short tour and I wished we had more time to either go on the three hour tour or float down in the water through the caves - maybe a bit too adventurous for me.  Anyway, it gave us a taste.

The next tour was to the Ruakuri cave which lasted a couple of hours.  The rock formations were amazing with stalactites, stalagmites and some sheet like formations.  Most interesting.

We went back to Huhu for lunch and bought a couple of extra cheese buns for the road. We drove via Hamilton and stopped at the botanical gardens for a short while. They had many small gardens all with different themes, such as Chinese, Japanese, Modernist, Sustainable etc.  I particularly liked the medicinal and dye garden.

It started to rain, so we got back on the road to Tairua.  This was the view from our bedroom window at the Paku Lodge, on the Esplanade.  We were the only people there as the holiday makers didn't usually start coming to this area until after the holiday weekend.  We got the best room in the place, with a fabulous view.  We spent quite a long time on this beach as we met a very kind man, a retired geologist,  who told us all about the rocks only found in this area which contained crystals like chrysanthemums.  There were also lots of lovely shells and I spent a nice time sketching and painting in my journal while my other half bashed rocks and went off with our new friend who gave him a lovely specimen of the local rock.

ROTORUA - NZ

Our first stop was to Orakei Korako.  We took a small ferry and spent the next hour and a half walking around hot pools and mud puddles.  It was a nice walk and we learned a lot about native bushes, but not much in the way of guysers.

Next day we went to Waio-tapu.  The guyser went off at 10.15 exactly! with the help of some soap flakes.  It was pretty spectacular and worth having to backtrack a bit to get there. The most interesting thing though was that the woman sitting next to my better half turned out to have gone to the same school I did in England.  You have to realize that Runton Hill was a school for girls in Norfolk and only had about 100 girls so it is extremely rare to find anyone else that has gone there.  We had an interesting time reminiscing about the place.  Quite a weird coincidence!

I loved the bubbling mud.  The mud seemed so fine, it reminded me of the slip we used for pottery.  It made delicious slurping and burping sounds.  Quite mesmerizing.

There were lots of interesting things to see along the walk after the guyser show.  I liked this interesting bark on our walk through the trees.

This pool was the most amazing green colour.  There was also the champagne pool which had the tiniest little bubbles in it.  It was a fascinating area with lots to see.

More mud puddles on our way out.

In the afternoon, we just got back to Te Puia in time for our 3 o'clock appointment to see the Maori show.  We were greeted by a rather fierce looking Chief, who guided us into the building where we were entertained with the Hukka, various dancing and singing by Maoris in traditional dress.  We were toured around the grounds and saw the guysers, not as spectacular as the one we had seen earlier - but really interesting.  We sat on some hot rocks and went to the Kiwi enclosure.  There were several buildings which housed wood carving craftsmen and another where women were weaving and using flax leaves to make various clothing and hangings.  They were very generous with their knowledge and I spoke to the ladies for quite a long time asking them many questions.  It was an extremely well run and educational place, run entirely by Maori people.

DRIVE TO LAKE TAUPO - NZ

The terrain is so interesting as it is based on volcanic material, and layers of ash, so the hills are basically made up of ridges.  We saw lots of cows on the hills and wondered how they managed to stay upright and not fall off!

Most of the drive was misty and rainy  We had planned to drive near the volcanic mountains but they were cloaked in mist and it seemed like a waste of a drive so we went on the main route instead.  Just as we came to this view, the rain stopped, the mist and cloud cleared and we got this fabulous view.  We were so lucky.

Almost as soon as we had taken the photograph, the clouds descended again.  Fortunately the rain had stopped though.

Lots of really interesting scenery and colours.  We continued our drive to Lake Taupo and spent the night at the Comfort Inn just on the edge of town.  We seemed to be the only people there and had a beautiful room overlooking the lake.  Bought more wine in the grocery store, quite reasonable and quaffable.

The next day we went to the Botanical gardens.  They were spectacular with all the azaleas in bloom.  We spent all morning there and were quite sad that we had to leave as it was such a beautiful day and the flowers were so spectacular.

Before leaving the gardens, I went to the outdoor wooden bathroom.  It was completely covered in spider webs!   I was so glad we were in New Zealand and not Australia and I did not have to worry about being bitten by a poisonous spider.!  We fortunately met some locals walking in the garden and they were very helpful pointing out different plants and helped us with the names.  We also met a woman visiting from Quebec City.  Small world.

The azalea bushes were huge and such a great collections of different flowers.

WELLINGTON

The weather was fairly decent they day we arrived in Wellington so took advantage of the weather and took the cable car to the top of the Botanical gardens and wandered down the hill.  Wellington is all about hills.  We thoroughly enjoyed the gardens.  I thought this was an interesting log that was being used as a border on one of the beds.

At the bottom of the hill there were some beautiful plantings and a bandshell.  Students were gathering and one of the students explained that they were about to have an exam and they were to conduct a Maori funeral.  The women were to call the spirits and the men were to give eulologies to the famous ancestors.  We asked if we could stay and have our lunch and watch and they were pleased to have an audience.  We were so glad we happened upon this.  Several times during the rest of our trip we heard the haunting music and were reminded of this scene.  The men all had talismen of some sort, the student we met had a bone comb that his uncle had carved.  The women carried leaves and they fluttered as they called on the spirits.  I was really surprised to hear that this was a course at the University.  In fact I think New Zealand is way ahead of Canada when it comes to its founding peoples.  The Maori culture is taught in schools and is well  respected.

We were unsure of how to get back to our hotel and the person we asked not only showed us the way but lead us most of the way there. Only one of the many kindnesses that was shown to us nearly every day.

Windy Wellington lived up to its name the next day and we were treated to howling winds and lashing rain as we walked along the front to the Te Papa Museum. We spent the whole day in the museum and went back again the next day for a half a day. We learned about the Hakka and we were interested to see that all the notices were written in Mauri first, English second.  It is a beautiful museum.  It also set the gold standard for coffee and caramel slice.  Not only did the slice come with whipped cream but also delicious yoghourt.  They have the best yoghourt everywhere in NZ and Australia.

When it cleared up a little the next day we walked around the Cuba street area and I found a whole bookstore that was full of textile books.  I was horrified to find that I had a lot of them in my collection at home!  Our suitcases are really stuffed so wasn't able to add to my collection.

 We walked around the Parliament buildings but by the time we got there it was too late to go inside.  I saw these interesting glass panels on the pavement outside.  We walked around the grounds and saw the Tui birds in the trees. They have such an interesting sound, with almost two notes at once.

I thought this sign along the harbour front pretty much said it all. Certainly Wellington was both windy and hilly.  To get to the main street level, we went out the back of the hotel, through an indoor parking lot and then down the elevator to get to the main street!  I also think the hills are the reason there is a shoe shop on every corner and on both sides of the street.  I have never seen so many shoe shops in my life - it was wonderful.  Most of my NZ friends have the most amazingly comfortable stylish shoes. Now I understand why.

We picked up this beauty on our last day in Wellington.  Only problem was we had to drive on the wrong side of the road and driving out of the rental place, my beloved started driving on the wrong side of the road onto oncoming traffic!!!!! fortunately New Zealanders are a patient bunch and waited for us to back up and get back on track.  A lesson quickly learned and fortunately not repeated for the rest of the trip.

NEW ZEALAND - NELSON AND ABEL TASMAN

We flew into Wellington where we went through customs - they were really strict.  The flight attendant told us to declare anything that was on the form, which we did.  She said we were better off declaring everything that could possibly be suspect than have them find something as we would be fined at the very least.  Good advice as they looked through every one of my shells to make sure nothing was living on them.  Hiking in the forest was also a possible problem but they let us go.  Whew!  We boarded the little plane to Nelson, which in contrast had no security check and was super easy and we had lots of time.

Nelson is a really interesting little town and we spent quite a bit of time wandering around and had a fabulous meal in one of the restaurants.  The woman in the restaurant was very helpful telling us what were the good wines in the area and were available in the grocery store.  We went to the WOW museum - no photos to show.  I took tons, but again for own use and don't want to abuse the privilege.  My felting teacher from Quebec, Marjolein Dalliinga, not only had her work on show there, but they used her work for a big banner in front of the museum, on the front of a beautiful art book and on the front of a journal which I just had to buy and bring home.  The Wow museum is the World of Wearable Art and they have fantastical costumes and have a show in Wellington every October.  It was only a few days before we got there, but unfortunately was sold out long before.  www.worldofwearableart.com is the website  The other half of the museum is for old vintage cars very handy for the husbands who weren't so enthusiastic about looking at the costumes.

We went on a trip to Abel Tasman which is a huge natural area.  On the drive there we saw lots of orchards and kiwi fruit vines.  We also saw the fluffiest sheep I have ever seen and presume they were merino.  We boarded the boat and were treated to all kinds of wildlife on our way to our destination.  A school or porpoises gave us an eyeful, as well as lots of sea birds.

We were dropped off at our destination of Torrent Bay.  We had four hours to walk to Anchorage beach where we were to be picked up again by the boat.  We thought we had lots of time to wander, but with the tide in, we had no short cuts and it ended up being a route march to get there in time.  The path was lovely though with walks through the fern trees and beautiful views.

This part was our downfall, if the tide had been out, we could have walked along the beach and hopped over into the trees.  Instead of which, we had to walk all along the bay.  New Zealanders must be very fit, is all I can say.  I could have used another couple of hours to enjoy the views and sit on the beaches for a while.

We got back to our hotel and enjoyed a feast of green lipped mussels.  They were really big and tasty.  Nearly everywhere we stayed had a kitchenette and small 'fridge.  We were always given fresh milk, tea and coffee. We washed the mussels down with a sauvignon blanc from Kahourangi Estate winery.  We also bought a bottle of the Multipulciano from the same winery that the woman had recommended from the restaurant. A good day!

SYDNEY AGAIN

 It was hard to say goodbye to the family in Canberra and board the bus to Sydney, knowing we wouldn't be seeing them for several months.  However, we were off on the rest of our adventure, so there was lots to look forward to.
We have become very fond of Sydney and this time we stayed in the Adina Harbourfront Hotel.  Not so fancy as our hotel in the Rocks district, but it was close to Darling harbour which meant another area to explore.  It happened to be some Fiesta celebration, so there were all kinds of things going on from music to Flamenco dancing and people who looked like they should be on the stage in Las Vegas all glitter and feathers!  Lots of fun.  The weather was warm and sunny, just the day for a stroll around the harbour.

Lots of fountains and water to cool us down

Then we came across the King Street Brewhouse.  It was really close to the hotel, on the harbour, and you could sit out on the patio and watch the world go by.  I had a local cider which was so delicious I had a second one, which is unheard of for me.  It was a lemon yellow colour and cloudy, but boy was it good!  My better half enjoyed his local beer as well!

The next couple of days we used all the public transportation available to us, busses and ferries etc.  We went out to Manley Beach to watch the surfers.  You could hardly believe we were still in Sydney, it seemed like you were at a beach resort somewhere.  There was a commotion on the beach and very quickly a couple of ambulances came by.  A grim reminder how risky surfing can be.  We wandered around the small town a bit and stopped for a "Tika" a swedish word for a "break" and had another great coffee.  

We took the ferry back to Circular key and then took a bus to Bondi beach - wow! hordes of people packed on the beach and it wasn't even summer.  I can't imagine the crush of people then. Fortunately our bus driver had given us directions of where to catch the bus back as he said it could take you up to 3 hours wait to get on the bus back into town otherwise.  We left the beach fairly early, but already, people at the top of the hill had to wait for a few buses to be able to get on.

                                        

All to soon it was time to say goodbye to Sydney and to Australia.  We were quite sad to leave.  It had surpassed all my expectations and for all my fears about spiders and snakes - we hadn't even seen one!  Everyone we had met had been so welcoming and helpful.  I really hope we get a chance to go back some day.