We drove from Waitomo to Rotorua made a left turn and here we are in Whatatane! Heading for Opotiki for the night then plan to spend the weekend heading around the "East Cape" and Gisborne! So here are the last few days of my posts and a few pictures as well! Love from the ever moving Sue and Geoff, xo P.S. This morning's excitement was when Geoff could not find his underpants--I located them hanging on the wood fence near the recycle bins--how they got there we will never know! OMG, it was just the perfect beginning to our day...I was (and still am) laughing so hard about finding his underwear "hanging around" camp! hehehehehehe
Tuesday, December 7, 2010 – New Plymouth – 1 PM – We drove and drove and drove for hours yesterday after my last post and landed (like pilgrims) in New Plymouth around 9 PM—ate a quick meal (beans on toast!) and went to bed fairly early—Geoff had to be exhausted because that 150 km between Taumranui and Strafford were a real adventure and put his driving skills to the test—which he passed with flying colors, I might add. I am sure I cannot ever adequately describe the sights we saw or the incredible changes between rolling hills that looked like Alps, a rainforest and then other hills that were totally different. I will say that shortly after Geoff said “we haven’t seen a turkey since Thanksgiving Day” he almost got himself a big turkey that ran right in front of us. This is all along the “Forgotten World Highway” which we now understand how it became forgotten! He later almost got us a pheasant for dinner along with some lamb shish kebab! There were at least half a dozen loose sheep/lamb along the road in places! We did see many birds—some soaring in the sky and I would swear they were eagles but they don’t have eagles here so will look them up in my little bird book and see what I find! It was a beautiful drive—even when the road sign suddenly said “gravel road next 15 km”, followed by “one lane for 8 km” and “curves ahead” which made us laugh…the whole length of the trip was winding up and down and across hillsides! The road was a bit, well, interesting in places and I think we saw only one other car along the route. There would be signs of a town name but only one house visible! We thought we had come to the end of the gravel road but it was just a section covered in black volcanic rock that was rougher driving than the regular gravel. Geoff had never taken this route before so it was all an adventure for him as well.
All I can say is that it was indescribably beautiful, very rough and rugged and ever changing—the flora was different along each segment—different trees, flowers, bushes and ferns. Truly amazing and the few pictures I have don’t do it a bit of justice. The part Geoff and I laughed the most about was when we came to a tiny town called “Whangamomona”—it had a pub, church, garage building and a few others but is no doubt the biggest town around for miles…they have a sign about it being “The Republic of Whangamomona” and then shortly after we passed through the “republic” there was a sign about “leaving the Republic of Whangamomona and welcome back to New Zealand”! We totally understand how they could feel like their own little republic way out there in the middle of nowhere! We thought it would be quite a prize to win a trip for two to the Republic of Whangamomona! What an adventure that would be! So off we go today to explore the beach and the city while we wait for the clouds to part so I can see Mount Taranaki (it’s been overcast and socked in since we arrived in the area!). Back next to see the Tasman Sea again!
Later in New Plymouth – 9 PM – We went to find a place to “top off” the Vodafone so I could call Shelley—once that was accomplished, we went down a street towards the beach and parked, went for a short walk and saw a path down the hill to the beach!
We took the path down to a public parking area and I sat on a picnic bench and called Shelley! No problem with our connection today and it was good to chat with her—after Geoff said hello to her, he left and went for a walkabout down the beach boardwalk—this was Fitzroy Beach and the boardwalk goes all the way into the town of New Plymouth. I talked to Shelley for about a half hour then I headed down the beach with many stops to take pictures of the black (and dark gray) sand beach, the plants and the kite surfers! New Plymouth was in the distance and it was a very pretty site and a lovely day! Unfortunately, Mt. Taranaki is still socked in with clouds—hopefully I will get to see the peak top tomorrow before we head north to the Waitomo glowworm caves! I met Geoff coming back on the boardwalk and we walked along it then down to the beach—I was looking for a shell but this beach is pretty shell-free…at least where we were walking! .them what to do...kind of interesting! It was a lovely walk along the beach. Back to the campervan and a cup of coffee/tea, a few cookies and off we went downtown New Plymouth. Some of the Phutokawa trees were in full red bloom and they looked very Christmas like! Just gorgeous in full red and green colors! We drove around the pretty town and then went to the i-site, museum and Library that was quite nice and very interesting. I got a great map of both NZ islands so I can show all the detail of our travels! They closed at 6 PM so we found a Woolworth’s grocery store and got a few things for dinner and back to camp we went! Chef Geoffrey made a lovely steak dinner and my contribution was to pour the NZ Merlot! It was all fabulous and I should have taken a picture for Larisa! J Now we are sitting her, Geoff reading the New Zealand Herald and drinking Victoria Bitter beer from Australia (pretty tasty!) and me, sitting with my glass of Merlot, sipping in between sentences! That’s all for today from the NZ trail. Love, Sue & Geoff xo
Wednesday, December 8, 2010 – Waitomo – 9 PM - We left New Plymouth around 11 AM and even though the sky was sunny, there were still clouds shrouding Mt. Taranaki, so I never did get to see its peak but I told Geoff that we can’t wait around for it to show its stuff since it could take days…so off we headed..north and the drive was interesting and beautiful as usual. Parts took us near the Tasman and then there are the beautiful rolling hills! I bet those cows that are grazing along the Tasman Sea have no idea what kind of waterfront property they are living on!
The colors of the Tasman were beautiful shades of blue with the contrasting white surf! I laughed when I saw a goat sitting near the road on top of a small shed and a short while later there were four cows on top of a very small hill as if they were playing “king of the hill”…maybe “cow of the hill” is more suitable! So before the Waimoto Glowworm Caves we come to a town called Te Kuitoto, whose claim to fame is that it is the “shearing capital of the world”—Geoff says I can get my haircut here with no problem (since getting my haircut and nails done has become a high agenda item for me these days!).
“What do I pell?” (an infamous Jon Reisher 2 year old question when he could not say "smell"). In my case it could be just plain old beer farts! LOL Geoff is sawing logs after today’s drive and a stint at Curley’s Bar drinking Steinlagers on draft while I went through the Glowworm Caves here (he did it a long time ago and wasn’t interested in seeing them again), then a few more beers with me and up to the Morepork Pizzaria & Café for a HUGE “caveman” pizza (a good third of it left over—wish I could send it to Jordan for his breakfast, he would enjoy it) and a bottle of OysterBay Chardonnay (which I admit to drinking more than my half the bottle!). Fortunately we were close to the camp so no problem finding our way back here—we were both sawing logs for a bit but I never can sleep as well as Geoff so here I am blogging while he catches up on some well earned rest! Love, Sue & Geoff xo
So honored to get a mention in the blog! Great food always deserves a picture!
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