Mt. Bruce and Te Papa

When we arrived Mt. Bruce National Wildlife Centre in the morning, a light rain was falling. We pulled on some rain jackets and pressed on. Just out the back doors of the visitor's center is the enclosure for the Takahe. These colorful, turkey sized birds were long thought extinct until 1948. They look like corpulent relatives of New Zealands far more common Pukekos. Unfortunately, we could barely glimps him among the grass and bushes where he was hiding.
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We then turned into the dark kiwi house, for another look at the adept foragers, with a comical wobbling gait. Outside the Kiwi house, they also have tuatara. Throughout the park, the birds are kept in open air enclosures, set within the forest edge, so that wild birds, like the native pigeon mingle closely with the captive ones. Among the several bird species that they have here, one of my favorites was the kokako. This gray bird has blue wattles and a black eye mask, and a peculiar song.

We left Mount Bruce and headed south for Wellington, and the Te Papa Museum. Te Papa contains a wide variety of exhibits, but the main attractants for us where the natural history exhibits and Maori art and culture exhibits.

The Maori artwork and architecture is focused on elaborate carving. Their homes and meetinghouses are spectacular. They also make a wide variety of objects from the plentiful jade on the island. The natural history museum covers the animals that are part of New Zealand's ecology, both on land and in the sea. They even have a life size replicas of the extinct moa and a great blue whale's heart. Beyond this, the museum has a myriad of exhibits, from an earthquake house to an area on immigrants, and even a statue of bull made of corned beef tins.

waitomo: pretty much the most awesome thing ever

After spending a restful night at Juno Hall Backpackers, we woke up early to a cool and dewy morning, and headed out to visit with the sheep and calves kept on the farm. Unfortunately, I'm afraid the hungry animals put up such a racket when they saw us that they woke up the rest of the Hostel's patrons. We headed from that small enclosure to a more open pasture, where a horse was grazing. After letting ourselves in to the field, we noticed a deer laying at the top of the hill. She noticed us about the time we noticed her, but rather than moving off, she made a bee line down the hill for us. My concern at being approached by a wild animal, even an herbivorous one, was eased when I saw she wore a collar. As we scratched it behind the ears, one of the farm owners passed by in his truck, and stopped and hopped the fence to talk to us.

He could see the surprise on our faces, so he explained how the deer came to be a family pet. In New Zealand, deer are invasive; all mammals are invasive, so, there are no hunting permits required, or hunting season restrictions. As a result of this, when the man shot a doe one year, he found her pregnant. He delivered the fawn and brought it home. And so it has stayed ever since, though she could easily jump the fence and leave. He then showed us a few deer tricks. She will stand behind him and put her front feet onto his shoulders. He then tried to get us to grab her tail, and when he found us reluctant, did so himself to show us how she can shuffle her hind feet forward.

After such an entertaining morning we headed just down the road to Waitomo Adventures to take the Lost World Epic 7 hour tour. Once all five tour participants and the 2 guides had arrived, we headed by van to a picnic pavilion and showers complex located on private property. There we suited up in heavy thick wet suits, rappelling harnesses, hard hats with light and white wellington boots. Not your every day outfit for sure. We then headed for a short walk across the countryside to a ropes course where we practiced using our two carbine clips to move along a rope trail while staying safely attached. Then we headed down to the entrance to the lost world.

A metal catwalk extends out over an open abyss. Over 300 feet below, the pit's bottom was a mix of misty green and wet rock. We were all safely clipped to a rope before being led onto the catwalk and being asked to sit back onto a bar that floated over nothingness. Once seated, our harnesses were clipped onto roped for the trip down. For safety, we were connected to our guides by a lead rope. And then came the hard part. Slide forward off the bar and sitting into the harness itself. Being supported over the drop by only a rope. Having done it, feeling the stability and solidness of the harness support, all fear was forgotten, and we began to feed rope through the clip to begin our descent.

For the first 10 feet or so, feet touch the rock wall. After that, the rock recedes and you hang in the open, the only contact to the solid earth, the rope, less than an inch in diameter. Through the mist below, the green became distinguishable leaves, individual rocks began to stand out, and then we were down, standing on our feet again at the bottom. And here we paused to eat before beginning the long journey out. Nothing fancy. Sandwiches and cookies in the strange light.

Our first task was to head across this gap to the far end, to scramble down boulders, to reach water level. The distance was not far, but the suits, designed to keep us warm in the cold water, heated up quickly. At the edge of the water, an eel, maybe a foot long swam, attracted perhaps by our head lamps. They live in the waters of the cave, and throughout New Zealand. But the lure of the cool water was enough to get me in, despite the dark surface and the eels it might hide. After all, the only other way out was a rather tall ladder.

The plunge into the waters marked my first wet suit experience. Cold water rushed in at the edges and stole my breath. The water here is deep, and we were headed against the current. Thick ropes lay hidden below the water, and we groped our way along as our suits held our bodies to the surface. The trip was an alternation of floating comfortably through deep water, and trudging through shin deep water with heavy water laden boots. In between we navigated across a churning basin at the foot of one falls, and attempted to climb right up another less dangerous one. We used a rope swing to climb into an upper chamber, then dropped through a hole back into the water below, with all lights out. We belly crawled beneath a boulder for the fun of it, and took a break on a sandy bar to have a surprise hot drink and a chocolate fish one of the guides had packed in all that way.

Finally, as we neared the end of the cave, too far from the entrance for

light, but near enough for insects to wander, we paused a final time. We turned out our headlamps and looked up. Scattered across the ceiling like a pale green milky way shone a thousand points of light. They are glow worms. Hunters that lure insects with their light, and ensnare them with sticky strings, I had read about them in one of those strange fact columns in a magazine growing up. Here they were.

After spending a long time looking, we finally got back to our feet, and before long we saw light, as the stream flowed out into the day. climbing up out of that small valley to the never ending expanse of sheep fields, we began our trek back to our start point. The walk felt long and hot, and was fraught with manure. Finally, we crested one of the many rolling hills and spotted our pavilion. While we hit the showers, our guides cooked up steaks, sausage, and potatoes, and set out salads and drinks. We ate our food and talked about our travels, and finally loaded back into the van to return to the main office.

This is one of the most fun and amazing experiences I've had anywhere. It was difficult for me, as I am not in great shape, but it was absolutely worth the cost, the time and the effort. I would recommend this as the number one thing to do while visiting New Zealand if you are physically able. Simply amazing.

The secret of the woods

Just south of Raglan New Zealand, off of Kawhia Road, and unassuming little parking lot is the gateway for an easy and beautiful trail that leads through a lush native podocarp forest to a picturesque waterfall, known as Bridal Veil falls.

The mostly level trail leads through a forest of tall trees, covered in a variety of epiphyts. The ground is a collage of fern, moss, and mouldering logs. The trail loosely follows a muddy brook to the edge of the fall's rim. A neatly fenced overlook lets you peer at the falls from the sideA short spur leads to the left for a closer look at the top of the falls. The main trail leads to the right, through a small cut in the earth, and then down again through the forest to the base of the falls.

Bridal Veil Falls itself is a picture perfect beauty. The water falls in a high and narrow stream, into a small basin below. The walls around the falls are basalt, blackened with water. Well worth the short hike for both the plant life and the falls.

In the House of the Flightless Bird

New Zealand has a unique set of fauna, and, since many species are rare, to fully appreciate them, we decided to pay a visit to the Otorohanga Kiwi House. The kiwi house has kiwi statue outside.

They Kiwi house has a large collection of almost all birds, they being the only large fauna to be found on the island. But the do also have a few other animals mixed in. There are no mammals, because New Zealand does not have any native mammals, not even marsupials.

They do have tataras. A tatara is a relatively primitive reptile, related to dinosaurs, though it does resemble modern day lizards. They also have geckos on display, and a small pool with eels in it. Like salmon, these eels go to sea when young, and return to their birth rivers to spawn. They are in many of the fresh water streams and creeks in New Zealand.

Among the birds, they have many species common in New Zealand, such as paradise ducks, grey ducks, oyster catchers, and the colorful pukeko, which can often be seen near roads and in fields.
They also had the islands' two parrots, the kaka and kea, and native parakeets, as well as the surprisingly large New Zealand Pigeon, a food source for the Maori. They also have the Weka, another flightless bird.



As the name might suggest, the Kiwi House does house kiwi, in a dark, red light lit room so that visitors can see them when they are active, because kiwi are nocturnal. Here they have two kiwis on display, though they keep them separated because they are capable of hurting each other with their long thin beaks. Sharing the airspace over both areas is a morepork, a small native owl. The kiwis run on thick muscles legs, like larger farm chickens. They hunt in the leaf litter of their enclosure, prodding with their beak looking for whatever worms or insects they might find. We were there for feeding time, and they were fed from a plastic cup with a mixture of fruits oats and worms. The hungriest of the pair simply fished around for a worm and slurped it up.

Before we leave, we take a walk through the aviary, where pigeons fly clumsily, tataras lurk, and quail nest under unfurling fern trees.

Just across from the park is a small park established by Otorohanga's Rotary Club. Here grow redwoods that were germinated from seeds send by a Rotary Club in California. The trees were planted in 1971, and so are fewer than 40 years old, and already very tall. This is a pretty little spot and as it's so close by it's worth the visit.

Falls and Jet

The water from Lake Taupo flows out via the Waikato river. One section of this river narrows to form Huka falls. The falls are not very tall. In fact, the water flowing over the falls almost hides them. But the water is a churning froth. This is beyond white water. Even above the falls, the water churns, and is a strange pale blue, marbled with white. Where it gushes over Huka Falls into the large and suddenly wide river below, The water bubbles up solid white for dozens of yards.
We arrived at the falls overlook, early in the morning. we had the short walk along the narrow stretch of river to ourselves. After we had taken many pictures, none of which look quite real, we headed to hukafalls Jet to get a different perspective of the falls. After suiting up in a rain jacket and life vest that would have made both Neo and Superman proud, we loaded into the boat, Jake and I taking front row seats.

Riding in the boat felt like gliding on ice, as our pilot fishtailed the boat along the banks, in and out of tree stumps and small islands, and under the wings of escaping black swans. On the open water, he cut the wheel, and whoo! partially airborne 360! splash! We headed downstream for a bit, then turned and headed up for the falls. Many "close calls" with the river banks, and spins later, we arrived near the foot of the falls. We could go no further. That white boil of water was more air than H2O, and boats only float on water.

Realm of Tane

A visit to the Realm of Tane, at Tamaki Maori village is an interesting ride. It starts with a bus trip to the grounds of the village, where we were greeted by the village warriors. Following that we entered through the gates and saw how a village may have been set up, and some of the activities that were carried out there. We moved into a meeting house, where they shared with us powerful haka dances, as well as sweeter songs. We left the meeting house and entered the dining hall to have some food cooked in a traditional hangi. The food is cooked by being buried in a pit with hot rocks. It is a similar method to the Hawaiian Kālua, often used to cook pigs for luaus, and no wonder, as the Maori people originated from that area.

Overall, the experience was fun and entertaining. The meeting house and dining hall we perhaps not the traditional experience I was looking for, but they weren't offensively so. The dancing was the best part. The food was somewhat bland, with the exception of desert, so please, have gravy with your meat, that is where the only real seasoning is.

Perhaps just as entertaining was the ride home, with the bus circling roundabouts while many were forced to sing songs they felt represented their country, whether they be anthems or other. While I was grateful not to have to sing, I was disappointed that the only other Americans chose to sing Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini....a song not on my list of conceivable options.

It appears that since my trip in the fall of 08, the website and the story theme of the trip has changed. I would assume the experience, however, would be roughtly the same.

The hottest city park in New Zealand

The area around Rotorua in New Zealand is still geologically active. We had originally planed on visiting a hot springs area and spa known as Hell's Gate, but due to airport delays and our own jet lag, we didn't have enough time to merit the admission. So instead, we headed to Kuirau Park which is located within the city. This is a city park like no other. Here you can explored some of the geothermal features, and we spending most of our time taking a walk around the steam enshrouded lake. Here's a little info about the lake's history from New Zealand's website:

In early Maori times the small lake in the park was much cooler and was known as Taokahu. Legend tells us that a beautiful young woman named Kuiarau was bathing in the waters when a taniwha (legendary creature) dragged her to his lair below the lake. The gods above were angered and made the lake boil so the Taniwha would be destroyed forever.

Cathedral Cove

The town of Hahei, on the Coromandel Peninsula of New Zealand's North Island, has some spectacular beaches. From a parking lot near the sea, a trail leads down to several bays and coves. Along the way, the trail passes through flax and fern, and even a small corner of pasture. The ferns were so thick that some children were using them as very effective camouflage. We skipped a stop at Stingray Bay in favor of reaching Mare's Leg cove, and the Cathedral Cove beyond it. The two are connected by a cave, which was very prominently featured in the early part of the Narnia movie Prince Caspian. Both Beaches are absolutely beautiful. White sand, surrounded by high cliffs, and fronted by some of the bluest water I have seen, and this even on a somewhat overcast day. We stayed briefly to explore, then made our way back, this time taking a slightly different route that led us through some unexpectedly mossy and dark forest.

Blue waters from the trail


Fern tree forest


Children in the Ferns


A Spot of Sunshine


Cave connecting mare's leg and cathedral cove


A Mossy Route Through the Forest

A little train ride in New Zealand

We walked out of the airport, into the cool morning air, and over to our car, which was very near the entrance. The rental was with Thrifty, but since there was not a Thrifty branch at the airport, and we were arriving outside their hours, they had delivered the car to the parking lot, and left the keys with the airport's information desk. As Jake went to the machine to pay the parking, I settled us in the car. Then I got into the passenger seat, where our driver's seat usually is, and Jake got into the driver's where the passenger's seat usually is. Without further ado, we were on our way to our first destination. Now because we it took us an hour and a half to get out of the airport, we did have to rearrange our overly optimistic schedule. This was anticipated, and I even had alternate directions printed.

We had a reservation for the 10:15 AM train ride on the Driving Creek Railway. Driving Creek started out as a pottery. The owner gradually build a rather extensive narrow gauge rail system for his collection of clay from the hillsides. The rail finally developed to such a point, that it was opened as a tourist attraction, as a fun and unique way to explore the semi-tropical rain forest.

Our first stop when we arrived on the main street in Coromandel was at a little cafe for breakfast. Here we were first impressed with the Euro/American juxtaposition of this corner of the world. The main street was lined with low flat fronted buildings, most with steel awnings over the wide sidewalks, a setting that would fit in many small American towns. but the wide windows at the front of the store were flung open to the cool morning air, which is not so common here at home. Inside were a smattering of cheap tables and cheap chairs, like you'd find in your average ma and pa place, but the meat pies in the serve yourself case were not like anything you find here at home. And while the man at the table looked like the average American farmer, the voices coming over the radio, a call-in want-ad show, had a tenor to them that was decidedly not a southern drawl.

We picked out some meat pies and settled down to eat. While I have to say I loved the meat pies, Jake was not so impressed. After eating, we headed up the road just a little way to the parking lot for Driving Creek. We took out time wandering about a bit, as it was only just time to open, and still an hour before our scheduled departure. We saw out first Tui on some flax flowers, and our first Silver Ferns up close. We found that there is a short trail into the forest, and as we explored we learned the names of trees we would see throughout out trip. Recently planted Kauri trees, with their tiny leaves, the Rimu which resemble weeping fir trees, Nikau palms, and the impressive fern trees, all of which combined with damp air and quit to give the forest a Jurassic air.

After exploring the short trail, and the somewhat dilapidated sculpture garden, we settled in to watch a video on the owner and creator of the track system. Finally, the time came to board the little train, and make our way up the hill. The train winds past more than just the green forest however.

There was sculpture along the way, and retaining walls built from wine and beer bottles. There was a tunnel decorated with terra cotta, and even a double decker bridge.

There were also several switchbacks, there the train literally drove into a dead end, switched the tracks, then continued in reverse to the switch. After a brief stop at an older overlook, we continued the last leg of the journey to the ultimate lookout point, the eye-full tower. As we were to discern from the witty names of many shops and restaurants we would see throughout our trip, New Zealaner's love a good pun. The views from the top were impressive, showing the rolling hills covered in rain forest and the blue sea to the north. After returning to the train, we retraced our steps and returned to the base of the hill and our car, to head for our next destination, also on the beautiful Coromandel Peninsula, the Cathedral Cove at Hahei