Dargaville to New Plymouth

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**Look For Pictures Here in a Couple of Days - this computer won't let me upload them*****



Today is ANZAC day, the day during which New Zealanders remember their war veterans. I had picked up a poppy, different from those that we wear in Canada (made of a crepe sort of material) and was wearing it.

The Greenhouse backpackers was super, and we slept well. Its a converted school house, and was very cozy. I especially liked the cat. He was originally named "Nuts", but his owner had him nuetered and now he is named, you guessed it - "Nonuts"!!

Leaving Dargaville around 730 am, we drove south and then turned east at Ruawai. We pulled into Matakohe (population 400) at around 8am and had a lovely hot breakfast of eggs, bacon and tea (coffee for Eric) cooked by the lovely owner of the Matakohe House B&B. By the time we were full the Kauri Museum next door was open and we headed over.

Kauri trees had been on my mind a lot since seeing Tane Mahuta the afternoon before, and this museum really reinforced the magnifigance of these unique trees. Several rooms were well laid out and labled showing everything from the harvest of the trees, the gum (sap) that was used for a varnish, and the various industries that accompanied the industry. We spent about an hour and a half exploring, and I picked up some nice souvieners in the nice shop.

We left just as the ANZAC day service was starting, and continued east, through Brynderwyn and then turning south. We went straight through Auckland and stopped near Hamilton for a quick lunch at a cafe near a tourist information center. The weather was wet, with heavy rain showers for a good part of the drive.

A little later we stopped in Otorohanga to see the Otorohanga Kiwi House and Native Bird Park. Inside, our first stop was the night-lit kiwi bird enclosure. Kiwis are nocturnal, and in the Kiwi enclosure, night and day are reversed, so that the kiwi birds won't be asleep when the tourists arrive! It turns out that they sleep 20 hours a day, and so there are actually two shifts of birds, each "working" four hours a day. The staff told us that the kiwis actually have to be lifted out of their burrows at the beginning of their "shift" - they like to sleep in! We arrived at 2:30 pm, and so we took a walk around the other enclosures, seeing some birds of prey, ducks and some other native birds. 30 minutes later we headed back to the kiwis to see them fed.

The staff explained that the birds there are fed a mixture of porridge, tofu, raisins, calves liver and other delicacies. They are very choosy birds however, and toss aside anything that they don't like!

Kiwis are the closest thing to aliens that I have ever seen. They are tail-less and wing-less and have a long long beak like a stick, with the nostrils at the end. They have beady little eyes and a loud screeching call.

We left around 330 and made a quick call to reserve a room in New Plymouth. New Plymouth is about 300 kms south of Auckland, and is near to a large volcano, Mt Taranaki. We arrived late, around 730 pm, to the Shoestring Budget Backpackers. This is a large turn of the century house with a big kitchen and wood floors. It was very cosy. We headed into town and had a quick dinner at a sports bar/resteraunt called Breakers. The theme was surfing, and ou table was shaped like a surfboard. I gave Simon Pilkington a call and let him know that we were planning on arriving in Wellington the next day. Back at the hostel, we had a few drinks and got talking to an older lady from Quebec.

I called down to Wellington and tried to reserve a room at the Maple Lodge - turned out Simon runs the place! He wasn't sure if there would be a room, but said he'd save one if there was.

I read a bit before falling asleep!

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Comments

[Michael Neufeld]

Hey Eileen, How are things going? It was good to hear from you and to read your blog. Things here in Comox are going well. When are you back? Michael