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Published: June 16th 2007
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Auckland from Devenport Suburb
This is a view to central Auckland from Devenport, a suburb across the harbor. I took a nice walk around the town and up their (small) volcanic craters. Northern NZ Well, the good news is I am still alive. The bad news is that because I was sick in Auckland for so long, I can't do as much as I want in other places in New Zealand. And the truth is I feel like I could get lost here for a very long time. The land is so enchanting that it's no wonder that The Lord of the Rings was filmed here. And even though it is winter now (or just about), I don't even mind the cold that much. I just want to get out hiking (tramping is what they call it here, how apropo) and see the amazing country side. The snow will keep me from tramping the Tongariro Crossing however, an 8 hour hike through Mordor and Mount Doom (volcanoes and craters for those of you who don't remember LOTR). There have already been many accidents on the snow covered peaks there. So I'll probably get a guide and just hike the first hour or so. No summit hikes for me, unfortunately. This is probably for the best since I am on the mend. I've been trying to take it easy on smaller hikes, although I always
A veiw from the Coromandel Peninsula
Yes, it really was this green and blue! find myself pushing a little too hard and needing to sleep a little bit longer the next day. As a means of therapy, I took advantage of the fact that I am in Roturua, NZ, which has loads of volcanic activity and thermal hot baths. So I of course I went to the yuppie spa, soaked and got a hydro-massage (hot jets sprayed on me while I got the massage). Ahhh, so nice. And my skin really needed the hot soak as well since I have some strange patches of dry skin from the Dengue Fever reddness. I sure you all didn't want to know that. Sorry.
The other highlight of NZ so far....actually, there are two more highlights, how soon I forget where I've been. The first was going through the Waitomo Caves to see GLOWWORMS!!!! I won't be able to properly describe what I saw, it was such a unique experience, and unfortunaley I couldn't take photos since the camera flash disturbs the little guys. But basically I took a tour of a beautiful cave with electric lighting first, saw many stalagtites (hanging from above) and stalagmites (grow up from below), saw a "cathedral" like hall in
the cave over 14m high, and then took a boat ride to the darkest part of the caves to see the glowworms. Glowworms are somewhere between spiders, worms, and lightning bugs. In their larva stage, they drop many silk lines straight down from them to catch gnats and flies for food, and they light up to attract these flies in the dark. OK, that's what they are. What you see when you enter the dark cave though is completely different. When you look up to the cave ceiling, there is an amazing starry night sky overhead. Millions of constellations. I think I even saw the southern cross! And they glow quite blue, just like and LED light. It was breathtaking!
My second unique kiwi experience was exactly that. I went to a kiwi bird conservation organization to see these strange creatures up close. Unforunately, because of the introduction of mammals to NZ (they used to only have birds here! Who knew?) young kiwis only have a 5% survival rate! So the conservation group picks up the eggs from the wild, hatch and raise the birds til they are big enough to survive on their own and then release them
back into the wild. And these older birds have an 85% survival rate. Not bad work. So after getting a tour of the hatching facilities and the like, I got to go to a nocturnal habitat house to see a few of these crazy birds (they are nocturnal, and don't like light so I only was able to take a photo of the stuffed ones in the museum. Sorry.) Anyway, they are so crazy looking. Their feathers look more like puffy fur, they have more mammilian qualities than other birds (like bone marrow and whiskers) and you can hear them snort as they try to sniff out insects and grab them from underground with their long beaks (kinda like an anteater). All in all, they actually look like a kiwi fruit with a head, long beak, and two legs attached. I guess that's how the kiwi fruit got it's name!
So I have had some very unique experiences here, from the Dengies, hospital visits, and seeing the incredible landscape of NZ. I have to com back! Maybe I just won't leave........
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sandy Queiroz
non-member comment
Hi
Hey Steph, Glad you are enjoying NZ. Thanks for the birthday call. It meant a lot to me. (hope you got me a present!) My week at the beach was wonderful. Wished you were there. I am back to work now and its good. Need to make that dough. Send me that link so we can talk thru the computer. I'll send an email and some pics to your hot mail acct. Miss you terribly. Riding in the rain is just not the same without you! Sandy