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Published: December 26th 2007
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View of Huka Falls north of Taupo29.11.07
Drove on towards Taupo and besides seeing a lot of dead Possums on the road it was a quiet drive. Stopped at the Huka Falls, very impressive and the water was crystal clear. A bit further up are the Aratiatia Rapids, they supply the whole region with energy and every two hours the operators open the floodgates to let the tourists see the water flow freely. Together with the power stations that exploit the surrounding geothermal area these two power sources provide 5 % of the total energy demand of New Zealand.
Just before we drove into Taupo we stopped and had a great view over Lake Taupo and the volcanic peaks of Tongariro National Park on the other side of the lake. Two of them had snow on the top and Paul realised - much to his disappointment - that the mountain he had seen at Wai-o-tapu was not Mt Doom but another one with the same shape.
Found our holiday park and Freja, Eskil and Paul went for a swim in the pool while Tine went and booked a float plane for 4 pm, so that we could see the mountains close up. Unfortunately, there
Taupo 002
Scenic view of Lake Taupo was a cloud hanging on the tops so we wouldn’t be able to look down in the crater, but otherwise it was very clear and as the weather was supposed to change the next day, we thought we’d have a go at it anyway.
None of us had ever been in a float plane before and Freja and Eskil had never tried to be in a small plane before. We had headsets on to be able to communicate with each other and it was all very exciting. We had a very nice start and it was fun to feel the plane skating the water until it took off. But, unfortunately, not very long time after take off Eskil started feeling sick. We were climbing quite steadily to get up on top of the mountains and the pilot told us that there would be quite a lot of turbulence - much more than we were feeling at the moment if we went around the mountains.
We thought about it for a moment and decided to stay on the side of the mountains where we already were, since we wouldn’t be able to see any craters and Eskil wasn’t feeling
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Freja posing in front of our booked flood plane too good. And it didn’t really matter if we saw the mountains from one or the other side. We came up real close to first Mt Tongariro and then Mt Ngauruhoe and the pilot told us that just 6 days ago there had been a small eruption from the latter and stones had been spouted up from the crater. One had fallen on the leg of a climber and he had had to have that leg amputated. Ouch.
We went on to Mt Ruapehu and there was a lot of snow on that one. We also saw the big and beautiful chateau Tongariro. After a while the pilot turned towards the lake to show us some other things. We saw ‘The Craters of the Moon’ which are craters that have developed after they started to exploit the thermal energy in the underground. When underground levels fell and pressure shifted these craters simply appeared.
After the pilot had circled this area 1½ times Freja and Tine also began to feel a bit queasy and were happy that the flight was coming to an end. But altogether it was a wonderful experience and we almost saw everything we wanted to
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Cloud covered Mt Ngauruhoe (=Mt Doom in Lord of the Rings) see, but next time we’ll take some transport sickness pills!!!!
Went back and had a swim in the heated pool and ended up in the very warm part of the pool which was just like being in a very warm bath tub.
Eskil ended the day with a couple of hours on the big jumping pillow. Tine and Paul also tried and we have to admit it is quite fun.
30.11.07
Today was no different from others except that everybody had been freezing a bit during the night but we woke up to a wonderful and sunny morning.
After breakfast we went down to watch if anyone was crazy enough to try the bungy jumping at the Waikato River (from a platform over a cliff 47 m above the water) and if Paul dared. We came down there and walked around and had a look and after a short while we were in luck because three persons right after each other went for a jump or rather dive. One of them was not very happy to do the jump and Tine very much admires her for doing it anyway. After they had jumped they were
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It is safe and fun to look at somebody bungy jumping picked up by a boat and sailed to shore where they had to take a very steep walk up to the bungy jumping area again - a ride should have been included in the (very expensive) price of the jump. (Oh by the way the second jump is 40$ cheaper than the first, but nobody seemed to feel like taking a second try!).
Went into town - groceries - and Tine had to go to the post office to mail a parcel. Eskil wanted to buy some coloured paper to make Xmas decorations from for the campervan. Freja found a clothes shop so she and Tine stayed in town while Eskil and Paul went back to the camping ground. Tine also had some small parcels to buy to help the “julenisse”.
Took a cab back to the camping and we spend the rest of the day jumping on the big pillow, the trampolines and taking a dip in the heated pool. It got very, very cold in the evening and we had to start the heater.
01.12.07
Woke up to another lovely but cold morning and again we had all frozen in the night. We had
Napier 001
The falls with no name near Maungaharuru Range on the way to Napier had enough of Taupo and turned towards the east to drive to Napier. It was not a very spectacular drive and we only stopped once to look at a waterfall which we can’t remember the name of. Just before we drove into Napier we drove past some wineries and a lot of fruit orchards with abricot, nectarine, peaches and also some veges like asparagus and avocado.
Found the camp. Unfortunately the pool was cold and there was a cold wind blowing so no-one felt like going in. We tried out the trampolines instead and they were as always exhausting but good fun.
Had decided that we were going to take a stroll in the centre later and eat dinner there, but that was quite a disappointment. The town was totally dead and even the restaurants looked as if they were closed, at least they were all more or less empty and this was Saturday evening!! Paul however didn’t seem to care that much as he was occupied by checking out some of the fine art deco buildings.
Had a look in the Lonely Planet guide to see if they had any suggestions. Found one that they recommended
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Art Deco style building in Napier town centre and as there were other customers in it and as one of them gave us a thumbs up, we went inside. Eskil only wanted a dessert because he had had a sandwich at Subways. Had a nice dinner - Paul found that it was the best steak he had ever had.
But when we came back to the camping we discovered that they had let the restaurant to some private party with a band. And that was noisy until 1 am. We thought this a rather odd conduct for a camping since they require total stillness at 10 pm from all others.
02.12.07
We drove towards Hastings to look at some wineries and taste a little of their produce. The children weren’t too interested in this and stayed in the van when Tine and Paul went in. We visited three wineries and bought some wine at two of the places. Also had some nice and informative chats with the salesmen.
After about an hour we drove up to Te Mate scenic look out where we had a great view over the whole valley and could eat lunch while watching the paragliders take of from the hill
Napier 003
Perfect lunch and paragliding spot at Te Mate summit outside Havelock North and fly around. Paul and Eskil took a small walk to the - now - nearby peak of this modest 400m hill.
Drove towards Cape Kidnappers to have a look out there. We were not going to stay another day to see the Gannet Colony out there, so we had to satisfy ourselves with a look through Paul’s binoculars to see the distant birds. Went back to the camp site and Paul and Eskil took a stroll into town to have a more detailed look at the Art Deco architectural style buildings while Tine and Freja had some projects in the camper. Eskil, Freja and Paul decorated the van and after dinner Freja and Eskil went into the TV lounge to see Highschool Musical 2 on SKY television. Unfortunately, for Freja and Eskil, and a bit early we found, they closed the TV room at 9 pm so they couldn’t see the last of the film. Big disappointment but we know all now that it will be on DVD Dec. 5 here in New Zealand. I wonder who told us that? All in all we found Napier somewhat disappointing and wanted to go on to Wanganui the following day.
Dannevirke 001
Viking welcome sign at "Danish" settlement Dannevirke (The day before yesterday Dec. 21 we read in the newspaper that there had been an earthquake (6.8) in the south pacific 50 km southeast of Gisborne causing quite a lot of damage in Gisborne just north of Napier and was felt all the way down to Dunedin on the south island.)
03.12.07
Drove off towards Wanganui. It was as always busy on the road with lots of dead possums and winding roads with speed crazy Kiwis. Perhaps not the most interesting part of nz. We drove through Dannevirke and were greated by a big sign with a Viking on it. That was by far the most interesting thing about Dannevirke and we rushed through it. We also past by Norseland. What an influence these Scandinavians have had on NZ!!!
Had to pass the Ruahine Range to get to Palmerston North. Here we drove along one side of the cliff edge while we could see the rail track and passing train on the opposite cliff edge. This was a rather nice part of the trip. Had a quick stop in Palmerston North to have some lunch and do other essential things. Were not too impressed and
Wanganui 001
Paul kayaking the Wanganui River decided that we were not going to spend any time here on our way back towards Wellington some days later.
Drove on and suddenly found ourselves in Holland or so it seemed, it was so, surprisingly, flat. That changed for the better as we were coming closer to Whanganui and suddenly Paul pulled over for to enjoy a distant view to mighty Mt Ruapehu. Arrived in Wanganui in the late afternoon and couldn’t really decide if we wanted to stay here. When we were discussing this in the reception and finally did make a decision to stay and wanted to tell the girl who worked there our decision, she said that it wasn’t necessary because she spoke Danish. She was Dutch (of course) but had lived 9 years in Denmark with her family. Now she was 6 months in NZ for the practical part of her study. Actually, the guy who ran the place (a South African) had a large number of students staying there. Cheap workforce.
It was very windy but with a nice view of the Wanganui River and a lot of ducks. They had some tri bikes you could rent and Eskil immediately wanted to
Wanganui 002
Freja getting coal dusted on the Waimarie Paddlesteamer try one. Freja, Eskil and Paul took a swim in the pool which was heated. A bit later Eskil and Freja discovered that there was SKY TV and went to see cartoons and a movie and ended up having their dinner in the TV room which doubled as a dining room for the guests.’
04.12.07
Didn’t do much in the morning, was rather cold when we woke up but it quickly became sunny and warm. Did some laundry - we seem to have laundry all the time - and Paul rented a kayak and was driven about 5km up the river so he could paddle back, while the rest of us played, read and drove on the tri bike.
In the afternoon we went to lunch in the town and at 1:30 took the Waimarie paddle steamboat up the river. The trip took 2 hours and as it was beautiful weather was quite pleasant except for the coal dust falling down on you. Eskil and Tine went down to see the engine room and they opened the oven so we could have a look and feel how hot it was.
Did the groceries and
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Stunning view of the Wanganui River Valley not much more. We were going to have a long day next day taking a trip along the Wanganui River in the national park.
05.12.07
Started at about 10 o’clock - still not very good at getting up early. The first part up the river was the same as we had sailed yesterday but at Upokongaro we turned away from the river and a bit in land. Shortly afterwards the road towards the Wanganui National Park came on our left and we started on what for Tine was to be a horrible trip (because of the narrow roads and steep fall). We quickly came pretty high up and had a wonderful view down over the valley and the river. The road continued to wind and go up and down. In the beginning it was tarred but we knew that a rather large part of it was untarred, grabble road. It was a very nice ride with lots of beautiful scenery. Here and there, there were some small Maori settlements with the surprising names of Athens, London and Jerusalem. Stopped at a scenic point overlooking the river and had lunch. At Koriniti the grabble road started but besides
Wanganui 004
Maximum crazy speed limit on the narrow and windy Wanganui River road the dust that came into the van everywhere it wasn’t too bad. We suddenly saw a bushfire and were a bit nonplussed as to what to do, but in the following town we stopped and talked to one of the teachers (the only one?) of the local school and he said he would take care of it. We could actually still see the smoke from where we were.
Drove on and at Pipiriki the road broke away from the river and we headed east to make a round trip. And now the road became very unpleasant. The worst we had ever experienced and Paul and Tine have tried some bad roads in Australia and in Norway. It was very uncomfortable and tiring and took a looooong time but eventually the tarred road began again and we could continue our journey after Freja had had some water to get rid of the dust in her throat.
Were back at the camping at about 4 - 5 o’clock with a very dirty van and not only on the outside. We had to borrow a vacuum cleaner and to sweep everything several times with a cloth to get rid off the
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Eskil feeding the ducks on a rainy day at the Wanganui camping ground worst of the dust.
Long but nice day. Relaxed and had dinner and went to bed.
06.12.07
And it rained and rained and rained. All night it had rained and when we woke up it continued and it didn’t look as if it was ever going to stop. After some hours Paul got so restless that he was like an ice bear in a cage and even though the rest of us didn’t mind reading and playing cards, it was impossible to stay at the camping or we would all have had an enormous fight.
Paul had found a place called Bushy Park where (he thought) we could see Kiwi birds. Took about 45 min to get there and it was still raining and because we were now about 1000 m above the ocean it had also gotten cold and we still had no raincoats except for Eskil - we hadn’t bought any because we had been so lucky with the weather.
It was an old homestead, surrounded by a small piece of original rainforest. Not extremely interesting and Kiwis we could forget all about. They are nocturnal and here the lived in the free.
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Eskil not feeling well during our scenic flight above Lake Taupo But we had one fun experience. A school class had just been there and at the place they had these contraptions with which you could make enormous soap bubbles. So there we were standing in the drizzle making bubbles with a diameter of 50 cm and having a lot of fun.
Took a small walk in the bush and it was very nice but in good weather the experience had been something different.
Went into town for lunch and groceries and by now it had ceased raining. Our chairs were starting to dry up but we had to wash and dry our towels to get them back to normal.
(It is today Dec. 25 and we have had the most wonderful weather today with 28-30 degrees. We hope that you all have had a wonderful Christmas evening yesterday and send greetings to everyone and hugs and kisses to those who want them
Love Eskil, Freja, Paul and Tine)
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Lene fra Lynge Skole
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Godt nytår
Kære alle fire Hvor er jeg bare misundelig! Det ser virkelig dejligt ud, og det ser ud til, at I oplever en masse. Glæder mig til at høre mere. Jeg mener at huske, at I kommer hjem inden nytår - altså meget snart! Hvis ikke vi tales ved inden, må I have en god nytårsaften. Kærlig hilsen Lene