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NZ Days 17, 18 & 19
Well it has been a few days since I last wrote.....I have been far too traumatised to speak, let alone write. Day 17- Wed dawned well enough- sun was even shining; tho it was a wee bit nippy- bloody cold actually! So once we had emptied out & refilled with water etc we stood in the sun to defrost & chatted to Neil & Elaine (from NSW) whilst we waited for the time to pass. Eventually we were off & lined up with all the others waiting to board vessels- was a little bit hairy getting on, but Raymond reminded me that they drove semi’s on, so there should be plenty of room for me! Once we had parked (in gear with the hand brake on) it was off upstairs to the lounge & relax whilst crossing. Yep- got that bit OK- was very relaxed when we were going out the Queen Charlotte Pass I think it is called. Passed other ferries & mussel & salmon farms & little hideaway houses etc. Very pretty & of course took one or 100 photos.
Then we hit the open sea.......cool- I’m cool....we had taken our drugs, so all should be good. Then they out a warning over the PA to say that it was going to get rough & they recommended that we all go below & sit down. Hmmm- that was enough for me- I scurried off like a frightened rabbit, down to the lounge where Ray had been in residence since we had boarded. Elaine joined me & we told each other to ‘watch the horizon, watch the horizon’. What the hell do you do when the horizon disappears below the oncoming waves??? It wasn’t too bad to begin with, although I was looking to the north island & all I could see on my side was the sea. It was in fact no worse than when we went on the whale watching rip off tour. So, that was cool.....for awhile.
Then it turned to clay. These bloody big boats aren’t as stable as you/I would hope. They list from side to side quite badly & then roll & crash into waves, ride up high....I never paid to go on a bloody roller coaster, but looks like we got it free of charge! Watch the horizon, watch the horizon.......can’t see the flppin’ horizon for the swell of the wave...aaahhhh crap! Actually, I wasn’t game to get out of my seat & go anywhere, let alone the toilet. Unlike Neil who was wandering around, up & down taking photos (for all of us who were glued to our seat). The ride was so so when we were heading into the swell....then we were side on & that wasn’t too pleasant. The swell would have been over 3 metres- I’m not joking! It was bloody awful, but only a taste of things to come. We managed to make it to the other side without throwing up, but only just.......I had chewed the living daylights out of a chewy for over 2 hours- the total crossing was about 3 hours.
So we docked in Wellington, said goodbye to our new mates- they headed NW & we headed N to find the guy that was going to fix our light- in Lower Hutt. Thank goodness for Information places, or we would never have found it. But, we did & got the job done. The guy gave us some tips on where to go/not to go. We decided on heading for a little town called Carterton about 2 or so hours NE. He did make snide/not funny jokes about the ‘hill’ that we were going to have to cross & that the steep side was the passenger side & that they hadn’t killed any tourists there.......recently.
Well, stone the bloody crows- we should have paid more attention. If we thought the road into Queenstown was challenging, well this one nearly undid me for good. It was exceptionally windy (that is tolerable) but the bends were very steep, you certainly couldn’t see around corners, BUT you could see straight over the picket railing (I am not joking) into the very, very deep ravine below. Flip me! I have never been more scared in all my life- & I am deadly serious! Ray did offer to let me drive a couple of times, but my fingernails were so firmly embedded in the panic rail/door handle, that I couldn’t have moved if I had wanted to. The poor bugger was trying desperately to stay as far away from the edge of the road as possible & was pretty much hugging the yellow lines in the middle of the road....which wasn’t good when there were semis coming towards us...did I mention you couldn’t see around corners, but could see into the ravine...yep, thought I had. Oh- just to make it a bit more interesting, they were doing road works!!!!!!!!!!!! Stuff my black dog!!! Before we were half way down I was in tears. I was soooooo scared! That, of course didn’t help poor Raymond! By the time he got to the bottom & I was apologising for being such a wuss, he did share with me the fact that he was none to comfortable on the journey either. Never, NEVER will I go on that road again! And, I never plan to do the ferry crossing again either- it was a very terrifying day. We finally stopped in Carterton- & not a minute to soon I can tell you. And way past time for a drink!!!!!
Back to paying for showers- $2 for 5 minutes!!! Get out of here! The park was lovely & quiet tho which suited us just fine. Thursday morning we headed straight to the Paua factory just around the corner....how lucky was that! Had a look, did some shopping...moved on. We actually saw a butcher shop in the main street (the main streets go for ages- very long) & thought we would get our meat from there instead of the supermarket. Wrong! The prices at least double that of the supermarket. Fillet steak was $43-10/kg!!! In the supermarket it wasn’t much more than $22-23/kg. So, back to the supermarket.
On to Mt Bruce & a wildlife sanctuary where they breed rare species of birds. Didn’t see too many in the bushes/forest, but I am sure they were there. We did watch the eel feeding, which was a bit of a let down as the ranger wasn’t there & he usually wrestles the eels for their food. The lady from reception apologised, but just threw their food into the river. They are actually quite amazing...eels that is....they live in the creeks or rivers in NZ for up to 60 years & then they go on a huge migration to an island in the south pacific (can’t remember what it is called, but it is thousands of km’s away), & then the males lay a layer of sperm & the females lay their eggs....& then they die! Bugger that- one event & you kick the bucket! Remind me not to come back as an eel!!!
Then there was a fair bit of driving- we were headed for Napier for the night- in fact a little past Napier to a little town called Bay View & a site overlooking the Hawke Bay. It was a beautiful view....saw the moon rise over the ocean- tried to photograph it, but rather difficult without a tripod. This morning (Raymond tells me it is Friday) I took a quick peek out of the window & saw what could be a great sunrise.......so off I went in my jim jams & ugg boots & coat & scarf to photograph the sunrise. It was really quite beautiful. There were 2 navy patrol ships going back and forth, burning up diesel for the hell of it I think. And, there were these gorgeous spiral shells- everywhere. SO I put a few in my pocket to show Raymond who was still tucked up nice & warm in bed.....& I also found a couple of mussel shells to. Anyway, got back inside the van & could smell this rank smell- it was the bloody shells I had picked up. TO make it worse- the liquid had leaked into my jacket pocket-eeeewwwww it really stunk. So my coat went into a plastic bag- tied up & put in the shower & the shells went out the door- literally!
We set of for Lake Taupo- took some photos of the largest inland lake in Australasia- very pretty. It is the crater of a volcano. Then out to Haka Falls- the water from Lake Taupo flows through here- the volume of water is enough to fill 6 olympic sized swimming pools every minute!!!!!!! Far out brussel sprout- was there some water, or was there some water. Then onto Orakei Korako- this area has more active geysers than any other geothermal area in the country...at least 20....and silica terraces that are the largest in the world (I am quoting). The only catch is that you HAVE to catch a boat to get over there.....oh- & they charge you $36 each!!!!!! Stone the bloody crows! You could charge $10 each & still make a killing. But, we did go & have a look (cause Lonely Planet said it is possibly one of the finest in the world, but definitely the best left in NZ). So off we went. It really is very lovely & lots of colours & therefor great colours etc. They say to allow 2 hours I think & when you are finished, you ring the door bell & he comes back & picks you up again. I t was lovely & didn’t stink like sulphur, but did have a strange odour. Certainly worth looking at. Then into Rotorua- the town of rip offs! Yep- everything is expensive here, but we desperately needed to do some washing (my coat) etc. SO, pay up & suck it up Princess!
Tomorrow morning we will have a look at Te Pui which is supposed to have an impressive geyser, do a bit of grocery shopping then off further north. May stay at a town Thames (the bottom end of the Coromandel Valley), the straight through Auckland & places further north. Time is getting away from us & there is still so much to see & do. Guess we will do what we can with what time we have.
Hope all are fit & well at home, love to you all- oh can’t add any photos tonight as it is not the right internet provider- hopefully tomorrow night.
Ray & Terri xoxoxoxoxo
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Carolyn
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Now you've done it!
now I'm NEVER going on that ferry when I go back to the north island, will just fly in and out and that's it. got nervous enough on a couple of roads on the south island, so at least will know where to stay away from next time!! Enjoying all your updates, even if I don't get to read them for a day or two. Keep on writing and taking those gorgeous photos!