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Day 24. Our New Zealand Road Trip is over! Flew home on a red-eye special. Princess Tahlia had the window seat as usual, and just as I thought she had total scenery overload, she grabbed my camera (she lost hers twice and found itonce)for some more cloud shots from The Land of the Long White Cloud. Our bags were not heavy and we are all in one piece. Except Princess Tahlia has a sore wrist after tumbling over while dashing across a street on Friday. No bruising or swelling, so hopefully will be cool for school on Wednesday. YIKES!!! Now it is back to normal, rushing around to get the uniforms and books in order …A couple of friends coming over for last sleep-overs of the school hols...Thanx for following our little blog folks. xoxoxox

Mecury Bay, Coromandel Peninsular

Hot Water Beach...at low tide,you dig a hole to lie in. It fills with hot thermal water!



cruise shots...

Mecury Bay, our second last day. The glass-bottom boat cruise was a great idea! Awesome views all the way. We went snorkelling in a quiet cove and Princess Tahlia swam right under the boat!! The skipper let her steer on the way back to port!!!

At low tide we went to Hot Water Beach and wallowed in the hot sand pools along with several hundred fellow holiday makers. Worth sharing but! It's an odd thing...hot thermal springs are accessable at low tide. You dig yourself and your family and best friends a hole in the sand, which fills with the hot water, and then you wallow!! Neat! Or you lurk around until another group are boiled and vacate their pool and just take it over! Even neater!

Princess and I soaked and chatted about our top 3 events of this holiday. She picked: galloping on the Dart Stables Horse Trek, steering the boat, and the encounter with the sea lion at Karitane (video to come). My top 3 were riding Drum Major the Clydsedale at Dart Stables, everything Milford,and the windy trip to the lighthouse peninsular where we saw the yellow eyed penguin and chick...

Yesterday we had another go on the horseswith Taupo Horse Treks. This was the third trek on our holiday and the least inspiring. (Grumble alert!) The stables stank, the start off was slow. A 9:30 start got going at 10:10. The guide didn’t know a single plant name of the forest we walked through. They couldn’t do much about the whinging kids in the 1 hour party, but it put me right off continuing for our second hour. I had the bright idea of letting Princess Tahlia have the second hour to herself with the guide and she was able to canter off into the beyond! This trek was as expensive as the exquisite treks we had with Rubicon Valley Treks and Dart Stables at Glenorchy. While the landscape in the other locations was divine, here it was merely through a weedy pine plantation, over a road through some scraggy bushes with two vague glimpses of the steaming thermal site called Craters of the Moon and back again. No commentary, no photo stops, no picnic of hot chocolate and homemade shortbread and scones with homemade jam. Princess had a good ride reported that her guide had taught her some new skills. If you would love a good horse trek in NZ, I would not recommend this outfit. Save your energy and your money for great horse treks like Rubicon Valley or Dart Stables.

Lake Taupo seems to be a bit of a rip off.(Grumble continues) Mustn't complain about the weather right?, but we could have been anywhere, as the volcano's were hidden by cloud again. Last night we paid more for a bland backstreet Motel(where we could hear our neighbour piddle and the spa was decorated with dust and cobwebs) than we paid in Queenstown for lake views, concierge service, wireless internet…go figure. Actually we are ready for our own beds and looking forward to coming home on Sunday…(grumble over) (phew)

The next two days we are at Whitianga in the Coromandels. We have our own rooms in a sweet new hostel, and are taking it eeasssy. Princess Tahlia is sorting her varied treasures and reading Twilight AGAIN. Soon we will venture out to the Hot Water Beach where you dig a hole at low tide and sit in your own warm thermal pool. Neat!!!

Geo-thermal treasures - Orakei Korako

at Lizzie's in Mokau

We enjoyed a couple of days with Liz and Phillip at their beautiful place overlooking the estuary of the Mokau River. They are friends of mine from way back in the olden days...Liz and I met when we were 17!!! She cooked fresh fish for dinner, caught by Phillip on the coast nearby. Princess befriended the young filly and had her following her around the paddock.

Taranaki still. We drove all around the volcano (Mt Taranaki or Mt Egmont), the lonely one, though the clouds hid it for most of the trip. Losing ourselves in an amazing private Tawhiti museum at Hawera, playing with trucks in the sand at the FUN HO toy museum in Inglewood, rowing a boat through the Festival of Lights in New Plymouth, browsing through the childrens market on the sea shore...Princess Tahlia scored lots of POKOMON cards! Today we head north again to spend a few days with Lizzy on her farm by a river mouth...she has a horse...

http://www.tawhitimuseum.co.nz/

amongst the seaside sculptures...

FUN HO toy museum in Inglewood

Taranaki

Beautiful Taranaki...staying in New Plymouth in a cosy B&B that used to be a maternity home. Fair bit of chintz, little teddy bears on the fluffy beds with floral wallpaper and framed prints of country scenes. Princess got pancakes for breakfast so she is way happy.

Caught up with old friends from long long ago. I was so happy to hug Ma Birdsall again. She rubbed my back and held my hand all through Rohan's birth. She is now 85 nad her blue eyes are as vivid as ever and her sense of humour intact. Princess Tahlia showed her the wool she bought and asked for hints on spinning.

Tonight we are going to a light festival in the park. Wonder what tomorrow will bring?

North Island now

Auckland at Aspen House right in the city. We went hunting (unsuccessfully) for a Subway that had grated cheese and settled for a local meal by the harbour that Princess Tahlia rated as 9 out of 10 considering the onion was too chunky and there wasn't quite enough tomato sauce on her cheese burger. I tried yet another NZ Pinot Gris and have only praise...

We are both pretty tired after our long journey today. 2,340kms on the hire car for the South Island. The stormy weather of the past days thwarted our plans for a horse ride at Seacliff. However, at Karitane we saw a sea-lion right up close. It even sat in front of our car, where we had retreated out of respect for it's tremendous size and obvious rights of way! Later we were in arms reach of a yellow-eyed penguin and chick beside a colony on an isolated peninsula. Seals everywhere too. Magic. Worth leaving the cosy fire at the Seacliff backpackers for.

I have read the first book of the Twilight series! I finished it! I got it! Tahlia has now read them all!

We will hang out here in Auckland for a couple of days and then explore some of the North Island.

Seacliff

In the Catlins area

Dart Stables Horse Trek

Milford Sounds

From Glenorchy to Seacliff via the Catlins

Dart Stables gave us an amazing horse trek with four river crossings with the Misty Mountains from TLOR (The Lord of the Rings) as the backdrop. Princess Tahlia rode a former racehorse that had a role in the second and third films, while I rode a majestic Clydesdale named Drum Major. It was cold and grey but that just made it more dramatic. Princess Tahlia got lots of cantering time and I haven’t fallen off yet.

It was hard to leave Glenorchy and drive towards the Catlins. The weather is cold and wet and we don’t really mind at all, but the locals are not impressed. Princess Tahlia is taking it all in her stride. (She has just devoured the third tome of the Twilight series). Last night we stayed in a cabin in Gore and the rain tattooed the roof all night. There were cute old NZ caravans scattered around the park. Normally it would be full at this time of the year. Who knows where the rain has sent the other travellers and local holiday-makers?

The Petrified Forest at Curio Bay in the Catlins was really awesome in the old-fashioned sense. 160 million years old. Impressed. We also were impressed by more contemporary things when we stopped at a gypsy caravan place full of quirky objects that we could wind and whirl. Our own garden will surely show this influence in the near future.

Now we are in Seacliff Lunatic Asylum. Where Janet Frame was incarcerated. Now a backpackers hostel, with about 50 vintage cars occupying the sheds and three horses waiting for a trek tomorrow if the weather improves. Princess Tahlia is in the lobby learning to juggle from a German backpacker. I am by the fire with a tummy full of popcorn. (that girl is a great cook).

Milford Sound. What can I say? We flew in and out, had a cruise, saw dolphins swim across the bow, seals lounging around on the rocks...AMAZING. (I will remember this day when I am home and under pressure). We took stacks of photos but where to start? I will make a little slide show and figure out how to attach them for you all.

Princess Tahlia made an origami seal for the captain of the boat. She stood out in the freezing spray from a waterfall and scoffed a chocolate chip muffin. This morning, getting up close to kiwis would have been a highlight in itself.

It is so cold here in Queenstown at the moment that there was snow on the surrounding hills last night, Brrrr. Up bright and early tomorrow to go for another horse trek. This time with Dart Stables who will take us over Lord of the Rings terrain...

We are feeling very blessed.

Huge day. Franz Joseph Glacier and on to Haast through rain as big as any back home. Pounding on the roof of the lodge, you can't hear anything else. Time to snuggle in for the night. Today Princess Tahlia was looking at the detail rather than the big picture, and took some lovely shots of fungus and rock cairns.

Avoid the Hard Antler Inn in Haast unless you want to see a gruesome collection of antlers with skull-bones attached. Forecast is for more heavy rain, so we will make lots of progress on our books, the times table and map poring...

Crossed the South Island today, Akaroa to Hokitika via Arthur's Pass. Photo opportunity at every turn. Didn't take any shots really. It all looked like it would have appeared in a million home videos and postcards already. For good reason, it was really splendid scenery.

Hokitika is a curious place with an angry sea, pebbly beach and abundant driftwood. Jade everywhere in town, with some beautifully crafted pieces amongst the mass produced.

Sound of the sea out our window tonight. Princess Tahlia is deep into the second Twilight book, and has reluctantly lent me the first. She is sceptical that I will a) get it and b) finish it. She may have Scenery Overload or Twilight Newbookitis, as she preferred to curl up with her book to walking along the beach. Earlier today she did find an excellent example of Black Beauty in a local junk shop to add to her growing collection. Hardly a dog has escaped her loving attention,so it is not Twilight all the time.

"A glacier knocks in the cubboard, the desert sighs in your bed..."(W.H.Auden) Tomorrow it will be glacier day. YAY!!!

Le Bon Bay near Akaroa...a walk on the wildside with the Cantwells, our friends from St Mary's in Exile. Spag bol in their campervan overlooking the Akaroa Harbour. Big sky with lots of cloud action. Finger of God style rays of light pointing out spots of divine interest here below. Had a charming stroll around Linton, the Giant's House. An artist's extravaganza in mosiac and flowers. Had the house speciality club sandwich: strawberry, cottage cheese and candied ginger on whole-grain bread with a pot of apple and cranberry rta. all very charming indeed. Princess Taghlia was holed up in the loft bed of teh Cantwell's campervan, playing cubby-house games with Sophia.

Princess Tahlia and I are pleased to be on the winding roads again. Tonight we will be tucked up in Chez La Mer Backpackers in Akaroa. Gorgeous little french style cottege with salty sea air cold enough for double blankets.

Day 3 and the fun keeps coming! Antartic Centre this morning was cool in several senses but the crowds were too much. Princess liked the roving actors in penguin, husky and seal costumes as much as the gorgeous real penguins.

Finally got a hire car. A red one. Checked out New Brighton. Yawn. Except for a fellow doing his 1003rd sand drawing below the pier which was interesting.

Want to ride horses in the high country? Rubicon Valley Horse Treks is the best. We had a brilliant sunset ride which went for 2 1/2 hours in beautiful country. Princess' mount was called Monty, which was funny since that was the name of her last teacher! I had Billy, who surrendered after a while, and ambled along for me while Monty gave a good gallop.

Last night in the Jailhouse. Marshmallows and banana with a cup of tea.Princess Tahlia already in bed with a book. The second reading of Twilight. How often do you need to read it before you become a Twihard?

Those cruiser bicycles are ours again today!!! Rode to the market at the Arts Centre, and cruised around town. Princess went for a bungee jump! Just kidding. She went for a bungee bounce and did somersaults forward and backwards, and afterwards told me she is scared of heights!!!

I hunted high and low to find a mobile phone and now recommend e BLAH BLAH at the cathedral square if you too need to hire one in NZ. e-mail me if you need the number.

Trying a vegetarian restaurant tonight. Princess would be a vegetarian if she liked vegetables. I reckon it is time to try.

Let Princess loose in a bookshop and now she is buried in Twilight. sigh...So I've stocked up on drawing materials in case I need to entertain myself.

Pick up the hire car tomorrow. Lots of people arriving without booking a car and there are none, so I'm feeling lucky I snaffled one just before we left. We are off to Rubicon valley for a sunset horse trek. If the weather permits. Will keep you posted.