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Spring 2025 Trip
  • Mark E
  • Janine Westlund
  • Mark E
  • Janine Westlund

Spring 2025 Trip

LA, Hawaii, Tahiti, Fiji, New Zealand Read more
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  • Spring 2025 Trip
    Here comes j9Here comes MarkBeautiful trailsNot bad 21 miles in 2 hours 15 min, with 3,468 vertical

    Mountain Biking

    February 24, 2025 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 72 °F

    We rented mountain bikes and hit the Whakarewarewa Forest Loop trail: a 21 mile loop on TREK electric full suspension mountain bikes with drop seat posts. THIS WAS A BLAST!

    I'm not sure j9 knew what I had signed us up for. Luckily, we got there early enough to bike the loop.

    It was an excellent trail, and the electric option made the ride fantastic! I had j9 go in front so she could set the pace, only to find out I had a hard time keeping up :)

    The trail was mostly wooded single track but didn't have any extreme areas. Possibly, they made the loop for us tourists, and the other trails with varied difficulty.

    Were told there are over 200km of trails in the forest currently, with expansion happening as we speak!    Read more

  • Spring 2025 Trip
    Hike along the riverUpstream of bridgeDownstream from bridge

    Huka Falls

    February 25, 2025 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F

    A scenic two-hour hiking trail between Huka Falls and the Aratiatia Rapids offers excellent views of the Waikato River.

  • Spring 2025 Trip
    Advertisement picture
    Our video1Wait for the spin at the end.Still frame from the middle of the spinLater looking down from the the top of the falls

    Hukafalls Jet Boat Ride

    February 25, 2025 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 72 °F

    After watching the Jet Boat from the Dam, we were ready to go for a ride!

    The ride was 30 minutes on the Waikato River and we also viewed the Huka Falls from its base.

    Our driver spun the boat around in a 360 degrees at least 7 times. It was very touristy, but everyone including us was laughing and enjoying themselves.Read more

  • Spring 2025 Trip
    This is not our picture, but it's a nice view of 'Mount Doom' (the volcano in the middle).This IS our Pic of Mt Tongariro (L) & Mt Ngaurauhoe (R; aka: Mt Doom) from the car.The path had a nice variety of terrain. Some open flats.......some wooded paths......& some manufactured walkways.The feeder to the falls.J9 peering out over the edge . . .The return loop was more of an 'open fields' terrain.

    Taraniki Falls in Tongariro Nat'l Park

    February 26, 2025 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 57 °F

    Heading South, we visited Tongariro National Park to walk to its most popular hike called Taraniki Falls. It's a hike to a 65-ft. waterfall running over volcanic cliffs into a pool of water, reachable by a 4-mi looped trail.

    In Lord of the Rings, this was called Land of Mordor ("where the shadows lie") which was filmed primarily in Tongariro National Park.

    There were 5 filming locations in the Tongariro area. A list of filming locations can be found at the link.
    https://www.doc.govt.nz/lordoftherings#mordor    Read more

  • Spring 2025 Trip

    Blokart Sailing

    February 26, 2025 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 70 °F

    While traveling south to Wellington, we drove by a bunch of retired folks racing blokarts (pron: blow carts) on a Wednesday afternoon. Blokarts is sailing with wheels or skates.
    Stopping in to watch, we found out this is the largest track for Blokracing in New Zealand. They converted an unused soccer field into this track. They had two divisions divided by driver weight class.

    [jw: I see Mark & Chuck pursuing new toys after this...]    Read more

  • Spring 2025 Trip
    This is the ferry map of the dropoff points where any number of hikes can start.
    Kaiteriteri BeachSplit Apple Rock; ~135 million yrs old. The granite splits along natural fault lines.To disembark, the boat casts out a 'pier' from which we just walk off!

    Cruise up the coastline

    February 28, 2025 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 68 °F

    We decided to ride the ferry from Kaiteriteri up to the end, & stayed on for the return disembarking at Anchorage where we did a little loop hike just to start our experience w/ the ferry.

  • Spring 2025 Trip

    Anchorage

    February 28, 2025 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 68 °F

    Here's where we got off the boat. We did a nice little 2hr hike at Anchorage.

  • Spring 2025 Trip
    Picture from a bridge of the stream we fishedBridge view in opposite direction

    Mark's 1st Fly Fishing outing

    March 1, 2025 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 68 °F

    I went fly fishing, while j9 went for a hike. I was fortunate to arrange a guide a day in advance. We went to two locations on two different rivers. The locations were both beautiful and I actually caught a fish.. Being a novice in flyfishing, the experience was humbling. Cast would tackle the line, which the guide had to untangle.Read more

  • Spring 2025 Trip

    Short Kayak outing

    March 2, 2025 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 70 °F

    The 10:15 am ferry was booked, so we had to settle on the 12:45pm ferry. Having 2 1/2 hours to kill, we rented a kayak and went for a short paddle up the coast.
    Paddling a longer kayak with a skirt and rudder was a treat. It's crazy easy to steer, and with the long length you didn't have to worry about front & back paddles touching on those moments when we're not in sync. And the skirt helped us not get wet. We returned early enough to have some ice cream and talk with some locals that live in the area before boarding the ferry to our next hike.Read more

  • Spring 2025 Trip
    Part of the path along our hike.
    Seems Mark is the model today 😊Had to get j9 into some picturesBeing low tide, the area had very little water.5 day hiking informationCampers' hutCampsiteToday's hike details

    Hike from Tonga Quarry to Medlands Beach

    March 2, 2025 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 72 °F

    Missing the earlier ferry, we had to settle for a shorter hike that worked out wonderfully. During the hike, we were able to stop at and explore some of the hikers' camp huts and camp grounds. We learned there is a 5 day hike with huts available for sleeping for hikers. Then there is also a 3 day hike that seemed popular with the older folks. Not knowing our options earlier, we were happy with our hikes ending the day in our comfortable 1 bedroom unit with a fantastic view.Read more

  • Spring 2025 Trip
    This area was fully underwater mid-day yesterday.
    Same.Some poor boat owner doesn't think they need to change their overnight mooring location.The drive was beautiful.

    Leaving Abel Tasman

    March 3, 2025 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F

    Heading out of the Tasman area toward our next destination, we were struck by the significant landscape differences due to tidal movement.

  • Spring 2025 Trip
    Our fellow wine tasters
    Winery #1This was a neat piece of art mirroring the winery namesake.Winery #2Interesting room in the wine cellarThe landscapes in this area are nothing short of jaw-dropping.Winery #3The pinot grape.Our fun group3rd winery had the best 360 view

    Hello Blenheim

    March 3, 2025 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 82 °F

    Blenheim (Marlborough Province) promotes themselves as 'the sunniest area of NZ'. It's sandwiched between 2 mountain ranges which shelters them from the elements. The Maori call the area 'the place where there's a hole in the sky' b/c it c/b raining on both sides of Blenheim but the sun is shining ON Blenheim.
    80% of NZ wines come from here; & 80% of those are Sauv Blanc, ~10% are Pinot Noir. So, when in Rome .... do a wine tour.    Read more

  • Spring 2025 Trip
    This train hugs the coastline between Picton & Christchurch; aka; 'The Whale Train'.Scenes along our drive...View from our lodging...But a walk just across the street opens up the view significantly.Even in rain, the scenery is beautiful; until a freight train intervenes. 😂Kaikoura is similar to Michigan tourist beach townsYou know you're not in the US when they have multiple rugby balls for sale.And finally, the sun sets.

    From Blenheim to Kaikoura

    March 4, 2025 ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    For some reason, when I (jw) planned this stop, I thought we were near at least one of the whale-migration seasons. A few web sites suggest whale-watching is a year 'round activity here. Maybe it is. Sperms, Humpbacks, Blues ... they all seem to pass through here at some point. Yet, regardless of who SHOULD be here now, when Mom Nature decides it's time for rain, well, as we say in Chicago: fuggedaboudit. You're not going to see anything in an overcast, wavy day.

    It's our first day of rain. So really, how could we be disappointed? All this time & no rain so far? We'll see whales another time, all things equal.

    Yet the views en route here were still beautiful. Continually grateful. 🙏    Read more

  • Spring 2025 Trip
    View from our room
    Stepping across the street.Kaikoura Seal ColonyHere's looking at you!Food truck owner shows Mark his daily catch.The daily catch is pricy-- this one's ~US$80Crayfish sandwich -- morsels fried in an egg batter. (meh)

    Kaikoura: SEALS! & a crayfish sammie

    March 5, 2025 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌬 52 °F

    After a fully rainy night, the morning opened up beautifully. Before leaving Kaikoura we headed out to the peninsula to see the Kaikoura Seal Colony. Fun!!! And before hitting the road, we stopped at a crayfish food truck to sample the local cuisine.Read more

  • Spring 2025 Trip
    Starter: Banana and Strawberry mini loaf, w/ whipped butter & topped w/ dried raspberries.The windows are beautifully expansive.Hot Bkfast: Mustard & Herb Agria Potato Hash - w/ smoked streaky bacon, poached egg, & hollandaise.Provided web page supplied nice application with blogsOutside view carOn the return trip, we sat down in the cafe longe

    TranzAlpine: Vol 1

    March 6, 2025 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 45 °F

    Round trip Christchurch < > Greymouth, coast to coast train; specTACular scenery, amazing food along the outbound trip (via carriage called 'Scenic Plus') and a relaxing return trip. Too many pics to narrow to one footprint. So we'll do a few 'volumes'.Read more

  • Spring 2025 Trip
    HUGE Trees!!'Twisted Gum' tree.1Aside from the obvious roses, the round flowers are Dahlia varieties. TONS of color differences!

    Botanical gardens

    March 7, 2025 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 68 °F

    After our walk, we decided to visit the local Botanical Gardens and were presently surprised by the best flowers we had seen to date.

    There were so many awesome flowers, I (mw) made the time to learn how to merge the pictures into a short film.Read more

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