Bungee (nearly!)
3 de agosto de 2015, Nueva Zelanda ⋅ 🌧 14 °C
We left Queenstown in the rain and drove around past Coronet Peak to Arrowtown. A tasty breakfast in the bakery cafe )good bacon and egg sandwiches, with Ed having a spicy chicken pie!).
The rain was easing and we walked up the main street of this old gold mining town, which still looked like a street from a wild west movie. Bought a few souvenirs then had a look at the historic Chinese settlement, laid out where the Chinese gold miners used to live. They had been invited by the town elders as the European miners moved on to the West Coast and they were worried the town would die, but they were treated with scepticism and suspicion by most of the locals, similar to immigrants today. They strived to earn $100-$200 to return to Chine and buy a farm, vastly improving their life there.
From Arrowtown we aimed for Twizel, but a few km along the rode we saw signs to the AJ Hackett Karawau Gorge bungy jump and as we were stuck behind a slow moving camper van we pulled in to atch some jumpers. We watched a single and a double jump an also watched some people going down the relatively new Zipline. Ed declared he wanted to do it, so we checked the minimum age - 8, but 8 or 9 year olds needed to ride with an adult. So Tash, Ed and I did it. The maximum weight was 150kg and we ended up having to take off shoes, jumpers and coats to get down to the limit - made for quite a cold ride!
We got harnessed up - we did it in a sitting position rather than the full superman dive that we had seen others do. Ed was given a go-pro camera to record the trip (as was Tash) and on the count of 3 the release button was pressed and we were off. It was exhilarating, think we reached about 60km/h before hitting the end. The mechanism then cleverly spun us around and we were pulled back up to the start, uncoupled and viewed our photos and video, which we bought of course.
We then had a couple of hours still to Twizel so sped on through the Lindis Pass that we had gon through 10 days ago from Wanaka to Oamaru and hit Twizel about 2.30. Had a pie each and some shared chips in the bakery, then bought breakfast stuff from the supermarket then headed off to Mount Cook Village about 45 minutes away. Twizel didn't have much to it (it was built in the 60's to house people working in the hydroelectric dams on nearby rivers).
The weather was fine and we got to Mount Cook Village about 4pm. The motel was new since our last visit when we had stayed in the Hermitage Hotel. A quick walk into the Village and we booked a 4wd trip for tomorrow morning, though the weather forecast is for more rain so the trip may have to take a different route to normal as the torrential rain today had seen some tracks closed as a precaution against landslips.Leer más
A Quiet Day
4 de agosto de 2015, Nueva Zelanda ⋅ 🌧 14 °C
We got a call from reception at about 8.20 to say our 4wd tour at 9am had been cancelled. Unsurprising given the amount of rain that we had heard falling during the night and was still tipping down at that point. This gave us a more leisurely start to the day and we watched the rain continue to fall and some periodic flashes of lightning with rumbles of thunder. The mountains around us were virtually invisible through the clouds and rain.
We headed up (in the car!) to the visitor centre at 10 and had a look around the museum there. The downstairs was the most interesting, with an old mountain hut, a big map of the area with buttons that lit up various locations and information on mountain rescues, including oen where two guides from the Hermitage had been trapped at the top of Mount Cook by a storm which had lasted for about 2 weeks. They sheltered in a crevasse and had a food drop after a few days and were finally rescued only after one rescue helicopter had rolled over in the stormy weather on the mountain. The guys ended up losing their legs below the knee to frostbite, but went back to climb the mountain again with prosthetic legs and one guy climbed Everest that way (we saw a picture of his black frostbitten feet in the Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre).
Pitstop for bacon sandwiches and drinks in the Old Mountaineers; Hut Cafe, then we went into the Hermitage Hotel and into the Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre. This was built in 2007 after Sam and I last visited. It had various info and memorabilia about Sir Edmund Hillary and other climbers (as mentioned earlier)as well as the Hotel and the Mount Cook village region in general.
The main attraction was the cinema/planetarium which showed short films (typically 20 minutes or so) throughout the day. We first saw the midday film which was the Magic of Mount Cook in 3D. It started with a cartoon showing how New Zealand and the mountains were formed according to Maori legend (4 brothers in a canoe hit a rock and the canoe became the land and the brothers sheltering on top became the mountains). The rest of the film was 3D shots swooping over the mountains.
The second film we watched was on the planetarium screen (a large dome screen that was moved over the top of the seats It was called Tyco to the Moon and was about a cartoon dog who's kennel turned into a rocket and took him to the moon. The kids loved it and the planetarium dome screen effect worked very well.
We then watched a third half hour long film about Black Holes which was interesting and explained quite a lot of the science behind black hole theory in relative simple terms, though Ed declared he did not understand a word of it!
Lunch in the cafe (Butter Chicken pies for ed and I) then we drove back to the apartment to chill out and see if the weather would get better (it was still pouring and was sleety now).
Weather didn't improve, but Ed and I went back to watch the 5pm film on Primeval New Zealand about the history of some of the animals. NZ originally had only 1 mammal, a bat, and was populated mainly by birds (and lizards, molluscs, insects). Evidence suggested that many of the birds including the Kiwi came originally from Australia when they had wings to fly but then rapidly evolved to suit the NZ environment. We sensed from the commentary that this was not a pleasant thought to the New Zealand folks given their rivalry with Oz! The film was 45 minutes, but very interesting and Ed was pleased he had come to see it. It had finally fined up and we could see a bit more of the mountains (though not Mount Cook), but no time to do anything as it was getting dark.
So we headed back to the motel to cook the limited ready meals we had bought earlier. Ed and I had a risotto which was tasty but we managed to burn a layer to the bottom of the pan, tough to get off. Tash's macaroni cheese was a disaster and she ended up eating cereal.Leer más
Blue Skies
5 de agosto de 2015, Nueva Zelanda ⋅ 🌧 14 °C
After the last tow days of cloud and torrential rain we woke up to clear blue sky and a frost - a perfect winter's day. We decided to do the 40 minute or so Kea Point walk (no Keas were seen!). We drove the couple of km to the White Horse Campsite where the trails started from. When we had planned to have a camper van for this part oft he trip I had been looking at staying here. Think it would have been ok, had a clean toilet block but no showers.
We started the walk in the shadow of some mountains so it was a little cold, but we soon hit the sunshine and it warmed up. Sam was feeling a little under the weather so turned around about 3/4 of the way to Kea Point, the rest of us carried on. The path was icy in places with frozen puddles and fresh snow from yesterday (only half a cm or so) on the grass and path in the shade.
Whilst Eddie had complained about walking (as ever!) he admitted it was worth it when we got to Kea point. Had great views of Mount Cook, Mount Sefton and other mountains together with the huge lateral moraine of the Muller Glacier, the glacier itself and its terminal lake. after photos we headed back to the car and set off for Tekapo.
Sat nav was set for the Astro Cafe on the top of Mount St John at the Canterbury University observatory. We stopped at Peters Point to look back across Lake Pukaki at teh mountains around Mount Cook, said to be one of the best view points in NZ.The day was superb and the all round views from here excellent, another place where it was hard to control the number of photos taken. The blue ness of Lake Tekapo looked artificial. The food was good too, including a great curried cashew and carrot soup which we must try out at home (carrot, onion, garlic, chicken stock and cashew nuts and curry powder).
We headed down and the short trip into Tekapo and to the Lake Tekapo Hot Pools snd Tube Park. We paid for all 4 of us to do tubing for an hour and go into the hot pools and Sam booked an hours massage.
Straight to the tubing, where you slid down a snow slope on an inner tube (similar to the sort of thing you have at a waterpark). A school party were there so there weren't many tubes spare so Sam and I had to go down in a double - for the best as she was very nervous.
a carpet lift carried you and your tube up to the top. The kids shot up, Sam and I less convincing with her almost falling off and bringing me down to. Anyway we made it and down we went. It was fun, got up some good speed and went high round a banked corner before hitting some plastic mats put down to slow you down and bring you to a stop. These made the end of the ride quite bumpy and I only later learned it was best to lay across the tube rather than sit in it to be easier on bottom and back.
Sam went down 4 or 5 times before bailing out for her massage. The kida and I then went donw many times in various configurations 0 like trains holding each others feet, forward, backwards, spinning, straight, then in a ring with feet facing in. I sat out for a bit as the kids carried on. The school party had left after about 20 minutes and we had the place to ourselves. We had 2.30 written on our wristbands as our finish time when we arrived but given the lack of people we were allowed to just carry on and finally left about 3.30 after 2 and a quarter hours.
Ed braved a flying on his stomach slide towards the end and it went well until h banged his knee on one of the slowing mats, very painful. We decided this was a good tie to finish, but not wanting to end on a bad note we all did one more train down then went off to the hot pools.
Sam was already in them having finished her massage and wondering where we were. There were three pools, 36, 37 amd 39 degrees, the latter being adults only. We went in the coolest first then the next one. I also tried the hottest which was very relaxing. After about an hour we left and went to our motel then straight out to eat, hungry from our exertions. Went to a bar called Mackenzies. I had venison stew which was OK, but a bit tough in parts. Sam had three cuts of meat, 80g each - pork, beef and lamb. When it came the meat was cooking on a red hot stone and needed turning to be seared then pieces cutting off and left to cook on the stone before eating. Never seen that before and it didn't work that well. This was probably the worst meal we had had so far in NZ, very average.
Back to the motel, where the room was nice but had the tv oddly in the children's bedroom with no other one anywhere. We needed to watch the final of My Kitchen Rules so had to huddle on the beds to do so.Leer más
Horse Riding
6 de agosto de 2015, Nueva Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C
We checked out of the Tekapo motel just after 9. Wjilst adequate we felt this was the worst place we had stayed in to date (odd layout, not enough towels in the room etc).
We went to look at the Church of the Good Shepherd on the shore of Lake Tekapo. It didn't open until 10 so we couldn't go in, but we took some pictures and Ed did a bit of clambering on the rocks on the lake shore. We also had a look at the dog statute, a monument to all sheep dogs and their contribution to NZ.
Then it was off to Geraldine where we had a 12 o clock appointment with the Peel Forest Trekking Centre to do an hour's walk on horses. Tash had been led on a horse for an hour once when we were in Devon and Ed had been on a pony, Sam and I never been on one (nearest for me was donkeys on Skegness beach)
We stopped for a coffee about half hour from Geraldine at the Brewery Cafe, which was indeed attached to a brewery. We bought a bottle of their Ginja Beer (non alcoholic), as yet untasted.
Peel Forest was about 15km outside Geraldine and we arrived just before 12 and saw 5 horses saddled up across the paddock waiting for us. We met Toby our guide for the walk (son of he owners) and got out helmets. Toby gave us a quick demo on how to hold the rains, where to have feet in stirrups and how to control the horse by pulling on the reigns, then we got on. Me first on Ziggy and I was told to walk around the paddock in a big loop to get the hang of controlling the horse. Making him go involved digging in your feet and legs it transpired, otherwise steering was via shortening the reign on the side you wanted to go and giving a pull. Pulling both was stop (but not too much or it was backwards!). Ed got on next (Bobby), but got very scared trying to control the horse (don't forget he can't even ride a bike yet!), so Toby said he would lead him on a rope which made him feel much better. Sam got on (Tommy) and did the same as me looped around, then Tash (Spirit), who started to wail a bit and claim she didn't like it. A bit more instructions from Toby (on Moggy) and his dad Bob then we were off. The first part oft he walk was down a hill. Bit of a baptism of fire, you had to lean back and push forward on the stirrups to keep your balance. Tash continued to wail but we pressed on and once on the flat she calmed down and then started to enjoy it. The horses largely knew where they were going and followed the one in front, but they needed some control so they didn't run you into tree branches or when they stopped to eat grass or drink water! The route was a good one, across some streams and gorse land as well as forest and lasted longer than the hour, probably about 80 minutes on the horses.
On the way round the horses met one of their brothers (Mac) who tagged along with us for a bit - they all seemed pleased to see each other. Just before going back up the hill Toby had to close the gate. Ed was left on his own and Bobby decided to start off up the hill, which scared Ed but he managed to stop Bobby and all was well again. Up the hill caused Tash and Sam's horses to break into a trot, but they hung on!. Ziggy kept stopping and looking round at me - think I was hard work to carry up! Ed declared horse riding the best thing he had done in NZ so far!
We then posed fro some pictures on our horses and helped give them a bit of food an hang up the saddles and reigns and said our goodbyes and were off again. Back into Geraldine for lunch at the bakery, bought some famous jam from Barkers of Geraldine and some clothes for the kids for a NZ made clothes shop then headed to Christchurch, about 1.5 hours away.
We arrived back a St James B and B almost exactly 2 weeks after we had last arrived around 5pm. Margaret the owner was out but had left us the key and we showed ourselves in, had a drink and then headed to the Harewood Tavern for tea. It was surprisingly busy and the food took a while to come but was decent when it did.
Margaret was back when we got back and we chatted a bit about our travels, set breakfast for 8.30 and went for our last night in a solid bed for a couple of weeks - campervan tomorrow.Leer más
Campervan and Whales
7 de agosto de 2015, Nueva Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C
We had a lovely breakfast again at the b and b and Spoodle the dog was very pleased that Edward didn't eat most of his bacon. Margaret sold the kids on visiting Hanmer Springs, but we didn't really have time in the schedule.
We cleared the car and took a sad farewell photo with it, then headed to Wilderness campervans, getting there about 9.30. We were met by Bonnie and offered coffee, a good start. Unfortunately things went quite slowly from there - we started the check in process then Bonnie had to deal with a problem on the phones that took quite a while. Eventually she suggested we went into our camper and started to unpack. We got a free bbq and camping chairs and table with the hire, but they took up a lot of room in the external storage so we decided to leave them behind and use the space to store our many bags. The kids chose the 5 free dvd rentals we got with the hire. A fellow hirer was an Aussie called Brian and his wife Helen who had rented before and as Sam said (Knew everything but actually knew nothing". He was certainly a character!!
Eventually we were shown how the camper worked, a whistle stop tour, - we hoped to remember the salient point. Our van needed a fill up with water and so whilst this was being sorted I went to take the car back to Apex, a simple process, then someone from Wilderness picked me up and took me back.
We were ready for off and had a photo with the van to begin the adventure then we were off. The van was slower than a car but cruised along reasonably well, though yet to master exactly how the cruise control works, bit hit and miss! Maximum speed is 90km/h not the 100 of cars so journeys a little slower and the crockery rattles a bit!
We arrived at Kaikoura just after 3pm - the last half hour of the journey had been quite windy and made everyone feel a little bit queasy, but the road hugged the coastline right down at sea level, with waves breaking on the rocks. We went straight to the helicopter whale watching office on Whaleway Station road and checked in. As the helicopter only held three people we needed two and the guys suggested we did one trip after another with two people going twice.
After a safety briefing we donned lifejackets (folded up around our waist) and were told a bit about the whales. Sperm whales were the residents, the third largest whale and the largest with teeth that hunts other fish, squids, grouper, stingray. Some of the fish are faster than the whales but the sonar they use to hunt by can be turned up and used to stun the prey.. Orcas are seen every few weeks and dolphins too. The whales here are males, the females live closer to the equator and the younger males move to other areas to find food until they are ready to breed. The whales here are about 25-45 years old and live to about 70 years old.
Sam, Tash and Ed went off first whilst I moved the campervan nearer. They saw several whales, including a very unusual sight of two whales fighting - they were swimming directly at each other and then veering off and te last moment - normally they just keep themselves to themselves. Tash got a good shot of the classic tail as the whale dived (they stay on the surface for about 10 minutes between dives, surfacing every half hour or so).
They returned and I hopped in for Sam. Tash didn't want to go again as she was feeling a bit queasy so just Ed and I went. The views were great and we saw a pod of Hector's dolphins just off Kaikoura point. Then spotted our first whale, who dived quite quickly after we had seen him. Then we headed towards where the pair were seen before and they were still there swimming alongside each other. Our pilot was talking to a Whalewatch plane too who said he had seen a big pod of dolphins, which we also then flew over - there were 100's of them. We watched the two whales swimming side by side for several minutes then headed off to another single whale that we watched for a few minutes before it did the classic dive.
So four whales altogether, lots of dolphins and then we floew over the rocks on the point on the way back and saw hundreds of seals basking.
After landing we headed to our campsite, Top 10 Kaikoura and plugged the electric in. The van soon warmed up and we had to turn the heating right down as we were too hot! No tv signal so we watched a dvd then went to bed and all had a decent night's sleep, Tash above the cab, Ed on the drop down table bed and Sam and I on the permanent bed at the back.Leer más
Baby seals
8 de agosto de 2015, Nueva Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C
Today was scheduled in case we couldn't do the whales yesterday, so no firm plans other than visiting the baby seal pool at Ohau (more later).
We woke up having all slept fairly well, though torrential rain on the camper van roof had woken all of us at different times. It fined up about 8 fortunately. The heating had kept the camper warm - probably better than many of the motel systems we had experienced which often used fan heaters. None of us had been able to locate the light switch for the toilet in the night, making using it a little tricky. Adults showered in the shower block, which had plenty of warm water. I was receiving texts from home regarding the Forest game, first of the season away at Brighton - they ended up losing 1-0, probably a sign of a long hard season ahead. At least the England cricket team going well, almost won the fourth test in 2 days like the third and should seal the Ashes tomorrow fingers crossed.
Final checks done on the campers and we were off, 20km north to a short ten minute walk from the highway to a waterfall pool where baby seals are left by their mums to play. We got there and there were 4 seals swimming around in the water and playing with each other. A couple of them swam over to the rocks and sat up as if posing for our cameras. For a while we were the only people there.
We carried on and all along the road beside the sea there were seals on the rocks and on the roadside verges. We stopped about 25 minutes before Blenheim to have a coffee and cake at a small cafe - had a very tasty custard cream/viennese whirl cross. We decided not to stop as intended in Blenheim as the cafe lady said Picton was nicer so decided to head straight there for a late lunch. However, Ed started to deel sick due to the windy rods coming into Blenheim so we did park up and have a quick walk around, visiting a stationery/book shop to buy some sketching materials for the kids. Then back on the road another half hour to Picton. We foudn the top 10 campsite quite easily and walked across the marina and the coat hanger bridge into the main town centre.
We had lunch at the sister restaurant of where we had stopped earlier, Oxleys, a bar in an old building on the Marina front. We then had a wander through some shops including one called seaside gems. The owner was from the UK and now lived in St Ives, but had had a jewellery shop on the King's Road and Putney High Street. We looked at some rings that had been made by another ex pat lady from Spalding, who's brother had a shop in Sleaford! He described how there was quite an expat community of semi retired folks in Picton who spent summers in the UK and NZ. If we were there for longer he offered to take us out fishing on his boat - offer still available next time we visit!
He pointed out the seals playing in the harbour and said if the water is clear you can see big rays in the harbour (not clear enough today when we looked). We went out on a pier to look at the seals and whilst the others went back to the campsite I went round to a further pier to look closer, The seals seemed very relaxed, swimming around and rolling in the water. Every so often they disappeared then a dozen or so fish would pop right up out of the water with a seal chaisng them and generally eating one (with seagulls then closing in to try nd steal a piece).
Back on the campsite the kids were playing on the trampoline and see saw and I played some table tennis in the games room with them before watching TV with Ed - a program on sharks. We cooked some food in the communal kitchen, much easier than using the camper van and then retired to watch another dvd.Leer más
Change of Islands
9 de agosto de 2015, Nueva Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 6 °C
Had turned the heating down in the campervan when we went to sleep last night - turned out to be a mistake, everyone woke up cold with noses losing feeling! Will be leaving it on a higher setting from now one. We did breakfast this morning in the kitchen on the campsite, much more room than in the van and we had the place to ourselves. Showers were decent again here. I checked with the receptionist the ferry time - expected to depart about half an hour last, and checked the road conditions as there had been snow on the hills between Wellington and Masterton affecting State Highway 2, our route. This looked like it should be OK by the time we got there. I emptied the toilet cassette - not too bad as we had only weed in it!
We checked in for the ferry about 9.30 - very painless, only took about 30 seconds then joined the waiting line. Exactly the same set up as the Isle of Wight ferry (and just as prone to lateness it seems). The ferry didn't arrive until about 10.30 and we boarded easily with the camper and went to the passenger decks.
We got a couple of breakfasts in the cafe (sausages were not nice and had cheese running through them! Bizarre). Then we went out onto the decks and took some photos and admired the views of Marlborough Sound. This part of the ferry ride is considered almost a scenic cruise.
We then went in and debated on whether to watch the movie in the cinema or not. It had been billed on the website as Inside Out, but had been changed to the Minions. We bought tickets even though Sam and Ed were seeing it for the second time. Have to say it was funny and helped pass the journey when we were out in the Cook Straits and it was a bit choppy (sea conditions had ben shown as moderate (the middle of their scale) before we boarded.
After the movie we sat inside and Ed started to feel very sea sick. We tried watching a bit of the All Blacks game from the previous night (they lost to Australia), but even that didn't work. A crew member advised we should sit right down the back, which we did and it helped and we were soon inside Wellington harbour area for the last half hour or so of the trip which was much calmer. Ed felt much better and decided to eat some chips!
We docked and drove off the ship just as torrential rain started. This eased as we drove a bit further along the highway, ut started again as we approached the hills. Through the hills the roads were very wet and it turned from rain to sleet and then snow as we gained altitude, but there was none on the roads and the drive was no worse than on a UK road in the wet. It was windy with tight bends which meant your speed had to be low anyway.
Once out of the hills we passed through a series of long towns which seemed to spread along the main road for a mile or so each and then reached Masterton, the largest of the lot.
Our campsite was at the far end of town, Mawley Park and we had a chat with the owner about the UK (he ahd lived in Derbyshire and worked across the Midlands) and rugby. We could park in any of the powered sites as the park wasn't busy at this time of year. He said a visit to the Mount Bruce Wildlife Centre would be worthwhile, so we will definitely do that on the way to Napier tomorrow.
Ed and I walked to the NEw World supermarket about 10 minutes away and got some things including chicken, rice and vegetables to go with the butter chicken sauce we had bought in Geraldine. We cooked a nice meal in the communal kitchen and met a couple staying there who were sheep shearers travelling south to shear more (they kindly dropped in some microwave popcorn for the kids later on when we were watching tv). The tv room was adjacent and we watched some programs (one where a lady told celebs on hidden camera what to do and one where celebs competed to do a different act each week).
Then back to the van or a bit of a movie before bed.Leer más
Rare Birds
10 de agosto de 2015, Nueva Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 7 °C
Left the heating on full last night and woke up nice and toasty this morning. We did breakfast again in th camp kitchen and the kids played in the playground for abit until we were ready to leave just after 9.
Short trip to the National Wildlife Centre at Mount Bruce aboiut 20 minutes away. This turned out to be a good place and Ed was very interested (as ever) in all the animals. They had a good interactive display area before you went outside to see the rare birds. We headed for the kiwi house and saw nothing in the first enclosure but round the corner in the other side of it running around was the start of the park the white kiwi girl. She had been born there a few years ago, product of two parents with recessive white gene feathers (not albino mutations, just like humans with ginger hair). We watched her running around and foraging in the earth before heading back to the cafe outdoor platform to watch the feeding of the Takahe. These look a bit like blue chickens with red beaks and were thought to be extinct until a breeding pair were discovered in the 60s. From these the population is now up to about 300 and growing. There were 2 in the park here.
After coffee and cake we went back outside and chatted with another older NZ couple and one of the keepers about the Pukeko, another endangered bird. There call is very distinctive, except the one they have here was never taught i t as was brought up alone in captivity and does a cool wolf whistle instead of their normal sound!
It was then time for the Tuatara babies (aged 10) to be fed. A spray of some water got him (or could be her, they can't tell until they reach about 15 or 20 years old) our from under the rock (they like the spray) and we learnt more about them (they carry eggs for 18 months then bury them for another 18 before hatching. In cold winters they go into a torpor state with a very slow heartbeat and just stop until it warms up (bit like tortoises hibernating). Also learnt that the sex of the babies is influenced by the temperature when the eggs are incubating.
A live cricket covered in calcium powder was dropped in. The tuatara remained still but then the cricket moved a leg just a little and his head whipped around to look then another slight movement and he pounced chewing it down with teeth that are actually sticking up bits of the jaw bone. That meal would last him a couple of days.
We then went back to the kiwi house but they weren't very visible (the white one was snuggled under leaves and branches in a den, whcih they hoped menat she was pregnant), so the keeper showed us the geckos, letting them run up her arm.
As we walked back to the shop, the brown kiwi, partner of the white one was out foragig, so we got to see them both. Ed and I went to look at the eels, whoi were waiting for their feed in about half an hour. Then back to the shop for souvenirs and then on our way to Napier.
We had planned to stop for lunch part way through the 2.5 hour drive, but Tash was asleep so we pressed on. Ed's navigating was a little dubious towards the end, not least his mixing upleft and right, but we found our park (Kennedy's) and parked up. The camp had an impressive playground with jumping pillow that the kids hit. all the equipment was under cover so play could continue through the rain showers. We had been given various vouchers for free child entry to things in town but one was fo an hour free bike hire in the parl so the kids got a two seater go cart style bike and peddled around happily. We cooked tea in the communal kitchen - this was not as good as the previous ones as not cutlery, pots, pans etc, we had to carry them over from the van. Another dvd watched and the tv also worked here at least for many of the channels, then bed to eplore Napier tomorrow.Leer más
Art Deco Napier
11 de agosto de 2015, Nueva Zelanda ⋅ 🌬 10 °C
We got up at our usual time and were ready to head out about 8.15 and went to the main road to catch a bus into town. It came quite quickly and we set off looking for a place to have breakfast. Walking towards the sea we hit Marine Parade the sea front road and saw a cafe sign so went in - the Siz Sisters Cafe (turns out eh Six Sisters is a famous Napier landmark of six brightly coloured identically designed wooden building on the sea front and the cafe is in one of them). Breakfast was good 0 bacon and egg bagels and sausage rolls.
We headed to the i site to get a map of Napier and see whether we should add anything to our to do list for the day. As the weather was sunny we started with the mini golf, right next door tot he isite. It was a good little course with some quite challenging sloping greens. Ed got i his usual mood about things being unfair and everyone else being so lucky - I told him about the famous Gary Player quote about the more I practise the luckier I get. I won this time, highlight being a hole in one on the sloping green on one hole where I read the slope (and surprised myself!). After this we headed to Opossum World, essentially a shop selling possum fur related stuff but with an area at the back showing how possums breed and how they are pests and some of the ways they meet untimely deaths on roads etc. Tash got a merino wool and possum blanket as part of her birthday present.
Ed hadn't eaten much of his breakfast so was now hungry. We saw a McD's sign and headed for it but consulting a map showed it was quite a way away so we went into a local bakery/ cafe and had pies and cakes. Then we walked along Marine Parade to the National Aquarium. This had some good displays of fish, alligators, turtles etc and I got some creepy shots of a giant fresh water prawn staring down the camera. We arrived at a good time as having looked round the first exhibits we arrived at Penguin Cove about 15 minutes before feeding time, so waited for this. As well as fish, they had a Tuatara area, but they were well tucked away in their burrows as we expected given the cold weather. They alos had a kiwi area, which was lit more brightly than many we had visited and a brown kiwi darted around in their funny way. In Penguin Cove they had a colony of about a dozen Little (or Fairy or Blue) penguins, all rescue birds with various injuries. There was also an injured seagull living there that had only one wing. Feeding was funny, the keeper made sure he fed each penguin there share, which meant he had to distract some of the greedier ones and even move them away.
We then headed for the main tank area, which had sharks, groupers, blue cod and sting rays amongst others in it. The tunnel through the tank was longer than most aquaria and had a moving walkway along it, presumably to keep crowds moving when there are more people there. We went through the tunnel a couple of times and then got off the belt in the middle and waited for the diver to enter the tank to hand feed the fish. This was a funny display - the rays behaved almost like dogs and seemed to respond to the keeper - they moved away when he pointed and then came back to take food he was holding in his mouth. HE also tickled them on their chin! The big sharks didn't seem hungry, though he did pull one over to feed. The guy pretended to take a mobile phone call half way through and feigned relief when the feeding was over, with big waves to the crowd.
We headed for the cafe and shop then and acquired cuddly Dusky and Hectors dolphin! Leaving the aquarium we headed for the park the kids had seen on the way there. This had loads of equipment to play on, far better than parks in the UK and the kids enjoyed it. A rain shower came across so we left as the equipment was wet and headed back into town to the Art Deco Centre. They showed us a film of how Napier had been destroyed by and earthquake in February 1931 and subsequently rebuilt in the next few years in the style of the day - Art Deco. This was unique worldwide as most areas weren't building much due to the worldwide depression. The quake had raised the level of the land about 6 feet and turned a large area covered by water and used as a boating lagoon into land with the water draining into the ocean. The Art Deco buildings managed to survive the 60s demolition balls thanks to the creation of the Art Deco Trust. We had a good chat with the ladies manning the shop who, like everyone we had talked to in Napier apologised for how cold it was - we in turn continued to express how we didn't think it was old given it was winter, the sun was out and there wasn't much wind. They also gave us some tips of places to eat in Taupo.
Ed was starving again and we couldn't face cooking in the campsite kitchens as it was so ill equipped, so we went to Subway and then caught the bus back to the park. The kids went on the trampolines for twenty minutes or so until it got too dark, then came back and we watched a bit of TV and another dvd of a modern day Cinderella story.Leer más
Huka Prawns and Falls
12 de agosto de 2015, Nueva Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 7 °C
We left Napier campsite without breakfast aiming to stop at the first cafe we saw out of town. I emptied the dirty water (tough to get the cap back on( the toilet canister (still only wees) and we filled up the fresh water ( Sam got quite wet when the tank filled and spurted out).
First stop was petrol, with warning light on and messages on the dashboard. Had tough job getting diesel cap on and off, but managed it. Filled up and went into pay, but attendant said there was nothing showing on my pump number 7. after bit of investigation turns out a previous customer had paid for number 7 rather than number 6 (think he was a regular) as the amount had been similar. So we paid for number 6, which was 4 or 5 dollars less than we had had.
Ten minutes down the road stopped at a cafe, service wasn't great, they didn't seem to hear our requests for toasted sandwiches and there were few seats so we took food and drinks back into the camper. This was good as Tash had declared she ddn't like anything in the shop, but she coulkd have some cereal in the van.
We then pressed on the couple of hours to Taupo. Some fairly high ascents and descents, with main problem being a car driver in front who was driving cautiously in terms of speed round corners, but also erratically in terms of not staying on our side of the road. Eventually we used a passing lane to overtake up a hill.
In Taupo we headed straight for the Huka Falls Jet, which turned out to be right next to the Huka Prawn Park, another attraction we intended to visit. We arrived just beofre midday and the first jet boat available was at 2pm, so we booked it and headed into the prawn park.
We were given guided tour of the facility - pump room where geothermal 90 degree ater from the power plant next door is used to heat the river water to keep the external prawn pools at 28 degrees. We then saw the breeding tanks, where the prawns are sed solely for breeding not eating. Then on to the tanks of baby prawns. We were given handfuls of food and dipped our hands into the tank and the small prawns (about an inch or two long) swam onto our hands and ate the food pellets. They tickled as they walked across your hand and nibbled at the food. I ended up with a dozen or so on my hand, very tickly.
Then off to the ponds where the public can use a cane and a hook to fish for prawn, keeping whatever you catch to be cooked in the restaurant or taken home in ice. Bait was chunks of chopped up ox heart. Dipping the bait in and letting it rest on the bottom lead to the prawns grabbing it with their claws and tugging sharply on the line and cane. You had to allow them to run off a bit with it and wait a minute or two until they had eaten the bait and the hook before pulling them in. This proved tough and most times, whilst we got bites and strong tugs on the bait we either pulled it up too soon before the hook had gone in, or the prawn took the bait from the hook without getting caught. I managed to catch one big prawn early on and we put it in the little bucket of iced water we were given which sent them into a kind of sleep. The hook was tough to remove. We spent about an hour fishing then handed the rods back and the prawn was saved in the bucket until we returned after our baot ride.
We got life jacketed and put iont e boat and away we went. This seemed to be the fastest we had been and the driver certainly did the fastest spins and we got very wet, especially Ed, who had asked to sit back left to get as wet as possible (think he was wetter than he expected). Highlight of the trip was going up to the Huka Falls, where we got right into the swirling water that had come through. we were told the Falls were running faster than they ever had in recent times due to all the rain and snow melt, the noise and the power of the water was fierce.
Back to base after a few more spins and almost hitting a black swan and we then returned to our prawn fishing with no luck until we were just about to leave when Ed caught one. We took them to the restaurant just before it closed and ordered some extra food. Our prawns came on a separate plate (3 as someone had caught one and not wanted it) nd the waitress did comment on how large the one I had caught was.
Food was tasty then we headed up the road to see the falls from land. The power was even more apparent here as you crossed the bridge over the gorge and walked down to the viewing points - very spectacular in terms of the power, quite different to the more attractive but less powerful falls we had seen in the South Island to date.
We then drove back through town to Debretts our campsite. Sam had made contact with Jen, Matthew from Ed's class's mum about meeting up. The kids had gone to the jumping pillow and Sam and I were surprised by Jen, Matthew and her friend Trudy appearing in front of the van. I took Matthew off to play with Ed and Tash and we chatted with the others in the van until they really had to go (they had gone out for wine and chips and just called in as passing). We arranged to meet them for dinner the following evening and might do mini golf with them if we think Ed will play nice!Leer más
Another Jet Boat and Waterpark in winter
13 de agosto de 2015, Nueva Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 6 °C
We started the day by driving the camper into town to the i site about 9am. We booked the Rapids Jectboat for the first slot at 12.30pm - this looked a bit different to the other rides we had done as it went over a patch of rapids in the river, so should be much bouncing up and down.
We then went for a tasty breakfast before having a wander through the shops. We went into the All Blacks shop and came away with a rugby world cup shirt for me and Ed and a teddy that sang the Haka for Tash. With the shirts we got two free rugby balls, which we declineds to have pumpoed up to give us a chance of getting them on the plane!
The weather was gloriou so the kids had half an hour in the playground in town before we headed off about 11.20 to catch the opening of the dam at the Aratiatia rapids. This is opened twice a day in winter at 12 and 2. We got there just as the ten minute warning siren was sounding and walked onto the bridge to see the gates open. A few more sirens sounded then they opened to allow water to flow through from the river which was much higher on the other side (we had jetboated up to this the previous day on the Huka falls jet). As the water built in the big pool below the dam the level started to rise and water began to spill down the rapids (described as the only level 6 whitewater in the world by the jet boat guy yesterday). he level contineud to rise and must have gone up 12 or 15 feet until what had been a gentle trickle was now a roaring torrent covering all the previously visible ricks.
We then headed the couple of kms up the road to the rapids jet. On board we headed up to the end of the above rapids first and saw the water flowing out this end (by now the dam was shut so the torrent wasn't at its peak but still high). We did a few spins on the way, probably the fastest ones we've done with much sliding across the seats. Then we headed the other way across some small rapids with some bouncing until we hit the main rapid section. Probably only 100m or so long, but the water was raging and we did several circuits up and down them, each time getting faster and more intense until we were bouncing high in the air and out of our seats. On the way back upstream through them the boat sat on the rapids until more power was put on. I got pretty wet, including a huge mouthful of the (clean) water at one point. Ed loved it!
We then went back upstream and stopped out the mouth of the narrowest section where water was forced under and bubbled up every few seconds near the bacnk as a mini eruption - and people swim and kayak this! More spins and high speed and the ride was over - the best one yet declared Ed and we agreed.
From here we went back to our campsite to go in the hot pools, with Tash keen to do the waterslides. The water was heated but the climb up wasn't, but the sun was really warm now so it wasn't too bad out of the water. Sam booked a massage and Tash got a slide wristband - Ed wasn't keen and I was too heavy. After several slides Ed decided it looked like fun and got a wristband and proceeded to slide about 25 times! The water was nice and I just lounged in it - especially good was the bed like platform they had put in with bubbles of water coming through it. This stretch of river has been used in a few films we were told, most famously the Hobbit when the elves escape in barrels, this was filmed at the Aratiatia rapids, with 20 barrels being released each time the dam was opened for two days (no0one was in them!). A tree and the rapids we bounced in on the jet was in the Yogi Bear film when Yogi is on a raft. And for the film Without a Paddle a stuntman "swam" down them three times in full flow getting paid NZ$5k for each run, escaping with some stitches to a head cut.
After a coupe of hours here we went back to the camper and the kids went to the playground (playing with tow other kids from Hawaii) and we waited for Matthew from Ed's class's mum Jen to come pick us up for dinner at 6. We went to Cobb and Co and had far too much food and a great chat with Jen, her mum and dad and friend Trudi. The kids had fun as there were playstations in the restaurant. There was confusion over the bill as another table had paid ours then been refunded so we all ended up having to pay in cash. We got back to the van about 9.15 a good night had by all.Leer más
Tash's Birthday
14 de agosto de 2015, Nueva Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C
We had breakfast in the Savour Cafe at the Debretts reception. We had a look around the playground as Ed had left his coat somewhere - no luck, but fortunately he has another one with him. We set off for Rotorua, about an hour away, with the weather quite rainy.
As we neared Rotorua we started to smell rotten eggs from the thermal gases. It had also fined up a bit at this stage. We spent a while trying to find somewhere to park - there were no obvious spaces until we got down to the lakefront near the Volcanic Air which we would be flying from tomorrow. We walked back to the i site ad picked up a few leaflets and chatted to the lady there. We decided to go to the Skyline Gondola place this afternoon and do some luge rides, a swing (Tash and me) and a zip wire (Tash, Ed and me).
We went up the gondola after a bit of confusion queuing behind a large group of Japanese students and headed straight for the swing at the top. This involved been strapped into some seats and winched up to almost horizontal then released to swing down at 159km/h, then swing back and forth to rest. Tash and I were strapped in well, which became necessary quite quickly as we were winched up with all our weight being held by the straps!
When we got to the top we were hanging facing pretty much straight down and the lady gave us a wave which was the signal top pul;l the release lever. Tash had wanted me to do this so I untangled it from the middle seat, gave a count of three then pulled. The clip released and we dropped, essentially free falling until the swing caught us at the bottom - took our breath away and was a crazy feeling. After the initial drop the swinging back and forth to rest was tame! We watched and bought the video and photos - our faces in the video weren't as crazy as I had expected. I had given a big shout of "woooaaah" as we took off which Sam and Ed watching heard clearly and laughed.
We then went insde for some food to a buffet restaurant. The lady checking u in asked the kids ages and I mentioned Tash was 2 today, so she cleared us a table at the window with a good view. The buffet was good with a good selection, including quite a few Japanese dishes, presumably catering to the Asian market of tourist but tasty for us too. Ed had Fettuccine and Bolognese sauce, I had Japanese beef curry and sticky rice and also some tuna with Thai curry sauce as well as vegetable soup. The deserts were great too, pancakes, chocolate mousse, ice cream, jelly, fruit. Tash got a surprise when the waitress brought out a card signed by all the staff and a chocolate brownie cake with a candle and Happy Birthday iced in chocolate on the plate - very nice and she got her birthday cake!
Full up we headed to do the zip wire - 400m long and 85km/h. They were just about to close because of the weather (wind and rain), but we said we were happy to do it (it was safe just not as comfortable as it could have been) so we got harnessed up and carried down our zip wheels. Two people could go together so Ed and Tash went first. They were strapped up (the harness formed a little seat) and shown the brake position, then released, Ed first then Tash. They sped down and were tiny dots by the time they reached then end. Then it was my turn, I was strapped in, sat back and waited for the all clear as the others were unstrapped. On release the acceleration wasn't like the swing earlier but still pretty fast and the speed built up. The launch lady had given me her sunglasses as rain eye shields as it had got heavier since the kids were released. This helped but I really needed window wipers on them to clear them from the rain. The brake was a bit harsh and I couldn't see the man giving me the signal to assume the brake position, but stopped OK anyway.
Once unclipped the last part of the ride was free fall. This involved being strapped to a pulley, walking backwards down an 18 inch plank until your heels were overhanging the end then holding the strap and leaning straight backwards, falling off with a metre or two of free fall before the pully caught your weight and lowered you the remaining 8m or so to the ground. Tahs went first and was brilliant, walking straight out, heels over the end then falling backwards and down. Ed was next and while he really wanted to do it, his innate caution made him torn as has been the case before. He got as far as standing backwards on the edge of the plank which was very good, a lot of people don't even get that far, but in the end he just couldn't bring himself to lean back and so came back. This was despite all our encouragement and the great coaxing from Josh the guy in charge. Tash even came up to try and be persuasive. Then it was my turn. I was a bit more hesitant than Tash in getting to the end of the plank, but once there held on and leant back. The worst feeling was that the harness was going to pull very jerkily and rick my back, but the pull was smooth and I was lowered tot he ground. Tash liked it so much she did it again in place of Ed, though I do think much of the fear is the unknown and the second time would be easier than the first. The worst part of it all was the ride back up the chairlift to the top as by now the rain was torrential and we ended up getting wet. Once up the top we de-harnessed and went for a hot chocolate. We had luge ride tickets but weren't sure whether to do it. We gave it a while, buying some jelly beans from the jelly bean store, but it didn't clear up so Ed and I decided to do a luge to say we had done it. The track was much longer than the Queenstown one, probably taking 5 minutes to get down. We got even wetter going down and the track was running with water like a river at times and braking needed a lot of pulling on the lever. We were pretty wet and got wetter going up the chairlift again, but decided to do one more ride on the intermediate track to say we had done both available (the advanced was shut). We got even wetter on this, my trousers were soaked through to my pants, but at least we did it!
We got the Gondola down and bought our pack of photos taken on the way up (The Queenstown photo had been poor as the kids couldn't be seen). The beauty of the Campervan came into play now as we could all get chnaged out of our wet clothes before driving to the campsite. This was only ten minutes away and we found our spot but immediately drove nack to the McDonald's we had seen a couple of kilometres away as this was Tash's choice for birthday tea. The rain continued to pound down and we had intended to go to the hot pools in the camp (they are outdoor) but decided to postpone until another night. The TV remarkably worked not too badly despite the weather and we settled in to watch the Voice Australia again.Leer más
No Volcano today
15 de agosto de 2015, Nueva Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C
We were up early to head to Volcanic Air for 8.45 for our flight to White Island. When we got there it turned out they had wanted to contact us but had no phone number as the weather was poor at White Island despite being excellent in Rotorua. They suggested waiting until 10am to see if it cleared, so we went and got a coffee from a recommended shop called Picnic then wandered around the shops before heading back. Unfortunately the weather had worsned at White Island so we agreed to come back at 8.45 tomorrow to see whether it was OK then.
The kids were keen to head to Agroventures to do the Agrojet, a small quick jet bot that goes round a tight racing circuit. We nought vouchers for 10 rides as they ahd other things tehre too and did the Agrojet first - Tash and Ed then Ed and I. It was good fun, three laps very quick around the circuit, much more nimble than the larger river ones we had been on before. Ed was grinning massively.
Ed and Tash then did the Scjweeb, which was a monorail bike that hung under the track and was pedalled lying down racing one track against the other. Ed beat Tash in about 1 min 50 seconds. We then had another go where I raced against Ed and Tash in tandem. It was very close and I won in about 1.37 with them about a second behind. Tash had wanted to do the Agrofall, which was a free fall simulator, with a big fan that blew upwards with you 'sktdiving' in the upward draft. She ended up not doing it as she managed to scare herself and get worried by people watching her and not being able to do it, so we eventually left. This made Tash miserable as you could tell she was annoyed with herself for not doing it. We had vouchers for 5 more rides, so Tash and Ed did another schweeb, though Tash's heart wasn't really in it so she did just under 2 minutes with Ed blitzing his best time and doing 1.23. They then both did anther jet boat and then to use up the remaining token Ed did his fifth jet boat ride of the day! (I had bought 4 more tokens when we thought Tash was doing the freefall).
We bought the videos and photos on a USB then left to head for Te Puia, the Maori geothermal place we had bought tickets for the day before at the isite. We had lunch in teh cafe on arrival, with Ed declaring there was nothing he would eat in there and proceeding to be miserable for the next hour or so, Eventually his moved improved and we looked around the mock Maori viillage, meeting house etc, then went to see the boiling mud pools before finally waiting to see the Pohutu geyser erupt. This is the largest in teh Southern Hemisphere and erupts once or twice and hour up to 30m. We watched for probably 40 minutes and saw some small water spurts, lots of steam and a couple of metres of watewr from the geyser next to the big one, but no big eruption unfortunately.
We returned to the campsite just before 5 via gift shop and New World supermarket to await our pcik up for the Maori feast and show tonight - pick up between 5.10 and 5.20 from the campsite.
We waited at the entrance to the campsite and the bus arrived promptly. We went via several more pick ups then were on our way to the village. The driver gave us some commentary and taught us some Maori words - Kia Ora which seems to mean lots of things but mainly hello. Also aye for yes, puke puke for applause and others. A chief was then picked for our bus (or woka as Maori transport is known after their traditional canoes). A gentleman from Washington DC was 'volunteered' and had to go to the front of the bus to lead us all in paddling our woka to camp. He was then taught the hongi - the nose rubbing greeting as he would need to do this when greeted by the chief of the village.
On arrival the three elected chiefs from different buses went first and waited for the village warriors to rush out and perform their greeting challenge - this was similar to lots of individual hakas and ended with a peace offering branch being dropped. If the visiting chief picked this up then they would be welcomed in, if not battle would begin. Our chief picked it up and we entered the village, where groups of 15 or so of us went around 5 different areas getting talks from the locals. We started with battle training and volunteers had to run ladders like Ed does at rugby but across sticks. The guy talking was very humorous and it was, like all the areas good fun to listen.
Next was an explanation about the houses and the tattoos. These were like a cv on your face saying what you were good at. They were done quite barbarically using bones on sticks to cut open the flesh and put ink in - ancient Maori flesh would have felt rough like carved wood.
Then a haka demonstration - I took part and just about managed to follow it. The guy next to me had a great end face with tongue out and eyes bulging. Fourth was a demo of some games, including balancing sticks and running around to catch them before they fell to the floor. Then finally the women showing us a dance using traditonal balls on sticks - Tash demo'd this one and did very well!
Then it was through to the Marae or meeting house for a show by the Maori folks of song and dance, ended with women's and men's haka. It lasted about 20 minutes and was enjoyed by all of us. Then through to see how the food was cooked in a hangi - a big pit dug, piled high with wood then stones on top. The wood is lit which heats the stones and as the fire burns down the stones end up in the bottom of the pit extremely hot. The food is then put in and the pit covered over quickly with wet hessian sacks - stops them burning and the water drips down into the pit and makes steam which is then trapped in the pit byt e sacks and soil piled on top of them. We saw our food taken out of the pit then went through to the dining hall.
We were on table 4 and were the first up to the buffet. The vegetables had a real earthy flavour because of the soil on top of the pit and the chunky carrots and potatoes went down very well, as did the chicken and especially the lamb which was excellent. after everyone had had soem we went up for seconds, then started on the desert - steamed pudding and custard, fresh fruit and pavlova. Then our hosts sang a couple of songs and said a few words and the chiefs did the haka before we headed back to Woka Kea for the bus ride home.
On the bus each nation had to sing a song for everyone else to join in with - we did Old McDonald for a couple of verses (The Aussies were a bit weird and refused to do anything and some of the other nations didn't really seem to want to take part. On the outskirts of town our driver announced that if everyone didn't join in with the next song they wouldn't be getting off the bus. She then started singing "She'll be Coming Round the Mountain" and we followed the bus in front round a roundabout - 6 times! Crazy stuff. We obviously saang enough as we then carried on our way to be dropped back at the campsite.Leer más
Volcano and Trees
16 de agosto de 2015, Nueva Zelanda ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C
Gave a quick call to Volcanic Air at about 8.25 to make sure things looked good and they did, everything clear, so we headed down to their lakefront office. We filled in the forms, paid and were weighed and given a safety briefing. Our pilot and guide for the trip was Edine, known as Eddie and she brought the helicopter across from Rotorua airport to land on the lake jetty. We went out to meet her and stowed our coats and bag in the luggage boot then climbed in - Tash in the front going out, Ed coming back.
Belted in and with headphones on for communication we took off - about a 40 minute flight to White Island, more or less half over land to the coast and half over sea to the Island. Eddie pointed out some key sites as we travelled. We saw how part of Lake Rotoru was a different colour due to the sulphur flowing into it. Roto is Maori for lake and Rua for second as this was the second lake the chief in that area came across. We could see White Island with its smoking white plumes almond as soon as we took off, showing how clear a day it was as it was about 100 km away. The island had been named by Captain Cook as he always saw white plumes of smoke coming from it. Later it was discovered to be a volcano and the surface was likened to being on the moon (once we were on it it looked more like the surface of another planet like Mars). Three rocks were pointed out to the left of the island which used to be used by the NZ airforce for target practice - thankfully this stopped a few years ago. There were still Gannets nesting on the side of the island, though most have left for the winter - in summer there are up to 5,000 there. Also outside the crater grows the New Zealand Christmas Tree - so called because it flowers red at Christmas.
We circled the island and landed on a flat part on the opposite end to the crater lake. The helicopter had to cool down a bit before the rotor could be turned of and we could get out. Once out we were given hard hats to wear and gas masks to breathe through if the fumes made us cough. There were tow parts to the tour, the historic mining section and the natural volcanic section. We went with the mining section first and walked towards the ruins of the old Sulphur factory. Various mining attempts had been made over the years, none lasting long and some being disastrous (1914 when an explosion sent hot acidic mud through the miners camp - no one was ever found except Peter the Cat, who had sensed what was about to happen and fled to higher ground. The concrete buildings were ruined now and the iron smelting pots very corroded, certainly a tough environment to work in and make money from. Walking down towards the beach we saw a baby seal basking on the rocks - a relatively recent addition to the island. One of the original mine shareholders had bought the island for $1 and his family still owned it, charging for each visitor carried to the island.
We moved on through sulphur mounds, where the gas from the earth deposited small amounts of sulphur as it left and formed a mound over time. The smell started to get worse here and Ed certainly was complaining and using the gas mask. We saw some bubbling mud pools - too hot to touch and were told that these moved around over time along with the sulphur vents as the magma below ground shifts around. We moved up to the biggest sulphur vent, where the smoke was really irritating tot he throat. walked up a bit nearer, the others declined and watched from outside the smoke. Tash got a small lump f sulphur to bring back. Then we moved to the edge of the crater lake. This was full of water from below at 90 or so degrees but also at ph 0.4 - not much would last long in there. We had to hold onto our hats as the wind was strong and gusts very strong at times. Sam lost a bit of paper from her pocket which blew down into the lake. On the far side of the lake was the main vent with lots of smoke coming from it - this was where ash and rocks came from when the volcano erupts - the last time was in 2013 when the water level in the lake had risen several metres then fallen sharply before the eruption of ash and smoke.
We walked back and Sam's hat blew off - fortunately I was walking behind and managed to stop it with my foot before it ended up in the acid! We saw another mud pool where two hats had been lost and resurfaced once to everyone's surprise on a tour a few days later. We felt one of the streams which was running at about bath temperature. Then it was back to the helicopter for the return flight. Ed and I went for a quick wee behind a rock, so we can say we weed on a live volcano, hopefully it won't cause any seismic activity.
Ed was in the front this time and got a guide as to how the helicopter worked and what the dials meant. The power can either go to forward speed or vertical movement, so as you move up you slow down. We were into a headwind and thought we might need to stop for fuel at Rotorua airport, but made it back to the jetty landing just before midday - a great trip to a really odd place.
We had time to grab a quick bit of food at the Lakefront Cafe before getting picked up by the Canopy Tours minibus (the Volcanic Air people had kindly called to change our pick up to here from the Top 10 park). Sam was staying in town and the Campervan.
We were picked up and taken to the tour office where we collected a Go-Pro to fit to our helmets and record the trips. We then met our guides (shane and Cam - who both turned out to be brilliant) and got our harnesses and helmets on. Then it was back in the minibus for the ride to the forest, 9 of us all together. We introduced ourselves with name, where from, hobbies, superhero you'd like to be and TV show you'd be trapped in for a month.
At the Forest we were briefed again on not touching any of the metal parts of the harnesses (in case they came loose) then we were off on a fairly fast walk uphill through the forest to the first platform. This was enclosed like the ones we had done in Queenstown and after a bit more safety briefing Shane headed across to catch us and Cam clipped us in one by one. Ed went first then Tash then me and it was a fairly easy walk down steps until the harness tightened then away you flew. The platform the other side had no rails and we were just clipped on to a central metal safety bar. This made the next Zipwire a bit harder as there was nothing to hold onto as you walked down the steps to start the wire. The kids seemed to skip down, I was a bit more hesitant but got off and away we went.
At the next platform we were told all about the birds they hope will eventually flourish in the Forest, with a funny name guessing game that involved catchphrase style clues "It's got long tail and comes out of a clock - long tailed cuckoo, "It's grey coloured and it warbles - it's a grey warbler!" The talk, as with all of them was fun and interesting. It was then another zipwire to the next platform, during the flight we were all told we had to flap our arms like a bird's wings!
Then, for me, a scarier bit, we had to cross a rope bridge that was quite wobbly and not very wide. It had steel rope railings on the sides, but as you got to the middle these became very low and I struggled to hold on to them. I'm not good with walking across narrow things, but just had to plough on. I made it to the other side and managed a pose pointing to the sky on the photo spot. The kids managed to almost skip across without any problem.
After this came the longest wire at 220m. Ed went first and as he neared the other end we could hear Shane's cries of grab the rope, grab the rope, which meant he didn't think Ed had enough momentum to carry him up the landing rope for Shane to grab, so Ed needed to grab hold of the rope handle on the braking block that Shane sent out onto the wire and then he could be pulled in. We heard another shout of grab again, then saw Ed sliding back 20 yards or so down the wire. This was cue for Shane to clip himself on while Ed dangled, slide out, attach a cable to ed and pull himself and Ed back in hand over hand like a monkey! Ed thought it was most amusing. When we all got over Shane explained that Ed had got the rope with one hand then it slipped out, then he got it with the other but couldn't hold on and so rolled back - very close to a grab but not quite.
We then walked through the forest and stopped to learn a bit about the extinct birds like the Moa. Shane was great at talking about the loss of birds and the predators and very funny, keeping the kids engaged throughout. He had some worms with him, which were hand fed to the North Island Robin that appeared when Shane whistled. Ed put one on his hand and the robin flew in very quickly and grabbed it and flew away - too fast for me to manage to film it.
Then we learnt about the pests that the company were trying to eliminate from the forest. Possums (originally brought in to farm for fur, now around 30 million in NZ, down from 75m at their peak due to all the trapping etc). Stoats brought in to kill rabbits (themselves brought in by Europeans) and rats that came in with Maoris for food and Europeans as pests on boats. Manual bait traps used to be used, but now automated ones that can kill up to 12 possums by shooting a bolt into their head and injecting CO2 into their brain from a canister. The dead possums drop to the floor which bizarrely attracts more possums to the traps. Most pests have now been eliminated from the inner area and traps are now removed to be put in a wider outer area. Shane told us that Captain Cook had recorded that he could hear the birdsong from NZ wen moored offshore and that when on land in the forest it was impossible to hold a conversation due to the noise of all the birds - just shows how many have been eliminated since that time unfortunately.
Then onto the final two zips - the highest one at 40m above ground and 170m long - great view as going across. Then a short one to end with that we were encouraged to perform tricks on. I declined to go upside down but performed the salmon, lying back and shaking arms and feet like a salmon out of water. Ed had his rope twisted before clipping on so he spun round as he crossed.
Then a final group photo with camera placed on the floor and the whole group of us peering down into it in a circle, which produced a surprisingly good photo. Back to home base to remove harnesses etc then we were dropped back to the lake front to meet Sam in the camper van. Ed wanted KFC for tea so we went there then back to the campsite to eat it, watch Cheaper by the Dozen 2 on the camp lounge TV, then a quick relaxing dip in the thermal pools on site before bed. Hobbiton tour booked for 10am tomorrow morning.Leer más
Hobbiton
17 de agosto de 2015, Nueva Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
We were up and off early about 8.15 as it was an hour or so drive to Hobbiton and we arrived about 9.25. We exchanged our tickets and had a quick drink in the cafe then it was time to board the bus that took us from the parking/cafe/shop area across the farm to the Hobbiton set.
The bus drive took about 10 minutes and the scenery was good - rolling green hills that almost looked unreal, like a carpet across the land. The farm still had some Aberdeen Angus cattle and 15,000 sheep, very much a working farm. The weather was brilliant, warm and sunny without a cloud in the sky.
We got off the bus (which was pretty much full, must have been 30 or so people on our tour) and met our guide Kelsey. She took us around the village and explained some things to us. The tree above Bilbo's Bag Ebd dwelling was the only artificial one it was pretty obvious at this time of year as the leaves just looked too green. We took some pictures outside the Hobbit holes before movin up the hill. The richer the Hobbit the higher up the hill they lived - Bilbo was at the top. We had a photo in one of the doorways, one of the only doors that actually opened. It was explained that the holes are different sizes to allow actors to look bigger or smaller when next to them, so hobbits and dwarves would be filmed next to big doors to look small with Gandalf tc filmed next to small doors to look big.
This farm had been chosen from a list of 12 as it had a perfect party tree for Bilbo's birthday and a lake next to it which is what the screenwriters had envisaged.
We reached Bilbo's hole at the top, then wended our way back down towards the party tree, past various different holes of florist, cheesemaker, carpenter etc hobbits, heading for the Green Dragon pub. Here we got a cup of beer, cider or ginger beer, all brewed specially for Hobbiton. The English Stout I had was bitter like Guinness but fizzier - very pleasant. Ed of course was hungry so had a yummy raspberry and chocolate muffin which was warm and soft in the middle.
Then back to the bus and to our starting point. The whole tour had taken a couple of hours and was enjoyed by all of us. In the shop we bought some model Hobbit holes and Ed was inspired to buy the book and wants to read it.
Our original itinerary had been to camp at Karangahake Gorge, but the campsite had been in touch to say they were too waterlogged, so we changed plans and decided to head straight to Hot Water Beach and have 2 nights there instead of 1. This was a 2.5 to 3 hour drive and so we set off after some lunch in the Hobbit cafe.
The drive was uneventful - we pulled off about an hour from Hot water Beach to Pauanui, but the whole place seemed deserted, no cafes open, must be very much a summer resort so we pressed on. The scenery was very green now and reminded me of the islands you see off Thailand, covered in green vegetation. The road was also windy and we ended up all feeling a little queasy.
We found the campsite OK and got checked in. We moved sites as the original allocation was very wet and was tough to get the camper into without the wheels skidding. The lady on reception was very helpful and contacted the glass bottom boat people, who advised checking back in the morning - they had run this afternoon but the choppy water had reduced visibility somewhat. The kids had a ride on the go cart bikes and a play in the playground.
we were low on fuel so headed to Haihei to get some then intended to get the ferry across to Whitianga. The petrol station at Haihei was shut (only 5.30) so we decided to drive to Whitianga, about 25 minutes around the bay, can see why the ferry (foot passengers only) is popular. We got fuel (still struggling to work the diesel cap) and had fish and chips at the recommended shop - Snapper Jacks, then headed back, taking it relatively slowly on the dark windy roads.Leer más
Choppy seas but no hot water
18 de agosto de 2015, Nueva Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
The reception here called through to see if the Glass Bottomed boat tour would be running and it was, so we booked up and arranged to be picked up by the boat at Ferry Landing - needed to be there about 10.20. We decided to head off just after 9 to grab a coffee before thr trip. We drove to Ferry Landing but found the cafe shut, so went across the harbour on the ferry, arriving just as Mark the boat owner was launching the boat, so I told him we would now be boarding on this side of the harbour and we went off to grab a coffee at the nearby (open!) cafe.
We were first to board the boat about 15 minutes latyer followed by a family of 5 from California and a German Couple. At the moment the floor was metal, which lefted up to the roof later to reveal the glass bottom.
We set off and it was a little choppy as we left the harbour at maximum speed 5 knots, but once beyond the speed limit the engines were opened up and it became a bit like a jet boat ride for now. We were told a bit about the logging histroy of the area and how tourism now dominated, with the population of Whitianga growing from 4,000 to 40,000 in summer - its proximity to uckalnd making it a very popular getaway.
First landmark was Shakespeare's Cliffs, named by Captain Cook as it reminded him of Shakespears Bluff on the cliffs at Dover. The rock was pumice - volcanic and very light - a sample was passed around which felt light enough to float. This softness meant it has been sculpted into very unusual shapes on the cliffs. The end of the cliffs from the side looked like the profile of person - a posh person said Ed and I could see what he meant.
We then rounded the corner to enter a sea cave, or actually a blow hole since it had no top - you could see the trees growing in the upper parts. It was a popular spot in the summer for people to swim and jump off the rocks - Mark said he ahd once seen a rabbit fall from the top and swim around the corner to the beach!
The nearby beach was called Cooks Beach and was one of the places Captain Cook landed when he discovered New Zealand. He watched an eclipse of Mercury there enabling him to plot the longitude and latitude of NZ - hence the name of the area, Mercury Bay. Opposite was Buffalo Bay, not because there are buffalos there but because a British ship HMS Buffalo had sunk there years ago.
We were now in the Marine Reserve, where nothing can be taken out - the local fishermen set up lobster pots right on the boundary hoping to catch some of the protected creatures!
We headed to Cathedral Cove now, so called because the roof looks like a cathedral. It is a big arch cut through a rock headland by the sea and used in lots of marketing for NZ and beyond and also in many films, notably the second Narnia film. Certainly a spectacular setting. By now, everyone time the boat stopped there was a big swell making it bob around a lot and Ed was feeling sick (the rest of us were a little too). We managed to pose for a family photo with the cave behind and were all smiles despite the swell - you'd never know! Next we passed Hahei beach and Mark raised the floor to reveal the see through keel of the boat below. We immediately saw a shoal of snappers under the boat - they were big, some of them 60cm or so.
We watched them for a bit and the captain gave Ed a peppermint to suck to ease the sea sickness. We moved across to some offshore islands where the sea was calmer and this wirth the peppermint certainly helped. We saw several seals including a baby one basking on the rocks then saw various fish including Leather Jackets (remarketed as cream fish to make them sound more edible!), Yellow Striped Wrasse and others. The water was clear enough to see the bottom 5 or 6 metres below. There were also Gannets nesting in trees on the island - the trees looked bedraggled because the gannet poo is very acidic and will eventually kill the trees they nest in.
We then left the shelter of the islands which didn't help Ed and headed for a peculiar rock formation called Champagne Rock, as it looked like a pair of Champagne bottles. Then we went further along through the roughest seas to visit a sea cave, about 15 m high. The boat went right inside and the swell could be seen on the cave walls, probably 3 or 4 metres.
Ed was moaning byt his stage, but this was then end of the tour and we sped back to the harbour, taking about 30 minutes, but getting calmer as we went so by the time we landed all was well! We got dropped back on Whitianga side so we could have lunch in the coffee shop from earlier. The kids played in the waterfront playground a bit and we looked around the Whitianga Museum. This had won awads and we could see why. It was small but packed with stuff and had some good interactive stuff on New Zealand birds, an old schoolroom, a bach (holiday hut), Captain Cook and other stories about the area.
We caught teh ferry back across and drove back tot eh campsite and hired a shovel from reception to go to the beach and dig for our hot water spa. We got to the beach about 5 minutes after low tide - perfect timing we thought. However the tide was not far out and some people were returning from around the rocks where the fissures that produce the hot water are and having to wade through the waves. They said their pools were just being washed away by the sea coming in and that the tide just wasn't low enough today. This was bad luck for us, but you can't control nature.
We went back tot eh campsite and the kids went on the go kart bikes they had there and in the playground which had the obligatory jumping pillow. I went back down to the beach and took a few photos 0 the tide was still as before.
About 6we went to the Purangi Winery, which did wood fired pizza as well as wine tasting. we were met by the host, a larger than life character in his mid 30's I'd say who's family had had the winery for 60 years - he had been born i Hong Kong. He gave us a free glass oif their cider "to get the party started", then explained the pizza menu - plain margarita or supreme with loads on (including an egg very NZ thing), or pretty much anything we wnated in between. We went for a supreme, half with cheese, half not and a ham and olive with no cheese for Ed. Tash had chicken nuggets an chips. He left the door tot he tasting room open for us (shame we had to drive home, they he did offer for us to freedom camp in the yard!)
We went through to the restaurant room where there were various communal tables, a table tennis table in the centre, table football, darts and cards. We sat near the fire and I nearly sat on a black cat resting in a chair - we left him there and sat around him. We had a bottle of the winery Chardonnay which was very nice, then the owner came and chatted to us about Fejoia, a fruit NZ folks eat, with the Kiwi Fruit largely for export. Fejoia doesn't keep or travel well, but he had some frozen ones he brought out for us to try along with a Fejoia liqueur, a spritzer, some plum liquer, a port and limoncello as a tasting platter. Again if only we weren't driving!
The kids played table tennis while the food came - when it did the pizzas were great - seasoned with fresh herbs from the garden. We ate the lot, then kids played more table tennis and darts, then we played a few gmes of cards, then more darts and table tennis before sadly leaving. Food, atmosphere, host all combined to make this the best meal out we had had in NZ - great place, shame it's not closer to home.
We went hoem and watched Elle dvd (again) then bed.Leer más
Pottery and Railways
19 de agosto de 2015, Nueva Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
We awoke at usual time and packed up heading off at about 9am. Halfway across the car park I remembered I hadn't unplugged the electric cable. I hoped out and it was trailing behind us, so I quickly unplugged it from the van, threw it inside and drove off. We didn't look back to see what state the post it had been plugged into was in - fingers crossed it was fine!
First stop was the Warehouse store in Whitianga to get an extra bag or case of some sort to put in some of the things we had bought and enable us to clear the campervan tomorrow. We ended up with a brightly coloured hard shell case which Tash picked and which was marked at $129 but at the till we discovered was reduced to $59 - even better.
Then off to Coromandel Town - only about 43km away but 1.5 hours - due as we discovered to some very windy mountain roads. We were on the lookout for a cafe for breakfast but didn't find one until about an hour later in a small village - the only one between Whitianga and Coromandel as it turned out. The food and coffee was great - I had Spanish eggs with Chorizo, peppers, onions and toast.
we set off the remaining12km (still half an hour) and stopped at the viewpoint at the top of the mountain, looking out across Coromandel, then down the hill and parked up in the town. We walked aroud some of the independent shops and bought a few things, then back to the camper and went to the petrol station where I got the gas canister filled up ready for return tomorrow. It was now around 1 so we headed for Driving Creek Railway, just out of town.
On arrival we bought our tickets, despite the torrential rain currently falling and looked around the pottery shop and watched a video on the formation of the railway. The land was bought by an artist Brian Brickell initially because of the clay on site. He built a small railway to get the clay down the hill, then expanded it over the years. Eventually the debts on the railway needed paying off and so he started to take passengers and gradually increased it until it is as it is today, going right up to the Eyefull tower at the top. The railway is NZ'sonly narrow gauge and climbs 100m or so vertically during the ride.
Scheduled departure was 2pm but a phone call from a group of tourists close by delayed this for a few minutes to allow them to ride. Ed and I sat right at the front behind the driver (though on occasion the train went backwards) and had a good chat with him about rugby he was going to the All Blacks game in Newcastle in the World Cup. The ride up took about 25 minutes and was excellent, it wound through the Forest with 3 tunnels, bridges, a zig zag section and spirals to climb the gradient. Wall protection used tyres and glass bottles embedded in the walls. Trees were marked on the way up, including some Kauri and lots of silver fern (silver on the underside). Variious clay pots also decorated certain areas. At one point the train went out onto a track supported from below out over the valley, then reversed back up the slope again, a bit like the Yeti ride in Disney's Animal Kingdom.
At the top we got off and climbed the Eyefull Tower for great views over the bay. The driver gave us some of the history of the railway and the nature reserve that has been established there with lots of wild birds now living in it. Barry is now 79 and still working, with the whole reserve to be left to the Government when he passes away.
After photos at the top we went back down, another fun ride. Ed and I at the back this time and we chose to ride facing backwards rather than turn the seat around. At the bottom we went into the shop and bought a piece by Barry, a book about him and a cup for Sam whcih it turned out was made by the daughter in law of our driver today. Ed got a clay penguin and Tash an egg cup.We then headed to the Top 10 site just down the road and checked in.
In town earlier we had purchased some nit shampoo as Tash was convinced she and Ed had nits. Sam applied this to her and Tash, whilst I got a call in panic from the lady at the railway who had realised she hadn't charged us for Barry's pot. She came down to the site and I settled up in cash, much to her relief!. Meantime Ed had managed to climb up a climbing wall and couldn't get back down from the platform at the top - I ended up having to lift him off on my shoulders.
We then went back to the van and applied nit shampoo - turned out Ed had loads as did Tash, Sam maybe a few and me seemingly none! we would have to reapply over the next few days. Needless to say, Ed didn't take the nit comb well.
I temporarily panicked everyone by losing the van keys, to find them in my coat pocket! We headed to the Peppertree restaurant for tea (10% discount with top10 membership) and had a good meal (paella a popular choice). Then back to the van for a dvd from the campsite this time (Madagascar) then bed for our last night in the camper - have to pack tomorrow, nightmare!Leer más
Goodbye campervan
20 de agosto de 2015, Nueva Zelanda ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C
We managed to pack away the campervan before leaving the campsite this morning - the extra bag purchased yesterday was definitely needed. The kids had an hour on the pedal go carts while we packed. Final emptying of the toilet caddy and the grey water waste and we were off.The road from Coromandel to Thames down the peninsula was windy and slow as it followed the coastline for most of the way.
We stopped in Thames for a coffee and the loo then headed to Auckland. The journey was faster now as the roads were straight and once we joined highway 2 it was motorway to Auckland. After filling up the diesel we got to the Wilderness office.
I missed the fact the reception was upstairs so hung around for a few minutes downstairs before realising. The hand back was much less painless than the handover. I filled in the feedback forms and made comment about how long it had taken to get the van. The lady saw this and asked about it and came back to me and said they ha confirmed the time length and would pay for our cab to the hotel as a goodwill gesture. So it was worth complaining. They ordered us a cab (a 7 seater to cope with the luggage) and we were in it about 45 minutes after arriving. The driver was rather grumpy but got us to the Heritage Hotel where the staff were very friendly and helpful. They got our bags to the room before we got up there - the suite was great especially after the compact campervan. Two super king sized bedrooms (kids will have to share but should be OK given the size of the bed), 2 bathrooms a lounge and dining area and a kitchen.
We headed straight back down , got a map and went for some food. We were only a block away from the Skytower (tallest building in New Zealand) and headed to Queen Street, the Oxford Street of Auckland. Ed saw Burger KIng and wanted that, so we did. I saw on the map there was an Ugg shop down the road and the kids had spotted a Lush so we went there too. Tash got some Uggs as a birthday present and Ed and Sam some gloves.
Then we headed to the harbour front and Ed spotted a jet boat, so we'll be doing that at some point. we went on to the i site to get some ideas on what to do - a Seaplane ride over Auckland and surrounding islands appealed and we have booked for tomorrow morning. A Zipline tour was also talked about but needed a ferry ride to egt tehre and when I looked on line was booked up for the next couple of days. The Aquarium looks like an option for Saturday morning and we may do an open top bus tour around at some point if we get time.
We took the leaflets and headed back to the hotel to relax a bit, enjoy the space and watch tv. The kids got hungry so we ordered some room service kids meals and pizza, then settled down to proper beds again!Leer más
Sam's Birthday
21 de agosto de 2015, Nueva Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C
Sam's birthday today and she was given a chorus of Happy Birthday from the cuddly toys. We had room service continental breakfast then headed down to the harbour to take our seaplane flight. We arrived at Auckland Seaplanes about 8.45 just as the plane was tying up at the dock. We had to wait a few minutes for another couple who were on their way but having trouble finding it. They had the back row when we boarded and Tash and Edward played rock, paper, scissors to see who would sit in the front. Tash won, which made Edward whine, but actually I think the view was better from the middle row as the windows were bigger. Sam took one window, I sat in the middle and Ed had the other window.
We started off and circled close to the quayside, with Tash given the important job of waving out of the window at the passers by - she got a few waves back. Then we taxied across the harbour, turned around and sped up for take off. The water was smooth so the take off was too, though it was strange to see the water spraying up from the floats of the plane. Once airborne we flew along the main Auckland shoreline, over Devonport on the left where Sam and I had got a ferry across too last time we were here and bought the picture that hangs in our bedroom.
Then we went on to Rangitoto island, which is an old volcano, with the crater clearly visible, though covered in trees and vegetation - we circled this a coupe of times so we could all get a good view, then on to Waiheke island. This is the most populated island in Auckand and in summer is one of the most densely populated anywhere. It's about 30 minutes ferry ride to Auckland central.
From here the flight continued out to some of the further islands, which had been used as addiction clinics amongst other things in the past - one was for sale for $35m, as was a grand house o another for $37m. We circled back and headed back to Auckland harbour, on the look out for dolphins or whales - Ed says he saw a dolphin but the rest of us were not so sure.
The conditions had been perfect for the flight with sunny cloudless blue skies and no wind to create any turbulence - a great birthday memory. Landing was a little bumpy across the waves and again was strange to see the water splashing up under the plane. We tied up at the harbour, had a photo in front of the plance then headed off.
Coffee beckoned and we went to a coffee shop/ice cream parlour on the harbour front. The ice cream was amazing and the sorbets even better - Sam had passionfruit and Ed lemon and they were so creamy we had to double cjheck they were dairy free. No wonder they had won many awards for their wares.
I had decided to do the Skyjump from the Skytower and so we set off to do that. On the way we had to wait for the bridge in the mooring dock to lift up to allow a large motorised yacht to go through - looked a splended boat and must have cos tens of millions. We came out close to the i site we had been at yesterday so popped in to book the Adventure jet boat on the harbour. This was running at 1pm so we booked that, then booked the Sky Jump for 3.45 (3.30 check in). Have to say I had been hoping to do it quite quickly to stop being nervous, but actually having a set time did make me feel a bit calmer as up to then I had still been debating whetehr to catula go through with it.
The Adventure jet was fun as ever. Half an hour of blasting a round the harbour - faster than others we had been on at 100kph and we went under the Auckland Harbour bridge and saw the factory where all of NZ's sugar is refined and the place where naval ships get their munitions. This was the wettest jet we had been on and our hair was soaked by the end (clothes not too bad due to splash jacket we were given) and was like a fast scenic tour of the harbour. We saw the bungy site under the bridge where you could go right into the water if you chose.
When we got off the jet the guys gave us some vouchers for free McD's cheeseburgers, so of course we had to head there for lunch, then we went back to the hotel to drop off some of the things we had bought in the morning and wait to get back to the Skytower for the jump start time.
We arrived at the Skytower and headed downstairs to the jump reception. This was also the reception for the Skywalk, which involved walking around a ledge on the outside of the tower, no rails or anything. No way could I do that! I was checked in, weighed twice and the weight written on my hand - felt a bit like I was going for soe kind of operation! We then had a few minutes wait until I would get kitted out. During this time we watched the looping video of people doing the jump and the walk and my biggest fear, the actual stepping off the top, didn't look too bad - people jusy seemed to almost fall off. Tash was watching this too and decided that she wanted to do it as well, so we asked if she could do it with me and that was fine, so she went through the same weighing in process. Then we were called to put on our jumpsuits and fitted into our harnesses - very similar to the ones we had worn for the ziplines in Queenstown and Rotorua. Tash had to take her Ugg boots off and use some of their converse trainers as you had to have lace up shoes to make sure they didn't fall off. We emptied our pockets of everything and took off all loose items, (wedding ring, St Christopher, even my Rugby World Cup wristband).
Then it was off up in the lift to the 53rd floor - first test was the glass floor in part of the lift. Sam and Ed were taken out to the landing site. Tash and I found our way to the jump waiting area and there was a girl from the company doing a jump. We watched her get clipped on then hop off the side and fall down. The noise from the wire uncoiling from the drum was very loud, even in the room next door. Then Tash was up, she went through, got clipped on to a safety harness, had her harness checked by both girls in there and shoes pulled again to make sure they were tight. Photo 1, then out through the door onto the platform, stop to change to external safety wire, clip on go pro and have a look around with it to show the view d the landing site. Then out tot he end of the gangway and look back for a picture, then hold onto the side rail while the main wires attached. at this point Tash was right on the edge 192 metres up and turned to hold ono the sides before jumping, but she got nervous and so tried it backwards without looking, but couldn't get into position and got worried so came back inside to watch me and maybe go after.
I went through the same process as Tash, taking photos and using the go pro - asked how I felt I said nervous, but the girl tried to convince me I was at least a little bit excited. Once clipped on I held onto a metal rail on one side, then the other and leant forward so I was looking down to the ground, feet right on the edge of the ledge. The girl unclipped me and said she would give me a 3-2-1 jump countdown. This seemed to take a long time and my hands were sweaty which made me worried i would slip off too soon! Eventually she gave me the count and i let go and sort of stepped forward and I was off. The harness was quite tight so you always felt suspended rather than falling, but the speed quickly picked up and the fall (as I expected) was enjoyable and the mechanism slowed me from about 10m above the ground for a landing on bended knees on the target. My heart was certainly pounding but it was good fun and was pleased I had done it and would do it again. Once unclipped the harness went back up and we waited to see if Tash would do it, but she said she didn't want to so she came back down in the lift - still an achievement to get as far as she did right on the edge.
We went back inside to view my video and get changed and it was all over. We went back to the hotel to freshen up before heading back to the Skytower to the Orbit restaurant to celebrate Sam's birthday. We got up the viewing area about 5.30 ahead of th 6pm reservation. There were various segments of glass floor around the tower and Sam managed to walk across and stand on them despite her fear of heights, after photos of Auckland in daylight we went up tot he restaurant. A nice window seat (it rotates about once and hour) and the kids were fascinated by the rotation.
The food and wine was nice (Snapper and linguine for Ed and I, Chicken for Tash and rabbit for Sam, with ice cream all round for desert, though not quite as good as the ones that morning)and gradually the day turned to night and we saw Auckland all lit up. At various points there were bad smells during the meal which we blamed on the next table. However after our meal we went down 1 floor in the lift back to the viewing level o take more pictures of the lights and the smell appeared again - it was Ed. We pitied the people left in the lift for another 51 floors. A quick visit tot eh souvenir shop, then to bed for our last night in New Zealand.Leer más
Last penguins and Sydney
22 de agosto de 2015, Australia ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
We had breakfast in the room again, then spent a fairly frantic time sorting through and repacking stuff. The most fragile items went into hand luggage and we also kept out the wooden items in case Australian customs wanted to inspect them. I got rid of the wool I had been carrying inb my pocket since the shearing we watched in Queenstown as we didn't think that would meet with their approval.
The poor porter who came to store our bags only had a small trolley and had to make 3 separate journeys. Then we walked dow to the harbour front to await the free shuttle bus to Kelly Tarlton's Aquarium.
we arrived a few minutes early and killed some time in the Champions of the World shop, picking up another rugby top (Blues), then the bus arrived, shaped like a shark, with big teeth and shark head at the front. We hopped on and were driven the 10 minutes or so to the aquarium. On the way and dvd was played about the history of the aquarium. It used to be old sewage storage tanks and Kelly Tarlton, who was a famous NZ marine explorer wanted to set up somewhere where people could view fish and decided this was a good spot. They created the first walk through perspex tunnel in any aquarium, and moulded the sheets themselves to save money. It opened in January `985 and Kelly Tarlton died a couple of months later.
On arrival you go downstairs to get in as the whole complex is underground and below high tide sea level - the cafe has a window that looks out under the ocean when the tide is high. We had photos taken on the way in (which we bought later) after passing through a mock up of Scott's hut in Antarctica. This was much bigger than I had thought, hut didn't really do it justice, it was a whole series of areas, sleeping, science, photography etc.
After this came the stars of the visit for us all, the penguins. There were two types in a cold Antarctic enclosure, with snow on the ground - King Penguins, the classic 1m tall, with shades of yellow on them and Gentoo penguins, smaller and no colours. We watched the Gentoo's doing circuits of the enclosure, waddling round, belly flopping into the pool then climbing out and repeating, like a little exercise circuit. The King's were less active, most standing still (though many of the Gentoos were also standing or lying down) or lying flat on the stone. One Gentoo looked like he was standing still pretending to be a rock. There were also some baby King penguins, as big as the adults but brown and fluffy - early explorers thought they were a different species.
We moved on through an area with a preserved Giant Squid and info on whales, as well as Antarctic temperature water that you were challenged to keep your hand in for thirty seconds - I managed about 7!
We hit the cafe next, and had drinks and snacks before heading back to the penguins for feeding time. This was funny - some of the penguins kept going back for another fish pretending they hadn't had one whilst others just didn't want a fish and looked like they were shaking their heads like a small child to refuse the fish.
we chatted for a while to the guy looking after the touch area, which had a tank of starfish you could feel. The spiny 11 legged ones lived to their name with sharp spines. They ate shellfish by just pulling the shell until a small hole appeared then sticking their stomach through and digesting the contents. They can shed legs when threatened or stressed and they take about a year to grow back. We also saw a huge crayfish skeleton, far bigger than the ones we had caught in Hokitika what seems like a long time ago.
Next area was Stingray Bay, with some huge stingrays in, them on to the big tank with the tunnel and moving walkway, like in Napier . Equally as impressive, went a long way round the tank and some fiercely teethed sharks in their.
Fish galley had various fish from around NZ and other areas - our favourite was a puffer fish, who looked puffed up, until we read that he would be the size of a basketball if he was! Another area was devoted to seahorses, including some that had come from colonies in Milford Sound we watched a short video of how they were captured. We went back through the tunnels to Stingray Bay to see a keeper hand feeding the stingray, then hit the shop before catching the bus back to the hotel.
We were back about 2pm, after calling in to NcD's to use the last of the free cheeseburger vouchers to keep us going. About 2.30pm a cab appeared outside and we checked and it was ours come early. Whilst watching the video of my jump yesterday the cab company had called to check the pick up and said they had no vans available so would send two cars. The other arived shortly and we were on our way at about 2.40, getting tot he aiport just after 3. Check in and security were painless and we were in the lounge about 3.45 for a bit of food. I got the lady on the desk to check the pick up in Sydney - she reported that the company were very insistent they were sending a van and it would cope with all our stuff and two cars were not needed (they were right but only just!)
The flight when smoothly. I wanted to watch the second Hobbit film, but ended up watching twenty minutes of the third by mistake, I thought it seemed odd. This left me with not enough time to fit the whole second one in so I'll have to pick it up on the way back to London. Had a moment of worry when I was filling in the customs forms for Australia and the passports slipped off my knee and down the side of the seat. I fished out Tash's, but couldn't see Sam's down there. after take off I got s stewardess to help look and she got a torh and pulled the seat apart. She claimed it happened all the itime, but I said I thought she was just trying to make me feel better. anyway after more looking she asked if I was certain Sam had given it to me. I said I had had it all the tim, but would double check the bag and lo and behold there it was. I felt very foolish, but the stewardess just laughed, though am sure she must have laughed with her colleagues later!
The rest of the flight was uneventful until we got to Australian immigration where I hadn't realised we needed to fill in Ebola forms. The guy was very good, sent us to a table to fill them in then cut back in the line. He was very jolly, teasing Natasha and Edward and talking rugby as some of the reserves of an Aussie rugby team were coming through from a game in NZ.
Our driver was waiting for us with name tag showing Samantha Smith and we headed for his car which was a van size and did just fit our luggage in. Half an hour to our hotel, Quay West Suites and we were on the 23rd floor, with a great panoramic window view over the whole of the harbour, with the bridge and Opera House in full view.Leer más
Rocks Market and Luna Park
23 de agosto de 2015, Australia ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
The receptionist yesterday had told us about the Rocks Sunday craft market and so after breakfast in the hotel (an automatic pancake making machine caught Natasha's eye!) we headed out. It was just after 9 and many stalls were only just setting up so we walked down to the Harbourside where a large P&O cruise liner had pulled in earlier that morning, We looped around to the top of the Rocks and the main temporary market street.
The stalls were like a bigger, more varied version of the permanent ones in Covent Garden. we bought a few small things including some dairy free chocolate at different percentages up to 99%. At the top end their was a caricature man and Tash and Ed both had theirs done. I watched a man doing some spray painting art and also sussed out where the Bridgeclimb office was ready for tomorrow. We walked back down the market and the kids had a corn on the cob on a stick. We bought a print of Sydney harbour drawn by an autistic chap and some mini cup cakes.
We finally found the visitor centre and got some leaflets then a coffee whilst deciding what we would like to do in our remaining time. With some ideas we went to talk to the staff, who suggested an iVenture card would be our best option. We could load it with 5 activity credits and use them against any of the attractions on the list - Jet Boat, Opera House tour and Zoo and Aquarium were on the list, so we bought them. Most were turn up and go, but the Jet Boat (Ozjet) needed booking and we did this for 3pm on Monday.
Ed had a bit of a meltdown because the jet boat wasn't until tomorrow and at the suggestion of booking an opera house tour for today. We went back to the room to calm everyone down then headed back out to the Opera House to book a tour. On arrival we discovered that the tours for the day had finished due to the matinee performances in the theatres, so we booked it for 4.30 Monday after the Ozjet.
This left us with the afternoon to fill and we settled on getting the ferry just across the harbour to Luna Park, an amusement park we had seen lit up from the our hotel room. We bought ferry tickets - apparently it was family funday Sunday so any family group could travel anywhere for $2.50 per person, so the tickets cost $10 for all of us. The ferry took about 5 minutes to cross the harbour and we alighted right at the scary clown face mouth entrance to Luna Park. Rides were via a wristband - Sam wasn't fussed about going on so the kids and I got unlimited bands. There were 12 rides in the park. The park reminded me a lot of the pleasure beach at Great Yarmouth years ago, though much smaller. The first ride we headed for was straight from Skegness though - the Wild Mouse, a rollercoaster with 2 people in a car that zipped round the track like a mouse. Ed wanted to go on it, but as ever with him he was also very reluctant, but we joined the queue and I went in the car with him - Tash went on her own in the car behind. It was a tight squeeze in the carriage, but we set off. The first part ere some twists and turns - scary because it seemed like the car was goin to tip off the track - the old fashioned look and feel of he ride added to this effect. Then it was up and down a couple of bumps, another scary turn then another couple of bumps. Predictably Ed loved it - his first ever proper rollercoaster ride. Hoefully he will now go on things elsewhere. We got off and whilst I was looking at the photo he raced off to go round again on his own. This set the pattern for the next hour or so - Ed and Tash racing from exit to entrance to ride again and again. They certainly got value for money from the wristbands. I dipped in occasionally with a ride but had a go on a few other things too. The dodgems were ok, but not very fast and there was a central island which prevented the narrow turns and general chaos that you can get in the UK.
I went on the Hir Raiser, which was a classic drop ride, but very high. It simply went up, got to the top and dropped down again. It was higher thn the ones I've been on in the UK, the drop was much longer and faster and you couldn't tell when you were at the top to know when it would drop. I was right out of the seat on the drop and it actually bashed my legs on the harness. More extreme than the Skytower jump, though without the initial need to step off yourself. I had a look at what I thought might be an old fashioned fun house, but it was actually just a play barn style collection of slides. It started to raim and whilst the rides carried on, the kids decided to come on the dodgems with me. Ed went in with Tash as again he was too scared to drive himself. a first for me on this ride - it had to be abandoned because the dodgems got stuck. Because of that middle island a line of them *I was on the inside) got wedged and just couldn't move and the ones running in from behind made no impact. The ride was stopped and the dodgems manually reset.
Next ride Ed came in with me and drove it himself, then, of course, he was off on his own. We had a few more rotations on the dodgems before Ed went back on the Wild Mouse. I had earlier tried to go on the Rotor, but it was temporarily shut, so I went back to see with Tash. It was working so on I went (Tash watched from above). This was a ride I remember from Yarmouth, where you enter a big drum, it starts to spin, the floor is dropped away and you stick to the wall with centrifugal force. I'd never dared go on years ago when I was little, so gave it a go now. It wasn't that pleasant, the forces made everything feel very heavy and it made it difficulkt to breathe at times with the pressure on throat and neck. I was also concerned when the floor dropped that I dropped a bit too, but I stabilised till the end of the ride when they slowed it down and let you drop slowly back to the floor. Felt a little dizzy getting off bt not too bad. Don't think I'll be rushing to do it again though.
Tash wanted to go on the Tango train, a spinning waltzer style machine. She had a go whilst Ed wanted to try a basketball sideshwo ame. We paid $10 for 6 balls. The more through the hoop the bigger prize. Ed missed with the first 4 then nailed the 5th, then bounced the last of the rim of one hoop but it looped up and fell straight through the other hoop - crazy trick shot. Due to luggage constraints we had to go for 2 smaller prixes - Angry Bird cuddly cup holders!
Ed then slightly nervously went with Tash on the Tango train once again loving it. They proceeded to ride 3 or 4 times until the park closing time at 6pm. We got the ferry back, returned to the hotel and Tash ordered us some room service, very tasty it was too. Before it arrived we went up tot eh next floor tot eh pool and observation deck for a quick dip. There was also a spa pool and a sauna and we gave them all a try. The kids enjoyed jumping into the pool and the views over the harbour and city made it a spectacular location.Leer más
Bridgeclimb, (last) jet boat and Opera
24 de agosto de 2015, Australia ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
The focus this morning was on the Bridgeclimb for me and Tash. Ed was annoyed he couldn't do it (you had to be over 10) and Sam didn't want to do it. I skipped breakfast as whilst I have no fear of heights, too much coffee before the climvb with about a 3 hour gap between loo breaks did have me a tad concerned!
We walked tp Bridgeclimb headquarters, only about 10 minutes or so from our hotel and checked ourselves in for the 9.55 climb. After a few minutes wait we were called through into the first holding room. Here we were breathalysed (including Tash) and jd to fill in the usual waiver form and also a form where you coloured in blobs corresponding to the letters of you name so they could be read by a machine to print our certificates. Certainly the first indication that this is a well oiled climbing machine (groups go out every 15 minutes or so - well oiled and money making).
We passed the breathalyser and moved into the changing area to get our onesie/jumpsuits on, after emptyng everything from our pockets and taking off all loose items. Once we passed through the metal detector ok, time for last trip to the loo then we were through to the harness room. We stood round in a circle while Dan, our guide for the day handed out the harnesses. Tash was the only child in the group, so Dan chose her to demo how to put on the harness - as he put it "you're bound to trust me now I have a child assistant". Once into the harness we had to clip rain jackets and fleeces onto the back, put on our caps, a handkerchief on elastic around the wrist (just in case you needed a hankie apparently - seemed a bit weird but I guess if you had a cold would be helpful). Everything was attached to us by clips so nothing could fall off the bridge.
Next was ladder training on a specially built unit - this again seemed a bit overkill but I guess it made sure everyone was comfortable with the steepest parts of the climb on the ladders between the below deck walkways and the bridge archways. We all passed the test and then got fitted with our headsets that enebaled Dan to talk to all of us while we were climbing. One lady had a bit of a height fear so went behind Dan with her friend, then Natasha and me, with the rest of the group behind - there were 13 of us altogether..
Our clip was attached to the cable at the door tot eh walkway - the cable ran all around the bridge walk until it arrived back at the doorway in about 2 climbing hours time. The initial walk was under the roadway to get us out to the main archway of the bridge. Some sections were quite narrow and had low head height but it wasn't challenging and was probably about three or four floors above ground level. Dan's commentary was very funny throughout - our first stop was to hear about the stones cladding the concrete pillars and how each had been carved by a separate mason and signed by them. Then we were out onto the eastern catwalk which was a see through walkway and apparently the place where if people aregoing to have to turn back it will happen here - our group were all fine. Then we it the ladder part we had "trained" for. There were 4 or 5 ladders, going up maybe 40 feet or so which put us on the roadway level. After this Dan reckoned everyone measured height versus the road rather than the ground so people were never that afraid. We had a quick photo here before starting the climb up the iconic arches.
The arches had steps on them and we walked about 50 steps up and awaited the rest of the group. Turning around we saw Sam and Ed at the top of the concrete pillar behind us. They had gone to the Pylon Lookout, an exhibition on the bridge and a viewpoint on the top. We waved madly, then climbed a bit further up, stopping for some tales from Dan and waving again. The third walk took us almost to the top and another photo spot, with Opera House and City in the background. We then had to cross to the other side of the bridge as the normal route was closed for a couple of months due to bridge painting. From here we walked the last stretch to the crown of the arch - 134m above the water. The NSW and Australian flags were just above us. We learnt from Dan that the fireworks for NYE are put on a couple of days before and the climbs cease during that time. The NSW flag is also often chnaged for other relevant flags eg visiting sports teams, dignitaries etc. Crossing to the other side again we had our big group photo, then had a video taken. Tash had one on her own, then I said a few things with Tash just waving madly into the camera.
By this time it had started raining again and we put our rain jackets on. A bit more criss crossing over the bridge, including the raven's nest area at the top middle, where special events can be held eg karaoke, disco dancing (for a price). The rain was getting worse but luckily we were heading down. As we neared the down ladders there was a flash of lightning and thunder. This caused an evacuation of other groups on their climbs - fortunately we were on our way down and just carried on unaffected. Back down the ladders and under the walkway (mandatory to wave madly at passing trains as you climbed down the ladders), then we were back inside.
Was a great experience with super views and not scary at all. We reversed the process of taking off all the harnesses, handkerchiefs etc. I got my overalls stuck on my boots and had trouble getting them off. We did surveys praising the experience and particularly our guide Dan then collected our photos and videos and we were done.
Tash got a t shirt and we popped back to the hotel to drop stuff off before meeting Sam and Ed on the other side of Circular Quay near te jet boat landing station.
We checked in for the Ozjet and were advised to leave all valuables behind and some folks told to take their shoes off as they would likely get very wet. We kept with our hiking boots as being pretty robust and waterproof. The boat was almost full, with a large group of 10 and a few others. We donned ponchos (which were a bit wet) and got in - we were put in the secodn row behind the driver.
The ride started slowly in the reduced speed zone then speeded up a bit, though nowhere near as fast as others we had done. Our driver fishtailed the back end around and we bounced across the wash from other boats and did plenty of fast Hamilton spins. New for this boat was a power stop - the engines slammed into reverse causing the front end to dip and a tidal wave of water to engulf the boat. A couple of early ones got us quite wet but a big one near the end soaked us (the driver was trying to get the folks at the back wet) Ed wasn't too happy, but it was certainly another different ride. We cruised back into the hrbour with a selfie stick passed around. Despite ponchose and coats the water had found a way in and Tash and Ed were very wet in the bottom half (I was quite wet but my trousers dry quickly). I waited for the video to be trasnferred to USB whilst they headed to nearby FCUK to buy new trousers/leggings. By the time we had managed to reunite ourselves, we had ro head to the Opera House guided tour meeting point.
Our guide was a french lady who's manner was quite endearing (she was quite stern but informative and her accent added colour). Sam and I had doen the tour before but this time we all got radio headset so we could hear what the guide was saying easily. Tash and Ed had thought the tour might nee boring (esp Ed), but they really enjoyed it and wanted to see an opera in there by the end, We watched a couple of videos on the design and build. Quite a sad story as the architect was sacked over the time and cost overruns (it cost over $100m versus initial estimate of about $3m) and never actually came back to Australia to see the finished article, though he was reconciled later in life and produced schematics for the build and his son became the consultant architect on the site.
We went into three of the five theatres, a small studio and the two largest ones, the opera house (where we had seen Carmen years ago, Louis de Bernieres was giving a talk that night) and the concert hall.
Our guide explained lots about the acoustics of the halls, the wood panelling and how the inside of the theatres was separated from the outer shell. The outer tiles were self cleaning by the rain. The tour was only an hour long and gave just a brief taster of the Opera House. We went to the gift shop and Ed got a Lego model of the Opera House to make up when we got home.
The rain was coming harder now and we walked back via the hote room to drop off more stuff then headed to the Australian Hotel in the Rocks. Our climb guide Dan had mentioned this earlier as a good place to go, one of the oldest hotels in Syndey with a huge range of beers and pizzas including Emu and Kangaroo and Salt Water Crocodile. Sam had the former without cheese and I had the latter, the kids played safer with chicken burgers. The pizzas were very tasty, especially the emu which was avery tender gamer kind of flavour. The house lager also went down well.
Back in the hotel room we wtched a huge thunderstorm come across. The lightning was flashing every few seconds almost liek a strobe and the rain lashing the windows - we couldn't see the bridge or the Opera House through the rain. Next morning the news was full of stories of the flash flooding in the outer suburbs. The centre survived better and fortunately it was dry, fine and sunny on Tuesday morning.Leer más
The Zoo and The Tower
25 de agosto de 2015, Australia ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
Today was Zoo day, over the otehr side of the harbour at Taronga. We already had zoo tickets courtesy of the visitor card we had purchased, so headed for the ferry terminal at Circular Quay. No family deals today so return ferry cost $30 - children after the first one do travel free in family groups. The ferry was due in 6 or 7 minutes and we waited with various school groups on their way over. The journey took about 12 minutes and gave good views of bridge and Opera House. There is a gondola that takes you from the harbour entrance to the main entrance but this was closed for maintenance (think Sam was relieved) so rather than take the bus round to the other entrance we just went in on this side of the Zoo.
The first enclosure we came acorss was the Red Pandas - bit early and cool for them maybe as no sign so we moved on to the seal and penguin area. They had Little Blue penguins, cute as ever and various seals including NZ fur we had seen in the wild and sea lions. We found out that they are all seals, even sea lions, just a different sub set. From here we followed the path round via some amusing Gibbons hanging in the sun and arrived at the Sub bear enclosure. The bears had been rescued from poachers and still paced nervously remembering their traumatic start to life. A quick drink then the African elephants (female enclosure, the male was in a separate enclosure) and we caught the tail end of the seal show in the 1,00 seater seal theatre. It finished with a huge seal doing a back spin, splashing the front few rows.
The Gorilla house was next to the seal theatre and despite the crowds coming from the show we got a good view of a really cute little baby gorilla running around with his mum. He had alittle slide and toys to play with - very cute.
The kids were keen to do the high ropes experience, but first we went via the Australian walk as I wanted to see Koalas. The first enclosure was interesting - a free walk area through the cage with some lizards and also rock Kangaroos. One was just inside the door up on the wall and periodically you could see her baby peeking out of the pouch. Nex t up we saw a Tasmanian Devil. Never seen one before and they do look a bit scary and the keeper explained that when feeding in packs they make a terrible noise so you could see why the early settlers thought there were devils out int eh darkness. The Taz cartoon character with his spins was based on a single devil kept alone in captivity which probably turned in circles out of frustration - it's not normal behaviour for them. We were lucky to see them as they are shy and typically nocturnal.
Next was the platypus house - one was swimming in the reeds and occasionally pooped out to swim the length of the tank - again first time I had seen one of these odd creatures. Then some Kangaroos, though seen plenty before, and on to the Koalas. On was sitting very high up in a tree. To get a closer experience we paid to go into the enclosure for 5 minutes or so with the keeper and see some close at hand and get some pictures. One was quite active, the keeper explaining she was eating some new eucalyptus he had just put out and would son go back to there more normal sleeping state. This one had a baby in its pouch, born after less than a week but then in the pouch for several months. The other koala was sleeping. They have 19 in the Zoo and they are a protected species in NSW. To the kids delight she did a big wee and poo just before we left. The keeper said there were a few in other countries but not many as it was tough to source the Eucalyptus they eat. Our picture came out very well and Koala seen we headed for the High Ropes.
Unfortunately the age curse struck again - you needed to be 10. Ed was quite upset as he had been very excited about doing this. Tash and I went to see about her doing it, but 10-16's had to have an adult doing it with them. I didn't fancy it and whilst an instructor could be hired to go it all seemed too much given Ed's disappointment. So we said no and vowed to go to a Go Ape in the UK at some point soon.
Back to animals then and the reptile area, some big snakes, Komodo dragon and crocodiles and turtles. Then lunchtime, via the Giraffe enclosure, where I got the classic shot of foreground giraffe, background opera house and bridge.
There was some flagging after lunch especially from the girls, but as ever Ed was keen to see everything so we went via the Chimpanzees to see the Zebras and the Bongo - always my favourite as allows endless Um Bongo and Congo jokes - lost on the kids. Tash didn't see what the Bongo fuss was about and appeared to upset the Bongo with this attitude - he was giving her some very hard stares.
Mountain goats perched precariously on their rocky enclosure, then the last big animals were the lions. The tigers are having a new enclosure built so couldn't be seen. Done with animals we headed back to the exit near the ferry, passing the Red Pandas who were now out and about, although fast asleep in a tree - typical pandas.
The ferry ride back was uneventful and from there we headed to the Skytower (Sydney Eye Tower as its now branded). Our tickets covered entry, but when we got there we saw a video of the Skywalk which was not at all as scary as the Auckland one and just involved standing on some glass floored platforms, always with rails and walls around. Minimum age was 8, so we had to do it just to allow Ed to. We got a good discount with the iventure cards (Sam obviously didn't want to do it) and headed in. There were some models and puzzles on the way through to a 4d cinema - wind and wanter providing the 4th dimension. Then off up in the lift. We got soem good views in daylight and as the sun went down and by the time of our walk (6pm) it was dark and so we got a different dimension on it.
We had to take off loose items and put on jump suits - Ed had some trouble getting his on, but we made it. We had to be breathalysed and metal detectored again (seemed overkill for this compared to the Bridgeclimb Harnesses were fitted, we were clipped onto a rail and out we went. We followed a walkway around the tower to the first platform with glass floor, the edge sticking out over the street below - the inner side was still over the building so anyone fearful of heights could remain off the glass or at least not over a big drop. We were encouraged to bounce up and down and could feel the whole platform moving! For some reason I felt happier with a hand touching the railings, even though everything was solid and we were tied on. Our guide told us a few fcts about what we could see and then attempted to take some photos of us. Eventually she got things working, though as we would discover at the end, only partially and we were sold the pictures at a knock down rate as the flash hadn't made things bright enough - still pretty spectacular pics though.
It was very windy on this side and we moved around to stand under the large Westfield sign - encouraged to reach up and touch it as it cost $3m. The round the other side to a second platform with just a narrow glass floor right at the edge of the building. Once everyone was on there was a noise and we started moving out. Our guide tried to create some panic by saying she didn't know what was happening and it had never happened before - somewhat believable given the chaos with the camera earlier. So we were now right over the edge of the building on a glass floor with only Market Street about 260m below (we were pretty much twice as high as the bridge here and higher than my jump in auckland (though the Auckland tower has a bigger mast making it higher in total). More jumping on the platform then it was time to go in (last fact was about the length of ropes helping support the tower and the large water tank in the roof that helped to counter any sway.
Back inside we bought photos and souvenirs and headed back for some more room service in the hotel - our last night of the trip.Leer más
Last Day
26 de agosto de 2015, Australia ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
Our last day of the trip. Packing was easier this time as we had done most of the hard work when leaving Auckland. We stored our bags and walked the 15 minutes or so across to Darling Harbour to visit the Sea Life Aquarium, another thing covered by our card. The reception person confirmed we had one credit left after this, which meant we could visit either the wildlife centre or Madam Tussaud's both located next door.
Obligatory green screen picture on the way in then we followed the exhibits round. The platypus enclosure was out of commission for refurbs, but we had seen them in the zoo the previous day. The stingray area was also closed off.
An Octonauts themed area proved popular, particularly with the visiting primary school groups. Many of the fish and exhibits were similar to those we had seen in other aquaria in NZ.
The big difference came in the first walk though tunnel tank where they had two Dugongs. These look a little like seals but have tusks and are related to elephants. They are what gave rise to the myth of mermaids as they look a lot like a person with a tail fin. They are gentle creatures only found in an area of the Queensland coast. The two here were rescued from the wild. We spent quite a while watching them from above and below, with exhibits showing their poor vision and what their breath smells like! Their diet is essentially lettuce, as a replacement for the sea grass they would eat in the wild.
From here we moved to the second tunnel tank with sharks in it. There was a great interactive touchscreen on the way in with lots of info an games about sharks. After this we went through a rock pool area and touched starfish and sea sauages, then a barrier reef area. The kids draw fish and coloured them in and these were then scanned and appeared swimming on a big projected tank wall. Sam and I sat and watched the large glass wall of the final tanks, with fish swimming back and forth - a bigger version of our tank at home!
We had to buy cuddly dugongs and Ed also got a platypus as it was "so cuddly". Some lunch then we decided to do Madame Tussaud's as we had seen quite a lot of animals.
Another first as none of us had ever been to one before (the one in London always has mad queues). I had been to the wax place in Great Yarmouth years ago but not sure that represents the art at its best!
The models were very good and like like and you could pose with them all and were encouraged to touch them - they didn't feel waxya ta ll and were very solid. The hair was real human hair and the body parts were acrylic, just the heads were wax. There were themed areas for politics, sport, music, theatre, tv, movies. Particular favourites for Sam and I were Alf from Home and Away and Harold from Neighbours. There was a bit of an Aussie theme to some of the characters as you would expect, but most were well known worldwide.
We took lots of pictures using the props provided and agreed it was a fun way to spend an hour or so, but wouldn't want to do the three hour London queue then face the scrum of people trying to pose with each character inside - we had plenty of time and space here to pose as much as we wanted.
We left and headed back to the hotel - Ed complaining he couldn't walk any further, but he made it. The car arrived about 3.15 so we headed off and got all checked in. We had to leave the immigration line as we hadn't realised there were departure forms that needed completing - though we were then directed to the automatic passport gates and no one actually checked the forms, we just put them into a postbox!
We ate in the lounge and Ed got another 13 storey tree house book and cards with our last Aussie dollars, then onto the plane. It was a 777 rather than an A380 - not quite as comfy and the entertainment not as good - less films including no Hobbits, which I had wanted to finish watching. The first leg was to Bangkok and took about 9 hours, quite bumpy in parts but we all got some sleep.
We landed in Bangkok but were on a stand right at the edge of the airport so were not allowed to get off. The cleaners came in en mass then after a little over and hour we ere off to Dubai.Leer más
Quick Stop
27 de agosto de 2015, Emiratos Árabes Unidos ⋅ ☀️ 38 °C
We landed in Dubai and again were a long way from the terminal, needing a `5 minute bus ride to get us there. Quickly through a security scan then into the lounge. They do need bigger toilets here - only 4 cubicles for lots of people meant big queues.
Fortunately the gate was right next to the lounge and this leg was on an A380, so mini bars and I could watch the Hobbit, which I still had half an hour left of the second film and the whole of the last film.Leer más