Days 5 and 6 Making your own beach hot tub

Auckland, New Zeland

Rained all last night, but luckily no rain today.  We headed south, skirting Auckland, our final destination is Hot Water Beach.  This is unique.  We have already been to Boiling River in Yellowstone with Alex and Hannah.  There, and the memory is the most profound, in subzero weather, you take all of your clothes off, dress in your swimmers, stumble down to the ice-cold, snow-encrusted river and try to find a small hole with volcanically heated water mixed perfectly with river water to sit without either freezing in the river or losing your skin to said lava-water.    But it was fun......

Here, at Hot Water Beach, you dig a hole in the sand with dozens of other people, hoping to find hot water to sit in.  After your hole is dug you either find, a) no water, b) too-cold water, c) too-hot water, or d) perfect water.  The ideal end result is you sit in a sand-hole with 2-3 inches of hot water.......   But, if you are smart you watch a few groups and wait for one of them to leave and ask politely if you can replace them in their hole.  Which we did.  And have a picture to prove it.

Digging with no luck, water was too hot.

We ended up replacing the people in the hole behind us.  Yes, this is fun.......

We ended our day with a nice hike to Cathedral Beach.  Time for more fish and chips and bed.

Day 5 is another sunny but cool and breezy day.  Our destination is Rotorua.  Again,  all the town names are Maori, can't spell or pronounce them.  Below are gigantic hedgerows we find everywhere.  30-40 feet high.  What's behind them?  Frequently kiwi and citrus trees.   We can only assume that they are protecting the crops during the windy parts of the year. 

A couple of oyster catchers

Our Airbnb by Hot Water Beach.  Quaint.   

A typical New Zeland Beach.  Stretches forever with nobody on it.  Amazing.

Days 3 and 4 Hawaii with sheep

Day 3 took us to the northernmost part of the north island of New Zealand.  We also discovered that this is a three day Labor Weekend.  Lots of people everywhere.  At the lighthouse, below, an Asian family asked me to take their picture.  After doing so, I asked where they were from.  They said 'Oakland', I said, Oh, I am from California too.  Then I realized they said Auckland.  Lost in Translation.

We ended up in Waipapakauri for the night.  A nice seaside cottage on the 90 Mile Beach.  It is indeed 90 miles long with only a small handful of people and vehicles on it.  AND, no pollution, no plastic no driftwood, etc.  Pristine.  The tides and currents are good to Northern New Zealand.

Portuguese Man of Wars everywhere.  From this little guy about 2 inches long to
monsters a couple of feet across.  They will go back into the ocean at the next high tide.

We also learned about ancient (and modern) Kauri.  This is a tree that has been around for 45,000 years.  When they died in millennia past, they submerged in the peat swamps of the day and became mummified, not petrified.  Now, they are digging them up with bulldozers lifting them out with cranes and sawing them up with chainsaws to be made into very expensive bowls and carved sculptures. 

Gloria on a staircase they carved on the inside an ancient Kauri.

But, there are many living Kauris today.  I would compare them to the Giant Sequoias in California.  They are honored here in New Zealand.  The few that remain are highly protected.  The trees are cordoned off from the public and before you enter the area you have to clean and disinfect your shoes. 

This bad-boy is 45 feet across at the base.  Huge!

Day 4 was more pastures, cows and sheep.  It is hard to distinguish between the fields and golf courses here.  All beautiful.

Days 1 and 2 The North of the North Island

Headed north from Auckland to Paihia.  This part of New Zealand not only looks like Hawaii, but the names are similar as well.  Kailaia, Haunaki, Waihi.   1000 years ago, the islands were the home of seafaring Polynesians, what we call the Maori today.  Indeed, today, about 14% of the population is Maori.  The indigenous town names are found everywhere.  And, in contrast, Auckland, Queenstown and Christchurch are, uh, British from just a couple of hundred years ago.

We are quickly realizing that fish and chips are everywhere. 
We'll be eating more of these in the next three weeks. 

Spring here.  Everything is green and the fields are full of cows and sheep.  Millions of them.  The stats:  4.6 million people. 10 million cows and 30 million sheep. (from a peak of 70 million in 1982!)

Yesterday was the yearly Aukland to Haihia regata.  This is the winning trimaran. 
It looks like a speed demon.  4 hours, a course record, boats take over 12 hours.

Day 2 takes us to the small town of Paihia to take a boat around the "Bay of Islands", so named by none other then Captian James Cook who counted them in 1769.  A great time.  After our '3-hour tour', we were dropped off at Russell a small town across the bay from Haihia. 

This is the 'Hole in the Rock' on our bay cruise.
Yep, we went through there.  We are in a BIG
boat, but we had room to spare.  During the winter
waves are higher than this hole.

We also visited Russell, the first permanent European settlement in New Zealand. Prior to the 1840's it was Kororareka.  In its heyday, over 3000 whaling ships would come in each year hence the nickname of 'hellhole of the Pacific'.  It was notorious for its bars, gambling halls and whorehouses.  Kinda the southern hemisphere's rendition of the American Wild West.

The Polynesians likened this silhouette to a waiting princess for her seafaring prince.

This is the oldest church in New Zealand.  The Christ Anglican church built in 1835.

On the Road Again, 20 hour time difference!

Routine transit from San Francisco to Auckland.  3-hour drive from home to SFO, 3-hour wait for the flight, 11-hour flight to Nadi, Fiji, another 3 hours to wait for the 3 hour flight to Auckland.  23 hours!  Highlights?  Well, only a few.  A pharmaceutical assist to sleep for 8 hours!  Avengers: Endgame.  Not a highlight but a good time-suck for 3 hours, two very average meals and we land in Nadi.

The one luxury we enjoy is airport lounge access.  Through a career of business credit card usage and a bit of strategy, we get to hang out in mostly quiet, clean lounges with good wifi and food that far exceeds that which is served in coach. 

Arrived in Auckland and secured our rental car for our 22-day driving adventure.  Slow but routine, then a Google Maps left-side-of-the-road journey to our first Airbnb.  Tom is back into his stride again, with three of us coaching him.  A walk around the center of this seaside city with a rather industrial-strength waterfront.  Dinner at a little streetside Thai cafe.  Four tables, we sat at two, unfortunately, it is right where the city buses idle for their pickups.  A bit noisy and diesely, but good food none the less.  Tomorrow, we head north!

Our first view of New Zealand

A small park in the city, amazing trees wandering everywhere

The little guys on the right are called 'money bags', full of goodies