Abel Tasman National Park, New Zealand

Well, part of it anyway. The day’s plan was pretty simple: up at 7, to the Split Apple Beach by 9, a boat ride North up the coast of the Abel Tasman National Park, arriving at our drop off point at about noon, then a 2 hour hike (but turned out to be 2 1/2 with picture stops) and then pick-up at 3 PM, off the boat at 4:15 and drive back home. And that’s exactly what we did on a beautiful, mostly sunny, rain free but still not warm (mid 60s) day.

Speaking of “home” I mentioned to Judy that we are creating homes with every stop. Initially, while trying to find for the establishment, checking in and getting settled, everything is new. We have to learn how find the attractions and a place to eat. We’ve been staying at each spot for two nights, arriving on the evening of the first and leaving the morning after the second night. By the time we leave we’ve figured out how to get around and we’ve managed to stave off starvation. It feels like home and we’re just a little bit sorry to leave behind the known for the unknowns of the next adventure.

The boat ride was fun. We sat up top in the open air most of the way out even though the wind was strong and the air was brisk and then some. We passed by an island with seals doing their usual seal things (basking in the sun, wallowing around in the water). Our guide told us female seals have four to six weeks after giving birth in which they can eat and get fat. Then its back to the mating game, new pups and the cycle repeats itself. There’s not much time for fishing and eating while you’re doing the mommy seal thing. Glad I’m not a mommy seal (then again being a mommy person is something I don’t aspire to be – it’s hard work too).

We were on a tour package that took us to the northern end of the run and then turned around to drop us off at about the half way point. We then hiked up moderate hills and back down, closely following the coast line. The vegetation felt jungle-like but of course it isn’t really a jungle. It’s dominated by ferns – big ones and little ones – some pines, etc. and other low-lying bushes we can’t identify. But it has a really different feel from hiking in the Maine woods, that’s for sure.

We hike about 4 Kms (2.5 miles) of the Abel Tasman Coastal Route, a 55 Km hike much like the section we did. We met one interesting couple: 20-somethings from California who were backpacking the length in three days – about five or six miles a day. Not the Appalachian Trail but enough to make it fun.

“We’re in NZ for four weeks,” Judy told them. “How about you?”

“We’re here until about April, living out of our car.”

“Are you going to work while you’re here,” asked Judy.

“We might for fun, but we don’t have to,” was the reply.

We met another pair of 70-something sisters from British Columbia. They hiked the same 55 Kms with an organized group but they stayed in resort lodges on their two nights on the trail. Hot showers and electric blankets plus gourmet food. One had a husband who is fly fishing for trout while his wife hikes.

On the way back we stopped to see the effect tides in this area – up to 16 feet on average – have on boats in a protected bay. They’re left high and dry.

So now we’re back “home” typing, looking at pictures and planning on dinner up the road a few hundred meters. We will have then tried 2/3 of the restaurants in Marahau. Maybe we’ll do Hooked for breakfast, making it a clean sweep.

Tomorrow it’s off to the Marlborough wine country. It will be a travel/sightseeing day but the day after is “vineyards by bike” day. That oughta be something to write home about!

Marahau, New Zealand

By any measure this is turning into a foodie expedition. And when I say any measure, I mean the bad news the measuring tape will tell when we try to wrap it around our bloated waist lines when we get home. But on the other hand, when you’re on an adventure in uncharted territory it doesn’t hurt to load up. You never know where or when your next caloric opportunity will show itself. At least that’s the way we’ve operated today. Details to follow.

But first, the bad news (spoiler alert: it all works out OK in the end). “Give me your camera and I’ll put it in its bag,” I say to Judy as we pack to leave Wellington this morning. “Oh no, it isn’t here. I must have left it somewhere.” I’ll spare you the anguish – should we cancel our Inter islander at 9:00 and rebook on Bluebridge at 1:30 PM, thereby arriving after dark? Or should we charge ahead and ask for help via telephone. Long story short: we left on schedule (I did take out an insurance policy on our cameras right before we left), called the Te Papa when we arrived at Havelock and yes, they found it and yes, they will send it to our Blenheim B&B to arrive Friday, no charge! Crisis averted.

Back to the waistline issue. Here’s our feeding schedule for today (so far):

6:30 AM – Croissants and buns, yogurt and OJ at the hotel

10:00 AM – Split a muffin pick-me-up on board ship, Judy had a cappuccino

1:30 PM – Split a sandwich, potato chips and 2 oranges in the car

3:30 PM – A collection of green-lipped mussels in Havelock, the self-proclaimed green-lipped mussel capitol of the world. Turns out they occur naturally in this region of New Zealand but the young ‘uns are harvested and raised on ropes in commercial farms all around New Zealand. And boy, what a treat. This meal ranks right up there with the feed we had at The Vine in Taupo the other night. Mussels fixed six different ways:

– Traditional steamed, just like back home
– Grilled with cheese topping
– Smoked
– Marinated
– Batter fried
– Plus a cup of mussel chowder

Drop what you’re doing, book a flight and get yourself to the Mussel Pot in Havelock. You’ll thank us later.

Now we’re staring down dinner. The best (which is to say the best chance for a small meal) is Fat Tui’s just down the street from our Chalet.

Speaking of our room, we’re really out in the sticks but as the name suggests we have an ocean view. The room is small but very nice, the Wifi is free and so far reasonably speedy and the gal at the desk is helpful and friendly. The neatest part of our accommodations is that this is the same place Rebecca and Kevin stayed when they did their New Zealand trip seven years and two kids ago!

The ferry ride was great. The ship is large, the size of a small cruise ship almost, fits a gazillion cars, is very comfortable and has great views from the upper deck. It has bars, lounge seating and even a movie theater if you want to stay inside. The trip took 3 1/2 hours; we were among the first to disembark.

The GPS and Google both suggested a route from Picton to Havelock that traveled the main roads via Blenheim, roughly 2 hours over 50-odd Kms. The Queen Charlotte Drive however hugs the coast and takes 2 hours to cover 25 Kms. Which do you think we took? Right. My arms are getting a good workout from another day of twisty-turny roads but the scenery made it worth it.

Now we’re settled in and ready to head to The Fat Tui. It’s 7 PM and they roll up the sidewalks here pretty early except for the place across from The Fat Tui that has live entertainment, will be packed with locals and will go ’til 1 AM. Not for us: if we do that we’ll end up doing whatever the New Zealand equivalent of Salsa turns out to be.

We’re up tomorrow for a combination boat ride and beach hike in Abel Tasman National Park, here in the Northwestern most corner of the South Island.

P.S. – We’re back from The Fat Tui and no wonder the bird is fat. So are we. Take a look at the menu. I went with the Cowpat. Judy did Fish and Chips. We both ate half of what they gave us.

Wellington, New Zealand

We spent the day doing traditional touristy stuff in Wellington, the capitol of New Zealand. A fair amount of walking was involved in the same weather we’ve been seeing since our arrival: partly cloudy, windy and temperatures in the low to mid 60s. The pavement was wet when we hit the road this morning but that’s about as close to rain as we’ve come. We’re keeping our fingers crossed for tomorrow when we cross the Cook Strait from North Island to South.

First stop: The Beehive, New Zealand’s concrete structure that looks like a beehive and is the capitol building. We had a guided tour by a nice lady who gave us details of New Zealand’s governmental structure and much history about New Zealand and its governance.

Government here is, she told us quite proudly, modeled after Westminster, the UK’s parliamentary system – a constitutional monarchy. Calling it a monarchy is a bit of a stretch since New Zealand no longer has any direct ties with the Queen’s government, but old habits die hard I guess. Actually, the Prime Minister recommends a Secretary General candidate to the Queen of New Zealand, a job held down by the Queen of England. Don’t ask me, I just tourist here.

New Zealand also has a unicameral government structure. There used to be the equivalent of the House of Lords – the Legislative Council – but that do-nothing body got in the way of efficient government and a brave Prime Minister appointed 29 new members – the suicide squad, it was called – in 1950 to the Legislative Council who, upon assuming office approved a bill from the House of Representatives that did away with the body entirely. Hmmm . . . do away with do-nothing governmental bodies? What an idea!

One interesting aspect of the process here is that after a bill is approved at its first reading it is assigned to a Select Committee for further review, analysis and modification. At this stage members of the public can appear before the Committee and give testimony. The bill is reported out of the Committee for a second reading. If it passes, the House of Representatives, acting as a committee of the whole, debates it further and then takes the third reading vote. If passed it is presented to the Secretary General for signature or, theoretically, disapproval. No Secretary General has ever disapproved a bill, however.

But enough of New Zealand politics. Everywhere we go in New Zealand folks who dare be so bold comment on our upcoming election, shaking their heads and showing great sympathy for a people who suffer such an indignity as our current pair of candidates. The only real opinion anyone has expressed to us so far was by our tour guide, a 50-ish lady who said, “I must say that the idea of Trump becoming President scares me.” But that’s a sample of only one. (I, Judy, had a discussion yesterday with a lady from England who expressed the same opinion.)

After the Beehive we made a quick swing by Old St. Paul’s church, interesting to us for two reasons: a) it’s an 1860 wooden structure that has somehow escaped burning to the ground and b) U.S. soldiers worshiped here while stationed in Wellington to defend New Zealand from feered Japanese invasion.

From there we found our way up the hill (everything in Wellington is either up or down the hill; there are no flat spots) to the Bolton Street Memorial Park, the final resting place for some of Wellington’s elite, including Ric***********, New Zealand’s longest serving Prime Minister. He was a staunch British loyalist who liked to dress up in British military regalia. “King Dick” they used to call him we learned later at the Te Papa museum.

The burial grounds connected to the Botanical Gardens. We passed through a corner of the gardens but were worried about having enough time at the museum so we took a short cut. This path led us to the Cable Car, which took us down the hill to near our hotel and on the way to the Te Papa. Sounds like a great time saver but we had to walk up the hill almost as far as the cable car took us down but the cable car is something any self respecting tourist must do so we did it.

We reached the Te Papa by walking along the waterfront, a pleasant stroll. We stopped at a storefront sandwich shop for a quick lunch.

The Te Papa is a relatively new museum, the national museum of New Zealand. And a fine museum it is – and free!. We started on the fourth floor, which is dedicated to Maori subject matter. The displays trace Polynesian arrival, inter-tribal warfare, the invasion by the British and other Europeans and the conflicts and at least partial resolution that came about after the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi. We learned that there have been resolution of some land and other claims in the recent past but other claims are outstanding. Claim 262 has to do with intellectual property rights, including Maori claims to knowledge related to plants and animals. I don’t pretend to understand the ins and outs of this subject nor where the inquiry stands, but it gives you an idea of the complexity of the process.

The other striking display at the museum, taking up almost all of one floor, has to do with New Zealand’s role in World War I and in particular New Zealand’s initial campaign in Turkey in the Gallipoli campaign. New Zealand had more than 16,000 killed and 40,000 wounded for a 58% casualty rate in all of WWI. Particularly moving were the 2.4 times life sized figures depicting actual New Zealand participants in the Gallipoli campaign. The war had a lasting impact on the people of New Zealand and this display was a testimony to the deep level of feeling that remains to this day.

One other factoid from the Te Papa: before the Polynesians arrived New Zealand’s grass land comprised 5% of the total land area. Today it is over 50%. The Maoris and Europeans cut and burned the landscape to make room, ultimately, for sheep and cows.

Then, finally, supper at what Google told me was the closest sea food restaurant – the Crab Shack, a chain of such establishments. Our waiter talked us into a kilo of crabs. Figuring that seasoned lobster shuckers like us would have no problem, we dug in. But what a job it turned out to be. Lots of cracking and picking for little scrids of meat. No tails and claws, just legs. But I liked it (Judy not so much) and at least we have bragging rights.

So to bed and up for the 9 AM ferry tomorrow. The adventure continues.

Wellington, New Zealand

One of the greatest contributions of the Twentieth Century, right up there with sliced bread, night baseball and the iPod, is the collapsable passenger-side rearview mirror. So there I am, circling our Wellington hotel like an old hound dog looking for his bed after the GPS gal said “right” when she meant “left”. The streets are narrow, winding and on the side of a mountain. Traffic is heavy and cars are parked on both sides of the street. Judy sucks in her breath, but it is too late. THWAK. Her rearview mirror collapses, harmlessly to the side of the car. Thankfully, no damage done (at least to our car; I never saw what we hit) and one slight wrong turn later, we’re parked in our hotel’s parking area. “Judy, I need a beer and a burger” was my comment as I switched off the ignition.

That was the end of a long but rewarding day. It turned out to be about seven hours of driving (including photo stops, gas, ice cream and you-know-what) and four hours of unexpected adventure on Mount Ruapehu in the Tongariro National Park, an hour or so south of Taupo. This was one of three long driving days in this trip.

We had planned a quick stop in the park, hoping for at most a two-hour hike followed by High Tea at the chateau. But when we stopped at the visitor’s center to ask directions, we were given a second option: a ride up the ski lifts that would take us to the chalet half way up the mountain. The day was beautiful so we pushed on up the hill and took a twenty-minute ride through fairly brisk and somewhat windy weather – probably near freezing at the chalet. The views, as you can see in the pictures, were magnificent.

There were even some die-hard spring skiiers out today. They rode the lifts we used but from there they had to slog on foot to the summit to reach skiable snow. I don’t know anyone who loves skiing that much. Wait a minute, yes I do . . . the Longo boys!

Unfortunately we dawdeled too long on the mountain so our hike turned out to be only an hour and we never made the waterfall at the midpoint of the loop. But we did have two nice phone conversations with Rebecca, Esme, Griffin and Kevin. The first call was from the chair lift as we made our way down. The kids were still trick or treating so we didn’t talk too long. Later, on our hike we completed our conversation.

High tea tasted great – scones with cream and jam plus hot chocolate but we missed on the ambiance department. Rather than going to the hotel’s main lobby where high tea with all the linen napkins and mountain views were to be had, we instead stumbled into the coffee shop. Same grub but not the full experience.Next time we will read the sign out front before committing to the coffee shop.

From there it was a five-plus hour drive through some spectacular countryside, twisting mountain roads with fresh views at every turn. As usual, the driving was as interesting as the sightseeing stop at the park.

Coming into Wellington is like entering any big city. Plenty of traffic but it moved along ok and until we hit the little kafuffel finding the hotel everything went without a hitch.

We checked in, got our bags and found the burger and beer I had my mind set on. We’re now in the room. I’m typing and Judy’s plotting our movements for tomorrow. On foot, I can guarantee you that!

Taupo, New Zealand

Yesterday afternoon Judy and I agreed on three objectives for today, Halloween:

1. Pay no entrance fees for any activity whatsoever. No tours, no pay-per-view geysers, no commercial caves.

2. A low key, somewhat relaxing day. We’ve been on the go for seven straight days (or 28-day trip is now one-fourth complete). It’s hard to believe. On the one hand it’s hard to believe we’re 1/4 done. On the other, arriving in Auckland seems like several weeks ago, not five days. But it’s time for us old foggies to act our age. And besides, we’ve got a six-hour drive to Wellington tomorrow and would like to spend three hours or so in Tongairo National Park on the way. Tongairo is home to three volcanic mountain peaks. One was snow covered this morning so we probably can’t summit, having left our pitons and ice boots at home.

3. Do the laundry. Did I ever mention that Judy is a sainte? She is.

4. Get to bed before 11 PM, which is why I’m typing this at 5 PM. When laundry’s done we’ll head into town and get some grub. We saw a place last night that advertises Authentic New Zealand cuisine, including venison. We’ll need to check that out.

So we slept in until 7:30, had muffins and juice in our room which, incidentally, looks out on Lake Taupo with views of the aforementioned volcano peaks to the south. We also talked with Jeff and had a great conversation with Reagan. This trip brings back fond memories for all three of us when we went to Normandy and Paris last year. Wish we had a grandkid or two along on this trip – they’d all enjoy it.

As to Objective 1, we technically achieved the no-fee goal. Here’s what we did:

1. Drove to the Aratiatia Dam, a hydro project where they open the dam three times a day (four times a day during summer months). There’s a big flood of water that lasts for 15 minutes, filling an otherwise empty river into Class 5 rapids. Why they open it when they do is a mystery to me. Why three times a day (four in the summer)? Is it to provide peak power during daylight hours, especially Summer afternoons when everyone has their airconditioners running? Or is it to satisfy tourists’ need for something to take selfies in front of? Or do they just need to empty the lake behind the dam every so often? Whatever the reason, it made for some pretty pictures.

Cost: $0

2. Hiked five miles from the Dam to Huka falls. It took us over 3 hours; they advertise it as a two-hour trip but I took 275 pictures and Judy shot enough video to make a full-length Hobbit movie.

Cost: $0

3. The hike ended at Huka Falls. If you think Aratiatia was something you ought to see Huka Falls. Rushing water before at and after the falls proper. See the pictures. Pretty spectacular.

Cost: $0

4. Taxi ride back to the car at the dam. We’d thought of hiking into town (another five miles) and getting a taxi back to our car but decided it was 2 PM, we were hungry and hey, we’re supposed to be relaxing today.

Entrance Fee: $0
The taxi did charge a $35 exit fee, but our goal was $0 ENTRANCE fee, right?

5. We drove to the Prawn Park, a commercial enterprise where you can catch, cook and eat your very own prawns. They have numerous big tanks full of prawn (sorta like a fresh water shrimp) where you fish. You can even drive golf balls to kill the prawns; I didn’t investigate how exactly that works, but they had full bags of rightie and leftie clubs. Unfortunately, because of our $0 entrance fee pledge, we could only eat in the restaurant.

Cost: $0
Excluding the lunch tab for deep fried prawns and prawns in a curry sauce.

6. Wallowing in warm sand in front of our hotel. Our room is about 10 meters from Lake Taupo. The sandy beach is called a warm beach because thermal water flows through it. It’s scalding hot if you dig too deep. Judy dug down, made a nice little nest and luxuriated in mud-covered splendor. After we both went in the hot pool to help our aching joints and muscles.

Cost: $0
Unfortunately, while the fee for the first wallower is $0, the fee for a second is more than I am willing to pay. I took pictures.

7. Laundry, nap and journaling. When the last load is done we’ll head into town for dinner.

Then, up at the crack of dawn and off to Wellington. By the way, the left-side driving thing is going well. As with jet lag, I was just about over it by Day 3. The only residual problems are that I still open the left door before I realize that the steering wheel is on the ledt and I still can’t remember that the turn signal is on the right. I wipe the windows instead of activating the turn signal but Judy says, “It happens less often.”

Note on tonight’s dinner: The Vine in downtown Taupo. Just a light supper, tapas style:

– Venison meatballs

– Braised portk belly

– Rack of lamb, shared

– Scallop and chorizo risoto

– Stickey date pudding with hokey pokey ice cream

It was the best meal in New Zealand so far and one of the best we’ve had anywhere in quite some time. I’m calling Air New Zealand in the morning and reserving two more seats for the flight home. We’ll overflow into a second seat if we keep eating like this.