Day 5

Rotorua

We had to get up early the next morning to get Steven to a pick up point for his slegding/rafting day. We drove the 8km back to town to wait at the outdoorsmans shop. The kids and I grabbed a coffee and a cocoa and kissed him goodbye as he jumped in a surfer van filled with 20 year olds.

While dad was gone, Ally, Austin and I headed over to the Whakarewarewa thermal reserve. The hardest part was driving the big campervan without a co-pilot. Trying to back out of a busy parking spot, I stalled three times and cut off an angry local. The reserve wasn’t that far away – thank goodness. Whakarewarewa is a Maori village settlement, where Maori still live today. 10 years ago the women came up with the idea of charging tourist for tours. It was having a special anniversary. The place was packed with locals. The Maori remind me a lot of American Indians, still struggling to find a successful way in a world where their traditions now mean less. We started with a guided tour. Austin was miserable. He was afraid of the steam and thermal holes, afraid of the large, scary looking Maori people and missing Dad. Ally had no desire to walk anywhere.

We watched how they steam their food in the vents everyday, and take a communal thermal bath every evening. (we didn’t watch the actual bathing!) After the tour we watched a song and dance show, with poi balls and Haka moves. On the way out we got a boxed hangi lunch, which is steamed chicken, veggies, stuffing and bread all cooked on the volcanic steam vents. Ally ate, but Austin was too afraid, refusing in case of poison. After seeing a real tattoo artist doing tattoos on site, Austin became a whimpering pain. I think the boy needs an older brother-- Stat. So we left the reserve and headed to the north part of the lake to try to catch a view of dad.

It was sheer luck that we pulled in to the Okere waterfall reserve park and heard voices of rafters going by. So we rushed to the first waterfall viewpoint just in time to see dad going over a large waterfall in a rubber raft! I was taking pictures before I even knew it was Steven. In the excitement, Austin hit my camera case and sent it and the batteries and memory card flying over the edge. Thank goodness the camera was in my hands. I spent a few minutes figuring out how to climb down a gorge when I decided it just was too hard. By then we could hear what sounded like Maori chants, so we decided to run further down the trail to find out where the sounds where coming from. After a 10 minute jog, we came to another viewpoint for yet another waterfall and there were the rafters heading down again. This time we were able to ID Steven and give a big wave! Our timing was miraculous.

We drove back down to Hell’s Gate to pick up Dad. The rafting place is next door to a thermal reserve and mud bath. We headed over to do a mud bath, but it was really expensive and thought it might be nicer just to relax in the holiday park for a couple of hours. The one thing I didn’t plan for well was just how fun the campervan holiday parks are. They have playgrounds, trampolines and more and are usually in really scenic settings. So we went back to swing, jump and explore. Austin and I rented a funky buggy bike, while Dad and Ally played at the lakeside park. If it weren’t windy, we would have been swimming. The lake was warm, but the wind was so strong and cool that you’d have to stay submerged to enjoy it.

After a recharge we headed back out to go to the Luge and have dinner. You ride up a large gondola to a scenic hilltop. From there you can choose one of 3 routes down: Scenic, intermediate and advance. I thought the scenic was white knuckle enough, but the kids and dad wanted more. After a couple of runs, we had a buffet dinner at the top. While the food had been rated high online and in books, we felt you were really paying for the view. Of course, the dessert bar wasn’t that bad!

Day 4

Hahei to Rotorua

















We woke to the sound of a downpour and to Ally crying. Ally had a fever and was miserable. We pulled our wet shoes inside the campervan and figured the laundry hanging on the line and the camp gear could be re-dried. I then spent the rest of the night blowing Ally’s nose, rubbing her tummy and watching over her. When we woke for morning, it was late and we were all still tired. The clouds had broken up, but the wind had taken its place. We didn’t realize till then how lucky we were to get a smooth, warm perfect day for kayaking the day before. Our plan today was mostly driving and possibly blow-karting. Seeing the wind Steven, knew he had to do it.

I went for a quick jog and to the store while everyone was still asleep. I came back to Steven cooking a nice breakfast of bacon and eggs for us. After eating and cleaning up, we drove to Hot Water Beach. It’s a famous for its hot spring fissures that leak up steamy hot water during low tide. We rented a shovel and headed out with the crowds. After no luck for a while, everyone realized that the tide needed to go out a bit more. What started as a bunch of hot tub holes became a big communal one. The spot we could find the hot water was still at the edge of the waves, so every time we dug a hole the waves would fill it in. But we could definitely feel the hot water. If you stuck your feet in more than a few inches into the sand, it got too hot! Our kayak guide had told us about a lady how jumped in her hole without testing the temperature and had to be helicopter airlifted to a hospital. Instead of waiting for the tide to finish going out, we felt we got enough of the concept and experience to head on. Today was one of our longest drive days. I thought it would take us around 3 hours. With the late start, we had to skip my hike and train in Karangahake Gorge and lunch at a winery. But we did make it to Blow-kart in plenty of time.

Blow-kart is a cross between a sail boat and a go-kart. Just up Steven’s alley. Austin was crushed to find out he wasn’t old enough to go. They used to have duel person karts that kids could ride in, but stopped after some kids got hurt. The day was so windy, the owner was only letting ages 13 and up go on the track. I think it helped that Austin saw a group of 3 boys that couldn’t go either.

But Dad did go, and go he did. Steven zipped around corners, lifting his tires off the ground. If we ever had a good place to use one, we could see owning one in our future.

Austin was so disappointed that we made a serious effort to get to the Zorb that evening. But first we stopped at a kiwi orchard and processing plant. The tours were over for the day, which was probably better for our schedule. At Kiwi 360, we basically looked in the shop and went potty, but it was cool to see a kiwi orchard. It was laden with fruit, just that the fruit weren’t ripe otherwise, we would have been still sitting there eating them.

After the Orchard we made it to the Zorb near Rotorua. It was twilight, and we were the only ones in the place. The wind was still up, so our only choice was to Zorb with water. We jumped in a rugged, old van and drove up to the top of the hill. There the guy put some warm water in it and then we climbed in a little hole. Once he tapped the side we’d start crawling like a hamster in a wheel. Austin rode with Dad and Ally rode with me. Once the ball got rolling, we’d jump back on our bottoms and ride like a combination of wash machine a waterslide. The water inside stops you from turning complete circles, so it has more waterslide momentum. We were warm inside, but once we slid out, we were freezing! But even the cold couldn’t stop our excitement. We asked if we could buy one more trip, but since they were near closing, they gave us another ride for free! This time Ally, Austin and I rode together, crashing and bashing and laughing the whole way down.

As soon as we could, we ran for the motorhome, put on warm, dry clothes and headed down to fuel up at Fat Dog Café in Rotorua and on to our camp. Even though it was almost dark, we could tell the park was scenic. The Top Ten Holiday park was at the edge of Blue Lake. I felt like I could have been in Washington State, except the water was a lot warmer! Since it was late and we were tired, we pulled in, plugged in and went to sleep.

Day 3

We woke early and had cereal and yogurt breakfast huddled in the campervan with the heater on, while we watched locals eating outside at their picnic tables. We then had to grab our gear and head out for adventure. We met a sea kayak guide on the beach at 8:45. Tyrell was our fearless guide. There was another large group with another leader, but because we had small kids, they gave us our own private tour group. This was the first time we had done sea kayaking with real skirted sea kayaks (versus the open top, more stable ones.) We pushed out through the breaking waves on the shore and realized this would be a heartier trip than a simple bay cruise. We headed out to an island where an ancient Maori declared that it looked like his nose, thus according to custom if it look like a part of your body than it belongs to you. The island then became sacred. We circumnavigated the island, including some rough waters crashing near rocks, a cave tunnel and a narrow rock passage. From there we headed inland to Cathedral Cove. Ally must have sensed that it rated one of the top ten most beautiful beaches in the world, because she asked if the Maori got married there. She also said, “It looked like a Masterpiece, a Masterpiece by God.” The only way to reach the beach is by boat or an hour hike. The water in front of it is a marine reserve. After surfing our kayaks onto the beach, we got out and explored the area. We walked through the large arch, swam in some waves and Steven was able to swim out to a large rock and jump off with some teenagers. After that we headed back to the kayaks where hot cocoa and cookies awaited us. Nice.

With one more dip in the ocean, we got back in our kayaks and headed back. We were able to kayak into one more cave. This one wasn’t a tunnel, but had a small beach. Only one kayak could fit in at a time. We also passed a snorkeling trail with guided buoys.

The original plan was to rush to hot water beach afterward to catch the low tide. But we got back a bit late and wanted it to feel like a vacation, so we figured we’ll stay late tomorrow and see it then. Instead we made a really nice picnic by our campervan and then headed back to the beach to swim, snorkel and collect sea shells.

When we were all sated of sand and sun, we showered up and jumped in the campervan to head 12 km to the town of Whititianga. This is the biggest commercial town nearby. To give you perspective of the size, it got its first grocery store two years ago. To get there by car it takes an hour and 40km, but we got there by boat. We drove to the oldest wharf in NZ where we caught a tiny passenger ferry that runs back and forth continuously. Once across, we went to The Fireplace for dinner. The restaurants here have had great atmosphere and been kid friendly in such perfect ways. This restaurant had a great park and playground across the street in front of it. We could see the kids from our table (but don’t worry grandparents… I went with them, while Steven waited for the food.) We ordered a pizza with strange sounding combination like chili sauce and yogurt. I was very skeptical, but it was excellent. After dinner we tried to walk to ice cream and the grocery store, but found out we were too late as the store closed at 8pm. But we found a small market still open and really enjoyed walking through the small town. We caught the small ferry back watching the families fishing off the pier. Ally fell in love for the second time on the trip with a cute, teenage guy who was fishing. The night and scenery were so beautiful, who could blame her for feelings.

Back at the holiday park, we got excited by two discoveries. One we found a hedgehog right near our campervan. It tried to play dead, so we were able to get great photos. The other was that we looked up when we went to the bathroom and were completely taken aback by the brightness, the number of stars overhead.

Day 2

The lack of sleep and jet lag made us all sleep in. When we did get up we realized we really were camping. We set up a table and chairs outside and ate our chocolate cereal outside bundled in jackets. While the weather cast had predicted clear, hot days, the dark grey clouds overhead suggested otherwise. We showered and did our camping chores. The kids and I also visited the Butterfly garden on site. It was an overpriced tourist attraction. But if you ignored the fact that your wallet had been raped, it was a nice distraction. We learned that butterflies have a life span of two weeks and that some varieties eat rotten fruit instead of nectar.

We didn’t get on the road until after noon. A little late for the day planned, but this was vacation…. We drove east up SH 25, where the scenery turned from suburbs to rugged coastline. It was strange to stare out at the Pacific and know that the next land was Hawaii. Despite being hungry, we decided to drive all the way to our first activity, the Waiau Waterworks. The sky was looking ominous and soon it was pouring rain. We decided lunch before entering would be wise. But Austin decided that a ham sandwich on bread with butter was too exotic for him and threw a fit. So Austin and I sat in the campervan while dad and Ally toured the park. When Ally and dad came back excited about their adventure, Ally took me on a tour. The park is quintessential New Zealand to us --whacky, whimsical, eccentric, green and open and would never exist in litigious USA.

The park is a bit hard to describe. It’s a beautiful piece of property that has a gorgeous swimming creek running along side it. The park feature homemade creations using water. There were fountains that could be moved, waterwheels and bicycle water pumps, The place is whimsical and wacky, but a place we loved and could have spent all day there. A trail takes you past all kinds of homemade projects from a clock made with plywood and waterbottels to ziplines (flying foxes) and merry-go-round-like bicycles that went up in the air. Austin pulled it together at the end so we let him go to the park. That combined with a late start made us a bit worried about reaching our next stop before bedtime. But the rain dampened the next few pits stops. From the Waterworks we continued down the 309 road, a winding gravel road that cuts through the peninsula. Steven was worried as we didn’t see another car for a long time and he thought I was a bit crazy. Our first pit stop was Waiau Waterfall. It’s a short trail down to a scenic waterfall and swimming hole. It’s a great place to stand under a fall. But since it was raining and cool we just enjoyed climbing over the rocks and taking photos. If it wasn’t raining the water would have been crystal clear. Our second pit stop was a Kauri tree walk. I picked it because it was short and yet we got to see the great trees up close. Kauri trees are huge, but there are very few left as they were logged for lumber, especially for making Brittish ship building.

After we left the 309, we drove on to Hahei to check in. We loved this holiday park. It was right near the ocean in a small town. (About 4 shops small.) After checking in we drove out to a restaurant called Eggscentric Café. We decided to pass the wineries, a macadamia orchard, honey farm, and fruit stands as it was getting dark and we were hungry. The café looked sort of like a sprawling house filled with art. As we walked in there was a guy carving sculptures out of logs outside. All around the yard of the café were rope swings, tire swings, sand box and pieces of art. We grabbed a table and ordered while the kids could run around. This was also the place I had seen a rope swing on the beach in a web photo. So Steven and Austin walked to the beach across the street and sure enough there was a rope swing on a gorgeous little bay. We all went back and forth several times.

One of the reasons we wanted to eat at this café was that they had live music on Sunday nights. I asked the waitress and she said the band couldn’t make it, but that Dave would be playing later. I assumed “Dave” was the owner or chef. So I wasn’t surprised when a young guy started playing the piano and singing with a friend on a guitar. This guy was spectacular! Ally fell instantly in love and I wanted to fly him out to American Idol. We stayed until they shut the restaurant. As the singer was leaving, I asked him what his story was. Turns out he wasn’t “Dave”. His name was Will Martin, a native New Zealander, who is now a recording artist in London and travels the world on tour! He is actually a classical singer, but was just there for dinner and had fun playing rock and pop songs for the crowd! Check out his website at www.willmartin.net

New Zealand North Island

DAY 1

After an 11 hour flight we landed in Auckland. I have to say our kids have become very good little travelers though. They sprawled out across our economy seat asleep with heads in our laps despite the numbness and muscle aches in our legs. Waiting for our luggage the police dog sniffed out our bags and identified us. Turns out he wasn’t looking for drugs, but fresh produce goods. We had had an apple and cherries in our backpack on the plane, but had already eaten them. The good dog got a treat and we got to go through customs.

Our first impression of Auckland reminded us of California, but with a tropical feel. We waited a half hour for a huge yellow bus to take us to the RV rental center. Our good little travels melted down during this stage. At the RV center things were a bit better for everyone. Steven was able to shower, the kids could play in small play area and I filled out the paperwork. We toured the RV, learned how to empty the poop canister (which we’ve been drilling the kids we will NEVER use) and hit the road.

We did get a little lost trying to find the highway; (nothing like doing a u-turn in a RV to make you read a map more carefully.) We headed south on state highway 1 to the Coromandel Peninsula. We heard that there are more sheep in NZ than people, but from our view we only saw cows. Our first stop was at the grocery store/mall in Thames, a small gateway city at the base of the peninsula --wasn’t the best impression. We ate at a dirty McDonalds filled with flies, because it was the only restaurant open in the mall. We then shopped at PaknSav, which seemed to be warehouse-discount store, filled with motley shoppers.

After cramming groceries in any spare spot, we only had a few kilometers to go Dickson Holiday Park. It wasn’t quite as scenic and spacious as the photo shopped website would have you believe. While Steven and I rolled our eyes at the place, the kids were in pure heaven. They grabbed their butterfly nets and took off out the door to catch wild ducks in the creek. They declared the ducks would not be for dinner, but would be a pet only. Lucky for the ducks, they evaded capture. Despite being jetlagged and exhausted we still managed to play in the creek and go for a swim before heading to bed. Steven was able to pop in ear plugs and get some sleep. I on the other hand dealt with wild monkeys lose in a campervan, hopping beds, throwing bedding, going potty (yes-in the campervan on the first night, so I figured I might as well too!) Of course, none of this seemed funny at the time.