It is Finished!

The end has come; I have told as much of our story as I could in the short amount of time and space I had. But trust us, if you want to know or see more, we would be happy to oblige. All you have to do is ask and we would love to share. Thanks again for traveling along with us.

Mike and Janet

6/4/2008 Hamilton Gardens and Home!

We spent the night in Hamilton so we would be closer to Auckland and our flight home. We had several hours to kill so we toured the Hamilton Gardens, had breakfast at the cafe and wandered through the different gardens, particularly the Paradise Gardens which were all patterned after these different areas, including a Japanese garden, a modern American garden, a Chinese garden, an Indian garden, an Italian garden and an English garden. It was a great way to end our weeks of travel; very restful and relaxing and the weather was a warm "fall" day with "just right" temperatures, sun and wind. We left by 1 o'clock to be able to drop off the car and begin our journey home. Every thing went perfect and we arived home safe and sound. We left New Zealand at 9:30 PM on June 4th and arrived at DFW airport at 10:30PM on June 4th!!! Yes, that "1 hour" journey sure seemed alot longer....and it was!

It was a once-in-a-lifetime trip and one that we were both glad we made!!!!!!!

6/3/2008 Waitomo Caves

Another great drive through more hills and valleys took us to our destination at Blackwater Rafting Company. There we signed up to view the Rukura Cave (via the walkways) with it's magnificent limestone creations and beautiful stalagtites and stalagmites. We even got to "spy" on those who chose the more rugged cave adventure that includes abseiling (down on a rope) with an inner tube, some floating, some walking in 60 degree or colder water...made us glad we didn't chose it!!! After an hour and a half we exited back into the sunight for our next cave adventure. Still in the same area, we were escorted down some steps and through caverns to a boat ride in total darkness to experience the lights of the glowworms on the ceiling of the cave. It felt like we were suspended somewhere with a million stars floating above us. The "glow" comes from the luminescent sac at the end of the worms body, while the long, silky "webs" dangle down to catch their prey, insects etc. that find their way into the caverns. We were both really glad we hadn't missed this part of our New Zealand adventure.

6/2/2008 Rotorua, Here We Come!

Finally we were on our way to this town we had heard so much about. Knowing one day was hardly emough to see all it had to offer, we chose wisely. Our first stop was to Te Puia, a Maori Village. We arrived just in time to join the 11 o'clock guided tour. It was very interesting and informative about how the Maori's lived and about their beliefs. It was also home to one of the country's more active geysers...the Pohutu Geyser which erupts 2-3 times an hour and can jet up as high as 60 feet. It is always more active after the rain so we got to see it erupt several times, but only to heights of 30-40 feet. After observing the training at the weaving school and the carving school, we were just in time for the Welcome Ceremony. Of course they needed a male volunteer, and since no one else was willing, Mike stepped forward and became the "chief" to lead us all into the "whare" where the ceremony was held. We were entertained with action songs, female poi dances and traditional stick games and the famous war dance, The Huka (with spears, grunts and scary faces!) After a quick lunch, sandwich for Mike and traditional hungi meal (steamed meat and vegetables cooked in a buried oven) for me, we headed to the Buried Village which was the site of the 1886 volcanic eruption of Mt. Tarawere that buried more than 150 people as well as the Pink and White Terraces (silica and limestone series of steps formed by the geothermal activity) which were known as the 8th Wonder of the World. We couldn't resist the 400m drive to the lookout over the Lake for a beautiful sunset picture.

6/1/2008 Our 1st (and Only) Rainy Day!!!

First order of business was to get a new car or tire, whichever they decided. It turned out it was a car! Once we had breakfast and met the AVIS guy, we were on our way to the mountains. Only problem, once we reached the point where our hike would begin, it was raining and covered in dense fog. With no hope of clearing, we took our time driving back to Taupo and spent several hours at the Taupo Museum where we learned about the volcanic eruption that formed the lake and the mountains as well as toured the award winning outdoor garden depicting many areas of their culture. The weather cleared a bit so we went to Huka Falls on the Waireka River. The highlight is to take a $95 jet boat ride to the bottom of the falls, but we opted to stay on land and view it from above!

Time Out!!!

It is now 10:52 PM New Zealand time and I am going to bed! We leave tomorrow to come home and we are ready!!! We have had such a wonderful 6 weeks (almost) but do need to regroup and just be "normal" again. I still owe you all 3 more days, which were fantastic, but they will have to wait until we get home. I promise to finish this blog and let you know all about the rest of our mountain exploration, the Maori culture and Rotorua, and the Waitomo Caves. Bet you can't wait, huh? Thanks for hanging in there with us. We have enjoyed sharing with you all.
Until later......

5/31/2008 Traversing the Thermal Highway.....

First stop was at Orakei Korako the "place of adorning" by the Maori people, where the geothermal activity was very inspiring and surreal. The morning was cool and the steam hung low over the areas as the pools bubbled and spewed the hot water in the air and over the silica beds which were various colors due to the algae and minerals in the water. Our journey took us past bubbling pools, overlooks, geysers and then on a walk through the bush to the Rautapu Cave, past mud pools, and back through the forest. It was an amazing and very spiritual place. We were lucky to enjoy it almost by ourselves. One thing we have discovered traveling in this "off season" for the area is that there are no crowds or lines to contend with. It has been so great to be able to take our time at all that we have seen and just enjoy. Driving back through Taupo, we grabbed some sandwiches at Subway (yes, more American food) and drove south towards the trio of mountains in Tongariro National Forest, one of which was Mt. Ngaurhoe (Mt. Doom in the Lord of the Rings trilogy). We found what we believed was it; and it had snow on it!!! Surprising because the elevations of the mountains are only between 7,000 and 8,500 feet. We found the Park office and made plans to come back up tomorrow to take a 2km hike to Tanaki Falls and walk part way up into Mt. Doom. Only hiccup this day was a flat tire on the way down (nearly dusk and Mike was changing the right rear tire on the side of a very narrow, winding road!) but he managed just fine. This is the 2nd tire he has helped change (one at Bill's farm) so I hope it's not an omen; we still have 4 days left!