North New Zealand Addendum (& Parent Update) - By Steve

Autumn just posted a wonderful blog with amazing pics and stories. This post shall fill in some of the gaps... mostly for posterity's sake.

Firstly, an update on my parents. My father's procedure was longer than expected, but ultimately went well (they shoved a stent in the stent...how cool is that?). While he spent most of his time in the hospital to maintain his IV antibiotics, he was released on temporary daily furloughs to have a meal out and wander the town of Hamilton with my mom. They have safely returned to U.S. soil as of Dec 21, where my father is recovering well. We truly appreciate the well wishes and kind words.

Before I just pepper you with pictures and captions, here are some general thoughts and musings about the North Island:

- The North Island is a bit hard to explain. It's kind of like a platypus - all jumbled up but comes together in a really eye-catching and interesting way. The tropical tree ferns blend in with the pine forests which give way to ranch and farmland scaling up hills and mountains still being born by volcanic activity. All this surrounded by picturesque turquoise ocean lapping up on sandy beaches. It is VERY green, or at least in December it is.

- Both Australia and New Zealand have been inept at coffee. It's funny because Lonely Planet talks of their love of a cuppa. If they really loved it, they wouldn't stand for the instant garbage they swill, or the $4 small cup they shell out for an average cappuccino.

- ‎The turning radius of the 10 passenger Toyota Hiace is nothing less than a miracle. That thing can spin on a dime like it's a golf cart. Kudos to the engineers.

- ‎I'm not entirely sure how it began, but there is definitely some manner of rivalry between the Aussies and the Kiwis. It doesn't really compute as they are both lovable people. It would be like if we hated the Canadians. Makes no sense.

- ‎This isn't just a New Zealand thing, it's a world thing... Where did they all go wrong with the standard flushing toilet. American Standard and Kohler have honed in on the perfect blend of shape and water deluge. We have taken to calling un-american toilets "poop tumblers," because that appears to be their function. Only if by chance everything aligns properly can your waste be laid to waste.

- ‎I have been grousing about not having a garbage disposal for five months now, and we finally found an Airbnb with one! I never used it... Life is funny, huh?

Waitomo Area

This is a picture of the Waitomo Glowworm Cave. It looked like this. But of course they wouldn't let us take pictures in there. I showed them... used Google Photoscan to take a picture of a couple postcards in the gift shop.

The glowworms attract insects with their glowing butts and ensnare them with a gooey string that they dangle down.

This is what Bryce wanted from the glow worm gift shop. Funny kid. 

We drove about 20 minutes in the wrong direction to take in the Haggas Lookout. This incredibly informative display illustrated all of the magnificent mountains and valleys we could see... if you stood on the sign to peer over the massive bushes and trees directly in the way. 

The north island is a vibrant green nearly everywhere you look. Kind of reminds me of the brief 2 month period in Jan/Feb in the bay area before it becomes the golden state.

Hamilton Area

Sometimes detours (spending time in Hamilton with my parents) unveils unexpected curiosities. Turns out that this town in the middle of New Zealand was the original home of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. 

Taupo Area

View from our balcony in Taupo.

Lake Taupo, the largest lake in New Zealand is the caldera of a massive volcano. It's a big lake. Nicole and I took a lovely mini date walk along the lake during sunset. It was pretty amazing.  

We arrived during a stormy day and didn't realize we were staring at a snowy volcano across the lake. It's still quite active.

Sometimes you just got to go mini golfing. Great course with really "true" greens, not like most with rips, seams, and leaf debris. We netted a handful of hole in ones.

Autumn had to visit the Taupo Library as part of her studies.

Not entirely sure why, but this McDonald's had this in front. 

Huka Falls. It's unlike any other "waterfall" I have ever seen. It drains Lake Taupo and necks down to about 30 feet. The volume of water rushing through it sort of rattles your core. It can fill an Olympic swimming pools in 11 seconds. 

Rotorua Area

Kind of like a Hawaiian Luau, we went to the Mitai Maori cultural experience. Definitely worth it. 

It's a bit difficult to photograph this spring, but suffice it to say, it was magical. The water spills up from below through black sand. There is no bubbles so the water is crystal clear and calm. Nicole said she could stare at this forever and vows to recreate this somehow at home. 

The most convincing Maori warrior was the white guy at the front of the boat. He was really in to it. 

Lots of dancing, singing, and ball twirling. Quite entertaining. 

The Australian and Pacific plates are crashing together directly under New Zealand, creating a very volcanic and geothermal zone. It also happens to be below our airbnb house, which has taken advantage of this free source of steam to create their own geothermal pool. It was compulsory for us to have a soak. 

Quite literally 500yds from our Airbnb was a typical central park you would find in any reasonable sized town. However, this park had hot ponds, mud pots, and steam vents everywhere. Just have a wander, it's free....

About 20 minutes outside of Rotorua is the WaiOtapu Thermal Wonderland (that's not me making up some cheesy name, it's actually called wonderland). It was pretty good and very much like Yellowstone. However this geyser was a bit amusing to me. It goes off like clockwork at 10:15am everyday. Not because of some unique underground configuration of the rocks and steam, but because they dump chemicals in the top to make it erupt. What really made me laugh, and I have noticed it more and more, is the fact that the entire audience is watching it through their little phones and iPads. I took this picture, not because of the geyser, but to highlight the crowd. 

We see you Autumn...

Luge. We tried our hands at the one man roller coaster at ZipWorld in Wales (see blog), so we thought we would try it luge style. This was highly entertaining and added the element of careening off the course into the surrounding forest.

Unfortunately this picture doesn't really show what most of the course looks like. It's actually really just a curvy road that is about 10 feet wide allowing for racing and passing other people by. It's a bit chaotic really and you're moving quite fast. The advanced course actually gave me some hang time as I flew over an unexpected hill.

Ride up a ski lift

Road Trip to Coromandel Peninsula

Why did the hedgehog cross the road? Because it was old and senile and had no idea where it was. Good thing his attempt was just after a bridge as I was only going 20. 

Getting in to the Christmas spirit. Random driftwood tree along the side of the road. 

New Zealand has been pretty good at sunsets

Nicole noted how much the sunset looked like the Patagonia Logo

The colors were magical. The ocean had a sort of steel blue hue.

Silly 1/4 Asian tourists.

Whangapoua & Whitianga

This is Hot Water Beach. There is about a 1/4 acre area of beach exposed during low tide that has pockets of VERY hot water just under the surface. So for about 4 hours, every man, woman, and child swarms to this spot to dig their own personal hot tub. The trick is to find the perfect spot between a hot spring and a cold spring so that you can regulate the temperature. 

You ever wake up one morning and some odd muscle hurts but you don't know why? Turns out shoveling wet sand will lead to a sore back. 

Humans are a funny beast. When you no longer have to spend entire days hunting, gathering, and defending yourself from wild beasts, recreation becomes relevant. Sometimes I imagine how strange it would be to happen upon a beach and see wild Chimpanzees doing the same thing.

This is Cathedral Cove. Really pretty beach at the end of a 30 minute coastal walk. Autumn posted some awesome pictures as well.

NZ has a bunch of PSA billboards all along their highways. Most are fairly self explanatory, but this one left us bewildered. 

Local beach in Whangapoua. One mile of nearly deserted beach that would be positively jammed in California. 

Hamilton Farewell

We broke out my Dad from the hospital for one last dinner before we headed down to the South Island. 

Even as a last minute emergency one night booking, Airbnb pulled through. We ended up in a quaint cottage on the outskirts of Hamilton town. 

This is Chico (the one on the left, that is)

Goodbye Kiwi Cruiser. We'll power up one more time in the South Island - RV Style.

BTW, Thanks to everyone that have given us positive feedback on this blog.

Next Stop... New Zealand South Island... in an RV.