Tooling around Tairua

Feb. 28, 2011
Surf Sessions = 16
Km Driven = 5600

Yesterday we headed to Tairua after our dabbling at Hot Water Beach. We would've stayed at Whanga longer but another family had the place we were staying reserved. Tairua is about 50 km north of Whangamata further up the Coromandel Peninsula. We found a nice backpacker there right on the estuary. Another beautiful place in NZ...seems there are an endless number! We traveled to a variety of sights, George caught a surf session, and we did a bit of tooling around. All in all a quiet day:)

Whangamata - Day 5: Hot Water Beach trip

Feb. 27, 2011
Surf sessions = 15
Km Driven = 5450
No trip to the Coromandel Peninsula is complete without a trip to Hot Water Beach.

People 200 m in the backgound digging for "hot water gold"!

This beach has an interesting geologic oddity...a hot geothermal stream that surfaces just at the water level at low tide! Now when I say "hot" I mean scalding in some spots. We arrived a bit late (2 hours after low tide...it is recommended to arrive about 1-1/2 hours prior and to leave about 1-1/2 hours after low tide...for best results!) so the crowds were gone, but so was access to "real" hot water. We dug our own hole to see if we could get some of that soothing hot water on our toes only to be met with a little tepid water

Hmmm...kinda warm but those waves sure are gettin' close!

and a quickly rising tide which eventually "claimed" our little hot water kingdom.

Oh no! Here it comes! Maia bails on the "kingdom".

Alisa is left with "flood damage"

This place is really great. Hordes of people show up with all manner of digging implements (you can rent a spade for $5/day at a shop at the end of the beach) and get to the task of digging large "tubs" in the sand. A variety of problems exist as there is a very hot geothermal "river" running underneath you from large rock outcrops above the beach...some parts are too hot, some too cool, and some just right.

Hot water emanates beneath the sand from underneath colored rocks like these 100 m down the beach.

There is a mad scramble to "claim" real estate and stake out your own property lines in the wet sand. Then there is the problem with wet sand...it likes to cave in! More frequently than not, the hole you dig collapses on one side and "joins" with the one next door, either sucking their hot water into yours (if yours is deeper) or vice versa. Then there is the problem we witnessed a few days ago of two middle aged women who "claimed" a large tub dug by a family after they left...and proceeded to lay out like 2 beached whales all the while sneering at the surrounding mob to keep them at bay and not "share" their tub. All in all, more novelty than relaxation...but really funny to watch. And THEN...the tide ALWAYS comes in eventually...sweeping away countless man/woman/kid-hours of toil in a matter of about 30 minutes. That part is really fun to watch...people act as if something they "owned" got stolen from them...human beings are funny creatures!
George got 2 surf sessions in; one just adjacent to the hot water madness early in the day and then another at a reef break further south about 300 meters. The second session was brought on by being "forced" to watch another surfer catch nice shoulder high peelers...all by himself in the lineup. This was just too much for George to take and he proceeded to paddle out. He struck up a nice conversation with the bloke out in the water who commented on how he was surprised that he had the break to himself on such a nice day (he lived directly above the break). George owned up to the fact that it was "too painful to watch a single surfer getting such nice waves all to himself". The local just laughed and they shared a good 1-1/2 hours of perfect rights which were "leftovers" from the week's cyclone.

Whangamata - Day 4: Waihi Beach trip

Feb. 26, 2001
Surf sessions = 13
Km Driven = 5300

Another beautiful day on the Coromandel Peninsula was had by traveling a bit south to Waihi Beach. We have been here before 5 years earlier when we visited our friends Glenn, Gina, Maddie and Mallory when they lived in NZ for 9 months. The beach break was going off nicely due to the cyclone stalling off the coast just to the SE and both George and Alisa got their share of waves while taking turns corralling Maia on the beach:)
The day was truly a gorgeous day and that begs for an ice cream break...Maia's favorite after a stint of wading in the surf and a bout of sand swimming!

Mmmm, ice cream! I love you SOOOO MUCH MOMMY!

I am just so happy right now:)

Whangamata - Day 3: Dah Bah!

Feb. 25, 2011
Surf Sessions = 11
Km Driven 5180

George ...Happy As!!!!

Another perfect day of sun, sand and surf:) George got to get two sessions today, one at "Dah Bah" (The Bar)

and another at the beach break. The surf has eased off quite a bit but still producing nicely shaped waves at The Bar like a machine. At times one could see 6-7 waves lined up with a surfer on each wave...quite a sight!
It is hard to believe but George is starting to complain about being "too tired" from surfing and tomorrow we will head out to other surrounding beaches to take in the sights. Tired also means "too tired to cook" which segued into a fine "take-away" meal of some superb fish and chips...yum!

Whangamata - Day 2

Feb. 24, 2011
Surf Sessions = 9
Km Driven = 5070

Another glorious sunny day was met with glee as George got not 1, not 2 but 3 surf sessions in today...and a bit of sunburn as he did not keep up with the sunscreen regimen needed here in NZ. Here they measure UV risk on a scale of 1-14...today was listed as 12 (extreme). It seems that SPF 60 needs to be re-applied more than just once or twice in a long day in the sun.
Alisa even went out and grabbed a few waves in between playing with Maia on the beach.
Today the surf is quite big. There are a number of breaks in the area, but the most popular one is The Bar at the mouth of the river here in "Whanga". From shore it looked to be at least single-overhead and extremely hollow with about 40-50 surfers out. It was definitely a day for the "locals". George skipped the opportunity as there was a lot of jockeying in the lineup and it is just not his type of vibe. Needless to say he had solid overhead surf at the beachbreaks and had a great time. Alisa spent a lot of time with Maia in the water and on the sand, much to Maia's glee...George just needed to get as much surfing in to burn off some steam so it was a good day for all.

Whangamata - Day 1

Feb. 23, 2011
Surf Sessions = 6
Km Driven 4870

Morning shone through the curtains and gave way to a bright sunny day...and beautiful shoulder high peelers at the beach break (cheers from George!). The surfing was great as George rented a nice longboard and proceeded to put it through its paces with long rides and toes on the nose. The surf report was showing some promise as there was a distant cyclone to the north that was spinning its way SE, directly into the swell window of Whangamata and the Coromandel Peninsula. The predictions were 3-5 meter swell with surf showing up in the 2-4 meter range...howls of glee ensued from George regularly about every 4 hours:)
Maia truly loves the beach. She frolicks in the water to about knee deep and does her bit of "sand surfing"...swimming the breast stroke in soft dry sand getting sand in every conceivable crevice in her body! The trouble with this is the sand extraction process which leads to shrieks and pleading, followed by subdued submission...and being mostly sand-free. This is usually followed by an ice cream session to appease the "wild animal". The whole trip she has been referring to herself as the "baby zebra" since she saw Racing Stripes. Alisa is mommy Horsie and George is the mythical creature from Winnie the Pooh - the Heffa-lump! Makes for interesting conversation on car rides. The day finished with a nice home cooked meal of pasta (a nice change from a lot of restaurant food).

Marehako Bay and the fish head eating incident!

Feb. 22, 2011
Surf sessions = 4
Km Driven =4400

We had a nice drive round the East Cape and landed in a beautiful tiny rocky bay with a 300 meter long sandy beach called Marehako Bay...absolutely gorgeous! The geology changes and becomes ancient volcanic basalt, so the rocks and cliffs are very dark brown/black. The flora changes as well and becomes a sea of Pohutukawa trees which have beautiful full rounded canopies providing nice shade. No surf in this area but beautiful sights as we are at the SE edge of New Zealand's Bay of Plenty (aptly named by Captain Cook himself). Upon arrival at the backpacker here, located in a multi-level home sitting right on the water, we discovered a sport fishing charter that had just come in that was getting rid of the head of a huge kingfish (yellowtail)! Alisa jumped at the opportunity to acquire it and set of to bake it in the communal kitchen of the backpacker we were staying at...only to be met with looks of disgust and revulsion by the Germans, French and Irish guests. It turned out to be extremely tasty (cheeks, neck meat and eyeballs). Alisa began her dinner course with an appetizer of its eyeballs (squish!...ugh!). After a sticky humid night with many crickets and mozzies (mosquitoes), George woke up early and hiked over the adjacent rocky point to access a sandy beach and went for a nice long walk to pray to God for some surf (the ocean was as flat as a mirror). Afterwards we got packed and headed towards Whangamata (pronounced Fanga-matah...with a heavy accent on the Mah-tah). We passed through Mount Manganui to check out the surf and it was small mushy windblown ankle-slappers. We did have a good tramp through some tidal pools with Maia and spotted some small shrimp, anenomes, various mussels and limpets, and other sea goodies. After our walk we headed to what would be our holiday bach for the next 5 nights in Whangamata. We got a great deal. George went online to book the place and it was listed at $150 a night as we are still at the tail end of their high season...he saw the place had a 5-night opening and e-mailed the owner to see if we could get a better deal. Well, she said we could have it for $75 a night...never hurts to ask!
We arrived to a cozy 2-bedroom bach that sat beneath a large 4-story holiday home that loomed above it. To tired from our driving led us to dinner and bed straightaway (Kiwi term used a lot).

The East Cape...rounding the Bend

Feb. 21, 2011
Surf Sessions = 4

Km Driven = 5500

Time to see the East Cape!  Well, as much as we can in a day anyway.  It is quite rural, very Maori, and gorgeous.  When we say “very Maori” what we mean is that culture is more than a word…we see Moko (including mouth tattoos on women), hear Te Reo (the language), and see maraes and schools with ornately carved gates.

Entry gate to an Anglican church's grounds

Maori tradition is so interwoven here that even the Anglican churches (predominant here but not alone; other Christian denominations are represented as well) are sometimes incorporated on the same land as the marae, and some of the churches are ornately adorned inside with Maori art. We did stop in at various surf breaks only to be greeted with placid, unsurfable flatness…moaning and groaning ensued from the driver at every view of the waveless ocean. We stopped at one river mouth break only to be greeted by a sea of driftwood

First glimpse of the endless "sea" of driftwood

…an endless sea that spread out as far as one could see to the right or to the left.

Viewto north

View south

It was really amazing as neither of us has ever seen such a sight at a beach anywhere in the world we have travelled…not in South America, Mexico, Europe, or Alaska. Our friend Sven would have been in a heavenly “prison cell” as there was an infinite number of pieces of wood that had an infinite number of possibilities to be carved into. I expect he would have slowly and happily descended into an eternal madness here. Maia, on the other hand, instantly discovered the only “constructed place” in this sea of sand, water and wood…

Looks a little like a Klingon Warbird!

"I just need to add a few touches to the place Mommy"

an enclave built by previous driftwood appreciaters! It is very much a “human” urge to “build” something or “create” something when so much “material” is just lying about. Maia just enjoyed the heck out of its primal-ness!

Kappa Haka: Part 2

Feb. 20, 2011

Surf Sessions = 4

Km Driven = 5100

We drove back into Gizzy for the finals – held in a serious downpour!  It rained all day and just got heavier as the day went on!  What we were really involved in was a Maori “Woodstock” complete with non-stop rain, mud, great performances and an overall great vibe! It was totally worth being there despite the discomfort of being soaked to our skivvies for 6 hours.  Our favorite group did not win, but did give a stellar performance.  While all of the groups sport both real and painted on Moko (traditional tattoo art) this group had a red/orange body paint as well that really emphasized their fantastic moves!  We bought some of the stamps issued for the occasion. 

I forgot to mention that there were wood carving demonstrations, weaving, jade (pounamu) carving, and more.  There were also booths for universities, health groups, fisheries, and so much more there.  Maia scored free balloons, postcards, an apple, a bag, posters…a bit like trick or treating!

However, it was so wet on the day of the finals and everyone was so glued to the action that there was not so much of this going on for the last day.  The “water slide” was still happening though, and the line of mud-nymphs was just as long!

When it was over we warmed up at a pub with grub and hot drinks.  Back at our cabin, we all slept well.

Kappa Haka: Part 1

Feb. 19, 2011
Surf Sessions = 4

Km Driven = 5000

In the morning we realized that our van was in desperate need of a new tyre (how “tire” is spelled in the “Queen’s English”) as our right rear one suddenly had some noticeable metal braid poking through.  We had images of this taking hours and hours, but were happily surprised to find that the local shop was just a few hundred meters away and the price was very reasonable!  They had it done quite quickly and we used the time to get a little breakfast, enjoy some buskers in the main street area, and get Maia some new water shoes. 

George dropped off Maia and I at Matitini while he went to move all of our stuff to our new cabin (spacious, looking at the beach and with a kitchen) up north of Gizzy ( ½ hour drive) at Tolaga Bay and check out the surf along the way.  I was really impressed and amazed by the organization and breadth of things at the competition.  First we took a shuttle (riding on a trailer behind a tractor) from the parking to the event area.  This took us through the vineyard (nope, the grapes are not quite ready yet…but the vines were whipping us about!).  After we got our passes (Maia had free entrance) we walked to the youth stage.  We enjoyed listening to an excellent couple of young Maori men doing original Reggae tunes.  Reggae is quite popular here and is used as a means for making political/social statements in the way Bob Marley did it.  Then Maia insisted we move on to “Haka!” She was distracted on the way by the Khotanga Reo being held…complete with jumpy castle, water games, spray on tattoos (Maia got dolphins on her leg) and art projects.  Then her attention moved to the fact that there was a very large water slide built into the hillside (with a long line of kids). Now when I say “water slide” what I really mean is 150 feet of black plastic laid into a fairly steep runnel in the hillside terminating in the “mud pool”! At least 2 dozen kids had extended their “tans” to a dozen shades browner via layers of wet and dried mud from head to toe. Finally we made it to the main stage!  We arrived just as one group was finishing.  I held Maia on my shoulders to watch the end of this performance and then we made our way to the front (a 15 minute endeavor).  We were glad to get to the front, but realized soon that it was too hot and too crowded for a toddler.  So we moved back to somewhere around the middle of the venue and were happy to find Vivian!  That was quite a task in a crowd of thousands! So we watched the performances from there (several big screens helped make up for our distance from the stage) and appreciated the fact that we were closer to the vendors (fresh corn on the cob, watermelon…so nice to be in summer in the southern hemi!) We also sat next to a woman who is a policy professor at North Palmerston.  She enlightened me as to some questions I had about headlines, Maori party politics, and coastline rights issues. Maia and I really enjoyed all of the groups, but I was left with no idea which ones might make it to the finals. I would highly and strongly recommend looking up Te Matitini o Te Ra on YouTube so you can enjoy some of it too! 

George picked us up around 5pm and we drove back to the new cabin on the beach.  It is right next to an historic wharf in Tolaga Bay that is 660 meters long (around 0.4 miles); this is the longest wharf in the entire southern hemisphere.  We walked the wharf after supper to enjoy the scenery, watch the waves roll past, and just stretch a bit.  Maia ran about 2/3 of the way out and back, which was fun and a little nerve wracking as the “historic wharf” is in a bit of a shambles.

The full moon seemed to have more features than we recall seeing in quite some time. 

Moon over Tolaga Bay Wharf

Gettin' Over to Gizzy

Feb. 18, 2011
Surf Sessions = 4
Km Driven = 5000

To get to Gisborne from Rotorua we drove through Te Urewera (“the burnt penis”) National park area.  No…we don’t know the story on how it got that name.  Our theory is that since this is an area that remained quite independent and unconquered by the Brits until the beginning of the 20^th century, that perhaps it is a way of saying “kicked the bloody Brits a**es”…but don’t quote us on that.  The name is probably much older than colonization!

In Gizzy (as the town is affectionately known), Matitini was on its second day when we arrived.  Vivian Manuel and Ricki Manuel (famous wood carver from Christchurch) have a studio in Christchurch and we had spent some time visiting with them.  Their sixteen year old daughter is in one of 2 groups from Christchurch that qualified. We stayed at the Holiday beach park in a tiny cabin room (essentially a 3 meter by 4 meter cell of concrete block covered by a corrugated metal roof).  A great number of the participants and audience were staying there as well. 

Many of the performing groups were staying at various Maraes (pronounced Mar – i) in the area.  A Marae is a piece of land that contains a meeting house, a community centre, a piece of art (in many cases the interior of the main building has flax woven walls and wood carvings outside and inside), and a sacred place as well.  It is the centre of a Maori community where the  hapu (subtribe) of the iwi (tribe) hold celebrations, funerals, classes, and other activities.  In some areas the Khotanga Reo (language nest) is nearby.  This is a preschool where children go to learn Te Reo (the language).  It is immersion learning and works quite well.
George did go out at a local break just north of Gisborne but the shorebreak was heavy and windblown and could not get outside to the lineup. Two attempts left him breathless and noodle-armed...and a bit cross! Paddling out without catching a wave does not count as a surf session in his opinion:(

Rotorua…NEVER stay at The BASE!

Feb 17-18, 2011
Surf Sessions = 4
Km Driven = 4800

On the road again...to Rotorua.  Somehow this place has become one of “the places” that people visit in NZ; tourists and locals alike. Rotorua has lots and lots of geysers, hot water pools, mud pots, and other volcanic activity.  The town smells of sulfur – Maia says “eggs” and makes a face (and she loves eggs)!  There are some volcanic areas you can see for free and others that cost $.  The town also fancies itself the “Queenstown” of the North Island; this implies a center for “adrenaline activities” like skydiving, bungy jumping, blackwater rafting (basically boogie boarding down underwater rivers in caverns in a wetsuit with a headlamp!) and other nausea inducing possibilities. Unfortunately, that has led to quite a tourist feel.  We came here mostly as a stopover on our way to the East Cape area. 

We spent the night at a backpackers called The BASE (X Base).  Whatever you do, never stay in one of these places!  It is next to a bar (apparently all of their backpackers are next to bars owned by the same company) and is like being at “spring break” in Ft. Lauderdale.  The rave 75 feet away from our room played a terrible mix of House and Trance music (and I, George, actually like that genre of music at times) at ungodly decibel levels until about 2 AM, then an hour of clearing of dishes, glasses, bottles and other noisy accessories gave way to a loud verbal argument between 2 young men in the dorm section down the hall. All of this was topped by an early exodus of dozens of late teens and twenty-somethings headed out on bus excursions to high risk activities or other destinations. Oh well – lesson learned! NEVER stay at The BASE!

Avoid this symbol at ALL COSTS!

The only relaxing portion of our stay here was that we did go to the hot water pools that are in the historic area of town.  They have a nice family area that includes a slightly warm pool with a kiddie slide and two hot pools. It was quite relaxing and we were there for about 2-1/2 hours (long enough to be fully “pruned out”).

The one big attraction for us is the Te Puia springs arts centre and school.  They teach flax weaving, wood carving, and other Maori arts to people who have chosen this for a profession.  You can tour the school and learn a lot of history there.  Unfortunately, the school was pretty empty because everyone is on their way to where we were headed next!  The East Cape town of Gisborne is the host to Te Matitini  o Te Ra!  This is the biannual national competition in Kapa Haka.  Most people think of haka in terms of the one performed prior to All Blacks (National team) rugby matches.  That particular one is called “Ka Mate” and was written by Chief Rauparaha to honour Chief Te Whareangi (a hairy man…mentioned as “behold the hairy man” in the chant) who helped him out of a pit after Chief Rauparaha was hiding from his enemies.  Haka involves chanting, singing, vigorous body movements, and the exaggerated facial expressions.  Groups compete regionally in the even years and the national competition is held in the odd years.  We are fortunate to be here just in time for this year’s event:)

“Backdoors” at Stent Road

Feb. 16, 2011

Surf Sessions = 3

Km Driven = 4600

George left early (read: Dawn Patrol) for a surf session while Maia and I hung out at the backpackers and did laundry (and some work on the newspaper column). George made it back around noon looking pretty happy about a surf session at a break called “Back Doors” at Stent Road. He asked somebody who looked like a “local” where the let-in spot was for the break and the guy pointed down left to a path down to some rocks and said, “Over there.” The funny thing is that George noticed that the “local” was not heading down the aforementioned path but quickly trotted off right and through a neighboring dairy paddock. Well, being the curious one that he is, George got suited up and headed down the path of the “local” only to find that a local “secret spot”, Backdoors was churning out a good left like a machine and was fairly uncrowded while the normal right break at the famous Stent Road was only mediocre and with a packed lineup. Needless to say, he came back all smiles and noodly-armed. Apparently the “local” asked George why he did not go to the spot he was shown to. George just replied,”I like lefts”! After lunch Maia and I went back to the pool at the beach (free and very fun) then out to the sand for more “swimming” while George did some more design work at the backpackers.  George made some supper and we played a bit in the yard before bedtime.

Trek to Taranaki

Feb. 15, 2011
Surf Sessions = 2

Km Driven = 4500

Note to self…do not book in a backpackers where there is a train yard over the fence…that is if you want a single wink of sleep! Nonetheless, we had to be in queue for an 8am ferry by 7am!  We made it to the ferry, drove our car on, and then found a little place to nestle in with Maia for the crossing to the North Island.  Happily, a family with 3 girls settled in across from us. They were interesting to watch. When they arrived, all the window booths on the ferry were occupied. Now when I say this I mean lots of single people or couples who take up booths that seat 6-8 people. Well, this family has the “method” down. Nobody offers to help a family with 3 small girls so they just “join” any unwitting single person or couple…the other people usually leave in short order! I (George) thought this was ingenious and felt we should “test” this methodology in the future! Anyways, the family with 3 small girls kept Maia quite busy for the next 2 hours.  The swell was mild and the day was sunny so it was all very nice.  Maia also found a bumble bee that had made its way to the window.  She talked to it off and on during the trip and we discussed how it was making the trip to go see its family on the North Island.  That meant I had to get it out the door when we finally landed (tricky, but done with a paper cup and some paper).  Maia said, “bye-bye!”

We drove the west coast of North Island up to New Plymouth in the shadow of Mt Taranki (known to many as the “stand-in” for Mt Fuji in the movie, “The Last Samurai”.  We stopped at a small town on the way to check out an Italian deli that was in the book.  They had some really good gelato! It must be because of all those happy NZ cows.  We also stopped a few places along the way to check out the surf, including the infamous “Stent Road” break. Note: Stent Road used to have a street sign...the sign has been stolen so many times from international visiting surfers and from locals who have tried to "de-badge" the road to keep the break to themselves. Now the road out to the surf break has a painted rock as a "sign"!

Stent Road "sign"

It was all too small for a surf session except for Fitzroy Beach, which is right in town.  George went out, but it was a bit small for the board he has so it was not counted as a “surf day” because of the poor conditions and lack of catchable waves. Maia played in the public kids pool for a half hour and then did some of her famous “sand swimming” (description: Maia lies flat on her belly and then starts doing the breast stroke in dry soft beach sand) on the beach.  Can we just say has anybody else had a kid who enjoys “sand swimming”? Frankly I (George) am amused and baffled! The backpackers (like a hostel it has a kitchen, laundry, etc) we booked is the same one where we stayed on our last visit.  It once was a nursing home and it seems to still have a little bit of that aura (pink toilets and handrails).

Workaday in Christchurch

Feb 14, 2011
Surf Sessions = 2

Km Driven = 3970

This was a work day.  George had quite a bit to do and so spent his morning at the library working on architecture projects for two clients; one in Santa Barbara that is nearing a finished design and another in Spokane that is just out of schematic design.  Maia and I went to the square in front of the cathedral in the center of town.  The Neo-gothic stone cathedral was consecrated in 1881.  It has a large rose window and a wooden ribbed ceiling.  Tourists pay $5 each to climb half way up the 63m spire for the view.  Maia and I did not climb it as Maia kept saying, “Not this church, we go to another church.”  She kept repeating that she wanted to see a “different church.” We could not go inside the main sanctuary because of the flower festival which had taken over the church for the week.  We did peek inside the cathedral from inside the base of the spire and saw that the church was festooned with flower displays and very beautiful. 

We spent most of the morning in the square listening to buskers – street entertainers.  This is a very serious business in Christchurch.  The Busker Festival had only just finished the weekend when we first arrived in town. Despite the exodus of the majority of buskers, we did get to hear a gypsy violinist, see a juggler, and listen to a bone flute player who was doing some incredibly fast Celtic reels and singing – he was doing one or the other non-stop for a couple of hours. 

Then we watched the chess players who had both a set with pieces 3 feet tall and many smaller sets as well.  Maia did a lot of dancing around the square and was pretty popular with the tourists herself.  Maybe she should have put out a hat?  Her favorites were the violin player and a bone flute player.

We had lunch with our friend, Chris, at the Christchurch Arts Centre, which sits across from Christ College (a private high school on the grounds of the botanical gardens) and is also built in the Neo-gothic style.   After lunch Maia and George went off to do some exploring while Chris and I went to a meeting.  We met with Graham, a physician who is working on pathways for referral criteria in the Canterbury area.  I have been curious about the healthcare system here and the meeting was pretty enlightening.  They do suffer from problems created by the private sector as well as difficulty with distributing the resources of their private sector and overall it is ½ private and ½ public.  This physician is working with others to facilitate better communication between GPs (general practitioner, which is kind of like Family Practice back home) and the specialists and hospital physicians.  It is a mammoth task that they have been working on for 2 years.  I was impressed by the amount of progress they have made.  I was also grateful to Chris for setting up the meeting.  He is a professor at the University of Canterbury (in Christchurch) and has worked for sometime on mathematical models that can be used in health related issues.  Much of his work has been in the area of diabetes and he is hoping to do more with the physicians working on the larger questions of preventive medicine, impact of chronic diseases, etc.

At the end of the day we headed north to Picton (a few hours drive and located between Kaikoura and Nelson) that night to catch an early morning ferryboat to Wellington on the North Island (an island we are fairly familiar with)!

Time to Catch-up on the Blog

Feb 14 AM
# Surf sessions = 2
Km Driven = 3950

Well everybody, sorry for the long delay. We dropped Alisa's mom, Carolyn, and her newlywed husband Monte off at the airport 2 days ago and are in catch-up mode. We are currently in Christchurch as Alisa has a meeting with a professor from the University of Christchurch this afternoon. George finally got a surf session in yesterday afternoon at a local break called Taylor's Mistake...named because Taylor thought he had found a small cove to harbor ships. He was wrong because it has a swell window open to the southern portion of the South Pacific in WINTER; huge Antarctic swells pour into this cove a generate MASSIVE surf. Alas, today only held 2-4 surf in average conditions, but Maia and Alisa had a great time playing in the sand and water while I got 2 sessions in. Problem: 2 sessions in one afternoon without a surf session in months causes extreme misery;< ...... so I am on the mend today:)
More later. We will be trying to play catch-up with blog post about the west side and Abel Tasman within a few days.
As the Kiwis say, "Cool!"

Onto Kaikoura

(Feb 10-11) Surf sessions =0
Km driven: 3700

We leave Motueka for Kaikoura with sore arms and shoulders from paddling in the azure waters of the Abel Tasman National Park to head to our next destination...Kaikoura (I love the sound of that name, it just rolls off the tongue! It sounds more Aussie than Kiwi). Another sunny day greets us and we pack all our stuff (that is 1 suitcase per adult plus 1 carry-on per adult, a cooler for our food, camera bags, surf gear bag, surfboard, computer bag for the occaisional bout of work, and of course 4 adult bodies and a toddler in a car seat...all crammed into our 1996 Honda Odyssey nicknamed Chewbacca!) and head down the road through the NE portion of the South Island of NZ.
Kaikoura (Kai = food, koura = crayfish) is a four hour drive from Motueka.  We drove through Nelson (known for mild weather, nice buildings, and good food) and stopped just outside of town for lunch.  I had picked an organic brewery pub located in a small heritage park for lunch.  The guidebook said it  does not cost to go into the park if you are just going to the pub, but the woman at the front desk said the book was wrong.  We got in for free anyway.  The food was good and the beer was not half bad.  The drive along the edge of Nelson gave us some nice views across to the southern tip of the South Island.  We then went through Blenheim, known for wine and food, which was just gearing up for a food and wine festival. We had seen a number of vineyards in the Abel Tasman area but as we came down into this valley it was solid with vineyards and signs advertising them.  Along the coast south from there we were hugging the bluffs looking out on rocky shores most of the way.  Much to George’s disappointment, there was not any significant swell to be seen.  We did see more shags (like cormorants a little), seals, and other sealife during the drive.  We did not spot any of the whales that are very common here.  Kaikoura has fur seals, dolphins, whales, and other animals galore.  The reason is that the seabed goes from 90meters to more than 800meters just offshore a ways - creating an upwelling current of cold to warm - which makes a “feeding zone”. Kaikoura is also in Maori legend as the seat of the demigod Maui who came between mother earth and father sky to fish up the islands from the sea.  This peninsula is the seat where he sat to fish up the north island.  It was a heavily fortified pa (fortified village) area for the Ngai Tahu iwi (tribe) until the 1800s and before that it was a site for moa hunting as well.

So we settled into our bach (again, pronounced “batch”) which was probably the poshest one yet, and then went into town for supper.  The next day after breakfast we did a little bit of shopping as my Mom had not really had time for much of that yet.  She found a nice wool sweater made with both Merino wool and possum fur.  It turns out that possum fur is hollow – which both makes it warm and keeps the Merino from pilling up when you wear it.  Maia was not much into the shopping so she and Monte sat outside after a bit and counted (and named colors) cars that went by.  She seemed to really enjoy this as she sat quite happily in his lap.  We went to a paua (abalone) shell jewelry store.  Much of it is made in Asia – so you really have to ask and look around if you want a more authentic souvenir.  The same goes for jade.  Back in Hokitika (known for a type of jade that has white in some bits and soft and that comes from the west Coast of the South Island) a jeweler I met explained to me that these days a lot of the jade is imported from British Columbia for use in making tourist items. They also import from China (black jade mostly), and Russia (very green). Alaskan jade is similar to B.C. jade, but he had not seen much of it. So I was looking for NZ jade specifically. It is not that the other items are not beautiful or well crafted, but they are not exactly bona fide.  He told me the jade is similar, but that the fine  stone from the South Island is a little more luminescent in his mind.  What is really funny is that I saw small bears with salmon in their mouths carved out of the B.C. jade being made for sale in the shop where I met that jeweler…odd twist!

After the earlier activities we stopped in a cute little cafe and had lunch and then afterwards we stopped in a small farm that was giving "shearing demonstrations". You can imagine that this was a MUST SEE event. Think about it, a toddler (Maia) fascinated by animals and a grandmother (Carolyn) thrilled to share in that fascination...an alignment of the stars like no other!
So, we get into the shearing shed and we are introduced to a working dog named Jake who is a registered "Huntaway"...never heard of that breed before. Amazing set of commands he responded to and friendly to boot. Then they brought out THE Ram...big critter who gets to spend 2 months a year with the rest of the flock.

Ram's name is Ram-Man...wonder why?!

They keep only one ram per 60 ewes...the others get turned into kabobs (yummy! bad for the lambs though). Then he brought out a ewe who he sheared in about 3 minutes.

Aw...look at the pretty sheep, she's so cute and fuzzy:)

Hey! What the heck are you doing to me? Oh, wait a minute...my submissive side is kicking in, I'm OK now.

Anybody feel a draft in here? Wait, I get FOOD for that?...YIPPEE!

Most times it would take under a minute. The world shearing record is over 800 sheep in 24 hours...ugh, that would be tiring! Upon trying to leave the following "scene" ensued...
Maia: We are leaving?!!! WHY?!
Mommy or Daddy: Because, the show is over.
Maia: WHY?!
Mommy or Daddy: Because we need to leave now
Maia: WHY?!!!!!!

WHY?!

One last look

Alas, we finally did get to leave, but not before I got a photo of the ubiquitous "older" minis we've been spotting around NZ.

How many sheep can you cram into a Mini? Last time we were in NZ, somebody tried to steal a cow in one! Yep, you read right...A COW!

While in Kaikoura we spotted one of zillions of campervans seen EVERYWHERE in NZ. These pictures are for my friend and office partner ERIC. KISS baby, KISS!!! WooooooHooooo! Takes me back to 1977!

KISS campervan by a company called "Wicked Campervans". All their vans are uniquely painted with a different theme. I'm guessing this renter has a certain bent in mind for their trip...or maybe an unlucky pair of 80 year olds got this one!

The sheep show was followed by a walk at low tide at the point where the fur seals pull out.  It was pretty windy, but quite beautiful.  Back when this was a whaling town (first settled for this purpose by a Scotsman in 1842) this point was where they would do much of the looking for whales that came by the peninsula.  There were a couple of seals that were sunning and resting on the flat shelf of rocks.  Maia enjoyed learning to navigate the irregular rocks and walk over the fingers of the tidal pools.  She got her hands and arms good and wet during her explorations with us.  We did take one picture of a seal from a respectful distance – but were sad to see people who did not seem to understand that harassment of a wild animal includes getting too close, taking pictures while posing in front of them (just dumb to turn your back to a large wild mammal), etc.  One of the seals had finally had enough and took the next wave back out to sea.  When Maia’s shoes, feet, and arms were wet enough that she actually seemed both a little tired and hungry we went to one of the numerous seafood shacks for a shared plate of paua patties (odd, mushy, blue), grilled scallops (yum!), grilled fish (also yum!), and the like.  After all the excitement, Maia had a decent nap back at the bach. 

Saturday we had to take Carolyn and Monte back to the airport in Christchurch.  It is only a 2 hour drive or so.  We stopped at the Mudhouse winery for a late lunch.  They normally stop serving food around 3pm, but took us anyway – which was so lucky for us because although we could have found food a little further down the road, there is no way we would have found such an amazing meal so easily!  Carolyn had a Tahr pie.  (Tahr is like a mountain goat, imported however many years ago from the Himalayas and now hunted) It was fantastic.  George had wild boar pie.  Monte and I had platters of cheese, fruit, salad, and bread.  Maia shared the fruit and bread.  Maia also had a marvelous time running around in the field by the winery with a group of children whose parents were trying to have a quiet lunch!  They eventually all had their shoes off and were swinging their feet in the fountain at the center of the outdoor courtyard.  It says something about Kiwis that nobody thought this to be unusual and the staff did not chastise or even express any concern about this behavior!  Maia thought it quite wonderful and when it was time to leave she did not argue, but did say “goodbye friends” to the kids…then slept in the car. 

Getting them off at the airport was uneventful except for a small rearrangement of souvenirs in the luggage to keep the weight okay.  Maia waved “bye bye” and we went off for supper.  Now she talks about how Monte and Nana went to the gate (an important part of her understanding of airports) and took the airplane home to go take care of the doggies and the chickens.  We continue to be amazed that she gets all of this so easily:)

Abel Tasman Area (Day 2)

(Feb 9) # Surf sessions = 2
Km logged on Chewbacca = 3500

Last night we just opened up the upper windows to the Hayshed AFTER we turned out the lights…far less blood exploration occurred which led to a better night’s sleep. Once again, we had a repeat of the previous morning’s symphony of the Tui-tui starting solo, followed by sheep as backup singers, followed by the millions (repeat, MILLIONS!) of birds to fill out the rest of the orchestra. Today, Alisa and I left Maia behind with Nana and Grampa (Carolyn, Alisa’s mom, and Monte her newlywed husband) and we got to head out to the Abel Tasman National Park to do a spot of sea kayaking. We got to the concession a wee bit late (lazybones wakers we are) around 9:30 am; most of the day tours leave by 8:30. Our only options were to take a water taxi into the park, hike 30 minutes over a peninsula to where kayaks would be waiting for us, and then kayak back to the concession…or to just do a “freedom kayak” of 4 hours on our own. The gal at the desk said the $65 (each) for the on-your-own session was worth it over the $130 for the other option. Alisa and I have kayaked in San Diego, Seattle, Orcas Island, Kodiak and Afognak Island, so the solo bit sounded like a good bet. We went through the customary “safety” lecture, got our gear and headed out with the high tide. We were warned that the forecast was for a 25 knot headwind for our return, and that we might have to be prepared to ditch on the mainland and walk back to a track where we could be picked up. Non-plussed, we kayaked from Marahau to Adele Island (about 6-7 km), with a 15 knot wind at our backs and made good time. We disembarked from our double kayak and had a lovely lunch of peanut butter and Nutella sandwiches chased by some good ‘ol New Zealand hard apple cider (mmm, cider;).

Nutella and PB sandwiches always taste better after a kayak to a pretty island:)

After a few photos, we got back in our rig and headed to the other side of the island to check out the seal and bird nesting colonies. It is hard to describe the azure nature of the water here…it is REALLY turquoise, is all I can say. The beach sand is this coarse, really singularly grained golden sand, almost orange in some places and bleached-out yellow in others. So, this is the backdrop to the scenery of Adele Island. Layer onto that an island that had all of the stoats, possums, rats and mice removed from it by 2007 to aid the bird population’s ability to thrive…read: MILLIONS of birds making noise throughout the forest covering Adele Island. A cacophony of bird calls and songs rang off the island as we paddled around and these calls echoed off the surface of the water as well. Then, you round the north side of the island to be met by a seal colony interspersed among the rocks and forest trees that come all the way down to the water on the steep slopes. Azure blue water, golden sand edges, sunny skies, bird symphony, and barking seals….sounds like the next concept for a wildlife Cirque du Soleil!

Seal pup looking forlorn:(.....where's MAMA?!!!!!

We continued around the island to the side open to the Tasman Sea and open ocean swells and had fun paddling around in 2-3 swells for a bit before turning around and heading back to the mainland. After another kilometer paddle to the mainland, we got out for a swim, then began our paddle back to Marahau along the coastline.

2 rays liesurely cruising on by on the mainland side (Adele Island in background)...rays are the 2 dark blobs on left in foreground....2 of 3 we saw in 2 days!

The wind had picked up a bit. I know, this is where the inside voice goes “Oh, no. Crap, not in the mood for a mini-epic! No, we got blessed by the wind-gods and were greeted by yet another tailwind! Yep, 20 knot tailwinds chased us for about 5 km with 2-3 foot following seas. The more the wind blew, the faster we surfed down the swells heading “back home”. By the time we got to within 2 km of the high tide let-in area, the wind was up to 25 knots and it was white capping as far as we could see. Needless to say it was exciting paddling up to the beach and we came roaring in at speed, slid up the beach and disembarked like a couple of pros. Happy:) Especially since it could have been the other way around, paddling against a 25 knot headwind against whitecaps and an ebb tide. We returned home to Maia and her “keepers” tired, slightly sunburned and tanned, hungry and happy. The day ended with dinner at a beachside café, consisting of grilled groper (not grouper, but groper. I have only found this in NZ and it is wonderfully tasty. My favorite fish), a bottle of NZ wine and some hard cider (who needs dessert?). Another glorious evening was followed by a brilliantly starry sky with the Southern Cross playing lead.

Abel Tasman and Stuff!

The Abel Tasman Area: Day 1 (Feb 7-8)
Before I get started, I would like to share that Maia is very BRAVE! On our way to the Abel Tasman area, we passed a cable swing bridge. Alisa was required to carry Maia in a pack across, but coming back, Maia refused to get back in it. She insisted she was going to walk it and said, "Maia BRAVE". Brave indeed!

Alisa and Maia on the way across swing bridge

Maia BRAVE!

Somewhere around 5 am the call of the Tui-tui bird began to sound through the river valley we were in, then the sheep started in around 6, followed by MILLIONS of different birds around 7! It was actually really nice. It had a very “kiwi” feel about it. After breakfast, we headed out towards Farewell Spit which is clear around the other side of Golden Bay which is the western side of the Abel Tasman National Park. 90 km took about 3 hours to cover by car.

View down to Abel Tasman area on our way out to Farewell Spit

You need to understand that straight roads do not really exist in the Kiwi road-building mentality; those are reserved for airport runways, the Expressway outside of Auckland, and the main streets in town centers. Outside of those areas mentioned it is 15-50kph (that is 9-30 mph to us Americans), with brief stretches of 100kph areas where crazy kiwis will pass you going uphill on a blind curve with a logging truck on its way down on the other side (all the while you are trying to maintain the mental clarity to keep driving on the LEFT (i.e.WRONG SIDE OF THE FREAKIN’ ROAD!). There is one thing you have to realize about New Zealanders; they love to race. Now that is not confined to just cars on a track. No, they will race boats in 6 inches of water through an obstacle course, sailboats, kiteboards on the open ocean, Formula 1 cars, dogs, horses, horses with carts, stock cars, airplanes, bikes, etc. You name it, if it can go fast and engage in an innumerable series of turns, the kiwis will find a way to make a race out of it.
Halfway there we stopped at a beach in Kai Teriteri to soak up the sunny day and play on the golden sands of the Abel Tasman area. Here Maia and Alisa contemplated a project NOT authorized by any Coastal Commission or Building Authority...

Alisa & Maia set to staking out the limits of their project

Nearing completion

Maia contemplating her creation

Then, we saw this BIG ray cruising by in the water. It looked to be somewhere between 4 and 6 feet wide. It just sauntered by in about a foot of water. I approached it from the side and it really could care less. It just kept cruising down the beachfront to some people's amazement and to others shock (that was actually kinda funny!)

So, we finally get to the other side of Golden Bay to the Possum Café for some good road kill around 4:50 pm, and they stop serving their “regular menu” and now there is only “lighter fare”. Mind you, there is still 10 minutes left but alas the cook is now gone. We have some cakes and coffee (lighter fare) and ask about other possibilities for dinner. Yep, there is an option. 10 km back up the road we came is the Mussel Inn…owned by the brother of the owner of the Possum Café…and (wait for it)…the cook there is the same one that just left the Possum Café. Funny how that works! Ya just got to say “Good on ya Mate” or “Sweet As” and roll with it. So, off we went to the Mussel Inn, had some fine country-seafood fare and wandered the road back home with the sun setting behind us.

Hokitika to the Riwaka River Valley

Hokitika to Riwaka River Valley (the Hayshed)

This morning we awoke to driving rain. Now, I do not mean rain you drive in, I mean DRIVING RAIN! It began pounding the house around 4-5 am, I’m not sure. It was dark but not completely and it kept me from going back to sleep because it was that loud. We had breakfast, got re-packed into Heffi, and off to the northernmost part of the South Island, to the Abel Tasman National Park area. The rain just kept pouring out of the sky for the next 2-3 hours; apparently very “normal” weather for the west coast. We finally got a bit inland and the weather let up into light gray skies which gave way to partly cloudy skies upon arrival in Motueka. Upon arrival here you can tell this is a different part of New Zealand; the cars are more “flash”, the houses less beaten by the weather, and the locals are REALLY tan. Yep, this part of New Zealand is “lifestyle”. The houses have more glass, the vegetation gets a wee bit more sub-tropical, and the prices on the menu at every eatery reflects it. Don’t get me wrong, it is not bad in any way, just different. The accent even changes; we cannot put our finger on it, but the accent here is a bit more understandable here than on the “west side”. We grabbed some supplies and headed out of town (about 10 km) and to our rental house up the Riwaka River Valley. We got there to find our little gem of a rental, an old hayshed converted into a house, replete with buzzing wetas outside, a complement of red-faced ducks, a flock of sheep for side-yard weed maintenance, world-class German Brown trout in the stream out back, and a pair of 3 foot long freshwater eels to boot! This valley used to be covered in commercial tobacco plantations until the mid-80’s and then the government began subsidizing the farmers to plant something else. That eventually led to managed timber plantations and some fruit orchards. The weather on our arrival was warm and humid with a large complement of these tiny black bugs called sand flies. These guys are nasty, well, their bite is nasty. It feels like a small drop of acid got on you as they just penetrate your skin…too late you’ve been gotten. Then the itch starts up in about 5 minutes. You have GOT TO LEAVE IT ALONE! If not it balloons into a huge welt that only gets worse over the next 3-5 days. So to review…burning acid sensation, followed by unignorable itchiness, then festering ugliness if you mess with it….where the heck is my bug juice?! The next problem is that most of New Zealand is clueless to the prevention of access of bugs to our indoors; NO SCREENS;( Warm out? Humid too? What to do but open up all the windows to air out the house, right? Careful, you just let in 250 blood-sucking Chupacabras (Mexican euphamism for legendary “vampire” creature)….eeeeek! So, fitful sleep filled with the occasional self face, ankle and back of hand slapping throughout the night ensued.  More tomorrow!

Haast to Hokitika

February 4-6/2011:

Today we leave the “Haast” and head to Hokitika, home of the Wild Foods Festival in mid-March. Take note, when they say “wild foods” they don’t just mean a feral pig or two they mean grubs, eels, possum, weird bird eggs, unidentifiable sea creatures, and so on. Mmmm, I can smell the whitebait fritters already (immature river smelt scrambled into eggs….all those little eyes are just peering back at ya while you enjoy that lovely fritter!). On our journey up the wild west coast of the South Island of New Zealand we will get the chance to visit two glaciers, the Fox Glacier and the Franz Josef Glacier. We chose the Fox but I am not sure why since “Franz Josef” is a Hungarian name and wouldn’t it make sense for a pure-blooded Hungarian to visit a glacier named after one of the Hungarian kings? Apparently it was actually named after a geologist, but my keen Magyar sense tells me his parents must have had a touch of “hunky” in them.

The glacier was not quite as we expected. Having lived and traveled in Alaska, we have come across all manner of glacier, big and small. Most have a huge U-shaped valley containing said glacier, with a moraine terminus (big hunk of messy gravel pile mixed with ice) at the lowest point and a raging river pouring out of it. We had that here, minus terminal moraine. In fact, there was a huge ice cave at the headwater of the glacial river.

We read that the Fox Glacier is receding at the rate of 150-300 feet per year and there were signs as we approached the glacier indicating the dates that it was at that spot. The one noting 1910 was back over 3 miles from the location of the glacier today. We hiked to the end of the trail where there were signs with severe warnings indicating that only experienced mountaineers and guided tours were allowed to pass that point. 

We met this "guy's" wife and kid in Hokitika a day later!

The hilarious aspect of this was the “guided tours” filing past us. It was a fleet of tourists all wearing identical, vastly over-sized, Gore-tex shells (not a drop of rain fell but it was glumly gray) with the name of the tour concession on it and a monotonous parade of identical rental hiking boots (with the exception of a few rugged tourists who declined the added cost of the rental and went onward with their paper thin worn Jandals (Kiwi name for Japanese sandals or flip flops). Really folks it was pretty entertaining watching all the Germans, Americans, Dutch, French, Spaniards, Chinese, etc. walking by like sheep being herded in the appropriate “uniform” just so that they could walk out about 100 meters up onto the edge of the glacier. We just sat down at the end of the trail and enjoyed a great picnic lunch and watched our tourist spectacle unfold before us, for free (lunch show included!).

Alisa & Maia. Maia says, "do we have to walk any farther?"

Once we got our requisite glacier under our belts, we continued up the coast to Hokitika…under gray skies that looked ready to unload on us any minute. This part of the trip had few photographs due to the deeply overcast skies and occasional rain.

One of the few photo opportunities in the Wild West side; New Zealand Alps

Finally we arrived in Hokitika, a quaintly small town with a frontier feel about it. We found our rental house 4 km north of town, got settled in, and immediately went for a walk on the beach…more gray, but hey, we go to Seaside in the WINTER to surf and we’ve lived in Seattle AND Kodiak AND Spokane:) Regardless, after 5 hours in a car, ANY walk on ANY beach is welcome, and Maia could not agree more. 

At the beach at last!

Our only disappointment besides the gray was blown-out conditions for surf (apparently there is not really any surf in Hokitika, just huge flat beaches with mushy gnarly sneaker waves).

Blown out surf...drat!

There was a high point though. The rental house had an outdoor bathtub in the back of the house overlooking the ocean…an instant hit with Maia who nagged all through dinner that she wanted to “take a bath”, and “take a bath” she did!

Maia's favorite place after a romp on the beach:) It gets rid of all that beach sand that gets into EVERYWHERE!

The next day arrived with continued flat gray skies that looked as if they would unload truckloads of rain any minute. Alisa and I took off in the afternoon with the mini-van to the north in search of surf; BTW, the van has been renamed Chewbacca, or Chewwie for short, due to the CHU33 license plate;>

We found 3 surf spots but all were blown out by the wind being caused by the current weather system. Alas, we never got to get our toes wet…going on 10 days now without a surf session in New Zealand, “the horror” (yep, enjoy that “Apocalypse Now” fans, I did!); that just means I will really have some catching up to do when the time comes. We came back to the house and settled into an evening of light rain, wind and some good Sauvignon Blanc with dinner.