John & Allison's Adventures Down South: February 2017

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After leaving Raetihi we were on a mission to get to the South Island as we had seen that the weather there was changing to the better. It had been raining incessantly for days previously.
The Queenstown and Fiordlands were big on our "what to see in NZ" list.
We took another really curvy and scenic highway from Raetihi to Wanganui, then the landscape flattened out near the coast and the drive into the Wellington area was pretty easy. We actually went 100kph for many kms.
We stayed one night just north of Wellington in the suburb of Porirua at a really lovely Airbnb. We are really enjoying using Airbnb's. Not any problems to speak of.
We had to get up early to get to the first ferry to the South Island and left extra early to miss rush hour traffic only to wait in a queue. The ferry did leave on time.

A pretty falls along the way from Raetihi to Wellington

Our first really rainy day, lucky it's a travel day

The view from our Porirua Airbnb

The Interislander Ferry to the South Island

The Kiwi's can really build on hills

Houses on the hills in Wellington

Last view of the North Island

Sailing into the port of Picton on the South Island

First view of vineyards on the South Island. The Marlborough region is known as the heart of wine country.

A funky homemade camper?

A skateboard ramp in a park in Moana. Cool little town with a great pub.

A nice little trail by the river in Moana

A bouncy suspension bridge

A fisher on the river

Price jump for fuel on the South Island. We paid was $2.36 NZ per litre....

After the Omokoroa/Tauranga area we made our way a little south to Rotorua. We had booked a motel as we had planned only one day there to take in the geysers and other geothermal activity in the area and a Maori cultural evening. The motel was small and clean and the front desk person was a delightful Japanese lady that was more than happy to look after whatever we may need. She called the Te Puia Maori people and arranged for them to pick us up from the motel so we didn't have to drive. I must say, Kiwis are very hospitable. We walked around the area which just happened to be right in the heart of the shopping and tourist area and only a few blocks from Lake Rotorua. We had lunch down at the waterfront and then walked along the beach then back to our room to get ready for our excursion to Te Puia. The van picked us up right on time and we arrived promptly for our guided tour of the geothermal area. After learning about how the Maori used the hot pools to cook food and how they used the cooler pools for bathing and washing we went over to the area where wood carving and weaving are done. They did such beautiful work! Then we watched a Maori welcoming ceremony and were led into the big house to watch a Haka war dance. John went up and joined in but sadly my camera did not capture any good shots to share. He did a really good job of it too. :(

After the Haka we went to watch the uncovering of the Hangi which is the pit that foods such as the meats and vegetables for the feast were cooked. Not unlike a luau in Hawaii. We were seated at round tables with white table cloths and black cloth napkins. Very classy. There was a large lazy susan in the centre of the table where they placed condiments and some appetizers one being large prawns. The buffet was excellent with so many choices. There was one section dedicated to seafood and the

dessert area was just amazing.

After Rotorua we headed south again towards Raetihi which is a very small town near Tongariro National Park where we planned to do some hiking.

Sheep speckling the hills.

A street in Rotorua closed to traffic with restaurants on either side all the way down for a block.

A bicycle tree in the park near Lake Rotorua

Scads of Scaups......

The wine isle in pretty much any grocery store.

The welcome area at Te Puia with a large punamou or New Zealand jade rock. It is sacred to the Maori.

The tall carved poles with the gods of the Maori

A Maori god

Another Maori god with inlaid paua shells.

That's a long name......

A geyser

Boiling mud.

An old carving of a goddess.

A masterpiece in the making.

This would have been attached to a war canoe.

This is a carving school. Only a very small number of students are accepted each year. They in turn become teachers when they are finished their training by a master carver.

Beautiful!

A Master weaver separating flax strands. The flax they use is made from a plant that grows all over New Zealand. It's nothing like what we know as flax.

A beautiful weaving!

A lovely handbag.

A marae is a traditional gathering place. Te Puia’s Rotowhio marae contains beautiful carved buildings. Here, visitors are welcomed and entertained. Te Puia pā is the site of an ancient fortified village and Pikirangi village shows how our ancestors lived in earlier times.

A Maori woman who welcomed us to the village.

Amazing carving on a building that would have been used for storage. It shows the wealth of a tribe.

The Maori welcoming party.

Uncovering the feast.

In my opinion, much nicer that a luau.

Driving beside Lake Taupo on our way to Raetihi.

A couple of cheerful Kiwi servers at the Hungry Trout Cafe. They really were a couple of characters!

A stunning view of Lake Taupo on our way up to Tongariro National Park

These mountains are actually volcanos. In some places you can see steam rising from spots...

It does look suspiciously volcanic.

Getting higher.

A youth outdoor centre named after Sir Edmund Hillary who embraced the great outdoors, which is literally at your doorstep everywhere in NZ. Many students visit every year coming for week long camping and to learn about the natural area.

There's no end to the curvy mountain roads, well almost.....

This building beside our Airbnb, which was attached to an art gallery, is called the Ski Lodge. This was in Raetihi. A sleepy little town that I'm sure wakes up during ski season. It's just a few kms from the busier community of Ohakune. Sort of like what Banff and Canmore used to be like.

The half Tandoori chicken half prawn and avocado pizza we had. Yum!

Sights of Ohakune

The forest on the way up the mountain.

The road up to the ski area.

View from a lookout.

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Steep prices for a small ski area.

Hiking to the falls.

A Manuka bush. Also known as Tea tree. It's big here. All sorts of Manuka products made. One being Manuka honey which is said to have many wonderful properties.