Back
in January Sarah and Fred escaped the bad weather in the UK for a two
week trip to NZ. I was so excited to be seeing Sarah again; she is
one of my best friends and we always have a great time together.
They had their own holiday plans, but we did manage to spend some
time together. Firstly in Auckland, where we all stayed with Harriet
and Anthony and the girls for the weekend. After lunch on the
Saturday we all headed to the Skytower for some beautiful views over
Auckland, and the experience of standing on the glass floor and
looking straight down to the ground far far below. Our plans for an
exciting evening were scuppered as both Fred and Sarah fell victim to
jet lag that night.
After
a great Sunday breakfast with the Chengs, the three of us took the
ferry over to Devonport for a wander around the town and the gun
emplacements at north head. We had a great day, stopping for
refreshments in Devonport and back in Auckland before heading back to
Harriet and Anthony's for a delicious dinner. The following day saw
Sarah and Fred heading to the Coromandel and myself driving south to
Hamilton, awaiting their arrival in a few days time.
That
Friday, having finished work, I got a text from Sarah saying they
were in Te Awamutu. She didn't say where in town they were, but I
had a hunch I'd know right where to find them and headed to the pub!
Lo and behold – I found them just in time to get a drink off them!
We spent a lovely couple of days at Paul and Carole's, including a
brilliant day at the beach in Raglan – sun, sea, views, a picnic
and some kayaking in the river estuary made for a blissful day out.
We also experienced what would be the first of many adventurous
activities over the next few days by going black water rafting at the
Waitomo Caves with Alice. This involved squeezing into a damp
wetsuit and with the aid of a rubber ring floating through the
freezing water in the Waitomo Caves system with the luminous glow
worms carpeting the cave ceilings like bright constellations. The
trip was beautiful and peaceful at times, but did have its fair share
of fun moments; including three waterfalls you have to jump down
backwards into your rubber ring to land with a satisfying boom-splash
into the water below!
On
the Monday Sarah, Fred and I headed off for an action packed few days
in Rotorua and Taupo. First on the list was an early morning drive
to north of Lake Rotorua to take part in some white water rafting.
The trip, down the Kaituna river, has the distinction of having the
world's highest commercially rafted waterfall on its route – an
epic 7metre drop!!!! The weather was pretty cold and miserable, and
as we changed into our wetsuits, I couldn't help wondering if this
would be a cold and miserable experience to boot! I needn't have
worried; our Japanese guide Hiro was so brilliant and funny we were
laughing before we even got to the river! The rafting was so much
fun – we enjoyed the beautiful scenery in the calmer sections of
the river, and did some screaming and hollering throughout he
adrenaline pumping rapids. We flew and bumped our way down through
rapids and over two pretty high waterfalls, before pulling up just
short of the big one. Hiro began talking us through what to do
before listing the three options that could happen; 'Option one: we
go down, finish the right way up – yaaaaay!!! Option two: we go
down and capsize – its okay just swim back to the boat. And option
three: we go down and get stuck under the waterfall for a while –
no problem just hold your breath!' Feeling more and more
apprehensive following this pep talk we watched as the raft ahead
headed towards the edge of the falls, before tipping up almost
vertically and vanishing from view. There was silence apart from the
thundering water as we waited to hear what had happened..... 'They
capsized!' came the shout; 'all clear!'. And it was suddenly our
turn.
We paddled strongly towards, before dropping down and holding
on as instructed as the raft tipped and flew straight down the
waterfall. As the boat hit the water my head was whipped back with
the force and we fully submerged. Underwater it was difficult to
know what was happening so I focused on holding on tightly, before,
all of a sudden, we popped back up the surface. We whooped and
shouted in jubilation – we had just rafted a 7metre waterfall and
come up the right way up! The rest of the trip was a bit gentler,
with some rapids and a few games whilst we paddled our way to the
pick up point.
We
three adventurers then headed into Rotorua for a victory lunch and to
do 2 of the must-dos when in “Roto-vegas”; the skyline gondola
and luge track, and one of the thermal parks. Sarah and Fred were,
dare I say, blown away by the lugeing – which allows you to hurtle
down the side of the hill on a toboggan, with bends, jumps (if you go
fast enough) and the space to overtake those slower than yourself.
Fred and I sped down with Sarah following at a slightly, shall we
say, more sedate pace! It was then onto Te Puia thermal park, for
some up close views of bubbling mud, hot pools and geysers.
Onwards
we drove that afternoon to Taupo, to spend a couple of days by the
lake. Alas the weather was not very amenable and sometimes it was
difficult to be sure there was a lake there at all. It was a shame
for Sarah and Fred as the cloud-line didn't allow them to fully
appreciate Taupo's beauty or size – the lake could fit the entire
city of Singapore inside it!
The
following day we were due to go kayaking to see the Maori carvings on
lake Taupo, but the weather had not lifted and the trip organiser had
rung and cancelled the expedition. Stranded for a rainy day in Taupo
we got ourselves organised and booked onto a boat trip to the
carvings which would still allow us to get up close to the rocks
without as much hard work or dampness. With time to kill we headed
up to see the Huka falls, although our time to take in the view was
shortened after Sarah had a few cicadas dive bomb her, before
heading to the bars and pubs for some lunchtime drinks.
The
boat trip out to the Maori carvings was great fun, although I was
surprised at how far away the carvings were (and secretly glad we
hadn't kayaked all that distance!). The lake scenery was beautiful,
and we were lucky that the weather lifted in the afternoon, allowing
us better views and a spot of well-missed sunshine. The stone
carvings are a pretty cool sight – looming over you at over
10metres high, although not as old as you first think; they were
carved in the 1970s as a gift to the town and lake.
Our
final day in Taupo was, thankfully, better in the weather department,
allowing us to add two more adventures to the week's tally. First up
was a helicopter ride up above the Lake, town, Waikato river and Huka
Falls. I had never been in a helicopter before and it was very
exciting to be swooping around in the skies, and the views from above
were spectacular. The trip was over all too soon, but I will never
forget the experience!. On a high and buzzing from our helicopter
ride we headed to the Taupo bungy for one last experience. The
helicopter pilot had flown over the bungy, telling us that a friend
of his has the honour of being the only person to ever fall off the
bungy platform – despite a few broken bones and bruises he lived to
tell the tale! Not put off by this story we booked in; me for my
second bungy, and a Sarah and Fred for a tandem swing (Sarah had
ankle surgery last year so bouncing by her ankles wasn't really an
option). I took the plunge first – just as mind-blowing and
thrilling as last time – and then it was Sarah and Fred's turn.
They were harnessed together and suspended out over the edge of the
platform with the river far below. The guy in charge asked them if
they wanted a countdown to being released or a surprise. Sarah had
barely time to think of a reply before they were released –
free-falling towards the river before swinging out high and wide. It
looked like so much fun and Sarah was grinning ear to ear after the
experience!
After
a celebratory lunch, celebrating having survived caves and ice cold
water, 7m high waterfalls, a helicopter ride and a bungy/swing, we
parted ways – Sarah and Fred towards New Plymouth, and myself to
the bus station to catch a bus back to Hamilton. It was a great few
days and I am so happy to have had adventures with my sister on the
far side of the world!!
I
headed with my guide down to the wetland area as he explained the
predator proof fence and the other methods of keeping the native
species safe. The main attractions in the wetland reserve are the
Takahe and the Tuatara. The Takahe is a flightless bird so
endangered that it was once thought to be extinct, until a population
was found in the mountains in Fjordland. I was lucky to spot a
breeding pair and their one year old offspring; the offspring tend to
stay with the parents for up to 18months, but the newly hatched
Takahe remained out of sight.
The
Tuatara is a much older species than the Takahe; this reptile was
walking the earth alongside the dinosaurs! Found only in New
Zealand, the Tuatara are also endangered and are no longer found in
the wild on mainland New Zealand. Their population decline is not
only due to predators, but also due to their slow breeding habits;
tuatara breed about every two years, and the eggs take up to two
years to hatch! Maungatautari reserve have 22 Tuatara in their
wetland area. Sightings can be tricky, so I was thrilled to see
three Tuatara, including a male and female sharing a burrow (a sign
of impending breeding) - a truly Jurassic experience!
On
our return to the visitor centre I was met with good news – the
Kiwi health check was indeed going ahead! It appeared the time of
the event had changed and I had been missed off the email list to
notify attendees of this change. The six of us on the tour were soon
on our way into the reserve, leaving the footpaths behind and
following our two guides into the depths of the bush. The guides,
with the help of their Kiwi-sniffer dog, had already tracked down the
Kiwi they would be carrying out the health check on. The Kiwis on
Maungatautari, although behind a fence, are wild and very rarely come
into contact with humans. Indeed, Kowhai, the Kiwi we would be
checking, had not been seen by our guides for over 18months. The
purpose of the health check is just that – to monitor the health of
the mountain's Kiwi pouplation, through visual inspection of eyes,
mouth, ears, quality of coat, and weight. Kowhai, a two year old
male North Island Brown Kiwi, was declared in fine health, and we
then all had the superb experience of being able to hold a wild
Kiwi!! It was incredible to hold such an endangered species; Kowhai
was much heavier and bigger than I had imagined, I could feel the
power and strength in his legs as I held them tightly. The beak is
extraordinarily long, although in reality Kiwis have the shortest
nose of all birds (the nose being measured from the nostrils to the
beak tip, and the Kiwi's nostrils being right at the end of the
beak!), and the coat of Kiwi feels more like the coat of a German
Shepherd than feathers. It is truly an extraordinary bird!
