Rain Rain Go Away

Saturday brought more rain, so we had to come up with some indoor activities for the day. We went to Honey Hive, where we saw a couple of different hives and also got to taste tons of honey. Jill's favorite product was Bee-nut butter, yep you guessed it... peanut butter made with manuka honey. Dave's favorite was the good ol' raw honeycomb. They had a huge selection of different products from flavored honey to honey wine. They even had several different flavors of honey ice cream. We also went to the Taupo museum to look at art and

artifacts. They had some pretty cool historical fly fishing gear from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. There was also a lot of info on the Maori culture here in Taupo. The different types of volcanic rock was interesting to see and feel. It's amazing how light pumice rock is. We saw the garden of well-being and the rose garden, which was really pretty but really wet. We also went and met Ian for a drink (the guide we fished with the last time we were in Taupo).

Friday's Activities in Taupo

Thankfully Friday morning when we woke up it wasn't raining, like it has been since we started this road trip 5 days ago. We decided we better make the most of it. First we headed to Huka Prawn Park, where we went last time we came to Taupo, to catch some shrimp. This time in addition to fishing for shrimp we also took a tour of the facility. In the tour we got to see some really huge prawns and some little bitty baby prawns. We stayed at the park almost 7 hours. After the prawn park we went to Craters of The

Moon, which is a geothermal park. There are several very large craters and tons of small cracks. All of these have steam pouring out of them which is from pressure beneath the surface. There were also a couple of mud pools which were bubbling up. After Craters of The Moon, we went to Huka Falls. These falls are not very tall, but are very powerful creating a super strong undertow at the base. Several small falls in the river lead up to the last plunge of 35 feet. The color is amazing in the river. The rain started to come down again, so we didn't spend to much time at the falls. We have two more days in Taupo before we head to our last North Island destination on this road trip, so hopefully we will have some decent weather. We are both very anxious to get to the South Island on the 21st.

Kiwi's, Trout, & Blown Glass

Thursday we left Mount Maunganui and drove southwest to Taupo. Along the way we stopped at Rainbow Springs, which is a wildlife park designed around natural springs. The main hit of the park is the kiwi nursery, which is in place to help keep the rapidly declining kiwi numbers up. This is the largest kiwi hatching facility in New Zealand. We took a tour through the hatchery where we saw incubating eggs and a new born 2 day old chick. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures through that part, so we cannot share the sights with you. We will tell you though, it was pretty cool and the chick was adorable. Basically they take the eggs from the nest when they are first laid and bring them to the hatchery. Once hatched, they raise the chicks until about 6 months, then take them into the wild. There are lots of details and specifications that go into the process to ensure a high success rate. The little chick we saw was so cute! Also in the park were tons of great trout ponds and loads of birds. If we could only fish for trout at that spot we would be conquering the fly fishing challenge. We had a great time at the park even though we were getting drizzled on the whole time.

After Rainbow Springs, we got back on the road to Taupo. We made one more stop at Lava Glass. This is a studio set up by a glassmaker, Lynden Over, as a working studio. We were able to watch as the artist made incredible blown glass pieces. There is a 1940F furnace that holds 120 liters of molten clear glass, which is dipped into to start the art. Once the first part is started, more colors are added and slowly melted and shaped into art. It was awesome to watch and gave you the feeling to get out and be creative. It was an amazing process that takes extreme concentration and patience.

Mount Maunganui

Tuesday we drove to Mount Maunganui on the east coast of the North Island. It is a beach community with lots of shopping, restaurants, and water. Unfortunately the weather is not the best, so we wont be hitting the beach, but we have found some other things to keep us busy. Mount Maunganui (known locally as Mauao) is a 760 foot tall dormant volcanic cone at the tip of the Mount Manganui township penninsula. The town is located with several bays around it. One of New Zealand's largest ports is located in this area. On Tuesday we went to an indoor rock climbing facility. It was a bit hard, but

we had fun. We were a team, so while one was climbing the other was belaying. On Wednesday morning we hiked to the summit of the mount and then hiked around the entire base. It was a great 90 minute workout. The views were fantastic over the Pacific ocean and the town. Walking around the base, we did see some cleanup efforts of the oil that has entered the ocean from the Rena. The Rena is a cargo vessel that ran aground on Astrolabe Reef off the coast of Tauranga on October 5, 2011 spilling tons of oil and containers into the ocean. It

has been a long drawn out cleanup process of the ship and it's waste. We are shocked that after 2 1/2 months, the mess is still not under control. At this time, the ship is still out on the reef slowly being beaten up from the sea and weather. Crews are still working to remove the remaining containers from the vessel. Hopefully this tragic situation will be over soon. Thankfully there are many people getting involved to help in clean-up efforts.

Waitomo Caves

Monday Dec 12, 2012 we left the Bay of Islands around 7:00 AM to head south, just a bit past Auckland. We checked into our hotel and then headed to CaveWorld at Waitomo Caves. We went along with a guide and one other guest on a black water tubing trip. Once checked in, we went to a dressing area where we received our gear. We wore a super thick wet suit that fit like overalls, along with a zip up wet suit jacket, booties, boots, and a lighted helmet. We boarded a van and drove about 2 miles to the cave. We picked tubes and entered the cave. We walked a bit through the caves as our guide explained the overhead glowworms and cave structure. There is an insect that lives in the caves that glows bright blue. When you look up into the dark cave roof, it looks like a million stars as the little glowworms shine bright. Then we hit the chilly water in our tubes. We floated along as our guide continued to share facts and point out interesting aspects of the cave system. There was a small waterfall that we jumped off and a slide at the end of the stream. It was a really nice tour with just four of us. The guide was quite fun and knowledgable. We had a great time, but were happy for hot showers afterward.

Christmas Parade

This week, we have been preparing for our upcoming road trip to the south island. Getting some of the last plans in place has gotten us very excited! Since we will be on the road for Christmas, we are celebrating early. We have had our Christmas tree up since Thanksgiving day and we finished our shopping today. We plan to open gifts Monday morning before we leave and just have stockings on Christmas morning. This evening we headed down to Paihia for the annual Christmas Parade, which was super short but cute. There were only about ten entrants, but we did get a few pieces of candy, so it was enough for us. It's a warm Christmas here like Key West, but unlike most other parts of the U.S.

Thanks Warren

On Dec 2 we went out on our neighbor Warren's boat with him and his 2 friends from Napa Valley. We were hoping to catch a few fish, but we didn't have much luck with that. So we turned our trip into a tiki tour. Warren drove us all around the bay and narrated what we were seeing while keeping the wine flowing. We stopped at Urupukapuka Island, which has a restaurant and bar (just simple sandwiches and snacks), where we had lunch and drinks. It was a gorgeous spot to visit. The view was amazing. We just pulled the boat right up to a dock, tied up, and enjoyed. They do have simple accommodations there, and I imagine it is a very peaceful place to spend the weekend. It was a great day!