Koala&Kiwi

h We checked out of the Blue Lake Resort at 9.30 and headed off to Matamata for Hobbiton. A lovely sunny day and once again the countryside changed appearance to that of green, agricultural and "horsey". Properties were far and few in between but more ranch like - a very pleasant drive. We arrived at Matamata and enquired at the Tourist Information Office about tours to Hobbiton. Sadly, they were fully booked, (and quite expensive), and only entry was by the tour operators. So after refreshments we carried on to Hamilton where we spent a lovely afternoon relaxing in the Botanical Gardens. Tourist Info Centre   The gardens cover a vast expanse,  54 hectares, and is situated on the banks of the Waikato River. It attracts 1 million visitors a year and it is easy to see why. Themed gardens and a lake - and river cruises can be taken. Gardens included a Japanese Garden, Maori Garden, Alice in Wonderland, English, Rose & Rhododendron to name a few. Produce from the Kit...

The site was beautiful, lush greenery and with a cooler air about it. After another good  nights sleep it was an early start to get ready for our visit to the living Maori Village; the village is owned by the Tuhourangi Ngati Wahiao people and is completely worked by them, a great example of an eco-village. On entering the village we were greeted by the children asking us to throw coins into a hot pool where they would dive to retrieve their rewards, a contradiction of generations.  The ground was hot under foot as it has geothermal vents. Ecological Slow \Cooker We joined a guided tour and learned that to be a tour guide is a very well respected job and is given to  village elders, after the tour you can sped as much time as you wish in the village, my top highlight, was to watch the cultural show. Cooking sweetcorn     So good it watched it twice! Food was cooked in the hot ground; sweetcorn is wrapped in bags and dropped into a the...

After a very comfortable night's sleep and duly refreshed after a shower and breakfast, we had a walk with our fab hosts around a local dog friendly park. We then had an orientation drive before sadly leaving at 10.45. It is strange how people drop in and out of your life, we had not seen one another for a few years and after a very welcoming stay of less than 24 hours we were off, not knowing when we would see them again. Friends and acquaintances seem more important when you get older. We had a very pleasant drive as we headed to our next stop, Lake Taupo arriving here around 3.00pm. We headed out on the Napier - Taupo Road and came across Waipunga Falls. https://world-of-waterfalls.com/waterfalls/new-zealand-waipunga-falls as manicuring his beard. Along the way we passed a Maori Cemetery or Graveyard. This was set into a hillside. As far as I can ascertain, Maori buried people of high status close to settlements and then disinherited the bones to place them in secret locatio...

Never be put off by first impressions, how I should have heeded my own thoughts. I had the first impression that Raglan was a bit of "a one horse town" and I am sad to admit this. We stayed here for a second night, giving us the opportunity to enjoy all that is on offer here for one full day and a second night. After a lazy morning on the site, we walked over the estuary's foot bridge where children were jumping off and into the freezing water below. Children and parents were busy on the beaches black sand, school summer holidays for the children had just begun. Raglan, is a quaint and to quote the Supermarket employee: "A town run by the town for the town". The vast, if not all, the majority of shops are independent: shoe maker, dressmaker, artisan crafts, tiny bakery and Radio station, to name a few. We  had a humorous encounter at a general stores where we were looking to purchase a postal tube. The shop was full to bursting with all manner of random stock;...

After a fab night at the ballet it was an early call, 05.55, to get ready to go to the airport for our 10.15 flight to Auckland. We were slightly delayed in departing and arrived at 3.20pm local time. The airport arrivals hall seemed quite busy and we required some form of transport to take us to the hotel which we had pre -booked for our first night. We took the advice of a lady at the information desk and took an airport super shuttle bus, these are far less expensive than a taxi. They collect prospective customers, put luggage in a trailer and shuttle folk around hotels. We had the mini bus to ourselves save for a couple of German ladies. Once at the hotel we showered and set out to walk to Auckland harbour area, this proved to be further than we had anticipated and so we turned around and decided to eat in the hotel's restaurant.  There was a distinct lack of any atmosphere with only us and a couple of others dining & the waiter who was stripping off dinner settings and se...

The next few days were more relaxing before we headed off to New Zealand the following week. Friday proved to be very hot until mid afternoon when it became a shade cooler. This particular Friday is known as Christmas Party Day, and a day to have fun with work parties and the like,  before the Christmas holidays. We ambled to the village and after a coffee at Bread Works went to the Greenwood Mall for a little shopping. Once back at the apartment I stayed in whilst Neil went for a walk. I sat on the balcony and watched the party boats in the Bay and listened as the noise got steadily louder as the revellers enjoyed themselves, especially the guys in sombreros and moustaches. Quite a sight. After enjoying an evening meal at Blues Point, (as all the eateries were booked up), we had a long chat to a maritime lawyer, very interesting telling us about Capt. Cook and that one of his relatives had worked on  the construction of one of the stanchions of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. ...

 On Wednesday we headed out to the Sea Life Sydney Aquarium.  Apart from the exhibits that you would expect to find there are a few surprises, one being the Dugong. It is a big herbivore mammal and quite a sight, looking rather like a dolphin, but closely related to the elephant. living in its own tank and feeding voraciously on lettuce. We had a ride on the penguin expedition boat ride, but were rather unsure whether this was a step too far. As is usual in this kind of place, there were parties of schoolchildren enjoying all manner of sea life. It is worthy to note that all the children we came across during our trip were polite and courteous. We have been told that school children do not get on a bus until all other passengers in the queue are on. They will immediately give up their seats without question.  We had a latish lunch and to our amazement along came a thunder storm, the first serious rain that we had seen so far. Thankfully it didn't last too long and we w...