Huge thanks to Kim and Ryan for being such gracious hosts. We had a blast with you in Melbourne!
Here goes nothing...Wish us luck!
Saturday 21 April 2012
Australia on Two Wheels - Let the Adventures Begin!
Well after almost 2 weeks in the Melbourne area, we are finally ready to start our tour of Oz on two wheels!
Huge thanks to Kim and Ryan for being such gracious hosts. We had a blast with you in Melbourne!
Here goes nothing...Wish us luck!
Huge thanks to Kim and Ryan for being such gracious hosts. We had a blast with you in Melbourne!
Here goes nothing...Wish us luck!
Wednesday 11 April 2012
Paihia and the far north
The last trip we made in New Zealand before heading back to Auckland to tidy up before moving on to Australia was north of Auckland up to Paihia. We piled into Tyler and Natalie's little car and headed north for the Easter weekend.
I seem to have run out of words. Pictures are worth a thousand words right??
I seem to have run out of words. Pictures are worth a thousand words right??
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| Hururu Falls near Paihia |
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| Kauri trees in the Waipoua Kauri Forest - these things a MASSIVE! |
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| There is a big Kauri tree in the background... |
Sea kayaking from Paihia to Russell (across the bay)
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| Captain Natalie |
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| A crazy tree over in Russell |
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| The view of looking back towards Paihia from Russell |
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| Awwwww.... |
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| Not sure what to caption this one with... |
Rotorua and Napier
From Hanmer Springs, Kyle and I travelled to Picton and camped there. The next day was a long day of travel starting with the ferry back to the North Island. Once in Wellington, we (meaning Kyle) did some trouble-shooting on Snow White's little mis-firing issue. After a couple of hours, new distributor cap and rotor, new spark plugs and new leads - we were good to go with Snow White was running like a dream! Off for a 6 hour drive to Rotorua...
As an earlier post alluded to, we met up with Tyler and Natalie in Rotorua! In Rotorua, we went for a nice walk along a river pathway in the morning. Here are a few photos of our walk.
In the afternoon, the four of us visited Te Puia - a Maori cultural centre and thermal grounds. We attended the cultural performance which includes a ceremonial welcome (Powhirl), Hongi (pressing of noses between people as a symbol of friendship), a cultural performance (kapa haka) that includes stick games (throwing and tapping of sticks in time with music), and poi (balls on strings that are swung around in really cool patterns in time with music). Of course, the performance included the infamous Haka as well. Tyler and Kyle were up on stage learning the Haka.
After the cultural performance, we walked around the thermal grounds that are full of bubbling mud, steaming rocks and ground and erupting geysers. It was a smelly walk!!
As an earlier post alluded to, we met up with Tyler and Natalie in Rotorua! In Rotorua, we went for a nice walk along a river pathway in the morning. Here are a few photos of our walk.
In the afternoon, the four of us visited Te Puia - a Maori cultural centre and thermal grounds. We attended the cultural performance which includes a ceremonial welcome (Powhirl), Hongi (pressing of noses between people as a symbol of friendship), a cultural performance (kapa haka) that includes stick games (throwing and tapping of sticks in time with music), and poi (balls on strings that are swung around in really cool patterns in time with music). Of course, the performance included the infamous Haka as well. Tyler and Kyle were up on stage learning the Haka.
After the cultural performance, we walked around the thermal grounds that are full of bubbling mud, steaming rocks and ground and erupting geysers. It was a smelly walk!!
The next day we made a visit to the Agrodome for a show about sheep. It was great fun. Tyler milked a cow, Kyle was part of a demonstration and Nat and I fed some little lambs.
Next stop was Napier where it was raining like crazy! We did a walking tour and visited the aquarium.
Tuesday 10 April 2012
Hanmer Springs
Hanmer Springs was described to us like Radiator Springs from the movie Cars - one road in, one road out! What peaked our interest though was the description of the mountain trails! Kyle and I both loved Hanmer Springs and were thrilled to meet up with a crew of kayakers we met while in Abel Tasman. (They were the ones who we camped next to one night and ended up singing along with the guitar music around the campfire.)
Upon arriving, we played a game of mini-golf...unfortunately I lost to Kyle and had to buy ice cream. Kiwi hospitality strikes again!! While walking to the mini-golf place, we ran into Ju (or Juliet) who invited Kyle and I to stay with her and Graham (or Grum as they refer to him). Hanmer Springs has a remarkable web of trails for both hiking and mountain biking around the town. In the evening, Kyle went for a run alongside Grum and another friend, Sandy, who were on mountain bikes. After they had returned, we visited the thermal pools which is a main attraction for many tourists. There are about 15 outdoor hot pools at varying temperatures, a lap pool, and a series of waterslides too. It was great!
The next day, we went for a hike up Mount Isobel. Here are some photos.
Upon arriving, we played a game of mini-golf...unfortunately I lost to Kyle and had to buy ice cream. Kiwi hospitality strikes again!! While walking to the mini-golf place, we ran into Ju (or Juliet) who invited Kyle and I to stay with her and Graham (or Grum as they refer to him). Hanmer Springs has a remarkable web of trails for both hiking and mountain biking around the town. In the evening, Kyle went for a run alongside Grum and another friend, Sandy, who were on mountain bikes. After they had returned, we visited the thermal pools which is a main attraction for many tourists. There are about 15 outdoor hot pools at varying temperatures, a lap pool, and a series of waterslides too. It was great!
The next day, we went for a hike up Mount Isobel. Here are some photos.
Moeraki Boulders
The Moeraki Boulders are unusually spherical boulders located between Dunedin and Christchurch. Not really sure what else there is to say about them other than they are super cool! Here are a few photos we took during our brief stop.
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