IN PROGRESS - January 26 - February 26 - This was a month with a lot of activities daily as we traveled to the North Island with our car. Along for the adventures were our bikes, pack rafts, camping and fishing gear. We had a blast, met friends old and new along the way including a childhood friend of Karen's and his wife, a dear friend from Salt Lake City who came through Nelson on a cruise, and our new swimming friend Nigel. Our fun is below with the slideshow pictures at the bottom.
- Betsy made a port call in Nelson on her cruise ship, the Azamara
- 28 Jan - Interislander Ferry to Wellington
- 29 Jan - 2 Feb - Creel Lodge, Turangi. Fished, walked the Tongariro Crossing, walked the Tama Lakes, found Gollum's rocks, biked the Tongariro River path
- 3 Feb - 7 Feb - Lake Rotorua - biked the Whakarewarewa Forest (Redwood Forest), the thermal pools trails by Lake Rotorua, swam in Blue Lake, swam in Lake Okareka, soaked in the spa at Wai Ariki by Lake Rotorua, conversed with Michael Matchitt - a Maori Artist on Waitangi Day in his work shed.
- 8-9 Feb - Swim friend, Nigel, Mount Maunganui. Swam and swam... watched his children surf! Wow, they are 10 and 12 and ride the waves with the best!
- 10-12 Feb- Hot Water Pools Beach, Hahei Beach - Hahei Beach became one of our favorites beaches! One day we swam to Goat Island, one day we swam to Cathedral Cove at high tide, walked through, returned before the kayaks and motor boats started arriving. The track is closed, hence the only way to Cathedral Cove is via water. And, one day we swam the length of Hahei Beach and back.
- 13 Feb - Hobbiton! One of the very, very touristy things we have done and were glad we did! Learned so much about the Alexander Farm and the filming of The Hobbit.
- Wairere Falls - Highest falls on the North Island, walk
- 14-16 Feb - Waitomo Caves - We met up with Tommy (a high school and college friend) & Margie who are from Los Alamos. We joined them for blackwater rafting in the caves full of glow worms, stalactites and stalagmites. Loved this! We learned the Maori and Pakeha (white man) ownership and building history of this tourist site.
- 17-18 Feb - Biked the Timber Trail and stayed at the Timber Trail Lodge along the way. Wow! This trail was fun and beautiful to bike! The Lodge was wonderfully clean and had delicious food served family style. They greeted us with our choice of a wood-fired pizza in the afternoon upon our arrival. We met like minded bike riders at the Lodge and along the trail.
- 19-21 Feb - Packrafted the Whanganui River Journey - a "Great Walk" that is actually a river paddle, or canoe trip. The third night, the DOC hut is on a Marae, so we were engaged in the Powhiri ceremony. Mark did the talking for the males. Our French and Israeli men also staying at the DOC hut were relieved, as was the young German woman since Karen had to support Mark's speech with a folk song (thank goodness for all those 4th grade songs she knows!)
- 23 Feb - Returned to Nelson via the Interislander