11 Jan  I took all of January off so there was no pressure on me and I was able to have a good time. Had been looking for about 4 months for an automatic van, so we would be ready for them (plus we just plain need one and this was a good excuse to get one). FATE, stepped in once again. Saw an ad for a used van the Saturday before they arrived. So, we left David at home and picked them up at the airport - from there we went straight to the car dealer in Auckland and it was perfect. Toyota HiAce mini-bus, automatic one year old with only 8,000 miles on it. Not a scratch and at a price we could manage. And what normally happens with visitors happened again. Straight out to see the yard. The weather was absolutely perfect on their arrival, so they enjoyed being out in the sun, coming straight from 20 below. Stop at each tree and sample the fruit. A real paradise here. After they had a nap, we opened the gifts they brought. If we didn't have the most Twins souvenirs in the Southern hemisphere before, we certainly do now. Knowing that the time was limited, we set down to a pile of brochures, maps and books and began making plans for the two weeks. A former pupil of mine, Lamorna, dropped in with her show dog collie, Thomas, and contributed her thoughts on what to do whilst down round about Rotorua.

12 Jan  Photos  Next day was rainy on the coast, canceling plans to go surfing, so we went to Auckland Botanical Gardens in Manurewa. Everyone was impressed with the brightness of the colors and in the way the plants were put out in large groups resulting in a large mass of red cannas, for example. From there we went grocery shopping at Foodtown, to give- them an idea of what an ordinary middle-class Kiwi has available. For supper we sampled the various meat pies to be found at Georgie Pie, NZ's answer to MacDonald's. Went to park and taught T&K how to play cricket (best we could, anyway). Followed that with some softball, baseball hitting which was a treat for us.

13 Jan  Photos  On Wednesday I brought the van into AA for a checkup and it was given the best possible rating - not a thing wrong with it. So I put a deposit on it. While I was doing that, Tom was discussing job opportunities at the agency that had helped me. Gail and Kathy were exploring the tourist shops at the bottom of Queen Street, the main shopping street in Auckland. We had lunch at, what else, a lunch bar on Queen Street. In the evening we visited the Aldersons on their farmette.

14 Jan  Next day, picked up the van and had a bench seat installed, so that we get six people into it. While that was going on Gail brought T&K to Victoria Park Market, which is an up-market flea-market type place with expensive gear, and a variety of food stalls from around the world. From there we explored the Parnell Rose Gradens, which were nice but past the prime flowering period which occurs in November. If that wasn't enough, as soon as we got back home at 5pm we shot out to Waiuku, to see the Whites and carry on to Karetahi to go surfing on the black sand beach. Got there at high tide, but since it was a cloudy, coolish day we were the only ones there aside from a lonely hang-glider. Tom and I were in for over an hour with our kids and Whites' mob. After that sort of action, we stopped at Ian's to get a warm-me-up, which turned out to be a bottle of "Purple Death", which is a potent blackberry nip in disguise.

15 Jan  Photos  The following day we headed for the other coast, with the canoe on top of the car (it won't fit into the van and we can't get it on top) and the rest of our beach gear into the van. Our luck continued in that we had the whole beach to ourselves; it was a Friday and cloudy, but still you would think that one or two people might go to the beach. The clouds cleared at 6pm, no wind, it was perfect. We were all out on the water in the canoe, inflatible or our pantoon raft. It was there that Kathy discovered her passion for seashells.

16 Jan    Ever since the Whites moved to NZ Susi had wanted to go to the Otara Flea Market in hopes of getting some island type food. So Saturday found Ian, Su, Gail, Ne, Tom and I got up extremely early and hit the place. Some good buys for everyone We picked up a fresh snapper, which Su gutted and filleted for us and we had that evening. To cap off the evening we watched the Vikings defeat the 49er' s.

17 Jan  Photos  Sunday we went to Heritage Park, which is a theme park based on things Kiwi, heavily influenced by things Maori. It is still being developed, so we were a bit disappointed at first. However, by the end of the day we found that we had only done half of the possible activities and even wanted to go back to a few others again. There is a butterfly house, which while not spectacular, it is unique here. We only had a few minutes in the aviary before we had to rush to the Maori Stage show. It was one of the best plays (Maori legend) I have ever seen, well-worth the price of admission itself. for a paddle on Maori war canoe with 20 or so others helping. Caught end of the farm show including sheep shearing. Seemed to be a very humorous presentation geared toward kids. Attended the Maori concert which equally moving and entertaining. That left just enough time to do a little shopping and play a round of putt-putt on as course in which each hole represented a feature of NZ landscape.

18 Jan  Photos  No time to stop, so on Monday we headed out in the van complete with dogs and room to spare - it's a BIG van. Stopped at Totara Winery in Thames for sampling and get a supply for the trip. Stopped at Tapu to explore the beach, more shell collecting for Kathy. From there we crept along a narrow gravel road up and down Fiji-type landscape to Rapaura water gardens. There we explored the man-made lillypads, waterfalls and waterworks. Further on up the road and a steep walkway we found the 30th largest kauri tree in NZ, which also happens to be the only "square Long ride from there to Kaeranga valley were we set up the tents in Wainora camp. It was not an easy task, no rain for a month or so, so ground was rock hard, not counting all the rocks. Bent a few pegs in the process. Spent the night around the campfire and were able to see a few shooting stars.

19 Jan  Photos  After a good" night's sleep everyone, including the dogs went up the gorge thru the bush, across a couple bridges, over rocks and boulders until we swinging got to a spot where we rested in the middle of the stream over waterfalls on huge rocks and basked in the sun. We made it back to the van just as a drizzle began, canceling our plans to go swimming. So when we got back to camp we began setting up for rain conditions. But the rain turned into a storm with squalls of wind that ripped the main tent's loops off and in the storm, no way could it stay up. So, we checked out options and decided to throw everything into the van and find a nice dry warm place to spend the night. nds simple enough? But only a few places on the coast and guess what? No dogs allowed. We tried the honest approach, we tried the honest approach with sympathy. We then resorted to lying. So at Waimau we hid the dogs, got a cabin and smuggled them in. It was nerve racking as the cabin was in the main area, with plenty of action going on, the door had big cracks, we were going in and out, a cat wandered by. The dogs only barked a couple times. We all felt like criminals. Gail wanted to have a shower but she couldn't leave the cabin because the dogs went crazy without her. It seemed like forever before nightfall came. We were extremely lucky to get away with it.

20 Jan  Photos  Beat a hasty retreat as early we could possibly get out before the dogs went rampant. Stopped in Thames for breakfast and explored the shops - its a real nice tourist town. Let Kathy scour the Thames beach before Tom drove us into Rotorua where T&K visited the orchid gardens while we checked out the Tudor Towers museum. The building is the site of the first mud baths place in NZ. 100 years ago people from all over the world came here for medical treatment in the spas. Still do. That evening we stayed in Golden Springs Motor Camp, halfways between Rotorua and Taupo. A beautiful resort. Everyone except Kathy went straight into heated pool before exploring the place. Hot water streams and pond, ducks, fowl, peacocks, deer, ponies, big aspen trees. Lovely setting.

21 Jan  Photos  Time marches on and so did we. Next day we hiked down Waimangu Valley. Hot springs volcanic area.. About an hour's walk and many interesting things to see. At the bottom are silica terraces being formed. Only one hundred years old, begun after the original White & Pink terraces were destroyed in a volcanic eruption. Those had formed -over thousands of years and were gigantic. A place filled with history. And part of the entrance fee included a ride back UP the valley which was much appreciated. The ementioned eruption also buried the main town in the area. This place was just a stones throw away and I figured we could cut through forest roads instead of taking the highway all the way back to Rotorua just to drive down another one to get where we almost were. Good plan, found the turn off, made all the right turns once inside the forest - had a lovely drive past a lake, just us with nature. Half an hour later we get to our goal, a viewpoint overlooking the blue and green lakes. Only trouble was this locked gate so we couldn't get to the highway. There we were less than 100 metres from our goal. No way to pick the lock, break it, force the gate, drive around. So we did the sightseeing and then very carefully turned the van around, the edge of the road being a severe drop down. A little under an hour later found us at the same spot, this time on the highway to the Buried Village. The village was excavated in the early 60's, about 80 years after the eruption and you can step down into the buildings. About 3-4 feet of mud, ash etc covered the area, much like what happened in Pompei. It's a nice cool place to wander compared to all the hot springs areas. Highlight though is the long sheer drop of the walkway as one goes to see the waterfalls and then passes through caves before climbing back up.

22 Jan  Photos  Running out of time now, its Friday and a mad dash to Taupo to look at the lake take in Huka Falls, and a Honey Village. Long ride via another famous Malecek shortcut to Waitomo Glowworm Caves. Excellent guide, many grubs to be seen, many more than I remember last time there ten years ago. Back roads (shortcut) to Waignaro Thermal Pools at 7pm. Soaked in the hot pool and swam in the warm pool. But the kids had the treat of going down the water slides. Left at 9.30 and it was a slow ride back as we were on the look out for possums that could be found on the road ever so often. All in all a long five days with a lot packed in.

23 Jan  Spent Saturday unpacking the van, time out to hit baseball/softballs again for one last time. Ended the stay with a traditional fish and chips supper complete with a NZ bubbly.

24 Jan    And Sunday we shot out to another beach for a few hours in the ocean. On way back stopped at Clevedon to watch a chukka of Polo. And before you know it, we were back at the airport that evening seeing T&K off, after a very hectic two weeks of non-stop action.