Raurimu to Turangi

After all that hiking at Tongariro National Park, we drove around before going back to the lodge.



Somewhere in the vicinity



Then went back for a well-deserved dinner.


The kiwi fruits in NZ are cheap, extremely flavourful and sweet, so unlike those we have here which are unripe and sourish. My SO was buying loads of the fruit and eating several and more everyday, which somehow, manage to convert one of our friends (both aren't into fruits) into a kiwi fruit fan.


Half tandoori grilled chicken


With stir-fried spinach & fresh button mushrooms (cheap) and canned sphaghetti. Their spinach comes in a huge bunch with very large leaves, and surprisingly, tasted sweet on its own without the siap siap taste of our local spinach. The fresh groceries were cheap as they were on special offer, which there often is, every couple of weeks.


Golden ginger wine from Sentry Hill

The next day (Day 9), we bid farewell to the very cozy Haven Lodge and move towards Lake Taupo, about 2 hours (?) away. Along the way, we went to Turangi for lunch.


There was some sort of fair going on in the town centre and a country song performance by the locals. Their standard of singing was very good!


My lunch of "the best vegetarian burger" - with grilled sweet onions, lettuce, tomatoes, mushrooms, cheese and kurama (sweet potatoes).


The SO's chicken and mushroom pasta with came in big kweh chap-like sheets of pasta. It was slightly creamy and very soft and nice.


The board display in the visitor information centre. Pressing the button will light up the board and start a commentary about the mountains and rivers in the region and how water and hydro-electricity are harnessed to provide power.

Tongariro National Park II (Day 8)

We went back to Tongariro National Park (TNP) the next day, after the previous day's failed attempted to do any sort of hiking at the famous park.


The weather was cloudy but at least it wasn't raining, so we decided to do the 1-hr Taranaki Falls trail.


I think what they mean by a "1-hr" walk is provided you walk VERY briskly, without stopping and just kind of zoom your way through the trail, but how boring is that?


With our dilly-dallying to take photos, side-tracking, and stopping to snack on chocolates (we ate lots of chocolates on this trip), we probably took about 3 hours to do the trail.


Interesting terrain


The bushes look brown and as if they've wilted...but it's normal (most of them look like that)


Undulating terrain


Unusual vegetation


Stream-crossing


Gorgeous scenery...


...with colours of Fall (it's Spring actually)


Probably Mt Ngauruhoe


Water from the mountains


Taranaki Falls


Flowing rivers


Leaving the 80-year old Whakapapa or was it Tongariro Chateau...?


A nice, clear shot of the moutain just as we were leaving

This park was definitely one of the highlights of our trip...more to come in the later part of the trip.

Day 7 Raurimu

Since we couldn't do the walks at Tongariro National Park due to bad weather, one of the things we did was to detour to nearby towns, so we ended up at Ohakune to have the lunch which we'd packed for the Tongariro Crossing.


Our lunch - roast chicken quarter and some sort of tabbouleh cous cous salad from New World supermarket

In the afternoon, we went back to Whakapapa Village to see if there was a chance to do the Tongariro Crossing (that's how enthusiastic our friends were...), but it was still raining up there lah, even though the weather at Ohakune was good. So, after the to-ing and fro-ing, in the end we went back to our accom at Haven Lodge.


Our room with a 2.5ft bed and a pull-out sofa bed...


...which looks out into the kitchen also... so we can conveniently watch the water boiling, eh? ;)

The SO went out to find wooden planks, newspapers, etc. to make a door and cover up the bar counter hole, as we were doing some stir-frying for dinner and didn't want all that garlic fumes to come into our room.


Shared dinner for the night - cabbage, egg and noodles, plus instant mushroom soup (not shown)...cooked by moi

Outside of the cottage, there are some interesting plants.


White and maroon tulips


??


? but this plant is quite common in NZ


Some kind of shrub

Tongariro National Park I (Day 7)

It's the main reason why people visit this area - to visit the Tongariro National Park (TNP), which is the oldest national park in NZ which is awarded World Heritage Site status by UNESCO.

The TNP has 3 main mountains, namely Mt Tongariro, Mt Ngauruhoe (ie Mt Doom in LOTR movies) and Mt Ruapehu, as well as lakes and craters.

(Click for bigger view)

Day 7: Our intention was do to the 6- to 9-hour Tongariro Crossing so that we can get to see views like this:



But when we got to the visitor centre at Whakapapa Village, the weather was like this :


And the weather forecast for the next day was - wind speeds of 70km/hr at Tongariro!

Hence, there was no chance for us to do the Tongariro Crossing, but I can't say I was extremely disappointed.

With our usual dilly-dally pattern, plus taking photos, getting side-tracked, etc. I won't be surprised if the walk will take us 10 hours to complete. Ten hours leh! Don't play, play!


(After lunch at Ohakune) Even with wet weather on this day, our two friends still wanted to do the 2 hour trail walk, but I wasn't too crazy about walking in the rain (even with a rain coat) and chose to wait for them at the visitor centre. The SO was game at first, but changed his mind when the rain got heavier.


So our friends took off, but after a very short start, decided to give up the idea and turned back to the visitor centre.


Warning on the notice board of visitor centre


The mountains at TNP turn into a popular ski resort in winter - I didn't know one can ski in NZ.

More on TNP to come...

Cutie Meow Meow

At Raurimu/Tongariro area, we stayed at Haven Cottage. Attracted by the light and warmth, many insects would fly into the cottage at night. I asked the SO to release them outside, so they would have a better chance of life, instead of getting crushed accidentally inside the small cottage.


Our cottage, with the toilet/bathroom/laundry room in a separate "box".


The other bigger and more costly cottage.

It was so cold in the evening that the SO would open the door slightly ajar to release the insect (a moth) while in a squatting position, and while doing so, a furry head suddenly popped around to peep inside our cottage, which gave the SO a fright!

It was the neighbour's cat, which with a little coaxing, decided to pay us a visit. :)




As usual, the SO could not resist cuddling the sweetie (I think it's a boy).


This is how the fellow looks like when he/she first saw us, a day or two earlier (before the night of his visit). Didn't look so friendly, eh?

The kitty was perched on this damp rug at the cottage next door, which we discovered (from the boy) was not his home. When we first arrived, the cottage next door had 2 visitor dogs, one of which was a brown & white boxer which walked through the fence to say 'hi' to us...very cute.

Road block ahead

What's up ahead that's causing a road block?



Mehhhhh!!


Sheeps galore! Herded by (what else, but) sheepdogs!

I'd never imagine I would encounter this scene, much less be in it! It's machiam like being in a movie. Hee hee!


They did say that there are more sheeps in NZ than there are people.

Edited: The above happened on Day 6 ( Day 5 was spent in New Plymouth, walking around, ating out at more fancy places and shopping!). We were en route to the Forgotten Highway 43, a so-called Scenic Route, which means it's also very winding, and which means I had to shut out one of my senses so as not to get motion sickness. So, I missed out on most of the scenes along the way, though I dare say that among the four of us, I napped the most. :P

NZ Day 4 - To New Plymouth

We left Waitomo Caves and drove to New Plymouth, a much bigger coastal town.


Along the way, we saw Mt Taranaki (taken through car window)


The sea is just beside the residential area.

Though it was a clear, sunny day, it actually felt very chilly with the cold wind, so we had to have our (thick) coats on. It's quite strange to be standing under the sun and yet feel cold!

We thought we'd have a picnic snack/lunch under the shade of the tree, but that proved too cold, so we sat on a bench that had no shelter from the sun, which turned out to be more comfortable.


We had our lovely apple crumble pie (only from Woolworth's @ Otorohanga) and yummy Kettle Chips - both on special offer (about NZ$5 and NZ$2.50 respectively). Our friends had home-made sausage sandwiches wrapped with Subway paper from the previous night's dinner.

While checking out the motels in the area, we met Woody the tuxedo cat that live in a lovely seaview motel, which unfortunately had no vacancy.


Woody was a little shy at first and went to hide. It took the three of us (hotel receptionist, the SO and me) to coax him out to meet us. We got to sayang him a bit. :)


Along the way, the others went to check out a bicycle shop, while I saw this bunch of seagulls waiting for scraps from an old couple.

It didn't hurt to have a little fruit wine-tasting as we continued to look for suitable accomodation.


Sentry Hill has very good feijoa wine, but it was the unique green ginger wine that won the SO and the other woman over, so we bought a bottle to share. The ginger wine has a lovely bouquet and gives a quiet, little explosive sensation as it flows down the throat...that's my best way of describing it.

(I'm not a wine drinker, but during the later part of the trip, we got to try other feijoa/fruit wines, which didn't come close to that of Sentry Hill's in terms of bouquet, taste, texture and colour).


The poser at the wine counter

Back to accom-hunting!

The YMCA didn't have accomodation facilities, but the lady receptionist/manager there was absolutely helpful in suggesting places for us to stay. One of those places she'd recommended was Sunflower (backpackers) Lodge.


Looks a little bohemian, and with a very homely atmosphere....


...plus a sun deck / balcony that looks out to the sea, and a huge kitchen well-stocked with utensils (and even an electric rice cooker) and 3 large fridges. We met friendly manager Sue and Annie, whom I thought wouldn't look out of place in the bohemian era.


Soon, it was time to roam the streets and check out dinner - at the popular Sun World (新世界） Chinese restaurant - which had a reasonable buffet and fantastic roast pork, according to the men. I wouldn't know coz I didn't try it.

It was very windy and chilly as we walked back to the lodge after dinner. Still, it wasn't as bad as the next day's weather - rain!