Saturday 4 March 2017 - Moving Day to Rotorua
The area around Rotorua is a land of volcanoes, lakes, geysers, boiling mud, sulphur filled air and some of the thinnest crust on earth at just 5 kilometers - a great place to spend four nights. Anything that spits boiling water, steam, hot mud or smells of sulphur was snapped up ages ago and turned into a tourist attraction. Our dilemma is what to do. The weather is perfect with clear blue skies and cool days.
All of the above is swirling through our heads as we arrived at yet another AirBnB this time on the shores of Lake Tarawera about 15 minutes out of Rotorua. Our answers were questioned as soon as we set eyes on the views over the lake - do nothing, at least for the first day.
The property is an old, somewhat shabby, family holiday retreat home with eight beds, two bathrooms, BBQ, outdoor spa and sauna (not available for us), jetty, all on two levels with large decks all facing Mt Tarawera over the other side of the lake. In 1886 this mountain blew its top burying many Maori villages around it. Of course one of the buried villages is now a tourist attraction called "The Buried Village". The beaches around the base of the mountain are hot and there is a popular campsite located there.
So day one we did nothing but recharge the batteries and enjoy the view. It was a Sunday so there probably were a lot of people about but we will never know because we stayed at home. We did try the lake walk out front of our place but that was overgrown and really just a waste of time. The jetty was good but the house was even better.
Monday - after much deliberation we settled on which boiling mud, geysers and sulphur smelling steam we would go and look at - Whakarewarewa Living Maori Village. Around 70 people still live in the village in the middle of suburban Rotorua some of whom are descendants of tribes that were dislocated following the eruption of Mt Tarawera.
The residents still use steam vents to cook with, bathe in thermal open air baths and generally live a traditional Maori way of life in the middle of a popular tourist attraction. From 8:30 am to 5 pm each day tourists are allowed in provided $35 per person is allowed out of your wallet. I have to say I was skeptical about the whole venture but was very much surprised at how good it was.
We arrived early and were first over the bridge into the village. We had 45 minutes before the first guided tour started so we had the place to ourselves. Sure enough they do still bathe in open air thermal pools as a couple were on their way back to their home after taking a bath. We were shown around the village by one of the village residents and had everything explained to us. Quite fascinating.
The big geyser to see in Rotorua is Te Puia which was in the grounds of this village but is now cut off and turned into a very big government run tourist attraction next door. We could see the geyser from the village from two well positioned viewing platforms. After a bit of free time we were treated to traditional Maori song and dances which were very well done.
It was now midday and we realised the rumbles were not an earthquake but our stomachs telling us it was lunch time. The 3rd Place Cafe on the shores of Lake Rotorua settled the stomachs. Below us was rising thermal steam so after lunch we went exploring. Along the lake shore sulphur steam vents bubble away as do big pools of boiling mud. The lake waters in the area are milky from all the suspended sulphur in the water.
Next a quick walk to Okere Falls on the northern side of the lake then an unexpectedly beautiful quite short loop walk at Hamurana Springs. The walk starts near the lake's edge through Redwood trees then follows the springs outflow stream to its source. These are the deepest natural fresh water springs in New Zealand. The water is crystal clear (described as "gin" clear) and flows from the Mamaku Plateau to the west. It takes 70 years for the water to reach the surface and it flows out at 4.5 million litres per hour at a constant temperature of 10 degrees. This was one of those unexpectedly beautiful walks and there were only two other people there.
Next Day: Time for: a big walk. The place: The Redwoods. Where: Back of Rotorua. Why: cause its there.
5600 hectares of mountain bike tracks and bush walks of all grades wind their way through 120 old Californian Redwoods. A successful experiment to transform a once barren economically useless hills now offers a beautiful place to visit. Our Lonely Planet Guidebook recommends the Purple Track so that's what we did, a whole 13 kilometres of it. It starts off very well in the 55 metre high Redwoods and soon enters pine plantations and goes uphill for far too long eventually trekking downhill following gullies, bike trails and formed gravel roads back to the starting point. If we were to do it again we would spend our time down the bottom of the hills in the Redwoods. However it was a great place to visit and something worth doing if you come to Rotorua - probably pick one of the shorter tracks though as the last 1/3 of the purple track became a bit tedious as we walked home continuing up and down on large gravel, small gravel then bitumen.
After four nights in Rotorua it was time to move on further up the Bay of Plenty to another AirBnB up in the hills behind Katikati known for its Ulster inspired murals. Last night the forecast rain arrived - a whole 148 mm overnight. The New Zealand news was transformed into stories about flooded homes and campsites and further heavy rain and storms to come. We drove to Katikati in constant rain, arrived in the rain and settled in while the rain came down.
Our accommodation is beautiful, fairly small, very new, cleverly designed and stylishly decorated. A huge covered balcony overlooks farms to the Bay of Plenty and Tauranga in the distance. We even have two plumbed outdoor bathtubs with hot and cold running water facing the view - not that they, and the bubble bath provided, will get any use while we're here.
The property is run by a lovely couple who have sheep, pigs, chickens and a veggie garden. We were provided with a welcome pack of a bottle of wine (red - Julie doesn't drink red), chocolates (Julie doesn't like chocolates), coffee, tea, milk, 6 eggs (Julie doesn't eat eggs), and 6 home grown avocados. The pigs (Julie doesn't eat pigs) have just had litters of 15 piglets that bounce around the paddocks.
Rain and showers are forecast for the next 4-5 days so our adventures in the area will be guided by breaks in the weather.
Day one here, Wednesday 8 March, is expected to have the best weather so we headed off to the busiest port in New Zealand, Tauranga, 30 minutes away and on to Mt Manganui now quite a popular tourist area and surfers paradise. A great walk around this volcanic plug provided 360 degree views of the region.
The walk to the top did not attract us so we continued to explore the coastline. A visit to Moturiki Island, once a Maori chief's accommodation, gave a great views of surfers riding near perfect 6 foot waves below us.
After a drive to Minden Lookout, a visit to Anzac Bay and Bowentown on the other side of Katikati finished off our day.
We have been to this area in the past so we are only staying three nights. The weather was overcast and either showering or raining most of the time so our accommodation was a great refuge when being out and about was not worthy of our presence. On Airbnb, the accommodation is called "Magical Panoramic Sea Views" but on other sites it's Kaimai Range Country Getaway. Just lovely.
Our last day here was cool/cold and overcast. Overnight showers had left their mark. A late sleep in and a relaxing morning allowed Julie to watch me catch up on all the chores. Lunch was held in Katikati. I paid the bill and it seemed too cheap, then the owner advised it was half-price Friday!
Katikati has a great riverside walk and is known for its murals on walls throughout the town. The weather was clear though threatening so we did the riverside walk and learnt all about the Japanese form of poetry called Haiku. It's the only Haiku walk trail in the world, or at least outside of Japan, and we lost count of the number of Haiku inscribed rocks we passed. A typical Haiku is a three-line observation about a fleeting moment involving nature. It doesn't rhyme and like all poetry is boring. There is a whole lot more to it than that but I don't want to bore you too.
Along the walk are numerous boulders especially selected and placed then using a team of experts just the right Haiku is selected and engraved in the stone. Additionally, there was some great public art in Katikati with murals depicting its Ulster heritage. It also has a trail of local bird sculptures. So with poetry, murals and sculptures we spent a very artistic hour or two.
Rain appeared in the skies above and washed out all further enthusiasm for being outside. Retreating home we sat by the heater admiring our clouded view through the rain.
Once again it is moving day tomorrow so I'll publish this post. We hope you enjoy it.
I'll leave you with my favourite haiku poem -
morning walk ....
the old dog and I
both limping
by Devan Stull (USA)
By for now
JeffnJulie - the Grey Gonads on the road in New Zealand
The area around Rotorua is a land of volcanoes, lakes, geysers, boiling mud, sulphur filled air and some of the thinnest crust on earth at just 5 kilometers - a great place to spend four nights. Anything that spits boiling water, steam, hot mud or smells of sulphur was snapped up ages ago and turned into a tourist attraction. Our dilemma is what to do. The weather is perfect with clear blue skies and cool days.
All of the above is swirling through our heads as we arrived at yet another AirBnB this time on the shores of Lake Tarawera about 15 minutes out of Rotorua. Our answers were questioned as soon as we set eyes on the views over the lake - do nothing, at least for the first day.
 |
| Views over Lake Tarawera to Mt Tarawera (volcano) from inside |
 |
| Great balcony |
The property is an old, somewhat shabby, family holiday retreat home with eight beds, two bathrooms, BBQ, outdoor spa and sauna (not available for us), jetty, all on two levels with large decks all facing Mt Tarawera over the other side of the lake. In 1886 this mountain blew its top burying many Maori villages around it. Of course one of the buried villages is now a tourist attraction called "The Buried Village". The beaches around the base of the mountain are hot and there is a popular campsite located there.
 |
| Our jetty |
 |
| Sunset from balcony |
So day one we did nothing but recharge the batteries and enjoy the view. It was a Sunday so there probably were a lot of people about but we will never know because we stayed at home. We did try the lake walk out front of our place but that was overgrown and really just a waste of time. The jetty was good but the house was even better.
Monday - after much deliberation we settled on which boiling mud, geysers and sulphur smelling steam we would go and look at - Whakarewarewa Living Maori Village. Around 70 people still live in the village in the middle of suburban Rotorua some of whom are descendants of tribes that were dislocated following the eruption of Mt Tarawera.
 |
| Maori microwave (Hungi) |
The residents still use steam vents to cook with, bathe in thermal open air baths and generally live a traditional Maori way of life in the middle of a popular tourist attraction. From 8:30 am to 5 pm each day tourists are allowed in provided $35 per person is allowed out of your wallet. I have to say I was skeptical about the whole venture but was very much surprised at how good it was.
 |
| Output from the steam ovens - not too bad. One is enough though. |
 |
| Two old geysers |
It was now midday and we realised the rumbles were not an earthquake but our stomachs telling us it was lunch time. The 3rd Place Cafe on the shores of Lake Rotorua settled the stomachs. Below us was rising thermal steam so after lunch we went exploring. Along the lake shore sulphur steam vents bubble away as do big pools of boiling mud. The lake waters in the area are milky from all the suspended sulphur in the water. |
| Boiling mud |
 |
| Lake Rotorua - where the geothermal activity is. |
 |
| More Redwoods at Hamurana Springs |
 |
| Underwater shot of the gin/crystal clear waters of the springs |
 |
| Above water shot |
 |
| Springs outflow |
Next Day: Time for: a big walk. The place: The Redwoods. Where: Back of Rotorua. Why: cause its there.
5600 hectares of mountain bike tracks and bush walks of all grades wind their way through 120 old Californian Redwoods. A successful experiment to transform a once barren economically useless hills now offers a beautiful place to visit. Our Lonely Planet Guidebook recommends the Purple Track so that's what we did, a whole 13 kilometres of it. It starts off very well in the 55 metre high Redwoods and soon enters pine plantations and goes uphill for far too long eventually trekking downhill following gullies, bike trails and formed gravel roads back to the starting point. If we were to do it again we would spend our time down the bottom of the hills in the Redwoods. However it was a great place to visit and something worth doing if you come to Rotorua - probably pick one of the shorter tracks though as the last 1/3 of the purple track became a bit tedious as we walked home continuing up and down on large gravel, small gravel then bitumen.
After four nights in Rotorua it was time to move on further up the Bay of Plenty to another AirBnB up in the hills behind Katikati known for its Ulster inspired murals. Last night the forecast rain arrived - a whole 148 mm overnight. The New Zealand news was transformed into stories about flooded homes and campsites and further heavy rain and storms to come. We drove to Katikati in constant rain, arrived in the rain and settled in while the rain came down.
Our accommodation is beautiful, fairly small, very new, cleverly designed and stylishly decorated. A huge covered balcony overlooks farms to the Bay of Plenty and Tauranga in the distance. We even have two plumbed outdoor bathtubs with hot and cold running water facing the view - not that they, and the bubble bath provided, will get any use while we're here.
 |
| Our accommodation near Katikati |
 |
| A future Sunday breakfast at our place |
Rain and showers are forecast for the next 4-5 days so our adventures in the area will be guided by breaks in the weather.
Day one here, Wednesday 8 March, is expected to have the best weather so we headed off to the busiest port in New Zealand, Tauranga, 30 minutes away and on to Mt Manganui now quite a popular tourist area and surfers paradise. A great walk around this volcanic plug provided 360 degree views of the region. 
 |
| Moturki Island looking at Mt Manganui |
 |
| Anzac Bay |
We have been to this area in the past so we are only staying three nights. The weather was overcast and either showering or raining most of the time so our accommodation was a great refuge when being out and about was not worthy of our presence. On Airbnb, the accommodation is called "Magical Panoramic Sea Views" but on other sites it's Kaimai Range Country Getaway. Just lovely.
Our last day here was cool/cold and overcast. Overnight showers had left their mark. A late sleep in and a relaxing morning allowed Julie to watch me catch up on all the chores. Lunch was held in Katikati. I paid the bill and it seemed too cheap, then the owner advised it was half-price Friday!
 |
| Some Haiku poetry - makes a rock interesting |
 |
| Public art on the bird trail |
 |
| Katikati town walk |
 |
| Add caption |
 |
| Katikati murals |
Along the walk are numerous boulders especially selected and placed then using a team of experts just the right Haiku is selected and engraved in the stone. Additionally, there was some great public art in Katikati with murals depicting its Ulster heritage. It also has a trail of local bird sculptures. So with poetry, murals and sculptures we spent a very artistic hour or two.
Rain appeared in the skies above and washed out all further enthusiasm for being outside. Retreating home we sat by the heater admiring our clouded view through the rain.
Once again it is moving day tomorrow so I'll publish this post. We hope you enjoy it.
I'll leave you with my favourite haiku poem -
morning walk ....
the old dog and I
both limping
by Devan Stull (USA)
By for now
JeffnJulie - the Grey Gonads on the road in New Zealand
 |
| Catching up on Haiku poems with a local |
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