It's been a whirlwind of a week. I met up with Marcia last Thursday. How wonderful to see her again. Little Mick is twice the size since I saw him last, and quite the contrarian so far. You say yes, he says no. But he's two so that's not unusual.
Little Maggie is adorable too, with plenty of Happy Baby Eating Her Toe poses going on. We had a great time playing at Rainbow Springs Park.
Mt. Manganui
The ride from Rotorua to Mt. Manganui, like much of New Zealand, was a circuitous path through the roly-poly New Zealand hills/mountains. This part of New Zealand looks a lot like what you see in Lord of the Rings.
The beach house we're staying at belongs to a friend of Marcia and Bob. It's a cute little place with beach access and the beach is so beautiful and yet somehow empty, except for the surfboard teams practicing a half mile away. Mt. Manganui sits down the beach, a sort of iconic mount jutting out of the earth. A beautiful white sand beach with a long shallow sea beside it. The water was a bit cool, but Mick and Marcia went in while I stayed with Maggie.
Friday morning we went to a lovely park with sculptures in an old quarry that they reclaimed and filled with beautiful plants and sculptures. Marcia chose a short trail through the woods which turned out to be more of a hike and not really toddler appropriate. But we made it through to the other side and enjoyed the wide open spaces and old digger that the rest of the park offered.
On the way home we stopped at a roadside stand and bought some avocados - 4 for $2 NZD! - fresh off the tree. They were amazing. I still can't stop eating them. At another stand I bought a white apple cucumber and some nectarines. The cucumber didn't turn out to taste any different, it just kind of looks like a white apple. The nectarines and tomatoes were fantastic.
Taupo
Saturday we packed out of the little cottage, to travel on to Taupo to another home of a friend. En route to Taupo, Maggie cried most of the way. She doesn't like being trapped in her car seat. We stopped at Kiwi 360, a giant kiwi farm. We meant to have lunch, but of course the cafe was closed for a special event. Marcia says it's my luck that so many places are closed - she never has that problem. Anyway, we bought some kiwi fruit and they came with a kiwi spoon - a special plastic spoon with a knife in the handle. You can cut the head off the kiwi and scoop the fruit out of the skin with the spoon. It's genius, and so simple. I don't know why I never thought to eat a kiwi that way before.
Mick and Maggie were not keen to get back in the car so it was a bit of a rough ride to Taupo, but we arrived at the next house late afternoon and had time to make supper before dropping into bed. Exhausted again.
Napier/Cape Kidnappers
Sunday, we rose early to travel to Napier for the Cape Kidnapper tractor ride down the beach. The road was particularly twisty and turning and Mick threw up in his car seat. Poor thing. But he rallied right away once we got him in a new out fit and we were on our way.
Clifton to Cape Kidnappers was a very unusual beach and the water is so clear everywhere. Tremendous cliffs, all on the diagonal from being pushed up during earthquakes, are a dramatic backdrop to a mellow seafoam green water that stretches as far as the eye can see. So enjoyable. We had picnic lunch in a shelter at the end of the beach before returning to start point. About 18km in all.
On the way home, we drove through Napier proper. Supposedly reknown for its art deco buildings but it was a bit letdown. They were nice, but nothing spectacular. Closer to home we stopped at a vista point: Waipunga Falls was hidden down in amongst the valleys. It was so beautiful and you wouldn't even know it was there if you hadn't stopped.
Road to New Plymouth
I can understand why New Zealanders are so adventurous. Their entire country is like one giant adventure park. Rolling waves of hills surround you and instill a sense of excitement, wonder, awe and exploration.
Monday, on the way from Taupo to New Plymouth we stopped at a great little park in Taumaranui. They have so many great parks and little city centers here. The quality of life just seems amazing. I'm still wandering what Te and Nui mean. They use those in a lot of their place names. I really like the grass here. It's thin and soft, like baby grass.
We chose to take the Forgotten World Highway from Taupo to New Plymouth. It was three hours of twisty turning roads, that no one who's been on it would ever forget. It's like traveling to the center of the earth, or through Jurassic Park. It made me sick to my stomach quite a few times. And with a baby who does not appreciate all the twisting and turning, and will not get tired of crying, it was tiresome. I told Marcia we should get a special certificate for completing the forgotten world highway with an infant.
New Plymouth
We've arrived at Marcia's. Now for a few days respite at her home. :-)
