Great Visit with Kim!

Over the last week we've enjoyed a visit from my best friend.  We picked her up in Wellington after her long flight an immediately took her to chow down in Cuba street to on of our favorite brunch places- Fidels. We drove the 3 hour drive back to Wanganui along the scenic coast and ended up randomly stopping in the town of Foxton at a windmill (called the "Dutch Oven") and a flax stripper museum.  The dutch place allowed you to climb up into the windmill to actually see the stones and where they grind flour.  This would NEVER be a thing in the USA.  Those stairs were STEEP.  Worth it though, the views were cool and the millstone was HUGE.  I even got some scone mix that ended up being pretty tasty.  When we went into the flax stripper museum I'm pretty sure the guy working was super excited to have people visit.  We got to here about the backbreaking work people use to do to harvest flax as well as what was made from it.  They even turned on one of the old machines and stripped the flax.  It was LOUD, no wonder everyone back in the day had bad hearing!    After that we stopped at a grocery store and the lake but it was a pretty low key afternoon.  After all, transcontinental travel is tiresome!

(One of my fav photos of us, brunch after picking Kim up in Fidels)

(Kim posing in front of Smaug in the airport.... after all this IS new Zealand)

 

(A stop along the highway with the ocean in the background.)

(Kim climbing the scary stairs up the dutch windmill.  It was a fun random excursion)

(Cec took a great picture of the mill)

(Yes, it really was called a Flax Stripper Museum)

The next day we had good weather so we drove the 2.5 hours out to Mt. Taranaki and walked along the unique goblin forest.  Cec and I had been here a couple of times, but this time there was a LOT of snow on the mountain.  We had abnormally warm weather and all overdressed.  It was very wet as it had been raining a bit lately.  Some of the "jumps" over the waterways were a bit much for me and I needed a hand.  Still, what a great hike.  After we got done we took the short walk to Dawson's waterfall then hit subway for lunch.  As we got our of the car to get lunch it started to rain.... perfect timing!  On our way home we stopped at Kai iwi beach in Wangnaui and caught a beautiful sunset.  Whitebait is a type of fish) season was in swing so there were a ton of whitebait fishermen out as well as a few people playing with dogs.  The chilly weather isn't deterring anyone!  We at dinner in, and I prepared the Pavlova's I bought at the store.  I thought it was important Kim tried them.  Pavlova is like a lighter version of an angel food cake.  Its like a meringue and an angel food cake had a baby.  It is topped with Cream and fruit.  Tasty :-),  It was another early night as we all were getting up for cross fit the next morning.

( Posing before heading into the goblin forest.  Kim brought some great weather with her)

(See any fairies or goblins?  It looks like there could be!)

(Cec giving me a helping hand over the slippery pathway stones)

(We did the "Wilkes pools loop")

(Here is our view of Dawson's Falls.  Sooo pretty)

(Kai iwi at sunset.  It got pretty cool but the people were out to catch some whitebait!)

(One of my favs as I hardly ever go onto the beach nowadays)

(Here is the pavlova I prepared.  Tasty!  Yes, I made the whipped cream too

you CANNOT buy whipped cream here in NZ)

After a super early crossfit class we had yet another long drive to Taupo.  Nothing in NZ is close.  I forget that sometimes.  Everything is usually at least 3+ hour and you just go.... because what other choice do you have?  Anyway, cec had worked the night shift so it was mostly Kim and I jamming or to 90's music and our workout playlists.  We stopped at quite a few of the scenic overlooks while Cecil pretended it was still nighttime.  He did wake up as we crossed into Tongariru national park where Kim got to see the hell... erm... great walk she and cec had signed up for the next day and we got some pics of them all in front of the mountain/skiwi sign.

(The token selfie with the rolling hills in the background.  Pure NZ on the para para highway)

(Cecil did NOT care.  I'm pretty sure he had no idea what was going on the first couple of hours)

(This may be my fav pic of the trip.  Kim and Cec are posing in front of the skiwi sign with the mountain in the background.  Great pic of them both I think)

Once we got to Taupo we hit a few of the local favorites.  We went to the huka honey hive and tried all the local honeys like Manuka.  We also walked to the huka falls and watched the fake-blue falls run.  It was super blue that day to, looked like someone dropped blue food coloring in it.  We  then stopped at the all black's rugby store to do some shopping and picked up some food for dinner and those guys for lunch the next day.  Then we ate while in our "batch" (small house) that faced out the lake.  It was another early night as Kim and Cec were going to need to be bright eyed and bushy tailed early the next morning.

(Kim and I hamming it up at the honey hive)

(Posing in front of huka falls)

(This was the view out our batch/motel window.  The lake and mountains sunset was so pretty that first night)

I'll let cec tell you about his day as I was not there.  I went walking and shopping that day and enjoyed the BEAUTIFUL weather they had.  While I promised never to climb that mountain again those guys sure got a good day for it.  I still enjoyed the pizza and hot springs once they got back!

The Tongariro Alpine Crossing is a path that goes between two mountains, Mount Tongariro and Mount Ngaurahoe (aka film site of Mount Doom from Lord of the Rings) and the forecast for the day was overcast...at best! We got picked up and then had to be driven 1 hour from taupo to the guide company Aspire "base camp" that was at the foothills of Mount Rupahu. The day was absolutely brilliant, clear skies and wonderful blue sky! We were even able to see Mount Taranaki (Goblin Forest, about 60 miles away!) where we had been 1 day previously. We got outfitted with the gear that we would need, helmet, a ice axe, boots, crampons and some really friendly guides. Now, Tongariro is pretty challenging with sneakers during the summer, I was really hesitant and nervous to see where they would be taking us that we would need crampons (Ice Spikes). We started the walk (uh, sorry, Alpine Crossing) and it was pretty much like the summer hike, flat some small hills and low lying scrub brush and moss.

                        (Kim and I in front of Mount Ngaurahoe at the begining of the crossing)

We kept on walking for about 45 minutes, and of course there were people in the group who were practically sprinting to the front of the group. These people had NOOO idea that there was a 8 hour hike ahead of them.We came to the last port a potties (kiwi term: Long Drop) that we would see for the next 4-5 hours. The guides kept on telling us to go to the bathroom because "if you are up in the hills, and you see a really nice big rock,  chances are someone else has used that rock previously" and also told us that "nothing really decomposes, banana peels, apple cores, poo, it just freezes up here...nothing!"  So we took a break and used the bathroom and started up the Devil's Staircase.

        (Kim at the base of Devil's Staircase in front of the "Are you sure you want to do this?" sign)

So the Devils Staircase was the same amazingly difficult staircase that it was in the summer. There were some exceptions, once we started getting up into the upper portion of the staircase we couldn't find the stairs! It had all been snowed over. So after 40 minutes of climbing stairs nonstop, the guides had to make "Ice Steps" so that we could keep on going.

After Devil's Staircase there was a flat section that was pretty easy going, we started talking to some of the other hikers, from Scotland and Belgium and France. We took another little break and this is where they showed us how to put on the crampons and how to use our ice axe. They even taught us an emergency brake technique where we could use the ice axe as a brake in case we started sliding down the ice covered mountain with uncontrolled speed. Using the crampons was a bit more ungainly than I thought. We were told to step wide, flat and straight. This took a lot more focus than I thought step after step, hour after hour, especially because we were climbing grades from 25 to what seemed like 45%. This was really steep and icy part of the Crossing that came up next, every footfall seemed treacherous, and it seemed like I was always one misstep away from sliding down 200-300 feet of ice and rock. The crazy thing was that there were at least 8-10 other people who weren't with guided tours who just had sneakers on, no ice axes or crampons. They literally could not get up the steepest sections of the hill because of the amount of ice and were told to turn back.

See one of the videos I took here
it was much less crowded during the winter crossing, see the video here
Here is a video of some of the amazing scenic vistas from the top of Red Crater
Video from the highest point on the alpine crossing here .

                                                                    (  I made it!)

                                                                   ( So did Kim!)

Once we summit-ted the highest point of the alpine crossing, we got lunch! We were all really tired and grateful for the break. During the summer crossing we would continue on and go down the 45% section of loose rock and skree (which is more intimidating than going up the section) This was considered too dangerous for the winter crossing and we backtracked a bit and came down to a gentler downhill section where we took off our crampons. Throughout the crossing we were all stripping down to our base layers, walking 20 feet, and then bundling back up again. The wind would really pick up in certain sections and carve right into you. Other times the wind would die down and the sun would start beating down on you. The danger was that if you started to sweat through your base layers, that would really make hypothermia a concern as the day went on, even if you kept your coat on.

We were then given the option to do something I have never done before. It was a term called "Glacading" like Glacier and Sliding mashed together, and that's basically what it was. You sit on your bottom and then "sled" down the mountainside...minus the sled. The key here is to make sure you pick a section with a lot of snow and a few rocks, because you are pretty much sliding down the mountain side on your bottom.
This is a video of Kim Glacading here
You can pick up some serious speed doing this, check out this video!

So the trek continued and we started our long descent. The snow was a good bit deeper here and there were also some pretty bad snow drifts so we kept on sinking down to our mid calves and even our knees with consistency. This did slow the pace down, but we were able to keep on glacading through more sections. We finally reached the toilets on the other side of the crossing, and had a good long break here. I made the decision to take off my big clunky boots and wear my sneakers and was that worth it! Stepping in ankle deep snow all day in big boots was taking its toll on my feet. Then it was time for Switchback City, which is 2 hours of switchback, after switchback, after switchback! Still some amazing views though. Then the last, long grueling section of the crossing was in the "rainforest" you are completely underneath the canopy at this point and have no frame of reference on how far you have to go. So after a long day, and being on hour 8-9 of a grueling trek, most people were just ready to be done, but the forest kept on going and going. Even with me having done the crossing before I was still having trouble figuring out where the end was. My favorite quote of the day was when I was asking Kim what kind of pizza she liked, "the kind that goes in my mouth!" After what seemed like hours...we did it and made it to the end! Thanks again to the guides at Aspire for a great day!  The day ended with pizza in the mouth and hot springs over a night sky.

                                       (Kim having here "Shawshank" moment at the end)

                                     (A nice cold beer after a wonderful day with my sister in law)

The next day we leisurely made our way to Rotorua, which is about an hour from Taupo.  Our first stop was to head to the redwood forest and take a nice leisurely walk around.  I was impressed those guys could walk but both had dealt with the slog from the night before well.  I'm convinced the hot springs had something to do with it!  Anyway, the weather still held and it ended up being nice enough to sit outside when we ate on "eat street" in town.  Its a cute little area with a ton of restaurants to choose from.  we ended up at a steakhouse and I had an amazing salad with bacon wrapped chicken thighs YUM!  We took a quick walk around the downtown area which includes the goverment gardens and geaothermal zone,  However, we wanted to get checked in and "freshened up" before our 5p pickp for dinner to we headed to the hotel.  Then was the glorious dinner at Tamaki Maori village.  The learning was great, the food was better and the bus driver was impressive and hilarious!  See the youtube videos HERE and HERE to get an idea what I mean.  He seriously could have been a comedian.

(Kim and I entering the redwoods walk)

(Cec took this AWESOME photo of the trees)

(We are ready to EAT! Did you notice they misspelled Street?)

(Kim is soooo worried about the thermal area.  #neverinamerica)

(We are super ready for our Maori cultural experience)

(this is the Hangi/dinner right after being taken out of the steam pit.  Yummy)

Some videos of the amazing performers from Tamaki Maori Village Video 1 Video 2   Video 3(Haka)

We got up at a moderate time, and we left the hotel a little after 9AM.  We stopped at a local park that has a neat geothermal zone including a large lake.  Then we headed back down the 4 hour drive to home.  This time instead of the windy but beautiful para-para's we went down the state highway.  This leads you through a lot of sheep/farming towns as well as were they make gumboots. Drive's are a big part of touring NZ, and we enjoyed showtunes as well as a "90's hits" CD I found shopping in town while they were climbing the mountain.  We got back in time to have dinner before heading to quiz night.  Cec wasn't feeling to well so Kim and I contributed what we could but quiz nights here are hard!

(I love this picture.  It was taken on one of the bridges over the very geothermal lake)

(We also got to use the walkway they finished... last time we were here it was being built.  It was eerie walking though the lake like that)

Geothermal Lake Video Here 
Video 2

(Who can't resist taking a picture with the boot?  They manufacture them in this town and are proud of it!)

(Kim posing at our quiz night at the Red lion tavern)

As crazy as it seemed it was almost time to say goodbye.  The next morning we loaded the car up to head to wellington, our final place to visit on Kim's trip.  We went to the museum for a little while as it was raining and crappy.  Not a great day to be outside.  Remember that amazing museum I spoke about?  Yea that one... seriously amazing. Anyway, then we headed to the wellington zoo and walked around a but before our 4pm animal encounter.   The zoo is little but provides a great place to see Kiwi's (including an adorable but sad one-legged one).  They also have a kids zone where kim and I posed for the much needed sheep picture.  Then it was time for our encounter.  Basically it was a 1/2 hour of meercats crawling all over you.  Little ADHD mini ferrets I think.  Cute, soft even when wet and adorable.  The only surprise is the musk.  They are stinky little guys.  Luckily I had wet wipes in the car.  You know we have a video:  HERE.

After that we headed to check into the hotel and eat dinner at a nice place called wholesale boot company.  Really good steak.  Cec drove home that night but Kim and I had one more day.

(SHEEP!)

(Meerkats are adorable.  Did everyone get the memo?)

(I look super happy becasue I am!)

(Kim didn't know she needed this in her life or arm but she did)

(That is pure meerkat happiness there)

(They even had baby meerkats!)

Meerkat  Video 1  Video2    Video3

(Dinner at Wholesale boot company)

Kim and I stayed pretty much downtown. So we got the experience of walking to the museum in the morning. I saw market on our way there so we decided to split up because I had been in the museum many times and so I went to the market while she explore the museum. We met up for lunch which was great and I drove her to the market which I think she actually was happy with in the end. There were lots of different types of cuisine and street vendors and lots of different market stalls to look at.  We ate everything from dumplings, to rice, to south American to crepes!  I'm glad she went with me too, because I needed her opinion on some jewelry and I couldn't decide if it was too big for my tiny wrist or not. Case you're wondering I am not getting the earrings but not the bracelet. Walking back we saw that they were having a major boating competition in the harbor.  We decided to split up again because I wanted to check out a different part of the museum that she did and so we met up mid afternoon and decided to head off into Cuba Street. We saw another yet different market going on and check that out.  We didn't eat at that market but it was a fun look through.  Then we walked up the streets until we came to an interesting looking bar and settles in for dinner.  After some alcohol and food we headed to the hotel for, sadly, our last night.  It is surprising how much just being on your feet can wear you down!  We watched bad TV and drank some booze we had brought with us, then hit the sack.

The next morning we basically got up and headed to the airport.  From my perspective this is the only dark mark on the whole trip.  Kim's ticket was screwed up.  So her plan that we expected was for her to take the short flight to Auckland and then take the international flight to Houston that night and then to Kentucky a few hours after they landed.  When we arrived to the airport (I was flying to Palmerston back using my ANZ airports it was cheaper than driving), we found out that that international flight had be delayed a day.  Apparently air new zealand had informed the site that she bought the ticket from but they never told her, oh and the change was made in February!  She took it much better than I did.  Air new zeland helped her out even though it, strictly speaking, wasn't their fault and got her a hotel for that night.  She flew out on the changed flight the next day.  To make it worse, that next day in Houston her flight to Kentucky was delayed because the plan was hit by a bird.  It sounded like the itinerary from hell.  I'm so glad she came I just wish her travel had been smoother. 

(Wellington Saturday Market)

(Kim pointing out the boat racing in the harbor)

(Cuba street is both interesting and tasty!)