Busking at the Puhoi Farmers' Market

One of our Puhoi friends asked if our kids might be interested in "busking" at the Farmers' Market. Beth answered, "Sure, probably, but what's 'busking'?" And so we learned a new Kiwi term. Busking is playing musical instruments for free with a basket out front for the coins. Xavier and Quentin happily agreed. They were able to entertain the vendors and the shoppers for a half hour and hopefully, will be invited back. They earned a couple coins while we spent many dollars on bread ($10), scallops ($25), olive oil ($30), sausages ($8), lollies ($1) and ginger cake ($6) - no worries, it's all good.

Some Very Important Kiwis

“Aunt” Kathy is our perfect hostess and landlady. From our very first email exchange, we clearly had excellent karma. Kathy is a fifth generation New Zealander, but her family moved to Hawaii when she was nine-years-old. She eventually returned to New Zealand while her parents and brother moved to Chester County, Pennsylvania, only about thirty minutes from Bala Cynwyd! Like us, Kathy has four children (all adults now) and apparently, Isaac is the spitting image of her son Tim when he was young. Kathy is funny, witty, fair and energetic. She has been very generous with our family. She has shown genuine and unending interest in the children and they sense her deep care. They are often asking when they are going to see Kathy next. We have found a wonderful family friend that we will treasure forever.



George is the incarnation of the ideal school bus driver. He is patient, kind, attentive and, best of all, he has a wicked sense of humor. George is quick to learn the names of the children (although he complained a bit about our choice of names), greet them with a smile each day and drive them safely to school. In the event of a student disruption, he calmly disentangles the situation. We have utmost respect for George and enjoy seeing his cheerful face every day.



The School Bus Stop Social Circle consists of (from left to right in the photo below) Fran, Gay, Pauline, Lance, and Jennifer. They provide oodles of good advice on what to do and where to go for a doctor, a dentist, school shoes, whatever Beth needs. Beth owes immeasurable thanks for all the cultural innuendos she learned from them as well as a few new words. Most importantly, the School Bus Stop Social Circle provides twenty minutes of warm companionship and good hearty laughs to start the day. Fran, Gay, Pauline, Lance, and Jennifer have warmly made Beth feel a part of the Puhoi community.



Mal is Xavier’s AWESOME piano teacher. From the onset, it was obvious that these two were going to have fun making music together. We started with a half-hour lesson that always ended up being much longer. They had trouble stopping. After a couple weeks, we decided that we should just make the lesson longer and let them play. Xavier routinely walks out of his lesson grinning. Mal shows enthusiasm for guiding Xavier. He clearly wants to help Xavier learn and grow with his piano playing. Mal has a willingness to tailor the program to fit Xavier’s ability and interests. All of this, coupled with a gifted blues/jazz pianist, has made Mal a perfect fit for Xavier. He has made so much progress this year!



Ross is Quentin’s AWESOME trumpet teacher. I can’t believe how lucky we have been this year with musical instruction! Quentin decided that he wanted to learn trumpet, so soon after our arrival in New Zealand, we bought him an instrument and started to search for a trumpet teacher. There are not many in New Zealand. Trumpet is not one of the more popular instruments. After researching this carefully, we found a very talented teacher who is both encouraging and effective. Always smiling and soft-spoken, Ross creates a peaceful ambiance in which to learn a rather loud and brassy instrument. Quentin leaves each lesson feeling eager to improve. Thanks to Ross’s artful advice, Quentin is playing the trumpet!



Heather and Roger run Horse Riding Warkworth where Quentin, Annick and Isaac go riding each week. The children have gone horse riding a couple times before coming to New Zealand, but they never had the opportunity to go weekly to a farm full of horses only five minutes from school. Heather and Roger are genuine and caring souls who enjoy sharing their love of horses with others. Theoretically, we show up for a one-hour horse ride/lesson, but it is always much more. The children are included in preparing their horses and then after, getting them ready to go to the paddock. Heather is brilliant at figuring out the right horse for each child and making subtle suggestions that help them improve without creating self-doubt. After several months of horseriding with Heather, the children have become confident riders.



Kerry taught Xavier and Quentin how to scuba dive at Goat Island Dive Center. Kerry is bubbly, warm and playful while being knowledgeable and thorough with the requirements of the course. When the boys showed any shadow of doubt, Kerry was quick to dispel it and show them that they could do it! And they did! Under her thoughtful tutelage, Xavier and Quentin now look as comfortable underwater as they do on land. (Yes, the crayfish on their heads are real - and delicious.)



Teachers and Friends: There are too many to picture here, but we are grateful to the many teachers and “mates” who have befriended us this year. Both Warkworth Primary and Mahurangi College have provided nurturing environments where our children have been able to learn, play, explore, discover and develop. The children have made friends with many kind, imaginative and outdoorsy children.

Swimming for Warkworth

At Warkworth Primary, the children participate in swimming sports for Term 1. Despite a total lack of training and coaching this year, Quentin managed to do quite well. He participated in a number of swim competitions during the month of March. In the Warkworth school-wide event on March 20th, he won a number of races including the 100-meter freestyle which earned him the "Baddock Cup". A week later, he was chosen to participate in the Hibiscus Coast Regional Championships where he won third place in the 25-meter freestyle against some fierce competition.

Easter on the Tongariro Crossing

For Easter weekend, we made plans to hike the Tongariro Alpine Crossing in Tongariro National Park. The crossing is meant to be a 17 km one-way trek across amazing volcanic scenery, including the easily recognizable “Mount Doom” from the “Lord of the Rings” movies. In order to go one-way, you need to arrange transport at the other end. Not wanting to be bothered with that, we did the “Crossing” in the non-recommended way. In October, we hiked up the one side until we got halfway and then turned around and went down. Then, we returned in March to hike up the other side to the halfway point and then turn around and go down.

The first trip was actually a steeper climb, but about a third of it was in the bush before it opened up into rocky outcroppings with tussock grass. We were able to climb up to the snow line and see a frozen Blue Lake. This time, the climb was longer with some stretches ascending gradually and others with a dramatically steep pitch. The trail this time was completely exposed and very warm.



We climbed up to Red Crater and admired the view into the crater with Mt. Ngauruhoe (Mount Doom) in the background. Much further in the distance in the same direction, we could see Mt. Taranaki, the volcanic peak on the west side of New Zealand that resembles Mt. Fuji. Looking out the other direction, you could see Blue Lake with Lake Taupo behind it. Down below were the three Emerald Lakes framed with steaming fumeroles. It was breathtaking.



We decided to brave the descent down to the Emerald Lakes to get a closer view. It was a very steep hill loaded with dusty, pebbly volcanic rocks. Our feet were buried to our ankles and our shoes quickly filled with stones. We slipped and slid to the bottom, emptied our shoes, admired the view and then groaned about the impending climb up. It was challenging. It felt like we were in a dusty, dirty, hot and never-ending stairmaster. We all made it, but we all suffered from sore toes when it was done and we still had to return to the carpark which was about 8 kms away!

It is a gorgeous hike and we were lucky to do it on a beautiful, clear day. We heard later that it was the busiest day this year on the Tongariro Crossing with over 1,000 hikers doing the walk!

The next day, we decided to have a less ambitious day. We drove over to Lake Rotopounamu and did a two-hour walk around a green mountain lake bordered by large rimu trees. There were a few beaches along the way and we spent the afternoon lazing around on one of them.

Eel Wrestling

Quentin noticed an eel on the muddy banks of the Puhoi river - he grabbed the eel and bludgeoned it on a rock to claim his "prize". We discovered that eel slime is very smelly and very sticky. Isaac was disappointed that Papa did not cook the eel for dinner, but Papa was rEELy not willing to venture down that culinary path.

David Scalia Down Under

Gerard’s family friend David came to see us in late February before heading out on a cycling tour of the North Island. Despite a few bumps along the way that included some food poisoning on the trip over and some very sore tendons, David managed to complete his tour with a few more bus rides than expected. With us, he went to many of the same destinations that we like to share with all our visitors—Wenderholm, Sheep World, Goat Island and Tawharanui Beach, to name a few. A highlight of his visit was boogie boarding down the sand dunes at Te Henga. The sand was hot and dry that day making the rides wickedly fast!

Scuba Diving in Aotearoa

Xavier and Quentin learned to scuba dive in December. Since then, Beth did two boat dives with Xavier at the Mokohinau Islands. Later, Beth, Xavier and Quentin dove twice at the Hen and Chicks Islands. The underwater landscape is not as varied and colorful as Bonaire and the water is not as warm, but it is still offers some interesting scenery. The terrain is volcanic, often covered with lush kelp forests. There are about a dozen or so varieties of fish that we see each dive including triggerfish, blue demoiselles and eagle rays. The boys have discovered how much fun it is to swim into the kelp looking for treasures hidden below like urchin shells and big snails. Peering under the overhangs, we often saw encrusting corals in shades of orange, pink and purple. Big kingfish and mokis congregate there as well. Quentin was eager to snag a crayfish, but they are spiny and fast. Fortunately, some fellow divers were willing to share their catch with us one day.

Visit to the Kauri Coast, February 29th-March 2nd

We traveled north to the Kauri Coast to witness the last remaining ancient kauri forest in the world. Kauris are massive trees, not quite as wide in girth as sequoias or as tall as redwoods, but nonetheless impressive, as noted in our earlier post on the North Island. They are large and stately with massive arms that cradle other plants up at the top of the forest canopy. They were lumbered almost to the point of extinction because of their desirability. Kauri wood has a beautiful, warm color and is very hard, making it quite good for floors and furniture. The “gum” (i.e., sap that oozes from its bark) was used for varnish and polished into gems.

We arrived in time to eat a quick dinner and go on a guided night walk tour of the Trounson Kauri Forest. The wind was howling that night. We tried hard to listen for the rustling of kiwi looking for dinner under the leaves, but we couldn’t hear much other than the wind. The kiwi usually chatter to each other quite a bit at night, but, again, we heard nothing but the wind. Our guide was successful at spotting one kiwi that spooked immediately and took off deeper into the forest. Xavier and Quentin were lucky enough to see him for a moment as he darted off, but the rest of us missed it. However, our guide also pointed out two massive eels moving about in streams, some rare kauri snails and a few giant wetas (very large NZ grasshoppers) hanging out on a decaying log. It was a fun experience to walk through the woods at night with glow worms sprinkled amongst the bushes.

The next day, we woke up to heavy downpours, but the rain eased and by 10 o’clock, the kids had put on their togs and headed for the river where they played on the holiday park’s inner tube for the morning. The day was cloudy and drizzly, but it was warm, so we managed.



After lunch, we drove to the biggest kauri trees in the Waipoua Forest. The drive alone is jaw-dropping. The road twists through dense, jungle-like terrain and fairly frequently, you can spy an enormous kauri standing in the middle of the tangle of leaves. The largest kauri is named “Tane Mahuta”, Lord of the Forest and is about 1,500 years old. The second largest is actually older (it’s about 2000 years old!) and quite a bit wider than the biggest one, but not as tall or elegant. Their size, their shape and their skin (a mottled bark that sheds periodically) make them artistic masterpieces.



After viewing the trees, we drove up a back road to a shop named the Labyrinth Woodworks, tucked away in the woods. A large, bearded man named Louis entertained our children for an hour with all sorts of puzzles and magic tricks while we looked over all the interesting wooden toys in his hexagonal store. We are now convinced that Santa and Mrs. Claus have left the North Pole and now reside in a remote magical forest in New Zealand. They have a secret stash of elves who make wooden toys deep in the privacy of their own kauri forest.



We went back to the holiday park, played a little, ate some dinner and headed back over to do our own unguided night tour walk of the Trounson Kauri Park. We left earlier than we had the night before and it wasn’t quite dark yet. As we stepped into the forest, it grew darker, of course. We had five lousy flashlights, but they were good enough for us to see the trail even if they weren’t powerful enough to pick out kiwi in the bush. Almost immediately, we heard them. We heard a female kiwi call and a male kiwi call. Suddenly, the forest grew absolutely silent. The kiwi quieted and the cicadas hushed all at once. We continued our walk and then heard the very eerie moan of cattle in the pasture next to the forest. It is good that the kids have never seen the “Blair Witch Project” – it was a creepy and bone-chilling noise. Hand in hand, we retraced our steps from the night before. We heard more kiwi and more moaning cattle. We found some eels and some kokopus, a nocturnal NZ fish. We saw yet more glow worms and wetas. It was amazing.

Visit with Carolyn (Grandma)

Friday, February 1st-Monday, February 4th:

Beth’s mother Carolyn came to visit us in early February. Her trip had an ominous start. After arriving at the airport to catch her flight to Philadelphia (and then onward to Los Angeles), she discovered that her flight had been cancelled due to a lack of aircraft. US Airways rerouted her through Charlotte, but she only had 45 minutes to make her Air New Zealand connecting flight to Auckland. Things went from bad to worse. The flight attendant didn’t show up, delaying the flight and there was some other passenger issue that delayed boarding, and before she knew it, she was on a flight to LA that was clearly going to arrive long after the Air New Zealand flight would have departed.

In LA, there was more bad news. Because of the wintry weather in the USA, there were many “displaced” passengers and all the Air New Zealand flights were fully booked for at least a few days. The “best” they could do for her was to fly her to Brisbane (a 14-hour flight, at least 2 hours longer than the flight to Auckland) and then a connecting flight to Auckland (another 3 hours traveling). She was handed a voucher for a hotel room and two meal coupons (she got $10 for dinner and $5 for lunch!). After getting lost on her way to the hotel, she finally settled in, completely exhausted and a nervous wreck, ready to abandon all plans to visit us. We pleaded with her to “push on” so that she could make some good memories to block out the bad ones.

Of course, the drama of this adventure did not ease. The flight to Brisbane was one-hour late and fortunately, Qantas held the flight so that poor Grandma could board the plane for Auckland. Grandma arrived completely drained late Monday afternoon. She lost two days of her trip and her checked-in suitcase.

The good news: her bag arrived safely a day later, Carolyn recovered and decided to extend her trip by a week.

Tuesday, February 5th:

Only two days to go before Quentin, Annick and Isaac had to go back to school. We decided to go to Muriwai Beach to see the gannets and the sea stars. We had a hot, sunny summer day. We admired the gannets and their growing babies and then headed over to the swimming beach for some boogy boarding and sand play. We ended up staying there a lot longer than we expected. By the time we left, we were too hot and tired to go looking for sea stars. We planned to come back another day to finish our Muriwai experience.



Wednesday, February 6th:

We took Grandma for the hike in Wenderholm Regional Park to see the New Zealand bush and some gorgeous scenery. After lunch, we headed to Sheep World for the eel feeding and the sheep show. We love Sheep World! Xavier got to try his luck sorting the sheep this time. He did fairly well.



Thursday, February 7th:

Grandma, Xavier and Beth did some errands after dropping off Quentin, Annick and Isaac at school. The children were excited to be back to school and seemed really pleased with their teachers. After a very fun first day of school, the whole family headed over to Tawharanui Regional Park to play on our favorite beach. It was, after all, a big birthday day for Beth, Annick and Isaac. We celebrated by jumping in the waves and lounging in the sand. It was heavenly. There was also a partial eclipse of the sun that afternoon but we didn’t see it (because you are not suppose to look at the sun) nor notice any darkening. Incidentally, Annick and Isaac got to celebrate their 8th birthday twice as they did a special "birthday horse ride" with friends Millie and Matthew one week earlier.



Friday, February 8th:

The three “primary” children went to school. Carolyn, Xavier and Beth went to Whangarei to visit “New Zealand’s most photographed waterfall”. We had a picnic, took a stroll around the waterfall and took some of our own photos to make sure that Whangarei Falls maintained its superlative distinction. We then took another leisurely bush stroll that included some 500-year-old kauri trees.

After, we visited the Kiwi House where we were able to observe one North Island brown kiwi rummaging around for insects. We wanted to make sure that Grandma saw a kiwi before she left New Zealand and voila, she got to see *a* kiwi. There was also a morepork fluttering about in the kiwi display, a small New Zealand owl. There were historic buildings on display like the old women’s jail and an octagonal chapel, the “only one in New Zealand made from a single log of kauri”. Also on the property was a bird recovery center where we got to watch an adorable (but injured) little blue penguin swim around in a little blue plastic swimming pool. We had a pleasant day, but it wasn’t the most outstanding destination we have visited in New Zealand.



Saturday, February 9th:

We took the ferry on Saturday to Tiritiri Matangi to visit the offshore island where there is an open air bird sanctuary. We love that island! It is loaded with birds, many of them that no longer exist on mainland New Zealand due to predators. We have visited three times and each season brings different pleasures. It is the end of summer and many of the birds have quieted down, but the bellbirds were singing rapturously. They are an adorable shade of green-yellow and have a beautifully melodious voice. Whole choruses were serenading us as we walked through the bush.

We arrived at the lighthouse and set up our picnic lunch. Isaac jumped and squealed because as he sat, a very assertive pukeko rushed up and bit his bottom in an effort to crash our picnic. As the children took turns chasing the pukeko away, a takehe keep peeking out from the bushes. Once thought to be extinct, there are now 300 takehe in the world, all in New Zealand, 18 of them on Tiritiri Matangi. Other birds that entertained us that day were North Island robins, saddlebacks and of course, our favorite, the tuis. We finished the day with a swim at Hobbs Beach. On the walk back to the ferry, Grandma and the children got to see a moulting little blue penguin in a nesting box near the trail.



Sunday, February 10th:

The weather did not look so inviting and so we decided to visit the Auckland War Memorial Museum where they offer a daily Maori Cultural Show. The half-hour show features Maori music and dance as well as presentations on the games, weapons and rituals of the Maori people. There is an extensive collection of Maori artifacts in the museum as well as an actual marae house. We toured the various exhibits in the museum that included New Zealand wildlife, geology and history.

Monday, February 11th:

Errands, errands and more errands! Beth’s mother extended her stay by a week because of the grueling trip here and so we needed to go to an Air New Zealand Holiday Store to make the modifications. In the midst of doing copying, groceries, banking and posting, the highlight of the morning was meeting a very cheerful Kiwi named Maria in the Holiday Store.

In the afternoon, we headed to horse riding where Quentin, Annick and Isaac got to pose while riding Black Beauty, Goldie and Renegade. Grandma snapped away. Gotta love those digital cameras!

Tuesday, February 12th:

Despite a rainy forecast, we woke to a clear day. After getting the children off to school, we drove south to Orewa Beach for a run/walk on the beach. Carolyn did some shell collecting too. Later, we dined in style at Ascension Restaurant where we celebrated Beth’s and Gerard’s birthdays when the rains finally descended on Ascension. We observed a big beetle-like bug on the floor upside down trying desperately to right itself. The waitress insisted it was a New Zealand weta (a large and revered native “grasshopper”), but it looked like a big cockroach to us.

Wednesday, February 13th:

Beth and Carolyn headed back to Muriwai because we didn’t have the time or inclination to wander through the sea cave or search for sea stars on our last visit. We spent some time doing both, but got a good soaking because low tide never got all that low. The beach was abandoned except for a few sea birds. The gannets are slowly leaving the colony as the chicks get bigger and stronger. They will almost all be gone to Australia over the winter.

Thursday, February 14th –Sunday, February 17th:

We drove up to the Northland to Cooper’s Beach to spend the weekend in a beach house. We picked the kids up at noon at school and headed north. We planned to stop at the Kawiti Glow Worm cave, but the sky was crying all the way up. Actually, the sky was sobbing. We decided to forego the glow worms and drive straight to the house. Almost miraculously, the sky cleared and the sun peeked out as we drove into the driveway. After unloading the car, we headed down the steps to the beach.



The weekend was not picture perfect, but we were right on the beach, so it was easy to sneak out between the raindrops and enjoy the surf. The beach looked like cinnamon sugar lined with pohutukawa trees. The sea was roiled up, but we enjoyed some mighty waves with our boogy boards. One day, Quentin discovered some clams in the sand called “pippies”. He collected a bucketful and we were able to feast on them for lunch that day. Another evening, we had a family soccer game on the beach. The sunset that night was stunning. The house came with a couple kayaks and that provided some good entertainment for awhile too. (However, Xavier had a freak accident while on the kayak – he rolled in the waves and his sun shirt caught on one of the brackets from his braces, breaking it away from the tooth. Fortunately, we found a dentist in Kerikeri willing to glue it back.)





On the way home, we stopped in Paihia to go on a full-day dolphin watch trip on a sailboat. We had a pleasant day, but not our best experience in the Bay of Islands. The day started sunny, but soon turned cloudy. We saw a few little blue penguins out swimming, but no dolphins, not a single dolphin, all day long. That was a bit disappointing, but we did get to be out on a sailboat all day in the Bay of Islands.

Monday, February 18th-Friday, February 22nd:

After a full weekend of activity and driving, we had to get back to real life in Puhoi. Mom’s last week was often spent watching us do grocery shopping, taking kids to piano, horseback riding and trumpet and a million other things that go along with regular everyday life plus some. Gerard’s family friend David Scalia arrived from Italy on Monday for a short visit before leaving on a cycling tour of the North Island. We spent one afternoon lounging around on Tawharanui Beach before he left us. While the kids were in school, Carolyn and Beth did some souvenir shopping and visited some local attractions like the Warkworth Museum, Mahurangi Regional Park and the Waitakere Ranges. We chased some oyster catchers on the beach at Wenderholm one afternoon. We also got to spend an hour or so in the doctor’s office after Quentin fell off a horse. Ahh, real life. At the end of the week, Quentin was supposed to go sailing with his class, but a tropical storm arrived. Sadly, we got to watch two grown men try to entertain a large group of ten-year-olds by playing games and tying knots to pass the day away. It didn’t work.



Saturday, February 23rd -Monday, February 25th:

The tropical storm worsened and we were held hostage inside while the wind howled and the rain fell in sheets. After two months of very dry weather requiring one water delivery at the Bennett-Cachons, our tank and garden got a soaking. There were many Scrabble and Monopoly games (New Zealand Monopoly, of course, thanks to our thoughtful landlady), followed by movies and computer games. Fortunately, on Sunday, the weather calmed. We ventured out to the Puhoi Sports Hall for the new monthly farmers market. After lunch, we traveled west to Te Henga where there are mountains of black sand dunes framed by a forest. In the midst of the dunes is a lake, the pock of an ancient imploded volcanic crater. The children climbed and jumped, dug and tumbled before heading to the water where they flipped and swam for two hours. Grandma just couldn’t believe that yet again, we were almost the only people present in that gorgeous, pristine setting. Magically, as we settled down to watch the kids, the sky cleared and the sun shone.



Monday was travel day. After a walk on the beach in Orewa, Beth took her mother to the airport. Fortunately, the trip home went much more smoothly than the trip to Puhoi. Still, Carolyn vows to never travel that far again. New Zealand is halfway around the world from the eastern United States and that fact is brutally apparent when you make the trip.

Southern Cross

The Southern Cross has a certain mystique in the northern hemisphere as expressed in the Crosby, Stills and Nash song:

"When you see the Southern Cross for the first time
You understand now why you came this way
'Cause the truth you might be runnin' from is so small
But it's as big as the promise, the promise of a comin' day"

And of course, it is on the New Zealand flag. So it was important for us to find it. Based on our research on the internet, we discovered that you look in the southern sky to find the two pointers (the bright stars in the lower right). Follow them to the four main bright starts of the cross (upper section of the photo, just a bit to the left). Early in the evening at this time of the year, the cross is actually on its left side. It apparently rotates in the sky through the night, but we were not willing to wait for it to be upright (or upside down, we are not sure).

Although it is neat to see the Southern Cross, the more impressive sight is the Milky Way - if you give your eyes a couple of minutes to adjust to the darkness you can see the think band of the Milky Way from one end of the horizon to the other - billions and billions of stars!

Critters in Puhoi

Lately, we have encountered some interesting creatures in Puhoi. Denem found a little spiky ball in the yard that turned out to be a hedgehog. Quentin got the garden gloves in an attempt to catch the hedgehog. Much to his surprise, he merely walked up to "Hedgie" and picked him (or her) up. The kids decided that he would be our new pet. We looked up on the internet that they eat bugs and worms and such, so the kids searched for some Hedgie food and set him up in a box with a complete feast. However, the next day the kids decided to let Hedgie roam.



Hedgie was a welcomed guest, but the next critter was not - the Norwegian rat. Unfortunately, we suspected that there may be a whole tribe of them living under the house. We tolerated them when we spotted a lone rat once a month or so, but all of sudden we had daily sitings. The boys found a hole that they seemed to jump in and out of. So they set up an ambush with their bows and arrows. They apparently got a few good shots off, but no rats. We put some rat poison under the house and it was gobbled up. But the rats were still around. We bought a $20 plastic trap - it wasn't strong enough because the rat would trip the trap but manage to squirm its way out. So next, it was $6 Victor traps (made just outside of Philadelphia). Those sneaky rats took the bait several times, even tripping the trap without being snared. But we finally got one. We dropped him (or her, we definitely didn't attempt to check) into a triple-ply plastic bag. Isaac, holding the bag, said "I can't believe I am holding a dead rat! Uggh!" Definitely an understatement.

South Island Trip

Monday, January 7th: Up early to start our ten-hour journey to Wellington. Overall, it was an uneventful trip, with the one exception that Annick got sick on a particularly windy stretch of road. Fortunately, she recovered quickly. The weather turned cold, rainy and breezy. Much to the disappointment of the children, they were unable to leap out of the car and onto the jumping pillow at the Top 10 Holiday Park in Wellington.

Tuesday, January 8th: We took the morning ferry from Wellington to Picton. The weather continued to be soggy and foggy. We only managed to get a few glimpses of the Queen Charlotte sound as we made our way to the South Island, enough to tell that traveling through the sound would be spectacular if the weather were nice. From Picton, we drove to Kaikoura. Along the way, we stopped to admire the New Zealand fur seals we saw lazing around on the rocks. We got to enjoy them up close for a half hour or so before getting back in the car.



We stayed in another Top 10 Holiday Park in Kaikoura. Initially, the kids complained: the pool is too small, the jumping pillow isn’t adequately inflated, there are too many people, etc. Very soon after, they made friends and started to enjoy the facilities. In fact, Annick said that she liked it so much that she could live there.

Wednesday, January 9th: Another grey day, but there was no wind. When we checked in for our whale watch, we were delighted to see that the sea conditions were listed as “ideal”, in other words, the “sea sickness” meter was on the “even suitable for landlubbers” setting. Apparently, this rarely happens in Kaikoura. In fact, the whale watch boats in Kaikoura have a reputation for making even those with the most cast iron stomachs turn green, which is probably why they have a full stack of vomit bags at every seat. Needless to say, Gerard and Annick were quite happy about this piece of good luck.



Sperm whales can be seen around Kaikoura because there is a really deep sea trench just off shore and sperm whales only hang out in really deep water. But you still need to find them, which is why the captain frequently dipped a plunger-like contraption in the water to listen for their sounds, or at least that’s what they said he was doing. Fortunately, it worked and they found two different whales. Each time as the boat pulled up to where the whale was hanging out on the surface we were instructed to rush out of the cabin to the viewing decks because sperm whales only stay on the surface for very short periods of time (5-10 min) before taking a huge breath and descending for up to 2 ¼ hours. They are enormous creatures, the biggest toothed whales on the planet, but we could only see a small fraction of their bodies. We enjoyed seeing them spout and then take a dive with a big wave of their flukes. Total time viewing the whales – no more than 10 minutes. After glimpsing the whales, we spent some time with a pod of dusky dolphins and viewed some more New Zealand fur seals on the rocks.



After lunch, we went to the Kaikoura Peninsula to take a walk. At the carpark, we saw more seals at close range and then we began the walk by climbing to the top of the cliff. We walked along the cliff together for a while but at the halfway point, Gerard took Quentin, Annick and Isaac back down to the beach for the return trip along the water’s edge. Xavier and Beth continued to finish the cliff top portion of the walk before descending to the beach for their return. They had the more adventurous experience. In one instance, they came upon a very narrow section of beach (about 15 feet wide) wedged between a sheer cliff and the water. Right smack in the middle was a bull seal who barked at them every time they tried to quietly pass. Although most of the seals were completely unconcerned with their presence, this one was not happy about letting them walk by. The thought of being bitten crossed their minds, so Xavier managed to find an alternate route up and over the cliff face. Soon after their encounter with the grumpy bull seal, they were attacked by some aggressive seagulls who were screaming over something. Xavier took aim with several small rocks hoping to dissuade them. They survived the dive bombing sea gulls and eventually met up with Gerard and the others along a stretch of beach. Just as they were meeting, Quentin pointed out a very large stingray patrolling the shallows.



Thursday, January 10th: We were scheduled to swim with the seals but there was a lot of wind and it felt practically like winter – the low temperature that evening was 9C (about 49F). The tour director was afraid the children would not enjoy themselves, so the swim was scrubbed. (It was rescheduled for 8 a.m. the next morning, but that got scrubbed too because of stormy seas.) We did some errands instead and made plans to hike into the Sawcut Gorge in the afternoon.



The drive up to the gorge was long, twisted and strewn with boulders. The trail was well-marked but included about a dozen stream crossings. Given that we had on hiking shoes and not water shoes, we kept taking off our shoes and putting them on until finally, Beth and Xavier gave up. They ended up fording the stream with boots on, while carrying across the three other children. Gerard kept crossing in bare feet and when he carried a child, the extra weight really made the trip across painful. The stream was shallow but loaded with rocks.



The stream was lined thick with butterfly bushes which made the scene look and smell heavenly. The children enjoyed the rock hopping and stream jumping. As we progressed down the trail, the cliff faces got increasingly higher and narrower, making it more dramatic with every step. We ended our hike in a skinny slot canyon where we waded up the stream and looked at the slice of sunlight that finally broke through the clouds high over our heads. In the end, it was a very successful day, despite getting cancelled out of the seal swim.



Friday, January 11th: Without a swim with the seals, we decided to pile into the car and head south to Christchurch. Xavier spotted a HUGE pod of dusky dolphins off the coast, so we pulled over the car, grabbed the binoculars and admired them for awhile. They were so entertaining! Back flips, spinning leaps, twists and crashes---they were putting on quite a show.

Before checking into the Holiday Park, we went to the Antarctic Center. There were many interesting displays on Antarctica. Highlights included the blue penguin display (a breed that lives in New Zealand, but, ironically, not in Antarctica), the room where you could live through a simulated Antarctic storm and a ride in the Hagglund vehicle (the ones with the large treads that they use to move around Antarctica). Funny enough, the weather that day was cold and blustery. We felt like we were in Antarctica while moving from our car to the museum.

Saturday, January 12th: We woke and noticed immediately that it was warmer. We hung around the Holiday Park in the morning and then ventured to Christchurch in the afternoon. By then, it was starting to feel really warm. We crawled along the Avon River towards the Botanical Garden, and the kids complained at every step. They were melting, they were thirsty, they were downright miserable. The wind was blowing, and it was a hot, dry wind. We felt like we were in a hair dryer. And something in the air was making Gerard sneeze. (Zertex seemed to cure that problem, at $56 for 30 pills.) We did manage to see some very impressive trees and some very colorful flowers in the garden, but it was hard to enjoy it considering the circumstances. We got in the car and drove up to a high vantage point outside the city. It was still hot and the wind was still blowing like crazy. We attempted a short walk, which turned out to be longer than we expected, and the kids responded with yet more groaning. We later discovered that evening that the high temperature that day was 34C (about 95F), which was about 40F higher than the high yesterday when we were freezing at the Antarctic Center! No wonder the kids were complaining!



Sunday, January 13th: We woke up to sun in Christchurch, but the weather grew worse as we drove west into Arthur’s Pass. After settling into our cabin, we ventured out to hike to two waterfalls, Devil’s Punchbowl and Bridal Veil Falls, in a drizzly rain. Our plan was to climb Avalanche Peak on Monday, but heavy rains were predicted. Once again, we had to come up with Plan B because of the weather. After dark, we took a short walk in the woods (in the light rain) to look for glow worms and kiwi. Quentin found the glow worms, but the kiwi were quiet that night.

Monday, January, 14th: As predicted, the weather looked grim in the morning. The ranger advised us to drive south and east and assured us that we would find better weather on that side of the park. So, instead of tackling Avalanche Peak as planned, we opted to hike up Bealey’s Spur. We walked uphill through a mossy beech forest, passed through a grove of manuka trees before ending up high on a peak covered with tussock grass. There were abundant clouds and some raindrops, but the worst weather was to the north and west of us and we were rewarded with some stunning alpine views. We made it back safely to our cabin before the heavy rains and gusty winds arrived in full force – sheets and sheets of rain fell all afternoon and evening.



Tuesday, January 15th: The rains stopped and the morning was clear and sunny. So we headed to the Scott’s Track for a climb up to Avalanche Peak. The climb was unrelenting and because of the rain the day before, the first half of the trail was practically a mountain stream. We had excellent views of the Punchbowl Falls across the valley and the beech forest was full of moss. After one and a half hours, we broke the tree line but still kept climbing. After three hours, we reached as far as we were going to go – we were probably 30-60 minutes from the summit but the remaining trail was quite steep and looked too dangerous to bring the kids. We could see at least three keas hanging out at the summit, and our view of the glacier on Rolleston Peak was spectacular. We made it down the mountain in less than two hours. Xavier was hungry, so we stepped into the Wobbly Kea for three huge baskets of hot chips (French fries). To the amazement of Beth and Gerard, the kids finished them all--with a little help. By the way, they sell Wobbly Kea hats, shirts and even g-strings, if you are interested.



After filling up on fries, we hit the road for Franz Joseph Town located in “Glacier Country”. This is a remote section of New Zealand with very few fuel or food stops. We loaded up on groceries in the one town with a proper grocery store and said a few prayers that our car would last on its remaining fuel until we reached Franz Joseph. Once there, we paid $1.97 NZD per liter for gas, the highest price we have paid yet in New Zealand. (At current exchange rates, that is about $6 per gallon in a vehicle that gets about 18 miles per gallon.)

Wednesday, January 16th: We woke up to a perfectly blue sky and mild temperatures. What an amazing day to visit the glaciers! This area of New Zealand gets about 22 feet of rain a year and so we felt incredibly lucky to have such a pristine day in which to see the details of the glacier. Luke, our guide, joked that we were blessed to pick one of the three days per year that they get full sunshine. Maybe he wasn’t joking…

We headed to Fox Glacier where we were scheduled to go on a half-day walk on the ice. They suited us up with heavy boots (Xavier called them “lead shoes”), woolen socks and crampons. After a short ride to the glacier, we started the climb up to the top of the ice. We trod over glacial moraine before crossing a few streams and then ascending steeply through a rain forest. It was an odd contrast to be standing in the midst of ferns and mosses while peeking at a massive sheet of ice through the trees. We had to scurry through a rock fall area and inch ourselves along a cliff side before reaching the ice.



Once at the ice, we had to affix our crampons and start the walk on top of the glacier. It was a very “cool” experience. With the bright light we had that day, you could really see the blue tones of the glacier. We had to really thin out our photos of the ice. Everywhere you looked, the ice made patterns that caught the eye: jagged edges, deep diagonal cuts, swirly moulins (roundish, drain-like holes in the ice). It was fun even though we didn’t get to go through one of those blue ice tunnels that they show in the brochure photo.



After the hike, we were starving and tired, but made a small detour on the way back to the holiday park. We drove down a road where there were jaw-dropping views of Mount Cook and Mount Tasman. Again, we couldn’t have had a better day for viewing the peaks. They were stunning against the cloudless sky.

We took a few short hikes later that day to see the Franz Joseph Glacier. Our favorite was a viewpoint of the glacier from “Peter’s Pool” where the glacier and the mountains surrounding it were reflected in a small pond that had many dragonflies darting around it.



Thursday, January 17th: They predicted the heavy rains to come and they did! We drove from “Glacier Country” through Mount Aspiring National Park in massive downpours that created some magnificent scenery along the way. Everywhere you looked, there were roaring rivers and generous, pounding waterfalls. In fact, Mount Aspiring Park was just BLEEDING waterfalls. Volumes of water were pouring down the flanks of every mountain we passed. Clearly, they were prepared for this as there were a number of man-made draining systems to cope with the floods. There were a number of stopping points along the way to view waterfalls and pools, but given the intensity of the rain, we stayed in the car. Once we got over the mountains and reached the top of Lake Wanaka, the sky cleared and the temperatures rose rapidly.

We found our rental house in Wanaka after making a stop at the Mount Aspiring National Park Visitors Center. The kids stayed at the house enjoying the hot tub and sauna while Beth did some laundry and ran errands. The house was clean, comfortable and cheerfully decorated. The garden was full of lavender plants with views of the mountains. We felt very peaceful there.

Friday, January 18th: After a lazy morning at home, we drove an hour into Mount Aspiring National Park to get to the trail head for the Rob Roy Glacier Track. In order to reach our destination, we had to drive about 30 kms down an unsealed road and ford about six streams with the car. Some of the streams were clearly shallow and passable, but others gave us concern. We made it!



The setting was inspirational from the start. We began in a meadow full of purple and white clover flowers. There were cows and sheep. A turquoise-blue river cut down the middle of the meadow. The sky was clear and sunny. It was the postcard image of an alpine scene. We ambled along for a bit before crossing the river on a swing bridge. We continued through a beech forest until we reached a lookout where we met a very inquisitive kea looking for a handout. We admired the view (and the kea!) and moved on.



Ultimately, we arrived at the crowning jewel of the hike: a massive glacier sitting atop a cliff, hugging the edges. The melting glacier created a dozen or so waterfalls that were flowing down the sides of the cliff. The waterfalls were feeding the river that we had crossed and walked along for most of the hike. Now it was clear why the river was thundering along with such force. We stayed in that spot for quite awhile soaking up the scene.



Saturday, January 19th: Gotta love Wanaka! We woke up to another sunny, warm day. We started the day by going to Puzzling World which ended up exceeding our expectations. There were several optical illusion rooms. One of them had the faces of some famous people like Van Gogh and Mandela. The faces were actually concave but as you walked around the room, they appeared convex and more interesting yet, the faces followed you around the room. It was really clever. There was an angled room where balls and water flowed uphill. Outside, there was a maze, which challenged us for a little while and Gerard for nearly two hours. Finally, there was a room designed to look like Roman toilets just outside the true toilet facilities. We had a lot of fun.



After lunch, we rented kayaks for an hour and paddled around Wanaka Lake. After kayaking, we spent some time at the beach, playing on the playground equipment, jumping off the pier into the refreshing water and finally, snorkeling around the shore looking at enormous trout. We tried to squeeze in some sailing, but couldn’t find an available sailboat. Oh well, another day.

Sunday, January 20th: Packed up in the morning to start our journey to Te Anau. We stopped to see some bungy jumpers on the way. Our rental house sat in the middle of a field of sheep with mountains in the background. We felt a part of a typical bucolic New Zealand setting.



Monday and Tuesday, January 21st and 22nd: We spent two days and three nights in Fiordland and experienced the many “moods” of the region. On Monday, we sprang out of bed early to hit the road for Milford Sound, a 2-2 ½ hour trip through windy mountain roads. It was early morning and so we met very little traffic. Our biggest obstacle was a herd of sheep that were being shepherded from one paddock to another via the highway. We began our day with a hike through a mossy temperate rainforest to Marian Lake. It was a sunny, pleasant day and our tramp through the woods ended at a pristine alpine lake that mirrored the surrounding mountains.



After our hike, we finished the trip to Milford Sound and boarded the boat for our tour of the fiord. It is against every adventurous bone in our bodies, but the only way to view the fiords is from a tour boat. It is a slick operation in Milford. Queues of tour buses line the carpark. Rows and rows of toilets await the tour bus passengers. A half dozen tour boats sit in the wharf and greedily drink up the visitors eager to see the magnificent scenery of New Zealand.

We took our tour with Real Journeys, the alpha company in Fiordland boat tours. We signed up for the “Nature and Wildlife” tour. We assumed that we would have ample opportunity for viewing the many dolphins, orcas, penguins and seals of the area, but we really didn’t spend any more time or make any more effort to see these things than any other tour. We did have the privilege of listening to a carefully scripted explanation of the evolution and demise of various animals and plants in New Zealand, but otherwise our wildlife viewing was limited to a seal or two and a small pod of dolphins.



There were two impressive features of the day. The first was the wind. As mentioned earlier, it was a fine, sunny day in Milford. We were soon warned by the skipper, however, that they were experiencing “day winds” that sometimes happen in the fiord during warm summer days. Essentially, a day wind is what happens in a narrow gorge when the air around the mountains heats up, causing the wind in the gorge to rush. During our day out, the winds were blowing at 50 kms an hour, but we were soon informed that the winds can reach as high as 200 kms an hour. Hum….never remembered seeing or reading that in the brochure. Oh yes—the skipper also mentioned that we were very lucky to see Milford in the sun because it rains 220 days a year. Hum…don’t remember ever reading about that in the brochure either. The pictures all showed the steep cliffs mirrored on a glass-like sea with a blue sky in the background. And another thing---there are often three meter swells at the entrance of the fiord where you need to go in order to see the seal colony and of course, the sea was too rough to venture there this day. Hum…did they mention anything about that in the pretty brochure!?!? We’re confused---what happened to the calm sound filled with penguins, dolphins, seals, orcas and abundant waterfalls? It was beautiful, but nonetheless, a little disappointing. Maybe Real Journeys doesn’t really expect any return customers. Yet one more thing: Fiordland has blackflies or sandflies, nasty little critters that pack quite a sting. We were lucky with respect to the flies as we got very few bites.

We mentioned that there were two impressive features of the day. The second one was the Milford Underwater Observatory, a floating tube-like structure anchored in the sound where one can see all the fish and corals that live there. It was a fascinating experience. Given the conditions in the sound, there are plants/animals/corals that live in shallow waters there that normally can only thrive in much deeper and darker places in the ocean. In the observatory, we were able to see black corals (which are actually white) and a variety of sea creatures that make their homes in the sound. We all thoroughly enjoyed it.



Our second day in Fiordland was taking yet another excursion with Real Journeys - because we had no choice. We took a tour bus from Te Anau to Manapouri where we boarded a boat across a very large lake in the drenching rain. The commentator kept commentating about how we were so fortunate to be able to see Fiordland in its many “moods”. Like a middle-aged person, Fiordland was best viewed clothed in something. Therefore, we should be glad to see it in its splendor with the mist and clouds embracing it. Fortunately, as the day progressed, the clouds eased and so did the “BS”.



After the boat ride, we spent an hour in another “coach transfer” taking us across the Wilmot Pass. This was a narrow, dirt road lined with massive mossy trees and misty waterfalls. We then arrived at “Deep Cove” where we boarded a boat to take us on a roundtrip tour of Doubtful Sound.

As the commentator kept speaking in hushed tones to appease the “rock watchers”, our disgust grew deeper. Again, it is a stunning setting and we did feel in awe of the beauty that surrounded us; however, when you hear the same script two days in a row with the same plastic seal positioned on a rock, you get the feeling that this is no longer a “scenic” tour as much as a “seen it” tour (that was Xavier’s pun).

On the way back to Lake Manapouri, we made two interesting pit stops. One was a short photo opportunity overlooking the sound we had just toured. The other was at the hydroelectric plant where we traveled down two kilometers inside an unsealed tunnel 200 meters below the ground where we were able to view the electricity generation plant.

The sun finally set that night around 10:30 and then when we got to soak up the sight of a gorgeous full moon hanging over a field framed with mountains. That was Fiordland in all its splendor.



Wednesday, January 23 and Thursday, January 24: We drove to the Otago Peninsula, a trip that crossed the bottom of the South Island from west to east. Our big adventure of the day was setting up a picnic in brisk, blustery weather and then gobbling our lunch down at record speed while watching a very black cloud approach us. The wind got even more wicked. We threw all of our belongings into bags, ran for the car and the skies opened. What timing! After reaching our destination in Portobello, we let the kids play at a playground and then we headed in to Dunedin for the Cadbury Chocolate Factory Tour. Gerard and Beth tried a pure, unadorned chocolate bean for the first time in their lives. It was bitter, but good. We all left armed with bags of chocolate. The kids commented that it felt like Halloween. Unfortunately, they didn’t like the versions of chocolate bars they received.

The next day, we had an appointment in the morning to see the Royal Albatross Center and the colony that resides there, the only mainland-based albatross colony in the world. These are amazing birds with ten-foot wingspans who lock their wings and glide for miles and miles. They spend their first five years of life wandering around the seas, never touching land. The guide showed us how the birds fold up their impressively long wings while resting. We also learned about how the birds filter out the salt from the sea when they drink and emit it from their large nostrils.



We went up to view the birds and saw about a half dozen nesting birds with chicks. We also saw a large group of shags (another sea bird) and three moreporks, the small New Zealand owl. We were a little disappointed that we didn’t see any albatross flying but were delighted to see one soar past us later when we were standing outside the center on a walk near the cliffs. You have to see them to really appreciate the size of their wingspan – when we spotted the first one flying, Quentin simply said, “It’s huge!”



After lunch, we took a hike and enjoyed the rugged scenery on the Otago Peninsula. In the late afternoon, we had an appointment to view the yellow-eyed penguins. Again, in order to see the penguins, one needs to pay an entrance fee to a private organization that spends some time educating us and then some time guiding us through the reserve. We got to see some penguins who were home, mostly chicks. The yellow-eyed penguins are the third largest penguin species and have a yellow stripe across the crests of their heads as well as yellow eyes. It is amusing to see the chicks because at four weeks, they are much larger than their parents. They are fuzzy, grey and spend all their time hanging out at home waiting to be fed. No wonder they are big butterballs. We were lucky to see a couple penguins come out of the sea and start marching home across the beach.



After dinner, around 10 o’clock at night, we drove down to the beach where the little blue penguins come ashore every night after spending 18 hours out at sea fishing. It was pitch black and we were not allowed to use flashlights or flash photography because it upsets the penguins. We watched this big black patch come up on shore and soon after, admired a group of about 25 penguins who started waddling their way en masse across the beach. There wasn’t much more to see, given that it was pitch black, so we decided to head home. Once we got up the road a bit, we turned on our flashlights and to our surprise, Xavier discovered that there were two blue penguins standing on the hill in front of us! We took a quick peek and then turned off the lights and continued up to the car.

Friday, January 25: On our way to Omaru, we needed to fill some time. The main draw in Omaru is the evening blue penguin watch and that didn't happen until 9 o'clock. Along the way are the Moeraki bolders – circular rocks lying on the beach. They were formed by some odd sedimentary process, but more importantly, they are fun to climb on and they are indeed odd – worth a stop as long as you have time and are driving right next to them. Next, it was lunch time, so we headed to the nearby town of Moeraki to find a park to have a picnic. There were plenty of gulls in the park, so the kids attempted to catch one. Xavier learned the technique on one of his school picnics – (1) you lie down on the grass with a towel on you; (2) you put some bait on the towel (such as pieces of bread or crackers); (3) you wait for a gull to land on you and then you pounce. They came close twice but didn’t land “dinner”.



After lunch, we headed to the Katiki lighthouse because a woman from Portland, Oregon, whom we met at the Kaikoura Top 10 Holiday Park, told us that it is a neat place. Boy, was she right! At Katiki point, they have a yellow-eyed penguin reserve. You cannot go into the reserve but a viewing shed has been made that provides a good view of the penguins marching out of the sea, across the red colored beach and into the bush. Furthermore, you can walk around the edge of the reserve and there were a few vantage points that provided yet more good views of both mature yellow-eyes as well as some chicks.



The best chick was Gary, the name we gave to the adorable yellow-eye chick hanging out at the perimeter of the reserve. He was so cute and furry that we had to fight off the strong temptation to step a few feet closer to give him a big hug.



As if the yellow-eyes didn’t offer enough entertainment, we also enjoyed watching, from the top of a cliff above a peaceful cove, about five to ten fur seals frolicking in the kelp and a group of shags posing for some pictures. Finally, Isaac spotted, in what we thought was a rabbit burrow, a blue penguin chick. To summarize, in one small point, we watched fur seals, shags, yellow-eyed penguins and blue penguins, not to mention plenty of terns, red-eyed gulls and black-backed gulls. And we didn’t have to pay anyone for this wildlife – though, Xavier was so impressed that he dropped $2 of his own money in the donation box.



Leaving Katiki point, we had one problem – we were below empty on the gas gauge. Gerard estimated that we had enough reserve to make it to Omaru, but he wasn’t sufficiently confident to guarantee it, only a "90% chance", he said. So we backtracked 22 kms to reach a petrol station. On our way back to Omaru we discovered that had we chosen to go to Omaru directly, we would have encountered a petrol station only a few kilometers down the road - go figure, petrol stations are not common on the South Island and you usually need to be in a big town to find one.

The blue penguin watch in Omaru was interesting because we could see them waddling home for the night under some lights (which is what you get for the $55 family admission), but it was late for everyone. How do the penguins manage working from 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. every single day?

Saturday, January 26: Up early for our six-hour drive to Cheviot. Nothing really remarkable along the way. Once in Cheviot, we took a quick drive to the beach and spent an hour or so relaxing.

Sunday, January 27: Up early for a three-hour drive to Picton, a one-hour wait to load onto the ferry, a three-hour ferry ride to Wellington and a final three-hour drive to Wanganui. Interestingly, on our third visit to Wellington, it wasn’t actually pouring buckets of rain. We were exhausted, but the kids loved the pet bunnies at the Wanganui Top 10 Holiday Park.

Monday, January 28: Up early for the seven-hour drive back to Puhoi. Upon our arrival we were glad to be home and to see Denem.


For more photos, click here:

South Island trip