From Rotorua, New Zealand

Sorry for the delay in getting the first post out.  To get internet in Auckland was going to be a small fortune, and haven't had a good connection since then until now.  So this will be an extra long post!

On the plane in first class!

On the harbour cruise in Auckland

Vern, our Maori guide

The Royal New Zealand Navy Band 

A view from our Paihia hotel

Our Royal Navy Escort!

Thursday 2-3-11  On the plane - first class!

How nice to be able to lie down and sleep!  Got pretty much a full nights sleep!

I watched Secretariat and Karen watched Red and Morning Glory

I also listened to Brandenburg Concertos by Bach (all six of them!) and Carmen by Bizet, the opera we will see in the Sydney Opera House.

Friday, 2-4-11- Auckland

Arrived Auckland around 8:00 am, rented Avis car and set out to see if I could drive on the left side of the road.  Did OK, especially since I was driving in busy Auckland.  Missed the hotel first time around, but came back and found it.  Being morning, room was not ready, as expected, but we walked some of the city, came back to the hotel area and had a buffet lunch in a Chinese restaurant - pretty awful food!

In the afternoon we took a harbor cruise, including a brief stop at Rangitoto island, formed by a volcano eruption about 1500.  All of the Auckland area was volcanic at one time.  As we passed under the Harbour Bridge, someone did a bungee jump.  Bungee jumping is really big in New Zealand, where it was invented.

Dinner at Harbourside Restaurant in the Ferry Building after visit to Maritime Museum and a walk to the SkyTower, but decided not to pay the $40 to go to the top - cloudy day and limited visibility.

Saturday, 2-5-11 - Auckland to Waitangi (Paihia)

Breakfast on our balcony.  We had a really nice room at the Auckland Hilton.

Drive to Waitangi with “shortcut” by the Garmin that had us on dirt roads instead of Highway 1.  Last time I trust the Garmin blindly!

Made it to the Treaty Grounds.  Great tour by Vern, a pure blood Maori (only 1% or Maori population pure-blood.)  He knows who his ancestors are for hundreds of years.  The Maori were very smart people and are one of the few indigenous people in the world who fared well under colonial rule, adapting themselves to the ways of the white man without giving up their heritage.  They are well integrated into New Zealand society.  Except for major cities, most place names are Maori.  We also saw a cultural presentation of Maori dancing and Haka, a ceremony to scare away enemies with shouts, gestures, bugged out eyes and tongue sticking out as far as possible.

Then we saw great closing ceremonies - New Zealand Navy Honor Guard and Band.  Many New Zealand political bigwigs were there, plus the English Governor-General.  We sat in chairs that may have been only for invited guests, but we invited ourselves.  A secret service person-type person did ask us to move back a row, as I was in his chair!  (NOTE:  LATER REVISION - I FOUND OUT LATER THAT THE PRIME MINISTER, JOHN KEY, WAS IN FACT SITTING TWO ROWS AHEAD OF US.  CAN YOU IMAGINE BEING ABLE TO AMBLE IN TO AN EVENT IN THIS COUNTRY AND SIT RIGHT BEHIND THE PRESIDENT?!!)

Dinner at Kava, a French restaurant seaside in Paihia.  Best food so far.  We are staying at Waterfront Suites with a nice view of the Bay of Islands, a beautiful area.

Sunday, 2-6-11  Waitangi Day!

Today in 1840 the Maori chiefs signed the Waitangi Treaty, which established British sovereignty over New Zealand islands and recognized Maori ownership of the land.  The effect was to provide law and order over a deteriorating social condition.  We timed our itinerary to be here for Waitangi Day, more or less equivalent to the 4^thof July in the US.

So we went walking toward the Treaty Grounds, because we knew parking would be impossible, and who should pick us up but Vern! (See Saturday)  We were able to get there in time for an interdenominational and bi-lingual worship service:  Catholic, Methodist, and Presbyterian, conducted in English and Maori, with signing for the deaf  in both languages.  We took a position in a shady area and were soon joined by a contingent of the Royal New Zealand Navy!  They were very nice and offered to take our picture.

Walking the treaty grounds later, the activities there were somewhat disrupted by Maori dissidents, so not all is well, but as protesters go, these were pretty mild and respectful.  Lunch at the Waikokopu Café on the grounds, really good food.  By mid-afternoon we were getting a little tired, so we noticed a shuttle bus that we thought would take us partway to our hotel, but when it went the opposite direction, we knew we were in trouble.  Turns out that there was auxiliary parking several miles away with a shuttle service.  So we got to see the same scenery again as we returned to our starting point and THEN started walking the 1.2 mile trek to our hotel.

After a brief respite, we drove to Haruru Falls, nice but mostly a yawner, then decided to give the budget a rest by buying a frozen pizza and fixing our own supper.  Worst pizza ever made by man.  Ah, well, 

Feb 7 - Paihia to Rotorua

Today was mostly a travel day, driving about 600 kilometers (roughly 360 miles) south to Rotorua, passing through Auckland again.  That may not seem like a lot until you are driving on the left side of the road on twisting, up and down two lane roads.  Arrived in Rotorua about 4:00, checked in to Sandi's B&B and went exploring in town:  a city park with bubbling hot springs, a fascinating museum in a striking tudor style building that was once a hot springs spa.  They had a movie theater that showed a film about the eruption of a nearby mountain in 1886.  To our surprise, when the ground started shaking in the movie, so did our seats!  Dinner at a Thai restaurant, and here we are, back at Sandi's, where I have internet access.  Hooray!  I feel like a drug addict who finally got a fix after suffering for days.