It is now April, the start of our final few weeks in Auckland. We have waited three months to rent a car and venture out of the city on our own but decided the time was right. Friend Kathy from Columbus and daughter Hannah are visiting. In New Zealand cars drive on the left side of the road. Terry has had three months to observe traffic flow, read about NZ traffic laws and to mentally practice how to be a successful NZ driver. We think he's ready. Actually, all went well and we all enjoyed the travel.
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| Terry and Mary at Hobbiton |
First stop on our road trip was Hobbiton, the site of the filming of the outdoor scenes of The Shire in Lord of the Rings film trilogy. Most recently they filmed The Hobbit, set to be released in December 2012. It was a wonderful tour, such a pretty setting. The 1250 acre farm is home to 13,000 sheep.
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| Huka Falls |
We spent the night in Rotorua where we went to a cultural Maori dinner program. The traditionally cooked hangi meal was very tasty. We got to see an ancient warrior canoe, traditional poi dance and glo-worms. We also got to go see kiwi at the nearby kiwi conservation center. They are skittish little birds who only are seen at night.
The next day we went walked around Huka Falls, an amazing waterfalls resulting when the Waikato River (normally 300 ft. across) is squeezed through a 60 foot gorge, over a 60 foot drop. About 15% of New Zealand power is generated at this spot.
We wanted to go see the glo-worms at Waitomo Cave so programmed the GPS to get directions. I should have been more cautious when the GPS said some roads might not be paved. Little did I know that we would be traveling over 40K on gravel roads, some of it too narrow for two cars to pass. We never met another vehicle but Terry carefully hung to the left side of the road just in case. Terry was happy to get the rental car back to the agency and I am glad we don't have a car while we are here.
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| Lunch at Mudbrick Winery |
Tuesday morning Kathy was up very very early to catch a bus to the airport for her 6:45am flight. Little did she know that her 11 hour layover in Fiji was going to be in the middle of national weather emergency, cyclone and flooding. She was able to catch a flight out of Fiji and was soon back home in Columbus. Hannah and I took the ferry to Waiheke Island where we walked around and had a wonderful lunch at a very fancy winery.
Wednesday morning Hannah was up early to catch a bus to the airport to fly to Wellington to start her solo travels of South Island via Stray bus. I'm anxious to hear her adventures.
Easter Sunday was a beautiful day. Excellent sermon: Empty promises of Easter - Empty cross, empty tomb and empty grave clothes. Thanks be to God for all he has done!
We went to Akaroa on Saturday, a quaint French seaside community set on a fiord. Beautiful views of the mountains and seaside. On Sunday Beth Hume (former OSU professor, recently relocated to University of Canterbury) and her husband Jon joined Adelsons and us for a wonderful brunch and then we went on an amazing hike through Waipara Valley. New Zealanders would call our hike "easy," but certainly not by Ohio standards. Up and down the hills, sometimes through mud and deep puddles. A beautiful day and quite fun to spend time with Columbus people. It has been almost 19 months since the first major earthquake hit Christchurch. The second major quake came 14 months ago and did even more damage. Every aspect of normal life as been affected. One lady told me that even the birds aren't singing like they used to. Rebuilding has started but there are still a number of buildings marked for demolition that need to come down. Cranes operate dawn to dusk. Chain saws and hammering is heard all over. Some people have left Christchurch and many engineers and construction workers have taken their place. 
