Hi everyone, my apologies for not keeping up this blog while Christopher is away. As you can probably imagine, I've been very busy doing wifely tasks, cooking, washing, ironing, cleaning etc etc... Boo hoo.
So. This weekend I went away for 3 days with my friend Izzy to her family home towards the north of the island in a place called Tauranga. We stayed with her grandpa because his house is biggest, and he lives right on the edge of an estuary just over the water from Mount Maunganui. He grows organic avocados, apples, oranges and lemons for fun, and also takes part in soil research about the effects of organic farming methods on soil organisms. The house has a glorious view over the estuary as it is elevated about 50m above the water on the side of a fairly steep hill, which is where the orchard grows. Lucky old Izzy grew up here on the sea and took me kayaking round the coast and showed me the places she used to play with her cousins, who have for the most part also built houses within walking distance. Glorious!
We had a morning in Mount Maungaui and walked around the Mount, which is the inside of an old volcano, I forget what you call the feature but I expect most of you know what I mean - the rock around the outside has been eroded away just leaving a column of hard rock in the middle. It's very pretty and has a lovely little seaside town with (heaven forbid) high rise blocks of flats on the sea front. The cause a lot of consternation round here - they spoil the view, you see. Everyone was also concerned by the number of visitors the town had for so early on in the season. Mmm, not nearly as busy as Hastings on a weekday, but for NZ that is a lot of people!
We stopped into a craft fair on the way to the Irish pub for lunch, where I had a wonderful pint of Guinness - better than most you find in the UK, which surprised me! Of course I forgot to take the camera with me but with any luck we will get a return invitation and I will do better, I promise.
We also had a guided tour of some cousins houses. they grow chicken and pigs and sheep and horses and doves and turtles, and Jocelyn thoroughly enjoyed seeing them. She is very interested in all sorts of animals and was chatting away to them in a friendly fashion. Seems like a love of nature runs in the family - perhaps she will be a famous zoologist one day!
On Monday morning before we left we had a tour of Izzy's dad's greenhouse. He is French and has acquired a strange accent over his years in NZ. He grows a kind of lily, can't remember what it is called but here is the one he cut for me:
He also grows the most amazing orchids in there for fun, and those dangly air plants. Outside he has hemp, banana, raspberry and macademia. He gave me a big bag of macademias which should be ready in time for Christmas, as long as we can get them out of their shells. Apparently a hammer and a flat rock will do the trick. Sounds like a man's task.
On the way home (a good 5 1/2 hours drive) we stopped at Taupo to take a look at Huka (said Hooker) falls. This is one of the Islands biggest hydroelectricity farms as the water from the lake is channelled through a very narrow and shallow gorge at high speed. You can also white water raft down it, which looks like a whole bunch of fun!
So that was my weekend! It was great fun and the countryside is stunningly beautiful. With any luck we will go back up there and look around some more soon!
Huka Falls, looking upstream
A Tui, the other national bird, the one the beer is named for. Has a puff of white feathers at his throat like a dandy! Drinks the nectar from this tree, gets drunk and falls off, which is probably where New Zealanders got the idea from.
Huka Falls, the fall part. The water is so blue because it is very clear and the bubbles reflect the colour of the sky. Aah.
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