NZ: Grimm Travels

That's Grimm with a capital G and two m's. Our friends Marilee & Bill Grimm from Oregon spent a long and wonderful visit with us, including a 2+ week road trip that was anything but grim!

We had to finish up some boat projects at the start of their visit--
a photo of Bill helping Art with the solar panels is in the previous blog post--
but we still took time for fun activities,
including a picnic at the Whangarei Quarry Gardens

The Whangarei Sculpture Symposium took place just across the river.

For over a week, we could hear multiple artists sawing  and grinding,

creating large sculptures from chunks of stone or wood before our eyes (& ears).

The results were astounding!

Another before...

...and after

Once our road trip began, we made a quick side trip to Piroa Falls...

...on our way to Auckland

We timed the trip so we could attend Auckland's annual Pasifika Festival,
which celebrates South Pacific Island cultures with dance and cuisine.
Each country sets up a "village", with a performance stage and booths for food and crafts;
this group is from Tonga.

These beautiful dancers are from the island nation of Tuvalu,
a country in danger of disappearing due to rising sea levels

The women's clothing are dyed woven fibers...

...while the men wear grasses

Our next stop in Auckland was a marvelous aquarium. The displays were all outstanding,
though the penguins were the most photogenic. There were colonies of king and gentoo penguins;
we even got to see some baby kings.

Since Katelinn was sailing in Antarctica while we were here, it was fun to think of us seeing the same birds (though her surroundings were much colder!)

After Auckland, we headed to the Coromandel Peninsula.
Bill & Marilee opted for a fun train ride, and Art & I went for a hike in a kauri forest.
Such magnificent trees!

"This is the forest primeval"

...with towering trees and ancient ferns
(in lieu of Longfellow's murmuring pines and hemlocks)

Hiking to Cathedral Cove, a must-see attraction, was a high point

Even with less than ideal light, the scenery was dramatic

The stupendous view from our cottage near Hahei

The cottage owners invited us to pick limes from their grove
(which made for the best gin & tonics ever!)

At Hot Water Beach, we dug a pit into the sand;

thermal springs beneath the beach made warm--and yes, sometimes hot!--pools.
Bill's daughter & her family happened to be traveling in New Zealand,
the same time & place we were. It IS a small world!

Staying warm in the hot pool

What beach is complete without a sand castle?

Though an overnight rain turned it into a fixer-upper

From the Coromandel Peninsula, we headed to Rotorua, an active geothermal area.
Even the downtown park is full of steaming pools!

We spent a day at the Waimangu Volcanic Valley

Waimangu's Inferno Crater Lake
sits on top of a geyser, so over a period of many days,
the lake level rises and falls

Steam vents next to the stream running through the valley

The wanderers in front of multi-colored silica platforms
(Many thanks to Bill for the Waimangu photos;
my camera was misbehaving that day)

We spent another day at the 121st annual Turangawaewae Regatta, held in Ngaruawahia (near Hamilton).
What a thrill to see 5 Maori ceremonial war canoes coming down the river at once,
paddles flashing and men chanting in unison!
Some of the most moving Maori singing we'd ever heard anywhere took place on a nearby stage.
 We would love to have recordings, but none of these groups record themselves--an interesting cultural difference.

Bill got some good close-ups

Orekai Korako, another geothermal area near Rotorua, was also spectacular

A small geyser erupted from the hillside every few minutes

This 'frozen waterfall' is actually a silica terrace, about 30' high

The most entertaining mud pool of any we'd seen

Ta-dah!

Marilee and Bill generously treated us to an evening at Tamaki Village, which included a powhiri (welcome ceremony)
and demonstrations of many Maori skills and crafts,
followed by a marvelous hangi dinner (cooked in an underground oven)

Running over the sticks prepared men for the haka, or war dance,
and ultimately for battle

Intricate twirling of balls is part of many dances by Maori women

The last destination of our road trip was Wellington, where we visited Zealandia, a protected area for native New Zealand species, and the Te Papa Museum. We spent all day at Te Papa and could have spent another; the variety and depth of historic and naturalistic exhibits were amazing. I didn't take photos there, but here are some Zealandia shots:

Once thought to be extinct but rediscovered in 1948, the takahe
is a large flightless bird

The tuatara ("peaks on the back" in Maori)
dates from dinosaur days,
and is the only surviving species of its kind

A school group from France was visiting Zealandia
when we were there,
so we benefited from a hands-on display

We reveled in the forest full of bird songs--
such an incredible variety! These colorful birds are kakariki.

For our final bird of New Zealand , we introduce you to the chocolate kiwi

Back at the ranch--or the boat (Bill & Marilee are indeed going back to their ranch in Eagle Point),
we were visited by the Easter Kiwi
(The brown eggs are real; we've seen no white eggs in New Zeland)


Many thanks to the Grimms, for pulling us away from boat projects
and sharing New Zealand with us!