We woke up to a beautiful morning, clear skies with extensive views across the lake to Tongariro.  Remarkably, we discovered at the i-site that the crossing was still closed.  It seems somewhat restrictive if they close the route down at the hint of a breath of wind.  We now had other plans in store.  Our birthday present to Stephen was going to be a bungy jump.  We took him to the Taupo Bungy Jump site on a cliff above the beautiful Waikato River, New Zealand’s longest river emerging from Lake Taupo.  The bungy jump is from a platform jutting 20m out over the white cliffs dropping 47m to the beautiful blue waters below.  We paid the $149 for the jump, left Stephen to prepare while Angela and I went to the viewing platform to watch and film the jump.  It took a lot longer for the event to happen than we thought and watching Stephen in the queue on the platform he looked a little bored.  He also looked perfectly calm.  I suppose, when you do what he does for a living, flying into remote jungle airstrips in Papua every day, a bungy jump is pretty insignificant.  Eventually, his turn came, he was hitched up and without any fuss he stood backwards on the platform and immediately threw himself in a backwards arc into thin air.  The plunge took him almost to the water (he was disappointed as he had requested a head dunk) before the elastic pulled him back up towards the platform and down again.  There were several more bounces before he dangled above the boat ready to pull him in and detach him from his bungy.  Meeting him a few minutes later he was perfectly calm and relaxed about the whole affair.  If you want to see his bungy, you will have to wait until I put the video on to You Tube.

The Huka Falls

A little further downstream from the bungy are the Huka Falls.  Despite the drop only being 20m they are well worth a look, simply to stand in awe at the volume of water, which passes over them.  Leading up to the falls the river is about 100m wide but then it gets squeezed through a band of harder rock only 20m wide.  The pressure from behind forces the water to rush through the narrow gap and push it over the lip of the falls at the bottom end.  220,000 litres of water per second drop over the falls and despite the small drop they are spectacular.  You can only stand there and marvel at the power of water.  The Huka River produces 15% of New Zealand’s electricity needs and it is easy to understand why when you witness such power.  I was only disappointed that while we were there nobody came down in rafts or canoes.  That would have been a thrilling spectacle.

A fumerole at Craters of the Moon

From the Huka Falls we headed towards Rotorua but before we left the Taupo region altogether we visited the Craters of the Moon spectacle. The Craters of the Moon is a relatively new geothermal area, created by accident when New Zealand was developing its hydroelectric schemes in the 1950 and changed underground water levels.  Underground pressure shifted with new steam vents, thermal pools and mud pools appearing.

When you enter you are clearly entering an ancient volcanic crater.  A walkway through and around the bowl takes you to all the best bits although I would have liked to see a little more volcanic action.  The last eruption here was in 2002 and nobody knows when the next will be.  The predominant plant growing throughout the crater is Prostrate Kanuka, which likes the warm soil just below the surface.  At a depth of 5cm the soil is a toasty 33°C.

Bubbling mud

As we travelled towards Rotorua we kept getting distracted by places of interest off the main route.  We looked at the Wai-O-Tapu geothermal centre but it looked very commercial and was quite expensive.  However, not very far away we came across some impressive mud pools bubbling away and creating fantastic shapes with each minor eruption.  The small globules of uncontrolled mud reminded me of the impulsive leaping of frogs.

Another deviation took us to some thermal springs with a variety of hot pools to lounge in and a geothermally heated swimming pool, which was far too hot to contemplate any serious swimming.  We just had a cup of tea!

We also took a look at Waimangu, the newest geothermal area created by a series of volcanic explosions in 1886.  Unfortunately we were too late to visit this, but we might come back tomorrow.

Eventually, we arrived at Rotorua and found some accommodation on the lake shore close to a community open space, all set up for a concert tomorrow.  Some of the artists were rehearsing,  something to look forward to.

It was Stephen’s last night so we went out for a cracking meal with a bottle of wine to celebrate spending some valuable time with him.  We are not sure when we shall see him again so it is good to push the boat out a bit when we do.

Angela’s Bit

Here we are in the middle of North Island but on a vast lake, staying at a ‘resort’ all of which makes it feel like the coast!  A great spot and frequented by families from Auckland in the North and from Wellington in the South.  Most New Zealand men are fishermen (bait is readily on sale at the petrol stations).  Hence Lake Taupo has become the trout/salmon capital of NZ.

During the night I became aware of strong winds and rain battering our wooden chalet.  The prospects for a good day did not look good.  Daylight brought some optimism as the rain had cleared, leaving strong winds.  The forecast spoke of 80kph winds easing to 50kph during the day.

Leaving Wanganui, we headed for Mt Teranaki, a perfect conical volcano used as a backdrop to the film The Last Samurai, because it could easily be mistaken for Mt. Fuji.  The drive was fairly uneventful, the only real interest being the damage we saw as a result of last Saturday’s storms.

Trees took the brunt of the storm and there was a lot of debris at the side of the road.  There were copses of large conifers and many of them had been broken in half as if they were match sticks.  In one area there was a whole woodland where virtually every tree had been snapped, leaving 15 – 20 foot stumps sticking up into the air as their only memorial.  Occasionally there was evidence of structural damage to buildings.

Leaving the main highway we headed for Dawsons Falls, one of the points of access to Mt. Teranaki.  As we entered the National Park, the landscape changed from agricultural to dense tropical forest.  The mountain above was shrouded in low cloud.  When we reached the DOC centre the temperature had dropped significantly and there was nothing of the mountain to see.  This was such a disappointment; the weather had played its part in preventing us from seeing New Zealand at its best.

To make up for the disappointment, in part, we visited Dawsons Falls, a single fall of water tumbling 18m over a rocky shelf.

Giving up with Mt, Teranaki we visited the i-site in Stratford, where we sorted our accommodation for the night in Taupo and decided to get there via the World’s Forgotten Highway.  Before leaving the i-site I enquired about the Tongariro Crossing, which Stephen and I would like to do tomorrow.  To my surprise I was told that due to the high winds the crossing was closed.  The forecast also predicted high winds for tomorrow so the prospects were not looking good.

The beautiful and fascinating landscape along the World's Forgotten Highway

Leaving Stratford, the World’s Forgotten Highway took us on a winding route through some incredible and unique countryside.  The rock was predominantly limestone with lots of grassy ridges.  I could not determine the origins but feel it may be a layer of limestone raised by plate and volcanic activity, which then has been weathered to form this fascinating landscape.  Much of the land is farmed with both sheep and cattle but as we climbed to pass over a series of saddles the farmland was replaced with tropical forest.

Mt Taranaki

Eventually, as we got closer to Taupo the road improved.  We stopped off at a viewpoint, which gave us excellent views of the Tongariro range in one direction and in the other, the direction we had travelled from, Mt. Teranaki, now clear of her cloudy cloak.

The mountains of Tongariro

We reached Taupo as the sun set magnificently over Lake Taupo, the largest lake in New Zealand.  When we stopped by the lake to photograph the sunset we were amused to find the stones on the beach to be extremely light and when we threw them into the water they initially floated until they absorbed enough water to make them heavy enough to sink.  They were rubbish for skimming.

A Taupo sunset

Despite the day holding a number of disappointments there were some highlights which made it another good day.

Angela’s Bit  

It’s been a day of highs and lows; both literally and metaphorically.   We were disappointed not to see the mountains because of the cloud, but our high level drive was full of unique landscapes.  We were finally rewarded with great views of the mountains.

No walk on the high hills but lakeside adventures beckon.

Queen Charlotte Sound

The early start was for no reason at all.  The hour and a half journey along one of the bendiest roads in the world early in the morning on an empty stomach and making Angela feel ill was for no reason at all.  South Island was not going to let us go that easily.  Our ferry had been cancelled and we suddenly found we had three hours to kill in Picton before we were going to be allowed to go.  We walked around the bay from the harbour along to Bob’s Bay and spent a leisurely half hour there before heading back and checking in.

From the end of the Sound and into the Cook Strait

The ferry journey through Queen Charlottes Sound is stunning.  It takes a little over an hour for the ferry to reach the open sea but in that first hour we meandered and negotiated our way through some fairly narrow passages.  The only thing that would have made it better was brilliant sunshine reflecting on the water.  Once we were out to sea it was like any other channel crossing and I went to find a comfy seat to have a nap.  Age is catching up with me!  To be honest, I set the alarm last night because we had to get up early, and as is usual in such circumstances, I lay awake most of the night worrying as to whether I had set the alarm on my phone correctly.  I needn’t have worried.

kite boarder on Froxton Beach

Wellington was looking very dull and there were raindrops on the windscreen as we left the city.  In the distance, in the direction we were going we could see lots of clear blue sky and late afternoon sun.  By the time we stopped for a short break at Foxton beach, a beautiful sandy beach, the sun was shining brightly and we enjoyed watching a kite boarder testing his skills on the beach.  It was quite windy.  The beach seemed to go on for ever in either direction and it is so for much of this coastline, that it is one very long beach.

Eventually we found our accommodation for the night just behind the beach at Wanganui – small, basic, simple yet comfortable. 

Angela’s Bit

Didn’t sleep too well.  Woke with a sore throat but we had things to do and places to go so no time to linger.  The winding road to Picton took its toll and I was not looking forward to bobbing up and down on the sea!  As it happened our ferry was cancelled and we eventually left at 1.15.  By which time we had had a good walk around the bay and I was feeling much better.

We drove for 2 and a half hours along the west coast of North Island to reach our overnight stop in Wanganui.  Stephen is with us so plans are afoot for big walks and bungee!!!!

At 9.00am nine of us made our way over the ridge of the Queen Charlotte Track to Victoria Bay by various means to be picked up by a water taxi to take us to Picton, where a minibus would collect us and take us on a wine tasting tour.

The wine buffs!

By 10.30 we were downing small samples of wine at our first winery – Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir and some others.  Individually, the samples were not very much but collectively they added up to be quite a lot.  At 11.00 we were in our second winery going through the whole process again.  Whilst I appreciated they all tasted different I would not have been able to tell which was which without being told.  The descriptions used by our hosts were quite farcical.  How many ways can you describe a glass of wine?  I don’t think my taste buds are working properly because I completely missed the hints of this and the subtlety of that.

Marlborough wine country

Before lunch we were at our third winery and at it all over again.  To make matters worse we were having lunch in the restaurant and this third venue where we drank two bottles of champagne, a bottle of white and sampled a dessert wine.  The white and the dessert were presents to Kelly who had designed the labels and they had just received 5* accolades for all aspects of the wine including the labelling.

By this time I had had enough wine and sat out the next two wineries.  My wine stamina had failed.  I don’t know how the others could keep it going so long, including Angela.  I perked up with our last visit to a chocolate factory, but they were very mean with their samples.

Andy's eyes are hidden but Ben's give the game away

On the water taxi back to Victoria Bay, everybody was looking a little jaded but we were nopt back in our luxurious baches for long and we soon perked up over an excellent roast and a few more glasses of wine.

Angela’a Bit

Had a great day on The Wine Tour of Marlborough………now one of the finest wine producing areas in the world. A Scotsman, back in the 1880s was the first to plant vines.  He was not a typical whiskey swigging Scot, having gained a taste for wine in France.  I enjoyed the tasting but also learning about all the different techniques used to get the best crop; any thing from frost windmills to planting at the time of the full moon.  Fascinating.

We spent the evening at Ben and Kelly’s rented house, they cooked a delicious roast and we left fairly early because we are off at 7 in the morning.  Saying goodbye was an emotional moment, its hard leaving them on the other side of the world again.  However I comfort myself with the knowledge that they will be blissfully happy together and make the right decisions in the future.

Woke up to a gloriously sunny morning with not a breath of wind and the surface of the water was again like glass.  I was feeling excited at the prospect of going sea fishing and catching our meal for later in the day.

We had booked a four-hour fishing trip for the seven of us (no girls allowed!  This was men’s work).  Our prime target was Snapper, a very handsome fish and one which would provide a handsome meal.  We had been told that there were lots of them and we would be catching 5-6lb fish.  Our guide, Brett, a builder/fisherman, took us five miles up Kenepuru Sound to a spot adjacent to some mussel beds where he had had some success on earlier missions.

I have never actually been sea fishing before so, although I listened intently to his instruction, I was sure I was going to forget most of it when the action started.  Our rods were already set up, all we had to do was to load the hook with bait (we were using pilchards) and cast away.  It took a bit of getting used to at first and it didn’t help that the seven of us were crowded into a fairly small place.  A number of us found a pilchard dangling in our faces as we battled to get our first fish.

Kenepuru Sound

Ben and Stephen both caught a fish within two minutes of casting their lines.  It was exciting and it looked as if we were going to land loads of fish.  After another five minutes, when nothing had happened, Adam turned to me and said, “You’re bored, aren’t you?”  I must confess that I was a little disappointed that the fish had not leapt at the chance for me to catch them.  After several more minutes I reeled my line in to find no pilchard on the hook.  The Snapper are obviously a lot smarter that I had thought and can take the bait but not the hook.  Nobody told us about that.  This happened on several occasions and it was becoming a real challenge to catch one.  After about ninety minutes I felt a tug on the line.  I had got one!  The rod strained under the pressure.  I pulled the rod skyward and as I dipped it down towards the water I reeled in the line.  I could feel the fish fighting against me.  The rod strained further and it was clear this was a bigger fish than any caught so far.  Everybody was willing me to reel it in and Brett was giving me instruction.  Wow, this was fantastic!  My first fish!  I pulled the rod up towards the sky again and suddenly all pressure was gone.  The line had snapped.  Deflation and disappointment set in but with a tinge of excitement as to what might have been.

Happy boy!

Damage repaired, I cast again and waited and waited.  Some of the others already had the satisfaction of catching something.  I was afraid that we were going to stand here for four hours and I would have nothing.  I found that if I held a finger on the line I could more easily tell when a fish was nibbling the bait, rather than just watching for the end of the rod to twitch.  Half an hour later my concentration paid off and I felt a nibble and was able to detect when the fish had properly taken the bait.  The rod strained and I began the process of drawing in the rod and reeling in the line.  I was not going to let this one get away if I could help it.  I could feel the fish thrashing around on the end of the line but I could also feel that I was winning this time.  Soon the fish came into view as it neared the surface, and then it was out and in the boat.  I had caught my first fish.  I was so pleased.  I was particularly pleased by the end of the session because that was the only fish I caught.  Naturally, I would have preferred to have the excitement to have lasted longer and been more often, but it became clear that fish naturally do not want to be caught and that it is a challenge for both fisherman and fish.

In total we caught ten fish, all Snapper.  We were going to eat.  Returning to the jetty at Portage, Brett filleted the fish for us and also gave us the wings, which he said taste of chicken.  Stephen had a go at filleting, getting some experience for when he catches fish in Indonesia.  Brett had also gathered a bucket of enormous green mussels for us to take home.

We decided not to waste any time and cook our spoils for lunch.  Twenty fillets, ten wings and a million mussels plus salads, bread and a load of extras fed 12 very easily.  There is something very special about eating food you have worked for and is extremely fresh.  Despite periods of minor boredom and frustration, it was a really enjoyable four hours and gives me the desire to do something similar again.  There cannot be many more beautiful places in the world to go fishing.

Havelock here we come

After recovering from the feast, ten of us chartered a boat to collect us at 5.30 and take us up Kenepuru Sound to have a look at Havelock.  It was a stunningly beautiful evening and we drank beer, wine and champagne on the ninety-minute journey through the sound.  By the time we docked in Havelock there was no time to have a look so we went into the Slip Inn, on the waterfront and had dinner, a superb meal.

Another fab meal

Havelock is the mussel capital of the world but none of us could face more mussels after our lunchtime feast, which is probably a bit of a shame.  My steak was fab.

Soon after 9.00 we piled back on to the boat for the journey back to Portage in the dark.  Stephen took to the control and it was interesting watching the sonar picking up the shoals of fish beneath us.  If we had had sonar in the morning we might have been able to catch more fish.  While Stephen was driving, the captain brewed tea and coffee, although there was something rather special to liven them up.

Angela’s Bit

While the ‘boys’ went fishing Anna and I had some girlie time, showering, hairwashing and generally chilling out and chatting, even though it turned out hot in the sun!  The house we are renting is very comfortable with all mod cons including a spacious deck with gas bbq and amazing views.  The bbq came in to its own when the fishermen returned with their ample catch of snapper and mussels.  13 of us sat round the table and ate and drank merrily.