Last Day in Wellington

We packed up our gear and found a park for our car then headed to the New Zealand War Memorial Museum where they had an exhibition for the Great War. You started off walking through a Belgium Street back in 1914 as you walked through  you progressed through a time line of WW1- again put on by Peter Jackson and another excellent exhibition.

 After the museum we wandered back into down town Wellington and had some lunch before hiring some bikes and going for a ride along the waterfront. Then it was time to head back to the car, head to the airport and head for home. It was nice flying straight back to Canberra, Lachlan picked us up it was as great two weeks away.

Wellington

From Palmerston North the next morning we headed to Wellington. Checked into our hotel and then went to the TePapa Museum which had a Gallipoli Exhibition  put on by Peter Jackson of Lord of the Rings fame, it was an excellent exhibition. Then we wandered along the waterfront, got some fish and chips for dinner then went for a walk up Mt Victoria which gave excellent views around Wellington.

 Wellington is a nice easy city to walk around and they have done up the waterfront, lots of interesting places and sculptures.

The Galliopli Exhibition at the Tepapa Museum was very impressive, these figures were so lifelike, you felt like wiping the sweat of their faces and you could see the hairs on their legs- pretty amazing.

 Lovely walk in the evening up to Mt Victoria with great views over Wellington.

Palmerston North

Next stop on our way south was a lovely B&B on a farm just out of Palmerston North. It is lovely driving in the North Island, apart from the middle cold desert section everything is so green and lumpy. I noticed lots of sheep lying down, we figured there is so much grass that the sheep can have a rest they don't have to eat non stop like in Australia where everything is so dry. After we settled into our B&B, got a tour and some afternoon tea we headed out for a walk at Manawatu Gorge, again great scenery- I think I may  have worn poor Bill out with all the walking!

We drove back along the Desert Road getting one final view of Mt Ngauruhoe as we drove down, this time the other side of the mountain and more snow from this angle. We stopped at the Army Museum at Wairoa and learnt heaps about the Maori Wars that took place in New Zealand.

 This was the lookout from Vinegar Hill, lovely view back over where we had come from and so green

Headed up to Manawatu Gorge and did an hour walk up and down the hill through lovely forests and great views of the valley.

Turangi

After Raglan we headed south towards Wellington, we just took our time and drove to Turangi about 3 hours away, we stopped for a picnic lunch then arrived at Turangi around lunch time. We settled into our motel and then hired some mountain bikes for two hours and went for a ride along the river. It was lovely except my brand new mountain bike hadn't been put together very well and the handlebars were very loose, Bill had to ride back and get a tool to fix them while I headed back on foot. It didn't matter, the scenery was lovely. We went for a walk along the river after dinner then I went for a walk the next morning as well. Saw lots of fly fishermen out in the river, it is a very popular area for fly fishing.

Raglan

After our weekend in Auckland we headed down to Raglan on the west coast about 2 hours from Auckland where we caught up with another cousin- Alex and his wife Cher. We stayed with them for one night, they had a lovely house with views over the habour and out to see-was a very relaxing place to stay. Went for some nice walks and drives along the beach, had a lovely visit with them, has been great catching up with the New Zealand cousins.

 Alex, Sue, Bill and Cher at Whale Beach near Raglan

Taupo and Auckland

From Taupo we headed up to Auckland but checked out the Huka Falls on the way where the wide Waikato  river flows through a narrow rock gorge, the volume of water is incredible.

In Auckland we stayed with Bill's cousin Christine and her husband Geoff, his other cousin John and his wife Maggie live just around the corner so we were able to catch up with them. We also caught up with my girlfriend Barbara, we were exchange students many years ago. We were so busy talking we forgot to take a photo-but had a lovely time catching up

Day 3 Taranaki Fall and Lake Rotopounama

Today we had to pack our bags and check out before heading out for some more walking. The first walk left from nearby the Chateau and took us up above the Taranaki Falls. Along the way we got more spectacular views of Mt Ngauruhoe and Mt Ruapehu- we have been so lucky with the weather. We then descended down to the falls and then walked back along the river.

We returned to the Chateau, the others boarded the bus, we followed them in our hire car to Lake Rotopounamu. It was about a 2 hour walk around the lake, we heard lots of birds as we walked around. Half way around the lake we stopped for lunch on the edge of the lake a very restful spot and a nice spot to celebrate the end of our three days of walking.

Back at the car park it was time to say our goodbyes, we had about an hours drive to Taupo where we were staying the night. We settled into our hotel, went for a wander around the town and after a light dinner we headed out to soak in some hot springs which was very relaxing.