Rotorua

24 March 2011

Much happier with the bike after some further running repairs and minor adjustments. Also got some Tiger Juice lube for the chain... just the stuff. One really good thing about having the bike Is the scope it gives for exploring. I went along the lake edge, the Maori village and Kuira Park nearby and had a good look at the steam coming out of the ground and the mud pools bubbling away.

The steam is used by the locals as a heating source. The meeting hall in the Maori village was my first taste of their culture. I got some more of it that night when I went on a trip to Mitai village. John, our guide kept us entertained and claimed the Maoris had found New Zealand through astral travel. We had a tasty traditional ‘Hangi’ meal, cooked on hot stones in a hole in the ground. There were a lot of people sitting for the Hangi in a large marquee including an old running pal from Penicuik over in the far corner… fancy meeting you here!. After the Hangi we went for a walk in the bush and the Maoris re-enacted a canoe scene. Canoes are an important recurring theme in their culture and are called ‘Waka.’ The Maoris navigated from Polynesia to New Zealand in their “Wakas’ by the stars and the moon. I thought the ‘Haka’ was an intimidating display on the rugby field but the welcome ceremony is much higher on the scale. Luckily for us the Chief told us that they don’t eat whiteys any more, they go to McDonalds instead. He explained about the importance of the ancestors to the Maori people and told what all the tattoos on their faces stand for.

When I was cycling along the lake front, I spotted a float plane and was immediately taken back to my childhood and comic stories of Biggles landing on the Amazon and carrying out heroic deeds.

What else could I do but book a flight the next day and am I glad that I did. The 1954 De Haviland ‘Otter’ was straight out of the past. The technology was authentic 1950’s which meant pumping up petrol up the pipe manually before take off. We listened to the pilot through our head phones as we flew over amazing volcanoes and multi-coloured thermal pools with steam rising from them.

Our destination was Orakei Korako, an active area of geothermal activity. We landed on the river and got the ferry across to the silica terraces, geysers and a geothermal cave.

I needed some fresh air after all that sulphur, so I went along to the Redwoods, a few kilometres outside Rotorua. The Kiwis know how to organise outdoor activities and this was a good example. Set in beautiful forest, there are separate areas for walking and running, horse riding and mountain biking. I had a fabulous cycle down the ‘Turkish Delight’ with lots of roots and rocks and steep descents. The bike and I held up well and I didn’t fall off. I was planning to leave the next day but the rain started and I’m glad I stayed because I made friends with Vera and Loz from the back packers and we had a good time at the night market where I met All Black Frano Botica. I also went along to the very traditionally British looking Rotorua museum and got another dose of Maori culture and local history and experienced what it is like to be in an earth quake. The next part of my trip was to Lake Taupo and I was getting itchy to get in my first long cycle.

South it is then!

22 March 2011
Rain and flooding in Northland caused me to do a quick change of plan. Instead of heading north to the Bay of Islands and Cape Renga I decided to go south to the smelly capital of NZ – Rotorua. Although the idea of staying in the sulphur laced air of Rotorua sounds off-putting it is well worth a visit. To get there I cycled into central Auckland again and went to the Inter-city bus station, next door to Sky City! I was feeling a bit nervous wondering if the bus driver would let me on and I got talking to the kiwi women waiting in the queue. People always want to know where you are from and when you say Scotland they tell you that they have a grandfather from there, usually somewhere in the Borders. This woman was a bit different.

“Where are you from?” she said

Near Edinburgh is my stock reply and if they have been there I usually follow up with, ‘I live east of Edinburgh in a place called Haddington.’

“I was born there,” she said

“Left when I was two and I’ve lived here ever since.”

If I had known as much about kiwi slang then as I do now I would have said ‘sweet as…’ but instead I acted as if these sorts of co-incidences happen all the time on the other side of the earth.

‘My mother is from East Linton, but I don’t think she’ll go back to visit, there’s no one left there now” she said.

The bus arrived and I palled up with the driver (this sometimes works and at other times it doesn’t.) On this occasion it worked and he let me on the bus without having to take any wheels off. When I thought about it I realised it was fair enough to have a rule about bikes because they go under the bus with the luggage and nobody wants a dirty bike on their backpack. But rules should be applied with some common sense and this bus driver had some, there was very little luggage so he didn’t apply the rule… he was a rarity! I found out later that he was also a bit strange. He applied the rule that ‘thou shalt not get on the bus if you have a ticket with the wrong time on it,’ to a young Indian lady and it was only after much pleading that he let her on. For the next half hour he talked to himself about passengers who tell you stories that aren’t true. Every now and again he looked over to me as if I would confirm what he was saying... whoops I should watch out who I should become friends with. When the trip was at least half over, he asked me where I was from and on learning I was a tourist he decided to give a running commentary on the sights as we passed them… not just to me but over the PA. He was keen on the horses and as luck would have it we were in a stud area, so we heard all about the owners of the studs and the horses that had been successful. Every now and again he mentioned a mountain or some other site which, he thought we might find interesting.

Rotorua - the lake and the hills around it are what remains of a volcanic cone

Entrance to Rotorua museum

We arrived at Rotorua and yes it was true the place smelt like slightly of rotting eggs but I liked the look of the town centre and I headed for the Funky Green Voyager backpackers on a bike which didn’t want to change gears again.









Funcky Green Voyager

Some photos from New Zealand

Sperm Whale Diving at Kaikoura

Kaikoura

Emerald Lakes at Tongariro Crossing

In the bush

Rotorua

1954 De Havellin - Otter

I am a lot happier with my bike. Yesterday I gave it a good going over and sorted the brakes and the gears. I also bought some Viking lube and she went like a baby. Had a really interesting ride down by Lake Rotorua and saw the thermals steaming out of the ground. In the afternoon went mountain biking in the Redwood forest and went hairing down the Turkish Delight trail. This was a single track with lots of jumps and tree roots... it was great and the bike dealt with it no bother.
Thermal at Orakei Korako

In the evening I went on one of those cultural thingys. This was at a Maori village and they took us on a walk through the rain forest and showed us some of their culture including a show of them in their traditional canoes and a re-enactment of a traditional village with singing, dancing and chants. Luckily, they didn´t take themselves too seriously and their were some good jokes. Then it was a éat as much as you can traditional meal.
I have to admit that when I was a kid i was a Biggles fan... still am in fact. So when I saw a float plane sitting on the lake I enquired further. The upshot being a trip from Rotorua lake over the volcanoes and moutains to a river landing and then a ferry to Orakei Korako thermal park with huge areas of steaming thermal vents and water. Also a lot of boiling mud. It is a very active thermal area which has experienced many volcanoes including a huge eruption in 1886 which vaporised a lake and covered three Maori villages! The flight was awesome with the pilot in full view using 1950ś equipment to get there and back.

Orakei Korako

Tomorrow it is back on the road to Lake Tapu.

Rotorua

Arrived in the thermal and hot spar centre of North Island today and thereś a slight niff of sulphur in the air. The original plan was to take the bus north to Brywryden and cycle a loop around to the Bay of Islands with a possible stop off for a jaunt up to Cape Reinga. It had been a bit frustrating up until today, because my bike didn´t arrive until the day after me and then it needed repairs and a good service. All the delays were to my benefit in the end because Northland and Coromandal have experience some heavy rainfall and are flooded. So a quick re-think and I decided to head south and I will keep going in that direction for the next wee while. It is all to the good, because it is Autumn here and the south will be getting colder. So if I do that first, I can come back up north and see the places I meant to see and it will still be warm up there.
I have to admit that Iḿ wondering if bringing the hybrid bike was a good idea. The back wheel is a bit dodgy and the back brake is a bit temperamental.  With the two panniers on and the back pack it is pretty heavy going up some of the big hills... so maybe i will try to avoid those ha ha. The other thing is that the small cog for going up the big hills is a bit ify too, but whose complaining.
Tomorrow should see me taking a dip in the hot muddy pools around here and taking in a bit of Maori culture. Apparently they cook food in a covered pit on top of hot stones... sounds good to me. Here are some photos of Auckland.