It was time to move on from Auckland and my next port of call was to visit some old (as in I've known them for over ten years) friends Raj, Gloria and their children Annabelle and Joshua. I knew the Barards from my old church in Congleton and they moved out to New Zealand a couple of years ago. They live in Tokoroa which is pretty much in the middle of the North Island. I knew that I could catch the bus there, or take the train to Rotura from where I hoped to be able to get a connecting bus. Good plan eh?
The train journey was fine although the state of the track was terrible, even compared to Railtrack's standards in the uk, but this was more than compensated by the nice fake sheepskin seat covers in the little two carriage chug-a-boom train. They have a nifty device where all the seats can be turned around ensuring that nobody has to travel backwards - nice!
There is a travelling commentary for most of the journey pointing out things of interest and dramatising battles which were fought over the land. This helped me to realise that we'd actually arrived in Rotura, even though the station consisted of a piddly hut and not much else. The 'station' is on the edge of town and I didn't have enough money to get the cab in, so I shouldered up my rucksack for a little walk. Due to the huge amount of volcanic action nearby with hot springs and mud pools, there is a delightful sulphuric smell about the place which has to be sniffed to be believed. Rotten eggs.
I was then approached by a woman who asked me if I was John, to which I replied in the negative. She was due to pick this chap up and he wasn't there, so she kindly offered to drop me off in the centre of town. At the info centre I asked if there was a bus to Tokoroa. After a few minutes of hysterical laughing, the woman manning the desk said "No.". This kind of put a spanner in my works. It seems that the public transport only stretches to the edge of town and the Inter-city buses didn't do that route, so unless I headed down to Taupo or back up to Hamilton, at an extortionate rate, I was stuck.
So, I gave Gloria a call and she offered to come and pick me up, hooray! I spent the rest of the afternoon visiting the Rotura museum which had a most entertaining film on the nearby volcanic eruptions. I was rather disturbed by the old section of the musem which was where the old baths and treatment rooms were. There is something that spooks me out about early 20th century cures, the electrodes in the bath and things like that. Hence didn't stay there too long before going to the old Blue Baths. These used to be the main hot swimming pools in Rotura before being closed when the money ran out. This spooked me out a bit as well, it was really eerie. Fortunately it was then time to meet Gloria.
The Barards live in one of the houses at the school where Raj works. It's quite old for a New Zealand house, with no heating apart from a brilliant log fire in the lounge. So at night time I was so cold! I'll be better prepared the next time! We spent ages catching up on all that had been happening over the past two and half years, it was fantastic.
Lazy day today, catching up on email, updating this web page and chillin' (quite literally at times!).
Today was a day of planning, trying to fix some things on Raj and Gloria's PC and going into the town centre. So, nothing really exciting to report if I'm honest� wait until tomorrow!
The main plan for today was to head across to Rotorua to do some exciting stuff. First on the agenda was the Luge. This wasn't your typical alpine luge, but instead it was like sitting on a tea tray but with handle bars. Move the bars forward to speed up and backwards to slow down. This was fantastic!
You take a cable car halfway up a hill, sit in the luge on either the scenic track (bit boring but a good way to start) or the advanced track (seriously mad). I did do the scenic track first for completeness and it was quite pleasant. The advanced track though was brilliant. Lots of banked turns, blind bends and one place where you can seriously take off, wahey! This has gone straight to number one on the NZ excitement chart for me.
I had five goes on the luge before it was time to hop in the car with Gloria and head towards Rotorua airfield. Was something else going to knock the luge of the excitement chart? On the way to the airport I spotted a Mini for sale and wondered whether it would be worth buying instead of renting a car or using the bus. Well, it might have been if it had the Warranty of Fitness (MOT) and some rubber on it's tyres. As it was it was due the scrapper. Shame.
Rotorua airport, the sun is shining, a few clouds in the sky. From a hangar at the edge of the airport appears a World War II Bi-plane, built in 1943 and it is coming out to play, just for me!
I've always wanted to have a fly in a bi-plane, I guess it's from reading too much Biggles in World War I stories when I was younger, but the urge has never gone away. Ok, this was from the Second World War, but it was probably going to be a lot safer than a Sopwith Camel, especially as the pilot had a few tricks up his sleeves.
Gloria and I tootled out to the hangar and had a look at this dinky plane, I met the pilot and he gave me a few instructions, thumbs up to carry on, thumbs down to stop! That was about it really, I climbed in, put on the four point harness, an old flying helmet complete with goggles. All I needed really was a scarf, but that would have got in the way of the pilot sitting behind me.
I was so excited as we sat in the plane waiting for the oil to warm up. It was such a beautiful day and as we sat there a load of skydivers landed along side us and I knew that I'd rather go up in the old kite, than jump out of a plane with a parachute. Then I heard the control tower give us the ok over the headphones.
We shot off down the grass runway, bumping around and then with a lurch we were airbourne. Wow, exhilaration or what! We climbed gently over the city, the plane bobbling up and down as it caught little air pockets. We headed right, over the lakes which surround the dormant volcano Mount Tarawera. It was to the volcano that we were heading and as we climbed it loomed in front of us. It last erupted in 1886 and all around Rotura you find museums and displays related to the events as villages were wiped out and the famous Pink and White Terraces were destroyed.
We flew over the edge of the crater and banked steeply to see a whole line of craters which have split the top of the mountain like a giant one slice toaster. I could hardly imagine how violent the explosions must have been to split the mountain but it was awe inspiring to see from above.
Out next destination was to circle lazily over Lake Tarawera where the pilot asked me if I was ready for some aerobatics. You bet I was!
First of all we did a barrel roll which amazed me as I didn't expect so much g-force and the 'jimmy-tickler' feeling which you get in your stomach.
Next we went for a loop the loop - he pointed the nose of the plane down towards the lake to build up speed and I could see the speedo zooming round to 120 knots. Then he pulled back on the stick and up and over we went. The horizon appeared upside down, followed by the amazing blue lake and then back to normal flight.
It took a few minutes to climb back up to 3500 feet and it was a good chance for me to get my breath back, it was incredible. Next on the menu was a stall turn where the pilot pulled back until we were flying vertically up. The plane just can't cope, stalls and freefalls back towards the lake. That was a serious jimmy-tickler.
I think the next one was the scariest as we were going to drop in to a spin. The pilot pulled back on the throttle and all went quiet as the propeller just idled. The nose started dropping and then we were spinning vertically down towards the lake, the wind roaring in the wing struts. When it seemed to be too late, the pilot throttled up and pulled the nose back. Crikey, that was the business!
Just time for one more loop the loop before we flew back to Rotorua which was an amazing opportunity to see the city from the air. Sad alert - I did spot where the old railway line used to go into the centre of the city rather than it's current crummy station, why did they move it out of the centre?! End of sad alert. We flew over some smelly thermal pools and could see the amazing colours from above reflected in the sunshine before landing very gently back on the grass runway.
That was one of the most amazing things I have ever done. Incredible.
It would have been enough for me that day, but then we went for lunch at Lake Tarawera and it seemed strange to think that I'd been looping the loop over the lake an hour earlier. It seemed so tranquil at lunch time, although the old volcano broods over the lake, giving it an eerie feel. Although the one legged duck which was after my sandwiches didn't help either.
Following lunch, it was back to Rotorua to check out St Faith's church on the edge of Lake Rotorua which has some amazing Maori carvings inside. Then back to Tokoroa for some food and to watch Raj beat his son Josh at Subbuteo (not quite as inspiring).
Tomorrow, Taupo for the weekend.
Today we had a cunning plan, whilst the children played footy and netball in the morning, Raj and I would head down to Taupo and leave Gloria and the kids to get a lift off a friend later on in the day. Taupo is about an hour and a half from Tokoroa and is a town on the edge of a huge lake, about 30 miles long. This lake is the crater lake from a volcano which erupted around 2000 years ago. The eruption was so huge that the Romans and the Chinese recorded strange disturbances in the sky.
First point of call for Raj and I was the hidden valley of Orakei Korako. This had been recommended to me by James, Ruth, Mark and Jennie so their reputation was on the line as we drove down deserted roads to the shore of a huge reservoir. Across a narrow section were these weird terraces formed by deposits from hot water springs. We crossed the water on a little boat and were dropped off on a jetty with a little map of where we were to go.
Steaming hot water flowed across the terraces into the reservoir and we climbed along side to see some amazing sites (and sights). The Diamond Geyser blew it�s top for us, we saw lots of mud pools, the Elephant Rock and a huge cave with a warm and very clear pool at the bottom. This pool was no ordinary pool, oh no, one could clean one�s jewellery in there by dunking it in. As the only jewellery I had was my three eye-brow piercings, which I had done in Auckland, I decided not to dunk my head in. Actually, that last bit was a joke, there are only two piercings. Actually, that last bit was a joke too. I have no piercings, honest!
After we finished here, we decided to have lunch at a nearby picnic bench. We�d made some sarnies and we had a flask for a nice cup of tea so we were all set up when it started to rain. Great. So, back into the car, wind the windows down for an old time family picnic environment. Except for the birds�
I remember seeing the Alfred Hitchcock film � �The Birds� when I was younger and even though the special effects were a bit wonky, it still scared me. Well, we could have been in one of the scenes from that film. Birds flocked around us, trying to get in the car and sitting on the windscreen. This wasn�t too bad until Raj thought it would be funny to spray the birds on the windscreen with the washer jet. This was funny, until the birds ganged up on each side of the car and gave us both dodgy looks. I thought that Orakei Korako might have been the end of the road, but fortunately they didn�t attack. This time�
Next stop was a place which I had read about in my guide book. A set of river rapids which had been dried out by the building of a hyrdo-electric scheme which diverted the water down a big pipe. Every day though there are a number of times when they let water through the rapids and you can see the trickly stream change into a raging torrent and back again. We ran to one of the vantage points as we heard the siren go off which heralded the onslaught of water. What a spectacular sight as the water rushed down and created huge whirlpools and rapids. We wandered back to the car and had a cup of tea as we waited for the water to stop coming through and for the water to die down again. Next stop was the Huka Falls.
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The Huka Falls were quite impressive, a narrow channel of water which bursts out into a large pool with a lot of force. We did not stop long there as we had an appointment with the Clangers, well, we were going to the Craters of the Moon and I thought we might see the Soup Dragon if nothing else.
The Craters of the Moon area was just a little steam hole place until they opened the nearby Geo-Thermal power station where they take hot steam out of the ground (600 metres actually) and use it to power steam turbines and create electricity. As they had changed the underground thermal system, a new geo-thermal area started up, the Craters. You walk around this large area on duck boards, creeping up to the edge of huge craters with steam rising eeirely in to the air. Out of some of the craters, one can hear strange gulping, belching and wooshing noises as if the very earth beneath our feet was paying the price for a wicked Jalfreizi Chicken from the local Tandoori. No soup dragon though.
From there we drove into Taupo which is a nice town on the edge of the lake. Nigel and Rhian�s house, where we were staying would have had a cool view of the distant mountains, but it was a bit cloudy, shame. Raj and I then noticed that we had left our teabags from our lunchtime brew on the back bumper of the car and they were still there. How long would they last before falling off? We decided to leave them to it! We then had some fish and chips in for dinner which were absolutely delicious! Then, watched the All Blacks beat Argentina in the rugby before retiring for the evening.
Before breakfast we all headed down a winding road into a steep sided valley in Taupo where there are some thermal hot baths. There is nothing like a hot water swim before breakfast on a Sunday morning, even the rain could not damp our spirits. I did feel a little weird though, but I think that was lack of food and tea!
Back to Nige and Rhian�s house for some breakfast, then a quick lunchtime kick around in the local park. I had zero energy and consequently was very rubbish, missing several open goals and even the ball on occasion. For lunch we had Pumpkin soup which was extremely tasty and I secretly wondered if Rhian actually got the recipe from the Soup Dragon. We hatched a plan to go out on the lake in Nige�s boat for the afternoon, but the weather then turned a bit nasty.
All the time I was in Taupo, I knew that there was a nearby bungy jump over the River Waikato. I tried to ignore it, but it kept on coming back to me, that if I did want to do a bungy jump, then it would be better to do it with some friends watching! So, on the way home we stopped to have a look. It was so high! The river seemed a long way below and at that point the river is surrounded by huge cliffs and there is a cantilevered platform from which one can, if one dare, jump.
I decided to go for it, so I was weighed, so they knew which bungy rope to use, and then I walked out to the platform where they strapped the bungee to my ankles in a special harness thing. By this point, the sun was setting lighting up the cliffs in glorious light. As I stepped to the edge of the platform and looked 47 metres down to the river. I said �I don�t think I can do this� to which the operator alongside said, �Yes you can, I will count to three and then I want you just to lean forward�. I don�t think I�ve ever been so scared in all my life. She counted to three and over the edge I went.
As I fell head first towards the river, my brain was saying you�re not attached to anything and you are going to smash in to that water below. My top was around my armpits. My heart was in my mouth and at the same time my mouth was shouting �Arggghhh� at the top of my voice! It didn�t seem like I was attached to anything until the bungy rope started to taughten and then stretch to take my weight. I slowed as I approached the water and suddenly flew upwards again.
�Phew� I thought, �that�s the worst over.�. But it wasn�t as I bounced up almost to the level of the platform and the realisation dawned that I had the huge drop to do again! Once again I shouted my head off and bounced a few more times before I spotted the boat below me, ready to winch me in. �Hello� I called as I bounced down and back up. The next time, they held out a pole for me to catch and I was able to get down to the boat and get un-hitched.
The adrenaline was rushing and I could hardly believe I did it. Watching the video afterwards brings it all home as you can see at the top that I was very close to bottling it. Then as I fell, I do make the most awful sound as I rush towards the water, forgetting that I�m attached to a huge rubber band which is going to stop me just in time. I don�t know what else to say about it, except to say it was an incredible experience which I�m glad I did. I think I enjoyed the bi-plane more though!
Ok, enough adventure for today. Bit of quieter day tomorrow I think!