It's Chinese New Year!

All three grandkids were with us for a Sunday night sleepover, and since Monday and Tuesday are national holidays for Chinese New Year, we took the two girls down to The Pavilion on Monday morning to see all the seasonal decorations -- and also the U.N.-inspired "Buddy Bears" display (decorated polar bear statues from 144 countries) that were positioned just outside the main entrance to The Pavilion on Jalan Bukit Bintang.
The girls posed for pictures beside many of the polar bears, and Gabi had her sketch pad and also spent time sketching -- with the idea of adding color when she got home. The "bear" pictured to the right is obviously the one representing the U.S.A.

After spending lots of time viewing the polar bears, the four of us had lunch at TGIFriday's (Reeve had asked to be dropped off at home before we drove downtown.). - rw

Auckland -- the last "port of call"

January 3rd was our last long car trip -- from Kaitaia to Auckland on NZ Hwy. 1. Driving into the city (where we had a B&B booked out by the airport) we decided to drive-and-hike to the top of One Tree Hill that affords some spectacular 360-degree views of the city. The hill has "a history" to it! There was a sacred tree (to the Maori people) which was chopped-down by English settlers in 1852. To replace the "sacred tree" the Brits planted a Monterey pine that for many years was the "one tree" atop the hill. However, in about 2000 Maori activists chopped-down that tree so that today no tree stands on the hill -- only a monument to the Maori people which was dictated by John Logan Campbell who eventually gifted the land to the city. From the top of the hill there's a great view of downtown Auckland.At the base of the giant monument is a statue of a Maori fighter.

We are two nights in a B&B near the airport, so tomorrow (1/4) we plan to take a bus into town and spend the day exploring the central business district and also taking a ferry across the harbor. Then, early on the 5th we will be at the airport for a JetStar flight back to Christchurch -- to connect with our Air Asia flight to KL. - rw

The Farthest Point North!

One of our last major “New Zealand adventures” – aside from doing some exploring in Auckland – was the drive from our B&B in Kaitaia up to the northernmost point in the North Island at Cape Reinga. (The picture above was taken at the Cape and shows the whitecaps where the Tasman Sea (left/west) meets the Pacific Ocean (right/east). There were a host of tourists that made the trip to the Cape Reinga Lighthouse; one of them was kind enough to snap a photo of the both of us.

In Maori tradition Cape Reinga is a very sacred place, especially with the belief that after death the souls of the departed come to the cape and slide down the roots of the tree (barely visible in the picture of the rocky outcropping) as the first step in the journey to their ancestral homeland. When we first arrived at the Cape in late morning it was cloudy and overcast. However, after driving to an east coast beach just a few miles away, the sun came out in all its splendor so we returned to the Cape for more pictures!

Driving back toward our B&B we took a short drive off the main highway to reach the giant sand dunes where we saw lots of kids sliding down steep slopes in rented toboggans. The place where we parked our car next to the dunes is the north terminus of the drive on the “90 Mile Beach” (actually about 90 km.) which is taken by a bunch of tour busses and many individuals with suitable vehicles. (Rental cars like ours are prohibited on the beach.) Our other stop (Ron pictured) was at Rarawa Beach, famous for its silica white sand. We were there nearly at low tide and saw quite a number of cars that had driven down on the beach on the sand that had been packed solid by the receding tide. All in all, we were glad we included “the Far North” in our itinerary. - rw

Dolphins - What fun!

The highlight of the Bay of Islands cruise was dolphin viewing. We saw quite a show. This post is especially for two granddaughters who often swim as dolphins in our condo pool. - G'pa & G'ma

Bay of Islands Cruise

January 1, 2012 turned out to be a "fine" day so we took a cruise and enjoyed the great sights of the bay - including the Hole in the Rock.

Cruise ships regularly come into port at Paihia.

Russell Island

We took the ferry in the Bay of Islands to Russell Island which was settled in 1843 and very soon developed a reputation as "the Hell Hole of the Pacific" due to the riotous living of whalers, escaped convicts and sailors-come-ashore. The oldest church in New Zealand, however, is on the island. Today Russell Island has a quaint village and a charming atmosphere.


We celebrated the beginning of 2012 twenty-one hours before the west coast of the US. There were fireworks over the Bay of Islands that we saw from the deck of our lovely B&B in Paihia. - R&N

Exploring the Bay of Islands

The first day at the Bay of Islands was a bit rainy so we visited normal tourist places. The Stone Store in Kerikeri is the oldest stone building in New Zealand. One thing very interesting about the store was that there were many 19th century items for sale like cast iron cooking pots and old-fashioned farm implements.

We stopped at Haruru Falls that was at high volume due to very heavy rain which also contributed to the brown water!

The Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 is considered the birth of the nation. It was a treaty negotiated over several days between Maori chiefs and representatives of the British Crown. The Treaty grounds included a museum, bay views, and a Maori meetinghouse with beautiful carvings. - R&N