The Wizard In The Middle Of Nowhere

Today Dad and I went to the Matakana Farmers' Market. It wasn't nearly as big as the one back home, but it was still quite nice.

I can't say I've ever seen beer for sale at the market back home.

We came away with two beers, one apple cider, and a canvas bag.

We poked around Matakana for a bit. I learned that the reason I haven't found a thrift store in New Zealand is because they are not called thrift stores. If ever you find yourself in New Zealand, look for the opportunity shops. I found a cute little dish for my bar soap.

We were rather hungry after seeing the farmers' market, but the cafes were all full (and a bit overpriced) in Matakana, so we continued on to Leigh.

We had a nice mocha, chocolate cake, and sandwich at the Swell Cafe.

We weren't ready to be done with our adventure, so we carried on. The road we ended up on seemed quite narrow. That was until we saw a sign that said, "Narrow Road Ahead." Dad said, "I though that this WAS narrow."

I spotted a sign that said Pakiri Beach, so we headed down bumpy road until we found this.

I don't think I've ever been on such a large, almost completely deserted beach. It went on forever.

The adventure was nearing a close. We were still in the middle of nowhere. And I do mean nowhere, when I saw this guy. Seems that a farmer had a good sense of humor, and perhaps a little too much time on his hands.

Lemon & Paeroa

After the Agrodome, I managed to convince Dad to swing by Tauranga on the way back to Auckland. Only an hour out of our way. I, of course, found a yarn shop. I ended up buying roving.

We then had a nice lunch by Mount Maunganui. When I was a child, we would stay in a lodge for a week right by the mount.

Lunch was lovely and I had a bit of chocolate cake as well. But you had to keep an eye on your food. Otherwise the little birds would be all over you.

After lunch I convinced Dad that we should walk around the mount for old time sake. It took less than an hour.

Plus the view of the sea is unrivaled.

After we left Tauranga, we drive for an hour and a half before stopping in Paeroa. I was unaware that Paeroa was well known for a soft drink, which I sampled next to the large bottle statue. The tagline on the bottle is excellent. It says, "World Famous in New Zealand."

Paeroa is also home to the scariest loo ever. When you go into the bathroom, this voice says, "The door is locked." Then some muzak is piped in. I got a round of "What the World Needs Now is Love Sweet Love." It was a little worried that the voice would start sounding like HAL and tell me I was locked in forever. No toilet needs to have that much technology.

The scenery on the way back was quite lovely. I don't think I'd care to leave.

Agrodome

We went to the Agrodome, which is in Rotorua, to see the sheep show. There are 19 rams presented in the show. The top ram was a Merino. He didn't seem to have much of a problem with the dog on top of it.

I hadn't seen the sheep show since I was was shorter than the sheep. I recall them frightening me. Not so much this time, although this fine looking fellow, a Border Leicester, was a bit more interested in the puff ball on top of my hat than I cared for.

It is lambing season in New Zealand right now. I got to feed the lambies. The ones who weren't getting the bottle sucked on my fingers. It tickled.

Across the parking lot from the sheep show was this gem.

With my favorite thing inside. Yarn.

I came away with a bit.

They had a 104 year old card on the inside, which is still in use. It seemed a bit longer than the ones we have at the Yolo Wool Mill. This card was made in England.

They also had a lovely collection of spinning wheels.

My favorite one was this. It was fashioned out of bits and bobs during the war, which I'm assuming was WWII.

I also found this lovely collection of signs in shearing shed. I already knew wool was excellent, but it was wonderful to learn why.

Tewhakarewarewatangaoteopetauaawahiao

On our way down to Rotorua, we stopped in Tirau, which has many corrugated metal sculptures. The dog's tongue was made of cloth, so it waved in the wind.

Each business seemed to have some sort of sculpture near it.

When we reached Rotorua, we headed over to Whakarewarewa. There is a village where the native Maori live on thermal activity. There was a nice young man working out front. After chatting with him for a bit, he told us that when he was serving over in Afghanistan, one of his friends was asked by Americans what a kiwi was. The friend told them it was a twelve foot tall bird that was feared in New Zealand and it ate dogs. The Americans believed him.

Tewhakarewarewatangaoteopetauaawahiao means "the gathering place for the war parties of Wahiao." Wahiao was a Maori chief. It was quite fascinating to see how the Maori used the thermal activity for cooking and bathing.

All over the village were small carvings. We were told that the carvings were not gods. They were more like guardians.

If you pat one on the shoulder, it guards you while you are in New Zealand.

After leaving the village, Dad and I walked around Lake Rotorua. There is a fair bit of thermal activity there as well. It smells like an egg has gone off. I told Dad that it was the only city where he couldn't get in trouble for the smell.


In the evening, I found a fish and chips shop. Dad reckoned it must be good since they wrapped the food up in newspaper, which is traditional.

I managed to locate a local beer in the nearby supermarket. It was quite good.

Cup Or Bowl Size?

We went to Devonport. It is right across the bay from Auckland.

We stopped by several used bookstores.

I love looking at used bookstores in New Zealand. You can always find amazing books for very little money.

I left with these three books for under $10 American total!

After browsing the bookstores, we stopped by a cafe. I remarked that this little bird was a bit higher on the evolutionary chain. It waited until people left their pastries before gorging itself.

Another lovely mocha. They asked us if we wanted cup size or bowl size. We asked for cup.

Chocolate cake.


Yum!

Beervana

Good-bye Wellington. I'll miss the regular cafe visits we had with Chris. Note the lovely hat Chris has. I made it in a night, special for him.

Hello Auckland. We are staying at a bed and breakfast. They have a moggy (cat) named Honey. She is as nice as she looks. Her favorite activity is slashing people and sitting in front of the heater.

We went out for a bit of shopping. Crisps (potato chips) were at the top of my list.

I also talked Dad into paying for some beer. So far we've had the Pirate beer (pretty good) and the Moa beer (also pretty good). Dad didn't like the Moa beer as much. He said it was too light. I prefer a beer that doesn't make you feel like you've eaten a loaf of bread after a sip.

Mmmm. Beervana.

Spotted Kiwi Spotting

The Tui is a native New Zealand bird. It has become much more common in Wellington since the last time I had visited. Chris said that this one was an older one. You can tell by the white feathers on the back of it's head.

While Dad was doing boring computer things, Chris and I went out for a bit of shopping. Chris treated me to a neat cookbook after hearing how poor a cook I am. (Although, I did make scrambled eggs in the morning, and it went well) I don't think I can mess up four ingredients as badly as some other meals.

Later on we visited the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary, which is now known as Zealandia. We got permission to come later at night to do a tour. But before we left, we had a lovely lunch.

Chris always has a knack for finding the coffee shop.

In the afternoon we visited downtown Wellington. There was some spiffy street art. I visited the yarn shop, which was very well tucked away.

Here is an abbreviated picture of the purchase. I have a sweater's worth of the Tui yarn and another ball of the Kauri yarn. Both have possum in them. There is another bit of lace yarn, but I think I left it in Chris' car.

We went back to Zealandia and tramped about in the bush for two and a half hours before finally locating a certain special little guy. We saw a spotted kiwi in the wild! When we found him, he looked as surprised to see us as we did to see him. They are much bigger than I imagined. Dad called them a giant football with feathers.

I didn't have my camera with me, so I found this picture. It is linked if you click on it.