Electric Bikes, Wooden Clothes, and Free Avoocados . . .

We’ve planned 2 days and 3 nights in Tauranga (midway down the east coast of the North Island) with Maureen and Alan and arrive to find them test driving Maureen’s new electric bike.  Talk about a fabulous toy!  A 5-minute operating primer, the loan of a helmet, and Tim’s off.  It’s almost a half hour before he reappears and his eyes are shining:  ‘What a neat toy!  This thing goes over 30 miles an hour!’  Faster than Brownie at full gallop!  And it doesn’t require a twice-daily ration of hay and pellets!!  Definitely have to look into one (or two) of these when we get home. 

A bit of background . . . we've known Maureen for over 25 years, ever since she and her former husband, Robin, arrived in DC to work at the aviation systems company where I also worked.  The four of us became fast friends during their year in DC, and we spent a lovely time with them on our 1999 visit to NZ.  Tragically, Robin passed away suddenly, less than six months after that visit, leaving Maureen devastated.  It was inconceivable then that her life would ever bring her to this point - a long-term, loving relationship with a most delightful man, Alan.  They met in Auckland at a ballroom dance club; he is funny, joyful, outgoing, and great fun.  They're now together going on 12 years and have a tender, loving relationship.

When we were here in 2012, we caught up with them (never having met Alan!) just days before they were to move from their South Island home in Mapua up to Tauranga.  We cleverly arrived at the new place in time to help them unpack and assembled our own beds for our visit.  We had a good laugh over the fact that they have no memory of us visiting them in Tauranga!!

No matter, as we picked up where we left off and had a grand couple of days.  They are eager to take us on a 'tiki tour' and see some of the sights.   First stop, the most amazing woodcarver, ever!  We walk up to the door and are both taken with the most comfortable-looking leather armchair, complete with throw rug and newspaper draped on one arm.  It's all wood!!  Unfortunately, taking pictures is forbidden so I have to content myself with a photo of his postcard - doesn't begin to do his works justice.

Interestingly, he is a former policeman who was severely injured and pensioned out at quite a young age.  A chance encounter with a piece of driftwood while walking on a beach changed his life.  He carved it into a dolphin and thus was born of a new career . . . with spectacular results.  These are all made out of wood!!  Each piece is carved with such exquisite detail, you'd swear you could pick them up and put them on.

On to a dramatic gorge which is the site of all sorts of sunbathing and diving.  People seem to heed the sign on the bridge . . .

. . . only to jump from the rocks on the opposite side!!

We're quite content to photograph each other from the safety of the bridge deck . . .

We end our tiki tour with a visit to a local park with a Maori marae (meeting place) as its centerpiece as well as a grove of the biggest avocado trees we've ever seen.  They are laden with fruit, ripe for the picking by visitors . . . 

Thank you, Maureen and Alan, for a most wonderful visit (we'll all remember this one!!) - we do hope to see you in Tucson . . . we promise to scare up some electric bikes!!

The Sea of Maori Spirits . . . and Fabulous Fish and Chips

At the northernmost tip of  the North Island of NZ, the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean collide, creating a maelstrom of roiling waters, scientifically explained and described by oceanographers.   Maori legend says it is there that the spirits of the recently departed climbed to the top of a tree and hurled themselves into the water in order to rejoin their ancestors who came to NZ from the sea.  I much prefer the Maori legend.  This is Cape Reinga, our destination,

We could make it in a very long day’s drive from Don and Judy’s  (9-10 hrs. on winding two-lane roads) but decide to break it into a two-day journey.  By the end of the first day, we’ve landed in Hokuhoku in a sweet, motel reminiscent of communes and flower children.  Uncharacteristically, there is no kitchen gear in our room but we are invited to use the communal kitchen where several of the owners are preparing their dinner.   We're also invited to help ourselves to the milk in the fridge – fresh from their cows!

A quick diversion into NZ place names.  An overwhelming number of places on the North Island have Maori or Maori-influenced names and are frequently repetitive:  Kerikeri, Katikati, Wakawaka and are so similar as to be confusing at best:  Taurangi, Tauranga.  Place names in the South Island are a lot more Anglicized – Nelson, Christchurch, Blenheim, Canterbury.  Oddly, there are only a few places that reflect the ancestry of the first explorer and discoverer – Peter Tasman who was a Dutchman!  Hence, New Zealand and Auckland.

The last 100km or so up the Northlands peninsula to the Cape is a big surprise to us.  The west side of the peninsula shows on the map as ‘60-mile Beach’ and we expect something like the Eastern Shore of Maryland or the Outer Banks.  What we got was more sheep and cows!!   We could see 60 Mile Beach but not one highrise, not even a house on the beach – nothing to mar the pristine beauty of this landscape.  Early afternoon we are there – looking at the seas roiling with Maori spirits.

Yes, the seas are really that blue and the skies that clear!

Off we head to Mongenui a short drive off the peninsula and down the east coast (not to be confused with Mt. Manganui which is near Tauranga, not Taurangi) and what is reputed to be the best fish and chips in all NZ.   Find a badly-in-need-of-updating motel with a million dollar view and gorge ourselves on what we have to agree is superb fish and chips. 

Maybe it’s all those good vibes from the Maori spirits who rejoined their ancestors . . .

The Secret Life of Tim, the Beekeeper

About two thirds of the way down the west coast of the South Island is a large peninsula dominated by Mt. Taranaki.  On our last visit, we hiked in this primeval forest and learned that it has been overrun by possums.  Locals get a bounty for killing them.  There’s even a new fiber blended from merino sheep wool and possum fur called possereno.  I don’t remember why possums have taken over this gorgeous wilderness but having no natural enemies, have become an absolute menace.   They decimated native wildlife and birds (eating their eggs), ruined many native trees and, as a result, are thoroughly detested. 

Judy and Don’s home, in the shadow of Mt Taranaki, is a wonderland of flowers, vegetables, and fruit trees and not a possum in sight.  All of this is heaven for the bees that Don keeps and which he’s eager to attend to as soon as we come back from fishing.  

We’ve already sampled the honey from Don’s hives, and there are no words to describe how wonderful it is.  I slather it shamelessly on toast and muffins at every opportunity.  To satisfy my craving, Tim is more than willing to suit up and help out. 

Apparently, in our short absence, a great number of bees have congregated at the opening to one of the hives, a sign, according to Don, that another hive needs to be installed immediately to prevent a swarm.  Interestingly, there is no evidence of colony collapse syndrome in NZ, which we know has ravaged bee populations worldwide.  These bees are alive and well and producing heavenly honey.

Meanwhile, Judy and I do our hunter-gatherer routine (no special garb required) and harvest tomatoes, beans, beets, broccoli, and lettuce from their abundant garden.  It is nothing short of amazing how well everything grows here . . . this is the end of the season but most gardeners would kill for this yield.  

And the flowers . . .

Tonight is a dinner party and Judy and Don whip up a feast for 13, all friends whom they’ve known since childhood - and us.  We met many of them on our last trip and it’s lovely to catch up . . .

Tomorrow we’ll head up to their bach in Urenui, spend the night and take off for our adventure to the Northlands.   

Thank you so much, Judy and Don, for another memorable visit!

A Clean, Green Country That Works

How often have you read or heard someone say, ‘I’m going to chuck it all and move to New Zealand.’  An announcement frequently followed by:  ‘Where?  I’ve heard of it but I’m not sure I could find it on a map.’  Or the wag’s response:  ‘Don’t they have more sheep than people?’  (no, not Greece where the men are men and the sheep are nervous.)  And, yes, there are more sheep than people (way more) and based on our recent observations, the cows appear to be close to outnumbering the sheep, certainly in the North Island.

But back to why New Zealand has become a metaphor for where life is still idyllic.   It’s clean, it’s green, stuff works, the literacy rate is one of the highest in the world, the school system is good, the social safety net is robust, the military is a token item in the national budget, the middle class is big and thriving, the minimum wage is almost twice what it is in the US, immigrants are assimilated, and while gun ownership is high, gun violence is almost non-existent.  I could go on, and on but you get the idea.  This is one neat nation.

Sure they have their issues, it does sometimes feel a little ‘Nanny State-like’ and people are not happy with a lot that’s happened over the last 10 or so years, but we didn’t meet anyone, anywhere who said:  ‘I’m going to chuck it all and move to . . . ‘ 

This is our third visit in 16 years.  The first in 1999 to visit friends from Washington, DC (NZ natives), the second in 2012 when searching for a place to call home when a move from New Mexico was imminent, and now just cause we’re in the neighborhood.  When we returned home in 1999, we both wanted to pack up and move. (I threatened to move anywhere out of the US if George Bush was elected in 2000.)  When we returned home  after our 2012 visit, we both felt it was just too far from everything, and the only place in the whole country you could find free wi-fi was McDonald’s! 

And here we are in 2015 and I feel like we’ve almost come full circle.  We’re not quite ready to go home and plead our case as émigrés, but this is one terrific country.  

On our previous visits, we managed to cover most of the North Island and a good portion of the South Island, so this visit is short (two weeks).  We’re catching up with friends and ticking a few boxes of places we hadn’t already seen.  First stop, Lake Taupo where we’ll meet up with Judy and Don and do some fishing.  I met Don serendipitously in a parking lot in Silver City in 2007 while hustling memberships to our local arts council.  He and his wife Judy came back to the States and spent a week with us in 2008, and we spent a week with them during our 2012 visit. 

Don has been keen to introduce Tim to the joys of fishing, hence our first stop is Lake Taupo, a gorgeous volcanic lake a 4-hour drive south from Auckland.  

Once we arrive and settle into our comfy motel (all motels in NZ come fully kitted-out with kitchen gear including an electric kettle, egg cups, toast racks, as well as free wi-fi) It turns out that all four of us will be going fishing.   Richard, an old friend of Don and Judy’s, has generously invited us out on his fishing boat.  Off we go to Richard and Dale’s ‘bach’ where we meet the whole family and, in true NZ fashion, are warmly welcomed. 

‘Bach’ is short for bachelor place and harkens back to the days when single NZ guys had a place at the beach to do the stuff US guys do in their man caves except NZ guys did it with fishing poles.  Today a ‘bach’ refers to anyone’s beach or close-to-the-beach vacation digs, often handed down through generations and ranging from a tricked-out trailer to an Architectural Digest palace.  Everyone in NZ seems to have one, and they’re always near water.  Note:  wherever you are in NZ, it’s only 75 miles to some large body of water.

It would be wonderful to report that we were successful and caught something, but alas, we were not.  We did, however, have a perfectly beautiful day on the Lake, toodling around in Richard’s boat, exploring the coastline, marveling at the sapphire blue water, and watching the occasional fish wiggle across  the fish finder screen (I think they were grinning at us as they swam by.) 

Don, Co-First Mate, Captain Richard and Judy, Co-First Mate

We all agree Tim has the laidback makings of a first-rate fisherman.

I, on the other hand, may need some of Tim's relaxed demeanor to get this fishing thing right!

Meanwhile back at the bach, Dale, Richard’s wife, had been preparing a sumptuous dinner for 11, capped by a Pavlova that brought tears to my eyes it was so wonderful.  She graciously agreed to send me the recipe.   

Tomorrow we’re off to Hawera and Taranaki; where there are bees that need keeping at Judy and Don’s.

A Floral Wonderland

Just a short drive from bulavista are the Floral Tropical Gardens.   This has to be one of the best kept secrets on the whole island.  It is spectacular, wonderful, jaw-droppingly beautiful.  Home to over 400 species of palms from all over the world as well as countless cacti, orchids and some of the most spectacular trees we've ever seen, the Gardens were developed by a British horticulturist in the 1990's.  

It is another blisteringly hot, wickedly humid day, but inside the Gardens it's remarkably cool (well, almost!).

The dense foliage . . .

The spectacular view once we climb to the Garden vista . . .

What a perfect way to end our time in Fiji . . .

And after nearly three weeks, we're even better friends than when we started . . . thank you Deb and Paul for enriching our lives and a special thanks to Paul for the 'three fives' almost a year ago in Udaipur, Rajasthan.

We'll see you in Melbourne in February and Tucson in Spring,  2016!!