Day 10 - Friday
From Hobbiton, we had a straight run down to Taupo for the biggest excitement of our trip so far.
Lottie & Hellene, best friends since they were 8 and now living half a world apart were to be reunited for the first time in 18 months.
An hour away from Taupo, Lottie (still doing all the driving, bless her) says "Text Hellie to let her know where we are". I did as I was instructed and got an immediate response "EEEEEEEEKKKKK".
The mapping app on my phone has been surprisingly accurate with it's estimated arrival times, so I was able to let Hellie know that we would be there at 5.45.
At 5.44 she rang...... "Where are you", "Just about to turn into your road" I replied. "Are you in a big Maroon car? - "yep that would be Bertha" - "I can see you!!!!!!!"
Massive hugs all round as we were re-introduced to Jamie her gorgeous little boy. Of course he didn't remember us as he was only a baby the last time we saw him. We also met Zippy the cat, who clearly thinks he's a dog, because he is, by far, the most loving friendly playful cat I've ever encountered.
After some serious catching up and some pizza, Hellie took us for a quick spin down to the lake at dusk, where we found, fantastic views, (so far we haven't seen anything in the country that could be described as ordinary) some Black swans and a hot stream running into the lake. Lottie and Jamie had a quick paddle in the stream - Lottie confirmed it was hot and then it was back to their lovely house for an early night.
Day 11 - Saturday
There is a ton of great stuff to do in and around the Taupo area, so over breakfast we made some decisions.
Hellie had a voucher for the "Extreme Swing" and generously offered it to Lottie (Her actual words were "there is no way in a million years you would get me on that thing”) who said she would have to look at it first, before agreeing to anything
We also decided that our week should include:- the Prawn Park, Paddle Boarding, the Huka Falls Jet, some Hot Springs, something Maori related, the Caves at Waitoma and of course the Extreme Swing + if Hellie got her way, a bungee as well.
Clearly there was no way anyone was getting me within 5 miles of anything with the word "Extreme" in it, but Lottie was up for the challenge - maybe!
Now when I say it was raining again, please don’t get the impression we were letting the weather get in the way of anything, but it does rain - a lot. So we decided to go shopping.
So far in our travels, we had managed to lose Lottie’s phone charger, The head strap for the GoPro, the wrist strap for the GoPro, one of my camera memory cards had gone flop-bot and decided to stop working and I was still on the hunt for a decent road map.
We got the charger, GoPro stuff and memory card all in one shop, so I was feeling quietly optimistic about finally getting my hands on a proper map book.
Hellie assured me the AA shop would have one, but as we drew up outside, it was very obviously closed. My heart sank and I had visions of finally finding a shop dedicated to road maps on our last day in New Zealand. “Is there a largish bookshop in town that we could try” I enquired.
There most certainly was, so it was back in the car, into another parking space that magically appeared in front of us, and into the bookshop. It was large, it sold books and actually had them divided into sections, so as I looked frantically around, I finally saw the sign……. Atlases and Maps. Not only did they have exactly what I was looking for, it came in different sizes - large and pocket.
I had a quick flick through, realised that I wouldn’t be able to read anything on the pocket sized one, grabbed the large one and almost ran to the till.
As the lovely, warm, helpful, smiley lady ran it through the scanner, she paused and said “oh”. Inside my head I was screaming - no - no - please don’t let this be a display copy or one that belongs to some random bloke that can’t be sold (see earlier post for the reference).
“Well”, she said, “All maps have got a 25% discount today - so that will be just $24”. I was filled with joy. I had my map and got money off, What more can you ask for?!
After lunch, we had a walk along by Huka Falls. It was still raining, but the waterfall would be stunning, whatever the weather. They’re not particularly high, but the setting is gorgeous and they seem to go on for ever. We saw one of the boats that carries people slowly up river to the bottom of the falls, but Hellie assured us that the Jet Boat (which travels at up to 85kms per hour) is much more fun and definitely worth doing.
The next thing on our list of “things we must do in Taupo” was to sit in some hot springs. We had come prepared with clothes we were happy to get wet in. Hellie had assured us that only tourists wear swimming costumes, so we dressed like the locals in shorts and teeshirts. Actually it was a good job, because those springs are hot - really hot, so we were grateful for the extra protection against 2nd degree burns.
There is something rather surreal about sitting in a boiling hot little stream, by a boiling hot little waterfall.
It looks like a normal stream, with trickling water making a pretty little tinkling sound. It has rocks and plants and is the water is crystal clear. The only clue to the temperature of the water is the steam coming off it and the fact that there are an assortment of people of all nationalities sitting in it.
We got changed and climbed in and it was lovely - bizarre - but lovely.
The main problem is that the temperature tends to vary depending on where you are sitting. You may find a section that is pleasantly warm, you get all comfy and then shift a millimetre to the left and you are sitting in water guaranteed to take your skin off.
Lottie and I both braved standing under the waterfall. It was very very hot, but all the other nationalities in our little bit of stream had done it, so we had to show people that we Brits are made of strong stuff.
Getting out was the worst bit, because it was getting late, getting chilly and had started to rain again.
There were far too many people about for me to attempt changing. Trying to get underwear on, under a not quite big enough towel whilst balancing on a muddy bank that is also on an incline would have been a recipe for disaster, so Lottie and I decided to run back to the car park and use “Changing Room Bertha” instead.
Back at home, we played an interesting and fun filled game of hide and seek with Jamie, before his bedtime.
Hellie cooked us a delicious meal and we had a lovely relaxing evening.
Day 12 - Sunday
Jeremy had the day free, so we were able to do some activities with the whole family.
The first thing on the agenda was the prawn park.
Now I haven’t eaten meat for 11 months, but when I did, I tried very hard not to think about the transition from living breathing animal to what was on my plate. At some point, I fully intend to give up fish and seafood as well, but until Spain catches up with the rest of the world and starts to get a clue about vegetarianism, I still eat a limited amount of fish.
So when I found out that a trip to the prawn park actually involved fishing for prawns, I found myself with a bit of a dilemma. I certainly didn’t want to be a spoilsport, (or a hypocrite because I do eat them and they are yummy) but I wasn’t sure how I would feel if I actually caught one.
So I kept myself amused, watching the others, putting little bits of bait on the end of their fishing line and waiting patiently for the prawns to bite. I needn’t have worried, the prawns are clearly old hands at this and have mastered the art of stealing the bait, without getting hooked.
After an hour or two of fishing (I had gone to the cafe for a lovely coffee, sat on hot bench with my feet in a hot spa and watched the Huka Falls Jet hurtling up and down the river) everyone decided enough was enough and returned their rods and empty buckets.
Next on the agenda was paddle boarding on the lake.
Now I’ve seen pictures of slim young things gliding across the water on paddle boards, (standing on something like a surfboard with a paddle) making it look ridiculously easy - but I wasn’t convinced.
As I’ve got older, I have developed a tendency to fall over, on dry land, without any apparent tripping hazard, so felt that the chances of me staying upright on something that tippy were practically zero. I offered to be the official photographer instead.
Apparently, the optimum conditions for this activity are calm still water and no wind, so it was a bit of a worry when we got to the lake to find very choppy water and a nice stiff breeze blowing. Undaunted, the girls got suited up (wet suits again) and got some instruction and safety tips from the rental guy. He was very specific about where they should and shouldn’t paddle, talked a bit about technique and stressed how to stay safe.
The girls set off - kneeling at first, I started taking photos and the rental guy headed up the beach.
He reappeared a few minutes later, running and shouting at them to come back as he waved the lifejackets they should be wearing in the air.
Once the girls were all sorted on the "essential safety gear" front, they slowly climbed back on to the boards and started to paddle out into the Lake.
Actually to call it a lake is a bit of a misnomer, it’s actually a caldera (the middle of a volcano) and it is enormous and by all accounts very very deep. Anyway today, it was choppiness personified and it was clear that they needed to head over to a small bay area that was slightly calmer, if they were going to get up off their knees.
Jeremy, Jamie and I stood there watching, cameras at the ready, for the big moment.
Hellie, who was quite an old hand at this, got up first and paddled around a bit, but experienced as she was, she didn’t look very comfortable. Lottie managed to get up soon after. This involved holding on to each side of the board, still clutching the paddle and doing a little bunny hop to a crouch position. Then using the paddle to balance - stand up. I would imagine on a nice calm day, this could be accomplished relatively easily, but with little waves hitting the board from every direction - not so much.
So there was at least a full minute when both girls were upright and paddling, until Lottie fell off.
Sadly there were no convenient hot springs gushing into the lake in that particular area and as she so delicately put it later “The water was F***ing freezing”.
After that, the girls decided that this particular activity fell into the “not fun” category and paddled back to shore.
The rental guy, was a smiley, helpful, friendly sort of a bloke (even if he did forget their life jackets) and offered them a Kayak instead.
Little Jamie thought he would like to go out with mummy and Lottie, so the rental guy ran back to get a mini life jacket, so that he could join the team. Once he was kitted out and seated in the middle of the boat, the girls began paddling out.
After about 4 waves had caught them sideways, the little lad decided this was “not fun” and screamed to go back to shore. Frankly I didn’t blame him one bit, not least because the sun had gone in and the cold wind had made the temperature plummet. So back they came again, so that he could be unloaded and have a lovely time playing on the beach with his Daddy.
By the time the girls had paddled out, along a bit, back a bit and returned to shore, their lips were Blue and neither of them could feel their hands or feet.
It was a shame about the weather and the whole falling off the paddle board into icy waters incident, but at least Lottie can say she had paddled on Lake Taupo.
We headed home, had dinner and I tried to catch up with my blogging, whilst the others watched a film, before bedtime.
Sunday night/Monday morning
Just after midnight on Monday morning, I was thinking about going to bed and was heading down the hallway to the bathroom, when I felt very strange. It was impossible to walk straight and the whole house felt like it was rolling from side to side - a bit like being on a boat in a storm. I just thought I must have had one too many glasses of wine, until I heard the loud rumbling sound.
I went into our bedroom, where Lottie was sitting bolt upright in bed. “Can you feel that mum - the house is moving”, “What is that?” I replied. Neither of us had any idea what was going on, until Hellene popped her head round the door “Did you feel that - it was an earthquake, lets go and check it out”.
We all headed back to the lounge, where Hellie introduced us to the web site GeoNet. Actually, this is one web site I would rather have not known about, because it tracks and records earthquakes all across New Zealand. It tells you the magnitude, the depth and location and to our horror, we realised that there are earthquakes happening literally every few minutes throughout the country. Admittedly most of them are below a 4 on the scale and so pass unnoticed, but the one we had just felt was a biggy.
7.4 on the scale, just north of Christchurch - over 600kms away.
We were stunned - if we had felt it that strongly right up in Taupo, what on earth must it have been like for the people who were right there.
I started checking the news websites and the BBC were on it almost immediately, but there was no news about the damage or casualties at that stage.
After a while, Hellie went back to bed (she had to work the next day), but Lottie and I continued to stare at GeoNet with morbid fascination as we saw the huge aftershocks that followed, appear one after the other.
You would think that living in such an unstable country, would make the New Zealand people a grumpy, miserable bunch - but if you’ve been following my blog or have been there yourself, you will know that they are quite the opposite.
So perhaps the realisation that your whole world could fall apart at any moment, makes you appreciate and make the best of every day.
Day 13 - Monday
We woke up to news of the earthquake, everywhere. On the television, the radio and all over the internet. As the story unfolded, it was becoming increasingly clear, that the first part of
our itinerary for the South Island, was going to need a major overhaul as we were due to be driving through and staying in the worst hit areas.
However we decided to wait to see how the situation developed before making any major changes.
Meanwhile, I was getting a bit panicky about the weight of my luggage.
I had pushed it to the limit on the way out here and so far, had been unable to resist making the odd purchase or 20.
So having worked out roughly what my excess baggage charges were likely to be (and whether my credit card could cope), Hellie suggested we check out the cost of sending a big box of stuff I didn’t need back home.
If I ever come to New Zealand again, my packing list will look totally different - just a few pairs of jeans, loads of teeshirts and some warm & wet weather clothing.
With this in mind I reckoned I could jettison nearly half of the stuff I had brought and after popping into the post office to buy a big box, I worked out I could cram in up to 12.5kg of excess baggage.
After our trip to the post office and a rather delicious coffee with Hellie, where Lottie was introduced to the joys of Chai Latte (“Christmas in a cup” to quote Hellie) it was time for her to go to work and for Lottie and I to go on the Huka Falls Jet Boat.
Now earlier in the post I said that I wouldn’t be going anywhere near anything that had “Extreme” in it’s title or strap line. So when Hellie & Jeremy recommended it as a really great thing to do, we sort of took their word for it and didn’t really look into it that closely.
On arrival - it was hard to miss their advertising banners proudly stating that this was one of Taupo’s many “Extreme” activities.
Lottie (bless her) got all concerned for her Mumma. “Are you going to be ok doing this” she asked - fully aware that I have turned into a right old wuss.
“I’ll be fine”, I assured her - “it’s heights I don’t like. Anything water related is fine by me”.And it was fine. Just the best fun ever. We sped along the river at ridiculous speeds, did many 360 degree spins, almost missed branches, rocks and ducks and bounced through the wake of another boat, before arriving at the bottom of the waterfall
It was totally different from our previous waterfall experience (in the Kayak at Pahia). I didn’t get icy cold water down the back of my neck and we didn’t feel like we were going to get tipped out any second, but we did get a bit wet and had a really really really good time.
After our exhilarating ride we were in desperate need of a coffee. The super friendly helpful assistant in the Jet Boat office recommended a cafe down the road a bit.
As we were sat drinking our coffee and eating something yummy (can’t remember what sadly) we got chatting to one of New Zealand's finest.
In the 15 minutes we talked with this lady of mature years (about my age I reckon) we sorted out Global warming, cruelty to animals, Brexit, Trump and the whole corrupt political system across the world.
As we left the cafe with her good wishes for a safe and happy trip, ringing in our ears - I said to Lottie “If I lived in New Zealand, that woman would be one of my best friends”.
We still had a few hours to kill before Hellie would be back from work. So as we had spotted numerous delightful, enticing looking shops that morning, that we hadn’t had time to explore, we decided to put that right and head back into town.
On balance, I wish Hellie had suggested the whole send a big box back home thing later in the week, because with the full knowledge that I now had kilos to spare in my case, I could have very very very easily got carried away. Fortunately, my daughter has inherited at least one sensible gene from her father and quietly talked me down from some of the more extreme purchases I was determined to make.
Back at Hellie’s house with my modest, reserved, little purchases in my bag, we did another check on the Earthquake situation. It was clear by now that state highway 1 (which we were due to drive down in a few days) was completely closed and would probably be so for weeks if not months. Kaikoura, (where we had booked a 2 night stay in a yurt, a whale watching trip and kayaking to a seal colony) was completely closed off. Nothing was getting in or out unless it was by boat or helicopter, so I spent most of the evening pouring over my map book (which had now transitioned from nice to have - to absolutely bloody essential).
I had received a lovely email from our second stop on the south east coast assuring me that all was well down there, but our problem was going to be getting there. With SH1 closed for business and the centre of the South Island completely dominated by mountains with virtually no roads, I just couldn’t see any way of getting there that didn’t involve hours and hours of driving on poo in the pants roads.
I called her and explained our dilemma and in true New Zealand fashion she was helpful, friendly and said she completely understood if we had to change our plans. I promised to make a decision by Wednesday and would let her know what we had decided to do.
To be continued………..