We’re taking a bit of downtime to get caught up with ourselves.
Our stay in Taupo was just that, quite relaxed for us. Everyone else was working quite hard as there was an Ironman Race. Exhausting to behold. We stayed at the edge of Lake Taupo at Two Mile Bay, but had to wait for a gap in the runners to get to the lake. We didn’t want to be those spectators.
Around the lake edge there was something that looked like sheep’s wool. It was springy to step on, just like wool. Frances had imagined elaborate stories of wool bales falling off a barge or truck. Asking around, it turns out that it is algae not wool. Who knew?
After Taupo, we drove through a lot of forest planted for timber (amazingly, New Zealand is currently experiencing a milled lumber shortage!). We stopped in Tokoroa for morning coffee, then on to Auckland.
In Auckland we had a lovely visit with long-time friend, Jo, in the gardens where she lives. And then we called in to see Caryll and Des, who provided excellent conversation, a delicious home-cooked meal and a good night’s rest.
We set out for Whangarei the next morning, stopping on the way to see the Kaipara Sculpture Gardens (meh). Kaipara Harbour is the biggest harbour in the southern hemisphere. It is raining or threatening rain over most of New Zealand this week, so our views are a bit compromised. It was a good spot for morning coffee though and we got to see a cork tree. It may surprise you to know that corks are made from the bark of the cork tree. Most of the bottles we have here are screw cap – red and white. We also stopped at the Cheese shop at Kaiwaka. We’re well provisioned.
We’re not delighted with our accommodations here – just a standard motel, but the manager is lovely. Unfortunately the charming house that we rented before was not available. Still, we don’t expect to be at our base that much. Today we went to look at the brown kiwi at the kiwi house. He was pretty active while we were there. And we were his only visitors!
Then we learned a bit about Whangarei’s history at the Whangarei Museum and Frances enjoyed a short bush walk. In the museum there was a definition for Jim of a Table Spoon (#4), since there always seems to be some confusion in our house about what is a Table Spoon (as distinct from a tablespoon measure and from a “serving spoon”). Perhaps we didn’t spend enough time with full formal place settings!
