The next day, we headed back up to Cathedral Cove because it wasn't raining anymore and we decided to swim around the point to the cove. The water was pretty murky, which meant visibility wasn't great (we had the swim goggles on). We made it without incident, though we're not positive it was worth it.
We actually had a schedule to keep, so we headed for Matamata, which is near where Hobbiton is (where the Shire was filmed for the Lord of the Rings trilogy). The tour was very neat. It started with a sheep show where a guy sheered a sheep, then they brought some lambs out to feed. It is a working sheep farm, so they wanted to show people some of that side. hen we headed for the set. Because The Hobbit is in production right now, the actually had the set all set up and ready for filming, which was supposed to be happening now. The filming was delayed for some reason, so the film company is allowing the family to continue with the tours. Because of that though, we all signed confidentiality agreements and are not allowed to post any photos online anywhere. I don't know if it would have been worth it if it was just what the tour normally is/was, which is just 7 (or 17, now I can't remember) white boards that framed some of the hobbit holes that were left when the weather got too bad for the crew to keep demolishing.
After the tour, we headed to Otorohanga. Here we are staying in a small park next to a Kiwi House. In the morning, we checked out the Kiwi House which has a number of native bird species and a very nice nocturnal house for a couple kiwis.
Nearby by are the Waitomo caves. There are just tours by companies to go deep inside them to varying degrees. Some companies even do 'black water rafting'. It took us a while to figure out exactly what was going on, but apparently 3 (or so?) separate companies own different caves. So you have to decide what type of experience you want and then pick the company. Seems a little odd, but we went with something that seemed to include the neat things without getting super pricey. We'll see how it goes. There's one company that has just one guide go with you and you get to explore and do, basically whatever you want. Sounds like it would be a neat thing, but would be super dependent on your guide.
Anyway, there were a few free things to do around there. It's been raining all day, but the walks were still pleasant. There was a Natural Bridge that was gorgeous. Our favorite walk was the Ruakuri Bush Walk. The trail went through tunnels in the rock. There was even a crevice in the rock up from the trail a bit. Joe went to check it out and it just opened up inside. It ended up overlooking the stream down below from inside the cave. Also inside were a lot of weta, which are a large, grasshopper like insect that is endemic to New Zealand. All in all, a fun couple days.
-Miranda
The amusing 'toilets' at the Shire's Rest Cafe where we started our Hobbiton tour.
Lambs being bottle fed.
Pukeko. A New Zealand flightless bird.
Marakopa Falls. This was apparently a common backdrop for the Hercules series.
;)
Weta. See Joe's hand for size reference. (Click on photo for larger.)
A neat part of the natural tunnel during the Ruakuri Bush Walk.
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Beginning our long journey South now from the Northern tip of NZ. We stopped at the giant sand dunes, and boy were they big. Maybe twice the size of the Oregonian dunes we were used to. We did a short, grueling hike to the top of a dune displaying a grand shoreline view.
From there, we continued south and went through the Waipoua forest. It was very cool. The highway was super windy (of course all the roads are pretty windy). We stopped at a couple, relatively short hikes to see Kauri trees. We saw the largest and the second largest Kauris. They're pretty impressive. It looks like an entire garden is growing in their branches. They're pretty short though.
That night we stayed at another DOC site. There were only two other vehicles there. One thing I was super excited about is we were in kiwi territory! The communal kitchen (most DOC sites don't have one, but this one was fancy) mentioned that you could go right at the start of night to possibly see on. So, we headed out to the trail with a flashlight.
It was looking pretty grim to start, but then something ran a bit off right next to the trail. Joe shined the flashlight over and saw something, but kept insisting it wasn't a kiwi. Then we heard another one just a little farther up the trail on the other side. I got a look at that one briefly (only saw its body) and it was definitely a kiwi!! We sat there for a while listening to them (they sound like clumsy people walking through the woods, just without the above branch breaking). Then we continued on since they were too far from the path.
Farther down, we heard one near the path up ahead. After some 'stalking' we saw it run across the trail a ways in front of us. So, that was our kiwi siting. We didn't get any really good views, but I'm just excited that we got to see any at all. It sounds like it's not super common.
The next day, Tuesday, we just headed for Auckland and made it to a town just north of the city. We stayed there and got a little work done.
Today, we got back to driving. We got south of Auckland and aimed for Cathedral Dome Cove. Unfortunately, it was a 2 hour walk and the driving took a lot longer than we expected (again, super windy). We probably would have had just enough time, but a sign said the area was closed and then it started raining. There were two other shorter hikes, so we did those instead. By the time we got back, we were completely drenched.
The other adventure in the area is the Hot Water Beach. A low tide, you go dig yourself a hole, or a 'spa' as they call it, and sit in it... Apparently the water that comes up is really hot. We're sitting now waiting for low tide, which is supposed to be at midnight. Should be interesting.
-Miranda
View from Cape Reinga
Our RV parked near the pretty river side at a DOC site.
The crazy huge sand dunes.
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We headed out of Auckland and basically just drove. We got to Waipu and read that there were limestone caves nearby. We decided to go explore some. It was super muddy! There was a stream running through it, so we did walk through the ankle to knee deep water quite a bit (it was often far easier than walking through the mud).
We only got about 1/2 km through the long cave before we decided to head back. The super neat thing about it, was that there were glowworms. If you shut off your flashlight, it looked like you were viewing the night sky.
We stayed at our first Conservation campsite (DOC site). They are scattered all over New Zealand and average $15/night. This one was next to the beach. The super crazy thing was, you just parked anywhere on the grass, so long as you were at least 10 feet from another camper...
Our second day was mostly driving and gearing up the van a little more. We did stop at some waterfalls that had a 5km trail through a mangrove forest. Joe swung off a rope swing into the water sort of below the water fall before I walked the entire trail and Joe dropped someone off at the other end, and met me half way. The mangroves were very neat.
We are now at another DOC site on KariKari Peninsula. We got here basically at dusk, so we'll probably explore some in the morning.
-Miranda
The cave.
The forest and very cool rocks near the cave.
The mangrove forest.
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The following morning we got up early and headed south to get a kayak. We rented a two person kayak so we could kayak the mile across Kaleakala Bay to Captain Cook Monument. The area is supposed to be the best snorkeling in the state. It's the same place Joe and I walked down to before Mary came.
We got across without a problem and went snorkeling, took a break, then hopped in again. The water was very clear! There were fish everywhere. We had loads of fun. We paddled back to shore by early afternoon. We were pretty tired just from that, so we stayed at the house for the rest of the evening.
The next day, we got up relatively early again and headed out to drive around the island. We started by heading north. We stopped a few places to check out some lava tubes that were marked in the guidebook and waterfalls, which were gorgeous. Akaka Falls had a small bamboo forest that was neat. The bamboo looked very different from the bamboo in the forest on Maui.
We got to Volcano National Park around 3pm. Over half of Crater Rim Drive was closed due to high sulfur concentrations in the air. The crater was spewing out quite a bit of smoke. There was possibly some lava flow, but the road we would have had to go down to get to it would have been an extra 50 or so miles of driving had we gone that way to start. Since we already passed the area, it would have been way too much driving without even knowing we were for sure going to see some. So, we enjoyed the sites, checked out the Thurston Lava Tube, and headed out. Part of the lava tube was developed (basically paved ground and lights all along it), but about 350 meters was undeveloped. We had a flashlight, so we headed down there. It was very neat. Huge! It was a lot longer for the size (standing 98% of the time with lots of head room) than the lava tubes in the California National Monument that we like so much.
Our hope once we left the park was to find dinner. We stopped a few places but were not successful. We ended up getting to the Captain Cook area (about half an hour from home) when Joe spotted a hitchhiking girl, so he stopped to pick her up. She ended up telling us that her wallet and cell phone and been lost or stolen when she was on the bus. We told her we were just going to get some food, so if she wanted, we could buy her dinner, then drop her off at the airport (she wanted to get home to San Diego). She agreed, but then started getting really scared. So, we ended up just going to a plaza type area that is brightly lit and serves pizza. She kept saying she wanted to go to the airport and go home. We kept telling her that we didn't want to leave her stranded at the airport because it might close (which we found out later that it does) and the airport is 8-10 miles away from anything. Also, she can't even get a ticket without money or get on a plane without her ID.
Joe finally called the police (sort of with her permission). They came to help, but she was really fidgety, kept getting offended by odd things and was not being very cooperative even though the police officer was being very friendly and helpful. They finally got a hold of a sibling or friend for her, which I think helped. When we finally left the officer said he would be sure she had some place safe to stay tonight and would continue to help her out. He said she had classic symptoms of PTSD. So, something must of happened while she was on the island recently. We're just hoping that she was able to get things straightened out and get a flight home today.
Today, Mary went shopping while Joe and I stayed at the house resting and getting work done. Tomorrow may be a mostly rest day. We'll see.
-Miranda
One of the neat lava tubes. Around the outside was so green! Definitely not what we were used to seeing with lava tubes.
Akaka Falls.
Smoking volcano.
A very neat crater that was once a lake of lava. A hike goes down into the crater. If we had more time and energy, that would have been an amazing hike.
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We left the hostel the next morning and planned on killing time in Kailua-Kona area before heading to the airport to get a rental car and pick up Mary. We had a good Indian buffet lunch and did start heading towards the airport. Once it was getting to be time, we headed up to the main highway and met another couple that was working their way to the airport. We let them go ahead of us and catch the first ride. It took them about 40 minutes... It was at least an 8 mile walk, so we weren't feeling too great about our chances. Fortunately, within 5 minutes, someone picked us up.
We got to the airport, then headed to the rental companies to get a car. Budget was sold out, so we headed to the Thrifty. They wanted $400 for a car for the week... Joe had looked online at Budget earlier and it quoted $250. So, we headed to National. While he checked there, I went online and checked the other rental places. Avis wanted about $300, so I reserved a car and we headed over there. Nice that we ended up saving $100 just by checking online quick. :p
We picked up Mary without a problem and got to the place we were staying. It's super cute. It's the middle floor in a house (the house is built on the hillside) and is completely separate from the top and bottom floors.
In the morning, we picked up some snorkel gear and headed north. Unfortunately, a lot of the possible places were pretty choppy. We did end up snorkeling for a bit in one place, but it was a bit murky.
From there, we headed to Hawi to have lunch at the Bamboo restaurant. It was very good. We kept going to Pulolu Bay, which is at the end of the road. The walk down to the water was a little painful, but it was worth it. The beach was gorgeous as well as the forest. There were huge ropes all over the place. It was like a boy scout playground sometimes... So odd.
The drive back was nice and we had dinner at home. The next morning we headed out for some early snorkeling. There is a protected bay pretty much right in town. It was shallow and relatively busy, but there were fish everywhere. We also saw 2-4 turtles. It was great. It was good we got there when we did. It was packed when we were leaving.
From there we headed south to check out the sights. We stopped at a few Kona Coffee places. They provide a number of free samples and one of the places you can watch the coffee getting roasted, etc. The farthest south we went was to Pu'uhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park. It was a gorgeous area. From there, we headed back home, dropped Mary off in the touristy shopping area of Kailua-Kona and headed home. Joe will be picking her up shortly.
So, basically lazy day, but still fun.-Miranda
;)
Neat flowers around the isle. (Click on photo for larger.)
Joe and me in front of Pulolu Bay.
;)
Some amusing signage. (Click for larger.)
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