September Showers Bring October Flowers

Sunday

Ro's first time sleeping over at someone else's house (other than a grandparent) went uneventfully. A bit finicky when it came to breakfast, he decided he didn't want cow's milk on his Milo cereal, so he came up to our place to eat. When Sherry informed him we had the very same cow's milk that Craig did (which Ro had been eating on his cereal for months), he then decided to just eat his cereal dry. Kids...what are ya gonna do? Sherry used to buy him soy milk in the States, but it's just too expensive here.

The forecast called for a let-up in the rainy weather today, so we packed up the car and made for Hamilton under beautiful partly cloudy skies in the Bay. Our hearts sank a little as we crossed the Kaimais and saw a seemingly endless stretch of dark clouds over the Waikato region. Sherry has taken to sitting in the backseat when we're going to be on curvy mountain roads so Ro can sit up front in an attempt to avoid him getting carsick. The tradeoff is that now SHE gets carsick. She claims its Mark's driving, which flings her from side to side in the switchbacks, but Mark claims he is well within the speed limit and suspects she exaggerates her body movements to make a point...lol. Ro slept almost the entire way, so he was ready to go when reached our destination: the Hamilton Gardens.

http://www.hamiltongardens.co.nz/

Thankfully, the sun had finally shown itself as we reached Hamilton. Unfortunately, there was no parking in the main carpark due to the popularity of the orchid show this weekend, so we had to hoof it a little from a satellite lot. Our first order of business was getting some food into Ro, so we had our picnic lunch beside the picturesque Turtle Lake, enjoying pitas with salami, cheese, and hummus. Ro enjoyed giving the pita scraps to the ducks. We ended up making three trips back to the car. While Ro and Sherry walked around the lake (and visited the loo), Mark took our lunch cooler back and retrieved Sherry's glasses case. Shortly thereafter, Sherry went back to drop off her rain jacket (it was decidedly warm and sunny by this point) and switch from her jandals (i.e. flip-flops) to hiking boots. Before the afternoon was out, though, the sockless boots were blistering her feet, so Mark took them back and retrieved her slightly less uncomfortable jandals.

"Hi-ya!"

Ro across Turtle Lake

In the Jardin Hispanico

Beside the huge Rhododendron Lawn

The Hamilton Gardens are a hidden gem, and probably don't get as much notice as they should in the tour books, likely because Hamilton is sort of the Rodney Dangerfield of New Zealand cities. Kiwis joke that their culture is in danger of being wiped out by rising sea levels, as their only two sizable inland cities are Hamilton and Palmerston North. Although only the Italian Renaissance Garden and Indian Char Bagh Garden were what we'd call truly eye-popping, the gardens as a whole were greater than the sum of their parts. The sheer variety of well-done themes in such close proximity ensured that you never got bored.

The Indian garden has a "Persian carpet" of flowers

Indian Char Bagh Garden

It took us four hours to see most of the gardens, including an inadvertent stroll along the banks of the Waikato River, and a couple of stops at two small playgrounds. Ro didn't let us linger too long in any one spot, although we would certainly have liked to. The rose garden and English Flower Garden weren't yet in bloom, but the rest of the gardens were gorgeous.

The Waikato River is a lot more placid here than at Huka Falls

"Weeeeeee!"

"Am I the same size as the fish?"

At the koi pond in the Japanese garden

Entrance to the Chinese Scholars Garden

Bridge over tranquil water

Ro's favorite aspects of the gardens had nothing to do with flowers. The benign-looking spinning table at one of the playgrounds lets you pick up more G's than should be legally allowed. Sherry nearly flew off the thing, and thus, had to return the favor to Mark. The dragon turtle statue in the Chinese Scholars Garden was a favorite perch, overlooking the river. The grass garden with about twenty different grasses meticulously laid out next to each other made for a great running surface. And there were nice expansive lawns everywhere to play tiggy (i.e. tag), but best of all was the ice cream halfway through our visit, overlooking the lake.

"Ro, I think mommy's gonna hurl!"

Ro actually got some of it in his mouth

Dragon turtle power!

Overlooking the Italian Renaissance Garden

In the unfinished Maori Te Parapara Garden

Rigorously testing the grass samples

Mark's favorite spots were the aforementioned Italian and Indian gardens, as well as the most unexpected surprise of the day, a huge mural of Marilyn Monroe in the American Modernist Garden. Sherry also loved the Perfume Garden, and budding chef that she is, the Kitchen and Herb Gardens. Alas, the Victorian Greenhouses were closed by the time we tried to see them as we were on our way out. We didn't even get a chance to see the Landscape Garden Collection...maybe next time.

Ro takes an unauthorized dip while Mark hangs with "the other woman" (Sherry's term)

Fortunately the Perfume Garden didn't set off Sherry's allergies

Petal shower

More rhododendrons in one place than we've ever seen

Although there was still plenty of daylight left (Daylight Saving Time started last night), we didn't fancy a drive home with a hungry Ronan, so we went into Hamilton's City Centre for dinner. Our Entertainment Book led us to Indian Aroma. Indian food is one of Sherry's favorites; Mark usually takes a pass on it, but even he agreed this food was delicious. The placemats even had a picture of the Char Bagh Gardens we'd just visited. Apparently this place caters functions there all the time. Just as Mark judges cafes by their Eggs Benedict, Sherry judges Indian restaurants by their saag paneer, and this stuff was excellent. Mark enjoyed his lamb rogan josh, we all liked the cheese naan, and the Gulab Jamun for dessert was perfect, although Ro favored his brownie a la mode.

"Mmmm...good! Can we have dessert now?"

Ro slept again on the way home, missing Barnaby's phone call to say goodbye (he's leaving on holiday tomorrow), but Sherry promised to pass on the message. We settled in for the evening, watching The Incredible Hulk on Sky TV, relaxing after a long day before Mark starts a busy work week and Ro starts swimming lessons.

Water Falling Everywhere

Saturday

Ro and Barnaby had a pseudo-sleepover last night. They played all evening, back and forth between the apartments and even went to bed at Barnaby's place...for about 15 minutes, then Ro wanted to come home. Craig brought him back upstairs, reassuring him that he could come back down for breakfast first thing in the morning. Ro was up bright and early, immediately heading down to Barnaby's for brekkie. Sherry called down a few minutes later and Craig answered the phone. He and Barnaby weren't even up yet, so he checked the door. Ro had been standing in the hall for 10 minutes, knocking too quietly for Craig to hear him!

A big weather front had moved across the North Island over the past few days, bringing with it plenty of rain. We decided to go see Kaiate Falls (near Papamoa Hills), figuring the river would be swollen and the falls impressive. We all piled in Craig's car and he took us the back way (he's a local cop, remember) to the isolated ravine. We were the only car in the carpark, probably because we hit the place in between rainstorms, and most people probably don't know the falls are back open. Sherry and Ro had tried to go there shortly after we arrived in NZ, but the falls have been closed to the public for a while. The boys wasted no time hopping out of the car and running down the trail to the falls.

The Ben 10 posse on the move

Te Rerekawau Falls is a series of nine cascades along the Kaiate Stream, with several hiking tracks that hug the walls of the gorge and crisscross the river. A popular summer swimming hole lies below the largest (and most downstream) of the falls. The tracks and rocks were slippery, and the boys fell more than a few times. No serious injuries to report, thankfully, just a couple bruised egos and elbows. As we were hiking back to the car, the rain started up again, resulting in a soggy ride home for all of us.

Ro & Barnaby at Kaiate Falls

Sherry and the boys at the lower falls

Some of the upper cascades

View of Mauao from near the carpark

The boys had lunch at Craig's place (sausage rolls), while Mark and Sherry ate BLT's in the sunshine on our deck. Warmer weather is definitely here! As the storm we left at the falls slowly rolled north towards The Mount, the guys headed for Drury Park to burn some more energy off the kids before the rain set in. Since school holidays started this weekend, Mt Maunganui is pretty crowded, and it was a little nerve-wracking watching the boys on their noisy training-wheel bikes whizzing past the outdoor cafes, weaving around unsuspecting people on the sidewalk.

Hurtling down Maunganui Road

We got to the park about 10 minutes ahead of the rain, but the boys didn't seem to care even when it started pouring; all of the adults and most of the other kids fled for home or gathered under the trees. Eventually, the water started dripping through the dense foliage above, so Mark and Craig started getting soaked as well. We headed back home once there was a slight let-up in the deluge. Fortunately, if you walk along Maunganui Road, about 75% of the distance back to The Anchorage is covered by shop and restaurant awnings. Sherry was out on the deck and was surprised to see us down on the street, thinking we were still chillin' at Craig's place and weren't dumb enough to venture out in this weather.

Spinning in the rain

D'oh!

These kids are hardcore

Time to go, boys!

Figuring the boys couldn't get any wetter than the 100% they already were, we changed them into their rashies and togs and headed for the pool. Being a school holiday, they weren't the only kids at the pool for a change, but they were some of the smallest. Undeterred, Ro would shout out to the tween girls, "We're big because we're seven!" as if they cared, or even believed him as he clung cautiously to the side of the pool...lol. For the record, he's five and Barnaby is six. Most of the time, the boys switched off between the two spa pools (Mark was in one, Craig the other), jumping in and splashing us. Eventually it started getting late and a bit chilly, so we headed upstairs to rinse off.

Taking over our living room

Sherry was making roast chicken, with steamed broccoli, risotto, and hot buttered rolls for dinner, and invited Craig and Barnaby to join us. Mark realized he'd never carved a bird before tonight, but he did a serviceable job with our dull knives. Ro turned his nose up at the chicken (which was delicious) and didn't eat much, figuring the sooner he was done with dinner, the sooner he could play again. It backfired on him, though, because Barnaby was a good (if slow) eater and was the last of all of us to finish.

The boys wanted to give the whole sleepover thing another try tonight, and spent the evening at Craig's watching E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. Meanwhile, we watched The Bank Job (which was better than we expected), fully expecting a knock on the door at any minute from Ro wanting to sleep in his own bed, but it never came.

Springing Up The Mount

Monday

On a gorgeous day in the Bay, we walked up Mt Maunganui while Ro was in school. We were hoping to see the pod of dolphins off the main beach that the locals have been buzzing about for a week, but no luck today. The spring lambs are out in full force on the slopes of Mauao, which made for ample photo opportunities.

Some woolly cross traffic

A common sight on The Mount these days

Sherry on the way up

We started out on the gravel 4-wheel drive track that Sherry usually runs up (with about 4 or 5 stops along the way), but about halfway up we detoured onto what can generously be called a goat track. Ro would have loved it, very steep and treacherous. The path brought us out onto the quiet north side of the summit, where the paragliders take off. We actually ran into a couple of familiar staff members from The Rock House who were spending the morning climbing and scouting routes along some of the cliffs. After picking Ro up from school, Sherry took Ro to the beach to dig in the sand for a while. Straight into a bath when he got home!

Taking the road less travelled

Mark on the north side of Mauao

Looking west towards Matakana Island and the Kaimai Range. Note the climber peering down the rock face

Sherry enjoying the vista from one of our favorite spots

High dollar real estate and cafe row at the base of Mauao

Carolina Kiwis Finally See A Kiwi!

Sunday

The weather looked like it was going to cooperate today, so we went down to Rotorua to check out Rainbow Springs, a sort of mini-zoo full of indigenous NZ wildlife. Before man set foot on Aotearoa and brought other mammals with him, New Zealand was dominated by birds. In fact, the only mammals endemic to NZ soil were bats and seals. Rainbow Springs has a kiwi rescue project going on, and we took a guided tour of the facility.

Entrance to Rainbow Springs

When the first white men came here, they needed a season or two to expand their livestock's numbers before they started eating them, so they brought rabbits as a ready source of fresh red meat. Well, you can imagine what happened. To deal with the exploding rabbit population, they later brought dogs, cats, stoats, and other predators which soon decimated the kiwi population. The team at Rainbow Springs tracks male kiwis with radio-frequency transmitters, and when they're stationary for a while (i.e. sitting on an egg), they go and fetch the egg to incubate and hatch it at the conservation center. This allows the kiwis to avoid predation until they're big enough to escape or defend themselves, then they're released back into the wild.

http://www.rainbownz.co.nz/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiwi

Our tour group was just us and another couple, so Ro tended to dominate the conversation. He was thoroughly captivated by watching the laboratory staff candle the eggs (shine torches through them in the dark) to determine the age of the embryo, and there was even an egg hatching while we were there. We didn't actually get to see the bird emerge, though, as the whole hatching process can take around 24 hours. There is a nocturnal room that allows tourists to see kiwis active during our daytime; there were three unfenced enclosures, each with a young kiwi in it, but seeing them was a different matter. After much searching in the very dimly lit room, we spotted one kiwi sleeping in a shadowy back corner. It looked like a fuzzy ball, and if not for the thin white line (the beak), it would have been nearly invisible.

If only live kiwis were this easy to spot

Despite a thorough search of the other enclosures, the other kiwis were nowhere to be seen. Where are some night vision goggles when you need them? It was like five adults and a kid playing a futile game of Where's Waldo? Our guide apologized to us, and we went out to look around the static displays in the lobby. A few minutes later, the guide returned saying the kiwi had woken up, so we all sneaked back into the habitat for a look. It was the same one we had seen sleeping earlier, and it was rustling around in the bushes about 5 feet from us. We had to remind Ro to be completely silent so as not to scare it away. You don't get an idea of just how big a kiwi is from the media, because what you usually see are small kiwi chicks, but this kiwi was as big as a chicken. The guide cleverly coaxed it over to us by crinkling up a leaf to imitate a moving insect. Sure enough, the kiwi came right over to the low rail just in front of Ro. They stared at each other for a few seconds as Ro leaned over the railing, their faces only about a foot apart! Guess the bird didn't like the look of him, as it promptly turned and retreated into the bush...lol. Even so, the guide said Ro was one of the best-behaved kids he'd had on the tour in a long time.

Pictures weren't allowed in the kiwi conservation center, with the exception of the static displays, but not so for the rest of Rainbow Springs. We headed into the park and stepped right into a crowd of Chinese tourists standing around a picturesque trout pond as their guide gave an animated discussion in what we presume was Mandarin...a common sight around here we've found. One of the tourists saw Ro looking longingly at the pond and gave him what was left of her bag of fish food so he could have fun feeding them, obviously unaware that Mark had already bought some and stashed it in his pocket.

Eavesdropping on the Mandarin tour

Most of the animals that held Ro's attention were introduced from outside New Zealand, like the rabbits, donkey, pigs, chickens, and wallabies. The native tuatara is a pretty amazing lizard, but not very animated. Ro's favorite part of the park was probably the HUGE trout; some looked about as big as Ro! The afternoon was getting late, and the decorative lights in the park started coming on (it's open after dark since many of the animals are nocturnal); since it was a school night, we decided to call it a day and head for home. Ro spotted the luge chairlift nextdoor through the trees and begged to go, but it was getting too chilly and late, so we compromised and took him to a playground we'd spotted on the north shore of Lake Rotorua.

These wallabies look more content than Robbie Deans' crew these days. Note the joey in the pouch

Laughing it up at a chicken's antics

Ro incites a fish feeding frenzy

Ro sooooo wanted to get in this Maori waka noa

Face to fish face

Who knew New Zealand pigeons wore wife beaters?

The direct road between Lake Rotorua and Tauranga has been closed since 6 Aug due to a rock slide which buried two cars and knocked another down a riverbank, so we stopped at the playground near the blink-and-you-miss-it village of Hamurana on the longer way home. No other kids were there at dusk, so Ro had free run of the place. Sherry mostly stayed in the warm car and watched Mark and Ro entertain themselves with a "sweet as" flying fox. This one was a sit-on type that went in an oval, with a gentle slope to the track that belied the speed you could gain on it. We still had a long drive ahead of us, so we could only stay for about 20 minutes as we would be bumping up against Ro's bedtime by the time we ate dinner. On the way home, we weren't sure if Ro's complaints of "my belly hurts!" were car sickness or hunger, but either way it was fixed when we stopped for dinner at Ajo's Cafe & Restaurant in Mt Maunganui...very tasty.

Ro's favorite kiwi expression may get him in trouble back home...easily mistaken for "sweet ass": http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=sweet%20as

Weeeeee!

Sherry takes a turn

Sherry & Ro with Mokoia Island in background

Black swans on Lake Rotorua

Ro sporting his new paua shell ring as we wait for dinner