Searching For Troll Gold

Saturday

On the way to the Karangahake Gorge, Sherry inadvertently took the wrong road, but made the best of her mistake by showing Cerine McLaren Falls. After a few quick pictures, they were once again on their way. Sherry, again, took a wrong turn in Waihi, and realized that she hasn't been paying attention for the last year every time Mark drove to Auckland. But again, an unexpected benefit: they got to see the actual working gold mine, as well as a monster dump truck that Ro enjoyed immensely (no pun intended).

Ro & Cerine at McLaren Falls

Finally, a REAL monster truck!

Finally arriving at the gorge, the three enjoyed a quick snack by the river, watching the finches fight over their crumbs. Sherry took the opportunity to teach Ro that just because he couldn't see any birds initially, it didn't mean they weren't watching him, and he got his proof the instant he threw his first crusts of bread.

Karangahake Gorge

One of the things Ro was looking forward to was the 1km railroad tunnel Sherry had told him about. As they walked along the river, through a beautiful fern-filled forest, Ro kept asking excitedly, "Where's the cave?" Once they arrived, the sheer length of the tunnel was daunting to all of them, because the other end of it was just a pinpoint of light in the darkness. Ro took Sherry and Cerine's hand and once they had gone in a good 50ft, Sherry said, "maybe we'll see some trolls in here!" In the dim light, they noticed archways on the tunnel wall regularly spaced down the length of the tunnel, and Ro decided that they were abandoned troll caves. Even with his new headlamp, he would scurry past the holes, expecting something to jump out and grab him. The whole headlamp thing wasn't working out as well as Sherry planned; instead of leading the way, Ro mostly just pointed it in the girls' faces, blinding them.

Troll hunters

We're almost out!

In a classic case of confabulatory one-upmanship, Cerine was relating stories of her adventures yesterday at the Waitomo Caves, when Ro replied, "back in America, Mommy took me to a cave where the water was up to here on me, but tell her not to feel bad if she doesn't remember."

Our little explorer

Look, Mommy, I found a happy tree!

Owharoa Falls is a favorite stop of ours, and Sherry thought Cerine would enjoy it. Ro was a little too excited about getting down the hill to them, and skinned his knee. It was bleeding pretty good, so Sherry went back up to the car for a plaster (i.e. Band-Aid), and Cerine went on to the falls by herself to snap a few pics and was already back at the car by the time Ro finished getting his first aid.

To show Cerine the other end of Matakana Island, Sherry stopped at the Bowentown Headlands on the way home. Matakana Island is a narrow 20km barrier island with its other end at Mauao, forming one side of the channel into Tauranga Harbour. There's a popular holiday park on the beach below the headlands, where some of Ro's classmates will spend their Christmas break.

Above Waihi Beach

The end

There was a brief stop in Katikati (the mural town of NZ), for Sherry to snap a picture of "the other woman" for Mark, but alas, the Marilyn Monroe statue outside the storefront had been taken in for the night. Sherry dropped Ro and Cerine at home, then picked Mark up from work. We spent the evening relaxing and watching Walk the Line, although Ro had trouble falling asleep because of his nap in the car.