New Plymouth

It is a windy and cool Saturday, so we decide to visit New Plymouth (closest major city, population 50,000, a 40 min drive & where I go once a week for grocery run!).  The Puke Ariki visitor center/museum/library is free and amazing.  We didn't have time to explore it all, so we will be back.  Had fantastic Indian food at India Today, then wandered the coastal walkway for a bit.  Admired the unusual "Wind Wand" sculpture by the late Len Lye - it moves with the wind and is really quite a sight.  Then as dusk fell we headed back to Pukekura Park for another night at the Festival of Lights.  Took a rowboat ride, had some ice cream, and listened to some New Zealand music.  Amazing thing is...all of it (with the exception of the Indian food and the ice cream) was free.  There is an incredible array of free community activities and events throughout all of Taranaki (and through all of New Zealand I would imagine).

Wind Wand sculpture on New Plymouth's
 Coastal Walkway

Puke Ariki museum - this section on New Zealand history is amazing.
 Grif is in the area covering the history of NZ sport.

The town of New Plymouth

Rowing in Pukekura Park

Pukekura Festival of Lights - these dragonflies are made from
recycled plastic bottles and drinking straws with LED lights.

Opunake Sunrise

This was so gorgeous that I had to step outside in my nightie and snap some shots.  Then I went back to bed for another 2 hours!

Kaupokonui Beach

Thanks to the Park family for taking us to this great beach that they found last week.  There is a large rivermouth, and the boys had a great time riding boogie boards down the river ("sledging") and building driftwood forts.  Since we were 5 minutes away from the local "bread capital", we had to stop.  I picked up some nice ciabatta loafs for $1 each!

Well, we looked, but we didn't see any wild cattle

Grif & Logan sledging

Gavin & Isaak begin construction on their fort

Finished product - complete with welcome mat!

Grif & Logan's fort

Couldn't resist!

Ehrhorn farm visit

Our kiwi friend Claire was so kind as to invite us to her sister's dairy farm so that the boys could see first hand where their milk comes from.  Erin and Shaun have approximately 600 cows that need to be milked twice a day - at 4:30 am and at 3:00 pm.  We opted for the pm visit!  First the Ehrhorn kids showed the Taylor kids how to catch eels.  All it takes is a length of string, a hook, a weight and some beef.  Mason was quite successful - no unagi though, it is "catch & release eeling" today.  Then we headed out to the paddock to bring the cows in to the milking shed.  We got a close up look at how everything works, and the boys got to participate a little.  Their property is gorgeous!

The boys pick their spot to go eeling

Mason catches a fiesty slippery eel!

Claire takes the kids out on the ATV to get the cows

In the milking shed

Grif awfully daring at the business end of the cow!

The Ehrhorn kids raise lambs for their school's "calf & lamb day".  This one is named paua.

Grif catches a "chook"

Waitomo - glowing larval poop

We just returned from a long weekend in Waitomo -- an absolutely beautiful area with hundreds of limestone caves.  It is a very frequently visited area that has somehow managed to stay small.  We drove into the green valley past small farms and cottages and it just looked like pastoral perfection!  We stayed at a lovely bed & breakfast, the Waitomo Caves Guest Lodge.  Very friendly and helpful hosts, Colin & Jan.  Colin fortunately had a charger for our dead car battery that would have otherwise ruined our weekend.

Our first night, on Colin's recommendation, we took flashlights to a small trail near Aranui Cave.  By the banks of the river we saw bizillions of glow worms -- turned the flashlights off and we felt like we were in another world, like Avatar.  It isn't often that you truly feel amazed and surprised, and it was really neat to hear the kids say "wow!" so many times.  Next day we toured the 3 main caves - Ruakuri, Aranui and the Glow worm cave.  The caves have special meaning for the local Maori people.  Kids learned a lot about limestone, sandstone, and the way in which water and CO2 have carved up the caves over thousands of years.  Also the glow worms -- amazing!  They are actually larvae that use bioluminescence to attract  their prey.  They live mainly in cool moist caves or along river banks.

Oh, and of course we had to fit in adventure -- we found a company willing to take someone Gavin's size black-water rafting.  It was fun and the kids were brave.  They'd never let you do this in the US because of risk of injury - we all got smashed by rocks, hit our heads, etc.  Had to take a backwards leap of faith over a waterfall in the dark.  Even freaked me out a little.  Out of our whole big group Gav went first!

Great dinner @ sunset at Morepork pizzeria - right before our nighttime glow worm bushwalk

Cave formations -- photos just don't do them justice.  Some "rooms" cavernous, some narrow, all with stalactites, stalagmites & other beautiful formations.  Just gorgeous.

Ruakuri Cave

We took a short bushwalk between the Ruakuri and Aranui caves.  Reminded us of the Alaskan temperate rainforest but more "fern-ey".

Suited up for blackwater rafting.  Gav leads the way carrying his innertube across the cow pasture.

Glow worm threads -- the worms secrete these
 to trap the insects that are attracted by their glow

It is actually pitch black, but the flash on the guide's camera makes it look light

Using the wall to feel our way down part of the river.  Again, pitch black.  Sometimes our guides had us turn our helmet lights on, sometimes not.  

Water getting deeper -- eventually we floated around in a large human chain looking up at all the glowworms on the roof of the cave.  Spectacular!  Then of course the waterfall.

Dump!

Took a walk through pastures to the coast, then rock-hopped our way to "Dump" - the boys favorite place to scavenge for treasures.  Dump is a well-known surf break, and it is aptly named.  Not sure if people purposely dump stuff here or if the tides & currents make this a place where things just wash up, but it is full of rusty marine parts, used tires & copious beach glass.  Wind was howling again today.  We ended up, conveniently, at the general store of the holiday park on the beach, so had to finish the walk with the daily ice cream cone.  Getting used to this!

Park boys & Taylor boys heading across the meadow

Shelly & Lori in anticipation of yoga once kids
 are back in school!

Grif finds an old rusty sword @ Dump, watch out!

Beach glass galore - we are in search of the elusive cobalt blue -- have only come across tiny pieces of it.  I guess not many beers come in cobalt blue bottles.

Opunake Lake

It has been a lazy week of sleeping in, wandering around Opunake, eating ice cream (way too much ice cream), and exploring on foot.  Opunake's lake is lovely - we jog around it for exercise, but really the most fun is wandering with kids.  We start at our back gate and the main decision is whether to go right first (and bring treats for Sue the horse) or go left first (and bring bread for the ducks and try to find Gavin's favorite white one "Bob" and Griffin's favorite grey one "Phil").  The boys have several friends coming to visit and can't wait to take them around the lake.  There's a side shoot where you can scramble up a small dam and explore the river that feeds the lake.  You can also detour through the cows (watch your step!) and head out to the beach.  These photos are from the main loop around.

Our neighbor Rex's garden by the lake attracts so many Monarchs
 that the boys have dubbed it "butterfly alley".  
Here is a bush filled with Monarch caterpillars.  
There are millions!

We bring our apple cores (seeds removed)
 and I always stock carrots for our equine
neighbor, Sue.

Our local herd...such a prettier sight than Coalinga, don't you agree?  Smells better too.

View of our house from the other side of the lake -- it is the smaller brown one on the right.

Along the lake walk there is a tiny cemetery
 with stones from the late 1800's.  

Some beautiful blooming pohutukawa trees along the lake.  Their red blossoms are starting to fade now...this is the "New Zealand Christmas tree" that blooms red in December.

Grif demonstrates the electric cow fence!  It's really not that bad, just kind of a surprise.  I've gotten a nice jolt down my forearm...feels a little like my laser hair removal...ouch.

Everything is green green green

Resident flock of ducks.  (Try looking up the correct term for a group of ducks.  I'll just stick with flock).  That strange contraption in the background -- well, we've asked many people and we still have to just call it a strange contraption.  It is supposed to remove the algae from the surface of the lake -- there is a rotating wheel with spikes that pick up the algae and fling it onto land -- but it is incredibly inefficient.  It is also somehow tied in with the generation of energy from the water flow from lake to ocean & vice versa, but I really don't understand that either. 

Even in this boy heaven, kids are still kids and on some days, incredibly, I still hear those 2 words that make parents everywhere cringe..."I'm bored".  Aaaaargh!  I'm realizing that as much as family togetherness is cozy and lovely, kids need friends.  What do they say...boys need a tribe.  We are happy to have the Park boys here from Vermont -- Grif & Gav are off on their bikes every day to "see what the Parks are doing".  They have an 8 (Isaac) & a 10 (Logan) year old, fortunately, and they also have a 14 year old (Eli) who is a very good sport.  Although the boys are nervous about it (Gavin is wondering about spelling -- tyre, theatre, etc!) I think we are ALL ready for school to start.  Everything and everyone truly goes on vacation mode during the summer school holidays.  Restaurant hours are unpredictable - here it is like Italy in the sense that if a business's proprietor goes on holiday, often that business is closed with a sign in the door saying "hey, we're on holiday, see you in a few weeks".  Kids often go to stay with grandparents in other areas, and the kids we've met down on the beach are usually vacationing here from elsewhere.  So...countdown to school...11 days to go!

My kiwi birthday

Waverly beach arch

Taranaki wind - our constant companion

Yummy dinner @ Sugar Juice! I'm wearing the birthday shirt my mom sent me.

January 15th was a beautiful day here in Taranaki!  After a lazy breakfast, we stocked up on picnic provisions from Sugar Juice (broccoli-cucumber asian salad!) and headed to Waverly beach.  We marveled at the arch, explored sea caves, found fossilized shells, checked out the petrified tree limbs, enjoyed our picnic, and got smashed by the waves while trying to bodysurf!   Stopped for an ice-cream cone (of course) in Waverly on the way home.  The boys went to spend the evening with their new friends: Eli, Logan & Isaac Park.  Their father, Peter Park, is the "other American doctor" and the family just arrived in Opunake this week.  Since all the kiwi kids seem to be away "on holiday" with school not starting for another two weeks, the boys were grateful for kid company!  Perfect timing...this allowed Ken & I to go out for a wonderful dinner with Peter & Shelly at Sugar Juice.  Then we checked out the band at the local pub and had a few "handles" (that's what the kiwis call a mug of beer - apparently because it is served in a glass with a handle on it.  You have to specify "pint" or "handle" when you order a draft beer).  A very peaceful birthday.

A great Thursday

On our way to New Plymouth the volvo died.
Ah well, called Ken's boss Brent who had his
daughter & wife meet us with a
volkswagen and we continued on our way.
Hope to have the volvo up & running again!

Scouted surf highway 45's many nooks & crannies along the way north looking for surf.  Do as the locals do, just drive right up!

Found many great isolated stretches of coastline great for rock skipping, boulder hopping or just sitting & reading but alas, no surf (flat day).

Ditched the surf effort & stopped in at Okurukuru winery for a fantastic meal with a fantastic view in fantastic weather with our fantastic kids!  We are definitely coming back for their wine & food festival in February.  This place is gorgeous.  Picked up a bottle of Sauv blanc to go.

Grif thoroughly enjoyed his woodfired pizza.  My pumpkin tomato risotto was heavenly, and Ken's ostrich fillet (pronounced with the "t") tender and flavorful.  Gav says his chicken & chips were good too!

Next stop - Pukekura park for the Festival of Lights.  They do this every night through January.  It's free!  The park is gorgeous, like golden gate park, but more tropical.  There were pirates boating on the lake,  live music in several venues and lights everywhere.  

Gavin in front of the lit-up waterfall

Black lights overhead  - the path below also glowed.  After we walked through this area we got ourselves some ice cream cones, plopped down on the lawn, and watched the show "Highly Flammable" with dancers & performers all using fire.  Kids loved it.  Fell asleep in car on way home!