A New Adventure

We made a new friend when we were on our road trip, meet Dog.  He spends all his time in the windscreen of Erin's car.

Anyway we're off on a new adventure today.  We're driving up to Gulf Harbour, north of Auckland as we're travelling by boat to Tiritiri Matangi Island Wildlife Sanctuary.  There are 11 of New Zealand's endangered birds, 3 reptile species and 1 insect species that have been re-introduced to the island.  It has been re-vegetated with around 300,000 native trees to provide the right habitat and food.  The island has been run by volunteers since 1984.

We were extremely lucky to see most of the endangered birds - this is a Tui.

And this is a Takahe.

We saw other endangered birds but were not able to take photos as the birds were too quick for us.  We saw Robin, Rifleman, Stitchman.  But not the Little Spotted Kiwi as this is a nocturnal bird.

These are Patekes (Brown Teal) - it is one of the worlds rarest ducks.

This lighthouse is also on the island - all the way from London.

Views from the island.

And this was our ride home.

Leaving the island.  Another great day out over.

Hello from Piha.  We've had a few days here before our next adventure.

This is just outside the Piha Cafe, where we've had breakfast, so not a bad view.  We had the children's breakfast which consisted of a dippy egg, soldiers and a bowl of fresh fruit - it was very yummy.

Another view of Lion Rock with rain, this was quite unusual.

Some pretty flowers we found at Hobbiton.

A plant we found on our walk from The Chateau to Taranaki Falls.

Sunset over Piha, Lion Rock is just out of shot on the right.

Another view looking up at Piha.

Hawaii this way.

And Bib had time to do some crafty things.

The Road Trip - Day 3

It's the 3rd of March and we have to leave The Chateau.  This is the view from The Chateau looking over towards Taranaki Falls.  (The proper name is Chateau Tongariro). 

We had breakfast in our room and Bibley had the rest of her dessert from the previous night (some sort of choccie concoction) as well as her breakfast - "yes I had fruit for breakfast".

We finished packing as it was time to leave.  So we drove higher and higher (this is where we're going)

And this is where we ended up.

Above the clouds.

We grabbed a coffee from one of the highest cafes in New Zealand and made our way down.

We were starting to make our way home now, our road trip was coming to an end, but there was still one more surprise awaiting us.

We made our way north towards Hamilton and stopped at Waitomo Glowworm Caves - WOW and double WOW.

No photos were allowed, so here is a photo of a postcard to give you an idea of what it was like.  The postcard does not do the caves justice in any way. They are beyond words.

Once we had finished here, we made our way north to Auckland.  There was no time to go home as we were going for a Japanese meal (well we had to stay in the car because we're not allowed in restaurants for some reason !!!).

Bibley went for her meal, she's never had Japanese before and struggled using chop sticks.  She says she's got to practice now for next time.  The meal was lovely and they all went for dessert in another restaurant.

It was then time to go home.  It's was a long day.

The Road Trip - Day 2

The 2nd of March and we left Lake Taupo at 8.30am to continue with our road trip.  But first we went for breakfast at The Coffee Club in Taupo.

And then we were on our way.  We followed route 1 (Desert Road) to Taihape where we stopped at the Brown Sugar Cafe for coffee and cake and then it was wool buying time.  So it was off to Utiku for the specialist shop.

Bib was very restrained !!!

Then we were heading north to Waiouru and then onto Ohakune where they are known for their carrot production.

Just after this photo was taken Tulip decided to go for a swim .......

(Sorry folks but I've got to intervene here, "Stop bickering you two, Tulip let's hear what you've to to say").

I didn't just decide to go for a swim, I was pushed ... you know you did it Rattie and I got all wet - I wasn't a happy panda I can tell you.

I didn't push anyone *sniggers.

(Stop it, Rattie get on with the story).

Ok, well here's another photo at Ohakune.

Once we had finished taking photos, we carried on north towards the Chateau.

This is where we're staying, so we booked in, booked our table for our evening meal and then went for a walk to see the Taranaki Falls.  It was supposed to take an hour to walk there, but took us longer because we were looking at the scenery.

And here we are looking at the Falls and here you can see how large they are compared to the people on the left of the photo.

And then we had to get back to The Chateau quickly for our dinner reservation.
The meal was lovely so we were told (they don't like animals in their restaurant, both Tulip and I were most put out), so they decided to get a second dessert sent to our room.  Mmm tasty.

The Road Trip

It was all very exciting on the 1st of March.  We were up at 6.20am and it was still dark outside, but it's all good, we're going on a road trip - YAY.

But first we stopped at the Hardware Cafe in Titirangi for breakfast and coffee (Bib said it's the best coffee she's ever had - apparently Tom made it).  Then we were off.

We headed south and arrived at Matamata and this is where we went 

What a great place, lots of photos taken, but we won't put loads on here just a selected few, so here goes.

And then we went for second breakfast with Bilbo Baggins at his hobbit hole in the picture above.

After second breakfast it was time for a drink in the Green Dragon.

It was cider and very delicious it was too.  It is especially brewed for Hobbiton and you can't get it anywhere else.

That was the last of our visit to Hobbiton and so on we went.  The next stop was Rotorua to stretch our legs and then onto Lake Taupo to stay the night.

We found a hotel and restaurant right on the lake front and had a meal sitting right by the window, so we had this view.

And that was the end of the first day of our road trip.

Meeting the Locals

We settled in for a couple of days and then we were introduced to the locals. You remember the two dogs we live with, well we met Milo's real mum Belle, his sister Tahe and uncle JJ (he's not really an uncle).

JJ - he had a good sniff of both of us and then bit my long nose and tried to carry me off and Bibley had to rescue me.

Belle - she had a quick sniff and then ignored us both, but I don't blame her, she can't really be bothered - well she is 14 now.

Tahe - she had a good sniff of me and a quick sniff of Tulip and that was it, she let us have our photograph taken together.

And Bibley with Tahe.

We were made to feel very welcome, so thank you all.

Arriving in New Zealand

Bib thought it was about time we stared writing about our trip to New Zealand.  We had no idea what was going on, but Bib made me a pair of shorts and gave Tulip a lovely ribbon - she tied it around her neck, very pretty.  We had no idea where we were going but it took a long time and we flew.  All very exciting.

We arrived in New Zealand and found Erin very quickly at the airport, Bib as so pleased to see her - there were tears. 

We made our way out of Auckland and towards Piha, stopping at Waitakere Ranges, where we had Danish ice cream.  It was lovely to get some fresh air and warmth.  Then we went to Piha where we were staying and this is the view we had to put up with !!!  WOW

The next day we went into Auckland and had lunch with Mike (the first picture) and then spent the next few days relaxing in Piha meeting the locals and drinking coffee.

Next instalment soon.