Around the world with Traveler
- Thread starter DS
- Start date
traveler
Where next? Venice
Re: Around the world with Traveller
Thanks to everyone for the kind comments. A special thanks to DS for getting me off my duff to write about my travels.
Here's the next episode, Western Samoa:
We arrived in the morning to a day where rain was a distinct possibility. Nonetheless we began without rain gear or an umbrella. My mission in any new country is to get six of each coin currently issued by that country. Through experience I have found various methods to accomplish this. This one was simple, well sort of simple. We took a walk into the capitol city (town) of Apia to the first bank I saw. Actually, there were two banks near each other and the first I chose to enter was a strictly local commercial bank whose employees directed me to the other bank the dealt with "foreigners", as they put it. I think that's the first time anywhere we were called foreigners. At the second bank we took a number for service, just like an American bakery. After a few minutes wait the sign above lit up with our number and instructions to go to teller number 11. There were about 18 working positions in this small bank! After some work getting the young woman to understand what I was asking for I got my coins and thanked the teller for her generous help. I got 10 of each coin to make it easier for the teller. The coins are for our 5 grand-children and the biggest kid of all, my son-in-law. With so much travel this seems to be an appreciated gift every time and in most countries, at a nominal cost. The temperature was up to about about 30 C (86 friend) so we stopped at the local grocery for a couple of sodas which was also a good way to spend the excess coins. After a short walk in the small town we decided to walk to "Vailima" the wonderful retirement home of Robert Louis Stevenson. That was supposedly a 2½ mile walk from Apia and would work nicely for our daily exercise. Well, as it turns out it started that way and turned to a arduous trek up some of the steep hills of the island, Upolu. We finally made it to the front gate an met a very nice couple taking each other's pictures. They were surprised when they asked if we walked all the way and said that they took a taxi up and were going to walk down. I congratulated them on their good planning. After another ½ mile up the driveway "Vailima" came into sight.
Luck was with us again. The ships tour arrived just before we did and they had a local band playing a small concert. Also, there was a guide for each room in the mansion. One guide mentioned that usually there is only one guide for the whole mansion but since the ship ran a tour we had the advantage of a knowledgeable guide for each room! After the tour left and we finished the tour (15 Tala each or about $6 American per person) we sat on the veranda to cool off with another cold drink. I was wearing a shirt I bought in Australia earlier this year and the gent sitting on the next bench asked if that was my home. As soon as I began to tell him where I hailed from, I'm sure he recognized my accent. He was a New Zealander, a Kiwi as they are commonly known. It seems he was there doing research on the origins of the neighbors of Robert Louis Stevenson and shared some interesting finds. One of these was that Stevenson was mistakenly buried on the neighbors land that overlooked Vailima. When the neighbors discovered the error they quickly deeded over the plot of land to his estate that now runs the museum. Stevenson was well liked by all on the island, including the native Samoans. After cooling off in the wonderful sea breeze that engulfs the estate we started out walk off the property. When we reached the main road, a taxi, with the Kiwi in the front seat stopped. He asked if we would like to share a ride into town and I accepted. When we arrived at the main road I took out some cash to pay the driver but the Kiwi would have none of it, so we thanked him and walked the last ¼ mile to the ship far a well deserved rest and a late lunch.
Tomorrow, a short blurb on Fiji.
Thanks to everyone for the kind comments. A special thanks to DS for getting me off my duff to write about my travels.
Here's the next episode, Western Samoa:
We arrived in the morning to a day where rain was a distinct possibility. Nonetheless we began without rain gear or an umbrella. My mission in any new country is to get six of each coin currently issued by that country. Through experience I have found various methods to accomplish this. This one was simple, well sort of simple. We took a walk into the capitol city (town) of Apia to the first bank I saw. Actually, there were two banks near each other and the first I chose to enter was a strictly local commercial bank whose employees directed me to the other bank the dealt with "foreigners", as they put it. I think that's the first time anywhere we were called foreigners. At the second bank we took a number for service, just like an American bakery. After a few minutes wait the sign above lit up with our number and instructions to go to teller number 11. There were about 18 working positions in this small bank! After some work getting the young woman to understand what I was asking for I got my coins and thanked the teller for her generous help. I got 10 of each coin to make it easier for the teller. The coins are for our 5 grand-children and the biggest kid of all, my son-in-law. With so much travel this seems to be an appreciated gift every time and in most countries, at a nominal cost. The temperature was up to about about 30 C (86 friend) so we stopped at the local grocery for a couple of sodas which was also a good way to spend the excess coins. After a short walk in the small town we decided to walk to "Vailima" the wonderful retirement home of Robert Louis Stevenson. That was supposedly a 2½ mile walk from Apia and would work nicely for our daily exercise. Well, as it turns out it started that way and turned to a arduous trek up some of the steep hills of the island, Upolu. We finally made it to the front gate an met a very nice couple taking each other's pictures. They were surprised when they asked if we walked all the way and said that they took a taxi up and were going to walk down. I congratulated them on their good planning. After another ½ mile up the driveway "Vailima" came into sight.
Luck was with us again. The ships tour arrived just before we did and they had a local band playing a small concert. Also, there was a guide for each room in the mansion. One guide mentioned that usually there is only one guide for the whole mansion but since the ship ran a tour we had the advantage of a knowledgeable guide for each room! After the tour left and we finished the tour (15 Tala each or about $6 American per person) we sat on the veranda to cool off with another cold drink. I was wearing a shirt I bought in Australia earlier this year and the gent sitting on the next bench asked if that was my home. As soon as I began to tell him where I hailed from, I'm sure he recognized my accent. He was a New Zealander, a Kiwi as they are commonly known. It seems he was there doing research on the origins of the neighbors of Robert Louis Stevenson and shared some interesting finds. One of these was that Stevenson was mistakenly buried on the neighbors land that overlooked Vailima. When the neighbors discovered the error they quickly deeded over the plot of land to his estate that now runs the museum. Stevenson was well liked by all on the island, including the native Samoans. After cooling off in the wonderful sea breeze that engulfs the estate we started out walk off the property. When we reached the main road, a taxi, with the Kiwi in the front seat stopped. He asked if we would like to share a ride into town and I accepted. When we arrived at the main road I took out some cash to pay the driver but the Kiwi would have none of it, so we thanked him and walked the last ¼ mile to the ship far a well deserved rest and a late lunch.
Tomorrow, a short blurb on Fiji.
UPS Lifer
Well-Known Member
Re: Around the world with Traveller
Traveler,
You may already know this...if not give it a try. Hopefully you still have the flower arrangement. Take the tall red flowers (they look like a pine cone) and smell them. You should smell nothing. Now squeeze them, let them go and smell them again. The fragrance is light and sweet. The fragrance oils are brought to the surface when you squeeze the leaves!!!
Traveler,
You may already know this...if not give it a try. Hopefully you still have the flower arrangement. Take the tall red flowers (they look like a pine cone) and smell them. You should smell nothing. Now squeeze them, let them go and smell them again. The fragrance is light and sweet. The fragrance oils are brought to the surface when you squeeze the leaves!!!
traveler
Where next? Venice
Re: Around the world with Traveller
Thanks for the hint Lifer. Unfortunately, New Zealand, our final stop, has strong restrictions on any flowers, meats and cheeses, etc. entering the country so the flowers stayed on the ship. A cute little beagle smells you and your possessions for contraband on the pier. We will try that next time though.
Thanks for the hint Lifer. Unfortunately, New Zealand, our final stop, has strong restrictions on any flowers, meats and cheeses, etc. entering the country so the flowers stayed on the ship. A cute little beagle smells you and your possessions for contraband on the pier. We will try that next time though.
DS
Fenderbender
Re: Around the world with Traveller
You got me so enthrawled I missed most of the hockey game!
I find it intriguing reading about places that, unless we win the lottery,we will never get to visit.Your writing is actually quite compelling ,and with only a few counrties so far,the book could become a must read in the future for anyone considering a cruise,or like me,who may never get the chance.
Keep 'em comin' traveller
No traveller...Thank YOU!
You got me so enthrawled I missed most of the hockey game!
I find it intriguing reading about places that, unless we win the lottery,we will never get to visit.Your writing is actually quite compelling ,and with only a few counrties so far,the book could become a must read in the future for anyone considering a cruise,or like me,who may never get the chance.
Keep 'em comin' traveller
traveler
Where next? Venice
Re: Around the world with Traveller
Another day, another port. This time it is Fiji:
Fiji is a group of over 300 islands. Some folks claim 100, some 900, I'm sure some of these are little more than tiny desert islands of less than one acre. This is the second time we have been here recently so much of this will be about the first time we visited. This time it rained heavily and we decided to simply use the local internet café. Last time we were here we walked to the local museum. It is a short walk past the local market that has mostly fruits and vegetables. These markets can be interesting but in some places, like here in Suva, Fiji, it is mostly a filthy local market. Surprisingly, the population here is 50% Indian (from India) 35% Fijian and 15% others. Once you walk past the market into town you find almost all the businesses run by Indians. The local museum is an interesting stop. Tiny by American standards but with plenty of local culture including a display of cannibal forks. It seems that cannibalism was practiced in many areas of the South Pacific even into the 20th century. There were small forks for eating eyeballs and brains and larger ones for other large chunks of body parts. The cannibals believed that eating their defeated opponents gave them their strength and at the same time dishonored the person being consumed. This though was never actually considered a source of food. The museum also claims to have the rudder from the HMS Bounty. We went to the "Arts Village". This is about 45 minutes out of town and is loaded with souvenir shops and a show that includes local fire walkers. This is the highlight of this part of the island. I have a childhood friend who lives on an outer island of Fiji and she says that Suva is not a very good tourist area but just about all the other islands are what you think of when the South Pacific comes to mind. One of these days we will visit other parts of Fiji.
Tomorrow, Bay of Islands in New Zealand.
Another day, another port. This time it is Fiji:
Fiji is a group of over 300 islands. Some folks claim 100, some 900, I'm sure some of these are little more than tiny desert islands of less than one acre. This is the second time we have been here recently so much of this will be about the first time we visited. This time it rained heavily and we decided to simply use the local internet café. Last time we were here we walked to the local museum. It is a short walk past the local market that has mostly fruits and vegetables. These markets can be interesting but in some places, like here in Suva, Fiji, it is mostly a filthy local market. Surprisingly, the population here is 50% Indian (from India) 35% Fijian and 15% others. Once you walk past the market into town you find almost all the businesses run by Indians. The local museum is an interesting stop. Tiny by American standards but with plenty of local culture including a display of cannibal forks. It seems that cannibalism was practiced in many areas of the South Pacific even into the 20th century. There were small forks for eating eyeballs and brains and larger ones for other large chunks of body parts. The cannibals believed that eating their defeated opponents gave them their strength and at the same time dishonored the person being consumed. This though was never actually considered a source of food. The museum also claims to have the rudder from the HMS Bounty. We went to the "Arts Village". This is about 45 minutes out of town and is loaded with souvenir shops and a show that includes local fire walkers. This is the highlight of this part of the island. I have a childhood friend who lives on an outer island of Fiji and she says that Suva is not a very good tourist area but just about all the other islands are what you think of when the South Pacific comes to mind. One of these days we will visit other parts of Fiji.
Tomorrow, Bay of Islands in New Zealand.
traveler
Where next? Venice
Re: Around the world with Traveller
"To Catch a Thief" is the movie, I believe.
I do like this option best!
"To Catch a Thief" is the movie, I believe.
I do like this option best!
traveler
Where next? Venice
Re: Around the world with Traveller
Our first stop in New Zealand was the Bay of Islands. The actual town was Paihia. After looking at the map and listening to the Port Lecturer on board I decided that this port was best approached using a ship sponsored tour. This was a "tender port" which means that the ship is to big to dock at any facility currently available. Also, in a tender port, usually the first folks to exit the ship are the paid tours. The folks setting out on their own have to get a "tender ticket" and wait for and available boat. I must say that this ship, the Statendam, was very well run and if you arose and get yourself ready early enough to get a number 1 or 2 ticket, you were able to get the very first tender before any of the tours were ready to go. That was the case in Laihina, Maui and here too but never count on that. Well, my estimations were correct. There were very few taxi's available and no rental cars to be had that I could see.
Our tour took us first to the Glow Worm Caves. The native guide at the cave gave us the history of the cave's discovery and also described these little critters we were about to see. The cave was formed by a stream that was bottled up on the far side of the hill. Little by little it wore its way through the hill as it is today. Eels live in the stream and one they call Elvis was summoned with a piece of meat in the water as we entered the cave. The stream is but a few inches deep and in a few minutes you could see Elvis' dorsal working its way upstream. We never did get a good look at him but he looked to be about a meter (3 feet) long. We were told that eels are the opposite of most fish since they live in fresh water most of their lives and go to the sea to spawn. The first section of the cave has some small stalactites but that is not its claim to fame. After going a few hundred yards in the guides lights are put out and looking at the ceiling is like looking at the stars on a cloudless night away from the city lights. The only difference is that all the "stars" are about the same size. These little critters live in their tiny hammocks while they dangle sticky lines down to catch the tiny flies that are attracted to the light. When one is caught, the haul them up for a meal. Sounds like on heck of a good life until you learn they spin cocoons after about 11 months, hatch as flies. They have mouths but cannot eat, they mate, lay eggs and die in about three days.
The next stop was the Kauri Forest. These trees are roughly their equivalent of our Redwood or Sequoia forests. The oldest tree is estimated to be 2,000 years old. They were logged extensively in the colonial period but thankfully some were saved. It is estimated that one of the larger trees contains enough wood to construct ten houses.
After the tour returned we immediately took the shuttle bus into town. There we walked a bit and settled into one of the small sidewalk café's for fish and chips. They sure do know how to do fish 'n chips, delicious. There is another town that is just a ferry boat ride across the bay but we didn't feel we had the time to explore that town, Russell, so we took a slow one mile walk back to the ship and observed the scenery.
Tauranga is tomorrow's port. A wonderful little town according to the Kiwi I met in Western Samoa but we didn't spend any time there except to drive through. More on that tomorrow.
Our first stop in New Zealand was the Bay of Islands. The actual town was Paihia. After looking at the map and listening to the Port Lecturer on board I decided that this port was best approached using a ship sponsored tour. This was a "tender port" which means that the ship is to big to dock at any facility currently available. Also, in a tender port, usually the first folks to exit the ship are the paid tours. The folks setting out on their own have to get a "tender ticket" and wait for and available boat. I must say that this ship, the Statendam, was very well run and if you arose and get yourself ready early enough to get a number 1 or 2 ticket, you were able to get the very first tender before any of the tours were ready to go. That was the case in Laihina, Maui and here too but never count on that. Well, my estimations were correct. There were very few taxi's available and no rental cars to be had that I could see.
Our tour took us first to the Glow Worm Caves. The native guide at the cave gave us the history of the cave's discovery and also described these little critters we were about to see. The cave was formed by a stream that was bottled up on the far side of the hill. Little by little it wore its way through the hill as it is today. Eels live in the stream and one they call Elvis was summoned with a piece of meat in the water as we entered the cave. The stream is but a few inches deep and in a few minutes you could see Elvis' dorsal working its way upstream. We never did get a good look at him but he looked to be about a meter (3 feet) long. We were told that eels are the opposite of most fish since they live in fresh water most of their lives and go to the sea to spawn. The first section of the cave has some small stalactites but that is not its claim to fame. After going a few hundred yards in the guides lights are put out and looking at the ceiling is like looking at the stars on a cloudless night away from the city lights. The only difference is that all the "stars" are about the same size. These little critters live in their tiny hammocks while they dangle sticky lines down to catch the tiny flies that are attracted to the light. When one is caught, the haul them up for a meal. Sounds like on heck of a good life until you learn they spin cocoons after about 11 months, hatch as flies. They have mouths but cannot eat, they mate, lay eggs and die in about three days.
The next stop was the Kauri Forest. These trees are roughly their equivalent of our Redwood or Sequoia forests. The oldest tree is estimated to be 2,000 years old. They were logged extensively in the colonial period but thankfully some were saved. It is estimated that one of the larger trees contains enough wood to construct ten houses.
After the tour returned we immediately took the shuttle bus into town. There we walked a bit and settled into one of the small sidewalk café's for fish and chips. They sure do know how to do fish 'n chips, delicious. There is another town that is just a ferry boat ride across the bay but we didn't feel we had the time to explore that town, Russell, so we took a slow one mile walk back to the ship and observed the scenery.
Tauranga is tomorrow's port. A wonderful little town according to the Kiwi I met in Western Samoa but we didn't spend any time there except to drive through. More on that tomorrow.
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Re: Around the world with Traveller
Excellent reports Traveler! I feel like I've been there already. I tried keeping a travel journal on my last trip down under, although the majority of my writing time ended up being spent penning postcards to friends and relatives. My brother-in-law wanted me to send his family a postcard from every destination I made, which I did. I even managed to send one from the Great Barrier Reef, as the Agincourt Reef has an Australia Post box stationed on the pontoon. Postcards mailed from there receive a special Great Barrier Reef postmark.
Anyway, if you don't mind my asking Traveler, do you use any guidebooks when trip planning? If yes, which series do you prefer? In my case, although guides like Foder's, Frommer's and DK Eyewitness Guides are quite good, I lean on Lonely Planet the most. At least for Australia, I think they have the best guides. I was able to surprise my Aussie relatives with some of the knowledge I picked up from reading their guides and had one of best meals I ever ate was with one of their restaurant recommendations for Darwin. At least for me, I found their guides to be the most comprehensive, especially if one is wondering what attractions one can find in the surrounding area from one's primary destination.
Second, I browsed your photo gallery Lifer and now you have me intrigued with Santorini Island. If I should make it back to Europe, I'll put that destination on my list for sure. Sorting out photos after your trip can be quite a project. Overall, I'm happy with the pictures I took on my last trip, although I lost some of them when I was transferring them from my card reader to PC. I think the card reader memory buffer flaked on me. To remedy that this time, I recently purchased a photo bank. A photo bank is basically a mini hand-held hard drive for saving your photos to while on the road. One doesn't have to lug a laptop around and backing up your cards is easy. All you have to do is plug your card into the slot on the side of the device, turn it on and hit the copy button. When you want to retrieve the photos on the drive, all you have to do is connect it to your PC with a USB cable and do whatever you want to do with them from there. Having this device with me on my next trip should give me a piece of mind.
Looking forward to your next report from New Zealand Traveler. I know its tough taking pictures of monster sized trees or trying to capture the essence of a rain forest. Where the heck do you aim your camera!?
Excellent reports Traveler! I feel like I've been there already. I tried keeping a travel journal on my last trip down under, although the majority of my writing time ended up being spent penning postcards to friends and relatives. My brother-in-law wanted me to send his family a postcard from every destination I made, which I did. I even managed to send one from the Great Barrier Reef, as the Agincourt Reef has an Australia Post box stationed on the pontoon. Postcards mailed from there receive a special Great Barrier Reef postmark.
Anyway, if you don't mind my asking Traveler, do you use any guidebooks when trip planning? If yes, which series do you prefer? In my case, although guides like Foder's, Frommer's and DK Eyewitness Guides are quite good, I lean on Lonely Planet the most. At least for Australia, I think they have the best guides. I was able to surprise my Aussie relatives with some of the knowledge I picked up from reading their guides and had one of best meals I ever ate was with one of their restaurant recommendations for Darwin. At least for me, I found their guides to be the most comprehensive, especially if one is wondering what attractions one can find in the surrounding area from one's primary destination.
Second, I browsed your photo gallery Lifer and now you have me intrigued with Santorini Island. If I should make it back to Europe, I'll put that destination on my list for sure. Sorting out photos after your trip can be quite a project. Overall, I'm happy with the pictures I took on my last trip, although I lost some of them when I was transferring them from my card reader to PC. I think the card reader memory buffer flaked on me. To remedy that this time, I recently purchased a photo bank. A photo bank is basically a mini hand-held hard drive for saving your photos to while on the road. One doesn't have to lug a laptop around and backing up your cards is easy. All you have to do is plug your card into the slot on the side of the device, turn it on and hit the copy button. When you want to retrieve the photos on the drive, all you have to do is connect it to your PC with a USB cable and do whatever you want to do with them from there. Having this device with me on my next trip should give me a piece of mind.
Looking forward to your next report from New Zealand Traveler. I know its tough taking pictures of monster sized trees or trying to capture the essence of a rain forest. Where the heck do you aim your camera!?
traveler
Where next? Venice
Re: Around the world with Traveller
I am an avid reader of Conde Nast Traveler magazine. I clip the articles that I feel will be useful in the future. I am also a huge fan of the internet for current information. Third source is the shore excursion guides that various cruise company's publish. Most can be had in glossy print and at no cost from the cruise line or accessed easily on their web site and printed out. I just researched our next trip that includes some ports in Brazil and found this site to be quite useful for Salvador da Bahia. http://www.bahia-online.net/ The general info applies to all of Brazil. Lastly, we always ask for a round table for eight on a ship. Often, we meet folks who are as well or more traveled that we are. I keep my ears open during conversations and learn more than you can find in any book. Once in a while you end up sitting with some real duds but happily, most of the time people who like these larger tables are fun to be with and keep up a lively conversation each night. Also, some good friendships are made there.
Just a note on Santorini... we were there about seven years ago, in the off season. The place is beautiful but pretty much shut tighter than a clam then. I'm sure the in season costs more but it will be well worth the additional cost.
On the subject of photos, I love to take pictures but hate to carry a camera. I also hate to be seen as a tourist with a camera hanging around my neck. Guess that goes back to carrying packages for a couple of years when I started at UPS. I have a Sony T100 that is a small, in fact tiny camera that fits in either my pocket or a small case on my belt, has 8.1 mega-pixels with a 5X optical zoom that is all internal. In other words, no lens pops out even when you zoom in. I invested in an 8 gig media that holds about 2,500 pictures at the highest resolution! That means I don't have to download at all if the trip is less than a month. It also takes great movie clips. I do carry an extra 2 gig media and a second battery, both of which are quite small just in case.
I am an avid reader of Conde Nast Traveler magazine. I clip the articles that I feel will be useful in the future. I am also a huge fan of the internet for current information. Third source is the shore excursion guides that various cruise company's publish. Most can be had in glossy print and at no cost from the cruise line or accessed easily on their web site and printed out. I just researched our next trip that includes some ports in Brazil and found this site to be quite useful for Salvador da Bahia. http://www.bahia-online.net/ The general info applies to all of Brazil. Lastly, we always ask for a round table for eight on a ship. Often, we meet folks who are as well or more traveled that we are. I keep my ears open during conversations and learn more than you can find in any book. Once in a while you end up sitting with some real duds but happily, most of the time people who like these larger tables are fun to be with and keep up a lively conversation each night. Also, some good friendships are made there.
Just a note on Santorini... we were there about seven years ago, in the off season. The place is beautiful but pretty much shut tighter than a clam then. I'm sure the in season costs more but it will be well worth the additional cost.
On the subject of photos, I love to take pictures but hate to carry a camera. I also hate to be seen as a tourist with a camera hanging around my neck. Guess that goes back to carrying packages for a couple of years when I started at UPS. I have a Sony T100 that is a small, in fact tiny camera that fits in either my pocket or a small case on my belt, has 8.1 mega-pixels with a 5X optical zoom that is all internal. In other words, no lens pops out even when you zoom in. I invested in an 8 gig media that holds about 2,500 pictures at the highest resolution! That means I don't have to download at all if the trip is less than a month. It also takes great movie clips. I do carry an extra 2 gig media and a second battery, both of which are quite small just in case.
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Re: Around the world with Traveller
You do meet some interesting people. I met an English couple who were taking a year off from their careers to sail around Australia, for example. They were taking alternate 3 hour shifts sailing, which kept them very alert. The wife was very adept at spotting wildlife in Kakadu everyone else missed.
The internet is a great travel tool. I just finished booking this upcoming trip and booked virtually everything online. In a couple of instances where a secure server wasn't available for sending your credit card info, I sent faxes instead.
You do meet some interesting people. I met an English couple who were taking a year off from their careers to sail around Australia, for example. They were taking alternate 3 hour shifts sailing, which kept them very alert. The wife was very adept at spotting wildlife in Kakadu everyone else missed.
The internet is a great travel tool. I just finished booking this upcoming trip and booked virtually everything online. In a couple of instances where a secure server wasn't available for sending your credit card info, I sent faxes instead.
traveler
Where next? Venice
Re: Around the world with Traveller
Today, it's Tauranga, New Zealand. I had a car rental all set up for pickup at the local airport. Listening to the Port Lecturer, I found out that there would be car rentals ready at the pier. In any case, we had a car available. We invited a couple at our table to join us for the day and they were pleased with our invitation. We agreed to meet for breakfast just before the ship was to be cleared the proceed ashore. Well, the Lecturer was correct, there were cars available at the pier. They were a few bucks more but that would avoid the 15 minute taxi ride to the airport plus the cost for that. I decided to rent at the pier so while filling out the paperwork, I borrowed the renters cell phone to cancel our other reservation. As I was finishing the paperwork, they mentioned that there were only standard shift cars that were not yet spoken for. No problem I thought so I agreed not thinking that while driving on the left side of the road and keeping my mind opposite of all I was taught I would also need to shift with my left hand! All this and the New Zealanders love their traffic circles (round-abouts as they are locally called). We planned to drive to the town of Rotorua. My original idea was to Zorb there. Ah, what is Zorbing you may ask. That is a form of entertainment where you get into a giant clear plastic ball and are rolled down a hill. A bit nutty but it sounded like fun to me. That was not to be as it turned out.
Rotorua was about 45 minutes away via the road the rental agent recommended. Once we left Tauranga and its many roundabouts the drive became much easier on a nicely paved, two lane country road with a 100 KPH speed limit. We knew we were arriving in the area when the sulfur smell began to invade the car. First stop was the local tourist info center. A friendly agent there helped us with a decision on what to do. Since our guests were a bit older that we were and I was the only one with an interest in Zorbing we decided to go to a park called Te Papa. There, we learned were geysers, hot mud pools and tours of the grounds. When we got there we found that there was an available show that started in just a few minutes along with a guided tour of the grounds. We were up for that. Well, the show was great and showed many Maori dances and ceremonies. After that, we were guided through their small Kiwi house. The flightless Kiwi bird is nocturnal so with the low lights, pictures were not possible. Also, no pictures were allowed. I'm sure that is due to the fact that many folks cannot figure out how to shut off the flash on their cameras. We spent the better part of the day a exploring the park and when I can figure out how to show you the video clips I took, you will see them too. After we left, I knew our guests wanted to find "possum fur cloves" like they purchased on their last visit to the country. We went back into Rotorua and were successful in our quest. They bought possum fur socks and gloves. My wife and I refrained from any purchase since Florida tends not to be cold enough to make use of these. They are extremely soft and comfortable though. By that time it was getting late and Zorbing was not to be. I did decide since we had a little extra time to take a different route back for two reasons... it looked shorter on the map and I hate to retrace my path since I've seen it before. On the way back, I found out why the agent sent us the way he did. The road, for a good portion, 30 kilometers or so, was similar to the road to Hana in Maui including quite a few one lane bridges. After the road straightened out again, I noticed a handmade sign advertising Golden Kiwis. Having never heard of these before we had to stop and investigate. It turned out that a bag of these golden kiwis, a dozen in all, were for sale at $3.00. Not bad, so we and our guests decided to split a bag. On paying for these, we mentioned that we had never seen or heard of these fruits before. The woman, who I assumed owned the stand told us that they were a new variety that were recently developed and offered a taste of the fruits. She proceeded to scoop up four kiwis and cut them in half, gave us little plastic spoons and welcomed us to enjoy the flavor. Surprised at her generosity we all took a half and scooped out a mouthful. They are delicious and much more sweet than the standard green kiwis. We did find out that they will be exporting the new variety to the USA in a year or two. We finished our trip back to the pier with only two wrong turns that were quickly remedied with U-Turns. I hoped that U-Turns were acceptable in New Zealand but I always had the excuse of being an unknowing tourist. We even had 20 minutes to spare! Wonderful adventure and I did find out that though Zorbing is now only in Rotorua they are building one in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. I'll be there when it's finished!
Tomorrow, Napier and a new adventure.
Today, it's Tauranga, New Zealand. I had a car rental all set up for pickup at the local airport. Listening to the Port Lecturer, I found out that there would be car rentals ready at the pier. In any case, we had a car available. We invited a couple at our table to join us for the day and they were pleased with our invitation. We agreed to meet for breakfast just before the ship was to be cleared the proceed ashore. Well, the Lecturer was correct, there were cars available at the pier. They were a few bucks more but that would avoid the 15 minute taxi ride to the airport plus the cost for that. I decided to rent at the pier so while filling out the paperwork, I borrowed the renters cell phone to cancel our other reservation. As I was finishing the paperwork, they mentioned that there were only standard shift cars that were not yet spoken for. No problem I thought so I agreed not thinking that while driving on the left side of the road and keeping my mind opposite of all I was taught I would also need to shift with my left hand! All this and the New Zealanders love their traffic circles (round-abouts as they are locally called). We planned to drive to the town of Rotorua. My original idea was to Zorb there. Ah, what is Zorbing you may ask. That is a form of entertainment where you get into a giant clear plastic ball and are rolled down a hill. A bit nutty but it sounded like fun to me. That was not to be as it turned out.
Rotorua was about 45 minutes away via the road the rental agent recommended. Once we left Tauranga and its many roundabouts the drive became much easier on a nicely paved, two lane country road with a 100 KPH speed limit. We knew we were arriving in the area when the sulfur smell began to invade the car. First stop was the local tourist info center. A friendly agent there helped us with a decision on what to do. Since our guests were a bit older that we were and I was the only one with an interest in Zorbing we decided to go to a park called Te Papa. There, we learned were geysers, hot mud pools and tours of the grounds. When we got there we found that there was an available show that started in just a few minutes along with a guided tour of the grounds. We were up for that. Well, the show was great and showed many Maori dances and ceremonies. After that, we were guided through their small Kiwi house. The flightless Kiwi bird is nocturnal so with the low lights, pictures were not possible. Also, no pictures were allowed. I'm sure that is due to the fact that many folks cannot figure out how to shut off the flash on their cameras. We spent the better part of the day a exploring the park and when I can figure out how to show you the video clips I took, you will see them too. After we left, I knew our guests wanted to find "possum fur cloves" like they purchased on their last visit to the country. We went back into Rotorua and were successful in our quest. They bought possum fur socks and gloves. My wife and I refrained from any purchase since Florida tends not to be cold enough to make use of these. They are extremely soft and comfortable though. By that time it was getting late and Zorbing was not to be. I did decide since we had a little extra time to take a different route back for two reasons... it looked shorter on the map and I hate to retrace my path since I've seen it before. On the way back, I found out why the agent sent us the way he did. The road, for a good portion, 30 kilometers or so, was similar to the road to Hana in Maui including quite a few one lane bridges. After the road straightened out again, I noticed a handmade sign advertising Golden Kiwis. Having never heard of these before we had to stop and investigate. It turned out that a bag of these golden kiwis, a dozen in all, were for sale at $3.00. Not bad, so we and our guests decided to split a bag. On paying for these, we mentioned that we had never seen or heard of these fruits before. The woman, who I assumed owned the stand told us that they were a new variety that were recently developed and offered a taste of the fruits. She proceeded to scoop up four kiwis and cut them in half, gave us little plastic spoons and welcomed us to enjoy the flavor. Surprised at her generosity we all took a half and scooped out a mouthful. They are delicious and much more sweet than the standard green kiwis. We did find out that they will be exporting the new variety to the USA in a year or two. We finished our trip back to the pier with only two wrong turns that were quickly remedied with U-Turns. I hoped that U-Turns were acceptable in New Zealand but I always had the excuse of being an unknowing tourist. We even had 20 minutes to spare! Wonderful adventure and I did find out that though Zorbing is now only in Rotorua they are building one in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. I'll be there when it's finished!
Tomorrow, Napier and a new adventure.
Re: Around the world with Traveller
Traveler,
Did your cruise ship pass by White Island? I'm looking at that as a possible day trip when I start working on my NZ itinerary.
I had no problems adjusting to right-hand drive, although I was in Australia for a while before I hopped into a rental car. I also drove right-hand drive cars while I was stationed in the U.K. from my military days. The only thing which threw me off was the signal indicators and wipers being on opposite sides. On my first rental day, I kept turning on the wipers instead of the turn signals.
Whenever I finally get to NZ, I'll probably rent a car for North Island and pick up another rental when I reach South Island. I've read breaking into cars is a problem in some areas, especially where trail heads are for tramping (hiking). I guess I'll have to take a shuttle bus to reach those areas and park the car in a secure lot.
New Zealand is definitely adventure land. Whoever is into bungee jumping, sky diving, white water rafting, speed boating, etc., should find themselves in heaven. I'm content with tramping and kayaking, although I'll probably have a go at activities like caving and zorbing.
Traveler,
Did your cruise ship pass by White Island? I'm looking at that as a possible day trip when I start working on my NZ itinerary.
I had no problems adjusting to right-hand drive, although I was in Australia for a while before I hopped into a rental car. I also drove right-hand drive cars while I was stationed in the U.K. from my military days. The only thing which threw me off was the signal indicators and wipers being on opposite sides. On my first rental day, I kept turning on the wipers instead of the turn signals.
Whenever I finally get to NZ, I'll probably rent a car for North Island and pick up another rental when I reach South Island. I've read breaking into cars is a problem in some areas, especially where trail heads are for tramping (hiking). I guess I'll have to take a shuttle bus to reach those areas and park the car in a secure lot.
New Zealand is definitely adventure land. Whoever is into bungee jumping, sky diving, white water rafting, speed boating, etc., should find themselves in heaven. I'm content with tramping and kayaking, although I'll probably have a go at activities like caving and zorbing.
traveler
Where next? Venice
Re: Around the world with Traveller
I'm sure we passed hundreds of islands off the New Zealand coast but I don't specifically remember White Island.
I could not count how many times I turned on the windshield wipers when making turns. Fortunately, there was a light mist most of the day while we drove so I didn't look too much like a tourist, read American. The only other time I drove on the right was in Ocho Rios, Jamaica in the mid 60's. We flew to Montego Bay with another couple and took a bus ride to our hotel in Ocho Rios which, at that time, was little more than a wide spot in the road. There was one traffic circle that had three options - Kingston, Montego Bay or the little fishing village just a few miles east of our hotel. My buddies wife didn't like how fast I drove at that time so she made her husband promise to rent the car and drive for the entire week. When he left our hotel the first day and went around the circle, he ended up on the right side of the road with a semi hauling a loaded 40 footer bearing down on us, air horn blasting. We made it off the road, half in a ditch. Without a word, he got out of the drivers seat came around to my side, I picked up on the implied signal and circled to the drivers seat which I used for the remainder of the trip. I did drive slower than my normal pace as a courtesy to his wife. To this day we are all still good friends and when we meet still have a laugh about that incident. We now live about 1,000 miles apart so that's no too often.
From some of the rental agencies you are able to rent a car and drive on both the North and South Islands. There is a ferry in Wellington that you can take to "Island hop" between North and South.
I'm sure we passed hundreds of islands off the New Zealand coast but I don't specifically remember White Island.
I could not count how many times I turned on the windshield wipers when making turns. Fortunately, there was a light mist most of the day while we drove so I didn't look too much like a tourist, read American. The only other time I drove on the right was in Ocho Rios, Jamaica in the mid 60's. We flew to Montego Bay with another couple and took a bus ride to our hotel in Ocho Rios which, at that time, was little more than a wide spot in the road. There was one traffic circle that had three options - Kingston, Montego Bay or the little fishing village just a few miles east of our hotel. My buddies wife didn't like how fast I drove at that time so she made her husband promise to rent the car and drive for the entire week. When he left our hotel the first day and went around the circle, he ended up on the right side of the road with a semi hauling a loaded 40 footer bearing down on us, air horn blasting. We made it off the road, half in a ditch. Without a word, he got out of the drivers seat came around to my side, I picked up on the implied signal and circled to the drivers seat which I used for the remainder of the trip. I did drive slower than my normal pace as a courtesy to his wife. To this day we are all still good friends and when we meet still have a laugh about that incident. We now live about 1,000 miles apart so that's no too often.
From some of the rental agencies you are able to rent a car and drive on both the North and South Islands. There is a ferry in Wellington that you can take to "Island hop" between North and South.
Re: Around the world with Traveller
Thanks for posting more. In addition to the natural wonders, I plan to take in some Maori culture as well, although I'm going to need a crash course on how to pronounce the names of some of those New Zealand towns. Did your group get to perform the Haka Traveler? The All Blacks have it down: http://www.allblacks.com/. The All Blacks vs. the Wallabies (the Australian national team) is a rivalry just as strong as Red Sox vs. Yankees, Duke vs. North Carolina, etc. My Aussie uncle is a Wallabies supporter and he gave me a Wallabies hat as a gift. Whenever the All Blacks lose, New Zealand goes into national mourning.
In regards to car rentals, I'll have to look over some rental agreements. I know there are restrictions on where you can take your rental. At this stage anyway, I'm thinking of flying into Auckland, staying a few days to get my bearing, then fly to Christchurch and pick up a car there for touring South Island. After completing the South Island loop, I'll fly back up to Auckland and pick up another car and circuit North Island. Once the circuit is complete, drop the car in Auckland and fly home. New Zealand does present some logistical challenges for building an itinerary, given it's geographical shape.
Thanks for posting more. In addition to the natural wonders, I plan to take in some Maori culture as well, although I'm going to need a crash course on how to pronounce the names of some of those New Zealand towns. Did your group get to perform the Haka Traveler? The All Blacks have it down: http://www.allblacks.com/. The All Blacks vs. the Wallabies (the Australian national team) is a rivalry just as strong as Red Sox vs. Yankees, Duke vs. North Carolina, etc. My Aussie uncle is a Wallabies supporter and he gave me a Wallabies hat as a gift. Whenever the All Blacks lose, New Zealand goes into national mourning.
In regards to car rentals, I'll have to look over some rental agreements. I know there are restrictions on where you can take your rental. At this stage anyway, I'm thinking of flying into Auckland, staying a few days to get my bearing, then fly to Christchurch and pick up a car there for touring South Island. After completing the South Island loop, I'll fly back up to Auckland and pick up another car and circuit North Island. Once the circuit is complete, drop the car in Auckland and fly home. New Zealand does present some logistical challenges for building an itinerary, given it's geographical shape.