Bay of Poverty, Hawkes Bay, Lake Taupo and beyond

Sept 23 Turangi

Raining, 8 degrees (about 47 Fahrenheit)

OK, I’ve downloaded Picassa. It’s beta for Macs so there is a learning curve and quirkiness to deal with. I’m re-captioning all the pictures so hang in there, I’ll post them when in the next few days (if wireless networks can handle the upload-really slow and problematic by our US standards but fine for email).

Day before yesterday was the first day of spring here, sunny but much cooler than our first few days. The roads are lined with trees just beginning to leaf-out adding a light, airy and magical quality to our drives.

Sept 19 Gisborne (Poverty Bay): Cap’t Cook extravaganza! First place the good Captain and his men set foot in New Zealand, Nick’s Head: white cliffs named for Young Nick who was the first crew member to sight land. Had a stroll around and a chat with 2 local car buffs after admiring their classic Mercedes.

Sept 20 Napier (Hawkes Bay) Napier is known for it’s Art Deco buildings. The town was destroyed by an 7.8 earthquake in 1931. Today the architecture is somewhat marred by commercial signs & empty businesses but a pleasant stroll, an award winning loo and sweeping views of the bay. Hawkes Bay ares is known for wines and the drive to Taupo passed by in a haze of forests, orchards, shorelines, sheep, cows, rivers, streams, not many petrol stations, and fairly light traffic. Arrived at Lake Taupo late in the afternoon on the 21st. Lake is huge and deep,the islands and peninsulas shrouded in the clouds and mists of early evening gave it a mystical feel.

Turangi : so far our favorite place. The little town is situated at southern end of Lake Taupo: Trout Fishing Capitol of the World. Rainbow trout were imported from California (a bit of a controversy as to exactly where in California) and the brown trout came from Europe. You can’t purchase trout to eat in a store or restaurant, you must catch them (restaurants very willing cook your catch). We stumbled upon Creel Lodge and a cozy self-contained unit with our own grove of Redwood trees which we immediately booked for 2 nights. After stocking up at the local market we had an early evening walk along the Tongariro River. Bill is not in touch with his manly hunting/fishing instincts so trout was not on our dinner menu. It’s fly fishing only on this stretch of the river with lots of fishermen rules & etiquette to follow. A few lone fisherman were wading out in the pools casting and reeling, we did not see any sign of fish. Our first home cooked meal: poached lemonfish (? apparently a large fish judging from the fillet size), baked kumara (a sweet potato, Maori staple), NZ asparagus, salad, NZ beer. This morning our host came by wearing a Sausalito Yacht Club hat-it turns out he’s quiet a sailor. He’s likes to pull our legs but he calls it “having a piss”. I’ll have to remember to use that one when I get home.