A day of driving.

Wednesday, after the caves we got in the van and started driving south. We knew we had to get to Masterson for the sheep shearing competition which was Friday. We got as far as Lake Taupo. It was raining a bunch, but as soon as we paid for our spot it started coming down a lot more. We were right on the side of the lake. The wind was blowing and the rain was beating down on the roof. Nick made dinner, we ate and then we slipped into bed. Let me say, all the driving really makes one exhausted.

Thursday morning we wake up, shower, have some grub and then hit the road again. We had to book it to Masterton because Nick booked us a spot for the night so we would be sure to have a place since the sheep shearing competition was on Friday. The landscape was amazing the whole day. It’s amazing what you can drive through in a day. We were in rolling hills green with grass and sheep or cows. Then out of nowhere, we were in the mountains with thick forests of pine trees. The forests were so thick; I’ve never seen anything like it. No sunlight could get through and it looked so dark and spooky, maybe that’s why Lord of the Rings was filmed here (yes, we passed the forest some of the film was filmed in, but we didn’t take any tours). We wouldn’t even realize we were on a mountain until we would come around the corner and you could see for miles below. One of the coolest memories we will both have is being at the top of a mountain, coming around the corner and there was a huge volcano! So let’s see, rolling hills, mountains, forests, a volcano and all around the volcano was desert. What an amazing terrain.

As we got closer to Masterton we noticed signs for a brewery called Tui. I was all for stopping for the hubster to try some beer. We were going to try and take the tour but we were an hour too late. It was three, tour was at two. Bummer deal. Nick decided he was still going to taste though. So he did. Three pints, and he got to keep the glass. But here’s the kick. We didn’t realize they were closing so soon so Nick had about three pints of beer in all of about 45 minutes….maybe less. So you can imagine, he was feeling pretty good by the time we left. Me on the other hand, I was a bit on the nervous side about driving. I hadn’t yet tried. All went well, though it was time for Nicholas to see just how nerve wracking being the passenger can be. With the van, you’re so high up you can see the road pretty well. And driving on the other side of the vehicle means you have to adjust to all the dimensions, only it’s a huge camper van and not a car. It’s very easy to veer to the left when you’re driving, haven’t quite figured out why that is, but we both did it. When you’re the passenger, and you can see the edge of the road….it’s intense. Especially because they don’t have those nice metal side rails here like they do in the States…you just drop right off!

Masterton was getting nearer and then Nick realized we’d have to go even farther than we thought. Our campsite was in Martinborough. We stopped in Carterton, a small town between Masterton and Martinborough to get some grub. Both of us were getting pretty hungry by this time. I had a Panini with chicken, bacon (it was supposed to have cranberry brie but I passed on the brie because you’re not supposed to have unpasteurized cheeses while brewing babies. Found out later, all cheese in NZ has to be pasteurized). Nick had a platter with mussels, sausages, salami, potatoes, beer battered fries, and a cream cheese stuffed pepper.

Martinborough was a quaint little place. Looking back on it, Nick and I both wished we’d spent more time there. We left in the morning to make I to the competition and didn’t go back down. It has been decided we wouldn’t be spending enough time here to see all the things we wanted to see while we were here. There were quite a few little wineries that would have been worth checking out in the area but the shearing contest was on our list of things we wanted to see and do so we had to miss out on other things.

We pulled into the campground and checked in. Nick hopped out of the van to get some soap from the front desk but they guy was already leaving. Nick said he was trying to get out in time to go to trivia night. He must have seen Nick walking towards the office because he got out of his car and walked over to Nick, who was on his way back to the van, and asked if he needed anything. When Nick told him what he needed, the man unlocked the office and got him the soap. I thought that was super nice. This was probably one of the nicest campgrounds we’d stayed at so far. The bathrooms were well kept which meant the showers were great too. We washed our clothes, put up some blogs, check the finances and went to bed.

Waitomo- Glow Worm Caves

March 2, 2011

Majestic and magical is what today was. The one thing I found while researching New Zealand that I really wanted to do was go to Waitomo and see the glow worm caves. So yesterday we arrived in Waitomo and checked into a Top 10 Holiday Park. This was our first night camping and the campsite wasn’t exactly what either of us imagined. We are used to more off the grid type camping. And by off the grid I’m not talking about backpacking- so maybe that’s an overstatement. Anyhow, we were set to go to site 20. We drive down the little dirt road and fid our spot. Right next to, and that’s not overstating, a van with two women campers. There was a pool, hot tub, hot showers, a kitchen area, BBQ, and a laundry mat. There were also very small cabins scattered around. All the cabins were occupied by a motor car enthusiast group. Let me say, there were a few pretty snazzy cars.

We sit down outside on the grass for probably about an hour. All the while discussing which route we wanted to take the next day. I finally had to go inside the camper because something was biting my legs and feet up. Nick seasoned the steaks, threw the fresh green beans in some foil with butter and salt and then headed over to the BBQ. He returned pretty quickly. I thought maybe someone was already there, but the truth was, Nick wasn’t even sure how the darned thing worked. It wasn’t until later that evening he found out it was more like a huge frying pan with a whole in the center to drain the grease. Nothing like the BBQ’s we have at home.

After breakfast this morning we decided to take a short drive up the road for a short bush walk recommended to us by the woman who checked us in the night before. It was a short 20 minute tramp (or what we call hike), but we got some good pictures. Again, I can’t even express how lush it is here. It’s almost like a tropical forest, or almost like we were walking through a jungle. Some of the tree trunks looked like they were actually spiraling around themselves. There were vines, really tall trees and some trees that looked like ferns. Nick calls them Fern Trees. I’m not sure if that’s what they really are, but they are pretty amazing.

We arrived at the place they were giving the glow worm tours, which was right next door to the campsite we just stayed in. Louisa, our tour guide introduced herself. I don’t think we could have asked for a better guide. I realize, to be a guide you must be somewhat of a people person; Louisa was much more. She was herself, and comfortable being just that. She told us she moved to New Zealand from England. She took holiday to New Zealand and when she went back home, she knew she had to go back and has been living there for the last 11 years now. She must have had a real passion for NZ because she was so knowledgeable about almost anything NZ. She was quite the purist too, making sure to mention many times not to leave ourselves behind and only to touch the handrails as not to disturb the naturalness of the caves. She is a “caver” herself and has such a respect for them. We all had to wear helmets with headlamps on them. Before we even entered the cave Louisa picked up a rock from the river and showed us the insects that the glow worms eat. The small river dwelling insects grow larger and are swept further down the river into the caves. They grow even larger still until they have wings and can fly. Since they were washed into the caves, they are in complete darkness and cannot see where they are going. All they see are the little tiny lights up on the ceilings of the caves, which are the glow worms. They think the light is a way out so they fly up towards them. Each glow worm hangs out in its own little hammock. All around their hammock is 30 stings of web they’ve set. Each string is covered in really thick and sticky mucus. When the insect flies towards the little lights, it gets stuck in the mucus covered stings. When the glow worm is hungry, which isn’t always when the insect gets caught, it finds the sting and sucks it up like a spaghetti noodle. Then it opens its massive jaw and down goes the bug. These glow worms aren’t very large at all, and when they are seen with a light shining on them, they look like little green worms with no glow. The glow comes from two chemicals the worm has in its bum. Together the chemicals do nothing, but when the worm is hungry and ready to feed, it opens up a small opening to let oxygen in and BAM, you have a glow worm. At one point during the tour we sat in a boat and were asked to turn off our headlamps and not to use our cameras. The more our eyes adjusted, the more you could see the glow worms on the ceiling. It was absolutely amazing. There were thousands of them. It looked like a starry sky. They actually lit up the darkness of the cave pretty good too! Not to mention the reflection off the water. I’ve never seen anything like it in my whole life! After getting off the boat we walked out of the cave holding onto the hand rails, using no light to get us out. It was pretty sweet to see all the worms we’d missed before because we had our lights on.

Louisa served us tea/coffee and biscuits and then we headed off to another cave. It was a completely different looking cave. This cave had stalagtites and stalagmites, much like the ones seen in the California caves. Although there was a section that opened right up, completely to the ground and sky above. It was erie and amazing to be looking up at the trees from the cave underground.

Fun facts Louisa taught us about NZ:

There were no mammals on NZ until humans arrived. Every mammal, including deer were introduced as a pet by someone. How crazy is that? A deer for a pet? Weird.

There are no snakes in NZ. Lizards, yes, snakes, no.

During our tour we met a couple from Santa Monica, CA, British Columbia, Australia (visiting for their third time) a girl from Japan and a man from Wales who was cycling from the South Island all the way to the top of the North Island. A lot of people gave us great ideas as to where to go next. 

I am master of the Atlas, Nick, he's "staying left!"

We go downstairs and ask the man at the desk if he can call us a cab. He asks where to, we show him the address and he says ok. We sit down and wait for the cab, which really only took about 5-10 minutes to get there. The man driving the cab was a bit hard to understand. I think part of it was because he kept rubbing his nose. Maybe he had some sort of tick, I’m not entirely sure. If he wasn’t rubbing his nose he was clicking the turn signal on then off. We found out he was from Fiji and was living in New Zealand because he could make better money. He said he only goes back when it’s something important, like someone died or is sick. He asked us where we were going and we told him. He had a bit of a time trying to understand us too. I even showed him the address because I’d written it down in my little black notebook. He really had no idea and asked Nick to look it up in the Atlas. For some reason he thought it was a different rent a van place and took us there first. We finally go to the correct place and the cab fare was something outrageous like $90, but he only made Nick pa $75. Crazy I tell you. I had to use the bathroom so bad I wasn’t around when this all went down. Luckily he pulled all the way into the place and got stuck because Nick came in and almost sat down at the desk of the rental place and then realized our laptop was still in the trunk. I ran out there, whistled like Mom always did when she was calling us home and told him our computer was in the trunk. He kindly opened it and let me take it out.

Finally, we were at the camper van rental place and starting to get excited. They made us watch a 15 minute video of how the thing works, how to empty the waste, how to turn on the water, gas and all that stuff. Then they told us the rules and made us sign away our first born child. Tough luck on that one buddy! He did mention we could drop the camper off with a full fridge of wine and beer and they wouldn’t be too badly upset about it. Then the man, I think his name was Ahn or something of the like, I heard him say it once, took us outside to look over the camper and show us firsthand how to do everything. I learned well from my Grandma! He was walking around and marking on a sheet of paper all the damage already done to the camper. The ding on the doors, the nicks from rocks being thrown up at it….wait a second there! He completely missed the crack in the mirror on the passenger side. It looked as if someone got too close to a tree branch or something. Anyhow, I spoke up and he wrote it down. I’ve got eyes like a hawk I tell you. Ok, ok mister, just let us get on the road already would you?

Finally on the road. Nick is driving. He’s doing a pretty good job considering he has to keep telling himself, “Keep to the left!” The camper is also manual so it’s a bit tricky. You see, the gears are the same as they are in the states, you’re just shifting with your left hand. Well, all would be easy if you ever drove with my Aunt Brenda or my friend Chris. This is how I learned to shift. I would shift for Aunt Brenda or Chris when they were driving. I have yet to test my abilities of driving in New Zealand and I’m a quite nervous about the whole thing in all honesty. One of us will have to be the designated driver after the wine tastings and being as I can’t partake, it will be me.

Since I’m not driving I’m in charge of the atlas and navigation. I’m not the best candidate for the job…well, I wasn’t if you’d asked me in the US. But here, I’m a master of the atlas and road maps. I hope it will stick when I get home. Who needs GPS anyways!?

We stopped off on a little rest area to get some lunch. We ended up getting burgers. They really weren’t the best but they filled our hunger. I ordered a milkshake with my burger too. Let me just say, a milkshake at that particular place is not like you’d get in the States. Not sure if all places have the same thing, but I still have time to find out. The milkshake was almost like they whipped the milk a bit and then added small chunks of ice. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t what I expected, so I’m not entirely sure if I’ll brave another go at it. Shortly after we got back on the road I got sort of excited because I saw a road called Bremner Road. I would have taken a picture of it for my mother-in-law but I didn’t see it in time and we were on the freeway going too fast. Nick was pretty excited about it too.

One of the things Nick found most exciting about the scenery as we were driving is how everything looks like it was landscaped. Every tree has its place and looks like it was supposed to be right in that exact place. It truly is a sight to see. There are lush trees all around and then you’re in a place where it looks like rolling hills, and next you’re in an area that looks like stacked rocks all over the place. There’s really nothing like it anywhere I’ve ever been.

We picked up groceries to make dinner. I decided I wanted to try a little Ginger Beer. No worries mates, it’s nonalcoholic! The lady rang it up and then put it where she was putting the groceries for me to load back up into our basket. Silly me, I dropped it and one of the tops came off the bottle. It started to squirt out all over. They told me they would go get me another one, but I insisted on taking the one I damaged. I just drank it when we got to the camper. Not bad, but it was much better later when it was chilled.

Finally we go to our  final destination, Waitomo.