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Traditional Maori greeting - the hongi
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If
there’s an ideal holiday plan, it must include a little of a lot of things and the
first item on my list is the absence of work.
I was already knee-deep in so much work that while travel plans were being
made, I left it to my sister and sister-in-law to discuss and agree on the
itinerary and activities. Much closer to
the travel dates, I tuned into the discussions and learnt that we will meet
with my nephew, Aaron and his girlfriend in Sydney airport and leave together
for Auckland, New Zealand. The first
sector of our trip is a self-drive journey from Auckland Airport to Lake Taupo
and a car with sufficient space for six adults and our luggage, is reserved for
collection on our arrival.
This
is our first visit to a region where there is active volcanic activity and one of
our most significant experiences must be the pungent pong of hydrogen sulphide
in our nostrils. While its pong
resembles rotten eggs and is especially strong in and around Rotorua, it is still
bearable and will not be missed. Once we
are out of that region, the air somehow tastes sweeter!
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| On the Boardwalk built across steaming mud pools! |
We
only read about it or watch it on TV documentaries so it’s especially
fascinating for us to experience the hissing steam from little bore holes in
the volcanic walls and watch bubbling pools of boiling mud. And it’s truly a rare experience to watch a
geyser shoot up into the air! The brochure
said that the Lady Knox geyser gives a daily show at 10.15am so we make it a
point to arrive well in advance to avoid missing any action. But we wondered how the geyser is timed for a
daily show on a fixed schedule and speculated wildly with many theories about
how it works…
Our
curiosity is satisfied when the host gave a brief introduction on the discovery
of this geyser hundreds of years ago. At
that time, prisoners were brought in to replant the forests and after their
work, they would bathe and wash their clothes in the heated water of nearby springs. Apparently, one day the prisoners were
washing their clothes in the stream when detergent from their wash caused a
reaction with the minerals in the water.
This resulted in an exploding geyser which threw the shocked prisoners
and their clothes far and wide!
Since
this discovery, the prisoners used to deliberately cause the geyser to erupt
for their own entertainment. So based on
this principle, our host is now able to make the geyser sprout at the appointed
time for the show every day!
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Green pool at Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland
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At
the Wai-O-Tapu (Sacred Waters) Thermal Wonderland it’s exciting to see the wide
range of colours of water caused by different mineral elements in the
geothermal areas – green for colloidal sulphur/ferrous salts, orange for
antimony, purple for manganese oxide, white for silica, Yellow for sulphur,
Red-Brown for iron oxide and Black for sulphur and carbon. I’m not any good at Chemistry but it’s still fascinating
to see the wonders of Nature and its beautiful shades of natural colours.
The
various collapsed craters and rock formations are given descriptive and obvious
names like Devil’s Home, Rainbow Crater, Devil’s Ink Pots, Artist’s Palette,
Opal Pool, The Champagne Pool, Inferno Crater and Devil’s Bath. Walking across the Terrace on the Boardwalk
is an experience unique to Wai-O-Tapu as the structure cuts across the terrace,
and we are bordered by steaming pools on either side!
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John with his demo of the Maori haka
expression - tongue out and eyes bulging! |
A
visit to New Zealand is not complete without a Maori experience and I’m delighted
to learn that dinner reservations have been made with the Mitai Maori Village
in Rotorua. From the welcome and
introduction, I’m already impressed with how things are handled with experience
and a professional touch. Of course,
John, our host plays a vital role and he is quick to “break the ice” among the
guests who joined the dinner. From his
ice-breaking activities, I discover that besides us, there were people from US,
UK, several European countries and from Australia or “Across the Ditch” – as
how the Kiwis say it to poke fun at their neighbours!
The
Village is sprawled across 10 acres of land, built around a stream fed by
natural springs. I later found out that
this is a family-run business set up 10 years ago and the 79-year old family
patriarch is still contributing by playing a saxophone to provide jazzy
background music as we settled in and during our dinner. The entire experience at the Maori Village is
so entertaining and interesting that before the evening is over, I had decided
to write a separate piece on it.
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Check out the wet but very brave four on the last row!
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Back
at Taupo, we used the informative map as a guide to the various sites around
the area and it is easy to follow the clearly signposted routes to many
attractions. The Huka Falls provided us
with at least three different yet exciting activities – watching the dam open,
joining the river cruise to the falls and getting an adrenalin rush in a Rapids
Jet ride!
The
skipper of the boat in the Huka Falls river cruise invited us on board and told
us to help ourselves to hot tea as the winds are so chilly. Inside the cabin, the ceiling and walls are
taped with real bank notes from nations worldwide – an indication of
multi-national guests who have boarded his boat – and my brother even spotted a
Malaysia Ten Ringgit note there! The
skipper is a fountain of information and he skillfully guided the boat on
fiercely foaming water close to the falls as a large crowd watched us from the
cliffs at the top of the falls.
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There's even a RM10 among all that money!
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We
choose to sit outside the cabin in the rear of the boat to enjoy the fresh air
and almost at the last minute before we pushed off, a young Chinese lady jumped
on board to join us. As we enjoy the
sights and experience, I start a conversation with the young lady – politely
including her in our chit-chat (as she is alone and can obviously hear us!) Then we learnt that she was apparently,
hiking around the area and had lost her way.
When she met the skipper, he invited her to join the cruise before he
closed for the day and then take her back to town. So there she was among us.
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Kota Tinggi girls meet on Huka Falls
cruise, Taupo, New Zealand! |
It’s
super uncanny to discover that she is not only from Malaysia but even from Kota
Tinggi, Johor! My sister-in-law, who also
hails from Kota Tinggi, has more in common with her and it was fun to see them
exchanging info as we cruise along. What
are the chances of us Johoreans, meeting another traveller from Johor at the
Huka Falls cruise in Taupo, New Zealand?
Huh?
From
our accommodation at the Taupo Lakeside Villas, we enjoy a panoramic view of
the majestic mountain range as a beautiful backdrop to the lake. Every morning, after we admire the
snow-capped mountains, cameras are whipped out to snap shot after shot and we picked
a date to go up Mount Ruapehu, one of the snowy peaks in the Whakapapa National
Park. It was simply exciting to drive towards
the mountains, park the car and walk up the path to the snowy foothills.
After
hiring the ski equipment at the ticket office, we agreed to take a sightseeing
trip to the peak before going to the lower slopes to ski. The tour to the peak is by chair lifts and I
can see people hopping on and off the chairs as the cable keep moving in a
non-stop circuit. There is no cabin or
enclosure but open seats with just a safety bar across the front. I have no time to consider its implications
and suddenly it’s our turn. I follow the
instructions to step up to the line and as I allow the chair to scoop me up,
I’m swung up into the air with my legs dangling down!! Ruby and I are so absorbed with boarding the lift
that we almost forget to lower the safety bar!
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Riding the ski chair at Mt Ruapehu
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It’s
simply breath-taking to be lifted off into the sky with the wind whipping
around us, facing an amazing panoramic vista of dazzling snow with tiny skiers
zipping along the slopes below. The
return ride is even more nerve-wracking and I keep my eyes squeezed tightly shut
at the lift-off point because not only is descending a different experience,
there is also a sheer drop below! When the
chair lurched forward with its momentum, I refuse to imagine what can happen if
we did not pull the safety bar down on time!
Even as I look back on it now, I do not know how I did it but I did
it!
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| Ruby [Left] and me on the ski chair! |
All
too soon, our New Zealand adventure must come to an end. We leave Taupo for a leisurely 3.5-hour drive
along the Thermal Explorer Highway back to Auckland to catch our flight to
Perth for the next leg of our holiday. I
have the privilege of the front passenger seat while the map-readers and navigators
in the rear chat and loll in pleasant slumber in the morning cool. About an hour before reaching Auckland
Airport, traffic is significantly heavier on the single-lane highway. Just as we are heading into an underpass, a
4WD vehicle towing a small trailer loaded with large sacks is coming towards us
and suddenly lost control, crashed to the left side of the road while its
trailer swung and hit the car in front of us!
The
car and its elderly driver were slammed to the right edge of the road, pinned under
airbags and his door jammed on the wall of the underpass. Aaron, at the wheel and I who witnessed the
entire accident, yelled in reflex and stopped our car. The driver of the 4WD hopped out, unhurt and looked
clearly distressed. I saw people making
phone calls and as my nephew, brother and sister-in-law went to try to help, we
are relieved to learn that the man trapped in his car is all right but in
shock. In a few minutes, when an
ambulance and other rescue teams arrived, we followed the locals who turned
their cars around to take a detour and continued our journey to the
airport.
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| Family bonding at Freemantle |
It’s
late and cold when we arrive in Perth but my nephew, Andrew and his wife, are
waiting to pick us. The next few days
are filled with sightseeing and renewing of our acquaintance with friends and
their families who have moved to Perth. Throughout
our stay, we shared plenty of food [separate stories!] and fellowship and a wonderful
time of family bonding.
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| Friendly Ted and I at The Lily |
Later
in the week, Andrew and his wife took us South to visit Albany and we stayed at
The Lily, a charming Dutch Windmill with self-catered accommodation at the
foothills of the Stirling Range. This is
where I met Ted. He’s not known as the
world’s friendliest Border Collie for nothing because even before we were introduced,
he approached me with a tennis ball in his mouth and dropped it in front of
me. I have no other choice but to
respond by throwing the ball and Ted raced off to retrieve it, only to bring
back to my feet and drop it there for me to repeat the whole exercise!
I
deeply appreciate the privilege of taking this refreshing time-out from my
regular routine to share meaningful moments and make more memories with family
and friends in an extended stay.
At the Immigration
counter in Perth Airport, the stern-looking officer accepted my passport with
the completed departure form enclosed and he hardly gave me a glance. However as he returned my passport, he
cracked a smile and said in his Aussie drawl, “Hope you can write something
nice about Australia!” I’m sure I can
find something nice to write about so just wait a while for more of my travel
stories.
/pl
