Last Days

New Zealand

We learned that New Zealand is one of the most active areas in the world for earthquakes and volcanic activity.  

The first three volcanos in the graphic are New Zealand volcanos.  

We had a volcanologist with us explaining what we were seeing and not seeing.  He works primarily monitoring many of the 12 active volcanos in New Zealand.

He monitors Mt. Doom as it was called in the “Lord of the Rings” movies.  The top of the volcano is hidden and looks a bit ominous.  Its real name is a bit longer and harder to pronounce - Mt. Ngauruhoe.  Not far from it is a partially snow covered Ruapehu volcano.

Nearby is a lake with floating pumice rocks created and spewed by a nearby volcano.  Lots of air chambers in these rocks make them lighter than water.  All the 1 foot and 2 foot diameter pumice was claimed by the locals.   BTW, there is currently a documentary about a 2019 eruption in New Zealand on Netflix that took the lives of several cruise ship guests.  It’s called ”The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari”.

On some tours, walking sticks were offered when the walking surfaces were uneven.  Shari got to select one to try, but it made her balance worse, and she ended up carrying it back! 

 

The country bird and the nickname for New Zealanders is Kiwi.  They are a flightless bird very hard to find.  We didn’t find a real one, but we did find a special one.  

In the final days of our New Zealand extension, there were some pleasant surprises. 

They are not that tall, but they gush enough water to fill an Olympic size pool in one (1) second.  The flow is so strong that people rarely survive rafting or kayaking the falls, and fish cannot swim upstream.  On the way to the Falls you can see the origin of the stream as it takes water from Lake Taupo.

We spent the last day of our four-day extention on Waiheke Island.  It’s reached by a beautiful 40-minute ferry boat ride from Auckland. First we went to an olive oil place. The video explaining the entire process was exceptional as were the tastings. All the oil came from the island. Next we went to a winery with great-tasting wine made in New Zealand. Our third stop was to a restaurant where we had a three course meal. This trip took all day, but it ended up being our favorite day. 

Tonight we are spending our last night in Auckland.  While at the Sky Bar on the 50th floor of Sky Tower (like the Space Needle in Seattle), we noticed a ‘string’ of about 30 sail boats in the bay below us.  Auckland is the called The City of Sails.  One in three households owns a sailboat in Auckland.

For a finale to the vacation, we were visited by a rainbow for our farewell to Auckland.  It is one of many great places to visit in NZ!  

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!