More Traumatic experiences on holiday

 Hi there

I've just come back from a holiday.  I went to Mount Maunganui and Lake Taupo.

I caught Duckage (Swimmers' Itch) yet again.  This time, swimming in Lake Taupo.  Only a few big  blotches on my torso compared to my February swimming in Lake Wanaka.   As I was swimming this time, seven swans all in line, followed by a little ugly duckling, all paddled along right in front of me; I figured there was no hope for me after meeting them.  Swanage, anyone?

When I reached Mt Maunganui area I decided to climb to the very tippy-top of Mount Maunganui.  A Bucket List cross-off for me.  My goodness, it was tough.  I think the mountain is about 2300 metres high, straight up.  Young people bounded past me like mountain goats, older people not so much. It took me two days to recover from the hike that only lasted a couple of hours.  Felt like it lasted for months.

me, top of The Mount.

above:  just to prove I've reached the top of Mt Maunganui

On my way back to Wellington from The Mount, I stopped off again for a few nights in Taupo. 

I went to the newly gentrified Spa Park.  I sat on an under-water rock and let the warm thermal water from the hot spring run over me.  It was like being in a spa pool.  I hated it.  So, I went for a swim in the cold river instead.   Ahhh, much better..  

In the Taupo rental holiday home there was a very narrow driveway to the side of a very narrow doorless garage.  I scraped my car against the side frame of the garage.

Oops.  I went backward to try to get out of the situation - cruuuuuunnncchh...

I drove forward - cruuuunnnnccchh...

There were big gouges to the side of my car!

I rang my insurance company.  I sat on the front steps of the holiday rental and sobbed my eyes out.  I worried about those gouges all night.

The next morning I decided to go for a swim at the thermally-heated swimming pool.  All I took with me was a debit card, my holiday rental key, a towel, and my bathing suit. 

However ....

when I returned to my holiday rental, I put the key in the door, and it didn't work!  What?  Huh?  Oh no, I'd brought out with me the wrong key.  The proper key must be inside on the kitchen bench, along with my phone and four other keys that I never did find out what they were all supposed to open.

I sat on the front steps, and burst into tears.  My second bawling session in two days.

A lady from next door looked over the fence.  She called out "Have you locked yourself out, dear?  But don't worry, I have a key".  She waved it.

I forgave her for calling me "Dear".  I could have kissed her.  I did hug her. She said people had locked themselves out before, hence she had the keys to all three units.

On my way back to Wellington the next day I vowed never to travel again (Oh, yeah, really?" three cynical friends said to me next day).  As usual on the journey home, I tried not to drive over Transmission Gulley with its huge hills and also, as usual, I went around all the wrong turnings and ended going up Transmission Gulley after all.

Those 'gouges' on the side of my car?  I remembered I had some handy-dandy rubbing compound for cars.   The gouges disappeared as if by magic.  All that was left was a teeny spot about a quarter of an inch in diameter which I can daub over.  I tried ringing my insurance company to tell them but each time I rang, a disembodied voice told me there was at least a two hour wait, so I gave up.  Let them ring me....

Taupo, Acacia Bay

Hi there

I like Lake Taupo.  Last month I suddenly decided to go there for a few days and within one hour I had packed up and left the house.  Taupo is halfway up the North Island of New Zealand, about half a dozen hours' driving (well, my driving, anyway) from Wellington.

I discovered this lovely little cafe called L'Arte Cafe and Gallery.  Its about a ten minute drive from the bridge at the edge of Taupo township.  The cafe has a garden full of ceramic ornamental art flowers and ornaments, the likes of which can be purchased -

On the way to the cafe I stopped off and had a swim at Acacia Bay -

Taupo

Hi there

A few weeks ago I got it into my head that I'd like to go to Whitianga which is a coastal town higher up the North Island of New Zealand.  And so I went there.

I was in Whitianga for a week.  Lovely swimming, terrific weather.  So many things to see and places to go.  I ate a lot.  I drove there and back.  My driving is on borrowed time because of my poor eyesight.

  Driving back home, I thought that Lake Taupo looked beautiful, and the weather was extremely warm so. on the spur of the moment, I stayed in the town of Taupo for three nights.

On Thursday, it was so hot in Taupo that I had three swims in the lake over a period of an hour and a half.  As I was getting out of the water,  some scientific guys were arriving with signs that they dug into the ground declaring that the lake water was unsafe to swim in due to high levels of toxic algae bloom.  The guys took water samples and were warning people away from the lake.  Apparently swimmers could come down with rash, respiratory troubles, headaches, eye infections, etc.

I've warned my friends that the time to worry is when I start to glow in the dark, or mutate into a weird creature, or if Skittles-like spots cover my body.  My friends are watching me like hawks, afraid it all might be catching.

Birds

Hi there

I love it when I'm out walking and I come across dogs.  I always make a big fuss of them.  I love any sort of pet really.  

Here's a mother swan and her babies that I came across last week.  She'd got them to shore because the waters of  Lake Taupo were particularly vicious.  With just one day's notification I got a chance to stay at a holiday home in Taupo last week and I took the offer and ran with it.  I didn't run far though because it was cold and wet and I stayed inside mostly.  However, I did manage to swim three times in the (brrrhh, cold) river.  But my dream of sunbathing on the banks of the lake and swimming in it every day amounted to nothing.

Also, last week, in the grounds of the Flat Hill Cafe, just out of Taihape, I saw these ducks sheltering under the last unoccupied picnic table,  away from the sun.  Rather than disturb them, I sat on the grass to eat my lunch.

Lake Taupo plane crash

Hi thre

A small plane crashed into Lake Taupo yesterday.  It was crammed full of tandem skydivers, eg, about half a dozen instructors with their pupils plus, of course, the pilot.  All twelve people managed to skydive out before the plane crashed into the lake.

Some years' ago, I tandem skydived over Taupo.  I read the pamphlet at 11.30 am and by midday I'd done the jump, so I didn't really have time to get worried about the jump itself.

However, once I got into the small ramshackle plane I worried like mad.  I would almost swear the interior looked as if it was held together with string and sticky tape.  I would liken it to an old car that kids had found on a dump and were trying to restore.  The inside of the plane had been taken out and everything appeared dirty and rusty.  Both the pilot and my tandem master were wearing parachutes as we took off and gained height for the jump.,  I did not have a parachute.

All I could think of was: "Dear God, let me parachute out of this plane before it gives up the ghost.  Please-please-please..."  I was scared this ancient old jalopy of a plane would crash before I'd got attached to a parachute.  It wasn't until the plane was over the drop space that the tandem master gestured for me to crawl over to him at the door, and be joined up.  I was so grateful/happy/thrilled to jump out of that darn plane!  Who would have thought that?

A couple of years' ago, I went para-sailing over Lake Taupo, which was fanastic.  I was really high up in the air under a large parachute and being pulled by a speed boat.  Every now and then, I was swooped down low and my toes hit the water.  What enjoyment.

I had a few days in Taupo last month.  It's a totally beautiful place. Sorry about photo quality, I was peering into the sun.  I love swimming at the below (main) beach.

below: Mt Ruapehu in background

2 nights in Taupo

Hi there



On Wednesday, at 9.30 a.m., I suddenly took it into my head that I wanted a long drive and by 10.30 a.m.  I was out of the house and on my way to Lake Taupo.  I would have been out earlier  if I'd managed to contact three different holdiay home booking places.    I figure everybody in New Zealand was home watching the Americas Cup races (as was confirmed to me later by all three holiday home booking people).

In Taupo I went for a dip in the hot spring at Spa Park. See above photo. The spring is completely in its natural state and is on the edge of the Waikato River.  It's at the next turning after the bungee jump on the way out of town.  Below is a photo of the Waikato River that runs through Taupo.

I've been to Lake Taupo in Summer when it's crammed with tourists and I've been in winter when ski bunnies fill the place.  But in September (spring) it was virtually empty.  Like a ghost town, especially from about 3 pm onwards when folk who are passing through - and have had their lunch and a quick look around just disappear back again onto Highway No 1.

my spur-of-the-moment trip to Lake Taupo

Hi there
As I type this, it's Sun morning, New Zealand time.  On Thurs morn, 8 a.m, NZ time, I suddenly decided I'd like to go to Taupo for a couple of nights.  I threw clothes every-which-way into my regretted-buying-it Calvin Klein carry-on bag that I got in Vegas last year (see picture of the bag in last year's blog, plus write-up about it).

I was out of house by 9 a.m, a bit later than I would have wished but, hey, I had to book my holiday house and leave messages in my neighbours' letter-boxes to let them know what was happening in case they figured I'd gone and died in my bed and they broke down the front door.  Actually, the rule is that if my blinds are still closed by mid-day, they have permission to truly break down the door.

I checked, at least three times, that I had my wallet and phone and was in Taupo five hours later..  A record for me, it's usually five and three-quarters of an hour.

Had a nice relaxing time, though it broke my heart I couldn't walk the track from Spa Park in Spa Road to Huka Falls.  It's only about an hour each way and I usually love walking it, but with my sore feet....... Darn!  

Within a couple of minutes into the Huka Walk, still in Spa Park and alongside the river, a person is at a lovely hot water spring that's a real enjoyment.  Completely in it's natural state, and totally free to use.  Most folk don't bother about the rest of the walk, just arrive in their bathing suits and flop down to sit on a rock in the shallow water.

I didn't want to be bothered to clean the shower at my holiday home.  So I used the showers each morning, after my 7 a.m. swims at the thermal swimming pool just around the corner from where I was staying.  I'd forgotten to take along hair shampoo on my trip so I plastered my hair with the soap from the container above the basins, before scooting into the shower.


The water in Lake Taupo was ever-so low because of the North Island being officially declared a drought.

My holiday home was just around the corner from the Taupo Bungy.  As I left Wellington, I programmed the Taupo Bungy location into my new car GPS system and found the area with only one hiccup where I was sure I was being taken off to slavers but, no, it turned out the GPS was right after all.

I wasn't present for any bungy jumps but I did see a couple of kids taking a double 'swing'.  They sit in a sort of seat that plummeted them down to the river, then it slowly swungsthem backwards and forwards for a time before they were reeled back up again to the bungy platform.  It looked great.

Here's a pic

There is a fantastic river and greenery view from Taupo Bungy and anyone can watch the activities.

Stag pranks - pre-wedding hi-jinks

I was at Lake Taupo recently, wandering through the town, and I got a photo of this poor guy who had been dumped by his mates in a cage slap-bang-dab in the middle of the town of Taupo.  He was getting married very soon and it was a pre-stag night prank.