Rotorua

Rotorua is a small city on the shores of Lake Rotorua -- about an hour and a half from Hamilton. The surrounding areas are full of geothermal geysers, boiling mud pools, and steaming craters - accompanied by the stinky smell of sulpher. We went to a park to take a look at some of the geothermal activity. For pictures, click here.

Maori Village Visit

We went on an overnight trip to Lake Rotorua. We stayed at a Thermal Holiday Park (campground to us) and while there, went and visited the Mitai Maori Village. A bus came and picked us up at the campground and took us to the sacred village. The whole experience was a lot of fun. We all went down into the village to watch the canoe full of chanting warriors arrive. We then went into a theater and watched the cultural performance. After the performance, we ate a traditional Maori meal(called a Hangi). For pictures, click here.

Waihi Beach/Mount Maunganui

Since the weather was nice, we decided to take a weekend trip back to Waihi Beach and then came home via Tauranga and Mount Maunganui. Mount Maunganui, or Mauao, is also the name of the extinct volcano which rises above the town. Shrouded in history and legend, the mountain is a dominant feature of the landscape, and a climb to the summit offers amazing views of the surrounding city and ocean. We didn't get to climb to the top of the mountain because the kids hadn't packed their sneakers and were all sporting stubbed toes. For pictures, click here.

Opononi

We stopped at a little seaside town, Opononi, on our way to the Bay of Islands. Opononi, is famous for a friendly dolphin, Opo, that lived in the bay during the 1950's. The dolphin was referred to as Opo, the Gay Dolphin and the LVC College students laughed their way through a video of Opo. Information about Opo can be found here.

To see our pictures of Oponini, click here.

Bay of Islands Trip

We spend the weekend of the 24th on a bus trip to the Bay of Islands with the college students. Althought the ride was long, the scenery and boat cruise was spectacular and definitely worth the trip. Boat cruise photos are here.

Bay of Islands is about 5.5 hours North of Hamilton (where we're living). It's a Pacific Coast attraction that has 145 islands and sub-tropical weather. It also has the Treaty Grounds where the Treaty of Waitanga was signed between the English and the Maori in 1840. Scenery photos are here.

We saw a lot but really enjoyed the boat ride where dolphins swam next to the boat. We were on the front of the boat at the railing and had a chance to see the dolphins riding the between the two hulls of the catamaran style boat. Photos are here.

We also saw a Kauri tree, similar in size and age to our American Redwood trees. The Tane Mahuta tree is estimated to be about 1500 years old. Photos are here.

Chiefs Rugby

We went to a Hamilton Chiefs professional rugby game on Friday the 16th of March. The atmosphere and game was great. Tickets were cheap compared to American Football and we sat in a kids section which was free from alcohol and hooligans. The Chiefs are part of the Super 14 League which includes Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand. The Chiefs beat the Lions from South Africa for their first win of the season. Here are a few photos of the kids with their free Chiefs merchandise.
Here's a link to the Chiefs Rugby Team.

Opito Bay

Black Jack Road: Joel met a really nice guy named Tony who owns a local scuba shop. He offered us the use of his beach house (his Bach -- pronounced "Batch" as they say in NZ) and we took him up on the offer. The bach is located in Opito Bay, which is on the Pacific side of the Coromandel Peninsula. It takes about an hour and a half to drive to the bottom of the peninsula and another two and half hours to drive up it to Opito Bay. The roads twisted and curved and many times it seemed as if we were going to fall into the sea. The last stretch of the trip took us over an unpaved mountain called Blackjack Road.

After returning to Hamilton, we learned that insurance companies won't cover you if you get into an accident while on Black Jack Road -- that's how dangerous it is. But, the scary trip was worth it. Opito Bay was absolutely gorgeous and the weather was great. For pictures of our travel, click here.

Opito Bay: The bay is absolutely beautiful with crystal blue water that was 74 degrees. The waves were pretty mild and the kids would have liked them a little stronger for body surfing and boogy boarding -- but they had fun nonetheless. There were islands all around and a lot of interesting vegetation and birds. For pictures of the beach, click here.

Kayaking: We were allowed to try our hands at kayaking in Opito Bay. We were able to take the kayaks from our backyard and travel down a creek to the beach. For pictures, click here.

Whitianga: Joel needed to do some things on the internet for his Ph.D class, and since the batch was without phone or internet acces, we had to travel to a really nice beach town, Whitianga. Although it meant another trip (there and back) over Black Jack Road, the town was really nice and the girls got to play with a Golden Retriever named Bailey that reminded them of Bear at home. For pictures, click here.