Our fellow IKA lodge mates.....Guillaume and Celine....from France....have lived all over France....he is finishing his residency as an ENT physician.....taking a break before he accepts a position..
Our gracious host, Ken, and his wife, Margaret, who have owned the IKA for the past five years...they were "closing shop" for the weekend, as we left. They were going to Christchurch for a concert and a long weekend holiday for themselves!
This beautiful lake was filled with black swans....they obviously lived here....were not bothered by our presence nor by two power boats which were jockeying for "fishing position"...
We have seen these signs in other countries in Europe......Kids hop off the school bus and RUN to school.....do we have a major cultural difference here?
FROSTY????? The Snowman.....slippery not when wet nor icy...FROSTY!!
Snow capped mountains..
Near/next to a volcano...
Next to what we thought was a forest fire...in fact, a "burping" volcano...hikers are restricted to a distance of 3 miles from this potential eruption. This is a disappointment to those serious hikers who travelled far and wide to hike the Tongariro Alpine Crossing....a steep, strenuous 13 mile hike.....
The Tongariro National Forest is one of the original UNESCO World Heritage Sites.....in a matter of minutes, we have switched from mountains, to volcanoes, to lakes, to near desert, to rolling farmland, to verdant pastures...we are still catching our breath: "Are we really in New Zealand?"
Time out for a passing train....note the graffiti on each passing car. There were about 50 cars and each one was decorated with different graffiti....wonder why and how that happens?....and read carefully the last picture, if you can...."No bells 10:30pm to 7:00 am".....better be vigilant if you are returning late from a party!
Besides having pretty churches and pretty art galleries, Ohakune is also the "Carrot Capital of NZ"!
This is the town "Bulls", on the north island of New Zealand. approximately 40 miles north of Wellington, our destination for the night. At the risk of delaying our arrival, battling rush hour traffic (still on the left side, still fairly beige knuckled), we stop....and hopefully, you will see why it is worth the delay.....love the Kiwi humor and creativity!!!
Read carefully on this one!
Not quite a "bull", but nonetheless fun and creative: "PIG AUTOMATION"
We arrived in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, in time for "happy hour".....crashed and burned....the previous two days hit us like a brick and we never left the Ibis hotel....couldn't tell you nor show you a thing about Wellington....perhaps on our return trip....another advantage of a LOOOONG trip....we get another chance!
