New Zealand, South of the North

As we headed south to the south of the North Island which is north of the north of the South Island...thats for people who have bird flu...we had to stop in at Auckland just to pick up my Ipod which broke down on the first day in Argentina and never worked again, which isn't a bad thing but it would be great to hear some Van the Man again. We needed a new car as well as the X-trail isn't up to the task which we set for it!
We headed towards Hamilton to catch up with Peter and Nikki who lived on the outskirts. Stayed in downtown Hamilton for the night, went for another double drizzled dinner and were serenaded by a the Karaoke Bar over the road.
The next morning we caught up with Nikki and Peter who live to the south of Hamilton on the way to Cambridge. Peter harks from Henley and Nikki from Winchester and we caught up with the news from both sides. Cambridge is a bit of an equine centre with many famous horses trained here for flat racing and if you were top of your game you are immortalised with a pavement brass in downtown Cambridge..much like the hand prints on Sunset.
We leave Peter and Nikki, but we are coming back on the return journey. Next stop is New Plymouth in the shadow of Mount Taranaki. We are also catching up with Emma and Petit who are coming from Wellington and the opposite way round the mountain to New Plymouth, past all the surf sites to the west of the Volcano. We meet by the wind clock in the morning - a 90m high fibreglass rod with a small bulb on the tip - and head for Mount Taranaki park which runs around the base of the volcano. Its a long an winding road to the car park half way to the top and we have a great walk through the 'Hobbit Woods' before having tea and cake from the 'bed on wheels' in the car park.
Into town for pool and beer and Emma and Petit are asked what their parents (thats us) would like to drink? Aarrggghhhh, we are not grey nomads, we are not grey nomads!!!
We say goodbye to our kids the next morning but we are meeting in Lake Taupo. We head for the Forgotten Highway 43 which runs from New Plymouth all the way west past the Matemateaonga Range, through extraordinay volcanc scenery, and leads to Lake Taupo. On the way we meet the hogs fence of all hog fences with up to 100 wild boar skins laid end to end as far as the eye can see. We stop at a crossing and there are two hog hunters and a gentlewoman from the hills chatting about butter standing in the middle of the road. She explains that the skins are sabre rattling in the hog hunters parlance and this is big skin street. we accelerate fast towards nowhere but away from toon town.
Next stop is Lake Taupo. Find a place to take our kids as well and cook a well earned meal after shopping at Woolies. We overdo the shop but ths is a rare treat ....a kitchen with white mans oven and microwave. Great spaghetti, ecoutrements, chocolate ad television.
Lake Taupo is a divine volcanic event with the lake being the water filled remnant of a super-eruption. North is the two peaks
which mark the extent of the volcano and give some good skiing and restaurants half way up the hill for the faint hearted. We charter a plane...'cos we are that wealthy...and fly over the mountains through cloud to 1500m, Pureora and Hauhungaora are both majestic and covered with permanent snow. The volcanic lakes bubble with gas and sulphur slicks cover the water surface.
Emma and Petit arrive the next morning in torrential rain. We have to face the Golf challenge on the lakeside. Its 128 yards to the green floating in te middle of the lake and you can win $5000 if you can get a hole in one...its fun having a go and remarkably its happens once every two weeks! We return to pool, six holes and a 2m total length to the table.
We set off for Rotorua early in the morning and make for the Geyser park. The Geysers run constantly while we are there.
We retire to the town for lunch and then to the hot water baths for massage and a loll in the baths which vary between warmish to hot enough to worry a haggis.
Emma and Petit get on their way in the love bug and we have a date back with Nikki and Peter in Hamilton. We get back via Hawkes Bay and Whakatane which is truly beautiful with so few people, remote rolling scenery and beaches, deserted and endless. We have also spent the time well in Taupo. Fo proof read a book that Peter is writing about running a Llama racing stud. Llama racing is big in Hamilton and to get the best out of your Llama takes a huge commitment financially and from the jockeys who generally ride side saddle. Its a book that should open the door on the msterious world which will send shock waves through the Andes. Publication should be in 2008.
For the last leg of our tour we cruise through the Coromandel, the north east tip of the island and a sanctuary of rich Auckland guys and galls. We stop in Tairua and explore the coastline including Cooks Beach, Whitianga and Hot Springs Beach. Here the springs run under the beach and Fo takes a bath whilst having a photoshoot...back, just a little, thats it...oops. A very wet bottom, new boots and.... there are beautiful houses, breathtaking scenery and Kauri forests which have survived the ravages visited on their friends in the rest of New Zealand.
Its time to leave NZ. Regrets, I had a few...didn't make it to the south island but it turns out that the North Island is big enough, beautiful and it will remain beautiful if they can recognise trees as their friends...man!