Tutukaka Regional Park:

It was quite a drive, a couple days ago, but fun. We drove North about 3 hours and went to the East of the Island. Beautiful sandy beaches with virtually no people about. We were told it is a Mecca for skindivers, but it was a little chilly and windy, being the off-season.

I wouldn't drive there a second time, but it well worth the trip once. You be the judge when you see the pictures!


Muriwai Regional Park:

Yesterday, Chuck and I were privaleged to drive to what is surely a Natural Wonder Of The World.

Muriwai Beaches are only about 45 minutes away from the hotel, but truly a world away from the city I am staying in today.

I will have pictures one day up on the web or to share with my friends, as I must have taken 150 pictures there. It is right on the South Pacific Ocean, which is wild and extends to the horizon. There are easily accessible steps leading to 6 or 10 different lookout areas. All of these areas have various dynamic views of the truly black sands and beautiful black cliffs. Many birds were nesting within 50 feet of some of these lookouts and we watched them necking. I didn't see any babies. I suppose it is the wrong time of year.

This experience, I assure you, is one of the top few things I have ever seen in all my travels. It was awesome. Wonderful. Inspiring.

I hope that everyone is able to view this spot on Earth one day! (Or at least have a chance to see my pictures!

Mt. Eden:

Today, we drove to an area within the confines of the city of Auckland, which only has an elevation of about 1400 or 1500 feet. It was an extinct volcano called Mt. Eden. You wouldn't believe it but there are dozens of extinct volcanos around this area, and none of them are what I think of as mountains, coming from the Northwest, as I do, being used to Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens.

The brochure says it was once home to an ancient Maori tribe, the original inhabitants of New Zealand. It was very windy up there, and worth seeing, but compared to Muriwai, it paled in comparison. I saw very little sign of any ancient Peoples, but it was interesting anyway.

From the top, one can see the city stretch away in all directions. There was a marker which showed that home was on the order of 11,000 Kilometers away.

Asides:

The sign you see quite often on elevators in New Zealand says: "Schindler", which is, I presume, the local brand. I have begun referring to them as "Schindler's Lifts".

When I was in Singapore, we used to say, "You can't get lost, it's an Island!". While this is also true of New Zealand, it is several orders of magnitude larger and yet I get a kick out of making the same statement.