Hamilton and Te Waihou Walkway

We're winding down our time here in New Zealand (boo-hoo)!  Although we're sad to leave this amazing place, it's time to get back to our regular life and we look forward to spending time with our kids!!!

We were able to manage one more getaway, this time to Hamilton, about 1 1/2 hours south of Auckland.  Miles' former colleague from the Bio Engineering Institute in Auckland now works at WINTEC, Waitako Institute of Technology, in Hamilton and invited Miles to give a lecture.

It was a very positive experience from all sides.  The attendees were instructors who had more of a technical background so Miles modified his lecture skipping details of his equations.  Miles was very pleased to talk to some of the participants afterwards to learn how they teach more practical aspects of engineering.   I also attended the lecture, and although all of it was over my head, I enjoyed seeing Miles lecture (he's a very engaging and enthusiastic lecturer) and I only dozed off a bit.

When you tell most people you're traveling to Hamilton, they say, "Oh, Hamilton--not a very exciting place to go and there's not much to do there."  Well, we were up to the challenge and after visiting the local I-Site (information center), found plenty to explore.

Our first stop was Hamilton Gardens which has 21 themed garden collections which explore different civilizations, and recreates historically important garden styles from many parts of the world.

Sung Dynasty Japanese Garden

Garden of Contemplation

                                                              Chinese Scholar's Garden

•  

 Indian Char Bagh Garden


 Italian Renaissance Garden


 Tudor Garden


Te Parapara (Maori) Garden

Cultivated Maori Garden

The next day, we drove about 45 kilometers south to the Te Waihou Walkway to Blue Springs.  After all this time, you'd think we'd seen it all and were used to the nature.  Not so!  Once again, we were overwhelmed.  See for yourself:

Rushing cascades...

...turquoise water through the trees...

 ...the clearest water--you can even see a trout in the middle of the picture...

...and moving waves of plants under the water

 We thought this looked a scene out of the movies

And as if this wasn't enough, the Blue Spring at Te Waihou Walkway is internationally acclaimed with water so pure it supplies around 70% of New Zealand’s bottled water.  The water actually takes 100 years to filter through the rock before surfacing at the source of the stream. Wonderful!

Waiheke Island and EcoZip!

Time for a real adventure.  After all, we ARE in New Zealand.  Miles and I went on a "flying fox" zip line on Waiheke Island, a quick 1/2 hour ferry ride from downtown Auckland. 

The EcoZip mini-bus picked us up at the wharf and the driver gave us an excellent highlights tour of the island on our 20-minute ride to the zip line location.  Once there, we were suited up in harnesses with 2 other zip liners (a maximum of 12 in a group) and oriented about the experience.

 Rarin' to go!

 Grrrrr....I'm psyched!

The activity consists of three 200-meter zip line trips, all with dual cables which allow you to fly side-by-side or "race" a friend.  The first one is over a vineyard (Waiheke Island is home to about 40 vineyards and has a well-developed wine industry.) 

 

Our guide standing waiting for us to go on the first zip over the vineyard

 Here I am at the landing platform after the first zip

The second and third trips were even better:  we zipped over the forest and the view looking over the trees was amazing.  Steeper, higher, zippier and really fun! Unfortunately, Miles can't multitask and didn't try to take pictures of me while we were racing tandem zipping.

View of the forest zip

After the third zip, our guide took us back to the headquarters on a 1 1/2 kilometer nature walk, exploring pristine pre-European high canopy forest.

 Very cool forest

After the zip line trips back at headquarters

But wait!  Our day wasn't over!  While on Waiheke Island, we went to the biennial Headland Sculpture on the Gulf art exhibition.  We enjoyed the large-scale contemporary sculptures by some of New Zealand’s most significant artists, exhibited along a spectacular 2.5km coastal walkway overlooking Matiatia harbour, the gateway to Waiheke.

 Incredible views from the path

 Colors kept changing as the clouds floated by

 Intricately carved wooden top

 Concentric circles made of plastic sheeting

 Looks like a bucket on stilts, right?

 But look from underneath and you can see the Orion constellations of stars

Back to the Bay of Islands

After many months of planning, Rhonda Press and Larry Ragent, our dear, dear friends from San Mateo finally arrived on a much-anticipated 3-week visit to New Zealand...and to see us!  At the end of their trip, we went together on a 3-day visit to one of our favorite places, Paihia in the Bay of Islands (about 4 hours north of Auckland).

 Rhonda and Larry

The timing couldn't have been more perfect.  Our visit to Paihia overlapped with Waitangi Day, an annual 2-day event that commemorates the signing of the Waitangi Treaty of 1840.  The Treaty made New Zealand a part of the British Empire, guaranteed Maori rights to their land and gave Maori the rights of British subjects.  Sounds good, no?  But alas, things were not as they seemed.  There were differences between the English and Maori versions of the Treaty, which has led to debate over exactly what was agreed to at Waitangi.  Since 1971, Waitangi and Waitangi Day have become a focus of protest concerning treaty injustices and other issues.

So it was a day of contrasts.   On one hand, there were joyous festivities.  Many war canoes were launched in the bay.

ceremonial war canoe Ngātokimatawhaorua, the world’s largest. The 35-metre-long canoe needs a minimum of 76 paddlers to handle it safely on the water. It weighs 6 tonnes when dry and 12 tonnes when saturated. - See more at: http://www.waitangi.org.nz/treaty-grounds/#the-war-canoe

ceremonial war canoe Ngātokimatawhaorua, the world’s largest. The 35-metre-long canoe needs a minimum of 76 paddlers to handle it safely on the water. It weighs 6 tonnes when dry and 12 tonnes when saturated. - See more at: http://www.waitangi.org.nz/treaty-grounds/#the-war-canoe

ceremonial war canoe Ngātokimatawhaorua, the world’s largest. The 35-metre-long canoe needs a minimum of 76 paddlers to handle it safely on the water. - See more at: http://www.waitangi.org.nz/treaty-grounds/#the-war-canoe

ceremonial war canoe Ngātokimatawhaorua, the world’s largest. The 35-metre-long canoe needs a minimum of 76 paddlers to handle it safely on the water. - See more at: http://www.waitangi.org.nz/treaty-grounds/#the-war-canoe

War canoes

It was especially exciting to see Ngatokimatawhaorua, the largest ceremonial war canoe in the world.  It is 35 meters long and needs a minimum of 76 paddlers to handle it safely on the water.

Ngātokimatawhaorua

Ngatokimatawhaorua war canoe

Close-up of canoe with chief

There were Kapahaka dancers,

This group was the five-time national Kapahaka champion

 This group was the current Tai Tokerau Regional Kapahaka champion

and a Navy band:

 Navy marching band

I noticed this finely dressed military officer and was curious about his cape.  So, I went up to him to say hello and he introduced himself as Rear Admiral Jack Steer, the supreme commander of the New Zealand Navy.  He was a very typical Kiwi:  friendly and unassuming.  Delightful!

 Rear Admiral Steer

There was a festival atmosphere with lots of food booths, art and community services:

Rhonda and me wandering around the grounds

And there were peaceful protests.  Besides protests against the meaning of the treaty, there were signs protesting various environmental issues.

  These protesters were holding the national Maori flag

 Protesters against oil drilling on Maori land

Other environmental protests

After we left the festival, we walked back to Paihai and came upon a formal ceremony where the Navy received a charter from the Mayor John Carter of Northland. This a picture of the mayor reviewing the troops.  Believe it or not, he personally greeted each and every naval member.  Our friend the Rear Admiral received the charter.

Mayor Carter reviewing the troops

The next day we took Larry and Rhonda back to our favorite island, Urapukapuka.  We were first there at the beginning of January and were lucky enough to return with our friends.

The four of us on the track near the Cliff Pa (former Maori defensive settlement)

 Spectacular views...

 ...from every angle...

... and in every direction.