Mum's and Omi's Visit!

Mum and Omi (my grandmother) came to visit us recently.  Words do not describe how wonderful it was to have family here with us.  I was so excited that I spent nights looking up "How to Host Over Night Guests" blogs.  I hope they felt welcome at our home away from home.

We started their visit with what I am calling the "Best of Auckland in 4.5 Days" tour.  I made up the name but I think it really is the best Auckland has to offer.  We specialised in places which show NZ nature and animal life.  Can you tell that is what we enjoy the most about living here?

We started our tour by having lunch where Chris and I work followed by a quick drive to Mount Eden.  A volcano with a great view of the downtown.  They were troopers, jet lag can be hell but bless them, they kept going!

The view from Mount Eden, this is the biggest smile I have had in a while.  Pure joy.

The next day we visited Hanua Falls which lies south of Auckland.  Here I got to introduce them some Silver Ferns and native birds.

Strategically standing to hide the people and sign behind them.

On the way back we stopped at what would be the first of many wineries.  This one was the Turanga Creek Winery.  This organic winery is only 15 minutes from our house, score! I will have to bring Chris there some time.  Poor guy, while we were enjoying delicious wine and cheese, he was bring home the bacon.

On day three we went to Piha beach, in West Auckland.  This beach is a haven for surfers and is the star of a local reality show called Piha Rescue which focuses on the rescues by the surf lifeguards. The dry sand was so hot I thought our feet would burn off but once you got through it and your feet hit the water it was perfect! We didn't swim as I know the surf is a bit too strong.  We may be strong swimmers but the ocean is stronger.

Omi and I enjoying the beach

Mum at the Blue Pools with the Smashy Crashy waves behind her

On day four Chris was now off work so he took us up to Tawharanui Bird Sanctuary to check out the sights north of Auckland.  Here we had a lovely picnic complete with sparking wine, Dinnie's chicken curry salad, blueberries, cherries and macadamia nut chocolate.

A wonderful picnic with wonderful people!

Since any good day would not be complete without a hike and some birding, we managed to squeeze that in too.  This is my favourite forest in NZ and I felt so lucky to be able to share it with my family.  We also saw both a Morepork (owl) and a Kaka (parrot).

Morepork, years of looking in tree holes have FINALLY paid off!!

The Kaka Chris spotted!

The next weekend we visited the Waitomo Glowworm caves and the Kiwi house nearby.  The caves were spectacular and due to a very, very old couple on our tour we got to spend twice as long with the glow worms!! Fun fact about glow worms: the worm is the larva of a fungus gnat. Glow worm has a better ring to it.

After we left the cave.

Outside the kiwi house.

At the Kiwi House we saw little Atu.  She is not that little, she is a Great Spotted Kiwi and turns out that species is quite large.  They keep the room dark during the day so tourists have a better chance of seeing them while they are awake.  Turns out Atu is a very aggressive bird and she spent her entire feeding kicking and pecking the poor girl feeding her.  They have to wear chainsaw chaps when they feed her because she has ripped through everything else!

Now no trip to New Zealand would be complete without a pilgrimage to Matamata, home of Peter Jackson's Hobbiton.  Dad and I visited the summer I turned 16 and wow has is changed since then! Back then it has almost entirely been dismantled after the filming of the Lord of the Rings movies.  It had a slightly melancholy vibe and adorable sheep were all over the place.  They were hiding in the Hobbit holes to avoid the rain.  Since then The Hobbit films have been made and they have left the set so that people can visit it.  It is absolutely beautiful!!!

I would like to thank Mum for taking over 400 photos so that I could geek out and run everywhere and see everything!

Omi outside the Green Dragon

View from Bag End over the Lake to the Green Dragon

I wasn't allowed into Bag End this time but I knew what it looked like.  I guess I wasn't there on party business this time.  I missed you Beeks!

Bag End and its fake tree on top of the hill.

Mum and I before we left.

Hobbit Crunch Ice Cream!!!

I would like to take a moment to thank my family for supporting my crazy and tolerating my Lord of the Rings facts on both the three hour drive there and the three hour drive back to Auckland.  Note to all future visitors: I think you should all come here because this place is awesome.

On a separate note, the sheep that were roaming the area when Beeks took me are now kept outside an electric fence.  Kind of a bummer, it added a little something extra to see them hiding in the holes.

On our last outing from Auckland (we were gone for a few days) our first stop was the Zealong Tea Plantation for High Tea! How I am unsure about you guys but if you ever want to make the females in the Buchholz family happy, you serve them High Tea. And if you want to make us really happy, you serve us a kick-bum fancy High Tea that will make us not want to eat for the rest of the day.  Zealong managed this feat.  Omi had the Classic High Tea, while Mum and I had the Signature High Tea.  The Classic was just that, a wonderful assortment of wee sandwiches and scones, five savoury and five sweet.  The Signature was five savoury and five sweet dainty little dishes each tea infused to perfection.  It was spectacular.  Therefore, should anyone else come for a visit, if you like, we shall come here.  I will have the High Tea, if you don't want to come, I will go without you because you are clearly a party pooper and I am cool.

One of the brass pots in a long line of fountains at the Tea Plantation.

From here we made our way to Rotorua, the volcanic capital of NZ.  Chris and I have driven through it before but this time I was here to visit and I couldn't wait!

We started our journey to Rotorua at the Whakarewarewa Thermal Village were we watched a cultural performance and explore the thermal area.  This village is right in the middle of a massive thermal region and the ground below you is warm.  It is a little bazaar.

Mum's eyes fit in here!!!

We got the last corn of the day cooked fresh for us in the thermal pool.  The local Maori use these pools to cook everything.  You just adjust the length of time you leave it in the pool or steam vents.  Fantastic and economical choice of cooking really.

From the villiage you have an excellent view of the Te Puia geyser which erupts approximately 20 times a day.  The locals know when it is approaching because the Prince of Wales' Feathers geyser beside it will start about 15 minutes earlier.

Te Puia Geyser, our first geyser!!!

This is another pool used for cooking called Korotiotio which means grumpy old man.  Beeks this one is for you!! This is hotter than the other and can be used to cook entire pigs in approximately 3-4 hours.

'Reheating' our corn

On our way to our motel (which had a private thermally heated pool!) we stopped to visit a local park which had thermal areas fenced off.  Amazing that such a place exists on the earth.  It was amazing.  The bubbling mud was more of an annoyance for the lawn mowers than anything else. For tourists like us though, it is pretty darn fantastic!!!

Crater Lake

View across the lake, so mysterious!

Also in the park are two foot baths, thermally heated of course.  Naturally we stopped for a nice soak.

The next morning we visited the Adult Section of the Polynesian Spa just beside the lake in Rotorua.  This spa uses the waters from two springs.  The Priest Spring and the Rachel Spring both are said to have therapeutic benefits.  One is more acidic and the other is more alkaline.  We were there right when they opened and for quite a while we were the only tourists.  The rest were locals there for treatment. I loved this place, so relaxing.  Good call Omi!!

The original Priest Springs which are still bubbling today.

This is why you should never trust me.

The Alkaline pool

After were were nice and clean from the Spa we went to two natural springs and got all dirty again.  The first one we went to was Kerosene Creek.  Although it was nice I would not recommend it to anyone who owns their car.  The road was a complete nightmare!!!!

Mum enjoying Kerosene Creek

We then went to Hot and Cold Water Stream.  This is where a hot stream and a cold one meet.  Mum and I went swimming and each found a nice spot to sit for a bit.  It was quite funny because the temperature in our spots kept changing as the streams mixed.

Before heading up to the Coromandel Peninsula we went to the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland.  This is where Chris and I had been before but we hadn't left the parking lot.  We should have, this place is amazing.  It truly is a wonderland, with all the colours and aromas.

As you walk around the park the features have such wonderful names.  These included Devil's Home, Devil's Ink pots, Devil's Bath Tub, Inferno Crater and my favourite Artist's Palate.  All the colours around the places were caused by different minerals, the most common being sulfur (yellow).  Rotorua has a distinct aroma to it.  It is sulfur, sulfur with a steaming side of sulfur.  

Devil's Ink Pots.  There is crude oil being pumped up to the surface here.

In case you are stupid, do not walk on the steaming vents.

Sheltering from the rain.

At Artist's Palate with the Champagne Pool steaming in the background.

Look how many colours Mum got into one picture!!

The Oyster Pool

The pool at the farthest point of our walk. Odd colour.

Thought the girl taking this picture was going to fall into a pool.

The Champagne Pool

It even bubbles like Champagne!

After we left the park we stopped by the Mud Pools down the road.  Those are some active pools.  The Mud was flying everywhere, you would think it would have been easy to take a picture of it flying.  Turns out our reflexes aren't the best, but we did get some great shots!

Check out the bubbling mud beside Omi!

Before heading back to Auckland we stopped at Hot Water Beach on the Coromandel Peninsula.  Chris and I had been before and I thought Mum and Omi needed to experience it too as we had seen in on Piha Rescue.  We arrived nice and early and claimed our spot. We claimed a good one because it quickly become full of people.

Getting impatient and starting to dig.

This beach has a hot water spring below it which is accessible for two hours on either side of low tide.  Also, even though we all reapplied sun screen I ended up with a fantastic burn across my legs.  See those pasty bad boys, they were red for the next week. They are now nicely tanned.

Enjoying the hot water.

We drove back to Auckland after a quick stop at the Coromandel Smoke Shop to buy Chris some smoked fish.  It was our way of saying thank you for letting us use the car the entire time my family was here and riding his bike to work every day.  He was such a good spot, gotta love him.

Having Omi and Mum here was wonderful.  We made some memories that will never be forgotten and solved all the problems of the world.  There is nothing that can't be solved with wine, cheese and an amazing view.  Thank you so much for coming, you are both truly amazing women and I am so proud to have you in my life.  Please come back, my door is always open.

Back to the grind, sorry for the long post but I had to fill it with all our wonderful explorations!!!

Miss you all, please visit soon!

Love,
Chelsea
xoxoxo