Fun and Games in the North Island/Photo Albums: 7,8,9&10

Everything works better when you can laugh about it, and Kenneth and I have been having our share of laughter. Since we last wrote, we saw a very funny production at a local theater in Wellington, the Circa, called "The Underpants." Of course we went because it was adapted by Steve Martin, Kenneth's comedy idol. Our time in Wellington was entirely cultural -- in addition to the theater, we visited Te Papa, the HUGE museum there -- for four days straight! It wasn't too hard to spend all our time there; we discovered that we could camp out in the museum parking lot for virtually nothing, and the museum is just incredible. We saw the Lord of the Rings exhibit, with costumes and sword and props and videos; an exhibit from Japan with kimonos, armor, ancient pots, and art; exhibits on geology and natural history, immigrants (human, flora, and fauna) to NZ, Italians in NZ, wool and sheep, fish and insects and birds, you name it! After loading our brains with all that information, we drove to experience the volcanos and thermal activity in the central plateau of the north island. We hiked in the Togariro National Park, admiring the view of Mt Ruapehu, Mt Pukekaikiore, and Mt Ngauruhoe (none of which we can pronounce), as well as the Tama Lakes, craters formed from ancient explosions. The snow on the volcano tops convinced us to drive north to Rotorua, where we soaked in steaming mineral pools at the Polynesian Spa (one of the world's best!). Luckily our admission to the spa was included in our tickets to a "Maori experience," an evening in a pre-European Maori village that included pit-cooked dinner and a fascinating display song and dance. Kenneth volunteered to be the "Chief" of our group of visitors, so he touched noses with the Maori chief and gave a little speech thanking him for allowing our "Tribe of 11 nations" to dine with them. Sick of the sulphur stench of Rotorua, we headed out of town -- but not before indulging in some beautiful pieces of Maori-made art: Kenneth chose a carved whalebone pendant, and Michele picked an expertly carved piece of pounamu, or greenstone, a type of jade found only in NZ. Arriving late in Napier, we were greeted the next morning by friendly neighbors who offered us use of their bathroom, and tea and cake with conversation. We watched a video and took a guided tour of the city's incredible art deco architecture, built in the 1930s after the city was levelled by an earthquake that raised the ground level by 2 meters, doubling the land area there! We adored Napier -- parking on a neighborhood street made us friends, as the locals inquired about our travelling and invited us in for showers, toilets, tea, cake, and fresh fruit (no less than 4 invitations from separate people to come into their homes!!-in 48 hours no less). Kenneth took A LOT of pictures, including the interior of a showpiece home (the one we happened to park by, good going Michele for picking that spot!), that even had an elevator, to complement its impeccable decor. We want to go back for their annual Art Deco weekend, where everybody dresses up and parties, Deco style. But can you believe they don't have swing dancing at the Deco weekend? We're convinced we're the ones to bring it to them. From Napier we drove up the east coast to a farm outside Gisbourne, home of Marie and John Lepper, with whom we spent the week. Their driveway was an adventure in itself -- first you have to drive through a river (they've only had one car washed away), then stop on a slippery slope for two gates. Getting out to open them was freaky, because the pigs on the other side of the fence made horrible grunting squealing noises in the dark. Made me fear I was about to be eaten. We peeled and juiced apples for the Leppers and Kenneth dug a ditch for their septic field once another wwoofer named Paul joined us on Wednesday (give these men some applause!). John and Marie fed us with fresh veggies and meat they'd raised themselves (they had pigs and deer and sheep, in addition to "chooks" aka chickens, geese, goats, and a few cows). Marie read our palms and John filled our ears with the sweet tunes of Pink Floyd, his favorite, on DVD. We enjoyed watching movies at their house, soaking in the local hot springs, talking with their dinner guests, and comparing wwoofing notes with Paul, also an American. After driving up to Tauranga, we hiked to the summit of (little) Mt. Maunganui, surrounded by surfers and kayakers at this very beautiful beach. That brings us to today, as we do email and post in Wharangei, on our way to exploring the north of the north island. We've gotten really good at making fun of each other, and after months of infrequent showers, we hardly mind the smell anymore! ;-) We plan to spend the next week exploring the north, hopefully kayaking or sailing and seeing some big kauri trees, before we wwoof again, sell our van (sniffle), and head for Australia. We miss you all and send you love!