We spent the day wandering through the naturally steaming rivers, pools and lakes of Whakarewarewa Village and Waimangu volcanic valley.
It was hard to pull ourselves away from the fluorescent turquoise of the Inferno Crater.
Month / November 2015
Aromatic
Geothermic Rotorua creates an atmosphere not to be forgotten easily. Smells and steam abound.
Maunga
Staying near Tauranga on the Omokaroa Peninsula we are again in receipt of generous hospitality.
Today we explored Mount Maunga (meaning caught by the dawn) with wonderful vistas of the Pacific but failed to see the little blue penguins that nest in the area.
Peace
Our hearts are with those caught up in the awful events in Paris and with all who long for peace.
Coast
We left our hostel at 5am and drove up to Cape Reigna, the most accessible northerly point of the North Island, where the Pacific Ocean meets the Tasman Sea in a cauldron of waves.
We walked up giant sand dunes. Exhilarating.
It was great to have a nice long walk, paddle in the sea and picnic in Maitai Bay.
Changing everything
Today we enjoyed a long walk midst the wild beauty of Ahipara beach.
Last night we watched ‘This Changes Everything’, a documentary based on the book by Naomi Clines. The cinema was full. We saw challenging stories from around the globe calling for a new post industrial story in which we humans are not the rulers of creation taking whatever resources we want from the earth and in the process devastating vast areas of land as well as people’s lives.
Naomi offered a different story in which we, who are part of creation, need to take greater care of it, now, before it is too late. This is a story about the power of local communities working together to ensure the poorest and most vulnerable do not end up paying for the greed of the corporate and wealthy world. Given the imminent climate change talks in Paris, this challenge is timely.
For more information search ‘This Changes Everything’
Kerikeri River
Walked in the shade of the wooded river path to Rainbow Falls. We ate our picnic whilst dipping our feet in the cold water, narrowly missing a foot long eel.
The day afforded us the sense of stillness that comes with living more fully in the present moment.
Bench
On the porch of the oldest European-style building (1821) in New Zealand’s Kerikeri we spotted this lovely bench. Perhaps we will make one like it at the end of our journeying.
Fireworks and stars
Today we headed up to the Bay of Islands where lunch was a picnic on a long beach of white sand.
Tonight we joined around two thousand people of all ages at the local community bonfire and firework display. Our first spring Bonfire Night!
We returned to our rural bach to gaze at a southern sky full of stars. Beautiful.
4th country, 6th flag
The current New Zealand flag may not be around for very much longer. A first referendum on changing the design of the New Zealand flag will begin towards the end of 2015.
A pattern is emerging as several countries we are visiting are in some kind of transition regarding their flag and relationship with the Commonwealth.
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