Moving House

This is a previously unpublished blogg from 2008

Stage 1 The top few tiles are removed

On Monday morning came the 'house movers'. They take this task literally in NZ. Although there was a removal van outside, I think very little went in it. Just before 7:00 in the morning there was the sound of heavy machinery. By the time we were able to look out of the window (it takes time to get eyes open and in focus) we saw a chain of men on the roof of the house next door passing down roof tiles which were expertly stacked on to a small lorry. Following this, the top roof timbers were carefully removed and then, with little delay a large low loader was under half the house. After lunch a second low loader began to reverse towards the second half of the house.

The house is now in one piece on two lorries. Our bedroom is the two windows in the white house behind.

It was too much for Jim; he had to go and watch - with camera. Surprisingly the house was all in one piece, except for the rear unit which had previously been disconnected. After some carefully manouvering the house sat on two low loaders; perfectly level. During the afternoon there was the sound of tools and by tea time this stage of the work was done. The lonely house was left aloft and all the other vehicles had departed.

At 2.45 am the following morning the sound of engines began again. Men flashed light outside our window, careful checks and adjustments were made. The house was gone by 3.15 am. I was left wondering what would happen to the remainder of the house. More to come.

And So To Rotorua

And so to Rotorua. On Friday afternoon I set off to collect Ian from work, calling at Sylvia Park Mall on the way. Here I purchased a resealable bag of aniseed rock pieces (for the journey). Going down the motorway, it was obvious from the high volume of traffic that the holiday weekend was already underway. The holiday was ‘Auckland Day’. Ian drove us to a southerly entrance back on to the motorway and the traffic thinned as we got further from the city and passed the turn off to the Coromandel.

The motorway is a misnomer. Once out of Auckland not only does it cease to be dual carriage; going through towns, something in the way that the UK A5 works. At Hamilton we stopped off for a pizza and to do the shopping. Then we were off on the final leg. The rain of earlier in the day had stopped and the first part of the drive was straightforward. Just after we had gotten into Rotorua darkness fell and at the crucial point the rain began. The roads here are undulating (an understatement) and windey (another understatement) and we were looking for house numbers on a street (well) where numbers suddenly leap from 60 to 70 because there are four other houses behind the first one.

The house is far from being a bach. There is a lounge and a number of bedrooms on the first floor where the Clark family have chosen to be and on the first floor a huge lounge/kitchen/diner with windows overlooking a balcony which overlooks the beautiful Tarawera Lake and Tarawera Mountain. Our room has an elegant double bed and leads to an ensuite bathroom with bath and shower, with separate toilet which is also accessible from the hall, but can be locked off. There is no shortage of hot water from the rain water collection tank via the power-shower. Some people would like to have a bathroom the size of the walk in cupboard we have for our bedroom.

Irene and the View

Saturday morning I woke to see the area for the first time. The blue sky and the lake were visible through the large window and there was a nice glass topped table where Irene sat to have breakfast.

Zoe and Ian - Ready to Roll

Rolling to a Stop 

Ian into the mud

   

The Happy Victims

After breakfast our first sortie into Rotorua and the first activity which was Zorbing for Zoe and her dad. This was at the same place where Joni and Joseph did it in 2003. To explain the activity simply; the victims change into swim suits and are taken to the top of a hill. They are then squeezed into a large rubber ball. Water is added for ballast and the ball is released to roll down the hill. The victims are unceremoniously ejected from the ball by the kind staff who wallow in the muddy puddle at the bottom. The victims are then photographed for the second time. This time the photographs are put on to a memory stick so that the victims can have permanent record of the event. The first photographs are part of the document that the victims sign saying that they do not hold the management of the ride liable for any accident that might happen.

Going Down

From here we went to a wildlife area called Rainbow Springs. The main feature was the rainbow trout, but there lots more indigenous animals. We were given two bottles. These were filled up from taps where water ran, filtered, from the spring itself. After lunch and a delay Zoe and Ian made a trip on the log flume. 

Rainbow Trout

Going Down

Wet Again

 I watched as the victims went in for the second soaking of the day. This time the soaking was unexpected and not prepared for. That is, they got soaked. Irene, Sally and Emily made it back to the house while Zoe and Ian played a round of mini golf.

The quiet jetty

Back at the house the next activity was to go down to Stone Bay. Again we were unprepared for soakings to happen. We found a nice clean slip way to walk on to the lake. However, we discovered another way to get on the lake was found by Emily. There was a beach and she enjoyed walking out into the lake up to her bottom.

Emily wading in

For our main meal we went into Rotorua to a place called Valentines. The board out side said meals seven days a week from 9.00 until late. So we hung around until 5.30. Valentines works on a buffet system. There is a vast range of food and you help yourself to as much as you like. This includes the sweet course.

When we got back Irene and I had drive out for an evening walk. We started at the lookout between the Green and Blue Lakes. (One is supposed to have a green colour.) Then we drove to the lookout over the area of the lake which was filled in by the volcano and finally to Stone Bay where very few people were on the beach.

SUNDAY

This was a gentle wake up morning. Ian and Zoe went off to the thermal spas in Rotorua. The rest of us went to the site of the buried village. Up till June 1886 the area where we are had two famous features, namely, the pink and white terraces. People came from far and wide to see them. Even the Duke of Edinburgh (Victorian) came to bathe. There were samples of a letter from a lady who had come to enjoy her honeymoon. Unfortunately she was a little too late. On June 10^th Tarawera erupted. This relatively brief eruption destroyed these features and buried the village in mud which quickly solidified. One hundred and two people died. It just surprised me that a town had grown up to cash in on these features, that there were photographs of them and that there were newspapers to give a full report.

An important letter home from the stricken region 

A fire place dug out of the solid volcanic mud

After doing the history bit we did a geography bit. A trout streams flows through the site from the Green Lake and plunges down a falls which is one of the deepest in New Zealand.

Wairere Falls

Emily had a great time; following the numbered paths and playing in an ancient phone box.

Emily in the phone box

This dig site must be of the most modern things ever buried. They even excavated a corrugated iron water tank which must count as the most industrialised object ever excavated.


We had lunch back in the house and then Sally and Emily set off for more beach fun and Irene and I took a car to explore. First we went some distance to cover the second half of Spencer Road. There was little to see so we back tracked and turned off to Okareka which is a town on a smaller lake to Tarawera. 


First we went up to Western Okataina Walkway were we made a short incursion into the forest on a walking track.

Then we went bake to Lake Okareka. The beach there was crowded with people enjoying the sun and the water. We walked along a sheltered path to the other bay and back. We then drove off and came across Okareka Walkway. It is a quite spot at the end of the lake built by the residents. A good section of this was a board walk across the wetland area. It was a very quiet spot.

The evening meal was a barbeque. We set up the table on the veranda, but the wasps fund us and we came in.

Later the girls gave us a dance show and then the grownups played Scrabble. It is now very dark and the last night for the Clarks before they leave.

MONDAY

The Clark family were soon away which left Irene and me in charge of this beautiful place. We were soon off in search of thermals; the first of these we found at ‘Hell’s Gate’ thermal reserve. We visited this same place with Sally in 2003. Strangely, this was about the first time we really smelled the smell on this trip and even at this site it only became overpowering in certain places. In fact there was little to be seen of steam in any abundance. We put this to the seasonal difference between 2003 when it was winter and summer now.

The bubbling pools are always impressive, especially when they shoot mud up a few inches or so. The plant life fares in different ways. More often it is destroyed by fumes and temperature, but in some spots it makes tree bark a really bright orange and some plants take on a very vivid hue.

It was strange to find that George Bernard Shaw had named the place and even to particular mud pools.

The deepest hot water falls in the Southern Hemisphere

 

Devil's Cauldron

Boiling Mud

From ‘Hell’s Gate’ we drove back in to Rotorua; wondering how easy or how hard it would be to park. On our first parking attempt we failed. Having got to the top of the parking ramp the only way out was to reverse down. Knowing very little about the city we pulled into a pay and display bay. While fumbling to find $2 a kind lady explained that this a public holiday and that there were no parking charges. (What a charming tradition and so different to the UK)

The Old Bath House

Latte Bowl

From here we walked to the Government Gardens. The city was strangely quiet and most shops were closed. There were few people around and the car spaces in the gardens were practically empty. Now it was time for refreshments. I opted for a wrap and a tasty caramel milk shake. Mum had a latte bowl and a thing called a ‘Chocolate Rough’. The base of the thing would have been better described as rock. Bits could be scrapped off and so the eating process was lengthy. From there we walked past the ‘Polynesian Spa’ and on to the shore of Lake Rotorua and the public thermal areas. I still found this a bit scary. The path across the thermal area was not particularly well marked and in places we had to paddle through the warm water.

On the public thermal area; keeping to the path?

Thinking of scary. When we got to ‘Hell’s Gate’ there was a notice board showing that dome of molten rock was only has far beneath as we had driven from the main road. (Some 2.3 km or 1.4 miles) There is no wonder that the ground felt warm.

Back in the gardens

Pukeko

We returned to the city for post card buying. In the shop we talked with an assistant called Carol. She asked us where we were staying. When we told her we were in Tarawera she told us that when she worked in a hotel there she met many famous stars, including some from ‘Corrie’. She said that they were very nice.

And so we decided to return to the bit of paradise they we also were privilege to be staying in and just enjoy the few remaining hours there. It really is paradise. There were palms, blue water and sky, cut off from the internet and mobile phone. We reflected on this as we watched the sun go down on our last day before we make the trek home.

Tarewera Sunset

We really could not believe how dark it got. We woke up in the night and we could have been in the darkest cave. On previous nights there had been a light left on for the children. Now there were no street and no little LEDs that light up most western rooms.


TUESDAY

By twelve o’clock we were ready to leave and so with the door locked and the key hidden in a hole in the ground in a marmalade jar, we set off. Fortunately, it would seem, we decided to fill up with petrol before leaving Rotorua. From here, most of the journey would be through countryside with no sign of filling stations. It was some time before we found a cafe to eat our lunch, have some coffee and the usual toilet stop.

After Bombay Hill, on the motorway, it was pretty clear that we were back in Auckland. The sudden appearance of heavy traffic from being one of two or three vehicles is always a mystery.

Just after four, complete with pies and doughnuts we arrived back in Sylvia Road. We are now unpacking and getting ready for a rest.

We are very grateful to Sally and Ian for arranging this very special few day. We hope that they also enjoyed the break away.

Rotorua Revisited

Return to Rotorua

We first visited Rotorua in August 2003. Sally had been in NZ for about a year and we were making our first visit. In fact it was not only our first visit and not only our first international flight, but it was our first ever flight. Joni and Joseph travelled with us and joined us for our first international stopover in Kuala Lumpur. This was a stopover in the first luxury hotel that we had ever used and I remember both boys sleeping like babies the minute they put their heads on the hotel bed pillows.

The four of us were treated to an extensive exploration of North Island, taking in the far north of Cape Reinga down to Rotorua were each time we had two cars and stayed in classy motels.

The Rotorua motel was pretty much in the town and we were aware of the sulphurous smells/stench all around, but we did have the luxury of our own hot tub. We were keen to visit the geysers and similar features. Which mum and I did, while the boys were keen to do Zorbing and other activities.

Wherever you looked steam was in evidence. Wherever there was a hole, either natural or manmade, up came the steam. The golf course was perpetually under a mist. At one point I left the path to explore the fumaroles and was suddenly aware that Sally and Irene were waving furiously at me. Had we approached the area from the opposite direction to which we had we would have seen a notice saying that it was dangerous to leave the path. It was then that I had the revelation that we were in a potentially life threatening area. Not too far below us the Pacific plate was slowly slipping below the Australasian plate and that huge forces were at work and there were temperatures that melt rock. To the east is an active volcano on White Island and to the south is the active volcanoes in Tongariro National Park.

We learned that some wildlife had discovered the hazards to their cost. Some water birds did not have web feet. This was not an evolutionary trait. The highly acidic water of part of Lake Rotorua had rotted the webbing.

This adventure also introduced us to the Maori culture which took the form of a show in a whare. We have also encountered Maoris in Auckland Museum and in Queenstown. 

The day before setting off was something of an in day. Emily was able to go to Kindy in the morning. It is a great facility and much enjoyed by the young one. Zoe was still at a sleep over which meant Irene and me lunching while Sally and Emily went off to fetch Zoe; returning with her friend for a swim. While this was going on I had my first significant drive to Sylvia Park Mall for one or two bits. The exchange rate is really adding to the value. Like every supermarket, everywhere we found the special offers anomaly. A pack of four Bundaberg ginger beers was cheaper than a ten pack.

This morning we are preparing for the journey. I have been to Ian's office and bought his car back. I will collect him after work when the men will make the journey. Sometime soon, this morning the four ladies of differing ages will make their more leisurely way to a bach on the side of a lake near the town. (A bach is accommodation used for weekends and holidays. The owners rent them out in the same way as they may rent out caravans in the UK. They are no longer the homes built as tin sheds on the hill side, although some still exist. Planning regulations are getting tighter. There will even be more tightening up after 1st March, and I suspect that this is due to the Canterbury earthquake. I read Emily's child minders instructions which said that the home must have an adequate earthquake plan.)

I have just read the instructions about the bach. They include the precise location of the key in a marmalade jar, where to gut fish on a table outside, how to turn a multi-axle trailer and which boat launch area to use in bad weather. We are also to be careful with the use of water as the only supply is that collected from the roof. Sounds like we have a lot of fun in store.

Kiwi Valley Farm Park

Today, Wednesday, the chief activity was to go to Kiwi Valley Farm. This was in West Auckland near the suburb of Henderson. This is the Waitakere region. It was an independent city but is now part of what is now known as Auckland Super City.

Like all days here breakfast is followed by the daily routine of dousing every exposed part of the the body with high factor sunblock. In my case it means all but the parts covered by shorts and short sleeved open necked shirt. I even have to make sure the top part of my foot is covered. I have not worn socks since arriving here.

Once out of the snarl up of city motorways there is a stretch of clearer motorway until the suburbs are reached. When we got out of the car the farm smell was a clear indicator of where we were. The farm is quite genuine Kiwi. It has the kind of appearance that we have seen when driving through the rural areas of NZ. It has a very rustic appearance and is wonderful place to be.

Health and safety, in keeping with most of the country, is not a strong point. Compared to the UK there is a significant lack of notices such as 'Wash your hands before touching the animals' and 'Wash your hands after touching the animals'. In fact there were no facilities to do this even if you wanted to.

The visit started with the 'petting' area. Next to this was a sow feeding her piglets. The pigs were very furry.

Walking on we came to the cave. Once again health and safety was not much in evidence. The lighting was poor and rocks littered the cave floor. There were no signs warning visitors to remove sunglasses before entering. As part of my task to check that there were no bears in side I, with limited vision, managed to scrape my leg on a large rock. To be fair, keeping the lighting low made for a good atmosphere inside.

Before the farm walk came the 'rustic' maze. I don't think that we would have gotten out with Zoe coming back to find us.

On the farm walk there were more animals to feed and see.

Just before the end of the walk was the horse riding activity. Both girls really enjoy this

 Then came the tractor ride. Once more you could forget health and safety. The ride was slow and rickety, but it was rewarded by a view of the ubiquitous Rangitoto and Sky Tower on the distant horizon.

Rangitoto and Sky Tower on the horizon

Before lunch was the toilet stop. I mistakenly believed that the rustic appearance was an outer veneer of the very smart facilities that we have come to expect in this country. They were adequate and must not complain about  cutting my hand on the rough wood of the toilet door. Irene said that the hole around her door did not make for any great privacy.

Lunch time was a picnic and ices provided by mummy and enjoyed by all of us.

We also enjoyed the company of a very noisy cockerel. 

I liked the shot of Emily drinking taken through a bottle. 

Then it was time to go home. Zoe had a pool time with her friend before she went off on a sleep over.

Emily went shopping with her mum and is enjoying her own special time.