I entered the National Museum next door (for free). This is an excellent museum split into three sections. The bottom floor has a Maori Hall, full of many artifacts, including a couple of sacred flutes made of human bone! There was a Maori war canoe built in the 1860s. Also, the hall held an entire Maori meeting lodge that was carved in 1842 and restored in the 1930s.
Then in another hall was a Marine Gallery. If you are into sealife, you'll love this. There were huge diaramas of life size models of the aquatic life in NZ's waters. It almost felt as if you were walking on the ocean floor. Very well done.
There was also a hall of famous NZ painters' works. Interesting, although I'm not an art buff. When I walked back to my room, I bought a souvenir: a basic 'highwayman' motorcycle jacket (made in NZ of course).
At the leather store, I met a young punk-rocker sales clerk from Toronto, Canada. He moved to NZ four years ago and wanted to go to Great Britain, but not until he got an NZ passport. That way he can make sure he can come back to his adopted homeland. We talked about how good the motorcycling was in New Zealand. When I said the South Island was fantastic, he replied, 'Gee, I've never been down there - maybe I should give it a try!' After living there for four years!
The weather in Wellington changes very rapidly. All day it has kept changing - windy, cloudy, sunny, rainy, etc. I spoke with a woman from London here in the Trekker's Motel. She said that it had been cloudy with rain showers throughout the North Island for the last week or two.
I'd noticed many motorcycles in Wellington. Unlike the South Island, they have all been Japanese-made, and most are 125, 250 or 400 CC. I hadn't seen any Harleys, maybe one or two BMWs, and a Gold Wing or two. There were virtually no hard core sport bikes. In fact, on the whole South Island, I saw exactly one sport bike, a Ducati 900SS (in Wanaka). Completely unlike Canada, where everyone and his dog rides either a CBR 600, a ZX-7 or a big 1340 Harley.
Oh yeah - since I first got to NZ, I'd seen cars occasionally with red balls like clown noses stuck on the front. I thought that maybe this was some kind of punishment for pulling a bozo stunt like drunk driving. I stopped a woman in the street and asked 'Excuse me, but I'm from Canada - what are those ball things?!?' She started laughing and said she was also here from Canada (working here for a year). She explained that the balls are for 'Red Cot Day' to raise awareness of cot death (what we call crib death in North America). Geez, I like my bozo idea better.
Another Kiwi peculiarity: pie and chips. All the takeaway fast food places have small meat pies with chips. Very cheap. I can't imagine eating that many meat pies is very healthy though - at least a hamburger has veggies in it!
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I went to bed around 10:00 PM and slept until 6:30. I quickly headed out north. I was stuck on multi-lane highway for about twenty or thirty kilometers until I passed through Upper Hutt. Then the road reverted to the usual two-lane country road and started climbing through the hills. The road got fairly twisty; about the same as Buller gorge or Haast pass. It was cloudy and the scenery was on the plain side. When I got to Greytown, the road went more straight through gentle farming hills. The remainder of the riding was good but not challenging: I was able to make good time. The temperature was about 14 C, so I didn't wear the rain oversuit.
I had some major confusion in Hastings, a town about 20 KM south of Napier. The usual signs saying 'Hey idiot, this way to Napier' were not in evidence. Somehow I took the wrong turn in a roundabout intersection and ended up heading back south! Oops! I quickly turned around (spending a few seconds going down the wrong side of the road in my confusion - whoops!) and found the correct road.
I got into the Kennedy Park Motor Camp. I asked for a plain cabin but some other guests were busy inspecting the last one available, so I had to wait to see if they'd take it or not. After waiting ten minutes or so, the manager said that I could have a motel room (normally $45 NZ) for only $25, the cabin price. It had full linen and a private bath. Also a television and a radio - what luxury!
After settling in, I walked downtown to the ocean side Marine Parade to look at the various 'art deco' buildings. I checked out a museum. In 1931, a huge earthquake destroyed the entire city of Napier. All (or most anyhow) of the buildings were rebuilt in the 1930s art deco style. With all the palm trees lining the streets, it looked like 1930s Hollywood. Some very cool looking buildings. It started raining hard, so I headed back to my room. I decided to head to Lake Taupo the next day. I had six days before having to be Auckland.
I was just cleaning my riding gear: I'd recommend anyone riding in NZ wear either a full-face helmet or very good goggles. All my leathers and the entire front surface of my helmet were splattered with bug juice. I also checked out the bike - I'd now put 2247 KM on it, about 1350 miles.
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As usual, I got up early and started riding from Napier to Taupo. The distance is only about 150 KM away. It had rained hard the night before and the roads were wet. Leaving the city, I had to ride across a couple of railroad crossings set at angles to the road: this gave me a little excitement.
Unfortunately the roads were mostly sweeping country roads. Pleasant but not particularly challenging. About the same as a good road in Victoria. I guess I got spoiled on the South Island. At one point I went through a high mountain pass that was extremely foggy, like riding through the proverbial pea soup. After that the roads became very long, flat and straight. I rode through a planted forest of pine, the largest man-made forest in New Zealand.
I checked into the Taupo Motor Camp for two nights. There are all kinds of activities locally: fishing, bungy jumping, jetboating, and river rafting. I booked a trip on a steam boat and grabbed some lunch.
I walked up Spa Road to the bungy jump site. There was a cantilever platform jutting about twenty meters out from a cliff overlooking the Waikato river gorge. I watched a woman jump. It was 45 meters to the water below. She bounced up and down like a yoyo three or four times. No way would I do that - and they charge you $85 NZ! I don't think I'd do it if they paid me!
Walking in the park by the gorge, I saw several steam vents or jets fuming away. The air smelled like rotten eggs - hydrogen sulphide gas.
Back in town, I went to the marina to ride on the 'Ernest Kemp.' This is an old 1920s steam ferry (sadly, it now has modern diesel engines). We cruised around on Lake Taupo for two hours while various sites were pointed out. The most impressive were the Maori rock carvings. There were several small carvings of various mythical Maori figures, and a huge 25 foot carving of a famous Maori chief's face. Although the carvings were done in the traditional style, they were created in 1980 by several Maori artists.
A couple of interesting notes: there was a McDonald's in town. Beside it was an actual DC-3 airplane painted in red and white with the McDonald's logo on it. A waste of a perfectly good airplane if you ask me. Also, I saw at least twenty or so motorcycles. Only one Harley; the rest were Japanese-made. I saw one group of eight or so bikes in a group: all were sport bikes, which surprised me. Oh yeah - I saw a perfect Triumph Bonneville 750 in red and black. I took a picture of that one!
I'd tried to get on a river raft ride with three different companies. I was waiting to find out if I could get a seat on a trip. I decided if not I'd check out 'Craters of the Moon' and Huka Falls.
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No rafting companies were running out of Taupo that day. I'd been told it was probably best to try from Rotorua. I hopped on my motorcycle and rode to Huka Falls. The falls were very impressive. The level of Lake Taupo used to be 100 feet higher, but then a channel wore through the rock forming the Waikato river. The channel let the level of the lake drop and is now a waterfall of perhaps four meters high and at least 10 or 15 meters wide. I noticed an old riverboat come up the river to stop near the falls. I asked around and decided to go ride it later.
I then rode the Kawasaki to the Craters of the Moon. This is an area where underground water erupts from steam vents, boiled by geothermal activity. It looked like a scene from a science-fiction movie. The ground was covered with moss and small bushes. Steam was venting from literally dozens of craters. There was a constant hissing sound like an old kettle boiling. The stench of rotten eggs was overpowering. I walked up to one crater big enough to hold a house. When the wind blew the stinky steam away, I could see that the entire bottom of the crater was covered with bubbling mud. I spent an hour wandering around, but the stench got to me and I left.
On the way to the river boat, I stopped at the Taupo Volcanic Observatory. There was an impressive 3-D relief map of the Taupo region showing various volcanic formations. I watched a fairly entertaining film about the major Taupo eruption in 186 AD that formed the caldera Lake Taupo now sits in.
I got to the 'African Queen' boat, the M.V. 'Waireka.' It was built in Glasgow in 1908. It measured 62 feet long, 7 feet wide, and had a draft of only 12 *inches* fully laden. The hull was designed after the Maori war canoes. The ship has been used continually to haul passengers and freight for 85 years! It is the oldest commercial vessel using internal combustion in New Zealand. She currently has British-built Ford engines that burn oil, not diesel or petrol.
We headed down the river to the Aratiatia Rapids. Originally a hydroelectric tunnel was built parallel to the rapids, and then the rapids were dammed off. An Act of Parliament was passed five year ago, forcing the power company to open the dam gates twice a day for 1.5 hours. This allows visitors to see the rapids in their original glory. It was a huge white water area.
The boat then turned and cruised back up the river to the Huka Falls. They were much more impressive when seen from the river! The boat then headed back to the dock. There, as I'm saddling up on the bike, a hotdog vendor asks me about my motorbike tour and tells me he is planning to motorcycle across Canada in the coming spring.
The next day I planned to ride to Rotorua: it was only about 1.5 hours away. I'd stay one night, maybe two.
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