It rained much of the night,
and we woke up to find our caravan on a small island rising up from a sea of
muddy puddles. But Richard managed
to back out of our site between the trees, not get mired in the mud, and off we
went, leaving the Tongariro Crossing behind. (We drove across the Tongariro Crossing – some people hike
the 7 or 8 mile trek, which might be fun and interesting, but not in the frigid
wind and pouring rain we encountered.
Plus there’s some mountain climbing involved – and climbing a mountain
or two in the 
rain is just not something either of us were thrilled to do.)
went, leaving the Tongariro Crossing behind. (We drove across the Tongariro Crossing – some people hike
the 7 or 8 mile trek, which might be fun and interesting, but not in the frigid
wind and pouring rain we encountered.
Plus there’s some mountain climbing involved – and climbing a mountain
or two in the 
rain is just not something either of us were thrilled to do.)
We 
headed to Whakapapa
Village, along the west side of the route referred to as the Volcanic
Loop. (Don’t laugh – it’s
pronounced fah-kah-PAH-pah – and yes, in 
our minds it sounds obscene.) Whakapapa Village is a small town
located at the base of Mount Ruapehu, the most active volcano in the region
(until neighboring Tongariro erupted a week or two ago). Whakapapa is about halfway to the ski
area – another 6 km beyond the visitor’s center, there was some snow at the
ski lift. And the volcano 
alert is
only a 1, meaning there are signs that Ruapehu is thinking about an eruption,
but it doesn’t seem imminent.
(Though volcanoes can be wily, as we all know.)
Anyway, Whakapapa is at 1100
meters above sea level, so it is COLD!
And the same stormy weather that spawned the 
tornado in Auckland
yesterday was still raining and blowing its way across New Zealand, so it was
super windy at that elevation. And
horizontal rain. We spent a few
hours in the visitor’s center, which has two films: one covers the Maori
legends about the creation of the volcanoes, as well as the history of the
national park there (the land was donated by a Maori paramount chief, to become
the 
first NZ national park); the second film was a more scientific explanation
of geothermal, volcanic, and seismic activity in general and specifically in
this region. Both films were very
interesting, but the stage-set-props for the lava flow had me laughing (a giant
plywood mountain with LED chase lights – c’mon now, that would make anyone crack
up!).
tornado in Auckland
yesterday was still raining and blowing its way across New Zealand, so it was
super windy at that elevation. And
horizontal rain. We spent a few
hours in the visitor’s center, which has two films: one covers the Maori
legends about the creation of the volcanoes, as well as the history of the
national park there (the land was donated by a Maori paramount chief, to become
the 
first NZ national park); the second film was a more scientific explanation
of geothermal, volcanic, and seismic activity in general and specifically in
this region. Both films were very
interesting, but the stage-set-props for the lava flow had me laughing (a giant
plywood mountain with LED chase lights – c’mon now, that would make anyone crack
up!). 
The weather was still
horrible when we left Whakapapa, so we headed south to the National Park
Village, then headed north along a state highway named The Alpine
Shortcut. Isn’t that a great name? Winding roads, dramatic hills and
valleys, and through the same area as the Scenic Explorer railroad.
We decided to spend the
night in Te Kuiti, a small town (some 4000 people live here) that is the
sheep-shearing capital of New Zealand.
(They claim to be the sheep-shearing capital of the world!) At the south end of town they have this
crazy 21 ft high statue (which is quite hideous, and is made of cement-covered
Styrofoam!) as well as sheep facts.
Yup. One day of sheep
shearing is equivalent to running a marathon or two, according to heart rate, respiratory rate, and calories expended.
(One might include distance, if the person has to catch all of his
sheep.)
There’s also a Maori
community center (I think it’s called a paka), and a very interesting pavilion
in a park – etched glass shows the history of the area, Maori carvings depict
that aspect of history, and stained glass shows other influences. Really nice – much better than the
sheep dude! (Who, at least, is
wearing a shirt featuring the All Blacks rugby team symbol.)
We met two rather drunk
20-something young men – one tried climbing the sheep dude statue, got halfway,
jumped down. I asked if they knew
of free wifi in the area, and they ended up walking us down the street to point
out the library, where we can find free wifi in the morning. The two of them were actually quite
funny, and we ended up shaking hands goodbye (though I got a little hug from
statue-climber guy) – it was very funny! 
But typically New Zealand,
we’ve found – people are very friendly, very chatty, and we’ve had wonderful
conversations with people all over.
We’re frequently asked where we’re from, and few people here know where
the Caribbean is. (One shopkeeper
had a wall map, and was amazed that the USVI wasn’t on it!) We had a nice evening talking to a
couple in Mt Maunganui, and the Dutch couple at the motor home farm, and the
hotel reception guy in Opononi, and on and on – everyone is friendly, open to
chatting, helpful, funny and ready to laugh, full of suggestions about places
to visit, and just generally very nice.
We’ve both really enjoyed that aspect of NZ, meeting people and
exchanging ideas and laughing and all that.
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