Grape Gatsby

The largest city in the Hawke's Bay region is Napier, and we found this seaport to be scenic and charming. Flattened by an earthquake in 1931, Napier was rebuilt almost entirely in art deco style. We visited during the days leading into the city's annual Art Deco Weekend. Before visiting area wineries, we enjoyed tremendous views overlooking the coast and spent some time in the quaint city center. The place looked like a page out of The Great Gatsby with colorful buildings, vintage cars, and people dressed in costumes from the 1930's. Celebrants were honored to be photographed, and one chap tipped his hat and happily declared, "It's all part of the service!"

Mission Possible

From Taupo, we piled into the car and drove to Hawke's Bay for a couple of days in the wine country. We made it to Napier just in time to check into our hotel and head to dinner at Mission Estate Winery. Built in 1851, Mission Estate was the first winery in Hawke's Bay and is the oldest winemaker in New Zealand. The grounds are lush, the wine is award-winning, and dinner was memorable.

Down Under Down Under

Taupo boasts yet another record-breaking attraction - Scenic Cellars, home of New Zealand's largest underground wine cellar. With a sales inventory of 3,000 labels and 100,000 bottles, wine enthusiasts can find every varietal and wine-producing region represented. The cellar IS huge, and the opportunity to sample wines is fun and easy. We found this to be the perfect precursor to our trip to the wine region in Hawke's Bay.

Craters of the Moon ala New Zealand

I've never been to Idaho's version of Craters of the Moon, but now I can say I've made a lunar landing in New Zealand. Our day in Taupo included a 45-minute walk among a good assortment of steam vents, bubbling craters, boiling mud pools, and colorful soils. From my point of view, you can never see enough mud pots.

Dam - What a Rush!

With the arrival of reinforcements from the United States, we piled into the car and headed to Taupo. While Tom spent half of the day seeing patients in the Clinic, I showed Sarah, Paul and Becky some favorite spots in and around this beautiful lakeside town.

A new adventure was added to our ever-growing repertoire: the Aratiatia Rapids on the Waitato River! Four times a day, a siren sounds just before the dam's control gates are opened, allowing the rapids to flow and fill a narrow gorge with turbulent water.

Sight for Sore Eyes

Pretty much as soon as we arrived in New Zealand in December, we started looking forward to visits from our kids. We hit a trifecta this week with the arrivals of Becky, Sarah and her husband Paul. Becky flew in from Houston on Monday, followed by Sarah and Paul on Tuesday from Florida (both just back from deployments in the Middle East).We've planned an ambitious itinerary for their New Zealand experience, but it was only appropriate to start things off with a bit of a celebration.


By the way, I've so enjoyed reading comments from friends and family - either on the Blog or through emails. Today I changed a setting that should make it easier for folks to post a comment directly.

Barbara's Garden

Among our good Kiwi friends are Barbara Hochstein and Geoffrey Cox. I mentioned artist/author/historian Geoffrey in an earlier blog, but I want to document my special friendship with his wife Barbara as well. Barbara is a radiologist at Rotorua Hospital, and, like Geoffrey, she’s brilliant!


We’ve enjoyed hikes and bikes and meals with Barbara, Geoffrey and their son Nicholas, and we consider it a treat to be invited to their lovely home on Lake Rotorua. Barbara’s garden is more than blog-worthy. She has mastered the art of organic gardening, and I’m taking notes on her elaborate system of composting. Geoffrey built a life-size sundial that is the centerpiece of the backyard. For good measure, a croquet course adds to the charm.

The Road Less Traveled

Anyone who has hiked, trekked, tramped, mountain biked, hunted, and/or snowshoed with Tom knows that he likes to take the road less traveled. More accurately, he prefers to take the road not yet built. So I wasn't surprised when Tom chose to take the scenic route on our way home from a recent adventure. I prepared myself for a rocky ride. The route was not only scenic but included several kilometers of a narrow, winding gravel road (or a "metal" road as they call it here). My enthusiasm increased substantially when I saw this sign:


Alas, the only critter we saw wandering was a hedgehog. Since it marked my first sighting of a hedgehog, I hopped out to take a quick snapshot. Julie Westbrook, this one's for you.

Whangarei Falls

The town of Whangarei boasts one of the island's most photographed waterfalls. A nicely developed park and canopied walk gave us several views of the 26 metre falls.

Where New Zealanders Flush with Pride

On the final day of our 4-day weekend, we drove down the east side of the Northland peninsula. I'm not sure if our stop in Kawakawa was a health break or a visit to an art gallery. Internationally known artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser left Austria and became a New Zealand citizen in 1983. Several years later, he was approached by the community to design what have since become New Zealand's most famous toilets.

The artist used an eclectic assortment of materials in his design, including recycled bricks, student-created tiles, concrete, steel, copper, and bits and pieces of ceramics. The facilities were created around a tree! The Hundertwasser Toilets became an overnight sensation, and the whimsical spot is one of New Zealand's most photographed attractions. Glad I finished taking my photos before a busload of tourists made a pit stop.

Creme de la Cream Trip

The best way to appreciate the Bay of Islands is by water, so we booked an all-day cruise on the Cream Trip. The trip is named after the old route boats followed to deliver essential supplies and mail to island residents.

We departed from the small resort town of Paihia and cruised to and around over a dozen of the 150+ islands in the huge Bay of Islands.

Early morning clouds and rain subsequently turned into a beautiful summer day and thankfully much calmer seas.


Our entertaining skipper gave us geological, wildlife and history lessons along the way and shared colorful anecdotes about Captain James Cook's many discoveries. We believe most of his stories were reasonably true.

Check out the eyelashes on this turtle.


Although conditions didn't permit swimming with the dolphins, the playful creatures gave us a good show nonetheless.



A highlight of the day was cruising through the famed Hole in the Rock.