New Zealand, the land of the long white cloud..

A cloud, a cloud, a white cloud…a long white cloud!”

This saying is attributed to Kuramarotini, a wife of the legendary Pacific voyager Kupe, on first sighting New Zealand.

On a sunny February day, we flew into the North Island of New Zealand, and Paul took this lovely photo of our first glimpse of the long white cloud.

New Zealand is a three hour flight from Canberra, Australia…it is closer to us than many parts of Australia.

The landscape is a little like Scotland, or perhaps some parts of Europe….far far removed from the Australian landscapes.

Aussies are well known for thinking hills are mountains..

We are visiting the North Island of New Zealand for our 40th wedding anniversary (amazing really….and still so young!).

As we landed in Wellington (the capital of New Zealand) we faced the tail end of a cyclone, which had earlier devastated the Pacific Island of Tonga.

However, like most potential problems in life it turned out to be less dramatic than expected.

I will do a post on the interesting capital city of Wellington, but first,  our absolute favourite part of the holiday, a visit to Lake Taupo.

This lake (impossible to fit into one photo) was created 2 thousand years ago by a volcanic eruption so big there were recordings of it as darkening skies at that time in Europe and China. It is now the biggest lake in Australasia, and roughly the size of Singapore!

Today it is a holiday place for many tourists and locals alike…….many wanting action packed and active holidays, skydiving, jet boat riding, white water rafting…

……we opted for a quiet southern end of the lake….  this is the view from our self-contained accommodation. Absolutely stunning view of the lake and not a jet boat in sight!

We are close to Tongariro National Park,  and Mount Ruapehu….

New Zealand’s summer is at its peak in February, and during this time, many European walkers come to New Zealand  to do the most popular all day walk, the Tongariro Alpine Crossing…(perhaps some are just coming to escape the winter!)

We did a shorter very beautiful walk to a waterfall….

No wonder this area, along with other parts of New Zealand were filming sites for The Lord of the Rings trilogy…

Our reward was late morning tea/coffee in the Chateau Tongariro ….a reminder of genteel bygone days.

New Zealand is the land of rich and wonderful dairy produce…the cream  (and ice cream) is delicious!

On our last evening we decided to have a meal sitting on our lovely deck, looking at the sunset..

I’ve never seen so many black swans in one place….they fitted into the landscape perfectly…

Across the river was a small Maori village, with an elegant small church steeple just slightly in view. It was Sunday, and the local choir came and stood by the water, facing the church, as they sang most beautifully…..

We had smoked salmon, fresh baked potatoes and salad, locally baked bread, and some of New Zealand’s lovely wine….and our own choir..

A day to be remembered…

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