We’ve made a long road trip today, from Rotarua, at the northeast (more or less) end of the north island to the southern end of the north island, to reach Wellington. It was a ten hour bus trip, with stops. Still, I’ve not sat on a bus for that length of time for many years.
Here are pictures and captions of our stops along the way.
Mud pools as we departed the geothermal area of the north island. The tree fern was beautiful; the Dawn redwood was a surprise!
Huka Falls is a natural area where water flows through a narrow gorge at very high velocity. The water really churned.
The landscape is really beautiful, even along the road. Just a little like Iceland in the geothermal areas, but with a much more developed layer of soil. Evidence of grazing in many landscapes, and dairy cows, sheep, and some horses are commonly seen. Big blue sky, and rivers are never far away. We stopped in one town and ended up being able to use restrooms at the community pool which was so nice I photographed it!
There is plenty of distance between towns, and with no freeway system, the state roads drive through the towns, not around them. Today’s drive was reminiscent of driving out west– long stretches of agricultural lands, mostly grazing, and then a town with a main street. Towns seem to have themes. For example, the town of Bulls, had a large bull sculpture, and many businesses were punny with the name (eg. Constabull on the Constable sign, Relieve-a-bull for the toilets, Forgive-a-bull on the Anglican church, Cure-a-bull on the medical center.)
For lunch we stopped at the carrot park Ohakune, the “Carrot Capital” of New Zealand. Having learned that Mark’s research involved plants in the carrot family, the previous evening our guide had pulled him aside and asked him to prepare to explain to our group why carrots are so significant for Ohakune. As it turns out, the loamy volcanic soils there are excellent for growing root vegetables. A group of Chinese immigrants would farm as sharecroppers in the early 1900s. In 1984, a bank happened to have a commercial with a man-made giant carrot (7.5 m tall) as a prop, and the town decided it would ask to have the carrot after the bank was finished. From there the idea of creating the carrot park was born. It was a beautiful playground and mini golf, and the friendly root veggies were very welcoming. Mark delivered his mini lecture to the group with good cheer.
The last stop was Taihape, which has gumboots as its mascot– and a gumboot throwing competition. To stay in shape for this sport, the town has a practice field and people donate old boots to the cause. Of course I tried. It’s pretty tricky actually– those boots are weighted oddly and they aren’t very grippy.
We were extremely ready to get off the bus and I’ve not taken any photos of Wellington yet.
