Today we drove from Rotorua down to Napier on Hawke Bay. Some wine drinkers out there will know about Hawke's Bay wineries. It's the 2nd most famous in New Zealand.
So we set off about 9:15 this morning, driving down the Thermal Explorer highway, where we see lots of steam coming out of vents all over the place. We found Wairakei where they have this huge geothermal plant capturing the power of the earth for their own power. There are big pipes running everywhere.
Even creating a bridge across the road.
Our next stop was at Huka Falls where they have a dam generating hydroelectric power. I'd say the significance of this area is pretty big for power generation.
The Waikato River flows out of Lake Taupo north to Auckland and empties into the Tasman Sea. It has to run through a very narrow gorge, so the power of the water here is pretty incredible. It's no Niagara Falls, but there's about 200,000 litres of water going over the falls per minute.
There's even the Maid of the Mist here!
We then went into the Town of Taupo and had a coffee/hot chocolate at the boat harbour. The temperature today is only about 10C, and it's rainy and somewhat windy, so it's OK for driving. I wouldn't have wanted to go out on the lake in a boat though.
We carried on to Napier, driving through some large hills, up and down, and a road that could "break a snake's back". Beautiful scenery. And lots of sheep to be seen. We stopped for lunch at a pretty spot with a lookout to more waterfalls.
We arrived at our hotel, "Bella Tuscany", around 2:30 pm. We're just here for 1 night and carrying on to Wellington tomorrow. We went into the downtown area. Napier is known here for its Art Deco buildings. We had some dinner while we were in town.
Then we drove up to Bluff Hill Lookout. I thought it might look over the town, but it's over Hawke Bay and the shipyard.
We're back in our room by about 6:30 pm. We've been on the go a lot, so it's kind of nice to just relax for a few hours before bedtime.
Here are some Kiwi facts we've learned so far:
DRIVING
- They drive on the left. So that's always interesting. I'm doing the driving as Gerard hates driving standard as it is, let alone driving one where he has to shift with his left hand! That comes naturally to me. However...
- When you want to signal a turn, you turn on the wipers, and when you need the wipers, you turn on the signal light. Grrr. I am getting used to it, but it's weird being opposite.
- Even in parking lots, you have to drive on the left.
- You call a phone number if there are things on the highway, like water, high wind, stock (cattle or sheep), slip (if you skid), etc. They want to know! We saw them trying to powerwash off old lane markings.
- I saw water go down the toilet counter-clockwise. But I don't know if it's because of the force of how the water went into the toilet bowl, or not. Now I'm not sure what it does in N America actually. But you can check that out.
- There are a lot of cattle we've seen so far, both beef and dairy. I don't know if it's just particular to the area we've been in. The first day, there were a lot more cattle than sheep, but I'd say the numbers have flipped now. A lot more sheep. The terrain is so hilly, and steep, that it's not conducive to have cattle roaming around.
- New Zealand is VERY English. It could be more English than England.
WORDS
- Trundler - shopping cart
- Torch - flashlight (told you it was English)
- Australia is just across "the ditch".
- Being in Australia is being in Oz.
And I'm sure we'll find more.
Also, EVERYONE is so nice. They could be Canadian!
So we set off about 9:15 this morning, driving down the Thermal Explorer highway, where we see lots of steam coming out of vents all over the place. We found Wairakei where they have this huge geothermal plant capturing the power of the earth for their own power. There are big pipes running everywhere.
Even creating a bridge across the road.
Our next stop was at Huka Falls where they have a dam generating hydroelectric power. I'd say the significance of this area is pretty big for power generation.
The Waikato River flows out of Lake Taupo north to Auckland and empties into the Tasman Sea. It has to run through a very narrow gorge, so the power of the water here is pretty incredible. It's no Niagara Falls, but there's about 200,000 litres of water going over the falls per minute.
There's even the Maid of the Mist here!
We then went into the Town of Taupo and had a coffee/hot chocolate at the boat harbour. The temperature today is only about 10C, and it's rainy and somewhat windy, so it's OK for driving. I wouldn't have wanted to go out on the lake in a boat though.
We carried on to Napier, driving through some large hills, up and down, and a road that could "break a snake's back". Beautiful scenery. And lots of sheep to be seen. We stopped for lunch at a pretty spot with a lookout to more waterfalls.
We arrived at our hotel, "Bella Tuscany", around 2:30 pm. We're just here for 1 night and carrying on to Wellington tomorrow. We went into the downtown area. Napier is known here for its Art Deco buildings. We had some dinner while we were in town.
Then we drove up to Bluff Hill Lookout. I thought it might look over the town, but it's over Hawke Bay and the shipyard.
We're back in our room by about 6:30 pm. We've been on the go a lot, so it's kind of nice to just relax for a few hours before bedtime.
Here are some Kiwi facts we've learned so far:
DRIVING
- They drive on the left. So that's always interesting. I'm doing the driving as Gerard hates driving standard as it is, let alone driving one where he has to shift with his left hand! That comes naturally to me. However...
- When you want to signal a turn, you turn on the wipers, and when you need the wipers, you turn on the signal light. Grrr. I am getting used to it, but it's weird being opposite.
- Even in parking lots, you have to drive on the left.
- You call a phone number if there are things on the highway, like water, high wind, stock (cattle or sheep), slip (if you skid), etc. They want to know! We saw them trying to powerwash off old lane markings.
- I saw water go down the toilet counter-clockwise. But I don't know if it's because of the force of how the water went into the toilet bowl, or not. Now I'm not sure what it does in N America actually. But you can check that out.
- There are a lot of cattle we've seen so far, both beef and dairy. I don't know if it's just particular to the area we've been in. The first day, there were a lot more cattle than sheep, but I'd say the numbers have flipped now. A lot more sheep. The terrain is so hilly, and steep, that it's not conducive to have cattle roaming around.
- New Zealand is VERY English. It could be more English than England.
WORDS
- Trundler - shopping cart
- Torch - flashlight (told you it was English)
- Australia is just across "the ditch".
- Being in Australia is being in Oz.
And I'm sure we'll find more.
Also, EVERYONE is so nice. They could be Canadian!
Oh, I remember the driving a standard car in Scotland well! The shifting was not natural for me being left handed but I got on to it. Just when you get comfortable with the signals and the windshield wipers, you will come back home and do it backwards all over again!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, our toilet seems to go counterclockwise but our sink appears to be clockwise. I guess that whole thing is a myth!
I meant not being left handed which I know you figured out. Looks like a spectacular trip. Enjoy!
ReplyDelete