Sheep, Possum, Birds and Scenery

"Blossom, blossom, you're my possum." - Jethro Bodine's valentine greeting

As we make our way up the east coast of the north island, spectacular scenery is again the order of the day. In Wellington, we took a lengthy drive along the "storm coast"--a rugged and beautiful bay coast where many a ship has met its end. On one side, mountains rise up quickly to lovely peaks. On the other, waves lash the rocks in many spots, making "no swimming here" an obvious response. But at other points, families had come out to enjoy the day in the water at pleasant beaches. They obviously knew where to go and not to go.

The drive ended with a steep ascent to a sheep station atop one of the peaks. From there, we could see across Cook's Strait (where the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean meet) to the south island. At the sheep station, we watched sheep dogs herd the sheep, and enjoyed a cup of tea by the fir.

The next day was more fabulous scenery. This time, we'd docked in Napier, and took a "safari truck" through more Lord of the Rings country, past more sheep and cattle, around winding roads and trails and up steep ascents. The ride would be reward in and of itself, but there was more reward awaiting--the nesting site of some 7,000 gannets (a bird in the booby family). They are white with yellow heads and what looked like blue eyes. And there they were, some flying, some sitting on eggs, some pursuing courtship rituals. We were told that soon they'd be leaving for Australia, and would return in 2-3 years.

This was all at a spectacular cliff, under which was another cliff where several thousand additional gannets were nesting. The "scent" was striking, and the shoes needed a good cleaning at the end of the day, but it was worth it all to take in this scene.

Afterward, we went to the town of Napier, a pretty city with an interesting history. In February 1931, the city experienced a 7.8 earthquake, which brought down many buildings and which started a fire that destroyed most of the rest of the city. With only a few of the old Victorian buildings standings, and in the midst of the Great Depression, the city rebuilt in the style of the era--art deco. So, the city is mostly art deco with a few Victorian buildings tossed in here and there. They preserve it well, and it was a nice place to spend an afternoon.

If one is in a city, what is the obligatory thing to do? Well, shop of course. And what does Napier offer by way of shopping? Craft shops, the major department store of NZ, Farmers, souvenir shops, book stores, the obligatory Starbucks, and much more. But the highlight had to be Opossum World. All I can say is that, while it was a rather odd store, it was not as odd as one would have thought. And I now know much more about the possum than I did before. But I will spare you the details.

Next: Rotorua and the Thermal Wonderland.