90 Mile Beach

We went on a three day trip to the very Northern tip of the island. We took a bus tour one day to see the end and ride on the beach. It isn't safe for cars. The land mass gets more narrow toward the tip . At the very tip the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean come together to cause whirlpools which they say represents the relationship between men and women. (very volatile) Much of Maori religion is also based on this tip where they think their soul leaves to to go to their eternity. The Eastern Europeans are all based in this area. The Kiwis call them dalmatians but I am not sure why. We saw the light house at the tip with its breathtaking views. We also went tobogganing on the sand dunes. Yes even I did it. I was glad that you could adjust you speed to fast or slow. You can guess what my speed was. We had a very outgoing Maori guide who sang us a native Maori love song. It was beautiful. We were yet again on a vehicle that delivered mail just like our boat. We actually stopped at a mailbox in the middle of the beach. It was there for the tent campers who had their camp over the hill and out of sight. I guess every year this group of men that come up and fish for 3 months and just live off the land. It is a very deserted part of the country. I couldn't believe they could actually get mail but this bus service brings it to them. It was just too funny.

Hole in a rock caused by the water

Cape Reigna

Steve on the toboggan

Mailbox on the beach

Weeds and Wellies

Rachel and our attempt at gardening

On Wednesday I went to an all day garden club meeting called " Weeds and Wellies". I met a very nice lady named Marion at the gym. We got to talking and it turned out she did a 6 week motorcycle tour in the USA last summer. One of the people she went with was originally from Richmond, VA and she had actually gone through Roanoke on her tour. We struck up a conversation and from there she invited me to her garden club. I really know very little about gardening but I wanted to meet some people. There were 27 wonderful ladies there. They meet once a month and tour gardens. Of course along the way you stop for tea and a muffin. You also stop at one of the members house for lunch. You bring your own lunch and they provide the tea and coffee. Then later in the afternoon you stop one more time for tea. It was nice to meet some women and have a day out. The gardens we toured were just peoples homes but some of their yards were amazing. One home had an amazing begonia collection. I had never seen so many varieties . They were all colors and sizes. I was sorry that I forgot my camera. We also went to one ladies house that has apple, orange, pear, and walnut trees. She also had other many amazing plants. They tell me you can even easily grow bananas around here. It isn't cold enough for a few things but not many. Rachel has started to get interested in gardening while she has been here, so we decided to add to our vegetable garden. You can plant different things year around. I learned from the ladies what I could plant so we planted lettuce , cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, and celery. Time will tell if all the many gardeners will rub off on me.

Kauri Museum

Steve had the day off so we went to our first museum since we have been here. Steve does not tend to like museums but we were told by several people that this one was great. It tells the history of the Kauri tree. It is now an endangered tree so they can't cut it down but it used to be a very big business. You saw the trees in one of my earlier posts. They used it for furniture, paneling, dishes and even building houses. As you can see in the pictures below it is a beautiful wood. They had the most amazing detail on some of the furniture. It is truly one of the most beautiful woods I have seen. They also have the Kauri gum collection. It is the sap that has fossilized. There is very little of it left since there are so few Kauri trees. It is graded by how clear and how old it is. It is used for everything from jewelry to amazing carvings. It is hard to believe that what looks like a topaz stone is just sap fossilized. It really is beautiful. It was indeed a good museum and I was glad we visited. An yes on the way home we stopped by yet another beach to have a look.

Kauri furniture
Kauri gum with Rachel in the background

Yes we visited yet another beautiful beach