apteryx wa: October 2006

on the road again

today we're headed for the coromandel region, known for its "hot water beach" and a history of gold rushes (1852 and 1867).

i'm pleased to report two exciting new developments:
we have named our car ("TO")
and
we bought a new cassette tape ("25 country hits").

hokianga harbor

our last wwoofing experience was great. we stayed at the labyrinth woodworks & maze. our hosts were avid puzzlers and if there was ever a spare moment we were given a brain teaser to take a crack at. i only solved 28 of the 40 or so puzzles i attempted (there were hundreds available). there was also a hedge maze on the property where you had to find 11 letters throughout the maze and then do a word scramble at the end. our hosts had just gotten back from international puzzle party 26 in boston. the ipp is held annually in a different place every year and only 100 puzzle-makers from around the world are invited to share, buy and sell puzzles amongst each other (the public is not invited). most of the puzzles at the show are never manufactured commercially and are only available to the puzzle-makers who are in attendance. here are some examples. our hosts created the NZanity puzzle about halfway down the page. i still haven't solved NZanity, but i took a crack at some of the puzzles shown and while i solved some, most were pretty hard.

anyway, when we were all puzzled out we were able to find other fun activities. one day we went horseback riding. i rode lee and della rode buster.

another day we went sandboarding down the local sand dunes. you can get going over 50 kilometers per hour and if you don't stop yourself at the bottom you skim out into the bay about 20 meters. except if your timing is off you get destroyed by the incoming waves. my timing was not perfect.

found art

environmental art found just south of ninety mile beach

st. paul's rock

here is st. paul's rock and then a view of the south pacific from the top. it was raining and we were short on time when we found the rock so i ran to the top and della moseyed up behind me. you have to use a chain to reverse repel yourself up the last 30 feet so della wasn't very interested in going all the way up anyway.

waterfall

we've seen numerous waterfalls as we've been driving around and we've hiked to a couple more. the 90 foot rainbow falls is pictured here. if the light is right the mist from the fall creates a rainbow. the cave underneath gets bigger every year as the soil washes out under the lava rock the created the fall.

oh, and you can stand on top of the waterfall if you want.

or jump off.

workin' nine to one

when we're not out photographing scenic vistas or fleeing from possible air raids, our services are employed in these lovely outdoor offices. duties include digging, raking, weeding, planting, watering, building, hauling, gathering, polishing, and chopping. and sometimes some light catering and waitering.

air raid

we saw the devil wears prada last saturday after catering the wedding anniversary that took place in our "bedroom". we figured the movie was a good way to kill time while the party winded down. except it turns out the party hadn't wound down at all after the movie ended. so we drove back in to town looking for something to do. well, both bars in town were dead and we were tired anyway so we parked in an empty parking lot to sleep for a while before heading back to the party hall. it turns out the car is pretty comfortable for sleeping and we both dozed off quickly.

then the air raid siren went off. we both bolted awake with no idea what the hell it meant or what we were supposed to do. "let's get out of here" i said in a daze. so della started the car and we drove back to the hall, which was now totally abandoned. we weren't sure if the party was actually over or if everyone had evacuated. but we didn't hear any planes or explosions, or feel any earthquakes, or see any fires or smoke, so we decided to just accept our fate and go to sleep.

we found out the next morning we had parked next to the back of the fire station and when the fire truck leaves the station in this particular town it sounds an air raid siren (like from WWII) instead of the usual wailing siren.

new zealand's largest live bee display

ballroom bedroom

we've arrived at our second farm-stay. the drive up was a real treat, as our car doesn't seem to receive any radio stations at all. halfway here we stopped at a thrift store in attempt to remedy the situation, and we are now the reluctant owners of three cassette tapes: bach's organ works (fugues), the piano--movie soundtrack, and a tape called "hollywood love songs," which features instrumental versions of the hits from 80s movies like top gun, deer hunter, and mad max.

the highlight of our voyage north was cafe eutopia. a cross between aladdin and the smurfs, it may just be my second favorite roadside attraction ever (i'm not sure anything will ever top south-central kentucky's dinosaur world).

so now we're "settled in" at our new temporary home--a large tropical garden. the work has been fairly easy, the garden is beautiful, and the food is delicious. we don't really have a bedroom. we sleep on the floor in a multipurpose room that's rented out for banquets and such. there are no curtains on the windows and we have to pack up our bedding and backpacks and lock them in a closet every morning. on saturday they're having a wedding anniversary party in our "bedroom," so there'll be no sleeping till the dancing stops.

also, tyson has confronted, but not yet overcome, his new distaste for bees (pictures to follow).

select saloon pic

here is a picture of our car. we still haven't named it yet.

also, in addition to the three new posts below, i've also added some pictures to the tranquil heights post from the 10.14.06.

non-environmental art #2

here is the first entry into the la chambre de van gogh a arles replica archives.

Taigled'nToft
colored-pencil on paper
bowling green, ky

environmental art #2

from the beach at mahurangi regional park, new zealand.

mahurangi regional park

here are some shots from our quick visit to the park just down the road from our hosts' house. we plan to go back there tomorrow and do some more exploring. the mother of these little ducks was quite tolerant and the ducks themselves were extremely brave; they almost jumped in my hand at one point.

tranquil heights

we are now wwoofing at a 44 acre, soon-to-be bed & breakfast. the property is quite nice, with the house overlooking a shallow valley that meanders down to a small bay. our room looks out to the east over the valley and we've seen some great sunrises. along with our hosts (wendy and lindsay) and another long-term wwoofer from scotland (ross), we have been welcomed by 16 cows, 2 goats and a cat. we have been working about 4-5 hours a day and then spending our afternoons exploring some of the parks and reserves in the area. della's mainly been planting veges and flowers while i've been working on completing a fence with ross. we have a couple of days off coming up and we plan to take some bushwalks in the nearby regional park.

we aren't sure yet where we are going next but we'll publish a post once we do.

select saloon

we purchased a car on Sunday. a 1989 Toyota Corona Select Saloon, which has been driven either 191,000 kilometers or 1,191,000 kilometers. one of the windows doesn't work but the heating/air conditioning seems to operate fine. 3 out of 4 tires are in good condition but we have a spare. most importantly, it drives fine and the brakes work. needless to say, we are now members of the New Zealand Triple-A (simply called 'AA').

of course the oddest thing about the car is that the driver sits on the right side. so naturally i was very nervous during our test drive, especially when i noticed some idiot on the wrong side of the road coming right at me:

i said, "hey, what's that fool up to?"
della said, "oh my god. honey!"
the dealer's auntie said, "oh, by the way love, in new zealand we drive on the other side. you might have better luck on the left side of the road."

so that was fun. hopefully we fair better tomorrow when we head up to Warkwarth to stay with our first host.

city of sails

aukland is nice, flowering and green. also, new zealanders are nice. (though mostly not flowering or green.) weather kind of chilly; we're wearing our layers. we stay in a little room behind the bamber house. some type of fruit tree by our door. maybe oranges, though no one seems to want to eat them. drinking tea in the mornings. lots of walking about; found the grave of aukland's founder, an ancient cemetery bound by modern streets. searching out cheap and tasty lunches from the carts at the outdoor market or fish&chip stands. we have seen the city from high places: mount eden and the sky tower. mount eden is home to a small herd of cows. sky tower allows tourists to bungee jump from the top.

(trouble with picture posting at the mo, hope to have that sorted out soon.)

kiwi time

we are here. tired as can be. thursday, spring.

apteryx wa