New Zealand, Fiji & Australia

                          Part 1                             April 2015

Our visit to New Zealand and Australia was in my book, almost the “last frontier” as we can claim to have at least set foot on most of the other habituated continents like Asia, Africa, the Americas.   This would probably be our last major trip although we did foresee smaller trips in the future.   It proved to be our longest one yet, 24 days including travel.   How did we survive?   Easy!   We are pros now although our hearts were skipping beats at every airport check in.   They are really strict with weight and hand baggage size on that end of the world.   Every other country looks good now!

The first stop, with our now famous Lakshmi group tours, was Auckland in New Zealand.   Of course to get there we had to travel to LA, thankfully they checked in our luggage all the way!   At the LA airport it was another joyous re-union of our group of about 20 that had zeroed in from different locations in the US.  We were all excited to continue with our travels and the long 14 hour flight did not seem so daunting after all.   As it turned out, we were able to sleep a fair amount and reach Auckland, NZ in a okay condition.

The “fun” part of clearing customs in NZ, we had already been strictly warned, was that they would not tolerate any food that would jeopardize their flora and fauna.   The dire consequences were also heavy fines if all offensive food was not declared or thrown out in the bins provided.  Still, a few brave souls (like us) did not want to compromise on our Janaki snacks of murukkus and decided to take a chance and declare them, although we were practically trembling.   Lucky for us we got an officer of Indian origin who knew what murukku was.   Turns out they are more particular about honey, fruits, grains, nuts, plants etc.   It was well worth the risk, the murukkus were gold!

After some amount of waiting, we were greeted by David, our tour guide who was unique in many ways.   Foremost, he had an attitude about people of Indian origin and had many pre-conceived notions.   He talked non-stop on all our drives, but was well informed.  As it was morning, our drive through Auckland was nice.   It is the largest city in NZ and its financial capital.   We were introduced from a distance to its numerous dormant volcanoes which had the potential to wipe out the city.  The city and its environs had four seasons – sometimes on the same day!   Due to the delay in our pick up we were treated to a hot Indian breakfast of poories and other items at the Indian Express and we were now ready for the tour as our hotel check- in was later.

Auckland, Mt. Eden and Viaduct Harbor

Kia Ora! Welcome!!  The weather in northern NZ  in early fall when we reached there was perfect, cool and crisp with ample sunshine.   Our tour began with a visit to Mount Eden, a very picturesque area that also had a caldera or crater, sacred to the indigenous Maoris.  As some bones may still be there from the past, people were not allowed to climb into the grassy large crater that was once a volcano.  We did climb to the top of the adjoining mount to view the commemorative obelisk and enjoy the spectacular view of the city and the ocean, reminiscent of Cape Town.  Among others, the Sky Tower stood out, one of the tallest structures in the eastern hemisphere.

Next we drove to Viaduct Harbor and Queens street and were taken in by the sight of some very large metal serrated wheels that were once a part of a giant dredger.   The final stop on our first day was a grassy open air memorial known as the Michael Joseph Savage Memorial on a lovely location with date trees overlooking the ocean again.

After a leisurely evening at the hotel located centrally we did justice to yet another Indian meal (lunch was provided too!) and retired for a well deserved catch up sleep after our long plane travel.

 Hamilton Gardens, Rotorua Geo-thermal area and Agrodome

We were already on the move the next morning packing a smaller bag to visit the Rotorua area, full of natural wonders.   En route by bus as we drove through the lush green countryside, we found out that over 70% of the population were dairy farmers.  Each cow generally gave ample milk and sheep were sheared twice a year.  Talking about the scenic countryside, it looked like one endless golf course, emerald green, grass kept low by the grazing animals and the small undulating hills enhancing the natural beauty.  Since we had already seen some of the scheduled sights the previous day, we had time to visit Hamilton Gardens.   Though it was called a Maori garden (indigenous people to New Zealand), it was more of an international sight.   We saw well laid out flower beds with their beauty enhanced by architecture of various countries.  There was a lovely Japanese area with Bonsai trees and a traditional bridge, a British maze and a serene Char Bagh Indian contribution with arched Mogul edifices.

Huka Falls, Agrodome

By special request of our photo expert member, we also went the extra distance to see Huka falls.   The water gushed at high force through the valley, though not from any great height.   To some it was a bit of let down, but to me it just meant seeing more of the lush alpine meadows along the drive and enjoying the very quiet countryside.  We also saw the sunset on the very large Lake Taupo and ended the day with having dinner, finding our hotel and once again sinking into sleep.

On to the famed Rotorua area.   The name denotes two lakes in Maori and it was a unique geo- thermal region.  Though the hotel was okay it had a beautiful glassed dining area with lovely views of the lake nearby.   The weather that had co-operated so far turned cloudy with sprinkles as we headed for the Agrodome.   Here we were treated to an exciting display of the farm skills of New Zealanders.   The stars that took to the indoor stage were —  farm animals!  They were well trained to occupy the pedestal space designated for them.   All varieties of sheep were displayed, over a dozen.   Later some sheep dogs came in to show how they herded and also very nimbly climbed up on the backs of the sheep much to the delight of the audience, which incidentally filled up the entire huge Agrodome, mostly people of Far Eastern descent.   Since I had expressed my desire to one day work on a farm in NZ, my friends pushed me on to the stage when they called for volunteers to milk a cow.   I did try (not so easy as the cow, huge though it was, gave a thin trickle only).  Others went up to feed baby sheep with bottles of milk and pet them.  Expert shearing of a helpless looking sheep was the crowning glory though the ladies felt sorry for it!

The rest of the morning was pleasantly spent in watching some herding dogs do their work outside and going on a long ride on a long tractor!   We got down here and there to pet and feed some sheep, admire the glorious scenery, see alpacas, taste the famous Manuka honey which appears to be a mix of different types of local honey and kiwi fruit and sells for an exorbitant price;  we also tasted kiwi juice or kiwi wine and generally had a good time.   We saw some lovely kiwi orchards with fruits hanging by the dozens on low trees.

Pohutu Geyser

The next big attraction was the Te Puia Thermal Reserve.  Here everything was contained within a short distance.   We could see the bubbling mud pool and the “Pohutu Geyser” which sprouted on cue at the expected time.   The height it maintained for several minutes caused much excitement among the onlookers and lent itself to many photo ops.   We got a glimpse of the elusive Kiwi bird in a very dark and quiet enclosure.   Turns out that Kiwis are nocturnal birds and quite rare as well.   Here we were thinking that they would be as common as the Kiwis on our Indian shoe polish tins and we would see them walking around everywhere like chickens!  Wrong!  That was probably the only kiwi we kind of saw in the dim light in all of New Zealand!

The Maori Cultural show was the last of the day’s events before we had dinner and it did not disappoint with the backdrop of their elaborate architecture.   The outfits were very authentic and the dancers very athletic and even caused some fear with their demeanor, as was the purpose in ancient times.  One of our own group, Murali, was invited to the stage and must say he did a great job in joining in step with the dancers.   A word about the food we had so far.   We were mostly taken to a chain of restaurants known as Little India where they used the age old recipes of the owner’s grandmother, Premjit Kaur Gill.   The food was pretty amazing and the extra pounds some of us gained is testimonial to the fact that we did justice to it!   Never mind the fact that by the end of the whole tour, we were so tired of seeing paneer in one form or the other (vegetables except potato and spinach never made it to the table!)   The ice cream was delectable too, mostly creamy vanilla from the rich milk produced by the local cows.   We heard that in both NZ and Australia, Indian cuisine had become so popular that even locals flocked to these restaurants.

Unique Glow Worm Caves

The next morning was ideal for some quiet time and a walk in the drizzle along the lake front where we could view some beautiful black swans with their baby chicks.  We had our drive back to Auckland but on the way made a stop at another famous tourist attraction, the Waitomo glowworm caves.   Here in a semi dark cavern, our boat silently glided through an underground grotto.   On the ceiling was a canopy of thousands of twinkling lights, each spot a glow worm larva. Putting out lines of  sticky substance like a spider, they attract other insects and feed.  Unique indeed!   We have not seen this sight anywhere else and along with the unusual source of light we also enjoyed the meditative silence and marveled at the “shristi” of the Lord in creating so much variety in nature.  We rode back by bus enjoying our own music on the I-Pad magnified by a small portable speaker (this time we were self sufficient, not dependent on the bus driver’s equipment or mood for playing our music!), also enjoying the unsullied green meadows, not too many people in sight, just more sheep and grass everywhere.

Some random facts:  New Zealand still brings in 40,000 immigrants yearly.  Students who have completed the required years of study can even bring their parents. The single important marker in the Maori people’s DNA is Taiwanese.   Livestock farming is the main occupation of the people.  Each cow gives 8 liters of milk per day, but exported milk is probably cheaper than that available in NZ where cost of daily use items are quite expensive.  Though there is wool, wool everywhere, go into a showroom and the cost of wool items is sky high (Peru, we sure missed you for the wool shopping!)  Sorry, New Zealand we could not do much to improve your economy by way of shopping! Whitakers is the famous local brand of chocolate to try! Comes in all flavors including Kiwi fruit, but nothing beats the plain milk chocolate.  Also the ice cream was so rich, but this we found out  after we went to Fiji!