Mt. Maunganui

Walking the Beach @ Mt. Maunganui

Sunset from the top

Just out front of our Hotel

My last trip in New Zealand!!!! I was able to take a few days last week to hit a new beach. My great boss, worried that our car might rattle off the road.... so she rented a cute little Toyota for Amber and me to go to the beach. Aside from coming down with the flu..... it was great. We got a hotel room and stayed right on the water. It wasn't a large town, but a beautiful ... quiet beach spot. We basically just bummed around, picked sea shells and hiked up the Mount to see the sunset... It was very relaxing! We only had a few days, but it was just the ticket to finish off the last few weeks of work..... Here are some photos!!!!

Tongariro Crossing

Tongariro National Park

Devil's Staircase

Emerald Lake

Red Crater and Mt. Doom

Looking down on Red Crater

1900 meters high

The Ocean

The End is Near!

On Friday, i hiked the Tongariro Crossing. A world re-knowned trek, 18.5 kilometers long, voted best 1-day trek in New Zealand. This hike takes about 7.5 hours, very difficult but, very exciting journey. Remember, Lord of the Rings? Part of this hike is the "devil's staircase" and "Mt. Doom." It's where Froto and Sam climbed to pitch the ring into Mt. Doom. My cause wasn't quite as noble, but just as daring. The funny thing is..... I had no idea what i was getting into. I had a day off, heard about this beautiful "walking trail", and thought, I'll do that. Luckily i found out that i would need to pack a lunch and needed to catch the bus at 6:30am. After 1 1/2 hour bus ride, i found out that this is one of the most difficult trails, meant for experience hikers. I get to the base of the mountain and about laughed my head off. i was too proud to turn around. I met some fun girls on the bus, as clueless as me, and they invited me to hike with them. The sites were beautiful. On top of the mountain, 1900 meters up, is the red crater with Emerald and Blue Lake on top. It is amazing...... These volcanoes formed lakes suspended forever on top of the mountain. All throughout the park are little geysers steaming from the ground. The land is so dynamic. It is quite rocky and hilly at first.......then come the craters and lakes.....then the beautiful trees/flowers and valley......then last at the end, the waterfalls and lagoon shaded trail. Just at the end, everyone sits to wait for the bus, talks and the bus driver takes names, to make sure everyone made it to the end..... freaky! I was sooo very sore for days. I worked muscles i didn't know i had, but i felt so proud. Most athletic i have ever felt! i was afraid my legs would fall off and the guest got another pretty big laugh at my expense. They all knew about my lack of information and planning going into this, so it was all very funny again how sore i was. I will definitely do it again before i come back. 

My Kitchens at Poronui - Safari Camp, Lodge, Owner's Cottage and Wine Cellar.

Owner's Cottage Kitchen

Owner's Cottage

BBQ at Recreation Center

Wine Cellar

Lodge Kitchen

Safari Camp

Safari Camp Kitchen

View from the back of Safari Camp

Guest Cabin at Safari

Mostly.... i cook up at the lodge for 20 something guest a night. Five nights a week i cook at the lodge, once a week i cook at the wine cellar (tasting menu) and one night we have a more casual BBQ... Great fun! Occasionally i get to mix it up a bit. In addition to the lodge guest, i will prepare for the Owner's Cottage... I prep all day for both, then hand over my work at the lodge around 5:00pm to travel down the property to cook for the folks renting out the cottage. It is quite the place. We try to accommodate any request we get and at times, it is to spend a night at Safari Camp. A two cabin camp ground with no power and BBQ grill. (By far my favorite!) Here are some pictures of the locations. 

Ohope and Whakatane

Lady in the Harbor. 

Stingray we brought in with the line.

View of Ohope

Surf Beach

This past weekend I went with Louise… Kris’s niece, Jane’s cousin took me to the beach, Ohope, to visit her family. They have a house right on the most beautiful beach I have ever seen. It was just two hours away from Poronui.

When we arrived, we wasted no time to kick our flip-flops off and walk the sandy beach. The sun was beating down, but it was still cool and breezy. Perfect weather. When we met up with the family, they made dinner (nice) and we played pictionary for the night. They have a little one year old, so I played tea party and ate Marmite sandwiches. For those of you who have never had Marmite, now is not a good time to start. It is a beefy tasting paste that people in European countries, Aussies and Kiwis have grown up on. And meat pies. It taste like beefy nutella. Hudson’s know what I mean. Sorry Inge!

That morning, we got up early to set the line out in the ocean for fish. I was so excited about this. We set the rod in the sand, baited twenty or so hooks with squid and then the cousins, set out the other end by Kayaks a mile into the ocean.  We left it there for two hours while we swam and played on the beach a bit. When we brought it in. We were hoping for some snapper, trout or shark, but what we got was one angry sting-ray. It fought and fought, but we got it back into the ocean.. No fish though. The day before they got a few.  It was cool to see all the residents do this.  I think it is a cool way to live.

 Later we took a tour of the town. We went to a few little places and then went to several lookout points. Amazing to see the beach from so many angles. We also took a mini Maori tour. If I haven’t mentioned, the Maori Indians are quite prominent in New Zealand and the founders of this culture. On both beaches I have visited, the names, statues and culture is painted all over the cities.

 We stayed two days and then got up really early to get back for round two of a crazy-busy week. Again I am cooking at the lodge and Owner’s cottage. Both places are so different to cook for, equally fun, but a challenge to do both at once. I have loved our guests. We have had quite a few families…which has been great to see and a nice reminder of home. As the season is changing, I am experiencing more new foods to play with and getting pretty routine in my job.  I have stared walking to work every day, About 4 ½ miles. I take Kris’s dog with me and we have a ball. I enjoy the fact that there are no animals that will jump out and eat me on the way to work. That’s about it for now. Miss you guys.