Travelog for: Binky

Hi Mum,
Today we said goodbye to Bubblegum, he is off on his travels to South Africa.  Happy travels Bubblegum!!




Love and hugs
Binky
xxooxx

Hi Mum,

Today we are off to New Zealand - Aotearoa - the Land of the Long White Cloud! 


this sign told us which gate to go to - bit early in the morning for Sue to get the camera to focus properly!! 


here we are waiting to board the plane

and here we are on the plane - bit squishy in here Mum!! 

More soon,

Love and hugs
Binky
xxooxx

Hi Mum,

We landed ok and Sue picked up the hire car and we headed off down the motorway


SchokoCookie and I liked riding up front cos you can see everything!! 

Back again Mum ... on our way from Auckland we stopped at Paeroa - we had our photo taken with the big Lemon and Paeroa bottle. L & P was a drink made from the local natural mineral water and lemon - it is artificially made now by Coca-cola. This bottle is a major tourist photo stop in NZ.



here is the park the big bottle was in


on the way out of Paeroa we stopped at another park to have a look at the river and the swing bridge -this park is very popular for having picnic's or for bush walking - there are lots of tracks here - to old mines and along the old railway line.


I found a nice New Zealand native tree to sit in - no good for eating of course - but it was nice (although a but spiky!! ) Sue can't remember the name of it, we may have to come back later and let you know!!

Love and hugs

Binky
xxooxx

Hi Mum,

We stopped at this lovely waterfall on our way between Paeroa and Waihi






Here I am in the punga - a NZ tree fern.

Love and hugs

Binky
xxooxx

Hi Mum,

Here we are in Waihi - we went to have a look at the Martha Mine - it is a fairly new open mine at Waihi. There has been alot of mining around this area in the past.

Sue thinks this is the old cooling tower from the old mines - it was moved closer to the new mine so people could have a look at it.


Mmmmmm...it is a long way down here!! 


This photo is taken looking the other way to the mine, and over the town of Waihi.

Love and hugs

Binky
xxooxx

Hi Mum,

Today we had a little look at Tauranga - this was where Sue was born and grew up!


this is the local Maori canoe that is used on special days and on ceremonial occasions

this sign told us some of the local history and about the carvings near by

SchokoCookie and I liked this one!

More soon

Binky
xxooxx

Hi Mum

This afternoon we had a drive over to Mount Maunganui to have a look at the beaches. Last October a container ship called the Rena ran onto a reef 20 km off the coast and since then oil, containers, broken containers and their cargo have been coming ashore. But today when we had a look it was clean and beautiful

here we are at Pilot Bay -this is the harbour side of Mount Maunganui

Hey Mum check out the huge cruise ship behind us! 


Now we are on the surf side, I could have sat here for ages Mum!!

this is where the life guards are on the beach

Shane and I liked this part of the beach too!! it goes for miles and miles!

Love and hugs

Binky
xxooxx

Hi Mum,

In the evening after dinner we went for a walk to the beach, we could see Mount Maunganui from where we were


More soon
Love and hugs
Binky
xxooxx

Hi Mum

Today we went out on a boat on the Tauranga Harbour


It was a bit windy and bumpy but we had a good ride.

Sue hung on to me so I didn't fall in the water!!
In the afternoon we went to visit a friend and looked from her house to the beach and water


Love and hugs
Binky
xxooxx

Hi Mum

Today we had a big drive to Rotorua. We saw some interesting road signs on the way to remind people to drive carefully!!


Our first stop was at Rainbow Springs

this is a giant moa a flightless bird that has been extinct for a long time.

we saw some kaka's but it was easier to take a photo of the sign!!


we went under water to look at the trout

Can you see the baby[url=tuatara] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuatara[/url]? They are really old reptiles - the adults can eat once in six months and breathe once and hour!! No wonder they
sit about not doing much!!

we had a little rest by a waterfall
then went to visit the kiwis

we had a photo with this big guy but couldn't take photos inside because kiwi are nocturnal and bright lights scare them

Now we are in the Government Gardens

this building used to be the bath house - people came here to bathe in the mineral waters for their health, now it is a spa, art gallery and museum

the water from this pool is 212 degrees Fahrenheit or 100 degrees Celsius - this goes to the spa, too hot for me 

these carved posts surround a memorial to the Maori soldiers who went away to WW1

lake Rotorua

this water was boiling up out of the ground - it had a strong sulphur smell like rotten eggs 





On the way home we drove through Te Puke and had a look at the big kiwifruit - thee is a big industry here growing kiwifruit.

Early night for us, we had had such a busy day!!
Love and hugs

Binky
xxooxx

We went to the beach today - one Sue used to go to when she was a little girl




Love and hugs

Binky
xxooxx

Hi Mum,

Today we are driving back to Auckland but on the way we stopped for a break at Waihi Beach



I quite like it here Mum 

Back in the car now Mum

Love and hugs

Binky
xxooxx

Hi Mum,


Here we are near the Auckland Harbour bridge, Sue did the bridge climb here a few years ago - you can also watch people bungy jump from the middle of the bridge

we had a look at the big boat marina

we went to a cafe there

and had a cuppa
Then we went up the Sky Tower. But in the base of the tower is a shop selling things from Weta Workshop

we had our photo taken with Gollom from Lord of the Rings

now we are up the tower looking down to the road below



the bridge looks very small from here


Tonight we went out for dinner at the Cock and Bull English style pub



Love and hugs
Binky
xxooxx

Heading back to Australia today Mum



Love and hugs

Binky
xx00xx