Travel with Art

Health data: day 8 10.1km walking/hiking over 92 floors climbed... day 9 3.4km around wineries with 4 floors climbed. Lake Waikareiti On Day 8 Ron, Megan and I headed an hours drive out from Wairoa - heading inland and up the hills. Our destination was the forested hiking trail leading to Lake Waikareiti ("little rippling waters"). The lake lies 892m above sea level and was formed about 18,000 years ago by one of the biggest landslides in the world. A thick slab of country 10kms wide slid off a smooth slope from the northwest. The debris created a hummocky landscape with hollows now infilled with wetlands and lakes. The day itself was on the warmer side so having the canopy of the forest shield us from the sun made for a lovely hike. The breezes over the lake at the top of the hike were also very welcome to cool us down as we took in the view and paused before the return to the car. Onepoto Caves After returning to the car we leaded back about half an hou...

Health data: Auckland 8.8km walking and 17 floors climbed... Health data: Wairoa 13.9km walking and 1 floor climbed ;-) Finally a sleep in day then a relaxing walk through the nearby Auckland Domain. The Sunday cricketers were out playing on the many pitches that the domain contains. I don't understand the game so did not spend much time watching them pitch, bat and run. Next stop was into the glass domed Wintergardens with a variety of tropical plants and ferns. A bit further walk along the duckpond and past public art works before heading back to pack at the B&B. The shuttle bus got me to the Domestic Terminal with ease and the checkin was straight forward for the flight. But I was amazed that there was no identification check when collecting the boarding pass. Further surprise is that there is no security check from the waiting area out to actually sitting on the plane... Wairoa Sue and her daughter Megan were waiting my arrival ...