Impromptu picnic....

So yesterday, almost....but not quite.....on the spur of the moment, I decided to take the Angels for a picnic dinner.....I quickly made some most scrumptious choc chip cookies from Sarah's recipe over at abeachcottage......she has a lovely blog, with such stunning photos.....but I digress....I didn't have any choc chips.....so I improvised with some Whittakers peanut chocolate from NZ that was open and languishing uneaten in my bedroom.....how was that I wonder.....languishing uneaten, when it is simply the most deelish chocolate......trying to keep the pounds off, that's how..... anyway, I digress again.....the peanut chocolate was an absolute success.....a tasty twist for choc chip cookies.

After the cookies, I hurriedly whipped up some pesto pastry pinwheels.....threw some carrot and cucumber sticks into a jam jar.....grabbed a handful of cherry tomatoes......bottled some strawberry cordial.....flung everything into a French couffin shopping basket.....along with some cups and napkins......and bundled everything and everyone into the car.....I dashed into the local chippy for a portion of chips on route.....they always taste scrummy alfresco......then zippity zipped down to the local ponds for our said impromptu picnic dinner......

I didn't plan on being there too long.....Mrs Sunshine and Mr Cloud had been battling it out all day to see who would be victorious.....but I set off with a hopeful heart and a quick prayer to the angels for a window of opportunity before the heavens opened......we found a relatively sheltered spot......a brisk breeze was rustling the leaves to be sure......where we could easily enjoy casting our view upon the pond......and settled ourselves down directly beneath the cusp of a storm.....Mrs Sunshine bathed us in the last of her rays.....while the hugest, heaviest, blackest Mr Cloud threaten to dump torrential rain on us at any moment.......

......but despite feeling slightly chilly, we were thankful for that brisk breeze, as it held Mr Cloud at bay while we enjoyed our impromptu picnic.......

....it was not the best of days to decide to potter off for a pond picnic....but in true British style, we did not let the weather get the better of us.....it was just nice to be outside enjoying nature and the elements.....the pastry pinwheels and cookies went down such a treat, they were all gone before I realised I didn't even get a chance for a quick piccie....such was the rush of getting ready....

Little Lad & Little Miss

With full tummies, Mr Cloud finally victorious over Mrs Sunshine, and the threat of Mr Cloud opening his flood gates just a little too close for comfort, we packed up and ambled back to the car.....halfway home the rain started to fall.....as we pulled up outside home, the gentle pitter patter of the first raindrops suddenly became deafening as it pelted the car.....we were home safe and dry....but stranded inside the car for almost five minutes while we watched the gutters overflow, unable to take the sheer volume of such a sudden and heavy deluge......but Big Lad is impatient and declared he was going to wait no longer.....he was going to brave the downpour and fetch an umbrella to ferry everyone inside......as soon as our knight with an umbrella returned, the rain eased as suddenly as it had started.....and everyone made it inside as dry as a bone.....

.....thankfully the angels up above heard my prayers and allowed us that window of opportunity to enjoy our impromptu pond picnic.....my Angels and I had a delightful dinner dining out.

-xxx-

Wai-O-Tapu......part 1......

Our next stop on our journey up the North Island was Wai-O-Tapu Scenic Reserve......about half way between Taupo and Rotorua......the most amazingly weird and colourful landscape......it was very easy to imagine we'd been abducted by aliens and deposited on their planet.....

All the craters and natural geothermal formations had been named......often with some reference to the inferno of the underworld......from whence the devil resides.....

The yellow colouring comes from a sulphur vent blowing up from inside the earth.......Little Lad and Little Miss found the rotten egg smell of the sulphur rather repugnant......

Devil's Home

The Devil's Ink Pots

The Devil's Inkpots

The Artist's Palette is like just that.....a seemingly flatish, artist's palette shape with a whole range of colours as if an artist had just plopped his paints into little puddles ready to paint the landscape.......

Artist's Palette

Artist's Palette - left

Artist's Palette - right

Part of the Artist's Palette is the Champagne Pool.....so called because of the millions of tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide.....can you see them.....constantly bubbling up to the surface from a steep sided crater 62m deep inside the Earth, formed by a hydro-thermal eruption 700 years ago......

Champagne Pool

And that isn't mist....or smoke......it's steam......rising from the water of the pool which enters through a deep conduit at about 230℃ and cools within the pool to about 74℃.....

Champagne Pool

The vivid orange colour comes from the presence of arsenic and antimony sulphur compounds rich in minerals including gold and silver......

Champagne Pool

On the other side of the boardwalk from the Artist's Palette, looking all the world like a salt flat is the Primrose Terrace.......which is formed from the water of the Champagne Pool......

Primrose Terrace

As we walked around this amazingly weird and wonderful thermal wonderland.....up gentle hills that we didn't really realise we were going up......and down into narrow valleys.....we also wandered through ancient kanuka and manuka forests.....

and forests of pinus radiata.......

which gave us a brief welcome respite from the hot sun bearing down on us......which, combined with the heat rising from the depths of the Earth......created a veritable heat trap......

and hanging high above us in the pine forests were huge bundles of foliage......for what reason, we knew not why.....but they looked like giant Christmas baubles suspended for the festive season.....

At this point Little Lad and Little Miss had had enough of the "stinky eggy smell" that gently pervaded the air......and Grandpa's worn out knee was really aching.....so with Grandma G they left Big Lad, Big Miss and myself to continue the bigger loop, while they took the shorter loop back to the beginning.....to eat ice cream......and await for our return......

-xxx-

Taupo......

Our second day in Taupo dawned promising weather-wise, although there were still some ominous clouds scudding across the sky.....we could even see the mountains we had missed the day before, outlined on the horizon....

Lake Taupo with Mts Ruapehu, Tongariro, & Ngauruhoe on the Horizon

but we were ever hopeful.....there were plenty of patches of blue sky.........and we had lots planned......

Lake Taupo

First port of call for the day was Craters of the Moon, where the Angels got their first real taster of geothermal activity.....

Craters of the Moon, NZ

The glorious earthy colours of sienna, fern, ochre, algae, red oxide, sulphur, and moss are everywhere and anywhere you care to rest your eyes ........

The pathway around the site is very clearly marked by boardwalks, with signs explicitly explaining not to leave the designated paths.........so you don't accidentally stumble into a steaming vent......they are extremely hot and some are very close to the boardwalks......

and if you bent down close to an open vent......and got a moments quietness from the excited exclamations of the Angels.....you could hear the boiling water popping and sizzling in the vent......

Steam never stops rising from boiling, bubbling, blubbing mud pools......bubble, bubble, toil and trouble......

Boiling, Bubbling, Blubbing Mud Pools

there is a constantly faint whiff of rotten eggs caused by ever-present hydrogen sulphide that is found in geothermal areas......where is that smell-o-vision when I need it......

and it was warm.....very warm......it was quite sunny, with just enough cloud cover to provide a welcome respite in this sun trap......thankfully we were visiting in the morning, before the sun beat down with it's full-on fierce force.......but you could definitely feel the warmth rising up from inside the earth.....it would have been a pleasantly warm outing had there been no sun.....although the colours wouldn't have been gloriously jewel-like without the sun to lift and brighten the amazing colour palette .....

Craters of the Moon, NZ

Wow.....what a primordial looking landscape, with a bizarre kind of beauty......and this was just the start......there was more of nature's art to wonder and marvel at later in the day......

-xx-

Harbour Cruise & Somes Santuary......

No trip to Wellington would be complete without taking to the water for a cruise around the harbour.....on a gorgeous day there simply is NO better place to be.....we boarded the East by West ferry at Queens Wharf in Wellington's City Centre.........and headed out into the open water of the harbour......Oriental Bay is right in the heart of the City Centre.......it is a delightful little beach....very popular in the summer.......

Oriental Bay, Wellington Harbour

We skirted around the Miramar peninsular.......past Scorching Bay where we went rock pooling with my cousin SL and his children.......

Scorching Bay

heading to Worser Bay (on the right).....the far point of land on the left hand side is Pencarrow Head.....where we cycled to just the day before.....

Pencarrow Head & Worser Bay

before heading back across to Days Bay and finally (for us) onto Somes Island.....seemingly PLONKED, in the middle of Wellington's horseshoe harbour......

Somes Island, Wellington Harbour

Somes Island has been a very important little island in New Zealand's history......in 1860 it was designated for human quarantine purposes, but no facilities were built.....in 1872 the arrival of the England saw sleeping and living quarters hastily constructed after 16 passengers had died onboard due to an outbreak of disease.....any passengers deemed to be fit after six weeks on the island, were able to leave. Over the next 47 years many other vessels had their passengers quarantined on the island due to various diseases like whooping cough, typhoid fever, measles, mumps, influenza, and small pox.....

Somes was recognised as an ideal place to also quarantine animals, and in 1889 was formally designated.....in 1893 the newly formed Ministry of Agriculture set up a stock facility..... this prevented diseases such as foot and mouth, swine fever, rabies, blue tongue, and Q fever being introduced into NZ......

The quarantine station closed in 1995 and has recently been opened to the public as a nature reserve......being rodent free, it is being allowed to revert back to its native flora and fauna....it has some amazing birdlife, and the native tuatara has recently been reintroduced to the island.......as soon as you land on the island, you are debriefed.......and your bags have to been searched for any possible pests.......and even seeds.

After our debriefing and with strict instructions to leave absolutely nothing on the island, we took a gentle stroll up the central hill where we could see the whole of Wellington Harbour.......

Wellington Harbour from Somes Island

From this vantage point, we were able to get a better idea of how far we rode our bikes on the coast road to Pencarrow Head the day before.......all along the base of these hills across the water, from the furthest left all the way to the point......wow......that's a long way for little legs......to the far right of the picture is one of NZ's large inter-island ferries .....although it looks very small in this picture.......

Wellington Harbour from Somes Island

After a wander around the island admiring the spectacular views......and a snack stop......we headed back to the wharf......no, not this old unstable vintage one......

Looking towards Petone & the Hutt Valley

a new modern one just along.....to be collected by the ferry.......

East by West Ferry

and taken back to Queens Wharf in Wellington City Centre......

Queens Wharf, Wellington

Queens Wharf is quite a happenin' place in the City Centre......loads of bars and restaurants to refresh and refuel at......overlooking the harbour......especially on a gloriously sunny day.....but glorious day as it was, we were not tempted to stop on this occasion......we had other plans already booked.......


So zippity-do-day, we zoomed off home for a quick dinner and bathtime/bedtime routines for the Little Lad and Little Miss......and then Grandpa and I zipped off down the road with Big Lad and Big Miss to K and D's for a surprise spot of clay bird shooting in the quickly falling dusk......

Big Lad Clay Bird Shooting - Big Miss Pulling

Wow it's hard......Big Lad, Big Miss and I had never tried this before.......with us all taking turns, and the light fading fast, we only had a taster........so I'm sure we'd like another go sometime.......unfortunately Big Miss didn't manage to hit any of her "birds".......I managed to clip one of mine.......but Big Lad smashed 3 out of 4 "birds".......an absolute superb shot......and it was almost dark for his last one! Thanks K and D for letting us have a go....it was brill!!!

Another fab day all round.....thanks everyone!!!

-xx-