MOST EXCITING RIDE OF MY LIFE -NEW ZEALAND JOURNEY

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Finally we reached Rotorua ,I suddenly saw steam coming out from the ground and my instant thought was” oh God there is a fire !” and spelt it loud, immediately to be shut down by my husband who caustically said “my dear we are in geyser and hot springs land, the one and only Rotorua “

Situated on the southern shore of a lake is Rotorua, one of New Zealand’s largest tourist destinations, a geothermal paradise that has attracted visitors from around the world for over 160 years.

 It is renowned for its fascinating Maori culture, its hot springs, boiling mud pools, spouting geysers, warm geothermal springs and silica terraces.

Rotorua is rich in Maori culture and is home to the ‘Te Arawa’ people who settled here 600 years ago, today they offer the visitor the opportunity to experience authentic traditional Maori villages, such as the Buried Village, Whakarewarewa, Te Puia, Mitai and Tamaki Maori village.

We alighted at the The Sudima Hotel Lake Rotorua that enjoys a location that is second-to-none on the very shores of beautiful Lake Rotorua, adjacent to the world famous Polynesian Spa complex ,after freshening up we had a walk around ,seeing the lake Rotorua and gardens, there sure was a distinctive, sulfurous smell of geothermal activity  

We settled into the peaceful lakeside setting and enjoyed lush spa therapy in mineral spring hot pool at Polynesian spa while taking in the views of Lake Rotorua. The spa was voted among the world's Top Ten Spa's by Conde Nast Traveller Magazine.

 We were strictly instructed to remove all metal ornaments as they would simply dissolve in the water

That night during the complimentary buffet dinner suddenly Tony announced a cake cutting ceremony for a lovely couple from Australia. It was the 50^th wedding anniversary of the young looking couple, none of us could believe it, apparently they were married very young at 17 and 15 yrs

Next day we got up and left for Rotorua’s most popular attraction ‘Skyline Gondola’  which is a scenic ride to the top of Mt. Ngongotata which has a dormant volcano and is 487 metres above sea level . The 900 metre long Doppelmayr cableway system transported our group on a gentle, scenic ride up to the Skyline Rotorua complex.

 The gondola was very clean and the view from it was awesome ,we could see right across to the entire city  with its spectacular geothermal vistas ,it sure needed us to get used to the sights of steam arising randomly across the city and beautiful blue lake with lovely slopes ,lush gardens with beautiful flowers and sheep gazing the grass and looking at us sleepily wondering what we were doing so early in the day

We were immediately directed us to the cableway restaurant where we had the best breakfast of our tour in north island , coupled with decor of the restaurant ,warm service and the panoramic views through the big windows it was a culinary and visual treat for all of us

After the breakfast Tony came to us with the news that now we could go for the luge ride. Luge, a gravity-fueled ride where we can zoom down the side of a mountain in a four-wheeled cart,with a unique braking and steering system before catching a chair lift to the top to do it all over again.This is where the luging adventure all began in 1985.

 For the whole family, Skyline Luge has three tracks of differing skill levels winding through numerous twists in a beautiful red wood forest.

Now we went through the precautions to be taken before riding the luge and there was a big list which included, among other rules that one must be in good health and be free of height conditions, motion sickness, back problems or other physical limitations. Expectant mothers should not ride.

This made me hesitate as I had slight cervical spondylosis but I saw our valiant friend who had a recent hip replacement striding forward to take the helmet and I steeled my nerves and divested myself of the handbag to our Tony who loaded himself very sportively with all our lose articles which we were not supposed to take on the luge

We went to select the helmets feeling like warriors going for a dangerous ride

After a short wait we stepped into the luges ,listened to the instructions and got going ,I was too engrossed in handling the luge to look around and within minutes we were at the bottom of the hill and rode  the Luge chairlift back to the top of the track with our luges attached to it ,on the way we had a wonderful view.It sure was an exhilarating experience ,I was glad I could get rid of my inhibition and do the best ride of my life

 Once up top, one can choose to Luge, Mountain Bike, Zoom Zipline, Skyswing, check out the nature trails, shop at the Jelly Belly Store, enjoy Volcanic Hills wine tasting and dine at Market Kitchen or Stratosfare Restaurant. 

As per our tour schedule we had  time only for a look at the jelly belly store where we could see famous paintings like the Mona Lisa created using over 18,000 jelly beans and bought some jelly beans from a selection of over 100 flavors of gourmet jelly belly beans

CHUGGING AWAY IN A STEAM TRAIN -NEW ZEALAND JOURNEY

BLOG POST 15

 From Bay islands after seeing a helicopter at close quarters  doing coast guarding we travelled on our way  south via Whangarei to Auckland's north shore, the trip which lasted for 3 and half hours, tired after the exciting cruise we all had a good nap interspersed by Tony and Megan’s jokes.

Tony produced lollies unfailingly every single day of our tour, after half an hour he would come back with an empty cover to take back the rubbish . As we travelled back to Auckland we got to see stunning views of Rangitoto Island, Auckland Harbour and the Hauraki Gulf.

 Our accommodation was the Spencer on Byron, Takapuna, Auckland.We were very impressed by the hotel which  had unsurpassed panoramic views of Rangitoto Island, Auckland Harbour and the Hauraki Gulf. Our hotel was located just 500 metres from Takapuna  a central, coastal suburb of North Shore, Auckland .

 Our room was a single bed room suite with suite lounge , sitting area with section sofa and TV , with wonderful views  over Takapuna to Auckland CBD, the views were panoramic  and  at night the sky gave  glittered with splendid and sparkling night views of Auckland .

There was a  Suite Kitchen,separate bed room, very comfortable beds, large mirror door closet and good selection of complementary toiletries. We were able to do our washing in the well equipped living area fitted with a washing machine and dryer and had complimentary washing powder, while relaxing in the lounge, both the lounge and bedroom had picture windows maximising the views.

The hotel had a club bar – breakfast room with adjoining room having frames with all VIP signatures, the lobby had a vertical garden and a lovely library.

The restaurant was the famous thyme restaurant. We had one of the best breakfasts on our tour at this hotel and started to Rotorua

On the way we first went to the Glenbrook Vintage Railway (GVR) which is a heritage steam railway in Glenbrook  We felt a special attachment to GVR as my husband’s initials are also GVR ,Godha Venkata Ramana .

The GVR is run by a trust board of three trustees elected and appointed from Railway Enthusiasts Society (RES) membership. 

It is dedicated to the one of the world's leading working preservation railways with some of New Zealand's best examples of great Kiwi Locomotive designs that made the world envious.

It houses many different types of unique locomotives ranging in size from 3 tonnes to 110 tonnes, both steam and diesel. GVR prides itself for an extremely high standard of restoration, frequently winning special awards for locomotive, rolling stock and building restoration work.

We found out that all this is carried out by volunteers from as young as 8 to as old as 80, these volunteers freely donate their time and efforts to ensure the success of this rewarding and historically significant project

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Newcomers are trained by experienced people and standards are high with a quality of service and safety second to none, any one willing to spend time from just a few days to weekly or more often, throughout the year are said to be welcomed here.

 Various jobs are done by people from all walks of life in their spare time volunteers carry out a wide variety of tasks - ticket sales, souvenir shop and refreshment shop sales and preparation, motor and hand jigger operation, crowd control, assisting disabled passengers, ensuring tidiness of the station and facilities, public announcements and other mundane jobs

Guards travel on all passenger trains to look after the passengers, help them on and off the trains, check their tickets, answer any questions and make them welcome. Guards assist in testing the train brakes, signal to the driver when the train is due to depart helped by an Assistant Guard

The Glenbrook Vintage Railway (GVR) operates over 7.5 kms of track from Glenbrook to Victoria Avenue in Waiuku with a further 500m extension onto Tamakae Reserve in Waiuku in the pipeline. They operate every weekend and most public holidays  ranging from Labour weekend to Queen's birthday weekend.

  Since the opening of the Glenbrook Vintage Railway in 1977 the entire track, which formed the original Waiuku Branch, has been replaced, in many places more than once, and extensive yards and sidings have been laid where none previously existed. This has all been the work of a well equipped, enthusiastic group of volunteers.

Trains depart from Glenbrook every 90 minutes starting at 11:00 with the last train at 4:00pm.

We were in time for the 11 am trip and we were greeted by the station master as soon we went into the station. The train came into the station huffing and puffing ,we got in and came to know normally passengers are welcome to alight at Victoria Avenue and explore the township of Waiuku and catch a later train back to Glenbrook but we  were on a tour package so we travelled only part of the trip. 

After travelling for some distance where we could see the country side and houses lining on both sides of the track, we went to the workshop at Pukeoware where the railway society has its workshops and several other engines are stored.

We found the volunteers maintaining their running locomotives in top condition and restoring others to operation. Workshop was well equipped and ensured that most repair and restoration work on locomotives could be completed on site. 

We also could get to see the Thomas engine which the kids really loved apparently

 The railway had a number of historic station buildings in its care, interestingly all being from former New Zealand Railways stations.

Glenbrook Station's terminal building is made up of the original Waiuku Branch line Glenbrook station and Patumahoe station buildings.

Glenbrook Station's picnic area shelter (and eventual platform 2 building) is the former Kingsland suburban station shelter, moved to Glenbrook in 2003 to make way for the double-tracking of Auckland's Western line

We found that all these buildings have been restored with so much love and care that they looked brand new

Special Events are often held, such as "Friends of Thomas" (the tank engine) weekends, Rail fan Days (with display freight trains and double decker buses), Country and Western days and night steam runs

After the ride in the train which had seats which could be twisted both ways both onward and return journeys, we went and stood on the outdoor covered viewing platform to get the real feel of the train journey .

We finally got down at the station where we were given tea, coffee and snacks by the lady volunteers,tea and coffee was served in pots covered with dainty  doilies

 we could also see the display of age old luggage  of passengers stored  and displayed so carefully for posterity.

 GVR went that extra mile to recreate the "Steam Theme" and helps people understand and enjoy the sights, sounds and smells that could only be found the golden age of steam.

Specially the young generation which never experienced the steam engines really enjoy this trip. All volunteers working as staff greeted us wearing the exact uniforms worn in that era.

We felt as if we had travelled back in time, as all of us had experienced the steam engines in our childhood, gone through the coal engine days, when sitting by the open windows we could feel the soot settling on our faces and body and by the end of the trip we would become as black as crows and would wear out the soap clearing the soot after going to our respective destinations.

We departed Glenbrook thrilled with happiness, having experienced the steam rail journey,memories of which we had long forgotten and began travelling through magnificent countryside of rolling hills and green pastures famous for dairying. We found all through our  New Zealand tour the cows and sheep busy nibbling the amply found grass and never had a moment to look up and see the the nosy and noisy tourists.

We continued to Rotorua to visit Paradise Valley Springs,