Ngongotaha

I awoke early and listened to the dawn chorus of tui , song thrush, and sparrows. Our little house is quite warm, with a built-in heater for the living room and space heaters for our bedroom and the huge bathroom. We could have a fire in wood stove in the back sitting area, but I doubt we will have time for that.

Today is supposed to be clear. Grant woke up about an hour after I did. Rather than letting him get sidetracked into making coffee, I prodded him into getting dressed for a walk along the lake. A beautiful path, several other walkers, some with dogs. No wind, temperature about 50°. We’d only been out about 10 minutes, when Betsy called and said breakfast was ready. Plus she’d made coffee. We turned around, went over 2 blocks, and were at Ursala’s house. I’m starting to envy people who have a nature trail just outside their door.

We had to divide and conquer.  Betsy is taking Ursala to a doctor appointment for a scan. Keith, Grant and I will go to Okareka to bird. A short drive, and we were there. 

At first, we walked through forest with song thrush and tui. Keith knows the birds so we had a great guide. He spotted a kererū, (wood pigeon), in a manuka shrub. Since they are fruit eaters, we couldn’t figure out why it looked like it was eating the tiny leaves. Making due when times are hard, according to my bird book.

On to the lake. Pied cormorants, coots, dabchicks (grebes), 2 black swans, a gazillion Canada geese and another gazillion Paradise shelducks. I spotted stilts, but pied, not our black necked. 2 welcome swallows were roosting in the bird blind roof. Perhaps a heron landed in the reeds but we only saw the reeds rustle when something landed at the water’s edge.

We met Betsy and Ursala for lunch at Eastwood Cafe in a beautiful 3 story wood building, headquarters of a big lumber company. When Keith’s father Terry worked here as a groundskeeper, the government forestry service owned it, but now it has been privatized. There was an interesting exhibit about turning wood waste like sawdust and bark into a biodegradable plastic that could be used in 3-D printing. 

Then we had another change of plans: Ursala needed to return to the doctor for a biopsy this afternoon. This messed up our hope to have her join us for an outing, but absolutely amazing that she could have everything done in one day. No waiting another 6 weeks for another appointment. 

Since the skies were still relatively clear, we decided to chance a visit to Waimangu Volcanic Valley, billed as the world’s youngest geothermal valley. June 10, 1886, a series of eruptions began that ran along the valley, continuing on and off until 1917. 1900-1904 it had the world’s largest geyser. According to Keith, as tall as the Eiffel Tower. A hotel was build, and people came to see the sights. That was destroyed in 1917 in another eruption.

Now the area is a Scenic Reserve, owned by the government, managed by a private company. We bought our tickets and started down the fairly steep gravel path. 

Steam was coming from vents along the way. We could see 3 craters that have filled with water, and silica deposits are beginning to create terraces like Mammoth Springs, only with tree ferns around them. Thank goodness only half of the area is currently open as they are redoing roads and paths past the midway point. We were pretty tired by the time we got down to the bus stop for the ride back to the top. Except for 2 young women from Austria, we had the area to ourselves.

Dinner of soup and salad at Ursala’s, then bed.

Steps today: 11,101 mostly downhill