Friday, January 20, 2012

ROAD TRIP TO PALMY TODAY

Well... it's going to be a very long day on the road today.
It may only be about 6 and a half hours drive time.... but we are going to stretch it out a bit by doing some stops along the way.


First stop will be in Hamilton, where we will visit Amanda to drop off a couple of things.... then...


ABOVE: Tokoroa, my town of birth. My father worked as an independant logging contractor, supplying logs to the Paper Mill, seen in the background in this picture.
Our next stop will be at the cemetery to visit my two brothers and Dad in Tokoroa.  Probably need to tidy their graves while we are there.  Not many family left who do visit there.  Just me really.  My Mum and sister are both in Australia.



ABOVE:  Huka Falls.
After that, we will stop at the Huka Falls, between Wairakei and Taupo... then maybe see Blondie (Sharon, another blogger) in Taupo itself.
We are planning on having a picnic along the lake front somewhere after that.


ABOVE:  Lake Taupo.  The biggest lake in New Zealand.  It's usually freezing, but still a gorgeous lake.


Then it will be on around the lake and through the Desert Road... pass the mountains and maybe a stop at Taihape.
There's a really LOVELY gift shop there!


Dinner:  should be at Bulls.  Kebab time!  OOO my mouth is watering thinking about that!  lol


So... the next time you hear from me, we should be in Palmerston North!  


End of Day:..... wait for it....  WE GOT HERE!  Our trip down was lovely, with a super lovely surprise in Taupo!  More about that tomorrow when I get a chance to upload some photos!
We had our Kebabs in Bulls.... and they were worth waiting for.  And the lovely kebab owners let Brylee and Griffin eat McDonalds in their shop while Stew and I had our kebabs!  How nice was that!
ON TRACK:  EVEN with the 20 point (!) kebab!  Very proud of myself... and Stew... who reminded me that NO, I did not need carrot cake after the kebab.  Nice man.  Once we had left Bulls, I was so glad I didn't succumb to the MOMENTARY desire to eat cake!  lol
nite nite.


edit: Tanya in the USA:  I have clearly had MORE than my fair share of cake already.  If I want to enjoy the rest of my life, I need to miss out on cake, or I am going to drop dead from a heart attack!

18 comments:

  1. freezing is an understatement the Lake I haven't been in it yet this summer who am I idding what summer!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh, I hope you have a wonderful time on your trip. And with such beautiful places to stop and visit, I don't blame you for stretching out the drive. New Zealand looks absolutely, breathtakingly beautiful!

    XOXO,

    Cyndi

    ReplyDelete
  3. Enjoy your road trip!
    Hope the weather is good for you all. Be safe.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Have a safe and happy holiday :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Safe travels. I hope you have a lovely day for travelling.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Enjoy the journey Chris :) That will be us tomorrow.....going the opposite way :)
    Enjoy too the company, on the way at Taupo and when you get to Palmy, and most of all have fun with your friends :) Safe travels.xx

    ReplyDelete
  7. Everything is so beautiful there! Have a nice time :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Don't forget to giveme a call so I can drop off the smoothie book to you. Phone number again is 022 160 4404

    ReplyDelete
  9. Safe travels Chris! Hey if I can swim in Lake Taupo, it can't be to bad! ;)
    Enjoy your kebab in Bulls :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous9:35 AM

    What a nice vacation!! New Zealand is a beautiful country from the photos you have showed us!! Have a great time and drive safe!! ...debbie

    ReplyDelete
  11. A long day but a good one. Journeys are always much more enjoyable when you can make interesting stops along the way. Otherwise you're just going from A to B and where's the fun in that.

    I agree about the gift shop in Taihape, they have some lovely quirky things there. Safe travels and enjoy your road trip!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Safe trip, Chris. We traveled that way when we drove from Queenstown up to Puka Park (5 day trip). Looking forward to the photos xx

    ReplyDelete
  13. Tanya, US7:13 PM

    Eat the cake girl! You only live once!! Just been thinking.... does it really matter whether we have a piece of carrot cake or chocolate cake? We are all going to go 6 feet under (eventually), so who's gonna care whether we had we had a piece of cake? Live the moment, as the saying goes! Only on this earth ONCE!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Can you get milk is Bulls? LOL, and oldy but a goody!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Glad to see you made it safely. Have fun and enjoy your holiday!

    ReplyDelete
  16. My daughter did her 1st parachute jump over Lake Taupo whilst back-packing. Because of this jump and her instant love of it she met her husband whilst sky diving in Spain and now has an adorable 22mth son.Next time you pass the lake please say thank you from me.
    Enjoy your break

    ReplyDelete
  17. Here we have a dish called carrot cake but it's not cake like you know. It's made of radish and rice flour. It's stir fried with eggs and eaten hot.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Drive carefully and take lots of pictures!

    ReplyDelete

Comments will be published once approved by a blog admin. Thank You.