We recently took a long weekend to go to the Bay of Plenty, a very large bay north of us. We stayed in Ohope and briefly visited Opotiki (not pronounced even remotely like you might think!) This is one of the many lovely beaches we saw on our trip.
Monday, January 14, 2008
How Speed Bumps are Made in New Zealand
Another service provided by the Department of Transportation.
Waioeka Gorge
On our way south from the Bay of Plenty we drove (for about 2 hours) through a very rain foresty area called Waioeka Gorge Scenic Reserve. A very narrow, winding and beautiful drive.
Sponge Bay
The last night of our trip we stayed in Gisborne (of recent earthquake fame. For those of you who didn't hear, it was 6.8 on the Richter scale and felt QUITE clearly by both Roger and me when it happened.) This is Sponge Bay, about a km from where we stayed. We did not meet Sponge Bob.
Agapanthus
These flowers are considered weeds here and grow almost everywhere. You may remember a previous post showing the road into a vineyard/winery lined with these. Weeds or not, they make a very nice border. I bet they'd grow in Prescott.... if I could figure out how to get them home.
Mahia Peninsula
About 3 hours north of Hastings is the Mahia Peninsula, another beautiful New Zealand area. It seems to have its own biome and is very different from surrounding areas. The peninsula is very desert-like and quite different from the almost rain forest-like Waioeka Gorge that we drove through the day before. The eastern part of the peninsula (shown here) has black sand beaches. The western part has white sand beaches.
Pohutukawa Tree at Mahia
Yet another Pohutukawa tree (notice the red blossoms at the top) and the Silver Bullet ~ also known as our New Zealand dog mobile.
More Mahia
Another stunning view of the coastline of the Mahia Peninsula. Here were are right outside the tiny little village of Mahia.
Flowering Trees
These trees are in full blossom everywhere right now. They look just like the Jacarandas that we have in Arizona (lots more flowers, though. Amazing what a little water can do!)
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