On the move again! After an early morning soak in the hot spring with coffees!We packed the car and headed down the road. We stopped in the town of Tokoroa for a mid-morning snack and to see the Talking Poles that the town has become known for. ‘Totem Pole’ art works are scattered throughout the town and tell stories of various aspects of the myriad cultures of the townspeople.

The Talking Poles Forest is in the center of town, along the main street.

A concentration of the poles is in the Talking Poles Forest where we stopped. For detailed descriptions of the many poles around town click HERE. We continued down the road and stopped at a quiet campground along the Waikato River for a lunch break and a nap!

The clouds were beginning to build.

At a lookout viewpoint the clouds were thick enough to almost obscure the mountains we were traveling near.

Mount Ruapehu is the farthest to the right, with a large base and lots of snow. Mount Ngauruhoe is the cone to the left of center with the peak in the clouds, and Mount Tongariro is the lowest mountain to the left, relatively flat topped, below the clouds. All three are active volcanoes;

Volcanic Activity of Mount Ruapehu, Mount Ngauruhoe, and Mount Tongariro

Mount Ruapehu

• Status: Active

• Last Eruption: 1996

• Details: Ruapehu is one of the most active volcanoes in the world. It has had over 60 eruptions since 1945. The volcano features a deep crater lake, which is monitored for changes that may indicate increased volcanic activity.

Mount Ngauruhoe

• Status: Active

• Last Eruption: 1977

• Details: Ngauruhoe is considered the youngest and most active cone of the Tongariro volcanic complex. It has a history of eruptions approximately every nine years until its last eruption in 1977.

Mount Tongariro

• Status: Active

• Last Eruption: 2012 (from Te Maari Crater)

• Details: Tongariro has erupted more than 70 times since 1839. It consists of multiple vents, with the most recent activity occurring from the Te Maari Crater.

Good thing I didn’t read this until after we left the area!

We went slightly farther afield to another river trail today, along New Zealand’s longest river, the Waikato. Our hike today started by crossing a swing bridge over the river as it flowed out of Arapuni Lake through the Arapuni Dam Powerhouse. The bridge was built in 1926 for workers to cross the river to build the dam and powerhouse!

The suspension bridge, with a view of the powerhouse below!

We hiked along the bluff above the river, past paddocks with cows, then descended level with the river which was swollen with recent storm waters.

We had a wonderful hike along the river with a picnic lunch along the way. We returned to the Hotel and enjoyed the evening at the Pub, watching the locals play pool and conversing with them.

No Trick-or-Treats or Halloween decor, but a pleasant evening. No dip in the hot spring at midnight either!

We went upriver to the trail along the Waihou River to Blue Spring, walking along green paddocks with cows and enjoying the sunshine.

About half way up the trail we spotted some movement on a tiny island of vegetation in the shallow river. It was a Pukeko nest! We stayed for about a half hour watching the adults feed and protect the 4 tiny nestlings!

You can just spot one adult on the nest in the middle and the 2nd a dark figure on the left. Ultimately we counted 4 chicks, 2 were in the nest under the brooding bird, and 2 were outside the nest and being fed small bits of vegetation plucked from the area by the adult walking around the nest. A third adult arrived, walking to the island and commenced taking over the feeding of one of the chicks outside the nest. The bird on the nest got up and left the nest and the newcomer climbed onto the nest and took over the care of the now 3 nestlings there (one had climbed back into the nest). The adult bird ‘relieved of duty’ eventually crossed the river and climbed up the hill presumably to feed itself! Amazing cooperation! With binoculars we were able to see all this activity, and the incredible gangliness of the chicks, which must have been just days old.

I grabbed this picture of a Pukeko and chick off the internet to give you a more clear view of what we saw with binoculars. Our picture doesn’t show the beautiful blue feathers of the adults or the red face patch and beak.

Further up the river at a narrow spot we saw the water wheel that provided power to the farm in the area. It still turns, but is no longer attached to a power generator for electricity.

At the end of the trail the river widens to a beautiful pool of crystal clear, cold water with a sandy bottom. It is very reminiscent of Silver Spring in Florida, minus the alligators!!

Early morning on the top of the hill, Robert was joined by the resident dog Buddy (or Miles), a new addition to the host family, he hasn’t been officially named yet! We packed up after a wonderful week during which we were able to reconnect with a family we met 2 years ago when we were staying in this area. We had a great dinner with them at a local Brew Pub and caught up on our respective lives. We then enjoyed Afternoon Tea at their house on Monday, 27 Oct. which is New Zealand’s Labour Day holiday and the unofficial start to the NZ summer season!

Off we went, not too far away, to enjoy a few days at a hot springs resort, The Okoroire Hot Springs Hotel, dating back to 1889!

A view of one of the 3 hot spring pools. The pools are on the side of a hill overlooking the Waihou River rapids which we could not get a good picture of.

We visited the Pāpāmoa Hills Regional Park today, via a walk along a mountain bike trail, entering the ‘back way’ to avoid the long uphill hike from the official entrance!

The view from the top of the Hills!

The Pāpāmoa Hills were a strategic site for the Māori to control the fertile coastal plain and the rich fisheries of the Bay of Plenty. Thought by archaeologists to have been first occupied by the Māori around 1400 AD, at least 17 Pā (fortified villages) sites have been found, with 8 prominent on these hills.

Robert is standing on the site of the most fortified of the Pa sites, the farthest to the left, Karangaumu.

According to a ranger; “Karangaumu Pa, at the summit of the hills, was a defensive pa. It was in times of attack and battles when it used to be heavily occupied and there’d be over 2000 warriors here. One of the other pas, Patangata (towards the ocean from the summit), was where the women and children would head in times of battle. So if it’s all going completely wrong, they’ve got some really good escape routes to get them off the hills and away to safety. Not all the pa sites were occupied at one time. Apart from the ones where their nine-to-five job was to grow kumara (a type of sweet potato the Māori brought with them when colonizing New Zealand). They’re the ones who would be on-site and in one particular spot the whole time.”

There was extensive competition for resources which led to inter-tribal warfare creating the need to fortify villages! When Europeans arrived in the mid 1800’s a whole new wave of competition was created resulting in the “New Zealand Wars” between 1845 and 1872. Ultimately the Māori land in the Bay of Plenty was confiscated by the British Crown and redistributed to Pākehā (‘white’ settlers, pronounced Paa-key-haa).

Pine trees were planted on the hills by the white settlers over 150 years ago. Most have been toppled by age and winds. We can see these trees, at a different angle, from the top of the hill at our B&B!