Shooting the Rapids in Art Deco Style

Our Christmas Eve Itinerary

The night's sleep was everything for which I had hoped, and then some.  We all woke up rejuvenated, and had the remainder of our breakfast food from the previous day.  We were continuing southeast today, toward the city of Napier, on the eastern coast of the north island.  The terrain was still dominated by large dairy and sheep farms, in addition to orchards and fields of various grains.  Our intermediate stop was at Lake Taupo, the largest freshwater lake in New Zealand and second largest in Oceania.  It is actually formed by the crater of a long-collapsed volcano.  The area still has a lot of thermal fields and geysers, and you could see multiple columns of steam doting the horizon as we drove.  At times, I looked like we were approaching a smoldering battlefield.  We left Rotorua in bright sunshine, but clouds filled in by the time we reached Lake Taupo, with forecasts for extended showers all afternoon.  Luckily for us, the rain never came.

Our Second Hotel in Rotorua 

Small Trout Stream Behind our Room

Like Rotorua, Lake Taupo attracts a lot of vacationers, particularly campers.  In fact, I have never seen as many camper vans as we did on this trip.  New Zealand is known as a place to come and RV, but I hesitate to think what number I could have reached had I started counting camper vans from the day we arrived.  There are literally dozens of companies that cater to camper rentals for tourists.  That aside, we had booked a Jet Boat tour on the Aratiatia river, which flows from an hydroelectric dam on Lake Taupo.  The boat held about 10 people, and our driver propelled us at speeds upwards of 60 miles an hour through rapids below the dam.  He also would jump rapids and do 180-degree turns.  It was really exhilarating, and we had an excellent time.  We each got wet, but much of that dried during long stretches at high speed.  We also saw several spots along the river where various movies, mostly by Peter Jackson, were filmed, including the famous barrel scene from the Hobbit.  Before we took the jet boat tour, we had time to hike down along the lake, including to a spectacular waterfall.

From Our Hike

All Geared Up for the Jet Boat

We're in the Last Row

It was Christmas Eve, by the way, but it did not feel like it.  In fact, we had all commented on the lack of decorations for the holiday.  We'd all been in Thailand near/over Christmas, and though it was hot and a non-Christian country, they had plenty of decorations around town.  I had been in Tokyo the week prior, also a non-Christian country, and the city was all decked out for Christmas, or Winter Festival as they called it.  Still, aside from some banners and the occasional Santa, it was hard to know it was Christmas.  I can only imagine that having the holiday over the summer has surely changed things, and so many decorations in the northern hemisphere seem focused on detracting from the dreariness of winter and the shortness of the days.  There, everything was in full bloom and we had 18 hours of daylight, so I assume traditions evolved differently.

We were spending the night in the coastal city of Napier, located on Hawkes Bay, which is primarily a shipping port, but also a frequent stop for cruise ships.  It is the largest wool center in the southern hemisphere, and also the center of the biggest orchards in New Zealand.  We drove by miles and miles of peach, apricot, and apple orchards.  We laughed, too, as we kept seeing signs advertised stone fruit for sale.  We all wondered what exactly a stone fruit looked like.  We later learned that the term refers to any fruit with a pit, such as peaches and apricots.  We also learned that a kiwi -- one you eat -- is strictly called kiwi fruit, as the shorter name refers to people, or is an adjective.  Hawkes Bay, too, is famous for its wine, and has the second-largest concentration of wineries in the country.  Though it was Christmas Eve, we were able to visit the oldest winery in all of New Zealand -- the Mission Estate, which opened in 1851.  It is nestled on a hillside overlooking the bay, and has a beautiful old colonial era (and style) mansion, which serves as a restaurant and tasting room.  It started as a Catholic mission, with monks making the original wine.  As we had not had lunch, we opted for an outdoor meal on the veranda.  It had rained before we arrived, but the clouds were starting to dissipate.  We were under cover, and there were propane heaters, which really helped.  Our lunch was probably one of our two best meals during the entire trip -- the other came later, in Queenstown.  We had learned, too, that New Zealand has no official drinking age.  The only restrictions are that anyone under the age of 18 cannot purchase alcohol.  That allowed Anna to enjoy the odd wine of glass with us, including at this lunch, but she passed on the formal tasting we did afterwards.  We had our wine suitcase with us, and filled a few slots after the tasting.

Entrance to the Winery

Mission Estate Winery

Aside from wine, Napier's notoriety for tourists is that the city was destroyed in an earthquake and subsequent fire in 1931.  Rebuilding began during the height of the Art Deco movement, and most of the downtown area comprises well-preserved architecture from that era.  We made it to the Art Deco Foundation Museum before they closed.  K had read about a walking tour they run.  Sure enough, they had one leaving in 10 minutes, with room.  In the end, however, the tour would last two hours, it was already 5:00 pm, and we wanted to go to Christmas Eve church service, so we passed.  We did, however, have some time to walk around the city center and do a little shopping.  Here, too, it was quite evident that it did not feel like Christmas Eve, as so many shops were still open.

One of the Original Cars Used for Art Deco Tours

Walking Downtown Napier on Christmas Eve

Our hotel was quite nice, and located on the waterfront in a new section of town, overlooking some beaches.  Despite the lack of an overt look of Christmas, a quick Google search located lots of nearby churches, including the Trinity United Methodist Church -- which is the exact name of the church in which K and I were married.  It was located in a historic building back in the old city.  We arrived about 15 minutes early, fully expecting a scene similar to what we have at home. Namely, standing-room only.  Instead, we weren't even sure if they were going to have a service.  It looked empty.  We parked outside and waited, and slowly some people started to arrive.  We went in about five minutes before service, and were among perhaps 20 worshipers.  Aside from another couple -- probable tourists -- we were the youngest by far, as most everyone else looked to be New Zealanders, and very elderly to boot.  I suspect churches there are facing much of the same challenge as some here in the States.  The service was familiar, but did have some very interesting Kiwi touches.  We sang Silent Night in Maori -- luckily the words were printed, and there was a boom-voiced Maori women behind us, whose pronunciation we could mimic.  The congressional response, too, had lines of Maori.  There was also a reading, which was the nativity story told as though it had occurred in a New Zealand beachside town.

It was still light after services, which was also weird.  We compounded that weirdness by picking up a Dominoes pizza on our way back to the hotel.  We all had had the late lunch at Mission Estate, but we figured a pizza was a safe bet if we wanted something on which to snack later in the evening.

Anna and K turned in, while I stayed up a little while.  I had hoped to watch a Christmas movie or special before turning in.  Interestingly enough, two local stations were showing Die Hard, which while technically set on Christmas Eve is not exactly a Christmas movie in my mind.