Greencaviar Travel

Neither body aches suffered from the bird safari the day before, nor the bleak weather forecast deterred me from going ahead with the day’s plan of kayaking Lake Rotoiti, a lake in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand. It is the northwestern most in a chain of lakes formed within the Okataina caldera and close to Lake Rotorua, its more famous neighbor. We traveled from Tauranga for one hour and thirty minutes to Lake Rotoiti.  We passed kiwi plantations along the road and saw lush vegetation as we approached the lake. The menacing clouds never left our sight. Knowing that it was going to rain, I did not bring my SLR camera, but I had my iPhone secured in my pocket. Before gearing up and while our guide tried to get the kayaks ready, I took photos of the tall trees with pink colored leaves and the swans prancing in the water.  The air was cool and had a fragrant smell emanating from the pink trees, not the smell of rotten eggs that Rotorua is known for. With the halluc...

As they say, no trip to New Zealand is complete without a visit to “The Lord of the Rings” movie location. As an avid fan of “The Lord of the Rings," I visited three movie locations: Mt. Victoria in Wellington, the Hobbiton Movie Set (a bit cheesy) and Edoras. And the most impressive was my journey to Edoras. (Sorry, for the reference to those of you who have not read “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy or seen the movies.) In J.R.R. Tolkien’s fictional Middle-Earth, Edoras is the capital city in the kingdom of Rohan, built atop a rocky outcrop in a valley surrounded by craggy mountains. The countryside of Rohan is a land of pastures and lush tall grassland that is frequently windswept. Peter Jackson brought this fictional place to life in the film “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” which was filmed on location in the Canterbury region of New Zealand. Many scene shots were taken from the Rangitata Valley. The movie set was built on top of the hill called Mount Sunday (Edoras). ...

Safari It was only a bird safari! I had assumed I knew the drill, but I was wrong; I underestimated it. I went back to read the warning printed on the ticket: “Not recommended for people with back problems.” I don’t have a back problem, but I sure did suffer a sore back after the safari. But all the trouble on how we got there was well worth it. We traveled the Hawke's Bay coast to Cape Kidnappers Station where we found one of the two largest gannet bird colonies in the world. Leaving the coastline, we drove out onto overland. With a very clean white vehicle driving through a very narrow well-kept road, it seemed we were heading onto a Disney World safari, but the scenery was no doubt New Zealand, very green. It possessed a feeling of space and tranquility. Our driver/guide told us that we were traversing on a private property purchased by an American who built a lodge and a golf course there. We drove along what seemed to be riverbeds (it was dry at the time, but accordi...

T he Taieri Gorge Railway is hailed as one of the world's great train trips.  I have not been on many scenic rail trips in order to compare my experience on the Taieri Gorge Railway, but the combination of a historical railway, a hundred-year-old wooden carriage, artsy train station, and stunning scenery made my journey an experience that I would not soon forget. Our journey started at Dunedin Train Station, one of the most photographed buildings in New Zealand. I had a chance to explore the artsy train station before our train trip. The building itself is an architectural delight. With an over-the-top decoration, it looks like a gingerbread house. The exterior is matched in decorations by its interior with stained glass windows, vaulted ceilings, and tiled floors. The train cruised along the Taieri River bounded by rock and pillar ranges. The train operator announced some points of interest as we passed them, like the Wingatui where the construction of the railway began. Th...