From Tongariro to Waipapa wine district

Yesterday we had quite a long trip to Martinborough in the Wairapapa district. About 360 km from Tongariro and that takes its time. We left the beautiful Mt Ruapehu behind us and proceeded to the south.Again a beautiful landscape and Mt R was following us for a while. Yesterday we also got a glimpse from Mt Egmont or Mt Taranaki. I had forgotten to tell that we the day before yesterday even had a better view on Mt Egmont. It looks like Mt Fuji! This volcano belongs to the same range but is 130 km away to the west. It tells you how clear the wheather was. The landscape yesterday was more gentle and reminded us more of Switzerland. Before entering the wine district we visited Pukaha Mount Bruce Wildlife Park. They do a lot for preserving what's left from the natural habitat or bring it back to its original state. That's the general tendency here on the North Island. There is about only 5% left from how it was when the first Pakeha or White Men arrived. We arrived a little before 6 PM at our next B&B, the Oak House at Chris and Polly. A very friendly elderly couple. There we saw how lucky we can be, being as healthy as we are. Chris is 71 and developing Alzheimer. He used to be a winemaker for one of the wine houses here. Polly is a zoologist. It is nice to talk to them. Chris is originally from Australia and Polly from Wales. Chris' children live in Australia. Where to spend the last years of yout life? We saw the same problem at Linda and Guy in the other B&B.

Here in the Oak House another Dutch couple was staying. Very friendly people from Giethoorn. They make about the same trip as we do, but the other way around and they headed North today. Later in the evening we walked to the village and had a good meal in a Thai Restaurant. We spent the day today on the bike visiting some of the wine houses for a tasting and at one of them, the Te Kairanga, we picked up a cool box with a lovely lunch. Again we were very lucky with the weather. A sunny day and probably the warmest so far. So we changed to bermudas. Later we enjoyed a sunny afternoon in the garden of the B&B. To morrow we continue to Wellington.