#1 Kingsgate hotel.
Because it is summer the sky is still bright @ 6pm!
#2 Front view of out hotel! I think it is Waitangi Beach.
Nice queen beds for everyone, separate bathrooms and toilets, games room, swimming pool and gym.
Some hard field work aye? TOUGH life! :P
At night we were treated to an expensive Thai dinner at Amazing Thai. 3 course meal for everyone, about $40 each. Jealous much? :P
6th December, Tuesday.
In the morning, Jess brought us to his Cafe in Paihia. The breakfast was expensive! The food was great but the best thing is, I don't have to pay :D
#3 Jess' Cafe in Paihia. Marina Cafe (I think..I forgot the name)
#4 Exterior of the cafe
#5 The front view of his Cafe
#6 Boats by the bay.
#7 Interior of the Cafe and the IESE crew. Jess facing us.
# 8 Sails
After breakfast we went down to Ngawha to meet up with the Maori Trust.
The meeting was started with Maori blessings and then we introduced ourselves and they introduced themselves afterwards.
Te Tuhi, the host of this meeting, said they have strong chinese connection thus regarded me as their whanau! SO I can say I have connection with the Ngapuhi tribe, meaning when i die i can go up to the north of New Zealand too! haha!! Cool!!!
Our meeting was held at Ross' house, the farm manager, in the garage. His wife spent a day to prepare our food for the meeting. Lunch was tasty :)
#9 Ross' garage.
Our meeting was held there. tiny but cosy!
#10 Sheep own by Ross, the farm manager.
Manfred and Pat Browne joined us on this trip to 1) help answer the Maori questions during the meeting, 2) pass on their priceless knowledge on Geothermals to us young scientists!
They are honorary scientists that had retired but volunteered to work part time for our company. Very well know in the Geothermal scientists' society!
#11 Pat Browne
No individual photos of Manfred, he's too serious! :/
Scary.
The trustees later brought us around their land and showed us the sites that they suspected have geothermal deposits/ activities.
#12 Te Tuhi, and Auntie Annie
#13 Rob exploring the land
#14 Farm land
#15 Going into the black dried lake
#16 Investigating Black dried lake
#17 Discussing the causes.
#18 Great thing about field trips: Being able to go into the untamed bush!
*picture: The back of Manfred :O
#19 Great thing about field trips:
Wouldn't get told off sitting at the back of the truck
#20 Everyone is fighting for the back seats!
#21 Madison
#22 A view of the farm
7th December, Wednesday.
Went to the Ngawha hot pools and the entrance fees were cheap! I think they are one of the cheapest in New Zealand, only $2 for College students!
#23 Ngawha hot pools
They are called the healing pools but they look dirty and dodgy. It was said that during depression, people who could not afford to see a doctor would come here and soak themselves all day everyday and they would heal eventually, well, very slowly.
Met up with Theo and Monica, a German couple who just moved to New Zealand 3 weeks ago, They are really living a very clean green life!
#24 This current shack they built within 2 weeks.
Temporary home
They love sustainable life style with minimal electricity! So the future house they are building will be mainly run by solar power and hydro power generated by the nearby waterfall!
Theo, the husband, is an engineer so he builds/designs his own house and also the solar panels+ generators for his house.
The wife on the other hand manages the gardens and also just rebuilt their tractor and car! Such a talented couple.
Another reason why they moved to New Zealand was that they are keeping 2 horses, Criollo and a dog, Golden Retriever, and want them to live in a place where they can run freely.
All their pets speak only German! as they are all imported from Germany, yes, all the way from Northern Hemisphere. Crazy huh.
#25 Blue plant, genus/species unknown!
Not a fan of remembering plant names.
#26 Issac playing with Illu, the dog.
#27 Illu again
#28 Illu again
#29 Illu and Monica
*happy to see mah master! woof!*
#30 Inquisitive filly checking out my camera :P
Forgot the name of the filly and to take a photo of the mare!
I was too busy playing with them.
#31 Doggy, filly, mare, Jess and Monica
#32 IESE van and filly!
#33 Irresistibly cute horsey
and then we head home, back to Auckland.
