More volcano news.

There have been several small earthquakes in the area overnight.

'Gas and sulphur smells from the Mt Tongariro eruption have travelled as far as Wellington this morning.

The crater spewed rocks and ash when it came to life for the first time in more than 100 years at 11.50pm on Monday night.

Many people have reported a smell of sulphur in the air in the capital.

GNS Science duty vulcanologist Craig Miller said it was most likely the smells were caused by the eruption and there had been quite a few reports from the lower North Island of a sulphur smell.' (stuff.co.nz)

Boulders gouged out metre sized 'impact' craters along the Tongariro Alpine Crossing track.

Tongariro National Park

An interesting video to watch here.

I should explain further about the location of the volcano.

South of where we live in the Bay of Plenty, about four hours drive away is the area of New Zealand called the volcanic plateau. A large part of this area is the Tongariro National Park, an area of great beauty. It is a popular area for outdoor recreational sports - there are two major ski fields, and numerous tramping tracks.

 It contains three active volcanoes - Ruapehu, Ngauruhoe, and Tongariro. Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe have erupted a few times in my lifetime, and now Tongariro is having her outburst. When there is an eruption the ash drifts around the country causing major disruption to road and air travel. It is a health hazard also as it consists of fine metallic shards and is dangerous to inhale. When it lands on cars it has to be very carefully washed off to prevent damaging the paintwork.  Thankfully we live too far away to experience boulders etc landing around us!

The photo shows Tongariro on the left and Ngauruhoe on the right. Ngauruhoe is a cone shape and Tongariro is lower but with several 'hot spots' and small cones.

We are on the coast in Tauranga (Bay of Plenty). At the moment the prevailing winds are taking the ash over to Napier and the Hawkes Bay region.

Mount Tongariro erupts

One of our volcanoes in the Central North Island is erupting. Mount Tongariro sent out rocks and an ash plume overnight. It has been dormant for 100 years.

Full report here and here.

"The mountain erupted at 11.50pm, sending ash across roads and prompting a potential threat warning for central North Island regions.

The eruption threw rocks and spewed ash from the Te Mari craters, near Ketetahi hot springs, on the northern side of the mountain"  (Stuff.co.nz)

Steam Train outing.

Last weekend we went on a steam train excursion down the middle of the North Island, from Hamilton to National Park.

At National Park we went off to the Chateau for lunch then back to the train for the return journey.

These are some photos of the countryside.

 




Our engine.

Mount Tongariro and Mt Ngauruhoe, both active volcanoes. In fact Tongariro has been raised to Alert Level 1 recently which means signs of volcanic activity, the mountain is stirring.

This is taken from the verandah at the Chateau. The Chateau is a wonderful grand old building - it's a very large hotel at the base of Mount Ruapehu.

 The Chateau, National Park











Mount Ruapehu - I climbed this mountain way back when I was younger and fitter! It is a popular ski resort.

Ruapehu has a steaming hot crater lake at its summit.

More countryside. Very typical farmland of the interior of the North Island. Mostly sheep country.

Rain

Yes its raining! To whoever controls these things - we have had enough thank you very much.
We often get the comment that our country is very green. Well tourists - now you know why.

Rain Rain Rain

 It rained and rained and rained and rained,
The average fall was well maintained;
And when our fields were simply bogs,
It started raining cats and dogs.

After a drought of half an hour,
There came a most refreshing shower;
And then the queerest thing of all,
A gentle rain began to fall.

Next day 'twas pretty fairly dry,
Save for a deluge from the sky.
This wetted people to the skin,
But after that the rain set in.

We wondered what's the next we'd get,
As sure as fate we got more wet.
But soon we'll have a change again,
And we shall have......... A drop of rain

New Zealand has lost one of our favourite children's authors - Margaret Mahy died yesterday.

Margaret Mahy wrote more than 200 books and poems and won many prestigious children’s book awards, including the Carnegie Medal, and was the only New Zealander to receive the Hans Christian Andersen Award. Last year she won the New Zealand Post Children's Book of the Year award for The Moon & Farmer McPhee with Dunedin illustrator David Elliot. Mahy was made a member of the Order of New Zealand - the highest of the country’s honours and open to only 20 living people at one time - in 1993. Photo - NZ Herald RIP Margaret Mahy, you made our world a richer place with your wonderful imagination.

The Latest Hairy Maclary Book

An article taken from SunLive:

Slinky Malinky is blacker than black, a stalking and lurking cat – but the only thing lurking in Tauranga’s Books A Plenty store today were fans lining up to hear Dame Lynley Dodd read her new book. About 120 fans gathered in the Grey Street store to listen to Lynley read her new book Slinky Malinky - Early Bird and more than 50 books were sold within 30 minutes of her appearance. Lynley, a Tauranga-based writer, says the determined and cheeky Slinky Malinky is much like her pet cat, who wakes everybody up before the crack of dawn. “It was based on the activities of our cat, who probably like everybody else’s cat gets up far too early in the morning. “In this book all he does is get everybody up and go back to bed,” says Lynley. The renowned author set out to amuse children in the hope they would enjoy the language of rhyme. “Rhyme is a big thing with children. Because if we all think about our childhood playground chants and rhymes, it’s the rhythm and the sound of the language that gets to them.” When Lynley writes, she attempts to remember her childhood and imagine what would have appealed to her as a youngster. Turning out to enjoy the reading were Tauranga youngsters Honey, 7, and Poppy, 5, Drew, who brought along pictures of their favourite cat Slinky Malinky. Two adoring fans, Honey and Poppy Drew coloured in pictures of Slinky Malinky to give to Lynley. “I like cats because they are soft,” says Honey. This newest edition is not the end for the adventure of curious animals and memorable rhyme, says Lynley who says she is not ready to give up writing quite yet. “I don’t think I’m ready to stop no, but these days its getting quite difficult to get down to the creative work because there’s so many other aspects of the whole thing that actually take up so much of my time now. “That’s disappointing because I’ve got lots of ideas id like to get on with, but ill have to try.”

Good Idea?

I wish I had thought of this 30 years ago! However I did have my ways and means of getting the message through. Just not quite as inventive and organised. The threat to vacuum up the treasured lego pieces lying around was enough to get some action. As was the threat to give away to the Salvation Army any toys I found on the floor after the second warning.

Our own Hairy Maclary

A statue of Hairy Maclary has been made and will be displayed permanently here in the Bay of Plenty. The little dog is a firm favourite of all children and the news is very well received! Update: The news has apparently not been so well received by some members of the public who object to the money spent on such a whimsical subject. I disagree - we need food for the soul too, and so do the children in our city who make up a fair proportion of the population.

And another project .......

I made this quilt for a much loved daughter in law. It is not full bed size, more to use as a 'cuddle' quilt, for lazy winter evenings lying on the sofa! It has many elements in it that are especially for her - the border is Hershey's kisses, some of the handbags are chocolate fabric, (yes she loooves chocolate)the ballet shoes are her daughters dancing shoes, the jandals (flip flops)are for her sons, and the trainers her husbands. In the bottom right hand corner is a 'kete' - the basket of learning - she was a teacher.