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Send Me Home!
Send Me Home!
OK guys - we're off! This doesn't really belong in the Auckland section, but we didn't create a section specifically for the outward trip, so here it is. We have a little secret to confess to - to make the start of the trip even more enjoyable, we're flying Business Class with Air New Zealand on the outward trip. The theory is that we will at least start the holiday feeling fairly refreshed.
So far all is going very well. We took a National Express coach to Heathrow Airport, and can recommend that service to anyone who has discovered just how much it costs to leave a car in the long stay car park for even a few days. On arrival at Heathrow, we were whisked through the Fast Track lane to a special lounge where you could help yourself to free booze - and the first of many toasts!
The plane was 40 minutes late departing at 3:25pm but we have nice comfortable seats in the upstairs bit of a 747-400. We've just had lunch, and the food was really delicious, and washed down with a number of very pleasant wines! And we haven't even got to Greenland yet!
One of the perks of Business Class is that they give you this little washbag packed with things to make your flight more enjoyable. We've seen these before but this one is really quite something. It's got things to make you relax, things to wake you up and things to rub into places that we didn't even know we had places!
By the time we reached Los Angeles we were both feeling very tired, but fortunately we only had to wait for about an hour before reboarding for the flight to Auckland. We both slept quite well, and felt reasonably alert when we landed at 6:10am local time.
This is our non-day! Because of crossing the International Date Line very close to midnight, we don't have a Friday. Mind you, Thursday was the longest ever, but I never could get the hang of Thursdays!
We were met at the airport by our friends Jane and Jo, and they drove us to their house at Ngaruawahia, which is quite close to Hamilton. It was still dark when we landed, but when we emerged from the airport we were greeted by a real tropical downpour. We're glad to say that we soon left this behind and it now looks like being a beautiful day. So as soon as we're showered and freshened up, it's out with the shorts and T-shirts, and then we're heading into Hamilton.
We picked up the first of the three cars we will be renting while we're here - a Ford Laser, which is like a small Mondeo. It has air conditioning, which is a great asset, because it is pretty hot and humid here. Having collected the car, we had a quick snoop round Hamilton, including lunch then returned to Jane and Jo's house. We then had a slight change of plan and they drove us out to Raglan, which is on the coast to the west of Hamilton - this was probably our first breathtaking view of New Zealand. We sat near the water and dined on locally caught and very fresh fish and chips. By the time we'd finished, the effects of our long journey were catching up with us and we were both glad to get back and to catch up on some sleep.
| Tomorrow |  |
Breathtaking Bay of Islands.
The weather forecast was for a cyclone to hit Northland during the afternoon and for there to be strong winds and rain during the night and tomorrow. So we set off anticipating the worst, and were pleasantly surprised by quite a nice day. It was slightly cloudy with sunny spells, but no sign of the bad weather, which may yet come.
The first leg of the journey was from Thames to Auckland. At the risk of upsetting any Kiwis who may read this, Auckland is a big city and is much the same as any other big city in the world. We drove through it, without stopping, on one of the few motorways in New Zealand. We saw the Sky Tower which is one of the big tourist attractions, but felt no desire to go out of our way to go up it. Instead we set our sights firmly on the beautiful coastline of the Bay Of Islands, and headed north.
When we got to Warkworth, we made a detour off SH1 out to the east coast and Leigh. We ended up driving several kilometres on an unsurfaced road before we reached Pakiri Beach which is really off the beaten track. Once there, we staggered up to the top of a sand dune and sat on a bit of driftwood (to stop us sinking forever into the soft sand) while we munched our sandwiches. Afterwards we continued along the back roads until we rejoined SH1 at Wellsford. The highlight of this section was just after we left the beach when a kingfisher flew beside us for about 100m before landing on a telephone cable. It obligingly sat there while we dug out the binoculars and had a really good look at it. It is almost twice the size of the British kingfisher, and is very solidly built with a large beak. This is because it builds its nesting tunnel by flying bill-first into banks or rotten trees! Ouch!
As we got further north, the temperature began to rise. By the time we reached Paihia in the Bay of Islands, it was quite sunny and we found our motel which has breathtaking views over the bay. It wasn't long before the sun started to go down and we were treated to an amazing sunset which lit up the whole sky.
We read through the restaurant guide in our room and decided that we needed at least a week here just to try out all the good eating places! Anyway, we settled on a delightful establishment called Seafood Only for this evening, and have just returned from a delicious meal. Tom was finally able to sample some raw oysters, (which Kathryn could not even watch him eat! YUCK!) fresh from the bay, and we both had king prawns for a main course. They were beautifully sautéed with a chilli, garlic and Chinese parsley sauce! YUM!
They make a wonderful pumpkin and sunflower seed bread, which Kathryn had for her starter, and we even treated ourselves to a bit of decadence by having apple pie (Tom) and ice cream with caramel and walnut sauce (Kathryn) for dessert.
We are keeping our fingers crossed for the next couple of days. We have some interesting activities lined up providing the weather doesn't spoil our fun. Stay tuned for details!
Soggy Sightseeing
We knew from last night's weather forecast that we were in for a soggy day at some point and we weren't disappointed!
We had booked ourselves onto the Cape Reinga/Ninety-Mile Beach coach trip for today. It was quite an early start for us, as we were herded on the coach at 7.30am! We were also prepared for quite a long day, knowing that we wouldn't return to Paihia until close to 6.30pm!
Our journey to the top of New Zealand began with a visit to a Maori marae (MAHrye), which is strictly the open area in front of the whare tupuna (FAHreh tooPOOnah) or ancestral house of a given Maori community. This is the place where language, values, philosophy, oratory and social etiquette are given their fullest expression and, as the heart of the Maori community, it is a sacred place to be treated with respect.
We picked up our Maori guide along the way and she instructed us on what we should do, sang us a song of welcome and helped us select a gentleman to be our 'chief' for the occasion. No, it wasn't Tom!
We were greeted at the marae by a woman acting as 'mother' and then led into the hall for a ceremony, including song, payment of respect to all our ancestors and speeches from the male host and our 'chief'. It was really interesting and our initiation as honorary Maori was completed by handshakes and 'hongi' (pressing noses).
We were then in for quite a long drive before stopping again ... this time just prior to entering Ninety-Mile Beach near Waipapakauri. Here we hopped on another coach. Two tours start out in the morning each doing something slightly different before reaching the beach. Because both groups were small and the remainder of the tour was the same for all of us, we joined forces.
The drive up the beach was definitely different. The weather being a bit unsettled at the moment and the tide being somewhat high, we had some great views of wild waves on the Tasman and created a few splashes of our own as we sped along at up to 105 kph! Sure made the gulls move out of our way. We even saw some wild horses on the dunes.
We had a couple of stops on the beach, one basically a photo stop and the other to explore the giant dune - if we wanted to. There was a lovely sheet of rain driving down on the bus at this point, so we decided to sit it out on the dry bus. We had fun watching the others bounding on the dunes and they were even able to do a bit of tobogganing, which we unfortunately couldn't see, as they did it on the opposite side of a dune! It just wasn't the day for it in our minds.
The next stop was Cape Reinga, which isn't exactly the very top of New Zealand, but is an interesting stop because of its lighthouse and mileage signpost with places like London and Vancouver on it. It was raining quite heavily when we walked out to the point, so we're afraid we didn't take the time to memorise the mileage. You can be certain it was in the tens of thousands, though!
(PS. We later discovered that the mileage to London was posted as 10,499 N.M or 19,271km and for Vancouver it was 6229 N.M. or 11,434km)
After eating our lunches we set out on our return trip, with many of use catnapping prior to our next stop - Wagener Museum - at Houhora. We really weren't up for the museum itself, but treated ourselves to tea and a snoop through the gift shop.
From here we made our next stop at the Ancient Kauri Kingdom. This is located just at the point where we turned off to drive the beach in the morning. Kauri is a member of the pine family, but is only found growing above the 36th parallel or the northern most part of New Zealand. During the last Ice Age - approximately 45,000 years ago - some 4,000-year-old Kauri tress were buried and are now being dug out of the ground, perfectly preserved. At the Ancient Kauri Kingdom, these ancient trees are being turned into remarkable tables, chairs, bowls, kitchenware and even hot tubs!!
At this point we were both gasping for cocktails, but there as one more short stop to endure and that was at a fruit stand. We were extremely glad to be back at our motel and decided that a restaurant we could walk to was essential this evening.
We chose Kelly Tarlton's 'Tui', which is an old sailing ship formerly owned by a diver of some renown in this area. Although the food was okay, it didn't quite reach the standard of the previous night. We, unfortunately, had to endure the smoke and boisterousness of a nearby table. Can't have it perfect every night, I guess!
The wind and rain really picked up after we got back to our room, so it will be interesting to see if our dolphin swim goes ahead tomorrow afternoon. I am sure we'll find some other way to entertain ourselves if it doesn't! It's worth noting though, that although the wind is howling and the rain pelting down outside, it is extremely tropical and warm.
A life on the ocean waves!
There was heavy rain overnight and we awoke to more rain, a sky full of dark clouds and incredibly high humidity. We had booked the dolphin trip for 12:30 so we started off by getting the luggage sorted out while we had some spare time. Since it was still raining we then drove the short distance round the bay to find a cafe and to check with the dolphin company what conditions were like. They were running the trips but there were some juvenile dolphins with the pod which meant that they couldn't let people swim with them. Since we have already seen dolphins at Kaikoura, we decided to cancel the trip and just go on the other adventure we had spotted.
We booked ourselves a 1:00pm trip on the Excitor, and since the weather had improved a bit we drove the car back to the motel and walked back to the town center. We killed some time by having another coffee at a cafe with a great view across the harbour, and eventually had a light salad lunch there. We checked in for our trip and were suited up in full wet weather gear, which seemed very hot at first, and some very neat unobtrusive inflatable life jackets before being ushered on to the Excitor. The Excitor is a futuristic looking, brightly coloured boat with a shape not unlike something Batman might use. And it's quick - very quick. It holds up to 30 people but there were just 8 of us on this trip.
Our skipper Keith was hilarious and handled the craft beautifully. With its twin 6.5 litre V8 Turbo inter cooler 300 GM diesel engines, the Excitor can bounce across the waves at 30-35 knots, and we all loved the speed as we shot off across the bay. Keith explained that his job was to try and dodge the rain squalls which were still in the area, and he did this very well by pausing and pointing out things of interest on various islands we passed. Each time we stopped, he re-assessed the weather and modified his route according to the conditions. His main target was the famous Hole in the Rock which is just off Cape Brett, and normally there would be several boats cruising out and navigating through the hole.
However, there was a 2.5m swell today. Firstly, this gave us a really thrilling ride out as the Excitor was leaping off the crests and crashing down in the troughs. It was really exhilarating and everyone on board was having a great time. Secondly, the swell was big enough that there was only one boat in Paihia capable of going through the hole today - you guessed it - it was the Excitor! With white water crashing all around on the rocks, Keith lined us up for the run and then held the boat steady while he watched the water. When he was ready, he applied full power and we shot into the cave where he once again held us steady, although he said "It's like being in a washing machine!" Once again he applied the power at just the right moment and we shot out of the far side of the hole into some fairly wild water, which we tried to capture on film but it wasn't very easy because we were being thrown around quite a bit.
Once we had 'done' the Hole in the Rock, Keith hurtled off to the other side of the bay before we got caught in an approaching squall. This leg was slightly gentler because we were running with the swell and not into it, but we still managed a few good jumps. It was very encouraging to hear that Keith is strongly in favour of steps being taken in the Bay of Islands to protect and restore its natural environment. He pointed out a part of one island where the owner of 65 acres had removed all of the pine trees, and over a period of 20 years had restored it all to native bush plants. He now has a number of wild kiwis living there - we think it was about 20 birds. Keith's attitude to the environment was typical of many 'guides' we have met. He clearly wants to do what he can for the environment, but also has a very good grasp of commercial reality and how to balance the two interests.
Having finished our 2 hour trip (extended from 1.5 hours because of the weather), we had an interesting look around the town's aquarium where we saw many of the fish we have eaten during the last few days! There were also several more that were on the menu, but we just haven't had time to try them!
Our educational bit done for the day, we hopped onto the ferry which goes across to Russell - the trip taking 15 minutes. Russell is even more picturesque than Paihia, and we strolled around there for a while until we found somewhere that we could start cocktail hour. Well it was almost 6:00pm by then! We found a great restaurant, Gannets, just 100m from the waterfront, and after cocktails we had an early supper and caught the 7:00pm ferry back to Paihia. That was great fun because it was dark, there were plenty of gaps in the clouds allowing us to see the nearly full moon and the stars, the harbour lights were reflecting off the water and the air was still quite warm. Do you readers appreciate the lengths we go to gather material for these pages?
To complete our perfect day, we had a nice long moonlit walk along the beachfront then sat with all windows and patio door wide open to enjoy the moonlight on the water and the sound of the crashing surf.
Extreme Finale!
We awoke to a truly glorious day. There were a few clouds but it was sunny, hot and the humidity had dropped so it felt really good. We weren't in a rush to leave Paihia because we didn't need to check in at Auckland airport until 6:30pm, so we took our time doing the final packing and checking out from the motel. Next stop was predictably a cafe, and then we went for a stroll around the wharf area. Earlier we had seen a large cruise ship enter the bay, and we learnt that this was the P&O Sky Princess. We were most amused to see that the passengers who were being ferried ashore were all wearing coloured and numbered badges which seemed to identify what activities they had signed up for. They were herded like sheep by the guides into various coaches, and one of the guides actually thought Kathryn was a lost passenger and tried to usher her onto a coach!
A Maori troop was waiting on the wharf to welcome the cruisers, and they were performing a variety of songs and dances, so we finally got to see the war dance complete with extended tongues and lots of shouting.
On the wharf we bumped into our buddies from the Excitor. After chatting with them and wondering how we could make the most of our morning in Paihia, we decided to book onto the other trip run by the Excitor company. This is called Extreme! If you thought our trip on Excitor sounded adventurous, you should see Extreme! It is a small 10 person boat (including driver) called a raider which is used by special armed services around the world for rapid access by water. It can do 50 mph or 80 kph while it has passengers, although we were told afterwards that it can actually achieve a top speed of 60mph.
It is a trip designed for thrills and not for comfort. You sit on a seat which is just like a gymnastics horse, with your feet firmly under straps on the floor and holding on very tight to a strap across the seat - just like a rodeo rider. When the Extreme hits the swell, it takes to the air and so do you, or you would do if you didn't hang on tight. While travelling across the calm water of the bay, the ride was easy, but as we got further out to sea the swell picked up a bit. We were heading for the Hole in the Rock again, and today there was only about half a meter of swell, but that seems quite a lot at 50mph! For the first leg, Kathryn was in the front seat of one of the two columns of passengers, and as we hit the rougher water, she started to get wet from the spray.
Then Graeme, the skipper and owner of the business, stopped the boat and the two people in front went to the back and everyone else moved forward. This time Tom was in front and remained there for the fast and furious leg out to the Hole. This was the roughest section of the trip and he got fairly well soaked, but thoroughly enjoyed the ride. It was calm enough that we were able to go right inside Cathedral Cave which is next to the Hole in the Rock. In a few thousand years this will probably become another hole right through, but at present only foolhardy divers can swim through!
We then passed through the Hole at high speed compared to yesterday before swapping seats again so two more people had a go in the front. The trip back was just as fast and furious as the outward trip and we were all having a great time waving at other speed and sailboats with one hand as we shot past them. The Extreme is the fastest commercial boat in New Zealand so we weren't likely to meet anything that could pass us.
Safely back in Paihia, we were more than just a little windblown and slightly damp with sea water, so we found somewhere to freshen up a little before saying a fond farewell to the Bay of Islands and heading off to Auckland.
With this being Easter weekend, the majority of traffic (and there was quite a bit of it) was headed north for one final taste of summer before autumn settled in. We really didn't encounter much traffic at all until we approached the larger towns outside of Auckland.
Our day had progressed quite well, so we had just enough time to settle up with the car rental company and check in before we boarded our flight back to England. We have to admit that we were less than enthusiastic about leaving, as we already knew that it was much colder where we were headed than from where we had just come. Also, we had really had our adventure of a lifetime and neither of us was keen on seeing it end - but this chapter was complete.
Reality - What A Concept!!
Arrived Heathrow - 09:20am WHEW!! We were exhausted and very disappointed to have exchanged +25C bright, warm sunshine for +6C, dark, damp and dreariness. Oh, well...
Send Me Home!