Wellington to Christchurch

We left Carterton on Friday morning for the short drive down to Wellington where we were booked on the afternoon ferry to Picton. On the way we thought we would see the NZ version of Stonehenge which is close to Carterton but this time it was a low Autumn fog that stopped us. That burnt off fairly soon & we arrived at Wellington in good time. As I have already said, the crossing has a nasty reputation, but the gods must be smiling on us because it was even flatter than the first time. We continued on to Blenheim where we stopped for a couple of nights of our final week in NZ.
Saturday we toured round the surrounding area which is mainly flat & covered with vineyards.This, along with Hawkes Bay, is the main wine producing region in NZ. We took the road to Havelock & then turned off on a side road to Okiwi Bay where we stopped for lunch in a bar overlooking the village & the bay with the sun shining on us. How nice to be back on South Island! However, with the days getting shorter & with clear skies the night time temperatures are now way down in single figures.
It was Pat’s birthday so we went out for a meal in the evening before returning to the local bar where we talked to some players from the local Harlequins RFC who recounted some stories about the Wellington crossing including one where the ferry, trying to enter the sound up to Picton, was being tossed so much that the passengers were on the windows. Another couple of degrees & the boat would have gone over. Well! That was their story. It may or may not be exaggerated.
On Sunday with the sun still above we continued south to Kaikoura, a small town that was once a whaling station but nowadays concentrates on whale watching. The seas just off the town are one of the main feeding areas for sperm whales & the company running the tours guarantee that they will refund 80% of the price if a whale is not spotted during the trip. We booked for the next day.
Monday! Sunshine again & we arrived at the tour company to be greeted with the news that there was a 1.5 to 2 mtr. swell & that sea sickness was probable. Nice prospect, but 20-25 of us left to go whale watching. The 18mtr catamaran sped out to the feeding grounds & it bumped a bit but nothing too serious. On the way something unexpected! A wandering albatross bypassed us.
We reached the area where the whales had previously been spotted & waited. The skipper lowered the
mike into the water to try to pick up any sound. Two or three times he did this, moving the cats position each time. Then, at last, one of the crew saw the water spout & the cat rushed over. Keeping the vessel to the side or rear of the whale, they have no forward vision, everyone on board got a great view. If the cat was 18mtrs, the whale more than matched it. You don’t go swimming with these creatures. They have been known to swallow sharks & even a 45gallon drum in one piece. Then came the shout that it was going to dive. Again everyone got the view of the tail as the great animal disappeared. Hardly had one gone than another was spotted a little way off. We just got to it as it dived but, again, most of us saw it. A few minutes went by & a third whale was spotted. This time it waited till we arrived before diving. It was too much to expect to see dolphins after that but another wandering albatross crossed our path as we returned to the marina, all thoughts about sea sickness having long since gone from our minds.
Tuesday, after the ground frost had cleared, we set off to Hanmer Springs which is a ski centre in the winter but is an all year resort with the thermal springs in the centre of the village. It is only 380mtrs above sea level but as soon as we arrived we noticed the distinct chill in the air. We had a wander round one of the walking tracks in the nearby forest & then round the village past the golf course ( Every village, no matter how small, in NZ seems to have it’s own golf course) & back to the van. It was now quite cold & time to wrap up before going out for dinner.
Next morning the ground was white & golf course closed until the frost was out of the greens.We had a walk round the village before having a game of mini-golf & a maze adventure. For kids really but fun. Time for a dip in the thermal pools. There are several in the grounds with a swimming pool at 28 deg C & various thermal & sulphur pools from 36 - 41 deg C so although the air was at about 10 deg C the water was lovely.
On Thursday we decided to return to Kaikoura to take a guided tour round the area which took in an Irish country pub, an old whalers cottage & a seal colony amongst other things.
On Friday we first went north to Ohau where there is another seal colony but there is also a waterfall just inland where some of the pups go upstream & play under the falls. We could get really close to them. We returned to the whalers cottage, Fyffes Cottage, to have a closer look. It stands on foundations of whalebone. The Fyffes helped establish Kaikoura first as a whaling station & then as a port. The cottage is also near a Maori burial ground. A body was discovered clutching the largest Moa egg ever found (Moas were flightless birds, now extinct) so it is believed he was an important chief.
Saturday morning we went for a drive over the plains into the mountains but unfortunately the weather had closed in so the views were spoilt. In the afternoon we are going into the City for some sight seeing, dinner & watch the rugby semis tonight. The local team, Crusaders, are playing so it could be noisy.
Tomorrow the van goes back we are in a hotel & then Monday off to the Cook Islands.
Pics are of Okiwi Bay village, Kaikoura Mountains, A Sperm Whale disappears & a view from near Hanmer Springs

Whakatane to Wellington

On Saturday 10th May, although the rain had stopped, the sea was still too rough so we gave up on White Island and retraced our previous nights journey directly back to Gisborne. This took us through a couple of gorges that we hadn’t seen yesterday because of the weather. We nearly didn’t see them this time either because halfway along the rain started again and continued right through to Gisborne. We had a walk round the town & had a bite to eat and decided that we would continue on to Napier. Again there were gorges & hills which would have been great had we been able to see them but the rain continued on into the night.
Sunday we woke up to sunshine & went to Napier Info Site & found that there was a farmers market in nearby Hastings so we decided to have a look. The market was held at the local showground & was well attended. We sampled & bought some of the cheeses that are made locally as well as tasting the fruit which along with wine making are the main industries in this area. After the market we went to Cape Kidnappers which houses a large gannet colony & on to Havelock North a well to do town again involved in the making of wine. On returning to Napier we booked a guided tour for the next day & had a wander round the town a lot of which has been built in Art Deco style following an earthquake in 1931 which destroyed a great part of it.
After reading about them the previous day we woke on Monday to hear that there had been a small earthquake off shore during the night. This was not the first in our time here but, of course, was nothing compared to the events in China.
We met our guide and went over much of the ground that we had travelled yesterday, but this time with a commentary, taking in honey, cheese, schnapps & chocolate producers as well as an olive orchard and a couple of wineries including Mission Estate, NZ‘s oldest winemaker. Free samples at all of them. What a mixture! In between we stopped for lunch at a coffee roastery &, to top it all off, real fruit ice cream.
The tour also took us to the highest point in the area, Te Mata Peak, which at 339mtrs is not really that high, but from where we could see the snow on the mountains around Taupo over 100kms away in the distance.
Just to the south of Napier near Porangahau a prominent hilltop celebrates the achievements of a mythical Maori ancestor & carries the worlds longest place name. We never went because we couldn’t ask directions to
Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu.
On Tuesday we left Napier & took the scenic route south stopping at a little village called Ongaonga merely because the name reminded Pat of trips to Colchester with her mum & dad. But the village had a little heritage site with reconstructions of an early bush settlers hut, a military hut & an old gaol.
Further south we came to Norsewood & Dannevirke which, as their names suggest, were originally settled by Scandinavians. We then turned off towards Castlepoint travelling on narrow lanes & unmade roads before reaching the coast before heading inland to Masterton where we stopped for the night.
Next morning we wandered around Masterton, in particular Queen Elizabeth II Park with it’s Cricket Ground complete with grandstand, Bowls Club with 2 rinks, Croquet Club with 2 lawns, football & rugby clubs with several pitches as well as Kids Own Playground, mini golf & miniature railway. Nearby there is recreation centre with indoor & outdoor pools, one of the longest water slides in the country and a health & fitness centre & spa. They must be fit here.
We then drove down to Carterton where we visited Paua World factory & shop where paua (a shell fish unique to NZ) shells are made into jewellery & gifts. Afterwards we made a circular tour of the area going to Gladstone, Martinborough, where the town centre roads are laid out in the form of the Union Jack, & Greytown before returning to Carterton. In the evening we went to a tapas bar and found that there was a jam session with musicians from various groups in the area attending so we stayed out late. It must have been at least 11.00 before we went back to the van, well past the witching hour for midweek in NZ, but it was a good night with instruments like tambourines & bongo drums being handed out to non musicians, such as us, so we could join in.
On Thursday we took the train to Wellington to take a tour around the country’s Parliament Building. One of the interesting things is the steps taken to protect the building in case of earthquake. The whole building is actually seated on large bushes on top of the foundations. This arrangement will protect it from earthquakes up to 7.5 on the Richter Scale.
NZ has a proportional representation system with each person having 2 votes. The first, for the party of government, is a PR vote & the second, for their MP, is a first past the post vote. There are then ’x’ amount of elected MPs & the balance of Parliament is selected by the various parties to match the PR vote.
Finally today we booked our return crossing to the South Island for tomorrow.
Pics are of Art Deco & jokey Napier, a Troll at Norsewood & Castlepoint Rock

Tauranga to Whakatane

We arrived in Tauranga on Friday evening & the following morning tried to get in touch with Alan & Lil but they were out so we decided that as the sun was shining we would go to Mount Maunganui, Tauranga’s beach & also an important shipping port, the reason for Tauranga’s prosperity. Anyway, the Mount had to be climbed & as there are several tracks to the top it was not too difficult. After a spot of lunch it was time for our first taste of the heated spas. It may have been sunny but there was quite a breeze with a wintry chill to it but lying in a spa with water temp of 37 deg C we didn’t notice.
We spoke to Lil later on that day & arranged to meet on Sunday to say our goodbyes which we did & then set of to Whakatane to try to arrange a visit to White Island, NZ’s most active volcano, which is situated approx 50kms off shore. However, before we left Alan & Lil it had started to rain & gradually got worse the further we went. We called at the Info Site at Whakatane on the off chance but were told “No chance before Wednesday”. So we continued on towards Rotorua & Taupo with the weather getting worse all the time. We stopped overnight at Golden Springs which is about halfway between the two & listened to the rain beating on the roof of the van.
Monday morning was not much better but we reached Taupo & drove round the lake. Lake Taupo is the largest lake in NZ & is the result of the biggest volcanic eruption in the history of the Earth. The lake is actually a crater lake as are most of the lakes in this area. After the circular tour we stopped of at Huka Falls, the most photographed falls in NZ, where the Waikato River is squeezed from 100mtrs wide to just 10mtrs wide. We also went to Puzzle World , an interactive café with table puzzles while you eat & also outdoor puzzles such as a maze etc. but as it was teaming down this was out of the question. We followed this with a visit to the Volcanic Activity Centre which is self explanatory but very interesting. It appears that the Taupo Volcanic Area which extends form Mt. Ruapehu in the south to White Island in the north is where two plates, the Australasian-Indian Plate & the Pacific Plate, meet. It may be that, sometime in the distant future, the North Island may divide along this line.
On Tuesday 6th May we left Taupo for Rotorua stopping on the way at two thermal centres, the first called Craters of the Moon which is exactly what they looked like but with bubbling water & mud pools & plenty of steam. The second, Orakei Korako also known as the Hidden Valley, has more active geysers than any geothermal field in the country & silica terraces which are reported to be the largest in the world. The area is reached by boat across a lake &, of course, none of the geysers ‘performed’ until we were on our way back across the water.
On reaching Rotorua we booked a Maori evening at the Tamaki Maori Village. We were in one of 5 coach loads & each coach had to pick a ’chief’ to represent them at the ritual welcome ceremony. No prizes for guessing who our coach elected. I had to stand with the other 4 guys in front of the welcoming Maoris who performed various challenges in dance with clubs, spears etc. Not too welcoming, as we felt the weapons brush our arms & faces. Still, after that it was a good evening with a mixture of story-telling, song & dance ending with the Haka & followed with an authentically prepared Hangi meal. (cooked in an earthen oven).
Wednesday was a quiet day for us. After doing the housework we wandered around the town, along the lakeside & in Government Gardens which contains the Rotorua Museum, known locally as the Bath-house, & the Blue Baths as well as Rachel Spring which bubbles water continuously at boiling point. The Gardens also house the local bowls & croquet clubs with several lawns as well as a golf course, driving range, a Petanque club & some more thermal outlets, so its no small area of land.
We booked a tour of Rotorua in a WW2 duck for the following morning which, unknown to us, would take us through Government Gardens again before going out of town to a couple of smaller bodies of water, the Blue & Green Lakes, so called because one reflects the sky & the other the trees. The Green Lake has some very expensive houses round it, one of which can be hired as a holiday home at a rate of 10000 NZD per night.
After the tour we started back to Whaktane to try again for White Island but first we had a free entrance to Hell’s Gate, another thermal park, which we had received when we booked the Maori night. This one though was the first with hot mud baths. So after the walk round the park in we went. The mud pool had a temperature of 40+deg C & yellow in colour because of the sulphur content. It also had the smell to go with it. After the mud there was a freezing cold shower to wash it away & then into a second pool with just the sulphur smelling water & temperature slightly cooler. After a second shower, warm this time, we felt good but left still with the odour lingering.
By the time we arrived back in Whakatane the rain had started again but nonetheless we enquired about White Island. We were told “No” to Friday, 50-50 for Saturday, but more likely Sunday. We decided to wait until Saturday.
Friday the rain, which had gone from a steady drizzle to a down pour during the night, had stopped & we started on a drive round the Eastlands Peninsula to Gisborne & back but what looked to be a pleasant days drive became a struggle as the rain returned & by the time we got back was torrential. Pics are of Mt Maunganui, Huka Falls, Hidden Valley & Hell's Gate

Whatuwhiwhi to Tauranga

Sunday 27th April we left the sodden site at Whatuwhiwhi on the Karikari Peninsula and headed towards the Bay of Islands. In no particular rush we stopped off at several bays before something in the travel guide caught our eye. ’World Famous Fish & Chips’ - Not just in one guide but in all three that we have. Where is it? Mangonui on the South East corner of Doubtful Bay. We were only fifteen minutes away but it was only 11am on a Sunday. Oh Well! When in Rome. We did a quick heritage tour of the village & arrived back at the restaurant on the quay at 12pm. It was already full. Never mind! We placed our order. The pieces of fish were cooked from fresh as we waited. It was worth waiting. Never mind plates. We ate out of paper. Delicious!
After lunch we took another signposted scenic route, well signposted at the beginning, which meant getting lost & going over hills which had had landslips due to the previous nights rain. Eventually we arrived in Kerikeri where we went round NZ’s two oldest standing buildings, Kemp House & The Stone Store. The Stone Store was meant to house NZ mission supplies but became a trading store & Kemp House was originally a mission house. The Kemps & their descendents occupied the house from 1831-1974. Both houses are now subject to flooding from the nearby river when timber, rocks etc are washed down from the hills & jam at the bridge causing the river to flood. A bypass is being built to hopefully remove this hazard.
After spending the night at Kerikeri we moved on round the Bay of Islands to Waitangi Treaty Grounds, where the Treaty of Waitangi signing in 1840 meant that the Maori & the English immigrants were to become one nation & New Zealand became a British Protectorate.
Continuing round the bay we arrived at Opua from where we caught the ferry across to Okiato which was previously called Russell & became the first capital of New Zealand. From there it is a short hop to present day Russell which was previously called by the Maori name Kororareka. It is hard to believe that this quiet little seaside village (Pop. Approx. 1200) was once known as the ‘Hellhole of the Pacific’ with its seafront lined with grog shops & houses of ill repute. It was a whaling station for the Europeans, Americans & Australians as well as being a major Maori settlement. The town was destroyed by fire when a casual match was dropped in a gunpowder store. The British Navy at sea took the resulting explosion as a Maori uprising & promptly shelled the place.
The village was re-built around two surviving buildings, both churches, & re-named Russell. One of the churches is the oldest Anglican church in NZ. It also has what it claims is the oldest pub but as it is the third or fourth building on the site this is doubtful. It was the first to be licenced however.
The Bay of Islands was a favourite of American writer & sportsman Zane Grey who promoted the area as a centre for deep sea game-fishing, with a clubhouse in Russell.
We both liked Russell & stayed 3 nights. On the Tuesday morning we visited the Pompallier Mission, the oldest surviving Catholic building in NZ which was used as a printery, tannery & storehouse. They used to import religious books from France, translate them from Latin to French & then to Maori, print & cover the new books with leather from the tannery & give them to the Maoris. The mission closed after about 15 years & the building continued as a tannery. It was later altered to become a private house which it remained for 70 years before being bought by the NZ Government to be exhibited as an historical house. It was only when replacing some of the flooring did they discover the tanning pits & realise what the real history of the building was.
It was a sunny morning & despite the forecast of a big storm approaching, headlines in the papers, we booked an afternoon cruise out into the Bay to see the Hole in the Rock & maybe some dolphins. Within half an hour the sun had disappeared & the rain started. Nevertheless we went ahead. The sea was a bit bumpy & there were a few very green passengers but we went through the Hole & then on the return there, right on cue, were the dolphins with passengers from other boats already in the water with them.
The rain hammered down most of the night but come the morning the sun was out & we did a mini tour of the village learning most of the above & seeing some of the beaches close by. In the afternoon we took the passenger ferry across to Paihia but this is just a resort full of motels etc. so we soon returned.
Thursday we took the coast road, instead of the ferry & the main road, as we started off to Whangerei & were slowed down by several landslips caused by the recent rains. We booked into a site near the town centre & had a quick look round. Not impressed. If it hadn’t been for Pat’s cousin Mel living nearby we would probably have by-passed it. Anyway, we had dinner with Mel & Ed & spent a very pleasant evening with them.
Friday we continued south not sure of where our next stop would be. We arrived at Auckland in the early afternoon & as the traffic was moving we did likewise. After crossing the Harbour Bridge without too much difficulty we decided to head for Tauranga.

Pics are Mangonui Harbour, Kemp House, Maori canoes at Waitangi & NZ traffic hazard & solution.