Last day in New Zealand

I've written a big note to myself  'Finish NZ blog.' So here it is. Before heading to the ariport Chris took us up Mount Eden in Auckland. It is quite a climb in the bus in that some parts are very narrow. Some locals are trying to stop tour buses from driving up there. Given the precariousness of the ride, I would agree. Surely there can be a system of mini buses to take us all up there.

Our bus teetering on the edge. 

The view is tremendous of course, and my camera does not do it justice. Auckland looks much better from here than in the mean streets of the CBD!

With all the water one can understand why 1 in 3-4 people own a boat, making it the city with more boats per capita in the world. Apparently the boat building industry is thriving. (Having been married to a NZ boat builder for a while, I'm interested in this info!)

Photo ops over, we snake carefully back down the mountain on our way to the airport. We pass a sign, 'Hillsborough,' which triggers the memory of where I used to address letters to my father in law a long time ago. (Got severely sidetracked looking for the actual address and finding diary entries for 1975 in South Africa instead!)

As you can guess, the ride to the ariport was uneventful.

One of many beautiful lakes in NZ.

All that is left are my reflections on NZ: 'it's a slip of land teetering on the edge.'

I suppose the recent bad earthquake and its thousands of after shocks contribute to that impression. But I missed the birds, hadn't realised how many are around in Australia, even in the inner city and suburbs. I was not aware of birds much in NZ. So many NZ birds are threatened by stoats and possums that they are 'teetering on the edge' of extinction.

NZ is very beautiful, my favourite being the South Island. Although I can't help thinking if the S. Island didn't exist I'd think the N. Island very beautiful. Their milk, icecream and butter are so creamy, like a throwback to my childhood before preservatives and additives became  popular. The people are friendly, their guides knowledgeable, but I miss the humour and professionalism of the Aussie guides.

All in all it was an interesting trip, albeit too long. Places I wish to re-visit are Dunedin (no, not for the Cadbury's! I just liked the 'feel' of it for some reason); Mount Cook, to be among the mountains for a few days; The Bay of Islands to go fishing.

Mount Cook.

Sunset at Fox Glacier.

Back in Auckland

Set off early to get back to Auckland in time for some of us to go up the tower there. I'm keen to get back to exchange my damaged ring for a good one. Lunch is at Warkworth where we'd stopped for coffee 2 days ago. Given that my stomach is on its second bout of whatever, I'm not very hungry. (Maybe all those bacon and egg breakfasts are having their way with me!)

Did my first commercial transaction re videotaping today. About 18 people want a video of their holiday and are prepared to pay in advance for it. So now I have to deliver. I was so busy on the bus making a spreadsheet for the video orders, finalising the Trivial Pursuit questions (whoops, just realised I've reported the final night's activities in the previous blog.) and writing up the blog, we seemed to be in Auckland in no time.


Kiwis are crazy, even jumping off the tower, in a harness it must be admitted but still... I was too slow and on the wrong side of the bus to get a shot. Found some flat Belisha Beacons though.

Those Belisha Beacons. 

Following the instructions of the Ariki rep Kit and I find the office where my replacement ring is. Hallelujah it's there. After all this you might be forgiven for thinking it is a very expensive item. It isn't. It's just annoying to buy something that's flawed, takes all the enjoyment out of it.

New jade ring.  

Now I'm happy, and Kit and I take our time wandering up Queen Street, a major shopping precinct in Auckland. I'm sorry Kiwis, it seems a very seedy place. I guess it didn't help that one of the public toilets I entered was so gross I walked straight out. George Street in Sydney for all its faults is far superior.

We pass the town hall from which some graduating students are emerging, and having their photos taken with friends and family in a nearby park. Brings back memories of Sydney Uni.

At night we did the things I reported in the previous blog, dur!

Celebrating our last night in NZ.

Second to last day

Day 16 NZ Tues April 19
 

Paihia. 

The day has dawned bright and cloudless. The sun gods are smiling on us yet again, perfect for a cruise on the bay.

Line up with the hordes for the catamaran taking us to the Hole in the Rock. I film dolphins frolicking and swimmers from another boat jumping in the water to join them. I wouldn’t be game, ever mindful that dolphins are wild animals, anything can happen! After pushing my way to the front of the boat and climbing up to stand at the bow, I got some good footage, all video.

Next feature of note is the famous Hole in the Rock. The water is calm, the wind down to 3 knots compared with 52 knots yesterday, so we sail through with no problem. 

Hole in the Rock.   

On the way back we stop at Russell for lunch. I order a rich clam chowder, too salty to finish but full of seafood. We wander through some lovely small boutiques, full of original and locally designed clothes and jewellery, very impressive. Pity I haven’t won Lotto yet.

Carving outside a small Maori museum on Russell. 

Our ferry arrives back at Paihia at the same time as one of the charter fishing boats. I’d love to have time to go on one of those but we’re leaving tomorrow. The gulls fighting over the fish heads and skins being thrown over the side as the fishermen fillet the larger fish make for some entertaining viewing.

Kit on the ferry

Weather is 25 degrees by the time we get back to the hotel. The swimming pool looks so inviting I have to go in, especially since Ray assures me it’s lovely. I should have known better, knowing Ray. It’s freezing, but once committed I have to soldier on. I last about 15 minutes by which time Diane joins me and we hasten to the hot tub to recover. Feels good afterwards. The throat is still a bit croaky but I don’t feel sick. 

Proof I got in the pool. 

After dinner Marie presents our coach driver with a laminated version of the ‘NZ alphabet’ sheet she placed in our tour packages, about which we’ve been making jokes the whole trip. We hold the final trivia quiz with questions about the North Island this time. It is the second to last day, and some of us are ready to go home. I’m looking forward to getting a replacement ring tomorrow in Auckland.

NZ Alphabet. 

Croaky but still standing.

Day 15 NZ Mon April 18

Woke up sounding like Paul Robeson. Must have caught Diane’s laryngitis. Four of us are coughing now. And the forecast is for wind and rain... And I still  have the cracked jade ring to deal with. Ugh! We're off to see the Kauris today. Hope my mood improves.

First stop is to photograph 800 year old Kauri trees. They are not the largest trees in the world, redwoods have that distinction, but for timber content they have no peer. The trees are densely packed, feel hard like concrete. Kauri timber was once NZ’s major export and early settlers nearly stripped NZ bare of them but now they are protected. 

Try hugging this!

(Just heard it is snowing in Milford Sound today. How lucky were we to be there on a sunny day!)

Chris our coach driver keeps pointing out ‘I-sites.’ Have only just realised he means Information Centres. Clever name I think. A visit to one of them immediately improves my mood. At a coffee stop in a place called Warkworth I visit the local I-site and notice they carry jewellery by Ariki, same make as my jade ring. The upshot of it is I now have the name and number of someone to call about replacing it, yipee! Or if you’re a kiwi, ‘yupee!’

Totally love the Kauri Museum at Matakohe, can’t help thinking how much Dad would have loved seeing the machinery they used to cut and mill the timber. Took lots of pics to send him plus bought the museum book about it all. Was also fascinated to hear about the gum from Kauri trees. It is a resin like amber and there are heaps of examples of them in glass cases. 

Kauri furniture. 

Kauri gum.  

Go through Whangarei (pronounced Fanga ray) as Maori ‘whs’ are pronounced ‘f”. It is a deep water port suitable for carrying cargo in and out, how all those Kauri logs were transported back in the day. It is 160kms from Auckland, and is the largest urban centre in the Northland Region.

Blow into Paihia in the Bay of Islands, worried about the boat trip tomorrow, whether we’ll be able to get through the hole in the rock and whether we’ll be seasick or not.

Before heading for our rooms we visit the site where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed.What impressed me most (apart from the handsome Maori guide) was Ngatokimatawhaorua, the 35 metre long war canoe (waka). It is one of the largest ceremonial war canoes in the world with a hull carved from two massive Kauri trees, felled in the Puketi Forest in Northland. (Imagine the weight!) It is launched each year (Feb 6) for the ceremonial commemoration of the signing of the Treaty. What a sight that would be!

Ngatokimatawhaorua.

On a more mundane note, I contacted the Ariki jewellery consultant, will pick up a replacement in Auckland all being well.

During Happy Hour I was served by a barman from Skegness.He loves it in the Bay of Islands and will never go back to the UK. He introduced me to a barmaid from Cleethorpes, a bit of a Lincolnshire invasion!

Cave, glow worms and tin dogs

Day 14 NZ Sun April 17

Phone went at 5.30am, only once as if it realised it had made a mistake mid ring…it had. The real wake up call came at 6.15 by which time I was showered and dressed.

We’re on the road to Auckland passing grassy mounds that once were piles of volcanic material bursting through the surface of the earth millions or at least thousands of years ago. They are called fumeroles. I’m losing count of all the strange happenings that have formed New Zealand. 

Power poles fly by with silver bands near the top to stop the opossums.

‘Why not let them fry?’ we ask.

‘Because they disrupt the services, and people complain.’

Pass a castle, not mediaeval but has a  moat, and houses dolls, called Pam’s Castle. We didn't stop.

A corrugated iron sheep and dog stand on the side of the road created by Osama Tin Laden (according to our driver)  Apparently the tinsmith has brought the town of Tirau from the brink of extinction with his tin art. The dog is an information centre and the sheep sells guess what? No prize for the one who said woollen products.

Is it a dog or a sheep?

We are in the most fertile part of the country, the Waikato district, with the most productive dairy farming in New Zealand. Although, according to our driver the Canterbury farmers are catching up fast. These are cows that graze freely outside (as opposed to standing around in a shed) about 1.3 – 1.5 cows per acre, probably what makes the milk, butter  and ice cream so yummy.

Free ranging cows.

Photo op at Lake Karapiro formed by a dam.

Lake Karapiro

 

The country we are travelling through (Cambridge and Matamata) reminds me of England with its hedgerows, and rolling green hills dotted with cows and horses. Strangely enough olives grow well here, there are 25 – 30 olive groves.

 

We stop at Waitomo to explore the caves and see the glow worms. First we walk through one part of the caves to a largish open area. Our guide asks if we have any singers. 'No' we say but, collectivley we sing Happy Birthday to Edna. She is 91 today, and more spry than many of our party. A woman in the group behind us sings ‘Amazing Grace.’ It is eerily beautiful, echoing in the cavern. 

We stumble into a boat, for once keeping quiet as requested and float through the dark. A cluster of glow worms on the roof look like a stained glass window in a cathedral. Again...eerie. Then to the ridiculous...Marie our group leader has us wearing shower caps filched from our hotel rooms. Some go overboard (not literally) with the decorations.

Shower cap parade. 

Later we come across Ed Hillary’s Walkway in a little town called Otorohanga, with panels of memorabilia about New Zealand. Very small exhibition but effective.

NZ hero.  

Made it to Auckland in the evening. I discovered the Jade ring I bought at Waitomo Caves has a largish crack in the gold surrounds so am po’d about that. Hotel guests get 3 hours free internet unless they are part of a group. We get only 15 minutes.  So am po’d about that too! Never mind the food was marvellous.

Day 13 NZ Sat April 16

Nice not to have to repack the suitcase today. But what is this?... It’s raining, our first rain since Day 2. Also while my cold has gone it has left me with a sinus infection. Sort of wish I’d brought my antibiotics, then again I would then have to deal with gastro problems. A hacking cough and frequent nose blowing are better I think!

We visit Rainbow Springs , a bird sanctuary. At last I’m going to see some birds. There aren’t too many compared with Australia and I’ve missed them. A few cheeky Keas are in residence, behind bars otherwise they’d be tugging at our camera straps, scavenging our lollies and screaming in our ears. These were pretty quiet, probably depressed at being incarcerated.

I noticed a video running. It’s an excerpt from a David Attenborough doco about Keas, showing how strong their beaks are. I must revisit the DVD when I get back to OZ. Apparently they have the brain power of a five year old. In other words they’re like my grandson Mathew. Just think of the damage he could do to their new dog armed with beak and wings!!!  Kakas, also in residence, are almost as intelligent.

W arrive at the Kiwi enclosure. Being nocturnal, no photography is allowed and silence is requested. This group does not know the meaning of the word. Muttered rumblings become out and out conversations by the time we come out the other end. What’s with these people? A guru would be puling his beard out if this lot ever showed up at a silent retreat.


The Kiwi I saw also looked depressed, scurrying back and forth over the same ground occasionally digging away at some earth with its long beak. But my heart really goes out to the poor females. They have to carry an egg inside them that takes up to 30% of it’s body weight. Can’t blame them for handing over to dad once they’ve pushed the monstrosity out. He sits on it for 180 days. Once it hatches, neither parent goes near it.

Stuffed Kiwi with that mighty egg! 

No wonder they are endangered. They were almost wiped out by ferrets and stoats but are now protected. Nevertheless, only 5% of chicks survive in the wild, but if an egg is lucky enough to be picked up by someone with an incubator, it has a 75% chance of survival.

Our next trip is an optional extra. I’ve always wanted to go on one of those ducks, the amphibious vehicles that go on both land and water. Now I’ve been there, done that, I never want to go on one again. I don’t know which was worse, the smell of sulphur or the smell of diesel. Our guide was a handsome cheeky chappy, seating was rudimentary but photo ops were few because of the rain. This particular duck was built in 1945. Given that they were built to last only 5 or 6 weeks (because of the high casualty rate in WW11) this one is doing very well.

Black Swan at Rotorua. 

We learned, not for the first or last time, of the legend of Tutanekei and Hinemoa, the Maori version of Romeo and Juliet, although these two end up living happily ever after. Apparently the girl, Himenoa swam 3 kilometres from Mokoia island across the lake to be with her lover Tutanekei playing his melodic flute on the mainland. She was a princess, he a commoner. When the families saw how much they loved one another they let them marry. But they could not be buried together when they died.

The evening was spent at a hangi, a Maori feast of food steamed in the ground, cooked all day. Not sure if that was really how they cooked it but it was pretty good. My favourite was an uncooked dish, namely raw fish done with coconut milk, very delicious. Then the fun really began. A group of 4 Maori maidens and 5 men, 2 of them musicians, entertained us with songs of their culture. They invited women from the audience to dance with the poi, balls on string basically but very graceful. Later men were invited to try the Haka (the intimidatory dance the All Blacks do before a rugby match) It was hilarious especially when Ray, one of our tour leaders joined in. I got it all on video. In spite of the hilarity I learned a bit about the culture.

More steam in the distance.

Day 12 NZ Fri April 15

Another black mark against the so called Quality Inn: the wake up call was 5. 30am instead of 6. 30am. They had not adjusted their main clock to daylight savings time. When was the change to daylight savings time? A month ago!!!

Shaking off the bad memories we walked around Napier admiring the art deco buildings, erected after a huge earthquake flattened the place in 1931.The Pacific Ocean forms Hawke Bay here.

Art deco in Napier.   

Our next landmark of note is not land but a lake, namely Lake Taupo, the largest lake in NZ, sometimes known as the Great Lake, 25 kms long, 160 kms in circumference, 606 sq. kms in total. Actually it is not a lake but a volcano with no top on, produced after a volcanic explosion in 135 AD, bigger than Krakatoa.

Brown trout then Rainbow trout were introduced to the lake in the late1800s. They seemed to like the environment and grew big, very attractive to anglers. I learned that one cannot buy trout, or order it at a restaurant. In other words if you want to eat trout you must buy a fishing license and catch it yourself.

Came upon NZ’s longest river, the Waikato, (means flowing water in the Maori language) all of 425kms long as it surged and roared through a tight little chasm only 15 metres wide, to form the Huka Falls. Not quite the roar of Victoria Falls but impressive nonetheless. The river’s full Maori name is Waikato-taniwha-rau ‘the flowing water of a hundred water monsters.’ An Austrian explorer named it the ‘Mississippi of the Maori.’ Obviously a river that makes a big impression.

Got excited at my first sight of steam rising from the ground. I’ve never quite believed it and have longed to see it. Here geo thermal water is being harnessed to provide power in Steam Bore Valley at Wairakei. It bores 1 and a half to 2 kms deep and this station is one of 5 in the area.

steam heat.  

All the way into Rotorua you can see plumes of steam here and there, and an ever increasing smell of sulphur. You can’t escape it. 'Roto' is the Maori word for lake,' rua' means 2, hence it is number two lake in the area. Lake Titikapu is number one I think.

Lake Rotorua.  

Visited Te Pui, the NZ Maori Arts and Crafts Institute. Our guide demonstrated how they use flax fibre to make baskets, skirts, and headbands of the most intricate weave. We ladies especially liked the bit where he rolled the flax fibre on his shapely bare leg!

He took us outside to meet Pohutu. She’s the biggest geyser in the area, blowing off steam every 30 minutes or so to a height of 3 metres or more. Groups have to be ushered by her in between blows otherwise they’ll get showered with hot water. Amazingly a lone duck was swimming just below her. Wonder if it knows to clear out before she blows. Was going to give you a photo but the internet connection is too slow this morning.

Waiting in the bus for our driver to bring the keys to our room, the smell of sulphur was particularly strong. I looked for the source. We were stationary just by the entrance to the swimming pool which has its own little gusher, turning the surrounding rocks a yellowish white colour. Moving into the hotel was a relief but not by much.

Came across the longest word in the world today, wait for it…..

Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu

Phew!! 85 letters. Beats that long Welsh one hollow. Don’t ask me what it means.

Autumn colours in Napier.