Time flies...already a week in NZ!

Hello all,

It’s Sunday January the 12th and time flies! A week ago, already, the 5th we arrived in Auckland after having left our host and hostess with the terrible cold we were slowly getting better from. Quite a thank you for the wonderful time we had with them and we only hope that they will get better faster than we did and that other cousin Christine and her husband Peter weren’t affected as well…

Due to the strong jet stream we had a very short flight, only around 5 hours in stead of 6 and arrived already before 5 local time in the morning. The short flight was maybe a reason for the crew not to give to much service, or maybe Air New Zealand just doesn’t give that much any way. In any case we weren’t very impressed with that but the seats were excellent (we paid 30 euro pp for more space and that was a good decision).

Unfortunately Britz, the company where we rent the campervan, only opened at 8 so we had a long time to spend at the airport. Considering the 5 hour time difference and only one hour of sleep at the best we were doing quite well not falling asleep standing or sitting in most uncomfortable seats in the arrival hall!

But exactly at 8 the shuttle to Britz arrived and drove us to the company a few kilometers away from the airport.
We hoped to be on our way quickly but it was peak hour and we had to wait, also because we rented bicycles and a bike rack and that was not arranged. No clue whose fault it was but we had to come back for the bikes because on Sunday the bicycle shop was closed. Britz could install the rack though. As we intended to pass by Auckland two days later it as not such a problem to come back for the bikes.

In the end we left around 11 and finally started our New Zealand adventure, first by going to the North of the Northern Island, Paihia in the Bay of Islands, about 3 hours away via the quick road and a bit longer by the much nicer road which Willem chose for us.

Willem felt quite miserable still due to the cold and lack of sleep and he wasn’t to keen to start driving in a car with an automatic gear AND on the left hand side of the road so I started to drive. Funny how we are programmed to drive on the right hand side; you really have to constantly tell yourself: NOT TO MUCH TO THE LEFT, when crossing a road LOOK RIGHT FIRST!, when turning to the right STAY LEFT!! etc;, etc… A few scary moments for Willem when the road was narrow I’m afraid……

But sound and safe, via the Twin Coast Discovery Highway West and Whangarei (for those who know NZ) we arrived at Paihia around 5, a very lively little town on the East coast, but only to discover that all the shops close at 5 (like everywhere in NZ, as we discovered later).

After one drink on a terrace alongside the beautiful bay we decided to look for the camping site. We had chosen one with a “restaurant”, didn’t really want to cook after the short night, but to be sure we bought some nice prawn and chicken curries at an Indian take away along the way.

Only a few kilometers from Paihia , with a view on the Haruru Falls we were extremely lucky to get the last spot alongside the river.
Apart from a few children it was very quite and beautiful there with lots of birds.
After dinner we were exhausted and fell asleep like babies….(well…some of them do….)

6/1/14
At 8.15next morning a shuttle from Fuller’s Great Sights came to fetch us to bring us to the wharf of Paihia from where we would start our “Cream Trip”. In the Bay of Islands the “modern” history of NZ started. In the 18 hundreds the first Europeans settled there and got acquainted with the Maori people, something Abel Tasman didn’t do two centuries before.
Quite a complicated history which was unfolded to us by the joyful lady captain on the boat, while she delivered also the mail to the people living on the different islands.
In the old days the cream from the different farms was transported as well but holding sheepand cows on the islands proved to be to expensive so the animals were moved to the mainland.
Nowadays, as the captain told us, mail delivery is getting less and less due to the use of email and might disappear all together. But wine boxes (which we witnessed to be delivered) can’t be sent by internet so this sideline will remain.

Willem felt a lot better but after a fight with the sheets the night before (you have to get used to the campervan life :-)....) got a bad lumbago which was getting worse and worse. I remembered that on board of the airplane we always had paracetamol and maybe that was also the case on a boat?... Luckily that was the case and it helped at least a little bit.

Under the best circumstances (no wind, no clouds) we travelled around the beautiful bay and learned about the history of the discovery and the start of a new country.
Furthermore we saw lots of native birds, the smallest penguin in the world, a hammershark, a small school of “common dolphins” and, showing her fantastic navigation skills, the captain sailed the ship through the world known “Hole in the Rock”.
Only one aim wasn’t realized; we would swim with dolphins but the “bottlenose dolphins” (the ones ycan swim with if they have no babies) disappeared so that wasn’t possible. But we had a really wonderful day.

Back at the camping site we wanted to have a bite in the restaurant but the chef was given a day off so some shopping had to be done and with the left over curry sauces from the night before we fixed ourselves a wonderful meal “at home”.

7/1/14
As a start in NZ we had our Cream Trip and learned about the history seen from the waterside; next we wanted to see where it all happened on the land.
A few kilometers from Paihia the treaty between the British and the Maori was signed in 1842, the so called Waitangi Treaty.
We chose to take a guided tour and it so happened that our guide was a young man, 6th generation of one of the Maori chiefs who had signed the treaty back in the 18 hundreds.
His story was very “diplomatic” but we understood that the translated Maori version of the treaty, the one signed by the Maori chiefs, was "an other interpretation” of the treaty compared to the English version…

We continued, we were supposed to get back to Auckland today and get the bikes. But on the way to the South we just had to stop in the Waipoua Forest. This is a semi-tropical forest with among other beautiful trees and ferns the huge Kauri trees. One of the largest in NZ can be seen there, unbelievable!

We couldn’t make it back to Auckland and looked for a camping site which we found next to the Kauri museum in Matakoha, about two hours north from Auckland. A lovely place, very quiet, clean and beautiful.

8/1/14
We woke up with a chirpy chirpy cheep cheep from the local birds, this time regular ones we know and not the tropical ones we heard before.
After coffee we visited the Kauri Museum next to the Matakohe Holiday Park on the way to the highway.
A nice overview could be seen of how huge this tree can become, how it’s collected, how beautiful the timber is, but also the gum which can be collected from it.

We headed south through charming slopes barely inhabited if not by vast amount of sheep, calves and cows.

It’s a lot of fuss to take the only toll road NZ has nearby Auckland (there are no booth, so either you have two call a number, buy the entry at a petrol station or stand in line at a self service coinmachine a few kilometers before the start of the road), so we took a detour and arrived in Auckland South to fetch the bicycles. Afterwards we went to the campervan lease company to discuss the problems with the tourist radio and most of all… the toilet (horrible smell after the first cleaning action).
After this was fixed we went on to Katikati on the East coast (situated on the Taurango harbour) where there should be a wonderful bird garden.

The landscape changed to fruit orchards, most of them kiwi, avocados and strawberries. We found a beautiful quiet spot, free of charge (!) very near to the town. This is a so called “Freedom Camping for self-contained Motorhomes”.
We are very self-contained but we weren’t very good in leveling off the camper this first time so after the shower the water stayed on the floor and as the shower is also the toilet…..
A good lesson!

We had nothing to eat and as in most villages there is no restaurant and nothing to do in the evening but fortunately we could buy “fish and chips” in a take away very nearby.
We would eat that later heated in the microwave, only to find out that the microwave only works with power supply….. which we didn’t have.

9/1/14
The paracetamol didn’t really work but the “arcoxia” did so finally Willem could move a lot better again!!!
Unlike us we departed early to the bird garden. It proved to be to early as the garden opened an hour later. So we returned and went to the Katikati Heritage museum for a nice capucchino.

Michelle felt immediately at home as the (beautiful, mostly grey) chicken came to greet her and even followed her into the café (much to the annoyance of the owners).

The road to the entrance of the Bird Gardens has on both sides enormous hedges of cypresses up to at least 8 meters high, quite impressive! These hedges protect, as in France, the orchards, in this case mostly kiwi.

A once bare land was transformed from 1976 into a beautiful and tranquil place with 50 varieties of birds and many more plants and trees. A wonderful walk.

Our first plan had been to go to the active volcano on White Island in front of Whakatane but we decided to go straight away to the geothermic area around Rotorua. We did want to see the volcano from the mainland though so we took a detour and went along the deserted magnificent beach (this is the most busy season…) to take a few pictures.

The landscape to Rotorua, which is located inland, so to the east, changes slowly to more elevated and “sudden” hills and mountains, a younger chain of mountains.
And then suddenly the lakes appear, one after the other.
As almost all the towns up till now Rotorua is a chain of shops, a bit like in the US, not very nice but usefull.

We had a hard time to find a park but in the end we did find one along lake Rotorua, in Ngongotaha. Not as full as the ones we saw along the seaside and certainly with more space and even a view to the lake.

The weather changed today, is very unstable and the temperature changes from “sweater on” to “shorts” from one minute to the other.
At this moment we are having thunder and lightning but our temporary house is comfy and seemingly safe.

10/1/14
A second arcoxia (pain killer) did an unbelievable job….. Willem was almost pain free!
And walked 18 holes (at least!) only without clubs or balls ….
In the morning 9 holes at Hell’s Gate, 10 minutes from Rotorua, the most recent geothermal park of New Zealand (recent means …) with the Kakahi Falls, the largest falls of warm water on the southern hemisphere.
A lot of bubbling mud, lakes and sulphur baths used by the Maori for all sorts of reasons, among others ….. cooking in it! And even, by plunging in a pool with a temperature of about 100 degrees Celsius, suicide by a Maori princess to protect her people against the evilness of her husband.
During the entire walk the smell of sulphur was overwhelming and even still present, now in the evening.

We continued our trip towards Taupo, first along the beautiful lake Rotorua.
In the middle of the lake is Mokoia, a famous island because of a sort of Romeo and Juliet story between Hinemoa and a chief Tutanekai. Hinemoa swam atnight (!) to the island, against the wishes of her family and Tutanekai lead the way with a flute (Willem doesn’t quite know how to interprete this….).

We completed a full ride around the lake and made a detour to the highly recommended Orakei Korako (The Place of Adorning), a cave and thermal park which was "arguably the best thermal area left in New Zealand" according to the Lonely Planet Guide.
Some of the same as before BUT very impressive silica terraces which are flown over with twenty million liters of hot water flow daily.
A beautiful stroll through the semi-tropical forest to get back to the boat which took us back to the other side of Lake Ohakuri.

After these second nine holes (going up and down the steep pathways) finding a camping site was essential….
Willem guided us to Kiwi Holiday Park in Taupo, a busy holiday city situated on Lake Taupo, the largest lake on the Northern Island and again BEAUTIFUL!

11-1-14
After a lot of thunder and lightning during the evening the sun reappeared but also quite some clouds.
The last few days we weren’t sure if we would go to Wellington via the apparently extraordinary Tongariro Park with among others the highest mountain/volcano of the Northern Island (Mount Ruapehu, allmost 3000m with eternal snow on the top) or via Napier on the east coast, a city totally destroyed by a volcanic eruption in 1931 and rebuilt in Art Deco style.

We decided to make a tour in the Tongariro National Park and then return the same way along lake Taupo for 50 km and then turn to the East towards Napier.
Unfortunately the clouds hid the top of the Ruapehu but we saw a smaller volcano still with quite some volcanic activity on the slopes.

On our way from center Northern Island to the East coast there were 135 km almost without inhabitants but definitely without a petrol station. Willem thought we would easily make it and it proved he was not mistaken as we had fuel left for an other 2 km after we found the first petrol station….. Only paying in cash was required! So we grabbed everything we had Aussie dollars, Kiwi dollars and French euros . Can you imagine the atmosphere in the cabin (only a few days till the 20th anniversary of our marriage….)?

The landscape was quite fascinating; apart from the large amounts of sheep and cows and calves seen earlier we never saw that many huge trees planted for the wood industry. Tens and tens of kilometers of planted forests of varying age. The last few days we regularly saw big trucks loaded with enormous amounts of stems and later today we saw even more in the harbour of Napier waiting to be shipped.

Willem, again, found a good camping site just outside Napier from where we could visit the city by bike.
We had a drink in the centre of the Art Deco part of the city, really interesting to see and afterwards diner in an area with terraces which we have seldomly seen in NZ as yet.

Tomorrow a long trip in the car. We'll go southwards to Wellington where we will stay a whole day before our trip by ferry to the Southern Island.