Met at ferry terminal by Joe and then 'home' to meet up with Rhiannon who was working until late. It was strange but lovely to see them after all this time. They were enjoying playing house after their year of being nomads but having to work has rather dictated their lives since arriving in Wellington.
Woke up to a Christmas Day of blazing sunshine which was just too odd for words! Not complaining, just struggling to take it in. Highlights of the least traditional Day ever were: walking on the beach in shorts, Joe and Tony swimming in the sea (god it was cold), Rhi and Helen drinking tea from a flask sat on the beach and a barbecue. Introduced Joe and Rhiannon to Crib. A truly memorable day!
Went for a run first thing (Helen did the running, Tony did the driving). Found Days Bay, a recommendation from Ms McRae. Went into Pavillion Cafe for coffee and decided we had to return following day to sample the breakfast menu.
Scotty arrived. He's a friend of Joe and Rhiannon from Kiveton. Nice guy.
Another run first thing. Tony actually ran a bit this time but not very far. Helen now up to nearly 5k. Joe at work so Tony went into town with Scotty while the others went to collect Beth and Audrey from the airport. Enjoyed his company. He has just started as a QS in Christchurch working for an insurance company involved in the re-building of the city. Initially a two year contract, after a few more significant earthquakes, it's already looking more like five years. So good to see Beth. Audrey besides herself seeing Rhiannon again. Celebrated their arrival with full-on Christmas dinner complete with the most industrial pigs in blankets ever seen on a plate and perfect Yorkshires (courtesy of Scotty).
En mass breakfast jaunt to the Pavilion Cafe in Days Bay. While everyone else demonstrated restraint in their choice of brunch, Tony went for the French Toast option. Will long remember the look on Scotty's face, as a mountain of French Toast, bacon, banana, cream, strawberries and maple syrup landed before me. Went home feeling rather sick ...
Visit to Te Papa in the morning. It is the museum of New Zealand and the most fantastic place. It's huge and one short visit does it no justice. We were there for three hours at least and only did part of one floor and there are five in total. We will be going back.
Cinema in the evening to see 'The First Grader', a brilliant film based on a true story of an old guy who had fought with the Mau Mau in Kenya and was trying to get into primary school so that he could learn to read. Highly recommended but another film where you felt rather embarrassed to be British. The whole experience was enhanced by the beautiful Art Deco cinema that served great coffee and wine. Needless to say we availed ourselves of the merchandise and sat back in gloriously comfy sofa like seats and sipped our wine throughout the showing.
The next day, the rain they have been forecasting for the past two days finally arrived - with a vengeance! Poured down all day. Went to Settlers Museum in Petone round the coast towards Days Bay. Brilliant small museum: one side of the museum telling the story of the first British settlers to arrive in NZ; the other focusing on the industrial development of Wellington. Seems the area was once home to Lever, Colgate, General Motors and Fords. Fantastic little films complete with stirring music and that BBC voice presenters all used to have. The settlers side really brought home how quickly the Maori were stripped of land, possessions and dignity. Interesting hearing a young person's perspective compared to how we saw it. Scotty thought it was ok because the Maori had made the choice to sell the land despite the fact that they had clearly been conned into thinking the deals were going to maintain their right to their ancestral land. Food for thought ...
Spent a happy two hours in the afternoon trying to find a landfill site to dump the three million bottles we had accumulated over Christmas. Got lost in the intricate road networks that snake across the hillsides above Wellington. Managed to find landfill site eventually and then was much amused by Helen straining to reach the high level holes in the bottle bank while stale beer ran down her arms. Took her a while to work out that she could turn the bottles round!
Quietest New Years Eve ever. Still raining heavy. Saw on news that Nelson had suffered again with roads closed by yet more land slips. Helen and Audrey braved the rain just to get out of the house and Tonyy stayed in to help Beth with a PhD application. Spent the evening watching Cranford with Audrey and Helen. Only put it on for Audrey and she snored all the way though! Tony saw the New Year in on his own watching The Bourne Ultimatum (oh dear) and sipping Pinot Gris.
It stopped raining! Tony and I took ourselves off for a mini-break featuring Wanganui and New Plymouth. There is only so much Downton Abbey and Cranford one can take! Stopped on the way to see a beach just off the main road. The most unbelievable sight met us as we walked down the track. It looked like the track was soft mud but it was in fact black sand. Track opened out to a lagoon backed by black sand dunes and then a huge long beach littered with driftwood. Paddled through the shallow lagoon and onto the beach. Just unbelievable. Dunes there are part of the longest sand dune system in NZ at 130km and, apparently, the coastline there is growing at a staggering rate of 4m per year. A wreck that was on the beach in the 70s is now buried under the third row of dunes back from the sea! Picnic just off the beach and then on to Wanganui. River in Wanganui, which is New Zealand's longest navigable river, very high from all the rain; quite alarming seeing huge trees zipping by at worrying speed. Luckily, given the amount of rain which fell, our rooms were on the first floor! Helen spent the whole night popping out to look over the balcony of our hostel to see if the river had burst it's banks and we needed to make a run for it.
Day two and off north again towards Taranaki and New Plymouth. A good journey with yet more stunning beaches chock full off dead trees. Stopped off at a place called Patea using the tried and tested Helen method of 'let's see what's down there'. Turned out to be a really worthwhile detour. Went down to sea and found an amazing stone and concrete breakwater stretching a couple of hundred metres out to sea. The breakwater protects the river entrance from a time when the town was an important port, once the largest exporter of cheese in the world. Tony walked to the end of the breakwater and found himself surrounded by huge breaking waves and angry mixed up surf; felt very isolated and intimated. Scurried back to company of Helen and solid land. Just leaving the town, there was another unexpected shout of 'stop' from Helen which
was the prelude to another tiny museum. Again, well worth the stop.
Driving towards mountain of Taranaki feeling very frustrated because the clouds kept the volcano out of sight. A Helen squeal just as we were crossing the road for yet another coffee break announced the fact that the clouds had parted and the snow-capped peak of Taranaki was peaking through. Breathtaking is probably the best word to describe the sight. A tantalising peek that theft us hoping for better views. Spent the whole time in the cafe trying to sneak photographs of the owner to add to Helen's 'I want my hair to look like that when it's grey and cut short ' portfolio. We are going to get in trouble before too long ...
New Plymouth a good looking city. Didn't spend too much time in the city though as we headed off around the coast on a fab walk. All the way we had the sea close by and we were royally entertained by kite surfers who came screaming in towards the beach almost lying on the waves and then whipped round to head back out again leaping high off waves as they went. Walk culminated at a little stall selling fresh fruit ice cream. "I don't want one" said Helen and then proceeded to slurp the one Tony had bought. Best ice cream ever according to her.
Hostel for the night was called The Missing Leg, something to do with the previous owner's cat having three legs or, as the rather intimidating Dutch hostel owner told us, the missing leg refers to this part of the world which most tourists miss of their itinerary. Hostel a strange place with collections of odd things everywhere including bikes making up the outside fence and shoes with plants in in the garden.
Just for a change it rained again the next day. Will we see the sun again? Homeward bound again back to Wellington. Stopped off in a brilliant but strange museum on the way home. Helen picked it out of the Rough Guide and really glad she did. Full of dioramas depicting life through the ages plus life-sized models and heaps of the sort of junk found in the back of a barn.
Highlight of the next day was afternoon tea arranged by R & B. They found a cinema in Miramar that did a full scale afternoon tea complete with gin tea ... ? Again, it was in a glamorous Art Deco cinema. We put on our best frocks and did the thing with the little finger.
Next few days around Wellington blur into one. Beth went to C'church for a few days to see friends and catch up. Highspots for us were
* a visit to The Chocolate Fish cafe for yet another brunch. Helen went for the black pudding and scallop combination - looked delicious.
* Te Papa museum - national museum of NZ and a lesson to all in what museums should be; so much to see you need days to go round; really moving section on refugees - harrowing stories from around the world with so many examples of the inhumanity inflicted on innocent people
* visit to a Maori settlement somewhere near Lower Hutt; Helen had found mention of a Maori museum or house but when we tried to find it, everything was closed; taking advice from a local, we called in at a small gallery and then had the most amazing private showing/instruction session from a Maori woman who ran the gallery; her mother is an expert weaver and father a master carver; she told us about the history of her family and tribes, showed us examples of the most intricate flax weaving and then showed us first how the flax leaf is cut (only taking the. 'grandparent' outer leaves to ensure the plant is sustainable), then how the outer skin is stripped off using a green lipped muscle shell in the palm of her hand and, finally, how the fibres are rolled into a string. Amazing and an absolute highlight. The crowning moment was when she taught us how to hongi, the Maori greeting where they touch noses. Moving very slowly you bring your head close together and then gently touch noses then foreheads whilst holding each others forearms. Sounds strange but it was very emotional.
* evening crib and canasta tournaments accompanied by gin, wine and beer (we have promised ourselves a vodka crib session on the Coromandel leg of our journey) and
* repeated coffee and cake stops at which Tony constantly declared the coffee 'the best so far'.
After our few days in Wellington we set off for a day of travelling in the car to Taupo. Beth just about caught the plane from Christchurch and arrived in Wellington a wreck after a night of earthquakes and not enough sleep. Journey took getting on for six hours with stops and we all had had enough by the time we arrived. Staying in a really nice apartment just back from the Lake (which is huge). Met up with Mags and Glynn from Swansea and then, later, with their daughterCatherine and her husband Dai who have settled in New Zealand. Went to local pub and drank too much fizzy beer.
The following day we had a guided tour courtesy of Mags and Glyn. First stop Huka Falls. As ever, Tony was a bit sceptical of something described in such wondrous ways but once he'd seen the amount of water thundering though the gorge, he had to eat his words and was gob-smacked once again. It is truly amazing: this big wide river gets squeezed into a 15m wide gorge and the water just hurtles through; three massive stoppers as it drops down though the gap and then, whoosh, over the falls it goes. Some 20 tonnes of water a second does over the falls; just staggering to consider.
Next stop, more water. Went to the Arititiara dam to watch as the sluice gates were opened to release water and control the reservoir level. Before the gates were opened, there was a narrow gorge with a small river running through it; 10 minutes later it was a raging torrent and the water level had risen about five or six metres, totally transforming the scene.
Tour stage number three saw us at The Craters of the Moon site, a geothermal area with a boarded walkway running through it. Everywhere you looked, there was steam rising, some places just thin wisps from small cracks in the ground, in others massive plumes spewing from deep holes. A couple of the big holes had bubbling mud in the bottom and elsewhere, you could hear the hiss and roar of unseen activity. A fascinating place and a real reminder that, no matter what level of control humankind thinks they have over the earth, there is a time bomb ticking under our feet.
Next stop, the Bungee Cafe where we stood at the top of a cliff overlooking a massive drop to the river. We saw people plunging head first on the bungee just stopping as their heads hit the water and then bouncing and swinging until they were lowered to the collection boat to be returned to relative sanity once more. Just to the side was the launch platform for a drop and swing set up which looked a million times more scary than the bungee! Worryingly, while Tony was watching the bungee jumping, he said he heard a little voice in his head expressing small noises of interest. He needs to stay away from there ...
Rest of the day devoted to eating, strolling, soaking up the sun which suddenly took the place of the rain and generally chilling out. Taupo is definitely a good place.
Next day a wash out day, quite literally. Despite waking to sunshine early on, by half ten the day had turned into a steady downpour; aside from a couple of brief sunny spells, the only variation today was the amount of rain falling. Trip to various coffee shops and the museum which was really very good. Helen took herself off to see a film, "The Whistleblower", a true story about a woman who uncovered a trafficing racket run by UN personnel in Bosnia. She came saying it was one of the most harrowing films she had ever see, made worse by the fact that it was true and that the very people who had been sent to help a war torn country were actually the perpetrators of the most horrific crimes against vulnerable young women. Off to Cath and Dai's house tonight for an evening with the Welsh ones which helped recover Helen's spirits.
R & J had found a day walk in the area that they wanted to do and the weather finally gave us a day for it. Billed as one of NZ's finest one day walks, the Tongariro Alpine Crossing is a 19km walk across the most amazing volcanic landscape. Wasn't exactly what we would normally call alpine but the scenery was like nothing any of us have ever experienced before. It was a mixture of huge flat filled-in craters, sulphur steam, turquoise blue volcanic lakes, huge rips in the hillside where lava had exploded out and the most perfect cone shaped peaks. The scenery is so surreal it was used for Mordor in the L O T R films. Being the senior citizen of the expedition, Tony struggled to keep up with the young ones ... Joe looked as though he could have run it and a passing German called Rhiannon a goat! Beth was a bit slower but Tony reckoned she was being kind to the old man. Tony's only comment when he got back was that he ached like buggery but wouldn't have missed it for the world.
Helen, Mags and Glynne granny-sat and took Audrey on a trip on Lake Taupo on the Ernest Kemp replica steam boat. Audrey said it was her favourite day of the trip so it was worth it. We sailed around the lake to see Maori carvings on cliff walls.
All the next day was spent on the drive home.Tony felt absolutely wiped out after the previous day's walking.
Last day for Beth and Audrey was spent packing and sitting on the deck with Audrey soaking up the last sun she would see until spring back home. Tony had the slightly bizarre experience of getting his divorce affidavit witnessed by a Kiwi Chinese public notary in Wellington. As this happened on Friday 13th, couldn't help wondering if the date was auspicious ...
Saturday 14 th saw us at the airport at the crack of dawn waving goodbye to Audrey and Beth, then it was back home for the big clean.
Sunday was the start of the mini-trip to Coromandel. Long drive to first stop over at Rotorua. Lots of rain on the way. Staying two nights in good hostel next to a park full of thermal springs - slightly worrying.
Orakei Koraki next morning, a geo-thermal site which the guide book describes as being less visited than the others. The most amazing place. Difficult to capture the experience in words. On the surface, a low key couple of hours wondering along a walkway which wound its way uphill through bush. However, when you saw the thermal pools of water and mud bubbling away quite close to the path you realised just what you were walking through. We might not have seen the geysers perform but - to use an overworked Antipodean word - awesome! Hope the photos come out ok.
Final leg of journey to Coromandel. Arrived to find the 1950's bach exactly as we had pictured it and how Cath had described it, even down to the Lino on the floor. It was old, damp, tatty but cheap. Actually, it was perfect for what we wanted and anyway, cockroaches are quite cute really ...
All agreed on a low key sort of day today. All that is except Helen who spent the morning at the dentist having the first stage of root canal treatment done. Poor thing, she has been suffering on and off since the first agonising stabs in San Francisco and, despite her best efforts to not let it get her down, she has been struggling. Needless to say, she was terrified prior to going; it was horrible seeing her like that and not being able to do a damn thing to make it better. She came out with a very twisted face and a whopping bill - insult to bloody injury!
Went across the mouth of the river on the ferry and walked round to beach. In truth, Joe ran it but he's just a fit git! Rhiannon set off across country to meet up with Joe and we spent a slightly worried hour or so on the beach hoping she wasn't lost. True to form, they came sauntering out of the bush having had a lovely walk!
Continued the 'let's learn a new card game' programme with Pinochle. Either the book we are using didn't explain it well or we were feeling particularly thick. After ten minutes we gave up and went back to crib which R won; it's in her genes.
Day out exploring Coromandel Peninsula. Took 309 Road from Whitianga across to Coromandel. A good route despite road being gravel surface for the majority of its length. Gravel well compacted so not too bad to drive on - even in our 'how-much-further-will-it-get-us" Nissan.
Stopped to take a look at some ancient kauri trees. They are huge. Once all over the place but decimated by logging in 19th century, they are slowly making a comeback. Given that they grow to be anything upwards of 10m in circumference and can live to be thousands of years old, it's going to be a long slow process.
Coromandel a really nice place which surprised us all. Small and arty and not the big town we were expecting. J and R made the most of the visit with a game of pitch and putt and a slab of smoked fish. Highlight of the day was the excursion on the Driving Creek Railway. Built over 32 years by an ex-science teacher turned potter from Auckland, it's a narrow gauge railway that winds it way up the hillside above the town. The creation of a slightly barking person, we all loved it. Our driver turned out to be from Stoke on Trent ... small world. Nearly didn't get to ride the train though as we stopped at the cafe just down the road. Didn't really have time as it turned out so we changed our train time; glad we did as it would have been a shame to have rushed the most amazing salad and possibly the best coffee yet (mind you, as Rhiannon points out, I say that at every cafe we stop at!). A really quite amazing little trip: low key but beautiful at the same time. We all thought of Rob McClaren who loves his train journeys.
Journey home proved that the combination of an old Japanese car with soggy springs and winding NZ roads is not good for the back passengers. Joe looked quite green at the end of the drive!
Friday's focus was on beaches. First off, Hot Water Beach, a short drive down the coast from Whitianga. As ever, Tony approached this with his cynical head on; the thought of digging a hole in the sand to find warm water which you then sit in amongst crowds of others doing the same did not really excite him. Intrigued yes, excited no. Getting there just before the recommended two hours before low tide meant getting up at seven which came as a shock to some. Having topped up on caffeine and hired our shovel, we walked out onto a lovely beach where surfers were catching the early breaks. Contrary to our worries about crowded beaches, we found only one other hole-digging family already there. Joe and Tony set to digging a hole but they were hopeless, couldn't find even luke warm water let alone hot. Helen arrived and waved frantically to say she had found a hot spot. True to form, the blokes ignored her and created yet another cold hole ... Finally they set to digging where Helen originally suggested and within seconds we were hopping to the sea to cool off burned feet. All of us were amazed by how hot the water was coming out of the sand. Once we had managed to create a wall round the hole to stop the sea pouring in, we settled back to a fairly peaceful ten minutes or so before the crowds spilled over to our bit of the beach. A weird experience sitting in warm water with the Pacific rolling in a few feet away. By now, the crowds had moved in our direction (possible attracted by the steam coming off our pool and surrounding sand) and we were increasingly hemmed in. Our pool had two distinct ends: one with satisfyingly hot water and the other with water that could have come out of a kettle! Good fun inviting people to try the water then seeing them leap out as they registered the temperature. Cruel but fun.
Finally, the growing number of hole diggers drove us away and people quickly moved in to our luxury, ready-dug pool. Walking away, Tony had to - once again - swallow his cynicism and agree that the beach was really worth visiting. Mind you, looking back to see the crowd on the beach, we all said how glad we were that we got there early.
Headed on from Hot Water Beach to visit Cathedral Cove. No cynicism this time, Tony had seen the pictures! Didn't start too well as we couldn't get into the car park. Eventually got to the beach after a hot thirty minute stroll across the cliff top. True to the pictures, the beach and surrounding cliffs were quite stunning with the cathedral arch splitting the coves. Kayaks lined up on the beacmwanza Tony wishing we had paddled there rather than walked but then the reality of a bad back and jelly weak arms clicked in and he came sadly back to earth. Sat on the beach trying to pretend ththeir was fun being sand blasted as the wind whipped round the cliffs. Soon left.
Dropped J & R off at the ferry back across to the main town as they felt the need for " chups" (New Zealand pronunciation of chips). Went to cafe just up the road where Tony had the most fantastic salad and Helen had Kingfish. Spent the afternoon dozing on different beaches; well Tony did. Went in sea at one point; cold but really enjoyable; strange what you can get used to ...
Evening entertainment built around the much anticipated event of cards accompanied by a bottle of vodka so Rhi and Joe could relive their Vodka Train experiences. Tony thought he was coping well with the vodka shots until He tried to find five glasses so the four of us could all have some wine. Much merriment all round.
Another low key day spent making contact sitting outside the library in the sun followed by a perusal of of the library's collection of card books to settle the Canasta uncertainties. Looked at bridge but decided too complicated given the short time left. Afternoon over the road on the beach complete with chilly swim then into town for a few beers at Smitty's bar.
Long, long drive south heading back to Wellington. Nothing really exciting except for starting the day at Cafe Nina with undoubtedly the best coffee in North Island. Stayed night at BBH hostel in Turangi. Excellent hostel. The following morning we has an Interesting chat with the owner who turned out to be a district councillor (a fact which became quite obvious the more we talked ... we both recognised the signs!). Learned quite a bit about local politics and money, especially how the Maori money in that area doesn't filter down to the ones that need it. Same old same old: some people getting rich at the expense of the needy.
Not such a long drive today. Ended with a brilliant road cutting across from SH1 to Lower Hutt where Helen was meeting Kate. The view from the high point of the road was - yet again - breathtaking. Saw all the way to the S Island. Slightly bizarre seeing Kate in New Zealand when used to seeing her in Belper, Derbyshire.
Stop for the last two nights in Wellington was the Cambridge Hotel, which was actually a hostel in an old hotel. Slightly odd at first approaching the reception through the bar ... All agreed we liked the place and it's cheap!
Went to see Pauline and Nick who had so kindly given us their house for the previous 3 weeks in Wellington. It was odd returning to the house as visitors rather than residents but we had a lovely evening. Back to hostel to find J & R stuffed with beer and kebabs.
Last day in Wellington was haircut day. Helen decided against the 'chop the lot off 'approach and came away with a really good cut. Looks really nice despite the ever widening grey parting which she hates. Tony had his regulation 'short version of this please' cut. R&J went climbing at the indoor wall on the waterfront. A short lived outing as Joe was terrified of heights and Rhiannon didn't trust the gear. We saw them beating a hasty retreat and joined them for much needed alcohol (them not us). Went into town for a last night drink and meal.
Early start to see J & R off to catch their ferry to South Island. Will really miss them. It's been good having them around for the last few weeks. Bits and pieces sort of day killing time before we set off to the airport and on to Australia, our next leg of the big trip.
