New Zealand 4 - The North Island

Wellington to Martinborough 
Tuesday 5^thJune 2012

As the ferry makes its way throughthe picturesque islands above Picton, heading for the Cook Strait, wesaid to each other, once again, we could have stayed another twoweeks exploring the South Island as there is so much more to explore. Having said that, the weather is definitely getting colder and it istime to head north where it should be a little milder.

The crossing took 3 hours and waslike a millpond, arriving in Wellington on time. Immediately wenoticed more people and more traffic (it's still hardly anything, butcompared to the South Island it's buzzing). We drive on throughWellington and out into the North Island through a differentlandscape of rolling hills, over a steep mountain pass into theundulating plains bordered by sea and hills.

Martinborough was on our list ofrecommended places to visit and we duly did so by heading north andthen a detour east. It's a small, pretty town with vineyards aroundand is home to several very good restaurants. We ate in the MediciCafé (if you are ever there we recommend their seafood chowder or pumpkin soup and the best pot of tea you could wish for).

Our camp site was deserted apartfrom us and the obligatory quiet, guitar-toting, soul searching,Goethe-carrying young German man on a voyage of self discovery in anold car, at the coldest time of the year and heading for winter inthe South Island. Go figure. Hopefully, he will hit Queenstown anddiscover the fun skiing crowd and start enjoying life. John talked tohim though and swapped some tunes. Early to bed, as tomorrow we aretaking a long run up the middle of the island to Okahune.

Martinborough to Okahune 
Wednesday 6th June 2012

This is the day we explored thecultural heritage of my cousin Veronica's husband Rod's heritage inPalmerston North. He left there as a young man to explore the worldand teach, little realising that he would also fall in love with abeautiful English girl and make his home in Britain.

We went through a lot of prettyfarming country, reminiscent of the UK: Carteton, Masterton andWoodville. Then the weather closed in and by the time we got toPalmerston North it was raining, grey and cold. We stopped at abakery and bought a pie that wasn't good. What had happened? Had westepped out of the New Zealand of excellent baking into an alternatereality that only existed here in the rain? We took a picture to sendto Rod, glad to have seen where he grew up, but the weather preventedus from much exploration.

This is also the day we met theultimate pronunciation challenge from a lovely waitress in Feilding,who told us " I hope it stops raining, I've got a nipple matchthis afternoon".  One look at John, as he nearlyspurted his mouthful of soup across the table, told Celia that he wascurious and wanted to know more about this event. Specifically, wherehe could get tickets and what time it started. Celia looked at himagain in a desperate mute effort to stop him, but no, "A nipplematch! What's that then?" Fortunately, she was highly amusedby his inability to understand plain New Zealand English andexplained to the disappointed John it was just a netball match andthat we had a funny way of speaking. It was definitely time toleave.


The road rolled on before us,passing small scattered homes and villages, herds of cows and sheepand slowly clearing rain until we reached the absolute highlight ofthe day: A giant statue of a carrot at the entrance to the village ofOkahune. It must be like 'What made Milwaukee famous', but it wascarrots for Okahune!

Okahune to Taupo 
Thursday 7thJune 2012

A day of volcanoes and rainbows.Rain clouds were clearing across the open countryside as we droveinto the North Island's volcanic area creating coloured veils acrossthe brown plains and black peaks. Each volcano was equally majesticand wonderful. Mount Ropehu, Mount Tongariro, Mount Nuraho.


The ski season will start at theend of the month, but right now it's really quiet and the snow onlysits on the very tops of the mountains. We went up to one of the skiresorts in brilliant sunshine, on very dangerous roads and had a walkaround. John managed to find enough snow to make a snowball and lobit at Celia - his day was complete.

Lake Taupo looked immense andtranquil as we pulled up at the lakeside. A walk, followed by aringside seat to watch all the birds as we sat in our cosy van andate soup was a delight.

It's here that the really smellypart of the journey begins, as our camp site sits in the middle of ahot springs area, and it pervades everything! 

Heavy rain in the nightbrought a misty morning and we visited the Huka Falls, with steamrising up all along the walk and signs warning you that the steam isvery hot and dangerous.

Taupo to Rotorua 
Friday 8th June 2012

On our way out of Taupo we visited''The Craters of the Moon' and took a long walk around a vast area ofbubbling puddles of mud, varying in size from just a couple of feetto in diameter to large ponds. Very hot water trickled and spurtedout of rocks that were being constantly eroded and strange mosses andshrubs grow in this hot environment.

The Maori people would use thesehot pools, not just for bathing and treating aches and pains, but tocook food that was wrapped in a parcel of leaves and lowered bystring into the water to cook. A slightly dangerous occupation, aserosion is constant and small and large craters can appear at anytime. You could see the constant changes that were made to the routeof our carefully guided path was testament to how fast this landscapealters.

We drove on round the lake and overhills and valleys to Rotorua. A centre of Maori culture, loads ofvolcanic activity and a large town.

With the sulphurous smell waftingout of small steaming cracks in the ground all around us on our campsite and the strange, flightless Pukeko birds, coming around to befed, you really knew you were somewhere 'other'.

Rotorua to Mount Maunganui 
Saturday 9th June 2012

Went to a brilliant Saturdaymorning market in the park, where loads of Maoris had stalls sellinggreat food and crafts.

Detail of the Day: In themiddle of most towns there is often a large and beautiful green parkwith paths running through it. However, when you set off to walkthrough Rotarua's park there are warning signs everywhere telling youto 'stay on the paths at all times' and 'not to walk on the grass' asit is liable to give way at any time as volcanic blow holes appear.Numerous chunks of it are completely fenced off as large holes haveappeared. No one is concerned by this and the stall holders are justfeet away from super hot bubbling gaseous mud pools.

There was Maori bread made withpotato, Chinese Yummis – some sort of savoury pastry that washeavenly, Thai iced tea, noodles, cakes, and veggies. We moved through a small throng ofMaoris. They are well built people, with an aura of power andpurpose about them and they were eating portions of food to matchtheir size with ease and relish. Some had fabulous tattoos ondisplay of ornate designs in a blue/black pattern and were dressedindividually with no regard for what others may think. 

Theatmosphere was relaxed but had a buzz and energy, whilst all aroundthe bubbling mud pools gave off heat and the wise stall holders hadtheir pitches near enough to get some of the heat. After all, it islate Autumn here.

We bought Katie and James aNephrite (Jade) pendant each at one of the stalls from a lovely manand knew that this was the right place to buy them, and not at atourist shop.

The Rotorua museum was the nextstop. It's a mock tudor/gothic building built around the turn of thecentury and bears a close resemblance to the museum in Trivandrum,India. However, there the resemblanceends. It was built as a hospital for patients to take hot water andmud bath treatments for all sorts of ailments from arthritis to skincomplaints. It functioned as this until it closed and became anotorious night spot for the swinging 60s and 70s. It's raffishhistory was referred to in a small display in what had been the'tower' night club. Lots of pictures of people in white suits andgowns getting it on to both hot dance bands and Maori music.

Climbing to the top of the towerand looking out over the immaculate lawns set out in squares,accommodating bowls, croquet, tennis and so on, with flower beds atthe side of each path, visions of late night revellers wandering overfrom town when the pubs had shut, came to us both as we stood in thesunshine surveying the scene.

Then it was back to the mostfabulous section of the museum. It has just opened andhouses a very precious, rare and spiritually important selection ofpieces of Maori culture. Photographs are not allowed as thisis not something to be gawped at and snapped, it is a living part ofthe culture and must be respected.

It told the story of the Maoripeople and the journeys they made to arrive in New Zealand. Exquisite carvings were everywhere and their interpretations, alongwith their history, was told in fascinating detail. A reallymemorable exhibition and if you ever go to Rotorua it is a MUST-SEE.

Detail of the Day:This museum also houses a sense-surround room in an opposite wing. Every 15 minutes you can go in and be scared stiff by an all actionfilm, along with bench seats that shudder and throw you about as asound track takes you through the volcanic eruption of Tarawera in1886 . Celia had read the information before going in and knew thatit was going to go dark and shake a lot – John had not. At thefirst tremor he was leaping to his feet and heading for the doorbefore he realised it was for effect and not real. Once hisheartbeat returned to normal he quite enjoyed himself! John has beenin an earthquake before and was understandably scared.


As if to emphasise the point wethen travelled on to Mount Maunganui, along the largest volcanicfault in the world, to the sea and found a camp site for a couple ofnights to catch our breath after dashing up the country.

Mount Maunganui 
Sunday 10^thJune 2012

We awoke to a beautiful morningwith all the usual birdsong that accompanies you everywhere in NewZealand. It's a typical sea side town, reminiscent of Burnham-on-Seain Somerset, but with less charity shops and better surfopportunities on the ocean side and safe swimming on the harbourside, although much too cold at this time of year for a dip. 


 A townfor 'mooching about' and that's exactly what we did. Great scenerylooking towards the hill that gives this place it's name as westrolled on the beach in warm sun with a cold breeze.


The Farmers market in town had acouple of old grey haired buskers playing country songs and soldgreat local produce. We loaded up on honey, mint jelly, (for thelamb chops of course) bread and cakes to take to our friend Christinein Auckland.

Mount Maunganui to Auckland 

Monday 11^th June 2012

A driving day with a brief stopjust off Highway 2 at Pukekohe in a little cafe for lunch and weskyped James and Kate – it's still such a thrill to see and hearthem and catch up on all their news.

We found a campsite in suburbanAuckland that had a few camper vans or larger RVs doing similarthings to us. That is, finishing a trip and getting their van cleanedout ready to take back to the hire company, or just starting theirtrip and were stopping in Auckland overnight before setting off earlythe next day. 

This was good, because we knew that the left over foodand various condiments from our stores that we left in the campkitchen would be used. We had quite a collection of warm clothingand blankets that we didn't even have to take to the Salvation Armyas the site manager does it for you. We got talking to a retired Aussiecouple who were just finishing their trip round New Zealand and theyshowed us round their larger van with the (by John at least) muchlonged for fixed bed, as this would mean full length dozes wheneverdesired!

Auckland 
Tuesday 12^th to Monday 18^th June 2012

The12^th June is our 8^thWedding Anniversary (and it don't seem a day too long). 

 Neither ofus can think of a better way to spend it than in this beautiful citythat is like a mini Sydney with a softer attitude. We were up before dawn to get thevan cleaned out and ourselves packed ready to drop off the van lateron in town, but first we went to Auckland Museum set in a beautifulpark and gardens.

This museum holds the mostfantastic, incredible, overwhelmingly fabulous items of Maori andPolynesian culture. Beautifully curated and almost impossible totake in. Stepping into the main hall you seea complete carved meeting house and you can take off your shoes andwalk into it. 

 When Celia did this she was overcome with suchpowerful feelings it brought tears to her eyes – a truly profoundemotional experience being in this space. 

 High walls and steeplypitched roof, over 100 feet long, rush mats on the floor and ornatelycarved pillars all showing human or half human figures includingbirds and snakes. The eyes are usually abalone and give a curiouslife to the forms, but no clue to their mysterious origins in themists of time and legend.

Young Maori men and women, wearingtraditional costume stood ready to take groups of school children tothe theatre to demonstrate the song and dances of their people.Serious and graceful in stance and demeanour, they chanted as theyled their visitors off.

A carved war canoe that lookedabout 50 foot long showed you what a mighty, and clever people, wagedwar in fleets of these craft.

The displays showed you thegeography of all the many different peoples, tribes, beliefs and thecostumes, crafts and tools they made, across Polynesia. The pictureswe show here are just a taste.

There is also a room to go in thatlooks like an ordinary living room. You go in and sit down and thenthe TV screen starts up and you watch in a sort of dreamlike horroras a volcano erupts in the habour and you watch it rushing towardsyou across the water as you sit in your front room in Auckland. Theend is the pyroclastic storm engulfing the whole screen and then itstops! This is followed by a rather serious newsreader telling youthat if it happens, this is what it will be like – cheerful eh?

When we told Christine (who we are staying with in  Auckland) about thislater, she related the tale of taking her 8 year old nephew to seethis film. At the end of the showing, he leapt up with all thealacrity that only an 8 year old has and proclaimed to everyone inthe room “Phew, that was close!” and then breezed off to the nextexhibit, his mind quite free of any impending doom. Ah, thetelevision generation!

Three hours went by in a flash andwe could have gone back every day for a week to study it all in moredetail, it was so wonderful.

Then it was time to link up withChristine. We had met in Sri Lanka, just before New Year when wewere staying in The Lighthouse down in Galle Fort. We shared abalcony, whilst drinking rather good gin and tonics as we discussedthe eccentric landlady and the shabby rooms with her and her friendLucy from Australia. (click here: http://johnpendlington.blogspot.com/2012/01/sri-lanka-dec-2011.html   see 26th - 29th Dec 2011)

We had stayed in email contact eversince and she had kindly invited us to stay with her, saying that itcan be pretty tiring on the road for weeks and that we would bewelcome to some down time in her roomy apartment. We received thewarmest of welcomes in her beautiful home facing on to great views ofAuckland Harbour, got settled in and went for a sunset walk with heralong the bay. Then it was back home to delicious dinner, wine ,catching up and then to sleep in a real bedroom – luxury!

Your Birthday Present

The 13^th is Christine'sbirthday so we celebrated with her by going out to lunch on theharbour front in the sunshine followed by an afternoon siesta.

In the evening a crowd ofChristine's friends and family arrived for drinks and nibbles , (whattownie sophisticates we had become overnight) followed by dinner at arestaurant called Redbrick – all wonderful, both company and food.Strolling back in the crisp night air we decided that we rather likedAuckland.


On the 14^th, as if weweren't spoilt enough already, Christine gave us the loan of her carand we went to visit the Eden Recycling Project, a very small, newScrapstore, attached to a children's centre and school. Exchanginginformation and contacts with Yvonne, one of the board members, wasreally good as she is such an enthusiast.


Friday 15^th June was avery special day as we visited the nature reserve island of TiritiriMatangi, a 30 minute ferry ride from Auckland. As we arrived alarge ray was moving in the crystal clear shallows at the jetty andthe 50 or so school children on their field trip got very excited –as did we.

The island had been cleared almostcompletely over a hundred years ago by settlers and used for sheepfarming. Then in the early 1980s the process was started to bring itback to it's original state and between then and 1994 over 250,000trees were planted by volunteers.

Now, the island is home to thenative species of trees and shrubs. The populations of rats, miceand any other non-native animals and plants have been systematicallyremoved and endangered species of flightless birds and otherendangered birds have been reintroduced. The flightless birds of NewZealand can really now only exist on islands where the predators havebeen removed and kept out.

We were taken on a guided walk by avery knowledgeable volunteer who really showed us the success of thisisland in preserving plants, trees and animals. 

 We were lucky enoughto see the very rare Takahe and the Kokako flightless birds plushosts of brilliant coloured birds coming to the sugar solutionfeeders. Of course there are Kiwis here but they are nocturnal andvery shy so we weren't going to see any.

Apart from all the conservationwork it is also a beautiful island to explore and wander round. Itwas a brilliant day that started off cold and rainy and ended up warmand sunny – just like home weather!

Saturday is the day for the FrenchMarket and we walk there in the sunshine to eat breakfast chosen fromone of the many food stalls – all fantastic as the produce here isso very good. We buy ingredients for dinner and head home for a restbefore going out to the local Irish Pub to watch the All Blacksonly just beat Ireland. 


 At one point the pub went very quiet asIreland took the lead and it started to look like New Zealand mightget beaten but they retrieved themselves at the very end of the gameand honour was saved – but it was a close run thing and you couldfeel the tension easing away after as the Guinness started to takeeffect!

Christine is going to work inArgentina next week for a while and we have just managed to get ourvisit in before she's off . As the week progresses more of herbelongings go into store in preparation for her tenants arrival andwe help her shift chairs, tables and sideboard onto her sister'struck to go to their new home. She is an intrepid traveller, speaksfluent Spanish, has already spent time in Argentina and knows thechallenges she will face, but still, we are most impressed with herability to manage all this and have visitors at the same time.

Sunday 17^th - We had dinner at The Depot with Christine and her family. Thismeal is probably the best one we have had since we left home. It wasa gastronomic delight. We couldn't really decide what to have offthe menu as we didn't really understand what it all was, so we letthe waitress choose for us all. OMG, it was incredibly gorgeous –3 sorts of oyster, all fantastic, sashimi of your dreams, tiny platesof baby ribs, veggies from heaven. All we can say is if you ever getto Auckland - go and eat there.

Monday 18^th - Our last dayin Auckland and it was a bit rainy so it meant it was time to hit thepost office and send the usual parcels back home and then startpacking and setting aside clothes for the Salvation Army. Becausetomorrow we fly to Fiji and we definitely won't need scarves and hats.  Christine cooked us the most delicious pea and feta fritters – didwe mention that she is a devilishly good cook? Our day rounded offwith helping Christine finish off her wine supply with lots of laughsand plenty of travel lies, followed by an early night to get readyfor our visit to Fiji – can't wait.