Month: December 2018

30 degrees, sunny

Another packing up session and we left Napier before breakfast as we weren’t particularly hungry, planning on getting something light to eat en-route to Wellington.  This should be about a 4 hour journey.  The drive was through some beautiful countryside, just early summer so all the plants are fresh and green, the sky was blue with white fluffy clouds, magnolias as big as oak trees just finishing blooming (must have been stunning in full flower) and surrounded by mountains on one side and hills on the other – again not a spec of litter and everywhere looked well maintained and tidy.  It really is a beautiful country.

We stopped for coffee in a little town and the decided to head towards the coast to the south east of Wellington as the guide book said that the biggest fur seal colony in New Zealand was on this coast and also some eroded rock formations called the Putangirua Pinnacles  were worth a look.

We came across the Pinnacles first so parked up and took the lower path – the river path literally.  Walked up the river bed which was a strange landscape of river stones and water channels to cross and re-cross for about half an hour or so

We met some people coming back down and asked if it was worth the trip and got the impression they were underwhelmed by the sight but we continued on and eventually came across some rock formations in the cliff face which looked quite interesting.  This being a river bed that probably floods when it rains up the mountainside there wasn’t any signage, so we searched around  and climbed up a tributary river bed but couldn’t see any rock formations, so assumed that was it and made our way back down to the car.  At the car park we found an information board with a photo of what we were supposed to see which did look quite a bit more interesting!  But it was very hot and quite a slog to get up the river bed so we settled with what we’d found.

We drove on around the coast to Cape Palliser in search of the fur seal colony, ending up on unsealed roads again until we finally found the Four Seal Colony as John called it.  I was expecting loads of seals all piled up on top of one another with David Attenborough whispering somewhere behind a rock,  but we only found 4!  Very disappointing 100 mile detour!

We finally arrived in Wellington at about 7.30 pm after driving across the mountain range on State Highway 1.  The drivers on these roads are very well mannered, there are passing places for slow vehicles to move over and with exception they always do, though the passing places are invariably on tight bends which makes for an exciting drive.   We’re in a Novotel in Wellington which is in the densely packed commercial district and we had the usual problems with unloading our numerous bags and car parking in a city centre.  Hotel is a bit soul-less compared to our previous ones, but it is centrally located.

We took a very tired walk down to the Quayside area where we had a very nice meal in a waterfront restaurant.

23 degrees, sunny

Drove the couple of miles or so into Napier town centre.  What a beautiful place.  It’s a really attractive Art Deco town which looks like it has all been repainted yesterday.  Not a spec of litter, peeling paint, graffiti or ugly building in sight ~ absolutely pristine like something out of a Disney cartoon.

We walked around the town looking upwards at all the beautiful building facades.  They were all rebuilt after a massive earthquake in 1931 and have been maintained ever since.

We took my ring into a jeweller to see if it would clean up.  They gave them all a clean for me but said the white gold is created by a coating of Rhodium or something and that the sulphur in the air at Rotorua had stripped this off my ring.  It will need to be recoated when we get home.  That’s not something they tell you about in the guide books.  We are going back that way later on so will have to make sure all the jewellery is placed inside a sealed bag before we get there.

Had a wander round the botanical gardens which were equally lovely and then, as we’d had a late lunch, bought some bits and pieces (mostly alcohol!) to take back to the hotel to have an evening meal on the balcony watching the world go by.

22 degrees, cloudy

Packed our bags again (quite a lengthy process as we seem to have accumulated more stuff) and made our way towards Napier on the east coast.  By main highway this should have taken about 3 hours but we decided to go cross country (mountain range!) for a scenic drive.  About a quarter of the way across we reached the foot of the mountains and a sign that said ‘ 72km of unsealed road ahead’, but we went for it regardless and turned the three hour journey into seven!

Up through the mountains on gravelled roads (not entirely sure we are supposed to do this in our hired car), tight bends, cloud and eventually seriously heavy rain (this being a temperate rainforest area – should have known).  Came across a lovely waterfall and lots of wild horses ambling about the road, but no public conveniences!

We eventually arrived at our hotel in Napier at about 5pm.  Really lovely room with large balcony overlooking the bay

I unpacked my rings which I taken off at the mud baths in Rotorua only to find that my white gold ring had turned yellow.  John says the sulphur in the air must have affected it.

24 degrees, cloudy am, sunny pm

Got up early still smelling faintly of sulphur to head up the mountainside via the Skyline Gondola using some discounted tickets we bought for an early start.  Early being 9 am.  Turned out to be a good idea as the place was almost empty and we had it mostly to ourselves for the first hour or so.  Very peaceful ride up in a gondola lift to a lookout point overlooking Rotorua and the lake.

Then we went did the first of our four luge rides down the mountain starting with the scenic track.  Back up to the top via a ski chair lift and then down again a further three times on the intermediate track.  Great fun but four trips was enough especially as more people were joining us towards the end.

Took a stroll around the hillside paths in search of the Silver Fern, the national emblem of New Zealand.  Took some finding but we did track one down eventually after asking an employee.  Not an exciting plant!

Back down in Rotorua we found a park that the guide book said had hot lakes and mud pools that could be paddled in for free but the paddling area was closed so we headed off to find a swimming lake off to the north of Rotorua. Had a long drive round a couple of lakes but couldn’t locate the swimming area and as the weather was closing in we decided to call it a day and went back to the hotel and sit on the balcony to find the lake gently steaming.

 

26 degrees, partly cloudy

Left Whitianga today and headed to Rotorua in the centre of the North Island.  We stopped in a small town to get a hat for Clare and asked a shop assistant where we might find some for sale.  She said to try the CHIMIST, then said ‘oh, you’re English, do you say Chimist or Pharmacy?’.  We said neither, we call it the CHEMIST with an E!  This led to an interesting discussion regarding accents and how quickly the New Zealand accent is moving away from a British accent.  She then told us that she spent 3 years or so working in the UK and when she came back they thought she had a posh accent!  Turns out she worked at Tewin Bury Barns, but a few years before Eric & Sue married there.  Small World!

After a fruitless search to find bread for lunch (seems bakery here means pie and cake shop!) we ate boiled eggs, cheese and crisps on a lovely beach we passed (we are on a budget after all !) We drove onto Hells Gate, a geo-thermal and spa park close to Rotorua and went for the works.  First a walk around the boiling mud pools, steam vents, sulphur lakes,  and mud volcano, then into the spa for a mud bath and sulphur pool dip for us.

Found our way to the hotel and spent ages trying to get the mud our of our costumes and hair!  Smelled faintly of sulphur all evening.

It’s really strange that there is very little visible evidence of Christmas approaching here, no street lighting or decorated houses and only the occasional tree which makes us remember Christmas is just round the corner when we do see one. It’s quite liberating! Bah, Humbug!

24 degrees, cloudy am, sunny pm

Meant to say that yesterday John’s medication arrived, thank goodness.  Getting a bit worried.  It had been opened and inspected by a doctor which was probably the cause of the delay.  Thankfully John had left the tablets in the original boxes with the prescription details on rather than taking them out to make a smaller package.  Not sure they would have arrived that way.

A lazy start this morning as Clare couldn’t get out of bed, jet lag finally caught up.  Once we were moving we decided to stay local and take a walk to Cooks Bay, the original landing spot for Captain Cook.  We took the small ferry across the 100m gap of the harbour inlet and then decided to take the scenic route to the bay rather than follow the road round the coast.  Whatta mistaka to maka!

First we climbed up to Whitianga Rock to overlook the harbour and bay on the other side then headed back down to follow the ‘path’ to Cooks Bay which included climbing over tree roots and rocks,  scrambling under overhanging rocks on the slippery foreshore of the bay (luckily the tide was going out) and then 20 minutes straight up a narrow, winding path much like the hillside at Chatelus only at least twice as steep and twice as long.  It was very humid amongst the trees and ferns too. Eventually we reached a recently installed lookout point with fabulous views over Whitianga and the surrounding area but with no seats to resting our trembling limbs!

Partially recovered we wandered down the hill which was a proper stepped path thankfully and luckily found a lovely cafe for a bite to eat.  Then on to Cooks Bay, a huge sandy bay which we walked the length of to find some marker to say where Cook had landed, but to no avail. There was no X to mark the spot.

We took the road route back to the Ferry and stopped at the first bar we found for some refreshment.  Fitbit says we walked 8 miles and climbed the equivalent of 60 floors which would be fine if that was spread out the whole day, but the floors were completed in about 20 minutes!

Today was 24 degrees, mostly sunny.

Another nice day so decided to take a drive around the coastline to Coromandel Town, about 45km away.  Very nice scenic drive, stopped for coffee in the town, very like an old frontier town from the Old West! Then off to the Driving Creek Railway which is a narrow gauge railway originally built to bring clay down from the mountainside for potter Barry Brickell.  About an hour long, the train journey included lots of reversing to change lines to get up the mountainside to a lookout point on the top.  Lovely views from here but a bit hazy today, would be fantastic on a crystal clear day.

After that we headed back to Whitianga via an unsealed road, basically a road of loose gravel with lots of very tight bends and sheer drops which made for a very ‘exciting’ ride, particularly for Clare who wasn’t driving!  Stopped at Waiau Falls (like to use a lot of vowels in their place names).  There was a pool at the base of the falls to swim in, but far to cold for the likes of us.

Then on to a Kauri Tree grove.  Kauri trees are tall trees native to New Zealand but suffering from die-back so we had to pass through a shoe scrub and disinfect unit both in and out of the walk.  The area was full of prehistoric looking woodland and the trees were quite impressive.

Arrived back at the apartment and trying out the buttons on the car, discovered that the Sat Nav that we decided NOT to pay extra for with Avis is in fact a standard feature of the car! Result!

A sunny 27 degrees today so headed off to Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach.

At Hahei we were going to do the 75 minute walk to Cathedral Cove, over quite steep terrain but, as luck would have it, we spotted a boat tour from Hahei beach which took in the coast as well as Cathedral Cove, so opted for that.  When we gave our surname to the man he said that it was quite a common name around here but spelt Harsant and then we stumbled across the following:

John thinks he has come home and has decided he likes New Zealand so much he wants to live here!

Took the boat from the gorgeous beach up the coast to various caves and then back down to Cathedral Cove which was stunning, but unfortunately we didn’t land to get off and have a good look.

After that we went off to Hot Water Beach which is an area of hot water springs which are accessible 2 hours either side of low tide.  The idea is that you dig a hole in the sand and have a wallow in hot water so we went prepared with a couple of shovels from the apartment.  The spring area was packed with people digging holes.  Some of the water was extremely hot, scalding in fact. We managed to find a hole that had been vacated and dug down a little to get more water, most strange that boiling hot water was coming up right next to cold water and had to be careful where we sat!

 John in hole with hot bum.

After 1/2 hour sitting in a mud hole Clare got bored as John had all the hot water so we went for a little walk along the beach and then “both” braved  (yes, even John!) the 18 degrees sea to wash off the sand.

Landed at about 11.15 am, now 13 hours ahead of UK.  Collected car but no map book to be purchased in the airport and we had declined the offer of sat nav hire at $4 per day!  Thankfully our phones work here on our UK plans so Google maps came to the rescue and we found our way to Whitianga on the Coromandel Peninsular – about  2 1/2 hour drive, arriving at about 3 pm.  The drive across country was lovely – reminiscent of the UK, but completely different too!  Our apartment at Admiralty Lodge is a bit downmarket compared to the Anantara Riverside Hotel in Bangkok!  First apartment we were shown to didn’t have a door on the bathroom!  So that was rejected and the one we are now in has a few maintenance issues, but have got used to them now!

Fortunately the supermarket was open to 9pm (this is a Sunday) so we did a quick shop for salad for tea and then collapsed into bed after another 30 hour day.

View from our apartment

 

Heavy rain today, so lazy morning packing ready for flight to Auckland.

Flight on Boeing 787, not as good as flight out.  Noisy engines and we were sitting 2 rows away from 5 toilets with very loud suction flushes and a plane full of octogenarians with prostate problems it would seem – so no sleep to be had at all!  Must remember to get seats further back on the way home!