Auckland Day 4

The day today improved as we headed an hour north to the town of Warkworth.

It was a gorgeous town on the bend of a river. Nadine hoped to catch up with a friend there but it was not to be. The journey up was beautiful as we skirted the eastern side of the peninsula through numerous seaside holiday towns. Though the scenery was pleasant we didn't take many photos, but the carved tree that looked like Gandalf was amazing.

Goat Island Marine Reserve

Goat Island

We decided to go back home via the western side of the peninsula which was nowhere as attractive as the east and coffee houses were not to be found.

The Viaduct

That night the weather had improved considerably so we set off for dinner at Auckland's happening place - The Viaduct. New Zealand green lipped mussels were on special that night so we indulged surrounded by expensive real estate, America's Cup Yachts and dozens of of upwardly mobile young people. Guess Trevor was the oldie in the group!

An Americas Cup Training Yacht

The KZ1

The KZ1, Fay's 1987 New Zealand Americas Cup challenge against Connor of the San Diego Yacht Club. Connor did the dirty on NZ by running a state of the art Catamaran. At the time the rules did not prevent this so NZ had no chance even though the KZ1 was a magnificent monohull. After much litigationNZ lost and the rules have since been changed.



Day 5 saw us heading for the airport homeward bound - via a DFO for a bit of last minute shopping. For Nadine, 2 dresses, a blouse and some walking socks. For Trevor, a shirt and some socks. He had already purchased a genuine NZ Macpac jacket made in China!!

Home again after an uneventful flight courtesy of Jetstar. We loved the journey and look forward to visiting a number of places again in a campervan.

Auckland Day 3

Very Wet Auckland

Rain, rain and more rain. Just like back home in Sydney really.

Slightly Wet Auckland

Off we set to the museum. An excellent place with fine exhibits - many were interactive for children. The spine tingling exhibit for us was a simulation of a volcanic eruption in the Harbour in Auckland. Up to this point we had not realized that the city of Auckland is really a mass of volcanoes.





The simulation suggested that an eruption in Auckland was not IF but WHEN. A scary thought. The horror of the simulation reminded me of the cyclone Tracey exhibit in the Darwin museum. Awful.

Kaye and Trevor

Devonport

Kaye and her husband Mark picked us up from the hotel in the afternoon. Kaye was one of the young people in the church at Riverstone 40 years ago. We have both changed a little in the ensuing 40 years I have to say. In spite of the time gap they were very gracious in showing us some of the northern areas of Auckland



- especially Devonport (more rain) and then took us to their home for a delicious afternoon tea. We caught up on old times, family and grandchildren then Kaye returned us to our hotel. There was an amount of nostalgia!







Nadine purchased a beautiful glass paperweight from an artist in Devonport who had studied under masters in Murano. His work is magnificent.

Auckland Day 2

The rains came down in torrents. What should we do today? We headed south in our trusty steed and promptly got lost in the suburbs. The IPad was our GPS but without WiFi or 3G we could not download enough maps. We walked to a Maccas to use their WiFi - it was not working was it! So we drove to another and finally (very slowly) managed to download enough maps for the day.

Bethell Beach

We headed for the west coast, the mountains and the black sand beaches. Bethells beach was starkly beautiful and so was the slow, windy road to get there. Yes the sand was very black and because of the rain it stuck tenaciously to our shoes.









We headed back home via a different route that took in some beautiful rainforest, mountains and we were told fabulous scenery if only we could have seen it through the clouds - the Waitakere Ranges Regional Parklands.

Auckland Day 1

We arrived in Auckland and came off the ship at 8.30 am. The day was pleasant and sunny and we were full of expectations planning our 5 day stay. We trudged up the hill to the Grand Chancellor Hotel to check in, mercifully the hotel was relatively close, left our bags and caught a cab to pick up our hire car. $28 later, it seems cabs are not cheap in Auckland, we were driving our own wheels and with only inadequate maps we finally found Mission Bay. It was a pleasant beach and picnic area but not something that enticed us at the time.

Kelly Tarltons Antarctic world nearby looked really interesting and it turned out to be an absolute must see. Kelly Tarlton was a famous New Zealand adventurer, environmentalist and a mover and shaker. His desire was to expose the public to the beautiful world he had seen underwater. He found and purchased a series of large underground sludge/sewage tanks near the bay and proceeded to convert them into an underground marine environment.




I was initially a bit skeptical that it would be any different than aquariums we had seen in Australia. I was wrong. Of particular magnificence was the exhibit of Antarctic Penguins (King and Gentoo Penguins). He created a frozen environment by making over 3 tons of snow each day and keeping 80 penguins for people to see.






You entered a modified snow cat and went around a track very slowly so you became a part of their world for a few minutes. It was just fabulous. We enjoyed the exhibit so much we snuck around again.

This was our last fine day in Auckland.

Bay of Islands

Russell

On our 2nd last ship morning we anchored just off the historic town of Russell in the Bay of Islands in magnificent 23 degree sunshine.

Nadine and I had booked a sea kayak tour scheduled for 11.30am commencing from the town of Waitangi near Pahaia. As we were being tendered to pick up our canoe (with 30 others) we were thinking mmm this looks a little strenuous, why on earth did we choose to do this on our last day?

Pahaia

Well our fears were unfounded, yes we ached at the end of it, but it was a great day. The scenery as we travelled up-river was pleasant and our guide stopped every few hundred metres or so and gave us a history outline, a nature talk and showed us a colony of Shags in a tree. Why are they called Shags? Well apparently they have 4 to 5 clutches of eggs every year, so shagging it is!








Finally up-river, after a cuppa and a biscuit we paddled near to a magnificent waterfall - Haruru Falls. Some brave (or foolhardy) souls had to get as near to the falls as possible and got very wet and close to capsize. Fabulous.

After this adventure we went in a ferry across to Russell to sit looking over the beautiful bay indulging in a well earned cup of coffee.

Rotorua

The Guysers Erupting

We docked Mount Maunganui near Tauranga and picked up a hire car to drive to Rotorua. An easy drive of about an hour and we approached the town. Really weird to see steam rising from fenced off rocks in a park. We decided to visit Whakarewarewa, a living thermal village. There are about 25 Maori families who live in the village all descended from a single couple. Visitors are escorted through by family members between 8:30 and 5:00 every day.

Whakarewarewa Boiling Mud Pool

What an amazing experience! The boiling pools of water are fenced off to prevent tourists from falling in and killing themselves. Throughout the village are wooden steam boxes sitting on hot rocks on the ground. Natural pressure cookers. They just leave uncooked meat and veg in the boxes. Come back later and dinner is cooked. There at Whakarewarewa are also two geysers on the edge of the village and we saw both erupting while we were there. The smell of sulfur is all around and you can see the white and yellow reside edging some of the pools. The village even has its own boiling mud pool which we were told has the consistency of quick sand. All pretty amazing.

Frying Pan Lake - pH 3

After leaving the village we drove a few kilometers south to Waimangu. The site of a very recent volcanic eruption. June 1886 saw a volcano blow and devastate the surrounding countryside. The volcano has blown a number of times since the last being in 1917. What is left is utterly breathtaking. The vegetation has reclaimed the land but there is still primeval geothermal activity. Streaming rocks, boiling sulphuric acid pools,



small geysers. It looks like the beginning of time. We had enough time before the park closed to walk a 3 kilometer trail around lakes, craters and along streams of boiling, acid runoff. The colors were amazing. Green, yellow, reds, white the residue from various toxic minerals. I have never seen anything like it.

Overflow from Frying Pan lake

Napier

Tuesday we were looking forward to an organized tour in Napier. It was to be a Mauri experience with a ride on an authentic war canoe - a Waka, followed by a visit to a Marae (a traditional Mauri meeting place).






Well, the 40 people with us on the canoe didn't enter into the spirit of the experience and the subsequent paddling was appalling and exhausting. The whole experience was out of context being in and around the Harbour marina.

Mauri Meeting Place

 The visit to the Marae was well meaning but slow and painful. All in all for us a disappointing experience and not at all our expectations of understanding Mauri culture. Hopefully we can do better in Auckland.

Dining Hall Mural

 Sadly there was not much time left to explore Napier which was a delightful town. Art deco buildings were everywhere and the town felt warm and welcoming.