waiata

It's always the people who make the trip.  My most interesting encounters with New Zealanders didn't get photographed, but I did get this snap of Barbara, who's mentioned in previous post.

Waiata is the Māori word for song. Barbara happened to have a songbook with her while we were strolling through the Auckland Botanical Gardens, and regaled us with a tune.

last day in auckland

Alas, our travel today takes us back to Vancouver.  While Estelle seems ready to get back to "normal life", I'm not so keen to get back to work, etc. yet.  Still, sleeping in own bed will be most welcome.

Many thanks to our fine hosts in Auckland the last couple of days.  Barbara is a wonderful, vivacious woman that I met in Taupo on my last NZ trip in 2010.  She was kind enough to take us to the Botanic Gardens and then to a wonderful little pizza place in Onehunga.  (where I was told I have a "cool accent"!)

Many more thanks to Keg, who put us up / put up with us in the midst of preparations to move back to California in a few weeks' time.  We had a great time sitting around the fire gabbing into the wee hours last night.

We're off to the airport around noon, and it looks like we'll be just under our allowable luggage weight limit. Yay!  Perhaps I can even find room for one more bottle of wine.

I'm going to miss this country very much, and this blog will continue for some time.  When I edit my (thousands) of photos I will put a few more up so you can better see what we experienced Down Under.

Meantime, kia ora and hope you're all well!

Here's a picture of a really big tree for you!  This is the famed Tane Mahuta in the Waipoua Forest of Northland. 

Subtropical rain

Woke several times last night to the sound of howling wind and intermittent rain pounding on the corrugated roof.  This morning we're up early to go to Waitangi (of the famous Waitangi Treaty) and waiting for a break in the rain storms to load up our car.  Now we know why everything is so green here!

Dolphins!

We arrived in Paihia, in the Northland region of North Island, yesterday.  This town is the hub of the Bay of Islands area.  Lots of yachties, pricey vacation properties, chi-chi boutiques and restos.  Also a big backpacker culture, esp. during summer months. (which it definitely is not at the moment)

I'm having probs hooking up to reliable wifi with my netbook, so you'll have to take my word that we enjoyed seeing several pods (are they called pods?) of dolphins today. Amazing!  I've seen dolphins even in BC, but never had a chance to be in a stopped boat and watch them approach.  Close enough to hear them breathe.  Our pods were "quiet" (ie. not so frisky and playful) but the weather was rather crap, so who can blame them? 

I will post photos -- and video! -- at a later date.  As in when I'm back on pumped-up North American broadband.  Yeah baby!

We only have a few days left on our trip, and the rest is just gravy, as they say, after today's wonderful experience. 

The Seabird Coast

We left Rotorua this morning with the vague hope of getting north of Auckland by day's end.  We don't like to drive after dark and the days are shorter, so that usually means driving until about 6 pm.

We started the day at Waimangu Thermal Reserve, about 20 min. south of Rotorua.  Wonderful bush walk and all sorts of thermal activity up very close.  I likely shot over 100 pictures in a couple of hours, and several minutes of video.  A remarkable place.

No pictures yet, alas, because I'm typing on a sloooow public terminal in our holiday park on above Seabird Coast.  Orere Pt. is very close to Auckland but surprisingly desolate.  We are getting barely better internet and mobile phone access than the East Cape!

Tomorrow is ANZAC Day, a national holiday and Fairly Big Deal.  Think Rememberance Day (they even wear paper poppies), but with more emphasis on that whole Gallipoli thing..  We are hoping that the holiday means traffic through the Auckland bottleneck will be considerably lighter.  

not a sign one sees every day

"Historical church" has become a bit of a touchstone this trip.  On the East Cape, especially, we were prone to pulling over whenever we saw that sign.  Because you need to be invited to visit a marae (Maori meeting house) -- and we haven't been yet -- visiting old Anglican churches with Maori influence in the decoration has been one way to connect with that culture, or at least some of its history.

Several churches we saw in last few days have a strong Maori influence in their design -- just a few samples above.

"Rottenrua"

This sign is in an otherwise ordinary park in the middle of Rotorua, central North Island, known for the intensive geothermal activity in and around the area.

In other words:  boiling water!  Boiling mud!  Steam!  Rotten eggs! (sulphur emissions)

You can't see it really clearly in the second photo above, but this hole in the ground (not even behind a barrier) was bubbling away.  Hot stuff.  What's amazing is that the pukeko bird (common fowl sorta like a blue chicken with orange beak) walks around in these hot hot waters hunting for whatever.  Food, I would imagine.

Tomorrow we will visit one of the thermal parks in the region and see much, much more of this before heading north to visit more beaches.

Waihau Bay

This boat is being loaded into the water at Waihau Bay, a sleepy little town on the East Cape.  We arrived here after a full day of quiet beaches, twisty roads, and an historic church or two.  Waihau Bay is the hometown of Taika Waititi,  writer/director of "Boy", one of my current fave movies.  This movie was filmed in Waihau and I recognized many of the locations.  We were warmly welcomed at the other end of town by a woman who talked our ear off for a good 1/2 hour about local history and gossip.  I love places like this.

We found really cheap backpackers lodging just behind the local hotel bar and had a brew there.  As it was Sunday it was pretty quiet.  Very quiet, in fact, and we/they "closed the place" around 9pm.

indeed we are

We found this booth at the Farmers Market this morning in Napier.  Lovely sisters who make a wicked line of preserves.  We walked away with a jar of aubergine and roasted pepper relish, which goes wonderfully with sharp cheddar and smoked fish...

I love it here and think you're great! (pant, pant)

This lovely dog found Estelle on Waipatiki Beach, a beautiful stretch of sand about 10km off the "main road" (SH2).  Winding road, hilly, etc.  But at least paved!  The owner came over to say hi and told us this was a 14-yr old "failed farm dog" who was as loveable as she seemed.

This little guy, which I nicknamed "Spot, Mr. Bill's dog", was definitely a moocher.  He did get a bit of our Tasty Cheese and was holding out patiently for some smoked kowahai fish, but left empty-handed.  

Leenane, this is the view Estelle had while she was chatting to you on my mobile!

Kiwi ingenuity

"Screw, glue, true, zapped & as good as new".  I want that on a t-shirt!

Above was what I got, along with repaired eyeglasses, in the wee town of Hastings.  Take that, cheap prescription glasses frames still under warranty to a Major Canadian Department Store!  (I'm looking at you, Sears..)

The woman not only did a bang-up job quickly and for only $7.50NZD, but she provided a detailed invoice  on the off chance that I submit this to the vendor of the original glasses.  And I really should.

up on high

A nice lady at the i-Site (info office) in Hastings recommended we drive up Te Mata Peak, about 15 min. drive away.  We did indeed do just that, up some narrow and winding roads, and were rewarded by a wonderful view. As well as a glimpse of a small wedding in progress!  The lens on my camera wasn't long enough to see what sparkling wine they chose, but I trust it was something from the region.  We are in Hawkes Bay, after all.

are they still winning?

If you're gonna see any Canucks jerseys in an op (thrift) shop, it's gonna be from this era, eh?
Still interesting to see something from home in a little store in Hastings, New Zealand.

wandering about

It was just one of those days.  We pointed the car towards Napier, on Hawkes Bay (east coast of North Island) in sunny weather.  Somewhere near a little town I spotted a garden supply sign.  I'm wanting to bring some native New Zealand seeds home, and thought this would be a good spot to procure said product.  It turned out to be more of a landscaping/bed plants/trees nursery kind of place, but we enjoyed wandering about. A nice worker did give us a name for a seed supply place which we will investigate further...

leaving Wellington

Here's a shot of Wellington's waterfront area taken during a late afternoon stroll yesterday.  Today we spent most of the morning in Te Papa (national museum) and then pointed the car northeast, hoping to perhaps get to Napier by tonight.

We had a bit of rainy weather and an unexpected twisty road through a mountain pass.  That and a late departure meant we got as far as Dannevirke.  We did get in a 5-minute visit at the massive Paua World which is indeed, well, all things paua!

Funny thing about Dannevirke (besides the Viking theme throughout the town, including a huge spotlit Viking ship in children's playground) is that Estelle already has a connection. A few months ago, in her local Value Village, she found a wooden Maori war boat in very nice shape.  The label on bottom indicates it was made here in Dannevirke!

We're staying tonight in a holiday park (campground) in an A-frame cabin with bunk bed, satellite tv, and deer (farmed) and bunnies (wild) nearby.  Feels very much like we are in the Deep Dark Woods.

Who knew??

Elks (sic) by the waterfront in Vancouver?!  Stop the presses!!
(this is in current edition of Kia Ora, the inflight magazine for Air New Zealand.

when you gotta go..

Estelle snapped this one, and I like it too!  On the Wellington waterfront walk, near the Te Papa museum.

Wellington

We're now in windy Wellington and while Estelle does our laundry (yay!) I had a nice long shower and have a chance to get online.  The YHA here in "Wellie" is quite nice, well-organized, great location, etc. etc.

Hoping to get out maybe to see some music tonight, and the national museum Te Papa tomorrow morning before driving north to the Hawkes Bay area.

G'night and hope you're all doing well!

good eats

This sign was in the 'chippie' (takeaway/fish & chips shop) that we went to last night in Kaikoura.  

We assume said brocolli (sic) would be battered and dipped in hot oil, so gave it a miss.

The fish and chips (elephant fish tonight, a ghastly looking sharky thing according to the chart on wall of NZ fish species) was delightful although we waited over 1/2 hr. for the order.  Unbelievably, this was the first fried food we'd eaten this trip.  In general we've been 'self-catering' in hostels, which for most part have clean and well-equipped kitchens.  We keep it quick and easy and use fresh local produce. 

Hostel managers are lovin' Estelle..  Those of you that know her are no doubt aware of her Mr. Clean ability to get rid of cooking messes quick-like.  I'm good with drying dishes. :) 

Next post will be from the North Island -- we're currently in departure lounge at Christchurch Airport -- and it's a lovely sunny autumn day.  Hope you're all doing well!

leaving Kaikoura

This is another spot I'm very sad to leave.  We arrived when clouds were very low and this morning as I write this the clouds have lifted!  Indeed this YHA hostel has the most spectacular waterfront view in this town (as the guidebooks promised)

We're back to Christchurch today to fly to "Windy Wellington".  And a new adventure on North Island!

Here's our friendly quizmaster from last night's trivia quiz night at the Adelphi pub in Kaikoura. (I walked in late but the winning team let me join them:  an Aussie, a Brazilian, and a young Canadian from Whitehorse).

Kaikoura

Here are some more seals for you.  These were part of a large colony right alongside SH1 just north of Kaikoura, back on the Pacific Coast, south of the Marlborough area.  It was rainy, windy and plain miserable, but I snapped a few photos and some video which I would post if I had bandwidth..

Below is typical of the day we had and the desolate windswept nature of this section of coast.  Gaspe Peninsula-ish?  We'll see something similar when we tour East Cape on North Island in a few days.

Not much traffic on the roads - tourism takes a steep drop after Easter, although schoolkids are about halfway through their 2-week Easter break.  So there's a few families about, some logging trucks today and not much else.

Havelock

Did you know that Havelock, roughly halfway between the cities of Nelson and Blenheim in the northern part of South Island, is the world capital of green-lipped mussels?

Well, it is, and I convinced Estelle that we HAD to stop there for a bowl.  She even tried some and loved 'em.  We split a fairly large pot of steamed mussels in a cream/chili/coriander sauce, cost $16NZD.  Soooo fresh.  We were the only customers for early lunch today but I could imagine this area out back being full of holiday traffic.  In fact, the cook told us they go through a tonne of mussels during their peak season of Christmas to New Year's.

A little further down the road we visited a sustainable zero-carbon etc. organic winery owned and funded by a guy who made most of his money establishing the mussel industry in Marlborough Sound, so that was interesting.

Abel Tasman Park

Well, let's try this again. (typed this post and as went to "publish" my internet time ran out) Aaargh!

We spent a splendid afternoon in Abel Tasman Park, driving to Kaiteriteri (about an hour north of Nelson) to catch a water taxi.  This national park is only accessible by water so we took the option of cruising to the top of their route and then getting dropped at a little beach called Anchorage to wander around a bit.

Beautiful scenery on the cruise, of course, and we saw a few seals along the way.

Top picture is when they dumped us on our beach, after paging "Vollerie end Istelle" (rough imitation of Kiwi accent) to remind us we were getting off.  The same boat came back about an hour later and picked us up again to return to Kaiteriteri.  We walked up a hill to get the view in second picture, went back down, and played on the beach a bit.  Water was beautifully clear and warm(ish) -- I would've swam had I brought my togs (swimsuit).

shopping

Did I mention we spent a good morning several days ago shopping in Hokitika? It's one of the "hot spots" for pounamu (greenstone) which is a type of jade found only on South Island and controlled by certain Maori tribes.  If you want the Real Deal (local jade) you have to ask, otherwise you'll be sold something likely carved out of BC jade,  Yes, we are providing cheap crap souvenirs to NZ.  Who knew?

Tectonic Jade deserves its own post and its owner was quite a character.  Wish I'd got a photo of him.  We also hit another small, independently-owned shop which is where I bought this piece, a manaia which will allegedly protect me from evil. (has worked so far)

mmm...pancakes

I have lots of photos and some video of the fascinating "pancake rocks", blowholes, geological formations in Paparoa Park.  See here for all sorts of info about the phenomenon.

It's quite a good setup - a paved circle that takes about 20 minutes to walk.  Quite touristy, but very cool nonetheless.  We were fascinated by a group of 5 middle-aged Asians carting around two very large cameras. Question for my photo geek friends:  what are they?  Large-format cameras??

Karamea: the land time forgot

Soo tempted to insert one of the cool little videos I've been shooting along the way (movie night with popcorn after we're back home, anyone?) but see previous post for internet woes!

The top picture is of the little community radio station (105.7FM) in Karamea, which is at the top end of the West Coast road on South Island.  It's located at a very cool little backpackers / art gallery / WooFers community (google that if you need to) we found in Rough Guide.  We arrived in darkness (danged shorter autumn days!) after a very twisty drive and I was delighted to drop in on a friendly bunch of travellers and locals having an 80's night party.  Estelle and I perused the radio station vinyl library and picked some vintage Police and Prince.  Radio geeks note they are broadcasting under radar, but known and supported by local radio - they have a 50km broadcast radius and no, I don't know how many watts.

I could go on at length about Karamea (and prob. will once I blog post-trip) but think Northern Gulf Islands in terms of people and lifestyle, and you're getting there.  It is, after all, the West Coast..

The next morning we hit another deserted beach (we're good at finding them) south of Karamea and actually had to share this one with a horse and its rider!  What a wonderful activity, glad I was able to ride on a beach last NZ trip.

too pooped to party

As you've noticed, I've not been regular with the blog postings.  Many reasons for this:

• not near computer (ie. doing more important things like motoring about and experiencing NZ hospitality and scenery)
• wifi is rarely free, and fairly expensive in most cases
• wifi is most frequently turtle-speed slow! (I keep waiting for the dial-up modem squeal)
• see first point
• just too tired! (see first point)

I ain't complaining, but I'm usually to bed early and therefore waking early.  We are sharing the driving and chores but I still do the bulk of logistics and suggesting routes/activities.  Again, not complaining!  It's great that Estelle is laid-back.  Our main problem is deciding what we don't have time to do.

update: I tried to publish this post last night and I ran out of internet access just as I was about to upload some pics (see next post).  This hostel charges $2 for 20MB of broadband.  Guess whose netbook decided to automatically load some Windows updates and an Adobe update this morning?  Aargh..

Big Hands Roy

One thing we're loving on this journey are the people.  We met "Big Hands" Roy above in a Saturday market in Hokitika.  He was selling several different kinds of honey, including the famed New Zealand manuka variety.  Estelle's hands are fairly large but Roy wins!  Years ago he worked up in Fort St. John and Cold Lake, as well as Tabor, Alberta.  Jolly good dude.

Cromwell to Haast Township

Moving backwards here (working thru backlog), so here's the Thursday report; what we did on April 12, 2012.

We'd spent night in a backpackers' (hostel) in Cromwell, a small town in Central Otago, right in the heart of what is becoming famed wine country.  Well-renowned these days for its Pinot Noir.  Interestingly, they're at about the same latitude (except in Southern Hemisphere) as Oregon, which might explain that.

We had a lovely chat with a local gold prospector (this area having revival of their late 19th C. gold rush) and his Israeli girlfriend before we hit the road.  We hit the local iSite and got a few additional suggestions for wineries to visit and then headed to Bald Hills Winery in Bannockburn, a few miles south.
4
I'd read about Bald Hills online a while ago while researching this trip, and read about a recent medal they won at a big Sydney wine competition.  Followed the winery on Twitter and learned one of the owners is named Estelle! (like my sister)  I really hoped to visit this particular winery to see two Estelles together (a rare name at home) and of course to try their award-winning pinot noir.

Estelle Hunt welcomed us, gave us tea and home baking, and a lovely wine tasting. We left with one bottle; sadly not more.  Estelle mentioned she could "make a phone call" to get us an invite to Sam Neill's nearby winery - am now kicking myself that we didn't take her up on that!  Oh well, if I see him kicking around Vancouver when he's back filming Alcatraz I can ask after his grapes..

We visited a couple more wineries, both quite nice and one of which was SO Napa Valley (right down to the charge for tasting).  The second one, Wooing Tree, a new winery, was quite nice and they let us have a little picnic on their property in the sunshine.

Time to point ourselves towards the West Coast!  It was a lovely drive over the Okanagan Valley-ish hills to Wanaka, which has very much become a "Queenstown lite".  Penticton-like in its lake setting but much more geared to adventure tourism.  It's crazy what you can drop big $$ here.  Extreme bungy jumping, jetboats, parachuting, even taking controls of stunt planes.  Yikes!  Doesn't seem to be a litigious environment and the currency is favourable, so come on down, thrillseekers!

For the rest of us, there's always the scenery.  I loved the winding mountain drives, even with the number of switchbacks and lack of shoulders.  Anyone remember what the Slocan Valley roads were like in the 1970's?  Kind of like that.

Weather was good, in any case, and we rolled into Haast township, on the West Coast, at nightfall.  Very cranky/quirky hostel manager (who reminded me of older version of an old boyfriend, heh heh) who only had young women (and us) in the hostel.  Invasion of the American and Euro women!  Had lovely chat with a young blonde Swedish au pair girl.  Insert your own joke here, dudes.. :)  Always cool to chat with these young folks who are travelling and having time of their lives.  Really takes me back and, surprisingly, they seems to enjoy some of my old stories.  God bless 'em.

Well, time to sneak into bed.  Estelle will already be sawing logs.  Here's some pics from Thursday.

The rugged West Coast of South Island

Still no reliable free wi-fi (oh, how we take it for granted in North America) but I do have a bit more time to post this evening in Hokitika, a small arty beach town about halfway up the West Coast of South Island.  Exciting to be here and experience the isolation and quirkiness, "West Coasters" are known as a separate breed within the already pretty quirky (when you think about it) Kiwi tribe.

So today was Friday the 13th!  Estelle's turn to drive and she does very well, although a bit of a nervous nellie and overly dependent on the GPS we have borrowed.  My navigating skills are stellar!  Although she doesn't always agree.. :)  We left the hostel in Haast township and stopped at the DOC (Dept of Conservation) on way out of town.  Always a good source of local info for what to expect ahead, and, as it turns out, good souvenir shopping!  I think E picked up a few t-shirts, and some lucky friend is getting a pair of on-sale oven mitts.

Our first stop was at a beach about 20 km north; sun was trying to peek out and we were dive-bombed by (hungry?) fantail birds.  Also ramrodded by small fruit fly-like insects, non-biting (whew) and clearly not the infamous West Coast sandflies.  More annoying than anything, especially inside the car.

We were very aware of being in a gorgeous rainforest today, and a UNESCO ranked one at that.  Absolutely stunning array of dense bush that looks almost nothing like our Pacific Northwest rainforest.  Not a lot of visible wildlife but the birdsong, even in middle of day, is incredible.  Long empty beaches and winding roads with almost no traffic.  Absolutely up my alley. Would be nice to have some music, as E won't let me sing, there was spotty radio reception.

Our rental car company Shoestring Rentals in Christchurch did leave 3 burned CD's in the glove compartment.  One is not operational, one is Beatles hits (played that one several times). The third, labelled "Jazzy" appears to be some homemade jam, and not a good one at that.  We don't have a converter for iPod but what the hell, silence is golden and perhaps most fitting for the passing landscape.

After several more beach stops (Estelle inherited beachcombing gene -- esp. shells and rocks -- from Mom) we arrived in Glacier Country.  Fox Glacier and Franz Josef Glacier are two high-profile tourist $$ grabs.  Yes, they're beautiful, esp. if you're up for some walking, but these two born-and-bred-in-BC girls were less than impressed.  Low cloud obscured views and hell, we've seen glaciers.  Sure lots of opportunities to part with your money, tho.  Guided hikes, heli-hikes, aerial tours..list goes on.

Frankly, a highlight in Franz Josef was the high-tech Euro public toilet with the Star Trek bridge sound effects and canned music!  Nice to laugh while eliminating one's waste.

The next stretch took us inland through yet more farming country and belts of intermittent rain.  Some nice rainbow action!  We arrived in Hokitika just as the local iSite (info centre) closed, but we looked around a bit at the local Jade Emporium. (not actual name)  This area is famous for its local greenstone (a type of jade) controlled by the local Maori iwi (tribe).  However, much of New Zealand's jade pendants are sourced from other countries. The "good stuff" (pounamu/greenstone) is, of course, pricier.  Tomorrow we are determined to get the Real Thing and hopefully not get taken to cleaners.

Had a nice beach walk at sunset and bought some tarahiki (lovely white fish) to cook up for dinner at the hostel downtown.  Similar to last night, it's full of Euro women, mostly German.  And us, the two middle-aged Canadian broads. :)

The cheap bottle of NZ pinot gris made us forget that we were going to see some glow-worms near town tonight (you can only see them after dark, duh) but instead we're catching up on computer stuff and watching Sweeney Todd on dvd.

Here's some pics of today..