Time to Go Home

After almost five months we decided to head for home. Now mid-winter in NZ it remains respectably warm but raining long and hard. Having had a great time in NZ, all avenues for further travel remain closed so we have decided to call a halt and head for home. Sadly, by the time you read this we will be travelling to the UK, Covid style.

Sightseeing for the last couple of weeks has been centred around the Auckland area. It's pleasant enough, for a city, but undergoing major development work so resembling a building site at almost every street corner and not looking its best. 

That said the harbour area was lovely with huge marinas and some spectacular yachts for the ultra-rich.

The ferry system is really efficient so it was easy for us to take day trips to Devonport and islands in the Hauraki Gulf. Some of the remote islands have cleared the predators, so that native birds are recovering and we had some lovely sightings on Tiritiri Island.

After 2 weeks we had 'done' Auckland so took 3 days to see Waiheke Island, a classy community offshore with some nice beaches and of course plenty of vineyards that needed checking out. Being the most northerly wine area we visited we found some nice reds, certainly much improved on the relative disappointment of Hawkes Bay.

The final travel leg was to rent a car and make a short tour of Coromandel, a peninsula on the east coast. Unfortunately the weather was pretty grim but we did get to see the famous Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach where, as the name suggests, 60C water permeates up through the sand at low tide enabling a hot spa on the beach. Despite the wind and rain there were a few mad Kiwis lounging in their private bath !

So, to wrap up, we are about to fly home on Singapore Airlines. As NZ remains Covid free we have been shielded from many of the restrictions being felt elsewhere but are about to join the oddities of the 'new world'. As a result of a 2 hour stop in Singapore to change planes we will need to self-isolate, effectively quarantine, when we get home. So, if you see us confined to the garden please don't feel too smug about your freedom!

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed the pictures and look forward to seeing the British contingent soon.

End of the Road ?

Le Tour de New Zealand has concluded in Auckland and we are now in the post-travel rub-down phase. We are working out what to do whilst doing some final sightseeing. More on that later.

The central region of North Island was one of the highlights. Being winter the weather wasn't too kind so we didn't see much of the Tongariro volcanoes; however, the Rotorua area was great with several areas of steam vents, a geyser (pronounced guy-zer allegedly), bubbling mud pots and pools of vivid colours, together with the pervasive smell of sulphur.

Last time we were preparing for a 'religious' experience to take in a rugby match, apparently they do play a bit down here! Some of you may know that Mary is very Welsh and that the last Welsh rugby coach was a Kiwi, Warren Gatland. In the post Covid world NZ put together a regional competition and we were lucky enough to get tickets for 'The Battle of the North'; Hamilton's Chiefs, managed by 'Gats' vs. Auckland's Blues. So on a rainy Saturday night we watched premier standard rugby and saw The Chiefs comfortably beaten by their local rivals. Great to see some All Blacks on display with Beauden Barrett in a different class. Happy to claim that Kevin spotted Hoskins Sotuto as rampant in the pack and have since read that Eddie Jones has his eye on him for England.

The other highlight from our diversion to Hamilton was to stumble across a tribute to The Rocky Horror Show - apparently it was written by a Hamiltonian back in the 60's, and although the original theatre is long gone the statue remains in spite of the current fashion for pulling them all down.

Back on the road we then looped north to see the Bay of Islands, famous for being the point where Captain Cook first landed and where the original treaty between Europeans and Maori was struck. It seems that the British may not have been completely transparent in their dealings and that has led to long term grievances about land ownership here. Hard to believe ?! Unfortunately our boat trip to see the islands coincided with a deluge so we didn't get the best view, seeing just murky silhouettes.

The most northerly point is Cape Reinga and visiting there enabled us to complete the trip from cape to cape, south to north, equivalent to Lands End to John O'Groats. We had time to visit the famous 90 Mile Beach (67 kms long), and also thought we had struck gold by finding lumps of ambergris weighing about 2kg, worth ca.£100,000. (See here to learn about ambergris). Unfortunately it wasn't our week for the lottery and our 'find' turned out to be dead sea sponges, apparently a commonly made mistake!

Our final stop was on the north west coast to see the giant Kauri trees. Kauris were once widespread but were extensively felled for timber as the forests of New Zealand were cleared for farmland. The few remaining giants are magnificent; although not particularly tall they have huge diameters and date back around 2000 years.

As well as tasting an extensive range of grape and hop based products on our tour we have also come across some peculiar fruits to try. We were introduced to feijoas, tough skinned, guava-like green fruit with a tasty fleshy interior. Haven't found a persimmon to buy yet, but recently we bought some tamarillos at a roadside stop and asked the seller how to eat them; "Just like a fruit" he said so we bit in to hideously bitter leathery skins with blood red juice going everywhere. Suppose he's still chuckling to himself! Anyhow it reminded us of the Tony Christie song:

Show me the way to eat a tamarillo

It's Mary that wants to know 

We are now in an Airbnb apartment in Auckland to do some final sightseeing and most importantly decide what to do next. Oz is still closed and with the recent increase in Covid cases in Victoria the hoped for 'Trans Tasman Bubble' between Oz and NZ  looks to be some way off. So, we may be home in a few weeks time or maybe there will be another twist of fate........

We'll let you know, when we know. Hope you are all enjoying your increasing freedom but still keeping your distance!

It's a Small World

Our ferry across Cook Strait from the South to the North Island was calm and uneventful. And we soon learnt that the North Island is a lot busier and also less tolerant of slow campervan drivers than the South - Kevin getting ‘the finger’ from a not so welcoming local on the first morning!

Our first day was spent exploring the capital city, Wellington, in the pouring rain. We spent an enjoyable few hours in the wonderful national museum, Te Papa, learning a lot about New Zealand history (short) and culture (there is some). But our attempts to tour the government buildings were thwarted, closed because of Level 2 restrictions. Yes, we did try and swap Boris for Jacinda but there were no takers, and apparently we weren’t the first to have asked.

You’ll need to concentrate on this section...while we have been away Kevin’s brother has had his DNA tested (for family tree research purposes only!) and came up with a connection to our great grandmother’s, brother’s, granddaughter who just happens to live in North Island. Anyway, Jacque and husband Bruce were kind enough to invite us to for a short stay and make the family connection so it was a nice treat to meet our whanau (Pronounced far-no; Kiwi for family).

Our next stop was to explore the wineries of the Hawkes Bay area, so off we set on another tour, although this time on foot rather than bicycles. It has to be said that in our opinion, Marlborough white wines are superior, still can’t get chardonnay down without a struggle and the local reds will probably be ok with some age. Proving what a tiny world it really is, a Kiwi who worked at one of the wineries turned out to be the wife of a former neighbour from home. What odds would you get on that ? (For readers in Christian Malford, John Chamberlain is alive and well!)

We then set off inland exploring areas of mountains and lakes, and were pleased to discover that the North Island does indeed have plenty of lovely scenery too. Waterfalls, lakes, snow-capped mountains and forests abound. There are also a number of geothermal spa areas, one of which in Taupo Kevin was even brave enough to sample.

New Zealand’s only native land mammals are bats, and any others that are here such as ferrets, stoats, possums, rats, rabbits, etc. have been introduced and are considered pests. This is due to their predation on native birds’ eggs and young birds. On our travels we have sadly seen many possums as road kill, but while walking along a lakeside beach came across a very much alive one, just nibbling on some plants, and not in the least phased by us watching him from only a few metres.

We depart for Rotorua tomorrow, and, in an unexpected change of plan, due to campervan complications, we are off to Hamilton on a bus from Auckland next Friday to go to a rugby match. And not just any old match … read more next time!!

Marlborough Country

Our clockwise tour of the north of South Island is nearing conclusion and we are about to take the ferry across to North Island.

Just after our previous update we were hit, well nudged really, by another earthquake. This one shook the van for a good 10-15 seconds. It was actually centred about 100 miles away on North Island and was 20 miles underground, but as a magnitude 5.8 it was significantly bigger than the Christchurch one a few weeks previously. If you saw Jacinda Ardern being interrupted in a TV interview that was the one we felt.

Our next destination was Blenheim, the epicentre of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc or 'Sav' as us locals now say. We took one for the team and tasted as much as we could manage and are happy to report that it really is quite good ! In truth this is wine production on an industrial scale with massive, truly massive, vineyards stretching across the valley floor, mechanised watering, mechanised picking, enormous holding and blending vessels and so on. For the most part the concept of 'terroir' seems misplaced so if you want good best quality Sav look for Single Vineyard or Reserve designation - it seemed to us that anything else could be made up from just about anything.

That said we had a lovely day cycling around a few vineyards having a slurp of anything and everything available. We both identified the Awatere Valley sub-region as our favourite Sav, lovely grassy flavour compared to the more citrussy flavours of the main vineyards. Best tasting was at Gibson Bridge run by a 73 year old eccentric who specialised in Pinot Gris production (think Pinot Grigio with flavour); he produced some beautiful wines, with age, including the most delightful dessert wine ever - promise you. Finally, if you want a really indulgent experience, try a dessert wine with blue cheese and a dribble of honey - top tip.

Completing our tour of South Island we travelled further south to Kaikoura, location of a huge (7.8) earthquake in 2016. The damage was reportedly huge but only 2 fatalities as it was in a relatively unpopulated region. It was looking like a disappointment with little evidence of the quake and the other spectacle, sperm whale watching off the coast, cancelled due to Covid issues. Lady luck smiled again though and taking the only boat trip available, we saw several albatross, a huge pod of ~200 dusky dolphins just leaping and surfing the boat's bow wave and even an orca. Lovely day out under yet more blue skies and warm sun.

The final excursion was to join the ‘post run’ around Marlborough Sounds. This boat service is a mixture of deliveries and collections to the remoter communities away from the roads. A fun time was had pulling up at jetties to meet the locals queuing for their weekly mail drop, groceries and on-line deliveries. Quirkiest character was definitely Dave, an ex-conductor, lightening conductor that is; he is lucky enough to have been struck twice in his life, so far!

So the time has come to say farewell to South Island after 13 weeks here (7 in lockdown), as tomorrow we are taking the ferry from Picton to Wellington in North Island. The south has been spectacular and everyone tells us the north is quite different. Check in next time to see what we find.

Back On The Road

After weeks of waiting the travel map has started turning red again. As soon as the relaxation of lockdown to Level 2 was announced we booked another campervan and were first out of the yard, just after 9:00am on Thursday 14th May.

Our first journey took us back west, over Arthur's Pass, to spend more time on the west coast as we had skipped through prior to lockdown in our rush to get to Christchurch. The route is magnificent, cutting through the alpine peaks, and the settlement of Arthur's Pass is known for spotting Kea - the alpine parrot unique to NZ. We spent a chilly but fun hour being entertained by two birds including a thorough examination of the van. From the rings we identified one as Zane but couldn't ID his partner.

 



Greymouth seems aptly named, being tired in appearance, but enabled us to buy essentials at last - new watch battery for Mary and shoes for Kevin (lost a heel on Day 1 of lockdown so had been living in walking boots since then!). Also collected a parking ticket - 'Inconsiderate Parking' is an offence in NZ.... parked in a designated space, within the allotted time albeit facing oncoming traffic. 'Very dangerous' according to the most joyless Kiwi we have met as she booked us. No pictures of her, thought it best not to ask.

Heading north we visited the pancake rocks and blowholes at Punataiki; interesting but not spectacular as the high tides were at night. 

Further on at Karamea we reached the end of the road north and were greeted at the campsite by a group of locals well into their homebrew and about to spark the BBQ. After being welcomed like long lost friends and tasting their homebrew a farmer produced a block of venison fillet for us - what a welcome. 
Next day was spent birding at the river estuary (Caspian & Whitefronted Terns, Spotted Shags, Heron and of course Oystercatchers) and then walking part of the Heaphy Track along forest paths to Scotts Beach. Yet another beautiful beach under blue sky, but with huge breakers and not safe to even paddle - the undertow warnings were very clear!

We then stopped at a place called Cape Foulwind, named by Captain Cook for reasons best known to himself, fortunately for us it wasn't and we spent  a pleasant hour watching a seal colony on the rocks below us, including suckling pups.









We have now travelled cross country through Buller Gorge, yet another magnificent road trip, on to the north coast and are at the northern tip of South Island. A pretty remote location, Wharariki Beach was fantastic with huge rocks, arched and caves as well as seal pups playing in the surf. Farewell Spit, 27km long, protects the entrance to Golden Bay along with huge flocks of birds (Swans, Godwhit, and of course Oystercatchers). Along the way we visted the famous Abel Tasman NP and took a boat trip along the coast then walked 12km of the trail back through ancient forest, occasionally dropping down to sandy coves for a paddle. It is late autumn here and we can confirm that the sea is cold, but the skies stay blue and sunny.

 



Currently in Nelson (Hop country), our next stop will be Marlborough. For any wine buffs out there, feel free to forward any questions you might have - we'll be sure to keep tasting at the vineyards until we get the answers for you.

Until next time, may your bubbles expand, but stay safe and well.