New Zealand's Best Bits!

Ok, I know it's been a couple of weeks or so since the last blog ...! No excuses except that we've been back in Auckland since mid May getting things finalised for the next leg of our trip to Asia and planning ahead for the USA later on! We booked an apartment in Parnell, our favourite Auckland suburb, and planned on being there until we fly to Singapore on June 2nd. But it was not to be! Last Monday we found a small damp patch on the bedroom carpet. Didn't think too much about it and went out for a few hours. When we came back the damp patch had spread and it soon started to get pretty squelchy in there! By the time our landlady came home you needed your wellies on to walk in there! We spent that night sleeping on the couch and a camp bed in the living room! Seems like some sort of water source under the house had burst as by the next morning the water was still rising up and even starting to seep up through the wooden flooring in the living room! It was impossible to stay there any longer so our landlady refunded us the last week's rent and, after an intensive bit of laptop work to find another apartment at short notice, we moved to a new apartment block nearer to the city. We booked a one bedroom apartment for the same price as our refund but somehow managed to get upgraded to a swish two bedroom apartment with little balcony! That's never happened to us before and am not expecting it to happen again - but we're certainly enjoying it while we're here! It's a nice little treat for our last week in New Zealand! Which brings me to the subject of this last New Zealand blog ... New Zealand's Best Bits! We are going to seriously miss this fabulous country and wanted to remind ourselves (as much as anyone reading this!) of our favourite places! So here they are ... (Auckland Harbour shortly after our arrival in New Zealand, Auckland Sky Tower and Harbour, New Chums Beach on the beautiful Coromandel Peninsula, the bubbling Champagne Pool at Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Park in Rotorua, Mount Taranaki - probably our greatest physical achievement here in New Zealand! Followed by Mount Cook, Marlborough Sounds - the picturesque Endeavour Inlet and Snout Track, Mitre Peak on majestic Milford Sound and Lake Matheson).




































Hope you have enjoyed following us around New Zealand and please do come along with us to Asia for the next five weeks! Haven't spent much time there myself although CK has when she was in Hong Kong with the RAF. Not sure exactly what to expect although am pretty sure it will be very hot and very hectic! Looking forward to it already - Asia here we come!

The Far North of North Island New Zealand!

Leaving Napier we headed further up the east coast of North Island to spend a week in Gisborne - the first place in New Zealand to see the sun each day! (Had a very wet week though so didn't get to see too much of the sun!) So with about 3 weeks left in New Zealand we decided to take a trip right up to the top of North Island to Cape Reinga. Stopping off at motels along the way, we arrived in Kaitaia and signed up for a trip with Cape Runner which was the best way to see the sights and the only way to be able to drive along 90 Mile Beach (actually only 64 miles long! Maybe it should be called 90 Kilometer Beach instead?! Just an idea!) The day started out well with blue sky and sunshine - and then after lunch the storm clouds began to gather! As you can see though we were well prepared with our trusty waterproof jackets! (how attractive eh?!) Cape Reinga is where the Tasman Sea crashes up against the Pacific Ocean, and also known in Maori culture as the "Place of Leaping", where the spirits of the dead bid a final farewell before departing to their ancestors in Hawaiiki. Didn't mind the stormy weather at all as it added to the dramatic atmosphere of the headland! Fortunately the rains eased as we left the tip of the Cape and headed off to the huge sand dunes to try our hand at sand toboganning! The trick is (apparently!) to trail your hands in the sand as you descend as a kind of a brake. Otherwise you rocket down the dunes at what feels like 90 miles an hour! All good fun! Could have done with a bit more time there to perfect our technique but, with the storm clouds gathering again, we had to leave and return to the coach. Our trip finished with a hazardous drive down a section of 90 Mile Beach on our way home and, with the approach of dusk and the tide coming in, our guide was anxious to get going! Back in Auckland now we are planning ahead for our trip to Asia in June and then the US from July onwards. Accommodation is extremely expensive in the States which is why we have cut our trip short and will only be spending 4 months there. However we did come across an alternative accommodation option here in New Zealand which will be more in line with our budget! How do you like our new home from home?!!!

Napier, Art Deco & JJ the Cat!

Well, we are back on the North Island of New Zealand now, after flying over from Nelson (decided not to risk a second ferry crossing in case of rough seas!) Before we left Nelson we were lucky enough to see the futuristic looking "Earthrace" boat come into the harbour on its tour of New Zealand. It became the fastest powerboat to circumnavigate the globe in 2008 - making the journey in only 60 days! Very eco-friendly too as it's powered by 100% renewable biodiesel fuel! Massive stereo system on it too - we could hear it coming a mile off! We are now almost at the end of our week in Napier - the Art Deco capital of New Zealand! Have never seen so much art deco stuff all in one place! The buildings are fabulous - all ornately painted in different colours and designs! Have just posted a few photos here of the Town Centre, Daily Telegraph Building and the colourful row of small houses which are historic buildings known as the Six Sisters! Was even lucky enough to have a genuine 1929 Chrysler car pull up at the traffic lights when I was taking some photos! We've been staying in a lovely little apartment here in Napier - right on the sea front. Thought we had it to ourselves but on our arrival we discovered that there would be a third occupant - JJ the cat! He belongs to the owner of the apartment, who lives here when she is not renting it out, and so JJ comes with the territory! We didn't mind though as he is very friendly and adorable! Just a tad pampered though - as you can probably tell from the contents of 'his' shelf in the fridge which shows the daily smorgasboard that he dines from! He just has a little from each tin of food every day to give him a bit of variety(!) and then the tin is covered up with its own little cloth cover until the next day! Hmmm! I think he eats better than we do! We soon got into his little routine anyway and have managed to keep him alive for the week which is the main thing! And yes ok - we will miss him when we leave Napier - we admit it!!!

Farewell Spit!

Those of you who have seen the film "Muriel's Wedding" might be thinking 'Porpoise Spit' at this point and conjuring up all kinds of images connected with the movie! Forget all that! Farewell Spit is a 35km arc of sand which is the longest natural sand bar in the world! Wow! It's a nature reserve so you can only walk a short way along it. To go further you need to book one of the 4 wheel drive tours that are available - which we did! You can see CK posing by our impressive vehicle! We got to climb up on the huge sand dunes which felt like being in the middle of the desert somewhere rather than New Zealand! It was quite a calm day when we were there but it can be exceptionally windy on the Spit which means the dunes are constantly shifting, moving and changing shape. I lost CK at one point - but all I had to do was follow the footsteps ... there she is! The times of the tours depend on the times of the tides and on the day we went we had to set off at 6.30am! It was worth it though to be there on the beach when the sun came up! Click the photo to see the little oyster catcher admiring his reflection in the sunrise! We loved those little birds with their long orange beaks and earnest poking into the sand. Apparently they can crack open an oyster shell in 15 seconds! They run across the sand with their little legs going like the clappers! We saw a little family of 3 on the sands and our guide pointed out the chick as his beak was not yet bright orange although he was as big as his parents. The parents kept poking him and pushing him away as it was time for him to fend for himself but he didn't seem keen to go and kept following them around only to be pushed away again! How sad is that?! Just look at the photo of him on his own - he just looks so dejected! You just wanted to pick him up and take him home with you! It was a brilliant trip and zooming up and down the beach in the 4 wheel drive bus was fantastic! We ended the tour with a view of Cape Farewell where the little archway is. Our old friend Captain Cook left New Zealand from here after his first visit apparently!

Hokitika to Nelson and beyond!

Oops! It's been a couple of weeks now since our last blog. Sorry about that! Didn't mean to abandon you all in Hokitika! We enjoyed our trip up the West Coast very much. It was good to get behind the wheel of a car again and most of the time we had the road to ourselves! Had a spurt of creativity while we were in Hokitika and created some beach art! Got the idea from the town website and decided to have a go ourselves! Next it was on to Punakaiki, home of the famous Pancake Rocks. So named because the rocks are stacked up on layers upon layers, looking just like a whole plate full of pancakes! Then it was onto Westport on the Buller River where we crossed over the longest swingbridge in New Zealand which was very impressive (if a little scary if someone else was coming the other way and you had to pass them in the middle!) Our next and last stop for awhile was Nelson where we are at the moment. The main reason for staying here for awhile was to do some forward planning for the next part of our trip and enjoy being in one place for a few weeks! Don't think we will ever get bored with the view from our balcony either! Last week we hired a car again and drove right up to the top of South Island to see a bit of the Abel Tasman National Park and Golden Bay. We stayed in Takaka - funky little town with a very arty, hippy, organic, new age, dreadlocks & barefoot kind of feel about it if that makes sense! A highlight was Waikoropupu Springs and yes, the water was just how it looks on the photo! You felt like you could just dive right it! It's reported to be the world's clearest freshwater springs - the only place where there is known to be water of greater clarity is under the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica! We enjoyed having a few days to drive about again - passing rows of cute little mailboxes all lined up in a row, unusually shaped road tunnels carved right out of the rocks, climbing up to view Wainui Falls and walking some of the Abel Tasman Coastal Track after being dropped off by boat! We did all that in 2 days, either side of a day spent at Farewell Spit - the 35km long strip of land and sand dunes right at the tip of South Island - see separate blog for more details and photos!

West Coast Road Trip - just a few pics!

We decided to drive the next leg of our trip, from Queenstown up to Nelson along the West Coast of South Island. Most people seem to be doing the trip the other way round, judging by the traffic, so we have the road to ourselves a lot of the time which is great! Stayed in Queenstown the first night, which is right on Lake Wakatipu. Very lively town, buzzing with energy and definitely the place to get your adrenalin rush any which way you can! Bungy jumping very popular here! However we decided that whatever brain cells we have left were better left in peace rather than rattling around upside down at the end of a rope! We then drove through picturesque Arrowtown and CK found a shop she liked(!) onto Twizel, our next stop. From here we could visit Mount Cook. The drive up to Mount Cook National Park was fantastic, passing by Lake Pukaki where the water was the most amazing shade of pale blue you have ever seen! We have since seen it again in other places, as you will notice in the photos of Fox Glacier Lake and again at Hokitika Gorge - how beautiful is that colour?! Then it was a brief stop for the night in Haast, another one horse town(!) and onto the Glaciers. You can see CK posing up close and personal next to Fox Glacier! Franz Josef Glacier we viewed from a distance but it was still just as impressive! Then it was onto Lake Matheson for a great reflective view! Next stop Hokitika (where we are at the moment!) We just missed the "Wild Foods Festival" last weekend where they serve up all kinds of bush tucker such as stir-fried possums, goat kebabs and other such delicacies! What a pity we weren't here a few days earlier eh? (Hmmm!) Came across a few kiwi zones on our trip but wasn't too hopeful, being as they are nocturnal. We have kind of seen one in a wildlife place (although they were behind glass and it was pitch black!) but once your eyes adjusted to the dark I guess we can actually say that we have seen one! Wasn't allowed to take a photo though - guess the flash would frighten the living daylights out of them! Not a good idea! Visited Hokitika Gorge today - note the fabulous colour of the water again! Finished off the day with a Hokitika Sunset! The old bus is one of several similar ones we have seen throughout our travels in New Zealand! Seems to be the thing to do over here. Rather than buy a camper van, people seem to buy an old bus and transform it! We have seen all kinds of weird and wonderful ones! Then they drive along towing jeeps, boats and all manner of things behind them! I kind of like the idea! Wonder if it would catch on in the UK - what do you reckon?!