Orewa to Auckland Airport

Last night we went for a swim at Orewa Beach. It was lovely but nearly waveless and so shallow that 100 metres out I was still only up to my armpits. Afterwards we shouted ourselves our only fancy restaurant dinner of the trip. We had excellent curries but afterwards Lyn suffered so much that her suspected ulcer seems confirmed.

Orewa beach - near waveless and shallow

You can't escape the Lord of the Rings references - even in the airport terminal.

We got away from Orewa a little after 8.00 a.m. It took one and three quarter hours to negotiate the morning traffic to, and through, Auckland. Admittedly there were breakfast, stretch and petrol stops. It was a final triumph of Lyn driving and me navigating. (The reverse is always a horrendous combination involving bad language and near misses.) We had no satnav this trip but it was never a problem.

We dropped off the Corolla and got into our transfer van to the airport. The driver said, "You'll be early for your chicken". We have been here two weeks so we knew he was not talking about our luncheon plans but the preliminary procedures before boarding an aircraft.

We disposed of money in the shops and I won a $20 voucher in a promotion.

This is nearly the end of my free airport internet time and so the end too of this blog.

Hei konā

Toilets and Waterfalls

We left the idyllic Bay of Islands behind today and drove south towards Auckland.

At Kawakawa we found public toilets so famous that they are named after their architect - the Hunterwasser Toilets. Hunterwasser's influence extends to street furniture and street art.

I really wanted to photograph the inside of the toilets but I felt the other patrons might object, so google it!

We drove on to Whangarei Falls which were beautiful and had ducks and a nice young woman who took our photo.

Inevitably, there was an attractive toilet.

Lyn then shopped for clothes with some success.

Our last stop was at Warkworth. This was unscheduled but necessary because we found the town sign irresistible.

We have stopped for the night at Orewa just North of Auckland. We are about to go for a swim at the beach.

Tomorrow we head for the airport. 

Exploring Inland

ABrocke

I haven't mentioned this previously but every aspiring architect in New Zealand must start by designing public toilets. Here are three that we have admired from Rotorua, Napier and Paihia.

We had not done anything to acknowledge the traditional owners on this trip so we felt a bit guilty. As penance we went to the Waitangi Treaty grounds and did the tour. It was slightly informative, sanitised (except for the bit about Russell) and rather dull. The best bits were the spectacularly carved canoe and Meeting House. 

Lyn liked the carvings too. While we were snapping our pictures, two large Maori performers in full regalia and armed to the teeth walked out. The effect was a little spoiled when one fierce warrior said to the other, "I really need to hydrate".

Oh - the bit about Russell. This area is the first area of European settlement. There were missionaries, whalers, traders and escaped convicts from Australia. Today the latter were blamed for Russell gaining the reputation of being, "the Hellhole of the Pacific". This would sound more serious if the locals didn't keep pronouncing it, "Hullholl of thuh Pissifuk".

Then we drove off inland. First we saw Haruru Falls (see above).

Then we saw the two oldest European buildings in New Zealand. They are in a beautiful recreation reserve in Kerikeri. The most impressive is a stone store called the "Stone Store". 

The Stone Store is in the background. Lyn is looking at the ducks.

Happy to be near ducks.

Happy to be near Lyn

Then we saw the beautiful Rainbow Falls which have a rainbow.

Then we went further inland to Pukenui Forest to see big Kauri trees and saw them.

If Lyn looks grumpy here it is because big trees are scary (apparently) and she was afraid of getting lost. You can see that the path is very faint ... it was also a circular path ... but she was not happy.

Back in Paihia Lyn went for a foreshore walk while I powered up the mountain behind Paihia. I was nearing the summit, feeling mightily pleased with myself, when a young couple with two children about 7 and 8 walked past me on the return journey. At the top another couple were there with their dog. I felt a little deflated. Still, my iPad had recovered so ...

Then we had a last Bay of Islands swim. 

Tomorrow we head South.

The Hole in the Rock

"The Hole in the Rock" is disappointingly prosaic. I mean the name, not the place. Imagine if Taupo was called "Big Lake", Wai-O-Tapu was called "Muddy Holes" and Mount Ruapehu was called "High Mountain".

This morning we packed our gear and left on time for our boat trip. Conditions were Lyn-perfect, blue skies and almost no swell.

We saw Common Dolphins (who seemed not at all disconcerted by their name) and, of course, islands. We are still here in "The Bay of Islands" after all.

At The Hole in the Rock we sailed through the hole.

The skipper was a woman. So was the entire crew. So was the ferry captain yesterday. Lyn was so intrigued she asked one of the crew if this was some sort of official recruitment policy in action. Apparently not. I suppose they just wanted to employ New Zealanders capable of sailing between and through islands rather than knocking them over.

On the way back we stopped at Urupukepuke Island (now there's a name). We disembarked at a cove. After some skilful manoeuvring behind a towel, we went for a swim. We also ate our picnic lunches. It was beautiful. The bottom was scattered with starfish.

Most of the passengers had apparently not done their research and were reduced to climbing the hill or standing knee deep in their boating clothes. The land-bound folk also had to endure a large Japanese family. This almost mute couple looked on as their ghastly children fed seagulls until a huge screeching flock were all around, then ran at them chasing them away, then fed them some more, then pretended to feed them ... you get the idea I'm sure.

We finished the trip at 1.00 p.m. just as a few clouds started rolling in. It was a wonderful trip made all the better for knowing that if we had caught the afternoon trip it would have been in this!

We love this place so much we cancelled our Auckland hotel and are staying here. 

Tomorrow I'll probably be reporting from a place called "Big Trees" or "Water Falling Over a Cliff".

Paihia and Russell

We were at the start of our morning walk when we discovered a disoriented and upset runner called Padraig. He had been running, I'd even seen him having a dip, and now he didn't know where he was or where he had run from or to. We tried to help but were increasingly worried by his complete lack of short term memory. In the end we got him an ambulance and the story ends with him coming good after a couple of hours. (He visited this afternoon with his wife Christine.)

After this delay we set off on a ferry ride to visit Russell. Lyn found a nearly-finished Mass to pray for Padraig and then we lay around and ate our picnic lunch. After driving all day yesterday and the drama of the morning we were not up to anything strenuous. On the way back Lyn spotted dolphins. 

Back at Paihia wharf we booked a cruise for tomorrow after Lyn had carefully enquired about the size of the boat, state of the sea and wind speed - twice. 

Then we went for a swim in a sea so calm and shallow that the main threat to life and limb is the pebbles and shell on the "beach".

And here are two photos off the net.

The wharf at Russell and the little Paihia/Russell ferry - the May Belle

Russell's pleasant but not very exciting beach.

There you go!

The Long Drive North

Today we drove, with many stops to rest and play, from 8.30 am to 6.00 pm. On the journey we discovered the world's slowest Macdonalds and the world's worst hot chips - at different places thankfully.

The best thing we found were Hamilton's wonderful themed gardens. They overlook the Waikato River.

The turtle in the Chinese Garden

Renaissance Garden

I drastically underestimated the length of the winding drive down into Paihia and so we arrived in the Bay of Islands, very frazzled, to the sound of the Corolla beeping a fuel warning. Our frayed nerves were much soothed by the view from our brilliant hotel unit.

Lyn is demanding gin-rummy revenge so that is the end of today's report.

Mount Ruapehu

Here we are in what looks very like Mordor: vast basalt and lichen wastes, impossible crags and lowering volcanoes. You even hear the strange guttural language of marauding Orcs - though the source is usually just German hikers.

We tried very hard to rest all morning but by 11ish we were on our way to Mount Ruapehu. The drive up to the alpine village was a geography/geology excursion on its own. Eventually we reached the chairlift which can only operate if the weight of all passengers is reduced by thirty dollars.

Between the money and Lyn's obvious unease I doubted we would be going further. However Lyn demonstrated a Bilbo like sense of adventure (after due interrogation of the chairlift operator). He must have impressed as a "nice man" because up we went.

I doubt any of the many photos I took today will convey a sense of this magnificently intimidating  landscape. The trip is actually two chairlifts one after another.

We walked to the point where the trail began to cross snow at which point we turned around. There were spectacular sights all around but the summit had been obscured for hours by the usual cloud. We were walking back toward the chairlift and voila!

Back at the village we did the short walk out to Meads Wall which is one of the Lord of the Rings locations. At the furthest point of this walk there is a volcanic dyke which rears above the glacial valley. Breathstopping. The hobbits got lost here. But we didn't.

We decided that was sufficient adventure for a day so we have returned to our hut. Lyn is sleeping the sleep of the virtuous as I write. Tomorrow we face a very long drive to the Bay of Islands. So long in fact that we might stay somewhere along the way.