Goodbye New Zealand

Saturday was another warm, sunny day in Russell. However unfortunately we had to leave because it was the last day of our holiday. I would very much like to return to visit the Bay of Islands and definitely stay at The Gables again, it is such an amazing apartment in a perfect location. 

The journey to Auckland was pleasant and of course included one last brunch, but we were very sad saying goodbye to Jamie and Aisling at the airport. 

I have never been in such an empty plane as on the first leg of our journey, from Auckland to Melbourne. It was fantastic. It must have been only about a fifth full and as a result it felt very spacious and somehow more relaxing. The same could not be said about our next flight from Melbourne to Dubai, which was almost full.  James and I had adopted the strategy of booking a window and an aisle seat in the hope that nobody would book the middle seat between us. However as the flight filled up I became convinced that someone would turn up to claim the seat. I watched the last few stragglers like a hawk as they came onto the plane and approached our row - but we were so lucky! The seat remained free which meant that we could stretch out a bit. Happy days.

We made full use of the in-flight entertainment and both watched several films. I watched a couple of wee quirky art house films and then decided to watch Moana, the Disney cartoon film set in the Polynesian Islands. I thoroughly enjoyed it and the meeting houses, dancing, spiral and fish hook jewellery, scenery and even the men's tattoos were very reminiscent of those of New Zealand - after all the Maori people originally came from the South Pacific Islands.

The final leg of our journey was from Dubai to Glasgow; our total journey time was 30 hours including the four hours of stops in Melbourne and Dubai - so 26 hours of flying. We arrived home at lunch time on Sunday to be welcomed by David and Tom.

Twenty reasons to visit New Zealand in Winter

Here are our top twenty (in no particular order!) And there's still a lot of New Zealand that we haven't seen yet.

• Skiing of course - Coronet Peak and The Remarkables.
• Snowy mountains looking beautiful in both North and South Islands. 
• Waterfalls aplenty.
• Lots of sunshine - rain too but never for long. 
• Thermal springs especially in Rotorua but also Lake Taupo.
• Hot tubs - Onsen Hot Pools near Queenstown. 
• Spas - the Polynesian Spa at Rotorua.
• Boat trips - Queenstown, Milford Sound, Whitianga, Russell.
• Short hikes - everywhere in such beautiful scenery.
• Big hikes - for the very fit among us - the Tongariro Crossing
• Brunches and dinners - I didn't know that New Zealand food is so healthy and delicious. 
• The lively atmosphere of Queenstown - Fergburgers and Patagonia ice cream.
• Museums in Auckland, Dunedin and Waitangi where we found out about the history and culture of the country. 
• Plane trip to Milford Sound - and as a bonus this was much quieter than in summer, as were all of the trips that we took. 
• Emersons Brewery at Dunedin.
• Cafés at the harbour in Auckland.
• Wine tasting - Brick Bay Winery and there are many, many more.
• Hobbiton film set - again this is quieter in the winter than in the summer.
• Beaches - including digging your own hot tubs on Hot Water Beach.
• Wildlife - dolphins, fantails, bellbirds, tui and even a penguin at Milford Sound. 

Bay of Islands

We woke to a beautiful sunny day on Friday with the temperature a balmy 16 degrees. Our friendly tui was singing in the tree outside our window. We decided to spend the morning on a boat trip in the Bay of Islands. Aisling wasn't feeling too grand so she had a relaxing morning at the apartment instead. James, Jamie and I were welcomed by the friendly crew onto the catamaran which picked us up at the jetty. The water was rather choppy on the way out into the bay once we rounded Tapeka Point, but it was warm in the sunshine and we sat out on the top deck enjoying the views of the many islands and rock formations that are scattered around the bay. It was a spectacular journey. We came across a pod of about twenty dolphins and they surrounded the boat, swimming alongside and rolling over. Just as we were leaving them, two of them leaped in the air and did back flips! We arrived at our furthest point which was the amazing sea arch of Motukokako, and although the sea was too rough for the boat to go through the hole in the rock, we got scarily close and enjoyed watching the water churned my and foaming around the rocks. On our way back to Russell we stopped for about half an hour on Urupukapuka Island at Otehei Bay. It was so tranquil in the little bay, and we climbed a small grass covered hill. On the way up a very friendly fantail was hopping about and following me and even jumping in front of me on the path - it was such a cute wee thing and got so close! 

Aisling met us at the jetty; she was feeling much better and we all had lunch sitting outside the Waterfront Café in the sunshine. We had such a relaxing afternoon sitting on the balcony reading our books, writing postcards and watching the tui flitting about in the branches of the tree.

Our last night dinner was again at The Gables downstairs from the apartment. Quite a few of the other restaurants are being renovated just now (I suppose it's their quiet season) but we love it and we're keen to go back. When we took our seats we were surprised and very moved that Jamie and Aisling gave us a card and some very thoughtful gifts. It really has been a marvellous holiday and I will treasure our happy memories.

Treaty of Waitangi

On Thursday it was raining in Russell so we decided that it would be a good day to cross over to Paihia to visit the place where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840. There is a lovely and informative museum there, with a really good short film about the Treaty. My understanding (very basic!) is that the British had meetings with lots of Maori chiefs from all over New Zealand, and proposed their treaty, which declared British sovereignty over New Zealand. This was intended both to protect the Maori from unscrupulous settlers (both British and other Europeans) and also, of course, to take control of the country. One problem was that the word "sovereignty" was translated into Maori as "governance" which led the Maoris to believe that they were not giving up all of their authority. Needless to say, this led to clashes over the years and the Maoris lost out because they were soon outnumbered by settlers and also were not initially represented in the New Zealand government. However it does seem that a flawed treaty turned out to be better than no treaty at all, and prevented all out war while giving the Maori people at least some rights. 

After our tour we went to the nearby Maori meeting house for a bit of culture. This took the form of a haka; a type of ancient Māori war dance traditionally used on the battlefield, as well as when groups came together in peace. We quickly elected Jamie as the leader of our tribe and he had to square up to one of the Maori men, who did a rather fearsome dance. Jamie then had to make an impromptu speech of peace which he did very well, and the Maoris all sang and jigged about (extremely skilfully) while doing their signature staring and sticking their tongues out. All good fun, followed by a delicious savoury muffin in the café!

We went downstairs to The Gables Restaurant for dinner later and our meal was yummy despite a slight scare involving Jamie, his mild allergy to shellfish and a mussel in batter of which he ate half without realising what it was. Nothing too serious transpired I'm glad to say

From Whitianga to Russell

Wednesday was a big driving day for us - about six hours not including stops - because we decided to head to the very north of New Zealand for the last three days of our holiday. We facilitated this by setting off reasonably early and breaking the journey a couple of times for coffee and lunch. Our coffee stop was at the Buggers Café where Aisling and I took some amusing photos of ourselves. Our route then took us right through Auckland and over the bridge to the north. We had a leisurely stop for lunch at the Brick Bay Winery Restaurant at Snells Brach. It was in a beautiful glass building overlooking a small lake. The lunch was delicious and James, Jamie and Aisling also did a wine tasting. After this relaxing break I did the next bit of driving towards Russell. There was a wee ferry crossing just before we arrived at the seaside village. Our apartment is absolutely gorgeous; it's above the Gables restaurant right on the front and is very spacious on two levels with French windows leading out to a balcony overlooking the beach. Jamie ordered in Thai food for dinner and we watched The Hobbit. It was so exciting to see Hobbiton on screen just as we saw it a few days ago! 

Burnt Bot Beach

We started Tuesday with a slap up breakfast at the Harbour View Café in Whitianga, and then set off for a hike to the Shakespeare Lookout. This involved hopping on the wee ferry across the harbour entrance to Ferry Landing and making our way to the northeast tip of the headland. 

While waiting on the pier we noticed a couple sitting in a small motor launch and while chatting to us they asked us if we would like to join them to see a pod of bottle nose dolphins which were at the mouth of the estuary. This wasn't even an official tour - they were going anyway and just thought that we would enjoy it. And so we did! There must have been about fifty dolphins; we got right up close to them and some of them even started following the boat; they were swimming under it and then leaping in the air. It was a unique opportunity and we had a truly marvellous time. 

They very kindly dropped us off at Ferry Landing and we resumed our hike. We walked up Whitianga Rock to the remains of a Maori Pa (a pa is a fort) and then we climbed up and over a forested hill, which brought us to pretty Flaxmill Bay where we had a picnic. Then we climbed up a forest path to Shakespeare cliff. I was surprised that at the top it opened out to a grassy sward, which led to a panoramic viewpoint which looked over Mercury Bay (named by Captain Cook when he moored there in 1769 to observe a transit of the planet Mercury). It was a goodly walk and very pleasant, especially when we were entertained by some very tame wagtails who hopped about near us and followed us for a while. 

Our next adventure was to visit Hot Water Beach. This beach is famous for being fed from beneath by hot water springs such that you can dig a hole in the sand to create your own spa bath! You have to do this within two hours of low tide, which on Tuesday was at 8.30 p.m., rather late for us considering that it gets dark at about 6 in New Zealand in July! So we turned up at about 5.30 and could see a small group of people down by the water near the rocks. James and Jamie borrowed a spade from a friendly young couple and quickly did a great job of digging us a roomy hole in the sand. It was so amazing! The water is as hot as a warm bath, and in fact in places it was almost too hot! It was such a strange and unusual experience to be lying in a hot pool on a beach as it got dark! We all loved it!

We went on an adventure!

On Monday we packed up and left Lake Taupo to head north. I really like the Lake Taupo area and would love to return one day, it's so beautiful.

Our next destination was Hobbiton! We were so excited and I'm glad to say it was fantastic! It's set on a farm, and the location was spotted by Peter Jackson when he was searching for a suitable location by helicopter. It was built for the filming of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and then rebuilt for The Hobbit. At that point the farmer came to a (no doubt mutually lucrative!) business arrangement with Peter Jackson to make it permanent and open it as a visitor attraction. They have made a lovely job of it. There are 44 hobbit houses, including Bag End of course, on a green hillside with a pond and vegetable plots, and they are so cute! They are so detailed with all the things that the occupants would require; the carpenter's house had little work bench outside with mini tools and the artist's house had paints. The gardens were planted with well tended flowers and there were little washing lines with clothes hanging from them. It was so fun going around looking at them. We finished our visit with a flagon of ale (or ginger beer) at the Green Dragon pub. I loved Hobbiton and it was a fantastic experience. My Mum would have loved it too.

After a tasty lunch at the visitor centre café - New Zealand cafés certainly know how to provide a varied array of excellent salads, pies, wraps etc., we continued on our journey north to the Coromandel Peninsula. We stopped at Cathedral Cove and went for a walk to the amazing beach with its huge arch and views of lots of sea stacks and islands; it was spectacular. The sun set while we were there and it was dark by the time we arrived in the little coastal town of Whitianga. Our cosy apartment was conveniently located in the centre, a very short walk from the beach and all the shops and cafés. 

Lake Taupo / Tongariro Crossing

On Sunday James, Jamie and Aisling went to walk the famous Tongariro crossing, an 18.5 trek across volcanic terrain. It was a beautiful day for it; not a cloud in the sky. I walked into town in the morning and had a coffee. It was much warmer today with no wind, so it was lovely walking along the lakeside. On my way back I took a few photos of the calm blue lake with snowy mountains in the distance, it was stunning. The Lake has steam rising from it in places from the hot springs beneath. I spent the afternoon at the pool at our apartment, swimming and lying in the sunshine reading my book (a biography of Angela Carter). It was so relaxing. I FaceTimed with Ally and Cat, who were in Yorktown in Virginia, it was lovely to see them. 

The wanderers returned happy but exhausted at about 6.30 p.m. and we all went for a soak in the hot tub. They had had a brilliant day walking in snow and using axes and crampons. A curry rounded off the day.