October 31, 2015 Bay of Islands NZ

Apart from a good old wander around Kerikeri and a visit to the local market, our day was taken up with a ferry ride from Paihia to Russell and a cruise around the Bay of Islands culminating in a visit to the Hole-in-the-Rock.

Russell is across the water, 10 minutes by boat, from Paihia and is reputed to have been the original 'hell-hole' of the early 19th century, being a magnet for all the pirates, ne'er do wells and scurvy blackguards of the world. Today it is a refined quiet little village of nice little white painted timber cottages and of course the obligatory cafes.

The cruise turned out to be a 3 hour boat ride, out of Russell and past a few of the inlying islands, all with the occasional commentary. We even stopped to eyeball some bottle-nose dolphins, a bit of a rarity in these waters apparently.

Right out at the end, a surprise. A well looked after lighthouse stuck out on the end of the rocky point, still operation, even if it is a new solar powered light from a small box below the lighthouse.

Right next to the point is the Hole-in-the-Rock, a natural arch carved out of the rock of an island. When the conditions are just right, they drive the boat through for a little thrill. Today was not that day. A slight bit to the left of the hole is another crack / opening they call the 'cathedral'. Well, everyone has to have something to show the tourists!

Here's a few snaps:

Russell NZ

Russell NZ

Bay of Islands island

Bay of Islands island

Cape Brett lighthouse NZ

Cape Brett lighthouse NZ

Hole in the Rock. Bay of Islands NZ

Hole in the Rock. Bay of Islands NZ

Cathedral. Bay of Islands NZ

Bottle-nose dolphin. Bay of Islands NZ

October 30, 2015 Waitangi & Paihai NZ

Rain, rain and more rain.

Actually, the day wasn't too bad. We managed to get out and visit the site of the Stone Store and  mission cottage. The mission was established under the direction of one Samuel Marsden from Paramatta who had taken it upon himself to convert the Maori to Christianity. The house was built in 1822 and the store, to house and sell the produce of the mission farm, in 1830. By the the time the store was finished, it was uncompetitive with the freeholders and was sold to the Kemp family in 1832.

How the site survived the intervening 142 years until it was gifted to the Trust is a modern wonder, but here it is in all its glory for all (well, those willing to pay for the once a day tour) to see.

A pear tree, believed to have been planted by the original missionaries, which makes it over 200 years old
Kerikeri, NZ

The stone store. Kerikri NZ

An expanded and restored mission house. Kerikeri NZ

 We took a tiny detour to see the Haruru falls, not much to see here really, except chickens, which appear to be running wild all over the place

Harare Falls, Paihai NZ

From here we moved to the Treaty grounds at Waitangi. Now this is a fascinating place and helps you understand the creation of New Zealand as a nation. Basically, the Maori tribes signed a treaty with the British on the 6th February 1840 to give the British the right tho provide a governance in exchange for British citizenship and protection (notably from the French who were on there way). There seems to be still a lot of unrest on the Maori side concerning this treaty: they hold it as a binding honour and the British seem to have largely ignored it.

They have this huge war canoe which was built in 1940  by Maori in the traditional way from three huge trees and which seats 80 paddlers and weighs some 12 tons.

The first Government Representative was one James Busby, for whom the original house was built. I was quite interested in the house's construction as it was a kit house fully imported from Sydney Australia.

Despite anything else, the whole area is quite lovely, lush and green and looking out over the bay of islands. Viscount Bledisloe bought and gifted the entire estate to the people of New Zealand in 1934, which is why it is preserved to this day.

Treaty grounds, WaitangiNZ

The Resident's house, Treaty grounds, Waitangi NZ

The Resident's house, Treaty grounds, Waitangi NZ

The war canoe. Treaty grounds, Waitangi NZ

Meeting house. Treaty grounds, Waitangi NZ

October 29, 2015 Kerikeri NZ

Today we picked up our rental car, which turns out to be a great big Holden Commodore, bright green, looks like an overgrown frog. They told us that they were upgrading us from a small cheap 4 cylinder Toyota and doing us a favour. Now I ask you, who needs a 3 litre V6 in NZ where petrol is $2 a litre? Anyhow, doesn't matter, we were just glad to be out and on the road, driving into the driving rain....

Didn't see much, although the coastline is right there next to the road. We stopped at Whangarie for lunch and had a bucket of prawns and a shrimp sandwich at a place called 'Love Mussel' right on the water. It stopped raining long enough for us to take a little stroll and look at the boats before heading north again.

We stopped again almost straight away to go and look at the Whangarie Falls, which are pretty good even if only 24 metres high.

Whangarie Falls, New Zealand

Whangarie Falls, New Zealand

Whangarie Falls, New Zealand

Finally at 4pm we found our way into Kerikeri and our motel / cottage. It's nice enough and provided the rain (no wait, hail) stops we will get out and about and see a few things tomorrow.

Rent-a-car in the rain. Kerikeri New Zealand

October 27, 2015 Auckland NZ

Catch-up day, slept in!

Finally struggled out the door and across the road to a cafe for a late breakfast and to consider our options, sight-seeing wise.

Finally we settled on the big yellow bus which cruises around the city, gives a running commentary  of the passing scenery and lets you get on and off as it takes your fancy. We fancied getting off at MOTAT, the Museum Of Transport And Technology, and having a poke about the old bits and pieces. I was taken by the old computer bits and pieces, some of which I remember all too well! Needless to say there are steam engines and locomotives and trams, and also a small village. I would have said 'pioneer' village, but it's not a term we've seen used anywhere.

The Ferry Building, and part of the very long, very red fence that  was built in 1911 and once kept the riffraff out of the docks and wharves. Auckland NZ

Just what is a Melbourne tram doing at MOTAT in Auckland?

A cottage in the reproduction early-times village at MOTAT, Auckland

The quay at Auckland NZ

Following that we went for a wander around the waterfront, getting an ice-cream and looking for a suitable place for dinner. As it turns out, we were spoiled for choice so elected to stay in and have room service soup and club sandwich instead.

This place has a great pool and spa and sauna (and gym) on the 11th floor, so it's my choice for an end-of-the-day relaxation spot.


And then, another catch-up day it seems. Struggled out of bed at 830!

Today we went straight for the Harbour cruise. Nice enough float around a small bit of the bay with commentary giving us a tiny bit of history and current usage, and with a 10 minute stop at Rangitoto Island, a small bit of dirt that came up from the seabed about 600 years ago in the form of a volcano. Makes you think: 600 years is not even an eyeblink in geological terms; when doe the next one make its appearance? Right in the middle of the flat bit of reclaimed harbour that they call downtown Auckland....

After the cruise, I needed to visit the Vodafone shop which is near the city-circle-link bus stop so we thought we'd go back up to a place called Parnell that we saw from the bus yesterday. As it turns out we got off outside the Trinity Cathedral which was worth a squiz. It's a bit sterile for our money, but then it's only 40 years old, the first part build in the traditional high valued stone European style, the second half way more contemporary. Of much more interest is St Mary's church right next to it. Apparently it was built in 1886 from local timber as the parish church and it used to be right across the road from where it is now. These clever Kiwis jacked it up in one piece and just rolled it across the street to its present home.

We then walked back down Parnell Rise toward the city until we found something suitable for lunch.

The morning's cruise ticket also came with a complimentary ticket for the ferry to Devonport, right across the water from Auckland proper, so we went over there for a wander about and afternoon tea at the Esplanade Hotel.

That's about it for us and Auckland, tomorrow we get the car and head up north, we just hope it doesn't snow or bucket-down the entire time.

Oct 26, 2015 Look out New Zealand, here we come

We thought we'd do something different and take a bus to Sydney, and after Lauren & Daniel dropped us off at he Jolimont Centre, at least 1/2 hour early, we found that we could walk straight onto the writing bus. They must know something the clever little possums, because even though we were really early, we go the last double seat left...

Trip to Sydney was uneventful and apart from the noise and erratic speedup / slow down driving technique, not altogether unpleasant. The best part is being dropped right at the terminal which is right near the hotel, so that's good news as we are both pretty tired. Too tired to do anything but walk back over to the airport pig-pen and find something simple to eat before walking back to the hotel and crashing for the night.

5:30AM - yes, there is such a time and it's when we got up to go have breakfast and make it back to the check-in at the designated 2 hour ahead of departure time. Good news, I am officially not going to blow up as I have been scanned for explosive material. Bonus.

Anyhow after a longish 2 hour wait we made it onto the superjumbo for the two and something hour trip to Aukland. The plane ride was very nice, as they say in the movies. We were right up at the front and it's very quiet indeed.

"Someone" declared that we had biologics with s and of course we had to get scanned and checked and rechecked, but even then it was pretty much a walk through for customs and border security and immigration.

We then grabbed the Super Shuttle - direct to the city - only $42 for us, seemed a bargain. Except of course the one lunatic that decided that the best thing to do was get the bus driver to drop him off at some place nowhere near the city and so it took us damn near 1 1/2 hours to get the hotel. Fortunately it's rather nice, and the city isn't bad either. But then we are 1/2 a block from the quay and the ferries and we have our next two days planned around ferry rides already.

So that's it, let the adventure begin.

Cheers, Brian & Judy