New Zealand North Island - Farewell to Minnie

Christchurch City Centre Fountain at night

Before leaving Christchurch, we had one last thing to do – Ollie needed to have a dinner of Roast New Zealand lamb. After a brief discussion, we decided that if Ollie was going to finally have his NZ lamb, we would be best going out. Reception mentioned the Oxford on Avon pub which does a carvery and when I rang discovered that lamb was on the menu; decision made. It was a very generous meal and good too. After the meal we had a brief tour of the city centre, which was quite beautiful by night.

Captain Cook plus acolytes

The next day, having dropped Ollie and Ang, we made our way up to Picton; it seemed strange not having the Kiwi Campervan either behind or ahead and although it was nice to have time to ourselves, found ourselves missing Ollie and Ang's company.
The next day we crossed over to Wellington up Queen Charlotte Sound. It was raining and a low mist clung to the hills so the scenery was not as spectacular as it may have been. The crossing lasted 3 hours and once out of the sound, there was quite a swell. We made our way up to Taupo - our initial impressions of North Island were that it is significantly busier than the South. Also we were not as impressed with the scenery, However, as we progressed, this improved with lots of gently rolling hills. In Taupo, Ollie had recommended a cruise on Barbary and we were very glad we followed his lead. We only had to be down at the harbour for 10:10 for our trip on Barbary. So a relatively easy start to the day for a change.

Barbary at Taupo

The cruise was marvellous in a yacht once owned by Errol Flynn, apparently born in Tasmania! The rain we had had first thing had stopped and although breezy, it was fine. While we were cruising out, we were able to do a bit with sail but getting to the point round which we needed to go, the wind shifted and gave us quite a swell. I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to cope with the pitch and roll and the motor pushed us into the rollers hard enough to get spray all over the deck. I was glad we had worn our thermals and overtrousers as it would have been cold and wet otherwise. We managed to get a good look at the carvings but with the swell, we couldn't just let the yacht wallow and had to have some speed to maintain control. After the carvings, we put up sail and after we got past the point were able to make pleasant headway going down wind. It was a marvellously relaxing and quiet experience. Once back on land, again following Ollie and Ang's

The Huka Falls

suggestion we went up to see Huka Falls, a wonderful cascade caused by the river being channelled though a short and narrow gorge, then dropping 10 metres into the watercourse below. After a spot of lunch, we hit the road again to Rotorua, arriving about an hour later. A very early finish to an unusually stressless day, really. We booked our Hangi and rainbow springs tour so that we could see a kiwi in action.

The war canoe

The Hangi was wonderful and the 'cultural experience' which preceded it was interesting, even if one wondered how much of it was really traditional and how much simply for the tourists. I suppose it is the perennial dichotomy of tourism whether it perpetuates a sanitised version of the way people lived so that an insight is available or allows the tourism to destroy the way of life that was of interest in the first place.

Address by the Chief

We finished off with a tour of the Rainbow Springs where a trust has been set up to preserve NZ's native bird population with the aim of restocking in the wild. Presumably to help in the funding, the have a rainbow trout hatchery. We saw all sorts of sizes from 'fingerlings' to huge beasts about to be discharged. On the way round our guide explained some of the Maori beliefs and bushcraft with herbal remedies. The highlight of the tour was to go through the Kiwi enclosure where there were allegedly 3 birds. However, only 1 was prepared to show himself at all and he was pretty shy and very quick (they may not have wings but they would make great rugby wingers!); still we did get a couple of glimpses as he ran past us.
The next day we had planned to see some of the local volcanic activity but got up to steady rain. We decided to stay pretty local in the morning and see how things went before deciding what to do later. We managed to walk round the lake front with sulphurous whiffs all around. We saw various pools of bubbling water and steam vents all over the place. We visited the very interesting Anglican Maori Church (one of very few that are warm to enter) I was a little disappointed that photography was not allowed inside.

Anglican Church

One of the interesting features was of a window that overlooks the lake which is a sandblasted and stained picture of Christ walking in Maori costume. It is cunningly meant to look as though he is walking on the lake. The extensive Maori carvings were delightful and there is some more traditional stained glass which was very attractive. Interestingly, the list of priests shows almost all have been Maori. Opposite the Church was a beautifully carved Maori meeting house. As we walked the rain grew worse and we were glad we had proper all weather gear, the walking shoes amazingly kept us warm and dry, even though we were aware that they were wet. We dried out a bit over a Chai latte (thanks Ang) in the old bath house, then moved on with very persistent rain. When we got back to the campsite, we found that although our gear had held up well and we were dry inside, there were some beginnings of damp in one or two places, my camera bag was soaking and the day bag had given up the unequal struggle with the weather and some of the contents had to be dried out; fortunately our passports were OK! So we spent that evening with the heater on full blast drying everything out! We decided, not for the first time this trip that a variation in plan was required and would get up early the next day and make a long day of it, paying a visit to Wai-O-Tapu, the thermal park before visiting Hobbiton and on to our final destination for this part of our trip - Auckland. By this time I was beginning to get quite attached to Minnie, having resolved most of the early problems she had been reliable and quite easy to drive.

Lady Knox Geyser, Wai O Tapu

We got to Wai-O-Tapu at 09:30 the next morning, got our tickets and after a brief look at the nearest parts made our way back to the van for a run down to where Lady Knox geyser was. We had an interesting chat from a bloke who described its discovery by inmates at an open prison nearby then popped a bar of soap down the chimney. A couple of minutes later, there were bubbles and a few minutes later, the geyser started and reached about 10 metres. It was quite interesting if not actually really spectacular.

Silica Terraces, Wai O Tapu

We then went round the park and this was truly wonderful and fascinating, with colours, smells, steam, vents and lots of bubbling. I hadn't associated volcanic activity with quite as much water as was evident. After our visit, we had a quick look at a mud pool just outside the park. Watching the mud plop was mesmerising!

Mud pool, Wai O Tapu

Back in to the van and up to Matamata; initially to a garden centre on the main road that has made the mistake of calling itself Hobbiton. We were directed to the info centre in the middle of town and bought our tickets for the 2:30 tour. It was a marvellous insight into the making of the films and the problems associated with the contract terms imposed upon everyone. Seeing the set and the background provided by the very informative guide, Caroline made it all come to life. Sue & I decided to watch the trilogy again when we got home!

Bag End - just don't ask which

Back on the road again, we arrived in Auckland at the campsite at 7pm. pretty tired but very happy. One of the most notable features on this trip has been the distances. There are no motorways to speak of , the van was governed to 100k and one just has to be prepared to take time to get from A to B. The trouble is that it is too easy to underestimate how far that actually is.
The next day we caught the bus into Auckland from outside the camp entrance. It took just under an hour to get in and then we walked to the skytower and caught the lifts up to the observation platform and the skydeck.

Auckland Harbour

The views were wonderful from both but we agreed it was worth the extra $3 to go up the extra level. After taking in the breathtaking panorama, we went down to the cafe for lunch and a leisurely observation of the harbour area. We then went down and saw someone launch themselves off the tower;

Going down...............

it looks spectacular but I feel that someone must be lacking something in life if they need to do something like that to generate some adrenaline! We got ourselves to Mount Eden, then climbed this (unlike some members of the family) for another fantastic panorama of the city.
While returning Minnie to Adventure, she had one more final surprise for us in snapping one of her wiper blades~ as it was raining, this was a bit of a problem. We were shuttled to the airport and checked in, in good time. Needless to say, we were 30 mines late leaving. However. this was a QANTAS flight and we were treated to a splendid 3 course meal, finished off with a magnum (chocolate ice cream). We landed in Brisbane and got held up through customs as a result of having been in UK in last 30 days (foot & mouth since we left). A very nice customs officer apologised that we would have to take our shoes for a scrub. Through this we went to the Hertz desk where a lovely girl sorted out our requirements and set us on our way with maps and directions to Ollie and Ang's apartment. We duly arrived and went out for supplies for our next day. Oliie and Ang had already prepared a lovely evening meal for us and we settled down for last minute planning for the next couple of days before crashing out - we had an early start to make if we were to get to Hervey Bay in time for the whale watching – but what's new????.

New Zealand North Island - Farewell to Minnie

Auckland, New Zealand