New Zealand - Island Hopping

Do we not like that - getting up and leaving the hotel for 06:30 - it's supposed to be a holiday. Still, we once again marvelled at our luck at the weather - day of travel = rain. Bad news was this was accompanied by wind and lumpy seas.

We were on board the 08:35 ferry and set sail. The tannoy reassuringly stated the sea conditions in the Cook Strait (exposed bit between the islands) was 'moderate' and he hoped 'we didn't have too unpleasant a journey'. Alice was doped up on travel sickness pills and I was suffering from cask ale stomach...didn't help watching everyone walking around like drunkards and dashing for the white bags conveniently located around the ship. Feeling less than perfect I tried the sun deck on deck-10.


Having recovered from the sensation of having my eyes forced through the back of my head from the front I decided to try the viewing decks on the side - there are a whole range of pictures on board with pond like seas and beautiful views - we got lumpy seas and limited visibility. The trip through Marlborough Sound was still beautiful but not at its best. We did manage to catch a view of some dolphins messing about as well - though not sure the attached photo shows them clearly! What I also forgot - or more accurately didn't listen to, was that it's necessary to fill up the car with petrol before you get to Picton. We did get petrol but it was a little steeper in price - though still cheaper than UK prices by a mile. The friendly chap escorted me into the shop to pay (they had a tank full of aquatic turtles) and informed me it's the worst winter/spring he can ever remember. That's a nice and positive welcome!


Northern South Island has much in common with the South of the North. Flat fruit growing areas and mountainous terrain. We saw fantastic rivers, snow covered peaks and undulating fields of vines. It was a somewhat twisty road again but was great views. About ninety minutes after docking we arrived in Nelson. It's a lovely little town - two chocolate shops - plenty of eateries and also in the midst of an Arts Festival. We've managed to miss most of the events with the timing of our visit but loads of shops have displays of local artwork in their windows. It looks great. We wandered into town and found the resident Monteith's place - Plan B. Excellent lunch, beer and service - as we have come to expect. We then visited the i-site (the information centres here are bleeding amazing and incredibly helpful) to book ourselves onto a kayaking tour for tomorrow. We also managed to track down a bead shop - which was pretty impressive again - and more beads were purchased!

We got to check into our accommodation after four. Val and Wayne were out but had left a key for the neighbours. We have hit the proverbial jackpot with this place. Our room has a little office to one side (from where I am updating this), a fantastic wooden floor, massive bed, balcony with views across Nelson towards the sea and a claw foot bath. Can you imagine how excited Alice was! Everything is fantastic and so beautifully decorated/furnished. In fact, I felt the need to shave so as not to sully the place and was embarrassed to meet the owners and other guests without an ironed shirt!

Dinner out that evening was a cook it yourself on a hot stone kind of place - indeed the raw chicken presented to the American lady next to us was sent back to be cooked - she missed the point but then I had the chicken as well and was a little concerned about cooking on my plate! It was then over the road to the Ale House where Richard the quizmaster from Preston was entertaining the locals - it was Barry the owners 49th Birthday so the place had been adorned with balloons and banners as a surprise for him. Very pleasant range of beers but I had a Tui - as hadn't had one previously - similar to lots of other NZ beer - cool, refreshing, fizzy but rather tasteless! Quiz was tricky mind. Then it was back to base for a much needed rest before another early start.

New Zealand - Wellington

Wellington - the Capital - has more of an artistic feel than Auckland - or so the books say. It's also fair to say it's mostly walkable. Addam's family chambers to the waterfront was less than 15 minutes. It's also obviously got a University in the centre and has far too many 'bohemian' types walking around for it to actually be taken seriously.

We were again amazingly fortunate to find our only full day scheduled here was blue sky and sunshine. Not t-shirt and shorts weather but only one coat needed!

There's some pretty funky art and buildings around the Civic Centre but we didn't have enough time to visit everything. We spent the bulk of the morning at Te Papa - the Museum of New Zealand.

Now one of the things you find in NZ is that most towns exist for some reason associated with forestry, farming, gold, gum or some other commodity that was found back in the 1800's. Consequently, there were pioneer types ripping out trees left right and centre and farming for the great British Empire. Sadly this removed most of the natural vegetation but these pioneers faced pretty grim conditions. Nearly every town we've been through has had some minor museum tracking it's history. With the exception on the Kauri museum we'd not stopped - therefore Te Papa was a really interesting place.

Firstly, it's great for kids - so I really enjoyed it. There's loads of hands on stuff, things to try and lots to see. We watched a cool 3D short animated film about hw the preserved giant squid on display came to be at the museum, saw assorted stuffed animals (and skeletons e.g. pygmy blue whale hung from the ceiling). Which, by the way, reminds me that on the way to Wellington we did pass the museum of taxidermy. We tried to get in but it was stuffed inside.

There's things on natural history - a roll call of extinct species and currently endangered, loads on tectonics including a house that vibrates like in a quake and a platform you have to jump on to be rated as an earthquake...after a poor first effort I managed a scale 6! No idea what it meant but I got to jump around a lot.

Bizarrely, there was a corporate event on as well - it was the New Zealand Orthopaedic Association - we could see the De Puy stand just inside the door. I tried to get Alice to go in so we could claim flights on the company but there was nothing happening.

Big chunks of the museum were devoted to Maori culture while another equally large focussed on all the other migrants that have come and gone - tracing the Scottish, Irish, English, Indian, Australian etc immigrants as they came for new lives. All in all, a pretty fun museum with some great stuff - including Alice's best hot chocolate to date!

After lunch we managed to get our tyre looked at at Tony's Tyres (coincidence - nothing to do with our Tony). Twenty minutes later we had a shiny new valve, inflated tyres and swapped spare. Cracking service and for free - which is even better as the rental company told us they would charge us and we'd have to claim on the insurance.

In the afternoon we took the cable car up to the botanic gardens (or technically we were taken up in it - I hoped you'd know what I meant). Actualy a tram like thing similar to that which took us up Victoria Peak in Hong Kong but an infinitely more pleasurable experience. The Botanic Garden was in good colour but was somewhat steep in places. Hard work!

We therefore rewarded ourselves with tea in a pub called the Malthouse. It had a beer menu...with 15 pages of beers...roughly ten per page...though only about 24 were on draft. I had a cracking IPA (not the Brew Dog stuff - in stock but what was the point?). Closest thing to a real ale pub I'd found. Out of defference to one of my staff I tried the Townsend No. 9 Stout - it should have been a half pint - but a full pinta was ordered. It was allegedly cask conditioned - this meant it was the barrel sat on the bar which they lifted to tip forward to get beer out - it was very black...more so than Guinness and let no light through. I didn't finish it - we have a ferry crossing to contend with the following day and I was concerned that could unsettle me!

New Zealand - Wellington

Well guess what...another day on the road, another gloomy and wet day. Pretty miserable again.

The guide book suggests there's not much of merit between Napier and Wellington. But for a first timer it is still pretty amazing. You start with flat land covered with vineyards again and gradually move to orchards and then pasture followed by a mixture of plantation forestry and native bush. Some pretty impressive views on the latter half of the journey - but only after the wipers cleared the windscreen.

We stopped for lunch and a walk around at Mount Bruce Scenic Reserve. It's named after a conservationist who started using his land to protect rare and endangered species - particularly birds. Bad weather meant we were again not equipped for a full walk but we managed a few kilometres and saw some endangered birds, the feeding of some pretty large eels and also got to see a real live Kiwi - as in the flightless bird, not a local - admittedly, it was in an enclosure but it's still pretty cool to see one. Also saw some Hiti, Kaka, Kakariki amongst others. Enjoyable stop off point for the geek of the group!

We continued our drive through Middle Earth - Helms Deep, Lothlorien and a few other film locations were passed - we didn't stop - and arrived into Wellington late afternoon. At this point tension rose as I had miswritten the hotel address - Lane/Street - what's the difference?! We got to our hotel eventually and were greeted by the Addams family. We did get some free bubbles (fizzy white wine) but we've not drunk it yet. Waiting for the right moment!

What we also found about Wellington is that it's bleeding cold compared to Napier. Wind and rain were in evidence as I marched Alice on a random exploration of the City - always nice to get your bearings. Montheith's brewery pub the General Practitioner was our preferred hostelry for dinner and drinks! After a couple we thought one for the road would be good but Tony had informed us Mac's brewery was in town. We got directions and headed down. As it was a Sunday night we were about the only ones in there by 8pm and the bar staff were trying to clean down. Janine's wheat beer and my Mac's Black were good but we only had the one.

Minor argument ensued after I randomly wandered off to see stuff while Alice was shivering - not a happy bunny! Never mind - our earlier exploration had put us in good stead to find our way back to the hotel.

New Zealand - Napier

Napier - As the Kiwi's might say 'Awesome'.

On the other hand, we did once again find that Kiwi Friday nights are somewhat rowdy - even in a remote motel whooping and hollering can be heard until silly o'clock. At least everyone was enjoying themselves!

Lovely day, sun was shining, the sky was blue and we found a parking spot on the sea front no problem. Trust me though, it's no Scarborough. Beautiful landscaped gardens in bloom, fountains and an enormous gravel beach with meandering pathway which is populated by cyclists and runners. All of this moments from the city centre and the fantastic buildings - it was all too much for us so we did our usual and sat in apavement cafe savouring a cooked breakfast and taking in the views. Everone knew each other, it's Saturday but no shops open till ten, and it's peaceful. Lovely breakfast followed by a brief shopping excursion - there is a fabulous bead shop where Alice made a purchase or two! Napier as a town is beautiful. Destroyed partially in 1930's with an earthquake (7.6 Richter) it was largely rebuilt in an art-deco style. Buidlings are amazing, streets are wide and airy, nothings over a handful of floors high. Even the bollards and street lamps are decorative and art deco in design. Would recomment it too anyone!

After that it was back to the sea front for a fairly challenging 18-holes. We called it a draw but actually struggled to finish some holes - it was treachorous and hilly with plenty of hazards and out of bounds. That was supposed to be the fun family course as well. The accompanying photo shows the sheer delight of Alice after somehow securing our only hole in one.


When we arrived back at the motel. Alice (always been a sickly child) wasn't feeling so great and we had to deliberate about whether we should or shouldn't do the wine tour. A few pills later and it was on - we sat outside and awaited Vince Picone. We were the first in the bus so had the pick of the seats and a good chance to chat. Vince it seems, knows the whole of Napier and in particular those associated with the wine tours. To be expected. He's been doing them 18-years.



We started with Askerne (named after the Yorkshire home town of the owner's wife). At this point, and to confirm Yorkshire at the sentre of the world, it's worth pointing out that the other six people on board the bus were a pair of young women from Utrecht in Holland, an American couple now living in Harrogate and a couple from Sessay who moved to New Zealand four years since. So, in one way or another 75% were from Yorkshire! We were also really lucky it was a Saturday. It's the only day of the week that Gideon works - if you need to know anything about wine he's your man. He guided us through Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Gewurtzaminer (I need to check the spelling...), Rose, Merlot, Merlot/Cabernet/Malbec blend, Pinot Noir, Syrah and a couple of special wines including a dessert wine. (Gideon's number plate was K Syrah which we found amusing). Naturally it wasn't a full glass of each but it was a good start. We also acted as support group to a Lady Hedonist who'd tragically lost her husband (through illness) so had come to see Gideon for company. That must tell you something! We walked away with dessert wine - I never drink it normally.


So we continued on our merry way, through beautiful counbtryside, populated with wineries, vineyards, orchards and the odd small town. Havelock North looked very exclusive - we will need to go back. We visited Salvare second (the picture of me which Alice thinks is hilarious is actually there but only the second glass at the second tasting - it was going to be a long day!). Recently the cellar man had won a national competition so it was unusually busy. We had cracking wines, breads and olive oils! Naturally we purchased vinegarette!

Third was Nganakawe (or something like that). Again, will check when we find the notes! Frank our host gave us similar wines and also told us of some work to halt the appearance of aging he's involved with - the women in the group were suddenly very attentive! Strangely - and it's strange because we normally don't like it - we walked (swayed a little) away with a Chardonnay.


The final one's name currently escapes me (Moana Park) but we were welcomed by two friendly boxers and the owner Kayleigh. Lovely boutique winery. This time it was an ice wine. Something to do with a fungus on the grapes which makes them very sweet and almost raisin like on the vine. They're not frequent therefore it's a limited production every year. It happened to be in a small bottle like a dessert wine as a result so we kind of had to buy it. We're currently working out what we don't need to bring home to stick to our luggage allowance or, considering whether wearing all our clothes on the plane is just silly!


We felt the need for a quiet night after all that - short walk into West Quay's night spot area and a well deserved tea! Long drive to the south tip of North Island awaits us tomorrow so early to bed.

New Zealand - Rotarua to Napier

Well, after a lashing down on the night before we managed to get some good weather again. We left Rotarua and headed for a 'Thermal Wonderland' and Wai-O-Taupo. It was excellent. There was deep caves, coloured pools, squelching and belching mud and a soap fuelled gueyser.

Lady Knox didn't live up to her name entiely. Started off all aloof with a little smoke but given some soap and and an audience she ended up all bubbly and spouting off - typical really! Apparently, the soap is a surfactant which breaks down a surface tension barrier between two pockets of water - hot and cold. In so doing, the pressure is released and the gueyser goes off. Apparently Lady Knox has been soaped since the 1930's - that's got to be longer than Ramsey Street?!

At the park there was also the artists pallete and devils pools. Some bizarre and amazing scenery. Colourful and warm while at the same time very smelly in places and thoroughly entertaining. On the way out we stopped at the mud pools. J9 took some awesome photographs. We also bumped into a 'Kiwi' from Chester-Le-Street. Reckons we'd get jobs here ok!

We continued on toward Taupo but were sidetracked by Shawn the Prawn. A set of pools where a geothermal power station discharges warm water into pools. You are equipped with finely diced steaks and a cane with some fish line and hook attached. The rest should be easy. In the end, J9 was the Prawn Star and caught five - I mustered a paultry two. I also took the prize for most pathetic male and was chastised by a six year old girl for not unhooking the prawn like a man. I was trying to be humane! So I shrieked and squealed like a girl - so what!

Having had so much fun, and burnt J9's wrist in the sun, we headed on towards Napier. It meant we couldn't stop at Lake Taupo. We would if we could. It looked great and there's loads to do. Instead we left the Thermal Explorers Highway and went through some fairly mundane straight roads (which in NZ terms are a novelty) through working forestry. We soon left this behind and had some stunning mountain scenery. It's genuinely breathtaking at times. J9 managed to get a shot of a rainbow at our level. Yes - it was raining agin. We seem to have been lucky so far and got the rain in the car (not literally)...hoping that continues.

Tony and Sheila had done the prawn fishing so it seems only fair we stay in the same Motel - At The Rocks. Very nice. Short walk from West Quay, where we had ane excellent dinner. No Monteith's in the offing so I resorted to Speight's. Tried around five types and confirmed that even the tasty ones are a little too cold and rather too gassy! I could get away with it in Rotarua...

Tomorrow (Saturday) has a wine tour in store - and, prior to that we hope to see Art Deco Napier and visit a bead shop. Should be a good day!

New Zealand - Rotarua

Long day ahead of us so what you need is a good nights kip. Around about 3am, the thunder and rain sounded somewhat like the Edinburgh Tattoo but with the pipes faded out. Man alive, we had about 14 hours of very heavy rain. Chris and Helen had said they'd heard it was the worst spring for 20 something years but we hadn't really appreciated how generally wet it can be. So, for the next section you will see the words: rain, wet, stinky rather a lot.

Having deposited a fair selection of deep fried fish in a plastic bin we left the stinky motel room and headed back down the Coromandel Peninsula. We followed the same route down but I drove this time - thankfully, it was so wet I had to go dead slow and it didn't make either of us want to throw up our Uncle Toby's Cheerios! We passed through Wilson's Bay but didn't stop for the obvious photo gag - we've had plenty of other opportunities.

The intent was a walk around the Karangahake Gorge - an old mining establishment with assorted remnant left over including the conversion of the old mining bridges and tunnels into a walkway. Regretably our visit coincided with the 14 hour torrential downpour. We did about twenty minutes of getting thoroughly soaked before deciding we were totally ill-equipped for this kind of nonsense. We therefore set off in an increasingly misted up Green Machine.

While on the roads in New Zealand we have found a number of things: if a junction can be put on a concealed bend - it will be, the Green Machine's 4th gear is worthless on hills, roadworks require a 4x4 to circumnavigate the terrain they offer as an alternative, surfaces are designed to be slippery in the majority of conditions and in general you're never driving quick enough. That aside, the roads are really quiet at this time of year. We can't believe the choice and freedom in accommodation we can have as we're a little early.

Anyway, as we were wet through we continued to Rotarua - it genuinely stinks. Imagine rotten eggs or a stink bomb - imagine it city wide...you're almost there. The town itself is somewhere we gave little time to. There's the museum we should have visited and apparently it's a mecca for mountain bikers. Instead we went to the Polynesian Spa. Once there, it was a choice of venues dependent on ailments. J9 and I weren't willing to confess too much so went for the Lake Pools. A series of lakeside open air pools of 36 - 38 - 40 - 42 degrees. It is apparently very relaxing and to be fair, once you'd overcome the aroma it was like an extended bath - though stinky. We emerged sometime later with glowing skin! After this it was a case of J9 fighting for a shower space and me picking myslef up after getting concussion again from another wall mounted shower head.

The next stage was simply a drive to the hotel. However, we had discerned a somewhat ropey performance on the roads in the wet and found it was due to a flat tyre and not entirely my bad driving. After purchasing a fruit-fest for tea we headed to a garage to get some air. The psi gauge said 7...only 25 below ideal. We pumped it up only for an audible hiss to be heard - think it's a goner. Therefore had to change a tyre for the first time ever. It seemed to go alright so I hope we make it to Napier.

New Zealand - Coromandel

So, off we went towards Coromandel. Much of the route was the same as when we had headed North - but we took the quicker route down the East Coast. Basically lots of pasture, cows and as recorded by Tony, sheep dyed red at Sheep World. We didn't go - Welsh ancestry rumour quashed! We stopped to change drivers only in a Le Mans 24hr stylee. That meant I'd left the really sinuous cliff top route to Alice! It was pretty much raining on and off all day but just after we arrived the sun popped out and we had a beautiful evening. You might just notice that we're selective with the photo's - the sun always shines!

It was today we finally realised that Yorkshire is actually the centre of the Universe. Not only did the Kauri museum lady say she'd waited 47 years to holiday abroad, she then told us she was going to York Minster and to see Snickelways. Also, Rachel (the bar manager's sister from Auckland) is moving to Leeds and, when we checked in today we found Angela used to work in Leeds and her sister now lives in Wharfedale. I don't know why we left!!

To continue the theme of drinking Monteith's, we headed to the Star and Garter. Quality idea. A pub but, with menus from the two restaurants next door. You order, they bring it to the pub. The stack of ribs I had were amazing while J9's half a cow steak was pretty good too! Coromandel town is really quite small but very nice. The bad news is the bead shop - yes there is one - was closed as the owner's in hospital. Disappointing. Another disappointment is that the much recommended Tangarriro Crossing is snow and ice covered - therefore suited to Alpine experienced climbers. We reckoned that as Frodo did Mount Doom in bare feet we could try but then it must have been summer. We'll have to add it to the 'next time' list.

First and only full day was through another tortuous twisty mountainous road. The good news was that I did ask the man at the petrol station - who based on stature and beard looked suspiciously like he'd been at the Coromandel Bikers Club meeting in the pub the night before - whether the famed route 309 should be attempted. I felt the disdain for the Green Machine might have been masked better but he suggested the main road. I reckon the mighty Corolla could have done the unpaved mountain terrain.

So we set off to hot water beach - thankfully in beautiful sunshine. Bad news was we'd misjudged the tide. We didn't have time to dig a pool for ourselves but still managed to scald feet and hands exploring the beach and digging a little. It's basically two lovely beaches seperated by a rocky headland - the point at which several hot water springs emerge. We saw the bubbling water coming through the sand and had a quick paddle. Amusing watching the punters in their holes desperately trying to shore the defences and stay warm before the cold high tide waters came in.

Just down the coast was a lovely walk from a car park to Cathedral Cove - nice walk through woodland to a natural arch through a headland. Sunshine was rapidly fading behing the clouds but we enjoyed the walk and the views. We headed back to Coromandel and finally found the bakery - why had we waited so long? Self-serve cakes and bread and pies which I quote 'tastes better than Greggs' - a bold claim I know but I can support it - tasty. We also found the liquor store - now that had a fridge. You think they've no beer but in fact it's a full on chiller room requiring gloves, goggles and parker jacket just to go in safely. To justify the pies and beers we went for another little walk through a local walk with coastal views and Kauri trees before heading back to the motel.

Had a luxury tea of fish and chips or for me a 'fish basket'. By all accounts the snapper and chips did surpass the famous Monganui chippy but my fish basket was interesting! Crab stick, squid rings, fish pieces, scallops, mussells and chips. All deep fried and of mixed levels of customer satisfaction. I went on the basis if I could cut it with a knife it was probably alright. I should comment that there was salad included so it was a balanced meal. Ate this while watching Kiwi Rugby League team beat Tonga. Getting into the local way of life!