Well, it was time to make good on that promise, but constraints from Karen's working situation meant that we were limited to just twelve nights over there so we trimmed our plans to go and see the top half of the North Island with a further promise to explore the bottom half at some future date.
This is what we did . . . . . . . .
Thursday 7th
November
We had a late flight
arriving in Auckland near midnight and we had booked a hire car and an AirBnB.
Before we got to pick up the car we had some fun with
bio-security and our boots - they needed to be checked for mud with its concomitant risk of bringing in some disease. Given the all clear we trundled off to the car
hire pick up and we eventually got to the Airbnb at
2am
Our host was a garrulous old bloke who wouldn't leave us alone, but we had a decent sleep and an OK light breakfast
Friday 8th November
We head north and stopped off at a shopping centre in
Albany to buy a phone SIM. That went easily enough, but we ended up losing Karen's phone somewhere in the shopping centre, probably leaving it on a table at Muffin Break where we grabbed a coffee.
So we continued north on a long drive to a
quirky Airbnb in Omapere which is on the edge of the Hokianga Harbour. The drive took us through some protected forest areas and the road was twisty and gorgeous - loved it!
What a lovely place it turned out to be. The apartment was the ground floor of someone's house and it was set in an unruly but beautiful garden.
We took a drive out to buy some beer, wine and food and grabbed an
early night.
Saturday 9th November
Waking at a reasonable time we breakfasted and then headed off to the forest to see the Lord of the Forest Tane Mahuta - a giant kauri. This tree features in lots of Maori stories and it is truly magnificent.
Driving along the shores of Hokianga Harbour we came across some gorgeous views and a nice little walk.
Before we left Omapere we called in again at the shop to buy some provisions and grab a coffee at the little cafe when this ute pulled up.
It had a goat on the back of the ute - a little different to the dog that an Aussie would have! :)
From there we headed off across from the west coast to the east to Paihia and the Bay of Islands
Nice drive and not too far, but with some lovely countryside - some places didn't look too prosperous though.
Got to the motel and all good - once we were settled in we went for a walk around the town and grabbed a couple of beers at Good George before heading back for something to eat.
Sunday 10th November
The Watangi treaty
grounds was our destination for today and it turned out to be a highlight for the trip.
Once you've paid your entry fee everything was free to access from the museum (with some original documents!) to the cultural performance.
We loved it and would recommend it.
Here's Karen, all kitted out for a day's walking around the place - we needed to be prepared as it is surprisingly large.
The cultural performance started off with the ritual Maori challenge.
We then went into the meeting house and were entertained by this troupe.
The detail on the carvings was impressive.
This grassy area is where the treaty was actually signed and it overlooks the gorgeous Bay of Islands
Part of the grounds is devoted to housing a huge "waka" or war canoe.
This thing seats120 paddlers plus the steerer and the timekeeper. An amazing piece of work - it gets put out on the water once a year on Waitangi Day.
We headed "home" afterwards and sipped a beer before walking into town to dine at Charlotte's Kitchen. Reputedly the best restaurant it town it did us proud.
Monday 11th November
We normally do our own thing on holiday and drive ourselves - and we already had our hire car - but this time we were feeling just a little lazy and we booked ourselves on a bus trip to Cape
Reinga which is the most northerly point of NZ.
It was a bus trip, but pretty comfortable and (for me) it was an opportunity to look around and enjoy more of the scenery than the road ahead.
We had a few stops of course - the first being for morning tea at a place called Weipapakauri where they drag old kauri trees out of the swamp (wei = water, papa = land and kauri = well, a kauri - so land and water together mean swamp so the name means swamp kauri). Anyway, these trees had been growing some 45,000 years ago when a meteor caused a tsunami which flattened them and buried them. All these years later they can dig them up and the wood is still in excellent shape. They make furniture and "things" out of this wood and sell it at suitably inflated prices. One table we liked, and it was a fairly simple but well made dining table, was NZ$29,000 for instance. Still, what price something that old and exclusive?
No photos of that place, but we did stop off at a small coastal hamlet for a lunch of fish and chips - locally caught and delicious.
These pics give you an idea of how beautiful the inlet was.
Eventually we reached the top and walked to the lighthouse there.
Apart from being able to say we were there I can't say that it was especially memorable, but it was nice. Until it started raining anyway :)
Below is a picture of where the currents in the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean meet.
Back on board the bus and we headed off along the Ninety Mile Beach. It's actually just 56 miles (88 klms) long as Captain Cook estimated it incorrectly, but it is still a loooong beach.
At the top of the beach we stopped for some sandboarding fun.
This is our bus on the beach. It is just a 2WD vehicle, although it does have a diff lock, and that alone should tell you how firm the sand is.
Tuesday 12th
November
Continuing the tourist thing we decided to go on a cruise around the Bay of Islands and out to see the hole in the rock.
We were lucky with the weather (although it was cold enough) and we sailed off to check out the beauty of this place - and it is beautiful!
Having seen a few islands and been amazed we headed out towards the Pacific and the Hole in the Rock.
Guess what - it's a hole in the rock!
On the nearby island there is a lonely looking lighthouse
After spending a little time gauging the tidal flow we motored the boat through the Hole.
It was quite exciting actually, and when we got to the other side we spotted another hole in a rock - more of a window actually.
We motored back towards town and stopped off at one island (Otahei Bay) that had some facilities and we headed off for a walk around the island and then a beer at the cafe before jumping back on the boat to head back.
We enjoyed the trip out and we stepped off the boat at the "Hellhole of the Pacific" as it was known - Russell.
There we sheltered from the rain that had blown in and had a couple of beers in the pub. :)
And later that day, as we headed out for something to eat we called into a beachfront bar that was pretty nice.
Wednesday 13th
November
The Bay of Islands sojourn ended (sadly as we loved it) and we trundled off to drive to Pauanui on the Coromandel Peninsula. This took us back through Auckland, but the trip was easy enough.
We got there in plenty of time to walk around town
& the beach and see what there was to see. Which wasn't much to be honest.
There were a few small shops and restaurants and a sports club which is where we ended up having dinner. We had expected it to be a cheap place to eat (especially as it was "roast night") but that wasn't the case. Still, the people are pleasant and friendly.
Thursday 14th
November
Up early and we decided to look around the Peninsula and we drove to Whitianga.
While this is a bigger town it wasn't exactly an exciting place although we did take the ferry across the river and do a bit of a walk around. The pictures below tell the story.
We, of course, ended up sitting in a pub and we ate some slow cooked brisket sliders. Magic :)
On the way back to Pauanui we saw a sign pointing to a waterfall. It was about a kilometer and a half each way so not a big walk, but the peace and quiet and the splendid little waterfall were great.
Friday 15th November
We had booked ourselves on a boat tour out of Whitianga to check out the coastline so we headed back there quite early to meet the tour there.
This was our little cruise boat :)
The cruise took us along an amazingly eroded set of coastal cliffs with sea caverns and small beaches - check out the pictures:
The one below is reckoned to be James Cook's profile - he landed here in 1769
The picture below is of Cathedral Cove.
Remember Prince Caspian and the Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe?
Check out the tour boat in this picture - we'd be heading inside there soon!
And when we got inside we found a shoal of Blue Mau Mau just thrashing around - gorgeous.
Once off the boat we went of a drive and then walk to see some of these cliffs from the top.
And yes, we took a cut lunch with us :)
Hot water beach was another stop off on the way back. This place has a thermal spring bubbling through the sand. In the direct line of this spring it is far too hot to even stand there so the idea is to go a little way off to one side, dig a hole and let it fill up with a mixture of hot and cold water and flop around in your own little spa.
The digging is the hard bit - shifting more than a metre of wet and hard packed sand is hard work!
It was a fun day though.
When we got back we found that a bird had built a nest in the screen outside our bedroom window and was rearing three chicks.
I managed to get a pic of her sitting on the nest.
Saturday 16th
November
We left Pauanui with some fond memories although it was a bit too quiet for us and we headed off to our AirBnB at Rotorua.
We got there after a short drive and checked into a small place on the shore of Lake Rotorua.
The place had bikes to ride and canoes to paddle and was very comfortable.
We decided to grab the bikes and head into town which was Ngongoraha to see what it was like. Not very affluent is probably the best way to describe it so we decided to contribute to the local economy by buying drinks at the local
pub.
Now - have you seen the movie Once Were Warriors where the hero Jake drinks at a pub full of Maoris? Well that is what this place was like - we felt comfortable enough, but definitely outsiders.
So after riding home we stooged around before heading into Rotorua (some 6 klms away) to walk around the place and in particular one of the parks before heading into the CBD to enjoy probably the best beer I have ever tasted and a nice dinner at the Pig &
Whistle.
What was the beer? It was Moa's White's IPA. Recommended.
The park had some boiling thermal pools and some bubbling mud pools - check it out!
Sunday 17th November
Today was a busy one that started with a gondola ride up Mt Ngongotaha and a walk around the tracks up there.
This is a view of the city of Rotorua
Mt Tarawera is the small hill in the middle of the lake.
We left Rotorua and its horrible sulfurous smells and drove out to the Blue Lake. The walking track around it was about 6 klms long so a decent walk but not crippling.
Once we'd done the walk and had an ice cream at the cafe we headed back into town for another beer at the Pig & Whistle.
Monday 18th November
Our last full day here and we'd booked a tour of Hobbiton. We drove ourselves there with some trepidation - it had rained all the way there and continued to rain while we were there.
All in all though, it was worth it and we'll watch those movies again as soon as we can.
Come and take a walk through Hobbiton with us.
The tree above Bag End is actually not real and was placed there to match Tolkien's description.
The pub - The Green Dragon :)
Once we left Hobbiton we decided to call into a bit of a walk to a waterfall on the way home.
Check out this mad bugger!
And in the evening we went to a Maori Village cultural experience.
This would have been better if we hadn't seen most of it up at Waitangi, but it was OK.
The chief welcomed us and sent his warriors out to ritually challenge us, or our chief anyway.
The rest of it was a walk around the village being shown how they lived before being entertained at a hangi for dinner.
After all this we had to head home and we did so with some regret. We love NZ.
Especially the Whites IPA :)
