Goodbye New Zealand!!

Hi everyone, we are in Auckland again having spent a hectic ten days exploring some of New Zealand's North island. We leave here tomorrow to head back to Australia for a few weeks so this posting will be the last from NZ!! The map below shows the route (in red) we have taken over the past six weeks. As you can see, we gave the South Island a good going over but still left much to be explored in the North Island:Thanks in part to both of us having friends from the south island who assured us we needed to spend the bulk of our time there. As always in travel too much to see and not enough time.

Courtesy of Lonely Planet

Bay of Islands

We left Auckland and headed north for the Bay of Islands. The base for our travels was the town of Paihia which is where all the tours and trips run from. After much to'ing and fro'ing (Me to'ing and Alex fro'ing) we decided to book onto a trip called "The Rock". The boat, called "The Rock", takes you for an overnight trip into the bay. The trip was leaving the following day so we decided to spend the night in the town of Russel (accessible only by Ferry). The town was very quiet with not much to excite us, put it this way - we read a lot!!

The next day we packed our overnight bag and boarded The Rock. The boat is a converted car ferry which took the owner two years to complete. The downstairs is the day area with bar and seating and the upstairs hold the bedrooms. It was pretty cool and we had a good mixture of people on the boat which added to the fun. No this was not the "booze cruise" we were expecting (or hoping for?)


"The Rock"

The first day we left the town of Paihia and cruised for a couple of hours to a small bay where we moored up for the night. There was lots to do onboard including a shooting competition (airgun!!) and fishing. We both caught snapper but didn't have much luck hitting the plastic bottle target in the shooting.


Sara even managed to hit the water!!!
Sorry if my upbringing didn't include firearms!


Landing a snapper!!
Which was quickly tossed back because they were all too tiny to keep. I think it was actually a fish farm we moored in as everyone caught a red snapper.

The crew (mostly British) served us up a good old BBQ including some of the fish we caught earlier in the day - yummm! It was then to bed to prepare for more activities the next day. We both slept pretty well having been lulled to sleep by the gentle swaying of the boat (which got worse during the night!!). The next day we continued our journey through the bay which contains loads of small islands some of which are even contain holiday homes.

We moored up again in one of the bays and headed to one of the islands to explore for a couple of hours. We hiked to the top which gave us fantastic views of the the bay and also out to the Pacific Ocean.


The view from the top of our island

We all spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing on the beach, kayaking, snorkling and playing a bit of cricket. It was then back to the boat for the ride home. On the way back we were escorted by a few bottle-nosed dolphins - it was amazing just to watch them leaping out of the water a few hundred feet from us. We got to experience the "gentle sway" of the boat as Alex calls it for the next few days as we felt like we were still on water!!

Rotorua

After the boat trip we made our way back to Auckland for the night before heading further south to the town of Rotorua. The first thing that struck us upon arriving in the town was the smell - sulphur! Rotten eggs anyone? The town sits on a lively thermal area and is the main reason for visits. We spent the afternoon relaxing in one of the thermal spas with one of the pools at 41degrees!! It was great fun leaping out of the pools and into the cold showers but it does make the skin go a bit funny!!! The next day we made our way out to see the Lady Knox geyser which we were told erupts at precisely 10:15am every day. Well it does, but nature is given a little helping had by the local staff!!! Unlike good Ol Faithful they pour soap down this geiser to make it errupt each day! I think it is a dirty trick! When it is going the geyser reaches a height of about twenty feet and is pretty spectacular:


Lady Knox Blowing Off!!!

We then walked around the rest of the park (Wai-O-Tapu) which contains lots of bubbling pools and steam vents. It is like walking into another world, with stange smells and water coloured red and turquoise.


Me next to the Champagne Pool

We then headed off to a second park (Waimangu) for a two hour walk through the forest to see more steaming pools and one of the biggest thermal lakes in the world. It wasn't as good as the first park but the walk was good and yet again we had fantastic weather.


A view of the steaming lake in Waimangu Valley

With our days rapidly running out we decided to make our way back to Auckland via the Coromandel peninsula for two nights. Along the way we passed through one of New Zealand's main kiwi fruit growing areas and stopped for the obligatory photo:


Me and a genetically modified kiwi fruit!!

We spent two nights in the Coromandel Peninsula relaxing in the town of Whangamata. The town has a wonderful beach and as such is a big surf town. We also went to the local cinema to see the film Sahara - whilst the picture and sound were great the theater was needing a little attention to say the least. It amused us though and we both enjoyed the film. We were just lucky the town has a cinema as most don't!

We are just back in Auckland for today and then fly to Sydney tomorrow. You will all be pleased to hear that the Chinese have granted us visas, so I guess those background checks are not as bad as we thought!!!Or as thorough??? We have had a wonderful time here in NZ and so many great memories it will be sad to leave. So with a tear in our eyes we are off for more adventures - next stop Oz..................

South NZ to North NZ

Hi everyone and welcome to the latest thrilling installment of our travels!! Hey stop rolling your eyes!! Since last writing we have completed our grand tour of New Zealand's south island and flown to the north island. Read all about our travels below:-

We reluctantly left Milford sound and headed back to the east coast and the city of Dunedin. The name Dunedin is Celtic for Edinburugh and the city was founded by Scottish settlers. As a result the city has a very scottish feel to it complete with shops selling kilts and a statue of Robert Burns in the main square. We spent two nights in the city and also spent a wonderful day out in the Otago peninsula. Highlight of Dunedin- bowling- they had a bowling alley and since it has been years for both of us we could miss it! Alex won by one point, and I am glad too. I didn't want to play best out of three if I had won!!

It was then north to our last big highlight of the South Island - Mount Cook. The area is spectacular with a very alpine feel to it. We were blessed yet again with great weather and set off for the three hour hike to one of the many lookout points.


On the road to Mount Cook


Me and Sara hiking to the lookout point looking properly granola I think.

After a couple of hours we reached the lookout point and had great views of the summit and glacial lake. The whole area is dotted with glaciers including the largest in New Zealand The Tasman glacier. Once again, dirty glaciers, but this lake had huge muddy ice blocks floating around it.


Alex at the lookout point - amazing! His "I'm the king of the world pose!"

We made our way back home (our campervan!!) and after a stormy night we set off the following morning for the Banks Peninsula southeast of Christchurch.


Waving goodbye to Mount Cook from the Campervan!!

We stayed in the town of Akaroa on the Banks Peninsular which was founded by French settlers. As a result all the street names are in french and many of the shops have a french feel to them. We had great weather and spent our last couple of days in the South Island relaxing here. We also made a visit to the local cinema which is kitted out with big comfy armchairs and serves crepes and lattes and shows budget art house movies. A great way to end our time on the South Island.


The view from our campervan to Akaroa bay Can you believe, a view like that and we only pay about NZ$25 a night!!!

Hello Auckland!

After four weeks of staying in small towns in our campervan it was a nice change to be back in a big city again when we flew into Auckland. Not to mention the luxury of our hostel which had en-suite room!! Of course we did all the usual things like ummmmm stocking up on books in Borders and sipping lattes in Starbucks. We both loved this city and had a good wander round including a look at the famous Sky Tower landmark. As is everywhere in New Zealand - if it is high you can jump off it. We avoided leaping off the top, oh well there is always next time!!!!


Auckland's famous Sky Tower


The Auckland skyline

On Sunday afternoon we took a ferry across the harbour to the town of Devonport. The ferry ride gave us a great view of the city and allowed to view New Zealand's other passion (after jumping off high things) - sailing. There are boats everywhere and also many references to the Americas Cup which they are preparing hard to win back off Europe!!!!


Taking the Ferry to Devonport

The town of Devonport harks back to the Victorian era with its old houses and shops. We spent a quiet afternoon walking around and enjoying the beatuiful Autumn sunshine with the locals. We also had to gobble up the local delicacy of boysenberry ice cream - yummmmm!!


Glad to see the Britsh Empire influence is thriving!!

"Look Owen it is a post office box just like your pen!!! "

Monday morning and we headed straight to the Chinese consulate to apply for our China visas. It was as crazy as we expected with people everywhere and and not much organisation. We will be going to China in May so this was the time to get our paperwork sorted.This also gave us a small taste of how fun China will be. I never had so much fun sitting in a waiting room before. We have to return next week to collect so we will see if either the Yank or the Brit get rejected - I know who I am betting on!!!! Nice that I have to pay $100 for my visa and the Brit pays $60. I guess you get for what you pay for and I'm not cheap!!!

We are off to explore the Bay of Islands next and then south to experience so thermal activity in Rotorua. That's all for now folks, stay tuned for more and we look forward to hearing from you.....