A Flying End to the New Zealand Trip

24 November

Our last proper day of the holiday and probably the most active. We walked from the campsite to the beach at Paihia and hired a double canoe. The weather has been hot and sunny all day and I was well sunblocked as we set off to find a waterfall that Dave had heard about. The lad that we hired from considered that we should find it and get back within four hours. However he must have thought I was a girl! We paddled there, and played about with the waterfall, in 50 minutes. And I promise I was not racing, although Dave complained that my stroke rate was too fast. We left the river at a slightly more leisurely rate as Dave called out the timing to get us in sync. Each time he stopped counting out loud the rate gradually speeded up again. Back in the bay we went to investigate some of the islands, landing at one to have lunch.

Then as both of us had tired shoulders and arms we headed round one last island and back toward teh beach. It was then that we saw what was going to be our last holiday treat.

Parascending! We had first seen it at Queenstown and had wanted to do it there but due to my illness had not gone. Unfortunately there are no photos of this although Dave had his Go-Pro with him and took some video footage. We were strapped to a parachute that was fastened to the back of a fast boat. then as the boat went forward the parachute filled and we were lifted up into the air. It was great fun looking down on everything and surprisingly comfortable in the padded harnesses. We were flying for about 10 minutes and were about 1200 feet in the air. What an amazing end to our New Zealand trip. Tomorrow we head to Auckland and the following day to San Francisco for a few days before the homeward trip. We will be back.

My Favourite Day - Tall Ship Sailing

The 22nd was simply spent travelling up to the Bay of Islands but the 23rd stars as my favourite day of the Holiday as we had a day sailing on a tall ship, the R Tucker-Thompson.

Anyone who knows me will know that I enjoy sailing and sailing a tall ship has been an ambition for a long time, and to do so in the sun sounded the ultimate experience! The R Tucker-Thompson is a replica so is actually a steel ship with timber cladding but it is authentic enough for the whole tall ships experience. The company who run it uses all the profits to run trips for underprivileged children over the winter months. They get to spend a week on it in a group of 12 which I imagine can get a bit cosy as there is only one toilet cum shower! However our group was significantly larger, probably about 30, and 5 crew. We were told that we could do as much or as little as we wished, including climbing the mast and going out on the bow sprit. Dave was the second up the mast, but the first to the top and as we had a good stiff sailing breezes and we were beating at the time, he had quite a tough job.

Later he likened it to being on a paint stirrer! Knowing what a good climber he is and seeing how he had to hold on I decided to give that a miss and instead headed for the bow sprit. That was the most amazing experience and I loved it. The first time was definitely the best as we were beating into the wind and catching spray every now and again. There was probably a 10 foot rise and fall as we went down and up the waves and once I settled into the rhythm of the waves I could have stayed there all day. However poor Dave had been shaken and stirred rather too much by this stage and the complimentary jam and cream scones were soon back, so he headed back to the deck.

We sailed out to an island and were landed there whilst the crew prepared lunch. There were opportunities for swimming or walking, so Dave and I climbed the hill for some stunning views.

After a very nice lunch we headed back with some more excellent sailing and bow sprit riding for me. For once I was not trying to make the crew sail harder and trim the sails better which is what tends to happen whenever I sail. (I blame Sam for that!). Dave admitted that the sailing was much better than he expected too so we both had an excellent day and I would not hesitate to go again.

Steam in Strange Places

21 November The next morning was spent wandering around Rotorua. Bizarrely there is a park in the town where thermal holes are fenced off.

Here and there are definite hot spots in the grass where you can see that another one is likely to break through at some stage. The camp site that we had stayed at had its own hot mineral pool that we went into. It smelt a bit of sulphur but was lovely and warm. As we walked around it seemed that virtually every holiday park had the same type of thing. As we walked into the town it was not unusual to see steam rising up out of drains or in a couple of places, billowing up out of holes in the road!

We found a Maori church complete with an etched Jesus in one window who appeared to be wearing a Maori cloak. And in another area completely was a replica war canoe with all its wonderful carvings.

After a bit of souvenir shopping, we were back on the road again. We wanted to reach the Bay of Islands the following day so planned to Free Camp that night just before Auckland and get past Auckland just after rush hour. More Wiggly tin appeared with a shepherd outside a church and then a sheep and a sheepdog.

The strangest thing happened when we decided that it was time to find somewhere to stop for the night. We were on one of NZ's few dual carriageways so decided to simply turn off and try to find somewhere to stop. It turned out to be a farm track leading nowhere and as we turned round, the farmer came out and offered us a field for the night! He and his mate had been buying in wild goats from the bush and there were lots of delightful little kids bouncing around in fields. We were told to make use of his quad bike to see what was down the river, and then whilst I threw sticks for the dog, Dave helped them figure out what was wrong with their very old Russian tractor. It needed a new clutch. It might not have needed one quite so much if the mate had hit it less with his hammer.

Sulphur Smells and Hangi

20th November A short walk around Taupo harbour in the morning looking at the big expensive boats and marvelling yet again at the clearness of the water. I was also struck by the way that things such as litter bins and toilet blocks are often beautifully decorated.

On the road to Roturoa, and we were heading into the Thermal area of NZ. There are large areas of thermal activity (and indeed volcanoes) and NZ has harnessed the thermal activity as a source of power in several places. However we were more interested in going to see some of the geysers and mud pools so headed to the Wai-O-Tapu (Sacred Waters) Thermal Park. We had heard that the Lady Knox geyser went off at 10.15 each day and were curious to see that and find out how it was so predictable.

In actual fact it is induced with soap and there was an amusing story about that discovery. There used to be an open prison in the area with very limited washing facilities. Two of the inmates decided to use the hot water of the geyser to wash themselves and their clothes and suddenly heard a rumble as the geyser shot their clothes up in the air. The soap reduces the surface tension of the water and allows the lower very hot water to mix with the surface cooler water that normally acts as a stopper, builds the pressure and whoosh. This does happen normally but not as regularly as tourism demands so an environmentally friendly bag of soap is dropped in and after a few minutes an 8 meter shot of hot steam sprays up into the air. The rest of the park was impressive with various bubbling pools and strange colours caused by different minerals. A smell of sulphur hung over the whole thing. Once again the birds impressed me with the Pied Stilt wandering around in the acidic water and looking for food. Perhaps they like hot dinners! The ground was often warm to touch although bizarrely not all the time. I don't think you would ever complain of cold feet though!

On our way to Rotorua we booked an evening tour at a Maori Village. A number of people had told me that it was 'touristy but must do'. I found the whole thing extremely interesting and quite moving. It was also very well organised. We were picked up from the campsite and along with about 150 others taken to a reconstructed Maori village just outside of Rotorua. The guide told us about the various ceremonies that would take place and we were greeted by a war party who danced threateningly and then welcomed us in. Then we were taken in smaller groups to be shown various aspects of Maori life, carving, dancing, various games that sharpened skills, and learning the Haka. Dave and I managed to be dragged into 'help' with various demos with more or less success.

Then came the unearthing of the Hangi meal. The feast was cooked in a huge pit over very hot stones, covered with wet sacks and left for several hours. It smelt delicious but we were guided away from it whilst they finished preparing it, and taken into the meeting house for a rather wonderful display of traditional and then more contemporary singing and dancing. Finally a short video of how the Maori have managed to integrate themselves into the new way of living. All the way through was a sense of 'this is what is happening, let's use it to make the best life we can.' There were many Maori involved, most of whom seemed to be related in some way and they all seemed to be very happy and committed to what they were doing. Although it was obviously a commercial enterprise (there was another sitting after ours and it was a nightly event!), we felt that we had got value for money, not just in terms of content of the evening but in terms of enjoyment from all those involved. The Hangi meal at the end was really tasty too and Dave's only complaint was that he had not been hungrier.

Rafting and Desserts

19 November 2013 As the rafting was not until the afternoon, Dave and I decided to cross the river on a Flying Fox, a sort of platform that you sit on and pull yourself across with ropes. Once across it was possible to zigzag up to the top of the gorge for quite a way. We had been warned to only go as far as the sign as there was hunting lands on the other side. Apparently deer are a big problem so hunting is encouraged. In addition Possum and stoats are a big problem although these are usually trapped or poisoned rather than hunted. However none of these were in eveidence and we had a nice little scramble up. The Rangitikei River is another very good rafting river and completely different to the the Rangitita. It is far warmer for one thing with much less volume of water. It lies in the bottom of a deep gorge and is far tighter and more technical too, meaning that a lot of skill and knowledge is needed to navigate it. Thankfully the guides were up to the challenge. Our guide Tom had lived in the area all his life and was a source of lots of information about the land as well as negotiating the river with ease.

The Maori used the gorge as a crossing place and Tom showed us the narrowest part of the gorge where they would jump across. The Maori are still a big influence in NZ and a lot of the place names are from their language. The river trip took about three hours but not all of it involved paddling. There were opportunities to drift and admire the weird geology of the gorge. In geological terms it is very young limestone, mudstone and something that Tom called deorilite (my interpretation of what he said.) There were also a lot of trees, mostly two sorts of NZ beech. Most of the paddlers took the opportunity to swim at one stage or another though I cannot see the point of getting into water unnecessarily. We also managed to surf on a couple of the waves at the bottom of rapids, our team doing considerably better than the other boat maybe because we were all experienced paddlers or perhaps because Tom really knew what he was doing.

All in all, a brilliant Rafting Trip. Now back on the road this time to Taupo. We had intended to stop on the side of the road and Free Camp but ended up heading into Taupo to find something to eat and discovering that the council had created a Free Camp in the middle of the town right on the foreshore. We went into a restaurant called the Waterfront and had a beautiful three course meal with the added bonus that the chef decided that we should have portions of all the four desserts available. Pumpkin and Ginger Cheesecake,with Liquorice and Blueberry Icecream ,Persian Lovecake, with Saffron sauce, Chocolate Marquis with Coffee Icecream and a Custard Tart with cream and Blueberries. I am hard pressed to say which was my favourite. We then dashed back through the warm rain to sleep under a Eucalyptus tree in the middle of a very nice quiet town.

Ferry Crossing and Wiggly Tin

18th November A lot has happened in the last few days, (I am writing this on the 20th Nov.) We had travelled to the beautiful seaside resort of Keteriteri with the plan of staying there for a couple of nights and doing some walking in Abel Tasman Park. However with internet access for the first time in a few days we first thought that we should book the ferry crossing from South to North Island. We had heard that there had been a problem with one of the Interislander Ferries but now we learned that it was out of action for six months reducing their payload by one third and creating a lot of disruption with crossings. Our only possiblility was using a different company, the Blue Bridge, and crossing on the Monday morning at 8am. Bang went our hopes of staying in one place for more than one night. However we decided to make the most of what time we had left in South Island and went for a walk around Keiteriteri. That is definitely a place that I would like to visit again. A shallow bay with little coves, caramel coloured sand and little islands dotted here and there. Behind the camp site was a solitary hill that we climbed, seeing a very pretty fantailed bird, and hearing another one with an amazing trill of song. Back at the campsite we spied a pair of birds about the size of partridges but the male had an interesting head crest that fluttered in front of his eyes, a bit like a delicate carrot on a stick.

Our now tight schedule meant that we had to head straight for Picton, unfortunately missing out on visiting the interesting sounding Nelson. Picton was an interesting harbour and we had a bit of a wander around there before heading back for a fairly early night. We had a rather nosy Weka on the campsight who seemed intent on clearing any possible crumbs from the campervan steps. Next morning we caught the ferry out of Queen Charlotte Sound. That was beautiful country much like a Fjord according to Dave and would certainly warrant several days exploring in its own right. Four hours later we landed at Wellington where there was far too many cars so we headed North immediately, pausing only to ring River Valley rafting company near Taihape and book a rafting trip for the following afternoon. Slightly bizarrely Taihape is the Welly Wanging capital of the Southern Hemisphere and has a wiggly tin boot to prove it.

Talking of wiggly tin, there is a very strong presence of this in the whole of NZ although possibly more in the South Island than the North. Certainly most roofs are made from it and in a lot cases the walls are too. I suspect there is a huge factory making it somewhere. We even saw one place where old rusty wiggly tin had been used as a canvas for art! We reached Taihape and I was definitely wilting as we set off down the tract to nowhere having been offered a night's camping at River Valley. After half an hour of very twisty roads with no real sign that we were any closer and the last of the chocolate gone, I was suffering with a sense of humour failure, when we reached the top of a very steep gravel track into a green river valley. At the bottom was the wooden lodge of the River Valley Rafting Company.

West Coast and Buller Gorge

15th/16th November 2013

The West Coast is beautiful. There is a huge diversity in the type of landscape that you drive though from flat alluvial plains to towering mountains. Dave's comments ranged from 'that looks like Norway' about the gorgeous Lake Hawea, to 'that looks like India but smaller', when talking about a landslip in the Haast Pass, and on one occasion, 'That's like Scotland.....on steroids!'. I didn't say much as my voice was still absent but the sat nav joined in on one set of hairpin bends telling us to 'do a U-Turn' followed immediately by 'Keep straight on for 68km' at least 6 times as she struggled to decide which way we were facing!

It wasn't until 1965 that the Haast pass was opened and so gave a route all the way up the West side of South Island. The Haast Pass was shut due to a land slip for a month before we got here and is actually still shut at night whilst they are doing repairs. The roads are not as wide on this side of the island and certainly not as straight but they are still pretty peaceful. The bridges are often one lane's width and in one notable place, shared a railway track!

We passed through several old 'Gold rush' town that had been preserved and I would have liked to have had a very short go at panning for gold but was dragged away.

Thanks to the Tourism Radio gadget in the van we did stop at several places to have a look at various sights that we may not have otherwise done, and so got to see some amazing Blue Pools containing massive Rainbow Trout ,and various waterfalls. And tonight we are staying at the amazing Pancake rocks at Punakaiki. They are limestone rock that really do look like a pile of pancakes, and in places have also worn away to create blowholes for the sea to spout up through. On our drive into the place I was delighted to see a Weka running across the road and we have seen another one since. My first proper sightings of a NZ native bird in the wild. I must admit that I had to go into Tourist Information and look it up in one of their bird books.

Tonight is one of our 'Freedom Camping' nights. As we have a fully self-contained van with a blue sticker on the back to say that it is so we can legally park up pretty much anywhere and camp. There are some restrictions but this site was pointed out to us by the lady at Tourist Information. Obviously we have no outside facilities at all here so we do some Freedom Camping and some on-site camping. The view out of the window here is truly beautiful. A large forest covered hill. Just across the road is the beach and in the other direction, a river that we may explore in the morning. Dave went to check its potential for washing but could only bear one limb in it at a time as it was so cold. His choice; I had offered to put water on to heat for the on-board shower.