Vancouver (2)

A dull start, but then bright and sunny though only just above zero - suppose we had better get used to it!

We had a bit of a lazy start, a leisurely breakfast and then a bracing walk to Stanley Park, having got there via the water waterfront passing by expensive boats on one side and a few ferraris on the other!


The sun shining on the snow capped mountains was a great improvement on dreary yesterday, the diminished jet lag helped too.

Off to Montreal tomorrow and then to Ottawa on Tuesday where we will be catching up with the family....

To Vancouver

The journey from Auckland to Vancouver went smoothly. Our flight on 17th December departed a little later than the scheduled 1510, but nothing of significance, and the 12 hour journey to LA was uneventful, though I've never watched so many movies in such a short space of time!

We found LA airport (where we arrived at 0635, still on 17th!) very friendly when compared with out experience some years ago at Chicago, and although the queue for immigration was significant it moved quickly and was painless.

The three hours between flights soon passed and then it was on to Vancouver. The latter part of this flight gave us views of some rather large looking circles on the ground which appeared man made in the middle of a largely uninhabited area in Oregon. A web search since has suggested that these are large crop fields and the circular appearance is given by the irrigation systems which are based on a rotating arm. Our view showed these a brown concentric circles and the view on Google show them as green, so this would fit, though the kilometre long spray arm must be a job to handle!

After we had sighted these we started seeing the mountains, the early ones being snow topped and some of the larger ones further on (Mount Saint Helens, Mount Rainier, Mount Baker) looking like mounds of icing being covered pretty well from top to bottom in what appeared to be crisp snow.

On landing in Vancouver we joined a long queue for immigration control and this one moved less slowly. However, there was no hurry though we were looking forward to reaching our hotel and relaxing! Once out of the airport we soon found the Skyline railway station and a thirty minute journey followed by a short walk saw us at our hotel. It had been nearly 24 hours since we left our hotel so it was good to be greeted by a smiling and friendly receptionist who checked us in earlier than the 'official' check in time. Our room is a good size and has excellent views of the city - excuse the reflections butteh windows don't open!

The temperature in Vancouver is currently just above freezing; a sharp contrast to the temperatures enjoyed in NZ!

Last days of NZ

Thursday 16th December started with rain, only this time it did not clear up by lunchtime. We had been looking at visiting MOTAT, the Museum of Transport and Technology, so the weather confirmed that decision. We caught the bus for the 25 minute journey and then enjoyed looking around the exhibits which included a number that were “in steam”. One of these was a Scottish made 300 HP pumphouse double beam engine with a 16 ton flywheel – there is something about very large steam pistons in motion.... all the valve mechanisms are on show and, along with the mechanical regulator, were all highly polished.

The museum also includes a large tram restoration area, staffed by volunteers and with trams in various stages of repair.

One of the restored trams is used to transport visitors to another part of the museum which is the aviation section. Although this had some impressive aircraft including a fully restored Lancaster, the area was rather higgledy piggeldy which rather distracted from the display.

We spent about 4.5 hours at the museum before braving the rain to get to the bus stop and heading back to the city centre and our apartment, picking up some provisions on the way. It was then kettle on and clothes in the tumble drier time!

Then it was chill out time before starting the packing ready to leave NZ. We will be very sorry to be leaving, but of course looking forward to catching up with the family in Canada.

Auckland

Tuesday 14th December

RAIN!!!

Anybody with a garden in Auckland will have been pleased as this morning we awoke to heavy drizzle obscuring our view across the harbour. The quay had a new occupant as the (medium sized) cruise ship ‘Rhapsody of the Seas’ berthed at just before 0800.

We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast (not using the balcony!) and then headed off to Kelly Tarlton’s Antarctic Encounter Underwater World. This was a 15 minute (free) bus ride away and gives a journey through Perspex tunnels with the fish swimming round you (including a range of sharks, stingrays and other fish); a close view of penguins (including some very young fluffy ones) via a snow-cat ride; and walks amongst tanks of a range of sea creatures.

We had a very enjoyable few hours before heading back. We had a short wait for the return bus to arrive but as we had good views of the Auckland skyline and the rain had reduced to a few light showers that was a good opportunity for a short stroll.

The latter part of the afternoon was spent exploring Auckland's central business district shops (every other one seemed to be a souvenir shop) before dinner on the balcony overlooking the harbour, the weather now having cleared up.

Wednesday started bright and warm and got hotter! We opted for a harbour cruise which included the harbour bridge, the viaduct basin, the Bean Rock Lighthouse and the Devonport naval base as well as a stop off at Rangitoto Island, a volcanic island that emerged in the bay in a series of volcanic eruptions just 600 years ago. The trip was also excellent to get views of the Auckland skyline and for some boat and ship spotting.

We came back to the apartment for lunch and then headed off for the short ferry ride to Devonport (the ticket came as part of the morning’s cruise) which is a quirky haven much quieter than Auckland’s bustling centre. There we wandered through the shops and headed up Mount Victoria for superb views over the harbour and Auckland.

The temperature by now was well into the 30’s (apologies to UK and Canadian followers, especially the former who have apparently had more snow to date than the latter!) and having explored the fort at the top of the mount we descended to the plethora of cafes to select one for iced coffee and a bit of shade.

Before returning across the harbour we explored some of the galleries and shops including ‘art of this world’ where we spent most of our time talking to one of the staff rather than admiring the art! We also came across these chappies....

It was then time to make our way back across the harbour where we explored the quayside, admiring the incredibly luxurious yachts which were available for charter and checking out the array of eateries and watering holes.

Tomorrow will be our last full day in Auckland as we fly to Vancouver on Friday.... plenty to choose from to occupy ourselves but we won’t be bungy jumping from the Sky Tower or the harbour bridge!

Run in to Auckland

Sunday 12th December

After a leisurely start it was time to say our farewells and head south, admiring the famous Hundertwasser toilet buildings at Kawakawa. These were Hundertwasser’s final creation and include ceramic columns, inset bottles and garden roofing.

We spent much of our time visiting bays and dipping our feet in the water including calling in at Whananaki North and South, Sandy Bay (it was!), Matapouri Bay before heading back inland to Whangarei where we spent some time at the Falls.

After this we picked up the Waipu Cove road again enjoying the bays and beaches.
We meandered down to Mangawhai where we found a river side campsite which was one of the best we visited during our trip. Our evening included paddling amongst the local fish and helping two young girls collect crabs from the sand for their (temporary) collection!

On Monday we continued our leisurely journey to Auckland visiting Wellsford and stopping off at the top of the Dome Forest for coffee where we met Wohja Whabbit (below) and Julia the very friendly cat.

It was then onwards via Warkworth and Orewa before diverting off on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula for lunch at Red Beach (not red at all!). It was then time to pick up the main highway into Auckland before finding our apartment and unloading the luggage. That done it was time to take the campervan to the drop-off point near the airport where they kindly arranged a shuttle back to the hotel.

We were very sorry to part company with the campervan. After 6756km, 43 days and 42 nights it had become part of our life, battle scars included! It had started faultlessly every time, had frustrated us with its quirky automatic gearbox, not complained too loudly when we tried to use it to adjust the entrance to the car park at Bluff, taken us over dusty gravel mountain passes without a hitch and dealt with city traffic with ease.

Our apartment is a good size (especially after the camper!) and is just a few moments walk from the quay side. Being on the 8th floor we have excellent views over the harbour. We now have 3 full days and 4 nights in Auckland to enjoy the city before heading to a somewhat cooler climate in Canada.

Bay of Islands

Thursday 9th December

Another sunny start to the day saw us head to the east coast diverting to the Karikari Peninsula where our first stop was Tokerau Beach. Here the water was the warmest we have found to date and this time Mark had his trunks on! As we wandered along the beach we came across a couple of ‘Ray’ type fish at the water’s edge, these being about 18 inches across, we also came across a group of youngsters who were choosing their sunbathing spot, one of whom was fair skinned and already heading towards lobster pink!

We then pottered off the peninsula and headed east via Cable Bay where the water was considerably colder than Tokerau, and then on via Mangonui (very pretty) and then turned off for lunch at Totara North on the quay. Here there is a fish processing plant of considerable size and we were bemused at the size of vehicles that were coming and going along a relatively small road (albeit sealed) including a large lorry of ice which took the journey along to the end of the wooden jetty to empty its load into the hold of a waiting fishing vessel.

After lunch we took the scenic route via Tauranga Bay, Mahinepua and into Te Ngaire where again the sea proved too tempting so we loitered appropriately. Here we were joined by a beautiful black Labrador type dog who wanted to play. The rules of the game were not quite clear but did include having to convince the dog to release his bit of seaweed so that it could be thrown out to sea for him to retrieve!

Once this game was over we continued on the scenic route calling in at the Taraire Water Gardens. These were made by Aubery Westgate, a man who emigrated from Eastbourne (in the UK) in the late 80’s and included a forest walk and a number of reasonable size ponds at the bottom of an escarpment. The pond area had been a swamp and this had all been dug out to form these naturally fed ponds.

It was then time to find iced coffees (at Waipapa) before making the short journey to Kerikeri where Mark’s Uncle David is currently project managing a large housing and care facility development. We had last met about 25 years ago and it was good to meet up. The plan is to stay here for a couple of days before completing our circuit of New Zealand and returning to Auckland.

On Friday David took us for a short tour of the local sights (he had a business commitment at 11.30) including the Rainbow Falls, the Stone Store at Kerikeri Inlet, an excellent coffee shop in Kerikeri and some of the prime view points around the area.

While David was busy we took a walk along the Kerikeri River from the falls to the Landing; enjoying a walk around the Stone Store and lunch at The Pear Tree (aka The Landing Restaurant). The afternoon was then spent chilling out, including a swim in the neighbour’s pool.

Saturday saw us spending the day with David heading off to Waitangi where we toured the Treaty House where the Waitangi Treaty was signed in 1840. The house and grounds are quite magnificent and enjoy views over the Bay of Islands.

We then drove into Paihia, a busy little town with a temporarily increased population due to the Russell-Paikia sea swim competition being on. We managed to find a parking space and caught the ferry to Russell (which had briefly been the capital of New Zealand) where we had a pleasant lunch followed by a stroll around the town including a visit to a missionary house, Pompallier House, built in 1842.

The town has many art shops and one in particular had some magnificent individual pieces that would have been very nice to own were it not for the price tag and the shipping costs!

Here in Russell we also came across a Morton Bay Fig tree with incredible air roots. It had been planted somewhere around 1880 by the first collector of customs.

There were also some excellent examples of Pohutukawa trees, the New Zealand Christmas Tree (because it flowers at....)

After our tour we returned to Paihia for ice creams and then the short journey to Opua to visit one of David’s colleagues who has a house with incredible views over the bay.

It was then home for chill out time and get sorted ready for getting back on the road tomorrow.

Ninety Mile Beach

Wednesday 8th December

A sunny start to the day with a little cloud around, 15 degrees at 0700....
We headed off promptly as we needed to be in the next town (Kaitaia) for our bus pick up at 0845; we made this comfortably and checked in.

We managed to get front row seats and left about 10 minutes early, so we assume that all booked people had arrived! We then headed out via a few pick-ups to the ‘Ancient Kauri Kingdom’ at Awanui. This is mainly a sales outlet thought there is a workshop attached. We had a browse around before heading on for views of Kauri trees and the areas where they are still extracting buried Kauri from the ground, these having fallen many thousands of years ago before being covered by shifting sand.

We then called in briefly for a view of Houhora harbour and then on to the brilliant white sands of Rarawa Beach. This part of the east coast has many bays of fine white silica sand, this being one of the best examples. The sun was well up and the sand was quite hot, so it was a welcome walk on the damp sand near the water before paddling in far enough for one of us to get his shorts rather wet!

From here we moved on to the Te Kao store which sells the ‘best ice creams in the Far North region’. We ordered two ‘single scoops’ which were actually about three scoops tall; and indeed it was delicious! A sample of a ‘double scoop’ is seen here:

It was then on to our lunch stop at another beautiful bay of white sand at Tapotupotu Bay. A picnic lunch was provided and slipped down very nicely before going for our second paddle of the day and a second soaking of those shorts - swimwear was in the bag but it hardly seemed worth worrying now!

After lunch we had just a short journey to Cape Reinga itself. The last few kilometres of road have in recent years been sealed and there are these days full washroom facilities which apparently cost NZ$1.3 million!

Here we walked to the lighthouse down a made up path (another recent development we believe) to get magnificent views of the surrounding bays and outcrops and of where the Tasmin Sea meets the Pacific Ocean. We were assured that this is much more dramatic on a stormy day, but we were happy to settle for sunny and calm!

On the return walk Mark opted for the unmade path over an adjacent hill and this gave an excellent view of the lighthouse, though whether it was such a good idea to run to the top we’re not so sure!

From here we moved on to the Te Paki Steam where we actually drove down the stream and through the quicksands (keep moving!) to head towards the beach.

This led us to the sand dunes of the west coast, which are golden in comparison to the white sand of the east. Here we stopped and had the opportunity to try sand tobogganing which entailed walking through the stream before climbing the dune (burning feet time!) and then sitting on an overgrown plastic tray to enjoy the descent! Just like on the snow, but warmer and drier.

Then it was on to the real reason for the bus ride.... we continued down the stream to join Ninety Mile Beach where we hung a left (now heading south) and drove 74km of the 103km beach, much of the time at over 100kph.

We slowed for the crossing of the numerous freshwater streams that come from the ‘dune pools’, and also stopped off to see the local ‘hole in the rock’. Mark was still ‘sandy’ from the tobogganing and did a quick check with the driver to see if there was time for a dabble; very soon about half of the group were paddling.... and the shorts got wet yet again!

We also stopped to admire what could be seen of a car that had driven on the ‘wrong part’ of the beach at one of the freshwater stream outlets, sinking into the quicksand. Just the top of the window frame was on view – this is apparently one of a number that have sunk into the sand over the years.

It was then time for the final run back to base where we picked up the campervan from the bus depot and headed for the Ninety Mile Beach campsite at Waipapakauri where we camped for the night.

Firth of Thames, Auckland and Beyond

Monday 6th December.

Today we headed south through Thames and then turned west cutting down to Ngatea to visit the water gardens. These are run by people with a sense of humour as the gardens are littered with amusing signs and sights. The gardens were well worth the visit and we were escorted round by a gaggle of very friendly birds some samples which are shown below.

These were friendly enough to be fed by hand, though the middle one above had a rather sharp beak and when the food had gone....

The gardens also include Arthur’s Canny Museum, a collection of circa 30 years worth of collected drinks cans!

From here we followed the coast of the Firth of Thames through Miranda and Wharekawa to Kawaka Bay where we took a diversion to Raukura Point. Here we paddled in the sea (to mid-thigh level) before having lunch overlooking Ponui Island and an empty sandy beach.

It was then through a series of lanes to bring us close to Auckland where we joined the motorway to avoid the city centre (we’ll be seeing that later). This was incredibly busy and was just like driving in the UK! It did accelerate our journey back into the countryside and we were soon on to route 16 and onto Helensville via a short break to pick up fresh strawberries from a roadside strawberry packing house where they were packing strawberries by hand (they tasted delicious!).

North of Auckland the topography changes yet again and is of a softer, more rolling nature. We felt for a cycle tourist who was pushing his bike up one very long climb (simply ran out of gears or fitness!) and then, after we had stopped for a cuppa, we passed him again doing the same up another very long hill.

From these hills we had wonderful views of Kaipara Harbour and South Head as we twisted our way up and down through a series of ‘scenic reserves’.

Having been heading due north through Kakanui, past Mount Auckland and through Kaiwaka, we then turned due west at Bryderwyn to Paparoa where we stopped for the evening.

At this campsite we were one of two campervans. The other one was occupied by a French couple who claimed to speak very little English. We exchanged pleasantries utilising our very rusty French and their English. In the morning we got chatting to the French couple and between us got along fine with the usual ‘Franglais’. We had the same plans for the first part of our journey and duly met at the first two destinations of the day.

First stop was the Kauri Museum at Matakohe which we wandered around with our French companions. This museum gives a good history of how Kauri were harvested and processed with samples of Kauri wood millions of years old which has been found effectively fossilized beneath the ground. It also has a ‘Gum Room’ showing how gum was collected from trees (now banned) and how it was mined. There are also some wonderful examples of gum carvings, as well as some less than wonderful ones! There are some very large examples of slabs cut from single trees including one 22.5m long and another 6m wide. The display also included a plethora of Kauri furniture, a selection of the machinery used to convert trees to manageable planks and some interesting examples of natural grain patterns one of which is shown below.

It was then 1.5hrs drive through Dargaville and along highway 12 to the Kaihu Forest and then the Waipoua Forest. Today, unusually, it rained! Some of the showers were very heavy (there had been some overnight too) and at times we were high enough to be driving in cloud with the road reaching circa 500m.

The Waipoua Forest is home of the largest Kauri in New Zealand, so we visited Tane Mohula which is truly huge! It has a girth of 13.77m and a height of 51.5m.

On our departure from here we bade farewell to our French friends as they were heading for the Bay of Islands while we hoped to catch a small ferry to enable us to head north towards Ninety Mile Beach.

We continued following the coast road to Omapere where we came over the top of Pakanae Hill to emerge from rain forest and be faced with golden beaches bathed in sunshine on the opposite side of Hokianga Harbour.

We followed the road north east before taking the minor road to Rawene. As we joined this road we did pass a sign stating “Rangiora via ferry – suitable for all vehicles”, so it looked ok. When we got to Rawene there was indeed a ferry waiting for us; it had a capacity for about 15 cars and we drove straight on. The crossing was 15 minutes and saved us about 80 or 90km driving had the ferry no longer been operating!

From the ferry we entered an area that is known as very Maori oriented and which is apparently ‘anti-white’. We found no evidence of this but did not look too hard!

We headed north, then west and then north again passing through the lightly populated towns of Orawau, Broadwood, Herekino and Manukau before reaching the southern extreme of 90 Mile Beach at Ahipara.

Here we booked into a campsite before walking to the beach; we also booked a tour for tomorrow which would include a drive along this renowned stretch of coastline.

Mount Maunganui & Coromandel Peninsula

Saturday 4th December.

Today we met up with Dave Croft (ex student/colleague - see previous post....) and walked up Mount Maunganui. We opted to climb via the steep shady route and the views from the top showed the area at its best with the sun shining and surfers, canoeists and swimmers in the water.

‘The Mount’ is relatively (for NZ) densely populated with 100,000 people in quite a small area. It is also very much a holiday area, with the Bay of Plenty on one side, which has white water suitable for surfing, and the calm and tranquil Pilot Bay on the other. Off the end of the spit which the Mount is on is the Maori owned Matakana Island with its miles of white sandy beaches and a very limited population.

After our return down to sea level (via a less steep but sunnier route) Dave drove us through the town which is very much a ‘resort’, and back to his place for lunch and to meet his wife Gerri, mum-in-law Jenny and adorable daughter Leila who is rapidly approaching 1 year old.

After lunch Heather and I walked back along the beach to the campsite (40 minutes), encountering a plethora of jelly fish as well as numerous swimmers, surfers and sunbathers. We then chilled for the rest of the day apart from walking into the local ‘Plaza’ which was somewhat limited, but fortunately only 10 minutes walk away!

Sunday 5th December.

The morning started a little grey, but warm. It soon burnt off to give another hot and sunny day with a fair bit of cloud on the mountains.

We headed through Tauranga following Highway 2 with wonderful views of Tauranga Harbour on our right and the Kaimai Mamaku Forest on our left. We were soon in the Coromandel Forest Park following the Pacific Coastal Highway as it dipped in and out of coves giving us alternating beach and cliff top views. The area is quite mountainous and the road zig-zagged up and down making for some interesting driving to gain those incredible views.

We stopped in Whangamata for coffee and explored the town, which like most NZ townships was based almost entirely along the main road through it. Whangamata has actually been by-passed which reduces traffic, but it was quite busy as the beaches along this coast are of golden sand with sufficient surf to attract surfers as well as swimmers, sun-worshipers and 'boaties'.

We then continued through Tairua turning off at Whenuakite to Hot Water Beach. Here you can dig a hole in the sandy beach and have it fill with hot water. It was necessary to do this in such a way that the sea also added cold as otherwise scalding was a serious risk! As we approached the area it was quite clear where the springs were as there was a considerable gathering of people sitting in a selection of holes!

It was a strange sensation to have the cool sea wash over your feet with the soles of your feet being in hot water......

We then headed on via Cathedral Cove, Cooks Bay and Cooks Beach to Ferry Landing; however our intention of then cutting to Whitianga was thwarted as the only way across was by passenger ferry and we didn’t feel we could abandon the campervan just yet!

So it was back to Whenuakite and round the twisty roads via Coroglen and Kaimarama, passing through Whitianga and as far north as Kuaotunu where we took the small road to Matarangi and enjoyed tea overlooking Wainuiototo Bay.

We then returned to the (relatively) main road and turned west to cross the Coromandel Range (with magnificent views from the top) and down into Coromandel Town.

Here we joined the west coast which in direct contrast to the east is rocky with just a few sheltered bays of grey sand. The road literally follows the coast with very little separating the road from the sea.

We followed this through its twists and turns to Tapu where we took one look at the campsite and kept going! It was then a short way on to Te Puru where we were much more impressed and booked in before taking a stroll along the beach. We had tried booking in to a more ‘rural’ campsite by a mountain stream but were advised that as they had a youth group of some 70 youngsters it would be better to go elsewhere!