May 21, 2010 – Auckland
When we began our journey, New Zealand was high on our list of places to visit. And, as we meandered our way through other countries, other travellers would ooh and aah when we mentioned that New Zealand was part of our itinerary. Carole, from England even remarked in jest, how “exhausting” it was rounding each corner to take yet another stunning picture! Our amazement for this beautiful land started on our descent into Christchurch. The approach took us through some of the most eye-popping scenery you will ever see…well maybe in Canada…but here it’s in a nice condensed package, we came to realize.
In Christchurch we picked up our Britz camper-van. “Bessie” would be our home for the next 5 weeks. This, for two people who actually are homeless… was magical. Our cube on wheels gave us a chance to actually unpack our meagre belongings and store our backpacks for awhile. So with the grinding of a couple of elusive gears and more than a couple inadvertent signals using the wipers, we headed for Methven and the 57th World Ploughing Contest (WPC).
Now, as most of you know, ploughing matches have not been a big part of our lives. Granted, it’s an admiral pursuit and we understand its importance for putting food on our table but we had an even better reason for attending…we were meeting up with some wonderful friends from home! Deb & Keith, Daryl & Sherry and Marlene & David had travelled all the way from Marsville and beyond to tour around NZ and attend the match. For those of you unacquainted with the finer points of world ploughing, there’s more to it than free yard sticks and beer gardens….although these are definitely regarded as key to an enjoyable WPC outing. Daryl, who is a pretty fine ploughman in his own right and has competed on the world stage (or should I say plot) was there to enlighten us on some of the more intricate details of what it takes to be a champion. He also looked dashing in his official “dip-stick” uniform. Sherry was quick to share her box lunch and Deb, kept us stocked up with bread, cookies and fruit… for weeks. Marlene, was our resident food expert who steered us away from the dreaded Kiwi mutton dog. She also seemed very skilled at drawing the most interesting facts out of people with her impromptu interviews…at one point we even saw her interviewing a couple of Clydesdales! To David, we owe a big thank you. He left us his Top Ten Campervan Park discount card to use and use it we did! Of course, with the discount card being in Dave’s name, we took great delight responding proudly “the name’s McClure…’Dog Shit’ McClure”! Deb, was her amazing self, jumping in to help out the Kiwi hosts wash up the banquet dishes each night and talking up everyone (she also has some fabulous interviewing techniques). We even met Lanny McDonald’s brother…how Canadian is that! Keith, always full of good cheer and a kind word for everyone, knew all the bartenders by name at the Blue Pub. Methven bar owners didn’t seem all that creative when it came to naming their drinking establishments…the bar across the street was called the “Brown Pub”. Keith’s double-shifting kept the Speight’s beer flowing and we tried to “drink him pretty” each night. The International Ploughing Competition attracts more than 30 countries. The Kiwis ploughed to a first place finish but Canada was well represented by Greg Timbers who finished 10th overall. Team Kenya struggled with the straight line concept but they did finish ahead of last place finishers Macedonia. And, that’s it for the Ploughing scores!. Back to you Les Nessman. All in all it was a fantastic 3 days with good friends, soaking up their great Canuck humour. It was “right enough for now” as they like to say over here.
The beauty of New Zealand is second to none. Viewing the pics (and we took heaps) are truly breath-taking…with all the credit going to the scenery and not our (well, Tim’s) photography skills or our cheap ass camera. By the by…we separated the pics into two albums, North & South Island. We spent 5 weeks touring both islands and saw and experienced so flippin’ much! It was marvellous and since we can’t share it all (whoa…was that a collective sigh of relief I just heard??), we’ll just share some of our more memorable moments.
We left Keith and all the clowns in Methven, and headed into the most beautiful series of turquoise lakes we have ever seen. Mount Cook and its long history of mountaineering (don’t you know Hilary started out there) still has some glacier action. After leaving East Asia, we found everything so well labelled, expertly researched and presented. You feel informed and just “smart” about it all….until a day later and realize we hadn’t retained a thing!!
As they say in sports, we had a cup of coffee at Dunedin….it had a very pleasant university feel to it, but we just didn’t have time to spend. However, it’s noted for the steepest streets in NZ, Ann had the pleasure of filling Tim’s pants, as she stalled on the steepest hill, on a 90 degree corner…in rush hour traffic. The Catlins area at the bottom of the South Island is rugged and far too windy to wear your Tilley – we pulled up along side the ocean for the night, witnessing a most spectacular sunset. And did we mention sheep…we grumbled the whole way through NZ about how the woolly buggers had the best views of anybody!!
Penguins, sea lions, and seals were in abundance along the coast as we drove on to Te Anau and Doubtful Sound – Captain James Cook named this watercourse ‘doubtful” because he questioned the prevailing winds ability to get them back out if they sailed in. And, it’s actually not even a sound but a fiord caused by a glacier gouge, but that may be a little picky, so we’ll cut Jim some slack on that one. The sound is 52 km long and is dotted with small bays and coves. Waterfalls gracefully cascade from the high peaks. Dolphins and fur seals …and some other creature we learned about and have since forgotten… were spotted as we neared the Tasman Sea. It was all just awe-inspiring. And then to top it off we were treated to the stirring sound of the bagpipes played by a old chap from the North Island. This was his plan B after his flight was grounded because of the volcanic ash cloud. Did we mention waterfalls….Lordy love us…we would see hundreds before the trip was over!
Queenstown, this is where Christine plans to work for Ziptrek Ecotours later this year and she’s going to love it!! It was picturesque and reminded us of a Collingwood. But what do you do in the rain, but retreat to the Pub on the Wharf! Good Beer, Good Times! I think it’s where we came up with the idea to write the travel book “Lonely Planet for Alcoholics!
We drove through artsy-fartsy towns, such as Lake Wanika and Lake Hawea (Marlene, you would have loved the organic fresh food here) we persevered through 5 hours of mountains…this place is one big mountain range, with roads carved through! The glaciers, Franz Joseph and Fox, yet again….we’ll say….even in the pouring rain, were impressive. We wanted to take a helicopter ride to enjoy an aerial view, but as beautiful as the clouds were draped over the mountain side, the copters hadn’t flown for a week. And, it was quite amazing seeing huge chunks of glacial blue ice flowing in the rivers.
We never missed a good chance for a “tramp” (the walks…not what our mother’s warned us to stay away from!), and plenty of them there were! One of our favourites was the Pancake Rocks …when the sun miraculously decided to shine through. Yet, another well marked path with flora and fauna well described, we, and I mean just us….virtually no travellers this time of year, stood in amazement looking at, what is still a mystery to geologists. These layers upon layers of limestone jut out into the ocean, positioned beautifully for the crashing wave show and accompanied by the thundering roar of pebbles being pulled out by the under tow.
Winding our way through hills “alive with the sound of bleating”, we arrived at Abel Tasman National Park. After manoeuvring along the 21km hairpin-curved, one lane dirt road (thankfully met only two cars) we found a perfect spot with no people, no electricity & no heat for 3 days of 3 degrees…lets cuddle nights. And of course, set out on another tramp! The bird calls are so engrossing and different. I don’t want to pull a Jane Hathaway, but I could become one of those bird watchers that I have poked fun at for so many years! The next day after a 5 hour tramp along golden beaches and rock climbing up to some stunning views, we settled down to some serious “hop rocker” beer and enjoyed the camping life under a full moon over the lake. Two bottles of wine later, we were as full as the moon, but not nearly as bright the following day!
We made our way up through Blenheim and Picton to the North Island ferry. Seemed huge to us…like a cruise ship without the casino….but whatta we know? I enjoyed the scenery and Tim watched some playoff hockey. He was one happy ferry….rider!
Deb’s bread is starting to get a little moldy, but with enough peanut butter and beer, we didn’t really notice!
Stayed in the windy capital city of Wellington for a couple of days…great little city….strangely quiet…all that could be heard was the footfalls along the sidewalks and the obsessional “please and thank you”. Kiwis are just so damn polite. Couldn’t say enough about their free and truly amazing interactive museum, Te Papa. We saw the biggest colossal squid ever displayed!!!! And experienced what an earthquake would feel like….oh Jessica, how do you do it!! We took the cable car up to Carter’s Observatory overlooking the harbour…we can now pick out Southern Cross pronto in the night sky!! Oh, and we so want to tell you about the gardens, the comedy show where Tim embarrassed all Canadians, not just me, and an exhibition on “Beautiful Sounds” by fellow Canadian, Janet Cardiff …it was out of this world!! But alas, ….no time. Gotta move on!
The Art Deco Town of Napier “Napes” (they give a gitchy name to everything here) is remarkable for its rise from practically total devastation in 1931. A 7.8 magnitude earthquake devastated the town and surrounding area killing 157 people. From that point, all new building took on a 1930’s design borne out of the Art Deco movement of the early 20th century. Lots of colour, zig-zag shapes, star-bursts and suns adorn the buildings along the broad, palm-tree lined streets. We biked to the monk-owned Mission Hill winery and it was also Napier where we were introduced to the green lip oyster. Just about the best oyster ever…huge, succulent and fabulous.
The palm trees that dotted the landscape became more common as we headed north (funny to say that, isn’t it ….heading north, getting warmer?) towards Gisbourne, or Gissy! We had arranged through Ann’s good friend, Nancy to visit her brother’s in-laws who owned a wwoofing farm. Now at first glance you might think a wwoofing operation would have something to do with dogs or maybe the manufacturing of roofing materials. But actually it’s an acronym for “Willing Workers On Organic Farms”. So, we go looking for the Armstrong “farm” and instead find this piece of paradise stretched out along the ocean. Gill & Colin live on this gorgeous estate surrounded by stunning gardens and ocean vistas. We stayed with Gill for 3 days (disappointed we missed Colin who was away sailing) and ended up helping to clean out the house of a dear friend of Gill’s who had passed away while travelling overseas. Maybe not the wwoofing experience we were expecting but Gill was appreciative of our assistance and we were happy to help out. Despite a difficult time for Gill, she nevertheless made our stay enjoyable. Heather, Ron and beautiful Zoe, whom I had met in Canada, had us over for dinner one night and the new addition to the family, Arlo, stole the show. Hands in the air “PRESENTS”!! No one else will get that and of course our stupid flippin’ camera failed us again!! So sorry no great pics!
Surviving even more beautiful scenery, we made it to Rotorua, the vacation spot for North Islanders. Camped on a lake, with the customary trails, blue and green lakes, tall forest, parks and caves…with glowworms! That evening, we enjoyed a traditional Maori cultural village, complete with a warrior dance, tattoo dyeing, and a Hungi (food cooked underground). Tim lost me to the tribe in a competition but I think it was fixed!! Māori make up over 14 percent of the population. Their language and culture has a major impact on all facets of New Zealand life.
On to Huka Falls at Lake Taupo the next day…NZ does not struggle with shortage of hydro electric power!! Wai-o-Tapu, a thermal wonderland is highlighted by its “Lady Geyser” that erupts more than 3 metres high each day. Covering some 18 sq.km with the volcanic dome at the north boundary, it’s literally covered with collapsed craters, cold and boiling pools of mud, water and steaming fumaroles…all dating back to about 160,000 years. The wide range of colours in the area are due to different mineral elements. Rotten egg smell, not withstanding…our visit was outstanding!! And just down the road, we soaked in natural geothermal water pools! Too relaxed to drive, but drive we did…
Coromandel coast is a 10 on the “WOW” scale…with WOW occurring about every 3 minutes of the drive! Stopping for a look, a convo would commonly start up with a local. “Hawk”, semi retired and eating the famous NZ meat pie, was batchin’ it for a few days. He invited us back for a coffee…a nice diversion in the middle of the day. We pumped him with questions and then let him off the hook, thanked him for his hospitality and went on our way. Coromandal is an old gold miner’s town which once boasted 28 taverns, so we decided to have a beer in one of the 3 remaining. They have kept that “old town feeling” and one of the major draws is New Zealand’s only narrow-gauge mountain railway. Barry Brickell, a little eccentric but well-know for his pottery, built this 3 km track up the side of a mountain to transport clay for his pottery making. He was then forced to open it up to the public and charge for rides when the bank came calling for loan money. Complete with tunnels, switch backs and bottle & clay retaining walls….the miniature train takes you up to one amazing view called the “Eye-ful Tower!
Our next highlight was the drive through the Kauri Forest towards the town of Matakohe. The Kauri tree once blanketed huge areas but were practically wiped out, mostly because Cook and his boys (well, just not him) cut them down for ships masts! Waipoua is home to Tane Mahuta, king of the forest, and the largest remaining kauri tree in the country. The 1500 year old Tane Mahuta is 51.5 metres tall, with a girth of 13.77 metres. The once endangered trees are now protected Even more impressive was the museum. Oh, my! Its interpretation of the logging, gum diggers and pioneering settlers was full of mannequin displays, actual representations of people from those times….Mrs. Collins working at the post office, or the mayor and council sitting at the dinning room table having tea, the dentist office and a fully functional saw mill. Tim even milked a mechanical cow, with all the old familiar milking sounds included…they wouldn’t let him ride it! Our pictures don’t do a thing for these life-like models or the majestic Waipoua Forest but it was one of the best museums we saw.
Eventually lost count of sheep………21,347,081….me very tired…do sheep count sheep to sleep??
Ninety Mile Beach is only 55 miles long… but is worth seeing anyway (-; The name apparently stems from the days when missionaries travelled on horse back when, on average, a horse could travel 30 miles in a day before needing to be rested. The beach took three days to travel therefore earning its name, but the missionaries did not take into account the slower pace of the horses walking in the sand. It extends to Cape Reinga at the tip of North Island…our rental agreement didn’t allow us to drive it, but that’s what they do. Instead, we headed across to Doubtless Bay…we’re not sure what Cook may have been dubious about here. Took a ferry to Russell and chilled as we finally lucked out with a cloudless day. Ann went jogging and had a swim in the beautiful but cold water. Quaint and historic, Russell provided us with enough to explore and roam about…including the oldest church in NZ!
We were getting a bit punchy and “cabin fevered” by now, but trudged along to the most photographed falls in NZ, Whangerei Walls (oh, and to make it harder, the “Wh” is pronounced “f” as in “wh*** off”). Yet another tramp, but no rain, feeling a little weary from our zealous exploring for over the last month, Ann coined the phrase as her sauntering became sluggish “ Holy,***…I’m going slower than the speed of my own wind”.
Arriving in Auckland, and to be quite truthful, craving a little city life, and growing weary of the Lord of the Rings movie sites (it was a hobbit we had to break)… found another great Top 10 campground. Auckland is NZ’s largest city at 1.4 million. There are about 3 million folks living on the North Island and just 1 million on the South. Country-wide there is about 40 million sheep…that’s like 10 sheep per person with some pretty good looking ones too and they’re not shearing them with anyone! Anyway, we were looking for action. No, not with sheep, with Auckland! We spent 2 days exploring but didn’t find anything more exciting than the top of the needle, the Sky Tower, great restaurants & an Ice Bar …hey, the night life was probably great, but at Tim’s age, we’ll never know. Auckland was a beaut. The city bi-sects the North Island (you can’t get from one end to the other without going through it) and the view from the highest point looks over small islands, big rocks and harbours littered with boats…the reason it is called the “City of Sails’, don’t ya know?
Time came to drop off Bessey, after wracking up over 5,000 clicks….it was like saying goodbye to an old friend. She had taught us well, she had been loyal….she had cost us an arm and a leg. But we wouldn’t have changed a thing!!
P.S. (post sheep):
Handbrakes & Boxes of Birds – Keith was first to hear this term at the Blue Pub. Whenever the girlfriend, wife, missus shows up at the bar, one of the mates would quietly announce that the “handbrakes” are here. Meaning the drinking & fun is going to slow way down. i.e. The handbrake wouldn’t let me!
And to a Kiwi, if you are feeling pretty good about things, you are as “happy as a box of birds!”. We never really figured out what the hell this actually means but it might be something the boys at the Blue Pub would utter if their “handbrakes” didn’t show up at the pub!
New Zealand Directions – maybe it’s us…but an Aussie will say very succinctly…”Ah, right mate…it’s just down the road”. But in NZ maybe they mistake us for intelligent people, with good listening skills, able to comprehend simple instructions that last for at minimum… 15 minutes!! But they describe obscure pathways and bridges that used to be a one-laner in 1963 or baffle us with “left by that sheep”. We’d glaze over, nod politely, thank them and head on our way. Often to find that…. “down there on your right” would have done the trick.
Oh, and Paul, don’t order a black Russian over here…they put coke in it!!! Ugh!!!
Comments
Clark: WOW no wonder my x-boss picked NZ to retire to. Like Yaakov Smirnov says “what a country” Pics are great. Wish we were there.
Still having a great time after all these months….priceless
Lori Allard: Great pics…love the comments in the blog…
Where are you guys now?
xoxox
Deb Halls: wow, you do a great job writing, what you saw brings back lots of memories, we will have a NZ night when you come to Ontario.
Love Deb