The End of the New Zealand Journey

We are safely and happily home from New Zealand.  A few comments on the final days of our trip follow.

The morning we left for Dunedin, the Highway from Oamaru was closed due to snow.  Not having much else to do we wandered around Oamaru stopping for coffee and doing a bit of lackadaisical shopping.  Around noon the road was finally opened and we were on our way.

The Boulders at Moeraki

We made a stop at Moeraki and went to see their big tourist attraction of some odd, rounded boulders on the beach.  It was very cold and windy, but quite a busy tourist site despite the weather.  A bit further south we turned off to the Moreaki Lighthouse at Katiki Reserve.  It was blowing a gale, with occasional showers and wind that threatened to push us off the clifftops.  But we went out to the penguin sanctuary past the lighthouse and saw the rare Hoi-Ho or Yellow-eyed penguins, as well as a lot of seals or sea lions napping on the grassy headland.

Hoi-Ho or Yellow-Eyed Penguin

  

As we headed into Dunedin, the road was lined with snow and the pavement was slushy.  Snowploughs (I hadn’t seen one of those in years) were pushing the slush around and spreading grit.  They don’t use salt on the roads here which is probably better for the cars, but drivers complain about the grit instead.

It was windy and very cold most of the time we were in Dunedin, so we spent most of our time in museums.  The Toitu Otago Settlers Museum near the wonderfully ornate train station was one of the best museums we saw in New Zealand.  It traced the history of settlement and development in Dunedin and Otago.  The scary part was the more modern displays from the 1940s to the 1980s, where everything was familiar. (wringer washing machines anyone?)  Bill was particularly taken with a big display of computers from 1950’s onwards.

Flemish Renaissance Style Train Station Dunedin

We tried to get a tour of the Cadbury’s Chocolate Factory, but it was closed for maintenance.  Instead, we visited Olveston House, a mansion that has remained virtually unchanged since the 1920s and had been donated to the city totally furnished as an example of life (at least, life for rich people) in the early 20^th century.  We booked for the last tour of the day, and as we were the only two there, got a very detailed private guided tour of the house.  I enjoyed the tour very much, and a grand home that needed 7 servants to run it was a slice of a life that we will not see again.

Queenstown

Our next stop was Queenstown, where we had booked a day tour to Doubtful Sound, a very large and dramatic fiord southwest of Queenstown.  The trip started at 6:45 with a 2 1/2 hour drive to Lake Manapouri, where we took a 45 minute boat ride across the lake to another bus.  This bus drove us on an isolated gravel road, narrow, steep and twisting with no guardrails to Deep Cove on Doubtful Sound.  This road was built to facilitate the construction of the Manapouri generating station.  It runs from the south side of Manpouri Lake to Doubtful Sound, and is not connected to any other road.

Lake Manapouri

The day was pouring rain and cold, with patches of fog.  We stopped a couple of times to take photographs of waterfalls, but even the dedicated photographers did not leave the comfort of the bus for long.  The rain let up temporarily when we reached Deep Cove and boarded the cruise boat for our trip along the sound.

Doubtful Sound

The cruise took us about three hours along the sound to the ocean and back again.  Doubtful Sound is about 20 times larger than Milford Sound and has steep green cliffs, lots of waterfalls, 9 metres of rain a year and rain at the ocean surface 69% of the time.  They don’t tell you that when you book the cruise.  The wind was cold, the rain was often horizontal, it was mostly cloudy with occasional sunny patches near the end, and lots of rainbows which seemed to get everyone excited.

 We saw no wildlife to speak of, except for a Mollymawk, a relative of the Albatross.  On top of that, the sound is not really a sound but a fiord.  Sounds are formed when a river erodes a valley and then the sea rises to fill it; fiords are valleys formed by glaciation that the sea then fills.  I guess the name, which Captain Cook gave it as he doubted it was a good harbour, could refer to the fact that it is doubtful if it is a sound.  Bill thought the trip was great, but I am doubtful if it was worth all the time and money for the short cruise that we took.

Our last big stop was Wanaka, a beautiful town in a mountain valley about an hour north of Queenstown.  Friends Peter and Belinda from Sydney built a calm and spacious house in Wanaka and are spending quite a bit of time there.  Peter took us for a short hike up Iron Mountain, a hill near the town that gives excellent views of the surrounding countryside.  The next day he drove us about an hour north of Wanaka to the Matukituki Valley and the start of a track to the Rob Roy Glacier.

Wanaka

The glacier hike was not long, (about 4 hours return) but 99% of the first half was uphill to a lookout where you can see the front edge of the glacier.  The track followed a clear mountain stream with pale blue-green pools lined with white sand most of the way up.  The lookout point was cool and quiet, and gave stunning views of the blue-white glacier.

Rob Roy Glacier

Rob Roy Glacier Track

After coming down and devouring the lunch Belinda had packed, we headed back to Wanaka and had dinner by the fireplace.  Thanks to Peter and Belinda, who  hosted us for a wonderful two days in their second home.

The last few days of our trip were steady driving up the west coast of the South Island.  We stopped at many beautiful waterfalls, the Fox Glacier (easier to access but a dirty brown colour rather than the clean blue-white of the Rob Roy glacier), and saw something I have never seen before, roundabouts with train tracks running through the centre of them.  I’m glad we did not have to deal with any trains when we were also negotiating auto traffic.

Near Fox Glacier

On our last day in the South Island we drove to a little seaside port called Havelock.  Not too touristy, but with a large harbour and marina, some decent eating places, interesting old architecture and an excellent art and craft gallery.  From Havelock, we took the 30 kilometre Queen Charlotte Drive to Picton.  It was the most beautiful seaside drive we did in New Zealand.  The road was a narrow tunnel of green that twisted, cork-screwed and zig-zagged along the coast of the Queen Charlotte Sound.  Homes clung to the cliffs below us or perched on points above green bays full of anchored yachts.  The early morning fog lifted and we had brilliant sunshine for the whole drive.  We stopped many times to take photographs and I think to give Bill a rest from turning the wheel.  I would have loved to have more time to spend in the Queen Charlotte Sound area.

Havelock

Queen Charlotte Sound Drive

Once again, we took the ferry back to the north island and headed for Auckland.  We took Highway 1, The Desert Road, which crossed a flat high plain of gold tussock grass and electricity pylons.  It was dry, open and flat, and so different to everything else we had seen it New Zealand.  The huge arc of the sky was spotted with cirrus and cumulous clouds against a clear blue background.  Later the plain became more desiccated with red rock and furrowed gullies.  Truly a lovely surprise on our drive.

Desert Highway

We had time to visit the Auckland Botanic Gardens the morning of the day that we flew back to Australia.  This was a pleasant, relaxing end to our trip and we enjoyed both the gardens and the sculpture that are scattered throughout the grounds.  Every two years they hold an open competition, and the winning sculptures are displayed in the gardens so the artwork is constantly changing.

Auckland Botanic Gardens

Sculpture "Splayed"  Botanic Gardens

Our trip ended with a non-eventful flight back to Australia.  No idea where the next trip will take us.

New Zealand 2017 # 2

Fellow travellers,

South Island NZ

Since we last wrote we have taken the Interislander ferry to the South Island and visited a couple of wineries in the Marlborough district. 

Marlborough Vineyards

We then free camped at the sports ground in Renwick. There was a limit of 10 campers, but when we woke up there were 20. The following night we were at Marble Hill Conservation area near Springs Junction where the ranger told us “there currently seems to be a thing about free camping”. 

Hanmer Springs

We found it very cold there without the electric heater but a couple of hours in the spa pools at Hanmer Springs the next day got us warm and happy again. Bobbie found a heated swimming pool there, but it was too cold after the 37 degree C baths, and only managed 1 lap.

Little Blue Penguins

It was then on to Christchurch and the International Antarctic Centre (for NZ, USA and Italy) and its tourist attraction with penguins and a simulated Antarctic Storm room, as well as displays and films of Antarctic History. We skipped some of it, as we had been to Antarctic albeit 12 years ago.

The autumn (or is it early winter?) in New Zealand is spectacular. 

Akaroa NZ in Autumn

We then spent 2 days in Akaroa southeast of Christchurch in a campsite overlooking Akaroa Harbour which was mist/cloud covered most of the time. The harbour is surrounded by red and yellow trees on the green hills with multi-coloured houses scattered throughout. Sailing boats rest at anchor off the shore, and tidy shops run along the foreshore. If it were not so cold and windy, we would be tempted to take up residency in this original French settlement. Unfortunately, the French arrived a few days after the English to claim the land as theirs.

Hedges of NZ

We are fascinated with the hedges which surround the fields here. They are often over 10 metres high and most all are neatly trimmed. They are made of pine trees, poplar trees, and many assorted deciduous varieties. Often, they hide vineyards, orchards, or simply fields. They also are not always rectangular, some appear as sculptured animals, and some triangular.

Pied Shags on Oamaru's Old Wharf

The next stop was Oamaru further south, and the first night we spent the early evening watching a colony of little blue penguins return to their nests. There was also the sound of some penguins nesting in boxes on the edges of our campground on the harbour.

Bobbie got up early the next day and went for a swim in the town pool. It is indoors and heated to 27 degrees. 
We then visited the Steampunk HQ and wandered the streets of 19th century Limestone buildings including Banks, Churches and the Wool store. The old buildings were basically abandoned after a financial crisis, and have only survived by being re-purposed by entrepreneurial shopkeepers.

On to Dunedin tomorrow, with another stop for penguin hunting.

New Zealand 2017 #1

Hello fellow travellers (and armchair travellers).  It has been a while but the Bill and Bobbie travel blog is back in action.

We have been travelling in New Zealand since April 19. We have been receiving beautiful, thoughtful email from friends Ian and Kathy Aikenhead about their travels in Europe including Krakow, Budapest, Vienna, and Prague to name a few exotic cities.  So we thought we’d better sit down and write a few words about New Zealand.

Silver Medal

We travelled to Auckland initially to attend the World Masters Games where Bobbie competed in pool and open water swimming.  Four friends from Yamba, Dubbo and Jane and Helmut and Jan, and friends Virginia and Malcolm from Sydney also participated in the swimming events.  The games were huge, with 28,000 competitors from all over world descending on Auckland for 10 days. Needless to say, accommodation was at a premium and athletes were everywhere.  The best Bobbie did in the pool was a 4th in the 200 metre breast stroke, but she got a silver medal in the 5 kilometre open water swim.  This was a painful exercise as the water was 19 degrees centigrade, and after two hours without a wetsuit she was near hypothermia.  Mutterings were heard that this was about the stupidest thing she had ever done, but perhaps the memory will fade.


Auckland is a bustling city with major new train lines and stations being built right in the downtown.  It has a beautiful setting on a narrow peninsula with water on both sides.  There are massive marinas full of yachts and motor boats.  The city has frequent and trying traffic jams, perhaps as it is constrained by the narrow piece of land it occupies.  We stayed north of the city at Orewa, and the new Northern Express Bus service, modern double decker buses on dedicated bus right-of ways was comfortable and reliable.  Bill was enthusiastic about the USB ports on the buses that charged his phablet as we rode.

New Zealand allows parallel imports of used Japanese vehicles, and the range and types of car are mind-blowing.  Model names seldom seen outside of Japan abound, making you wonder how they provide a network of spare parts and mechanics for such a diversity of vehicles.

Waka

On Bobbie’s days off from competition, we visited the Art Gallery, the Skytower, and the Maritime Museum.  The Art Gallery is a beautiful modern building on the corner of downtown Albert Park, and the Orienteering competition from the Masters Games was taking place in the park while we were there.  The gallery introduced us to a lot of New Zealand artists who were unfamiliar, but the collection was uneven with one room full of 19th century oils (I assume the original collection) and most others with much more modern work.

The Maritime Museum was a tour de force and I saw more boats and learned more about New Zealand boat design, racing, and history than thought possible.  We sailed on a replica Waka, a traditional south pacific boat similar to those that the early Maori may have used to travel across the Pacific to New Zealand.  Beautiful craft and very comfortable to sail in.

Puhoi

We also had a lovely dinner and overnight stay with Kiwis Martyn and Margaret Smith at their home in the historic town of Puhoi north of Auckland.  They prepared a beautiful vegetarian dinner for us, and showed us the sights of Puhoi before returning us to the city.

After the games finished we headed north in a small rental camper van.  We drove along a coast of beautiful white sand beaches with cool, clear blue green water.  Most of the beaches were gently sloping and often in scenic protected bays.  We took a ferry to Russell, formerly the capital of New Zealand, an old-fashioned town with decorative white federation style frame buildings.  We’re convinced Russell has an ordinance that frame buildings must be painted brilliant white and immaculately maintained.  This coastal tourist town reminded me of Niagara-on-the-Lake in Canada with the perfection of the streetscape.

Cape Reinga

We made our way to Cape Reinga, the northernmost point of New Zealand.  The waters off Cape Reinga where the Pacific Ocean and Tasman sea meet are spectacular.  A shallow area there ensures permanently crashing waves and foam.  The sharp cliffs and distance vistas of beaches and headlands are stunning, and you understand why the Maori consider this a sacred spot.

We camped at a sparkling white crescent beach at nearby Spirits Bay. The roads up the coast were typical of what we came to realize dominate New Zealand;  winding, narrow, twisty, steep and spectacular.  It seems impossible to join two points in New Zealand with a straight line.  And the nature of the terrain, weather and geothermal activity mean landslips and damaged roads are common.  It is unlikely that anyone employed in road maintenance is ever out of work.

The road to Cape Reinga had some very interesting lookouts.  One described how the bare hilltops were a result of Maori burning practices to control vegetation.  The small terraces or ridges on the hillsides that we saw everywhere are also ancient Maori work.  They reminded us of nothing so much as the Inca terraces in Peru.  A nearby hill was the site of an ancient “Pa” a fortified hill that housed over 2000 people.  Remains of sweet potato were found in the terraces, which suggests possible links to South America.

Sand Dune

We also visited a massive area of sand dunes at Te-Paki Stream.  They stretched for miles behind the beach and looked for all the world like the Sahara Desert.  You could rent sand boards to go sliding down the monster dunes, but we declined.  Apparently a good decision, as some travellers who did try it said it took days to shake the sand out of their clothes.

 We headed back south and stopped at Matakohe, a tiny town north of Auckland famous for its Kauri Museum.  Kauri is a beautiful native New Zealand wood that was widely used for ship building, construction, and furniture. The gum from the tree comes in many colours from black to golden and is prized as it is like amber.  Originally used in paints, varnishes and manufacturing, the gum is now carved into beautiful ornaments and jewellery. We spent half a day in the massive museum, and would have spent more but we were overwhelmed by the intertwining of New Zealand history and the Kauri tree.

Kauri gum objects

Bypassing Auckland to head south we turned east to the Coromandel Peninsula.  This is another spectacular hilly area studded with beaches and coastal tourist towns.  It is also a very important dairy cattle area.  When we last visited New Zealand about 25 years ago, sheep were the main farm animal you saw.  From an airplane, New Zealand looked like a billiard table spotted with lint, so omnipresent were the sheep.  Now dairy cattle are everywhere, and sheep seem to be the poor cousins.

We stayed overnight in Thames and visited the local market in the morning.  Sourdough bread, freshly baked cakes and pastry, new season apples and mandarins filled our shopping bags before we headed off.  The tourist towns of the Coromandel are what we like about New Zealand.  The beaches on the west coast are rocky and the towns are full of tiny, old fashioned beach cottages or “bachs” as the Kiwis call them.  The monster modern beach houses that are taking over the coast in Australia are far less in evidence here.

The caravan parks are also full of tiny and often very old but well maintained and obviously well-loved caravans.  The very narrow, winding and hilly roads must make towing big caravans difficult, and good thing.  Australians seem to be towing ever bigger caravans, and the plethora of tiny vans in New Zealand is charming.  The caravan designs are also different.  Australian vans seem to have few windows and aim to keep the world out.  New Zealand vans have huge windows, often on both ends and sides so you can see right through the van or sit in a sort of sunroom at one end.

Hot Water Beach bath

We stayed at Hot Water Beach in the Coromandel.  This beach has geothermal springs underneath the sand that are exposed at low tide.  You can take a shovel and dig a personal spa bath in the sand, controlling the heat by directing the flows of hot and cold water to make the perfect temperature sand spa.  This is an amusing activity, and is very popular with tourists and locals.  Get in early with your shovel for the best spot.

Continuing with the geothermal theme, we travelled to Rotorua, New Zealand central for hot springs, with steamy, sulphur spouting land and every type of spa.  We walked around the downtown area to a geothermally active bird refuge called Sulphur Bay. Sulphur mounds and steaming ground dominated a landscape that appeared more like the moon than the green New Zealand we had seen so far.  Apparently, Rotorua suffers tiny earthquakes every day, the area is so volcanically active.

We camped southwest of Rotorua at the Waikite Valley Thermal Pools.  Here a boiling water spring feeds a spa with a series of varying temperature pools, set in a natural surround near the spring.  A constant fog of steam hangs over the whole site, and you can soak to your heart’s content in the spas.  We found them very relaxing after a 2 hour hike up nearby Rainbow Mountain, a track that is a shared mountain bike/hiking track.  It was a moderate hike, but a grade 4 mountain bike ride up, and not one I would have liked to try.

We are moving on to Napier, the art deco town of New Zealand and the wine area near Hastings.  More about them in the next blog.

South Western USA touring

Folks,
Bobbie and I have been home for 2 weeks now, and are fully recovered from jet lag, colds, and a different bed every few days...

Ventura,CA -Taqueria on the Pier

From Peru, we flew to LA and then spent 3 days in Santa Barbara in a little Casita (read: Granny Flat) in the old area of the town. It was walking distance to North Milpas  Street, where we found a launderette, and several excellent Taquerias, namely: La Super-Rica Taqueria (a Julia Child favorite), Los Agaves, and Taqueria El Buen Gusto. We really should have tried some other Californian food, but because the Mexican was so good, it became the preferred option.
During the 2 days there we went off the coast to Santa Cruz Island in the Channel Islands for some hiking as well did some sightseeing in Vantura, CA. Tacos and margaritas on the Ventura Pier were very good.

Santa Cruz Island

We  then headed off to Las Vegas, where we went to see Jersey Boys, and had dinner on the strip. Hiking in Red Rock Canyon National Park was much better, as was the tour of the Hoover Dam. Unfortunately the dam water is low, and Las Vegas may become "dry" in a few years. Bill also spent 3 hours browsing in Fry's Electronics.

Grand Canyon from Desert View Tower

Next  stop was the Grand Canyon where more hiking was in order. 1st day was 4 hours along the rim from Hermit's Rest back to the Bright Angel lodge. Second day it rained and we car toured to the other end and saw Desert View. Here there is a huge decorative stone tower on the canyon rim overlooking the canyon, and the desert beyond.
The third day we ventured down into the canyon at 7 am for a 1 hour hike down the Bright Angel track. Returning to the top by 10:30 am we then drove to Scottsdale Arizona to finish our USA time with Bill's brother John at his winter home.

Downtown Scottsdale

Bill's sister Elizabeth and husband Al flew in from London, Canada to enjoy some warm weather and touring as well. John provided chauffeured tours of downtown Scottsdale, the Boulders golf estate, and the nearby town of Paradise. We ate at the Terra Vita Golf club, the Tonto Bar and Grill.(a birthday dinner for Bill), and had lunch at Oregano's Cafe. One night after dinner we also went to the Buffalo Chip Saloon to watch the Bull riding. Unsurprising, everyone sang the national anthem before the action.

Hiking in San Jacinto

On the return to LA we stopped overnight in Palm Springs to break the trip, and went up the rotating cable car to Mt. San Jacinto State Park at 2400 meters for a cool 2 hour hike, The cable car is one of 2 in the world which rotate while ascending. We had taken the other one last year when we went up to Table mountain in Capetown South Africa!
From LA it was 15 hours back to Australia, and 2 days in Sydney before returning to Yamba. Whee...

Looks like we will be back in North America next summer for Bobbie's niece's wedding. Till then we will stay in Australia.
Cheers, Bill & Bobbie