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Published: March 26th 2011
Why doesn't everyone live in New Zealand?
We seem to specialise in unsociable arrivals and departures! We landed in Auckland at 0420 to be met by Derek (married to Bob's cousin Louise). Their house is in Swanson, out to the west of Auckland, and we spent four happy days there catching up with family news and sightseeing. Auckland is a marvelous place to start a New Zealand visit. Everywhere one looks there are stunning views. We took the ferry from the main harbour area over to Devonport and promptly decided we could happily live there. It is full of graceful 19th century houses and little pavement restaurants and cafes all looking across the harbour. The new naval museum was one of the best we have ever been to as well. We climbed to the top of Mount Victoria from which we could not only see the harbour but most of the outlying islands, many of which are nature reserves. The main Auckland Museum up in the Domaine is also not to be missed. It gave us a real sense not only of the rich Maori heritage but the volcanic origins of the whole area. It was the most dramatic volcanic display
we have ever seen.
After four days we headed north and explored the Bay of Islands staying at Whangarei Heads, Kerikeri (where we could happily live too), the Northlands and Kauri Forest and then down the west coast via the spectacular Kauri Museum at Matakohe. These giant Kauri trees are truly awe-inspiring and difficult to imagine without seeing them. It was a great road trip and a part of the country we had not seen on our previous visit. Note: we had the best fish and chips ever in Mangonui. Our B&B host told us about it and we are so grateful. We picked out what we wanted from the fish counter which included huge prawns (4"long), scallops and oysters. The fish of the day was bluenose, and it was out of this world. The batter is more like tempura batter - very light. Worth the trip alone!
We then headed south on the Overlander train, 12 hours to Wellington. Another amazing experience with large comfortable seats and an observation car to watch the scenery the whole length of the North Island. Wellington is another beautiful city situated around a busy harbour. It is a very compact area and we
were able to walk most places, including the Botanical gardens via the cablecar and the Te Pah Museum on the waterfront. We took a tour of the Parliament building which was very professionally done and fascinating too. In the basement of the Parliament building we were shown how the buildings have been adapted to withstand earthquakes. The whole building was hoisted bit by bit onto floating springs and reinforced with huge girders throughout. An amazing engineering feat and very timely too.
We are now on the ferry on the way to the South Island, with a touch of home. The ferry was originally a cross channel ferry called "Pride of Cherbourg" and the name was just visible over the current name, Kaitaki!
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Andrew Luce
non-member comment
Sweet, Sweet the memory you gave me.
We took the coach to Napier and then on to Wellington, in the rain - making up time was a rather shattering experience. We liked the Beehive, the Museum and the Botanical Gardens. Picton was our starting point for Christchurch and the train to Greymouth. Your photographs are wonderful.