Blogs from Thames, Coromandel, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 2

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We only had a couple of night stop over in New Zealand as our round the world trip has to fly through Auckland. Not to say we didn't really want to stop there, we were just a bit exhausted, low on funds and had both already been to New Zealand, Jason to Auckland as well. Not to let the opportunity to see something else pass we decided to escape the city and head up to check out the Coromandel Peninsula. Hired a car and stayed a couple of nights in a very funky old retro caravan near Thames. Did a couple of driving excursions around the peninsula, a few walks to check out the huge Kari trees, and a hot soak at hot water beach. On our last day we went further south to see the ... read more

Friday 13th June. I had cancelled my flight to Melbourne that day for a very special occasion, which I felt very honoured to be a part of. Naeri, Take (Naeri’s son), Stuart, Meilia, Lorna’s mother, Taori her partner, and myself took the box with Lorna’s ashes up to a point where she had visited on their homeland. We scattered a lot of the ashes to the wind, to symbolise the air, and to 360 degrees around the landscape and buried the box with the rest into the Earth. The fire had taken place with the cremation in the UK, and some ashes had been given to the sea, so now the cycle of elements was complete, and the wood was all around too as we were in the bush surrounded by trees. The view was ... read more

As capital cities go, Wellington isn't a bad place to spend a day or so, even for a couple of metropophobes like us! We spent a long time in Te Papa, the national museum on the waterfront with really interesting displays and interactive stuff on natural and cultural history (sadly the 'shear a blow-up sheep using bar codes' feature had been removed since 2001. The sheep may have popped!). We had also got tickets for the Super 14 rugby match between the Hurricanes (Wellingtons team) and the Crusaders. A great match and a good atmosphere in the 35000 seater stadium. Even though the 'Canes lost 20-13 everyone was very good natured about it as we poured back into the city centre pubs. Heading north, wet weather and low cloud put us off walking in the Tararua ... read more

Heavy overnight rain, continuing this morning Tent seems to be coping with the rain, had to move a couple of pegs, though. Headed out for the Gold Mining Museum in Thames - a long drive, but hopefully uneventful. Drove south down Highway 25 from Whitianga - heavy rain and spray made overtaking impossible and got stuck behind a logging truck for ages. The advantage of New Zealand summer rainstorms is that it's still warm - 20/21 degrees, rather than the cold Atlantic summer rain we get at home. I suspect that the weather systems are making their way down from the warmer northern seas. The road went along the coast for a while and then turned inland and climbed over the hills. Like the rest of Coromandel, these were volcanic, with many of the red and ... read more