KIO-ORA AOTEAROA: Tarawere, Wine and Wildlife

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OK, so when you hire an Escape.co.nz camper van, you have no choice in the design, but to be honest, they’re all pretty cool anyway. “Would you prefer manual or automatic” said the girl who allocated our home on wheels for the next 2 weeks. “I’d like a manual please” I replied. “Oh dear, we only have automatic left I’m afraid. Have you driven automatic before?” “Yes of course, that’s fine” I replied, looking at her over my specs. Only driven an automatic twice before, once about 15 years ago to pick up a company client from the railway station and the other to turn an old ladies car around in a car park, cause she didn’t know how to reverse her automatic car!!!! How difficult could this be? We piled our stuff into the back of our new home, which was called Tarawere (please rrrrroll your rrr‘s when you say that), named after the volcano that erupted a few hundred years ago, pressed the go pedal and off we went. Now given my lack of experience in an automatic, Amy’s navigational skills and map reading on a large scale never tested and our assessment of New Zealand’s size in kilometres/miles very sketchy, this promised to be a very interesting road trip.
We headed straight for a place called Rotorua on recommendation of Emma, one of the medics from Raleigh expedition, which is a town right in the middle of the northern island. This area is famous for its spa’s, mud baths and hot water springs due to its location on a fault in the earths depths. Every where you go there is steam gushing out of hidden crevices in the earth, with mud and mineral water baths dotted every where, from the side of the road to specialized centre’s where you can go take the waters by emerging yourself in a sulphurous smelling liquid that improves aching muscles and makes skin and mood soft and relaxed. It promised much.
We were quite happy to leave Auckland as it sort of felt a bit none descript and our hostel was a bit dodgy to say the least, so getting on the number 1 highway south felt good. As we travelled south , we drove through country side very similar to England, apart from the speed restrictions that are well and truly enforced. ‘What ever you do‘ , said the girl who allocated our van, ‘stick to the speed limit. We’re not like the UK and give you a warning, we hide our speed camera’s in trees everywhere!!! And there are lots of traffic police with speed guns, so beware!!!!!’. And she was right, there are lots of traffic cops, but not sure about the surveillance trees. So having stuck religiously to the speed limit, we eventually got to Rotorua. We knew we’d arrived by the smell; rotten eggs. We found ourselves a really nice camp site and made our first evening meal on a one ring gas bottle burner; in the dark; in the rain; very windy; didn’t do that again. The following morning we found that this camp site had a really well fitted kitchen with microwave and good cooking and washing facilities. The shower rooms had hairdryers and power showers, all of which made what we thought would be a basic ‘camping’ experience a very pleasant one. Having had a wander round Rotorua in the van, we decided to stay a couple of nights in at the Blue Lake camp site and go see The National Whakarewarewa Thermal Park the following day and hopefully immerse ourselves in some of that smelly mineral water every one we spoke to raved about. The thermal park was outstanding and its hard to believe the earth can erupt so violently to wipe out landscapes as well as settlements then produce such vivid colours over a wild but beautiful landscape, leaving steam vents and bubbling pools of mud and water that feel like they could erupt again at any time. Back in Rotorua, we decided to wander down by the river and through the park, which was a good move because stumbled upon the Polynesian Spa. Here you can immerse your self in seven pools varying in temperature between 34° to 42° C out in the open air and overlooking the volcanic lake Rotorua. Fantastic! I felt a bit like one of those Japanese monkeys you see in nature programs, dipping their bodies in hot water springs in the snow, sitting there waiting for something interesting to happen. The first pool was a bit like getting into a hot bath and very soothing, but not satisfied with that we gradually worked our way up to the front ’priest pools’. These were much hotter and intended to help alleviate your aches and pains, which believe it or not, they did. My tennis elbow has disappeared and shows no sign of returning - how about that!!!! Having spent 3 hours bobbing around in hot water and now looking like a prune - and all for 10 English pounds - we decided that we’d had enough spa’ing for one day and drove back to our camp site for some grub and a well deserved nights sleep, because the following day we were off to see one of only 3 geysers in the world to shoot water really high into the air, doing so every morning at 10.15am.
By 10.15, we were there, with 300 other folk waiting for the show to begin, a bit like being at the circus waiting for the performance to start. Now whilst I’m not an expert on these matters, I’m sure geysers don’t spurt huge amounts of water at a specific time each day unaided. If they did this one was late. At 10.50, I’m pleased to say, just like they do in the circus, the ring master arrived, said a few words about this natural phenomenon, threw an eco friendly substance into the geysers hole (that’s not meant to sound rude - honest) and hey presto the geyser gurgled and splurted and then spouted water, lots and lots of it about 30 foot into the air. Very impressive. It was mistakenly discovered in the late 1800’s when a load of prisoners who were re-planting the forest after volcanic eruptions had devastated the land, were washing their dirty clothes near by and accidentally their soap suds wandered into the opening of the geyser. I bet they didn’t sit there and go ‘Oooooooooo’ like we all did. Nope, I bet they legged it for safety. The geyser is called the Lady Knox Geyser and was named after the daughter of the dignitary who declared it open to spectators.
Time to drive further south and off to Napier, in Hawks Bay, another recommendation from another medic on expedition, this time from Vicky who had also been working in NZ for a while. She had told me that Hawks Bay is really the best place for good red wines and the entire region has given itself up to the vine growers based there. She’s not wrong. Once in Napier and installed at a lovely camp site called (and I love this name it makes me giggle) The Really Affordable Westshore Holiday Park ( and it really is as well as being well equipped spotless and the lady there very helpful too) we booked our selves on to a wine tour for the following day. We had considered doing a ‘bike du vine’ trip, that’s getting on a bike and cycling around a few vineyards, but on reflection it wouldn’t have been a good idea. Next day arrived and the mini bus picked us up our camper van at 12.45 and we set off to try our first wines at NZ’s oldest vineyard, The Mission. It used to be a Monastery and produced alter wine, which is why it can give itself this label. Six lovely wines (pinot noir, cab sauv, merlot, shiraz, sauv blanc etc), lovely vineyard and great history, also a great place to eat we were told. Onto the next vineyard, this time the regions only organic/vegetarian vineyard and run by a guy from near Gateshead. Six more wines (again all the grapes we know and love) but with a nice pudding wine and a drop of sherry, all produced on site - lovely - we even bought a couple of bottles of Syrah to quaff later. Onto to the third vineyard; owned by an old Irish family that had gone to seek their fortune in NZ in the 1800’s, bread a few racing horses and produced some very nice wine’s too. Six more and a couple of pudding wines down the hatch and we were starting to feel a little tipsy. In fact the attitude of the entire minibus had gone from high brow (I know a lot about wine so where’s my spittoon and cleansing mouth wash so I don’t ruin the bouquet of the next grape) to descending into a loud raucous set of wineo’s (spit it out, what a waste). It was time to visit our last winery and this time they were going to feed us as we were off to a testaurent (yes the spelling is correct) were one of NZ’s top chef’s produced a taster plate along with, yes you guessed it, six more wines, all beautiful. Unfortunately, by this time only my taste buds were working and cannot remember the name of the chef L - shame. But if you ever go to Hawkes bay, call Carl at the ……………. And he will pick you up at your door, feed you 30 or so very good wines (some with food) tell you some of the history of the area, drive you around some of NZ’s best vineyards, make you laugh a lot and then drop you back off at your lodgings, what ever they are (and the price was very reasonable too). Cycling would not have been a good idea.
The following day we made our way to Wellington, where we caught the ferry to the south island, to Picton, where we stocked up on food (mainly buns, bread and manuca honey) and headed for the west coast, to a place called Blenheim, a 300 km drive. Driving through the south island is totally different and the scenery is outstandingly breath taking. Driving through The Lewis Pass is fantastic and the roads wind through the mountains with every bend offering another spectacular view. We were making our way to the Franz Josef Glazier, about half way down the south island and when we got there the following day, the drive was definitely worth it. It was AWSOME, in the correct sense of the word, despite it being aprox 4 kilometres’ shorter than it used to be in 1760. Still very impressive though all the same. That evening we decided to drive back north towards Westport on the west coast and look for a free camp site, which are quite popular in NZ and you make a small donation so that they can be kept clean and tidy. I have to say when we pulled off the road to our free camp for the night, we didn’t expect one of the most fabulous views we’d seen so far. We camped by a lake that bordered onto low forest land with a backdrop of snow and glazier topped mountains. What a view to wake up to the following morning.
After breakfast, we visited a small town called Greymouth, known for its Jade (very beautiful and a purchase was made) but also visited ‘Possum World’. Bizarre to say the least. If you’ve ever seen the book on cats where the artist gets the cat doing really not very cat like things, well imagine stuffed possums doing the same. Very very odd indeed. A stuffed Possum with pipe and slippers in front of a fire and sat in a rocking chair, or examples of how possums can be killed and stuff in many different positions is strange to say the least. So we left Greymouth, with our bit of Jade, and headed north east in search of dusky dolphins and sperm whales.
Kiakoura is a lovely town on the north east coast of the southern island and its where the whaling ships were based in the times of Moby Dick. Because there is a very deep canyon under the sea, it traps many good nutrients that attracts aquatic creatures, like whales, dolphins and fur seals. Getting onto the catamaran at the port side which was once an old railway station, but is now called the Whaleway Station (yes, corny but true), we were hoping to see sperm whales basking in the bay. Our skipper had received radio confirmation that there were 3 whales in the are and all had been sighted. Excited? Absolutely! Sitting 20 miles off the coast, bobbing about watching for whales needs patience, but there was complete quiet from all on board. Watching. Waiting. Waiting for the tell tale sign of the blow of water into the air as the whale surfaced and took its first breath of fresh air in 50 minuets or so. A long time went by and we still watched and waited, moved around the bay and watched some more. Then it happened and we saw the 20 meter sperm whale surface, blow a large plume of water into the air and float close to us, exhausted from its dive for food found deep in the canyon below. It’s a privilege to see these graceful giants, given that not so may decades ago we nearly wiped them of the face of the earth with our need for whale ‘products’. Having regained his energy, our whale arched his back, threw his tail into the air and sank gracefully back into the ocean. Amazing! Our skipper then set off to find the other whales that had been sighted earlier, but we weren’t lucky enough this time. BUT - what a sight we got when we sailed into a remote bay just a couple of miles further up the coast. Dusky dolphins - hundreds of them - leaping and flipping right next to the boat. I’ve seen dolphins flip on wild like programs but to see it first hand is unbelievable. They just can’t stop once they start, they flip once, twice and some up to about 5 times straight off. They chased the boat and when we stopped put on a circus performance the likes of which we’d never seen. A playground for a pod of around 300 dolphins all vying for your attention and all of them looking very cute indeed. Finally before returning to the Whaleway station, we sighted dozens of fur seals languishing on the rocks just around the bay from port. Again, these beautiful creatures too were hunted for their pelts until nearly extinct, but now protected by law from further culling.
The following day found us north bound and back on the Interlander ferry to the north Island. The journey was grim with a huge sea swell, which made for a very choppy ride, with cups of ice and sick bags being issued too lots of very sickly people. The Cook Straights certainly lived up to their name. Four hours later we were off the ferry and driving north, stopping overnight in a lovely place called Wanganui and then further north in a place called Otorohanga. Here we saw one of the many caves at Waitomo, called off at the glow worm cave to see the millions of glow worms that live deep underground in the ceilings and walls!!!!! As you make your way through the cave, you see that entire ceiling is covered in small lights created by these phosphorescent creatures bottoms to give out a little green glow. Delightful!! That evening, we spent the night at camp sight run by a lovely couple who lived permanently in their mobile home, a bus. When you camp in NZ, you see a lot of these old Winnebago style buses camped up for long periods, where elderly couples have sold up their homes and decided to travel around the 2 islands, and these guys were no exception. They had lived a very interesting successful life and were now taking it easy travelling around NZ running camp sites for the likes of us. Whilst we were there, we were asked to pose by our brightly coloured camper van, Tarawera, for a brochure shoot and web site pics. Can you imagine the problems that would cause in the UK - none of that here, they just get on a do it - not need for permissions from the hire company needed. For our efforts, we were given free entry into the Kiwi sanctuary just behind the camp site, and at last we saw the greater spotted kiwi, a some what elusive if not odd looking bird, rarely found in the wild these days. Driving onto to Matamata to Hobiton later that day, we set off to see where the film Lord of the Rings was filmed. The film set, built on a huge sheep farm owned by three brothers, is a really nice place to visit after you‘ve seen the films and proves what a fantastic imagination film makers have. We stayed in Turanga for our last night in the van, with a spa pool so we could soak away the day and mull over a glass of good NZ wine and plan our next few days, before going to Fiji, now only 2 days away. Having said goodbye to Tarawera, our van, we wondered if we’d see NZ again, sad if we don’t it’s a great place and the people are fantastic and welcoming and 2 weeks is not enough time to spend there. As a footnote, we didn’t get lost once and saw much more than we’d expected, thanks to Amy’s navigational skills. She quite clearly gets this skill from her mama .

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Photos

Lady Knox Gieser
What a goer

Creative hay bayles
Sems some one got board and doodled messages on these bayles of hay.

Tarawere
Our van/home for the time we spent in NZ

Tarawere side 2
We were sad to leave her - great fun to drive.

Hawkes Bay
The first of many vinyards.

Franz Josef Glazier
The very small black dots are climbers on the ice

Whale watching
Sperm Whale waving his tail before sliding into the ocean to feed.

Beware - crossing Penguins.
New Zealand is full of great signs, but we really liked this. Why would penguins be walking up such a steep hill?!?!?

Dusky dolphins
They flipped and flipped - amazing

Hobiton
The home of Bilbo Baggins

Lambing in hobiton
This little chap was fed by our very own hands, before we gave him a cuddle (Mmmm mint sauce yum)

Aucklands Sky tower
View from our hotel on our last night in NewZealand.

Comments

[Sonja]

Monkeys
If thats what it is like to be a japanese monkey, then I really wouldn't mind. Where do I sign up? xx