Blogs from New Zealand, Oceania - page 8
Kia Ora New Zealand - Auckland & Tutukaka
Published: May 7th 2012Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Whangarei » Tutukaka
April 20th 2012
Auckland We arrived in Auckland after a smooth three hour flight from Fiji. When I stepped off the plane it was tough to not say Bula to people!! We decided to check out Auckland for two days and we had a very rough plan to book a camper somewhere before then. So after hopping onto the bus and checking into the YHA hostel we went on a jaunt down the main road in Auckland, Queen St. It was clear that our overall experience here in New Zealand was going to be so different than our previous few months. For one, walking down the street we were not being stared at, that there were fully functioning traffic lights and people followed them and that really the way of life here is the same as home. This means ... read more
Auckland and the trip to Whitianga
Published: April 19th 2012Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Coromandel » Whitianga
April 19th 2012
well guys what can i say, New Zealand just keeps producing the goods, from beautiful vistas to grounded down to earth people, Whitianga is nice (very nice) but i dont feel as at home as in Paihia, so thats the place for us, the bike is great as per, the back is knackered so a few days of, bit of kayaking and scuba should sort the back ha ha, it really is paradise, but you have to share paradise, if you see it on your on you might aswell stayed at home and looked at photos Ta Ta for now Sam x... read more
On to the North Island - Wellington to Wanganui
Published: April 22nd 2012Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Wellington
April 19th 2012
19th April ’12 On to the North Island! I’m pleased to say Howard slept on the mountainside last night so I actually got some kip. We left the hostel and drove down to the port only to discover we then had to go to a different area in the town to board the ferry. The ferry was running half an hour late so there was no problem and we still ended up nearly first in the queue. The journey out of Picton was quite picturesque passing all the inlets and cliffs but we were soon out into the Cook Strait. Then the weather changed and so did the sea! The ferry was pitching backwards and forwards and the rain was lashing down, despite 2 sea sick tablets I felt terrible. I wasn’t surprised to see stocks ... read more
At last the summary of the trip home
Published: April 20th 2012Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Whangarei
April 18th 2012
Well it has been a very long time since we got back and no updates - naughty boy Cap'n. Crew - Doug Nicol and Lorraine Miller plus Ethan Jones (from Kerikeri in the Bay of Island, NZ). Ethan flew up specially to sail back with us and he did a great job. Thanks Ethan you were a fantastic crew and a pleasure to have on board. Here is a quick summary to let you know what we did and where we're at now. Trip back from Fiji covered 1171 nautical miles (nm) in 7 days 7 and half hours at an average of 6.69 knots. Best day's run was 172 nm (2 days over 170 nm) and lowest run was 155 nm; a quick trip. The Fiji trip had a total of 2950 nm (Opua to ... read more
The Stars of the Show - The Seal Pups of Kaikora!
Published: April 22nd 2012Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Kaikoura
April 18th 2012
18th April ’12 Kaikora to Picton The stars of today were the seal pups that we came across at the Ohau Stream waterfall walk just outside of Kaikura. We would have just driven past this ordinarily as it was just a lay- by round a sharp bend with a sign to a waterfall, but we had stopped on the other side of the bend at another lay by to have one last attempt at spotting whales. While there we saw a couple of large seals on the rocks and Howard started talking to this lady who told us about the baby seals on the waterfall walk. So going slowly round the bend with eyes peeled we found the layby car park and stopped. There was a sign explaining how the fur seals used this stream and ... read more
April 18th 2012
18-19th April ’12 Picton The drive wasn’t too long today so we stopped at a small town called Blenheim to have a look around. There’s not a lot to say about it, it was nice enough but had quite a lot of empty shops and a war memorial which was fenced of due to earthquake damage. We arrived at Picton about 2ish and easily found our hostel for the next 2 nights –The Sequoia Lodge. It was a small place with tiny private rooms and dorm accommodation. There was also an outdoor spa pool (which we didn’t try out) and its claim to fame…….free chocolate pudding and ice cream every night at 8pm. We walked into the town for a look around, it is a very small place with the usual one main street but we ... read more
Yvonne & Philip
Published: April 17th 2012Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Auckland » Waitakere
April 17th 2012
Nog vergeten te zeggen in ons vorig verslag dat we één van de laatste dagen dat we in Auckland waren Yvonne bezocht hebben in Bethells Beach. Dat was de voorlaatste dag (onze vrije dag trouwens) bij de HelpX hosts in Waiatarua. We hebben een hele leuke dag met haar en haar man Philip meegemaakt. Ze wonen op 10 minuten rijden van een bekend strand daar in de buurt. Ook wonen ze tenmidden in het bos en achter hen is een natuurdomein. Het enige nadeel aan het wonen aan een natuurdomein is dat als je wil bouwen of verbouwen op je land of om het even wat wil doen moet toestemming vragen aan de gemeente. Bijvoorbeeld voor: bomen omhakken of een struik snoeien of broadband internet aanleggen. Het internet heeft 9 jaar geduurd vooraleer ze de vergunning ... read more
April 17th 2012
17 Apr 12. Tuesday in ChCh. Had best ever nights sleep. Yesterday was lovely weather but awoke this morning to grey overcast drizzle and cold breeze. 9.30am and off to pick up the KEA Camper. Within 5 mins of ringing the local depot a taxi was at our motel door, paid for by Kea and took us there. Full marks to Kea, they gave us a most comprehensive briefing, over an hour and went over every minute detail. We are very impressed as we have an almost new 2 berth model with all the mod cons. Shower/loo, full kitchen equipped, microwave, large fridge, stove, HD TV, DVD, etc, etc..Ford Transit. Then went shopping to a supermart out near Rosemary & Geoff's place and with Rosemary helping Mary & I around her familiar store aisles we helped ... read more
Glacier Country – Arthur's Pass (10-16 April)
Published: April 28th 2012Oceania » New Zealand » South Island
April 17th 2012
Once we left Wanaka, it was obvious we were now entering a part of the country that was even more stunning than everything we had experienced so far. We were also preparing to try something we thought we wouldn't ever have a chance to do, normally; walk on a glacier. After the spectacle of the lakes we trundled on towards the Gates of Haast which greets you with mountains looming unexpectedly out of the terrain surrounding you – as it was a low mist morning the mood was even more atmospheric as the torrents of creeks rushed past us. We were truly now in the Mount Aspiring National Park and saw a 95ft waterfall. Haast itself is fairly isolated and is the last stop for fuel for 150km plus a much need warming Speight's and Steak ... read more
April 16th 2012
16th April ’12 Christchurch to Kaikora Today there was no sign of any hitchhikers, it was rather strange! It only took us 3 hours to get to Kaikora, including the little scenic drive diversion to see the Cathedral cliffs – think Bryce canyon only on a minute scale. The road (apart from the diversion) followed the same route as the train, with 3 matching tunnels to get through the mountainside, 2 for cars in each direction and 1 for the train – quite sweet. Kaikora is a truly lovely little place, nestling on either side of a headland peninsula and with snow capped mountains as a back drop! It’s also THE place to go Whale watching and all things to do with marine life. After finding our motel we decided to go for a walk as ... read more
