Last leg

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Hi Folks

Well we made it to the states and our last couple of stops but I'll just update you on what we've been up to in the last few weeks.

When I left off last, we were on our way to Wellington. Well on the way, we went through Hawera and had a look at the mouth of the Patea river there, worth a look too. Next we stopped off at Wanganui for lunch, this is quite a nice looking town with a river passing through its centre. Had a nice lunch and drove on. (Wanganui probably deserves a bit more time than we gave it). Drove on south, passing through several very small towns until it was time to find a room for the night. This we did at a place called Otaki beach. OK place but not a lot there. Ate in the motel restaurant that night and set off for Wellington, New Zealands capital the next morning. Wellington wasn't far away so we got there in plenty of time to have a look around the place. Very nice place especially for a capital city but quite small. We took in places like Island Bay, Oriental Bay and Shelley Cove which were all good looking places. We finally decided to stay at a place called Petone, a few mile outside the city. IWe had a walk around and there wasn't that much to see but it was St Patrics day ad true to form, the local Irish pub, Murphys Law was having a 6 am to 3 am session. When we passed, it was about 4 pm and it looked as though most of the customers had started the session as soon as the pub opened. We didn't go in, (couldn't get in to be honest, it was packed). Instead, we went to a very nice local pub had a couple of drinks and took an Indian back to our room. (Very nice but not like the 7 spices on West Bar). The next day we caught the ferry into Wellington and had a look around. This is a great little place and if you're there, be sure to take the cable car up to the botanical gardens. Great views and if you lucky, a cricket match half way up too.
The next few hours travel was through some of the most stunning scenery, I've ever seen. The mountain road through Upper Hutt is absolutely beatiful and not to be missed if you're down that way.
We got back to the car and set off North for Napier. Didn't make it though and just managed to get the last room for miles around in Hastings just south of Napier. (All the rooms were taken because it was NZ's horse of the yesr show and all the horsy set were there). Anyway, we were lucky and got the room and thought we'd go ut for a meal. No chance, not in Hastings on a Saturday night. Everything was shut. Went to be a little hungry but no problem. Next day we set off and arrived at Napier which is fantastic. The town was destroyed by an eartquake in the 1920's and rebuilt in the Art Deco style. Don't miss Napier, (give Hastings a miss though, well I would anyway). I've got to say at this time that New Zealand is just as lovely as I'd been told it was, more so probably and we haven't even seen the south Island yet. Next we headed for Lake Taupo, through some more awsome scenery and when we got there we found a thriving little tourist place. The Lake is again, beautiful bu you've got to go along the ro0ad towards Rotorua, to find the most brilliant places. We stopped off at Huka Falls first, where the river Huka forces itself through an unbelievably narrow openning with the resulting spectacular show of spume and foam. (Don't drive past this
place). Carried on next to "the craters of the moon", where a clearing in the woods, pops, steams and bubbles with geo-thermal fury which makes for a very interesting hours walk. Got to Rotorua and got a room at the Coachmans motel for the night. Rotorua stinks, I'm not being rude to the place, it just does stink of sulphur, from all the geo-thermal activity which goes on around it. Had a meal at thelocal English pub and next morning went to the Maori centre TPuia. $25 each and probably worth double. We were shown around the local wood carving school, taken for a "train " journey around the geysers and mud pools etc and treated to a Maori village show which was superb. Set off from Rotorua in a rain storm, at times we couldn't see through the screen, so had to pull over. Managed to get to a place called Whangamata that night though and stayed in a run down but brilliantly located motel, right on the little estuary there. Had a sub for dinner and next day we spent a couple of hours on the lovely beach there. Went for a nice lunch in the fishing club, (again right on the estuary) and drove on towards Coromandel. The scenery just gets better and better in New Zealand and by the time we got to Coromandel in the North Eastern corner of the North Island, oue mouths were permanently open. The area of Coromandel is beautiful, the town of that name is great. It's a bit like a lake district village, with Kiwi accents. We stayed in a place just outside town with great views of the stunning waterways. We drove on the next day with regrets that we didn't have more time to spend there but we were very limitted in that department now. Drove up past & through Auckland and headed for the bay of islands, another gorgeous place on the North Western peninsular of the North Island. Stayed the night in a little place called Paihia, right in the bay of Islands, which is again beautiful and very popular with tourists, from backpackers to the 5 star brigade. I don't know which I preferred, Coromandel or Bay of Islands but would probably choose Coromandel just because there are less people. (The driving all around New Zealands North Island was great but up in the Northern reaches, it's something else, every corner you turn brings some more stunning scenery, or a road full of sheep). Didn't spend long enough in New Zealand and had to get back to Papakura to see our friends Heather, Mark and the kids before we left, so drove back down towards Auckland and stayed overnight in a place just north, called Wellsford. Had a great barbecue with Heather & Mark on the Saturday and did a few things with them on Sunday. Then we set off for Paradise, or Raratonga as the locals like to call it.

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