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Carla: We have been so lucky with the wonderful hospitality we’ve had ‘down under’, Sam & Bill continued the trend of top class, warm, friendly and energetic hosting when we arrived in Auckland. They once lived very near us in North London and have been lucky enough to de-camp to Devonport – a perfect peninsula just across the harbour from downtown Auckland – and have this gorgeous lifestyle of white clapboard houses, picket fences, organic delis, beaches and beautiful views in all directions. They are honest about the downsides of living in such a small suburb (the total population of Auckland is only 1.4million and Devonport has about 6000 people); they told us how “everyone knows everyone” and so you’ve got to make sure you remain discrete and careful when chatting to neighbours and parents in the playground (sounds a bit like Brighton mind you!). A small price to pay for such a sunny, pretty, safe and spacious place to bring up your kids though. Sam is also pleased that Auckland is just across the bay to provide her with access to some of the grittier side of life when The Truman Show-ness of Devonport becomes a little overwhelming. (I hope
she won’t mind me quoting her on that). Sam & Bills’ house is in the process of having a new kitchen and floor installed so they are staying at Bill’s Dad’s place which was unable to accommodate us as well. So poor Sam had had to put out a plea for help and her friends Andrew and Maria came to the rescue. They own, and are renovating, the old Fire Station in Devonport; it’s an amazing building and they’ve converted it into a flexible living space with a loft-style flat on the first and second floors which they let us stay in. Lucky us! On Thursday we pottered around Devonport and took in the beautiful views from North Head and Mount Victoria (both volcanic hills). I also realised how web-dependent I am as there was no internet in the Fire Station and this made me slightly jittery (This lead to discussions of, are you really travelling if you’re in contact all the time? I think you are, others are not so sure) so we found a café with Wi-Fi and normality was restored. Friday was a day to pop over the water into the city. We ascended the Sky Tower
(the tallest man-made structure in the Southern Hemisphere). We choked when we were told the price for jumping off the tower (safely!) which was NZ$250 and settled for going to the observation deck and watching the mad people plummet down (attached to a rope and harness of course). Alex was jealous, whilst my palms began to sweat just watching them. The tower is 328m high; the website says it’s the 12
thtallest tower in the world – we are wondering if there is a particular definition of ‘tower’ rather than building. Not sure about that one. After we’d taken in the spectacular views up the top of the tower Sam joined us for lunch and a trip round the wonderful Auckland Museum where we learnt a bit about Maori culture, saw a reconstruction of a Moa (amazing, 3 metre high flightless birds that used to live in New Zealand before they were hunted to extinction) and we were all quite scared by the brilliant ‘Volcano in Auckland Harbour’ room (see George and Rubys’ notes for more on this).
Alex: On Saturday, Sam wonderfully (possibly madly) offered to look after George and Ruby for the day while Carla and I went
to Waiheke Island. The children were more than pleased to be getting away from us and to be spending the day with Matilda and Stanley at Auckland Zoo and other attractions. We got the ferry to Waiheke and set off on a walk along the cliffs, circling back to Oneroa. The views around the headland were fantastic and the sun was out making it feel all the more glorious. The sunshine began to warm up as we headed back up the hill towards the main town and, despite initially being impressed with the clarity of the footpath signs, we got somewhat lost. We waved down a couple of locals (on horseback) to get directions and arrived in town and had lunch in a café by the beach. It felt much deserved after our 2 hour walk. We were then planning to get a bus (we had bought all day tickets and so were determined to use them) to one of the 30-odd vineyards on the islands. As it turned out the buses only ran every hour and we had just missed one, so we bought local wine in the bottle shop, went for a stroll down to the beach and
returned in time to catch the next one and just went for the ride to the end of the bus route to Onetangi
Beach. Luckily enough there is a bar on the beach, and we had 30 minutes to fill before the last bus back to the ferry – what to do? Obviously we had a drink at the bar, along with all othe other people waiting for the last bus. Sam had even offered to look after G'n'R until bedtime so Carla and I went out for dinner in Devonport in a lovely restaurant by the wharf. It was a lovely end to the day out. It is great to get some alone together and it was lovely of Sam to look after them for us. The next day Sam drove us to the West Coast, to a village and beach called Piha. It is a very rugged stretch of coast, with black sand beaches (from the iron rich volcanic rock). There is a huge rocky outcrop known as Lion Rock that separates the north and south stretches of beach. The children were all over the rock pools as soon as we reached the beach. They found some crabs
in the pools and some big starfish clinging to the rocks just above the water. I found a crab just below the water and picked it up to show the children, and then clumsily dropped it. It fell back into the pool and sank to the depths and the kids all shouted ‘Daddy killed it!’ I’m sure it was dead already (honest!). It was a beautiful beach and we went for walk with Sam along to the blowhole, and the children tried to get into the caves before we spotted them and ordered them out.Sunday was our last day in Auckland and our last night at the Fire Station. Sam and Bill had looked after us brilliantly well, they had made our stay in Auckland so good, and shown us around, and looked after George and Ruby for us - absolutely fantastic. On Monday we set off for the Coromandel Peninsula. We arrived after a few hours at our campsite for the next few nights (in a mobile home – not a tent – we’re not crazy). Ruby and George are delighted as there is a trampoline, and playground and DVDs to borrow, what more could they want.
Carla: Sitting in the Coromandel with the rather grey skies and showery-rain out of the window of our cabin it seems amazing that we had such stunning weather in Auckland. It was a real bonus and made the visit (and the photos) sparkling and warm.
Ruby: On Wednesday we arrived in New Zealand. We met Sam, Matilda, Stanley and Bill, we watched some ‘Hugo’. On Thursday we walked around Devonport. We went up a volcano, through the tunnels, then we went to the $2 shop. I got a cowboy kit, then we went swimming with Matilda and Stanley and Sam. Then we watched Spiderman 2, then to bed. The next day we went on the ferry to the city. We went to the Sky Tower, the view was awesome. Then we met Sam and got in the car and went to the museum. First we had a picnic and then we went in the museum. There were loads of interesting facts. We went in the volcano room, it shook like a volcano. We saw a clip of the volcano exploding. On Saturday we went to the zoo. We saw an ostrich and loads of other animals. Then we went
to the video shop. We got “The Smurfs” and “Judy Moody and the Bummer Summer”. I liked them both because they are funny. The following day we got some books. Then we went to Piha and saw crabs and starfish.
George: After our flight from Australia to New Zealand Sam, or Samantha, picks us up from the airport at 5 o’clock. She gives me and Ruby $2 to spend at the $2 shop. When we get to the place we are staying in we meet Matilda and Stanley. On Thursday we wander around the village. We go up a volcano but there is no hole at the top. In the afternoon we go to a swimming pool with Matilda and Stanley. On Friday we go to Auckland City. We start off by going to the Sky Tower, the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere. We go 270m up in the air. Then we come down and meet Sam and she drives us to the museum. Inside the museum there is a bit about volcanoes. There is a small room where you can see what it’s like to have a volcano erupt right by you. The next day Mum and
Dad go back to the city so Sam is looking after us. First we go to Pirate Park. It’s called that because it has a big boat in the middle of it with a climbable mast. Then we go to Auckland Zoo! We have a mission to find all the animals from Madagascar (the movie!), the lion, zebra, hippo and giraffe; we succeed. On Sunday we go to Piha Beach. A beach with lots of caves and rockpools, we see millions of crabs and starfish. The following day we leave Devonport and go to Whitiangia, pronounced Fit-ian-ga. We arrive at a campsite after 3 hours on the road. The campsite has a trampoline.
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Fiona Rose
non-member comment
NZ
Dear Carla Sounds like you are having an amazing time in NZ and I'm very jealous! Would love to spend some time there. My Mum loved NZ when she spent a month there about 10 years ago and Sandy & Marilyn thought, after a holiday there, about immigrating after GW Bush II got in for the second time!! When my Dad was in the Navy he spent quite a lot of time in NZ and also thought about immigrating us to Christchurch. Here, in usually dry and semi-sunny East Anglia, it is raining (again !!) - it's been like this for 3 weeks and getting a bit much, perhaps we should think of moving to Sydney... I guess we are in a drought so the rain is probably a good thing long term. Love the sound of the $2 shop! F x