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Published: November 12th 2006
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Auckland
The Auckland skyline from the skytower Hello from New Zealand! We had a good flight over, albeit a bit basic with Air New Zealand (toasted sandwich and cup of water for lunch!) and were really excited about seeing Riks brother Michael (who shall be known as Mike from now on - sorry parents!) Kiera was quite shy at first, but it took her all of about 2 minutes to be chatty and it was a nice novelty to be met by someone at the airport as we have had to fend for ourselves normally. The first thing that strikes you as you come into land is just how hilly/mountainous/volcanic it is and also how lovely and green everything is. Auckland is a strange city in that every flatish piece of land has been built on with all these volcanoes (extinct for the moment) dotted here, there and everywhere; consequently the whole city is stretched out over quite a large area. Mike had booked us a fabulous apartment which was right in the middle of the city and only about 150metres from the Skytower, so we got an ace view of this, especially at night. We spent the next couple of days being chauffered (nice luxury for Rik
Meriwai Beach
Family picnic next to Meriwai Beach the driver) around parts of Auckland, including the Waitakere Ranges and Mission Beach to give us a little flavour of the country. I don't think any of us (including Kiera surprisingly) had realised just how much we had missed greenery and it is lovely to see all the spring flowers everywhere. We also visited One Tree Hill (actually no tree hill anymore as the last one was burnt down in 1990) for some fantastic views of Auckland and a great play park for Kiera; she had the life of riley on the flying fox with her uncle at one end and her dad at the other just pushing her between them. Friday we went to the Airport to meet Mikes wife Gail (who happens to be a Kindergarten teacher, how lucky are we???) and headed out to Meriwai Beach for a picnic. This is a long stretch of coast on the west side of Auckland which is black sand and we walked up the hill to see a massive flock of nesting gannets - apparently we were there the day before the crown prince of Japan..... Whilst there we saw some kind of sea search going on with the Rescue
helicopter and three boats looking for someone but never did get to find out what it was all about. Friday night we were treated to a gorgeous meal up in the Skytower complete with stunning views, revolving restaurant and glass floors! I had my eyes firmly turned away from the glass windows of the lift as it whizzed us to the top, but was quite proud that I actually walked on the glass floor at the top - Kiera was lying down on it!! Some more sightseeing at the weekend and a couple of bottles of wine later and Mike & Gail returned home to Blenheim (South Island) on Sunday night. We amused ourselves for the next two days getting the ferry over to Devonport, visiting the Auckland Memorial Museum and whiling away a happy couple of hours in the pub overlooking the Americas Cup Harbour.
We are now back in a trusty little campervan (Britz this time) and hit the road north on Wednesday. First stop was a little tiny place called Waiwera where we camped right on the beach front and which had the added bonus of being right next to some Thermal Hot Pools. Sheer bliss and
Skytower
Kiera poses at the top of the Skytower a few hours later we were all shrivelled and sulphured up and nice and relaxed. By Thursday morning the weather had got quite windy and we decided to head for Goat Island Marine Reserve near a place called Leigh. Apparently the fish in the water are incredible and you can see hundreds of them down by the rocks. We were buffeted around in our little van and changeable weather was not the word. It reminded me very much of Falklands weather where one minute it was bright sunshine and the next howling gales and torrential rain. We made it eventually to Goat Island (well actually it is just off shore so we were still on the mainland) and holed up in the caravan park. Luckily they had an enormous camp kitchen/tv/games room where we spent the afternoon. We got a bit twitchy when all the power went off for a few hours, but managed to weather the storm. Luckily we were not still in Auckland as they had 150kmph winds, the Sky Tower shut because it was swaying and they had a few mini tornados in the harbour!!
We got up bright and early to go and see some fish
Skytower
Kiera uses her Uncle Mike to get a better view! as the weather (and the sea) was now beautiful and calm and were rewarded well for our efforts. It was then a long drive through some stunning scenery to a tiny little place called Patura on the Whangerei Heads peninsula. Reading the papers the next day, we missed a mass whale beaching (approx 80 of them) by a matter of a couple of hours whilst driving there, so although it would have been quite incredible to see, I think probably really distressing as well; they only managed to refloat about 45 of them.
Everything here is VERY; the grass is very green, the hills are very high, the sea is very blue, the trees are very big - you get my drift! I am sure I will run out of adjectives to describe this country as it truly is how it looks in the brochures. We camped on a site and were the only people there, walked through the gap in the fence and found ourselves on a stunning deserted beach complete with rock pools etc. A happy few hours here collecting shells, only marred by Kieras discovery of a dead penguin. We sympathised for the first half hour about
Skytower
A family photo on top of the world... poor "Pengy", but then reality had to kick in and it was time for the stern "Look, thats life, it happens!" so that we could all get on with our lives!!!!!!!
We have now arrived in the breathtaking Bay of Islands which I will save for the next diary edition. Thanks to my sister in law Gail for sending me some photos to put in this blog as I was playing with my camera and managed to delete all my New Zealand photos I had taken. Note to Self: Always read the instruction book first!!
Take good care of yourselves
Lots of Love Nicchi, Rik & Kiera xxxxx
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The Englands
non-member comment
Hello!
Hi, Nic, Rik and Kiera, Glad that you have arrived safely in NZ. Sounds like it is every bit as beautiful as people say. It has always been a place I have wanted to visit. I have to say I have deleted the address you gave me for Rik's brother, so could you oblige once again!? Looking forward to the next blog. Take care. Lots of love Sam, Shane and Lucy (who now repeats every word you say so we have had to stop f***ing swearing!!)