New Zealand - The North Island

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Wellington

After the 3 hour (blustery if you were up top) and slightly rolling crossing from Picton to Wellington the first thing we notice is the highway flowing with heaps of traffic - a total contrast to the South Island. We disembark & catch the free shuttle to the Railway station. This is linked to the bus stop area where a whole host of buses can take you to the city centre for a dollar. We catch one & are surprised - pleasantly - at how colourful Wellington is. Not what we expected at all. It has small shopping districts (very small) that blend into one another. The buildings are old art deco style - many coloured brightly, co existing with the new/modern structures - only a few high rise stuff. After all this is the capital city of NZ. We get off near the YHA Backpackers ($82 a night) at the corner of Courtney Place, which is the main drag for bars & clubs. The Backpackers is definitely the best YHA we have come across - more like a hotel. We have a room with a view over the hills nearby - just above the harbour area. We are pretty central & we have a couple of hours before we meet up with our friends so we decide to check out the city.

Our first impressions of the place is that it has a nice feel to it as cities go. There is the famous Te Papa museum which shows the history of NZ and the Maori’s, though unfortunately we won’t have time to see. We go for a stroll by the harbour side - which is a mix of a working port & a smart harbour. There are many yachts out & rowing crew practicing. The link between this & the rest of the city is cumbersome as the highway cuts right across the divide. Like many cities, Wellington has it’s list of attractions & events (more than most from the look of the programme - something generally that the Kiwi’s are good at all over). The Diversity of the city is apparent all around with Indian, Turkish, Malaysian, Chinese, Korean, Japanese people & eateries all around. We see a lot more Maori people as well. This is a contrast to the South.

As we walk into the main eateries area around Cuba Street, we bump into Paul who we are due to see for dinner with his Polish wife Karolina. We met them when we were trekking in Nepal & have kept in touch. K joins us in a few mins. It’s fabulous to see them both again. They are both looking great & are now living here in a small pad (1 bed paying $ 300 per week, 20 mins walk into town). They have booked a table at Rasa (a Malaysian/ South Indian restaurant) on Cuba Street - just as well as it’s soon packed. The street has a fabulous feel to it. It’s alive with people & music - who said anything about a recession? We have a great time catching up with P & K. He’s in IT & K has just got her working permit so has a job in the creative arts - helping with the fringe theatre which she loves. She is probably the most positive person you can hope to meet in the world . She is so full of energy & enthusiasm for anything in life - fantastic. P is about to start taking Polish lessons so he can communicate with her folks a bit better.

Next day we pick up the car booked on line with Apex - it’s pretty straight forward - & we are off on the longish trip to Lake Taupo.

Lake Taupo

The drive out from W is slow going as the various neighbourhoods & towns blend into one another, all along the highway & by the sea. The landscape is nothing special once we go inland. We decide to take a detour to Palmerston North for lunch as it’s the only decent sounding place en route to Taupo. The LP guide waxes lyrical about the central green area being more English etc - no idea know which bit of Britain they‘d been to! We do lunch at Moxies, a fabulous place which is packed with locals. The service is superb & the food pretty good. We have an Eggs Benedict (Florentine & Royale style - i.e. spinach & smoked salmon) & a huge omelette (cheese, onion, tomato, bacon & mushroom!). The town is quite big & the diversity of the people is evident with folks from parts of the Middle East in addition to those mentioned already. After a quick tour around we head off again and come across road works at many points along the way. The only thing that breaks the tedium of the Desert Highway is the views of the Mount Tongariro National Park with 3 prominent mountains & most of them covered in snow - quite beautiful.

We eventually roll into Taupo - it feels like it’s been a long day. We check into the Rainbow Lodge Backpackers ($58 a night). It’s an ok place slightly off the centre of the town which is largely a tourist town with the Lake being one of the main attractions. It does have a Woolworth’s though - so it’s off shopping for dinner to have a BBQ steak for dinner. For those who think we are living it up - steak is generally cheaper than lamb & pork. They have a thing about Turkish bread - which is a sort of lighter version of Ciabatta bread. Very good for big sandwiches.

C is determined so we book onto a day trip - the one day Tongariro Crossing. It’s a 19km walk across some dramatic terrain - mainly volcanic in the National Park which was the first one in NZ & the 2nd or 4th in the world (depending on who you talk to). We’re picked up at 6.20 am & are driven for an hour + to the starting point. It’s cool when we set off. We have come armed with a picnic & lots of water as this will be a challenge as the guide notes inform us. The walk takes us from the drop off point upward to Mangatepopo hut, then more steeply up to soda springs, and even more steeply on the “Devil’s Staircase” to the south crater. Then it’s another steep climb up shale and rock to the summit - the Red Crater ridge which is quite spectacular; deep red veins in the earth. It’s also pretty exposed to the elements & folks sometimes have to crawl this bit if the wind is up so as not to be blown off the mountain. Boy the things we oldies get up to. Thankfully it’s a glorious sunny day with low wind. From here one can see one of the 3 emerald lakes + the huge blue lake across a barren sunken crater. The views are fantastic & the colours of the lakes quite literally emerald green & aqua blue. As we start the descent we find that the hill side is steep & gravel which makes it only doable if you sort of ski down hill & traverse from time to time. However at this point the other 2 emerald lakes become visible which does take one‘s mind off the impending doom ahead if one slipped or fell. Thankfully we have our walking poles. We do wonder why the tour operators never mentioned this - they only emphasised the steep bit getting up there.

One thing to mention is that the summit for the crossing actually is base camp for the really fit, energetic or completely mad. They have the pleasure of walking up Mount Ngauruhoe a live volcano, to it‘s rim & then walk down a very, very steep side. This has to be done in 3 hours - the time constraint is dictated by the fact that folks have to finish the full trek & catch the last bus home at 4.30 or be fend for themselves on the NP till the Search & Rescue team come & get them - whenever. No pressure then. The mountain & the area were used for various pieces in “The Lord of the Rings” including Modor’s Mount Doom. Amazingly this is the first mention we have given the film that has spawned a huge number of day trips in various parts of NZ. We continue the walk to the Ketetahi hut which is a break point with toilets (basic) & some drinking water. It’s on again the rest of the way down passing active sulphur springs on the hill side. This last section which lasts for about 3.5 hours does get a bit tedious towards the end even though we pass through rainforest and along a gushing stream. Eventually we get to the pick up point at about 2.30pm with aching feet & wait till 3.30pm for the bus back to Taupo.

On our return to Taupo we find the lake side is full with families sun bathing and swimming as it‘s a lovely hot day. We however are too tired & aching to indulge in anything other than a few cold beers. We were due to try skydiving here as apparently it’s the cheapest place to do so. However, given the coast for 45 seconds of adrenalin run, we decide to get better value with other activities such as paragliding & hand gliding in South America - less cost & more time in the air. Cool.

Rotorua

We take the Volcanic Highway as it’s referred to on our way to Rotorua. The whole area is full of volcanic activity & amazing hot springs & rivers. It’s also quite hilly with a smell of sulphur (slightly rotten eggs) in the air.
Just before we enter the town we come across Te Whakarewarewa (pronounced fa-ka-re-wa-re-wa), & Te Puia, a landscape of active geothermal activity that is continually changing. Bubbling mud pools, boiling mineral springs, silica terraces & erupting geysers are some of the natural wonders that can be admired in the village which is home to the Tuhourangi Ngati Wahiao People for centuries (700 years) & still is. This was established by an Act of Parliament which made them guardians of the Maori culture, arts & crafts. The main entranced has 12 monumental contemporary carvings reaching skywards, each representing a celestial guardian in Te Awara culture.

We pay $40 each & are taken on a guided tour by a local Maori woman to see the highlights of the area which include - a visit to a Kiwi house with 2 Kiwis in captivity. Apparently they are nocturnal birds & difficult to spot. Then it’s Nga Mokai a Koko mud pool (a large pool of boiling mud) and the main attraction Pohutu - big splash/explosion - a geyser (pronounced guy zer) which when in full burst/flight gets to 30m high for a long time & the smaller bit part actor the Prince of Wales Feathers geyser which starts off & largely heralds the arrival of Pohutu which arrives a few minutes later. Amazing double act & they perform regularly every day & have been doing so for 100s of years. A pretty impressive sight they make full force.

Central Rotorua Backpakers ($58per night via BBH) is our home for the next night. It’s a lovely house converted into a Backpackers, it’s clean & functional. Neil is the owner - a fanatical Celtic supporter & very helpful about local information.

We have specifically come to stay overnight in R for a Maori Cultural experience & Hangi (meal cooked in natural steam vents or heat underground). We choose the Mitai Maori Village show on the recommendation of Neil the owner of the Backpackers we are staying in. It’s $79.50 each. We get picked up by bus at 6 pm & it’s 10 mins away. There are 100s of folks there. After the Kia Ora (which means Hello, good bye, thanks or any other salutation) we are taken to see where the food (the hangi) is cooked. First disappointment - because of health & safety rules its now done on artificially warmed stones in a cemented well. After that it’s a trip to a nearby stream to watch the “Maori warriors” row upstream. It’s cool but the warrior have artificial facial tatoos & some of them would fall over if you blew on then - making the concept of the ferocious Maori warrior difficult to appreciate or visualise. Then it’s time for the Maori cultural show - the best bit of the evening. There‘s song & dance and the much acclaimed Haka. We actually do learn something about their culture & traditions here. The Maori culture & traditions are complex, based on spiritual & celestial happenings during and after the creation of the universe (NZ mainly) as they saw it. Maori sayings are also very philosophical e.g “Toitu he kainga whatu ngarongato he tangata” (Only the land remains, when the people have disappeared).

It’s then onto the hangi - dinner (roast chicken & lamb - over done & dry - baked kumara & potato, cauliflower & sesame seeds (the nicest thing) & English stuffing (not sure Captain Cook brought some with him?!). If the Maori really ate this stuff, we are surprised that they survived as a people at all. Next it’s a short trip back to the stream - now it’s at night - to see glow worms & the sacred pond which to us seemed artificial. The glow worms like Christmas tree lights put on for the tourist & the sacred pond with bubbling earth & light again started at the throw of a switch. So you think we weren’t impressed - you got it right first time. Maybe we are getting too cynical in our old age. All in all the experience was pretty disappointing compared to the Zulu stuff we saw in South Africa. M did wonder about the way in which the Maori culture was being promoted by NZ - was it just a good marketing ploy & political stance to encourage tourism which NZ depends on. They get 2m visitors a year - this is a 50% increase in their population - amazing buying power/bucks/dosh yeah!!

We are bussed back at about 10 pm & get off in town to see the last of the free Concert in the park & fireworks. There’s live music & food stalls & the park is full. What is noticeable is that teenagers out in all their finery - possibly on the pull. Young guys here are really into being hoodies - which look outdated. The cops have a grip on things and it’s all peaceful. However, if this is the future generation of NZ - heaven help them - or are we sounding like oldies again ?!!

Mount Maunganui - Bay of Plenty

Leaving Rotorua at about 11 am after some shopping at the amazing Countdown supermarket we make our way to Kerosene Creek, a hot water river(!) south of Rotorua. Ignoring the scummy foam C soon gets into her swimmers and sits on a ledge with her legs dangling in the very, very hot water. She gets out looking well boiled but insists it was just the therapy she needed for her legs after the walk!

Then it’s on to Mount Maunganui on the Bay of Plenty. It takes us 90 mins and the countryside is reminiscent of parts of England & other parts Italy or Europe. It’s also Kiwi fruit country with acres of the stuff all over. Did you know it was originally a Chinese fruit?.

We check into the Pacific Coast Lodge/Backpackers @ $70 per night somewhat dear but the guide books (BBH & LP didn‘t offer many options)! It’s more like a Motel or Lodge than a backpackers - which might explain the price. It’s a bit out of the centre though.

The town is 1km away, with the Mount in the background. It’s much bigger than we expect but in layout a typical Kiwi Township/City (we can never tell the difference here - they seem to use the terms at random). The main drag has some lovely shops, eateries & bars. The beach is long and runs parallel to the main drag about 200 metres to the right going into town. The west has a bay which includes the harbour where Dolphin & Whale watching trips take off from. Also the big cruise ships berth here. After cooling off with a Monteith’s at the Latitude Bar we get some fresh Fish & Chips - Hoki & Tarakihi for lunch & go to the beach to have it - all served in newspaper - aahh the good times. As it’s Sunday it’s busy with many families & surfers. It’s a beautiful beach but the water is slightly cool. After Kerosene Creek a complete contrast. However, it’s a pretty hot day. Later in the afternoon C treats herself to some local Ice Cream - Hokey Pokey (a Kiwi special we are informed by the local women in the queue - a must have) & Boysenberry. Two big scoops for $2.50 a absolute bargain - which explains the long queues.

We try to book onto the next days Swimming with the Dolphins Trip - but they anticipate high winds so it’s no go. Foiled again. Will have to try in Auckland -our last chance. We go into town to use the free Wi Fi at the latitude bar with a couple of beers. We are concerned about the girls back home as the electrics seem to have gone in the kitchen again - so they have no heating or hot water - except in Jo’s room. The leak in the loft space was fixed by an emergency plumber which we are relieved about. We feel kinda helpless to sort things out from here. We did ring home a couple of times but Sarah was out though we did get to speak to Louise. It’s freezing & has snowed. The next day is overcast, breezy & colder so it’s catching up with the blog (which is becoming a real slog now) & burning our millions of pics onto DVD to save them. We also discover that there maybe an issue with the laptop - the Webcam is heating up a lot & not working, so we need to save as much as we can should it fold on us.

We also take the ultimate challenge & decide to climb up Mount Maunganui, which isn’t as fierce as it sounds. It’s a ½ hour up the steep side or 45 mins the slow route. We of course choose the steep ascent & soon start to regret it. However, the beautiful views of the bays makes the uphill struggle easier. We feel worse as we note all the locals using the track as their evening jog up & down. It’s beautiful at the top & we are impressed with a paraglider swirling around above the cliffs & Mount. We’d love to have a go one day. Tandem of course. The Mount is still sacred land for the Maori so commercial activity can’t take place up here.

We stop at a bar for some beers to quench our thirst & then head back “home”. There’s a text from Sarah - 6 inches of snow & London at a stand still. So we ring & speak to her at last. The Polish electrician is due in today - so hopefully - snow permitting they will be sorted. It’s good to speak to her - she sounds in good form.

Auckland - The City of Sails

We are off to Auckland early as we have to return the car by 5 pm today. We decide to try the indirect route via the Coromandel Peninsula. It’s more scenic if a bit windy & parts of the way are by the coast. We get to a Wangathani & stop for coffee at the Verve Café which does a mean Date & Apricot slice - C is in heaven, M finds it a bit sweet but still yummy. The route takes us past the Coromandel Forest Park which have a beautiful & spectacularly spikey range of mountains. It makes for a picturesque but windy drive. Next a change of tack & we head for Auckland for lunch, arriving at 1.30pm (passing a local suburb called Bombay) but taking ages to find a parking space, which we do eventually ($5 per half hour - welcome back to city life!). Walking up Queens street - the main street down the centre of the city & then the high street we come to a Wagamama’s where we dip in for some food. Not bad but a bit sweetish - too much sweet chilli sauce which the Kiwis seem to love. Our abode for the night is the City Garden Lodge in Parnell, a lovely house now catering for backpackers. After our trip to the Cook Islands we are back here again - which means we can travel light, storing the rest of our gear here for free - fab. As we still have the car we check out Ponsonby, the cool area of Auckland. It reminds us of Paddington in Oz, but with a distant view of the harbour - there are some original designer shops here & fancy & expensive cafes etc. Having handed the car back we catch the Link bus @$1.60 pp to get back. A great service which does a loop of the city & has a flat rate charge. It runs every 10 mins during the day.

Although Wellington is the capital, Auckland is a much bigger city & like any big city, has a central core and the rest sprawling into various neighbourhoods with their own characteristics. The centre here is a smaller version of central London without some of the fancy historic buildings. They have shopping Malls galore with all the usual designer suspect outlets. However it has only 2 supermarkets miles apart. One thing we notice here & in Mount Manganui is that Burger King seem to be getting a make over as US Diners - it seems to work. All retro with pictures of Marylin Monroe, James Dean, Elvis etc, either this is a local re branding in NZ or a global effort - we’ll see. We did resist them though.

We get into town to see the Harbour where the Louis Vuitton challenge cup for ocean yacht racing is on. Team GB with Ben Ainslie seem to be doing pretty well. Unfortunately on the day there are no races but we did see the rather sleek racing yachts - very hi tech and light as hell.

Auckland second time around:

After our sojourn to the Cooks, we arrive at the airport having spent 4 hours in the air and lost a whole day. This is crazy, who established the date line, when & why, as it doesn’t make a lot of sense!!! After a quick trip through customs we grab the shuttle for $36 for the 2 of us just outside the terminal to your door step - great service. Heathrow please note. Back at the City Garden Lodge (the best equipped hostel we have stayed in during our travels & one of the nicest re: customer service etc). We discover from Ian that it was originally the house for the Queen of Tonga.

Being somewhat disorientated we feel we need entertaining - less brain power & more fun so we pop off to see Slumdog Millionaire which is just released in NZ. It’s showing in Newmarket a great shopping area 15 mins walk from Parnell. It’s a fab film even if they have changed the story line from the book a bit. It deserves an Oscar or 5. We’d recommend everyone see it.

What is amazing is that Natural NZ Ice cream - a chain of ice cream parlours in Oz can’t be found here in NZ anywhere? We do find a small Turkish kebab shop selling some NZ Natural Ice cream in New market and sample the Hokey Pokey (not so good) and Honey & walnut which was to die for. The owner was very generous & we sampled a lot more. There was one called Pavlova which surprisingly C resisted as Pavlova is considered the national sweet dish & C loves it. She had been on a mission to have some but never quite made it! All in all despite it’s dullish reputation we found Auckland pretty cool. The university is right in the centre of the city & there are Korean & Japanese restaurants galore on the less trendy part of Queen street.

Unfortunately the camera lens has jammed on the wide angle setting so no close ups for the rest of the trip as fixing it will require sending it to Canon & take 2 to 3 weeks.

We decide to treat ourselves on the last 2 days food wise with some nice Pinot. For dinner it’s BBQ steak in a Ciabatta (they seem to do them so much lighter in NZ) with salad. The last night is, of course, NZ lamb BBQ with courgette & pasta with Pesto (they do amazing Pesto sauces in small packs), with Green Lip mussels ($2.65 a Kg - a real give away).We hope the Kiwis are grateful for their natural resources. Just before we head off to the airport & out of NZ (till the next time) we have a fab lunch at the hostel - king prawns (fresh 24 for $2.99) with Brie on Jacket potatoes with Tomato & Onion salad - awesome. All washed down with Monteith’s lager which is a new find.

We get the airport Shuttle which picks us up at the hostel & it’s off to Santiago, Chile ………………………………...... See you there.

Some General Observations about NZ:

NZ has only 4 million people (in a country the size of the UK which has 60m. Mind you Oz doesn’t do too bad with only 20m in their vast acreage) - which might explain why even in high season we hardly see any cars/caravans/campervans on the road in the South Island. Most (2/3rds) Kiwis live in the North Island (amazing as it has a reputation of being less beautiful & a lot colder).

It seems to us pretty expensive for day to day living - on par or more than Australia sometimes. Like Oz because of the lack of demand, they are stuck with costly things like mobiles which they mainly use to text not phone (so seeing a young person glued to the mobile is a rarity. iphones are new but not as popular as in the US or UK..

There is very little (3%) unemployment here. There is a national minimum wage (less than Oz - so many go across the pond to work there as there are no visa/work permit restrictions). And to think but for a last minute change of heart NZ could have been another state in the United States of Oz!!! They do feel however, that they are the little island off the Oz coast according to some which affects their attitude to Oz.

NZ seems just like the UK - England, Wales & Scotland rolled into one country - with sunshine and clear beautiful blue skies, more snow, cleaner air and water (rivers & lakes) & of course the Kiwi accent!! Many of the buildings have British architecture & the historic connections & names (buildings, streets, towns etc) seem to have a strong British flavour. There is still also a strong British leaning in the South Island particularly among the older generation & government. Clearly the SE Asian immigrants don’t share this view so things will change as their numbers increase.
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Despite the stereotypical locals view of NZ as a “sheep shaggers” paradise with Anchor butter & cheese all over nothing can be further from the truth. More folks are going into Dairy farming or Wine growing which is taking up more land, In the last year alone there was a 12% fall in sheep farmers. However, their Beef & Lamb are still the tastiest we have come across.



The Press is the national paper & like Oz there are many regional ones. The coverage isn’t particularly inspiring or informative - very parochial stories.

Child safety is a big issue - maybe its because it’s the summer holidays. There are radio ads & announcements at Woolworths about not leaving the child unsupervised by a pool or in a shopping trolley!!.

NZ gets nearly full marks for it’s commitment to Green issues. It’s environmental credentials are supported by action at all levels including teaching kids at school. Hostels all have recycling bins for paper, plastic, glass etc. One minus - they still use a lot of plastic in supermarkets & in rubbish disposal (not recyclable). On the plus side there is a lot of organic & free range foods about. They are also very keen on being gluten free as well as all menus advertise this.

A bit of luxury we indulge in every day - having been introduced to it by Penni - is Whittakers Almond Gold chocolate. Knocks the socks of Cadbury’s! M has designs on setting up a sole distributor arrangement for the UK; C just wants to be their taster!

Kiwis have an obsession with Kumara (sweet potato) & Pumpkin they’re found everywhere even in fast food outlets - Kumara chip & aioli is great.

Here wines & beers are sold in supermarkets but not hard liquor which is only available in bottle shops. Most Hotels are the local pub/watering hole although there are a few “English & Irish Pubs” which are quite popular (similar to Oz).

The NZ towns & cities seem to be planned with a variety of community facilities in mind including community centres, Vets, doctors surgeries etc. They have a thing about “Lifestyle” as a marketing word for all property or land transactions. A 12.5% Government sales tax (GST) is added to any land sales price - this is a place where you can still buy plots of land & build your own dream home. Property sales are usually by tender (viewings are by advertised appointment) or by negotiation or auction; very few have a price advertised. On the affordable housing front there is Housing New Zealand which was piloting a shared ownership project.

The reason for Kiwis travelling so much - especially to Europe is that they feel they have little or no history unlike the UK for example. It’s strange to think that NZ was empty till folks from Micronesia & Polynesia (The Maoris) came over from the South Pacific not so long ago. Then along came Cook & the Brits and the rest as they say is history (this was only in the late 1700‘s).

We like their no tipping policy - Oz is becoming the same - the UK should take heed - a good idea all around - staff shouldn’t depend on tip but get a decent wage. However, on the downside for bank holidays they put on an extra 10% to 12.5% to pay for the extra staff cost.

NZ TV is much better than in Oz, this includes a few Maori TV stations. There are a lot of US & UK TV shows on - so it’s more entertaining. However, the NZ TV programmes tend to revolve around Cookery & gardening - no change there then from the UK. They do however, have a lot of adverts for charities including World Vision & others about sponsoring children in developing countries & one by the Salvation Army who seem to have a higher national profile here than in the UK. They deliver a lot of government funded programmes & provide a lot of direct services for people in need. St John’s also happen to be the main provider for the national ambulance service here & in Oz

One thing we notice is that they tend to be pretty straight talking & don’t pull any punches - example “ Get off your Bum & visit NZ over the weekend” - an official advert to get the locals to appreciate their own country - can’t see the Sun/Star/Mirror letting the UK Tourist board get away with that slogan!!!!
The signage on the back of the Wicked campervan vans are pretty near the knuckle as well - we’ll save your blushes this time.

Many hostels have a “Leave your shoes outside” policy & most folks comply - a good idea - keeps it tidy & preserves the carpets longer.

Generally the road signs about speeding or drink driving are more intelligent and most people observe the speed limits and don’t blow their horns come what may. Unfortunately they forget this in Auckland. Road rage is the order of the day. This is similar to Oz where Sydney gets the gong for Road rage city.

Kiwis are keen on sport & outdoor pursuits. Hiking (tramping as they call it) & cycling are big here as are Scenic flights by plane or helicopter, fly fishing, Jetboating, kayaking, canoeing, surfing, bungy (they started it) & skydiving.

Surprisingly we noted that women’s dressing (day to day & clothes in the shops) were not very stylish. Functionality reigns it would seem.

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Comments

[parnellcitylodge]

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