Bye bye Paua

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Monday 14th 2011

Time is drawing to an end here, and we don’t like it. We have really enjoyed our time on these two islands, and have probably crammed in more here in three weeks than at any other time on our trip. This is in the main part down to the decision to hire Paua.

Anyway enough of that there will be time to wax lyrical in the round up.

Today was about moving on again. Our last real trip before we give the van back. Waking with the early morning again, as is now our routine, we showered etc and packed up ready to hit the road.

We were gone by 8am and the first part of the trip involved us taking the small car ferry across the water to the historical side of the Bay of Islands. A short five minute drive from Paihia to Opua was all it took and as luck would have it we arrived in time to drive straight onto the ferry.

This ferry is a small little thing, only four short vehicle lanes. It was, despite being near the start of the working day (we assume,) barely even half full, perhaps the traffic was in the other direction in the morning.

We drove off the ferry at Opiato, which is a former capital of NZ. The place was formerly called Russel, when it was the residence of the former governor, but was abandoned in 1841 after the capital was moved to Auckland (it is now in Wellington) The name Russel was then adopted by a settlement a further 10 minutes drive around the coast, which was our destination.

We arrived at the modern day Russel which is a quaint town not really bigger than a village in UK standards. It was however once known as “the Hellhole of the Pacific.” It was the site of the first European settlement on these islands, and it quickly gained a reputation as a magnet for convicts and roughneck sailors. With wild orgies on the beaches and whoring rife it is little wonder Charles Darwin described it as full of “the refuse of society.”

We both liked this little arty place, but how can you not like a place in glorious sunshine, with blue water lapping at the waterfront, and a variety of boats and yachts in the sheltered bay? We took a stroll around the place which took all of ten minutes as it is so small, in the process viewing the old police station, which is still the policeman’s residence even to this day. The fig tree outside was planted by a former occupant of the house and is still going strong, a huge gnarled thing which is rather imposing in its grandeur.

From here we drove up the rather steep hill towards Tapeka Point, stopping amongst the houses of the rich to view the blue water and dream of living in such an idyllic setting. Seems the Lottery is the big plan still though so I’m not holding my breath.

On our return from this magnificent point, we stopped off on Flagstaff hill. This afforded us a panoramic view of Russel, the bay, and Paihia across the water, truly stunning in the morning sunshine.

We then had to decide on our route south, we wanted to get close to Auckland as we wanted an easy morning dropping off the van tomorrow, but as we were up early we had the luxury of time to go and explore the coast road on the way there. So we turned off the main road for the road less travelled for the last time.

Boy did we get that choice right. The road we were on whilst slow and windy, was another of NZ’s gems. After driving for nearly half an hour before the splendour was revealed to us as we rounded a bend. A beach below with Pacific blue water, and surf rolling in with nobody in sight. There were a couple of houses nearby but they looked pretty run down, and unoccupied. Why I don’t know, as this would be a truly beautiful spot to live in. In fact prior to reaching this spot we had driven through a hamlet with a fair number of houses of which the majority were up for sale - obviously this area has been hit hard by the recession.

Anyway we continued along this road, which revealed more hidden gems to us in the form of additional gorgeous beaches, then suddenly the road veered back inland and the stunning scenery was taken from us as swiftly as it had arrived.

From here on the road was only average (by UK standards) meaning quite poor as far as Kiwi roads go, but the short glimpse of the Pacific had been worth it in my view. We drove off this road to a small beachside hamlet to use some conveniences and grab another drink, something we really needed in the baking heat of the day.

Onward we travelled rejoining the main highway, and the rather dull motorway style journey south to our destination for the evening. We had to stop once more to pay the toll on the motorway for the small stretch just outside Auckland (it is one of the only toll roads in NZ.) Having gone the non fee paying route on the journey North we really could appreciate the difference that the two dollars made.

I then had to make my way into the northern suburbs driving whilst Lou was navigating, using a map which didn’t really have sufficient detail on it. This nearly caused an argument but in the end I ignored the directions other than the suburb we were heading for and we got there so all was well.

The campsite was right on the beach in one of the posher districts of Auckland’s north shore. Within striking distance of the centre of the city itself and the perfect spot to finish our packing/tidying in preparation for the return tomorrow.

After we pulled into our spot, we nigh on emptied the van in its entirety to make sure that nothing had found it’s way into any little hidey holes that we might miss, before re-assembling our belongings. In Lou’s case this meant packing up her bag and telling me that all of this stuff in the pile over there was mine and it needed to be packed!

As I hadn’t planned on packing until the morning, I did what all blokes do, opened the bag, stuffed the lot in in one go and closed the bag again, saying “done.” Not very scientific or organised but effective nonetheless.

Lou wasn’t particularly impressed with this but she doesn’t learn that telling me I have 5 minutes to pack is not going to get results that she wants, yet allowing me to do it in my own time will.

From here we headed out of the camping park back onto the main road where there were a decent selection of bars and pubs, with a variety of offers on food. As we had used the last of our food up other than odds which don’t make up a meal we were always going to eat out tonight - so we found a pub with 2-for-1 mains and had dinner. Being a hot late afternoon (we eat early as we rise early) it was also accompanied by a refreshing cold cider which went down a treat.

We headed back to the van for our last nights sleep on four wheels, sad that it would be but satisfied that we had had another good day.

15th February 2011

For the last time we awoke with the sun shining through the curtains flooding the inside of our small tin capsule with light and warmth. We showered and had a cuppa before doing a final once over and checking the map for our destination this morning - the Escape depot.

We got on the road in plenty of time as we had always known we would, and it was a good job too, as we left the campsite and hit Auckland rush hour. It was always going to happen, but we didn’t really care, and the radio was on the sun was shining and we weren’t off to a day in the office like the rest of the commuters stuck in the heavy traffic heading south to cross the harbour bridge.

After about 45 minutes of creeping five yards at a time we finally made it through the junction that had been holding everybody up and the highway started to flow a little. We crossed the harbour bridge and once we did the traffic eased considerably, and we turned off the highway into Auckland’s CBD. We followed the roads past the hostel we had booked for the night but there was no chance of stopping to unload on a road like this so we did a swift about turn before heading to the depot.

A final top up for the petrol tank to make sure we didn’t get charged to refill at an extortionate amount, and whilst at the garage we bought a late breakfast snack, which we consumed prior to dropping off the van.

We pulled into the depot and parked up Paua for the last time. Emptied out our bags and that was more or less that. AS we had taken out the comprehensive insurance with zero excess, they aren’t very strick about checking anything with us present as they know they can use the insurance should they need to, so we were free to leave. We walked out the door laden down with bags in a way we hadn’t been for some time and wondered when the bags had multiplied? It seemed like we were carrying so much stuff - maybe it is just that we are out of practice, or we didn’t pack very well.

We had to make it back to the hostel, and the trudge there was a slow one but we made it (it really wasn’t that far but with our recent lack of practice it felt like a long way.)

We arrived at the hostel so early that it wasn’t even check-out time for ther ooms let alone time for us to check-in, but they did have a left luggage area, so we stashed the bags and headed out into Auckland for a look around.

Like most big cities it has the usual array of shops - and we unsurprisingly headed for the ones we always do. So a wander around a book shop, and some camping shops and we had had our fill. We headed back to the hostel hoping that we could check-in.

We were still over an hour early so we sat and used the computer whilst drinking tea (how British!)

Eventually we got the key to our room and whilst small it was ok, so we had a quick shower, and change and then we headed out again, this time via the food court which was located underneath the hostel, for a bite of lunch.

We were heading for the Aucklanmd Museum, a “must see” according to the Lonely Planet. We had checked the instructions on how to get there, in the book, and thought we’d ask at the front desk where the bus stop was that we needed, when we told that it would be as quick to walk.

So we headed off, and promptly got lost in the University campus which had a load of dead ends. Not what the doctor ordered. We eventually found our way out and found the bus, asking which stop we needed to get off at. A bloke getting on at the same time informed us that he was getting off at the nearest stop so just get off when he did.

The bus trip went on, and on to the point we didn’t notice until too late that the guy got off, so we then missed the stop, having to get off at the next one. It wasn’t far, but we had already had a detour and were running out of time so this wasn’t what we needed.

We had no directions from the bus stop and there were no signpost either, so we had to walk in what we thought was the right direction, luckily we managed to get it right first time and we made it to the museum. We had only an hour to look around the large building with it’s various galleries. AS such we concentrated on the uniquely New Zealand aspects and skipped some exhibits which we could see in any other museum in the world.

The displays were really interesting and an hour really wasn’t enough to do them justice, for which we were both a little disappointed but what we did get to see was very interesting. Including Maori natural history, where the beliefs on how a tree and a whale are very closely related as they have the same type of skin were a totally new form of natural history for me (and I expect David Attenborough)

The large collect of South Paacific Islander’s memorabilia was interesting especially with our upcoming destination being the Cook Islands, and the Maori heritage area was another stunner.

Lou took some really beautiful pictures too, some of which you are viewing whilst reading this.

We headed back as the museum closed and walked back through the Auckland Domain, in the direction of the hostel. When we arrived back we were still in time to go to the free BBQ in the small onsite bar. It was being put on in order to try and get you to buy tickets for one of the bus companies but I didn’t really care as we were leaving and I thought a bit if free food sounded ok. I was however very wrong. This BBQ was the first time, and hopefully the last, hat I experienced the Kiwi (and Aussie for that matter) pre-cooked sausage.

These things are ready cooked so you “cook” them on the BBQ purely for heat and flavour. Well this didn’t do much for them either! The only good thing about them was I knew I wouldn’t get sick as they were already cooked! It was like eating a sock filled with water! Truly abominable, and something that the antipodeans can keep.

We headed back to the room for a bit, but it wasn’t long before Lou wanted to go out as the room was a bit stuffy and she was hungry having passed on the awful sausages. So we ventured into the Auckland evening and the next thing we knew we were in the cinema. This time we had elected to watch a film called Inception, in the IMax cinema. Wow! What a great film.

We headed for home tired but unable to sleep due to the complexity of the film. Eventually we did nod off though, for the last time in New Zealand, and the first time in ages in a real bed.

NB: Being currently in the cook islands the internet costs a fortune as such pictures will follow when we can upload them without having to be a millionaire first!

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