Motorhome News from New Zealand 1

---

Motorhome News from New Zealand 1
30th September 2008

Kia-ora. Welcome to New Zealand.

They tell us it's been a hard winter here on New Zealand's North Island, with continuous rain throughout July and August; much akin to that for the same months of summer in the UK. But suddenly, as the nights draw in and the prospect of winter approaches back home, we're transported in time - to Spring in New Zealand. Maybe we're just dreaming.

Our flight approach into Auckland turned to starboard from the north, drawing us into the city in dazzling sunlight above jigsaw edged green fields dotted with cows, set against the brilliant blue of the Tasman Sea. Welcome indeed. Customs clearance and immigration in contrast was surly, unfriendly and clearly bored - but our scrubbed and polished hiking boots ex Borneo passed muster and they let us in for our ten-week motorhome tour of North and South Islands.

It helps to have friends in the right places. For us it is Anne, the lovely daughter of special friends in Norfolk, and John, her husband, living with their four children on the outskirts of Auckland. Our newly rented motorhome, picked up at the airport, was parked on the drive beside their house for a couple of nights givng us welcome company and the chance to find our feet. Anne is surely the Queen of cakes and marmalade - and John, the Master builder, posessed of all the hallmark toys of New Zealand's manhood: the quad-bike, canoe, barbie, fishing rods, strong arms for wild-pig wrestling - a motorbike shipped from the UK. He doesn't have time for golf! Anne and John are hard-working, prosperous, and living the lifestyle, a credit to New Zealand.

Armed with copious piles of brochures and sound advice from a motorhoming neighbour, we headed north on the peninsular from Auckland into the Kauri forests of Northland to get our first glimpse of this 'Land of the Long White Cloud' as it is known, and hoping to catch a glimpse of that elusive bird, the flightless Kiwi. The odds of the latter could well be stacked against us; it's particularly rare and endangered of course, it feeds deep in the undergrowth, and to make matters more difficult, it's nocturnal. Perhaps we should stock up on carrots.

The first signs of spring were evident throughout Auckland's suburbs with rhododendrons, camelias, wisteria and azaleas bursting into flower, and within minutes we were cast into Northland's countryside; a wealth of dense forest of tall trees, palms and delicate sub-tropical tree ferns - an unexpected image of pre-history and dinosaurs. We camped on the fringe of the Waipoua Kauri National Park where a few remnants of the mighty Kauri trees survive destruction. For more than a century, huge specimens were wrenched from the ground to satiate the British demand for tall masts and valuable lumber. It was a similar story on the other side of the Pacific around that time as California's giant redwoods fell to the axe.

There are few trees we would recognise here: an occasional oak or beech - both introduced no doubt, and poplars, white on the landscape as their leaves contemplate the coming of another year's growth. But here, in this warm temperate climate, Kauri, Puka, Black Maire, Brown Pine, Puriri and Totara flourish - and they're all new to me. Away from the forest, the true New Zealand emerges, framed in our memories of picture books, TV and magazines; a green so green it is difficult to describe, a breathtaking emerald more green than Ireland, winding roller-coaster roads and gentle hills in every vista dotted with sheep and cattle and freshly bathed by the rising Tasman clouds. On every hillside fluffy New Zealand un-frozen lamb, and black and white, or brown, New Zealand butter on four legs ready for churning.

There's also a new language to be learned here: town names like Anawhata, Awakaponga, Hikawera, Kaharoa and Ngamatapouri; all of Maori origin no doubt, though there are also many reminders of home: Cheltenham, Chesterfield, Leamington - and Norfolk, that trip off the tongue faster than my memory as old age ticks on. It's no wonder we get them mixed up from time-to-time. One evening, after a brief walk chasing oystercatchers on yet another awesome sandy shore, we made our way to a campsite on Cape Karikari at the top of a long spit to the east of Ninety Mile Beach, realising only the following morning that we had intended to be at Kerikeri! Incidentally; it's possible to drive the Ninety Mile Beach between tides by 4X4 or take a bus along the hard packed, glistening sand. All rental vehicles are strictly prohibited from travelling on the beach for too many have already been lost to the tide!

At the top we turned south and eventually found Kerikeri, with its two e's instead of two a's, 50 miles further south. It was sheltering under a bright Pacific sky bordered on the horizon with a shallow ridge of white cumulus. They've built a by-pass now to compensate for the collapsed bridge across the river beside the Old Mission Station.

Old in this young New Zealand is recent of course. Here stands the oldest wooden house in the country, built in 1822, and the oldest stone building, The Store, built in 1835, ten years or more after our house back home. The clean-cut houses in the area give a clue to its prosperity built upon market gardening: lemons, oranges, avocados, olives, kiwi, and grape vines sheltering from damaging winds behind tall hedges of bamboo and pine.

It's common knowledge that Captain Cook came here on one of his Pacific cruises, but we now know a little more of the story. The Maori had already been here for some 700 years, having arrived from Polynesia the story goes, and the first Europeans landed in the Bay of Islands mid 18th century as whalers, seal hunters and traders. It was here at their base in Waitangi that the British signed a 'Declaration of Independance' with the resident Maori chiefs as recently as 1835, and British sovereignty was declared in 1840. This is indeed a young Nation. Our Maori guide was clearly happy with his lot, suggesting that integration through education and religion to inter-marriage is working well. I'll sit on the fence for a while and leave judgement on that until I have heard both sides - though that might mean climbing the barbed wire, for there are still some issues and prejudices to be settled.

The Bay of Islands area on this easterly coast hosts the most heavenly coves and bays. There's nothing quite so romantic as walking on a sandy beach, following the rhythm of the lapping tide, the string of shells at the tideline, watching diving gannets and terns and hearing the piercing calls of oystercatchers and red-billed gulls. A deep-tanned fisherman paused to chat as he watched his line, taught and straight across the silver sand into the shallow waters and out towards the horizon.
'What are you using for bait?' I asked. (New Zealanders are not short of words when it comes to an opportunity to mardle, we've found.)
'Squid,' he volunteered. 'The line's out there some 800 metres!'
'How does it get out there 800 metres?' I responded in some amazement.
'We have model aeroplane powered torpedos set to breach the sea. I've set mine to run for about 10 minutes.' The tubular frame by his stool held a battery operated 12" reel and a mile of line. He drew the line back in 10 minutes later, complete with thrashing snapper!

For all its beauty and tranquility, New Zealand is not immune to outside influences. Recent turmoil in the banking world has reached these shores with property showing the early signs of pressure as money markets reel from recent events. Developers here are following the trend according to the newspapers; walls of profitable dollars collapsing like dominos as sales come to a grinding halt, taking innocent buyers and contractors with them. The forest of masts in the harbours around Auckland suggests times are still good for some Aucklanders as thousands of expensive yachts and cruisers dabble in the sparkling light on the water. Let's hope there's enough in the bank to keep them all afloat.

Friday night is still fish and chip night here believe it or not, those fond habits hard to break. Old Englishness still lurks in dark corners too, with polite roadsigns reading: 'Please stop on request.' I can still remember those days when people said, 'Please,' and 'Thank you.' Other signs are not so welcome. 'Please be sure to lock your car', and 'Do not leave valuables in your car.' It's generally petty stuff, but it's on everyone's lips. There is rising awareness of crime under the long white cloud.

As usual, we're keeping an eye out for birds as well as petty thieves as we travel. There are not too many birds hereabouts: Blackbirds (with a different song to our cockney ones back home), Song Thrushes, Chaffinches and House-sparrows, Goldfinches, Starlings and Green-finches, but we're making inroads into the New Zealand list whenever the opportunity arises. Above us, we hear the ring of Skylarks everywhere - and Kingfishers are three to the dollar! But there are few mammals; the only native endemics are bats. There were no land dwelling mammals until rats came by boat from Polynesia, and the English brought rabbits, rats, stoats and hedgehogs - all with the best intentions no doubt. There are no primates; just lots of natives with outdoor activities to keep them amused: croquet, bowls, sailing, kayaking, netball, tennis, AND rugby - it's what makes the Kiwis, Kiwis!

With so many fabulous beaches, it's hard to name a favourite as yet, but we saw three Fairy Terns on gorgeous Pakiri Beach and that makes it something special indeed. It is said there are only 45 of this sub-species left in the world today! There can be few wonderful beaches to match the vast splendour of Pakiri's silver sand bathed in transparent spring sunshine. We are fortunate indeed. With a bit of luck and a fair wind the Fairy Terns will survive and multiply, but sadly it is already too late for many of the indigenous species of New Zealand. In the process of denuding the land of trees and the consequent changing landscape, many of those remaining are now listed as endangered. In an attempt to turn the tables, special reserves have been created and the future is starting to look brighter. Tiritiri Matangi Island is a wonderful example, where introduced predators, stoats, hedgehogs and rats, have now been eradicated, allowing birds to breed and flourish more readily. A ferry took us out from Gulf Harbour; through a maze of yachts and cruisers to visit the reserve and sample some of the island's delights. It was a great day, tramping along the coastline, through newly created woodland and patches of residual mature forest, a hundred perfumes titilating the nostrils, the ripple of water in narrow creeks, dappled sunlight under the umbrella of delicate tree-ferns, the air ringing with birdsong: the starter-motor of the Saddleback, the polystyrene scraping on glass of the Stitchbird, the mellow chimes of the Tui. So many new and wonderful birds! The Little-spotted Kiwis were fast asleep and hiding as expected. Later that afternoon we drifted south, elated by another day of all things new, heads filled with sea air fresh from the boat, back through the centre of Auckland on the SH1 dual carriageway at 100kph, and west to the Firth of Thames with our eyes set on a free camping site on the shore at Miranda near a bird reserve.

The Firth of Thames is a vast estuary, rather akin to The Wash bordering Norfolk and Lincolnshire back home; fed by rivers and open with a broad mouth to the ocean. But this estuary sparkles with the clear turquoise waters of the Pacific Ocean! We parked alongside forty other motorhomers in their converted buses with our rear picture window overlooking the water as a lilac sunset sealed the end of another day above the Coromandel peaks beyond. Heaven is close by.

The mudflats at Miranda are home to thousands of waders at this time of the year; in particular, Bar-tailed Godwits that have recently arrived from their non-stop flight across the Pacific from Alaska where they breed in the summer of the northern hemisphere. They come all the way here, for their second summer of the year, to the southern hemisphere, to maximise daylight hours! It is hard to come to terms with facts such as these. The birds didn't disappoint us. As the sun set across the bay, great clouds of Godwits, Wrybills, Caspian Terns, Pied Stilts and Knot swept the sky, pushed in to the inner pools on the rising tide. We slept well with happy dreams and smiling faces that night.

Daylight saving time kicked in at the weekend bringing daybreak at 7am and sunset around 7.30pm. With an hour of extra morning sunlight in hand we set off early next morning to circumnavigate the Firth of Thames, around the southern end, following the snaking road beside the water's edge to the old gold-mining towns of Thames and Coromandel, both cast in the mould of US Western towns of the same era just across that other pond we call the Pacific: the wide mainstreet, flat-roofed clapboard shops with verandahs and intricate pastel facades. The Coromandel Peninsula is, without question, a place of considerable beauty; crowned by wooded peaks and surrounded as it is by crystal seas and pristine silver sand beaches where the only sound is the rush of the tide as it hides inside sea-shells on the shore. Cooks Beach and Cook Bluff grace the Pacific shoreline as we turn across the peninsular and head south once more, a reminder of the island's heritage and Cook's presence here. Nearby Shakespeare's Cliff on the other hand, is evidence of some poetic licence, I suspect.

It's been a good week for us. The sun has shone its heart out with but a couple of light passing showers. Earlier in the week a guide took us into the Trounson Kauri Park searching for our first Kiwi under cover of darkness. Our hearts were sinking after an hour or more with torches faintly guiding our feet along narrow paths. Herb has been looking for the Brown Kiwi (there are three species of this little critter) most nights for some time and we should have trusted his promise to 'give it his best shot.' Sure enough, he found one for us, a male, pecking around in the undergrowth with his long snout, completely indifferent to the beam of the red-shaded torch. Yes; we were elated, beaming in the dark like Herb's torch. Now, one Kiwi is rather special you might think, but Herb was on a roll. At the edge of the forest he found us another - a female this time, larger, turning away into the shrubery as we watched in amazement!

Slowly but surely we're getting used to the newly rented motorhome. We're not crashing through the trees or knocking cyclists off their bikes any more and motorists here appear very tolerent and patient, despite our snail-like progress around North Island. More news of our home on wheels will follow no doubt in future blogs. In the meantime a picture is included with this message to keep you going.

A neighboring motorhomer was sitting outside his converted Japanese bus the other morning, a book unopened on his lap and a peaked cap lazily cocked on one side of his head. The sun hadn't been up long but he looked decidedly relaxed in the chill air. 'What are you doing today?' I asked, 'Fishing?' He scratched his head whilst his brain locked in gear.
'I looked at my rods just now,' he told me. 'But I can't be bothered. I think I'll just blob out.'

It's a tough life.

David and Janice. The grey haired nomads

---

Photos

North Island New Zealand
It's Spring in New Zealand

North Island New Zealand
Anne, John and family with Janice on Cornwallis Beach

North Island New Zealand
Big Kauri Trees!

North Island New Zealand
Unfrozen New Zealand Lamb

North Island New Zealand
NZ's Oldest House in Kerikeri C1820

North Island New Zealand
Fishing for Snapper - with a Torpedo!

North Island New Zealand
Endangered NZ Dotterel

North Island New Zealand
Maitai Beach - so romantic!

North Island New Zealand
Beautiful, but touristy, Cathedral Cove

North Island New Zealand
The Gannet colony at Muriwai - we love these birds

North Island New Zealand
The rather rare Takahe on Tiritiri Matangi

North Island New Zealand
Maori carving at Waitangi

North Island New Zealand
'Lizzie' our new home in New Zealand! (at Miranda Beach)

Bar tailed godwits
At Miranda Beach