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Published: October 24th 2006
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Hello one and all from NZ! We have finally gotten over the upside down feeling and can sit at a computer to lay down our travels over the past few weeks. It's not even been three weeks that we've been here but seems like alot longer, as usually happens when you come to a new place I guess. So far we've had a whirl wind tour of the North Island and are now in a place called Nelson in the North of the South Island. It's known as the sunniest place in NZ but since we arrived it's been pouring down.....perhaps a little of the Scottish weather sneeked into my suitcase!!
So where do we start?
Well, we met in a slow motion romantic embrace in Auckland international airport on 5th October. Actually it was a bit less dramatic as we're used to these airport meetings now. Rob was just about still awake after waiting for me in the arrivals lounge for 8 hours. And I couldn't get over the fact that i'd managed to sneek a conker past the officials at customs who have very very very serious agricultural resrictions....$1000 fine per conker I believe. Actually I didn't
View of Auckland from Devonport
From the top of Mt. Victoria in Devonport know it was in my bag, it was a wee gift from my nephew Callum just before I left Scotland.
Off we trotted to our very plush apartment 'The Quadrant', in Auckland city centre which we'd booked for a week to give us time to get over our jetlag and get our bearings. If anyone is travelling down under check out Wotif.com for hotel bargains (a wee tip from Stuart and Mairi-Anne). Auckland was nice, Rob was especially excited to be at the site of the America's Cup triumphs at the harbour. After only a couple of days we were the proud owners of a 1993 Honda Accord which has been very good to us so far, Rob is even managing to drive on the left with no trouble now. Auckland we found to be quite expensive compared to the rest of the country but still heaps cheaper than the UK! We checked out Devonport, one of the pretty islands off the mainland, and even got up at 5am to see the sun rise from the top of Mount Eden, a volcanic area in Auckland.
After Auckland we headed North to the Bay of Islands, via a beautiful
Auckland by night
Just before sunrise from the top of Mt. Eden. beach in Piha on the West Coast. Rob's brother Pete had been there before and had cool photos so we wanted to check it out for ourselves. Despite the inclement weather, the ocean and waves were pretty fantastic. Great views from the top of Lion's Rock!
By far the best day in the Bay of Islands was a day long cruise through all the islands. The sun shone all day and we got some great photos....and some freckles despite constant applications of factor 50 sunscreen...the sun doesn't mess around down here! The best parts of the cruise was a stop for lunch at the stunning Otehei Bay, and our boat cruising right through the impressive 'Hole in the Rock'.
After the Bay of Islands, we headed south again to the Coromandel Peninsula, which is on the other side of the Hauraki Gulf from Auckland. We stayed in the small town of Tiarua and Coromandel town itself which is very quaint with amazingly scenic mountains and beaches. Our legs got a good workout on a steep clifftop walk starting from a beach called Hahei. Tiarua was not much to sing and dance about but Coromandel town was gorgeous. If
Our Car
Our wonderful Honda Accord, purchased in Auckland on our third day in country anyone goes there, check out a hostel called the Lion's Den....very funky, and the owner will cook you pancakes for breakfast with your own name tag at the table. On the way out of Coromandel, we took a ride on a fabulously rickety old railway called Driving Creek Railway. The railway was build by hand by the owner and winds through a working pottery and brickwords set right into the mountains of Coromandel. The driver had to get out from time to time to switch the tracks. The owner has also re-planted lots of native Kauri trees on the mountain that were previously cut down. Gorgeous views from the top!
Our next stop was Rotorua, aka 'sulphur city'. They say you can smell it before you see it and they weren't wrong!! We got used to the smell after numerous oppurtunities to ask each other childishly, "was that you?!" Martin, you would have been in your element! Most of our time here was spend admiring the geothermal areas dotted around the city which included steaming mineral pools, bubbling mud, and geysers that shot up to 20 feet! My favourite was the Polynesian Spa, where you can bathe in shallow
Piha Beach
The western black sand surf beach of Piha rock pools from 36 to 42 degrees...pretty hot, but the natural mineral water is supposed to cure all sorts of ailments and make your skin smooth as silk.
Southbound again, we stopped for the night in the wee town of Napier on the East Coast. The town in famous for its wineries and its art deco buildings, which were built after a huge earthquake in the 1950s which devastated the town. Then on to Wellington, the capital right at the south of the North Island. It was lovely and sunny there, which allowed great views of the city from the top of the city. The city is so hilly that some locals have private cable cars to get back and forth from their homes. Due to its location right on the harbour and the narrow, high streets, it was so windy at night!! The Te Papa museum of all things kiwi in the city filled and entire day...and was free! Would definitely recommend it.
And then on to our current destination, via the Cook Strait on a 3 hour ferry trip. The weather wasn't the best but the scenery throught all the sounds was still amazing. We are
More of Piha
The southern end of the beach staying in a gorgeous wee hostel in Nelson called The Bug which we can't recommend hightly enough. It's run by a British guy who's travelled tons and clearly knows what travellers need in a hostel....a real home from home. Today we checked out the lakes of Nelson Lakes National Park, and tomorrow we're taking a water taxi further up the Marlborough Sounds to take a coastal treck back to Nelson.
Next stop Christchurch....Mairi-Anne I know you'll be jealous!
Promise we'll be better about keeping everyone up to date. Send us some wee messages to let us know you haven't forgotton about us!
Bye for now Kirsty and Rob xoxox
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