The "zorbtastic" north island of New Zealand

---

The odyssey continued after a freezing Christmas break back in the UK; after a long but none too arduous journey across the world (we both slept most of that way!)- it was summertime in Auckland!! Bring back the shorts!

Upon arrival we stayed with Katy and Dave (our global network of accountants again proving very useful!) in their lovely apartment in Auckland, overlooking the city skyline with the skytower the centre of attraction. It was a very comfortable way to see off the jetlag and reacquaint ourselves with the city. We explored briefly on foot, boat and by bike, but by and large enjoyed not achieving a great deal.

Our initial forays outside of the city took us to the north. A lovely weekend in a batch on the beach near Whangarei (for the Canadians batch equals cottage, for the brits summerhouse). This involved some serious relaxing after the less than strenuous start...bring it on! Chartering a pretty luxurious boat (and on sale for a cool NZ$500,000 or so) for some snorkeling, fishing and a certain level of seasickness from some of the passengers (dave....not us!), great fun but no fish either on the end of the line or snorkeling; oh well - least the water was cold! Some paddling round in kayaks was also a very pleasant way to kill a few more hours in the sunshine…didn’t expect the weather to be quite so cooperative.

Our forays in the north took us all the way to the top (well almost the very top) and Cape Reinga; dramatic cliffs and a lighthouse which had the obligatory distance signs (several of which had been blown off). There was also time for some sailing round the Bay of Islands where we were surrounded by a large pod of dolphins, some of which actually hung of the rudder for a free ride. The snorkeling here was considerably better than our first try, we saw at least 2 small brown fish! (not quite Hawaii!).

Having ducked in at Auckland again briefly again on our way south we headed down to Mt Taranaki. Luck was with us and the weather was clear so we did an ascent to the summit (about 2500m). This mountain is a perfect cone volcano; real postcard stuff and irresistible to climb. It was a pretty tough hike, much of the way scrambling over loose rock, some rock hopping towards the top, and a little bit over ice right near the summit. Now this type of walking needs a lot of balance, Lynda was like Bambi on ice for much of it - 2 steps forward 3 back (you work out the math!), and on her arse for much of the descent. Great feeling to stand on the summit, and worth the bruises on the way down (Lynda admitted!); it had been a long 1700m climb but so worthwhile.

Waitomo is an area of limestone caves, so we did a little trip to explore; this involved abseiling 30m into a cave system, a little exploration on foot and floating in rubber tubes to see the formations and glow worms, and finally rock climbing back out. Neither of us had abseiled and that was a real highlight as we lowered ourselves in; the glow worms were unbelievable - literally millions of them, and good fun messing around in tubes, although the terminology of ‘blackwater rafting’ is somewhat misleading.

The whistlestop tour continued to Taupo, it was grand prix weekend and we met up with Matt’s friends Helen and Alan…boy was it windy. The wind was a precursor to some bad weather rolling into the area, so we packed the cold and wet period with lots of ridiculous activities that only the kiwis could think up; Rotarua was the hub for this tom foolery. Luging down a hill overlooking the city was more fun than expected, basically go-karting as kids do, and really let one behave like six year olds again - like we needed an excuse! Next on the agenda was zorbing - this is basically being rolled down a hill in a large inflatable plastic sphere, partially filled with warm water. Imagine going on a rollercoaster in a washing machine! We think this has to be the best cure for depression, don’t think it is possible to not be laughing within a second of starting; almost seemed better as it was chucking it down outside.

Although behaving like six year olds is undoubtedly the best part of Rotarua, its main draw is actually that it is a thermal hotspot, and also a centre of Maori culture. We visited some of the thermal stuff, some hot pools and geysers, all were good to see and gave the somewhat unnerving feeling that the town was sitting on a volcano and waiting to go off at any time. In order to improve our knowledge of Maoris we visited a couple of live shows one that involved both hangi and hongi (hangi being a traditional feast and hongi being the nose rub greeting). Anyway both shows were entertaining and informative, the food was great and Lynda loved the bodies of the warriors (unfortunately for Matt the women just had really scary eyes and would have eaten him alive).

Culture having been ticked off for a while we headed to the east in search of wine…and boy did we find it around the Hawke’s Bay area. The weather was fabulous again now and a cycling crawl through several wineries in the Havelock North area was fun, also a superb cheese factory and chocolate tasting. Napier’s art deco style buildings were well worth a brief stop too.

Having been rather laid back it was high time for some more hard work; the Tongariro crossing fitted the bill. This hike is billed as the best day hike in New Zealand; wonder whether anyone else had heard of it? Er yes! We had a lovely day and it really brought out the crowds, it was like Piccadilly circus at the start. Despite the crowds the hike lived up to all expectations; stunning volcanic scenery, bright blue lakes and the rest. We also did a side trek to the summit of Mt Ngararhoe (Mt Doom for Lord of the Rings aficionados), which was a tough but thoroughly rewarding 3 hour add-on. As a result of the extra bit it made for a long day, but once again the hiking lived up to expectation.

The southern part of the north island is substantially a rural landscape with sheep and cattle farming, and it was great to be able to take in Palmeston North whilst we stayed with Helen, Alan, dog and cats for a couple of days. “Palmy” as the locals call it is in the middle of a cluster of attractive villages, the local wind farm is surprisingly impressive - 70m high towers are staggering. Dog got lots of cuddles and we thoroughly chilled out with some wonderful hospitality and great home cooking!

Wellington was our final port of call on the north island, but the drive from Helen’s still enabled us to make a quick call into Martinborough, another wine region. It would have been rude not to call in. Also a quick stop at Rivendell, for those Lord of the Rings buffs out there.

A day sightseeing in Wellington was sufficient to get a flavour of the place; cable cars, botanical gardens, freaky street art and the excellent Te Papa museum (natural and human history of NZ).

The south island was calling……

---