2016 New Zealand Travelogues Combined

Transcription

1 2016 New Zealand Travelogues Combined New Zealand 1 Monday, October 24, 2016, Labour Day holiday here - the first long weekend of tourist season, similar to our May 24. Whitianga, North Island It's been 11 days since we arrived in NZ and our days have been more than full. We're both a bit tired with the go-go touristing so we've planned a couple of slower days in Rotorua, our next stop. To start at the beginning, we arrived at 4:30 AM on Thursday the 13th after a 14 bour sleepless red eye flight. The first thing we tried to do was get money from an ATM - card didn't work, tried another ATM, still no money. The second thing was to get my phone working with a New Zealand SIM card, that didn't work because stupid me forgot to get my phone unlocked before leaving Canada, bought a new phone. Unfortunately, that didn't totally solve the problem as all my data and apps were on my now useless Canadian phone, causing no end of new problems. Then I was able to phone Canada only to find out that it was a problem with the local ATMs, not my card. Got some money out of a third ATM. Then it was off to Avis to pick up a car - they upgraded us to a brand new Corolla sedan. The first good thing so far. 5 hours in NZ and not out of the terminal yet. I had taken my GPS, pre-loaded with NZ mapping, from home. But that turned out to be almost useless, but we finally found our hotel after some unplanned detours. Just imagine driving in rush hour traffic in Auckland, after 30 hours of no sleep, on the opposite side of the road, and not knowing where you're going. After finally checking in, the first order of business was an afternoon nap. After that we met our neighbours and went out for dinner (my birthday dinner) with them. A very nice couple who invited us to stay with them in Napier when we pass through - we think we will take them up on their invite. An eventful first day that ended well. Our hotel was a lovely little 100 year old B&B hotel with breakfast in a sunroom in a beautiful back garden - a very nice way to start the day. The next 4 days were spent taking in the sights and sounds of Auckland (museums, parks, downtown, etc) and buying a new GPS, a cooler, plates, utensils and some food so we could make breakfasts and lunches on the road. By Tuesday it was time to hit the road. Northward up the west coast and its beaches to the rare kauri forest north of Dargaville, and then across to the Bay of Islands on the east coast (Paihia). From there we took a half day cruise out into the bay - gosh, it sure is gorgeous out there. Blue/green water, green islands, blue sun-filled skys. Perfect sunburn weather! On Friday we drove north to the most northerly point of NZ where, after mile of sand dunes, you reach the Cape Reinga lighthouse at the turbulent junction of the Tasman Sea and the South Pacific Ocean. Heading southward (where else?) right through Auckland, we arrived yesterday at the Coromandel Penninsula. The drive up the west coast of the penninsla from Thames to Coromandel Town and across to Whitianga is twisty and turny and slow (50 km/hr) but is drop-dead beautiful. Today was a little slower (only 10,000 steps) as we visited some of the pretty little coves and beaches in the area. Tomorrow we go to Rotorua, then to Taupo, Napier, and Wellington. We cross to the South Island on November 7th. Great trip so far, despite the bumpy start, and we're looking forward to more adventures. Colin & Sheron

2 New Zealand 2 Sunday, November 6 Wellington Hi All I last wrote about 2 weeks ago when we were in Whitianga on the Coromandel Penninsula - a very nice little place with a small downtown on a pictuesque harbour. And with a couple of nice restaurants overlooking said harbour. We left on Tuesday the 25, and headed south to the hot spot of Rotorua for 4 nights. The next 3 days were filled with museums, Maori culture, geysers and thermal fields. One of the geysers - it has a Maori name but our guide called it old un-faithful because of its irregular eruptions - shoots up about 30m and is the largest in NZ. Despite its hype the whole geothermal area does not quite match up to Yellowstone. Nonetheless it was interesting to see a very young geothermal area that has had its share of volcanic activity within living memory. Maori culture can be seen all over the north island and we've attended a couple of welcoming ceremonies and immersed ourselves in several good museums. Although the last full blooded Maori died back in the 30's, more than 30% of the population identifies as Maori. Rotorua has a section of one of the main streets closed off to traffic and completely covered with a unique roofing system (called Eat St.). It's lined with good restaurants - contrary to some opinions, NZ has some very good modern restaurants serving innovative fine food. Also innovatve and modern are some of their public toilets. Totally enclosed individual cubecules that operate: outside - push button, door opens; inside, push button - door closes and locks, lights come on, music starts playing, and voice tells you that you have just ten minutes to do your thing before the door will automatically unlock (best you not be still sitting there); automatic faucets and hand dryers, of course; to leave, push button, door opens, toilet flushes, music stops and lights go off. It does everything for you except... Moving further south to Taupo in the high country in the middle of the island we stayed in wonderful AirBnB for 3 nights. Great house in a great neighbourhood with a great host - perfect. We've been staying in a mix of hotels, motels, B and B's, and AirBnB's. Probably averaging about 100 NZ$ a night - some good, some just OK, but all of them servicable. But the one in Taupo was outstanding. The scenery so far has been really great - no long stretches of boredom. Our longest drive has been about 3 hours. From Taupo you can see 3 semi active, snow-covered volcanos in Tongariro Natioal Park on the other shore (it's a big lake). We did a 2 hour hike up to a waterfall on one of them. Cold, windy and rough, but very enjoyable. Paihia and Taupo have been my favorite stops so far. On Tuesday, Nov 1st, we drove down to Hawke's Bay on the east coast to stay in Havelock North for 2 nights with a lovely couple (Janice & Rodney) we met in Auckland. It happened that we had adjacent rooms in the hotel and met as we both left our rooms at the same time to go out to dinner. The four of us had a very nice dinner at a good restaurant a couple of blocks from the hotel during which Rodney spilled his wine on me. We all had a good laugh and they invited us to stay at at their home. We decided to take them on their offer (something we wouldn't normally do) and had a very good time with them. They spent the whole day touring us around the area. The whole area had been levelled by an earthquake in 1931and then rebuilt. Napier was was rebuilt in the art deco style of the 1930's with many fine examples still standing in the city centre. From there it was a long day's drive to Wellington which is quite different from fiurther north - windy, cooler and showery. No longer the sub-tropical climate we were getting used to. We're staying at an AirBnB here (Petone, Lower Hutt) that was probably built around 1900 and, as you might imagine, is showing its age. Wellington is a compact city that is mostly walkable so the car spent 2 days in parking lots while we hoofed it around. Yesterday was 11 kilometres on the vivofit. We spent several hours in there excellent national museum, Te Papa. There is also a very good botanical garden on a ridge that you can access via a cable car. We had one of our best lunches sitting under an arbour next to the rose garden. Delightful! Last night, Nov 5, was Guy Fawkes Day and our hosts asked us to join with them and their family to watch the fireworks in Wellington Harbour. Our BnB is on the waterfront in Petone so we could look straight across the bay.

3 There were crowds of people all along the beach front with bonfires and fireworks celebrating the events of more than 400 years ago. Tomorrow we catch the ferry to the south island to start the second half of our travels. Cheers, Colin & Sheron NEW ZEALAND 3 November 29, 2016 Christchurch, South Island We started the second half of our trip on Nov 7, by catching the ferry in Wellington, in a rain storm, and landing in the evening in Picton on the south island, in a rain storm. And it's been pretty much like that since - showery days interspersed with occasional brilliant sunny ones. Typical spring weather although the locals will say it's been a cold, damp spring. New Zealand is a land of beautiful scenery - a new view around every corner. A whole lot packaged into a very small area. The North Island has its share - Cape Reinga, the Bay of Islands, Coromandel - but the South Island scenery is more spectacular, more impressive. We started with a drive along the shore of Marlborough Sound past sheltered little harbours and villages fronting on blue, blue bays and surrounded by tree covered ridges. Further west, past Abel Tasman Park, the scenery changes - less tropical, more rugged and exposed as you drive along Golden Bay to the base of Farewell Spit. New views, more beauty around every turn. And there are a lot of turns on NZ roads - always narrow, always hilly and always winding. Sometimes it's a bit of a challenge. Then the scenery changed again as we drove through the mountains and emerged on the west coast at Westport to be greeted by very Oregonesque scenes of water, rocks and trees. And rain! The rain was with us all down the west coast to Franz Josef and Fox glaciers. At Franz Josef we stayed for 2 nights in a cabin at the Rainforest Retreat and watched the rain come down as we ate in the Monsoon Restaurant. Get the picture? We did, however, get one decent day on which we hiked into the termini of both glaciers - well worth the hikes. (11,300 steps and 25 fights of stairs according to Sheron's watch). After driving back through the Southern Alps (and fighting off the sandflies) we reached the Southern Lakes area - Lakes Hawea, Wanaka, Wakatipu, Te Anau, and Manapouri. I'm sure those of you who have been to NZ will recognize those names. They're all beautiful and they're all worth spending several days at. Unfortunately, even though we have two months, there just isn't enough time. The bane of all travellers. We stayed a couple of days at Wanaka and then moved down to Queenstown (on Lake Wakatipu) for three days. They are both tourist towns and only a couple of hours apart but are a world apart in attitude - Queenstown is all glitz and flash, and Wanaka is quiet and laid back. Both have their appeal. We were in Wanaka when we woke up to the news about the earthquakes (didn't feel a thing). There were two - the first centred just north of Christchurch in Culverden and followed closely by one just south of Blenheimin Seddon. The major tourist city of Kaikoura is midway between and was badly damaged as was Highway 1 that runs along the coast from Christchurch to Picton. Even now, after two weeks, there is no road access except for army vehicles and the city is depending on air and water access. It will still be some time before they can open an inland route and it will be months before Highway 1 is passable again. This season's tourist business is lost for Kaikoura - a major loss not only for the town but also for the South Island. We'll have to bypass the whole area to get to Picton to catch our ferry by going across the island almost to the coast and then north to Nelson and Blenheim. In Queenstown we did the usual tourist things (gondoal, gardens, etc.) and while we were wandering around downtown we ran into Janet Green who was there to run the marathon. We knew she was going to be there somewhere but still it's odd to run into a friend half way around the world. Over coffee the next morning we got caught up on the world of Comox. In Te Anau we stayed in an AirBnB - a lovely old 1929 farmhouse set on a hillside outside of town. The owners who recenly purchased the property

4 have started renovating - the kitchen and our ensuite room are nicely finished; but its going to be a huge job to do the rest of the house and then there is the 10 acres of landscaping to fix up after having been left unattended for years. If they are able keep up the effort they will have a gorgeous piece of property in the end. Our Milford Sound cruise was - of course - in the rain! But, nonetheless, it is beautiful and is iconic of NZ and is worth the long day from Te Anau and back. And our hosts made dinner for us (gratis) when we got back. We drove the Southern Scenic Route from Te Anau to Dunedin and it's well named as the scenery, particularly through the Catlins in the southeast is lovely. Little towns, bays and harbours, lighthouses (flat tyre - drat). It's an extra day's drive (in and out of showers), but we're really glad we did it. The guy who stopped to help us change the tyre (Kiwis are like that - very friendly and helpful) was a professor at the University of Otago in pretty, old Dunedin. Dunedin is adjacent to the Otago Penninsula which we drove to the tip of to see the Royal Albatross and to take a penquin tour. Taking a tour on private property was the only way to see the rare Yellow-eyed Penguin, NZ fur seals, and Little Blue Penguins (fairy penguins in Australia). After Dunedin we drove inland to Mt. Cook and back to Twizel for the night. Mt. Cook Vilkage was rainy with gale force winds so we couldn't even go for a hike nor even catch a glimpse of Mt. Cook. All was not for naught, though, as we drove alongside the blue, blue, blue Lake Pukaki in the sunshine. We've never seen a lake that colour before - absolutely stunning! Now we're in Christchurch for a few days of RnR before making a dash for Picton and then four days more on the North Island before catching our flight home All good things must come to an end, I guess. The first day here we took the Rebuild Tour which toured us around downtown for 90 minutes to see all the notable earthquake (November, 2010 and February, 2011) damage sites. Some have been rebuilt, some are under reconstruction, some are still been torn down, and some they're still arguing about. Lots of open areas that may or may not be built upon, and lots of lovely new parks. They're making great progress but it will be a long job - some estmates are 2030 before its all rebuilt. Yesterday, we drove out to the Banks Penninsula to the little town of Akaroa. On the out we drove the Summit Road which loops around several ridges (rims of old volcanos) and then drops straight down into Akaroa giving us views over the penninsula - barren ridges dotted with sheep, valleys, and little settlements and, as always, the blue water bays. Akaroa is a picture postcard town - a perfect place to while away an afternoon drinking coffee in a sidewalk cafe in the warm sunshine. I'll leave you with that image. Cheers, Colin and Sheron New Zealand 4 December 11, 2016, Comox, Vancouver Island Before leaving Christchurch we took the opportunity to visit a couple of good restaurants: the first was Japanese which, along with serving some very good traditional dishes, had the best sushi we've ever eaten; the second was a Cuban restaurant, also with very good traditional food. One of the often quoted knocks on New Zealand is that their food was just over-cooked English fare it's just not so anymore. There are some very good restaurants spread across the country, mostly in the larger centres, and you can find ethnic foods of all descriptions. We had good Thai, Indian (two types that turn up in every town no matter how small it is), Mexican, Spanish, Cuban, and even Japanese. One of Sheron's favourites was in an Auckland suburb where we found Banque which served more traditional New Zealand food in Sheron's case, lamb riblets. Yes, we ate a lot of lamb! And their pork is very good, especially the streaky bacon their term for our regular side bacon. You've got to love a country where there is no tax added on (their VAT is hidden in the price), there is no tipping, and espresso drinks are available in every restaurant and even many corner gas stations. Most BP stations have a

5 barista on staff to serve you your favourite java. In our case, that would be a flat white - a drink midway between a latte and a cappuccino with only a couple of millimetres of micro-foam on the surface and always with latte art. It's the most common espresso drink in NZ. It has been said that eating out in NZ is expensive and if you look at a restaurant menu you may see an entrē for $25 that you could buy at home for $20; but when you add tax (5%), tip(15%) and dollar exchange (5%) it comes out to very nearly the same cost. Leaving Christchurch we had to take a long detour to get to the ferry at Picton. We had planned to drive north up the coast through Kaikoura a major tourist destination for scenery and wildlife viewing but because of the earthquakes we ended up driving northwest across the island to Reefton, almost on the west coast, and then northeast to Blenheim - an extra 200 km. This route took us over two passes in the Southern Alps on many miles of New Zealand's narrow, windy roads. A couple of notes on the NZ highways. The lanes are typically 0.3 m to 0.5 m narrower than we're used to, windy and hilly they follow the lay of the land rather than cut and fill to straighten and flatten and most highways have not been engineered to create proper super-elevations in the curves creating a situation where there are curves posted at 35 km/h in a 100 km/h zone. All highways outside of the cities are posted at 100 km/h whether or not its achievable (all drivers in NZ try anyway); and the dotted line only marks the centre of the road and does not indicate that it's safe to pass. Otherwise the highways are well maintained and well sign posted. We had to make another extra 50 km detour to get around an accident involving two semi's on one of the more treacherous stretches resulting in the death of one of the drivers and a full day's closure of the route. One good thing about the highways is that every small town that you go through will have public toilets well posted on the highway near the centre of town good for us older folk with weak bladders. Some of them are amazingly high tech. Picture this: a shiny steel cubicle with a set of flashing lights indicating whether it is occupied, or vacant, or out of commission. Push the green lit button and the door slides open; walk in, and the lights come on; push the door close button, music starts to play and the door automatically closes. Then a voice intones The door will automatically open in ten minutes. God help you if you're not finished in the allotted time! The toilet automatically flushes when you either initiate the automatic faucet or push the open door button. Out you go, the door closes and your done! We did eventually make it to Blenheim, the major city in the Marlborough District which is well known around the world for it's wines. It's always fun to spend a day wandering through the vineyards in wine country, buying a little wine and eating at one of the nice restaurants amongst vines. Picton, only a half hour from Blenheim, is, despite being a ferry terminus, a clean, cute little town adjacent to the blue waters of the Marlborough Sounds. When we sailed to the South Island on our way from Wellington to Picton a month earlier we traversed the Marlborough Sounds in a torrential rain storm and so saw nothing of the beautiful scenery it is noted for. It was a 180 on our way back to Wellington clear skies, calm blue waters and green hills. Think about going through Active Pass for an hour and a half but with blue, blue water and semi-tropical vegetation. I don't think we will forget that trip for a long time. We took three days to drive back to Auckland along the Kapiti coast where the scenery was quite lovely in places, and New Plymouth was very nice; but the highlight was the Waitomo Glowworm Caves a wonderfully low-tech saunter through a series of caves and then a drift along a dark underground river in an old aluminum punt under a ceiling of little blue/white lights the glow worms. In 58 days we drove around both islands, catching most of the important things to see from the very tip of the North Island, past the tropical Bay of Islands, to the volcanic high plateau in the centre, Hawkes Bay wine area in the Bay of Plenty, and the windy capital city of Wellington. Continuing on the South Island to the far north west tip and then down the west coast to the Franz Josef and Fox glaciers, across the mountains to the glitz of Queenstown and back to the west coast and the dark and wet Milford Sound; then the wet of the southern most city, Invercargill, and zig-zagging up the east side to Dunedin, Mt. Cook and Christchurch. There is scenery around every corner and never a dull moment. A great trip!

6 ps. When we left Auckland on December 7, it was sunny and 26. When we arrived in Vancouver later that day it was dark and -3 with snow and ice laying around. As if that wasn't bad enough, when we got home the next day there was no food in the house, the car had a flat tire, and the truck insurance had expired. Welcome home! We wish you all a Merry Christmas and Peace and Happiness for Cheers, Colin & Sheron