Sunday 30th November 2008

Foul Wind Seals Super Birthday

The seal colony at Cape Foulwind was the attraction for this afternoon. The Cape was named by Captain Cook in 1770 when his ship was hammered mercilessly by gales on March 20th and 21st but we spent an hour there today in beautiful sunshine.

The kekeni or fur seals were almost wiped out when Europeans arrived in New Zealand and slaughtered them for their pelts but numbers are rising now and the colony here is well set.

The birthday morning started in fine style with a birthday text from Ruth and several presents and cards, including some lovely jewellery from Dave and more from Tina & Charlie and a fluffy scarf from Gwen.

After a relaxing lounge in the large spa bath we had breakfast watching England v New Zealand from Twickenham and Boro v Newcastle from the Riverside.

Several lovely birthday emails followed before we set out to explore the town - not much to discover! - and visit the Coal Town Museum.

This evening we plan to eat (courtesy of our delightful five “children”) at the Yellow House, conveniently situated next door.

Jean

Westport is nothing much to write home about but its museum tells of more interesting times when coal mining and logging in and around the area were big business. Mining at Denniston about 10 miles away was 600 metres up and coal was brought down in rail wagons on an amazingly steep track which at times neared a 1 in 2 drop. The brake (pictured) was obviously an important part of the set-up described by fans as the eighth wonder of the world. Operations ended in the mid 1960s after 80 years of producing high quality coal. Dave

Super scenery

The 120-mile drive from Nelson to Westport is full of great and varying sights, starting and ending with snow-topped peaks in the distance.

You travel through densely forested areas, up narrow roads winding to the top of hillsides and then dropping down to the River Buller as it makes its way to Westport.

Stopped halfway for closer look at the water which is clear as can be. Very little traffic on the road, another common feature as we tour around though on a Saturday there is less commercial stuff about anyway. Broke the journey at Murchison and looked on briefly at a bowls match - a popular sport here. Dave

Saturday 29th November 2008

Shiatsu Power

Nelson Saturday market has a good reputation so we decided to sample its delights before heading off on the road to Westport this morning. Dave headed down the rows in front of me but returned looking rather pleased with himself and announced that he’d found another birthday present for me. “Oh no“, said I, “I don’t need another present”, until I saw the sign he was pointing - twenty minutes worth of shiatsu massage. I very quickly changed my mind and took him up on his offer!

I’ve had a little problem with my arm of late and a few aches in the neck over the past couple of days so the thought of a massage was bliss.

Vicky did a great job and if you’re ever in Nelson market look her up - a lovely lady.

Jean

Historic venue

It may not look special but this is reputedly where New Zealand's first organised game of rugby took place, back in 1870.

The match, between two teams from Nelson, was inspired and organised by a guy who had spent time in England and seen the game played there.

New Zealand rugby has come on quite a lot since then and I fear the worst when the All Blacks play at Twickenham on Saturday, or as we know it here Sunday, at 0330 local. Will I get up for it, I wonder. Dave

Friday 28th November 2008

The relaxing walk on the beach

This morning saw us walking along the beach at Tahunanui, just outside Nelson, a lovely strand that appears to go on for miles, with drifting dunes and grassland behind that are protected from trampling in an effort to reduce erosion.

Dave wasn't really the only person out there, but there weren't many others.

Jean

Friday 28th November 2008

The less relaxing walk up Botanical Hill

The afternoon saw a different sort of walking. The goal was the summit of Botanical Hill, reputedly the geographical centre of New Zealand since John Spence Browning did a geodetic survey of the area in the 1870s.

The hill rises to an altitude of only 147 metres above sea level, but since the climb is from only a handful of metres at the bottom and the gradient is pretty steep in places, it presented a challenge to this unfit pensioner! I made it to the top though, gasping for breath, and was rewarded with some wonderful views.

On the way I was also blessed by seeing a yellow hammer. Various friends and family at home have seen these lovely birds in their gardens, but not me, so this was a special climb.
And is Botanical Hill the centre of New Zealand? No, it’s apparently in the Spooners Range, about thirty or so kilometres south west of here.

Jean

Thursday 27th November 2008

Wellington to Picton

Today was the big day when we voyaged on the Interislander ferry from North Island to South Island. It meant an early start and we responded to the 06:00 alarm call well and arrived at the terminal on time. We met Monika who was also travelling on the same crossing, on board. No problems as the ship left on time and the sea was calm in the grey morning light. The route took us quite close to the coastline for a good hour out of Wellington.

Even Dave was glimpsed on the top deck and enjoyed himself!

South Island was visible quite dimly even before we‘d left North Island completely behind and the layer of low, grey cloud made the islands look quite mysterious.

The sun appeared just before we landed and Picton looked very picturesque.

Jean

Versatile performer

The Edwin Fox is reputed to be the ninth oldest ship still in existence and dates back to the Crimean War when it was used for ferrying troops from Europe to fight the Russians.

Later it transported convicts from England out to Australia and later still emigrants to New Zealand. It was also used to carry goods, particularly liquor at one time in its career and became known as the booze boat.

When sail gave way to steam it served in dock in New Zealand as a place to keep refrigerated meat but eventually was abandoned, only for the hulk to be rescued in 1999 by enthusiasts at Picton. The hull and lower decks remain in good shape after well over 150 years. Odd to walk through it after so many others, convicts included. Dave

Wednesday 26th November 2008

Katherine Mansfield was born in Wellington in 1888 and left for Europe at the age of nineteen. She was born in a house close to our hotel which has now been restored to what it would have been like at the end of the nineteenth century. It contains a good selection of household items along with photos, quotations from some of her letters and excerpts from the short stories for which she is famous.

Her decision to leave New Zealand was taken as she found life here too restrictive and she made her way to London where she became friends with people such as Virginia Woolf, T.S. Elliot and D.H. Lawrence. Most of writing, though, reflected her life in New Zealand and she clearly loved the country.

I can’t resist recording that we visited the Botanic Gardens here, which are located just over the road from our hotel because I really want to put on show examples of two of my favourite flowers.…… the orchid

…… and the water lily.

Jean

Train spotted

New Zealand appears to have a pretty perfunctory rail network and it was only yesterday I saw a passenger train for the first time as we neared Wellington, 19 days into our trip here.

Wellington station serves quite a few suburbs but there’s not much long distance stuff. As someone interested in rail and transport generally, I find it a bit surprising but clearly the terrain is difficult and the population quite small.

At such times when trains are sparse I develop a kind of twitching and begin to lose weight. Doctors have diagnosed a rare condition called Anorakia Nervosa. Ho, Ho.

Also downtown, we visited Old St Paul’s, Wellington’s cathedral until superseded in 1966 by one much larger and not made of wood. Colonial Gothic style with superb windows. Dave.

Historic Tour

Broke the 200 mile drive from Napier to Wellington at Palmerston North where we tracked down the New Zealand Rugby Museum. A treasure trove but only room to show five per cent of the 30,000 items they have accumulated over the last 40 years or so.

The first All Blacks tour to the UK dates back to 1905 and they became known as the Originals. In their first match against a Devon XV in Exeter the tourists won 55-4 but at least one paper in London just would not believe it, thought it was a mistake and printed the result as 55-4 to Devon. Those who were there were astonished at the speed of the Kiwis’ play and dubbed them the All Backs because it looked like they were all backs and no scrum players. Only Wales beat them (3-0) on an historic tour. Dave

Tuesday 25th November 2008

The Toilet and the Rose Garden

It sounds a little like a modern day fable, doesn’t it? In fact, it’s two stories related to our trip between Napier and Wellington. We stopped off twice, firstly at Dannevirke, a town with Danish connections, for coffee and then at Palmerston North to visit the New Zealand Rugby Museum where I was shocked to find Jonah Lomu in the ladies toilet.

There is also a beautiful rose garden in the town which has won awards. This delightful specimen was named Dawn.

We gave a lift to the German young lady, Monika, who I’d met on the winery trip yesterday as she happened to be travelling to Wellington too.

Jean

Tuesday 24th November 2008

Cheers!

Hawke’s Bay is a well known grape growing region. I took a tour this afternoon with a small group - a Scottish couple, an American couple and a young German. The first winery looked beautiful - the building used to be on the edge of town and housed “retiring” monks. The building was carved into six pieces, moved to a higher location and is now the home of the Mission Winery. We sampled four wines and enjoyed them.

The second winery was much smaller and we were made really welcome by the part-owner who treated us to six wines and a humorous and informative chat about his business and wine in general going into, for instance, the history of “Shiraz”. Apparently this was a place in Persia visited by the crusaders and an Anglo-German knight took cuttings of grapes before he returned to Europe. He stopped off in the Rhone valley, planted the cuttings, decided he rather liked it there and didn’t return to England.

I bought a bottle of red and one of white for us to treat ourselves to later.

The afternoon ended with a trip up to Te Mata Peak, 339 metres above sea level and a wonderful vantage point for views throughout three hundred and sixty degrees over the whole area.

Jean

Flying the flag

The dedicated bike lane down Napier’s Marine Parade and beyond runs for miles and miles with great views over Hawke's Bay. Unhappily though as a hirer I was obliged to ride a bike with a warning flag at the back. Later I noticed it was actually advertising Napier’s Marineland which has in fact been closed since September after the sudden death of its star attraction, a 38-year-old dolphin. Dave

Two consecutive holes in one ...

… but unfortunately not at Taupo where they would have netted me NZ $10,000. This is the Napier Crazy Golf though quite a tricky one as these things go with various cambers and tiers which mean that embarrassingly for a golfer of my calibre the ball can occasionally roll all the way back to the start. Dave

Sunday 23rd November 2008

From Taupo to Napier




The trip between Taupo and Napier was so uneventful that we didn’t stop off at a historic reserve and a scenic reserve we’d seen marked on the map as there were no obvious signs to them! The initial part of the journey was through infertile ash that only supported coniferous forest, most of which had been planted for commercial use.

The soil improved enough for grass to grow as pasture for cattle on the lower areas and sheep on the slopes.

What I really loved, though, were the bright yellows of the broom and gorse on the road sides and the more delicate yellow of the tree lupin, which flourished around the verges.

As we entered the Esk Valley in the Hawke's Bay area the landscape changed dramatically with a variety of fruit orchards and vineyards.

Napier was devastated in 1931 by a huge earthquake - 7.9 on the Richter scale - and the fires that followed. As the crust buckled, water drained out of the Ahuriri Lagoon, leaving trawlers high and dry and some of the land two metres higher than before. Despite this horrific event, the city authorities took the opportunity to re-design the city completely, with wider streets and buildings reflecting the Art Deco style. There’s probably not another settlement like it in the world.

Jean

A Nation rejoices

Against all the odds New Zealand won the rugby league World Cup final in Brisbane last night, beating hot favourites Australia 34-20 in a match finishing just before midnight New Zealand time.
We watched of course and seven hours later around breakfast time it’s Aston Villa and Manchester United live along with New Zealand’s rugby union team overcoming Wales, also live, on another channel. Only downside for the Kiwis is the cricket defeat by Australia in the first test, also in Brisbane.

Have I come all this way just to watch TV sports I could just as easily watch at home, I wonder as I idly flick channels. Surely the answer must be no - musn't it? Dave

Huka Falls

Huka Falls, about six miles outside Lake Taupo, are a great sight. The river roars along, gathers speed and plunges dramatically, not that far but at a fantastic speed before broadening out again downstream, calm restored. The water is brilliantly clear as it tumbles over the top.

Overall, the Falls form an important part of New Zealand’s power supply system. Dave

A Taste of Honey

Inspired by a movie we saw in the U.S. called the Secret Lives of Bees, which included, albeit obliquely, bee-keeping as part of the story-line, we called in at The Honey Hive and Meadery near Huka Falls outside Taupo. Various honies can be tasted and then bought if you want them. We came away with one called Pohutukawa.

Part of the main building was hit recently by fire and the owners are operating out of nearby temporary premises until next month. Still room though to display an interesting video about the life-cycle of bees. On average a worker bee lives about six weeks and produces just half a teaspoonful of honey in that time Seems a tiny haul for all they put in but I suppose they get a buzz out of it. Ho, ho. Dave

Saturday 22nd November 2008

Hole in One?

This is a golf competition with a difference. Your regular hole on a manicured green was absent. In its place was a kind of raft, anchored off the shore in Lake Taupo containing a three apertures one a “normal” size golf hole, the others consisting of sandy based hollows, one twelve inches in diameter, the other twenty one inches. Anyone who can drive their ball into the small hole wins $5000, the others smaller prizes.

I treated Dave to five dollars worth and he certainly came close with several balls. He says he’ll have another shot at it tomorrow and I’m hoping he’ll be able to treat me to dinner afterwards.

Jean

UPDATE on 23rd November

Dave did indeed have another five dollars' worth, coming close each time, but extremely close with one ball. Unfortunately I was left with the bill for the Thai meal this evening, so no luck for me! Ah well, it was very tasty.

friday 21st November 2008

Mokoia Island



How lucky are we? This morning dawned fair again and after packing we set out for the lake shore to board the boat to Mokoia Island.

Our guide, Richie, proved to be very knowledgeable about his Maori past , especially as related to the island and to the flora/fauna.

We heard many birds and saw a few, including saddlebacks, but were not treated to the sight of any kiwis as they are nocturnal. Richie referred to them as boring birds but was actually quite excited as one is due to hatch shortly.

The Waharoa (gateway) we’re standing at is dedicated to Tuhanekai and Hinemoa, lovers who were separated until Hinemoa tied gourds to herself to keep her afloat and swam out to the island at night to reach Tuhaneki. These were not legendary people and they got married and lived pretty happily ever after!

Jean

Colour writing

The Wai-O-Tapu thermal area 0n the road out of Rotorua heading to Lake Taupo is covered with collapsed craters, boiling pools of mud and with steam all over.

But in contrast to similar places we have seen round here parts of the pools are in colour - usually reddish, yellowish or green. All due to geology of some sort and quite spectacular. The Devil's Bath (left) is a good example.

Other intetesting ones include the Champagne Pool (pinkish) and the Opal Pool (greenish/yellow). Quite unique. Dave

Tuesday 20th November 2008

To Hell and Back

Well no, not exactly. This morning we visited the Wai Ora Spa, sometimes called Hell’s Gate as this is what it was named by George Bernard Shaw in the early 1900s.


It was formed about 10,000 years ago when a large ancient lake drained. The removal of the water caused faulting or huge cracks in the rocks, allowing the escape of steam, gases and hot fluids. It is supposed to be Rotorua’s most active geothermal reserve and some of the names of the landforms reflect this: Devil’s Bath, Inferno Pools and Devil’s Cauldron.


We certainly saw much evidence of the geothermal activity in the steaming cliffs, cooking pools and mud volcano, but there was also the interesting sight of a couple of Pied stilts with three tiny offspring.


The afternoon saw us at the Buried Village, where it must have seemed like hell on June 10th 1886 when the Mount Tarawera suddenly started erupting, sending masses of material high into the night sky and hurling rocks, ash and mud onto the village below. One hundred and fifty people died as whares (houses) like this were engulfed.

We started in the museum which documents the geography/geology of the area and the history of that night and the following days. Strangely enough, our walk round the tracks of the former village, which took about an hour, was amazingly peaceful and enjoyable, like the Wairere Falls, seen here.

Jean

Croquet

Sometimes New Zealand can seem more English than England. The croquet club at Rotorua has been in existence for over a century and its 1907 clubhouse is part of the local heritage trail. There are half a dozen bowling greens nearby and on a cricket pitch not far away a touring MCC side once played and beat the local Bay of Plenty XI in the 1920s by six wickets. Dave

Wednesday 19th November 2008

Rotorua

We arrived here this morning and if we hadn’t seen the signs at the edge of town, the smell would have been a giveaway - hydrogen sulphide, alias bad eggs! Not so much that you’d need a gas mask, like yesterday, but still very distinct.


Lake Rotorua is just one of several lakes contained within an old crater rim. The area is one of the world’s most important geothermal region where boiling mud pools, geyser spouts and steam are the norm.

We spent early afternoon at Whakarewarewa, a village populated by Maoris and dominated by the heat generated below the surface. Heated water is directed into baths where it cools ready for bathing in the late afternoon. It also heats the houses when necessary and is used for cooking food.

The village inhabitants have used the vulcanicity within their village and also their traditional way of life to their advantage in other ways too. They have set up guided tours for the likes of us.

The great meeting house is very beautiful and all of the carvings tell a story.

Concerts are also put on where the performers dance and sing.
Jean