Round the North Island with Sunny Jim

From Wellington we picked up another hire car (Nissan Sunny, nicknamed ‘Jim’) and set off on a nostalgic tour of the North Island. We had a rough itinerary planned, but made lots of changes as we went along, depending on the weather and our inclinations!  From Wellington, we drove across the Rimutakas to Martinborough in the Wairarapa; north to Taupo and then on to Rotorua; on to Whakatane and the Bay of Plenty, stopping at a number of beaches and sites of interest; overnight at Mount Maunganui and then on to Hamilton; from there to New Plymouth and then Wanganui, before returning to Wellington. Altogether we covered 1876 kilometres (about 1170 miles).

Here are some highlights from our tour.

Martinborough vineyards

This little town in the heart of the Wairarapa is one of our favourites. We did a driving and then a walking tour of some of the little wineries that surround the town, sampling the produce and ending up going off with four bottles of good stuff. We spent the night in an upmarket ‘tin shack’ (interesting design, with a mini-tower and brightly painted) on a vineyard, and had dinner at another vineyard.  We’d been there before and it was wonderful, so we were keen to go again, but this time it was rather disappointing.

Rows and rows, waiting to be turned into wine

Wine to be

Sampling the product

Our tin shack

Hot water adventures

Between Taupo and Rotorua we visited Orakei Korako geothermal park. You get shuttled across a lake by small boat and then there are about 1½ miles of boardwalks and footpaths to explore the thermal area, with an enormous silica terrace, mudpools and a cave.

Orakei Korako

A silica terrace (not a glacier)

Muddy bubbles

Later we followed a footpath on the shore of Lake Rotorua, with more geothermal activity right next to the town. That evening we stayed in a motel with our own outdoor spa bath, and were able to get into our very own hot water. A few days later, at Mount Maunganui, we went in the public hot pools and relaxed in the drizzle right under the (cloud-covered) mountain.

Thermal area at Rotorua

Sandie gets into hot water

Mount Maunganui thermal pools

Coastal walks

We spent a couple of days exploring the Bay of Plenty, staying overnight in the town of Katikati, famous for its murals and its Haiku pathway (a path dotted with boulders on which cryptic Japanese-style poems are inscribed). We did a number of walks to beaches, and along beaches, including Orokawa Bay – a remote beach surrounded by pohutokawa trees, which would be really beautiful when they’re in bloom. We also went to Shelly Beach, lovely and sheltered with calm clear water, where Ian was even inspired to have a swim.

Mural at Katikati (not our hire car)

Parson chasing an ostrich – why?

Katikati haiku pathway

Orokawa beach

Coastal view

Swimming at Shelly Bay

Heading back to Wellington, we did a coastal walk at Titahi Bay, though we weren’t inspired to swim.

From the cliffs at Titahi Bay

Beach huts at Titahi Bay

They laid on a wedding for us

When exploring the pa site (ancient Maori defended village) at Bowentown, during one of our Bay of Plenty walks, we found preparations being made for an outdoor wedding, so we sat down and waited for the bride to arrive. The bridal party finally turned up in a fleet of old red sports cars, and we watched the brief but interesting ceremony from the hillside. It was really good of them to lay on a wedding just for us!

Here comes the bride!

Good job it didn’t rain

Mr & Mrs

Drinking with hobbits

While in the Waikato region we went to visit Hobbiton, and saw Bag End, the party field, Bywater and the Green Dragon. Not the real things of course, but the set where parts of ‘Lord of the Rings’ (and more recently ‘The Hobbit’) were filmed. Apparently, the sets were almost completely destroyed after the filming of the first trilogy, but then rebuilt because of the demand from tourists (and because of the second trilogy). So we were privileged to down some best Southfarthing ale or cider when we ended our tour in the Green Dragon.

Hobbiton

Bag End

Over the bridge to the Green Dragon

The bar of the Green Dragon

Sandie samples the Southfarthing ale

Gardens of Paradise

We visited Hamilton Gardens, and were impressed by their selection of ‘Paradise Gardens’, showing off garden designs from different countries and ages. Our favourites were the Italian and Indian gardens, with honourable mentions to the English and Chinese gardens, and the new Tropical garden. The experience was capped by a contemporary dance show put on in the Italian garden, with six women moving and gyrating around the garden, with the audience following them along the paths. It wasn’t dancing as we know it, but certainly an interesting experience. They wouldn’t let us take photos, so unfortunately we can’t show you what it was like.

In an English country garden

In the Chinese garden

The Chinese pagoda

The Indian garden

The Indian pavilion

The Italian garden

The Italian fountain

From the Italian pavilion

The Tropical garden

Finishing a walk, after six years

In 2008 we started doing a walk from the Whanganui River Road up to the Skyline Viewpoint. We got 50 yards in and the path was blocked by a fallen tree, so we had to give up. This year we returned to the Whanganui River Road and finally completed the walk, with some great views from the top, as well as a panorama of the Whanganui valley from the pass at the start of the road.

The Whanganui River valley

The Whanganui River

The path is only partially blocked, this time

View from the top

We finally made it!

Our faithful Sunny Jim

South Island Interlude

After our two weeks in Wellington, we had a four-day excursion to the top of the South Island, starting on Thursday 13^th February.  We were fortunate to have great weather for most of the trip.  Many of the things we did reminded us of our first ever visit to this part of New Zealand, though we tried to fit in some new things too.

Thursday

We took the 9 am ferry across the Cook Strait to Picton.  Although we visited the South Island many times when we lived in Wellington, this was only the second time we’d taken the ferry.  Flying is much quicker, and if you are limited to weekends off from work, it’s really the only option.  However, when not pressed for time, the ferry is a cheaper and more relaxing alternative.

The ferry takes over three hours, but for most of the time you are cruising between the peninsulas which enclose Wellington Harbour, or the islands of the Tory Channel and the Queen Charlotte Sound.  It is a scenic journey, and a good opportunity for photography – the only problem being that everyone is fighting for the best views!

Setting sail from Wellington

Farewell to the North Island

Through the Tory Channel

Picton harbour, our South Island landfall

In Picton we had lunch, collected a hire car and headed for Nelson, one of our favourite NZ towns.  Our route took us along the picturesque Queen Charlotte Drive, and we paused to walk out to the Cullen Point viewpoint.  In Nelson we discovered a new pub, the Free House, in a converted church, with comfortable seating inside and out.  We had dinner at a pizza bar, followed by cocktails in Harry’s, two places we’d enjoyed on previous visits.

View from Cullen Point

The Free House pub

Friday

We continued west from Nelson to the small town of Motueka. Kahurangi National Park is the second biggest in NZ, but it is not easily accessible. There are multi-day walks, but these involve staying overnight in basic huts, and carrying all your equipment with you – not something that appeals to us.   Just before we left NZ in 2010, we learned that there is access by road from Motueka to the Flora car park in the north of Kahurangi.  It was too late then for us to explore, so we decided to do so on this trip.

The first part of the road is scenic, an easy drive with little traffic.  But then… the last 11 kms is on an unsealed road, and for the final 7 kms the road is VERY steep and VERY rough.  We have a lot of experience of NZ roads, but this one was frankly terrifying.  We had doubts about whether our hire car (economy category, i.e. old) would make it.  We were mightily relieved to reach the Flora car park, but concerned to see notices warning of many thefts from cars there.  Since we were between motels, all our possessions were in the car.

Looking towards Mount Arthur

We took the track up to the Mount Arthur Hut.  We were walking mainly through interesting moss-covered forest, but views were limited.  We’d been told that the best views were just above the hut, but unfortunately by the time we got there the weather had deteriorated and visibility was poor.  While walking, there were two questions uppermost in our minds: 1. would all our things still be in the car? and 2. would we make it safely down to sea level?  Luckily, the answer to both questions was yes.

Through the mossy forest

A glimpse of the summit

The path through the woods

Interesting growths on the trees

Mount Arthur hut

At last, a view

The weather improved too, once we were out of the mountains.  We could not believe how warm it was when were returned to Motueka.  We had a restorative drink sitting outside in the sun.  Later, we found the restaurants packed (because it was St Valentine’s Day?), but eventually we managed to get a table in a Thai restaurant.

Saturday

After our experience in the mountains, we decided to stay on the coast, and enjoyed beautiful sunshine all day.  First we drove a few miles west to Marahau, the gateway to the Abel Tasman National Park.  We did the first section of the coastal track, as far as Coquille Beach: we’d done it twice before, but the scenery is so beautiful, it was well worth doing again.

Looking over the coastal marshes to the sea

A view from the Abel Tasman track

Another scenic view

Coquille Beach

Oyster catcher on the beach

Kayakers

Tree fern by the beach

Heart under water

From Abel Tasman we started to work our way back east, sticking to the coast as far as possible.  First stop was Kaiteriteri, where we strolled along the beach. Our only previous visit was in the autumn, and we were amazed to see how popular it is in summer.

Kaiteriteri beach

We took the ‘Ruby Coast Scenic Drive’, although we didn’t find it particularly scenic.  We reached the village of Mapua just in time for the 2 pm ferry to Rabbit Island.  We’d driven to Rabbit Island back in 2008, but the road access takes you to a different part of the island.  From the ferry landing at the west end we went for a walk along the beach, and crossed back two hours later.  Mapua Wharf has an attractive collection of shops and cafés, so we paused to look around.  (It also has the Golden Bear microbrewery, so Sandie was able to sample their wares for the second time.)

The Mapua ferry offloads at Rabbit Island

Rabbit Island beach

Shells on the beach

View from Rabbit Island

Golden Bear brewery

Then it was back to Nelson: same motel, the Free House again, and an Indian restaurant this time.

Sunday

The weather was grey and gloomy when we left Nelson, and headed back towards Picton, stopping for a short walk at the Pelorus Bridge.  We decided to return via Blenheim, rather than taking the Queen Charlotte Drive: more miles, but a much easier road, because it is mainly flat.  And because it is flat, the area is used to grow grapes – we passed endless rows of vines.  When you drink Marlborough wine, this is where it comes from!

Pelorus Bridge

River at Pelorus Bridge

We stopped in Blenheim for coffee.  Our only previous visit to the town was just before Christmas 2008, and we were not impressed – possibly because the weather was awful and we struggled to find somewhere to eat. This time, we liked it much better.  The weather had improved dramatically by the time we got there, which undoubtedly helped.  The town centre was attractive, and the flowers in Seymour Square Park were beautiful.  We enjoyed our coffee sitting outside in the sun, and would have happily stayed longer in the town.  But that was not possible, because we had a boat to catch!

Seymour Square Park, Blenheim

Waiting to board

Goodbye, South Island!

Soggy Sevens in Windy Wellington

For our first two weeks in New Zealand, we stayed in Wellington, revisiting old haunts and meeting old friends. It was good to be back, although there were a few disappointments. The weather was good initially, but after a few days it turned grey, cold, wet and windy. Several of the places (bars, cafés, shops) which we used to frequent had closed since we were last here in 2010. And a different exchange rate meant that things seemed a lot more expensive this time round. But despite these problems, we had a good time, and found plenty to do.

Wellington waterfront

Parliament library

Meeting friends

We were fortunate to be able to catch up with many of our old friends from our previous time in New Zealand. We went into NZCER, where Sandie once worked, and said hello to some of her former colleagues. We visited the Ministry of Education, in particular the Research Division, and chatted to the staff there, some of whom joined us for food and drinks in the Backbencher afterwards.

Meeting old friends at the Backbencher

We had dinner with members of Sandie’s folk dance group, after which she joined them for a nostalgic dance session. And we had several coffee, lunch or dinner dates with individual friends or couples.

The folk dance group

Going for walks

Wellington is very picturesque, with (mainly white) houses perched on tree-clad hills surrounding the harbour. It is a relatively small city, so you don’t have to walk far to find yourself in wild countryside. There are a number of walkways (linked footpaths) which we tackled in 2008-10, but we were keen to repeat some of them.

On Sunday 2nd February we did the ‘City to Sea’ walkway, starting from the Bolton Street Memorial Park in the City and ending up at Island Bay on the coast. It is only 12 kms (7.5 miles if you prefer) but is mainly up and down steep hills, so quite challenging. The leaflet describing the walk says that you need ‘a good level of fitness’ to complete it in a day, so we felt proud of ourselves when we reached the end! The weather was perfect: blue sky and sun, just a light breeze.

Bolton Memorial Cemetery – the start of the walkway

Wellington from the Botanical Garden

A mural in the city

The city, the hills, and the gorse

Maori sculpture

The Island Bay stupa

The sea is in sight

Two days later, we did the Eastern Walkway, a much shorter loop walk from Seatoun over the hills to Tarakena Bay, and back by the coast road. Again, we had blue sky and sun, but a much stronger wind which at times almost blew us away. The following afternoon, the weather was not good at all, but later we caught glimmers of sun so decided to walk up to the Mount Victoria lookout. Unfortunately the weather deteriorated as we walked, and by the time we reached the lookout the wind was howling and visibility was poor, to say the least.

Eastern walkway – Breaker Bay

A ferry coming in

Ataturk memorial at Tarakena Bay

The weather – and other commitments – prevented us from doing other walks. However, on our last afternoon in Wellington the sky brightened and we decided to go for a walk along the Kaiwharawhara Stream through Ngaio Gorge. In addition to being a favourite spot of ours, it has the advantage of being reasonably sheltered from the wind!

Kaiwharawhara stream in Ngaio Gorge

Three cinemas and a theatre

One thing we really like about New Zealand is what we call the ‘quirky’ cinemas: small and comfortable, and you can go in with a cappuccino or a glass of bubbles (sparkling wine to non-Kiwis). During our first week in Wellington, we revisited our two favourite cinemas. At the Penthouse in Brooklyn we saw The Railway Man, and at the Lighthouse in Petone we saw Mandela: long walk to freedom. In Petone we ate at the Fireman’s Arms, which thankfully still produces the best pizzas in this part of the world.

At the other extreme from the small quirky cinemas is the Embassy, a huge cinema with an elaborate interior (grand sweeping staircases, ornate design in the auditorium, beautiful tiling in the toilets etc), which is where Peter Jackson has staged all the premiers of his Lord of the Rings films. We went there one afternoon – the weather was so bad it seemed the best option – and saw 12 Years a Slave. We sat in the seats reserved for Frodo Baggins and Sam Gamgee at the premiers!

Wellington is not so well off for active theatres (the two biggest are rarely used) but it does have the Circa, and we went there one evening to see Kings of the Gym, a Kiwi comedy set in a secondary school.

The Wellington Sevens

The Wellington Sevens is one of the biggest annual events in the city; for two days crowds of people dress up in silly costumes and roam the streets and bars (some even go to see the rugby matches). Before the tournament starts there is a parade of the teams through the city, with marching bands and supporters from the different countries – including (this year) can-can and flamenco dancers.

Canadian supporters

Can-can dancers

Flamenco for Spain

The tournament started on Friday 7th, and we were waiting by the Westpac Stadium (aka the Cake Tin) to take pictures of the fans arriving in costume. Then we moved to the waterfront, where the bars were crammed with more people in costume.

Demented chickens

Frilly skirts by the Cake Tin

Who’s afraid?

Scottish fans in the bar

Whatever the collective noun for Elmos is…

Dancing fairy

Wonder women

That day the weather was bright and sunny, but on Saturday it turned cold, wet and windy. People still roamed the streets, some in very skimpy costumes, mostly oblivious to the weather. Late at night Courtenay Place was closed to traffic and filled with revellers braving the rain. We watched them from the front window of one of the pubs.

In the rain

Sheltering in the pub

A real wedding party

Ian and friend

Work – is there no escape?

Asked whether we were going to New Zealand for work or a holiday, we assured everyone that it was just the latter. But then, when we were on our way, we had an email putting us in touch with someone in Wellington whose company is in a consortium bidding for a project from OECD, based in Paris. They needed more psychometric expertise. We met for lunch the day after we arrived. Then Ian wrote a short paper, and had a telephone conversation with the consortium partners.

Finally, at 11 pm on Friday night, in the middle of the Sevens madness, he took part in a conference call to London, Paris and Abu Dhabi to discuss the project. We wait to hear whether the bid was successful. We also received an email informing us that the Ghana project may go ahead after all. And Ian agreed to do some analysis for Omega schools when we return to the UK. Being retired is perhaps not a full-time occupation.

Getting our boots cleaned

After our tour of Ethiopia, we travelled on to New Zealand.  Since our return tickets to London were via Dubai, it seemed sensible to do this.  It would save time and money, and mean that we would reach New Zealand in their summer, and enjoy the craziness of the Sevens weekend.  All in all, a good plan, but there were a few hitches along the way.

Stage 1: Addis Ababa to Dubai

We checked out of our Addis hotel at 9am on Tuesday 28 January.  A car was coming at 1pm to take us to the airport.  This meant we had the morning free, and the plan was to meet up with the brother of a former colleague from Ethiopia. But first, we had to change the local currency we’d been given in place of the dollars that were stolen.  An easy task, we thought, but we were wrong.

There was a foreign exchange bureau in our hotel, but they did not have enough dollars.  We tried a nearby bank, but were told that the lady with the key to the relevant safe was not at work that day.  At another bank, the teller insisted that we had to produce airline tickets.  When we pointed out that (like everyone else these days) we had e-tickets, she said we’d have to talk to the manager.  And the manager said they could not exchange money unless we had an account at the bank.

Getting desperate, we asked a lady in the tourist office for help.  She made some phone calls, and said ‘a man was coming’ to do the exchange.  After waiting, we were ushered to a nearby shop where a young woman (with no knowledge of exchange rates) said she had only $300, but could give us that in exchange for all our birr (worth over $450).  We declined.  We phoned the local tour company for help, but after some time they called back to say they’d tried banks but none were prepared to exchange our money.

Luckily, in the tourist office, we met a Canadian lady (Maggie) who had recently arrived in Ethiopia and was having problems using her card in an ATM.  She was on her way to a big hotel where there was a forex bureau. We went with her, and the man in the bureau was willing to change money for us – but, he said, government rules specified a maximum of $150.  Since there were two of us, we were able to get $300, but still had more birr.

We got a taxi and went with Maggie to her hotel, where we did a private exchange.  We arrived back at our hotel at 12.45, and the car for the airport was already waiting.  We’d wasted the whole morning, and lost the chance of meeting Tilaye’s brother.  Still, it was just as well we didn’t rely on changing money at the airport.  After lunch there, we still had some local currency left.  The airside exchange bureau was closed, and when they re-opened, the man refused to change our money.  He told us to go back landside, where there were two banks – but neither was prepared to give us any useful currency (dollars, sterling or euros).  The rest of our birr went in a charity collection box.

Sign in an airport cafe: The right food for the journey?

Stage 2: Dubai to Sydney

Claire had booked us staff travel tickets from Dubai to Sydney, and Sydney to Wellington.  These are standby, so no guarantee we would be allowed on our chosen flights.  At Dubai, there was another problem.  We’d discovered that we needed Australian visas, even though we expected to be in Sydney just a few hours.  We applied for them online early the previous day.  Ian’s was confirmed very quickly, but Sandie’s was still listed as ‘in progress’ when we arrived in Dubai.  Goodness knows why, as we’d applied for both at the same time.  But the airlines will not allow you to fly to Australia without one!

The woman at the Emirates desk phoned the Australian immigration people, who said it could take up to ten days for Sandie’s visa to come through.  At that point, we almost gave up, and returned to England.  But we were told to talk to people on the Qantas desk, and the man there obviously had a hotline link, because he was able to get a visa instantly approved.  We had to pay, but it was a problem solved.  And we were accepted on the first flight out of Dubai, heading for Sydney.

Stage 3: Sydney to Wellington

The flight from Dubai to Sydney took over 13 hours.  We landed at 10.30pm local time, and the flight to Wellington was at 9.35am next day.  Luckily there was a good hotel just opposite the terminal, which gave us the opportunity for a much-needed sleep and shower.

We returned to the terminal next morning, and encountered another problem. We’d focused on getting to Wellington, thinking that we could arrange our return flights while there.  But we were informed that we could not fly into New Zealand without onward tickets.  Fortunately, a quick phone call to Claire solved that problem: she booked us tickets from Wellington to Sydney, and called us back in five minutes with the details.

But later we were told that there was no room for us on the flight.  Under the impression that there was only one Sydney-Wellington flight each day, we thought we would have to wait 24 hours.  This would mean spending another night in the airport hotel, and missing a business lunch which had been arranged (at short notice) for Friday.  Doomed!  Luckily, we were informed that there was another flight at 5.30pm, with plenty of space, so we were checked in immediately.

Rather than spend the whole day in the airport, we took the ultra-modern and efficient train into the city.  We walked all round the harbour, and through the Botanical  Gardens to the viewpoint (Mrs McQuarrie’s Chair) where you can see the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House together.  We’d done it before, but enjoyed seeing the picturesque city again on a beautiful summer day.  We had lunch sitting by the harbour – very pleasant.

Sydney Opera House and massive cruise liner

Sydney Harbour Bridge

Passed out under the bridge

View across the harbour

Opera House close-up

South Pacific sculpture

Ibis in Botanical Gardens

Walking and jogging round the harbour

View from Mrs McQuarrie’s Chair

A nice glass of sav in the sun

All in all, our visit to Sydney was an unexpected bonus.  The only problem was that we’d booked a studio apartment in Wellington, and were supposed to be there by 6pm. With our revised flight time, we were not going to make it much before midnight.  Early attempts to phone or email the hotel were unsuccessful.  But while sitting in the Customs House (Sydney library, with free wifi), we managed to make telephone contact, and the lady emailed us instructions for finding our key and letting ourselves in.

Celebrating Chinese New Year at Sydney Airport

It’s apparently the Year of the Horse

The flight from Sydney to Wellington took only three hours, but with a two-hour time change, we landed at 10.30pm.  In addition to the usual immigration and customs procedures, New Zealand has ‘biosecurity’ checks.  You have to declare any fresh food you are carrying, and also if you have recently walked in rural areas elsewhere; if you say yes, then your boots are inspected.  We had last hiked in Awash National Park, and there was mud caked on our boots which we had been unable to remove.  They were therefore taken away and returned to us several minutes later, all traces of Ethiopian soil completely gone.  So we entered New Zealand with clean boots!