Day 2 - Paihia

Had breakfast at Hanson's waterfront Cafe. Went on Great Sights Cruise to Hole in the Rock.  Cruised around the bay of Islands on a perfect sunny day.  About 10 people on our boat braved the freezing (to me!) water to swim with the wild dolphins just around from Captain Cook’s Cove.  The dolphins put on a fantastic display, two doing dives in unison and flipping out of the water.  All of which I caught on camera two seconds too late so we’ve got lots of photos of dolphin tails and swirling water where they went under.  The captain said this was an amazing dolphin display.  However, we are wise to the NZ sense of humour and are pretty sure they do this everytime people get in the water with them.  No one is allowed to swim with them when there are babies in the water or if the dolphins are hunting or fighting. So we were luckier than some. Then continued to the hole in the rock and cruised straight through it.  Saw a NZ brown seal on the way home.

Dinner at 35 degrees restaurant.  On a jetty over the water, quite nice. They had a big fish tank and a big screen tv showing the All blacks vs Australia Rugby.  We were pleased the Kiwis won as we didn't want a riot on our hands. Learnt how to play knockout whist with the help of kiwifruit chocolate and scotch. Ronnie won.  

Five dolphins showing off and deftly avoiding the swimmers and the camera. 

 If I had an underwater camera you could clearly see all five dolphins playing.

 Hole in the Rock before we cruised through it.

Hole in the Rock after we cruised through it, on a pretty tricky day with a tricky tide.  Good (female) captain.

Spirit of New Zealand just arrived from Australia from the International Fleet review that somehow included a lot of Tall Ships.

Day 1 - At the Airport

Got out the teeny tiny bag I took to Europe for 8 weeks and decided it was too small for two weeks in NZ.  I got out the slightly larger bag also with wheels. Ronnie decided a squishy bag would be better for a campervan.  However, after 12 flights of stairs at the stations and escalators at the airport he is rethinking his decision.  Too late?

Flew Qantas.  Wrote flight 155 instead of flight 55 on the ID for my bag and Ronnie's bag. If we lose our luggage we will know who to blame.  Well, I will as I haven't told Ronnie  yet : (

Bags all arrived, knew we wouldn’t have any problems, who would ignore huge airline tags in preference for tiny generic labels. : )

Lined up for customs as we had to declare Ronnies walking boots and a tarp! It didn’t matter in the end because they checked everyone’s bags except ours because they questioned us extensively instead which was quicker.  We picked up our people mover and arrived at Paihia at 8pm.  Went to Jimmy Jacks Ribs for dinner.  No, we are not in America.  Very nice.  Had ice cream and coffee and walked around window shopping. 

New Zealand October 2013

New Zealand 2013

This year we are going back to New Zealand but this time to the North Island.  The North Island is where Ronnie’s parents are from – his father from Auckland and his mother from Gisborne.  We are going with Rosie and Bob, from the UK, who we met while sailing in Greece in 2011.  Ronnie is descendant from the Maori Princess Irihapeti Te Paea which means he and the boys can kill as many mutton birds as they want.  Not sure we will indulge in this special privilege this trip. I have been to the north Island once before on a 9 week trip to New Zealand by myself when I was in first year uni. Ron has been for a funeral when he was 8.  Wonder if it has changed in the last few years?

The plan is: Arrive in Auckland on October18 and drive straight to Paihia in the Bay of Islands. Stay in Paihia for a seven days then drive back to Auckland and pick up a campervan for seven days and travel from Auckland to Rotorua, Gisborne, Taupo, Waitomo Caves, Hamilton and back to Auckland. This is the first time we’ve hired a campervan and we’re not sure what to expect.  

We're having lunch with Ronnie's relatives in Gisborne (36 so far!) which should be fun. : )

Day 15 - Queenstown to Sydney

Queenstown airport to leave for Sydney 9:50am.

Back home again. We had a lovely holiday. Three of the couples we enjoyed various parts of our holiday with are still in New Zealand canoeing the Doubtful Sound. I hope the weather is good and they are enjoying themselves.

I don't know where we will go or when we will go away again. Thanks for reading. I hope I kept you up to date at your own leisure.

Day 14 - Queenstown to Milford Sound

Queenstown to Milford Sound on a bus trip with Bbq bus group and we were fortunate enough to get a group of 5!  The day before they had a group of 19 and the day after they had two bus loads of 22 each.
Great tour with informative commentary along the way, stops for photos, to fill water bottles at the fountain of youth and for bbq lunch at Lake Gunn.  We walked into Lake Gunn through a beech forest while lunch was cooking:

Fantastic weather, perfect sunshine and a cloudless day.  About a 3% chance of that at Milford Sound where they get 9000mm of rain a year and the record is 11,000mm of rain a year.

The crouching lion (on the left)

Snow still on the mountains in the not so distant distance.

Sterling falls. We went right under the falls of this spectacular waterfall.

Stayed at the Mantra Marina, Queenstown for our last night. 

Day 13 - Chatto Creek to Queenstown

Chatto Creek to Clyde winery tour then on to Queenstown. 

So lucky with the weather. It rained last night but a beautiful clear, sunny, hot day.
Fantastic section of rail trail. All down hill to Alexandra then we took the river path which is a fantastic 16 km roller coaster ride around single track paths right next to the Clutha river under beautiful shade trees. Photos below.  Lovely way to end the trip.

Trip to some wineries and saw some people enjoying the shotover river along the way.

Arrived in Queenstown early so we booked dinner at the Skyline restaurant accessed by gondola. Fantastic views and we got a window seat. Extensive buffet including roasts of venison. This is the view of the Remarkables from our table.

Staying at:
Mantra Marina Queenstown.

Day 12 - Rail Trail: Auripo to Chatto Creek

Auripo to Chatto Creek 32 km. 

Poolburn Viaduct a huge bridge supported by schist columns from local stone and cut on site by stone masons who lived in camps nearby.  The men making the tunnels also lived in the camps. The remaining chimneys which they attached a tent to still remain today. 

Lovely down hill ride to a fantastic pub run by another one of those enterprising women along the rail.  This time Leslie Middlemass was up late to provide dinner and up early to serve us breakfast.  Filling us in on her history and that of the Tavern was part of the charm of the place. 

Chatto Creek Tavern.