Tuesday 17th January
Sorry for the lack of posts but we've just been too busy to get them up. Add to that a lack of wifi and its been tough. We let mum and dad sleep in on their first morning in New Zealand, although, they didn't exactly get up much later than we were anyway. The first job we had to do was repack the car, with the additions of 2 large suitcases, a hand luggage suitcase and 2 extra people. The car looked full but we would definitely all be able to fit in. After that was sorted, we checked out of our room and headed out in to Auckland to have a look around, leaving the car in the secure car park. Our main task was to find somewhere to have a cooked breakfast but within 10 minutes, we had managed to get ourselves slightly lost. With mine and Charlotte's vague knowledge of Auckand we managed to get ourselves back on track and walked along the harbour front and past Britomart, which is the downtown area. As we were standing at the traffic lights at the bottom of Queen Street looking suspiciously like tourists, a local lady came up and asked if we were looking for anything in particular. We said a place for breakfast and she pointed us in the direction of viaduct wharf. We found a café that seemed reasonable and parked ourselves on a table outside to watch the world go by. The breakfast was okay but it filled us up and we were ready for the day ahead. We'd only booked 1 night in Auckland as there isn't a whole lot to see in the city, so we wandered up Queen Street, with Dad picking up a new pair of shoes, had a quick look around Aotea Square and then returned to the car to hit the highway. Before leaving Auckland for good, we made a quick stop at the Mt.Eden lookout which gave excellent views across the city and out across the Hauraki Gulf.
We were driving down to the city of Rotorua, which would be the first major stop on my mum and dads trip around New Zealand. The sun was shining, whilst they fell asleep in the back of the car. In order to stretch our legs we pulled over in the town of Matamata, which is famous for being where the set of Hobbiton is from the Lord of the Rings series of films. We didn't see any hobbits but the local information centre had been designed to look like a hobbit house. We all got a drink at a café where we could keep an eye on our fully loaded car and basked in the glorious sunshine. We only had an hour remaining until we arrived in Rotorua and, when we did, we immediately checked in to our accommodation, which was a “tourist flat” at Rotorua Thermal Holiday Park.
We didn't stick around for long and headed straight out to have a look around. The only problem was that mum was driving and it was her first time to ever drive an automatic. We got there safely but it was an interesting ride. When I say there, I mean the Redwood park. Charlotte and I had visited when we'd come through a few months earlier. We went for a stroll through the park and admired the huge trees, before setting off into Rotorua in search of dinner. Despite our reluctance to dine in “Eat Street”, we ended up there and were pleasantly surprised by the prices and the food we received. After dinner, we all got ourselves an ice cream each and headed for the shores of Lake Rotorua. We took great amusement out of watching the unsophisticated people stuffing their faces with McDonalds and Burger King, before we called it a day. When we got back to our room, we sat on our deck and had a few drinks while the sun disappeared below the horizon and the mosquitos came out to play. That ended mum and dads first full day in New Zealand. It had involved a long drive, so we would really be able to get down to things the following day.
Wednesday 18th January
We were up bright and early, keen to get out and about and have a look around. After breakfast, it was Dad’s turn to have a go at driving an automatic. He made it look slightly easier than mum had but Charlotte and I still clung on for dear life. We parked up in town and went for a wander. Rotorua is famous for its geothermal features and that's what we were heading for. The government gardens is a large park in the centre of the city that contains a few easily accessible features like a steaming pool that Maori’s used to use as a burial spot for their warriors, so their bones could remain undisturbed. After our jaunt around the government gardens we stopped for a coffee to ponder our next move.
We came to the conclusion that mum and dad would have to take a dip in a hot pool and the easiest way to do that was to go at the holiday park. When we got back, we donned out togs and wandered down the hot pools. As we'd already experienced the energy sapping qualities of the hot polls, charlotte didn't venture in but I thought I had better go in with mum and dad, just so they didn't feel as though we were waiting around for them. We spent around 15 minutes soaking in the hot pools and then transferred to the much colder swimming pool that was just next door. When we were done, we all got scrubbed up for an evening out and then played cards to pass the time. After so long of playing dull 2 players games, the 2 extra players were a welcome relief. The time came and we wandered down to meet the bus that would be taking us to our Maori experience evening and hangi feast. On the way there a “chief” was elected for our “tribe” so as they could represent us during the Maori greeting ceremony. There was 5 groups overall, with 5 different chiefs and they were all given and all gave a present to the Maori meeting party when we arrived. It was, apparently, traditional and how it would have been when the explorers first came in contact with the Maoris around 200 years ago. After we'd been greeted, we were all taken inside the Maori village and shown various features of their culture. These included the Haka, the war dance made famous by the revered All Blacks at the beginning of their rugby matches, their Waka, or canoes, tattooing jade carving and poi. The latter was a pastime undertaken by the Maori women to improve their dexterity and flexibility and involved a weighted ball on a piece of string that they would wave around in various patterns. As this was an interactive evening, Charlotte was one of the lucky (if that's the correct word) participants with the poi. After we'd been shown around the village, it was time to check out the hangi meal as it was removed from the ground. As I've said, the hangi is the traditional Maori feast and is prepared by steaming the food under grown using the smoke from slow burning wood such as the Manuka tree. This was just quick stop before we were shown one final performance of traditional songs and a full Haka. Finally, it was time for our feast and we were all led to restaurant to tuck in. It was a large spread of lamb, chicken and fish alongside carrots, kumara, potatoes and some stuffing. We were full to the brim once we'd finished but all of us but my dad managed to squeeze in some pavlova, steamed pudding and fruit for pudding. Having eaten, it was time to head off, so we all piled back to the coached and were driven back to our accommodation. It was a good night with good food and was very interesting to see the Maori culture and was also a good introduction to the culture for my mum and dad.
Thursday 19th January
In keeping with habit, we were all up bright and early and had the car packed ready to leave at 8. As we had places to be, we didn't thing it necessary to hang around and hit the road. The destination was Wai-o-Tapu thermal wonderland. Old hat for Charlotte and myself but all new to mum and dad. We left them to it whilst we sat outside and waited for them over a rather expensive filter coffee. We'd given them a time to be out by, as we were heading for a geyser that erupted at a certain time and we were surprised to see them back out, ordering their own coffee, with plenty of time to spare. The geyser was only a 2 minute drive away but the late comers to the thermal wonderland had arrived before us so it was fairly busy. At 10:15, a Maori chap came out, explained to everyone about geysers and this particular one, the Lady Knox geyser before emptying his bag of soap powder and scarpering before it erupted. It erupted considerably quicker than it had done when Charlotte and I first visited but the water didn't reach the same heights. It was still impressive though and mum and dad left feeling pretty pleased having seen a real life geyser. As we returned to the car it started to rain but we did manage to squeeze in a quick stop at a bubbling pool of mud just up the road from the geyser. From there, we drive down to the lakeside city of Taupo, where we stopped to have a quick look at the roaring Huka Falls and then proceeded on to the city itself, where we stopped and made a dash through the rain to have a drink at the Crafty Trout brewery. A couple of beers later, mum, being the designated driver, started us off on the road towards the coastal town of Napier.
For the first hour of the drive the weather was horrendous, with torrential rain making the visibility poor and the roads treacherous. As we crested the coastal mountain ranges near the Pacific though, the weather cleared and we were welcomed in to Hawke’s Bay by bright sunshine and warm temperatures. We checked in to our accommodation at Napier Beach Holiday Park before driving in to town. Our first stop was Bluff a hill lookout. Again, Charlotte and I had visited before but felt it was worth a trip on a beautiful day. We watched a freight ship enter port and admired the views across the bay right out towards Gisborne on the opposite side. Afterwards, we drove down into Napier city centre and checked out some of the famous Art Deco architecture. After Napier and nearby Hastings were completely destroyed by a powerful earthquake in 1931, they were both totally rebuilt using the style and it has helped make them a huge draw for tourists, including us! Once we'd had enough of the building we grabbed a beer and decided to try dinner at a place that we'd been told offered all you can eat ribs. Unfortunately though, the all you can eat ribs had gone by the wayside but we still had a pretty hearty dinner each and retired to the campsite with some beers and trained mum and dad up in how to play Cribbage. Charlotte maintained her winning streak, this time with the help of dad, to win pretty comfortably both times we played.
Friday 20th January
We awoke early so Dad could fulfill one of his ambitions. Despite being pretty chilly, he took very little time to submerge himself in the azure waters of the Pacific Ocean. He was out almost as quick as he'd gone in but nobody could deny he'd been in. Once dried, we packed the cars and headed back in to Napier to find some breakfast and have another look around. It wasn't long before we were sat in a busy cafe, eating by far the best breakfast we'd had so far and considering our options. We'd seen Napier and as we didn't want to arrive at our next accommodation too early, we decided to pay a visit to nearby Hastings to pass the afternoon. We drove to the adjoining suburb of Havelock North and paid a visit to the Arataki honey outlet. With Manuka honey being such big business in New Zealand, we though it was worth mum and dad having a taste to see what all the fuss was about. There were numerous varieties to try and a large bee/honey educational area too which was worth a read. Once we'd had our sugar fix, we reckoned it was time for some more and headed into Hastings city centre for some lunch followed up with an ice cream at Rush Munroe’s, which is a Hawke’s Bay institution. By the time we'd eaten so much we were ready to explode, it was time to start the drive inland towards Taramoa Farm. We'd stayed on the farm previously when we'd woofed and docked lambs tails and the tenants, Billie and Dan, had kindly offered us the chance to stay with them. We'd gladly taken them up on the offer and were looking forward to showing mum and dad a real slice of rural New Zealand. The only slight drawback was that it was an hours drive up a windy country road but that's the point of being rural. When we arrived we were greeted by Billie, Dan and their 2 children Luke and Eva. We had a catch up over a coffee and were given the lowdown on life in a farm so far away from civilisation. After that, we were very kindly offered dinner, which we simply couldn't refuse. We'd guessed that they would offer us dinner but came prepared with baked beans and a loaf of bread incase of emergencies. After our roast lamb which probably came fresh from the farm, we venture out in to the farm (just the 4 of us) and had a look around. First stop was a look at the dogs who were all incredibly pleased to see us but we're all stuck in there cages, so we couldn't really give them too much attention. Our walk around the farm took us to some exposed yards where Charlotte and I had previously done a bit of docking during our previous stay. The walk gave spectacular views across to the Kaweka Forest and down into numerous valleys surrounding the farm. We kept an eye on some angry looking clouds creeping over the hills and when they seemed too close, we returned to the car and then to the safety of the farmhouse. We had a relaxing evening, or what was left of it, although we did start to worry slightly when Billie enquired as to the rest of our itinerary and then queried whether or not a certain road was open in the South Island after the huge earthquake that hit Kaikoura back in November. We had a quick look online and decided that it was open, which was a bit of a relief. After some homemade carrot cake, we all retired to bed mum and dad in the spare room and Charlotte and myself in Luke’s room, with Luke having to sleep in his sisters room.
James and Charlotte
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