NZ Explorer tour, Nov-Dec2016, not a reporter !

Some notes about this blog:
I wrote this day by day during our explorer tour. I didnt expect to publish it but have decided to give it a go and see how it reads. I wrote it mainly to post back to our friends at home so a lot of the references and opinions are relative to the expected readers. Please do not be upset if these dont seem fair to you. They are meant to try and give the feel of the place, not a tour guide.

Christchurch – Tuesday 14th November.
Went for a walk around town and out towards the coast through the housing. Its all shed housing with tin sheet roofing. Some new, some old. The centre of the city is either new buildings or empty space like Milton Keynes, or else derelict 10 story 1960's office blocks. Pretty sad really. Had tram ride and evening meal in restaurant ( included in package ). Drinks 'own care' which means pay yourself.
Staying in hotel and experienced earthquake on Sunday night. Woke up at midnight as hotel was shaking. Walked across wobbly floor and checked view from windows. No sign of panic so went back to bed.

Tuesday 15th
Get van in morning. Drive to Warehouse store and buy two bikes. Also bought a phone sim. Text and calls only. ($10 for a month). Plus a small saucepan, frying pan, wooden spoons and a short sharp knife for the van. Its sadly short of decent cooking stuff but the can opener works and we have 12 mugs. Assembled bikes in car park. Cut my forearm and needed stitches. Called up David, the tour guide, on NZ phone. He sent us to a local medical centre which we would call a doctors surgery. Being Christchurch its one of those single story shed buildings. Very nice nurse and doctor put three stitches in and chatted for a while about cycling. $60 being the reduced price as the government cover part of the cost since it was an accident. Went to a New World supermarket, bought enough basics for a few days. Food is expensive here. Finally got back on the road to Mount Cook but by now it was getting on a bit. Drove through flat lands and then up hills and into the mountains. The mountains have very wide flat floor valleys so you drive for half an hour or so down straight flat roads. The cruise control comes in handy and means you just have to worry about steering.
Arrived at site in the dark. Like a forestry commission site and now pretty full with our flotilla of 20 Jucy vans. We found a spot with a bit of a view across the valley.

Wednesday 16th
Mount cook. Weather 10c, cold wind from the south and raining intermittently. Much like the lake district. Drove from site up to Mount Cook centre and then walked up to the Hooker Glacier and lakes. Pretty cold up there. Icebergs floating in the upper lake. The river and lake water is a white colour due to the ground up stone from the glacier. After it flows down the river a while into lake Tekapo it settles and turns an almost fluorescent blue. This because the heavy particles fall and leave only the very small bits. Also walked to the Tasman Glacier which is less chilly and has a big lake with icebergs at the bottom of it. The lake is where the glacier has melted since 1990 and its BIG.

Thursday 17th
Drive from Mount Cook to dunedin via waitaki valley. Several Dams and major Hydro for NZ. Cycled around a dam and a big Department of Conservation run camp site mainly intended for fishermen, but much like the forestry commission sites in the uk. Stopped at a garage workshop in no-name town and got a man to weld an extra four inches into my seat post. Much better ( $20) Drove on down to Oamaru, home of blue penguins. They can be seen from a Grandstand only as they cross the beach at dusk. ($30) didnt suit us. Had a look around Victorian harbour quarter. Much like any other UK Victorian buildings. Made from Limestone rather than the usual NZ shed construction though.
On to Dunedin. Almost as big as Christchurch must have been before it all fell down. Quite commercial looking. Camp site is like a car park. About 1meter between us. I imagine there will be some unhappy CC members.

Friday 18th
Dunedin site. Weather much better today. 14C with wind from North so its warmer. Blue sky. Cycled around the otago peninsula. Went out along the road by the sea and came back via some dirt roads and the south coast inlets. Small scale sheep farming land like Yorkshire dales but with water around. Very pretty. Would recommend. There is a blue penguin grandstand at the end of the peninsula and also an albatross centre. We walked on the beach where sea lions are basking on the rocks. Feel like we have had a good days value from the bikes.
Some folks took the train up to Middlemarch – had lunch and came back.

Saturday 19th
Drive from Dunedin to Te Anua. Chose to go via the south coast scenic route which goes down through the Catlins and around the bottom to Invercargill. Then west across to the edge of the doubtful sound area and North up to Te Anua. About 300miles but very easy driving on wide A type roads through lovely countryside. Hardly any traffic so use of cruise control makes it a doddle. Lots of sheep and beef, vast beaches, small towns with nothing going on. The campsite at Te Anua is another car park so we have stopped at 18:30 in another spot with a view to have dinner. We know we can arrive at the site anytime and still get in. This site is slightly less of a car park than the last one, certainly feels a lot better but still not up to uk spacing standards. We are all in a couple of rows which are slightly terraced and I think people have deliberately parked the vans at slight offsets and angles to make it less regimented.
Went for a walk from site into Te Anua. Bought a couple of woolly hats from tourist shop ( $6 each). Also read a sign at the lake side which says in 'Fiord Country' it rains 200 days of the year. Today is one of those days.

Sunday 20th
Up at 7am to catch the coach for the included Milford Sound boat tour. Sue's words...
It was a 2 hour ride in a coach with big windows and a glass roof from the site to the water.  We had commentary on the way by the driver. Stopped at various photo opportunities on the way and saw lots of Chinese tourists taking selfies. Milford sound is special because the only way to get into it is through the 1 mile Homer tunnel. Hand built around 1930. Have to stop at the entrance to the tunnel as it is a one way system and whilst stopped there we saw some Kea birds.  These are a green parrot about a foot high and quite chunky.  Rather like the monkeys at the safari park they jump onto people's cars and start nibbling at any bits of rubber they can get their beaks on. They obviously know that the cars are easy target whilst waiting to go through the tunnel. At Milford sound we went aboard a large boat which took us through the fiord and out to the Tasman sea.  The scenery was stunning.  Tall snow capped mountains with sides of sheer rock going down into the water and numerous waterfalls running down. Whilst on the trip we saw penguins, seals and seal lions. Luckily the weather was good, only a small amount of rain.  The trip was about 2 hours long and included a nice picnic lunch. Nice nap on the coach return journey.
Out for a steak at the Moose bar tonight. $25

Monday 21st
Steak was good last night. Well worth the money. I have decided that food here is not too expensive compared to the UK but beer and wine is about double. Beef and Lamb are excellent quality. Beef particularly. Chicken is relatively poor along with Pork. Not surprising as I haven’t seen any chicken sheds or pig farms, but we are overrun with sheep and beef. Today we drove up to Queens town. Only three hours drive so we were there by midday. Stopped an hour out by the lake and went for a cycle around Kelvin heights. Had a good view across the inlet to queens town and the sprawl along to Frankton. This must be a popular area for housing the prosperous. Bigger houses, two cars, speedboats in the driveways and fences and gates. Saw several 'private no entry' signs around today which have been conspicuous by their absence previously. Rather that go to the camp site early as its a car park type, we drove back up the lakeside and had dinner ( steak ! ) in a lay-by overlooking the lake. Did some shopping on the way in and slid into the gap between two other vans. Site is at the bottom of the gondola to Bob's peak. Tonight I am on someone else's wifi – no problem. 70% power. Team leader says this is the last site like this.

Tuesday 22nd
This morning starts with the inclusive ride on the 'shotover jet boat'. ( List price $145 per person ) This is one of the least dangerous activities they do in these parts. Bungy jumping and the like being the other end of the extreme. The jetboat is a speedboat which takes 15 people sat in rows of 4 across and whizzes up and down the shotover river. Taking you through narrow canyons and shallows. The boats only need about 9” of water to operate. The drivers pierce de resistance is to do a 360 turn of the boat and they do this several times in the 25minute ride. A good experience. The oldies enjoyed it. Our driver was a guy called Nick. He had worked for jet boats since 2002 and is married with children. They run right through the winter. Another driver was doing training runs in a boat loaded with weight to represent people. He needs to do 120hours to be considered safe with real passengers. The promotional video on youtube just about does it all justice. Being that today has glorious sunny weather and tomorrow is predicted rain, this afternoon we went for a cycle ride around the mountain behind the site. About 20miles, but most of it was on dirt track and a couple of miles were on a walking path along the mountain side, so we ended up walking a lot. Not a problem but hard work and for the want of a bit more dirt track it could have been a really special ride. Scenery spectacular of course and no other people to be seen. We also passed another of the council camp sites which are a bit like the forrestry commission sites in the uk but with an honesty box system. Our kind of site I think. Nikki from Jucy turned up at the site with fresh sheets and towels to swap out. They intend to do a swap once a week.

Wednesday 23rd
A showers with intervals day. Drove to Arrowtown and had stitches removed ( $40). Stopped off on the way to take some pictures of the shotover jet boats as didnt get any yesterday. Not much to see in Arrowtown.. Couple of shacks from the Chinese settlers and a street of restored mining houses and shops from the gold rush. Can pay $20 and be shown how to pan for gold in special tanks, pre-filled with some gold substitute. High street is nick nacks and coffee shops now. Drove to lake Hayes and cycled around the lake on a superb track. Saw lots of NZ only ducks and birds. Had tea in the car park / overnight area overlooking the lake and mountains as per the postcard view. Drove back to Queenstown and got caught in the only traffic congestion we have seen so far. Sumptuous included dinner tonight at the top of Bobs peak. Ride up in Gondola. Actually not much up there apart from a view unless you want to do bungee jumping. The restaurant is a big carvery style buffet. Eat as much as you like. Good quality, shame we could only fit in so much in one sitting. Drinks “own care” at usual NZ prices so not much of that going on.

Thursday 24th
Drive from Queenstown to Wanaka. Just a 2 hour journey. Went past the bungee jumping from a bridge. Big happening café and booking office. Lots of spectators around. A mere $195 for the jump plus more for pictures and videos. Some people look a bit sheepish, some do impressive swallow dives. Onward through some canyon country and a short stop at Cromwell which is a village that was lost beneath a reservoir much like ladybower, only they try and make a big thing about it. Disappointing a few shacks from the old village but a nice Italian run coffee shop. It was a bit chilly so the sit inside was welcome. We also walked up a short hill overlooking the town giving a spectacular panoramic view of the valley and surrounding mountains. But then all the valleys and mountains are like that around here. Onward to Wanaka and the sun came out a bit. Parked on the grass fronting the lake. This is a nice town on a massive lake with mountains all around. Cycled up the road on one side of the lake and back down a shoreline cycle path. A nice gravel one. This evenings camp site is more like the UK CC type. Decent spacing. Had a group BBQ using the sites gas barbies and tables. Very social, little chat from the team leader.

Friday 25th
A 300km drive to franz joseph glacier today. Starting from Wanaka we drove 60km and we were still at the side of the lake. Had breakfast on a lookout over the lake and then headed on up the haast pass. Its not much of a pass by Alpine standards just a bit of a lump. This because wanaka is at 500m to start with. Then down the other side to haast township which boast both a cafe, dump point and supermarket. A £1 bottle of shower gel was up for offer at $8 ( £4 ) - we didnt buy anything. It started raining late this morning, so we drove the rest of the day in steady lashing, or drizzling rain. Visited a few waterfalls and didnt see any mountains due to clouds. Pity as this is intended to be the 'wow' mountain view area. Plenty of water in the rivers though, giving some dramatic photos. Visited the car park of fox glacier and franz joseph glacier. Both empty. Both require a walk to get anywhere near the glacier and we weren't going out in that sort of stuff. At fox car park we made a cup of tea and watched the horizontal rain driving between us and a towering cliff of rock just over the river. Arrived last ( again ) at franz joseph top 10 camp site which is just outside the town and has nice rural views. Especially as we are on the outskirts of the site. Young cows in the next field and fir trees beyond. Could be anywhere. Cant see the mountains as shrouded in mist. Have checked the forecast and its due to rain again tomorrow. Wind guru is predicting 20mm of rain at 2200hrs tomorrow evening. I notice a lot of the hotels around these parts have rain names. Monsoon hotel and so on. Bit of a give-away. As I write this at 8pm I have no idea what we will do tomorrow other than stay in bed and drink some more of our box of red wine. Thats if I dont have it all this evening. The site wifi is slower than a possums tail and skoot is only able to do H+ and I think its a bit overwhelmed with all the users.

Saturday 26th
Still raining overnight on occasion so heavy that it woke me up. Had a lie in till about 10am listening to the rain and then went for a shower. Sue followed me and when we came back the rain had stopped. Decided to skip breakfast and headed straight out to Franz glacier to try and see it in the dry. Car park was full of campervans unloading people trying to do the same. Did a fast walk up the path and managed a couple of photos before the rain started again. Even a bit of thunder. It came down so heavy my trousers were soaked in a matter of seconds. Walked back to the van past lots of ill prepared people who were unlikely to make the trip and when they got there would not see anything anyway due to the mist. Drove down the road and stopped at the bottom by the one lane bridge and had breakfast where there was a view. I timed a couple of the breaks in the rain as about 30mins so we drove North to a lake and parked with a view. The rain stopped and we sat in our camping chairs to provide dinner for the local sand flies. A man was out fishing in a boat giving us something to look at to while away a full hour till the next rain. Drove further North and out to the seaside to a little village where not much happens at all. Went for a walk up a small hill through a Kiwi reserve area. You dont see them because they live in burrows during the day and come out at night to feed. But they are in there somewhere. Saw a fantail bird but couldn’t get a picture it flew away to quick. Walked a couple of miles along the cliff top on an old track, couldn’t see much because it was in the rain forest ( not raining though) but eventually came to a lookout and saw the sea. Returned to the van for a cup of tea and just made it before the rain. Three whole hours without rain. Drove back to site and as we came along the road the rain set in. Its now 4 hours later and still raining. Forecast says continuous overnight and all day tomorrow. Made a veg curry in the camp site kitchen this evening and enjoyed watching Dutch and Polish people make spag bog exactly as we do. A group of young chinese people had a massive pan of cabbage and were prodding spaghetti around with chopsticks. I think it was the nearest thing to noodles that they could find in the shop.
We are heading North to a new site but not sure we go far enough to beat the rain. We shall see.

Sunday 27th
Today started with a pretty confident downpour after being woken in the night by thunder and someone emptying a fire hose onto the roof. Man at reception said they had only one day with no rain in the last twenty. Set off a bit late in the group but not last and drove to our team leaders first suggestion of lake/country park. Walked 30minutes from car park to the 'swimmers beach' which turned out to be a gap in the undergrowth through which it was possible to get to the lake. I guess you could have got in to swim but only one at a time. Returned to van. Drove on until we found a cycle opportunity up an old tramway ( railway ) which was used for timber with steam trains till 1955. Reasonable cycle, at least we got out of the van and had some exercise. Drove on to the town of Greymouth. Grey by name and grey by nature. Felt a bit run down and dull. Used to be a mining town up till a few years ago when the mine shut down after an explosion killed 20 miners. Drove on through the now clearing rain to Punakaki Rocks which is a nice site by the beach. I can hear the waves from inside the van. The rocks name is due to some pancake stack like rocks in the sea and some pretty impressive blow holes when the high tide waves come in. No phone signal at site and the site wifi is time limited so cant do much there, but managed to get garmin uploaded with some photos. Rain has held off. Our team leader cooked everyone whitebait fritters, which are a local delicacy. They are actually whitebait mini omlettes and the whitebait is not little sliver fish, it looks more like short clear worms. Sue tried one. I didnt. Cant get weather forecast so can only guess at tomorrow.

Monday 28th
Made a point of being up at 8am today to get a good start on the 300Km journey. Weather still the same with short gaps between the heavy showers. Went back to the pancake rocks and blowholes for another look as the tide would be higher this morning and the sun was brighter. Not dissapointed. The blow holes were in good puff. Waves come in to the cliff and push into caves. The air in the cave is compressed and cant get out from the sea entrance so it blows up the chimney outlets and appears from big holes in the ground at the top of the cliffs. As its wet, this comes out looking like steam. Drove from there up to cape foulwind to look at a seal colony ( free of charge ) which lives there. Not dissapointed. Lots of seals and two with pups so able to get some good cute pictures. Stood and watched them for an hour, some diving in and out of the sea. Drove on inland this time as we have to cross the island. Came up the Buller river gorge which is a very long and wide river gorge as it says on the tin. Eventually met the main north south road in the middle of the island which is very busy since the earthquake and the Kaikoura costal road has been blocked. The mid island route is now the only way North-South. Dodged the roaring lorries ok and then turned North and over the hope saddle. Into forrestry area now and the weather was starting to shine. Temperature up by 5c. Following the river down to Motueka. No sighseeing on route and we arrived at Kaiteriteri around 5pm where most of the group were already in shorts, sitting around in the Sunshine. Nice site behind the beach. UK spacing and a fantastic on site kitchen and laundry. Went for a walk on beach and took hot beach holiday photos. What a change from this morning. We are reminded of the camp Granada song: Wait a minute, its stopped raining, guys are swimming, guys are sailing...

Tuesday 29th
Woke to a blue sky and warmth. I set the alarm to make sure we were up by eight. Drove to Marahu which is just North by a few miles and on the edge of Abel Tasmen national park. Got a ticket for the water taxi up to Anchorage Bay and sat in a seaside cafe with a coffee waiting for departure. Water taxi turns out to be a speed boat with about 16 people in it. They load you up in the car park while the boat is on a trailer and then drive the boat down the main street and reverse it down the slipway into the sea. Driver fires the engine and away we go. The other people in the boat were on a day trip so we had the first part of that during our journey. Went to see the split ( apple ) rock then over to an island to look at seals with a penquin swimming in passing. Then on to anchorage bay where he reversed into the beach and we waded ashore. Vast empty golden beach and light blue clear water sea. Paddled about a bit and then set off on the 7mile walk back to the start point. Superb path with stop offs for views and side tracks down to nearly empty beaches ( with loo ! ). Woodland filled with birds, Tui's and fantails all over the place.
Twenty degrees C the whole day with a little cloud cover to take the sting out of the sun. Got back to the van about 5pm and had a cup of tea on the shore watching the wading birds. Drove back to site, whole party in good spirits. Wonderful what good weather does to people. Fixed a slow puncture in my rear wheel this evening and oiled the chains. All that rain washed them to the point of rusting. The only oil I have is the peanut oil we bought for cooking. Seems to have worked ok.

Wednesday 30th
I woke this morning at 5am and listened to the birds tweeting. Mainly the Tui's. Went back to sleep and woke before the alarm at about 7:45. Sun shining, warm and signs of the resort starting to kick into life for another day in paradise. Kyacks on trailers, and taxi's behind tracktors going past. Had breakfast outside and packed up for the drive to Blenheim. The first section of the journey is through a very forresty area. The forrests here are massive. They just stretch for miles with no towns or road junctions. Stopped at a two shop one street village for a coffee in a cafe. This is our second visit to a non brand cafe and they have both been reasonable price and good quality. I guess if they make their money from locals popping in, then they have to be good. Not much else to see on the way so we decided to cycle a bit of the Queen Charlotte trail. This is a 70km walking track which is open to cyclists up till the end of November. So last possible day today. A tough mountain bike path which is really a walking path. Big tree roots and large rocks to get over and streams to ford. Slightly uphill for us on the way out and a good downhill run on the way back. Nice view at the top but I am not sure I could recommend it to anyone other than a serious mountain biker. Made it back in one piece and carried on in the van around the northern scenic route which is a winding road along the coast into Picton where the ferry goes out from. Not much else happens in Picton by the look of it. A small place apart from the ferry terminal which is about the size of the isle of wight ones. Onward from there to Blenheim on the final half hour leg. Over the hills and down onto the flat lands which are arable and signs for the famous wineries. Wineries everywhere. The main street in Blenheim is mostly shop fronts for the wine trade, apart from the usual big name chains. McD and so on. The camp site at Blenheim is a Top10 brand and has good facilities as usual but is close to the main road. Lucky we were last in and are farthest from the entrance and hence furthest from the road. Popped out for a steak in the next door tavern. Up to the usual good standard and price. Not sure what we will do tomorrow as we are on a stopover day and I cant see any obvious walks or cycles.

Thursday 1st
Up late this morning and it felt a bit chilly – probably dropped below 20c last night. Had breakfast and thought we would cycle out to a wetland in the estuary and then do a few miles of walk out to where there is a wrecked steam ship ( boat ). By the time we got there the sun had come out and it was a warm blue sky. Met a French chap at the boat who obligingly took some nice pictures of us while I reciprocated with a couple of bad snaps of him on his expensive camera. Decided to cycle on from there to Renwick which is in the depths of wine country. Stopped at a supermarket and bought some rolls and cheese for lunch and then ate them at a museum park in Blenheim. Public tables and loos all clean and tidy. Onward to Renwick with the wind behind. Past so many wine cellars / tour opportunities I lost count. I guess all the wine is bought up and sold in Europe as 'Marlbrough' or possibly 'Cloudy bay' or 'Oyster bay' which are vinyards, but only small ones. There are masses of others you have never heard of. Renwick has a coffee machine in the petrol station which does an OK Americano for a two dollar coin, but not much else of interest to a tourist. Back at the site, shared a communal gas bbq with a few other tour members to cook our burgers and chatted till dark.

Friday 2nd
Up at 7:15 this morning for the half hour drive to Picton to catch the ferry. A light misty morning. No sign of blue sky but warm. All aboard at Picton and we start the 3hr crossing with one and a half hour clearing Queen Charlotte sound. Stood on deck and saw some dolphins swimming and also a penquin. Coffee and muffin on board and the skip across the straits was very calm making an easy voyage. Into Wellington without fuss and a short drive up to Lower Hutt where the top 10 camp site is behind the local sports field. Nice site, plenty of room. Walked out to the road and caught a number 83 bus into Wellington. It made a long trip of it around Lower Hutt on the way, but good to see the real place. A lot of it reminds me of the Romford road through Ilford etc. Just a long road with small shop after shop after shop.Wellington centre is clean and not hampered by to many beggars and drunks. Just a few non invasive people sitting around with signs asking for money. Lots of office workers and as its Friday evening they are all hanging out in the trendy bars along the seafront. Which was a nice walk, accompanied by the odd muscisian and also a guy playing bagpipes in the full regalia. Wondered back into the centre and through the main shopping road to catch the bus for another round trip home.

Saturday 3rd
A blue sky morning and looking good for 20c. Toast for breakfast as we are short of milk and there are no local shops here. Then out for a cycle. From the site down the coast past 'Days bay' and Eastbourne. Both very nice expensive areas with classy people hanging out at parks and cafe's. On to the end of the road and down the track to the Pencarrow head dual lighthouses and further on to Barring head. Here there is one lighthouse and the remains of the two houses from when it was manned. A conservation society is trying to restore the houses ( the usual sheds) and make then holiday lets to pay for the site. Sat and had lunch, a peacful spot sheltered from the ever present wind. From the lighthouse came inland over the hill ridge and back North up the Wainuiomata river valley. It has a tarmac road which goes to a beach and nothing else so the only traffic is the people who live on it. This is a big horse keeping area. Much like around Brickhill where every field has a horse or two in it and a sheddy house encampment with dogs and the odd scrap car. Going North on the road toward the town and the houses get better quality and past the golf course they start to become posh coutry houses before reaching the town fringes and becoming the normal things. Noticed this road had the usual UK rubbish in the verges, Lucasade bottles, ciggy packets. Didnt see that at all on the South Island. The town is not the posh part of the world. Very much real people live here and the shopping precinct on a Saturday looked like a bit of Swindon. Had a nice coffee and pink shortbread in a little cafe where the pogues Fairy tale of new york was playing on the radio. I said to the waitress we were “having a nice day apart from the wind but then I am told its usually windy here”. She said “Its windy most of the time and when it isnt you wish it was”. Which I take to mean it gets a bit hot. Passed a few dead possums in the road and managed to get a photo of a decent looking specimen. Up over the hill and back down into Lower Hutt and the camp site. Overall a great cycle of about 30miles and I would recommend this one.

Sunday 4th
Grey skies this morning. Set the alarm for 7:30 to get max time in the day. Cup of tea and a good cough and away we go, headed for Martinborough. Up over the hills for a short journey today. Turns out the hills are a bit steep and winding so took longer than we expected. Stopped at a supermarket in no-nameville to get some steak for this evening and some sweet potatoe which is popular here and goes well on a barbie if you slice it and pre-microwave. Down to the shore and 'Lake ferry' which has neither a lake nor a ferry but a big black sand beach with people fishing from quad bikes. Not sure if they are quad bikers using fishing as an excuse or vice versa. On from there down the coast on a cul-de-sac road to a lighthouse. But we are talking about 30miles of road here. Spotted a walk to the pinacle rocks which are piles of rubble with a rock or bit of ground on the top. The rain has washed out all around them leaving 100metre high pinacles with a cap sitting on the top protecting the tower from the elements. Carried on further down the cul-de-sac past fishing village with a collection of track powered boat launchers and on to the lighthouse where there is also a seal colony. These seals have not got the hang of tourists. There is no ticket system and no fences. If you are not careful you trip over a seal on the grass between the camper van and the beach. Sat for an hour or so watching them playing in the waves and fighting for territory on the beach. Have they nothing better to do ? Back to the site at Martinborough. No one seems to know why we are staying here other than its a nice site with a good barbie for the steak and sweet potatoes. Which turned out nice. Even did a bit of asparagus ok as well. Spirits are good as the evening was warm and the wind stopped. A few people are starting to talk about getting toward the end and wishing it could go on forever. Not happeing in my van though.

Monday 5th
Long drive today to Napier so up early. Grey overcast and showering. Went to Greytown first stop to get a coffee but got diverted and drove 15Km down a gravel road up a gorge to where skoot said there was a suspension footbridge. They call them swingbridges for obvious reasons. It was there and was a pretty high and big one. Took a couple of snaps but the camera battery was flat. Continued journey and stopped at a no-name town for a coffee and bun in a nice bakery. Very much a cycling cafe but full of locals and a couple of tourists having breakfasts. Managed to keep myself to a chelsea bun. There is something a bit odd about having a latte and a chelsea bun in a cafe in the middle of NZ and it feels like you could be in Tring. Drove on, bit of a driving on day today as we have 250Km to cover up to Napier. The scenery doesnt change much. Its rolling hills and sheep farming followed by more rolling hills and sheep farming. Looks very much like the UK but extends for hours on more or less straight roads. Arrived Napier and its stopped raining. The temperature has increased from 14c to 18c and the sun is pretty much out. Parked up in the site which is a spacious one with a heated swimming pool and on site bar/cafe. Must be an expensive one. Went for a gentle cycle down to the harbour and around the coast. Warm breeze, lots of in car campers around the freedom areas on the coast but the beach is grey sand and has lots of rocks and driftwood. I think the sea front is reclaimed land on the whole. Had a short swim in the rather shallow but well heated pool on our return. Sausages and beans on toast for dinner tonight to try and cut down on the steak and salads. Tomorrow we are doing the Napier 'art deco' buildings walking tour. Napier suffered from the 1931 earthquake so a lot of buildings fell down and they used the opportunity to put up new ones in the style of the time. Some of the surburbian houses we saw today on the cycle ride are in the style, but not many.

Tuesday 6th
A blue sky morning. Woke on the alarm at 7:30 and got up. Have to walk a mile down to the Napier town centre for the start of our guided walk around the art deco centre at 10am. Fitted with headphones while the guide has a mike. Walked around the old town centre which has been brought back to life as an art deco showpiece. Very interesting and would recommend. Took lots of photos of the buildings. It was all built in the 1930's and then must have slowly become run down and ignored – otherwise the buildings would have been replaced. In the 1980's some visiting dignitaries saw the buildings and told the local council they shold preserve them at all cost etc. Resulted in a conservation trust being set up and now they are seeking heritage centre status. From there we walked around town a bit more and then up Bluff hill which overlooks the harbour and bay. Lovely views in the warm sunshine. Walked back to camp site after a coffee and pizza at an outside table of a bakery cafe in the are deco high street. Got the waitress to photo us. From the site drove to cape kiddnapper where there is a gannet colony. Trouble is its 6 miles walk around a beach at low tide to get to it or else you buy a ride on a trailer. To late for any of that so just sat around on the beach, which wasnt so bad. Back to camp for a chat with fellow travellers and then a chicken kebab, asparagus and potatoe barbie. On the stainless steel plate type. They are just brilliant and cook more of less anything. Have some mince tomorrow, wondering if that will work. Could push it around a bit. Someone pointed out tonight that next Tuesday is when we give the vans back. Bit depressing, we are just getting to like it.

Wednesday 7th
Writing the log early tonight as we are catching a coach at 5:30pm ( in half an hour) to the Maori evening. Standard included outing in Rotarua. Today was a mostly blue sky journey day. We travelled from Napier up into the mountains for a couple of hours. Nothing to see except forrestry and hobbit like moundy countryside with sheep on it. Green grass mounds like giant molehills stretching out to the distant mountains on an otherwise flat landscape. Having travelled up into the hills we arrived at a platau area of Taupo. Here is NZ's largest lake. It is big but its only the largest compared to the southern island ones by virtue of being a more rounded shape. Cant guess the width but we might be talking 30 miles. The road across the platau is a major wide firebreak in the trees but otherwise its 50miles of flat forrest land. In the distance you can see the hump of the largest ex volcano just outside Taupo. Visited the town shops but its very touristy, in a nice way, much like Wanaka but bigger. On from there to the Huka falls which are spectacular but not falls as such. This is the river runout from the lake and is 2000litres per second running through a small shallow rock channel. Spectacular is the only word for it. Next the craters of the moon. Not craters but really an area which is an ex volcanic crater and still has hot soil in it rather than a lake. The soil is on top of boiling water so steam is coming out through holes due to the pressure.
Have now returned from Maori evening. Came in three parts really. First part was a song and dance act by a number of Maori people. Couldnt understand a word of the singing obviously and the ethnic muscicians thankfully had discovered the accoustic guitar. Danceing was a big of swinging sticks around as swords, ladies with bobbles on strings and then all together doing morris dancing with short sticks. Part way through they had audience participation of ladies doing bobbles and then men doing a simple tourist hakka which is the thing the New Zealand rugby team do before the games.
One of our gallant men was our tribal leader for the introduction ceremony and nose rubbing thing. Good on him. Overall I felt a bit like prince Phillip watching some dancers from bongo bongo land. Not that they were bad or pathetic, they actually were enjoying it and put in a few jokes and sideways glances making it all a bit tounge in cheek. Phase two was the Maori feast which turned out to be a sit down buffet in our language. We were on a table of 8 with other couples from the group and we chose, so a pleasant time. Buffet was standard English roast including Northern spuds with garlic and a bit of foreign and fishy options thrown in. Drinks were own care so I noticed that our table went for one beer ( $7 ) each and stayed at that. Phase 3 was at 20:20hrs preciesely where we all went outside and down to the geezer to watch it spring to life. Which it did and ran for about 30minutes. Pretty fantastic and the pictures dont do it justice. Also had a look at a big boiling mud pool / crater on the way out. Probably this last part was the highlight of the evening and it wasn't even on the billing as we were told.

Thursday 8th
Grey skies and rain this morning as per prediction. Didnt get up till 9:30 which counts as a lay in. Begininning to notice a bit of tourism overload setting in. Another day of seeing big spectacular things and walking paths to lookouts. Anyway, most of the group are off on a coach tour today to hot pools and a sheep sheering fun park. We are not. Slow breakfast and then out for a walk as the rain has diminished to a drizle. Much like the lake district in summer. Warm but raining gentle in an annoying way. Walked into town past the next door recreation ground which includes a fenced off area where steam is coming out of the ground. Around here thats considered normal. Walked through the town centre and past what Sue thought was the local college as there were a lot of young people loitering outside. I noticed the sign said it was the court and juvenile court building. Figures as they were basball cap wearers. Noticed this place is much more Luton than it is Oxford. Kind of tacky in a town way and seaside way as you get into 'eat streat' which is a pedestrian area full of every kind of cafe or reasturant you can imagine. Walked through it and out to the lake edge area where its 'last call for the lady of the lake' steam paddle cruiser which did set off with what looked like very few people on board. Walked further around the lake edge and breathed in heavy sulphur fumes for a while. Stopped at a boardwalk path leading around to sulphur point to chat to the repair men who said 'Well what do you expect, we are standing in a volcano and those holes over there weren't there a few days ago'. The boardwalk takes you around the lake edge past boiling mud pools and little holes with boiling water in. Nothing special for these parts. Back toward town past the blue bathing pool building from the 30's, naturally heated and Daphne's pool which is a village pond type pool with a wall around it at a mere 212degF and steaming away. They have a vast council park outside the old Victorian town building ( in the Tudor style ) which is currently closed while they asses it from the earthquake. The parkland is four or more bowling and croquet lawns. I wonder if the sulphur fumes discolour the whites ? Into town for a coffee and sniff at the shops. Rain has pretty much stopped by now so we drove 10km out of town to the blue and green lakes. Can stand on a lookout between the two and see they are indeed blue and green. They are both shallow and its due to whats underneath. Parked up and did a mile or so walk ( on garmin ) to a lookout over lake Tarawara and then down to the lake shore and a tea shop. Whoopee first time we have mananged a walk to a tea shop. Had a stiff coffee. Watched the world go by for a while although there wasnt much of it and then walked back. Tomorrow is a tricky drive up North avoiding a couple of short toll road sections.

Friday 9th
A grey morning even with a bit of drizzle as we leave Rotorua. Decided to go to Hobbiton. $80 per person for a two hour tour. Weather brightening all the time and by 10am we are at Bagginses place and its sunny. Sunny here of course means burning hot. Not just the temperature which has gone from a comfortable 16c up to a scorching 25c, but also the radiation feeling from the Sun. Any bare skin starts to feel like its toasting within a short spell. Did the walk around and took 124 photos. Mostly of the 40 hobbit home doors. The biggest problem they faced was the pan over shots where they needed to show a whole village. Stood outside bag end. Had a beer in the green dragon. A fully built and functioning pub matching the screen set one. This for the tourists. Actually a quality job and a place you would be happy to spend time in. No nasty plastic anywhere One curious thing about hobbiton is that in order to show ageing on everything they made plastic mould for all the fences and woodwork. Its really good. Back to the journey and up some busy roads till we get into the Coromandel peninsula. Oh yes, stopped at Wahia where there is a massive open cast gold mine. Only recently closed and one side has fallen in a bit. Roads up the peninsula are winding and slow so its a long journey and we end up rushing to the hot water beach at 6pm to catch the low tide at 8pm. Got a spade from the cafe man as he closed and he let us off the deposit on a promise of putting it behind the cafe when we are done. Went back to the van and had a cup of tea and waited for low tide ( 8pm) or thereabouts. In fact its now 7:20pm as I write this in the van in the car park while uploading the hobbit pictures via skoot on 3G only. Still warm and sunny though. Tomorrow is suggesting rain in the afternoon so we have phoned up to book canoeing to cathedral cove in the morning. Man says to call him at 7am and confirm weather is ok. Now updating after hot water beach. Beach turns out to mean there are two hot springs under the beach which are only above the waterline at low tide. So between the point where the spring is in the sand and the low tide line its possible to scoop a shallow hole in the sand and it fills with water from the spring. Deeper you dig, hotter it gets. Standing in six inches of water your feet start to burn. However, there are about 200 other people trying to dig holes in this same area, which is about half the size of a tennis court. Good natured but cramped. Sue stayed at it, but I went and sat on a rock to watch.

Saturday 10th
Yet another grey morning. Woke at 6:50 on the alarm so that we can call the canoe man to confirm the kayak or not. It was grey outside so we text him to say 'to cloudy'. He said ok. Tried to get back to sleep but woken at 7:20ish by the local Tsunami sirens going off. Is it real or do they do this every Saturday morning. Dont know, but the van wasnt shaking and eventually they stopped. Went to sleep. Next thing that happens is a knock on the door which I answer in my underpants only to find its one of our fellow explorers saying they are going out on a glass bottom boat – would we be interested ? Said we were probably cycling. Eventually got up and got the bikes off the rack. No rain at this stage. Cycled down to town and got the ferry over to Cooks beach etc. This is a long way around by road but 10 mins and $6 by ferry. Cycled to Wahay ( or something like ). Locked bikes at the miniscule car park for Cathedral cove and walked to the cove. Parking is in such demand that I notice locals are making a good living by charging $10 per car to park on their front gardens. Cycling was a good idea. Walked to the cove. Nice but a bit like the hot beach. Absolutely full of tourists to the point where you dont really appreciate the cove. Walked back and cycled down to the town for a cheese and ham toastie in the cafe and a hide from the rain which has now started to fall. A gentle drizzle as we would think in the lake district but warm with it. On with the Jucy capes and cycle back to the ferry. I found if you hold the front onto the handlebars it works like an old fashioned cycle cape and keeps your shorts and knees out of the rain. Ferry trip back in time for a group meeting about the long drive north tomorrow. Apparantly we have only had 5 days on this tour which haven't rained. Steak tonight but cooked in the van as drizzling and no one at the Barbies. Also noted this is NOT a top 10 site and the barbies are a bit dirty.

Sunday 11th
A blue sky day. Up with the Tui's as usual. Long drive today and we were last to leave the site. Down the bendy road toward “Thames” which is a place name as well as a sea inlet. Landscape is hills and forrest but not high hills. On reaching the Thames main road the landscape changes to flat farmland for miles and miles right on into Auckland itself. Here there is a main motorway which runs North-South and we pick it up ( The SH1 road ) and head North. Not much to say about Auckland except its big, busy and the road is like the M25 even on a Sunday. Carried on North till we reached the toll section at Silverdale and headed to the coast on the old road. Orewa being a place on the coast which co-incidentally is where our tour leaders live. It has a large 1 mile long beach and plenty of parking. Gently sloping beach makes for easy surfing. Strolled around a bit but didnt stay long as its very windy today so it was feeling chilly even though the temperature is 20c. Drove North some more back on the main SH1. Its a very busy A class road with bumps and turns and traffic trying to go at 100kmh which puts a lot of pressure on motorhomes to keep up or get out of the way. Not really a pleasant drive and we had to stop for a tea and sandwich rest at a lay-by we were so fed up with it. As we continued North the traffic dwindles and the road surface seems to improve. By the time we get to the ferry across to Russell its all nice and pleasant again. Even a one way bridge. I liken today to starting in Norfolk and driving to Devon via the M25. Russell is a quiet place and there is little cloud so we might see some stars, althoug the site is in a dip with trees around so we might need to walk somewhere with more view.

Monday 12th
Blue sky start to the day but promises of wind and rain to come. Up when the Kiwi goes to bed and off to the boat office to pay for our trip around the bay of islands, including dolphins. Actually heard a kiwi last night about 10pm as we were retireing. They make a disctinctive skreech skreech skreech (etc) sound. Cant miss it. Also not a bad night for seeing the “pot”as the NZ folk call it. Actually the upside down orions belt, but you cant see the bottom two stars ( our top two) due to the horizon. Hence you see the belt and the two upper stars plus the sword which quite correctly makes it look like a pot with a lid open. Boat around the bay of islands is a large catermeran and it was pretty full. Set off toward the dolphin area. Clearly known to the skipper as he sees them twice every day and a clear gathering of the other spotter boats. Saw dolphins up close. Had to lean over other tourists a bit and the pictures will probably be rubbish but we saw them. One of them had a calf (?) with her which meant the 'swimming with dolphins' people on the other boat couldnt be let out on their swim. Onward up the bay past a number of paradise type islands with rich peoples houses on them and eventually to the end of the bay where the 'hole in the rock' arch is located. Skipper thought the weather was ok, so he took the boat through the arch. He says its a 40% occasion when this is possible substanciated by our leader who said she has been on the trip 3 times and not done it before. Back to Russell jetty and the wind is now getting up to 25 or 30knots. White water crests on the waves and its onshore direction. Still very warm though. When the sun is out its sunglasses on and baking. When the sun dips behind a cloud you want to put your coat on. Went in a seaside coffee shop to sit and watch the sea. Back to camp for a change of clothes and then a short walk across to 'long beach' which is on the other side of the headland and hence sheltered with an off shore breeze. Took the last day decision and went in to swim. The beach is about 1km long and there were a few other folks sunbathing but nothing else going on. Took some selfies in the water. Laid on the grass for an hour getting dry and as I find out in the shower later, a little bit sun burnt. Walked back to camp. Having a cup of tea now and planning what we can make out of remaining food. We are going to a bar tonight for a 'last motorhome night' meeting.

Tuesday 13th
Wasnt intending to write much from here on, but today was the mad rush down to Jucy depot at Auckland. Used the sat nav to keep an eye on our ETA. Stopped off at a waterfall and also for a coffee on the way. The sat nav was accurate even to the point of its estimation of the M25 like traffic going through Auckland. Arrived in one piece and had no problems dropping the van off and getting on the coach for a drive around and to the Heritage hotel in central downtown Auckland. Actually two blocks from the Ferry across to Devonport and next door to the sky tower. Wandered around the blocks a bit in the evening but didnt feel to comfortable with the deserted big city streets. Like them all, ok by day but a bit sad by night. Found an oasis of peace on the hotel rooftop pool and spa area which has a large sofa sitting area overlooking the harbour.

Wednesday 14th
Grey sky day but warm. Breakfast not included so got up late and will go for a coffee somwhere. Had dinner last night in a Denny's which is a bit like little cheff. Not really intrested in sight seeing the city so getting a ferry across to Devonport. Aucklands village by the sea
Devenport is indeed a normal village across the 10 minute ferry. Normal in all sense of the word except hous prices which must be astronomical. Not that the houses are grand, its just that they are normal and a 10 minute ferry from the city centre where the high rise office blocks are. Had coffee, strolled around including a small hill and looking at the old gun emplacements which have protected the harbour in one technology or another since first settlers through to the second world war. Pride of place is a 'dissapearing gun' which is a type of large cannon developed to fold down on recoil so it can be loaded safely below a protective layer. Out tonight up the sky tower for a bungee jump, no I mean dinner (included in trip). Flying out tomorrow morning at 9pm coach from hotel.