A couple of days after going through the glow-worm caves, we decided to return to do some 'black water rafting'. This involved going into some different caves with an inner-tube, walking through some pretty tight spaces, floating along an underground river, and jumping backwards off waterfalls. It was great fun, made all the better by the constant view of glow-worms above us; the water was quite cold but the wetsuits kept us warm enough for a couple of hours
On the 21st of January we left Derek and Hamilton and headed across to Rotorua for a few days. That night we went to Tamaki Village for another Maori cultural experience, this time including a traditional Maori Hangi, which is a meal cooked by steam in a large hole in the ground. Before the meal I got roped into a couple of things, including learning the Haka, much to Holly's amusement;
the meal was also really good
accompanied by traditional
Maori songs and performances.
We got down to Hamilton on the 14th, after putting the car through it's WOF test (MOT equivalent) which it passed with no problems much to our delight. We are staying with another of Holly's relatives named Derek. The day after we arrived we went into the center but soon concluded there wasn't a great deal there, so returned back to Derek's for a wine drinking session that seemed to happen whether he had guests or not!
The next day we went to Hobbiton, which is where some of 'The Lord of the Rings' and 'Hobbit' films where made. We had a tour of the set, where we learnt about the ridiculous amount of detail that went into making sometimes just a 1 second shot. It was a really great morning, including a pint in The Green Dragon, followed up in the afternoon by going to the cinema to watch the final 'Hobbit' movie.
On the 17th we drove across to Waitomo to the glow-worm caves. You weren't allowed to take pictures, though I doubt they would've come out anyway. The caves were incredible and the guide was great, we had about half an hour walking through, before getting on a boat and floating down the remainder of the caves in complete silence, with thousands of glow-worms hanging above us. The caves were amazing, though we decided glow-worm was definitely a better name for them than what they actually are, which is the lava stage of a fungus gnat.
On the 7th of January we went to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds where a controversial treaty was signed in 1840 between the British and the Maori. We had a guided tour of the grounds where we learnt all the history, before going into the Maori meeting house (right) for a cultural performance. This included native songs and dances, including the Haka.
On the 8th we went across the water to Russell for the day. The hostel in Paihia had 3 people who were doing regular circus performances at the beach. On the way to catch the ferry to Russell we found we were slightly early, (yes it does happen!) so we sat down to watch them for a bit. Just my luck they spotted me and roped me in to a crowd participation bit. It ended up with me throwing flaming torches up to one of them on a massive unicycle! As much fun as this was..., it also meant we completely missed the ferry and had to catch one an hour later! I walked over to Long Beach which was beautiful, but lost track of time and had to run all the way back to jump on the ferry just as it was about to leave! I like to think I'm efficient.
Whangerai falls is a couple of km from the hostel we were staying at. It was a beautiful waterfall that, if you clambered over some slippery rocks you could go all the way behind. We spent a while there before taking a walk through the forest to some huge native Kauri trees, where on-route I found a big rope swing into the river we were following, which was very nice for cooling off! After that we had a nice big booking session and planned our way up to The Bay of Islands!
We arrived in Piahia (in the Bay of Islands) on the 4th of January and straight away booked our activities for the next few days. On the
day we arrived we went para-sailing, which went ridiculously high
(1200ft apparently) so we had a great view of the whole area. Also got some good photos as you can see!
The next day was an early start (yes half 8 is early!) We had booked ourselves onto a dolphin sailing tour and were quick to find a pod of Bottlenose dolphins. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to swim with them as they had 5 or 6 babies which we weren't allowed to disturb. The dolphins stayed with the boat for about half an hour before we moved on to get to our lunchtime stopoff at Roberton Island. A spot of snorkeling got done as well as a short walk to the highest point on the island, before swimming back to the boat for a BBQ. After
lunch we did go in search of some more dolphins to swim with but to no avail, though we did see some penguins and a small shark. It was a really good day and good value for money since every other dolphin cruise was at least as expensive and for half the time.
We drove to Whangerai - half way between The Bay of Islands and Auckland - on New Years Day. On the 2nd, since Holly's attempt to find something else to do proved unsuccessful, I convinced her to go up Mt Manaia. It was only 400m of climbing but it was ridiculously steep. Reviews on the internet said it was worth the struggle, and boy were they right! We spent about half an hour on the top before Holly said she was getting cold, so she headed down and I said I would catch her up. Instead I did the complete opposite and wanted to get to
the very top. So after a bit of fighting through some bushes I came to the second picture where you can see 3 people clambering up where I was about to go. If you hadn't already guessed, that's the reason I sent Holly down first, because there is no way she would have let me go up there! Good job Mum wasn't there either! I scrambled up that bit and then reached the next obstacle, a near sheer 20m ish rock face - that's the third picture on a bit where I didn't need my hands. After a precarious climb up that I got a full
360 degree view, with every direction looking as good as the photo at the top. I spent far too long up there but just couldn't resist. The climb down was a bit worse but I didn't fall to my death so it's all good. After that I ran back down so Holly wasn't waiting too long. It was definitely worth the struggle!
Though Christmas Day was basically the same set-up as at home, boxing day certainly wasn't. We headed to 'Hot water beach', which is essentially a beach with hot springs under the sand. A couple of hours either side of low-tide, you can dig yourself a hot-tub and lay in it! It wasn't the best day but the water certainly made up for it, by the time we left the water in the pools was unbearably hot!
The next day we headed to supposedly one of the top 10 beaches in the world 'New Chum Beach'. It was a 20 minute walk from the car park so that meant it wasn't very busy, we found a nice spot under a blossoming Pohutukawa tree and after a bit of sunbathing went in the sea. It was an amazing beach but I think part of the reason it was rated so highly was because of the surf.
On the 28th we left Matarangi and the Coromandel to head back down to some of Holly's relatives just outside Auckland for New year. Since Karen and Martin (Holly's relatives) were off work over the Christmas period they took us to some of the nicer places around the city. First they took us to Devonport, to the top of Mt Victoria, where we got a view of the whole bay overlooking Auckland. The next day they took us to a remote beach about half an hour down a gravel road that there is no way we would have found by ourselves. Though it was so remote, it was quite busy and the waves were huge, Martin taught me how to body
surf on them, though I did get completely wiped out many a time!
For New years eve/day we drove back up Mt Victoria and watched the Auckland fireworks from afar because we had been told trying to get into the city would be a nightmare. We arrived at the top at 11pm and it was already chaos up there so its a good job we weren't any later! It was a bit chilly but we got a great view of the fireworks, unfortunately no pictures came out very well though.
Matarangi is where we spent Christmas, in the holiday home of some of Holly's relatives. The drive from Coromandel Town to Matarangi was spectacular, steep climbs and descents were lined with palm trees, huge ferns and Pohutukawa trees.
The house was only a two minute walk to the beach so that was the first port of call! I finally got Holly keen for her first swim and afterwards she agreed it wasn't so bad
after all. Again it was more of a surf beach so not the best for swimming.
The next day we headed to Whitianga to see what was about, and after a bit of toing and froing and buying a hat we decided to go on a glass bottom boat tour into the marine reserve and past Cathedral Cove. We saw loads of fish as you might expect and even jumped off the side for a snorkel! Though only me and one other took them up on the offer.
It was really strange knowing it was Christmas time but it being warm. There were people on the beach in santa hats and Christmas trees everywhere while we were walking round in shorts and flip-flops. Though it didn't really feel like a proper Christmas it still came around. I had a walk on the beach on Christmas day but sadly not a swim as it was a bit windy and the sun wasn't out. We spent the afternoon much like a Christmas afternoon at home, eating and drinking! We had freshly caught scallops, along with lamb and pork.
Now that we had a car and everything was a bit more accessible, we headed back to Auckland for 2 more days to do the attractions a bit further out. First stop was the Zoo! We saw plenty of animals, including Lions, and some very small penguins.
The car now also has a supply of food in it so we don't have to eat out as much and should save a bit of money (hopefully). The next day we went to a planetarium, it was awful and not worth the visit so we soon decided to head off to our next destination, Thames.
The plan for Christmas is to stay in Matarangi, which is located above Whitianga. We decided to stop half way round in a place called Thames, only because it broke the journey up a little, but I was very glad we did. Thames is an old gold-mining town with loads of character. The people are incredibly nice and its more of a village feel, even though for a while Thames had more occupants than Auckland. There was a path along the coast that we stumbled across that was absolutely covered in artwork of animals merging from one to another which was pretty cool. When we were there the Thames market was on, which felt remarkably like a small village craft fair, there was even tea and coffee being served out of the town hall. Although it was quaint the market didn't keep us occupied for long and that's when we found the Driving Creek Railway!
After Auckland we headed back to Whangaparaoa for a couple of days, but the weather was pretty bad with a passing storm so not a great deal got done. On the 15th we went to Mairangi bay which is still on the outskirts of Auckland. By this point I had about decided a car was needed because trying to catch buses was proving annoying since although they were very cheap, they weren't very reliable. We were staying with one of Holly's relatives called Karen who was so nice! Her daughter, Maxine who was our age spent most of the day taking us around various car places before we finally found Turner's Car Auction where we found a little Nissan. After a lot of looking, test-driving, and bidding I got it for £1200. Its only got 93000KM (58000 miles ish) on the clock though it is nearly as old as me as it's from 1996! However it does have air-con and is automatic so can't complain!
The first full day in Auckland was spent wandering around and seeing what was around. We went back down to the Viaduct Harbour where we first came in via the ferry. Some of the super yachts down there were incredible, worth hundreds of millions and they looked like it to. Now I just need to work out a way to get rich enough to get one!
In other spectacular news, on the second night in the city, we managed to do our washing and didn't ruin, shrink or destroy any of our clothes; Mum should be proud!
After a slightly delayed start on the second day due to laziness (11:30am before we were out the hostel), we headed over to the main attraction, the Sky Tower. As you would expect there are great 360 degree views from the top, though the cafe left a lot to be desired, including my chocolate muffin which they ran out of! We headed up again later for an additional $2 with the intention of watching the sun-set and seeing Auckland at night but the clouds closed in so we gave up and went back to the hostel. we finally got round to writing the postcards we bought in San Fran; we also marked some places on a map where we wanted to go, the beginnings of a plan possibly!
I had planned to get up early the next day to go and climb Mt Eden, however as with everything that involves early starts and me it didn't really happen... I left the room around 10am, Holly wasn't keen so I went on my own. It was around 40 minute walk to the bottom from the hostel so I got to see the other side of the city, going away from the harbour. The climb itself wasn't too bad apart from how humid it was, but from the top the views were great. I had to eventually head back down because I could see the rain coming.
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| Rangitoto in background |
Tiritiri Matangi is a 220 hectare island 30km north-east of central Auckland. It is now a wildlife sanctuary, home to many rare native animals. Although we hadn't heard of many of these animals we had also been told it was just a beautiful island to go and well worth a visit, so we did! It's a short hop from where we were staying at Gulf harbour to island via ferry, which involved a bio-security check to make sure we didn't bring any weed seeds or rodents with us. After a brief talk about the island and what we shouldn't do, we were set free to explore the island as we please. The beach around 10 minutes from the landing was amazing, with views right across the bay back to the most recent volcano in the Auckland area, Rangitoto. Though the ferry was packed on the way to the island, it didn't take long to loose everybody and it was incredibly peaceful and relaxing. I spent an hour clambering along
the shore before I had to turn around because of an angry oystercatcher who's nest was somewhere close so decided to keep dive-bombing me. We spent the rest of the day wandering the island before returning to the beach a last time before departing.
The Whangaparaoa peninsula, where we had been staying the last few days was an amazing place to live, but as we were finding out, had a limit to the activities that could be done; so we decided to venture into the city for a few days. We caught the ferry on Monday morning with the intention of returning on Friday. So we moved into our hostel, which was the YMCA hostel around 5 minutes walk from the Sky Tower - basically the center of the city.
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| Our hostel room |
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The next few days we spent either by the coast or in an electronics store buying me a laptop. Turns out they are a lot cheaper in America than England. Toby, who had been the only consistent person in our room of 6 beds all week, left on Monday morning for a 9 hour bus ride to Los Angeles before catching a flight back to his home country of New Zealand. This had been quite convenient for us because we received some helpful advice for when we eventually arrived at our final destination. He was almost certainly the most relaxed person I had ever met, so here's hoping the rest of the Kiwi's follow suit! We've had a number of other people come and go in the room while we've been there. Some of the more notable ones include 'the crazy angry old lady' who came into the room at 4 in the morning and clambered very noisily into bed and yet moaned when we tried to get ready to leave at 10am. There was also a French guy, who was living in Mexico, but had to leave the country for a day while his lawyer tried to sort him out a work visa since he had been working illegally for over a year. Suited me though since he bought me a beer and we had a conversation about how tough life was in Mexico City.
Our last day in San Francisco didn't make us particularly sad about leaving, it was pouring with rain and just generally miserable; it didn't make for a good walk down to the train station with our big bags on. Our bags that had somehow gained 2kgs in weight in just a week, slightly worrying! We saw a spectacular sunrise on the plane in-between Monty Python movies.
We were picked up very kindly at the airport by Chris (related to Holly) at some ungodly hour (6am), and taken back to their house around 45 minutes north of Auckland. The house had a great setting with a harbour as good as in their back garden! We spent the rest of that day getting sorted and wandering around absolutely shattered but determined not to go to bed until a reasonable time to combat the jet lag.
This persistence paid off as the next day we felt fine and good to go. Chris's son and daughter Connor and Greer showed us around the area via really cheap buses so we got a feel for where we were.
Orewa ended up being our final destination and was our favorite; we returned the next day on our own. There was a really nice beach and a few decent restaurants overlooking it. The weather is still warm, could do with just getting rid of some of the wind.
The second day saw us return to pier 39, where we went around the aquarium and booked a tour of the San Francisco coastline by boat. The aquarium - much like any aquarium- was full of a diverse range of underwater life, and were even pools to reach in and touch baby sharks and rays. The real treat came later on. The tour round the picturesque bay was brilliant, sailing first under the Golden Gate Bridge then round the Island that holds the ex-prison of Alcatraz. I even saw a dolphin!
The following day we had a night tour of Alcatraz. If you are going to go around the former prison, I would certainly recommend it in the dark, the views back towards San Francisco were spectacular and the night adds to the atmosphere of the place. Must've been torture for the prisoners of 'The Rock' to be so close to the city.
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| The vintage Arcade |
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We spent a lot of time around the Fisherman's Wharf area during the week, It's an area where it is so easy to loose a day wandering around. One of the highlights of the area was a vintage arcade called Musee Mechanique which we just stumbled upon whilst wandering. We were confronted with a plethora of vintage arcade machines. From mechanically operated model farms and saw mills to original Pacman machines, you could spend hours - and lots of money - in this place.
San Francisco continues to surprise.
San Francisco, a beautifully odd city. I really do think there is something for everyone here. Surrounded by stunning scenery and coastline, San Francisco is vibrant and very creative city. Our hostel (Downtown hostel) seems to be in a perfect area, one minute walk from Union Square. Only real downside is the view of the car park, but not to worry, hopefully we won't be there for much more than sleeping!
Our first full day here saw us catching the 'street car' (basically a tram), up to Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39 on some advice Holly had received before she embarked on this trip to the other side of the world with me; she must be mad. Pier 39 is a strange and unpredictable place, but amazing nonetheless. Interspersed between all the usual tourist souvenir shops, were some of the most random set of shops you could ever hope to
imagine, everything from The San Francisco Sock Market, to the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co (for all you Forest Gump fans), and of course there was a Hard Rock cafe.
There is a really great, relaxed atmosphere along the coast, with buskers everywhere you looked playing steel drums or performing magic. We also encountered a good few insane people (joggers) who looked thoroughly miserable as to be expected. San Francisco really doesn't
conform to the fat American stereotype; you would be hard pressed to find an obese person when exploring this city. This may be due to the mild climate here, with warm
winters and cooler summers, it's easy for the residents to stay active all year round. It certainly can't be due to the portion sizes of food, because they do conform to the American stereotype.
The other notable attraction on pier 39 is the Sea Lions.
After arriving in 1989, they have grown to a massive population of over 1500. They bask in the sun all day and watch the boat tours come in and out.
Overall the Fisherman's Wharf area is a great place so I'm sure we shall be returning!
Driving Creek Railway is a narrow gauge railway a couple of KM North of Coromandel Town.The railway started being built in 1975 by Barry Brickell to transport clay and other materials down to his pottery, but due to debt he opened it to the public in 1990 to try and make a bit of extra money. It payed off massively with it has now carried over 1 million people! The track weaves its way up the hill via zig-zag tracks to the top where they have built the 'eye-full tower' which is basically a big viewing platform with some really nice views. 
Our third day in Thames saw us venture out for our first proper beach day. Waihi was our destination, which is about 45 minutes East of Thames. It was a great drive especially through a towering gorge. After lunch the sun still wasn't showing itself so I went on a 45 minute 'ish' walk to Orokawa Bay since the travel guide I had said it was worth it, and it was most certainly right! The beach was as good as deserted - I assume due to the walk - but was amazing. The beach was lined with Pohutukawa trees, also known as the 'New Zealand Christmas Tree'; these trees blossom incredible red flowers in December time. After about an hour exploring I returned to Waihi beach. It was about 5pm by the time I found Holly again, but was by far the hottest part of that day, so I went for my first swim in the New Zealand sea! It was quite cold but I got used to it, there were people surfing on the waves so as you can imagine it didn't make for brilliant swimming but it was nice and refreshing!
