New Zealand North Island, Week 2

Monday 25th January, we reached the Bay of Islands after a stunning drive along the coast which included a stretch called 'million dollar view road' and a quick stop at the monument to the Rainbow Warrior; a Greenpeace boat which was blown up by the French secret service in Auckland harbour in 1985.

We opted to stay in Russell, which was the first European settlement in New Zealand and was a lovely quaint little place to spend a few days. Having set up camp we grabbed our fishing rods and headed for the wharf to try and catch our dinner. The fish were virtually jumping out of the water into my lap and with some great beginner's luck I landed 5 or 6 snapper, as well as a wrasse; while Dave's hook remained well and truly empty! He was obviously saving his energy for the almighty fight between man and fish which was to follow and ended up with this monster on the jetty.

The next day we booked ourselves onto the 'Cream tour' which follows the same route as the original supplies ship for the Bay of Islands. The weather was gorgeous and we took up our positions on the bow of the boat as we sailed amongst the natural wonders and spectacular scenery.

After visiting a few of the islands with deliveries for the residents we headed out into blue water in search of elusive dolphins and to take in the sight of the 'hole in the rock'. Our captain Billy manoeuvred our rather large catamaran right through the hole and out the other side!

After a picnic lunch on the beach and a refreshing swim it was time for some 'boom netting'. This involved climbing into the boom nets on the side of the boat and then clinging on for dear life as we were dragged through the water, lots of fun but rather painful; particularly for Dave who received some 'net burns' after I lost my grip and catapulted myself into him. After a fantastic day on the water we returned to Russell and enjoyed a wonderful sunset over the harbour.

After resisting the temptation to stay another day we left the Bay of Islands behind and headed south, stopping off at Goat Island Marine reserve for some snorkelling. The Lonely Planet reliably informed us that the water would be teeming with fish, but we were disappointed with what we saw; maybe we caught it on a bad day or maybe we have been thoroughly spoilt with our previous snorkelling locations!! We stayed a night on the cape overlooking Goat Island, visiting the very posh Farmer's market in Matakana, resisting the lure of the 'boutique' vineyards but giving in to the pull of the micro brewery on the way back to the campsite.

The next day we passed back through Auckland, pausing only briefly to shop for essentials such as sunglasses and a teapot! We were soon back on the road though and heading for the Coromandel Peninsula; we camped just outside of the town of Coromandel itself and it was here that Dave finally decided to take the plunge and shave his head or rather let me shave it for him. We tested the new do that night with a trip to the Coromandel hotel bar for a pint of Tui and a crack at the Key game; we didn't take home the $500 prize which was probably a blessing in disguise as the locals were tough looking and steaming.

We left Coromandel town the next morning, twice. Having driven 40 minutes down an unsealed road into the mountains we realised that we had left our trusty fishing rods behind and had to return to collect them. Looking on the bright side, this gave us the chance to drive the alternative route across the peninsula and take in fabulous views such as the ones below.

Before Dave's fishing rod epiphany we had discovered the Waiau falls along route 309 and on seeing the icy waters before him Dave stripped off and plunged in; I stayed on dry land to fulfill the important role of photographer.

Is he, isn't he?

We eventually hit the west coast of the peninsula and made the compulsory stop at Hot water beach, where hot water springs filter up through the sands and hundreds of tourist dig themselves a hole and sit in the warm water. The tide was coming in as we arrived and the cold sea water was rushing into these holes creating hilarious screams from those wallowing around in the hot spring water. The life guard was keeping a close eye on things though, as unbelievably this beach sees one of the highest levels of drownings in New Zealands due to dozy tourists being swept out of their DIY spa pools and into the ocean!

We motored on down the coast road until we reached Whangamata and having inspected the town's two dismal campsites we headed out to the DOC site at Wentworth falls and were rewarded with a picturesque pitch alongside the river. Having picked our spot amongst the trees we set off in the evening sunshine up the track to Wentworth falls and this time it was my turn for a dip beneath the cascades. We walked to the top of the falls and then returned for dinner with Delilah.

Another day dawned and we were on the road again, heading for Rotorua; we passed through luscious green countryside on gloriously empty roads. An obvious highlight of the journey was our stop in Paeroa, the birthplace of New Zealand's national drink L&P, where several of these giant bottles could be found.

The heavens opened as we approached Stinksville but we still managed a walk around the town's Kuirau park with its crater lake, pools of boiling mud, steaming holes and mineral baths; incredible that all this volcanic activity bubbles away and life carries on around it.

We camped a fair way out of Rotorua centre to escape from the sulphur smell but returned for a visit to the Kiwi sanctuary and a Maori 'marae', which included a delicious 'hangi' and lots of dancing and singing.

New Zealand, at last!!

Welcome back readers - Apologies for the rather large gap in posts - New Zealand is a little bit backwards with regards to internet access - it is rarely available, never free and I lack the tools to hack encrypted networks (it is also slightly illegal).

We arrived in Auckland on the 17th of January and picked up our home for the next two months. Delilah, as she is known - christened after Stoke beat Arsenal in the FA Cup, is a lovely little van with just the basics.

We hung around in the city for a couple of days, buying bits'n'pieces from Warehouse and Pak'n'save to aid us on our two month tour of the Land of the Long White Cloud. Auckland is a pleasant enough city and saw a few sights including One Tree Hill (although it has no trees on it at the moment - bit of a sore point).

No Tree Hill - but great views over Auckland without having to climb the Skytower - The southern hemisphere's tallest building...

We headed north from the "City of Sails" driving up the west coast. Stopping where ever or when ever we wanted - It is a great feeling to be free to do what we like and not be constrained by bus timetables.

Despite being only a short drive out of Auckland this coast is rugged, wild, mostly deserted and truly fabulous. Our first stop was Karekare, which is one of the most dangerous beaches in New Zealand and where someone out of Pearl Jam nearly drowned while visiting someone out of Crowded House, apparently! No sign of any damp pop stars while we were there though, no sign of anyone actually.

We stopped for a night at Piha, stumbling across the World Junior surfing championships while we were there; these kids were amazing to watch and provided us with an afternoon of entertainment. (Please refer to blog entry from San Juan, Nicaragua for photos of similar surfing ability!)

Moving on up the coast we visited a gannet colony at Muriwai, which sparked a frenzy of Galapagos style photograph taking from Temple and I had to drag him away to continue our journey northwards. Our next two campsites were conveniently water side and Dave whipped his rod out at every opportunity, while I relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful, unspoilt, uncrowded surroundings.

Delilah, Kate and Rod!

Dave's first NZ snapper - Greedy little buggers; I was using a huge hook and still only managed to catch the small fry.

Having not made it that far north in our first few days we needed to get a few miles under our belts so we ignored the attractions of Dargaville (not hard) and pressed on until we reached Waipoua forest, which is the largest remnant of the once-extensive Kauri forests in this area. We visited the 2 largest kauris left in New Zealand, both were magnificent and incredibly wide and it was easy to understand why in Maori culture these trees are seen as forest gods.

A few miles further north we hit Hokianga harbour and stopped to admire the view before descending to the coast and setting up camp for the night on its shore.

Opted for the car ferry to cross the waters of the bay the next morning and then stopped for a humongous cooked breakfast in a quaint Victorian town called Kohukohu. With our bellies full we motored on and briefly visited the southern most point of 90 mile beach, Ahipara; Dave was very excited as we entered the town and started coming over all Keanu, as this place is the setting for surf film 'Endless Summer'. After the obligatory place name photograph was taken and Dave had done his best to dig some clueless Kiwis' non-4x4 out of the sand at the edge of the 'drivable' 90 mile beach we pushed on, only stopping for a 'handle' at New Zealand's northernmost tavern before finding our campsite for the night.

After a bracing cold shower, (fine in 100degrees plus Honduras, not so nice in a rather cool and windy New Zealand!) on our department of conservation camp we journeyed the last few kilometres to the northern most tip of NZ; but instead of the easy option we decided to park Delilah a few miles down the coast and then walk the cliff path to Cape Reinga. Our efforts were rewarded with gorgeous views, the appearance of the sun and the realisation that several months of South American beer has had a detrimental impact on my level of fitness!

Having ticked the 'been to the northern most part of New Zealand' box we turned around and headed south. Not far down the road Dave spotted a sign to the 'largest sand dunes' and we took a small detour to check them out. Te Paki sand dunes did turn out to be rather large and so Dave decided that he needed to climb to the top of them. I followed behind at a slightly slower pace, as Dave took off like a Marathon de Sables competitor. Another amazing landscape to behold and lots of fun running back down the other side; although don't bring up the failed video attempt of Dave's descent, resulting in a lot of huffing and puffing back up to the top for take 2, whoops!


We ended our first week on the North Island with a very chilly night on the Karikari Peninsula, so cold in fact that we needed another trip to The Warehouse (where everyone gets a bargain) to purchase a duvet - Sweet As!

Chile, Santiago

Our last South American border crossing turned out to be the worst, with Chile turning out to be harder to get into than a nun's knickers! Arrived into Santiago four hours late and in the dark so we took the easy option and headed to the same hostel as an Australian girl we'd met on the bus and hoped they had a room. They did and it was rather nice so we spent our last 2 days in South America there.

We only had one full day in Santiago but we filled it quite well. Our main priority was hunting down a copy of the Lonely Planet for New Zealand (tip for anyone intending to by books in Chile - DON'T - they have a massive 20% tax on them and what should have cost us £15.99 actually cost about £30). Once we had updated our library we took a walking tour of the city taking in a few of the sights. Unfortunately Santiago is rather smoggy and spoiled some great views.

One of the more unusual attractions was Cerro Santa Lucia. It is a hill in the middle of the city upon which a castle was built. Much of the old castle has now crumbled away but at street level it has been lovingly restored to its former glory.

From the top you can get great vistas of the city, including views of Cerro San Cristobal, a smaller version of Rio's Cristo de Redentor.

The remainder of our time in Santiago was spent relaxing, updating the blog and drinking the wine I won! - yes, I know, we are several weeks behind - the cheapest internet access we can find in NZ is about NZ$4 an hour!!