Monthly Archives: Nov 2024

Australia New Zealand, Travel

Rotorua

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Days 18 & 19

Nov 13 & 14th Nov

Day 18 was spent driving from Hahei to Rotorua. The road follows the coast to Tauranga before turning inland for Rotorua. It was a pleasant enough drive, but nothing much stood out. That is apart from stopping in Tairua to do some shopping and Diane ending up with a new outfit.

We decided to bypass Tauranga and head  directly to Rotorua. We found our accommodation, The Koura Lodge, on the outskirts of town, over looking the lake. The lodge had kayaks, which were free for guests to use, so obviously, they had to be tried.

For dinner, we went to the appropriately named Eat Street, which has numerous restaurants.

Day 19

After breakfast, we decided to do some exploring. Unfortunately, the weather was less than perfect. Undaunted, we set off to find the Blue and Green Lakes.

Blue and Green Lakes looking grey.

The colours of the lakes are due to different chemicals in the water. But, I think that they need the sun to make the colours show up.

After our mild disappointment, we moved on to the buried village of Te Wairoa.

In 1886 Mount Tarawera erupted violently, completely burying two villages and destroying the famous Pink and White terraces. Follow the link for more information, or Google Mount Tarawera explosion.

The tour of the village starts with a Museum that gives the history of Mount Tarawera and the surrounding area. It tells how Te Wairoa came to be, and how it became a centre for c19th tourism.  It tells the story of the eruption, and how some people survived.

Moving on out into the remains of the village, we see various buildings that have been excavated.

The village also has a very good cafe, and a dressing up box – for adults as well as kids.

Diane found the dressing up box

Later on. we thought that we should see some thermal activity, because that is what Rotorua is famous for. The main park has lots of thermal springs and mud pools.

Not quite as hot as advertised above

The smell of the geothermal gas (sulphur dioxide) is all pervasive.

In the evening, we visited a Maori village for a cultural show. We had a “traditional” meal there. I will do a separate post for that.

Australia New Zealand, Campervan Adventures

Kiwi Dundee

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Day 17 Tue Nov 12

This was one of the highlights of our trip so far. Based on the recommendations of many of their customers, our travel agents booked us on a tour of the Hahei area guided by Kiwi Dundee. Our Kiwi Dundee turned out to be a lovely, slightly eccentric, woman, named Adrienne. She picked us up from our digs around 9:00. We needed to reach Hot Water Beach while the tide was still low.

There are a couple of hot springs, which bubble up through the sand. People come equipped with spades to dig their own personal hot tubs in the sand. One of the springs is pleasantly warm, about 35-40 degC, the other is much hotter, probably about 55-60 degC. If you choose the hot one, well the sea is handy for cooling off.

Personal hot tubs
Ancient Maori sharpening stone. is

Adrienne showed us something interesting at Hot Water Beach. It was this stone. The Maori used this stone to sharpen tools and weapons.

We moved on to look at the site of a Maori fortified village. On the way up to the top of the hill Adrienne explained how various plants were traditionally used.

View from the top.

After that we stopped for lunch, before heading off for a walk in a native forest. She was very interesting and informed on the native plants, tree ferns, and Kauri trees. These trees are endangered partly because of past logging and Kauri dieback disease.

Tree Fern

In the past gold mining took place in the area. We explored an abandoned shaft.

Mine shaft

The local jail was also cut into the rock, today it is only used by the local Weta population.

Diane didn’t like the Wetas.

They look like big scary spiders, but they are not spiders. They are actually related to crickets and grasshoppers.

A really excellent day out. If you are in the area I would fully recommend it.

Kiwi Dundee is the name of the company that organized the tour.

Australia New Zealand, Travel

White Water Rafting down the Buller Gorge.

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Day 25 Wed 20th Nov

I am jumping ahead a few days. We have been on The Mainland since Saturday. We have had a few adventures, which I will catch up on, promise. But I thought I would fill you in on today’s adventure.

It started last night. While searching for a place to stop for the night, we came across Riverside Holiday Park in Murchison. It seemed like a good place to stop for the night. In the hills, alongside the Buller River. As I was checking in Diane was looking through some leaflets. The one she picked up was for white water rafting.

“Does anyone do this around here.?” asked Diane.  The guy behind the desk said,  “We do them from here.” 

He offered to give us an extra night free if we booked a trip, so that was the deal sealed. 

We turned up at about one fifteen to meet our guides, fellow travelers, and get kitted out. The other couple on the trip turned out to live about a couple of miles away from us, in South Wimbledon. Small world.

Getting into the gear was an operation, but I eventually managed to squeeze my gut into a wet suit. We set off to the launch site. Us four guests, Mila and Gordy, our pilots, and Sally, the van driver and photographer. Because if we don’t have photographs it didn’t happen.

After a short session of safety instructions and how to paddle, we were off  down the Buller River. I had been slightly concerned. I am not a very strong swimmer. Still, as someone pointed out, if you fall out in a rapid, you can’t swim anyway.

It was a wonderful experience, exciting, but never scary, even when I almost went overboard. Diane went overboard deliberately to float alongside for a few minutes, I declined.

The trip took about two hours and we rafted slightly over 8km down the Buller River.

Below are some photos of us heading down the river.

Getting the raft in the river.
The obligatory group photo.

Thank you Ultimate Descents Aotearoa for a fun afternoon (with tea and cakes when we got back to base).

To finish off a great time in Murchison, we had dinner at The Cowshed, which also comes with our recommendation. In fact the whole village is recommended.

Australia New Zealand, Travel

Auckland and the Coromadel

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Day 16 & 17 Mon 11-Tue 12 Nov 2024

Time to leave the big city and head for the country. Our car this time was a little bit more environmentally friendly. It was also brand new. The Land Cruiser we had in W.A. had been to the moon and back.

Toyota Yaris Cross Hybrid

We were off to a place called Hahei on the Pacific coast of the Coromandel Peninsula. Google gave us a choice of two routes, straight down the Southern Motorway, or a windy route that followed the coast. We choose the latter. It took us via Kawakawa Bay and Ōrere Point to the Stray Dog Cafe for lunch. Along the way we met some Dotterels which are very cute shore birds.

We arrived at Hahei Bed and Breakfast, our digs for the next two nights, about four in the afternoon. It is run by a lovely couple, who cook a very good breakfast, and I would recommend the place fully.

They don’t do evening meals, but there are a few options close by. The Church Bistro is said to be very good, but unfortunately was closed on both days we were there. When the tourist season gets fully underway, it opens seven days a week. We chose The Pour House, yet another antipodean craft brewery, but a rather good one. They also do good food. So good, that we ate there both nights.

The main highlight of our time in Hahei was our trip with Kiwi Dundee. I decided to make a separate post about it as there was a bit too much to include in this one.

Australia New Zealand, Travel

Auckland, you’ve changed..

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and what have you done to The Lion Tavern?

Day 15 Sun 10th Nov 2024

Yesterday was essentially a recovery day. So to a certain extent was today. We managed to sleep late enough to miss breakfast at the hotel, and they serve breakfast until 11:00 on Sundays. Fortunately there was a cafe across the street that was still doing breakfast. 

Looking around the area near our hotel, the obvious change from forty years ago is the height of the buildings. Forty years ago, most buildings downtown were three to six stories, built in, for want of a better architectural term, colonial style. Today most of the buildings are international concrete and glass, though a few older style buildings remain.

The other major major change is beer. In 1980 there were two choices, Lion Brown, on draught, or Lion Red in bottles. If you were feeling sophisticated Steinlager was usually available.

When we went for dinner, at the Brit Pub, on our first night there was a choice of about fifteen beers, local and international. I decided on a Lion Brown, in a can, for old times sake.

Over breakfast we had made our plans for the day. We decided to go to the Auckland Art Gallery as it was a short walk from where we were.

The ground floor housed an exhibition (although it may be permanent) depicting Maori, Polynesian and European perspectives and relationships to the sea and shore.

The second and third floors house, for want of a better description, European art from c16 to c20. All perfectly good stuff. There is a Pieter Brueghel the Younger, a couple of Picassos, some works by Matisse, for example. But nothing that you wouldn’t find in a gallery in Europe. What you won’t find in a European art gallery is work by Maori and Polynesian artists. Nor will you find work by female New Zealand artists.

A. Lois White.

I won’t say that they are better artists than Picasso or Matisse, but I feel that they deserve recognition. One artist in particular caught my attention,  A Lois White. She really should be better known internationally.

After our cultural break we went to find the Sky Tower. We could see it from our bedroom window and thought we should go up it.

On the way there I found what had happened to the Lion Tavern, the start of many a run ashore in Auckland.

This was the Lion Tavern

It doesn’t exist anymore. The building is still there but looks semi derelict, waiting to be turned into another glass and steel office block.

The Skytower, is I think still the tallest building in New Zealand. There is also one other important fact. The Auckland Sky Tower is 19 m taller than the Sydney Tower, mainly due to the radio antenna. It is also slightly taller than the Eiffel Tower.

The view from the top could have been spectacular, but the cloud base descended.

Our hotel is in here somewhere

Dinner was at a place called The Angus Steak House,  The steaks were large but well cooked.

Our hotel in Auckland, The Hotel Britomart, was excellent. Possibly not the cheapest digs in town but we would recommend it fully. The staff couldn’t have been more helpful. They also have bikes available for the use of guests.

Australia New Zealand, Travel

Goodbye W.A. Kia Ora Aotearoa

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Days 13 and 14

8th/9th Nov 2024

Our time in W.A. has come to an end. We packed our bags and headed back north to Perth. A moderately boring three and a half hour drive, enlivened only by a failed attempt to take a photo of one of the plastic cows in Cowaramup, through the window of the Land Cruiser.

We had a short stop in Bunberry for lunch and a detour into central Perth to drop Brian off at his hotel. He was heading to Adelaide in a couple of days. We were headed to the airport, had something to eat, then settled down to wait for our flight.

An overnight flight that leaves at 19:00 takes six hours and arrives at 06:00 the following day, is not my idea of a fun flight. On arrival, we were awake enough to remember to dump our uneaten bananas in the quarantine bin. NZ is quite strict about food and livestock imports. Also awake enough to find our driver.

He took us to our hotel. We expected that we would have to wait until afternoon to check in, but they said that the room was ready at 8:30 a.m.

We had a shower, went back down, and had breakfast. After breakfast we decided that a nap was required.

When we woke up we went off to explore Auckland and see if it had changed in the thirty five or so years since the last time I was there. Short answer, it has, a lot. More information in the next post.

Australia New Zealand, Travel

More Adventures in W.A.

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Checking Out Margaret River’s Products.

Day 12  7/11/24

I could have gotten out of writing today’s blog by saying that I couldn’t remember what had happened. We spent the day testing Margaret River’s agricultural products.

About forty years ago, someone noticed that Margaret River had very similar soil and climate to the Bordeaux region of France. Bordeaux produces some of the best and most expensive wines in the world. Two and two were put together, and it was decided that it might be worthwhile growing some grapes and seeing what happened.

What happened was that some remarkable wine was produced. The Margaret River wine industry was born. It is compulsory to visit a few, or more, wineries whilst in Margaret River. We signed up for a tour with Margaret River Vintage Wine Tours. To avoid someone being stuck as a dedicated driver or being prosecuted for drunk driving. We decided to let someone else do the driving.

Our driver/ guide, Tony, was knowledgeable and funny. We sampled the wines of three producers, Xanadu, Voyager, and Jarvis. There should have been a fourth. The power company was doing some work, which meant that the fourth winery was without power. So they canceled. We went to the local chocolate factory instead.

Various wines and wineries.

I liked most of the wines that I tried, but my favorites were the Cabernet Sauvignon from Voyager and Jarvis. We didn’t like any of them enough to buy. This might have been partly due to the thought of having to transport them home. I also think that a slightly different impression of a wine is given when served 20 to 30ml to taste. This is compared to when you are served 125 to 150ml in a glass. I don’t think you get quite the same bouquet, or as full a sense of the taste.

The winery produces some pretty fine wine. The buildings and gardens are also worth seeing.

We did buy a couple of dessert wines from Jarvis. One is called WTF. It stands for Wine That’s Fortified. It is a Port, but only wine from the Douro valley can be called Port nowadays. So, they call it WTF. The other one is their take on the Italian mistella. Named Miss Ella after the owner’s late dog.

We concluded our wine tasting tour at a brewery, obviously. The Margaret River Brewhouse brews decent beer.

A three pony crate
What we had to finish us off

I welcome the explosion of craft breweries. However, I feel that most of them only do variations on a West Coast IPA. Margaret River, at least, did a few other varieties.

It was an enjoyable day, definitely best done with someone else doing the driving.

Australia New Zealand, Travel

More Adventures in W.A

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Day 11 Whale Watching

06/11/2024

It was time to make up for the disappointment of the cancellation of our whale watching trip from Fremantle. We booked tickets for a trip with Naturaliste Charters. They run expeditions out of Dunsborough, about 40 km north of Margaret River.

The BIG QUESTION still remained…. would Diane finally see a whale?

We drove up to Dunsborough. We stopped at a bakery and had pies for lunch. This way, we would have something to bring up if it got rough. Then, we headed out to the meeting place for 14:00 hrs.

We were met by a couple of friendly crew members to take us out to the catamaran Alison Marie.

Boarding*

Off we went in search of the Great White Whale. Call me Ishmael.

We were much more likely to meet Humpback Whales than a white Sperm Whale. With Diane on board doing her Jonah in reverse, we might encounter none.

For a while it looked as if that was the case. I went and got myself a cup of tea and sat down to wait. After about half an hour we spotted some blows. It was a Humpback mother and her calf. Diane had finally seen a whale. 🤩🥳🤩.

We saw a few more Humpbacks, some with calves some without. Then we saw another couple of blows, and the crew began to get excited. These were Blue Whales. Even now, after years of protection, they are still rare. There are probably about ten thousand in the world. A big improvement on the three hundred that were estimated to be left when hunting was banned. Humpback Whales have recovered more spectacularly. There are estimated to be around thirty to forty-five thousand whales in existence. It’s probably because Humpbacks breed more frequently.

We saw a mother and her calf. And another two whales. The crew thought that the mother and calf were probably Pygmy Blue Whales. They believed the others were probably true Blue Whales. Pygmy is a relative term. They can reach up to 24 meters in length. In contrast, the true Blue Whales can reach 30 meters. They can also weigh 200 tonnes.

Unfortunately, I had a problem with my camera, so I only got one quarter decent photo.

My only decent photo

All the other photos have been borrowed.

Humpback *
Humpback*
Spotting a blow

No one seems to have taken any decent shots of the Blues. Unfortunately, you will have to take my word for it. It is something that I feel incredibly privileged to have seen. In some ways, it is better not to have photos.

It was a great day out and worth every cent of the $95. I thoroughly recommend Natuaraliste Charters if you are in W.A.

Photos and videos marked with an* were borrowed from the Natuaraliste Facebook page

Australia New Zealand, Travel

Lake Cave: A Hidden Gem of Margaret River

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Day 10 Going Underground.

05/11/2024

The rock around Margaret River is young (geologically) and pourous limestone. This means that as the rainfall seeps through the rock, it dissolves the rock. Caves are formed after enough time.

There are over three hundred caves in the Margaret River region. A reasonable number of them are accessible to the general public. Our friend Brian is slightly claustrophobic. We left him to do his own thing. Diane and I set off for Lake Cave.

Lake Cave is so named because it has an underground lake in the middle of it.

Ten thousand or so years ago, the cave would have been much larger. At some point, the roof collapsed. This left behind a massive sinkhole called a doline. This means that there is a long climb down to the cave and an even longer climb back up.

It is worth the effort and the cost ($25) though. the cave is spectacular. Apart from the eponymous lake there are stalactites, stalagmites, a suspended table and other geological features.

Suspended table
Inside the cave

We just had approximately 300 steps back to the top to negotiate.

Stopped to admire the view.

By this time we needed lunch and as the White Elephant was nearby, we decided to go there. Diane’s fish and chips were some of the best she had ever had. My cheeseburger was pretty good as well. After lunch we set off along the beach to try and walk off the effects, before heading home.

Australia New Zealand, Travel

Kangaroos and Waterfalls: Margaret River Highlights

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Margaret River Day 9

4  November 2024

Day 9 More exploration.

After breakfast, the first objective was to find some kangaroos. We set off for the place that our taxi driver recommended. Diane was on tenterhooks. Given that she has this ability to make wildlife vanish we were not too confident.

Much to our surprise, when we turned the corner, there they were.

We moved on and found a waterfall on the Margaret River.

Waterfalls

After the waterfalls, we decided to go surfing. Margaret River is home to one of the best surf beaches in the world. Prevelly Beach is home to some impressive breaks.

We did not go surfing. This was partially due to a lack of surfboards. In my case, it was also due to an inability to swim. We did watch some people who had surfboards and could swim.

I wanted to see the Cape Leeuwin lighthouse from the land. I have seen it often enough from the sea. We headed south.

We stopped off in Augusta to play golf. Sorry, wrong Augusta, we stopped off to buy wine and beer before heading out to Flinders Bay. Named after Commander Matthew Flinders, who charted the coast of Australia. Either that, or it was named after a ship that I sailed on, the SS Flinders Bay. We carried on south until we got to Cape Leeuwin, where we had to stop. Cape Leeuwin is the point where the Indian and the Southern Oceans meet.

If you have enough imagination, you can see where they meet.

The lighthouse, opened in 1896,  is still in use but is now fully automated. They exhibition includes stories told by the former lighthouse keepers. Shows various artifacts and gives a good idea of the work it took to keep the place running. It is worth the $7 entry fee if you are ever down that way.