Our latest charges

Maxwell

10 year old Huntaway cross. Max is a very affectionate dog, who is very overweight. This makes getting around very difficult for him. We have been charged with the task of getting his weight down, he is currently 47kgs. We have commenced a strict eating and exercise plan, which consists of low fat dog food and a 15 minute walk twice a day.

He is a very accomplished snorer and has usurped Della in the snoring championship stakes.


Serioja

10 year old shorthaired black cat. Serioja is a very affectionate male cat, who is also overweight. He is very friendly with Max, but Max is not too keen on him licking his ears. Serioja loves a lap cuddle and will talk back to you when you speak to him.

Both animals have entered fully into the daily yoga sessions, usually hogging the exercise towels all to themselves!

We have now got into a daily routine and have all got to know one another.

Kerikeri

The pretty town of Kerikeri is noted for its subtropical climate, citrus and kiwifruit orchards, historic buildings, and an art and craft trail.

The Kerikeri Basin is home to Kerikeri Mission Station, one of New Zealand’s earliest settlements. It was the second European mission station to be set up in New Zealand, in 1819, under the protection of Maori chief Hongi Hika.

The town is a nice size with a selection of craft and knick-knack shops, as well as the essential facilities eg post office, library, cinema, supermarket, pharmacy, etc. There is a good selection of organic produce in the town as well as in the supermarket. The town is situated 10 minutes drive from where we are living.

Surrounding the town the area is dominated with orchards, many of which have now been sold off and used for housing plots. The houses are enormous and each have about an acre of land around them. This makes the town and the surrounding area very attractive. The housing plots have retained the high tree windbreakers on their boundaries, and this makes them very sheltered.

Our house is surrounded by high trees. It is a new build and has only been finished about 18 months. The house is on one level and has 3 bedrooms. There is a large kitchen diner and a separate study and lounge area. There is a double garage and utility room on the side of the house. The only downer is that we have to make do with a 50inch TV!! Great for movies on the Sky channels.

We have neighbours around us, but because of the size of the plots, you wouldn’t know they were there. At the top of our drive there is a quiet lane which has horses and a small plant nursery.

www.kerikeri.co.nz

Northland

We have been to the farthest point south on the South Island, and we are now almost at the farthest point north on the North Island.

Strong Maori roots, early European settlements, a subtropical climate and enchanting scenery - these make Northland both the cradle of the nation and one of its favourite playgrounds. Northland is where Europeans first made their presence felt in New Zealand. It is a region with a history of bloodshed and raw frontier emotions, but is today dominated by holiday fun.

The long history of Maori occupation in Northland is evident in the hillside pa sites and shell fishing grounds around the coast. Maori culture continues to be extensively practised in this region and many Maori tribes live here.

Early post-European history in Northland includes both the whalers, who earned Russell its title of “hell-hole of the Pacific” and missionaries, who brought Christianity to the country. The brothels and taverns have now disappeared, but buildings like the Kerikeri mission station are reminders of early Christian influences.

There is a natural beauty in this area, rolling farmland, white sand beaches, massive sand dunes and rock formations. These views are not spoiled by lots of people. In its forests, with gigantic kauri trees that are up to 2000 years old, it is possible to walk for hours without encountering a single fellow tramper. It is unspoilt and simple. Just the way we like it.

We are looking forward to exploring this final part of New Zealand to be discovered.

Coromandel Peninsula

02.03.09

After looking around the vicinity the next morning, we decided to continue on our trip, rather than stop here another night, as it would make the journey to Keri Keri a long one the following day. This meant that we were able to enjoy the scenery and the route much more by taking it steady and not having to cover so many kms.

Following the Pacific Coast Highway, the route wound around the cliff, with the beautiful blue waters of the Firth of Thames on our right all the way. We went through little coves with a handful of houses hugging the shoreline, eventually arriving at Thames. This town is located at the South eastern corner of the Firth of Thames and is the principal town of the Coromandel region.

We hit our first traffic as we neared Auckland, but sailed through with no problems having taken a few tips of what lanes to stay in from our motel host in Coromandel. We did manage to get a glimpse of Auckland CBD and the city’s most distinctive landmark, the Sky Tower. Tracy tried to get a photo whilst we were going along, but it wasn’t easy. The City looked lovely sat on the edge of the sparkling harbour, but we would have to visit on another occasion.

We stopped the night at a small town called Warkworth. This had been recommended by our host in Coromandel. It was a pretty town with a river running through it and ducks on the village green. We pulled up at a motel recommended to us, and Tracy managed to negotiate a rate for the night. It was the first time we had just turned up in a town and gone into a motel without pre-booking. (We are now applying for ‘intrepid explorers of the year’ award)! It was a lovely room, not like a motel at all.

We walked along the river, enjoying the evening sun and had a meal in a riverside restaurant. Tomorrow we start our next assignment.

04.03.09
After a leisurely breakfast we packed up and headed off to Kerikeri, arriving about 4o’clock. We were met by our homeowners Ken and Lynn Ford. We took our hire car back to the airport and Ken showed us around the town, showing us where the vital facilities were, i.e. Bank, Bottle shop and Supermarket, anything else is a bonus!!
We have had a lovely time touring, and have seen some fantastic places along the way, but we are looking forward to being in one place for 6 weeks, and unpacking.

People think we have it easy………………………………..

Coromandel Peninsula

01.03.2009

Weather had perked up today, the sun was back. After a lovely breakfast and chat with two other couples staying at the homestay, we climbed to the top of Mount Paku to get a better view of our location. This was an ideal spot having the sea and beaches one side and the calm waters of the inlet on the other. There is opportunity to surf, kayak, fish and sail, or just enjoy the scenery.

We ventured further on up the coast to Hahei, where there are a number of interesting things to see.

Cathedral Cove
This is a dramatic cathedral shaped cavern, accessible at low tide. It has been used for many films including Narnia.

Hot Water Beach.
Visitors can dig their own thermal spa in the sand between low and mid tides. Spades are available for hire, but our hosts lent us a spade and towels to try this out. We didn’t get round to digging our hole though, as we got to engrossed in our books and just sat on the sand enjoying the lovely weather and peace.

We made our way home, had a drink and chat with our hosts and then walked down to the local restaurant for another lovely meal. We sat outside, watching the sun go down over the inlet.

Next day we left Tairua and continued around the Coromandel Peninsula, still following the Pacific Coast Highway. This led us back across from the East coast to the West coast via a number of mountain passes, into Coromandel Town. This is a quiet fishing and crafts town and owes its name to the 1820 visit of HMS Coromandel which called to load tree trunks for the British Royal Navy. Gold mining featured prominently in the town’s formative years. This is evident in some of the fine Victorian and colonial architecture. It has a very laid back atmosphere and we enjoyed a relaxing evening sat on our balcony overlooking Coromandel Harbour. The tide was going out and slowly revealed rows and rows of oyster beds.

Rotorua to Tairua

28.02.09

The weather forecast was not too good today, forecasting high winds and heavy rain, so we were keen to press on away from the mountain passes and winding roads. The conditions were pretty rough, buffeting the car and we were beginning to think we would have to pull over to let the storm pass, but as we came down from the mountainside to meet the East Coast at Whakatane the wind died down and the rain wasn’t so heavy. We had a fair distance to cover so we didn’t stop.

Whakatane is on the Eastern Bay of Plenty. It is one of New Zealand’s sunniest locations usually, but not for us today. The route then turned north and we followed the Pacific Coast Highway.

We passed through Te Puke, a town originally settled with Irish folk in the 1880s. The area is famous for being the Kiwifruit capital of the world. Pioneering horticulturists experimented with what was then known as the Chinese gooseberry, and developed an international market for it under the new name.

Along the drive we were treated to stunning views of the coast, broken up with fields dedicated to dairy farming and horticulture. This area is also home to goldfields which are still in operation. There are lots of abandoned mining sites with mining equipment and mining shafts signposted from the road. There are plenty of art galleries and local craft makers in this area.

The weather had eased off by the time we reached our destination of Tairua. This is a small town on the entrance of a harbour. There is a mount called Paku which is an extinct volcano at the mouth of the harbour and we stayed at Killyrudden home stay. www.killyrudden.co.nz This was a lovely home, owned by Margaret and Keith and their dog Emma. We had superb harbour views from our bedroom window, perched high up on the mountainside. We had a lovely evening meal in a restored boat on our first evening, and were glad to have arrived. We could now relax and enjoy this area for two nights.

Rotorua

Situated on the southern shore of a lake of the same name, Rotorua is the North Island’s most popular tourist destination. Despite the pungent, rotten egg smell of hydrogen sulphide gas emanating from countless bores and ground fissures, the town’s hot and steamy thermal activity, healing mineral pools, and surrounding lakes, rivers and crystal springs are major attractions. This is also a major centre of Maori culture, offering Maori art, architecture, song dance and colourful evening entertainment.

We had a stroll through Government Gardens. These are laid out in front of the stately Tudor style Rotorua Museum of Art and History. This was once the Great Spa of the South Pacific in 1908. There are a series of bowling greens and formal flower gardens dotted with steaming thermal pools. There is a Arawa migration canoe on display, from which Rotorua’s Te Arawa people trace their decent. The entrance to the park has examples of Maori art, welcoming you into the park.

We then walked through the compact town towards St Faith’s Anglican Church. Built in 1910, the Tudor style St Faith’s is the second church built at Ohinemutu, a Maori village on the shores of the lake around which Rotorua grew. It houses an etched glass window in the chapel depicting Christ dressed in a korowai (chief’s cloak) and appearing to walk on the waters of Lake Rotorua. The interior is richly embellished with Maori carvings, woven wall panels and painted scrollwork.

The church is situated next to the magnificent Tamatekapua meeting house, built in 1873. This is the main gathering place of the Arawa tribe. The Maori village is situated around these two sites, and there is steam coming out of the pavements and gutters. Houses and the public loo have pipes coming from their roofs to let the steam escape.

We had a trip out to Te Wairoa village, just on the outskirts of Rotorua. This is a village that was devastated by the eruption of Mount Tarawera in 1886. We had a guided tour by an ancestor of the inhabitants which took us around the excavations of several sites. These have been reconstructed to show the village before the ash and larva covered it. As this all happened in relatively recent history, there were photographs and artefacts from the village, which was home to Maori and European settlers.
After an afternoon of culture, we headed back to Rotorua to stuff our faces with afternoon tea in the town’s oldest hotel. Lots of freshly baked fairy cakes and sandwiches yum.

Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland

26.02.09

This is the country’s most colourful and diverse geothermal area and home to the reliable Lady Knox Geyser. We arrived at the centre in time for the geyser to shoot water and steam up to 21m into the air.

The fields and rivers leading up to this attraction look like normal hedge lined paddocks, except for the jets of steam coming out of them! Truly bizarre.

The Thermal Wonderland covers 18 sq.km and is literally covered with collapsed craters, cold and boiling pools of mud, water and steaming fumaroles. The area is associated with volcanic activity dating back about 160,000 years and is located right on the edge of the largest volcanic caldera (depression) within the active Taupo Volcanic Zone. Check out www.waiotapu.co.nz for some great pics and information.

We were amazed by the vibrant colours that are present in the pools and on the rocks, these are all natural and are due to different mineral elements. There were bright yellows, greens, oranges, Reds and blacks, just to name a few. It was like someone had spilled a pot of paint on the floor in some places.

There were ‘no smoking’ signs everywhere as the surrounding manuka scrub vegetation, which is tolerant of the gases in this area, is highly flammable as are some of the minerals.

The smell was quite reminiscent of Avonmouth or Port Talbot on a bad day!, due to the hydrogen Sulphide. We have found New Zealand’s very own Wiffy hot spot!

Everywhere you looked there were pits of bubbling mud or steaming and hissing water. There was a huge pool in the middle called the Champagne Pool, measuring 65m in diameter and 62m deep. Its surface temperature is 74degrees C and there are carbon dioxide bubbles all over the surface. There are minerals deposited around the edge of the pool which are gold, silver, mercury, sulphur, arsenic, all combining to give the ledge an amazing colour. Excess water from this pool goes into the ‘Devil’s Bath’ a large ruggedly-edged crater with water the colour of pistachio nuts, almost florescent green. This colour is the result of excess water from the Champagne pool mixing with sulphur and ferrous salts. We couldn’t believe it was a natural colour it was so intense.

We saw some lovely patterns in the rock where the deposits of the minerals had made lace-like patterns. We were over 5 hours at this attraction, around every corner was another amazing sight.

We were fascinated with this place, bringing home to us that just beneath our feet is a molten, moving core which is forever moving and adjusting. It gives you a good insight into how the Earth was formed and is still being formed today.

We stopped by the Huka falls on our way back. This is where the Waikato River is channelled through a narrow rock chute before hurtling over an 11m bluff to a foaming couldron below. The water is so clear it is a lovely shade of blue, Tracy thinks it looks like washing powder. Further on, down stream, the river forms the Aratiatia Rapids. Floodgates to the dam above the rapids are opened several times a day to allow kayaking and jet-boating. We were in time to watch the floodgates open and saw the trickling stream become a torrent of water covering the big boulders on the river bed.

We had a beer on Taupo lakeside in the evening sunshine, and then enjoyed a meal watching the sun set over the lake and surrounding mountains.

And so to Lake Taupo

25th February 2009

Yet another sunny and warm start to the day and we said farewell to Kate & Roger before the start of the next leg in our journey further north. Before we headed to Lake Taupo we made a diversion to Cape Kidnappers, a crescent-shaped bay and jagged promontory 19 miles south of Napier.

We took a walk along the bay and admired the view across to Hawke’s Bay and the lovely calm waters of the Pacific Ocean. Along the pebbled-beach we saw lots of empty mussel shells and, after a while we also saw seagulls and black-backed gulls coming in from the sea with mussels and dropping them on the rocks and pebbles in order to break open the shells and then feasting on the mussels! We also saw a chick being fed by it’s mother/father??, with a star-fish! We managed to get a close-up photo of the (now dead), star-fish much to the annoyance of the chick who was waiting to peck at it!!!

The journey from Napier to Lake Taupo was long and not particularly interesting although, the changing scenery, climbing up through forests and continuing on to Lake Taupo along the summit plateau was pleasing on the eye.

On arrival in the town of Taupo, (which lies at the north eastern end of Lake Taupo, New Zealand’s largest lake, formed by a volcanic explosion in AD186), we set out (as usual!), for the tourist information office where we obtained a local and town map of the area. We sat by the lake for a while enjoying the late afternoon sunshine and the beauty of this huge lake!

White pumice beaches and rocky coves surround the lake which covers 239 sq miles. As it was a clear day we could see the distant volcanic peaks of Mounts Tongariro and Ngauruoe and the snow-capped Ruapehu which provided a spectacular backdrop to the lake.

On our way to our B&B we diverted to investigate a sign pointing to “Craters of the Moon” We walked past a little kiosk after paying our money and after a short walk through a bit of native bush we came out on the side of a hill looking down over a vista of vegetation with steam rising from the ground and big craters. It really was like something from an episode of Star Trek. We had to keep to marked paths as the ground either side was an extremely fragile thermal environment. Before the track system was put in, it was not uncommon for visitors to stray onto soft hot ground, resulting in burns to feet and legs!

We could hear steam hissing and gurgling in the ground, and in one area you could feel the earth vibrating under our feet. There are many Maori villages built around areas like these. They cook on the hot rocks and heat their homes and use the hot water. The whole area looked very pre-historic, with giant ferns as tall as trees. We wouldn’t have been surprised to see a dinosaur grazing on the branches.

Exploring the Central North Island

The Central North Island contains a wide range of landscapes and activities. Hamilton is the region’s largest town and north of Hamilton, the rugged Coromandel Peninsula flows into sandy, unspoilt Bay of Plenty beaches, the East Cape and the east coast, all popular spots for fishing and water sports.

Hawke’s Bay is famous for its Art Deco buildings, orchards and vineyards. Geothermal attractions stretch from lunar-landscaped White Island to the volcano Ruapehu, the North Island’s best skiing location.

Over several days we planned to explore as much of Central North Island as possible……………..

Napier

24th February 2009

After a good nights sleep we woke to sunny and clear blue skies. We enjoyed a delicious breakfast on the verandah with our hosts, Roger and Kate, overlooking the surrounding hills and beautiful gardens. Feeling full after our mammoth brekkie of cereals, fresh fruit, poached eggs on toast, freshly squeezed orange juice and coffee we did a spot of laundry and caught up on our emails before heading out to explore Napier.

Perched on the edge of the Pacific Ocean, this elegant city is a memorial to a 1931 earthquake and fire that destroyed most buildings and killed many people. The quake raised marshland and the harbour bed, providing new farmland and room for urban development. During rebuilding, an earthquake-proof building code was enforced and architects adopted the then fashionable Art Deco style. Today the city’s Art Deco buildings, with their pastel colours, bold lines and elaborate motifs, are internationally renowned.

Before going in to town we paid a visit to New Zealand’s oldest winery (1851), Mission Estate Winery. We had already booked a table for this evening’s dinner on the recommendation of our hosts but, in order to get some decent photos and to have a look around we thought a pre-visit would be worthwhile.
It certainly was! A plane-tree lined avenue takes you through neat vineyards and up to the historical venue. The gardens are impeccably maintained with a formal layout and fountain together with magnificent views across the vineyards and further to Napier.

A little history…..in 1838 a group of French Missionaries arrived and established a Marist Mission in New Zealand. Besides being a teaching order, the Fathers followed the tradition of quality winemaking. Grapes were planted to produce both sacramental and table wine. The first record of a commercial sale dates from 1870 when a parcel of mostly dry reds was sold.

Today, Mission Estate is one of Hawke’s Bay’s largest established wineries, with a well-respected reputation in both the New Zealand and international market as a producer of consistent quality, value for money wines. (www.mission estate.co.nz).

After a browse around the Estate and in the gallery we left for a walking tour of Napier.




We followed a street-by-street walk around town taking in the Napier Mall, the Deco Centre, purpose built in 1922 as Napier’s Central Fire Station, and refurbished in Art Deco style after the earthquake, it now houses the Art Deco Trust and Art Deco Shop.

We saw the Municipal Theatre and The Public Trust Building’s massive columns and internal oak fittings escaped earthquake damage. Napier’s landmark the
A & B building, built in 1936 has a beautifully restored elevator and the Masonic Hotel completed in 1932, features an unusual first-floor loggia built over the street. We passed by the Daily Telegraph building also built in 1932, and is well endowed with Art Deco details, sunbursts, zigzags and fountain-like flowers. We also saw both the ASB bank and the Napier Antique Centre both decorated with Maori designs and carving.

Our walk around Napier was illuminating and interesting not least because neither of us were Deco fans before visiting the city but found it to be a delightful place with a great feel to it. A very pleasant surprise.

After flat whites and some tasty lemon with sour cream sponge we drove out to Bluff Hill Domain and the 335ft high lookout. Unfortunately, the weather took a turn for the worst and grey clouds and heavy rain showers spoilt the view from the lookout, however, we could still make out the outline of Hawkes Bay and we could easily see the busy commercial port below.

The rain eased and we drove south of Napier towards Hastings, the centre of a large fruit growing and processing industry, including wine making.
Rebuilt after the 1931 earthquake, it is the only city in New Zealand with streets laid out on the American block system. It also has some fine Spanish Mission buildings.

Between Hastings and the eastern coastline, Te Mata Peak rises 1309ft.
Maori legend describes the Te Mata ridgeline as the body of chief Te Mata O Rongokako, who choked and died eating his way through the hill, a task set him by the beautiful daughter of another chief. From Hastings the “bite” that killed him can be clearly seen, as can his body which forms the skyline.

We drove to the peak and admired the vast panorama below - comprising mainly vineyards and orchards with hills around and the river meandering through the valley below.

We made our way back to our “homestay” and got ready for our dinner at Mission Estate. After a pre-dinner aperitif with our hosts we left for the restaurant - suffice to say, we were not disappointed!

The restaurant is beautiful with some of the most exciting food and discerning service we have experienced in New Zealand thus far. We decided to skip the starter course hoping to leave room for dessert! Our main dish was a small (but perfectly formed!), pumpkin stuffed with cumin roasted vegetables and topped with parmesan - served with polenta chips and a side salad all drizzled with a roasted lemon dressing - it was as mouth-wateringly good as it sounds!! To accompany our meal we enjoyed a Central Otago Pinot Noir (again, a recommendation from our hosts), parfait!!

Dessert provided a dilemna as there were several delightful options from which to choose - in the end we settled on a cheese course (so that we could also sample the Mission Estate port!). The cheese was a firm, farmhouse variety also with cumin and this was accompanied by several varieties of crackers, muscatels, nuts and the most delicious black figs!

The dishes we enjoyed were heavenly and the restaurant certainly deserves its world-class reputation.

Wellington to Napier

23.02.09

We picked up yet another Hertz rental car to continue our journey through the North Island. It was an easy route as there are only two main roads out of Wellington. We chose to travel along the East coast hugging the shoreline initially, until the route headed inland.

Within an hour, the country’s rural heartland shows itself and the numerous small, sleepy towns become apparent. Dairy and sheep farms continue to feature strongly in the region, but we did see a few ostrich farms and llama. As we crossed to the West coast, and entered the Hawke’s Bay area there were acres upon acres of vineyards, not on the slopes of the mountains, but on the planes and flat areas in between. This area also was full of fruit, apples, kiwi, and soft fruit, as well as veggies.

We passed Kapiti Island on the East coast, which is a nature reserve. Access to the island is very limited, although there is a charter boat daily. There are a number of birds who live here that are rare or absent from the mainland, such as saddlebacks and takahe. Less rare, but twice as cheeky, are the wekas, which are likely to steal anything that is left unattended by visitors!

The town names on the North Island tend to be more native, and take a while to get used to them. We passed through Paekakariki, home of a tramway museum, Paraparaumu, home of a vintage car museum, including Marlene Dietrich’s limousine in its collection. Also a 1950 Cadillac Gangster Special, once owned by an employee of Al Capone and Lucky Luciano. It has a bomb-proof floor, armour-plated doors, bulletproof windows, and a hinged windscreen for firing from inside. Could prove useful for some parts of Bristol!

The Maori language never ends in a consonant and every vowel is sounded.

As we were passing through the towns we could see the Maori meeting houses, with ornate wooden carvings covering their exterior. Known as Marae, the meeting house is the focal point for Maori people.

Continuing on through pastoral farming land we passed fertile coastal plains stretching from the Tasman Sea across to the Tararua and Ruahine ranges. Large vegetable-producing areas and “pick-your-own” outlets on the outskirts of small towns were a pleasant distraction as was the winding journey along the Manawatu Gorge!

An uneventful stretch of the SH 2 followed until we reached Hawke’s Bay.

Hawke’s Bay is famous for its Art Deco buildings, orchards and vineyards.
We passed by several vineyards and orchards all groaning with apples, plums, kiwi fruit and of course, grapes! This is wine producing country!

The long sunshine hours, wide range of growing microclimates, and variety of soil types have allowed more than 40 wineries to develop all the classical grape varieties to a high standard. Traditionally a fruit-growing area, Hawke’s Bay’s fruit is sourced from varied vineyard and orchard sites, and wines are made using both modern and traditional techniques.

We arrived at our accommodation for the next 2 nights in the late afternoon. A delightful “homestay” just outside Napier.

Our hosts made us a lovely cuppa and we had cake and tea before unpacking our things. The temperatures are much warmer here (mid to late 20s), and quite humid but we found it quite comfortable. It was lovely to sit out on the verandah with our wine and enjoy some nibbles before dinner.

Te Papa Tongarewa

Museum of New Zealand

This museum is huge. Te Papa Tongarewa means “Our Place”, and is one of the largest national museums in the world, the equivalent space to three football fields.

The exhibitions are spread over 5 floors, but we mainly concentrated on floor 4 which housed the Te Marea (the meeting house) exhibition. This was an actual Maori meeting house where weddings and ceremonies are held. There were wooden carvings of people doing a range of different occupations around the outside. There was also an example of a Maori ceremonial boat and works of art and treasures. There was a unique 21st century carved meeting house where we had to take off of our shoes before we could go inside.

There was a section on Pacific Islander people, and their history. We went into an exhibit set out like a shop with articles from history, pre-war and up to date. We sat down and were treated to a 15 minute film of New Zealand’s history with archive footage of events through their history.

There was an impressive natural history section with lots of skeletons of whales, dolphins and seals. There was also an exhibit of a Colossal Squid, the only one on display in the world. They had a video of how it was brought up by a fishing ship in the Antarctic. It’s eyeball was the size of a football.

check out www.tepapa.govt.nz

Wellington

Capital of New Zealand - Sunday 22nd February 2009

Wellington’s compact CBD lies between the city’s foothills and its mountain encircled harbour. Partly built on land developed during reclamation projects begun in the mid 1800s, the area today is the working environment of the country’s politicians and the national government infrastructure.

Primarily our objective whilst in Wellington was to visit the Te Papa museum of New Zealand however, before this we took a walking tour of the harbour front.

The harbour front stands entirely on reclaimed land and covers a site once central to Wellington’s waterfront industry.

We started out along the quay which followed the sea front in to Lambton Harbour. There were yachts and boats bobbing in the choppy waters and we could see the houses that are built in to the hillsides - these houses are made of timber and tin and were built by the early settlers as there was no flat land remaining for development.

There was a Harley Davidson rally in town so it was good to see all the bikers and their gleaming helmets!!!!!!! (and bikes!).

We crossed the City-to-Sea bridge, a bridge decorated with large, pacific-style wood carvings in to Civic Square which is an extensive, paved plaza-style courtyard which features various sculptures including a fern sculpture suspended in the Square.

The walk continued through to Courteney Place, lined with bars, clubs, and restaurants and then we made our way back to the Quay where there was a fruit market near to the Overseas Terminal and where the cruise ships dock.

By this time the breezy weather had turned to gusty, gale-force winds and we were having trouble standing upright! Seagulls and ducks were having trouble landing!!

We learnt later that there was a huge street carnival last night with over 150,000 people attending!! We didn’t hear a thing and only heard about it on the news.
We had a great view of the harbour from our 9th floor hotel room, so we were able to watch the ferries coming and going.

Picton and the Interislander ferry Crossing to Wellington

20th & 21st Feb 2009

On arrival at Picton we made our way to our overnight accommodation (www.harbourviewmotel.co.nz). The owners kindly picked us up as the rain although now only drizzle was the kind that gets you wet through!! (Peter Kay fans will appreciate that little ditty).

Picton set in the upper reaches of Queen Charlotte Sound, Picton is the South Island terminus for the ferries that cross Cook Strait. It is a pretty town nestled between the sea and hills.

The weather on our first day/evening prevented photos and any exploration of the local vicinity however, day 2 the sun was shining again and the rain had stopped. We took full advantage of the calmer weather and had a stroll around the town, mingling with the passengers from a cruise ship which had come in earlier that day. We had a delicious brunch at waterfront café and read the local newspaper at leisure.

Our ferry, the Interislander, left for Wellington at 1.20pm and with the vast improvement in the weather we were lucky to enjoy a very pleasant cruise through the Marlborough Sounds before making our way out in to the Cook Strait.

Marlborough Sounds - the Sounds region appears as a series of ridges rising above the water but is, in fact, a series of valleys drowned by the ocean. A combination of changing sea levels, movement along faults in the region, and tilting of the land mass downwards and towards the North East, has caused inundation by the sea. The last significant surge in sea levels was at the end of an Ice Age about 12000 years ago, and gives the area its current sinuous coastline.

We were able to sit on the Observation Deck and enjoy the sunshine and surrounding views. We could see the coastline of North Island coming into view, and could see why the Maori, the first arrivals, called it Aotearoa, “the land of the long white cloud”, as this was the first indication to these canoe voyagers of the presence of the islands being the cloud lying above them. Nearer to Wellington the winds picked up and we sat indoors for the last 30 minutes of the sailing arriving in Wellington, late afternoon.

Our accommodation for the next 2 nights was the Novotel Capital in central Wellington (www.novotel.co.nz). After checking in we went in to town exploring the local streets - the café culture was clearly evident with lots of people enjoying a glass of wine or beer in the early evening sunshine.