Buller Gorge – Mar 26

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Robin

Slept in until almost 8 without waking. Up and showered, we ate a breakfast at Peter’s and said goodbye at 10.00. First stop was the Supermarket at Richmond where we bought supplies for two days, and an emergency supper for a third day. Deet was also on this list to protect us from the sand-fly. Also topped up the Vodaphone account so we could continue to make local phone calls.

We headed for Westport, but were anticipating camping earlier at the Lyell Camping ground. The weather was good and was anticipated to be good for the rest of the day. The drive through Upper Buller Gorge was quite spectacular. We stopped at the Lyell Camping Ground at a very early time and went for a walk across the small suspension beach and along the river gorge. There were some gorgeous (well so Rosemary said) mosses which I photographed for R. The birds kept out of view and didn’t appear until the end of the walk where a very obliging robin paused for his (?) portrait.

Another short walk took us down to the actual river, there were signs about the rules for fossicking. There is gold in these waters. Yes, we did see some shiny stuff, but was it gold?

Here we met the dreaded sand-fly, and I was itching all over my feet, hands and arms. Back at the van we spayed ourselves with Deet, horses and stable doors come to mind. So we stopped for a coffee at Inangahua where we were advised to rinse our hands with Detol hand wash, it stops the itching. I think it really does work.

At Carters Beach we stopped at the Top Ten Holiday Park for the night. It is a short walk to the very sandy beach which had a nice swell. Went for a swim. Had been put off by the people dressed in wet suits, but no, it was lovely and warm. As the sun set at 7.36 where was a gorgeous red glow across the sky looking towards Foulwind where the sun disappeared behind the cliffs.

Crossing over to the South Island – Mar 25

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Cook Strait

Today we leave the North Island for the South, and the weather is good for the crossing. We have the 8.00am Bluebridge ferry, so to make sure we get there on time the alarm is set for 6.00am They like you there an hour before sailing, though nothing happens until 20 minutes before boarding starts.

In the rush to get up on deck, I stupidly I left my camera in the van and the mobile phone battery died part way through the sailing, so few photographs. As soon as we were on board we stoked up with breakfast.  I had a breakfast panini of bacon and scrambled egg, while Rosemary went for toast & poached egg.

The trip was uneventful, strong wind on the foredeck, but once we reached Arapawa Island and entered the channel, the breeze eased off. We were one of the first to disembark and headed up Queen Charlotte Drive for the scenic and squiggly drive around Shakespeare Bay, Whenuanui Bay, Ngakuta Bay and Momorangi bay. At one of these bays we saw a guy flying a drone far out at sea taking pictures of a ketch sailing past.

We stopped at Havelock for lunch, cos it is said to be the capital of the Green Lipped Mussel industry. It would have been rude not to have sampled them, so I ate a platter of them with various flavourings at the Captain’s Daughter. Yummy; my favourite was with coconut & chilli. It was back in the Sleeper Van to get to Nelson, with one more stop at the Hobbit location of Pelorus Bridge.

Arrived at Peter and Nick’s house at 3.50 and moved our stuff into their sleep out, which they insisted we use. R spent quite a while stroking the residents cats & dogs. In fact she could not stroke a cat, without one of the dogs sticking their nose in & demanding to be petted.

Nelson was much bigger that we had anticipated, I think unless you are used to a map of a country, you can be deceived by the size of a town.

A couple of beers and then we were out for supper to celebrate Peter’s birthday, first a small bar with a fine selection of unusual beers. Betsy was our designated non-drinking driver & Kate joined us again from her flat in Nelson, having gone back home while we faffed around sorting ourselves out. We walked from the bar to Ford’s for supper. A vegan menu was offered to Kate but I had a very nice fillet of Snapper.

Back to Peter’s where I tasted a number of Tequilas, straight up. These are intended as sipping Tequilas.

And so to bed – with no van to dismantle in order to do it.

Last day in Wellington and North Island – Mar 24

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Wellington from Mount Voctoria

Today was supposedly a better way weather wise. Overnight the seaweed analysts must have changed their mind. Rain forecast for the afternoon, they seemed to miss the morning drizzle.

We had put it off waiting for clearer weather, now we had to take the plunge no matter what, we were going to the high places around Wellington for the views of the city. Despite the showers and clouds, the views were fairly clear, no sparkling blue sea, but variations of grey.

Our first stop was Mount Victoria Lookout, this has a view across the bay to Petone and the Hutts. Looking the other way you have a great view of the ferries, cruise liners and Te Papa. The Beehive is just visible hiding behind other buildings. Behind Wellington you can see the wind turbines.  Looking the other way from Wellington there is the airport and Miramar where the Weta studio is.

Down and up more wiggly steep lanes we headed over to Turbine Hill, as suggested by Rosemary’s friend KiWi Jono. This was a trial turbine to check the winds of Wellington for power generation, it was recently replaced in 2016 with a much larger beast, presumably marking a successful trial. Again good views of the bay from further afield, nice light effects from the sun and rain in the bay.

Decided to head over to the other side of the headland to Makara Beach, I hoped to be able to see South Island from the hills where the turbines were working. There was also a café at the beach where we might be able to get lunch. Well, we drove through valleys to get to the beach, so no views of South NZ. Instead we passed paddock after paddock for horses, and signs selling Horse Poo for a dollar. The houses were also remote and large. Makara Beach was a disappointment, lots of wreckage on the beach and the café was closed because of the cyclone which had caused devastation a few weeks ago. Poor Makara Beach residents.

We left and rove up to the nearby Wind Farm, called West Wind. Parked and walked along the headland and there was a view of South New Zealand. We would be travelling along that water tomorrow. We ate our cheese rolls and watch a whole lot of people turn up with 6 porta loos. Looks like some event was occurring there today or tomorrow. Must be athletic as it was being sponsored by a NZ energy drink firm.

We drove back through the Takarau Gorge Road, tight bends alongside a small river, very picturesque. This took us to Johnsonville, from where we headed home. We passed our site and drove on to Eastbourne, stopping at Day’s Bay Wharf where we had an ice cream, watched a fisherman land a large Snapper, and saw the passenger ferry leave the Wharf taking people between Wellington and Day’s Bay, and other locations.

Back at the campsite rain came and went. For half an hour, we actually sat out on our chairs in relative warmth.

Wellington and the seat of power – Mar 23

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The Beehive

Will it pour or not today? Bit of rain as we get up.

Rosemary says she’d like to see the birthplace of Katherine Mansfield. She then looks at her iPad and sees amazon is suggesting she buy the kindle version of The Complete Works of KM for 49p. She does.

We decide to take the bus into Wellington. Find the bus stop, but the bus is a tad late. The driver suggests we buy a special ticket will give us our return journeys as well for less than the cost of the two separate journeys.

I follow the bus route on google maps.  I announce we need to get off. R rather dubious cos it is not that likely an area. After a false start we find the house. There’s no sign outside, so we reckon we are not entirely to blame.

We pay our entry fees and walk around the house where KM lived until she was about five. Not all the furniture is the family’s, but it is all v reminiscent of a 19th century house. At the end of our self-guided tour, R asks the custodian a few questions. The desk in one of the bedrooms is KM’s. We, and a lady from Edinburgh with her daughter, are then shown an embroidered Russian jacket that belonged to KM. The embroidery is used on bookmarks and other items for sale. We are shown a book which shows KM’s Russian friend wearing a v similar jacket. R announces the whole thing “charming”.

We divert via Old St Paul’s, a wooden Anglian cathedral built in the mid 1860s in the Gothic Revival style. Many different NZ woods. The ceiling looks like an upturned ship. New St Paul’s has replaced it as the Anglian cathedral.

We need a drink, but bars are scarce. We find one near the stadium with rugby connections and have a drink there, for some reason I have a dark beer.

Then on to the parliament buildings. Outside it clearly says the 3.00pm tour is full, but we go inside through a security scan of our bags etc, and are promptly booked onto it. No cameras allowed, so all our possessions are locked away.

We have an hour’s tour. We walk through all the buildings, including the beehive which is the home of the executive. So many similarities to our UK Parliament, except they did away with their upper house some while ago. Voting is done in a form of proportional representation, which sounded rather complicated. Surprised at the number of Americans on the tour. A well-informed guide ends the tour by showing us the anti-earthquake measures added to the buildings during a major remodelling.

We emerge to light rain and decide we might as well find a bus and wend our way back to our basecamp.

For LOTR fans, the Weta Studio – Mar 22

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Killing Azog

Killing Azog

The rain hammering on the roof of the van woke us during the night. It never stopped until late the next night. We were late rising, eventually eating breakfast and driving into Wellington for another Lord of the Rings scheduled stop. We drove to the Weta Workshop where they make models and sets for films. Now, they also have a CGI studio. They have worked on many films, including, of course, The LOTR & Hobbit Trilogies, plus the new Bladerunner etc etc and the re-launch of the old Thunderbirds show.

On the model side we saw the models of Tracey Island, various rockets and other scenery used in the Thunderbirds series. They build the sets and film these from many different direction, to form a library. Superimposed onto these shots are the CGI “actors”.  The studio has a sense of humour and so wherever they can, they include a lemon squeezer. This originates from the first series when a viewer wrote in to complain about the lemon squeezer (purporting to be a rocket motor), threatening he would never watch anymore episodes which contained one. Back then, the model makers decided to put a lemon squeezer in whenever they could. This tradition has been continued into modern days. To replicate the very first lemon squeezer, they ended up having to 3-D print one, having failed to find the real thing.

The next tour was the LOTR and Hobbit tour. Here they explained the making of the armour, chainmail and the various costumes which the actors wore. The swords were mainly plastic, but they still they made steel swords for close ups where reflections and weight mattered. They made a great deal of use of CNC machines to create the initial moulds used for helmets. Another interesting use of these machines was to create replicas of actors who were too busy to travel to New Zealand for costume fitting. The costumes would be fitted to these replicants, and so fitted the actor exactly.

Unfortunately, they do not allow photography of most of the workshop. These photos are from the area where they allow pictures to be taken. 

After our excellent tours, we searched for a pub on the outskirts of Wellington. This failed somewhat, even several miles from the centre, parking near a bar seemed at a premium. It also started to dawn on me, the P60 pointing along a road does not mean 60 parking places, but 60 minutes parking time. I am expecting to see a lot of parking fines ☹.

Giving up, we drove back to Lower Hutt for a bar there, a pint of beer (yes, a real imperial pint) and some loaded wedges. We did a wander along the street looking into charity shops (well, Rosemary did, think she bought something) and other such places. It was then back to the campsite to sit in the dining area in the dry and cook our supper in the kitchen while we charged are devices

The Havana for a Special Occasion – Mar 21

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The Havana

Not a sunny day, but at least it did not rain. We drove into Wellington, fearful of leaving the car without a charging run. Should not have been a problem as we made sure lights were not on and no items were being charged. The fridge, we determined, runs off its own battery.

Drive-in was fine, but parking was a bit of an issue. Need to be in before 10am to get the $13 parking for the day, later than that and you pay $4 an hour.

Rosemary noted the shelters by many of the pedestrian crossings. Was it to keep the rain or the sun off??

Started off at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa where they have a very good natural history display. At least R was impressed by the shell collection that had on display. I had to photograph them all. The bird displays were also useful for identification. Poor on the Odonata!

We then did the geology and earthquake room where you get to stand in a room which is shaken to simulate a quake.

R’s birthday, so off to have lunch. On the recommendation of my brother Peter, we went to the Havana near Cuba Street. Good choice, we ate in the restaurant and had a lovely selection of tapas. R particularly enthused by the pickled mushrooms and her dessert of liquorice flavoured pannacotta.

Back again to the museum, this time stopping off at a few shops on the way back. Lots of retro shops selling 70s stuff, masses of vinyl at significantly more than UK prices. At the Te Papa we looked at Maori art, modern, and the agreement when they accepted rule by the British. We also looked at the exhibition on the Maori artefacts, greenstone, carvings and some Maori buildings.

We of course left Wellington in the rush hour and spent a considerable time on the motorway. But little supper needed when we got back to camp. A rather unwisely chosen (before our tasting day) fizzy wine was downed with the last of the artisan cheese.

Off to Wellington when the Van Allowed Us – Mar 20

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Lazy day today, or so we hoped. Up late because no rush as the Irish bar did not open until 11 am and Rosemary wanted to retrieve her newly bought bird book. She had been in email contact and they had found it.

Everything then went wrong, the car key had vanished and after emptying the van we eventually found it almost where is should have been, but it had slipped down through a gap.

Then the van would not start, the battery was flat. Inexplicable, we had only been off power for a night. Surely the battery starting the engine is separate from the battery operating the fridge? The AA took ages to answer and they were going to charge us. The couple in the campervan next door came to our rescue and we swapped batteries and started the van. Put our battery back while the engine was running and we were good to go. Saved! But imagine (as R of course did) what would have happened if we had stayed two nights in the forest where there was nobody around and no mobile phone signal.

We drove into town, and parked. Rosemary walked to The Rose to retrieve her book, while I sat in the van with the engine running.  Book retrieved, we set off to see the cheese shop and model railway Middleton Model Railway & Cwmglyn Farmhouse, as recommended by friends in Kingswood.  This was a couple of hour drive, so batteries should be well charged by the time we get there.

Stopped at the Cheesery, bought the cheese and viewed the 1950s-set railway, complete with a model of Banbury, yes Banbury, station. Lots of buttons to press. R entranced by the minute ‘T’ gauge train and track they had on show. We ended up buying some aprons and a small model VW campervan to join our other one.

On the Cheese lady’s recommendation, we went to a nearby wildlife compound to see some white Kiwis. In the event we drank some horrible Cappuccinos and forgo the viewing of the Kiwis. A snap decision was also made; we were originally heading to Martinborough, but as we had done an extravagant all day wine tasting, we thought we would head straight on to Wellington instead.

Arrived at Wellington where we booked into the Top 10 for a couple of nights to get the washing done etc etc. We may move to the posh DOC site nearby for the last 3 days. Van holding up at present, but we are being extra careful of power use, now sitting in darkness in the evening and charging everything in the kitchen.  

 

Wine Tasting Tour – Mar 19

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Mission Estate

Today we went for a highly extravagant all-day wine tasting tour. We were due to be picked up at 9.15, but nobody came, so just before 9.30 I rang Odyssey to find out what was happening. We had booked after the office had closed and somehow they had missed our online booking. By 9.50 their Graham had arrived and picked us up. We were the only two on this trip, though we were to be joined after lunch by another eight who were doing the afternoon session.

Presently I am hazy about the six wineries we visited and brewery, it will be filled in before I publish after I receive confirmation of where we visited. In all we tasted some 36 different wines, so you can perhaps sympathize. Yes they did provide us with a list, it was the fourth winery which R and I have little recollection of.

The first place was Moana Park, a small boutique vineyard which produces wine with no animal products (finings are often being made from egg white or fish entrails). They also use the minimal amount of sulphur dioxide in their wines. It was a small place which produces only about 20,000 bottles a year. We loved the rosé and the white wine with the German sounding grape, Gewursztraminer. Turns out the grape has Italian origins. So much so that we bought a bottle of rosé, and Odyssey bought us a bottle of the white to compensate for the mess up on the start of the tour. Very kind.

The next stop was the Wine Museum, actually the Church Road vineyard in action, but with a museum documenting the founder’s wine making. Here we had another tasting of six wines, after a walk around the working winery, and a gaze at the museum. 

(I should say the tasting amount of wine is about a tablespoon in a big glass. You are encouraged to swirl and sniff. There was a spittoon at all establishments, but we did not make use of any of them.)

Our next stop was the Mission Estate which was founded in 1851 (they claim to be the oldest winery in NZ) by French Catholic missionaries & is still owned by the Catholic church. It is now is a restaurant and function room. Here we had an excellent meal, I had lamb with some feta and an olive paté.  Rosemary had chicken.  Included in the meal was a glass of wine (oh no!).  A Fantail bird chased amongst the vines on the pergola under which we dined, and a small cat stared pointedly at two fellow diners. After the meal we had a wine tasting. Quite out of character, we found ourselves buying a half bottle of a delicious dessert wine – be warned, Christmas guests.

Our tour operator arrived back, he had been ferrying the afternoon participants around. He drove us back to the first place to pick up the six Brummie friends and two girls from Melbourne.

Here is all gets hazy, and what is filled in is the result of diligent research

We visited TeAwa, and I can’t remember anything about this. (Rosemary claims she can, but she would say that, wouldn’t she?)

We then visited a sizeable vineyard, Sileni, that actually has its wine sold in the UK in Tesco and Waitrose. It was, I think, a Sauvignon Blanc. (I have a picture of the label.) A very reasonable wine.

(There was much wine technical talk of Gimblett Gravels (largish pebbles) versus a red soil, red metal, but my brain has failed to retain the information.)

Our final stop was at another very small vineyard, the Oak Estate, operated by a young German couple. It is their first year of selling at the cellar door. Here we stopped for a platter of cold meats, bread and dips, along with several wines to taste.

The Melbourne girls had elected to go to a brewery instead of the meal. So, after we had eaten, we picked them up, and some of us chaps had to inspect the brewery where I purchased a litre of very palatable, well-hopped IPA, which even R when sampled the next day.

Back at the campsite we went for an evening walk along the estuary shore looking for birds, disturbing a few white faced Herons.  Back at the campsite for our staple of cheese and Vegimite rolls.

 

Napier – Mar 18

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Napier

We left the campsite and headed to Napier. After the first 18K on gravel roads we hit the sealed roads and then the State Highway and made very good progress. I have great difficulty in keeping the van to 100kph on these roads and often found myself well-exceeding the limit with everyone else around. I think I am now over my initial problems with driving on the left. Logic tells me, cos we are on holiday and it is (sometimes) hot, I should be driving on the right. A right-hand drive car does not deter me, cos that’s what I’d be driving normally.

We stopped for a coffee and a stuffed sausage (how could anyone resist such a wonderfully-named delicacy?). It the Midway Café, where there were four tabby kittens. Rosemary fell in love with these.

Arrived at Napier and checked out a few campsites as we drove into town. The first one I had chosen was closed, washed out in the previous week’s floods. We found one which was decently near to town, but could be noisy as near an intersection.

Parked near the coast where there was a car boot type market in progress, didn’t buy anything despite the odd looking vegetables on sales. Then it was into town and a nice bookshop where Rosemary bought a book on birds of New Zealand. (Promptly lost a few hours later at the Irish bar.) We wandered around the town taking the odd pictures of the Art Deco buildings destroyed by the additional canopies and air conditioning units.

There seemed to be a large number of coffee shops and a distinct lack of bars. Eventually homed in on the Irish bar for lunch/supper and a few beers. Was nice sitting out on the street in the warm weather, (had started the day distinctly looking cloudy). I didn’t like the sign next to a clothing shop announcing autumn and the time to buy wet weather gear.

Back out of town to the campsite where we are parked next to the kids playground, hopefully none of the rugrats are around. R excited at the prospect of flush toilets & showers.

 

Thermal Wonderland and Taupo – Mar 17

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Campsite

We left our campsite, where they ask you to check out. Useful to do, cos we (ie Rosemary) could ask them to go through their lost property and retrieve the items we (ie I) had lost. My bar of soap in Rosemary’s soap dish (which she’s apparently had for more than 25 years, but once lent to me…..) was duly handed over.

We were heading South to Lake Taupo to eventually camp in a basic DOC campsite. These are free and said to have a toilet. We are very hopeful we don’t have to use our onboard loo; it looks too complicated to contemplate late at night.

Our first stop was the fuel station, time to get used to filling when half full, previously I have been running it down to empty. In some parts of NZ, some guidance suggests you should always fill up whenever you see a fuel station. This was a practice run.

We headed off to Waio-Tapu the Thermal Wonderland. First off was the Mud Pool with wonderfully eruptions happening. At the actual wonderland, there’s a walk around the various coloured pools and bubbling mud caldrons which takes around a couple of hours. In parts, the walkways were heaving with people of all nationalities. In between the selfie sticks (old hat), and now the steady cams for mobile phones, I was able to grab photographs of all the devil’s pools. It would be lovely to access the site when no one else was there, and to be able to jump over the barriers for some close ups.

Our next stop was Wairakei Geo Thermal power station. Impressive array of massive pipes gathering steam from the thermal sources and transporting this to the nearby power station. We drove up to the viewing hill to look down on the whole operation. Impressive that this was started in 1958.

Next was the Huka Falls and Rapids. Again the area was thronged with people. The fast-flowing narrow channel is impressive. What was less impressive was the power boat which takes punters close to the bottom of the falls. Less impressive because it didn’t actually get that close. We ate our lunch while it performed its antics below us.

We drove on to Taupo, glanced at a few shops. I let Rosemary out to take a closer look while I studied the location of our next campsite.  She came back shortly, empty handed.

Our destination for the night was the Clements Clearing campsite on the Clements Road in the Kaimanawa Forest Park. The road leads nowhere, as the Kiwis say it’s a “no Exit”. It’s a remote site, no mobile phone signal, no FM radio signal. There are various campsites in the area, this was the largest with, according to the DOC website, 30 spaces. There is a (very) long drop loo, in a v rickety wooden hut, a clearing and some heavy iron fireplaces around the place for you to build a fire. There was only one other group camping.  All were dressed in camouflage gear. The man eventually said hi and asked us what had brought us here. Turns out they were here for the weekend hunting Sika deer. His dog ran around at top pelt with delight at seeing humans. R thought it significant that the dog was called “Ammo”. The forest is an old natural one, but interspersed with private land which is planted with conifers. My intention was to stay here a couple of nights, but I think we will be off early tomorrow to Napier, R being fairly convinced that if we stay there for long, we shall come to a sticky end and no one will know where we are or what happened to us.

When we came to leave next morning, one final visit to the loo found the biggest flies I have ever seen in my life. I pity anyone who had to sit down on the loo with the flies flying up from the dark depth. (Poor R!) I later pondered over how a hole that deep could be dug.