Auckland, NZ - January 31, 2014

 January 31, 2014

BOTTOM LINE:
Toured Auckland

BACKSTORY:
Bruce and I spent the day retrieving Bruce's stored baggage, repacking, resting and preparing for Fiji.  We toured the waterfront area of Auckland by foot. The historical restored Ferry Building was quite a contrast to the swanky, popular eateries and night clubs.

Ferry Building

Auckland Skyline

The walkway gave a great view of the city skyline and the marina.

We were told that nearly every household has some kind of boat, so you can imagine the number of slips.  There was also a large stepped swimming area for locals to enjoy.

The ongoing rivalry for the America's Cup sailing races was explained in a pictorial board display.  The Kiwi's have a fierce competitive spirit when it comes to sailing and water sports. We actually got a view of one of the Kiwi vessels.

A walk on the waterfront would not be complete without sushi for Barb and an ice cream for Bruce! We met a group of college students from China enjoying some dessert after singing in a Christian concert.

fresh sushi

Christian musical performers

Back to Auckland Thursday - January 30, 2014

THURSDAY – JANUARY 30, 2014

BOTTOM LINE:

Walked to the Quarry Gardens

Transported to Auckland

BACK STORY:

We checked out of our hostel, The Bunkdown Lodge, but were allowed to store our baggage until we shuttled to the bus stop at 3pm.

Not to waste a day, Bruce wanted to walk and see the Quarry Gardens.  Peter, the hostel host said that it would be an easy 20 minute walk.  An hour later after hiking up and down hills we made it to the entrance.  It was hot and sunny out so the breeze helped to cool us.

It turned out that the area was a mined rock quarry and someone got the brilliant idea of beautifying it. 

Plants, retaining walls, terraces, creeks and a lake help to adorn a very beautiful garden area.  Local clubs have helped to donate picnic tables and benches for visitor’s enjoyment.  It is highly secured as they had an arsonist set two fires to the area.  Luckily little damage occurred and he was arrested.

 

Quarry Garden, Whangarei, NZ

 

Plants at Quarry Garden

Beauty among rocks

Upon our return walk, we caught the last of our Kiwi Experience bus rides back to Auckland where we began on Dec. 25, 2013.  We checked into our LAST hostel in the city around 5pm.  Once settled and cleaned up we headed out for a bite to eat.

Auckland skyline

Our room faced the street and was over an open air pub.  The hostels like to support the local pubs so once a week they do what’s called a “pub crawl.”  About 100 tickets are sold for about $15 each.  The group of 100, start out at one bar and move together as a group to three other bars for a total of four beers.  It begins at 10pm and runs until…lets say, I checked my watch at 4pm when the noise ended!  Many of the young people were to board a bus at 8am!  I am soooooo glad that our tour with Kiwi is O V E R!!!

Although this is an amazing country to visit and I would highly recommend the experience, I would not recommend how we traveled in NZ.  The good thing about the Kiwi Experience Tour is that we were taken to places that we may not have experienced on our own and we have had wonderful commentary along the way.  If you are up to traveling with young people (average age: 20years) who may or may not be mature/respectful and like staying in hostels that may lack private rooms, bathrooms and unclean kitchen facilities…then sign up!  

The next few days will be in transit through Fiji and onto home. Unless there is some compelling reason that draws my computer out, I will call this the end of our three-month blog to Australia and New Zealand. We are over the top grateful for this time and means to travel together. It has been incredible and filled with memories to last our lifetime.

We will be at home for one week before leaving for South America on February 16^th.  You are invited to check back at this sight to travel with us through another amazing part of this world that God has gifted us with!

Perfect Day Tour Wednesday - January 29, 2014

WEDNESDAY – JANUARY 29, 2014

BOTTOM LINE:

“Perfect Day” boat tour to Poor Knight’s Island

BACK STORY:

With a weather forecast of 71 degrees and clear, sunny skies we anticipated a wonderful excursion to Poor Knights Island.

We were picked up at Bunkdown Lodge where we were staying about 7:30am.  Because we were driving to another town, we had to catch a ride with the divers.  It meant a 2 hour wait before our boat was ready to leave.

When we got to the village of Tutukaka, we knew that we were in a special place.  It was gorgeous, right on a beautiful marina and there was an excellent café offering breakfast next to the dive shop.

I ordered creamy balsamic mushrooms on toast with an egg on top.  It was excellent and something that I will try making at home.

 

breakfast

We had plenty of time before we left so we walked around the marina and the shops that were opening early to catch any business from divers and cruise boats.

 

 

Our boat for the day

 We boarded our boat with the crew friendly and welcoming.  We had about 50 people traveling with us out to the Poor Knights Marine Reserve.  The area had been used by the early Maori natives and because of that many people are buried there making it a sacred place.  It has never been fished and people have never stepped foot on the islands.  Because of that the marine life is stellar…many species, which are not seen in other areas of New Zealand.

 

Leaving marina at Tutukaka

Although it was a sunny day with clear skies as we left the protection of the marina the rolls in the ocean became apparent so I just sat back, practiced breathing and told myself that I wasn’t going to get sick.  Thankfully I didn’t!!!

There are a couple of Island clusters out where we were going.  The main one is Poor Knights with the other named the Three Squires…very British?

 

Poor Knights

Three Squires

After slowly cruising around a small bay to give us the rules and lay of the land/sea everyone that was interested in snorkeling were issued wet suits and any other gear that was needed.  Yes, the water was a chilling 68 degrees!!!  Some girls from Sweden didn’t bother with wet suit and seemed very at home in the water! 

 

Ready to snorkel

Back of boat

I entered the water and immediately began swimming asking myself, “what the heck I was doing?”  Within five minutes the water between the wet suit and my skin warmed and I was glad that I took the plunge!  The clarity was incredible as I could see all the way to the bottom where scuba divers were! 

The snorkeling there was much different than tropical snorkeling.  It is more what northern California, Puget Sound or Maine would be…kelp and large granite rocks.  Colorful plant life grew on the rocks and the abundance of fish was breath taking…very large to very small.

 

Arch to swim under

 

Clear but cold water

There were caves and arches in the bay to swim in.  Some people chose to stay on board and watch the marine life via an under water camera.  Some people chose to paddle board and others picked some kayaking exercise.

Paddle board

 

Bruce kayaking

I was good for 30 minutes before I couldn’t feel the tips of my fingers.  My fingers seemed to have shrunk in the cold water and I was afraid of losing my wedding rings.

Bruce decided to warm up by kayaking.  I changed and went in for some hot soup.  Lunch was provided as part of the tour which all tasted good, especially the fresh fruit.

There were some elementary aged kids on the boat who were out in the water with the adults.  It was so fun watching and listening to their enthusiasm and excitement at seeing the world under the ocean for the first time.  One young boy reboarded the boat exclaiming, “The was amazing!” It was just precious to see.

After a two hour visit and everyone was back on board we pulled anchor and moved through the rock formations slowly as we heard facts and folklore.

At one point the captain took us into the largest sea cave in the world.  Rikoriko cave was huge and actually accommodated two boats inside at once.  The colors of the minerals were lovely shades of amethyst and sage against the aqua of the water.

 

Rikoriko, largest sea cave in the world

Inside cave looking out

There were arches and more caves, one of which had a light shaft coming through to light the water.

Poor Knight waterway

 

 

Mighty Pacific

 

Arch we drove through

Cave with light shaft

Bird life, flora and marine mammals all made for The Perfect Day!

Drive to Whangarei Tuesday - January 28, 2014

TUESDAY – JANUARY 28, 2014

BOTTOM LINE:

Leave Paihia and drive south to Whangarei

BACK STORY:

After packing our bags and storing them at the hostel we took off for a long walk to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds where the Maori Natives and Europeans signed a peace treaty and established New Zealand.

By the time that we arrived we found that residents were free and visitors were to pay $25 each!  We had such a short time before we needed to head back that we passed on the entry.  The tours would have taken at least 2 hours.

 

Waitangi Beach

Treaty Plaque

 Once back to Paihia we stopped at el Café owned by Javier.  We had stopped by for dinner three times and each time we were told that the café was closing. Today we stopped for lunch.  We had wanted to try the advertised Mexican looking menu.  We found that the owner was from Chile and was more than happy to share information about our impending visit.  The prawn empanada was delicious and Bruce said that his quesadilla was as well.

We took a business card and asked for the name of any cafes in Chile that Javier might recommend. We thought it would be fun if we visited the restaurant and extended well wishes from Javier in New Zealand!  We promised to circle back with a post card from Chile.  Fun!

We returned to the hostel where the Kiwi Experience bus was waiting for people to load their possession and grab a seat for our trip south.  We needed to load our luggage last as we would be the first ones to be dropped off in the town of Whangarei.  The rest of the bus would be headed to Auckland.

There were five young men that were waiting to load onto the bus that were not on the bus driver’s list.  The bus was full and had to leave them behind.  It is very important in traveling like this to confirm and reconfirm the pick up date and time with the Kiwi Experience main office.  They young men had not followed protocol.

We checked into the 1928 hostel that we had stayed at before…it was like being home again.

The Rock Day Tour Monday-January 27, 2014

MONDAY – JANUARY 27, 2014

BOTTOM LINE:

The Rock Day Tour

BACK STORY:

There is a relatively new tour offered in the Bay of Island called The Rock Tour.  The offering is for a day outing or an over night experience.  The Rock refers to the largest houseboat in New Zealand.  It is a salvaged auto ferry that has been converted into a houseboat.  The upper levels are the bedrooms and the lower level is for socializing and staging water activities.

We were picked up at the Paihia Wharf at 8:30am and shuttled over to the location of The Rock in the Bay of Islands.  The boat was waiting for us and welcomed us with a human arbor that we walked under.  We immediately felt at home and a part of the 18 passenger boat.  The four person crew headed by Ronan the Captain were warm and attentive offering breakfast, coffee and tea.

The Rock

 

Bruce and Cptn. Ronan

Inside the Rock

Boat bell

Ship lantern

 After pulling up anchor we were off to find a calm cove for snorkeling.  The wind was changing directions and building some swells in the bay.  Ronan found a cove and all interested swimmers were encourage to head to the back of the boat to prepare.  I asked what the water temperature was and was told once again that it was 70 degrees.  The wet suits offered were shorty’s Bruce wasn’t going to be left out so he borrowed a wet suit and fins to go with the mask and snorkel he brought from home. I played photographer!

Bruce snorkeling

Back of boat

On board I met and shared conversation with our first adult US travelers!!!  The husband graduated from Carlmont High School, a rival of my school.  The wife, Marsha was a clothing designer and had designed the “razor back” in 1967 while working for Esprit in SF.  They live in San Anselmo and were in New Zealand visiting Charlie’s brother.

Snorkelers were in within 30 minutes.  Bruce said that the clarity was about 10 feet and there was very little to look at.  He was asked to collect a number of sea urchins that would be served later for a snack (fresh uni!!!).

With everyone accounted for, the boat was moved to a beautiful beach on the northwest tip of Moturua Island. 

beach for the day

Across from us was Roberton Island that’s history holds a tragic death story of two Maori natives.  To this day no one knows for certain whether they were forced to leap or were pushed over a cliff to their death. (the light brown side of the island is the spot in the picture).  The father of the 22-year-old man, who was put in charge of protecting the natives turned in his son, convinced that he was responsible for their deaths and should pay for the crime.  He was found guilt and hung.

Roberton Island

The first activity on the island was to climb to the top of the island for an incredibly beautiful view of both sides of the island.  Indeed the view was gorgeous…in fact to view of the northwest side with a protected cove and the Hole in the Rock in the distance is my favorite water view of the trip!!!

There was a private house up from the cove in the trees that I would be very happy house sitting for the people.

cove at Mortorua Island

 

Pacific side of island

 

Speaking of houses, we passed an accommodation up on a cliff earlier.  The captain pointed it out saying that it was one of the most exquisite luxury accommodations in the world costing $20k per day!!!

While at the beach we were free to look for shells, relax, swim or play cricket.  Bruce was delight to try his first cricket game and loved it!

  

Bruce playing his first game of Cricket!

  










  


The sports of choice for New Zealand are rugby, cricket, tennis, sailing and fishing.  With all of the natural beauty and ruggedness of the country the locals seem to enjoy the thrill of a challenge.  The higher the risk, the better the challenge.  The adrenaline rush has to exist in the challenge, which is why sky-diving, bungy jumping, etc. are big here.  At times safety doesn’t seem to be a concern.

3 kinds of seaweed

shell rosette on kelp

Once back on board, lunch was served and we were off on our return trip to the wharf.  Everything had a lesson.  On the way back to dock they brought out the sea urchins that Bruce had collected.  As they spoke about the urchin they offered fresh uni to anyone willing to try it.

 

inside sea urchin, UNI

God was good in granting another beautiful day to enjoy the beauty of this wonderful north island.  Weather forecast had been for 40% chance of rain!

As we made it to the cove for shuttling back to the wharf a sea gull landed on the motor used for the inflatable.  The crew shared the story that the gull was rescued seven years earlier with a fishhook in its leg.  Once healed and let go, the gull returns to the boat every afternoon to just check in…and of course get any fishing scraps!  They named him Mr. Trumpie.

Mr. Trumpie