New Zealand here we come

Putting Interlude to bed even in the rain 

We tearfully left Interlude in Fiji, we left her in a hurricane hole and in good hands after 5 weeks of putting her to bed, which means striping off everything that can be blown off. 

Off to the airport for our longest yet shortest passage of the season, the trip to New Zealand!  Karen had a business class ticket, which was great as she was allowed a guest into the lounge, a treat as the plane was delayed 2 hours!  So we started on some very nice Sauvignon Blanc’s of course from New Zealand, one must get prepared to try the local flavour.  Once we were boarded there was an even greater delay due to a lightning storm preventing them from taking on fuel.  So Karen got talking to the flight attendants and Cheryl got up graded to business class.  Of course everyone in the economy class was staring as Cheryl was escorted with bag in hand to the front, hummmm.  But all was good as then we started on the sparkling wines! Sure beats economy.

We had booked a 2 bedroom apartment at the Waldorf Tetra in Auckland so we check the airport for Bruce who was to arrive from Canada about 8 hours before and when we didn’t find him we hopped in a Taxi.  After an $85 taxi ride, ouch!!! We arrived after the front desk had closed, with no way of getting a hold of Bruce and we did not know what room we had.  So the manager came down and let us in and phoned Bruce in the room to make sure we are who we said we were.  Yup Bruce own up to knowing us.  After hugs and kisses off to bed for all.   Our 3 hour trip to New Zealand had become 7 hours, still our shortest passage of the season, for Bruce it was just over a 24 hour passage.

I don’t know what preconceptions we had about Auckland, but it didn’t include just how hilly it is.  If it is not up, it is down!  We walked into the city centre, to the ‘I’ centre (New Zealand’s information centres) and to the AA site (the road side assistance centres not Alcoholics Anonymous) and walked out with a mitt full of pamphlets and maps, AA card and an AA gas card.

Over our time in Auckland we did her proud!  We visited the marine museum, the highlight there would have to be the film on Peter Blake’s life and the interactive sailing games.  We went to the Auckland Domain, which houses the Auckland War Memorial, which includes the museum.  The highlights here would have been the Volcano room, showing a new volcano coming up in Auckland habour complete with the floor and the walls moving and the “Kai Ora” greeting we received from a Maori guide.  This was one of our first ‘ouches’, $45 to go to the museum! (okay not including the taxi from the airport)

We spied on the map that there were wineries just outside Auckland so of course we had to check them out, well worth doing.

Then we headed to south Auckland and stayed at a friend’s place (Jacqueline was a woman we met in Samoa.)  The place she is living in has the most amazing garden, so beautiful, so peaceful plus a pool.  From there we went to the Clark’s beach and the lighthouse at  South Head the western entrance to Auckland where the wreck of the Orpheus happened, NZ’s worst maritime disaster.  We also went to the Coromandel Peninsula.  It looked like a short drive, but turned into a full day of driving, pretty driving, but a long day.  Our impression of NZ is that is it Canada, but squished, this makes the roads VERY windy, particularly on Cheryl’s driving days.  So were we think a 100 km is less than an hours drive it is probably 2 hours of driving.  Which is OK, as for very turn in the road, there is a new amazing view… okay only for the passenger.

We headed south to Waitomo Caves, home of the glow worms.  Apparently every wet cave in NZ has glow worms, but these caves are LARGE, with amazing stalactites and stalagmites and an amazing number of glowworms.  There were so many glow worms that they formed a chandelier effect.  The second cave we went into was a 1.6 km walk, putting you inches from glow worms and amongst some amazing rock formations. 

From here we headed to Napier and Hastings, Hawkes Bay from a wine perspective.  Napier is known for its art deco architecture.  We did a self-guided tour and all agreed that it is cool, but not our style.  The wineries were a different matter!  The first winery we went to was called Clear View.  We had an amazing experience with this lady who was running the tastings bar so amazing that after a lovely lunch we left with a case of wine and a visa bill of only $500!  We stopped at a few other wineries, none topping Clear Views wines or the visa card was tapped out…who knows.  The next day we went to the neighboring town’s wineries in Hastings, some very nice wines, some beautiful look-outs and lunch in the car at a stream.  Another good day.

Then we headed inland to Taupo to stay at Harry and Karen’s, people we met in Peru. Yup if we met people in other parts of the world look out we may just drop by for a wee visit.  Their home has amazing views of Lake Taupo and Mt Raupehu in the background.  Karen dropped us off at a walk to Huka Falls. 

A lovely walk along the river and then this amazing falls.  It was amazing not so much because of the drop, because it is not a high falls, but the water colour, I don’t know, a whitish turquoise, beautiful!  Then we found out what an amazing cook Karen is and Harry on the BBQ.  The next day we had our geothermal experience! Led by a volcanologist and a published writer specializing in volcanoes, OK, that is Harry and Karen, seriously!  We got to ask every question we had been saving up!  Not to mention got to go to places that the public usually can’t go to.  And we even got to help the environment by picking Christmas Trees.  Pines are an invasive species here, so we all pulled up Christmas trees.

Karen and Harry used them to decorate their home, before they are disposed of.  Rather than being bothered by our questions, at the end of the day Harry thanked us as we made him look at the area through new eyes. 

We saw the first Hobbit movie on the plane.  We saw the second Hobbit in 3D in Auckland, Jacqueline took us!  (Karen’s first 3D experience.)  It was important to visit Hobbiton as Cheryl’s present to Bruce for Xmas was the tour of Hobbiton so next stop Hobbiton!  This is where the Shire from the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit was filmed.  The tour was 2 hours and while informative was more notable by just how tranquil the Shire was.  You can easily see why the Hobbits wanted to get home! 

Bruce and Karen's new home????

Shire

A little grog in the "Green Dragon Inn"

Back to Jacqueline’s, but just for a night to break our drive to the north.

North took us to a place near Opua, where we rented a house so we could have Christmas with Somerset (Carol and Jim) and Enchantment (Michelle and Vern).  The place came about as Vern was talking to a lady at the Bank and she was on vacation for 3 weeks and had a 3 bedroom place that she would let.  So we took it.  When we got there we met her, a lovely lady, but not a great housekeeper.  So she headed off to Auckland for Christmas and we started cleaning.  The 3 of us spent 3 or 4 hours before we cooked in her place. 

Christmas eve Cheryl did her Tortierre and the MacFee tradition of Brandy Alexanders soon began as the gang gathered for Christmas Eve , both traditions that will always be a part of Christmas for us!  And of course everyone else added a little of their own something.  Jim and Carol used one of the bedrooms, and stayed for 2 nights while Vern and Michelle drove back to their boat each day. 

Our presents were stowed under the Xmas tree!  A tree made by Jim on Somerset, an awesome tree complete with lights and it is portable.   

Look Santa came :)

Xmas morning we waited, sort of patiently, for Enchantment to arrive, and then we called, as at heart we are all kids and want to open presents!

Then onto the cooking.  A turkey, with stuffing!  Scalloped potatoes, with a few sweet potatoes.  A salad and veggies and did I mention the LAMB!  We are in New Zealand after all.  Awesome food, friends and family, you can’t ask for anything else for Christmas!  Not to mention Cheryl’s rendition of the Grinch.