Last weekend I rented a car and took a trip up to the Bay of Islands. It is a 240km drive from Auckland. I did my usual ‘gunk holing’ leaving Saturday morning and stopping along the way getting to the backpackers at 5pm. This time I had no Annabelle which was sad but I survived!

As I drove through Wellsford I saw signs for a christmas parade and indeed people were lining the street and they were starting to close down the main road through town. I drove on through and parked on the north end of town after the barricades. Wanting to try and get in a festive mood I sat on the side of the road with lots of families – the kids all excited about the prospect of Santa Claus and ‘lollies’ (sweets or candy). It still doesn’t seem like Christmas though as I have a sunburn and am in shorts and t-shirts all day :-). The parade was small but a noticeable amount of effort was put in by the community so it was fun to see.

Next stop Mangawhai for the saturday market where I picked up some packed lunch then a beautiful beach walk at Mangawhai Heads before getting back on the coastal road. The drive reminded me of HW 1 from Mill Valley to Stinson Beach. Whangarei is a commercial town but the Town Basin is great for boat spotters and there is an amazing second hand boat parts store which I ducked into to get out of the rain.  At Kawakawa I had to get out and check out the ”World Famous” public toliet and also watch some bowling.

At Opua I took the car ferry across to Russell and the Wainui Lodge backpackers both are small scenic towns on the shore of the Bay of Islands. The owner of Wainui Lodge had built the place himself he was a very gracious host and was very worried about my obvious tiredness giving me a lecture on taking time off! I spent the evening exploring Russell which is has a lot of history for a NZ town as it was the first capital of NZ and one of the first European settlements.

 I was planning on some tramping on the Sunday but everyone I had talked to said I must see the Bay of Islands from water. So I did the unthinkable and paid to go sailing (my clients should ignore this comment!). The owner was a Canadian from BC and between a few other crew including his daughter he made the day trip very enjoyable. There was a lot of wildlife to see – the dolphins loved us – and we went for a walk on one of the islands. At 5pm it was time to pile in the car for the trip back to Auckland so I would be back for monday morning work. I took the coast road around from Russell through Oakura to Whakapara. It was a very windy road and a lot slower than the car ferry option back to Opua I thought it would be worth the extra distance as it was meant to be scenic, it was but no more than the main road.

The coast of NZ is starting to blossom with color as the NZ christmas tree (pohutukawa) is starting to flower. These trees are trough and adaptable gaining a foothold in inhospitable rock crevices surviving being drenched costantly with sea water spray.

Mary Coleman owner of the Farr 40 Astra that I race in San Francisco with her partner Jim Forrest bought a penthouse condo on the beach in Puerto Vallerta. She kindly invited a few of us to spend Thanksgiving with her in the sun. I bought my ticket long before getting my 3 month job in New Zealand so it was a long haul to say the least to get there.

The catering truck ran into the Quantus plane in AKL the pilot thought it was fixed so after sitting at the gate for an hour and half he put us on the plane. We sat on the plane for 2 1/2 hours on the runway leaving AKL at 11:50 at night. There was a medical emergency in flight and we were met by an ambulance and fire men. Then when we landed in LAX the tow bar broke off the plane so they had to repair that before they could get us to a gate. Missed my connection to SFO so they wanted me to sit in LAX airport for 8 hours waiting for another flight – not my idea of a good time. Long and short of it was I got my flight changed to 8am the next day to Mexico from LAX so I didn’t have to go back to SFO and arrive at 11pm to leave early the next morning. Next challenge was to find someone to stay with in LA over Thanksgiving week when everyone is going away. So I started dialing for dollars as it were. Found a friend willing to give me a bed then had to figure out how to get to the bed! Again all the rental cars were booked with the big rental companies so I ended up paying a lot of money for a local company which gave me a dirty car with 140,000 miles on it. A far cry from the one I got last weekend in NZ which had 7km on the dial for less money :-). So off I drove down to Newport Beach.

5am wake up to make my early flight down to Mexico. This was my first time to Mexico (I don’t count Tijauna) but nuevo Vallerta is really just condo complex after condo complex on the shore of Banderas bay so I was in effect staying in the US. Mary, Jim, Magda, George, Bob and Terri had been there for the week so by the time I turned up on Wednesday they were already in local relax mode. Gus and Delphine came in the same afternoon as myself.

Mary had as usual planned everything beautifully and provided copious amounts of delicious food. Thanksgiving morning we went for a ride on a steam launch through the canals and saw all the wildlife including croccodiles, pelicans, dolphins and many iguanas. We had a typical thanksgiving dinner with a flair at a restuarant in the cobbled streets 20 minutes from the house. It was a warm night and there was the usual mexican band walking amoungst the tables.

On Friday we rented a boat for the day and went to a small fishing village along the coast there wasn’t much sailing until the afternoon when a little wind came in. The boat was a 30 year old beautifully restored wooden yawl built to take a beating. The crew was attentive and Gus, Delphine and I had a great time swimming from the shore back to the boat – a touch cold at first but you got use to it. We had dinner at a French place on the beach it was good food but we weren’t sure it was worth the two hour wait for our entrees!

Saturday was a lie on the beach and read a book day. In the evening we all crammed into the Jeep with two of us in the boot and went to PVYC for drinks. Then on to PV old town to Fajitas Republic a really good mexican restuarant on cobbled streets of old Vallerta. A stroll along the boardwalk was needed to walk off the food. There were fireworks from a pirate ship, sculptures, jugglers, all amongst the typical warm climate atmosphere where everything overflows onto the pavements at night. Delphine had cotton candy and then it was time to go to Mary and Jim’s favorite bar. I liked the bar because it played country and western! The also had a donkey – a real live one – for patrons to ride around the bar – we have some great pictures of Gus and Delphine on the poor donkey. Lots of margaritas, shots of tequila and in my case shirley temples later we made our way home to comfortable beds.

Sunday it was time to go home to San Francisco. My flight luckly left and arrived on time so I was able to get to Daniel couch in Marin in time for 8 hours of sleep. Monday I was able to spend a great day hanging out with my nephew who has learnt to walk and is very proud of himself. He wants to do it himself now and not be held back in anyway. Then it was off to the airport again for another 13 hour airplane trip back to Auckland, NZ.

by Annabelle Booth

The NZ weather has been good to us recently but we still do get days of drizzle and mist-you know its a grotty day when you can’t see the Auckland Harbour Bridge. This week-end, Ashley and I went to a place called the Coromandel Peninsular. It is a lovely spot and only 2 hours from Auckland. We did a walk up to a place called The Pinnacles, which is basically a rocky outcrop that used to be magma from a volcano. It is meant to take 3 hours to get to the top but we managed it in about 2.5 which was rather satisfying! The surrounding area is where they used to do alot of kauri log mining. You have to climb up steep stone steps on the walk which they used to send the pack horses up- I don’t know how the horses got up- some of it was very steep and the paths even went across rocky streams! The loggers set up a dam system which they used to send the logs down the hill. One of the streams was renamed Calamity Creek as it was very steep waterfall and all the logs shattered at the bottom…. They used the dam system to send up to 28,000 logs downstream- huge amounts!!

We spent the night in the Dept of Conservation hut with 40 others! The hut actually sleeps 80 and it was full- there were lots of family groups so it had a nice atmosphere. It reminded me of the walks my family used to do in HK. We walked down the hill, along the Billy Goat trail. We were very lucky as we did actually see a billy goat!

After the walk, we drove to Hot Water Beach and Hahei Beach where we took a sea kayaking trip to see Cathedral Cove. It was great fun on the kayak. Ash is an experienced kayaker but I am a novice- apparently I need to work on my technique which is not as efficient as it could be! The kayak leader heard of Ash’s experience and decided to liven up our kayaking trip by launching us from the beach straight into a massive wave- we did not turn over but it was a very comical/hair raising experience taking a wave full frontal! I was in the front, as I did not trust myself to steer the kayak, so got the brunt of it!!

Tonight, to save costs I am staying the night on the boat with Ash. The boat is 90 foot long and amazing- it has all the mod cons including air con, fridges, freezers, washing machine, dryer, computers, jacuzzi up top and some lovely guest cabins. The staff cabins are pretty good too. I am now seriously considering doing some sailing courses and trying to get a job as a stewardess on a boat.

This last weekend Annabelle and I drove down to Whakatane via the south shore of the Hauraki Gulf. It was a beautiful drive and we stopped at a village hall to buy some homemade cakes for lunch!

 We got to Whakatane in the early afternoon on saturday and checked into the backpackers and then spent the afternoon walking around town. We saw a Maori canoe, a cave that is special to the Moari people and checked out the enterance which reminds me of Morro Bay – there is a standing wave at the harbour enterance and lots of rocks. The harbour is long and narrow and on a rock at the enterance there is a statue of a maori woman.

 On Sunday morning we got on Peejay V a 73 foot custom built powerboat for a ride out the White Island which is 50km offshore. The trip was uneventful except for one of the passengers passing out right next to me – the crew reacted very professionally. The owners of White Island Tours have worked hard to create a great experience they have it down pat.

 

You are given a gas mask, hard hat and are divided into groups and get into the 15 foot dinghy that ferries you to the pier on White Island.

Below is from White Island tour website

White Island is one of the most fascinating and accessible volcanoes on earth, carrying with it an A grade level of scientific importance.  As New Zealand’s only live marine volcano, scientists and volcanologists worldwide are attracted by its unique features.
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The volcano is estimated to be between 100,000 and 200,000 years old.  However, the small portion of the island that is visible above sea level has been in its present form for an estimated  16,000 years  – evidence of a continually changing landscape.

 Walking on White Island is like walking on the moon.  Virtually no vegetation survives the harsh acidic environment inside the crater walls.  Instead, lush beds of yellow and white sulphur crystals grow amongst hissing, steaming, bubbling fumaroles.

 Giant mounds, remnants of the 1914 Great Landslide, dwarf visitors as they wind their way up to the Main Crater.  Venturing to the edge, they are greeted by an amazing sight – an immense crater, with towering walls shielding its spectacular lake and punctuated by steamy vents from which the power of the inner earth constantly belches forth.

 Neighbouring Donald Duck and Noisy Nellie Craters each have their own stories to tell and a view from on high.  Down below, bright yellow chimneys of delicate sulphur crystals enhance the alien landscape and lure the visitor for a closer look.

 In contrast to these natural features, stand the ruins of an old factory, the only human testament to the numerous failed sulphur mining attempts of days gone by, and now slowly being reclaimed by Mother Nature.

 Scientific equipment is discreetly positioned around the volcano.  Its activity is constantly being monitored by IGNS (Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences).  A seismograph, survey pegs, magnetometers and a camera all provide information on just what the volcano is up to.  Up-to-date images of the island can be viewed hourly at www.geonet.org.nz

 White Island currently sits on an alert level rating of 1, meaning she is always active, constantly steaming.  Misty, roaring, ashing, rumbling .

 Annabelle and I used our gas masks quite a lot the sulphur really does irritate your throat. The weekend was an exciting experience. Next time I think I will do a diving trip out here – apparently it is amazing as there are pockets of hot air escaping from underwater fumerals.

 We got back really late to Auckland on Sunday night ready for work on Monday morning.

 Hope you had a good weekend where ever you were.

I carried a 75litre backpack with the following items.
Cooking Pots
lightweight eating utensils
Plastic water bottle (used as a hot water bottle and a mug)
Sleeping bag
Shirts: Poly T-Shirts 2 long sleeve
Fleece: Lightweight Longsleeved Fleece Pull-over
Thermal Shirt: Longsleeved Thermal Top
Mini First-Aid Kit (moleskin & ibuprofin)
Matches and a Lighter (for lighting the stoves in the huts)
Whistle, Space Blanket
Ear Plugs (people snore!)
Toothbrush/toothpaste
Pack of cards for in the hut
Pen/paper
Longjohns: I never got cold enough to wear them
Underwear: 4 pairs
Rain Gear: I took my Musto foul weather gear and was totally dry.
Gaiters: Knee-high, cheap set (next time I wouldn’t take a set)
Lightweight fleece hat
Rain hat
Mini-Flashlight/batteries
Bug repellent (take lots the sandflies are nasty)
Zip-Lock Baggies for everything you don’t want to get wet and for carrying out garbage
Bio-Degradable Dish Soap (though the huts all had plenty)
Scrub Pad for Cook Kit (1/3 of a sponge with a scrub top – again the huts all had plenty)
Toliet Paper (the huts had them as did all the toilets along the track)
Hiking shoes (it is necessary to have Vibram soles (stiff) I prefered these over my full hiking boots.)
Sandals (for huts and stream crossings)
Hiking Socks (4 pairs as they get wet and don’t dry)
Salopettes (I took my quick dry mid layer sailing salopettes and they were great for hiking in)
Loose fitting quick drying shorts
Gloves: Windstopper Fleece (didn’t use them even in the snow over the pass)
One large emergency meal (just in case you have an extra day on the track like we did)
Next time I would take fresh ingredients for the 1st nights meal as the walk into the first hut is only an 1.5 hour stroll.
If you don’t have a rain cover which I didn’t make sure everything is doublebagged in black plastic bags in fact even with a rain cover this is a good idea.

 

On Sunday I drove Annabelle to Hamilton after the night at Waitomo as the bus trip to Raglan would have taken all day. Then back to Waitomo to pick up Lisa and on to Tongariro National Park where we were going skiing. It was the last weekend the slopes were meant to be open however, a quick look at the morning ski report showed rain not snow so we took our time getting there stopping at Rapid Canoe Hire a family run business just off HW 4 near Taumarunui. We rented a two person canoe for the afternoon and went over 5 or so rapids down the Whanganui River. The owners of the canoe hire drove our car down river meeting us at a road bridge – we took the car and headed south to Tongariro and they took the canoe and headed to their next meeting point further down river with the people who had spent all day on the river.

 

The canoeing was fun and reminded me of my school trip on the Ardeche River in France. Lisa was in the front and I steered sometimes more successfully then others through the rapids. It was sometime a challenge as it was quite windy so when it came to lining the canoe up to go down a rapid you had to take the nose off the wind at the right time requiring watching the gusts etc. At one rapid I could tell we were possibly going to lose it so I did a three point turn purposely grounding the front of the canoe in a gravel island then ending up going backwards and turning to exit going forwards! Another time we ended up doing a similar maneuver however, this time not on purpose – a little rusty on the canoeingJ. There were large amounts of pumice stone floating down the river so we collected pieces of the rock to put in people’s Christmas stockings!

 

We got to the ski slopes at Whakapapa Village in time for some snow tubing and after checking into Skotel (the highest hotel in NZ) just behind the beautiful Grand Chateau we went for a short but beautiful walk to build up an appetite. The national park has three volcanoes which are active hence the brochures and wall posters telling you what to do in the event of an eruption – Mt Ruapehu last erupted in 1995. Next time I am in NZ I think I will tramp the Tangariro Northern Circuit a 5 or 6 day walk amongst beautifully colored volcanic lakes. 

 

We hoped to do the Tangariro crossing the next day (Monday – a bank holiday in NZ) but the fog was dense and it was raining and blowing hard in the morning so we got in the car and drove till we found good weather at Lake Taupo. A short stop at Huka Falls where the water has carved a cleft in the rock and the water is beautifully clear and turquoise. Stopped along the road at the Bee Hive a store where you can taste different honeys just like wine tasting. Next time I come to Taupo I am going to bring my fly fishing rod and have a go at catching the world famous trout. Next stop was Orakei Korako ‘the place of the adorning’ one of the finest thermal areas of NZ it is relatively remote and therefore not packed with people. To get over to the thermal valley you take a ferry across Lake Ohakuri. There is a walking track taking you around large, colorful silica terraces, geysers and a magnificent nature cave with a pool of jade green water.

 

Onto Rotorua a very touristy town built in the crater of a volcanoe and the area of the most energetic thermal activity in the country. We had a picnic lunch next to Lake Rotorua and visited Ohinemutu ‘the place of the young woman who was killed’ a lakeside Maori village. There is a small historic church – St Faiths’ Anglican with beautifully decorated interior of Maori carvings, stain glass windows and painted scrollwork. Also a large meeting house built in 1887 which was unfortunately closed up however; we peeked through a hole in one of the windows.

 

The Bath House is a Tudor style building built in 1908 and it is set amongst very English style croquet lawns and rose gardens in the Government Gardens. We spent as long as possible in the museum there was a particularly interesting exhibit about the Maori Battalion that participated in WWII. We joined in on part of a guided tour led by a lady whose great grandfather was a mediator between the Maoris’ and Europeans casting a more personal light on some of the exhibits which were actually given to the museum by her family. More time was needed here but we had a long drive back to Auckland for work the next morning.

By Annabelle Booth

I have had a few exciting trips around the North Island with my friend Ashley.

Last week-end was a national holiday so we took a trip to Waitomo Caves which is a natural limestone cave complex.   The latent geographer in me was very excited by the caves!  We donned wetsuits, helmets and abseiling gear and then took a 4 hour caving trip.  I have never abseiled before so it was interesting doing it in the dark, through gushing rainfalls and against rock wall, which sometimes seemed to disappear from under my feet….   There are lots of glow worms in the caves- they are very cool creatures who burn more brightly they hungrier they are.  I enjoyed it but it was pretty scared at times.  We also managed to get lost down there!  The guides directed us and said they would meet us further on and  we missed the blindingly obvious turn and continued merrily through the cave!  Luckily, we soon realised we had made a massive wrong turn and retraced our steps…. 

I have all my fingers and toes crossed that we will not get lost this week-end- rather unexpectedly I have a ticket to walk the Milford Trek, a four day walk which involves 3 nights staying in a mountain hut!  It is meant to be an absolutely beautiful walk but it is going to be hard  walking plus it will be very wet and cold and we have to carry all our stuff.  We are flying down to Queenstown and then taking a bus to the start of the walk.  I am excited but also a little nervous especially as the weather has been terrible on the South Island.  They have had 2 earthquakes in the last 4 weeks, avalanches, gale force wind- it is certainly going to be an interesting trip! The huts also have rangers who help you along the way and ensure everyone is ok. 

After the trek, we are going to travel back to Queenstown and drive to Christchurch.  Along the way we will visit Milford Sound, the glaciers, Mount Cook and Geraldine (a small Canterbury village).   i can’t wait to hit the South Island as everyone says that it is really beautiful and is the real NZ.