Christchurch

Finding the backpackers in Christchurch was kind of a challenge. The GPS navigation map for New Zealand lacks proper navigation on house number level. Combined with a large number of one-way streets in the city center you have a nice mix for a stressful drive. Anyway after finding the first backpackers it turned out that they did not have a dorm bed available, luckily however they contacted a colleague and they had room for the night. After an extensive drive from the Banks Peninsula, it was nice to enjoy a quiet evening at the backpackers. 

In the morning the weather was less then fine, it was raining a lot. So that meant that I could do some of the activities which I was postponing for a while. At lunchtime the weather the weather improved significantly which allowed me to walk into downtown Christchurch and see most of the important sights. 


During the afternoon Wybe called to confirm our meeting in the evening. As such my plans changed since i could spend the night over there. While driving there the GPS once again messed up and i ended up 12 kilometers north of Wybe's place. However after driving down the street I finally made it to his house. He lives in a rural area with the next neighbour at about a kilometer. It is a really fantastic spot in between Arthurs Pass and Christchurch. We chatted and enjoyed a couple of Grolsch beers and some Whiskey, in short it was a good evening. 


The weather once again improved in the morning, clear blue sky and an amazing view towards the southern alps. At lunch time i left for Arthur's Pass.  But prior to heading into the mountains Wybe recommended buying some Pies in Sheffield (voted the best Pies in NZ) and the Pies were really good. Driving up the first pass was impressive but the scenery continued to be stunning all the way to Arthur's Pass. 

After climbing up to Porter's Pass I made a number of scenic stops before arriving in Arthur's Pass Village. One of the stops is a popular spot for bouldering (kind of free climbing on sandstone rocks).  


Tomorrow I will drive a little further westwards and then return to the central south Island.

Akaroa and the Banks Peninsula

On tuesday the weather had changed again for the worst. It seemed to be another rainy day, perfect for traveling from Hanmer Springs to the Banks Peninsula (Okains Bay). The Banks Peninsula is a must see in New Zealand, it has some fantastic bays. The backpackers double dutch was recommended by both Wybe and Geert and Brenda, and to be honest it is a real gem. (Ton if you are still reading my blog then this should be a nice stop from sleeping in a campervan.) I can really recommend this hostel, it is actually more like a small hotel instead of a hostel. In the end I was the only visitor that evening. 

Prior to sleeping I went for a walk on the beach to see the sunset and the walk was rewarding since i found some fantastic Paua shells.

The next morning i visited the local museum, this turned out to be an interesting visit. I met a Maori wood carver, and he explained the differences in styles and how to distinguish them and link then to the tribe and the area of the country. Next to that the museum has a fine collection of Maori historic items. 

Another thing which you really have to experience is the Summit Road. This is a scenic road over the tops of the ridges surrounding the peninsula. The views are simply stunning, and are well worth spending some additional time on the road. 

Hanmer Springs, Spa Time!

Hanmer Springs is a mountain resort mostly for the people of Christchurch. In winter skying is one of the main activities, and in summertime the local Spa is a popular with tourists. Waking up an seeing the beautiful weather i decided to stay one more day and check out the Spa. 

The Spa has a number of hot pools some with thermal pools. The pools are similar to the Spa in Rotorua (I skipped that one). Initially I thought that the pools had all kinds of different colors depending on the minerals, but this is not the case. The pools are really relaxing and in the evening is was more tired then usual.


The Hostel owners Geert and Brenda are a nice dutch couple who lived in NZ for a number of years now. I started to chat with them about imigration and they invited me for a cup of tea. We enjoyed discussing this subject for the better part of the afternoon. Geert works in IT as well and he had some good pointers regarding which companies to contact. 

Next to that i ran into some dutch girls as well, so that evening there were more Dutchies then Germans, which was nice for a change.

Leaving Kaikoura and travel to Hanmer Springs

The next day in Kaikoura the plan was to head for Hanmer Springs. But prior to driving in that direction I had a nice chat in the kitchen area. A guy also staying there had an unrecognizable accent. He (Wybe) however turned out to be a Frisian already living in New Zealand for the last 10 years. We chatted about al kinds of subjects and he recommended a backpackers near Akaroa on the Banks Peninsula. After drinking a cup of coffee and exchanging e-mail and phone number he invited me to visit him. Most likely on thursday I will drive to his ranch. 

The seal colony i visited the previous day by bike had a viewing point which I still wanted to check out. Being there it turned out to be the start of a walkway around the peninsula. The weather was great so I decided to do the entire walk. In total it took me about 2.5 hours and halfway I enjoyed a nice Paua sandwich. I can really recommend doing this walk in case the weather is nice. 


As a result of the walk my trip to Hanmer Springs started later then initially planned. The road from Kaikoura to Hanmer Springs is a nice scenic road and has a couple of climbs with a lot of curves. The 125 km can be driven in under 2 hours. You pass through a largely deserted valley (no actual villages at all), which is hard to imagine coming from the Netherlands.

South Island Arrival & Kaikoura

On the 23rd I left during the morning to catch the 12 o'clock ferry to Picton. The trip on the ferry was nice and a welcome rest from walking and site seeing.

Yesterday the first trip on the South Island when leaving the ferry was south to Kaikoura. This town is known
for the opportunity to watch Sperm Whales and dolphins. Prior to arriving in Kaikoura i visited a seal colony
north of town. It was fairly easy to find a backpackers and to be honest the one i found is great. And the hosts are the nicest people. Based on their recommendations I had 2 wonderful meals of seafood. Yesterday it was a nice Indonesian interpretation of the local seafood (mussels, scallops andshrimps). Today I enjoyed a BQ'ed crayfish at the beach.

When I woke up the weather was absolutelly stunning, and while going outside I was in awe by the beautiful scenery. While arrivingyesterday evening the mountains where covered in clouds, today with hardly any clouds in the morning it was the best view so far. The day itself was amazing as well, due to my late arrivel I could not book a seat for the Whale watching. However with some luck I was able to board the second boat via the waiting list. The Whale watching was magnificent we did see a 14 meter Sperm Whale and on the return trip to the harbour we ran into a large pack of dolphins. Using a borrowed bicycle to travel to the local Seal Colony I combined the trip with the lovely lunch BBQ.    

Wellington and Kapiti Coast

When leaving Napier the Dutch Shop near Hastings was a nice for a change. I really liked buying some Chocomel and Cassis.The rest of the Journey southwards was less attractive once again it rained for most part of the day. Around lunchtime i passed through Danverkirke a town founded by Danish immigrants. After driving for most of the day i was happy to see parts of blue sky again on the south east coast of the north Island.

Maria and Paddy are living in a town called Raumati South, and a couple of more nice towns in the area have Maori names. Paraparumu and Paekakariki. One thing which is kind of big in New Zealand is growing your own vegetables, Paddy and Maria also have their own vegetable garden. On the first evening we went shopping for some local cheese (kapiti coast, name of that region).
They are quite famous for some of their blue cheeses, which we combined with a desert wine I bought at one of the wineries.

On the second day Paddy told me how to drive to the Paekakariki train station since travelling by train is easiest to go to downtown Wellington. That day the weather was nice with quite some sunshine. As such it was a good day to use the cable car up to the botanic gardens and then stroll back into the Wellington centre. Before meeting up with Maria at the station I walked down from the docks towards the Te Papa museum. Once again Maria cooked a lovely dinner with brocolli and feta cheese, I will copy the recipe in december.
In NZ it is quite common to have a desert afther dinner the most popular ice cream in New Zealand is called Hokey Pokey. Which is a kind of vanilla icecream with some sugar sweets inside. It is similar to L&P worldfamous in New Zealand. In the morning i was introduced to a typical Scottish breakfast called Porridge which when served with honey is really nice.

Day three had a rain forecasts so it was a good day to visit the museum, I can highly recommend. Close to the museum the Cuba street district is a good option as well. Lot's of good restaurants and interesting shops. I actually accompanied Maria on her trip to work, and the commuter trains are still ok, at the time when she leaves for Wellington. In the evening Paddy gave me a nice
introduction into Whiskey. He has quite a collection of Scottish single malt Whiskies. And the second one i taste was really nice, when I leave for the Netherlands I will try to buy one of those.

Napier, Art Deco & Wine Tasting

Napier has suffered from an earthquake in 1931 which ruined most of the inner city. As such the majority of the buildings were rebuild within a 2 year timeframe. All using a similar build style, art deco. On a daily basis you can have a guided tour showing all the Art Deco specifics. I joined in on the morning walk and the weather was fine, the sun was up early.

Wine tasting was set for the afternoon. We left from the I-site (local tourism office) and visited a number of wineries and the stunning Te Mata peak. The Te Mata Peak was the absolute highlight of the day, the 360 degree views from the top are marvelous, and with the best weather possible you could see extremely far.

Mission Estate was the last winery we visited and the oldest of New Zealand.  
After having visited 4 wineries and having sampled a large number of different types of wine it was nice but there was not one particular wine which i really liked.
Apparantly according to experts the Hawksbay wines are really good however the tourguide also said that even though a wine has won a price YOU have to like it. There was no wine which did it for me.


In order to cope with the wine I visited a Turkish restaurant for a nice meal. And to be honest it is really recommendable yesterday i enjoyed a falafel durum and today I ordered the Lamb and Chicken Iskender which is a really nice full course meal.To sum up Napier was definatelly a good stop on route to Wellington.

17th of October Leaving Rotorua for Taupo

Plan A was to visit the Kiwi encounter in Rotorua, this is actually right next to the luges and mountain 'kabelbaan'.
However then I had to wait more than an hour because the next show/visit to the kiwi's was fully booked, so no Kiwi's today.
Instead of Kiwi's Whakarewarewa village was the next on the list, this is an actual Maori village and one of the better maori shows. The town is nice and you can watch one of the bigger real geysers as well. (The geyser in Wai-o-Tapu is activated by using some kind of washing powder.)
Next to that I chose to have a Hangimeal, this is the traditional Maori way of
preparing food. They either use stones heated in a fire or the thermal heat to cook meals. As such no fat is added and they do not add a lot of seasoning as well. The meal was nice but i do prefer the euro/asian method of cooking.

While leaving Rotorua for Taupo I decided to visit the 'Hidden Valley' as recommended by Katia. And to be honest this was a really good experience, it was the 3rd geo termal site i visited and i can recommend to visit this one and skip the Wai-O-Tapu one.

The last stop before arriving in Taupo were the Huka falls (see picture). These are kind of rapids and the water is pushed through a gorge which is quite spectacular.

When I arrived in Taupo the weather was not the best, so i will not be able to book a skydive tomorrow. Which makes tomorrow a perfect travelling day towards Napier.

Rotorua has a nice smell

While arriving yesterday in Rotorua the weather was once again NZ's best, rain for most of the day. After site-seeing the CBD (central business district) i went to the backpackers(BP) which is also recommendable.

The evening was nice meeting all kinds of different people, guess what there was even an eindhovenaar. Anyway after a good night sleep, the weather had improved considerably and it was time to check out the geo thermal wonders around Rotorua. From a commercial point of view the BP owner recommended the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal parc. And if the weather would have been better the  Waimangu Valley was also a good (read better) one. So guess what when I arrived at the thermal parc the weather was really nice, some sunshine some clouds but more important no rain. And seeing the fact that both parcs where south of Rotorua and on the same highway i decided to visit the Waimangu Valley as well. And to be honest this was given the weather far better then the other one. First of all far less tourists, and much more beautifull scenery. BTW the picture is taken at the valley.

Rotorua itself is nice as well and has some historic buildings and a polynesian spa which I will visit later on or tomorrow morning. Now back to the heading 'die lucht'refers to the sulfuric gasses which are a result of the thermal activity.
It smells like rotten eggs, but luckily after an hour or so you start to get used to it.

At the first parc I met the first 'limburgers' and they mentioned that skydiving is cheapest in Taupo. That will be on the itinerary for the weekend. I wanted to do the skydiving however i was not shure where to do it. Initially i wanted to save that for Queenstown on the South Island but i might as well fit it in for Taupo.

Whakatane and White Island

Apparantly the aftermath of my synusitis resulted in a nice 'verkoudheid' which took me 2 more days to stay inside most of the time. However on a particularly nice day we went out to visit one of the prime spots to get an overview of the Whakatana area. One of the sites to visit is the active volcano on White Island. Initially i booked a ticket to visit the Island on monday however after some carefull consideration i have cancelled my ticket and will visit the island in december. Then i should be fine again and the weather will be better as well. Whakatane is actually a really nice town and the surroundings are stunning even compared to Gulpen. 

Whakatane

Traveling from Hahei to Whakatane was quite a drive. We passed through Tauranga and visited Mount Manganui which safeguards the Tauranga Harbour. Climbing this mountain was a nice change from driving, and it was a challenge as well. Chloe decided to continue her trip from Tauranga so i dropped her of near one of the backpackers in the Tauranga center. The last leg of the trip was to Whakatane

Yesterday i arrived in Whakatane at 18.00 to visit the relatives over there. Aunt Paula an aunt of my Mothers and her daugther Ina and husband John.
It was really nice to see the relatives over here. Ina prepared a lovely meal in the evening.

Today we had a nice shopping trip into Whakatane, the weather was not really that nice (again lots of rain). I bought another piece of Icebreaker gear, kind of a merino wool fleece sweater replacement. To be honest i really like the Merino wool clothing, and Icebreaker is producing a nice range of those clothes. So by the time i return to Europe i will have a nice collection. I can really recommend them for any outdoor activities, the only drawback compared to artificial fibers is the time it takes to dry the woolen clothes. You cannot tumble dry them and they tend to take a bit more time to dry than cotton clothes. But the advantages outweigh the drying time. You can actually wear the woolen clothes a number of days and they still do not start to smell. Which is one of the big advantages when travelling since drying can be a little bit dificult in backpackers. I sometimes even use the car as wash dryer with the AC on that works quite nicely.

White Island is an active Volcano on a small island outside of Whakatane, and I booked a trip there on monday so if the weather is suitable i will be traveling towards the island.

Hahei 7th of October

Luckily the shop is open early, time to buy some bread. In New Zealand the available bread is mainly toast bread.
And a typical New Zealand breakfast would include toast with some kind of marmelade and or bacon and eggs. Both are not necesarrily my favourites.

So I have come up with a alternative solution. In most supermarkets you can buy hummus and a particular good brand in New Zealand is Lisa's, they sell all kinds and i really like the one with kumara, second to that a one with tomato is nice as well. Actually all variaties from Lisa's must be nice, and I will try out a number of them during the rest of my trip. Next to the hummus nutella is also available, and once in a while salmon is nice too.

So much for breakfast, today I started by travelling to the ferry landing. The ferry transfers people to Whitianga, you would pronounce this as Fittianga. All 'WH'are actually pronounced as an F.

That is most i can recommend about Fitianga, it is like a kind of 'Renesse' in the Netherlands mainly focussed on tourism and not very authentic. The one thing i can really recommend is the Monk Street Market, they sell really good cheeses and a lot of other delicious organic products. Next to that they also sell a number of 'authentic Dutch' products like beschuit or stroopwafels and pepermunt.  
 
From Hahei towards the ferry landing shakespeares point provides nice views and a walk towards lonely beach. When i visited i was not lonely there were others as well.

In the afternoon we went to Hot Water Beach (see picture), which is nice to view humans perform group behaviour. At 2 small spots hot gasses mix with water and it is actually quite strange to walk in cold seawater and your feet are in hot sand. To actually participate in the digging was next to impossible because there were quite a number of people trying to create their own little hot spa. Anyway it was nice to watch them for a little while. The next stop was the surf beach next to the hot water beach. This was an almost deserted beach, but to be honest that was a nice change from the crowded hot water spots.

To top of the day we visited the Cathedral Cove a 2nd time, and honestly this is 10 times better then the hot water beach. This time we also took the side trips to stingray beach and gemstone beach both are really recommendable as well.
During our second visit the tide was a less lower than the previous visit which allowed for a nice walk to the other side of the cove. It is really an amazing peace of beach. In case Teus is reading this as well this could be a spot
to ask a particular question ;-).

Coromandel Peninsula

While leaving Thames i made a mistake so we made a small detour. Anyway after returning via Thames we continued to Coromandel Town, this is a nice scenic drive along the shoreline of the peninsula. Via the Rough Guide we found a nice cafe to have lunch, it was an organice cafe and they had good fruit juices and a nice Dahl. Via the 309 route (second option to cross the peninsula) we travelled to the east coast. It was mainly a gravel road however if you have time then that is no problem at all.

The owner of the Thames backpackers explained that Whitianga is very touristic, focussing on richer kiwi's who buy holiday homes over there. Hence it might not be the best spot to visit, however it is good for shopping. So we travelled straight to Hahei, which is close to both the hot water beach (tomorrow's destination) and Cathedral Cove which we already visited today, and maybe tomorrow again. Chloe (a french girl) joined for the ride toward Hahei today.


Tonight all shops in Hahei already closed early so the meal was kind of a combination of the things we had bought earlier. So we had couscous with guacamole and yellow kiwi's. Yellow kiwi's are really nice, i can really recommend them. 

Thames or a rainy day in New Zealand

The first day in the Coromandel Peninsula started with continues rain. And it has not yet stopped. So the main question is what to do on a rainy day in New Zealand. Well after finishing grocery shopping there is not so much to do. So planning the next few days (the weather will improve!!). After talking to the owner of the backpackers the plan to visit Whitianga is changed. Whitianga is a kind of 'valkenburg' which can easily be skipped. The next destination will be Haihu close to the Cathedral Cove and the Hot Water Beach. 



  

Day 2 in Ruakaka and traveling to Thames

In the evening Adrian and Rian proposed to visit the Pizza Barn in Waipu. This is the best pizza place on the entire north island. To be honest i can really recommend the pizza's and certainly the pizza desert. Which is to say the least just incredible.

In the evening the biggest boxing fight of the century (at least in new zealand) was on. Adriaan was invited to watch the match at his neighbour Bruce. So we went there in the evening and prior to the main fight a number of smaller fights were shown. Besides that we also watched parts of the cricket match between the UK and Australia.

When the main fight started everyone placed bets. And since i did not know anything about both boxers (David Tua (already retired) and Shane Cameron (the new guy) John gave me some pointers, so i placed my bet on David Tua.
After a little bit more than 1 round David Tua won the fight by a Mike Tyson style knock out. Actually the fight should have been ended already at the end of the first round. Shane Cameron did not stand a chance so his profesional career is most likely over. I guess you could call David Tuayson. Anyway due to this quick victory the end result proposed by John was among the winning results, so i won 28 dollars.



The next morning we discovered that I was missing my car keys (i drank only 3 beers). Luckily they were found at bruces around lunch time. Prior to leaving is was even allowed to feed little Keagan for a couple of minutes. Guess what feeding a baby for the first time that was really special. Apparantly i looked quite worried, but then again how often does it occur that you can feed such a little beautiful baby. After saying goodbye to Vaughn (Adriaans son) and both Adriaan and Rinda I left for Auckland, to extend the rent of the car which went fine.

A navigation device is really usefull so i am using my Garmin for car navigation purposes now. I did extend the rent of the car untill mid december at a favourable rate. And after quite a long drive (from Ruakaka via Auckland to Thames) i am happy to arrive just in time at the local backpackers. Tomorrow I will start my visit of the Coromandel Peninsula.

BBQ kiwi Style !!! then a weber looks like childsplay ;-)

Mrs. van der Veeken with her medals

Whangarei and Ruakaka

Thursday I visited Sien van der Veeken, she is the lady I met at Schiphol during the delayed departure. She lives very close to the Whangarei Rugby field, and she showed me around town. Whangarei is one of the biggest cities north of Auckland.

Mrs van der Veeken is a world champion in athletics at the master games in Finland. I will post a picture in which you can see her with all her medals.


We visited the Whangarei Falls and the war memorial, which is build on top of a mountain and has a spectacular view. On thursday evening  we were invited for a genuinie Kiwi BBQ at her daughters house. Her grandson Joel is an expert diver and he catches crayfish with his bare hands an other fish by harpoon. It was a lovely meal, with really nice company.

On friday my trip continued to Ruakaka which is 30km south of Whangarei, to visit Adriaan & Ryan Strydom. I met Adriaan at the B&B in Auckland, at that time his wife was in the hospital giving birth to their second son (Keegan). Vaugh is their oldest son (3 years old) he is a real nice energetic boy. He explained parts of rugby to me, and he also explained that South Africa has won the tri-nations tournament, and



Yesterday Adriaan showed me the sites around Ruakaka and we visited the local pub in the evening. BBQ'ing is part of the New Zealand lifestyle and Adriaan has a huge gas operated BBQ which replaces his Weber coal BBQ. Honestly the Chicken was superb, and I also learned a nice recipe for asparagus bread. Will try that the next time we have a BBQ in the Netherlands.


Today we went to the visitor's center at the Ruakaka Oil Refinery, this is where Adriaan works as a fire fighter. The refinery is one of the few in the world to be able to process lower grade crude oil. Actually the instructional video was really interesting and to me the factory resembles DSM/SABIC in limburg. But instead of producing plastics their main product is fuel, diesel and kerosine.

 

To be honest all the coastal scenery i have seen so far in New Zealand is fantastic. And lot's of kiwi's own their own boats and all out doors activities including fishing are part of their lifestyle.