Auckland
We had a late arrival into Auckland settled into our
serviced apartment then went to the supermarket to buy some breakfast supplies.
As it was late, we didn’t want to go far to get some dinner. We wandered around
the corner into Chancery Square and after looking at the various eateries chose
Pocha a Korean inspires Asian restaurant and had an enjoyable snack.
The next day we were refreshed and walked down to and around
the harbour. We decided to go to the Art Gallery and managed to go by the most
roundabout route involving going through the gardens. If we had taken better
notice of our map it was just down the road from out accommodation.
We spent some time there as had the ‘Light from the Tate’
Exhibition which explores the way artists have worked with light in its many
changing forms. Plus, it was also very interesting exploring the art of New
Zealand. We had our lunch in their restaurant and returned to our accommodation
for a rest.
We then went to explore somewhere for dinner but it started
to rain so we grabbed a pizza near our accommodation and a bottle of wine went
back to our dry apartment.
The next day we went to Waikeke Island about a forty-minute
ferry ride from Auckland. It is known for its wineries. We initially to the bus to the end of the line
to the coast which was picturesque then caught it back and went to the Mud Brick
Winery for lunch. At first not sure if we would get a table as we hadn’t booked
but it all worked out well and had a delicious lunch.
We started to walk back to the ferry but it started to rain
so caught the bus back to the town and it wasn’t long before the ferry arrived
and we were back in Auckland.
Bay of Islands
The next day we picked up our car I decided we would go to
the Bay of Islands first, which was an extremely long drive, I’m sure we took
the longest most circular route. We arrived late afternoon and found great
accommodation Hananui Lodge and Apartments which backed onto the beach. We
stayed in a ground level unit they called the boathouse which had a veranda
with a beach view. That night we just wandered down the coast and had an
enjoyable dinner at Seaside Restaurant.
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| Bay of |
Russell was a former sin city, when colonists arrived in the
early 1830s lust and lawlessness prevailed with up to 30 grog shops operating
on the waterfront. Christ Church was built as a response to this. Maori chief
Hone Heke, who signed the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 was disgruntled over
government land dealings defiantly chopped down the British flagstaff, symbol
of the new regime on Maiki Hill.
We went on a boat trip around the islands, there is an
amazing 144 islands with the bay of varying sizes. Many are uninhabited and
some are privately owned and others are reserves. Captain Cook arrived in this
bay in1769 and gave the area its name. One of the highlights of the boat trip
is going through Hole in the Rock, unfortunately we didn’t see any dolphins on
our trip. We stopped for a short time at one of the islands long enough to have
lunch and an exploratory walk. Stunning scenery from the hill on the island.
After our return we checked out the shops then went back to
our room and relaxed and then went out to dinner at the restaurant Butterfish.
The mundane catches up like washing, we found a laundromat
and had quite a pile of dirty clothes.
On return from our domestic duties, we went to Café at
Pompallier Mission. This was on the site of the French Catholic Mission,
unfortunately the museum for printing and bookbinding was closed. We had a very
French morning tea and bought two filled baguette rolls for lunch.
We made tracks to Flagstaff Hill, which offered a panoramic
view of Russell.
We rested and had lunch then went to the Museum which was
next door to our accommodation which proved to be very informative about the
history of the area.
Lazily we went back to Seaside restaurant for our last night
here.
After Russell we decided to head south to Hamilton, I
planned to do a side trip to Dargaville where there was a Kauri Forest, but
changed my mind as it was going to be a long drive. Boy, was I glad we did as we
had to skirt Auckland not only was it pouring with rain but traffic was
travelling at a snail’s pace and took us over an hour before we could drive at
a reasonable speed.
Cambridge
It was still raining when we arrived in Hamilton and as luck
would have it there was no vacancy in any of the accommodation. My last port of
call was the Ibis Hotel, I was desperate, anywhere even a cupboard or a floor
would have been welcome.
The receptionist (a young man trainee) went to a lot of
trouble to help me and found us 3 nights at Homestead B&B just outside
Cambridge which was about 20 minutes away. I had directions, but as it was
dark, when we arrived in Cambridge, we needed further directions. It was
actually hard to find in the dark as it was on the side lead road to the
freeway, we so relieved when we arrived and happily had toast for dinner after
which flopped into bed. It turned out to be very enjoyable stay. On the
property there were alpacas, sheep, chickens and a cow.
We had booked to go to the Waitomo Glow Worm caves, The
caves and grottoes are sublime. There are thousands illuminating the roof of
the cave, the larvae radiate a bluish light and also ‘dribble’ a saliva string
down from their mouth and when an insect is caught on it then suck it back and
eat it. Seeing all the little lights on the ceiling was awesome. One had to be
very quiet while we explored the cave in a boat.
On the way back we stopped at the Kiwi House and had a quick
look around as it was near closing time. Kiwis are nocturnal and they are
housed in a dim glass enclosure and were lucky to see one, they are very cute.
Back to Cambridge we had a very enjoyable dinner at the Onyx
Restaurant.
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| Marokopa Falls |
The next day we decided to visit Marokopa falls which is on
the main road past the glow worm caves. It seemed a long way and we eventually
found the point of entry (not so obvious). It required a short fairly easy walk
to arrive at the fall. On the way back we visited. Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari,
again we were there late afternoon but were able to wander around it even after
reception closed. We walked through an ancient forest, the trees towering
majestically above us, we were able to explore various walking tracks,
unfortunately we didn’t see much wildlife but from the trees we heard the calls
of various birds.
We again decided to do a lazy dinner and get a pizza and a
bottle of wine to take back to our accommodation. The one thing to note the
pizza shop had many really weird toppings, which I think any Italian would have
shaken their head over.
