Go West Holidays

Day 17 - Wharetutu B & B - Kina Ridge

2008-12-28T23:24:00.003Z

Wake early and watch the sun rise against the mountains. It's about 6.00 a.m. Why am I up- it's Sunday FFS?. Camera out and take in the view. A hawk soars over the valley looking for his first meal of the day, and so are we. One of Stan's specials.

We assemble for breakfast in the dining room that overlooks the valley. The sun is burning off any mist and the mountains are changing from purple to grey with pink tinges.

The house, the mountains, the beaches, the bay - awesome and topped up by two great BBQs and Stan's breakfasts.

Dusk - The End Of Another Perfect Day

Day 16 - Ferry Cross The Cook Straits

2008-12-27T23:00:00.006Z

Last Day In The North

I have been looking forward to today since we first started planning the holiday. The ferry crossing is said to be fantastic and we end the day at Wharetutu. If it is half as good as the web site it will be fantastic.

Woke early and drew the blackout blinds. The view across the harbour was still there. Had breakfast with Chris and Pat. The restaurant was busy with families mulling around. Sit down with cooked breakfast and observe the passing traffic. My conclusion is that the women with children are quite dowdy, whilst the ones without children look pretty and “fit”.

Finish packing and prepare to checkout. Our shuttle to the ferry is due at 9.30. We are late getting down to reception, keeping the bus waiting. Slink onto bus and keep head down as we zip through Wellington shorefront to the ferry port. Check-in is efficient without any hitches. Sunny day, so everything goes well.

Board the ferry and find seats. It’s an old ferry which has had several coats of paint – badly. But we are only on it for 3 hours and hopefully most of the time out on the deck. We ease out of Wellington harbour, which looks magnificent and slowly the north island slides away into the blue horizon. Chris and I take a tour of the ship to video anything that moves. Back at our seats we eat snacks and drink as it is a millpond crossing. As Picton nears we move to front of boat to get a good view.

North Island Lasting Thoughts
It’s time to mull over the trip so far:

1. Auckland – Nice city, tower impressive, standing on the glass floor 600 ft up is shivery Great views from around the bays and despite its size a garden feel about the city. Shopping poor by European city standards for such a large city. Meals good with the exception of the observation restaurant one. Indian was an unexpected treat. Explorer bus was great, especially the view of Auckland from Kelly Tarleton's country and western artic adventure.

2. Coromandel – Pretty and a cute beauty. Ferns were a significant plant. Thames will live forever in my mind because of the one track bridge and the Pak ‘n Save cool bags, planned before we left the UK and the best buy so far (which our beer and wine is in today). Cathedral cove is 10 out of 10. Dame Edna cooks a mean steak and Ray’s elusive Takapu wine is best so far. Train was an unexpected fun day out.

3. Rotorua - @94 great accommodation and little Julie’s home cooking was yummy mummy. Luge beats the mud pools as the highlight. Rundownsville and the River rats was a good day out.

4. Huka Falls and Taupo - Aratiatia canyon flooding an unexpected treat - awesome. Picnic afterwards opposite the "helecopter" cafe- sun shining simple yet good food washed down with usual wine and beer. Huka Falls - busy yet we found seclusion - how strange (not to be missed). Taupo - to think this lake was formed by a volcanic eruption - only God can comprehend. The view from Wills Place. A dog called Sand.

5. Napier – Only test match I have ever been to (even if it was for a few overs). Ordinary, but pleasant seaside town - prabably better when it opens after Christmas. Manicured vineyards and great meals in Med cafe and Charlie Chapin’s.

5. Wellington – Cable car ride not as good as looking at it from the observation deck with spectacular views from Mt Victoria Botanical Gardens . The most easy going capital city ever. Tasting Room meal and atmosphere on Christmas Eve - worth the trip itself. Christmas day picnic in the park.

6. Overall - Tidy lawns and public areas. Lack of crap and grafitti. Great food, super wines from NZ and Oz. Well stocked supermarkets. Polite People. Great beers and fellow travellers have been great. It's like 50's Britain in the 21st C. Hopefully the locals won't let multiculturalism and mass immigration spoil its charm. Scenery, not as dramatic as I thought it would be, but nevertheless fantastic so far.

Marlborough Sounds

Land creeps into view and we wend our way through the sounds and slowly towards Picton. More photo opportunities. The low(ish) hills on each side are tame compared with the ferry rides in Norway, but the weather is ten times better and we have the South Island’s treasures to explore.

Picton

Picton harbour comes into view. I had envisaged a mini Dover harbour, but this was more like some sort of dopy fishing village in Devon. We disembark at a leisurely pace and head for the "Dick Turpin" car hire offices. We are greeted by a middle aged lady who takes down our details and relieves us of more loot before we can load up our next hire car (wharf surcharge and NZ$25 per day for full comp!!!). It’s another Toyota Highlander, only this time it’s in grey. It’s a slightly older model than the gold bus in the north island, but the velour seats are better than the leather job in the North Island.

Nelson – Richmond

Pat is driving and we head for Nelson. We drive through rugged countryside onto the shores of the Tasman bay. Nelson- a beautiful city, but our thoughts are on Wharetutu and our BBQ that night. We spot a New World after several trips around the town. Foraging for food is a delight in NZ supermarkets as there is a great selection and good quality. The sausages are especially good for supermarket fare. We stock up our Pak ‘n Save coolbags and head off towards Richmond. The land flattens out as we swing north off Highway 6 onto highway 60. It’s a pleasant 30 mile drive and soon Kina Penninsula is in view on our right. We turn off towards the bay and immediately the Wharetutu house sign is in view.

View Larger Map

Wharetutu

There is a short, unmade road which soon becomes a steep incline to the house - the silver bus eats the hill and we pass behind the house and into the driveway. Wow! The house is built in black wood with large floor length windows. Purpose built by the owners Stan and Jenny it is something out of “Grand Designs”. Stan welcomes us and shows us around our spacious accommodation and outside facilities, which includes a swimming pool and jacuzzi.

We unpack and inspect our new home. Modern bedroom, well appointed with flat screen TV. En suite is excellent and gets good marks from Coleen. Through the pation doors we can see snow capped mountains with the late afternoon sun giving them a milky haze above the dark valley and smaller foothills nearby with their vineyards. We explore the rest of the house. Stan has switched on the mood music, which can be themed for the time of day – cool. The lounge is modern and well fitted (even though we don’t use it). The dining room has a long table facing the floor to ceiling windows overlooking the stunning view. There is a microwave and fridge, which we stock up before going outside and exploring the landscaped gardens and pool area.

BBQ is fired up and another great meal devoured with some usual fantastic wine. Spend evening on the patio, talking and watching the mountains change as the sun drifts behind them, finally turning them to deep purple before it too has to go to bed. Back inside Stan has changed the mood music and set the lighting so the glass lined corridor is now lit by energy efficient LED lights.

The Sky At Night

Time for bed but the inky, black night sky is bewitching. Venus is at its closest point to Earth for many years and glows like a beacon in the evening sky long before sunset and afterwards is like a bright jewel. This is probably what The Three Wise Men saw over Bethlehem (unless it was Jesus' halo). There are no street lights or nearby large cities so the sky is black and milky way is just as I remember it when a child – but with different stars. We easily spot the star formation called the Flounder used by the ancient Polynesian travellers as a navigation aid. It is shaped like the fish and is a hazy white colour. After some time we go back throgh the patio doors to bed.

Slept well.

Day 15 - Two’s Company

2008-12-26T23:12:00.019Z

26th December – Boxing Day

Pat and Chris plan to spend the day with one of Chris’ old friends, so we would explore on our own today.

"Boxing Day was traditionally a day on which the servants had a day off from their duties. Because of this the gentry would eat cold cuts and have a buffet-style feast prepared by the servants in advance. " As we had no servants we had to make do with the Duxton’s buffet-style breakfast.

Cable Car and Botanical Gardens (Again)

Packed our Animal rucksack and headed off for the sights of Wellington. The sun was shining and we were bouncing along. In contrast to Christmas day most of the shops were open and the streets were full of people. A bookstore has familiar titles, but surprisingly Jamies Oliver seems popular here. Hopefully, the Fecking chef doesn't start selling his stuff here as well!. We reached the lower cable-car ticket office and paid the NZ$3 fare and boarded the quaint red train. Video camera at the ready to record the journey, disappointment was in order as most of the lower journey is through tunnels.

Out into the open and a stunning view over Wellington.

We do the tourist stuff and visit the cable car museum (free entry) and gift shop. We stroll through the gardens and down to the main shopping centre/ commercial district. Along the way we stop and marvel at the Tui birds in the Christmas trees, with clicks and cackles and the ability to mimic other birds like the Bellbird and human voices and even mobile phone rings. The unusual possession of two voiceboxes enable the Tui to perform their comprehensive repertoir.

We get lost, which must be difficult in such a small city. Starbucks to the rescue, where we drink coffee and get our directions sorted out: Flat white and latte please.........

Lunch and Sleep It Off

We return to the hotel for lunch in our room, the view is worth every penny. Out again for a stroll along the side of the harbour we missed yesterday. We visit The Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa along with 10,000 kids, their parents, aunts, uncles and grannies. The huge squid is a big attraction. We take a quick look and head for a child free zone outside. Further along we find a small beach and rest our eyes while sunbathing. It’s hot and we need a drink. A seaside bar beckons and we try their beer and white wine. Sitting in the bar we can see across the beautiful bay at Wellington. Must have walked 6 miles today.

Indian and Pictures
There is a cinema complex called the Reading Courtenay near to the hotel, so we check out what is on before heading for our room.

The film we want to see is not on until late evening, so we find an Indian restaurant and enjoy a great meal washed down with wine and beer. It seems strange going to a late night screening in daylight on Decmeber 26th. Ready for the film, The day The Earth Stood Still disaster sci-fi with Keanu Reeves as an Alien who saves the world with eye candy provided by Jennifer Connolly. Since Bruce Willis retired from saving the world the good guys don't seem as believable anymore. Pretty unforgettable film, but it filled in the day nicely in what was a strange Boxing Day that turned out to be a very pleasant and unforgettable one.

Day 14 - Christmas Day

2008-12-25T23:50:00.012Z

25th December

Drew back curtains to a view across the harbour and a bright sunny day. It’s going to be hot – all Christmas days should be like this. Odd feeling of nothing to do, no turkey to check in the oven, or wake the girls at about 10.30 etc.
Breakfast – eat a hearty one and did a magpie job for our picnic lunch.

Wellington On Foot

Joined up in the lobby and headed for the town centre. A few people were also wandering around, mainly tourists like us and a few essential workers. Shops and cafes closed. We headed for the Lambton Quay area to try the cable car to the top of Victoria Mount and the Wellington Botanical Gardens – closed. The buses were running and were free for the day, so we took one to the bus station, then one to the botanical gardens entrance. Uphill and into the gardens which are a haven of tranquillity with trees ranging from redwoods to the ever present Christmas Trees with their brilliant red flowers. A leisurely stroll around the closed facilities (fortunately the toilets were open) and back down through the gardens to a lawn overlooking a rose garden type area, where we had our picnic lunch and some alcoholic refreshments. The grassed area had many families out for the day enjoying the sun, eating their picnics and playing games.

We checked out the rest of the gardens and headed for the Parliament buildings, set in beautiful open spaces. The Norma Foster designed beehive building is impressive for how it fits in with the surroundings. Across the lawns sits the Anglican Cathedral of St Paul. Completed in 2000 it is an ugly pink concrete building with little to commend it to new Zealand’s architectural heritage. However, I am sure the worshipers love it.

Harry Potter's Railway Station

Photo shoot over we head down to the harbour via the magnificent railway station. Pat and Chris take a rest while we explore the internals of the station. Out again and off along the harbour front. The refurbished harbour front is full of promenading families and couples. An ice-cream van is serving coffee, but it is as dear as the coffees in the hotel, and it's in paper cups. It’s 5 o’clock so we go back to the hotel for a couple of drinks then get ready for our Christmas Dinner.

Christmas Dinner

7 o’clock - Met in bar and get in some practice rounds before the big event. The dinner is a sedate affair with about 70 guests. Not a great Christmas party feel to the place. Crackers and the usual Christmas musak playing George Michel, Cliff and Jona Lewie’s “Stop The Cavalry” the only outward signs that this was not a Round Table get together. It is still daylight as we tuck into our starters – prawns on a crisp base. The main course was Cervina (NZ Venison) cooked to perfection then a large range of puddings from the buffet. The chef cooked Coleen 2 creme brulees. The cheese board was limited, with the blue cheese the only one of note. The wines were excellent. Considering it was Christmas day the meal price of NZ$110 each was good value (excluding wine).

Warm Down Session In The Bar
Finished in the bar with brandy and coffees. Most of the diners went straight to bed (10.p.m. must be Americans). A Dutch family were in the bar and we spent some time with them. The husband had been the catering manager at the Duxton 18 years earlier. They said little at the hotel had changed in the ensuing years.

ET Phone Home
Spoke to Emma and Maria. Weird talking to them when our Christmas Day is nearly over. Also phone my brother Frank and spoke to Anne (his wife) as well. They are getting ready to start the day.

Day 14 - Christmas Eve

2008-12-24T21:40:00.009Z

24th December - Watch Santa Packing the Sleigh

Overnight torrential rain - very welcome by the locals as there has been a bit of a drought. Proper tourists hate rain. We wake to rain, get dressed to rain and go down to breakfast to rain. Rain, rain go away and come back to Napier when we have gone. Breakfast was like the day before - awsome spread. We take our fill and return to packing.

Leaving on a Wet Plane
The gold bus is retrieved from the car park opposite and parked outside as we fill it to the gills. Judy and Colin are about and we chat to them about our next destination as they are also leaving today for Wellington as they have family there. They are much more friendly as we leave than when we arrived.

Horseman Cafe - GF Food

All aboard the gold bus. The rain lashes down as we head out to Hastings and the road to Wellington. The rain persists all day. Our first stop for physical relief and refreshments is the Horseman Cafe in Shannon a small town south of Palmerston. The rain does not ease. The cafe is crowded with people going away on holiday, doing what we are doing. Amazingly, they have gluten free food, so Coleen is happy and the coffee is excellent.

Virtual Lord of the Rings Tour
Back out into the driving rain and onwards to the Duxton Hotel in downtown Wellington. As we near Wellington, Chris wants to try a Lord of the Rings diversion, but heavy rain, mist and a narrow mountain road conspire to blot out any vistas, but enhances the Highlander’s 4WD prowess. The narrow, winding descent from the hidden LotR mountains and we are back in civilisation (holiday traffic jams in Wellington suburbs). Time to top-up the tank, otherwise the Dick Turpin Car Hire Co will charge us treble rates for doing the same thing.

Wellington - A Capital Place

The rain has eased as we enter Wellington. A pretty, hilly, spread-out city. The Duxton Hotel is easy to find, but parking space to offload our luggage is at a premium. We park in a no-waiting area and decamp. As the gold bus is being handed back we have vittles as well as travel gear to take to our room. The large ice bags from the Thames Pak 'n Save are well stocked with wine, beer and some food.

The Duxton Hotel
The Duxton is good quality hotel which is located centrally, which will suit our carless Christmas break. Like so many business type hotels it has no soul, electronic card access, two women and a dog reception and a first floor bar and restaurant that is funereal quite and very unchristmaslike (and we have booked our Christmas dinner here for tomorrow!). The porter takes the laded baggage trolley and we hump 200 kg ruck-sacs to our rooms. Room 914 - great view over the harbour. Ten out of ten view and location.

Chris and I return the gold bus to Dick Turpin’s HQ. A slim, good looking oriental girl books in the car and checks it over, gives us maps of the City and advice for the ferry. Her mini skirt would make a crow blush, let alone two grizzly bears from England. We walk back to the Duxton through shopping streets still alive with last-minute shoppers.

Tasting Table - Ace Food and Atmosphere
Hunger and thirst are never far away, so we meet in the bar, then make our way to a restaurant Chris has found in a guide, The Tasting Table. It’s a short walk from the hotel. The weather has changed for the better and clearing skies bode well for Santa’s big day. The streets are splattered with early evening revellers, though I suspect most are people still drinking after leaving work. The Tasting Room gastro-pub is heaving with young people having fun and making the most of the great drink and food on offer. Our waitress finds us a table and we order drinks. We must be the oldest group in the place, but don’t feel out of place. Food is ordered and the chef checks the Gluten Free fare on offer. I have pate and hot roll, followed by fish and chips and good beer, (If Carlsberg supplied the beer batter they would probably be the best fish and chips in the world - and they are). The chef comes from Manchester – I’ll bet he’s a City supporter because they have more flair than United. Service, food, beer and friendly place – makes it a must for any traveller to Wellington.

Waiting For Santa
Back to the Duxton a few drinks and off to bed. Out of our hotel window we can see ships moving in the harbour. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Day 12 - Dave's Birthday

2008-12-23T21:08:00.027Z

23rd December – Napier Hawkes Bay

The sun is shining, it’s going to be another belter and it’s my birthday. Coleen has brought birthday cards with her. I open them and then we join Pat and Chris for breakfast. The dining room looks onto Marine Parade. A feast fit for a king, it is a continental breakfast with attitude. Cereal, fruit, juices, breads, pastries in a beautiful, airy Edwardian style. We eat or fill and plan the day. We have booked a wine tour with Vince’s World of Wine at 12.45, so plenty of time to kill.

Back at the room. Coleen calls Emma then Maria on the mobile. Amazingly it is only NZ$2 per hour, cheaper than calling them at home on a mobile. From our zero rated balcony view I have spotted a sports stadium so I head off with video camera to see what it’s all about.

McLean Park Cricket Ground
It’s a short walk along mainly deserted streets, over the railway line and through pleasant suburbs to find a dribble of people heading towards the stadium. New Zealand Black Caps are playing the Windies in the final day of the final test of the series. I have never been to a test match and there is one here on our doorstep. I managed to get in through a service door where trucks are unloading beer and other less vital supplies. The match is due to start soon, but there is only a smattering of spectators. It is an ideal place and day for watching cricket. BBQ on the grass, with a few cold beers and hopefully some good cricket. I film various activities, aware that I have to be back at base to get ready for the wine trip. Enough time to see start of play and few overs before strolling back through the suburbs to the beach front. Back at Manor on Parade, Coleen is still on the phone, so I get ready for the tour.

Vince's World of Wine Tour

We meet Pat and Chris at the information bureau where tame Maoris are doing a local dance and playing music. Others mill around, waiting for tour buses and guides like passengers in an open air bus terminal. Vince Picone and his wife arrive in the “safari” buses and we pile in. There are about 12 people on the tour. I have to sit in the front like some sort of dumb courier. Vince is a joke-a-minute guide to the area. Beneath the funny exterior is a guy who knows his wines and and is proud of the local achievements. I enjoy wines and don’t much take an interest in the history and chemical hype of wine making. Our whistle-stop tour takes in vineyards with young men and women giving us the quality stuff about their own places of work and proud they all are, followed by a quick taste and spit before moving on. One particular place I liked was a modern, shed-like building fronting a vineyard that sold pottery, olive oil, etc, oh, and some wine. Coleen bought olive oils for her and girls, Pat and Chris bought some wine.

Cricketers Inn Longparish Hampshire

The tour finished by visiting a vineyard where the salesman , “expert” was born and raised a few miles from our home back in the UK in Longparish near the small Hampshire town of Whitchurch.

Coleen befreiends a dog - nothing new here. On the way back Vince sells us a restaurant called Charlie Chaplin’s. Odd place run by a Chinese couple. They did not understand Gruten Flee food, but allowed Coleen to inspect the freezer to see what the contents of the frozen chip bags said. I enjoyed the steak which was one of the best I have tasted. Coleen was not impressed. We left early and went to bed at about 10.00. pretty early for a birthday bash, but we did have a long drive ahead.

Day 11 - Taupo - Napier

2008-12-22T00:41:00.009Z

December 22nd - Breakfast the Trees

View From Bedroom

Another fine day. Our bedroom patio windows look out across the lake. We bumble about until called up for breakfast with Jill and Brian. The upstairs is a pleasant open plan kitchen dining area opening onto a terrace overlooking the lake. I wonder if you can get fedup with such a view. Their grandson is staying with them, typical youngster - playing on the computer all the time.

Full English with toast, jams, juice and coffee. Brian and Jill give us a potted history of the area and fill us in on their background. Brian is of of Cornish descent. Under the quaint old English system, the family farm was left to the eldest son and others in the family had to make their way in the world. His grandfather headed to New Zealand. Quite daunting for such people in those days of steamship travel and little chance of returning. Brian and his brother John started their own farm near the coast about 40 miles from Napier (our next stop), clearing the trees and scrub by hand to create a farm for their families. His brother still lives there and has created a famous arboretum. The farm is now run by the next generation. Brian gives us a leaflet on the arboretum – nice sales pitch.

Pak 'n Go

It’s getting late and we pack and leave by 10.30. Back to Taupo - great views of the lake. At the nearest town we stop in a New World supermarket for petrol. Fuel is cheap here so driving a four wheel drive is nowhere as expensive as in the UK. The girls like New World as we get fuel coupons with our supermarket purchases (bit like Tesco at home).

Arboretum

We head for Taupo and then onto the S5 to Napier. Unspectacular scenery, but good camping country. We make good time as the roads are deserted and decide to visit the arboretum ( told you it was a good sales pitch by Brian). The road to the farm is a four mile dirt road. The holiday period does not kick in here until Christmas, so our arrival in the car park increases the number of parked cars by 100%. We park near to a yellow tractor. No need for parking wardens here.

All out and into the shop/cafe, where Brian’s sister-in-law, Fiona comes out to serve us. We tell her how we came to find them and she gives us an embellished version of clearing the brush and building the farm. The place reminds me of tourist attractions I visited in Africa in the 1980’s, old fashioned, pleasant, unpretentious, god awful local art for sale everywhere and pleasant service. We had coffee and I tried the nut and treacle slice. Brilliant, I must have been hungry as I don’t normally like treacle tart.

Paid our dues and set out on the garden tour. We are allowed to take the family dog, a Pharaoh hound called Sand. He seemed to know his way round. So he should, he lives there. The gardens were extensive with a wide variety of plants and trees all planted by Fiona’s husband. Kew gardens it was not, but we enjoyed the walk with a stop at the “chuck” house a coop with loads of chickens clucking about . The most amazing hydrangeas grow here in giant form.

We are spread out in our tour and arrived back at the shop in dribs and drabs. Coleen first then me, so we had a cup of tea. Fiona told us the farm story once again and we listened attentively. Lovely people, pity there aren’t more Fionas, Brians and Jills around as the world would be a better place (we never got to meet John).

Late lunch picnic in the car park. The yellow tractor has gone, so we won’t have to queue to get out of the car park.

Off To Napier

We come down from the pine forested hills to miles of landscaped, manicured vineyards before hitting Napier itself. I have never seen such tidy farms anywhere in the world. Napier is big, bland and a disappointment considering it calls itself the “Art Deco Capital of the World”. The tourist blurb goes something like “Internationally recognised as representing the most complete and significant group of Art Deco buildings in the world”. It does nothing for me, but neither does the Gillett building in West London or the Hoover building on the A40.

Manor On Parade

Our B&B is easy to find as it is on the seafront on Marine Parade. It is a beautiful building built in 1906 and one of the few building to survive the 1913 earthquake. we park up outside and unload. The house has a pleasant Edwardian feel to it. Downstairs guest lounge and our bedrooms and bathrooms on the first floor. Pat and Chris are at the front looking down onto the seafront - 10 out of 10 for the view. It's a spacious and well appointed room. Our's is less so, smaller with an outlook over a motel car park - the view gets a fat zero in the later evaluation of the accommodation. We do have the advantage of a large balcony, which we test out with a few beers before going out for a meal. Chris has noticed in the booking in terms that soiled bed linen will be charged. For the first time we have to pay for overnight parking - must be an Engish mayor trying to up the council revenue.

Eating Out

The season starts in a couple of days, but the town is deserted on our foray to find a meal - like a Dollar film before Clint Eastwood rides into town. Many restaurants are shut early, but we find one called the Med Bar - lively and spacious. We are served by a friendly, Dutch waitress working in her student gap year. The modern parlance would be to call her a Holland girl (never quite understood this 21st Century use of country names instead of the nationality - France footballer Thiery Henry). The meal was excellent and well priced and the young staff all very good. Coleen gets her gluten free meal without any hassle. NZ food - so far so good.

Day 10 - Chris' Birthday (21st December)

2008-12-21T00:17:00.008Z

21st December - Lake Taupo Here We Come

Birthday Boy
It Chris’ 48th birthday and breakfast starts with bucks fizz, a leisurely breakfast including Julie’s home-made rice pudding, pancakes and muffins and Rice Crispies.

Leave @94 mid morning and head down to lake Taupo and Will’s Place. Chris's web maps mean we can leave at a civilised time and know we will be at our next "home" in time for supper (getting posh in our old age). A mountainous route with excellent scenery. The roads are empty and we zing along through the forests. The weather is just great, sunny with clear blue skies. I cant' get Johnny Nash's "I Can See Clearly Now" out of my head. Maybe it's because we haven’t seen a drop of rain since our first day in Auckland.

Aratiatia Falls

An unexpected treat befell us as we made an unplanned detour - the Aratiatia Falls. Free parking with walkways and viewing points built by the tourist authorities, puts the UK to shame as our grasping councils and tourist quangos charge for every space they manage, even when it has been provided freely by patrons and government bodies (no more whinging about home, lets enjoy this great spectacle). This is a man-made lake on the Aratiata river. A few times each day, spill gates from the dam are opened at the top of the Aratiatia rapids and the narrow gorge fills with turbulent water surging past at up to 90,000 litres per second. The initial turbulence recedes to a placid stream. It shows the awesome power of the river.

At Aratiatia the Waikato River falls naturally through 28 metres in the space of one kilometre. This natural drop has been harnessed for environmentally-sustainable hydroelectric power - headwaters are diverted through a tunnel to the power station. Each day at 10am, 12 noon and 2pm - and also at 4pm in summer - the flow through the Aratiatia rapids is allowed to resume its natural rate. The river is fed by the mighty Lake Taupo. Above us still more sights as the Huka Falls are on our tourist radar.

This awesome display sits well with the other unplanned visits that await (Lewis Pass, Mud Hut winery, Kaikora seals and the Albatross colony at Dunedin)

Back on the road and off to Huka Falls. Chris has his AA maps and directions at the ready. Our whole holiday has been planned down to the last roundabout, traffic light and junction, but that saves lots of hassle and arguments.

Hub Cafe and Picnic Lunch
Lunchtime so we stop above the falls for a drink at the Hub Cafe with its helicopter parked outside. Beautifully clean, good coffee and not too many screaming kids. What children that are around are very well behaved. Lunch was a picnic opposite the cafe. It’s hot but we don’t care. A couple of Montleith cold beers washed down our salad, while the girls supped white wine. Hold on guys, somebody is driving. One final note the grass in the picnic area was mown, no litter and no dog crap – this is not civilisation as we know it Jim.

Huka Falls Here We Come

Free parking and a donation box for the upkeep of the area and the services. This is novel - free parking, a donation and friendly staff - this could attract tourists. The canyon is not that big, but the water flow is impressive. We cross the bridge from the shop to the footpaths opposite. Once over the bridge we can walk right up to the canyon edge.

Wandering to the mouth of the canyon we are alone, so many people around yet seclusion is so easy to find. Take lots of pictures then off down the other end to see the falls.

The falls flow into a lake where there’s a jet boat hammering over the lake and doing 360 degree turns. Pat, Chris and I have booked ourselves on the Shotover Jet in Queenstown. Coleen wasn’t keen, but now wants to go as well.

Taupo Town

From Huka falls we head for Lake Taupo and the main town on the western edge, surprisingly called - Taupo. We breeze through it with the windows down and the American style aircon turned off. This car could keep the arctic ice flows at bay the aircon is so powerful. We head off for Omori and our overnight accommodation at Wills Place. The lake is huge. To think it was created from a giant volcanic eruption. It is over 100 miles around its perimeter and over 600 feet at its deepest point. The eruption in AD 181 was recorded by the Romans as the sunsets were turned vivid red by the dust in the high atmosphere. I wonder what that did for global warming. No doubt the Roman environment ministry at the time blamed it all on the rise in two chariot families and underfloor villa heating systems.

It’s around 6 o’clock when we arrive at Wills Place. We are greeted by Jill Wills. The house sits, overlooking the lake with a view to kill for. Our accommodation is the ground floor looking out over the lawns running down to the cliff top of the lake. There are two well appointed bedrooms and a lounge. The owners live above. It was their holiday home and now, retired from farming they enjoy the company of guests and the “holiday” lifestyle in this beautiful setting.

We unpack and go for a walk down to the lake. Jill is cooking our evening meal as it is Chris’ official birthday. As the girls are here to celebrate their 60th birthdays (Coleen August and Pat in February) they lose out as Chris and I actually have our birthdays during the holiday. So we let them have honorary birthdays like the Queen. The lake side has sub-tropical plants growing along the beach. Man-made paths and seats for the elderly and infirm are thoughtfully side-by-side jet-skis, waterskiing and extreme sports. We are still fit enough for extreme(ish) sports but still need to sit down and rest sometimes. Black swans bob on the water along with pumice stone pebbles floating like weird swans eggs. We pick some good sized ones as they will make useful presents for our girls.

Back to Wills Place for a few drinks out on the veranda before our meal. The Highlander needs all its immense power to carry our ice bags of wine and beer. Jill and Brian bring down our meal.

Chicken Breast in orange sauce, potatoes, sweet potatoes and salad, followed by meringue, ice cream and fruit (healthy beggars these colonials). All washed down with some excellent white wine. The meal gets a thumbs up. We are going to rate our meals and accommodation later over a few beers and glasses of wine - sad b*stards, but it is a good way of reminiscing.

It’s been a long day. We watch a documentary on Emperor Penguins who stand for six months at the South Pole to hatch their young, I think, as we all slept through most of it – then went to bed. Slept like a log.

Day 9 - River Rats

2008-12-20T23:28:00.046Z

20th December - White Water Rafting

Slept in today – only got up at 7.30. Breakfast great – still using Julie’s toasted home-made bread and muffins.

White Water Rafting (for Saga Louts and small children)

We take a leisurely ride through hilly, managed forest - pleasant scenery. Occasional puffs of steam are evidence we are still in a volcanic area. We are heading for the base camp of the River Rats white water rafting company based in Murupara or “Rundownsville” as we later name it. The first signs are not good, peeling painted signs, poor clapperboard housing and runny nosed kids hanging around with runny nosed mothers outside a runny nosed shopping strip. It’s the first time we have come across deprivation where the indigenous, Maoris have been left for dead in a ghetto area. Not really for us to comment on this otherwise beautiful country and people. It looks like this was a logging community, which was left behind when the monster logging machines came and did the work of 50 men. The visitor centre is the best place in town.

After several abortive attempts to find the River Rats we enter what looks like a derelict holiday camp. It’s not quite peak season, so where is everyone. It looks like an old WW2 military base. The River Rats bus arrives with two families on board and we join them to be kitted out. Body suit, Boots, life jacket and a helmet turn ordinary decent holidaymakers into a cross between Michelin Men and Mr Blobby.

All aboard the battle bus as we struggle to sit comfortably in our waterproof garb for the 20 minute drive to the starting point.

Our raft starts near to a hydro-electric power station. We scramble down rocks and along a narrow path about 10 feet above the swirling water. The two inflatables have been launched above us and come swirling through a narrow channel and we jump aboard. No good the UK 'elf 'n safety people being here. We are in and away, swirling down the river with our bus driver as boat captain. He’s a very knowledgeable guy, serious with it, and very professional (probably had a humour bypass when he was a child). He runs through some safety stuff before we go too far. The other boat has launched and we both head off downstream. He makes sure we know the ropes and has a set phrase "team paddle....paddle team!", which we repeat throughout the holiday like children, whenever we have to do anything together. The river is not too rough and its raining (I knew we had the wet suits on for a reason). A lesson in fauna and flora follows and Pat, Chris and Coleen all go overboard to do white water floating. The water is freezing, so I decline. Getting the Mr Blobbies back into the boat proves a little difficult, but then we don't want them being flushed out into the Pacific Ocean.

Back To Base
Moored up we helped carry the rafts to the top of a ramp where the bus has parked up. Headed back to base still in our Mr Blobby suits. The rain has stopped but the camp didn’t look any better. It was good to see the Highlander still in one piece and not up on bricks (obviously no scousers staying at the camp). The changing rooms were basic and the showers like camping at West Wittering in the 60’s. Food was served and we were hungry. Simple fare. Spam, salad, white sliced for sarnies and pickles. Not much for Coleen to eat.

Sulphur City
Mid afternoon and we drive back to Rotorua where Coleen has a urgent need to top-up the Vodafone card, some gluten free biscuits, wine and a coffee. It is an amazing city with geysers and mud pools spewing out sulphur gases. We take a tour of the city. The lakeside area is my favourite place (after the luges).

BBQ And Bed
Another great BBQ eaten with another of Julie’s freshly baked loaves. I'll bet she also does 2 fishes to go with the loaves.

Day 8 - Kids Play on Luges & Rotten Eggs

2008-12-19T22:31:00.017Z

19th December - Rotorua @94 on Springfield

Wake at 6.30 and go for a shower. Coleen makes tea. Pat and Chris are up and about. Are all older people like this, or are we still suffering time delay/jet lag? We are on holiday and strolling around at 6.30 like lost pensioners in an old peoples’ home. Pat and Chris go back to bed.

Coleen is desperate to buy some Rice Crispies. We drive to the nearby shops as soon as it seems shops would be open and buy Crispies. Back at the ranch (the house is sort of ranch style), Pat and Chris are laying out the breakfast, including Julie’s home-made blueberry muffins and the homemade loaf she has left us. Breakfasts have been gourmet afairs so far.

Lazy breakfast looking out the glass fronted lounge onto the golf course. Joggers disgustingly trot by the drive on Springfield and women walk their dogs. Meanwhile we (except Coleen) munch into the scrumptious muffins dusted with icing sugar. Yummeee!. Coleen eats her Rice Crispies.

Shopping At new World

Lazy morning after the long drive of yesterday. The women are itching to do something, so we go to the nearest New World (supermarket) for evening BBQ supplies, wine and beer and other less essential supplies like milk, eggs, butter, etc. The range and quality of meat is superb. They must send all the rubbish meats to Britain, as the lamb steaks are out of this world. Checkout "No we don't take Nectar cards, but we do have petrol discount vouchers. Girls are pleased we have another reason to visit supermarkets.

Nice Traffic Cop

Coleen is in the driving seat. Leaving the NW we head back on the main road to @94. Half a mile and flashing blue lights behind signal us to stop. A bearded police traffic officer approaches the car from behind and Coleen winds the window down. Do all traffic cops have beards at some time or other? Must ask Clive when we get back. He advises her of her speed in the built up area: 65 kph in a 50 zone. She needs to produce her driving licence. She says sorry and tells him her licence is back at the B&B. He asks how long we have been in NZ and after a firm, but friendly telling off reminds her of the fixed price penalty of $NZ150 for speeding and wishes us a pleasant holiday. He’s the sort of guy you could invite to your BBQ. Coleen is furious with herself, but it reminds us all that all towns have at least a 50 limit which is about 30 mph.

Behaving Like Children – Luge Rides.
Cruised around Rotorua and eventually arrived at Skyline the Gondola and Luge park. Great price NZ$35 for Gondola and 3 luge rides and NZ$24 for Coleen who didn’t want to ride the luges.

The views over Rotorua and the lake were worth the entrance fee.

Brilliant luge rides. Like a cut-down fairground bumpercar with a brake and gravity for an engine. First off we try the scenic run - slower and less steep. Because you are sitting on the floor they seem to be going faster down the concrete runway than they are. At the bottom you push the carts together like supermarket trolley park and head for the ski-lift to go back again. The luges are automatically grabbed by the ski chairs and whisked up with you. Helmets are compulsory and the intermediate and advanced runs show they are sensible. Advanced run was shut so we did the intermediate. Pat was in pole with me then Chris third on the grid. On a tight lefthander I out-braked Pat to shoot by on the inside - yes!!

Coleen watched our childish antics. Afterwards we went for some lunch, but unlike American adventure parks the food had run out and we made do with dried pies and overcooked chips. Is this to be the worst food we are to endure on our travels?

"Sulphur City" Rotten Eggs Capital Of The World

Late afternoon we went into the main town (city) – the gushing steam clouds cast a pall of sulphur smelling gas over parts of the centre. Stopped by a park and went to see the boiling volcanic mud pools and lakes first-hand. The parking and entrance was free. So where are residents only parking signs? The bubbling mud holes slurped tunefully like a bronchitic Mike Oldfield piece. Chris and I filmed everything, though the end result would be just a load of mud holes and steam.

Shopping Trip

Into the main town and some shopping. Coleen buys a eye mask because of the moonlight in the bedroom. Meet Pat and Chris near the car for a coffee. They are well inside the almost empty cafe, some sort of 'elf 'n safety nonsense means they can’t sit near the door. (like being at home).

Julie's Little Treats
Back to @94 and Julie has brought us a tray of her home cooking, she’s worth taking on the rest of the holiday just for her cooking alone. Fresh bread, gluten free loaf for Coleen, rice pudding, spicy pancakes and a fruit bowl.

Had drinks with Julie and Des before getting the BBQ going. New Zealanders are so friendly. We get a potted history of the house. Des owns a computer business and fixes our apartment wireless internet connection, but it’s patchy. Des is a Spurs fan and watches their games on Sky - the "Nearly Men team". He’s never heard of our club, Reading, but has heard of Steve Coppell our manager. We must be the only club in the world where the manager is more famous than the club.

Gas BBQ (none of this old fashioned charcoal nonesense) produces great pork steaks, yummy sausages, salad and potatoes. Great grub washed down with copious amounts of wine. Ahhhh!– should sleep well tonight. Will the eyemask do the trick?

Day 7 - Coromandel to Rotorua with Cathedral Cove

2008-12-18T11:30:00.000Z

17th December - Leisurely Breakfast And An Unforgettable Car Journey

Pack up and load the gold bus. Ray and Annette wave us off. It’s a beautiful sunny day. We leave at 10.30 and set off towards the main road and Coromandel. Pat is driving. We leave the coast road and climb a series of hairpin bends to the top of the range, where we stop for a photo shoot. I feel sick – the Gold Bus sways and rolls like a barrel in a storm, but will get used to it - sometime. The views are spectacular across wooded hills to either coast. It’s beginning to feel like a real holiday and we drive to the Pacific coast, my first view of the World’s greatest ocean.

Whitianga And The Vodafone Saga
We drive through a pleasant seaside town Whitianga – twice. Park up in the main street of low rise colonial type shops and business premises. Again it reminds me of Africa without black people, although there are a few Maori people in the take-away where we sit outside and have coffee on pub type bench seats. It’s hot - nice to think that home is about to get the coldest winter spell for a ages. Time for a pee and some urgent shopping. Coleen wants a Vodafone top-up voucher and Chris wants a Foreign Legion style baseball cap (with flaps to keep the sun off his neck). We split up and forage the quarter mile shopping street. Like Thames only smarter. Vodafone voucher in hand we head for the public toilets and back to the car.

Out of town and through a rash of modern marina inlet development parks. Everyone points out the spacious gardens and stylish modern Scandinavian-like houses .

Cathedral Cove

Chris has spoken of Cathedral Cove as the place to see on the Coromandel and we are heading for it. Better be good! We approach it onto a mown parking area with trees and shrubs near the sea and backed by spacious holiday homes. There are some people about but it is cathedral quiet. Down on the sands a few people stroll about and a canoe school is busying itself for a new batch of students.

We sit and marvel at the bay and the girl canoe students playing beach volleyball. It is true that it is the most watched sport in the Olympics. Coleen thinks it is the most beautiful beach she has ever seen and I am inclined to agree. The islands dotted throughout in a millpond still sea. This is what a seaside would be like in heaven.

Lunch is a picnic of food from the hotel (two days ago) and food we have bought since (Thames PAK 'n SAVE). Hot sun and sleep under the shade of a tree looking out over the bay. We go for a paddle, the sea is freezing.

Clean, tidy, nice people, clean toilets, this certainly not Blackpool.

The Road To Smelly City (Only Kidding)
We leave at 3.30 and head inland to Rotorua. We phone our B&B at Rotorua but the Vodafone network is down and the top-up voucher does not work - technology reigns. Heated discussion with Vodafone and we pay 1NZ$ to get a real person to activate the voucher. Not such a good start to the local SIM card. Three hour journey through unspectacular cattle and logging countryside. The big ferns and pine trees seem strange growing together.

@94 On Springfield - Julie & Des
Rotorua arrives at around 6 p.m. Up to now Chris’ directions and maps have been spot-on, but Rotorua is a test of our map reading and directional skills. Half an hour of zigzagging across the city and we end up on Springfield road and finally track down @94. It’s on a hillside overlooking a golf course. The driveway is very tight. The Gold Bus soars up the steep drive and we park outside the main house and the adjacent apartment accommodation. We ring the house bell and Julie our host greets us. She is a small, warm person dressed in black cut-off trousers. Her local accent is pleasant especially the way she replies affirmatively to your comments with the “Yeeeesz” drawl . Our accommodation is self-contained on the first floor. It is spacious with two bedrooms and a large open-plan lounge/diner/kitchen with a balcony with BBQ. It’s past 7 o’clock and we are hungry, tired and grumpy. Julie suggests a nearby restaurant which is in a local hotel about 15 minutes walk and books us a table. Nice people these New Zealanders.

Good Recommendation
The hotel gardens were dark and spooky. We approached the reception and were directed out into the garden and back into a thin entrance-way with tables, opening into a larger dining room. The dining room was not full, but noisy with a family group and particularly loud guy who Chris took an instant dislike to. By the end of our meal we knew more about him than we did ourselves.

Seated by the head waiter, who had a mincing air about him - off-putting at first. Typical of Brits who have emigrated a long time ago and look down on their pommie fellow country folks who are visiting for the first time. They regard us as uncouth footbal hooligans who are about to tear the place apart.

The waiter is pretentious and pedantically explains what the main fish course is (basically it is a cod like white fish). Chris and I dislike him even more. If I had been Darth Vader I would have killed him for fun. I feel like sh*t as I have now caught the communal cold and all day in the arctic aircon conditions of the Gold Bus doesn’t help. Chris is not feeling that good either. Pat has not caught the aircon flu. Yet. Coleen soldiers on with her cold and the loathing for the Gold Bus aircon.

The food is magnificent and the waiter warms to us as he realised we are not here to colonise the town and rape and pillage the women. Coleen’s chicken and up-market pork burgers are tasty. Two good bottles of wine relieve the colds. It’s the end of a long and enjoyable day, slightly spoilt by some overcharging of the wine bill, but that is settled and we stroll home (funny how a temporary B&B becomes "home" even when staying there a couple of days)

Julie's Muffins

Back in @94 Julie has left us some home-made muffins and freshly baked bread. Chris fancies Julie's muffins, but Pat takes him off to bed. It's 11.00 and we follow suit.

Coleen does not sleep well as the ceiling height windows do not have curtains all the way to the ceiling and she is disturbed by the moon shining in through the window. I can’t remember the moon. Head down. Sleep.

Day 6 - Dame Edna Cooks Like Delia

2008-12-17T00:45:00.000Z

16th December - The Coromandel and AJ Homestay

Check out and pick up hire car. It's a Toyota Highlander. Not quite as big as a Landcruiser, but nevertheless it’s like a gold coloured bus. It has every technical gizmo known to man including a rear view TV camera with a screen built into the dashboard. Our extensive baggage goes into the back (just) and we climb aboard, after being mugged with the usual excessive extra charges levied by the Dick Turpin Car Hire Co. The all inclusive pre-booking amount is always supplemented by outrageous extras at a time when you want to get away on holiday and are vulnerable and a captive market. Dictatorship rule no 1 – fixed prices must be adhered to by these car hire pirates, from Avis and Hertz through to local dodgy dealers.

The trip south from Auckland has the busiest roads in NZ, but soon we are heading Eastwards to the Coromandel and the real NZ. Swinging up around the coast we come to our first sizeable town , Thames. We drop off the main road along a strip of shops, criss-crossed by access roads to low rise colonial style housing , set in large gardens by European standards. The town has a hick-town but pleasant feel.

We make several sorties looking for a supermarket (friends who have been to NZ have said the supermarkets are old fashioned and like barns, so I am looking for something akin to the supermarkets of Zimbabwe in the 80’s. No such thing. A “PAK 'n SAVE” like a yellow version of a B&Q looms out of the low rise buildings into view with a car-park the size of a football pitch. We park up after a great deal of trouble finding a space. The women foray into the store for about an hour to get some provisions for the days ahead. Chris and I lounge in the “gold bus” and natter. Individually we go to nearby public toilet. It looks like a coloured shed in a small play area park, but inside is impressively clean and free of human debris and no urine on the floor.

After an hour the hunter-gatherers return and we head north to AJ Homestay. We had robbed the breakfast buffet for our lunch, but for some reason didn’t eat any.

A feature we come across several times in our holiday is the single lane wooden bridge. At Thames it seems about a mile long, with overtaking places on it. NZ will have many of these for us to cross in our month ahead.

Arrived at AJ’s to meet Annette and Ray. A retired couple, they made us very welcome. Annette sounds like Dame Edna and this sticks with us for the rest of the holiday. The views from their house are truly amazing, looking down a hill across a beautiful bay. Ferries run from here to Auckland.

We left our baggage in their downstairs family room and headed to the nearby Driving Creek Railway.

Driving Creek Railway was blessed with late afternoon sunny and clear blue skies. Everything looks good in these conditions. A narrow gauge railway restored from an industrial railway used to carry clay in days gone by. It has a station and souvenir shop, but retains a good old fashioned feel. The trains have open sided carriages driven by a commentary rich driver with a good sense of humour - an Aussie. We were the second train of two in our journey through a sub-tropical woodland with the fantastic NZ ferns everywhere. After many twists and turns and stops to reverse up slopes and take pictures, we reached a modern pagoda style station, which also acts a wedding venue. Pretty neat place to get married. The views across the national park to the sea are fantastic. Photos all round and its back on the train and down to the gift shop. Great adventure and all for £7 each. Chris had been keen to do this and sometimes these things can be a letdown, but this was NZ$20 well spent. This was the first of what stuck in my mind about NZ. The scenery by and large can be seen anywhere else in Europe, bar the geysers and mud pools. But NZ is more about its fantastic people, food, wine and man-made attractions that are excellent value for money or free, and everyone speaks English. Try asking for gluten free food in Serbo-Croat or Turkish.

Back to AJ’s and unpack for dinner. The main accommodation is on the first floor as the house is built into a hill. The back opens onto the garden where Annette grows her fruit and veg and ray grows spuds (sounds like home). Our room is small with a tiny en-suite with a slide door. It reminds me of my brother’s house in Yorkshire, where you need a shoe-horn to get into the shower. We crack open wine and slurp out on the first floor veranda watching the bay change colour as the evening wears on. Ray and Annette provide commentary and local background info. We learn that Possums are pests introduced from Australia. They decimate garden plants and are trapped in national parks as they endanger many of the indigenous wildlife. Dame Edna talking about Possums - you couldn't make it up.

Dinner is served. I think it cost $NZ20 per head. It is a superb piece of steak done on their kitchen BBQ and served with their wonderful garden veg and Takapu wine. So good Chris spent the whole holiday trying to find it for us again, but sadly we never found any again. Like the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow we were never destined to pin it down again.

Nobilo Takapu Hawkes Bay Merlot 2008 - Region: Hawkes Bay - Varieties: Merlot - Palate: Soft and well rounded, this wine is medium in weight, with soft tannins. Ripe plum and berry fruit flavours are layered with earthy, toasted oak.

Slept well

Day 7 - 16th December

Breakfast is served. Continental style with lots of homemade content. This is the start of the NZ hidden gourmet tour. Annette makes all her own jams and marmalade. The marmalade is spiced up with garden grown chillies and has a beautiful, tarte taste. The cape gooseberry jelly is excellent. Cape gooseberries look like tiny paper lanterns.

Ray gives us the history of the area and other tid bits of information, how the population of the Coromandel is only 25,000 but swells to 250,000 in high summer. Glad we are a week ahead of the rush. Apparently it can take a half day to get through the narrow bridge at Thames. A good reason not to live in Thames.

Chilli Marmalade Recipe
Ingredients:

500g caster sugar

480ml water
juice of 1 lemon
rind of 1 lime (rind peeled in strips and finely shredded)
juice of 2 limes
250g fresh red chillies (preferably a mix of serrano, jalapeño and pimento) seeded, ribbed and finely shredded
½ red pepper de-seeded and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic puréed
2cm piece of ginger, grated
1 stick lemongrass, bruised

Method:

Place the sugar and water in a non-aluminium saucepan, stir to dissolve the sugar, then add the lemongrass. Bring to the boil; turn off the heat and allow to infuse for at least 1 hour. Meanwhile, add the lemon juice, lime juice, garlic and ginger together. Place the shredded lime peel in a small bowl and add the juice mixture to it. Allow this to soften the peel for at least an hour.

Remove the lemongrass from the sugar mixture and add the peel and liquid along with the chilli and the red pepper. Bring the mixture to the boil slowly, brushing sides of pan regularly to keep syrup from the sides.

Simmer the mixture until it thickens and the chillies become translucent then remove from the heat, allow to cool a little and bottle into sterilized jars whilst still fairly hot. In effect this is a true marmalade and will keep for several months.

Day 5 - I Thought Kelly Tarlton Was A Country Singer

2008-12-16T00:07:00.002Z

Awoke to a sunny day. Perfect.

Down to the eco cafe and full English with crushed fruit juice.

Explorer Bus

Chris suggests the Explorer bus trip. It is an all day bus ticket on the Explorer buses which traverse the City sights. We can hop on and off at any time and any place. Board bus outside our hotel and drive towards the market and down to the harbour and out around the bay. We alight at Kelly Tarlton’s (KTs) Antarctic Encounter & Underwater World. We are on the bay opposite Auckland, which gives the archetypical view of the Auckland skyline, dominated by the Sky Tower.

KTs is aimed at families, but is good fun for oldies like us. We take a ride on the replica Snow mobile train. Pat and Coleen are in the first car, camera crew follow in next snow cat. We traverse the Antarctic with penguins everywhere. They create 3 tonnes of snow per day to keep the environment as real as possible. Afterwards we go into the “underwater” tunnels where we are carried along on travelators as sharks, rays and other deep sea creatures slide past us in the water overhead and to the side. The glass tunnels give an impression that we are swimming in the water. Outside the tunnel we can watch the rays swimming to the surface of the “underwater world” and children are encouraged to stroke them. We go round the exhibition of sea life and finally emerge into the bright sunlight squinting like blinded moles. We wait at the bus stop and take in the view of Auckland city and harbour - breathtaking

The Explorer bus takes us further on our tour and we stop at the Memorial Rose Gardens for photo shoots of roses and a walk in the park which stretches down to a bay (everywhere in Auckland is by the sea). It’s time for a beer/wine and there is a yuppie bar a few hundred yards from the rose garden entrance. It’s hot, probably 25C plus. We take a beer with hoity toity residents and professionals having their lunch. The lunch prices seem expensive for what is on offer, so we catch the Explorer to Parnell (and we thought the yuppie place was dear).

Parnell is the NZ equivalent of America's The Hamptons. Designer shops, boutique shops, solicitors’ offices and expensive restaurants - a sort of village within the city. We chose a restaurant which does meals for $15. Should have taken notice of the sign declaring it the Parnell restaurant of the year 2007 and 2008. The $15 meal was not really available, so we decided to catch the bus into the Harbour district. For all its standing it is a little insecure as it still declares a visit by American President Bill Clinton among its highlights.

Our trip back took in a major museum and beautiful park with views across the city. Auckland is a city best seen from afar or within its parks and waterways, as its centre is pretty plain once you duck down into its bland office blocks and shopping centres. We eat in a marina cafe overlooking the busy ferry terminal. Three of us had some sort of gluten based food and Coleen had a chips with mayonnaise, with beer and wine as usual. Good value and it filled a hole. Coleen befriended a dog (how unusual?).

After the late lunch we split up to do some shopping. We had a $20 challenge to buy each other a Christmas present. I also needed a replacement baseball cap as I had left mine on the bus, a regular event for me in NZ. The gift shops are run by Chinese and convenience stores by Indians, so no change there then.

Life doesn’t get much better than this, or does it?

Back at the hotel we fire up the mobile with its local SIM card and confirm our car hire for next morning. Good stuff this technology. Internet only works from a laptop in the rooms or $10 from hotel business centre. Not worth the effort as it is good to get a break from the web.

Evening meal is booked for the Observatory Restaurant 600 ft up the Sky Tower. We are ready early, for once and muster in the reception. Down into the bowels of the tower by escalator and mooch around the gift shop before boarding the lift. I do usual in looking at lots of naff stuff without seriously buying anything (it’s a man thing) while the women browse for presents even this early in the holiday (only 32 days to go!).

The lift has a glass wall and glass floor panel, which helps hype up the journey to the top. We exit the lift onto the observation deck and wander around, picking out landmarks and feeling slightly uncertain at this height. Chris and I get our photos taken standing on the glass floor that looks down into the street and hotel entrance below. Strangely, there is no feeling of height when looking down, but there is when you reach out to look over the window area.

Time for dinner. We are seated by a Chinese girl (they are everywhere) and order our drinks. Each table is placed 90 degrees to the glass side. People who don’t like the height as much can sit on the inside. The view is awesome. At our level is the “doughnut, a steel walkway about 10 feet out from the tower and about 3 feet wide. Thrill seekers can be wired to an overhead rail and walk around the tower at 600’. Some people lean out only supported by the cable. Scary!.

The air conditioning is set to arctic temperature, so cold the penguins at Kelly Tarlton's would have been at home. The only thing missing is the 3 tonnes of ice needed for effect.

Wine is superb, food ordinary. Selection bland and little gluten free. Large range of mediocre food (this is what could be described as real “American Buffet”). Pile your plates with tasteless international cuisine. Let’s hope AJ Homestay is going to be a better dinner. The puddings were the best part of the meal, a long way behind the excellent wines.

Day 4 Auckland - 15th Dec

2008-12-15T01:58:00.002Z

Sleep interrupted after 2 hours. Dozed until we got up at 7.00. Coleen has a cold. More of this later.

Met with Pat and Chris to try the organic breakfast at the “eco” cafe near the hotel. Good but expensive. Organic eggs, bacon and free-range coffee with excellent service. Leisurely meal, finished at 10.30.

Back to room for usual things and then a walk to the harbour where we bought tickets for the Devonport ferry. - $10 each, not bad. The catamaran ferry was quick and efficient. Weather was windy, overcast with a touch of drizzle. Warm and cloudy like summer at home.

Devonport

Devonport is a commuter suburb, old fashioned and a little like a 30s time warp of Poole in Dorset. There are plenty of tourist shops, but the women seemed attracted to a Boots type pharmacy shop (withdrawal symptoms). We eventually got free of the chemists emporium and headed for Paradigm a first floor bar to try the beer and wines (Speights ale was delicious). The view was over the colonial, board-walk style shops and houses.

Walked down to the ferry dock and along the coast. The park-like setting along the coast road was adorned with the ubiquitous New Zealand Christmas Tree (Pohutukawa). Their beautiful red flowers standing out against the dark green foliage: much better than our fir trees back home. Downside, they discolour the pavements like the spitting of the betel nuts on the pavements of certain parts of asia.

The The weather was clearing and made all the better for the beautiful NZ Christmas trees which have a stunning red flower.

Lunch
Devonport done, so we head back to the ferry terminal to return to Auckland. Lunch is taken in an arcade cafe. Expensive (by NZ standards) deli food and altogether too yuppie for my liking. Chilli bean soup and lamb pie!

Browsed shops, bought extra DVDs for the camcorder and Coleen looked round Earth Shop (same chain as in UK).

Today is a recovery day. We are starting to get ourselves adjusted to NZ time.

Evening meal - hammered with rain so the sidewalk covers are brill. Meal was in a strange, dingy Tapas bar. Food was ok, but music got 2 out of 10. Disagreement on how to get home without getting too wet, as it was still lashing down down. The covered pavements solved this.

Finished the evening in the second floor bar of the hotel. Typical TV/MTV lounge, but cheap drinks and good measures rescued the evening. (large G&T x 2, Large VAT, Vodka & Orange $30).

Slept like a log for 3 hours then woke up at 3.30 (who says we have adjusted to NZ time). Coleen had stayed awake and watched a film until 2.30 then slept like a log until breakfast. Shift pattern sleeping is a new one on me..

Looking forward to breakfast and getting away to the real NZ.

Saga Louts New Zealand Tour

2008-12-14T22:13:00.000Z

Two years in the planning and five weeks execution. The travels of Dave & Coleen West with Chris & Pat Moy.

A chance remark over a meal in 2006 started us on this adventure. Coleen and Pat would be reaching the golden oldies 60th birthday and we wanted to do something special....... "lets go to New Zealand". "Good idea" and that was it. Planning the holiday over the next two years was part of the fun. Every hotel, B&B, events, places to see were researched on the internet with animated route maps for each day. The Taoist saying - "The journey is the reward." was hopefully going to be worth it all.

The planning meetings consumed copious bottles of wine, beer and food. Every mouthful was worth it to have such a fantastic holiday. Four friends take 5 weeks out of their working lives to travel together - would it be a disaster or their greatest holiday. The saying that you only know someone when you have lived with them would be a test of our friendship.

Finally December 2008 was upon us and like all preparation, there are last minute problems. How do we fit 30 kilos of luggage into a 20 kilo allowance? (you put 10 kilos in your hand luggage). "How many pairs of shoes and what about Alka Seltzers....?" "It's New Zealand, they speak English and drive on the left, so they must be civilised and probably have chemists shops that sell stuff like we have at home. "

London – Bangkok – Auckland (12th December – 14th December 2008)
Bags packed, Chris picks us up at 1.45 and drops us at Basingstoke bus station, while he fetches Pat and daughter Marissa, who will take the car back. Basingstoke bus station would have been an ideal setting for a Len Deighton cold war thriller: damp, chilly, miserable - wretched people going about their daily lives huddled against the freshening wind and steady drizzle as we await our leap for freedom to the summer that awaits us. Coleen wants a coffee (nothing new there then) so we go to Subway. I have a Coke.

Meet Pat and Chris back at the National Express pickup. Two coaches arrive, but not ours. The Heathrow coach is late, but then we are 5 hours early, so it helps break up the time, spotting buses that are going to someone else's destination – standing in the cold talking about the holiday. At last our bus arrives and we all pile on. Coach is jammed full. It’s peeing with rain, so we sleep most of the way to Heathrow.

Terminal 3
Terminal 3 (haven’t been there since 1980’s and it hasn’t changed). Dirty, queues everywhere, aimless immigrant cleaners pushing brooms and cleaning machines around the place, moving the dirt from one end to the other. The next shift merely moves the dirt back down the other end, keeping them all busy and in work for ever. No chance of checking in as we are early. Stand around like all the other early arrivals in this rats nest of a terminal. Finally get to check in. Pretty easy and it’s away through customs to get fuelled up.

7.30 pm and we eat in a diner type theme pub. Various calls to the girls to say goodbye and its off to the plane.

Bangkok Leg
Thai air, looking forward to it - the mile high myths. When we board it is slightly disappointing. We are all together in the middle near the back. Boeing 747 is an older, tired model. No seat back consoles here, only clunky old drop down TVs showing repeat TV programmes and a couple of films aimed at 10 year olds. Read, drink, listen to music, drink, eat, chat, sleep, eat again, drink, and go to the toilet about 10 times, too much drink. Women have ant- DVT stockings and do lots of walking. Men think walking to the toilet is sufficient. Who has the elephantitis legs at Bangkok? Not me.

Bangkok International Suvarnabhumi Airport

Arrive Bangkok. Impressive new airport. The riots were over a couple of weeks ago and peace prevails. We have a 4 hour stopover, so go to a bar on the checkout level and have a few more drinks. Girls drink cocktails, we have beer. Pat buys some squid chips. They look like fishy pork scratching and taste like seagull sh*te – Hopefully, they won't sell these in NZ).

Drink for three hours then wander off to the Auckland leg of the journey. One small point to remember is that Bangkok airport is huge and it takes about half an hour to get to the departure lounge. As it is through a huge shopping mall style area it does not feel too long. We are one of the last to get there and most people have boarded the plane.

Auckland Leg
We are half way towards the back with two pairs of window seats. Flight is packed full and to my right is a young Asian guy who is going back to Auckland then on the Wellington to start a new job. He is pretty laid back and the trip as a whole is far better than the first leg. The stewardesses are all like little dolls - little and tough looking Asian barbies (no wonder Ken always has a smile on his face). Food is ok and seat back entertainment is good. I watch Clone Wars (twice) and play Blackjack before sleeping and eating two meals. Indian software for one of the games hung my console and re-booted Linux. Now I know why we don't emply Indian software houses to do our web projects if this is the quality of the software.

Auckland
Arrived Auckland Airport. Clean, modern and airy – like an African airport only it works and is clean. Long queues at immigration. Takes 40 minutes to clear, but everyone seems to be friendly. They are hot on people bringing in any food or substances that could give them problems in their agricultural economy or affect their ecological system.

Baggage hall – Pat is stopped by a friendly but firm lady customs officer whose sniffer dog has spotted something in Pat's bags. An inspection reveals that it could be the Squid Chips (let’s hope they get confiscated as they are devil's food on a par with brocolli). Those pass muster and it’s the normal crisps that fails, unfortunately. We collect our bags and queue to go through the red channel. Coleen shows her doctors letter to the officer that points out she is bringing in Gluten Free food that has been prescribed because she has Coeliacs Disease: Gluten intolerant. He understands and waves us through – this is the first instance of New Zealanders being very aware of Coeliacs disease, in restaurants, shops and hotels).

Out into the open air. It’s warm with a light breeze. Like being on holiday. There’s a relaxed colonial feel to the place as we sort out a shuttle bus to our hotel. Shuttle buses are 10 seater min-buses with a trailer for the baggage. Ours is driven by an Indian guy (as are all the others). It’s like being in Reading or Slough only it’s sunny.

The trip into Auckland is pleasant and surprisingly relaxing after being cooped up in planes for 27 hours. Arrive “downtown” at the hotel which is dwarfed by the omni-present Skytower at 1000 feet high. The taxi trip costs us $55 (less than £20) per couple including the tip which is pretty cheap. Chris asks the driver to recommend a restaurant and not unsurprisingly he recommends an Indian called Razis, which is near the hotel (Razi is probably his cousin).

Check in – staff not overfriendly. It’s a big, tourist style hotel with a very public lobby serving the Skytower, hotel, public restaurant/bar and escalator to the casino and probably does bookings for the local catholic church on Sundays or bingo on Tuesday afternoon.

Up to the rooms and it’s not looking good. We are on an inwards facing room on the fourth floor, looking across the hotel reception roof at other guest rooms. Room is well equipped, flat screen, ironing board etc. and bathrooms are smart. There is an outside pool on the sixth floor, but we don't bother as it is 70 F but overcast and its late afternoon. Not my idea of a first world four/five star hotel, but its home for a few days and eventually I get to like it.

We meet in the hotel bar, start with a drink to keep us in training as we will get plenty of practice over the next month. Eventually we explore the city and most importantly getting wine for our Indian meal (its BYO). Our drinks round costs $NZ30 which is reasonable for a downtown hotel bar. Staff are very friendly which is par for the course in NZ.

Hunger drives us to our recommended restaurant. Ravis is excellent and to be recommended. The service is first class and the curries are bill. Well done the taxi driver. Pat and Chris went up to bed after the meal, so we walked around and had a coffee in Starbucks across the road from the hotel. I think I nodded off between slurps of coffee. Went to bed at 10 p.m. (not sure what time this equates to in the UK yet and don't care).