We are now in Wellington waiting to get the ferry to South Island later this morning. Wellington is a very pleasant city set in a panorama around a large bay. This morning is a perfect sunny morning, and all I have to do now is to work out how to drive from the hotel to drop off the rental car and then make it to the ferry for 9-20 am.
Hot ponds Rotorua
We left Auckland on Tuesday driving first to Rotorura to visit the hot springs and mud geysers. There are literally hundreds of them scattered over a large site and some large ponds and lakes full of steaming hot water. Then there are the belching mud pools which bubble away approaching boiling point. In the past the local children used to know which lakes were just warm and swim in them, one of them being known as lobster lake because the white skin of European’s went red in the sulfur mixture.
Boiling Water
Today they are all cordoned off due to health and safety on the assumption that tourists are so stupid that they would otherwise hurl themsleves into boiling water. Just outside Rotorura is the old Maori village of Whakarewarewa which is build directly on a hot area full of boiling pools and hot rocks. They built their houses on the hot rocks to keep warm in winter, used the boiling pools for cooking and still take mineral baths each morning. It would seem a perfect place for the winter, but you definitely would need to keep your eyes on babies and small children until they learned where to go.
Geysers Whakarewarewa
There are three large geysers which are said to erupt at regular intervals. However, when we were there they seemed to be regularly spouting steam and boiling water up into the air.
From Roturua we drove through a wooded lake area to reach the coast at Whatakane before finding a motel on Ohopte beach where I got a swim in the surf. We were very lucky to find a room because all motels seemed to be full . We made a U-turn and the owner of a small motel came out to switch off the “No” Vacancy sign so we turned in to find someone had just phoned and cancelled.
Ohope Beach
New Zealand is much cheaper even than Fiji for rooms and eating out. The next morning we headed out for Napier driving through the Waioeka Gorge to Gisborne, having abandoned the original plan to drive right round the peninsula. It was a wise move as the roads are windy and slower than you imagine. The Gorge is very beautiful with some great views across forest covered hills before you reach any farming areas. We stopped at an old settlers’ bridge constructed a hundred years ago where they attempted to clear an area for farming before abandoning it back to the forest.
Abandoned bridge
From Matawai to Gisborne the countryside has more farming and vineyards but still lovely country. Our destination for the night was Napier, so on the way stopped first at Wainui Bay near Gisborne, then Wairua with a wide river and settlers’ museum, passing some Hawkes Bay vineyards on the way. Again we were really lucky as all motels were full – but managed to find a B & B overlooking the sea with just one room left! The owner was a bit too friendly and it seemed that he popped up everywhere – even at 8am in the kitchen. The restaurant he claimed was the best Thai food in New Zealand was just OK and woke me at 3am with pains in the stomach.
Napier
Napier is a mecca for Art Deco. The town was rebuilt in Art Deco style after being mostly destroyed in an Earthquake in 1931. This style is having a bit of a comeback after going out of fashion and the town’s hotels, bars and civic buildings are well kept and popular.
Town of Clive
Leaving Napier we passed a small town called “Clive”. Well of course I had to stop there and admire such an idyllic place! Running across the road to stand by the Community Centre, two guys next to it were about to ask me what the hell I was doing – so I made a quick exit got back in the car and drove on. I was not going to tell them why I was behaving like a looney. From there we drove through a Danish and Norwegian town called Dannewirke heading for Wellington. The last part of the road takes you over some scenic hills and forest before heading down to Wellington.
Waioeka Gorge
Again we were extremely lucky to find a hotel room available at the Copthorne Hotel – basicallly they had just one room left available for us out of 300 rooms. Walking through the town centre, Wellington seems a nice city to live in and a wide waterfront backed by hills. There is a cable railway taking you up above the city where large houses and the university look out over the bay. I can’t believe how many New Zealanders have English accents. I have become addicted to National Radio which we listen to in the car. It is a talk and current affairs channel a bit modelled on Radio 4. Most of the presenters seem to be women who each have a 3 hour slot where they interview a range of interesting people, discuss the economy, politics, or some quirky anniversary, place or whatever.
Black Swan
Yesterday we had the why Brighton (south of Dunedin) is the perfect place to live. It was fascinating (really) so now I also want to live there. Anyway it is surprising how many of the “experts” seem to have British accents and one of the star presenters has a strong Irish accent – she must have popped over from Cork I think just to present the show. She is a real professional who keeps things flowing and knows exactly the right questions to ask because she has researched and prepared each item during her 3-4 hours on air each day.
