Tongariro Crossing Part 2

I did a post about the Tongariro Crossing the other day. While we were doing the walk the guide said that Mount Ruapehu was due to erupt soon. I didn't realise he meant within the week! It erupted last night with less than a minutes notice and one man staying in a hut on the mountain is in a serious condition, hopefully he will make a full recovery. To find out more click here.





Better go and finish packing.

Cathal

Tongariro Crossing

The 17km Tongariro Crossing, according to National Geographic, is one of the top ten one day hikes in the world and for once I think I will let the pics do the talking!

The pic above is probably my favourite of all the pics I have taken on our travels. Need I say more?!

Cathal

Bay of Islands (3) Part 2

We had ambitious plans for our trip to Northland which including a trip to Cape Reinga (30) , Ninety Mile Beach and the Waipoua Kauri Forests (23) . We got as far as Kerikeri! This was partly due to general laziness and mostly due to the weather.

We decided to stay relatively local to the Bay of Islands and visited Waitangi and Kerikeri instead.

We visited the Stone Store and the Mission House in Kerikeri which are the oldest stone and timber buildings in NZ and were built around the 1820's. They were both interesting and cleverly done and if you have any interest in knowing more about how people lived during that era then it is well worth a trip. Here's a pic from the car park at the other side of the Kerikeri River looking back towards the Store and the Mission House and a couple of pics of the individual buildings.





After Kerikeri we called into the Waitangi National Reserve (85) and visitor centre. The historical treaty between the Crown and the Maori people was signed here in 1840. On the way from the visitor centre to the Treaty House you pass by the 35m Maori War Canoe called Ngatokimatawhaorua which was built to mark the centenary of the 1840 treaty. It is named after the canoe in which the legendary Polynesian navigator Kupe discovered NZ. Here's some pics.


After the war canoe you reach the Treaty House and the whare runanga (meeting house). The meeting house was build to celebrate the centenary also. Here's some pics.

The remainder of our time in Northland was literally a wash out. Out of desperation for something to do I suggested we go visit a glow worm cave about one kilometre south of Kawakawa. I reckoned that you couldn't get wet in a cave and was very pleased with myself until we got there. Here's a few pics of the access lane to the caves.

Needless to say we didn't risk it and returned back to Russell.

Northland has experienced its own fair share of flooding recently and the weather for our last two days was appalling. Having said that the weather and the flooding is uncharacteristic for the area generally.

On a separate note, someone kindly let me know that there is a link to this blog site on the Bay of Islands Community Site. Knowing that I might have a few more readers with a particular interest in the area I made a mental note to keep any criticism I had to myself! However I have to say that the food experiences we had generally in Northland were poor. Poor to the point where the last two nights we just didn't bother going out but stayed in and cooked instead. I even got a mild case of food poisoning and to pre-empt any potentially smart comments, it was before we decided to eat in!

We had the worst, and I mean the worst, pizza ever in Paihia. Someone had the audacity to get a piece of cardboard cut it into a circular shape and put cheap, sickly sweet, processed pizza spread on top, call it a pizza and charge $15 for it. It was disgraceful and we just left it behind us more or less untouched. I was going to complain about it but decided that anyone who could serve something that bad obviously just doesn't care and it would have a been a waste of my time.

There were other memorable, but unfortunately not in a good way, restaurant experiences during our stay. I even checked the internet for places to eat. I got two hits for Russell and both places, which got pretty good reviews, were closed. I can only assume that things are better during the high season and what we experienced was as a result of the sheer lack of demand at this time of year. If there's some really nice restaurants, like Fleurs Place in Moeraki Village, that we kept missing someone might let us know!

Wellington might not get the weather that Northland can boast, but it can boast the better restaurants. We had a fabulous meal in Pravda the night of our return and it wasn't the first and will not be the last!

Coming up in the next posts. How Sharon and I are planning on travelling back in time and cork V screw cap wines, the truth revealed!
Cathal

Bay of Islands (3) Day 1

The Bay of Islands (3) gets its name from the 144 islands that dot the bay. The two main towns to stay in and around the bay are Paihia and Russell.

Paihia is bigger and feels more like a resort. You can imagine at the height of the high season, there's an influx of camper vans and holiday makers, that frequent the bars and cafes spilling out towards the end of the night. In short a younger persons town.

If they are spilling out of the bars with their beers in Paihia then they are quietly sipping their Pinot's in Russell. Instead of listening to the latest chart entries it's the sound of the water as it ebbs and flows along the waters edge, with perhaps a hint of classical music in the background. Russell is marketed as "Romantic Russell" and it has an old world charm about it that I think would appeal to older holiday makers or people like us who were looking for somewhere quiet and, as the marketing experts boast, romantic.

I think the towns are quite different due to their location also. Paihia is easily accessible where as Russell is more remote and is best accessed by ferry from Opua, although you can get there without getting your feet wet so to speak! There are two ferries that run continuously so you are never waiting long. Here's a pic of the small marina at the ferry terminal in Opua.

The many cruises that take people around the islands pick you up at either Paihia or Russell so there is no disadvantage to staying in Russell in that respect. There is also pedestrian ferries that run back and fourth from Russell to Paihia so you can leave the car behind if you fancy a trip. The only disadvantage about Russell is that it is a little bit off the beaten track when it comes to exploring the rest of the bay or indeed the rest of Northland but as we have already said it is that remoteness that gives Russell a lot of it's charm. Here's some pics taken around Russell.

As we would say back at home "we fell on our feet" when it came to our choice of accommodation. We stayed in the Russell Bay Lodge which consists of two self contained apartments with fabulous views over the bay. Here's some pics from the terrace area outside the apartments.


The last picture is a true picture of the view from the bay suite apartment we were staying in. The owner, Dave, ran down to us the first evening we had arrived as his kids had spotted dolphins in the bay. We were invited up onto their own terrace and we each took turns with the binoculars to look at the four dolphins jumping out of the water. The owners of the apartments couldn't have planned it better!

The thing Northland has going for it above anything else is probably it's weather. It has the mildest climate in NZ being the most Northern region. They even suggest that they don't actually get a winter although the weather towards the end of our stay, though mild, was very wet! Either way it was the lemon tree outside the apartment that epitomised the local climate for us. Not something you would see very often walking around windy Wellington!

Even though the weather is better in this part of NZ we did travel in the equivalent of February back home and the weather forecast was bad for the second half of the week. We therefore decided to take a boat cruise the first afternoon we were there. There are numerous boat cruises to go on but the full day trips do not run in the winter time. That said, 4 hours in a boat is more than enough no matter how nice the views in my opinion.

We went with a company that concentrated on looking for dolphins aswell as going around the islands. They even let you swim with them if the dolphins are willing. If you do not see any dolphins on the trip they will give you a voucher to go on the trip again free of charge. One of the crew members said that a tourist turned up a few weeks back with an 11 year old voucher!

We were also informed that they had failed to see dolphins for the last two days but that that could change at anytime. Luckily for them and their vouchers it did. Although the dolphin experience paled in comparison to our encounter with them in Doubtful Sound and they were not remotely interested in letting us swim with them! Here's some pics around the islands.

The majority of the boat cruises go through the "hole in the rock" which unsurprisingly is a hole in a rock as pictured below.


The major disadvantage of traveling at this time of year for us was the sheer lack of life. As much as Russell's charm lies in it's remoteness you still want to go into a restaurant and not be the only people there all night! Due to the lack of holiday makers one of the main restaurants, and what looked like the best, was shut aswell as the local gallery.

As you might have gathered from some of our previous posts we like our food. We ate in a local restaurant the first night as it was literally the only one with people in it! Strength in numbers we thought and managed to get the last table. It was one of the more reasonably priced restaurants and I think that that might have impacted on the patrons choice. It was either that or we choose badly but either way we were not impressed and although it was busy again the following night we kept walking. In fairness we enjoyed the food at the restaurant we ate at the following night, although a bit of company wouldn't have gone astray.

The weather was absolutely fabulous for our first day but as predicted that was all due to change but more on that next post.

Cathal

Leigh to the Bay of Islands (3)

According to the guide book there are three beaches worth seeing on your trip around Northland and Pakiri beach just 11 kilometres north of Leigh was one of them. I was expecting a nice romantic cove enclosed by cliffs. What I got was a 9km beach but is was beautiful none the less. Here's some pics.



After Pakiri beach we took a small detour towards Wellford for a bite to eat as it was the biggest town close by. There was nothing special about the town and the food we got in one of the local cafes was unfortunately nothing special either! After Wellford we headed towards Mangawhai but before we got there we passed Gandalf on the way. I think he acts as a marker for a LOTR set but that is pure speculation on my part, it might not even be Gandalf!



By the time we reached Mangawhai Sharon was asleep in the car so I decided to drive to the surf beach in the town for a look as you never know what you might be missing. Here's some pics of the beach.

After Mangawhai it was onto Bream Bay and the pretty coves of Lang and Waipu that precede the small village of Waipu itself. Here's some more pics we took along the way.



Sick of beaches yet? Well how about a few pictures of some public toilets then?

Our last stop before we reached the Bay of Islands was Kawakawa to see the Hunderwasser's Public Toilets. You can read about the Austrian born Architect here. Here's some pics of the toilets and a shop he designed across the road.



After Kawakawa it was a short spin to Opua to take the ferry over to Russell. More on Russell and the Bay of Islands (3) in the next post. There are 144 islands in the bay hence the name but don't worry I didn't photograph them all!

Cathal

Leigh by the Sea

It takes about 6-7 hours to drive from Onemana in the Coromandel to the Bay of Islands in Northland. We therefore decided to break up our journey and stay in a small village called Leigh on Sunday night. We picked Leigh because it is the gateway to Goat Island and close to Pakiri Beach. We could also take our time traveling up along the coast the next day to the Bay of Islands as opposed to heading back onto the main SH1 route which is further inland and doesn't offer the same coastal views.

Before we got to Leigh however we had to cross the Auckland bridge which is fairly impressive in its own right and offers great views back to the city. The following pics were taken while we were driving but gives you some idea. You can also get an impression of the weather in the last pic with the grey rain clouds hovering over the city.

We arrived into Leigh in the afternoon and headed straight to our accommodation to get settled in. The price of accommodation in the low season is very reasonable and we managed to get a very nice self catering apartment. We stayed in Rowntrees Leigh Accommodation which is en route to Goat Island, about five minutes drive away.

We ate in the Sawmill Cafe that night, there is either the Sawmill, a Cafe or a Fish & Chip shop. I think it was the best option given the choice and the food, although nothing special, was about the best we would have during our entire stay in Northland, but more on that later!

We got up early the next morning and headed down to Goat Island. Goat Island is one of NZ's special places according to the guide book as it was the countries first marine reserve of 547 hectares. It is meant to be one of the top ten places in the world to snorkel and although we had no intention of actually snorkelling it was still worth a look. At low tide you can head off down to a channel to the right hand side of the beach, as you look out to sea, and from there you can see loads of different fish without getting your feet wet! Here's a few pics, the first is of Goat Island from the car park.

After the channel we took a quick stroll down the other end of the beach and here's some views from there looking back.

It was a fantastic morning, although we did have showers later, and as you can see by the footprints on the beach in the pic above we had the whole place to ourselves that morning. When we were finished exploring the area it was back into the car for the coastal drive to the Bay of Islands.

Next stop Pakiri beach but more on that in the next post.

Cathal