Well I've managed to stop driving for long enough to catch up and so far South Island is very good but I must say that North Island gets a bum rap. I actually think north Island is very nice,very diverse and has some great sights towns and people. It's much more cosmapolitan and has great weather up north. Also there are the Maoris who are lovely and who I have missed in the south as they are few and far between. I have been mistaken by the Maoris as one of their own many times now which is funny and the true Maoris often look very Iranian. They often come up in a bar and say 'Hey Bro, you from round here' and are very surprised when I reply in home counties English with hint of London init! The conversation has even ended in some nose rubbing! True Maoris look very different from Islanders once you know and then you realise that there are so many Islanders (Pacific Islanders) in New Zealand and not as many Maoris as you first thought.
Anyway onto South Island. It's 10 days since we boarded the night ferry to South Island at 1.30am and arrived in Picton at 4.30am. It's much cheaper to travel at this time and also saves a night in a hostel but there is not really anywhere decent to sleep on the ferry and I had to stop in Picton to try and sleep at the side of the road. Maartje snores worse than my dad and grandad put together though so there was no chance of that. I gave up at 5.30 and started driving towards Nelson through Marlborough Sound on the very windey clifftop road in the dark. I was so tired though and pulled onto a cliff top lookout with the car pointing at the sunrise so if I couldn't sleep I could at least watch the sun come up. The part before sunrise was eary and wonderful but I soon fell asleep.
After a couple of hours I started driving again and made it to Nelson by midday. I had heard a lot of good things about the place but have to say I really don't see what people love about the place. It's small, dead and not particularly attractive. The hostel we checked into was fantastic however and it was a good town to go and watch the Lions play the Maori All Blacks in the pub. We had a couple in our room who seemed nice enough and who were heading south and I offered them a ride down the West Coast as they wanted to get to Dunedin to watch a Lions match. So the next morning I had a full car. This was good as I didn't have so much in common with Maartje and found her not the best of fun to travel with. We headed to Able Tasman national park and Golden Bay to do some tramping, that's kiwi for trekking, on the coastal tracks which are famed for their beauty. It was a steep windey drive for a while and we pulled into Takaka and went up to Golden Bay to see the Farewell Spit, the longest natural sandbar in the world. It was really beautiful and very remote with few people. The beaches look tropical up here but you are wearing a hat, thermals and ski jacket which is quite nice somehow? Later we pulled into the Muscle Inn which was a lovely wooden lodge with great food that we couldn't afford but really good beer. If I pass that way on the way home I will have to eat there. If all looked yummy.
A hostel called Barefoot in Takaka had been recommended to us by some girls who we met on a scenic lookout on the road earlier that day. They said the owner made a huge comunal meal for everyone if paid a few dollars. That sounded great to us so we checked in and planned our walk. I really liked the hostel. It had a very homely feel and Maralyn who runs the place was very sweet organised and friendly and baked delicious home made bread every night. She also knew a lot about New Zealand and the local area and was a great source of information. We had planned to do the 6 hour circuit of Able Tasman and a waterfall the next day and sure enough Maralyn offered to make a roast for everyone the next day when we got back.
In the morning we checked out the Murchison falls which is accessed via a swing bridge. That was fun and very beautiful and although we had made a late start we felt confident about the walk which began a bit further along the road. A Dutch chap called Robert had asked if he could join us over breakfast and so the five of us set off up the steeper than anticipated start to the walk. It was already very beautiful and strangely very similar to first part of the hilltribe trek I had done in northern Vietnam. The climb was long and weather fine and the descent the other side equally long and steep. We would go over 3 or 4 hills like this before the end of the day, each separated by clean untouched golden beaches will clear turquoise water. Even in Thailand I had not seen beaches like this. They were beutiful. The walking was tough though and we added another hour onto the walk by taking the optional path to seperation point, the most northern point of the Able Tasman park.
As we finished the walk some 7 hours after starting, the sun was setting over Golden Bay and the Farewell Spit which we were afforded an amazing view of. We were tired and getting very cold but it was spectacular. Getting back to the car the last rays of sunlight had gone and the thermus of tea in the car was very welcome. Back at the hostel Maralyn had a full roast with ginger sponge cake and ice cream waiting. The hot spa tub in the backyard, a very popular thing in South Island hostels, was hot and ready for our aching muscles too. The Barefoot is a great place to stay and Paul and Colin (long term residents) may seem like a couple of missfits at first glance but are lovely guys. Maralyn is fantastic and has some great travel stories from far flung places.
The next morning we were off again though and headed south for the glaciers Fox and Franz Joseph. Robert was hitching north so I offered him a lift out of Able Tasman and to the highway where he could pick up a lift. The car did struggle over the hills with five and luggage but we got there and Robert got picked up before we had even pulled away. Hitching is a very popular way of getting around in New Zealand and you see many hitchers. I have even seen some people walk to the end of their driveway and stick a thumb up for a lift. We had long drive ahead of us and set off on the short cut Maralyn had given us directions for. It was another great drive through dramatic scenery but I was becoming irritated by the others obsession with music in the car. It's an old car with no CD player and they seemed incapable of sorting it out themselves expecting me to do that and drive at the same time. It was distracting on the long drives and I longed for them to go to sleep. Although we had had fun I had noticed that they were all rather selfish and Neil had been especially irritating with constant music hopping and stupid questions when I was trying to keep the car on the road through the winding roads. His constant indecision was very frustrating too. We usually had a plan and he would then blow that plan out of the water half way down the road when he finally woke up and realised he wanted to do something else. Maartje and Kat who both had an eye for Neil would obviously agree and I was left feeling like I was just a bus driver. They behaved like teenagers sponging a lift to the pub. At first this was ok as we did some cool things. Instead of going all the way to Greymouth (half way to the Glaciers) we stopped in Reefton where we picked up a key to the lodge in the ghost town of Waiuta which is a deserted Gold prospecting town from the 1800's allegedly haunted by several ghosts.
We had the whole lodge to ourselves and fired up the coal stove for the night, made dinner and got very drunk. It was fun but marred a little by the fact that the guys wanted to avoid paying by hiding in the back and so we only paid for 3. It was very cheap accomodation and well looked after. I found it silly and unecessary especially as the caretaker visited twice that evening. It's gotta be travellers bad Karma to do that I recon and added to my frustration with my companions attitude towards travelling. They were happy to spend $30 dollars on wine but not $15 for a bed!?
Our next stop was Franz Joseph glacier which we reached after a very long and hung over drive. The guys had slept all the way and I had had some peace in the car. It was a very impressive drive with the snow capped moutains looming large in the moon light ahead of me all the way there on the dark frosty and sometimes foggy roads. I enjoyed it very much but the roads were very slippery and I was very tired. Pulling into the glacier village we checked into glow worm cottages, a fine resort managed by a French couple. The next couple of days were a little strange as there was little harmony in the group. The others made a big fuss about doing the glacier activities only to be underwhelmed by the glacier. Having seen glaciers before I opted to just do the free walk and photograph the glacier as I find glaciers quite beautiful to observe. This one has retreated dramatically and has a very steep face. I must say that glaciers in Icleand are much more interesting and beautiful. In fact I think the landscape of Iceland is far more magical and unspoilt than New Zeland's south island. Whilst any glacier is beautiful the european glaciers are far more dramatic. The others did their iceclimb in the rain however and after a couple of days we headed off south stopping at Mattheson to see the reflection of Mount Cook in it's mirror like waters.
The weather was not great as we headed to Wanaka and the ski fields of Queenstown but we made good time and checked into a nice little hostel in Wanaka. The others were unimpressed with the hostel but I liked it and there are some nice people staying there. A Belgian couple, An Italian diving instructor and his Kiwi girlfiriend who is a photography student and a British couple. Andy a set and costume designer and his girlfriend who has worked with David Tressider from Arup on an indoor diving complex idea in Milton Keynes (Is that going to happen guys???? I thought it was another Arup pipe dream ;)). Most moved on today but I am still in Wanaka and will give Maartje, Neil and Kat a ride to Queenstown tomorrow where we will part company and I will come back here. I have spent the last few days up in the hills and farm land surounded by sun bathed snow caps and working with the camera which I have thoroughly enjoyed. The others have finally worn me down not letting me sleep with their late nights, fumbled attempts at silent love making which have been torture to listen to wondering when it will be safe to go to the toilet! and the crappy cooking they're so proud of.
I'll be down here for a while and will probably explore further south as the skiing is not very good yet but I will come back when the season is in full swing. Who knows, I may even work here for a while? I'm really comfortable here and have gotten over a bad bout of home sickness which comes and goes. Queenstown maybe another story though. I'll find out tomorrow. I am looking forward to coming home soon.
Lots of love,
Kaveh.
June 20, 2005
June 16, 2005
Exploring North Island
Hello everyone!
Well it feels like it's been a while as I have done a lot. After my last email I packed up the car and headed north to explore the northern tip of New Zealand. The weather had been pretty bad with a lot of rain and when I say rain I mean rain like you've never seen. When it rains here it really rains. For some reason I quite liked it. Reminds me of home perhaps. Heading north through Auckland it changed from driving rain to sun with showers from hour to hour. I hit Auckland at a good time and missed the traffic so carried on with the aim of getting as far north as I could in one day. I got to Whangerai on the Northland East Coast pretty easily in about 4 hours along the demanding but good highway. Whangerai is a fairly big town and I didn't fancy staying there. I wanted to get as close to Cape Reinga as I could so I got some supplies and carried on. I aimed for Kaitaia, another 3 1/2 hours north. I was making pretty good time. The scenery was more beautiful the further I went. The roads had little traffic and as I got north they became more and more demanding especially as it got dark. There are many fatal accidents on NZ roads and I can see why. In the driving rain and dark the roads are very hard to read. They snake through the hills and valleys with steep gradients and varied surfaces. It felt very much that I was in the wilderness and the landscape was impressive but sometimes quite lonely. Many big logging trucks are on the road in this heavily forested area and it looks much like the pictures you see of Canada and Montana but with subtropical coastal beach towns breaking things up. Sort of Canada meets Fiji. By 7pm I was quite tired. I had been following a logging truck quite fast through a very tricky road. The rain was very heavy and there was a thunder storm not far away. It was very dark but despite the car being quite old it coped pretty well. I'd say the roads are some of the most demainding and hardest to read that I have seen and are much like the roads of Cornwall and Wales.
I passed some small petrol stations in the middle of nowhere and some single street towns and eventually came to Kaitaia feeling very tired after 7 or 8 hours behind the wheel. My plan was to get north quickly to catch the good weather and then head down slowly exploring. There is little in Kaitaia and only 1 or 2 hostels. They aren't the best either and rely on the fact that they are close to 90 mile beach and there is nothing else about. I think the prices have gone up for the Lions tour as well which was unfortunate. I didn't get much sleep either as a large group of Dutch guys were very noisey. They shouted over the TV for most of the late evening and early hours. Not sure why.
I left early the next day and headed for 90 mile beach. It's not 90 miles long but it is big. I cought the morning low tide and decided to make the 1 hour drive up the beach to Cape Reinga on the northern tip of the island. The wide flat beach makes a great highway and is much faster than the road. The weather was dramatic with big white and black clouds and a big surf both being driven by a very strong wind. This meant that there was bright warm sunshine which was broken by the clouds and showers. I made it all the more beautiful though. They call it the winterless north and with temperatures not much lower than 20 degrees it's t-shirt weather in the day. It does get pretty cold at night though. On the beach I had stopped to take photos and as I snapping away when a man with a large backpack approached. I had passed him earlier and he seemed to be walking barefoot with all his gear. He turned out to be a Lebanese called Whasseem who was walking around the country. I offered him a lift and we set off. Apart from the tour buses I was pretty much the only car and after a long drive we eventually got to the end of the beach but no lighthouse and no road? Luckily a couple of cars were there and I asked the local Maori driver where to go. He explained that I should drive up the nearby creek and so I went looking. Seeing what I was about to drive though I stuck the car into 4x4 Lo ratio as I had already noticed that some places were soft and the car wanted to get stuck a few times. The creek drains from the hills onto the beach and I looked for tracks to find my way out. It was great fun but you had to keep moving to prevent the car digging itself into the sand. As we went further we passed through huge sand dunes where some jacked up tour busses brought people for sand boarding. It was an amazing landscape with the creek running through it but I had to carry on as I wasn't sure about the tide and didn't want to get stuck. The car was great and got us through with little trouble. Shame I got no pictures.
Where the road meets the creek you can start heading in land on the rough gravel so I headed for the Cape Reinga lighthouse on the northern tip. It was a longer drive than I had imagined and I was going pretty quick on the very enjoyable gravel roads. We got there after a good 1/2 hour though. Whasseem didn't say much and I think he had become used to his solitude. Arriving at the Cape there were a few tourists by the lighthouse. The car was covered in sand and some other people said they had watched us flying up the beach at over 80km/h envious that they couldn't take their hire cars up. It did look cool covered in sand! Whasseem said he fancied a walk but only if it was a 2 hour one so I said I would wait and take pictures but he decided to go off with his pack and make a 2 day walk through the bush to the next village so we said goodbye. Strange chap. Several bus loads of tourists turned up so I left after snapping away myself. The state of my car was a source of amusement for some.
I headed south on the road as the tide would be in now and I fancied seeing what was inland. It was a pretty long drive on gravel and then tarmac before I came to the first services. It didn't look very exciting so I went on. The counrtyside was very beautiful with sheep and cow farms, hills and valleys and the coast visible in the distance. I filled the car up and enquired about a place to stay. The fuel is very expensive up there at $1.70 per litre compared to the norm of $1.30. I was pointed in the direction of the YHA hostel in Houhora Warf nearby and checked in. Very pretty place and a very characterful little hostel on the waterfront. I made a dash up to Cape Reinga again to try and catch the sunset but was side tracked by the lovely countryside with the camera. I made it just for the last rays of sun but no photos. Some people were camping in the adjacent bays and I thought about sleeping in the car but wasn't really equiped for that. Back at the hostel I had an early night as there weren't many people around.
After little sleep due to a young American girl's incredible snoring I made a late start towards the beach again. This time I approached the beach through a thick forest half way up which is a major logging area. Again I was on rough gravel roads until the huge trees parted and I arrived on silver sand with the sea crashing away in front of me. It was a good day to drive down on the beach so I went back to fuel up and returned to the beach with a campervan following. As I sat on the beach the brand new hired camper drove down to turn round and sank straight into the sand. He called me over and I basically told him he was stuck good and proper much to his dismay. They were a Welsh couple on holiday. I knew the tide was coming in soon and we had an hour or 2 to get help and pull him out so I went like the clappers back to town with his wife to get help. Great fun....I had a reason to drive as fast as I could! The local tow truck was called and as I left a huge 1950's monster of a thing pulled up with huge sand tires. The lady kindly gave me $20 for my trouble and I left them to it making my way to the Bay of Islands by road.
It was another good drive and it was dark before I got there having taken the very long but very scenic route. I arrived in Paihia which is the main town along with Waitangi where the Maori's signed the treatty with the British. Bay of Islands was a surprise. It was lovely with a wonderful beach town feel, excellent hostels and a couple of good bars to while away the evening. I felt very relaxed there and spent the evening having a few beers with some kiwi's and a brummy in a wood fired bar with excellent live music. The beer is excellent here by the way. My dad would love it. The next day I spent driving around Bay of Islands and Russel which I got to via the ferry. It's a fantastic area and would make a perfect holiday. I found some very idilic bays with a couple of boats, a few holiday homes and a quiet silver beach where maybe 1 person would be walking a dog. I stayed a second night and went to the same bar which was very quiet but had even better live music. I would have happily stayed longer but I was keen to start heading south to the snow and to meet up with Maartje who I had met in Cairns and who was now in NZ heading north to meet me in Rotorua. We planned to head to Queenstown together and hit the slopes. So I began the drive back to Tozan's in Hamilton. Along the way I stopped to take a look at my friend Olivia's farm in Northland. I hadn't expected it to be quite as remote as it was, between Whangerai and Dargville in Northland. The landscape became different again with rolling hills and farmland and little people or traffic. To get to the farm I had to turn off the sealed road and travel on gravel for a long way. At one point a cow was sitting having a rest in the road but after a minute or 2 kindly got up and moved so I could carry on. It was a lovely drive and very much like the rally stages in Wales and I would have loved to sprint down it in a rally car but the Pajero was good to. After having a nose around I planned where to go next and whilst snapping a few pictures I was approached by a farmer in his ute. He asked if I was ok and I explained I was just taking a few pics. He said 'You're not one of those council people taking photos of my farm so you can tell me how many trees I need to cut down are you? Cos I tell them to fuck off! Fed up of people telling me how to farm my land!' I explained that I wasn't and found him quite funny and very nice. Sorry Liv! Didn't mean to upset the neighbours.
I carried on south and all was going well until I overtook a big lorry going over the Brynderwyns just south of Ruakaka. At the top of the hill I could smell coolant and the temperature gauge was climbing so I coasted down the other side and pulled over. It looked like a hose had sprung a leak but it could also have been the water pump gasket as it wasn't clear so hoping it was the hose I called the AA who sent a mechanic out from Ruakaka. He turned out to be a 60 year old Dutch guy who had lived there for 40 years and like all old mechanics he loved to swear F'ing and Blinding all the way to the garage in his strong Dutch accent. We both checked the car out and it was the gasket so I would have to spend the night at a motel paid for by the AA. This place is nothing in the middle of nowhere and motels are lonely places, plus the only shop closed as I got to the door and the owner completely ignored my attempts to get his attention...NICE! I was so hungry. At least the TV is good on a Friday night. In the morning I bought a pie and beans and stuffed my face. The car was fixed quite promptly and for about $180 which is 70 quid...not bad really. By lunchtime I was well on my way and the sun was out too. I arrived in Hamilton that evening very tired and it was nice to be back at Tozans. The car still had half of 90 mile beach stuck to it though so we spent the next day gardening, cleaning the cars and eating as usual, and the weekend was spent eating, shopping and going to the cinema where we saw Bride and Prejudice which had us in stiches. After the weekend it was time to move on and say goodbye to Tozan. I had gotten used to being there and it had been really nice to catch up with such an old friend and it felt weird to move on. I had ejoyed staying in Hamilton and Tozan had been great fun and looked after me well especially when it came to food!
By now Maartje was in Rotorua 1 1/2 hours south and I set off to meet her. Neither of us wanted to stick around there as it's very touristy and expensive so we headed to Taupo another hour south. Taupo is lovely and home to some of the cheapest sky diving in the world. It's set on the massive Lake Taupo which is overlooked by Mount Doom from Lord of the Rings. We checked into the very good Rainbow Lodge and Maartje booked her sky dive. I hadn't really thought of doing one and was put off by the price but decided to go watch. It was a long wait but she got her dive at sunset which is pretty special and it was all very cool. I was quite jealous and nearly put my credit card on the counter but it seemed like a lot of cash for 5 minutes and would have eaten my diving budget for Fiji. Maartje was buzzing with a big smile after that and we went to the pub where we met some of the others who had done the dive and took part in the pub quiz. Nice pub, nice town and nice food from the night cafe after.
We were on the move again early in the morning heading to Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. It was a long drive with great scenery and some interesting stops which took all day. Pulling into Wellington I was very surprised at how cool it looked and how buzy with cafes and bars it was. It feels very Scandinavian and is pretty with a lot of characeter. Finding a hostel with parking and cheap beds was a bit tricky though and we opted for a little place with a querky reputation near the centre of town called Beethoven House. Beethoven House is owned by a Singaporian man who loves music and who has strange reputation but alas we never met him. It's an old house and is like a student house but it was cheap and relaxed so we gave it a go. There were a couple of nice guys there but also a couple of Kiwi guys who were very simple and very strange. They made everyone quite uncomfortable and myself and Maartje spent little time there which was good as we explored the city. We saw the Te Papa Museum, rode the cable car and sampled the fantastic cafes of Cuba Street. The city is very trendy and the people have a nice style which is very north european. We spent a couple of days there before it was time for us to leave North Island on the Ferry to South Island.
That was a few days ago but I have been on the road since and the internet has been expensive in the touristy south so I'll bring you up to date soon. I hope everyone is well and enjoying the summer. It's winter here!
Kaveh.
Well it feels like it's been a while as I have done a lot. After my last email I packed up the car and headed north to explore the northern tip of New Zealand. The weather had been pretty bad with a lot of rain and when I say rain I mean rain like you've never seen. When it rains here it really rains. For some reason I quite liked it. Reminds me of home perhaps. Heading north through Auckland it changed from driving rain to sun with showers from hour to hour. I hit Auckland at a good time and missed the traffic so carried on with the aim of getting as far north as I could in one day. I got to Whangerai on the Northland East Coast pretty easily in about 4 hours along the demanding but good highway. Whangerai is a fairly big town and I didn't fancy staying there. I wanted to get as close to Cape Reinga as I could so I got some supplies and carried on. I aimed for Kaitaia, another 3 1/2 hours north. I was making pretty good time. The scenery was more beautiful the further I went. The roads had little traffic and as I got north they became more and more demanding especially as it got dark. There are many fatal accidents on NZ roads and I can see why. In the driving rain and dark the roads are very hard to read. They snake through the hills and valleys with steep gradients and varied surfaces. It felt very much that I was in the wilderness and the landscape was impressive but sometimes quite lonely. Many big logging trucks are on the road in this heavily forested area and it looks much like the pictures you see of Canada and Montana but with subtropical coastal beach towns breaking things up. Sort of Canada meets Fiji. By 7pm I was quite tired. I had been following a logging truck quite fast through a very tricky road. The rain was very heavy and there was a thunder storm not far away. It was very dark but despite the car being quite old it coped pretty well. I'd say the roads are some of the most demainding and hardest to read that I have seen and are much like the roads of Cornwall and Wales.
I passed some small petrol stations in the middle of nowhere and some single street towns and eventually came to Kaitaia feeling very tired after 7 or 8 hours behind the wheel. My plan was to get north quickly to catch the good weather and then head down slowly exploring. There is little in Kaitaia and only 1 or 2 hostels. They aren't the best either and rely on the fact that they are close to 90 mile beach and there is nothing else about. I think the prices have gone up for the Lions tour as well which was unfortunate. I didn't get much sleep either as a large group of Dutch guys were very noisey. They shouted over the TV for most of the late evening and early hours. Not sure why.
I left early the next day and headed for 90 mile beach. It's not 90 miles long but it is big. I cought the morning low tide and decided to make the 1 hour drive up the beach to Cape Reinga on the northern tip of the island. The wide flat beach makes a great highway and is much faster than the road. The weather was dramatic with big white and black clouds and a big surf both being driven by a very strong wind. This meant that there was bright warm sunshine which was broken by the clouds and showers. I made it all the more beautiful though. They call it the winterless north and with temperatures not much lower than 20 degrees it's t-shirt weather in the day. It does get pretty cold at night though. On the beach I had stopped to take photos and as I snapping away when a man with a large backpack approached. I had passed him earlier and he seemed to be walking barefoot with all his gear. He turned out to be a Lebanese called Whasseem who was walking around the country. I offered him a lift and we set off. Apart from the tour buses I was pretty much the only car and after a long drive we eventually got to the end of the beach but no lighthouse and no road? Luckily a couple of cars were there and I asked the local Maori driver where to go. He explained that I should drive up the nearby creek and so I went looking. Seeing what I was about to drive though I stuck the car into 4x4 Lo ratio as I had already noticed that some places were soft and the car wanted to get stuck a few times. The creek drains from the hills onto the beach and I looked for tracks to find my way out. It was great fun but you had to keep moving to prevent the car digging itself into the sand. As we went further we passed through huge sand dunes where some jacked up tour busses brought people for sand boarding. It was an amazing landscape with the creek running through it but I had to carry on as I wasn't sure about the tide and didn't want to get stuck. The car was great and got us through with little trouble. Shame I got no pictures.
Where the road meets the creek you can start heading in land on the rough gravel so I headed for the Cape Reinga lighthouse on the northern tip. It was a longer drive than I had imagined and I was going pretty quick on the very enjoyable gravel roads. We got there after a good 1/2 hour though. Whasseem didn't say much and I think he had become used to his solitude. Arriving at the Cape there were a few tourists by the lighthouse. The car was covered in sand and some other people said they had watched us flying up the beach at over 80km/h envious that they couldn't take their hire cars up. It did look cool covered in sand! Whasseem said he fancied a walk but only if it was a 2 hour one so I said I would wait and take pictures but he decided to go off with his pack and make a 2 day walk through the bush to the next village so we said goodbye. Strange chap. Several bus loads of tourists turned up so I left after snapping away myself. The state of my car was a source of amusement for some.
I headed south on the road as the tide would be in now and I fancied seeing what was inland. It was a pretty long drive on gravel and then tarmac before I came to the first services. It didn't look very exciting so I went on. The counrtyside was very beautiful with sheep and cow farms, hills and valleys and the coast visible in the distance. I filled the car up and enquired about a place to stay. The fuel is very expensive up there at $1.70 per litre compared to the norm of $1.30. I was pointed in the direction of the YHA hostel in Houhora Warf nearby and checked in. Very pretty place and a very characterful little hostel on the waterfront. I made a dash up to Cape Reinga again to try and catch the sunset but was side tracked by the lovely countryside with the camera. I made it just for the last rays of sun but no photos. Some people were camping in the adjacent bays and I thought about sleeping in the car but wasn't really equiped for that. Back at the hostel I had an early night as there weren't many people around.
After little sleep due to a young American girl's incredible snoring I made a late start towards the beach again. This time I approached the beach through a thick forest half way up which is a major logging area. Again I was on rough gravel roads until the huge trees parted and I arrived on silver sand with the sea crashing away in front of me. It was a good day to drive down on the beach so I went back to fuel up and returned to the beach with a campervan following. As I sat on the beach the brand new hired camper drove down to turn round and sank straight into the sand. He called me over and I basically told him he was stuck good and proper much to his dismay. They were a Welsh couple on holiday. I knew the tide was coming in soon and we had an hour or 2 to get help and pull him out so I went like the clappers back to town with his wife to get help. Great fun....I had a reason to drive as fast as I could! The local tow truck was called and as I left a huge 1950's monster of a thing pulled up with huge sand tires. The lady kindly gave me $20 for my trouble and I left them to it making my way to the Bay of Islands by road.
It was another good drive and it was dark before I got there having taken the very long but very scenic route. I arrived in Paihia which is the main town along with Waitangi where the Maori's signed the treatty with the British. Bay of Islands was a surprise. It was lovely with a wonderful beach town feel, excellent hostels and a couple of good bars to while away the evening. I felt very relaxed there and spent the evening having a few beers with some kiwi's and a brummy in a wood fired bar with excellent live music. The beer is excellent here by the way. My dad would love it. The next day I spent driving around Bay of Islands and Russel which I got to via the ferry. It's a fantastic area and would make a perfect holiday. I found some very idilic bays with a couple of boats, a few holiday homes and a quiet silver beach where maybe 1 person would be walking a dog. I stayed a second night and went to the same bar which was very quiet but had even better live music. I would have happily stayed longer but I was keen to start heading south to the snow and to meet up with Maartje who I had met in Cairns and who was now in NZ heading north to meet me in Rotorua. We planned to head to Queenstown together and hit the slopes. So I began the drive back to Tozan's in Hamilton. Along the way I stopped to take a look at my friend Olivia's farm in Northland. I hadn't expected it to be quite as remote as it was, between Whangerai and Dargville in Northland. The landscape became different again with rolling hills and farmland and little people or traffic. To get to the farm I had to turn off the sealed road and travel on gravel for a long way. At one point a cow was sitting having a rest in the road but after a minute or 2 kindly got up and moved so I could carry on. It was a lovely drive and very much like the rally stages in Wales and I would have loved to sprint down it in a rally car but the Pajero was good to. After having a nose around I planned where to go next and whilst snapping a few pictures I was approached by a farmer in his ute. He asked if I was ok and I explained I was just taking a few pics. He said 'You're not one of those council people taking photos of my farm so you can tell me how many trees I need to cut down are you? Cos I tell them to fuck off! Fed up of people telling me how to farm my land!' I explained that I wasn't and found him quite funny and very nice. Sorry Liv! Didn't mean to upset the neighbours.
I carried on south and all was going well until I overtook a big lorry going over the Brynderwyns just south of Ruakaka. At the top of the hill I could smell coolant and the temperature gauge was climbing so I coasted down the other side and pulled over. It looked like a hose had sprung a leak but it could also have been the water pump gasket as it wasn't clear so hoping it was the hose I called the AA who sent a mechanic out from Ruakaka. He turned out to be a 60 year old Dutch guy who had lived there for 40 years and like all old mechanics he loved to swear F'ing and Blinding all the way to the garage in his strong Dutch accent. We both checked the car out and it was the gasket so I would have to spend the night at a motel paid for by the AA. This place is nothing in the middle of nowhere and motels are lonely places, plus the only shop closed as I got to the door and the owner completely ignored my attempts to get his attention...NICE! I was so hungry. At least the TV is good on a Friday night. In the morning I bought a pie and beans and stuffed my face. The car was fixed quite promptly and for about $180 which is 70 quid...not bad really. By lunchtime I was well on my way and the sun was out too. I arrived in Hamilton that evening very tired and it was nice to be back at Tozans. The car still had half of 90 mile beach stuck to it though so we spent the next day gardening, cleaning the cars and eating as usual, and the weekend was spent eating, shopping and going to the cinema where we saw Bride and Prejudice which had us in stiches. After the weekend it was time to move on and say goodbye to Tozan. I had gotten used to being there and it had been really nice to catch up with such an old friend and it felt weird to move on. I had ejoyed staying in Hamilton and Tozan had been great fun and looked after me well especially when it came to food!
By now Maartje was in Rotorua 1 1/2 hours south and I set off to meet her. Neither of us wanted to stick around there as it's very touristy and expensive so we headed to Taupo another hour south. Taupo is lovely and home to some of the cheapest sky diving in the world. It's set on the massive Lake Taupo which is overlooked by Mount Doom from Lord of the Rings. We checked into the very good Rainbow Lodge and Maartje booked her sky dive. I hadn't really thought of doing one and was put off by the price but decided to go watch. It was a long wait but she got her dive at sunset which is pretty special and it was all very cool. I was quite jealous and nearly put my credit card on the counter but it seemed like a lot of cash for 5 minutes and would have eaten my diving budget for Fiji. Maartje was buzzing with a big smile after that and we went to the pub where we met some of the others who had done the dive and took part in the pub quiz. Nice pub, nice town and nice food from the night cafe after.
We were on the move again early in the morning heading to Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. It was a long drive with great scenery and some interesting stops which took all day. Pulling into Wellington I was very surprised at how cool it looked and how buzy with cafes and bars it was. It feels very Scandinavian and is pretty with a lot of characeter. Finding a hostel with parking and cheap beds was a bit tricky though and we opted for a little place with a querky reputation near the centre of town called Beethoven House. Beethoven House is owned by a Singaporian man who loves music and who has strange reputation but alas we never met him. It's an old house and is like a student house but it was cheap and relaxed so we gave it a go. There were a couple of nice guys there but also a couple of Kiwi guys who were very simple and very strange. They made everyone quite uncomfortable and myself and Maartje spent little time there which was good as we explored the city. We saw the Te Papa Museum, rode the cable car and sampled the fantastic cafes of Cuba Street. The city is very trendy and the people have a nice style which is very north european. We spent a couple of days there before it was time for us to leave North Island on the Ferry to South Island.
That was a few days ago but I have been on the road since and the internet has been expensive in the touristy south so I'll bring you up to date soon. I hope everyone is well and enjoying the summer. It's winter here!
Kaveh.
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