The South Island NZ

Behind Jeremy, fading into the distance, is the capital of NZ, Wellington. We were on board a Bluebridge ferry called "Santa Regina(?)" and, naturally it was blowing a gale. Fortunately the wind was from astern (that's a nautical term for from behind ;-) The journey down to Wellington was pleasureable. We stopped off at a DOC camp site in the hills south of Lake Taupo. It was very cold possibly because of the altitude.

This is our first site on South Island called Robin Hood Bay. The authorities did not know why it had that name. I guess there was not a Yorkshire person on the committee. Again we stayed in a DOC (Department of Conservation) campsite in the right hand corner of the bay. We swam, bathed in the small river (Very Loch Na Keal) and rocked all night in the continuing gale! The following day we picked up a solar shower and towel left by our camping neighbours (they did not leave a forwarding address). After a long walk round the bay we swam and had a long hot shower standing under a tree. Well, Kathy was standing - I was bending. And so off we go south to Blenheim and Marlborough Wine Country, but we think we'll give the wine tasting a miss as we can't agree who'll drive afterwards.

The North of the North Island

So this little tree is Tane Mahuta or in English "Lord of the Forest". It is massive although Picassa won't let me open the picture with the dimensions on it so I can't amaze you with its fabulous statistics. Needless to say it avoided being chopped down by the various invaders(mostly British) and being used for firewood. It IS said to be about 2011 years old, so it was possibly a little sapling when Jesus was crucified. It is the tallest Kauri tree in the World!
Here Kathy and I are pointing out just how far we have to go to return to London from Cape Reinga, the most Northerly lighthouse in NZ. Quite interestingly, the Moari spirits when departing this Earthly, have to pass through here and clamber down the cliff towards the sea using a Pohutakawa tree's roots as steps, before disappearing into the underworld. We spent the night very close to here, but no spirits passed our way, that we were aware of anyway. Stan The Van performed well and returned us poste haste to Whangarei, where he was serviced and fully provisioned for our 1000 (nearly) kilometre drive to Wellington Ferry.

Stan The Van

and here introducing you to Stan The Van. Notice the pop up roof, the garden chairs and furniture complete with folding table and, of course, Kathy setting the whole thing off perfectly.
Here we have an internal view of Stan The Van showing the well appointed sink, table lamp, cooker (under the kettle) and refridgerator (under the sink). Just visible is the extensive dining table. Hidden behind the camera is the two seater couch which folds down into a double bed. In the photo Stan is on location at the famous Kauri Forest (more later), on the first night away from Whangarei. We were trialling Stan to see how we coped.This particular site (DOC) was very good as we had power and only paid $20.

From sailors to campers

07.01.11
Hi Everyone. Jeremy and I hope you all had a great Christmas and a wonderful start to the New Year. We became landlubbers for 2 weeks. Naturally, we were overjoyed to meet Emily at Auckland Airport. We took her sailing for a week, stopping at two ports on our way back to Whangarei. School House Bay at Kawau Island was very quiet and peaceful as was Urquhart Bay at the entrance to the river that leads to Whangarei. It seemed that Emily had brought the rain with her as she only had one fine day that first week and a gale to welcome her up the river.
We settled Sal Darago on her pile mooring, packed our bags, hired a car, stocked up with food for six of us and drove for 5 hours to Coromandel House on the peninsula of the same name. The modern detached house was in a lovely setting close to Coromandel Town. It had an open plan, kitchen, atrium/dining area and lounge. Three bedrooms, a bathroom with spa bath, shower and toilet and integral, large garage with washing machine and tumble drier completed the downstairs facilities. Upstairs, there were two more bedrooms and a shower/toilet. Outside, there was a BBQ area, large table and six chairs, a trampoline and a children’s play area. In addition, there was a flat screen TV and a DVD player with a library of DVDs. We also had free wifi, which was great for sorting out our joint Christmas present to each other: this laptop that I am using now to write this. Bet you can’t tell the difference!
Sadly, everything did not go to plan. Ben, Beth and Philippa spent three nights at Heathrow Airport and had their flight cancelled because of snow and ice. Once they found out the earliest possible flight to NZ would not leave before Boxing Day, they reluctantly cancelled their holiday and returned home to unpack their suitcases. Emily then had the job of changing all the campsite and activity bookings she’d made.
Emily, Jeremy and I made the best of the change of plans and had a great time. Briefly, we spent one week at the house and one week touring in a 5 berth campervan. Places visited were Mercury Bay, Rotorua and Raglan. Activites included: walking the north end of the Coromandel Peninsula, a trip up the mountainside on a narrow gauge railway to Eyeful Tower (cringe!), a 2hour horse trek (not Jeremy), a ukulele Carol Service where Jeremy and Emily read a lesson, a visit to a thermal park to see the Lady Knox geyser and amazing colours and formations made by hot minerals flowing in streams across the landscape, a bathe in a secret hot water pool, visits to stunning waterfalls and natural arches, blackwater rafting and surfing lessons. We’re still recovering but enjoyed every minute. Thank you, Emily, for organising everything.
It was so so sad to say goodbye to Emily, but not before she’s accompanied us to a car fair near Auckland and given us advice on which were to best camper vans to buy. Although Emily pushed us hard and we were tempted, we didn’t buy straight away. We had a tearful parting at the airport. Then Jeremy and I drove to a quiet park, got on the internet and drove ourselves giddy searching for campervans. Hours of searching gave us 3 possibilities and one was near Whangarei. The next day we put a deposit on it. As soon as we had the rest of the money we became the proud owners of Stan the Van (named after the previous owner). Since then, we have gone mad buying bedding, plates, cups etc. God bless the January sales!
It’s our intention to spend 2 or 3 days travelling further north. Yes Ritchie, we hope to visit the oldest Kauri trees. Then we’ll go south for a month, but not before Stan has had a service.