More kayaking

Motueka, South Island, New Zealand

We've spent the day floating around on the most beautiful blue sea you've ever seen!  We did a guided sea kayak trip from Kaiteriteri round to a little bay with a big rock called Split Apple Rock - cos it looks like an apple cut in half.

The sun shone all the way and there wasn't very much wind - perfect paddling conditions.

Here is the apple itself.  The Maori legend is that the rock used to be an egg, and the earth and sea gods were fighting over whose it was, because at low tide it touched the earth, and at high tide the sea.  So they had a fight on top of it, and one of their jade swords touched the egg, which split it in half and turned it to stone.

It was about an hour and a half each way, with tea, coffee and biscuits on the beach (and a swim out to the rock) in the middle.  Here's where we stopped for our cup of tea...

And here's a cave and archway at the edge of the beach...

Tomorrow we're going back to the apple beach, and maybe do some paddle boarding.  This area, Abel Tasman, is really gorgeous and everywhere there are huge apple/orange/cherry/hop farms, lots of fresh veggies for sale and pretty beaches.  If we don't come back, this is where you'll find us...

Mike, Vicky, Thomas and Kitty xxxx

Update on glaciers, kayaks and pancakes

Motueka, South Island, New Zealand

An update on our day at Fox Glacier (which is the name of a village, as well as a big lump of ice), followed by what we've been up to between there and here.

Fox Glacier, Tuesday 24th February
On Monday evening after we arrived at Fox Glacier we went for a short walk around the woods above the village, where there are lots of forest glow worms living in little mossy hollows and glowing bright blue (like the ones at Waitomo caves).
On Tuesday morning we investigated a helicopter flight over the glacier, but the only available slot was cancelled due to low cloud (very busy touristy place).  In the morning we walked up to the glacier from the village, which is about a half hour walk, and reached the glacier viewing point about 200m from the toe of the glacier.

It was big and grubby, a bit blueish and not at all pretty!  There were lots of signs telling us not to cross the barriers, which was good advice as two tourists were squashed in 2009 after they did just that and 100 tonnes of ice fell on them.

From Fox Glacier we drove northwards to a tiny village called Okarito, where we stayed for the night.

Okarito, Wednesday 25th February
Okarito is New Zealand's secret paradise.  A tiny, pretty village on the beach with colourful houses, a kiwi reserve, a pristine lagoon wetland and a place that hires kayaks.

And, it's got its own raingauge; there was a very heavy downpour in the night (got to keep up the average to reach that 5,000mm annual total!).
We hired two double kayaks on Wednesday and paddled up the lagoon (against the tide unfortunately), then into the Okarito river and on up into the rainforest.  It was very quiet except for the birdsong and the cicadas, and a beautiful morning with a backdrop of snow-covered mountains.

Punakaiki, Thursday 26th February
From Okarito we drove to near Punakaiki, where we camped in a layby right on the beach.  This is the west coast, so it was the Tasman Sea - next stop Australia - and the surf was enormous! It pounded on the beach all night.  No swimming here sadly, much too dangerous, but a lovely sunset and a million biting insects.

Today (Thursday) we walked around the pancake rocks - layers of limestone with mud between which has eroded away faster, so they really do look like stacks of pancakes.  Out in the (huge) breakers there were several pods of dolphins playing and surfing.

From there it was a long drive north, via the Buller River gorge (spectacular) to the north coast at Motueka.

Mike, Vicky, Thomas and Kitty xxxx

Glaciers and lakes

Fox Glacier, South Island, New Zealand

Tonight we are staying near the Fox Glacier, on the west coast of South Island - haven't seen it yet though as the rainclouds are really low down, and when we arrived there was lovely cool rain falling from the sky!

We picked up our campervan in Christchurch, and on Friday drove to Lake Tekapo, a beautiful blue lake in the middle of the island.  A long drive across the very flat and dull Canterbury plains to the south of Christchurch, but then up into big mountains with huge views.

Saturday was a short trip slightly south, and then up the west coast of Lake Pukaki to Mount Cook village, at the foot of Mount Cook.  At 3,754m above sea level this is New Zealand's highest mountain and has lots of snow and blue ice on even now, at the end of a very hot dry summer.

We walked up and over the terminal moraine of the Tasman glacier to see the lake and the toe of the glacier - not pretty!  It looks like an abandoned quarry, and the ice at the lake is grey and stony.  (Very windy too).

We camped just down the road from the village, so had a fab view of the mountain until the clouds rolled in.  In the morning the sun was shining on the snowy top.

On Sunday after Thomas and Kitty had braved the cool, clear water of Lake Pukaki we drove a whole lot south, and then a whole lot north, to Makarora - a tiny village at the end of the spectacularly beautiful Lake Wanaka.  On the way we had a quick swim in Lake Hawea.

Today, yet more driving (this is a very big island with a lot of scenery), to Fox Glacier on the west coast, over the Haast pass.  On the way we stopped at Fantail Falls, where there are hundreds of stone towers built on the dry river bed (just in case you thought you were the first person to discover it, you're not!).  Here's our contribution:

It rains every day at Fox Glacier as this is temperate rainforest, and it started as we arrived at 3.30pm.  The cloud is still low, at 7pm, which is a change from everywhere else we've been (hot and sunny non-stop till sunset).  A double rainbow appeared earlier in the field next door, with a little puffy cloud floating near the ground!

Tomorrow we'll be exploring the glacier (Fox's glacier mint, anyone?)

Vicky, Mike, Thomas and Kitty xxxx

South Island starts here

Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand

This afternoon we flew from Auckland (North Island) to Christchurch (South Island) - a lovely flight with good views of both islands and Cook Straight (except for Mike, who was stuck in the aisle seat).

Our last two days on North Island were spent inspecting some of the Coromandel peninsula's best beaches.
**WARNING: lots of beach photos coming up!**
We drove up the west coast to a beach called Sailor's Grave, where it was raining which was a nice change from the blistering sun! Although it did come out later.

Then we crossed the peninsula on the mostly un-sealed '309' road to Coromandel - dusty, windy, but fun!

At Coromandel the cabin we'd booked turned out to be double booked, so instead we were packed off to the much nicer Colonial Cottages.  We spent the evening on Waitete beach, picking up urchin tests and watching the sun set behind all the islands in the bay.

On Wednesday we drove back across the 309 road, stopping at Waihu waterfall and Kairu tree grove, then finishing at Stingray Bay - fabulous white cliffs and turquoise water.

After all that it was time to stuff all our stuff into our bags and leave Niel, Anne and Charlotte who have looked after us so well in Thames - thanks guys!

Vicky, Mike, Thomas and Kitty xxx

More hot water, a kiwi, and glow worms

Thames, North Island, New Zealand

We're back in Thames for one night, then off to see some more of the Coromandel peninsula for our last two days on North Island.

Since Rotorua we have driven round in a big circle to Taupo, Otorohanga, Waitomo, Hamilton, Raglan and back to Thames (see map for where these places are).  Here are the edited highlights....

13th February: Between Rotorua and Taupo, a tiny place 2km up an unmade road, called Kerosene Creek - turned out to be a hot stream, complete with hot waterfall and huge shallow bathing pool (hot).  Mind boggling!  (see the steam?)

In the evening we went to see a HUGE waterfall, which is on the river flowing out of Lake Taupo.

13th/14th February: In Taupo, New Zealand's largest lake which has the clearest water you can imagine.  Formed about 2,000 years ago when a volcano blew up!  Drove up to the highest village on Tongariro volcanic range, Whakapapa, where the air was beautifully cool at 2,000m - this is the volcanic cone of Ngauruhoe from Ruahepa:

15th February: Otorohanga - visited a kiwi house and saw a kiwi.  Because these birds are so rare in the wild, and also nocturnal, it's practically impossible to see them except in captivity.  So the Otorohanga kiwi house keeps them in a dark enclosure and they think it's night during the day.

15th February: Waitomo - huge caves full of glow worms, which glow blue as you glide underneath in a boat.  Couldn't get any photos unfortunately, so one to remember.

Hamilton - big city, we didn't go in but we did meet Nicole's mum, brother and his wife at their house on the outskirts.

16th February: Raglan - very pretty beach and cliffs, with surf-tastic town full of "dudes" hanging out!

Tonight we'll be up on Coromandel making sure the beaches are pretty, then one more night in Thames (Wednesday), and on Thursday we fly to Christchurch on South Island.
Vicky, Mike, Thomas and Kitty xxxx

Geysers and mud pools

Rotorua, North Island, New Zealand

On Tuesday we left Thames with a borrowed car, borrowed tent and borrowed sleeping bags, on a road trip to see the central and western bits of North Island.  We stayed one night on the east coast at Papamoa and had a paddle in the Pacific Ocean, then on Wednesday drove to Rotorua.

In Rotorua we've found a great place to stay called Cosy Cottage Thermal Park - here we have a little cabin with beds and a tiny kitchen, and can go down to the shore of Lake Rotorua or swim in hot pools to our hearts' content!

Yesterday (Wednesday 11th) we visited Whakarewarewa.  We took a look at the boiling mud pools, and the Maori village.  The boiling mud smells mainly sulphorous, and sometimes a bit like sausages and eggs!  As bubbles of hot gas rise up to the surface of the mud it plops and splats and sounds like a frog (a very smelly one).  Steam comes out of holes in the ground that look a bit malevolent!  Sometimes you can hear water down the hole bubbling and spitting too.

At the top of Whakarewarewa is Pohutu geyser, which can throw water 30m up in the air.  We waited a long time for it to do that, but it didn't oblige until we were about to leave so we only got a distant view.  Some of the ground up around the geyser is actually too hot to stand on without shoes!

Today (Thursday 12th) we've been to see the Blue and Green Lakes south-east of Rotorua - Tikitapu and Rotokhaki - which are beautiful.

While we were out we left our dinner cooking in a geothermal oven, and it was delicious.  Here we are enjoying it!

Thomas, Vicky, Kitty and Mike xx

Hobbiton

Matamata, North Island, New Zealand

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit...

On Monday we went to see the Hobbiton film set, where the Lord Of The Rings and the Hobbit trilogy were filmed.  This is about 10km south of the town of Matamata.  All the way south from Thames the landscape was super-flat, dry farmland, apart from the distant mountain range to the east.  Then as soon as you see the sign for Hobbiton there are these fantastic hobbity green hills, with hobbity trees, and you wind your way up through them to the car park.  From there you get a bus over the last hill and down into Hobbiton - the most lovely little green village-dell you can imagine!

There are something like 44 hobbit holes, all unique, but all of except one are just doors and windows with no interiors - all the interior film shots were filmed on a set in Wellington.  The only hobbit-hole that does have an interior only has six feet of corridor, enough to film a hobbit going in.

At the end of the village you finish up at the Green Dragon pub, with a free ("free") drink of ginger beer, hobbit ale or cider.

Today (Tuesday) we're setting off on a drive down to Rotorua, Waitomo and Raglan (amongst other places), so depending on Wifi access it might be a few days till the next update.

Vicky, Mike, Thomas and Kitty xx

Coromandel peninsula

Thames, North Island, New Zealand

It's Monday morning here - overcast, but warm.  Yesterday we drove up the Coromandel peninsula (see the map on the 'New Zealand, North Island map' page to see where these places are), nearly all the way to the top to Colville.

We stopped for a swim at this beautiful deserted beach

Very likely we'll go back up this peninsula in the next week, so expect more photos from travel brochures...

Later on, it was horse riding - a first for us!  Thomas and Kitty loved it and the horses, and want to go again today!

We managed to stay awake a bit later last night, about 8pm for the kids and 10pm for Mike and Vicky, so definitely getting through the jetlag but everybody wakes in the night really hungry!

Vicky, Mike, Thomas and Kitty xx

We have arrived

Thames, North Island, New Zealand

We're here, in New Zealand, and we might even have cracked the jetlag.  Today is Sunday, 8th February.  We landed in Auckland at 8am local time, which was about 7pm Friday UK time.  In total we were travelling for about 30 hours, which wierdly included two nights as we "fast-forwarded" through the days going eastwards.

Here we are getting on the first flight, from Newcastle

And here's Thomas and Kitty eating the first of many aeroplane meals!

Here's a summary of our mammoth journey:

• Left Newcastle airport at 1310 on Thursday, arrived in Dubai six hours later where the local time was about 1am
• Left Dubai two hours later on a ten hour flight to Perth, arriving at about 6pm local time
• Left Perth at 8.30pm (local time), arrived Auckland, New Zealand, six hours later where the local time was 8am.

We were met at the airport by Vicky's friend Niel, who took us back to his house and family where they kept us awake until 6pm by showing us around Thames, where they live, and taking us swimming in an amazing river pool

By 6pm we were all completely shattered, and falling asleep in our chairs, so went to bed and slept for 12 hours solid!
Today (Sunday) we're going to drive up to Coromandel peninsula, and make some plans for the rest of our time on North Island.

Vicky, Mike, Thomas and Kitty xx

Off we go!

Here we are at Newcastle airport, we've checked in our bags and now have an hour and a half to wait for the flight to Dubai.
It's a bit boring but a bit exciting at the same time!  Rosie the dog is having fun too.

We're one step closer on our big trip! Yay!
We will arrive in Auckland (via Dubai and Perth) at about 7pm UK time on Friday night so there's a long way to go.  Can't wait to get the travelling done and be in New Zealand.

Here's the view from the departure lounge...of an Emirates plane...could be ours!