thelasthurrahsite

In the dim and distant past I recall a bottled soft drink called Kia Ora. I think it was orange squash flavoured. Kia Ora is a Maori greeting for anything from ‘hello’ to ‘hope you are well’ etc. So now you know. Yet another piece of instantly forgettable trivia!

This morning, whilst waiting for the rain to stop (again), I found an excellent shop selling both new and second hand books. So I took the opportunity of stocking up. 3 good second hand novels for the same price as one new one in Auckland. Result!

The rain didn’t stop. The only rain I like is the dramatic, tropical stair rod stuff. Any other type I can do without, especially the tormenting rain. The type that stops and just when you think the coast is clear, it starts again, and again and again! But I’m not here to sit inside, read a book or watch Midsomer Murders on local TV (or The Chase, Hollyoaks, Pointless or all the many other UK TV programmes here). So off I went to enjoy the scenery

or what I could see of it!

Once outside Rotorua, the smell of sulphur becomes less intrusive although there are still a few hot spring ‘bonfires’ around.

Canoeing/Kayaking or whatever it’s called is a popular macho man sport here and with all the rain there are plenty of places to indulge. Okera Falls is a great venue for such activity and I have to say it makes for dramatic viewing, even watching underneath dripping foliage.

I think these guys were involved in some sort of timed trial. Most of the contestants navigated the swirling waters successfully

although one or two did come to grief over this bit.Cascading rivers such as this one end up in the many lakes that surround Rotorua which I am sure are stunningly beautiful on a good day.

But not today!

The rain did ease off enough on my way back to base for a stop off and a short walk through one of the many, many pine forests in this area.

where also, large quantities of these splendid fern trees abound.But it’s the fir trees that dominate until, of course, they are cut down.

Close to the centre of Rotorua there is a sizeable forest full of majestic Redwoods. So I just had to take a look before the next downpour.

What grand pieces of timber they are; some reaching more than 300 feet high!

But then it started to rain again so I gave up and scuttled back to my motel leaving the weather to animals better prepared!

I’m heading back to Auckland tomorrow where, who knows, it might not be raining!

Phileas

The earth’s crust around Rotorua is thinner than most other places on this earth, hence its fame for geo thermal activity. The first clue you get is the all pervading smell of sulphur in the air. Not an overwhelming rotten egg smell but just enough to let you know it’s there. And then, as you look around, you can see what at first glance might appear to be a load of bonfires – except  it’s not. It’s steam rising from the ground. Pockets of it everywhere.

Right in the centre of the city there is a sulphur green lake

surrounded by steaming ponds of bubbling water.

And when the water’s not bubbling, the mud is,

making the most extraordinary blooping noises. It’s unreal. It’s living sic-fi

I was told that about 20 miles south of Rotorua there were even more spectacular displays so off I headed through some beautiful countryside.with much topographical evidence of volcanic activity zillions of years ago.

I arrived at my destination at the same time as an unwanted guest

which rather curtailed further exploring for a while. When it stopped, though, I thought I had been transported onto the moon’s surface.

It’s difficult to describe such a surreal scene that would be extraordinary just on its own. But such sights are all around. They’re everywhere

and the sound of mud bubbling up from almost under your feet makes you totally aware of the power of nature and our own insignificance.

After such an experience, it was quite calming to drive back to Rotorua through yet more idyllic scenery.

and watch normal people doing normal things.

I haven’t changed my initial opinion of Rotorua. Apart from one small area, it’s a modern, American grid style city developed purely to support the tourist industry in the surrounding areas. The one pocket of resistance, so to speak, is the Governors Gardens built in the very early 20th century on land given by the Maoris – as a tourist attraction. This rather grand building

is currently the Rotorua Museum but was originally built as a bath house where the local gentry could avail themselves of the therapeutic powers of sulphur baths. And if they tired of bathing they could always play bowls or croquet on the immaculate lawns. A little jewel in an otherwise bland and functional city.

As I have mentioned before, I am not a ‘guided tour’ person, being much happier to do my own exploring  when and where I can. And it’s just as well because being a full on tourist is expensive. So I easily resisted the opportunity to take a trip over lake Rotorua and the surrounding areas

and settled for an ice cream and watching a seagull trying to digest a large piece of bread instead!It’s the simple things in life!

Phileas

There was a big storm last night which, apart from anything else, knocked out the electricity in most of the northern part of New Zealand’s north island. This left a lot of frustrated motorists  this morning as none of the petrol stations were working when I left Paihia.

Close to 7 hours of driving in the rain is not my idea of fun but that’s how long it took to get to Rotorua. I’m sure it would have been a beautiful drive on any other day but today was not one for enjoying spectacular scenery.

 Whilst I already know that the New Zealand landscape is quite stunning (when you can see it, that is), ever since I have been here I have been less than impressed by the architecture of the houses.

They are almost all single storey, wooden clad and  have very similar designs. So there is little  apparent character in these dwellings. They seem functional rather than aesthetically pleasing. It is quite rare to see what we would call  ‘period properties’ which we so take for granted in Europe.

A visit to a hot spring is the bucket list reason why I am here. Hopefully, this can be done whether it is raining or not.  Probably based on my knowledge of spa towns in the UK (Bath, Cheltenham, Leamington etc) I had this preconceived idea that Rotorua might be quite a quaint little place. What I have seen so far indicates that the reverse might well be the case and that Rotorua has developed with more of an American style!

Having said that, pouring rain and leaden skies tend to make even the most desirable places look pretty miserable. So I will reserve judgement until tomorrow.

I shall now paddle off to find some food.

Phileas

Yesterday, I  reported on how idyllic and timeless the little seaside town of Russell appeared to be.

Today I learnt that this has not always been the case. In fact, back in the early part of the 19th century, this place was known as the Hell Hole of the Pacific! It was, at that time, the largest whaling station in the south Pacific and as such was constantly ‘invaded’ by sailors who had come to buy supplies, have their ships mended etc. And, as said gentlemen had sometimes been at sea for up to a year they also came looking for entertainment. So, the sale of alcohol and prostitution became the biggest industries in those days. Looks can be so deceiving!

The evening light on my way into Paihia yesterday evening was beautiful. What a day of changing colours it had been.

I also passed an interesting sign

How terribly British we were almost 200 years ago!

Today I decided on a land based adventure so headed for the Waitangi Treaty Grounds located just outside Paihia. This is the spot where, in 1840, Great Britain and the Maoris of New Zealand signed a treaty which was the founding document of this nation. The mover and shaker from the UK was a certain William Hobson, New Zealand’s first governor who lived with his wife and 6 children in this quite modest house albeit with a marvellous view.

As I had found in Auckland, entry into museums and the like in New Zealand ain’t cheap for foreigners and in my case not helped by the exchange rate. So, having forked out £22, I had to get my money’s worth so I learnt all about the longest/biggest Maori warship in the world.

Apparently, when Prince Charles took a ride in it when he visited way back with Princess Diana, the boat became so waterlogged it was impossible to drag it out of the water to where it lived. So it was just left on the beach and had a new house built around it where it remains today.

I was also subjected to some Maori entertainment

which I must say was quite interesting but left a lot to be desired.

For example, no explanation was given as to the meaning of all the seemingly bizarre facial contortions.

So it was quite difficult not to be amused by the whole thing which was probably not what was intended.

I’m moving on again tomorrow but not yet leaving New Zealand. So I may yet get to see the iconic kiwi bird.

Until the next stop.

Phileas

 

 

 

 

 

The weather was gorgeous. The sea calm. It was time to act like a proper tourist. So I joined a tour round the islands in search of dolphins. I said yesterday that this Bay of Islands is supposed to have the second bluest sky in the world so it follows that the colour of the sea must be the second best in the world.  It could well be as I’ve never seen sea colour like it.

But it wasn’t just one colour of blue. There were azures, sapphires, aquamarines and turquoises wherever you looked.

We stopped at a small island

where a short walk up a hill and the colour changed yet again.

Back on board it was time to play ‘hunt the dolphins’. I always thought a group of dolphins was called a school. Apparently, the more correct name is a ‘pod’. Either way, we got lucky.

There were dozens of them all seemingly completely unnerved by the proximity of quite a large boat.

In fact, quite the reverse. These magnificent creatures seemed to enjoy playing and showing off in front of a crowd.

Not to be outdone, this fellow’s mate went one better

and nearly ended up in the boat!

What a magnificent sight to see such mammals in completely natural surroundings. Fabulous.

Time to move on, though, so we continued to what is, apparently, the famous ‘Hole in the Rock’ on Piercy Island or, to give it it’s Maori name (as it’s owned by the Maoris and has some cultural and religious significance for them), Moto Kokako

where our skipper had to prove her seamanship skills and take us right through it.

Legend has it that if a drop of water falls on you when you are on your way through, you will have enormous good luck. Sadly, I remained dry!

On our way back to Paihia, I stopped off at the delightful ‘town’ of Russell on the other side of the bay. I use the term ‘town’ loosely as the last census showed the population to be less than 900! So it is surprising to learn that this place was, very briefly, the capital of New Zealand based largely on the fact that it was the first  European settlement in the country.

It’s a sweet little place that has been at pains to maintain its historical links and cultural identity and thus appears to be a kind of living museum.

where life is very gentle and time almost stands  still.

A splendid day with lots of photos but even more memories.

But now, it’s beer o’clock.

Phileas

After the usual amount of dickering around with the hotel check out and form filling at the car rental place, I finally departed for the Bay Islands in the northern part of New Zealand’s north island (if that makes sense) at around midday. Being quite small, Auckland is an easy place to exit and I was soon galloping along to my destination. Then Mrs Satnav threw a complete fit and decided to go “off piste”. My instinct told me I was headed in the wrong direction but in the southern hemisphere everything is upside down (e.g. the sun is not where it should be) so I really had no idea where I was. And of course, I hadn’t taken the precaution of buying an old fashioned map, had I?! Then suddenly, obviously realising her mistake, Mrs S drove me into a housing estate, round the block and out the way I had come in, retracing our steps for about 25 miles. Whatever happened to: “if possible, do a U turn”!

As I had expected, the scenery en route was quite beautiful

‘

with rolling hills

and  beautiful lakes, in many ways reminiscent of the Lake District except with a few palm trees and tropical ferns throw in.

I wasn’t too impressed though with the few towns en route. Hardly full of old fashioned charm and character,

more in the nasty American style, I’m afraid.

The weather was still gorgeous as I passed through the Matakana wine region

but then the heavens opened. Great stair rods of rain came lashing down which made for some quite interesting driving conditions. I am happy to say though that things  improved as I reached my destination, 5 hours after I had left Auckland.

Paihia is the tourist centre of the Bay of Islands, a group of 144 islands, peninsulars and inlets which was the first area of New Zealand to be settled by Europeans in the late 18th century. Apparently, a 2006 study concluded that this area has the second bluest sky in the world after Rio de Janeiro!

If the weather continues to improve tomorrow, I may well be able to judge. But for now, it’s food time!

Phileas

 

I wasn’t unduly impressed with the areas where I went walking yesterday. Queen Street (aka Oxford St) is OK as were the parks and the museum but other than that, the whole area seemed a bit ‘kebab shop’ if you know what I mean. I think much of this is due to the very large student population in that part of Adelaide. Today, though, was completely different, helped enormously by some spectacular weather.

Clearly, a lot of money plus good design has been invested in developing the waterfront area whilst at the same time keeping it as a working harbour. And it was busy. I was so pleased that I took the ferry ride on Friday because the queues today were long.Part of the harbour was curiously taken up with a ship of the Chinese navy

presumably on some goodwill mission. Either that or checking up on some of the very many Chinese residents here!

There’s something addictive about harbours and marinas.There’s always something going on,

something to look at

plus, of course, the incredible amount of expensive hardware that just sits on the water.

But it wasn’t all inactivity. There was some ‘friggin in the riggin’

and plenty of splendid old charter vessels in full use

plus a sailing school or two one of which kept us waiting whilst the passenger bridge was raised to let it (her, sorry) pass. So, sail before foot then.

On dry land, the whole redeveloped area is awash with restaurants and food kiosks.

and a splendid sea food shop/restaurant very similar to the one in Moraira.

All in all, a very pleasant way of passing a few hours on a beautiful, sunny Sunday.

On the far side of this ongoing development there are some very stylish shops most of which were open.

But not Tiffany’s who are obviously doing well enough without having to!

I’m leaving Auckland tomorrow but not New Zealand as I’m off to explore some of the famous rural scenery I have heard so much about. So, until I blog again,

I’m happy to say I’ve still got mine.

Phileas

In 1840, the  New Zealand Governor, a certain William Hobson, decided to name Auckland after George Eden, the Earl of Auckland who was Viceroy of India at the time and who had never visited New Zealand nor ever would. What a very strange lot we British colonialists were!

If I’m totally honest, I think I’ll have overdone my stay in this city by the time I depart on Monday. Don’t get me wrong; there’s nothing I don’t like about the place but I think that after all I have seen in South and Central America, it’s just not ‘different’ enough to be as exciting as the other places I’ve visited (I hope that doesn’t sound too blasé!). It’s also quite a small city although to the Kiwis it must seem big as it’s home to almost 1/3 of the entire country’s population!  Having said all that, it’s still quite interesting to see what people do in their leisure time, especially in the run up to Christmas

although I can’t really get my head round the fact that it isn’t winter here. It’s 24c today. So the inevitable Saturday Christmas shopping

in Queen Street (Auckland’s Oxford Street) has to include some queuing to buy ice creams.

The Christmas adverts on the TV are also now in full swing with aggressive promotions for BBQs, outdoor furniture and the like. What an upside down world we live in.

Away from the retail hubbub I wandered into Auckland’s oldest and I think biggest park with the odd sounding name of ‘Auckland Domain’. Here I witnessed another fine example of the difference between the run up to Christmas here and at home – cricket!

There must have been 7 or 8 matches being played, all to quite a high standard accompanied by a good deal of vocal aggression!  Incidentally, I caught the back end of a programme on  the BBC World Service the other day which, if I understood correctly, was saying that, contrary to my slightly cynical belief, there really is a lot of cricket payed in Peru. So, maybe the Englishman I met there wasn’t the only umpire in Lima after all!

It’s difficult to imagine any crowd trouble at such idyllic events but just to make sure, there are a number of signs warning of the perils of drink – at night time.

At the other end of this lovely open space is the Auckland museum – a fine building indeed.

So, as it was the tea interval, I popped inside. Although there was a section recognising the efforts of Kiwis in various wars and a section full of fossils etc (which was a little disturbing as it seemed to emphasise the likelihood of an earthquake striking Auckland any time soon), the main part focused on Maori history and culture

which I found reasonably interesting although a bit of, perhaps, overkill – almost as if New Zealand (and the Brit colonialists) was trying to atone for being so beastly to Maoris all those years ago.

The calm atmosphere in this place was suddenly shattered when one of the more draconian female members of staff loudly remonstrated with a young 6 or 7 year old right in front of his Dad for not picking his feet up and thus making a noise (which, incidentally, I never heard). Incredible. Shocking. I would not blame that young lad if he never wants to visit another museum ever again.

I was definitely done with culture by this stage so made a swift exit to where a wedding party had just arrived

 presumably for some photo shoot. The bride looked lovely in white as you would expect but the two bridesmaids were dressed entirely in black which I thought was a touch funereal. Or maybe it’s a fashion thing.

It’s not easy to get lost in Auckland, especially when my base is close to the Sky Tower. So, I just headed for that,  passing the sizeable Auckland University campus (and ginormous hospital) on the way.

Once again I was struck by how many (mainly Cantonese) Chinese there are here.

Apparently, many came after Hong Kong was given back to China in 1997 and have become well established.

If the sun shines like today tomorrow I may well have a chilled day as I’ve done enough street pounding to last me a long time. Maybe I’ll grab the Sunday papers and find a spot by the harbour. Or perhaps go to another island. We’ll see.

Phileas

I was planning to explore more of Auckland city today but when I woke,  another day looking at buildings didn’t seem so appealing somehow. So; a change of plan, a spur of the moment decision and I was on a ferry to Waiheke, the biggest of the many islands just off the coast.

The disadvantage of such impetuous decision making was that I had no idea what I was going to do once there. However, I felt confident that all would become clear at the landing place where I could probably buy a map or at least seek some guidance as to where to go, the best places to see etc etc. Wrong. The landing was in the middle of nowhere with just one road in sight. So, a choice: go left or right? Tossing a mental coin, I went right and then followed the sign

as I felt a bit of tramping would do me the world of good.

Uphill tramping in warm weather is quite tiring so I stopped for a while and was immediately aware of the stillness around me.  I was absolutely and totally alone. No traffic noise, no people noise. Nothing at all except the occasional rustle from the undergrowth and birdsong plus the extraordinary and powerful aroma of wild honeysuckle.

It was almost overwhelming to the point of paranoia. I have no idea where I am. I have no idea where I am going. Nobody knows I am here. What if….? etc etc. It was a very surreal moment.

Rational thinking won the day. So instead of climbing ever higher to who knows where, I tramped back to the road where I had gone ‘off piste’ and continued to follow this safe haven until eventually coming upon the delightful seaside village of Oneroa.

This is clearly the village of ‘much sought after’ as, peering through an Estate Agent’s window (as you do), I saw a one bedroom house for sale at around £430,ooo!! I settled for an ice cream which I enjoyed by the beach

whilst contemplating how different this bit of sand was from that which I had just left in Brazil!

In addition to the world’s finest ice cream shop, Oneroa also has an interesting butchers which, as it’s Friday, was selling fish today!

What a tranquil spot

where, clearly, things are done at a very slow pace.

Only a 45 minute boat ride away and I was back to the reality of the big city although we had to do the marine equivalent of circling prior to landing to allow the yacht race to pass.

POETS day is clearly taken very seriously in Auckland because it was already party time when we finally docked.

The bars and many restaurants were heaving

and it was only 5.00 pm although some people still had to work.

I’ll do some city sightseeing tomorrow, perhaps, maybe.

Phileas

 

I understand the theory of the international date line but in practical terms I get very confused. I started out early on Tuesday evening from Rio which is 2 hours behind UK and flew  to Santiago which is an additional 1 hour behind UK. I then climbed on board another plane and took the long trip to Auckland in the same direction as from Rio to Santiago, arriving at 5.30am today  local time (Thursday)  and found I am now 13 hours ahead of UK time, having missed Wednesday altogether. Weird.

Living in UK I don’t think we realise just how big the Pacific Ocean is. I put this down to the fact that world maps we look at show half of the Pacific on the left and the other half on the right. So we get no real idea of the size of this ocean. The flight time from Santiago in Chile to Auckland NZ takes 13 hours, flying entirely over the ocean with not a bit of land in sight. It’s a massive piece of water. My plane for this journey was a brand new Boeing 787 Dreamliner which had one feature I hadn’t seen before. There are no window blinds; just a small push button underneath the window which changes the colour of the glass from clear to dark. Very sexy! It was a good thing, though, that I read about sparks pouring out of a Dreamliner engine on a recent flight from Sydney to Singapore after I had landed!

Seeing signs in English again and hearing English spoken (albeit with a Kiwi accent) was quite strange having spent the last 6 weeks in mainly non English speaking  countries. But I guess I’ll get used to it. In fact, first impressions are that Auckland is a very ‘English’ city as I have already seen a Top Shop, a Specsavers, a Foot Locker and, of course, Vodafone although I’m not sure how ‘English’ this one is.

Mind you, at one point I thought I was back in Havana!

Incidentally, the best of the 3 movies I watched on the flight was ‘Papa Hemingway’ based on a true story of how a Miami journalist became a close friend of Hemingway and witnessed his decline into deep depression interwoven with all the political shenanigans that were going on at that time as the ‘rebel’ Castro became more of a threat to the American backed Batista government.  It’s gripping stuff. An excellent movie made more enjoyable for me as a lot of the action was filmed in Hemingway’s house in Havana which, of course, I visited.

Working wharves can often be in the more grotty parts of a city (e.g. Southampton) but here the obviously affluent downtown area merges effortlessly into the docks where a multitude of ferries ply between Auckland and the nearby islands.

And it’s not only the small ferries that go back and forth from here. I was slightly taken aback when I turned a corner and saw this about 20 metres from where I was standing, almost as if it was parked in the High Street!

14 storeys high and BIG!

Central Auckland is surprisingly hilly, being so close to the water so good exercise for the calf muscles

and there are a number of quite interesting little side streets where some effort has been made to get into the Christmas spirit.

The novel I bought in Lima lasted me till my final day in Rio. So, today, I found an excellent bookshop and bought 2 more. But oh, the price! Double what I would have paid in the UK. So, if this is the shape of things to come here, I will have to watch the pennies. For sure, some of the problem is the £ exchange rate but maybe New Zealand is an expensive place anyway.

I have absolutely no idea what time my body thinks it is but as I only cat napped on the flights, I am feeling a tad sleepy right now. So, an early night, I think and with luck I will be bright eyed and bushy tailed tomorrow ready for some serious street pounding.

Until then

Phileas