Hello again! Time to update you on our activities from the last few days and our plans for today. I'll upload a batch of the photos I've been taking too - but not the complete collection, so there will be others to look forward to when we don't have restricted access to the internet.
After our first night in Auckland, Friday 24th July saw us explore the other side of the City of Sails. We got breakfast in the city centre before wandering up Victoria Street to see the Sky Tower (although we could have seen it from anywhere in Auckland...) which is a giant needle standing 328m as the tallest structure in the southern hemisphere. Even though going up to the top stretched beyond our budget, we had a brief look around inside, and then moved on to the famous Victoria Park Market, a treasure trove of souvenirs and trinkets.
Later on, we got a different spectacular view of the city and its surroundings, from a more natural (and free) vantage point than the Sky Tower would have offered, atop Mt. Eden, or Maungawhau. It took us over an hour to work our way up winding paths to the summit, but once there we peered into the 50m deep sacred crater called Te Ipu Kai a Mataaho. When we came back down, we spent the dusk wandering around the accompanying Mt. Eden village, and headed back to Auckland.
On Saturday morning (my birthday!), we grabbed breakfast in the trendy neighbouring region of Ponsonby until it was time to pick up our campervan - our home on wheels for the next two weeks. A shuttle bus took us back to the rental place near the airport, where we we given instuctional videos and documentation until we almost couldn't stand the anticipation anymore. When we finally got to see it, they said we had been upgraded for free to a slightly larger model, standing at 7.2m in length. Both inside and out, the campervan looked enourmous, and it took me a few laps of the block before I was confident enough to take him (we dubbed it 'Leland') on the open Kiwi road.
From the cabin of the van, we got our first real insight into the New Zealand landscape. The hills and greenery provided stunning views, and each one seemed to outdo the last in terms of magnitude and beauty. By the time we got to the winding roads, veering their way up the sides of the hills, we were speechless. Several times we pulled over at the side of the road just to take in the view, and so there are plenty of photos to be shown...
We headed towards Whitianga on the Coromandel penisula, on the north coast of the North Island. We rolled into our first campsite just outside of the tiny resort town, which was pretty straightforward because of our arriving in the off-season (don't forget it's winter here). Maintenance of the campervan was a bit daunting at first, however, but once we worked out how to plug the electricity in, turn the gas on and hook up to water, we got the hang of things. We had a very modest dinner on Leland's gas hob before turning in for the night.
The following morning we got to explore the beaches of the peninsula, starting with Buffalo Bay in Whitianga, which lead (via ferry) to the incredible Flaxmill Bay. Presumably this part of the region was more of a holiday spot for locals than for tourists, as there were plenty of privately owned holiday homes, and very few vacationers. We felt like we were well off the beaten track, which was nice. A little further north up the coast was Otama Beach where, despite it being the middle of winter, we enjoyed a perfect blue sky on a nearly empty sandy beach.
Heading through Coromandel Town and south through Thames on our way to Cambridge, Emily got her first chance to drive Leland on the first straight roads we encountered. She describes it as 'terrifying', but successfully navigated the 'wrong' side of the road to our next campsite.
On Monday 27th, we met up with one of Emily's old academic supervisors from Muhlenberg, Sue, who took us to breakfast and showed us around Cambridge town. She provided Emily with useful insight into being an American coping in New Zealand, while I had to say that New Zealand doesn't seem to be fundamentally different from what I'm used to in the UK (even if things are a little backwards)... We were shown Sue and Don's stock of cows, before we said goodbye and headed down to Rotorua, famous for its hot thermal springs, where we are this morning. The smell of sulphur in the air is extraordinary, and fills the campervan whenever we open the doors.
Although we didn't get to experience any real hot springs yesterday, we plan to spend today driving towards Wai-O-Tapu and Kerosene Creek where we can watch the natural occurence of a geyser, before taking in some authentic Maori cultural performances in Whakarewarewa.
(Photos to follow.)
After our first night in Auckland, Friday 24th July saw us explore the other side of the City of Sails. We got breakfast in the city centre before wandering up Victoria Street to see the Sky Tower (although we could have seen it from anywhere in Auckland...) which is a giant needle standing 328m as the tallest structure in the southern hemisphere. Even though going up to the top stretched beyond our budget, we had a brief look around inside, and then moved on to the famous Victoria Park Market, a treasure trove of souvenirs and trinkets.
Later on, we got a different spectacular view of the city and its surroundings, from a more natural (and free) vantage point than the Sky Tower would have offered, atop Mt. Eden, or Maungawhau. It took us over an hour to work our way up winding paths to the summit, but once there we peered into the 50m deep sacred crater called Te Ipu Kai a Mataaho. When we came back down, we spent the dusk wandering around the accompanying Mt. Eden village, and headed back to Auckland.
On Saturday morning (my birthday!), we grabbed breakfast in the trendy neighbouring region of Ponsonby until it was time to pick up our campervan - our home on wheels for the next two weeks. A shuttle bus took us back to the rental place near the airport, where we we given instuctional videos and documentation until we almost couldn't stand the anticipation anymore. When we finally got to see it, they said we had been upgraded for free to a slightly larger model, standing at 7.2m in length. Both inside and out, the campervan looked enourmous, and it took me a few laps of the block before I was confident enough to take him (we dubbed it 'Leland') on the open Kiwi road.
From the cabin of the van, we got our first real insight into the New Zealand landscape. The hills and greenery provided stunning views, and each one seemed to outdo the last in terms of magnitude and beauty. By the time we got to the winding roads, veering their way up the sides of the hills, we were speechless. Several times we pulled over at the side of the road just to take in the view, and so there are plenty of photos to be shown...
We headed towards Whitianga on the Coromandel penisula, on the north coast of the North Island. We rolled into our first campsite just outside of the tiny resort town, which was pretty straightforward because of our arriving in the off-season (don't forget it's winter here). Maintenance of the campervan was a bit daunting at first, however, but once we worked out how to plug the electricity in, turn the gas on and hook up to water, we got the hang of things. We had a very modest dinner on Leland's gas hob before turning in for the night.
The following morning we got to explore the beaches of the peninsula, starting with Buffalo Bay in Whitianga, which lead (via ferry) to the incredible Flaxmill Bay. Presumably this part of the region was more of a holiday spot for locals than for tourists, as there were plenty of privately owned holiday homes, and very few vacationers. We felt like we were well off the beaten track, which was nice. A little further north up the coast was Otama Beach where, despite it being the middle of winter, we enjoyed a perfect blue sky on a nearly empty sandy beach.
Heading through Coromandel Town and south through Thames on our way to Cambridge, Emily got her first chance to drive Leland on the first straight roads we encountered. She describes it as 'terrifying', but successfully navigated the 'wrong' side of the road to our next campsite.
On Monday 27th, we met up with one of Emily's old academic supervisors from Muhlenberg, Sue, who took us to breakfast and showed us around Cambridge town. She provided Emily with useful insight into being an American coping in New Zealand, while I had to say that New Zealand doesn't seem to be fundamentally different from what I'm used to in the UK (even if things are a little backwards)... We were shown Sue and Don's stock of cows, before we said goodbye and headed down to Rotorua, famous for its hot thermal springs, where we are this morning. The smell of sulphur in the air is extraordinary, and fills the campervan whenever we open the doors.
Although we didn't get to experience any real hot springs yesterday, we plan to spend today driving towards Wai-O-Tapu and Kerosene Creek where we can watch the natural occurence of a geyser, before taking in some authentic Maori cultural performances in Whakarewarewa.
(Photos to follow.)
Sounds heavenly, you guys.
ReplyDeleteEverything looks good with the van. we're following on the map.
ReplyDeleteWhen will you get to the Shire?
ReplyDelete