Fiji: Day One Hundred and Thirty-Two (29 February)

The year of my Big Trip was a Leap Year (2008) so I had an extra day to enjoy my Fijian paradise. We woke to another blue sky and it got so hot we had to go in the pool to cool down :-).

In the evening we had a Lovo Fijian Buffet for dinner (which was different but quite pleasant) and watched a Meke (traditional Fijian entertainment).

The stars overhead as we walked back to our bure were amazing. (Did you know the stars over the Southern Hemisphere are different from the ones over us ?)

Barnaby

Fiji: Day One Hundred and Thirty-One (28 February)

We woke up to another gorgeous day. I am beginning to like Fiji :-).


After breakfast we had a walk round the resort (parts of which we still couldn't get to because of flooding) and then sunbathed beside the pool.


In the afternoon we were asked to be guests at a wedding taking place in the resort, which was lovely.


This evening we did make it in time for the beating of the drums and lighting of the lamps round the pool and there was another stunning sunset.


Barnaby

Fiji: Day One Hundred and Thirty (27 February)

We woke up to a completely blue sky this morning. At last our tropical paradise island really lookes like one :-).

We spent the morning on the beach and had lunch on our bure balcony before having our first swim in the pool.

We weren't quite quick enough to see the 'Beating of the hali drums' at 6pm but enjoyed the Indian buffet for dinner. (There are lot of people of Indian descent in Fiji).

The day finished with a glorious sunset. (You have to take the photos quickly though because the sun goes down very fast this close to the Equator).

Barnaby

Fiji: Day One Hundred and Twenty-Nine - Afternoon (26 February)

In the afternoon, Miss Robb and her Mummy had a back massage and then we all went on a Jungle River Cruise. This took us along the Nadi river between the island and the mainland, which is lined with mangroves on either side.

Miss Robb's Mummy had really enjoyed doing something similar the last time she was in Fiji, when the weather was glorious. Unfortunately for us the sky was still rather grey and the water was churned up after the recent cyclone. It reminded us of the river Yarra in Melbourne (which the locals joke flows upside down because of its brown colour).

Barnaby

Fiji: Day One Hundred and Twenty-Nine - Morning (26 February)

Hurrah! This morning brought our first opportunity to sunbathe in Fiji.


I tried out the loungers and the hammocks on the beach. It was so quiet we felt we had the place to ourselves. Bliss :-).


Barnaby

Fiji: Day One Hundred and Twenty-Eight (25 February)

The sun still wasn't out this morning :-( but at least it wasn't raining so we explored the rest of the resort. I found a pineapple growing.

We were about to go to lunch when it started to rain again. Miss Robb's Mummy said, 'Not to worry; tropical showers only last ten minutes or so.' Five hours later it was still raining and we were getting hungry so we called a buggy to take us to the restaurant.

Dinner was a Mongolian BBQ. (Having never eaten one before we'd now had two in less than a week!) During it we watched a show by local dancers.

Barnaby

Fiji: Day One Hundred and Twenty-Seven (24 February)

The cyclone which brought the wind and rain to Auckland had had a similar effect on Fiji. There were so many pools of water on the paths we walked along the beach to reach the restaurant for breakfast.

It wasn’t exactly sunbathing weather so, after looking round the resort’s facilities (including an internet café and spa), we finished the game of Phase 10 we’d started back on South Molle in Australia!

Reading our books and checking our emails filled the rest of the day. It was quite nice to have a rest after moving on every other day when we were in New Zealand.

There was a choir singing when we went to dinner, which was lovely. We had a delicious and very filling buffet and got a buggy back to our bure.

Barnaby

Fiji: Day One Hundred and Twenty-Six (23 February)

We had a leisurely start to the day as our flight didn’t leave until early afternoon. We were lucky with our weather in New Zealand – only four wet days in the whole six weeks – but today was very windy and rainy.

Fortunately it was only a short drive to the car hire place. We said goodbye to Dora (our trusty steed since Amberley) and were taken to the airport. The kind people stamped my passport with an exit stamp (to go with the lovely entry one I had showing Christchurch cathedral) but I was sad to be leaving.

It is only a three hour flight from New Zealand to Fiji but they fed us dinner on the plane because we were not going to arrive until night-time (local time).

After we’d landed at Nandi airport, a minibus took us to a jetty as we were staying on an island resort off the main island of Viti Levu. From there we caught a little boat to Sonaisali, checked in and travelled by buggy to our bure ready for an early night.

Barnaby

Auckland: Day One Hundred and Twenty-Five (22 February)

We had to drive back to Auckland today as we fly onto Fiji tomorrow. Our time in New Zealand has gone so fast but it’s been wonderful.

On the way we stopped in Thames, the main town in Coromandel. The Europeans originally called the whole area Thames – after the river in London – but fortunately were persuaded to return to the beautiful Maori name for the peninsula itself.

We took the scenic coastal road back to the city, breaking for lunch at Kaiaua and stopping for a cup of tea at Bach’n in Maraetai.

Roger and Anne had kindly said we could stay with them again and we went out for a Mongolian BBQ with our other friend, Graeme.

Barnaby

Coromandel: Day One Hundred and Twenty-Four - Evening (21 February)

The view from the “Eyefull Tower” at Driving Creek Railway is fabulous.

Afterwards we drove to a local peninsula to admire more lovely scenery - New Zealand is so gorgeous it’s easy to become blasé – and then had a delicious dinner at the Pepper Tree restaurant.

Barnaby

Coromandel: Day One Hundred and Twenty-Four - Afternoon (21 February)

Miss Robb’s sister had recommended we visit the Driving Creek Railway so after lunch on our motel verandah we headed there. What a fascinating place. The owner originally built the railway to access the clay he needed for his pottery business so we had a look round that first before joining the train.

We were in the last carriage which turned out to be the first carriage on the way back so we couldn’t have had a better seat. The switchback bridge was particularly fun. The whole site is environmentally friendly with the intention of preserving New Zealand's unique ecology.

Barnaby

Coromandel: Day One Hundred and Twenty-Four - Morning (21 February)

Coromandel isn’t only the name of the peninsula; it’s also the name of the town where we were spending our second to last night in New Zealand.

We had a lovely drive there along the coastal highway from Whitianga.

Barnaby

Whitianga: Day One Hundred and Twenty-Three (20 February)

This morning we explored the town of Whitianga itself before catching a ferry the short distance to the imaginatively named Ferry Landing. Having explored Front Beach (another beautiful beach with an ordinary name) we decided to walk to Flaxmill Bay.

We originally planned to walk up to the Shakespeare Cliff lookout but decided it was too steep so walked to Cooks Beach instead. That was a lovely undulating walk and not too strenuous despite the fact the day warmed up later on.

We managed to walk straight onto a ferry on the way back too and had an ice cream at the motel before heading into town for dinner.

Barnaby

Cathedral Cove: Day One Hundred and Twenty-Two - Afternoon (19 February)

From Hot Water Beach we drove to Whitianga, checked into our motel and had lunch.

Then we drove to Hahei to walk the trail to Cathedral Cove. It is a 45 minute walk each way along a track with lots of steps but it is well worth it. The views all the way are gorgeous and Cathedral Cove itself is stunning.

Once we got back to the car, we drove to Cook’s Beach and got a take away for dinner.

Barnaby

Hot Water Beach: Day One Hundred and Twenty-Two - Morning (19 February)

From Tairua we drove a few miles up the road to the famous Hot Water Beach, where natural hot springs rise just below the surface.

You don’t have to dig very deep before the hole is filled with water and the trick to making your own spa pool is to dig it close enough to the ocean for the tide to bring in cool seawater. Too close and the “bath” will be cold and too far away and it will be too hot to sit in. Digging a large enough hole in the wet sand is quite hard work!

We’d gone at the time we were told the tide would be ideal (which might explain why there were so many other people there) but didn’t manage to find our own hot spot.

It was interesting to see though.

Barnaby

Tairua: Day One Hundred and Twenty-One - Afternoon (18 February)

We stopped at Karangahake Gorge for a walk and a cup of tea before driving on to the Pacific Harbour Lodge in Tairua where we spent the night.

Barnaby

Tairua: Day One Hundred and Twenty-One - Morning (18 February)

Alison had to leave for work by 7.30am! We had a more leisurely start before leaving Auckland.

First stop was Ngatea where we looked around the beautiful and inventive water gardens. Unlike King Arthur I couldn't pull the sword out of the stone :-).

Barnaby

Auckland: Day One Hundred and Twenty (17 February)

This morning we moved to our other friends in Howick. Alison is a primary school teacher who went travelling several years ago and decided to stay in New Zealand.

We took the dogs – Yogi and Bruno – for a rather muddy walk along the beach before lunch and then visited Villa Maria winery. It is run by one of Alison’s friends so we were treated very well.

We had a lovely relaxed evening together and an early night ready for our long drive to the Coromandel peninsula tomorrow.

Barnaby

Auckland: Day One Hundred and Nineteen (16 February)

We had such a lovely time at Maraetai with Graeme last weekend, we went back there for lunch today. There weren’t many people on the beach because it was overcast but the view was still lovely.

From there we drove to Omara Regional Park and Beachlands via Shelly Bay and Pohutukawa Bay.

In the evening we had a BBQ with our hosts Roger and Anne, their daughter-in-law and grandchildren.

Barnaby

Auckland: Day One Hundred and Eighteen (15 February)

We took a different route down to Auckland from the one we’d followed driving up, although we did pass through Paihia and Whangarei again. The sun was shining on the waterfalls this time.

We drove through some very pretty countryside to Dargaville where we had lunch and stopped for a cup of tea in Wellsford on our way South.

Unfortunately we arrived in Auckland in time for its rush hour: a phenomenon unheard of in most other parts of New Zealand. That meant it took us an hour to get to Howick where we were staying with other friends of Miss Robb’s auntie, who emigrated to New Zealand many years ago. They made us very welcome and helped us to save all our photos to disc so we could clear the camera card ready to take more.

Barnaby

Paihia: Day One Hundred and Seventeen (14 February)

The weather forecast was right that yesterday would be the best day of the week because it poured with rain today :-(. We had a leisurely start after our long day yesterday and didn't drive to the nearby town of Paihia until after lunch.

Paihia overlooks the Bay of Islands from which the region takes its name and you can take boat rides from there to the Hole in the Rock and the settlement of Russell. When the weather is sunny it's a lovely trip because the scenery is stunning but we looked at the bedraggled people getting off the boats and decided to have a Rush Monroe icecream in Paihia instead.

Then we returned to Keri Keri for a last dinner with Margaret and also had drinks with Beverley and Rex. That made it a lovely day even though the weather was more suitable for ducks, like these ornamental ones on Margaret's patio.

Barnaby

Northland: Day One Hundred and Sixteen - Evening (13 February)

After a late BBQ lunch at the Houhora Fishing Club we headed back to Keri Keri, stopping again in the Kauri forest.

Not only are these trees really tall, they are also wide enough for people to fit inside. Here I am on a staircase carved inside one of these trees!

Barnaby

Cape Reinga: Day One Hundred and Sixteen - Afternoon (13 February)

This is Cape Reinga, a further 19 kilometres on from Ninety Mile Beach. The Maoris call this place Te Reinga or Te Rerenga Wairua and it is one of their most sacred locations because they believe it is where the souls of their departed leave New Zealand to return to their Polynesian homeland.

The last time Miss Robb’s Mummy was here it was too foggy to see where the Pacific Ocean and the Tasman Sea meet – you can tell because of the way the tide changes – but this time the weather was perfect and we had a wonderful view.

Barnaby

Northland: Day One Hundred and Sixteen - Morning (13 February)

We went on a tour today to the very top of the North Island, Cape Reinga, where the Pacific Ocean meets the Tasman Sea.

But first we visited the Ancient Kauri Kingdom. Kauri are amazingly old trees (some 45,000 years old!), which are native to New Zealand. Because they are so tall and straight, they were very popular for making ship's masts and became endangered. The remaining forests are now protected.

You cannot visit Northland without driving through the surf at Ninety Mile Beach (which is still called that even though New Zealanders use metric measurements), although you have to be on an authorised tour to do it. I was lucky because I got to sit right at the front of the coach with a fabulous view :-).


Then we went sand-surfing on the dunes at the beach's end. Very exciting!


Barnaby

Keri Keri: Day One Hundred and Fifteen (12 February)

We had breakfast with Margaret and then explored Keri Keri.

When Miss Robb's Mummy was here in 1991 she met Rex and Beverley Robb, who ran Robb's Fruit Winery. Rex and Beverley are now retired but their daughter Lindell runs Coco's cafe so we popped into see her.

Then we took a sandwich down to the waterfront where New Zealand's oldest European building (the Mission House) is located next to the Stone Store, which housed the mission's provisions.

From there we drove to Waitangi and found the Treaty Grounds. If we had been here six days ago, we would have seen various ceremonies commemorating the signing of the treaty between the British and the Maori on this site. However we had a good look round the beautiful grounds, including the Naval flag pole marking the point where the treaty was actually signed.

The site also includes Te Whare Runanga, a fully carved Maori Meeting House representing all Iwi (regional tribes) in New Zealand. I'm stood by the entrance to the shelter for a Maori ceremonial war canoe called Ngatokimatawhaorua. The canoe is so big it's impossible to fit it all in one photo.

We had dinner with Margaret at the Cafe Cinema Restaurant and then watched a lovely film called "Evening".

Barnaby

Keri Keri: Day One Hundred and Fourteen - Afternoon (11 February)

Here's Morris and me at Whangarei Falls, which are about 6 kilometres outside town.

From here it was another hour's drive to Keri Keri. Our friend Margaret (whose cousins we met in Perth) had hoped we could stay with her but her building works weren't finished in time. Instead she booked us into the nearby motel and very kindly paid for our first night.

Her house is only across the road so once we'd checked in we went over and had a lovely dinner together.

Barnaby

Keri Keri: Day One Hundred and Fourteen - Morning (11 February)

We found our way from the South side of Auckland to the North and onto the road for the long narrow strip at the top of the North Island known as Northland.

At Whangarei we stopped for a picnic lunch overlooking the harbour. Afterwards we meandered around the town and came across Claphams Clock Museum, which houses over 1,400 clocks of all types, sizes and ages.

It was fascinating.

Barnaby

Auckland: Day One Hundred and Thirteen (9 February)

Today Graeme acted as our local tour guide showing us round Auckland. We started in the coastal suburbs and had brunch in Remuera. Then we took the train from Orakei into Auckland City Centre.

It is known as the City of Sails and the harbour is gorgeous (if not quite as breathtaking as Sydney). We had a lovely walk around it and along Queen Street (Auckland's main commercial thoroughfare) before catching the train back to Orakei.

Graeme drove us to Mount Eden where we had tea sitting outside - we've been so lucky with the weather during this trip - before returning to our motel via One Tree Hill. (Now known locally as No Tree Hill after the tree fell down :-).

Barnaby

Auckland: Day One Hundred and Twelve - Afternoon (8 February)

From the Kiwi House at Orotohanga, we drove to the famous caves at Waitomo. They are home to hundreds of glow worms, which is what we'd gone to see, but the caves are stunning too. The largest, Cathedral Cave, has even hosted a concert by Kiri Te Kanawa, a famous New Zealand opera singer.

Having looked at the silk thread they produce, we joined a boat ride to see the glow worms themselves. It was dark and no one said a word. The roof and sides of the cave were covered. It was like looking up at the night sky filled with hundreds of tiny golden stars. Magical!

From there we drove to Papakura near Auckland and met up with Graeme, who has been our friend since he studied banking with Miss Robb's Daddy in the 1970's.

Barnaby

Auckland: Day One Hundred and Twelve - Morning (8 February)

We were heading for New Zealand's biggest city, Auckland, but stopped en route at the Otorohanga Kiwi House.

Although we'd seen lots of statues of New Zealand's national bird (here I am with another one), this was our first opportunity to see the birds themselves. They are nocturnal so it is very dark inside to fool the birds into thinking it is night-time. That way people can see them moving rather than asleep but, of course, flash photography isn't allowed.

Barnaby

Mount Maunganui: Day One Hundred and Eleven (7 February)

We were going to stay with friends of Miss Robb's auntie in a town called Cambridge tonight. They emigrated from Aberdeen to New Zealand in September 2007.

However we spent the day in a beautiful place called Mount Maunganui. It is possible to climb up the Mount or to walk around its base. We chose to do the latter and it was a lovely trail. The views are gorgeous.

Afterwards we relaxed in Mount Maunganui's hot salt water baths, which are fed by natural springs but designed like proper swimming baths. You can lie in the warm water looking up at the mountain and the blue sky. A wonderful experience.

It wasn't too far from there to Cambridge. Our Scottish friends gave us a quick tour of the town, including showing us where Anchor butter was first made. (Did you realise it comes from New Zealand?) We had a very nice evening together.

Barnaby

Rotorua: Day One Hundred and Ten – Afternoon (6 February)

While we were waiting for our lunch to be ready we joined a tour of the village. Whakarewarewa is the permanent home of several Maoris enabling them to live in the traditional way. Our guide was one of these so she was really knowledgeable and also very funny.

Afterwards we went to the cultural show where we learnt how the Maoris use different plants for dyeing their clothes and as medicine and enjoyed some traditional singing and dancing, including the Haka.

Barnaby

Rotorua: Day One Hundred and Ten – Morning (6 February)

We arrived at Wai-O-Tapu too late yesterday to see the Lady Knox geyser – it goes off every day at 10.15am with some human assistance – so we went back this morning. I was glad we were stood well back so I didn’t get wet!

Then we headed for The Living Thermal Village at Whakarewarewa, which was within walking distance of our motel. We hadn’t realised it was Waitangi Day but that meant we got in for a special price and were also selected to make our own Hangi (see Morris’ blog for details) :-).

Happy Waitangi Day to any Kiwis reading this!

Barnaby

Rotorua: Day One Hundred and Nine – Afternoon (5 February)

Twenty minutes drive from Wai-O-Tapu, we arrived at our motel to find we had our own plunge pool :-).

Rotorua was a popular spa resort in the early twentieth century because of its thermal springs. In fact the Tudor-style building in the background of the photo used to be the Bath House. It then became a government building hence the name “Government Gardens” for the pretty – and very English-looking – gardens in front of it.

It is now a museum which we had a look round. We had a look at the Art Deco Blue Baths too. A bit different from our communal swimming pools.

Barnaby

Rotorua: Day One Hundred and Nine - Morning (5 February)

It isn’t far from Taupo to Rotorua so we stopped at Wai-O-Tapu Wonderland on the way. After an early picnic lunch we walked all around this amazing thermal area, where the earth is so hot the mud actually boils!

The lakes are varied colours because of the different sediments in the water, some of which have settled on the rocks to create wonderful shapes like the Bridal Veil Falls.

One lake contains so many separate colours it is known as the Artist’s Palette. The yellow is produced by sulphur, which smells like rotten eggs so I had to cover my nose with my paws some of the time.

Barnaby

Taupo: Day One Hundred and Eight - evening (4 February)

We had a reviving cup of tea back at our chalet in Taupo then drove to the lakeside to join our evening cruise on the Ernest Kemp steamboat.

It was a beautiful evening and the scenery was gorgeous. We went to the other side of the lake to see some amazing Maori carvings and passed lots of lovely beaches. (It's a bit funny to think of a beach being on a lake rather than at the seaside).


Barnaby

Taupo: Day One Hundred and Eight - Afternoon (4 February)

We planned to go to a prawn farm next but missed the turning and ended up at the Craters of the Moon instead.

This turned out to be a lucky mistake because they were amazing as you can see from the following link: http://www.cratersofthemoon.co.nz/. What a surreal landscape!

It took us about an hour to walk round the specially constructed pathway (designed to avoid the very hot and slightly poisonous steam), including up the steep path to the lookout.

Barnaby

Taupo: Day One Hundred and Eight - Morning (4 February)

First stop this morning was the impressive Huka Falls on the Waikato River, which drains Lake Taupo. The river narrows just before it reaches the falls forcing the water through at over 200,000 litres per second. That's a lot of very fast moving water; it's like a mini Niagara Falls but in an unspoilt natural setting.

Barnaby

Taupo: Day One Hundred and Seven (3 February)

We went to the 10am service at Napier Cathedral and discovered it was the actual anniversary of the earthquake.

Afterwards we drove to Taupo in the centre of the North Island. Although it is not by the sea, Taupo is on the shores of a big lake (named Lake Taupo) so boats still play a big part in the local's lives. In fact the lake is so big (it is New Zealand's largest), even seaplanes can land on it!

The drive took just over a couple of hours and our Swiss-style chalet had wonderful views of the water. It was on two levels with the lounge upstairs so we could make the most of them.

Barnaby

Napier: Day Hundred and Six (2 February)

Into Napier early today as Miss Robb's Mummy had a hair appointment. The lady cut it really short. It made her look like Susan from Neighbours!

Afterwards we had a quick look round Napier Cathedral and then met up with Judy and Wilf for a drive to Hastings via Havelock North and Te Mata Lookout. It was a bit murky but the views we could see were amazing.

We had lunch in a delightful cafe in Hastings then drove back via Park Estate winery. Hawkes Bay is another of New Zealand's main wine producing areas.

We dropped Judy and Wilf in Onekawa and headed in to explore Napier's famous art deco architecture. The city was destroyed by an earthquake in 1931 and the citizens decided to rebuild it in what was then the most fashionable style. The fountain and gardens along the seafront are particularly lovely and we even managed to find Rush Munro ice cream (Miss Robb's favourite antipodean brand) :-).

Barnaby

Napier: Day One Hundred and Five (1 February)

Another gorgeous, sunny day :-).

We had an easy drive from Palmerston North to Onekawa, a suburb of Napier, where we were going to stay with descendants of New Zealanders who used to send food parcels to Miss Robb's grandparents during World War Two. Miss Robb's Mummy managed to meet Ursula and John when she visited New Zealand in 1991 but unfortunately they have both since died.

Our hosts were their daughter, Judy, and her husband, Wilf. Their younger daughter, Christine, is a writer and has had a couple of novellas published in the U.K. Here we are at her house. Morris and I were a bit nervous because she had a dog.

Barnaby