I have left this a while (my bad) so some things are a little hazy so it is basically a brief mish mash of things I can remember going on...
My sister and her entourage came to see me in New Zealand. Pete and my niece Cassandra made up the party. It was fab to see them, it had been 20 odd months since I had seen them, and I had never even met my niece Cassandra so i was pretty excited. I am sure Cassandra was thrilled to see me too!
Anyway, the Dodge brigade was here for about 4 weeks and the plan was to cruise round the North Island taking in the sights, sounds and smells. Sadly things didn't start to well and the welcome to New Zealand was kind of ruined by Maui (the camper van people) totally cocking up the booking (they were informed they had run out of stock even though it was booked some 6 months previous, and that they should go and buy a tent at the Warehouse for $75!!!) and leaving B,P & C somewhat in the lurch. So after a frantic few hours finding a suitable tent for them to spend their holiday in (they were renting a tent not a camper) they spent a night in Hotel Horoeka. It was certainly a wake up call (literally) into the sleeping habits of a 1 year old!!!
The next day B, P, and C headed up north. I was to catch up with them on the weekends and show them the sites.
I met up with them in Whangerei, we then headed north some more to the Bay of Islands, stopping on route to see the toilets at Kawakawa. Random I know, but they really are fantastic. Decked out with wonderful colours and with windows made from coloured glass bottles. Its perhaps the only place you can get away with taking pictures in a public toilet!!!
The toilets at Kawakawa So we made it to Paihia, camping on a the beach front. Fantastic. I love the Bay of Islands. Time was spent doing the touristy type stuff. And Cassandra had her first outing to the beach. Not a bad place to have it really.
We headed over to Russell - a fantastic little town tucked within the Bay of Islands. I could so see myself living there. Chilled out and sunny, oh and they had a really good pub. always important. A trip was also made to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, the historical site where NZ became part of the Commonwealth way back when in 18wheneveritwas...
I left them to head over to the west coast of the north to go big tree spotting. I would soon see them again after a short week at work.
Joy rider in the making...
The next stop of meeting up with them was Rotorua. I love this place - the 'Vegas as it is affectionately known amongst travellers, tourists and kiwi folk alike. The 'Vegas is a geothermal wonderland full of geysers, and volcanics and steam and smells and all sorts of wonderful geologicky amazingness. We swam in a hot pool (secret spot), saw mud pools, geysers (not a gold chain or cignet ring in sight), all kinds of Maori singing and dancing (Pete chickened out of the Haka) and even a real live Kiwi. Amazing. I want one as a pet, although I am not fully convinced it was real, it may well have been a robot. Anyways, it was ace, grubbing around for bugs in a darkened enclosure. Yeah so it wasn't strictly in the wild, but they are so hard to come by I think a captured one counts.
In good uncley fashion i took it upon myself to learn Cassandra a traditional Maori move - she is now an expert at sticking her tongue out!!! I know it pleases Bethan a whole lot, but i do feel i have done my bit in educating her in the world.
Cassandra looking cool
I had to head back to Auckland once again, so I left them to carry on their journey. The next time we met was in the Coromandel.
Hot Water Beach was the port of call. A normal looking beach, white sand, ok surf, but with one difference. Hot water from gepthermal springs trickles through the beach into the sea. At low tide you dig a big hole in the sand, dam the walls and kick back and relax in the hot water that has filled your handy work. Well thats the theory.
We got there nice and early to stake our claim. One problem though. The shop that rents the spades required was shut. I didn;t really fancy our chances with Cassandra's plastic bucket and spade, but luckily a friendly local lent us his spade, and gave us a tip on where to dig. Pete and myself set to work as Bethan cunningly called the baby watch card!!!
Our hole was complete and it was filled with water, very hot water in fact. Bethan had brought along Cassandra's thermometer to check the water wasn't too hot for her. Well it was. A blistering 47 degrees centigrade it got too. It was flippin hot. And arrived in waves which provided endless amusement to the numerous onlookers as every so often we would leap up with yelps of scalding pain!!!! What a fantastic place.
We moved on and headed to Coromandel City to camp. The campsite had a giant inflatable cushion to bounce on. Cassandra loved it!!! As did I. Although i think i did myself some damage trying to perfect some acrobatics. Ah well.
The final trip for me was to the Driving Creek Railway. A narrow gauge railway up into the Coromandel hills originally built to bring clay down for pottery. However it kind of grew and now winds its way through the bush to provide stunning views of the Huraki Gulf and the Coromandel.
It was back to Auckland for me, but B, P & C would soon be joining me as sadly their adventure was coming to an end. It was really fab to meet Cassandra - i feel like a real uncle now, and good to catch up with B and P.
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