The Adventure Continues

With the holidays continuing until the 9th Jan there was still loads of time to explore and play. After recovering from New Year in the Bay of Islands with a New Years Day paddle round the headland for 'fush n chups'. Mental note - playboat v sea kayak - playboat will NEVER win a race - but does win on the style front. Anyway, we headed back to Auckland for re-supply before heading out to conquer the Coromandel.

So off to the Coromandel it was. The Coromandel is the peninsula of land that forms the western flank of the Bay of Plenty. On a clear day it can be seen from Auckland. At a guess its probably only a couple of hours drive out of town. First stop was Thames. The Coromandel is famous for its gold mining and Thames is basically a mining town. Well, was a mining town, built on the back of the mining in the area. So what do you do in a mining town? Go and visit a mine of course!!! It was only a brief tour mind, and the mine was no longer active. It did however confirm my suspicions - mining for gold is a rubbish job. I am too tall for one, and the gold at this location was pretty rubbish. The processing also resulted in about 50% loss of gold. Not a really impressive return. But being a geologist it was a genuinely interesting tour - and the old boy giving the demos certainly knew his stuff.

We decided to push on north whilst the light was good. Sadly we arrived in Coromandel City at closing time so it was just a quick walk round this frontier style town and then back on the road to find a camp. We decided against heading up the tip of the Coromandel (fantail bay) this time due to the time constraints. Instead we cut across to Waikawau and a DOC site for the night.

Wednesday 4th saw us head south along the eastern side of the Coromandel. First stop was Cathedral Cove. Cathedral Cove has striking white sandy beaches and vertical white cliff lines doted with blooming Pohutakawa trees. Very impressive. The beach is bisected by a headland which has had an arch eroded through it connecting the two beaches of Cathedral Cove together. Now I could go into the formation process of such a feature, but don't want to bore you good folk, so all that needs to be said really is that it is pretty impressive.

Cathedral Cove

About 10km south of Cathedral Cove is Hot Water Beach. There is pretty much naff all at Hot Water Beach besides the beach and a cafe. However the beach itself is a little different from most other beaches. In the centre of the beach rocks protrude from the headland out into the sea. This is marks the location of the hotsprings. Basically what you do is, with a spade, which you can hire from the cafe, you dig a hole in the sand and let it fill with hot water from the springs. Then you can bathe and wallow to your hearts content, and have the occasional refreshing dip in the cold sea. Sounds great. The reality is that even way before low tide (optimal digging time) crowds start gathering around the rocks, shovels cocked, marking out their terratory, not unlike ze germanz and their sunbeds. So rocking up a couple of minutes before low tide was not the best approach to digging my own natural hot pool. Ah well. After several minutes of futile excavating, it seemed the best tack was to hijack someone elses hole. However with several hundred people all trying the same thing, and with best spots taken, and being closely guarded against invasion it was a pretty unsuccessful adventure. When water was struck however it was indeed mighty hot. Scolding in fact, so be warned. Here is my tip - if you head to Hot Water Beach check the tides and go early, and out of season and stake your claim to a spot very close to the rocks. And if you can get your hands on one - a JCB would do wonders in digging a hole, with the added bonus of flattening invaders at the same time!!!

Oh for a JCB

We headed south to Wentworth Valley and a DOC site for the night before breakfast in Tauranga at a lovely cafe bar, and then it was off to the 'Vegas!!!

The first stop in Vegas was the Whakarewarewa thermal village. This is a living Maori village set in amongst the thermal pools of the area. We took a guided tour around the village by one of the residents. It was brilliant and very insightful. Highly recommended. It is a living village inhabited by Maori. They go about their normal daily routines whilst you wonder around. Kids run free in the streets and dive for pennies off the bridge. Everything in the village is geothermal related. The houses are heated geothermally, food is cooked in central Hangi steam boxes and the baths are geothermal. A wonderful experience.

Then it was off to the Rotorua Museum. This is set in the old bath house on the shores of the lake. A magnificent structure. Several exhibitions are within, including a Kiwi display. This covered everything Kiwi from the bird to the boot polish. Perhaps the most interesting (to me anyway) was the exhibit telling the story of the devastating Tarawera eruption in 1886. To put a scale on it, the eruption was significantly larger than the 1985 Mt St Helens eruption and the mid nineties eruption of Mt Pinatubo in the Phillipines. It killed quite a few folk in the surrounding area, and also destroyed the pink and white terraces. These were considered as one of the seven natural wonders of the world. A real shame. It is also said that the eruption was foreshadowed several days earlier by the sightings of a 'ghost' waka (maori war canoe) paddling furiously away from Mt Tarawera across the lake. A lesson there for all volcanologists i think. Sod the modern gizmos and multi million dollar research - just call ghostbusters!

A quick blast down SH38 took us to the campground at the base of Mt Tarawera. It was here that we had the only rain of the trip. When it rains it pours mind - it properly hooned it down. But thankfully it was short and sweet, and nothing a good bottle of vino and curry cooked up in the back of the surf wagon couldn't fix.

It was an early start the next day as we headed to Wai-O-Tapu, a geothermal park just off SH5, south of the 'Vegas. Wai-O-Tapu are hte proud 'operators' of the Lady Knox Geyser. I say operators as the geyser is ignominiously induced to perform daily at 10.30am by pouring soap down the spout. Its a whole surface tension thing apparently, with the soap allowing the superheated water and steam to beak throught he cold water barrier holding it below the surface. The initial foaming and frothing is rather entertaining (for about 30 seconds before it gets a bit boring) and is followed by jet of steam and water that can reach up to 10 in the air accompanied by 'ooohs' and 'ahhhs' from the assembled crowd (mainly Japs) gazing in wonderment from the terraced amphitheatre surrounding the geyser. It erpupts for about an hour after initiation. But after a couple of minutes and a few photos there isnlt much else to see really so it was back to the main centre to look around geothermal pools and formations such as the Devils Ink Pots and the Champagne Pool. The water from the Champagne Pool froth over and flow over The Terraces depositing minerals on the way. Come back in a thousand years time and i am assured The Terrace will rival that of the Pink and White Terraces. Hmmmmm. Now wheres my Delorean...

From here we had a quick dip in 'Secret Spot'. This is a hot stream flowing into a cold river, so basically you swim around until you find a spot where the temperature is to your liking. The higher up the stream you go the hotter it is. A fantastic little spot, and i would love to tell you where it is, but as the name suggests...haha. Not really, the irony being that pretty much everyone knows where it is, about half a click off SH5 on the road to Wai-O-Tapu itself. Park by the wooden bridge and head 25m into the bush and there you have it. The best time to go is at night, with candles adorning the river banks, a few bottles of beer and an amazing view through a gap in the canopy to the stars above. Superb.

After chilling out at Secret Spot, and leaving just as a bus load of backpackers turned up (perfect timing) we headed back to the 'Vegas for lunch and then onto the Skyline Skyrides site for a spot of luging. Superb!!!

The trip was coming to a close so we decided to head back home on the Friday evening to beat the traffic and to have a day in Auckland sorting stuff out before Jennas departure back to the UK.

Christmas and New Year 2006 - A Mini Adventure

With work over for 2005 and the office officially shut down until 2006 it was time to enjoy the summer holidays. It seems very strange enjoying summer holidays over Christmas. But hey, I guess I will have to get used to it.

So what was planned for my summer (Christmas) break? Well with the arrival of Jenna a couple of weeks earlier from the UK a road trip was on the cards round the north. All started really well with a delay in departure by a day. But saying that fighting the Friday night traffic in Auckland is bad enough, but at the start of the national holiday, the lazy nature of packing and planning did us a favour. So Christmas eve was a trek up to Pihia in the Bay of Islands with a fully loaded surf wagon.

Jennas Aunt and Uncle (Helen and Graham) had kindly offered us accommodation and hospitality over the Christmas period. And wow, what accommodation. Their house is perched on the hill side over looking the bay opposite Russell (the former capital of NZ and 'Hell Hole of the Pacific') towards Opua.

And so it was Christmas. Woohoo. Ever so strange being hot and sunny. But bacon and eggs on the BBQ in the sun on the deck, with a glass of champers in hand went some way to get me in the festive spirit. Having stuffed oursleves silly and drunken far too much champagne for the time of morning it was we opened the pressies!!! Woohoo!!! Then it was off to Bernard the millionaires house on top of the hill for christmas lunch and more drink. Oh goody - i was already ready to burst, but hey, it would be rude not to stuff myself some more surely.

Master Chef at work -Christmas Breakfast!!!

The afternoon was spent cruising the bay in Grahams speedboat. What a better way to spend Christmas day than messing about in boats. Zooming across the bay and over to Russell on a beer hunt. Quest successful, more drinking. Then back to port for an evening of drinking - errr, recovering.

Boxing day was much of the same. More speed boat antics and beers in the sun. This time however, at the lunch spot on Urapukapuka island we were accompanied by dolphins, rays and a penguin of all things!!!! Amazing.

So after the festivities of christmas and boxing day the road trip began proper. The aim was to tour the northland and see the sights. I think this goal was achieved, and what follows is a brief rundown of what we got up to.

First stop was the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. It was here that the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840. The treaty between the Maoris and the British effectively signed over New Zealand to British Sovereignty. The grounds, just north of Pihia have the Treaty House, where the treaty was drawn up and where the British Envoy to NZ lived, a Maori Waka (a war canoe) and the Te Whare Runanga - a maori meeting house. A flagstaff has been erected at the spot on the lawn where the treaty was signed. The treaty itself guarentees equal rights for both Maoris and non-Maori citizens in Aotearoa New Zealand and is still relevant today.

Matauri Bay. Some 4 miles off shore here is the dive site for the wreck of the Rainbow Warrior. A quick walk up the hill over looking the stuuning beach takes you to the Rainbow Warrior Memorial. As memorials go it was quite a nice one, a mix of metalwork and stone in a big arch, featuring the Rainbow Warriors propellor.

Rainbow Warrior Memorial!!!

Dinner was got from Mangonui Fish and Chip shop. World famous apparently (aren't all chippys world famous?). It was nice and it was lovely view down the harbour. And the fish was certainly fresh - you chose you piece unbattered and they charge you by weight - fresh from the boat. Tasty, but i have to say, still not as nice as the mighty Knowle Fish Bar. Infact that place still remains my fave chippy to date. A night at Hihi saw us refreshed and rejuvenated for the push to the top - Cape Reinga.

We broke the drive up north up by cruising round the Karkari Peninsula. A funny place. Baron and scrub like. But at the end - Maitai Bay, it was stunning. An amzing half moon bay of white sands and crystal clear blue water. Only trouble is, it was a bit crowded - all of 12 people. Oh and the water was bloody freezing!!!

We cruised further north and toyed with crashing for the night at Rararawa - a superb DOC site on the east coast right on a perfect white sand beach - pretty good surf too. However a quick chat with the nice DOC man saw us go for a final push to the top. Well not quite the top - we headed for Spirits Bay, another DOC site. Wow what a site. After a good 25km of gravel tracks enabling a good impression of Colin McRae to be undertaken (not sure if the co-pilot had as much fun as me) we arrived in a cloud of dust at the camp gates. The site is right on the beach. And the surf was pumping. However i was a bit chicken to test it out in my boat. Big rip and a habit of slamming you into the gravel beach didn't really appeal to me. Gonna stick to small surf for a bit after my pounding at Piha (but thats another story - it was a tsunami, i swear!!!). Anyway, a stunning sunset across the bay over Cape Reinga signalled an epic battle to commence - man v mozzy. Not really sure who won (Jenna will disagree) but i was giving as good as i got.

Sunset at Spirits Bay - nice hat!!!

Cape Reinga was a little dissapointing. This is the place where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean. And its also the place where the maori spirits descend to the final resting place in the after life. However, after another few km's of being Colin McRae we were greeted with throngs of people - Japanese mainly. Bit of a dissapointment really. THe lighthouse was pretty interesting though - solar powered, controlled from Wellington and run on a 50watt bulb that is visible for 35 miles. Pretty cool.

Next stop was 90 mile beach. Its not actually 90 miles long (its about 64 miles long). Its also part of the State Highway system - bit random - and if you drive on it your insurance is invalid. Hmmmm, a small worry. The best time to go is the window 2 hours each side of low tide. Having no idea of when the tides were the trip to Te Paki was primarily to look at the massive sand dunes (like something out of Star Wars) and perhaps to walk down to the beach. Access is via a river which has reported quicksand in it. Even more nervous about taking my beast for a spin on the beach. However my mind was made up when a coach went hooning past down the river. If a coach can do it then a 4x4 will have no problem at all. A cruise on the beach was on - stick with the coach - safety in numbers and all that. We were off, 4x4 engaged, windows shut, wipers on - off roading baby!!!

We hit the beach and cruised. The sand was hard so no issues there. Just stay with the coach. 100km/hr all the way - sorted. Its quite a strange feeling driving on the beach. Especially when the your safety (the coach) stops and you are on your own with no idea of the tide times and no way out off the beach once you're on. Fun fun fun.

After no idea how long we hit some sort of civilisation. Not really sure where it was though. Somewhere on the west coast and thats about it. We pushed on. Finally we reached what we thought was Ahipara. No signposts on the beach - how inconsiderate!!! A nervous bit of rock hopping off roading took us round to Shipwrecks Bay where we de-beached and looked for a camp for the night.

Next stop it was off to Max's batch in Opononi. Having de-salted and de-sanded my car after hooning around on 90 mile beach i was most dismayed to find myself having to park my truck at the front of the Hokianga Harbour ferry to Rawene. I may as not have bothered. I think the captain of the ferry thought he was Richard Branson on a cross atlantic challenege or something - he was booting across, covering my truck in salty goodness once more!!! Hmmmm. Another rinse down required. Having cruised the streets of Opononi for a good few minutes we eventually found Max's batch. Right at the start of our mini tour. 'Can't miss it' he said - hmmmm obviously. It was a nice pad - overlooking the water and some more mighty dunes over the harbour. It was also nice to meet the Burkitts who had joined Max for christmas and new year - it was a proper work get together. And here was me thinking i was supposed to be on holiday. Anway, beers were sunk, tales were told, and we even braved the local pub - we did stand out a mile mind - must remember to pack me stubbies and wife beater next time - oh and grow a mo and get a mullet.

The next day we went on a gay dolphin hunt. Opo the gay dolphin was perhaps Opononis most famous inhabitant. During the short spell of gayness in the 50's Opo entertained crowds and kids a plenty. Very funny video at the visitors centre - i would recommend it to anyone. If you can watch it with a straight face i will be most impressed.

Next was a Tane Mahuta. New Zealands biggest tree. The Northland is known for its Kauri forests, and Tane was a beast. A mighty girth. The photos don't really do it justice. Its not that tall, i am sure i have seen taller - but it certainly was a biggun. Another short hop in the truck took us to more forestry. This time to see the second biggest tree in New Zealand. Another Kauri but taller than Tane but not as an impressive a girth. Its not the height its the width that is important apparently. Interestingly, at this spot you can also see New Zealands 7th biggest tree. Why would you want to though? And where the hell are the third, fourth, fifth and sixth biggest trees. So after tree hugging it was off back to the Bay of Islands for New Year.