We spent our last morning walking back to Auckland Domain (domain being the name used for public parks). There is a glasshouse there - the Wintergarden - which also includes an Italian styled formal water garden, and a fernery, as well as several glass houses. All well worth admiring - they had some of those giant water lily pads that we had seem previously at The Eden Project in Cornwall.
We ate our last lunch at the hostel. I had planned on phoning my sister, and updating this blog - but the lines that supported both the public internet and the phone at the hostel were on the fritz. Hence this late entry, and a number of queries from friends asking if we were 'back yet'.
We booked the shuttle for the airport journey - an exercise in decreasing costs if you find extra people to go with you. It takes a while for them to pick up their complement (about 12), but it was interesting to talk to the driver. He is a South African - we think of Boer descent - who came to New Zealand after losing family members in Africa. He got into the shuttle business with a view to the World Cup of football, to be played in the fall of this year.
The flight back was not as comfortable as on the way out - we had three people in three seats, and I was in the middle. But we survived. And we did get seats together. When I booked there were so few left that we had not been seated in the same row, so someone did some rearranging after the fact.
LAX was unthrilling - airport security loses its novelty fast - but everyone was reasonable, and eventually we made our way onto the Air Canada flight and thence safely back to Toronto (pre-bought sandwich in hand, with sighs for the Air New Zealand meals).
Thursday, March 31, 2011
March 22 - One Tree Hill
Today we tried to find One Tree Hill with the GPS. After a false and scenic stop about 30 km. south, we found the one with the obelisk. One Tree Hill is an old volcano, and one of the original Maori settlements (pau). It has an outstanding view of the city of Auckland. You can see very clearly a number of old volcanoes over the city. There is a huge caldera (now full of grazing sheep) next to the highest point. You can also see the Maori terracing, and some of the storage pits used for sweet potatoes (kumara).
As the guide book pointed out, there is actually no tree at the top of One Tree Hill. The Europeans cut down the Maori native tree, and planted a pine. The Maori took two attempts to cut that one down, and managed to do so. So some diplomacy is going to be required to get another tree planted!
We walked through the park that is the base of One Tree Hill, and had lunch at the restaurant there. It had the look of a summerhouse - and was of the "high tea" variety, tablecloths and black and white wait staff. Eric had a seafood pasta, and I had snapper, both of which were delicious.
We returned the car in the afternoon, and took the "Link Bus" for its full circuit. It makes a vague circle around the city, stopping at most areas of interest, so we had a chance so see a few bits of the city we had missed. We stopped in the shopping area to have a walk about, admire some public art, and find a beer and some wine at one of the cafes.
As the guide book pointed out, there is actually no tree at the top of One Tree Hill. The Europeans cut down the Maori native tree, and planted a pine. The Maori took two attempts to cut that one down, and managed to do so. So some diplomacy is going to be required to get another tree planted!
We walked through the park that is the base of One Tree Hill, and had lunch at the restaurant there. It had the look of a summerhouse - and was of the "high tea" variety, tablecloths and black and white wait staff. Eric had a seafood pasta, and I had snapper, both of which were delicious.
We returned the car in the afternoon, and took the "Link Bus" for its full circuit. It makes a vague circle around the city, stopping at most areas of interest, so we had a chance so see a few bits of the city we had missed. We stopped in the shopping area to have a walk about, admire some public art, and find a beer and some wine at one of the cafes.
Monday, March 21, 2011
March 21 - Driving to Auckland
This was rather an uneventful day - we left early to get a good start. It rained, or spat rain, pretty much all the way. We went via Lake Taupo, which is the caldera for a very large volcano, so we at least got to see the lake. The rain abated for our lunch - actually, we must have found the one place it did not rain, because the picnic bench was dry! We had packed cold chicken (the last of the Indonesian leftovers), sardines, boiled eggs, bread and butter, and some slightly cooked green beans. For dessert we had some "Aunt Amy's" and "Anzac" cookies from the ladies in the Napier market. Very good!
We continued on, past more mountain ranges - lowish this time, but still an excess of beautiful scenery, even in the overcast.
We had asked the GPS to take us to One Tree Hill as a way point, but apparently I don't understand waypoints, because it spit us into Auckland at City Garden Lodge. Oh well - we'll find it tomorrow!
Happy birthday to Andrea and Lynda, our first day of spring people! (I don't care that the astronomers are moving that date around - the 21st is the first day so far as I am concerned.)
We continued on, past more mountain ranges - lowish this time, but still an excess of beautiful scenery, even in the overcast.
We had asked the GPS to take us to One Tree Hill as a way point, but apparently I don't understand waypoints, because it spit us into Auckland at City Garden Lodge. Oh well - we'll find it tomorrow!
Happy birthday to Andrea and Lynda, our first day of spring people! (I don't care that the astronomers are moving that date around - the 21st is the first day so far as I am concerned.)
Saturday, March 19, 2011
March 20 - Napier Art Deco
This morning we walked up the Marine Parade, past a Sunday flea market, and the skateboard park where a championship small scooter event was being held, to the I-site (what they call tourist information centres here).
We signed up for the 1 hour Art Deco tour, and got a very nice, very efficient and very loud secondary school teacher (self identified!) to take us around. She was very good - gave us details of Napier's history - the 1931 quake, the rise in the land that gave Napier room to expand, the susequent fire (from chemists' bunsen burners - the gas company got its act together and turned off the gas, but in vain). She showed us design elements - zig-zags, sunbursts, fountains, stylized flowers, speed-lines, and Egyptian motifs (from the 1922 opening of Tutenkamen's tomb) and pre and post quake photos in her book. She then toured us through the centre area and pointed these out on the buildings, explaining how the Art Deco Trust, now municipally affiliated, had alternately bullied and provided carrots to keep the characteristics of the Art Deco look.
We have another glorious day - we did laundry last night. One of the blessings of the backpackers is laundry facilities, usually with a line you can use, and things dried very well. One of the two cats "Bangers & Mash" helped fold the socks - they are not much past kitten stage.
We have bought lamb chops to BBQ for dinner, and have some leftover veg and rice from last night's feast, green beans from the market, and salad makings. We also intend to wade in the Pacific - yesterday it was the Tasman Sea at Plimmerton. Tomorrow will be a longish drive - we are going back to Auckland for the last two nights, City Garden Backpackers.
Postscript: We did indeed wade - quite some breakers, and a pebble beach, so there was a bit of hopping about and some wet rolled pants involved.
We then went to the suburb of Marewa, which is billed as the most Art Deco of the suburbs. In the failing light we walked about one half of a suggested route, and enjoyed some of the charming bungalows, and one really amazing Art Deco themed garden.
March 19 - Drive to Napier
We said goodbye to our lovely seaside view room, and set off for Napier. Due to a mountain chain (surprise!), we needed to go back south toward Wellington before setting off northward, this time up the eastern side of the Island.
We had a pleasant stop at Carterton (I think I'm remembering correctly), where we stopped for a coffee. I had a look in a gallery called the Red Moa, that had a huge moa made of red wire on the roof - a gift from the brother of the gallery owner. Next door was a coffee shop - its only real signage a "Topolino" Fiat mounted on the roof. When you went indoors, there was a second one over the back of the service area. It was like an old store that had not been remodelled, but with cafe tables in the front window and throughout, and a couple of sofas, and some good coffee. The town had a blues festival on (we didn't hear any, sadly), and flowers planted everywhere. I think the local Business Improvement group was doing a good job.
We are staying in Napier in a place called "Stables Backpackers". The rooms all have a horse's head painted on the door, as if they are stalls, and have small double doors leading out to the front porch or the interior courtyard. We discovered (from an ad for horseback rides), that the owner keeps horses. The room is small, and has a double bunk one one side, single above, and two bunks on the other side. We have it to ourselves, but it can obviously do multiple service.
We went to an Indonesian restaurant for dinner, and had the "richtstaffel" (I'll fix the spelling later") or "rice table" - essentially a sampler of many dishes. It was delicious. We had a kind of cake for dessert that was grilled in layers, with various spices - an Indonesian specialty. It smelled amazing, with all the spices, even before you tasted it.
We had a walk up and down the beach front to settle the dinner in, and then did the prosaic laundry. We will do an 'art deco' tour tomorrow, which is what the area is famous for.
We had a pleasant stop at Carterton (I think I'm remembering correctly), where we stopped for a coffee. I had a look in a gallery called the Red Moa, that had a huge moa made of red wire on the roof - a gift from the brother of the gallery owner. Next door was a coffee shop - its only real signage a "Topolino" Fiat mounted on the roof. When you went indoors, there was a second one over the back of the service area. It was like an old store that had not been remodelled, but with cafe tables in the front window and throughout, and a couple of sofas, and some good coffee. The town had a blues festival on (we didn't hear any, sadly), and flowers planted everywhere. I think the local Business Improvement group was doing a good job.
We are staying in Napier in a place called "Stables Backpackers". The rooms all have a horse's head painted on the door, as if they are stalls, and have small double doors leading out to the front porch or the interior courtyard. We discovered (from an ad for horseback rides), that the owner keeps horses. The room is small, and has a double bunk one one side, single above, and two bunks on the other side. We have it to ourselves, but it can obviously do multiple service.
We went to an Indonesian restaurant for dinner, and had the "richtstaffel" (I'll fix the spelling later") or "rice table" - essentially a sampler of many dishes. It was delicious. We had a kind of cake for dessert that was grilled in layers, with various spices - an Indonesian specialty. It smelled amazing, with all the spices, even before you tasted it.
We had a walk up and down the beach front to settle the dinner in, and then did the prosaic laundry. We will do an 'art deco' tour tomorrow, which is what the area is famous for.
Friday, March 18, 2011
March 19 - Zealandia
We returned back into Wellington today, and picked up the CityBus - stopping at Zealandia this time. It is a valley that has been isolated with a "biofence" to keep out the mammalian predators that have been introduced to New Zealand. They are working at restoring the area to what it would have been like prior to humankind showing up. They have done a very good job with displays, and it had turned into a lovely day. We had a 3 hour walkabout, saw some wildlife (nesting pied shags and their babies) and learned about some we didn't see.
They had "weta hotels" - tree weta, a kind of insect about 2 inches long. They are reintroducing the giant weta - even bigger, but apparently a gentle giant. We did not see those.
The walk was up one side of a stream to a suspension bridge - wider than out last experience. You could look out over a reservoir and valley, and listen to the most amazing range of bird song. We had stopped at an earlier station that had pictures of the birds, and a button you could push to hear their call. We heard a bell bird, and saw several Tui (also the name of a local brew). In the valley area you could see birds flitting back and forth, and there was a wonderful range of bird song. Well past our identification, but most enjoyable on a sunny afternoon.
The walk also used sighting tubes - bits of pipe you could look through to identify a particular tree, or, in one instance, to look at a picture of a bird set in a tree to get an idea of its relative size.
We also saw the daytime evidence of glowworms - their hanging tentacles of saliva, meant to ensnare insects. Inspiration for Alien?
We are moving on to Napier tomorrow - Stable Backpackers.
We are moving on to Napier tomorrow - Stable Backpackers.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
March 17 - mostly Te Papa
We had decided to take local transit into Wellington, when a sudden shower changed our mind. We drove down, and found parking with a minimum of fuss. We asked the GPS which way Te Papa was - it pointed in a totally different direction than made sense - so we ignored it and walked to the waterfront, directly into Te Papa. Te Papa is the NZ Museum. I believe the translation is "Of the People". As we had heard, it is extremely well done. We took the 1 hour intro. tour with a guide named Jen. Due to the NZ short "e", it comes out "gin" aurally, so that took us a bit of straightening out. So Jen-short-for-Jennifer took us into the first gallery, about NZ geology. There is a huge aerial map on the floor, lit from behind. This was fascinating, because we could trace where we had been, and see some of the very large marks that volcanoes and tectonic action had made on the landscape.
They have a display of all of the flora and fauna - stuffed - but set in realistic scenes. And a giant squid, or rather, the remains thereof, with a film about how the poor thing held onto a "jawfish" that had been captured by a longline, and was therefore brought to the surface, which spelled death for it (decompression).
There is a Maori area - with a beautifully carved meeting house from about 1850, and a model catamaran of the type used to travel between islands - considerably faster and with more capacity than Cook's ship, the endeavour.
Eric and I then made a beeline for the Brian Brace photographic exhibit. He is a NZ photographer that did a lot of work for Life and other publications, and also a book on NZ with excellent photos - landscapes from a great distance, and people in close.
At 1:30 we decided a break was in order, and went to find the CityBus that does the hop-on, hop-off city tour. We did the circuit, then "hopped off" at the bottom of the cable car that goes to the top of the city. There is a great little museum at the top with the history of the cable railway. Wellington is rather vertical, and in order to persuade people to buy properties up the hillside, there needed to be a convenient way to get up and down. So the property developers got together and started the cable railway - and did a good job according to the records - no accidents from mechanical failure.
Coincidentally, the top of the cable railway also accesses the Wellington Botanical Gardens. There is a lovely walkway, happily downhill, from the top to the centre of the city. We picked up our bus at the bottom, and went back to the Te Papa stop. Our bus driver pointed us to the main street for restaurants, and we found a noodle shop that suited our taste buds at that point, and a chocolate eclair from the bakeshop next door. We returned to Te Papa, finished looking at the photo exhibit, and wandered through a few more displays.
Our tour bus ticket is good for 24 hours, so we are going back tomorrow. Zealandia is one stop - an area where they have tried to restore Kiwi wildlife before humans interfered. More info. to come.
They have a display of all of the flora and fauna - stuffed - but set in realistic scenes. And a giant squid, or rather, the remains thereof, with a film about how the poor thing held onto a "jawfish" that had been captured by a longline, and was therefore brought to the surface, which spelled death for it (decompression).
There is a Maori area - with a beautifully carved meeting house from about 1850, and a model catamaran of the type used to travel between islands - considerably faster and with more capacity than Cook's ship, the endeavour.
Eric and I then made a beeline for the Brian Brace photographic exhibit. He is a NZ photographer that did a lot of work for Life and other publications, and also a book on NZ with excellent photos - landscapes from a great distance, and people in close.
At 1:30 we decided a break was in order, and went to find the CityBus that does the hop-on, hop-off city tour. We did the circuit, then "hopped off" at the bottom of the cable car that goes to the top of the city. There is a great little museum at the top with the history of the cable railway. Wellington is rather vertical, and in order to persuade people to buy properties up the hillside, there needed to be a convenient way to get up and down. So the property developers got together and started the cable railway - and did a good job according to the records - no accidents from mechanical failure.
Coincidentally, the top of the cable railway also accesses the Wellington Botanical Gardens. There is a lovely walkway, happily downhill, from the top to the centre of the city. We picked up our bus at the bottom, and went back to the Te Papa stop. Our bus driver pointed us to the main street for restaurants, and we found a noodle shop that suited our taste buds at that point, and a chocolate eclair from the bakeshop next door. We returned to Te Papa, finished looking at the photo exhibit, and wandered through a few more displays.
Our tour bus ticket is good for 24 hours, so we are going back tomorrow. Zealandia is one stop - an area where they have tried to restore Kiwi wildlife before humans interfered. More info. to come.
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