New Zealand travel update 20 April 2001, Nelson, South Island
Kia ora (Maori greeting meaning hello, good luck, good health)
We are now in the South Island, but we better finish telling you about our adventures in the North Island first of all.
On our journey to the Coromandel we visited some distant relatives of the Brunts whose family had emigrated to NZ in the 1920’s. It was really fascinating to find out so much information and to be given such a warm welcome.
We stayed so long with the family that day in Whangaparaoa it meant we ended up driving at night, something we have rarely done on this trip, but we arrived safely at Whangapoa and stayed at Marlisa’s beach house for a lovely, lazy weekend.
On our last day there the rain poured down and with gale force winds, followed us to the Bay of Plenty. Luckily we did not have to pitch the tent, but were hosted for two nights in Papamoa by a lovely couple, David & Sonya who were friends of friends.
From there we headed to Whakatane where again we experienced the warm hospitality of the Kiwis staying with Debbie & Brendan Davis. Actually it was the double whammy combination of Kiwi and Irish hospitality (it doesn’t get any better!) as Debbie is a friend from Tyrone. It was from Whakatane that we really wanted to go swimming with the dolphins and at last it happened.
About 15 minutes into the boat trip we spotted them – Shaz was just so excited – we were right in the middle of a pod of one to two hundred dolphins!! This certainly made up for all the previous times where we didn’t see any dolphins – it was just fantastic.
On this same trip we visited NZ’s most active marine volcano – Whakaari or White Island. Snorkelling there was like swimming in a giant glass of champagne as the bubbles continually rise from the volcanic rocks in the seabed.
Our next stop was a quick one night in Rotorua to experience a little bit of Maori culture at an evening concert and hangi (dinner cooked in the earth) – a bit over crowded, but was still a really enjoyable evening.
We were due a good walking day and were so lucky to have a perfect, clear day to complete the 17km/7.5 hours Tongariro Crossing. Another active volcano where we walked through the weird landscape of craters and had fantastic views over Lake Taupo. The following day we couldn’t even see the mountain!
On course to Wellington we stopped in at Palmerston North to visit the quaint, but interesting New Zealand Rugby Museum, followed by a lovely night at Paekākāriki with Prue Hyman, a Schindler family friend.
We then spent a couple of nights in windy’ Wellington (we had to use the guy ropes on the tent for the first time) before taking the ferry to Picton in the South Island on Easter Sunday. The crossing was beautiful and we even managed to spot more dolphins en route!
Our first night in the South Island was spent at, wait for it… Old McDonald’s Farm! This was in the Abel Tasman National Park where we then spent the next three days on a sea kayaking trip. We again had perfect weather for paddling around and enjoying the stunning scenery; we even had seals swimming alongside us! Dave braved the water at night and went for a paddle under the stars.
The mornings and evenings are getting really quite cold now in the tent so it is a real luxury to stay with friends. We are now in Nelson and yet again experiencing the Kiwi hospitality from Dave’s second cousin Rob De Winter (Marlisa’s dad).
Nelson is really a beautiful area and we have really enjoyed looking around, but tomorrow we move on again and head south, closer to winter. There may be times in the next few weeks where the tent will stay in the back seat and we stay in a cabin! Anyway we will keep you informed…
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