Napier to Picton via Wellington

January 30, 2009

Our stop in Napier was a treat. Heavily damaged by an earthquake in 1931, the city came back to life as an Art Deco showcase. It has been a popular tourist spot ever since, and justly so. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, although we did need some repairs on the loo in the camper van when it was blocked by a stray piece of plastic bag left in it by a previous user. We’re feeling flush again.

After lovely visits Jan 27 with long-lost family members (Doug’s mom’s cousin and husband in Waipukurau) and Jan 28 in Palmerston North with long-lost friends Morris and Christine whom we first met on a bus tour of Italy in 2004, we pointed Rhoda the Road Maggot south to the capital city of Wellington.

We booked into yet another superlative Top 10 Holiday Park a short drive from the ferry terminal. The next day we parked RRM in the terminal parking lot and hopped on our rusty steeds ( picture of Pat’s Ugly Bikey PofS included for your enjoyment) to visit the NZ capital.

First stop was the Te Papa museum, a striking building on the waterfront that holds a zillion exhibits and displays recounting the geological, natural and political history of ²The Shaky Isles² as this earthquake-prone nation is known. We marvelled at the navigational skills of the Maori, who crossed vast stretches of the Pacific to NZ with little more than the stars, the currents and water-filled coconut shells to steer them to their destination. We learned that some of the early Polynesians who became Maori might have descended from people in Southeast Asia, and that successive waves of immigrants from many areas of the South Pacific made their way here to escape overcrowding and food shortages in their homelands. We walked on a huge illuminated map of NZ that gave a satellite’s-eye view of this small but varied country. We chuckled at a video on NZ’s Golden Days over the last century or so. In short, Te Papa Tongarewa/Museum of New Zealand is a must-see for anyone visiting Wellington.

Other highlights of our Wellington visit were the ride up the cable car to the city’s fabulous Botanic Garden, from where we walked back down to the city along a well-marked path while snapping many shots of the lovely floral displays in every corner of the garden. At the bottom of the hill we made a quick visit to the NZ parliament, known as the beehive for obvious reasons, as you can see by this shot.

We then beetled back to the ferry terminal for the 6:15 p.m. sailing, which some had predicted would be rough because of the high winds. We both gobbled a couple of Gravol as a precaution but the three-hour crossing was very smooth. Our port of arrival was Picton, gateway to the South Island.

Today we took one of the mail boats, actually a high speed catamaran, doubling as a cruise boat from Picton harbour to a jumping-off point for the Queen Charlotte Track, a 67-km walking and mountain biking path that snakes along a long island through dense forest, along high ridges and past breathtaking vistas of the Queen Charlotte Sound. We did a 10-km segment and thoroughly enjoyed the experience: what could be better than tramping through some woods in bright, warm sunshine and ending up at a cosy and elegant country lodge for a cold beer before embarking for a sail back to our little home on wheels?

Auckland to Napier, NZ

January 27, 2009
Happy 85th birthday to Doug’s mom

Happy birthday as well to Pat's brother Bob!

Auckland to Napier

The Mac-0-Van or Rhoda the Road Maggot is chugging right along except for a clogged pipe in the loo which was fixed today in Napier. After leaving Auckland we travelled up to the Coromandel Peninsula east of the city, an area ignored by many tourists, visiting the Hot Water Beach where at low tide you can make a hole in the sand and soak in a hot tub. Problem with the one we felt was that it was too hot! We also took a bracing hike to beautiful Cathedral Cove, so named for the arches formed in the coastal rocks by the eroding action of the sea.

Miscellaneous I: No, NZ doesn’t have sheep on each hill, in fact it is the grape vine which is taking over a lot of former grazing pasture. We did see a sheep shearing demonstration in Rotorua and learned all the various breeds used for the wool or meat.
Rotorua area is mega geothermic with geysers, boiling mud pots in the middle of town, and sulphurous steam vents all over the place. It is also a cultural area for the Maori and we spent quite some time taking in a tour and cultural show presented by Maori performers. You will be happy to note that Doug was appointed Chief for our group and was able to go up on stage and rub noses with some fierce warriors.

Miscellaneous I: For our star gazing readers, no, you cannot see the North Star from NZ, you can see the Southern Cross. And Orion is high in the sky. For the amateur geologists, the hills are much more pointy than ours because they are a good deal younger. For the animal lovers, the seagulls are much prettier. For the fast food buffs, there are McDonalds and Burger Kings and Subways.

As for our bikes, Doug’s red beauty climbs pretty well, but Ugly Bikey Piece of Shit, as Pat now calls her, refuses to do more than clunk along. Going downhill is an adventure where she only hopes that the bike will not fall apart before she reaches the bottom. Pictures of our two-wheeled treasures will follow.

We are into a routine now, breakfast in the van, lunch of sandwiches on the road and then either dinner out or cooked in RRM. There is not much room, but thankfully we are both tidy creatures who keep things shipshape. The campgrounds are great, and the Top 10 Holiday Camp network is inexpensive with great facilities. We are meeting lots of people on the road: Brits, Australians and Kiwis mainly with a few Germans and such thrown in. Canadians here and there, hardly an American in sight. The large attractions receive the buses of tourists from the Orient.

Tomorrow it is on to visit Doug’s aunt and then stay with friends in Palmerston North before heading to Wellington and thence to the South Island. HolHh

We made it!

After about 26 hours in transit, during which we had an intimate association with all ends of O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, we arrived in Auckland to start our adventure. The only thing missing was one of Doug’s bags, which contained most of his clothes, but Air New Zealand came through big time and had the bag at our camper doorstep the next morning.

Speaking of the camper van, it’s a 6-metre minibus affectionately known by some local drivers as a ‘’road maggot’’ (fat, white and slow). Doug stalled it a few times as we were getting used to driving on the left side of the road while puzzling over road maps and finding ourselves imprisoned in massive freeway traffic jams. Needless to say we slept well on our arrival at the Takapuna Beach Holiday Camp, north of Auckland City.

Our campground is beautifully situated by the sea, and we have watched everything from sea kayaks to a monster cruise ship float by.

Our first full day of being tourists saw us take the bus and ferry to Auckland. In addition to going up the famous Sky Tower for an impressive view of the city and the harbour, we went to a local bicycle shop where we expected to pick up two clunkers to use for short trips around the places we will visit and avoid having to drive the camper van everywhere, and then sell them or give them away when we leave. Unfortunately the shop is a bit chaotic and we had to go back at the end of the day to collect and ride them about 20 km back to the campground. Doug fared well for the palty sum of 99 NZD but Pat not so affectionately calls hers Ugly Bikey, a rusted out hybrid that clinks and clanks and occasionally emits a sound akin to a wheeze.

We kept shopping to a minimum because we needed to carry everything back to camp on the bikes, but Doug did purchase a snazzy all-leather hat to keep the sun off. Pat had to walk ahead of him to keep the adoring ladies at bay.

We were awed by Auckland’s amazing harbour where we saw huge ocean going sailing yachts that you don’t normally see back home.

TRIVIA ANSWER: The Chicago airport is named after Butch O’Hare, an ace WWII fighter pilot.




Van comfortable, good thing Doug slim, even has an office (driving area)

Getting Excited About the Trip

As many of you know, Doug and I are off to New Zealand and Australia for two months to explore if the drains really DO go the other way, if you can still see the Northern Star, and if Aussies really say "shrimp on the barbee". Suitcases are on the beds, our housesitter Michael has all the particulars, and we pick up all the papers tomorrow.



Monday morning we pray for good weather to get us in and out of Chicago so we can fulfill a life-time dream of a 20 hour flight across the Pacific. From Sydney we fly to Auckland to pick up the camper van which we will drive through mountain passes on the other side of the road for three weeks. Doug says we will most likely drive to the far side of the camper van depot and drop unconscious for a few hours.



Thanks to Susan Palmai who encouraged us to try blogging! We hope you have fun following the adventures of MDU. Let the wild rumpus start!