We set off aiming to stop at Lake Taupo for our picnic, but there was a huge cycle race there on a par with the Tour de France and as crowds lined the streets cheering on the sweating riders there was nowhere for poor tourists to park to enjoy the lake. We explored some local falls then decided to go on to Rotorua where there is another lake and picnic in more peaceful conditions. After leaving there we were on route to our last Farmstead B&B when I upset the local mobile “fuzz” who clocked me at 119 kmph! “Did you not know the national speed  limit is 100 kmph, Sir?”

“Please don’t book me officer I am used to Europe where it’s 120kmph and we are leaving the country tomorrow”

Common sense prevailed and we had a good chat and parted on good terms without a ticket which was lucky. He said he knew I was a tourist as when he flagged me down I turned on the windscreen washers instead of the indicator, it being the “wrong way” round on our hired Datsun.

We drove on at a more sedate pace. Our last stop was at a very rural chestnut farm, run by an ex Yorkshire man and his American wife. They cooked an excellent dinner for us and two other Canadian guests and we had a super last evening only to be woken by what sounded like an air raid siren. Next morning it was explained to us that it was the only way of summoning the volunteer fire fighters, we were worried in case there was a forest fire and we were about to be burned in our beds.

That was it, an uneventful drive to Auckland airport next morning and a great flight to Bankok, too long at 11 hours then an overnight in a nearby hotel before flying home.

In summing up we had a wonderful time, we drove 4258 kilometres or in English, 2661 miles, probably too much in 14 days and we should have had three weeks to give more time for relaxation, fishing and golf. The scenery is wonderful so are the people though it does look as if they have a passion for well kept hedges, even out in the country where they are 15 or 20 feet high they all appear to be well pruned. One other thought, it’s a bit like England 20 or 30 years ago with many of the better aspects of what we had then in terms of politeness but we did notie that their toilet rolls are very thin, at least they have toilet paper not torn up copies of the Daily Mirror!

Until we go again, goodbye from World Travellers, Johnny & Sue. March 8 2010.

Cray fish lunch on the ferry

Lunch at Clearview Winery

Art deco masonic hall , Napier

Electric scooter

We had a very restful time at Gorbay, walking and painting then it was time to move back to North Island. We set off early, stopping on route to see seals basking on rocks beside the side of the main road just past Kaikora, Sue would have stayed all day watching them play but we had to catch the mid day ferry from Picton. We had an excellent lunch on board eating fresh caught crayfish, well the locals call them crayfish but they were huge, more like lobsters as you can see in the photo. The weather was absolutely perfect, not a cloud in the sky all the day, the was scorching down and it was a pity when we landed that we had another 200 miles to do to reach our next B&B near Napier. It was something of a nightmare drive after the peace and quiet of South Island. We found ourselves in horrendous traffic jams as the evening rush hour was starting and we drove northwards on the main road only covering 80 miles in the first two hours so it took us until nearly nine in the evening to arrive in Napier. It was too dark to see our surroundings but it turned out to be a whole two bedroom cottage so plenty of room to spread ourselves. But our view of North Island is coloured by the greater density of population and the concentration of housing. Everywhere is so neat, trimmed hedges and lawns and nearly all the homes are single story bungalows.

When we woke on Friday we were able to see better where we were and get out to enjoy the delights of Napier. We started by driving up to the top of Te Mato ( was this the Maori for tomato?) the highest local mountain from where we could see about 40 miles in every direction. A local who had cycled to the top, they are fit out here, explained that in 1931 there had been a huge earthquake which destroyed Napier and Hastings. Unusually the whole area had been rebuilt in 2 years in classic Art Deco style which was well preserved today. We drove there to see for ourselves and found a delightful town with many beautiful buildings in excellent condition. We hired a bike for Sue and a strange electric powered scooter device for me with which we explored the seafront footpath. After all that excercise it was time for a late lunch and as Hawkes Bay is the home of New Zealand wines we went for a tasting as one of the better wineries, Clearview, which has the unique situation of being right on the beach. I enjoyed one of their best bottles of a wine called “Old Olive Block” which was great but sadly not available in the UK, all the wine from Clearview being sold in New Zealand. That was our Friday, now we have to move on during Saturday to be near Auckland and the flight home on Sunday.

Jet Ski ride

View of Mount Cook

Up early as we had a longish drive and wanted to get a good look at Mount Cook from this side in the early morning sunshine, it looked just great as you can see, inspiration for a future watercolour painting when I get more time.

We had another great scenic drive and the highlight was a high speed trip on a Jetski power boat up the Rakaia Gorge with driver Blair who really showed off for us in a ride that lasted 45 minutes, a really thrilling ride culminating in a 360 degree high speed spin on the fast moving Rakaia river which drenched us but we really didn’t care.

Drove on after our riverside picnic though the Canterbury Plain which is much less spectacular than the remainder of NZ, very reminiscent of the UK, fenced fields, trimmed hedges and plenty of sheep and cattle. We were not sorry to get past that 100 or so miles and motored north to Gore Bay, a lovely B&B by the sea where we shall stay for a couple of nights.

Bungy Jumping , Ugh !

The start of a new month and a change in the weather, we woke to torrential rain and set off across country northwards, aiming to get to Kaikora in two days. On route we passed a wonderful fishing shop, “Stu’s Fly Shop2 quite orgasmic for a fisherman as you can see from the photo, but sadly closed as Stu left a note on the door “Gone guiding!” We stopped next at Queenstown, a lovely town by Lake Wakatipu. In the sun it would have been wonderful, reminiscent of Lake Garda in Italy, beautiful shops to interest Sue and very nice cafes and restaurants. We bought a few souvenirs then on the way came across a “Cheesery” by some vineyards and enjoyed a baked brie with lovely French bread. We also stumbled by accident on the birthplace of “Bungy Jumping, at Arrow Junction where mad people throw themselves off a very high bridge with only an elastic band for support! You wouldn’t get me doing it for a million pounds but they seemed to enjoy it at 125 NZ$ a time. We drove on in the rain and stopped at the oddly named Twizle for an overnight, as we had supper the rain stopped and there was a rather good sunset.

Mirror Lake

Milford Sound

Warefalls in Milford Sound

Two drowned rats!

What a fabulous drive. Sue and I left Fox Glacier early as we had a long way to go to the south of South Island, over 300 miles, but the scenry we saw and the lack of cars on the road made it one of the most memorable drives either of us had ever undertaken. I can only put in a few photos so you can see for yourselves what I am talking about. I suppose it’s the lack of people too which makes it so spectacular, it’s so unspoiled and we are seeing it pretty much unchanged since the 1800’s, it’s just wonderful and two weeks is not nearly enough time to see it all. We arrived at Te Anau where we are stopping on Saturday and Sunday and using our B&B as a base from which to explore Milford Sound, one of the great Fiords. We booked a trip on a small cruise boat, only around 40 people on board and we were somewhat apprehensive as the weather has turned very wet and windy. We needn’t have worried as the rain resulted in a multitude of fantastic waterfalls coming down off 700 meter high cliffs into the water. What a sight, again I’ll let the photos speak for me.

We arrived back at the B&B for a shower and dry clothing on Sunday evening, then off for a pizza in town, a great way to end February. Tomorrrow, Monday we start our return trip northwards as we head off for Auckland next Sunday.

Scrapyard entrance

Buller Gorge

Coffee in Reeftown

We had a super stay at Wakefield in a fishing lodge where we cooked our own supper and ate it on the veranda looking over the fields, watched over by a herd of cattle. So peaceful and we were made very welcome by the owner Peter Warren, sadly no time to fish with him as we  had nearly 300 miles to drive to Fox Glacier. On the way we passed many wonderful views, Bullers Gorge and as you can see some odd things too at the entrance to a local scrap yard.

We stopped for coffee at Reeftown, a pretty mining village, pretty much unchanged with a couple of old time miners still working as you can see. We stopped for our picnic at Hikataki, luckily the sun came out too then at around 6 pm we arrived at Reflections Lodge where there is a pond in the front garden and you can actually see Mount Cook peeping over the Alps. A few photos but it’s hard to do justice to the place. It was cloudy the night we arrived but next morning bright sunshine and we were able to see the mountains with snow on the top sparkling in the sun. We set off to explore the Fox Glacier, which is very impressive as you can see but not a mint in sight! More walking and a picnic filled the day and it’s early to bed as we have another long drive tomorrow to get to the Fiord Country.

Inter Island Ferry

Approach to South Island from ferry

Picton from the ferry

Up at 0530 as we had to catch an early ferry from Wellington to Picton, the most beautiful ferry crossing in the world, followed by a spectacular drive along a coastal road from Picton to Nelson, too many stunning views to include them all here.

Classic Car

Wonderful deserted beach

A longish drive south to Upper Hutt, near Wellington. On the way we stopped off for a coffee where the main news story in the local paper was about a policeman who had his lip bitten off by a drunk driver whom he had stopped! It was at that cafe I saw a wonderful old American car, on its way to a rally at New Plymouth. Not a lot of other news in this part of the world. Later, tired of being in a car we had a picnic and swim on a wonderful deserted beach, it was so empty Sue said it reminded her of Daytona as a few people had driven their cars onto the sands from which to enjoy the waves. Totally uncommercialised, no shops, no ice cream vans, nothing there except sea and sand.

Driftwood on black beach

Mount Taranaki, extinct volcano

Goat in its kennel

So it’s ended, our sector of the Saga Ruby world cruise and in all honesty I can’t say it has been one of our best trips. We’ve seen some very special places but the weather has not been wonderful, being surrounded by elderly people all day every day is something of a strain, as Sue put it “rather like living in the world’s largest floating old peoples home!” No matter how good the food it will be nice to have something different on land.

From a professional point of view all four of the lecturers felt we were treated as something less than special being placed at early and mid afternoons in the ship’s cinema when most of the passengers we either sleeping off their lunch or going to other attractions like playing Bridge or water colour painting or attending computer lessons. The Cruise Director didn’t seem very enthusiastic about any of us and was keen to stage his own presentations on Maritime History at a peak time, mid morning in the premium venue, the Ballroom where he could get a larger captive audience. So it was somewhat unsatisfactory for us to perform for only 40 or 50 people a day, though in fairness all the presentations were video taped and played back on the internal tv system next day so that way were seen by more people.

Having landed we were soon in holiday mood and collected our hire car and set off to explore the country. We drove south, stopping at a black sand beach covered with driftwood, to New Plymouth for our first two nights and had a very good stay in a B&B by the sea. Excellent sea food, Sue had her share of local oysters and we drove out to Egmont National Park to see Mount Taranaki, an extinct volcano which is pretty impressive as you can see. On our way we passed a most unusual sight, a goat in a kennel !