Saturday 28 December 2013

Sheep & thermal pools

Thursday

Rotorua Area


It really does help to have contacts, especially in a place like New Zealand.  Some friends had given our details to one of their retired farming friends who now lived in Rotorua.  We had arranged to meet up with Jim at his bungalow on a rather nice housing estate prior to him taking us on a whistle-stop tour of the area.  I should say that he has had quite a bit of past experience showing friends of friends the essential elements of Kiwi life.

Being farmers where else to go but  the Agrodome .  Jim had booked 3 tickets for the morning's all things sheep show, yes it is a booking visit, the place was heaving with coach loads of visitors all streaming in to take their seats.  Seated directly in front of us were 3 coach loads of retired farmers from the mid-west [USA] to our right coach loads of Koreans.  The site & building look pretty much as you would expect county agricultural show grounds back home to look & smell with a strong sheep aroma circulating through the building.


Now don't get me wrong, the show is very interesting.   All breeds found in NZ parade onto the stage then take their place on a podium at the rear.  Our host, dressed in suitable attire, proceeded to compere the show.  He explained the variety of breeds, he sheared a sheep in minutes & perhaps the most interesting bit was the use of the dogs, the normal collie type then the star, the NZ huntaway, a barking sheep dog that not only barks continuously but also jumps onto the backs & runs across the herd of sheep.  Truly amazing. Other interesting bits included a dairy demonstration with active audience participation, although one of the US farmers didn't play ball & when it was his  turn to hand milk, proceeded to squirt milk directly at the compere who wasn't exactly chuffed!  


Our afternoon was taken up by a visit to Waimangu Volcanic Park, a site recommended by Jim as a 'not to over the top' tourist attraction.  If you travel to Rotorua, come here it is amazing.  The scenery is stunning, the volcanic pools amazing, the boat trip awesome.  Yes, there is some walking [downhill] & yes it is hot, these are thermal springs, but if you aren't keen on walking there is a bus that will take you down to Lake Rotomahana & its boat trip.


The walk down to lake takes you through lush undergrowth & past Echo Crater, Frying Pan Lake all steam & bubbling mud.


Steps lead you up to the amazingly blue waters of Inferno Crater, perhaps one of the most outstanding views, that blue colour was just something else!



Interestingly, there were very few people wandering about, the cafe & shop at the way in was pretty full so by the time we reached the bottom lake & boat cruise there were probably no more that about 10 of us?

Now, you must do the boat trip.  The lake is vast & the constant commentary fascinating whilst the geysers are well worth working out how to turn your camera into video mode.


The lake is stocked with rainbow trout whilst graceful  black swans glide gracefully across the deep, dark waters.


We were the last trip of the day, so had the opportunity to speak with the owners who recommended, for our overnight stop, the campsite at The Waikite Valley Thermal Pools.  Admittedly it was flagged in our tourist map but we had thought to head on down towards Taupo.  We decided to give it a try.  Amazing, the campsite is small but, there are those thermal pools which were pure decadence.  The campground facilities include a cafe cum restaurant whilst the showers use the thermal hot waters & the bonus bit is - unlimited use of the thermal pools.   If in the area you really should stop here. 

Saturday 21 December 2013

Off the Beaten Track?

Wednesday

Omana Regional Park to Rotorua

Before upping sticks & moving on, we enjoyed walking around the headland on which is the Regional Park. The site is old grassland kept short by the grazing of sheep.  Part of the site houses a Maori Pa, in this instant a selection of earth mounds & banks set on the edge of the Park overlooking the  Tamaki Straights.

Before leaving the Uk we had a list of contacts, friends together with friends of friends, so before hitting the road southwards it was a case of ringing Jim, who lives in Rotorua & a farming friend of another farming friend, to arrange a meet up the following morning.  With this sorted, we left the park & headed along the North Road, southwards.


The route took us through the rural & somewhat equestrian orientated town of  Clevedon then along the coast road of the Firth Of Thames.  This was the first time that we had the roads to ourselves, we hardly saw another person let alone another vehicle.  The countryside was hilly dotted here and there with clapperboard farmsteads, small fields of maize, some dairy and quite a few, what looked like, wild flocks of turkeys.   


Our route to Rotorua took us onto Route 27, a long, straight, flat road bordered by drainage channels, the Waikato Plains.  Fields of grass, maize & cereals flanked the highway, which after perhaps 20 minutes or so drove us to leave main road & head across towards Te Aroha by the aptly names Swamp Road.  


Well, what a difference, the road wound its way along the base of the Kaimai Ranges, whose forest covered slopes reared up from the plains.  Seeing a sign post to the Wairere Falls reminded us that it was about lunch time, so turning off the Old Te Aroha road we headed for the car park at the start of the walk or Tramp [as the locals call hiking].  Today, we hadn't seen any other hire vans or tourists & our lunch spot was just the same.  We were the only ones there apart from the bus conversion [see below].  I should at this point say that many of the NZ motorhome club members [the red badge indicate membership] spend a lot of money, not on the latest German motorhome but in converting  something large into their own, personalised camper. Most use the services of a specialist yacht fitter.  Unfortunately, the owner of this one was away in the mountains so we didn't get the opportunity to have a nose.



As lunch time turned into early afternoon & with plates & tea cups packed away, we headed onwards on our journey.  We did notice that there did seem to be rather a large number of dairy herds as opposed to sheep - more on this later.

The scenery passed through forests, along roads flanked by tree ferns, twisting streams & rivers, then back onto the main road system & the aptly named Thermal Explorer Highway which took us past the Agrodome Leisure Park to the shores of Lake Rotorua.   We took the northern route around the aiming to stay at the Lake Rotoiti campsite situated right in the water's edge.  Unfortunately the site when we arrived was packed to the gunnels & with only a couple of pitches left decided to try closer to Rotorua itself.  We eventually pulled into the almost deserted All Seasons Top 10 holiday park which was on the final approach to Rotorua Airport.   The site was clean, well maintained,  the staff hilarious & the airport was not exactly Heathrow more like the Marie Celeste. 


Today's mileage = 166 miles

Saturday 14 December 2013

king fish for supper

Tuesday
Russell Top Ten Holiday Park to Omana Regional Park

Top Ten Holiday Parks can be found all over New Zealand & just to make sure that you don't miss them, they advertise on the Holiday Radio just as you approach the locality.  Anyway, the formula is pretty much the same, motorhome service point, electrics, washing facilities, possibly a swimming pool, washrooms, outside kitchen / BBQ & here on the coast parking for your game fishing boat together with a fish preparation area so that you can gut & chop up that fresh catch of the day.


When we arrived on the Monday afternoon, the fish prep area was a hive of activity, blood, guts & scales with the aroma of so 'fresh they were almost swimming' fish!  Later that evening whilst exploring the site, which incidentally was fairly busy, Husband returned clutching a large sheet of greaseproof paper out of which was loling half a side of kingfish.   My first thoughts, were WOW-why then who followed by a eek. The fish had been presented by a holidaymaker who had been unable to light the outdoor kitchen BBQ, in order to cook his catch.  Not a bad swop infact.


Now here l had to improvise, one of the downsides of our fairly well equipped motorhome rental was a lack of outdoor cooking utensils; ok so no BBQ wasn't a problem as all the sites had on-site ones, ranging from top of the range to basic, but this early into our trip l didn't have things that you take for granted in your own Motorhome, usually found somewhere behind the silver windscreen shield & ramps.  Anyway, l did have foil so after a quick carving into slap-sized steaks then adding freshly chopped red chilli, ginger, garlic & coriander which l then wrapped loosely in the foil & allowed to steam on the BBQ.   The evening's supper was delicious, if l say so myself, we sat outside tucking into the catch of the day all washed down by a fabulously fresh NZ sauvignon blanc.



As with UK sites, you are welcome to stop until 12 noon before moving on & with the park being within walking distance of the small town of Russell we took advantage of this & made our way down to the harbour front.  Russell is a tourist honey pot, as they say up in Yorkshire, plenty of boat trips to see dolphins, plenty of boat trips to catch fish, sailing boats, sailing dinghies plus the odd cruise ship moored in the bay.  



You do need to keep an eye out for these cruise ships, especially as by mid-morning the jolly-boats are being lowered ready to bring holidaymakers ashore, these towns are not large & you really don't want to be stuck amongst hordes of photo-snapping tourists engulfing the immediate area.   We enjoyed exploring Russell, but left as the first of the boats put into the jetty.  


Our route took us back across by ferry to Route 11 then rejoining Route 1 at Kawakawa.  The visibility & weather was much clearer on our journey southwards, passing through bustling main streets & farming country.   


At around lunch time we turned off the main route south, heading for Waipu, our tourist radio had filled us in with the local history & all things Scottish, [Waipu was a Scottish settlement], again it was a fairly busy town, but we continued on through heading towards the sea & parking at the end of a track overlooking Waipu Cove.


As is the case with motorhoming, you stop for lunch, wash up then hit the road.  Wherever we travel we try to finish the day's journey around 3'ish.  This means that you can normally find a pitch easily & can chill out for the rest of the afternoon or do some exploring.


Using the very informative tourist map, we plotted the GPS location into the sat-nav, [which was situated in the rear view mirror].  The end destination was to be Omana Regional Park which had a designated area for self contained campers.  Unlike here in the UK, all campervans have to be certified that they are self-contained & carry the relevant sticker announcing the fact.  The map info also carried contact details & this one was one that you had to pre-book as a code was required to actually enter the motorhome park.  It was rather strange really, l rang the number which puts you through to Auckland Council then you call is placed with the regional park department who then take your details & card payment.  Wierd.  


We had a good view of Auckland City as we travelled to our destination, the view from the Nippon-Clipon was pretty amazing though the southside of Auckland was busy, very busy in fact.   It seemed to take for ages as we crawled across the city towards our night's stop.  Even the last few miles of bending rural roads that headed out to the coast seemed endless, but sure as eggs are eggs, the GPS duly delivered us at Omara Park though the code that Auckland council gave us did not let us open the entry gate.  Patience at this time was sorely tried.  The Telephone help number was on answerphone, no-one was about & we had paid for a night's parking.  Eventually, a car drove past us heading up to the campervan park, we sneakily tucked in behind them as he unlocked then drove through the entrance.

The track continued along through the grassy parkland to a rather hilly & slopey fenced area which was the campervan park.  No facilities here bar a long drop loo.  Wild Camping with recycling bins and we were expected.  A rather boho looking elderly Kiwi introduce himself with the words, 'aha the oppressors' to which l replied well, my ancestors were persecuted by the Romans & the Plantagenets [that's the Welsh ancestry bit] whilst the huguenot ones might have been Cathars.  He did laugh, he hadn't thought of that one. Mind you, he was joking as was l & on a serious note, he was extremely helpful on all things motorhoming New Zealand style.  'Look out for the Motorhomes with a round red badge'!

Today's mileage: = 168 miles

Saturday 7 December 2013

Ancient Forests & Giant Trees

Monday
The Bay of Islands via the West Coast

One of the Really Useful things about friends is that they can save you hours of swotting up in the Rough Guide as to routes, places & pitfalls.  So with loads of recommendations we headed west to Dargaville with our Tourist Radio now fully utilised with the 'ping-ping' letting us know where we were approaching together with the history, botanics, local 'speak' & the 'XYZ Top Ten Holiday Park'.  


The countryside was pretty sparsely populated with only a few homesteads, little traffic & the only town of significance, albeit with a bit wild west feel to to it was Dargaville.  From here the main road headed northwards, in fact there only was one road north, so no chance of getting lost.  Signs pointing to isolated beaches boasting impressive surf opportunities & lonely farmsteads, whilst the hills which had been stripped of trees leaving only the bleached trunks heaped in piles like discarded bones of some vast leviathan.  The once densely forested area was somewhat bleak, l guess all in the name of agriculture.


Our route continued, eventually bringing us to the sight we had really looked forward to seeing, the vast Waipoura Forest.  As we approached the National Park, we discovered the NZ roadworks team at work.  No sign of closing roads, using traffic lights or marshalling traffic more a case of fend for yourselves & on an almost deserted road this worked brilliantly.


The road hugged the contours lapped by dense 'shrubbery'.  Tree ferns drooped over the road, whilst further back the huge Kauri trees, reached up to the heavens.   Now, l am very partialled to tree ferns & would love to be able to grow them at home, but here these were fantastic. so many varieties, tall ones, short ones, fat ones,  l could go on & on.  The road was like being in 'tree heaven'.


On the Kauri forest drive, there are several stopping-off places as well as DOC park stop-offs, [you  receive a DOC booklet when you collect the camper], we stopped for lunch in the small car park with a trail that leads through the forests to Te Matua Ngahere, the father of the forest.  Again, amazingly, there were very few visitors.


The temperature was not too bad, so after dropping off a $2 donations to a bearded & bush-hat-wearing warden who observed us keenly as we squelched & brushed our shoes through the biosecurity hazard, we set off along the boardwalk, heading deep into the forest.


The kauri forest contains a vast abundance of various plants, trees & shrubs, many of which are familiar as houseplants back in the UK.  Many of the trees carry species tags, for example the taraire, kohekohe, towai & northern rata.  Below the forest canopy of the mature kauri are tall, dense, clumps of kauri grass, a plethora of ferns & mosses.  All really interesting whilst the size & girth of the main exhibit was well & truly awesome.



As the afternoon rolled on, we once again took to the road with the end goal of the Russell Top Ten Holiday Park, set in the GPS.  Route 12 took us north along the coast passing through Omapere, with the huge sand dunes of Nuia on the far side of the large inlet of Hokianga Harbour.


The road now followed the valley eastwards passing through small settlements reaching the coast at Pahia. We were now not far from our destination.  The road hugged the shoreline travelling southwards to the ferry at Opua, now the emptiness of the west coast was replaced by fine houses & floating gin palaces & serious sport fishing boats.  The ferry itself, you just turn up a queue then pay by length, [was very similar to the one on Lake Windermere that crosses to Far Sawrey], carried us sedately across the natural harbour to the far shore.  


We were now on the homeward run, driving past oyster & mussel farms the road curved around scenic coves to the former pirates hideaway, Russell, which, as we drove past the clapper board houses on the main street  towards our overnight stop, looked all very affluent & civilised.

Total mileage - 152 miles

Monday 2 December 2013

blue cod & chips

Sunday:  Orewa to just past Whangarei

I had slept like the proverbial log & decided to give the on board facilities a go as the weather was on the damp side & l didn't really fancy a dash through the trees to the washrooms.  Our motorhome back home has a rear bathroom with walk in shower, the Kea had shower & loo compartment combined, together with a flip-up washbasin, a bit of a 'only use when you absolutely have to' sort of bathroom as you can't get dressed or anything like that so have to avoid the hob when using a towel, not the best but we knew what the van layout was when we booked so a case of get on with it.  

Anyway after breakfast & a quick text to friends who live to the north west of Whangarei off we set, rejoining the Route 1 north.  The countryside of hills & forest were hidden in the mists & drizzle, towns with familiar sounding names like Warkworth & Wellsford plus the unusual like Waipu slipped past in the mists as did the tourist attraction of Sheep World, who for reference offered overnight motorhome stops.  Fortunately by the time we past Waipu, the weather had started to improve revealing the amazing scenery across Whangarei Harbour to the high, jagged, volcanic peaks of Whangarei Heads.


With constantly improving weather we passed through the town of Whangarei heading westwards, passing some sort of gymkhana / horse show at the town's show ground before turning off along country lanes though very beautiful countryside, reminiscent of The Shire, past vast herds of grazing black & white dairy cattle.


We made good time, & it was not long before we found the drive to our friend's farm, an unsealed road flanked by stately eucalyptus trees & the tall grasses & wild flower meadow, home to S's small herd of calves.



Now at this point l ought to mention that l haven't actually met S & her husband before, but l have known her through blogging through the Country Living Magazine & laterly, good old Facebook.    Anyway, introductions out of the way, here we were at a really wonderful, glamorous bungalow swathed in the dripping greenery of an overabundant vine.   One most of the amazing things when you meet fellow bloggers, especially those who started of on the Country Living magazine, is how very similar we all our.  By that l mean personality & outlook on life, rather funny l suppose.


Needless to say, we all got on like a house on fire.  Once the guided tour of the interior which was French Pastoral themed, we tucked into homemade pizza, salads all washed down with copious amount of the excellent local wine.  Bliss.  The kitchen was nice too!  Sort of Mark Wilkinson cross Clive Christian.


The afternoon just whizzed by non-stop chatting, the conversation eventually turned to motorhomes, how to ensure you park 'flat' & which way is best to ascertain this; a mini travel spirit level or the non-rolling baked tin test.

As the afternoon turned to early evening & using the excuse of trying out the Kea, we leapt aboard heading to town for a fish & chip supper of blue cod &  chips.   So there we were, the only hire camper parked in the car park adjacent to the Town Basin & its Heritage Trail & Art Walk.  Such fun!  The Heritage Trail was great fun too, interactive sculptures along the banks of the harbour.

Today's mileage = 86miles

Thursday 28 November 2013

turn on the sat nav first

Week One

Saturday 19th January was a relatively early start.  We had booked our motorhome directly with Kea Motorhomes finally choosing the 3 berth original deluxe van, new for 2013.  We had had a good poke around the kea motorhome on the Caravan & Camping Club stand at the Motorhome Show at the NEC the previous autumn & had a good chat with a C & CC tour leader who had been most disappointed when we informed him we were 'going it alone'.  Anyway, Kea collect you from your overnight accommodation, so after another gut stuffing Kiwi breakfast we were duly collected at 9am by an ex-pat originally from Manchester.


The drive to the main depot which was in close proximity to the airport, took about 30 minutes more or less, ample time for our driver, who had been a guided tour driver, to to fill us in on driving in New Zealand, campsites, wild camping, shopping & recommending routes & itineraries.   He was amazed that we had no set route as such just a list of friends to call in and visit, but, he conceded that if he was touring he would do similar as it gave full flexibility.  I have to say, this was a good customer service point  for Kea as it gave us some invaluable pre-tour knowledge & information.
                                                    


The drive to the depot was pretty uneventful, the depot though was vast.  All the major motorhome rental companies shared the facilities, Kia, Maui & Apollo, with what seemed to be a global customer base both arriving & departing with a selection of self-check-ins & human staff.  We went for the human element, the chap was very helpful, very attentive then very desperate.  Check in & departure is normally pretty organised.  Two & half hours later he just about still had hair.  We had been given a rather natty Kia shopping bag filled with things like, tourist maps, camping site directories & tourist radio plug-in to which we added several bottles of complimentary NZ pinot noir & cabernet sauvignon.   The van, which had only 2k miles on the clock was not ready.  In the end our man went off & cleaned the motorhome himself.  Eventually, by one o'clock, he led us across the car park to our home for the coming 3 weeks only to discover that .... the table was the wrong one & a few other bits that need adding to the van's  complement of essentials.   Although we waited & waited, the Kia rep was very good, bless him, he really earned his money that day!


At last, we were ready to go, 'yes, the sat-nav is in the rear view mirror' I said confidently.  I mean how difficult is it to set a sat nav?  First port of call for us was the large Countdown supermarket only about 1/2 mile away from the pick-up point - food.  The first bit of luck was in the form a German couple who came over to us in the car park bring a tray of goodies, bits & pieces that they still had as they emptied their van before flying home.  Thank you!  Now, NZ supermarkets are a bit more user friendly than their British counterparts, firstly at the check out, the staff pack your bags for you, loved this, as to the food on offer, pretty similar format to here, more wine though, a lot of Asian & tanks of shellfish. Yum.



Stocked up, time now to head out northwards.  Now l can pretty much navigate anywhere, it takes a lot to get me lost.  We took the wrong turn off the motorway, the motorway sort of stopped & it was a case of street navigating to find & cross the Auckland Harbour Bridge, or as the Rough Guide calls it, the Nippon Clip-on.  We were heading more or less in the right direction, but after a rise in temperature stopped so that l could set the sat-nav with the co-ordinates for Orewa.  Ten minutes later we were crossing the bridge.  


Driving was easy, road conditions & signposts all rather good really, the dual carriageway sped through the suburbs of Auckland, out into the countryside.  The route took us through a toll section which rather, than you putting your card in a booth, they took a photo of the number plate, looking on the map you can avoid this stretch.


Late afternoon we left Route 1, turning off for Orewa & the coast.  The tourist road map now came into its own, every campsite, national park campsite etc are marked on the map, whilst in the indexes are the address, contact number & GPS settings, so we turned left at the coast arriving at the Orewa Top 10 Holiday Park, 


We had not pre-booked our stop-over & were checked in by the receptionist who just so happened to come from Filey, yes l know small world.  The site, was right on the beach & by UK standards was a little tired [it was the end of the summer season], but it was clean, almost full with holidaymakers in an assortment of DIY tents & motorhomes.  We parked under tall pine trees and were soon being invited in by neighbours for a glass or two whilst we discussed motorhoming in UK, Europe & New Zealand.  I think that with us having a motorhome back home really broke the ice, we were all on the same wavelength, so to speak.

Tuesday 26 November 2013

2 nights in auckland

One good bit of the many good bits of advice regarding our road trip was, 'stop a couple of nights in Auckland to get over the flight .... you'll be knackered'!  So if you're heading to NZ take a couple of nights out before you start travelling, believe me it's worth it.

One of the amazing things about the internet is in finding whatever type of accommodation you prefer. Deciding to steer clear of central Auckland & after scanning through Trip Advisor then checking on google earth, we plumped for a bed & breakfast to the east of the city, along Tamaki Drive, Nautical Nook situated in a residential area within a stone's throw from the sea & on the bus route into town.


A white minibus shuttle service runs from Auckland airport, no need to pre-book, just as case of checking with the drivers as to who is going where.  It was all very smooth, we were quickly whisked away through the Auckland suburbs, which are a little undulating,  to our destination.

I should say at this time we were doing pretty well, with regards to body clocks & jet lag.  The B & B was clean, spacious & the hosts were really, really nice.  The property had views over parkland, Orakei Domain & Okahu Bay so as we sat out on the verandah tucking into cups of tea & homemade muffins we felt as though we'd arrived.


So for our first afternoon, after a brief afternoon nap, we headed out into the great outdoors, walking along the coastal promenade to Mission Bay.  Mission Bay, Little England meets Croatia, large sandy beach, promenade, formal gardens flanked by cafe restaurants with outdoor seating perched temptingly along the pavement, and it was warm!  

It was so nice to sit outside in the fresh air after 24 hours breathing in recycled air from planes & terminals! So sit outside we did, at the Riva Cafe, tucking into Caesar salad & scallop & prawn salad with aioli, delicious.  

So with the sun sinking in the west, we ended our first day.  


Now, if you like your breakfasts, come to Nautical Nook.  This is a really wow meal & the general ambience is added to by meeting fellow guests.  So who else was there?  A German family with small children who all spoke excellent English & a single traveller originally from Scarborough; yes it's a small world!   Trish, an excellent ambassador for all things Kiwi, provided ideas & maps & metro bus timetables for what to see & do in Auckland city.  So that's what we set out to do.

The bus stop was only about 100 yards from the B & B & with instructions to get off at the Britomart Station, we settled down & enjoyed the trip along the waterfront straight into downtown Auckland.  The weather was an ideal one for sightseeing, warm but not blazing shall we say?


The main shopping area & waterfront are pretty compact. High rise leading right down to the restored harbour area with its definite yachty feel.  First stop for all budding tourists & incidentally a good place to get a feel for the place, Sky Tower a tall pinnacle of a space age building thrusting skywards & visible from very nearly everywhere, except that is when on the ground trying to find the place!  


Our task for the day was to go right up to the top, no jumping from or walking around the sky walk, just a photo blast, coffee & to gawp at the awesome views.  It wasn't exactly cheap, it was a pretty touristy place but, the views made up for it as did watching the adrenaline junkies flinging themselves off, skyjumping, especially so when the cable was stopped right in front of the viewing windows on the way down - l think they were smiling?


Not being a great shopping fan & feeling a wee bit peckish, we wandered downhill towards the Waterfront & after inspecting the yachts moored up in the Viaduct Basin, decided to have a bite of lunch at The Waterfront Cafe which overlooks the old docks at the Voyager National Maritime Museum .


Nice lunch followed by a very long, but fascinating guided tour of the museum.  We were caught by one of the volunteers who was a real America's Cup nut, well & as for Captain James Cook?  We were made, a  replica of Cook's cabin plus our local knowledge of Whitby, Staithes & the North Yorkshire Coast a meeting made in heaven.  In all seriousness, the museum is good, the voyaging canoes of the early Polynesians look so very small & frail, whilst the Blue Waters Black Magic exhibition of the NZ America's Cup racing machine is pretty cool. 

Sunday 24 November 2013

the land of the long white cloud

On a cold, wintery afternoon in January we left a snowy Leeds Bradford airport to embark on the trip of a lifetime.  In 24 hours time, crossing the International Date line, we would arrive in the land of 'the long white cloud', Aotearoa, New Zealand.

The trip had been planned & booked in October just before the 2012 Motorhome & Caravan Show at Birmingham.  We had initially picked the brains of a specialist holiday company then decided that it would be much easier to book each element of the trip ourselves.  So it was that the flights were booked with with Air New Zealand, taking advantage of the Round World deal with connecting flights with British Airways from Yorkshire down to London Heathrow. 

So there we were then, airborne & heading down to Heathrow airport looking forward, with some trepidation l might say, to the lengthy time spent travelling.  This would be our longest flights ever by about 10 hours or so. Prior to departure from Heathrow we had booked, on advice from a well travelled Canadian friend, a couple of places in one of the executive lounges, which incidentally was money well spent, giving us a chance to 'switch off' & chill before the long flights ahead.


At 9pm the Flight number NZ38 thundered down the runway heading once airborne, north east & onward to our first stop, Hong Kong.

We had upgraded our seats so had slightly more elbow room & a definitely better cabin service, so the first 11 hours went fairly easily.  We had supper over Russia & breakfast over the Himalayas.  Touch down at Hong Kong was about 5pm local time, so we had gone from breakfast to tea time in the space of an hour!


Hong Kong, as we came into land was barely visible, hidden behind a 'pink' veil of what l could only assume was smog.  On landing & disembarking, we were all 'stuck' with an Air New Zealand sticker - in case we got lost?  So 2 hours to kill here, all pretty uneventful really.  The Lavatories were supervised by ladies in white coats & face masks looking more like surgeons that loo cleaners, whilst everyone else looked the same, cliche l'm sorry.  Also, high end goods on offer for sale in the duty free shops plus loads of sweets & food stuffs, none of which you can take with you into New Zealand.


Two hours doesn't sound long in real terms, but after half an hour we were bored, it was almost dark outside so we went over to find 'comfy' seats near to our exit gate & switched on the gadgetry.  Incidentally most of the other passengers were doing the same, a lot of Skyping & Facetiming going on!



It was quite dark by the time we were airborne once again.  Supper served, kiwi wines finished off, chatting to a lone traveller in the next seat.  This time, it was more difficult to settle.  Onward we flew through the night, crossing the dateline passing forward in time.  Breakfast, which included a noodle option, was served as we flew over the Great Barrier Reef & down the east coast of Australia, the red glow from the raging bush fires clearly visible from 32,000 feet.


Gosh it was a long way, nearly 11 hours after leaving Hong Kong we touched down at Auckland International Airport.  On entering the arrivals hall & being sniffed at by friendly looking Labradors looking for that illegal contraband in the form of 'any foodstuffs' it was pretty clear that there was a severe overdosing of all things Tolkien.  Dwarves, Hobbits & shaggy bearded wizards were in abundance welcoming the traveller to Middle Earth, oh, & the sun was shining & it was warm!  

Lets go travelling - Kia Ora.