40 DAYS AND NIGHTS

After a smooth handover at KEA’s hire depot close to Auckland Airport, we now had our home-from-home for the next 40days and headed straight to the nearby Countdown supermarket.  With the fridge and larder stocked up, we set the satnav for our first camp site and joined the heavy traffic to crawl through Auckland city centre.

We caught a glimpse of the iconic Sky Tower as we passed close by, but piloting the evening rush in an unfamiliar vehicle demanded full concentration so no chance to gaze on this occasion; we will come back here later.

We soon began to make better progress on Auckland’s Northern Motorway and then onwards by the delightfully named Hibiscus Coast Highway.  It was not long before the beach at Orewa came into view as we dropped down the perimeter hills towards the town.  The extreme acrobatics of the kite surfers and the heavy white surf were strong indicators of the tropical storm that was in full swing.  

The Top 10 site at Orewa is in a fantastic beach front location but the downside of being on the beach front is that there is no shelter from tropical storms!  For some families, their summer holidays under canvas were brought to an abrupt end as they decided to pack the tent and head off rather than ride the storm.

Whilst the 100km/hour winds and heavy rain threatened a sleepless first night, our earplugs enabled us both to sleep soundly through the storm.  Hopefully it won't continue to rain for the full 40 days and nights else we will need to swap our motorhome for an ark.  Fortunately we woke to a much calmer and brighter outlook as we left camp to head further north and into the Northland district.

FAREWELL TO THE BAY OF PLENTY… FOR NOW

Before we left Tauranga for the next chapter of our tour, Mandy’s family gathered for a great BBQ.  Really good to meet face to face with so many facebook friends at last, and others, who at just a few weeks old, were far more concerned with their next feed rather than making a facebook status update.  Unlike the usual wash out of a UK BBQ, the afternoon and evening was hot, sunny and dry throughout.

We took a shuttle bus for the 200km trip back to Auckland airport where our motorhome was waiting.   The 3 hour journey seemed to pass quickly due to the friendly chat with our driver Murray, from Apollo Connect Shuttles. 

THERE’S GOLD (AND GILLS) IN THEM HILLS

We knew that parts of the South Island have a rich history of Gold mining but the town of Waihi 50km north of Tauranga came as a big surprise.  The massive open cast mine at Waihi “New Zealand’s Heart of Gold” is simply breath taking.  The huge dumper trucks become almost invisible as they work at the bottom of the chasm.  Apparently the workings will soon close and will be flooded to produce a very deep lake.

Nearby are the historic mines in the Karangahake Gorge.  The disused mine tunnels and railway routes have been opened up as a series of walks and cycle ways.  Visitors can walk through many of the tunnels and along the old tramways in the scenic gorge.  The so called ‘Windows Walk’ is particularly spectacular; where the old shafts break out into the gorge you emerge from darkness high above the river below.

There are several suspension bridges across the gorge which add charm to the walks but some are very flexible so not for the feint hearted.  Don’t miss the nearby waterfall at Owharoa; it's on the map at the car park but easily overlooked.

Owharoa Falls

With a yield of just 4oz of Gold for each Tonne of ore, the scale of human endeavour is awe inspiring (no pun intended!)

Overall this is brilliant day out and definitely the highlight of our first week.  Don’t forget to bring a torch and your head for heights; both are essential.

MUMS' MEETING, KIWI STYLE

Mount Maunganui or Mauao is the iconic cone shaped mountain that dominates the skyline in the Bay of Plenty.  Known locally as The Mount it overlooks both Tauranga Harbour, one of New Zealand's largest natural harbours, and also a wonderful white sand beach.  The Mount is steeped in Maori mythology; apparently he was dragged towards the sea from his position inland by friends to drown after his amorous advances to another mountain were rejected.  But the sun came up and his friends were forced to flee leaving him stranded at the end of the peninsula.  Hence the Maori name of Mauao which means 'caught by the dawn'.

Walking around the base track is a must for any tourist; great views of the harbour and the offshore islands.  But we found it is not just us tourists enjoying this beautiful walk;  it is also popular with groups of young Kiwi mums meeting up to chat whilst pushing their buggies around the 3.5km track.

THE BAY OF PLENTY

No doubt ‘Plenty’ actually refers to the fertile soils and ideal climate for growing produce such as Kiwi Fruit.  Although we understand that now many of the plantations have diversified to grow Macedamia nuts following a damaging blight on the soft fruit trees. 

But to us, ‘Plenty’ has come to mean plenty of beautiful scenic reserves, featuring delightful waterfalls set in native bush and crystal clear springs with dancing sands in glades of magnificent Redwood trees.  Our sample of these has included: Kaiate Falls and McLaren Falls in the hills around Tauranga and then Okere Falls and Hamurana Springs on the shores of Lake Roturua.  At all of these stops, we haven’t adjusted yet to free parking and no admission charges to beautifully maintained facilities.  Ok, so there is no gift shop or tea room either but natural is definitely for the better here.

Kaiate Falls

KIA ORA AOTEAROA!

We had no idea that the orange drink heavily promoted on cinema screens in the 70s was actually a Maori greeting.  Literally translated as "good health/well being" but more generally used as just "Hi".  And with Aotearoa meaning "Land of the long white cloud" and adopted as the name for New Zealand, we can announce our arrival at Auckland with "Kia Ora Aotearoa!"

We really enjoyed the spacious cabin, gourmet meals and other advantages of Air New Zealand's award winning Premium Economy class.  Our aircraft featured a unique Hobbit livery and the safety briefing was a highly entertaining and amusing take on characters from Middle Earth including an appearance by the trilogy's director, Sir Peter Jackson himself.  Our flight  even arrived ahead of schedule.

At Auckland, another excellent family taxi service; this time by Mandy's brother Kevin who kindly drove the 400km round trip from Tauranga to meet us.  We will be staying with Kevin and Di for a few days and exploring Tauranga and the wider Bay of Plenty area.

(HALF WAY) AROUND THE WORLD IN 27 HOURS

We have not long devoured the last of the Whittakers Peanut Slabs brought back from our short trip in November to New Zealand and we are off again to stock up.  This time we plan to tour both the North Island and the South Island over the next 7 weeks.  But first we have to make the marathon journey again.  

Delighted with his personal service in November, we have once again contracted young Paul’s airport taxi service.  No doubt the driver will require refuelling with a ‘full English’ at Beaconsfield Services on the M40 before the drop off at Heathrow Terminal 1.

Back with Air New Zealand again, our route calls at the infamous Los Angeles LAX airport.  Whilst our plane is refreshed and refuelled, we get an opportunity to stretch our legs as we are subjected to the full rigours of US Homeland Security’s immigration process.  Then it’s a quick dash from Arrivals to Departures including about 10metres outdoors in the warm afternoon LA air.  More fun awaits at the X-Ray machine and the full body scanner (sorry but, no, we won’t be posting Polaroids of our scans here).

Total journey time to Auckland is 26hours 40mins and distance travelled is around 12,000 miles.