TALL SHIP SAILING

On our last visit to Russell we had spent a very enjoyable day in the Bay of Islands aboard The Cream Trip.  This day trip is onboard a modern catamaran licensed for dolphin encounters and includes an island stopover for lunch and a cruise to The Hole in the Rock.  This time we were looking for a more relaxed and more intimate experience.

The R. Tucker Thompson is a gaff rigged topsail schooner with an overall length of 85'.  She is owned and operated by a trust on a not-for-profit basis.  All proceeds go towards youth development programmes such as 7 day voyages for youngsters to develop confidence, teamwork and leadership. All seemed like a worthy cause for our dollars.

R. Tucker Thompson

It was clear that Steve our captain and his crew of just Nathan and Ashleigh were going to need some help in hauling the numerous lines.  With just 27 other souls on board there was plenty of opportunity to get involved;  especially as some were keen to 'hide' by climbing the rigging and shinning out on the bowsprit!

The weather was ideal with sunshine and a good breeze.  After a couple of hours of sailing we dropped anchor at a picturesque bay and were soon surrounded by inquisitive dolphins.  The stronger swimmers had the opportunity to dive in from the ship and swim ashore amongst the dolphins but for the rest of us, Ashleigh soon had us safely landed in her dinghy. Swimming from the beach, we were surrounded by dolphins until eventually they decided to move off to put on a show elsewhere.

Back on board, the crew had prepared an excellent BBQ lunch and opened the bar.  It was noticeable that the lunch and the bar seemed to dampen the enthusiasm for helping on the ropes on the return sail!

It was a delightful trip into The Bay of Islands for us novice sailors and highly recommended.  The appearance of the dolphins was an unexpected and special bonus.

It's lands end but not as we know it

Visiting the northern most tip of the mainland remained on our to-do list from our last tour.  It is one of those must do items so this time we made sure our itinerary allowed us to explore the Far North.  

Our 'base camp' for the final assault was at the township of Ahipara with its tagline "Gateway to 90 mile beach".  The beach is actually a public highway and you can drive its full length to a point just a few kilometres from the Cape itself (but not in a hired motorhome!).  In fact it is a very popular tour with fleets of 4WD tour buses ferrying their cargo up and down the beach.  They call in at the huge dunes at Te Paki where fun is to be had sand tobogganing before joining the tarmac highway for the last few kilometres to the Cape.

90 Mile Beach, Ahipara

The iconic lighthouse at Cape Reinga seemed all very familiar as its image features in every tour guide.

We knew the story that Maori spirits are said to leave from here on their final journey and also the wonderful criss-cross wave patterns where the Tasman Sea meets the South Pacific Ocean.  And yes, we expected to find tour bus loads of selfie snappers too.  But we weren't expecting the sheer beauty of the Cape and of the landscape over the last 10km.

So the reward for our 260km round trip from Ahipara was much more than just a tick in the box.  It has left a lasting impression with no need for any Lands End style theme parks here.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE OF KAURI

Our base in Northland, a 230km drive north from Auckland, was next door to the Trounson Kauri Park.  This is an inland island of forest surrounded by a sea of farmland gifted to the Crown by James Trounson, an early settler.  The park is managed to keep out predators so that Kiwi are able to thrive.  The magnificent Kauri trees are also protected by providing a walkway and boardwalk that ensures the delicate feeding roots are not damaged.

Trounson Kauri Park Boardwalk

Kauri Tree

 Helping with the maintenance!

The Kauri trees in Trounson are impressive enough but we knew that these were just a taster of what was to come.  Our route to our next stop in the Far North would take us past some of the title contenders for New Zealand's (and so World's) biggest Kauri.

Arrival at the Waipoua Forest was heralded by some of the most challenging twisty and narrow driving we've encountered in all our visits here.  Hard to believe that this is State Highway 1.  After around 10km of arm wrestling the van around bends that are crumbling into the valley, we found the parking area for walks into the forest.

We chose the 1 hour loop walk to "Yakas", a large Kauri named after a gum digger from the Balkans.  We heard that Yakas was the most accessible, and although only No. 7 in the league table, it was indeed accessible.  It has hard to give some sense of the scale of these trees but this is our best attempt.

Yakas

A further 2km drive along SH 1, is the more tour bus friendly Tane Muhata (or Lord of the forest), the biggest Kauri in NZ.  A mere 100m from the roadside means it is a popular stop on typical tours to 90 mile Beach and Cape Reinga.  But it only took a few minutes wait for the large group of Danish tourists to finish their photo shoot and we then had the Lord to ourselves.

Tane Muhata

OUR KAI IWI LAKES TRIATHLON

The fresh water lakes of Kai Iwi are renowned for their beauty and crystal clear waters. The soft white sand and blue waters are just like a Carribean vista but the biggest surprise of all was that the water was warm like the Carribean too.

Lake Taharoa

And how thoughtful that the 'design' includes a large shallow shelf all round the shoreline where youngsters (and others!) can happily play without ever getting out of their depth.

Pine Beach Lake Taharoa

After a refreshing swim, it was time for the 6km loop walk to Ripiro Beach on the Tasman Sea.  The reward for our enjoyable tramp across the dunes was a fantastic beach all to ourselves.

Kai Iwi to Ripiro Beach Track

Ripiro Beach

The final challenge in our own mini triathlon was to cycle the shoreline track around Lake Taharoa, the largest of the Kai-Iwi lakes.  Our route passing through both of the no-frills kiwi campgrounds around the lake.  The calls of Bell Birds and Tui were only occasionally interrupted by one of the power boats where Dad was tugging kids around the lake on inflatables to howls of joy.  With the absence of tourist vans, we felt that we had experienced a taster of the authentic kiwi summer holiday.  And we can see that it has a lot to be said for it.

Lake Taharoa Shoreline Track

BREEDING TOURISTS

We both admit to being late to the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit party.  Neither of us have been fans of the Middle Earth genre other than being amused by Air New Zealand's entertaining pre-flight safety videos.  (These often feature Middle Earth characters played by airline staff.)  But the film set of the Hobbits village, Hobbiton, is highly rated by visitors and we had the opportunity to call in on our way from Tauranga to Auckland to pick up the van so we thought "why not".

The tours are immensely popular so we had booked well in advance to avoid disappointment.  And to get the most out of our visit we thought we would prepare by watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit before we left UK.

As we approached the site near Matamata, the road side sign added fuel to our pre-conception that it would be all a bit of a commercial ruckus.  And having checked-in for our tour we were clearly surrounded by an eager throng of die-hard fans waiting for shuttle buses to the movie set.

Tourist Farm

Although it was certainly busy, once onto the movie set itself, the individual tour groups soon dispersed.  Although clearly keeping a fairly close eye on the schedule, our guide was always laid back and there was never any feeling of being pushed through the site.  And there was plenty of opportunity for the all-important photographs without having to jockey for position.  Interesting though that some nationalities still feel the need to jockey even when there isn't!

View towards The Green Dragon Pub

Perfectly proportioned

Hobbits on tour

Bag End

We were pleased that we took the tour;  it was a most enjoyable stop-off and even if you are not a fan then you will likely enjoy it too.  All in all, we needn't have been worried by that roadside sign as we weren't herded around the site like farm animals as it had perhaps suggested we might.

"We only found it today. It's as large as life and twice as natural."

The creator of Looking Glass Garden confessed that "it was a hobby gone wrong" as she collected our modest 5 NZ Dollar entrance fee.

Gael Blaymires meeting & greeting visitors

Set in 20 acres of difficult terrain in the Papamoa Hills and overlooking the fruit orchards of Te Puke in the Bay of Plenty, it has been Gael's labour of love for over 32 years. The only practical support coming from her "odd job man", husband Cedrick, who tends the lawns, trims the trees and constructed the numerous buildings. The scale of the achievement by just four hands is astonishing.

Start of garden tour

Three Little Pigs - House of Bricks

Gael tells that the inspiration for the garden has its roots in a childhood visit to Pukekura gardens in New Plymouth and from her enjoyment of Lewis Carroll's stories, fairy tales and nursery rhymes.  All these elements have been expressed with a quirky sense of humour that brings a smile at every turn.

Stone Hinge

Spare Thyme

Time in Lieu

After giving so much of yourself to such a project it must be so hard to leave, but the wonderful house with its magnificent views and, of course, the garden is currently on the market.  So you don't need to imagine more than six impossible things before breakfast, you will just need 1,400,000 NZ Dollars to get your own slice of Wonderland.

For Sale

OH WRONG ARE YOU, OH WRONG AM I

The extensive mining ruins at Waiorongomai Valley (sounds like "why-o-wrong-o-my") tell the story of the struggle for gold. The extensive network of trackways, tunnels and vertigo inducing inclines have been cleared to produce a maze of walks across the hillside.

Trackway

The site is just south of Te Aroha and, from research, looked interesting enough to justify a stop-off on our way from Coromandel to Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty.

With only 2hours available we had to opt for one of the shorter loops taking us across the side of the valley and up to the base of the Butler Incline; a steep trackway rising up the hillside where ore was brought down in trucks which dragged the empties back up the incline.  You can walk up the incline right to the top some 400m up but it is much steeper than the pictures suggest!  The remaining tracks are all original and the oldest in New Zealand.  it is remarkable how well they have survived.

Butler Incline

More Old Relics

According to the information boards around the site, the gold proved to be especially difficult to extract from the ore.  It proved to be resistant to the standard techniques of pulverising the rock and dissolving it in noxious solutions such as cyanides and Mercury.  As a result, despite the scale of the workings and the human endeavour needed to construct them in the valley, apparently most of the gold remains.  This must have led to the lament written in around 1892:

Oh wrong are you, oh wrong am I

Oh wrong all of us,

We're all sold, there is no gold,

The claim's not worth a cuss,

We came oh why?  It's all my eye,

So sing O-wai-o-rong-o-mai

Here comes the blooming bus,

So let's all get in, it's a sin,

The claim's not worth a cuss,

So sing O-wai-o-rong-o-mai,

Oh wrong all of us.

NO PADDLES REQUIRED UP THIS CREEK

Driving Creek Railway is just 3km out of Coromandel and attracts visitors from all over the world.  A unique and quirky narrow gauge railway set on a picturesque hillside of native forest and bush is more than sufficient to earn its popularity.  But the story behind its development is far more intriguing and engaging than just another tourist magnet.

The railway consist of 3km of narrow gauge track built on hilly scrub covered land.  It includes several bridges, a double-deck bridge, three short tunnels, two spirals and five reversing points on its climb up to the aptly named summit at Eyefull Tower which has panoramic views across the peninsula.

Station

Terracotta Tiled Tunnel

 Rima Reversing Point

The project was started in 1973 by Kiwi potter Barry Brickell and was intended for bringing clay down from the hills on his estate for use in the pottery and also to supply wood to fuel the kilns. Much of the line was hand-built by Barry himself.  Although he was originally a school science teacher, he had no formal engineering training;  he taught himself the skills needed to survey a route and lay the track.  For the structural elements such as the bridges he observed how pioneers in the coal and gold mining industries had solved similar problems.  Barry enjoyed the engineering challenge and continued to extend the railway purely for his own pleasure. It was only opened to the public in 1990 after some encouragement by his accountant and bank manager who had suggested that it would be beneficial to re-balance his finances at the time.

Double-Deck Bridge

The line and terminus at Eyefull Tower was completed in 2002.  And Barry has replanted much of the hillside with native Kauri trees to restore the site to how it was before land was cleared for farming by British settlers.

Eyefull Tower

We noticed that there was a certificate from New Zealand's professional engineering institution recognising Barry's skill and ingenuity in constructing the railway.  Barry is apparently 79 years young and although he has chosen a site alongside the track for his ashes, he says he has much more work to do yet.

A wonderful railway in a delightful setting; and what a great story too.

CHASING THE SUN

With a series of winter storms lashing the UK, thankfully it was time to roundup the garden furniture from its unauthorised travels yet again and set off in search of fairer weather.

Detailed travel arrangements really don't make interesting reading so we'll skip over the details of our 20,000km journey and just make a couple of acknowledgements.  Firstly, thanks to young Paul for taking a day off work to kindly drive us safely to London Heathrow.  And secondly, thanks to Air New Zealand for a safe and comfortable flight via Los Angeles.  Their wonderful Spaceseats, food and New Zealand wines all help to make the flight less of an endurance event and more a part of the holiday.

Air New Zealand's Boeing 777 Spaceseats 

There is much discussion as to whether flying East via Asia or West via North America is best for least jet lag; having tried both, we seem to find 'west is best'.  Perhaps it is because, as the at-seat flight tracker shows, we are constantly chasing the sun on its 24 hour journey around the globe and our 26 hour flight is in perpetual darkness;  it is only as we approach Auckland that the daylight comes back and morning finally arrives.  And what a morning, with blue skies and an early morning temperature of 17 degrees C with a maximum of 27deg C later in the day.

On arrival we picked up a hire car for our 2 hour drive to Coromandel Town on the Coromandel peninsula.  In much need of refreshments, we remembered that we would be passing the amusing Bugger Cafe on State Highway 25.  After a quick stop we were soon on the peninsular's magnificent coast route through Thames and up to Coromandel Town.  Some travel guides argue that this road is the most scenic drive in all of New Zealand;  it is certainly stunning and has to be in anyone's top 10 but we'll reserve judgement for now as to our own favourite.

Bugger Cafe

Our base for the first couple of days is an excellent motel, The Anchor Lodge Motel in Coromandel Town overlooking the bay.

Anchor Lodge Motel, Coromandel

The kiwis certainly know how to do motels; it is superbly appointed.  And we had booked a room with a view and have not been disappointed.

View from our room