Thursday, August 9, 2007
The end of an adventue and the beginning of another
Good morning
Excuse me while I wipe the sleep from my eyes as it's only 7am, yes that's right 7am and here I am typing away to give you the last installment of our New Zealand adventure.
Now, I know there have been criticisms in the past about my blog entries being far and few between but I really believe that this is dedication to the world of blogging, don't you?!
We fly to Fiji today, in a couple of hours in fact and we are staying with a lady called Mumma at the Tropic of Capricorn resort in Nadi before heading out for some island hopping (don't worry Mumma Chick she'll never be able to fill your shoes!)
The last month in the north island has been absolutely fantastic I have to say and I think a lot of that has to do (I am afraid) to say with ditching the Percy and renting the "Juicy Crib".
Last time I wrote we had just arrived in Raglan (surfer paradise), we only went there to check out the waves and in the end stayed four nights in a great place called Solscape ovelooking Manu Bay. The cabins were made out of old railway carriages and the kitchen -a railway station. We had a great time, there hung out with some "dudes", enjoyed the nice warm winter and I managed to improve my climbing skills on the beach rocks (don't worry mum they were more like stones this time). Tom even managed to get us a free nights accommodation at Solscape by climbing some more difficult rocks and then drawing a map for the owners to use -yeah Tomo (I knew your obsession would pay off in the end).
Raglan is also a great place for a smoothie by the way!
Anyway we took to the road again, stopped off at Russell drunk another smoothie made out of algae (it was nice honest), stopped off at a beautiful place heading north called Whatiuwhatiu and managed to get stuck in the company of a racist Aussie and a mental patient from Auckland that loved puple shell-suits and was able to flip out his dentures and did-it made for an interesting night's entertainment.
We knew the following morning it was time to leave Whatiuwhatiu (prounced fatufatu) and head further north, so we did!
Ninety Mile Beach, Ahipara is where we ended, well I am not sure if it is exactly ninety miles but its long, very long!
Well its was from here I managed to eat dirt or should I say sand! Tom and I spent the day sand boarding and as you can see I was rather good at it. As if we weren't north enough. we decided to drive the extra two hours to the top of Cape Rienga to look across the Pacfic Ocean and the Tasman Sea (that's where they join you see) and more impressively the 800-year-old Pohutukau tree. This tree symbolises the entrance into the Maori underworld and where all spirits return (once the person has passed on of course). It was a very calming place, the seas seemed to flow in slow motion.
Then it was time to see some wood! These boys were no saplings. The Kauri forest family has names such as Father of the Forest, so without going into too much detail you can gather they are pretty large fellas!
We stopped off at Haruru Falls (where Percy first broke down) and dropped in on the Waitangi Treaty Ground-this is where Maori tibes and the English signed an agreement to British sovereignty. After spending a night free camping, Tom managed to convince this poor campsite owner to open up his closed camping ground for us at Goat Island Marine Reserve. The man was a hippy and he just couldn't say no and we ended up waking up to some of thge most stunning views of the nortth island at our exclusive retreat surrounded by calfs and puppies. He even let us stomp across his land to get an even better view of our surroundings.
Back in Auckland we handed back Juicy, ate Hoki fush and chups and went to see a full blown Haka by the Ngati Whatua o Orakei tribe and I must say it made me knees tremble.
The last 10 days we have spent working for a midwife on Waiheke Island in an eco-village and we had much fun. We were their to help her finish some building work on her mud and wood built house and got to see and smell first hand how a compost toilet works. I got the opportunity to learn about alternative energy and we met some incredibly interesting people some of whom were founders of Greenpeace. It was simply an incredible learning experience.
And that my dears is the end of our NZ travels. There has been trials, tears but above all terrific, terrific times! Tom has been a great travelling companion allong with the mice and the alpaca!
So all there is left to say is over and out and Bula Fiji!
Excuse me while I wipe the sleep from my eyes as it's only 7am, yes that's right 7am and here I am typing away to give you the last installment of our New Zealand adventure.
Now, I know there have been criticisms in the past about my blog entries being far and few between but I really believe that this is dedication to the world of blogging, don't you?!
We fly to Fiji today, in a couple of hours in fact and we are staying with a lady called Mumma at the Tropic of Capricorn resort in Nadi before heading out for some island hopping (don't worry Mumma Chick she'll never be able to fill your shoes!)
The last month in the north island has been absolutely fantastic I have to say and I think a lot of that has to do (I am afraid) to say with ditching the Percy and renting the "Juicy Crib".
Last time I wrote we had just arrived in Raglan (surfer paradise), we only went there to check out the waves and in the end stayed four nights in a great place called Solscape ovelooking Manu Bay. The cabins were made out of old railway carriages and the kitchen -a railway station. We had a great time, there hung out with some "dudes", enjoyed the nice warm winter and I managed to improve my climbing skills on the beach rocks (don't worry mum they were more like stones this time). Tom even managed to get us a free nights accommodation at Solscape by climbing some more difficult rocks and then drawing a map for the owners to use -yeah Tomo (I knew your obsession would pay off in the end).
Raglan is also a great place for a smoothie by the way!
Anyway we took to the road again, stopped off at Russell drunk another smoothie made out of algae (it was nice honest), stopped off at a beautiful place heading north called Whatiuwhatiu and managed to get stuck in the company of a racist Aussie and a mental patient from Auckland that loved puple shell-suits and was able to flip out his dentures and did-it made for an interesting night's entertainment.
We knew the following morning it was time to leave Whatiuwhatiu (prounced fatufatu) and head further north, so we did!
Ninety Mile Beach, Ahipara is where we ended, well I am not sure if it is exactly ninety miles but its long, very long!
Well its was from here I managed to eat dirt or should I say sand! Tom and I spent the day sand boarding and as you can see I was rather good at it. As if we weren't north enough. we decided to drive the extra two hours to the top of Cape Rienga to look across the Pacfic Ocean and the Tasman Sea (that's where they join you see) and more impressively the 800-year-old Pohutukau tree. This tree symbolises the entrance into the Maori underworld and where all spirits return (once the person has passed on of course). It was a very calming place, the seas seemed to flow in slow motion.
Then it was time to see some wood! These boys were no saplings. The Kauri forest family has names such as Father of the Forest, so without going into too much detail you can gather they are pretty large fellas!
We stopped off at Haruru Falls (where Percy first broke down) and dropped in on the Waitangi Treaty Ground-this is where Maori tibes and the English signed an agreement to British sovereignty. After spending a night free camping, Tom managed to convince this poor campsite owner to open up his closed camping ground for us at Goat Island Marine Reserve. The man was a hippy and he just couldn't say no and we ended up waking up to some of thge most stunning views of the nortth island at our exclusive retreat surrounded by calfs and puppies. He even let us stomp across his land to get an even better view of our surroundings.
Back in Auckland we handed back Juicy, ate Hoki fush and chups and went to see a full blown Haka by the Ngati Whatua o Orakei tribe and I must say it made me knees tremble.
The last 10 days we have spent working for a midwife on Waiheke Island in an eco-village and we had much fun. We were their to help her finish some building work on her mud and wood built house and got to see and smell first hand how a compost toilet works. I got the opportunity to learn about alternative energy and we met some incredibly interesting people some of whom were founders of Greenpeace. It was simply an incredible learning experience.
And that my dears is the end of our NZ travels. There has been trials, tears but above all terrific, terrific times! Tom has been a great travelling companion allong with the mice and the alpaca!
So all there is left to say is over and out and Bula Fiji!
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