Back to the 'Mainland'

Monday morning dawned very early for us. Our sailing back to Picton was at 8am but we had to be on the wharf by 7am. Quite an early start for those of us accustomed to a more leisurely start to the day. We had readied ourselves the night before for departure from Petone so it was just a matter of clambering out of bed, dressing and heading off to the ferry terminal. Once there we were able to have breakfast while we waited to be loaded onto the ferry.  


Once again we were a little anxious to the conditions in the strait. We had been so lucky back in June, when it had been some calm. Well we were blessed again. The strong winds and southerly swell that we had witnessed the day before had dropped and once again it was like a 'mill pond.' Unless we went out on deck for a look we weren't aware of being out in the strait as opposed to being in the harbour or the sounds.  It was also good to have some sun on our backs.

Leaving Wellington. Note the calm sea and the point
in the distance where we had had lunch on Sunday.

We spent the night in Blenheim, this time in at the Racecourse, where they allow NZMCA members to stay for a small cost. It was a lovely quiet spot with the golf course on one side and the race track on the other. The horses being exercising provided our entertainment on Tuesday morning before we headed down the road to Kaikoura.   While in Blenheim we visited some family friends, and one of my Mum's cousin. They were  pleased to see us, and to hear the news of our travels.

On the way to Kaikoura we stopped off at Ohau Point to see the baby seals' nursery. We were a little disappointed to find only two in the pool below the waterfall though there were dozens out sunning themselves on the rocks by the sea.  If you look closely at the two photos below there are two baby seals to be seen!!!

       

        

We spent three nights in Kaikoura. The weather was sunny, the seas calm and the vistas amazing.

We caught up with some Invercargill friends, enjoying an evening meal with them, before Doug and Tracey arrived from Christchurch later in the evening.  Chiefie is a long time fisherman, and Kaikoura provides him with plenty of opportunities. He has several cray pots out in the water in front of his house, so the next morning Doug and Stephen joined him on a trip out to lift and check them.   The upshot was that he gave us three to take away. We were camped at South Bay, so we took them back there, cooked them up and sat on the beach to enjoy a great 'kiwi' lunch.

Doug and Tracey headed off north, later in the afternoon, on their 'long weekend' break and we went for a walk along the Peninsula track before orgainsing ourselves to be able to head further south in the morning.  We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Kaikoura. It almost felt like being 'home' after being in the North Island.  It is hard to explain, but even the topography here feels like a comfy blanket.
Next stop is Christchurch, before we head back through Geraldine and down to Clyde. 

Wet and Windy Wellington

Well Wellington has certainly lived up to its name this weekend. I don't think we saw the sun once, it tried to rain most of the time, and the wind was really mean anywhere that was exposed.

Camping spots are hard to find in this very hilly city, so we stayed out in Petone, at the Workingmen's/RSA Club. They have a huge car park which we shared with half a dozen other campers. It also meant that we had somewhere to go on Saturday evening to watch the rugby.  This club is one of the biggest in NZ with over 14 000 members and their facilities are extensive. We even had a choice of two restaurants to enjoy a meal before the game.

There were a couple of places that I wanted to visit while we were here. After our first year teaching in Taranaki all three of us got posted to Lower Hutt. My school was Naenae Primary so we took a drive to have a look. My recollections of being there are all fairly vague though nothing seems to have changed too much except for some new paint and signage.

Next stop was the house we rented at Woburn.  It still looks much the same as well though I do think there has been a garage added.

Gutherie Street Woburn.

Ave's job was in Wainuiomata  and Stephen had never been there so we took a drive up the hill and over into the valley.  The school Ave taught at is still there which surprised me somewhat as I always thought Trevor Mallard had closed most of them all those years ago when he was doing the same thing in Invercargill.  The view from the top of the hill looking down into the Hutt Valley and back across to Wellington was worth the drive up though if the day had been clear we would have seen further. We finished our afternoon by driving along the Eastern Coast bays going as far as the road would let us.

On Sunday we drove into Wellington itself. We weren't very keen on getting out of the car. Those hardy souls braving the weather were all well wrapped up, with heads down into the wind.  So we went for a long drive around all the bays. Neither of us had been out along this coastal drive along Evans Bay, through Seatoun, into Lyall Bay and around as far as you can go to Owhiro Bay. There was a coastal walking track that would have been enticing had it been warmer. Still you have to admire those Wellingtonians who were out braving it. Instead we sat in the car park and had a cuppa while checking out the site of Barrett's reef which caused the Wahine disaster.

Originally we had thought we might have gone into Te Papa but when we were driving passed, parking was at a premium, so we changed our plans and found Zealandia instead. I had read and heard about this new Wildlife Sanctuary in Karori and thought it would be well worth checking out.

Link to their website: Zealandia






Zealandia was officially opened in 2010 but a huge amount of work had been done prior to this date. It covers an area of over 200ha and incorporates the city's original water supply dams.  A huge predator protection fence has been built around the entire sanctuary and it is now home to many of our endangered birds.





We spent a couple of hours wandering the tracks, reading the information panels and listening to all the birdsong.

As the day was very much overcast we probably didn't see as many different birds as we could have. We certainly heard them. Some of the birds you could expect to see are tui, takahe, bellbird, kereru, robin, kaka, kakariki, hihi, saddleback, shags, and if you did a night tour, kiwi. As well as birds there are reptiles, insects, bats, fish and native planting.
One section of the walk had a place where you could listen to the different bird calls. Loudspeakers are set up high in the bush, and with the push of a button you are able to listen to a variety of different birds you might expect to hear. An excellent feature for those birdcalls you are unsure of.

     

There is also an excellent exhibition that takes you on a journery of "from the day before humans arrived; through a century of catastrophic loss; and finally, to the present day, when New Zealanders begin to put our shattered paradise back together."

Unfortunately we didn't realise this was part of the experience until we looked at their website. Something for next time as it is definitely a place that could be visited many times.

Whanganui - Kapiti Coast

After leaving New Plymouth, we took the scenic route around the coast of Taranaki and headed on down to Whanganui for the night.

Poor view of the mountain.

Our trip around the coast of Taranaki took us through lots of dairy country, with the sea on one side and the mountain on the other. Not that we got much of a view of the mountain. The cloud cover was well down so we were pleased that we had had such good views on Sunday.  We stopped in Opunaki for lunch and took a good walk around the coastal track that was there.  The town itself was looking quite depressed, with lots of closed shops and businesses. We were in NZ Post and the owner/operator told us that competition with  electronic banking, shopping and mail being the reason. He had only 250 pieces of mail for delivery in the whole area that day.  A sign of the times and you do wonder what is going to become of our small rural towns.



We arrived in Whanganui just on dark so we didn't get to look around until the morning. Our morning walk was along the river - up one side to a bridge and back down again.  It is easy to see why this place is called the River City though the river wasn't looking its best: recent heavy rain in the catchment area had it looking very muddy.   A walk up the 175 steps of the WW1 memorial on top of the hill gives excellent views across the whole city and well worth the effort.

Foxton was our next campsite, where we met up again with fellow travellers we had met in Takanini. It was such a beautiful evening that we had pre-dinner drinks with them.  I must say our bus felt very small and modest after being in their imported American one with a push-out side. It is amazing how much more space just an extra metre  of width can add.

We weren't in too big a hurry to get into Wellington. We have been weather watching for our crossing back to the South Island and certainly don't want rough weather. By the end of the weekend it looks like it is improving so rather than spending too much time in Wellington, we decided to spend another night on the Kapiti Coast. Waikanae Beach looked like a good spot and we weren't disappointed. The Scenic Reserve at the end of the road  allows Self Contained Freedom campers for 24 hours only. The views of the estuary and across to Kapiti Island were great, and there was lots of wild life on and in the water. We even spotted a baby seal swimming into the sheltered waters.   We had a long walk along the beach the next morning, and it was surprisingly sheltered, considering that the ferry sailings had been cancelled that morning. We decided that being in the lea of Kapiti Island was the reason.

View of the estuary and down towards Wellington.

View out to sea and Kapitii Island.

Putting your town on the map

During our travels we have been through lots of smaller towns and many of them have some ingenious ways of 'putting themselves on the map'.

Katikati is the town of murals.

Paeroa has its large Paeroa bottle.

Kawakawa has its famous toilets and lots of mosaics.

Otorohanga calls itself the Kiwiana town.

And Bulls. Well they certainly have had fun with their name!!!

New Plymouth - 40 years on

Almost 40 years ago my two friends, Shirley and Averil, and I headed to Taranaki for our first year of teaching. Averil and I were sent to Inglewood and Shirley scored Waitara Central. We lived in New Plymouth for the year before we were shipped to Lower Hutt the following year.
So it was interesting to return to this city after all these years.  Some of it was very familiar and of course there has been a lot of development during the course of time.
The house we lived in is still there though is now sporting a very large garage on its front lawn.

7 Karamu Street, Fitzroy

Our local beach at Fitzroy is still there but lots of redevelopment has happened in this area. One of the new features is the Coastal Walkway/Cycleway that goes through it. Yesterday we cycled this trail all the way from Bell Block where we were staying right into town and then onto the Port. This is an excellent facility, with a lovely wide sealed path all the way. There are numerous entry points along the way and it was great to see so many people using it, even on a Monday.

Views out to Paratutu from the Cycleway.

The Whalebone bridge. On a good day there should
be a view of the mountain framed by the 'bones'.

View from the bus at our campsite.

Mount Taranaki certainly dominates the skyline and we were very lucky to wake on Sunday morning to the picture postcard views that we associate with it.








We decided to take a trip out to Inglewood, to check out the school, before heading up to North Egmont Village.









There is an Information Centre here as well as the start of numerous tracks on the mountain. Before tackling the Holly Hut Track Lookout we enjoyed our picnic lunch. There had been snowfalls in the last few days, and we were quite surprised to find so much at this level still.  Many of the locals weren't though, as there were dozens of families out and about enjoying it.  We made the fairly strenuous walk to the lookout and were rewarded with the views as far as Ruapehu, Ngarorhu and Tongariro. The walk back down was almost as difficult as the snow made it very slippery. Fortunately we returned to our car without any falls.

Spot Ruapehu and Tongariro in the background.

Our next destination was Pukeiti, the world renowned, and Garden of National Significance. This garden boasts 10 000 rhododendrons and azeleas, set amongst New Zealand native bush. We had thought we were a little early in the season but we pleasantly surprised to find the large leaf variety in full flower. This is an amazing garden and well worth the 20km drive along a fairly windy and narrow road.

                              

Pukekura Park, first opened in 1876 is one of  New Plymouth's treasures and well worth a visit. We spent a good hour or more, late  on Saturday afternoon wandering around the many paths and looking at the points of interest.  Once again we were pleasantly surprised that, for late winter, there was plenty to see. The magnolias are definitely the showcase this week.

Puke Ariki is the city centre's show case and houses the Information Centre, the Museum, an Art Gallery, a Cafe and the library.  The exhibition in the Art Gallery was celebrating local artists and besides having to share it with a class of school children, were very impressed with both the variety and the standard.

Puke Ariki

Wind wand - outside
Puke Ariki.

All in all we really enjoyed our stay here, though like most places we have been to, it is impossible to see everything.