Monday 24 March 2014

Tuesday 25th March - Going Home


So that's it! Had an uneventful journey home. What a great trip it has been!

Saturday 22 March 2014

Sunday and Monday 23rd and 24th March - Waihi to Auckland

We had a gentle start today and enjoyed a Sunday morning at Waihi Beach relaxing in the sunshine.  After a fish and chip lunch wrapped in newspaper we took a gentle drive over to Mirranda Springs camp site on the Corramandal Peninsula.  The hot pool at the camp site is a real bonus for the site, think we may visit it in the morning too, before we leave for our final journey towards Auckland. 



At the campsite hot springs. Having a morning read and soak.


Killing our last bit of time on the beach before we head into Auckland.
Tony managed a haircut before the day was out as we got to Auckland early. Staying at a B&B near the airport. Having a last minute weigh in with our bike boxes and bought some more tape to make sure the boxes are as secure as we can make them.




Friday 21 March 2014

Friday and Saturday 21st and 22nd March - Back at Waihi

We continued on to Jan and Terry's home in Waihi and arrived after a pleasant stop of at Katiati and then Waihi beach.  We remembered Katikati from when we were here in 2006 and recalled the wonderful murals in the town.  We took a few photos of the murals to compare with the similar ones we took way back in 2006.  On Saturday, we were able to take our time boxing the bikes before an afternoon of fun on the farms quad bike, the bulldozer and the digger.  Terry will be left to put our earth moving attempts in the field back to how it should be.  













Wednesday 19 March 2014

Thursday 20th March - Opotika to Omokoroa Thermal Hot Pools

No post yesterday as it was wash day and rest day. We set off today along the coast road. We stopped in a few places to enjoy the beaches although the dreaded sandflies are back which is such a shame. We arrived at our next holiday park at the hot pools at 14.05 and as we were not let in to our cabin until two o'clock, that was good timing. It is the best site we have been to for value for money. The cabin is low cost for what we got, it is clean and also got inclusive entry to the hot pools as often as we liked, that are part of the complex. Everywhere is supper clean, the site has really made the day (http://omokoroa.co.nz/mobi/)
On the road heading North.

Enjoying the beach but not the sandflies.

Real surfing waves.

Plus we have the beach to ourselves for miles.



Monday 17 March 2014

Tuesday18th March - Mahai to Opotika

The day started a little cloudy as we drove back down the peninsula to get to the main road. There was plenty of time however to take a some photographs of this lovely area before we moved up the country.





Back on route 2 and as we found ourselves at Mahaka Hot Springs and only ten dollars each to get in we gave it a go.  We had the place to ourselves. It was very relaxing and there was a lovely short walk through rainforest to the upper pools.


We decided to not go around the East peninsula as it would add more miles to our journey north so we headed directly north on route 2 through the Wai Oe Ka Gorge. It was spectacular! Massive mountains towering high above us and all clad in dense rain forest. So so green everywhere yet before entering the gorge we had been climbing from the coast with yellow fields of crisp grass around us. I presume it's the rain shadow effect again but as we got over the summit the change from yellow to green is amazing. No photos of the Gorge were taken as we really needed a good wide angle lens and ideally I suspect, a helicopter to really show the scale of it all.
Here is just one photo as we were on our way up and over, where we stopped to have a snack in this parched landscape

Sunday 16 March 2014

Monday 17th March - Napier to Mahai Beach

The cyclone is now out of the way and the tv was full of "did we overplay it?" chat. The forecast now is for hot and dry and as we are so far north now, that meant a high of 28C today.
We drove along route 2 gradually making our Northwards quest. Yesterday had not seen the opportunity for many stops, despite great dramatic views as we drove. Today we wanted to lower the pace but when driving it is always so easy to go through places rather than stop at them. We had looked up the route on 'great kiwi road trips.com' and it all sounded fantastic. We soon found ourselves bashing in the miles and when we did our first planned stop the viewpoint was closed due to logging activities.
We stopped at a cafe just before Waihua, Catherine had no pockets, so put the car keys in my shirt breast pocket. As we left we had a mad panic "where are the car keys" I emptied my pockets we searched the cafe. Ten minutes later I tapped my breast pocket! We are both getting really tired now, it's time for home.
We got to a turn off to the Mahia Peninsula and as we wanted to take things slow we decided to drive to the headland. At once the scenery was spectacular!! Limestone scenery like the peak district but with perfect blue skies and a torquise sea! No cars were behind us as usual so we went slow enjoying every new outlook. Fantastic beaches and roads following steep sided limestone dales. The road twisted and turned and dived high and low, one thing about a car you can just sit back whilst the engine does the hard work!
Eventually we got to a campsite. This area was so lovely and the lost keys incident proved we needed some down time. So we called in at a campsite and got a cabin at just gone midday! 
We spent the afternoon walking along the beach, which was vast and we had it all to ourselves. Then we spotted a landrover on the beach and it stopped near what we thought was a rock. When we got nearer we realised that it was a dead whale. The Department of Conservation guy said that they had tried to re float the whale the previous day but without success. It had been with a pup which was now nowhere to be seen. They have no idea why, but this beach gets about forty whales grounding per year which makes it one of the largest whale grounding beaches in the world. Mauri tribes believe a spell was put on the beach to provide plentiful whale meat in the past. The dead whale had had a Mauri blessing so it was then tied to the back of the DOC vehicle and dragged along the beach and away ready for burial. If we had been here yesterday we would have see the efforts to refloat the whale.



In the afternoon we followed the track to the end of the headland. Wow what views!


Near here, we saw a bird flying from fence post to fence post in front of us. It was a kingfisher and we stopped the car and watched it for ages sitting in a tree. Too far away for a good photo though!



We managed to find a remote bush walk which had a signpost to a viewpoint.  The walk was through really thick bush and we never found the viewpoint but enjoyed this unique stroll.

Friday 14 March 2014

Sunday 16th March - Over to North Island, Napier

The weather is excellent for our crossing over Cook Strait to Wellington.  It's dry and warm and no significant swell nor wind.  Don't know what all the fuss was about with this supposed storm that was expected.  



Flat calm all the way, so no cyclone as predicted. Dolphins swam with the boat but we missed seeing them.
We headed for Napier North East along the spectacular route 2.  The massive gorges were delightful to ride although we both agreed this is a road that would be dangerous to cycle due to the number and speed of the logging trucks, narrow bridges, lack of a hard shoulder, hairpin bends and of course the serious inclines.  We are so pleased with our car, 'Beast', he had now been renamed 'Beasty'. 

Saturday 15th March - A (birth)day in Picton

We spent the day in this area by going for a ride out in the car. The weather is worsening as the cyclone nears. We hope we will get across to North Island tomorrow before the weather gets too bad. We drove over a little of the route that we had cycled earlier in our trip, to Haverlock. It seemed so long since we first started in South Island. It is still a pleasure to be in Picton.
Birthday girl has carrot cake and coffee

The cloud thickens as the cyclone nears. We are hoping that tomorrow's sailing is not cancelled.

A perfect end to a perfect day

Thursday 13 March 2014

Friday 14th March - Hamner Springs to Picton

We motored through fantastic scenery from Hamner Springs to the coast. Really nice limestone country, then along the coast North.
Picton looks lovely as always.
A tropical storm is due just when we are supposed to be crossing to North Island so watch this space for an update.

Wednesday 12 March 2014

Thursday 13th March - A day at Hamner Springs

We decided to stay another day here as the campsite is great and the place lovely and the weather good!
We drove down a track to a car park. There was a 2.5 hour return walk to a waterfall so why not try it. It was a long walk and we went down a wrong path within feet of the waterfall but it was all worth it. There was a school party there and we chatted with the teachers. This area had been an experimental replanting area. The bush had all been ripped out so it wasreplaced with different trees from around the world to see what would work well. Canadian pine trees really grew well hence the alpine look of this area.
Lots of photos at the waterfall. A teacher took some of us there too.
This afternoon it's a trip to the hot pools again. It is very hot about 25/26 I would think. Not been hot like this in a long time but the weather is forecast to have a storm over the weekend when we plan to be on the boat to North Island!






Wednesday 12th March - Geraldine to Hanmer Springs

Today started cloudy and we left early to continue our drive northwards.  We drove the back roads to avoid central Cristchurch and had a pleasant journey via Mount Sumners and Mount Hutt.  The scenery changes today to limestone country with numerous deep gorges.  During the early afternoon the sun broke through and the temperature soared to 21 degrees.  Back to summer.  We arrived at Hanmer Springs mid afternoon.  We have once again opted for a basic cabin rather than camping as they are generally such good value and very comfortable.  After getting settled we took a short stroll into the centre of the village and entered the famous Hot Pools.  There are 15 different outside pools all with different features and different temperatures.  Utterly, totally relaxing.  Had Blue Cod for tea with lemon pepper topping, mouthwatering. We may stay another day here.  


A road bridge over a deep gorge just before Hanmer Springs


The slow river pool 

Monday 10 March 2014

Tuesday 11th March - Onwards to Geraldine

Our plan was to go on to Lake Tekapo and visit the "dark skies" observatory at Mount John on the way. They have a cafe there and as it was high up, of course an exerlent view was expected. We pictured ourselves drinking and eating quality food whilst taking in the lovely view. The Lonely Planet (it said on the observatory web site) said it was the best place for a cafe in the world.
The day started overcast but so had yesterday and it soon burnt off and we had a few miles to drive to get to Lake Tekapo. We got to the observatory turn off, still overcast. More bad news as well. The town was having a "planned power outage" and we could see tons of worker replacing a substation and power cables on the main road. Up we drove to the observatory on the top of Mount John into a complete white out. We had our trangia so had a brew up and waited for the fog to burn off, it was already blue sky above us. Over an hour later, cold and a little bored we gave up and went back down the mountain to the town. We got to the town and looked up and the observatory was bathed in sunlight!
We could have stayed in town and paid one hundred and thirty dollars each to see the sky at night. It would have meant staying in town however and not much was going on so we pressed on. A shame we missed out on viewing the sky at night as it is supposed to be one of four areas of the world where light pollution is really low.
Average scenery to Geraldine and the cloud has returned. Not everyday on a tour can be fantastic,but we got a cabin at three so we could have an early tea, sort our washing and do some planning for tomorrow. Still cold so not camping!


Our timing is not so good today. We arrive at 10.30am but cannot see a thing!


Even worse the cafe is closed



Looks more promising but an hour later and the cloud in the valley has lifted and created a white out again


In the car having given up waiting. We soon duck under the cloud base.


On the road and we stopped for a coffee on Burkes Pass as they managed to catch our eye

Sunday 9 March 2014

Monday 10th March - A day at Mount Cook

We have booked the accomodation at Twizel for another night so that we can take a side trip to Mount Cook. There was low cloud this morning and as we turned into the valley we gradually reached the cloud level. We got to Mount Cook village and the cloud was just hovering around us.
We visited the hotel and the the information centre both of which were well worth a visit.  When we left the information centre the cloud had burnt off and wow what a difference! We went for a walk that headed to the glacier. It was a three hour return walk and we only have light shoes due to weight considerations when cycling. There were great views however which spurred us on, although we stopped about halfway as we thought we had seen most of what the walk could offer. The mountains, snow clad, looked beautiful. The lakes and rivers however where like wet concrete as they had fine bits of rock in them. It gave the lakes and the area around them a bit of a concrete works look about them!


Statue dedicated to Edmand Hillary


Grey waters and grey lake but the sediment drops later down the valley and the water is then the startling torquise that we have seen so often in the rivers and lakes


The walk had three suspension bridges to walk over but we only did two off them before turning back






Mount Cook in all her glory