Rap, Raft & Rock

Waitomo, New Zealand, 29 February 2008

We signed up with Rap, Raft & Rock for the full package and joined a group of 4 others to visit Waitomo Caves. We abseiled into the cave, went for a walk in complete darkness, sat in inflatable tubes and floated down an underground river looking up at the ceiling of the cave. It really was like looking up at the nights sky on a really clear night. Thousands of glowworms shown in the darkness forming unrecognisable constellations. It was really cool. Next we spent some time squeezing through tiny crevices (they call this caving) before finally rock climbing back out of the glowworm grotto. The fact it was raining above ground all day made us feel all the better.


Cave access point

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Abseil into the cave

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Geez, that was a tight squeeze


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Superman coming through!

Claire uses her own personal caving technique?!

Like shooting fish in a barrell

We Made it!

oustide the cave, some sheep having a bahhhd day

Rotten Smells

Rotorua, New Zealand, 27 - 28 February 2008

Rotorua is the kind of place that you smell before you actually see! The earths crust is very thin here and there are numerous parks where you can watch spurting geysers, bubbling mud pools, steaming vent.... oh yeah and you can smell the sulphurous discharges. "Was that you???" "Oh, that's disgusting". Don't let this put you off though, Rotorua was a really unique and interesting place. We didn't do much the night we arrived other than dine out on what was a really poor meal (Turkish), you win some you lose some. We washed the taste out of our mouths with some pints at the Irish Bar afterwards. The next day we went to the free park in the centre of town and witnessed our first, aforementioned, bubbling pools etc. Then it was onto the Maori Village Whakarewarewa where we saw how (and still) these people lived, cooked, practiced religion etc. The visit culminated in a Maori Cultural performance (our 2nd since arriving in NZ). Once the tribe had completed their final piece, the HAKA, they invited the men in the audience up to give it a go. Don't worry folks, I did the Irish proud, I was ferocious.

As if we hadn't had enough, we signed up for another Maori performance that night. We visited a village outside of town called Mitai. There were approx 200 guests broken up into groups of 100. I, Dave, was chosen to be the chief of one group. Claire (christened Miss Chief) was pleased with this as there were certain privileges that went along with this new status. She was front row centre while I was up on the stage being accepted by the tribe into their community. I even had to make a speech to the Maori chief which was a little unnerving as I had very little time to think about what I would say! the whole evening went off swimmingly though and after the Maoris had done their thing on stage all us paying guests sat down to a delicious Hangi meal. This is where they bury their food (chicken, potatoes, lamb etc) in the ground and the thermal heat slowly cooks it and imparts an earthy (in a good way) taste to it.
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Before we left Rotarua the following day we visited "Hells Gate". This is another highly active thermal area. It is a fascinating place. George Bernard Shaw (well known Irish playwright) visited the park in 1906 and apparently commented "I wish I had never seen the place as it reminds me too much of the fate theologians have promised me". The inhabitants at the time really liked him and allowed him to name many of the pools in the park.


Having seen enough thermal springs and Maori cultural performances to last a lifetime we left Rotorua bound for the glowworms of the Waitomo Caves.

Wahine (female) dancers perform the Maori POI, a dance performed with balls attached to flax strings, swung rhythmically & Claire makes a scary face.

Coromandel Peninsula

Auckland, New Zealand, 24 - 25 February 2008
Hot Water Beach, New Zealand, 26 February 2008

While back in Auckland for 2 more nights we filled in a few more of the blanks. First we went to the top of One Tree Hill made famous globally by the U2 sond of the same name. The views were excellent of the entire Auckland area. Next we went to the top of another nearby hill, Mount Eden. This also offers superb views across the city particularly the downtown area. Mount Eden is the highest volcanic cone in the area and you can look 50 metres down into the crater. Siteseeing over, there was time to go out for one last meal before bidding farewell to Auckland for the last time.

This time we pointed the car east to Hot Water beach and the Coromandel region. We stopped off in Thames, the main town in the region, for a drink/short break on route. It had a wild west feel. Like many towns outside the nearby cities it was very quiet. Hot Water beach is where, at low tide, you can dig yourself a hole in the sand and the water that you find is .... yes you guessed it, hot hot hot! With our tent erected it was time to find out when low tide would be the following day. 5.25am. Aargh!!! It actually worked out really well though because when we arrived at the beach it was still very much nightime and as we sat in our own private "bath tubs" looking out to sea we enjoyed a romantic moment watching the sun rise. The water was roasting too. We stayed about an hour because at that stage the advancing tide was starting to enter our baths with ever increasing frequency. Some smart people (maybe Germans, I don't know) had built a defensive wall around their baths which certainly appeared to offer them protection from the advancing cooler waters. We left happy with our experience. It's always exciting to do something you haven't done anywhere else in the world.

Our next stop was Hahei and the beautiful Catherdral Cove. We didn't stay long at Hahei before driving to the head of a 40 minute walking trail that would lead us down to the cove. The weather was perfect. It was a deliciously hot sunny day. Catherdral Cove has a large natural archway that allows you to pass from one beach to another.... well, almost. At certain times of the tide, you need to roll up your trousers and wade those last 20 yards. This wouldn't be too bad were it not for the completely unpredictable waves. There would be a series of small waves so you think it is safe to make a dash, but as soon as you are half way across you will get blasted by a few biggies. It was a good laugh. We could've spent all day on the beaches as they really were picture perfect. We were a little envious of the kayakers who were enjoying hopping from beach to beach along the coast and catching a little sun bathing time at each one.

Continuing on our whistle stop tour of NZ we drove to Rotorua.

The Thistle, enjoying a warmer climate than in bonny Scotland

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The Only Way is Up...Northland

Baylys Beach, New Zealand, 19 February 2007
Opononi, New Zealand, 20 February 2007
Kuhokuho, New Zealand, 21 February 2007
Kahoe, New Zealand, 22-23 February 2007
Auckland, New Zealand, 24-25 February 2007

With the car fully packed we headed north up the west coast. Our first stop was Baylys Beach (just outside Dargaville). It was great to have the freedom of the car. Dargaville is a sleepy little town full of hardware stores, liquor stores and trucker style cafes. A workin' man's town. As mentioned we choose to stay outside of town. Baylys Beach is, as the name suggests, a seaside village. We got in after 7pm, threw up our tent and had food & wine in the Funky Fish. The following morning we jogged along the beautiful white sandy beach and enjoyed exploring the rest of the area. Before leaving the campsite we couldn't resist having a go on the trampoline... yes, we are big kids. Check out Claire's star jump on the left!
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Next stop was the lookout point in Waipou Forrest. Waipou Forrest is the biggest attraction north of Auckland (and has the twistiest, windiest roads). Why? Because of the huge and ancient Kauri Trees of course. At first we weren't that impressed, we thought back to the Alerce Tress of Parque Pumalin in Chile, now those trees were big. But then we saw the 2nd biggest Kauri tree (Te Matua Ngahere) and it was nothing short of phenomenal. The girth of the trunk is 16.41 metres, trust me that's big, and they think it could be as old as 4,000 years. Then it was another 30 mins stroll to the 7th largest tree, called Yakas. This was good because you could get right up close and touch the tree and give some true perspective to the photos. Finally, it was time to see the daddy of them, the largest remaining Kauri Tree, Tane Mahuta, Lord of the Forest. The trunk girth is a mere 13.8 metres but it is much taller than Te Matua Ngahere. It was very impressive indeed.

We stayed the night at a holiday park in Opononi and went to watch the sunset at Pakia Hill. The following morning we caught the ferry across the beautiful Hokiango Harbour. As the weather had turned a little dull we decided to take a day out and simply relax in the beautiful Tree House Eco Lodge. We checked in and lazed around on bean bags reading our instruction manual for the new camera. The lodge is surrounded by sheep, ducks, hens & lush subtropical vegetation. We had a cabin next to the sheep, and in the morning we opened the patio door to find Polly sleeping on the porch. Very cute, she had took shelter from the heavy rain, if we'd permitted she would have been in our cabin without hesitation.

Leaving the Tree House and it's comfy bean-bag filled lounge behind us we continued north towards 90 Mile Beach and Cape Reigna. On route we stopped off at the Kauri Kingdom crafty shop. This shop was filled with the most beautiful Kauri wood products and the centre piece of the store is a spiral staircase carved out of a single piece of 50 year old swamp Kauri. In fact the stump was put in position then the store was built around it. The staircase needless to say wasn't for sale but if you were interested in a $55,000 Kauri sofa then you would've been in luck!

The weather at this stage had turned rather sour. I guess we can't have it our own way all the time. We drove onto 90 Mile Beach (see piccie opposite) and took the car for a quick twirl on the stand. We kept driving towards Cape Reinga at the top of the north island before deciding it really wasn't worth the effort. Not in this rain. We turned around and drove to Kahoe Farm, a charming B&B that had been recommended to us. By the time we arrived the rain really was torrential. It was a great place to lay low for two days while the storm raged outside. On our second night we enjoyed a Czech movie (I Served the King of England) at the local cinema as the annual film festival was taking place. Now, when I say cinema I mean parochial hall in the middle of nowhere with maybe 100 seats upstairs looking out over the balcony at a makeshift screen. Very entertaining. Then it was back to the B&B for late night drinks in celebration of Laslow's birthday & that was every entertaining too!

Thankfully the next day the weather had come good again. Sonja (Laslow's wife) had organised a chocolate birthday cake which we all enjoyed (with the exception of Claire) as part of a healthy breakfast. We carried on down the road to the Bay of Islands. The views were really incredible as we drove into Pahia, the main tourist town. We didn't stay here too long before taking the ferry across to Russell. Having walked the various streets and visited the oldest surviving Church in New Zealand (Christ Church, 1836), we boarded a super high speed power boat (Excitor) out into the bay. It was like a roller coaster on water, one second you're up the next second you're down. Mighty! When we reached the world famous "Hole in the Rock" (don't worry we hadn't heard of it either) the water was too choppy for our boat to pass through. We lingered for a few moments to take photos before speeding our way back to base.

Back at the car there was nothing left to do but twist and turn our way back to Auckland. Geez, and I thought the roads in Ireland were crazy but they ain't got nothing on NZ. In the absence of a formal toilet, en route, Claire was obliged to use the al fresco facilities. In doing so, she encountered a mozzie attack & has been nursing 67 bites since. Eeeek!!


Moon over Hokianga Harbour from Pakia Hill

Resident bird & mouse Catcher at Kahoe Farm

The Excitor!

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Christ Church, Russell

Pahia Beach

Polly, looking a bit sheepish!

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Feeling like a duck out of water

Waiheke Island

Waiheke Island, New Zealand, 17 February 2008

Waiheke Island is a quiet tropical paradise in the Hauraki Gulf with a permanent population of around 7,000 people. We took the ferry accross and enjoyed a pleasant afternoon walking to Church Bay en route stoping to speak with the friendly locals including Ross of the infamous "Ross Sea Kayaks".

Claire plays with her new toy!













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Why the long face?
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Ross of Sea Kayaking