Yes – Mom is here!!! And she is mostly safe and sound. She isn’t convinced she’s not going to die, but the short nap she is currently taking should revive her spirit and clear up those slightly bloodshot eyes. How did she get to this wilted state? Well, let just say that we celebrated my 30th birthday just about until the sunset came up….
But, really, I should start at the beginning…….
Day 0 Monday: 26 January 2009
Mom’s arrival here in NZ got off to a rocky start. That is, I was late! :-( Yes! Late!!! I felt so, so bad. I wasn’t horribly late, she wasn’t at the airport for hours or anything near, but I wasn’t there to greet her when she stepped out of the customs gate. I can’t believe it – and really neither could she! However, neither of us let it ruin our final reunion (she didn’t hold a grudge and I didn’t get mad at myself). She had been in line at information, to find out how to call my cell phone, when she turned around to look at the crowd and saw this panic stricken, yet familiar, person. She snuck up behind me (suitcase and all) and tapped me on the shoulder. “Are you looking for somebody” she says, calmly with a smile. Ah man, I felt like the worst daughter ever!!!! Ah well, at least we were able to laugh about over beers down at the harbour later!
After getting mom’s things into our Chariot, “Jim”, we headed out of the airport. I pulled over at a nearby lookout and gave mom a chance to look over the green grass, blue water, and grazing cows of New Zealand. It had been 0 degrees Celsius, rainy/snowy, and the sun hadn’t shone for weeks when she had left Idaho. She very much enjoyed the warm sun and cool breeze of her first time out side of an airplane/airport in 25 hours!
We continued out of the airport and onto the motorway into Auckland. I took mom on a short “tiki tour” while I tried to find our hotel. We eventually found it (thanks to Dave texting the address to me) and settled our things. Mom cleaned all the airport grime off and refreshed with a quick shower before we headed into downtown Auckland. My only instructions being that she wanted to go to a pub. I took her straight to the harbour area and to a place that had good food and a pub atmosphere – Danny Doolans. We split a massive meatloaf sandwich (which mom actually mistook for steak!!!) and had a few beers (were she admitted that she had been quite disappointed and annoyed that I wasn’t there to meet her at the gate). We then went for a wander down the harbour.
Mom had flown in on a public holiday for the Auckland district – Auckland Anniversary. So, unknown to me, there were all sorts of bands and events going on around town. Imagine mom’s surprise when, having just arrived from half way around the world, she sees live music performed by men decked out in full American Indian dress! Yes, feather headdress and all.
We had a bit more of a wonder and then headed back to the motel. After walking through town and half way back to our motel (pretty much all uphill), drinking 3 or 4 beers, and having slept less than 5 hours in a Tahitian airport mom was a bit knackered. She was snoring quietly by 8:30pm.
Day 1 Tuesday: 27 January 2009
Mom woke up at about 6 am after a long, restful sleep. We got packed and checked out just before the banks opened at 9am. This gave us enough time to stop at a local bakery and pick up breakfast. Mom perused the housing prices at a local real estate window while she enjoyed her first taste of kiwi cuisine - a sausage roll (flavoured, minced sausage baked in a flaky pastry crust. We then headed over to the bank and exchanged her green, cotton American money for multi-colored, plastic kiwi money. We then got in the car and started our journey…….
I had already decided to take mom up north first, as she wanted to be in Auckland, near my friends, for my birthday and the only way back from the Northland was through Auckland. We hopped onto highway 16, driving through farmland and past harbour views before taking our first stop at Kaiwaka. We had coffee at a funky little café that was built out of ferro cement. The building began shaped as a boat (paying homage to the first use of ferro cement in boat building) and then turned into a 5 domed, open courtyard work of art. Tiles and marbles were inlayed next to cement sculptures while a large fountain bubbled in front of us. We were settled under the protection of one of the domes when a brief, but decent, rain hit. By the time we finished our coffee the rain had gone and the sun was out again!
Our next stop was the Kauri and Pioneer Museum in Matakohe. This was a good place to begin our Northland journey, as much of the area had once been covered in Kauri forest. Kauri trees were highly prized for their wood for several reasons; they grow perfectly straight, drop their lower limbs without leaving a knot in the wood, and grow to massive sizes. This made them quite valuable for ship and furniture building. The sap (called gum) was once used by Maoris as a torch, insect repellent, and chewing gum (to name a few). However, it was quickly found that the gum could be turned into varnish and linoleum. Soon, kauri gum and wood was being harvested at a phenomenal rate – whole forests cut down and shipped overseas. Luckily, in some areas, men recognized the need to protect some of these dwindling trees. Kauri trees can still be found throughout the Northland, Coromandel, and west coast, but there are only a few places where the massively tall and wide old trees can be found. When I say old, I do mean old! Say, 2000 plus years!!!! Yeah, old. Most of the large trees left aren’t that old, they are still babies at 500 or so years!
Anyhow… The Kauri museum was cool. There were all kinds of wood products, gum specimens, logging machinery, and pioneer replicas on display. Not to mention, lots and lots of photographs! It was quite enjoyable.
Back in the car and many kms later, we had a stop in Dargaville. We talked to the information centre about places to stay and weather forecasts. We then put on our rain coats and walked down to the river (Wairoa River). We didn’t quite get to the river bank before we were sidetracked into a lovely park/garden. We admired the tile mosaics, pondered the large jaw bone of a Byrd’s whale, toured a small fernery, and stopped to smell a few flowers. On the way back to the car we decided to stop in at the grocery store for a bottle of wine. That turned into a decent shopping trip for supplies. Mom wondered what we were thinking going shopping when the car was still 3 or 4 blocks away. I’m sure it wouldn’t have mattered much, if it hadn’t been raining :-)
The rain had pretty much stopped by the time we reached the car, gassed up, and headed further north. It was a short drive to the Kaihu Farm, where we had reserved a room and 2 beds from Dargaville. I had stayed at this remote hostel 6 months earlier on my travels down from my Northland visit, so I knew what to expect; kind helpful hosts, massive dinners (that we had requested in advance), and a dog ready to lead you down the bush track of the grounds. The reason I had chosen to stay at this particular place was it’s close proximity to Trounson Kauri Park – where a natural population of kiwi birds are well protected and easily heard at night.
At about 8:30 pm, with our bellies full of roast lamb and ice cream, we arrived at Trounson Kauri Park just as the light was fading. We listened to the various noises of the woods as our eyes become accustomed to the shadows. Soon, we found ourselves slowly walking a wooden boardwalk in the black of dark – mom holding onto my jacket to keep from getting lost. Soon, I started seeing little twinkles and glimmers of lights as we walked. GLOW WORMS!!!!!! I pointed them out to mom and she was amazed! We would round a corner or pass a large tree and all of the sudden we had a view of an entire area aglow with the blue lights of these animals. Mom was just so fascinated with these fairly lights in the woods. She knew that glow worms inhabited caves, but had no idea that they could be found just out in the woods – let alone so visible from far away.
We were wearing our raincoats to protect us from any evening drizzles, but the stiff fabric proved frustratingly noisy when trying to listen for the rustle of a kiwi in the bush. Soon, however, we were both intently staring into the dark, listening to leaves shake and limbs crack as a heavy, not to small, animal made its way closer and closer to us. I was nearly hyper ventilating in my excitement, knowing there was a real kiwi somewhere in the dark, less than 20 feet away!!!! Unfortunately, my flashlight – with a red cloth over it to protect the kiwi’s light sensitive eyes – proved too weak to illuminate the little bugger!!!!! Mom was on her hands and knees straining to see into the pink illumination, but didn’t see more than ferns and little bushes. I, however, swear I caught a glimpse of beak before the little bird ran under the boardwalk and into denser bush.
Mom and I sat in the same spot for a good half hour. We listened to every rustle of the woods, wondering if it was another bird making its way to us. While we never did have another close encounter, we did hear the cries of both male and female kiwi birds throughout the forest. While I was quite disappointed that we didn’t actually see the bird, mom was more than happy. All she really wanted was to hear the call of the kiwi. Instead, she got the excitement of having a kiwi almost within arms reach (even though we couldn’t see it!), the calls of the kiwi and the morepork (NZ owl), and an amazing display of glow worm lights. It was definitely a good start to her NZ trip.
Day 2 Wednesday: 28 January 2009
We woke surprisingly early, after going to bed at about midnight from our after dark explorations. I think we were on the road by 10 am. We started the day by heading back to Trounsons Kauri Park, to see what it looked like in the daylight. We read the plant signs and took lots of pictures. We marvelled at how large the trees were that were nothing but silhouettes the night before. We listened to many birds singing – all of which I couldn’t definitively identify. We also found a wood pigeon (a native and endangered NZ bird) walking around high up in the trees.
After several hours at Trounsons, we headed up the road to Waipoua Forest. Waipoua is home to several of the largest Kauri trees still living, as well as many more massively big kauris. We were going to be visiting the biggest trees with a Maori guide in the evening, but I figured we should see the trees in the daylight too. I had done the night time guided tour 6 months previously, when winter daylight hours meant that I saw the trees in the pitch dark, under the stars and with a flashlight. I thought that was how we were going to see the trees again. If I had known the tour was going to start before sunset and end when light had just faded, I probably would have passed the forest up and headed straight to our lodging.
However, mom and I had a great time looking at the different trees and comparing bark and trunk patterns – particularly between young rimu and kauri trees. We spent another hour or two amazing our selves with the towering size of the ancient forest giants, particularly Te Matua Ngahere (Father of the Forest) and Tane Mahuta (Lord of the Forest), before getting back on the road and heading to the Hokianga harbour. I had approached the harbour from the south for the express purpose of cresting the bush covered hill and presenting the bright blue harbour in all its sunny glory. I was not disappointed in the sight. The blue water was as a bright as I remembered and contrasted beautifully with the golden sand dunes behind and the green bush in front. Mom said she finally felt like she was in the New Zealand I had photographed.
After taking many pictures from the viewpoint, we headed into town, booked our tour, and settled into our motel. Mom refreshed herself with a shower and then we headed to dinner. We watched the surf break on the sandy beach as we dined on a sunny patio deck before meeting up with our kauri tour.
The tour was as good as I remembered, though, as I said, it was still light when we left. Mom enjoyed the Maori knowledge of the forest plants and the legends surrounding the kauris. Hearing the Maori prayers and songs as we approached the ancient trees made seeing their massive forms a little more profound. Despite the constant mosquito bombardment at the end, the tour was still well worth the money.
Day 3 Thursday: 29 January 2009
Before leaving Opononi/Omapare, we went back to the harbour entrance and had a good morning walk around. Mom would have loved to have the whole day at this lovely location, picnicking down on the rocky beach and exploring the coastline. Unfortunately, our time was limited and we needed to get to Whangarei to meet my friends Karen and Colin.
We didn’t have much time to explore, since we had slept late (8 am wake up!; slack!) and taken our time at the harbour view entrance. So our only stop of note before arriving in Whangarei was the Hundertwasser toilets in Kawakawa. These toilets are unique in that the roof has living grass on it and the whole structure is tiled with mosaics and glass bottles. It was quite a nice piece of art. We enjoyed an iced coffee while we sat in the sun of Kawakawa, noting that everything was still wet from a rain we had just missed.
Due to time constraints, I couldn’t take mom to see any waterfalls or boulders, but I did get her to a kiwi house. I had noted the kiwi house and museum in my travels 6 months earlier, so we headed straight there. By turning UV lights on during the night and using red filters for illumination during the day, the kiwi house is able to allow visitors to observe a living kiwi going about its business during daylight hours. It was really cool. The enclosure is set up to replicate the real world as closely as possible – including live bugs living in the leaf and branch covered floor. Obviously, the enclosure is glassed off so that you can’t touch or otherwise disturb the bird while it forages, sleeps, and walks around. It was really quite a cool thing to see. It was neat to see the morepork they had too. We wandered around the museum a bit too, but not much worth noting here (sorry, I’m starting to get burnt out on typing!)…..
I took mom on another “tiki tour” as I attempted to navigate out of downtown Whangarai and out to Karen and Colin Walker’s house. We ended up at a nice lookout where I had never been. I got out the map, figured out where we were, and managed to find the house without need for a single turnaround.
When we arrived at Karen and Colin’s place we were told to settle our bags, grab our togs (swimsuits), and get loaded up in the car – we were going out! Soon the four of us and their two big dogs (Julius and Lulu) were settled in their VW van, winding our way over bush covered mountains down to a lovely sandy beach. We walked the beach a bit and then Karen asked who was getting in the water. While the cool breeze and cloud cover left behind from the rain didn’t make getting into the chilly water very appealing, I couldn’t let Karen be the only one to get wet! Besides, mom and I had already put our togs on under our clothes. So, all three of us girls waded into the surf while Colin stayed with the dogs and our things. Despite the fact that the water was quite cold, we soon become accustomed to the temperature and were enjoying the water breaking on us. Karen was the fist to get fully wet and start body surfing the waves. Soon I was following suit. Mom never body surfed, but she did get picked up a couple of times and pushed back by the waves. Karen soon relieved Colin and he came out with the boogie board and showed me how it worked. I had an amazing first ride, catching the wave almost to the top of the waterline. However, every ride afterwards ended with me being washed under and around the waves – while trying to keep my tog bottoms on! Ha ha ha. It was awesome!
Eventually we all got hungry and headed back to the van. We changed into dry clothes, opened a bottle of wine, and enjoyed a lovely, lovely meal. Karen had made quiche the night before and we had fresh beans and salad to go with it. The beach visit and dinner were more than I had expected, but when Colin then uncovered a chocolate cake and started singing happy birthday I was absolutely surprised! So this is why they had driven out of their way on a work night! I was doubly surprised when Colin then produced a bottle of bubbly – sparkling chardonnay pinot noir, to be exact. All I can really say is – WOW. It was more than I ever could have asked for. It was just so neat seeing my mom playing in the NZ water and laughing on the beach, then to have great company and good food too just made me feel so lucky. I was also extremely glad I brought Karen and Colin a small gift from Thames!!!
Day 4 Friday: 30 January 2009
I woke up super early, 6 am, to see Karen and Colin before they headed to work. While it was tempting to then head back to bed for a few more hours, I knew I had a lot to do – I had an avocado pie to make and we were hoping to get to Auckland by 2 in order to meet my friend for a harbour cruise. After mom was up and showered she started washing up the dishes we hadn’t had time to clean from the night before (it was the least we could do after such a spread!). I finished the avocado pie and traded it for a bit of the left over chocolate cake. We packed up the car and set off, yet again.
Again, we were pressed for time and weren’t able to linger at any one place to long. We drove through Waipu and to Waipu Cove. We stopped and had a picnic at a wildlife refuge on the beach before heading back to the main highway. We arrived in Auckland just at 2, but unfortunately Rachel had more work on her last day than she had expected – she wouldn’t be able to make the cruise. Mom decided she wasn’t really that fussed about the cruise and we decided to get some caffeine, in the form of iced coffee. By the time we settled into the hostel, caught up on some e-mails, and had a bit of a relax, Rachel was done with work. We picked her up from a nearby supermarket and she navigated me through the busy streets of Auckland to the top Mount Eden – her favourite place in Auckland.
It was Rachel’s last night in town as well as my birthday. So, the three of us wandered around the crater and enjoyed the view overlooking the city for quite a while. We watched the grey clouds shower some areas while leaving others momentarily dry. Eventually we headed back to mom and my hostel to drop the car off and escort Rachel to her hostel. However, we got sidetracked and ended up chatting and laughing in our room for a good hour, by which time Dave and arrived. We chatted and laughed some more until Rachel’s curiosity got the better of her and I was told I had to open my birthday presents. Soon it was time for Rachel to meet other friends that wanted to see her off on her last day in town. We walked Rachel down the road for a bit before she caught a cab and was whisked away. While we had hoped to see her again later for drinks, we never did reconnect.
Mom treated Dave and I to a birthday dinner, that turned out to be extremely nice. We all enjoyed our food and drink before heading back to the hostel with leftovers. As we were discussing what to do next, Joe texted and told us he was in town. So we met up with him and went off to a bar. Soon, we all had a beer and shot. Yep – all of us, including mom. Soon, we found ourselves at another bar, with another beer and a shot. Next thing we knew it we were all several shots down (4 maybe?) and many, many beers into the night… or morning actually. We finally left the still bustling clubs at 5 AM!!!!! Yep, mom was out clubbing in Auckland, drinking and dancing until 5 in the morning! All of the people that we were talking too couldn’t believe my mom was not only doing shots, but was handling them so well!!! Ha ha ha, she was probably handling them better than me – as I had switched to water only an hour before we left.
We all caught a cab back to the hostel and crashed into bed. When Dave had texted me a day earlier saying the only hostel room he could book for the night would be a room with one double bed and two twins, mom and I felt sorry for Dave. How weird was it going to be for him to sleep with me in the same room as my mom?! But suddenly, having the third bed and a room to ourselves turned out be a good thing – as it gave Joe a place to crash.
Day 5 Saturday: 31 January 2009
After about 3 hours sleep, we all started waking up. We had an early check out time and Joe needed to make sure his car was moved before they found out his parking ticket was 2 hours overdue! Dave drove Joe downtown while mom and I packed the room. Luckily, when Joe arrived at his car there was no fine or wheel clamp! When Dave got back we all headed to the bakery for meat pies and sausage rolls. With the car packed Mom and I rolled out and Dave followed in his car. We drove the Pacific Coast highway – giving us scenic views of farmland and ocean, along with lots of curvaceous roads.
We had only 2 stops. One at Kawakawa Bay, where we found that the stunning white beach wasn’t sand at all – it was millions of small cockle shells! The other was at Kaiaua, for “New Zealand’s Best” fish and chips and a view of the seabird coast (we saw oyster catchers, shags, lots of seagulls (they got our left over chips), and I even spotted a group of terns!).
So…….. that basically brings us here…… Home for the weekend.
It’s been many hours since I started this and I hope it’s legible. Mom is up and reading and has decided she isn’t going to die after all. She’s not sure how she got talked into shots and can’t believe she was out until 5 (she also wonders why the bars don’t kick people out!). We are all pretty much recovered for tonights events – a low key BBQ with Dave’s family........
Day 6 Sunday: 1 February 2009
It’s 11pm and I am knackered. Mom has gone to bed and Dave is killing time on his computer waiting for me to finish messing with my blog. I am attempting to upload the first batch of pictures, but it’s not going well!!!! GRRRR. I think pictures might get to wait for a while, sorry.
Anyhow, the family BBQ last night went really well. Dave’s parents, sister, and grandma came for dinner, as did my ex-boss, Margaret, and her husband, Martin. We all had a great chat and some yummy food. Here I was thinking that we were all getting together for a “meet Mel’s mom” bbq, when everyone else is thinking “it’s Mel’s birthday”. I received several nice cards, and a very lovely greenstone necklace! Then, to top the night off, Dave’s mum, Kathy, had brought an ice cream cake!!! It was a really, really fun night.
After a good night’s sleep we all got organized and Dave revved up the V8. We drove up the west coast to Coromandel (the town), had lunch, and preceeded down the east coast of the peninsula. We stopped at Cathedral Cove and had several cool swims to fight the blazing sun. Dave and I went for a couple of snorkels, but mom opted for keeping her head above water. We stayed at the cove until the sunny beach was overtaken by shadows and a chill breeze kept being wet from being inviting. We then headed to hot water beach. We lucked out and the tide was low enough for us to find the hot water under the sand, we dug our feet in and tried not to flinch to much when the water burned our toes.
We arrived home just as the sun was setting behind a bank of clouds...... My mom was on her 7th night in New Zealand and had yet seen a sunset!!!!
Okay, it’s late...... I’m posting without pictures. It's late, I'm tired, and I gotta get up early tomorrow. We have a big day of exploring Rotorua and I still have to pack my bags and the car!!!! (yeah, so sorry.... probably lots of errors, as was just pointed out to me by my editor ;-)
But, really, I should start at the beginning…….
Day 0 Monday: 26 January 2009
Mom’s arrival here in NZ got off to a rocky start. That is, I was late! :-( Yes! Late!!! I felt so, so bad. I wasn’t horribly late, she wasn’t at the airport for hours or anything near, but I wasn’t there to greet her when she stepped out of the customs gate. I can’t believe it – and really neither could she! However, neither of us let it ruin our final reunion (she didn’t hold a grudge and I didn’t get mad at myself). She had been in line at information, to find out how to call my cell phone, when she turned around to look at the crowd and saw this panic stricken, yet familiar, person. She snuck up behind me (suitcase and all) and tapped me on the shoulder. “Are you looking for somebody” she says, calmly with a smile. Ah man, I felt like the worst daughter ever!!!! Ah well, at least we were able to laugh about over beers down at the harbour later!
After getting mom’s things into our Chariot, “Jim”, we headed out of the airport. I pulled over at a nearby lookout and gave mom a chance to look over the green grass, blue water, and grazing cows of New Zealand. It had been 0 degrees Celsius, rainy/snowy, and the sun hadn’t shone for weeks when she had left Idaho. She very much enjoyed the warm sun and cool breeze of her first time out side of an airplane/airport in 25 hours!
We continued out of the airport and onto the motorway into Auckland. I took mom on a short “tiki tour” while I tried to find our hotel. We eventually found it (thanks to Dave texting the address to me) and settled our things. Mom cleaned all the airport grime off and refreshed with a quick shower before we headed into downtown Auckland. My only instructions being that she wanted to go to a pub. I took her straight to the harbour area and to a place that had good food and a pub atmosphere – Danny Doolans. We split a massive meatloaf sandwich (which mom actually mistook for steak!!!) and had a few beers (were she admitted that she had been quite disappointed and annoyed that I wasn’t there to meet her at the gate). We then went for a wander down the harbour.
Mom had flown in on a public holiday for the Auckland district – Auckland Anniversary. So, unknown to me, there were all sorts of bands and events going on around town. Imagine mom’s surprise when, having just arrived from half way around the world, she sees live music performed by men decked out in full American Indian dress! Yes, feather headdress and all.We had a bit more of a wonder and then headed back to the motel. After walking through town and half way back to our motel (pretty much all uphill), drinking 3 or 4 beers, and having slept less than 5 hours in a Tahitian airport mom was a bit knackered. She was snoring quietly by 8:30pm.
Day 1 Tuesday: 27 January 2009
Mom woke up at about 6 am after a long, restful sleep. We got packed and checked out just before the banks opened at 9am. This gave us enough time to stop at a local bakery and pick up breakfast. Mom perused the housing prices at a local real estate window while she enjoyed her first taste of kiwi cuisine - a sausage roll (flavoured, minced sausage baked in a flaky pastry crust. We then headed over to the bank and exchanged her green, cotton American money for multi-colored, plastic kiwi money. We then got in the car and started our journey…….
I had already decided to take mom up north first, as she wanted to be in Auckland, near my friends, for my birthday and the only way back from the Northland was through Auckland. We hopped onto highway 16, driving through farmland and past harbour views before taking our first stop at Kaiwaka. We had coffee at a funky little café that was built out of ferro cement. The building began shaped as a boat (paying homage to the first use of ferro cement in boat building) and then turned into a 5 domed, open courtyard work of art. Tiles and marbles were inlayed next to cement sculptures while a large fountain bubbled in front of us. We were settled under the protection of one of the domes when a brief, but decent, rain hit. By the time we finished our coffee the rain had gone and the sun was out again!
Our next stop was the Kauri and Pioneer Museum in Matakohe. This was a good place to begin our Northland journey, as much of the area had once been covered in Kauri forest. Kauri trees were highly prized for their wood for several reasons; they grow perfectly straight, drop their lower limbs without leaving a knot in the wood, and grow to massive sizes. This made them quite valuable for ship and furniture building. The sap (called gum) was once used by Maoris as a torch, insect repellent, and chewing gum (to name a few). However, it was quickly found that the gum could be turned into varnish and linoleum. Soon, kauri gum and wood was being harvested at a phenomenal rate – whole forests cut down and shipped overseas. Luckily, in some areas, men recognized the need to protect some of these dwindling trees. Kauri trees can still be found throughout the Northland, Coromandel, and west coast, but there are only a few places where the massively tall and wide old trees can be found. When I say old, I do mean old! Say, 2000 plus years!!!! Yeah, old. Most of the large trees left aren’t that old, they are still babies at 500 or so years!Anyhow… The Kauri museum was cool. There were all kinds of wood products, gum specimens, logging machinery, and pioneer replicas on display. Not to mention, lots and lots of photographs! It was quite enjoyable.
Back in the car and many kms later, we had a stop in Dargaville. We talked to the information centre about places to stay and weather forecasts. We then put on our rain coats and walked down to the river (Wairoa River). We didn’t quite get to the river bank before we were sidetracked into a lovely park/garden. We admired the tile mosaics, pondered the large jaw bone of a Byrd’s whale, toured a small fernery, and stopped to smell a few flowers. On the way back to the car we decided to stop in at the grocery store for a bottle of wine. That turned into a decent shopping trip for supplies. Mom wondered what we were thinking going shopping when the car was still 3 or 4 blocks away. I’m sure it wouldn’t have mattered much, if it hadn’t been raining :-)The rain had pretty much stopped by the time we reached the car, gassed up, and headed further north. It was a short drive to the Kaihu Farm, where we had reserved a room and 2 beds from Dargaville. I had stayed at this remote hostel 6 months earlier on my travels down from my Northland visit, so I knew what to expect; kind helpful hosts, massive dinners (that we had requested in advance), and a dog ready to lead you down the bush track of the grounds. The reason I had chosen to stay at this particular place was it’s close proximity to Trounson Kauri Park – where a natural population of kiwi birds are well protected and easily heard at night.
At about 8:30 pm, with our bellies full of roast lamb and ice cream, we arrived at Trounson Kauri Park just as the light was fading. We listened to the various noises of the woods as our eyes become accustomed to the shadows. Soon, we found ourselves slowly walking a wooden boardwalk in the black of dark – mom holding onto my jacket to keep from getting lost. Soon, I started seeing little twinkles and glimmers of lights as we walked. GLOW WORMS!!!!!! I pointed them out to mom and she was amazed! We would round a corner or pass a large tree and all of the sudden we had a view of an entire area aglow with the blue lights of these animals. Mom was just so fascinated with these fairly lights in the woods. She knew that glow worms inhabited caves, but had no idea that they could be found just out in the woods – let alone so visible from far away.
We were wearing our raincoats to protect us from any evening drizzles, but the stiff fabric proved frustratingly noisy when trying to listen for the rustle of a kiwi in the bush. Soon, however, we were both intently staring into the dark, listening to leaves shake and limbs crack as a heavy, not to small, animal made its way closer and closer to us. I was nearly hyper ventilating in my excitement, knowing there was a real kiwi somewhere in the dark, less than 20 feet away!!!! Unfortunately, my flashlight – with a red cloth over it to protect the kiwi’s light sensitive eyes – proved too weak to illuminate the little bugger!!!!! Mom was on her hands and knees straining to see into the pink illumination, but didn’t see more than ferns and little bushes. I, however, swear I caught a glimpse of beak before the little bird ran under the boardwalk and into denser bush.
Mom and I sat in the same spot for a good half hour. We listened to every rustle of the woods, wondering if it was another bird making its way to us. While we never did have another close encounter, we did hear the cries of both male and female kiwi birds throughout the forest. While I was quite disappointed that we didn’t actually see the bird, mom was more than happy. All she really wanted was to hear the call of the kiwi. Instead, she got the excitement of having a kiwi almost within arms reach (even though we couldn’t see it!), the calls of the kiwi and the morepork (NZ owl), and an amazing display of glow worm lights. It was definitely a good start to her NZ trip.
Day 2 Wednesday: 28 January 2009
We woke surprisingly early, after going to bed at about midnight from our after dark explorations. I think we were on the road by 10 am. We started the day by heading back to Trounsons Kauri Park, to see what it looked like in the daylight. We read the plant signs and took lots of pictures. We marvelled at how large the trees were that were nothing but silhouettes the night before. We listened to many birds singing – all of which I couldn’t definitively identify. We also found a wood pigeon (a native and endangered NZ bird) walking around high up in the trees.After several hours at Trounsons, we headed up the road to Waipoua Forest. Waipoua is home to several of the largest Kauri trees still living, as well as many more massively big kauris. We were going to be visiting the biggest trees with a Maori guide in the evening, but I figured we should see the trees in the daylight too. I had done the night time guided tour 6 months previously, when winter daylight hours meant that I saw the trees in the pitch dark, under the stars and with a flashlight. I thought that was how we were going to see the trees again. If I had known the tour was going to start before sunset and end when light had just faded, I probably would have passed the forest up and headed straight to our lodging.
However, mom and I had a great time looking at the different trees and comparing bark and trunk patterns – particularly between young rimu and kauri trees. We spent another hour or two amazing our selves with the towering size of the ancient forest giants, particularly Te Matua Ngahere (Father of the Forest) and Tane Mahuta (Lord of the Forest), before getting back on the road and heading to the Hokianga harbour. I had approached the harbour from the south for the express purpose of cresting the bush covered hill and presenting the bright blue harbour in all its sunny glory. I was not disappointed in the sight. The blue water was as a bright as I remembered and contrasted beautifully with the golden sand dunes behind and the green bush in front. Mom said she finally felt like she was in the New Zealand I had photographed.After taking many pictures from the viewpoint, we headed into town, booked our tour, and settled into our motel. Mom refreshed herself with a shower and then we headed to dinner. We watched the surf break on the sandy beach as we dined on a sunny patio deck before meeting up with our kauri tour.
The tour was as good as I remembered, though, as I said, it was still light when we left. Mom enjoyed the Maori knowledge of the forest plants and the legends surrounding the kauris. Hearing the Maori prayers and songs as we approached the ancient trees made seeing their massive forms a little more profound. Despite the constant mosquito bombardment at the end, the tour was still well worth the money.
Day 3 Thursday: 29 January 2009
Before leaving Opononi/Omapare, we went back to the harbour entrance and had a good morning walk around. Mom would have loved to have the whole day at this lovely location, picnicking down on the rocky beach and exploring the coastline. Unfortunately, our time was limited and we needed to get to Whangarei to meet my friends Karen and Colin.We didn’t have much time to explore, since we had slept late (8 am wake up!; slack!) and taken our time at the harbour view entrance. So our only stop of note before arriving in Whangarei was the Hundertwasser toilets in Kawakawa. These toilets are unique in that the roof has living grass on it and the whole structure is tiled with mosaics and glass bottles. It was quite a nice piece of art. We enjoyed an iced coffee while we sat in the sun of Kawakawa, noting that everything was still wet from a rain we had just missed.
Due to time constraints, I couldn’t take mom to see any waterfalls or boulders, but I did get her to a kiwi house. I had noted the kiwi house and museum in my travels 6 months earlier, so we headed straight there. By turning UV lights on during the night and using red filters for illumination during the day, the kiwi house is able to allow visitors to observe a living kiwi going about its business during daylight hours. It was really cool. The enclosure is set up to replicate the real world as closely as possible – including live bugs living in the leaf and branch covered floor. Obviously, the enclosure is glassed off so that you can’t touch or otherwise disturb the bird while it forages, sleeps, and walks around. It was really quite a cool thing to see. It was neat to see the morepork they had too. We wandered around the museum a bit too, but not much worth noting here (sorry, I’m starting to get burnt out on typing!)…..
I took mom on another “tiki tour” as I attempted to navigate out of downtown Whangarai and out to Karen and Colin Walker’s house. We ended up at a nice lookout where I had never been. I got out the map, figured out where we were, and managed to find the house without need for a single turnaround.
When we arrived at Karen and Colin’s place we were told to settle our bags, grab our togs (swimsuits), and get loaded up in the car – we were going out! Soon the four of us and their two big dogs (Julius and Lulu) were settled in their VW van, winding our way over bush covered mountains down to a lovely sandy beach. We walked the beach a bit and then Karen asked who was getting in the water. While the cool breeze and cloud cover left behind from the rain didn’t make getting into the chilly water very appealing, I couldn’t let Karen be the only one to get wet! Besides, mom and I had already put our togs on under our clothes. So, all three of us girls waded into the surf while Colin stayed with the dogs and our things. Despite the fact that the water was quite cold, we soon become accustomed to the temperature and were enjoying the water breaking on us. Karen was the fist to get fully wet and start body surfing the waves. Soon I was following suit. Mom never body surfed, but she did get picked up a couple of times and pushed back by the waves. Karen soon relieved Colin and he came out with the boogie board and showed me how it worked. I had an amazing first ride, catching the wave almost to the top of the waterline. However, every ride afterwards ended with me being washed under and around the waves – while trying to keep my tog bottoms on! Ha ha ha. It was awesome!Eventually we all got hungry and headed back to the van. We changed into dry clothes, opened a bottle of wine, and enjoyed a lovely, lovely meal. Karen had made quiche the night before and we had fresh beans and salad to go with it. The beach visit and dinner were more than I had expected, but when Colin then uncovered a chocolate cake and started singing happy birthday I was absolutely surprised! So this is why they had driven out of their way on a work night! I was doubly surprised when Colin then produced a bottle of bubbly – sparkling chardonnay pinot noir, to be exact. All I can really say is – WOW. It was more than I ever could have asked for. It was just so neat seeing my mom playing in the NZ water and laughing on the beach, then to have great company and good food too just made me feel so lucky. I was also extremely glad I brought Karen and Colin a small gift from Thames!!!
Day 4 Friday: 30 January 2009
I woke up super early, 6 am, to see Karen and Colin before they headed to work. While it was tempting to then head back to bed for a few more hours, I knew I had a lot to do – I had an avocado pie to make and we were hoping to get to Auckland by 2 in order to meet my friend for a harbour cruise. After mom was up and showered she started washing up the dishes we hadn’t had time to clean from the night before (it was the least we could do after such a spread!). I finished the avocado pie and traded it for a bit of the left over chocolate cake. We packed up the car and set off, yet again.
Again, we were pressed for time and weren’t able to linger at any one place to long. We drove through Waipu and to Waipu Cove. We stopped and had a picnic at a wildlife refuge on the beach before heading back to the main highway. We arrived in Auckland just at 2, but unfortunately Rachel had more work on her last day than she had expected – she wouldn’t be able to make the cruise. Mom decided she wasn’t really that fussed about the cruise and we decided to get some caffeine, in the form of iced coffee. By the time we settled into the hostel, caught up on some e-mails, and had a bit of a relax, Rachel was done with work. We picked her up from a nearby supermarket and she navigated me through the busy streets of Auckland to the top Mount Eden – her favourite place in Auckland.
It was Rachel’s last night in town as well as my birthday. So, the three of us wandered around the crater and enjoyed the view overlooking the city for quite a while. We watched the grey clouds shower some areas while leaving others momentarily dry. Eventually we headed back to mom and my hostel to drop the car off and escort Rachel to her hostel. However, we got sidetracked and ended up chatting and laughing in our room for a good hour, by which time Dave and arrived. We chatted and laughed some more until Rachel’s curiosity got the better of her and I was told I had to open my birthday presents. Soon it was time for Rachel to meet other friends that wanted to see her off on her last day in town. We walked Rachel down the road for a bit before she caught a cab and was whisked away. While we had hoped to see her again later for drinks, we never did reconnect.Mom treated Dave and I to a birthday dinner, that turned out to be extremely nice. We all enjoyed our food and drink before heading back to the hostel with leftovers. As we were discussing what to do next, Joe texted and told us he was in town. So we met up with him and went off to a bar. Soon, we all had a beer and shot. Yep – all of us, including mom. Soon, we found ourselves at another bar, with another beer and a shot. Next thing we knew it we were all several shots down (4 maybe?) and many, many beers into the night… or morning actually. We finally left the still bustling clubs at 5 AM!!!!! Yep, mom was out clubbing in Auckland, drinking and dancing until 5 in the morning! All of the people that we were talking too couldn’t believe my mom was not only doing shots, but was handling them so well!!! Ha ha ha, she was probably handling them better than me – as I had switched to water only an hour before we left.
We all caught a cab back to the hostel and crashed into bed. When Dave had texted me a day earlier saying the only hostel room he could book for the night would be a room with one double bed and two twins, mom and I felt sorry for Dave. How weird was it going to be for him to sleep with me in the same room as my mom?! But suddenly, having the third bed and a room to ourselves turned out be a good thing – as it gave Joe a place to crash.
Day 5 Saturday: 31 January 2009
After about 3 hours sleep, we all started waking up. We had an early check out time and Joe needed to make sure his car was moved before they found out his parking ticket was 2 hours overdue! Dave drove Joe downtown while mom and I packed the room. Luckily, when Joe arrived at his car there was no fine or wheel clamp! When Dave got back we all headed to the bakery for meat pies and sausage rolls. With the car packed Mom and I rolled out and Dave followed in his car. We drove the Pacific Coast highway – giving us scenic views of farmland and ocean, along with lots of curvaceous roads.
We had only 2 stops. One at Kawakawa Bay, where we found that the stunning white beach wasn’t sand at all – it was millions of small cockle shells! The other was at Kaiaua, for “New Zealand’s Best” fish and chips and a view of the seabird coast (we saw oyster catchers, shags, lots of seagulls (they got our left over chips), and I even spotted a group of terns!).So…….. that basically brings us here…… Home for the weekend.
It’s been many hours since I started this and I hope it’s legible. Mom is up and reading and has decided she isn’t going to die after all. She’s not sure how she got talked into shots and can’t believe she was out until 5 (she also wonders why the bars don’t kick people out!). We are all pretty much recovered for tonights events – a low key BBQ with Dave’s family........
Day 6 Sunday: 1 February 2009
It’s 11pm and I am knackered. Mom has gone to bed and Dave is killing time on his computer waiting for me to finish messing with my blog. I am attempting to upload the first batch of pictures, but it’s not going well!!!! GRRRR. I think pictures might get to wait for a while, sorry.
Anyhow, the family BBQ last night went really well. Dave’s parents, sister, and grandma came for dinner, as did my ex-boss, Margaret, and her husband, Martin. We all had a great chat and some yummy food. Here I was thinking that we were all getting together for a “meet Mel’s mom” bbq, when everyone else is thinking “it’s Mel’s birthday”. I received several nice cards, and a very lovely greenstone necklace! Then, to top the night off, Dave’s mum, Kathy, had brought an ice cream cake!!! It was a really, really fun night.
After a good night’s sleep we all got organized and Dave revved up the V8. We drove up the west coast to Coromandel (the town), had lunch, and preceeded down the east coast of the peninsula. We stopped at Cathedral Cove and had several cool swims to fight the blazing sun. Dave and I went for a couple of snorkels, but mom opted for keeping her head above water. We stayed at the cove until the sunny beach was overtaken by shadows and a chill breeze kept being wet from being inviting. We then headed to hot water beach. We lucked out and the tide was low enough for us to find the hot water under the sand, we dug our feet in and tried not to flinch to much when the water burned our toes.We arrived home just as the sun was setting behind a bank of clouds...... My mom was on her 7th night in New Zealand and had yet seen a sunset!!!!
Okay, it’s late...... I’m posting without pictures. It's late, I'm tired, and I gotta get up early tomorrow. We have a big day of exploring Rotorua and I still have to pack my bags and the car!!!! (yeah, so sorry.... probably lots of errors, as was just pointed out to me by my editor ;-)
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