Day 1 - Auckland/Arataki/Piha/Waitakere
Whoa, takeoff on Dec 11th and land on the 13th! No problem on the flights, through SFO to Auckland. Customs was a bit of an issue beginning with a delay (bag search due to fishing gear) and then confiscation of Kala's wading boots! Ok, my fault as they are of an age to be felt-bottomed; heck I should've known that and replaced them prior. We got to our near-airport hotel a little late but dropped bags and headed right back out to our Bush & Beach Tour, intercepting them at their 1st stop via Uber ride. It was a gorgeous summer day but partly cloudy... we learned Maori for NZ is Aotearoa, long white cloud.
That stop was the Arataki Visitor Center high above the region. Bush & Beach was somewhat an eco tour with our guide very knowledgeable of conservation as well as the foliage, fauna, and what meager animals exist in the area. NZ is pretty amazing with no mammals existing here till just 1000 years ago... it was all flightless birds and bugs till the Maori (Hawaii/Polynesia) arrived 700 years ago ~ and they were not too disruptive of that ecosystem; it was really arrival of the Europeans beginning 1769 where things became different here. Another fun fact is that there aren't any dangerous bugs or reptiles in the islands to speak of ~ there's just one poisonous spider. We fearlessly picked up all manner of jungle stuff to check it out. The Arataki VC had Maori carvings (lots of spirals and all abalone eyes, like their stars/ancestors) and provided a killer view of where we'd soon visit. We learned of the tui bird (the only pollinator of the flax here) and the importance of the flax plant to Maori life. And we found gigantic 20ft diameter ferns of many types.
After this keen and quick overview we hopped on the bus with the rest of the tourists and headed to the rainforest. Part of that segment was learning and seeing the kauri trees... unfortunately now an endangered species. First here I show a young one, then the leaves. then a 1000 year old one with a trunk 40ft across (the scale is not really discernible but it is huge! ~ second only to the sequoia on the planet). They can become 2000 years old but many are gone. It's a pine but with no knots in the wood (branches start on the outside of tree) and was very sturdy and true ~ a staple of early NZ building & boat construction. The fossilized sap, like amber, is highly prized too. A decaying disease has killed many and NZ has installed mitigation stations for humans tracking in the woods at "all" of the trailheads; you scrub shoes and apply disinfectant! And they are now protected, as are the Kiwi birds, and cannot be used or killed.
The tour then took us to a stop for which I'd chosen it ~ the black sand beaches @ Piha. Our guide was from the town and described how every one of the 1.7K folks there captured rain water for house water (and obviously conserved like demons). The beach is spectacular (the black is from iron) and sports the top surf break in New Zealand; there were "lots" of surfers, like 12. We observed the river we'd hiked along in the forest, flow to the Tasman Sea ~ affectionately known to the Aussies & Kiwis as "the ditch." We loved it all.
We hopped on the bus and chased around Auckland at the end of the day in attempts to eat fine in our touring clothes. We saw the Sky Tower and finally ate at Harbor North with good fish and great views. Sleeping was easy that night. The pending flight to Keri Keri in the AM wasn't too early and we were close by.
Day 2 - Travel Day To Kerikeri/Russell/Duke of Marlborough
But, that flight was cancelled due to weather, as was the next one. We were fortunate to choose to ride a chartered bus called by Air New Zealand for a 6 hour trip to KKE instead. Much of that trip was in the rain & wind but we did peek some NZ Northland countryside.
We arrived in KKE early evening and met our Avis rep to grab our brand new, left lane equipped Rav4. We took out and queued for the ferry to Russell. Then we made our way to the fabulous Duke of Marlborough hotel on the Bay of Islands, in Russell. It is the oldest bar (1839) in New Zealand, and part of the infamy of "Hell Hole" when there was no law and it was the whaling capital of the southern hemisphere. Both Maori & Paheta (Europeans) complained, and law was imposed. The hotel and restaurant therein are awesome... we ate there twice with "market fish" sashimi (caught that day), oysters, and more seafood... the food is outstanding here, not spicy but awesome. Kala & I enjoyed sashimi, grilled local fish, and fish pate'.
Another easy sleeping night but, especially noticeably for Colorado kids, the humidity of 90% vs 20% doesn't dry us or anything else out. The weather this day was blech but on Thu we had plans.
Day 3 - Waititi Treaty Grounds/Jungle Path/Hone's/Flagpole Hike/The Duke
We awoke and packed for a Maori cultural experience at the Waititi Treaty Grounds. In 1846 the British & Maori signed a misinterpreted treaty of governance over New Zealand (and sovereignty of Maori) at this spot. It was commemorated in 1946 with investments in museums, houses, artifacts, etc.; the then current chief of the United Maori tribes did not attend the commemorative. The Maori arrived from Polynesia/Hawaii in eight huge waka (canoes) carrying 80-120 humans each about 700 years ago; the British arrived around mid 18th century. Some waka are on these grounds and covered to protect them (most are from the commemorative ~ built anew). There is a keen tree known as the Christmas tree due to its timely blooming during Christmas time; throughout NZ there is a strange and wonderful evergreen which grows tall and sparse.The grounds were gorgeous but there is plenty of lingering contention throughout NZ about the 100 yrs of occupation and stolen land.
We didn't know how we'd feel about it but took in the Maori cultural performance inside the meeting house. The troupe was good and explained a number of things in the culture, and about how they greet strangers (more later about meeting Capt Cooke). They sang and performed ~ we're still mixed as to how appropriate this is. The carvings in the meeting house are Maori, but modern, and amazing.
We returned to Russell "the long way" avoiding the ferry but unknowingly taking a 20 mile mountain dirt road I called the "jungle path." It was challenging for a recent left lane driver like me but I drifted the car through the tiny winding dirt turns through the jungle well enough. Upon arriving in Russell we sought beer & pizza at the excellent Hone's Garden. We enjoyed a very tasty hazy from Kaiser in CCH. They had several beautiful succulent wall installations.
We'd heard the story of the raising of a flagpole carrying the United Maori flag, around the Treaty Grounds area and how subsequently the British took the flagpole to above Russell and raised the British flag up it. The Maori chief called bullshit and said he'd accept both British and Maori flag flying in the new location but the British refused. Then, members of the Maori, sanctioned by the then chief, chopped down the flagpole, which the British rebuilt ~ and it happened again and again, five times. Then, five years after the initial treaty in 1846, wars broke out between Maori & British and lasted on and off for decades. We hiked to the flagpole on a steep road & trail to above Russell. Russell was the original capital of New Zealand, but was fairly quickly abandoned for Auckland by the British. The view from the commemorative flagpole spot is spectacular. We saw non-Kiwi birds up there too.
We got back down to "The Duke" and enjoyed some time "working" in front of the hotel and taking in the Bay of Islands vibe. The weather turned to fab. The restaurant was so good there - we booked it again.
What a great day; it was just our 3rd in this amazing spot.
Day 4 - Bay Of Islands Sailing/Travel To Far North
We had an awesome day sailing the Bay of Islands on Phantom with Capt Rick & Robin. Phantom is a 20 ton 3" thick hull, 50 yr old, racing sloop with a decent jib on railing furler. Capt Rick is a very experienced ocean sailing racer and seasoned boat deliver guy - Robin is his wife and great sailor too. She also prepared a fine lunch for us as we anchored at the island where Capt Cook first encountered the Maori (and killed 8 with rifles) to hike it. I was able to assist sailing around this beautiful bay. We motored out among some dolphins and the small blue penguins swimming as we headed out to sea and then turned N up the bay toward Cook's island.
After sailing back to Russell we finished up packing and headed to the Far North via car to our next lodging, a VRBO house in Pukenui (fat belly). The drive was fine and became much more remote as we headed north. Arriving at our VRBO, there was again a glitch in our plans; they seemed to not be expecting us and the spot was trashed from the last tenants. They were very apologetic and ultimately made things right. I was a perfect spot 3.5hr north, halfway to the tip of the island from Russell, where we'd planned some beach days.
That night we cooked burgers on the grill "in" at the VRBO and had a NZ hazy IPA tasting with four 14.5oz (that's the "pint" size here) cans of NZ beers. Beer is very good down here, especially the hazies ~ the area to which we're headed next is one of the top hops producing regions in the world, these beers used those varieties very successfully.
Sail, drive, taste... what's not to like?
Day 5 - Day Of Beaches: Cape Reinga/Giant Dunes/Rarawa Beach/90 Mile Beach
We crushed it on the "day of beaches." We 1st drove to the northernmost part of NZ called Cape Reigna. Notably, at the cape, the Tasman and Pacific seas collide. It's very cool to see one set of southwest-bound waves collide directly with some bound southeast bound. The lighthouse near the tip of the cape still operates today, automatically. An ancient tree hangs on in pure rock near the beach ~ it's hammered by the wind and unlike its species elsewhere in NZ, this was does not flower. The hike out there and the attendant views were awesome.
We headed to the west (wet) side of the Far Far North to visit the Giant Dunes of New Zealand. Like our own giant dunes park in Colorado, these are not on a beach and were deposited with years of the microclimate over a ridgeline pick up sand and deposit it here. It was really keen. Similar to adventure on our dunes as well was some hearty sandboarders ripping down steep "runs." We were barefoot the entire hike out & back.
After climbing down from the giant dunes we saddled up again and headed south to 90 Mile Beach. Unfortunately the road we took to find it ended at a private road to continue. Hmmm; we went back and carried on to Rarawa Beach, another top surfing break. We encountered a kid team of very good surfers and their coaches. And we found a number of trucks outfitted with appropriate tires for beach driving. The were surfing, paddle boarding, surf fishing and all else; a number of the vehicles had snorkles to cross the inlet we waded to reach the beach. Beautiful.
We returned to the VRBO and it was super-clean; nice. We also discovered a new road to get to 90 Mile Beach so we re-loaded the Rav4 and headed over there for the 4th beach of the day. We even drove on this beach ~ it was so long that it disappeared from view into the horizon on both sides of us! We think it's really only 50 miles or so... the original measurement system was done by estimating its length from how long a horse could go in a day and multiplying that by the number of days it took to ride the length. The boys didn't account for the shorter rides doable in a day on sand. Kala & I each grabbed some "treasures" from our hike on the beach ~ hers was a handful of shells and mine was a fistful of plastic and trash. Fabulous we found it and got back out there.
Awesome day of beaches.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.