Thank you to all the friends and SERVAS hosts who gave us an occasional change of scene from the camping/living out of a car life and who shared such great stories, food and company with us! I haven't named these people out of respect for their privacy but wish for them to know how much they added to our experience in New Zealand!
We started with a lovely week on Waiheke island (off the Auckland coast) visiting Machiel's friend Andrew and his family. Then we headed back over to Auckland to find a car to buy for our journey. The Auckland race course hosts a used car market every Sunday and that is where we found our 1989 Toyota Corolla for 1800 NZD. It was a stressful experience competing with other buyers and buying a car without having it checked by a mechanic first. However, it was a great relief to leave the market with a car, knowing we could begin our journey the next day. Oh, but first we had to figure out how to drive on the left side of the road! For several weeks we found ourselves turning on the windshield wipers when we meant to turn on the turning signal and we had to check ourselves that we were turning into the correct lane at intersections.
We left Auckland on Monday morning and drove south stopping for lunch at a shore bird reserve. Unfortunately there had been much rain the past few days, so we decided against wading out to the bird blind and headed further south to a campground near Rotorua (lake Rerewhakaaitu).
Pied stilts
Black swan and ducks
Pukeko
The following day we tried to find free access to the thermal activity in the area and found most of it was well enclosed with high fences and expensive entry fees. We did, however, see some fun boiling mud.
Continuing south we explored a geothermal power plant and Huka Falls just north of Taupo with its amazing turquoise water storming through a narrow gorge. We camped at a nearby free campground called Reid Farm.
The next day, trying to take the most direct route marked on the map, we plunged into the back roads of New Zealand (gravel, winding and sometimes with steep drop-offs). While driving 30-40km/hr for about 25 km made for a long drive, we enjoyed the scenic route through farm land. Back on the sealed roads we headed on to Te Kuti, taking a small detour along the way to see the world's largest Totara tree. We had lunch in Te Kuti and then headed north to Waitomo. Here we went on several small walks to see double arches and waterfalls. After dinner we went back into one of the trails and saw the amazing glow worms illuminated like a star filled night. We then drove another 2 hours north to camp near Kawhia on the west coast. It was a long day!
upside down photo - sorry
Giant oyster fossil
Glow worms
I'm afraid I don't have time right now to tell all the stories so it'll have to be minimal labels for now....
Kawhia
Hot water springs at the low tide shore line
Whaling boat
Driving south to New Plymouth along the coast. An example of the many one lane bridges we encountered all over the country.
We never got used to the 100 km/hr speed limit on even the narrowest and windiest of roads.
Plentiful public toilets in this country!
Terns
Many tunnels in this area were dug by hand.
Check out the furniture.
Many layers - along the New Plymouth beach.
Cricket pitch in New Plymouth.
Mt. Taranaki/Egmont making a brief appearance out of the clouds.
Downtown New Plymouth
New Zealand pigeon
Marvelous fernhouse at botanical gardens
Len Lye's wind wand
Historic corrugated steel building
Completing a maize maze with our wonderful New Plymouth hosts.
High levels of iron ore in the beach sand!
Tawhiti museum - one man's hobby has grown into a huge collection of hand made, life sized models and artifacts depicting life in New Zealand's past.
On the way south to Wellington.
Wellington just for a night
Ferry to Picton, South Island
Can you see the house?
Picton
Driving south along the east coast down to Kaikoura.
Salt works
I thought I was ordering onion ringS and was surprised to only get one!
Two important farming developments - the ATV and a hardier sheep dog breed.
Exploring the Kaikoura head
These hills once were Maori forts (pa).
Whale bone fence post next to old house.
Amaryllis growing out of the ground!
Comorants are called shags here.
Driving further south towards Christchurch.
Irony
Exploring the Banks Peninsula.
Steep narrow road - passing another car of crazy sightseers was tricky!
Canterbury museum - Christchurch
This dollhouse exhibit was purposefully not tidied up after the first big Christchurch earthquake.
Driving west to Mt. Cook - MacKenzie country.
Lake Tekapo
Enroute to nearby lake Alexandria to camp for the night.
Driving to Mt. Cook the next day.
Female Paradise Shell duck
Mt Cook emerging from the clouds - yeah!
Kea
Next day Machiel woke up for sunrise.
Heading back to the east coast.
Views behind us.
Elephant rocks
Oamaru
Yellow-eyed penguin
More Oamaru
Walk along Moeraki beach.
Heading south to Dunedin.
Spoonbills on Otago peninsula.
Albatross!
Filling up water bottles in Dunedin.
Purakauni Bay (near Owaka).
Someone left a bag made out of kelp hanging on the tree.
Curio Bay - remains of a Jurassic petrified forest
I woke up at sunrise to try and spot Hector Dolphins and sure enough they appeared : ) - no photos though.
Clouds set in by the time we packed up and headed south.
Southern most point in New Zealand.
I've run out of space again...
Go to the following link for a slide show of more of the New Zealand photos:
If you want to see the photos that are posted on this blog also on Picasa go to:
(New Zealand photos are at the end of the albulm)
And now we're in Indonesia where it is way more humid and hot than we've henceforth experienced, but we look forward to volunteering in Northern Sumatra next week - ecovillagesamosir.blogspot.com/p/place.html
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