Rain rip dirt traffic bliss

Disaster. I was bending over my suitcase this morning when Kevin pointed out that the bottom of my much-used, much-loved, and ONLY jeans had worn through, and there was now a hole. Jemima thought this was hilarious; me, less so. We were leaving to collect the motorhome within the hour; jeans were necessary for this trip! So I rushed out into the rain (rain!) for some urgent shopping. But what do you know, opposite there was a shop called Just Jeans...

Problem solved, we took a taxi to the collection point through some terrible traffic, and terrible weather. Things weren't much better at the motorhome office. We have rather got used to Beatrix, a lovely, comfortable, modern motorhome. Unfortunately, Beatrix this was not, even before a year's hard use as a rental vehicle, and it hadn't been cleaned to the standard you might expect. After some quibbling and haggling, especially trying to find a suitable car seat for Jemima, we eventually set off on our NZ adventure. 

After a prosaic first stop at the supermarket, as is the way of motorhoming (along with every other starting-off motorhomer - the German couple at the check out next to me had two trolleys full!); and then a battle with more of Auckland's traffic, we were finally on the open road. Not a particularly big road, but definitely through big country: open acres of green fenced farmland with cows grazing peacefully, with mountains silhouetted in the distance, and, very sparsely, single story houses that looked like they were called ranches. The sun was finally out; we were finally on our way; New Zealand was looking beautiful; the world was looking up.

And then we reached our chosen destination for the night - a Family Holiday Park next door to hot springs in a place called Miranda - friendly, clean, pretty, with two trampolines to be played on! Once we'd settled in, Jemima and I headed straight for the pool - a long-promised request, otherwise I may have resisted - it was still quite breezy and I thought it might be a bit cold. But no, this was like being in a giant bath - 35 degrees apparently, heated by scaldingly hot water jets from the hot spring, bubbling up from little holes in the floor (as I found out when my toes got burned). But it was absolutely gorgeous, despite the slightly sulphurous smell. We wallowed like happy hippos.

Back to the motorhome, still slightly stinky, and Kevin took Jemima to bounce while I made dinner. (She did her usual making friends, to the extent that she ended up going back to two sisters' chalet, where they all watched TV in bed together.) Greek salad, ham, nice bread - a stalwart motorhome meal; and to our new beds - Kevin and I tried out the over cab bed, and Jemima's was made up below. The motorhome may not quite be what we're used to, but the motorhoming life is as good as ever - and if New Zealand continues to offer glorious views, friendly welcomes (and hot spring pools), it's going to be a good trip.

Back in the motorhome:

 

 

Farmland views:

 

Our new home (pre-swim):

 

The hot spring pool:

 

Auckland to Miranda:

 

Goodwin Avenue, Waiheke

A 40 minute ferry across the Hauraki Gulf, Waiheke Island is like the Isle of Wight transported to the tropics. Cow parsley on the grassy verges mixes with wild blue and white agapanthus; and rolling green hillsides echo to strange birdsong. It's all absolutely lovely. 

It's also quite sizeable, so we hired a car. Kevin and I have had many happy hours driving around places, sightseeing (one reason we knew we'd enjoy motorhoming); and this was no exception. After lunch in a pretty little hippy/ chi chi seaside town (a very attractive combo), we planned to drive to the nearest play park; but as Jemima fell asleep, instead Kevin and I drove across the island while she snoozed. Vineyards on the hillsides, jungly narrow tracks, and astonishing sea views around every corner. We even found the Pioneer Cemetery, with the graves of some intrepid early settlers (the earliest being 1886) and their horribly young offspring ("In loving memory of Colin Dudley, who died 20th Jan 1916, aged 10 months").

Then our delayed visit to the play park at a little beach just off Goodwin Avenue - it was meant to be. Jemima did her usual hugging approach to befriend other children, then she and Kevin built sand castles, before we all enjoyed some beach races. Then a stop at a Thai with a view for dinner before catching a late ferry home as the sun went down, Auckland's lights twinkling on the horizon before us.

At the play park we met a Norwegian family now resident on Waikeke, and I can see the appeal: it's stunningly beautiful, with good weather and a vibrant island community. If it wasn't the other the side of the world from friends and family, I could move there myself.

(Will add more photos tomorrow, it's been a long day and I'm knackered.)

 

The ferry out:

 

 

 

Lunch:

 

 

The ladies in the gelato hut were wearing t shirts that said, "without gelato there would be darkness and chaos":

 

 

Driving around:

 

 

 

 

 

The Pioneer Cemetary:

 

 

 

The beach at Goodwin Avenue:

 

 

 

 

Dinner with a view and more ants in your pants:

 

The ferry home:

 

 

 

Sharks, volcanoes and views

Staying here has reminded me how much I enjoy the independence of an Aparthotel (even without the ready cut-up fruit). Such a lovely morning pottering: breakfast in our own room, and some much-needed washing while Jemima and Kevin played (weirdly, I enjoy house chores when I'm on holiday). Then off to the latest hop-on, hop-off bus to get our bearings. 

Auckland is really, really pretty. Obviously, there's the sea and the islands, with boats everywhere (this is the City of Sails); but it is also so green, with tree- and plant-lined streets, especially my favourite agapanthus; and the houses are gorgeous, a bit like Key West in Florida, with pastel-coloured clapboard and fretwork, and huge verandahs. It is fairly modern - the bus commentary got excited by the houses in one district being "over 100 years old!", which made us Brits on the bus smirk annoyingly; but they've managed to make it modern without being ugly (which they haven't always managed elsewhere we've been, e.g. Florida). 

This might be something to do with it being very pricey - the bus was expensive, the supermarket was expensive, the sites are expensive. And the sites themselves aren't that brilliant - we spent a pleasant few hours in the aquarium, especially the circular shark tunnel, but the one in Great Yarmouth is better; and we enjoyed our brief stop at the Auckland Museum to see the Maori artefacts and have a go on the volcano simulator (a pretend sitting room where you see an eruption in the bay through the "window", and a cloud of ash rolls rapidly towards you while the sofa shakes), although there wasn't really enough there to warrant the ticket price (well done UK for free museums!). But the real star of Auckland is the landscape, and you can see why people love living here.

This was particularly evident from the Sky Tower. I usually enjoy a high-up view, but this was spectacular. The islands were laid out before us, the water criss-crossed by the white trails of the ferries; the city in the foreground with the cones of volcanoes poking between the buildings and greenery. We sat and stared, while Jemima hopped about on the glass floor panels (once she'd got over the initial fear, she loved seeing the city 200m below).

And then, another reason why Auckland is great (albeit also expensive): the food. So far, apart from the dubious Aquarium lunch, we'd had good experiences; but then Kevin led us to a nearby Indian, Cassia, for dinner, as I'd mentioned feeling in that kind of mood. We went through an unprepossessing hole in a wall to find an industrial but attractive modern-looking restaurant - this was not a normal curry house. Luckily, as it was quite early, they had a table; and we ordered a selection as suggested. Oh my. Exciting, interesting, beautiful and delicious: little plates of roast carrot and macadamia nuts with a tomatoey sauce and a sprinkle of something dairy; and tandoori kingfish with pickled cucumber and a coriander and coconut foamy sorbet thing (Jemima loved the fish and, surprisingly, the pickled cucumber - we had to order a second plate because she ate most of the first); and then a main course of pork belly vindaloo (the crispy skin! The flavourful thick paste/sauce cross!); with korma-y pumpkin and broccoli, rice, and the best naan ever. In fact, the best Indian ever. (And a lovely waitress originally from Preston who gave us free dessert, I'm not quite sure why.) Anyway, my greed took over again - but the stomach ache was worth it. And it was worth the steep price tag - two meals for £8, as per Hong Kong, this was not. But it was good. I'd happily eat only there for a week; but luckily for my waistline and our holiday spending, we only have one more day in Auckland before we start the motorhome chapter of our trip. So today it was Auckland by land; and tomorrow it's Auckland by sea. (And hopefully some more good food.)

 

Bus views:

 

You can see the Sky Tower poking up from the Auckland skyline across the bay:

 

The Aquarium:

 

 

Lunch had a view at sea level across the bay:

 

Jemima's favourite is the sting ray, and this one was enormous:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back on the bus, Eden Park, home of the All Blacks (one for dad - I'm afraid I didn't manage to get a photo of the agapanthus for mum, or any pictures of the pretty houses...):

 

The Auckland Museum:

 

 

 

 

 

An enormous war canoe carved from a single log, which could fit 100 men:

 

 

 

The Sky Tower

 

 

 

 

 

You can see the greeny-brown volcano cones sticking up near the horizon:

 

Dinner:

 

 

You can see our tandoori fish with picked cucumber in the foreground...: