In An Octopus's Garden

Yesterday we went out on the Great Barrier Reef and went diving around with all the little fishies. And big fishies. And sharks. And sting-rays. And turtles. And sea cucumbers. And stuff. It was lovely.

Last night we hot-footed it over to the Shrangri-La where Under The Table Dave’s friend, James manages the cocktailaroonies. It was lovely to meet such a nice chappy, and he whisked, muddled, shook and stirred us some amazing concoctions whilst we put the world to rights.  

Found Nemo

Today we start the big Road Trip. We are very excited about getting our new little campervan. We’ve gone with Jucy and managed to get a very good deal after quite a bit of negotiation. He/she won’t be Samson, but hopefully we will form a strong bond. We have 2,797km to do, so we should!! x

Mount Cook Village was absolutely wonderful, mainly for the Hooker Lake Walk we did early evening. We tramped along stunning grey rivers, over Indiana Jones style rope bridges (well, technically I suppose they were actually properly designed suspension bridges made of iron or steel or whatever important save your life looking bridges are made of) and along bushy tracks to finally hit a lake of glaciers overlooked by the imposing and beautiful Mount Cook itself. Took several photos of Will standing on a rock looking like an Antarctic explorer.

The following day we drove further south through more of that beautiful NZ scenery (blah, blah… – it’s all just so normal now) to Dunedin. We decided to freedom camp for the night to save money, and so in order to pass the time until dark (less conspicuous finding somewhere to park up that way – we’ve learnt all the tricks!) we headed to the cinema and paid an astounding 32 dollars (which with our sorry exchange rate is about 18 of our measly pounds) to see Invictus. Which was actually well worth it. Wonderful film about Nelson Mandela’s support of rugby to bring white and black together in post-Apartheid South Africa. Finally a film about sport worth seeing*. Whilst trying to find somewhere to freedom camp we narrowly avoided some sort of gang party at the top of the highest hill in Dunedin, and also accidentally drove up the steepest residential street in the world (Samson the van was not best pleased with us). Finally found a spot to park up a little way out of town next to a miniature dam, and the SH1 (but we only heard the lorries, not the cars, so it was passable as a sleeping point. And to be frank, when you’re a gipsy anywhere is good so long as it’s free).

After scouring every single second hand bookshop in Dunedin (which is quite a few) we grabbed an amazing takeway sushi lunch for a beautiful 5 dollaroonies and hit the road. Drove south past Brighton – obviously had to stop to take photos of this Brighton (just as beautiful as our beloved back home, and with more sand…) before parking up the van for a long lunch and a sunbathe on the beach. Finally managed to topless sunbathe. The massive long beach stretched forever, but with not another person in sight I felt it was about time I let loose and support Shannon Claire wholeheartedly. After a spot of skinny dipping (well, we had to – such a beautiful beach, with no-one else around) where Will was also able to get in on the act we hit the road again in the gypsymobile.

Stopped at Nugget Point, which is apparently a wonderful place to spot the rarest of penguins in the whole wide world – the yellow-eyed variety. We came very, very close to making the breed a whole lot rarer. As we drove up the hill we chatted about how unlikely it would be to see said penguin, especially since it was not very late in the day*. And then, out of nowhere, as we wound round the bend, a little cheeky penguin fella shuffled out in front of us across the road. Literally 3 metres in front of Samson. We literally could have killed the little chappy. How terrible that would have been. Being responsible for killing off one of only 4,000 known yellow-eyed penguins in the world. What would we have done? We figured afterwards that if we had knocked him over we would have had to have bundled him in the back of the van and hidden the evidence, being too ashamed to go to the authorities about our hit and run incident. Maybe eaten a penguin burger or two for dinner. Thank goodness the little chap got away.

* Surf’s Up is also brilliant of course.
* In Jan/Feb, best time to view the yellow-eyed penguin is after 4pm, and the later the better…

Oops

We had already been to Waihau (Loisels) and Tolaga Bay with Lou and Nick*. So we drove Samson past them, resisted the urge to have another passionfruit cheesecake from the amazing café on the way out of Tolaga Bay town, and instead headed to Anaura Bay. Captain Cook stopped in at Anaura where he was apparently “warmly welcomed by Maoris, after a speedy retreat from Poverty Bay!” (Cook didn’t much like the folk at Poverty Bay, hence its name). Backdrop of wonderful native bushland. Stunning.

Then we drove on to Tokamaru Bay, rocky headlands and golden sands (8km of the stuff). We then wound past Te Puia Springs (which we think are now in fact closed?), Ruatoria and Tikitiki, all in the shadow of the huge and majestic Mount Hikurangi, the highest non-volcanic peak in the North Island. Apparently high on the mountain are carved nine Whaikaro (sculptures), but we didn’t get close enough to see them (our fitness not being what it was back in the heady days of the Camino).

In NZ Beanz Meanz Watties (Not As Good As Heinz)

Next proper stop was Te Araroa, where we kipped for the night at the Te Araroa Holiday Park ($10 each). Beautiful campsite 4 mins walk from the beach. We installed ourselves under a beautiful Willow tree and set about cooking up a feast on our gas stove (well… baked beans, poached eggs and slightly toasted wholemeal rolls). Did the whole Nuts in May thing wonderfully well. At one point we even sat about eating (carefully chewing 30 times) a mixed bag of nuts and seeds.

The second day of our east cape trip was even more rewarding. Breakfast was porridge and a cup of green tea. Then, after Will had done a few exercises (he has got VERY keen with this whole new year’s resolution malarkey) we drove back into Te Araroa central to check out the largest pohuntukawa tree in the world (no, we didn’t know what it was either – but we do now). It is more than 350 years old, has 22 trunks and 40 metre boughs. It is gigantic by any stretch of the imagination. Bought some manuka honey from the local manuka honey farm shop, ready for all our future gas cooked porridge moments.

View From East Cape Lighthouse

We then drove the 40 minutes or so (stopping lots to take in the view and take photos) along to the East Cape lighthouse. This part was just stunningly gorgeous. Sea so turquoise. Sky so sky blue. Sun so perfectly beaming. The lighthouse is the most easterly in the world, and the 750 step climb up to the top is definitely worth it for the breathtaking views. Apparently this is best done at sunrise, but we really didn’t fancy waking up at 4am to do this. We wanted to enjoy that porridge first.

After some kai (food) for lunch at the manuka farm shop, we drove on to Hicks Bay, Potaka, Cape Runaway (where the Maori warriors of the Tainui Canoe first landed), Waihau Bay and Raukokore, where a beautiful white church stands alone at the bay’s edge. We drove on to East Coast Macadamias at Whanarua Bay where we had our fill of macadamia and manuka ice-cream (sooo creamy) and took a walk along the beach. We then wandered into a magical Maori world of beauty as we took a walk along Whanarua Stream, down a completely untouched native forest track to a sublime waterfall. This really is the most beautiful stream I have ever seen in my life. You must ask permission to walk here as the approach to it is over private property and it is Waahitapu (sacred) to local Maori. We were enchanted like flower fairies as we skipped along over rocks, and through palms to the waterfall at the end.

We ended our day in Opotiki, where we have stayed overnight at the Opotiki Holiday Camp in town, again under a willow tree. Some red wine and pasta for dinner sent us into a wonderful carbohydrate-fuelled sleep.

Goodnight Candice-Marie!! Goodnight Keith!! Kiss Pwudence… xxx

* Loisels – beautiful unspoilt beach nestled in a secluded bay. Tolaga Bay – Cook cast his anchor here in 1769, has a very long jetty which Will and I jumped off (I lost my bikini momentarily), and were then kindly given a pile of mussels which some Maori guys had been picking off the pier ruts. We were going to eat them for dinner the next day, but silly Will kept them in a plastic bag in the fridge (which apparently kills them since they need to be able to breathe. Science eh?) Always store your mussels in a bowl.

Te Aroha Night Sky

Look at those disgusting teeth. And the shark's...

We spent the afternoon mooching around the shops, and then caught a bit of action at New Zealand’s National Aquarium. We saw lots of little fishies, including some that looked suspiciously like x-ray fish (Tris, Em – nod to you!), some sharks, some stingray, a huge crocodile, and a kiwi. We didn’t like to tell the staff that a kiwi and a croc aren’t quite marinelife. Especially since both kiwi and croc were happy to parade around accordingly for us to gormlessly gaze at for a while.

Then last night we made a brilliant last-minute decision to drive by Havelock North to check out the Black Barn Vineyard’s Open Air Cinema. We stumped up $18 each, and chilled out on the stunning terraces with our blankets and picnic (thank you Pack n’ Save for your lovely tabouleh – and this time I managed not to spill it all down the hill (see Camino blog post re. first day up the Pyrenees)).

Lashings and Lashings of Ginger Beer

The views of the surrounding countryside were absolutely first class stunning, and we were really lucky with the gorgeous sunset. A day of cartoon clouds ended with creamy watercolours in the sky. We met a lovely couple, Alex and Andrea from Vancouver who we shared travel tips with, and put the world to rights for a while. A bit of red wine and some freshly made popcorn later, the film started. What Just Happened is “a shrewd tale of a man besieged by people who want him to be all sorts of things – a money maker, an ego buster, a bad news breaker, an artistic champion, a loyal husband, an all-knowing father, not to mention sexy, youthful and tuned-in – everything, except for the one thing he and all the preposterously behaved people he is surrounded by really are; bumbling human beings just trying to survive by any means necessary”. Starring Robert De Niro, Bruce Willis, Stanley Tucci, John Turturro, Sean Penn and Robin Wright Penn, it was an ambitious film which, for me at least, never quite delivered. But, the beautiful setting made it all beautiful, so it didn’t matter.

Little Fluffy Clouds

After the film we spun back to Napier and freedom camped on Marine Parade for the night. Despite the supreme comfort of Samson the van, I woke up this morning with terrible lower back pain again (the results of my having turned 30 continue – but I have since figured it may relate back to the massage I received on my 30th birthday where I am now convinced Mr Masseuse Man may have put me out of joint). I am really wanting to now head back to Narelle, Louisa’s amazing acupuncturist who is just incredible. I had never had acupuncture before coming to Gisborne, but Narelle has been an absolute star in sorting out my back pain and my much unwanted and unneeded 30-something spots. My skin is so much clearer than it has been for the past year.

Tonight we are back in Gizzy and heading out for a Thai meal with Lou and Nick (all other restaurants are completely booked due to the town’s Jazz Festival).  Then tomorrow we will say goodbye for a few days whilst we head up the east cape, before we meet them again in Rotorua soon.

Much love, and hope you are all recovered now from NYE. Thank you for all your lovely messages. xxx

By the way, we have unfortunately stumbled across THE worst TV show ever – Perfect Catch. It is so ridiculously terrible it’s genius. TV does not get more dire than this.

Hello Mr Fishy