02/05/2010, Sandspit: Near Warkworth. North Island
Sandspit:
We were headed south toward Auckland and decided instead to go back to Whangarei. The van is overheating at every long steep grade. Better get someone take a look at it. A trip to AutoTech turned up evidence that the radiator flow isn't flowing like it should. Price tag? $900 bucks! While we were waiting out the three day weekend I decided to pull the thermostat to see if it was corroded and to remove it if it wasn't. No worries. Someone already removed it. That means, they knew there was a problem before we bought it. During the time when the mechanic was evaluating it, he got grease on the seat and I transferred it to my last pair of shorts. The Pit Bull in me came out. I chewed his head off. JUST COVER THE DAMN SEATS! It doesn't take a f****** genius!
The weather over the weekend was just ghastly. I don't think I've ever seen it rain this hard outside of a tropical squall. Buckets and buckets and buckets... and blowing on top of it. It only rained like that for twenty four hours but the wind blew a near gale for four days. At least it was warm. Maybe 75/68? Just wait. We'll soon be on the South Island. Mother nature will have her revenge. I'll be Jones-ing for a wet June in Seattle. After almost four years of endless summer, I'm not looking forward to it. Know what I mean Verne?
Never did get the van fixed. We decided saving the $900 bucks would compensate for a few hours pulled over at the side of the road to let the engine cool off. Good thing because we learned something new today. We already knew that the NZ police can set up a road block and check you for almost anything anytime. No Constitutional probable cause protection here! "Get out the shootin' iron, Martha. Them Redcoats be a comin'."
Today's lesson was Diesel Miles. They're really kilometers but they're still mixed up over this Imperial/Metric thing. Instead of just taxing diesel at the pump, you have to buy Diesel Miles! You can buy them at any Post Shop (and register your car, etc.) for $40 a thousand miles/kilometers. We were six thousand miles/kilometers over. The van was over when we bought it so we paid for someone else's miles! Capital C-R-A-P.
Four hundred and change poorer, (no $700 ticket because we were dumb foreigners), we drove on into Warkworth and out to the Sandspit Holiday Park. This is a great little spot. The place is made up-with its several buildings looking like a street in an old town. Complete with antiques. If you're into collecting old farm equipment, come on down! It's laying around everywhere. There's lots to do in the area. A ferry goes to Kawau Island and Tiritiri Matangi Island, a wildlife refuge. Just up the road is Goat Island Wildlife Reserve. There is a boat trip from the mainland to either island. You can also swim or snorkel out to Goat Island, a hundred yards or so offshore.We stopped for lunch at a sawmill convertedto a brewery for lunch. Cute place with San Francisco prices.
I've been playing around with Flax. You see its use in its primitive form by the Maori and other Pacific peoples - used for everything from baskets and hats to fishing line and lashings for Wakas: giant fifty man and more Maori canoes. Believe me, the stuff is tough. I guess it can also be manipulated to be soft enough for clothes. I'm going to use it to make traditional fishing lures and to string shells. Maybe I'll get my face tattooed and...
New Zealand is having a raging flag debate. Half the country yells "Get the British Union Flag out of the corner!" The other half ranting "Keep it the way it is for old Mother England." Jeez, Get a flag of your own for crying-out-loud. Who wants to be known as an appendage to a faded colonial power? What kind of statement is that? Once they decide to change it, the debate will deteriorate into a squabble over design. Canada's flag leaves no doubt who they are. Neither does the U.S. Stars and Bars or Switzerland's big white cross or Japan's Rising Sun. Personally, I think they should get a map of the North and South Island with Stuart as the anchor and print it large - corner to corner on a blue background to represent the surrounding oceans The shape is distinctive. The message clear. "We are New Zealand. We are here!"
Hey! Speaking of maps, here's a supposedly authentic treasure map. Wm. Kidd was about the only Privateer/Pirate who ever buried any of his loot. Try finding it on Google Earth.
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01/30/2010, Whangarei
To a T:
We heard about the talking Tui, 'Woof Woof' at the Wild Bird Refuge located in the Whangarei Heritage Park and Kiwi House. We had to see this. Woof Woof has taught two other Tui to talk - supposedly a rare event. He can also whistle Pop goes the Weasel and say something (I have a hard enough time with human Kiwi accents). The other one goes "Yep, yep." Then talks back. It's a scream. Unfortunately, they're behind wire in dim cages so I couldn't get any pictures.
I did, however, get pictures of the thirty some Model T's at the park for a BBQ! We'd seen a few around Whangarei earlier and this was a real treat to have so many in one place.
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01/27/2010, North Island
We're still puttering around the North Island. The house is overheating on steep hills so I'm trying to get a handle on the problem. Maybe the radiator or maybe the waterpump... maybe we'll just ignore it and stay away from long, steep grades? Adjusting for foreign exchange, they still want twice what a WP replacement on my Audi cost in the States, and Audis ain't cheap anywhere you have to fix 'em.
South Island has been seeing a spot of lousy weather, but it's still relatively nice up here. We found a great holiday park near Waipu and spent several days there. The Kiwi crew in the next campsite provided a bit of entertainment with a Sundowner Hour and shared a nice piece of smoked fish and a few Coronas. Watched John fishing with something that looks like an aquatic T.O.W missle. He attaches a series of hooks along the main line, flips the switch, and his missle tows the line out into the ocean. An hour later, they drag it in and count the fish. The day's catch was twenty pounds of seaweed and zero fish. You win some, you lose some.
Don't forget to look at the photo galleries.
Toodles
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01/13/2010, New Zealand
More from the road:
From Whangarei to the West Coast to the Kauri Museum, to New Plymouth to Auckland to the Coromandel Peninsula to Taurangi and back to Whangarei. We're on the second phase of our road trip 2010.
The weather along the west side of the island hasn't been anything to inspire us but things like the Kauri Museum are well worth the effort. Farther afield, on the road from nowhere to New Plymouth, one of our front tires decided to separate the tread from the belt, resulting in one hell of a lump that signaled a quick stop. Couldn't find the jack so Liz flagged down another Mitsubishi van. Oh-oh... we didn't have one. No worries. He'll loan his! Oh-oh. He has the jack but no lug wrench. The second car we flagged had a wrench and we were quickly on our way. Oh-oh... everything in New Plymouth is closed for four days over New Year. We'll have to wait to get new front tires. If we hadn't had all the problems, we'd never have discovered that there was music in the park every night and all the paths are lit with colored lights and decorated with fanciful sculpture! Four days wasn't a problem.
While we were waiting, we discovered that the Leonardo Da Vinci exhibit was in Auckland. Things like this are the things I really enjoy so we started north, spending a night in Hamilton. The Hamilton Botanical gardens were certainly worth a separate visit, but since they were right on the way back, it was a happy bonus. The Da Vinci Exhibit featured working models of many of his visions and it was fascinating to see the creations rendered in materials available at the time of his study. I'm sure that all he lacked to pioneer manned flight was an internal combustion engine - not invented for another five hundred years. If he could have long enough, I think he would have thought of that too.
From Auckland, we've been exploring the Coromandel Peninsula. All the campgrounds facing east are a zoo. People everywhere. The Kiwis really take camping to a whole new level. More Protected or not, It's still windy and not all that warm in this, the height of summer. The weather service claims it's windier than normal too. No argument from me.
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12/19/2009, North Island, NZ
Reruns:
Yes, we're doing New Zealand again this year. Having the boat down here with us was too much of a distraction. We'll be able to really see it this time around.
Flying as opposed to sailing from Fiji saved us, oh, ten days? South Pacific Airline actually serves real food! If you're tempted to come this way and don't want to sail across the Pacific, fly anything to LA then SPA to NZ.
We arrived in Auckland a day after the Wind Dancer crew and discovered that they were right across the hall in our downtown hotel. What's the first thing Americans say to each other when they meet somewhere in the world? "Have you seen a Mexican restaurant?" Seriously.
As New Zealand has a serious shortage of Mexicans, there is a serious shortage of Mexican restaurants... don't even think of ordering a Margarita. The Barbarians can't make one and they charge extra for salsa that would have Tia Maria hiding her face in shame. Otherwise, there is one in downtown Auckland and it rates two and three quarter stars. That's high praise on this end of the planet.
Day two dawned to rain so this was museum day. All day. It's a big one with an extensive Maori collection that deserves most of your attention. The Te Papa in Wellington also has first rate exhibits. A lot of the rest of the exhibits deal with New Zealand's very short and recent Colonial history, which doesn't grab my interest. The Zeke (Mitsubishi built Japanese Zero) and British Spitfire do, however. Partly because the Spitfire's Rolls-Merlin engines also found their way into Unlimited Hydroplane racing's fastest boats - back before they started using hair dryer motors. (helicopter turbines).
We bought a van the next day and set off for Whangarei where I quickly converted it into a mini-touring camper. The road out of town for the so far unexplored West Coast of North Island took us to Dargaville - nothing to recommend- and on up into the Kauri forest reserve; home of the largest surviving Kauris'. Of course the largest, some thirty six meters around was logged off years ago. The two big one left are 15 and 16.4 meters around at chest height. That's 53.3 feet.
Next on the agenda was a bus tour to Cape Reinga; the second most northerly point in NZ. The most northerly doesn't have a road. Cape Reinga is supposed to be where the Maori souls set sail for the afterworld. All I found off that way was Tonga and Fiji, but what do I know? Part of the trip was stops at the Kauri Kingdom to look in on the life of the old time gum diggers (used in fine violin varnishes, etc.) and a stop at the giant sand dunes for a little boogie boarding.
We're working our way around the top and down the East Coast to be back in Whangarei for a Cruiser's Christmas. Yesterday we stopped to climb St Paul's Peak, an extinct volcano plug and camped in the shadow of the Rainbow Warrior Memorial overlooking Matauri Bay. Once it was raised from Auckland Harbor where the French Ops sank it, it was moved up here and scuttled offshore; the propeller being the only souvenir Enjoy the photo gallery. It may take a day or two to get them up. After all, I'm on permanent vacation!
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12/14/2009, Suva, Fiji
Suva
We (4) rode the boat back up the river from Thanksgiving at Robinson Crusoe to the rental car, compliments of Hafiz Abdul, and headed for Suva - more because it is there rather than any specific agenda.
Unbeknownst to us, the Miss South Pacific Pageant was underway complete with a carnival. All the downtown hotels were booked so we chose the Peninsula Hotel, about a mile up the hill. Nice place. Dining room, bar, pool... everything you need.
Suva has good shopping and a broad selection of restaurants; Chinese, Indian, you name it. The bay has some nice views and a selection of rusting Chinese fishing boats similar to Pago Pago. I think they're everywhere there are fish stocks to decimate. Seems to be S.O.P. Standard Operating Procedure wherever you find the Asian fishing fleets. Not that our tuna fleets are much better. They just aren't as rusty.
One of the highlights is always a trip to the museum and botanical gardens anywhere. Although small, the Suva museum has a nice collection of local modern and historic art.
On the way back to Vuda from Suva, we took a side trip up into the mountains to the Raintree Forest Park for some hiking. The Raintree Lodge is sited on a pretty little ten acre lake; a short walk from the park. It was raining (Duh... Raintree.). The people at the lodge loaned us umbrellas which of course we didn't need the minute we had them, but it was a generous gesture.
The hike was fun. Wild orchids seem to prefer roadside ditches to more aesthetic locations, but I'm sure they have their reasons. Besides the flora, the hike features waterfalls and a series of pools. It's just nice to get off the beaten track and spend some time in the cooler, wetter forests instead of a steady diet of sandy beaches and palm trees.
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