Tues April 23 We took the train from Bundaberg to Brisbane, arriving about 3:00pm. Our flight to Auckland was early the next morning so we decided to do a walkabout in Brisbane and spend the night in the airport. Having hauled our luggage from the train station to downtown, Dennis did a little reconnaissance and found a theater with a good selection of movies and times. We decided to put our luggage in lockers at the Brisbane train station to get around town easier, but after we dragged them all the way back to the station, we were told they had taken the lockers out to make room for more retail stores. So we lugged our duffle bags and backpacks back into town and the movie theater. We spent several hours watching Oblivion with Tom Cruise. Around 8pm we took the airtram from the train station out to the airport, bought some dinner, and settled in on the comfy leather couches for a night of restless, occasional dozing.

Wed April 24 When we arrived in Auckland we made a call to JUCY campers who picked us up a few minutes later. We had decided to rent the JUCY Condo camper which is equipped to sleep four (best if two of the four are children –would have been very crowded with four adults). We didn’t need to pull out the second overhead berth. That gave us enough head room to stand up in the van and a place to store our luggage. We were very happy with our choice – the condo van worked out great for us. It had a two burner stove, refrigerator with small freezer, sink, toaster, space heater, and minimal but sufficient cooking utensils. At first sight, Dennis scoffed at the toaster and space heater –little did he know what was to come. It did not have a bathroom – only a port-a-potty (which we never used) and no shower. But we had heard that New Zealand was very well set up for campers and we wouldn’t need those amenities. It turned out to be so true. New Zealand has a comprehensive system of Holiday Parks that have small cabins, spots for tents, and powered sites for camper vans and RVs. We were warned that they tend to fill up so we should make reservations. But, we were never sure where we would be at the end of the day; fortunately we never ran into a problem –the ‘off’ season was just beginning. Nearly all of these parks have community kitchens with stoves, ovens, microwaves, refrigerators, large sinks; some even provide pots, plates, and utensils. We only cooked in the van the first night. Thereafter we used the community kitchens. Cooking and cleanup was much easier and we enjoyed meeting the other campers. We’d take our dinner back to the campervan and watch a movie as there was a flat panel DVD player in the van and Dennis had picked up several DVD’s on the first day’s provisioning. The bright green and purple van was very distinctive and easy to spot and virtually everywhere, so we JUCY campers waved at each other as we passed on the road. It was a perfect choice for this 17-day trip. But it did confirm for us that when we start Phase II of our retirement we would like to have a small RV – something a bit larger than that van.

That first night we stayed at a park near the Auckland airport. We were very tired after spending the previous night in the Brisbane airport. We provisioned at the grocery store, cooked dinner in the van, and went to sleep to the sound of rain on the roof and thunder and lightning. We had very little rain during our trip, but this first night we had some heavy rain.

Thu April 25 First thing in the morning we set up New Zealand cell phone service and were raring to go. It was a sunny day and we decided to take a tour of Auckland. This would be Dennis’ first full day of driving on the left-hand side of the road and he was a little apprehensive of entering a bustling city like Auckland on his first foray. Virginia accepted full responsibility for navigation so Dennis could concentrate on staying on the correct side of the road and that worked very well. One of our travel books outlined a self-guided walking tour. It started at the historic Ferry Building on the waterfront. It was a tall brick building with a clock tower. There were ferries coming in and out and an apartment complex nearby on the waterfront that was built to look like a large cruise ship – strange. As we headed to the second site, we passed the Maritime Museum. We decided to take a quick look. Several hours later we had to run back to the car to put more money in the parking meter and then return to finish up the museum. We left when they closed at 4pm. It was wonderful; especially thrilling was Black Magic which won the Americas Cup a few years ago. They had it on display in the museum with a great system of ramps that allowed you to look at the boat from the keel to the deck. We decided we might have to see the rest of Auckland on our way back south, time permitting, as we were on a fast track to see both islands in our two weeks. We headed out of town towards the northwest on the Kauri Coast route. We arrived at the holiday park at Muriwai Beach after dark.

Fri April 26 We walked out to the beach. The winds were a bit wild but there were surfers out enjoying the day. It evidently is always windy here; they had an elevated protected platform for viewing and sun bathing. We headed up the west coast of the north island through the Kauri forests. We stopped briefly at the Kaipara Sculpture Gardens and then found a scenic viewpoint for our lunch stop – not hard to do. There are scenic viewpoints around every corner in this country. With the exception of a handful of relatively large cities, the country feels like one huge national park dotted with small townships. In Matakohe we visited the Kauri Museum to learn more about one of New Zealand’s natural wonders. The guide noted that “although the Sequoia may be taller and older, for sheer wooden bulk the Kauri has no equal.” Unfortunately there are few of these trees left due to logging. In fact we understand that both islands were seriously over logged of all kinds of trees and areas of reforestation were evident everywhere. We stayed at the Kauri Forest holiday park and took their night walk in hopes of seeing a Kiwi bird. We heard some, but didn’t see any of these elusive nocturnal birds. But it was a very pleasant walk and the guide provided lots of interesting information on the birds and vegetation of the area. It was also our first sighting of a glowworm (more on those later). Most of the holiday parks have playgrounds. This one had several large trampolines for children of all ages – Virginia, who hadn’t been on one in decades, had fun.

Sat April 27 We continued to travel north along the west coast. We were expecting to see rolling hills with lots of sheep, but instead we saw rolling green hills with lots of cattle. When we got to the Waipoua Forest – a Kauri Reserve, we took several walks in this beautiful rain forest. We saw Tane Mahuta (Lord of the Forest) the largest living tree in New Zealand (2000 years old, 168 feet high, 45 feet around), Te Matua Ngahere (Father of the Forest) the second largest tree in the forest, and the Four Sisters (four trees emerging from one trunk). We decided to pick up some fish and chips for lunch at a small store alongside the road. Dennis noticed an ad on the wall of the store for a local skateboard competition that was happening that day, so we drove there and enjoyed the competition while we ate our lunch. At Oponani we headed east towards the Bay of Islands. Along this route we stopped at the Wairere Boulders. It was a bit of a detour drive on a dirt road. The geology of the area is interesting. They say it is the only known ‘basalt boulder’ valley world-wide and that the erosion of the rock surface was a surprise to geologists. Prior to this discovery it was thought that basalt did not erode. They believe that the erosion is caused by the unique natural environment of the area - rain accumulating acid as it drips through the Kauri tree canopy. It was a beautiful walk, but Virginia would like to check out the claims with some of her geology professor friends back at the University. They added an element to make it fun for children with a few drops of well-placed paint on rock formations to highlight their animal-like shapes. We enjoy waterfalls and find it hard to pass by one without stopping. Our first such stop was at Haruru Falls. Dennis felt it necessary to climb down the rocks a bit to get a ‘better picture’ – ever the adventurer. We set up camp at the Beachside holiday park in Opua and did another provision run. Virginia had contracted a cold about day 2 of the trip and was feeling really lousy. Dennis could feel it coming on too, so we rested up the rest of that day. Dennis was a little green with envy as he watched a father and son unload two Laser sailboats from a trailer and launch them for a sunset sail that evening.

Sun April 28 The Bay of Islands is beautiful but the main attraction for us was hooking up with some of the friends we made crossing the pacific who went to New Zealand for the cyclone season (while we chose Australia). We drove over to the Opua Marina after lunch. We learned that there was going to be a seminar on cruising Vanuatu that evening which would be a good time to catch any other cruisers in that marina. We visited Phyllis and Don on Solstice whom we first met in the Marquesas. They walked us over to the boat yard to see Doug and Zulenka (La Luz) who were working on their new boat – appropriately named Sulenka (how could they not buy it when they learned the name!) Leaving Doug and Zulenka to their boat projects, we went out to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. It is a beautiful spot with a wonderful view out over the Bay and some interesting history. It is considered the birthplace of the New Zealand nation as it is where the Maori chiefs signed the treaty with the British. The treaty has since become a point of contention as it subsequently allowed the takeover of much of the land occupied by the Maori but it insured the future of influence and close relationship with Britain. Intricate Maori wood carvings adorn the Meeting House and the 114 ft. long war canoe which is hauled out by 80 rowers to celebrate Waitangi Day. We had a very pleasant walk through the beautiful grounds. There were no Maori cultural performances that day, but we had plans to catch one further south. We caught up with several friends at the seminar that evening and had dinner at the yacht club with Don and Phyllis (Solstice) and Judy and Jordan (Sea Turtle). It was a short, but nice visit. Regrettably everyone who chose to sail to New Zealand are not in a position to join the Indonesian Rally, so we had to say farewell again to all those there. But we couldn’t/shouldn’t linger and headed south and took our cold germs with us.

Mon April 29 Happy Birthday Kathleen (the ‘other’ grandma)! We drove south to Whangarei, driving through town and then taking a scenic detour on a loop out to the east coast. Along this route we saw more cattle ranches and in fact encountered one group of cows being herded down the road in front of us. The “cowboy” was seated on an ATV and motioned for us to follow him closely as he made a path through the herd for us. We stopped at Tutukaka to watch the surfers. Found another waterfall (Whangarei Falls) which had a nice trail down to the base of the falls and was a good lunchtime stop. We took a second scenic loop out to the east coast at Wellsford through the Dome Forest. We stopped at Sheepworld, considering going to the sheep shearing demonstration, but after a quick look around decided to pass. We camped at Orewa (Red Beach) holiday park that night.

Tues April 30 As we headed south we realized that we had now been in New Zealand one week and we weren’t done with the north island yet. Thus, when we reached Auckland we drove across the famous Auckland bridge (instead of walking it), decided to forgo the rest of the walking tour of the city, and headed for Mt. Eden. We didn’t want to miss the reportedly wondrous view out over the city and we were not disappointed. It was also interesting to look down into the defunct crater. We have visited several extinct volcanoes in the past couple years and none, until now, had green grass growing in it. Must be awfully rich volcanic soil. We headed southwest to Waitomo. Southwest of Hamilton we took the walk back (and down) to Bridal Veil waterfalls. We got a bit lost finding it, but were determined to see it. This was the tallest and largest falls yet. The downhill part of the walk (lots of stairs at one point) bothered Dennis’ knee, but it was through a lovely rainforest with beautiful plants. Determined to see a Kiwi, we visited the Otorohanga Kiwi House and Native Bird Park a bit further south. The ‘houses’ are very dimly lit so that you have a chance to see these nocturnal birds during the daytime – success! We stayed at a holiday park in Waitomo – home of the glowworm caves.

Wed May 1 The Waitomo caves were formed by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. We decided on the walking tour (versus a boat) where we got to see stalactites and stalagmites as well as the infamous glowworms. As the pictures in our gallery attest – the limestone formations were so beautiful and unbelievable. Some of them were such thin ribbons that you could see through them if you held a light up to them. The arachnocampa luminosa (glowworms) are a spider-like light-producing larva. After hatching, the larvae build a nest and put down a series of lines. The tiny larvae emit a light that attracts insects and the sticky substance on the lines traps the insects – their food. We have some good pics in our gallery that clearly show the lines. Next stop was Rotorua so we headed north back to Hamilton – only time we retraced our path – so that we could hopefully get to our next stop in daylight by taking the main road. At this point Dennis had gotten quite comfortable with driving on the left-hand side of the road. There are lots of roundabouts in New Zealand and he handled their left-hand flow with great adeptness. We could think of many places back home where roundabouts would be preferable to stop lights. The only time he experienced any problems was at night. It was disconcerting to see headlights coming at him on his right – he had to fight the urge to swerve right.

We arrived in Rotorua at dusk. It is the cultural center of the country for the Maori and is one of the most active thermal areas in the world. We were surprised to learn that there are only three areas in the world with active geysers, Rotorua in New Zealand, Yellowstone in Wyoming USA, and Iceland. So we only have one more to visit! We wanted to attend a Hangi feast, where the food is cooked in the ground by the thermal heat, and a cultural performance. We checked into the evening ones, but they involved quite a drive from our holiday park which was a ways out of town to avoid the omnipresent smell of sulfur and Dennis was beat from a long day of driving and his cold was now in full force. So we opted to chill in the van that night.

Thu May 2 In the morning we drove into town to Whakareawarewa, a “living Maori village”. Since we had attended feasts involving underground cooking on hot stones in both the Marquesas and Tonga, we decided to experience our underground-cooked meal in this village which is located in the middle of a thermal area. So instead of hot stones, they use the thermal heat to cook. This would add a little something different. It is called a “living village” because the Maori’s actually live in the village, as opposed to some of the other tourist attractions where the village is a mock-up. We spent quite a bit of time here touring the village, eating our thermal-cooked lunch, watching the mud pots and erupting geysers, and enjoying the cultural performance. The eyes play an important role in their dancing. They accentuate the singing with ‘wide-eyes’ (look at the pictures in the photo gallery to get the full effect). One of the dances was the famous Haka which was used to stir up the warriors before they went into battle. These days the famous All Blacks New Zealand rugby team performs it before each of their matches. We would have loved to see that. In the afternoon we headed south to try and make some headway towards Wellington. We had to scurry past many wonderful sites due to the shortness of our visit, and be satisfied with a wonderfully scenic drive. We passed by Lake Taupo and through the Tongariro National Park. We saw a variety of landscapes including some reforestation, flat plains with mountains in the distance, and rolling green hills – with sheep this time – and of course a waterfall. The Raukawa falls was not very tall, but a tremendous amount of water was pouring over the falls, making it quite thrilling to watch. We camped at Wanganui that night on the west coast. In addition to all the regular amenities, this park had an herbal garden available to the campers from which Virginia scored some dill, parsley and chives.

Fri May 3 We hit the road that morning to travel the final miles to Wellington – in the rain. We had rain the day we arrived on the north island and now a second time on our last day on that island. We arrived in Wellington around noon. We first stopped at the ferry terminal to arrange for our trip across the Marlborough Sounds to the South Island. We planned to see some sights in Wellington, including the botanical gardens, that afternoon and take the ferry crossing the next morning. But the rainy dreary weather coupled with our eagerness to get to the south island had us deciding that if there was an opening that afternoon, we would take it. They did have an opening 2 hours later, however they commented that it wouldn’t be a very pretty crossing with the rain. We ate our lunch waiting in line to get on the ferry (not the most scenic of our lunch spots). By the time we loaded the ferry and left port, the rain stopped and we had a lovely calm trip across the sound. We found a spot in a Picton holiday park that night.