So sadly time to leave. We would both love to live here in South Island around Dunedin. If only ……

Oh and its a good thing we came early as ever to the airport because USA have changed their clocks last week and the flight is one hour earlier than we had in our itinerary!

So I will be able to upload pics now as wifi is good here in airport.xxxxx

More fromPasadena . We arrive 4 hours before we left NZ….we gain back our lost day xxx

So after nearly 3 months touring NZ it is our last full day today. We didn’t want to go into Auckland with all the traffic so we visited the Auckland botanical gardens close to Clevedon.

It was free entry,to our surprise, and we spent a couple of hours there. Now it’s Autumn here the summer flowers have gone but we still found lots of colourful plants there. There were monarch butterflies in the herb garden. It was so good to see them there. They had a good cafe there and we called back there later in the afternoon on our way back to the hotel. We walked all round the whole area over a huge hillside.

Can you see grandma and grandad?

Next we went along the seabird coast towards Miranda. We only saw a few kingfishers today.

We had the coastlines to ourselves most of the time and saw plovers, black swans, oyster catchers, herons, ducks, stilts, kingfisher, Swifts,birds of prey.

The wind got up in the afternoon otherwise it was a hot dry day. A good day to be our last day here.

I need to upload photos from Thursday and today. The wifi here is very poor. I’ll do it when I can.

So tomorrow we will gain the day we lost flying here. We leave here Saturday 30th March 2.30pm NZ ….and arrive LA at 6.40 am Saturday 30th March before we set off!!)

So our view on the unexpected B&B it was very good. The owner is Alan Von tunzelman(n) He is a very interesting man and could trace his family back to 1200s They have a coat of arms in Estonia. His great great grandfather worked for Zsar Nicholas and their family got banished, eventually fleeing to Scotland long story…His grandfather came to New Zealand to Stewart Island. Another long story ….As a young man his grandfather was the first person to land in Antarctica, because as the shore boat came to land he jumped out to steady it. The exact point is named after him. Alan has had an interesting life too, we spent a long time chatting to him each day as you can imagine. We got on very well with him and he said we were special visitors to his house!

We soon got to Auckland and made our way to Clevedon. It had been raining but began to clear. We headed for the bird coast opposite Coromandel and were not disappointed. There were so many birds to see. We have never seen so many kingfishers as we did today. We were able to spend a long time in a regional coastal park. We had the whole place to ourselves no one else was around.

Now we are in our hotel at the airport. No photos today the wifi is not good sorry

I will add them later from Pasedena when we get there on Saturday. Xxx

Hello….not many photos taken today I must be on the wind down….

Today after taking a wrong turning we ended up at Leigh and so went on to the marine reserve called Goat Island.

Here is a headland and rock pavement famous for diving and snorkelling to see the rich occupancy of sea creatures in this part of the coast. Large group of teenagers from a school had arrived and were visiting the marine centre and then having diving instructions.

Instead of exploring the sand and rock pavement we went on the cliff walk along the headland. It was a steep path up the hillsides but loved the views from up there. You can see the caves all around the cliffs and where the people are diving.

We explored a few more side roads and small bays/ river sites and reserves. They are all around this stretch of coastline.

So eventually we ended up at Orewa. The tide was in and the beach looked so different. The river was not so prominent and lots of the shells were covered by water. We did have a long walk along the shoreline and back.

At Warkworth we went back once more to see those old kauri trees and then back to the old cement work by the river.

So on to Auckland tomorrow to a hotel right by the airport for 2 nights. Our time in New Zealand almost over!

It will be good to not be living out of suitcases and in our own house again xxxx

Today we had our breakfast in a chocolate cafe. Our b&b paid for it for us. I had brioche covered in caramel syrup with berries and bacon and cream. Grandad had pancakes banana bacon berries all covered in dark runny chocolate and cream. Delicious!

Full of sweetness we set off for Leigh. Then we visited Mathieson bay at Leigh. It is famous for snorkelling to see many fish and coral. 3 people were swimming and someone was in a small boat fishing and 2 people were snorkelling. We were watching!

There are many bays and lagoons and marshes around here and we explored a few like Snells beach.

We then went to the marine reserve where we spent the rest of the day. It is a predator free zone and the whole headland is carefully being stocked with kiwi and other endangered birds and coastal plants. They are trying now to attract The gannets to and area at the end, this is their latest plan. Volunteers work there by planting plants and native trees and ringing/tagging birds.

We plan to go back to Tawharanui Open Sanctuary again. There are lots of walks to do there too.

Here are some of grandads photos, including his lunch!

It’s Monday already and we woke to hear the birds singing in the forest behind the house.

The Route 1 road Is called the twin coast discovery highway as either coast is easily accessible from this long thin stretch of NZ.

First we called at Port Albert. Here ships arrived at Auckland and brought pioneers mostly from Birmingham Uk to the area.

Read the plaques about them. It must have been such a hard slog to get established in this untouched land!

Port Albert turns out to be a bird watchers paradise. There are tiny crabs in the thick mud and many wader birds feasting on them. We saw pied stilts, herons, kingfishers, terns, and oyster catchers as well as many gulls, just in the short time we were there.

The weird thing was all the cracking clicking noises the mud was making quite frequently. Any suggestions why?

We explored this ” mainland island” as they call it. It juts out into a huge natural harbour, (similar natural harbour to smaller Auckland but not so deep) Then called at the main town of Wellsford. Motorways in NZ go straight through towns so you can imagine the noise of the huge trucks thundering by as you sit in a cafe!

Next we decided to explore the East side and Bream Bay.

At Waipu there was a sign post to a marine reserve and to our delight it was a beautiful salt marsh by a lagoon behind a sand bar. You could see the surf waves pounding on the shore on the far side of the spit.

We saw samphire and other fleshy plants growing in the sandy mud. The marsh was so untouched and as nature had created it . No sign of mans destruction here. There were stilts there and shells. I really can’t collect any more special shells , grandad would go bananas, so I photographed them for you and for me to remember.

The smells, colours and sights of the marsh I will remember for always, it was a beautiful place.

When we dragged ourselves away we followed the road along the coast a little way to Waipu Cove. This was a gorgeous spot too

A long beach bordered by rocks and hanging trees. Out in the Bream Bay were small islands. The sea was deep blue.

I have to pinch myself to remember all these places won’t look the same in the grey drizzly rain. We have been so lucky with the weather. Now NZ has had the best summer for years and the warmest Autumn so far too!

Now back at the B&B I am writing this looking out on 2 lime trees and 2 loquat trees that look like apples but you eat them with salad.

l

Sunday….We wanted to go to Piha sometime this week and today seemed a good chance to go. It is West of Auckland and as we travelled nearer we saw lovely views down to the sea from the hillsides. It was sealed roads all the time today. This is the view point looking over Piha.

We parked the car on the grass near the lagoon and there were deep reflections of Lion Rock in the water. Afterwards the wind got up and the moment was gone.

We walked over the boardwalk bridge to the beach. It is popular here at the weekend and lots of surfers were there along with the lifeguards. The beaches all around this area have strong rip tides and are dangerous to swim in.

It is so beautiful here with the rocks, lion rock and black sand, we were pleased we had visited this beach.

We travelled back north of Auckland and found a very long white sandy stretch of beach at Orewa. There were masses of shells in the fast flowing river feeding into the sea and all along the beach.

The beach is bordered by a wide grassy bank with picnic tables playgrounds basket ball areas, exercise equipment, all freely to be used. It is a good place for all ages.

We walked all along the river side and along most of the beach. There were loads of clam shells and oyster catchers pushing their long beaks into the sand to find food.

There was a nice icecream shop there too yummy 😋

Back in Warkworth we did more exploring. There is a park full of Kauri trees. 2 are very old specimens. 800 years and 600 years. Again we had to disinfect our shoes because of prevention of disease. There was a circular walk that climbed down steeply into the ravine below. It was fun being the only ones in this primeval forest. The noises of the leaves falling and the birds singing was eerie but a great atmosphere. The size of the trees is so impressive.

Dad had noticed a sign down to the old cement works by the river. This was a gravel road but not too bad. Down there it is very photogenic. He is going back there to take magical photos tomorrow morning.

There were pukeko birds down there and also I captured the beautiful sunset. I hope you like my photos today I’m proud of them!

Oh and the B&B is good with lovely gardens and a good breakfast feast too and a comfy bed…most important.

We set off from Hamilton this morning in the cooler foggy morning conditions we’ve had for a couple of days now. As we got on the motorway towards Auckland the skies cleared and it got hotter, very hot.

We decided to have a break at the services after Auckland city. there is a BP station where you can pay for the motorway road toll. its easier for us than using our mobile phone or internet.

At Warkworth we picked up a tourist map and decided to go to the beach at Pakiri.

To reach the beach the road goes up over the steep hills and then down on a gravel road to the Pakiri Beach. The beach is a very long with fine light golden sand lined by sanddunes.

It was so nice but so hot. After getting too hot we went back to our car and went down to the Leigh harbour. To get there we had to climb up the gravel road again, fortunately every time we met a car there was space to pass each other. At Leigh, the harbour was busy with people fishing and divers getting ready to go to the Goat island area. This is a marine protection area and has coral and many fish to see. You can go in glass bottomed boats to see the fish. That depends on the waves!!! for me…

So the surprise was we thought we’d booked a motel with a swimming pool, but not so.

It is a bed and breakfast without cooking facilities and no microwave or iron oops! it seems nice though but not what we were looking forward to for 5 nights.

Watch this space! xxx

 

 

We had an extremely long journey today. It took so long because the road, beautiful as it is, never stops going round bends and over valleys and hills. It needs lots of concentration as you drive along.

At 8am we set off early today. We wanted to capture the volcano and the Te Wera Wera bridge one more time. It was the morning misty conditions that stopped this sadly. Nearer Stratford the cloud cleared briefly and grandad managed to get this farewell shot.

We headed south for Stratford and the start of the Forgotten World Highway. The 151 km in total road, is unrelentingly, twisty, steep and full of magnificent views. The mist gradually cleared and we could see soooooooo far over the landscape. There are valleys in every direction and 4 main rivers cutting through the area. Each river has what they call a saddle of parallel hills jutting out cut deeply by tiny vertical mini valleys. It is very extraordinary landscape.

Half way along is a crazy town ” The republic of Whangamomona” that has since 1980s made itself a republic. It has its own passports, people flock there annually to celebrate its independence! We had our breakfast in the hotel pub.

A tunnel had been made through the hill at one part and cut out by hand inside. It was later on lowered in depth to allow the large animal trucks to pass through.

We next went down a gorge on an unpaved 7 miles of dirt track. Then the road became tarmac again. Eventually we joined the main road towards Hamilton. The Forgotten World Highway is 151 kms long. We’re really pleased we went that way for the experience, even though it took so long to travel along!

We followed 3 flatbed lorries carrying lots of beehives. The bees were flying out of them at times. We over took them…..then we stopped to look at our map ……and the lorries got in front again. Grandad teased me making out we were being followed by a swarm of bees trying to catch up to their queen bees!

We are now at the city of Hamilton for one night and we continue tomorrow to north of Auckland, our last location before we fly to Los Angeles.

Today we went first to Te Rewa Rewa bridge. Our luck was in and for a brief 10 minutes the volcano was in view!

We were pleased to get this view, very lucky. Soon the cloud rolled up to the mountain and covered it for the rest of the day.

We went to a lovely park in the centre of the city….. Pukekura park. It has a long thin lake to walk around, and in spring and summer there are many flowering bushes. It is Autumn here now and not so much colour, but lovely reflections in the water.

As I mentioned the volcano was covered by cloud but on a good day it looms up from this lake and you could get a great photo by the tea house here, never mind!

In town we took some photos of the art gallery. It is very curvy and covered in shiny stainless steel. It makes you look thin and fat. Here are thin pics only hee hee!

After our walk through the park we went to Mount Taranaki visitors centre, half way up the mountain. We looked at all the displays and videos and had our lunch here. No sign of the volcano we were standing on only clouds.

Now back at the motel we are getting ready to leave tomorrow.