Across the Tasman Sea

Two months on.  We are still here – flying out of New Zealand after a lovely five weeks travelling around both Islands.  One big change during this time – Ian has entered his 7^th decade giving us lots of excuses to indulge! Not that you two need any excuses I can imagine you thinking!  We left you as we arrived into Perth, with Kieran, Alasdair, Tom and Lucy and partners flying in to meet us for Christmas and New Year.  Standing waiting in the arrival hall (which Ian did 3 times in 24 hours), there was a lovely message on the doors where we stood observing many ‘Love Actuallyesque’ reunions.  “The  best Christmas present is about to walk through these doors”.  So true! 

 I had booked the seven of them into the historic old prison in Fremantle (now a YHA albeit with double en-suite rooms) while we had a rather swanky one-bed loft style apartment down the road in South Freo.  This enabled us to cater Christmas lunch (complete with Oysters) after we had started the day Australian style with a swim on South Beach (thanks Jo for the tip). 

Christmas Day walk

Roberto admiring the view

Airbnb’s have served us well on this trip.  After a rather disastrous start to our use of them, when we turned up last September in Marseille on a double rugby match weekend to find our apartment looked as if it had been burgled, we have been hugely impressed with our accommodation down under.  

The lovely gardens of our Airbnb in Yallingup 

The highlight more recently has been the variety of outdoor bathing features.  The swanky apartment mentioned previously had a fabulous outside rain-shower situated in a jungle garden, much used by all! New Zealanders like their hot tubs and we have enjoyed quite a variety over the weeks.  We started in Auckland in a Japanese styled tiny house– the slightly precarious ladder to the loft bedroom and very low ceiling, was made up for by the cedar soaking barrel tub in another jungle garden.  In Taupo, we stayed in what was outwardly a fairly ordinary motel.  But on the patio outside our room was a thermal pool which we could fill at will from the natural hot springs which ran under the building.  The spring water gushed out at such a temperature that you needed to cool it by adding cold.    Several properties have had outdoor baths, including on the balcony at Lamington National Park with views for miles across the hills.  And at Hamner Springs (the clue is in the name) we had a cute shepherd’s hut with a an outdoor woodfired bath.  I always knew there was good reason to marry a former Scout leader!

 

Ian with Blair & Judy

We have steered clear of the traditional camper van – my first experience of this in New Zealand had some memorable moments.  Night one we camped in the middle of nowhere and I decided to shower with the hook up at the back of the van – two minutes later and I had drained our water tank!  (There is a reason we have a 500l tank on our boat). And as we threw open the doors at Milford Sound, in swarmed hundreds of sandflies that then kept us company throughout the night.  We should perhaps have had a few lessons from Blair and Judy, Ian’s Mum’s cousins whom we dropped by for lunch on our way to Wellington. At 88 they are still touring round in a van they converted themselves.  Indeed, their busy retirement left us feeling dozy as they regaled us with their tales of adventure over a lovely lunch together.  Following Lyn and Wes (see last blog) we have caught up with a few more family members, including Graham who is the youngest cousin in our Irish family where I am the eldest.  At 34 he and his girlfriend Carly fitted in well with our offspring when we met them on Boxing Day for the Big Bash cricket in Perth.  

Boxing Day Brunch before the Big Bash Cricket

Travelling in Australia and New Zealand is relatively easy – the language is English, they drive on the left and you are made to feel incredibly welcome everywhere you go.  But every now and again you are reminded that there are some serious differences with the Motherland as some people here affectionately call the UK.  Perhaps the most striking has been the incredible power of natural phenomena which we really don’t encounter much back home.  We mentioned the 1974 typhoon in Darwin previously but this Christmas Day the natural disaster felt somewhat closer to home.  We had spent the first two weeks in December in Tamborine Mountain, where we got to know some of the residents visiting the local bridge club.  Less than two weeks later, on December 25^th, the area was devastated by a tornado – knocking out power for 11 days, and causing devastation to the beautiful, forested community.  Somehow it feels more real when it is somewhere you have been with people you know.  

 

The Bubbling Earth

The Huka Falls

New Zealand sits on various fault lines, and in several locations, we have come across Tsunami warning notices.  After the introductory blurb, the general advice seems to be to run up the nearest hill!   The bubbling earth at Rotorua complete with sulphur smells is one of the few things we have both done before which we both felt compelled to revisit.  It is humbling to stand on precarious wooden walkways next to the earth boiling just inches away.  We even went to see these phenomena in a local park in Rotarua, which has to be one of the best free tourist attractions in New Zealand.  In Christchurch we came face to face with the full force of earthquake devastation.  Thirteen years on from the last major quake and a fair bit of the city is still under construction, including the beautiful cathedral.  The church which has been restored is now a funky bar where we met Ian’s goddaughter Meg to catch up ten years of news.   We spent a couple of hours at an exhibition which tracked what had happened in February 2011, including a very moving film with personal accounts of how the day unfolded.  I did not know about liquefaction where the earth literally melts and mud bubbles up as the earthquake happens.  Nor did I appreciate that thousands of aftershocks rocked the city for over six months afterwards.  On the Wednesday afternoon, we strolled over to the cricket after catching up with friends John and Vicky, who have moved to work as doctors in NZ.  As we sat on the grass embankment at Hagley Park, we spotted smoke out on the hills beyond the city.  It did not abate all afternoon, and in fact turned out to be a vast heathland fire in the suburbs which then burned for the next two days.  Wildfire notices are even more prevalent than Tsunami warnings, and evidence of burnt trees in many locations shows that they are all too frequent. 

Stunning scenes in NZ

 

But don’t let the above deter you; New Zealand is breathtakingly beautiful.  The crystal-clear streams tumbling from glacial mountains are as pure and fresh as you will see anywhere.  The country is still relatively empty, and everywhere you go there are fabulous walking and mountain biking trails.  We spent three days on the stunning Abel Tasman track on the north coast of South Island.  Situated in semi-wilderness, you are taken to the start by boat and then walk the 60 km back along the coast staying at beachside lodges as you go.  It rained heavily on the first day but the lodge had hot showers, drying rooms and plenty of wine to warm us up.  On days two and three the stunning coastal coves peeked through the trees around every corner, turquoise waters glinting in the sunshine.

 

Walking the Abel Tasman

We have continued our usual activities, including park running as a family in Dunsborough and walking or occasionally cycling most days.  Two new activities are now added to scootering in Northern Territory.  Alasdair organised a game of Padel tennis on Boxing Day - a fun cross between squash and tennis, where all 9 of us swapped in for a few games at a time.  We have also discovered the electric bicycle – and are smitten!  Our first try out was when we spent the weekend with Stephen and Joanne, friends of Ian’s from his time working in New Zealand 30 years ago.

Jo’s 60th birthday cake for Ian

 They live in the gorgeous town of Havelock North, close to Art Deco inspired Napier (rebuilt after an earthquake in 1931) and right in the middle of the Hawkes Bay vineyards.  A fabulous weekend of wine tasting and eating ensued, and we were able to travel at super quick speed between destinations thanks to the battery assisted pedalling.  The electric bikes came into their own even more in the last few days on Waiheke Island off Auckland.  It is basically an island of hills and vineyards, and we could not have travelled the 35km we did without extra power to get us up the steep slopes.  Downhill Ian reached 55km at one point, which I think meant he broke the bike’s speed limit. 

 

Picnic on Waiheke Island

One other notable day out was a Picnic at Hanging Rock.  We had met Sue and David over sundowners in Kathrine Gorge and they suggested we meet up almost three months later in Melbourne where they live.  David is English (Sue gleefully introduced him as her souvenir from her days travelling and working in the UK) and in a complete coincidence, an Oxford contemporary of mine.  They took us to Hanging Rock and produced a stunning picnic before we climbed up to the famed overhanging stone.   While in Melbourne we also managed to get to the Open Tennis – our visa mandated we depart Australia after 90 days on Monday 15^th January.  With a stroke of luck, the tennis started on Sunday for the first time in the tournament’s history and we made full use of the opportunity arriving at 11am and leaving after midnight.  Tickets are much easier to come by than for Wimbledon, and even with ground passes you would see lots of good tennis.

 

Our five weeks in New Zealand have flown by, and as we departed this morning, we vowed we will be back.  We have sketchy plans to return to Wanaka in South Island – we rather fancy a summer there followed by some cross-country skiing in the winter.  The lake is stunning; it is surrounded by treks and biking paths and the bridge club was super friendly.   Wanaka also boast a boutique cinema complete with food and sofas – so friendly we went twice in our five days there.  Nothing to do with the warm freshly baked cookies they produce in the intermission of course– though interesting to find that Malta is not the only place where there is an interval during the screening.  

 

The Wanaka tree - the most instagrammed in the world

On the subject of bridge, we have now notched up 18 different clubs during our trip.  Last week in Christchurch we scored a surprising win coming 1^st out of 15 North/South and scoring 60% on Ian’s 60^thbirthday.  I like the symmetry!  Before you think it does not sound like much of a night out for a big birthday celebration, we had already spent the previous night at a Chef’s Table with 6 course tasting menu and paired wines.  We never dine out on Ian’s birthday – its Valentine’s Day!

 

Chef’s Table at Inati for Ian’s birthday

With four weeks to go (time really does fly when you are having fun) we are now heading to Tasmania followed by the coastal drive from Melbourne to Sydney.  We look forward to some Spring weather on our return, though we have taken the precaution of planning to spend much of April and early May at our home in Spain, just in case we struggle with the cold!