Road Trip #4 - Waiheke Island!

2007-04-01

Yay, it's roadtrip time again! Pieter started working 2 weeks ago and spent that time in Auckland on product training. Saturday morning I flew to Auckland to join Pieter in a little roadtrip adventure.


I arrived in Auckland after a quite uneventfull flight. Pieter met me at the airport and we set of for the first stop. Auckland ferry terminal. Now I'm sure you're wondering why we were heading to Aucland ferry terminal since we are ultimately heading south to Wellington. To be quite honest, the explanation is quite simple. Auckland is surrounded by quite a few small islands, which are quite off the beaten track... And that is exactly where we were headed. I head an awesome quote this week "The beaten track is an easy journey but the traffic is horrible!" hehe, anyhow, traffic or no traffic, we were straying from the beaten track, leaving the highway and hunting solitary spaces. Destination - "Waiheke island" Waiheke Island is a 45 minute ferry ride from Auckland harbour. Even the ferry trip is quite scenic. As we left the hustle and bustle of New Zealand's largest city in our wake (pardon the pun hehe), I turned my face to the sun and breathed freedom of salty air as a massive container ship parted the horizon... The route to Waiheke is littered with odd little volcano islands, seagulls, and a colourfull collage of sails in various shapes and sizes. Auckland isn't called the "city of sails" for nothing! No sooner had we arrived at the island than we were ushered to a tour bus and taken on a little joyride around the island. Waiheke has a vibrant close knit community of 7000 residents. It is a place where people still wave at each other as they passed by, where "the selling price of the house on the hill, you know the one with the great view?" is the talk of the town. Warm people, lovely scenery and lots of places you could get just lost enough to have an adventure!
(Have I mentioned the Norwegian ladies?)

Anyhow, our tour did somewhat of a round trip of the Island. The local rugby team were playing some club from Auckland with quite a few locals out in support. Next were the vinyards and hilly bit (everything is hilly but this part was even more so!) As we got to the pinnacle of the hilly section, Keith, our tourguide / busdriver interrupted his consant, and quite amusing commentary, with one of 3 pit-stops. We got out for some photo's and to enjoy the scenery. The amount of space and water that greeted this view destroyed any perception of distance you might have had. To the east the coromandel peninsula embraces your view leaving a huge gulf in wich the cloud covered great barrier island is only just visible. A few leagues down the cliff we were standing on lay a large white sandy beach, inviting indeed... The beach is split in two by a cliff-faced headland running through it's heart. The left side, and smaller one of the two is the local nudie beach and the larger, righthand side of the beach was the loacal family beach. Funny that! As it goes with little towns and small places, each cove and every hill has a story. We were lucky enough to have a tour guide that knew all of these and were all too happy to share them! It is quite amasing how colourfull the people are in small communities like these. They aren't part of a statistic, they're definitely not just a number and they're not even the "guy down the road with the nice garden"... Small places like this go as personal as "oh that's jim, he's a hard case but we all love him... you know his son played for the all blacks back in 1974, was quite the player too. Man he loves a game of footy (football)! I once invited them over for dinner and they damn near ate my house too giggle giggle, they sure are big boys..." Yup, small towns sure are different!

After our tour we stopped in the town centre and ate lunch while enjoying a "view envied by the gods"... Really people, even a picture worth a thousand words would not do the view any justice... The norwegian ladies did help some and with their excellent waitering skills and friendly conversation we almost missed our bus... To be honest, I couldn't care and wanted to stay longer but alas... we had to leave. Back in auckland we started the journey south. Pieter's new job lavished him with a new model Nissan station wagon. Space age ergonomics meet japanese enginuity. Enough said. We talked about this that and every other thing for the next 4 hours as we gradually won the tug of war and pulled lake taupo in sight!

Our first stop was just around the bend... that is if one of the largest volcanic crater lakes on the planet has a bend around which you could go hehe. Anyhow, around we went to find our host for the evening quitetly waiting (at 10 pm mind you)
The lovely Japanese people at "Samurai Lodge" - Taurangi took real good care of us, I highly recommend them if you need a place to stay in the Taupo area.

And with the usual happy ending... some photos! Same old thing, click on the image to see it full size :o)

The Ferry Building in Auckland... and the 2 remaining stooges

Auckland City Harbour
It's a hilly island with a massive hole...
You guessed it! Another Volcanic Island!

Boys are out to play...
See, the wind is your friend!

Highest trees catch the most wind.

Port Waiheke

Auckland in the distance - from the Port

Catch a birdie...

The port and some nearby Islands from a hill

Private beach anyone? That's great barrier island in the background.

Pretty bay on Waiheke Island

Manawatu Gorge outside Palmerson North

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Road Trip #3 - New Years 2007 (Part 3)

Whoa, back for more aye!? EXCELLENT! Back to our little tale of roads less traveled!
(Just a reminder, I moved the blog here cause this site allows for heaps of photo's and so I'll be posting some more! Double click on the photo's to see them in full size, or right click the photo you want to view and select "open in new window" from the drop-down list)

Sooo at this point in the road trip I've traveled from Wellington to Auckland with an overnight stay in beautiful Taupo. Then I picked a slightly shellshocked/jetlagged Pieter up at the airport. He actually survived both the 30 hour trip from Johannesburg and the rigors of New Zealand Customs!


Hehehe guys, I'll give you a little tip! If you plan on bringing golf shoes or fishing tackle into New Zealand be honest and upfront about it with the nice customs official (They pick the Massive Maori boys to do the inspections for a reason aye!) If he asks you if the shoes are new, tell him the truth or the dude will interrogate you to death and back, threaten to escort you to an airplane taking your lying hide back where you came from and slap a fine on you for good measure too! Moral of the story... Wash and shine your shoes! hehehe

Anyhow, I picked Peter up from the airport on New Year's Day 2007 and the fun part of this little adventure got underway. I showed Peter some of the sights Annelize, John and I discovered when we arrived in New Zealand. I'm still amazed at how certain areas in New Zealand's cities, towns and landscape reminds me of South Africa. For instance Auckland's southern suburbs has the feel of Johannesburg's eastern suburbs and any woodland area feels like Sabie in Mpumelanga. It's nNo wonder I feel at home here! The next stop on our journey would be Coromandel town. I've heard much about this little coastal gem and... yes you guessed it, I've a few photo's to share!

We departed from Auckland on 2 January 2007 and headed South before taking the route towards the eastern coast. After crossing a wide valley of farmland we crossed a short mountain pass and hit the coastal route snaking our way around a thousand bends , each more breath taking than the previous, before reaching the small town of Coromandel. At some points the surroundings reminded you of Ballito Bay on South Africa's north coast while the road hugged the shore of the Hauraki Gulf. We were blessed with amazing weather and rediculously calm seas. Sea? No my friends, in some places it looked like a lake, a very very calm lake!

Like I said, it was a wide valley to cross! Look, Pretty mountains!

Slap me silly and call me susan, a Jacaranda tree! For all the non-South Africans, that's the large purple flowered tree in the middle of the shot :) hehe

See, it looks like Balito bay!

On the way up the pass to get to the coromandel coast....

What movie does this photo remind you of?
10 points for the movie buff who knows their stuff...

Any of y'all ever been to Clarens in the Free-State?
This is the Kiwi version, very nice!

Is this a paddock with a view or what!?

On top of the pass, or world, take your pick!

Coromandel town is a picture of serenity. It's a coastal version of South Africa's Dullstroom... for real! (No fly fishing here sorry boys, that's available 2 hours south in Rotorua/Taupo!) We were lucky enough to enter town on the busiest day of the year (the ONLY busy day in the year!) when Coromandel town celebrated their Celtic Fair... Loads of music, people dressed in bright colors and the scent of suntan lotion inviting you to the beach mate! For a few minutes I was 6 years old again and on holiday with my family, good memories! We booked into a quaint backpackers, entertained our Austrian room mates for a bit and struck out to the beach... No no, not the beach, the HOTWATER beach! This place is just too much hehe... You can buy a shovel at one of the candy stores (snoepie winkel ouens) and uggghhhh well... You might ask why this is even worth mentioning, it's well known that children all over the world can get their little hands on a shovel and pale set when they get to the beach... however... At Hotwater beach in the Coromandel peninsula the shovels are... FOR THE ADULTS!!! Hehehehe... hahahaha... hehhehe some more hehehe Yea yea, it's for the adults... At low tide you are allowed to dig yourself a hot-water spa on the beach. HOW COOL IS THAT!??? You can soak in a spa while sunbathing and drinking in beautiful scenery of white beaches embraced by blue water nestling under even bluer skies. The water that "powers" your self made spa is subterranean water heated by Geo-Thermal activity. MATE! It's a must do! What makes this even more memorable is that there is a surf beach right next to hot water beach, hiking trails everywhere, canoing trips, and it's not crowded at all... awesome! (I know you Durbanites, Capetonians and Vaalies have NO idea what an uncrowded new years beach looks like!) Pure Bliss!

We spent a leisurely day at the beach then enjoyed a exciting drive back to Coromandel. True to form I decided to take a back-road which consisted mainly of some off-roading along mountainous passes, rivers and waterfalls. Where is my BMW F650 GS when you need her!?

This is 650 GS country!

The sign says it all.

Did I mention Coromandel reminds me of Dullstroom?

One of Coromandel's fine beaches...

That evening, after a leisurely stroll through town and a dinner of Fish and Chips, we slept through a deluge of note... Somewhere around 1am the rain told my brain that it was time to go relieve some pressure. Usually no problem but this particular backpackers only had one restroom area, and that was next to the main kitchen... in another building... Anyhow, I huffed and puffed and tried to hold it in but ran for my life instead! Luckily I got to the bathroom in time but the 10 seconds I spent in the rain was enough to soak me good and proper. Ever seen a half-a-sleep-totally-wet-south-african? Well, empty a 5 liter bucket of water on a sleeping cat and you'll have an idea. Not funny hehe, well, maybe a little!

Now listen carefully young ones, you cannot visit the Coromandel peninsula and not take the Kayak trip to Cathedral Cove! Got it? That's exactly the to do list for the day. We set of quite early, phoned ahead to book accommodation in one of the small coastal towns - all of which is remarkably fully booked over the holiday season as we raced to be in time for the Kayak trip. Our guide had brilliant local knowledge and related stories of the first Maori settles that landed at the exact same beach where our mission began, the preservation of marine life and the formation of all the small islands - remnants of a ancient volcano! Peter and I shared a Kayak... Well let's rather say he was in charge of direction while I did all the paddling. OK OK he did the paddling and gave direction while I took photos! Come on!!! Getting good shots is important, we take this photography thing seriously hay hehe... Photo's follow soon, I promise! Halfway through our trip we stopped at cathedral cove, a pristine beach with a cove and got served cuppachinos on the beach. Really Cuppachinos! I know this seems like a odd thing but how many of you have had a cafe quality Cuppachino coffee on the beach? I rest my case your honor. hehe The most amasing thing of it all is that the Tour guide brought all the coffee making stuff along in his kayak... brilliant! Our return leg saw much banter as we paddled close to shore. Every so often we would be silenced by the guide to listen to legend or just be forced to silence by towering white cliffs and stingrays gliding underneath us!

Pete the "mad" rower getting the hang of 4-way independence...

Weird Island...

Another Weird Island...

I'm sure you get the point!

Awesome! Yes we paddled through this one humming a tune!

I've heard of blue skies but this is just breathtaking!

White Beaches, Pristine azure waters, Forests...
Did I miss the pearly gates on my way in?

Kathedral Cove Beach, our kayak trips halfway mark...

Some more Cathedral Cove Beach...

The Infamous Cathedral Cove!

How's this!?

Our expert guide-beachCappuchinoBarista dude...
No I wasn't kidding about the coffee on the beach!

That evening we slept in Mt Manganui, one of New Zealands premier holiday destinations. This was definitely the most beautiful backpackers I've ever seen. We checked in and scouted the town for a lunch spot. That evening we met 2 great friends, Tim Kimball and Natasha Smit, a couple from Wellington. We joined them for dinner and had a really good time. Mt. Manganui is a quintessential beach town, it has all the surf shops, restaurants and vibe you would expect. At this point we've seen only sunny HOT (Not warm, HOT!) days and this town was no exception. There wasn't even enough wind to windsurf! (Good for sunbathers, bad for me!) It was also in this uber laid back surroundings of palm trees and beaches that I came to understand why some of my friends hate boy racers... Now for you guys who haven't been introduced to the boy-racing culture, here's a low down. Kids can get their licenses at 16 in New Zealand. Japanese import cars are cheap so the kids get their hands on some second hands, they drop and chop 'em, do rediculous mods to the engine and basically do not drive miss Daisy! One would think this is for speed but most of it is to drive down the main street of your pad at a crawl... not once, and not twice but a gazillion times... How can this be fun? I have no freakin clue but after my first day I was ready to stick someone's head up is own freeflow! Right, calm down... hehe The next morning Tim (new American friend) joined us for a hike up the hill that gave this town it's name... in one word AWESOME! White beaches as far as the eye can see, literally! Here's a photo, see!?

White Beaches as far as the camera lens can see!

Mt Manganui Harbour, Town, Sunset Beach strip and lagoon... in ONE SHOT!

Mom can I have one? Action photo's rock!

A little Mt Manganui recreation!

Why would this little town need an info kiosk? Let's see, white beach,
lovely ladies playing volleyball, hiking trails, bla bla bla, o yea, SHEEP too...
For real, check it out, they're everywhere!

And some more...

Aaaannnndddd, that's a wrap for this edition! Next time the I land on the site I'll have some detail of Rotorua, National Park and the last ride to Weliington, home sweet home!

Supafly out!

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Road Trip #3 - New Years 2007 (Part 2)

Imagine this, the Superfly is catching up... ha 2 posts on one day!

In the last part we reached Taupo.

So it's 1 January 2007, I excused myself from the new years party at the backpackers and retired to lala land. Around 6 AM I got up and prepared for the last leg of the journey to Auckland.


It was a cool morning in Taupo with mist hugging the hills. It hills actually seemed to be steaming! It's A L I V E ... OK enough of that - hehe :)

Steaming Hills @ Taupo

Before the trip truly got going I stopped at a cool tourist spot just outside of Taupo. "Craters of the moon" forms part of the "Volcanic explorer highway" and sure is a weird place... Steaming 24/7 , the volcanic activity keeps the forest at bay.

10 Points if you can make out what this is!
Post some comments on your Ideas and I'll let
you know how close you are!

Some of the craters

Some more of the same...

Does this remind you of the alien plants in "War of the Worlds" or what!?

The road from Taupo to Auckland snakes through small towns, forests and a million paddocks. I reached Auckland airport with forty minutes to spare and spent that time laughing my head off at Jeremy Clarkson's book "The world according to Clarkson". Pieter arrived a little late, after having to explain why he would dare bring his DANGEROUS golf shoes to New Zealand to a "nice" customs official. He even survived to tell the tale!

Just a note, double click on the photo's to see the full size version, it's worth it!

Auckland Skyline

More skyline

This is a monument to... wait for it
A POLITICIAN!

Politicians of the world listen up! If you
want a goal in life, be such a leader that
your followers will write this about you
once you're gone!

Pieter and I... blue sunny skies etc.

I booked us into Oaklands Lodge backpackers, you might remember that John, Annelize and I spent 2 weeks here during our first month in New Zealand. After this we set out to explore the City. I know Pieter had just spent the last 30 hours traveling but now he had some proper scenery! Here's a few snaps of Pieter's first sunset in New Zealand. It was a lovely day. This actually marked the beginning of the road trip. We were standing on the brink of a one week adventure down the east coast, around the Coromandel peninsula, via Rotorua and National Park to our destination, fair Wellington!

More about that in the next Part of this road trip, till then...

Supafly, out!



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