Hello all,
I hope everybody is well and enjoying the weekend. We have had a fab two weeks on the Coromandel. Our humble abode (!) has served us well, and we shall be extremely sad to leave on Monday. Jae has been a delight to look after, amusing us everyday and keeping us fit! We haven't seen much of the cat, but she does like to join us in the evening when we light the fire.
There isn't much news to report in this blog really, as we have been mainly chilling out and enjoying having a house for the past two weeks. We have done plenty of reading, I have been writing and Phil has done more photo editing, we have walked 3 times a day and made daily trips to the beach. We went into the local town, Whitianga, a few times but didn't spend long there as we couldn't leave Jae for more than a few hours.
On Thursday we drove to Hot Water Beach....the name says it all! We took a spade and dug ourselves a hole in the sand, which provided us with a very warm bath! The water was BOILING! We had to dig a channel into the sea so that cold water filtered into our pool and cooled us down! It was an interesting and enjoyable experience. I think New Zealand is bubbling under the surface....any hole in the ground either smokes or boils!
Ann and Brian will return tomorrow to claim their house and dog back. We are cooking them dinner and then leaving on Monday morning. We will head to the middle of the North Island and spend around a week in Rotaroua and Taupo.
We hope to update you soon. We are still absolutely loving New Zealand. It is stunning.
Please keep in touch and send us your news.
Love Hana and Phil xxx
Saturday, 21 May 2011
Saturday, 7 May 2011
The Coromandel Peninsula
Hi all!
We have been having the most incredible time since my last blog. After our week in the Northland, we drove South past Auckland and then East to the Coromandel Peninsula. I didn't come here during my last visit to New Zealand but my Auntie highly recommended it, so we decided to check it out. WOW! It is absolutely gorgeous. I have never seen such fantastic views. We snaked our way up the West coast past inlets and bays and islands, and then over the mountains to Coromandel town. The town was small but very charming and full of colonial buildings. The peninsula is full of hippies and vegetarians so we had some gorgeous food in 'eco-warrier' type cafe's and restaurants.
We decided that it was time to get our hands dirty again so I took the WWOOF book out (it was beginning to collect dust) and contacted some people about doing some farm work for them. A lady called Ann responded, asking whether we would be interested in house-sitting for her, so we replied straight away and said that we would be with her on Friday. Great result!
We have been having the most incredible time since my last blog. After our week in the Northland, we drove South past Auckland and then East to the Coromandel Peninsula. I didn't come here during my last visit to New Zealand but my Auntie highly recommended it, so we decided to check it out. WOW! It is absolutely gorgeous. I have never seen such fantastic views. We snaked our way up the West coast past inlets and bays and islands, and then over the mountains to Coromandel town. The town was small but very charming and full of colonial buildings. The peninsula is full of hippies and vegetarians so we had some gorgeous food in 'eco-warrier' type cafe's and restaurants.
We decided that it was time to get our hands dirty again so I took the WWOOF book out (it was beginning to collect dust) and contacted some people about doing some farm work for them. A lady called Ann responded, asking whether we would be interested in house-sitting for her, so we replied straight away and said that we would be with her on Friday. Great result!
We arrived safely at Ann and Brian's yesterday. They are really great people and the place is amazing! The house is on a hill at the top of a steep drive and it is built out of wood. It is a U shape that centres around a sunny courtyard. We have an incredible room with its own bathroom and the views are to die for. The house is on 50 acres with smashing views from the top of the peak behind the main building. We walked up there with the collie this morning and saw islands, bays, cliffs, dense forest, mountains. It is one of the best views I have ever seen! They have also insured us on their 4x4 and given us permission to ride their quad bikes and motorbike on the property. They have a big TV, a very well stocked fridge and pantry, roaring log fire and internet access...and they gave us $200!!! I'm waiting for the catch...surely it can't be this good?!!
Over the next 2 weeks all we have to do is feed the dog, take her for a few walks a day and keep an eye on the power (they have solar and wind power that provide electricity but it can also be topped up with a generator). They haven't left us any jobs to do at all so we have a completely free schedule. There are some wonderful beaches and great coastal walks around so we are going to try some of them whilst we are here. I am looking forward to doing lots of writing and Phil is already out with his camera. He has just been out chopping wood with an axe for our fire this evening!
Well, I'm sure you all hate us now so I will stop bragging. Please send us your news as we love hearing from everyone. We have internet access readily available for the next few weeks so please ring on skype if we are online at the same time.
Lots of love,
Hana and Phil xx
Tuesday, 3 May 2011
Kia Ora!
Hello from New Zealand! We have thoroughly enjoyed our first week here, despite the heavy rain and howling winds! We arrived from Sydney last Sunday and spent 3 nights in a hotel in Auckland, which seemed like absolute luxury compared to our campervan in Australia. We took in the main city sights, but seeing as Auckland is a small city and it was pouring for the duration of our stay, we did quite a lot of cafe hopping and went to the cinema twice! The best thing we did in the city was to visit the ice bar. The bar is made completely from ice (even our glasses were ice) and was minus 5.4 degrees while we were in there. You are only allowed to spend half an hour inside the room, so we had one drink, played air hockey and had our photograph taken. It was a wonderful experience and a great start to our trip.
On Wednesday we picked our new campervan up. We have a much larger and well designed van now. It has been painted with green and brown Maori designs and is called Darryl. Luckily he is warm and snugly and has room for 3 people, so there is plenty of room for us and space for our bags and pots and pans etc. Once we left Auckland we headed north to the coastal town of Wairea where we spent the first night in our van. On Thursday, we went to the hot springs in Wairea. The thermal water bubbles up from under the ground and has created various pools, some of which reach temperatures up to 48 degrees! We spent the morning swimming and relaxing in the eggy smelling hot tubs and baths and also enjoying the awesome water slides which spiralled and twisted from great heights, eventually spitting us out into the warm water below. Philip and I were the only adults continually queuing for the 3 different slides!
As I said earlier, the rain this week has been torrential (I think it’s following us around the world). Villages and towns have been cut off, there has been a deadly tornado in Auckland and a state of emergency declared. However, we are British and used to this sort of weather, so we continued north and into the gales and downpours. The upside to this is that it gives me a wonderful excuse to nip into cafes and, on occasion, vineyards. We visited ‘Ransom Wines’ after our hot pool experience and shared a gorgeous platter lunch in stunning surroundings. New Zealand has some fantastic wines and everything here is much cheaper than in Australia...so we have to give all the food and wine a try! That evening we stayed in a campsite near a sailing club, so I did my Dad proud and went into the club for a drink. We were met by lots of elderly men who were very kind to us and gave us a free dinner. The Kiwi’s seem to be as nice as the Aussies.
On Friday we continued our pursuit of rain and followed the road north again to the Bay of Islands. There are 144 islands around Pahia and Russell, which are the main villages in the area. We stayed in Pahia and managed to find the only place in town showing the royal wedding..the RSL club (royal servicemen legion). The TV had no volume and we were thrown out just after they said ‘I will’ (I thought it was ‘I do’?) but we walked back to our campsite in the rain feeling patriotic. On Saturday we were lucky enough for there to be a slight break in the weather so that we could get out on a boat. We took a 3 hour cruise around the Islands and were given heaps of cultural, historical and geographical information about them. The highlight though was seeing masses of bottlenose dolphins. I couldn’t believe my luck! They were surrounding our boat and came right up to us to say hello. Philip has some great shots of them showing off in the water.
On Sunday we left the Bay of Islands and drove just south of Cape Reinga. We were hoping to see the top of NZ but the roads have been closed as bridges have collapsed. However we found a wonderful spot at the end of 90 mile beach and a campsite that had immense facilities with a roaring fire and TV. We planned to stay there for one night but fell in love with it so stayed there last night too. Yesterday we had a break in the weather and enjoyed some sunshine, allowing us to walk on the long beach and play lots of table tennis!
Today we enjoyed a very speccy drive from Aphiri through the Karri forests and along the coastline. We were extremely lucky as our original plan was to drive to Auckland today, but we kept stopping to gawp at the views, so we only made it half way down the coast. We are so grateful as it means that we missed the tornado that hit the Northern suburbs this afternoon. Instead, we loved taking the vehicle ferry across to Rawene and eating our lunch outdoors in the sunshine, walking deep into the forest and playing on the zip wire in our campsite this evening!
We aren’t too sure what are plans are for the next week yet. We are hoping to go to the Coromandel Peninsula but we may just stay put for a while and see what the weather does.
So our first week in New Zealand has been exciting, eventful and wet! The Kiwi’s are great and the prices here agree with us. The landscape is absolutely stunning and has already beaten Australia hands down! Sorry Oz...
We will try to update the blog again soon. I hope everyone has had a lovely long Easter and bank holiday break.
Loads of love to all xx
Saturday, 23 April 2011
On the road...part 4
We have come to the end of our journey in Australia! We finally made it to Sydney on Thursday having driven 7500 km across the South coast, through desert, rainforest, beaches, pouring rain, blazing sun and maddening distances. When we arrived in Perth at the beginning of Feb, Sydney seemed very far away, so it was a proud moment for us when we left our beloved van a few days ago. Despite being old and shabby, she got us here in one piece!
After leaving Melbourne a few weeks ago, we drove through Victoria to New South Wales, which is a breathtakingly beautiful place. We passed through Australia's version of Stratford Upon Avon (ours is better!), their Lake District (theirs is better!) and then into and up the coastline of NSW. We spent every day at a different seaside village or town and were awarded with stunning scenery of mountains, forests, beaches, lakes and, quite often, kangaroos. My favourite place was a spot called South Durras, as we stayed in a campsite that had the beach on one side and the lake on the other. We loved it so much that we got up before dawn to watch the sun rise so that Phil could get a good picture. That's dedication to photography!
About a week ago we went inland to a gorgeous valley called 'Kangaroo Valley'. It was a quaint and quiet little village nestled into a thick forest on the valley floor. There weren't any roo's there but there was the most stunning waterfall that I have ever seen. The Fitzroy Falls fell against a dramatic limestone cliff and into the valley far below. Check the photos out! After KV, we made the mistake of going to Canberra. God knows why it is the capital of this great country! There is nothing to do there other than see the parliament buildings and art galleries. Boring....
Our next stop was the Blue Mountains. Wow! The views there were amazing. I have never seen anything like the vast space and lush green vista's that can be photographed from the 3 sisters lookout in Katoomba. A must for anyone coming to Oz.
....And now we are in Sydney! Sydney is a lovely city and hasn't changed at all since I was here 4 years ago. We are a bit 'museumed out' so we have enjoyed just walking around and sampling the Sydney life over the past few days. Yesterday we took the ferry out to Manly and today we walked across the harbour bridge and ate in Darling Harbour. Just lovely!
And so I conclude our 2.5 months in Australia. The things that stand out as the best, or most enjoyable, moments are:
Seeing dolphins in Bunbury
Working in the kangaroo sanctuary
Becoming ace surfers (even if I say so myself!)
Sampling the delicious Australian wine on tours and tastings
Our stay in Melbourne
Walking in the Blue Mountains
However, what has made Australia so enjoyable for us has been meeting such honest, friendly and kind people. The Australians are in a class of their own when it comes to confidence and generosity. Those we have met have really made our time here so special and memorable. Despite the views I mentioned above, I don't think Oz is the prettiest country and it certainly doesn't have affordable activities on offer, nor does it have the weather that it is for some reason famous for...but what it does have is a terrific sense of adventure, great open space and the nicest people one could ever hope to meet. I will be sad to leave tomorrow, but I will be doing so with a smile on my face because a great time has been had here.
Australia rating: 8.5
After leaving Melbourne a few weeks ago, we drove through Victoria to New South Wales, which is a breathtakingly beautiful place. We passed through Australia's version of Stratford Upon Avon (ours is better!), their Lake District (theirs is better!) and then into and up the coastline of NSW. We spent every day at a different seaside village or town and were awarded with stunning scenery of mountains, forests, beaches, lakes and, quite often, kangaroos. My favourite place was a spot called South Durras, as we stayed in a campsite that had the beach on one side and the lake on the other. We loved it so much that we got up before dawn to watch the sun rise so that Phil could get a good picture. That's dedication to photography!
About a week ago we went inland to a gorgeous valley called 'Kangaroo Valley'. It was a quaint and quiet little village nestled into a thick forest on the valley floor. There weren't any roo's there but there was the most stunning waterfall that I have ever seen. The Fitzroy Falls fell against a dramatic limestone cliff and into the valley far below. Check the photos out! After KV, we made the mistake of going to Canberra. God knows why it is the capital of this great country! There is nothing to do there other than see the parliament buildings and art galleries. Boring....
Our next stop was the Blue Mountains. Wow! The views there were amazing. I have never seen anything like the vast space and lush green vista's that can be photographed from the 3 sisters lookout in Katoomba. A must for anyone coming to Oz.
....And now we are in Sydney! Sydney is a lovely city and hasn't changed at all since I was here 4 years ago. We are a bit 'museumed out' so we have enjoyed just walking around and sampling the Sydney life over the past few days. Yesterday we took the ferry out to Manly and today we walked across the harbour bridge and ate in Darling Harbour. Just lovely!
And so I conclude our 2.5 months in Australia. The things that stand out as the best, or most enjoyable, moments are:
Seeing dolphins in Bunbury
Working in the kangaroo sanctuary
Becoming ace surfers (even if I say so myself!)
Sampling the delicious Australian wine on tours and tastings
Our stay in Melbourne
Walking in the Blue Mountains
However, what has made Australia so enjoyable for us has been meeting such honest, friendly and kind people. The Australians are in a class of their own when it comes to confidence and generosity. Those we have met have really made our time here so special and memorable. Despite the views I mentioned above, I don't think Oz is the prettiest country and it certainly doesn't have affordable activities on offer, nor does it have the weather that it is for some reason famous for...but what it does have is a terrific sense of adventure, great open space and the nicest people one could ever hope to meet. I will be sad to leave tomorrow, but I will be doing so with a smile on my face because a great time has been had here.
Australia rating: 8.5
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