February was the craziest month in our Hong Kong lives. Sorting (decluttering), packing, organizing, saying goodbye, hiking, planning our trip to NZ and Oz, hiking, eating, hugging, hiking. Oh, I seem to have repeated hiking! Managed to get a few great hikes in before we left Hong Kong. Before we knew it, our farewell party had come and gone, it was March 1, and we were at the airport with our small suitcases, waiting to board our plane to the Antipodes (I didn't know what that word meant before we started planning the trip!). Thanks to John and Margaret, who had done the same trip on their exit from HK a few months before, we were able to follow much of their itinerary. We also lucked out by contacting the Marlborough i-Site, which organized our car rentals, tramping expedition, and even booked several of our B&Bs.
We landed in Auckland, the only big city in the whole country - yes, Dorothy, we are definitely not in Hong Kong! A few facts about New Zealand: the total population is about 4.5 million. One-quarter of the people live in Auckland. There are 32 million sheep in the whole country. Sheep don't roam the countryside freely - they are always fenced in, so the chances of being stopped in the middle of a highway while hundreds of sheep block your way is negligible.
But I digress ... When we landed, we were greeted with smiles by everyone. We waited at the baggage carousel. Jeff's bag arrived promptly. My bag was nowhere in sight. Not a good way to start a five-week trip. I grumpily marched over to the service desk where a charming man calmed me down and assured me that my bag would be on the next plane to Auckland. It would be delivered to our B&B the next morning. By the time I left his desk, I was armed with a bag full of toiletries and an extra large t-shirt to sleep in. Plus a $100 voucher (NZ dollars are about par with our Canadian dollars) for clothes should I need/want to buy something (I bought a very nice blouse because the clothes I had been travelling in didn't smell very fresh after 12 hours in an airplane).
Ponsonby House was a charming and relaxing way to begin our stay. Lots of excellent restaurants nearby, and walking distance (for us) to the city centre. Convenient bus service, too. We were starting to unwind ... As we wandered along Ponsonby Road, we noticed that everyone was dressed in beach wear. Flip flops (or no shoes at all), shorts, sloppy t-shirts. The weather wasn't exactly conducive to surfing - cool and cloudy, about 15 degrees! Hmm, very laid back.
Delicious croissants with homemade jam got us started the next morning. Our hostess, Bernadette, assured us that she would wait for my suitcase to arrive from the airport. We were beginning to see why everyone raves about New Zealanders. They can't do enough for you!
As the sun began to peep through the clouds, Jeff and I began to follow the Lonely Planet walking tour of the city centre. We descended through Myers Park (named after Arthur Myers, the Jewish mayor of Auckland from 1905-1909), passing a marble copy of Michelangelo's sitting Moses, before arriving at the Auckland Town Hall, built in the Italian Renaissance Revival style in 1911. The four-sided clock in the tower was donated by Myers, who had championed the building of the Hall, and whose last official duty as mayor was to lay the foundation stone.
There's an interesting mural hidden away on a staircase commemorating the New Zealand Suffragettes. Wikipedia notes that there was a protest from proponents of the Auckland Art Gallery nearby who wanted to have the mural removed, stating that it has no artistic merit. However, in 2011 the City Council voted to protect this memorial in perpetuity. Speaking of the Gallery, it is the shining star of Auckland. We arrived in time for the excellent free morning tour (admission is free, too - when will Toronto follow suit?). The recently renovated building has received many architectural awards. The tree-like canopies of the exterior are built from Kauri wood - no trees were felled for this project! They have all come from recycled trees or those blown down in forests. Jeff and I found the collection of Maori portraits by Gottfried Lindauer very interesting, showing people in their native dress and with their personal cultural tattoos and scars. The sculpture on the right was designed to commemorate the "strenuous persevering and successful labours to improve the treatment ... of the insane".
We continued our walk through the University campus, passing the bell tower and University House, which was formerly the main synagogue of Auckland. There has been a Jewish community in Auckland since its founding in 1840.
After lunch, we took a city bus to One Tree Hill, a historic volcanic peak. As you can see from my previous photos, the weather had been lovely ... welcome to New Zealand where the weather can change in an instant. Our friendly bus driver informed us where the entrance to the park was located. As we began our long climb (182 metres on a winding road) to the top of the hill, the sky darkened and the wind began to howl. Picking our way through the sheep dung along the road, we carried on. By the time we reached the summit, we were soaking wet and very cold. I quickly snapped a picture of the city below and the statue of a Maori warrior in front of the obelisk before we hightailed it down the hill. Thankfully, the bus arrived as soon as we reached the stop - the same driver greeted us! We sat down opposite two elderly Chinese ladies who were chatting animatedly about my TaiTai necklace. In my best Cantonese, I told them that we lived in Hong Kong, and that I could speak "siu-siu" (a little) Guangdongwa. They didn't understand a word I said! Several other tourists on the bus were impressed with my mastery, though, and we had a lot of laughs on the journey back to town.When we returned from NZ, my friend, Julia, asked me if we enjoyed the food there as much as she and Michael had. At that point, all I could remember were numerous tasteless and expensive meals. When I re-read my diary, and after I had sorted the photos, I realized that we did have quite a few good meals, including one at Moo Chow Chow on Ponsonby Road. Fusion at its best.
The sun shone once again the following morning as we made our way to the ferry terminal. Leaving Auckland behind, we cruised to Waiheke Island, half an hour away. I can't thank my friend, Nancy (HK), enough for recommending this destination to us. Waiheke is a true vacation spot - sandy beaches, hiking trails, wineries, and more. It's where the rich and famous of New Zealand have country homes. What a great place to chill out! 
We stayed at Punga Lodge in Oneroa, a basic accommodation that reminded us of summer camp. However, the food and the service went way beyond basic. Not only was the breakfast delicious, but Dyan, the proprietress, served tea every afternoon - fresh baked scones with cream, or yummy muffins. We took very long hikes in order to earn those calories. Doesn't Jeff look like he's enjoying retirement?
Some photos of our hike the first afternoon. Happy campers.
We opted for a more strenuous hike the following day. Once again the morning weather was beautiful. Walking through vineyards reminded me of the Pilgrims' Trail in France. The grapes were just about ready to be picked. As the skies darkened ... we got lost ... (I am now famous for getting us lost in numerous countries). We were surprised to see WWII storage bunkers along the way! Although we were several kilometres from our destination, and although it was pouring, we didn't mind it too much since we were on a paved road at that point and eventually came upon some construction workers who pointed us in the right direction.
We soaked in the hot tub and then enjoyed a glass (or two) of Sauvignon Blanc with our fish and chips. A perfect ending to a near-perfect day!
The next morning it was literally time to hit the road. Back to Auckland by ferry and on to Jucy Car Rental to pick up our little Hyundai. We took turns driving around the busy block - neither one of us had ever driven on the "wrong" side of the road before. About 10 km past Auckland, the traffic thinned, and we sailed along until we (or should I say Jeff the driver) began to climb and wind and wind and climb up the road to Coromandel. The view was quite spectacular, but the road was a challenge, especially for neophyte drivers! Coromandel reminded me of the Wild West. One main street lined with shops and restaurants. I expected to see horses and buggies in front of the covered sidewalks instead of vans and SUVs.
We visited Driving Creek Railway, about 10 minutes from the city centre. An eccentric fellow began building this Disneyesque attraction in 1975. The one-hour journey was pleasant, and the view from the summit was spectacular.
Later on, we did our laundry, and then had an excellent meal at Umu. It's always a wonderful surprise to find terrific restaurants in out-of-the-way places. The best mussels I've ever had!
One of the pleasures of staying at B&Bs is meeting the other guests at breakfast. Robin, the owner of the Jacaranda Lodge, served a delicious breakfast, including lots of healthy fruit drinks. We all relaxed and compared travels. Robin mentioned that her brother was one of the foremost film directors in New Zealand, so the discussion soon turned to movies and television.
We made one last stop before winding our way back along the Coromandel Peninsula. The picture on the left was taken at a small national park along the way, which contains the tallest Kauri tree in New Zealand.
Rotorua was our destination that day. You can smell the sulphuric geysers and mud pools from miles away! In addition to its fascinating geothermal activity, Rotorua is also famous for its Maori culture. We paid a brief visit to the Museum of Art and History before freshening up at our B&B and heading off to Tamaki Maori Village for our evening entertainment. My expectations were rather low. I thought that the village and the food would be hokey and boring, but the evening turned out to be delightful! Warriors entertained us at the entrance, and, after entering, we were able to watch demonstrations of the different crafts that the Maori produce. Jeff had a great time learning to do the Haka, the ancient Maori war cry. Lots and lots of fun! (Please excuse the shaky photo - I was laughing too hard to keep the camera steady). After the musical show, we had dinner in a large hall. Coincidentally, everyone at our table was from Canada, including a young couple from Calgary, and a family of four from Barrie, north of Toronto. The Barrie mom is a librarian at Georgian College - we talked shop all evening! She was on sabbatical in Rotorua for five months, and her husband and daughters joined her there for part of her stay. The girls were lovely - they had joined the swim team at the Rotorua school, and had made lots of new friends.
We had a longer visit at the Museum the following day. Excellent overview of Maori history and culture. The Museum is housed in a beautiful historic building in the Government Gardens. The view from the roof offered us a glimpse of the surrounding area, as well as the serious croquet matches taking place on the lawn below.
Leaving Rotorua, we set out for Taupo, first stopping at Craters of the Moon to walk through the vast natural geothermal expanse. We were not allowed to step off the path - nor did we want to!
Before reaching Taupo, we stopped at Huka Falls for a photo op.
Taupo is on the shores of its eponymous lake, the largest lake by surface in New Zealand. We stretched our legs walking along the boardwalk before having dinner at Plateau, one of the popular pubs in town.
If you are ever in New Zealand, do not miss the glow worm caves! Our adventure with the Black Water Rafting Company was the highlight of our North Island visit. (Alas, no photos allowed)
We opted for the Black Labyrinth Tour underground through the caves, wearing wet suits and headlamps, jumping into our tubes and floating through the Waitomo caves. Occasionally we turned off our lamps and marvelled at the glowworms all around us. Glowworms are insect larvae that glow through bioluminescence. The three-hour journey was fun, scary, exhilarating, and exhausting. Of course, we were at least 25 years older than the average participant. Five star entertainment!
When we returned from the caves, we had a craving for any type of Asian food (true Hong Kongers). TripAdvisor guided us to the excellent Master of India restaurant, where we feasted on fresh Indian cuisine. Jeff was pooped from the day's activities, so he took a power nap between courses.
On our way again early the next morning. This time, our destination was Napier, a small city located on Hawke's Bay in eastern New Zealand. The main tourist draw of Napier is its unique concentration of Art Deco architecture. The 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake (7.8 magnitude!) destroyed most of Napier. However, within two years the city had been rebuilt completely in the Art Deco style. After watching a short film at one of the historic sites on the destruction and rebuilding of Napier, we followed the Lonely Planet walking tour of the city. Art Deco is one of my favourite styles of architecture, so I savoured Napier slowly. We opted for supermarket take-away and local Sauvignon Blanc that evening in our sub-par B&B (one of the few I actually complained about on airbnb).
We made our way south to Wellington the next morning, enjoying the last few hours in our Jucy car. When I originally made the reservation, I was a bit sceptical about renting from Jucy, a company I had never heard of. Jucy happens to be one of the largest car rental companies in NZ, and we noticed its cars and neon green camper vans everywhere we travelled. We dropped the car at the airport, and took the shuttle downtown. Once again, we got "slightly" lost finding our hotel, the Abel Tasman, in the centre of the city. After checking in, we stopped for lunch at the Penang cafe. The Malaysian air disaster had occurred three days before, and the Malay owners of the cafe had affixed a note on the cash register which said "Pray for people on Malaysia lost flight". Sobering, to say the least. We had been travelling for almost two weeks at this point, and felt far removed from the "real world".
Wellington is a pretty seaside city, the capital of the country, and the gateway to the South Island. The Te Papa Museum (National Museum of NZ) is world class. Like the Rotorua Museum, it contains many Maori artifacts. After visiting the Museum, we walked along the waterfront, admiring the rowers on the lagoon, as well as the interesting architecture of the Civic Centre.
Laundry night again ... and then pizza at Fidel's on trendy Cuba Street.
I am sure we covered 3/4 of the city on foot the next day! We began with a cable car ride to the Kilburn Lookout. After visiting the Cable Car Museum, we walked through the Botanic Garden, various historic cemeteries, past the Parliament buildings, and many of the beautiful sculptures and historic buildings in the city centre.
Cable car, the cable car museum, and view from the Lookout.
Botanic Garden with odd installations and the Rose Garden.
Historic Jewish Cemetery.
Water sculpture on Cuba Street.
Another story about the nice New Zealanders: When we were in Napier, I googled "things to do in Wellington". Lo and behold, the Arts Festival was on! We decided to book tickets to a play called Pasefika for our second night in Wellington. I did the booking online on my little iPhone. When we arrived in Wellington, I noticed that I had erroneously booked for the following week. Not to worry, the tickets were exchanged with smiles, no fees, and no fuss.
(Stay tuned to Part 2 of the Antipodean Adventure)
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