16 - Farewell to Down Under

We said a quick good-bye to Auckland (not too sad to leave the city), and took a shuttle to the airport to begin our journey home, with a layover in Sydney. This is where Air New Zealand decided to rear its ugly head by weighing our carry-on luggage. Kathy's was twice what it was supposed to be, and the funny thing is, all she had to do is take out items until the correct weight was reached and hand carry those items through the checkpoint. Bizarre. Anyway, we then were all weighed individually as were all of our carry-on bags, coats, purses, etc. They let us fly, so I guess that's the important thing. Most of the day was spent jumping through the traveling hoops, the airlines, the airport security, the customs and immigration both for NZ and for Australia.

Once we passed into Sydney we jumped on the train and headed for the Hilton downtown. Wow, was it beautiful. The service wasn't that great, but the location was perfect and the room phenomenal. We were upgraded to a King suite. It was beautiful. For the rest of the day, we enjoyed our fancy digs and ate and drank a plenty in the Executive Lounge. We met some nice rich people and chatted with them for a few hours. A nice travel day, all in all. Oh ya, and we ended the day with a soak in our jetted tub.

The next day, we had some time to kill in Sydney, as we had an evening flight home. We did some shopping in the QVB (Queen Victoria Building) across the street before heading to the airport via train. The QVB shopping area is huge and it's both above and below ground and spread across multiple blocks. The building itself is a work of art, and it was decorated for Christmas. We ate lunch in the Food Court and finally found our way out and back to the hotel. The entire area is a maze and even Kathy, the Navigator, got turned around.

Queen Vic Building, as viewed from our hotel

Inside the main entrance, QVB

All dressed up for Christmas, and plenty of shoppers

The giant Christmas Tree was covered in Swarovski crystals

Then hoops, hoops, hoops and we made it back to the great old USA! In Portland we were greeted by friendly faces...we're home.

15 - Auckland

Before leaving the Coromandel Peninsula, we took a quick tramp at Broken Hill Goldmine, then drove to Thames, a quaint established community on the coast. We drove along the coast for a while viewing the little cottages that literally hug the steep coastline. There must have been a storm, because the water was angry and muddy.

Birds on the Thames shore

It was a 2 hour drive to Auckland. Like any city, the closer we got, the more traffic we encountered. Auckland is 1.4 million in population, and looks like any other city. We said good-bye to our friends and checked into the Hilton on Princes Wharf -- we decided to spoil ourselves on our final days on vacation. We stayed free, but rooms go for $600+. It was lovely. Steve got us upgraded to a harbor view - which went on forever, at least for the first day. We ate an amazing meal at the hotel's harbor front restaurant. It was Friday night and the harbor was full of sailboats, it was beautiful to see. Unbelievably, we missed the picture opportunity. Auckland is known as the City of Sails, and now we know why. Our suite came with a huge tub, so we had a soak and turned in early.

Hilton Hotel
Ferry Terminal

View of Auckland from our Hotel

The next day the weather was descent, not yet raining. We visited Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Encounter and Aquarium. They had King and Gentoo Penguins, who just happened to have their babies! By riding a snow cat, we were able to get within 6 feet of them. They were little, fuzzy and adorable. They have a replica of Scott's Hut and accoutrements of the 1910 British attempt to reach the south pole...all the party perished on the return trip. We saw stingray feedings, their shark tunnel, and the oceanarium. Because the waters are cold and deep off of New Zealand, they don't have the small, colorful fish associated with tropical areas.

Look at the Baby Penguin!

Bug (aka NZ Lobster)

We took the city bus back to downtown and did some shopping. It was difficult finding a restaurant because it was Saturday night and there was an All Whites soccer game on, so we had a quick dinner at a kebab shop.

A cruise ship showed up at 6:30am the next morning, docking next to our room and completely obliterating our view of the harbor. Instead, we got to stare directly into 2 floors of staterooms and a bar. And they got to stare back. Lovely.

Yes, our hotel is behind the ship....



Anyway, from the restaurant, we were able to see several flotillas pass us by on their Sunday sail. The sailing club seemed to be on an hourly sailing schedule and sponsored by Hyundai, since their name was on every headsail. It was a very rainy day so we weren't in a hurry to get out and about. For lunch we went into the America's Cup bay, where they have the Voyager set on a pedestal at the entrance. For a mere $125, you can sail on New Zealand's America's Cup sailboat for 2 hours. We saw them motor in and out several times, but didn't actually see them hoist the sails. These boats have some serious mast heights. Very little boat, heaps and heaps of sail. After lunch, we walked across town to the Auckland Domain, their version of Central Park. It was a nice park, but we're not sure it was worth the long and challenging hike there -- Auckland is not pedestrian friendly. It was great exercise, all the same. Because it was raining, we grabbed a quick Mexican dinner and turned in for the night. Oh, and as the sun set, the cruise ship left...so our harbor view was restored.

14 - Karangahake Gorge & Hahei/Cathedral Cove

The weather was a little cool, cloudy and misty, so we headed for the mountains rather than the beaches today. We drove the windy road to Karangahake Gorge, an old gold mine up the gorge of a river. (When we say windy, we mean it....we had turns being car sick.) We took a nice long tramp up the gorge through the Windows, the old railroad track that scaled the steep cliff and burrowed through pieces of it. The tunnels are called the Windows because they have periodic openings in the earth to allow in fresh air. We had to carry our torches (flashlights), some of the tunnels were very long and dark. We even saw glow worms! Tiny little worms that light up to attract any bugs in the area for dinner.

After hiking the gorge canyon, we followed the river upstream until we reached an old railroad bridge. We crossed the bridge and entered a mile long tunnel which brought us back to our car. In the tunnel we met ~50 senior citizens on a tour of the same tunnel and gorge trail. It was impressive to see the group on such a demanding trail. Those Kiwis are very fit! For lunch we stopped at a quirky cafe and had quiche and coffee.

We then drove through Waihi Town to view their open pit gold mine, called The Pit. It is so deep you can't see the bottom from the rim. It was a bit drizzly, so we called it a day.

The next day we packed a picnic lunch and headed for Cathedral Cove in Hahei, north of Hot Water Beach. It was a beautiful 1.5 hr tramp down the cliff to the beach below. The beach was beautiful and there were people sunning, snorkeling and jumping into the water from nearby rocks. (The water is not that warm yet, folks.) The primary feature of this location is Cathedral Rock -- a large natural bridge of rock that separates two beaches. Through the bridge you can view what looks like a haystack rock in the ocean, near the beach. When the tide is high, you have to swim around the rock to get to the neighboring beach, but during low tide, it's a short walk in the sand around the rock.

We also tramped to Gemstone Beach which is completely a boulder beach. The boulders in the blue-green water shine like gold gems when the sun hits them directly.

We picnicked then drove the still ever-winding road back home for an early dinner and so our friends could watch Coronation Road (their evening soap). Kathy got hooked on one Aussie nighttime drama -- Packed to the Rafters. That's TV programming for you...it sucks you in.

13 - Coromandel Peninsula - Tairua

Our first morning in Whangamata on the Coromandel Peninsula was sunny and "fine" and the Kiwis say. We had breakfast on our friend's patio overlooking the Otahu Estuary and all the birds and gardens. After breakfast we had a leisurely walk down the estuary, around the corner to Whangamata Beach overlooking the Pacific Ocean.










This beach is home to the Dotterel, an endangered bird. We watched them skitter across the beach for a long time. As we walked, We collected some beautiful shells and some mussels that had washed up on shore. We had the mussels for lunch, so apparently they hadn't been there too long.





Our first destination of the day was Tairua. There we hiked to the top of Paku Peak where we saw Tuis in the wild for the first time, but couldn't get a good picture. The peak had a beautiful 360 degree view of the Coromandel Peninsula and surrounding islands (comprising the Bay of Plenty).






Next stop of the day -- Hot Water Beach, which is exactly like it sounds -- a natural hot spring pumps steaming water up through the sandy beach. At low tide when the beach is exposed, people congregate at the springs, dig wide pools and soak in them like a natural jacuzzi. When the tide comes in and fills up the pools with cold water, it's time to leave. It was a terrific experience. There were nearly 75 people there.




We took the ever-winding road home for dinner, a sweet and bed.

12 - Tirau and Rotorua

Today, we had a traditional Kiwi breakfast -- muesli, then hopped in the car for sightseeing. We first stopped for coffee and sweets at Tirau, which is a tourist destination for locals. The town's novelty is its artistic display of corrugated iron sculptures -- each business downtown has one.

At Rainbow Springs we fed trout, saw kea, swans, tui, paradise ducks and a Kiwi (the bird, not the fruit)! Too bad none of the Kiwi pictures turned out. This was also the first chance we had to see an actual Silver Leaf Fern, New Zealand's emblem.

We had a picnic lunch in a city park in Rotorua (which is NZ's Yellowstone). We walked around looking at the steaming water and the boiling mud pots. The park is cleverly called the "Scented Garden". What? They didn't think we'd notice the scent was sulfuric? There were also two pools where the hot water was funneled into large sitting areas. We sat and soaked our feet for a few minutes.

Because it was late afternoon before we arrived in Rotorua, we opted not to pay the entrance fee, but rather peak over the fences and hedges to see the main attractions at Te Puia. They have a geyser similar to Old Faithful where it spouts regularly and for several minutes at a time. We had dinner at Gerry's - fresh tarakihi fish and chips, then packed our bags and left for Whangamata. The road to Whangamata winds through the mountains, so we were happy when we finally reached our destination.

11 - Train to Hamilton

The next morning we caught the train headed north to Hamilton. Train travel is the best! It's comfortable, spacious, and offers huge windows for viewing the countryside.

The train ride to Hamilton, where we were to meet our friends, was 9.5 hours, traversing two-thirds of the north island. We started in the green hills of the southern coast, then into the green, sheeped plains, and finally through tunnels to the volcanic plateau. The Raurimu Spiral is a corkscrew that winds the train down into the valley below the volcanic mountains. It travels 7 km in what is really only 2km in distance.

When we arrived in Hamilton, we recognized our friends immediately, though it had been 7 years since we last saw them. We drove a little around Hamilton then headed to Morrinsville, where Gerry lives. We had a lovely refreshment of cheese, bread, oil, and wine, followed by a dinner of chicken casserole and rice. Gerry lives in a lovely neighborhood with large lots and beautiful gardens. She made her famous pavlova, which is a Kiwi favorite -- meringue with a layer of sweet kiwi yoghurt on top.