Sunday 16th February - Keri Keri Market day

Well I said I would not Blog for next few months however we did a day trip down to a nice town called Keri Keri which is about 40 miles South of here to visit the farmers market .
The sun was shining when we left and it stayed out most of the day and we arrived after a glorious drive up and down hills, via lakes and sea  and mountains until we arrived safely at around 10.20 gosh a bit early for us.
We wandered around the market and looked at the local produce which apart from vegetables also included Manuka Honey at an extortionate price, these must have been golden bees. There were local soaps and creams, sausages of all types,and trinkets galore.
Anyway after a good walk around when we agreed that the supermarket was about 30% cheaper and just as good we purchased a bratwurst in a baguette from the man with the BBQ and moved on.
We had some shopping to do but it was around 12.15 so we decided on an early lunch in a local cafe and an excellent toastie ham and cheese with tomato, best so far, and then on to New World for some shopping.
A few sirloin steaks and pork chops and a couple of wine bottles later we headed home with Jennifer driving this time.
A pleasant afternoon in the maisonette watching the kids on the beach and then we popped down to our hosts Brian and Sheila to meet a guest who is staying with them for a week and so a glass of wine later we headed back for our excellent ham salad dinner.
Great day!! still watching the water levels of the River Thames & River Wey back home. its like watching a dagger getting nearer then going away again and quite painful really.

Sunday 9th February 2014- Time to go North

It was a nice morning with sun and when looking out the Novotel window was amazed to see loads of historic and classic cars entering the racecourse as no doubt there was a show on. See link
http://www.concours.org.nz/
there was Daimler s, Rolls R, MG's Bentley's and one by one for about an hour the filed in and all my camera batteries were flat so no photos.Damn, this can be a problem when camping and with no direct source of electricity. We have to keep mobiles, then Ipods and Pc up to date and so the camera batteries came last.
Anyway after a quick breakfast, always expensive in Hotels so we went for the continental and then departed to meet our friend Sheila who's maisonette we are staying in at a house near the airport.

From there we headed North through Auckland and the roads were surprisingly busy and this was no doubt do to a public holiday on Thursday last and so people take an extra day plus weekend and get out of town.
We stopped part the way up for a coffee and what turned out to be a delicious sausage roll and then via Keri Keri for some New World Shopping and then finally arriving in Taipa around 4.30 pm.
We unloaded the car and started to make ourselves at home for the next seven weeks and then joined Brian and Sheila and some other friends for a  BBQ before heading back for bed around 9.30 pm as we were both a bit tired.
So tomorrow we start a normal lifestyle of beach walking, cooking and shopping and meeting friends and sunbathing and swimming so we will not continue this blog until we leave for Japan on 2nd April, as everyday here for the next few weeks will be as above.

Saturday 8th February- Auckland Bound

Well of course it was chucking it down when we awoke and so a cup of tea then let’s see what the weather is like after breakfast, still not good so let’s have a shower, damns its worse. Oh well lets go back to the tent and see what we can do.

We started packing all the internal things, bed, sleeping bags etc and also our travel bags and then suddenly it stopped raining for about 45 minutes and so we packed the car and just finished packing up a still partly wet tent before the heavens opened again. Our mind was so much on packing etc then one hour after we left the site we realised we had left behind some goodies in the fridge, oh well never mind.

By 2pm we were in our Hotel room and enjoying the luxury of a room and shower and loo, altogether in one area and then at 5pm headed of to an area called Newmarket where we went to a Wagamama Restaurant followed by a film called ‘Gravity’ which was very clever technically but lacked substance. When we arrived at the cinema at around 6.15 the sun was shining and by the time we left the rain was back. Let’s hope tomorrow is better.

Noel has also been following up on an English film director he met many years ago in Los Angeles and used to stay in his house when visiting the City in the Hollywood Hills, The chap died in 1990 in Kawau Island in New Zealand and so he is trying to find out whether Don lived in NZ for a while or was visiting friends.

It was one of those relationships that lasted for several years and distance and changes meant that we lost contact but it is worth following up with the Kawau Island administration. Keep you posted on outcome,

Friday 7th February 2014- A quiet day at the office –almost

A slow start to the day with the weather looking decidedly poor for the time of year, however, not to be outdone we decided on a little drive up the the coast to try and find the town called Miranda.

Well after an hour going north and back doubling we could not find the town anywhere at all and therefore gave up. We both fancied a coffee and the first place we stopped at looked a disaster and then about 20 mins later we found another café which also sold food, so perhaps a hot dog or sandwich but NO the fish and chips coming out looked really good and so we shared a pack. Oh dear there goes the waistline.

We have been considering what to do on Saturday with the weather forecast for our location looking poor and so after great discussion and a glass of Chardonnay we decided that perhaps a night In Auckland would be good and it might tie up with mine hosts wife Sheila arriving back from California which would enable us to give her a lift home to Taipa. So we looked at various Hotel websites and thought we would try the New Zealand HOTWIRE site and as a result we are booked at the Novotel in Auckland for a B good price.

Then back to camp where we did some reading and later in the day a guy towing a Bailey New caravan arrived and so we got chatting to him and we got on very well and they offered us a drink but we decided not to but just go and cook our evening dinner of Pork Chop with salad.  

We went back to the Tent and shortly afterwards it started to pour with rain with the promise of rain overnight and through tomorrow, great. However we are quite snug in out tent so now worries mate!

Thursday 6th February- A trip around the Coramandel Peninsular

We left the camp site around 0930 in the greyish weather and headed east via Thames in the direction of Whitiangi and crossed the hilly areas and by late morning it was raining. Oh dear, not what was expected.

About ten kilometres outside of Whitiangi we cam to a corner w

here it looks like a local travelling to fast in his car had hit the side of a Large camper van and making quite a mess of both vehicles but thank heavens nobody appeared to be hurt.

The on to Whitianga where we had a coffee and a cake and then a walk around the town but we did when driving see a very expensive housing area where you could moor your boat at the bottom of your garden for quite a chunk of cash no doubt.

Then we continued around the coast until we reached the town of Coramandel where we had lunch of a homemade pie chips and it really was very good and tasty indeed. Then on to travel on the Driving Creek Railway which is an amazing piece of personal engineering started by a potter who wanted to mine clay from up the side of a mountain and built a mini train to bring down the clay only he started to run out of money and so his bank suggested that he turn the rail road in to a paying venture and as a result is caters to thousands of tourists per annum who take the trip ap the hill for about one hour. At the top of the hil they have built what the call the ‘EYEFULL TOWER’ where you can see the complete coastline and Auckland on a very clear day, which it was not.

We drove back to the camp site and feeling quite tired as the roads are winding up and down for hours on end so it takes a lot of concentration because if you go to fast there is nothing to stop you falling down the mountain, no barriers at all!!.

We enjoyed cheese and biscuits for dinner and also met in the kitchen a couple who had a New Zealand made caravan and we chatted to them for a while.

Looks like rain tonight. 

Wednesday 5th February- A casual day in camp

No rush to get up and nowhere to go so we had a slow breakfast and Noel did some emails and Jennifer was spending a lot of time reading. Just what we needed.

The Japanese couple with their two kids were making a typical Japanese style breakfast for the kids who were having rice and what looked like a hamburger but the kids really tucked in and clearly enjoyed it. Our scrambled egg was quite tame compared to what they had.

Lunchtime passed with a ham roll and then we took it turns to read and zizz until dinner where Jennifer made Chinese stirred chicken and mushroom with rice washed down with a nice cup of English breakfast tea, u cant drink wine every night we think.

Tomorrow we are off touring the area for the day and will be visiting the town of Coramandel and will going on a small track train, should be fun.

And so to bed.

Tuesday 4th February 2014- It’s time for Miranda

A slow departure as Noel was checking all the TV channels to see if the Man City and Chelsea game were being shown. It was not on TV but he then tried BBC 5 Live Sport and they started talking about the game and then an announcement cut in saying you could not listen due to copyright, Damn and Blast.  However by watching The Telegraph teletext of the game CFC were one up by the time we left.

Yesterday’s weather was brilliant but this morning it had changed for cloud and looked like rain but anyway we drove up the coast through small towns and stopped for a coffee where they had Wifi and so Noel was delighted with the football result. Well done CFC.

A couple of points not mentioned previously is the price of fuel in New Zealand where petrol is about £ 1.10 per litre and diesel £ 0.75 all quite cheap really and useful for us considering the mileage we are doing.

We arrived in Wahia and went to the supermarket to purchase food for ther next couple of days and decided on a sirloin steak and salad tonight followed by brie and cheese biscuits and all washed down with a glass or two of a nice Barolo wine from OZ.

The camp site location is near the beach and sea and on a very quiet part of the coramandel area and we were a bit worried when we arrived had we chosen the best place and the site is certainly extremely nice, well laid out, super kitchens and bathrooms and very quiet. We had tried to book at a site we had stayed at in Wahia beach some years ago but they were full up and so were several others as there is a New Zealand festival on Thursday this week when the kids are on holiday. But this place is great and not too far from the action.

The sirloin was cooked on the griddle and was really excellent, bus as the cook I think I am entitled to say that, and so was the cheese. We spent the rest of the evening reading in the comfy lounge and looking forward to another night on our comfy blow up bed. We got fully set up this afternoon in just about one hour as a result of having practise and now saving about 30 minutes for putting up the tent and taking it down. We plan an easy day tomorrow with no driving or going anywhere as three days driving is enough for anyone.

It was strange after staying in South Island and also the South of North Island to arrive towards Auckland area and of course there are loads of cars, shops and houses and trucks and container yards , oh to be back in the quiet .

Monday 3rd February 2014- Martinborough to Whakatani

We had about 550 kilometres to do today and bear in mind it is 90% single lane roads but what a fantastic drive yet again. We passed rolling hills, mountains with snow on, gorges with fast flowing water and finally the odd volcano or two. The journey took us via Taupo and Rotarua (where you can smell the sulphur in the air) and then on to Whakatani where we arrived around 18.00 hrs and we were both a little tired after the long drive but also having enjoyed it immensely at the same time.

Whakatani is a nice little town and we found with help from the receptionist an excellent restaurant which is renowned for its seafood and we both had the fish of the day which was snapper baked and placed on top of potatoes and pesto, absolutely brilliant and we almost licked the plates. We had a short walk around the town and there certainly appears to be some money here with the expensive new apartments overlooking the sea and quite a few bars and restaurants. Would certainly come back here sometime should we ever return.

Back to camping from tomorrow night in a place called Miranda in the Coromandel peninsular.

Sunday 2nd January 2014- Via Picton to Martinborough

We were up quite early so ads to get the tent up but we were able to raise it on the grass in front of the motel rather than the church fields. So by 1015 the tent was very dry (almost) but certainly dry enough to pack up again and stow in the boot of the car.

We had a coffee nearby in Blenheim then to kill a little time we walked around a Toyota car dealership looking at the various models and then drove the thirty minutes or so to Picton. We arrived at the ferry port just after 1215 and so were early in the queue and then we were loaded around 1315 for a 1400 departure. Our previous experience on the Interislander has been poor in the past but this time we had a better ship and it had the equivalent of club class which provided free booze, which we ignored, and also free lunch which we did not know about either having just eaten our lunch rolls in the car whist waiting for loading so will need to check the website more carefully next time to see what is included.

When we got on board suddenly the weather really changed and the clouds disappeared and the sea was a sparkling blue and the crossing was very attractive but due to the poor weather when we arrived I did not bother to bring the camera from the car which was a real shame but never mind the photos are now in our brains.

By 1715 we were off the ferry and driving to a place in the hills called Martinborough where we were due to stay at the old fashioned Martinborough Hotel which turned out to be quite nice really. The room was large and with a large balcony where we sat and enjoyed a glass of wine and then went down to bar and we sampled a pint of prawns and a plate of BBQ spare ribs which we shared as neither of us was really hungry. We then walked around this little town which seems to rely on the vineyards for its main business.

Coming back to the drive from Wellington it was great as we climbed and climbed with very winding roads with several thousand feet drops and only protected by a light wooden fence, Umm not good to make a mistake here but it was a great journey.

We have a long day tomorrow so bed was early.

Saturday 1st February 2014- Oh no its still raining

We awoke to the sound of a light rain on the roof of the tent and thinking to ourselves, damn!, as it never great packing up a tent in the rain. Anyway first things first, a cup of tea then consider how to proceed.

So around 0800 we started packing up all the beddings, chairs and food boxes etc until such time we could start loading the car and by 0900 all was complete, it takes much longer to pack rather than the usual way when it’s not raining but then the rain was quite heavy and so we gave up and went for a breakfast a had a good chat with the Ugandan couple and also another New Zealand couple who live in Christchurch who came for a pleasant weekend in Akaroa and by 10.00hrs they had gone home as the weather is not going to improve they said. Oh well back to the packing and this time Samual the Ugandan farmer came over to help which was nice and by 10.30 we was done.. time for a shower and leave for Blenheim.

The drive from Akaroa took us the same way as we had first arrived in South Island and it was very wet at first up to Christchurch which took about 75 minutes and then it became dry but very overcast and grey and likely to rain at any time. So we continued North via Kaikora where the whales live and then on until we reached Blenheim around 5 pm and so in to New World for the evenings food and we bought some nice salads and Noel the great New Zealand invention the egg bacon and tomato pie, bloody brilliant.

We got to the Motel and we chatted up the owner is there anywhere we can put up the tent to dry it tomorrow morning and we looked at his garden around the Motel and agreed that there was not enough space and then said , I know where we can do it, I am also the gardener for the Methodist Church across the road and although I am Catholic, they will not mind if you put up in their garden for a while. Sounds like fun but just wondering what will happen if there is a service on tomorrow morning with the attendees sidestepping our tent raising activities.

So let’s see what happens tomorrow morning and that it is not raining. We must leave here by midday as we head to Picton for the Inter Island ferry to Wellington.

Friday 31st January 2014- Two Cruise ships arrive in port

We awoke to watch two cruise ships arrive in port; one was a Silversea and the other a Princess Cruise liner which no doubt deposited a 1000 plus tourists in town so we decided to stay away and have a quiet morning on site. Noel caught up with some blogging and Jennifer caught un with the washing. It was a rather grey day today, not cold, and perhaps not the best day for the tourists.

Around 5 pm after having a rather good lunch of lamb chops and salads in an almost empty camp, site apart from an electrician visiting the kitchen to disturb our cooking. Just before we went in to town an African family turned up and we watched them striuggle to put up their new tent but in the end we could not sit andf watch and so almost took over. They originated in Uganda and he was farming in a town about two hours from Akaroa and was down for the weekend, like many others who were arriving from Christchurch and surrounds.

After the tent was up we headed down to the public library for some free internet and catch up on a few things which we completed around 7pm but then it started to rain and so rather than sit in the camp site lounge again which we thought would be packed in view of the weather we checked out the cinema and then watched a Spanish film, partly filmed in Southern Ireland, we are not sure why? But it was a pleasant love story but perhaps to many stories in the film.

Then back to the site and it was only 9.30 and too early for bed so we went up to the lounge expecting a mass of people, but no, there was one New Zealander who watched the NZ versus India cricket match and the left us alone which was nice. Don’t like the look of this rain as we leave tomorrow.

Thursday 30th January 2014- A day in Christchurch

A a result of the car change caused by the accident a couple of weeks ago the replacement car is due its New Zealand equivalent of an MOT and so we agreed to bring it in to Christchurch for them to action whilst we did a little sightseeing. So we had an early start, for us, and left the site around 10.15 for the 50 mile drive in to Christchurch, it was lovely weather when we left but over the other side of the mountains the weather was distinctly different and much cooler and quite windy.

The car hire people lent us another small Nissan which when you turned it on spoke to you in in Japanese but we could not make out what it was saying, probably the Japanese equivalent of ‘have a nice day’ we think.

Our first port of call was a motor home dealer as we wanted to look again at what it is that causes this demand for expensive  motor homes to hire and so we took a look. Most of them have a double bed in the loft area of the drivers cab and its about 50 inches wide and about 30 inches high and it a comfortable coffin. No thanks…. But these were second hand motor homes with 50/60 thousand miles on the clock from ex hire companies selling at ridiculous prices £ 60/70 K. To rent these larger vans is in the region of £ 175 per day minimum for you to roam free as a bird and stop where you want except that is hard to do so they all congregate on sites at £ 35.00 per night and park within a couple of feet of each other, no way for us as we are in our tent with a lovely blow up queen size bed and loads of room and it costs us about £ 15.00 per night plus car hire for £25.00 per day so a damn site cheaper and even the motels we stay in when we don’t camp only cost say £ 60.00 per night.

We received confirmation from Interislander the company that operates the ferries across the cook straight and they use a strange mixture of 24 hour and regular clock times and so our ferry is shown as 02.00 pm and it actually leaves at  14.00 hrs, work that one out. Anyway I digress. Across the road from the RV place was of all things a MG car dealer, so we walked across and they are not bad, these were not automatics but a good size.

Then we walked around the devastation that is City, oh what a shame and so much damage. They have started the city rebuild but it will take years as many water and sewer pipes have to be upgraded first before they can start rebuilding. However the City Council and HSBC already have brand new building, as usual. We had lunch in a little place and both enjoyed the Lamb Rogan Josh Pie and chips, which was really excellent.

We collected the car and headed back to Akaroa and spent the rest of the evening in the park lounge reading and then off to bed after another nice day. The sky was very clear when we walked back to the tent which might mean it could be a little colder overnight but we are well prepared.

Wednesday 29th January 2014- Can’t wait for the fish and chips

We had our fry up this morning of sausage’s, bacon and egg and a few tomatoes and it went doe extremely well sitting on the bench overlooking the harbour. The large cruise ship from yesterday had left and the town shops reduced their prices back to normal and we purchased tickets for the film called, Night Train to Lisbon, with Jeremy Irons and Charlotte Rampling and several other well know faces who don’t get much work anymore. The town was very quiet and we wanted to check out the Library Free wifi as we planned to call our son and his wife later that evening to check on how their frustrated house move is going. But before that we had a glass of expensive chardonnay overlooking the sea, and worth every penny it was, and then on to next door where had the fish and chips and really great they are too.

The film was Ok, did drag on a little but we both enjoyed it in the end.

We did a drive up the scenic road to kill about thirty minutes before we tried skype to UK. We sat in the car with the PC on the dashboard where we got a reasonable signal and after a little delay got to speak to Michael and Becky in UK, by this time it was dark and so turned on the internal car lights but it did look strange whilst the free wifi is set to cut off after thirty minutes which it did part way through the conversation.

Then back to bed but there were some noisy campers today in the kitchen who did not leave the place by 10.30pm and turn the lights out as required, amateurs… These people who come and rent a motorhome and have never camped before, damn them!

Tuesday 28th January 2014- Another great drive

We had planned bacon and eggs this morning but both of us felt a little full after last night’s steak. So yoghurt and muesli it was. We left the Motel around 0930 and headed west and drove by several lakes including the fabulous Mount Cook Mountain range, photos to be added later, and it was really a lovely drive. Today Jennifer did most of the driving but for a coffee we stopped in a little place called Geraldine which clearly is a tourist driven town, you can tell by the shops. Then  on for a while and we reached the outskirts of Christchurch where we found a New World for topping up our food supplies and also a sandwich for lunch which we ate in the car. The drive out to Akaroa took about 75 minutes and is an interesting drive. Its flat and a little boring for about the first 45 minutes but then you start mountain climbing and the last 25 kilometres takes almost 45 minutes again until we reached Akaroa. This town was established by the French many years ago and all the street names are all French street names. Akaroa came about as a result of a volcano being here where the side collapsed andf the sea water poured in causing a lovely bay which is visited by many cruise ships; in fact there was a big Celebrity ‘Solstice’ Cruise Lines ship in the bay when we arrived.

It took about 75 minute to get set up and ironically they gave us the same site we had last time we came here about four years ago. For dinner a nice chicken and ham salad whilst Noel had a scotch egg and washed down with a nice cuppa sitting overlooking the harbour was great.

After dinner we went down town to check out the cinema and decided we would go the next day. We watched the sun go down and it got dark so we went back for a good night’s sleep.