Well this is a nice town by the sea. Apparently it fills up with students on their first trip away without mum and dad over the summer holidays. One to avoid then, then. Very popular with yachties as well. Although ‘people with boats’ seems to include half the population of New Zealand. Herbie was determined to show us how kiwi fruit were grown so we … Continue reading Nelson

Well today we leapt out of bed like young lambs and got a shuttle bus to the ferry terminal. Three and a half hours it takes, most of them getting out of Wellington Harbour and then into Queen Charlotte Sound. See map for details. Nice and very large ferry, just like crossing the channel only with less drunkenness. This is us leaving Wellington and then … Continue reading To the South Island

Well today we had a day off. No Herbie (our guide) and we got to do what we wanted. I did laundry – again – and then went to the Te Papa national museum. They had a very effective gallery about Gallipoli with personal effects, photos, film and models made by Weta, Peter Jackson’s lot. It was extremely moving. There was also a good Maori … Continue reading Wellington

Today I have spent most of today in the bus. Wandered around Napier before we left. Very pretty but it is interesting that the swimming pool had a notice on the door barring ‘gang symbols or insignia’. We stopped for lunch at Mount Bruce, a nature reserve. Although we only had time for lunch, we saw a kaka (endangered parrot) that arrived on the balcony … Continue reading Napier to Wellington

Sunshine! Lots of bus travel this morning – after a night spent listening to a stream of log lorries changing gear at the junction outside my room. Grr. The scenery is ace. Still incredibly hilly – volcanic one presumes – with trees, sheep and cows. And bungalows. Never been in a country with so few people in it except for deserts. It’s very clean as … Continue reading Gisborne to Napier

Well we started today again in pissing rain so there are basically no photos from this morning. We drove to Opotiki, also in the Bay of Plenty, a nice little town where we went to the museum – full of old domestic stuff (ooh my gran had one of those) and someone’s shooting collection. We then went over the road to the church, founded by … Continue reading Opotiki, the Waioeka Gorge and Gisborne.

One thing I forgot to say yesterday was how volcanic the scenery is round here. You move from rolling hills (see pictures of Hobbiton yesterday) to flat fields with bumpy protrusions anything from 3ft to 50 ft tall. Some of them were quite entertaining (sorry no pictures as I was on the bus), such as the large grass covered mound with a basalt slab standing … Continue reading Whakatane and the Bay of Plenty

So last night I met the group for the first time. There are 14 of us, all travelling on our own except for one couple. Our tour leader is called Herbie and is German, although he has lived in New Zealand for at least 30 years. It is now 24 hours since we met and we have already identified the woman who has been late … Continue reading On tour with the band

So, so far today I have had breakfast – fascinating, done some laundry – riveting, bought new trousers as yet another elderly garment died on me – mind boggling and managed bus travel around Auckland. Bet you can’t wait for the next episode. Anyway, after all that I went to the art gallery and looked at works by NZ artists and a random collection of … Continue reading Auckland

So I left the Bay of Islands this morning in a thunderstorm and drove back to Auckland. Firstly went to Kawakawa to see the toilets built by Freidensreich Hundertwasser (-https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedensreich_Hundertwasser) who I thought lived only in Vienna. I have seen his buildings there. These are now known as ‘Trevor’s toilets’ after my ex flat mate who told Helen to tell me about them. Further on, … Continue reading Travelling again