The end of our NZ adventure .....and hello Cairns

Can’t believe where the 3 weeks have gone !

We have all loved NZ and it has given us endless moments of complete fun and pleasure, discovery of the most staggering scenery and sights, adrenalin kicks and relaxing times too.

The North and South are so different and yet incomparable as they are so diverse.....

We have loved it all and I speak unequivocally for all 4 of us although I am sure we all have our own very special memories.

For me it has been about being together as a family without pressure of the business and the ability to discover, enjoy, laugh and share an amazing adventure....

The bits which cost nothing- seeing the Kauri Trees for real, watching Lowenna and Will swimming,sand boarding and generally messing about,the mind blowing experience of the Doubtful Sound overnight, sharing Will’s bungy, witnessing Tim’s amazing patience at driving us , all 4331km of it, and his absolute excitement at his day hike on the glacier....

Family time together is absolutely priceless.... the first time probably in the last 12 or so years that we have really had ‘real’ down time, all together, in fact Lowenna and Will at the ages they were, have probably born the brunt of our lack of available family time, certainly since beginning project Pollaughan some 10 years ago it has been a constant mission to build the business and run it 24/7 and that takes its own toll on true family escapism as  being on call all the time makes escape very difficult.

We couldn’t have done it without the amazing Lucy Keeling who has loved and looked after Mungo and the animals and kept everything running smoothly at home and if anyone out there ever needs a house/animal sitter let me know - she is the best...

Sue,Steve and the rest of the family have also been supporting Lucy and making sure all is OK so we could leave it all behind... well, email and text does make it easier... here’s to everyone who has made this possible... you cannot know how much we really appreciate it..

So Cairns , here we are....We flew in over the GBR on a clear flight..... Barrier Reef tomorrow but for now a couple of days in luxury - big comfy beds, big powerful showers, time for complete relaxation and gathering of our thoughts before coming back to reality at home.... the weekly changing of loo rolls and smiling nicely will seem awfully tame after this !

 Lowenna  has taken complete charge of baggage now her navigation task has ended...

Our last full day and we found the real Magic Faraway Tree....

We had a simply fantastic last full day of exploring on the drive back down from Pahia in the Bay of Islands,ending up for our last night at Trounson Kauri Forest and one of the best sites we have stayed in,which was bang in the middle of a forest...

On the way , thanks to advice from the good old ‘ Lonely Planet’  we stopped at a little outpost called Hokiata where you can get a ferry over the bay to giant sand dunes.They lend you boards, give you a really good safety talk which comprises, dig your feet in the sand if you don’t want a complete dunking,  and off you go....

Bit of a climb to the top of the dune and in very hot sand -but the thrill of the ride was worth it....whizzing down ending up in the sea , and yes we all had a go !  And if you lifted the front of the board up aquaplaning out into the bay... I think William claimed the record closely followed by Lowenna.

It was a cheap thrills of the highest order... everyone had a great time, Lowenna and Tim went double decker , I managed to get up and down again, and despite the Tsunami which hit the other side as I descended and hit the water all was well, and thanks to Will there is now a video which hopefully will not get pasted to Facebook....

After a great hour and a half we hit the fish and chip shop for the best fish and chips and headed down to Waiapoua Forest and  ‘Faraway Tree’ land !

The Kauri forests are well known in NZ and the West Coast north of Auckland has the oldest and biggest in the world...and you don’t just go and see these trees, they sort of invite you to share their  presence... 

Nothing prepares you for these majestic and gigantuan beings and when you finally peep them through the trees they are just awesome in every sense....you can feel their massiveness and their presence and you cannot help but feel ingratiated to them....there is a whole eco system of its own way up in the branches and Enid Blyton must have known of this tree when she was inspired to write the Faraway Tree Stories, some of my favorite ever and best loved tales which for  those not initiated,are probably the best childrens stories written and will get even the most reluctant reader enthralled......

Standing in front of Tane Mahuta who is over 2000 years old and with a girth of 13.8m and height of 51 m you can just imagine Saucepan Man and his friends living up there.

As someone who loves trees and forests this was one of my highlights of the trip.... the memory of being so close to them is just beyond words.....you could hear them whisper all the time you were in the forest... you cold just feel them all around..

So, sadly it was time to move on... we stayed the night at Trounson Top Ten holiday park hidden deep in the forest.... sadly it rained so we couldnt get to enjoy all it offered but anyone going to NZ ...make this a must stay.... its beautiful, peaceful, clean and just totally at one with its surroundings... and you have enough space between pitches to open your door without hitting the next camper !!!!

So our last day done.. and last night slept, a quick pack up and off to Auckland....

Definately a fitting last day full of some fantastic memories and for once -FREE... they say the best things in life are free and on this occasion they sure were...

Tim and William head to the very very North

On Sunday William and I went on an all day coach ride (as if he has not spent enough time being a passenger) on the ‘Dune Rider’  to Cape Reinga at the north of north Island where the Tasman and Pacific meet and we were so lucky to be there when the conditions allowed a really clear ‘join’... see pics........

The Cape is at the northern tip of North Island.So we have travelled from almost the farthest Southern spot in South Island to the very very top of the North...It is at this point has a great spiritual significance to the Maori who believe on death that their spirits travel up to this point where there is a tree growing out from the side of rocks which release their spirits to the otherworld. 

On the way we visited an old gum digging station. These guys dug up old Kauri trees sunk in peat bog to extract the old sap which was made into amber which was used in linoleum and varnish (all in a days work)

 The four wheel drive coach is especially designed for max comfort but most importantly can cruise down 90 Mile Beach and its massive sand dunes... the highlight of this particular trip..

Will and I also did sand boarding down some of the largest dunes in the world of about 100 meters, bit of a clamber to the top but fab fun coming down again...despite the face full of sand en-route ! 

William got up quite a speed on the first go and got in a full run whereas I managed a sideways skid and ended up full face bomb into the sand  ....

But by the third attempt I mastered it... good for the leg muscles - but think Valerie and Lowenna might have requested a chairlift be installed !  

90 Mile Beach is actually 70 miles end to end and quite amazing to travel down on the coach .... a sort of mirage effect out of the front windscreen of the coach gave a surreal effect and it really cannot be put in words..... we passed wild horses which are a legacy from the gum digging days... and the sand and surf and endless horizon of the same was a fantastic experience and one Will and I both agreed we wouldn’t have wanted to miss...despite being a very long day..

Valerie and Lowenna opted for a quieter morning and a ride in the forest in the afternoon, as they couldn’t really face the nearly 500km round trip in the coach....

but apparantly they did get up at a reasonable time ( or so they said) did some scrap booking, diary writing and sticking and stuff , as all that seems to have got a bit behind as we have kept up the pace of travelling... and generally chilled out for the morning .The girls also had fun on their ride, if a bit ploddy, but nice scenery and horses !

Toddler ( well 49'er) Tantrums and Amazing Dolphins

Fantastic dolphin experience in NZ answer to the Scillies !

Well, it really was a very long drive yesterday and after a nearly 1.5 hour hold up going through Auckland following the 280km detour to visit ‘caves’, I have to rather admit that a toddler tantrum ( well 49+ ) of epic proportions was brewing.... and meltdown begun 481 km in and after no stops... when TIm sets out on a drive- well we just keep driving... thank god the camper has a loo on board !    so a campsite was rapidly found before the camper combusted.Supper cum lunch cum tea, all in one,  was cooked in silence, and a rather ‘quiet’ evening meant early bed..... o dear....

There had been much debate about bothering to visit the caves.... the most visited NZ tourism attraction sent alarm bells ringing to me, the vision of yet more coach loads of japanese tourists, the cost was rather steep but the glowworm caves at Waitomo are the ‘ must see’ , or so it says in the brochure .

Have to admit that to me one cave is much like another and having seen Wooky Hole many years ago I felt that was fine by me..The attraction of trekking miles underground... and paying a fortune for it, was slightly lost on me and William and probably Lowenna but this was one of Tim’s must do’s and we all respected that and set out to enjoy...

Trouble is we had been spoilt the last couple of days in the best campsite by a beautiful lake and didn’t really want to leave.... pottering around Rotorua and the nearby Coromandel for our last few days, with no great journeys, seemed somewhat appealing after the last weeks of whizzing all over NZ at great speed.... hey ho... on we go...

Anyway... that was yesterday..... we did all agree after all that, that yes it was a complete rip off and the glowworm experience of a few minutes in a boat underground after a 2.5 hr cave tour was underwhelming to say the least....oh well... can’t win ‘em all !

But, today has been awesome... we got up early ,if still a bit silent and completed the 168km run up to Pahia and the Bay of Islands.... Still think the Scillies definately win but the 144 islands in the Bay are pretty special...

and.... we saw dolphins..... yippeeeeeeeeeeee

 after the disappointment of missing our whale watching trip in Kaikoura due to weather....this made up for it.We had a very happy and excited Lowenna, William took loads of pics, Tim loved it and all was well worth it....

and not just a big pod but babies too..... they dived and played around the boat, the sun shone, the wind blew in our hair and blew away all the frustrations of yesterday.....

must be one of the best moments ever to treasure....

great campsite too tonight... free wifi for first time ,we are by the sea, and tomorrow Tim and Will go up to the very top of NZ on a long day rip in a coach, Lowenna and I are going riding.... ( couldnt’ face another 250 km trip top the top !)

Valerie’s Quest to find the ‘Soup Dragon’ in Thermal Volcanic Land

 Valerie’s Quest to find the ‘Soup Dragon’ in Thermal Volcanic Land

We have at last been to find the ‘Soup Dragon ‘, a lifetime quest from a  long standing ‘Clanger “ fan..to experience this land of spouting geysers, mud pools , its like being fresh off the set of the Clangers !

Two days in thermal wonderland seeing sights that are so awesome they are beyond description... however the smell is not... it has been two days of nose wrenching sulphur stench but the bubbling mud holes and geysers and the awesome silica terraces and mineral fed lakes of so many colours have been fantastic but alas no soup dragon.

Lowenna has come to life and sped ahead.... grateful maybe of a near miss when much deliberation on whether to do the

Tongariro Cossing which is 17km of volcano walking ( in Mordor for Lords fo the Rings lovers !) led us to decide it was just too far and too hard and far for her... 

We have had two days in the best campsite yet beside a little blue lake outside Rotorua and we have all swam in the fresh clear water, had barbeques under the stars and at last had a couple of days going a  bit slower...

 ready for the final heave tomorrow... Waitomo Glowworm caves around 165km from here,,, and then a LONG drive up to the North of North Island.... god knows how many km ,would rather not work it put !

Can’t believe where the time has gone... the last few days and nights of an awesome discovery of a place so diverse and yet so familiar....

So many bits so like UK and yet round any corner to find sights you’d never see at home...

We have had great times and tetchy times but all rubbed along together enjoying whatever the next day brings... and still another week to go......