20th December 2008: Bethells Beach

Sophie's friend and ex-colleague Lucy was in town for a few days, so we headed back out to the Waitakeres for the afternoon. This time we drove to Bethells Beach, north of Karekare and Piha.

The surf on these western beaches is always impressive, and today especially so since it had been windy. We strolled north over the warm black dunes and sat playing in the sand for a while. (Tim built a pyramid and a camel. -- Sophie)

Tomorrow we're off to the South Island for two weeks. Christmas in a camper van this year...

14th December 2009: Cycling on Waiheke

We took the ferry to Waiheke and hired a couple of bikes. Waiheke is a good cycling size; you can get round half of it in a day, or all if you're really keen. Sadly I turned out not to be all that keen - I've always said I only like cycling where there are no hills and it turns out to be true. Give me the Thames towpath any day.

It was a beautiful sunny day and we spent some time chilling out by a pretty bay, as well as catching views of some other lovely beaches. Also had a Christmas culture shock moment, passing a gospel choir near the wharf singing carols in the sunshine. It just isn't Christmas. It can't be.

12th-13th December 2008: Sydney

It was the CHP company Christmas party in Sydney, so Tim and the rest of the CHPers jumped on a plane for a short jaunt to Sydney.

We had an excellent lunch at Catalina in Rose Bay. We were supposed to go on sea plane flights after the meal but the weather didn't co-operate, so we were forced to continue drinking the excellent wine instead. We then spent the rest of the day drinking beer in various Sydney bars.

6th-7th December 2008: Yacht race to Waiheke

Together with a few CHPers, we joined Thelma for another classic yacht race and a night on Waiheke Island.

The race itself was very cruisy, downwind all the way from Devonport to Patio Bay with just one jibe. By the time we got there, though, Tim was in the bad books of the after-deck crew - he spent the race watching the gennaker and asking if we could just sheet in a bit... now ease off... no, sheet in again...

We spent Saturday evening at an excellent barbecue hosted by a gentleman called Bert, who has an idyllic bach in a bay only reachable by boat. It's a bit like Guy's beach hut but three times the size and with a proper fridge. Sorry Guy :) Rum flowed freely all evening, along with a surfeit of meat and much merriment.

One or two CHPers seem keen to get into sailing after this. We did point out that you don't always get two days of perfect conditions: warm sunshine, 15 knots of breeze pointing the right way, and someone else's fabulous 100-year-old racing yacht. You can't beat it.

30th November 2008: Goat Island

Encouraged by a couple of Tim's scuba-loving colleagues and some fabulous sunshine, we headed up to Goat Island for an afternoon of snorkelling.

Goat Island is a marine reserve about an hour and a half north of Auckland and maybe 100m off the mainland, an easy swim from the beach. We spotted snappers, rays, a crowd of blue mao mao, and some funky zebra-striped fish, and watched the CHP boys get yet another set of interesting sun burn marks from yet another set of funny-shaped outdoor kit (this time sleeveless wet suits).

On the way back we had a thrilling race in which one car sat in traffic for 45 minutes while the other (driven by a reluctant me) skittered over unsealed roads in a hilarious attempt to beat the queue. We just about succeeded too.

29th November 2008: Waitomo Caves

The CHP contingent took a drive down to Waitomo to go caving with the Black Water Rafting Company.

The Black Abyss tour started with a 37m abseil through a narrow hole into a cave, followed by a variety of underground exploration. The glow-worms were beautiful, and we were pleased to find out that the glowing is actually shiny maggot poo. The best bit of the trip was at the end, when we had to climb up a series of underground waterfalls before emerging blinking into the sunlight.

The staff were friendly and good, although not as much fun as "the dude" who took us canyoning in the Waitakeres.

23rd November 2008: Long Bay Marine Reserve

We didn't have much spare time, but we managed took a short trip to the Long Bay Marine Reserve.

We had a good few hours' walk along the sea front, and spent a bit of time watching the wind- and kitesurfers enjoying the conditions. There are some pretty good sites for BBQs and general enjoyment of the beach.

On the way home we narrowly missed being attacked by a runaway shopping trolley in Foodtown's car park. We reversed in a hurry and a nearby parked car bore the brunt, losing a rear light. It's a jungle out here.

22nd November 2008: Sailing America's Cup yachts again

For the second time, we attempted to take a kayak trip to Rangitoto Island. This trip was my leaving gift from work in the UK, but has been cancelled twice due to high winds. This time, with the forecast for 25-35 knots of breeze, we thought we'd fill in the spare day with some sailing on the America's Cup yachts in the harbour - new experience for me and a load of CHPers, and a repeat experience for Tim. (The load of CHPers will probably become a bit of a theme from now on, now the team out here is up to strength.)

The sailing was great fun, with the true wind speed hitting 40 knots at one point. The boat got quite tippy at times but always felt very stable and solid, cutting through the chop rather than being tossed about. Prize for getting the most drenched goes to James, who always seemed to be sitting on the lee side (the downhill side) when the big bits of spray came in.

16th November 2008: Piha & Karekare

Took a load of CHPers to the Waitakeres to see Piha and Karekare beaches. Both were riddled with surfers; good weather, and high season, seem to have started in earnest the past couple of weeks. I never previously realised how much surfing requires you to be able to dodge other surfers in the water - a bit like skiing on a busy slope.

We wandered up Lion Rock at Piha, then drove round to Karekare and took the Zion Hill Track over to Pararaha Stream. Back to Karekare along the beach. Took around 3 hours, much quicker than our last walk in the area, because the rain had let up for enough days that there were no mud-bath sections on the track. A bit of paddling to round off the walk was lovely on a warm day.

15th November 2008: Sailing on Thelma again

Thelma, the yacht we sailed on previously, needed crew for another race so Tim went along again.

The wind was a bit stronger this time, and unfortunately we managed to break the boat about 20 minutes into the race: The belaying pin holding the peak halyard snapped, causing half the mainsail to flog and causing a fair bit of panic while all the sails were dropped. We were forced to retire from the race and return to port.

There was a professional photograher about, taking pictures of these very impressive boats.

That's us on Thelma in the foreground, just before the start.

8th November 2008: Classic yacht race

Having been given a pointer by someone at Tim's client, we wangled a day crewing the classic yacht Thelma in a race in the Waitemata harbour.

Thelma is a gaff-rigged cutter, built in 1897 and recently refurbished. It was an excellent day's sailing in sunshine and 15 knots of breeze. We were both on the foredeck involving a lot of hauling on sheets (Tim) and a day of tailing them (Sophie). We loved it, and Thelma took line honours. For non-sailors that means we were first over the finish line, but we probably didn't win on handicap-adjusted time.

Hopefully we will be able to sail on Thelma again soon - she races regularly and apparently often needs crew.

Update - The picture to the right is of us sailing on Thelma...

5th November 2008: Phantom of the Opera

We spotted that Phantom was on at the Civic theatre in Auckland, so Soph organised it as a social Wednesday for the CHPers. Everyone seemed to have fun: it was a good performance, especially Christine.

Aucklanders seemed to be surprised that we haven't already seen all the musicals, us having come from London. However, we've already seen more islands in the Hauraki Gulf than most of them. Local's apathy?

24th-27th October 2008: Great Barrier Island

It was the labour day bank holiday weekend in New Zealand. We heard the traffic was likely to be terrible so we took a ferry to Great Barrier Island for a three-day walk. Photos here.

Great Barrier Island reminded us of the Isles of Scilly. With a population of around 800, it has a small-community feel, very few roads, and a laid-back attitude to bus timetables. Fortunately we fell on the right side of this with a lovely chatty lady called Christine of Great Barrier Travel who drove us to and from our walk and was happy to stop at coffee shops and view points for us. She also took advantage of our trip to distribute fresh bread around the island, flown in that morning.

Friday - stayed at Stray Possum Lodge, cheap lodge/backpacker accommodation. We were pleasantly surprised that the landlady took us at our word when we asked for our steaks very rare.

Saturday - walked from Windy Canyon to Kaiaraara Hut, via Mount Hobson and a spectacular kauri dam on Kaiaraara Track (photo). Took 5 hours or so and included a few steep slippery bits that had us pretty well climbing down trees at the side of the path. The only other hut occupants were a lovely couple, Angie and Tim, who gave us some good pointers on where to go next in NZ.

Sunday - Kaiaraara Hut to Great Barrier Lodge via the old Forest Road, around 5 hours again. The track passes two huge old kauri trees - a rare sight since most of the big kauris were logged a hundred years ago - which made Tim very happy. (photo)

Great Barrier Lodge was lovely - a simple room with a huge comfy bed and sunny view of the harbour. That, combined with a couple of lamb racks and a big breakfast, was exactly what we needed after 2 days' walking.

Monday - 3-hour walk out to the road via the Kaitoke Hot Springs, natural thermal pools in a stream. Really cool to be in proper natural pools, though we weren't sure about the amout of wildlife we were sharing them with. (photo)

Another win for the Lonely Planet - the walk route was taken from its Tramping in New Zealand book.

18th-19th October 2008: Skiing on Mount Ruapehu

Drove down to Mount Ruapehu for a weekend's skiing with Claire, Graham, Jane and Brian. It was a bit late in the season: Saturday's weather was cloud and some freezing rain, but on Sunday the sun came out and we had some great spring skiing.

The Turoa ski area, although supposedly one of the largest in NZ, was tiny compared to what I'm used to. There was only one decent lift to speak of! I guess I have been spoilt by the likes of Val D'Isere and Meribel. Still, the slopes were wide and the snow was good. Amusingly there's only 7km (by road) between snow and palm trees. Something to do with having a single big mountain sticking out of an otherwise lush and flat landscape.

We stayed in the Waireka lodge, which was very well equiped and comfortable. A hot tub to relax in after skiing is always welcome.

The mountain is an active volcano, although it's pretty quiet at the moment. No eruptions to report.

10th-13th October 2008: Bay of Islands

Chartered a yacht for a long weekend's sailing in the Bay of Islands. Freewheeling was a Davidson 28 of circa 1980. Sturdy and easy to sail, with vintage decor and yellow patterned glass windows on the lockers. Fairwind Charters were helpful and efficient and we will use them again.

Had a fantastic weekend with perfect easygoing wind of 10-20 knots. The Bay of Islands could have been designed for sailing (Slartibartfast, was it you?) crammed with pretty bays - always one available to shelter you from any angle of wind.

High spot of the weekend was finding a pod of dolphins, we think 6-10, who swam and played around our yacht for several minutes. We were also offered some uber-fresh snapper by a fishing yachtie in one cove, but preferred chilling out with some wine to attempting to gut fish.

Great chilled-out weekend, and good for Sophie's sailing skills to be one of two people rather than the usual one of 6 or so. Photos here.

Itinerary:

Friday: collected boat 5pm, motored from Opua wharf to an anchorage in Pomare Bay.

Saturday: sailed to Motuarohia Island and climbed the hill. Sailed around Piercy Island and back to Oke Bay for the night.

Sunday: through Albert Channel and drifted round Urupukapuka Island. Played with dolphins in Paradise Bay for a while, then sailed round some islands and anchored in Opunga Cove.

Monday: North around Tikitiki Island. Anchored for lunch west of Te Pahi Isles. Through Kent Passage and back to Opua about 3:30pm.

3rd-5th October 2008: Rotorua

Finally made it to RotoVegas, after threatening to go about every weekend for the last six.

Stayed two nights in Treks Backpackers, pretty much in the middle of town. Cheap, clean accommodation with a comfy bed and a decent shower, though there were a few comedy reception-desk moments including a 2am phone call checking whether we had arrived safely. Good value at $74 for an en-suite double.

On Saturday we started with a light bacon and egg breakfast in a small cafe, then drove to Te Puia (photos). Saw the impressive Pohutu geyser as well as lots of bubbling mud and a boiling spring in which they were cooking corn on the cob. They have two kiwis in a special dark kiwihouse, where they seem to keep the birds perpetually jet-lagged so they're active during the day. Also saw a Maori cultural show, which was interesting and only a little cheesy.

From there to some thermal pools to swim. We decided to go to Waikite Valley, which looked a bit nearer to nature than the town-centre offerings. It turned out to be a good choice - amazing boiling river feeding half a dozen pools of different temperatures, all in the middle of a beautiful green valley. Much better than Waiwera which was twice the price and more pretentious without being better.

After that exertion we were in need of a slap-up 3-course dinner, provided very competently by Lewisham's in central Rotorua. Delicious food, excellent service, tasty little South African gooseberries. (Oh, and gluten-free walnut cake.)

Sunday started with a feast of a breakfast in the Fat Dog Cafe, which we sorely needed after such a light dinner. Soph had "veggie works", which seemed to contain about 7 eggs scrambled and a kilo of fried potatoes and other goodies. This kept her going without lunch, for about the first time ever.

We then drove to see the blue and green lakes, which turned out to be more green and grey, but perhaps that was due to the drizzly weather. The Buried Village museum was interesting, and had a stunning waterfall in its grounds as an unexpected bonus. There were also some rainbow trout in the river, looking sleek and tasty.

We then headed to the Agrodome for some "extreme fun". Sophie thought the Zorb was silly, but enjoyed it anyway. (You dive into an inflated sphere with a bucket of water and roll down a hill. It is silly.) Finally, we watched the sheep show, which was unexpectedly good and worth catching.

Now we have to sort through 100 photos of bubbling mud and see if any of them caught it mid-bubble... UPDATE: One did!

28th September 2008: Auckland Museum

We decided to have a quiet weekend in Auckland, before the next four weeks of frenzied activity...

Had a nice walk in the warm sunshine to the Auckland Museum, which is in the middle of the Auckland Domain. It's nominally a war memorial museum, but has lots of other exhibits too, including some interesting Maori stuff and a good section on volcanoes. There's a clever audio-visual presentation on what would happen if a new volcano erupted in the Auckland region.

We saw about half the museum - need to go back another time.

24th September 2008: The Dentist's Chair at Sky City Theatre

The Dentist's Chair was a nice little comedy about adultery, dentists, murder and the electric chair. Organised by Justine, and with the usual CHP suspects.

The cast was about half a dozen people including two musicians (one double bass, one banjo, one occasional clarinet). The guy who played William Kemmler (first person ever to be executed in the electric chair) was particularly good and had a lovely singing voice. Music refreshingly un-Lloyd-Webber-ish too, more veering towards a sinister Deep South/country style.

21st September 2008: Sky Tower and Te Whau winery

Popped up the Sky Tower with John M, as it was a clear day. Good views of the harbour. Not more stunning than we have already seen from the tops of hills, though. Maybe views seem better if you've earned them by climbing.

Had lunch at Te Whau vineyard on Waiheke for Sophie R's birthday, along with Claire and Graham. Their wine, The Point, was lovely, but the lunch surpassed it. Definitely the best meal we have had in NZ so far, and pretty well-priced. We will be back with parents, on birthdays, or any time I need to have that crab salad again.

The meal was accompanied by fantastic sunny views from the restaurant balcony over the Waiheke hills, vineyard, the harbour, and some alpacas in a nearby field. John was a particular fan of these, and wants to become an alpaca farmer.

20th September 2008: Canyoning in the Waitakeres

Went "canyoning" down the Cowan Stream in the Waitakere Ranges. This involved jumping, sliding and abseiling down rocky waterfalls into large pools. Huge amounts of fun, and quite an adrenaline rush: some of the jumps were pretty big. The company we went with, canyonz, refer to this as the Blue Canyon. The guide was a total dude, about the best fit for the word you can imagine. He kept telling us to be careful walking in the river or we'd break our [cue laid-back surf-style voice] leeegs.

The trip was organised by John M and Sophie R, and we were joined by Claire P and Graham. And three amusing Germans.

One of the pools on the way down had a large tame eel in it called Albert. He seemed to enjoy ham from the sandwiches, and made a good attempt on the dude's shoes.

Canyonz also do a trip to the Billy Goat falls in the Kauaeranga valley. One to do later in the year perhaps, although Soph isn't so sure!

14th September 2008: Motuihe Island

Spent the day on Motuihe Island, an uninhabited island in the Hauraki Gulf. 80-odd people from IBM were on the ferry with us, planting trees for the Motuihe Trust.

Lovely, peaceful island. We walked along the ridge to Bald Knob (hur hur) at the southern tip of the island, then discovered we could get all the rest of the way round without leaving the beach. Probably a 2-3 hour walk in all, at a leisurely amble.

Saw lots of pairs of birds which were either fighting or flirting, had a beach picnic, and admired lots of weird rock formations, we think caused by erosion of conglomerate or layered rocks at different speeds. Some really good pohutukawas too, clinging to the cliff where no tree that big had a right to be.

The planted trees look really impressive. The ones from 2004 are already shoulder high and give a feel for how the island will be in a few years when it's all returned to forest. We may well come back some time and do some tree-planting ourselves.

16th September 2008: Sailing on ex-America's Cup yachts

Tim went sailing on a 1995 America's Cup yacht which is now run as a tourist attraction out of the Viaduct Marina in Auckland. I took some photos of the yacht from the previous flat.

Excellent fun - the crew are really enthusiastic and happy to let you get involved in the sailing to whatever level you want. Almost everyone on the boat had a go at the helm. We sailed out to near Rangitoto island, back past the marina and under the harbour bridge, then returned to the marina.

The boat was remarkably stable, which I supposed shouldn't be a huge surprise given it weighs 24 tons, 18 of which are in the keel bulb. It nonetheless felt hugely powerful, and was certainly fast.

Interesting moments:

• Sailing circles around a random 35 foot yacht which was going half our speed.
  
• The mast only just making it under the bridge. (or so it seemed from on-board)
  
• Getting buried under about 400 square metres of gennaker in the bow

Must go again sometime.

6th September 2008: Engaged!

Went for a wander in Devonport, this time heading up North Head and along the beach on the northern shore. Standing on the side of the hill, watching the yachts in the gulf, Tim asked me to marry him. Woot :)

Update 18th Sept: The mathmo in me is delighted that my engagement ring is...



a Möbius strip.

1st September 2008: Bill Bailey at The Edge

Noticed tickets on sale for Bill Bailey's Tinselworm tour, but decided not to go as the only seats available were in the very back row (and same price as the better seats). Then we decided that was silly and went anyway. Pretty good show, especially the musical bits. We liked the satanic doorbell and the electro-acoustic mandolin best. (I have now seen two electro-acoustic mandolins. How likely is that?)

30th - 31st August: Waitakere Ranges walk via Whatipu

Walked from Mount Donald McLean to Whatipu and back, staying overnight at Whatipu Lodge. Weekend was forecast for no rain so we thought we should take advantage. But set out in drizzle and cloud just the same - luckily it did clear up later.

Took Donald McLean track north from the carpark, diversion via Bob Gordon track to see the site of an old kauri dam (no traces of the dam to be seen), then followed the Walker Ridge track and Gibbons track to Whatipu. 4 hours, mostly in bush until we got towards the end of the Gibbons track, when we were rewarded with some lovely vistas of forest, beaches and Tasman Sea. Much slipping and sliding on some hard pale brown surface - a bit like mud halfway to becoming rock.

Whatipu Lodge was really special (photos here - the red-roofed white buildings are the lodge). Facilities were a bit like a backcountry hut (bring your own bedding, food and a torch) but atmosphere very different. It is an old homestead with pretty bedrooms, old furniture and lamp shades, plates decorating the kitchen walls, and a full-sized snooker table. Someone was having a 70th birthday party there. This time we had toted a bottle of wine in and were glad of it. We will definitely go back, probably walking from Karekare next time (one way through the forest, one way along the beach).

Back to the car along Omanawanui track, a series of peaks beside the sea. Views fabulous, taking in hills, beaches, sea and the enormous Manukau harbour. Best view Tim has seen since Ben Lomond on a really clear day last April. Also lots of young kauri trees. 3 hours. We'd love to go back with a few friends.

Kura track also looks fun. We're told the Whatipu end can be so wet as to be impassable, so best to start it from that end.

27th August 2008: talk by William Pike

Saw William Pike give a talk at Intrepid Travel in Newmarket. William was near the summit Mt Ruapehu in September 2007 when it erupted, and was trapped under rock and ice in the Dome Shelter. He survived despite severe hypothermia and multiple injuries, and had one leg amputated below the knee.

Very interesting to hear him speak. He comes across as a very simple, straight-up nice guy who is a complete outdoors nut. He's already been climbing and cycling with his prosthetic leg and aims to go and finish off his mountaineering trip next year if possible.

Bought his book and am very much enjoying it. It's very readable and gripping, if not a flight of literary style. Particularly interesting to read it having heard him speak a year later and see how far he has come.

23rd-24th August 2008: Matakana region

Forecast was for rain and more rain, so we had a driving and sightseeing weekend north from Auckland with Kate Moses.

Whangaparaoa Regional Park - pretty. Moist. Reasonable waterfall and a pleasant amble. Saw a sheep giving birth and later saw her with the new lamb.

Waiwera thermal pools were good - natural hot swimming pools ranging from 31 to 48C, and some good water slides to keep Tim amused. Slightly funny place - was definitely in need of doing up. Even just surfacing the ground with something less pointy than tarmac would have been good. Very chilled out by the time we had spent a couple of hours there.

Stayed the night in Warkworth at Walton Park Motor Lodge. Two-bedroom unit for Kate and us was affordable and comfortable. Not stylish but we weren't expecting that. Enjoyed a good beer selection and knowledgeable landlord in a bar called Tahi, followed by tasty Thai dinner.

Started this morning with coffee in Matakana and looked round some crafty shops in the village (Sophie narrowly avoiding spending many dollars on cool jewellery). Back to Tahi to pick up my phone which had, er, wandered, then off to Ascension winery to taste and buy some delicious things. Tim enjoyed the Old Tawny (can't call it port because it's not from Portugal) but resisted buying any. Ascension have a concert in Feb which Kate wants to go back to.

Headed south to Puhoi, via the Honey Centre which had, well, some bees and some honey. Puhoi is an interesting historic village founded by Bohemians, with some pretty houses and well-preserved buildings like the general store and local school. Museum was interesting and attended by a knowledgeable and chatty local lady who gave us a personal tour.

Finished up with a brief visit to the Puhoi Art of Cheese Cafe. Sadly it was closing but we brought home a selection to try.

Home via a serious downpour, with Sophie struggling to see the road markings at times. We really appreciated being able to go from car to flat without leaving the building :)

17th August 2008: Rangitoto Island

Spent the day on Rangitoto despite rain looking like it had settled in for the day.

Half-hour ferry trip from central Auckland. The only ferry options back were after 1 hour 45 mins, or 5 hours, so we yomped up to the top of the hill (50 mins) before deciding whether to yomp straight back down in the rain and catch the boat. Nearly did that, but got distracted by the lava caves - one you could walk through for 50m and come out in daylight - so we stayed.

Cool place - it is a volcano (now probably extinct) only about 600 years old, so basically still a big pile of volcanic rocks. Now fairly well forested but still feels strange and primeval.

For the rest of the day, wandered back to the wharf via a road, then went to look around some of the landmarks on the island (baches, black-backed gull colony, kidney ferns and kowhai). Tim attempted basket-making out of some strong grass and we proved that it could be done if only we knew how.

I'll be back at some point, in a kayak, thanks to the gang at MX Telecom. Apparently in summer the rock gets hot and it's like walking through an oven, so might try to do it before the weather gets too warm.

9th - 10th August 2008: Kauaeranga Kauri Trail

Walked the Kauaeranga Kauri Trail to Pinnacles Hut, and from there to the Pinnacles. Walk was listed in Lonely Planet "Tramping in New Zealand" and on the DOC website. Photos here.

Day 1: Webb Creek track from Kauaeranga Valley road end to Pinnacles Hut, taking about 3 hours. Interesting walk on very well-made track (graded a Walking Track), taking in wire bridges, rock and kauri steps made by kauri loggers, and Hydrocamp (the old loggers' camp). Reached hut around 2:30pm, dumped most of our kit, and walked from there up to the Pinnacles (around 40 mins one-way). Top of the Pinnacles was completely in cloud but nice views on the way up.

Day 2: Clear morning so went up the Pinnacles again, this time for beautiful views of the Pacific and Table Mountain. Then back from the hut on Billy Goat Track (4 hours), partly along the route of the logging tramway. Found a way down to the top of Billy Goat Falls from the track, with a couple of short falls at the top which would make a fabulous lunch spot.

Hut had two bunk rooms (total 80 beds), a dining room with about 8 gas burners, and solar-powered lights. Apparently about as good as huts get. Sadly the stove heater had a blocked flue - shame, as it froze overnight. Sophie's new sleeping bag turns out to be pretty warm (still slept fully clothed though) but Tim needed more thermals.

Hut was fairly busy, including a group of scouts, half a dozen fathers with 7-year-olds, and some Irish people from Auckland. The Irish people were drinking whisky with lemons, cloves, sugar and hot water. Yum. Quite a few people had toted bottles of wine up there.

Lessons learnt:

Bring enough clothes to keep us warm in the evening / overnight rather than only enough to keep us warm on walks!
Slippers would have been useful - cold floors, and boots not allowed in the hut.
Quick, hot food was really good - cuppa soups definitely worth having. More hot drink options would have been good too since we had to boil all drinking water.
You can never have enough plastic bags.

Definitely a good one to do again, next time with some wine and meats for the barbecue.

2nd August 2008: Bledisloe Cup at Eden Park

Went to see the All Blacks play Australia at Eden Park for the Bledisloe Cup - part of the Tri Nations. With Mark Moriai and Kate Moses.

Bought tickets a few days in advance at $50, and were sitting in 2nd row behind one end of the pitch. Great view for the action near us, less so when it wasn't in our corner. Really enjoyed it. Exciting match and happy crowd when the All Blacks won 39-10. A bargain! We didn't even get rained on.

24th - 27th July 2008: Port Douglas

Went to Port Douglas, Queensland for CHP Australia annual company conference. Stayed in the Sea Temple Port Douglas.

Friday:
Tim went white-water rafting on the Barron River with CHP. Good fun, good screaming from a few people.
Sophie went for a short walk in the Mossman Gorge. Pleasant undemanding walk, about an hour through rainforest with occasional pretty views of an overgrown rocky stream in the gorge (with overgrown rocks to match).

Saturday:
Sailed on Sailaway IV to the Low Isles for snorkelling at the edge of the Great Barrier Reef (http://www.sailawayportdouglas.com/). Saw lots of green turtles, giant clams, and some funky fish. Mostly soft coral, ie. greens and browns, at Low Isles - think the other trips further out would have given us more bright colours and more wildlife variety.

Sailaway IV was a good fun 60' cat and they let Tim helm the boat home :)

19th July 2008 - Coast to Coast walk

16km walk on Auckland's Coast to Coast route, from Viaduct Harbour to Onehunga. http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/whatson/places/walkways/coasttocoast/index.asp

With Mark and Justine Moriai who flew in a couple of days before. 16km walk taking in Mt Eden and One Tree Hill.

Pleasant, easy walk through suburbia and parks, with good views from the two hills. Had a delicious lunch at the cafe in Cornwall Park, which seemed to have a dedicated tea waiter.

Couldn't properly touch the sea at Onehunga due to motorway between us and the sea proper. We did touch the lagoon though. Probably could have touched the sea had we bothered to walk 10 minutes east or west.

Nice to have done once, but not bothered about doing it again - mostly it was through residential streets.

4th - 15th July 2008 - around Auckland

Sophie arrived 4th July.

5th July - ferry to Waiheke Island with Steve Saxon. Went for a short wander & a beer overlooking Oneroa Bay.
Lovely peaceful bay. Must go back and spend longer, walking and/or wineries.

6th July - ferry to Devonport with Steve Saxon. Tea in a lovely tea shop on left side of Victoria Road, with conservatory & jazz-themed room at the back. Climbed Mt. Victoria.
Pretty village-like feel with older, more pleasing buildings. Must go back for a longer walk around the place, though suspect we saw about half of it in 45 mins.

12th July - day sail on Spirit of New Zealand tall ship (http://www.spiritofadventure.org.nz/). $60 each, well worth it. Sailed round Rangitoto & Motutapu, came home through a yacht race.

13th July - drove to Waitakere Ranges park. Saw Piha & Karekare beaches, an hour from Auckland.
Beaches beautiful - must go back to Piha for picnic & surfer-watching when the weather is warmer.
Walked Zion Hill Track, Buck Taylor Track, Zion Ridge Track from Karekare - all forested with occasional stunning views. 3 hours round trip.
More walks in Waitakere Ranges definitely worth doing.