27th-28th June 2009: Waipoua Forest

The mighty Kauri trees of northern New Zealand have featured quite prominently during our year in NZ. We first encountered them on the Pinnacles walk back in August last year, and I've been fascinated by the history surrounding these giants ever since. Their timber and gum had a huge impact on the development of NZ once Europeans arrived and started exploiting them.

To sate my curiosity, we used one of our two remaining weekends together on a Kauri extravaganza: a trip to Waipoua forest, which is the largest remaining area of mature Kauri forest, and a stop on the way at the Kauri Museum in Matakohe.

The museum has an excellent collection of all things Kauri-related apart, oddly, from a general introduction to the trees. We were glad to have known some background before we arrived. There are sections dedicated to the history of the sawmills, gum-digging and the so-called swamp Kauri: trees tens of thousands of years old that fell into bogs and were preserved. I think Sophie enjoyed the period-lifestyle displays more than I did, but there we plenty of big machines to keep me interested.

Perhaps the most interesting display was a lengthwise section of a mature tree that was recently killed by lightning. On its side, it gives a good impression of just how much timber there is in these trees and why they were so sought after. On the wall beside it there's a cross-section of the tree measuring 2m in diameter. Painted outside that are outlines of rounds of larger Kauris - some of which beggar belief in their scale.

The cross-section and outlines are on the wall behind - use the chair for scale!

After the museum we headed north to the Top 10 Holiday Park in Kaihu. Top 10s usually come across as characterless and densely-packed caravan parks, but in the uncrowded low season we were pleased with our cosy little lodge: a comfortable double bed and a bijou kitchen in a beautiful spot by the river, all for 75NZD. We had planned to go on the organised kiwi-spotting tour but rain and a nascent cold put me off.

On Sunday we headed up to Waipoua Forest itself. Some driving and walking took us to a number of massive trees: Tane Mahuta, the largest living Kauri by volume, and Te Matua Ngahere, the largest by girth. We also walked to Yakas, which is smaller (though still huge) but isn't surrounded by protected fences so you can get close to it.

Sophie in front of Yakas - the 7th largest Kauri tree

One thing is for sure: you can only really appreciate these trees by seeing them yourself!

21st June 2009: Auckland Museum

Having been to the Auckland Museum some months ago, we went back to finish it off at the weekend. We didn't quite manage that but have now explored the majority of it. This time we split up so that Tim could spend more time looking at dinosaurs and volcanoes while I meandered around the design section.

Tucked away among the war displays on the top floor, there is a reconstruction of shops from the Auckland of 1866. We were fascinated by a reproduced advertisement for a ship offering passages from St Catherine's Dock in London to New Zealand. Each passenger was allowed to bring ¼ to ½ a ton of luggage, which we thought generous compared to airline allowances today - until we read that a ship's ton was defined as 40 cubic feet, making the luggage allowance around 2 large suitcases.

12th-14th April 2009: Napier and Hawke's Bay

The next stop on our trip up the east coast was Napier and the Hawke's Bay region. Home to some of New Zealand's best known wineries, this has been on our must-do list since we got here.

Napier was largely destroyed by an earthquake and subsequent fire in 1931. The rebuild happened over the next few years, in contemporary style, and as a result the city now has an amazing collection of art deco buildings - one of the best in the world. The art deco society organises good tours of the town; our guide's mother-in-law had experienced the original earthquake.

Having made a nod to culture, we proceeded to the main business of the day: wineries. I heroically offered to drive everyone else around for the day, as the wineries are too far apart for cycling.

We started at Te Mata, then made it to Craggy Range where we promptly got side-tracked by lunch for three hours. By the time that was over, we barely had time to race around Trinity Hill and Salvare Estate before they all closed for the day. The lunch was worth it though: great food under the steep cliffs of Te Mata peak, with the trees in their glorious autumnal colours.

Wine making at Sileni: old and new technology combined

We finished off our visit to the region with a tour of Sileni Estates winery the next morning. They do an interesting 30-minute trip around the winery, which processes a lot of NZ's olive oil as well as its own wine. The large vats of fermenting merlot grapes gave off a heady scent: we had to restrain Sophie from diving in.

9th-10th April 2009: Overlander and Wellington

Tim's mum Karen and stepfather Ian came over to NZ for a holiday, and we joined them for a week on the North Island starting at Wellington. As I'm not working at the moment I decided that, rather than flying, I would spend all day getting there on the Overlander train from Auckland. Tim joined me in the evening, flying in an hour the distance that took my train 12 hours to cover.

Long-distance trains in NZ aren't really serious. They are only used by tourists, typically run once or twice per day, and there are only a handful of routes. This is not the Pendolino from London to Manchester. The trains do, however, pass through miles of fantastic scenery, sometimes in places that are nowhere near a road.

On this particular journey the highlights are in the Tongariro National Park. Low cloud meant that the mountains were not visible, but I didn't mind - I have seen them before and climbed one of them. We went through some spectacular valleys, over several viaducts, and climbed the Spiral at Raurimu, an 11km section of track that loops back on itself around hills and valleys to create a gentle gradient while climbing some pretty steep hills. Google has a good aerial view. It was great fun to watch our progress through the large back window of the train.

One of the many viaducts

Wellington is a pretty place with a picturesque waterfront. It has more of a holiday feel than Auckland's harbour, and we watched a guy diving off a plank built into the sea wall, evidently for that purpose.

We spent the morning in Te Papa, Wellington's excellent museum. It is huge: the introductory tour lasts over an hour, only giving an overview of the exhibits. Our Maori guide was great fun, friendly and enthusiastic, but also quite feisty and certain of her own opinion. Very Kiwi. After the tour we went to see the colossal squid, the largest specimen ever caught.

We finished up our day in Wellington with a ride up in the cable car, built in 1902, and a walk back down to the city through the Botanic Gardens. After that we just about had time to collect our bags and jump in a taxi to meet Karen and Ian off the Interislander ferry.

14th March 2009: New Zealand National Maritime Museum

This was my first trip to the Maritime Museum. Tim had been on his own last year before I joined him in NZ. I am quite familiar with a couple of the exhibits, however: Thelma and Waitangi get a free berth at the museum in return for being on display.

The museum was pretty good. The best bit was the display on Maori canoes. The Polynesians used outrigger canoes to make immense ocean voyages exploring the Pacific islands; an incredible feat given the size of the islands compared with the size of the Pacific. There is a 76-foot voyaging canoe on display in the museum, with a sturdy deck between the main hull and the outrigger. Seaworthy but still insane.

A fair chunk of the museum was closed while a new wing is built in honour of Sir Peter Blake. Sadly I don't think we will still be here to see it open.

25th-26th December 2008: Nelson Lakes & West Coast

Christmas day was unusual. Waking up in a camper van, with no Buck's Fizz, didn't seem quite right! We had some distance to cover, so we set off for the Nelson Lakes.

On the way we drove through countless Marlborough vineyards and along some extremely straight roads. We arrived at Lake Rotoiti for a late lunch and our first experience of sandflies. It was impossible to stay still for more than a few minutes without attracting a swarm.

We set off for what we expected to be a 1-2 hour lunchtime stroll to a waterfall. It turned out to be 3 hours marching through a downpour. Lesson learnt: always take your waterproof trousers.

Now rather damp, we paid a quick visit to Lake Rotoroa before continuing west. We had a trip booked on Franz Josef glacier on 27th and a fair distance to cover by then. We spent the night at a random DOC campsite at Slab Hut Creek, which turned out to be our first sight of a gold-panning area. We were entertained by watching a group of fishermen build a bonfire out of wet wood. They didn't quite have to resort to petrol to get it going.

Having had a blow-out the night before, we had a simple dinner cooked out of the back of the van, then spent a pleasant evening drinking wine and committing mass sandfly murder to ensure a good night's sleep. (Flip flops make excellent murder weapons.)

The next day we headed down the west coast, stopping first at Greymouth. We had a look at the flood barrier and Sophie explored a pretty art gallery and managed not to buy anything.

Next stop was Shantytown for a spot of gold-panning. This was surprisingly good fun - we were each presented with a pan of rubble from a local river and came away with about $2 worth of 22ct gold. Our wedding rings are made from West Coast alluvial gold so we were particuarly pleased to have done this ourselves. We also met some nice weka on the steam train ride.

From there, we checked out the famous but unremarkable Hokitika and carried on to Franz Josef Township to stay in the Rainforest Retreat campground. Another welcome return to civilisation, with good drinking water, bathrooms, and a hot tub on site. Lucy and Rich joined us later for dinner.

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.