We said our goodbye’s to Sue, Steve and Sheba and headed off to the west coast for some hiking. We really enjoyed our stay with them, especially the sailing: (See http://www.kingfishercharters.co.nz/) .
We stopped at a house high up in the forest to ask for directions, as the roads had become narrow, rally type, dirt tracks. Great fun to drive!
John went into the court yard to be met by two locals. The husband was about 7 foot tall and built like a lumber jack on steroids. His wife was much more impressive!
They were very interested in John’s request for directions to the hiking areas. He warned John not to go too far into the forest, due to the numerous wild boars. He then showed John his mornings work.
A huge, freshly gutted, male boar was sprawled across the ground, his guts sitting in a neat pile next to his severed head. The knives glinting in the sun.
His wife was extremely proud of her husband. She was grinning from ear to ear, showing all three teeth! They gave more mixed directions, a few more wild boar warnings and wished John well on his hiking. Lovely, warm people who live off the land and don’t bother with dentists.
Half an hour later, we arrived at Waipoua forest, where they have some of the largest Kauri trees in New Zealand. They put Giant Redwoods in the shade. The walks were quite short, but the trees were magnificent, the biggest being 16.8 meters wide.
After almost two hours of forest walking, we jumped back into Brian (our very old Nissan estate) and drove to Matakohe, where they have a museum dedicated to the Kauri tree. This tree has extremely hard wood. They make a whole range of utensils and art from this stuff, most of which costs an arm and a leg.
We also drove through some pristine examples of NZ rain forest (including the rain). The tall fern trees are unique to this part of the world. At this time of year, some of the giant, hairy fronds are still unfurling. They look surreal.
After a cuppa, Brian took us south to Devonport, our next B&B stop. We are heading back to Auckland for Friday, so we can go out with Fiona’s old University friend Elaine Veale, who has lived in NZ for over twenty years.
We drove through heavy showers, arriving at Karin’s Garden Villa early evening. (See http://www.karinsvilla.com/). Karin comes from Germany and loves cats. It would have been good to know as John has an allergy to cats. Everywhere else in the area is booked out, due to the Auckland marathon on Sunday.
We are hoping to find better walking in this area. The hiking so far has been less challenging than we had hoped for. We both need the exercise, as we have put on weight over the last few months, which needs to be off in time for the 2009 skiing season.
Our initial impression of New Zealand? It is certainly a unique part of the world. A cross between England, Canada and the Aussie rain forests. The people are very friendly and everything is spotless and well maintained. The food is average and, due to getting almost three NZ dollars to the pound, it’s relatively good value for us Brits. Weather wise the best time to visit is February and March. We are still very much in their spring time and the weather is unpredictable. Outside of Auckland the radio stations are rubbish, unless you love Iron Maiden, Deep Purple or Cliff Richard. On balance, it is a good place to be!
We walked to a local pizza pad, recommended by Lonely Planet. Wonderful Pizza.
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