13/01
After a 4 hour flight leaving Rarotonga very early in the morning on Monday, we arrive in Auckland on Tuesday!!! The shortest Monday ever...New Zealand...the customs and passport inspection are very long, you cannot bring food, plants,animals,soiled camping gears to this country...to protect the biodiversity...a bit extreme,it takes forever...even worst than the US!!!
We finally take in a taxi, too lazy and tired to take the bus....we make it to the city lodge accommodation, our backpacker hostel for 4 days. Tiny clean room with an even tinier bathroom but at least it is not a dormitory!! Nice big communal kitchen, a laundry and some nice staff willing to advise...good start...It is warm but not too warm, sunny...
After resting a bit, we decide to go walking around the city centre and discover Auckland. We walk to the Viaduct Harbour, the main commercial street Queen Street, the Sky Tower, we wander around and the first impression is not great. Auckland city is not pretty depite the water and the volcanoes: many big avenues, motorways cutting through the city, it makes us feel like we are in a badly designed small US town.
Lots of shopping, big roads and tons of asian restaurants...this is the amazing fact: the Asian population, mainly Korean, Japanese and Chinese, is huge here. In some areas, all the shops and restaurants are asian. All the signs are written in chinese or korean...feels weird, it is so multicultural. In some places, you could easily forget you are in New Zealand!!
We go for a lunch in one of those Asian food halls, a very specific widly spread concept here: a large shop basement lit with neons lights and hosting many food stalls: Malaysian, Korean, Japanese, Thai, Chinese food...all for a very cheap price. We eat Thai food, then walk a bit more but we are not falling in love with Auckland...not very nice city...
Back close to the water, We observe all the commuters taking ferries to go to the islands suburbs (we will later discover that is where many people live). Getting out in the water is part of life here. We see many boats, it is the city of sails after all and the America's Cup Big Boat is exhibited as a Christmas decoration...funny...
We go to bed early, tired and not sure what to expect here, first impressions aren't fantastic...
14/01
The morning is spent sorting out the van, we have to hire one to visit the country...After studying many companies, Fab calls them. One seems to be perfect...nice cute campervan...Luckily for us...they have nothing!!! For once, being late paid off, they cannot offer us the cheap van as they are all booked up, so as a result, we can get a 'luxury' campervan (ie with toilet and shower) for a very cheap rate....a really good deal!!! Even cheaper than the basic ones!!!
We have to spend another night in Auckland as it is not available before Friday...not a problem as we want to get out of the city and see one of the islands in the gulf.
We feel very excited about it!! A campervan, seems fun...We book it then go for a long walk to the Auckland Museum, it is now very warm and sunny, a real summer!! Again not a very nice walk, in between motorways, gigantic ugly streets, industrial estates, shops, nothing really nice for pedestrians...again very American.
The museum is a surprise, it is surrounded by an amazing park called the Domain, has gigantic gardens, on one of Auckland's volcanoes. We get to see the city and harbour from up and it looks stunning with this sea of islands, little green suburbs.
We spent few hours checking the display of Maori and Pacific islands arts and objects. The Maori culture is facinating but quite complex, such an amazing culture, we see a really long war canoe, we enter the Maori meeting house, we look at amazing carvings with details and sculptures.It is a fascinating culture, with a very strong link to ancestors and the land, even the objects are treated with respect and given names... The legends and mythology are very complicated with many gods, we try to understand their story of creation with Rangi the Earth nother and Papa, the Sky father but it gets more and more complex....We then have to walk all the way back to the centre, it is sunny but we both feel exhausted. We still decide to take another way home and explore another area, including the famous K Road, supposed to be one of the trendy-edgy areas, with vintage shops, designers....we arrive there around 6pm and everything is closed!!
Yes, here everything shuts down after 6pm and very quickly the city feels dead....
Another long walk to the food supermarket as we have to feed ourselves, the walk is horrible again, alongside a motorway, no real architectural sense here...
We then spend most of the evening in the communal kitchen, cooking and chatting to people, it is busy, maybe 15 people cooking and discussing...many nationalities. Funny enough, we meet a French couple living in Blackheath, for the past 20 years!!! South London is never far away!!
15/01
We want to escape the city and experience the islands as it seems to be the best bits here. Our choice is Rangitoto (what a name!!) This island is a volcano! It emerged from the sea around 600 years ago with eruptions forming the island.
Rangitoto is the largest, youngest of about 50 volcanic cones in the Auckland volcanic field. This funny name is derived from the phrase: 'Te Rangi totongia a Tamatekapua - the day the blood of Tamatekapua was shed'. Tamatekapua was the chief of the Arawa canoe tribe and lost a major battle with another tribe and was injured on this island. Nice ferry ride, it is a gorgeous sunny day and feel very warm...the sun is strong in the Southern hemisphere and we feel it.
The island is stunning, amazing lush short vegetations and lava fields....It is also a place of significance for the maori but was unsuitable for settlement as as only layers of basaltic rocks. The lava rock seems an inhospitable environment as no soil but there are lots of plants on the island, including the largest remaining pohutukawa forest - the flame tree (the local tree) in New Zealand. Mangroves which usually grow in the mud of estuaries are found here too, growing directly on lava and many lush bushes....We spend the day walking, first we Walk to the summit, a long climb through lava fields and forests, it is warm and the dark lava retains the heat, making it even warmer...specially when ascending a steep path!!!But we make it to the top and are rewarded by panoramic views of Auckland and the gulf. It is stunning. We then go on to walk to McKenzie Bay, a natural black sand beach, we have a quick picnic, attacked by wasps and worry about reaching the ferry warf on time...no rest today for us....feels a bit rushed.
We reach the end of the walk and start seeing all the baches, the holidays homes that were built in the 1920s and 1930s. The bach sites were leased to pay for the development of the island and a community was created at that time, people would come on holidays here....very wild camping first, then they would build out of wood some hut-cabins, then houses with basic equipments then a bit better, using the rain water and kerosene lamps. We are amazed by them, they are all abandoned and derelict but many have some furniture inside, some old clothes...we peep through the windows, go in the gardens, see glances of lifes...feels a bit like being kids again and going to see an abandoned house, a bit scary and exciting...even if we both know they are empty!! Then, surprisingly, one of them seem to have inhabitants, windows are open, shoes, clothes and bath towels outside.we even see a little girl playing in the yard!!!! We decide to be brave and knock at the door...Angela opens the door and we asked her about the house, do they live here? We thought all the houses were empty and abandoned and no one lived on this island!! She laughs and invites us in...Paul her husband is here to with the twins girls and they offer us a drink, we chat for an hour, the bach house belongs to Angla's grandfather, he built it and was amongst the first people in the bach community...it then passed on to her mother then her, she tells us about the governement wanting the baches to be destroyed, the conservation organisation wanting the island to be without humans (apparently the island is now a nature sanctuary). A significant number of houses were removed when the lease expired, some were burnt to the ground. Finally we learn that following a trial and public outcry, the baches are now listed as historic areas and that the government wants to preserve some of the baches for their historic interest but still willing to get rid of the people. We chat a lot, politics, life in Europe, here, we look around the house, Paul shows us all the inventive bits and the improvements done to the house. They might loose the house, when the lease is up...but at the moment, they still manage to come here on holidays...It has an historic significance we feel, as we learn there are many baches sites scattered around NZ coast...may house will be 80 or 70 years old.
In few hours time, when the ferries are gone, Paul, Angela and their twin girls will be the only people on th island until tomorrow, how exciting!! they are very friendly and it is a shame we have to go and take the boat. Paul tells us where they live and we are invited to come and visit once we will be in the area...which we plan to do. Such a great encounter!!
We leave the island and enjoy the ferry ride under the sun, walk home, shower then we finish the night in a japanese take away, eating stir fry at the counter....
Bed time, tomorrow we pick up the camper and go up to the Bay of Island.
After a 4 hour flight leaving Rarotonga very early in the morning on Monday, we arrive in Auckland on Tuesday!!! The shortest Monday ever...New Zealand...the customs and passport inspection are very long, you cannot bring food, plants,animals,soiled camping gears to this country...to protect the biodiversity...a bit extreme,it takes forever...even worst than the US!!!
We finally take in a taxi, too lazy and tired to take the bus....we make it to the city lodge accommodation, our backpacker hostel for 4 days. Tiny clean room with an even tinier bathroom but at least it is not a dormitory!! Nice big communal kitchen, a laundry and some nice staff willing to advise...good start...It is warm but not too warm, sunny...
After resting a bit, we decide to go walking around the city centre and discover Auckland. We walk to the Viaduct Harbour, the main commercial street Queen Street, the Sky Tower, we wander around and the first impression is not great. Auckland city is not pretty depite the water and the volcanoes: many big avenues, motorways cutting through the city, it makes us feel like we are in a badly designed small US town.
Lots of shopping, big roads and tons of asian restaurants...this is the amazing fact: the Asian population, mainly Korean, Japanese and Chinese, is huge here. In some areas, all the shops and restaurants are asian. All the signs are written in chinese or korean...feels weird, it is so multicultural. In some places, you could easily forget you are in New Zealand!!
We go for a lunch in one of those Asian food halls, a very specific widly spread concept here: a large shop basement lit with neons lights and hosting many food stalls: Malaysian, Korean, Japanese, Thai, Chinese food...all for a very cheap price. We eat Thai food, then walk a bit more but we are not falling in love with Auckland...not very nice city...
Back close to the water, We observe all the commuters taking ferries to go to the islands suburbs (we will later discover that is where many people live). Getting out in the water is part of life here. We see many boats, it is the city of sails after all and the America's Cup Big Boat is exhibited as a Christmas decoration...funny...
We go to bed early, tired and not sure what to expect here, first impressions aren't fantastic...
14/01
The morning is spent sorting out the van, we have to hire one to visit the country...After studying many companies, Fab calls them. One seems to be perfect...nice cute campervan...Luckily for us...they have nothing!!! For once, being late paid off, they cannot offer us the cheap van as they are all booked up, so as a result, we can get a 'luxury' campervan (ie with toilet and shower) for a very cheap rate....a really good deal!!! Even cheaper than the basic ones!!!
We have to spend another night in Auckland as it is not available before Friday...not a problem as we want to get out of the city and see one of the islands in the gulf.
We feel very excited about it!! A campervan, seems fun...We book it then go for a long walk to the Auckland Museum, it is now very warm and sunny, a real summer!! Again not a very nice walk, in between motorways, gigantic ugly streets, industrial estates, shops, nothing really nice for pedestrians...again very American.
The museum is a surprise, it is surrounded by an amazing park called the Domain, has gigantic gardens, on one of Auckland's volcanoes. We get to see the city and harbour from up and it looks stunning with this sea of islands, little green suburbs.
We spent few hours checking the display of Maori and Pacific islands arts and objects. The Maori culture is facinating but quite complex, such an amazing culture, we see a really long war canoe, we enter the Maori meeting house, we look at amazing carvings with details and sculptures.It is a fascinating culture, with a very strong link to ancestors and the land, even the objects are treated with respect and given names... The legends and mythology are very complicated with many gods, we try to understand their story of creation with Rangi the Earth nother and Papa, the Sky father but it gets more and more complex....We then have to walk all the way back to the centre, it is sunny but we both feel exhausted. We still decide to take another way home and explore another area, including the famous K Road, supposed to be one of the trendy-edgy areas, with vintage shops, designers....we arrive there around 6pm and everything is closed!!
Yes, here everything shuts down after 6pm and very quickly the city feels dead....
Another long walk to the food supermarket as we have to feed ourselves, the walk is horrible again, alongside a motorway, no real architectural sense here...
We then spend most of the evening in the communal kitchen, cooking and chatting to people, it is busy, maybe 15 people cooking and discussing...many nationalities. Funny enough, we meet a French couple living in Blackheath, for the past 20 years!!! South London is never far away!!
15/01
We want to escape the city and experience the islands as it seems to be the best bits here. Our choice is Rangitoto (what a name!!) This island is a volcano! It emerged from the sea around 600 years ago with eruptions forming the island.
Rangitoto is the largest, youngest of about 50 volcanic cones in the Auckland volcanic field. This funny name is derived from the phrase: 'Te Rangi totongia a Tamatekapua - the day the blood of Tamatekapua was shed'. Tamatekapua was the chief of the Arawa canoe tribe and lost a major battle with another tribe and was injured on this island. Nice ferry ride, it is a gorgeous sunny day and feel very warm...the sun is strong in the Southern hemisphere and we feel it.
The island is stunning, amazing lush short vegetations and lava fields....It is also a place of significance for the maori but was unsuitable for settlement as as only layers of basaltic rocks. The lava rock seems an inhospitable environment as no soil but there are lots of plants on the island, including the largest remaining pohutukawa forest - the flame tree (the local tree) in New Zealand. Mangroves which usually grow in the mud of estuaries are found here too, growing directly on lava and many lush bushes....We spend the day walking, first we Walk to the summit, a long climb through lava fields and forests, it is warm and the dark lava retains the heat, making it even warmer...specially when ascending a steep path!!!But we make it to the top and are rewarded by panoramic views of Auckland and the gulf. It is stunning. We then go on to walk to McKenzie Bay, a natural black sand beach, we have a quick picnic, attacked by wasps and worry about reaching the ferry warf on time...no rest today for us....feels a bit rushed.
We reach the end of the walk and start seeing all the baches, the holidays homes that were built in the 1920s and 1930s. The bach sites were leased to pay for the development of the island and a community was created at that time, people would come on holidays here....very wild camping first, then they would build out of wood some hut-cabins, then houses with basic equipments then a bit better, using the rain water and kerosene lamps. We are amazed by them, they are all abandoned and derelict but many have some furniture inside, some old clothes...we peep through the windows, go in the gardens, see glances of lifes...feels a bit like being kids again and going to see an abandoned house, a bit scary and exciting...even if we both know they are empty!! Then, surprisingly, one of them seem to have inhabitants, windows are open, shoes, clothes and bath towels outside.we even see a little girl playing in the yard!!!! We decide to be brave and knock at the door...Angela opens the door and we asked her about the house, do they live here? We thought all the houses were empty and abandoned and no one lived on this island!! She laughs and invites us in...Paul her husband is here to with the twins girls and they offer us a drink, we chat for an hour, the bach house belongs to Angla's grandfather, he built it and was amongst the first people in the bach community...it then passed on to her mother then her, she tells us about the governement wanting the baches to be destroyed, the conservation organisation wanting the island to be without humans (apparently the island is now a nature sanctuary). A significant number of houses were removed when the lease expired, some were burnt to the ground. Finally we learn that following a trial and public outcry, the baches are now listed as historic areas and that the government wants to preserve some of the baches for their historic interest but still willing to get rid of the people. We chat a lot, politics, life in Europe, here, we look around the house, Paul shows us all the inventive bits and the improvements done to the house. They might loose the house, when the lease is up...but at the moment, they still manage to come here on holidays...It has an historic significance we feel, as we learn there are many baches sites scattered around NZ coast...may house will be 80 or 70 years old.
In few hours time, when the ferries are gone, Paul, Angela and their twin girls will be the only people on th island until tomorrow, how exciting!! they are very friendly and it is a shame we have to go and take the boat. Paul tells us where they live and we are invited to come and visit once we will be in the area...which we plan to do. Such a great encounter!!
We leave the island and enjoy the ferry ride under the sun, walk home, shower then we finish the night in a japanese take away, eating stir fry at the counter....
Bed time, tomorrow we pick up the camper and go up to the Bay of Island.
1 comments:
The bach sounds great - would be fantastic to take photos in all those empty houses, but what a story behind it. Sounds like you made a really good decision when you knocked on that door! Look forward to seeing the photos, thanks for the camera info!
thinking of you both,
love M x
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