16th - 24th April

Hello! We've just finished our last NZ road trip, all without Shadowfax, in fact with a very poor replacement for our Shads. When people say don't buy an ex-rental this is probably what they have in mind - we just got lucky! Our replacement was a 2.0l Nissan Bluebird which we named 'Roller', partly as she is a blue bird (hahahaha!) and partly because she has a horrible fat front, rather like an imitation Rolls. It felt a little like a mafia car and not at all as though we should be driving it, but it was cheap as the rental company wanted some vehicles moved back to Auckland. Bloody heap of crap had done less than half the kms of Shads, yet the driver's wing mirror folded back at top speed the first time I drove it, it blew out hot air whatever you did (except open the windows) and steamed up whenever it rained (unless you had the windows open). But at least it could accelerate while going up a hill (sorry Shads!)

The first couple of days of our road trip were long, long, long as we drove from the Kapiti Coast to north of Auckland, stopping overnight at Taupo and waving as we passed National Park - we had to skip the Tongariro Crossing as we ran out of time. Having just spent 7 months driving around the South Island (where a quarter of the population live) the roads of North Island seemed rather busy (thank goodness we're not driving in Bangkok!) so I bravely sat back as we reached the 5-lane expressway and directed Su through Auckland. To be fair the road through Auckland wasn't too bad, the expressways are clearly marked all the way through - the problem is the other drivers! Bloody lunatics accelerating diagonally across 4 lanes of traffic right in front of you! We even crossed the Auckland Harbour Bridge, though we were concentrating so hard on the road and map that neither of us really got to appreciate the view!

On our second night we stayed at Orewa on the Hibiscus Coast, 30 minutes north of Auckland, in a sweet little backpackers set in a tropical garden, with a white-tailed spider in our bedroom, and then we set off for a 6-day jaunt around Northland. Which didn't exactly turn out as planned! Our original plan was to potter around Whangarei, Paihia & the Bay of Islands, and Hokianga & the Kauri Coast, basically just chilling and exploring the beaches & forests (we decided against Cape Reinga and Ninety Mile Beach as it was just too much driving). But sadly the weather had other plans, varying between grey & gloomy and downright pissing it down! If this happened at the start of our trip we just adopted the good old British spirit, donned a waterproof, and got on with it, or simply found an alternative inside. But you know what? We just couldn't be arsed! All we wanted to do was chill for a few days before setting off again and sit on a beach with a book, or wander along the shoreline or through a forest. We made a few attempts in between showers: stopping at Goat Island Marine Reserve where the winds had whipped the water up so much you couldn't see a lot; having a picnic at Waipu Cove where there was a dodgy beach wedding for entertainment; wandering around the harbour at Tutukaka where we cheered ourselves with a delicious seafood pizza; and making a few aborted attempts to walk around Matapouri Bay without being soaked to the skin.

We were largely saved by our accommodation for the first few nights. At Whangarei we stayed at the Whangarei Falls Holiday Park & Backpackers where (please don't laugh) we unpacked in our original cabin, only to find that there wasn't a ladder to the top bunk, you just had to haul yourself up from the lower bunk. But neither of us are that tall and it was a bit of a struggle (I said don't laugh!) So for a few dollars each we upgraded to a kitchen cabin and got heaps more space so it was actually quite comfortable to spend some time there just pottering, preparing bits to send home and getting ready for Asia. Likewise at Paihia we stayed at the Waitangi Motor Camp in a huge cabin with separate rooms, our own kitchen, a table to sit at and write, a picnic table under cover on the patio, plus an adorable pregnant cat for company - all for much less than a crappy room in a backpackers. We even had a proper oven so Su could bake more cookies.

We did have one fabulous day, the day we left Whangarei and headed north to Paihia. We stopped at the Whangarei Falls and were greatly soothed by what we found - after all this is the best time to see a waterfall, straight after a heavy downpour. Everything was shining a brilliant green, glistening with raindrops - a true rainforest - and the falls were thundering, dropping a massive volume of water into the river beneath. We stood watching and listening to the waterfall for ages before taking a stroll along the river's edge - just what we needed. But the real highlight was to come. We stopped at the Whangarei Native Bird Recovery Centre and met Robert Webb, one of the co-founders. He set up this place 19 years ago with his wife Robyn, having always been known as a lover of birds - he was a truck driver and renown for stopping at the side of the road to tend to injured birds. Their philosophy is wonderful - they firmly believe that birds should be free, not kept in cages, so they nurse them back to health and allow the public to see them while in 'hospital', then release them back to the area in which they were found, after a short period where they are no longer handled so they are not too tame when released. They keep only the few birds whose injuries are such that they would not survive in the wild.

Our hearts sank when a tour group turned up just after us but it turned out to be the best thing that could have happened as Robert got some birds out to show them. Firstly he popped into the harrier cage where he currently has 4 birds, one of whom cannot be released as she has lost a wing but she is fabulous at calming down the other birds when they arrive. My first question was how can you keep 4 harriers in the same cage without a huge fight resulting, but he quickly assured me to the contrary - if an injured harrier is lying unable to fend for itself and is seen by another harrier, this bird will bring food for the injured one, which I find incredible. Anyway, he brought out one of these birds in his arms, holding it firmly but stroking it and reassuring it and the bird was still & calm - they can sense when no harm is meant, and we got to look this magnificent creature in the eye (eyes that seem to look into your soul) and stroke its soft wings.

And if that made us smile, imagine our faces when he brought out Sparky, a one-legged brown kiwi, the incredibly rare flightless bird endemic to NZ. Obviously a flightless bird with only one leg can never be released but Robert uses the bird to raise awareness of kiwis and their fight for survival - they travel around NZ, assured of free flights wherever they go, and visit schools, attend openings and ceremonies and he has pictures of Sparky on new warships, in the arms of pilots about to fly a new plane, etc. Well Su & I were speechless. For a start the bond between them was amazing to watch - he stroked behind Sparky's ear and the bird responded like a cat, closing his eyes and inclining his head to the side. Secondly his face was, well it's difficult to put into words, but compared to the proud, regal face of the harrier, Sparky looked so vulnerable, yet so gentle and shy. And we stroked him - the feathers on this back were kind of like hair, while the feathers underneath were soft and warm. What an amazing creature.

And still I have more to write (I thought this would be a short blog). After the group left, Robert, sensing our fascination, embarked on a private tour for us leading us into the morepork's cage (a tiny owl), then to feed the harriers, and even brought out a little kingfisher to show us. And that's still not all! He has a tui that talks! Tuis are amazing birds that we both love hearing as they have 2 voice boxes so can produce a high and low sound at the same time, making the most beautiful song, and they are good mimics. This one has been with Robert for years (he is 13, but they can live to c.20) as he has lost a wing so cannot fly. One day when Robert was cleaning the cages, this voice just said "hello Woof Woof", hence he was named "Woof Woof". And now he can say many things, in a voice that sounds like Robert's, but more than that he seems to actually communicate. Su & I stood there listening to him muttering away and I said "are you talking to me Woof Woof?" and he said "yes I am"!!!! Su had to pick me up off the floor! He has even taught the neighbouring tui to talk, who is soon to be released - I did point out that he should be released with a public health warning as if he flies into a garden and starts speaking he may cause a heart attack! Needless to say we had to reluctantly tear ourselves away after a few hours, but Robert is another NZ bird hero! If you click on the following link you'll hopefully go to their website where you can hear Woof Woof talk; www.whangareinativebirdrecovery.org.nz

And how do you top off such an incredible day? We drove on to Paihia, stopping at Kawakawa to see the Hunderwasser toilets, designed by Hundertwasser who emigrated here in the 1970s, which were fabulous - we've both been to his house in Vienna and are fans. And then we found our home in Waitangi, on a rare sunny evening, and sat outside with a glass of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, watching the sun set and the waders enjoy the river estuary. What a day!

The final leg of our journey was back down the west coast of Northland, via the harbour at Hokianga and the Waipoua Kauri forest, and for this leg we stayed at the Greenhouse Backpackers in Dargaville, a contender for one of the best hostels we've stayed at on this trip - a beautifully converted 1920s infant school, run by a sweet couple, where we spent our evenings curled up on a comfy sofa with a book and bottle of wine.

For me, the Hokianga Harbour was really quite exciting. Yes, it was beautiful, a huge harbour retreating inland in many layers, lined with white sandy bays and huge sand dunes on the other side. And yes, the sun helped with that image as it appeared in a brief moment. But for me the real joy lie in Opononi, a place I wanted to stop at as I'd just read Noel Virtue's Then Upon The Evil Season, a rather bizarre book by this NZ author, which is based here. It features a friendly dolphin called Opo who visited regularly, causing much excitement and enticing visitors from all over NZ. I got all excited when I saw a café named after Opo thinking, 'hooray, somebody else has read this crazy book!' And then I found his grave - he did exist and visited Opononi in the 1950s!!! Well, I was excited! (Not sure about the tame pet emu though…)

Having abandoned plans to drive to Ninety Mile Beach due to weather & distance, we were pleased to find that Ripiro Beach was close by and we popped by for a look one afternoon. What a beach, coming in at a whopping 108 km long, which in true kiwi style you can ruin by driving along it! We did hear a fabulous story about this from the man in the i-Site (NZ Tourist Info). It involved a man who came here with a brand new 4WD jeep, only 2 weeks out of the showroom, with a group of mates. The locals warned him that it wasn't a good day to drive along the beach as there was too much soft sand, but being a bloke with a group of mates to show off to, he ignored their advice. By the time they found a tractor to pull him out only the car aerial was visible and it remains there as a warning to this day! Hahahaha! Much as we would have loved to sink 'Roller' we parked away from the beach and instead enjoyed our picnic and a walk along the beach, past fishermen, family cricket games and the odd car, transfixed by the huge crashing waves of the Tasman Sea.

But the real point of stopping here was the Waipoua Kauri Forest, something we have been looking forward to all year. And it did not disappoint! We did a few short walks around the forest in order to see some of its most famous inhabitants, and were pleasantly surprised to see that so many of these wonderful trees survive here. For those of you unfamiliar with kauri, they are one of the largest trees in the world, but because both its wood and gum were highly sought after, much of the ancient forest was destroyed when settlers first came to NZ. They are now protected, but as they can live for several thousand years it will obviously take some time for them to be fully reestablished. This forest is magnificent with several huge kauri trees dotted around like those in the aptly named Cathedral Grove, but the really old ones left us speechless. Yakas, the 7th oldest tree seemed unbelievably large, and the Four Sisters, four huge trees that grow from the same trunk appeared both graceful and enormous, but the two giants: Te Matua Ngahere (Father of the Forest) and Tane Mahuta (Lord of the Forest) were simply awe-inspiring. Te Matua Ngahere had the largest trunk, but there was something about Tane Mahuta - it felt incredibly special and appeared almost lit up by the forest that surrounded it like a halo. Wonderful. And a very fitting finale to our road trip.

That left only one thing, getting to our backpackers in Auckland and returning the car to the rental company. We chose a backpackers in Ponsonby as this was the first place after coming back over the Auckland Harbour Bridge and we got to The Brown Kiwi relatively easily but were dreading returning the car to the other side of Auckland on a Friday afternoon. But in the end we didn't have to - they collected it from us! Su was almost crying with relief and we even got away with handing her back a little under full on the petrol gauge! Fabulous, what more could we ask for? (Er, a nice comfortable, clean hostel for our last few days here - oh well, you can't have it all).

The countdown to Bangkok is on….

With love, Jo & Su, xxx