Off we go - first days in NZ

December 10, 2011

Off we go - first days in NZ

First things first.

Thanks to Rich Deutsch for helping with computer related issues the day before and the morning of the day we left so that I could use my new MacAir.

Thanks to Brad Dobski for driving us to and from the airport on days that the kids were all tied up with lots of college homework.

The trip was nothing short of fantastic – this in spite of more than just a few mishaps along the way – proving at least that we are resilient, and that we don’t let adversity stand in our way of a wonderful time. So to get the bad news events out of the way (although we may revisit a few of these later) here are the mishaps. 4 rather nasty falls by Donna with her separated shoulder, swapping out of our campervan after two days because of a malfunctioning bed, Don breaking his second (and last )pair of sunglasses as he was departing the 6-hour ferry ride for our last 6 days on Fiji (no stores in Paradise folks), a very long set of days getting back home from Fiji (4 hours sleep in 48 hours or so – Air New Zealand superb – Air Pacific – not so much), and finally a very scary encounter with some local hooligans in NZ where we narrowly averted being robbed or even worse. But so many absolutely wonderful memories that totally outweigh the negative things, especially since Donna never was seriously hurt more than she already was (although more than a bit more bruised), and we escaped the “hooligan episode” without any harm, except being scared out of our wits.

So New Zealand is a bit of ways away from Littleton, CO, so we knew the first days might me a bit rough. No real hiccups on the flights, though. 2.5 hours from Denver to LAX, picked up our bags and a short stroll to the international terminal and check in for our Air New Zealand flight, hanging out in the terminal waiting for a few hours before the flight boarded, reading the Lonely Planet guidebook, and then a 13-hour flight to Auckland. We were impressed with Air New Zealand, good food, a bit of wine with dinner, lots of in flight entertainment movies, etc.(although I didn’t really sample it), and very friendly and efficient flight attendants. Donna was sitting next to a wonderful Australian couple, who were returning from a 9-week tour of the USA. I was across the aisle from Donna and next to a Maori couple that had headsets on the whole time – so incommunicado, but nice and quiet. All in all as good as we could have hoped for. It was a bit rough on Donna’s injured shoulder, but she survived – we both managed probably a few hours of off and on sleep. Cleared customs, which gave our hiking boots a nice clean (I had already washed the bottoms of the boots, but not good enough apparently – we had read they really watch the biohazards – don’t worry much about terrorists though – no taking off of your shoes here when you go through security). Then off to the campervan rental for our orientation and away we go. My first attempts at driving my stickshift VW Transporter (think Eurovan size) on the “wrong” side of the road after only a bit of sleep in the last 36 hours was a bit of adventure (think – where is first gear anyway?). Nobody honked at me the first day, so I consider it a success! We decided to head to the Coramandel Peninsula, because it was the closest beautiful area to Auckland, and we arrived mid-week, so didn’t expect it to be crowded, which is how it turned out.

First night was in a DOC (Department of Conservation) (think – Forest Service) campsite, up the Kauaeranga Valley, outside of the town of Thames. This was based on a recommendation from the Isite (information sites, which are scattered all over the country in lots of towns across NZ). This was a beautiful valley with several DOC campsites and lots of hiking trails in the hills that go down the middle of the Coramandel Peninsula. The big hike in this area is the hike to the Pinnacles, which we of course did on Nov. 2^nd. More on that later. Our campsite was next to a creek, and there were only 2 other campers scattered in the campsite, so it felt like we had the place to ourselves. Flush toilets, but no showers. We cooked dinner, (wonderful Indian dinner prepared by Donna for my 59^th birthday; cleaned up, made our bed, and fell into the sleep of the dead by 8 PM. I don’t think I’ve ever fallen asleep that fast – and stayed asleep all the way until 5:30 AM.) Rainy weather so far, but there is a reason NZ is so green.

Day 2, Wednesday, November 2nd – our first full day in NZ. So off to the DOC visitor center, with helpful Kiwi, former Aussie, Rachel helping us. To the end of the road, and off on our hike up to the Pinnacles. This was a beautiful hike – very steep, about 2400 feet up in about 4.5 miles, with several crossings of rivers on swinging bridges (think Indiana Jones). Very lush vegetation, mostly in the bush, with occasional views across the hills. We were out hiking for 7 hours, which was a bit much for Donna’s shoulder, so we’ll back off on the long distance, straight up hikes for a while, but we still both really liked the hike. It got the cobwebs out, and we feel like we are on NZ time (biologically and otherwise – No worries, mate). This area was logged many years ago, and they tried to send the logs down Billy Goat Creek and over Billy Goat falls (170 meters high; we could see part of it – and have a few pictures – that’s a remnant of one of the giant Kauri trees at the top of the falls) That didn’t work so well, with the giant trees being smashed to bits at the bottom of the falls – so they built a railway straight up the mountain, - I have a picture of a small remnant piece of track. Extraction was the name of the game back then, and now only small areas of the giant Kauri trees are left across the country. We got back to the car, I washed my hair using the sunshower I had set out at the beginning of the hike. We drove back down the hill, and camped a second night in our same campground – this time we were the only campers there, so lots of peace and quiet. But then – equipment malfunctions!

Our campervan is equipped with a bed that is a nice sofa during the day, and pulls out to a nice and very comfortable bed that we quick make up every night with sheets, blankets and comforter, provided. This bed is electrically operated and comes out automatically, which is slick if it works – which it did splendidly the first night , not so splendidly the second night. The motor refused to work, and we couldn’t pull the bed out manually, so we improvised that night and Donna slept on the “sofa” and we put the other parts of the bed on the floor, which I slept on – it worked, but not nearly as comfortable as our first night.