We started walking back towards the party and threw up the thumb, we got picked up by this nice lady that was heading that way and started chatting.
While talking we learned that the party we were going to was not starting at 20:00 but at 03:00!!!!
She said that we were welcome to come to the party she was going to, some friends had rented a beach place and were having a party over there so we accepted and went along..... A little hitch can get you a long way :)
Arriving at the party every one was just getting ready to walk down to the beach with all the fish and crayfish for dinner. Since we already ate we did not join the food but went along with some drinks and we had a really nice time with all the new people we met.
It started to get dark and after a good while they went back up to the house and the party really kicked off.
Lots of dancing and drinking and we ended up celebrating new year with them, although the timing was off with anything between 5 and 11 minutes we just went along it was all good.
A bunch of the people in the house wanted to join us in going to the party so we walked over the bridge and walked over to the party.
The party was build over three areas but we stayed mostly at the first area we got to, which happened to be the area that was closest to the beach house. This was a good thing since they did not sell any drinks or food so we had to go back to the house when our stash was finished.
The party was not as well attended as they had exepected but we had a great time never the less. Our companions of the previous party left around 0500 but they had somewhere to stay so that was only fair. Rob and I, on the other hand, did not have a place to stay and our flight was not going back till 16:30!!!!
We danced a little longer at the party until it just wasn't as fun anymore and left.
This posed an interesting problem since we had no where to go and a good while to kill..... we wandered back to Claris and waited for Claris Texas to open.
We stepped in there as SOON as they opened and stayed all day until they closed hahaha
Everyone working in the place, including the owners, were impressed with our long stay and we had a good chuckle about it, i dropped a handsome tip in the tipbox to thank them for allowing us to stay there (although we ate and drink enough) and I am sure that we are the talk of town :)
After many MANY hours of waiting we got to the airport and after more waiting we took off to Auckland. Above Auckland we had to wait more as they could not land but in the end we landed and got into a taxi.
The taxi dropped us off at some steak house and we had a not so good dinner, amazing how many amateurs are pretending to be able to cook food... or the lack of interesting in making it nice, or maybe it is just the people that keep eating it.... we thought it was rather crap but were too tired to complain and left, tired as dogs.
Back at Manukau we found that the Van and our tent were still there and after a longgg hot shower and lots of after-sun we jumped into bed...
AMAZING how good jumping into bed can feel after soo many hours of waiting, especially after being awake for 36 hours or so, walking, dancing, drinking, being in the sun, biking WHeeee HA!
ZzZzZzZzZz
Monday, December 31, 2007
Great Barier Part 1
We got up early again, got picked up by the taxi and got driven to the airport.
The Great Barier airplane was a ginormeous 10 seater including the pilot totally irrational the size of that thing but it got us to where we wanted to be and that itself was quite a feat in our eyes :)
Arriving at Great Barier we realized that we had sort of miscalculated the amount of time we had on our hands before the start of the party (20:00 at night) and the lack of gear we brought.
We walked around aimlessly for a while and found out that all the stuff we had brought because the travel guide said the island didn't have anything were largly silly.... they had everything over there except for ATM's and electricity (although everyone has generators so that really doesn't matter either) but there you go....
We found a place called Claris, Texas (which was a cafe/bar in the town we arrived in (obviously Claris and not Texas :p)) where we got some coffee and something to nibble.
A nice lady came up to us after she noticed us turning and turning the map in a poor attempt to figure out what to do and started chatting to us.
She told us about the island and where to go and it was all fine and dandy.
Once we were done at Claris, Texas we went in the oposite direction of what the lady suggested and went to a bike shop to rent some bikes.
(We could not rent a car or anything else as we had left our Credit Cards or Driving Licenses at the Van since we thought there would be nothing there to do.... BUMMER)
Anyhoo, we got on the bikes and started peddling towards the beach a few km away unfortunately we had to encounter a rather large.... HILL.
It was nice and sunny, about 12:30 in the afternoon and we both had a backpack weighing at least 10kg's each.... a good recipe for sweating :)
Not so much a problem if you can go somewhere to have a shower and put on some fresh clothes...... either of which we could not :)
We persisted and biked over the hill and got a chance to check out the site the party was at, no one there yet so we continued and ended up on a really nice beach.
Stayed at the beach for about an hour, got bored again and took the bikes over the hill back to the bike shop that was rather surprised to find us taking the bike back mere hours after we had picked them up.....he he he
The nice lady we talked to earlier had told us that hitching a ride on the island was very easy and something that everyone does so we decided to give it a shot.... for the first time in both our lives.
It was true, hitching was the easiest thing over there we stuck up our thumbs and we had transport within minutes, the first car that had space for us took us a long.... easy and cheap :)
We had to catch a few rides to get to the next town we wanted to check out but the whole operation was quick and painless.
We got dropped of in the tiny tiny town of Tryphone and when we jumped off the driver of the car asked us where we needed to go, e replied we did not know and went and walked off.
After a few minutes we figured there was nothing in the town and walked in the other direction passed the water to find a nice spot to put down our towels and lie down for a while for some more recovery for that night.
Found a nice spot in a bay with some shade from a big tree and we got about an hour of sleep, very peaceful indeed.
We hitched our way back to the awesome town of Claris to get some beers at the local liquer store and continued walking our way to find a restaurant to get something to eat.
We found a Thai place and had a 31st of December dinner..... nothing special except for the pepper sauce which was HOTTTT, awesome.
Time to go to the party!
The Great Barier airplane was a ginormeous 10 seater including the pilot totally irrational the size of that thing but it got us to where we wanted to be and that itself was quite a feat in our eyes :)
Arriving at Great Barier we realized that we had sort of miscalculated the amount of time we had on our hands before the start of the party (20:00 at night) and the lack of gear we brought.
We walked around aimlessly for a while and found out that all the stuff we had brought because the travel guide said the island didn't have anything were largly silly.... they had everything over there except for ATM's and electricity (although everyone has generators so that really doesn't matter either) but there you go....
We found a place called Claris, Texas (which was a cafe/bar in the town we arrived in (obviously Claris and not Texas :p)) where we got some coffee and something to nibble.
A nice lady came up to us after she noticed us turning and turning the map in a poor attempt to figure out what to do and started chatting to us.
She told us about the island and where to go and it was all fine and dandy.
Once we were done at Claris, Texas we went in the oposite direction of what the lady suggested and went to a bike shop to rent some bikes.
(We could not rent a car or anything else as we had left our Credit Cards or Driving Licenses at the Van since we thought there would be nothing there to do.... BUMMER)
Anyhoo, we got on the bikes and started peddling towards the beach a few km away unfortunately we had to encounter a rather large.... HILL.
It was nice and sunny, about 12:30 in the afternoon and we both had a backpack weighing at least 10kg's each.... a good recipe for sweating :)
Not so much a problem if you can go somewhere to have a shower and put on some fresh clothes...... either of which we could not :)
We persisted and biked over the hill and got a chance to check out the site the party was at, no one there yet so we continued and ended up on a really nice beach.
Stayed at the beach for about an hour, got bored again and took the bikes over the hill back to the bike shop that was rather surprised to find us taking the bike back mere hours after we had picked them up.....he he he
The nice lady we talked to earlier had told us that hitching a ride on the island was very easy and something that everyone does so we decided to give it a shot.... for the first time in both our lives.
It was true, hitching was the easiest thing over there we stuck up our thumbs and we had transport within minutes, the first car that had space for us took us a long.... easy and cheap :)
We had to catch a few rides to get to the next town we wanted to check out but the whole operation was quick and painless.
We got dropped of in the tiny tiny town of Tryphone and when we jumped off the driver of the car asked us where we needed to go, e replied we did not know and went and walked off.
After a few minutes we figured there was nothing in the town and walked in the other direction passed the water to find a nice spot to put down our towels and lie down for a while for some more recovery for that night.
Found a nice spot in a bay with some shade from a big tree and we got about an hour of sleep, very peaceful indeed.
We hitched our way back to the awesome town of Claris to get some beers at the local liquer store and continued walking our way to find a restaurant to get something to eat.
We found a Thai place and had a 31st of December dinner..... nothing special except for the pepper sauce which was HOTTTT, awesome.
Time to go to the party!
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Manukau (Better known as the Bronx on New Zealand)
It was a long ride, from Matapouri to Manukau. We ended up in a traffic jam and it took us a little over 4 hours to get to the Manukau Holiday park.
We got there and found that it was hardly perfect although that did not matter since we were leaving the next morning and we anticipated nothing else but directly to bed when we got back from our trip.
We already at some McDonalds super crap during our traffic jam so we did not need to eat, we had a shower and went to bed early, to try and freshen up from our 2 previous nights and for the coming one.
We got there and found that it was hardly perfect although that did not matter since we were leaving the next morning and we anticipated nothing else but directly to bed when we got back from our trip.
We already at some McDonalds super crap during our traffic jam so we did not need to eat, we had a shower and went to bed early, to try and freshen up from our 2 previous nights and for the coming one.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
One of those "The next day" type days
After a rather interesting night with loads of interesting things to see, we woke up.
Obviously we wasn't feeling so flash as most of the Vodka and Jack had miraculously vanished......
:)
We sat in front of the van under our sunroof (which turned out to be a life saver that very day) and waited for Chris and Steve to turn up.
Beer was finished so we ended up drinking the last of the Vodka together with the rest of the coke and had an awesome afternoon with a LOT of laughing about all the things we had been trough over the passed days.
Chris and Steve arrived late in the afternoon and brought loads of beers so that was positive!
Obviously Rob and myself were already reasonably under the weather so the boys needed to catch up with drinking, they did well and before long we were all having a mighty good time.
It turned out to be another late night and I crashed earlier than the rest, I retreated to the Van and had myself an nice and long overdue sleep, superb.
Morning number 2 at Matapouri was not much different than number one we felt rather.... tired and hungover so we had a very easy day, hanging under the sunroof reading, sleeping in tents and Vans and generally not doing much more than that and perhaps breathing.
Rob and I had to make a move in the late afternoon though as we needed to be on our pre-booked Auckland Manukau camp site to be close to the airport for the next day when we were going to fly to Great Barier Island for our New Years party.
Round 1600 we packed up all our gear and took the bikes off the Van (as we were thinking of going back to Matapouri), said happy new year to the boys and left for Auckland.
Obviously we wasn't feeling so flash as most of the Vodka and Jack had miraculously vanished......
:)
We sat in front of the van under our sunroof (which turned out to be a life saver that very day) and waited for Chris and Steve to turn up.
Beer was finished so we ended up drinking the last of the Vodka together with the rest of the coke and had an awesome afternoon with a LOT of laughing about all the things we had been trough over the passed days.
Chris and Steve arrived late in the afternoon and brought loads of beers so that was positive!
Obviously Rob and myself were already reasonably under the weather so the boys needed to catch up with drinking, they did well and before long we were all having a mighty good time.
It turned out to be another late night and I crashed earlier than the rest, I retreated to the Van and had myself an nice and long overdue sleep, superb.
Morning number 2 at Matapouri was not much different than number one we felt rather.... tired and hungover so we had a very easy day, hanging under the sunroof reading, sleeping in tents and Vans and generally not doing much more than that and perhaps breathing.
Rob and I had to make a move in the late afternoon though as we needed to be on our pre-booked Auckland Manukau camp site to be close to the airport for the next day when we were going to fly to Great Barier Island for our New Years party.
Round 1600 we packed up all our gear and took the bikes off the Van (as we were thinking of going back to Matapouri), said happy new year to the boys and left for Auckland.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Cooking at a camp site
Rob and I both like cooking, when we at home we always cook wicked stuff (ahum, not supposed to say that yourself but what the hell...)
We took our Whangarei shopping and went into the Garage turned into a kitchen/dining area and started to work our magic.
After a few minutes of hard work we had put together a pasta with salmon, unions, cream, mushrooms peri peri and garlic on top of a bed of al dente pasta that made us forget about all the missery of the previous day and had multiple people come to us to find out what it was and why their camp mates never cooked anything decent :)
It was extremely NICE and so the night started very good with some beers and some awesome food underneath our newly build sun roof
But then we both had our first Vodka coke & Jack coke..... and we all know what that means!!!
A longggg longgg night :)
We took our Whangarei shopping and went into the Garage turned into a kitchen/dining area and started to work our magic.
After a few minutes of hard work we had put together a pasta with salmon, unions, cream, mushrooms peri peri and garlic on top of a bed of al dente pasta that made us forget about all the missery of the previous day and had multiple people come to us to find out what it was and why their camp mates never cooked anything decent :)
It was extremely NICE and so the night started very good with some beers and some awesome food underneath our newly build sun roof
But then we both had our first Vodka coke & Jack coke..... and we all know what that means!!!
A longggg longgg night :)
Liability, power wise
While Rob was setting up his tent I went to talk to the owner to see if they would allow us to get some power from the main house so we would not have to leave the Van on all the time to keep all our gadgets charged...
I found the owner at the same spot as always, on the deck of his house. he was enjoying the afternoon with his wife, his brother and some other people and I asked him if it was alright if we stole some power from the house again this year.
He seemed a bit hazy on the subject so I explained last years setp, the coin fell and he said: "No worries, give me a shout when you done and we sort it out"
Saweet!
Rob done with tent, I go and set up Van and when all is set I walk back to the house to arrange power.
The old man looks at me worried and says: "well my brother just said that this was very dangerous to have a normal extension lead out of the house into someones Van without permits and all that cause I would be liable for your damages"
Me: "Don't worry mate, I have "Full cover insurance""
Him: ohhhhh than it's alright, let me get you an extension lead
HA HA HA :)
When all that was sorted we grabbed some beers and decided (to keep us busy) to build the "sunroof" we brought.
We spend about 10 minutes with the seperate parts we bought that would make up our snroof and created something extra wicked that would last us for the full 2 days of our stay at a price that was about 300 Dollars cheaper than the cheapest prefab one we could find in the stores.... felt a bit like the A-team but then good looking and with less exploding cars flipping over in mid air.... of course.
I found the owner at the same spot as always, on the deck of his house. he was enjoying the afternoon with his wife, his brother and some other people and I asked him if it was alright if we stole some power from the house again this year.
He seemed a bit hazy on the subject so I explained last years setp, the coin fell and he said: "No worries, give me a shout when you done and we sort it out"
Saweet!
Rob done with tent, I go and set up Van and when all is set I walk back to the house to arrange power.
The old man looks at me worried and says: "well my brother just said that this was very dangerous to have a normal extension lead out of the house into someones Van without permits and all that cause I would be liable for your damages"
Me: "Don't worry mate, I have "Full cover insurance""
Him: ohhhhh than it's alright, let me get you an extension lead
HA HA HA :)
When all that was sorted we grabbed some beers and decided (to keep us busy) to build the "sunroof" we brought.
We spend about 10 minutes with the seperate parts we bought that would make up our snroof and created something extra wicked that would last us for the full 2 days of our stay at a price that was about 300 Dollars cheaper than the cheapest prefab one we could find in the stores.... felt a bit like the A-team but then good looking and with less exploding cars flipping over in mid air.... of course.
Whangarei 2 Matapouri
We Left the Camp Site of Hell as early as we good without even bothering making breakfast, we just wanted to get away from that evil evil place :)
Made contact with Chris and Steve because they were about to come towards Whangarei to see if we could meet up somewhere and discuss the plans for the coming days.
Steve and Chris were a little later than expected so we decided to come and drive to Whangarei and meet up over coffee over there.
Did coffee, checked out Whangarei shopping center and did some much needed shopping at my favorite warehouse...... The WAREHOUSE :)
We stocked up the van and decided to Drive towards Matapouri, to the same camp site that we were at the previous year, Chris and Steve decided to spend the night in Whangerei with Chris's family and we would meet up the next day, in Matapouri where we would secure our spot.
Matapouri, finaly!!!
What a great spot this is, the bay is absolutely stunning, Camp Site is 200 Meters away from it and the camp site owners are extremely nice people.... it was exactly the same as last year, they remembered me ( go figure) and they were glad to have us back, wicked!
Made contact with Chris and Steve because they were about to come towards Whangarei to see if we could meet up somewhere and discuss the plans for the coming days.
Steve and Chris were a little later than expected so we decided to come and drive to Whangarei and meet up over coffee over there.
Did coffee, checked out Whangarei shopping center and did some much needed shopping at my favorite warehouse...... The WAREHOUSE :)
We stocked up the van and decided to Drive towards Matapouri, to the same camp site that we were at the previous year, Chris and Steve decided to spend the night in Whangerei with Chris's family and we would meet up the next day, in Matapouri where we would secure our spot.
Matapouri, finaly!!!
What a great spot this is, the bay is absolutely stunning, Camp Site is 200 Meters away from it and the camp site owners are extremely nice people.... it was exactly the same as last year, they remembered me ( go figure) and they were glad to have us back, wicked!
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Sorry but we haven't got that either....
The a La Carte Restaurant at our "Midrange" camp site was an incredible disaster to say the least, Rob was trying to order some food but it just did not go as you would expect, let me try and summarize the events of the evening in a little dialog.
This dialog will be between W (Waiter), R (Rob), B (Bo) and O (Owner)
W: Evening, are you ready to order?!
R: Yeah I would like to have the Steak with Mushroom sauce
W: Sweet, coming up
W: Sorry we are out of mushrooms
R: Ah ok, can happen I would like the "Piquant" sauce instead
W: No worries
W: sorry no one knows what Piquant sauce is...
(funny that because it was on the menu)
R: Hmmm ok well, Bo is having a chicken burger so I will have that too please
W: Sweet as
W: Ehhm sorry sir but the Hamburger bread has just finished
R: OMG you have GOT to be shitting me?
B: Maybe it is easier if you tell us what you guys DO have?!
W: I can assure you that te rest is all available
W: No Sir not really, we all very sorry about this....
R: Gsus you are making it mighty hard to choose something to eat......
R: Ok I will then have the chicked with ricotta spinnish stuffing
W: Ok sir that is not going to be any problem, coming up
W: I am SO SO sorry sire but the sauce that comes with it is finished but the chef said he could make you cream sauce with union (!!!!!! WTF is that union cream sauce??????)
R: Ok this is getting ridiculous
W: Yes Sir I agree if there is anything else missing I am calling the Owner, he can come and explain.
R: What can you suggest that is certainly there?!
W: The special of the day, Salmon.... can't miss!!
R: Alright I will have the salmon then.
W: Perfect Sir, I will make sure it is a good portion and quick
R: Great
(Food gets taken to the table (I already had dinner by that time, I realised earlier that it was not going to happen so I just ordered pasta with chicken and bacon...even the kitchen hand can do that :) )
R: OMG the Salmon is RAW and COLD on the inside
(It really was)
R: Can you please take this away and tell them to make this again and good this time?!
W: Yes Sir, Certainly Sir
R: GRMBLLLL
W: there you go sir, Bon Appetite
R: (Looks at plate, at me and lastly at waiter) But... But.... this is the same Salmon cut in half and baked to death on the same pasta?!
W: (Looks quisically) ehhh yes sir, not good?!
R: TAKE IT AWAY AND MAKE IT FRESH
W: ...... silent retreat
O: Something wrong with the food guys?!
R: HELL YEAH (tells entire story)
O: Yeah you see, the piece of Salmon you had was the last one so he could not make a new one
R&B: SayWHAAA?????
O: Oh well they can make you pasta with chicken and bacon.... thats the least we can do.
R: GRMBL, what ever
O: It will be nice and quick
R: GRMBL
(twenty minutes later Rob gets an edible pasta with Bacon and Chicken.... so much for nice and quick)
Asked for the bill and all the food and beers were on there and no one every apologised...... UN BE LIE VA BLE
Happy days! :)
This dialog will be between W (Waiter), R (Rob), B (Bo) and O (Owner)
W: Evening, are you ready to order?!
R: Yeah I would like to have the Steak with Mushroom sauce
W: Sweet, coming up
W: Sorry we are out of mushrooms
R: Ah ok, can happen I would like the "Piquant" sauce instead
W: No worries
W: sorry no one knows what Piquant sauce is...
(funny that because it was on the menu)
R: Hmmm ok well, Bo is having a chicken burger so I will have that too please
W: Sweet as
W: Ehhm sorry sir but the Hamburger bread has just finished
R: OMG you have GOT to be shitting me?
B: Maybe it is easier if you tell us what you guys DO have?!
W: I can assure you that te rest is all available
W: No Sir not really, we all very sorry about this....
R: Gsus you are making it mighty hard to choose something to eat......
R: Ok I will then have the chicked with ricotta spinnish stuffing
W: Ok sir that is not going to be any problem, coming up
W: I am SO SO sorry sire but the sauce that comes with it is finished but the chef said he could make you cream sauce with union (!!!!!! WTF is that union cream sauce??????)
R: Ok this is getting ridiculous
W: Yes Sir I agree if there is anything else missing I am calling the Owner, he can come and explain.
R: What can you suggest that is certainly there?!
W: The special of the day, Salmon.... can't miss!!
R: Alright I will have the salmon then.
W: Perfect Sir, I will make sure it is a good portion and quick
R: Great
(Food gets taken to the table (I already had dinner by that time, I realised earlier that it was not going to happen so I just ordered pasta with chicken and bacon...even the kitchen hand can do that :) )
R: OMG the Salmon is RAW and COLD on the inside
(It really was)
R: Can you please take this away and tell them to make this again and good this time?!
W: Yes Sir, Certainly Sir
R: GRMBLLLL
W: there you go sir, Bon Appetite
R: (Looks at plate, at me and lastly at waiter) But... But.... this is the same Salmon cut in half and baked to death on the same pasta?!
W: (Looks quisically) ehhh yes sir, not good?!
R: TAKE IT AWAY AND MAKE IT FRESH
W: ...... silent retreat
O: Something wrong with the food guys?!
R: HELL YEAH (tells entire story)
O: Yeah you see, the piece of Salmon you had was the last one so he could not make a new one
R&B: SayWHAAA?????
O: Oh well they can make you pasta with chicken and bacon.... thats the least we can do.
R: GRMBL, what ever
O: It will be nice and quick
R: GRMBL
(twenty minutes later Rob gets an edible pasta with Bacon and Chicken.... so much for nice and quick)
Asked for the bill and all the food and beers were on there and no one every apologised...... UN BE LIE VA BLE
Happy days! :)
Ninety Mile Beach ...... Again :)
The night was awesome at our camp spot, no light pollution so the sky and the stars were stunning, very little people so it was nice and quiet..... a good recipe for a nice evening :)
Next morning when we woke up one of our distant neighbors pulled us towards the beach to show us something and we found that one of the other campers had tried to get his boat afloat and in the process got his car afloat too!!!!! There was this 4wd jeep half floating with water up to the roof in the ocean.... poor bastard !!
We drove off after breakfast and had a go at the passive sand dunes at te paki.... another phenomenal site and something you must do when you get around there!!
After the dunes we decided we would go back to Whangarei the same way we came, via ninety mile beach. When we drove through the stream that leads to the ocean we were unsure if the tide was coming in or going out so we decided to go back to the first town, get petrol and then try again. We drove back to the sand dunes and asked the lady about the tides, once we learned about them we figured that by getting fuel, having some lunch and driving back we would be sweet to do the entire ninety mile beach after all and so we did.
We had some rather intense moments on the beach where we had to use 4wd low in first and second to get us through but we made it. Again.... what a great ride!!!
We decided it was a good idea to get our faithful monster machine a good wash after that sandy beach adventure and we found a nearby kauri forest kingdom where they do nothing else all day but wash the tourist vehicles that do the same trip. spot on!!
We decided to go and drive towards whangarei to meet up with Steve and Chris but they said they were going to be late so we drove to Hublahblah falls where we found a camp site that looks out over the falls, but failed to check out the actual falls :)
Because we had such a long day and because the dinner and breakfast at our previous campsite were rather trying we decided to go get dinner at the ala carte at the camping site but more about that in the next post........
Next morning when we woke up one of our distant neighbors pulled us towards the beach to show us something and we found that one of the other campers had tried to get his boat afloat and in the process got his car afloat too!!!!! There was this 4wd jeep half floating with water up to the roof in the ocean.... poor bastard !!
We drove off after breakfast and had a go at the passive sand dunes at te paki.... another phenomenal site and something you must do when you get around there!!
After the dunes we decided we would go back to Whangarei the same way we came, via ninety mile beach. When we drove through the stream that leads to the ocean we were unsure if the tide was coming in or going out so we decided to go back to the first town, get petrol and then try again. We drove back to the sand dunes and asked the lady about the tides, once we learned about them we figured that by getting fuel, having some lunch and driving back we would be sweet to do the entire ninety mile beach after all and so we did.
We had some rather intense moments on the beach where we had to use 4wd low in first and second to get us through but we made it. Again.... what a great ride!!!
We decided it was a good idea to get our faithful monster machine a good wash after that sandy beach adventure and we found a nearby kauri forest kingdom where they do nothing else all day but wash the tourist vehicles that do the same trip. spot on!!
We decided to go and drive towards whangarei to meet up with Steve and Chris but they said they were going to be late so we drove to Hublahblah falls where we found a camp site that looks out over the falls, but failed to check out the actual falls :)
Because we had such a long day and because the dinner and breakfast at our previous campsite were rather trying we decided to go get dinner at the ala carte at the camping site but more about that in the next post........
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Cape Reinga
Today we left the backpackers nice and early, it was cloudy and a bit of rain but we decided to make a move anyway. Our goal was to go to Cape Reinga via ninety mile beach and camp the night around there....
We jumped onto ninety mile beach right at the beginning and our timing was perfect, the tide was just going out!! What a stunning ride, we drove all the way to the very end of the ninety mile beach which, I might add, is not 90 miles :) The name is also not derived from the speed limit since that is 100km... go figure!
We got to the end of the beach and tried to find a road leading back to the main road... impossible, all we found was a stream going inland where the map said there would be a road....
We put the car in 4w high and started driving up stream.... absolutely wicked!!!! this stream kept going more and more inland and just when we thought we were going crazy and wanted to go back we noticed some tire tracks and thus kept on trucking only to end up at the side of massive sand dunes and the main road... in the end.
Stunning ride, no doubt about it... a MUST DO!!
We checked out Cape Reinga and enjoyed the 2 oceans coming together creating very strange waves and currents. A few km from there there was a turn going down the hill and it said there was a camping ground there.... we checked it out and it is right at the beach with a gorgeous view... so we stayed :o)
Just cooked some dinner and now we are having a nice Milton Chardonnay we picked up from a winery in Gisborne on one of the first days of our trip.
Time for some more wine and then off to bed!
ADIOS
We jumped onto ninety mile beach right at the beginning and our timing was perfect, the tide was just going out!! What a stunning ride, we drove all the way to the very end of the ninety mile beach which, I might add, is not 90 miles :) The name is also not derived from the speed limit since that is 100km... go figure!
We got to the end of the beach and tried to find a road leading back to the main road... impossible, all we found was a stream going inland where the map said there would be a road....
We put the car in 4w high and started driving up stream.... absolutely wicked!!!! this stream kept going more and more inland and just when we thought we were going crazy and wanted to go back we noticed some tire tracks and thus kept on trucking only to end up at the side of massive sand dunes and the main road... in the end.
Stunning ride, no doubt about it... a MUST DO!!
We checked out Cape Reinga and enjoyed the 2 oceans coming together creating very strange waves and currents. A few km from there there was a turn going down the hill and it said there was a camping ground there.... we checked it out and it is right at the beach with a gorgeous view... so we stayed :o)
Just cooked some dinner and now we are having a nice Milton Chardonnay we picked up from a winery in Gisborne on one of the first days of our trip.
Time for some more wine and then off to bed!
ADIOS
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Merry Xmas
Whangarai!
We finally landed in Whangarai after having left Coromandel town early this morning.
Had some brekkie and a bit of a chat with some nice folk from Rotorua and made our way to Auckland, it was like ghost town when we got there, Xmas had sucked all the life out of the city! On top of that it had started raining when we left Coromandel and had not stopped when we arrived in Auckland, it is still raining as I write you this post even here in Whangarai.
We decided to have ourselves a nice Xmas lunch and found that WildFire was open so we walked in to find everyone dressed in their nicest gear for some fancy lunch setup, we looked rather out of place in our "I am camping, I do not care what I look like" outfits but the food still tasted good :) We finished a massive set lunch which was delicious at times and horrid at others but the overall experience was satisfying hahaha
We got into the van and continued our way to Whangarai where we are now only to find the weather forecast looks rather dreadful for the coming WEEK!!!!
We decided to move into a backpackers for the night and sort out our plans.....
I got the laptop talking to my phone over bluetooth and so got the internet going hence my more serious post today. I am trying to sort out some picture stuff and perhaps our geotagged routes to share with you but I will update on that as it goes.
Later!
OH by they way..... Meeeeerrrry Christmassssssss HOHOHOHO
We finally landed in Whangarai after having left Coromandel town early this morning.
Had some brekkie and a bit of a chat with some nice folk from Rotorua and made our way to Auckland, it was like ghost town when we got there, Xmas had sucked all the life out of the city! On top of that it had started raining when we left Coromandel and had not stopped when we arrived in Auckland, it is still raining as I write you this post even here in Whangarai.
We decided to have ourselves a nice Xmas lunch and found that WildFire was open so we walked in to find everyone dressed in their nicest gear for some fancy lunch setup, we looked rather out of place in our "I am camping, I do not care what I look like" outfits but the food still tasted good :) We finished a massive set lunch which was delicious at times and horrid at others but the overall experience was satisfying hahaha
We got into the van and continued our way to Whangarai where we are now only to find the weather forecast looks rather dreadful for the coming WEEK!!!!
We decided to move into a backpackers for the night and sort out our plans.....
I got the laptop talking to my phone over bluetooth and so got the internet going hence my more serious post today. I am trying to sort out some picture stuff and perhaps our geotagged routes to share with you but I will update on that as it goes.
Later!
OH by they way..... Meeeeerrrry Christmassssssss HOHOHOHO
Monday, December 24, 2007
coromandel
Arrived in coromandel today after hot water beach and cathedral cove . . . God this country is gorgeous! Having some caiparihnas, life is good!
double post
Been slacking yesterday, we left hastings early in the morning to drive towards Gisborne and found that th town was still very busy sorting out all the earthquake damages. We checked out the harbour, bought cachaca and drove on to Tolaga bay. Awesome scenic drive and the camp site was perfect too, nice and close to the beach and right in that awesome bay, what a view! We left there even earlier than the day before and did quite a monster drive from tolaga bay to Waihi through tauranga a near 500km drive all passed most northern tip of the east cost . . . . Stunning!
On the way we stopped at a Macademia Cafe that had their own Macademia farm, we had some totally stunning food and enjoyed the view over the bay, things just keep getting better :) Tomorrow on to Coromandel :-) will update blog when we find some decent internet.
On the way we stopped at a Macademia Cafe that had their own Macademia farm, we had some totally stunning food and enjoyed the view over the bay, things just keep getting better :) Tomorrow on to Coromandel :-) will update blog when we find some decent internet.
Friday, December 21, 2007
First stop Hastings
We arrived on our first stop of our trip and it ended up being Hastings. . . . The van has been working like a charm and our music setup is nothing shy of wicked! Did some cooking this evening and had a few beers. Internet doesn't want to work here so i am posting this mobile wise. More and better tomorrow!
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Getting Ready
Today I was not working, giving myself some time to sort out the van.
Clean it out, filling it up with all sorts of gear we might possibly need on the road and testing everything one last time to make sure everything would work.
Got in the van to drive into town and whadayathink??? Of course....... flat battery!!
Tried to roll it off the Hill and start it but it had absolutely drained, no sign of life in a million years. I got into the Subaru did my thing in town, picked up rob drove home, got Chris, jump started the van with the Subaru (double pair of starter cables is what it took) and went for a drive to recharge the battery.
When we got back home we turned off the engine (Making sure we were on top of a big hill :) ) and started it, it worked!! Awesome that meant that the battery was fine and so was the alternator that charges it, only explanation thus was... Drainage!!
We parked the van started pulling it van apart to figure out what was going on.
After a lot of measuring, wire pulling and more measuring we nailed it down to a faulty relay that was powering the Amp. when the radio was switched on and was "supposed" to switch it off when the radio was turned off. After we sorted that out the drainage was GONE!!
Just noticed that Itunes messed up the 100 odd GB of music we put on my apple for the trip so I had to clean it all out and do it again..... :)
Time for me to start packing some clothes and stuff!
Gnight
Clean it out, filling it up with all sorts of gear we might possibly need on the road and testing everything one last time to make sure everything would work.
Got in the van to drive into town and whadayathink??? Of course....... flat battery!!
Tried to roll it off the Hill and start it but it had absolutely drained, no sign of life in a million years. I got into the Subaru did my thing in town, picked up rob drove home, got Chris, jump started the van with the Subaru (double pair of starter cables is what it took) and went for a drive to recharge the battery.
When we got back home we turned off the engine (Making sure we were on top of a big hill :) ) and started it, it worked!! Awesome that meant that the battery was fine and so was the alternator that charges it, only explanation thus was... Drainage!!
We parked the van started pulling it van apart to figure out what was going on.
After a lot of measuring, wire pulling and more measuring we nailed it down to a faulty relay that was powering the Amp. when the radio was switched on and was "supposed" to switch it off when the radio was turned off. After we sorted that out the drainage was GONE!!
Just noticed that Itunes messed up the 100 odd GB of music we put on my apple for the trip so I had to clean it all out and do it again..... :)
Time for me to start packing some clothes and stuff!
Gnight
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
n95 in the mix
This is a tiny post to see if i can use my google pop to email blog entries using my n95 . . . .can always come in handy! :-)
First Post
I started this blog to track our whereabouts on the North Island.
Rob and I are leaving on Friday and intend to check out a big part of the North Island in the 2 weeks that cover of Xmas and New Year.
Will try and keep you posted every now and again if there is something worth posting about.
Set up geo tagging for our camera so you get a good idea of where we found what, enabling you to come and check it all out yourself :)
I also added tracker software which, in combination with the gps on the phone, should be able to give you a good idea about where we are, how we got there and if we obeyed the speed limit :)
If everything works out the route will be added to my google maps together with blog entries, pictures and video's....... MADNESS
Off to bed now, long day ahead tomorrow!
Rob and I are leaving on Friday and intend to check out a big part of the North Island in the 2 weeks that cover of Xmas and New Year.
Will try and keep you posted every now and again if there is something worth posting about.
Set up geo tagging for our camera so you get a good idea of where we found what, enabling you to come and check it all out yourself :)
I also added tracker software which, in combination with the gps on the phone, should be able to give you a good idea about where we are, how we got there and if we obeyed the speed limit :)
If everything works out the route will be added to my google maps together with blog entries, pictures and video's....... MADNESS
Off to bed now, long day ahead tomorrow!
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