Winging our way to Bay of Islands

Winging our way to Bay of Islands

New Year’s Day we were off to Bay of Islands via Air NZ connecting through Auckland. When we arrived at the small Rotorua airport we learned the flight would be overweight so we were asked to identify one bag per person which would be “loaded last” or left behind. Carl won the lottery and his was left behind but it made it to our Bay of Islands remote lodge only a couple of hours after we arrived.

Bay of Islands is just as named near the northern most part of the North Islands so it is the most tropical. Our Cliff’s Edge Lodge is also just as named hanging on the edge of a cliff overlooking a
main passage among the islands.






It is a four accommodation lodge operated by Peter and Glennis Meier. They formerly operated Causarina Restaurant and Inn in Austrailia which was recognized as one of the best by American Express. Our daily highlight while there was a three course dinner prepared for guests each night by Peter.

Bay of Islands is also the site of the treaty signed in 1840 by the Maori’s and Captain Hobson
representing the United Kingdom. The Maoris discovered NZ in 950 arriving from the Polynesian Islands. They settled in and had reached a population estimated at 130,000 by 1750 or so when the Dutch explorer Tasman was the first European to discover NZ. They were tribal often warring among themselves, practiced cannibalism until the 1800’s and were skilled in seamanship and agriculture. When the whalers, miners, timber men and finally the missionaries arrived the Maori’s sought out British to establish law and order. The Maoris did not realize the treaty came with disease, loss of lands and a new lifestyle. The Maoris inter married with the Europeans easily though and today only 3% of the Maori’s are full blooded. The treaty was signed near Paihia about 5 miles from our Cliff’s Edge Inn.

Russell, a village near Paihia,was the center of commerce in 1840 in the Bay of Islands and was known as the “hell hole of the Pacific” due to the mix of criminals jumping ship, the absence of the rule of law and the “hospitality” industry set up to serve the visiting mariners. Today it is a genteel setting akin to Key West or Mackinaw Island.

On to the North Island

It is time to move on to the North Island after spending 12 great days touring the South Island from Queenstown in the south to Blenheim in the north. We will do so via Air New Zealand connecting through Wellington the capital to Rotorua our next two day stop. Rotorua is famed for its thermal baths and nearby White Island which is an active volcanic island about 30 miles off shore. Rotorua is also an area with strong Maori ties although it is inland.

We are again staying in a boutique hotel with only 8 rooms but very comfortable lounge and dining areas and large private grounds. Our hosts Kathy and Jenny are very gracious and we were invited to join them and another German couple for New Years eve.

Our “adventure” for Rotorua is an early morning helicopter flight out to White Island. It is about 30 miles to the coast and another 30 miles out at sea to the island. White Island last erupted in 2000 but at the moment is just venting and bubbling! On the way out we circled to observe a school of fish and on the way back we circled to watch a pod of dolphins. The island was clouded over on arrival but we found a keyhole in on the seaward side. It was quite a show as these photos show.




We spent over an hour walking among the vents and cauldrons.












Our afternoon was spent at the Rotorua Museum which was built originally as the thermal bath house and clinic. People came here from around the world in the 1920’s-30’s for the “cure” which included a witches brew of “thermals” and electrical wizardry of the day. Dr Jekyl was the resident MD. An equally interesting section in the museum honored the Maori battalion which fought heroically in WWII. When Hitler asked Rommel what he needed to win in North Africa he replied “a division as brave and tough as the Maori battalion” which he had encountered there. Two thirds of the Maori’s died or were wounded in battle.






We spent New Years’ eve in downtown Rotorua enjoying a fine dinner then touring the town park which had live rock bands and a carnival. It was a family affair since the township declares the area alcohol free for the entire New Years weekend. Try that one at home!

The Trans Coastal Train

Time for another train ride, this time from Christchurch at 7AM up to Blenheim, a 4 plus hour ride. These two train rides are the only passenger trains in NZ. They are not the Japanese bullet trains but are reasonably comfortable with reserved seats and a table between each four seats. The cool thing is they have a live announcer on each train who points out the sights and gives a little history of NZ sprinkled with some satire. The "voice" is also the same person who works the bar car, comes through to pick up garbage and helps load the luggage car at each stop so cross training is big in NZ.

We were met at the depot in Blenheim which is a small town in the heart of wine and mussel country. It looks like a farm trade center but it is also clear the wine boom in the area has brought new construction. Our lodging is known as Mason Grange and has only two guest rooms and an apartment. It is located in a 10 acre pinot noir vineyard and is straight out of Architectural Digest: just incredibly well designed and decorated.
John and Robin are the owner/hosts and are among the most gracious hosts we have encountered anywhere. It is a most unique setting with vineyard serving as a backyard and mountains as a backdrop.

We transferred from the depot directly to a cruise of Marlborough sound for the green "shell" mussel tour. You can see in the photos the floats which hold the "ropes" dangling in the water on which the greenshell mussels attach and grow until the harvester comes along and takes them to their destiny. A "farm" consists of 3.5 acres of these floats and there are 600 farms in the area so it is quite an industry. You see the final product presented on board which had just come from the harvester we were watching. Combine with a glass of local wine and you have a transformational experience.

The next morning we met Sue the proprietor of Marlborough Travel and she escorted us to several vineyards for the day for wine tasting and finished with a stop at a most original air museum which is dedicated to the WWI origins of aerial warfare. My favorite was an old film of a German standing in the aft cockpit of a biplane and reaching down to grasp a 10 pound bomb which he then dropped overboard much like one would drop a water balloon out of a hotel window!

A couple of pictures from the day:



Tomorrow it is a two hop flight from Blenheim to Rotorua with a 2 hour layover in Wellington, capital of NZ. See you there.

Trans Alpine to Christchurch

Time to move on from Arthur's Pass to Christchurch arriving in the late afternoon via the Trans Alpine Railway. Our agenda here is to travel the following day with Brian out to Akaroa which is a dormant crater and volcanic bay opening to the Pacific. This is a view of the bay from up on the caldera.














Akaroa was a French settlement in the mid 1800's when some adventurer sold about 60 Frenchmen on the idea of coming to Akaroa to set up a French colony. Unfortunately when they arrived they found the British had steamed into the harbor a few days earlier but they stayed on and the place has a definite French stamp on street names and architecture. Here is a colorful jeweler where we dropped a few francs.














After a lunch on the bay we boarded a craft for a cruise out on the bay to the small Hector's Dolphins, fur seals and penguins with a short turnaround in the Pacific.

















Akarora is a yet another fabulous panorama in New Zealand and our trip out was via a sheepherders path which was filled with spectacular vistas.


We left Christchurch the next morning to catch our 7AM Trans Coastal train ride up to Blenheim to tour the Marlborough wine region and the Marlborough Sound to witness the harvesting of the famous "greenlip mussel". These are now marketed as the green "shell" mussels since the idea of lips on a mussel did not "go down well"!

Ever onward!

An unusual Christmas Day

The owners of the Wilderness Lodge, Gerry and Ann McSweeney, promised us a "special walk" on Christmas Day so we all gathered at 10:00 AM for a walk toward Mt. Horrible. Shortly after leaving the lodge we met up with our two guides for the day: one Merino lamb and one black face lamb. They stayed with us for the whole 5 hours going up the mountain and back. The only thing they would not do is cross the river on a 4X12 plank so we portaged them!














After crossing the river we walked up the mountain for another hour or so to a small opening where we built a bonfire and had lunch with tea followed by a marshmallow roast with pink and white marshmallows. Our guides waited patiently nearby!




After a return trip down the mountain to the Lodge I protaged the guide back across the river.

We then prepared for a special Christmas dinner with traditional choices of ham, lamb and turkey and sticky date pudding. Photos all around!