The Last Girl Guide …

Saturday, January 27th

So today is the last day of Ellen's near month-long stay in New Zealand. And the weather is perfect.

After waking up we soon start nursing our older - and then discover a few newer - overnight mozzie bites .. :o( :o( .. we then head back eastwards along the mainly coastal SH10 road to The Bay of Islands and pass straight through Paihia Township to the Opua-Okiata ferry; arriving at Opua just in time to ride straight on to the tail end of the ferry, without so-much as a stop. The Trannie is the very last vehicle to squeeze onto the busy vessel, which is skippered and conductor-attended by two very sunburned middle-aged Gestapo-type women - who you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley - if ya get my drift! .. ;o)

Around five minutes is all it takes to cross the narrow stretch of water to Okiata, where most tourists would then typically turn left into Russell Township.

But we turn right and travel along the mostly coastal 'Russell Road', which offers a variety of twisting scenic tarsealed motorcycling.

We stop for a [eh-hem] 'breath of fresh air' .. and ...

.. simply admire and take-in the glorious views





Yunno, you can have just too much of a good thing sometimes. The 90-minute ride (including a couple of breaks) along the Russell Road to meet-up with the much busier southbound SH1 again involved full-on concentration, as the twisties just didn't stop coming. Corner after corner ~~> bend after bend ~~> turn after turn. I'm almost ashamed to say that it was good to get back onto SH1 just to travel for more than 250 metres in a straight line - Phew! What a relief!!

IMHO – The Russell Road is highly recommended for motorcyclists. It's very demanding; offers some great scenery; BUT watch-out for the loose gravel - of which there is plenty - AND the road kill. I've never seen so many dead opossums in a 66 km (41 mile) stretch of road before.

The last three days' riding around the Far North of Northland. colour-coded for your convenience. 700 km (435 miles) in total.

BLACK for Thu-25
RED for Fri-26
BLUE for Sat-27

Click-on this link for a more blown-up view that'll be easier to read. Hit the F11 function key, if you want to be a real smart-arse .. ;o)

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Later in the evening, back in Ruakaka, we pack the bike with all of Ellen's possessions, and an overnight bag for me; then make the 2-hour ride down to Auckland International Airport, where we say our goodbyes.

Her Air NZ flight takes off on time and I return to the very same nearby motel in which I stayed during my first night in Auckland back on Saturday, the 2nd of December last year. Nearly two months ago.

Now I face the prospect of the next two months ahead - riding around this fine but remote country again for a second time ... entirely on my own.

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We've just done the 'Beaten Track' all around New Zealand. I hope any reader of this blog-journal took at least a litle enjoyment from the adventure.

Now, for me, it'll soon be time to go 'Off the Beaten Track'.

So stay tuned, as I'll be back on the road again after a few restful days here in sunny Ruakaka.

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AND WHO'S GONNA DO ME WASHIN 'AN IRONING NOW ... AN' EVERFING - HUH?? .. JUST WHO, THAS-WOT I WANNA UNDERSTAND?? .. As I've just lost the best Girl Guide I know!! .. :o(

BTW - Does anyone know if they have a 'Bob-a-Job Week' down here in Kiwiland?

Treaty Ground Treat – and Paradise thereafter

Friday, January 26

The following morning we awoke to a mixed bag of weather; certainly unsuitable for a snooze and swim at the close by beaches, so we decide to head southeast and down across the top of the Far North region, via SH1 - the quickest route - to the Bay of Islands and the Treaty Grounds of Waitangi Township in particular. The purpose of this excursion was not to see the locality, as we had visited Treaty Grounds last year in January ('06).

The pictures immediately above and below are from last year's visit.



Instead it would be good idea - so we thought - to see the resident Maori cultural group entertain and inform us with 'a journey' in traditional and contemporary story and song. We wanted to attend the 2.30pm performance.

We mistakenly believed that we were to be entertained in the Maori Meeting House, for a 2-hour long dramatic, live musical - but sadly we were wrong .. :o(

The BIG cultural show occurs during the evening - and oddly, for some reason or other, not on Fridays.

So, what we saw was a cut down version - to just 30 minutes - of what we wanted to see, but nevertheless it was still well worth the NZD $12.00 (GBP £4.26) admission fee.

.. Haka

Immediately after the show had finished we then decide to re-visit what is probably one of our most favourite regions of New Zealand - the Doubtless Bay area - especially the township of Mangonui and its wonderfully peaceful nearby sandy bays & coves - and where here at Coopers Beach ...

... you can fish from the shore ..

... or go swim in the warm sea .. or ..

.. just do - well? .. bugger-all! .. :o)



We check-in to the motel in which we stayed last year - the Acacia Lodge - and ..

.. then make the short walk to the self-proclaimed "World Famous" fish 'n chip shop, which served us up two helpings of ultra fresh battered and deep fried Blue Nose (WTF?) fish and a couple of side orders of spring rolls and salads - but sadly the dozy-cow shop assistant forgot about our helping of chips! and I gets right teasy!! .. :o(

Dusk approached fast as we walked further into the village centre ...

.. and order a Crème Brûlèe dessert (for Ellen) and a bleak-woite coffee (pour moi) from another restaurant

On our return the motel we passed these highly perfumed white trumpet-shaped flowers hanging over the pavement from a roadside garden tree. Just what are these sweet-smelling flowers? I certainly would love to have a tree like this growing in my back yard. What an astonishing fragrance the flowers emit! .. :o)

SUMMARY: Sub-tropical Mangonui is definitely still one of our favourite places in the whole wide world.

Shame about the mozzies though! .. :o( :o(

The Last Tree Days

Thursday, January 25th

Now that we're back at Ruakaka for just the one night, we need to resolve how best, from tomorrow morning, to spend the last three days of Ellen's 4-week stay in New Zealand.

We decide to head northwards, to the Far North of the Northland district, which will be my second visit to this particular region during the recent past; the last occasion occurring around a month ago.

So around midday we set-off up SH1 for the City of Whangarei - around 28 km (17½ miles) away - where we turn west towards the township of Dargaville which is just inland from the Tasman Sea coastline.

The rural scenery is very pleasant indeed; enhanced by the fine weather, which unfortunately is forecast to turn cloudy, with probable rain, within the next 24 hours.

We stop to check our location and ensure that we haven’t missed a turning

The New Zealand countryside is in full bloom at the moment, as you would expect, now that the country is approaching its 'high summer' season

Within a while we enter the Waima Forest, where the alleged tallest tree in New Zealand; a giant Kauri known as Tane Mahuta stands proud at 51 metres (169 feet) in height, and has a circumference of 13.8 metres (45 feet). There is no proof of the tree's age, but it is estimated to be between 1250 and 2500 years old.

We remember well this particular forest from last year’s visit to NZ.

The narrow road through the forest twists and turns nearly all the way. Most of the riding is spent in second and third gears, with even the occasional drop into first gear, in order to negotiate the odd very tight switchback here and there

A couple of giant Kauri trees guard the road

But after around 13 km (8 miles)...

... or so ..

.. we emerge back into full daylight again

By around mid-late afternoon we reach the mouth of Hokianga Harbour. Apparently sand tobogganing is very popular down the dunes on the opposite side of the harbour entrance ..

.. and notice the soon-to-be expected unsettled weather advance inland from the Tasman.

After a further 30 - 35 km (18½ - 22 miles) we reach the small sleepy township of Rawene; then buy ourselves an ice cream, and wait for around 30 minutes until 5:30pm when we embark on the vehicle ferry across the Hokianga Harbour Narrows.

Then, after around a further 55 km (35 miles) we head for the motel in which I stayed in Kaitaia for two nights a month ago. We had a choice of routes to Kaitaia; either around the longer, more westward, (and scenic) Awaroa road; or shortcut back to SH1, which would involve another passage up-and-over the Mangamuka Gorge, where once-upon-a-time I took more riding risks than I ever normally would just to prove something to myself.

As Ellen could not remember the Mangamuka that well from last year, we jointly decided upon the slightly shorter SH1 option. Oh dear, here we go again, with that darn 13 km (8 mile) stretch of 'twisty magic' road .. again!

Exactly as we arrive at the beginning of the Mangamuka Gorge .. so the rain starts .. :o( .. So much so that it was necessary to stop at the summit in order that I could cover-up with my foul weather overalls.

No more racing for me - 'the Mangamuka Kid' - today. And so we traversed the Gorge, at a very sedate speed indeed. But that's providence for ya! .. :o)

Later that evening, after checking into the motel, we enjoyed a couple of the best medium-rare beef steaks that money can buy. Ansome!

It's been a funny ol' day

Low Pressure is high pressure

Tuesday 23rd & Wednesday 24th January

The weather prospect for today, Tue-23-Jan, is not good at all. A flabby low pressure system originating from the east coast of Australia has extended a long occluding trough across the Tasman Sea, which is effecting the middle areas of New Zealand – just where we’re located! .. :o(

A high pressure system, however, is dominating the northern half of North Island – just where we’re heading .. :o)

So we decide to make a run for Ruakaka – Mark’s hometown – in the Northland Region, which is around 800 km (500 miles) away directly up SH1. Far too much ground to cover on a TransAlp over the course of just a single day, particularly through dodgy weather conditions, but a comfortable distance for two-day ride.

So we aim to get up as far as at least Taupo, or more ideally Hamilton, by early evening. We’re under way and leaving the City of Wellington by 09:30am; but within half an hour the drizzle starts – accompanied by quite a blustery westerly breeze. As I’m fed-up with getting soaked through to the skin, we soon decide pull in to the roadside township of Waikanae – the petrol tank needs refilling in any case.

After refuelling we head straight for the local ‘Warehouse’ Store and look for some cheap but robust waterproof overalls for me. Ellen is managing just fine, as I’m acting as her very own private ‘barn door’ shelter when we’re on the move. After about another 45 minutes of oohing and aahing and ‘ow’s-yer-fathering, I finally pull-the-trigger and cough-up for the cover-up gear I’m looking for. Then the rain abruptly stops? … typical! But the westerly wind starts to get viciously strong.

To cut a boring story short, we arrive in Taupo by around 5:30pm. Not really wet – but a little bit ‘damp’. I’ve had enough of leaning precariously nearside to battle and counter-balance against the gusts, so we book into a ‘value’ motel and go for a late lakeside dinner.

This being the menacing view of the weather as we look southwards across Lake Taupo … but it’s the clearest sky we’ve seen all day.

Sat-24-Jan

A very early start (for us :o) – 07:30am – with some light drizzle, but by 09:00am we’re drinking tea and eating blueberry muffins at a roadside café with a quarter of the 428 km (266 miles) already behind us.

By midday we’re passing through Auckland and notice the temperature rise and the general weather conditions markedly settle and improve, as we feel the effects more northerly anticyclone system.

The last 140 km (87 miles) represented some of the best riding I’ve had for days, no doubt because I’m now very familiar with the territory and roads; almost (but not quite) in the sacred rider’s ‘Zone’ – Flying like the wind; cornering as if on a Formula One race track; and yet feeling completely safe and secure .. there’s no other feeling like it.

The 1:00pm lunch at Warkworth, just 80 km (50 miles) from Ruakaka, was splendid too: Medium-rare Surf ‘n Turf, with a crisp salad and home-cut chips - followed by ...

.. Apple and Berry crumble with cream & ice-cream – Ellen has the Citrus Tart.

Tomorrow we head back up to the far north of Northland towards the more [hopefully] settled weather for three days, before Ellen's return to the UK late on Saturday evening at 11:00pm.

My apologies for the lightweight amount of photographs, but the weather has made picture-taking over the last couple of days largely pointless

The first tour .. so far

The Kaikaura Canyon

Sunday 21st & Monday 22nd January

The reason why we were so anxious to stopover for two nights in Kaikoura is so that we could then spend a whole day in this very special seaside township, as Kaikoura is renowned as one of the world’s leading destinations to view marine mammals and seabirds in their natural environment.

The ecological richness of Kaikoura has to do with its peculiar underwater topography. Just offshore, the continental shelf drops rapidly into the Kaikoura Canyon, a 60 km-long U-shaped trench that begins within 500 m of the gravel beach near Goose Bay and quickly drops to a 1600 metre-deep abyss. This is a Fiordland kind of landscape, only underwater, and over it two oceanic rivers meet: a warm current from the East Cape and a colder one from Southland. The resultant mixing of the waters is associated with an upwelling of deep-ocean nutrients that supports a cornucopia of marine life, ranging from plankton and krill to dolphins and whales. In fact, the whole area is just teaming with marine life.

So we set our alarm clocks for a 5:00am and are on our way, before daybreak, to the Whale Watch Centre just around the corner from our digs by six o’clock in the morning, where ...

... we board the ‘Tohora’

Very soon we’re 2 km offshore and catch the first rays of this Sunday morning’s sunshine.

After a half an hour or so we spot our first – but not the only (see the afternoon’s account) – whale of the day; a male Giant Sperm Whale basking on the surface waiting to dive …

... which it does after around another 15 minutes wait ...

… and we'e privileged to see the ‘classic’ tail fluke rise and slowly it sinks to the depths.

Fortunately I captured the whole event on my camcorder. I’ll try and work the footage into another short video movie at some future time. This might not be until my return to the UK in mid-April.

Towards lunchtime we’re back on dry land; make some Skype telecons in a high street internet café

Then grab an ‘All Day’ brekkie, before we embark upon the afternoon’s main event, which is another trip offshore to go “Swimming with Dolphins”.

It’s mid-afternoon and we’re heading south down the coast in search of our first pod of dolphins.

Then a family of Orca (Killer Whales) approach and follow the boat for a couple of nautical miles.

Glad I’m not entering the water today! …

… unlike some others, one of whom I know – quite well!

Could be a beached whale, trying to get back to its natural environment.. :o)

Our sister vessel, the ‘Delphinidae’, spots a pod of around 200 Dusky Dolphins inshore from our position and alerts our skipper of the fact. Within a couple of minutes we speed to the same location and all the swimmers, from both boats, enter the water on hearing the signal of a sharp blast of a claxon

'Dusky' Dolphins abound



It’s been another fascinating day – and unique in many ways

Monday 22nd January

Another early morning start (for us :o), and we’re on the road by 08:00am and head up the coast to Picton to in order catch our return ferry to Wellington, North Island, which departs from the Ferry Port at 1:15pm.

We deliberately left ‘The Garden Shed’ an hour or so earlier than necessary so that I could capture some more ‘on-board’ video footage of the coastal scenery between Kaikoura and Blenheim Township, which I recall from last year, is particularly impressive … and .. It’s a Beautiful Day

I soon have more the enough footage to make another short movie. At least I’ll have something to keep me occupied for a few days after Ellen’s return flight has taken off from Auckland Int’nl Airport – before I hit the road again for a couple of months, this time entirely on my own.

We arrive in Picton at 11:20am – 55 minutes before we need to check-in at the Interisland ferry terminal. Just in time, in fact, to grab some more ‘decent grub’ … but I’m simply too embarrassed to take another picture of the said healthy fry-ups!

We look out from our café table just as the ferry backs-in and docks at the terminal.

Good timing

We are on our way back to North Island.

See you again South Island … very soon ;o)

The crossing was windy – from the west – and therefore rough; in fact, the port side open decks were closed to the public as a result.

We dock in Wellington 15 minutes late and head straight for our pre-arranged accommodation … guess where?

… go see Sunday's - Jan 7th 2007 - entry for a clue .. ;o)