the Laughing Boomer

Kia Ora (Hello) from New Zealand

New Zealand is a country of spectacular scenery, lush vegetation and friendly people. We visited twice, originally booking a one-week North Island visit. Then a last minute fourteen-day cruise with a price too good to resist had us cruising around both North and South Island. New Zealand is a country defined by its waters and volcanoes. Except for Auckland, it’s primarily a rural country and we went “bush-walking” or hiking many times. Surprising to us, New Zealand has hundreds of islands; major playgrounds similar to Canada’s Gulf Islands or the American San Juan Islands.  We found the country safe and easy to navigate.  In a way New Zealand has a similar relationship with Australia that Canada has with the United States. Compared to Australia it has about one-tenth the population, has a weaker dollar and maintains a major trading relationship with its big neighbour.  The two countries are more integrated though; citizens can work and live in either country and they celebrate ANZAC day and other common holidays.

We liked Auckland at once. It’s a smaller, somewhat old-fashioned city of 1.3 million people. Auckland is built on a dormant basalt volcano, Mount Eden, one of the more than sixty dormant volcanoes in the greater Auckland area. With a deep crater in the middle of the city, the whole town is very hilly. On the top of Mount Eden is the Auckland Museum, which has an excellent Maori exhibition.

A 220 metre Sky Tower offers 360 degree views and is attached to a casino and a major hotel. Auckland doesn’t have too many historic buildings as it’s a relatively young city, but they have lovely suburbs with magnificent gardens – New Zealanders are renowned gardeners. Did you know that bungee jumping originated in New Zealand? You can do it right in Auckland’s city centre. Also of interest to us is that both Australia and New Zealand are close to Antarctica. I didn’t know much about Antarctic history and animals, so loved the Antarctic Encounter attraction in Auckland. It provided a history of Antarctic exploration and a chance to see dozens of Gentoo and King Penguins, sharks and long-tailed sting rays.

One of four Auckland residents has a boat, earning it the moniker “City of Sails”. They’ve rebuilt their waterfront with modern condos, restaurants and walkways that we’ve found around much of the world. What’s different though is that around much of New Zealand the water is a lovely pale turquoise blue. Auckland’s harbour is extremely convenient for tourists because the local ferries operate within walking distance of the city centre. Many day trips from Auckland are available to close-by islands, such as a thirty-minute ferry to Rangitoto Island, a 600 year old dormant volcano island with bush walks or a train ride to its summit. Waihewke Island is thirty-five minutes from the mainland and has wineries and an art scene. We chose to visit another island though – Tiri Tiri Matangi.

Tiri Tiri Matangi Island was reclaimed from farmland several decades ago, and is now is home to the infamous Takahe bird, considered extinct until dramatically rediscovered in 1948. Now 200 of these big birds exist. Apparently they aren’t very bright and their breeding cycle is several years so it isn’t any wonder they are scarce. We did see one, a fairly tame guy named “Greg”. The island features sweeping views of small bays and lush tropical growth. Supporters and volunteer guides of this protected island implement bio-security practices. Tiri Tiri is predator-free of rodents, rabbits and stoats and they plan to keep it that way. We had our shoes checked for seeds and weeds, bags checked for rodents (something we normally don’t carry) and had to pack in and out all food and water in “rodent-safe” containers. We enjoyed a fabulous day bush-walking with fellow birders and led by volunteer Trevor,, and saw saddlebacks (tieke), bellbirds, N.Z. kingfishers, kokako, morepork owls, New Zealand  or ketaroo pigeons, stitchbirds, tui (honeyeaters), whiteheads, black beaked gulls, hihi, small green parrots and North Island robins. New Zealand is not a great birding country, in fact quite dismal, and we had our best birding that day. Birds are not as plentiful or as flashy as Aussie birds. Actually the national bird, the Kiwi, is endangered and we never did see one.

Great Barrier Island, or in Maori Aotea, is about 2 1/2 hours by ferry out of Auckland, on a smelly diesel boat. Formed by volcanoes, the island’s centre is very high and dramatically falls to the beach. It’s almost tropical; lush mountainsides covered with huge fern trees and giant palms. That and the Maori language used for place names created a Polynesian feel there and for much of New Zealand. What is so outstanding though about GBI is the scenery. It can only be described as spectacular. Rounding each curve of the hairpin road unveiled indescribably beautiful scenes of turquoise surf beaches, lush islands, white sand surfing beaches and blue sky. The panoramic views of Fitzroy Harbour are especially magnificent, and Medland Beach is in the top ten NZ surfing list. In spite of the hairpin curves, the small amount of traffic made it a perfect place to start driving on the “wrong” side of the “sealed or unsealed” roads – paved or gravel roads to us.

GBI was industrialized also several decades ago and much of the natural environment was destroyed, including birdlife. As on Tiri-Tiri, the focus on Barrier is bio-ecology. GBI has rats, cats, rabbits, chevron skinks (a type of lizard) and dogs. At Glenfern Sanctuary, a native New-Zealander, Tony, is practising conservancy. He bought around 1000 hectares fifteen years ago, and he and his volunteers have planted thousands of indigenous trees which represent the original diverse plant life. They’ve  are reintroducing birds and have built a (an) Xcluder pest-proof fence around the property’s parameter (some 43KM) to keep the predators out, although they jokingly say the rats can still swim over from the mainland. Seeing a picture of a rat eating a fantail bird makes the point. With rat traps laid on a 50-metre grid through this protected area, I can’t recall such efforts to eradicate rats anywhere else in the world. The Island has banded rails, kaka, black petrel, kereru, brown teals, fantails, grey warblers, and North Island Robins (toutouwai) although not in great numbers.

With no power on the island, homes have solar panels and diesel generators so energy conservation is paramount. About 800 permanent residents live there; most work various jobs, plus self-employment. The Irish Currach Pub was hopping at night with music and lots of socializing and we ate there every night. Nobody locks their cars, and it’s a friendly laid-back place. Real estate is surprisingly high, considering the lack of employment and amenities. Great Barrier had the same energy and sense of place as the Gulf Islands: ferry line-ups, kids with surfboards, and families with camping and fishing gear. There is a strong Maori presence and we found their culture to be well integrated with the general population’ more than Canada.

On our second visit, we left Sydney, Australia, cruised the Tasman Sea for two days and arrived at the Bay of Islands. It’s a group of around 150 small islands in North New Zealand. This first tour stop was tendered by small boats as the harbour is too shallow for large cruise ships. We took a steep hike, or bush walk, to a panoramic view of the harbour and ships and puttered around the small town of Paihia. The original Maori and British Treaty was signed herein 1840 on the Waitangi Treaty Grounds and so the town has historical significance. New Zealand has a national holiday Waitangi Day celebrating this treaty. The Maori were granted citizenship and land rights, but on the other hand accepted British governorship. The place names such as Matauwhi Bay, Uripukapuka Island and Poroporo Island also reflect their history.

At all the other ports, Tauranga, Napier, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin we docked at working ports and we experienced the feel of New Zealand’s economy. At most ports raw logs were being exported and there was lots of liquid oil storage and other container storage. We loved being on deck as the ships docked, guided by pilot boats, and then pulled away at nightfall. Manoeuvring a cruise ship in small harbours is quite a feat. All of the towns had interesting waterfronts – most had user-friendly promenades with names such as Marine Parade, Promenade or The Strand.

Tauranga, which means safe anchorage, sits on the Bay of Plenty, and is a clean, well organized retirement-lifestyle s town close of 100,000 people. It’s near Mount Maunganui, great for day hikes, long public beach parks and nature encounters. Tauranga is N.Z.’s biggest export port. Some people on the cruise went to Rotorua, famous for its thermal waters from there, but we explored the town.

Napier, situated on Hawkes Bay, bills itself as the Art Deco city. Flattened by a 7.9 earthquake sixty-seven years to the day we visited, the city rebuilt itself in the architectural style of the day, Art Deco. The city has dozens of outstanding Art Deco buildings, and we roamed the town with our eyes looking up, using their self-guided booklet to explore this palm-treed town. This region has Mediterranean type climate and is the chardonnay capital of NZ. New Zealand white wine is world-renowned.

The nation’s capital, Wellington, has impressive buildings, reflective of government largesse. It has a large and architecturally fabulous modern museum, Te Papa Tongarewa (which means flat land), where a Monet exhibit was scheduled; one of the benefits of government town life. The waterfront has evolved over decades as a working waterway; although it has been rebuilt the waterfront is still home to fishing boats, police and water patrols. The walkways are beside old buildings and docks and are most interesting; buildings and open space at odd angles around this curved bay. Ken contacted a distant relative Keith, discovered through dna testing and genome research on the Internet, so we were thrilled to meet him and his young son and to go to a New Zealand home. We were glad we spent the day visiting rather than exploring. However, we were sorry we missed Wellington highlights and its inner city nature reserve; this place is definitely worth more than a one-day visit.

Christchurch is set amongst dry hillsides reminiscent of the Okanagan valley. With a 500 acre botanic garden in its centre, it’s very English, with streets named Oxford, Cambridge and the Avon River running through its centre. Christchurch has an amazing gothic church and some lovely streets; Regent Street has pastel-coloured, adjoining buildings with lovely sidewalk cafes. We visited the central part of the city and the river but for some reason didn’t get much of a feel of Christchurch. Like most of our cruising companions, we did not take the day tours, but I think it might have been useful in this case.

The next day we explored Dunedin thoroughly. This hilly city has an octagon centre street grid and two enormous churches reflective of its Scottish heritage: Anglican and Presbyterian Both of these churches had massive pipe organs, and my thirty-years-ago organ playing experience had me taking lots of photos. The Dunedin Public Art Gallery was outstanding; Japanese woodblock prints and a Monet. The building alone was worth the visit: a simple design but elegant and lovely. The Dunedin Chinese Gardens have just been completed. A giant gate and fu dogs guard the entrance. The garden opens up to a large pond and pagodas, bridges, rocks, Chinese latticework and dozens of red lanterns. Similar to Japanese gardens in its design perspective, it was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon. I also bought a couple of thin merino wool sweaters that we saw all over the country – a product of their many sheep. Dunedin is situated at 47 degrees latitude; further south than Vancouver’s 49 degrees north. Our cruise took us to 42 degrees south.

Cruising:

Well, although both of us have cruised about twenty years ago, we, especially Ken, weren’t sure if we would like it. Cruising today is a wonderful experience. There is Internet and mobile telephone access, fitness facilities and excellent food. Because of our outstanding deal, we were worried we would be in steerage, but had a decent room on the seventh floor. Cruising is what I had hoped for –lots to do during cruise days, good food, opportunities to exercise, attend classes and socialize and also opportunities to be alone and read and we’d gaze at the sea. The cruise was advertised in Sydney at $495 US for 14 days, and at that rate it would US $24,000 for a couple to travel for a year – cheaper than living at home.  Of course that doesn’t nearly cover the costs with exchange, airfare, etc. but the bargains are there. There were about 1,200 Aussies on the ship. We met some interesting people and spend a lot of time with them. On our last night we stayed up until one with our new friends Bryce and Eva and said goodbye to others met.

The entertainment is excellent and varied with ten groups around the ship. A Caribbean steel drum band played during lunch by the pool, 60’s and 70’s small combos played before-and-after dinner dance tunes and a late-evening Billy Joel/Elton John piano man entertained us in the Lounge. I loved hearing so much music. There was a live show every night; some excellent, some more middle of the road. Another cruise ship was also docking the same days as we were and I believe the entertainers switch ships. I could get used to cruising, especially if we had a balcony and bigger room. It’s a wonderful lifestyle – independence during the day and socializing at night. Ken isn’t quite so sure.

We were curious how we would find the one-day-in-port situation which was the case except for Sydney.  It worked for most of the cities; I think primarily because they were small towns.  As mentioned, we didn’t take tours, but it would be necessary if we were docked at really big cities; otherwise I don’t think we’d get a sense of things. We ended our cruise with one day sailing around the bottom of South Island and through New Zealand’s Fjords: Dusty Sound, Doubtful Sound and Milford Sound. We were a bit underwhelmed after B.C.’s coast. It felt the same as driving up to Whistler, but with smaller hills. We sailed through the Tasman Sea to arrive in Sydney for a quick transfer to the airport to fly to Hong Kong. And so our three weeks in New Zealand came to an end. We saw an amazingly beautiful country inhabited with wonderful people. We will return.