Tuesday 18th
written (wed morning at 7.28am NZ time after an almost full nights sleep!!!!) only 2 wake ups!
Yesterday was what I'd call a mooching day. We rose lateish around 10am and sorted out our bags for the day then walked into
Russell and along the strand to the whalf. As you enter the town on the left is Pompellier House and Russell Museum.
Russell was a whaling station and also the seat of power in the Bay of Islands so the museum was really interesting and the
their pride and joy is a replica 1/5 version of the 'Endevour' the boat used by Captain Cook to discover New Zealand. She
was built 200 yrs after the discovery of NZ in only 12 weeks as part of the Cook celebrations and she toured Austrailia
and New Zealand explaining the story of Cook. She was then given to Russell as a gift at the end of the tour. Mark was
amazed that she only took 12 weeks to be built as the detail was incredible.
The museum also held a fantastic electronic photo archive of Russell through the ages, which I looked at. There were
pictures of Whaling ships in the 1800's which reminded me of Ships in Porthcressa at that time. Russell and near by Kerikeri
are also home of the Blue Marlin so there were loads of big game fishing images, both past and present.Aparently a chap
called Zane Grey was a huge big game fisherman although I think he got munched by a shark in 48 (Sophs look up when i get
home) there were two sets of sharks teeth! One from a great white and the other from a Mayo? shark.
There were also old ointment bottles, maori culture, and just loads of cool stuff.
We continued mooching looking at local galleries and shops before having a brunch in the local cafe in Traders Whalf, a tiny
shopping precinct with around 14 shops. We heard other English accents and it was clear that Russell had attracted a few
visitors that day.
The focus of the day really was the 'Explore NZ Bay of Islands Dolphin Discovery' a trip which not only we were recommended,
but gaurantees you Dolphins or the opportunity to go again for free (boatmen I see potential marketing ideas and serious
puffin similarities!!!' Our seats were booked on the 1.40 4hr afternoon trip which promised a tour of the bay of islands.
Taking in the famous hole in the rock and also a stop on one of the islands. It all sounded great. They'd just bought a new
boat and so it seemed like a super choice. As the 60 ft catermeran arrived and dwarfed the whalf (tall and wide like a mini-
channel ferry powercat) I smiled to see a maori woman at the helm Who manouvered her well. It was a fantastic breezy day
with clear blue skies. If we wern't sailing this was certainly the next best thing.
We were welcomed on board and luckily got seats on the very top deck ( there were about 50 on board, and it later transpired
that the boat can hold well over 200 ) so the seats were a lucky find. (Well I say that because at this point I still
thought I would be observing dolphins!) We got underway at around 18 knots and headed out around the bay of islands.
The scenery was beautiful, without question, I understood exactly why people thought it was like Scilly on a bigger scale.
We were sat next to some very chatty austrailians and we proceeded to look hard for dolphins as we headed out towards Cape
Brett and the Hole in the Rock.
Now I was watching Mark interact both with the environment and the boat and it was facinating, he clearly loved the beauty
the bay of islands but this was Mark doing what Mark does: boating and as he listened to the commentary he was amazed with
their perception of the weather conditions it was blowing 3-4, and they clearly felt this was near stormlike. As we
continued to the island for landing we both saw slack in the mooring strop of their tender, they attempted twice but deemed
it too unsafe!!! Mark laughed at this and then said louder than I would have liked, you could do that couldn't you babes!
'Their boat handling skills leave a lot tto be desired!
I almost offered them Marks' assistance!
So 3hrs in, conversationally exhaused by the Aussies and still no dolphins- I took the opportunnity to head down and take
a look around the boat. I went to the Wheelhouse and had a look around speaking to the skipper Phil who I have to say seemed
genuinely gutted not to have seen any dolphins. I asked him if I could bring Mark down for a look around whicch he was more
than happy for so I went back to get Mark who I thing was a smidge embarrased although it did get him away from the Aussies
for five.
We chatted with the skipper and crew for a while then headed back to Russell said goodbye to our new friends and to the possibility
of seeing Dolphins here. We walked up
to Motel Russell although en-route I did check every restaurant for a dolphin based special!
Dinner was home made butties on fresh bread in our Motel room.
We then headed down to town to use the internet connection as we'd bought some wi-fi access the previous evening.
After sending a couple of e-mails to check whether we could stay with Steve and Liz tonight we updated the blog and
checked our Bank accounts. We then headed home looked for any vouchers in our guides for the Parrot Place which we intend to
visit today en-route to heading north. And packed up our goods and chattels. We then crashed at a respectable 10pm hoping
for a good nights sleep on the comfy pillows and rock solid bed!!!
Tuesday 18 November 2008
Monday 17 November 2008
Day 4 17th 8,53pm
Russel Motel.
We said our goodbyes this morning to the Beachcomber at 10am and headed North continuing along ST1.
The weather was somewhat different to the sunshine and high temps of the previous day and we wound along
mountain roads we drove. We were however able to see the signs for the Honey Factory, and decided to call in- after all it
is, wait for it....our honeymoon!!!!
The building was a cafe/giftshop and as we made a bee-line for it! I asked the guy if there was a charge. He said not and
then we walked to the far end of the shop and saw the hives in the glass cases. There were 6 in total, each hive has one
Queen and each day the queen lays 1500 eggs. We saw how bees collect pollen turn it into honey and deposit it in the comb.
The guy even found the queen for us to see at work laying eggs. He told us about the different plants that the NZ bees work
and then there were samples of different honey to try. We bought this GORGEOUS honeycomb stuff (like the middle of Crunchy
Bars- just no chocolate and it was absolutely delicious and so nice because it was made on site. He also told us about the
difference between runny and smooth honey. His wife was English and so he loved our phrases, a lovely pit stop.
As we continued we drove through drizzle, mist, and hill fog. Untill under my
instruction we took a detour to Goat Island looking for the marine reserve, this enabled us to tour through Wenderholme
Regional park and other forests before cutting back to the ST1 at Wellsford. The roads were interesting and of course the
unique NZ signing system (which is only in some areas) meant we were meandering along untarmacked roads for longer than
anticipated. Nevermind we saw quarries, sheep farms all sorts a goldie made it!!!!.
Our next stop was at the I site (TIC) for some information on Northland and inparticular where Cable Bay was so we could
find Steve and Liz Cook. Then we headed up through Bryderwyn- I was half expecting to see Bedgelert jumping out of the
ugly cottage! and on to Waitangi. This is a large settlement we stopped for a Macdonalds for Mark. We mooched around the
shops before continuing on the ST1.
One of our favourite stops of the day came a little further on at Kawiti Gloworm Caves, just by Waiomio. As we drove past we
saw a sign that said caves and I had to investigate further. We drove up a deserted track past a house and to a car parking
area. Mark thought we were mad but we approached the kiosk and it said that the guide was currently on a tour but would be
back later. We hung on and as promised George a Moari man arrived and introduced himself and we took the tour. Todd joined
us a guy from Ontario Canada who had worked for Apple as an "tele-genius"-his words not mine! Then jacked it in to go on
the trip of a life time. He'd even bought a car which I affectionately named "Victor" the vigure for him!
The cave was 200 mt deep and as we (just the 3 of us) walked through George told us about a Moari woman who was found
living in the cave when it was first found. She had run away from her husband. We saw stalagtites and stalamites and pillar
and column formations, we saw hollow stalagtites which when tapped sound like a drum. He then asked us to look up.
And it was like a beautiful starry sky. Thousdands of Glow worm's dangling from their 'hammocks'lighting up the path.
George told us that their life span is 11 months, 9 of those in worm form then 1 month in lavae before becomming glow worm
flies.
The lights were at 80% strength so although it was very dark we could clearly see the shadows of each other. George told
also showed us "Precilla" a giant eel which lived in the small stream at the bottom of the cave. Her diet would include
dead birds which have flown into the cave, and other insects. George indicated that she was particularly partial to South
African fingers! (A rugby joke as they currently have the World Cup!)
We saw the worms close up and George talked about the importance of family. The cave is in his wifes family and he said
he was the family slave! We watched the worms produce their 'fishing lines' which are used to catch their pray and saw
the worms in lavae stages before thanking George and heading out through the cave and forest.
Todd indicated that there are many places in the North Island where you can see Gloworm Caves, although only a few major
ones are advertised, they are also very pricy to go in some are $50. For me the most memorable thing about our tour with
George was the personality of it. With only 3 of us we could stop ask questions, vocalise our awe and enjoy the tour
to the full. It was a fantastic hour and well worth the $15 each.
After that we said our goodbyes to Todd who was following a similar route to us and then headed back on to Russell our
destination. In planning I'd shunned Paihia a larger base to the Bay of Islands in favour of Russell a tiny coastal hamlet
reached by car ferry with a population of 1100.
It turned out to be a great move as Mark's eyes lit up when he saw the drive on car ferry. $11 later and 5 mins we were
across the bay and discussing why some boats had raymarine and others JRC, before we knew it we were over the hill
in and out of Russell. After we had had our inevitable acccommodation search including the Lonely Planets prefered options
we opted for Motel Russell and Joanne the owner gave us an upgraded room for $100 per night. The room while basic, is great
and will be a super base for the next couple of nights. Our next surprise came when we were settling the bill and the last
record in the guest book came from Julia McKenzie the lady who'd played the organ at our wedding!!!!
We then went to the strand in Russell to look for something to eat. Mark went for you guessed it Sausage and Chips and I
opted for a slightly more exotic Hawian Pizza. As I walked out the Pizzaria a kiwi voice shouted "Isles of Scilly"
I've been there! It turned out we'd both worked at St. Martins Hotel at the same time, although he'd lasted more than a
week!
I couldn't blinkin believe it! All these scilly surprises So he asked us to sign his wall with a graffiti tag.
Which would have been great if I could spell- under pressure I missed out the 'V' in forever- his first dislexic tagger!!!!!
Oh blinkin eck sophs!!!!!
We sat and ate our meal looking out over the jetty in a chilly breeze contemplating dolphin watching tomorrow, especially
seeing the new 4 day old calf in the pod which Joanne had told us about. Hustling at our feet were small brightly coloured
gulls more inquisative than agressive just after a bit of pizza crust. We exchanged conversation with the Supermarket staff
as they shut up shop and I thought about the sign "129km to romantic Russell" that we had passed so long ago. I decided
that this was such a great place, and so much better than the 'mini Auckland' that Joanne discribed Paihia as.
We headed back to Motel Russell happy and full.
Tuesday 18th
Russel Motel.
We said our goodbyes this morning to the Beachcomber at 10am and headed North continuing along ST1.
The weather was somewhat different to the sunshine and high temps of the previous day and we wound along
mountain roads we drove. We were however able to see the signs for the Honey Factory, and decided to call in- after all it
is, wait for it....our honeymoon!!!!
The building was a cafe/giftshop and as we made a bee-line for it! I asked the guy if there was a charge. He said not and
then we walked to the far end of the shop and saw the hives in the glass cases. There were 6 in total, each hive has one
Queen and each day the queen lays 1500 eggs. We saw how bees collect pollen turn it into honey and deposit it in the comb.
The guy even found the queen for us to see at work laying eggs. He told us about the different plants that the NZ bees work
and then there were samples of different honey to try. We bought this GORGEOUS honeycomb stuff (like the middle of Crunchy
Bars- just no chocolate and it was absolutely delicious and so nice because it was made on site. He also told us about the
difference between runny and smooth honey. His wife was English and so he loved our phrases, a lovely pit stop.
As we continued we drove through drizzle, mist, and hill fog. Untill under my
instruction we took a detour to Goat Island looking for the marine reserve, this enabled us to tour through Wenderholme
Regional park and other forests before cutting back to the ST1 at Wellsford. The roads were interesting and of course the
unique NZ signing system (which is only in some areas) meant we were meandering along untarmacked roads for longer than
anticipated. Nevermind we saw quarries, sheep farms all sorts a goldie made it!!!!.
Our next stop was at the I site (TIC) for some information on Northland and inparticular where Cable Bay was so we could
find Steve and Liz Cook. Then we headed up through Bryderwyn- I was half expecting to see Bedgelert jumping out of the
ugly cottage! and on to Waitangi. This is a large settlement we stopped for a Macdonalds for Mark. We mooched around the
shops before continuing on the ST1.
One of our favourite stops of the day came a little further on at Kawiti Gloworm Caves, just by Waiomio. As we drove past we
saw a sign that said caves and I had to investigate further. We drove up a deserted track past a house and to a car parking
area. Mark thought we were mad but we approached the kiosk and it said that the guide was currently on a tour but would be
back later. We hung on and as promised George a Moari man arrived and introduced himself and we took the tour. Todd joined
us a guy from Ontario Canada who had worked for Apple as an "tele-genius"-his words not mine! Then jacked it in to go on
the trip of a life time. He'd even bought a car which I affectionately named "Victor" the vigure for him!
The cave was 200 mt deep and as we (just the 3 of us) walked through George told us about a Moari woman who was found
living in the cave when it was first found. She had run away from her husband. We saw stalagtites and stalamites and pillar
and column formations, we saw hollow stalagtites which when tapped sound like a drum. He then asked us to look up.
And it was like a beautiful starry sky. Thousdands of Glow worm's dangling from their 'hammocks'lighting up the path.
George told us that their life span is 11 months, 9 of those in worm form then 1 month in lavae before becomming glow worm
flies.
The lights were at 80% strength so although it was very dark we could clearly see the shadows of each other. George told
also showed us "Precilla" a giant eel which lived in the small stream at the bottom of the cave. Her diet would include
dead birds which have flown into the cave, and other insects. George indicated that she was particularly partial to South
African fingers! (A rugby joke as they currently have the World Cup!)
We saw the worms close up and George talked about the importance of family. The cave is in his wifes family and he said
he was the family slave! We watched the worms produce their 'fishing lines' which are used to catch their pray and saw
the worms in lavae stages before thanking George and heading out through the cave and forest.
Todd indicated that there are many places in the North Island where you can see Gloworm Caves, although only a few major
ones are advertised, they are also very pricy to go in some are $50. For me the most memorable thing about our tour with
George was the personality of it. With only 3 of us we could stop ask questions, vocalise our awe and enjoy the tour
to the full. It was a fantastic hour and well worth the $15 each.
After that we said our goodbyes to Todd who was following a similar route to us and then headed back on to Russell our
destination. In planning I'd shunned Paihia a larger base to the Bay of Islands in favour of Russell a tiny coastal hamlet
reached by car ferry with a population of 1100.
It turned out to be a great move as Mark's eyes lit up when he saw the drive on car ferry. $11 later and 5 mins we were
across the bay and discussing why some boats had raymarine and others JRC, before we knew it we were over the hill
in and out of Russell. After we had had our inevitable acccommodation search including the Lonely Planets prefered options
we opted for Motel Russell and Joanne the owner gave us an upgraded room for $100 per night. The room while basic, is great
and will be a super base for the next couple of nights. Our next surprise came when we were settling the bill and the last
record in the guest book came from Julia McKenzie the lady who'd played the organ at our wedding!!!!
We then went to the strand in Russell to look for something to eat. Mark went for you guessed it Sausage and Chips and I
opted for a slightly more exotic Hawian Pizza. As I walked out the Pizzaria a kiwi voice shouted "Isles of Scilly"
I've been there! It turned out we'd both worked at St. Martins Hotel at the same time, although he'd lasted more than a
week!
I couldn't blinkin believe it! All these scilly surprises So he asked us to sign his wall with a graffiti tag.
Which would have been great if I could spell- under pressure I missed out the 'V' in forever- his first dislexic tagger!!!!!
Oh blinkin eck sophs!!!!!
We sat and ate our meal looking out over the jetty in a chilly breeze contemplating dolphin watching tomorrow, especially
seeing the new 4 day old calf in the pod which Joanne had told us about. Hustling at our feet were small brightly coloured
gulls more inquisative than agressive just after a bit of pizza crust. We exchanged conversation with the Supermarket staff
as they shut up shop and I thought about the sign "129km to romantic Russell" that we had passed so long ago. I decided
that this was such a great place, and so much better than the 'mini Auckland' that Joanne discribed Paihia as.
We headed back to Motel Russell happy and full.
Tuesday 18th
Sunday 16 November 2008
Day 3- 7.45am UK- 3.45pm Hong Kong TimeIn the air with Virgin!
So lets start with a recap of what happened at the end of day 1 and yesterday. We met Becky Hug, Shan and Karen at Leicester square Then walked through to a bar for a drink with Becky before getting some dinner in the Salisbury with Karen and Shan, the conversation great, it was lovely to see Becky doing London she looked fantastic and the girls really looked great. Old Oxford stories, uni days and holiday chat and both of them asked how mMrk was liking London. We talked work, holidays, houses you name it before heading back to Charing Cross and then home to our little Orange Room!
By that time I was knackered- I'd bought a pair of hugely expensive jeans (saved for though and asked for discount 10%) and was thinking ahead to the following day. The room was tiny but adequate and, had only recently opened, passed my rigerous shower grout inspection!! It was also a bargain at £40 for 2 of us I couldn't really complain.
Friday morning dawned and we checked out at 10am leaving our luggage at the hotel. We discussed seeing James Bond, but I wanted to see the tower of London so we started out with the intention to do both and get an afternoon Cinema showing.
As we surfaced at tower station on of our first sights was a garden of rememberence for those who died in WWII who had served in the Merchant Navy. In the garden was an anchor of remebrance and also a buidling (not disimilar to the Thiepval memorial in Belgium) The names of those who died were listed by ship and also by port so we were not suprised to see a ship from Penzance mastered by a Thompson on the board. Being there with Mark was particularly poigniant. I asked him whether he thought that if he had been passenger boating in the 40's whether he'd have been called to serve in some capacity or another.
There were also lots of recently layed wreaths which were a timely reminder to me that we continue such sacrifice. There werecrews from Hong Kong and Greece, Austrailia and I wondered how they felt dying for someone elses war? What would they thinkof todays wars were they ultimately proud to be serving Britain or at a loss how their ultimate sacrifice would help.
Mark and I tried to imagine boating at that time with no GPS, and Furuno and also in waters peppered with other new wrecks.My great uncle was lost at sea and this having never seen his name commemorated I found this garden both a reminder of my dissertation work in Ypres, Normandy and the Somme and also a haunting reminder that all these men had families and individual srories.
Tower of London
After a little while we moved across the road to the Tower of London- Initial thoughts this looks exciting but £16.50 to go in EACH!!!Blinkin Eck! I want to look at the crown jewels not take them home!Then, ...£4 for an audio tour!
Well after at least 4 hours how I had to eat my words- It was absolutely fantastic, Mark although concerned with the monumental journey ahead said he really enjoyed it. It helped also that we saw the Thames lifenboat in action too!As it was Prince Charles 60th birthday there was a full gun salute which we witnessed and we also joined a tour with a beefeater!!!! So in total we saw the ravens! Went around William the Concereres White Tower, Saw the roman walls of London, looked at weponry and armour from all the king and queens of England. We saw pistols, horse armour, speers, royal mint, the jewels, including the koh-in-noor? gazillions of diamonds, grafitti from those famously imprisoned, saw the glass pillow which was the site of private executions such as Anne Bolyne and and learnt so much- a really great day-which wore us out for the night ahead!
We reluctantly left the Tower and headed back to Paddington around 3ish so we could get to Heathrow early. As it happened this was an excellent Idea of Mark's as we had to re-pack some of our luggage at Terminal 3's Virgin desks.
Having checked in on-line We eventually got through 'bag drop off'and through passport control. They are understandably rigorous, and having briefed Mark to the general procedure couldn't help chuckle at his shock/surprise and general concernwhen he was asked to remove his shoes, belt and was searched.
That over we eventually got into the haven that is Duty Free. I was sorely temped by all sorts of gadgetry but also reminded that we had exceeded all luggage limits and had only enough space for a mascara!
1 1/2HRS later we went through to the departure gate before boarding our plane. An big airbus named "Sleeping Beauty". My request for extra legroom was compramised by a 6ft giant asking just after me but at least we got seats together by the window! Having missed James Bond earlier I was hoping it would be on the plane for Mark so that at least he got something he'd wanted from the day.
I felt exhausted, but pleased for Mark for whom this was another tick on his 'travel complete' list. As we taxi'ed down the runway I felt so excited by the prospect of what was ahead and I thought of all the nights at Chez Michel's which had enabled me to live out this dream adventure. I love Travel!!!!!
Mark slept through dinner so I decided it would be rude to leave food and ate both our inflight meals- which were good before dozing off (very full) to a film- unfortunately not James Bond : (
We dboth dozed fitfully before breakfast- again I ate both (Note to self- Soph eating everything is ot mandatory- even when you have paid for it!!)
After a little while we approached Hong Kong. Mark who was very impressed with the inflight Sat Nav didn't want to sit next to the window so I watched as we approached Hong Kong at 5pm was smothered in a thick industrial haze- a muggy closeness which I often associate with industrial areas. We saw small islands and huge tankers. Mark and I both thought of the journey these would make and that the next time we may see them would be in the TSS (traffic Separation Scheme) between Land's End and Scilly.
Our most memorable part of the flight was just about to happen. As we slowed right down in the final approaches of the runway we saw things up close, we hovered like a giant bird just above the water... then the pilot quickly accelerated up with a rapid accent... the passengers exchanged glances then... Over the intercom the pilot says...." Well I've never done that before!!! 16,000 hrs flying and I've never had to do an second accent,he added very calmly, we practice them every 6 months in the simulator but thats the first one!"..Moments later he added "Our cabin crew were not quite ready but we will circle again then land just after the British Airways flight, ladies and gentlemen we will be in Hong Kong shortly"
Mark then nudged me and said "I think Frazers driving "Ive never done that before boy!!! At least the pilot's honest!" I was utterly amazed- Marks first long haul flight, a double accent and he's fine, if I was ever going to complain about the grassy St. Just landing then Skybus I take it all back! Will any other flight ever be this interesting!
60 minutes later and we are through the chinese passport control and transit desks and in Hong Kong duty free! The airport is clean, efficient and modern. We only have 20 mins before boarding our Air New Zealand Jumbo but again I parked Mark and used the time take a brief look around. I expected cheap silks, and technology but the goods were quite European and each cosmetic counter was staffed by a beautifully made up oriental lady allmost doll like in appearance. I would have love to explore this city but with another 12 hr flight ahead of us and all of New Zealand to see it wasn't possible for this trip. Never mind- Mei Mei lives in Honkers so better to explore with a local- perhaps a trip to take with the girls!
So its 6.30pm Hong Kong Time and we are boarding. We enter the plane and see stairs to the upper bubble of the plane. This time there are 3 seats on each side and 4 in the middle, a huge plane and we are lucky enough to have window seats again andare by a chinese lady. Air New Zealand's economy class offers the most leg room of all the carriers and it was a welcome change to the crampt Virgin journey. (I think we were spoilt by First Great Western!!!!!)
10hrs and 3 1/2 inflight meals later (help me! I'll be needing wider seats at this rate!) We were discending for the first (and only) time over some of the most dramatic scenery and greenery I have ever seen. I asked Mark whether he wanted the window seat but he wasn't that fussed so I tried to work out what exactly I was seeing in our approach. I later learned we were flying over the Dargaville coast we passed from Hokianga Harbour to Baylys Beach. I could see a large mountain ahead and learned that it was Mt Tarinaki in the Egmont National Park. It was utterly fantastic.
Sun 16th Nov WE ARE HERE!
After a little while we passed through customs, got our passports stamped and walked through another clean, contemporary Airport. the international jet-setter in Mark commented that Auckland was a very clean and easy to use Airport. No queues, smiley helpful staff.
We eventaully picked up our car hire... a gold Mazda hatch with wait for it:- 178,450 km on the clock!!!! Although her savinggraces are a new set of tires and seemingly great brakes!! I had a chat with her and asked her to keep us safe on our adventure they gave us a book of NZ driving rules like letting traffic out at junctions but the pictures only showed red and blue cars so I'm working on the principle that it only applys to red and blue cars! The others will have to catch me first!
Both Mark and I wern't that fussed about seeing Auckland immediately and decided to head out, after taking the scenic route we ended up South east of Auckland at Piha a beautiful surfy beach. We were tired but found accommodation elusive. We did eventually find arainforest Estate which had amazing views but was fully booked for a conference.
After some heated discussion about the lack of signposts (why would you signpost a physiotherapists but not the name of the road!?) we found the ST16 a motorway which took us north to Auckland and then out to the ST1 which took us towards Whangarei as we left Aukland we saw millions of White masts and marinas.Mark and I agreed that it made falmouth look miniscule . At about 4pm NZ time (which is 13hrs ahead of us in the UK) we were both utterly done in and over the moon when we found the Beachcomber Motel in Orewa, a series of self-contained spacious units with big comfy beds and a spa bath. They are owned by a guy from Sheffield, although iwas actually too tired to be friendly and after settling $120 NZ for the room we got fish and chips and headed for bed. The road is very busy and the beach across the road looks to be popular with windsurfers and kite surfers.
What a daynight night.
Mon 17th TODay local time 4.45 am!
After catching up on some much needed sleep I am awake and ready to go. I have updated my diary and the bed was comfy although to quote Bon jovi I would sleep on a bed of nails. It is now 7.3oam and I have just run a bath but think that by turning on the spa feature I have woken up everyone who is staying here!!!I've also just used all the hot water. Might have to check out and run! Today's plan is to head up to Russel which is passedWhangarei near Paihia then stay here for a couple of days to explore. We've done some research so the rest is an adventure.
More soon
Lots of Love to all. xxxxxx
So lets start with a recap of what happened at the end of day 1 and yesterday. We met Becky Hug, Shan and Karen at Leicester square Then walked through to a bar for a drink with Becky before getting some dinner in the Salisbury with Karen and Shan, the conversation great, it was lovely to see Becky doing London she looked fantastic and the girls really looked great. Old Oxford stories, uni days and holiday chat and both of them asked how mMrk was liking London. We talked work, holidays, houses you name it before heading back to Charing Cross and then home to our little Orange Room!
By that time I was knackered- I'd bought a pair of hugely expensive jeans (saved for though and asked for discount 10%) and was thinking ahead to the following day. The room was tiny but adequate and, had only recently opened, passed my rigerous shower grout inspection!! It was also a bargain at £40 for 2 of us I couldn't really complain.
Friday morning dawned and we checked out at 10am leaving our luggage at the hotel. We discussed seeing James Bond, but I wanted to see the tower of London so we started out with the intention to do both and get an afternoon Cinema showing.
As we surfaced at tower station on of our first sights was a garden of rememberence for those who died in WWII who had served in the Merchant Navy. In the garden was an anchor of remebrance and also a buidling (not disimilar to the Thiepval memorial in Belgium) The names of those who died were listed by ship and also by port so we were not suprised to see a ship from Penzance mastered by a Thompson on the board. Being there with Mark was particularly poigniant. I asked him whether he thought that if he had been passenger boating in the 40's whether he'd have been called to serve in some capacity or another.
There were also lots of recently layed wreaths which were a timely reminder to me that we continue such sacrifice. There werecrews from Hong Kong and Greece, Austrailia and I wondered how they felt dying for someone elses war? What would they thinkof todays wars were they ultimately proud to be serving Britain or at a loss how their ultimate sacrifice would help.
Mark and I tried to imagine boating at that time with no GPS, and Furuno and also in waters peppered with other new wrecks.My great uncle was lost at sea and this having never seen his name commemorated I found this garden both a reminder of my dissertation work in Ypres, Normandy and the Somme and also a haunting reminder that all these men had families and individual srories.
Tower of London
After a little while we moved across the road to the Tower of London- Initial thoughts this looks exciting but £16.50 to go in EACH!!!Blinkin Eck! I want to look at the crown jewels not take them home!Then, ...£4 for an audio tour!
Well after at least 4 hours how I had to eat my words- It was absolutely fantastic, Mark although concerned with the monumental journey ahead said he really enjoyed it. It helped also that we saw the Thames lifenboat in action too!As it was Prince Charles 60th birthday there was a full gun salute which we witnessed and we also joined a tour with a beefeater!!!! So in total we saw the ravens! Went around William the Concereres White Tower, Saw the roman walls of London, looked at weponry and armour from all the king and queens of England. We saw pistols, horse armour, speers, royal mint, the jewels, including the koh-in-noor? gazillions of diamonds, grafitti from those famously imprisoned, saw the glass pillow which was the site of private executions such as Anne Bolyne and and learnt so much- a really great day-which wore us out for the night ahead!
We reluctantly left the Tower and headed back to Paddington around 3ish so we could get to Heathrow early. As it happened this was an excellent Idea of Mark's as we had to re-pack some of our luggage at Terminal 3's Virgin desks.
Having checked in on-line We eventually got through 'bag drop off'and through passport control. They are understandably rigorous, and having briefed Mark to the general procedure couldn't help chuckle at his shock/surprise and general concernwhen he was asked to remove his shoes, belt and was searched.
That over we eventually got into the haven that is Duty Free. I was sorely temped by all sorts of gadgetry but also reminded that we had exceeded all luggage limits and had only enough space for a mascara!
1 1/2HRS later we went through to the departure gate before boarding our plane. An big airbus named "Sleeping Beauty". My request for extra legroom was compramised by a 6ft giant asking just after me but at least we got seats together by the window! Having missed James Bond earlier I was hoping it would be on the plane for Mark so that at least he got something he'd wanted from the day.
I felt exhausted, but pleased for Mark for whom this was another tick on his 'travel complete' list. As we taxi'ed down the runway I felt so excited by the prospect of what was ahead and I thought of all the nights at Chez Michel's which had enabled me to live out this dream adventure. I love Travel!!!!!
Mark slept through dinner so I decided it would be rude to leave food and ate both our inflight meals- which were good before dozing off (very full) to a film- unfortunately not James Bond : (
We dboth dozed fitfully before breakfast- again I ate both (Note to self- Soph eating everything is ot mandatory- even when you have paid for it!!)
After a little while we approached Hong Kong. Mark who was very impressed with the inflight Sat Nav didn't want to sit next to the window so I watched as we approached Hong Kong at 5pm was smothered in a thick industrial haze- a muggy closeness which I often associate with industrial areas. We saw small islands and huge tankers. Mark and I both thought of the journey these would make and that the next time we may see them would be in the TSS (traffic Separation Scheme) between Land's End and Scilly.
Our most memorable part of the flight was just about to happen. As we slowed right down in the final approaches of the runway we saw things up close, we hovered like a giant bird just above the water... then the pilot quickly accelerated up with a rapid accent... the passengers exchanged glances then... Over the intercom the pilot says...." Well I've never done that before!!! 16,000 hrs flying and I've never had to do an second accent,he added very calmly, we practice them every 6 months in the simulator but thats the first one!"..Moments later he added "Our cabin crew were not quite ready but we will circle again then land just after the British Airways flight, ladies and gentlemen we will be in Hong Kong shortly"
Mark then nudged me and said "I think Frazers driving "Ive never done that before boy!!! At least the pilot's honest!" I was utterly amazed- Marks first long haul flight, a double accent and he's fine, if I was ever going to complain about the grassy St. Just landing then Skybus I take it all back! Will any other flight ever be this interesting!
60 minutes later and we are through the chinese passport control and transit desks and in Hong Kong duty free! The airport is clean, efficient and modern. We only have 20 mins before boarding our Air New Zealand Jumbo but again I parked Mark and used the time take a brief look around. I expected cheap silks, and technology but the goods were quite European and each cosmetic counter was staffed by a beautifully made up oriental lady allmost doll like in appearance. I would have love to explore this city but with another 12 hr flight ahead of us and all of New Zealand to see it wasn't possible for this trip. Never mind- Mei Mei lives in Honkers so better to explore with a local- perhaps a trip to take with the girls!
So its 6.30pm Hong Kong Time and we are boarding. We enter the plane and see stairs to the upper bubble of the plane. This time there are 3 seats on each side and 4 in the middle, a huge plane and we are lucky enough to have window seats again andare by a chinese lady. Air New Zealand's economy class offers the most leg room of all the carriers and it was a welcome change to the crampt Virgin journey. (I think we were spoilt by First Great Western!!!!!)
10hrs and 3 1/2 inflight meals later (help me! I'll be needing wider seats at this rate!) We were discending for the first (and only) time over some of the most dramatic scenery and greenery I have ever seen. I asked Mark whether he wanted the window seat but he wasn't that fussed so I tried to work out what exactly I was seeing in our approach. I later learned we were flying over the Dargaville coast we passed from Hokianga Harbour to Baylys Beach. I could see a large mountain ahead and learned that it was Mt Tarinaki in the Egmont National Park. It was utterly fantastic.
Sun 16th Nov WE ARE HERE!
After a little while we passed through customs, got our passports stamped and walked through another clean, contemporary Airport. the international jet-setter in Mark commented that Auckland was a very clean and easy to use Airport. No queues, smiley helpful staff.
We eventaully picked up our car hire... a gold Mazda hatch with wait for it:- 178,450 km on the clock!!!! Although her savinggraces are a new set of tires and seemingly great brakes!! I had a chat with her and asked her to keep us safe on our adventure they gave us a book of NZ driving rules like letting traffic out at junctions but the pictures only showed red and blue cars so I'm working on the principle that it only applys to red and blue cars! The others will have to catch me first!
Both Mark and I wern't that fussed about seeing Auckland immediately and decided to head out, after taking the scenic route we ended up South east of Auckland at Piha a beautiful surfy beach. We were tired but found accommodation elusive. We did eventually find arainforest Estate which had amazing views but was fully booked for a conference.
After some heated discussion about the lack of signposts (why would you signpost a physiotherapists but not the name of the road!?) we found the ST16 a motorway which took us north to Auckland and then out to the ST1 which took us towards Whangarei as we left Aukland we saw millions of White masts and marinas.Mark and I agreed that it made falmouth look miniscule . At about 4pm NZ time (which is 13hrs ahead of us in the UK) we were both utterly done in and over the moon when we found the Beachcomber Motel in Orewa, a series of self-contained spacious units with big comfy beds and a spa bath. They are owned by a guy from Sheffield, although iwas actually too tired to be friendly and after settling $120 NZ for the room we got fish and chips and headed for bed. The road is very busy and the beach across the road looks to be popular with windsurfers and kite surfers.
What a daynight night.
Mon 17th TODay local time 4.45 am!
After catching up on some much needed sleep I am awake and ready to go. I have updated my diary and the bed was comfy although to quote Bon jovi I would sleep on a bed of nails. It is now 7.3oam and I have just run a bath but think that by turning on the spa feature I have woken up everyone who is staying here!!!I've also just used all the hot water. Might have to check out and run! Today's plan is to head up to Russel which is passedWhangarei near Paihia then stay here for a couple of days to explore. We've done some research so the rest is an adventure.
More soon
Lots of Love to all. xxxxxx
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