WanderingFoxFarm

Saturday morning the weather was bright and sunny with just a little wind and Rob wanted to walk the mount in the local bay, while the girls went to the local stitch shop. I have to say Rob got the better end of the deal as the stitch shop was not very good. I did manage to buy a piece of fabric and a magazine though.

We then went for a famous Patricks pie – he has won more awards for his pies than anyone in the country and rightly so, mine was chicken camembert and cranberry and Rob had curried lamb. They were yummy.

We had a chilled afternoon and then went down to the docks for fresh fish cooked to order and straight off the fishing boats. That was excellent as well and clearly popular with both the locals and the seagulls.

Sunday Morning we were up early and round to our friends mum’s place to watch the rugby cup final. What can I say other than the team i was supporting was the only one to score a try! Oh and the warm scones with jam and cream were excellent

After the match we drove to lake Rotoiti and our friends brother and his wife took us all out in their boat across the lake to the hot springs. The springs come out of the ground piping hot and there were several pools that are different temperatures that you can sit in. They all have a strong smell of sulphur but I have been told that it’s great for anti aging, so Rob and I must look a few years younger now. We had a great barbecue there and really enjoyed doing something that most tourists do not get to do.

Drove to Rotorua, nice trip over the mountain again. I have to say Rotorua was a little bit of a disappointment for us, it’s really commercial and that’s not really our thing. Also the hot pools make everything smell of sulphur.

One thing we did really enjoy was the Redwood forest. Parked up and did a 90minute walk around the forest. There was also a tree walk but there were a lot of children up in there and quite a queue and so we stuck to the forest walk. We drove up to the Blue lake which from the pictures is really beautiful when the sun is shining, but we had an overcast sky so it was not the bright blue that you see in a lot of the pictures.

In the evening we had a tour of the down town area in Tauranga and a really good Indian meal.

When my younger but much taller sister met her 6foot plus husband, they used to call us the Hobbits and apart from not having hairy feet (I promise) it was not too inaccurate a description.

So today we set off for Matamata, the trip over the mountain was “interesting” not sure if it was low cloud, fog or both but we could barely see the car in front. Once in Matamata the cloud cleared and the weather was dry.

Hobbiton was a pleasant surprise for both of us. They have done such a good job of keeping everything pristine and as you would have seen it in the movies. There are 44 hobbit homes. They have doors of varying height to assist with making the hobbits look small and Gandalf look tall.

The walk around took about 11/2 hours and we ended at the Green Dragon inn for a free pint of Hobbit ale. There was a little construction going on off to the side of the Shire but we had been notified on the website and quite honestly it made zero impact to our day. December 1st this year, new visitors will be treated with the ability to actually enter a Hobbit house.

Anyway after our guide asked us if it had impacted us we all gave a resounding no, and then he told us the organization were giving us a free gift to compensate. We were expecting some plastic gizmo but no we were given amazing pottery mugs. Rob thought it was funny how much I loved mine. It may have been because I was stroking it and muttering “my precious” all the way back to the shuttle.

Off back into town for lunch and then we drove about 3 miles out of town to the Wairere waterfalls. After a strenuous hike for 45 mins most of the way up the mountain. Including some very steep stairs we were treated to an amazing view. The Waterfall is the highest in North Island and well worth the visit.

All in all yet another great day, we do have a lot of rain forecast for the next few days so that might slow us down a bit.

Day 4 was our travel day and we decided to take the scenic route up the west coast along highway 16 – it took a lot longer but the views made it all worthwhile. Rolling hills and amazing lush green vegetation with the occasional views across the many bays. We pulled off at Whangarei to see the waterfalls and have a sandwich.before carrying on to Paihia.

The bay is gorgeous and our lodge is right on the front with uninterrupted views across to Russel and some of the closer Islands. At first we thought we may not like Paihia as it was very busy and touristy (yes I know that’s what we are, but there are tourists and then those tourists) but by early evening it quieted down.

Tuesday we were up with the Tui’s again and off to buy tickets for the first ferry over to Urupukapuka. WOW what a place, totally uninhabited and amazing walking trails criss crossing the entire island. Quite the haul up and down some of the trails but the views made it worthwhile. Every time you came to another outlook, you were blown away with the beauty. Lunch was a couple of bananas while we sat on Paradise bay.

The last headland we walked was where the local sheep grazed and so I have a question for you all, do you see some nice fiber for spinning or lamb chops?

Back at the main bay for a delicious panini and then the ferry back at 4.15. This day was an unexpected delight and I am sure we will have more of them as we continue our trip.

So the day starts early here, it seems a lot of the native birds like to be up and singing before the dawn chorus, but it’s still a very pleasant start to the day.

Last night I called baggage services and they told me the bags were on the LA to Auckland flight (they did not seem to know how they got from San Fran to LA) So at 8am this morning I started calling to confirm they were here, and we were off to the airport to collect our bags, Hurray!!

We drove about an hour north to a marine bird reserve called Tawharanui. It’s not only known for the birds and hiking but also it has a very good surfing beach. It’s a long quite thin peninsula with amazing views. The weather was colder and more overcast than yesterday but still pleasant. We hiked about 6 miles and like all coastlines, it was very undulating, so that combined with some Jet lag made it feel quite a bit longer. But despite this it was well worth the effort and we really enjoyed it.

We called into Matakana for a coffee and cake. Matakana is a small town set in the middle of all the wineries in that area. Gets a lot of visitors for its farmers market every Saturday. The drive back to Auckland was uneventful but thank goodness we were doing the reverse to everyone else, its Labor Day weekend here and it looks as if the whole of Auckland was driving North.

Well we arrived at the airport in Atlanta with time to spare, and then the fun began. our flight from Atlanta to Houston was getting more and more delayed to the point that there was no way it would make the connection to Auckland. We were offered to try again the same time 24 hours later or fly to San Francisco and then on to Auckland. We went for the latter as trying to change Airbnb and car rental by 24 hours would cost us.

Now we had even more time in Atlanta so went to eat and have a drink – cost a crazy amount of money!

We arrive in Auckland safe and sound but our luggage had decided to stay in the US. We were now at 26 hours from the time we left our house, not amused!!!
Off to pick up our rental, couldn’t get it to start and had to have an agent come out and explain that it was started but we had a hybrid and they run silent until you actually move (see previous statement about 26 hours of travel)

Our Airbnb is very close to the town just a 15minute drive and they very kindly let us arrive early. It’s really cute and in a lovely area. It’s spring here and the flowers are blooming as you walk around the neighborhood the smell of jasmine, lavender and magnolia is everywhere.

I thought it would be a good idea for us to walk to Mount Eden, it would end up being just over 5 miles but the weather was perfect and we knew we would have amazing views over the city. Mount Eden is a sacred place for the Māori and is actually an extinct volcano. Please send good vibes for getting our luggage tomorrow..

We leave later today and of course Rob has not packed yet! To those that know him it will come as no surprise, when you combine, leave everything to the last minute, and how long does it take to pack 10 of each identical item, you will understand his method.

Usually a few days after we leave there are deer and other animals roaming closer to the house, but they must have got their dates wrong this time. This is what we were greeted with when we looked out the window last evening, there were 5 of them on the lawn and the look on the face of this one looks like “what the heck are you still doing here” I guess the party started a day early.