drive – travelogs

The morning started at CreativeHQ, a startup incubator in Wellington. I had met Alan Hucks, their Business Strategist, at an AnimFX event and was eager to learn more about them – I had referenced them as a local example of incubator spaces in my class but hadn’t met anyone there yet. Alan arranged for Kim and me to meet Steve O’Connor, CEO, and Tui Te Hau, Programme Manager, this morning. I learned a lot from them about the startup environment in NZ, and left very impressed with what they’re accomplishing and their future plans.

Wellington and AnimFX have been fantastic, but it’s time for Sarah and I to move on. We checked out of the Museum Hotel and drove to Napier – about a four or five hour drive. We stopped in Greytown for lunch (a bit mediocre) and Waipukurau for coffee and chocolate (excellent coffee, even at a roadside stand!). It was a beautiful but uneventful drive, with the exception of ten minutes of tropical style rain and stops for lunch and coffee.

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We checked into our hotel in Napier in a beach district that used to be the main port until the earthquake of 1931. (More on that tomorrow.)

The view from our hotel room across Hawke Bay

Hawke Bay Coastline, with its beautiful clear turquoise waters.

We walked along the old warehouses which are now becoming restaurants and had dinner at Speight’s Ale House. Very good food there, and I particularly enjoyed their Old Dark on tap.

Speight's Old Dark on tap

With 10 hours of sleep and a steaming pile of fruit laden pancakes for fuel, we hit the road for the long drive from Napier to our next stop at Brenton Lodge in Whangamata, at the north end of the Bay of Plenty. We stopped a few times along the way to eat, stretch and see a few sights. Here’s a direct transcription from my notebook (sorry, I print in all caps):

NORTH ON HWY 5 TOWARDS TAUPO. WINDY & WINDY OVER THE MTNS. STOPPED IN TARGAWERA FOR COFFEE. NOTICED WE HAVE < 1/3 TANK OF GAS, NEXT GAS IN TAUPO.
MADE IT TO MOBIL STATION IN TAUPO W/ LOW FUEL LIGHT ON. WHEW!
CONTINUED N TO TOKOROA FOR LUNCH (LAMB PIE!). THEN N. TO TE AROHA, STOPPING AT A WATERFALL AND MINE ALONG THE WAY. SARAH THOUGHT CALVES WERE CUTE. NOW SHE ONLY THINKS THE FRONT HALVES OF CALVES ARE CUTE. (There was an un-photographed incident that became a discussion topic for many miles to follow.)
COFFEE & COOKIES IN TE AROHA. (This part is accompanied by funky little drawing of plate with a big cookie and a little cookie on it.) WAITRESS: “YOU CAN FIGHT OVER THE BIG COOKIE.” SARAH: “NO NEED TO FIGHT. I’LL JUST TAKE THE BIG ONE.”

Lamb Pie!

Cow #13

Windblown Wairere Falls. The wind was whipping so much at times that the water was blown right off the falls.

This structure is what remains of a rock crusher from an old mine in Waiorongomai Valley, NZ. The artwork is new.

The Karangahake Gorge was stunning, we wish we had taken some time to hike around in there. We’re adding it to the to-do list for another trip.

We arrived at Brenton Lodge around 5:30pm. The owners, David and Sallie, greeted us and showed us around and to our room. They have a beautiful B&B on the hill overlooking the bay. We didn’t know that dinner was an option there, too, but luckily were able to get in under the wire for reservations that evening. Sallie prepared a fantastic meal of smoked salmon salad, lamb chops with potato, and a delightful pannacotta with strawberries for desert. If you EVER go to the Bay of Plenty you have to stay with them – the place is beautiful, the rooms are very private, it is quiet and relaxing, and David and Sallie are two of the nicest people we’ve met (which is significant given how wonderful everyone has been).

Sallie's delicious pannacotta with berries.

Here’s a map of the drive we made today:

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Wednesday was another long day of driving in our quest to travel the length of the north island from Wellington to the the top of NZ at Cape Reigna lighthouse. We travelled from Whangamata on the Bay of Plenty, up Highway 25, across to Highway 1, through Auckland all the way north to Paihia on the Bay of Islands. We estimated it would be about a five hour drive; it took seven including stops for gas, lunch, coffee and a bit of casual sightseeing along the way. This wasn’t a particularly visual day, it started on the coast, through the hills working our way to farmland, then through the city, back to farmland and through the hills back to the coast. It was like this:

The Drive from Bay of Plenty to Bay of Islands, NZ

The drive from Bay of Plenty to Bay of Islands, via Auckland.

Once we arrived in the Bay of Islands though, it was beautiful. We checked into our hotel with a beautiful beach view from the second floor, relaxed on the balcony for awhile, then went into town for a nice dinner. After dinner we walked through the whole town: all four blocks.

The view from our hotel room in Paihia of the Bay of Islands.

Dinner in Paihia

Today’s adventure:

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With a long drive ahead and a plane to catch we hit the road at 8am. Inspired by the ancient Kauri trees we had seen earlier on the trip, we took the long way to Auckland via the Waipoua Forest to see some living examples.

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We had breakfast in probably Kaikohe, my blueberry muffin being more memorable than the town only because of its complete lack of flavor.

Mime Cow, Panda Cow, or Mad Cow?

Tane Mahuta, Maori for “Lord of the Forest”, is the largest living Kauri tree, estimated to be about 2,000 years old. It’s a short walk off Highway 12 to see this giant, with a girth over 45 feet and a height of about 170 feet. Kauri are odd looking trees with a smooth fat limbless trunk reaching up to the canopy and then shooting out huge lateral branches. Their lumber was prized for ship building, it is light in weight, very strong and resistant to corrosion by salt water – ships built from Kauri were markedly faster than those using more traditional woods.

Sarah in front of Tane Mahuta

After seeing Tane Mahuta we stopped at the Kauri Museum in Matakohe and learned more about the history of these trees and the lumber trade in New Zealand. The museum has an enormous collection of woods and amber, along with recreations of many early saw mills with original equipment. It’s definitely worth the stop.

Saw blades from a old sawmill in the Kauri Museum. The blades turn much slower in the display, but I think this is more representative of what it must have looked like in an operating mill.

How to let the dogs out. Part of the controls to a giant milling bandsaw.

We had lunch across the street from the museum, where I had a savory pie and Phoenix Organic Honey Cola. The reason it’s called “Phoenix” is because once you swallow it you’re pretty sure it’s going to rise up again. Honey Cola: bad idea.

Savory Pie and Honey Cola. I ate it. And it was good. Except for the Honey Cola.

We arrived at the airport three hours before our flight, right on plan. Sarah had bought an extra bag for us to check, distributing the load three ways and keeping us under the weight limit with our wine and other souvenirs. Though, having eaten our way from one end of the north island to the other, I’m pretty sure my personal weight limit was exceeded.

Our flight home.

Time to go home.

Thank you Kim and everyone else at AnimFX for inviting me down, and giving Sarah and me the incentive to visit New Zealand again for our 25th anniversary.

Kia ora!

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