Today we drove almost the entire length of England. Most of the drive was on main highways with little to look at. We had breakfast in the town of Didcot (thank you in-car GPS), and lunch at essentially a truck stop (thank you nobody). Dinner however was wonderful at our hotel, Battlesteads Country Inn, in Wark. Definitely one of the best meals we’ve had all week.
No pictures of note for the whole day, so instead we share with you this map of our drive.
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.
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):
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:
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, 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:
This is it, the big day we’ve been driving for: The Top of New Zealand! There’s quite a bit to do at the top of New Zealand – there’s the Cape Reinga lighthouse at the tip, there’s sand tobogganing and there’s 90 Mile Beach. It’s legal to drive the length of 90 Mile Beach on the sand, but the rental car companies won’t let you take their cars out there, and amatuers get bogged down in the sand and flooded at high tide almost every day. So we booked ourselves on a day long bus tour and left the driving to Paul. The 300 mile round trip takes all day, so we were picked up at our hotel at 7am.
An early start - up with the sun.
After picking up our bus mates and box lunches our first stop was at Gumdiggers Park. Gumdiggers were like California’s golddiggers, except this gold is dried sap from ancient Kauri trees, more commonly known as amber. In the 1800’s and early 1900’s it had tremendous industrial use as the main ingredient in resins and varnishes – of essential importance to sailing ships and furniture makers. The gum trade coincided with the devistation of the Kauri forests, similar to our logging of giant redwoods in California, so resourceful entrepreneurs began searching for amber in buried ancient Kauri forests preserved in the peat bogs of northern New Zealand – thus the name gumdiggers. Gumdiggers Park is a site still in the condition it was in the late 1800’s. Underneath the site are at least two layers of ancient Kauri forests which were destroyed by natural disasters and preserved in the bog. As part of the tour you visit a perfectly preserved non-petrified Kauri tree that is carbon dated at over 100,000 years old.
An ancient Kauri tree, estimated to be over 100,000 years old. The layer over it is from a forest that is 40,000 years old.
At noon we arrived at Cape Reigna. Part of my vacation algorithm is to go to The Top of Things – this generally leads to pleasant surprises, and at the very least to a nice view. New Zealand, however, has a stunning gift for you when you get there. Beyond the lighthouse, the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean collide. Waves created by the prevailing Southerly winds arc around the top of the island and crash in a frothy seam. We were awed.
Cape Reigna, with the Tasman Sea (left) and Pacific Ocean (right) actively colliding.
Here’s a snippet of video I shot that will help:
We tried to get some pictures in the wind, and it was quite challenging. Sarah did a great job of shooting me. I was trying to compose a good shot with her and the colliding seas behind her, but the wind was just going crazy. I ended up firing off a bunch of shots and laughing. Sorry dear!
Us, at the Top of New Zealand
The next stop was only about 15 minutes away at the top of 90 Mile Beach. Paul, our driver, slogged the huge bus through a river to get us to the biggest dune, then whipped out slick bottomed boogie boards for all of us.
Our Tour Bus and Sand Dune
Long hike up, short ride down. Completely worth it.
That is really fun. About two thirds of the way down the dune, I'm using my feet to steer a little bit. At the bottom is a very shallow river, if you keep enough speed you skip across it. Which I did, right into the far bank.
Survivor.
The west coast of New Zealand is a 90 mile long beach that is completely undeveloped. It’s open to the public and you’re even allowed to drive on it. But not in a rental car, you fool! We rode the bus for an hour and a half down the beach with a view that rarely changed. It was serene and relaxing and beautiful to watch go by.
Our Bus, on 90 Mile Beach
Bus stop. We stretched our legs and waded in the Tasman Sea.
The bus stopped at “Ancient Kauri Kingdom” to wash the sand off and to provide busloads of people the opportunity to buy souvenirs. We also stopped for an early dinner at 4:30 at a Fish & Chips place in Mangonui.
That evening we went into the town of Paihia and had dessert at Alfresco’s. It was excellent and we were beat.
An interactive map of the day’s activities for your enjoyment: