Tuesday 16th March 04

 

Auckland was sunny when we touched down. We had three hours or so to while away before our connection to Queenstown and mooched around the airport shops in the International terminal. We had a hint there of how much the Kiwis rate their dairy produce. One shop was promoting its special offer with a sign; “Free butter with every purchase over $30.” I can just see it, Harrods offering free fish and chips with any purchase over £100.

 

The descent into Queenstown was quite exciting, dog-legging between mountain passes, at first barren and then an alpine green.

 

Queenstown was a nice surprise. It may be a popular ski and extreme sports town, but it is still laid back and has a real colonial feel to it. Lake Wakatipu and the Remarkables mountain range give the town a dramatic setting it would be hard to beat. To finish off the effect, a vintage steamship the T.S.S Earnshaw cruises the lake with sightseers daily.

  Lake Wakatipu   Queenstown

We ate early in a restaurant in the town centre, name forgotten. Sitting outside in the early evening sunshine, we had some very good rib eye steak and a bottle of Church Rd red. The NZ wines are superb, even if they are quite expensive here.

 

We stayed in the Lofts Apartments right in town and had a massive room with everything you could need, including a washing machine for $125NZ per night.

 

We would love to have stayed longer, but New Zealand takes a lot of seeing and we only had four weeks.

 

Wednesday

We picked up a Toyota Corolla saloon from Ace Rentals for $45 a day, including collision damage waiver and drove to Milford Sound.

The drive from Queenstown to Milford has to be one of the world's finest, with waterfalls, mountain passes, the Mirror Lakes, rivers and glaciers, plus many other sights. It took us just over 5 hours to get there, stopping at Te Anau for lunch. This is another modern looking town set in a mountain and lake setting. It also boasts the best glow worm caves in New Zealand. Lake Te Anau offers a host of activities, but we had to content ourselves with the views before continuing on to Milford passing Key Summit and the Hollyford Valley.

Te Anau   Key Summit   Hollyford Valley

 

The Mirror Lakes

Somehow, we managed to get the last cabin on the Milford Mariner for the night cruise of Milford Sound. We cast off at 4.30pm and cruised along the Sound awestruck by the stunning scenery. The weather was beautiful, unusual for a place which gets around 7 metres of rainfall per annum. The lowering sun cast its rays and wonderful shadows over the cliffs, Mitre Peak and several waterfalls. We were joined by some bottle nose dolphins and spotted a few fur seals sunning themselves on rocks.

Mitre Rock, Milford Sound

Before dinner, some of us got into kayaks to explore the shoreline of Harrison Cove. Louise joined a party in one of the boats tenders for a guided trip around the Cove. Penguins nest in part of the cove, but not in this season.

 Milford Sound

Dinner was fantastic, one of the best meals we ate in New Zealand, with the smoked fish a favourite with most on board. We had good company too.  One couple, Jeremy and Katrin had just got married in Las Vegas. Jeremy began telling us about their world trip with the immortal words “Once we got that marriage stuff out of the way…” Then he noticed the look of astonishment on Katrin’s face.

   Bottlenose dolphins

Evening, Milford Sound

The Milford Mariner has about 30 double en-suite cabins and is run by Real Journeys. The whole trip was very well run and is a great way to visit the Sound.

 

Thursday

We almost missed breakfast, but managed to finish before the boat cruised out to sea. The morning was grey with dark lowering mist rolling over the clifftops. It seemed quite a different setting from the evening before, more reminiscent of the foreboding atmosphere of Glencoe.

  Misty morning, Milford Sound

The short trip to the sea got rougher, but apparently it is rare to be able to get out so far as the winds are normally stronger there. More dolphins swept past us and a large cruise ship was making its way to the Sound in the distance.

Fur Seal   More mist

Stirling Falls   Bowen Falls

We were going to make a quick start from Milford to Wanaka, another ski and walking resort 5 hours drive away, but had a slight hitch. I had left the lights on in the car and it would not start. The AA breakdown service were over 2 hours drive away, but the cruise company came to the rescue with a battery pack.

 

Of course the 5 hour drive took 6 hours because we just had to take photos along the way of the Falls River, McKinley Pass, Lake Te Anau and the Cardrona Road. We stopped off at the famous Cardrona Hotel, complete with vintage car outside and a sign with “If you have money stop, if not, step on it.” We had a glass of Cardrona Gold which is very good and soon after drove into Wanaka.

Falls Creek   Eglinton Valley

 

Lake Te Anau

Wanaka is a lovely town, beside the beautiful Lake Wanaka. It is another fantastic centre for walking and skiing. We found a room at the Lake Wanaka Motel for three nights and ate somewhere pretty forgettable on the first night.

There are a couple of internet cafes in town which shut at 10 pm.

 Lake Whakatipu

Cardrona Road

 

Cardrona Post Office Cardrona Hotel and inside

 

Friday

Everyone recommended the Rob Roy glacier walk, so we had breakfast in Kai Whakapai café on the lake front and then drove down the left bank of the lake.

 

The walk starts at the delightfully named Raspberry Creek, which is 1 hours drive from Wanaka and partly along a dirt road which ends in a series of fords. The Corolla managed these OK, but one of them was quite deep and we dropped into it with a great splash.

 

It is a really beautiful walk and fairly strenuous, first taking us alongside a raging torrent (the Matukituki River) cascading down the West Matukituki Valley, then branching off to the right over a swing bridge. The walk then climbs steadily through beech forest for an hour or so beside the Rob Roy stream before clearing the bush line. Nearing the top, someone was waiting for me to clear the last stage, so I ran up the rocks and tore a calf muscle badly.

 

The glacier was a fantastic sight with several waterfalls cascading down the mountain. One fall caught by the wind, drifted off like a misty veil long before reaching the ground.

 

We saw and heard a number of Keas flying about, their cries echoing off the rocky landscape.

 

The journey back was pure agony and I could only hobble for days, so no more walks for some time.

Matukituki Valley 

Rob Roy Glacier    Rob Roy River upstream & downstream

 

Saturday 20 March 04

 

Another beautiful day in paradise. Where is all the rain and all those sandflies everyone promised us? Louise has been bitten three times and I have just one bite. The Crocodile repellent works very well, but it still has to be applied everywhere or those pesky critters will find the centimetre you missed. In actual fact we have only seen a few dozen sandflies so far.

 

The Wanaka Lake Motel is nice and quiet at the top of the town and handy for the restaurants. We tried several restaurants, but the best is the White House, about the only joint that doesn’t douse the grub with cream or butter. It also has a different menu to the standard fare.

Wanaka    Lake Wanaka

Wines are very, very expensive here, even the local ones, but some of the local beers are excellent, especially the Speights Gold and Old Dark,  Cardrona Gold and the Wanaka Tall Dark.

 

Because my leg was still pretty sore, I fished the Clutha River just outside Albert Town. I thought I’d wade out to some deeper water, but by the time the water was up to my knees, the current was proving too strong to stay on my feet, so I backed up to the bank again. I found out later that the Clutha drains 3 lakes and other rivers and has the strongest flow of any NZ river.

 

Moving upstream, I met another English angler covering a pool and noticed it had a good fish in it. Further up, I spotted a good brownie just after it spotted me. The steep bank behind me made casting a bit difficult and I caught a few shrubs along the way, but the wind was a real curse, blowing hard downstream.

 

A while later the other angler and I exchanged places and I looked into the pool for that brownie. It wasn’t alone now, there was a whole shoal of rainbows and all between 3lb to 10lb. Of course, I got excited and caught the grass around me the first few casts.

 

The pool was a kind of backwash with the current swirling violently around it. The fish in there were facing downstream as a consequence and were definitely feeding. I tried hares ears in natural and olive and a stonefly pattern and even a Czech nymph. Getting no response I cast the stonefly hard against the edge of the pool and allowed it to swirl back out with the current. The brownie spotted it and rose, but at the last second turned away. Something was wrong, but I know not what.

 The Clutha River

Louise wanted to move on, so we drove on to Lake Hawea, another pretty spot but even windier than Albert Town. We did a minor detour to see another part of Lake Wanaka, close to Albert Town. It is possible to walk to the mouth of the Clutha from the end of the drive.

 Lake Hawea

We met Jeremy and Katrin who were on the boat with us on Milford at the White House restaurant and joined them for dinner. It was nice to see them again. They had just got married in Las Vegas and were on their honeymoon. He was explaining to us that “once we got all that marriage stuff out of the way……” He was going on to finish the sentence when he noticed Katrin’s expression. Surprised would be an understatement.

 

We are off to the Franz Joseph glacier tomorrow over the Haast Pass in the Cook Mountains. We will probably only stay one night, but that is the extent of our plans so far.

 

Sunday

Breakfast at Kai Whakapai café is a mixed experience. The Kiwi fry-up is a definite miss, especially the sausage, but Louise was very impressed with the muesli & fresh fruit version.  We left Wanaka just as it started to rain, driving along Lake Hawea and then heading over the Haast Pass.

Lake Hawea    Lake Wanaka rainbow

We first stopped off to see the Fantail Falls, very attractive and worth a stop.

Fantail Falls 

The very name “The Gates of Haast” prepare you for the next scene, partially at any rate. Crossing over the bridge and looking down, you see a mass of water smashing its way down a narrow gorge. Get closer by walking down to the edge and there is something approaching the gates of hell about the spectacle. The power of all that water thundering down the mountain has a mesmeric and terrifying quality. Kiwis are rather over-fond of the word awesome, but this is one place which deserves the honour.

The awesome Gates of Haast 

Stopping off at Haast township was a bit of an anti-climax, but at least you can get something to eat and drink in a local café.

 

A couple of miles away is Haast Beach, another dramatic, wild place and well worth a visit. This long strand opens directly to the Tasman Sea facing great rolling breakers in splendid isolation.

  Haast Beach

Moving on, we crossed the Haast River estuary and visited Ships Creek and Knight’s Point lookout.

Haast River Estuary  Ship Creek

Knights Point Lookout

After a number of hours driving we got to Fox Glacier and took a short walk to view the ice sheet. Some parties of walkers were being whipped into shape by a gruff spoken Kiwi lady and somehow we didn’t feel like being frogmarched onto the ice. We took a leisurely stroll instead and saw as much as we wanted to.

 A Kea Fox Glacier

It does get quite crowded and I was glad to move on to Franz Joseph Glacier.

Evening was beginning to fall and it was a better time to visit. We enjoyed the spectacle with a few other tourists and then drove to the township to look for the accommodation we had booked the day before. The apartment was in the centre of town with a view of the mountains. There was an internet point next door.

Franz Joseph township and glacier

 

 Dinner was not bad, I think. Actually I can't remember where we ate, perhaps the Plateau.

 

Monday 23 March

 

Monday started fine, but by the time we had breakfast in the Cheeky Kea,

the clouds were gathering and rain was not long in following.

 

We set off for Kaikoura some 600 kms away. Initially we were going to go

over the Lewis Pass, but a cattle truck driver persuaded us it was just

as quick and a lot more picturesque going over Arthur's Pass.

 

We drove along a fast straight rod towards Hokitika and Greymouth before

turning off on Route 72 over the mountains.

 

Arthurs Pass was quite dramatic after the Glencoe fashion, dark, wet and

foreboding. We had lunch there looking out of the restaurant window at the mist rolling over the mountains looming over us.

 Arthur's Pass viaduct and the township

Highway 73  

 Looking back to Arthur's Pass and ahead from the same spot

 

We moved on quickly and a couple of miles further on, the weather changed dramatically and we emerged into bright sunshine. The scenery was wonderful with some unusual stone formations on the quiet road.

 

Rock formations, Porter Heights

 

We stopped at Rangiora, near Christchurch for a break. Someone warned us that some liquid was coming out under the car. I no sooner had the bonnet up when someone came along and asked if we needed any help. Spotting where the liquid was coming from, he reckoned it was just condensation from the air-conditioning unit. He had only gone a few seconds when someone else ran up and asked if we needed jump leads. He then crawled under the car and dabbed his hand in the liquid, sniffed it and confirmed it was condensation. We had heard of the the Kiwis helpfulness to complete strangers and this was confirmation indeed.

 

We crossed over the road for a cup of tea and cake at a very nice restaurant.

We have to give the Kiwis full credit for making a decent cuppa. In fact, they do it a lot better than in the UK. The waiters have a charming casualness about them too. Our meals invariably arrive with a "There you are, you two."

 

It stayed sunny the rest of the way to Kaikoura; at least until the sun set. We arrived just after 7pm.             I managed to book a room in a B&B an hour before we arrived, so we were able to check in quickly and find somewhere to eat.

 

The meal in the Olive Branch was pretty good, a local fish called terakihi.

 

Tuesday

 

Today we had a go at the peninsula walk, starting over the cliffs and then walking along the shoreline. At first we wondered where all the fur seals were, but once on the shoreline, they were everywhere. Most were very docile, but at one point we had to cross a promontory near the base of the cliffs where the sea was coming in and encountered a family group.

Start of the peninsula walk  The clifftop section

 

Fur seals

 

The bulls were not very happy and hissed at us and bared their teeth. I took their photos and they were still not impressed, but we found a way past them.

 

In another bay, a few locals were gathering shellfish from the weedy rocks, probably winkles.

  Coastal section

It was a beautiful walk, quite peaceful away from the car parks at either end and though there were occasional footpaths, most of the time it was a case of rock-hopping.

 

We were starving after that and treated ourselves to a crayfish and shellfish salad in the Craypot. I would highly recommend it.

 

This afternoon, I had a go at saltwater fly fishing from the beach on the rising tide. It was not easy as there was a sizeable swell which kept picking up the fly and washing it inshore. Not to worry, I thought, right behind me, there is a river and it had fish in it. They looked a bit like trout, but I don't think they were. They weren't mullet either, but I did see some good specimens around 2lbs or more. I also thought I saw the Moby Dick of eels, nearly 3ft long and as thick as a girl’s wrist, but I'm told they get a lot bigger and thicker than that.

 

I tried dry flies as I could see them taking off the surface, but no takers. I also tried nymphs and a booby. Both got plenty of follows, but though they really wanted to take, they would not commit themselves.

 

We passed through a town called Cheviot yesterday which was hosting a fishing competition for trout and salmon. Our B&B host reckoned you can catch salmon the size of seals there.

 

One of the reasons we have not been able to send e-mails every day is because everything closes by 9pm, or if you are very lucky 10pm. That includes restaurants.

 

The sun was very hot most of today. Rain is forecast tomorrow so we are not sure what we will do. Neither of us is bothered about whale-watching, the big attraction locally, but we may have a few hours fishing from a boat, depending on whether the forecast of 40mph winds is accurate.

 

Kaikoura has a lot to offer from some of the finest coastal scenery in NZ, wine tours, caves and the crayfish which are meatier and tastier than lobsters.

 

The next item on the agenda is another scoff at the Craypot or maybe at Finz in South Bay.

 

Wednesday

 

Last night we had a howling gale followed by heavy rain. The rain eased a bit after breakfast, so we thought we would go fishing in a crayfish boat, but no one wanted to go out. The sea looked calm enough to us, but when we looked further out to sea, there were mountainous waves beyond the bay. The bigger whale spotting boats had cancelled their trips too, so we were grounded.

 

We made the most of it by visiting the oldest house in Kaikoura, Fyffe House, built in the 1840s. It is pretty spartan inside, but a bit odd with computer equipment occupying one room alongside old furniture.

Outside, an array of whale bones adorn the porch.

  Fyffe House

Then we visited the Maori Leap caves. These have some unusual features, including "cave pearls" found only in one other cave system in France, and a calcite feature which according to the gnarled old guide resembled his ex-wife. Apparently the other guide thinks it resembles a witch.

  Maori Leap caves

 

In the afternoon, we had a walk up to Fyffe Mountain. It was damp and humid, and I guess a littel tedious as there were very few views. Plenty of birdsong though.

Fyffe mountain walk   Postmans Road

 

Kaikoura over two days, damp mist and then snow

 

Thursday

 

The weather turned fine again in Kaikoura, but it was time to move on.
The drive was wonderful, following the coastline for the first stage, then turning inland through the Marlborough vineyards, the Rai Valley and a mountain road to Havelock for lunch at Mussel Boys.

 

The coastal road

Mussel Boys    Havelock and marina

Havelock is the centre of the green lip mussel trade and this restaurant does almost nothing else in huge sizes, grilled or steamed with a variety of dips. The village is situated in the Marlborough Sounds and we were almost tempted to stay there, but pressed on past Nelson to Marahau, gateway to the Abel Tasman National Park.

 

We have been extraordinarily jammy in getting the accommodation we wanted so far. Stopping off at the local store we asked if there was a tourist information office. They said no, but they could sort us out if we knew what we wanted to do. We managed to get Rose's last chalet for the night and she and the storekeeper organised a day's kayaking along the coastline, a night on board a houseboat in the sea and a tramp back to Marahau.

 Marahau Flats 

Rose's chalet and the view, evening and next morning

We ate at the Hooked on Marahau cafe restaurant. The food was excellent, I had a kind of seafood and chorizo paella and Louise had grilled bluenose, a local fish.

 

Friday

 

The kayak trip was 11.5 kilometres and was truly idlyllic, visiting sea caves, dodging between reefs and pulling up on gorgeous sandy coves for tea and lunch with our guide Bee. Mind you, it was bloody hard work in the double kayak, but Louise did her bit when it mattered, otherwise I'm not sure we would have made it to Anchorage Bay past the Mad Mile, notorious for big seas and head on winds. Fortunately, conditions were pretty good.

  Kayaking

A shag on a rock, Tinline Bay

The house boat was moored in Anchorage Bay and we had a cabin there for the night. There was a mixed bunch on board with Israelies, Germans, a pair of Japanese and some locals. The boat owner, Chris had gone diving earlier with Mark, who with his wife Wendy run the Backpackers Hostel in nearby Motueka. They had caught 4 nice crayfish. Now these crayfish are bigger than our lobsters and are even better eating. We had the crayfish as starters and a beautiful BBQ dinner, which even Louise enjoyed enormously. Mark and Wendy were great company and kept us entertained with stories about Chris and their exploits in the park.

 Appletree Bay    Watering Cove

Anchorage Bay   On Chris's boat

 

Saturday

 

We got up early today and after breakfast, Mel the cook laid out a spread we could make up our own lunch packs from and then we were dropped off on the beach.

 

We were walking back to Marahau, a fairly easy tramp of 3 1/2 hours plus extra for a picnic lunch on a deserted beach.
Louise went off like a camel in a drought scenting water and I followed like a fool. The scenery was wonderful and we stopped for photos at several places such as Appletree Bay, Coquille Bay and others. There is a local bird called the fantail which looks like our long-tailed tits, but a bit bigger. They have a wonderful habit of darting from branch to branch near us and displaying their tails by fanning them out. Apparently they hope to pick up insects disturbed by our passage, but it is lovely to see anyway.

  Abel Tasman National Park

However, not everything was perfect in paradise. Two hours into the walk, my calf muscle went on strike again. We stopped for lunch on a beach just as a light shower descended. It was quite peculiar sitting in hot sunshine, being refreshed by the very light shower.

 

As we moved off again, the shower stopped and we moved along a lot slower as the leg got worse as the muscle tightened. Looks like I will just have to go fishing from now on.

 

We made it back to Marahau by 1.10pm, had a cuppa at the Hooked on Marahau cafe and then drove back to Havelock, arriving around 3.30pm. We got the last motel room in the place and then had dinner in the Claymore Cafe. I had a good meal, but Louise was very disappointed with hers. The desserts are big enough to sink a sumo wrestler.

 

Sunday

We had breakfast in the excellent Havelock Habitat Bakery and then took the Queen Charlotte scenic drive to Picton for the ferry. The road around the Sounds is both picturesque and quiet. It is a pity we don’t have time to explore more.

  Queen Charlotte Sound

Picton

Picton is a sleepy place despite being the transport hub between the two islands. The restaurants did not look great, so we bought some bits in a supermarket and picnicked in the sun.

 

The crossing was quite breezy and sunny, and as we hit the Cook Straits we encountered a heavy swell. The day before winds of 50 mph were whistling through the area and the seas were still reacting. We saw another ferry go past and it's bows disappearing and reappearing under the waves.

Last view of South Island       North Island and Wellington

 

Wellington was fairly busy for a Sunday, but everyone was out. Our motel was just a hundred yards from Courtney Place, the entertainment centre in town and full of restaurants, from Malay, Chinese, Arabic and others. We ate at Uncle Chang's, which was full of Chinese and the food was pretty good.

 Courtney Place, Wellington    Victorian Houses

We met Paul who is another fishing fanatic living in Wellington and we chatted until late.

 

Monday 29th
The drive from Wellington was not terribly scenic at first, but as we passed Vinegar Hill, it changed and became more dramatic. We took the Desert Road (Highway 1) to Turangi. Stopping to photograph the volcanoes, we found the rain up there was freezing. It had snowed earlier that day on the road and was closed for a while.

  Mt Ruapehu, on the desert road

 

Turangi was a lot warmer, but the South wind was blowing and keeping things a little chilly.
We got to New World supermarket in town and bought two handsome T-bone steaks and cooked them in the flat we are staying in. The flat isn't as pristine as some we have stayed in, but it’s a fishermans/trampers lodge (smells of it too) and it is only $60 NZ per night, so I am not complaining, even if Louise is not that impressed.

 

The South Island was truly beautiful and majestic. The North is still beautiful, but not in the same scale of grandeur.

 

Tuesday 30th
Jim, a friend from Northern Ireland took me out to the Tongariro just behind our flat and we fished this morning. In the first hour he caught a big, but dark rainbow trout and I caught two fabulous fresh-run wild rainbow trout over 4.5lb each. I caught another smaller one later and lost two big ones later, one snapping my leader. Jim had another good fish later and a spate of very small fish, which were washed out of the hatchery during the recent floods. The trout here are magnificent and fight really hard.

 

  My first Tongariro rainbow

In the Judges pool and another rainbow

As we emerged from the river, Jim remarked “Aye, New Zealand has it all, doesn’t it.” I agreed and then noticed the line of his gaze, towards two well-endowed blondes sunbathing topless on the riverbank. I think I like New Zealand.

We went out again around 4pm but I had no more fish.

 Jim with a rainbow and another

Paul on the Bridge pool looking downstream and looking upstream

Flood damage after February's storm

 

 

Tuesday

 

Louise drove to Whakapapa village and did a really lovely walk to Taranaki Falls tumbling 20 metres over the edge of a large lava flow, through native forest on the edge of Ruhapehu volcano.

 

In the morning, around 7am, Jim and I fished the Bridge pool and I had a lovely rainbow trout of some 3lbs and three smaller fish around 12 inches. I had a wander up the Tongariro with Jim to visit some of the pools newly formed by the floods. We both lost a dozen flies wet-lining through the Swirl pool and beyond. We had a couple of takes there, but no fish. Most of the flies we used were olive woolly buggers, but this morning's fish was taken on a gold-head hare's ear (GHHE).

 

Dinner was the 3lb rainbow trout, a nice change. The trout here are not as fatty as the usual stocked rainbows in the UK and have a clean delicate flavour, quite meaty too.

 

Wednesday


Had another fish in the morning session on a GHHE. Then Louise and I went of to Whakapapa and tried a couple of short walks there. The first was a 20 minute walk to the Tawwhai Falls, very pretty. The other was to Lake Rotopounamu in the shadow of Mt Pihanga. The walk is in shady forest, very welcome in hot sunshine, but there are almost no viewpoints along the way. The lake is surrounded by trees, but there are a few viewpoints around its shoreline. The weather was very bright and clear, the air deliciously cool and dry; not bad to walk in.

 Mt Ruapehu Mt Ngauruhoe     Tawhai Falls

 

Lakes Rotoaira, Rotopounamu and Taupo

We topped off the afternoon with a soak in Tokaanu hot pools. We had a private pool and it was a few minutes before it dawned on me that I didn't need shorts. Too late, they were already wet. It was one of those days, earlier I managed to get my boxer shorts on back to front.

 

We finished off the day with a home-cooked chicken curry for dinner and a few bottles of Speights Old Dark.

 

Thursday


Early morning fishing again. This time Paul joined us to show us his technique of nymphing with an egg fly. Of course, the two visiting anglers stuck to our proven method and caught a few small fry before Jim had a nice fish of about 4lbs.

 

A short while later I felt a gentle tug and thought I had another tiddler on, but it started to pull away at an alarming rate, before turning around and almost swimming straight into me. Then it turned and went into orbit. Very soon I was down to my backing line and still the fish was charging on. I had to get out of the water and follow it downstream, putting pressure on all the time. Eventually, 100 yards downstream I managed to turn it. Another 5 minutes later I landed a very fit deep bodied hen fish of around 5 1/2 lbs. We already had plenty of fish to eat, so I released it.

 

This afternoon Paul took Louise and I out to Lake Taupo fishing for more trout. Paul caught a couple of good rainbows and Louise had a go at playing the fish, one over 5lbs. The weather was overcast and got gradually cooler. I blanked. How galling to come all this way to fish this legendary lake, just to spend the time staring at the horizon. Mind you, it did have its moments. We may have seen Jesus walking on the water and flyfishing.

  Louise and Paul on Lake Taupo

Must be Jesus fishing    This one definitely isn't Jesus.

  One that Paul hooked and Louise landed

 

Back at the lodge, Jim had smoked my first trout, one of the 4.5 pounders. He marinated it in manuka honey, rum and some rock salt, left it in the fridge for two days and then hot-smoked it. We had it for starters when Paul joined us for dinner. Steaks and kumara and a nice bottle of local Pinot Noir.

  My first Tongariro trout, smoked. Fantastic!

 

Friday
It started raining just as I left for the morning's fishing session. It continued steadily and  continued all morning. My jacket leaked somewhere so gave I up after 2 hours, soaked around the neck and shoulders.

 

Paul and I went out to Lake Otamanukau in the afternoon and although it started out overcast and still, rain and heavy squalls built up. We had a number of drifts across the lake, but it was low and we were often into weed. I did get a good take which made a mess of my fly, but did not connect with the fish. We gave up after a few hours as the wind was getting stronger all the time driving the rain in vertical drifts.

 

Saturday


Not wanting to miss any opportunity to catch another fish, I was up at 6am and down on the Tongariro to find it was almost crowded with weekend anglers. Paul was already there. I wet-lined again and Paul fished a bomb and egg fly under an indicator. Shortly after Jim suggested I fish behind him. I moved over and put on a woolly bugger with a grizzle hackle. A few minutes later I had a good take and saw a dark rainbow leaping clear of the water. Alas, it threw the hook.

 

Someone a couple of hundred metres downstream was taking a number of fish in the tail of the Bridge pool, but 10 minutes later I had another fish on. This one stayed down and gave a good fight. This was a very deep cock fish, slightly darkened which I let go, around 5½ lb.

 

I had another small fish over 30cm long and called it a day. Saying my goodbyes to Jim and Paul, we got ready to leave Turangi. 

We drive along Lake Taupo on a lovely road with great views before heading inland.

 Last views of Taupo

On the road to Rotorua

 

Rotorua is just as described, steam coming out of culverts, gardens and a bit pongy. We stopped off at the Maori Whakarewarewa Thermal reserve to view the mud pools and geysers. It was very impressive.

We were also able to see kiwis in an observation chamber on the reserve.

Maori Whakarewarewa Thermal reserve

Meeting House Grain store Maori house

We had a lovely motel the Ashleigh Court with its own Spa pool. Sheer bliss!

  

That evening we did the tourist thing and booked up for a Hangi with the Maori Mitai family. They hold the Hangi on their private land and the ceremony and dances are done really well. The food was not that great to be candid, but they added a nice finishing touch to the evening by taking us down to the river and showing us the glow worms in the underhangs and a spring pool with water gushing up into clear water with big eels and trout illuminated in it.

The Chief Maori women The Haka Fairy Springs

 

Sunday

 

Another long drive to the Coromandel Peninsula on a wonderfully scenic and winding road. We are staying in Whitianga for 5 nights as we need to enjoy the time and lay off driving for a bit. The motel room overlooks the bay and it is all beautiful around here. We had a meal in the Fireplace restaurant, but it was pretty crude, so we will be cooking for ourselves again. The other food places look grim too, apart from Cafe Nina.

 

Monday

 

We were up quite early and after getting a few provisions, drove to Hot Water Beach 26 kms away. It is a lovely sheltered beach with two hot thermal springs welling up in the surf. At low tide it is sometimes possible to dig a hole and sit in the hot water just under the sand. The surf was high today and made it difficult to dig a hole to sit in, but we could feel the hot water by burying our feet in the sand under the surf. At times the water was boiling hot. We then went on to Hahei beach and Cook Beach, both idyllic.

  Hot water beach

Hahei beach      Cooks beach

We cooked spaghetti with snapper and green-lipped mussels tonight. As we were steaming the mussels, the motel owner phoned to tell us to look out of the window. The full moon was rising over the distant headland and shining on to the sea, it was a truly magical sight. I took some pics, but they don’t do it justice.

  Moonrise over Whitianga

The weather forecast says the weather is set to change tomorrow, but as the locality has had no rain for a month, everyone took it with a pinch of salt.

 

Tuesday 6th

 

The day started in brilliant sunshine. We wanted to look at Coromandel Town and what it had to offer, so took the old 309 road over the mountains. It is a very narrow road, mostly gravel and full of tight hairpin bends, but wonderfully scenic.

  View from our motel room next morning

Coromandel is a small town with an attractive aspect, with a shallow bay with mussel farms and mountains behind.

 The old 309 road  Coromandel town and beaches

After mooching about the town, we had lunch just as the rain arrived. It was torrential for 30 minutes, but stopped as we left the cafe. I was going to book onto a fishing trip here to the mussel barges. Apparently the fishing is superb when the barges are processing the mussels. Fishing boats anchor up nearby and target the fish feeding on the discarded mussels. Unfortunately the times were awkward for us.

 

First stop was the Driving Creek railway, a narrow gauge railway built by a local sculptor to bring clay from the hills in his property to his workshops. They run all year round and the views are fantastic, sometimes straight down on tall rickety bridges.

 

At the very top, it stops at the awfully named Eyefull Tower, for a great panoramic view of the town and coastline. The land is also planted with the indigenous Kauri and other trees, recreating the original landscape.

 Driving Creek railway

After that, we visited the Gold Stamping exhibit. This is a working operation which crushes the local ore and takes you through the process of extracting the gold and silver from the ore. The machinery is Victorian and was introduced by Cornish miners who came here in large numbers, bringing greater efficiency to the processes hitherto used. There is still a lot of gold in them thar hills, but the Green Party who control the Peninsula will no longer allow mining. I think you can still pan for gold in the streams using the old methods. The rain returned with a vengeance just as we left the Stamper.

  The gold stamper battery

We took State Highway 25 back to Whitianga past lovely beaches and coves.

 

Wednesday 7th

 

Louise was going to explore the other side of the estuary today, taking the passenger ferry to Shakespeare Cliff and Lonely Bay. I was booked on to a fishing trip for the day with Craig on his boat Water's Edge.

 

Louise had a wonderful time, walking by an ancient Maori Pa (village) to Shakespeare Cliff and was literally on her own at Lonely Bay, accessible only on foot.

 

There were 7 anglers on the trip to the Whale rock and other locations. There was an elderly chap and his daughter fishing with us, both locals and they gave me a few tips on how to fish for snapper and other species. Apparently, there are 20 species which have a size limit, plus many others which have no limit.

 

The old chap opened the innings with a small snapper which Craig made him put back. His daughter had the next and then I had a hefty tug on my line. I had to give the fish its head until it tired before I could start getting line on the reel. It took a while, but I finally got it to surface. I was told it was a Poorae (no one knew how to spell it) and it was a good size between 4 and 5lbs, but I was told they can grow to 4 kilos. The Poorae are reckoned to be a shy fish and are not often caught where other fish are about.

 A Poorae Red snapper and something poisonous

Soon after, I had a red snapper, another good fish, followed a parrot fish and a blue cod. The blue cod was undersized, so went back.

 

Craig reckoned the wind had dropped 10% so we went further out. The wind was pretty sharp and a bit cold here. The seas were a lot heavier too, but no problem. I caught a few more snapper here, mostly small, the the old boy hauled one to the surface and as he did so a shark flashed by, just missing it as he lifted it up.

 

A few second later I felt a tug on my line and started reeling in. Seconds later the fish dived and I could barely hold on to it. I yelled out, "I've got a bloody good fish here." Time and again, I'd get a few turns on the reel before it dived again, taking out more line. Then it went quiet. I could still feel something on, but not as heavy as before. There was a snapper on, but it's back end was shredded. Moments later someone else landed a snapper with scraps of meat hanging off it. Craig decided on preventative action and took my snapper using it as bait. A couple of minutes later the shark was on. He handed the rod to a young guy and told him to play it. It gave him a hard time, leaping out of the water once. He did manage to bring it to the boat, but it got off just before being landed.

 Shark damage and the culprit

Craig asked the young fella if he was married. He was.

"Your wife will have it easy tonight I reckon" was his retort.


Well, we had 4 types of fish for dinner tonight, delightful.

A kingfish    Return journey Supper

 

Thursday 8th

 

Our last day was spent exploring the coastline above Whitianga. Passing Otama beach, we headed over Black Jack Hill to Opito beach and walked the long strand to a hill at the end of the bay.

 The road to Otama Otama beach

Climbing up the hill, we gained views over the islands in the sea and the sweeping beach below.

 

On the hill were another couple, too engrossed in each other to notice us at first. Minutes later, the girl exclaimed excitedly “He has just proposed to me.” He was waiting for the right moment and we almost spoiled it. I made amends by taking their photo and e-mailing it on to them later.

  Views from Black Jack Hill

Opito beach

We finished up at Whangapoua Beach with its white sand beach and attractively placed island. The weather was becoming distinctly autumnal and the beach felt wild and deserted.

  Whangapoua beach

Friday 9th

 

We woke to another lovely sunny start, had breakfast and headed off across the peninsula via highway 309, this time a bit muddy from the heavy night dew, or more likely, rain. We had time to stop off to view the Kauri grove and the waterfall before rain started to fall gently.

Kauri grove  and tree fern 3 besides the old 309 road

Once on the East coast, we turned south along some wonderful coastal scenery. Even though it was around 9.30am when we left, droves of Aucklanders were making their way up the peninsula, towing boats and caravans along the twisty, narrow road for their Easter break. During this stretch, we had a couple of spells of torrential rain, but this did clear up and we saw no more that day.

  Kereta views

In an hour, we stopped off at the town of Thames, another of those long, narrow townships common to New Zealand. We found the Sola Cafe, a real gem of a place with some really good food. We could have pigged out there happily, but were still full from breakfast, so made do with a cake and coffee.

 The road to Thames

One lane bridge   TheAuckland road

The road from there took us through flatlands before we made it to Highway 2. At this point, the rest of Auckland was patiently queuing in a 10 mile tailback to get to the Coromandel. It seems as though Auckland is a separate country contained within New Zealand.

 

We stopped at a motel, the Manor Inn in Mangere, dropped off our gear and took the hire car to the airport drop off 4kms away. We took a note of the distance driven, 3,690 kms. Seems a lot.

 

We ate at the Galloping Duck restaurant in a nearby hotel. It was interesting, with a dinner party finishing off a do just before we were ushered in. The decor has a 50's feel about it and the dames were short, hefty sorts with bums fit to bring a good price in any sheep market. The food was quite good, but I was rather disappointed to find the steamed fruit pudding had run out. I accused the roly poly Polynesian waitress of keeping it back for herself and she laughed mightily, but didn't disagree.

 

We would have slept well, if a socially challenged family hadn't turned up at midnight next door, making a racket for a couple of hours.

We repaid the compliment, making sure they heard us leave at 5am.

 

Saturday 10th.

 

I don't know how much 1st class is, but it would have been a lot nicer than economy class. It is not a nice journey and Cathay Pacific did not do well on this flight, running out of snacks very early on and only serving them to one half of the plane. The in-flight videos did not work very well either, as neither of us could hear the dialogue through our headphones most of the time. I could go on, but let's just say the service was awful.

 

We got into Hong Kong at approx 3.10pm. The weather here was warm, 23 deg C and quite hazy.
We were able to leave our luggage in left luggage and got the airport shuttle to town for $100HK return each. Quite honestly, once there, we did a little shopping and couldn't be bothered to stay, so went back to the airport. For $250HK each, we booked into one of the airport lounges. These offer free food and drink, showers, massage chairs, internet access etc.

 

Our flight left HK at 00.45 on the 11th and arrived in the UK at 06.30am. The UK is 7 hours behind.
We were not really looking forward to the next flight, but were not keen to stay in Hong Kong either.

 

Well, after nearly 40 hours travelling, we arrived back home on Easter Sunday at 9am.

 

The second leg was not as bad as the flight from Auckland to HK, more room and better trained stewards.

 

We were both fine during the morning, but after a meal in the Belgian restaurant and some of their 8% alcohol beer, we both suddenly felt really tired.

We managed to soldier on until 8pm, before staggering into bed.

 

Seems strange to have loads of clean clothes to change into. After my fishing trip in the Coromandel, all my clothes smelt of snapper and so did Louise's after a day.

 

It was very easy being on holiday in New Zealand and we had no problem finding things to do and see. The biggest problem was that we should have given ourselves 6 months as we missed out so much. It may surprise some of you to know that I did very little fishing in our time there. It surprised me too and I know I didn't even scratch the surface of the potential.

 

People were very helpful and friendly, without being in your face and made the trip even more enjoyable.

 

There is so much in the world to see, but New Zealand warrants a return trip or more.