New Zealand

This is being posted for the West Coast of the South Island. its the 19th February so only a couple of weeks behind...

Well, good-bye Australia,

 g’day New Zealand.

 Len met us at the airport but had to hang around as Peter’s tent and mosquito net were identified as a bio-threat and had to be taken away for inspection and cleaning.  The fact that Margot had last used it in West Africa may have set off the alarms. You get it back but not folded so you have to re-pack it on the concourse floor. (Lucky they didn't check his dirty washing.)

 Len and Cilla were generous or foolhardy (I think I just used those exact words about the yacht in Sydney) to offer us the use of their motorhome, a Transit-based coachbuilt and definitely a step up from the campervans we had hired in Oz. We spent the first night in it on their driveway after a lovely meal and a quick tour of North Auckland, including Mount Victoria from where we could see the Louis Vutton America’s Cup races in the harbour below. They couldn’t have realised Peter was in town as he wan’t invited to take part.

After a leisurely breakfast, shopping for provisions and a leisurely lunch we headed forth guided by a nice New Zealand lady on the TomTom Sat Nav. Not having used one before we were a bit sceptical and at first stopped from time to time to checkup on her but over the week we grew to trust her judgement except when we decided to revise our route. She would try to get us to u-turn for a while, then go quiet but would pick us up surprisingly quickly and bring us back on track. We were impressed.

 As we were heading into remote country we decided to top up with diesel while we could, nearly taking off the roof box which Peter had forgotten was up there. We had a centimetre clearance but the attendant pointed out a 2 centimetre hump in the tarmac so we had to reverse out.

 This was at Waipu, settled in the 19^th century by a religious community who fled Scotland first to Nova Scotia, finding it too cold and inhospitable, then to Australia which was too hot, and finally settling for New Zealand, which was presumably just right.  Maybe we should just stay here.

 That night Tom Tom led us to the Uretiti municipal waste site, but a local resident pointed out the campsite a kilometre along the coast. This was a DOC (Dept of Conservation) site, a network of fairly minimalist sites in National Parks across the country. With the motorcaravan’s ensuite facilities and Len and Cillas’s annual pass this was not a problem and in fact they were some of the best sites of the whole week.

 Uretiti is set amongst sand dunes with a long golden beach (oh no, not another one!) so Peter had a swim both evening and the following morning. Heading North we decided to confuse TomTom by heading off route to see Ruapekapeka. This is the site of  a battle between Maori and British after a Maori chief repeatedly chopped down a flagpole at Russell. The site has no buildings but you can still see the amazing network of tunnels and palisades that held the British off until they brought up a whole battery of cannons. Once they had flattened the stockade the Brits charged only to find the Maoris has slipped away the previous night. The chief was never caught.

 Our next stop was at Kawakawa, best known for it’s public toilets designed by Austrian architect Friedrich Hundertwasser. These make Gaudi look positively restrained and are certainly worth the detour, even if it did upset TomTom. Also possibly only the public toilets it is safe to wander around taking photos.

 Bay of Islands

 By evening we were at Bay of Islands where we headed up-river to a site at Horuru Falls. Our site was right by the water’s edge looking across at the aforementioned Falls and a swimming pool behind us for when the tide was out. 

The next day we made the 5k walk down along the riverbank, taking a cliff-side path that ran within feet of dozen’s of shag’s nests complete with baby shag's being fed by stickingtheir beaks down their dad's throat. Kids! doncha just love them?

 Then down across mangrove swamps before arriving at Waitangi, site of the treaty that is the basis for the accommodation between settlers and the Maori. At the time of signing it was clear to both sides that a war would be long and costly and, compared to what happened in Australia, was a a model of diplomacy and good sense. Unfortunately there were two versions, one in English and one in Maori and – guess what – some of the small print didn’t quite match and the subsequent interpretation by the settlers have led to resentment and confusion that is still being unravelled today.

 After lunch we decided to take the official tour with a nice young Maori man. As there was no coach tour in there were just four of us and we managed to get him to wander a little off the official line and perhaps get a bit more insight into the way Maori people felt about the whole thing.

 The tour covers the site where the Treaty was signed with a marae (meeting house), the first governor general’s house and a war canoe designed to take some 74 paddlers and 51 passengers.

 After the tour we wandered down to the foreshore where groups of Maori were arriving to practice paddling their war canoes in preparation for the Treaty of Waitangi Day that Friday. Thousands come to celebrate the anniversary, mainly Maori, believing the treaty, although abused by the British subsequently, forms the basis of any reconciliation and recompense that is now being sought – with some success. We had been warned it might be better to have moved on by the Friday as occasionally things get a bit heated and certainly overcrowded but this year’s passed off without unpleasantness.

 When we discussed this with a Maori tour guide later on, he felt that the recent attempts by the New Zealanders of European origin to recognize the past and to compensate for the damage done had been accepted as genuine by most of the Maori people. He certainly felt that the future looked very positive, at least for those living in Maori communities in rural areas. The problems of .disaffected groups in urban areas was probably going to be more difficult to resolve. But that’s true in most places.