First days in New Zeland

Tuesday, Dec. 7.

Having lost Monday as we crossed the International Dateline, I awake at 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 7, listening to Leonard Cohen on my headset, scrunched in my little centre seat on an Air New Zealand 747 high above the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately, it is 2:30 a.m. N.Z. time! I will have some time to wait until we land at 7:30.
The whole airport experience is familiar. This time we take the time to buy a bottle of liquor at the duty free. I stand guard with all the luggage while Peter investigates the refund for the flight to Australia which we had to book in order to be admitted to the country. Obviously, they don’t want a couple more old fogies in the country permanently. He also gets our rental car, so we are off on the wrong(?) side of the road. Actually, driving on the left is not the problem. The problem arises when you want to turn and you flick your windshield switch instead of your turn signal! Everyone knows you’re a foreigner as you drive on a beautiful sunny day with your windshield wipers going.
We do not go into Auckland, but stay near our motel - Peter has his first meat & cheese pie - we wander through a lovely shopping mall and buy basics for breakfasts and lunches - we take a wrong turn and almost end up in the city - we eat dinner at the motel next door, pumpkin soup for me, - Peter passes-out at 8:30 (actually 11:30 our time) and I write the blog. When I awaken with my head on the desk, I know it is time for me to retire also.
We start south towards Wellington tomorrow taking the road around the Coromandel peninsula.

Wednesday, Dec. 8.

Breakfast is provided today, but in our overtired-state yesterday we do not read the fine print. It comes at a $15 price each. Welcome to N.Z. prices. We had better get used to them as they get worse in Australia.
We take the highway south to the bottom of the Firth of Thames, then head onto the narrow, two-lane highway to the city of Thames. As there is throughout N.Z., there is a lovely picnic area sponsored by the Rotary club just on the edge of the water. We have our lunch and carry on to Coromandel. This area of N.Z. has great stands of the New Zealand Christmas trees, more properly called the pohutukawa tree. It has the most gorgeous, deep scarlet blossoms which bloom this month. They often grow on cliffs and overhang the highway.
We do our first “tourist” activity and ride the Driving Creek railway. This little gem goes switch backing up the “mountain” on a sixty-acre piece of land the potter, Barry Brickell, bought thirty-two years ago. He began building the narrow-gauge railway to bring clay down from the hill to his studio. Once he started, he just kept adding to the project. Now, there are viaducts, tunnels, and reversing points (like we experienced going to Aqua Calientes / Machu Picchu). The view from the Eyefull tower at the top is quite spectacular. On the grounds, they have now planted thousands of kauri trees to help bring the land back to its original, pre-colonial form.
I will not bore you with this again, but a warning to anyone coming to N. Z. - bring a strong stomach or bring Graval! The run from Coromandel to Whitianga (pronounced f - itianga) brought back the memories of the churning stomach if you are not the driver. Think the worst part of Pass Creek road repeated for over an hour - up - down - around - swoop - around - up - down. Up-chucking is so common on the N.Z. roads that it is featured in one of their holiday ads on the television where one scene is the car parked at a pull-out with the doors open and the two kids throwing-up. I just love the N.Z. sense of humour.
We spend the night at Whitianga. We have found a chilly-bin (otherwise know as a cooler) so we are set for our adventure on the east coast.

Rotary park and shelter in Thames.

Middle: pohutukawa trees in bloom for Christmas.

Top right: Our first motel near Auckland.

You have to "give way" if you see red on the left at single-lane bridges.

At the Driving Creek railroad.

Above: retaining wall made of wine bottles.

A Barry Brickell pottery person.

The toilet walls/windows, from the outside and inside.

Those are wine bottles set in clay.

The train goes onto a platform/bridge, the driver goes to the back, changes the switch, and we are off backwards on the new track.







One of the three tunnels.

The Eyefull tower.

Inside the Eyefull tower.










Peter beside the very narrow-gauge train track.

Our motel in Whitianga.