North Island, New Zealand, spring 2004

Taking the opportunity of being in NZ - the Middle Earth - for a fortnight, I had spent some days of pasttime visiting a few wonderful places in the North Island. My "base camp" was at Henderson in Auckland. It was about an hour's bus ride from downtown; however, the bus was rather infrequent. One night on my walk back home, the idea of star-gazing suddenly came into my mind. Looking up, I was stunned by the 'Orion' just above my head. The 'hunter' was of enormous size, appearing to be very close, so close that it looked as if it was 'within shooting distance' to me. The three stars of 'his' belt could be clearly seen with my poor eye-sight. What's more was that, I could make out two of the stars in M42 too! SW of the Orion, there were a set of six stars which seemed familiar to me. I wondered which constellation they belonged to. Some days afterwards, I was shocked to find out from the postcard that those were the Southern Cross and the Pointers. They looked much smaller when I saw them at the Outback in Australia. Even the Orion was much bigger in NZ than in HK. Not sure of the reason why. It was a pity that during my stay, most of the nights were cloudy ones. Worse still was the fact of light pollution in the residential areas. Unexpectedly, I found that there was a native plant with the name same as mind. The most common species had bunches of tiny purple flowers. The NZ dollars was strong comparing to HKD during my visit. Although some of the expenses during my stay at Henderson were sponsored, the sightseeing trips elsewhere were not. I had to be very careful in spending every dollar. The bus/rail pass was not a best buy, especially when I did not travel a lot. It was not as practical as the JR pass or the Europass. Yet, I had to travel between places on a certain public transport. In the end, after lots of comparison, I had chosen to travel with different bus companies for each of them might offer a bit more price cut for various routes.
The trip ...
The overnight flight from HK to Auckland was 11 hrs long. I had some worries because of the phobia caused by the Russian flight taken some years ago. The movies were not that interesting, except the "Making of Lord of the Rings". For the next few days, I stayed at Henderson and took a lift downtown once.
Day 4 - Initially, I planned to visit Rangitoto volcano off the east coast of Auckland. However, time was limited, and I just got enough time to take the ferry to Devonport where I walked up Mt. Victoria and along Cheltenham beach under very unsteady weather. Both of these places overlooked Rangitoto across the strait. I was going to go up North Head when I found that it was already time to take the ferry back to Ferry Building at Quay Street. From that spot, I followed the map to the rendezvous near Auckland Domain where I took a lift to Lloyd Elsmore Park for the orienteering event held there. It was the first time I took part in an overseas event. Fortunately, it was a promotion one, which meant that it was mainly aimed for novices. The park was situated within a residential area, competitors had to go through park area and among lanes and roads of residences. The couse I chose was 6-7 km, with two maps of different scales. I did the course without a compass and wore a pair of fancy canvas shoes. They were alright for running on grass. All in all, I was exhausted by the end of the day.
Day 5 - Took a break in the afternoon and was given a lift to Muriwai, a place facing the windy open ocean west of Auckland. Beaches with black sand stretched endlessly along the rugged coastline of precipices. The sun was shining above us, yet, the shore seemed to be veiled by the haze all the time. We were there to see the gannets, a kind of white migrating seabird with yellow head and black "eye-shadow". Their habitats were on top of sheer sea cliffs.
Day 6 - There were only a few passengers on the [Guthrey] mini-bus to Rotorua on that rainy day. The whole morning was spent on the bus, with a single stop at Hamilton. The screening spot [Matamata] of the Hobbit Holes was located nearby. It was still raining upon the arrival at Rotorua station. Much time was spent at the information centre arranging the bus trips for the coming days, besides selecting the favoured activities for the next day. While strolling in the shopping area, I came across another visitor centre. There I got a map with guides of the boardwalk along the lakefront. Some of the places by the lake were steaming spas with lots of thermal outlets and calcified soil. Back at the YHA, I enjoyed the outdoor thermal pool in the evening under daylight.
Day 7 - Early in the morning, staff from the kayak store came to pick me up to their place. Since I was the only customer for the kayak trip (NZ$80 0830-1630) on that day, I could enjoy the freedom of kayaking at my own speed to anywhere I would like to go to. We departed from a jetty by the riverside near their store. The estuary meandered among reedy areas, entering Lake Rotoiti which led to another lake further east. Unlike the day before, it was a fine day. The untanned part on my right wrist, shaded by the watch stayed for weeks afterwards. The lake was tranquil and placid, with little traffic. Contrasting Lake Rotorua, Lake Rotoiti could only be visited thoroughly by vessels. The latter had no boardwalks nor roads along its shore. Fresh green weeds waved leisurely under sparkling water as clear as crystal. The guide led me to places with thermal outlets on sandy beaches and those submerged in shallow water by the shores. We had a break and enjoyed some relaxing moments at an outdoor lakeside thermal spa. We had lunch at a cove with a small yacht moored not far away. The yacht's master read her book leisurely in the shade. The wind intensified some time after lunch. Fortunately, rudders were installed on our voyage kayak, yet, I was not used to handling rudders. Being all in after a day's trip, I still had to walk a long way to and fro the supermarket for food. Incidentally, I found milk and bread the only cheaper things than in HK. The "miracle" happened to me again aboard, and I was able to drink lots of milk, while the same thing caused quite serious allergic symptoms back in HK. The same "miracle" had happened before while I was aboard, e.g. in USA. Reason yet unknown to me.
Day 8 - The Taiwanese girl I made friend with at the YHA, accompanied me to the bus station and saw me off. It was a 2-3 hrs [Intercity] bus trip to Waitamo caves, with a drop-off for lunch. The guided-tour at the glow-worm cave lasted 1-2 hrs only, including a walk in the limestone caverns and a boat-ride with thousands of glow-worm threads hanging above our heads. The ride back to Auckland took several hours, arriving at Quay Street late afternoon. Just like the other trips in sunny days, sceneries of green landscapes were inexplicably fascinating. At the bus stop opposite Britomart [train station], I waited for the bus back to Henderson. It was past nine at night, when I finally got off the bus at a stop about 2 km away from my "base camp".
Day 9 - Got up early for the lift to Potluck at Woodhill Forest. It was a promotional orienteering event held at a pine tree plantation on sand dunes. I only learnt about this fact after the event. However, I had this doubt when I noticed the grey sandy footpaths. Just as before, after purchasing the maps and renting the compass and electronic stick, I did the self-start some metres away in the forest. The landscape was undulating with few features to use as references. Simply speaking, everywhere looked the same to me, with hundreds of tall trees all around, the visibility was limited. Going up a slope for a point up on a knoll, I had a panoramic view of the sea of pine forest on one side and the rough open sea striking the sandy beaches on the other side. I was stuck by the stunning view, almost forgetting to move on. That afternoon passed slowly with me dozing off on the Norhtliner bus to Paihia. The reception of the YHA was already closed upon my arrival.
Day 10 - Woke up early in the morning to reserve seats for boat trip for the day, plus another trip for the day after. The yacht of 7-8 m departed from the wharf 10 minutes away from YHA. There were about 18 passengers in addition to the skipper couple. Snack and lunch were included in the charge. The weather was fine at departure, soon clouds moved in and showers followed. We had both the mainsail and jib hoisted, sailing with the wind of around BF4. We moored at a wind-shielded cove for a bush walk on an isle. It was the first time I walked bare-footed for so long. The feel of walking on soft grasses was unforgettable. On the contrary, it would be unwise to have such practice at a place with litters everywhere. Actually, it wasn't a rare scene seeing locals walking with bare-foot on the streets of towns in NZ. Before lunch, some of us put on the wet suits for a brief snorkeling in the bay. There were quite some urchins but no corals. After lunch, the skipper decided to sail back home with only the jib. We alight at exactly 4.30 pm as scheduled. Again, I did some shopping at the supermarket and bought a set of Lord of the Rings stamps at the post office. That evening, I did some stargazing outside the hostel and at the beach. It was hard to find a place with little lights around. Same as that very night at Henderson, I was only able to tell the Orion and Southern Cross apart from the other constellations.
Day 11 - That morning, I woke up at daybreak to prepare breakfast and lunch pack, for the tour departed at 7.30. Our first stop was at the Kauri forest to have a boardwalk around this kind of giant trees. That part of the forest was under conservation, the Kauri had been under exploitation for years for its timber. The next stop was at Cape Reinga, some kilometers south of the northern-most spot of NZ. As you will see somewhere around the estuary of Pearl River near Macau, you are also able to see the meeting of two oceans with different colors in front of you. Just like the rest of the west coast, high wind kept blowing in from the west, making that side of shoreline rough but spectacular.
Then came the most exciting part of the trip - sand-surfing at '90 Mile Beach'. The coach bus ran downstream along a stream with huge sand dunes on one side of it. We carried the boards provided uphill for a dive downslope towards the sand-bed stream. The dunes were as high as hills, I felt like in the Mongolian desert again. Unlike that time, I made full use of the opportunity to take pictures and to walk freely along the sand ridges. Needless to say, I tested my courage by doing sand-surfing twice. The first time was smooth, I was able to control the speed and direction, without landing down at the stream or on the other side of it. My courage soared after the first try, so I let myself go faster this second time. There was a narrow landing some distances away from the stream. No sooner than I stood up, did I realise that the speed was still fast enough to throw me off the board sideways. Fortunately, with the experience of windsurfing, I knew that it would be safer to curl up and let myself roll on to reduce speed. It took several rolls till I was able to stand up again. Where was the board? It was found lying some metres away downwind. Both the board and I were unscathed, thank God! That's what I thought at that time, yet, I got allergy in the eyes because of the sand. It took me more than a week to recover. The bus dashed along the Beach for almost an hour, with the Hole in the Rock out at sea in the waves. In between sightseeing spots, we had some refreshment stops for food and drinks at our own costs. This trip was the best bargain, costing about NZ$75 for 12 hours of fun.
Day 12 - This was the last day at Paihia before returning to Henderson. I went on foot along the waterfront towards the start of the bush walk to Haruru Falls. The early part of the walk was through a forest with little open view. Only the paths at the two ends were paved. Whilst the part through the mangrove area had boards. The middle section of the route had the most attractive sceneries, with the stream flowing serenely across mudflats of mangroves on its banks. There were no other hikers, except at the area around the Falls. If you did the kayak trip, the guide would bring you upstream to this falls. Leaving the falls behind, I walked back downtown along a road without any sidewalk. To my great surprise, litters of bottles and packets were found on most part of the route. I wondered if those were left by the drivers or tourists.
At the end of that road, I went shopping at the supermarket for food to be prepared back at the hostel before taking the bus in the afternoon. I cooked a mud crab in the casserole, without spices, the crab didn't taste as good as I expected.
Day 13 - Before dawn, I got up and had myself ready for the flight back to HK.
Just like its currency, the sunrays were strong in NZ. With its high level of UV, people got tanned easily. I could feel a big difference in temperature under the sun and that in the shade.
In general, the Kiwis [NZ people] were friendly and easy-going. NZ was also the place where I came across the least smokers and litters! Excellent!
I longed to return soon for a visit of the South Island.
Written on 11 Mar 04　Revised on 24/12/04
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