(Finally) more pictures of our roadtrip through NZ with Maria! We still have a whole bunch to sort out (Maria stayed till Oct. 11) so there’s more to come over the next few days. The pictures in this blog post are of our drive from Napier to Wellington, the ferry to Picton (South Island) and a drive through the Marlborough region and the Queen Charlotte Drive between Picton and Havelock.
More photos below of Maria visiting us in New Zealand. Bas got his holiday on Friday the 28th, so we took off for a roadtrip through this beautiful country. I am now posting this update from our hotel in Wellington. Tomorrow we’ll take the ferry over to the South Island. The pictures below are from the last few days in Auckland (and surroundings, e.g. Waiheke Island) and the start of our trip (Rotorua and Napier). Have fun!
Hello all!
Sorry for the lack of updates, but we’ve been busy spending time and catching up with Maria (Judith’s mom), who arrived in Auckland last Thursday. She had a good, but long flight. We were very happy to see each other again after such a long time! This week we are doing all kinds of ’touristy’ stuff in Auckland, as well as just showing Maria where and how Bas and Judith live. Next week we’ll be off on a two-week roadtrip through New Zealand, visiting various places on the North Island as well as on the South Island. Here are some pictures of the first few days, including Judith’s birthday party! Enjoy!
On September 9, we went to Devonport for the day. Devonport is a waterfront suburb of Auckland, across the bay from the downtown area. Since we live in Glen Eden, West Auckland, it is somewhat on the other side of Auckland for us (approx. 30 kms). Devonport has a really different feel than Glen Eden and it was a perfect Sunday to explore this beautiful place. To add to our ‘holiday’ feel, we took the train (45 minutes to downtown) and ferry (a 15 minute ride to the other side of the harbour) to our destination instead of simply hopping in the car and drive there (which would probably also have taken us about an hour or so).
We arrived in Devonport at 11.15am, leisurely walked to North Head, where we had lunch at the Torpedo Bay Cafe, and visited the Navy Museum next door. After that, we walked back to Victoria Road, but not before we strolled down Cheltenham Beach. We also admired the beautiful (expensive) houses and the Porsches (and other luxurious cars) that were parked in the streets. Yes, Devonport is for the wealthier amongst us… 😉
On Victoria Road, we had coffee at Goina’s. Goina is a Dutchie, who has lived in Devonport for over 20 years. She has her own online shop selling New Zealand / Maori art, jewelry, crafts, gifts etc. We once ordered something through her website and that’s how we ended up getting to know her.We very much enjoyed the company, the conversations and the coffee (Senseo!). Bas and I also both purchased a bone carving necklace.
Afterwards Goina showed us a path – only known to the locals, so we didn’t have to take the ’touristy’ road – up Mount Victoria. It was a beautiful walk and the views from this volcano were stunning. Back down we said our goodbyes and Bas and I walked down to a restaurant down the street for a delicious dinner. We were just in time before the rain started pouring down! After taking the ferry and the bus, we were home again by 9pm-ish. What a wonderful Sunday!
And if you didn’t feel like reading the above, those pictures will tell the story as well!
Early Friday morning (7 am!) our flight to Queenstown departed. That meant we had to get up quite early, but it was definitely worth it. We had such an awesome weekend! We arrived in Queenstown close to 9 am. A short bus ride later, we were at our hotel (‘Scenic suites’; definitely worth its name!) and we were pleasantly surprised to find our room ready for us! So, we checked in, left our luggage and went on our merry way to the downtown area for a proper breakfast. It was only a short 10 minute walk to the downtown area of this small town (approx. 11,000 inhabitants – plus probably just as many tourists). The breakfast burrito we had at Halo’s was delicious! After that, we decided to check out the rest of the town, walking around and taking in the beautiful views of the mountains and the lake. The weather was nice; a balmy +15 degrees Celsius or so, which made it feel strange that we would be skiing the next day! After a lazy afternoon and roomservice for dinner, we decided to head to bed early.
Saturday morning we had to be ready by 8 am for our bus ride to the Cardrona Ski Resort, just over an hour Northeast of Queenstown. We kept going upwards; the views (and the ravines) were breathtaking. When we arrived at the Resort we picked up our gear and headed out for our first ski lesson! A Croatian lady taught us well, and after 2 hours, the 8 of us in the group could all more-or-less ski down the Beginners’ hill area. Nice, but exhausting! We definitely needed a lunch break, so we went to the restaurant and took a rest. After that, we had another 2-hour lesson with just 3 pupils (Bas, me and one other guy). We all did quite well, so the teacher decided after an hour, we were advanced enough to go up the ‘big’ hill and try our first real descent. Scary, but cool!! After that our feet/legs were sore, and we had to get back to the bus… the day just flew by! Unfortunately, I (Judith) have not been as car sick in years as I was on the way back to Queenstown… was I ever happy to stumble out of the bus and back in the hotel!! Oh my! A warm, relaxing bath got me back to normal and we headed out for a delicious dinner at the Waterfront bistro. And then it was time for a good sleep!
Sunday morning was check-out time, another nice breakfast at Halo’s, another walk around town (to see what we’ll be doing next time!!) and finally back to the airport. Our flight at 2pm came to soon for our liking; we would have loved to stay longer, but we’ll definitely come back.
And if we haven’t convinced you yet that we had a good time by reading this blog update, you can always have a look at our pictures (as always: click to enlarge and read the captions). Enjoy! 🙂
There’s not much exciting going on at the moment, but we thought we’d keep you posted about what we have been doing lately.
After the holidays (see previous blog posts), regular work weeks started again. That means Bas is working full-time and needs his time to rest and prep during the weekends. Judith is also busy; she enjoys being a volunteer at the primary school around the corner two mornings a week, and works on several translations for clients back in the Netherlands. In addition, we do our groceries, cook, eat, keep the house clean, Skype with friends and family, watch TV, read some books and sleep. Normal life! And the days and weeks fly by.
Of course, we do ‘get out’ as well; we have our games night with friends every Wednesday for example. And last weekend, we went to the Zoo. Not as spacious as the one in Emmen that we are used to, but overall it was a very nice zoo. We had fun, the weather was good (no rain) and overall we had a very nice day. Below is some photo evidence.
We are looking forward to our next trips; we will be heading out to Queenstown for a long weekend at the end of August , and we will be showing Maria, Judith’s mother, around in September/October, when she will be visiting us. Good times ahead! We’ll keep you posted!
We’re back in Auckland after a glorious trip to the South Island. Here’s a third batch of pictures.
Day 9 – Collingwood to Picton (scenic tour – via Farewell Spit)
Day 10 – Picton to Wellington ferry
Day 11 – Driving back from Wellington to Auckland (no pictures worthy of posting, we just drove all day)
Another blog full of pictures of this beautiful country we’re in….
Day 4 – Picton: Marlborough region wine tour
Day 5 – Picton: Queen Charlotte Track
Day 6 & 7 – Nelson & surroundings
Day 8 – Nelson to Collingwood (scenic tour through Abel Tasman National Park & Golden Bay region)
The photos below say it all. This is just day 1 – 3 from our road trip to the South Island and it’s already totally worth it!
Day 1 – Auckland to New Plymouth
Day 2 – New Plymouth to Wellington
Day 3 – Wellington to Picton (ferry crossing)
Enjoy!
So, ok, it’s winter in New Zealand, right? Well, technically it’s fall – the official winter starts of course on June 21st – compare this with December 21st in the Northern hemisphere and you get my point – it should be winter, right?!
Anyway, it was definitely cold this morning. It had probably come close to freezing overnight and in our house it was only 9 degrees Celsius. Which is very chilly, if you have single glass windows, no heating or isolation and you can see through the cracks of the windows and doors…
However, the sun was around pretty much all day and it warmed up nicely to a sizzling 16 degrees Celsius. In the sun that would have been around 20!
In fact, it was so nice that I decided to go tramping (NZ word for hiking) for a bit in our neighbourhood (Bas takes the car to work, so I usually either go by foot or bus if I want to do something). I could almost have put on shorts, cause it was so nice out! No jacket needed for sure!
I went towards a part of our area, where I hadn’t been before (Oratia). This was the route of the walk I did (click to enlarge):
It was about 7km which took me just about 1.5 hours. And here are some pictures of views and flora in our area during this walk. At the turning point there was a little orchard with fresh apples for sale, and I had the best apple that I’ve had for ages, for only 20 cents. 🙂
Oh, by the way, this is winter, right!? 😉