Sunday, March 29, 2015

New Zealand part 1.DSC_2295

Thirty six hours on a plane. That's a long time. OK, it's not all on a plane. there was some farting around in airports, it's still a long time. An hour and a half from Edinburgh to London, eight hours from London to Dubai, another thirteen hours to Sydney and three more to Auckland.
Was it worth it? You're fucking right it was.

Tauranga and Mount Manganui

We had three weeks to spend in New Zealand. We split out time between the North Island where we stayed with HB's family,  Lorraine, John and Catlyn, and the South Island where we'd hired a bike to do some touring.
DSC_1919
DSC_1920
DSC_1923
New Zealand is amazing. We arrived in the middle of February with is pretty much the end of their summer. We spend our first few days doing family things and exploring the area around Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty in Lorraine and John's car that they had kindly lent us.
I had this idea in my head that the North Island was really busy, but it's not at all. It was great driving around and would be great motorcycling roads. We visited Hobbiton from Lord Of The Rings and the Hobbit. We drove up The Coromandel Peninsula to Hahei visiting Hot Water Beach, a place where you can dig a hole in the sand and it fills up with hot water. And when I say hot I mean it. I had to run into the sea to cool my feet down cos I burnt them in the water! We took a boat ride around Cathedral Cove where we saw Dolphins. We went to a nature reserve and saw a Kiwi breeding programme then went up the gondolas and raced back down the luge. The food was awesome, the beer and wine was awesome. Everything was awesome.
DSC_1846
Out for a pedal with Lorraine.
DSC_1821
DSC_1869
DSC_1870
Winton Massif down under.
There's quite a few of these wee stickers dotted about New Zealand now...
DSC_1936
Hobbiton
Hobbiton. New Zealand had a bit of a drought going on. You can see the difference between here and the field next to it. Hats off to the gardeners that look after the place.

Hobbiton

In the Green Dragon, Hobbiton.
Having a beer in the Green Dragon. It was 30 degrees outside and they had the fire on!

Hobbiton

DSC_2151
Braw.

Heading up the Coromandel.
DSC_2174
DSC_2172
Heading up the Coromandel. Thats a large black cock.

Hot Water Beach on the Coromandel, New Zealand.
Hot Water Beach on the Coromandel, New Zealand.
Hot Water Beach, North Island, New Zealand
Hot Water Beach

Hahei, New Zealand
Hahei Beach

DSC_2237
Cathedral Cove, Hahei, Noth Island, New Zealand
Cathedral Cove, New Zealand
Cathedral Cove, New Zealand
DSC_2279
DSC_2303
DSC_2312
Views from the boat trip around Hahei.

A big thanks to Lorraine and john for putting us up and giving us a loan of their car. Every night Lorraine would cook us nice food and we could chill out in their garden listening to the cicadas.

Braw. 


Part 2 coming soon.



Mike.


9 comments:

  1. You went to NZ for three weeks? You arsehole, I hate you. I mean that in the nicest possible way of course. Just a little jelly.

    Awesome photos. Such a beautiful country.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha ha! Cheers! Aye, it was amazing. I'm sorting out the photos and stuff four our bike trip part just now.

      Delete
  2. Such a great place isn't it. One of the worlds best kept secrets if you will, and the riding is fantastic. We rode the south island last year.

    Road to Nowhere - New Zealand Day 1

    ReplyDelete
  3. Would have been hot for you soft Scots.........;-)
    Hey, I hope, no I know, you had a great time. How awesome is NZ?! Glad we only live a 3 hour flight away here in Oz. How did you rate the beer? They have some unbelievably good craft beer. Oh, and mtb trails. The best in the world.
    I am looking forward to you next few posts. Cheers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It took us a few days to get acclimatised to the heat! Factor 50 sun cream too!
      Great beer. We never went MTBing. Next time though!

      Delete
    2. It took us a few days to get acclimatised to the heat! Factor 50 sun cream too!
      Great beer. We never went MTBing. Next time though!

      Delete
  4. Jealous, too. I'd so like to revisit. Thanks for the memories.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! We loved it. Will definitely be going back.

      Delete
    2. Thanks! We loved it. Will definitely be going back.

      Delete