This map covers the parts of the North Island that we’ve visited – we had to amend our agenda following the cyclone so didn’t get to visit some places we had previously booked so unfortunately that meant no Napier, no Gisborne, no East Cape and no Coromandel 😞. We still had an amazing time and went to some lovely places we wouldn’t have managed to see if we hadn’t had to rearrange things. All in all we’ve absolutely loved New Zealand. Happy times.
Wednesday 5 April ~ Waihi Beach to Auckland airport
Very sadly it’s our last full day in NZ until the very end of our trip. Absolutely loved it.
As we’re flying early tomorrow – and staying in an airport hotel with no fridge or cooking facilities tonight – I tried to use up as much food as possible (from our big shop in Mount Maunganui) so we had a weird breakfast of ‘mish mash nosh’! As it was we still left them loads of food. I went upstairs to say thank you and farewell and 20 minutes later I left. They’re so lovely and we weren’t in a crazy rush which is a good job as it’s pretty tricky to say goodbye to them quickly!
We’d looked at whether it was possible to drive around the Coromandel coast but as it would take over five hours without stopping we reluctantly agreed we couldn’t do it. It’s on the list for next time!
Instead we headed to Karangahake Gorge which is stunning. Unfortunately to really get to see the best bits you have to cross this bridge which I couldn’t manage (it’s so unfair!) so I released Craig into the wilds with his drone and relaxed in the glamorous car park and took a couple of pictures. You can just about see Craig at the far end of the bridge if you squint…!
In his excitement of having 45 minutes alone with his drone in the gorge Craig completely forgot to take any photos for me to share so we’ll all have to wait to see what he posts on Tikety Tok.
He then really fancied a coffee so about 20 miles down the road we stopped at a dodgy looking place called the Pink Pig. It looked like one of those places that strangers go in but don’t always come out of… Apparently there was an amusing case of mistaken identity when the elderly lady making his coffee engaged him in conversation, saying it was good to see him, remarking on his hair (oh you’ve had it cut) and having a good old chat until his Visa was declined and she said ‘you can’t use a visa here but you know that’ at which point Craig finally twigged that she thought he was someone else 🙄. He made her promise to go and get her eyes tested 😆. And her ears as he’s clearly not from NZ.
That was about as exciting as our day got! Well, apart from 💩 SatNav taking us to the wrong hotel right in the centre of Auckland (I kept saying, I’m sure we shouldn’t be going this way…) before we told it off, headed back on ourselves for a further 25 minute drive before arriving at the correct hotel. We dropped our stuff in the ‘swanky’ Ibis Budget Airport Hotel, returned the car and got a lift back. We went straight to the bar for a drink and a snack.
There’s no point heading into town tonight so we’re having a relaxing evening, we’ll eat in the restaurant which looks perfectly fine and have an early night so we can be at the airport around 6am.
Yet again it’s been glorious sunshine all day which feels like a great sendoff from NZ. Thanks for being amazing!
💃🏼🪩 MORNING DISCO 🪩 🕺
I promised more Crowded House and up to now have failed to deliver so, which song to choose… 🤔 Aha! It has to be ‘Don’t Dream It’s Over’ (1986) as the title sums it all up – we are definitely coming back (and I don’t just mean on this trip, this place is addictive) – it’s not over!
“But you’ll never see the end of the road
While you’re travelling with me
Hey now, hey now
Don’t dream it’s over”
Tuesday 4 April ~ Waihi Beach
We checked out early 😳 and drove the pretty short hour to Waihi Beach and the old fridge trick worked again (I really did have stuff to put in the fridge and freezer!) and we were in by 11.30 am (that’s a new personal best!) after a very quick five minute hello to the beach at the south end of the town.
We were greeted by these three sentinels! Another amazing and empty beach.
I put a load of washing on, updated my blog, hung out the washing and now we’re off to explore…
Before we did, Maureen stopped me for a chat. Maureen and Ken own the place we are staying, it provides them with some additional retirement income. In fact Ken had built it himself and added another level a few years later which is where they now live. She told me it was Ken’s birthday but she’d made him get up early to clean the house for us so we could get in early – that made me feel a little bit guilty about achieving a PB for checkin times…
We walked 15 minutes into town, it didn’t take long to look around as it’s tiny! There were some lovely shops and a few bars so we popped into one for a drink and I spotted a bakery across the road and bought Ken a massive chocolate cupcake and prayed he wasn’t gluten intolerant.
We walked back and gave Ken his cake and he was genuinely moved.
We grabbed our beach stuff, spent the next few hours on the beach and I had another chilled afternoon of reading (I finished then started another book) whilst Craig managed to get some drone shots.
We headed back then almost straight out again for an early dinner at 6pm at The Flatwhite, a really lovely beachside place about 25 minutes walk away. We took some pictures outside as the sun was setting.
This cat is living its best life in the restaurant- it receives lots of attention and plenty of food. Sounds like Craig’s idea of heaven!
I had my first three course meal in ages – everything was delicious – and we left at 8pm in pitch black to walk home. Whilst the restaurant had been really busy we saw no one on the way back – not even a car!
Another few hours of reading I’d finished my book and we went to sleep.
I’m speeding through books! Any suggestions of great things to read?
💃🏼🪩 MORNING DISCO 🪩 🕺
Chilled day on the beach? Has to be Chris Rea ‘On the Beach’ (1986). Here’s a live version, I forgot how much I like this song!
Sunday 2 – Monday 3 April ~ Mount Maunganui
We woke to a slightly overcast morning after a good sleep. I could tell that my mouth was starting to improve but I couldn’t face eating yet. After a shower we decided to head to the Mount and do the two mile walk around the base – we’ll tackle the summit tomorrow. The sun came out and it became a glorious day, hoorah! We parked the car opposite this lovely view. The area is interesting. I’m really glad we’re here as the beach is fabulous and the Mount is great but it is a strange mix of somewhere like Sandbanks – posh houses along a beautiful sand spit – and a more busy built up place with high rise blocks of (very smart) flats.
It was a lovely gentle walk followed by a drink in a bar with a view of both the beach and the Mount then home to cook and finally eat! We then went to our local bit of the beach, had a good walk and stayed until sunset.
Craig was busy posing for photos so I asked him to skip like a pony instead 😆
We ate at home again, did some more reading (I’m getting through almost a book a day at the moment) then had an early night.
Craig got up early, walked four km to the Mount and ran the four km back! Whilst he was exerting himself I made myself a bacon sarnie. Life’s about balance! It took a while to eat as I wasn’t quite healed yet.
We then drove to the foot of the Mount so we could walk up it. It’s 232 metres / 760 feet which doesn’t sound that much but it was steep! Great views along the way.
I’m sorry to say I didn’t make it the whole way to the top. I allowed the combination of being unfit and getting nervous about the height to excuse myself whilst Craig pushed to the summit and then ran back down to find me.
As a result I felt that I only deserved one scoop of Movenpick ice cream (😆) so I ‘made do’ with a delicious chocolate salted caramel combo. Then a beer. Perfect lunch!
We went back to our place, grabbed some beach stuff and for the first time all holiday I actually sat on the beach and read. For over two hours. I’m not very good at doing that usually. Craig wandered up and down the beach very disappointed that the software update on his drone had completely disabled it. Before, he would receive a message to advise him if he was within four km of an aerodrome or airport, now it won’t even let the drone take off. We stayed until the wind picked up and the sun started to think about setting – since the clocks went back that’s now 6pm.
Craig has completely fallen for Mount Maunganui, he loves the whole area. There are surfers everywhere, people are chilled, the Mount itself is great and the beaches are fantastic. I really like it and I’m really pleased we came here – thanks for the advice Paul!
We had another chilled evening of eating (soft food; almost healed now) and reading. We’ve had a completely relaxing time here. The weather has been glorious and we’re sad to leave.
💃🏼🪩 MORNING DISCO 🪩 🕺
We have only one more real night left in NZ and we’ll be heading for the much colder, more autumnal Tasmania soon so I think it’s a great opportunity to play this excellent song as we start to say goodbye to the amazing summer we’ve had here in NZ. It’s The Boys of Summer (1984) by Don Henley. Enjoy!
Saturday 1st April ~ Whakatane to Mount Maunganui – Poisson rouge!
So, it’s April fool’s day but unfortunately I didn’t get to laugh much, I was in far too much pain. Here we go again, another injury to annoy the hell out of me… The silly act of biting the inside of my mouth had turned into a row of four tiny blusters / ulcers that hurt a lot so it was back to the pharmacy…
I spent the day in a lot of pain, could hardly eat and felt very sorry for myself!
We checked out and headed to Mount Maunganui, only about 75 minutes away. It wasn’t a stop in our pre-cyclone plans as it looked a bit built up in the photos but Paul had said it was a good place and it was in an area we could get to so off we went!
Here’s a tip if you want to check in early somewhere…I message ahead and ask if it’s possible to put our dairy and perishables in our room fridge (clearly having one is a requisite) as we’ll have been in the car for a few hours without a cool bag. This is genuine and I’ve really needed to do it every time. Each time the lovely person at the other end has prepared our room and let us in early. It’s great! We checked in two hours early to our lovely Air BnB flat. Nice.
We are staying quite a way from the Mount itself but we’re only three minutes walk to a lovely beach so we went out for a walk. Unfortunately it quickly started to rain and the forecast was a solid 12 hours of rain so we headed back, went to the supermarket and hunkered down whilst it lashed it down.
I made a nice soft dinner, we couldn’t get the TV to work so I read almost an entire book, took lots of pain relief and applied medicine into my mouth and that’s it guys, no photos, no excitement, nothing! Oh, the clocks were going back so we’d get an extra hour of sleep so that was the highlight of the day!
💃🏼🪩 MORNING DISCO 🪩 🕺
I’m not entirely certain that the day deserves a song but as we were gifted an extra hour and as it’s the 50th anniversary of The Dark Side of The Moon (1973) this week it’s as good an excuse as any to play ‘Time’ by Pink Floyd. Excellent track. Here’s a live version from a concert at Earl’s Court. Enjoy!💜Dave Gilmour!
Friday 31 March ~ Whakatane (updated on Sunday)
We’ve been away ten weeks today! Eight weeks left.
After a decent sleep we met Paul and Stuart for breakfast at the Awa Cafe. It was packed with people attending graduation but they’d arrived before us (no surprise there even though the cafe is less than 30 seconds from our room 😆) and secured a table.
We spent a good hour with them, walked them to their bikes and bid them a fond farewell and a safe journey. Thanks again for coming to see us, loved it!
Craig and I then headed off to Ōhope Beach, a short journey in the car. It’s been voted NZ’s favourite beach, according to the sign by the car park. We had a lovely walk, met a lovely friendly dog who introduced us to his owner. He was a Tenterfield terrier from NS Wales and his owner hadn’t seen another of his type in NZ in nine years. Apart from that there were very few people there. We had a nice rest on our beach towel with great views of both Moutohora and in the far distance the slightly smoking White Island.
Moutohora (above) also known as Whale Island, we’re guessing because of the shape! White Island below.
Then all of a sudden an enormous beast emerged from the sea!
He lives in the house just off the beach behind where we were sitting and he walked veeeeeery slowly up the beach and home.
We then headed back, had a shower as I was very hot and very sandy and I’ve now just finished this update. Oh, I almost forgot that Craig bought me a brilliant gift. We’d run out of Thara’s PG Tips (thank you lovely!) some time ago and we’ve been drinking whatever has been left out for us at various lodgings.
A much appreciated taste of home – thank you Craig! X
After a great cup of Yorkshire tea we ventured into town via the Wairere Falls which we knew were close but didn’t actually realise they were about 100 metres behind our motel! No signs, no fuss, nothing, we would t have known they were there if Lonely Planet hadn’t mentioned them but as soon as we got behind the motel we could hear them. We got there – still not a single sign and not a single other person! It was really tranquil even though it was a few metres from the road; birds singing and water flowing. Blissful.
In complete contrast to blissful we headed back to The Craic, the Irish pub where we’d met Paul and Stuart. There was a guy playing guitar (mostly excellent song choices) and it was packed so we sat on the wall and had a couple of drinks.
I was starving and it had been a while since I’d had ‘fush n chups’. Gibbo’s on the Wharf was opposite our motel so we headed there despite the fact that Gibbo is what my maths teacher Mr Ratcliffe called me for five years at secondary school. Unless he was feeling particularly hilarious in which case it became Gobbo. I made him buy me a couple of drinks at The White Horse in Swavesey at our ten year school reunion in 1996 to make up for it!
We had to wait 25 minutes for them but we sat in the sun so it was no hardship and they were delicious. I bit the inside of my mouth quite hard. Apart from an ow! I didn’t think much about that again until the next day…
After two previous decent nights out in a row we called it a day and watched the final two episodes of the most recent South Park season, read and went to sleep.
💃🏼🪩 MORNING DISCO 🪩 🕺
This one is Paul’s choice. Everyone everywhere was playing this album in the early 90’s (quite rightly!) – it was a really great follow up to Full Moon Fever (1989).
Yes, we’ve already had St Petty’s Day but it’s an excellent track from the fantastic Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ album Into the Great Wide Open (1991). There’s a track on the album with a ‘g’ missing (All or Nothin’) – I knew it! Tom hated that letter 😆 The album was produced by the genius that is Jeff Lynn so that’s another reason to love it! Here’s the titular track Into the Great Wide Open. Enjoy!
Thursday 30 March ~ Taupo to Whakatane
After our exciting day yesterday we were quite content with having a chilled travel day with no adventures. Hmmmm…
We packed, checked out and I wanted to go to Four Square just around the corner for some stuff before we drove off and it’s next to a good coffee shop so Craig could get his morning coffee before our two hour+ journey. He took a wrong turn and rather than going back he suggested we continue until we found another supermarket and coffee shop on the way. It was not to be. We didn’t find either!
Our SatNav is an absolute 💩. I’m sure there is a way from Taupo to Whakatane on decent roads despite the recent washouts and challenges. I’m sure there is.
We were on a normal road making good time. Then 💩 told us to go left down a small country road which was only signposted to ‘The Lake’. I told Craig I wasn’t sure and perhaps we should find an alternative route. He said not to worry. The road got worse. We ended up on an unmade road and passed about four massive logging trucks in over an hour. An hour! At one stage we had to stop and have a little chat with ourselves to stay calm – it felt a bit like something out of a horror movie where the unsuspecting tourists drive into the woods…
As we had our calming stop the sun finally came out and we knew we’d be OK and not lost forever in the woods!
We finally made it to a real road and honestly, it was such a relief, I could actually feel the tension leave my body. We reached Whakatane safe and sound!
We checked in to our lovely Awa Motel (he let us in a bit early, I think he could see we were slightly traumatised!) then had some lunch – Craig finally got his coffee, hoorah!
After lunch we had a good three mile walk along the river before coming back to the room so that Craig could have a snooze.
Stop the press… Paul just messaged, he and his friend Stuart are on a bike tour and have re-routed to here so we’re off out to meet them!!!!! 🍻
Ah, it was so good to see Paul and to meet Stuart. We met in (yet another) classy Irish pub for drinks then following the line of least resistance we crossed the road and had dinner at Little Havana, a great family run Cuban restaurant. We headed back to the Irish bar, had another drink, it closed (we were of course the last people in there) and we walked to the last open bar in town. We didn’t quite reach it, there was a loud nouse like a gunshot and it turned out that after being asked to leave, a very drunk customer chucked a couple of pool balls across the road. Idiot. We decided it was a sign and all went home.
Paul and Stuart had stayed in a very smart apartment the night before in Turanga but they were not so lucky here – it’s graduation time (we saw lots of people in graduation gowns the next morning) and town was packed – the only place they could find was a tiny bunk room in a dodgy holiday park Craig and I had passed on our walk. Here’s Stuart in the room! We thank you both for your sacrifice in order to meet us!
I didn’t take any pictures but we agreed to meet for breakfast before they headed off.
💃🏼🪩 MORNING DISCO 🪩 🕺
This one’s for Stuart; we thank you again for your sacrifice, for coming to meet us and for a great evening. I’m waiting for Paul to decide what he’d like played.
Stuart and his wife moved from Newport 🏴to Napier in 2005 as detectives following a drive by the NZ police to recruit experienced overseas officers. He retired from the force about five years ago and they are soon to move islands. They’re off to Richmond, near Nelson, an hour from their beloved Abel Tasman. Good luck to them in the next stage of their life adventure!
Stuart’s a good man with great music taste. He requested anything by Muse. More than happy to oblige Stuart! It has to be the epic Knights of Cydonia (2006), here played live at Wembley Stadium in 2007 and the song opens with the iconic notes from Close Encounters played by Mr Matt Amazing Guitar Player Bellamy. It’s long but definitely worth hearing the entire way through. Enjoy!
Wednesday 29 March ~ Taupo
What a morning that was!
The overnight rain had cleared and the sun was out. We drove ten minutes north of Taupo to Hukafalls Jet to experience the second part of the two part activity I’d booked us both but which only Craig could participate in yesterday.
We donned our jackets and met Scott the speedboat driver who described himself as the most talented and best looking driver of the day ie he’s the only one!
These photos are all courtesy of the jet boat company, it’s a pretty slick operation.
It was unbelievably thrilling – we reached speeds of 85 kmh / 53 mph and it felt like it! We got completely soaked, laughed uncontrollably and loved every second. He did dozens of 360 turns at very high speed making everyone scream and get even more soaked. Whilst every inch of every item of clothing I was wearing got soaked, my hair stayed 100% dry – you’ll see in the photos that I’m wearing my turquoise hoody; the one I always wear on the dive boat to warm up after diving. It’s hair wash day later but I wore it not to stay dry but because it was freezing. At one stage it felt like someone had thrown a bucket of ice in my face. Brilliant. 🥶
The Huka Falls themselves were pretty impressive too. Clearly I didn’t take any photos (my phone would have been ruined) so here’s one from the internet that I found including someone else enjoying the tour with our jet boat company…yes, we did that too!
Absolutely loved it.
We’ve come back to our motel to dry off and have some lunch here (pate, cheese, etc) then head off for The NZ Open: The Rematch – They Took it North! Yes, we’ve found another mini golf course. Wish me luck 🤞- I’ll provide commentary later…
We arrived at the mini golf and explained exactly how important the match was to the lady who gave us our clubs, balls (you could choose your ball colour – I went for purple) and score card. She wished us both luck…
It looked like a great course. Here you can see the “clubhouse” 😆 through the trees in the background.
Tension mounted. We started. Craig went first. I bogied the first, parred the second and double bogied the third 😡 – three behind Craig after three holes. It wasn’t looking promising. Craig parred or birdied the next four holes whilst I slipped another hole behind. I was four down after the seventh (featured below).
The eighth was tricky, I bogied and Craig finally slipped up and double bogied but on the ninth he birdied and I got par. Craig made par on the front nine (24) and I was still four behind…
It was all too much. I got a triple bogie on the tenth so was now seven behind! All was lost. I dug deep, gritted my teeth and channelled my hero Ian Poulter (I genuinely love him).
The pressure of constantly leading from the front finally got to Craig and he treble bogied the 11th whilst I just bogied! I’m telling you now that on the back nine there were a lot of par 2 holes that were damn tricky and should have definitely been 3’s. Just saying.
Spurred on by the chink in the armour the unbelievable actually happened – I got a hole in one on the 12th! If there was a crowd it would have gone wild! I felt like I was Poulter in the 2012 Ryder Cup, fighting the odds, punching the air with delight and shouting “come on!” 😆. Craig bogied. Suddenly I was only two behind. Two!!! Would it be my own private ‘Miracle at Medinah’ eleven years on?
I played out of my skin. I parred every tricky par 2 between the 13th and 16th. I “Poultered” every time (that’s an understated punch, a look of grim determination and a shout of “come on”).
Craig had dropped a shot on the 14th. It was all getting too much, I had to have a lie down on the 17th…
I bogied the 17th but Craig double bogied and then I parred the last hole so that Craig needed a hole in one… it didn’t happen and I won. I’d actually won! I was Ian Poulter at Medinah! Luke Donald – European Captain – has absolutely no choice but to select me for the Ryder Cup this year. See you in Rome golf fans! ⛳️ 🏌️♀️🏛️
Craig’s forfeit was to buy me drinks and dinner. He was very magnanimous in defeat. However, he has insisted we play another round somewhere else. This is not over…
We went to this lovely nearby place for drinks (you can just about see the ‘Medinah’ course in the background – sorry, the photo has jumped to the end for some reason) and had a decent curry (elsewhere) for dinner.
We saw this amusing sign on the walk to dinner.
After dinner we ventured into the Lone Star which looked pretty dodgy. It didn’t disappoint. The bar man – Anthony (the ‘h’ pronounced) – was a jolly chap who seemed to do pretty much everything while a couple of (sorry ladies) lazy waitresses swanned around doing nothing. We talked to him quite a lot. It distracted us from the appalling country and western music. I took a picture of the menu showing the Dolly Parton cocktail for Lizzie and Cassie to see but I had a margarita (for old times’ sake) and a Lady in Red (hello again Chris de Burgh!) which was absolutely delicious. We were of course the very last people out of the bar at 9pm and we sauntered home very happy, I guess you’re supposed to saunter out of a Texan country music bar…
All in all it was an excellent extremely exciting day. We declared it as perfect a day as you could wish for.
💃🏼🪩 MORNING DISCO 🪩 🕺
About time, I hear some of you shouting. Yes, finally a song by The Eagles. I’d clearly been waiting to see an eagle before playing one of their songs but I just found out (thanks Google) that they don’t live here and there are only very occasional sightings of white-bellied sea eagles from Australia that can end up here. Very very rarely.
I’ve unfortunately never seen them live – last time they played in the UK the tickets were unbelievably expensive so I went to see the Legal Eagles in Guildford with Aunty Shirley and Uncle Paul instead and they were excellent. Much cheaper. Well, actually completely free apart from my return train ticket to Guildford as it was a lovely treat – thank you! X
After my sedate day yesterday and my contrasting fast and furious day on the river today it has to be “Life in the Fast Lane” (1976) from the outstanding album Hotel California. I couldn’t find a live version of them playing this on stage and it seems they didn’t make a video so you’ll have to just sit back, listen and enjoy them playing live in Inglewood. Oh, and I’ve just updated the blog with our “They Took it North” golf narrative where I did in fact score an eagle. I’d already selected this song in the morning before the golf. It was absolutely meant to be 🦅😀
Tuesday 28 March ~ Taupo
Today, a German and a Welshman (no, it’s not the start of a joke about walking into a pub…) explained to us that only about 15% of NZers – and even fewer visitors – pronounce Taupo correctly. I have no idea if they’re right, whether they’re being a bit rude or whether they only meet a certain type / portion of the population.
It’s pronounced Toe-Paw. Cool. Talking of cool, these guys were pretty cool themselves. They run a rafting company down in Turangi (don’t even get me started on pronouncing that one!) which is a 45 minute drive south of Taupo at the bottom of Lake Taupo.
I’d made the very sensible decision to not go white water rafting but I accompanied Craig on the journey then he dropped me at a lovely cafe in Turangi where I spent the next 2.5 hours.
He had a great time and at some stage you’ll be able to see some footage on his Tikety Tok channel – maddogsandenglishtan
After the torrential rain, the river was high which made it a 3.5 rating rather than a level 3. I’m not at all disappointed that I couldn’t go because not only did I have a chilled morning reading an excellent book (second book of seven in the Sisters range by Lucinda Riley) but I spent most of my afternoon washing. Living the very definition of the high life!
Driving up the side of the lake I decided it was actually not bad looking after all, it’s just not so pretty around the town.
We had an OK lunch in an OK place in Taupo. As we got to the car Craig pointed this out so I had to take a picture. People were eating in it. What next I ask you? A KFC rocket? A Pizza Hut ship? 😆. Actually, it looks pretty good and if I ate McD’s I’d definitely want to eat in it – it’s certainly one if the best dining options here!
We then headed back, I did some washing and I’m now relaxing. Craig’s supposed to be doing some work but he’s reading comics, sorry, graphic novels on his phone. I’m sure we’ll head out later to have a OK meal and a drink at an OK place before going to sleep. It’s a nothing day really, for me at least, but that’s alright, not every day can be action packed or full of excitement and interesting stuff.
Tomorrow it’s speed boating so it’ll be a different pace entirely. Literally! I’ll update later if anything unexpectedly exciting happens otherwise I hope you have a good day or evening depending on where you are and when you’re reading this.
I happily stand corrected! We had an absolutely lovely meal in an Italian restaurant called Sorrento. I had delicious chianti in a decent sized glass – it made a nice change. It’s the first time (including Baja) where I did not drink the local wine. Our waiter was a little crazy! He was from Paris and we ended up having a good conversation about French and British politics. Not quite what you’d expect in an Italian in NZ but it was a great night all round. Taupo is redeemed!
💃🏼🪩 MORNING DISCO 🪩 🕺
After my highly exciting living the high life (😆) I’ve selected Steve Winwood’s “Back in the High Life Again” (1986) from his excellent album Back in the High Life which includes many other great tracks including the most well known and successful Higher Love. Steve contributed to one of my absolute favourite albums of all time – the little known rarely played (on radio at least, it’s on constantly at home) Short Cut Draw Blood (1975) by Jim Capaldi (no relation to any other famous Capaldis you might know). They were in a great band called Traffic together. Max and I saw Steve play at Wembley a few years ago and I first saw him at The Royal Albert Hall in the late 90’s. He’s a good man Steve Winwood. I hope you enjoy this little played track.
Monday 27 March ~ Cambridge to Lake Taupo
We had a delicious breakfast at the B&B. I’d say Renata’s homemade marmalade is almost as good as Dad’s. Almost.
I’d put the fear of god into Craig about leaving late so we actually left a whole six minutes early! The dog virtually cried as Craig departed. The cat walked off as he tried to stroke him.
In much the same way as I’d felt about Queenstown, I had absolutely no desire to go to Rotarua and hadn’t planned it into our schedule. I can’t quite explain why I’d taken against either place so strongly well before I left the UK.
I’d found another place that was quite close to Taupo called Orakei Korako – Lonely Planet had described it as “arguably the best thermal area left in NZ” a phrase I later discovered they’d proudly printed on all of their brochures.
It was great! Virtually empty, great value, really lovely. You take a boat over to the thermals area and it’s about a gentle up and downhill 90 minute circuit. You see geysers, hot springs, a sacred cave with a turquoise pool and mud pools. Unfortunately our luck with the weather (which has mainly been glorious for over two months) finally ran out – lots of clouds and rain from here on in but it didn’t spoil the walk or the experience.
All in all it was really enjoyable and as you can see the sun did occasionally make a brief appearance.
We drove half an hour to Taupo in torrential rain. Really chucking it down, can hardly see out of the window rain. We arrived in Taupo in the rain.
Poor Taupo. Not sure what I was expecting but it wasn’t a functional rather dull town alongside an average looking – but enormous- lake. We’re here for three nights – hoorah! Checked into our motel – also functional, nothing fancy – and headed into town to walk along the lakefront and find something to eat. It’s not Tekapo. It’s not Pukaki. It’s not even Wanaka or Queenstown. Bless it.
We struggled to find somewhere we’d choose to eat and ended up at a place I can’t even remember the name of (it was less than 90 minutes ago) and ate an average meal. The thing that stands out was our waitress. Lovely, friendly, almost attentive enough but she said “awesome” at least once every time she visited our table. We started up making reasons to call her over to see if she continued to do it. She did. Awesome! We’re now back at the motel, I’m now completely up to date again on my blog and we’re having an early night as we have to be up early to drive an hour to Turangi so Craig can white water rapid raft without me. I heeded Aunty Shirley’s warning and I’m not going to put myself through anything that could mess up my foot. I’m going with him but I’ll be having a relaxed breakfast whilst he lives on the edge. 😞
💃🏼🪩 MORNING DISCO 🪩 🕺
Until dinner time it was an easy single track choice today. We’ve been hearing a few songs on the radio by The Cult who I really like – I have great memories of wearing lots of black and head banging to their tunes at The Hungry Years whilst at university in Brighton. Then of course we needed to dedicate a song to our waitress. Luckily The Lego Movie included a very fitting and unbelievably catchy song that will do just fine. Years ago I persuaded the serious and grown up Head of the Investment team at Coller Capital that her team needed a theme tune and that this was it. 😆 💜 Love my job!
So to mark the change in the weather here’s the brilliant “Rain” (1985) by The Cult, and for our nameless waitress at our nameless restaurant here’s the awesome “Everything is Awesome!!!” (2014) by some Lego mini figures. Talk about a contrast!
Sunday 26 March ~ HOBBITON!
This is it, the big one. My initial sole reason for wanting to visit NZ. I kid you not. Granted, once I’d conducted some research I found lots of places I wanted to visit but at first I wasn’t even planning on going to the South Island (no Hobbiton there) – can you imagine?! 😱😵💫😳
Here we go; back-story time… In 1978 we arrived in Baghdad. We had no TV and I utilised both the school library and the adults’ library a lot over those 24 months. The best thing that happened was that Dad took Lord of the Rings out and read a bit to me every single night. For six months. We renewed the book quite a lot! I then read The Hobbit. Attempted and failed to read The Silmarillion. It lead to a lifelong love of all things Tolkien and really happy memories of spending that time with Dad. I read the book myself after that every two years until I was 30. I’ll be reading it again when I get home. Clearly I’ll also be watching all six movies as well. I may be delaying my job search… 🤔When I was 14, our cat Tippy ripped up the copy Mum bought me to make a nest to give birth to Rufus, Anna and Muff (that last one was named by Lizzie 😆). I was a little sad at first but I got a new copy and it felt entirely fitting that she chose my favourite book and those kittens were an absolute joy. Even though Mum and Max had to build a porch for them as my allergies really kicked in after they were born. Expensive kitties!!
Anyway… we drove for half an hour, collected our tickets which I had booked before I’d booked any of our internal flights, cars or accommodation and got into the coach that takes you to the site. They put on a video with Peter Jackson talking about the making of the movie there and I’m sorry guys but yes, I cried. I couldn’t help it! 😭. They put another video on during the return journey – oh yes, we went There and Back Again – and I’m afraid I cried again. Ridiculous I know.
I took a lot of photos. I’ve tried to select enough to give you a taste of how well they’ve put it together but not enough to bore you, I hope! They made some hobbit holes on a smaller scale so that when Gandalf stands next to them they look small in comparison and some normal sized ones so that when hobbits stand next to them they look perfectly suited. Genius.
We headed to The Green Dragon pub (!) for a drink; they’ve done it beautifully. Loved it and loved the walk there.
I’d not just booked the tour but I’d also booked a hobbit banquet! We went into a marquee and had a brilliant buffet and talked over lunch to a lovely young local couple who’d been given the gift as a present and another lovely young couple from Houston, Texas.
It was all over far too soon!
After the return bus journey we headed into the gift shop (of course!) and Craig referred to the Merchandising scene from the film SpaceBalls – it’s not quite middle earth but it costs the earth! Clearly I bought a One Ring notebook and LOTR stationary set 😆 Cassie would be proud!
We drove back and headed into Cambridge, had a lovely walk around the lake and town (not Laketown sadly – another Hobbit reference!) and even managed to fit in some more food in the evening in a pub that served us a five glass taster selection of anything you wanted that was on tap. Plums are famous around here so plum cider was one of the choices we made (yum). Again, passed no one on the way home even though it was only 8.30 pm. Bizarre because the pub was packed.
💃🏼🪩 MORNING DISCO 🪩 🕺
On such an emotional day you’re expecting me to chose a moving song. Ha! This is truly unbelievable. It’s The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins (1968) by Leonard Nimoy – yes, he of Star Trek fame. It’s bloody hilariously bad. The things people do for money 😆😆😆
Saturday 25 March ~ Christchurch to Cambridge (via a flight to Auckland)
Feeling slightly below par after our excellent night out we left bang on check out time (hoorah!), drove to the airport, dropped off the hire car and sailed through checkin in record time and were in the lounge for over two hours! We ate for almost every minute of it 😆. We waved farewell to the South Island as we took off. Happy happy times and great memories.
Oh, I almost forgot – there was yet another Robbie helping us through (the not very busy) security, it’s beginning to feel a bit like the Terminator!
After a quick painless flight, we picked up a new hire car and a 100 minute drive later we were in Cambridge! It is quite English-y if that’s a word… it has some lovely buildings, parks and a lake plus it even has a Victoria Road which is where Dad lived in Cambridge for many years and where he kindly put up with me for a few of those!
We were staying in our first B&B (I can’t quite believe we’ve been on the road for nine weeks and it’s our first) called Grosvenor House and our hosts – David (NZ, lived in Highgate and worked in Moorgate, London for a while in the 70’s) and Renata (Swiss, moved to NZ for her first husband) – could not have been lovelier. I’d taken tablets as I knew they had a cat and a dog, a lovely whippet! To my knowledge she had not had a hard life. That’s an in-joke for Lizzie, Mum and Max re Bessie 🐾.
The dog instantly adopted Craig as her new best friend and the cat completely ignored him for the next two days. 😆 Every time he tried to get near to the cat he’d move away. Just a foot at a time every time Craig crept closer. Just enough to radiate total disdain. Class! I love cats 🐈⬛ 😻.
We headed off into town. It was the start of the Cambridge Autumn Festival but we didn’t see a single activity or event as most of the big stuff happened on Sunday whilst we were out…Loved the festival mascot though. 🍁
Saturday night in Cambridge! Would it be wild? Would it be crazy? Would it rival Christchurch on a Friday night? Would it be completely and utterly deserted? Well not quite at that point as all the restaurants I liked the look of were full but it was pretty quiet later on – when we walked home at 9pm, two cars passed us but we did not meet or pass a single human being in 20 minutes. We ended up eating in the most hilarious place. Craig saw a sign advertising an Irish pub with two specials – shepherds pie and braised lamb (how was I going to resist either of those?!) – outside a deserted shopping arcade. Really? We went in to investigate and I can’t describe it well enough and the picture doesn’t do it justice. Craig was pretty annoyed that I took one as he was eating – you can clearly see that 😆 – but seriously the man takes so long to eat I could have shot a short film between me finishing my meal and he finishing his.
It really was a proper massive Irish pub inside a shopping arcade! I went for the Irish Stew. Yummy. They had MTV 80’s on and they had selected some very obscure / bizarre songs including one I genuinely hadn’t heard for almost 40 years (yeah, it’s absolute rubbish and that’s why it’s no longer played on the radio) which Craig described as the most awkward video that he has ever seen. Hence it’s going into the morning disco. 😆
I had a problem with one of my contact lenses and eventually had to take it out rendering me half blind. I went to the bar to pay and a couple were at the bar ordering food. I couldn’t work out the relationship. She was much younger. They were not related, that was clear, were they in a relationship, was she his carer? She was pretty dressed up, he was in the kind of outfit a very old person would wear in a care home. He was walking with a stick and, on seeing my medical shoe, proudly showed me his identical one then talked at me for ten minutes about his injury. She asked if I’d like to join them in a game of pool – I declined (half blind I explained, that gives me half a chance, she joked). It was all a little bizarre. I returned to our table, updated Craig on the reason for my lengthy absence and asked him to check out the pool table on our way out and see if he could work it out.
He glanced over. “Hooker” he said and as soon as he said it I realised what a total innocent idiot I am!! So Cambridge turned out to be a little wild and crazy on a Saturday night after all.
💃🏼🪩 MORNING DISCO 🪩 🕺
So are you ready for the most awkward video Craig’s ever seen? Ryan clearly isn’t comfortable dancing (I’m imagining a Pete Waterman type shouting “dance monkey dance” at him from behind the camera) and, well, let’s just say it’s of it’s time and there are quite a few camera shots of ladies. Fully dressed walking around Paris ladies so nothing untoward but it still feels a little uncomfortable.
Here’s Ryan Paris with Dolche Vita (1983). The video is set in Paris. His producer clearly had very little imagination and just went with a location to match the singer’s surname!