Avoiding a cyclone

Our early morning crossing from South Island to North Island (Te Waipounamu to Te Ika-a-Maui) was smooth and relaxed. We were well looked after in the lounge aboard the Kaiararahi with a cooked breakfast followed by morning tea all within 3 hours. We glided up the beautifully tree-lined Queen Charlotte Sound and Tory Channel and onto the open sea before entering Wellington Harbour. Unbeknown to us was a near disaster that happened a few days prior to our sailing where the captain was about to abandon ship as the vessel drifted engineless towards the rocks!

Our hosts for the next three nights were Leslie’s cousins Carol and Mervy Dacre in their beautiful home in Papakowhai, Porirua overlooking the harbour. Although our Sat Nav had been updated to 2021, it didn’t include the newly opened northern motorway over transmission hill so we found ourselves miles from our intended destination. Not the first time on this holiday that we have had to backtrack.

We took the opportunity to visit the stunningly beautiful and amazingly accessible Te Papa, the National Museum of New Zealand. Amongst the many exhibits that we visited was the section devoted to the Treaty of Waitangi, the basis on which Maori people and the crown (Queen Victoria) came to agree co-existence. This fragile document has been both ignored and interpreted in a variety of ways. It is enshrined in 57 New Zealand laws and still subject to widely varying interpretations. Our discussions with New Zealanders, mainly pakeha, would suggest the debates are far from over; this country is not entirely at peace with it’s history or its future.

Wellington is a beautiful city and we really needed longer to enjoy its many attractions even so our evening in the city was very special as we had dinner with Leslie’s cousin Carl and son Ollie Church, who was the ring bearer at our wedding 12 years ago, at the excellent Ortega Fish Shack. Apart from the excellent food it was an evening of insights. Carl’s work in his organisation, Niche Recruitment, and Ollie’s complete ease with the world at the age of 16 years meant we had a wonderful and memorable evening. Our optimism for the future was further deepened by the insights provided by Carol and Merv’s daughter Harriet; when young people are given a voice there is much we can learn.

A walk around the Poirura harbour and a visit to Leslie’s cousins Laura and Bill van Peer’s home in Raumati concluded our stay in Wellington.

Throughout our time in Wellington we had been watching the weather forecast as Cyclone Gabrielle approached the upper North Island. We debated between Hawkes Bay and the Central Volcanic Plateau for our route north. We opted to head to Lake Taupo where we were joined by Ron and Pam Robbie and their grandson Rio a day later in the beautifully appointed bach. The 5 hour journey took us through Taihape, home a gumboot throwing pitch, complete with gumboots. We then travelled over the Desert Road, at 1,078 m elevation. This is a bleak landscape dominated by the views across the Rangipo Desert to the majestic volcanoes, Ruapehu, Ngauruhoe and Tongariro. The Black Gate of Mordor from the Lord of the Rings films was shot here.

The decision to take this route turned out to be a remarkably fortuitous. Had we gone to Hawkes Bay we would have been close to the centre of the devastating storm which has so far claimed 11 lives and left hundreds homeless and/or without livelihood. We only experienced one windy evening, nothing more, but the devastation to forests within two kilometres of our accommodation was frightening. For our hosts it was much more worrying as they were cut off from any route home and had family whose properties were damaged.

The powerful force of nature was further evident in our visit to the Huka Falls where Lake Taupo drains into the Waikato River and the closeby Wairakei Thermal Valley where natural steam is used to generate electricity. There are numerous thermal streams which drain into the lake creating warm areas for swimming.

During our 6 night stay in Taupo there was an earthquake in Poirura where we had been staying; how lucky we are to have escaped these natural phenomena. During our stay, Leslie also took the opportunity to try an alternative type of parking 🤣.

Leaving Taupo we drove via Tokoroa a town that appears to be thriving. Leslie lived here for two years in the mid 1970’s and was surprised at the amount of industry that is now apparent; a long way from its dependency on the pulp and paper factory as the town’s major employer during his time teaching here. Tokoroa also had the distinction of having the pub with the longest bar in the southern hemisphere and where the piano was wrapped in plastic. In those days it was known locally as the flying jug!

Further north we passed through Putaruru, the town where Leslie directed his first theatre show then Tirau, once a one shop wonder and now a very busy cafe lined centre. We can highly recommend the salads at the Cabbage Tree Cafe. Onwards to Auckland via a much improved motorway to our home from home at our friend of many years, Claudia Elliott. This was a one night stop, time for dinner at a lovely Italian restaurant in Ponsonby, Farina.

Leaving Auckland we set off over the harbour bridge to our destination of the Bay of Islands. The main highway north had diversions caused by damage from the dreadful storms that the north of New Zealand has had throughout the summer. This took us through the interesting town of Maungaturoto and lunch at the most unexpected middle eastern cafe, Ollie’s.

Homes in this area are extremely neat, large and landscaped but the farms in what appears to be a dairying area are devoid of cows. On enquiry we we informed that the area is largely populated by families of the Plymouth Brethren faith. Apparently at some point in the past one of their bishops declared that they should not milk their cows on the sabbath and so the cows were dispensed with and other home industries have taken over. Although not verified, we were told that the land and houses were communally owned by the church and they received donations which are tax exempt. Scanning the internet, we found there has been some controversy about this practise.

Finally, 5 hours after leaving Auckland our journey of 3 hours concluded with our arrival at Pohutakawa Cottage at Tapuaetahi Beach in the Bay of Islands… time to relax and give thanks for our safe arrival when so many others are struggling.