Touring New Zealand 2005

Home

Touring New Zealand 2005 - Introduction

Introduction

The 2005 travelogue is, as usual, written as we go and closely linked to a regular series of lighthearted Emails sent out as "News from The Antipodes". The travelogues have always been written as we go (this year on our Toshiba Portege), superficially spell checked and made available to our friends - in previous years they have been copied into an email and sent.

This year we are repeating the approach we used for a similar series from Australia ("News from Downunder") and uplifting them as we go to our web site and limiting the emails to a summary. This approach will, we hope, allow us to provide some background information for those new to the newsletter whilst allowing those who have heard much of it before to quickly scroll through the web pages to new sections.

This year we have gone one step further than previous years and added many pictures from Pauline's Digital Canon A75 Camera in high and low resolution as well as re-using some of the best previous pictures from Film and stills from the Peter's digital video camera. All the pictures on the pages provide details of where they were taken if you hover over them and they can all be clicked to open a larger version in a new pop-up Window. If you have Broadbandand click here for pictures with more detail and click again to revert to lower detail pictures. You can also double click any picture and it will toggle between picture modes but only for following pictures that you click on.

Itinery

This year we are spending our time in North Island and our travels will include two weeks sailing in the Hauraki Gulf. The route can be followed as we progress from the links at top and bottom which will be common to all the pages.

We are also including our initial plan for the trip which we will progressively update as we proceed - we never keep to our plans as we adapt to weather and to follow interesting diversions!

17-19 Jan	Fly AirNZ to Auckland, Christine
20 Jan		Collect campervan.  Christine
21 Jan		Christine

22-23 Jan	2 nights Dargaville/Trounson Kauri Park
24 Jan		Opononi then Rawene ferry to Ahipara
25-26 Jan	Cape Reinga then 2 nights Waitiki Landing
27 Jan		Back to Ahipara
28 Jan		Lunch at Mangonui then Whangaroa Harbour
29 Jan		Kerikeri then Hururu Falls
30-31 Jan	Thro' Paihia, Opua and Kawakawa to Matakohe
1 Feb		Auckland
2-3 Feb		MOTAT then to Thames
4-5 Feb		Waihi Goldmine tour then 2 nights Rotorua
6 Feb		Taupo then Taumarunui
7-9 Feb		SH43 to Stratford then 3 nights at East Egmont
10 Feb		Drove around the mountain then overnight in Wanganui

11-13 Feb	Wellington *

14 Feb		Valentines Day cruise on Waimarie, Wanganui
15 Feb		River Road to Raetihi
16 Feb		Napier - Taihape Road to Kuripapango

17-20 Feb	Napier Art Deco Festival *

21 Feb		Lake Tutira then Lake Waikaremoana
22 Feb		Back to Wairoa then to Gisborne
23 Feb		Tauranga
24 Feb		Waihi

25-27 Feb	Auckland Christine
28 Feb		Return van
28 Feb-14 Mar Sailing Auckland *

15 Mar		Finish sailing - Auckland
16 Mar		Whangarei Falls
17 Mar		Russell
18 Mar		Tauranga Bay
19 Mar		Tauranga Bay
20 Mar		Sandspit
21 Mar		Auckland  Christine
22 Mar		Auckland  Christine 
23-24 Mar	Take van back then fly to London

Background Material

After each visit we also try to extract more from the chronological organisation and consolidate the content into specific pages. Some background pages which may be of interest are:

New Zealand Wines, Wineries and Vineyard Restaurants - brings together our favourite vineyards to visit. Selection is not solely the on the quality of the wine but is biased towards those with good vineyard restaurants, magnificent scenery and a friendly and helpful approach.
New Zealand Goldmining - Introduction to Goldmining Techniques and Travels in various Goldfields.
Kauri, both logging and the gathering and use of it's gum forms another unique part of New Zealand history worthy of investigation.
Active Thermal Areas - New Zealand is also an area which is very active geologically and has a number of fascinating thermal areas, predominantly North Island.
Maori Culture and Heritage - One can not fully understand and appreciate New Zealand without gaining some understanding of the Maori Culture and Heritage and the interactions with the first settlers and their way of life.
Sailing in New Zealand - An Introduction to Sailing in New Zealand with an index to our own sailing in the Hauraki Gulf, The Bay of Islands and the Coastal Passage between them and on up to Whangaroa Harbour.
The Whanganui River Story The story of the River and the river boats that served it.