New Zealand 2022: Day 16 Australia Bound

By the numbers

1 plane

2 books

Bag 18.9 kilo

1 over size

 

The alarm went off at 0230 in the morning so we would be at the check in gate by 3am as I wasn’t sure how slow that line would actually move. It turns out staying at the airport was a great idea and that line was really slow moving for Jetstar. Everyone had been warned about airports moving slowly, and Auckland is no exception. I should point out they are also doing some upgrading, so no idea if that is playing a part in shops not opening up either. Apparently there will be a covered walkway to a new mass transit hub. That will be open next time we go over. The Pullman hotel will also be at the airport too.

 

We had to wait for the security gate to open before we could go through to security and immigration. People were literally pushing you out of the way as you went through. No one was going to be late for their flight, but they wanted to push and shove. Security was the easiest place to get through and I was happy for that. I only had to take my bag and laptop out of my bag. Belt stayed on and my pants stayed up too. After security there was only several options for food that were open at the time. Being just after 430am it wasn’t too surprising. I had bought biscuits at Countdown several days before and I was munching on them waiting for the gate to open. That gate was a 20 min walk and it did feel like it was that far. It didn’t take long before we were boarding and had to wait a bit before the plane took off as they were waiting for someone.

 

The flight itself was pretty uneventful apart from reading my book. When we landed we could take our masks off and walking into the passport control it turns out the Egates broke down and crashed, so everyone had to go through a manned station. Its weird how you give them your passport in one slot and they return it to you from another slot. It ended up being a little longer of a wait, but by them my bag was doing the rounds so there was that one. Mum had some wooden items to declare, which were all clear. The best part was the neighbor who picked us up was waiting for us and the better part was the weather was sunny with no rain.

New Zealand 2022: Day 15 Back to Auckland

By the numbers

Bag 1 16 kg

Bag 2 13 kg

 

The weather looked like it was going to be a nice day when I got up. The plan for the day was to head into Auckland to stay in the airport before the flight on the Sunday. We had an early start as we wanted to get away and have a look at some places on the way to Auckland as we had a time to be at the car rental place. We did leave around 8ish in the morning and along the way stopped at a lookout that was also a farm. I got a shock when the farmer rode by a shipping container and several Turkeys popped out from the side.

 

It wasn’t too bad a drive over the Bryderwyn hills that you have to drive over to either Whangarei or towards Auckland. As we drove through Dome Valley we went to stop at a café that was around a walking track called Top of the Done. I thought the track would take to long as it was half hour one way, besides the café was actually closed so we had to stop in Wellsford for a pitstop. Nearby there were information panels talking about what the area was like before European settlement. Our coffee stop was actually in Warkworth and the town was pretty busy for a Saturday morning. We had to park where the wharves are. After a coffee and a pie, we took a short stroll through town and back down to the wharves. There is a historic boat called the Jane Gifford that worked in the area in the 1930s. Our break over it was back into the car and ever closer to Auckland.

 

One of the places I wanted to visit sometime and I had also written on a list of places to visit on my trip to New Zealand as I was looking for ideas was Puhoi. It as far as I knew had a museum and a cheese factory. Turns out it is a historic village with old buildings. We couldn’t stop there for very long and once we found it the cheese factory was closed. I did have a look at the library and the landing where the boats would come plying their trade in the area. The biggest problem was it was wet and you would sink in the grass when walking over it. We would have to have a longer visit next time when we did not have time running away from us. We were avoiding the tunnel so took the way without the tolls into Auckland.

 

Instead of taking the State Highway 1, we ended up going coastal on the Twin Coast discovery highway and I am pretty sure on bus journeys I had seen Waiwera and wanted to visit it. I remember the bridge, but I think that was before the toll road either began or when the bus took another route north. We did stop at a lookout at Orewa. Our next stop would be in Albany to find the house mum lived in when she was a child. We found the house alright and the homeowner found us in the driveway. I near shat myself and mum started chatting to her. Told her that she used to live in the house around 50 years ago. Turns out the owners had bought the house off the previous owner in 1987 and they were the second owner. Mum’s dad at the time had built the house and the whole area was all farmland. Now it was a busy suburban area with very little farmland left. After a little chat and pictures later, we had to stop at the servo. It was then we found the GPS was having issues and didn’t want to work. I turned into the navigator supreme telling mum which road to take to avoid central Auckland.

 

A drive that took us through tunnels and past the city central, which would have been crazy to head over the main bridge, we made it to the hire car place. They dropped us off at the airport where we would be staying until our early morning plane trip. We went to weigh our bags as I hadn’t packed mine properly before we left Whangarei. They didn’t weigh that much yet. Once we checked in, we repacked our bags and I went o have a look at what was still open. Turns out not much was open at all and that included the airport bar. Maccas was open and that was about it apart from the retail shops. We did attempt to eat at the hotel, but it was bistro only and at a cost of $54 each we went to Maccas instead. Since we would be up extremely early as in 230am, we went to bed early so that we would get some sleep.

 

New Zealand 2022: Day 14 From Paparoa to Whangarei Heads

By the numbers

5.29 kms

7,132 steps

The weather looked alright even though there was cloud and we were trying to leave early enough. We were heading to Paparoa and the Kauri Museum, where we were going to pick up some photos that the museum was going to put together for me. We were heading south along the back roads and we did pop out near the cemetery that we wanted to, but there was a rest stop at a nearby park in Paparoa that was needed before anything else. The rest stop was called the Village Green and you could usually take a 15 min walk, but it was actually closed. Besides it was also wet and mushy so I didn’t really want to walk too far.

 

The first actual stop we made was at the Paparoa Anglican cemetery. The headstone I was after was one I had seen 10 years ago. Last time the grave of Granny’s brother who passed away when he was a child was falling apart. This time around we both couldn’t find any grave at all as it seemed to have vanished. It must have fully fallen apart and been cleared up, or we missed it. At the time we decided that a look through the Methodist cemetery might be interesting as well. Mum started walking around and her foot went into a hole. I decided that I wouldn’t attempt to do that as I would fall down the hill as it had been raining. The Methodist cemetery reminded me of a Wellington cemetery, but I would say this one was in a worse condition.

After getting back to the car, mum drove towards Matakohe where the Kauri Museum is located. The weather closed in and the rain started driving down along with the wind that really picked up. When we walked into the museum to ask about the photos I had ordered, they thought we would turn up on Saturday, but we could get them within the hour. We had lunch and then picked up the photos on a USB, but the blurb with the rest of the info about the pictures would be emailed, which is good. Next to be visited while it was fine was the Matakohe cemetery, where Joseph Gordon Coates ex New Zealand Prime Minister is buried. I was looking for him along the wall, but he was actually the next row along, which was behind me with his family. I could see the rain coming again, so we got into the car.

I had seen a sign that pointed to the Kauri Bushmen Memorial on Sterling Road on our way to the museum, so we called into it on our way back towards Paparoa. Turns out it was an unsealed road and we bottomed out twice when we returned up the road. It was muddy, but there was a monument to the Kauri Bushmen that was purchased by the Kauri Bushmans Association and other groups in 1954. Nearby was a walk, but I didn’t want to try it as it was wet and I didn’t want to sink in the mud. When we made it to Paparoa, we had a look around the medical centre as we suspected the cottage behind it was the old hospital from around the 1930s. We did have a look at the house my great grandparents lived in that was nearby, and I think when is now the Fonterra milk processor in Maungaturoto was where granny had once worked. It would have been under another name back then.

 

The next plan of attack was to head out to Marsden Point where one of the worlds biggest oil ships was docked at the refinery. We did drive through Waipu, but couldn’t stop as there were no carparks available, which was really weird for a week day. Once out at Marsden Point we found a beach, where I walked until I came to where the wharf went over the beach. The ship was there as I could see it from a distance, but it was huge when I came closer, and I walked as far as I could before turning back in case security became upset with me for hanging around. The next idea was to see it from the other side of the harbour from Whangarei Heads. Being the navigator I took mum for a drive through the new estates around One Tree Point. There were quite a few new buildings going up and very expensive boats too. It took a little while, but we ended up around Beach road, where we walked down a track with a good view. Turns out the ship had left port and was making her way out to sea, but I got to see the oil tanker leaving, which was pretty good to see regardless.

 

After the drive through the mud off road, we needed to clean the car and made sure we went to a carwash where we figured out how to use it. It was starting to get late as well and the rain kept on coming and going, which was pretty annoying. We were going to return the car on Saturday. It looked pretty much cleaner when we returned home with dinner. I did have a security guy giving me looks as I think it could have been due to my mask. We did fit in quite a bit on this last day of our trip, although we did have some days where the rain got the best of us.