Christopher Theunissen

I put on my shoes and walked around in search of some food at 4:50. I had woken up four times during the night. I found the only way to sleep on the chairs was on my side, as the spacers between the cushions dug into my back otherwise.

I brushed my teeth just after 05:00 and had a packet of crisps for breakfast. McDonald’s opened around then, but was only serving non-Vegetarian breakfasts until 10:00. I decided I was hungry again ten minutes later and bought a Diet-Coke and a packet of crisps from a vending machine. The packet of crisps jammed and I was fresh out of change. The company looking after it was closed, so I wrote it off.

I checked in at 06:20 and waited around until 7:40. I considered buying a four-pack of film for A$19, but decided not to at the last moment. I wish I had now, as it was a good deal. I was expecting another Boeing 747, as it was an international flight, so was surprised when a tiny 100 odd seater aircraft turned up.

The flight took three hours and we touched down at 13:45 with another 2 lost hours, making it 12 hours ahead. I think I have found my optimal time zone. No wonder I am so awake at night in England!

I took ages to go through passport control and I went through the Red channel again, declaring two packets of mints and some biscuits. Jonathan and his Mother met me at arrivals. Jonathan looks like a Goth, with his hair all the way down his back, black clothing and goatee. The airport is twenty minutes away from their house, but I was taken on the scenic route. We travelled along Malakau harbour, Auckland City and the waterfront of the eastern bays - Mission and St Helliers. St Helliers looks a lot like Fish Hoek, which was the reason Jonathan’s family chose to live there in their first house. They found it too expensive to live there though, so have moved twice since then. They now own a flat, which they rent out just down the road from where they now live in a house they bought last December. The house has a double Car Port and the double garage alongside it, has been converted into a games room with two glass sliding doors. The games room contains a table for war games and a half-size pool table. The back garden is amazing. There is a swimming pool, changing rooms and a wooden deck, which they are replanking. The plants are very tropical and coloured lights line the veranda and shine up onto the trees. It looks like Happy Valley in Port Elizabeth.

It is double storey except over the garage, on top of which they are going to build a flat for Jonathan. There is another single carport on the other side of the games room, so they could sell the flat when Jonathan moves out. The property laws are such that in New Zealand you can sub-divide your house as property, which makes for some interesting looking houses. They are made of wood, which means it is very cold during the winter. However, this means you can move your house to a new plot of land if you like. A truck and a crane turn up and transport it in one piece if it is small enough, or cut it in half and reassemble it on the other side. The Kiwis are crazy!

We just played pool, listened to music and caught up, as I was shattered from the lack of sleep.

Wed 26/11/1997 New Zealand

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I woke up at about 08:00 and spent almost an hour in the bathroom, as I had to thoroughly clean out my toiletries bag.

We (Jonathan and I) caught a bus to Downtown Auckland at 11:30 and tried to find the Visitor Information Centre. This should have been simple enough, but the building it should have been in, was demolished. Fortunately, they posted a change of address. I took a whole load of pamphlets on things to do in New Zealand.

We had lunch at McDonald’s at the Atrium on Alison Street. Never again will I buy a Filet o’ Fish. I bought a large, but it was only slightly larger than the one I had at Sydney Airport. [Look out for further references to McDonald’s Filet o’ Fish.]

We walked to Victoria Park Market on the other end of town, but I wasn’t very impressed. We then walked to the Auckland Domain (Australian and New Zealand name for a Park), which is on the other end of town. We went to the Auckland Museum on top of a hill in the middle of the Domain. They had a very impressive 15 metre Maori War Canoe. We then walked to New Market and caught a bus back.

Thu 27/11/1997 One Tree Hill, Mt Eden, Mission Bay, Kelly Tarlton's

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My electric razor ran out and the sockets here are star shaped, so I might end up with a beard.

Jonathan’s Mother had the day off, so took us to ‘One Tree Hill’. It was almost ‘No Tree Hill’, as a Maori tried to chainsaw it down, claiming the tree is Pine, not Pataka (or something like that), so the wrong kind of tree for the hill. It is now propped up by a metal belt painted brown and cabling. Sir John Campbell’s grave and obelisk are on top of the hill. He was the founder and first governor of Auckland and one time Prime Minister of New Zealand. He donated a lot of land to the Public, like Campbell Park below ‘One Tree Hill’. His Trust also pays for things like exhibits at the Auckland Museum. Our next stop was his house in Campbell Park. I have some pamphlets, so won’t say any more about that, other than my comment in the visitor’s book was "Cool!".

We then went to Mt Eden, which is one of the volcanoes in the area. It offers a good view of Auckland, although not as good as ‘One Tree Hill’. There are 14 volcanoes in Auckland. Jonathan’s family lives on the outer rim of one - Mt Helliers. Rangitoto, an island visible from the beach, is also a volcano. We have been meaning to catch a ferry out to it, but the weather has not been good enough.

We were then dropped off at Mission Bay, where I bought some excellent Fish and Chips and Coke for NZ$4. Jonathan went off to buy a Big Mac and we met up at the park across the road, where we ate lunch under a tree. I was sheltering from the Sun once again.

We then walked to Kelly Tarltons, which is an underground aquarium. It was well worth the NZ$20. There is an Antarctic exhibition with a film narrated by Sir Edmund Hillary. There are also King and Garewoa Penguins swimming in a glass pool. Halfway through the exhibit, you sit in a small sealed train, which goes inside a tunnel through the glass pool, to get a better view of the Penguins. There is a display of an Antarctic shore with two stuffed Seals and all of a sudden a Killer Whale comes out of the water with a Seal in its mouth. It was so unexpected, I jumped and some of the children screamed. The next exhibit explained how the underground Oceanarium was built. Kelly Tarlton did most of the construction himself to save money. Unfortunately, he died four months after it opened in 1985, but at least he saw the opening. Further down the corridor, there are tanks of Sea-Horses, Eels, poisonous fish and various other sea creatures. There is an Ozone Layer exhibit, which show it is very thin in the Antarctic and New Zealand in Summer, due to the cold temperature and lack of sunlight in the Winter. The Ozone Layer slowly builds up again in Summer, as Sunlight is the major producer of Ozone. The last exhibit is by far the most impressive. A Travelator runs inside a reinforced Perspex tunnel runs through two huge tanks in a figure of eight - one containing Sharks and the other Fish. Everything looks a third smaller than it really is, which is a bit disconcerting, as most of the fish, especially the sharks, look very big as it is. The Crayfish were enormous. I took a few photographs of Sharks swimming overhead, but don’t think they will come out very well. Flashes are not allowed, but this was academic, as I didn’t have one!

We then caught the bus into town. Auckland looks like a futuristic town with its Sky Tower, which was completed two years ago and is the highest in the Southern Hemisphere. The boats in Hobson Bay and Auckland Harbour look really good with the forest of sails.

We went to the Games Arcade next to ‘The Control Room’ on Queen Street, where we wasted vast sums of money. We then watched "The Peacemaker", starring George Cluney / Kluney / Clooney (?) and Nicole Kidman at the cinema upstairs. It was action packed, but not fantastic.

I think I am getting to know the Layout of Downtown Auckland now. We then caught a bus back from Downtown.

Fri 28/11/1997 Art Gallery, The Globe, Carl, Pizza Pizza and Occidental Pub

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I woke up at 10am and spent a lazy morning playing pool. We eventually went into town at 14:30, in an attempt to get Jonathan’s brother, Chris, to go for an interview at Games Workshop. As it turned out, Chris caught the bus before us, but at least it got Jonathan moving. I bought some lunch, which wasn’t McDonald’s this time, but near enough - Burger King. Their Filet o’ Fish is much better, but NZ$0.50 more expensive. We wandered around Auckland, which consisted of a pool session at The Control Room and a visit to the Art Gallery. This was most disappointing though, as it was too abstract. We made our way to The Globe, which is a pub frequented by Jonathan’s colleagues on a Friday evening after work. There were only three people there at 16:45, including bar staff. A garden scene is painted on the walls and it took me a while to realise one of the pillars was actually a painting near a corner of the room. This was okay, but my communication skills must have been on holiday in England! I think I have publiphobia!?! We left at 21:15 and met up with Carl - a Brit who works with Jonathan and I had spoken to earlier in the pub. The three of us decided to go for Pizza at Pizza Pizza, which was very reasonable at NZ$4 for a small pizza and Coke. Carl went off home afterwards and Jonathan and I went to The Occidental Pub, but only after I bought another Filet o’ Fish burger from Burger King. We only drank half our drinks at this pub and decided we had had enough and caught a bus back. I think it must have been the heat.

Chris jumped out from behind some plants in the garden. I don’t know how he knew we had arrived, as we alighted further up the road, where he couldn’t possibly have seen us.

Sat 29/11/1997 "Happy Valley" in Jonathan's Garden

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Chris told me he had seen my maroon sweatshirt through the window of the bus last night. I have put it in for wash and will wear something different today!

Now this was a waste of a day! It rained. I only woke up at 11:00 and could have gone into town with Jonathan’s Dad, but was dissuaded by Jonathan. I should have done more about hiring a car, but left it too late. Thinking about it now, I should have booked one to be delivered tonight, so it could be returned on Thursday morning. I must admit, I did try to book a car for about half an hour without success. AVIS refuses to rent a car to anyone younger than 25! Anyway, the day was spent watching TV. I can’t believe Jonathan wastes every Saturday like this.

Jonathan’s parents showed me what their garden looks like at night with all the lights on.. It does look like Happy Valley in Port Elizabeth, as I mentioned before on the 25^th. It looks like a Fairy Garden. The previous owner was an Electrician, which explains it.

Sun 30/11/1997 Winter Gardens, Auckland Museum, Car Rental and Route

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07:45 I just finished catching up on the last three days’ diary entries. I started at about 06:20. I will organise a hire car to be delivered tonight. If the weather is nice, I will talk Jonathan in catching a ferry to Rangitoto, but can’t promise anything.

Later...

The weather was lousy. I organised a hire car with ACE Tourist Car Rental. Jonathan’s Dad dropped us off near the place at 15:00, but we could only fetch it at 16:15, so went to the Winter Gardens at the Auckland Domain and revisited the Auckland Museum. The reason for the revisit was we found out the top floor had more exhibits covering all the major wars. It was really impressive, which some really good reconstructions of trenches. There was even a spitfire, which had been lowered in through the roof!

The car cost NZ$37 a day, which Jonathan’s Parents said was very cheap, but we got what we paid for. The timing chain rattled so badly, I thought it would snap and go through the engine block at any moment. The boot is opened with a lever next to the driver’s seat, but I couldn’t get it to work, , so I don’t know what we are going to do with the baggage tomorrow. I just hope the radio is okay!

Jonathan’s sister and three other girls were in a rowing competition today. I accompanied his parents when they went to fetch them, as they said I would get a different view of Auckland from the other side of the Harbour over the bridge. The bridge was an experience in itself, as it has three lanes going either way and a movable barrier so the number of lanes either side can be adjusted for the time of day during rush hour. We went in the Drive-Thru at McDonald’s for an ice-cream and stopped outside a pub below the Auckland bridge on the way back. I took some photographs of the bridge from this view, as it looks really surreal with the Sky City Tower over Auckland, visible between the supports of the bridge.

I packed and planned for the trip which will start at 07:00 tomorrow morning and end Thursday at 16:15. The planned route is:

Route for touring New Zealand North Island.

The return by Wednesday night is a bit optimistic, but we are hoping to go as far north of Auckland on the Thursday as possible before we return the car.

Mon 01/12/1997 Agrodome, Rotorua, Maori Arts and Crafts Institute and Whakarewarewa Thermal Reserve

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We left Auckland at 07:45 and after about 50 kilometres (a guestimate!) outside, I realised the Odometer reading hadn’t changed. No wonder the hire of the car was for unlimited kilometres. Our first stop was a petrol station in Bethlehem. The attendant was really friendly, but she wasn’t the exception, as they all seem to be very cheerful. The scenery consisted of rolling hills, which looked like England, as there were low lying clouds and drizzle until mid morning. Our destination for the day was Rotorua, which is a major tourist attraction. There were raging fires there on Wednesday, so I was a bit apprehensive.

We visited the Agrodome - a farm just outside Rotorua at 12:36. There is a tour of the farm, a helicopter flight around the surrounding areas and a Sheep show. We opted for the Sheep Show at 13:15. This was a display of trained sheep of different varieties. Each sheep was introduced in turn and walked up a pyramid. A sheep was shorn and three Sheep Dogs introduced. They demonstrated how the dogs walk on the backs of the sheep when necessary. I have a postcard of this, but I took a photograph anyway. One of the dogs was only a year old and too keen. He knew what he had to do, so did it before being told. There was a sheep dog show afterwards and he was just the same. The shepherd kept telling him to stay, but he just flew through it.

The show finished at 14:30 and we made for the centre of Rotorua to the New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute incorporating the Te Whakarewarewa (pronounced Fakarewarewa!) Thermal Reserve. We arrived at 15:50 and it closed at 17:00, so we only managed to see all the highlights. The mixture of routes we took went past the Rotowhio Model Village, a Meeting House, Banquet Room, Hangi House, Weaving House, Canoe and through the Kiwi House. We had to keep very quiet in the Kiwi House, so as not to disturb them, but we almost walked into some other tourists, as it was pitch black inside. It was too dark, as we couldn’t see any Kiwis - or anything else for that matter. The walk also took us past Ngamakaia (Leaping From Mud Pool), which is a very active eruptive mud pool. The word eructation springs to mind! It is very overgrown on either side of the path until you reach a bridge over a river. Over the bridge, there is a vast expanse of rock, which is hot to the touch and contains five active Geysers. They are Keruru, Prince of Wales Feather, Mahanga and Wikorohihi. Keruru, The Prince of Wales and Pohutu were the only erupting ones, but it might as well have been all of them with the water and smoke they were belching out! We were running out of time at this point, as I took too long waiting for the right photographs, but I wanted to see everything, so we hurried along a detour past a Cemetery with smoking graves and the Living Village -Whakarewarewa. This eventually led to an alternative exit, so we doubled back and headed for some other interesting looking mud pools - Ngapuna Tokotoru, Hauanu, and Wairewarewa. The damage from the fire which had made national news was evident, but restricted to the surrounding hills. I wasn’t sure if it was still smoking or whether it was always like that with all the gases in the area. Oh yes, how could I forget - it smelled like rotten eggs. It stays in your clothes and I was still wearing the maroon sweatshirt, so this will finally be the excuse to wear something different. The rest of the walk didn’t look very exciting on the map, so we decided to walk back the way we had come. By the time we made it back to the main centre, it was 16:55, so everything was closing. This wasn’t really a problem, as we had seen most of the exhibits of any interest.

We decided to find a place to stay for the night, so we could park the car and walk around, not having to worry about it. I persuaded Jonathan the Youth Hostel would be a good idea. It only cost NZ$15 (£5.77) and NZ$19 for Jonathan as a non member. I phoned Susan and John Hall to organise to visit them tomorrow. They had just returned from Auckland! If I had known, I could have met up with them there, but at least I get to take some photographs of their farm. I can’t get enough of the scenery here.

We walked around Rotorua, which has very modern architecture. I wish I had taken my camera, as it was really interesting. We walked down Fenton Street to the waterfront. Lake Rotorua looks more like the sea, as it is huge. We decided it was time for supper and eventually bought a Chinese Takeaway. We ate it on a bench on the corner of a road near the Youth Hostel. We wanted to eat near the lake, but it was very Sulphurous at the part of the lake near the Youth Hostel. The food would have been cold by the time we made it back to the waterfront. It seems a bit strange eating on the street effectively, but there wasn’t anybody else walking around, so it was okay. Come to think of it, we only saw about ten people in the area. We went back to the Youth Hostel, played two games of pool and decided to call it a night, as I was tired from driving 399km.

Tue 02/12/1997 Wai-o-topu, Huka Falls, Lake Taupo, Superloo, Mohaka River, Napier, Dannevirk and Susan and John Hall's Farm

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We had hoped to see the Buried Village, but had to get going at 8:30 and headed in the direction of Lake Taupo. We noticed a sign for a Thermal Park, which sounded interesting, so we turned off. One of the side roads (a crescent) led to some Volcanic Mud Pits, which were much better than the ones we saw yesterday. That is a bit unfair, as it had rained heavily last night, which must account for it. We rejoined the main side road, which led to Wai-o-topu, which looks much more impressive than Whakarewarewa in Rotorua, with a massive also Champagne Pools (bubbly pink), Volcanic Mud and Geysers. One of these Geysers only blows once a day, but is really huge. We were there at 9:50, which was half an hour before, had to get to Dannevirk by 17:00.

Another must-see on the way to Lake Taupo is the Huka Falls. A bridge spans the top of the falls, which are only 400 feet wide, but the river which feeds it is 1000 feet wide. You can feel the power of the water as it rushed past at 10000 cubic feet a second! Even thought the sky was overcast, the water was a very bright blue, Apparently it is the bubbles, which reflect the blue part of the light. I took a photograph from one of the vantage points, but I don’t think it will do it justice.

We arrived in Taupo at 11:40 and made straight for Burger King. I don’t think I have to tell you what I had to eat! Lake Taupo is big, it is so huge, it is.... We walked around for about an hour. There are plenty of shops and there is a boat tour of the lake, but we didn’t have the time. Apparently there is a massive carving in the rock which can only be seen from the lake.

We headed for Napier on route 5. There is a petrol station just outside Taupo which says "last petrol station for 120km". It was an easy but boring ride, as it is open stretches of undulating road. We stopped at a set of Waterfalls on the Rangitaiki River and later at a picnic site on the Mohaka River.

About 148 kilometres later, we arrived at Napier. I wasn’t really expecting very much with it described as "The Art Deco City" in the brochure. We only stopped at a petrol station and drove along the waterfront There was a lot to do and see here like a Kiwi House, Marineland, Aquarium, Oceanarium, but unfortunately, everything was closed. It must be a mid Summer or at a push a weekend town.

Dannevirk was a further 151km from here. It was lucky I had been given more detailed instructions on how to get to Susan and John’s, as they actually stay about 10km before Dannevirk. I was told to turn right after a Petrol Station, carry on until the end of the road and turn right at the T-junction, which will be Tataramoa Road and it is the first house on the right. It was easy to find, but the Petrol Station was a bonus. It gave me a chance to change my T-shirt and brush my teeth.

Sean, Catherine’s husband, met us at the car, as Susan, John and Catherine were busy on the farm. Sean and John gave us a tour of the farm and I took loads of photographs. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to get a group photograph. John showed us his Rolls Royce. I took a photograph of him dusting the bonnet. They persuaded us to stay the night, as trying to make it to Palmerston North by the end of today would have been pushing it. The weather had also turned nasty and there are treacherous mountain passes on the way.

Wed 03/12/1997 Wanganui, Mt. Ruapehu, Waitomo Caves, Hamilton and back to Auckland

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Jonathan and I slept in our sleeping bags on the sofa bed in the lounge and I woke up at to the sound of howling wind. I said to Susan I hoped the foundations were very deep. She said the house was actually on small stilts!!!

We left at 8:15 just before Sean and Catherine, who went into town to post Sean’s CV.

The hair raising mountain passes started about 50 kilometres past Dannevirk. It took us about an hour to travel 40 kilometres. We didn’t stop until Palmerston North and even then, it was just to check the map. The weather was lousy, but at least it wasn’t very heavy rain. The only thing of interest before Wanganui was an Anzac Memorial.

We passed a convoy of Farmers on their way to Wellington to protest against having to pay rent to the Maories on land they bought.

We stopped in Wanganui for lunch and a browse around the shops.

I wanted to get a look at Mt. Ruapehu, which had erupted earlier in the year, so headed North towards the Nature Reserve. It took ages to get there, as it was yet more twisting mountain passes and forest. The weather turned really bad and we couldn’t see Ruapehu for all the low lying cloud. In the end, I stopped the car, stood on a rock on the other side of the road and pointed into the mist in the direction of Ruapehu!

The next stop was the Waitomo Caves, where we went on a guided tour of the Glow Worm Cave. It was really impressive and I would have loved to have taken photographs, but all forms of camera equipment weren’t allowed. The Glow Worms which cling to the roof of the cave, are actually five centimetres long and have long sticky tendrils which hang down to catch any insect attracted to the light generated by its tail. The insects mistake the glow for a way out of the darkness of the cave, only to be caught in the sticky tendrils and eaten. The tour ended with a bout trip in an underground river, where it was pitch black and the Gloworms looked like Constellations of Stars. It was pouring with rain at the exit of the cave, so we were given the option of going back through to cave to leave by the entrance. The guides go back that way anyway to return the boat, so we effectively had a second tour of the cave. There was much more to see at Waitomo, with a Museum of Caves and another tour of a Cave, but we had to make a push for Hamilton.

We stopped in Hamilton for supper at Burger King and made the final 148km push to Auckland, where we arrived at 21:30.

Thu 04/12/1997 North Peninsula, Warksworth, Victoria Park Market

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Another slightly wasted day in that Jonathan only got out of bed at 10:00, but I think I needed the rest after driving 1330 kilometres in three days!

We decided to see how far North of Auckland we could go, as we had the car until 16:15. We made it as far as Warksworth, where we ate lunch on the bank of the river. I bought two melted cheese rolls, which left me with a lot of crumbs to feed the ducks and seagulls swarmed around us. The first chunk I threw caused a flurry of feathers and noise. I emptied the bag and we made a run for the car.

We returned the car in Auckland at 15:50 and walked all the way to Victoria Park Market, where the only thing I could find was a present for Kate. It is a good market though. We returned to Jonathan’s house at 17:15 on the Express bus, which cuts out twenty minutes of rush hour traffic.

Jonathan’s parents hosted a Christmas Party for the Librarians Avis (Jonathan’s Mom) works with and Jonathan poached some of the beer. It sounds a bit childish, doesn’t it. He also gave me some of his Kahlua and milk, which is really dangerous, as it tastes like a milkshake, so you don’t actually realise you are having an alcoholic drink. It is like the alco-pops here.

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