April was D-Day - or W-Day - and all went very well considering most of it was organized via emails. There were a couple of minor hitches but nothing to worry about – people still got their fear share of alcohol and food and appeared to have had a great time. Even the weather put in a good performance, which is unusual for Taranaki at that time of year; therefore we could have the ceremony outside as planned. Everyone scrubbed up well.
After the wedding we had ourselves a nice mini trip around the top of the North Island.
From New Plymouth we drove across the Forgotten Highway to Taupo – stopped at Whanganomona, at a lovely stream for lunch and watched kayakers go past and Owhanga. The holiday park we stayed at had a spa pool which we relaxed in for ½ hour after a day driving.
We spent the next day walking around the Craters of the Moons thermal park – cheapest thermal park in the area as it is only new -, going on the Rapid Jet ride – a must do - and visiting some free mud pools.
Then is was on to Rotorua where we spent the day roaming around the free thermal reserve in the centre of town - a real find, why pay heaps to see the same thing for free -, visiting the Maori church and meeting house – beautiful setting on the lake and we got to enter the meeting house and hear a Maori legend of the local tribe - and visiting the museum – has some interesting history of the local area. That night we went along to a Maori cultural night where we finally met up with some friends again after the wedding and had a hungi feast and watched a cultural performance including the haka, traditional Maori dances, songs and weapon usages. The holiday park here had natural, heated pools and we spent about ½ hour in them relaxing at the end of the two days we were there.
The next day we were of the Mount Maunganui where our friends spent the afternoon near or in the surf and Dale and I climbed the mount – what a fantastic view, worth the effort. That night we went out for a lovely dinner and met some other friends at a local pub where we leered up and taught the locals a few things about how to have a good time.
This is where 2 of our friends and the other 4 of us departed company. They had to fly out the next day so opted to stay put while the rest of us carried on up to Owera to stay at Dale's nephews place for the night. The next day, before continuing north to Whangarei Heads, we stayed a watched him Kite Board for a couple of hours and have a cupper.
Then it was to Dale’s sister’s place for a drunken night of mayhem – Tims Bits, Tims Bits, Tims Bits. Felt a bit sorry for myself the next day but all good. The next day we visited and stayed in Whangarei with Dale’s brother and his Mum before continuing on our journey north.
First stop after Whangarei, travelling via Kawakawa (stopped to look at the decorated toilet block and shops here), Pihia (stopped for a spot of shopping and a look at the Haruru Falls) and Kerikeri (stopped to visit the old Church on the hill, the Stone Store and Missionary House and walked to the Pa Site), was Mangonui and Hihi where we visited the whaling museum. The museum was very interesting, especially as it held some connection to Dale’s Great Grandfather - he was a Portuguese fisherman who worked on a whaling boat and jumped of board at a location in the Mangonui area, got in good with a Maori tribe in the Bay of Islands area and married the chief’s daughter. Dale had his first cast of a fishing line for the trip and didn’t get a thing. The grounds of the museum also had a Pahutakawa tree that is a couple of hundred years old and has a huge circumference – one of the, if not the, oldest and biggest in New Zealand.
Then we drove right to the top where we stopped, in the campervan, at a beautiful bay called Spirits Bay. Dale’s second chance to show of his angling brilliance – he caught 3 fish, one went back to be caught another day and he caught one molly hawk and one seagull – these were also released. The next day we drove to Ninety Mile beach and stopped at the Kauri Museum (has a huge staircase carved out of a Kauri stump), then up to Cape Reinga (it was blowing a gale but the sun was shining and the views were fantastic) and lastly south to Opononi in the Hokianga Harbour where we stayed the night at the Opinoni Hotel – great food, plenty to drink, friendly locals and neat room.
Next morning Dale was up with the larks and fishing again – caught 5 fish this time, these were put in the fridge to take to his brothers for demolishing. While Dale was fishing a bewildered local (the weather was blowing a gale and spitting and Dale was out there trying to cast a bloody line) came up to him and gave him something to eat and a bottle of drink, just for being so crazy. After the successful fishing venture we set of for Whangarei, stopping at the Hokianga Museum, through the Kauri Forest (stopped at the walkways to walk into the forest and see the huge trees, Tane Mahuta, The Four Sisters and the King of the Forest, amazing, they are huge), then through Dargaville (stopped at the Museum there which also has connections to Dale’s family on his Grandfathers, the Morgan’s, side) and then it was back to Whangarei to catch Dale's family again.
We then went back to Owera to Dale's nephews so he and Dale could go fishing. We drove back to Owera via the coastal road to Leigh and stopped of at a couple of small beaches, Goat Island and Ti Point for a look see. We would love to visit that area on a lovely, sunny weekend. It was beautiful on a cloudy, overcast day.
Then the last couple of days we spent at my brother’s place, in Auckland, during which time we went to Devonport (visited the little galleries), North Head (went for a walk around the reserve and old World War II gun placements), went to Waiteki Island (got the all day bus pass, visited the galleries and the museum, next time we will rent a car so we can go of the main routes) and went up the Sky Tower in Auckland – a must do, even I got up there although I did close my eyes in the lifts with the glass sides and bottom.