Rotterdam-Amsterdam-London-Los Angeles-Auckland: 33:15 hrs of travel

19-21 November 2002

We leave with the 8:26 train from Rotterdam to Amsterdam Airport. The train journey goes off without a hitch. Our flight leaves with a 15 minutes delay at 11:45 to London. There we change planes for Air New Zealand 's flight to Auckland via Los Angeles. We leave at 3.00pm and after nine hours we arrive in LA. We have to clear immigration and then back into the departure lounge and wait for the remainder of our flight. We have to be careful at filling out the immigration forms. One tiny mistake means filling in a new form and getting back in line. At 8:00pm (PST) we brace ourselves for another 12.5 hours in the air. At long last we arrive in Auckland at 5:45am (NZ time). We are fairly tired, but not exhausted. We take a shuttle bus to our Bed & Breakfast in Herne Bay. Herne Bay is a quiet residential part of Auckland with fine wooden villas. We will be staying 2 nights at  Moana Vista and are welcomed by Tim, one of our hosts. Fortunately we can go straight to bed. We sleep until about 1pm. A bit dazed we go for a stroll along nearby  Ponsonby Road. This is the artery of the neighbouring Ponsonby district, with lots of café's, restaurants and nice little shops.  We have lunch at a café and drink some coffee at Starbucks. Back again to the B&B. Later at night we have dinner at Estasy a nice restaurant on Ponsonby Road. It has been a sunny day with some 20°C, but at night it cools down quite a bit. We call home to say everything is fine and go to bed around 10.

22 November 2002

After a long and deep sleep we have breakfast in the B&B. Fruit, yoghurt, toast and cereals, kindly presented by Tim. After breakfast we wait for Ian our Internet friend from Auckland, who will show us around town today. Auckland is the largest city of New Zealand with around a milion inhabitants. This means that more than a quarter of the 3.8 million Kiwi's live in here. Ian is meets us around 10.30. We walk into the central business district, where we first have a coffee. We get acquainted with the modern New Zealand coffee culture and its own terminology. An espresso is called Short Black and a double espresso unsurprisingly Long Black. With lots of milk it becomes a Flat White. There is of course  Capuccino, which becomes, chocolate-laced, a Mochaccino. The milky Café Latte usually comes in a glass,  but sometimes in a bowl. The Skytower is the highest tower in the Southern Hemisphere and with 328m (1176ft) one of the highest in the world. It is a rainy morning and the view is rather limited at first. But the sky starts to clear and we get a fair view of the city and around. Ian explains what we are seeing. It is a beautiful sight. We go up from the main observation deck to an even higher deck (at $3 extra). The view is not much better, but it is a lot quieter up there. After having enjoyed the views we go down and have lunch in a large bookstore, Whitcoulls. After that we continue towards the Waterfront. The quays are abuzz with lots of activities connected with  Louis Vuitton cup. The winner of this yacht-racing competition gets to challenge Team New Zealand for the America's Cup. Yacht-racing is serious business, with enormous boat sheds, design secrets, covered keels etc. Most teams have their own gift shop and fashion line.  Amerigo Vespucci, the the training vessel of the Italian navy is in port. We walk back to the B&B through Albert Park, where  all kinds of sports are being practiced (cricket, rugby, soccer). We say goodbye to Ian and take a break. Later that evening we have dinner at a Thai restaurant, Erawan. Good food and friendly service. We then go on to the local gay bar (Surrender Dorothy), which is packed and very cheerful. We spend some time there until we think it's time to call it a day. 

The weather was rather unsettled today. First cloudy and showers, later on it cleared with sunny spells. 19-20°C (70°F).

Auckland - Coromandel - Whitianga: 172km (107mi.)

23 november 2002

After breakfast and some chatting with our hosts Tim and Matthew we take a taxi to Budget to collect our rental car. It is a Toyota Camry, quite spacious. We drive out to the Coromandel peninsula. At first it is quite busy on the road but after a while, after we have passed  Thames it gets quieter and the road starts to follow the beautiful shoreline. The sun is shining and temperatures go up to 20°C (70°F). We follow the coast up to Coromandel Town, where we have lunch. After lunch we drive up to the   Drive Creek Railway. A potter's hobby gone wild. It is a narrow gauge railway up the mountains. Originally it was set up to transport clay from the mountains to the pottery, but now it has evolved to a passenger train taking visitors to a magnificent lookout. The route is dotted with all kinds of pottery artefacts on the embankments.

We move on to Whitianga on the peninsula's Eastern shore. The weather is less than fine here. Overcast and showers. In Whitianga we stay at the YHA-hostel, On the Beach Backpackers Lodge, where we sleep in  twin room so small, we barely swing a cat in it. With sea view - granted. 

We walk into town and have a drink. After that we have dinner at the Fireplace.

24 November 2002

Last night and this morning it has been raining cats and dogs. There has been quite a gale too. We have breakfast at Café Nina. Good. It is getting dry outside, by now and we drive towards Cathedral Cove. That is to say: to a car park nearby. From there it a good 45 minute walk to the cove. A wonderful walk with splendid views, going up and down all the time.  Cathedral Cove itself is beautiful too, with a marvelous rocks. We return along the same path we came on. We drive to Shakespeare point. From there we have good view of the coast and Whitianga. Around 4pm we have a drink in town at Salt (cute bartender), after which we drive out again to Hot Water Beach. It is a beach where  thermal springs come to the surface half an hour either side of low tide.  . You can dig a hole (spade borrowed from the hostel) that instantly fills with hot water, thus creating your own hot tub. Quite an experience!

We head back for Whitianga and have dinner at Salt. We hang on in town for a drink in one of the bars, but everything is very quiet on this sunday night.

Whitianga - Rotorua: 222km (138mi)

25 November 2002

After breakfast at Nina's we drive to  Rotorua. It is only 220 km (137mi) but the roads are rather winding and it takes us about 3.5 hrs. We are staying at the (gay) B&B of Warwick en Michael, called Ascot Villa. Situated in a quiet residential area. The house is full of brick-a-brac, but our hosts are very welcoming and helpful. 

Rotorua is most of all known for its vulcanic activity, especially the large number of thermal springs, mud pools and geysers. You smell Rotorua long before you see it. There is a pervasive sulphuric smell (rotten eggs) about the place, but you get used to it after a short while. It is also a town where Maori's have succeeded in hanging on to their traditions. 

In the afternoon we visit the NZ Maori Arts en Crafts Institute, also known as Whakarewarewa, Whaka for short. Here we get a guided tour showing us the art of Maori wood carving and Maori culture in general. About 30 young Maori males (absolutely no females) are being trained in the art of Maori traditional wood carving. Thus keeping alive this aspect of their culture. After that we go on a train for a tour to the  geysers Prince Of Wales' Feathers and Pohutu ("big splash"), which are on the same property. Our Maori guide tells her story with visible pride.

At night we eat at La Vega, a modern place. Decent food.