Off to the South Pacific - First Stop Samoa!

 Time for the South Pacific!

 

Just as we were leaving New Zealand I had found out about the typhoon that was headed for the Philippines.  Whilst it was still almost 3 weeks til I was due to head there it was still a concern.  More about that later though.

 

We arrived in Samoa safely and were greeted at the airport with live music!  Novel but fun.

 

 

It was around 10pm when we landed and we had a 2 hour drive to our accommodation.  Whilst it was an uneventful drive and we couldn't see much as it was dark, I was amazed by the number of churches that we passed - literally one every hundred yards or so.  I had been told that they were very religious in Samoa and Fiji, I guess it was true!

 

We got to our accommodation around midnight and just headed straight to bed.  We were staying in what's called a fale in Samoa - their word for a beach hut.  It was on stilts and raised up from the sand but it was right on the beach and you could hear the waves breaking, it took me a wee while to get used to it but I eventually got to sleep.

 

Next morning I woke early and was greeted with the first sight of our beach - it was lovely.  The weather was beautiful and stayed that way until late afternoon when it started raining pretty heavily.  This actually proved to be an indication of how the rest of the week would go - nice weather mixed with long periods of heavy rain.  Where we were staying was very isolated, we were on the south eastern most tip of the island pretty far away from everywhere.  The whole point of this week initially was a quiet chilled beach week with no plans to really go anywhere or do much, just lie on the beach and read.  Unfortunately we ended up spending a lot of time in our fale reading and playing cards hoping for the rain to go off.  Oh well, you can't win them all.  Here are some pics of when the weather was nice.....

 

Staff clearing the beach

Sunrise

The beach fales

Nice shells we found on the beach

Dining area and bar

Katie with her evening cocktail

Me with my banana colada :-)

 

Sunset

 



 

Sea bug for dinner anyone?

 

Hello!!

 

Me going for a swim

 

and again

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I just wanted to mention that although the fales were basic, they were spotless and had what we needed.  The whole resort had been completely destroyed in a tsunami in 2009 and had to be built up again from scratch and they did a great job.  The resort was lovely, the food was good and the staff were so nice and laid back.

 

Whilst we were in Samoa, it became clear that the situation in the Philippines was pretty bad.  Whilst it was over 2 weeks at that point until I was due to arrive there, Becs (who I was to meet there) was due to fly there a few days later.  After managing to get some very expensive internet access, I got in touch with Becs and we made the decision not to go there.  As the insurance company wasn't willing to help (they were particularly unhelpful and even downright rude.  It was a company called Campbell Irvine - please avoid them), we had to just book new flights at our cost.  Becs decided to go to Bali for a week and I decided to go just go home instead of going to the Philippines.  It was kept as a secret though as I was to surprise my mum, dad and Keira - but more about that in a later blog.

 

With the decision to go home made, I only had just over 2 weeks left of my trip - eek.  I was excited though, I'd had a great time but was definitely almost ready to go home.  I still had some time in Samoa left as well as Fiji and NZ for a few days, it was time to make the most of it.

 

On our last day in Samoa, we decided to go to the To Sua ocean trench.  One of the other guests had recommended it and it had also appeared on a list of 27 surreal things to see before you die so I thought it was worth a visit.  The ocean trench is set in some lovely gardens by the coast and you can go for a wander around and see the views, it was lovely......

 

 

 

  

One of the trenches

 

When Katie and I saw the trench, our first instinct was 'there's no way I'm climbing down that!'.  However, we left all our stuff at the top and we made it down for a swim - it was lovely.  At low tide you can swim under the trench and into the sea but we weren't that brave.  It was pretty cool though.

 

 

steep ladders!

 

 Anyway, despite the weather we did have a good time.  Many books were read and more than a few cocktails were consumed!  It was time for Katie to head home, it was lovely to see her and hopefully we won't leave it 2 and half years before seeing each other again  Next stop Fiji!

 

Here are some pics of Samoa......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Zealand Part 4 - More Friends Reunited, with some Wine Tasting thrown in!

I'm sure you're all aware that I'm home now.  However, I have the mentality of 'I've started so I'll finish' so I can't leave this blog with a month of travel tales and photos still to go.  I promise I'll try and keep them short and sweet!  (as you will see from this I failed miserably but NZ was too amazing to skip over)

And so it was time for Katie to arrive.  Katie was one of my fellow Intrepid travellers when I visited India in 2011, along with Angi, Peter and Felicitas as well as our group leader Yaddu.  It was a lovely small group and we all got on very well together and as part of Katie’s trip over we were going to stay with Angi and Peter on Waiheke Island for a few days, something we were both looking forward to.

First thing though, was to pick her up at the airport.  I collected the car from the depot in the city and successfully made my way to the airport and back to Lucia's with no hassle, I was well proud of myself.  It was lovely to see Katie and she was excited to start her holiday.  For the first night we planned to meet up with some friends of Katie's that she had met whilst travelling in Greece a few years ago, which was nice.  We stayed at Lucia's that night then next morning we headed off, first stop the Waitomo Caves.  These are more commonly known as the gloworm caves and they were certainly a sight to see.  Unfortunately they did not turn out in our photos but they are definitely worth a visit.

Waitomo Caves.....

 

Bones from ancient Moa (a very large flightless bird, now extinct)

Fossils found in caves

Gloworm threads

NZ Fern

 

Next stop was Rotorua, or the smelly place!  There is a lot of geothermal activity here and therefore a bit of a sulphur smell.  I'd been here before but it was a good place to base ourselves.  The view from our room was worth the drive alone!

 

Geyser view room.....

 

 

 

Now, when we left Auckland we had a rough plan of what we wanted to do for the week we had, but no firm plans and no accommodation booked except the first night in Rotorua.  After a quick visit to the tourist information site we decided to spend another night in Rotorua before heading to the Coromandel peninsula.  So we had another day in the geothermal area and so we headed out to the Wai-o-Tapu geothermal reserve.  It is pretty spectacular so I'll let the pictures speak for themselves....

 

 

 

 

 

We also headed off to watch the geyser going off.  Whilst it's cool to see, it's staged as they make it go off by putting soap flakes down it!

 

Katie waiting on geyser going off

It's starting....

And it's off!

 

 

 

The mud pools were great, better than the ones in Azerbaijan!

 

Next stop for the day was Lake Taupo, where we headed for lunch and a wander around.  It's a lovely little town and you could easily spend a few days there.

 

On the way back to Rotorua we went to see Huka Falls.  I wasn't sure what to expect as I had only read a small paragraph about it in the Lonely Planet but it was awesome.  It's not a high vertical drop waterfall, it's impressive for the sheer volume of water that passes through it as well as the colour.

 

Huka Falls.....

 

 

We headed back to the hotel for some chill time before we went to the Polynesian Spa.  In this time I had been thinking about where we should go next.  I had initially wanted to go to Napier and the Hawke's Bay wine region but thought we didn't have enough time but I decided it was possible so ran the idea past Katie starting with 'I've been thinking......'.  This became a bit of a catchphrase during the week, with  Katie starting to dread what I'd come up with next!  Thankfully she liked the idea of some wine tasting (not that I ever doubted she would) so after arranging a wine tasting tour and some accommodation for the next day, we headed off to the hot pools/spa for some relaxation.

Next morning we were up and out early for the drive to Napier.  It was a fairly short drive and we got there over an hour before we were due to be picked up for the wine tour so we went for a wander around.  Napier is a lovely coastal town.  There was a major earthquake there in 1931 that destroyed most of the buildings so everything was rebuilt in the art deco style of the time, which is very pretty.  Luckily, whilst wandering through the town we also saw a luncheon happening in the masonic hall where people were dressed in the old style clothes and the vintage cars were out - lovely.

 

 

Napier...

 

 

 

 

It was time for some wine tasting now and we were picked up by our guide for the afternoon, a lovely man named Hamish who took us to some lovely wineries...... (the wine was pretty good too!)

 

Just a small bottle then?

 

 

Napier was lovely and we had a great time wine tasting.  It's a shame it was a short visit but the next morning it was time to move on towards Coromandel.  It was a long drive day but we got there late afternoon to find we were staying right on the beach.  We had a pleasant wander along to the town of Whitianga and had fish and chips as well as a few drinks in the local pub, a good wee night!

 

 

 

 

Large piles of shells on the beach!

 

Cheers!

 

Next day it was time to get our spades and head off to Hot Water Beach, where we could dig a trench in the sand that would fill with hot water that we could sit in - a complete novelty, you don't get to do that every day!  It's something that you can only do an hour each side of low tide which was mid afternoon so first we took a drive to Cook's Beach and the look out points for Cathedral Cove, both of which were stunning.

 

 

It was time to head to Hot Water Beach and dig.  We had some help from a local who helped us build a channel to fill our pool with hot water and it was good fun, definitely an experience!

everyone enjoying hot water beach

 

Me in  my pool

 

Next we decided to head to the town of Coromandel.  I had seen a sign post for it and saw we could cut across the peninsula rather than drive around the coast.  Perfect, I thought.  How wrong I was, the road was a complete and utter nightmare!  It was a narrow gravel road that basically hung to the side of mountains, it was terrifying!  After an hour of driving in second gear I finally got to Coromandel.  I vowed to drive back via the coast though!

 

We had a wander around then had a lovely late afternoon lunch of locally caught scallops before driving back to Whitianga along the very scenic coastal route.

 

 

 

 

 

Once back at our hostel, I went to reception to hand our spade back and found some leaflets that made me go back to Katie and say 'I've been thinking....'  lol.

Our plan had been to get up really early the next day and drive to Paihia in the Bay of Islands to try and do a boat trip out to the Islands and maybe see some dolphins.  However, it was a long drive and I wasn't sure we'd make it on time plus we had done it before so instead I suggested doing the boat trip Coromandel to properly see Cathedral Cove then head to Paihia later in the day, which was what we did.   It was well worth it, the boat trip was great fun - we were in the front of the boat and got bounced about a bit as well as getting a bit wet but we really enjoyed it.

 

 

 

 

 

Penguin!

 

A bit windswept!

 

 

We made it to the Paihia in time for dinner and bed, it had been a long drive. 

Next day we decided to head to see 90 mile beach, the large sand dunes and Cape Reinga, the most northerly point in mainland NZ.  It was another long day, with a lot of driving but enjoyable. It was a really wet day but we were fortunate that when we got out the rain stopped!

 

 

Next stop was Auckland to drop off some things at Lucia's that I didn't want to take to the South Pacific with me, drop off the car then get the ferry to Waiheke.  I was excited to see Angi and Peter again.  It was a great few days of catching up, reminiscing about our time in India and discussing future travel plans.  We walked along the beach, went wine tasting and ate some lovely food.   I thoroughly enjoyed it - where they stay is just beautiful and I'd love to visit again!

 

 

Paddle boarder on a Waiheke Beach

Peter strolling along the beach

Angi and Katie

Peter on the rope swing!

Friends reunited!

 

 

 

Me and Angi

 

Some photos from Angi and Peter's place - stunning.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was finally time to leave, with promises to stay in touch.  I definitely hope to come back to New Zealand, it has been my favourite country of my travels so far!

 

I saw this at the airport, and although it's an advert I liked it and thought it was appropriate.

 

Next stop Samoa and the South Pacific!