We left the South Island and caught the ferry across the Cook Straight from Picton to Wellington. This is always liable to be a bit of a rock and roll experience, as the strait sits smack bang in the middle of the roaring forties. The scenery is breathtaking, but you need to seriously lean into the prevailing wind, not get too close to a door that might fly into your face and it generally pays to hold onto your hat! Having said that, we arrived in the North Island safely to embark on the next part of our trip. This was mainly going to revolve around catching up with various friends. I am lucky enough to have been to NZ several times since my Gap year, when I worked on a couple of farms here and participated in Outward-Bound. The OB Course certainly creates lasting friendships by forcing you to face challenges and adversity together, so I was looking forward to meeting some of my old team! We also have quite a few long-term family acquaintances, some going back to the days when Dad came out to NZ after leaving school in the late 1950s. Our first day saw us go to Te Papa Museum in Wellington, which the boys really enjoyed. There was a chilling exhibition about Gallipoli and the trenches.
But they got completely ensconced in the earthquake zone, which had a machine where you built a toy structure on a plate. You then saw if it survived, when the plate vibrated harder and harder, mimicking an ever increasingly severe earthquake. There was also a Tsunami machine where you pumped the water to create the biggest wave you could, and then see how high your wave got. More sinister was the black paint, recently daubed over the replica English version of the Waitangi agreement (New Zealand’s founding document) by Māori protesters. The debate around Māori rights and discussions around the treaty seems to have become ever more political and somehow seems more polarised and bitter than I remember, but maybe that is just my imagination.
From Wellington we drove up into the hills through Lower and Upper Hutt and into the Wairarapa, which I have to say I love. I used to work out there, between Masterton and the coast on a sheep station for the Scofield family, and it was such a pleasure to catch up with them again. They have not had an easy time of it, as Hurricane Gabrielle seriously affected them last year. The main house where Paul lives with his young family, was condemned by the government and so has been abandoned. It still has mud inside and a high-water line that indicates how deep the flood waters really got…over the kitchen sink! The foundations were also undermined, both by the flood of water and the huge trees, carried down the river which crashed into the side of the house.
Paul just got his family out in the nick of time, with the judicious use of the tractor, and then they sheltered at a neighbour’s house and watched the river engulf their home. His parent’s house is further up the valley…but crucially it is also up the hill! This meant it was safe from the water but became a refuge for a large family who were driving back from Castlepoint and got caught in the floods. The family included a small baby and an epileptic son who was running out of meds. It all sounded very trying, and over a year later, the inevitable arguments with the insurance company, means Paul has been left in limbo, unclear what he should do next for the best. Having said that, the boys relished the feral nature of our stay!
They loved running around the farm with Pauls kids who are the same age. They chased sheep, rode on the back of quads, got to know the dogs, slid down the sheep chutes in the wool shed and played hide and seek in the yards. They particularly enjoyed going hunting with Paul, where they managed to shoot an unlikely bag of a couple of birds, a turkey, and an eel.
It was then on to Palmerston North to see another old friend of mine. Kathy used to look after my sisters and me, when she was on her big OE (overseas experience) and I was about 11 years old. She is so great and introduced herself by giving the boys crystal necklaces that she had made (with lots of instructions in what crystals they were, and how to look after them). She then went on to tell them that she was actually a witch, but it was OK, as she was one of the good ones! The boys said an awed goodbye to the witch, and we headed North into the middle of the North Island to Taupo.
There was wonderful weather there and we took advantage by going on a boat trip out onto the huge lake, that is the same size as Singapore! The lake is in fact the crater of a super volcano. Luckily, it did not erupt while we were there, although to be fair, it is so big that if it did erupt, you would probably know all about it wherever you were on the planet! We also enjoyed swimming in thermal pools, doing some hikes, seeing waterfalls, playing minigolf, and generally hanging out with friends.
From there we set off on a bit of an epic drive to Gisborne, via Napier to visit the Steeles on their remote sheep, cattle, and deer station. The Steeles are another great family connection. Dad went to work there when he left school, and we were delighted to welcome Topsy Steel to Newbottle just last year. She is the great Granddaughter of old man steel who employed Dad as a lad, all those years ago!
It was a 5-hour journey broken by a quick jaunt into Napier to see all the art deco buildings there. Eventually nearing our destination, we had to negotiate a rather hairy gorge road, which had a cliff on one side and a raging river on the other. The rain had started to fall and then it bucketed down. We could see water start to trickle and then gush down the cliff face, working its way into the clayey cliff, washing away soil and then loose rocks which started to spill across the road. On the other side, you had to avoid recent slips which meant that bite size bits of the road had disappeared into the river! Not always easy to see in a heavy down pour. At the start of the road there had been very clear signs saying ROAD CLOSED, but my hosts had assured me that I should ignore those signs as it would add hours to my journey to take the detour. But, as we swerved around falling debris and narrowly missed driving straight into the river, I began to question the wisdom of these instructions! Be that as it may, we made it unscathed and it did make me realise just how young NZ is geologically, constantly changing, forming, and reforming, you just need to make sure you don't get in the way!
The Steeles farm had also been affected by last year’s Hurricane Gabrielle, which was a real disaster for many people in several areas of the North Island. The Steeles house was OK, but they lost a lot of fencing and several bridges in the area were washed away. While we were there, we saw that their swimming pool was being fixed. When I asked if that was another casualty of Hurricane Gabrielle, the answer was no, that was another earthquake which split the fibre glass pool and broke the tiles. They took us for a grand farm tour up to the very top of the hill which had fantastic views out towards the sea, but you could see the many slips across the hills. New Zealand… it just never stops moving!
One day, they took us on a trip to see wild but habituated stingrays in the sea. They were great fun swimming in and around your waders and much to the delight of the boys they could tickle then under the chin and feed them fish!
Next stop was the Coromandel Peninsula for Easter on the beach, which was magical. Whangapoua is a lovely beach with a picturesque island just off the shore, and we were made to feel very welcome by Johnny and Mandy Barclay, who have a great Batch right on the beach. The Barclays are like our NZ family. Another long-term connection, the Barclays looked after Dad back in the day. Ever since, various members of our two families have been going back and forth between NZ and the UK ever since. At the beach we went swimming, kayaking and the boys built sandcastles.
The Easter Weekend drew to a close, and we started to head up to Auckland. We have a deadline to pick up Dad from the airport as he is coming out for a couple of weeks to see us. We are greatly looking forward to his trip but more about that next time!
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