The R&R Big Adventure

From North to South

Firstly, apologies to anyone who gets the email version of this: my last post had several typos and grammatical errors which R highlighted to me after I sent it. I will make sure the editor-in-chief clears this post first.

When we left Lake Taupo on Wednesday morning, we headed for the Huka Falls just outside of town. They are lovely waterfalls in their own right, but the walk by the river that feeds them was glorious too – beautiful crystal clear water that you rarely see in rivers, especially not in the UK. We would have liked to walk for longer, but we (or rather Robert) had a lot of driving ahead, so we continued on, stopping briefly at the Waipunga Falls en route. Visible from a look-out point off the road to Napier, these spectacular falls appear out of the forest from nowhere, and cascade down quite a height.

Napier is famed for its art deco buildings that came about as a result of a rebuilding boom following New Zealand’s deadliest earthquake in 1931 which destroyed most of the city. The different pastel colours of the buildings did look lovely in the warm Spring sunshine: it is just a shame that the canopies that protrude over the pavement from most shops here, protecting shoppers from the elements, also hide a lot of the buildings’ facade from view. Dinner in Napier was on a vine-clad terrace, in a winery just out of town, the Mission Estate. We learnt that it was here in 1851 that French missionaries first introduced wine production to New Zealand.

Thursday was ushered in by another beautiful sunrise. The blue skies gave us great views from the top of Te Mata peak later that morning. It had 360 deg views across the surrounding countryside, and only a handful of people were up there when we visited. Today was the longest drive of the trip so far (and thank you R) and we made good progress to Wellington, arriving mid afternoon, and able to check straight in to our Airbnb which was very centrally located. The weather had turned extremely windy, so we didn’t linger for long by the waterside, but instead did a bit of exploring downtown. Unfortunately Wellington is not as well laid out as Auckland, or with as modern buildings. The mix of 60s concrete tower blocks, a mishmash of architectural styles, and ill-thought-out road layouts made me think the city planner must have had a drunk night out in Birmingham, back in the day, and thought that was worth emulating.

Yesterday was culture day. We started with a tour of the Parliament Buildings, where I learnt three important facts: firstly, New Zealand doesn’t have an upper house – any bills are presented to select committees for scrutiny and amendment; secondly, that New Zealand was the first democracy to allow women to vote in 1893; and finally, that the oldest buildings on the site (Parliament House and Library) have a series of shock absorbers in their foundations (put in place in 1992 refurbishment works) to ensure the buildings can withstand earthquakes up to 7.5 on the Richter scale. We got to see some of these on the tour, and also saw how the Library had essentially been cut in half, with a small gap running up the walls and ceiling, to allow movement of the building in an earthquake. The most modern of the three Parliament Buildings, that formerly opened in 1977, and which houses the Prime Minister and the leading party MPs’ offices, is called the Hive – although in reality it looks like a brutalist, inverted concrete fairy cake.

Following a short walk through the botanical gardens, and a trip on the ‘cable car’ down the hill (in reality, a funicular), in the afternoon we visited The Museum of New Zealand (Te Papa Tongarewa) on the waterfront. A few people had recommended it, and we weren’t disappointed. The first exhibit we saw was a very moving, multi-media piece on Gallipoli. Aside from first hand stories and harrowing accounts of the various battles, the exhibit was brought to life by huge (4x size) life-like models of soldiers, nurses and others involved in the front line. The attention to detail on these was incredible – every hair, drop of blood, and bead of sweat on their brows was amazing. Everyone who walked past stopped to appreciate the craftmanship. Somehow having these oversized models next to the descriptions of what happened made the accounts all the more moving.

Other exhibits in the museum included the science behind earthquakes and volcanoes (I didn’t realise that Lake Taupo, where we had recently visited, was a caldera, and is one of the most studied super volcanoes in the world) and a history of immigration to New Zealand. All fascinating stuff.

This morning was an early start to get to the Interislander Ferry port, and check in for our 8.45am ferry to the South Island. No lugging cases on deck here – everything is very efficient: bags are checked in, and we won’t see them again until we get to Christchurch. When we get to Picton we are picking up a scenic train, the Coastal Pacific, for a 6 hour journey down the coast. Hopefully the blue skies we currently have hold out. Crossing the Cook Strait can be a choppy affair, but thankfully the crossing is currently smooth – my experience on boats is mixed to say the least, as Day 12’s entry testifies.