Just another weekend in Auckland...

A very quick update with this weekends adventures. A mixed bag and one of the things we love about living here at the moment.

Started the weekend with a stroll along the wild black sand "Bethells Beach". Amanda had just finished three long shifts and so the fresh air was welcome, even with the increasing wind.

A quick bite and a bit of afternoon sun - it hit 17C degrees which those of you in the UK would probably kill for right now! Run some errands before dinner and a movie on the home projector with the housemates.

Sunday a leisurely cooked breakfast before heading to the Auckland Domain to take in the "Super Special Stage" of the World Rally Championship. A first for both of us and we moved around frequently to get a taste of the action from various angles.

The cars were really hooning around the narrow roads of the Domain, launching over speed bumps, tyres squealing and engines back-firing - all with the Auckland Museum /city in the background.

Managed to grab glimpses of the legendary Sebastien Loeb, Kiwi up and comer Hayden Paddon and "youtube sensation" Ken Block Hoonigan, who you can watch in action below.

Below: Ton up in a 20K zone - where are the rozzers when you need them....?

Watched a few of the classics but made our way to the Musuem once the cars started getting more normal. Timed our exit well as we only just made it under cover before a torrential downpour started.

Marvelled at the outstanding photography on display in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition. Some photos here and here. Rich is tempted to get an SLR again!

Headed over to the North Shore for a Thai and a couple of glasses of beer with one of Rich's friends and his partner- Leffe Blonde for the men, cherry beer for the ladies...

Some footage on youtube posted by a fellow JAFA...

And a couple of videos we took ..

rally musuem from Rich & Amanda on Vimeo.

rally fast from Rich & Amanda on Vimeo.

Rotorua

May 2012. Approximately 210 minutes drive south of Auckland is a town affectionately named by some as Rotovegas. Yes, this week reader, we are taking you on a quick trip to Rotorua, a town known for its motels, and love of the tourist dollar.

It's also, more appropriately known as home of geothermal activity; at least as far as the North Island is concerned.

Headed south straight after work in the trusty Corolla and arrived around 9pm, just enough time to grab a beer and check out the hot pool - geothermally heated, naturally. Quite cool as it was a clear night and we could see in the pool and look at the stars - ahhh.

In fact this was a momentous evening for Amanda - on the drive down she saw her first shooting star - ever!

Up early the next day to check out one of the famed geothermal parks - the wonderfully named "Wai-O-Tapu Geothermal Wonderland" - which had Rich half expecting to see Willy Wonka, or at least some oompa-loompas. Once again the weather gods where shining on us - another blue dome day; if the park could live up to its name and match the weather we were in for a treat.

First we have to mention the steam however. It seems to be erupting from just about everywhere. Drains in the road, peoples back gardens. Some enterprising individuals have even used it make their own hotpools in the back yards.

It did not disappoint. While essentially, just some holes in the ground, bubbling mud and funny coloured rocks it was an absorbing couple of hours. Never seen anything like it. Sulphurous steam vents all over the park, from just about any crevice and in some cases is quite overpowering due to the strong eggy pong.

Rotorua is famous for it - it's own distinct pong. It was not that noticeable the night we arrived - perhaps due to the clear skies. Here at the source, however it was unmistakable.

One of the highlights had to a pool known as The Champagne Pool and the adjacent "Artists Palette". Very hot and with clouds of steam constantly rising from them, clearing frequently to show the rock coloured various colours - the exact colour dependent on the minerals deposited in them.

Also saw a famous geyser called the Lady Knox geyser which they ensure erupts on time with the addition of some biodegradable soap.

In the afternoon we visited a small town called Ohinemutu on the shore of Lake Rotorua, the regions original Maori settlement (now a suburb of Rotorua). Quite noticeably poorer and more run down than the rest of Rotorua - but with a charm all of it' nonetheless. There is an impressive meeting house and church opposite each other with the church containing a window etched with the image of Jesus clad in a Maori cloak - he appears to walk towards you across the surface of the lake.

As the sun was setting we popped over to the Old Bath House and surrounding botanical gardens.

Lost our luck with the weather the following day. The blue skies turning a depressing grey and rain falling all day. Headed to to the Redwood forest, however, where the canopy provided ample protection from the rain. Wow. What a beautiful place. Walked for a couple of hours through the forest, working up an appetite for lunch before heading back to Auckland.

The forest also has loads of mountain bike tracks, rated just like ski slopes - 'Sweet' says Rich with a far off look in his eye. 'OK' says Amanda, 'We can come back...'

Snapper!

Weekend last, Rich headed out on a fishing charter with a couple of colleagues (and about 15 other people!). An early start as we had to be at the docks by 6.45 and so up around 5.50-on a Sunday!

Quite a cold day, especially out of the sun. Good job we had many layers on and thankfully it remained dry all day.

Was told to expect to come home stinking of fish and to wear some old clothes - since we ditched all the old clothes before heading to NZ I had to go out and buy some old clothes.

First time I've been fishing as I recall. We headed out about one and half hours, erm, sail and dropped anchor.

Had a quick lesson on how cut up the bait (Pilchard) and how to bait hooks so that it does not fall off (hook around the backbone) and then we were off.

In no time somebody had landed a small Trevailly, not good eating apparently, but unfortunately for the fish, legal size and promptly cut up for bait.

First fish landed that was legal size was a Red Snapper. Unfortunately our skipper had not told us how to take the fish off the hooks, or, how to kill them. Pretty important stuff really.

The hooks are pushed out and can be tricky to do. The fish are killed, not by whacking the heads on the deck as some of us thought, but by inserting a knife into their brains.

Unfortunately, one clueless group of four where not even aware they had to kill the fish and were ready to chuck them straight in the cooler. And despite further instruction, they never got the hang of it and many fish suffered an agonising death at their hands.

One of the four, early on, was trying to kill the fish by "suffocating" it with a rag; before thinking about stomping on it's head.

Was very disappointed with the skipper by this point, who turned out to a bit of an arse, more interested in making sure he got his fair share than making sure everybody knew what they were doing and indeed, the welfare of the fish.

Don't want to sound like a bleeding heart, but in my opinion, if you are are going to hunt, or fish you should respect the life of the animal you are taking and give it as quick and humane a death as possible.

What made it worse was that it turned out that many of those on board had no intention of taking the fish home with them, they were just landing them for sport and then butchering them. It was pretty grim, seeing how many fish were being chucked into the cooler still alive.

I could see little point in this and once I had a couple I threw the rest back. Two was easily enough for me considering Amanda does not eat fish and at that point I had no idea how to gut and fillet them.

In all I landed 3 Snapper and 3 Kahawai. Learnt how to gut and fillet the two Snapper I took home via youtube and had sautéed snapper as a starter that night. Yum! The larger one is in the freezer ready to baked.

We moved around a few times, changing location when the fish stopped biting and ened up about 2 and half hours from home.

One of the highlights was cathcing glimpses of dolphins by the boat; and fishing near a huge flock of gannets or the like and watching them dive into the water for fish.

Great to eat fish you have caught yourself - I'd do it again - just not with that skipper and ideally a smaller crew, who had a little more respect for the fish...

Home on the Overlander

OK, a very quick post here, as this was a long time ago. Easter weekend in fact when we headed down to Wellington. We were chauffeured there by JetStar Airlines, and a fine hassle free service it was, with livery reminiscent of that well known European budget airline.

For the trip back we decided on something a little more scenic and booked ourselves on the Overlander train. A 12 hour journey that winds it's way though past some stunning scenery, through 14 tunnels and across over 350 bridges.

We left Wellington promptly at 7.25am and George kindly got up earlier than us in order to drive over and pick us up and deliver us to the station.

The journey, really was picturesque, some amazing views of the heartland of the North Island, lots of rolling pasture, some forest and bush and some jaw dropping views as we crossed some very wide and deep valleys.

Can't say we would rush to do the journey again however. Already long at 12 hours, our actual journey took almost 14 due to a broken down train on the (single) line. The rolling stock also dates from the 1960s and despite some ongoing refurbishment is pretty dated, while the food available was very poor - and only instant coffee!

Our day did no end with our arrival at Auckland station either as we still had to find our way home. So a long old day. Glad we did it as some awesome scenery, but will not be doing it again in a hurry.

Unfortunately our photos do not do the views justice as it was often hard to get a good one due to reflections or other people in the way; however a few are below, including some for all you train buffs...