Back From My Jollies

Just a taste of what we've seen.

Nearly There.

We landed back in London on Tuesday morning and came over to the Guildford area to spend a few days with family before making the final hop to Spain early next week. The contrast between high summer in NZ and deepest winter in England is quite alarming. Obviously, the temperature difference is enormous, but it's surprising how quickly you forget how short the days are in the UK in February, once you move overseas; for the increased daylight alone, it will be good to get back to Frigiliana. Other things to look forward to? Living out of a wardrobe again, instead of out of a suitcase, seeing friends again, picking up my Spanish classes and speaking the language on a daily basis - it's strange how rusty I feel after only five weeks of speaking exclusively English, and, of course, another big fiesta, Carnaval, is just around the corner, when the village will be a riot of colour with the procession. In the meantime, however, it's great to spend time with the family, especially our two granddaughters who, of course, are the most gifted, the most intelligent and the most beautiful granddaughters the world has ever seen; as their grandad I know these things!

The Carnival Is Over (Nearly)

Well, we are at our penultimate stop, Waitangi, with yet another fantastic view from our window. Sadly, my iPad doesn't have the facility (or I have yet to discover it) to upload photos to the blog. When I get back to my laptop, I'll upload a selection.
Anyway, why Waitangi? Firstly because it is situated on the Bay of Islands - 147 apparently - which is one of the "must not miss" destinations, and secondly because just down the road, literally, is the Waitangi Treaty House, where said treaty was signed on 6th February, 1840, between the chiefs of the various iwi (Maori tribes, and a very useful word in Scrabble) and a certain Captain Hobson, the official representative of Queen Victoria. Although there had been European settlers here for many years, this effectively marked the birth of New Zealand as we know it today. February 6th is celebrated as a national holiday, Waitangi Day, not least here in Waitangi. With my flair for timing, we land back at Heathrow on the 5th.
Waitangi is a popular cruise ship stop, though passengers have to be ferried in on a flotilla of small boats. There is a large boat anchored out at the edge of the Bay this morning with its attendant shuttle service; something else interesting to watch!

It's The People

We're more than halfway through our time in New Zealand. On our last visit at the end of 2007, we split our time between North and South Islands and found South Island much the more spectacular in terms of scenery. This time we are just on North Island. We've revisited a couple of places, but mainly have been to new ones. In doing so we have found that North Island is equally spectacular in its own way, especially when routes take you over the mountains or through river gorges. Most spectacular of all though, are the people. We didn't spend any time in Wellington, and will be only very briefly in Auckland, right at the end of our trip, so I can't speak for the big cities, but rural and smaller town Kiwis are fantastic. There isn't just a hospitality industry here; it's a hospitality culture - from friends of the friends we have stayed with welcoming us into their midst and into their homes as if we too were their lifelong friends, to the lady we met a couple of days ago at her family's jade workshop and shop who, on discovering that we had walked half an hour from the centre of town on a very hot day, immediately offered to drive us back. At this point we hadn't even started browsing and so she had no reason to believe that we would actually spend any money. We did buy some items, and we declined her offer of transport; the beach was nearby so we walked back at - or more precisely, in - the water's edge. I shall remember the Kiwis long after the memory of the places we visited has faded.

Napier

Well, here we are enjoying a Napier summer. We arrived on Sunday afternoon and checked into our seafront hotel, where Trailfinders had booked us a room at the front, and so we look out from the fifth floor at a South Pacific of quite unbelievable turquoise. We chose Napier as a stopping place as it sits on Hawke's Bay, home to New Zealand's. red wine industry. Yesterday we spent going from one winery to another, at each one being offered tastings of Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris and Chardonnay to prove that they also make excellent whites, followed by Pinot Noir, Merlot and Syrah. At a couple of wineries we were ALSO offered a late harvest, sweet Cabernet Sauvignon, produced as a dessert wine. We visited six wineries in total, so even though I did a lot of spitting, I had a gentle, warm glow for the ride back to the hotel.
We chose Napier, as I say, pretty much by chance, so it was a bonus to discover the city's other claim to fame as an Art Deco city. On the 3rd February of 1931, around one o'clock in the afternoon, a devastating earthquake which lasted for three minutes, flattened the town. When things had settled down seismically the decision was taken to rebuild on the same site, but also to build a city that would be a monument to those who had been killed or injured. They chose the then very much in vogue Art Deco style. In the USA, home to Art Deco, construction was virtually at a standstill - rather like Spain today - as the country was in the grip of the Great Depression. Napier can justly claim to be the world's foremost Art Deco city. A fascinating place to walk around.