Homeward Bound

We left French Polynesia quite satisfied, our final day motoring around the beautiful lagoon in a rental boat was the best part of our time there. After an overnight flight to LA we were in the hotel by 10am and on the VIP bus at noon. This whirlwind tour was as American as it gets but the only way to see all those celebrity locations that one sees on television on a very regular basis in the short time available. Marina Del Rey, Bel Air, Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, Hollywood and Santa Monica, home of the famous pier.

Since the bus driver fought through the traffic and we had to squeeze through the crowds at the Kodak Theatre for a shot at the Hollywood sign, here it is.

It was a 4am start for the flight to Miami. Believe it or not, in all the years we have lived in Bermuda and visited various parts of Florida we have never seen the Miami area. We spent an overnight in South Beach before driving down to Key West for 2 nights, they say you either love or hate the Keys, we rather liked it. The last 3 days have been in and around Coral Gables with our very good friends the Grooms, who introduced us to this magnificent oasis of leisure The Biltmore Hotel. Built in 1925 it has had an interesting history as a hotel, war hospital and some years of closure and bankruptcy before being restored to former glory.

What a wonderful place to spend the last days and the last dollars (!), our flight leaves this afternoon. It will take us some time to absorb all that we have seen and done in the last 4 months, this adventure is over but will be replayed in our memory for a long time to come (until the next one).

Rolling in the Deep

We had a late arrival into Papeete where most people would say that 36 hours is 35 hours too long. However, we took the opportunity for a trip along the coast and into one of the valleys and it was quite pleasant. Wandering around town in the afternoon we soon realised that people are generally unfriendly and unhelpful so we were pleased to fly to Raiatea early the following morning.

In some ways the best place to see French Polynesia is from the air as all the reef lines, islands (Motus) and colour changes of the sea appear more dramatic. We boarded our catamaran, an Eleuthera 60 with four guest cabins for a three night sail to Huahine, Tahaa and Raiatea.

The first day was somewhat overcast but the seas were a gentle swell so no illness problems for anyone.

Our fellow passengers were a French couple teaching in Tahiti and a Swiss couple taking a year off. The captain was French and the cook/stew was Polynesian. We stopped in a few bays to snorkel, kayak and play on the beach. On the last evening we moored off of a local hotel for Happy Hour and some music, touristy but fun.

The following day was glorious for our return to Tahaa and the clear aqua waters were as beautiful as we have ever seen, you can easily see fish and various species of ray, you almost don't need a mask. We thought this was good but we had yet to see the jewel in the crown which from the ocean perspective is Bora Bora. This photo was taken through a rather dirty aeroplane window.

It is possible to arrive at the airport, which is on an island, and take a launch to your 5 star hotel on one of the Motus, sit on the manicured beach, eat lobster and drink champagne served by happy smiley people as you gaze across the lagoon to the rugged peaks of the main island. This would be as close to paradise as you would expect to get.

However, the main island is quite different as we discovered on our cycle ride. It is quite populated, people are not particularly friendly, it smells of drains, and there are a lot of mangey dogs running around.

So there are two sides to every story but the upside of Bora Bora is sensational.

On to Hollywood!

It was worth it

It's our final morning in New Zealand, 6 weeks gone by in a flash. The South Island is the more beautiful but the North Island also has a lot to offer and no matter what part of the country we have been in there has always been something interesting to see. For example:
Aranui Cave at Waitopo

We played our final round in NZ at Muriwai Beach Links just west of Auckland.

This lovely view of the beach, the dunes and the course is taken from the cliffs above where there is also a large gannet colony. The gannet has similar behaviour to the Bermuda Cahow although it is not a nocturnal bird. Upon hatching the parents alternate nesting while the other searches for food (usually sq uid)the chick practices flying. After 15 weeks the young bird is kicked out and on instinct flies to Australia where it spends a few years before returning home to find a mate, they breed and stay for life.

There are so many things to see and do here that we could spend a lot more time but we have gone tip to tip and east to west. The people are friendly and accommodating and the tourist activities are professional and well organized. There are a few minor irritations, the food and wine pricing is all over the place and we sympathize with the locals who produce so much fine quality food which is exported while they pay high prices for the leftovers. When you can buy a bottle of wine in Bermuda or London for less than you pay at the vineyard where it is grown, something is wrong. However, we do not want to detract from what has been a fantastic experience which we will always treasure. Many times we have taken a walk, tour or ride and almost every time we have returned and said 'that was worth it'.

Next: French Polynesia

Warning

This is Masters week so this is a warning, all non golfers will probably be bored. As we sit in our hotel overlooking Lake Taupo watching day 1 (Friday morning here) of the Masters we can reflect on our own golf of a somewhat lower standard. New Zealand has more than 500 courses and we decided to try a variety. The links course at Paraparaumu Beach which has hosted the NZ Open 12 times was a great start, we both played well and must have been concentrating because I forgot to take any photos!

On the way to Taupo is a most unique layout at Rangatira, the course has 3 levels: the top 6 holes are rather mundane and flat. The seventh is a long drive down a steep drop and the middle 6 are parkland holes with some undulation. At the 13th you hit another long drop drive into the valley and the final holes are just beautiful with a large variety of very mature trees and the backdrop of a steep river canyon.

Thankfully the members do not make you walk back to the clubhouse, instead you can take Bernies Bomb, a cable car for 4, with clubs.

Wairakei International G.C. is magnificent in every way, (too many bunkers for Clare's liking and most of them faced with palm wood, resembling the Pete Dye railway tie effect). It is a tough walk with many elevated tee boxes, definitely a golf cart style course for many, but the views make it all worthwhile.

We are taking a break from playing today, and will probably go Jet Boating around Huka Falls, so many difficult choices.
We couldn't leave NZ without showing you one of these, a real Kiwi, there aren't many left.

Island Hopping

The days are flying by and we now realise that we haven't updated you for almost a week. After Mt. Cook we stayed in Lake Tekapo and the following morning went up to the Mt. John observatory for what was to be our last look at the Southern Alps, note how brown the landscape is on this side. We have now seen these mountains from east, west above and below.

Back to the coast for 2 days in Akaroa, originally settled by the French this is a quaint little day tripper town on the Banks Peninsula which is described as having fingers of land 'like cogs in a wheel', an expression Bermudians can relate to. It is only 50 miles from Christchurch but feels like the end of the earth as there are so many steep hills to negotiate before you reach the town.

After 2 relaxing days we moved on to Christchurch, a very English city in the Canterbury district with the River Avon and many other English names. Sadly, there is not much to see, the city center is fenced off and is to a large extent a demolition site with cranes, heavy equipment and many buildings propped up with steel girders. In this photo you can see the Cathedral, once the heart of the city now being demolished. The university buildings are badly damaged and will cost a fortune to repair, estimates to rebuild Christchurch are in excess of $2 billion. One ironic sign read 'New Zealand the untouched world".

Hanmer Springs is a typical Spa town in the mountains, with hot pools and sulphur baths and the usual range of activities: bungee jumping, quad bikes, rafting and jet boats and the river side drive is very pretty. The amazing thing about this country is the diversity, it probably all sounds the same after a while; coast, mountains , coast mountains, but it isn't because the topography is different, the trees are different then the beaches and rocks change. On the way to Kaikora we stopped for coffee at a little oceanside cafe, across the road there were a few rocks but nothing spectacular until about 100 dolphins showed up jumping and flipping and doing all the things you see at Seaworld, no big deal- it happens every day.

Moving into Marlborough country the hills become very brown until you reach the vineyards.

Most of the time we have stayed in motels, they are generally well equipped and comfortable but we felt that if we were in wine country we should stay in a vineyard, not as easy to find as one might think but after a few tries we did it, the above photo was from the veranda of our cottage just 10 steps from the Chardonnay vines. However this area is primarily known for Sauvignon Blanc and we have tried a few in the last 5 weeks. Sunday lunch at Highfield Estate was quite decadent, good food and the best view in the valley.

Our last day in South Island which has been exceptional, we take the ferry back to Wellington on Monday to start a 5 day golf tour.

Mt. Cook and MacKenzie Country

Having enjoyed the Otago Peninsula we drove the coastal route up to Oamaru, stopping at Moeraki to see the boulders. At this point the road turns west, back inland along the Waitaki River valley.

The key features of this river are the eight dams and lakes which have been created as they provide a large percentage of hydro electric power being fed from the glacial Lake Pukaki. This lake is generally considered to be the most beautiful in the country due to the effect of Blue Crush. The blazing turquoise colour is due to the sediment (rock flour) in the water created by the rock on rock action of the glacier grinding out fine particles that are suspended in the melt water, this sediment gives the water a milky quality and refracts the sunlight.

The Aoraki(Cloud Piercer in Maori)/Mt. Cook National Park is a World Heritage Area. We visited the Sir Edmond Hillary Museum before taking a boat tour on Lake Tasman. When you are only a few kilometers from New Zealand's highest mountain (3755M) the last thing you expect to see is a maze of icebergs, note the blueness of those farthest away, new is blue as the sun has not yet affected them. The ice is centuries old but the lake has only been there for 30 years.

The ice strewn lake is a dynamic environment, there is always the danger of an iceberg breaking up and with a decent wind such as we had the location of these floating islands was changing constantly. Higher up the Tasman Glacier is a spectacular sweep of ice as we saw from our helicopter ride a couple of weeks ago. In the ablation zone (where it melts) it is quite ugly, as it is horizontal it melts from the top down exposing the stones and boulders and forming a lake, as you look to the shore the rock line clearly shows that the glacier at one time was 600 meters above lake level.

As is often the case Mt. Cook did not show it's face today, it stayed in the clouds, but the ride back along the lake in the afternoon was stunning as we made our way to Lake Tekapo.

Scotland

Having been lulled into a false sense of lower expectation we headed north towards Dunedin. For some reason we hadn't thought much about staying here for long but as the Coastal Scenic Route gets closer the beaches get better and when you start to see names like Ardmore, Kintyre and McTaggert you know you are in Scotland!
We checked into a motel and set off up the Otago Peninsula. It wouldn't be Scotland without a castle and sure enough there is Larnach Castle, the only one in New Zealand and it is superb, built in the Victoria era, the owner spared no expense in importing the finest timber, glass, marble and tiles and the top artisans to install them.

The far reaching views (apologies for mentioning that again) over Otago Harbour, the beaches of the Pacific and the lush green valleys are worth the entry fee alone, and the gardens are beautiful.

As we were in Scotland some links golf seemed appropriate so we squeezed in a twilight round and true to from there were some wee showers.