Author Mr A
Location: The Bay of Plenty, New Zealand
30 December – It was the day before New Year’s Eve and we headed out into the hills to have morning tea with our friends’ parents, on their kiwi fruit orchard. No kiwi involved incedentally, just lots of childhood stories about David and his siblings, and a tour of the house, accompanied by delicious scones and jam.
After a couple of hours of fine hospitality we farewelled Pat and Bill and headed off down to the Wairoa River. Initially we had thought we could cruise on down on our packrafts from the upper reaches, but Bill had advised us of flaws in our plan – firstly, the river is tidal, so we would be starting against the water, and secondly, its about 14km – about three times as far as we usually paddle in our inflatable packrafts.
Instead we set off from near the coast and cruised on up with the tide, enjoying the singing skylarks and the swooping swamp harriers over the waters’ edge. Just a short 4km paddle was all we needed, escaping the noise of the highway and relishing being close to nature.
31 December – Before we knew it, the end of 2018 was upon us, and we decided to head up into the hills behind our base at Omokoroa for a wander through Puketoki Reserve, a stunning little native forest haven, saved from the saw in 1925. Catherine of course captured some lovely memories for us to share.
1 January 2019 – Happy New Year! After a relatively quiet (for us) New Year’s Eve we were up for some paddling out on the glorious Bay of Plenty. Catherine’s dad offered to give us a lift to a Pahoia Domain beach, a couple of bays north of us, from which we then paddled back to his house.
Well, what a start to the the year! It was an awesome paddle. Our packrafts were inflated quick smart and we launched into the bath warm shallow water.
We are so delighted with these little boats, and pleased we changed them over to these new models from Kokopelli. Much smaller packed size means easier to carry around, and a narrower beam makes them a little quicker – well relatively – we are aren’t going to break any paddling records, but thats not our intention. We just dawdled along checking out the incredible scenery.
This grand mansion came into view. Wow….but are the owners happy?!
2 January – This morning we packed up the car and set off with a reasonably vague plan to explore over four or five days parts of the North Island we haven’t made it to on previous trips. Our destination today was inland and over the rugged range that runs down the east coast of the Bay of Plenty to the small town of Cambridge.
We had read about the ‘Te Awa River Ride’, a cycle route following the mighty Waikato river, with the most scenic section being between Cambridge and Lake Karapiro, where the river has been dammed.
We hired bikes from the local information centre and set off on the “river ride”. Only one thing missing – the river. After riding through the town, with mostly no bike lanes, we roads along a long straight path by the side of a main road for 90% of the ride, finally arriving at the river.
The picture of the ride that appears in all the marketing literature is actually the only really scenic 200 metre section on the whole trip (28km return!)!
Just in case you had read like me that “Cambridge is the cycling centre of New Zealand” and were panning to come – I would reconsider.
It ended up at a very cycle unfriendly road with cars racing past on narrow lanes…we turned back!We treated ourselves to dinner out at the local Indian restaurant which helped Cambridge to redeem its reputation somewhat.
Onwards tomorrow to explore new locations. We do love a good road trip!
We decided to miss the hairpin bends of the Kangaroo Valley route, and headed across the top of Moreton National Park via the Nerriga road. The small rural centre of Crookwell was our destination, and a council run caravan park that I saw had good reviews… on arrival that we felt the good reputation was completely justified. What a spotless little place!
What a top bloke. Again we were reminded of why we love travelling in the country amongst these genuinely friendly folk.
This is the first time we have seen Jo and Alan’s new place. Alan was a boss of mine in our previous lives in the IT industry, and he and his wife (a former maternity nurse) have reinvented themselves as farmers. How about that for nerve! Selling their fabulous, architect designed house in Berry they purchased this 258 acre property (previously a famous horse stud) earlier this year, and are now living in the stables. They have already got one cash producing crop of lucerne under their belt and are breeding pedigree goats.
Why would they do this, you might ask? The subject of many a conversation over a good red last night. Basically neither were ready to hang their respective hats up quite yet. Jo got interested in goats whilst at Berry and had real success with breeding and showing them. Alan has the ability, it seems, to turn his hands and brain to solve any challenge.
When you see people starting new phases of their lives like this, you are reminded that we are only limited by our ambition and courage. We are lucky enough in Australia to have so much opportunity to explore what we are capable of, and often the means to do so.
Two weeks today we will pull out of our driveway unsure as to when we will be back. We have rented the house out again, but this time unfurnished, as we want to continue to travel for at least a year and more likely longer, and offering the place unfurnished means longer more stable rental income. Well thats the plan anyway. We’ve locked in our first tenant with the help of Ray White Real Estate, who will manage the rental while we are away.
So as well as finalising the packing we are organising the multitude of things that you need to change if you will no longer have a permanent address. Of course this has been so much easier now almost everyone can transact with you without sending mail, except the RTA of course, bless them. Oh and CIL, the specialist caravan insurer who would have a huge percentage of their customers of no fixed abode! Some companies are still struggling with the digital transition it seems.
The America we have met on this trip is one full of kind, respectful people (no..we didn’t meet any politicians). We had so many instances of people (friends and strangers) go out of their way to be thoughtful and courteous. When you read the headlines focusing on the negative headlines from here, as elsewhere, its easy to forget a country is made up of individuals. It’s hard not to generalise about the “behaviour” of groups of people from the same geography, race, religion or sex. As humans, we want the simple truths, but really we will find as much variation as commonality.
We have so many highlights it would be unfair to call them out, but I will. Thank you to all the people who went out of their way to help make our trip here go so well. Those who had us stay (may your livers recover), those who helped us settle in (Deborah of the care package extraordinaire), those who gave us tips on specific things to do in their patch, and most importantly to the doctors who provided a “just in case” safety net for Catherine (who can’t get medical travel insurance for her breathing disease).
We have eaten some fabulous food, cooked by friends or out and about, the choice of cuisine is almost endless. The option to not have sugar or dairy in it…a little harder. We sampled some amazing wines in California (Dave and SJ, Susan and Joe – you have such great taste!), and mind bending cocktails and bourbon courtesy of the Chases in Cicero.
Thank you for your hospitality America. It’s time to return to Sydney, and the life and friends we have there, but we are certain we shall return.
Catherine spent the afternoon preparing for her presentation tomorrow. I went for a wander, heading for Centennial Park. A bloke sidled up to me and said “Give me 20 bucks or I’ll cut you!”. Not an ideal situation, to say the least. Doesn’t he realise the shocking exchange rate?
Dinner was a very pleasant affair with two of the people we have met already on our travels who come to Atlanta for the conference Catherine is speaking at (Deborah from Pasadena and Kim from Yosemite), and two people who work for Vanderbilt University (Cheryl and Kate) who are organising the conference and providing support and guidance for the research team.
Travel for me is so much about meeting new people and getting a glimpse into their lives. Tonight was a great example of how rewarding that is.
The Auxier Ridge trail took us 8km out and back along a …wait for it…ridge…which was excellent for Catherine’s current breathing capacity and my old bones. It was another great recommendation from our mate Tom, although I think we only managed two of the five trails he suggested!
Bird life was a bit sparse, a couple of eagles graced us with their soaring presence briefly, then haughtily exited stage right when even Catherine looked too big a morsel for lunch. 
It looks as though a lot of people camp out on the end of the trail, despite the signs forbidding it. Pity they can’t manage to carry a few extra grams and take a trowel to bury their waste. Some things are universal unfortunately, we experience the same in Australia.
We staggered back to the car severely feeling the humidity, and retreated by mid afternoon to the wonderful AC cooled Cliffview Lodge. However, we had a bit of strange experience on the drive back, all of sudden really weird noises came out of the phone and car audio system while I was negotiating a tight bend. What the heck was that? A message came on the phone screen – it was a presidential alert testing the national emergency wireless system.
I’m surprised Trump didn’t use it to send a personal message to us all..something self-effacing, well thought through and fact based no doubt.
It was time to try out those wave runners (jet skis). It went a lot less well for me then I had expected! I just could not get comfortable with the balance and steering, so quickly gave it up and returned dispirited to watch the nimble Mrs A roar off with Carol.
Tom and I headed out on kayaks. I confess to taking inordinate pleasure from regularly waiting for him to catch up with me after my dismal performance with an engine underneath me.
The bird life on the lake was prolific, and clearly had plenty of fish to keep them well fed. A bald eagle soared over head (sorry no photographic evidence), and the lakes edge was home to many Great Egrets.
After all this activity it was time for another lunch down on the water’s edge in their bar-come-pergola named “Margariterville” – yes they are Jimmy Buffet fans. We had a fabulous Chardonnay (Cakebread Cellars) with all the lovely dips and roasted garlic Carol had made.
To end this fine day, our last with these guys for a while, we headed off on their boat to potter around the lake and watch the sunset, clutching Manhattan cocktails Carol had prepared for us “to go”. 
Dinner at the local waterfront grill was a fun affair, with Carol and Tom’s neighbours from across the lake joining us.
What a wonderful community this is, with the lake drawing people together and giving them common ground to chat about and build relationships.
We went to bed a little sad knowing this was the last time we would see these guys for a while, but happy with so many great memories from this perfect weekend in Cicero.
Oh dear…would you take a boat trip with this guy? But we did …boat retrieved we were on our way across the lake. Music pumping, wine flowing, what a life. The night just unravelled from there!
What a blast to see these guys again, Tom’s the brother I never had from another mother.
I have no idea what we were laughing at half the time but this picture says it all.
Our first night was spent at a beautiful Italian seafood restaurant courtesy of another member of Catherine’s sub-glottic stenosis support group and her husband, Lynne and Ron, and what a great vibe down on the wharf. We could get used to this!
Some browsing around the shops later we headed off on a tram across town to a discount shoe outlet, even the conductor wouldn’t take our money! It was quite an experience travelling up and down San Fransisco’s incredibly steep hills.
Lots of shoe bargains later, we walked back to the bay and hit an oyster bar – wow there’s some big fellas here and a very different flavour from what we’re used to in the Southern Hemisphere.
Dinner was an early affair (Catherine is feeling pretty beat with her airway so closed at the moment, and we had clocked up just under 12km (7.5 miles) on foot!). We had booked a Korean restaurant just down the road from our apartment and once again had some awesome food. California really has not disappointed.
This city is being so kind to us. I think she knows we have fallen in love.
The dog walkers were out in force, although this guy seemed to have his own pack very well trained.
A big walk back along the bayside and a lunch in the sun – I had been hanging for a crab chowder in a bread roll – and I got it! Sadly no dairy free version of that creamy number for Mrs A.
Off we marched again and caught the ferry over to Alcatraz for a superbly produced audio tour. Thanks to our Napa friends, Susan and Joe, who encouraged us to book the trip – it is not usually our thing to hang out in the crowds but this was great. I wonder how many of the 1 million visitors a year have sworn off a life of crime after seeing this place?
Now I have to admit we then committed a major faux pas for travellers and went back to the same Korean for dinner. Please forgive us, but we had seen another dish on the menu we both wanted and just couldn’t resist. We were home by 6.30pm (16km (10 miles) of walking under our belts today) and packed up ready for our early getaway tomorrow to Chicago. Wild things no longer.
