Our trip onto New Zealand: Days 11 ~14

“Kia Ora” ~ Welcome to New Zealand

Days 11~12: Auckland

Our flight landed in New Zealand in the late afternoon. I have family in Auckland and had visited New Zealand three times before but not since 2002, so I was excited to see everyone. We were met by my cousin and whisked off to his beautiful home in Remuera in central Auckland. Our explorations began the following morning with a walk along a neighbouring boardwalk by the water where there were great views looking across the city.

We drove along the shore line of Mission Bay and St Heliers and came back through the quaint area of Parnell. We then drove through the parkland of The Auckland Domain, an incredible museum where I remember being fascinated by the local history on my first visit, over forty years ago!

Nearby was Cornwall Park, a beautiful parkland full of magnificent trees.

We then stopped at the adjacent park of One Tree Hill, Maungakiekie in the native language of Maori. Both these parks are associated with John Logan Campbell, born in Scotland and one of the first pioneer settlers who came to New Zealand in 1840. John Campbell made his fortune in timber and breweries and purchased this area in 1853 with a fellow businessmen, John William Brown. Campbell then spent some years in Europe before he returned to Auckland to take sole ownership of the land where these parks are. He planned to build an Italian-style mansion adjacent to the hillside but when, in 1880, he lost his daughter, he decided otherwise and gifted them to the public.

One Tree Hill sits on an inactive, 182-meter (597 ft) volcanic peak.

As you walk up to the top the volcanic crater is very evident.

The monument at the top was erected in 1940 for Auckland’s centenary celebrations and formed part of the bequest of Sir John Logan Campbell, to commemorate his admiration of ‘ the achievements and character of the great Maori people’.

John Logan Campbell died in 1912 and is buried in front of the monument on top of One Tree Hill.

The panoramic views from the peak look over the entire Auckland region. Above you can see Rangitoto Island, the youngest and largest of Auckland’s 48 inactive volcanoes. It is 5.5 km (3.4 mi) wide, 260 m (850 ft) tall and last erupted about 600 years ago.

Day 13: Driving to The Coromandel Peninsula

The following day we set off for the Coromandel Peninsula on the east shore of New Zealand.

It was a beautiful drive through lush, rolling countryside where we even saw bison grasing!

The views were stunning.

Our first stop was in the small, historic town of Coromandel. In the nineteenth century Coromandel Harbour was a major port serving the region’s gold mining and kauri industries. Today, it’s main industries are tourism and mussel farming, which I was about to discover!

We spent the night at my family’s beach house, or BACH, as the kiwi’s call their beach homes, on the beautiful Matarangi Beach.

It was almost surreal to be walking on the fine, silvery sand by the Pacific Ocean, but on the other side, over 5000 miles away from our home in Carmel-by-the Sea, California.

It was totally unspoiled and serene.

Day 14: Exploring the Coromandel Peninsula

The next morning we toured round some of the peaceful little inlets near Matarangi. We were fascinated looking across the Coromandel mountain ranges, which so clearly formed the image of a giant’s head.

We visited the beach at William Manga Kahia Lagoon Reserve, which looked back across where were staying in Matarangi.

The inlet where we’d parked looked just like one you might come across in Scotland.

Before we left Matarangi we walked through The Pines, Matarangi’s lovely residential area by the golf course.

The deserted shore stretched before us

and it was hard to resist taking photos.

as you can see!

We stopped for lunch at ‘Lukes Kitchen’. a local favourite.

I happily indulged in one of the region’s local specialties, New Zealand green lipped mussels, delicious!

The water inlet opposite ‘Luke’s Kitchen’.

On our way back to Auckland we stopped at Whitianga by the marina.

Splashed along one of the walls in Whitianga was the history of Joseph Banks, the botanist on HMS Endeavor with Captain James Cook. Ten years before, I’d stood beneath Captain Cook’s statue in Whitby, North Yorkshire, England, contemplating the incredible voyage of discovery he made in 1766, as commander of HMS Endeavour, (built in Whitby). Cook sailed from England on the first of three Pacific voyages. Navigating thousands of miles, across largely uncharted areas, he mapped lands from New Zealand to Hawaii in the Pacific, in a detail and scale not previously achieved. Although killed in Hawaii in 1779, he left an unprecedented legacy of scientific and geographical knowledge.