Winter 2019 - NZ2 Driving North

NZ2   Driving North

We had our rest at the IBIS Hotel; we rested enough for a fortnight, so now we have to find our way out of this Airport, out of Auckland, heading north. North as far as this Island allows us to drive. We said no highways for us, but then… we could hardly get out of town without their version of a highway. Plus, we had to pay a toll, had to figure out how to pay the toll because for a foreigner like me, it’s not clear how to pay for it. We asked and found out you need to pay at a certain gas station and they then put your license plate into the system so you pay automatically. Not that easy to understand, it took me a while to get it. There are very few real ‘Interstate’ highways in NZ but if you go north and use one of their special roads, it’s a toll road. Especially driving north, the way we were going to go, there was no other road to avoid the tolls. It became evident soon enough that we picked a bit of a forgotten area in NZ when we decided to visit this part of the country. 

Curvy Roads For Most of the Day

Driving in NZ is easy enough but it’s driving on the left side of the road, a la Great Britain. A lot is copied from England; I guess they still consider it the Motherland.

But first I need to give you some basic history of NZ, it’s just a must read, stuff few people really think about when talking about NZ. But this needs to be remembered when I write about NZ.

The total population of NZ is only about 5 million people. That is it… no more!  Just 5 million! That includes all cities, all towns, both Islands… heck, China has 10 cities that have more than 5 million in each city.  NZ is not very populated, remember that.

Pastoral Scenery

Before the year 1250 AD, just about 800 years ago, NOBODY lived in New Zealand.  Even the Maori, the original first settlers were not there before that. NZ was the last major landmass to be occupied by humans. 

Even the Europeans only arrived there in about 1642. But this first visit did not go well, so the Europeans had to wait until 1769 (250 years ago) to settle on NZ.

So here was a HUGE country kind of empty. 

 

NZ is as big as the U.S. state of Oregon, or Colorado. That is it. NZ is deceiving to look at because it is stretched out, but compare square miles and the numbers match with Oregon.

Sea Sickness Inducing Roads

And we are on our way north, driving on the left like I said. The roads are very winding, very narrow, there is no shoulder on the road, and the road surface is pitched to the sides, for water to run off. Driving over some not so high mountains going north made for twisty roads that weave back and forth, with a lot of blind corners to be aware of. I have driven left before, a few times in fact, but after about 5 hours in this new terrain, I was bushed. We stopped early that first day, just taking a hotel by the side of the road. The town was called Kaitaia; the Motel’s name was Loredo Motel. 

Loredo Motel

Sticker shock hit me when I was faced with the Hotel prices, by all the prices in general. This was not Bali any longer; this was 1^st world, expensive living we came to now. I try not to harp on the cost of traveling in NZ but it’s expensive. A hotel room, excluding breakfast is about U.S. $100/night or more. Gasoline is given out per liter and the prices are around U.S. $1.86 ($7.00/gallon). I paid for a cup of coffee U.S. $5.50.  It adds up to being an expensive trip. But enough of my ranting: just remember: NZ is not a cheap place to visit.

Our Room Has the Blinds Open

The town of Kaitaia is really a town that time forgot. It’s falling apart, the stores are hardly stocked, the restaurants are not open, and the whole feel is of abandonment. Our choice to eat something that night was Subway, the sandwich store.

The Motel Loredo was somehow cozy, though. The room was very large, the bed comfy, we had our own ‘kitchen’ and another bed if need be, and it had A/C and great, easy parking. Yes, the price was a bit steep for what it was but we found out later on, compared to the rest of the prices we paid, it was a fair price we paid in Kaitaia. 

Is It Gigantic Aloe Vera?

I slept great that first night of our road trip. I guess all these uncertainties, new impressions add up to a mental wipe-out. I wondered if it’s my age that is creeping up on me, or was it just all the past traveling Carol and I went through. All the logistics need to add up to make a trip a success. I tell myself… no mistakes here, don’t mess up. I guess I used to be better at this when I was younger. 

Tomorrow we are at our destination: Cape Reinga.

Winter 2019 - NZ1 Long Flight to New Zealand

NZ1   Long Flight to New Zealand

Flight to Sydney

On our map, New Zealand (NZ) does not look that far away, but according to our flight schedule, it was a very long flight, especially with the layover in Sydney which was a monstrous 12 hours. We thought of entering Australia but our Visa was for a month later, we had to stay in the Airport Terminal. Or so we thought… 

After we finished the first leg of our flight from Denpasar, Bali to Sydney we were asked at the gate if we wanted to make a waiting flight that would skip our 12-hour waiting time. Duh!!!  YES!  The only problem we told the nice gentleman was that Carol is not a fast walker and cannot

Sunrise

make the new gate in the time allotted. Ha, little did I know, he had a golf cart waiting that zipped us to the new gate. Swoosh, we were on the connecting flight, and yes, our luggage made it, too. Amazing how an Airport works behind the scenes. We had only about 1 hour between our arrival at Sydney Airport and the next flight to Auckland but with the help of Qantas, we skipped the dreaded 12-hour wait.  Amazing trip!

I called it a good omen for NZ, a great beginning. With an efficiency that is

Coming Into Sydney

stunning we landed in Auckland now almost a day early from our projected time of arrival and our plans had to be adjusted a bit. Firstly, I had booked an Airport hotel near Auckland with the provision of a late arrival. Now we were early. I had planned a stopover at the Airport anticipating we would be frazzled and worn out from the long wait in Sydney so booked us for 2 nights. Because we had no car to get around NZ, we kind of were stuck at the airport. The hotel we had pre-booked, an Ibis Hotel, was not a good choice of hotels, but we made do.

So now we are in Auckland, well near the Airport at least, not in downtown Auckland and what is there to do at an airport? We have about a week before our trip with Fred Rau starts and we are on our own until then, we have to do something.  We are on the North Island of NZ and we have an itinerary once our Motorcycle Trip starts, but until then… where do we go? Carol and I had some chats and decided that we should go as far North on this upper Island as possible in order to be able to say we have seen the less traveled road in NZ too. 

Our Funky Blue Corolla

I had made a car reservation on line and the pick-up was near our Ibis Hotel. I walked to it the next day and received a fairly new Toyota Corolla in a funky blue color. This car had the latest Garmin already installed into it and with this gizmo, a GPS, I am dangerous. I can find almost anything. So off we went, driving north on the following days. Except… driving is now on the left side of the road… and the roads are very, very narrow with no shoulders and winding.

We just have to be back in Auckland on the 10^th of Feb., 2019 for the beginning of our pre-booked Motorcycle Tour.

Winter 2019 - 40. Goodbye Bali

40.  Goodbye Bali

Samhita Garden Walkways

After really resting for the last 3 days at Samhita Garden we are ready to get going. We read a lot, did tons of emails, took naps, had more massages and went for walks and just bummed out.

Some of the Foliage at Samhita Garden

It was a good stop for our last days in Ubud.

By noon all our bags were packed and at the reception in the front of the Hotel.

We strolled one more time to Balifornia for lunch and Carol had her favorite ‘Capcay’ meal.

We stopped by Uma Sari and Echa was there, of course, and we bade her goodbye. She is a gem, a real asset to the Uma Sari Cottages. Without her, our stay at Uma Sari would not have been the same. She has this natural grace that is soothing and works like an applied lotion. It sinks into your skin and makes you feel good. For the fun of it Echa made us hold up a prepared sign she had that spelled out “ We Love Uma Sari “ and she took some pictures of us on her cell phone. So you might see us in some advertisement if you are on Bali.

Capcay - Soooo Good

One more massage at the massage parlor we liked so much and then, we slowly ambled back to Samhita Garden to wait for the taxi. 

The taxi came early, so we got to the airport early, and the check through was painless. We had 2 different security checks. They did not confiscate Carol’s water at the first check but made sure to take the water bottle away on the 2^nd check. It’s Bali, it somehow all works. I did not feel urged or hurried in any way.

Echa and Her Breakfast Helper at Uma Sari

The airport in Denpasar handles tons of tourists, they know their routine, and they know how to manage masses. We became a very typical flyer on Qantas. 

Our next stop is Sydney for just a stopover and then on to Auckland, NZ, our next series of Blogs will start in Auckland, NZ.

Bye, bye Bali…it was a pleasure meeting you.