NEW ZEALAND TRAVELOGUE

I visited New Zealand nearly twenty years ago, wow, that makes me feel really old! I went with my mother, and we had a lovely time. My mummy had previously lived there for about fifteen years, she only returned to the U.K. because the weather conditions severely affected her health. Mum still had family living in New Zealand, and we had often talked about visiting ... ‘one day’. Well ‘one day’ finally came and we decided that we would go. I managed to get a month off of work, and then all we had to do was book our flights. We chose to visit New Zealand for the Christmas period. Mum was looking forward to spending Christmas with her sister, and also it would be a lot warmer than the U.K. We didn’t want to fly direct, we flew from London with a stop off in San Francisco, then onto New Zealand. The return trip gave us a stop off in Los Angeles.

WELLINGTON

We were met at the airport by one of my cousins, my mother’s sisters son. He brought mum’s sister with him, and as soon as they saw each other they hugged and cried. They hadn’t seen each other for quite a while, although my aunty visited mum a few times in the U.K. After our hello’s were out of the way, we were driven to my aunty's house, our home for the duration of our trip.

UPPER HUTT

Upper Hutt is about 25 minutes drive from Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. It is also where my aunty lived. The city is named after an English Member of Parliament, Sir William Hutt. He was a director of the New Zealand Company, formed in the 1830’s, which organised the settlement of the Wellington and Hutt Valley areas, beginning when the first immigrant ships arrived around 1840. Situated by the Hutt River, which has excellent opportunities for trout fishing, Upper Hutt is surrounded by green bush covered hills. As we drove from the airport we admired the scenery, it was very similar to Scotland, lots of beautiful lush green hills. Everywhere looked so clean too, a nice change from London. There were lots of parks and open spaces, which was not surprising, Kiwi’s like to spend lots of time outside, walking, hiking, mountain biking, swimming, surfing, you name it they do it. The Kaitoke Regional Park and Tararua Forest Park were the places to go to fish, or do something more exciting such as white water rafting. We were keen to get to my aunty’s house, we had heard so much about the area over the years, it would be nice to finally see it for ourselves. My mum was interested to see how everything had changed since she lived there. We arrived at my aunty’s house, it was a single storey home constructed of wood. It was painted white with pale green windows and trim. Inside it was surprisingly larger than it appeared from outside. My aunty had made some sandwiches for us, I don’t think anyone ate that much though, we were all too busy talking. By the evening we were all hungry so we went out to get a take away. There was a fish and chip shop along the road from my aunty’s house. My mum and I walked there to get something for dinner. I was surprised to see that they had oysters on the menu. I had only ever seen them eaten raw before. Mum said she remembered eating them cooked and they were nice. I didn’t fancy any but mum and my aunty had some which they both enjoyed. As this trip was more about seeing family than travelling, we spent most of our time doing the same sort of things we would do at home. I remember that we sat eating our fish that first evening whilst watching Coronation Street on television. It was weird sitting there watching t.v. we had already seen the episode as New Zealand were still a few months behind the U.K. at that time. My aunty asked us to tell her what happened in the story next. We slept well that first night, the area where my aunty lived was a very quiet residential area. The next day we went out to buy some grocery’s. Mum had wanted to hire a car for our visit to give us some independence, but my aunty said we didn’t need to, we could use her car. My aunty drove us to a large supermarket nearby. It was much the same as any supermarket back home, although it seemed more efficient and less stressful. Mum and I filled a trolley with all the things we fancied. The one thing that surprised us was the price of the food. It was much cheaper than at home, and Kiwi fruits were about a tenth of the price we pay in London, which I guess they should have been considering they are grown in New Zealand! So far we were enjoying our trip, the people seemed very friendly and it really was so clean everywhere, lovely. Best of all my mummy was thoroughly enjoying chatting non stop with her sister. I knew it wouldn’t be long before the old photographs were brought out. It was interesting looking back at all of our relatives, most of whom I had never met. My cousin who had met us at the airport lived quite close to my aunty, and we spent a lot of our holiday with him, his wife and children, they had two at that time. My memory is terrible but I think their son was about 5 and they had baby daughter of about a year. She was such a lovely cuddly baby, whenever we saw them I usually spent most of the day holding her, she was gorgeous, and more than happy being held all day. My cousin and his wife were very good to us whilst we were there, they often took us for days out locally. I have lots of nice memories of our time in New Zealand, because of their hospitality. I remember one day when we visited the beach, there was a cool breeze and we all walked along the edge of the sea. The beach was huge and there were not too many people there which was nice. It was weird to be strolling along the beach in summer clothes in December. I was trying to imagine Christmas day being warm, that would make a nice change. My aunty had a nice garden at her house and one day she and my mum went out shopping, I stayed behind. Unfortunately I fell asleep in the garden and didn’t wake until my mum returned. I was quite badly burnt, and a few hours later I was suffering with the effects of sunstroke. I was shivering, absolutely freezing, and feeling very nauseous. I was annoyed with myself as I am always very careful in the sun, I never sunbathe. I like being pale and interesting! Oh well, I wouldn’t make the same mistake again, no more relaxing in the garden for me, not without supervision anyway! It was so peaceful staying in Upper Hutt, I think the population was about 30,000 at the time of our visit. Upper Hutt is situated on an area known as Orongomai, the river was originally called Heretaunga. Obviously the first residents were of Maori origin. Apparently the first European resident was Richard Barton who settled in Trentham in 1841. My mother decided to emigrate to New Zealand in the 1950’s, as her parents had already moved there. Mum travelled over by boat for the grand price of £10. I remember her telling me that she was so ill on the journey. She said that she went to her cabin one night and when she surfaced the next day ... or so she thought ... it wasn’t the next day at all, she had slept for two whole days straight! It was in New Zealand that my mummy met my father, he was also from England. They met, they married, they bought some land, (as everyone did in those days), and built a house on it, they bought a grocery shop, they lived happily in the house, they had a son, they moved back to the U.K. Not quite as quick as it sounds, this all transpired over about 13 years. So obviously New Zealand had lots of memories for my mother. Mum wanted to visit Wellington to see how much it had changed, and we felt like a day out by ourselves, we thought my aunty might appreciate some peace and quiet for a few hours. So we took a train from Upper Hutt to Wellington.

WELLINGTON ~ Te Whanganui-a-Tara ~ Poneke

Wellington was named in honour of Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington who was victorious at the Battle of Waterloo. The title comes from the town of Wellington in Somerset in England. I remember the train journey as being a very pleasant scenic ride. Wellington is situated between a harbour and bush covered hills. Wellington was not as grown up when we visited as it is now, but we could see it was beginning to grow into a cosmopolitan city. There was an indoor shopping centre there, it had some nice shops, can’t remember the name, it was fairly small. There were some other smaller independent shops too, and the odd cafe with outdoor seating. I know that a lot has changed since our visit. This capital city is now a very stylish place, which is alive with a good cafe culture, superb shopping good restaurants, and excellent nightlife. The area around the harbour is particularly beautiful, especially on a sunny day.

The city is divided into four downtown districts, The Lambton Quarter, The Willis Quarter, The Cuba Quarter, and The Courtenay Quarter. Lambton is good for department stores and boutiques, Willis is good for lifestyle shopping, Cuba is good for alternative lifestyle shopping and pavement cafes, and Courtenay is the home of entertainment, with lively bars and cafes, restaurants and night-clubs. As the home of New Zealand government, there are lots of interesting buildings to visit, including The Beehive and the debating chamber. Wellington is the place to see the performing arts, especially ballet and musical performances. The centre of the city has about 50 private cable cars, these are the only way the residents can gain access to their homes. There is also the New Zealand Astronomy Centre, and The Botanic Garden. By The Botanic Garden is Tinakori Road, which is Katherine Mansfield’s birthplace, New Zealand’s most famous writer. The street is lined with restored wooden houses, shops and excellent places to eat. Katherine’s house has been restored to how it would have been when she grew up there, complete with an authentically replanted old English cottage garden. Nearby in Mulgrave Street is Old St Paul’s Cathedral, it is an excellent example of an 1866 Gothic church, with beautiful stained glass windows. Other places of interest include the National Library Te Puna Matauranga O Aotearoa, and The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Apparently there are now more places to eat per head of population in Wellington than in New York. It is said that you could eat at a different place every day for well over a year in Wellington, that’s a lot of eating! Mum and I walked round Wellington loaded with bags full of shopping, before catching the train back home to Upper Hutt. We thoroughly enjoyed our day out, but we were very tired and ready to sit down and relax once we got back to my aunty’s house. The next place we wanted to visit was Rotorua. Mum wanted to hire a car and drive up there. My aunty said we should take her car, as long as mum did all of the driving. So all three of us set off for Rotorua.

ROTORUA ~

Te Rotorua-nui-a-Kahumatamomoe

Located on the southern shore of Lake Rotorua in the Bay of Plenty region. The Bay of Plenty was named by Captain James Cook during his circumnavigation of New Zealand in 1769. Kahumatamomoe is the name of an uncle to the man who named the area, Rotorua literally translated means second lake. Half of the population are Maori. Rotorua has an amazing range of weird ecosystems, including geysers, hot springs, mud pools, volcanoes, forests, lakes, and wetlands. Rotorua is a spa resort, the area is known for geothermal activity, botanical gardens, and some interesting historical architecture. There are lots of geysers and hot mud pools in the city, which are the main attractions for the many tourists who visit the area each year. The Hydrogen Sulphide gas produced by the geothermal activity smells rather nasty. The odour which is stronger during cool wet weather, is just like rotten eggs. Our journey was really good, the roads were empty for most of the way, and the scenery was breathtaking. We drove by lush green fields, with snow capped mountains in the distance. Even though it was a beautifully warm sunny day as we approached Rotorua, the egg odour was still rather strong, yuk! As usual I can’t remember which hotel we stayed at, it was lovely though. There was an outdoor swimming pool and wonderful hot jacuzzi. Our room was large, which was just as well as all three of us shared it! My mummy and aunty had proper beds, whilst I slept on a camp bed, not exactly what I was expecting! Oh well, it was only for a night or two, we had more interesting things to do. We wanted to get out and see some of the geysers and mud pools. The region has six main thermal areas, Whakarewarewa, Waimangu, Waiotapu, Orakei Korako, Wairakei and Hell’s Gate (Tikitere). Waimangu Volcanic Valley has beautiful blue steaming waters. Waiotapu has ochre coloured waters in its Champagne Pool, a unique cascade of mineral water and terraced silica formations at the Bridal Veil Falls. Hell’s Gate is the place to relax and enjoy its soothing thermal hot pools. We visited Whakarewarewa Thermal Reserve and the Maori Arts and Crafts Institute whilst we were in Rotorua, which is situated in the Taupo Volcanic Zone. It was the site of the Maori fortress of Te Puia which was originally inhabited around 1325. The Maori people have lived in the area since then, using the geothermal activity in the valley for cooking and heating. There are around 500 pools at Whakarewarewa, most of them are alkaline chloride hot springs. We saw lots of geyser vents, apparently there are over 65 there, though only a few of them are active. The most famous geyser is called Pohutu, which means explosion or big splash. The Pohutu geyser usually erupts every hour and can erupt up to 30 metres 100 feet skyward, impressive. The Pohutu eruption is usually directly after the smaller Prince of Wales Feathers geyser which reaches about 12 metres. The thermal features at Whakarewarewa were severely affected by the local residents, who were digging shallow wells in order to extract hot water for heating. This resulted in a bore closure programme in the late 1980’s and over 200 of the wells were cemented shut, and the geysers and hot springs made a significant recovery. My mummy, aunty and I decided that we would walk around Whakarewarewa without a guide, we preferred to do things at our own pace. Surprisingly we soon got used to the scent of sulphur in the air, after a while we couldn’t smell it at all. There were quite a few people walking round enjoying the various erupting geysers. The weather was gloriously warm and we had a good relaxing day. You could also learn about the traditional arts and culture of the Maori people, and watch demonstrations of carving and weaving. Tribal history says that Whakarewarewa Thermal Valley was where the goddesses of fire, Te Pupu and Te Hoata emerged from the earth’s core inhaling and exhaling which created the geysers, mud pools and hot springs. One evening in Rotorua all three of us decided to go to a Hangi, which is a traditional Maori banquet. A Hangi would originally have taken place in the presence of honoured guests, but with so many tourists visiting Rotorua these events are popular at most hotels for everyone to enjoy. There were quite a few people at the hangi we attended but not too many. We were seated together at tables in groups of about 6 people. Mum and I got chatting to a young couple from Japan, they were on their honeymoon, and we are still in touch with them all these years later. I don’t remember the food, other than that it was tasty. We spent most of the evening talking to our new Japanese friends. Once the food had been served and cleared away the cultural part of the evening began. The room was plunged into near darkness, and we could just make out the shapes of figures entering the room. Then some soft low lighting came on and in front of our tables were about a dozen men and women. They were all dressed in flax skirts, the women had flowers covering their top halves, and the men had their faces painted with black Maori designs. We were treated to several different traditional haka (dances) and songs by the men and women. The songs had been altered slightly for mainstream enjoyment. Truly original Maori songs are not songs in the sense that we think of songs. They would be more like chants and different beats, and not considered as suitable entertainment for today's tourists. These events are set up to fit our expectations, as we perceive Maori culture to be. In a way it’s a shame that we don’t get to see the true Maori culture, but I guess if they did try to sell that to the tourists then maybe they wouldn’t get any visitors. However we all enjoyed the evening, we knew that these things are rarely truly authentic. Everyone in the room seemed to be enjoying the singing and dancing. That was until they took several people from the audience to join them, my Mum was one of them. There were a lot of red faces in the room after that! I have a lovely photograph of mum rubbing noses, a traditional greeting, with a Maori girl. We all slept extremely well that night after all of the food and talking. Geysers and mud pools aside, there was some good shopping in Rotorua, which is how we spent most of our last day there. I am sure it is even better now than when we visited, but I remember buying quite a lot of clothes on our visit, mainly t-shirts. The clothes were like the grocery’s, much cheaper than we were used to paying in London. After lots of walking and sightseeing we were all worn out, we headed back to our hotel. The three of us spent our last evening sitting outside by the jacuzzi enjoying some drinks. I vaguely remember mum and me had some cocktails, with the usual silly sexual names. Our time in Rotorua came to an end all too quickly, it was soon time to drive back to Upper Hutt.

UPPER HUTT

Why is it that no matter how far you travel, the journey home is always quicker than the journey out? Anyway, the drive back seemed to pass very quickly. Along the way there was the odd stall on the roadside selling various different things. We stopped by one to buy a drink, the man was also selling Christmas trees. I know it was not long until the 25th, but with the weather being so beautifully warm it just didn’t feel at all like Christmas. We arrived back at my aunty’s house in the early evening, and I didn’t see one sheep all the way home. I thought there were supposed to be lots of them in New Zealand. I guess they were already on the supermarket shelves! My aunty’s daughter, my cousin, lived in Auckland. She had invited mum and me up to stay with her for a while, unfortunately we never made it. It’s a shame that after we went all that way to New Zealand we didn’t even get as far as Auckland. We never saw any of the South Island either, which I would have liked too. Strangely enough, my mummy had never visited the South Island either and she had lived in New Zealand for years, so I guess I shouldn’t have expected to see it, we were only on holiday for a month! I think we were too busy talking and eating and relaxing with my aunty, the time just flew by. We did visit some other places locally to my aunt in Upper Hutt. My mum had a good friend who she hadn’t seen for years, so we went to visit her.

LEVIN ~ Taitoko

Mums friend lived in Levin, which is the largest town in the Horowhenua district. I’m not sure of the size of the other towns in the district, but Levin was small to me. The town was named after a director of the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company. The name is a variation of the Jewish clan Levi. I think Levin was a popular place for elderly residents, it felt very much like a retirement town. We were not there to see the town, we were there to see my mum’s friend. She was a lovely women who made us so welcome. Obviously as they hadn’t seen each other for years, she and mum spent hours chatting. We also went to see some other friends of mums, I can’t remember where they lived, I think it was also Levin. Anyway, I do remember them, or more specifically, their food. They were a really sweet old couple that mum knew from London. They were Jewish and as soon as we set foot over the doorway, the lady said she wished she had known we were coming as she had nothing in. Mum had wanted to surprise them, they didn’t even know she was in New Zealand, let alone going to be knocking on their door! No sooner had we sat down than the lady disappeared into the kitchen. A few minutes later and we were surrounded by food, lots and lots of delicious food. If that was her idea of having nothing in, I wonder what would have happened had she known we were coming! We sat and chatted for hours, and stuffed ourselves too. The food was all too tempting to resist, we ate latkes, gefilte fish, bagels, pastrami, roll mops, olives and cups and cups of tea, delicious. When it came time for us to leave and return to my aunty’s, we could barley move, we had eaten so much! When we returned to my aunty’s she said she wished she had come with us, I think her mouth was watering at the thought of all the delicious food. We visited lots of other places locally to my aunt. I can’t remember everywhere we went, but I do recall, Foxton in the Horowhenua region. Foxton was named after Sir William Fox, and is known for its history of flax stripping which was used in the production of baskets, ropes and tools. Soon it was Christmas day, we had a lovely family meal at my aunts house. My aunts two children came with their partners and two children. As it was a warm sunny day outside we decided to keep the curtains closed to make it feel more like a traditional English Christmas. Obviously it didn’t work, it was way too warm. I remember, as we sat eating our huge roast lunch, that we were all feeling rather warm and uncomfortable. Oh well, we tried, once the washing up was done, we opened the curtains and doors and it was summer once more. We really enjoyed our trip to New Zealand, but we would like to have seen more of this beautiful country. I guess at least I always have a good reason to go back there, to see everything I missed on this first trip. Actually I often daydream about living in New Zealand, I loved the people, the lifestyle, the wide open spaces and the fact that it was all so clean. Richard wanted us to move to either Sicily or Italy and I refused to move any further away from my mummy than France. So I know I won’t ever emigrate to New Zealand, Richard wouldn’t like living there, and we both love living here in France so much. Mum and I said a sad farewell to our relatives, and to New Zealand. We flew from Wellington to Los Angeles for a stopover, before flying back home to the cold weather of London.