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Carole HennessyCarole Hennessy
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traveled in 4 countries Read more
  • TravelerBucket list starts here
    Day 31

    Coramandel here we come.

    February 19, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Drove up to Whangamata and stopped. Trying to save time to get to Bay of Islands sun bathing .weather is good but overcast .Not a lot to see there. Found a camp place on the road at the side of a sports field!! Very glamorous..a nice couple from Australia parked next to us for the night .wouldn't go back.Read more

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    Day 30

    Healthy baths

    February 18, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Went back to Rotarua from Paul's .We went to the Maori cultural centre at the thermal springs. Absolutely fascinating like being in prehistoric landscape.🤔 Boiling mud,sulpher lakes and geysers.Also saw a Kiwi bird, not person, which are nocturnal but these are in rescue programme . Fabulous Maori sculptures. Then we headed off to see blue and green lakes, so called because of their colours and on to the Redwoods which is a forest planted years ago with hundreds of different trees including these massive Californian Redwood trees .There is a tree walk through them about 12 m from ground.😱we left Rotorua and headed north towards the CoromandalRead more

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    Day 29

    Rotorua or bust

    February 17, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Heading east went to New Plymouth to see Len Lye museum which Chris wanted to see, not my cup of tea and Maori Museum where we met fascinating Maori lady who explained a lot .Then off to Rotarua We made arrangements to meet Paul who I worked with 30+ years who offered to meet us that night. We got to Rotorua about 2pm boy does the smell of sulphur hit you,😱😱after lunch we went to the Polynesian Spa on Sulphur Bay🤗🤗We spent the afternoon in the hot spring mineral baths, all of which vary in temperature up to 41c.After we drove to meet Paul and his wife about 45 mins north. We had a great time catching up on old faces and places they very kindly took us to dinner and then we did a night time tour of the bay .We stayed the night in the van even though they had offered us beds for the night.Read more

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    Day 28

    Taranaki here we come

    February 16, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    Having left Shelley and Baden we headed to Petone in Lower Hutt. They had a street fair there and one of Chris s friends James was running a stall there so we went to visit him He comes to UK regularly working the game fairs .Having left him we came across a Hindu group selling food. It was amazing Street food. There is a large Hindu community there . It seems we seem to be eating ethnic food wherever we go. I ll have to try some NZ lamb before going home!!The rain has stopped and it's warmer,about 22c not like the heatwave in the south .We set off north again towards Taranaki where Chris,s friend Nina lives. The country is so different here in the north. Far less mountains and more dairy,sheep and fruit and vines especially in the Hutt Valley .Some of it reminds me of the Wolds in Yorkshire .I think I prefer the south. It is about 300 k to Nina's and were watching for Mount Taranaki to guage where we were ...it can't be covered like Mount Cook😱.Eventually it appeared above the clouds .We arrived in Kaponga and another great night was had along with dinner and wine.Nina really made us welcome especially as I didn't know her. The Kiwis really are a friendly lot.😍😍😍Read more

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    Day 27

    Leaving the south island

    February 15, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    We headed to the north island today. Woke up to a wet dull day ..what's happened to the weather...I m going home if it stays like this. 😱😱😱it rained all the time on the ferry and was the same when we landed at Wellington ..16,c!!! I m off😭😭We are headed to Upper Hutt where friends of my brother live. I have never met Shelley and Baden so I hope a couple of bottles of wine will help😁😁😁We managed to work our way through Wellington's motorway traffic jams, it s so long since we ve seen such traffic!!We had a fabulous day and night with them. They were like old friends. Bills ears must be burning. We spent the night parked on their drive...do,nt know what the neighbours thought😱Read more

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    Day 26

    Picton

    February 14, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Arrived at Picton along the Queen Charlotte Drive which follows the Marlborough Sounds. Very good views of the boats going around the Sounds as we came to Picton. We had already booked our ferry trip to the north island for tomorrow. We wandered around the harbour area and saw a few millionaire yatchs ....no millionaires wanting to whisk us away 😭We travelled out along the coast road to the end then back to the camp site at Waikawa.another hot day No Valentine's for us!!Read more

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    Day 25

    Heading East towards Picton

    February 13, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    We spent the morning walking the beaches at Goat Bay around the campsite and swimming and generally slowing down. No selps in the water, crystal clear. We headed off back to Takaka. It's a real hippy town like Carnaby Street in the 60,s.All ages bare feet dreadlocks tie die shirts and fire eaters😍😍the only thing spoiling it for me was big signs painted by the council on the pavements....no dogs between 9 and 5.....Shan t be going back there😭😭😭.on through Nelson till we stopped at Havelock for coffee.Real Devonshire tea,scones, cream, jam and China cups😍😍 From there we ended up at a campsite in Cable 😱Bay for the night. We sure are clocking up the miles.Read more

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    Day 24

    Abel Tasman and Salps

    February 12, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    We headed off from Don's site fully laden with organic vegetables and a request to come back the next day and stay again. Tempting as it was free and Don sorted out the fridge and key problems .Head north to AbelTasman and head to Takaka it's over the hill , about 2 1/2 hrs . What he neglected to say it was 800meters high and twisted and turned like a snake.about a third way up part of the road had fallen away and traffic was restricted to alternate single file😱😱😱very interesting!!Eventually we got to Takaka and headed to the campground. It's mainly Kiwis on holiday says Don. It's a DOC site up a track.Tortanaui was 10 k up a dirt track but so worth it. Overlooking the Tasman Sea rich blue. right in the middle of the Abel Tasman National Park. Well worth it😍😍.33c heatwave still on .we left it till afternoon and went for simple trek in jungle/bush!!! They lie about times, distances type of walks😱😱Eventually got back to camp like Livingstone . Later it was still very hot so went to beach for a swim .Watch out for the selps??? They are harmless amoeba like organisms that eat plankton. They form strings. Going in the water was like swimming in spaghetti, keep your mouth shut!!!..out for a drink what does tomorrow bring?Read more

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    Day 23

    Wine tasting in Blenheim.

    February 11, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Having left Kaikoura we travelled north looking for somewhere to camp We came across Marfells Bay which had awful reviews but it was getting late so we chanced it. Whoever did the review was either in the wrong place or was used to 5 star living!! 🤔🤔There were plenty of sites clean toilets cold showers and a beautiful beach..what's to complain about .We set off to Blenheim passing acres of vineyards.What a change from mountains and lakes .In Blenheim we got a list of vineyards that you can visit. The railway station is still operating but the station house is a wine bar /cafe with the biggest collection of wines . We went to the Lost Valley vineyard and had an interesting time there. We tried a few wines but it was a shame to spit it out😱😱😱😱.We then drove on to stay in Motueka the main town in the Abel Tasman area .We stayed with Don who is part of the Sunrise campervan family. He runs a site alongside the river with an organic vegetable garden.He has done just about everything and has a huge knowledge of travel in NZ .After a long info session and a few wines our plans for tomorrow we're setRead more

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    Day 22

    Dolphins and whales

    February 10, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Early start 7am to get out on first boat. Really professional group run by Maoiri people.We saw our first whale after 10 mins just the back above the water then it dived and we had fantastic view of its tail.🐋🐋 These sperm whales dive to eat for between 45 and 60 mins then resurface. We sailed around for an hour then it came up again. We were lucky to see it dive again . On the way back we were surrounded by Hector's dolphins 🐬🐬🐬.These are rare. They are very small and playful. They followed us back to shore all around the boat. I managed to get some good video .after lunch we went to the headland to see the fur seals.We decided to head north as the town itself was too touristy.Read more

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