End of the Road

We are sitting here at our last helpx stay in Kaipara with 2 days left before we catch our plane to Vancouver.
We managed to sell our van, quicker than we thought, Champion is now in the hands of a British couple. They are doing the same thing we did. We're a little sad to see him go! I have a whole new appreciation for Nissan now, can't believe how well that 19 year-old van runs.

We've mostly just worked for the last couple months. We had a great time in Kerikeri, we did a house-sitting work stay up there in the far north. It was a good place to be for the winter, mild weather, great fishing, and we had lots of time to explore the Bay of Islands.

But, after 11 months living in a van, we are certainly looking forward to going back home. But we're still a little sad to leave, this country has been so good to us, and we've had so much fun.
We've had more than enough time to explore every little corner of the country, and seen some of the most unique and beautiful scenery & wildlife.
Final thoughts? New Zealand is definitely an outdoors kind of place! A land of incredible mountains, rivers, waterfalls, endless beaches of every description, and so, so much unique to only this country. Truly a one-of-a-kind place, and so accessible because its small, the distances are short.
Overall we've had an incredible, once in a lifetime trip that we won't forget. We will miss NZ.

Thanks for reading!

Lee & Jill

Aug 7: Tiritiri Matangi Island

Tiritiri is an island sanctuary in the Hauraki Gulf, just a short ferry ride from Auckland.
Its an open sanctuary, meaning its open to the public, but they take care to keep it pest-free.

There are some amazing native animals here, as soon as we stepped of the ferry we were seeing birds that we never saw anywhere else in the country, like Saddlebacks and Stitchbirds.
The island is small, it takes about 1.5 hours to walk a complete loop around the entire perimeter. Its full of trails and bush walks.

They have some extremely rare and endangered birds, like the Kokako- a big grey-blue bird that doesn't really fly, but runs along branches and hops between trees.
Also rare is the Takahe. They are easy to spot since they're the size of a chicken and like to graze on the grass by the lighthouse.
The Takahe are a species hanging by a thread. They were thought to be extinct, but a small population of around 250 birds was discovered in 1948 in Fiordland. The total population is now only 200. On Tiritiri they have 4 pairs and some young chicks, so its good to see they are hanging on.

It was an easy 20 min ferry to the island, and they have a bunkhouse so we stayed the night. It was a very cool little trip, probably our last expedition in the country, since its time to focus on selling our van and getting ready to leave!

July 5-15: Far North East Coast

As we continue north, the weather gets warmer. We traveled up along the east part of Northland. Going from Karekare (west coast) to the east, the difference is apparent- the west is black sand beaches, harsher weather, rougher seas, and the east is white sand, calm seas and pretty beaches.

There is a lot to see along this coast, lots of great coastal walks and beaches, but the one that tops them all was the Bream headland track. This was a tough one, from sea level it climbs 475m up to a dramatic ridge overlooking the sea, with boulders sitting on top, poking above the trees. You can actually climb up on top of the boulders and get an incredible 360 view of the surrounding area. Not too comfortable for those with a fear of heights though!  

The fishing really starts to pick up as we travel north.
It slows down in the rest of the country over winter, but in the warmer waters of the far north winter sees good activity. We had some good feeds of fresh Snapper, and caught the strangest looking reef fish- I think they call it a Leatherjacket? Either way, it went straight back in the water!

June 22 - July 5: Whatipu & Karekare

We are back where it all started!
Whatipu was our first big outing outside of Auckland last October, first night in the Van, and still one of my favorite places on the North Island. From Whatipu to Piha is a stretch of wild, rugged coast of black sand, hills and cliffs, with great walking tracks, and amazingly only 1 hour drive from downtown Auckland.

We came back for a workstay at Whatipu Lodge & Campground. When we were there 9 months before, the manager mentioned he takes workers, so we came back for a 2 week stay and he put us up in the bach (Kiwi word for cottage).
It was a very basic bach with no electricity, but still self-contained and comfortable. The area is full of history, and oddly enough, the first settlers of the lodge in the 1800s were Newfies!

We also visited Piha and Karekare, just north of Whatipu. Karekare being the film location for the Piano, and Piha a well-known surfing town. Both are beautiful in the same rugged way as Whatipu.

June 12-22: Back on the North Island

It was a sad day to leave the South Island after spending 6 months down there. The South Island is where all the grand, expansive scenery is. It's bigger and less populated, more wild, it's where the Alps are. There's nothing wrong with the North Island- there's plenty of beauty and adventure if you know where to find it, but the two are definitely different.
Winter was setting in on the South. Starting in May in Fairlie we were getting some frosty mornings- although nothing like what we get in Ottawa, in can be difficult to live in a van when the temperature drops below 0C.
But since our home is on wheels, we have the luxury of running from the cold by heading north- same way Canadians escape by heading south to Florida!

New Zealand is a long, narrow country that stretches across several latitudes. The southernmost city Invercargill is at a similar latitude as Ottawa, but the northern tip of the North Island is in a sub-tropical zone, similar to southern California. So our destination for winter is the Bay of Islands, far north!

Along the way to our next workstay, we took a week to visit parts of the North Island we missed last go around.
After the ferry crossing, we drove north along the Kapiti coast to Taranaki.
Last time Mt. Taranaki was surrounded by cloud. We thought we would try again, but no, this time it was still a cloud magnet, so we gave up on trying to get a photo and bought a postcard!

We then drove to Rotorua to go Zorbing, and also have a hot-spring soak.
From a little internet research we found the most incredible natural hot spring hidden in the bush: a hot stream with an actual waterfall of boiling water! There can't be too many places in the world like that...

After Rotorua, a quick stop in Tauranga to see Mt. Manganui, a little former volcano, right in the middle of a city.

We then went to explore more of the Coromandel peninsula. We spent a night in Karangahake Gorge to see some of the best gold mine relics in the country- there are all sorts of long tunnels in the cliffs to walk through.

We also went to see the famous Cathedral Cove now that the crowds have died down.

Jun 9-12: French Pass - Last Outing in the South Island

We had the ferry crossing back to the North Island booked for June 12, so one more tour on the big and beautifull South Island. There's not much left we haven't seen, but French Pass was a must-see. It's a different side of the Marlborough sounds, a little harder to get to, a little more out of the way. But the long drive sports incredible views.
French pass is a treacherous narrow channel where the tide rushes through with speed. It also happened to be some of the best fishing I found on the South Island.

In the evening the wind whipped-up at French pass, and had our van rocking back and forth.
We spent the next night at Elaine Bay, a nice campsite nearby, and a little more sheltered.
This place was deserted as it was off-season, but we had a nice sunny day and walked the Archer track from here- which showcases the Sounds' glorious scenery.
We didn't see another person on the track, it really was the quiet season!

May 20-June 9: Workstay in Ward at the Olive Grove

Our next workstay was at an olive grove in the Marlborough region, a place with a good climate for grapes and fruit growing.
We stayed with a wonderful, easygoing couple who recently bought the place, we had a great time.
There was some building work, but we happened to be there for the annual harvest, although it was the world's smallest olive crop!
It was just a bad year and there were only a handful of trees worth harvesting. It was good for us, because we got to see the whole process with no pressure, we picked some by hand, some by machine. The previous year took 6 weeks of work to harvest, this year it took one day!

After the olives are picked, they go into a machine that grinds them into a paste, then the paste goes through a centrifuge to separate the oil. It's a cold-process, so the oil is pure as! There's nothing like fresh oil off the press- its delicious, fruity, and very strong- it burns the back of the throat.

In the end they only got 7 liters or so, which is hardly anything, but it was still fun.
And Jill learned to ride a 4-wheeler!

The best part was they got their new chickens while we were there- we got to name the 2 Araucanas after ourselves: Chicken Jilly & Lee Chicken.