Exploration of Auckland by Axel

Exploration of Auckland

by Axel Mitchell

I have spent the last 2 weeks in Auckland at the Viaduct Harbour. The Volvo ocean race boats came in the same harbour after racing all the way from China. There was a race village which included a cinema, restaurants, activities (like simulators and games), live bands, shops, bean bags to lounge in and built towers with, and last but best, a Lego Volvo boat.

There are lots of good restaurants near my boat, including Pride and Joy Ice Cream. Ice cream happy hour is my favorite time of day, 1 dollar ice cream with free toppings.

I went sailing on a Topaz, a small sailing dinghy, with my sister and friends Johnny and Victoria. It was a blast! They let us use the jib and I went out on the trapeze, which meant I put my feet on the edge of the boat, held onto a wire from the mast and dangled over the water.

I went exploring Auckland on my dad's fold up bike by myself. Every day I would explore something new. The coolest thing I saw was a big skate park that I rode in on my bike. I played on 2 giant curvy, tube slides that were on 2 levels of the platform.

I went on a classic yacht race with my family and their friends with absolutely no wind. It was soooo boring, but I did see someone bungy jump off the Auckland Harbour Bridge when we were under the bridge on our boat.

Almost every day I went to these pools called the Auckland Tepid Baths. There are 2 pools and a hot tub. The tepid pool water was a perfect temperature for me. One day I went with my sister and 2 friends, without any parents, we had a blast.

I had a wonderful time in Auckland, but there are still plenty of things I didn't do, like go up the Sky Tower. I really enjoyed exploring most of Auckland on my own and with my parents.

Mar 9, 2015 Auckland etc

Lots to catch up on. We have been having a great time and doing so much the last few weeks I haven't found time to write anything.

We started by sailing from the Bay of Islands to Auckland with my Dad. The first night out we anchored in Deep Water Cove, a tranquil spot close to Cape Brett.

The next day we passed the famous "Hole in the Rock" and headed south to the Poor Knight Islands. There is a spectacular cave that we watched a large power enter, turn around and hang out inside for a while. The islands are in a marine reserve so there are tons of fish. I tossed a carrot top in the water and it was instantly boiling with good size fish. We anchored in about 80 feet of water about 200 feet from the shore, and didn't get much sleep. When the wind shifted onshore at 1:30 am, both Gary and I got up and decided it was time to leave.

We sailed/motored to Great Barrier Island and anchored near Port Fitzroy. We enjoyed the delightful all in one general store, bottle shop, post office, social center,… and did a short hike and kayaking. Then onto Waiheke Island. Here Axel and I nearly killed my dad hiking from Owhanake Bay to Matatia Bay up and over about 5 headlands. The hike provided spectacular views of Auckland and was lined with massive houses, some even had helicopter pads. We took a taxi into town and relaxed at a café overlooking the beach and soaked in the views. As we started our hike back toward the boat, Axel stuck out his thumb and the first car stopped and picked us up. My dad was shocked, but relieved, as he didn't want to walk anymore. It has been a long time since my dad has hitchhiked!

The next day we tied up in Auckland at the Viaduct Marina, and there we stayed for 2 weeks. We had intended to stay just 1 week, but we enjoyed ourselves so much we stayed on. Our slip was behind the main stage for the Volvo Ocean Race, so we were right in the heart of the activities.

 The first week before the Volvo boats arrived was tranquil, Gary did a bunch of work on the boat, and the kids and I focused on schoolwork in the mornings and exploring and shopping (for stuff you can only get in large western cities) in the afternoon. We visited the art gallery and really liked the lego city exhibit, especially the fact that you could contribute to the artwork.  We saw the Chinese new year lantern festival in Albert Park. Interestingly, the Kiwis call this the year of the sheep, but the rest of the world calls it the year of the goat.

Feb 27 - Mar 1 we raced in the Classic Yacht Regatta. Unfortunately there wasn't much breeze, except for one squall that made everything very exciting for about 20 minutes. The squall hit as we were sailing under the Auckland Harbour Bridge in close quarters with many boats. The most challenging part was avoiding the other boats that were wiping out around us and trying to see past the end of the boat in the worst part of the storm.

I really want to thank Neil Cox and his navigator on Vestas Wind for making available their team compound for the Classic Yacht Regatta to use. We got the best spot at the end of the pier for our after race parties and watching the Volvo Ocean Race finish.

 Before the Volvo boats arrived, the classic yachts got to use their slips.

The classic yachts heading out for racing the morning after the Volvo boats arrived.

During the Classic Yacht Regatta.

On Friday morning before we headed out for our first race, the Volvo village was officially opened by Maori leaders, the mayor, and the Prime Minister. Due to the location of our berth, we got to view the ceremony up close and without any crowds. John Key even gave Gary a nod of acknowledgement when he walked up to watch. We all commented on how close we were to the Prime Minister and how there was only 1 security guys between us, that would never happen in the US.

The night the Volvo boats arrived was exciting. There were tons of people and tons of action.  The first boat, Mapfre, arrived about 9 pm, followed by Abu Dhabi about 4 minutes later, and Dongfeng another 4 minutes after them.  From our Classic Yacht Race center we were only a few feet from the finish line and right at the harbour entrance. Even though it was dark and there was little wind, you could see the boats and I was amazed at how fast they were sailing.

Even with my fairly poor quality photos, you can see how close the boats finished to us and the entrance to the harbour.

As soon as they finished, swarms of boats surrounded them, making it challenging for them to even enter the harbour. Once in the harbour there were loud greetings, swarms of media, on dock interviews and almost immediately they had the prize giving for the first 3 teams. The teams were ferried to the dock next to us for the ceremony. A Maori tribe greeted every team with a traditional Haka before they went on stage for their recognition. Again due to our berth location, we got a private up front viewing location for the ceremony.

Mapfre getting their first place champagne

Team Alvimedica, then Brunel arrived over the next few hours. After each team arrived there was a loud on the dock interview and even louder prize giving. About 2 am after team Brunel's prize giving, we went to bed, only to be awoken at 4:30 in the morning when the women's team, SCA, arrived. Lots of fun, but not much sleep that night, and we had to get up and go racing in the morning.

After our race was over, we got to explore the Volvo village. They set up a temporary village complete with restaurants, bars, cinema, exhibitions, boat yard, stores and our favorite the music stage beside the boat. Actually Axel's favorite was the SCA boat built out of legos.

During all of this we had numerous friends join us for meals and stay with us. There was never a dull moment. The most amazing part of staying in the middle of such a safe city, was letting the kids go explore on their own. They really enjoyed the freedom that they had. They found all the coolest parts of the Volvo village, went sailing on Topaz dinghies, and they biked all around the city on their own. We were all a little sad to leave Auckland, but much richer from our visit there.

Cheers,

Julie

 Sorry Neil we had to change allegiances since your team is out of the race

Feb 10, 2015 NZ South Island Tour plus a little of the North Island

We toured the South Island of New Zealand in the Purple Pimp Mobile!

We rented the most unique campervan for this adventure. Purple inside and out, most surfaces in the interior were covered in purple velour or mirrors, with the exception of the 2 disco ball lights. She's a beauty and we got tons of comments everywhere we went, but it was affordable and ran well.

 

We started the adventure by flying to Queenstown. We arrived at 9 am, so we had a full day to explore Queenstown. We walked from our hotel into town, Gary and Gigi went for a swim in icy Lake Wakatipu, we walked around the botanical gardens, and stopped for a quick lunch. Then we headed up the Skyline Gondola where we enjoyed the views and a few rides on the land luge (Axel's favorite). After a brief dip in the chilly hotel pool we walked back downtown for some dinner and ice cream.

The next day we picked up the Purple Pimp Mobile. After getting the run down on the vehicle and some provisioning, we drove just north of Te Anua and camped beside the lake. This ensured we were on the road to Milford Sound early the next morning.

Once in Milford we checked in to the nicest holiday park we stayed at during the trip. They had a beautiful, large common room, an industrial kitchen with new appliances and all the cooking utensils, and of course beautiful scenery. We hiked all around the area, and that afternoon we did the obligatory cruise out Milford Sound to the Tasman Sea. We were on a small boat, so it was a little more personal and when the captain put the bow into a waterfall Gary was ready and in his bathing suit to get an icy shower. The scenery is spectacular, soaring mountains encapsulated with clouds, glaciers perched in the mountain crevasses, hundreds of waterfalls and seals lounging lazily on the rocks. 

On our way back from Milford Sound we did a few short hikes. The favorite was to the snow tongue that had yet to melt below a larger glacier just past the Homer Tunnel. Although this was a fairly small patch of snow compared to the nearby glaciers, we realized it was still pretty big (try to find Gigi in the picture below).

That night we camped in Cromwell, the stone fruit capital of NZ, yummy. In the morning Axel and Gary went to the speedway and drove go-carts. That afternoon we went on my favorite hike to the Rob Roy Glacier. It was about a 10 kilometer hike with a vertical gain of about 1000 feet, and so worth it as you arrive at this stunning flower filled alpine meadow with the glacier looming above and numerous waterfalls flowing down the mountainside. 

Of course there are sheep everywhere and the kids want to try to pet them.

We stayed just outside Wanaka and toured the town the next day. It was great to see the town that so many of our friends have lived in while skiing in the winter. We headed north to the Blue Pools, a glacier fed river that pools as it curves causing unbelievable crystal blue water. Gary and Gigi jumped in, and then out very quickly. They described the water as not too bad, but the air almost felt hot once they got out. Later that afternoon we were hiked to the Fox Glacier. We found it interesting to see the markers of how quickly the glacier has receded in the past 150 years. We spent the night in the town of Franz Josef, very cute, lots of bars and restaurants. We went out for dessert and the kids tried their first pavlova and loved it.

Close-ups of the Fox glacier

We woke up early and drove through Arthur's Pass to the Bealey Spur hike. This took us up into the alpine for majestic views of the mountains and glacier carved valleys. 

 

From here we headed into Christchurch to visit our friends AJ, Roland and Isabella Mathews. We spent a couple of days with them, trying to catch up on the past 20 years. Unfortunately you can still see the devastation all around the city from the earthquakes 4 years prior. The downtown is a complete mess, with most of the buildings demolished or about to be demolished.

Monday February 2nd as we headed north we tried to find a place to watch the Superbowl. We got many comments like "What is that?",  "No one shows American football around here.", …  Eventually we found the small Leithfield Hotel and were the only ones watching it. We were a bit disappointed they didn't show the American commercials, instead they showed cricket and rugby commercials. Although they did show the half-time show, so Gigi was satisfied. After the game we toured Kaikoura, then camped at Mangamaunu. Mangamaunu is a famous surf spot, but unfortunately there was no big surf when we were there or in the foreseeable future. That said, Gigi did go out for a little surf. Kaikoura is NZ's main lobster fishing spot, so we looked into buying lobsters from a small shack on the beach, but the prices were astronomical, $50-100 for normal size lobster.

We went to 3 vineyards for a little wine tasting on our way through the Marlborough Sound wine region. Definitely the land of the citrusy sauvignon blanc. We camped at our favorite DOC campground, Pelorus Bridge. It has some of the only old growth forest left on the South Island and due to that a scene from the Hobbit was filmed there.

We made our way along the windy, scenic Queen Charlotte Drive to the start of the Queen Charlotte Track at Anakiwa where we rented mountain bikes and went on a fantastic ride that snaked through the forest and overlooked the Sound. Gigi got tired so she headed back early in the ride, so I rode to the lookout point then turned back to join her, and the boys continued down the trail to Te Mahia for ice cream, and we drove around to pick them up. Then we headed into picturesque Picton for dinner and to enjoy the awesome playground.

The next morning we got the very early ferry to Wellington. The ferry travels through Queen Charlotte Sound and the Cook Strait. We were lucky it was a very calm day, but even with almost no wind, the waves really kicked up as we approached the North Island. It was easy to see why people say Cook Strait is such a treacherous body of water.

We arrived at 9:30 am into Wellington, so we had the entire day to explore the city. We walked around downtown, saw the rugby sevens parade, toured the Beehive and parliament building, and took the cable car up to enjoy the botanical gardens. 

 Incredible hydrangeas in the botanical garden.

After a nice warm, dry, not windy night in a hotel room, we went to Te Papa, the national museum. It is an exceptional museum that thoroughly explains the history of New Zealand, the good and the bad parts. It was Waitangi Day, a celebration of the signing of a treaty between the Maori and British, so Gigi got a Maori face tattoo. We also enjoyed music in the park outside the museum. That afternoon we headed north to camp in Kaimanawa National Forest.

The next morning we hiked a portion of the great Alpine Track in Tongariro National Park. We hiked to a level where you could see 2 geothermal vents. It is a little unnerving to be on an active volcanic mountain. Later we made our way into Taupo, where Axel and Gary went on a giant rope swing. They dropped 150 feet over a river canyon before swinging for a while. These are the new rage at the bungy places instead of doing a bungy jump. Axel was screaming as they swung them out from the platform, he definitely was having second thoughts about going, then they dropped them. They fell 150 feet and it looked like they were about to hit the canyon wall, then they swung out over the river. They both loved the experience. 

 At our campsite we floated on our air mattress down the Waikato River. As expected the mattress was of little use that night for sleeping, so Gary ended up on the ground and I slept in the van with the kids.  That night and the following morning we went to the Thermal Spa Park and soaked in the natural hot springs. The water is a perfect temperature, and if you feel a little too hot you can swim in the river to cool down. The entire family decided this was one of our favorite spots from the whole trip.

As all good things must come to an end eventually, we drove 4 hours to Auckland to hand in our Purple Pimp Mobile, then 4 more hours back to Opua and the boat only to be greeted to the biggest bird poo bombing I have ever seen. Thankfully my parents had a warm meal was waiting for us after a quick first scrub of the boat.

Cheers,

Julie