Wednesday, March 05, 2025

Down Under 2025 - Sydney 2

Sydney, Australia. 03/05-March-2025.

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Monday 03: The return stop at Sydney with no specific plans. For a bit of variety we chose a local Argentinian restaurant, La Boca, for supper.

Tuesday 04: We booked a Skyfeast at Sydney Tower but we arrived in the centre a bit early so had time to wander around Hyde Park and St Mary’s cathedral.

View of the tower from Hyde Park.

On the way there we also had a quick peer into the ornate lobby of the Grace building which was apparently the inspiration for “Are You Being Served”. Originally a department store owned by the Grace Brothers it is now a hotel.

SkyFeast was a buffet lunch in the revolving restaurant at the top of the telecom tower. We went for the premium wine package which includes unlimited, better class wines.

You are allocated an hour and a half slot. The restaurant rotates every 70 minutes which means you get a circuit and a third while you dine. The bird’s eye view shows how much waterfront Sydney has.

We got a good view of the cathedral and Hyde park.

There was nothing on at the Opera House so instead we went to the (other) Royal Albert Hall to hear Cat Power sings Dylan. A  very different take on the songs. Pleasant enough but we, metaphorically, didn’t buy the CD.

I was also taken by the older stations on the Metro which very much reminded me of Baker Street station in London.

Lovely cream and green tiling.

Wednesday 05: An evening flight back to the UK. Pretty uneventful, simply incredibly long. Having landed at 05:30 UK time, we took the train up to Victoria, tube across London, brunch at Euston and train up to Penrith. Door to door it must have been 36 hours travelling. It took at least a week for the sleep patterns to fully normalise.

We both agreed it was a fantastic trip and lived up to the hype from everyone who had been and said what a great place New Zealand was to visit.

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Monday, March 03, 2025

Down Under 2025 - Auckland

Auckland, 27-February/03-March-2025

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Thursday 27: After Hobbiton we drove the rest of the way to Auckland, dropped off the luggage at our Home Exchange accommodation before returning the hire car and taking the opportunity to explore a bit of the city.

Friday 28: We spent much of the day wandering around central Auckland following a booklet of Maori walking art trails.

In the mural on the side of this building each vessel represents a mountain and the tribal symbols for the Māori peoples associated with the respective locale.

Saturday 29: Was of course #parkrunday and the turn of Ōrākei Bay parkrun, our third and final parkrun in NZ. There were a number of tourists, many from the UK but also Australia and other parts of New Zealand.

A single out-and-back along a boardwalk by the bay. Mary striding in for the finish line.

Great bunch of marshals, especially the ultra-hyper lady and her lovely dog at the turnaround point. You could hear her cheering from about a kilometre away.

Any parkrunner will know the importance of handing in your finish token after being scanned.

The walk from our apartment to the local restaurants and shops took us down Great Road which was lined with luxury car showrooms: McLaren, Porsche, Lotus plus  Ferrari, Lamborghini and Bentley.

You could even buy a Bentley stroller for the tot who has everything.

It was a shock to the system to see skyscrapers after three weeks of low rise everywhere else.

One of the delights of this trip was being able to meet up with friends we made in 2008 when we took part in a London to Paris bike ride. Dave and Luci emigrated to NZ two years ago and live just north of Auckland on the other side of the bay, close enough to pop over for a meal. We met in a local wine bar and had a good catch-up.

As supporters of the Carlisle Victorian and Turkish Baths we were delighted to stumble across these Tepid Baths by pure accident as we were wandering about. They kindly allowed us to go inside to read about the history. The Baths were opened 1914 with a swimming pool and also slipper baths for cleansing. The parallels between their stories were remarkable, both addressing the need for public baths for the local working class and, in Auckland, also for visiting sailors.

And I just had to get an All Blacks’ duck to keep our Ampelmann duck company.

Sunday 02: A walk across New Zealand. Having walked across England and across Italy we thought it only right that we should add to our transnational walks with a stroll across New Zealand. Fortunately at Auckland that is a modest walk of 16 km so easily doable in a few hours.

We picked map from the Tourist Information office together with screen shot of the route description from the city website and headed off.

The start point was not signposted that we could see so the Maritime Museum seemed as good a spot as any to mark the beginning.

Passing through the city centre we passed some gnarly trees in Albert Park.

Next through Auckland Domain park, Auckland’s oldest park with lots of native flora.

We then had a steep ascent to the top of Mount Eden / Maungawhau for spectacular views in all directions complete with a caldera to let you know you’re on the top of a volcano.

We passed through suburbs many of which had lovely Victorian era wooden houses with ornately edged verandas.

The route took us past One Tree Hill / Maungakiekie which singularly failed to live up to its name, the eponymous tree having long since been replaced by an obelisk.

We then had a step descent with views of the southern shore.

We finally arrived at the coast where the signs petered out.

Not knowing where the formal end was we chose a suitable bench to rest and claimed “complete”.

Supper that evening was at a local BYO where we planned to use a fine bottle of wine we had brought on one of the wine tours. Unfortunately we forgot the wine so had to go to the supermarket next door to the restaurant and buy another bottle. Luckily we had room in a case so the forgotten wine became a souvenir to take home.

Monday 03: Up reasonably promptly for a morning flight back to Sydney.

Next: Sydney 2, 03/05-March-2025

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Thursday, February 27, 2025

Down Under 2025 - Taupo

Taupo, 26/27-February-2025.

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Wednesday 26: After leaving Napier, we had an overnight stay in Taupo. We had been recommended Taupo for the lake so booked ourselves a cruise for the afternoon of our arrival.

The main purpose of the cruise was to visit some Māori rock carvings. I was expecting them to be an ancient but it turns out they were carved out in the 1970s but are traditional in design.

As well as the main carving there are some smaller side carvings on the left hand side.

On the way back into the harbour a huge flotilla of small craft had appeared. Clearly all the locals out for a post-work sail.

Taupo is the venue for the annual New Zealand Ironman event which was imminent. They were starting to set up the marquees around town, warning of road closures and we saw hordes of cyclists pedalling around town. Down near the harbour we spotted these very colourful statues representing the three disciplines.

Lake Taupo in the morning as we headed off for our next stop. We decided to skip the sulphurous springs and mud pools of Rotarua and head straight for Hobbiton.

Next: Hobbiton, 27-February-2025.

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Down Under 2025 - Hobbiton

Hobbiton, 27-February-2025.

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Wednesday 27: the drive from Taupo to Auckland was chosen to allow us to visit Hobbiton. We booked well in advance and glad we did as it was sold out that day. Despite that and the numbers of tourists it didn’t feel at all crowded. It was all very well organised with groups setting off every 10 minutes.

The first Hobbiton was built for The Lord of The Rings trilogy (LOTR) with the condition that all land was restored to its pre-filming condition leaving not a trace behind. Following the success of LOTR fans came to visit the site even though there was nothing to see. The enterprising farmer charged visitors for a drive around the farm. When he was approached for the Hobbit trilogy he imposed the reverse condition - that the village was sturdily constructed for permanent use and so the tourist attraction was born.

Our very first view of the outside of a Hobbit house.

It was a lovely sunny day which brought out lots of these gorgeous Monarch butterflies to bask in the sun.

The hobbit houses were built with doors of different sizes depending on whether they wanted hobbits to look small or Gandalf to look tall.

A view across Hobbiton with so many Hobbit homes - a charming and bucolic landscape.

Our guide was excellent and pointed out who lived in each of the houses and where they appeared in the films.

Sam Gamgee’s house which appears in the final scene of the Hobbit trilogy.

Bag End, Bilbo Baggins’ house at the top of the hill and having the most windows of all the hobbit houses - both signs of his status.

All the interior scenes were filmed in a studio but now they have built a couple of houses using concept drawings from the film plus employed the original artists and craftsmen to recreate authentic interiors.

To quote their website “All tours of Hobbiton Movie Set now include an interior Hobbit Hole™ experience, designed and crafted by the renowned creative teams behind The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies. Located on Bagshot Row™, these Hobbit Holes offer an authentic glimpse into the charming dwellings of Hobbits going about their daily lives in the Shire™.” [https://www.hobbitontours.com/discover/bagshot/]

The tour included a free mug of beer at the Green Dragon Inn and very tasty it was too. It was delightful to sit in the sunshine supping proper brown beer.

Our souvenir, as Hobbits and parkrunners have something in common.

“Aragorn: Gentlemen! We do not stop 'til nightfall.
Pippin: But what about breakfast?
Aragorn: You've already had it.
Pippin: We've had one, yes. But what about second breakfast?
[Aragorn stares at him, then walks off.]
Merry: Don't think he knows about second breakfast, Pip.
Pippin: What about elevensies? Luncheon? Afternoon tea? Dinner? Supper? He knows about them, doesn't he?
Merry: I wouldn't count on it Pip.”

Next: Auckland, 27-February/03-March-2025.

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Wednesday, February 26, 2025

Down Under 2025 - Napier

Napier, 23/26-February-2025.

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Sunday 23: We had a three night stay using a home exchange in Taradale, a suburb of Napier. We arrived, met our hosts who handed over the keys, gave us some basic info and then left in their motorhome for a short break of their own.

The benefits of Home Exchange are that you get to stay in real home with all the facilities like a fully equipped kitchen and access to a washing machine which means you don’t have to eat out all the time, especially for breakfast, and only need to pack a week’s worth of clothes.

Monday 24: We did a Hawke's Bay wine tasting tour with Hawke’s Bay Scenic Tours. Our first stop at Pask winery gave us a useful overview of the Hawke's Bay wine growing areas. We learnt about the gimlet gravels which resemble some of the Bordeaux terroir and produce the best wines in Hawkes Bay. We heard about the 2023 Cyclone Gabrielle and subsequent floods which wiped out a large part of the harvest. The flood waters were so high that some of the vines were completely underwater and they are still working to recover the vineyards.

The second tasting was at Church Road winery. We then went on to Trinity Hill for lunch. Both were enjoyable but not particularly memorable.

Our fourth and last stop was the Mission winery. This building was originally in the town centre but was disassembled and transported in 13 sections to its new location at the top of a hill.

Until fairly recently all the Mission cellar masters were Brothers and their photographs are displayed in the cellars.

Tuesday 25: We booked a guided walk of Napier town centre provided by the Art Deco Trust. In the Art Deco Centre they showed a short film which helped us understand the devastation caused by the 1931 earthquake and why the centre of Napier is so full of Art Deco buildings.

After the film, one of the volunteers from the trust gave us a guided tour of the town centre pointing out buildings of interest with a bit of history to go with. We both agreed The Daily Telegraph building was our favourite building, probably because it was standalone with no modern additions.

The front and back of the stylish Masonic hotel.

The manhole covers are Art Deco as well! Recurrent themes include ziggurats and sunbursts

Even the street signs in the town use art deco fonts!

Lots of different styles around the town centre:

And another!

Many shop windows were topped with Art Deco motifs.

More popular art deco motives: the zigzag and the fan

Our guide called this Spanish style with the curved roof and lintel.

There was an Art Deco amphitheatre right by the shore line.

Even the pedestrian crossing lights got in on the act with a lady dressed in flapper costume wearing a cloche hat echoing a nearby statue of the same.


In Taradale they have an Art Deco Town Hall and an Art Deco McDonalds. As they were clearing up the Town Hall after a function Mary was able to sneak a peek inside to snag a photo of the lovely stained glass window.

The Art Deco McDonalds!

Wednesday 25: We had a relatively short drive to Taupo for our next stop so we used the spare time to explore the area. First we took a trip down the coast.

Then we drove inland to the highpoint of Te Mata. I have to say, the road up was a little scary: very narrow with not much in the way of passing places if you met somebody coming the other way. However at the top we were rewarded with stunning 360° views.

Next stop: Taupo, 26/27-February-2025.

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