Loyal readers of our blog must be wondering where we have been for the last month. Some of you we've actually been able to catch up with in person and others unfortunately we haven't. Well, after leaving Australia, we headed to New Zealand to stay with some good NZ friends of ours who are working in the UAE but who were back on leave in their home country.
Auckland - July'10
Pink sheep, a 2000 year old Kauri tree and a trip to a family pine plantation, these were some of the things we did and saw with our NZ friends Grant and Julie.
We were met at the airport and soon we were whisked away to spend some time in the Northlands of NZ. For those of you, who like me had never heard this term, it is that area north of Auckland and including the ninety mile beach at the very tip of the north island. Grant's family has owned a pine plantation of considerable size for nearly 40 years now. They have a holiday home on the plantation site where generations of the Anderson family have spent many a peaceful weekend enjoying nature and solitude amongst the pines. The trees take around 28 years before they reach maturity, are cut down and logged. The property is managed by an eccentric 'muso' caretaker who draws from the peace and quiet inspiration for his songwriting and his creative energies.
The weather was great for this time of the year and we managed sunny days for the majority of our time there. We were taken to the Bay of Islands, ninety mile beach, past quaint country towns and many dairy farms. We were surprised at how there seemed to be a great abundance of cattle compared to sheep these days and apparently it's all to do with the farmers need to diversify in these economic times. We did see an amazing sight though of pink sheep on the hillside. We didn't stop to ask why !!!!
In our travels we past through the Waipoua Forest with the oldest known Kauri tree in NZ which is purportedly around 2000 years old. It's called Te Matau Ngahere, or "Father of the forest" and measures approximately 800 rings.
After a few wonderful days up north we spent some time looking around Auckland itself. We visited the museum, many different restaurants, the volcanic 'one tree hill' and some of the wonderful parks throughout the city. We were impressed by the size and complexity of the city and like most places we've visited we'd love to return to explore it some more.
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