Last Days in Pauanui

Wednesday and Thursday we didn’t do a whole lot. It would have meant more driving for John to explore other parts of Coromandel Peninsula so instead we did some walking locally. There is a small wetlands area in Pauanui with a pleasant “boardwalk” which we did and also on the beach on the Pacific – just absolutely gorgeous – wide and very fine white sand. This time of the year it was almost totally deserted – just a few hardy souls actually in the water – we were not among them.

On Thursday I decided to take the hike up Pauanui Mountain – not really a mountain but that’s what they call it. The sign said it was 1 ½ hrs to the top. but someone else heading up ahead of me said it wasn’t really that long. The sign also said “only for experienced, fit walkers”. I decided I was up to it and I really wanted to get up there for the view so up I went. It started out pretty easy but got quite steep and rocky the farther I went. Unfortunately, I did not have hiking shoes/boots – just running shoes with somewhat worn out tread. I got up to a point where there was a great view and decided to turn around there because my traction just wasn’t good enough for the trail – darn! I did get some nice pictures, though with a view of all of Pauanui and the beautiful beach. Back at the trail head there were a couple of short walks along the beach to a stony cove which was quite beautiful – so I did that. I had just enough time to walk on the deserted beach then before John returned to pick me up. You’ll be able to see the pictures I took on my web albums page.

Friday we headed to Auckland to return our rental car and spend part of the night in a motel – we have to be at the airport by 3:30 a.m. for our 5:35 a.m. departure to Melbourne and Perth. Ugh!

The Long Journey

The worst part about visiting New Zealand and Australia is getting there. It is a very long ways to go. Our journey started with a 4 a.m. pickup to take us to Leon for the 3 1/2 hr flight to Los Angeles. Our flight to Auckland was not until 8:30 p.m. so we had the day in Los Angeles. It was just the right amount of time to visit the Getty Museum. The Getty is a very beautiful place with wonderful gardens and architecture -no expense was spared. We particularly enjoyed a 45 min tour describing how the museum complex was designed and constructed. My nephew, who lives in LA, came by to meet us for lunch so it was a pleasant way to spend our layover.

Then it was back to the airport for all the security check-ins and boarding. A very full plane meant that we had no extra room to get comfortable for the 12 1/2 hr. flight to Auckland. We flew on Qantas and the flight was actually not too bad with decent food and we each had a personal video screen in the seatback in front of us. I watched "The Queen" and "Little Miss Sunshine" as well as part of "The Last King of Scotland". I got a little sleep, but not much. John can sleep anywhere so he did quite well.

Upon our arrival in Auckland we easily cleared customs and called our car rental company for pick-up. Soon we were on our way to Wellington. It's about 350 miles but NZ highways are not like our superhighways so it is much slower to get somewhere. We were too tired to travel very far so we just drove 3 hours and stopped in Rotarua which is a tourist area with mineral hot springs and a large lake. We found a very nice motel - practically new with suites and every room had a hot tub - exactly what we needed after our travels. It was still early afternoon so we visited a museum that used to be a bath house in the 1800's. They also had exhibits about a devastating volcanic eruption there that killed 120 people. It was all very interesting but we were really wiped out and after soaking in our hot tub, we crashed around 6 p.m.

Next morning we awoke at 6:00 a.m. and as soon as it was light we walked a mile or so and finally found a cafe that was open for breakfast. Then we were on our way to Wellington. John was doing the driving and I was the navigator. It was a bit hairy watching him getting used to driving on the "wrong" side of the road. He did pretty well except for one right turn that was very scary . After that I kept reminding him to "keept left". It also took him a while to use the turn signal instead of the windshield wiper when making a turn.

The scenery from Auckland to Wellington was amazing - very, very green - every shade of green you can imagine. Many forests followed by rolling hills, mountains, and pastures dotted with sheep, cattle and more sheep. The highways were mostly two lanes with occasional short term passing lanes. The speed limit was never more than 100 km/hr (62 mph). We were warned by the car rental people that they are quite strict about enforcing the speed limits so we were very careful.

We arrived in the Wellington area after about 5 hours with just one stop for gas (US equiv. about $4.25/gallon). Our home exchange is just outside the city on the harbor in an area called Lower Hutt. We had good directions from our hosts and found the house without too much trouble. It is large, welcoming and comfortable with a fabulous garden. As we were unlocking the front door, the next door neighbors came by to welcome us and offer their help should we need any. They told us where the nearest grocery store was located so after dropping off our luggage we headed down the road for a few supplies for a light supper and breakfast. We relaxed and unwound and soon felt quite at home. We faded again pretty early and slept well in our comfortable bed.

Our Plans

We have been doing home exchanges since about 2003. We have now completed ten successful exchanges via homlink.org and are about to embark on our longest exchange - both in distance and time. We are going to New Zealand and Australia.

On March 1, 2007 we will fly from Leon, Guananjuato to Los Angeles, CA. We'll have a whole day's layover there so plan to visit the Getty Museum before our flight to Auckland, NZ departs. We will arrive in Auckland on March 3 (a 12 1/2 hr flight - ugh!) where we have arranged for a rental car. That should be an adventure in itself since they drive on the "wrong" side of the road there. Even though it's only about 350 miles from Auckland to Wellington - our destination - we plan to take two days so that we can enjoy some fabulous NZ scenery along the way without being in a hurry.

Our exchangers are not coming to San Miguel at this time. It will be a non-simultaneous exchange - they can come to our home at some future mutually agreeable date. Shirley and Bruce Gough will be going elsewhere for their son's wedding and we will stay in their home while they are gone - about a week and a half. When they return, we will move on to their beach home on the Coromandel Penninsula - the town of Paunaui. We will stay there for about a week and a half. From there we will return our rental car in Auckland and fly on to Perth, Australia on the 24th of March. Our exchangers in Perth will arrive at our home in San Miguel at the same time. We will spend three weeks in Perth. Finally, we will head home with a 4 night stop in Sydney. When we arrive in Los Angeles, we will spend two nights there before returning to San Miguel on April 19th. Whew! It is a very long trip - the longest away from home ever.

I will update this blog regularly while we are on the trip and will post pictures. Please check back regularly if you are interested and you can post comments too.