Cruising

A friend and I went on the Auckland Harbour Cruise with Fullers. Departing from the ferry terminal in Downtown Auckland, it slowly cruises the channel to Rangitoto, passing Devonport and Mission Bay. After a quick stop over at Rangitoto to admire the natural environment on the most recent volcano in the Hauraki Gulf. Rangitoto means ‘Bloody Sky’ in Maori.

 

The Bean Rock Lighthouse (above) is the only surviving wave washed wooden cottage type lighthouse in New Zealand and is the oldest wooden lighthouse. It was built in 1871 Bean Rock stands on a group of rocks opposite North Head at the entrance to Waitemata harbour, Auckland. Read more here.

 

On the ferry landing on Rangitoto.

Upskirt shot of the Auckland Harbour Bridge which connects the North Shore to the Central City.

 

We also went on a Dolphin and Whale Safari with ExploreNZ. You leave the Auckland harbour on a dolphin watcher and for 4-5 hours you explore the Hauraki Gulf for any signs of dolphins, whales, bird life etc. We were lucky enough to come across two pods of dolphins. There were about 50-100 dolphins in each pack and they loved swimming close to the boat and following in the boat’s wake.

Kiwi road signs

On a road trip on Waiheke Island, which is a 45 minute ferry ride from Auckland City, we came across this road sign. The funny thing was that we didn’t see more than 10 sheep that whole day.

For any traveller or tourist in Auckland who has a day to spare, do yourself a favour and visit Waiheke. Rolling green hills, tranquil and deserted beached, beach cafes and a very laid-back attitude.

 

 

Does this mean “do what you want with the cows but leave the sheep alone”?

Stare…

 

Stormy rainbows

Stormy Sunday afternoon, getting lost in East Auckland. Spotted the rainbow and only noticed the faint second one when we got home.

You’re doing it wrong.

 

What happens when you get kittens? You become a slave to cats.

Listening to music – you’re doing it wrong.

Auckland at Night

Auckland at night, shot from the Heath Reserve over-bridge.

Wanganui to Taupo to Auckland road trip

For Easter 2010, we packed up and left on a road trip down south. Destination: Wanganui for an Afrikaans show and then Taupo for some action/adventure.

Wanganui is a small town about 450km south of Auckland and it takes about 6 hours to drive there by car. This town is not driven by tourism, that was for sure.

War Memorial on Durie Hill

The Durie Hill War Memorial Tower is built from fossilised shell rock dated at more than two million years old. The tower is 33.5m tall and has 176 steps leading to the viewpoint. It offers excellent views of the city, Mt Taranaki and Mt Ruapehu and the Tasman Sea.

Wanganui Town

The Maori meaning for Whāngā nui is big bay or big harbour. Built around the Wanganui river, the town has an estimated population of 44,000. Wanganui is famous for being the only town to ban gang insignia and to give the police more power to control the gangs. 

Bok van Blerk

We only visited Wanganui to go to Bok van Blerk’s show. The show was awesome, great music on a well set up stage.

Taupo

We left Wanganui to morning after the Bok show and arrived in Taupo 3 hours later. Our only goal for Taupo was to experience as much adventure as what the time allowed us.

Taupo White River Rafting

Our first stop after unloading the gear at the campsite, was Rafting New Zealand. They briefed us, dressed us in wet suits and life jackets and drove us about 20 minutes from their base to the river.

After the white river rafting, we were cold & wet. We got back to the site, set up camp and took a long hot shower. We were totally exhausted – we had a quick barbecue and were asleep by 9pm.

The following morning, we got ready for the quad biking.

We drove around in the native mountain forest for 2 hours, with a quick stop at the top to take in the breathtaking scenery.

 

We also visited Huka Falls in Taupo – would love to go down the falls on a river rafter!

We saw a couple of other tourist attractions around the town, but sadly had to leave for Auckland that afternoon. We will definitely visit Taupo again in the very near future.

Burning Portfolio

Taken at Muriwai Beach, New Zealand around sunset.

Dolphins at Goat Island

Living in New Zealand without any close family leaves traditional holidays like Christmas a bit bare. So, On Christmas day 2009 we went snorkelling at Goat Island. I’ve mentioned Goat Island a couple of times before, because it is a beautiful marine reserve and only 100km from Auckland. The beach was rather crowded (it was a perfect summer’s day), but only a couple of people, mostly kayakers, snorkellers & divers, dared the cold water. When we got into the water, someone from the shore pointed into the distance and shouted. My first reaction was to think “Shark!” but it turned out to be a bunch of dolphins swimming into the bay. What resulted was us swimming like crazy to get to the area where the dolphins were to get some photos or videos.

The dolphins must have been very curious because we had a couple swim up to us, have a look, make squeaky dolphin noises and then quickly swim away. Truly breath-taking stuff! We got a couple of video clips of the dolphins playing around.

Blueberry Muffins

A lazy Sunday afternoon, a punnet of Blueberries and one lone egg calls for Blueberry Muffins. The recipe is quick and easy, even the guys can do it.

Ingredients

1 egg

¼ cup oil

½ cup white sugar

1 cup milk

2 cups standard plain flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup (approx a punnet) of blueberries

Instructions

Heat the oven at 200°C. If you are using a fan-forced oven, heat at 170-180°C.

Beat the egg, oil, sugar and milk together in a bowl. Sift the flour, baking powder and cinnamon into the wet mixture. Add the blueberries and mix. Do not beat the mixture, but gently stir until you get a think consistent batter. Spoon the mixture into a greased muffin tin and bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Let the muffins cool before tipping them over onto a wire rack. Dust the muffins with icing sugar before serving. The recipe makes 12 perfect muffins, ready to be served.

Bon appetit!