February 8. 2024 2:40 pm
At 11:30 pm tonight, Feb. 8 (NZ time), we will be leaving New Zealand after 76 unparalleled days of adventure. At 9:10 am (Hawaiian time) today, Feb. 8, we will arrive in Honolulu . The fact that we fly for 8 hours and 40 minutes and then arrive 14 hours 20 minutes before we leave, is just as astounding to me as our host country has been for the past 76 days.
I am waiting for the slaves to pick me up and transport me from the Egyptian garden in Hamilton to the Surrealist Garden. They never showed.
Our last couple of days on the road included two nights in the town of Hamilton. Hamilton boasts a world class set of “enclosed” gardens that are a tribute not only to history, but also cultures (a small version of the lovely plantings and fountains a la the Taj Mahal), art movements (think Salvador Dali meets Alice in Wonderland in a crazy garden with moving trees and giant doors to be opened only after drinking from the bottle on the table), architectural movements (a Modernism garden that looked suspiciously like most of the new homes in the tract housing around Menlo Park in the 1950s), plus many more, and many more plans for the future. Wandering through the maze of enclosed gardens which included a large vegetable garden with a medicinal and culinary patch of herbs, kept us oohing and ahhhing and considering how we could smuggle some of the cuttings back into the States.
Not happening. We learned well in New Zealand the damage of non-native flora and fauna being introduced to this lovely paradise. New Zealand is on a mission to eradicate non-native species of plants and animals from the islands by 2050. Given that the only native mammals on the islands before humans came were a bat species and seals, they have a big job to get the rats, stoats, goats, possums, etc that are devastating the bird populations. I believe NZ can do it. They actually love and therefore care for their islands.
We stopped at a Sunday farmers market and treated ourselves to the summer plenty of corn on the cob, local cheeses, raspberries, fresh sourdough breads (with modesty, I admit it was not quite as good as mine), and some lovely hot Chinese dumplings (think potstickers) for our lunch treat. There was a guitarist, and laughter, and families enjoying a lovely, Sunday afternoon.
Nick and I enjoying the view from one of our last road trip stops.
We saved the Coromandel peninsula as our last stop on our way back to Auckland. Technically, it was a five hour detour, but one well worth the drive. Gordo, known for his life-long obsession with all things having to do with trains and railroads, wanted us to see the Driving Creek Railway. His enthusiasm made it a no-brainer to go.
The Coromandel peninsula is basically across the bay from Auckland, but to drive from Coromandel Town to Auckland is a solid 2.5 hour drive. Nick took on the driving from Hamilton and up to the Coromandel Town on a road that hugged the coast of the bay. OK, for most of the road, you were actually following the coast of the Firth of Thames. A firth is a narrow inlet of water, similar to a fjord. Whatever the proper term is for that body of water, it is stunning. Unlike the Jenner grade, the drop off from the edge of the road is only 15 or so feet onto the rocks, or mud, or water (depending on the tide) but the road is particularly narrow and particularly popular, as we arrived on the day before a holiday.
Wendy, Gordo, Mark, and Nick squished into our tiny open railroad car. One of the many engineering feats of this tiny railroad…a bridge with an upper and lower passage as part of its zigzag method of getting up the extremely steep hill.
The Driving Creek Railway lived up to Gordo’s description. In the 1970s Barry Brickwell, a potter, bought land on the Coromandel peninsula that was rich with terra cotta clay. His intention was to start a pottery studio on the vertical slopes of the land and harvest the clay for his works. Having a fascination with railroads and a definite need to be able to move the heavy clay plus the wood required for firing, Brickwell decided to build a railroad to the top of his mountain. and thus allow him to build an artistic community for potters.
A reconstruction of the Eiffel Tower in the Eyefull Tower with the viewing deck behind. This is an easy “Where’s Nick?”
Brickwell had no engineering qualifications but had a curiosity that allowed him to study, research, and figure it out himself. He ended up with a miniature set of tracks, that he re-purposed from railways around the world, several tiny engines (able to transport large logs…and later passengers). There were tunnels, and art installations, zigzag switchbacks used to change the direction of the train, rainforest vegetation and, at the top, the Eyefull Tower.
The view from the Eyefull Tower…slightly different from the 16th arrondissement in Paris.
And, indeed, the platform at the top gave the promised “eyeful” of the bay, Auckland, and the surrounding mountains.
My last driving stint in New Zealand. Yes, I was on the correct side of the road!
The last leg of our New Zealand journey from Coromandel City to Auckland was driven by me. It was hard recognizing that this was it. The road trip part of our adventure was ending. As I easily entered roundabouts, made right-hand turns without concern about which lane to drive into, correctly used the turn signal and not the windshield wipers, I felt some pride in my new found skill.
L: The boys at the park: Nick with Caston in front, Gordo, and Mark. R: Caston took this photo while we were at Howick Historical Park, a park near Gordo’s home. I appreciate how he made we look skinnier (and taller)…I’m on the left, Nick on the right!
In Auckland we spent the day with Caston, Gordo’s grandson. Caston has all the energy of a six-year-old boosted by a strong curiosity of all things. As we wandered through parks, Caston kept all three of his 70+ year old audience panting to keep up. But with his first tooth missing and serious dimples, we all followed like puppy dogs.
Evan, Kim’s wife Kim, Evan’s wife Emily, Wendy, Kim, and Nick on the Brown’s back deck. Photo taken by the Brown’s young daughter, Vivian.
An extra bonus for me, after a couple of months of trying, was finally being able to meet up with Evan and Emily Brown. Evan is the son of Dave and Suzanne Brown who I have known for most of my life, through our Plantation Farm Summer Camp connection. Evan and Emily moved to New Zealand a dozen or so years ago and we got to meet their three young, utterly charming children. To add more spice, Kim, an Australian camp counselor I hadn’t seen for many years, came with his very fun New Zealand wife, Kim (yes, they are both Kims!). The evening fit very well into the crazy, warm evenings we would spend at camp, talking around a campfire. No campfire, but plenty of mosquitoes. The dinner was yummy but the company even more so.
Our “last supper” with Gordo, Mark, Nick, Wendy, Travers, Angel, Caston, and the carcass of two Beijing ducks.
Last night, Caston’s mom and dad, Travers and Angel, joined us for our farewell dinner of Beijing duck, which was delicious. Saying goodbye we tried to get a promise that we would see Caston with his family at our house in California in the future. We can only hope!
So, I am packing up my computer for our flight to Honolulu. My plan is to write one or two more episodes of our 100 day journey, but no promises. I know Fred and Bob, our Honolulu connection have places for us to go, including going to a HOMA (Honolulu Museum of Art) opening tonight at 4:00 pm…Wait, we’re still in New Zealand and it is 2:00 pm…how are we going to make it to Honolulu by 4:00 pm. Stay tuned!
e noho rā (farewell in Maori)
~ Wendy & Nick