-- From Auckland to Wellington

The road tracklog 
From Auckland to Wellington
from 2010/09/26 to 2010/10/03 

The purpose of this day was to visit the site, Waitangi, of the signature of the treaty founder of the sovereignty of the British Crown on the territories belonging to the Maori tribes. Initially I took the rented car with one hour of delay due to the NZ had changed time in the night from Saturday to Sunday without to inform me! The car was a Starlet of Toyota old models having 153046 km at the odometer with one limps automatic. The roads curve in rolling mountains and I did not wish to go to seed eggs in snow with a gearbox on the left hand.

On the move towards Waitangi I stopped at the Whangarei Falls of which Lp considers that it is "Paris Hilton of NZ water falls". The LP is always equal to itself, dithyrambic until excess.

After the lunch pause at the top of the water falls I arrived in Waitangi, very attended in this shone upon Sunday, without rain. The birthday of the NZ took place on February 6, 1840 at the time of the signature of the Treaty of Waitangi between the representative of the Queen of England and the Maori tribes. It would seem that the terms of the English version and the Maori version are appreciably different given later on wars between the British and the Maori tribes. The translation was written by Rev Henry Williams, mistranslations or duplicity. The Anglican church was always the secular arm of the British Crown. Today still the treaty makes debates. On the site the Treaty House where the first British resident, James Busby, wrote the treaty is the oldest house well preserved in NZ dating back to 1832. The Whare Runanga, meeting room, as well as the Waka Taua, war canoe of 35 m long, were built for centenary of the treaty. In mid afternoon I looked for a point of fall for the night that I found in Paihia.

The next day around eight am the fog stagnated in the valleys announcing a beautiful day. On the way into Hokianga renowned for Waipoua Kauri Forest I made a pause to contemplate one of the giants of the NZ, Tane Mahuta. As of second half of the 19th century the exploitation of the forests reaches such a width that the majority of the kauris disappeared. Their exploitation stopped about 1960 by the creation of Forest Reserves.

In Matakohe the Kauri Museum is not the endless junk of the recent history but objects are in situation in the real life with mannequins identified by the name of the people and their genealogy, exceptional. The visit is highly recommendable. The kauri, Agathis australis, are NZ's most famous native tree, one finds it in the subtropical part of the North  Island, however it is also present in some Pacific Islands such as The Philippines and Malaysia.

The name of swamp kauri refers to the wood of kauri found under the ground. It comes from buried forests thousands of years ago. The dating with carbon-14 showed that it could date back to 50000 years. The gum of kauri is a resin bled by the tree, the fossil resin of kauri is the amber of NZ.

After 360km of road twisting in mountains I arrived about 1pm in Waitomo to visit the caves renowned for theirs glowworms. I was alone, the groups had left. The caves do not have anything spectacular if it is not the presence of glow-worms papering their ceiling a such Milky Way of thousands of stars in firmament. Alas my camera was unable to seize them if it is not in the state of larva hung at the end of sticky wire. The area has more than 300 identified caves, only three are accessible to tourists. They were known of Maori who buried their deaths there. Some belong to private owners. I bivouacked at the TOP10 opposite the i-Site.

On Wednesday September 29 as of my arrival in Rotorua I harvested some booklets in the I-Site. I precipitated to Wai-O-Tapu -Sacred Water- to attend the eruption of the Lady Knox Geyser which is very punctual at 10:30 local time. Then I walked in the site gathering 25 of most significant attractions of the 18 km² thermal reserve. They are craters, swimming pools of water and mud and fumaroles. I present the most representative. The colour is dependent on the chemical composition, sulphur, antimony, arsenic etc.

At the beginning of afternoon I visited the Te Puia which is the Maori Arts and Craft Institute in a reserve of more than 500 springs, mud and water. After the performance I strolled to seize the remarkable ones. It was a pleasant day in sulphur smell -rotten egg smell, H²S- suitable to clear the bronchi. At the end of the day I found a bivouac in Tokaanu at the foot of Tongariro.

The following day the gods were not in my favour, the weather was been overcast and in mountain weather forecasting was execrable. In Whakapapa Village I spent some time in the i-Site exploring the informative items as well the sporting possibilities as the recent eruptions of the volcanoes, 1995, and fauna and flora, cultural occupation in the days of bad weather. Le Chateau is a Grand Hotel built in 1929. Not being able to admire the three volcanoes of the plateau I took a picture of the model at the i-Site.

Finally I saw a kiwi, stuffed, and the size of an egg. There are five species of kiwi related to the ostrich in Africa as well as the emu and others. Before the arrival of Europeans and the introduction of predatory, cats, dogs and ferrets there were millions kiwis. Now it is a endangered species at the rate of 4% per annum. I returned to the hotel in Tokaanu at the beginning of afternoon.

It rained all the night, in the early morning the sky was always covered with heavy dark clouds. By leaving Tokaanu I hoped to see the volcanoes in altitude along the SH47 towards National Park. Alas the top of Tongariro was still caped with clouds.

In Raetihi I forked to take Whanganui River Road along the eponym river passing by small villages with the very poetic name such like Pipiriki. I was not disappointed, the road, partly a gravel road, curved in rolling mountains along the river with recent landslides due to the bad weather. The sky, swept by a strong wind, was clearing up while approaching Wanganui in edge of sea. I rented a cabin along the river for two days.

The day after I visited sights of the spot, not what to retain a traveller. At the museum, paying for foreigners! I retained the skeleton of the tallest birdwindless in NZ, the Moa now disappeared. Related with the ostrich it could weigh up to 240kg.

At Sarjeant Gallery a sculpture by Ann Verdcourt drew my attention. For the remainder it was the usual odds and ends.

I arrived in Wellington under a heat spring sun but with a strong cold wind. After my installation in Downtown Backpackers Hotel opposite the Train Station I was heading to deposit the car at the Omega hirer. In proximity the district of the NZ's power is grouped in three buildings, Beehive, Parliament House and Parliamentary Library. I traversed them all the three with a one hour tour. Alas contrary to Canberra I deposited all my tools at the entry, no question of remaining alone and of taking pictures of this high place of the Kiwi democracy.

Then it was the Old St Paul's Church built in 1863 in the English Gothic wooden style, superb work. I had the privilege to attend a impromptu concert of a prelude by J. S. Bach to the organ, seldom.

On Monday October 04 I continued the discovery of the NZ's capital where old buildings are close to buildings of glass and steel. Towns in Australia and NZ miss architectural unit following the example modern cities. I am marked by Paris Hausmannienne architecture.

This beautiful sunny day was cultural with the visit of the significant museum Te Papa organized in workshops to discover multiple facets of the NZ history. It is impossible to describe it so much collections are varied. Objects of Maori culture are emphasized in particular the maritime migrations. One day is not enough to explore it.

The Museum of Wellington is housed in the Bond Store where goods were stored to be cleared. It is devoted to the harbour activity of the city. The thirteenth car imported in 1903 was Peugeot.

The harbour of Wellington is one of deepest in the world inside a splendid bay opening on the strait of Cook connecting the North Island with the South Island. Of course I sacrificed to the traditional rise with the Cable Car to Kelburn Park & Botanic Gardens.

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