30th January - Tauranga - Rotorua, New Zealand

I woke up in the middle of the night and looking out of the cabin window, it was clear skies and moonlight across the sea

Jet lag was still a problem, but on the positive side I was up to capture a wonderful sunrise.

We slowly passed Mount Maunganui or Mauao its Maouri name, as we approached Tauranga harbour.

This is a 232 metre high volcanic cone is a sacred Maori site once home to a historic Pa the name for a Maori settlement.

Following the Ship were scores of Short-tailed Shearwaters.

After docking and breakfast we went ashore and travelled in land to Rotorua, the journey took about an hour by coach, along the way we were treated to Kiwi, fruit plantations, pine forests and lots of road works.  We passed through the town of Rotorua, and arrived at a site known as Whakarewarewa, a valley of thermal geysers, boiling mud pools and steaming waters.

Alongside the natural wonders the site has two attractions, Whakarewarewa, the living Maori village and Te Puia which houses an Arts and Crafts institute. The living village is home to 21 Maori families, and we were given a traditional Maori greeting and a show of song and dance.  Once this was over there was another surprise.  The site is part of a breeding programme for the Kiwi and we were able to see North Island Brown Kiwi.  Because the birds are highly nocturnal they were in exhibitions that simulate night during the day, and the Kiwi were active rummaging around there enclosure.  Amazing to see these iconic birds, something we would never do in the wild, but unfortunately we were not able to photograph due to the sensitivity of the birds.

From the Kiwi we then toured the thermal area with the main thermal geyser putting on a quite spectacular show.

Bubbling mud pools, known as the Leaping Frog Pool.

The main geyser is known as Pohutu "Big Splash" and we were fortunate to be there when it was erupting, something it does 10 - 25 times a day.

Steam being sent up to thirty metres high.

The steam sent up cools rapidly to fall as water drops.

These are a reminder of the volcanic activity through out new Zealand, where the Pacific tectonic plate meets the Australian tectonic plate.  Silica and calcium salts line the rocks.

Lovely in black and white.

The super heated steam emerging from the vast chambers below of boiling water.

Silica deposits.

Back on the ship we left the harbour of Tauranga.

Like the morning the evening was good for the shearwaters.  The white saddles behind the wings here show this to be a Fluttering Shearwater.

The next two are Hutton's Shearwaters, the lack of the white behind the wing identifying them.

Two Fluttering and a Hutton's shearwater.

Both Hutton's

Further out to sea we came across flocks of Buller's Shearwaters, showing the characteristic "M" markings on the wings.

This shearwater put on the best show.

With the light fading it was time for dinner.  Tomorrow will be a full day at sea as we head further south to the South Island of New Zealand.

24th - 29th January - Auckland, New Zealand

We set off on an adventure, leaving London Heathrow in the afternoon of the 24th January.  This was our first trip outside of the United Kingdom since October 2019 and it is fair to say there was some trepidation leading up to the day, but once we were at the airport all seemed alright.

We were flying Qatar Airways and the first leg was from London to Doha, a mere six hour flight.  WE stepped of that plane and made our way to the second flight to Auckland, New Zealand, a gobsmacking sixteen hour flight.  We didn't have too much time to take in Doha, the airport was incredible a series of open areas with trees and shops.  It was 2.00am when we set off and I managed a look out of the window at the many lit roads around the airport.

Having stayed awake on the first leg it was easier to sleep once we were airborne, night quickly turned into a very short day, the view from the tail lin of our A350.

We landed in Auckland at just before four in the morning and we were processed very efficiently and then picked up and taken to our hotel.  We chose not to sleep, instead sorted ourselves out and then at about 8:00 am set off to find coffee and breakfast.  We wandered around Auckland for awhile, mostly up and down Queen Street, the main retail area and then eventually returned to our hotel where we spent the rest of the morning and afternoon by the pool.  In the evening we walked to the Viaduct Harbour where we had dinner and a few drinks before heading back to the hotel and at last bed.

The next day we were up nice and early for a tour to Hobbiton, the place where the both "Lord of The Rings" and "The Hobbit" was filmed.  It was just over an hours journey to Matamata and the Alexander farm.

In September 1998, Sir Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema "discovered" the Alexander farm during an aerial search for suitable locations for the filming.  The farm was deemed perfect for the Hobbiton, the Hobbit settlement and construction began in March 1999.

The farm is still a working farm and when we arrived they were moving the sheep.

Thirty nine Hobbit Holes were created with untreated timber and polystyrene and an oak tree was brought in and artificial leaves attached. The Mill and Bridge were constructed from ply and polystyrene too.  When filming was completed in December 1999, for the Lord of the Rings, the Hobbiton was taken down.

The Hobbiton was rebuilt for the filming of the Hobbit in 2009, but this time the structures were permanent, the Alexander family working with Jackson to establish the film set as a tourist attraction.  Everything about the site is immaculate, you arrive at the gift ship and cafe and then transfer to green buses that take you onto the farm and to the film set.  You are then able to walk around with your guide and take in all the scenes you can remember from both films.

The seat on which Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf say in the first Lord of the Rings.

Bilbo Baggins House.

With the oak tree above it.

In December they had finished opening up a Hobbit Hole and you were able to walk around inside, everything was about two thirds normal size and made with incredible detail, like walking about in a dolls house.

A study area

The mill overlooking the lake next to the Green Dragon Inn

The Green Dragon was being rethatched and there were thatchers from England working on the roof with materials brought in from England.  One of them was from Hampshire!  We were treated to a drink in the inn.

The Green Dragon

There were a few birds about, bizarrely a lot of British birds that have been introduced to New Zealand.  A singing Song Thrush.

An Australian Magpie

Goldfinch

Greenfinch

And finally a New Zealand Purple Swamphen, or its Maori name of Pukeko.

Back in Auckland the skies were grey and threatening and nothing like the day before so we decided against wandering too far and ate in the hotel.  The next day he weather was not much better, but we were of to the island of Waiheke anyway.

One of the gulf islands, it was known to the Maori as Motu Wai Heke, "island of trickling water".  It was a forty minute ferry ride, unfortunately in rain.  But we arrived and transferred to a bus that took us across the island to Onetangi, a small settlement on a beautiful beach.  We walked along the sea front with the rain having stopped.  The first bird was this Spotted Cormorant or Shag as they are better known in New Zealand.

In one of the gardens along the road we were surprised to see this Monarch Butterfly, but apparently they have crossed the Pacific from the Americas and colonised here in New Zealand.  This was a wonderful specimen.

Red-billed Gulls, one of only three gull species found in New Zealand were scavenging along the beach.  The white eye is quite distinctive.

An immature bird.

The beach would probably have looked even more stunning with clear blue skies.

Activity out on the sea saw the gulls flying evasively and on close inspection I found this Pomarine Skua chasing them before flying away out to sea.

We had lunch in a beach bar and then headed back to the ferry port for the trip back to Auckland.  Around the dock were White-fronted Terns, the commoner of the terns found in New Zealand.

Much of the natural vegetation in New Zealand was removed by the European settlers and this meant that there were open areas with only single tress.  I love a single tree on a hillside.

I was surprised to see a single Australasian Gannet following us as we headed back to Auckland.  Very much like the Gannets in the United Kingdom, but with the adults having much more back in the wings.

The tide had dropped and another surprise was a Sacred Kingfisher perched on the rocks.

Leaving Auckland there had been a mist hanging over the city buildings, but as we came back the mist was gone and we were able to see the whole Auckland skyline.

Rain once again thwarted out dinner plans and we ended up again in the German restaurant in the hotel.  The next morning we walked down to the Viaduct Harbour for breakfast in much better weather.  After we walked around the harbour before returning to the hotel.

Early afternoon we had a taxi to the Ferry terminal, where we boarded our cruise ship for the next 16 days cruising around New Zealand, across to Tasmania and then up the eastern coast ending up in Sydney.

The weather was perfect as we left Auckland, with a wonderful sunset.

Next stop, Tauranga.