Thursday, October 6, 2016

Final Day in New Zealand

Admiring the view when we woke up, we had breakfast with Christine and Drew, and since we had such a wonderful time at the La Casa Lodge we decided take a shared photo right before we left.



The ride to Auckland was pleasant until about 10 km from Auckland center when it started to rain heavily and traffic kicked in. it took a good 30 minutes before we got out of traffic and back on route to the bike rental company.



About 1 km from the bike drop off place we filled the bikes up with fuel and stopped for the final coffee break especially since we were about 30 minutes early.



Once we delivered the bikes we packed our bags and waited for the our transport to the airport who was late and upon calling we found out that they had the times mixed.



So we were delayed 30 minutes, luckily we booked early and arrived well in time for our check in at the airport. Now all we have to do is endure the 24 hour travel to Kuwait.

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Coromandel Salty roads

We left Rotorua and as usual under cloud cover since it rains here a lot we took mostly highways and some farm roads. the winds today were gusty and with a strong side wind we moved a bit slower than usual, we entered route 25 on the Coromandel Peninsula and it must have been high tide since the waves from the sea at places were splashing on the road.



The view was amazing from the hotel on the hill top and the owners Christine and Drew were very friendly they made us coffee on the veranda. in the afternoon we left for Thames which is about 10 km away to look for Manuka honey and bought a bunch. Then we continues on route 25 until we reached Coromandel town. The road was coastal and curvy but the enjoyment short lived since there was gravel from unfinished repairs in many places.



While the road passed through the hills we could see the mussel farm and witnessed a tractor pulling in a load. We walked around town for a while then went to a very nice restaurant and had salmon for dinner. We rode back early along the same road and caught the sunset from the hotel.



Later we started preparing our bags for tomorrow's trip, we will ride to Auckland deliver the bikes and then go straight to the airport.

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Steamy to Rotorua

It looks like it rained last night although I didn’t hear a thing, our laundry was in the laundry room since it closes at 8 pm and Ali forgot the get our stuff out of the drier. So right after breakfast we got our laundry, packed our pages and headed towards Rotorua. 


Initially we thought the weather would be nice but it soon changed and got cold. with mountains roads we rode for a couple of hours until we could see steam rising from the grounds in the fields around us. It was a geothermal location and since we were here we headed to Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland which is located in the Taupo Volcanic Zone.




We parked our bikes in front of the main building, bought our tickets and headed down the footpath to see different holes and ponds that were steaming over with different colours . There were many tourist and a newly wed couple taking wedding pictures. We were instructed to stay on the path since it was dangerous to got off.



After our walk we went back to the main building for our usual hot drinks and snack , Rotorua was only 32 km from here so weren’t in any hurry. We took a leisurely ride into town and got the motel around 2:30 pm. After sorting our things and resting a bit we walked into town window shopping and had dinner at the end of our journey at another indian restaurant. 



Initially we were planning to go tomorrow to Coromandel but decided to go to Te Puru which is about 45 minutes before to make our journey to Auckland easier. That said we will still visit Coromandel just not stay there. 

Monday, October 3, 2016

Traffic on the road to Napier

Our destination today was Napier an Art Deco town on the eastern side of the northern island overlooking the pacific ocean. So we decided to leave early since the GPS mentioned more than four hours of riding. We managed to leave around 8:45 am and left Wellington with roads full of traffic and road work that lasted about an hour and a half.



This made us uneasy and yearn for the southern island where it was much less congested. but once we were on country roads again we felt much better. We arrived at the motel and for once had an uncomfortable experience , I guess it was bound to happen you cant have all nice people and service.



We had reserved three rooms and requested that they all be on the ground floor. What we got was one ground floor room. When we asked we were told that the motel was fully booked even though we had arrived early where switching of rooms was possible. For whatever reason they just didn't want to do it. Giving us excuses and attitude wasn't the way to go , luckily we are only staying one night.



We took a nice walk into town and met other grouchy people before we started to meet the nice ones. We stumbled upon an indian restaurant that had the best service ever. They made us soup that was not on the menu and what we ordered was so good and plentiful we couldn't finish our meal. With stuffed bellies we walked back to the motel to finish up some chores like laundry and grocery shopping for tomorrow's breakfast.


Sunday, October 2, 2016

The Ferry to Wallington

It was a nice and drizzly morning yesterday when we gathered to have a quick bite to eat before we headed to Picton to catch the ferry to Wellington. We left at 8 am and the roads were foggy and quiet with little traffic at first.  We rode along a gorge with twisty roads and beautiful views and came across many single lane bridges and farmland.



About midway through we wanted to take a break, we saw a sign for a cafe and followed it to a nice place concealed from the main road. We didn't want to stay long since we had already booked our ferry and needed to be there ahead of time.



About 60 km from Picton the GPS took us on a merry go round until it put us on the right path. a fuel stop later and we were in Picton looking for the vehicle check in terminal, since there were two companies running ferries we rode around until we found the right one about an hour before the final check in time.



We met a couple of bikers while waiting , the ferry would go through some scenic views before it hit open water and that only lasted for about an hour. During our voyage there was a practice emergency drill for the crew and those who wanted to participate. Ali was excited to participate and after the drill he asked to visit the bridge and meet the captain which he did.



We got off the ferry on time and headed to our hotel where we rested and met later for dinner at Malaysian restaurant across the street from the hotel. We found out last night that the embassador was staying at the same hotel and that the embassy was under renovation and was walking distance from the hotel.



This morning was a lazy sunday morning, it was raining with many places closed we had breakfast at a sister restaurant to the one in Christchurch. Afterwards we took a small walk while I returned to the Hotel Ali and Husain continued along the docks and around town. Ali wanted a Kathmandu store and I needed to finish up some work.



In the Afternoon we visited the Wellington Museum which gace a glimpse of Wellington and it's maritime history.




Later in the evening we visited the new location of the Kuwait embassy with the ambassador of the state of Kuwait  in New Zealand his excellency Ahmad Al-Wehaib and his staff. They later took us to a very nice dinner at a local restaurant where we exchanged memories and stories since his excellency was also the ambassador to Ethiopia when we were on our Africa adventure in 2011.