Coromandel Road Trip

The Coromandel Peninsula juts out into the Pacific Ocean off the east coast of the North Island. It measures 120 KM (75 miles) from its base to the northern tip. The Pacific Highway starts just slightly south of Auckland, goes all the way down the eastern coast towards the base of the Coromandel Peninsula and then completely encircles the peninsula. This was the day long drive we took yesterday, 27 December. We left about 10:00 AM and arrived back home around 8:30 PM. For those of you who have ever been on the road to Hana in Maui, this was very reminiscent. Very narrow two lane road with hairpin curves and one lane bridges. The scenery was truly spectacular. The town of Coromandel is renowned for it New Zealand green lipped mussels, so I had some and they were great.



One does need exercise caution for unexpected hazards.







One of the scenic hikes along the highway takes you to Cathedral Cove. A somewhat arduous 45 minute walk each way was well worth it.














There are so many things to see on the peninsula that one day cannot do it justice. We will need much more time.

Christmas in New Zealand

Christmas in New Zealand has proven to be a very different experience in some ways and a familiar one in others. Normally our Christmas morning platter would contain several different kinds of cookies and our homemade candy. We only made Goufletes this year and purchased several great pasteries from the Howick Farmers Market. They were really good!!!



Our normal live tree was replaced with a Charlie Brown look a like. All of the decorations were handmade. Somehow it did not seem to matter. We missed Steph and Scott tremendously. Maybe next year.



It's early summer here, so the popular thing to do on Christmas day is to have a cookout on the beach.



Tradition at the Welsh's has always been turkey and all the trimmings on Christmas. Turkeys the size of roasting chickens cost about $60 NZD ($45 US) here. We opted for lambs shanks cooked in a slow cooker. Becky's first time fixing them, and they were over the moon. Ann fixed mashed potatoes, and roast pumpkin (her first) and they were fabulous!!



All in all, we only needed Steph and Scott and it would have seemed pretty normal. It's always a blessing to be with family.

Arrival

Last we heard about the Welsh/Costa group they were headed to Auckland. Well as you can see, they arrived safe and sound, albeit two bags short. The bags showed up the next day and were delivered to the house, happy to be reunited with their owners. We have settled in, Ken and Ann purchased their car, and all seems to be going well and according to plan. Yesterday, we signed the lease on the long term rental. 157 Mellons Bay Road will be our new home. It is not far from where we are now, in fact Ann and the kids walked over via the shore line at low tide. It's a great location, about six houses from their new school, about a ten minute walk for Ann to catch the bus to the college, and a quick walk to Howick, our quaint little seaside village. The area is very family oriented and just has a great feel about it. We will take possession on 9 January and probably move in within a week or so. Next up will be Christmas in New Zealand!!!

Welsh/Costa on the Move

Today Ann, Ken, Zack and Emma left Jacksonville headed for the land of the Kiwi. They rented a van and drove down to Orlando this morning for an 8:30 departure headed to Denver, San Francisco and finally Auckland, arriving at 5:00 AM tomorrow. So far the flight from Orlando to Denver has been on time, and they left Denver on time. Yes, grandpa is tracking their progress on a frequent basis.

Yesterday, we found what we hope will be a more permanent residence, year or two. It is in Mellons Bay, not far from where we are now. It has a great sea view and is just a 100 yard walk to the kids new school. We want Ken and Ann to see it before we finalize the deal.

Not much gets done here for the next couple of weeks. Many businesses are closed from December 24 through January 9. Consequently, I won't be doing much on the business front.

Bec and I aren't playing much golf, the weather always seems to be threatening. Many times nothing comes of it. We will learn, just as everyone here does, to just ignore the weather and do what you want.

Is It a Sign?

Just recently we were treated to a most spectacular sight right out the front window. This is one of the most beautiful rainbows either of us have ever seen! The pictures truly don't do it justice. We are wondering if someone is trying to tell us something.

Golf the Kiwi Way

Yesterday Bec and I played the course in Beachland called Formosa. It was about a 30 minute drive from the house that took us into a more rural setting just outside Auckland. From the size of some of the homes, this is obviously a retreat for the well to do of the city. Anyway, we have decided that since almost everyone here walks with a "trundler," we will too. So we rented ours and began the trek. What my research of the course had failed to reveal was just how hilly the course was. We did complete the 18 holes in 4:15, but not without feeling some of the pain of a 5 plus mile walk pulling our trundler. Additionally, the course was not as walker friendly as it could have been with distances between green and next tee being somewhat far. The next few pictures are from the course.













When we got home, the wind surfers were out in full force.

Hard to Concentrate on the Golf

Yesterday we ventured out for our for our first round of golf in New Zealand. Not far from the house out on the end of the Bucklands Beach peninsula, is the Howick Golf Club. It sit high up above the azure waters with sheer cliffs dropping off several hundred feet. It is not the best course we will play here, but it is relatively cheap, and we were looking for somewhere to work out the kinks developed over several days of cleaning at the house. Most people here walk the courses, but we opted for one of only 8 or 10 carts. We will probably walk in the future, because most all of the courses we have seen here are laid out for walkers. Green to next tee is very close, and the courses are very compact. One thing we found interesting, was there were two holes on every green. One had the current days flag in place, and the other was presumably for a change of pin location. Not sure what the local rule is that governs that. Anyway, the golf was not spectacular, but the scenery and the views were over the top.

The first picture is from the furthest point out on the peninsula looking towards downtown and the Sky Tower. The second picture requires no explanation, and is posted for instructional purposes only.


Looking southeast from the 17th tee box.


Down the 17th fairway we go.


The 18th tee box looking east. And finally from the 18th green down southeast to the house way in the background.

Settled in Eastern Beach

We are finally settled in the house on Eastern Beach.  We moved in on Monday, and as is usual, we are still cleaning after the commercial cleaner finished.  For the life of us, we cannot figure what she spent all her time cleaning.  The house is owned by a couple in the UK and they only use it as a holiday house.  They don't come over every year, so for the most part, it is a rental.  It shows.  All that said, the views are unbelievable!  As I am typing this, I am looking out across the road to the beach and then the ocean.  Pretty incredible.  On Saturday, Bec and I went to the outlet mall, yes who knew, and then to One Tree Hill.  One Tree Hill is a fabulous park and in the center is the top of an extinct volcano, called One Tree Hill.  Unfortunately, they lost the one tree, and so now it is No Tree Hill.  Any way from the top, you have an unobstructed view of all of Auckland laid out before you.  Coast -to-coast, north to south.

They also have a wonderful restaurant.  We had the lamb shank and it was delicious.

 
On Sunday we took in a movie at Newmarket.  Seems that when you buy your ticket, you also chose your seats.  Reserved seat at the movie theater.

Today, we were off for a bit of shopping, hangars, etc., etc.  Bec took the wheel for the first time and did a terrific job.  Probably the result of watching an expert for all these many days.

The City of Sails

We have become very comfortable driving in and around Auckland.  Area-wise, Auckland is about the size of Jacksonville, Florida.  It has about 1.3 million people that live in the metropolitan area.  All that being said, it feels smaller than we expected.  Depending on the traffic, most anywhere in the city is less that 20 to 30 minutes from the Central Business District (CBD).  After being at the bank in Botany on Thursday, we decided on the fly to change plans from going to the Botanical Gardens, and go to the Viaduct area of the CBD.  So off to Motorway 1 and downtown was about 20 minutes away.  The roadway signage here is better than we have ever seen.  After a little wandering around, we parked the car and set off on a walk of the harbor area.  We ate at a great place right on the harbor, raw oysters on the half shell, seafood chowder, wine, beer, ah what a life.  From there, we walked down to where the racing boats and high end yachts are located.

Team New Zealand racing sloop.

The Sky Tower and view back up the hill towards the CBD from the harbor, and another stalwart adventurer in the forefront.. 

Becky said she would be happy to live on Dramamine if I bought this.

Our Current Accomodations

We realized that we had not posted anything regarding where we have been staying for the last week.  We found this house on the internet using homeforhire.com.  A good site, although somewhat hard to use.  This particular house can be viewed at http://www.homeforhire.com/home/remuera-bush-setting-a-leafy-retreat-in-auckland-city.aspx.  It sits in a very secluded setting, surrounded by native bush; that's what we call trees and plants down here.  Anyway, Bec took some pictures:

That's the back of Sunny (our trusty Nissan Sunny rental car) in the garage and of course the valiant explorer in front of the house.

 This picture does not do justice to how steep this driveway is...about 30 degree incline I would guess.

The back yard with a view of the native bush.

Been a great place to make the initial transition.  The owner, Jane, has been wonderful.  Anyway we will leave here on Monday morning for the house on the beach

The Welsh's do International House Hunters

Well, yesterday and today were basically dedicated to finding our residence for the next 3 months.  We traversed Auckland four different times and looked at some nice places, and one too spectacular to pass up.  Not that the house is overly plush or even more than adequate on the inside but the setting is truly spectacular.  So we have filled out our rental application, provided three letters of reference from our utility companies and our mortgage company, and await final approval.  The process is very straight forward with many controls to ensure the renter is treated well.  ALL maintenance must be done by the landlord, even changing light bulbs (not always adhered to we were told).  The commitment was done on ones word, not the receipt of a deposit.  Yes, apparently ones word and honor still means something at least in NZ.  We were also handed one phone number to call to make all the arrangements for utilities.  This company then makes all the arrangements and is paid by the utilities which, in turn, don't need as much staff.  Novel ideas these Kiwi's have.  You will also be pleased to know that I have only turned the wipers on twice to make a turn these two days.

Folks here seem somewhat distance shy.  We were told by our wonderful Hostess here where we are staying that Bucklands Beach, where the house we hope to rent long-term is located, would seem to be very remote and isolated.  We found it to be an easy 20 minutes drive, and we are still learning how to drive the New Zealand way!  Lord it takes us 5 minutes just to get out of Palencia.

Close by Bucklands Beach is a very charming seaside village called Howick.  Reminds you a little of Blowing Rock or Winter Park.  Nice restaurants, shops, etc.  We see spending a lot of time there.  We will try posting some pictures of the house, no guarantees.  May take a couple of tries.

Looking at the house across the street with the beach behind us.

 The beach in front of the house looking out to Waiheke Island.  This is looking east.

 Looking to the right or southeast.  Yes that is a kayak.  We have one in the garage.  Lord help us!

We are Finally Here!

After a journey of some 8152 miles and 30.5 hours, we arrived in Auckland.  The flights from Jacksonville to Chicago, Chicago to LA and LA to Auckland were uneventful.  Sitting on your butt for that long not so much.  If you ever make the journey, we can't recommend New Zealand Airlines enough.  Great airplane, 777, with a class of service called "Premium Economy."  Almost as good as business, seats were a little less plush and closer together, but the cabin amenities are nearly as good.  Much cheaper as well.  After going through numerous checkpoints, Immigration, Customs, etc., we came to the Bio-Hazard check.  Seems they take bringing in non-native things like dirt, grass leaves, etc., very seriously.  We had to dig to the bottom of our biggest bag and present our  four pairs of golf shoes for inspection.  Luckily, I had actually washed the soles so as not to drag dirt into our clothing.  After very close examination, we were told that they were acceptable.  The folks on the Mexican border could learn a few things.

From there we went to the rental car agency and rented our trusty, not new, Nissan Sunny.  Luckily, Sunny was able to absorb our four suitcases, two golf bags, a backpack and Becky's "purse."  We took rather quickly to driving on the left side of the road.  But we did encounter some Kiwi drivers that did not understand that when I turned on the windshield wipers, I was intending to turn.  Seems the turn signal lever is the one on the right.  With Bec's impeccable navigation skills, and my superior signalling skills we arrived at the house, safe and sound.  The house is small but well kept and nicely decorated.  Jane, our owner is a most gracious host and came by to insure all was going well.  We chatted for the better part of an hour and she was most helpful.

So tonight we attempt to slay the jet lag monster, and tomorrow we are off to acquire more permanent housing.  From what little we saw today, Auckland is a gorgeous place!

The Adventure Begins

As many of you know, Becky and I are headed to New Zealand to explore opportunities to acquire a business and immigrate to the land of the Kiwi.  We will leave Saint Augustine on Friday 11 November and arrive in Auckland on Sunday 13 November (remember they are a day ahead).  We intend to chronicle our adventure on this blog.  Yes, who knew we might know how to do this.  Not sure we totally do yet, but we will learn.  Anyway, we will be posting pictures and sharing our travels here.  Feel free to check it out if you like.