So after a wonderful 19 days in the south island it was time to say goodbye to Bilbo and make the rough ferry ride across Cook Strait. When you see the 'Interislander' ferry poster with its lovely slogan "Where the journey becomes the destination" they only show you a nice picture of the serene looking sounds, not the choppy sea with its 5ft waves! Discovering what sea sickness feels like was something I would have preferred not to do, but oh well, at least I learnt from Kirsty that the way to deal with it is just to sleep through the entire journey! Already feeling rather shaken, when we arrived in Wellington I initially found it all rather overwhelming and stressful after the quietness of the south island. This was heightened by the VERY enthusiastic and chirpy guy we collected our new hire car, Moira, from, and his tales of shoes bought in Clarks on Oxford Street and oversized luggage... Also I think we saw more people, traffic lights and roundabouts in about 5 minutes than we had in 3 weeks! But the city grew on me and by the time we came to leave I was rather fond of it...
Wellington is yet another capital that really doesn't feel like it should be. Auckland felt much more suited to the title, but Wellington wins due to its central location. It's known for being a very windy city but once again we were blessed with good weather and very little wind! We took the "cable car" up the hill and had a picnic overlooking the beautiful views of the city and sea. I say "cable car" because it's actually a funicular, someone clearly got confused and misnamed it! We decided to go our separate ways and do our own thing for an afternoon, but I think we all ended up in "Te Papa" at some point - a huuuge free museum with so much to take in! There are lots of different areas and exhibitions and I particularly enjoyed learning a bit about the history of New Zealand, experiencing what an earthquake of 5.8 would feel like, and looking around the art gallery section. Especially as the actual art gallery turned out to be a total let down! I was expecting to see at least a few paintings there, but no, just about 5 strange installations... Kirsty also enjoyed an afternoon stroll around the Botanic Gardens and subsequent nap on a park bench, as well as going to an exhibition on influential New Zealand women, and Nicola visited the Parliament.
As well as the sightseeing we spent time with a friend of Nicola's called Houani who is at uni in Wellington, and got to relive uni days by hanging out at a halls of residence flat on a Saturday night! We arrived there to the sound of loud music, lots of shouting and something in flames (probably a bin or something)...things we're quite glad to have moved on from! Made us feel very old but the evening was good fun! Kirsty and I also spent a lovely day with a friend of ours from Manchester's brother and his family. We went to church with them and then back to their house for lunch and games with their three girls - lots of fun! It was also nice to see real life Wellington, rather than just the tourist spots.
From Wellington we headed up the West coast to Otaki - a "small, unremarkable town" according to the Lonely Planet. We had good reason to go there though, as we were visiting Houani's family for some real authentic Maori culture. Staying in a house and being looked after by his mum Anthea for a couple of days was like luxury after being in hostels - real towels, cooked breakfast when we woke up, good home-cooked meals and a lovely log fire to relax in front of - bliss! She took us on a tour of the area which encompassed the local beach, the Maori Anglican church where Houni's dad is a minister, the Catholic church, a hill with a lookout and the Marae (Maori meeting house). It was so interesting to learn about the Maori culture and how it influences everyday life, something I knew nothing about before. We were fortunate enough to be able to go inside the Marae, a special honour as visitors aren't normally allowed! It's a big hall where lots of important events take place, such as weddings, funerals and community meetings. The interior has lots of carvings and woven panels which represent various things such as stars and ancestors. It was interesting to see how the architecture of the church had been influenced by the Marae - with the same 'backbone' and 'ribcage' structure of beams and poles. It was also decorated in a similar fashion, with the woven panels and bright colours.
Being the linguistic geek that I am I enjoyed learning a bit about the Maori language and picking up a few words. The one I remember best is 'kai' which means food! I had a little lesson in how to pronounce the vowels which included the "vowel song" played by Houani's dad on guitar! There are some tricky ones in there... In Maori all words have to end in a vowel so any words that are taken from English have to be amended slightly to make them fit.
We also learnt that the Haka peformed by the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team is a Maori tradition which is supposed to intimidate the opposition, and show them you're ready for battle. Each tribe has a different version but the one used by the All Blacks actually comes from the Otaki area.
New Zealanders really are a sporty and active bunch and Kirsty enjoyed getting her sports fix whilst we were in Otaki. As well as lots of conversation about the Olympics we went to see a charity netball match and Kirsty also went to watch one of Houani's sisters play in a football match. She must have really been missing the game as apparently lots of shouting and jumping up and down took place! Meanwhile I enjoyed getting my guitar fix having a little jam and being taught some songs by Houani's dad - good fun!
So the north island is definitely a lot different to the south, but still great!
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