HAHEI !

Hahei,(pronounced HA- HAY), was our final camping destination this holiday, it is a small settlement near Cathedral Cove (the one in the Chronicles of Narnia film).

It is a popular holiday destination, with a soft, white, sandy beach and quite sheltered, but the sea shelves steeply and can produce some huge waves!. Good for boogie boarding..I still remember being tipped out of the kayak at 100 miles an hour last time!



On the southern end of the beach is Te Pare Point, which was once the site of a māori pā. Greg and the girls climbed up it one sticky afternoon, and I opted for preparing the dinner and reading my book..the latest Stephen King 'Duma Key' - interesting, but not his best.



Another feature of this beach is Mahurangi Island, where Greg went fishing and caught several snapper, but they were too small and he had to put them back. The island lies on the edge of the Te Whanganui-A-Hei marine reserve, so you have to be careful where you fish or you can get arrested! I'm sure I wouldn't be able to tell where the line in the water began.



The town centre consists of a few overpriced cafés and a tacky gift shop, as well as a general store with icy ice-creams , and a salty fish and chip (fush an' chups) store. We had ice-creams every day, much to the girls' delight, but it was SO hot.
So, camping over with for this summer, back to work and hard graft, SIGH!

BANANA SPLIT !

Mmmmm... it's a perfect day for ice-cream






We made it into the ice-cream parlour!
If we sit here long enough, and smile angelically, she'll get the hint!





I've got my banana split!! Hee hee!




I've got one too!! SIGH

EXAM RESULTS !

Jessica got her results for NCEA today!!
141 credits out of a possible 143 !!
AND she passed all her Maths (miracles DO happen!!)

DEVONPORT !

The "shelly" bayside walk with an awesome view of Auckland

Another Girls' Day and we went to Devonport, which is a popular destination for visitors.


Devenport aerial view

You can get there by ferry, it's only a 10-minute ferry ride from Auckland City and is situated on a peninsula surrounded by the Waitemata Harbour.


The ferry coming into Devenport

We had decided to do the 'historic Devenport walk' which takes about 2 hours and it's filled with little bits of colonial history when you explore on foot..


Duder Homestead


Historic Duder Homestead - you can rent this $3000 a night!

Of course there's a 'Duder Street', Duder Cafe, Duder Regional Park and Duder Hotel.
On 'Church Street' - you got it, there are lots of churches! One next to another. Brick, wood, and towering copper - we quite liked the little wooden church.


Holy Trinity Church


Stained glass window from the inside of Holy Trinity Church


St Paul's Church

Devenport has a village-like atmosphere, lots of tempting cafes,(we gave in in the end!) art galleries, elegant villas and interesting boutique shops (yes, we did shopping).


The Esplanade Hotel

This hotel is on the seafront and typical of NZ historic buildings, a Brighton hotel on the other side of the world! 1902 is ever so old here!
We also discovered that there were some famous writers who lived here...


Maurice Duggan


Maurice Duggan's House

I hadn't heard of him either!


James Bertram


James Bertram's House

Now you know all about him!

There are lava flows of black jagged rocks which flow out into the harbour, a constant reminder here of what lies beneath your feet. There are three volcano peaks, but two of them are much smaller than they used to be, due to quarrying.Mt Victoria is the largeset and you can walk up it easily.


Memorial where the first waka landed with the Maori chief

Devonport is also home to New Zealand's naval base and the Navy Museum - but we saved those for another visit!

There is a popular food and wine festival and an arts festival coming up next month, so we shall be returning.


Having a well-earned rest and a caramel smoothie!

WRIGHTS' WATER GARDENS !

Lotus flower buds


White lotus flower - doesn't look real!

This morning we decided to visit Wright's Water Gardens in Franklin, about 45 minutes from home, but well worth the drive.


Girls on the Chinese bridge

They (the gardens) began life as a derelict quarry site in 1992 but is now a unique water garden with views of Mauku Waterfall.


Waterfall and orange irises

It has ponds, a rocky quarry, beautiful gardens, masses of flowers and pathways among the lilies. It was ideal for the day and we picnicked on homemade rosemary and cheese scones and ice-creams.


Water Gardens and flowers

Wrights Watergardens were built around Mauku Waterfall, which is about 10 metres high and very noisy! But it gives a good background for photos!


Me and the Waterfall


Lotus flowers crowded by the waterfall

During the eighteen hundreds, a huge waterwheel was located at the top of the waterfall which powered the flax mill built beside it.
Once the mill was gone, it became a favourite picnic spot and the site of many wedding proposals (we even saw a rehearsal in progress)


Shaded benches along the boardwalk


Boardwalk on the lakes filled with water lilies

After the Second World War the land was turned into a rock quarry which provided much of the hard metal for the roads leading out to the local steel mill. The excavations have now become the lotus and lily ponds.


Waterfall with the girls

The quarry is now a 5-acre garden and it is the water lilies, lotus flowers and iris which make it so beautiful.There are over 30 ponds filled with all different coloured flowers that don't look quite real...


Lotus flower


Girls by the orange irises

Crocodile head someone with a sense of humour put him there!

TAKAPUNA REVISITED !

Girls on Takapuna Beach

Takapuna has one of the loveliest cafes, right on the beach.. you can sit and watch the winsurfers, feet away, sip freshly made coffee and the children can have gourmet ice-creams, we had gingerbread and apple crumble ice-creams!


Beach Cafe

There are some little beach houses along the shore (costing millions I'm sure!) and we have our favourite one all picked out, in case we win the Lottery.


My favourite beach house

There are lots of small children vigorously digging holes in the beach, for the unwary tourist, but some places have pebble art designs, this was our favourite..


Takapuna Beach Art!

Of course, you can see the volcanic island Rangitoto from nearly every beach, so here is the view from Takapuna. The surf was rough enough to tempt the wind surfers and sailboats out.


Rangitoto from Takapuna Beach

The Sentinel Building stands out because it is the only skyscraper in the town - it has luxury apartments with concierge service 24/7 and only opened to residents in 2008. Costing over 60 million to develop, it would be a fabulous place to stay!


The Sentinel Building

We strolled along the beach and browsed the shops.. the day sped by.. not long until we go back to work now! SIGH!


Windsurfers near the beach

WINTER GARDENS !

Auckland Museum

The Auckland Museum is on top of the Hill in the park containing The Winter Gardens. It looks imposing and has some brilliant exhibitions, but today we were visiting the Gardens, not the Museum..


Winter Gardens


Winter Gardens Courtyard

Since you're in the depths of winter in England - when we visited The Winter Gardens today, I thought of you!
They are in Auckland city's oldest park which was built for the Auckland Exhibition in 1913.


Girls in the Tropical House

The park is about 75 hectares and has been developed around the cone of an extinct volcano; the 50,000 year old crater provides a space for concerts and firework displays.


Girls by the lily pond

There are two greenhouses in the Gardens - not unlike the smaller one at Kew Gardens, and there are nearly 2000 plants in the Tropical House, where we reminisced on the Kew Lily pond.


Jeremy Fisher giant lily pads

Some of the more rare plants there are from Tanzania, Australia, West Indies & Brazil.They even have a fruiting cocoa tree, which we all admired.


Sophia especially liked the 'Chinese Lantern' flowers



Greenhouse