The Forgotten Highway

I’ve waited more than 50 years to visit the Taranaki region. I’ve always wanted to see the iconic (and conical) Mt Taranaki up close. Therefore I was delighted when Garry and I decided to base ourselves in New Plymouth for three nights including New Year's Eve. However, getting there ultimately proved to be half the fun. We decided to drive from the Central Plateau to the coast via the remote and wild Forgotten Highway. This 155km road winds through some of the North Island’s most rugged terrain linking Taumarunui with Stratford and the Taranaki plains.

However, before we wound our way through the wilderness we took time out to experience the 5 Tunnel Tour. This is an intriguing 16km journey via golf carts along an abandoned railway line that once linked Taumarunui with Stratford. The tour is operated by Forgotten World Railway. It takes visitors from Okahukura through 5 tunnels, including one that’s 1.5km long, through hill country farmland and native bush to the rural community of Matiere. Garry loved it. 

We then drove the full length of The Forgotten Highway, stopping several times to soak in the stunning scenery that opened up around almost every corner. Highlights included the winding, and wild Tangarakau Gorge, the remote Whangamomona Hotel and our first glimpse through evening skies of Mt Taranaki’s soaring peak from the top of the Whangamomona Saddle.

Whangamomona is a fascinating place. This sleepy village is the capital of The Republic of Whangamomona. The public was formed in 1988 after the local council planned to split Whangamomona into two regions: Taranaki and Manawatu-Wanganui districts. The locals were mortified as they'd always seen themselves as part of Taranaki. They were equally angered by the lack of consultation about the change. In response, the residents declared Whangamomona as a republic and appointed their own president.

Lunch on a super volcano

I know it’s become a bit of a cliché whenever I say this but it’s always been a childhood dream of mine to stay at the Chateau Tongariro. Photos of this grand old hotel’s exterior, sit against the back drop of Mt Ruapehu always invoked visions of Edwardian charm and decorum. I imagined it as a place where high tea was served while musicians filled the air with classical chords.

Sadly our visit to the Chateau proved rather disappointing. We encountered a venue that seemed a little shabby around the edges, with mediocre service and underwhelming dining options.  However, our disappointment was somewhat offset by the truly magnificent landscape that surrounds the hotel.  It was virtually impossible not to take postcard-perfect images of Mt Ruapehu towering in the background; or capture the conical perfection of nearby Mt Ngauruhoe.

We’d originally planned to take a chairlift ride up to Knoll Ridge to soak up views of the Volcanic Plateau and a distant Mt Taranaki.  However, the chairlift was closed. It’s currently in the process of being replaced by a shiny new Swiss Gondola system.  As a result, we revised our plans and spent a day exploring the southern shores of Lake Taupo. 

The lake is a spectacular body of water in the heart of New Zealand’s North Island.  Ominously, its actually the immersed caldera for one of the world’s largest super volcanoes.  Its last eruption occurred in 232 AD. According to Wikipedia, this eruption “is believed to have first emptied the lake then followed that feat with a pyroclastic flow that covered about 20,000 square kilometres of land with volcanic ash. A total of 120 km3 of material is believed to have been ejected, and over 30 km3 of this is estimated to have been ejected in just a few minutes.”

However, on our visit, we saw little more than lots of fat and happy rainbow trout.  We began our day with a visit to the verdant lakeside resort of Kuratau.  We enjoyed a leisurely picnic lunch under shade trees while trailer boats filled with vacationing locals came and went.  We then visited the mud pools at Tokaanu before finishing the day with a tour of the Tongariro National Trout Centre.

The Trout Centre was a real highlight.  A well laid out exhibit explained the operation of Taupo’s trout hatcheries and the region’s modern fishing heritage.  Outside we watched mature trout swimming in a stream; from the railing of a footbridge and from a spectacular underwater viewing gallery.  The centre also has a Whio (Blue Duck) breeding program.  This includes two enclosures in which juvenile ducks could be seen swimming and diving to their heart's content.

Kiwi Country

The itinerary I created for our central North Island road trip took us through several regions I'd never seen before.  This included the Forgotten Highway, the Taranaki region and the winelands of the Manawatu. The final journey saw us cover more than 1300 kms over ten days.  However, we did stop for several days in two locations to rest, relax and enjoy some lazy Summer days.

We began our road trip shortly after lunch on Boxing Day.  Our first day's itinerary took us back over the Kaimai range, then west towards Waitomo Caves for the evening.  We stopped briefly in Arapuni to walk its famous suspension bridge. The 152-metre long structure was erected in 1925 to provide easy access for workers constructing the Arapuni Hydroelectric Dam.  It spans the Waikato River as tumbles through a narrow gorge. 

Our first night on the road was spent at the historical Waimoto Caves Hotel.  Sadly the venue has seen better days.  However, the hotel gave an enormous room in one of its oldest wings that opened out on to an expansive balcony overlooking the main entrance.  We later realised that our room was the only room that had access to this huge outdoor space.

It quickly became apparent that we were travelling in peak season.  We went to book a tour through the Gloworm caves and discovered some options were booked for days in advance.  We eventually settled on the classic boat ride through the original tourist cave but couldn't book it until mid-afternoon. As a result, we spent the next morning visiting the Otrahonga Kiwi House where we saw our first two kiwis for the holiday.

The caves were just as I recall them.  As you glide silently through the pitch black interior the ceiling comes alive with thousands of points of light.  It really is just like looking up at the night skies arcing overhead.  We then finished our day with a two-hour drive through the King Country.  Our next stop for two nights was the world famous Chateau Tongariro, located on the foothills of Mount Ruapehu.  More about our adventures on the Volcanic Plateau tomorrow. 

A family Christmas

Six years ago Garry and I flew to New Zealand to join my family for a final reunion before my father died.  At the time we knew Dad's days were numbered.  He'd been moved to a hospice a few weeks before our arrival.  However, at the time he still appeared to be in reasonable health but his strength and agility varied greatly from one day to the next. 

We arrived in New Zealand hoping to bring Dad back home for a final Christmas Day with everyone together.  Sadly it wasn't to be.  On December 25 we found Dad weak and barely coherent.  It was clear he couldn't travel.  As a result, we never did get to have that final Christmas reunion and Dad died 12 days later. 

Garry and I returned to New Zealand this month for our first McGregor family Christmas since those final sad days. We began our vacation in Auckland where we hired a car and drove south via the Kiamais to Mum's house.  We planned to spend five nights with the family before embarking on a ten-day road trip through the central North Island and flying home from Wellington. 

Our transfer to the Mount didn't quite unfold without a hitch.  At the airport we battled with Hertz to ensure it properly document significant damage on the vehicle we rented. Then, soon after we left the airport, we discovered the glove box housing an empty wine bottle.  However, this shaky start was soon forgotten as we soaked in a stunning view from the Kiamai summit a few hours later.

Christmas Day was a fabulous day filled with fun and laughter.  The weather also played its part.  Our first four days in New Zealand had been dogged by clouds and rain.  However, our dose of decent sunshine appeared early in the afternoon capping off a perfect day of family festivities.  Garry also prepared one of his perpetually Instagram-worthy pavlovas.

While in town we also spent a productive afternoon on the beach conducting a professional photo shoot. Shelley won the shoot after entering a social media competition.  The photographer took superb photos of Matt and his family, plus a truly awesome image of Mum and us boys. Thanks to some pre-planning we boys were dressed in matching light blue shirts and royal blue shorts, while Mum wore an eye-catching crimson blouse.  No doubt it'll become the defining image of some ancestral photo album in decades to come.

Beachside reunion

My former CEO at Text 100, Aedhmar, was in town this week. I took time out, along with a few former colleagues, to reconnect and reminisce over old times. I last saw Aedhmar in January 2017 when Garry and I stayed over for dinner while on business in New York.

Our reunion involved two separate events. A group of current, and former, employees came together over lunch last Sunday at The Winery, one of my favourite venues in Surry Hills. The following day a smaller group of senior ex-Texties caught up again for a leisurely lunch at Matt Moran’s beachside restaurant, North Bondi Fish.

Five of us held court at a table on the balcony overlooking Bondi Beach from 1:00pm until well into the evening. Several partners, including Garry, eventually joined us for dinner as it was clear we weren’t going anywhere fast. Aedhmar claims she’s never had a long lunch morph into a dinner event.

It was a wonderful afternoon of love and laughter. I’m reminded once again how fortunate I was to spend almost 15 years of my career working at Text 100. The culture and camaraderie we created was something special.

Doing battle in Wellington

I unexpectedly found myself in Wellington last month.  My Mum was admitted to hospital in New Zealand’s windy capital after falling ill while visiting friends.  In the end, she spent 15 days in the ward while the doctors debated her fate.  She was eventually discharged and flew home for more out-patient treatment and tests in Tauranga.

For several months now Mum has been experiencing painful joint inflammation and a worrying bout of joint infection that has the doctors baffled.  In Wellington, they debated endlessly as to whether she had an infectious disease or a rather nasty version of auto-immune rheumatoid arthritis. As of today they're still not 100 per cent sure what's happening.  However, her white cell blood tests are clear and so an infectious disease has been ruled out as the source of her illness.

Her admission to hospital while out of town resulted in my brother and I taking turns to fly into Wellington to support her and navigate the joys of New Zealand’s public hospital system.  Garry and I will be in Wellington for a couple of days while on our Christmas vacation so the early reconnaissance visit was unanticipated.

However, in between meeting doctors and nursing Mum, I did find a little time to catch up with relatives, visit a former employer and tour The Great War Exhibition at the National War Memorial.  The exhibition was very impressive.  The Trench Experience is a real highlight.  Designed by Peter Jackson (director, writer, and producer of the Lord of the Rings trilogy) this simulation of an ANZAC trench at Gallipoli has proven highly controversial. 

The experience was only ever designed to be a temporary exhibit. It was created to celebrate the centenary of the World War I armistice. However, the Trench Experience ran over budget and ultimately open more than year behind schedule.  Sadly the entire exhibit will be demolished and removed before the end of the year at a “make good” cost of more than $7million. 

The exhibition is outstanding and the Trench Experience was well worth the entry fee.  The extraordinary diorama of The Battle of Chunuk Bair is simply brilliant. It includes more than 5000 tiny pewter warriors each painted and positioned on scale model of the hilly terrain that rose up from the narrow, gravel beaches of Gallipoli.  It’s such a shame that this world-class exhibit will be destroyed a few weeks from now.

Death of a fridge

Our apartment building is less than 18 months away from celebrating the 20th anniversary of its construction. As I've mentioned in earlier blog posts the building is now in midst of its first major repainting and facade repair program.  Garry and I are also less than four months away from celebrating the 15th anniversary of our purchase of the apartment itself.  At the time, moving in drove a host of supplementary spending on furniture and appliances.

As the years tick by, it's been interesting to witness one appliance after another slowly giving up the ghost.  In the last three years we've had to replace the dishwasher, the oven, the microwave, the coffee machine, the laundry dryer and our back-up laundry fridge (also know as the beer and wine cellar).  We've reached the point where only our main kitchen fridge and plasma TV are still original purchases.

However, last month, our kitchen fridge finally called it a day.  Thank goodness we had the back-up downstairs.  I'd noticed a few months earlier that the fridge was starting to cycle through its cooling function more frequently.  At the time we thought it was on its way out but decided we'd wait until the new year.  Our optimism proved misguided.

Needless to say, a flurry of frantic unpacking and repacking saw us filling our "wine and beer" fridge with fresh and frozen goods from the kitchen.  We then spent weeks searching for a suitable replacement. Frustratingly, the search is always compounded by the entrance door to our apartment.  In a moment of madness, the architect who designed our building failed to install over-size doors.  As a result, we're forever measuring furniture and appliances to ensure they'll fit.

Garry and I have talked about a fridge with French Doors for some time so we duly traped the halls of every appliance store in the area looking for the perfect model.  We decided not to spend more than absolutely necessary as we still harbour aspirations to renovate in the future and thus replace the appliances to match the new look.

As luck would have it we came across an end-of-line model marked down as the last in-store and couldn't resist the bargain.  Much to our surprise; the new fridge ultimately cost $500 less than the model it replaced (despite the passage of 14 years).

Platinum Paradise

Every so often Garry and I find ourselves scheduling a holiday in an unexpected location.  Our recent vacation in Fiji was no exception.  These Pacific islands were never on our radar.  However, after a few calculations, Garry discovered that he was only a modest long-haul flight away from achieving Qantas Platinum Frequent Flyer status for the first time in almost a decade.  I was also well on my way to achieving the same milestone.

Platinum status definitely has its perks.  The most popular of these is access to Qantas First Class lounges worldwide.  These are true havens of luxury that you can access regardless of your ticket’s cabin class. The Sydney lounge includes complimentary dining the equal of any inner city café and a small spa offering complimentary massages and beauty treatments.  It would be fair to say that in the past we’ve headed for the airport well ahead of schedule to simply enjoy everything the lounge has to offer.

Platinum status also improves your chance of a points upgrade, including Garry’s much loved First Class cabin on the A380.  You even get double the normal earning rate for points on each flight and thus quickly earn enough to fund your next points upgrade. However, the perk that makes me smile every time is access to the Business Lounge on domestic flights. Domestic flights are unappealing at the best of times so a decent lounge makes all the difference.

Anyway, Garry researched airfares and destinations before settling on flights to Fiji.  This soon became a proxy celebration for his forthcoming 50^th birthday, and ultimately my birthday as well once we’d booked a flight for mid-September. My milestone ticked over five days after we returned home from our Fiji vacation.

We eventually settled on a week ensconced at Sofitel on Denauru Island; just 20 minutes away from Nadi airport. We booked ourselves a room in the Waitui Beach Club section of the hotel.  This offered a secluded setting on the beachfront with an adults-only admission.  No screaming kids. Our booking included complimentary breakfast on the beach and a complimentary cocktail hour (including canapes) at 5:00pm every afternoon. 

For once our research was on the money.  The beach club turned out to be a hidden gem.  It was definitely the best on offer in the immediate area (where almost a dozen hotels and serviced apartments vied for business).  The staff were friendly and professional.  The pool area was picture perfect.  The facilities were clean and relatively new.  Even the décor and furnishings in our room were surprisingly fresh and sharp despite their apparent age.

Denarau Island was also a pleasant surprise.  The area proved to be a spotless, luxury enclave offering a golf course, water park, palm-fringed roads and a marina area with a selection of half decent (tourist-oriented) shops.  Unlike a resort in Bali (where chaos engulfs you as you pass through the resort gates), on Denarau, we could leave our hotel grounds and still find ourselves wandering a clean, quiet and immaculate tropical suburb.

We’d also booked a week that proved relatively quiet at the hotel. This meant we secured a favourite daybed location by the pool or along the high tide mark every day with ease.  Prior to our arrival was worried the week would drag and I’d find myself bored within days.  However, we soon slipped into a daily routine and the days simply flew by.

In the end, we hardly left the resort with the exception of a day trip mid-week to Malamala Island.  The island’s claim to fame is its self-titled claim of being the world’s first island beach club. We paid a little extra and booked ourselves a poolside daybed.  This gave us a “between the toe” view across the club’s sculped infinity pool towards a sun-baked Pacific Ocean horizon.  The island itself was wrapped by white sand beaches and ringed by a reef.  It also offered superb food, cocktails and the usual flurry of water sports activities.

Without a doubt, we’ll be returning to Fiji. Oh yes; and I ticked another country off my globe-trotting list.  Depending on your definition of a country that’s Number 67; or Number 70 if you count fleeting border excursions into North Korea, Paraguay and Zambia.