We had a really fun time at the skate park in Mapua. Dom doing tricks on the skateboard and me shooting photos. It looked like we were making a super cool photo-shoot for a magazine! This is my handsome man!
Blog
-
Christmas in Mapua
After a few days in Wellington, we made our way to the South Island to get ready for the family Christmas.
We flew from Wellington to Nelson with Sounds Air on a Cessna Caravan tiny plane that holds only thirteen passengers. The smallest plane I ever been on!
All seats had great view so it was a pretty scenic one hour journey during which we could enjoy the views of the Marlborough Sounds.
They are an extensive network of sea drowned valleys created by a combination of land subsidence and rising sea levels at the north of the South Island.
Very spectacular! The view was definitely a distraction from wondering if the plane was going to land safely. Of course the plane was safe! I just found odd flying in such small aircraft!
We spent few days in Nelson visiting Dom’s dad. I loved the South Island right away. The weather was sunny and hot, I could get rid of my woolly jersey for the first time since being in New Zealand!
Nelson is located on the eastern shore of the Tasman Bay and it is well known for its local arts and crafts scene. The city has one of the best climate in New Zealand and it is nicknamed “Sunny Nelson” due to the annual average of sunshine of over 2400 hours!
During our stay in Nelson we drove to the Abel Tasman National Park. The countryside in this part of the South Island reminded me very much of Tuscany during summer time.
Lush vineyards, fruit and berry trees, green hills and fields. Unfortunately this day I forgot my camera so I am gutted to have no photos of it. I can tell anyways that the National Park is beautiful, with golden beaches and sculptured granite cliffs scattered everywhere.
After few days in Nelson we made our way to Mapua where we were spending the Christmas holidays.
Dom’s mum, Annie, had arranged to do a house swap so we could spend Christmas in a lovely house with a big garden only five minutes walk from the beach absolutely for free!!
Amazing, what a great idea. I only seen this house swap business in movies before, but people actually really do that. Absolutely great!
We had a great time, the weather was sunny and hot, we had a beautiful garden to chill out and take our meals, we ate a huge amount of food and drunk copiously amounts of delicious wine and local brews, we had a great family time.
We went for walks, we did a trip to Rabbit Island, we went berry picking, we went swimming and we walked the dog. Yes, we also had a dog, Sasha, she came with the house and became part of the family during Christmas.
I also celebrated my birthday the day before Christmas. Dom and his family took me out for a lovely dinner to a fish restaurant by the sea with views of Rabbit Island. What a treat, it was a beautiful birthday.
I was also spoiled for gifts, Dom gave me a beautiful silver ring that I now wear every day and his mum and Paul (her husband) got me a New Zealand green stone necklace that is supposed to give strength and courage to the person that is given to.
As tradition says, every member of the family had to wear the necklace for a while before I had it myself. What a cute tradition.
The time in Mapua was fantastic, I loved the place and the weather and of course the people I was with. Dom has a great family, they certainly made me feel part of it.
-
Around Wellington
Wellington is New Zealand’s capital city and it is situated at the southwestern tip of the North Island. It is also the Country’s political centre housing the Parliament and all the Government head offices.
It is a very laid back and pleasant city. We spent a few days here before heading off to the South Island for the Christmas Holidays. Wellington has a reputation for its picturesque natural harbour and green hillsides adorned with colonial villas.
Wellington Harbour lies along an active geological fault, which is clearly evident on its straight western shore. The land to the west of this rises abruptly, meaning that many of Wellington’s suburbs sit high above the centre of the city. We walked around a lot and did some sightseeing driving along the scenic road along the coast.
There is a network of bush walks and reserves around the city which makes it a pleasure to walk around. Wellington is New Zealand’s windy city, it is windy all year round with high rain fall. Besides the wind I found it a beautiful city.
We also went to check out the wind farm on the hills above Wellington and enjoyed stunning views of the city. What place could have suited better for a wind farm project?
-
A Green Land
If I was to describe New Zealand in only one word, it would be “Green”. That is it, New Zealand is green. On my way into New Zealand from the plane all I could make out of this volcanic land was green hills, green mountains, green plains and occasionally few brown patches and lakes.
When I got off the plane in Wellington and looked out at the surroundings, my first impression of New Zealand was that it was very similar to Cornwall in England.
Having lived there for about two years on and off, that was the first thing that came to my mind when I was first introduced to New Zealand. Green hills and cliffs dropping down to the sea, blue sky scattered with white fluffy clouds and windy.
At this stage I did not get to see much of Wellington besides its airport, since I was only stopping over for few hours before flying to Auckland. When I landed in Auckland I had a different impression. The airport was much bigger and when I stepped outside the airport I could tell I was in a bigger city.
Dom came to meet me at the airport in the car. The drive from the airport to Central Auckland was about thirty minutes. Looking out of the car window, the surroundings still reminded me of Cornwall. But it did not take me long to change my views.
After my arrival we spent a few days in Auckland and then we departed on a road trip to Wellington where we were going to meet Dom’s family. I was very happy to leave the city since I still had to adjust to the changes from Indonesia to New Zealand.
We drove all the way in two days with a stop over in Taupo. We took the New Zealand State Highway 1 (SH1) and as soon as we left the city I was impressed at how the vegetation became lusher and greener the further south we were getting.
Beautiful scenery, native bushes, ferns and trees everywhere…everywhere I looked it was green! Different shades and hues of green! Hills and mountains covered with pine forests, vineyards, fruit trees, more bushes…it was a beautiful sight.
Taupo is only few hours driving from Auckland. It is a town located in the center of the north island on the shore of Lake Taupo, New Zealand larger lake.
Taupo is a center of volcanic and geothermal activity and hot springs suitable for bathing are located around the area. We arrived in Taupo early afternoon, checked in to a motel and went straight for the hot springs on the Waikato River.
How beautiful! Several pools of steamy hot water running straight in to the much cooler river. It was fantastic, it was like sitting in a hot bath. I think we must have spent about a couple of hours there. Unfortunately I did not have the camera with me, so there is no photos of this fantastic spot. This was my first real taste of New Zealand.
The following day we carried on our journey to Wellington. Few kilometers out of Taupo the SH 1 ascended onto the North Island Volcanic Plateau, passing through the fringes of the Tongariro National Park (the first National Park in New Zealand and the fourth in the world) and into the Rangipo Desert, passing the volcanoes of Ruapehu, Ngauruhore and Tongariro.
The scenery was breathtaking. I have not been to this National Park yet but I would love to experience the Tongariro Alpine Crossing track across the spectacular and unique volcanic terrain. The road between Rangipo and Waiouru is commonly known as the Desert Road.
It is quite impressive how the landscape changes dramatically from lush green to desert for few kilometers and then back to green.
We arrived in Wellington in the late afternoon and enjoyed a few cold beers before a dinner of mutton curry from the local night market. It was in Wellington that I was introduced for the first time to the delicacies of New Zealand food and wine. The produces are so fresh, meat is delicious and wine is just fantastic.
The following day we had an amazing family dinner with a selection of local cheeses and crackers to start followed by slow roast lamb and roast veggies accompanied by floods of Sauvignon Blanc which is my favourite withe wine. For a food lover like me, that was pure heaven.
After months of Indonesian food I thoroughly enjoyed that beautiful dinner! At this point I was starting to see the climate of New Zealand like a fusion of Italy and England.
Amazing wine, ripe juicy tomatoes, delicious tender meat, mouthwatering cheeses, tons of any kind of fresh vegetables, fruit trees and berries and hot summer sun (just like Italy) and green land, cool wind and cold nights (like England).
I was liking New Zealand a lot and I was starting to understand more of Dom’s upbringing and background.
It is quite amazing to think that approximately seventy per cent of the population in New Zealand is ethnically of European origins followed by approximately fifteen per cent Maori.
The Kiwis are in a way so different from the Europeans. They are wilder and more laid back. No surprise since at the end of the day they live on an island almost isolated from the rest of the world.
But this is what makes them so cool. I love it, all of it. New Zealand, its nature, its people, its food and wine and everything else that makes it the amazing place it is.
-
Sunflowers
Uploading photos of my old paintings made me wanting to paint again.
This time I chose acrylics which are quite versatile and easy to travel with since they dry much faster than oils and they do not require the use of solvents to clean them or thin them.
This is a small square canvas 10 by 10cm. I made it as a gift for Dom.
-
New Zealand
My journey from Bali to New Zealand was pretty epic. Not because it was a fantastic journey but because it was long and exhausting!
But let’s be honest, Carlotta loves long complicated journeys!
I bought the flight ticket about a month before departing, it took me three days to decide which ticket to buy. I needed to fly from Bali to Wellington and I was surfing the web like crazy to find the best possible option. Flights were either too long, too expensive, no seats available, and so on. A real headache.
Then I had a brilliant idea and opted for two separate tickets, one from Bali to Melbourne on Air Asia and one from Melbourne to Wellington on Qantas. It came out reasonably cheap… The only downside, the total journey was about twenty six hours long and three planes to take.
Never mind, I am a pro when it comes to long journeys! Nonetheless, I had my ticket to New Zealand. Super exciting, I was going to travel to one of the most remote countries in the world! It is quite amazing how New Zealand is so isolated from everything else. A land in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
The day of my departure I left Bali very early in the morning. First stop Kuala Lumpur where I waited about four hours for the connecting fly to Melbourne.
Not too bad, I like Kuala Lumpur airport. I have been there so many times it feels like a home. There’s many cafes and shops and of course free wi-fi all around. It is probably the best airport I have been for free wireless internet connection.
Anyway, it is a way to kill time if one doesn’t have a good book to read (which I didn’t have at the time, or maybe I did but it was not a good one). The annoying thing is the nearly freezing temperature in the airports and on the planes.
No jumper, scarf or socks can help avoiding becoming a penguin. At this point the excitement of traveling to New Zealand was still keeping me warm. I had not seen Dom in six weeks and I could not wait to see him. He was coming to meet me at Wellington airport!
Only few sleeps and few in-flight meals away and I would have landed in Kiwi land. I was going to meet his family and spend my birthday and Christmas with them. It had been years since I spent a family Christmas, I was really looking forward to it!
The flight to Melbourne was pretty sweet. I never flew Air Asia on a long haul flight and I have to say the planes are rather comfortable. I was surprised to find big soft comfy seat and good legroom available. I also had my laptop with movies to keep me occupied and of course I managed to snooze a little.
I landed in Melbourne just after midnight and I had to wait over eight hours for my connecting flight to Wellington. New Zealand was getting closer. I was quite tired but could not sleep so I switched my iPhone on to check out the Melbourne airport free wi-fi connection and of course have a look at my messages.
It is amazing how one can get addicted to this technology. I had a few messages from Dom, he was still in Auckland and could not make it to Wellington that day so he had booked me on a flight from Wellington to Auckland. Well, I would arrive at my final destination five hours later and at this point one more plane was making no difference…
The temperature at the airport was freezing, by now all my extremities were numb.
Finally the check in to Wellington opened, I was ready to go but…Qantas would not let me on the plane because I only had a one way ticket!!! I could not believe it.
After double checking with a colleague, the rude and patronizing desk attendant confirmed that I had to purchase an outgoing flight ticket from New Zealand or they would not allow me on board. So I purchased the cheapest flight I could buy and ended up with an Auckland to Melbourne ticket with Jet Star which of course I will not use but at least it would allow me to enter NZ.
Finally I boarded the plane. I have to say that despite the unfriendliness and rudeness of Qantas ground staff, this airline provides a fairly good in-flight service including a good choice of movies to watch. Now I was getting more excited and counting the hours.
After a five hours flight and a total of almost thirty hours on the move, I landed in New Zealand in the afternoon of the 8th December 2012. I made it, almost.
The first impression of Kiwis was great! Staff at the airport and the immigration officers were all so friendly. I don’t think I have ever come across with such friendliness at an airport!
Wellington airport is quite small and it is right on the sea. On landing it looked like the plane was landing straight on to the water. After a few hours wondering at the airport I finally boarded the last plane of this journey. was exhausted and probably jet legged too, I could have done with a nap but the guy sitting beside me on the plane did not stop talking to me for one minute.
Fortunately it was only a one hour flight and I was glad when we finally touched down in Auckland. I was in total auto pilot mood, went straight to collect my bags which fortunately arrived within few minutes and made it to the exit. There I was, breathing fresh New Zealand air and I was feeling extremely cold. It was definitely a huge difference from the tropical weather of Indonesia.
After a few minutes waiting there he was. Dom appeared with his usual unmistakable captivating smile and as handsome as ever! I was knackered and happy. Finally I was there, the beginning of a new adventure in a new land with my man.
Follow the New Zealand adventure in the next posts to come soon.