An entry in the TFS Travel Journal
It must be the lack of the need to get up on a schedule, or the abundant clean air, but we can’t seem to wake up since we’ve gotten here. We lounged around reading the Sunday Herald before finally setting off for today’s long drive. But first, a stop at the castle (Le Chateau du Ice Cream) to stock up on provisions. While Wendy was buying some mini-quiches, Milton listened to the noontime news on the radio; we know we’re not in New York when one of the top stories is about a guy getting injured in a surfing accident (not to worry, MR, only a cracked vertabrae, no permanent damage). We drove for a few hours, then took a short detour to Wangaroa to see the beach. It was just one of their myriad local beaches, but was so nice and tranquil, with some unassuming houses set along the beach and a few families playing in the water. It was quite scenic, framed by small cliffs, with some islands way offshore in the distance.
We took some pictures, spoke to a man about his dogs, and drove on. We finally arrived in Whangerei (”wh” is pronounced “f” here), where we visited the amazing Clapham Clock Museum. Although a small building, it houses a collection of over 1,500 clocks (AAL!) from all ages and countries. While it was soothing to listen to their constant ticking, they are set at different times so they don’t all chime at the same instant. Thus, one is also almost always hearing cuckoos, beeps, dings, dongs, etc. We had a brief tour with a nice older lady who would activate the more entertaining ones — a whistling Englishman, a French ballet, an alarm clock that played like the old player-pianos. Quite a fascinating place! We walked briefly around the small sailboat-laden harbor, then got back on the road.
The afternoon drive was lovely, a combination of undulating woods reminiscent of the American Northwest and pastoral hillsides (as green as the most manicured golf course greens) rolling like the Irish countryside. We particularly liked the groves of huge feather-duster plants that lined the roadsides. After a full afternoon of driving on small winding roads, we arrived in Opua where we took the tiny, 5-minute ferry to Russell. This town used to be the “Hellhole of the Pacific”, about 100 years ago, when it was a notorious den of iniquity of whalers, sailors and explorers; now, it’s a quaint little seaside village. Since it was getting dark, we drove through the town before going to the lodge, and were fortunate to see a wonderful sunset just illuminating the horizon with oranges, reds and pinks above the boat-filled bay. We then drove up the hill to this majestic house where we were welcomed and shown around by Norman Bates.
The Kimberley is a manor house with only 5 rooms, but tonight we’re literally the only ones in the house! We upgraded to the Kimberley suite (at least for tonight) which is a bit nicer than the other rooms, and is upstairs next to a large living room which we’ve basically appropriated as our own. There are crystal chandeliers in every room (including the bathrooms) and rich, colonial furnishings. It’s set high on a hill with wonderful panoramic views of the bay and some of the islands, and the hillside is lined with sweetly fragrant gardens which we strolled through on our way to dinner. We walked to the Duke of Marlborough, the first licensed Inn in New Zealand (in 1827) for dinner, which we were really in the mood for, having eaten very little all day except for the gamut of Cadbury offerings we picked up from the well-stocked gas station marts and sampled throughout our drive. While Rosemary Clooney serenaded us with some cabaret standards, we dined on pumpkin soup with oysters (yum! one of the best things thus far) and a dozen local oysters. Then a local deep-water white fish with a creamy-chile sauce and a chicken and duck casserole with cumquats. Both main courses were nicely flavorful, as was a Marlborough Chardonnay. We ambled back to the Kimberley in the cool evening sea-breezy air.
We settled in for the night to watch some tv and videos, and even went down to raid the refrigerator for some milk and cookies.