Journey Home Retour en France

One last look at our 5 Star camping ground....Alexandra Park!! Busy with a mix of supprters for the semi finalist teams. Apparently the busiest night was for the France v All Black pool game. In the blog we thought that there were 120 or so campervans........ in fact there were 274 with about a dozen toilets!!  (But it was very cheap for Auckland, 45$NZ a night - about £25.00)

Notre derniere vue de notre camping 5 etoiles - Alexandra Park!   Il y avait du monde avec les supporteurs francais, gallois, australiens et kiwis...  Apparement le nuit le plus charge etait pour le match France contre les Blacks - nous avions pense il y avait a peu pres 120 campingcars..... en effet il y avait 274 campingcars et seulement une douzaine de toilettes chimiques!    On peut imaginer................. (Mais il n'etait pas cher pour Auckland - 45$NZ par nuit - 28Euros.) 

We shall not forget Alexandra Park!  On ne l'oubliera jamais.

And so it was off to Auckland airport and the start of our journey home on the A380:

Lundi, a l'aeroport d'Auckland et le debut de notre longue trajet de retour sur le A380:

Our journey took us first to Sydney then onto Dubai, where a shower, change and breakfast in the Emirates  lounge gave us a good break in the journey. Then on to London with an upgrade to Business class and the luxury of the upper deck of the A380:

Nous sommes partis d'Auckland a Sydney (3 heures) et puis Sydney a Dubai (14 heures).  A Dubai nous avions eu la chance de se doucher, et de prendre un petit dejeuner (Champagne/orange!) dans la lounge Emirates.  Puis nous etions surclasses pour l'etape finale a Londres Heathrow, dans le Classe Affaires (7 heures):  de la luxe........

with of course the bar at the back of the cabin:

avec naturellement un bar au fond de la cabine:

From business class with Emirates it was quite the opposite in terms of luxury for the final part of the journey home with Easyjet from London to Toulouse!! We were though well pleased to see Alain and Renee to meet us and drive us back to Sariac

L'etape finale etait avec Easyjet - tres different de la classe affaires avec Emirates - un vol plein, pas beaucoup d'espace ou nous avons dormi depuis Gatwick a Toulouse.  Nous etions tres tres contents de voir Renee et Alain, qui nous attendaient a Blagnac et qui nous ont emmene a Sariac.

AND SO OUR VOYAGE TO DOWN UNDER ENDS...AN INTERESTING AND ENJOYABLE SEVEN WEEKS, NEVER TO BE FORGOTTEN!

ET DONC C'EST LA FIN DE NOTRE SEJOUR EN NOUVELLE ZELANDE - UNE PERIODE DE 7 SEMAINES TRES INTERESSANTS ET AGREABLE, JAMAIS A OUBLIER!

Australia v New Zealand - Australie contre les Blacks

A relaxed day with a walk around Alexandra Park....there are some good things going for it!

Une journee decontractee avec une promenade autour de Alexandra Park

This was after the daily visit of course to the Olympic Pool and a splendid BBQ lunch.

La balade etait apres la visite quotidienne a la piscine pour les douches, bien sur, et un dejeuner BBQ.


Off then  to meet  Kate's boss, John and his wife Sonia, along with a group of Kiwis in a Tapis restaurant close by the Stadium, which when we got there was a mass of yellow and black.

Puis nous sommes alles rencontrer le patron de Kate, John et sa femme Sonia, avec une groupe de Kiwis dans un resto tapis, a cote du stade.  Quand nous sommes arrives au stade, c'etait une masse de jaune et noir.



As can be seen we had seats behind the post with perfect view of the match and the teams:

Nous avions eu les places derriere les poteaux avec une vue parfaite du match et les equipes:

What an atmosphere with the almost continuous chant of ...'' all blacks, all blacks....'' and after fully justifying the victory over Australia, chants of  '' four more years, four more years.......'' i.e. Australia's next chance of beating the All Blacks in the World Cup. We had the chance to see some old Australian players.....George Gregan and John Eales

Quelle ambiance avec le chant presque permanent de "All Black, All Black"..... et quand les Blacks ont gagne, bien merite contre les Australiens, la foule a crie "encore quatre ans, encore quatre ans" - la prochaine chance pour Australie de gagner le Coupe du Monde - en 2015!!  On a vu quelques anciens joueurs d'Australie, George Gregan et John Eales.

Our last view of World Cup Rugby and an evening to remember......sad that it's come to an end

Notre dernier match du Coupe du Monde et une soiree memorable ..... tres triste que le voyage est termine!

Wales v France Pays de Galles contre la France

This was a match to look forward to:

Un match attendu avec impatience:

First though was our required visit to the Olympic Pool for showers etc......necessary for those staying at Alexandra Park!! Then on to the city:

D'abord nous etions obliges d'aller a la piscine olympique pour une douche - tres necessaire pour toutes les campeurs qui restaient a Alexandra Park.  Puis au centre d'Auckland:

Note behind the rugby ball the cruise liner we saw in Wellington acting as a hotel mainly for Australian supporters.

Notez que derriere le ballon de rugby etait le paquebot de ligne que nous avions deja vu a Wellington, un hotel pour les supporteurs Australiens.

Buskers were everywhere on the quayside and one in particular caught our attention.....someone we'd seen in Christchurch in the Busker Festival just before the earthquake in February. Probably the best busker you can possibly see......''Mullet'' after his hairstyle

Les buskers (les artistes ambulants) etaient partout sur les quais et un a attire notre attention - c'etait un busker que nous avions vu a Christchurch a la fin de janvier 2011 pendant un fete des buskers, juste avant le tremblement de terre en fevrier.  Il est un des meilleurs buskers qu'on peut voir, il s'appelle "Mullet", apres son coiffure!!

He's here talking to Sue and explaining that he'd been across the world since we last saw him performing his act................well worth seeing!!

Ici il parlait avec Suzanne, en expliquant qu'il a voyage autour du monde depuis Christchurch, en Ecosse et en Angleterre, en Australie et partout en NZ!


Before the match at the stadium we were entertained by Maori singers:

Avant le match une groupe Maori a fait une animation



Before the action started there were interviews by numerous TV channels.....a French channel with the father of Elisalde a well known rugby commentator in France:

Avant le match on a vu plein de interviews par la television francaise ...un interview avec le pere de Jean Baptiste Elisalde, un commentateur bien connu en France:

together with the Welsh channel SC4 and Rhys Priestland, the injured number 10:

aussi la chaine galloise SC4 avec le joueur blesse, Rhys Priestland:

As you would expect for such a match we'd be dressed accordingly:

Comme prevu, nous etions habiles comme il faut pour les dragons:

Whilst the weather had been good during the day it decided to change and there was heavy rain before the match when the Welsh team were warming up and during the early part of the first half.

Quoique il a fait beau pendant la journee, il a beacoup plu juste avant le match pendant que l'equipe galloise se rechauffait et pendant les premiers 15 minutes de la premiere partie.

A somewhat dramatic match with the sending off but with a team of fourteen that almost won the match. To miss by one point was sad when Wales really could have won the match had the kicking been better. In reality France did not merit the win and French supporters after the match were very apologetic.

Un match tres dramatique avec l'expulsion du capitaine gallois, mais l'equipe de 14 joueurs aurait pu gagner le match si ils n'ont pas manque trois penalites et une transformation.   Tres, tres decu, et les supporteurs francais nous ont temoigne de la sympathie;  juste un point!!!

Back to Auckland - Retour a Auckland

Off we go again back to Auckland and the now familiar five hour journey.

Nous sommes repartis pour Auckland et le trajet de 5 heures bien connu!


Our place of stay for the next three nights is again to be Alexandra Park!

Nous allons rester pour les prochains 3 nuits a Alexandra Park, sans electricite!


Friday race night again with a large crowd for races up to 11.00 at night:

Toujours les courses de trotting jusqu'a 23 heures avec une foule enorme.

they start them young here with a presentation of young riders being part of the evening:

On commence jeune ici en NZ avec une prestation de jeunes cavalieres pendant la soiree.

As before an enjoyable evening although no winnings from our one attempt at predicting the first three in a race with the help of a local punter.....not far off we had the first two!!

Comme d'habitude nous avons passe une soiree tres agreable - quoique nous avons joue un peu, nous n'avons rien gagne.

Quiet day around Hastings - Une journee de repos a Hastings

Whilst we've visited Hastings a number of times, today was a chance to explore new areas around the town

Quoique nous avons deja visite Hastings, aujourd'hui on a eu la chance de visiter les quartiers differents autour de la ville.


First stop was Havelock North and the valley along the Tukituki river with some beautiful scenery:

D'abord on s'est arrete a Havelock North et traverse la vallee toute la longue de la riviere Tukituki:

together with a deer farm:

un champs de biches:

and finally on to the coast and Te Awanga and lunch at the Clearview winery:

et finalement nous sommes arrives au bord de la mer a Te Awanga ou nous avons deguste les vins avec un petit repas a la vignoble de Clearview.

Finally a last evening with Kate & Vaughan and an Indian takeaway to send us on our way!

Et finalement, la derniere soiree avec Kate et Vaughan et un repas Indien a emporter pour nous dire au revoir.

Wellington & Return to Napier - Wellington et notre retour a Napier

One thing we had missed in Wellington was a visit to the New Zealand Parliament; highly recommended by Paul & Nicky. So after our sad goodbyes to the Plummers (at least until January next year!) it was into the city. The Parliament buildings are in the heart of the city:

Apres nos au revoirs a la famille Plummer (jusqu'a janvier 2012), nous avons fait une visite au Parlement de NZ a Wellington.

Essentially we visited three buildings; The Beehive which is for the Cabinet and Prime Minister, Parliament itself and also the Library http://www.parliament.nz/ Above you see the first two with below a closer look at The Beehive:

On a visite trois batiments:  Le Beehive, qui est pour le Gouvernement et Premier Ministre, La Maison de Parlement et le Bibliotheque.

Overall the visit is worthwhile particularly the design of the buildings to withstand earthquakes with the buildings on ''rollers'' allowing the whole of the buildings to move +/- 30 cms. Not merely was it a chance to see these important buildings but also to understand a little of the workings of politics in New Zealand.

La visite etait tres interessante et nous avons vu comment les batiments ont ete construits contre les tremblements de terre, sur les "rouleaux" qui permettent le batiment de bouger +/- 30cms.


An obligatory visit and lunch in Wellington is to The Backbencher pub very close to Parliment http://www.backbencher.co.nz/

On etait oblige de visiter et dejeuner dans un pub, The Backbencher, tres proche au Parlement

Here besides it being a good venue you'll find caricatures of politicians very similar to those in the UK of Spitting Image and in France of  Les Guignols:

Ici on a vu les caricatures des politiciens, comme dans l'emission "Les Guignols":

Goodness knows who this one is meant to be!! Past Prime Ministers were represented:

Quelques exemplaires:

and Paul you'll recognise the one on the right of the photo above!!

et Paul, tu va reconnaitre le politicien au dessous a droite!

They say about the weather in Wellington that one can have all the four seasons in one day! We can agree with this statement given that today we saw some sun, rain and I suspect amongst the sleet.....some snow! - all as we left the city

On se dit que Wellington peut avoir les 4 saisons dans un journee - c'est vrai parce que nous avons eu du soleil, de la pluie et je pense la grele/neige, en quittant le cite.


It was then up Route 2 to the north and Napier/Hastings. Although we had planned to visit Martinborough and sample some wine the weather wasn't good so it was off direct to Kates.

Puis nous sommes rentres chez Kate a Hastings.


Most of the route we had already travelled three times but the hills always have some appeal; very green with no houses etc.

On a deja pris cette route trois fois, mais c'est un paysage tres interessant:

and there's always the chance to see some attractive streams and places along the way:

Les petits ruissseaux

Wellington region - Les environs de Wellington

We were lucky enough to have a car today, thanks to Nicky loaning us her car, to spend the day visiting around Wellington.  Our visit started with Eastbourne on the other side of  Wellington Harbour from the city; a ferry ride away which years ago would have been from the historic wharf:

Aujourd'hui nous avons prete la voiture de Nicky et nous avons visite les environs de Wellington.  D'abord nous sommes restes a Eastbourne, a l'autre cote de Wellington Harbour.  On pouvait prendre un ferry depuis Eastbourne a Wellington il y a cent ans, quand il n'y avait pas de routes au bord du port.

From here one gets some good views out towards the heads and Point Dorset.

Les vues belles vers les falaises et Point Dorset.


With the children on holiday it was a chance for them to have some sailing lessons just off the beach close to the wharf

Les enfants sont en vacances pour 2 semaines (leurs conges de l'ecole pour printemps!) et on a vu quelques-uns qui prennaient les lecons de voile

then it was off to Wainuiomata on the other side of the hill and on to Baring Head with just a view of South Island but nothing else south until Antarctica

Puis nous sommes alles a Wainuiomata a l'autre cote de la colline et a Baring Head, au bord de la mer, avec une vue tres indistincte de l'Isle Sud de NZ;  apres ca, il n'y a rien jusqu'a l'Antartique. 


On our return to the city and an evening out with Paul, Nicky and the boys we had a good view of the city across Wellington Harbour with Matiu/Somes island in the foreground:

A notre retour au cite, nous avions eu une blle vue de Wellington avec l'isle Matiu/Somes Island:  Une bonne soiree chez Paul et Nicky pour terminer notre sejour a Wellington.

Australia v South Africa in Wellington - Australie contre Sud Afrique a Wellington

All was preparation for this evening's match by the South African supporters at the Plummers.......it's amazing the extent supporters go to, for example by Christie, Paul's daughter. Besides being a supporter of South Africa we can see clearly that there is also an All Black emphasis:

Beaucoup de preparation pour le match ce soir par les amis des Plummers sud africaines - c'est etonnant - ici c'est la fille de Paul, Christy, qui a un copain sud africaine, mais elle est une black!

the boys; Damien, Darren, Thomas and Andrew clearly were supporting their team:

Damien, Darren, Thomas et Andrew etaient les supporteurs d'Afrique de Sud:

First stop was the Bruhaus  http://www.thebruhaus.co.nz/ with a mix of Australian and South African supporters. Note the fists holding the glasses of beer:

Premiere etape a Wellington etait dans le pub, le Bruhaus:  Plein de supporteurs Australiens et sud-africaines
Notez les poignees pour tenir les verres de biere:

Off then to the stadium along with thousands of others

Puis au stade avec les milles de supporteurs

here you see a cruise liner in the harbour used as a hotel for visiting Australians....very conveniently positioned.

Vous pouvez voir une bateau pour les croisieres utilise comme un hotel pour les Australiens - tres pres du stade.

 The stadium was a mass of yellow or green but the atmosphere was nothing like that of the previous match Wales v Ireland!

Le stade etait une masse de jaune ou vert, mais l'ambiance n'etait pas de tout comme le match Irelande contre Pays de Galles

Opotiki to Napier - Opotiki a Napier

Our start to the day was a short visit to Historic Opotiki, a town of 8,000 inhabitants split equally between Maori and non Maori. A somewhat sad town but some there are trying to raise the profile of the town with a focus on some of its historical buildings, some of which are below:

Nous avons reste hier soir a Opotiki, une ville de 8,000 habitants avec 50% Maori, 50% non Maori.  Une ville un peu triste mais avec un focus sur les anciens batiments et une musee:




Our first stop on the route from Opotiki to Gisborne was at Tauranga Bridge, one of only two of this design in New Zealand:

Depuis Opotiki nous njus sommes arretes au Pont de Tauranga, un de seulement deux ponts de ce dessein en NZ.

The original bridge was built to provide access for pioneers to lands on the other side. Even though grass was shipped from Gisborne to provide a start to grazing up the valley, and cleared the trees, it was never successful.

Le pont originale etait construit pour donner acces pour les pioneers aux terrains a l'autre cote.  Meme que les graines etaient emmene depuis Gisborne, ca n'a pas ete une reussite.

 

In this area the forests were heavily populated with Pongas and our walk down to the bridge illustrates this:

Ici les forets sont pleins des Pongas, comme vu sur notre sentier au pont:

The route from Opotiki to Gisborne took us through a variety of terrain......first the gorge then hilly farmlands and finally closer to Gisborne very fertile fruit growing areas. This can be clearly seen in the photos below:

La route depuis Opotiki a Gisborne nous a emmene au travers une variete des terrains... d'abord le gorge, puis les collines et puis a Gisborne les fruits.

Gisborne our next stop is the most easterly city closest to the date line and thus is the city first to see the sun in the morning! It is also where Captain Cook first landed in New Zealand in 1769 and the spot is marked with a statue of him:

Gisborne est la ville la plus a l'est

The land  and particularly the white cliffs below was first seen by Nick Youngs the cabin boy on board Endevour and the cliffs are called ''Young Nicks Head''

Gisborne on to Wairoa and then to Napier was through the mountains, sadly through rain but it's a journey to be repeated as the views must be stunning

At Kates it was a quick turnaround and then off to ''The Factory'' for another birthday party for Dick...totally spoilt with a birthday cake made by June:



and an enjoyable evening was had by one and all!!