As much as we love the lively and exciting city of Wellington, we know that there is a lot more country to see out there, and we want to see as much of it as we can during our year’s stay. Therefore, a couple of weeks ago we went "over the hills" and spent two nights in the Wairarapa area of the North Island. We were fortunate to have the use of a borrowed car since public transportation isn’t as good as it was in either England or Italy, and also having a car allows us to take the back roads and see the countryside in a leisurely fashion. We can stop when we want, linger in a small town or pull over to the side of the road and ooh and ah over the scenery.
We booked ourselves into Petite La Vallee Homestay, a small self-contained cottage which attracted us because it was advertised as quiet and remote---something we don’t have here in the heart of a big city---and also because it was close to some special places we wanted to explore. But first we had to cross over the Rimutaka Mountains which rise up from sea to a height of about 900 meters, not extreme as mountains go, but certainly not what we’re used to seeing loom above the Ohio cornfields. The road, although it was comparable to a state highway, twisted its way in hairpin fashion up along the ridges, and then down again on the other side. We clung to the edge of very narrow lanes with steep drop-offs (always on MY side of the road!), passing signs that warned of "Slips" and "Washouts!" I have to admit though, the views were amazing and worth the fright. The mountains are mainly green-clad, the most brilliant green I’ve ever seen, with a purity and clarity of air that made all the colors leap out and call attention to themselves.
Our cottage was perfect, a real delight. It was on a 650-acre sheep farm so we were awakened each morning by the bleating of the many sheep that threatened to overshadow the extraordinary choral performance of the kaka, tui and kea birds. The couple who owns the place lived right next door and, besides leaving us some delicious homemade shortbread cookies, they later brought us over some wildberry jam, hot off the stove. The first afternoon, we walked up the high hill that was part of their farm and just down the road. As we climbed, we had to step over piles of cow and sheep dung, through cattle fences, over a handmade wooden bridge to cross a teeming creek, and under sagging tree limbs which sprawled out from their bases. As we rose higher and higher, the view became more beautiful and the farmhouse more distant, but the land was consistently that bright, bright green. It’s hard to explain what it feels like to be in this country of such clear air and brilliant colors. I don’t think I ever realized what pollution and acid rain has done to the environment until I came to New Zealand and experienced the freshness and the clarity that is everywhere, even in the city, but especially in the rural areas.
The next day, we drove about 50 miles through the countryside, past many, many sheep (I heard there were 40 million here, 10 times the number of people) and past the fishing village of Ngawi where they pull the fishing boats out of the water and up the long steep gravel beaches with discarded, rusted old tractors. There are almost no towns in this area except these tiny fishing villages, and of course Don was beside himself since not one of them had a restaurant, let alone a coffee shop, to get his morning brew. Oh well, the sacrifices he makes!
We headed to Cape Palliser, the southernmost tip of the North Island. There was a lighthouse we wanted to see which guarded the rocky point, but more than that we had heard it was home to a colony of fur seals. The road skirted the edge of the sea for several miles and as we approached the Cape we wondered if it would be possible to see any seals (perhaps they didn’t live there in June??). Or maybe they would be so far away that we wouldn’t be able to distinguish then from the dark rocks edging the shore. There was no need to worry. As we inched closer to the Point, and the road narrowed and turned from macadem to gravel and finally to dirt, there, not 6 feet from our car, lay a handful of fat, lazy fur seals, sunning themselves in the tawny grass. As we carried on further, we saw more of them, some sunning themselves in the grass, but most of them either draped over the rocks near the sea or playfully hopping from one rock to the next, using their flippers to balance and to move. We even saw a few in the distance taking a plunge, and a nice long swim, in the cold sea, and then raising their flippers high above the water as if in a triumphant gesture. It was very exciting. I have never been so close to animals in the wild, and I was touched by the innocence and the vulnerability of these animals that seem so trusting of the care of humankind.
We headed back to our cottage for the night, but not before stopping by the Lake Ferry Hotel where we had the best and biggest platter of freshly caught fish with chips ever. The next day, we spent several hours in the lovely small village of Greytown, where we found a great coffee shop, a chocolate factory (one which gives out lots of free samplesJ ), and a quite nice art gallery where we met a woman who was told many years ago that she had no talent, but is currently preparing works for two large art shows. So there! Anyway, it was a wonderful trip, a good place to spend a couple of days, and an area we’d love to return to.