Andrew and I had the unique opportunity while we were at Matakana to visit the Goat Island Marine Reserve. I say unique because, unlike many other marine reserves, this one is just off the coast. It seemed like such a strange thing to just grab our snorkels, walk down to the ocean, jump in, and swim to an island!
Blue Maomoa
The marine reserve opened in 1975 and includes 518 hectares of coast between Cape Rodney and Okakari Point. There is a neat laboratory from the University of Auckland where we could go explore, learn about the fish that we would see, and touch some crayfish.
I was repeatedly told I was absolutely crazy for swimming without a wetsuit, but the water was a balmy 17C when we went. Andrew and I snorkeled for about 90 minutes. It only took us about ten minutes to swim out to the island and there was interesting fish including snapper and blue maomao to see along the way. At one point I even got to follow an eagle ray for a bit!
Andrew Underwater
On the way back an easterly came up and started a bit of a current at the surface that pushed Andrew and I a bit. Thankfully we are both fairly strong swimmers and managed to make it back without too much difficulty.
Fish in Kelp
The rocks on shore were fun to run around as well. There were interesting rock formations and soft sand to play on. The beach was fairly crowded though since it is summer vacation! What a place to spend a few days of a kids summer camp though.
We are very grateful for our host mom, Colleen, for inviting us to spend Christmas with her and her family.
Zoolander Cuddling
Kiwi Chocolates
Andrew and I decided to keep some of our family traditions from home and exchange pajamas the night before Christmas and do stockings from Santa Christmas morning. We kept everything in our room and exchanged gifts in the morning before breakfast.
I got a new surf shirt! I'm excited to try it next month when we learn to surf at Raglan. The families were all quite generous and we had a few gifts to open, even at our hosts Christmas tree. There hadn't been a Christmas tree set up, so Andrew and I created a tree from clippings we had made in the garden. It really felt like a ten year old going "If I can't find a tree, I'll make one instead!". After we were done with gifts, we played a few Christmas themed games, had lunch outside, then relaxed in the pool for awhile. We finished off the night with dessert and board games.
Andrew and I took the opportunity while we were driving down from Matakana to Te Puke to stop in Tauranga and other random points of interest along the way.
While driving through Auckland to meet Robin, do some shopping, and pick up our mail, we found some Christmas decorations finally! Wandering random back streets near Queen street I found some pretty Christmas baubles, then we saw the Santa on the storefront in Auckland. Quite impressive!
L&P, A Popular NZ Soda
Christmas Baubles
Driving through Paeroa we found out where L&P comes from. It is a New Zealand soda that tastes somewhat along the lines of Sprite and Ginger Ale. Of course I had to do a handstand in front of the giant bottle! Yes, of course Hoppity and Shecky had to balance on my feet! It was a fun stop.
Santa in Auckland
Once in Tauranga we parked and did some shopping at The Strand, which is basically an open air mall along the boardwalk. It was certainly a quite pleasant way to do some Christmas shopping without dealing with any crowds! It was definitely a pleasant day.
Andrew and I are very grateful to our host mom for letting us make a bunch of cookies in her kitchen. She was quite happy to provide the space, provided that we share the results with her!
Andrew and I each have family recipes that date back several generations that we are quite happy to make each year. It just didn't feel like Christmas without them! I made Scottish shortbread and Sugar Cookies. Andrew made French Sour Cream Cookies.
Sour Cream Cookies
All the recipes called for softened butter. Usually at home for Christmas baking that requires us to put the butter on a heat register or in the microwave. Here though, I just tossed it in a metal bowl and set it outside for a few minutes. Christmas baking in summer certainly has a few advantages! The Sour Cream cookies usually have a few lumps of butter, but it was very smooth this time.
We haven't managed to find any eggnog in New Zealand, so Andrew found a recipe that sounded good and tried making it. It actually turned out really well! We are looking forward to introducing our host and her family to eggnog for the first time so we are quite glad that it turned out.
For the past ten days, Andrew and I have been doing some WWOOFing at a nice place in Matakana. It has been quite different from our previous experiences. We work 4 hours per day, on average, with our hours being flexible (so if we work 8 hours one day, we can take the next day off). We prepare our own meals and our hosts either provide the food or pay us back for our groceries. It's been quite a pleasant experience!
Gardens on the property
We also have our own 'house' basically. Our own bathroom, bedroom, kitchen, and living space that is completely separate from their space. At first it seemed a bit odd, but it has been quite pleasant to have our own space that is a bit larger than the campervan. I was so excited to sleep in a real bed the first night here!
Pretty Flowers
The work has been mainly gardening, gardening, and more gardening. Pulling weeds, laying down mulch, pruning trees, and tending to the nearly 10 acres of gardens and orchards. The first day I spent crawling around on my knees spreading mulch and fertilizer underneath plants for 4 hours in the rain I wasn't too fond of the work, but it hasn't been too difficult. I've been quite enjoying spending the days enjoying the sun, listening to audio books, and doing some gardening.
Front Door Garden
It wasn't feeling much like Christmas and I was upset and missing home the other day. Andrew wanted to cheer me up, so he went and grabbed the solar Christmas lights from our campervan and put them up for me. We then proceeded to spend the rest of the night watching Christmas specials. I have such a sweet husband!
Christmas Lights
Living Room
Our hosts have 4 kayaks: 2 long ocean kayaks and two three meter play kayaks. One of the mornings was perfect for a kayak so they invited us to join them. They made sure that we had the lay of the water and knew where to go, then left us to enjoy our morning paddle while they, with their longer boats, explored further. It was a very pleasant day and we had fun paddling along the shore. I had forgotten how much more buoyant salt water is and how stable it makes kayaking! We paddled past a nice looking golf course, under a bridge where there are usually eagle rays, and along some beautiful properties. We saw a school of fish jumping, which looked really odd at first. It took me a few moments to figure out what the silver flashes at the surface of the water were.
A Real Bed
We've really enjoyed our time here in Matakana, exploring the markets, vineyards, cinema, gardens, and shoreline of the area. Andrew and I are looking forward to our next adventures and finally heading south of Auckland!
The market on Saturdays in Matakana is quite well known in New Zealand. After having no less than five people tell my husband and I that we needed to attend said market, we decided to get up early Saturday morning and go. There are actually two separate markets; one with crafts and one for food and produce.
Buffalo Cheese
Craft Apple Cider
We started in the craft market because it happened to be the closest to where we had parked. So many interesting items to explore! We picked up a nice gift for the 'Sneaky Santa' for Christmas morning and admired all of the unique artifacts. We found good tea! This may not seem exciting, but I have been searching for good loose leaf tea since we got to New Zealand and finally found some. She even had every tea made hot so that I was able to sample the ones I thought I'd like. I had thought to get one tea, but then Andrew found one he liked, and we both found a third that we really wanted...so we ended up getting three new bags of tea. We both really enjoy having tea a fair bit since neither of us drinks coffee though. Especially in the campervan some mornings can still be a bit chilly so a hot cup of tea is nice.
Meat Pie Lunch
We wandered into an antiques stall since they usually have interesting artifacts to admire. It is definitely a small world! Years ago Andrew and I visited the Medalta Potteries in Medicine Hat, which is quite famous in the area. We found jars from Medicine Hat here at the antiques store. It might be a good thing that we don't have a house or it would have been very tempting to pick them up.
From the crafts market we wandered down the road to the food market. No dogs are allowed, so there were a couple of ladies on a park bench near the entrance just minding dogs. I thought it was a very neat idea and quite convenient for people with pets.
Andrew enjoying lunch
Fresh Strawberries and Cream
The food market was incredible. Since there is so much fresh produce available, each stall had its own little niche market. We tried buffalo cheese and buffalo yogurt. There was an assortment of wonderful hot sauces (of which we picked up the berry hot, which is VERY hot). The hot sauces start off sweet and finish with a nice chili hot.
We tried an assortment of craft beers and ciders too. Craft ciders aren't nearly as sweet as the apple cider that most stores sell, which is quite nice. We picked up meat pies (they had gluten free dairy free meat pies!) and sat by the river listening to the live music and enjoying our lunch. On the way out, Andrew and I picked up some fresh produce to have with dinner. Well, I guess it was more dessert. Hard to resist vine ripened strawberries and fresh cream!
Andrew and I spent a few days in the Dagraville area. We took the time to wander around the town and get some Christmas shopping in. Everyone was quite friendly and helpful, which was especially appreciated with the holiday season. We also visited the Kauri Woodturners, where we saw a number of beautiful kauri bowls and products being made. The owner was quite pleasant to talk to and gave us some suggestions of things to do in the area. One of my favourite things about travelling is talking to the locals and finding all the small secret places that just aren't in any guidebook.
We visited Ripiro Beach, which is an even longer beach than 90 mile beach! It is also used for driving. There seems to be a lot of driving on beaches in New Zealand, but I guess in an island nation it is a natural highway that doesn't need paving or maintenance so it makes sense.
The hike on the cliffs was quite nice, short, and pleasant. We walked to the sandstone cliffs and just took in the wonderful views of the ocean. Andrew found a nice tree to have lunch in and we admired the knitted trees in town. There were quite a few trees that had knitting up the trunks. I guess they are concerned about the trees getting cold?
We also visited the Dagraville museum, which was quite informative and had lovely views. There were some beautiful murals on the walkway as well, which are worth checking out. They also have the masts from the Rainbow Warrior, which was one of the two boats that we could have done a wreck dive on near Paihia. It was interesting to see them still intact and know that part of the ship still survives. We enjoyed our stop in Dagraville and had a nice break before driving south to our next overnight in Paparoa.
