Wednesday 13th to Tuesday 19th June – Anniversary time and Immigration news

Wednesday 13^th June – Hunua Ranges volunteering

Hunua Falls and river looking full

Today was a bit rainy, but not enough to deter us hardened volunteers.  The job today was egg replacement in the DOC 200 traps. Disposing of the old egg in each trap meant lobbing the mouldy remnants into the undergrowth as far away from us as possible. I learnt quickly why it was important not to mis-judge my throw with the egg. If you mistakenly smashed a rotten old egg nearby, it became very clear just how smelly these eggs had got, especially if you were downwind from the stench.  Once the old egg had been dispatched with an aerial burial, I tested the functioning of each trap and reset it with a fresh juicy egg to entice more vermin to their deaths!  The springs on these traps are seriously strong, so the main health and safety issue was making sure that you’re not in danger of losing a finger in the process of checking them.  The track that I was working on brought me out right by the Hunua falls.  The recent rains have swollen the river leading to a significant increase in the volume of the falls since the last time we visited:

Thursday 14^th June – Whangamarino Walkway

I had a bad night’s sleep, so let myself lie in and missed pump class. Instead, I went for a walk at one of the locations recommended on the DOC website (have I mentioned that stands for Department of Conservation?) – Whangamarino Walkway. This is described as an ‘easy’ walk up to a couple of historically significant sites from the Waikato War in 1863. Te Teoteo’s Pa commands excellent views of the confluence of the Whangamarino and Waikato rivers. 

There has been a lot of rain lately.... the river isn't meant to have taken over those fields as well.

Doesn't look like the area has changed much in over 150 years!

This map shows how close Whangamarino is to Pukekohe where we are staying

The Pa was briefly re-occupied in July 1863 by Maori forces opposing the advance of British forces from the north, led by Lieutenant General Cameron. Thirty Maori warriors were killed in the skirmishes and after successfully reclaiming the Pa, Cameron built a redoubt (stockade) 150 metres to the East. By gaining this hill, the British had taken the upper hand and the Maori could not compete with their superior firepower. Ultimately, the war was fought over one million acres of fertile farmland that the Maori relied upon for safety and food and that, by mid-1864, was entirely under British control.  The boundaries and some of the banks and ditches of this stockade remain today (below).

I could look through the window and see the similarities in the land... and the weather

 It was an interesting short walk with some beautiful scenery that is classically New Zealand:

A good NZ photo - lots of hills, lots of green, lots of water and lots of sheep!

On my return I rang Immigration. No good news there. My application is still sitting in a pile of papers by the sounds of it and this time I was advised that it could take up to FOUR MONTHS to process.  That could take me up to September! Urrgghh… I may have said this before, but this is getting really tiresome now….

Friday 15^th June – Our 11-year anniversary.

After my morning duties at Bird Rescue..... (look at this cute pukeko chick and, more importantly the size of its feet!)

..... I made my daily call to Immigration and left yet another message.  This time I was called back by someone who actually seemed to care about my visa application and our upcoming travel plans! She wrote an email to the relevant team explaining my predicament and read it back to me before sending. I even asked her to add a couple of important points she’d missed out. Whether it will make any difference or not will wait to be seen but I thanked her for taking an interest. 

Simon had got some pay today, so it was time to have dinner out to celebrate our Anniversary at Poco Loco tapas bar. Our choice of venue was maybe not the best idea for a long romantic dinner, on reflection. Having ordered sangria and a selection of five dishes of tapas the food came very quickly and within an hour we were stuffed and done. I suggested heading to a bar, but Simon was exhausted from a long tough week in the office, so we were home before 9pm. Like I say, a pleasant meal but not ideal if planning for an elongated night out!

Saturday 16^th June – Immigration calls!

I had a missed call on my phone mid-morning. What if it was Immigration? Thankfully, they rang again straight away to tell me the unbelievable news that my passport with visa attached was ready to be sent out from Auckland. It should be with me by Wednesday, but did I want to go into the City on Monday instead and collect it due to our imminent travel plans? YES I DID!!! I was not expecting that at all. The email yesterday must have made the difference, what a result! Not only is the wait over, but we can even go on our little trip to Australia next weekend to celebrate! It was time to get online and book some return flights and a hire car!

We were worried about sky-high prices having had to leave it so late. But that was where Simon’s perseverance with his complaint to Jetstar (or Shitstar as some people apparently like to call them) paid off.  We got $100 off the price of our return flights with the vouchers he had secured after the overnight delay when we’d been stuck in Melbourne. Well done Newman!

I was buzzing with excitement but nearly half the day had gone with all our planning.  Feeling full of energy, I decided to head to another recommended DOC walk, the hike up Mount William. 

Off up Mount William Walkway.... how hard can it be?!

The path went through dense forest....

...... but that wasn't the end of it, the summit was up by the teeny tiny pylon

The base of this hike is merely fifteen-minutes from home, in the Bombay hills.  When I arrived I was warned by a returning couple that the going was ‘extremely muddy’.  They were not over-egging the pudding!  This walk was described as advanced on the DOC website, so I knew it would be tough going, and that was without the added mud-bath potential.   

The path wound through dense and scenic forest before breaking out across pastureland at the top.  You must not be fooled into thinking the summit was close – there were still many more steep steps to the top, 125 floors according to my Fitbit.  But what a view when I got there….

I definitely went full green today!

As is becoming customary on a Saturday night, it was off to Huihana and Steve’s for the evening to watch the next All Blacks versus France rugby match and follow it up with some darts. Always a good giggle when we head over there, reminds us of game nights with friends in the UK.

Sunday 17^th June – Body Works Exhibition.

Skin anyone?

I remember being fascinated by this exhibition when it was in London but never made it along to take a look.  This time was different.  It was only here until mid-July, so we had to ensure we made it before then. But it was a popular weekend choice, so once we’d secured tickets we had to go for a couple of coffees in the Hilton first, until our allocated time slot. I found the whole experience very moving. A reminder of our fragility and the transitory nature of the human body. It was graphic, but without being gory.  After all, everything we saw was real and the painstaking processes that Gunther Von Hagens developed to create these permanent pieces of body art are incredible. It takes many months to transform one body into the permanent sculptures via the process of plastination. The exhibition doesn’t just consist of full body sculptures.... (right and below)

Opinion was divided over this one...

This rugby-based sculpture was a sure fire winner for New Zealand

....it also has smaller pieces to display the functions of different organs of the body, for example the central nervous system (left) or the blood vessels in the face (below). 

We spent about an hour and a half perusing the exhibits. I’d thoroughly recommend taking a look when the tour comes to a place near you.

A dusk view of the City from the end of the Hilton Wharf

 

Monday 18^th – Collecting my visa

I was in no urgent rush to get into Auckland, so I opted to try out the train service. It didn’t leave me feeling super confident with Auckland Transport! There had been some works on the Pukekohe line over the weekend which had run over, making the timetable more of a guesstimate. Even the employee waiting to drive our train wasn’t sure when it was due!  I was just about to give up when a train arrived and I hopped on. Maybe it would have been quicker to drive, take a look at this video of a section of the journey:

But the trains were clean at least and eventually I made it into the City.  From there it was roughly a ten-minute walk to Immigration where I joined the queue with a coffee and my kindle in hand to kill some time.  It was straight forward collecting my passport with my beautiful shiny blue work visa inside it – I can stay until November 2020 now and there’s nothing that New Zealand can do about it!

I celebrated with some sushi for lunch before going for a brief wander by the harbour:

Auckland Ferry Building

Look at the size of the Pacific Jewel....

Then it was time to start the return journey. It took me over five hours to do the round trip but at least I could relax on the train instead of stressing in traffic queues! I’ve invested in an Auckland Transit Hop card, so we get cheaper fares making better financial sense than driving.

So, we were finally there.  Both of us legal New Zealand visa holders after nearly three months in the Country. In the evening Simon wrote a resignation email to Essex Police and it was time to go public.  We both got on Facebook and started contacting friends that we had been avoiding for so long.

Tuesday 19^th June – A full day’s volunteering

To try and save fuel, I had suggested to the SPCA that I could do my afternoon’s volunteering on the same day as I work at Bird rescue, seeing as I have to drive back almost right past them on my way home anyway. So, today I tried it for the first time.  It was a long day hitting rush hour BOTH ways, setting off at 630am and not getting home again until 630 in the evening. After an early morning and some physical exertion at the rescue centre, I wasn’t feeling very with it for an afternoon in the call centre, but I’m not sure that anyone noticed!

Today was the first group game for England at the World Cup. Having gone one nil up against Tunisia in the first half we didn’t manage to build on it and let them equalise. As added time ebbed away, we got a lucky last-gasp goal to beat them 2-1. England never make it easy for their fans, do they?!