Waipu - the Scotland of New Zealand

Earlier this week, Joe and I took a short drive to the small town of Waipu for some culture, coffee, and caves! Waipu has all of these things, and is a New Zealand town that prides itself on its Scottish heritage.

The 55 minute drive to Waipu was made slightly longer as we were forced to stop in awe of the ever changing landscape. Rolling green hills, sea, and mountains could all be seen in one view, and it was so spectacular that we had to stop at the side of the road and snap a picture.

View from the highway

In the 1850s, five shiploads of scottish clans from the highlands arrived in Waipu, led by Rev Norman McLeod - and keeping up with scottish tradition, the town now hosts the annual highlands games every New Years Day.

As hungry travellers, we stopped for lunch at "Logan Maclean", a cafe on the main street serving sandwiches, pastries, and of course a full scottish breakfast aptly named "The Full Kilt". Unfortunately missing black pudding, but was an enjoyable meal nonetheless.

Opposite the cafe is the Waipu Museum; documenting the history of the town and the story of its Scottish migrants. 

The caves first sanction

So, thats pretty much the whole town if we're not including the small supermarket and dairy. But much of this towns adventure and intrigue lies just outside, in the Waipu caves. These were our main reason for the trip, as they came as a recommendation from a colleague as a free and lesser known alternative to the widely popular (but expensive to visit) Waitomo caves south of Auckland.

Crawl under here to continue? Yes/No

The Waipu caves consist of three main sanctions, glowworms being present in their thousands mostly in the third. This is something neither Joe or I have experienced before - not caves, nor glowworms - so it was completely thrilling to see. Walking in the caves is completely unguided, unlike some other caves in the country, and these three main sanctions are relatively easy to navigate on your own (with the help of a torch and some good footwear) though it does become pitch black and you WILL need to walk in water at least at ankle depth. Stalagmites and stalagtites fill the caves interiors, and they also harbour many fossils and ancient reptile remains. Past the 3 main sanctions, much MUCH more of the cave can be explored by crawling under a very low ceiling, emerging into chest-high water, with space opening up on the other side. Having my camera with me at the time, I wasn't prepared to go so far in such deep water, but we will definitely be going back there to venture on further at a later date (and with better torches).

The caves first sanction

Around the caves are very pleasant walking tracks through woods and fields, with giant boulders, hills and ditches to make you feel like you're right on set in a Lord of the Rings film. After visiting the caves, we checked out the Piroa Falls on our way back to Warkworth. There was such pleasant sunshine on this day, that really made the falls look even more spectacular after last week's rain. From the carpark, its a short walk down to the bottom of the falls, where we were greeted by a family enjoying a swim in the pools beneath. The water must have been a little cold, as it is now autumn, but they looked like they were having fun sliding down the rocks in their rubber rings.

Piroa Falls

Gimli (the new van) brought us back to warkworth, wet and muddy from exploring the Waipu caves, but pleased to have explored such a wonderful region.

The Matakana Coast Wine Country - Why this region is a MUST see

For almost 2 months we've been living in a small town called Warkworth, which is located about a 40 minute drive north of Auckland. Before we arrived, I'd never heard of this town, but now I'm going to tell you why it is SO worth visiting.

Warkworth wharf on the river

We don't tired of a swim in the pool after work every day!

We originally found the place through a job ad online - cleaner/receptionist wanted to work part time in return for a weekly wage and a room in a beautiful motel, The Warkworth Lodge. The lodge has pool, spa, and charming living areas. Their company, Matakana Tours offers wine tasting and tours of the local vineyards, as well as limousine hire for parties, events and people with too much money who need a ride from Auckland terminal 1 to terminal 2 (actual request!). This job was a great opportunity, and to earn a bit more money on top of that, Joe and I both went into town to find an additional job. Having worked previously at Park Cameras in the UK, I thought I'd try my luck and walked into the town's small camera shop, asked for a job, and was told to start tomorrow. I've been working on their website (check it out here to see how sexy I've made it), as well as serving customers and printing on the mini lab. Now we're more than a month on, and I don't want to leave!

Bethany and I showing off canvases (image stolen from their website)

The stretch of coastline that homes the towns surrounding Warkworth is the Matakana Coast Wine Country; named so after Matakana, it's central town, and the numerous vineyards in the area. If wine is your thing, this is definitely the place to go. As well as wine, the region has a number or micro breweries producing exquisite beers, ales and ciders. Tahi Bar is a local pub in Warkworth serving only locally brewed drinks. They also have jolly staff and a great atmosphere!

Having a beer in the Rusty Pelican, Matakana

 Now, I haven't been everywhere (as much as I'd like to), but I'm pretty sure this town is the friendliest place in the world. The welcoming attitude and hospitality of every person I've met has been overwhelming. The community feel is unlike any I've experienced anywhere else.

Feijoas given to me by a customer

I've seen it in almost every instance - shop owners going out of their way for customers; locals welcoming visitors and foreigners as their own; a customer at work gave me a bag of feijoas* that she had grown herself because she knew I'd never seen them before. Joe and I even ended up booking a horse riding tour in the carpark of the supermarket after seeing the company vehicle. The guy was extremely friendly, and even picked us up from our accommodation and dropped us back after at no charge, giving us the scenic route to allow us to see the absolutely monstrous Kauri tree outside the Warkworth museum (800+ years old, standing at about 40m high!)

Here's Joe standing next to a massive Kauri tree... can you see him?

The horse riding tour was outstanding! It was a birthday present to Joe from his aunty back in England, who loves horses. The company, Horse Riding Warkworth, were fun, professional and accommodating. Neither of us had ridden horses before, but that wasn't a problem - we were trotting in no time. The hour tour took us through some beautiful countryside, up hills and through woods, and for a second I really thought I was a character in the hobbit (not just because I'm small).

Joe and I on horseback

The best view

As well as awesome people, this region has so much to offer! Knowing that Joe and I work 7 days a week and don't yet have a car, my boss at The Camera Shop offered to take us on a drive one saturday evening. And in that one evening I got to see pretty much the whole region, tasted the fine delicacies (fush and chups) and drank at numerous watering holes (too many that night, if I'm honest!). He gave me a polaroid camera and unlimited film to document our adventure.

Polaroid Snaptouch and pictures of the evening

The drive started with a bottle of feijoa wine in the backseat of the car (I felt like a proper celebrity being chauffered around), and we visited nearby areas of Leigh, Omaha, Snells Beach and Goat Island marine park.

Omaha Beach

Goat Island

Goat Island

The quaint town of Matakana is not to be missed either, with plentiful shops, bars, restaurants, a cinema, and apparently - killer eels (I saw a sign for them, but never actually found the eels. Much disappointment). The cinema, where Joe and I went to see Kong, has 2 large screens. We had one to ourselves on this occassion and it was quite possibly the fanciest cinema I've ever seen, with a large chandelier on the ceiling!

Snapped a sneaky picture before the film started!

So, it's been a relaxing few weeks soaking up the chilled out atmosphere of this region, and we're learning to appreciate just how beautiful the landscape is and how awesome the people are in this country. For the last few days we've been looking at getting a car or van, so lots more adventuring to come and I'll keep you updated!

* Feijoas - a fruit native to south America and widely grown in New Zealand. They have a gooey and slightly gritty consistency, but a sweet, delicious taste.

How to speak Kiwi

Following on from "British to Australian dictionary" - a blog post I did around this time last year, I've now been living in New Zealand for a month and a half, and have definitely noticed some differences between British English, Aussie English, and Kiwi English, and the accent! My list doesn't include Maori, which is a completely different language that is still widely used in New Zealand - as I haven't got round to learning it yet.

Choice - Good/Nice one
Eh - (Ay) Used at the end of pretty much every sentence
Sweet as - Cool
Chur - Thanks
She'll be right - It'll be OK
Heaps - Loads
Wop-wops - Middle of nowhere
All Blacks - The only sports team that matters, the NZ rugby team
Jandals - Flip flops
Togs - Swimming costume
Chilly bin - Cooler box
Hokey-pokey - A popular and tasty ice cream flavour
Electric jug - Kettle
Kumara - Sweet potato
Tramping - Hiking
Dairy - Convenience store
Skull - To down a drink
Bogan - Chav/White trash
Pom - British person
Op shop - Charity shop
Smoko - Work break
Capsicum - Pepper
Manchester - Bed linen
Fush and Chups - Fish and Chips
Seven - Seevin
Yeah - Year

If, like I was before I got here, you are naive and not used to Aussie or Kiwi, you may think the accents and dialogue are pretty much the same. I've come to learn this is definitely not the case. Mostly with the differences in words, New Zealanders more often take the British form, and Aussies just make something up completely. Examples:

Duvet (in NZ) - Doona (in Aus)
Aubergine (in NZ) - Eggplant (in Aus)

Like the last few on my list, the New Zealand accent is very defined, and usually easier to make out different words than in Australia, where they tend to mumble all their words into one "sound". Having said that, it's not always easy to understand what that word is. Forming the accent is all in the harsh vowel sounds. Just imagine pretty much every vowel is an "i" or "ee"

Ten minutes = teen meenuts
Jindals = jandals

That's my quick guide on how to speak Kiwi. It's actually a beautiful accent to match their beautiful country!