New Zealand: The Fellowship of the Steve

We were both excited about travelling to New Zealand. Steve had lived in Auckland for two years and couldn´t wait to see old friends and visit favourite haunts. I, on the other hand, had never been to New Zealand before but had heard so many great things about it from those who had. I'd been enticed, like so many others, by the promise of landscapes from Lord of the Rings - I couldn't wait to explore Middle Earth!

Thankfully, we weren't greeted by a great army of orcs as we got off the plane, but we did have to do battle with the very thorough customs guards! I say 'do battle',what I actually mean is that they politely asked if I had anything in my bag that I shouldn't. My trouble is, that although I knew I didn't, I always feel guilty under questioning and for some reason answered, 'I don't think so.' This led to me opening my backpack and the security guard searching it maticulously. Gratefully, satisfied that I was just awkward rather than suspicious, he stopped before the full body search.

Outside the gate we were met by Steve's good friend, Sam. Sam had lived and worked with Steve for the two years he was in New Zealand, so I think we immediately had a mutual appreciation for each other's ability to put up with my cousin! It was great to see the two of them catching up.

We spent the evening in downtown Auckland meeting various old friends and enjoying local food and drink. It was a little overwhelming to be introduced to so many new people in one night, but it was also clear to see why Steve had enjoyed his time in New Zealand so much.

Our night ended in slightly comical fashion as Regina (Sam's lovely girlfriend) kindly offered us a lift home only to find that Sam's 'classic' 4x4 had a flat battery. Being men, we were sure that we could fix this problem and assumed the hand on chin/blowing out cheeks position that is expected of us when we are looking under the bonnet and 'sorting' car problems.

Steve was soon behind the wheel and pressing buttons and other technical stuff, but unfortunately, despite getting close to starting the engine a few times, all he succeeded in doing was switching the squeaky windscreen wipers on. Much to the amusement of us, the unhelpful crowd on the back seat, who giggled like school girls at his efforts.

Reggie had promised to cook us her Brazilian speciality 'cheesy peas' for breakfast the next morning, but as I'd slept in and she had gone to work at the gym, I had missed my chance! Instead, as Steve and Sam went to fetch the classic 4x4 from the impound where it had been towed, I got ready for something even more exciting than cheesy peas (hard to believe, I know!) - Sam, Steve and I were heading to Sam's second home on the Coromandel for a boys week!

Now, when I was about ten I designed my dream home and then submitted my ideas to my Mum and Dad. Kevin McCloud would've been proud of my architectural drawings - they included, amongst other things, a go-kart track and a water slide that left directly from my bedroom. Unfortunately, my parents didn't take the plunge and decided to redecorate the living room instead. Disappointing. Since then, the design of my perfect home might have changed a little (although I'd still love the go-karts and the water slide) but I love visiting interesting houses and seeing how people have made their own dream homes become a reality. Going to Sam's place was one such opportunity.

The drive there already offered the opportunity to marvel at rolling green hills, but they became more and more dramatic as we got towards the Coromandel, a peninsula that juts up from the top of North island. Once we had passed through the town of Thames, the narrow ribon of Tarmac hugged the shoreline as it weaved around giant green hills.

Sam's house lay a few miles north of a little settling called Coleville. We stopped there briefly to pick up some supplies before making the epic journey down Sam's driveway to his house. The driveway wasn't your average driveway - it wasn't nicely paved or shingled with plant pots lining the side, instead it was six kilometres of dirt track winding its way through dense New Zealand forest.

As we drove along the bone shaking road, I wondered whether the original owners had done it to deter anybody delivering junk mail, however, the reason for the long drive soon became apparent once we reached a clearing in the trees. A secluded piece of land, off the grid and far from the stresses of modern life and with the most incredible view. It was Sam's own slice of paradise.

We had an incredible week up there. Every morning I woke up to the sun rising over the bay (like the photo above). We went sea fishing, shooting and quad biking; visited the beaches and managed to squeeze in a few barbecues. To pay our way, Steve and I helped Sam out with a few jobs - his rather large lawn needed mowing and we even found time to chop down a few trees for the woodstove.

Throughout the week we were accompanied by Sam's loyal canine  companions, Bob and Ito...

In fact, there were only a few occasions when the two adorable muts weren't glued to Sam's heel - one was fishing, where Steve and Sam managed to catch enough fish for a good meal. I was on another boat with Sam's friend and, although I caught the first fish, most of specimens I pulled on board were too small to keep. Actually, I'm pretty sure that I caught the same fish about twelve times! Thankfully, Steve faired a lot better and he even caught a kingfish at one point.

The other activity Bob and Ito weren't with us for was our quad bike journey along the goat trails of an imposing hill called White Star. Our journey began with a painful drag up through the gorse bushes around Sam's house - I think scratches outnumbered hairs on my legs by the time we'd reached the more open ground.

Having had very limited time on a quad, I let Steve drive whilst I clung on for dear life and ducked every now and again to avoid low branches. However, once we came to a field nearer the top of the hill Steve said I should have a go, so on I jumped. The field wasn't flat and some of its undulations were hidden underneath long grass - but Steve and Sam said that I needed to keep speed up to get over them. So as I was faced with a bump just before the summit, I did as Steve instructed and pulled the throttle. Subsequently, we found ourselves staring at blue skies as the quad left the ground and tipped so far back it was almost vertical! After trying one more time, I decided I'd hope off and let Steve find a safer route!

We did eventually make it to the other side, but only after another scary moment when the quad became stuck on a small tree stump. This wouldn't have been too much of a problem had we not been on a narrow goat path next to a large drop! In the end Steve did a great job and managed to hold the quad in one place whilst Sam and I helped pull it over the obstacle. The rest of the trip was less harrowing and the views from the top were worth every scratch and near death experience!

The night before we returned to Auckland, as we watched the sun set over the Pacific with a glass of something red, I realised that all the hype about New Zealand was right. 

I was going to enjoy the next few weeks!