Traveling New Zealand Part VII — July 30, 2024  through August 9, 2024 (subtitle:  The dragons to disasters tour of the North Island or “Honey, I found the tourists!”)

REPEAT WARNING:  Once again, this is not a sailing related entry. This, as well as future entires through April/May 2025, reflect our effort to capture our experiences while we explore Australia, New Zealand and other places in the southern hemisphere across the world from the country we call home by land with some air travel assists. We are metaphorically putting our memories in a bottle to savor on some future date. If you are not interested in reading an amateur attempt to document travel experiences you may wish to skip these entries. No offense will be taken.  You were warned!

After 4 amazing — albeit unplanned — months in New Zealand, we arrived back “home” to Che Figata on August 9.  When we left off in our last blog entry we had just arrive to the North island from the South Island via the ferry.  That was on July 29.  Unfortunately, with our visas set to expire in just a few weeks, we had only a short period of time to explore the North island.  Though we have no complaints about our extended time in the South Island, we couldn’t leave any earlier than we did because we had to wait for Jill’s final check up and X-ray at Timaru Hospital.  That meant that we only had 11 days to explore the North island and lots of ground to cover.

The ferry from the South Island arrives in Wellington, the Capital of New Zealand, so we started our visit there.  Because we tend to be more interested in small towns and countryside vs. cities, we only planned 2 nights in Wellington.  That gave us only one full day to explore the city.  Our short, one day, visit was a rainy and cold one with the heavy winds that Wellington is famous for.  That pretty much dictated that we would look for indoor activities.  (Yes, we are getting very soft after the extended absence from our sailing life where we are quite used to being out in the elements!)  The good news is that there were several great indoor options.  We started our day with a tour of the WETA Workshop and Studio.  WETA, founded by husband and wife team Richard Taylor and Tania Rodger, is an Academy Award winning creative design and practical effects company.  They produce props, elaborate costumes, prototypes to assist digital animators (we saw dragons as well as a very large and real looking King Kong head) and prosthetics that transform actors into creatures, grotesque villains and robots.  You may be familiar with them because they partnered with Peter Jackson on the Lord of the Ring and Hobbit movies (hence they dragons) but they have provided costumes, props and prosthetics for may other movies, tv series, and experiences (e.g., theme parks).    Full list of their movie and TV credits can be found here: https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?companies=co0076091.  

The tour was great fun.  The guides are really storytellers more than guides and they share their first hand experiences with the Workshop (our guide was an aspiring horror film director so we got to hear some great stories about her work with the WETA founders) as well as behind the scenes stories about how props and prosthetics are made.  We particularly enjoyed learning about the process for creating prosthetics as we watched a film showing an actor getting his face covered in what looked like plaster — much like the process used by dentists when they take an impression of your mouth.  As you would imagine, the “impression” creates an inverse image of the actor’s facial contours.  Silicone is then poured into the mold to create an exact replica of the actor’s face which will fit over it like a hand over a glove.  From there the prosthetic artists build out the features of the creature they are creating.  The end result is a silicone mask the fits the actor’s face to a T.  Of course, once the prosthetic is created, it must be glued to the actor’s face and have makeup applied every day which can take hours.  Apparently, there was one prosthetic face that took 8 hours to apply so the actor had to get the prosthetic fitted in the late afternoon the day before filming and then sleep in an apparatus that suspended him forward horizontally well above any surface.  We gained a new appreciation for actors in movies like the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit that spend hours each day just getting in and out of their make-up, before and after a long shoot.  Those are often 16+ hour day.

Following our visit to the WETA Workshop, we visited the Te Papa Museum.  The Museum was established in 1992 and designed to explore and celebrate the national identity of New Zealand recognizing both the earliest settlers, the Māori (who arrive ~ 1,000 years ago), and the more recent immigrants from all over the world.  The centerpiece of the museum is a hanging supersized replica for the Treaty of Waitangi, a historic agreement between the indigenous Māori people and the British government that had come to be regarded as the nation’s founding constitutional document (though it remains the subject of enormous controversy).  This replica separates the museum into 2 halves — one focused on the Māori people and one focused on the later immigrants.  We spend most of our time in the Māori exhibit.  Having sailed across the Pacific Ocean and visited many of the places the Māoris traveled from we were fascinated by the astounding cultural similarities between the people living on the various islands.  We were also in awe of their grit and courage.  We found many of our ocean passages challenging due to the relentless waves.  While the occasional rogue wave hit us straight on, splashing down onto our dodger and  allowing small streams of water to enter our center cockpit, we were largely protected in our 30 ton bluewater cruiser with its full cockpit enclosure from weather and waves as well as from the dangers of the unsettled sea.  So protected that even in the worst weather we sailed 24/7 in t-shirts and shorts.  The Māoris traveled thousands of miles across often violent seas with little cover and certainly with none of the comforts we travel with like working toilets, hot showers, a fresh water supply and a fully functional galley.  When you see the actual boats that the Māori sailed across the Pacific on it really hits this point home.  No one should be impressed with our Pacific crossing!

We definitely could have spent another day in Wellington to do some outdoor exploring but the next day (August 31) we were off to the Hawke’s Bay Area, a lovely coastal region on the East Coast of the North Island.  This area is mostly famous for its fruitful vineyards and wineries. We only had 2 nights/1 full day planned in the area.  Having spent a lot of time exploring the wine country in the South Island (Central Otago and Marlborough), we opted to spend our one full day “going back in time” with a visit to the Art Deco-styled Napier.   Napier,  situated close to the epicenter of the devastating 1931 magnitude 7.8 earthquake, was leveled by quake and the resulting fires.  The earthquake killed at least 256 people and injured thousands and remains the deadliest natural disaster in New Zealand’s history.  The Napier museum has a wonderful exhibit about the earthquake featuring recorded first-person accounts of survivors (who were very young children at the time) and telling a story of a community’s determination to rebuild.  Since the town was totally destroyed by the earthquake and its aftermath, the residents decided to rebuild their town in the Art Deco style that was popular at the time and these structures all remain today.  The result is a city that is lovely to stroll, feels like a living museum and serves as a backdrop for frequent 1920s themed parties, jazz festivals and other events.  Today’s residents enjoy getting out their flapper finery and really need little excuse to do so.  If you forgot your 1920s clothes at home, no need to worry — there is no shortage of Napier shops that can help you out.  

We ended our day of exploration with a drive up to the Te Mata Peak.  Te Meta Peak, located in the center of the Hawke’s Bay region, is nearly 400 meters (~ 1,300 feet) above sea level and provides incredible 360-degree views of the area including views of the Ruahine, Kaweka and Maungaharuru mountain ranges.  (We posted a picture we took from this peak on our @sailingchefigata Instagram post about our North Island travels.) The added bonus is that near the top of the peak you pass a lovely cafe with a wood burning stove.  On a chilly day it was the perfect place to get a light mid-afternoon nibble and the staff could not have been lovelier.  They were very curious about these Americans visiting their home during the winter months.  (Incidentally, we found that to be a common theme throughout our tour of New Zealand as we were often the only tourists around.  Though that meant that some of the activities we wanted to experience were not operating, for the most part it gave us almost private access to New Zealand’s treasures.  More on that later.)  

Though we really enjoyed our visit to Napier and Te Mata Peak, the highlight of the day starter after dark.  That is when we sat down to a 5 course meal with a wine pairing specifically prepared for us at our beautiful accommodation, the Mangapapa Hotel.  We splurged on this dinner (though with the NZD to USD exchange rate it wasn’t too much of a splurge) because it was August 1 — the day of our 42nd wedding anniversary.  As readers of our blog may recall, we had an amazing private anniversary dinner last year at a tiny exclusive resort on Tonga that opened up just for us on one of the coldest, wettest, windiest days of our sail across the Pacific.  Though it was truly miserable outside and we arrived soaked to the bone after a harrowing dinghy ride, the proprietor and chef welcomed us warmly and treated us like celebrities, allowing us to forget all that.  The dining room was decorated with fresh flowers and we were served some of the most delicious and beautifully presented courses we had ever experienced.  We mention this because that night set a high bar.  While we can’t say our dinner at the Mangapapa quite replicated our anniversary dinner in Tonga — that was one of those once in a lifetime experiences — the Mangapapa chef got awfully close with the quality and presentation of the food and the fact that there was only one other couple dinning at the hotel that evening, making our meal feel very private.  We enjoyed our dinner in a lovely formal dining room with white tablecloths and heavy velvet curtains and retired with our last wine pairing — a very nice rosé champagne — to the drawing room where we slowly savored our bubbly in front of a cozy fire.  

The next day we were off to Rotorua which is situated on one of the world’s most famous volcano regions with a ton of active geothermal activity.  This creates an area filled with astonishing scenery that includes mountains, lakes, hot springs, natural hot mud baths and geysers as well as plumes of steam that shoot up in the air.  (A faint scent of sulphur floats through the air as a result of the hot springs.)  Rotorua is also known as a place alive with Maori culture due to the tribal communities that were built about the hot springs, taking advantage of the crystal clear hot water for their everyday activities.  As we often report, the drive from one location to the next is often half the adventure and the drive to Rotorua was no different.  In New Zealand they endeavor to disrupt the natural landscape as little as possible when connecting areas with roads so for much of the drive to Rotorua we felt like we were driving on a road that was little more than a notch carved into the hillside.  

We had 3 nights and 2 full days in Rotorua.  The drive from Hawke’s Bay to Rotorua was relatively short so we arrived early enough to sneak in one short activity.  We had just a small two hour window available to us before nightfall (remember, it’s winter in New Zealand) so we chose to visit the Redwood Treewalk.  Redwoods are not native to New Zealand.  In fact, the Redwoods in the forest we visited are California Redwoods.  They were planted in 1901 when the early European settlers were looking for fast growing wood they could use for timber.  Today they serve as the centerpiece of a half mile hike over 28 suspension bridges up to 65 feet above the ground.  The walk gave us a birds’ eye view of the forest floor and the treetops above.  Following the arial hike, we walked along one of paths on the forest floor.  Though the treetop trek was a little hokey we did enjoy the two different perspectives of the forest and it was a great way to learn this piece of history during the wee bit of daylight that remained. (You can see Captain Zack transversing one of these treacherous suspension bridges 😀 on our @sailingchefigata North Island Instagram post.)

For our first full day in Rotorua we chose to visit waimangu volcanic valley, the site of the fierce 1886 Mt Tarawera volcanic eruption.  We hiked three miles through the valley surrounded by mountains that towered above and passing hot springs and lakes — some so hot that they were literally boiling — as well as many fountains of steam.  Despite the hot temperature of the water, brilliantly colored microbes cloak the rocks creating a visual feast.  (We posted a few pictures of these vibrant microbes on our @sailingchefigata North Island Instagram post.  The colors pop so you can’t miss them! We also chose one picture as our feature photo for this post.)  At the end of our 3 mile trek we reached Lake Rotomahana where we boarded a small boat that took us around the lake, allowing us to better appreciate the impact of the 1886 eruption.  We learned that before the volcanic eruption, Lake Rotomahana (which was actually 2 smaller lakes at the time) was New Zealand’s original tourist destination because of the beautiful Pink and White Terraces that formed an expansive hardscape beach.  People would travel from all over the world to view and experience the Pink and White Terraces, enjoying picnic meals on the large flat ledges and swimming in the warm waters.  Naturally, hotels sprung up in nearby areas to accommodate the throngs of visitors.  Local Māori people living in the village of Te Wairoa, located about 9 miles to the east of Mt Tarawera, served as guides.  The 1886 eruption caused Lake Rotomahana to explode, changing its entire configuration, joining two separate lakes into one deep lake and covering the Pink and White Terraces underwater.  (Today, Lake Rotomahana is one of the deepest lakes in NZ’s North Island and is a protected as a wildlife refuge.)  Unfortunately, the Village of Te Wairoa was destroyed by the eruption (more on that below).

Our second full day we decided we wanted to learn more about the impact of the eruption as well as more about local Māori culture today.  With those goals in mind our first stop was The Buried Village of Te Wairoa.  This attraction is a museum and excavation site built around Te Wairoa which was a “model village” established by a Christian missionary in 1848 near the Pink and White Terraces.  Māoris and more recent immigrants lived together in the village that included all the merchant stores and services you would expect of a village in that era.  Famously, it also included a hotel frequented by visitors to the Pink and White Terraces.  Unfortunately, it only survived 40 years before it was buried under a blanket of mud 6 feet deep as a result of the Mt Tarawera eruption and the consequential explosion of Lake Rotomahana. The owners of the property did a wonderful job telling the story of life before and after the volcanic eruption, helping us to connect all the dots from our hike and guided cruise around the lake the day before.  It was fascinating to see the excavated remnants of this vibrant town, learning the stories of the people who lived there.  As with the Napier 1931 earthquake, there were inspiring stories of selfless acts of bravery that saved lives. The official death count from the village is about 150 but the actual death count is likely much greater because the count didn’t include anyone who was not given a formal name at birth — which was not uncommon among the Māoris. 

We ended our day within a visit to Whakarewarewa, a local living Māori village built around the area’s thermal activity.  The homes are all very small because they basically house bedrooms, a toilet and a dining/living area.  The hot springs that flow through the village serve as a large communal open air kitchen.  Using different springs, which are different temperatures, the Māoris leverage the mineral rich waters to either slow cook (think crock pot) or quickly cook their meals.  We got to taste corn on the cob cooked in one of the thermal pools and it was delicious.  The minerals in the water gave the corn the most delightful taste — no seasoning (not even salt) needed.  Time for a bath?  Water from the thermal pools is diverted into tubs built into the earth where members of the tribe bath together.  Men are required to avert their eyes as woman remove their robes and slide into the hot pool.  Our guide was lovely and responded to our many questions.  In response to one of them we learned that the number of residents in the village is dwindling.  With so much communal property in the village, many decisions an individual home owner would ordinarily be able to make on their own require full tribal approval.  Apparently, this can be more difficult (and political) than dealing with local municipalities.   Just one tribal member voting “no” can squash a request.  (You have to be very mindful of who you offend.)  In addition, even aside from the shared outdoor bathing facilities, the homes are quite close to one another creating that “living in a fishbowl” feeling.  

Though most of visit to Rotorua was focused on learning about the past, the crew members of SV Che Figata do have to eat and we would be remiss if we didn’t touch upon food scene in Rotorua since all three of our dinners there were among the best of our New Zealand journey.  We ate at El Mexicana Zapata, Atticus Finch and Momma Rosa.  All served freshly prepared creative healthy meals that were a nice change from standard dinner fare.  Jill was particularly thrilled because each restaurant had multiple, stellar, vegan options.  Like in the days of the Pink and White Terraces, Rotorua has become a very popular tourist spot in New Zealand.  Today’s tourism industry is built around the “curative” properties of the natural hot springs and mud pools.  Definitely, a “wellness” crowd.  Given the clientele attracted to that type of destination it is not surprising that the local restaurants cater to a those with a vegan diet.

After 2 full wonderful days we were off to Matakana.  But, before we got there, we had to stop in Hobbiton which is conveniently located one hour outside of Rotorua and right on the way to Matakana.  As the name suggests, Hobbiton was the set created for filming the outside scenes of the Hobbit village for the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit movies.  (Indoor shots took place in studio).  Interestingly, the first “Hobbiton” built was build like the typical film set meaning that it was not built to last and was dismantled following filming.  When Peter Jackson approached the farmer who owned the land about recreating Hobbiton for the next film the very smart farmer suggested that they build the Hobbit village to last so it could be used for future films and also be shared with the world.  (Clearly, no one had to tell this farmer that he hit the jackpot.)  At any rate, that’s what Peter Jackson did and the rest, as they say, is history.  Seven days a week, departing every 10 minutes from the Shire’s Rest Cafe, large coach buses carrying 40 guest, drive tourists to the Hobbiton set for a tour and to enjoy food and drink at the Dragon’s Inn.  The day we were there was no exception.  We couldn’t believe the number of tours, each filled to capacity with tourist — many having donned pointy ears and wearing period garb.  What we really wanted to know was where did they all come from?  After spending the last few months, during the heart of New Zealand’s winter, visiting some of the most beautiful places on this earth and seeing no one we couldn’t believe there were that many tourists visiting the country.  While the tour of Hobbiton was definitely entertaining and, dare we admit, not to be missed — seeing the detail that went into creating this imaginary world was truly awe inspiring and it is always fun to hear behind the scenes movie making stories — we did find it both sad and funny that, at least in New Zealand’s winter months, Hobbiton was the New Zealand attraction most tourists had come to see.  So much for natural wonders and, yes, “Honey I found the tourists.”  (We posted a picture of Bilbo Baggins’ quaint cottage built into the earth on our @sailingchefigata North Island Instagram post.  For one of us (who started reading Tolkien’s work at age 12 and has been re-reading his books ever since), the visit was almost a religious experience.  Some of you might know who that is.) 

At this point in our blog post you are probably beginning to understand why, with our visits to the WETA Workshop, Hobbiton, Napier (home of the 1831 earthquake) and Rotorua (site of the 1886 volcanic erruption) we dubbed our trip around the North Island our Dragons to Disaaster tour.  We changed that with our final destination, Matakana.  Like Hawkes Bay, Matakana, just one hour north of Auckland, is popular among both locals and tourists for its food and wine scene.  It also happens to be situated, however, on the the base of the stunning untouched Tawharanui Peninsula.  We had 3 nights and 2 full days in the area which gave us a wonderful last immersion into New Zealand’s coastal beauty before we headed back to Brisbane.  

Our cottage, The Ka Ka Ridge Retreat, was located on the north shore of the Tawharanui Peninsula, close to the Tawharanui Regional Park and Marine Reserve.  We started our first full day with a trip into the village of Matakana to get our now daily Soy Latte and Americano fix.  While there we took the opportunity to meander through the locally owned shops and galleries.  The stores were all lovely and the town was just large enough to make our visit interesting without crossing over into the boredom that hits us when we reach our “local shop” saturation level.  Following our brief self-guided tour of the town we headed to Tawharanui Regional Park where we hiked the 3 mile Ecology Loop Walk.  The walk started along a gorgeous beach with large boulders jutting out from the shoreline and dense foliage at the edge of the sand and, eventually, headed up through sheep and cattle pastures (providing spectacular elevated coastal views of the peninsula) and back down through a dense forest where we walked along a river.  This was our kind of hike — one that gave us the opportunity to experience diverse landscape including the seashore, coastal wilderness, pasture and native bush, streams and regenerating wetlands. Almost like 4 hikes in one!  (We posted a few pictures from this hike on our @sailingchefigata North Island Instagram post). 

The next day we were off to the Sculptureum, an indoor/outdoor art museum that houses the private collection of its owner.  The goal is the Sculptureum is to demonstrate that art can take many different — as in hundreds — of forms utilizing many different materials (e.g., wood, resin, plastic, paper, metal, glass, clay, machine parts, sewing machine parts, cable ties, etc.) to creat fun, interesting and thought provoking pieces.  We would say that the museum definitely achieved its goal with a myriad of art forms created from non traditional materials on display.  For example, one of the works on display is a portrait of the actor Marlon Brando made from chewing gum. Another is a portrait of Steve Jobs that’s made of 9 layers of metal.  The minute you see both of these pieces there is no doubt who are you looking it.  They were both incredible.  

We concluded our day with the “piece de la resistance” of our North island experience!  We booked an evening Kiwi Tour with Kiwiness Tours.  Though it was supposed to be a group tour, as has often occurred during our wintertime stay, we were on a group tour of two.  (Otherwise known as a private tour at group prices!)  As the name suggests, this tour was all about seeing the nocturnal Kiwi out in nature.  Our guides picked us up a 5 PM and drove us to the Tawharanui Open Sanctuary which, coincidentally, was part of the Ecology Walk on the Tawharanui Peninsula we did the day before.  We were thrilled to explore the path at night when we knew it would take on an entirely different personality of sights and sounds.  Thanks to the geography of the Tawharanui Peninsula, conservationists were able to construct a coast to coast 1.5 mile predator exclusion fence which has rendered the Tawharanui Open Sanctuary largely predator free.  (A few stoats occasionally breach the fence but are held at bay with traps.)  The habitat on the peninsula is perfect for Kiwi and other native New Zealand birds such as the Kereru (the very large and beautiful endemic New Zealand Pigeon) and the Native Owl (the Morepork named after the sound its call seems to make).  We started our tour at dusk at the hut located at the start of the trail which provided information about the birds that live there along with colored photographs.  Once it was dark our guide gave us red flashlights and we were off listening for bird calls and rustling in the woods that would indicate the presence of Kiwi or other native birds.  We started our tour on an auspicious note spotting two Moreporks.  This was a male and female pair of these small brown owls that mate for life.  As we continued our walk our guide was able to identify the distinct calls of male and female kiwis (their calls are decidedly different) and we heard the faints sounds of scratching that indicate a kiwi scavenging for food with their long and narrow beak.  It was such a tease because we could hear them all around us but did not see them — that is until near the end of the hike when we spotted a male kiwi resting in a tuft of tall grass on top of a low hill to our immediate right.  As if he was paid on commission by the tour guide, that kiwi decided to get up as we stood there, running down the hill and across the road right in front of us.  We could not have had a better front row seat.  It was a magical end to the evening that we didn’t want to end!

But it did end and that not only signaled the end of a wonderful tour but also the end of our North Island adventure and our extended stay in New Zealand.  Our next day we were headed to Auckland to spend one day with our friends Kristin and Rupp (SV Rumpus) there before flying out the next morning for Brisbane.  Kristin and Rupp made our last day in the North Island very bitter sweet.  It was so lovely to see them and, for a few hours, they allowed us to forget that we were leaving the next day.  We met them at their house right in the city of Auckland and, after catching up a bit, we headed off to the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron where we ate lunch, viewed the Americas Cup and, naturally, bought some swag.  After that, Rupp and Kristin took us to Mt Eden where we walked up to the summit and saw the Mt Eden and Rangitoto Island craters and had an awesome view of the Auckland City skyline.   (We posted a picture of the beautiful skyline on our @sailingchefigata North Island Instagram post).  While on Mt Eden, Kristin mentioned that one of her friends who is a volcanologist once said to her “I don’t know why anyone would ever want to live in Auckland.” We thought that was a very fitting comment given that, as you now know, we have affectionately named our tour of the North island our Dragons to Disaster tour.  Following the Mt Eden visit Rupp dropped us off at the Martine Museum (unfortunately, he had to do a bit of work) and we enjoyed a quick stroll around the exhibits learning about the early Māori explorers, the ocean crossings of more recent immigrants in the 1880s (there was a wonderful exhibit that recreated the sleeping quarters on a typical ship) and the harsh and isolated lives of New Zealand’s lighthouse keepers.  It was a really lovely afternoon with wonderful people.  

We ended our day on another positive note.  The sister of our very good friend, Donna, lives in Wellington and when we knew we’d be visiting Wellington, we reached out to Sarah to see if we might get together.  Sarah, who is an accomplished makeup artist, informed us that she would be on location in Auckland for a movie shoot during our Wellington visit so we suggested that we meet in Auckland instead.  It worked our perfectly.  After spending the day with Kristin and Rupp we were able to meet Sarah for a late dinner.  We had a great time getting to know Sarah.  We swapped many stories — she learned about our sailing lives while she filled us in on her work as well as her life in New Zealand, generally, including her most recent project, building a house on property she and her husband purchased outside of Wellington.  Sarah has been in New Zealand for 20 years now having met her husband, Joe (a Kiwi), here through a movie project.  It turns out Joe is the lead Art Director at WETA Workshop.  Had we only known we could have had a VIP tour!  Oh well.   No surprise, Sarah is delightful and engaging as her sister Donna.  We could not think of a better way to spend our final night in New Zealand. 

We spent our last night in Auckland at the Naumi Auckland Airport hotel and left there early on August 9 to catch our 9:20 AM flight to Brisbane.  The morning and flight were, thankfully, uneventful and after getting our baggage, clearing customs and picking up our rental car we arrived back in Brisbane early afternoon.  Now comes the tedious task of unpacking from a 4 month trip and checking up on all the maintenance and repair work that was supposed to be performed while we were away.  No need to feel sorry for us though.  Our return visit will be brief.  We head to South Korea and Taiwan at the end of August and, in the interim, we plan to find time to visit some Aussie friends we met on our rally across the Pacific.  

We thought about closing this blog entry with reflections on our 4 months in New Zealand but, as we started to think about what we wanted to include, it began to feel like a long blog entry in and of itself.  We will simply say that our time in New Zealand was very special — not only for the incredible beauty of the country but the warmth of the people and the friendships we made and/or strengthened.  (The wonderful medical care Jill received — at no cost — from a great team of professionals gets a shout out too!) There is no doubt that we will return one day and we look forward to hosting our Kiwi friends in the States when we once again have a home there.  We will post our next blog entry as we wind up our short visit in Brisbane but, for now, kia ora.