We left you in Nelson on the South Island. From Nelson we took a bus to Picton. From Picton, then, we took the Interislander ferry to Wellington. The Interislander is a very comfortable 3-hour ferry ride through the beautiful Cook Strait.
on the Interislander ferry
Once in Wellington we were finally on the North Island. We had just one night in the city and what better way to enjoy our time than by eating? Matt and Aimee had recommended Aunty Mena's for some Malaysian and Chinese vegetarian cuisine where Jochem had mock lamb curry, I had mock chicken laksa, and we both missed South East Asia.
The next day we took an 11-hour bus from Wellington to Auckland. The next day, then, we finally picked up our JUCY CRIB campervan that would be our home for the next week. Unfortunately, we had a few troubles with our campervan. Twice the battery died and the AA had to come and fix it. Once the battery had to be replaced altogether by a new one. Finally, in one inexplicable moment, the windows refused to close. Several hours were lost and a few grey hairs were grown. Other than that, though, we had a blast driving around the North Island in our campervan.
our JUCY CRIB
From Auckland we quickly made our way to the Coromandel Peninsula ('quickly' being a generous term since we got lost twice and had to drive on a long gravel road through the Coromandel Range due to a deadly accident in the Kauaeranga Valley). We found a camping spot on Hot Water Beach Holiday Park, rented a spade and walked to Hot Water Beach.
Hot Water Beach
The basic idea is to dig a hole, wait for the hot water to ooze up, and to enjoy your personal spa pool. However, it's quite tricky to find a spot that is not too hot or too cold. In the end, though, we made it work.
Hot Water Beach
The next day, after an orgasmic breakfast at the Hot Waves Cafe, we drove to Rotorua where we ended our afternoon in the Government Gardens at the fabulous Polynesian Spa - a complex with 7 different spa pools overlooking Lake Rotorua.
Polynesian Spa
We set up camp outside Rotorua at the Lake Okareka Scenic Reserve. This campsite is managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC) and was therefore very cheap, but also lacking in any facilities other than toilets. But with views like these, that's easy to forget.
Lake Okareka Scenic Reserve
We cooked ourselves some dinner and poured ourselves some New Zealand wine - happy days!
Lake Okareka Scenic Reserve
The next day it was time to explore Rotorua, which is this wonderfully weird town, filled with a rotten egg aroma, steamy mud pools and erupting geysers. We went to the Whakarewarewa Thermal Village where Maori have been living for centuries. Not only can you witness Rotorua's famous geothermal attractions from this village, like the Pohotu and Prince of Wales Feathers' geysers, but you also get a look at traditional Maori life. We were given a tour of the village by the chief's son, we saw a Maori dance performance and ate corn on the cob that had been cooked in a hot mineral pool, a so-called hangi, where the Maori cook their vegetables. It was wonderful - the water somehow gives the corn a juicy, more corn-like, flavor that bursts in your mouth. You don't need butter or salt or pepper, but you just eat it as is. It was very educational and fun and a definite must-see should you ever be so lucky as to visit Rotorua.
Whakarewarewa Thermal Village
a tradional garment in Whakarewarewa
our cooked corn on the cob in Whakarewarewa
Our next stop on the agenda was Mamaku Blue. We had decided early that Napier, in the Hawke's Bay wine region, was really out of the way of everything else that we wanted to see, and that we would therefore skip its wineries. But when we heard about a blueberry winery near Rotorua, we couldn't resist a tasting.
Mamaku Blue
We then made our way to the Waikato river near Lake Taupo to visit the Huka Falls - a very impressive sight, as the Waikato river is literally slammed into a narrow chasm before dropping into a pool.
Huka Falls
We then camped for free at Reid's Farm Recreation Reserve on the Waikato river.
dinner in our little home
And, when you need a shower the next morning, you have no other option than to jump into the freezing river (Jochem did, I didn't - I used some boiled water instead).
Waikato River
Then we drove to the DOC campsite called Mangahuia in Tongariro National Park to prepare for the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. At first, I was afraid that this hike (or should I say 'tramp'?) would be too difficult for us amateur hikers, but, in the end, we decided that it would be ludicrous to pass this beautiful hike up with us being right there. It is said to be the best one-day hike in New Zealand, and it is indeed breathtaking, but it's not exactly an easy walk. The trail is 19,4 kilometers long, while I had never hiked more than 14 kilometers in one go, and the Dutch flat landscape does not exactly match the volcanic terrain in Tongariro National Park. It took us 8 hours, including stops, to finish it.
The part between Soda Springs, at the top of the Mangatepopo Valley, and the South Crater is called the Devil's Staircase and it is a climb that just goes on, and on, and on. In fact, you climb 340 meters to a height of 1660 meters. It took us 50 minutes of steep climbing to reach the South Crater.
The part between the South Crater and the Red Crater is not as long, but you still have to climb to the highest point on the trail at 1886 meters. Here it is cold and snow covers certain parts of the volcano. The wind is blowing at around 30 knots, which I have been told is not too bad, but it's still kind of scary because you're climbing up this crater with steep ravines on either side of you while you're trying to balance on loose rocks.
The absolute worst part, however, was the last leg between Ketetahi Hut and Ketetahi Car Park. This part of the trail is a 6.4-kilometer hike down the volcano and into the valley. Take a time to process this: you are walking DOWN for 6.4 kilometers - 2 hours worth of knee-breaking hiking time. Once we left the volcano we still had to hike through a forest that kept twisting and turning and just kept going, and going, and going. I almost cried when we finally reached the car park.
It was only yesterday that I met an elderly New Zealand man who told me that the Tongariro Alpine Crossing is really quite an easy walk for New Zealand standards. Go figure.
Mount Ngauruhoe, also known as Mount Doom from The Lord of the Rings, in Tongariro National Park
Red Crater in Tongariro National Park
Red Crater in Tongariro National Park
Emerald Lakes in Tongariro National Park
Needless to say, we were exhausted. We slept for 11 hours straight!
The next day we drove to the Waitomo Caves for a quiet boat tour through the Glowworm Cave. Glowworms are fascinating creatures - they hang in a kind of hammock suspended from the cave ceiling and lit their organs to attract food. It was quite magical to see - it was as if the stars were hiding in the caves as we silently floated underneath them. Sadly, though, we couldn't take any pictures so as not to upset the glowworms.
After a quiet evening at the Waitomo Holiday Park we took it slow the next day. We drove from the Waitomo Caves to Cambridge the next morning - a quaint little town where we had lunch at the very English Jubilee Gardens.
Jubilee Gardens in Cambridge
Driving through this area of New Zealand is nice because you are constantly surrounded by majestic hills and green valleys. I read that this is where Peter Jackson filmed his Shire scenes for The Lord of the Rings. We set up camp at Te Aroha Holiday Park and spent the afternoon walking around the Hot Springs Domain - Te Aroha means 'the love' and refers to the thermal waters of this region.
At night we watched two movies in our never-been-used-before DVD player - a perfect ending to our trip!
And now we're back in Auckland after having dropped off our campervan this afternoon.
I am getting a little bit weary of racing through this country, but we still have a couple of trips left. Tomorrow we take a bus to Paihia in the Bay of Islands where we hope to see Cape Reinga and Waipoua Kauri Forest, but hopefully we'll also get to take a day off, so to speak, to just do nothing. I know that it's a hard job, but somebody's got to do it.
Also, allow me to thank a couple of friends of mine for offering some really good tips that made our trip so wonderful:
* Matt and Aimee, for Aunty Mena's in Wellington and the Hot Waves Cafe in Hot Water Beach
* Ellen, for the Polynesian Spa in Rotorua
* and Derek, for Mount Ngauruhoe in Tongariro National Park
If you'd like to see more pictures of our world trip, check out our picture gallery here!
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