Northern Exposure (NZ)

We arrived in NZ’s capital of Wellington, which definitely lived up to it’s nickname of the windy city, and shopping was on the agenda – much to Steve’s dismay! Still, armed with the excuse of buying presents for forthcoming relative and friends visits, Ali wasted no time in tracking down NZ’s answer to Harrods and Sloane Street (Kirkaldie & Staines and Lambton Quay) … oh the good ole days!

Amazingly, she did manage to concentrate on the task at hand and there were no new shoes surreptitiously creeping into the shopping basket – honest guv!

Finally dragged away from the shops, Ali pouted while we headed to Napier via Cape Palliser – the Southernmost point of the North Island and home to a colony of Fur Seals that you can almost touch on the beach (in fact you probably can but we were too scared!).

Napier is a beautiful town in Hawkes Bay that is famed for its Art Deco architecture. Following an earthquake in 1931, the whole town was rebuilt and has pretty much been maintained. It’s a lovely place with a unique atmosphere, so laid back and very arty – we could’ve stayed there for the rest of our trip! However, the power of the open road was too much …

Eeeugh – was that you Steve?!?!
After stopping for lunch at Lake Taupo, we smelt our next destination long before we arrived. Rotorua, nicknamed ‘Sulphur City’, has the most energetic thermal activity in the country with lots of steaming vents, bubbling mud pools, gurgling hot springs, gushing geysers and one of the worst eggy smells we’ve ever encountered! The area itself is beautiful, with serene lakes, pretty springs and powerful waterfalls intertwined with eerie thermal areas. That said, Hell’s Gate certainly lived up to its name – it was very possible to imagine that as the final destination for many a nasty person! In fact the infamous atheist George Bernard Shaw said of it "I wish I had never seen the place, it reminds me too vividly of the fate theologians have promised me…"

The lap of luxury
A little further and we arrived at Lake Rotoiti where we had been invited to stay with Steve’s Aunt and Uncle, Joan and Graeme, at their ‘Bach’ – a New Zealand holiday home - which was a lovely place with amazing views of the lake. Our hosts thoroughly spoilt us with their hospitality: beautiful home cooked meals; free-flowing wine; boat trips across the lake; hot spring soaks; wood burning fires; etc, and it was a struggle getting Ali back into the campervan (and Steve back into his jeans after all the nice food!).

A walk on the wild side
After leaving behind our all to brief life of luxury, we headed out to the Tongariro National Park and Whakapapa Village (via Lake Taupo for lunch - such a beautiful spot we had to do it twice!). Stopping off to explore the barren Craters of the Moon and the spectacular Huka Falls along the way, we arrived at Whakapapa early in order to get lots of sleep in preparation of our day ahead …… often referred to as the best walk in New Zealand, the Tongariro Crossing is a 7-8 hour, 17km trek (or tramp as it’s called here) through the National Park. A little apprehensive as the weather can change in an instant, we set off at 8am armed with enough food and water to last a week, layer upon layer of t-shirts, fleeces and rain coats, and a couple of pairs of well rested legs. It was brilliant - climbing through snow covered terrain up to 1,900m, we got to explore the Soda Springs and South Crater; see the Red Crater; lunch by the Emerald Lakes; witness the amazing sights of the volcanic peaks of Mts Ngauruhoe (Mordor’s Mt Doom), Ruapeho and Tongariro; and walk through cones, lava flows and glacial valleys.

We also impressed ourselves with our agility - finishing in 7 hours perhaps we’re not as unfit as we thought ... does this qualify us as ‘professional tramps’ we wonder?!?!

Into the Abyss
In fact, enamoured with mountains, volcanic terrain and out-of-this-world atmospheres, we took the long way to Waitomo via the ‘Volcanic Loop’, ‘Desert Road’, ‘Forgotten World Highway’ and ‘Mt Taranaki’ – making a relatively short journey last all day!

Waitomo, which comes from the Mauri words Wai (water) and Tomo (hole), is an appropriate name with more than 300 mapped caves in the area. Full of streams, waterfalls and glowworms, the caves have long been a tourist attraction, but in true Kiwi fashion visits to them have become more and more daring … and in true Travelling Percival fashion we of course had to take advantage of this! Signing up for the Black Water Rafting Company’s ‘Black Labyrinth’ adventure, it was ‘light’s out' as we climbed into the Earth’s underground to weave, jump and float our way through the glowworm lit Ruakari Cave. It was fantastic – with streams spilling and twisting to make the underground river canyon, we jumped off waterfalls before being carried down dark rocky chutes and slides through vaulted limestone. Eventually we emerged into the Waitomo Forest, much to the shock of some passing Japanese tourists who weren’t quite expecting to see 12 drenched figures climb out of a cave between the trees!

Unfortunately, as you will see from the photos, our guides ‘forgot’ to take photos of our group so we’ve had to improvise using a pic from their website!

What’s the Mata(mata)?
Intrigued by the thought of visiting the home of the Hobbit, our next stop was Matamata – recently renamed Hobbiton. However, we decided against actually going to the site after discovering that they wanted $100 for a tour, despite the fact that the set has been dismantled. Steve was less than impressed – that’s what was the Mata(mata)!!!

From Rags to Riches!
After our disappointment at Matamata, we lunched at the charming town of Mt Maunganui before heading to Auckland to drop off our campervan and begin the next stage of our Kiwi adventure. Kindly invited to stay with Joan and Graeme at their Auckland home, a beautifully grand house in Remuera set in the most amazing grounds, we both felt like we’d died and gone to heaven! After weeks of sleeping in a campervan and using campsite facilities it was difficult to adjust to such luxury … it took at least 10 minutes to settle in!

Admiring the view, we dined on the verandah most days whilst sipping wine and chatting to our gracious hosts. Once again, Joan and Graeme took us under their wing and thoroughly looked after us, ensuring our every need was met, it’s definitely difficult to leave ;-(

In between sightseeing and (more!) shopping, we also managed to catch up with Steve’s cousins and their families at a wonderful family dinner that Joan had kindly organised, as well as at their respective houses for dinner. We have been so well fed we'll be on strict diets for the rest of our trip!!!

In fact Auckland was all about catching up and it was great to see Karen, a University friend of Steve’s, at the Villager for dinner. It was such a shame we didn’t have some more time though as the reminiscing and funny stories were only just starting when the bar called time!

A whale of a time!
Not content with totally spoiling us at Lake Rotoiti and in Auckland, Joan and Graeme had also organised a wedding pressie for us – a stay at the awesome Duke of Marlborough Hotel in the historic Russell. Russell, the original capital (and formally a magnet for rough elements like convicts, whalers, prostitutes, and drunken sailors) was very pretty with cafes, gift shops and a waterfront of colonial buildings – very romantic and a perfect place to relax and unwind after our trolley dash tour of New Zealand!

The Bay of Islands was beautiful as well, we took a ‘Cream’ boat cruise through turquoise and deep blue waters to visit dozens of coves, islands and rock formations. The highlight of the day however was watching a pod of Bottle Nose Dolphins frolic in the wake of our boat – until we spotted the Killer Whales that is! What a treat, they are pretty rare here at this time of year and we got to see a dozen or so mothers and calves – one of which was so new it still had the price tag on!

And finally
With some of the North Island’s best beaches and coastal scenery, we couldn’t leave without visiting the Coromandel Peninsular – not least as we needed to fit in just one last road trip, our last in a few months! We embarked on a whirlwind tour, taking in Colville – a lovely little hippie town with 1 café, 1 (organic) shop and a Buddhist retreat; Coromandel Town - a chilled out place famous for its mussels (yum!); Whitianga – a cool place with lots of lovely restaurants, bars and shops; Lonely Bay (awww) – a beautiful cove only accessible via boat or from Shakespeare’s Cliff; Cathedral Cove – amazing rock formations at the end of a pretty 45 minute walk; and Hot Beach – where if you catch the tide at the right time you can dig your own hot spring on the beach (unfortunately we didn’t and couldn’t!). This was definitely a fitting end to our road trips – a great place that we look forward to coming back to some day.

Kiaora Koe
A very, very big thank you to Joan and Graeme for your extreme generosity – you have both made our trip extra special and given us lots of fond memories to take with us. We’ll miss you both and very much hope to visit you at No. 20 again – it is such a fabulous place.

Thanks also to Joe and Charlotte, Rachel and Adrian, and Karen for your hospitality – it was lovely to catch up with/meet all of you and we very much hope to see you all again soon.