Back in Auckland for the third and final time on this trip and I was keen to say goodbye to the big smoke in the best way possible - a final visit to the QPR kebab shop on K’ Road - God I’ll miss this place!!
Having previously stayed in the city centre, we decided that we would spend our final night stay in the upmarket area of Ponsonby - a trendy suburb to the west of the city centre. After a final walk along the harbour, a quick glance back at the imposing Skytower and gazing at the imposing volcanic cones of Mount Eden and Rangitoto Island all helped to remind me why I felt this was a city I could stay in a lot longer. However the next week travelling down the spine of the North Island would remind me why I left London - let’s see some of Momma Nature’s finest creations!!
The Kiwi Experience tour so far had been a bit of a mishmash of busses with groups that were not our own but as you leave Auckland pretty much everyone on the bus is new so you start a new group from scratch. Twenty of us rocked out of Auckland and we had clearly got lucky as everyone in the group was really friendly and up for fun.
The trip started in a North Eastern direction towards the Coramandel Penninsula but only after a quick stop for a breakfast pie - Steve, our driver guide, assured us this was a tradition in NZ and a pie was more nutritiously beneficial than a bowl of cornflakes. Pretty sure this was the first of the many dubious facts he would tell us as we travelled around!
We stopped at Hot Water Beach where the sea is freezing cold but by digging into the sand you can jump into a pool of steaming hot water that will quickly warm you up. As the boys dug deep and the girls stood idly by (typical!) the water filled up from the thermally heated earth below and made a nice cosy place to sit and chat with our new group mates.
After a short walk to Cathedral Cove we jumped back on the bus and headed to Whitianga where we would stay the night. We spent the evening in the bar of the hostel playing Killer pool and darts - I did win one of the pool competitions (more a case of everyone else being not very good rather than me being brilliant!) but had to do press-ups for losing darts. Not the last punishment I’ll have to do on this trip!!!
The next morning we headed down to Rotorua - The Maori Cultural Capital of NZ and also the volcanic heart of the country. Before arriving in Rotorua though we stopped and explored the Karangahake Scenic Reserve including a disused gold-mine - even going down old tunnels now covered in glow-worms! As we approached Rotorua the sulphuric smell crept on to the bus to tell you that you had arrived. We ditched our bags into our large king-size room (that cost less than everyone else’s dorm beds at the Base hostel haha!) and headed out to Kuirau Thermal Park to see some pretty spectacular steaming hot springs and bubbling mud pools - I never thought you could stare so long at some bubbling mud but it really is truly spectacular - checkout the photo’s to see some weird shapes!! After staring at the pools and puddles for far too long we headed over to the lake and explored a Maori village complete with scary looking statues - I swear the eyes on those thing follow you round. Back at the hostel we relaxed in our private spa pool - well you’ve gotta have some luxury when you’re backpacking around!
The next morning started with a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday from the bus group as it was October the 11th - my birthday! To start this momentous day we stopped in to a farm for a Sheep Show - yep that’s right - only in New Zealand (and maybe Wales!) could you have such a phenomenon. Had it been a peep show I would have paid to go in but as it was a sheep show we opted to sit in the café and have a good coffee! The trip then continued down to Waitomo offering the possibility of exploring the caves or kicking back with a game of volleyball followed by some serious drinking games in the local pub. Having opted for the second option I can report that I had a great birthday!!
The next morning (with slightly heavy heads!) we headed out to see some rabbits get sheared! I kid you not - this country does some strange things to its animals! After witnessing this bizarre rural spectacle (and managing to avoid buying any of the over-priced rabbit woollen products) we headed towards Lake Taupo, an inland lake formed in the crater of a volcano several thousand years ago - now the size of Singapore. The last time this volcano erupted two thousand years ago it was reported as far as Rome and China as turning the entire sky red for three years! Last month it started steaming - people got worried.
After a quick walk down by the lake we headed to a pub quiz in. Did my team win? Of course we did!! Our group from the bus was getting on with each other so well that we didn’t really need the fifty dollars worth of free drink to ease the socialising but it did help! For some reason though, I see to remember wearing a bizarre amount of hats this evening!!
The plan for Taupo was to complete the Tongariro Alpine Crossing - an all day hike, ranked as one of the top ten walks in the world, across some of the most spectacular volcanic terrain. Typical of our luck it was snowing in the mountains and the walk was cancelled due to being unsafe. Big boo to snow! We went for a walk up to a lower level volcanic area called the ‘Craters Of The Moon’ due to the lunar looking landscape created by volcanic activity. It was quite cool but couldn’t make up for the disappointment of not doing the crossing. Oh well - at least it gives me an excuse to come back to New Zealand at some point in the future!
On the walk back to town we passed the Huka falls (a powerful waterfall that could fill an Olympic sized swimming pool in three seconds flat!) and some natural hot springs that just called for me to roll my trousers up and wade into. Unfortunately the place emptied pretty quickly when a local guy (who clearly wasn’t afraid of eating a few pies) waded in with some shampoo for his daily bath!! Back in town we headed out for a kick-ass curry with some new friends, a couple of drinks then off to bed.
The next morning we headed through the National Park to a town called Whakapapa. Bear in mind that in the Maori language ‘Wh’ is pronounced as a ‘F’ and you can see it is a very interestingly named town! Most of the team went off for a walk through the bush to see some waterfalls however I stayed behind to get 9 holes of golf in with a couple of others. It was a nice links style course that came with a couple of penalties for poor play. Unfortunately this caught me out and suffice to say that as peer standard golf rules of not hitting a tee shot past the ladies tee I had to run a lap around the bus in a manner that left me feeling slightly cold! Fortunately though I wasn’t the worst as Steve-o the driver had to do two laps! All good fun!!
Our destination for the night was River Valley lodge - a retreat in the middle of nowhere specialising in grade 5 white water rafting - I signed up for this straight away and planned to complete the raft in the morning. After a sedate night (for a change) we all went to bed in a 32 person bunk bed (I kid you not - it was cosy!!) Awoke the next morning to find that it had rained so heavily during the night that the river had risen dangerously high and the rafting had to be cancelled. Boo to mother nature and her rain!
The next morning after a scenic drive down the Kapiti Coast we arrived in Wellington. As we had already come through the city on the way up the North Island, Anna and I decided not to stay on for a few days here although some of the team would be staying. Its sad to leave people behind but the best way to do it was to hit the bars of Wellington for a great night out! As it was a Friday there was certainly no shortage of fun to be had and I can say for definite now that Wellington nightlife rocks!
The early morning ferry received a very bleary-eyed bunch of travellers headed to the South. We wont return to the North Island on this trip but I know that at some time in the future this mix of Maori and European cultures on a steaming, hissing volcanic island will see me come back. Besides - I still need to get my revenge on Mother Nature and complete that Tongariro Crossing!
To view photos please click the following link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=40753&id=100000021481670&l=696071097d
