John and Clare's New Zealand Adventure

14 degrees sunny/cloudy am
24 degrees sunny pm

Woke up to a bright, sunny day so we packed and loaded the car and then went off to see the Taranaki Falls – a two hour walk in the Tongariro National Park direct from our hotel.  After about 1/2 hour we came to a waterfall which did not look very impressive, so one of us was a little disappointed to say the least!

After taking a few pics we decided to continue with the circular walk and 5 minutes later arrived unexpectedly at the Taranaki Falls proper – much more like it, smiles all round!

We followed the path to the top of the falls and then back towards the start.

As we drove down through the park to the highway we spotted another short walk to the Tawhai Falls so stopped and took a stroll to these – not as high as the Taranaki Falls but much more water travelling through

 Clare did a bit of mountaineering to pose next to the waterfall.

The weather improved a great deal on the way down from the mountains and we reached the Grand Millennium Hotel in Taupo in warm sunshine at about 3pm.

Taupo is a lovely area, the lake is as large as Singapore and just very attractive all round.

After a quick unpack and thirst quench we went off to find the Huka Falls – a day of waterfalls we decided.  These were only about 15 minutes away and were quite an impressive amount of very blue water flowing through a canyon.  Clare posed for a photo only for John to realise that he had put the camera battery on charge just 5 minutes before we left the hotel room.  He even left a key in the slot deliberately to keep the power on to the charge the battery!  What are you like, said Clare!  Fortunately we had a phone with us so all was not lost.

After that we went off to find the hot springs the locals use in a public park which Clare had read about. Found them quite easily in a beautifully manicured park – walked down to the bottom of the hill and  and Wow! Amazing amount of very hot water flowing through various pools to the river.  Spent 25 minutes or so in the hottest water we could stand and then made our way down to the river where the water was very cold.  Forgot to mention that after about 5 minutes in the hot pool John discovered the car key fob in his swimming trunks pocket – not having a good day is he!? What are you like, said Clare!

Fortunately the key worked when we got back to the car.

A few drinks in the bar listening to the live music and a nice meal watching the sun go down over the lake and mountains rounded off an excellent day.

13, yes 13 degrees!  Rain with the occasional sight of sun.

Woke to pouring rain and the heating on in our bedroom!

The Tongariro Alpine Crossing, a 19km walk across the mountain range to some spectacular lakes and views, was closed due to the bad weather, which was a relief as we might have felt obliged to do it!  As it was persistently raining we decided to have a relaxing day and do nothing in particular.  The weather was very variable, the sun would come out and everything would steam and the black storm clouds accumulated and drenched everything.  At one point when the clouds cleared we went out onto the balcony at the front of the hotel and were amazed to see how close Mount Ruapeho was to the hotel, this is an active volcano!

John was keen to keep t-shirt, shorts and flip flops on, even though it was only 13 degrees; Clare wasn’t!

After lunch we decided to go for it and do a two hour walk to a popular waterfall, so we got ourselves ready in wet weather gear, walking boots, etc.  Left the hotel in a light rain and 10 minutes later returned having decided it was daft to carry on as the cloud had dropped and the rain was quite heavy and was not showing any sign of stopping.  So had a G&T in our room to compensate, using the last of our well travelled lemon which we bought on the first day we arrived in NZ!  Which goes to show how abstemious we have been!

Rain eventually stopped at about 6pm, so we had made the right decision.

22 degrees, rain am, partly sunny pm

Left Wellington in the rain and drove up State Highway 1 towards Tongariro National Park, about 4 hours drive away.  This road followed the west coast and the countryside was not as pristine as that on the opposite side of the mountain range, especially on the outskirts of Wellington which was much more industrial, but still very tidy.  As we moved further up the coast the landscape changed to hills, hummocks and folds again and the countryside looks prosperous.  Drove over a hill and was suddenly confronted with a snow capped mountain, Mount Ruahepu in the Tongariro National Park; took us by surprise.

Reached the national park by driving through desert uplands with mountains as a backdrop.  Arrived at our hotel, Chateau Tongariro, at about 3pm.  The hotel was the only building of significance as far as the eye could see.  It was built in 1929 in the style of a French Chateau and it’s interior is more or less how it would have looked then with heavy, dark drapes hanging from stone pillars and chandeliers everywhere.  Even the music being played was from the 1930s, Dad would have loved the music!

That’s Clare on the balcony above the pillared entrance way!

Had a quick dip in the basement hot pool, very quaint and then ate dinner in the posh restaurant, an  excuse to get dressed up and put on heels, Clare not John.

20 degrees, sunny but strong cool wind

Wandered around the quayside area roughly following the guide book suggested route in the morning.  Initially Wellington looked quite a big town, based on the fairly densely packed area our hotel is in, but in reality it is quite small overall.  There’s not a great deal to see if you’re not interested in shopping.  Everything is very tidy, no litter – in fact we came across a worker cleaning the pubic waste bins!  The city also looks finished – there’s no road works, extensive building or refurbishment going on – like Napier all the old buildings look like they were repainted yesterday.

We went into the Museum of New Zealand because it was free, and spent about an hour in there.  This is a huge building of six floors and we covered the first three and saw a Maori carving, a cannon from a ship that got stuck on the Great Barrier Reef and an exhibition about flora and fauna introduced into New Zealand and the effects these have had.  That was it!  Not an awful lot to see so we didn’t bother with the other floors.

Up the Funicular to lookout over the harbour but not too much to occupy us up there, another botanical garden which was not as nice as the one in Napier, then down to wander over to the Parliament buildings – old and new.  Interestingly there were no police or armed guards around  the building, even though Parliament was sitting, and not until we looked inside a door did we see a security guard armed with a radio only.

 Clare next to a tree whose name we can’t spell or pronounce – the NZ Christmas Tree.

In the afternoon we went to the pictures! (saw The Crimes of Grindelwald).

Still managed to walk 10 miles today and do 110 staircases, according to FitBit.

 

30 degrees, sunny

Another packing up session and we left Napier before breakfast as we weren’t particularly hungry, planning on getting something light to eat en-route to Wellington.  This should be about a 4 hour journey.  The drive was through some beautiful countryside, just early summer so all the plants are fresh and green, the sky was blue with white fluffy clouds, magnolias as big as oak trees just finishing blooming (must have been stunning in full flower) and surrounded by mountains on one side and hills on the other – again not a spec of litter and everywhere looked well maintained and tidy.  It really is a beautiful country.

We stopped for coffee in a little town and the decided to head towards the coast to the south east of Wellington as the guide book said that the biggest fur seal colony in New Zealand was on this coast and also some eroded rock formations called the Putangirua Pinnacles  were worth a look.

We came across the Pinnacles first so parked up and took the lower path – the river path literally.  Walked up the river bed which was a strange landscape of river stones and water channels to cross and re-cross for about half an hour or so

We met some people coming back down and asked if it was worth the trip and got the impression they were underwhelmed by the sight but we continued on and eventually came across some rock formations in the cliff face which looked quite interesting.  This being a river bed that probably floods when it rains up the mountainside there wasn’t any signage, so we searched around  and climbed up a tributary river bed but couldn’t see any rock formations, so assumed that was it and made our way back down to the car.  At the car park we found an information board with a photo of what we were supposed to see which did look quite a bit more interesting!  But it was very hot and quite a slog to get up the river bed so we settled with what we’d found.

We drove on around the coast to Cape Palliser in search of the fur seal colony, ending up on unsealed roads again until we finally found the Four Seal Colony as John called it.  I was expecting loads of seals all piled up on top of one another with David Attenborough whispering somewhere behind a rock,  but we only found 4!  Very disappointing 100 mile detour!

We finally arrived in Wellington at about 7.30 pm after driving across the mountain range on State Highway 1.  The drivers on these roads are very well mannered, there are passing places for slow vehicles to move over and with exception they always do, though the passing places are invariably on tight bends which makes for an exciting drive.   We’re in a Novotel in Wellington which is in the densely packed commercial district and we had the usual problems with unloading our numerous bags and car parking in a city centre.  Hotel is a bit soul-less compared to our previous ones, but it is centrally located.

We took a very tired walk down to the Quayside area where we had a very nice meal in a waterfront restaurant.

23 degrees, sunny

Drove the couple of miles or so into Napier town centre.  What a beautiful place.  It’s a really attractive Art Deco town which looks like it has all been repainted yesterday.  Not a spec of litter, peeling paint, graffiti or ugly building in sight ~ absolutely pristine like something out of a Disney cartoon.

We walked around the town looking upwards at all the beautiful building facades.  They were all rebuilt after a massive earthquake in 1931 and have been maintained ever since.

We took my ring into a jeweller to see if it would clean up.  They gave them all a clean for me but said the white gold is created by a coating of Rhodium or something and that the sulphur in the air at Rotorua had stripped this off my ring.  It will need to be recoated when we get home.  That’s not something they tell you about in the guide books.  We are going back that way later on so will have to make sure all the jewellery is placed inside a sealed bag before we get there.

Had a wander round the botanical gardens which were equally lovely and then, as we’d had a late lunch, bought some bits and pieces (mostly alcohol!) to take back to the hotel to have an evening meal on the balcony watching the world go by.

22 degrees, cloudy

Packed our bags again (quite a lengthy process as we seem to have accumulated more stuff) and made our way towards Napier on the east coast.  By main highway this should have taken about 3 hours but we decided to go cross country (mountain range!) for a scenic drive.  About a quarter of the way across we reached the foot of the mountains and a sign that said ‘ 72km of unsealed road ahead’, but we went for it regardless and turned the three hour journey into seven!

Up through the mountains on gravelled roads (not entirely sure we are supposed to do this in our hired car), tight bends, cloud and eventually seriously heavy rain (this being a temperate rainforest area – should have known).  Came across a lovely waterfall and lots of wild horses ambling about the road, but no public conveniences!

We eventually arrived at our hotel in Napier at about 5pm.  Really lovely room with large balcony overlooking the bay

I unpacked my rings which I taken off at the mud baths in Rotorua only to find that my white gold ring had turned yellow.  John says the sulphur in the air must have affected it.

24 degrees, cloudy am, sunny pm

Got up early still smelling faintly of sulphur to head up the mountainside via the Skyline Gondola using some discounted tickets we bought for an early start.  Early being 9 am.  Turned out to be a good idea as the place was almost empty and we had it mostly to ourselves for the first hour or so.  Very peaceful ride up in a gondola lift to a lookout point overlooking Rotorua and the lake.

Then we went did the first of our four luge rides down the mountain starting with the scenic track.  Back up to the top via a ski chair lift and then down again a further three times on the intermediate track.  Great fun but four trips was enough especially as more people were joining us towards the end.

Took a stroll around the hillside paths in search of the Silver Fern, the national emblem of New Zealand.  Took some finding but we did track one down eventually after asking an employee.  Not an exciting plant!

Back down in Rotorua we found a park that the guide book said had hot lakes and mud pools that could be paddled in for free but the paddling area was closed so we headed off to find a swimming lake off to the north of Rotorua. Had a long drive round a couple of lakes but couldn’t locate the swimming area and as the weather was closing in we decided to call it a day and went back to the hotel and sit on the balcony to find the lake gently steaming.

 

26 degrees, partly cloudy

Left Whitianga today and headed to Rotorua in the centre of the North Island.  We stopped in a small town to get a hat for Clare and asked a shop assistant where we might find some for sale.  She said to try the CHIMIST, then said ‘oh, you’re English, do you say Chimist or Pharmacy?’.  We said neither, we call it the CHEMIST with an E!  This led to an interesting discussion regarding accents and how quickly the New Zealand accent is moving away from a British accent.  She then told us that she spent 3 years or so working in the UK and when she came back they thought she had a posh accent!  Turns out she worked at Tewin Bury Barns, but a few years before Eric & Sue married there.  Small World!

After a fruitless search to find bread for lunch (seems bakery here means pie and cake shop!) we ate boiled eggs, cheese and crisps on a lovely beach we passed (we are on a budget after all !) We drove onto Hells Gate, a geo-thermal and spa park close to Rotorua and went for the works.  First a walk around the boiling mud pools, steam vents, sulphur lakes,  and mud volcano, then into the spa for a mud bath and sulphur pool dip for us.

Found our way to the hotel and spent ages trying to get the mud our of our costumes and hair!  Smelled faintly of sulphur all evening.

It’s really strange that there is very little visible evidence of Christmas approaching here, no street lighting or decorated houses and only the occasional tree which makes us remember Christmas is just round the corner when we do see one. It’s quite liberating! Bah, Humbug!

24 degrees, cloudy am, sunny pm

Meant to say that yesterday John’s medication arrived, thank goodness.  Getting a bit worried.  It had been opened and inspected by a doctor which was probably the cause of the delay.  Thankfully John had left the tablets in the original boxes with the prescription details on rather than taking them out to make a smaller package.  Not sure they would have arrived that way.

A lazy start this morning as Clare couldn’t get out of bed, jet lag finally caught up.  Once we were moving we decided to stay local and take a walk to Cooks Bay, the original landing spot for Captain Cook.  We took the small ferry across the 100m gap of the harbour inlet and then decided to take the scenic route to the bay rather than follow the road round the coast.  Whatta mistaka to maka!

First we climbed up to Whitianga Rock to overlook the harbour and bay on the other side then headed back down to follow the ‘path’ to Cooks Bay which included climbing over tree roots and rocks,  scrambling under overhanging rocks on the slippery foreshore of the bay (luckily the tide was going out) and then 20 minutes straight up a narrow, winding path much like the hillside at Chatelus only at least twice as steep and twice as long.  It was very humid amongst the trees and ferns too. Eventually we reached a recently installed lookout point with fabulous views over Whitianga and the surrounding area but with no seats to resting our trembling limbs!

Partially recovered we wandered down the hill which was a proper stepped path thankfully and luckily found a lovely cafe for a bite to eat.  Then on to Cooks Bay, a huge sandy bay which we walked the length of to find some marker to say where Cook had landed, but to no avail. There was no X to mark the spot.

We took the road route back to the Ferry and stopped at the first bar we found for some refreshment.  Fitbit says we walked 8 miles and climbed the equivalent of 60 floors which would be fine if that was spread out the whole day, but the floors were completed in about 20 minutes!