North island, New Zealand. Roadtrip part one....

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Well, after being on the road in new zealand for more than 3 months i thought it was time to give you all an update, pictures etc.

So, after a grueling flight in to auckland from San Tiago, we made our way to the Fat Camel hostel on Auckland's, Queen street. As nice as the hostel was, due to a lack of money and extreme jet lag, the first few days were spent recovering and not a lot else. When we had finally regained some sort of energy we decided to check out the city. We opted for the free city orientation, which ended up being a pretty sweet tour, we saw a lot of the city and Ian evan managed to win himself a free sky tower jump. So all in all a good start to our New Zealand trip.

However our main issue at the time was a dire need to work, so after a look in to a few job agencies we were told that the best place for some temp/casual work would be Kerikeri, in the bay of islands so after purchasing our self the soon to become legendary Fargo camper van we headed north.

The holiday park we were recommended was Aranga, which also acted as a job agency for travelers like us. After a couple of days settling in we had our first days work, i managed to pull landscaping. The job ended up being a full day of hauling pine trees up a brutal incline, not good after 3 months bumming around. Needless to say that was my first and last day there! After that i did a whole load of different jobs, if only for a brief time, including - kiwi pruning, gardening, tree planting, working on a farm, and also working for the holiday park, which ended up being more of a days drinking in the sun, but hey.

But the main reason i decided to stay at aranga for as long as i did, was the group of people we met while we were there. An awesome group of like minded travelers, who soon became great friends. We ended up spending most days chilling at the campsite, drinking, playing ping-pong and generally enjoying our time, a great deal of partying and very little work, but i wouldn't have had it any other way. Was a incredible way to kick of our year long stint in New Zealand.

However after 5 weeks of solid partying , it became obvious that there wasn't going to be much work going on while we were all there together. So me Millsy and Slev ( one of our good mates at Aranga) all piled in to the Fargo, and hit the road with the plan to head north to the very tip of the country then work our way down. It was sad to leave Kerikeri, and all the great friends we had made there and would miss, but if there had been anymore all day sessions followed by days off work it would have had to be an early flight home!

We arrived at Cape Reinga, the northern most area of the country, and after watching Clive (Slev) fall down a sand dune, and some epic views at the lighthouse, we began to make our way south toward Ninety mile beach, where we were hoping that the 23 year old rapidly rusting Fargo we had bought would be able to handle a long stretch of beach action.....

And handle it it did! after our first night with 3 of us in the back of the camper, we headed along the beach just after sunset with Beach Boys on the stereo! it was really starting to feel like a road trip now !

When we had finally made it back to dry ground we continued our journey south, after a few hours of stunning scenery and an old skool ferry crossing at Hakianga, we arrived in Kaitaia, home of the famous and ancient Kauri trees. A short walk took us to the main attraction, a giant Kauri in the middle of the nature reserve. Once we had finished there we were eastbound and down headed for the Coromandel peninsula! We spent the night just south of Auckland and after searching for somewhere we could park ourselves up for the night we stumbled across a marina packed full of million dollar yachts and expensive cars. We parked up and had a chat with the security guard, and he said not only could we park in their car park for the night but could also use there facilities including hot showers! result! after solid nights kip with a lot of winging in the morning from Slev, who to be fair had been relegated to sleep in the narrow gap between me and Ians bed, we hit the road again.

We decided to take the slightly longer but more scenic route around the peninsula until reaching hot water beach and Cathedral cove. The drive was just incredible, winding roads up mountains followed by stunning coastal scenery, all made all the more special with the first truly hot day we had in ages! When we arrived at the hot water beach, where as the name suggests at low tide you can dig yourself a hole in the sand and sit in the hot water provided by the volcanic hot springs, but that being said, we didn't exactly check the tide time before making the long journey up there and as it turned out our detour around the peninsula had cost us valuable time and we had missed the first low tide and the next one wasn't until 10pm that night! After a bit of deliberating we decided we had come this far so we had to stick it out for the hot water pools. So in the meantime we headed to cathedral cove after an hours walk we arrived, a picturesque little bay with beautiful white sands and stunning views of the Tasman sea.
So we headed back to HWB after our little jaunt, and after another few hours of waiting for the tide to finally make its way out, we headed out in the pitch black with our spades, when we got to the thermal point, it became clear that the tide wasn't going to go out far enough after all, so the best we could do was dig in our feet and appreciate the scalding volcanic water!
although it was disappointing that we couldn’t dig ourselves a natural hot tub, it was still a fantastic day with some beautiful drives and evan more incredible walks.

A long session of night driving with some god awful map reading from Slev finally got us to Raglan, a quaint surfing village back on the west coast.

After being woken by the local council and being asked to move on, we had a walk around the village. Slev had the idea of getting a fishing rod with a view to catching our own supper, after assuring us he knew how to fish we bought a rod and tackle and headed to Whale beach. It became clear after just a few minutes that none of us really knew how to fish so after getting some tips from a local, who told us we had set it up wrong and we had no chance of catching anything with the $30 rod we had anyway, we tried to find a better spot, but none of us really had the patience for it so we gave up defeated and went to a local cafe for dinner.
Then a bit more night driving took us further down the coast to Waitomo, a place famous for its glow worm caves.
So the next morning, once at the caves, we did a guided boat ride in the underground rivers. With the glow worm lined ceilings, it made for a really tranquil trip. Then we made our way back west toward Rotarua, where we were to meet fthree of the german girls we had met in Kerkeri, on route we stumbled upon an incredible lake in the middle of nowhere, as it was another blue skied day, we decided to stop for lunch , and another shot at fishing. After making our way out very slowly over some lethal slippery rocks to what looked like a good fishing spot we enjoyed a cold beer. It was all going so well until gravity got the better than slev and he plummeted in to the ice cold lake, fully clad! We fell about laughing for a good while and offered no real help to the floundering irishman. Then we decided that since we had been slumming it for a while without a shower, we would take the opportunity to have a wash..... in the lake, so after lathering up we took the plunge, needless to say we didn't stay in long, but it was nice to feel clean again and incredibly refreshed!

After leaving lake Whakamaru, we continued on to Rotarua, when we arrived we checked in to the YHA holiday park, where we would be based for few days as it had hot showers kitchens and most of all free use of the hot pools. So it was straight to the supermarket for some cold ones, whilst sat in the hot pools, awesome.

After the girls had come to meet us and we had showered and got ready, we headed out in town. It was a quiet night in town to say the least but we did our best to raise the tempo, and after a skinful and a bit more dancing, me and Slev headed back to the girls hostel for a nightcap....
The next day after unsuccessfully trying to find work, probably due to spending the majority of the day in the hot tub, we booked up some white-water rafting, unfortunately because of the hight of the river it was closed for that day but we got in to the next days trip.
When we headed out to the Kaituna river for our rafting, we first stopped at the Hells Gate thermal reserve and went for a walk around the many volcanic hot springs and dessert landscape, it was something straight out of lord of the rings! So then it was time to get kitted out for the rafting. When were all geared up we hopped on the bus and headed for the river, After meeting our guide a typically extreme, kiwi fella who was not all together sane, we got in the raft with me and mills in the front, which unfortunately for the rest of the boat, was the most important position for timing and steering. After some miss communication, we got in the rhythm and started to plough down the river. After a few smaller rapids we hit the grade 5 section of the course. and soon enough we came to the main attraction of the river, a headfirst plunge over a five meter high waterfall! It was absolutely amazing and worth the money just for that moment. no one fell out, so the guide gave us the option of of going down the next set of rapids out of the boat, so of course we jumped at the chance. It was a amazing trip and another extreme sport ticked of the list!

Back in Rotarua, we saw an advert for a chance to earn $50 in two hours. Not knowing what we were letting our self in for we made our way to the Rainbow springs kiwi encounter and nature reserve. Upon arrival, we were told that the first hour of this ‘job’ was to have a free trip around the the park itself , so of we went for a night time walk around the spectacularly lit nature reserve, where we finally got to see some kiwis! after our walk we were led in to a meeting room with another eight people who had done the same thing. It turned out to be a focus group, so we spent the next 2 hours eating free food and drinking tea, and chatting about what we liked and would change about the park. Without doubt the best job ive ever had!!

The next day we we out of Rotarua, heading back up north to find work in Tauranga, where the german girls had left for previously , and told us there would be loads of work. After get the van stuck in ‘shady lane’ and having to use the 4 wheel drive option,we got to Tauranga. Its a small city next to the stunning beach resort of Mount Maunganui on the western end of the bay of plenty. After a night or two, Slev had to leave to meet up with Colin his previous traveling partner and leave for oz. So after saying good bye to Slevski, we were in the desperate position of having to find work!
We finally got a job at Sanford's fish factory. It was a soul destroying job paying minimum wage with 10 hour days, where i was to spend the next 6 weeks moving a few thousand 25 kilo boxes of fish a day, not exactly inspiring. But we made the most of our time off, with some savage nights out, a lot of weekday chilling in the TV room of our holiday park, some lazy days on the beautiful sandy beaches of Maunganui and some incredible walks up the Mount itself, and down to McClaren falls, and evan a few nights in a motel with Mateja. All in all, aside from the work, it was a great place to be. But time was running out before we had to meet Dave and Tom on the south island, so after one last stupidly drunken but very entertaining night in town we made our way down to Lake Taupo.

The first day at Taupo was spent on a really nice walk to Hakka falls, one of New Zealand most visited tourist attractions. Then after a walk around the edge of the lake the next morning we continued south to Tongariro national park, more famous for its role as Mount Doom in the Lord of the Rings, after another stunning drive we found our way to the start of the ‘Tongariro alpine crossing’ widely acclaimed as the most spectacular walk in the world. So in true ‘barbs and millsy fashion, we set of for this walk that was not recommended to be done without all the proper gear, ice picks and such, wearing trainers and a hoodie! The first two thirds of the walk was a relatively gentle incline up to spine of the mountain range. After wondering what all the fuss was about we were suddenly confronted with snow covered lakes to walk across and incredibly bitter gale force wind. But we somehow managed to make it to the top of the mountain ridge. Because of the brutal winds we were finding it extremely hard not to get blown of the mountain edge so thought it was best to head back down to lower grounds. But not before managing to take a few snaps of the awe inspiring snow covered landscape. When we got back to the fargo we had almost thawed out, but the heater still came on straight away, and we spent a while laughing at how stupid we were to go on yet another extreme hike completely unprepared.

We continued south toward wellington stopping just once to kip. When we reached Wellington it was just in time to find somewhere to stay get showered and ready for out final night out on the north island. After indulging in a box of wine and having met a few people to join us on the night ahead, we went to hit the town. Unfortunately the box of wine got the better of mills, and somewhere along the road he took a fall. I did my best to get him home unsuccessfully, but we were found by the local police who decided to take matters in to there own hands and called for an unnecessary ambulance. What was meant to be a big celebratory night out in wellington turned in to a bunch of paperwork and waiting around in the hospital for 5 hours, after finally getting discharged we headed home. The next day we felt we should at least see the city so we walked around the town doing all the touristy things, including a trip up to Mount Victoria for a panoramic view of the city, then finished the day with a pizza and some bowling. Definitely a better end than the previous night! So it was up early doors the next day for our ferry to the south. As much as we were looking forward to being back on the more familiar southern island, and meeting up with our friends from home. It was going to be sad to leave such an incredible place, but we had made some great friends and took away some truly special memories.....

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Photos

aranga holiday park
not a bad place to be for 6 weeks

Comments

[Bones]

Aww Barber - u nearly made me cry!!!!!!! :) Hmmm....brought back some travelling memories there. Places i forgot i had been to!! Hope you have looked after my boyo :) :) :) Take care. Lotsa love x x x x x x x x x x xx x