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Published: January 12th 2009
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Taupo is in a very volcanic area and we visited a thermal area called Craters of the Moon. It was a nice leisurely walk round steaming pools, hissing steam and bubbling mud complete with the ever present bad eggs smell. On New Year's Eve we had been talking to a woman from Derby who recommended a sail on the lake so we booked on the afternoon trip. It was an old two mast yacht called the Barbary, said to have once been owned by Erroll Flynn. The guy who was the owner of the yacht has now sold it on to a friend but still skippers the boat. He was a great character who filled the journey out onto the lake with countless anecdotes. It was a great way to spend an afternoon. When you have paid for a trip once you can have another if you want to for the price of a packet of biscuits or a couple of beers! The backpackers accommodation in Taupo was excellent. It was an old motel so the rooms were bigger than normal. When we were leaving they recommended another backpackers in Rotorua. We got up and out quite early because we intended
to see a geyser which erupted at 10.15 am each day and it was about 30 miles away. The geyser is in another thermal park called Thermal Wonderland of Wai-O-Tapu. This was by far the most impressive thermal area we have seen. The geyser is helped by introducing some bio-degradable soap into its mouth. This drops the surface tension with the result that super heated steam blows the water 10 metres into the air. It does erupt on its own, but there is no way of knowing when, so in order to let all visitors see it go they have the morning spectacular. When we got to Rotorua we decided to look at the recommended backpacker, The Funky Green Voyager. It was excellent. It was an old colonial wooden chalet house, painted green obviously, built round a lovely courtyard, with swing chairs and hammocks. The kitchen was spotless. Most recommended for anyone going to Rotorua. Rotorua has another nice setting, on the lake, but the air is filled with hydrogen sulphide as it is in a very active volcanic area. We didn't think it was half as good as Taupo which is only about 60 miles away. That said, it
is well worth a visit. There is a thermal pool complex, The Polynesian Spa, which we visited. It is on the lake shore and the pools look out over the lake. Day 41 of our adventure saw us leaving Rotorua. We had met a NZ couple earlier on. They lived in Gisborne, which is where Captain Cook first landed in NZ. They persuaded us to drive around the East Cape of NZ, but first we had to get to Gisborne. They told us the most scenic route, but longest time-wise, was over the mountains on route SH38. This twists and turns up and down the valleys with some spectacular views. 60 miles of the road is not tarmaced so that makes the journey even more time consuming as you can't safely get above 20 mph. Hidden in the hills is the very picturespue Lake Waikaremoana, with the Mokau Falls running into it. Every where in NZ is relatively close by in mileage terms but hours away in time. Gisborne is indeed a pretty little town. There are statues of Captain Cook, one of which bears an inscription to the effect that they don't know who the statue is of, but
it certainly isn't Captain Cook!! A bit of a cock-up there! We stayed on a campsite right on the beach. Being school summer holidays meant it was packed with families holidaying. We ended up near a busy main road with lumber lorries rattling up and down from 6.00 am. We were up bright and early for the 2 days we stayed there! Because it was school holidays, the town had organised a plethora of street entertainers in the main street for the week. Great free fun. Early rises meant that we were on our way by 7.30 am. The road round the East Cape, named the Pacific Coast Highway, is over 230 miles long so we knew we had a long day. Much to our surprise the first 100 miles or so, from Gisborne to Te Araroa, was excellent fast road so even with our detours to see various beaches along the way it only took us a couple of hours. From Te Araroa there is a 15 mile gravel road to the East Cape lighthouse, the most easterly place in NZ. The drive was well worth it, and despite the 25 minute climb from the road to the lighthouse, the views from the top were great. Back in Te Araroa the town claims to have the oldest pohutukawa tree in the world, though stops short of claiming it is the pohutukawa capital of the world! From here round the western side of East Cape, if you see what we mean (look on a map to be sure), the road goes back to the twisty turny norm. The road follows the coast and is very reminiscent of the coast road along the Cote D'Azur in the south of France. The sea is vivid turquoise and the bays and beaches lovely. You get the first views of White Island, 20 miles off the coast. This is the newest island in NZ and is made up of three separate volcano cones, all of which erupted at different times. The East Cape is a remote part of NZ and is where the Maoris first colonised. It has very few towns and just an odd shop and hotel here and there. In Europe an area like this would be filled with holiday makers. Here it retains the peace and quiet. We eventually reached Whakatane and found a great campsite on the edge of town. It is a lovely little town nestling at the estuary of the river under a promontory. After our first night here (the blow up bed is still fine, thank you for asking) we liked it so much we decided to stay longer. Next day Den found a garage that would replace our windscreen for about 120 pounds. We decided to take him up on the offer. We drove out along the coast. The area is known as the Bay of Plenty and produces almost all the kiwi fruit in NZ. The town of Te Puke is the centre of the industry and guess what, calls itself the Kiwi Fruit Capital of the World. One of the largest towns on the coast is Taurange. It has a large port and is very industrialised. We didn't stay long. Just around the corner, hidden from Tauranga by Mount Maunganui, is the resort of Maunganui. The beach here is fabulous and they have made an artificial reef offshore to encourage the waves for surfing. The place is a surfers paradise. The car was booked in for its new windscreen the next day so we had a lazy day in Whakatane. The local beach, Ohope, is over the promontory from the town and there is a good view point on the top of this promontory. It had forecast rain for the nigh so we packed the tent away and upgraded to a cabin. It did rain - wise decision. We had been for a beer in a very new bar/restaurant, which is the local anglers club, right on the jetty. We had to sign in just like a club in the UK. We went back for a meal. Excellent food and excellent prices! We sat with two other couples, one of which had emigrated from London. We Brits get everywhere!
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