The Forgotten Highway ... top of the world

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After Taupo we ventured to Rotorua where there was a lot more Mauri culture, geezers and hot mud pools. Quite commercialised as there were large hotels flanking the edge of the lake and numerous trips on and around the lake. Fran got stung on the elbow by a bee/wasp whilst taking photos out of the van window so antihystermin was applied and the swelling finally went down after 3 days. I looked up on the internet how to treat stings and a couple of days later Fran got stung again on her bum and having read the top ten tips on sting medication Keith pulled over on the highway and applied the closest thing to ice which was a cold can of drink then applied toothpaste. This worked really well. Anyway onwards we went.

Made our way to Hamilton on the west coast via the Forgotten Highway. Well, this lived up to its name. Started on sealed tarmac road and climbed over the mountains which breath taking views of all around. The road was twisty and narrow in places with a 100 Meter single track tunnel to negotiate half way along. It was a place where Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond from Top Gear wouldn't be out of place filming one of their driving expeditions. Suddenly we crossed a narrow bridge and the road changed from sealed tarmac to gravel. Road condition got narrower with sheer drops to the right of me and hugh escarpments of fern and forest to the left of Fran. Wow this road is the Forgotten Highway. We finally drove up the windy road and there it was a campsite, this was our pitch for the night. WoW, we parked up and had a wonderful 360 degree view over the surrounding mountains, it was stunning. We were on top of the world. Fran was trying to take ariel photos of large birds of prey circling on the thermals which we thought were Harris Hawks but they were too quick. The next day we headed for Hamilton and then up to Auckland to finish our tour of NZ. Auckland is a large well spread city, we ended the tour by having lunch next to the Auckland bridge. Sadly we had to return the camper van and head for a final night in a hotel. That evening we came across a large TV screen (in the fan zone) showing the Cricket (Australia v Sri Lanka) so had to sit and watch as it would have been rude not to (ha! ha!).
We have had a wonderful 21 day tour of NZ and would recommend this to anyone. We will return to NZ again.

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