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Published: October 26th 2007
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Hey guys.
Things are going really well here in New Zealand, despite the weather, which seems intent on dumping as much rain as possible on us in as short an amount of time as possible. Happily though, whenever we seem to plan a day outside the weather clears up long enough do do what we were hoping to do, hopefully this keeps happening. After a variety of experiences in our 3 days in Auckland, Elke and I picked up our van, which is great and includes a fridge and a DVD player, and set off on our exploration of the North Island. We had some difficulties initially with directions as we went around in circles for about 20 minutes trying to get out of the city before finally caving and buying another far more detailed, and expensive, map which helped considerably. Anyway, we stopped at a number of incredible spots on our way up the west coast towards the Cape and they are as follows:
1: Piha. A really beautiful beach that is pretty much directly west of Auckland and is right on the coast. Heavy, heavy surf there for the majority of the year, which was certainly the
Lion Rock
In Piha. Really beautiful area. case while we were there. We were fortunate enough with the weather that we were able to climb up Lion Rock, which is this huge rock/hill that is sitting out by itself on the beach, and the view from the top was spectacular.
2: Muriwai Beach. North of Piha and home to a huge colony of Australasian gannets, this was a really beautiful area that was again bombarded by both wind, rain and surf. We were able to walk out along the cliffs to see the gannets as they flew, fished (diving at 145km an hour), and even engaged in an intertesting looking mating dance. We were also able to venture down onto the rocks below the colony and see the gannets swooping and diving above us. Really gorgeous!
3: Waipoua Forest. Huge forest that is home to the biggest Kauri tree in New Zealand. It was only a short walk to the tree from the road and it was well worth the walk in the rain (big surprise there with the weather) to see this gigantic tree up close. 170 feet tall and a girth of 46 feet made this tree truly impressive, especially given that it
Wow
View from the top of Lion Rock. was surrounded by miles and miles of rain forest.
4: Ninety Mile Beach. Sand, sand, and more sand as far as you can see. You are able to drive on the beach where the speed limit is 100km/hr...interesting. Not sure of the name though, given that there is only about 60 miles of beach. Very windy while we were there but happily no rain.
5: Cape Reinga. Right to the top of the island where we were able to see the meeting points of the Tasman and Pacific oceans which was a distinct line in the ocean, really cool. Also got to explore the huge sand dunes that are about a 10 minute drive from the main road. Probably about 100 feet high at the peaks and stretching for a few kms, it was really neat to be in a desert environment that was surrounded by farm land, oceans, and dense forest.
Waitomo Caves. Which means water hole and was appropriate because when we arrived, once again, it was raining. Really hilly and green area that has 350 caves scattered around with only 20 being used commercially. Elke and I decided to do a caving trip called
Goddess on the Rock
...with a great impression from Elke. the Lost World, that takes you down into one of the biggest caves and allows you to explore it for half a day. Really fantastic little adventure that started off with a 300 foot repel from a metal platform that was suspended out over the wouth of the cave. Our guide, Eddie, say fit to mention to be that sometimes the sheep for farms in the area fall into the cave creating an effect that is somewhat akin to a water balloon hitting the ground after a 100foot fall...thanks very much for that visual as I get ready to head down the rope. Really beautiful caves and a great experience.
Taupo. We were planning doing a bungy jump but they were closed so we head further south as there wasn't much to do there beyond flinging myself off of a platform at a height of 150 feet and shopping for new underwear.
Tongariro National Park. We were hoping to do a really great 1 day walk across the park but the weather was horrendous and the forcast did not look any better. Driving rain, howling winds and a park information attendant who gave us a funny look when
Campervan
A view from inside the campervan. we asked if he thought the walk would be managable anyway kind of put a downer on things.
Wellington. We arrived fairly late a night and set up camp for the night in the ferry parking lot to be up early to get the Interislander the next morning. One of the best things about a camper van that I have failed to mention so far is that it enables you to take advantage of the fact that you can camp just about anywhere in New Zealand for free. All you have to do is find a good spot and park your camper, you don't actually have to stay at a trailer park, which you have to pay for. A key part of the free camping is attempting to do it near a public bathroom which cans make finding a place a bit more challenging.
The Ferry. Woke up at about 6:00am and headed into the ticket office to purchase a ticket for the ferry and was floored when they told me it was going to cost $300. I was surprised because earlier in our trip another traveler had told us that it was only $80. He failed to
Muriwai Beach
and the ganneet colony that lives there. mention that it was $80 per person and then extra for your vehicle...thanks a lot. The ride across to the south island was fine for me but Elke got quite seasick, despite the huge ferry, as we were heading through some pretty rough water for a good portion of the trip.
The North Island was beautiful and I really enjoyed the time we spent there but I am excited about checking out the South Island which is supposed to be even better than the North. I wonder if there will be fewer sheep in the south? It seemed that everywhere we looked in the North there was another flock of them. It's no joke that there are 40 million of the things in a country of only about 4 million people.
Conor
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catherine fleming
non-member comment
budding photographer
Hi Conor,it looks like you're developing your photographic skills too.The pics are great and I love the captions.I'll be waiting in anticipation for new entries!! Mom