Blogs from North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 20

On the way from Wanganui to Raetahi, travelling along the River Road, you will find the historic Kawana Flourmill. There is a small signpost at the gate but if you blink you will drive right past it so watch out for it on your left. The actual address is 4075 Whanganui River Road, Matahiwi 4576 but as there is little or no cellphone reception along that road, you may find your GPS doesn't work. You can park beside the sign and then stroll down the path to the flourmill, waterwheel and house. The mill is open and is definitely worth a visit. Why not stop and introduce the kids to some history they can actually see and touch. https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/kawana-flourmill https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawana_flour_mill There is a special 'treat' f... read more

“Have you ever paddle boarded before?” Called one of our guides, Matt, as we bumped down the track to the lake. We all answered in the negative. “And you’re choosing to learn and do it for the first time in the dark?!” This was obviously meant as a joke, but we looked nervously at each other. We had just been collected from Rotorua, our 3rd stop in New Zealand, for paddle boarding and glow worm cave exploring. I had already started to become a little apprehensive at the prospect of falling off whilst in a cave and struggling to get back onto the board again, feet dangling in the dark water with goodness knows what lurking. “Are there eels in the cave?” I asked, nervously. “Not any more,” he said, cheerfully. Matt went onto explain that ... read more

After promising the customs official that we aren’t importing any Antarctic toothfish and that if we do see a stink bug we will contact them immediately (despite the fact that I, for one, would be unlikely to recognize it), we were through the rather rigorous biosecurity customs service and we entered New Zealand into glorious sunshine and a balmy 22 degrees. Auckland, our first stop, is a nice city with some lovely areas. We agree that in 5 to 10 years time it will probably be a wonderful city, but that there is way to go yet; this is reflected by the extensive development and building works all over as we wandered. Having said that, it’s easy to see why so many New Zealanders choose to make it home- it is the most densely populated area ... read more

27th August - 31st August 2019 After a surprising comfortable first five days at Taupo we were ready to pack up the van and move on to our next destination at Whakapapa. This was the North facing ski field on the Ruepehu volcano. It is a pretty epic site with several volcanos around - Mt Ngauruhoe (Mt Doom from Lord of the rings) and Mt Tongariro. These make up the stunning Tongariro national park. We had the added treat of being joined by our old colleague Tommy who was popping down from Auckland to join us on the slopes. And the jammy buggar brought the beautiful sunshine and perfect skiing conditions with him. In the evening over a few craft beers we also got to teach him our new favourtite card game (Thanks to Vicky and ... read more

18th August 2019 So we landed back in Auckland after spending 12 days in Australia, celebrating quitting our jobs with no next job in sight!! We decided that we didn't want to pay for a camp site as we wouldn't be arriving until after midnight and wouldn't be able to get our moneys worth (already getting into the tight traveller mindset). Luckily we found a "freedom" campsite about 40 minutes from the airport at Onewhero domain. This proves difficult when you are not self contained in NZ and because our van is so tiny, and we didn't want to sacrifice bed space for a portable toilet, we need to find campsites with toilet facilities..... This was going to be a limitation over the next 5 months but i still stand by our design! The next challenge ... read more