Quick sprint around lower North Island: Rotorua, National Park, Napier and Wellington

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The last week has gone by in a blur so have got a bit behind with the blog.......

Tuesday 18th
Staying in the ultra modern City Lights B&B ( clad in black corrugated iron ) just up the hill from Rotorua. Spacious lounge and a small gym – the location also has the advantage of being much less sulphurous smelling than in town. There was a good view from the terrace until the rain clouds rolled in – it then rained all night and was still pouring in the morning – more City Mist than City Lights. So we dug out the waterproofs for the first time this holiday and head off to the Hell’s Kitchen – a thermal park with lots of boiling mud pools, hot lakes, springs etc. The clouds of steam were useful to keep us warm in the rain. Had a slow leisurely lunch until the rain slowed down a bit and then wandered about Rotorua town – the public park has lots of thermal pools including a small pool where you can paddle in lovely warm water.

Wednesday 19th
The sunshine is back! Leave Rotorua and head south to Lake Taupo. Booked an apartment with a lake view balcony so imagined G&Ts looking over the lake – however you can only just see the lake over the top of the backpackers next door and the balcony is about 2 feet deep. Ah well! Found a nice old fashioned tudor style pub which served great food for supper – finished off sharing a ménage a trois! Still happily married - it’s a pudding made of strawberries, ice cream and vodka. There is not much else going on in Lake Taupo.
Peter’s sunglasses have bitten the dust. The lenses seem to be made of two sheets of plastic which have separated. The glue must have been eaten by a cocktail of insect repellent, suntan cream and sweat. Good excuse for some retail therapy. Wandered round the shops but couldn’t find any sunglasses but did find some new sandals. At least I can squint stylishly.

Thursday 20th
Today we continue our travels south towards the Tongariro National Park. We are staying at the Tongariro Crossing Lodge in a small town called ‘National Park’ (the local council naming committee were obviously not having a creative day). We have our own little chalet with bedroom, bathroom, lounge and a covered verandah. Some of the furnishing is quite unusual though - the lounge has the TV and fridge cunningly concealed in a 1930s drinks cabinet and there are two old wing back arm chairs and a chaise long. Met The Captain – a very friendly black cat.
Took full advantage of the free laundry – quite relaxing to do some domestic duties. Went to the shop to buy provisions for tomorrows walk. Made some ham and humus sandwiches – strange combination but I am sure they will taste fine on top of the mountain. Looking at the pile of food we should be ok for about a week.

Friday 21st
Up early for an 8 o’clock pick up to take us to the start of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing walk (or tramp as they call them in NZ). Touted as the best one day walk in NZ. Started about 8:30 and were soon heading up the side of the mountain and on through the red crater nestled between Mt Tongariro volcano which last erupted in 1926 and Mt Ruapehu which is still quite active and last sprayed out hot rocks in 1988 – but all the web sites assure us that the risk of any major activity is low. As you cross the far side of the crater you can see the Emerald lakes – which are bright turquoise blue/green due to the volcanic minerals in the water and steam rising from the sides of the valley. Headed down a long and slippery scree slope (thank goodness for study walking boots) where the rocks to either side are warm to the touch. Some of the young backpackers are sitting on them keeping warm as the wind up here is fierce and cold – we are at about 1900m. Lunch by the Blue lake – which is a much more tranquil and less noxious looking lake and then head out the other side of the craters to start the descent from the mountain. It is very very long way down – the whole walk is about 18km but 9km of it is downhill which takes about 2.5 hours. Glad to see the car park at the other end and sit in the sun until our coach arrives to take us back to National Park. Celebrate by having dinner at the Station restaurant which does surprisingly up market food for a town which in total only has 3 restaurants, 2 bars and a cafe. Julia then breaks the world record for falling asleep – only about 10 seconds after getting into bed.

Saturday 22nd

Up early again to drive down to Pipiriki – 30 mins on tarmac then 35 on winding gravel road. Here we joined an organised tour which took us on a Jet boat for 55 minutes through the impressive gorge of the Wanganui river. 100 years ago this river was a main artery for exporting wool and timber and for visiting European tourists and so was really busy. After the 2nd WW the NZ government gave parcels of land in this area to returning soldiers and paid them to clear the forest and start farms. The soil got badly eroded after the bush was cleared so the roads through the area kept getting washed out. The government kept repairing the road and spent 18 months building a bridge across one of the branches of the Wanganui river so as to extend the road, but then the depression of the 1930s hit. Many farmers left and the government decided to abandon the roads which quickly returned to bush. So now there are no roads but you can take a 40 minute walk from the river to the bridge which is now called the ‘Bridge to Nowhere’. Our guide had pictures of the bridge being built and from the sixties when it was covered in long grass. 25 years ago his parents started running tours to the bridge and he took over the business and even got married on the bridge. Sat on the bridge and had lunch – the remainder of the sandwiches that we lugged up Mt Tongariro yesterday!

After walking back to the river we took the jet boat half way back to Pipiriki and then transferred to canoes. The guide gave us detailed instructions.
1) this is a paddle
2) the person at the back can use the paddle to steer
3) when you go through rapids keep paddling
4) if you capsize hold on to the paddle
And we were off. I am glad to say that we managed to negotiate the rapids without mishap – unlike two of the other boats which capsized.
It took nearly three hours to paddle back. The sky clouded over and there were a few spots of rain. As we drove home there were occasional showers which then changed to steady rain which continued all evening and all night.

Sunday 23rd
Still raining heavily in the morning. We had planned on taking the mountain route to Napier but were advised not to by the chap at the hotel due to the weather. Instead we took the main road. Not a great drive due to the rain but arrived in Napier safely.

Monday 24th
We had planned to hire bicycles today but it is still raining! There has been more than 8 inches of rain over the last 36 hours but the forecast says it will clear up later. Julia picked out a half day wine tour and arranged for us to be picked up at the motel later.

Put on our waterproofs and drove into Napier city centre for follow a walking tour in the guide book.
Most of Napier was destroyed in the 1930s by an earthquake and was rebuilt in the Art deco style. The rubble from the old building where bulldozed onto the beach and formal gardens laid out.
Peter also stopped at the barber so is looking less ragged.

Back to the motel to be picked up in a minibus for our wine tour. We joined up with a group that were on a full day tour who were just finishing their lunch. We stopped at four wineries and had 6 or 7 wines to try at each stop – a very pleasant way to spend a damp afternoon.

Tuesday 25th
The sun has returned and we head south to Wellington. Quick lunch stop in Palmerston North. This is mostly farming country and the roads are wonderfully quiet.

Wednesday 26th
Went shopping in Wellington this morning and found Peter some sunglasses to replace his pair. Good excuse for Julia to also buy a pair and also a lovely ( Peter – she means expensive ) fine merino wool top. Although the weather is now fine and sunny we are in the Windy city - they have 187 days per year here where gusts of wind get over force 7! - so a new woolly is more a necessity than an extravagance. Took the cable car and drove to Victoria Peak to get fine views across the city then went for a drive around all the ins and outs of the harbour. Wind blowing strongly to whip up the waves - so really looking forward to the boat ride to South Island tomorrow.

Thursday 27th
Up early to catch the ferry. Bit of a problem at the terminal because the car rental company had booked us as foot passengers and forgotten to book the car. A very helpful lady in the kiosk added the car onto the booking whilst I called the rental company. The rental company then confirmed the booking on their system and we were good to go. Rather a long queue of cars behind us by this time!

And so on to South Island.

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Comments

[Sally Williams]

memories come flooding back
wow - reading your blog brings back all my memories from my NZ tour all those years ago - don't recall quite so much rain though until I got to South Island!!