Rotorua

Our first encounter with Rotorua..the delightful smell! Thanks to all the geothermal activity in the area, it absolutely stinks of eggs. Rotten ones. Yuk!

As I am still feeling under the weather, we try to seek out some nice low key ways to pass the time. We stumble across the sky gondola, and after the great ride up the one in QT we decide this will be just perfect. Well, it was somewhat more windy in Rotorua than QT...and halfway up, our irrational thoughts began to question why no one else was on the gondolas.....The trip up seemed to take forever and in this time we manage to joke about numerous scenarios involving the gondola being blown down. Just perfect when you know that is your transport back down again! The journey up wasn’t as scenic as in QT, but there was still a nice view over Rotorua from the top.

As we had missed out on doing the Luge in QT....Andy decided we must have a go here! (The first Luge ride in NZ) So, what is it? Well....you sit in a 3 wheel cart, that uses a unique breaking and steering system – giving the rider full control – as you hurtle down a winding hilly track on Mount Ngongotaha. Kind of like tobogganing/bobsleighing.

There are 3 tracks to choose from – we must first travel the “scenic route”. Perfect...we’ll just cruise down, at a nice steady pace. On completing this track, the adrenaline is in full flow, and Andy is eager to move onto the intermediate run. I would have been quite happy to do the scenic run again....but Andy convinces me otherwise. So, off he goes! Any promises of going down together soon go out the window, and he has disappeared out of sight! I, on the other hand, took a more conservative approach, and didn’t quite manage to fully let go of the brakes (much to andys amusement).

So following that trip down...Andy is of course ecstatic to move onto the advanced track. I am more dubious. To sum it up, Andy manages to practically leave the track (After deciding not to bother following the ‘slow down’ instructions) and I almost manage to leave the cart when I land rather bumpily from one of the drops! To think small children are let loose on this thing! All in all, it was great fun (except the chair lift rides between each run – a bit too slow and shakey for our liking)

We also took a trip to Kuirau Park, a volcanic area that is now encompassed by a public park where you can get close to the crater like pools of boiling mud (and be engulfed in that nice rotten eggy steam...mmm)

On our final day we visited the Te Puia Museum for a guided tour - we visited the maori carpentry college, where students spend 3 years learning and perfecting the art of maori woodwork/carving, watched ladies make the traditional maori grass skirts, visited a kiwi bird observatory, walked around the geothermal pools and geysers (and watched them erupt) and finally watched a traditional maori tribe musical performance and haka warrior dance performance. A brilliant tour as we managed to see such a variety of different things!

Our last stop in Rotorua – pretending to be a hamster aka Zorbing! After many recommendations from friends, we had this on our list of ‘must-dos’ . After deciding on what type of ride to take....We were driven to the top of the track (this alone was an experience – a boy racer driver armed with a 4 wheel drive. Its all very well to say “hold on tight” but only if there is anything to hold onto!!) After practically falling off our seats, we tumble out the car and are straight away instructed to “Super man” into the ball. Yes, that is exactly what it sounds like. Jump – superman style – into the ball! Once we are both inside, the ball is topped up with water, we’re zipped in – its 1, 2, 3 and away!! WOO! SO much fun!! I can now say, it feels like sliding around at the bottom of a waterfall! The best adrenaline rush, and laughter ensued for the next 30 mins! A brilliant way to end our time in this eggy place!

Next on the agenda – Waitomo near the west coast, and hopefully some caving/black water rafting adventures! Recommended by Chris (Andys older bro), we have booked ourselves onto an abseiling/caving/blackwater rafting/climbing adventure with “Rap, Raft and Rock”. On arriving at their offices, we are informed that usually there are 6 people on each tour, plus the guide, however the other people on our trip have cancelled, so we shall be having our own personal tour! We are introduced to Barbara (she is from Germany, but after 2 years of living in NZ – she sounds like a genuine kiwi!) who will be looking after us.

First we are taken to a location 10 mins away - their base near the cave entrances, where we will be kitted out with all our gear. After layering on our wetsuits, wellys, abseiling harnesses and helmets with torches (now we really look the part) we set off to get started. First we must learn to control our abseiling harnesses. This is when it sinks in that we will actually be abseiling 27m down into a cave....with no other way out, except to climb. Hmm a little daunting. After mastering control of the rack on our ropes (“so....I am completely responsible for my descent to the rocks below???”) Its time to begin! First we are clipped onto the safety ropes for the steep walk down to the cave opening (we are casually told, that if we fail to ensure we are clipped in at all times, and happen to slip on the track, we will probably die from the fall.....Great) and within minutes Andy has sat back in his harness, stepped off the platform and is dangling above the mouth. It all happens very quickly....but he is soon well on his way to the bottom. As soon as he put his feet on the ground, Barbara beckons me over to prepare for my journey down. Its all very surreal! I am relived when i have reached the bottom and Andy and I are back together again. He tells me about the terrible discomfort during his journey down (the abseiling harness really isn’t very male-form friendly) and I describe the numerous times i managed to bump off the wall! We watch in awe as Barbara whizzes down! Over the next four and a half hours, we sit in complete darkness amazed by the glowworms surrounding us (especially when Barbara makes a loud noise and they all react by suddenly glowing brighter – just as if someone turned on the fairy lights), pick up giant rubber rings – jump onto them, turn off the head torches and woosh down the water rapids (this is the blackwater rafting part). Great fun until – caught by a particularly powerful rapid, i manage to fall out of my ring and get carried downstream (which as you can imagine, in pitch black darkness is TERRIFYING!). My response of course is to just scream “HELP!!!! I CANT STOP!!!!!” at which point, i hear Andy whizz past me, also detached from his rubber ring – and in pain after bouncing over rocks. We really thought this might be the end. After grappling around frantically trying to grab hold of anything, i catch my arm on a rock and andy comes to a halt on some rather sharp rocks! At this point some head torches switch on around us. Oh yes, it has been a joke! We now realise, we aren’t on our way down a black hole, but we have reached the end of this rapid and cant go any further, A hand appears out of the darkness, grabs my arm and hauls me up. Barbara thinks this is hilarious! Andy clambers up from the rocks. To top it all off – we have another tour group sitting, watching us! Great, we have been the entertainment for the morning. We spend the rest of our time caving, tackling ridiculously small cracks in the rocks that we are SURE we will never fit through! Andy manages to get his welly caught and takes a tumble off some high rocks (giving Barbara and I the fright of our lives!) After spotting some rather large eels, and climbing along the runnel walls back to the cave opening (we had been taken 800m into the depths of the caves) We climb our way back up to daylight! Such an amazing experience. Very challenging, quite scary at times – but definitely worth doing. After a nice hot shower and a cuppa soup our adventure is over! We were so fortunate to have a private guided trip and Barbara was brilliant!

Unfortunately on our return to the campsite...we realised that Rodney wasn’t very well. He had lost all power! After numerous attempts to ‘wiggle’ the power cable – we weren’t able to fix the problem. Our neighbours (Brenda and Brian from Nottingham – like friendly grandparents who came to nickname us “The Newlyweds”) came out to try and help, offering their power socket to try. No luck! Of all the days for things to go wrong, this Sunday on Labour Day weekend was one of the worst! On phoning the campervan company, we’re told that we cant get it seen to until Tuesday as this is the public holiday! Great – no heating/lights/power to charge things until then. We made the best of this bad situation and adapted for example making the bed when it was still daylight outside...

We decide to drive to Tauranga in the hope a busy town will increase our chances of getting Rodney repaired!

Tauranga
We stayed at a holiday park on Papamoa Beach – just down the coast from Mount Manganui. Our pitch backs onto the beach – beautiful! It is here we make a common camping mistake for the first time (I say common, perhaps just to make ourselves feel better) Having tried our power hook up one last time, to no avail, we decide to head to the shops to stock up on food. We have driven about 50m away from the pitch, when Andy notices in the rear view mirror, a young guy running after us.....clutching the end of our power lead. Yes – we had driven away with it still plugged in...and it was now trailing across the campsite (its DEFINITELY broken now). Somewhat red faced, Andy jumps out....thanks the guy...grabs the lead and we scoot off. Oh and thanks to the young guy shouting after us, we had managed to gather a small audience. A little bit embarrassing! We looked like such novices....not the hardcore, pro campers we have become.

Hallelujah! On Tuesday our campervan company sends us in the direction of a garage who should be able to help. They then direct us towards an electricians who can mend Rodney! Finally – a solution! Not only does the company manage to fix the issue (wear and tear on the vans socket, plus some water that has crept into it) but we meet some of the loveliest/friendliest local kiwis!

After all electrical power is restored, we decide to head to the Coromandel Peninsula for a couple of days, before our return to Tauranga to meet a friend from back home.

On our trip up the Coromandel, we first head to Hot Water Beach, the only beach (that we know of) where you can dig a hole in the sand, at low tide, let it fill with the hot water and hop in! Your own personal hot tub! Unfortunately, the website we had checked tide times on...seemed to have made a very big mistake. Publishing the high and low tides the wrong way around! (We should have followed our instincts when we thought it looked wrong...) So, we missed the opportunity to create our own spa. Disappointing! The beach is really lovely and picturesque though. We then head along to Cathedral Cove and Stingray Bay. As it is a rare, boiling hot day, the 40 min walk to Cathedral Cove is certainly a test on our dwindling fitness levels! (Especially the point in the walk, where someone has scored out the “2” from an estimated time for part of the walk. “5” mins is very different to “25” mins!! It is worth it though. Not only is the naturally formed cove stunning, there is also a natural water fall, which people seem to be using to shower off under after being in the sea! On our return walk, we take a small detour to Stingray Bay – where we are pretty certain we see 2 stingrays hovering near the shore line – amazing!

The ice creams and bottle of coke we consume on our return to the van are quite possibly the most delicious things we’ve ever had! (Its amazing how desperation can change your tastebuds)

After enjoying the beautiful beaches of the coromandel its time for us to return to Tauranga to meet with a friend from back home - Andrew Nelson who is working as a doctor there.

After a catch up (its nice to hear a familiar voice/accent!) and delicious Moroccan dinner our time in Tauranga has come to and end.....We must now get to the depot to say goodbye to Rodney

The Final Stop - Manukau City, South of Auckland.
We mark the end of our journey in Rodney with the bottle of fantastic Malbec wine that Paul and Becky gave to us, all the way from Argentina! Delicious! We underestimate how long it will take us to return to backpack living, and at midnight we are still trying to condense our ‘stuff’ down to fit back in the bags. Its amazing how much ‘stuff’ you acquire!
Sat 31t October – time to drop Rodney off

Its a sad day as we have become somewhat attached to our van. After covering nearly 7000km, this really has been the drive of a lifetime! We’re 100% certain that this is the best way to explore NZ.

After a slight mishap navigating to the Auckland city depot (We somehow end up north of Auckland in Riverhead – ironically our destination for LATER that day, to visit family friends) we return Rodney to the ‘mothership’ and pick up a small car instead for our Northlands trip! Its small....its white, so of course we name it Sheepy. The Sheepy adventure begins. It takes a while to get used to driving an automatic – and we both agree we prefer a manual....but it is nice to be a bit lazy when driving, especially on the winding country roads which normally meant a gear change every 30 secs or so in Rodney!

Next stop – Riverhead! We are fortunate to have close family friends living here in Auckland who have kindly invited us to stay with them. After successfully directing ourselves to their house, Wing and Esther soon whisk us out for a delicious lunch! Following this we also visit a huge Gannet Colony at Muriwai Beach – where it is ridiculously windy! Its amazing how the birds all appear to sit in rows on the rocks...and also tuck their head under their wings for wind protection. Very clever! We then move onto a winery, and try a fab range of chardonnays, reislings and sauvignon blancs! Finally, we swing by the Takapuna golf course where Wing and Esther’s son works to say hello! A busy day, but the best is yet to come....we are being treated to a trip to the Auckland Sky Tower! We had a delicious dinner at the speciality sea food buffet, and i have to say Andy is allot more adventurous – he tries every possible clam/shell/oyster/fish on offer – and loves them all! The highlight for me has to be the ice cream bar – where you serve yourself from a huge variety of different flavours. We finish eating just as the sun is setting around us and head to the observation deck to admire the 360 degree night views. Stunning! It is absolutely stunning!

We were so lucky to be given a personal tour of the local area and also revelled in having some home creature comforts for the night.

We spent the next few days driving up to the northland. Our first stop was Paihia on the north east coast. It is here that we check into a 4 person dorm – and manage to wake up our 2 dorm mates dropping our bags off – oops. Paihia has a lovely seaside resort feel, with the hostel just a 5 minute walk from the beach. The perfect way to enjoy the Sunday papers! We manage to introduce ourselves to our dorm mates – Barney and Mark (from the uk!) and spend the evening at a bar with them (open mic night – and they’re in a band) and also a lovely chap called Tim from Amsterdam. A great night out! Highlights being – the german guy with a recorder, who is keen to play with Barney and Mark (they aren’t so keen), the guitarist/singer who runs the night who insists on doing shots of tequila at regular intervals through the night. (6 or 7?? Plus lager...and he stills plays/sings amazingly well!) , the hippy American lady who plays the guitar and dances as if no one is watching (only, the whole bar is watching), the drunk/giddy hanger-on who insists on dancing with hippy guitar lady and almost tumbles many times and finally, the lovely Maori lady we meet at the end of the night – she is a tattooist and we all somehow decide we should DEFINITELY get tattoos the next day – and each take a business card. (The power of alcohol) Needless to say, the tattooing did not happen. A great night is had by all!

The next day, we set off to Cape Reinga and the 90 mile beach. A long ol’ drive! Stopping part of the way up, we walk down to the 90 mile beach and watch a couple of vehicles speed along it. After hearing that many vehicles manage to become stuck in the quick sand or misjudge the tide times and are caught out, we have decided to stick to the roads. The beach is stunning and stretches as far as we can see! Sadly the weather deteriorates as we near the north, and by the time we reach Cape Reinga it is raining. Nevertheless, we walk out to the lighthouse and are amazed by the swirls of water where the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean meet.

Heading back south, we are exhausted by the end of the drive. It is particular exhausting driving where all the roadsworks are – there is a temporary speed limit of 70km/hr – Madness – only if you have a death wish. We manage a max of 35km! On arriving at the hostel in Ahipara, just outside of Kaitaia – we see two familiar faces in the distance – Barney and Mark! They too have been to Cape Reinga and the beach and let us crash in their cabin for the night! Bonus. A nice chilled out evening, we all watch The Beach (good prep for the S.E. Asia part of our adventure). Having sent our sleeping bags back to the UK on departing company with Rodney – we have a rather chilly night in the cabin! Cotton sleeping bag liners really aren’t a good alternative. Still, its nice to be in familiar company again!

We have one more night in Northland and decide to spend it at Whangarei. A medium sized town – nothing much to mention. For us it was time to re-pack the ol’ rucksacks and prepare to be ‘true backpackers’ again.

We decide to spend a few nights in Auckland City before returning to Riverhead to stay until we depart NZ. Our hostel room has fantastic views of the Skytower – particularly beautiful when it is all lit up at night! We explore the city walking the grounds of the city art galleries, myers park, albert park, Auckland university and finally finish off the day going to see This Is It! - Phenomenal. On our second day, we take a short ferry ride over to Devonport. A beautiful town, it has a real ‘seaside resort’ feel about it, and some of the most amazing houses! We take the short walk up Mount Victoria – which offers brilliant panoramic views looking back on Auckland City! After a delicious fish and chips (or should that be ‘fush and chups’? ) dinner, we hopped back on the ferry to catch another film (Its great – when you buy cinema tickets, they give you a voucher to go back for £5 each! A great incentive to get up to date with the latest movies. The film of choice is Julie and Julia...such a great title (and not a bad film!). Finally, we try a new cuisine for dinner – Korean. After giving the staff much entertainment with our confused faces on reading the menu, and looking puzzled when the complimentary side dishes arrive. (“oh my god – did we accidentally order 5 extra dishes?!? How much will this cost?!?) We have one of our yummiest meals yet! (Although still not sure about the ‘kimchi’ – odd flavoured cabbage)

Our final few days in Auckland are spent back at Wing and Esthers house in Riverhead – and we are absolutely spoilt with their hospitality! We have hong kong style Chinese for lunch, a fantastic home cooked Chinese dinner with the best roast pork! We visit a huge flea market at Avondale racecourse – with a fantastic selection of fruit and veg, have a delicious Korean noodle lunch and visit places we would never have been able to reach ourselves – Browns Bay and Long beach. We even get to visit the golf range and hit a few balls, courtesy of their son Wing Kei! The grand finale is a Japanese dinner – our first taste of Japanese food. Andy definitely exceeded himself with his adventurous attitude to trying new things (I am a little more cautious) A fantastic culinary experience and a great way to finish our time in NZ! It is so lovely to have ‘home’ comforts for our last days. It is hard to believe that our time in NZ has come to an end. In some ways it feels like we were there for a lifetime, but in others it feels like only a few days ago we arrived into Christchurch and didn’t know what the next 2 months would entail. It has been a brilliant adventure – and we have experienced so many different things. ...Although we are sad to leave the familiarity of NZ, we’re excited for what Australia has to offer.....(not to mention a nice bit of sunshine!)

It’s time to go Down Under! x