Documenting some of my travels during my time in New Zealand! I promise nothing in terms of regularity or content because I have a hard time remembering to post. Trying my damnedest for this true travel section of the trip.
This morning, I had booked into a scenic nature cruise with Black Cat Cruises, so I packed up my things, checked out, and headed into town. I found a few more very French looking buildings as I was walking around to kill some time.
The cruise was lovely - about two hours on the harbour and on to the Pacific. We saw gorgeous scenery, seals and sea lions, penguins, and Hector's dolphins!
There were a couple of seal pups playing in the rock pools, which was fun to see as well! If you look really closely in the first photo in the set below, there are about four penguins swimming across the top of the water. Some of them may have ducked under in the photo.
Hector's dolphins are one of the world's smallest dolphins. They're also really speedy and didn't stick around to play as much as the bottlenose dolphins I saw on another trip, so I didn't get too many photos! Even though there were less than 15 people on the boat, people were really jostling for space on the bow, so I decided to head up to the upper deck at the stern for a bit more space. It may have meant that I didn't get to see the dolphins up close as much, but it was better than tripping over people! The dolphins are also classes as nationally vulnerable, which is one step away from endangered. The estimated population is 10,000 and shrinking every year. They estimate that they lose 4% of the population each year and only regain 2% with new births.
After the cruise, I headed for a quick lunch before taking the scenic route back to Christchurch. There's a high route out of Akaroa to Little River with great views of the peninsula, with the harbour on one side and the ocean on the other.
I also stopped off at Barry's Bay Cheese to taste and buy some cheese. That was a lovely detour! Once I got back on the main highway into and out of Akaroa, I decided to detour again to the more scenic route through Governor's Bay and Lyttelton into Christchurch. I'm staying with my friend Amanda for the first few days, so I headed to her place, settled in a bit, then off to my regular Thursday Zumba class! I'm trying to do as many of my regular activities as possible for the week that I'm back in Christchurch, as well as fitting in all the things I haven't done yet! Wish me luck. Again, probably not daily posts at this point, but I'll share when I have some photos to show!
Still more photos to come of the Giant's House! It is recognised both as a garden of national and international significance.
On top of the gardens, there was also a gallery of some of her non-mosaic art as well as a video about the Giant's House. It's honestly astonishing to me that this is someone's home, that someone lives there all the time. Evidently, the mosaic pieces almost glitter at night because they're obviously not all flush with each other, so they all catch the light at a different angle.
After wrapping up an incredible morning at the Giant's House, my next stop was the Akaroa Lighthouse. The lighthouse used to be out on the Akaroa Heads, but it was moved into town in 1980 after it had been decommissioned. The Akaroa Lighthouse Preservation Society was worried it would be demolished.
There's also a great view of the wharf from the lighthouse, and luckily some blue skies at the time! Next up was a short drive and short walk to Newton's Waterfall. I can only imagine what this track would have been like immediately after the big storm and the flooding the other week because it was still very wet.
After, I headed for some lunch and got to pet two cute kitties! One was sleeping the window of the restaurant, and the other was hanging around the outdoor tables, absolutely begging for scraps. But we can't begrudge the cuteness!
At this point, with only about an hour and a half before they closed, I headed over to the Akaroa Museum. It's amazing how different people do museums differently - someone reviewed it saying "it's a really small museum, but a good place to spend thirty minutes." After thirty minutes in the first small room, I had to speed through the rest of it, just reading bits that I found a bit interesting so I didn't miss anything! There were actually three buildings - the museum, an old homestead, and the courthouse, which contained a cinema playing a film about the history of Akaroa.
I actually don't know if I have said this yet, but Akaroa is an old French settlement, so there's still quite a lot of French influence in the buildings and the culture. A lot of the roads are all Rues, and there are many French restaurants and buildings.
I also really enjoyed that the notice board in town is a mini replica of the lighthouse! Earlier in the day, I had bought a baguette from one of the patisseries, so I headed to the store to grab some brie and some wine! That was dinner - baguette with brie and peppers with hummus! It's like I'm back in France 😂 Overall, it was a beautiful day! Still more to come tomorrow, since I don't have to worry about a long travel time!
The rain held off today, a bit of cloud that the sun kept trying to peek through all day, to moderate success. I had a pretty good day today and took a LOT of photos! Normally, I choose the photos I want to include before I start writing the blog post, but it's a bit daunting to go through them today... wish me luck! It's looking like it might be a two-post kind of day. We'll start easy - here's a view from the holiday park where I'm staying.
First, I headed into town to get a nice view of the bay. I wandered around for a little while, seeing some great sculptures and memorials before heading for a nice cup of coffee from a local cafe. It was warm and dry enough to sit outside!
My next stop is where I took almost all of the photos for today, and it will definitely be a two-post day. There are too many cool things to share! It's a place called the Giant's House - so named because a young child many years ago looked up and said, "That house is too big for people, it must be for a giant." It is someone's home turned into a full collection of mosaic art and sculpture. It all started when the artist, Josie Martin, was digging out the yard to create the garden and found a bunch of old china underground. There was no rubbish service then, so the old china was just buried. She collected it, but didn't want to throw it away because it was a beautiful representation of the history of the home.
She was already an artist, but had never really done mosaic art. She had a broken front stoop and two international artists coming to stay, so she thought she may as well try her hand at mosaic to fix the step, and so this garden was born. She created the whole garden itself from overgrown plants and weeds and created all the sculptures, walkways, and art fixtures.
It is really something else. Everywhere you turn, there are new things to look at, a new view of the harbour, and a new detail to catch your eye.
The section photographed above is called Place des Amis, and it's an assortment of characters (who all have names and personalities) sitting together on a bench. They all double as a chairs themselves, but it's hard to take a selfie while sitting on the characters.
Every walkway had great character, as well. The berms were all decorated, various tiles throughout the garden as well.
Unbelievably, I've already run out of photos for this post, so I will carry on in the next one!
I spent the morning and early afternoon in Kaikōura, which allowed me to get a nice walk and breakfast in, then chat and watch tv with the fam for the first time in a few weeks.
I took way too many photos of the mountains with the snow this morning, so here are a few more 😂
After getting a very tasty breakfast burger, I saw this new mural - I don't think it was here the last time I was in Kaikōura in early January! It does say it was painted in '25, so I looked it up, and it looks like it was just installed within the last week or so! It still looks so clean, so I figured it had to be relatively new.
As I was watching and chatting with the fam, one of the hostel cats came up for a cuddle. The other one sat with me for a while last night, after I had already posted for the day. So, enjoy these two chunkers!
The rest of the day was spent driving to Akaroa - I really didn't stop much because I wanted to get there before it got too dark, and I just barely made it before the sun set. On my way back to Christchurch on Thursday, I should have plenty of time for scenic stops! I was bummed though, because if there had been a safe pull-off spot, I would absolutely have stopped for a photo at the top of the hill before descending to Akaroa. The full moon with a bit of a hazy pink background and slight cloud cover over the bottom of the moon? Gorgeous. I did pull over into a picnic area, but it had no view down the hill! Too many tall trees. So you have no photos from after I left Kaikōura for today. You'll have to wait until tomorrow! Hopefully the weather holds out - potential for rain tomorrow, unfortunately.
And so, my North Island road trip has come to an end 😢 I'm still on a road trip for a couple more days, but my main activity for the day was the ferry ride from Wellington back to Picton. I didn't have to check in for the ferry until around noon, so I decided to go out for breakfast. Being at the tail end of the roadie means that I don't necessarily want to buy too many more groceries, and I am just about out of breakfast foods. But it worked out, because there's a cafe I have been wanting to try since the first time I went to Welly, but it is always so packed.
The cafe is called Neo Cafe, not even a block away from the hostel where I was staying. I think maybe it was one of Laurel's suggestions? So I figured, being a Monday morning, hopefully it wouldn't be too busy. Luckily, there were open tables, though it was way busier than I expected for a Monday morning after standard business hours began. I got myself a lovely chilli scramble on sourdough. I didn't realise the photo was so blurry 😂 After, I went for another stroll by the waterfront where I read another chapter of my book while considering getting another coffee. I resisted the impulse, but only just.
Then, it was a quick refuel for my car before checking in to, and then loading onto the ferry. Contrary to the number of photos you see below, I mostly just enjoyed the ride, spending most of the time outside in the fresh air. It was a bit brisk, though, and I needed a break for lunch anyway, so I availed myself of the onboard cafe. I also read some more of my book. Maybe I will finish both of them after all?
After arriving in Picton, it was straight on the road to get to Kaikōura so that I wasn't spending too long driving in the dark. I was pleasantly surprised though - the ferry got in earlier than they stated in the confirmation and the drive didn't take as long as I was expecting either. So I got into Kaikōura around 6:30, with beautiful views of the sunset, full moon, and stars above snowcapped mountains on the way! I snagged this photo of the view outside the lodge, even though it's a bit shaky.
This morning, after a lovely coffee, "froached eggs" (a sort of combo between fried and poached!), and toast, I headed off as Eileen and Ray were heading to church. I decided to stop at Papaitonga Scenic Reserve to do a short walking track.
It was a nice short walk through the bush. It was funny because there was a sign right at the beginning that said something along the lines of "track condition is poor, use caution." Although a bit muddy, the track was in great condition, so it was very confusing. I especially liked the steam coming off of the wet boards in the sun, and the many Tūī flying and singing in the trees!
Once I got to Welly, I decided to head straight out to the Mount Victoria Lookout before checking into my hostel. You can walk there, but to walk across the city and up the hill seemed to much for me today when I was already planning to get a bunch of steps in. So, I drove up and snagged a few pictures of the city from above.
Afterwards, I checked in and had a quick lunch at the hostel before heading out for a walk along the waterfront. It's funny, because every other time I have been to Wellington, I have never continued the waterfront walk behind Te Papa, because Te Papa is usually my destination. So, I had no idea the Wellington sign and the man were back there! You're supposed to stand in for the I, but although I took a picture for a family of four, they did not extend the same courtesy to me 😂 And, to be fair, the lighting wasn't great when someone was standing there anyway.
I had forgotten that I had booked a tour of the Beehive, the parliament building, when I was last in Wellington, because I got no further confirmation information, so I ended up booking a late afternoon matinee of a musical at Circa Theatre - 3 for 3 in trips to Welly and trips to the Circa Theatre. I ended up canceling my Beehive tour because I wouldn't have enough time to do both and only one of those things cost actual money.
The musical was very funny - it was a locally written musical about the 2012 change to the Give Way rules in NZ. Between 1977 and 2012, you had to give way to the far side of traffic (essentially, those turning right). For my American friends, that would be like giving way to people turning left - truly chaotic. And yet, the main conflict of the musical centered around people who fought to keep the status quo (until they wanted to change the spelling of Wanganui to Whanganui and the opposition got distracted 😂). My one real complaint was there was unnecessary and extraneous use of smoke effects - I suppose it's something to be said for the smog of traffic congestion, but it didn't really feel purposeful or necessary. I did really enjoy that the pre-show, intermission, and post-show playlist had songs entirely revolving around cars or traffic. The ones I noted down included: Car Wash, Green Light by Lorde, Shut Up and Drive by Rihanna, Highway to Hell, Life is a Highway, and On the Road Again. After the show, I headed for a burger and fries from Lucky Chicken before going back to the hostel to catch up on the blog. I also just managed to watch the end of John Wick 4 without realising it was the last one until the very end when the credits rolled, so I suppose that ruins that series for me. Last night in the North Island tonight 😢It's so hard to believe that it's all coming to an end! I take the ferry tomorrow afternoon, with a few stops before heading to Christchurch for the final countdown 😢
Did I already say that it's terribly confusing that Whanganui is not pronounced with an f sound at the beginning? Anyway. The weather today was so much better - sunny, clear, and a nice chill in the air. I was only staying the one night, so I checked out of the hostel before spending most of the day in Whanganui. I went for a walk along the river, crossing over at the first bridge, and changing direction.
Lucky I did cross over and turn around too, because it meant that I stumbled across a market that I had heard vague mumblings of, but had forgotten to look into.
The market was lovely - lots of different stands, some tasty-looking food, and even a few tempting souvenirs. I'm trying not to buy too much because who knows how I am going to get it all home!
After I walked back from the market, I hopped in the car to head to Virginia Lake Reserve, one of the recommendations I had received in New Plymouth. The car park was a bit crowded because it was such a beautiful Saturday. Turns out, there was also some kind of race happening around the lake too, though that started a bit later. I got to visit another free-flight aviary, which was lovely. I do like to be around the birds. There were also several sulphur-crested cockatoos (my faves) in another non-accessible section because they bite.
On the path around the lake, there was a stone snake - painted stones that they are trying to continue adding to to get all the way around. I snagged a picture of a few cute ones! Also, plenty of beautiful views, sculptures, and structures.
Terrifyingly, there was this entire gaggle of very aggressive birds that were not shy in demanding to be fed. As soon as I turned the corner, they absolutely turned on me and came running straight up, honking all the while. I literally backed off, hoping they would stop advancing, but they never did. I just tried to walk around them, so they started following me until the next victim came through.
My last stop at the reserve, and really in Whanganui, was the Winter Garden. This greenhouse also had a sculpture garden right outside with sculptures that were looking back at you, prompting you to ask yourself who was watching who. Quite clever, really!
While I was at the reserve, I also got to read another chapter or two of my book - I am kind of hoping to be able to finish both of the ones I have left before I leave for the US, but I'm not sure I'll quite get there at this rate. I haven't read nearly as much on the north island, probably because the weather has been so crap. Hard to sit on a bench and read for a while when its pissing down.
Unfortunately, no photo evidence, but I headed to Levin to stay with Ray and Eileen, arriving in the late afternoon. You may remember (or not 😂) that I met Ray and Eileen when we were staying in the same place in Murchison months ago. Eileen had given me her contact information and said I should reach out if I was in their neck of the woods, and I did! They were kind enough to invite me for dinner and to stay the night. I had initially planned to be in Wellington for the evening, but didn't want to have to drive another hour in the dark. Eileen and I went for a walk around the village while Ray practiced his coronet for an upcoming contest. The sun was setting, which was absolutely beautiful, especially with views of the mountains as well. I was then absolutely treated with a roast chicken dinner with plenty of roast and steamed veges, followed by cakes, ice cream, and chocolate over the course of the evening. It was so nice to be able to spend some time with them again, and it was incredibly kind of them to host me.
Today's weather was absolute rubbish, so not too much to report today. I stuck around for a while this morning in New Plymouth heading back to the Puke Ariki museum that I only barely stepped in yesterday. I spent a good few hours there this morning, and snagged a few pictures.
I always love when they have buildings within buildings - this one was pretty cool because there was an interactive digital "photo book" - the images were projected down from above, but you still flipped the pages like a real book. I also really enjoyed the recreation of a section of Project Reef off the coast of New Plymouth. There was also a whole section of Māori carvings that were just found when they dredged some wetlands. It makes me wonder what happened to the buildings these carvings would have been part of - was the town just abandoned, and the wetlands ate the buildings? Had they been taken apart and discarded?
I also loved watching several videos about the New Plymouth trumpeter who created a new mute that only changes the volume of the trumpet, not the pitch. After the museum, I headed out for some lunch. It was bucketing down at this point, so I got soaked walking over there. But I had a really delicious chicken caesar focaccia sandwich while the rain battered down.
After lunch, I drove the long way to Whanganui along the east coast. It absolutely poured for a fair amount of the drive, and because my feet were wet, they were really cold the whole time! I checked into my accommodation in Whanganui, and I have not left since. I took a shower, kept looking into transportation options for after I land in NY, and had a long chat with another of the guests here. Here's hoping the weather is okay tomorrow so that I can actually see a bit of Whanganui! I got a few recommendations from one of the other guests in the New Plymouth hostel, and I look forward to exploring!
This morning, when I finally woke myself up enough to pay attention to my surroundings, I opened the curtains to find that it was sunny and blue skies! Knowing that this could be my only chance, I quickly changed my clothes, hopped in the car, and drove back to Lake Mangamahoe to hopefully catch a glimpse of Mount Taranaki. Imagine my surprise when I had a view of the mountain basically the whole drive to the lake. I had no idea there were such clear sightlines because it has been so cloudy!
I skipped breakfast and coffee because I didn't know how long the clear sky would last, and thank god I did. From the time I got to the lake and it was still clear, it only took 40 minutes for full cloud cover to come back with no visibility of the mountain anymore. Here are a couple of shots from the first viewpoint, where there were no clouds in the sky.
By the time I got to the second lookout (a mere 600 metres away, which I drove to save time), there was already some slight cloud coverage forming. Here was the view yesterday from this lookout side by side with today, just zoomed in slightly more.
The first photo I took was at 9:26 AM, and the one below, which was the last one, was at 10:08 AM. It only took 42 minutes from when I got there for it to be completely obscured. So glad I skipped breakfast to hop straight in the car!
With the mountain now invisible, I headed back into town to grab some brekkie, opting to go for an eggs bene and cappuccino while I read my book! Then I headed to one of the museums nearby, only to get a reminder text from Erin that I was supposed to be joining a family video call, which saw me booking it from the museum back to my hostel to join in.
I almost headed back to the museum when the call was finished, but the weather was still so nice, so I ended up going to Pukekura Park instead. There's so much to see here - beautiful bridges, another waterwheel, a waterfall that turns on by the press of a button, a fountain that I am fairly certain does the same, and a lovely tea house with a yummy lemon, raspberry, white chocolate cake.
The best part, though, is that walking through the park brings you straight to Brooklands Zoo, which is part of the park. There are only a couple of enclosures, including otters, various monkeys, birds, farm animals, and reptiles. I especially love the free-flight aviary, where you are in with the birds. Plus, the squirrel monkeys were right outside the exit of the aviary!
On my way back through the park, I also found this flower that reminded me of an ice cream 😂
As I was walking back to the hostel, that is when the rain finally decided to come. Just a bit of a sprinkle, no downpour or anything, but enough that I decided to call it a day and stay in for a bit. I did end up going back out to run to the grocery store, where it decided to rain on me again, but stayed mostly dry. The evening was spent discussing at length with other guests at the hostel a variety of topics that stemmed from a conversation about American gun regulations, so that was very interesting. It was actually really enlightening, and one of them has given me a bit of a new perspective of what is going on in the US at the moment. Anyway, that's all for another time and another forum. It has dawned on me over the past few days how close to the end of my trip I am - I only have three more days in the North Island, which feels absolutely wild. Hard to believe this is all coming to an end soon 😢
You know how I said yesterday that today was probably going to be my best shot at a view of Mount Taranaki? Total bust - full cloud cover all day. I even drove out to the start of a trail I was contemplating doing. I ended up choosing not to because 1) it was longer than I had anticipated and I wasn't prepared and 2) there was literally no point in hiking uphill for 3 hours only to have a view of fog and cloud. So, I pivoted and headed to a few gardens instead. The first was Pukeiti - a garden renowned for its rhododendrons.
For those of you in the know, it is decidedly not rhododendron season. In fact, it is the one season that is not rhododendron season, because even winter sees the beginning of the blooms for the giant rhododendrons. I can only imagine how beautiful these gardens must be in the spring and summer. It was still really beautiful - I followed the Rhododendron Stroll first, then circled around to do the Valley of the Giants Walk. They both had panels of information about the plants themselves and some of the early botanists who named and redistributed some of them.
There were still some gorgeous flowers, sculptures, trees, water features, and views! I also enjoyed spending a bit of time listening to the soothing noises of the working water wheel.
After some lunch at the cafe at Pukeiti, I headed over to Lake Mangamahoe, where there would usually be a good view of Mount Taranaki on a clear day. Here was the view today. Really glad I didn't do a 5+ hour return hike based on this view. Beautiful mountain right? It's back there somewhere.
On the way back into town from Lake Mangamahoe, I stopped off at another garden - Tūpare. This used to be a private home and garden that is now owned and operated by the local council. It's built into a hillside, with many walking paths, different gardens, and lots of signs about the family who owned the property and the plants they planted. There was also a very friendly cat who allowed me to give a good long cuddle.
I headed back into town after Tūpare. I didn't mention yesterday, but I had to switch rooms in the hostel today. When I book, I always put a note requesting a bottom bunk - if they assign bunks, hopefully they take it into account, and if they don't, it's still always good to ask. Because I wrote in when I made the booking, the owner of the hostel very kindly upgraded me to a twin room last night because there were no bottom bunks available in the room I was meant to stay in. Tonight, though, I seem to be the only person in the shared room I was meant to be in, which means first choice of bed. Once I checked back in and exchanged my key for the new one, I headed back out for another walk along the coastal walkway.
I think that painting of Mount Taranaki might be the only view I'll get, unfortunately. I walked altogether too much today, and my feet are very sore. On my way back to the hostel, I headed to Three Sisters Brewery for some beer. I got myself a tasting paddle of four beers, and they were all very tasty.
I had a hazy IPA, an imperial red rye IPA, a feijoa peach ice cream smoothie sour (say that five times fast), and a nitro chocolate vanilla pastry stout. I think the red was my least favourite, but the other three were so good. I had an actual feijoa for the first time the other day, and I did not like it one bit. It is so fragrant that it tasted like I was eating soap or perfume. But something about it mixed with these other flavours was so good. And who doesn't love a good chocolate stout? I might even consider going back to try a few more of them - we'll see how the next few days go! The forecast for tomorrow and Friday is for rain, but we'll see what actually happens. Here's hoping it holds off!
This morning, I made sure to hit the Ohakune Carrot Adventure Park, the premier tourist destination in Ohakune 😂 For those that don't know, it all started with the giant carrot, then has been expanded into a whole park and leisure area with a full obstacle course, playground, and BBQ area with many statues of various root vegetables. Unfortunately, the giant carrot is surrounded by scaffolding at the moment, but still plenty to see!
Surprisingly, I actually already knew about the park because I watch Jolly's youtube videos, and they sponsored a new sculpture in the park and attended its grand reveal. Josh's last name is Carrott, and Ollie has written two different children's books about carrots under Josh's name, so it's all very fitting. There's even a gym in there! All orange as far as the eye can see.
On the way to New Plymouth today, I took the long way on the Forgotten World Highway, a scenic route with great views. I mean, honestly, almost the whole drive looks like the photos below.
I made a planned stop at Mount Damper Falls - it's an easy track, starting on private farm land before going into the bush. The falls are some of the tallest on the North Island, with a giant horseshoe of rock around them. On the road on the way to the falls and back out to the highway, I had to stop four times to let cattle by. It was very exciting.
My next stop was in the self-proclaimed Republic of Whangamōmona. In 1989, after the town was moved from the Taranaki District Council to the Manawatu-Wanganui Regional Council, they declared themselves an independent republic and elected their own president (sometimes the president is an animal). You can even get a passport from the Whangamōmona Hotel, which is where I stopped for some lunch. But first, one more beautiful scenic overlook.
After lunch, I carried on to New Plymouth, checking into my hostel before heading out for a walk along the ocean. They have a great walkway along the waterfront, and I only did a small section of it. As you can see, the sun was starting to set, so I headed back to the hostel for the evening.
The weather is looking clearest tomorrow, so I am going to try to catch a good glimpse of Mount Taranaki. Fingers crossed!
Probably no one will notice but me, but I have broken from my naming convention for travel days! But, to be fair, today didn't really feel like a travel day. I did technically move from Taupō to Ohakune today, but I spent the entire day in Tongariro National Park, so that's the focus of the post! First, I headed from Taupō to Whakapapa Village, which is about 1.5 hours away. For basically an hour of that drive, I was still following Lake Taupō - gives you an idea how big it is! I stopped at one of the scenic lookouts - there was an older couple with a camper having some breakfast, and they had great views!
Whakapapa Village is the starting point for several shorter tracks in Tongariro National Park. The most famous track is the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, but it is a 20.2 km (12 miles) one-way journey that takes 7-9 hours over many different types of terrain, and, honestly, that is just too much for me. So instead, I took several of the smaller tracks in the national park. I started with the Tawhai Falls walk, which is one of the filming locations for LotR, used for Gollum's Pool (spoilers, I go to another waterfall later that is also Gollum's Pool).
To actually get a good view of the waterfall, you did need to scramble on the rocks a bit, which was tricky and slippery with wet sand on your shoes! This was a short and easy track - 20 minutes return. I headed on to the visitor's centre to double check some information about the other trails, and got to see some great plaques, information panels, and videos.
My next track was my longest one of the day, a 2-hour loop track to Taranaki Falls. By happenstance, I started on the high track, which brought me to the top of the falls, then down and around. I could definitely see proof that this is a volcanic area in the very low-lying shrubs on the high track. There was basically no cover from wind or sun because nothing came above knee height. The falls were lovely, but there was a huge group of teenagers there at the same time as me, so I didn't stick around for too long. Plus, lots of other things to do today!
As you can see, there were some really great views of Mount Ruapehu, Mount Ngauruhoe, and Mount Tongariro as I was walking the high track. Plus, there were pockets of snow in the shaded areas that must not get much sun over the course of the day.
This is the view from the road - imagine seeing that all the time! My last trail in Whakapapa was the Mounds Walk - a short 20-minute return walk up one of the mounds with panoramic views. Scientists are still a bit undecided about how the mounds were formed. It definitely is a result of the volcanic eruptions in the area, but they're not quite sure of the specifics, whether it's because of the lava/mud rivers (can't remember what they're called), the buildup of ash and volcanic spew, or something else.
After this walk, I headed towards Ohakune, stopping in National Park Village on the way to see the Driftwood Kiwi, then heading on to the Makatote Viaduct to snap a quick pic of the bridge. After, I headed to my motel to check in. I think I might be the only guest in this motel tonight - I have not seen another person or car the whole time I have been here. Works for me! It means I have my shared dorm room all to myself tonight.
Once I checked in and threw some food into my face, I headed out to some of the Ohakune trails in the national park. First up was the Waitonga Falls Track, a 1.5 hour return to the falls. I won't lie, the actual falls were a bit disappointing, mostly because there really wasn't a good way to see them based on the shape of the river and the track. Based on google reviews, it looks like you'd have to really scramble along the riverbed (and maybe even across the river) to get a better view. What was really gorgeous, though, was the view of the mountains along the flat plain at the top with the reflective pools. So peaceful and so beautiful. On the way back to the car park, I took a few steps off trail and found another small waterfall, as well!
Next, I headed to another film location for LotR, Mangawhero Falls (Gollum's Pool & Ithilien). This is a very short track - 5 minutes return, with views of the falls from a viewing platform above. Beautiful view from the very top of the falls, too!
I did another short trail after this one, the Rimu Walk, but it was getting dark, so I didn't take any pictures. This is a 15-minute loop track through native bush. By the time that was finished (6 tracks in one day is enough for me), I was ready for dinner and relaxing. I headed out to a burger truck for a yummy chicken burger before heading back to the motel to relax. Ooh! I think I just heard a shower or sink, so there must be at least one other guest here! Real-time blogging 😂
Overall, it was such a beautiful, fulfilling day. I'm very thankful the weather turned around before getting to this point in the trip! The sunset and stars were beautiful this evening, as well, but the best views were happening while I was driving back, so I didn't take any photos. You'll just have to believe me!
I had another early (relative to usual 😂) morning, because I wanted to hit the farmer's market before my boat cruise this morning. The market was so lovely - great craft market stalls, lots of food options, and fresh produce. I wandered around the whole market before heading to the wharf to meet the boat, thinking that I might have some time after the cruise to return for a little treat.
The cruise was a 90-minute cruise across Lake Taupō to the Ngātoroirangi Mine Bay Māori Rock Carvings, a contemporary Māori artwork crafted using traditional practices. This piece is only accessible by boat. On the way, the skipper, Sarah, gave us lots of information about the lake, the Taupō area, and the volcanic and geothermal activity. My favorite joke she made, though, was as she was talking about how this area is about 1,000 years overdue for a noteworthy event. Essentially, she said that if there was another super volcanic event like the one that formed Lake Taupō many thousands of years ago, then the whole of the north island would be decimated, so not much reason for emergency plans in the event of volcanic activity. Then she said, "I like to think the reason New Zealand doesn't have any dangerous creatures, like lions, tigers, spiders, snakes, and crocodiles is because we are already full of existential angst of being responsible for ending the world as we know it, and that was enough." I had a good chuckle about that and then wrote it down in my notes app to remember to add it to the post 😂
As you can see, they also served us hot drinks and blueberry muffins! It was quite balmy out on the lake today, but the weather was so glorious. At the risk of sounding like I'm complaining, I was ready to head back for some lunch because my eyes were sore from the sun! I did hit the market again, and got myself some pork croquettes before heading back to the hostel for a late lunch. I headed out again around 2:30 to visit Wairakei Terraces hot pools. I then spent the next 4.5 hours plus hopping between the four hot pools.
The pools were all hot - at 33, 35, 37, and 40 degrees (91, 95, 98, and 104F), but you'd be surprised how chilly the 33-degree pool feels after the 40-degree one! It's adults only, so it was relatively peaceful (until people started cannonballing from the 40- to the 33-degree pool). I actually didn't mean to stay that long, but just as I was thinking of wrapping up, I got roped into a very long and very interesting conversation with another patron, spanning from the merits of living in Christchurch, to the importance of positive thought, to his all-meat and fat diet (what?), and everything in between. I finally extracted myself when I could feel the hunger setting in - I asked if he knew what time it was, and he said, "oh, probably 6?" I didn't say anything, but I knew it was way past then. Sure enough, 7:30! The rest of the evening has been dedicated to dinner, laundry, and a shower (in a non-broken stall this time!).
I've been out of work too long (no such thing) - I didn't realise what day it was all day long today. I had a great start to the day, starting at the Aratiatia Dam. The dam opens three times a day (four in the summer) for fifteen minutes, flooding the river bed with rapids. The first dam opening is at 10 AM, so I headed out that way to catch it. I got there about 15 minutes early to give myself enough time to get to the midpoint viewing deck to get a good view. It was a good thing I did, because more people came after me, and I might not have had a front row seat!
The resting water level was really low today, so it almost looked like there was no river down there, just rocks. Here are a few shots, including a side-by-side of pre- and post-dam release, and a 10x timelapse video of the water pouring in!
After a few minutes at the mid viewpoint, I decided to head up to the top viewpoint, which is the change in angle and perspective you see in those other photos! Only post-dam release for those ones. Once the dam gates had closed, I headed back down to the dam for a few pictures right at the top, as well.
My next stop was Huka Falls - there is a path between Aratiatia Dam and Huka Falls, but it's 2 hours one-way. I decided I would probably get enough steps in without it, so I drove over instead. Unfortunately, I think visiting Marokopa Falls and Huka Falls on consecutive days is probably a bit unfair to Huka Falls. There is simply no comparison after Marokopa Falls, and Huka Falls is an incredibly powerful, fast-moving, but very understated waterfall. I actually walked up, saw the fast-moving river, and thought, "that's not a waterfall, that's just a river." But, the falls are a few minutes on from the bridge. This is a stupid thing to say, as well, because it's nature in its natural state, but there aren't really any good viewpoints at Huka Falls either. Unless you take the jetboat that goes straight up to the base of the falls.
From the falls, 200,000 litres of water pour over the rock face every second. That's enough to fill five Olympic swimming pools every minute. So it is definitely an impressive waterfall in that regard. My next stop was a quick one, just a few minutes away, the Huka Honey Hive. This is the largest collection of NZ honey products for sale in NZ, as well as a live bee wall, informational panels, and a video about swarms. As I walked through, I also realised they were playing the Bee Movie!
Next up was Craters of the Moon, a geothermal area that is a popular tourist spot in Taupō. The main track is about 45 minutes, bringing you around to a variety of craters, cracks, and fumaroles (steam vents). There's some great information about the history of this place, and the ways human interference has changed it. For example, when there was a geothermal power plant put in in the late 80s, the temperature and amount of geothermal activity increased astronomically and changed the physical makeup of the area. This is mostly because the underground water pressure decreased, which allowed for more air, which led to boiling underground and more steam, which then collapsed the crust above it. Another cool thing I learned is that in the Taupō Volcanic Zone, the crust is generally about 15km thick, which is half as thick as the average thickness of continental crust.
There was also an optional viewpoint track, which added about 10-15 minutes to the walk and gave a birds-eye view of the geothermal area. After Craters of the Moon, I headed back for some lunch and to regroup. By this point, I had already walked 14,000 steps, so I am glad that I didn't add the 4-hour return walk to Huka Falls! After lunch, I headed out for a bit of a wander around Taupō. It's amazing how much different everything looks in the sun with blue skies!
First up was heading back to the lake's edge. I even stopped for a little bit to watch the hole-in-one attempts to reach the platform in the lake. The prize is $10,000, but it seems pretty tricky!
Right up next to the lake is the Tongariro South Domain, so I headed in to explore some of the statues and art pieces. I also had to snap that picture of the gorgeous view through the park. The last stop before camping out by the lake with my book is McDonald's. I just snapped a picture outside, but it is considered one of the world's best McD's, and the only one that features a decommissioned Douglas DC-3 plane, which is pretty cool. You can actually dine in the body of the plane!
I was pretty beat at the end of the day, so I called it a bit early, made myself some dinner, drank my chocolate milk stout from the brewery the other day, and watched the Great British Sewing Bee! Not a bad way to finish the day.
The sun finally came out in Raglan today! Although I was leaving, I did hang around for a little bit to enjoy a cup of coffee and a short walk along the water to finally see it in its glory.
On the road today, I took quite a long detour away from Taupō so that I didn't miss a few key things I knew I wanted to see. About two hours south of Raglan, I made a few stops. The first was at the Mangapohue Natural Bridge, a 17m high limestone arch that is the final remnant of an old cave system. It almost looks like there is a bridge under the bridge (or at least an arch under the bridge).
My next stop was Marokopa Falls, one of the most beautiful, unreal waterfalls out there! So continues the trend of putting too many photos of the same waterfall from different angles. There were two viewpoints on this walk - one had a really great rainbow, and the other had some great fronds in the foreground that make it feel very wild and prehistoric to me 😂
I mean, honestly! It's unreal. The last stop was at the Piripiri Caves. I should mention that all three of these are within about 5km of each other - it's a really beautiful stretch! The cave walk is only about 5 minutes to the mouth of the cave, and then a couple of flights of stairs down into the cave.
To get to this area, I had to pass by the Waitomo Caves, so I had definitely considered going there, but ultimately decided against it. I think I've seen enough glow worms at this point that I didn't need to dedicate the time to the tour - it would have meant arriving in Taupō after dark. The drive from the caves was another two hours to Taupō, getting in around 5pm. It was just enough time for me to head out for a short walk to see the lake, though it had started raining again by this point.
I can't wait to see the lake in the sunshine! Here's hoping I get the chance over the next few days. Then, it was back for dinner and the fastest shower of my life. The shower seems to be broken - it was the hottest shower I have ever taken, and I could not get the temperature to change. I thought it was going to burn my skin off 😂
The weather forecast absolutely lied to me today. Yesterday, it said that today would be a lower chance of rain. Absolutely fat chance, it rained nearly all day with varying degrees of strength. Although, it was not nearly as bad as the rain seems to have been in Christchurch, so at least I'm not home right now! I did still end up doing a few things today, heading first to the Raglan Museum.
For such a small community, this museum packs a punch. Even the first exhibit alone, the Bird Family Collection from Te Horea, is worth the price of entry. The photo above is a bad example of it, but I often wonder to myself how the archaeologists/excavators decide what is a tool and what is just a rock. Maybe they just assume that all rocks were tools and take them all? The ones above have pretty clear wear lines where rope would have been tied to attach these sinkers to the fishing line. But there are lots of pieces of rock in museums that are labeled as shards that came off while making weapons or fish hooks or something else. Surely not every shard of rock fits that bill. Hundreds of years later, there is probably a chip of basalt that just flaked off a big piece. Anyway, that's where my brain goes sometimes while looking at museum exhibits.
The other exhibits included some of the initial collection of the Raglan Museum, a replica post office, information about the bird life in the area, the men and women who served in WWI and WWI from the Raglan area, and the surfing history of the area. Gentlemen, imagine wearing that one-piece woolen swimsuit - can't imagine it would be very comfortable when wet, but men were not allowed to be shirtless in public then.
I also really loved reading about all of the sustainability efforts in Raglan, and how they encompass all facets of life. I almost described Raglan as a hipster town in my post yesterday, and I still think that description sort of fits. But hipster only in that, for some reason, being eco-conscious is still sort of a bit like counterculture. But it was really heartwarming to read, and I had a great conversation with the person working about all the initiatives.
After grabbing a coffee and then heading back for some lunch, I waited for a tiny bit of blue sky to head out to Bridal Veil Falls. That blue sky did not last, so it was still raining when I got to the falls, but I tried. I imagine that the river is probably a bit higher than usual, thanks to all the rain, but I could definitely be wrong. I think these falls are usually pretty strong anyway. Now is where we get to seeing lots of pictures from different angles of the same falls.
There are four viewpoints on this short track: one at the top of the falls, looking down the falls; one labeled the high viewpoint, which is still at the top of the falls, but looking towards them rather than down them; one in the middle of the falls; and one at the base of the falls on a bridge crossing the river. You can see the different pictures from the viewpoints in that order! They are stunning, and the rock formations on the cliff are the same kind of formation that make up Giants Causeway.
I was planning to head to a local brewery afterwards, not realising that it's an off-license place, which means they operate somewhat like a liquor store. They could still provide samples, because they had some on tap. If you had your own bottle, you could buy by the litre, but I didn't want to fuss around with that. I just grabbed a bottle of their passionfruit sour and chocolate porter to take away with me! I had very much intended to drink the porter today, because the weather seemed to fit it, but then I mistakenly grabbed the sour from the car, and that was that. It was very tasty! I caught a glimpse of that rainbow while drinking my beer and playing my daily heardle games. It didn't last too long before the rain started again. Touch wood, the forecast for the next few days is finally looking promising, so fingers crossed for me!
Before leaving Auckland today, I hit the grocery store and the Korean toastie truck for some lunch. It was very yummy! I should have also stopped for petrol but shit happens, and I didn't. Guess I'll be paying a bit more out here.
The blog has been a bit boring recently, because the last few days have been fairly uneventful. A huge part of that is the rain, for sure. The weather has just been really crappy, to be honest, which makes it a bit hard to do things! I do have some plans for tomorrow, though, so that should help. Raglan is a real surf town, so I am sure plenty of people still went surfing today, even with the weather. I did get out for a couple of walks, and found a place where I can get coffee for $3.50 - unheard of! My second walk was along a section of the beach, but I gave in when the rain started in earnest and headed back to make some dinner. Luckily, I finally had the energy to make a big batch of something, so that'll be one of my meals for the next few days.
Everyone please send good weather vibes! I was reading an article the other day that Kerikeri, a town in the far north that is about 40 km north of Paihia, has recorded rainfall every day of April with the exception of April 7. The whole month of April, and only one day has it been dry. That's rough. It would be nice to see the sun again!
