New Zealand - Post 6

Tuesday 18 Dec

We started out fairly early for Te Urewere National Park, which includes Lake Waikaremoana. After passing through farmlands and small towns, the Forestry started and then the National Park. The first point of interest was Lou's Lookout – a 30 minute climb up through some beautiful forest and under large slabs of rock to an excellent view of the lake. 

At Aniwawere was the Visitor Centre, with a large wooden cart used first to help build the power stations, then used in forestry, and also used as a bridge before ending up as an exhibit. 

A short walk took us to a lovely waterfall. 

A short drive took us to Papakorito Falls which were even more impressive.

After lunch we took a 2-hour return walk to Lake Waikareiti. 

This was really delightful through the Beech Forest. 

We then had a long winding gravel road for 100km to get to the other side of the park, passing more waterfalls along the way. 

and eventually ended up in Rotarua for the night, staying at Aaryn Court Motel. Although basic, this place is cheap and clean, it has free WiFi and a 42oC private thermal pool – very relaxing! We are not very excited to hear that the cyclone which has hit Samoa and Fiji is heading south towards NZ.

Wednesday 19 Dec

The first thing was to go and have another hot soak in the thermal pool at the motel. The temperature was up to 44oC so we couldn't stand it for long...but it really was good. Kuirau Park in central Rotarua is one of the best thermal areas to visit. Although we had been here last time, we came back again, and saw even more than last time. It is just a local park with fenced-off areas...some bubbling mud, some deep clear blue steaming pools, and, of course, it is free to visit. 

There were also some really striking roses in the park.

We thought we would get good views of the lake from the top of their mountain, but the top turned out to be a restaurant, deer park, and no view from the summit due to vegetation.

Luckily we were able to get a couple of shots from the road on the way down. When we had driven in the previous evening, Darryl had noticed a steaming area on the right-hand side of the road from Te Puia (the big commercial touristy park which I went to last time to see the geysers), so we set out to find it, and worked out the golf course was set amongst it. Back on the main road, we were able to find a way 'in' to have a look, and found large areas, one with 3 mud 'volcanoes'. 

We called in to Redwood, which is a large area where all types of pine trees were planted in 1899 to see which would grow best in central NZ. Radiata turned out to be the winner, and is now to be seen covering many hills, but this area also has many Canadian Redwoods. Although they are not as big as those in their native areas, they are still extremely impressive. 

The drive to Whakatane passes several picturesque lakes starting with Rotarua, Rotoiti, Rotehu, Rotoma and some smaller ones, so it is a lovely trip. 

At Whakatane we booked into Pacific Coast Motor Lodge – it is exceptional!

New Zealand - Post 5

Sunday 16 Dec

We were waiting for the clouds to clear around the volcanoes, so went for a wander in Taupo Botanical Reserve. I had forgotten how much New Zealanders like their Rhododenrons but there was also one of the largest collections of Camellias in NZ – it was just a pity they were all pretty much at the end of their flowering.

Eventually we gave up, as even though the cloud had lifted, it was extremely hazy, so we headed for Napier. Along the road were the pretty 40m Waipunga Falls.

Napier is a busy port, but really offered nothing of interest to us. Just north of Napier Darryl bought some fresh asparagus and apricots..they were the best apricots I have ever eaten! Really sweet and soft. As we drove further north there was another walk to two waterfalls – Te Ana Falls, and Tangoio Falls.

We ended the day at Three Oaks Motel in Wairoa, very quiet, clean and cheap.

Monday 17 Dec

Our first rainy day, although it lightened as we drove north to Mahia Peninsula. 

We had a look at the surfing beaches, but it was too wet (the notes said dangerous when wet) to do the walks, and then headed to Morere Hot Springs. We didn't go into the baths, but drove up a road, which was quite dodgy. Our wheels skidded on the vegetation and there were deep ruts, but when I got out, Darryl was able to get up! At the top was their cemetery! 

There was a track from here into the reserve, and we quite enjoyed the track which skirted the Hot Springs, enjoyed seeing lots of Nikau Palms, and incuded pig ruts. 

Back in Wiaroa we took a walk along the riverbank before dinner, starting at their light-house. We spent the night at the Three Oaks Motel again and enjoyed baked Salmon with fresh fennel (picked at the cemetery) and farm fresh asparagus.

New Zealand - Post 4

Thursday 13 Dec

We drove north to visit Pureora Forest Park. The first walk was a short one called Totara Walk, and it was excellent. Lots of beautiful native trees, ferns, mosses, and we saw a Kaka (large parrot) getting nectar from a native fuschia tree.

Next stop was at the Buried Forest where 1800 years ago a forest was knocked over, from the violent volcanic eruption that formed Lake Taupo, and buried. 

We climbed a 12m high Forest Viewing Tower which allowed a canopy view of the forest, before checking out a vintage steam hauler, winch and 2 ton Caterpillar crawler tractor left over from the forestry activities. 

We went to within 300m of the geographic centre of North Island, before walking to Waihora Lagoon. Our cabin at Oasis Motor Inn & Holiday Park (Turangi) was very basic. In fact I was disappointed by the lack of a kitchen (which the booking agent said it had), but it was very quiet and had thermal pools, which were wonderful to help the sore muscles from all the walking. 

We had sold some shares so could afford to buy NZ lamb for dinner! (I think Darryl actually found it at a good price, normally it is too expensive to buy here).

Friday 14 Dec

I woke up with a bad headache, so needed a slow start to the morning. Darryl walked up nearby up Mt Maunganamu. I was starting to feel better so we headed out. The first Scenic Lookout gave views of the mountain Darryl had walked up, along with Lake Taupo.

Just a little further along the road was Hinemihi's Track, supposedly a short walk, but the track was fairly unused and not really clear. I found an orchid and a giant moss which I had not seen before. The next feature was Te Purere Redoubt, two hand-built earthworks used in the 19^th century by maori's and paheka's (whites) for battles. 

Our main destination for the day was Tongariro National Park. 

We planned to walk the 2-hour Taranaki Falls walk, which passed through mountain toatoa and beech forest. The falls tumble over the edge of an ancient lava flow. 

We were a little disappointed that the predicted fine weather did not eventuate so all three volcanoes were swathed in cloud. On the drive back to Turangi, Darryl spotted the smoke pouring out of the crater of Mt Tongariro which is currently erupting. Walks in the area and the carparks are closed due to car damage.

An ancient Maori settlement was on the shores of a lake, and included the excavation of a house, and some food storage pits. Our final walk for the day was partway around Lake Rotopounamu. This could be a crater lake, as there seems to be no streams leading in or out. There is a 2-hour circuit, but we didn't want to do that much so went down to the black sand beach, enjoying the forest walk on the way. 

Once again we soothed our sore muscles with a long soak in the thermal pool, before Darryl cooked the remaining lamb chops.

Saturday 15 Dec

Our first activity for the day was a one-hour circuit walk along the Tongariro River beside Turangi. The map showed lots of named pools, which I had assumed were thermal pools, but it turned out that they were actually trout fishing pools, so apart from the plants, there wasn't much to see. Towards the end though, we were at the top of a high cliff and there were really excellent views of the town, the river and Lake Taupo. We then took the leisurely drive up the east side of Lake Taupo, stopping a couple of times to look at the lake and see the views of the volcanoes at Tongariro. 

At Taupo their were riverside markets, so we had a look, then drove to the thermal park to have lunch. We drove up to Huka falls, even though we had seen these last time, there were so impressive we wanted to see them again. A high lookout and a walk around the falls gives beautiful views of the vivid blue water. 

We then decided on the Huka Fall River Cruise, which was a lovely cruise up the Waikato River from Aratatia Dam. Even though the water was 5m deep it was so clear you could see the bottom. 

On the way back to Taupo we wanted to revisit 'Craters of the Moon', an excellent thermal area, but were shocked to see that now there is an entrance fee, so decided against it and kept going. We checked into Mountain View Motel, and after dinner walked down to the lake edge to watch the sunset and the volcanic mountains at the other end. 

A Dutch national, working at the geothermal power plant chatted with us until it got too cold and we walked back to the motel. We heard that there is more concern about Ruapehu erupting as there has been heating up at the bottom of the caldera lake, also White Island has also been put on high alert over the last couple of days and an exclusion zone put around it.

New Zealand - Post 3

Tuesday 11 Dec

There seemed to be black clouds around, which did not bode well for the day. We had planned our walks at Mt Taranaki, and they would only be successful on a clear day. Despite the clouds we drove to the Southern side visitor center, and by the time we arrived the clouds had cleared and the mountain was looking magnificent. Darryl decided that there was too much snow for him to climb the main peak, so opted for Fantham's Peak (the one on the left in the photo).

I did a couple of the smaller walks, to some pools and a waterfall and had a nice relaxing day. 

Dawson Falls

Darryl completed his walk in an hour less than the minimum time so had pushed himself somewhat.

The hut at the top

Mt Taranaki from Fantham's Peak

Interesting landscape at the top

We both really enjoyed what we completed. A very successful day.

Wednesday 12 Dec

Visited Arthur Davis at Stratford. Unfortunately, since our last visit in 2005, his wife Anne has passed away. At 85 Arthur is still going strong, and still working as a panel beater. He has a fabulous collection of over 4,000 pipes, which he showed us, but could not show us the one he recently purchased for nearly $3000 as it is having some work done on it. We then drove along the Forgotten World Highway, visiting the Douglas Brick Kiln, Strathmore, Pokokura, and Whangamomona Saddles, Moki Tunnel (known as the Hobbit's Hole), Mt Damper Falls, Tangarakau Gorge, Joshua Morgan's grave, Nevin's Lookout and Herlihy's Bluff, before arriving in Taumarunui for the night. Despite this highway only being 155km long, it took us all day to travel, and we didn't even see all the things there were to see along the way. 

Douglas Brick Kiln

Moki Tunnel

Mt Damper Falls

Old logging-era machinery on Moki Road

Joshua Morgan's grave

Herlihy's Bluff