Category Archives: New Zealand

A magical road trip through Middle Earth

Posted on by Sarah

When Lord of the Rings fans think about visiting New Zealand they remember the films and imagine travelling through the breath-taking landscapes of Middle Earth. Many places, in both the North and South Island, were used when filming the Lord of the Rings and its prequel The Hobbit. New Zealand really does have all this, from the mind blowing grandeur of snow capped mountains to the charming beauty of rolling green hills – and all this is surprisingly accessible when you see the country by land.

We wanted to really immerse ourselves in the natural beauty of New Zealand – to have the freedom to visit distant corners of the country and to stay in these places for as long as we desired. It’s for these reasons we decided to travel by self-contained campervan so we could have the freedom to travel and camp as we liked.

This is our self-contained camper van ‘Jacangi’ at one of many glorious destinations in Middle Earth.

 

My brother Tom and his girlfriend Sue explored the North Island of New Zealand in their camper van, aptly named ‘Shadowfax’ after Gandalf’s horse and supposedly the fastest horse in Middle Earth. You can hardly tell the difference.

Our last blog post painted quite a negative picture of freedom camping in New Zealand and we had many messages from family and friends wanting to give advice and show their concern. For this we are extremely grateful. We want to reassure everyone that while this negative aspect is very real, it represents only a very small portion of our overall experience here and on the whole 99% of our road trip was absolutely amazing. Just like Middle Earth, New Zealand is stunningly beautiful and most of the people here are friendly and welcoming. Also like Middle Earth, there are dangers and difficulties. In our case we faced the Orcs of Mordor in the form of the ‘camper van haters’ and faced perilous dangers dealing with extreme weather conditions.

This is a dramatic representation of one of the camper van haters we experienced outside of Christchurch. I hope his face didn’t freeze like this.

This is a dramatic representation of Alex one morning after waking up in our camper van after a particularly cold night near Milford Sound.

Luckily the negative aspects of our journey were sparse and overall our experience was filled with immense enjoyment and adventure. Here are some of the highlights from our road trip through Middle Earth:

1. The Shire – Hobbiton, Waikato

The Hobbiton film set is a must-see for any Lord of the Rings fans. The drive through Waikato to get to Hobbiton puts you in the middle of rolling green hills and lush farmland. You feel like you’re in The Shire before you’ve even arrived. Once at the film set you can visit the 44 hobbit holes and their delightful gardens and veggie patches. You can also see Bag End, the mill, the Party Tree, have a drink at the Green Dragon Pub and use costumes/props to transform yourself into a character from the film.

   Alex is enjoying some respite at the Green Dragon pub. He really reminds me of someone…

 

 The wise wizard greets a young hobbit outside his home to offer some wizardly wisdom.

 

 Young hobbits of The Shire resting by a horse cart.

 

2. Mordor – Tongariro National Park

Tongariro national park and Mt Ngauruhoe (aka Mount Doom) in all its splendour.

This 80,000 hectare national park is one of the most spectacular areas in New Zealand, perhaps even the world. The area encompasses meadows, lakes, alpine landscapes, rocky plateaus and jagged ravines. It is home to natural hot springs as well as three volcanoes Tongariro, Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe (better known as the infamous Mount Doom). This is one of the most beautiful and majestic places I have ever had the pleasure of visiting. The film crew did a great job bringing out the menacing characteristics of the landscape and it’s very easy to imagine Frodo, Sam and Gollum on their perilous journey through the lands of Mordor with the almighty ring.

 “We wants it. We needs it. We must have… the PRECIOUS!”

 

 Mount Ngauruhoe during a fiery sunset. There’s no need to stretch your imagination for this one – the fires of Mordor are blazing.

3. Rivendell – Kaitoke Regional Park and Fiordland

We had our pointy-ears at the ready and immersed ourselves in the home of the elves – Rivendell – or Kaitoke Region Park as it’s better known to the locals. Although the film stage has been long since removed, it’s very easy to imagine yourself in Rivendell thanks to the helpful information boards and replica elvish archway installed here.

The replica elvish archway in Kaitoke Regional Park.

 

 “Call me Legolas. Come, I will protect you.”

The magnificent backdrop to Rivendell with the immense waterfalls was filmed in Fiordland National Park and is one of the reasons why tourists flock to this area of New Zealand every year.

The magic of Rivendell can be felt at Milford Sound in Fiordland. Huge glaciers carved this fiord out of the mountains leaving behind this vast chasm, surrounded by snow covered peaks and glistening, thundering waterfalls.

4. The Anduin River – Kawarau Gorge

This is the location of a scene in the first film where the Fellowship of the Ring paddles down the Anduin River, which at one point is straddled by a pair of enormous stone statues representing the Kings of Old. The stone statues were added using CGI but the Kawarau Gorge is breathtaking nonetheless. You can see the gorge from its most striking angle by doing a bungee jump from the Kawarau Bridge, which Alex did on his birthday recently as mentioned in a previous post.

 Kawarau Gorge is the location for the scene of The Argonath and Anduin River.

5. The Dead Marshes – Kepler Mire, Te Anau

Gollum leads Frodo and Sam through the Dead Marshes and past the haunted souls of the dead who lie under the surface of the water. It’s easy to imagine Kepler Mire as the eerie home of the dead, especially if you were to visit on a foggy evening under nothing but candle light for a truly haunting effect.

 “There are dead faces in the water!”

6. Fangorn Forest – Snowdon Forest, Fiordlands

The Snowdon Forest near Te Anau is the location of Fangorn Forest – home of the Ents and where Aragon, Legolas and Gimli first meet Gandalf the White. You have to stretch your imagination here to really imagine yourself in the forbidden forest of the films but it’s a beautiful location nonetheless.

 Snowdon (aka Fangorn) Forest. Is that Treebeard I see in the distance?

After two glorious months our road trip through Middle Earth has finally come to an end. We’re now back on the boat and spending most of our days doing various jobs in preparation for leaving in the coming weeks. We have some major rigging work to undertake and we’re hoping it won’t be too long before we’re able to set sail for Vanuatu. Autumn is now coming to an end in New Zealand, winter is coming and we’re both very keen to head to warmer climes. I’ve come to realise that my body is not built for the cold and Bob in particular is not the easiest place to heat up in a cold spell. At least we can move her to somewhere toastier.

Image credits from top to bottom

  • Shadowfax the horse – image from YouTube uploaded by Screen Themes
  • Orc of Mordor – image from lotr.wikia.com
  • Gimli covered in snow – image from www.theargonath.cc
  • Gandalf the Grey – image from zeldadungeon.net
  • Gandalf with Bilbo – image by Kelly McMorris downloaded from kellybean86.deviantart.com
  • Hobbits by horse cart – image from 8tracks.com from Concerning Hobbits playlist
  • Tongariro National Park – photo by Tom Brooks
  • Gollum with ring – image from maybeshesthatgirl.blogspot.co.nz
  • Fires of Mordor – image from jrrtolkien.wikia.com
  • Legolas – image from lots.wikia.com
  • The Argonath/ Anduin River – image from www.queenstown.net.nz
  • Gollum in Dead Marshes – image is screenshot from film
  • Fantasy Forest – image by Daniel Pilla downloaded from danielpillaart.deviantart.com

The Darker Side of New Zealand

Posted on by Alex

 

No parking….. why on Earth not?! It’s a minor public road. No one and nothing is being negatively impacted by us being there. So why is it illegal?

 

It would be so easy to write light-hearted, happy blogs all the time. Palm trees and beaches. Or in the case of New Zealand mountains and rivers. But I think it’s important for us to take off the smile once in a while and write about some of the less savoury things. After all, life is about the bad as well as the good.

New Zealand is a spectacularly beautiful place. Some of the anchorages we have visited over the last year and a half have been very beautiful too, but none have been grand. That’s what New Zealand offers. But, when we envisaged what this place would be like (based largely on the reports of those who had come before us) we had also naively imagined a first-world country whose citizens were free.

Perhaps the most stifling aspect of so-called ‘developed’ countries that I struggle with is the lack of what I would call basic freedoms. At the top of this list is the freedom to take responsibility for oneself. To make decisions and live by the consequences, good or bad. That is how we learn, and how we grow as people. But most of us live in a world where we are denied this freedom, even in cases where our actions and decisions would have no impact on anyone else one way or the other. In my view, this is severely detrimental to the personal development of individuals and by extension society itself. Our world is moving day by day towards a situation where no-one is willing to accept responsibility for anything, especially themselves and especially where personal safety can be construed to be at risk. We even make big business out of buying and selling other people’s ‘risk’! For me the ability to get away from this is a major attraction of offshore sailing.

We had hoped that New Zealand would be a rare example of a first-world country whose citizens still had these basic freedoms. Where victimless crimes are not considered crimes at all. Alas, such is not the case. Unfortunately, like so many other countries, New Zealand is slowly suffocating itself with bureaucracy. It’s nowhere near as bad as the U.K. yet, but every day new laws and bylaws are being written restricting the freedoms of minorities while none are being rescinded and no laws guaranteeing freedoms are being written. The problem is that everyone belongs to some minority or other, so everyone gets hit in the end. Everywhere we go we see signs banning one thing or another and threatening huge fines for non-compliance. No parking. No dogs. No smoking. No camping. No access. No swimming. No walking. Trail closed. No boating. The list could go on for a very long time. No camping. Now that is one that we see many, many times a day and it’s such a shame because it’s going to destroy the freedom to do trips like the one we’re doing. With it will go a whole chunk of the tourism industry and whole communities will suffer. One inconsiderate camper leaves a bag of trash lying around and the next thing you know a ‘no camping’ sign appears. The result? More and more camper vans crammed into smaller and smaller spaces, looking unsightly and undesirable. One more bag of trash and whoops, there goes another camping site. But it all stems back to legislation.

New Zealand waste management really sucks, largely as a result of legislation. I had to drive 40km to drop off one gallon of waste oil at an ‘approved facility’ because nowhere else had the appropriate licenses for handling ‘hazardous materials’. Tell me – if a petrol station is not licensed to handle hazardous materials who is?! The result? People don’t bother. They dump it on the ground. No license required for that so long as nobody catches you. The same goes for batteries. In fact, the same goes for all trash. The reason that that inconsiderate camper dumped that bag of trash in the first place is because everything you buy in the shops is over-packaged and there is literally no-where else to put it. We routinely carry trash around for more than a week before we can find somewhere to dispose of it properly. There are very, very few public bins (none outside the three largest supermarkets in the town we were in yesterday) and the ones that are there have a deliberately tiny opening and a sign threatening a $400 fine for anyone caught using it for disposing of domestic waste.

Unfortunately all is not well in the land of camper vans. Especially in the South Island there is widespread and growing animosity towards people in camper vans not dissimilar to the way that gypsies in the U.K. are viewed, except that a good 30% of the vans here are flash motor homes with six-figure price tags and 40% are shiny rentals whose occupants are paying at least $150 per day for the privilege. We’ve had a man ride a scooter up and down the road past the camper vans screaming obscene abuse at us. People routinely honk their horns aggressively to wake us up if they spot us by the side of a road as they are driving to work, or go out of their way to visit the approved camping spots just so that they can abuse and harass the campers. As I write this we’re sitting in the van on the outskirts of Christchurch with 26 other vans because this is the only legal place to camp within 30 kilometres. It’s half past midnight and there’s been a local car treating the area as a racetrack and doing doughnuts for the last two hours. No-one will say anything because the last time someone confronted the angry locals here they had beer bottles hurled at them. One van even had fireworks lit underneath it as a not-very-gentle message that they were not welcome here. But we have no choice. We’re not allowed to camp anywhere else.

We had initially hoped to perhaps seek work here for a year before sailing on. Maybe we’d even fall in love with the place. Unfortunately it hasn’t happened. The South Pacific Cyclone Season is ending now. We have at least a month of work to do on Bob before she’ll be ready to sail and a long way to go next year. I’m antsy to get back up North and start work. Of course, that also means confronting the residents of Kerikeri once again, none of whom likes our campervan. We park it outside one person’s house until they complain and then park it outside someone else’s, trying to remain polite, compliant, sympathetic and friendly throughout in spite of the way that we are approached about it. The problem is there’s just nowhere to park that isn’t outside someone’s house (well, outside their wall/hedge really. All of them are bordered by impenetrable privacy barriers and the only time they need to see our van is when they turn in or out of their driveways). I’ve even thought of selling the van once we get up north and buying a car instead, just so that people would hate us a little less.

Good night.

Update the following morning: sure enough we received our wake-up call bright and early as a local motorist went out of their way to visit the camping area and thoroughly test their horn. At least we have the luxury of moving somewhere else when we’re not welcome. The town of Lyttleton will not be benefitting from our custom, nor, I suspect, the considerable custom of the occupants of all the other campers that are here.

Hiking and Other Arm-Shrinking Activities

Posted on by Alex

Being cheapskate unemployed bums we are required to strictly prioritise what we spend our money on. Bob comes pretty high up the list. After all, a neglected Bob could revolt against us and leave us in a rather sticky – or at least wet – situation. After Bob comes food, fuel etc. and there isn’t really a whole lot left over for frivolous recreational activities. So with what activities do we occupy ourselves in our impecunious state?

We tried sailing our dinghy again. Those of you who have been following our adventures and misadventures for a while may remember that our dinghy was unfortunately rendered unsailable by the loss of the dagger board (and a paddle, an oar, Sarah’s shoes and an anchor) during a moment of stupidity on my part when I failed to secure the dinghy properly one night way back in the Marquesas Islands last year. Well, we finally made a new dagger board (out of cheap plywood this time) and took Numpty (that’s the dinghy) out for a sail in a stiff onshore breeze among the beautiful inlets around the North Coast of the South Island. As we were sitting in the van waiting for a violent rain squall to pass it did occur to us that perhaps this wasn’t the best idea, but we shoved that thought aside once the sun made a fleeting appearance through the clouds, headed to the beach and pushed out from shore. Numpty performed beyond expectations. She was remarkably stable and carved to windward like a champ. Unfortunately, just as we were about a mile from shore and thinking of turning around there was a slightly gustier gust than usual, we heard a loud CRACK and half the dagger board appeared floating on the surface to windward. Well, at least it was a downwind leg back to the beach. We eased the sheets and bore away but the next thing to come down was the mast, which shattered spectacularly and turned the sail into a sea anchor. Jury-rigging consisted of me standing up and spreading my T-shirt (between fits of laughter) while Sarah diligently kept us going in vaguely the right direction. I really really wish we’d thought to get some before and after shots to post here. Needless to say, Numpty looked a bit sorry for herself back on the beach and is now without a sailing rig once again. Perhaps she’s trying to tell us something?

Another activity that has been popular with us is hiking (or ‘tramping’ as it is often called here) . It has been a top-rated activity for us for three reasons:

1. It’s not something we’ve really had the opportunity to do on account of Bob’s limited range of hiking destination options.
2. It’s free.
3. New Zealand boasts a phenomenal range of mind-bogglingly spectacular sights and experiences that are only accessible by hiking. So, while my arms waste away for lack of ropes to pull, my legs are getting stouter and our general fitness has noticeably improved.

“What ‘sights and experiences’ speak thee of?” I hear you clamour. Sarah has written about the Tongariro Crossing in an earlier blog. Since arriving in the South Island we have also visited some amazing caves and no less than three glaciers.

We have learned, among other things, that when the New Zealand Department of Conservation posts a sign somewhere giving information or warning you of some sort of hazard it is wise to pay heed to it. When they say it’s a 6-hour hike they don’t mean a six-hour stroll for an overweight lady pushing a wheelchair and stopping to have a chat with everyone she meets, they mean a six-hour hike for someone far fitter than either of us when weather conditions are perfect and without taking any breaks. Similarly, when they say to be mindful of heavy rain because the trail (which involves several river crossings) may become impassable they really mean it. We set off along a trail looking for some caves and took a wrong turning at one point. The trail appeared to lead directly into a river that was barrelling along at a rate of knots and didn’t look at all friendly. I waded in to literally test the waters and found myself waist-deep pretty quickly struggling to keep my footing in the current. We sensibly gave it up as a bad idea. Just then, however, a red-jacketed lady appeared on the opposite bank wearing an expression of curious surprise mingled with no small quantity of fear. She and her partner were stuck, had no tent to spend the night in and the only other way out was an eight-hour hike in the opposite direction. When they had crossed the river just three hours previously it had been no more than 10cm deep. Now it was definitely impassable. I can’t express how stupendously lucky they were that there just happened to be a random guy blasting up the river in a jet boat who was able to ferry them across. The chances of such a serendipitous eventuality occurring must be phenomenally low. But, there we are! We were fortunate to learn a valuable lesson the easy way. What’s more, it turned out that we didn’t need to cross the river at all in order to reach the caves, which were perhaps the best I have ever visited.

Here I am ‘testing the waters’. The other side of the trail is marked by the orange post on the other side of the river, upstream from our location:

 

Here’s the guy in the jet boat (finally! A use for jet-driven boats!) blasting past us. The depth of the water is perhaps 10cm – you can clearly see the rocks beneath the surface. Apparently these things are even able to become airborne if necessary in order to clear logs and whatnot:

 

Here he is ferrying one of the stricken hikers across the torrent:

 

And here was our destination for the hike – this cave. Pretty cool eh?

Next up were some walks to visit several glaciers. Glaciers are really cool (har har). Basically they are rivers of ice. Snow falls high in the mountains and as it funnels down the steep mountainsides it gradually becomes more and more compact until it is ice. MASSIVE forces are involved which drive the whole lot down the mountainside, tearing away huge chunks of rock and shaping the mountains and valleys of the land. During the last ice age much of the South Island was covered in glaciers. All have receded but a few are still around to be seen…… for now at least. Global warming is accelerating glacial retreat to unprecedented rates. Franz-Josef is receding at a gargantuan 100m per annum. That’s a kilometre in the last ten years, and it’s been fairly well documented since the first photographs were taken back in the late 1800s.

It was a gray, rainy day so the light wasn’t great for photography. Nevertheless Sarah managed to get this one of the Franz-Josef Glacier. The source of the river is meltwater, and it is coloured grey by suspended rock particles that were scoured from the sides of the valley and incorporated into the ice matrix, only to be released as the ice melts:

 

In the picture above, the position of the glacier in about 2008 more or less corresponds to the line where the greenery turns to yellow/bare rock. It is starkly depicted by this picture of a picture from an information board. Each of these was taken from the same viewpoint, just 4 years apart.

 

We tried to visit the famous Fox Glacier next, but unfortunately a recent cyclone has destroyed the trail (yes, cyclones are now hitting the SOUTH island of New Zealand – a country that supposedly ‘doesn’t get cyclones’) so we were only able to get a glimpse from afar.

This is as close as we were able to get, and to manage this we had to bend the rules regarding ‘closed’ tracks a little:

 

The third glacier, which was extra-specially-cool – is the Rob Roy Glacier in the Mount Aspiring National Park. To get there we had to take Jacangi down a harrowing 30km stretch of gravel road and across eleven nerve-wracking fords (places where it is possible, in some conditions and with the right vehicle, to cross a stream or river by driving through it. Generally a 2-wheel-drive camper van would not be considered ‘the right vehicle’) before hiking 5km up a mountain and 5km back. It was totally worth it.

Here’s a beautiful long-exposure shot that Sarah got of the river:

 

And a view of the glacier itself from our viewpoint. Being high enough to be just above the tree line we had a good, unobscured view:

 

Finally, on the way back from Rob Roy we took a detour up to the Treble Cone Ski Area, which is the highest ski resort in New Zealand. It’s not open yet for the ski season but it was an amazing drive up and a spectacular view from the top. Jacangi protested furiously at the climb by producing lots of black smoke (due to the thin air I think………) and we had to stop twice to avoid overheating the engine, but she got there and is none the worse for wear.

Here was our reward:

 

Oh, I should mention that Sarah did not accompany me on the drive up to the ski area. Instead she chose to travel up there Mary-Poppins style 🙂

 

Our adventures continue. Tomorrow we’ll drive the five hours or so to the famous Milford Sound, which is purported by some to be the most beautiful place on this island full of beautiful places.

Birthday Bungee!

Posted on by Sarah

As many of you may well know, Alex turns 34 today. It’s now an annual ritual for Alex to wake up on this day each year and feel old, miserable and dejected. I then spend the rest of the day trying to make him feel young and vibrant again, or simply try to take his mind off things. God knows what he’s going to be like in many decades to come when he’s actually old! This year my job was made a little easier by the fact that Alex decided to do a bungee jump from the Kawarau Bridge in Queenstown, the worlds first bungee jump. What better way to feel youthful than to fling yourself from a 43m-high bridge! Well done Alex – my brave, wonderful, amazing and crazy man!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

 

 

Jacangi is the new Bob

Posted on by Sarah

This is our new home… for a time at least. We’re now back in New Zealand and have moved from Bob into our new camper van ‘Jacangi’ for a few months to explore all that this beautiful country has to offer.

We arrived back at the end of February after spending a fabulous few months in Thailand with my parents. I didn’t have to wait too long to see family again, however, as just two weeks later my brother Tom and his girlfriend Sue flew out to join us for an epic fortnight exploring the North Island.

The two weeks before they arrived was spent frantically doing various jobs on Bob and Jacangi in preparation for their visit. Most jobs involved preparing Bob to be sailable and then to be left unattended for a few months (again!) whilst preparing Jacangi to be lived in for a few months. I did find some time, however, to make a few home improvements…

This is the galley just after I started working on it. You can see where the old wood has degraded, the counter top is very stained with various disused holes and the tap was starting to get a little corroded.

This is the galley after. Actually, it’s still a work in progress as it needs painting… but you get the idea. The taps were replaced, counter top was tiled and grouted, wood was sanded and varnished (4 times) and I even polished the sink and cooker!

Tom and Sue were only able to take 3 weeks off work to visit us. They spent at least 3 days of that time travelling on various flights, so it was VERY important to make the most of their visit and cram in as much exciting stuff as possible! I think we succeeded. It’s possible to see a lot of the North Island in just over two weeks when you put your mind to it, and it has a LOT to offer.

The Bay of Islands

The best place to sail in the whole of New Zealand is thought to be the stunning Bay of Islands with its tranquil warm waters (well, warm in comparison to the rest of the country) and impressive green islands protruding from the depths. The four of us spent a couple of nights on the boat and luckily had absolutely perfect weather for a few day sails around this spectacular group of Islands.

Sailing through the Bay of Islands on a lovely sunny day.

The group on Bob, minus photographer of course.

Tom was exhausted after our loooong 20 minute hike to the view point on the elaborately named island of Urupukapuka.

A home on wheels

We moved into our camper vans after the boat trip. Alex and I into Jacangi while Tom and Sue moved into their hired camper ‘Shadowfax’. Any Lord of the Rings fans will know the significance of that name as being the name of the horse belonging to Gandalf the wizard. What better way to explore the very land where Lord of the Rings was filmed than on Shadowfax! Although Tom quite rightly pointed out that perhaps the name was a little unfitting as Shadowfax is supposed to be the fastest horse in middle earth – their camper van on the other hand is about as fast as a tortoise on a treadmill. Just like the tortoise, however, we were able to take our time and enjoy some of the enchanting wilderness of this stunning country.

Shadowfax!

It’s a wonderful thing to be able to take your home with you as you travel and enjoy many familiar comforts in unexplored territories. As with boats, motor homes also require a lot of upkeep and we had to be constantly aware of our water and power usage. Toilet breaks had to be properly planned and dumping of waste water in appropriate locations had to be considered. This particular aspect was something new for all of us and sometimes proved to be a bit of a challenge, as Tom demonstrated when he accidentally emptied the contents of the toilet all over his hand! Don’t worry Tom, a wise man once said that the most valuable lessons in life are usually the most challenging ones.

Freedom camping near Matamata at one of the Department of Conservation sites.

Camping and doing laundry in the Tongariro National Park

Hobbiton

As huge Lord of the Rings fans, Tom and Sue were finally able to fulfil their lifelong dreams of becoming hobbits. We of course were more than happy to join them in the fun as we visited the charming Hobbiton film set. The set is now a popular tourist attraction and the grounds are immaculately maintained. Very well done to the four gardeners who do a super-human job keeping the grounds looking vibrant and lush all year round.

A hobbit hole complete with its beautiful garden.

You ACTUALLY become a hobbit in this magical place.

Exploring the enchanted hobbit holes.

Enjoying a drink at The Green Dragon.

The wake up call of a thousand Scots

We spent a night camping by the lake in Rotorua, only to be abruptly woken up at about 7am to the sound of bagpipes! As time went on the more bagpipes started playing. Not able to ignore the sound any longer, we stuck our heads outside and to our amazement we could see at least 5 bagpipe bands (all fully kitted out in the proper Scottish attire) playing instruments in various streets and car parks in the vicinity. It turns out that the National Bagpipe Championships were being held in Rotorua that day and everyone was practising for the upcoming parade – what a wonderful and fortunate surprise!

Practising in the streets of Rotorua.

Here are a few snaps during the parade. I know Scottish music isn’t renowned for it prowess but I promise you they all sounded and looked amazing! I guess they were the best in the country.

Getting hot and steamy in Rotorua & Taupo

Some of New Zealand’s active volcanoes are located in the region around Rotorua and Taupo and have led to some truly amazing natural wonders. Scalding hot water, bubbling mud pools, serene hot springs and explosive geysers are all products of volcanic activity deep beneath the earth’s surface.

Having a dip in the natural hot waters of a hot spring near Taupo. The temperature is about 40 degrees Celsius – perfect bath water temperature.

A mud splat at the bubbling mud pool near Rotorua. There was an entire pond like this – just amazing!

A hot water beach with a man bathing in the apparently ‘scalding’ water. It was a bit chilly at the time so I was quite envious of him.

Tongariro Alpine Crossing

The Tongariro Alpine Crossing has been voted as one of the best day-hikes in the world. It spans the oldest National Park in New Zealand and crosses adjacent to the peak of Mt Ngauruhoe – an active volcano better known as ‘Mount Doom’ from Lord of the Rings. The track covers rare alpine landscapes, babbling streams, luminous turquoise mineral ponds and violently boiling pools of sulphurous water. These natural wonders are combined with amazing views of awe-inspiring scenery. Who knew Mordor was so pretty?!

Tom and Sue on the climb to the summit of the crossing. You can see Mt Doom (Mt Ngauruhoe) in the background. Unfortunately, I stupidly had my camera on the wrong settings so these photos are not so good. Tom took some better ones which I’m hoping he’ll share with me soon.

The turquoise mineral pools of the crossing. You can also see the steam from the boiling pools to the right of the photo.

After four hours of uphill hiking we finally made it to the top! Hurrah!

Ohakune Old Coach Road cycle track

We decided to do a bike ride over the Old Coach track in Ohakune. This trail covers areas of historical significance and passes over some wonderful old viaducts, bridges and tunnels as well as through beautiful native bush with stunning views. The locals have done a fantastic job at restoring this trail and have installed a lot of information boards along the way. It also has the bonus of being mainly downhill. Unfortunately this only served to highlight my unfitness as I still spent most of my time struggling to haul myself and my bike through the uneven terrain. Still, I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge.

Admiring the lovely stream while having another quick rest during the bike ride.

The old viaduct on the Old Coach Road cycle track. It’s a lot higher than it looks! In fact, it was one of the first places in New Zealand to bungee jump from – until killjoys… erm… I mean ‘health & safety legislation’ put a stop to it.

Another old viaduct on the journey. There are three in total.

There were a number of other highlights along the way which of course added to the whole experience. We enjoyed the sun filled afternoons in the outdoors with cold beers and board games. The Milky Way was prominent on clear nights, it’s vastness never ceasing to amaze. There were also treetop adventures at Adrenaline Forest, which is like GoApe but even more intense. Tom and Sue (being a little more flush than us at the time) also splashed out on a white water rafting experience and a cave tour to see some glow worms. Oh and I can’t forget about The Big Carrot – one of New Zealand’s finest attractions.

One of the easier obstacles at Adrenaline Forest in the Bay of Plenty. I’m told the views were wonderful, but I was too scared for my life to notice.

We weren’t able to watch Tom and Sue on their white water rafting adventure as we were busy doing laundry. We did, however, get another opportunity to watch some brave people fall down a waterfall in a bright yellow inflatable tube. This is what they looked like and how I see Tom and Sue in my minds eye during their experience.

The photo of these glow worms were actually taken near our friends house (Alexa who we originally met in Niue and her boyfriend Blair) after Tom and Sue had already left, but it’s similar to what they must have seen on their tour.

It’s a big carrot!

Tom and Sue flew back to the UK at the end of March while Alex and I have continued to drive south to visit friends and explore more of New Zealand. It’s always heartbreaking to say goodbye to those you love, not knowing when you’ll next see them again. Hopefully next time won’t be quite as long. It reminded me of just how many people I care about who I’ve not seen in far too long. We still have the rest of April to enjoy our road trip, so there’s still time if anyone else would like to join us! Anyone tempted….?