Diamond Geyser

Wai-O-Tapu is NZ's most colourful and diverse volcanic area. Its also home to the Lady Knox geyser which erupts religiously at 10.15am each day reaching heights of 20 metres. We duly sat waiting and a couple of
minutes later than scheduled, pesky nature, she blew!

On the Thermal Wonderland walk we took in huge volcanic craters, some formed by eruptions, some formed by internal chasms. Sulfur crusted pits, silica terraces and a steaming lake edged with red algae and bubbling with tiny beads of carbon dioxide. Mud pools plopping away and steaming, hissing fumaroles. Now to say this place smelt like a week old egg sandwich would be an understatement, it was bogging. A
few Chinese decided to bring face masks and a can of air freshener!

At midday we got the news we were waiting for which helped us to decide the next couple of days activities. On calling Tongariro Crossing HQ Jan gave good weather conditions for tomorrow so that was it decision made, we were doing the crossing. We had everything crossed for a clear run at it !?!

The route south to Tongariro took us past Lake Taupo. Fe said for some reason it reminded her of Italy. It was a beautiful day so the lake made the drive very easy-going. Shame we didn't have time to stop but
we decided to return once we had done the crossing.

Rotauro - gets you in the back of the throat

Aptly known as Sulfur City it sits on top of the most violent segment of the Taupo Volcanic Zone. The home of geothermal unrest. Limestone caverns, volcanic wastelands, steaming geysers and bubbling, hissing

ponds. Personally we would hate to live somewhere that constantly smelt of rotting eggs! The joy of hydrogen sulfide. Even the local golf course has it's own thermal hot spots where a lost ball stays lost forever.

Our campsite for the night in Waitanke had it's own thermal pools, around 6 in total. So once checked in we slipped into swimmers and waded into the steaming pools. Every pool is drained, cleaned and refilled each night with fresh geothermal water (so no floating corn plasters here). Most pools were between 35-40 degrees, toasty! We came out suitably wrinkly. If you walk around the back of the campsite you find the source of the hot water, a large bubbling cauldron which then forms a hot steamy stream to the baths. The water at source is around 98 degrees. It then gets cooled by running down a series of platforms within the valley to a more comfortable bathing temperature.

The campsite, keen to use this natural heat resource to the max, had a drying room for wet kit etc. Here they have plumbed in an old radiator to the hot spring water and voila a warm dry airing cupboard for your wet towels, genius.

Surprisingly we spent 3 hours in the Rotarua museum! This building used to be the old Bath House. Back in the late 1800 the local natural resources were tamed in the name of health, and not much safety, to

please the very early European tourists. A real insight to New Zealand's first major investment into tourism, the 'Great South Seas Spa' movement.

Various treatments were on offer, some sounding more appealing than others: Circular needle douche,

High frequency electric treatment, Hot air bath and some Orthopaedic apparatus to help the old joints.

The Bath House is a Elizabethan styled building and was constructed where two totally different types of waters met, waters of high acidic and alkaline content.

The Baths were developed as part of Rotarua's regeneration following the eruption of Tarawera, the most destructive volcanic disaster in NZ recorded history, back in 1886 which caused mass devastation and

resulted in the loss of 120 lives, blame it on tectonics.

All this sitting in a volcano cone some 220,000 years old. From the roof top you could see the shadow of the former lake levels on the mountain. Over time it's evaporated to then create Rotarua.

At the time of the eruption the area was already receiving many European visitors who flocked to bathe in the waters in a hope to cure diseases and illnesses from gout to arthritis. The actual baths themselves weren't made out of any old porcelain oh no. Royal Doulton porcelain was used no less but many were removed in the 1960s when the building was temporarily owned and used by the local council as a storage site. It's unsure what ever happened to many of the fixtures that were removed around this time, but surely the local reclamation yard was laughing!

That night we experienced a hangi, a traditional Maori feast. We had a full Maori welcome with the hongi, pressing together of noses which is an age old Maori gesture that shows friendship. The food is slow

cooked in the ground and tasted great.

Essential journeys only

Another cyclonic night brought another morning of grey skies. The radio talked of much flooding given all the rainfall and that only essential journeys should be taken. High tide was due at 11:20 so we made for the point at Whakatane. 'The Heads' as its rightfully known is where a river mouth meets the sea, aka a harbour, if the

surrounding local area had expanded enough to warrant one. As we drove across town we couldn't believe the amount of flooding. The river had burst it's banks in places and had roughly doubled in size. The

mooring area was now filled with brown fast flowing water and tonnes of land debris mainly drift wood.

What with king tides, the sheer power of nature, Cyclones Vania and Zelia now doing their best to cause mayhem, the Coast Guard Station looked favorite. Based right at the point of the heads. With the
bar closed, the bar being the point at where the sea currents actually meet the river swell, not where you get a pint of heavy, resident coast guards Dan & Bevin had some spare time on their hands. As we entered the main control room the kettle had just boiled. We didn't have to be asked twice we were in there like a shot. Timing, like I said you can't beat it. The next hour or so we had a grandstand panoramic view of the chaos unfolding along with running commentary from this coast guard duo.

From these two the general gist of it was that the golden weather run of late that had been giving us sun seekers a good run of temperatures in the mid to late 20s was set to be turned upside down for a couple of days by twin cyclones Vania and Zelia. Of these two low pressure systems, Zelia was likely to have more energy, wind and rain. These two beauties where expected to bring strong downpours in the region and that's exactly what they did. Good old NZ Met Office !! A genius display of predictions.

But Bevin informed us that there was good news in all this - the system would drop rain over thirsty farms in both islands and because of the fast movement of these weather fronts it should clear the country by Tuesday, so no worries. Temperatures should then bounce back to 25c.

We were getting far too comfortable in Don and Bevin's hide out so we thanked them for the coffees and bid them farewell. It was onto Rotorua.

Hot pools and waterfalls

Weather hadn't improved on opening the curtains so a cuppa in bed seemed the sensible option. Once we did get going it wasn't long before we stopped at Waiau Falls, a forest fringed waterfall lagoon. We jumped into the chilly pool for an invigorating swim in the rain. Given the rain the falls were working pretty well and to get beneath was some going.

The base for the next few days was Hahei, from here it gives us easy access to Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach.

We stuck our heads into Hahei library. The libraries in NZ have free wifi whereas before we were relying on MacDonalds but it looks like NZ haven't really bought into the complete American dream, no repetitive
outlet malls here of MacDonalds and K-mart. So the library is sure to now takeover the crown on how we communicate with the outside world. Shame as we were just getting into Mc D's long blacks not to mention the people watching! Mind you the last library didn't have a landline let alone wifi, then this one had opening hours of 12-2 pm! I considered leaving my cv but there was no mention of a lunch break. At least an hour would be needed so a daily surf could be squeezed in.

As the weather was getting worse, with the radio telling us it was the end of cyclone Vania we parked up on sheltered beachfront spot and got kettle on.

At this point I would also like to mention how many Yorkshire lads and lasses are living here, they are absolutely everywhere!

Come the morning, with Vania having passed through, the sun was at full heat come 8am so the 40 min walk to Cathedral Cove is back on. After walking for only 5 mins we stopped off at Stingray Bay. You'd think with the lack of people there it wouldn't be as nice as CC only being one bay round. But no it was lovely and we enjoyed our time specially as we had the bay to ourselves. Maybe the name puts people off ?
We didn't necessarily choose the right footwear to get to CC. Jandles (NZ for flipflops) for 40 mins never a great thing but arriving at beach level of the cove all that flipping and a flopping was well worth it. Most beaches that are only accessible by foot are normally stunning, CC joined that category.  Hot from the walk we were straight in the sea. As we got to waist height a healthy sized mantra ray just sunning itself in the shallows drifted by our feet. The walk in jangles? what walk...

Up early this morn for a quick bushwalk before breakfast to Shakespeare Cliffs and then on the pools at Hot Beach for low tide as this phenomenon only gets exposed at this point.

Some volcanoes develop huge underground reservoirs of superheated water. Over time, this water will escape to the surface — cooling on the way. There are two fissures at Hot Water Beach issuing water as hot as 64ºC (147ºF) at a rate as high as 15 litres/minute. This water contains large amounts of salt (NOT salt water), calcium, magnesium, potassium, fluorine, bromine and silica.

With people digging left right and centre mostly with plastic beach spades. Of course there was the odd 'real man' who'd come prepared with a Cornish shovel, no messing, hot pools for all in no time. Dave
on the other hand winced at the thought of all the large metal shovels and all those sand camouflaged small looking toes. The pace of some of these pool excavations some were lucky to still have feet let alone
toes!!  The water was unbelievably hot in places. To hot to even stand in let alone sit. If these were in England on a chilly day the queue to get in would be back up to France!  By the time we left we were suitably pink and wrinkly!

Oh for some tarmarc

Time for the silver bullet taxi car to be swapped in for another camper. She had done us proud for our tour of the Northlands, despite loosing a hub cap up front she was trouble free. Our third camper of
the trip awaits.

We finally managed to pick up a second hand guide book on NZ and on a quick flick through panic hit as almost every couple of pages you find yourself engrossed and totally wow'd. And to think people said 2
months would be too long on these seeming small isles. So on went the kettle and we got planning.

The campsite we came across had a butterfly house so after an uneventful first night in the new wheels Fe popped in for a tour. 400 of the fluttery things living in the one house, the temperature was pretty hot inside so the camera kept misting up, wildlife is not the easiest thing to photograph at the best of times you know without all this humidity !

Eventually we finally rolled out the campsite some 2 hours after checkout and only then because we had a polite nudge by the owner. Its easy to get settled when in your own set up. We steadily made our way up to Port Jackson, the near high point of the Coromandel peninsular. We were warned about the 1 1/4 hour drive on the unsealed road and our poor new camper was certainly put through it's paces. When we got to the point we stripped off and raced into the sea in celebration at Fletcher Bay.

No sun this avro instead we had a bit of sea mist to get through. The peninsular looked more like the Welsh valleys !

Further celebrations were had on our return journey as we finally returned to a tarmac surface just north of Coromandel Town. Our stop over for the night which came with a prawn Thai green curry and a few
cheeky beers.

What a treat

In January 1840 Captain William Hobson arrived in the Bay of Islands to make a treaty with Maori chiefs on behalf of the British Government. It was to be an agreement between two peoples to live and work together in one nation. This agreement is as relevant today as in 1840, for it guarantees the rights of both Maori and non Maori citizens in Aotearoa (New Zealand).

The Waitangi Treaty grounds are part of the National Trust estate comprising of 506 hectares. A naval flagstaff marks where the treaty was first signed.  The ground hold the Ngatokimatawhaorua Maori Waka (canoe) that shelters in a 35 metre long house.

A minimum of 76 paddlers are required to handle it on the water. It was made from 3 massive kauri trees felled in the Pyketi Forest. It was launched as part of the centenary celebrations in 1940. This puppy would give Oxford and Cambridge a run for their money and has made the Guinness Book of Records for the worlds biggest waka.

On route to our last night before collecting the van, we passed Kawakawa, Whangarei and Waipu. The former being famous for its public toilets! A Hundertwasser creation, http://toiletsoftheworldbook.com/?p=223 they served a purpose though. All a bit of a strange one though really, people hanging around toilets taking photos! The latter, Waipu, is a small town with big Scottish community stretching back to the days of the potato blight which forced many Scots on their way for the search of a new paradise. Stopping off at Nova Scotia, Australia and finally New Zealand, choosing Waipu for their new home.

We on the other hand found it easy on where to home for tonight. Pakiri Beach, with a campground right on the beach. Only snag the camps kitchen had no equipment, the woman who checked us in felt sorry
for us and lent us a pan, yes, one pan, the rest was up to us. Challenge on, challenge excepted. Of course we had the leatherman, a spork and one tuppaware box but that was it. I think even Baden Powell would have struggled! No probs with the wine though as we had our flask lid and Dave had his  a 50c Sesame Street mug from a charity shop in Noosa, so we were all good on the grog front.

Cruising the Bay of Islands

With 144 possible islands to explore we opted for a cruise around just a few of them. After a mad dash for the 9 o'clock boat, we're kinda out of practice when it comes to being somewhere on time, so a 200
metre mad dash was always going to be likely this morning. Thankfully no passport required for this mornings trip as if they were they would have definitely been forgotten. But hey we made it and as we pulled
away from Paihia town jetty the morning sun shone as the weather reports predicted, we were on our way out into the Bay of Islands.

With extremely calm conditions it seemed that as soon we left Paihia harbour and reached Tapeka Point the boat became surrounded by bottle nose dolphins, numbers could have easily been around a hundred.

As we reached top speed they were actually chasing the boat, and as we were slightly late we were definitely last to board as we had a great spot on the lower back deck to witness the frolicking right at eye

level. On many occasions the dolphins jumped completely out of the swell to well over 3 odd metres high to then spin 180 degrees and head straight back into the deep crystal waters. As we stood watching,

mouths open with delight it was as if we were watching the spectacle on a movie! A fantastic experience and on this occasion we can thoroughly recommend the benefits of being late thus last to board in this circumstance !!

The dolphins seemed to capture everyone emotions, couples starting to cuddle and kiss. In us witnessing this it made us think, hang-on, maybe there's a gap in the wedding market for dolphins ? Could this be
the 'next big thing' to hit the wedding circuit !! Jumping, spinning dolphins ? Maybe!

Piercy Island, 'The Hole In The Rock', was another point named by old Capt Cookie after the first Lord of the Admiralty at the time. A good way to get on in the navy me thinks.

Now known as the 'hole in the rock' it stands 148 metres above sea level and just wide enough for us tourists to cruise through. It's thought constant rain and storms have created the hole in this outer rock. Early Maoris used to row their waka taya (war canoes) through it on-route to battle with any unwanted visitors. Our boat, not heading into battle, thankfully, stopped just in front of the hole and the captain asked if we thought the boat would fit. Fe thought no but sure enough he steered the boat slowly through the gap with a few feet to
spare. The swell was pretty easy going but apparently we wouldn't fit sideways so a large cheer went up as we bobbed our way through and out the other side with all paintwork still intact.

Otehei bay at Urupukapuka island was a welcome espresso stop off although as we walked up the jetty to shore you couldn't help but feel like 'here come a boatload of tourists' lol!

Kororareka (or Russell to non Maori's) was back in the day known as 'the hell hole of the pacific' a rough shore leave destination for sailors, whalers and any other passing sea types. Today though, oh no, all very nice, coffee shops, and seafood restaurants with garlic wafting from shady verandas. Yes, all very nice.

Thought by many to be an island but it does actually form part of the Tapeka Point. At the peak a proud flagstaff stands overlooking the bay. This the fifth staff to be erected as all others have been torn down by Hone Heke, a local Maori tribe, due to ill feelings and misunderstandings at the time of the signing of the original Waitang treaty between Maori and the British Crown back in 1840. The fifth pole was dragged up to this point by 400 men specially selected to represent every section of the Maori tribe. I carried up a half full 20 litre rucksack in the midday heat, believe you me that was enough. Cricky !!

Undoubtedly beautiful

Pulled in at Doubtless Bay. We were in instantly in no doubt of this bays beauty. It had a distinct British feel about the place, you know when the sun finally decides to pop out. But it was more than just the
weather, the smell of the sea to the feel of shops. It was 'hairs up' on the back of the neck time. We could have been anywhere on the English south coast !!

Driving on we were both stunned with the beauty of the surrounding landscape. A mixture of The Lakes, Welsh rolling hills and the British Countryside all right there before the eyes. All very beguiling to say the least. And they say the south island is the real stunner. Is the best still yet to come!

Heading further south we reached the Kerikeri inlet. Often referred to as the nations cradle due to the links to some of New Zealands earliest history. We had a quick peak at The Stone Store NZ's oldest

standing stone building. On display a striking example of early colonial architecture. Originally built to house mission supplies she now stands guard over the inlet fed from Wharepuke Falls just up river.

90 miles or there about

Cape Reinga is 276 miles north of Auckland and 11,203 miles from London, the northern most tip of NZ, Cape Reinga. Where the tumultous Tasmin sea and the Pacific ocean collide. At the very point stood proud the glemming white Cape Reinga lighthouse. For such a point we were surprised there was absolutely no wind. Completely still, not a breath to be had. 

Warawa beach, lovely white sand and crystal clear water and unlike Oz no box jellyfish or rips to sweep you off to your death.

To say it's peak season there is not many peolpe about which adds to the relaxed feel.  In a single eyeview you can see forest, grasslands, sand dunes and sea, beautiful.

We drove the unsealed road to 90 mile beach, mmmm 'Weston s Mare' springs to mind. Compacted sand so cars can drive on and you can even book a tour where the coach drives the length of the beach! Tourists hey. Never really worked out the need for man to drive on beaches ?

Back in the day though past aclaim for this WSM esc beach is in Jan 1932 the world land speed record was broken by Norman the 'wizzard' Smith who pushed the centre clock to 164 mph in  less than perfect conditions, nutter.    

Why wood'nt ya?

Ah, well refreshed from a fantastic nights sleep in our very quiet and ever so cosy large posh shed (so quiet you could actually hear the sheep nibbling at the grass) we continue to travel the short distance north, well just next door to the campground, the Kauri Museum.  This place explained the real stories of local pioneers through the theme of the mighty Kauri tree. Like one big celebration of all things tree-like !!

Forests covered most of the northland. The remaining stands are but 4% of what once covered an area stretching from Hamilton to the Far North. Thus an urgent need to protect some of the Kauri forests to

ensure ancient history of the Kauri tree isn't lost for the love of coffee tables.

The largest tree on record grew at the head of Tararu Creek on the Thames Coast, Coromandel, measuring a diameter of 28ft, 8.54 mtrs

Kauri gum industry, this is the gum that was originally extracted from the Kauri tree by notching the tree from the ground upwards, after 8mths the tree has bled it's sap its then ready to be chipped off. It was harvested as it was found very suitable for making varnish. At it's peak around the 1900 it employed 10,000 from many social origins. Now the industry is just a memory. Today it is used for jewellery and souvenirs. Mainly collectors items. It can be carved sculptured or polished. Every piece is a unique shape deemed to be
never cold like like stone. It's found in various colours from black to clear

Off for some tree hugging. The Tane Mahuta (god of the forest) in the Waipoua Forest is the largest known living Kauri tree. Thought to be grown from a seed stretching back around 2000 years ago. She was a
biggy with a girth of 13.77m and a total height of 51.1m! Alas we were not allowed to hug her just admire from a distance. Three quarters of the remaining kauri trees in NZ are in Waipoua Forest.

Heading further North our journey took us to the Waihou River. From Rawene we caught the Hokianga ferry across to Kohukohu. It was only a short ride but it felt great to see all the surrounding mountains, it

seemed a longtime ago that we saw such mountainous scenery as stunning as this. Already we can feel the difference between Oz and NZ. NZ has more landscape, much prettier and some how far more relaxed, calm-like.

Back on dry land at the small but perfectly formed Narrows jetty we headed for the foot of 90 mile beach (actually only 60 miles so god knows where it got his name, maybe an Ozzie named it, we know how they

like to you know exaggerate a bit) for a two night stop off at Waipapakauri (hope you're keeping up with all these names!).

Nissan on hire

Being peak season it seemed that all the campervans in our price bracket were all booked out so plan b was a car for one week to do the northlands stretch, the area above Auckland to Cape Regina and then loop round to pick up the camper back in Auckland a week later to see the rest is the north island i.e everything south of Auckland.

So our new wheels for now are a Nissan saloon, taxi like, just lacking in roof mounted neon sign. Where do ya wanna go gov?  All the way to the Cape we cried !

Not far to our first stop (but to be fair after Oz nothing will be too far) Muriwai Beach. A great looking wide open bay with a clean 3ft wave peeling away. Plenty of locals here having fun on their Sunday, times like these you miss your sticks. 50km plus of surf beach with dunes of black sand, ah not too bad long may this continue.

This place is lucky, or unlucky, depending on your point of view, to have a gannet colony (1 of only 3 in NZ).  Gannets first came to Motutara island in 1975 and they are gradually taking over the surrounding islands and headlands to a point where public viewing platforms over these areas have to be constantly monitored and moved where necessary as the birds slowly spread out. The birds arrive between July and October to lay their eggs. Chicks are born naked and blind 45 days later.

We reached as far as Matakohe and found a lovely site and cabin, well when I say cabin it was more like a oversized posh shed but never the less very homely. This gave us a few hours sat in the sun to complete a few odd jobs ( Fe did some sewing and I read my book).

Tonight a rare alfresco meal was had outside number 7. Admittedly it was only beans on toast (much craved) but it was served with strong local cheddar and a large dollop of christmas present marmite, what living hey. This activity has been a rarity till now. It was great to just sit in the evening sun overlooking the Arapaoa River and not have to worry about the dreaded 'bugs' of the night or listen to those damn grasshoppers at 90 decabels. This place was blissfully silent.

 

Auckland from the bay and above

This morning the sun was doing and in a country where you are never more than 80 miles from the sea it was easy to decide on a day on the water with a cruise the nearest islands within the Bay. As we left
Auckland Harbour we cruised up river to the harbour bridge (not a patch on 'the bridge' in Sydney).

Gutsy punters can bungee from Auckland's bridge and we stopped off briefly to cheer on a nervy jumper that was in need of some encouragement. Then it was onto the West Haven harbour, the biggest
harbour in NZ. She had 1854 berths with a 5 year waiting list to acquire a berth!

With a hours cruising under our belts we stopped off at the Rangitoto Island, a 600 year old now dormant volcano.  Rangitoto forms part of the Hauraki Marine Park a significant Auckland landmark. Not so well known on the island are the three small cottage like buildings known as Bach settlements. Built back in the 20 and 30s they have now been lovingly restored and the next stage was going to be to rent them out as holiday lets. The interiors were just great. The finish detail was just excellent.

Across the bay is Devonport which boasts pretty Victorian villas, sandy beaches and strong cafe culture. We easily killed a few hours wandering around here. NZ so far is really impressing us.

High above Devonport cafes is Mount Victoria. 283 ft above sea level its Devonports highest volcanic cone of which you can walk right in to. From the top it gave some great views back city and other surrounding islands. The mount was last fortified by the infamous 'disappearing gun' basically a 8 ton gun that used to rise and then fall to be reloaded once fired. Prior to this 4 x muzzle guns from HMS Nelson did the job. Long before the arrival of the Europeans though the Maori also used to man this point high above the Victoria Harbour.

As it was our last evening in town just couldn't resist a quick trip up Aucklands 'Sky Tower'. The tallest man-made structure in NZ standing at 1076 feet. That's taller than the Eiffel Tower. To walk up it takes just under half an hour but a quick 40 seconds ride in the glass bottomed lift and your up top at the Sky viewing

deck perched at 722 ft. As noted in our hotel guide, NZ is known for it's earthquakes and the tower has been built with this in mind. The tower should be able to with stand a 8.0 on the Richter scale. In high winds up to 125 mph she sways around a metre at the revolving restaurant level! Hmmm. From the best vantage point in the city it gives some great of the surrounding volcanic mountain cones stretching right out into the

Hauraki Gulf. Normally it's possible to see for 50 odd miles in any direction. Tonight though there were a few storm clouds hanging around but these gave some great photo shots.