From the big city to the lands of steam and boiling mud

Wellington, Lake Taupo and Rotorua, NZ
February 5-11

Rotorua- Just one of the amazing geothermal hotbeds we visited in New Zealand

On the morning of February 5th we boarded the Interislander Ferry from Picton on the South Island to Wellington on the North Island. The ferry ride was very nice, a little rough, but nothing serious. Personally, I was excited for the time to just sit and write. We've both loved the freedom of having a car, but those long train rides in Europe were the perfect time to work on the blog. It's quite difficult to type in a car while going around switchbacks and S curves along ocean cliffs! So I found myself a little spot up near the front of the boat and typed away, while Shaun found himself a comfy lounger and took a nap.

My first glimpse of Wellington from the Interislander Ferry

When we arrived in Wellington we picked up our car from Avis. It was a good car, a small red Toyota Corolla hatchback, but we realized immediately that our stuff was not going to fit in the trunk. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but we've been making tons of little stops along the way as we travel, for hikes or attractions or just to check out a town, and we had been warned many times not to have any bags visible when you leave your car. We thought about going back in to the desk, but we could see they didn't have any other cars on the little ferry terminal lot so we decided to try to make due.

Our big treat in Wellington was getting to stay with Shaun's friend Simon and his family. Shaun and Simon used to train for the Boston marathon together and Simon, a professor at Victoria University in Wellington, had moved to New Zealand a few years prior. We drove up too their house in Kandallah, a beautiful suburb up in the hills over Wellington. Upon arrival, I met Simon and his wife Maree for the first time and then we both met their little boys Tait and Quentin. Simon and Maree were so great to us in our two nights in Wellington. They cooked us lovely dinners and Simon and Quentin took Shaun and I into the city for some sightseeing.

The view from the roads in Kandallah, overlooking Wellington Harbor

On our sightseeing day, we took a cool train ride from Kandallah into Wellington through the Ngaio Gorge. Then we took a cable car up to a scenic overlook where we stopped in at the Cable Car museum. At the museum, 3 year old Quentin gave us a personal tour of his favorite spots. Then we were off to check out the waterfront and have some coffees while Quentin played on the playground. It was a lovely day! Unfortunately I forgot my camera that day so I don't have many pictures of our stay in Wellington!

One highlight (or maybe it turned out to be a lowlight) for Shaun was having the chance to watch the superbowl. Even though Simon and Maree are Australian, they lived in the US for a long time, so Simon was interested in watching the game as well. On our way back in from the city we picked up some chips and beer and spent the afternoon of Monday the 6th watching the Superbowl! Personally,I loved the fact that we got to watch the game but didn't have to listen too the inevitable belly-aching that I'm sure went on for days after the Pats loss to the Giants!

The highlight for me was hanging out with Quentin and Tait. They are three and five respectively and just the cutest kids. They were both into trains (as all my nephews were at that age) so I was involved in many imaginary train rides with the boys. I loved the way they said my name with their cute little Australian/New Zealand accents as they gave me my instructions! "Eileen are you on the train? Do you have your tickets? Would you like to have afternoon tea? You'd better use the toilets because these are the last toilets before Shanghai!!" It was such a fun visit and I think I will always remember Quentin and Tait when I think back on Wellington, NZ.

On our last morning in Wellington, we decided to go check out Te Papa, New Zealand's national museum. There were lots of interesting displays at Te Papa (a giant squid, Maori art) but my favorite was the earthquake display. New Zealand lies between two colliding tectonic plates, the Indo-Australian Plate and the Pacific Plate. The constant pressure of the two colliding plates make it one of the most seismically active countries in the world. The display did a great job explaining all aspects of not just earthquakes, but also the special geothermal properties that make New Zealand so unique. Te Papa's displays actually ended up being very timely for us as we were heading to some crazy geothermal areas in the coming days. (Luckily, we never did experience an Earthquake in NZ!)

Before leaving Wellington, the last thing we did was call Avis. When we explained the trunk situation they told us to stop by the downtown office, which was right near Te Papa. Upon arrival they upgraded us to a new car, a 4 door sedan that was much nicer and larger than our original Corolla. And of course, they did it for no charge. We were pretty pleased with that! So we swapped all of our stuff into our new huge trunk and hit the road.

Our first stop after Wellington was a place called Lake Taupo, which is the largest lake in New Zealand. To get there from Wellington you drive for around three and a half hours and along the way you take the desert road, which was a gorgeous stretch of desert with three volcanoes in your sights. The biggest of the three volcanoes was Mount Ngauruhoe, which is now most famous as having starred in the Lord of the Rings movies as Mount Doom.

Driving through the desert with Mount Doom in the distance. You can hear the Orcs coming!

When we arrived in Lake Taupo, we made our way up to check out the Top 10 Holiday park. It was a beautiful park with cabins overlooking the hills and it was perfect for us because of it's proximity to the things we wanted to do in Taupo. We booked a little cabin for three nights and settled in to make some dinner. We're getting pretty good these days at stretching our food budget. That night we made steak with jasmine rice, portabello mushrooms, broccoli and grilled peaches. Two nights later we were able to turn the leftovers into a beef and mushroom fried rice which was delicious!

The first dinner of steak with rice, mushrooms, broccoli and grilled peaches

And the second dinner of beef fried rice, made from the leftovers

The first day at Taupo we did the Huka falls hike, which we were able to start directly from the Holiday park. I was feeling a little off, like I might be getting a cold, but we both wanted to do the hike so off we went. The walkway to Huka follows the right bank of the Waikato, New Zealand's longest river for 2.8k. The trails were well marked and had some hills but nothing too strenuous. When we arrived at Huka Falls we were really impressed. It was totally different than any falls we had seen before. Basically, the huge Waikato river comes to a place where there is only a narrow rocky channel and all that water pushes through the channel, creating incredible force as it rushes out and back into the big river. It was really beautiful and well worth the hike.

Along the beautiful hike out to the falls. The Waikato river splits briefly before the falls

So much water going through so little space

The river widens again after the chute

Unfortunately for me, as we made our way back I started to feel worse. We only hiked for about three hours but I felt like it had been 10. When we got back to Spa Park, where we started the trek, Shaun wanted to go for a swim in the natural hot spring in the park. I took a few pictures as he was getting in, but then had to head back to the cabin. I was definitely getting sick.

Shaun hanging out in the hot spring. You had to be careful because some parts were actually boiling

I did end up getting a bad cold, but I can't really complain. This was really only the third time I've been sick since we started traveling and each time it was just a head cold. When you consider how many trains, planes, buses, hotels, motels, cabins and hostels we've used in the last 7 months that's a pretty good track record. My only regret is that we both really wanted to do a full day hike called the Tongariro Alpine Crossing while we were in Taupo. It was going to be our longest hike of the trip and I really wanted to test myself by hiking it. Shaun was disappointed as well, but we both found ways to rebound from the change of plans.

For Shaun, it was fly fishing. He's been talking about trying fly fishing for years and the Taupo area is famous for it. He found a guide, a guy who goes by the name Fishy Steve, to show him the ropes. Fishy Steve is actually a guy named Steve Sprague who is originally from Colorado, but who has been running fly fishing tours in the Taupo area for years. He and Shaun drove out to a stream just outside town where Shaun learned the ropes of fly fishing. Shaun had a fabulous day and caught a big old trout, but unfortunately it had just spawned so we couldn't eat it.

Shaun and the trout he caught

As for me, I had a lovely day of rest and relaxation, along with a bit of pampering. Before we left for New Zealand I had gotten my hair cut, but once we started all the hiking and camping and such, I decided it needed to be much shorter. So while Shaun was out in the wilderness, I went into Taupo and cut my hair. When I got back to the Holiday park, I put on my bathing suit, grabbed my book and my sunscreen and lounged about by the pool for the afternoon. It was a real treat to just lay around for the day. We've been having such a blast, I didn't even realize how little down time we've had. So by the time Shaun got back that evening, I still had my cold, but I was feeling heaps better after my day of relaxation.

Feeling better with my new haircut

Our last day in Taupo we went to visit the Craters of the Moon. Craters of the Moon is an amazing Geothermal park with a really interesting history. It was a relatively inactive area in the 1950's with just hints of thermal activity, like a mudpool and a few small steam vents. All that changed in 1958 when a Geothermal Power Station was built in an area nearby. Something about the water they were pulling from the nearby pools increased the pressure at the Craters and the level of thermal activity increased dramatically. The boardwalk hike takes about a 45 minute loop all around the steaming vents and bubbling mud. Whatever the science behind it, it was very cool.

The crazy steam vents at Craters of the Moon just outside Taupo

The next day we headed out of Taupo on the way to Rotorua, which was another hotbed of geothermal activity. We decided to stay outside the city, especially since the mud pools and thermal wells in Rotorua are famous for their sulfur smell. (Of course, if you like the smell of rotten eggs, by all means, stay in Rotorua.) We checked in at another Top 10 park, this one just outside Rotorua in a town called Blue Lake, named for the little lake across the street. We only had a few minutes to drop off our stuff because we had hiking and biking to do! We immediately drove back to Rotorua and stopped at the Outdoorsman across from the Redwoods forest park, so Shaun could rent a mountain bike. From there it was just a quick mile down a wooded road to the Redwoods park.

Redwoods park was a perfect stop for the two of us. It is named for the Redwood forest that was planted there in the early 1900's. They had one section of trails that were purpose built for mountain biking and another set just for hiking. I chose a 5k circuit trail called the Quarry Track that went through the Redwoods, up above the treeline, down through palm trees and back to the welcome center. The walk was great, but I still had some time before Shaun and I were supposed to meet back up, so I ended up doing the little 2k Redwood Memorial track as well. It was a good thing I did the extra walk. I didn't know it at the time, but Shaun's 90 minute mountain bike ride was about to turn into a two and a half hour adventure!

Scenes from along the Quarry Track hike

When we picked up the bike, it was around 3:15 and the store was closing at 5:30, so they requested the bike rental be returned by 5. Shaun had the phone with him so he could keep track of the time, so we agreed to just meet back at the store shortly before 5PM. By 5:30, he hadn't shown up yet and I was starting to get concerned. The staff at the store were great, they just told me to knock on the door when he got back. By 5:45 I was really starting to get panicky. After all, he had a phone with him so why had he not at least called the store? Finally a few minutes later a very tired and sweaty Shaun came barreling down the street. As it turned out, he had taken the advice of some locals about how long certain trails were and ended up way farther out than he had intended. And unfortunately, somewhere along the trails he had stopped to eat an energy bar and forgotten to zip his pocket back up. Bye, bye cellphone. He looked so exhausted I didn't even have the heart to be mad.

The next morning we headed back into Rotorua. Rotorua is famous for its geothermal wells, but it also known as a sacred place for the Maori people. There are a number of Maori cultural centers in the town that you can visit to learn more about the Maori's arrival in New Zealand and their customs and people. Other than at Te Papa in Wellington, we had seen very little about Maori culture so we decided to spend the morning at Te Puia. Te Puia was interesting and fun. The place itself is right in the middle of a geothermal reserve and it is the site of mud pools, steam vents and even a geyser. Your ticket gets you a tour of these natural wonders, a wood carving and weaving exhibition, plus a traditional Maori performance. It was a fun way to spend the morning.

At the site of the geyser in Te Puia

A Maori Greeting in front of the main ceremonial house

Some of the beautiful wood carvings

One of the performances inside the prayer house

Upon leaving Rotorua, we continued heading northeast. Our goal was to go camping on the Coromandel Peninsula, but it was too far to drive in an afternoon. We stopped instead at a little place called Papamoa Beach, at a beautiful Top 10 park. This one was right alongside the beach and what a nice beach it was. We were a little sad that we had arrived so late because we really didn't have much time to enjoy it. We made a little dinner and then took a quick walk across the street to a little pub where we played some pool and mapped out our plans for the next day. We were down to our last 5 days in New Zealand and we were determined to make the most of them. Off we went to the Coromandel Peninsula.

Beautiful Papamoa beach at Sunset