24th - 26th April 2009: Rotorua & Kaimai Ranges

Our next set of visitors, Mel and Dom, arrived in town on Wednesday. We spent the weekend with them in Rotorua.

Saturday dawned drizzly, so we went for an epic breakfast at Relish Cafe and stuffed ourselves on their excellent "Bennies". After this, we had an urge to roll down a hill in an inflatable ball, so we headed to Zorb Rotorua. Mel and Dom had a two-person ride while I took the solo zigzag track.

Now cold and wet, we climbed into the car and put the heating on full blast for the short drive to Agroventures. Not nauseated enough by the Zorb, Dom, Mel and I did a Swoop together: a ride where you are winched 40m into the air and then released to swing at 130kph, trussed up in a harness that makes you look like a giant caterpillar.

To conclude our extreme sports for the day, Dom and I raced on the Shweeb. This is a monorail track with a suspended recumbent cycle. Obviously I beat Dom, but only by half a second.

From there we raced to the Sheep Show, which surprisingly was just as good on a second viewing, and then headed to Waikite Valley for a welcome hot soak. Dom and Mel spent the evening at a hangi, while Sophie and I had a delicious dinner at Bistro 1284.

The next morning Dom and Mel headed for Taupo, and Sophie and I went for a rather wet walk in the Kaimai Ranges. Starting on the Waitawheta Tramway, we were hoping to follow the Bluff Stream Kauri Loop Track, but found we would need to make a few knee-deep crossings of fast rivers. Instead we took a loop via Daly's Clearing Hut. My boots leak so I got wet feet anyway...

14th-15th April 2009: Taupo, Orakei Korako and Rotorua

With the wine tasting now over, we finished up our Easter trip up by visiting Taupo and Rotorua with my mum and Ian.

We managed to squeeze in a late visit to Orakei Korako, reputed to be one of NZ's best thermal areas, and it's certainly the best we've seen. Huge silica terraces with boiling water flowing out, a big cave with a hot pool at the bottom and excellent bubbling mud. I've since been told White Island is very impressive too, so that's now on the list.

Our last evening's dinner was memorable. We went to Bistro Lago in the Taupo Debretts resort. This is another Simon Gault restaurant, just like Jervois Steak House in Auckland. He has a certain truffle-loving style that I do seem to get on well with.

The following morning, after eyeing up distant Tongariro and Ruapehu from our B&B, we took in Huka Falls and Aratiatia Rapids and headed to Rotorua. We dropped Mum and Ian at Te Puia for their dose of Maori culture and geysers, while Sophie and I went looking for a walk. We found the very pretty Redwoods forest, just outside Rotorua. Redwoods somehow feel a little out of place in NZ: they're quite unlike any of the native trees, but impressive nonetheless.

To finish our trip we went up the Skyline gondola for a view and a spot of luge. The luge is much more fun than it deserves to be - an experience a bit like skiing but sitting down. Mum took to it particularly well, getting her luge up on two wheels on occasions...

27th-28th March 2009: Taupo and Balloons over Waikato

When I walked the Tongariro Northern Circuit last month, a hut warden told me I should follow it up with the Ruapehu Crater Walk. This is a guided walk from the top of a chairlift at Whakapapa up to the edge of Mount Ruapehu's crater. Several people have told me how stunning it is and I'd love a view of the crater lake.

On that occasion the weather forecast was terrible so I left the walk for another time. Last weekend we decided to make another attempt, along with Nishan and Tiani.

As it turned out, our old friend Fiasco decided to come along for the ride too. We started with the worst Friday-night rush hour we have seen in New Zealand, so that it took me an hour and a half to pick up Tiani, visit a petrol station, and drive 8km to Tim's office to meet him and Nishan. In the course of our subsequent four-hour drive we added a minor speeding infringement to our experiences, and took 20 minutes to find our mis-addressed hotel in National Park.

After all that, getting up at dawn on Saturday for the walk was hard work, but we hoped it would be worth it. Alas, the weather was not on our side; low cloud and settled drizzle meant that the trip was cancelled. You can imagine we were not the happiest bunch, especially since the weather for the past week had been perfect. The forecast for Sunday was tantalisingly perfect too but we had to be back in Auckland by then.

After a bit of humphing we decided to make the most of the day, so we took the scenic route home. We admired Lake Rotoaira and the Tongariro River before heading to Taupo about lunch time. I could actually imagine liking fishing if it meant I could stand in the Tongariro all day; it is a bit story-book, with graceful bends, bubbling shallows and glassy pools.

The Aratiatia rapids, just outside Taupo, are only open a few times a day. Most of the time their water is diverted to a hydroelectric power system from a dam above the rapids, but periodically the flood gates are opened to allow the rapids to return to their spectacular natural level. This made us enjoy them all the more; we stayed half an hour until the gates were closed, and watched the water diminish to five metres below its previous height. Even then, the rapids and rocks were spectacular and worth stopping to see.

Aratiatia Rapids

After that we satisfied my pizza-lunch craving, then headed to Craters of the Moon, a local site of geothermal activity that has appeared as a side-effect of the building of the nearby Wairakei power station. It wasn't that exciting compared with other geothermal sites we have seen. We hope Orakei Korako will be much better.

From here we set out for Hamilton, where the Balloons over Waikato festival has been taking place. The pilot on our previous balloon trip suggested that we come and watch the Nightglow, and it was worth seeing. Around 20 balloons inflated at dusk in a large field - getting upright but not airborne - using their burners to light up the canopies. Bizarre and beautiful.

Nightglow

More photos here and here.

6th-7th February 2009: Tongariro Alpine Crossing

One of the things remaining on our must-do list was the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, allegedly New Zealand's best one-day walk. We walked to a DOC hut near the start point the night before to get an early start and give ourselves the time to climb one of the volcanos that the main track skirts. This also gave Sophie, newly time-rich, the opportunity to do the full Tongariro Northern Circuit, of which the crossing is day 2. We took a bunch of CHPers along: Alex, James, Luke and Ken.

Day 1 was a late start after the drive down but a short 3-hour yomp took us to the Mangatepopo Hut near the start of the crossing. We had an chilled-out evening drinking some wine, playing cards and watching the sunset.

On day 2 we left the hut at 6:50am with the tops shrouded in cloud. We reached the first saddle an hour or so later, and decided to begin the climb up Ngauruhoe (pronouced Nah-eu-ru-ho-eh or something), a nearly perfect volcanic cone towering above the area. This turned out to be somewhat more challenging than we expected, with about 700m of loose scree and sharp volcanic rocks. The views from the top made it worth it though, as by the time we got there the clouds had cleared completely.

The view from the crater of Naguaruhoe

The remainder of the crossing provided us with views of bright-red craters, emerald lakes and steaming thermal areas; a spectacular collection that really has to be seen in person to be appreciated. Our legs had appreciated enough by the last hour or so of the walk - the volcanic side-trip adds quite a bit to an already substantial outing.

CHPers and a volcano

Having now 'done' Ngaruramaramawhakahoe, next time we'll only have to do the cushy amble to the summit of Tongariro.

More photos here.

24th-27th October 2008: Great Barrier Island

It was the labour day bank holiday weekend in New Zealand. We heard the traffic was likely to be terrible so we took a ferry to Great Barrier Island for a three-day walk. Photos here.

Great Barrier Island reminded us of the Isles of Scilly. With a population of around 800, it has a small-community feel, very few roads, and a laid-back attitude to bus timetables. Fortunately we fell on the right side of this with a lovely chatty lady called Christine of Great Barrier Travel who drove us to and from our walk and was happy to stop at coffee shops and view points for us. She also took advantage of our trip to distribute fresh bread around the island, flown in that morning.

Friday - stayed at Stray Possum Lodge, cheap lodge/backpacker accommodation. We were pleasantly surprised that the landlady took us at our word when we asked for our steaks very rare.

Saturday - walked from Windy Canyon to Kaiaraara Hut, via Mount Hobson and a spectacular kauri dam on Kaiaraara Track (photo). Took 5 hours or so and included a few steep slippery bits that had us pretty well climbing down trees at the side of the path. The only other hut occupants were a lovely couple, Angie and Tim, who gave us some good pointers on where to go next in NZ.

Sunday - Kaiaraara Hut to Great Barrier Lodge via the old Forest Road, around 5 hours again. The track passes two huge old kauri trees - a rare sight since most of the big kauris were logged a hundred years ago - which made Tim very happy. (photo)

Great Barrier Lodge was lovely - a simple room with a huge comfy bed and sunny view of the harbour. That, combined with a couple of lamb racks and a big breakfast, was exactly what we needed after 2 days' walking.

Monday - 3-hour walk out to the road via the Kaitoke Hot Springs, natural thermal pools in a stream. Really cool to be in proper natural pools, though we weren't sure about the amout of wildlife we were sharing them with. (photo)

Another win for the Lonely Planet - the walk route was taken from its Tramping in New Zealand book.

3rd-5th October 2008: Rotorua

Finally made it to RotoVegas, after threatening to go about every weekend for the last six.

Stayed two nights in Treks Backpackers, pretty much in the middle of town. Cheap, clean accommodation with a comfy bed and a decent shower, though there were a few comedy reception-desk moments including a 2am phone call checking whether we had arrived safely. Good value at $74 for an en-suite double.

On Saturday we started with a light bacon and egg breakfast in a small cafe, then drove to Te Puia (photos). Saw the impressive Pohutu geyser as well as lots of bubbling mud and a boiling spring in which they were cooking corn on the cob. They have two kiwis in a special dark kiwihouse, where they seem to keep the birds perpetually jet-lagged so they're active during the day. Also saw a Maori cultural show, which was interesting and only a little cheesy.

From there to some thermal pools to swim. We decided to go to Waikite Valley, which looked a bit nearer to nature than the town-centre offerings. It turned out to be a good choice - amazing boiling river feeding half a dozen pools of different temperatures, all in the middle of a beautiful green valley. Much better than Waiwera which was twice the price and more pretentious without being better.

After that exertion we were in need of a slap-up 3-course dinner, provided very competently by Lewisham's in central Rotorua. Delicious food, excellent service, tasty little South African gooseberries. (Oh, and gluten-free walnut cake.)

Sunday started with a feast of a breakfast in the Fat Dog Cafe, which we sorely needed after such a light dinner. Soph had "veggie works", which seemed to contain about 7 eggs scrambled and a kilo of fried potatoes and other goodies. This kept her going without lunch, for about the first time ever.

We then drove to see the blue and green lakes, which turned out to be more green and grey, but perhaps that was due to the drizzly weather. The Buried Village museum was interesting, and had a stunning waterfall in its grounds as an unexpected bonus. There were also some rainbow trout in the river, looking sleek and tasty.

We then headed to the Agrodome for some "extreme fun". Sophie thought the Zorb was silly, but enjoyed it anyway. (You dive into an inflated sphere with a bucket of water and roll down a hill. It is silly.) Finally, we watched the sheep show, which was unexpectedly good and worth catching.

Now we have to sort through 100 photos of bubbling mud and see if any of them caught it mid-bubble... UPDATE: One did!

23rd-24th August 2008: Matakana region

Forecast was for rain and more rain, so we had a driving and sightseeing weekend north from Auckland with Kate Moses.

Whangaparaoa Regional Park - pretty. Moist. Reasonable waterfall and a pleasant amble. Saw a sheep giving birth and later saw her with the new lamb.

Waiwera thermal pools were good - natural hot swimming pools ranging from 31 to 48C, and some good water slides to keep Tim amused. Slightly funny place - was definitely in need of doing up. Even just surfacing the ground with something less pointy than tarmac would have been good. Very chilled out by the time we had spent a couple of hours there.

Stayed the night in Warkworth at Walton Park Motor Lodge. Two-bedroom unit for Kate and us was affordable and comfortable. Not stylish but we weren't expecting that. Enjoyed a good beer selection and knowledgeable landlord in a bar called Tahi, followed by tasty Thai dinner.

Started this morning with coffee in Matakana and looked round some crafty shops in the village (Sophie narrowly avoiding spending many dollars on cool jewellery). Back to Tahi to pick up my phone which had, er, wandered, then off to Ascension winery to taste and buy some delicious things. Tim enjoyed the Old Tawny (can't call it port because it's not from Portugal) but resisted buying any. Ascension have a concert in Feb which Kate wants to go back to.

Headed south to Puhoi, via the Honey Centre which had, well, some bees and some honey. Puhoi is an interesting historic village founded by Bohemians, with some pretty houses and well-preserved buildings like the general store and local school. Museum was interesting and attended by a knowledgeable and chatty local lady who gave us a personal tour.

Finished up with a brief visit to the Puhoi Art of Cheese Cafe. Sadly it was closing but we brought home a selection to try.

Home via a serious downpour, with Sophie struggling to see the road markings at times. We really appreciated being able to go from car to flat without leaving the building :)