Namaste Travelling!: New Zealand - (North Is)

Our Britz!

We arrived in Auckland on the 16^th of November. It was a very wet, overcast day…very similar to what we’re all used to at home and therefore not a good start to New Zealand. For this leg of our journey we were joined by one of my university friends Hersha. She arrived a couple of hours after us and we all met up in the rather dingy hostel that we’d pre-booked in Auckland. All slightly disheartened by the weather we were looking forward to picking up our campervan, which we did the next morning with great excitement. The camper was much nicer and much larger than the one Mike and I had had in Darwin and after collecting it we set straight off to the supermarket to stock up on supplies for our 5 week trip.

Coromandel

Our first stop after Auckland was the Coromandel peninsular where we spent our first night at a Top Ten caravan park on the beach. It was a bit of a shock to discover we paid per person and not per camper and decided there and then that we would ‘freedom camp’ where ever possible! Starting as we meant to go on we woke up the next morning and went for a run along the beach…I lasted about 15 minutes before my massively de-conditioned muscles started giving up on me and I pulled out. Hersha and Mike lasted about another 5. That day it continued to rain…pretty much all day! The small roads were literally sandwiched in between the sea and the steep hills and were some of the windiest we have ever been on. With the lush green hills and bright blue sea Coromandel was stunning! The winds really picked up throughout the day and even though we were in a larger van we were really buffeted!

By the afternoon it was starting to clear a little and we decided to walk to ‘Chums Beach’. We had been advised by a local that it was, like a lot of other beaches we’ve been to, ‘one of the top ten in the world’. The route to the beach was along some rocks and it took us about half an hour of scrambling over the rocks and then through the forest to reach what I have to say was a stunning beach! Being New Zealand the weather changed every 5 minutes from rain to bright sunshine. Mike and Hersha decided to brave the water, which was crystal clear and I soon joined them…it was absolutely freezing!

The scramble to Chums beach

Chums beach

Hot water beach

We continued on along the coast and this time stopped at ‘Hot Water Beach’. An amazing phenomenon where hot water from volcanic activity flows out of the cliffs overlooking the beach into the sand. We were by no means the first to arrive with it being a Sunday and we arrived to find hundreds of people on the beach bathing in their own little man-made pools. We didn’t have a spade but we made good use of our hands and started digging. We were all a bit skeptical as to how hot it was but I can tell you now, about 20cm below the sand the water was HOT! We ended up frantically trying to channel cold water into our pool as it got hotter and hotter and we went redder and redder. Unfortunately our pool was rather small and we ended up in the situation where the parts of our bodies under the water were burning, but as it continued to rain the parts out of the water became increasingly cold. After about half an hour we retreated back to the warm and dry campervan. We set off round the coast making sure to stop at the many picturesque spots and lookouts which seemed to be in abundance along this coastline.

Some parts were scalding!!!

Cathedral Cove

Our next main stop was Rotorua. Famous for its sulpher pools and geisers, one distinct memory of this town was the smell of rotten egg that seeped in through our windows as we drove into the town. We stayed at a beautiful little freedom camping spot down by lake Okareka and in the morning visited one of the two active geysers in Rotorua. The one we visited goes off every morning at 10:15 at Wai-O-Tapu when the guide bizarrely puts a paper bag of soap down the top of it. He said that the geiser would go off once every 24hrs anyway without the aid of the soap but that it would happen at random times so no one would ever get to see it. At its full height the water probably reached about 30m and came so fast and with such a grumble from beneath it was really cool to see. We then walked around the sulpher lakes which were equally cool and a lot smellier. All different colours were forming on the surfaces of the lakes and you could see parts of them bubbling away with the heat generated. After a few hours however the sulphurous steam became a little overwhelming and we were all slightly nauseous by the end of our visit.

Strictly no swimming

Amazing colours in the sulphur pools

In the afternoon we went to one of the natural occurring hot springs…it was beautiful and the warm water was very welcoming after a bit of a cold start to NZ. Beautiful that was until I noticed that I had a tiny red worm on my arm…and then that the water was completely filled with tiny red wiggling worms and they were all over us! We all leapt out of the water and ran back to the van keen to strip off and rid ourselves of the worms…easier said than done and a moment I don’t think any of us will forget!! We moved onto some mud pools where we tried our hand at Mauri wood carving and then immersed ourselves in mud! It was great fun and after about half an hour in the cleansing mud we moved on to two different (worm free) hot pools. Feeling thoroughly clean at the end of our day we drove back to the lake to once again enjoy the cheapness of freedom campingJ

Enjoying the thermal spring BEFORE we
had noticed the worms!

Wood carving

Mud pools

The next morning Mike went white water rafting so I’ll let him tell you about that...

Going over the falls - I am front left

'New Zealand is synonymous with white water rafting so it was a must do on my travel list. I have been white water rafting before but of course in a country renowned for its extreme sports you have to go for the biggest and best. The Kaituna river rapids are classed at grade 5, but although not the most technical of rivers it has one special feature, which is the 7 metre high Okere falls! This is the highest commercially rafted waterfall in the world and therefore a must do. Taking my seat at the front of the boat left me wondering if this was a good idea, but after a brief training session of how to paddle we set off down the river. The scenary itself on the river was spectacular with lush moss and overhanging tree ferns. We passed through each section of rapids with a few knocks but with no one falling out. Suddenly we stopped....clinging to a piece of tree root our instructor manoeuvred our raft into position. At this point he decided to remind us that 1 in every 3 rafts capsize! We tentatively approached and then suddenly shot over the edge. Within seconds it was a complete blur as we plunged to the bottom of the falls with our entire raft being completely submerged. As we shot up from the bottom of the river it was a relief to realise we were upright and had not capsized. Wiping the water from our faces we were glad to have done it and overall the rafting was a fantastic experience. I would certainly recommend the rafting company riverrats.co.nz for an amazing day out.

Another boat at the bottom of the falls

Something invaluable that we also got out of the white water rafting was that the guy told us we could fill up drinking water at any petrol pump in NZ which made the following weeks much easier! At the beginning of the trip we had originally planned to head west as it is renowned for surfing. But the weather in New Zealand can be completely contrasting depending on what side of the country you are on, so we were forced east by bad weather on the western side. We continued along around the deserted East Cape searching for surf. With only 4 million people in New Zealand the country is hardly over crowded, but the East Cape is considered one of the most isolated parts. The only places seemed to be sporadic farm houses and the occasional small village dotted along the way. We came across lots of deserted beaches before we came to any surf but we visited them all the same and mainly thanks to Hersha we swam in each one! At one point we almost ran out of petrol in the middle of nowhere and when we got to the nearest pump we found that it had shut at 5! Hersha was not deterred and went straight up to the owners house and banged on the door. Within 10 minutes a rather drunk looking man with a beer in his hand had opened up the pumps for us and we were on our way. Sometimes it definitely pays to be gutsy!