The Ferry to Wellington was extremely comfortable and had all the amenities one would need on a boat including a food court, movie theatre and nice big comfortable seats with great views of the strait we crossed. This was a far cry from our ferry experiences in Indonesia! As for Wellington, it was a nice little city that reminded us a lot of San Francisco. Surrounded by hills and set right on the water it was a great introduction to the North Island. After walking around the city for the afternoon we found a great little "free" parking lot right on the water, opened the back gate and enjoyed some dinner right on the ocean. Our next two days in Wellington we spent 1.5 days at the Te Papa Museum. Quite possibly the best museum in the world, it has 5 floors of rides, games, puzzles, history, exhibits and activities that keep you wanting more. If we had another day, we probably would have spent it at this museum......it's that good!
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| Te Mata treck |
From Wellington we took our Jucy camper and headed north towards Napier, Hastings and Cape Kidnappers. Unfortunately the region had just been devastated with rain and flooding, so we weren't able to make it out to the Cape Kidnappers Golf Course or the Gannet Colony. We did however find an awesome treck - Te Mata Peak Track that afforded us spectacular views of Hawkes Bay and the areas. It seems like we haven't talked about food enough lately, so here it is: On our way back from the hike we decided to stop at a small little strawberry patch and try their home-made strawberry/boysenberry ice cream. Mmmmmm, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. Next it was a stop at the Bee Farm to sample about 10 different types of local honey and get some information on how honey bees live. It was very entertaining (believe it or not) and of course we couldn't leave without buying some honey and a honey comb (Shaun's new favorite). That night we drove at night to find our next camp site with not much luck. The problem is that the roads in New Zealand are so small and dark and uninhabited that you can drive for miles without seeing even a single light. So, defeated we decided to head north towards Taupo and found an awesome place in the middle of the woods, called Wilderness Adventure. We had the entire place to ourselves, and enjoyed a great dinner under the stars. Before heading to Taupo the next day, we had to ask the owners of the ranch for some gasoline, as the gauge on the Jucy is a little fickle and goes up and down rather quickly. Now fully rested and with some gas in our tank we headed for the lake.
Made it up to Lake Taupo in good time to meet up with Shaun's friend Kyle and stay at his wife's parents place on the lake. Lake Taupo has a similar vibe to Lake Tahoe in N. California, with a huge lake surrounded by cute little towns nestled in the hillsides. Most of the days consisted of seeing the local sights in the surrounding area. We went to see the renowned Huka Falls which is an amazing shoot about 200 yards long and only 15 feet wide. Here the water rushes past at high speeds eventually cascading over a 20 foot fall to the open pool below. Apparently you can take a jet boat right up to the bottom of the falls and see firsthand how truly powerful the falls are. But, we decided to stay on land and take it in from above, however did not stay dry as the sky opened up and soaked us. Next stop was the Geothermal Pools - probably as close to what the moon looks like here on Earth, the vents constantly let out big spouts of steam. In addition to the steam there are mud pools and craters where only the toughest of plants can survive.
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| Thermal Mud Pools |
Later in the evening we met up with Kyle and stayed the night at Olivia's parent’s cabin. It was very cozy and had the feeling of a mountain ski house. We cooked some steaks and enjoyed a few bottles of very nice New Zealand wines (Kyle's new job in New Zealand is working for a wine distributor in Auckland!) Our plan for the next day was "dampened" as the weather from the previous day did not dissipate. We couldn't hike the famous Tongariro Pass located just outside of Taupo. This particular treck is known widely as the best day hike in all of New Zealand......including the South Island. Needless to say we were disappointed not to be able to tackle it, but now it is just another reason to return to New Zealand. We did end up hiking near base but got soaked about half way through! Luckily there was a great Chateau nearby where we dried off and enjoyed a couple of beers around the fireplace. The rest of Taupo was lots of good wine, lots of good food and some games of monopoly. The weather even broke long enough for Shaun to practice his hand at paddle boarding.
Before splitting with Bolster we got to watch a Celtics playoff game at bar (before they got eliminated!!!). And of course we couldn't leave Taupo without trying for the golfing hole-in-one challenge set up right on the lake. Even though neither Shaun nor Kyle got a hole in one, they seemed to have fun.
Link to pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/rayann.torres/NewZealandNorthIsland#
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