Beach, full moon and a lot of furry clowns

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Things we learned: They call it call&talk for a reason

We love to listen to the radio here. They play good music, have some stations in Maori language and they pronounce the E so lovely.

And they talk a lot. They have a lot of call-in programs where they offer a subject and people can call and express their opinions on the subject. Even though the subject doesn’t really  seem to be of great importance. One day we listened to a show with “rodeo” being the topic. The show master was not really in favor of it as “this is the most terrible thing you can do to an animal” but encouraged listener who liked it to call “we want to hear from the ones who like it” she said, following by a 10minute rambling why it is terrible to do it. No rodeo-lover dared to call of course. But other people called. And they talked. About young people not showing respect to the elders. Problems with finding a job. “now I really want to hear from the people who like rodeo”. A lady who is knitting little patches that she sales was next on the line. Nothing really had to do anything with rodeo, but the show master just kept talking with whatever topic the caller came up with. A bit pointless really, but there were a lot of nice E’s in all the talking. So we loved it.

Stuff we saw:

Our fantastic little free campsite at the seaside
roaring waves
full moon and footprints
catchin’ a fish.. maybe
more full moon, more beach and more sea
sunrise 1
always pretty landscape no matter where you are in NZ
We visited a bird sanctuary and found this fella: a Kaka
not really shy when fed
This is another pretty one we found there
Kakas doing some climbing in the trees
the New Zealand pigeon
peeeeep!
The southern coast of the northern Island
we really enjoyed it.
250 steps up to get a nice view….
I think it was worth it….
everything looks like a dinosaur could walk out of the bushes at any given time…
250 steps down again….
that dude was right next to the road there…
just hangin’ around, you know!
I can sleep everywhere if I must
they are laying everywhere….
count the seals…
for a seal that looks real comfortable
sleeping in all positions
“what are you looking at me?”
backsleeper
sporty one
scene of the Lord of the Ring that didn’t make it to the movie: Frodo meets the Seal in Mordor
nice coast
great rock formations
sheeps are everywhere
guys going after white bait (we got to eat them later on… yummy)
A little lake right at the edge of the seaside
Lake Onoke

Stuff we did:

We drove down the east coast of NZ to a little DOC campsite. Directly at the beach. We watched the sunset and returned after dark. The full moon reflecting on the pitch-black sea. The reflections on the little waves turned the sea to silvery lines all the way to the horizon.

Out of this world experience. Peaceful and wonderful.

We got up in the morning too. To see the sunrise. We really made most of this amazing beach that we had to us all the time.

ON our way down south, we stopped at another seaside attraction. There is a little lighthouse with 250 stairs up the hill. But that was not the attraction. The attraction are seals. They hang around there. On the rocks, swimming in the sea, on the grass and underneath the bushes.

We spent hours to watch these clowny animals. Watching them with their funny way to climb on rocks and slide on the grass I thought they probably really enjoy humans swim. As clumsy as these animals on land, as gracious, elegant and acrobatic they act under water.

For them, humans are probably the clumsy clowns in the water, and acrobatic on land.

An unknown road and a lot of blue

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Things we learned:

The huge carrot and other fantastic sights.

New Zealand is an amazing country. The beautiful landscapes, unusual plants, wonderful animals and the friendly people are the attractions of this country.

A lot of Lord of the Rings fans travel around here too of course, even though there is little to see from the original sets beside Hobbington, which is a zoo apparently.

Even though it has too much to offer every little thing in New Zealand is made into an attraction. Every gurgling river that drops more than 1m is displayed as a waterfall and there are some really bizarre attractions: a fence hung with bras, another one with toothbrushes attached and a huge carrot standing around somewhere.

We stood in front of the bra-fence and thought how this had become an attraction with all the amazing landscape surrounding it.

P1240868

The toothbrush fence even made it into a really funny New Zealand sitcom: The flight of the Conchords. “It’s amazing: a fence entirely full of toothbrushes. At least 50 or so. Your have to see it to believe it”

You just have to love New Zealanders for this.

Stuff we saw:

We saw a farmer trying to hold the fence for the sheep to cross the road. So we came an helped.
lots of sheep
hey buddy!
you can make 200 pairs of socks out of this fella’
top of the view
thats the sheeps view
more sheep and cows
the roads winds beautifully through the landscape
more cows… they seem to like it here
cutdown season for the trees
windy road -> happy Andy
Napiers is a nice little town
access to beach in Napiers
sea is always nice
Getting to know the plane, a well maintained C172. Cassandra the Flight Instructor is with us on the flight.
Drain the plane
Pre-Flight check
Go throug the check-lists
nice views from the passengers seat
into the blue of the ocean
happy Andy
what a view
a lot of blue
along the coast it goes
happy Andy
Cape Kidnappers
nice landscapes from a different angle
on final approach
“Cleared to land 01”
some oltimers on a little rally
nice old cars and transporters
nice shape
the walk to Cape Kidnappers
the cliffs did look very stable
Christmas tree in NZ
nice view

Stuff we did:

We wanted to cross to the coast. Napier and Cape Kidnapper caught our attention.

The road there is a thin line on our map. So, we made sure it is not a grave road before we turned into it.

It is 100km and it took us 3 hours. Let’s just say there were plenty of reasons to stop. Stunning views, lots of sheep and cows, some nice birds and an amazing landscape all the way.

We found an ok campsite an took a cabin to escape the pollen.

The next day we took a little spin on a Cessna 172.

I took a Flight Instructor since I didn’t want to do the whole license approval for NZ. It was an amazing feeling to steer the plane to the coast and crossing the shore flying into an all blue: blue sky on the top and a deep blue ocean below.

What an amazing time. “Pinch-me-moment”

We found an outstanding campsite at the beach for the night.

The next day we slept in (something I could write almost every day, but this day it actually had a little consequence: we didn’t make it all the way to cape kidnappers. The incoming tide made it impossible to do the hike along the shore to the amazing cape that we saw from above the day before.

 

A rest day: let’s have the mind catch up with our bodies

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In Ohakune we found a very nice campsite. We booked a cabin (Christy got a little allergic reaction so we wanted to be out of the pollen for a while).

A wonderful place with a little stream in front of it. A bench and a table where we had some wine with our French neighbors who live here in NZ since a couple of years.

We had a short drive up the nearby volcano, a mini walk to a waterfall and we met nice people and had nice talks with them.

A lazy and therefore very fulfilling day. Or in other words: vacation from vacation.

a little waterfall next to the road
again and again: the forest and ferns are always a beauty in New Zealand
hug me!

The Tongariro Crossing: a walk on volcanoes

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Things we learned:

The campsites here are outstanding. They all have a kitchen area with stoves and very often pans, cutleries, plates. An indoor dining area with a couple of tables is standard as well. For us, travelling with a regular car and a tent this is heaven.

Toilets are usually very clean. Even the public ones you find all over the country in little villages are very clean and quite usable. No need to avoid them.

So, in general the facilities for getting food in and out of your body are very well designed and tidy. Thumps up NZ! We very much appreciated this…

Stuff we saw:

fluffy swans
“tell me if you see something on your side”
dark forest
wonderful plants
wonderful clouds hanging over the volcanoes
tomorrow we want to go up there… it better clears up
early morning sun
view on the largest volcano here: Mt Ruapeu
some hikers are o a 3 day hike around the volcano
the lava field is crossed on a little pathway
Mt Taranaki in the far distance, a picture book volcano
This is the way we came up
Mt Ngauruhoe is a holy place for the Maori
The red crater in the foreground
on top of things…
nice patterns in the snow
the two volcanos
A nice little view, well deserved
a nice walk down the mountains followed
you could see where you’d end up in two hours
nice walking
great nature
fantastic views

Stuff we did:

We knew we wanted to do the Tongariro Crossing. One of the most known hikes in NZ.

The perfect base for this is a little campsite between start and finish of the walk.A short drive brought us there. We stayed in a cabin for 2 nights, so that after returning to the camp we wouldn’t have to drive but could have a lazy evening.

The whole Tongariro Crossing is very well organized: busses pick you up at the campsite drop you off at the starting point and pick bring you back from finish to the campsite.

It is a very popular walk. Hundreds do it every day, during low season. On high season in can be several thousands. As we are not friends of being part of a large heard when hiking we were pretty happy it is early in the year when the number of people is still ok.

The first part is a long hike up a valley. The sun shines on the far away Mount Egmont. A picture book Volcano. It is cold in the morning, below freezing. But as soon as the sun gets over the hills it warms up. And the walk warms up too. After one hour the path steepens up.

After a short crossing in a sort of alpine surrounding the real fantastic part of the walk begins. Craters with little lakes in it, the view on other volcanoes, the red crater and finally a long walk down in to the valley. We have the best weather you could imagine. The views are stunning.

It is quite a nice walk.

Would I recommend it to a friend? Well, I would in the future start in the West and walk the same way up and down. If you start early enough you can enjoy the mountain almost by yourself.

Magics of the underworld: more geothermal stuff in Waimangu

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What we learned:

R2D2 is not a bird

We did a lot of forest hikes here. There is just a lot of forest here, and we like to walk. So, we end up a lot in forests.

Which is not a bad thing. The forests here are fantastic. With all the wild green chaos of the plants slow fight for the best spot.

There is always a freshness in the air. It smells like humid earth. And there is always an amazing sound. Birds chirp in all variations. One bird song sticks out of all the chirping. It sounds surprisingly like R2D2 have a rattling part hanging off his head.

It took us a while with Christies bird book to find the guy who is responsible for these sounds. I have to say I was a little bit disappointed to have the mystery solved, now knowing there are no R2D2’s hiding in the NZ forests. It is a black, dark blue bird who beeps in the forests: the Tui.

Stuff we saw:

bah
more baaahh
nice walking on a sunny day
colorful pools not open for a swim though
the little area is full of geothermal activity
the hot lake steams
it looks unreal
a peninsula in the steamy lake
little streams with hot water

 

Stuff we did:

Geothermal walk and campsite at the Lake Taupo

The whole northern Island of NZ is basically a volcanic island. And so, there is a lot going on under our feet. Many geothermal sites show the majesty of this natural power… well majestic is the view… not the smell of course.

 

The Waimangu Volcanic Valley is just one of many locations. We picked it on no specific reason. Well, let’s see how it is…

A one way 3 hour walk down a little valley is what you do here.

So we put on our hiking boots and took off.

Every corner we took some other detail caught our eye. Hot lakes steam in the sun. A little breeze moves the steam clouds gently over the calm water of the little lake. It is an unbelievable sight. When watching through the binoculars or the cameras you only catch a part of the lake and the view is tricking your mind. It looks like you are looking at a fast-forwarded video of clouds in the sky.

Everywhere are little hot springs, some erupting, some gurgling and some just sending their smelly water down to a little stream.

It is a fantastic walk.

We continued our drive to Lake Taupo on which side we found a nice little campsite.

Maori culture and some geothermal stuff: Te Puia

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Things we learned:

We are not the only ones with 12-hour time difference

In many places, including Te Puia you can see Kiwis. They have a little birdhouse with massive doors. There is almost no light inside. In almost pitch black you slowly and quietly enter a room. One side is a big glass wall. Behind its Kiwi paradise: bushes, dry leaves on the ground, moisty earth with lots of worms. All lit in red, a color Kiwis don’t see very well. It is very dark though, so our eyes needed some time to adjust, but then we saw it: the stumpy body with the big feet runs around and hectically pushes his peak deep into the earth. Obviously, no worm here. Maybe here.. no, maybe her… no, maybe her… no…

It looks a bit grotesque this animal. The big clumsy animal on these large feet. You can hear it run around like a toddler who enjoys his new ability of using his feet.

Since the Kiwi is only active at night, they have changed the time schedule of the poor Kiwi, who is running on central European time now, so it is dark night for him when visitors come to see him: during the day.

Stuff we saw:

There is a geyser that erupts every hour for 15 minutes. It is a nice thing inmost the forest here in Te Puia
The eruption is lasting pretty long. Our guide grew up in the Maori village next to this area. The used to swim in the pools surrounding the geyser
tourist of course are led on wooden walkways…
bubbling swamps everywhere
hot stinky air whistling on many places
The Maori village here is embracing their culture and celebrate it. A haka, the war-dance is a popular display
he was actually a very friendly fellow… believe it or not….
The cultural craftsmanship is taught here to the younger generation
you can watch the school and see how they work on their pieces

 

Stuff we did:

Te puia was one of the few things that were on our list to do from the very beginning. It is an area of geothermal activity and an important site for one of the Maoris big tribes.

We got a tour with a lady who was born in the Maori village that is just behind the park. She showed us to some of their gods, the language and the schools that they have here. The park and the entrance fee for it supports these schools, where the Maori art is taught (such as carving and weaving).

Since the Maori did not have a written language, the wood carvings show the history of their ancestors.

On the tour we crossed the workshops on a little walkway, so that we would watch the students and teachers doing their work. It was fantastic. Outside, in a shipping area they had a huge trunk with incredible carvings on it. It is about to be sent to Belgium where the NZ Army fought in WWI.

There are some geysers that we could watch with very few people around. It was fantastic to hear and feel the roaring of the water being pushed through two little blowholes for more than 30 minutes. There are wooden stairways all around so that the tourists don’t get to near the dangerous areas.

Our guide told us how she used to play with the geysers and how they would swim in the hot pools next to the geysers. She was a great guide and we got a good insight on how the Maori live was in the past and about her past in particular.

We stayed overnight at a nice camping at the blue lake where we met Jim, a 74-year-old guy whose wife has passed away 4 years ago. So, he is up to some new adventures and made his first attempt of camping. He had a very warm and hearty character. When it got nighttime, he crawled up in the back of his Ford Focus to sleep (“there is not much of me” he said, meaning he was small enough for the little car to sleep in). I the morning when we got up he was already gone. We hope he made it alright through the night. He was is really trying hard to get a good time out of his life without his wife that he lived with for over 40 years.

What a pleasure to have met him. We hope he is doing alright.

One of the nice things with Top10 membership is, that you get some goodies sometimes. At this site we got a free Hot Tub. So, we took a hot bath in the bubbling water before going into our tent.

 

Drive to Papamoa Beach

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Things we learned:

The warning signes at the sea are there for a reason.

The afternoon that day showed the dark side of the wonderful beaches here. There are warning signs everywhere that warn people of the dangerous drifts that occur at many NZ beaches. While we had a late lunch at the beachside restaurant a 50-year-old man watched two little kids dragged away by the sea. They screamed for help and he and some others jumped into the water to safe them. He pushed them to the other helping people and they got the kids out alright. When they turned around the man was dragged under water.

First aiders and doctors tried to get him back to life for almost one hour, but the gentlemen died on the beach.

We only saw the ambulances and helicopter arrive and didn’t know what was going on at the time. We read the details on the news.

It made us very sad, but also very aware of the dangers of such a peaceful looking location. The sea looked perfectly calm that day.

Stuff we saw:

Some of the tunnels are open to public and you can walk in there for.a few hundred meters.
Its a pretty strange feeling, since we were all by our own.
Nice forests everywhere
In this canyon there used to be an old mine with hundreds of little tunnels dug into the mountain.
Our campsite at the beach…
We had a little walk along the beach
Christy getting the best angle for her picture
playing in the waves is always fun
getting her feet wet (and finally her trousers as well…)

 

Stuff we did:

We wanted to continue south…

Not looking at anything special on the way we did what we always said so far would be an amazing thing to do in NZ just drive around the countryside.

There is really no need to stop anywhere. The whole country is so beautiful, that just driving around would already make this place a fantastic travel destination.

All the other stuff is just another extra on top of it…

 

The area we crossed is part of the Bay Of Plenty. And there is plenty…. Plenty of fruits, farms, seaside, beaches, rivers, hills, cattle, grass and a lot of blue sky.

We visited an old mine  and walked into long tunnels that were dug into the walls of a canyon.

Other than that it was a fantastic drive without any sights to see, just nice landscape to enjoy and a nice campsite at the beach.

 

Sunrise Spa: The Hot Water Beach

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Things we learned: Lets get sedated

It has been a cold night. so we decided to stay at one of the little cabins provided at most campsites in NZ. The one at Hot Water Beach had a special goody: a heated bed! And with the cold outside this was quite something. It had such a sedating effect that our eyes just slum shat when we turned it on. Like morphia the warmth swept through your body. So we overdosed a bit I guess and had a comatose sleep.

 

What we saw:

Hot water beach during the day… normal beach
Early morning walk to the beach. It was freezing cold. Wearing speedo/swimsuite with long-johns and thermal underwear on top was a first for us
digging the whole in the sand of the beach. it fills with hot water then
Thats too little man, more diggin’
sunrise
Really special…
The sea is steaming in the cold air
Looks like vacation…
High tide is arriving. The cold ocean waves spill into our warm bathtub… time to go
Mother Nature playing around in the sand
almost made it … splash
most campsites have cabins like these. for 2 night we stayed here
The Hot Water Beach is located on the Coromandel Peninsula. There are some nice walks in this area.
The Cathedral Cove is a natural tunnel at one of the nice beaches there.
You can walk through it to a fantastic beach.
The rock formations are incredible…
Hundreds of little islands out in the Ocean.

Stuff we did:

When we read about the place we knew it must be special. We arrived at the Top10 Campsite (a connection of Campsites with general good facilities, we became members which offered discounts and some nice goodies, was fully worth it).

After two rainy days in the tent with less than 5 degrees during the night we wanted to have a dry and warm spot. So we took one of the cabins they offer on most NZ campsites.

At 5am our alarms kicked us out of our sweet dreams. We put our bathing suits/speedos on and put warmest clothes on, including our long-johns and thermal underwear. Speedos with long-johns: that combination was a first timer for us….

It was bitterly cold as we walked to the beach, a little spate from the campsite in our hand.

We found the beach and dug a little hole close to the water shore.

After a few shovels the water filled the holes and started steaming. A geothermal site right under the beach heats up the water in the little dip we dug. We jumped in an enjoyed the warm natural bath.

I fact we had to keep digging, because the little hole we dig was filled very quickly with sand that collapsed from the side and in no time the hole was a shallow puddle. Some spots in our little dug hole were so hot you couldn’t sit on it. Slowly the pitch black of the night lightened up and on the horizon the blight blue showed the first signs of the new day. The blue turned into a firing orange and red when the sun rose above the Pacific Ocean and started shine on us on the beach. Steam was all over the waves that slowly brought the high tide back into the beach.

As the geothermal spots are only above the water level at low tide, there is only some small timeframes of 2x 4 hours per day where this phenomenon is approachable.

With the upcoming tide we started to get the first waves of cold water into our bathtub and so after 3 hours sitting in the hot water we finally gave up and left the beach to get back to our cabin.

What a wonderful start into the day. And with the early hour we had this wonderful beach moment almost all for ourselves.

We enjoyed a little walk to another nice beach (Cathedral caves) later that day.

What a wonderful time we had on the great peninsula Coromandel.

 

 

Black Sand: Piha Beach

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Things we learned:

Kiwis and the E

When arriving in NZ you will immediately learn something about their local language. And yes, they speak English of course. But they do have their little local accent going on. And they seem to have a special relationship with the letter E.

It is pronounced as if it came in a very thin glass bubble. You can’t just say it the way the British say it. It may break. So, you have to handle it with great care. It has to have its own little space, cannot be too close to any other letter. Transport it very carefully over your tongue through your mouth into the air, so that it can float to someone else’s ear.

You say yEs and sEvEn, sEptEmbEr and wEt.

We loved it and enjoyed hearing it.

You get used to the accent after a while. And after one month you start to change yourself… Oh yEs!

Stuff we saw:

These blossoms are everywhere here…
rolling green hills with patches of forest. cow paradise
Piha, used to be a quite place, now its the weekend destination for stressed-out Aucklanders and tourists
The sand of the beach is volcanic and black
The waves are rolling in
The next morning is more quite and nice
there is still some wind blasting though
a little walk up a hill and we get stunning views
surfers paradise
need a new hair style? go to the beach!
Outside Piha the deep rainforest Dovers the land.
gecko doing yoga
The Hot Water Beach is located on the Coromandel Peninsula. There are some nice walks in this area.

 

 

Stuff we did:

We wanted to go to the Coromandel Peninsula directly, but a closed main road and rush hour traffic in Auckland convinced us that a short visit in Piha would be a nice alternative.

A curvy road leads down to a picture book beach. Long breaking waves attract surfers from all over the country. But mainly this is a mere hour drive from Auckland, so this is a resort for people from the city. There are many small little huts on the huge coastal descent. They all have a fantastic view. In between huge villas for the rich people.

 

We chose a nice little campsite and got some dinner in the campsite kitchen.

This is a very New Zealand kind of thing: the campsites. I have never in the world seen campsites like this. Even the simplest ones have a commune area with a usually fully equipped kitchen. Some even offer cutleries, pans and plates. All have some gas stoves, fridges and a weather protected area to sit and eat.

They are not exactly cheap (with averaging at 20 – 25 Euros) in general, but really very nice. Some have stunning locations and one of these extraordinary locations was Piha.

The sand of the beach is of volcanic origin and is completely black. A huge rock offers a fantastic view. We climbed it as far as it was safe and enjoyed the view before we continued to our next destination: The Hot Water Beach.

 

Where mighty seas clash: the Northern Tip of New Zealand

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Things we learned:

Driving on the left is easy. Using the correct lever for the turn signal is hard.

As the driver is sitting on the right side everything is inversed in the car (except gas and brake pedals). So the attempt to use the turn signal resulted in the wipers going crazy on the windshields adding confusion to turning maneuvers and inner-city navigation. Oh well, we had a very clean windscreen the first couple of days.

Stuff we saw:

There is a visible line where the two oceans collide
very strange to drive through this green forest to end up with high dunes
Christy crawling up the steep dunes
What a contrast
…and what a view
the strong wind sandblasted our feet
the dunes are really high there
wonderful scenery with the clouds
Christy is having fun
We arrived at the cape in pouring rain. It soon stopped and rewarded us with a dramatic scenery
the lighthouse disappeared now and again in clouds that got pushed against the cliff

 

Stuff we did:

There is a very pretty lighthouse at the (almost) most northern tip of New Zealand. We were warned of how many people are going there. But we were lucky. It rained pretty hard the next day, so we thought maybe we can get around the majority of the crowd.

And Tawhirimatea (the Maori God of Weather and Storms) was very supportive.

He sent strong winds and a lot of rain. It washed off most tourists and we were given a chance to use our super head-to-toe Gore-Tex clothes. With strong winds, the rain changed quite a bit. We set off on the walk to the cape just when the rain stopped, looking a bit nerdy with our full rain gear between the carpark full of people dressed in jeans and t-shirts.

But soon enough the rain started again and we were the only ones on the pathway. A short walk winds down the hill to the cape with the lighthouse. The clouds covered everything and so we walked in the middle of the thick clouds. Once in a while a little hole opened the view down to the shore or to the lighthouse. It was a fantastic atmosphere. The wind gusting the sea and the clouds. Not many other people there.

Then the clouds opened and the open sea became visible.

What you really see are two seas. The Tasmanian Sea and the Pacific meeting here at the tip of New Zealand. Mighty currents are visible and there is even a visible difference in color.

It is a mighty and impressive view.

Slowly more and more people arrived, since the weather had cleared up and so we decided to go back to find more beautiful places.

We did not have to drive very far. On the way up, we have already seen a sign for a turn off to the “Dunes.” Well, we like dunes so let’s have a look.

I have seen dunes in all variations, small ones in Tunisia, big ones in Morocco, really big ones in Peru, ones next to the sea in Chile, short curvy dunes in the Sahara and long straight ones in Australia.

But these rise in between a green and fresh jungle. They rise right out of the green and end in the blue waters of the Tasmanian Sea.

We walked around and enjoyed the fantastic views and later continued to a nice campsite at the Doubtless Bay.

I love how some of the names originated: Cook passed this place without looking at it in more detail, but wrote in his description that this was “doubtlessly a bay.”

On a short sunrise walk we enjoyed the calm and peaceful atmosphere before we continued to Piha.