Month: May 2016

Day 32: Return to Auckland

Our kiwi hunt the night before forced us to pass by a good portion of the Kauri forest the night before. We decided we would rather get up before dawn and backtrack a bit, rather than show up at the airport “well-rested,” so we headed north one last time to see some Really Big Trees.

Tane Mahuta – “The Lord of the Forest” is the largest Kauri tree in New Zealand – estimated to be around 2,000 years old

Stopping at a lookout for our last breakfast and a cuppa

The rest of our final day in New Zealand was mostly a travel day, as we had to return our beloved RV to the airport at 3:30PM. With some very *assertive* driving from Igor, we made it back around 3:45PM – not tardy enough for a late fee, so mission accomplished!

For our final night in New Zealand, we had a picnic dinner of all our refrigerator leftovers in an airport motel, which only allowed one device per room to hook up to the Internet. Looking forward to our next country: Australia!

Day 31: The Far North

We decided to camp out at Spirits Bay the night before – the park was a bit packed, but the beach was pretty empty when we explored the next morning. After breakfast, we made our way to Cape Reinga, stopping at the Giant Te Paki Sand Dunes along the way. Our timing was perfect – we had the dunes all to ourselves! Climbing the dunes was very challenging, but the views were very rewarding.

Sunrise walk on the beach in Spirits Bay

Peaceful moment in Spirit Bay

First ones in the carpark – we have the dunes to ourselves!

Quite a climb to the top! These boots need a rest!

View from the top of the Giant Te Paki Sand Dunes

Igor had a lot of fun coming back down the dunes. While other people rent boogie boards to slide down the dunes, Igor decided it would be a bright idea to roll down the dunes. I love my husband – he’s very entertaining.

Igor is King of the Mountain – until he tumbles down

The very tip of the North Island is Cape Reinga, or Te Rerenga Wairua – a very spiritual place for the Maori. According to their folklore, the spirits of the deceased pass through here before returning to their ancient homeland. At the very end of the walkway is the Cape Reinga Lighthouse, right where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean.

Trailhead for Twilight Beach – just a quick hop over the fence

Panorama of the Far North

The 800-year-old pohutukawa tree which Maori spirits must climb before returning to their homeland

The lighthouse at Cape Reinga – fully automated with solar panels

The turbulent waters of Cape Reinga, where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean

Since we couldn’t go any further, we turned South, this time heading for the West Coast of Northland, stopping at mile 25 of the 90-Mile Beach.

90-Mile Beach (which is only 54 miles – gotta love Marketing)

We spent the night at the Trounson Kauri Park (recommended by our Canadian friend from the Routeburn Track – hi Rachel!), which is known for kiwi sightings. We got the park just after sundown, so we headed into the forest looking for a loud, screechy jungle chicken. We soon ran into a group of about two dozen tourists following a park ranger – we figured we would never find a kiwi with that many people, so we headed back to the RV for dinner & a bottle of wine. Around 10PM, we decided it would be an awesome idea to go back into the forest looking for some kiwi! After about 30 minutes, we did hear a really freaky screech, but unfortunately it wasn’t close enough for us to locate the bird. We stumbled back to bed, only to hear the kiwis screaming throughout the night.

Day 30: Northland

After Hobbiton, Lindsay took the wheel and drove us North into the wee hours of the night, as we didn’t want to get stuck in Auckland traffic in the morning. We arrived in Snells Beach a little after midnight and passed out in the public parking lot.

Cloudy sunrise in Snells Beach

Since we were already in Northland the next morning, we made our way up the coast at a leisurely pace, passing through the Bay of Islands and Mangonui, on our way to the very tip of New Zealand’s North Island: Cape Reinga.

Surfers waiting for the perfect wave in Mangawhei

Drive-by of the Bay of Islands

Signs of local birdlife in Mangonui

Walking the Heritage Trail in Mannui, trying to get cultured

Sailboats in Mangonui

Day 29: Hobbiton

When we got up in the morning, we were glad we had taken the ski lift to see the mountains the day before – the clouds were so thick, we couldn’t see any of the three peaks. We still had the morning free, so we walked the Taranaki Falls Walk just for our health, before heading off at noon.

Bit of morning tramping to the Taranaki Falls

A few mossy steps to a great view

Both hubby & New Zealand look amazing AF

After a very light lunch, Lindsay took the driver’s seat because she was just that excited and couldn’t wait to arrive at our next destination – for years she had been dreaming about visiting a magical place that once only existed in the imagination: Hobbiton!

Fangirl squeal of excitement!

We were booked for the Dinner Tour which left the Visitor’s Center at 4:45pm. About 50 fellow tourists climb onto a big green bus with us, we drive through the locked gates of the Alexander Farm, down about 5km into the sheep fields of the working farm, along a road built by the New Zealand Army to accommodate the film crew for The Lord of the Rings (max capacity 130+ vehicles per day).

On the bus to The Shire! Lindsay is swooning over her tickets while Igor is checking his emails via mobile phone

We get off the bus and follow our guide, Andy, into the heart of the Shire…guys, it’s every bit as wonderful as I hoped it would be. Andy took us along the pathways, telling us little behind-the-scenes stories about the construction of the sets, pointing out which hobbit holes were full scale, and which were “hobbit-scale”, what was real, and what was fake, as well as a few jokes (“Why are hobbits no good at boxing? Because they destroyed the ring!”). We had plenty of time to take photos as the sun slowly went down, and we made our way to the Green Dragon Inn.

Welcome to the world of hobbits!

Uncontainable excitement over hobbit-holes!

BAG END.

Night falling on Hobbiton – time for supper & some ale!

At the Green Dragon, we got a complimentary beer – specialty brews from Good George made exclusively for Hobbiton and enjoyed the pub atmosphere. While sipping our ale, we met a couple from Brighton (England, not New York) who were visiting the wife’s sister New Zealand who later became our tablemates for dinner.

The calm before the storm – getting some ale at the Green Dragon

Cheers! Any surprise Igor is seated near the exit?

Speaking of dinner – what a hobbit feast! It was like a Tolkien Thanksgiving – the tables were literally full of food (Andy told us that when they are setting the table, their supervisors check to verify that there is not a single bare spot on the table). And the food is GOOD: roast chicken, beef & sausage dumpling stew, roast bacon, stuffed butternut squash, roast vegetables, ratatouille. After “filling in all the corners”, we still had dessert!

Tucking in for a hobbit-feast!

Dessert plate! I would expect nothing less from the Green Dragon

After the delicious dinner, each couple gets a lantern to light our way back through a night-tour of Hobbiton. Seriously, the sight of the Party Tree & Bag End lit-up in the dark is just magical – words can’t describe the wonder of being physically transported inside a novel.

Exploring hobbit-holes and considering moving here…

Pickles the cat, following the tour through a lamp-lit Hobbiton

Word of advice to any friend considering a trip to New Zealand: if you decide to visit Hobbiton, spring of the Dinner Tour – it’s worth every penny.

Day 28: The Forgotten World Highway & Mount Ruapehu

We made it halfway through the Forgotten World Highway the night before, and decided to spend the night in the “Republic” of Whangamomona. Apparently, this town in the middle of nowhere New Zealand declared themselves an independent state in 1989 (symbolically only of course – and just one day per year) to protest some redistricting done without their input. As we were not there on their independence Day (in January) it was just another rural New Zealand town – maybe a tad quirkier.

The rest of the drive through the Forgotten World Highway was, well a bit forgettable really. Although we did get flagged down near the end by a farmer who needed to let his cows through the road. That’s another thing we noticed about the North Island verses the South – more livestock seems to get loose from the fields up North – we never saw stray animals in the South but every now and then we’d find a cow, sheep or goat wandering on the road. Drivers beware!

Beautiful views of the Forgotten World Highway

Stray cows – this would never happen on the South Island!

Making way for herding cattle

We got back to Tongariro late in the afternoon, but we had enough time for a quick tour round the lobby of the stunning Chateau Tongariro Hotel. We skipped their High Tea in order to visit Mount Ruapehu (Mount Doom, to the Lord of the Rings fans out there) – the ski area was running its lift to the “highest café in New Zealand”, where there was also a short Skyline Ridge Walk. Unfortunately for us, we missed the trailhead and started blindly climbing up the mountain. In our defense, we were not the only ones – we even asked some other tourists coming down from the mountain if it was the correct trail and they said “Yes! The view at the top is amazing!” Once we got halfway to the top, however, we could see the correct trail below us, veering off to the left of where we were. Oh well, we still got a great view!

Lurking around the lobby of the Chateau Tongariro – pretending we rich people

We got there too late for High Tea – boo.

Snowless ski-lift up Mount Ruapehu

Views from the highest café in New Zealand

A couple of boots on the mountain – view of Tongariro in the distance

The ski area in Ruapehu is building a new lift – we got a front-row view of the construction by helicopter

Setting up camp for the night

Sunset view from our “living room” – #Gobycamper

Day 27: Mount Taranaki

We spent the night in a beachside campground in New Plymouth, and woke up to a bright & sunny morning! Perfect weather for a day-trip to explore Mount Taranaki.

Neighborhood chicken roosting in the campsite next to us

We decided to save our strength for the Tongariro Crossing, and only attempted the first half of the summit hike, making our way up to the Translator Tower. While we had many sunny lookout, clouds kept sweeping the mountain peak, We ran into several other hikers coming back down the mountain saying they all had to turn back from the peak, due to icy conditions at the top.

Visit to the DOC to plan our Taranaki hike for the day

Super-crowded parking lot at Taranaki – we didn’t realize until later that Monday was ANZAC Day – the Australian/Kiwi version of Memorial Day. Igor’s superior parking skills came in handy.

Hiking up the mountain!

On a clear day you can see Mount Ruapehu & Tongariro from Taranaki – Lindsay could barely see Ruapehu in the distance

Igor taking a breather at the Translator Tower

Clouds rolling in – time to head back down!

That evening, we started heading back to Tongariro, via the Forgotten World Highway – a 150km route through the mountains. We were planning to speed through and arrive at Tongariro before nightfall, but when we called the shuttle service to book the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, we were told that once again, they were not running due to negative degree weather at the peak – luck just wasn’t with us! Since we no longer had to rush, we pulled over at the next campground…which had a little pony.

Goodnight, little pony!