On the last night in Paihia (Bay of Islands) I met a Maori guy, Bobby, and his schoolteacher wife and had a great evening with them. Really nice people.
From there I headed south, along the northern coastline, to the Coromandel Peninsula... What a stunningly beautiful place. It's a little 'finger' of land that juts north with incredible, winding roads that follow the coastline and the mountains. It's just stunningly beautiful.
I arrived in Tairua around 5pm and it took about a second to decide to stay...
Either I'm very lucky in where I happen to stay or there are a lot of lovely spots in NZ!
From there it was onto Rotorua, a geothermal Mecca in the centre of the North Island, stopping off for a quick dip at Whangamata...
Rotorua is the main centre for the surrounding volcanic and geothermal activities. The town itself is, inevitably, rather touristy but fun to be found nonetheless...
A cable car will take you up the mountain overlooking Lake Rotorua and then a chairlift services three luge courses (I tried them a few times!)
Very reminiscent of skiing and very, very strange to be on a chairlift without skis but in shorts and in the sunshine!
Next were the two Geothermal attractions of Waimangu and Waiotapu. Both areas are volcanically active and it is a very strange experience to walk along rock with steam pouring out of fissures! The whole experience felt very primordial and I had to keep reminding myself that this was indeed the work of Mother Nature and not a "theme park"! Hard to describe but a couple of pics...
A stream with steam...
And an amazingly mineral-coloured crater lake...
Bubbling mud-pools, mineral salt pans, craters, geysers and all sorts were the order of the day; too much for photo's of everything.
So, after a while, it was onto the east coast. Going along a highway, I decided to stop for a rest. Pulled over. Walked about a bit. Saw a gap in the undergrowth so pushed through and saw this...
I'm sure this would be on the 'tourist trail' in many other countries!
I continued southbound along the east coast of the North Island, through Hastings and Napier in a day and a half to try to make up some time and get to the South Island in good time. A last night's camping was in Waipukurau and then it was up early for the last couple of hundred km's to the ferry in Wellington.
Now here's where I make a small admission! I didn't visit Wellington (other than driving through to the ferry port). Yikes, don't tell anyone... Of course since then, I've met a number of Wellington people and have not been able to admit to missing out their capital city so have made very convincing nods of approval when asked if I liked it! Truth is, I've just had enough of cities for a while. I'm here to see the country.
That finishes the North Island and as I'm playing 'catch up' on this blog, I'll start a new one to bring us up to date.
Liked the North a lot. The obvious Taupo and Rotorua but particularly The Northlands, above Auckland, and the Coramendel Peninsula particularly.
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Location:Kerr Rd,Fox Glacier,New Zealand
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