Hello again!
I've been to an awful lot of places since my last blog so there's a lot to catch up on. Wellington was a nice city, amazingly chilled for a capital! I did a couple of walks to lookouts and gardens, and experienced the much-loved Te Papa museum which slightly disappointed me but was still a good use of time. Had a colossal squid, 4m long in a tank (dead) which was cool. The projector telly in the hostel was also good for chilling out.
Then up to Taupo, one of the world's largest volcanic crater lakes, and it's really pretty with a massive expanse of deep blue and a couple of islands. From here I woke at 5am to do the magnificent Tongariro Alpine Crossing, one of my favourite travelling things so far. It was a full day walk through volcanic scenery including Mounts Ngauruhoe, Tongariro and Ruapehu, so far removed from the South Island's tropical forests, with volcanic rock crumbling all around and the black and red sandy peak of Ngauruhoe (used as Mt Doom in bloody LOTR) looming over everything. The weather was amazing, although I suppose we were above the clouds for most of the day (!) and the wind blew very strongly at some points, making it very tough in places. But amazingly rewarding views of the surrounding landscape with views all the way to Lake Taupo, an hour's drive away, and even Mt Taranaki in the far distance, poking above the white clouds. Also bright blue sulphurous lakes and smoking thermal vents made it feel very Martian or something like that! I slept well after that, having a little toot on my harmonica down by the lake too.
Next stop was Rotorua, with smoking storm drains and bubbling pools of mud and water, just in the park! Also perched on a big lake, the whole town smells a bit of egg but is nice with fairly wide streets and a laid back feel. I had a great wander through the park and around some maraes (Maori meeting houses) with nice views of the lake, before attending an extremely touristy 'Maori Cultural Evening' with haka dances and an superb all-Dave-can-eat dinner that I got my money's worth from...
The day after I rented a car and shot off the beaten track to go around the north east corner of the north island, where not many people go. I don't know where the photo above is from, but I saw tens of little bays just like it on the wonderful 'Pacific Coast Highway', SH35. I stopped lots of photos and relaxing, seeing port town Whakatane and landing in the nothing place of Hick's Bay in the evening, staying in a 'hostel' where the neighbour let me in because she was passing and the real owners never even showed up! An amazingly secluded night right by some rocks into the sea, and toilet and shower facilities in shacks down the other end of the garden!
The next morning I drove early to the East Cape Lighthouse, at NZ's most easterly tip, with stunning sunny views of endless sea. Drove half an hour down a dusty gravel road to get there so really felt like dropping off the edge of the world! From there I drove down the coast to Gisborne, past a couple of black sand beaches and nice bays. The roads hug the coast most of the time, rising through the mountains on winding roads then dropping into the scenic bays and racing along the back of the beaches. Gisborne was quite an industrial town with lots of logging going on, but I walked to the Titirangi lookout on the northern edge of Poverty Bay and had a real treat of a sunset from up there, one of my favourites, not to mention the bench...
Enjoyed a quick museum trip in the morning, then carried on down the coast to Napier. This place was levelled by an earthquake in 1931 and rebuilt in the prevailing style - art deco - and that means EVERYTHING. Little quaint shops and gardens all made it feel like 'Goodnight Sweetheart' or some other kind of timewarp, but I loved it. Shops even sold 1930s clothes, in an attempt to really make it feel like a timewarp town perhaps?
The next day I gave a quick lift to a German chap back to Taupo before dropping the car in Rotorua and having a rainy day reading and learning Spanish at the cosy hostel there.
The next day brought me to Auckland, known as being rubbish. I sat by the disappointing waterfront of the 'City of Sails' and enjoyed a muse there before grabbing a Malaysian noodle dinner and going for a drink with a nice Italian guy I'd met at the hostel. The following day I walked up nearby Mt Eden, a volcanic crater covered in greenery with great views of the city surroundings. Also went to the Auckland Museum, which I really enjoyed, getting stuck in the tiny musical instrument collection room. Square violins, ophecleides (?) and funny violin things with brass horns attached kept me excited while every other person just whizzed through in 30 seconds. From there I walked through the university and associated park for a nice chill out and back to the hostel. I bumped into Inge, a friend from the Kiwi bus, on the way, so we enjoyed a goodbye drink for her before she moved on from NZ.
Then the bus took me right up to Paihia, a wonderful haven in the Bay of Islands, where I mostly lazed about, catching up on my journal and recharging. This place had brown sugar beaches and wonderful water, with a few little islands dripping with greenery in the middle of the bay, really starting to feel a bit like paradise. I hired a kayak for one day and looked around mangrove swamps for little fish and wandered onto a couple of the islands. I went over to nearby Russel, grabbed a pie for lunch, then hammered out a 45-minute slog back to Paihia to rub my sore arms.
Back in Auckland the day after and I hired a car again, heading for the Coromandel Peninsula, to the east of Auckland. This road really hugged the shore, at sea level with rocks dribbling into the sea inches away. The scenery was some of the most pleasurable in NZ, if not the most spectacular. I stayed in tiny Coromandel Town one night, catching an awesome sunset over the bay there. Then yesterday I drove to a small grove of giant Kauri trees, then to a lookout over the town that was really something else. Water of all kinds of blue and clear as anything, dotted with green grassy islands, and the Auckland peninsula beyond in the distance. Then to Mercury Bay and Whitianga for lunch before getting to Cathedral Cove, the real 'paradise' section of the trip! They shot a small bit of the second Narnia film here, with a natural white stone archway between two perfect little beaches, with weird white stone shapes standing in the surf. It felt very other-worldy and was perfectly tranquil, with the clearest water yet. I also popped into Gemstone Bay to nearly get stung by a jellyfish, and Stingray Bay where I saw a hedgehog (!) and a stingray in the water too! Back to my hostel in Hahei, where the long white beach really was like images I've seen of Thailand, more white and green islands just offshore and a magnificently colourful sunset spilling along the coastline there. Scenery totally unlike anything else in NZ and simply beautiful.
Then back to gritty Auckland today to learn more Spanish and get geared up for Chile tomorrow - agh! NZ has been fun, and I've enjoyed getting to know it for myself. A lot of people seem to think it's all about the partying and the extreme activities, but you could do that anywhere in the world. The scenery and slight sense of wilderness and isolation is what it's really about and I think I've found that a bit. My driving time has really been worth it as the freedom was amazing, and it felt good to be away from the touristy places. Everything has been very westernised in many senses though (very good pies all over the place!) which has left me wanting a lot in terms of culture. South America should be a good remedy for that.
So next stop is Santiago, Chile, and I'll be travelling overland through Argentina, Bolivia and Peru over the next 2 months, hoping to get closer to more cultural things. And using another foreign language will be good fun too as I've been missing that since China and Japan.
I hope you're all well anyway and I'm glad to hear the weather's improved a bit. Great to hear from you all every now and then so keep me updated on how things are going!
Loads of love to all,
Dave x