Leaving the South Island me and my campervan got onto the Interislander Ferry that took us in just under four hours from Picton to Wellington on the North Island. The ferry trip took us through the Marlborough Sounds, which are just as peaceful as they are beautiful.
Wellington
All holiday parks where - as you would expect at any bigger city - quite far away from Wellington. All but one, which was right in the middle of the city centre and only offered 6 sites that were offered on a first come first serve basis (Cuba Street Motorhome Park). Essentially it was just a parking lot with electricity outlets, but I got a spot and was happy to start exploring the city from here.
Wellington (capital of New Zealand) is quite hilly and a cable car brings you right from the city centre to a lookout perched high above the city.
From here I took a stroll though the lovely botanic gardens before hopping on the cable car again back down to the city centre. I just enjoyed the day walking around the city, which also features quite a bit of street art ...
Napier
In order to beat the morning rush hour I left Wellington at 6 am and made my way to Napier.
On the way I stopped for a morning tea and watched the last bit of sunrise at the tranquil Ivey Bay at Mana, about an hour north of Wellington.
My five hour drive took me through a lot of the North Island’s green and hilly countryside...
Unfortunately I didn’t pass through the town of Dannevirke on a Sunday - I would have loved to see what the blessing of animals would have looked like!
Once I arrived at my campsite for the night (Hawkes Bay Holiday Park) it was almost time for my next half day wine tasting.
Hawkes Bay is the oldest wine region in New Zealand and due to the maritime climate similar to Bordeaux it is the leading producer of red wines, mainly Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. The tour took us to four different wineries, all beautifully located in stunning surroundings.
The following day I parked my campervan right next to a little beach, had my breakfast with a view and then set out to explore the city of Napier. In 1931 the city was almost completely destroyed by the Hawkes Bay earthquake. It was subsequently rebuild and features a unique concentration of 1930s Art Deco architecture, which makes it a popular tourist destination.
I had such a lovely sunshine day in this beautiful seaside town - it was hard to leave!
Taupo
On my journey to Taupo I planned to stop at Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Park as well as at Waimangu Volcanic Valley.
Wai-O-Tapu is Nz’s most colourful geothermal area that has many hot springs noted for their colourful appearance and boiling mud pools.
I found the so called Champagne Pool particularly impressive. The name is derived from the abundant efflux of CO2, similar to a glass of bubbling champagne. Its crater is around 65 m in diameter with a maximum depth of approximately 62 m and is filled with about 50,000 m3 of geothermal fluid. The orange colour around the rim originates from arsenic and sulfur - an olfactory experience of the more unpleasant kind!
My second highlight in the park was the Devil’s Bath, an electric green sulphur lake filled with mud that would peel your skin off. It actually looked a bit like a cartoonish radioactive dump site from a Simpsons episode...
My next stop was Waimangu Volcanic Valley, which is the world’s youngest geothermal system. On the morning of 10 June 1886 at around 2:30am 22 craters of Mount Tarawera erupted at the same time, blasting lava and ash thousands of meters into the sky, destroying several villages in a 6 kilometre radius, killing 150 people and changing the landscape forever.
I took a self guided 2 hour walk through the valley - there is still a lot of steam arising from the earth and the smell of sulphur lingers in the air...
Rotorua - Capital of Māori Culture
I was really looking forward to this particular stop because I was very curious to learn more about the Māori, who are the indigenous people of NZ.
Maori culture and identity are at the very core of Rotorua’s existence. There are a few living Māori villages that enable visitors to learn about the area’s heritage and customs. I took part on a guided tour that, as well as educating us about the different areas of Māori life also hosted a hangi feast (food cooked the traditional Māori way) and a cultural performance. I found the warrior dances and singing to be a little frightening but impressive at the same time!
Waitomo
Making my way further up north Waitomo was my next destination. There are actually only about 50 people living there. So “why did you go there?” I hear you ask. Well, there may only be very few people around but all the more glow worms! Actually millions of them! There are plenty of caves in the Waitomo area which are home to these little creatures.
Glow worms glow in order to attract insects in those dark caves (the insects think that the light is the way out of the cave and therefore fly towards it) as a source of food.
The tour I joined took us to two different caves, the first we were exploring by boat, the second one on foot.
In cave number one it was so dark, that you couldn’t even see your hand in front of your eyes once we had switched off our headlamps. It took a few minutes to adjust my eyes but then slowly I started seeing the little light dots appearing and they were becoming more and more by the minutes. Tens of thousands of them! The picture here cannot do this magical place justice but only give a little clue.
Pauanui
For me travelling is as much about seeing new places as it is about meeting people - old friends, new friends or friends of friends that may in turn become your friends! How often have you heard that the world is a small place and I can only agree that this is true. My friend Verena has a friend called Suse who emigrated to NZ a few years ago and who now lives in Pauanui. Verena put us in touch and before I knew it, I met up with Suse who was just in the middle of organising a beautiful beach wedding ceremony at Pauanui Beach.
After the ceremony Suse took me back to her home, a lovely farm in the Coromandel where she, her husband and little son live together with a few cows, calves and a dog.
We had a lovely homemade dinner together and I was invited to stay overnight at their place - I had such a good evening with them sitting in front of the fireplace sipping red wine and just chatting away. Thank you!
Auckland
The final part of my NZ trip would take me to Auckland where I waved goodbye to my campervan and moved into this waterfront apartment right at Princess Warf in the city centre. It was sooo good to finally sleep in a proper bed after two weeks of campervaning!
Rain was forecasted for the following day so I decided to visit the Skytower straight away to enjoy the view while the weather was still fine.
Regardless which city I go to - if there is a tower of some sort I have to get up on it. I think it always gives you a good overview of the make up of the city and I just really enjoy the views from the top.
The Skytower in Auckland was no exception there but it came with an additional treat: parts of the floor were made out of glass, so you got to look right down 220 meters onto the street and buildings underneath your feet - loved it!
I watched the sunset from there and then had dinner at the excellent Soul Bar & Bistro at the Auckland Viaduct Harbour.
Speaking of meeting old friends earlier in this post: the next day I met up with Lisa who lives in Auckland. Lisa and I had met 10 years (!!!) ago on a trip from Rio de Janeiro to Buenos Aires. We had stayed connected through Facebook since then and when I decided to visit NZ we thought it would be great to meet and catch up. We spent all day together starting at a lovely breakfast place, a walk along one of Auckland‘s many beachfronts and then spent the afternoon with her two lovely boys Lisa‘s place.
What a great way to end my New Zealand trip and I do hope Lisa, that it won’t be another 10 years before we meet again!
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