Our final days in New Zealand walking in tunnels, through gorges, along beaches, up massive sand dunes and through stands of gigantic Kauri trees. A pretty awesome ending to our time here.
Day 66 – Karangahake Gorge walk and the hot water beach
I headed out for a morning run along the Rotorua Lake shore to Sulphur Point and the Lookout, passing the old Tudor style spa bath house along the way. There were loads of examples of geothermal activity here, with steaming pools and an odd colour to this end of the lake, oh, and that rotten egg smell characteristic of most of the town!
One pool gives out a mix of gases which have an effect like laughing gas – I didn’t stick around to see if that’s true!
Then on to the Lookout point at the end, with great views over the lake. And a campsite with lovely views over it. Didn’t make me wish we were in one though!
From here I headed over to Kuirau Park, or I tried to, there were a huge screened off area so I had to guess my way around a bit. Found it in the end – a lovely park with flowers, arches and boiling pools of mineral water. Some of this is moved into some baths which you can dip your feet into – they’re hot!!
After cleaning up, eating and checking out we hit the road for a few hours North to the Karangahake Gorge. We were almost sad to leave here, the lounge space was great as the guest house was half booked so there were other people around, but we only really saw one older Danish couple and an Australian chap, Andy, who was about our age. Generally we had the social space all to ourselves! We won’t miss the squeaky bunk beds though…
The Karangahake Gorge is in an old gold mining area with some old mining equipment, a disused railway and tunnels you can explore. We started with the 2.5km ‘Windows Walk’. After crossing two suspension bridges there are steps up to the old railway line which still has a mine cart.
Then there is a short tunnel, which you can just about get through without a torch. This one’s a warm up to the second tunnel which is much longer and has a number of openings which allow you to look along the gorge. This is what most people come for, but what we really liked was the tunnels. At one point you can head down a tunnel further into the hillside, which splits into two after a few hundred metres. Exploring in the pitch dark trying to negotiate our way over puddles was fun with only two phone torches.
The walk ends with a crossing to the other side of the gorge into a path carved into the rock itself.
We had more time so also walked the Rail Tunnel Loop which is another 3km trail, heading down the river and then through the old railway line tunnel (built mainly to bring coal and materials to support the gold industry here) which is over 1km long! It’s totally straight so you can just about see the light at the other end but it takes a long time to get there!
After walking back along the other side of the river we continued on our way into the Coromandel Peninsula. The scenery here is very England-like, with evergreen wooded hillsides mixed with deciduous trees in grassy fields. Only the houses and the letterboxes gave it away.
Our destination was the Hot Water Beach. This is a continuation of the geothermal area at Rotorua and is a site of hot water springs in the middle of a beach. We arrived about 4pm and found the area pretty packed. You can hire a spade for £5 to help you dig your own hot water pit so we did that, paid for parking for almost the first time in New Zealand and headed onto the beach. With no guidance on where to find the hot water, other than based on where everyone else was, we wandered across to the crowds.
As it was 4pm a number of people were leaving so we initially tried out a couple of empty pools on the edge. They were cold. We wandered further down the beach along the shore front, meandering between pools until we found some sand that was almost too hot to stand on! There was quite a lot of space here with no one using any of the small pools. We started digging one out and soon found out why – it was too hot here! There is literally scalding temperature water seeping up out of the sand!
We headed slightly further down, started to dig and were then offered someone else’s ready dug pool as they were leaving. Excellent. In the end we got three pools next to each other as others continued to leave, each one a slightly different temperature (kids hot pools and adult hot pools!). We’d changed the kids into their swimmers, but stayed in our shorts ourselves as there was a pretty cool wind and we didn’t believe it would be so warm in the pools! We regretted that a bit as some parts of our hot pool were literally too hot to stand in! When sat down (we managed kneeling only to keep the shorts dry) it was really lovely. But it would have been cold getting out…
The tide was coming in and gradually eating away at pool after pool. The kids made a friend with a boy of the pool next door and they were all trying desperately to repair the walls as the waves kept trying to invade our pools. They put up a good fight but in the end the inevitable movement of the oceans overtook them and we had to give up.
As we left around 6pm people were turning up and digging pits further up the beach towards the cliffs. There wasn’t much water in sight, but presumably a deep pit exposes you to hot sand and protects you from the wind, making for a great evening hangout…
Another 30 mins up to Whitianga for our night’s accommodation. Another holiday park cabin, this one with no toilet so it’s off to the block in the night…
Day 67 – Cathedral Cove boat tour and the Waterworks
The Whitianga campground was handily close to the wharf that we’d booked our boat tour from the next day so it was easy to make our 10.15am pick up time. This area of the coast is known for the Cathedral Cove and interesting coastline. You can walk down to the cove and along parts of the cliff, but that’s not always the best way to view coastlines, and the kids are complaining about the amount of walking we keep making them do, so we decided to splash some cash and go for a boat tour. We do like being out on the sea on a boat 😊.
There are a couple of operators who do pretty much the same tour for the same price here so we chose the one leaning more to the wildlife tour with a glass bottom boat. The tour lasted two hours and was a mix of viewing coastal features, like Cathedral Cove and the sea caves, including the second largest one in New Zealand which the boat can go into.
We were also taken to a few areas in the marine reserve where the glass bottomed boat allowed us to view the reef and fish without getting into the 14 degrees water. There has been a recent algal bloom, so visibility wasn’t great, but nature was clearing it up with the Salps, small jelly like organisms which explode in number after a bloom, feeding on the algae.
Shona, our guide, was great and told us all about the state of the reef and the impacts of the reserve. Where the reserve is in place, there are massive fines for fishing and the fish stocks are recovering well. Whilst there are still few of the very large, 40-50 year old snappers, there are now large shoals of them living in the reserve. These help to keep the urchins down, which allows the kelp and seaweed to grow and creates a better ecosystem. Once outside the reserve the removal of the urchins predators (large snappers and the crayfish) leads to largely bare rocks with urchin everywhere. More reserves please!
The final aspect of the tour was historic. This is an area where Captain Cook landed and actually struck up an ok relationship with the locals so he stayed here for a while. Whilst here they were able to finally use the stars and their equipment and determine the exact latitude and longitude of New Zealand so that it could be put on a map.
The wind was picking up as we headed for the wharf, Aiden riding the bumpy waves up front of the boat. This made for a pretty windy picnic on the wharf side wondering where the morning’s sun had gone.
We found it again in the afternoon when we arrived at our afternoon’s entertainment. I’d not told anyone about this place as a surprise – much to Evie’s delight and frustration!
We had a quick delay on route as we drove past a sign for the Waiau waterfalls only 80m from the road. These were a pretty little falls, dropping into a pool. We had it to ourselves at this time of year but could see from the little trails everywhere that this is a popular place for a dip on the summer.
We finally made it to Waterworks, which is a quirky little ‘theme park’ which is very hard to explain but quite simply brilliant! Most the 70 exhibits are water powered from the spring and made from recycled materials, many illustrating scientific principles like Archimedes’ screw. Others are simply tricks to get you wet, or ways to get your family wet with lots of handles to pull, bikes to pedal and things to spin.
Add in some informational boards, a really long man made duck race stream, a huge play area made from recycled materials and some super fast ziplines and you’ve got yourself a pretty good afternoon! We stopped for a snack in the café and she gave the kids three scoops of ice cream as a small for $4 (£2)! How lovely.
We loved this place. Considering making a UK version when we get home…
The only bad thing about Waterworks is that it closes at 4pm, so we had to leave and move on to our nights accommodation. This involved driving through the very picturesque region around Manaia where we had to stop to take in some of the scenery in the evening sun.
The road heads down alongside the coast after this. The sea here was a sandy brown – not inviting at all!
The lovely lady at the Waterworks had recommended the fish and chips at the end of the wharf in Thames (where we were staying) so we felt like we had to try it out. The fish are fresh from the boats which have come in that day. We had some Gurnard, which was very reasonably priced. Two pieces, with 12 nuggets and masses of chips was around £13! It was also delicious – so much better than the cod we have at home. What was even better was that you could order and go and sit in the bar next door and they’d bring your order round to you. We got to enjoy it sat on a sunny (but very windy) evening sat in a sheltered spot overlooking the mangroves 😊.
The kids played in the playground at the holiday park we stayed in for the night. Another one with an outside toilet, at least it was right next door…
Day 68 – Heading into the Northlands
It turns out that it was also a place with no duvets or towels provided too, so we had a pretty cold night sleeping fully clothed. Rather annoying as this was also not a cheap place. I guess that comes with the territory in this touristy area.
After chatting to family we were a bit late checking out, and then got further distracted chatting to the guy who came to clean the place. So we didn’t get on the road until gone 10.30. Whoops! We had no real urgency anyway. We were headed to stay with family up in the Northlands and our only time limit to the plans was to get North of Auckland before 2.30 when the Friday afternoon weekend rush hour would start.
Driving towards Auckland was actually a little surreal as Auckland is big. I hadn’t realised how used to empty spaces I’d gotten as looking around and seeing houses everywhere just seemed wrong! Whilst we only did a quick drive through, I didn’t like anything about Auckland – it’s too big!!
Traffic got slightly sticking in places, but we got through pretty easily and continued up North, taking the Hibiscus Coast highway detour to take us along the coast so we could look for somewhere for lunch. After shunning the busy Orewa area we were left with the one café in the last town of Waiwera. Whilst it was called the Beach Café, there were no beach views, but the food was ok and the burgers reasonably priced. Refueled, we carried on, one more hour to Mangawhai.
The place at Mangawhai is great. There’s a garden with a trampoline and giant chess, plenty of bedrooms and some toys and a wharf with kayaks 😊. The setting’s great too, with views out over the mangroves and estuary.
This will be good, a few days in a proper house with nice views before we launch off on the next leg to Myanmar. Things will be VERY different there I’m sure. Time to recharge, reorganise and repack the bags for hot weather and eating out.
Also time to order the Myanmar visa’s as these have a 3 day lead time…
Our timing here was also great as it was the Rugby World cup final and tonight was the New Zealand vs Wales Bronze medal game. A comprehensive win to the All Blacks. We’re here for the England vs S Africa final tomorrow night, a real TV rather than watching it on a mobile screen. Chris is happy 😊
Day 69 – Kayaking to the massive sand dunes at Mangawhai
I started the day with a run around the local area, heading out across the river, round the headland, along the mudflats (the tide was well out) and back up through the forest via a lookout. Not bad!
We planned to take advantage of Ray’s kayaks today, so packed sarnies and headed out with Ray to the wharf. The wind was strong so Ray put the on board motor onto the row boat and we lashed the double kayak to it for a tow out to the headland (after trying to start out paddling and being blow upriver in the opposite direction to where we wanted to go!).
Evie and I were in the kayak for this journey, with Aiden and Chris taking a ride in the boat. I was keen to do some paddling, so after getting around the headland we launched off by ourselves, against the tide but with the wind now at our backs. The dingy and the others shot off towards shore without us. Initially we were getting nowhere and Evie was not helping out much, but we did make slow but steady progress up the bay, finally getting blown into the shore where the others waited about 20 minutes later…
The plan was to climb the sand dunes and look for the very rare New Zealand Fairy Tern, of which there are less than 50 remaining. Supposedly they breed here. The dunes, which had looked fairly small from the other side of the estuary, turned out to be massive though, with one particularly big one the size of a hill dominating. With a strong wind whipping across, we found ourselves wandering a vast area of shifting sand and climbing the ridge of a sand dune, all whilst wearing many layers and coats, which seemed wrong as it felt like we were in the middle of a desert!
Needless to say the kids thoroughly enjoyed the whole area, running around in the sand, climbing and rolling down the dunes. Where the sand was whipping off the top of the largest dune (the hill) it then settled on the sheltered side, creating a compacted side better for walking, and then a steep slope of very soft sand great for sliding, or rolling down – you sank up to your knees in it!
In this sheltered spot we sat on the warm sand and ate our sandwiches, looking out to sea and hearing stories about the offshore islands and the fishing and diving that Ray does here. Pretty idyllic!
Back into the wind again to head further into the dunes looking for tern resulted in Dotterel’s only. Ah well.
The wind was even stronger when we returned to the boats, and Evie and I were very glad to be having a turn n the motor powered dingy. Aiden was in the front of the kayak, with no real chance to paddle back as both the wind and tide were now against them. Instead they got towed most the way back with the waves crashing over the boat. Both were soaked, especially Aiden up front, who ended up with his hat over his face to keep the spray off. Luckily I’d recommended he put his waterproof on first as the wind would have cut right through him. Evie and I were feeling pretty smug at this point.
Once around the headland again we were a little more sheltered and Chris and Aiden were able to paddle the last few hundred metres to shore and go into the mangroves here. Evie and I got whizzed around in the boat and the smiles on her face were priceless.
We were super proud of Aiden for not crying in the boat, and for being able to paddle at the end, as he was so cold by the time he got out. He couldn’t feel his toes (which were bare and fully exposed to the wind and water) so struggled to walk back to the house for a warm shower. Brave boy.
After warming up with a hot shower, blanket, warm milk and my thick jumper he felt better and they were back to playing with the giant garden chess set and jumping on the trampoline.
It seemed wrong to pass through without stopping at the local tavern, so we had some cheese on crackers to keep us going and then headed down to the pub on the shores of the estuary. It was packed as there was a speed shearing competition going on. Not something we’ve witnessed first hand before! The kids weren’t impressed as they thought it looked really cruel. Oh dear.
Back home for a late dinner and then onto the build up for the Rugby final. England vs South Africa. Kick off wasn’t till 10, so the kids were put to bed – they were shattered after all the paddling and sand climbing anyway!
Unfortunately the game wasn’t as enjoyable as we were hoping it would be. Maybe next time England…
Day 70 – Visiting the massive Kauri trees in the Waipoua and Trounson forests
Mangawhai isn’t that far north on the peninsula, so there was a lot that we could only see with a long drive. Obviously that’s a bad thing in the kids books so when we told them we were going to take a 4 hour round trip to see a tree to say they were unimpressed is an understatement. But we’d been hearing about these old Kauri trees, and how they used to cover the land, but still had no idea what one looks like. These are the second largest tree species in the world, and one of the longest living. The largest one, Tane Mahuta, is thought to be around 2000 years old. It’s also revered as a god in the Mauri stories (Tane was the son and holds his mother, the earth, and his father, the sky, apart so that we can have light). This tree needed to be seen, so we ignored the kids and headed off.
The whole of this peninsula is very picturesque so the driving was good; pretty windy, green and hilly. Two hours saw us at the Tane Mahuta car park. This massive tree is, rather conveniently, only a 5 minute walk from the main road. This does mean that there are quite a few people here though…
To get to the tree you have to go through a shoe cleaning station, as there’s an outbreak of a fungus which causes Kauri dieback and is carried in the soil on shoes. They’re taking this very seriously and you clean and disinfect your shoes on the way in and out of all the trails around Kauri forest.
Tane Mahutra is impressive for the size of the trunk and the height, but surprisingly there is not much foliage up top. The trunks are remarkably straight so you can see why Captain Cook reported back to the world that these trees would make great ship masts, which lead to huge numbers being cut down.
The tree’s branches actually look like its roots, which is odd, and are meant to have been the inspiration for the great tree in the film Avatar.
Whilst it was impressive, the pictures do not show the size at all, with a number of people here you felt bad for standing at the front to stare up into the branches as people are trying to take photos, so we moved on pretty quick.
A few km back down the road are the ‘Kauri trails’, which take you to the second largest and seventh largest trees. Unfortunately quite a few of the trails were closed to protect from dieback, but you can still walk the trail to the second largest tree, Te Matua Ngahere. This walk takes around 20 minutes each way and weaves through kauri forest, so you constantly spot other mid to large trees on the route. These trees are unusual in that they do not have deep root systems, instead sending out delicate roots close to the surface to utilise the decaying leaf litter. This means that walking around close to the trees could damage the roots, so a lot of the trail is raised boardwalks and straying from the path is heavily discouraged.
This was a very pleasant walk, through fairly open forest, with the end sight of Te Matua Ngahere all the better for the walk. We found this tree much more impressive. Possibly it’s because it has a wider trunk, even though it is shorter, or maybe it was the walk to it, or just that there were a lot less people here and they were just sitting and enjoying its presence.
You can get a real idea of the age of this tree when you look up to the branches and can see that a massive branch must have fallen off at some point, and it has been replaced with a whole small tree, presumably once just a twig shooting off from the damaged wood. You could be looking at an outcropping of rock with trees growing on top. It’s a pretty amazing tree!
To think that these trees have been standing here for a thousand years before people even arrived, and have stood through the whole period of human population is pretty sobering. Then thinking of the amount of these massive specimens, which had been standing for a thousand years, which were then felled by man is pretty sad. It will take a thousand years to get them back. Not an easy regeneration project!
We hadn’t had enough of the Kauri so we stopped at the Trounson Forest on the way back. This one is a little off the main road so we were the only people here 😊. Another beautiful boarded trail through the peaceful kauri forest. For us, it was well worth the drive. The kids didn’t complain too much on the way back either, so hopefully they didn’t find it too bad in the end.
We lengthened the drive back by 20 minutes so that we could go a different route and see some more of the peninsula. On the way back we passed some caves which (after some later research) we found out you can wander in by yourselves, wading through wet caves etc. The kids would have loved this but we had no time ☹. Maybe next time? Our time in NZ is so close to an end!
Day 71 – Auckland with family
After packing up we went to the beach one last time to have a look at the large numbers of waders on the mud flats when the tide is out.
Then it was time to head down though central Auckland to the suburbs to sort some admin jobs and see some more family. First stop, the shops to pick up some boring replacement things, then Burgerfuel for the last time for their delicious burgers, before hitting the post office to send a few things we no longer need home. We’ve decided to ditch a bag with some of the entertainment things that we’re not using and the kids journals etc. The first box was 167NZD to post so we had to rethink and repack. No point sending 2NZD hats home. They will go to a charity chop instead, along with the bag we’re ditching, colouring books etc. End value of the package home = pretty much nil, it’s all sentimental. Still nearly 67NZD (£30) to get it home though!
A few more minutes on and we were at Ray’s actual home. A stunning place also with ocean views. After a quick tour we walked down to the marina to meet with his sister, Glyn, in a café on the front. It’s always interesting to meet other family members, especially of this branch whom we’ve never met before and, until Facebook and internet improvements, were pretty separate from our English lot.
Then it was back to Ray’s where his wife Allyson and their son Eric were now home. Allyson cooked a delicious chicken pie for dinner which went down a storm with the kids. They always make us proud when we eat at other people’s houses as they demolish everything on their plates.
After chatting till 10pm we had to leave to catch out 1.20am flight ☹. Bye bye New Zealand, we got off to a shaky start but are now discussing the minor possibility of moving here so you must have turned it around! (don’t panic parents it’s not likely!!)
Next stop is the mountains of Myanmar (coming soon). Or recap on our adventures in Rotarua…