Last year we did a 3 week roadtrip through some of NZ's South Island. A year on and we have just completed a 3 week roadtrip of the North Island.
There is a bit of a trip report I did for the South Island floating around these parts. So I thought I had better do a quick one for the North Island just to be fair.
Monday. Flew out of Melbourne to Auckland, 4 hr flight (2 hr time difference too).
We arrived around 3.30 pm. Cleared through no issues and picked up at about 4.15 by shuttle to take us to the RV Supercentre.
Unfortunately there was a hiccup from the company's end. I won't bore you with the details but it took well over an hour to sort out.
This was a bit of a pain as we had hoped to get down the road a bit the first night. By the time we were on the road it was nearly dark, it was raining and we were hungry. We cut our losses and booked a night at a nearby cheap airport hotel. We picked up some very pleasant takeaway from nearby, bought some milk, bread, butter, jam and cereal and spent a cosy night in the hotel.
Tuesday. After breakfast we were off to a slightly belated start to the roadtrip. We headed toward Thames a former gold mining town and gateway to the Coromandel Peninsula. It was only going to be a lightning visit to the Coromandel. First stop was the Pak n Save to get our supplies. We headed north a short distance to Waiomu. Stopped by the beach for lunch in the van. We then drove to the start of the Waiomu Kauri Grove hiking track. Weather was a bit crap but we had a great couple of hours of forest hiking. Some great Kauri trees.
Nicely damp and cold we pulled into the nearest campground in Te Puru. A bit expensive really (USD36) and not particularly grand. Showers were hot though and although pretty minimalist the cooking facilities were OK.
Wednesday. Still scrappy weather in the morning. Breakfast in the kitchen chatting with a French lass who'd been vanning for 6 months.
We were going to head into a gorge but the wet weather and slippery roads changed our mind so instead headed straight to our planned overnight stop of Te Aroha.
Away from the Coromandel and well inland the weather was improved. Little Te Aroha was a very pleasant surprise. I had only chosen it as a stop because of it's proximity to Hobbiton (we had booked the Hobbiton tour for 1.40 on Thursday).
Te Aroha was in Edwardian times a very popular spa town. Most of the old buildings have been tidied up after years of neglect. This is set on beautiful parkland with Mt Te Aroha as a backdrop.
After a museum visit and a good wander about we had lunch in the van. Then geared up for a nice few hours of hiking up and down Mt Te Aroha.
Great forests with more impressive Kauri. Spotted a few special NZ birds.
After the hike we treated ourselves with a swim and a spa at the thermal baths. 35 deg C for the pool, 38 deg C for the spa. A shower then off to the campground. Cheaper (USD30) than Te Puru and much nicer.
Heavy rain settling in as we settled in for the night.
Next up Hobbiton.
To be continued.