Since the last update we have travelled some distance over the last 5 days.
After leaving Vinegar Hill we drove up through Mordor (sorry there will be Lord of the Rings comments in this post), otherwise known as The Tongariro National Park. This park is effectively a giant caldera (volcano crater) containing three still live volcanoes (they spurt periodically) They are Mount Ruapehu, Mount Ngauruoe (Mount Doom) and Mount Tongariro (which overlooks "the Plains of Gorgoroth), pretty scary stuff!! Anyway on the road we were on you cannot get close to them as the land on both sides of the road are army firing grounds and unexpected explosions may occur!!
We drove on and had lunch at the bottom of Lake Taupo (biggest lake in NZ).
We arrived at our overnight destination of Taupo. We were fortunate enough to arrive in time to get the last free camping site of the council owned park in the middle of town but on the seafront.
Apart from the very picturesque harbour and sea views the town is, in our view, a little drab.
It also appeals to the young and there was clearly a nightclub pumping out thumping bass until about 3 in the morning! Oh well we are on holiday.
The following day we drove first to the Huka falls, which is where the lake empties into a gorge full of fast flowing water.
From here to "the craters of the moon". We should say at once (to stop corrections from James and Helen) that it in no way resembles the craters of the moon, the area is green, the craters are not impact craters and they are geologically active!! This area is a bit like iceland. In Iceland the American tectonic plate meets the European, but here the Pacific Continental plate pushes under the Indo-Australian Plate, the resultant fault line means that this area is geothermally active and steam can (and does) rise out of the ground almost anywhere. It happens that here, there are a lot together.
On our way toward Rotorua, we took a diversion to Te-Puia, a Maori tribal area and the Pohutu Geyser. The whole area (including the Geyser) is an ancient Maori area. The tribe still live in the valley, but they have opened the area to tourists and have established a Maori carving school and a weaving school. It was a fascinating afternoon wandering around the Marae (tribal meeting area) and the hot pools and Geysers.
From here we drove into our camsite and went for a stroll around town starting by crossing the playing fields,where all the school children were playing rugby and across the park which is full of fenced off thermal pools giving off steam and the smell of Sulphur, hence the nickname of their own, Sulphur City.
We walked to the harbour through a Maori village area (complete with a missionary Anglican Church) where a little Maori girl sang us a song and then explained the meaning, very sweet.
Rotorua is a lovely lakeside town with an old central area called government gardens which was given to the town by the Maori and is a preserved area.
The Maori are pretty well integrated in NZ although we did hear some differing views. Moving on from Rotorua we drove through the countryside to Waihi Beach near Bowentown, this is another free campsite right on the beach, we were the only tourists as everyone else was a New Zealander, we had a great afternoon walking and talking to the other campers in the baking sun. We even had a very good burger from the ladies who run the cafe caravan!!
Next day off to the hot water beach at the base of the Coromandel Peninsula. Here the thermal springs exit into the sand and if you find the right spot (which we did) are very hot indeed.
We stopped for lunch at a very nice beachside pull in (after having popped into Hahei and Whitianga for a look).
This evenings stop was at Coromandel where we walked into town and up the hill to see the very beautiful coast and countryside.
And so today we made the very pretty at first drive to Thames down the Coromandel Peninsula and then the very dull drive through Auckland and on to our very beautiful beachside home for the night, which is where we are typing this!!
After leaving Vinegar Hill we drove up through Mordor (sorry there will be Lord of the Rings comments in this post), otherwise known as The Tongariro National Park. This park is effectively a giant caldera (volcano crater) containing three still live volcanoes (they spurt periodically) They are Mount Ruapehu, Mount Ngauruoe (Mount Doom) and Mount Tongariro (which overlooks "the Plains of Gorgoroth), pretty scary stuff!! Anyway on the road we were on you cannot get close to them as the land on both sides of the road are army firing grounds and unexpected explosions may occur!!
We drove on and had lunch at the bottom of Lake Taupo (biggest lake in NZ).
We arrived at our overnight destination of Taupo. We were fortunate enough to arrive in time to get the last free camping site of the council owned park in the middle of town but on the seafront.
Apart from the very picturesque harbour and sea views the town is, in our view, a little drab.
It also appeals to the young and there was clearly a nightclub pumping out thumping bass until about 3 in the morning! Oh well we are on holiday.
The following day we drove first to the Huka falls, which is where the lake empties into a gorge full of fast flowing water.
From here to "the craters of the moon". We should say at once (to stop corrections from James and Helen) that it in no way resembles the craters of the moon, the area is green, the craters are not impact craters and they are geologically active!! This area is a bit like iceland. In Iceland the American tectonic plate meets the European, but here the Pacific Continental plate pushes under the Indo-Australian Plate, the resultant fault line means that this area is geothermally active and steam can (and does) rise out of the ground almost anywhere. It happens that here, there are a lot together.
On our way toward Rotorua, we took a diversion to Te-Puia, a Maori tribal area and the Pohutu Geyser. The whole area (including the Geyser) is an ancient Maori area. The tribe still live in the valley, but they have opened the area to tourists and have established a Maori carving school and a weaving school. It was a fascinating afternoon wandering around the Marae (tribal meeting area) and the hot pools and Geysers.
From here we drove into our camsite and went for a stroll around town starting by crossing the playing fields,where all the school children were playing rugby and across the park which is full of fenced off thermal pools giving off steam and the smell of Sulphur, hence the nickname of their own, Sulphur City.
We walked to the harbour through a Maori village area (complete with a missionary Anglican Church) where a little Maori girl sang us a song and then explained the meaning, very sweet.
Rotorua is a lovely lakeside town with an old central area called government gardens which was given to the town by the Maori and is a preserved area.
The Maori are pretty well integrated in NZ although we did hear some differing views. Moving on from Rotorua we drove through the countryside to Waihi Beach near Bowentown, this is another free campsite right on the beach, we were the only tourists as everyone else was a New Zealander, we had a great afternoon walking and talking to the other campers in the baking sun. We even had a very good burger from the ladies who run the cafe caravan!!
Next day off to the hot water beach at the base of the Coromandel Peninsula. Here the thermal springs exit into the sand and if you find the right spot (which we did) are very hot indeed.
We stopped for lunch at a very nice beachside pull in (after having popped into Hahei and Whitianga for a look).
This evenings stop was at Coromandel where we walked into town and up the hill to see the very beautiful coast and countryside.
And so today we made the very pretty at first drive to Thames down the Coromandel Peninsula and then the very dull drive through Auckland and on to our very beautiful beachside home for the night, which is where we are typing this!!
