Day 155 – 12th April – Rotorua – Taupo

We set off today to go and visit some of the geothermal activity in the area. Our first stop was Wai-O-Tapu. We arrived just after 10am, picked up the tickets and then drove back up the entrance path to go and see the Lady Knox Geyser.

This Geyser was founded when the land was used as a open prison. After a day’s work clearing the trees, the prisoners used to wash their clothes in the warm waters of the geothermal springs. The more and more they washed in the spring the more washing powder was put into the ground. After a while the Geyser reacted with the washing powder and went off! Today at 10:15am the staff explain this story to the tourists and put an equivalent of washing powder into the geyser and it immediately erupts! It was great to see and we understood why the clocks changing the week before didn’t make a difference to the time the geyser went off!

We then drove back into the main car park and began the walk around the geothermal park. There was so much to see here in terms of geothermal activity and it was really cool albeit a bit smelly! After doing the longer walk of about 90 minutes we got back to the campervan and began the drive to Taupo. We stopped off at the Craters of the Moon on route and did the hour walk around the board walk. This was another geothermal park which had bubbling mud pools and clouds of steam. There was a viewing platform as well which we walked up to and you could see all over Taupo and beyond. That evening there had been the first real snow of the year and in the distance you could see Mount Ngauruhoe in The Tongariro National Park covered in snow. This is more famous as Mount Doom in the recent Lords of the Rings films. It was an incredible view as the sun was out and the sky was blue contrasted with the snow topped peak.

Day 156 – 13th April – Taupo

We had a leisurely morning and then went for a walk into Taupo after lunch. Dan went to get a hair cut and we spent sometime looking around.

Day 157 – 14th April – Taupo

We checked out of our campsite and drove to the information centre in Taupo to get some more information for a walk we were planning on doing the next day. We then went for a walk around some of the lake and got a bit addicted watching some people trying to get a hole in one on a floating pontoon on the lake! We then had a walk around some of the shops before driving to our next campsite. It was still in Taupo but we thought we’d try a different one as it had a spa onsite and we thought we might need it after the walk! We had a very chilled afternoon enjoying the sun before having tea and an early night.

Day 158 – 15th April – Taupo

The alarm went off at 5am this morning ready for our walk; The Tongariro Alpine Crossing. It was freezing cold and we got ready and layered up for the day ahead. Since the clocks changed the nights have been a lot colder but that could just be a coincidence too! Our shuttle came to pick us up at 5:50am. The parking is limited to 4 hours so the most common way of doing the walk is to get a shuttle. Also the Tongariro Alpine Crossing is a one way track so if you parked, there would be a very long walk involved at the end to get your car! This walk is classed as New Zealand’s best one day hike and so we were really looking forward to the day ahead. As well as this, it is also part of Frodo’s walk to Mount Doom in Lord of the Rings! It took a while to get to the start of the walk as there were a few pick ups but we set off at about 7:45am. The walk is 19.4km and the majority of people complete the walk in 6-8 hours. We set off and tried to walk at a decent pace as it was so cold, there was ice on the ground. The views throughout the walk were incredible.  The first 4km were relatively flat and not too bad which lead me into a bit of a false sense of security. We then started the climb up which was tough and I was very slow! It reached a flatter bit which I was so happy to see and we walked until that stopped and the last climb began. Again this was challenging but the views at this part were incredible. You could see over craters, lakes and volcanic terrain.

We then started the decent (although there were other climbs before the end too) and this was where a lot of people can fall. It’s steep and there are lots of loose rocks that you have to walk on. I got to almost the bottom before I slipped and fell! I was ok though and got up and carried on towards the emerald lakes.  These are really colourful but the sulphur smell coming off them means you don’t want to spend too long there!

The third section was majority downhill with a few uphill sections as well. Here we could see more of the volcanic remains of lava, smouldering rocks and craters.

When we got to the last check point before the end we realised we were going to be cutting it fine for the 1st shuttle. The return shuttle was either 2:30pm or 4pm. We didn’t think we would have any chance at the beginning to get the 2:30pm shuttle and this was even more apparent at the speed I went up the mountain! However, for some reason when we got to the last check point at 1:07pm the time suggested it was 1 1/2 hours to the car park. We didn’t know what to do really, try to go really quickly and make up the 7 minutes or take our time and just wait at the bottom for the second shuttle. We went for the first option and went pretty quickly down the last 6km. We hit the 19km sign and the clock read 2:29pm so Dan rushed ahead to see if he could see the shuttle and stop it from going while I tried to run! Luckily as I finished the walk and entered the car park Dan was just at the bus and we made the earlier pick up and had completed the walk in 6 hrs 50 minutes. The walk is classed as challenging and I would agree with this, however the views we witnessed were worth it.

It took us just over an hour to get back to our campsite and after we got back we both went for a well needed shower! There was a Hilton hotel attached to our campsite so we went there afterwards and had a well deserved drink!

Day 159 – 16th April – Taupo – Waitomo

We got up and checked out of the campsite just after 10am. We were a bit slow this morning as our legs were really achy! We then set off for Taupo Airport for Dan to do his skydive! When I was in New Zealand 10 years ago, I did a skydive so now it was Dan’s turn!  He checked in, got briefed and then got his clothing and sky dive gear ready for the jump. There were 5 other people also doing a skydive at the same time. After they were fully kitted out, they met their tandem partner (the professional) and then went to the plane. The plane took off and went up to 15,000ft before Dan jumped out! There was 60 seconds of free fall before the parachute opened and the descent took place at a slower pace! 

We set off for Waitomo where we were staying for the night which was about a two hour drive away. When we arrived Dan checked his emails to see if the skydiving link had arrived. He had gone for a video and photo package so we were looking forward to seeing his jump. It was there and we watched the video for a while! We then did some washing as this was going to be the last place with washing facilities for a while and enjoyed our last night in our campervan. We had a couple of drinks, played some cards and had a BBQ for tea!

Day 160 – 17th April – Waitomo – Auckland

We got up earlyish today as we had to pack and sort out the van before dropping it off in Auckland. Surprisingly it took longer than we thought as we were really rushing to get to our morning trip at the correct time! We arrived at the Waitomo Glow-worm caves at 10:25 just in time for our 10:30 tour! We were given a lot of information about the caves and how they were formed before seeing some of the glow-worms.  It was a really interesting tour and then we got into a boat and sailed through the glow-worm cave seeing thousands of glow-worms lighting up the roof of the cave in the pitch black. Our guide said there were approximately 20,000 glow-worms!

We then drove back to Auckland to drop off our campervan. The drive was just over two hours and after a couple of stops we arrived at Britz at about 3:30pm. We were sad to be leaving the campervan as we had had such a good time travelling around in it. It is definitely the way to see New Zealand!

We then walked to our hotel which luckily for us was just around the corner from Britz and had a nice relaxing last night in New Zealand.

We have had such a good time in New Zealand and for anyone who likes the outdoors, this is definitely the place for you. The scenery is absolutely fantastic and there is so much to do and see.

Next stop…. a week of relaxation!!