Northern exposure

After arriving in Wellington (back in the north island), we decided to hug the west coast for a bit in order to try out some more fishing which was not very fruitful! The last bit of fishing we did do was in New Plymouth and we only managed to catch some manky rock cod which were infested with lice and no good to eat at all. The weather was ok though so that made up for it a little I guess.

After a couple of nights there we then headed inland to complete our journey north to Auckland and take in some sights on the way........

First on the agenda were the deep limestone glowworm caves of Waitomo. No pictures allowed so none to show but the experience was exceptional and truly magical! The Waitomo glowworm species is unique to New Zealand and to the naked eye they look like little stars dotted all over the cave ceilings and walls! We took a short serene boat trip through the cave where there were thousands and thousands of these tiny creatures around and above us! The luminescent light is radiated as a result of a chemical reaction in their body and is used to attract insects, brought into the cave in the rivers, which it then catches and eats. If the glowworm is hungry its' light shines a little brighter and is even more effective. When the female glowworm reaches the adult stage the light is used to attract males for mating. Pretty cool don't you think!

The caves themselves were formed over 30 million years ago and were a spectacular sight, full of interesting stalactite and stalagmite formations, streams and caverns. The largest cavern is known as 'The Cathedral' and is 'world-renowned for its superb acoustics, which are due to the enclosed shape and rough surface' and many famous singers and choirs have performed here! Another wonder of Waitomo is 'The Tomo' - a 16 metre dramatic vertical limestone shaft which marks the course of an ancient waterfall which today only flows during heavy rains. All in all a beautiful treat.

Next on the agenda was The Tongariro National Park, which encircles the volcanoes of Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu (the last one is famously known as Mount Doom from The Lord of The Rings). It was gifted to the nation by Maori chief Te Heuheu Tukino IV in 1887. Just over a hundred years later, the park was awarded World Heritage Site status. (New Zealand has quite a few World Heritage sites!)

We were contemplating a walk to see a lake held within one of the craters, but after finding out what would have been a four hour trek including some ski lift journeys had now become a 7 hour trek as the ski lifts were not running, we decided against it and left the lake to our imagination! Shame, but onwards we went......

Lake Taupo was next on the list.

Lake Taupo is Australasia's largest lake and was created by a gigantic volcanic eruption in 181AD ( the most violent volcanic eruption the world has seen in the past 5000 years).

The result was the 616 square kilometre lake which is as big as Singapore Island. The lake's attractive pumice sand beaches give it the appearance of an inland ocean and it is the world's premier trout fishery and beautiful to boot.

We took a few snaps of the less illusive lake inhabitants.

After what was a very chilly night by the lake (our first proper ground frost) we headed on through Taupo and up the thermal highway (called such due to the areas you pass through having high thermal activity) in order to reach a place called Rotarua which is very touristy and some people refer to it as "Rotavegas". More on that later. We had a few things we wanted to pop into in Taupo and on the way so we set off with our list.

On the way through the region we spotted a winery which we had to go to for obvious reasons (see photos)!

If only there was a Gander winery then we would have had the set, but it doesn't sound as posh as Wishart eh! The winery was actually closed, which was a shame, but we did manage to buy a bottle from the liquor store and it was, of course, delicious!

Huka River and Falls.

The Huka falls was more like a raging torrent of water where the mass of the river water is funnelled into a relatively thin channel and spews out the other side at great speed!

The water was so blue and pure looking, quite a sight and the rest of the river was just as impressive.

Down stream from the falls we decided to stop for a bit stop at the unique Huka Prawn Farm. This fresh water tropical prawn farm is unique in that it heats all the water in its pools by using the thermal activity of the surrounding area (i.e. NOT using any electricty, therefore it's a very green and eco friendly farm!). It's not as simple as digging pools and filling them with water which is heated by the mud, the water is pumped around the farm to each pool through a complex system of pipes and what have you (we could tell you more if we had gone on the "guided tour" but we were too interested in other things, and it would have probably been boring anyway!). Our main point of interest was the fact that you could actually go fishing for these prawns and have the kitchen cook them up for you!

So after a short walk around the farm and river (where we fed the wild rainbow trout) we checked in at the fishing cabin to get our canes and bait and off we went!

This sort of thing really brings out the kid and you, and half the entertainment was seeing all these people trying their best to catch one of these little blighters!! We must say it wasn't easy and there was a certain knack to it, but we managed to get four out (after a couple of hours of trying!). It was loads of fun!


They tasted great, especially when washed down with some lovely NZ Sav!

There are several thermal parks that we could have visited, but the one we wanted to go to was apparently the least touristed, as it was off the beaten track, and also the best thermal park in New Zealand. One of the finest in the world too.

Orakei Korako covers all the possible thermal features in one area, which includes silica terraces, bubbling mud pools, boiling water pools, mad algea formations, several geysers along with a magical, mystical cave which was all quite stunning! (I've always wanted to see bubbling mud for some strange reason!)

The silica terraces which form the base of Orakei Korako are noted as being the largest mass since the Pink and White Terraces on the edge of Lake Rotomahana beneath Mount Tarawera were destroyed in 1886...


The silica is often mistaken for a large lava flow down the side of the hill as this is what it resembles due to the large amounts of steam rising from it!

This was a magical place, and Googling the name is worth it to have a look at the history of the place.


Further up the road was a free thermal pool area, the only free place we came across to be honest. It actually turned out to be the coolest!
After getting a little lost, we found the area within some woods off the main road and headed off to find the pools. This is what we found......

It was a thermal river and the pool was a splash pool for a water fall! So we had our own thermal waterfall which was very cool indeed! Our own bit of paradise.

Then onto "Rotavegas". Now to be honest, we didn't like this area. We found in general that people were a bit rude by Kiwi standards and there is apparently a lot of crime. We stayed at a camp site that had a hangi (a traditional maori steam oven) which was constantly on due to it being thermally heated (as almost everything is in the area!). This place was recommended to us because of the hangi and that's the only reason we ended up staying. We stayed for one night, did the hangi thing (we decided on lamb shanks and a variety of root veg with rosemary and garlic which we put in a pot and steamed for hours, very nice) and headed off to Tauranga the very next morning!