Kia Ora!
I start my post by wishing in Maori language ‘be well and healthy‘ (it also means hello) as the sacred land of New Zealand belongs to them (I’ve heard from New Zealanders there had been a different indigenous tribe even before Maori, but I haven’t followed it up).
New Zealand got the most beautiful and enchanting creations of earth. Generally, everywhere in New Zealand is rich with different colors and fresh air. One of the fascinating things I noticed is within a short distance of travel you can have a completely different experience with vivid and vibrant colors. On top of that Maori culture adds richness to the vibrant nature. It is great to see they have blended with the current migrant culture.
I spent 10 days in North Island in December travelling towards the North first from Auckland and then towards the middle of the North Island.
Day 1: Auckland
Auckland is quite a nice city with less crowd (of course compared to where I live). The main point of interests are harbor bridge and Devonport – North Head Historic Reserve. First day was a good time for me to catch-up with my high school friends and get familiar with the culture and systems there.
Image credits of photographs go to Prabodha Srimal!
Day 2: Paihia
Paihia got most bluish colors and it is a very peaceful area to relax your mind. It takes roughly 3.5 – 4 hours to get there from Auckland, so you would not want to engage in highly energetic activities.
I did little bit of shopping 🙂 Oh yeah, I got couple of handmade nice earnings and necklaces which I got lovely comments from my colleagues back at my work place. There are decent and lovely dine in places you could enjoy a night out.
It was a good idea to spend the night in Paihia.
Day 3: Bay of Islands
I recommend doing the hole in the rock cruise (https://www.dolphincruises.co.nz/bay-of-islands-cruises/hole-in-the-rock-dolphin-cruise/) which I really enjoyed. How would you feel when your cruise goes inside a hole of a rock in the middle of far far away ocean, scream? sing your favorite song?
On top of that, they take you to a small island (Otehei Bay, Urupukapuka Island) which got a breathtaking 360 degree view at the top of its hill. You have a nice lunch provided by them facing just bluish which you’d never get tired of.
If you like you can travel to the tip of the north island Cape Reinga, where Tasman sea meets Pacific Ocean (another 3 hour drive). The legend says when a Maori dies, a soul goes to the tip Cape Reinga and jumps off from the cliff to join its ancestors in another small island close by (That’s what I was taught from a Maori cultural event I participated in Day 8). I heard it is amazingly beautiful from the other tourists I met and I added it to my ‘Next Time’ list 🙂
With my plan, it was ideal for me to stay the night in Hamilton.
Bay of Islands Hole in the Rock
Otehei Bay, Urupukapuka Island
Otehei Bay, Urupukapuka Island
Day 4: Waitamo Caves
Glowworm caves and limestone caves were a different experience than my previous 3 days. I did all 3 caves Glowworm, Ruakuri and Aranui (http://www.waitomo.com/deals/Pages/triple-cave-combo.aspx). If you do Glowworm they take you in a boat inside the cave to see glowworms. Although it’s a short boat ride I felt good to spend myself in the total dark with pin-drop silence. What facinated me about Aranui cave is they use the cave space to host musical events (operas) and we were given a chance to sing so high inside the cave. Isn’t that fun and exciting?
Not to be forgotten I had a delicious prawn laksa at their visitor centre restaurant. It was the best laksa I had so far, so creamy and yummy.
It was convenient for me to stay at Manunui as my next destination was Tongario.
Day 5: Tongario National Park
Drive to Tongario is really entertaining because you see the mountains covered with snow from afar blended with green. That’s simply WOW!
A must do here is the chairlift ride over Mt Ruapehu’s volcanic area to the highest lookout point. The initial couple of seconds in the chairlift your heart may start to beat at a rapid speed, what if volcano erupts 🙂 But I am sure you’ll enjoy the breathtaking 360 degree view as I did. Yes, lots of photo time!
I recommend staying at LKNZ Lodge Ohakune. I woke up to the view of Mt Ruapehu in the morning, what else you could ask for?
It is walking distance to my favorite Italian restaurant in New Zeland, OSTERIA. Great food and wine, indeed great hospitality too! The best Ravioli in town. You could have a romantic dinner facing the spectacular view of Mt Ruapehu if you are traveling with your life partner 🙂
Day 5: Tongario National Park
You can find list of hikes you can do in Tongario NP from here (https://www.nationalpark.co.nz/activities/tongariro-national-park-hike?Internal=1&ID=1606&IDL=250&IDType=307). You can actually spend 1 week in Tongario if you have time, because there’s so much to do there!
I enjoyed the 2-3 hour walk to Taranaki Falls.
In the evening I got to Taupo which is quite close to Tongario. Driving on the dessert road would make you enjoy your drive with scenic beauty.
Day 6: Taupo
One of the main attraction point here is Huka Falls. I placed Huka Falls next to Niagara Falls out of the water falls I’ve seen in my naked eyes so far. I spent sometime meditating by looking at how water flows, how small drops gather together to gain strength, rhythm and easing sound. I recommend to get information from the visitor centre (I do it quite often, because they know the best) because they open up the dam at fixed times so you could actually feel the rumbling of water in your feet. I did, it was great!
In the evening, I planned a sailing cruise to Maori Rock Carvings in Taupo Lake (https://www.sailbarbary.com/book-taupo-cruise/maori-rock-carvings/). The size of Taupo lake is similar to the size of Singapore and its water is warm because it lies on the volcanic region. That was a great sailing tour with super awesome sailor, bunch of young European tourists, pizza and wine. At least most of the girls including me (and few boys) did the titanic pose for a photo at the edge (quite dangerous too, if you slip your feet). You can also jump off and have a warm and fun bath at the Maori Rock Carvings if you like. Lots of girls and boys did and I was afraid that they’ll push me to the water, as they asked me several times to jump off.
Sailor was super cool too, he angled the boat leaning towards the water with a good balance, so we could stretch our feet in the water and touch the water from hands while sailing. One guy connected his phone’s play list to boat’s audio player, yes we had music on the way back. Sailor was friendly with a sea bird and he got the bird to fly towards us couple of times offering food. Good timing for camera clicks!
You could also try steering the rudder and navigating the boat in the wind, because the sailor is happy to offer it. I chased the boy who sat at the wheel on the way back 🙂 Well, he was nice, when I went there he offered me the control saying it’s your time now. So I managed to navigate the boat for a very little time 🙂 Long story short, sailing cruise was so much fun!
That was a great ending to the day before heading to Rotorua.
Day 7: Rotorua
Rotorua is way different than Taupo. The moment you arrive there you could smell hydrogen sulphide (H2S) taking you back to the Chemistry lab. It’s not a nice smell, it’s the smell of rotten eggs and that is why the city is called Sulphur City. But I noticed architecture of buildings is different than to other places in North Island. There are lots of European styled buildings in the city and the city is nice regardless of its smell.
My first visit was to Craters of the Moon, 1 hour walk (http://www.cratersofthemoon.co.nz/). It’s amazing to see steam coming from earth and boiling mud craters. You should stay in the path way as if you slips chances are high you’ll burn your feet.
One of the must do in Rotorua is the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland (https://www.waiotapu.co.nz/plan-your-visit/). I enjoyed the vivid colors in geothermal pools and thermal activities, boiling mud to sulphur smoke. Make sure you catch Lady Knox Geyser, it is at a specific time. Although they stimulate the Geyser manually, yet it’s nice to see as it is included in your Wai-O-Tapu ticket.
If you love to understand and get to know Maori culture I recommend you go to one of Maori cultural shows. I chose to see the Mittai Maouri Village (https://mitai.co.nz/). It was quite expensive, but I would say the experience I got was worth the price I paid. You would get to experience their dances, warriors paddling a canoe, and delicious hangi meal cooked in geothermal steam.
That was an amazing night with so much happy memories!
Day 8: Rotorua
My morning was allocated to visit the living Maori village Whakarewarewa (https://whakarewarewa.com/experiences/). It is different to Mittai because there are Maori people who really live in this village. I got to experience another nice cultural dancing and singing event. What I enjoyed is the steaming pools here, I spent quite a lot of time steaming my face, it was so comfortable and refreshing. I was fortunate enough to see a natural geyser afar while I was walking the Kanapanapa track.
Day 9: Matamata
On the way to Matamata from Rotorua, I visited picture perfect blue springs, thanks to my high school friends who recommended me that, because it is not yet picked up by tourists and not lot of people know about it. I really got enchanted to the colors blue, green, turquoise and its variations. I didn’t even want to touch the water as it may spoil the pure natural water. Unfortunately, I was so disappointed to see couple of young boys swam even having a notice board saying ‘do not swim or get down to water’. Please make sure to not to spoil the water if you are visiting!
Final destination was Hobbiton Movie Set (https://www.hobbitontours.com/en/). It was a man-made, yet it was nice to see. But I wasn’t happy with the limited time allocated to spend there given the price of the ticket. Yes, it is beautiful but it was done at a rush, sometimes it’s hard to take photos as there are lots of people waiting for it. What makes me amazed was some of the artificial setups look so natural that it’s even hard to believe it’s not natural.
I recommend staying the night in Matamata, its a nice peaceful town to walk around.
Blue Springs
Day 10: Hamilton to Auckland
There isn’t much in Hamilton to see. The Hamilton Gardens is quite nice, good for bit of photography 🙂
Last day was bit relaxing. Boarded from Auckland airport back home with lots of amazing memories and with a thought, may be I should live in New Zealand for a while.
It is indeed a heaven on earth!