This is our 3rd road trip in New Zealand, but is the 1st time we were doing the self drive in the North Island. It was many years ago when we did the road trip in the South Island twice. We were expecting a different experience from the South Island as the north is much more populated and so much more traffic, bigger towns, greater availability of petrol station and easier access to food and accommodation. True enough after the trip, I felt that the south island is much more scenic and almost everywhere in the south you can find beauty at its best. For those who intend to have their 1st road trip in New Zealand, I would strongly suggest the south island, lots to do and a lot more to enjoy. Unless one of your must-go places is the Hobbiton for those fans of the movie LOTR.
The following write up is on our road trip in North Island, beginning our journey from Wellington, making our way up to the north east coast and back down to Wellington for our return flight home. We started from Wellington moving north west towards New Plymouth, followed by 2 days stay at the Tongariro National Park, and another 2 day up north east to the Hot Water Beach of Whitianga, down back south to Rotorua and Taupo, before our last stop back to the outskirt of Wellington at a town called Lower Hutt. On average for those days that we were moving, it was about 2 to 4 hrs.
We took a flight out from Singapore, transit at Canberra before arriving at Wellington in the late afternoon around 4pm. Transit at Canberra gave us an unexpected bonus. There was an airshow at Canberra Airport and while waiting for the transit flight, we were able to see WWII planes doing dare devil stunts in the skies about the airport ground. Many passengers in the waiting area went glued to the gallery windows looking up at the planes doing stunts like deep dive drop and merely recovering just meters from the tarmac.
From Canberra, the flight flew out of Sydney harbour across the Tasman Sea, cutting horizontally across the northern tip of the south island of New Zealand. It was when the flight flew that I recognized the beautiful Queen Charlotte Sound located northward of the town of Picton. And we could see the frequent cross island ferry that fly between Picton and Wellington.
We cleared immigration and customs check fast as we have been to Australia and New Zealand before understanding the importance of knowing what not to bring. An advise to tourist wanting to enter both Australia and New Zealand. If you want to clear immigration fast, don't bring any foodstuff at all. Just nothing on food, irregardless dried or vacuum pack or not. Just don't bring. If you need to bring any sports equipment or gear, make sure they are thoroughly clean of any traces of soil or anything that can be organic. Do declare them and get them check by the local customs officers.
For our road trip in the North Island, we made our rental via Ace Rental Car. Although they do not have a counter at the airport, a quick call to them over the phone will have their shuttle service there to pick you up. Their office and car rental is just a short 5 mins drive away from the airport. They are actually located at the cargo buildings near the airport. Without luggage it is walkable. The rental cost is much lower than those that have counters at the airport, but being lower cost maybe some of the cars has a higher mileage. Condition of our rental car may not be too appealing with dents, scratches and a loose front bumper that didn't came off, but most importantly it was still reliable and engine is all well and good. Wouldn't want to be stuck in the dark along some off the usual state highway. One good thing that the North island offer than the South, is the traffic flow. Out on state highway in total darkness, there will always be other road users as well as night truckers plying the roads. Unless you are stranded in some off road farmland access roads.
The motel was a quick 15mins drive from the airport. Distance is near but require that 15mins due to city traffic. Roads in Wellington are winding and not so wide as the city is built on a hill. The motel is located along Majoribanks Street, offering some quietness and yet very close to eateries and supermarket. We took a short walk with a 6 year old down the street and onto Courtenay Place street where all the restaurants are. Rooms are moderately priced, clean and quiet. Check-in was fast and simple. Hot water was consistent and flow was good. Why we were particular on this as we have come across those that failed on this bathing expectation.
We drove up all the way to the car park area at the eastern side of the mountain. There is a big car park area and from the size of it can imagine the crowds who drives up the well maintained mountain road to do day hike on the mountain and even attempt the summit climb which requires a day time for a return hike to the top.
We left the car park after spending 30mins up there walking around the car park area. There is a path that leads to a viewing platform area which overlooks the farmlands and town below us. On a good weather day, I think the view would be worth the drive up here. There is another road that allows access into the mountain area which is from the north which is labelled on map as the North Egmont Visitor Centre.
For our night stay at New Plymouth, we booked our night at the Copthorne Hotel Grand Central. From the name, it is one of the group of hotels under the Copthrone group. This is a hotel comes with free parking space. Suitable for self-drive road trip holiday makers like us. Our room was spacious, clean and the toilet is spacious as well. It is the size of almost a small room. The hotel has a restaurant where you can get your meals settled there and hotel is just about 10 minutes walkaway. For us, we preferred to take a walk to the main street of New Plymouth which many dinning options. It was around evening time and most of the shops were closed, including restaurants and cafe which usually opens early for the day but closes usually before dinner time. Only the non local restaurants like Thai restaurants, Chinese take outs and of course the usual fast foods that remain open during that time of the day.
Day 3: Heading inland to Tongariro National Park
For the part of the day's driving, the roads were strewn with broken branches, leaves all over the road at the countryside which we spend the entire morning driving on. It was around 1pm that we finally exited the nature reserve windy roads and back to civilization at the town of Taumarunui for a late lunch.
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| At the town of Taumarunui for lunch and some ice cream for the kid. |
From Taumarunui, it took another 50mins drive to reach the alpine village of Whakapapa, the only village located on the slopes of the Mt Ruapehu volcano area. The only road which is the highway 48 runs gradually inland towards the Tongariro National Park. From far on a good day, you can see the only tall building from a distance, which is the Chateau Tongariro Hotel. For us, we booked ourselves with the Skotel Alpine Resort which is just a few minutes walk from the Chateau Tongariro Hotel. It was raining when we arrived at out hotel around 3 pm, throwing out our plans to do some light hike around the hotel and drive up to the end of Bruce Road. And so we just laze around in the room, enjoying the warm toasty heater in the room while going onto the balcony at times to experience instant chill. We had a balcony in our room that really brought us into staying in nature. Just a sliding glass door and the feeling is like right in the mountain, breathing the cold chilly but fresh air around us. Around evening time we experience some light snow flakes landing onto the balcony. We didn't expect winter to come so early and it was a bonus surprise for us and our kid to see these little snow flakes. It was only until the next day the staff at the resort told us that the night before was the 1st snowfall for the season and we were still in autumn.
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| Snow covered volcano in the distant (rooms's view) |
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| 1st snow of the season on the balcony |
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| Our room's balcony. Cloudy and cold. Nature's refrigerator for the beer. |
Skotel Alpine Resort Review
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| Skotel Alpine Resort |
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| Our room with a balcony |
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| Double bed with a nice warm heater (another single bed at the side) |
There isn't much choice of accommodation to choose from at the Whakapapa village. The visitor centre is a congregation place for tourist looking for information on the national park, as well as the place to make bookings for walks, transport and especially for the famous Tongariro Crossing hike that starts from the western side of the volcano, crossing over the famous saddle where the Emerald lake is located before ending the day hike at the northern end of the crossing. The walk can also be done the other way I guess. Just have to book your transport with the visitor centre at Whakapapa or other organized hike tours.
For our 2 nights stay at the national park we stayed at the Skotel Alpine Resort. We booked ourselves a room for 3 person with an accessible balcony offering great view of the volcano in the distance. On the last day before we check out, we had our great weather for the morning and from the room we can see the clear volcano peak of Mt Ngauruhoe during dawn. On the last night for our stay at the resort, the skies were filled with stars and galaxies and I was braving the cold air out in the balcony to attempt to take pictures of the stars and galaxy. The balcony gave me a good spot to conveniently took pictures of the night skies.
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| Night skies with stars and galaxies (shot taken from our room's balcony) |
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| Shot taken of the night skies (with edge of the roof) |
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| View from our room (morning before sunrise) |
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| Sunrise view from our room |
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| Finally blue skies in the morning. |
The hotel is located just at the trail head to one of the great tracks of Taranaki Falls track. A round trip or return trip can easily be done from 2 to 3 hours from the hotel. From our room we could see day hikers making their way to the track. The hotels has quite a number of rooms, just that that of a ski resorts ready to take in guest during their peak period. Our room was clean and spacious and the heater within the room was very efficient. It kept us toasty and warm. Size of the toilet was good as well, similar to that of hotels in the cities. Being in the mountain, couldn't blame the TV reception as the bad weather that we had on the 1st day affect the quality of the picture. The subsequent days the reception became better due to better weather.
There is very limited choice of dining at the Whakapapa village. The only restaurants are those found within the hotels and resorts. There is a cafe near the main road opposite the visitor centre, and a restaurant within the Chateau. And of course Skotel also has a big spacious restaurant that offers a good range of choices. Weather was bad and so we didn't intend to go out to look for dinner. Besides there are very limited choice to pick from. So we were happy that the resort offers meals within the establishment and we had a good sumptuous dinner without getting wet from the rain happening outside. Food portion was generous, and drinks were affordable for such remote places which maybe for tourists to expect some price inflation. But all is good and well for the price and choices.
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| Our national flag on display.(how thoughtful) |
Parking space is ample around the compound but maybe we visited during the off peak season. The staff were friendly and I would say the resort team was very thoughtful and took extra effort to make our stay memorable. During our stay at the resort, they flew our national flag together with another country and of course the New Zealand national flag to show that guests from these countries were staying at the resort. It did make us feel like some VIP attending some big event. A big thank you to the folks at the resort.
Day 4: Spending Time In the Park
Sampling the Tongariro Crossing Track (Cloudy & Cold)
Today we had a full day exploring the Tongariro National Park. Weather was forecast to be cloudy and rainy for morning and turning for the better in the afternoon. True enough the morning was dark skies with thick clouds passing across the slope plains of the national park. We were told of the 1st snowfall of the season even it was very light snow. It was an unexpected windfall able to see snow during this time of the year.
We had our breakfast at the hotel restaurant before driving off to the famous Tongariro Crossing western trail head. Not planning to do the crossing as this was meant to be a family trip and the day hike which requires about 8 to 9 hrs to complete is just too much for my 6 year old kid to do. So it was planned for an orientation hike near the trail head and just to see how far we can hike as a family.
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| Driving to the Mangatepopo car park ( Western road to Tongariro Crossing Track) |
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| Driving to Mangatepopo car park |
Unfortunately when we reached the Mangatepopo car park which was a 20 mins drive away, the place was blowing with strong chilly winds and light snow was blowing across the area. We were just walking around the car park area and felt that the weather was too extreme for a 6 year old. So my wife and kid stay inside the warmth of the car while me, putting on my jacket and started the hike into the cold and windy mountain trail. In such cold weather, the car park already had quite some cars parked and hikers preparing themselves for the crossing to end at the north exit point of the crossing. There were also shuttle service that ferried hikers for the crossing hike. Of course some folks were there to just walked around since they might came from far away places like us and so even when the weather was unfavourable, they would still want to try it out. Maybe this was my sentiments.
It was very cold but I intended to do fast pace hike to build up enough warmth within my jacket to keep me warm. With just an uninsulated outer shell, an internal thermal wool, I made my solo quick hike into the the Tongariro crossing track, hoping to go as far as I could without making the family wait too long in the car.
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| At the trailhead |
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| Waiting area for those preparing for the hike or those waiting for the shuttle back to village |
In the end, I spent about 3 hours doing a return hike back to the car park, going as far as time allowed. I reached the long boardwalk area which gave me a wide open view of the towering snow capped volcano, somewhere at the base of the saddle that separates the 2 volcanoes of the Tongariro Crossing track.
End of Bruce Road
End of Bruce Road. Why the name, well there isn't any specific landmark to name the place and so i just dedicated this section to write about the place. The only route 48 road that runs into Whakapapa village and if you continued on the route 48, it will bring you closer to the mountains, and the the famous Mt Ruepehu ski area. The road climbs a few hundred meters to bring you to an elevation of about 1900m in the comfort of your car. At the end of the road is a big open car park area where there are lots of ski accommodations, clubs around that big car park area. And right there is a big cafe and a well stocked gift shop selling item that you need to enjoy the mountains. Very good mobile network reception at the cafe. There is even an ATM for cash withdrawal.
We drove up there so that could give our child her 1st snow playing experience. With the snow that I came across at a lower altitude while doing the walkabout at the Tongariro Crossing, I was very sure, snow would be there at the end of the Bruce Road. And sure enough there was and our child had a wonderful time thrashing the snow pile just outside the cafe.
We had out lunch at the cafe up there, i think the name of the cafe on Google map is called Lorenz's Bar and Cafe. It wasn't peak ski season ( well snow was just starting to fall and would be 2 mths away for the full ski season) and the cafe just had a few customers. It was very relaxing enjoying the warmth of the cafe, the nice food and seeing the outside view of the mountain and the car park ( not really that pretty seeing the car park). The chair lift at the side wasn't running and there is another cafe higher up which i believed can be reach either by hiking up or taking the chair lift. On map there is a road leading up, but seems it was not opened when we were there. The weather was starting to clear up and occasionally the sun came out to provide some warmth when we were outdoor playing snow.
We headed back to our hotel after spending about 2hrs up at the end of Bruce road to do a short afternoon hike to the Taranaki Falls Track. The start of the track is just besides out hotel doorsteps.
Overall, the Taranaki Falls Track is a popular and family friendly short hike. No additional transport needed and it goes in a loop, beginning and ending at the same Whakapapa Village. Just need a good pair of walking shoes, some light snacks and water, and a positive and welcoming attitude to nature, you will have no problem to enjoy the beauty the walk can offer.
And so we went back to do the sample hike on the Tongariro Crossing track, but this time with the family. And then a quick drive up to the end of Bruce Road. Since it is just a quick drive up from the Whakapapa Village.
It was a long drive from the Tongariro National Park to Hot Water beach. About 4 hrs plus to reach if travel non-stop. We stopped at the town of Turangi for late lunch. Found a modern bistro that served good food with simple but yet cozy decor. Maybe we were just hungry after the hike in the morning. From there, we drove up north passing towns like Taupo, Rotorua, Matamata (Hobbiton), and finally making a north eastern into the Coromandel Peninsula where the Hot Water Beach is. It was a windy steep road across the rugged landscape to cross over from the farmland plans over to the coastal towns and eventually reaching the Hot Water Beach area is almost total darkness. We arrived around 7:30 pm just 30 mins before the reception closes for the night.
Day 6: Hot Water Beach and Cathedral Cove
Hot Water Beach
Weather was forecast to be sunny only for the few hours in the morning and so we headed out to the beach which is just a 1 5mins walk from our chalet unit at the Hot Water Beach Holiday Park. The holiday park has a boardwalk path just beside the drive in entrance to the holiday park and a mere 5 min walk took us to the public car park area for visitors heading out to the Hot Water Beach. This is a chargeable parking. There are other accommodations around the area further down the road towards the end which has a small village. However the village is on the other side of the Taiwawe stream and may need visitors to walk across the water during low tide ( not sure if that is possible) or the safer bet is to get to the Hot Water Beach car park and walk in through the forest trail to the beach.
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| Attractions map of the Coromandel area (at the hot water beach car park) |
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| Hot Water Beach (early morning before the heavy digging) |
We got ourselves at the beach around 9:30 as we waited for our holiday park reception to open to hire the shovel which opens not as early as we thought. Already there were people on the beach but it seemed there had just arrived as well. The beach looked like any normal beach minus the dug out holes which was washed over the night before by the high tide. Weather wasn't too good the day before as there were heavy rain. And so we started digging, just trying our luck. We dug quite deep and only ended up with cold seawater. Many others couldn't find the right spot. As times passed, more and more people joined in the fun and the beach all of a sudden became crowded but still had the sense of fun as the atmosphere changed from a few lonely diggers to some mad gold rush kind of digging.
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| Our family dug out spot (filming crew at the background) |
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| More and more people coming to the beach area |
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| Our kid taking full ownership of the digging |
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| Changing to a new spot but still no luck on hot water. (more people coming) |
We persevere on our stubborn spot and continue to dig deeper and deeper, but after an hour working on the same spot, we gave up and worked on another. It was only when one group who was doing some commercial filming over a pool they dug out and finished shooting that others were told by the leaving filming crew that their pool has the hot water. It was then others started to dig around them trying to cascade the hot water from their area into theirs. At times the incoming waves broken the sand barrier which new joiners came in to build around the only founded hot pool for that morning, We walked into their hot pool along with many others after the crew left, the water was hot around maybe 60%. It was much hotter than those Japanese Onsen that we had been to. Our morning fun at the beach ended around 12 noon and with the weather continued to be stable and sunny, we moved on to another must go place at the Coromandel Peninsula, which is the Cathedral Cove beach.
Here are some tips for those of you going over to the Hot Water Beach to find the right spot to dig. This information is based on true on the ground bad luck for us and hearing what the locals shared on the spot. For your reference and no guarantees.
- Come during low tide so that you can have a peace of mind digging. Well, if it is high tide you cant right?
- The hot water flows from 2 underground fissure (goggle some info on this) and gets filter onto the sand at the beach. It is just that there is too much sand and ended up the water coming out somewhere between the high tide and low tide position.
- At the beach, there is a big rock structure at the back of the beach area like a cliff. Get yourself align to that rock position and start digging closer to the beach waterline. Not too close to the water as rising tide may wash your sand wall away.
- Dig wide and not deep, build a front facing sand wall high enough to block the incoming waves.
- From observations, don't have to dig too deep. A foot or 2 deep should be more than enough to get the hot water seeping out.
Cathedral Cove
This is one of them must go places when one is to visit the Coromandel Peninsula. Any search on the Internet on the place will show up with Cathedral Cover as one of the attractions in the area. Of course you will find the Hot Water Beach as well which is just a mere 10 mins drive away. Cathedral Cove is located in a small coastal town called Hahei. A small descent town with establishments maybe gear towards tourism. Initially without doing any research, I thought it will be a very small area with some F&B outlets but upon arriving, it is a fairly sizable town.
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| Picture taken the next day during breakfast (rainy weather) |
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| Ice cream shop for our kid. She loves the ice cream |
After washing up after our morning digging experience at the Hot Water Beach, we came to this little town of Hahei, and immediately was directed by sign boards pointing to "Cathedral Cove" public car park. After parking and following the signs then we realized that we were walking into the town and a check on map shows the Cathedral cove is quite a long walk from the public car park. It was either we walked back or continued on. We chose to continue on as we wanted to have lunch before the long walk. After walking about 20 mins into the town, we came to what look like a town centre where shops, and cafes were opened for business with a good crowd inside.
We had our wonderful lunch there at the Hahei Beach cafe. It offer good food, reasonable prices and staff were friendly. It was a warm day and even the place was not air-conditioned, it was cooling inside the cafe. We took the waiting time to research on getting around the Cathedral Cove. And got the whole picture of getting to the attraction all worked out.
Visitors to the Cathedral Cove are advised to park at the Visitor Car Park and take the shuttle bus service that runs from the car park (seasonal period) to the end of the road up on a hill which is the Cathedral Cove viewing platform and also the start point for the walk to the cove which is actually the beach where the rock structure of the cove is. You can google on the period where the shuttle bus runs and the fare for it.
There is another way of going to the Cathedral Cove which is the water taxi (aside from the boat tours and kayak tours that you can sign up to get to the cove without the walking) that ferries visitors from the Hahei beach to the Cathedral Cove beach.
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| Hahei Beach |
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| On the coastal trail to the Cathedral Cove Viewpoint (looking down at Hahei Beach) |
After our good lunch break, we continued on foot to the beach area which is a short distance from the cafe area, but only to find that the water taxi was not operating.Without a choice and not wanting to back track to take the shuttle service, we took the beach trail up the side of the hill and spent around 30mins to reach the view point which is the end the Grange Road. On the way we came across quite a number of people coming down the same trail. The usual route to visit the Cove is to take the shuttle to the viewpoint and start the long walk to the cove and back. But instead of taking the shuttle, they could take the relaxing walk downhill to the Hahei Beach. Unluckily for us, we did the reverse and but a hearty lunch meal, the family was in a good shape to do the uphill hike to the view point.
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| On the coastal trail to the Cathedral Cove start point |
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| Walking by the sea to our right. |
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| On the coastal trail still ( and we were in slippers) |
From the viewpoint, which is also the start point, it was another 45 min one way to the cove and another 60 mins from the cove back to the viewpoint. Well, it is a downhill walk on a well maintenance path to the bottom of the beach, and a uphill hike back to the start point at the viewing platform.
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| At the start point to the Cathedral Cove Walk |
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| Here we go. Easy way going downhill gradually |
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| At the viewing platform area |
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| Not the Cathedral Cove. More walking, far more |
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| One of the few park benches |
When we reach the beach where the Cathedral Cove stands, then i realized that the place was featured somewhere in NZ's tourism photos. There was quite a number of people on the path that runs to the cove and when we were at the beach, there was a moderate pool of people at the beach area. Even with the tide water rising, we strolled across the rising tide to the other side of the rock arch which had even more people on the beach. I wondered during that time when the water rises high enough may actually block off people from getting back without getting wet. Well, it was fun for the kid to dash along with me trying to avoid the waves from getting us wet.
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| Finally at the Cathedral Cove Beach |
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| The Cathedral Cove |
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| This is the photo shot that I saw in some tourism brochures (inside the arch) |
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| Walking over to the left side when the waves retreated. |
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| On the other side of the rock arch. |
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| Our jumping champion. |
Getting back to the start point was tiring for our kid after a long day of walking. And so it took us much longer to get back. We took the shuttle bus back to the Visitor car park, and took our car and drive into town for an early dinner before heading back to our accommodation at the Hot Water Beach Holiday Park. ( Well, there wasn't much of food choice back at the park).
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| Our dinner place |
We picked another shop to eat at the same Hahei town centre, a restaurant called The Pour House. They serve dinner as well as beer sampling platter, mainly from the local Coromandel 's local beer. We ordered their specials which was more Asian like curry naan, a refreshing break from the fish and chips that most cafe and restaurants served. We had a slow long dinner and it was already dark when we drove back to Hot Water Beach. Although just a short 10 mins drive, but driving at night seemed to take longer.
Review of the Top 10 Hot Water Beach Holiday Park
This is one of the accommodations located near the Hot Water Beach. Booking can be made direct or via some hotel booking portal website. It has a wide variety of accommodation units from simple cabins to self-contained full functional chalets that comes with kitchen and bathroom. And being a holiday park, it has all the land area to fit your camper vans or camping needs. The reception area also served as a convenient store offerings drink, food supplies to cook up a feast. There is an on site F&B corner that offers takeaways and dine in (if you don't mind the 2 benches just besides the food collection counters). So if even you coming in late, there is still food around ( before 8pm that is) to fill the hungry folks that drove over long distance to get there (referring to ourselves).
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| Our Deluxe Family Villa unit |
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| Our unit from the outside. (and our rental car parked just beside) |
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| The holiday park grounds (lotsa space to walk around, child friendly) |
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| Giant bouncing pillow for the children to enjoy their jumping |
We booked for ourselves the Deluxe Family Villa which allows to sleep 4 person. It has a loft unit which houses 2 single beds, great for children who like to sleep high up within the villa. It has a functional function kitchen area with a gas-stoved BBQ unit for those smoky BBQ days. We had a big porch area for those good sunny days to have meals outside. The unit doesn't come with air conditioning but has a high ceiling fan just to provide for ventilation. I guess the weather in NZ will be cold for most of the season and maybe even in summer will not be that warm to need air conditioning. Wondering if during winter how do the visitors keep warm. Maybe that is the low season which don't have much guest.
The unit was clean and well maintained, bedsheets were clean. Good not to see any cobwebs which shows the maintenance crew does a good job keeping the unit tidy. However being near forest area, bugs are not uncommon and it gets stuff if windows are closed to prevent insects from coming in. Keeping lights off before opening a small opening in the window is one way to reduce the number of bugs coming in. The entire unit gave us a sense of a little to that of a Hobbits's house. Maybe because we are in the land of the Hobbits which is just 2 hrs drive away.
Everything with the unit is good. Except the unit doesn't have much of a view except the nearby units. And for those sleeping on the loft unit, it can get very warm when the toilet light together with the heater are turn on. You can feel the heat radiating from the area besides the stairs near the top the loft area.
Day 7: Returning South to Rotorua
Today we packed our bags and headed back south in the direction of Wellington, where we first started. Today's destination was Rotorua which we planned for the new few days touring the Rotorua and Matamata area where Hobbiton is located.
The day started with raining weather and it seemed to be raining for the rest of the day. So the day started a little lazy for us, not knowing where to go. We thought of breakfast for the family and drove a short distance again to the nearby town of Hahei of Cathedral Cove is, at the Hahei Beach Cafe again. Well, the food was nice and choices were good, so why not.
Looking at the weather forecast, it seemed the entire north island, or so the area we were in and heading out to was raining all day. Over our breakfast, we decided to go somewhere near Rotorua, some attractions not affected by the rain. And so we decided to make the drive to the Waitomo Glowworm Caves, well an hour plus detour from Rotorua. We drove all the way from Hahei, leaving the Coromandel Peninsula area, passing towns like Matamata and Hamilton. When we reached the Waitomo area, it seemed that the place is not really near Rotorua and we were actually almost came to the western coast of the North Island near the town of New Plymouth where we came from days ago.
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| Waitomo Glowworm Caves Ticketing booth |
At the Waitomo Glowworm Caves ticketing booth, it was around 2pm, We signed up for the double cave combo since it was much worth the money to do multiple caves. The Waitomo cave ticket is like the bulk of the cost and adding a little more to get another cave. So why not. We signed up for the both the Waitomo Glowworm cave and the Ruakuri Cave. We were happy that we signed up for the Ruakuri Cave as the tour of the Waitomo Glowworm cave seemed to be overrated and is where the bulk of mainstream tourist and tour bus tourists would go. The tour was considered short in our context. Maybe the reason for such an impression was that we have been to some glowworm caves in the south island like Te Anau and cave exploration in Charleston. The experience there was much better even though it was years ago. And you can't take pictures inside the Waitomo caves even if you don't use flashes. Maybe it is their way to safeguard against not so camera savvy visitors from accidentally damaging the ancient lime stones structures with their flashing lights. We completed the 2 caves around 5pm and from there we made the 2.5 hour drive to Rotorua, arriving close to 8 pm where all is dark. And that began our next few nights of driving in the dark until we reached Wellington. Call that bad planning or getting to comfortable driving at night. Minus the kangaroos that one needs to worry in Australia, i guess it is alright for tourist to drive in NZ, just stay within the speed limit.
Ruakuri Caves Exploration
It was a short walk from the car park to the man-made cave entrance. The entrance is not manned by anyone and the guide would use the electronic keypad to unlock the door to begin the tour.
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| A big contrast between the plain entrance door and this artistic spiral walkway |
When you say the word "Grand Entrance", this is one of man-made grand entrance to the cave. Like some sci-fi movie entering a space ship, the tour entrance is a spiral drum walkway from the ground level down a few storeys into the bottom of the cave entrance. The dim lights that lighted the spiral walkway down is amazingly artistic and mesmerizing. Not to say this is the only wheelchair accessible cave in the entire southern hemisphere as what the guide mentioned. The lights were turn on by the guide when we were there and turn off once we leave the area. Call that energy saving practice which is good.
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| Lesson time in a small passageway |
The cave system was interesting, some areas were man-made to join some of the caverns together. The entrance walking path was guarded with rails and some even with motion sensors to detect anyone accidentally wanted to touch the ancient stalactites. There are in case water system with streams and waterfalls, and there are actually water caving tours that we came across some groups within the same cave. Those are the ones that bring you in a rubber tube and glide down the water system within the cave with the help of their guide. We could see them from the top on the metal walkways above them.
The guide was good enough to share with us the history of the cave. The cave was an Maori burial site and so considered sacred. The original entrance was not from the spiral walkway that we came down from, but a forest trail that leads to the original entrance of the cave. Since the cave is considered sacred, that entrance is not open to tourist. That entrance still stands and along our tour we came by that original entrance. The cave itself still retains some of the humor that was left behind ages ago with the subsequent owners of the cave putting up signs to keep trespassers out. The history was interesting, about the Holden family who bought the land above the cave not knowing it and when discovered, legally what ever the land above and what lies behind belongs to them. The cave was opened since 1904 to 1988 before the government claim ownership of the caves and after some legal battle, the cave went back to the Holden family who now own the cave but rent out for tour company to operate the cave for tourism.
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| Warning sign from back in the old days |
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| A vertical tunnel maybe someday will open up to the surface |
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| Exhibits of how cave explorations started off exploring the cave back then |
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| Leaving the cave. |
Total caving time was good, and we got to see the cave in a relaxing manner and you could take pictures and they have trust in the tourist not to use flash for photography. if time is a issue, would suggest to Ruakuri cave instead. Maybe as mentioned earlier is because we have done glowworm cave tours before. But this is a cave tour that if one is around Waitomo area, it is a good place to visit when weather goes bad. There is a another cave nearby called the Aranui Cave which you can also bundle with the Waitomo Glowworm cave and the Ruakuri cave but you need a full day to do 3 cave systems. The bundle tickets allows you to cover the caves in 2 different days, just need to book your time slot when purchasing the bundle tickets.
Day 8: Enjoying Rotorua and Hobbiton
Today was a short day at Rotorua as the next 2 subsequent nights will be at Taupo. And if we could redo the planning again, would have swapped more days at Rotorua than Taupo as we had spent more time visiting the attraction around Rotorua like the thermal pools, Rotorua Argodome, the Skyline Luge and driving up north to Matamata to visit Hobbiton.
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| Most prominent building at Government Gardens |
It was a sunny morning at Rotorua and we have booked our time slot for the visit to Hobbiton in the afternoon slot around 1pm. Morning was planned for some visiting within or close to the big town of Rotorua. We had some time to spare before the drive up north to Matamata for Hobbiton, and after a hearty breakfast at our hotel and off we headed over to the lake area where the thermal points were. It was the area beside the prominent building structure in Rotorua, the Government Gardens, a place called Sulphur Point on map. A quick 8 mins drive and we were at the peaceful park area near the lake. It was a Sunday morning and there was almost no one around the place and we had the whole area to ourselves.
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| Sulphur Point and Lake Rotorua |
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| Hot steam gushing out from the ground (smell of rotton eggs) |
At the Sulphur Point, there are a few thermal opening where fumes from the ground are coming out. In the far distance of the lake we could see other places across the lake that has the areas with thermal points as well, shrouding the area there.
From the Sulphur Point, we drove all the way till the end of the scenic small road, called Hatupatu Drive, that runs long the lake. At the end is a big car park area with a public toilet. looking at the size of the place, it can get crowded at times. At this scenic point, there were a lot of waterbirds like ducks and swans. Our kid love to feed the ducks and swan near the lake, There is a small jetty near the edge of the lake where all these pretty birds paddling in the water waiting for food.
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| A quiet area in the morning. Empty bench facing Lake Rotorua |
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| Feeding time |
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| Small makeshift "jetty" for private boat launch maybe. |
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| The 2 beautiful black swan. |
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| Morning calmness of the Lake Rotorua. Great morning weather for photo taking |
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| The Black Swan couple |
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| Goose and puffy birds (dont know their names) |
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| End of Hatupatu Drive road (carpark) |
Redwoods Forest and Treewalk
With time to spend, we went to the town's Redwoods Treewalk. Found this amazing forest from the hotel brochures about the place where there have elevated boardwalks running from trees to trees. It was again a short drive of 10 mins to get to the Redwood treewalk car park. The park was already filled with morning joggers, tourist roaming around the forest trails that runs deep within the redwood forest area. The elevated boardwalk is located right near the tourist information office and the ticketing counter for the treewalk. For the rest of the Redwoods forest trails, there are open to the public and is free.
The elevated boardwalk runs from trees to trees, using those trees of big tree trunk to hold the platform which is linked by the walkway boardwalk. Special signs were placed along the boardwalk to remind visitors not to touch the tree trunks to prevent visitors from injuring the tree by plucking or removing the tree bark. Anchor points to the trees are protected from some cushion material to prevent too much of damage to the trees. This treewalk is even opened at night to the late hours where the area is lit up by decorating lightings and artistic big hanging lamps.
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| Entrance to the Treewalk, and exit at the same place. |
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| Doing a little walking around the forest ground |
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| Wife and kid walking along the forest trail |
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| Tree trunks of red in colour, gives the name of Redwoods forest. |
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| Starting our walk on the elevated boardwalk from tree trunk to tree trunk |
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| Going from tree to tree |
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| Circular platform area for visitors to take a break and enjoy the greenery |
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| Add caption |
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| The highest viewing platform along the entire walk. |
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| Continuing on the walk lopping back to the start point |
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| Near the start and exit point. Below is the carp park area. |
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| Entrance and exit below. An attendant checking tickets |
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| Interesting restroom design near the visitor information kiosk. |
Hobbiton at Matamata
From Rotorua, it was an hour drive to Matamata. We left the Redwoods Forest and drove up north. It was a fine weather day for the morning. The sun is out, but clouds are plentiful and forecast was cloudy and could rain at Matamata around 2pm which was when our tour slot was.
We drove to the town of Matamata for lunch. Being a tourist town after the success of the film set being a must visit attractions for tourists coming to New Zealand, the town has themes of the LOTR setup. There are lots of restaurants, take-aways along the main shopping street. Even the tourist information office is big middle earth cottage.
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| Matamata I-Site Tourist office |
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| At the town centre |
After lunch, from the town, it was a mere 15mins drive to the Hobbiton Film set. Please take note that walk-ins are definitely will not be available as the visitors to the film set are always filling up the time slots. Best is to book in advance via their website. Payment is made when you book and cancellation charges applies. There have 2 options, one is the tour plus either lunch of dinner depending on which tour package you pick. These are pre-allocated time slots for the tour and the meal. The rest of the other time slots are for the tour only. It runs very frequent like 20 to 30mins apart. If you don't drive, there are pick up tour packages that starts from Rotorua and Matamata. Else you can sign up to some private third party tours that bring you to the film set site.
The tour to the Hobbiton film set is a guided tour, and you cannot walk the place on your own. Groups and groups would follow a pre-defined path visiting all the "houses" within the tour and end point will be at the Green Dragon Inn where they will offer you a free beer. Non Alcohol drinks are available for the children and for those who drive and choose not to drink.
And so we reached the Hobbiton car park around 1:30pm. Parked our car and headed to the ticketing counters to claim our online booked tickets. Just show them my booking email on my phone and they are good with that issuing the tickets. The waiting area has some snack stalls for food and beverage and ice creams as well. The area is located in the farmland area and everywhere is green plots of land for sheep farming an stuff.
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| Our kid doing the jump again |
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| The road leading into the private farmland where the movie set is |
From our tour guide and the information we had for the tour, we got to know that the film set was actually a farmland belong to a family who is now very rich because of the success of the attraction and giving up part of their land for the filming of the movies for the LOTR and Hobbits. During the tour we were shared on why the place was chosen and how they came about selecting this place for the Hobbiton film set.
When our time slot came, we waited at the bus boarding area for the hobbiton tour buses to bring us into the private farmland. It was a short but scenic drive to the "entrance" to Hobbiton. A quick briefing on the tour, the Do's and Don't's and what to expect from the tour. It is always the case when the guide has to rush the visitors to move along and follow them closely. Each group has designated time that they can spend at a spot so as not to create a human traffic jam.
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| The only road into Hobbiton. Gandalf has to go by this path only. |
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| Narrow entrance to the village (recall the move scene?) |
Remember the movie scene when Gandalf the wizard entered or left the hobbit village where there was a narrow path both sided by rock stacked wall.
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| Their little garden. Plants are real, the rest are props |
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| Hobbits clothes on the clothesline |
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| Bilbo Baggins house. Where the 1st meeting of the fellowship |
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| And the tree on top of Bilbo's house is a fake tree. Looks very real |
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| More and more "houses". Well is just the face only, Nothing behind the door except the wall |
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| Live hobbit coming out |
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| Party Beer drum |
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| The stone bridge in the village. one of the scene place for the movie |
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| At the blacksmith |
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| Inside the Green Dragon's Inn. |
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| Beer and Ale, which would you prefer. |
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| Hobbiton's notice board. Have a job for an adventure? |
It was drizzling when the tour ended and the skies were dark and cloudy. The tour still continued on for those groups still coming in. Well they provide you big umbrellas to enjoy the walk without getting wet as long as the rain is not that heavy.
We ended out tour around 3:45pm and back at the car park around 4pm. From there it was a 2 hour plus drive to our next hotel at Lake Taupo, which marked the end of our day's activities.
Review of the Jet Park Hotel Rotorua
This is quite a modern hotel located along the main road of Fenton Street. The compound is huge with a mix of park and sleep motel style rooms, as well as rooms located in the main building catering to tour groups. Area is convenient to fast food like KFC, Mac and Burger King. Quick and easy meal after a long day of driving on the road and reaching the hotel late in the evening ( we reached at 8pm driving from Waitomo). There is a Park 'n' Save supermarket just around the corner for tourist to stock up their supplies before any long drive ahead. Rooms come with free breakfast and the spread is good. Rooms are well maintained, clean and all is well. One small thing, maybe it is just our insecurity in a foreign place. The door to our motel room is those bedroom door with a push in button lock only. No additional latches.
Rotorua is a good base for visiting attractions around the area of thermal pools, sheep farms, skyline luge and even Hobbiton in Matamata which is just an hour's drive away. While on our road trip, we were stayed at Rotorua and Taupo; and ended up driving back to Rotorua from Taupo a few times to visit the attractions I have shared.
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| Jet Park Hotel @ Rotorua |
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| Motel style park and sleep. They have multi floored hotel rooms in the main building. |
Day 9: Rotorua and Taupo
It was cloudy day in the morning. Dark heavy clouds loomed over the great Taupo Lake. Like some storm coming towards town. At times there are some sunlight coming from the north of Taupo, which is Rotorua. Today's activity was to visit the agrodome sheep farm which is indoor (exceot the farm tour) after knowing from the weatherman that the entire day would be heavy rain around Taupo and Rotoroa. Weather would likely be cleared after noon. With that hope in mind, we ventured up north again after breakfast at the local Taupo restaurant. Lotsa food choices to pick from around the main diner place near the edge of the lake. During nigth time, the place is amassed with tourists enjoying their meals over the many restaurants there. Fast food joints, supermarkets, shopping, all within that small area which is the town's main shopping area.
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| Cloudy morning |
As we were driving up north the rain clouds caught up with us from behind and when we reach the Agrodome car park, it was raining heavily and we spend some time waiting in the car for the rain to ease off.
Rotorua Agrodome
New Zealand's Agrodome, a short drive away from the Rotorua city centre, an hour drive from Taupo, is a place that draws visitors coming to New Zealand and on the north island especially. I still could remember about 18 years ago when i visited the place with a tour group. And now on a free and easy self drive road trip. Could remember the differences except that there is always this popular Farm Show that felt crowded with tourist. For the day that we visited, it didn't. Maybe it is because it is not the peak season and the weather was real bad.
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| At the Agrodome ( raining) |
We bought the combo tickets for the Farm Show and the Far tour hoping the weather would be cleared by then. But it rained and rained and only starts to ease off when we about to start the Farm tour. Just when we were buying the tickets, the show was just about to start and so immediately we went in for the Farm Show which is within the same building as the ticket counter. It is also where the big gift show is where you can buy farm products as well as clothing made from NZ's merino wool. Wouldn't comment much on the price as it seemed the price of merino wool products from a country that produces it and sell clothing from it, tend to be on higher side. Back to the farm.
The farm show was very engaging and interactive, especially for the children. Getting picked from the staff on the stage was something that could make a kid happy for the rest of the day. It was a little disappointed as she was not selected to go on stage to feed the little lamps. Instead the staff speaker on stage asked me to go on stage to milk the cow.
The farm show features sheep herding dogs performing their acts, and everything else was on the sheep. Introducing all the different types of sheep from different parts of the world. From the far west of USA to England, and down to Australia and of course New Zealand as well. A very educational show for the parents, but just pure fun for the children.
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| Calm and relax she is. |
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| Sheep on their own pedestal. |
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| The Merino Ram. |
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| Happy sheep patting time |
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| Sheep dog patting. The dog was so calm to all the patting. |
After the show, visitors and children are allowed to go on stage to pat the animals. The sheep were the main attractions and the sheep dogs do always attract the countless children to them.
After the show, we visited the little small animals patting area. It was there the little lambs were placed to feed on the hay after the show. Only a few visitors came in to this area and left quickly. It was our family of 3 only and we had the whole place to ourselves. As it was raining very heavily and we had no place to go until our farm tour time slot which was like 2 hours away.
It was here that a staff was about to feed the other animals there and saw us and allow our daughter to help them with the feeding. Our kid was so happy that she could feed the animals and pat them. So in the end, not able to go up stage to feed the lambs wasn't any bad at all as now she was feeding the animals with bottles of milk.
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| Out kid feeling the lamb some hay |
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| The lambs that were on stage just now. Now Our kid has all the personal experience with the lambs |
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| heard from staff these are call Alpeca (i think) |
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| Happy feeding by our kid's little small hands to the little lamb. Hungry they seemed |
It was still raining and there was nothing we could do. The waiting area has nothing much to see except a few gift shop. Not cafeteria or small cafe to sit down to seep tea or coffee. So we went back to the car to rest.
When it was almost time for our farm tour, we headed back to the waiting area just outside the ticketing building. A big farm tractor pulling a tram like trolley with seats for visitors was waiting for the visitor groups to arrive. Some new visitors came in vans and immediately upon reaching just boarded the allocated tram trolley. It seemed these "van groups" or tour bus groups are packed to the max. Maybe it just happened that these are Chinese tourist groups where the guide speaks in Chinese for them. In our trolley tram, all of us are walk-in or individual groups. We started the tour of the farm, with the tractor bringing us to tour the farm.
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| On the trolley tram for the farm tour. Skies still cloudy |
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| A sheep that look different. Here starts the 1st feeding. |
We didn't know what to expect and thought it was just sit and watch type. But it got interesting when the tractors stops at different locations for us to feed the animals. The animals upon seeing the tractor with us coming will follow closely when the tractor approached them. The animals look hungry and we were given animal feed by the guide who is also the tractor driver. The weather was suddenly showing signs of change and clouds began to open up rapidly and after 20mins touring on the tractor, we got open skies and bright warm sun rays.
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| At the hill top |
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| Want a hug? |
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| Talking animal language? |
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| Sniff check by the animal |
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| Black sheep, Baa-Baa |
The coming of good happy spirited up the mood of the visitors and my camera too. The best part came when the tractors pulled over near the top of a hill where there were a lot of animals coming from many sides to be fed.. We have Alpacas, lamas, sheep. It was also crazily happy for the children running around giggling as the animals seemed to be chasing them for food. The experience was totally way different from feeding them behind cage or fences. This is open unrestricted feeding. The children could go very close and even almost cheek to cheek with the animals.
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| At the honey tasting stop |
After feeding the animals, well the next trolley tram was coming along from the other group and we were told to board and move on. Next stop was to small building, quite spacious on the inside and we were offered honey on a stick to taste. Quite pleasant in taste and were told those were honey collected and made by the farm. No hard selling there and besides the place where we tried the honey was not a sale counter. The honey would be available for sale back at the gift shop near the ticketing building. After the honey tasting, we were back on the tractor driven tram for the ride back to the main building.
We passed by some kiwi tree plantation and from the 1st tree in the picture we can see some kiwi fruit hanging by the branches.
Back at the ticketing building, the weather then was a total far cry from the one we have in the morning. Now is blue skies and white clouds. With the fine weather, and along the way back we saw some animals near the end point of the tram ride, we decided to do a quick walk around the area with the fine weather over us.
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| Walking around the farm near the car park area and ticketing office |
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| Donkeys? |
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| Nice colur theme of directional signage with the blue background skies. |
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| Our kid can't get enough of the animals at the farm. And her favourite, PONY |
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| End of day's trip to the Argodome. Making our way back to the car park. |
Rotorua Skyline Luge
Our next destination for the rest of the afternoon till evening is a visit to the Skyline Luge at Rotorua. A mere 10mins drive from the Agrodome to the foothill carpark of the ticket office. The luge there runs throughout the day if weather is good and runs into the evening which they offer the evening or night luge. We bought our tickets for family include 3 rides of the luge at the hill top. Similar to the skyline luge at Queenstown, there have a buffer restaurant offers dinner buffet as well as lunch that can be bundled into the ticket as a combo for the ropeway, luge rides and buffer. For us, we opted the buffer dinner out but had our dinner at the Aorangi Peak Restaurant in the same building as the buffet restaurant. I guess they came from the same kitchen.
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| Autumn leave at the car park at the |
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| Looking down at the cable car station below. |
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| The outskirt of the Rotorua town |
The cable car climbed slowly up the hill over the treeline to reach the Aorangi Peak. Here sits the skyline luge which riders choose their safety helmets and begin their first ride down the winding route to the lower luge station and to take the chairlift back to the starting point.
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| At the Aorangi Peak (outside the restaurant area) |
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| Rotorua town and the Lake. |
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| Great view over a meal outside the Aorangi Peak Restaurant |
We took the 3 rides package and got to pick the 2 routes that were open at the time. The luge station was closed for the entire morning and only opened around 3pm due to the bad weather in the morning. And so the crowd seems to be all congregated at that time of the day. Or maybe that is just the norm. The 1st run is usually the slower and familiarization route, after which the rider can choose which path that is opened. We completed all the 3 rides in succession before heading out to the restaurant for our dinner before the 1hr drive to Taupo. The day ended around 9pm by the time we reached our motel at Taupo.
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| On the chairlift with our kid |
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| Almost reaching the luge start point after our 1st run downhill |
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| Me and my kid after the 2nd run downhill. |
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| Dinner at the Aorangi Peak Restaurant. Order something familar back home. Curry with naan. |
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| Back at the foothill ticketing station. |
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| Redwoods forest at night. |
While making our way back, we decided to make a quick stop to see the Redwoods forest at night where the tree walk will be decorated with lights and fascinating huge lanterns hung from the tall trees. There were still visitors to the area and even joggers wearing headlamps and do their exercise within the forest grounds. Well it was only 7 pm only but the area was almost pitch dark. The road leading to the park does not have any street lights. It was a quick photo taking as we walked some 50 meters from the car park to go below the hanging lanterns above us.
Review of the Sails on the Lake (Taupo)
For our stay in Taupo, where we were based to do our visiting around the area, we stayed at one of the many lakefront motels and apartment after considering a list of those that offered a good unblock view of the Great Lake of Taupo. We booked an apartment that has such an unblocked view. Too bad the weather wasn't that good for all the days we stayed and everyday waking up to gloomy dark skies. Other then the weather, the room was spacious, clean. The ones that we stayed faced the lake and just besides the road that runs along the lake all the way to the restaurants and shopping area of Taupo. Our bedrooms and living room is widely spaced out with the entrance via the living room area separated by kitchen area and washroom before reaching the bedroom that is the furthest away from the road. At night there is minimal noise from vehicles on the road as it is small lane road of the town. Decor of the room is well maintained, washroom is big as well. Lots of ample parking space during our stay. The motel is located a distance away from the restaurants and shopping area, but still within comfortable walking distance, but driving is sure a way to get there in comfort. Being much farther away from the shops and restaurants can be an inconvenience for those not driving, but it does has its pros of being quieter for that neighbourhood.
All in all, a pleasant place good place to stay for families, especially those that want to stay close to the lake. There are of course other motels that dotted along the same stretch of the road that run along the lake as well. You should be able to find one that suits your likings and budget.
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| At the Sails on the Lake apartment suites at Taupo (Our unit rightmost) |
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| Entrance to the motel. |
Day 10: Almost Ending (Driving back to Wellington)
Today was the day we bid farewell to the lake of Rotorua and Lake Taupo as our end of day destination will be back to Wellington. There was still a few attractions to cover before the long drive back south. A visit to the Wai-o-Tapu thermal wonderland and the famous Huka Falls. Again it was a drive north up towards Rotorua after our short stopover at the Huka Falls to see the thunderous falls.
After our hearty breakfast at one of the Taupo bistro, we drove to the Huka Falls car park which is located very close to the falls. A quick short walk easily brought us facing the powerful Huka Falls.
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| Skies opening up for the day at Taupo |
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| Morning calm of Lake Taupo |
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| Town centre where all the restaurants and bistros are behind this spot. |
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| Decorating bicycle that is fixed to the stand. |
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| Breakfast choices on the right. A fine morning. |
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| Good morning sunny Taupo |
Rotorua Huka Falls
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| On the bridge over the Waikato River |
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| Looking over the Huka Falls from the back |
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| The Huka Falls. |
After a 30 mins walk around, we headed back to the car for the 50 mins drive up north to the Wai-o-Tapu Thermal Wonderland. It is a touristy attraction visited by loads of tour bus tourists. Parking was surprising ample when we got there. Maybe it wasn't the peak season.
Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland
This could be my 2nd time visiting the place as it was more than 10 years ago when I visited the North Island with a tour group and recalled visited some thermal attraction. Couldn't remember if this was the place. Purchasing the tickets was a breeze, a short queue inside the gift shop and the entrance into the park was via the shop itself.
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| Driving from Taupo to Wai-O-Tapu (sunny day, for now only) |
I would say it is quite a big park with the main attractions all located within the same area. There are some other parts of the park that requires some further walking. If time is tight and you need to maximize your limited time of stay there, then just focus on the sites (the red path) nearer to the entrance (or exit) but of course if time permits, it would be good to walk the entire paths stretching all the way to the furthest part (yellow path via the orange path). If not if you are able to reach the Artist's Palette pool and the Champagne Pool, that is worth the visit. It is quite amazing how the pool can presents the assorted colors. There are quite a few of my favourites including the the ones mentioned and the lime coloured pool called the Devil's Bath. The color was so bright and captivating, it is like someone just pour tones of lime water colour into rock pool.
This geothermal park is suitable for families with children. The walk is easy except a few steps to climb when from the yellow path area which is like the lowland part of the park.But bare in mind that there is only one restroom facility near the entrance of the park beside the gift shop.
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| At the Weather Pool |
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| Either the Rainbow Crater or the Thunder Crater (all looks the same) |
Day 11: Short Day Exploring Wellington
Today is the day we bid farewell to New Zealand. We stayed the previous night on the outskirts of Wellington city at the area called Lower Hutt. Wanted to try somewhere different from our 1st night when we landed at Wellington. There is also the fact that not many hotels or motels in Wellington city offer free parking except motels. But at the Lower Hutt area, there are more choices and so we picked one that is near a big shopping mall called the Queensgate Shopping Mall. This is just located across the road from the hotel that we stayed which is the Quality Inn Angus. We checked-in late the night before but being a city hotel, the counter opens 24 x 7 and so there wasn't much anxiety is rushing to get there before some counter closure time. Well it was a long drive from Taupo to Lower Hutt.
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| Morning sunrise (view from our motel room at Lower Hutt) |
The plan for the day was to visit some of the places around Wellington before return the car near the airport for our flight home. After checkout from our hotel, we just walked across the road to the nearby Queensgate Shopping Mall for breakfast. We settle for some breakfast at a bistro inside the mall which was already opened. Did a little shopping among the shops there which was still opening up.
Our first stop was to the Wellington Wind Farm, located up on a hill. The drive up passed through many residental houses built on the slopes of the hill overlooking the city below. The road can be narrow at times and suitable for cars only and not buses, esp just before reaching the carpark area.
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| At the wind farm summit. |
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| Who is this? Little Poo Poo |
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| See how high I can jump. |
From the wind turbine peak, we drove down to the beach area of Owhiro Bay and parked our car at the Te Kopahou visitor centre. This is the place where all 2 wheel vehicle need to stop. Only 4 WD vehicles are allowed to proceed further along the coastline to visit the Red Rocks where it was said that there is where you can find the seal colony over there. We saw some folks walking along the long sandy path towards it. And also some turn back after some distance away.
For us, with our kid, we didn't want to try making the long walk in. Didn't want to be warm and sweaty for the long flight home.
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| At the Te Kopahou Reserve visitor centre |
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| The visitor centre |
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| The Red Rocks at the far distance at the extreme left end. |
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| Still at the Kopahou Reserve area |
From here, we drove along the coastal road and stopping at places where the view was stunning enough to get us out of the car. There wasnt much of a beach area since it is all rocks. But near the Owhiro Bay Parade road, we came to a big open area where many seagulls were and so we left the car and went over to the sandy beach area for our kid to feed the seagulls or birds there.
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| Feeding time |
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| Our daughter enjoying herself on the sandy beach chasing seagulls. |
We continued on the coast road, and settle for an earlier lunch at a quite noticeable cafe along Esplande Road. The cafe is called the "Beach House & Kiosk". The crowd was good and the locals seems enjoying their morning late breakfast and having a good chat chat time at the cafe. Nearby there are classes going on for scuba driving in the sea near the cafe. It looked the school is located in the same or next building as the cafe which helped to bring in the crowd.
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| Nice little sign board. |
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| Salt and Pepper, waiting by the sea for top up. |
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| Simple yet cozy interior. |
After a fulfilling meal, we continued on the Esplande Road, passed by the airport, seeing the planes land and take off. The road continued on from there getting less traffic and at times the road becomes very narrow and doesnt look like a road for commuters but for tourists to explore or the locals to go to for a weekend picnic or swim. It was a long but slow drive after we passed the airport, going to Moa Point, then up the coastal road to Seatoun, Karaka, and to the tip of the land mass of Wellington Habour called Point Halswell.
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| At the parking area near the Point Halswell Lighthouse |
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| Point Halswell Lighthouse |
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| Concrete walkway to the Halswell lighthouse. |
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| At the airport waiting for our flight home. |
And with this last stop marked the end of our holiday road trip in North Island New Zealand. In comparing with our previous road trip in South Island, I would prefer the south for reasons of much more scenic view of mountains and fjordlands. Glaciers and mountain ranges are more majestic and maybe because I like to hike and see nature being wild and rugged. North Island, bring the commercial centre for New Zealand and industrial centre, it tends to be more city like and even towns are much closer to each other. There is no worries of getting petrol for the car or food for the families while driving around in North Island. But it is the South Island that somehow makes driving more fun and more adventurous, Maybe we will be back in New Zealand in future, but i would say the next visit to New Zealand for us as a family will be the South Island.
Review of the Quality Inn Angus Motel (Lower Hutt)
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| Quality Inn Angus Motel/Hotel |
This is a well located accommodation at Lower Hutt which is near the Queensgate Shopping Mall. A good place to stock up on gifts for friends and families before their flight home from Wellington Airport. There are a lot of rooms in this hotel and its has facilities to run small scale events as well. It has a sizable restaurant but choices of food are easily accessible just across the road. The rooms a little tired but most importantly is clean. Rooms are spacious for the ones we stay, washroom was functional and spacious as well. By the time we checked at late in the evening, the car park was almost 80% occupied and we could tell this was a popular hotel in that area. A good place to base if one doesn't wish to stay within Wellington city. It is just a mere 10mins drive to Wellington city and makes not much difference if one is to stay here or Wellington.
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