A Magical Mystery Tour.

On Saturday 31st March we went away for 5 days with Rob and Julie. We had visited South Island on our trip last year and were looking forward to seeing the southern part of North Island. After packing our bags and ensuring that all was safe here we drove over to Rob and Julie's and after putting everything in Rob's car we left on our tour.We drove down to Auckland and stayed on state highway 1 until we got to the Redout Road turnoff. The plan was not to travel on too many major roads and see more less touristy places. We climbed up for a while and stopped at the top of the hill to take in the view of Auckland from the South. We had a good view of the "City of Sails" and could see the sky tower and the CBD in the distance as well as the Hauraki Gulf. There were a lot of new houses being built up there but once we went down the hill the countryside changed into what reminded me of English parkland. There were many large houses set well back from the road surrounded by  lush paddocks and trees. It seemed to be a good area for horse breeding as we passed several studs as well as a lot of dairy farms. We passed through the small town of Clevedon and then approached the coast where we could see across to the Coromandel Peninsula and the town of Thames.We drove down the pacific coast highway, passing a lake which was home to many black swans, along a stretch of coast known as the seabird coast to Kaiaua Bay where we stopped to admire the sceenery. The beach was made entirely of shells and just further down the beach there were lots of camper vans apparently belonging to bird watchers. http://travelingnewzealand.blogspot.co.nz/2010/12/seabird-coast.html

       

                                                          Lunch time.

We stopped for lunch at the Bay View Hotel in Kaiaua formerly called the Last Resort. A huge pub with a nice garden where we had our lunch and a beer along with a crowd of motorbikers. The pub itself appears to have been renovated many years ago and has a very art deco look. There were many photos on the walls of times gone by in this rural part of the country. One of them was of a meet of the local hunt taken, I suspect back in the 1950's.
Back on the road again and we drove through Miranda and shortly afterwards left the coast and drove across the Hauraki plains http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hauraki_Plains. It was the first time, since we left Les Landes, that we had seen such an expanse of flat lands. We drove through the small town of Tahuma and by about 4pm we reached our destination for the day of Te Aroha.http://tearohanz.co.nz/index.
We booked in at the Te Aroha motel and after settling in went for a stroll around the domain.
"Pick up a guide from i-SITE and stroll around the charming Edwardian Domain. Walk back in time to the late nineteenth century when the medical benefits from bathing, as well as drinking the waters from geothermal springs were highly regarded. The route shown is a suggested walk and has information on key buildings and facilities in the Domain, the most prominent of which is the old Cadman bath house. The individual baths and porcelain toilets were of a very high quality and reflected the level of comfort provided in the building. Today this grand old bath house is home to the Museum."
Sadly the museum was not open but the beautifully restored Edwardian buildings were magnificent. From the terrace of the museum we looked down onto 3 well kept bowling greens and the town and to the side of us was a bandstand. Then we came across a warm spring running into a footbath so took the time to sit there and soak our feet for a while. We then went up the hill to the geyser but we were out of luck and didn't see it "performing" although we could hear it gurgling away. Julie and I booked a session at the mineral spa.The water was very warm and incredibly soft and we both felt invigorated by the time our half hour was up.

                                                                  Te Aroha

We had our evening meal, a huge roast dinner, at the pub over the road before strolling up the main street of this beautiful little town.

Sunday was Rob's birthday, the first time for many a year that we had spent it together. We had breakfast sitting high above the town in the Domain Cottage cafe before leaving for the next leg of our trip. I shall remember our trip to this jewel of a town for the rest of my life, a very special place.
We left at 10am and were once again in good grazing country with lots of horses and dairy cattle in the fields. We passed through the small town of Matamata and at one point as I was looking out of the side window I felt Rob braking violently. I looked out of the windscreen and saw a large hawk flying off to the side of the car and another one missing the windscreen by a hairs breadth and soaring away over the car. A close shave! I wanted to see Rotorua and was warned that after Te Aroha that we would find it very commercial and touristy which it was. Because of the shortage of time we weren't able to see a lot of the town but we did visit the Government Gardens which house the old bath house a truly magnificent building which is now the town museum.
http://www.newzealand.com/int/article/government-gardens/

                                                            Rotorua

                                                   Old Bath House at Rotorua

                                                       Geyser at Rotorua

                                                        Old Bath House at Rotorua

It's quite awe inspiring to see the hot steam coming from the geysers and makes one aware of the power beneath our feet.

                                                            Kerosene Creek

                                                           Bathing Beauties!

We left Rotorua and made a stop at Kerosene Creek which lies in the bush about 6kms along a gravel road. It's well known locally but is well off the tourist track. Despite it's name it is a magical place - a hot spring (40FC) running down the river bed with several small waterfalls. There were about 20 or so people lying in the creek as we walked along and after a while Julie and I sneaked into the bush to change into our cossies. The "boys" weren't interested in partaking of the waters but we were eager to give it a try. The river bed was quite rocky but we managed to get in and immerse ourselves in the beautiful warm, clear water. We spent half an hour or so indulging ourselves before getting out, drying and changing before hitting the road again.
We drove the 80 kms to Lake Taupo passing through the Thermal Area and  Golden Springs passing many huge dairy farms. Just 10 minutes or so before we arrived at the lake we visited Huka Falls. The Huka Falls are the largest falls on the Waikato River. They are the most visited natural attraction in New Zealand!

                                                                  Huka Falls

At the Huka Falls, the Waikato River which is normally 100m wide, is squeezed through a 20 metre wide gorge and over a 20m drop.
Every second up to 220,000 litres of water gushes through the gorge and shoots out over 8 metres beyond to create a beautful blue/green pool.The name Huka is the Maori word for 'foam', which is appropriate as the falling water and rapids certainly resembles foam, especially under flooding conditions.The Waikato River, normally up to 100 metres wide, abruptly narrows to just 15 metres as it crosses a hard volcanic ledge. This of course causes a huge volume of water to collide together, forming a spectacular visual feast of powerful falls and rapids.
Around 220,000 litres per second of pours over the cliff face, and then rushes under a pedestrian bridge (great photo opportunity here!) The water then bursts out of its rapids, over the 11 metre falls, and back into the Waikato River. The Waikato river is one of New Zealand's longest rivers and it drains Lake Taupo - the largest freshwater lake in all of Australasia.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Taupo

                                                            Lake Taupo

We strolled along the shore of the lake and gathered pumice and marvelled at the vast area of water before leaving for the last leg of the day. We drove further that we had intended but eventually stopped in the small town of Taumaruni http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taumarunui The town was formed around the railway and is now a centre of agriculture in the area. It doesn't have a lot of charm but is notable for being either the end or the beginning of the "Forgotten World Highway". We found a motel, not the best but acceptable and then had a good meal at a Thai restaurant. I had the most amazing starter, prawns and mushrooms in cocnut milk, a real taste sensation. Afterwards N and I partook of a spa bath at the motel before we crashed out for the night.

                                                                    Wangamamoma pub

                                                     Views of the Forgotten World Highway

                                                  First sight of Mount Taranaki
On Monday we had an early start, 8.15, to drive the Forgotten World Highway. Shortly after we left Taumarunui Rob noticed a sign saying no petrol for 150 kms so he quickly and thankfully turned back to fill up the car. I don't know how to describe the next 150 kms of stunning scenery and amazing views. It was a once in a lifetime experience driving this road which took us through an ever changing landscape and over 4 saddles the last one of which gave us our first view of Mount Taranaki. We stopped for brunch at the Wangamamoma pub which was the only hint of civilisation on our route. Please take time to view this video <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/PbU4O-s2hKE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> which will give you some idea of the scenery and look at this link http://www.taranaki.info/visit/theme.php/page/forgotten-world-highway to give you more information about this memorable drive. Rob loved driving the road and for him it will be a lifetime memory of a wonderful 150kms.

                                                           Glockenspiel at Stratford.

We ended the drive at the small town of Stratford where we stopped to have a snack and a look at the town which is named after the famous William with streets being named after his characters, Bizarrely it houses New Zealands only glockenspielclock tower which plays the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet three times a day. The spoken words are provided via external loudspeakers and we were lucky enough to hear and see it "perform" at 1pm!
We had had our first view of Mount Taranaki(or Mount Egmont) as we drove down the road to Stratford and it was now to be in view (unless shrouded in the clouds) for the next couple of days. The 2518-metre-high mountain is one of the most symmetrical volcanic cones in the world. There is a secondary cone, Fanthams Peak (Maori Panitahi), 1,966 metres (6,450 ft), on the south side.
Because of its resemblance to Mount Fuji Taranaki provided the backdrop for the movie The Last Samurai.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Taranaki
It is certainly an  imposing sight, made more so by the fact that the surrounding land is relatively flat. We drove through Eltham and on to Hawera where we stopped for a wander around the small but busy town.http://www.windwand.co.nz/hawera.htm Hawera is also home to the largest dairy factory complex in the world, "Whareroa",which has its own gas-fired powerplant. The complex is owned by Fonterra http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fonterra, the company is responsible for approximately 30% of the world's dairy exports and with revenue exceeding NZ$19.87 billion, is New Zealand's largest company.
We than drove  onto Surf Highway 45 and stopped for a walk on the beach at Ohawe, a large windswept beach. There was lots of interesting looking driftwood lying on the shore but sadly we had to resist the temptation to collect any due to lack of space in the car! Then it was time to drive a short way on the surf highway to the home of Rhonda, Julie's cousin where we were staying for 2 nights. We had met Rhonda and her 2 daughters Alesha and Sasha last year when they had visited Julie whilst we were here. It was good to see them all again and to meet Rhonda's mother Wendy. Crystel, the older daughter is at boarding school so we have not been able to meet her. Rhonda lives and works (very hard) on a dairy farm milking and caring for the herd. There is an amazing view from the kitchen sink of Mount Taranaki who was hiding his head in the clouds the next morning.

On Tuesday morning we drove into New Plymouth where we had booked a ride out on a charter boat. There was a very good cafe by the harbour where we had a good breakfast before embarking on our boat. Nigel decided to stay on land after a copious breakfast of pancakes, berries and maple syrup as he wasn't sure that it would stay down if he went to sea! Caddies Charters is famous in the area as he runs trips out to his crayfish pots on a "retired" English lifeboat. The boat was built in Cowes IOW before serving as lifeboat in Bridlington on the Yorkshire coast, a place that I know well. The boat was then brought over to Christchursh where it put in several more years service before Caddy bought it. Sadly the tide wasn't high enough to launch it from the shed so we had to board from the jetty. We had a good cruise out of the harbour and past the breakwater into the open sea and around the Sugar Loaf Islands, home to many seals. We were out of luck with the crayfish as all three pots were empty. Caddy was a character, very entertaining, the hour flew by and we were back on dry land.

We then visited Pukekura Park in the centre of the city, one of the premier botanical gardens of NZ. A beautiful place to wander around and admire all the flowers and trees. Then on into the city centre before leaving again for our second night with Rhonda and family.
Wednesday was a long day, we were driving back home as Rob wanted to be back before Thursday and the Easter traffic out of Auckland. We drove up the west coast to Awakino then headed inland and up to Kumi,Pirongia,Whatawata, Taupiri,Meremere,Pokeno and up through Auckland and home. A long day and we did stop several times but difficult now to remember where. Changing scenery all the way from the blustery west coast, volcanic landscape and back into dairy country before the suburbs of Auckland were upon us.
So many memorable occasions, such spectacular scenery, it really was a magical, mystery tour thanks to Julie our route planner and Rob who drove so well. Our best stop had to be Te Aroha, such a beautiful, well preserved piece of history. Memorable too were the huge herds of dairy cows some of Jersy cattle. Best drive was the Forgotten World Highway and best ever out of this world experience had to be submerging myself in Kerosene Creek! I can't pick out the best bit of scenery, there was so much of it and it was so varied that it would be impossible to do so. And lastly a big thankyou to the weather which was perfect for travelling and sightseeing, not too hot, not too cold and not raining!
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