Wow what a day the 19th April was. A beautiful sunny morning and indeed a sunny day throughout as we headed back to the Tongario National Park. Whakapapa village is our starting point which is where the skiers head for in the winter. A quick check at the info centre tells us that the chairlifts on Mount Ruapehu are open, so it’s a 6 km drive up the mountain.

The chairlift is two separate rides that takes you up to 2,020m and the highest retail cafe in New Zealand. So, after a couple of Flat Whites and a shared cookie, we start our hike which after an hour or so takes us up to 2,300m over the rocks, streams and boulders. Fantastic views from the top of Mount Ngauruhoe, Tongario and Lake Taupo. The final stages of the climb we scrambled up with a Dutch family, which was nice.

Descent was through the clouds which came in whilst we were at the top and the temperature dropped quite considerably. But coming down was quicker than going up and after a couple more chairlifts rides, it was hot soup back in the van. A brilliant experience!

We drove for a couple of hours back to Lake Taupo so as we could drive down the east side of the island tomorrow towards Wellington.

Wednesday dawns yet another beautiful day, blue sky and sunshine as we head out for a day of driving 331 kms to Masterton. The trip takes in even more fabulous Waterfalls, this time the dual waterfalls at Waipunga.

We stop off at Napier which is a lovely Art Deco inspired town. Rebuilt after the 1931 Earthquake it looks gorgeous in the autumn sunshine. The afternoon is spent driving without any really spectacular views and we get to Masterton for 5.30pm which is just right as it gets dark by 6.30pm

Wellington is our destination for Thursday. We have a spectacular drive across the 13.7km Rimutaka Hill Road which, climbs and descends the mountain between Featherstone and Wellington. We found a campsite in Lower Hutt which was a bus ride into the city, so we were on the city pavement just after 2pm.

The buzz is immediate in the bustle of the city streets. The first thing we do is head for Mount Victoria and a challenging walk up to the summit lookout. Being experienced mountaineers we rose to the challenge and were rewarded with the amazing 360 degree view of the city and harbour.

The summit of Mount Victoria is also an ace lookout spot to watch aircraft approaching and landing / taking off from Wellington Airport.

We got the bus down the mountain and once back in city headed for Te Papa the museum of New Zealand. A fabulous exhibition telling the story of Gallipoli. Put together with the help of the Weta Workshop (of LOTR fame) in creating models of eight New Zealanders who served in the campaign and whose stories the exhibition tells.

The exceptional element of these models is that they are 2.4 times human size and the the detail is immaculate in models. A tremendous example of keeping these important stories alive.

A walk along the harbour to the parliament building, around 5pm sees everyone coming out of their offices and heading home. Dinner in a pub was excellent and was reminiscent of London pub life after a day in the office! 

Unfortunately, not enough time for a second day in city and we set off bound for New Plymouth on Friday. This is going back up the Island on the west coast. The day is total driving with a couple of coffee shops. No decent views to gaze upon, just the road.

We camp the night in Stratford but the weather has closed in with heavy cloud and rain so no sign of Mount Taranaki.

Saturday morning, still cloudy so there will be now views of Mount Taranaki on this trip, even though by the time we get to New Plymouth, the sun is shining, the cloud stays stubbornly over the mountains.

New Plymouth is a small city and has a sleepy vibe about it this autumn Saturday morning, it’s all about reading the papers over a cup of coffee. The coastal pathway is lovely as is the Pukekura Park with it’s Waterfall. A gleaming city park.

It’s then a 190km drive to our overnight stop at Waitomo. A stop mid-way at the 3 Sisters beach which was our last taste of NZ summer. The sun was out, blue sky and the temperature reaching 30 degrees in the cove. So it is lunch sitting on the camping chairs in the sunshine!

Cloud cover came in for the latter stages of the journey and by the time we get to Waitomo the rain is starting to fall. After checking into the camp site, we head straight for the world famous caves just 4km up the road.

We take the Glow Worm tour underground which is just amazing, not only from the fact that you are in cave and seeing what is under the earth but the ceilings of these caves are layered with the bright glow of the glow worms. You pass under the lights in a boat, in silence. Awesome.

The campsite is the busiest we have seen on this trip, there is at least a dozen vans in attendance. Tonight on Anzac weekend there is a big rugby union ‘Super Rugby’ match; (Wellington) Hurricanes v The Chiefs (Waitomo/New Plymouth based) so we headed over the road to the bar and watched the match. 27-28 in favour of the Chiefs at full time, this was Kiwi classic clash.

Sunday is our last day in the van (yes, we are still talking to each other) and it’s another journey taking us back to Auckland. Before we left Waitomo we headed for our last bush walk at Ruakuri which although short, takes us through natural caves in the bush. It’s a wet day but, you stay pretty dry under the canopy of the forest. 

We hit the road for a visit to Cambridge, which is a leafy town and the centre of New Zealand Cycling. A coffee stop and look around. It’s still a soggy Sunday. 

Just thirty minutes down the road and we are in the big city of Hamilton. Nowhere opens up to park the van and the place looks pretty quiet so, we drive on to our final overnight stop in Ramarama just 30 minutes short of Aukland with time to sort out the van. 

ANZAC day and we are back in Auckland after our camper van adventures. Time for a sunshine afternoon in Aukland, which is a fairly quiet place today. So sad to bid farewell to New Zealand as we were Australia. This is a beautiful country, friendly people and two islands not dissimilar to the UK just, on the other side of the world.

Next we head for a rest week in Fiji 🙂 

Pete & Jules