Roadtrip- Campervan styles

Oct 2nd-9th: Time for a wwoofing break to get out and see what we could see of this beautiful North Island. With Sandie, Jess, and fruitvans friend Vanessa from Belgium at the wheel, a team of 2 camper vans arrived in Cambridge to collect  Lyndsey and Amanda from the farm. Reunited again!

Day 1: From Cambridge we headed a few hours south to Taupo for the night, walked around a largely deserted downtown, had an Indian supper, and camped out in the vans in the parking lot of a hostel. Turns out we were far too early in the season for campersleeping- it was freeezing outside!

Day 2: We had a chilly breakfast overlooking the lake and snowy mountains in the distance, and made a quick stop at a Gypsy Fair- how fitting! After passing many a pastureland full of sheep, our first touristy stop was the thermal springs Orakei Korako. We had to take a short boat ride across the river to walk amongst features like the 'Artists Palette', 'Devil's Throat', 'Diamond Geyser', 'Hochstetter Cauldron', and 'Aladdin's Cave'. Add on some boiling mud, a mineral waters that can polish silver jewelery and you've got a pretty dynamite place!   North to Rotorua, hotspring capital of NZ, we skirted outside the downtown to see the Buried Village, a museum and archaeological site telling about the volcanic explosion of Mt. Turangi that buried the English/Maori settlement, Te Wairoa, as well as 5 other Maori villages in 1863. From Rotorua we drove to the west coast, parking it in a surfing town called Raglan. 

Day 3: From a list at the info centre of, 'Things to do in Raglan', Sandie made the excellent selection to choose to visit a little-visited site called Te Toto Gorge Scenic Reserve. The ocean-side road turned inland and UP, pavement gave way to gravel, and signs marked only with an '!' warned of obstacles ahead. Rounding a bend we were met by a gorgeous grassy meadow high on cliffs beside the ocean. Excellect photoshoot location! Not far outside Raglan our mini-convoy got seperated through a gas station stopoff-mixup, and so with 2 in one van and 3 in the other, and only 1 cell phone between the 5 of us (with the 2 people having said number all being in the same van as the phone) we resigned ourselves to continue north to the other side of Auckland to find each other at Orewa springs. After some backtracking and more confusion, fate intervened and we happened to pass each other driving down the street! Crazy times on the road we say!         That night brought us to the quaint town of Warkworth, where we chose to treat ourselves to a proper sleep at a motel. We earned it! Pizza, beer and a warm bed can only lead to good things ahead.

Day 4: Our lovely sleep had us ready for a leisurely day to enjoy stopoffs at Mangawai Heads for views of the Hen and Chicken Islands, and nice long break at Langs Beach. One of the things on Lyndsey's to-do list was to see a winery, and so just outside Whangarei we turned off into Longview Estate Winery, for a $5 wine tasting :) NZ wines- 2 thumbs up! After a frolic in the park and a visit to an internet cafe, we stayed in Whangarei in the parking lot of the info centre- complete with showers and 24hr toilets :)  

Day 5: Early rise and coffees to fuel the day, our first stop was the Kiwi house and Bird Sanctuary. Finally we get to see a real kiwibird!  We got a short lesson about them before heading in- Fun Facts: Kiwis lay the biggest eggs of any bird in the world (going by weight ratios), and the chicks hatch fully feathered and ready to go!  Inside they had a close to genuine nocturnal environment, where we were lucky to see the little big-bummed kiwi foraging around for bugs. Very cute!  Like so many other birds here, the kiwi is endangered, and this particular one was bred in captivity. We also visited a bird sanctuary next door, where sick or injured Tuis, Pukekos, Petrals, Mawpaws and other birds were being rehabilitated to be re-released into the wild.   Before leaving Whangarei we stopped to see the Abbey Caves and clambered over some crazy rocks in the forest- rushing back to the vans early thanks to more than a few warnings about break-ins there.  Onwards to Paihia for another sleep in the vans at a nice hostel, complete with hottub and swimming pool!

6: Paihia is a small beach town, beautiful, and nice and quiet this time of year.   Sunny weather called- time for some biking! Lyndsey and Amanda headed out for ride to see the Waitangi Treaty Grounds/museum where Maori cheifs and the British crown signed the treaty in 1840, founding New Zealand as we know it. Sandie, Jess and Vanessa headed out on a bike ride through some trails along the creek, and we all met up later to drive on to Kaitaia. North north north! There isn't much to this town, so we stopped on the outskirts at the Ohaka Motel. The hotel was pretty much right out of the 60s, with plush red carpet and wood panelling in the restaurant- but the food was great and the beer cheap :) 

7: Big day today! Being the big tourists we are, we joined the Sand Safari bus tour to take us the last leg of our trip heading to the 'Top' of NZ. We visited the 'Gum Diggers Museum' to learn about the ancient buried Kauri trees there that were dug up to extract sap, or 'gum', used for lanolium and furniture polishes back in the day. Stopped for the best ice cream in the northland, before finally arriving at Cape Reinga! There were gorgeous views all around, from the forest park reserve in the south and east, the crashing waves over the cliffs below, north over a blue sea where the Tasman and Pacific collide, and west down 90 mile beach.  After a quick lunch it was on to the sanddunes, where the driver pulled our some sleds and had us give it whirl! It was worth the hard climb up the sand, and we all had a few great runs, complete with mouthfulls of sand.   We enjoyed the view all the way back to Kaitaia, as the bus drove us the entire length of 90 Mile Beach, right across the sand. We saw only a few people collecting shellfish, a lone seal, and the rusted remains of a car that got itself stuck in the sand years ago.  Wicked day!

Day 8: After a few pitstops to see some 2000 yr old, enormous Kauri trees along the way, and 4 hrs of driving our hectic week came to an end. It was back to Auckland to return the vans and move on. A sad night with Lyndsey leaving us the next day- but we enjoyed our last visit the best we could with a devilish dinner at 'Hell Pizza', and some beers out at the pub.    Off to the airport once more- so glad to have had such a fantastic adventure with ya Lyndsey!  Wind-up kiwis 4 life ;)    Great times, great company- campervan roadtrips are the way to go.