So the title is a bit dramatic, it wasn't technically the very last adventure we undertook while in New Zealand, but it was the last before we transformed into dairy farmers.
It started with a bit of a wake up call. In the summer, we had been fortunate enough to have been on the South Island, so escaped the effects of Cyclone Gabrielle. We kept up with the news, and we felt for the people affected, but as our day to day carried on perfectly normal the reality didn't really sink in. You would have thought that we'd be prepared for the deadliest storm to hit NZ since 1968 to have left some after effects, but ignorantly, we just hadn't thought about it at all. Just north of Napier we were soon shown the error of that thinking.
As we drove along, looking at the piles of debris that had been washed down the mountains into former farmland, we were shocked. As we passed over newly built temporary mountain bridges, looking over at the old bridge which now extends into nothingness, we were shocked. When confronted with piles of rubble on the sides of the road, two lane roads merging into one where part of the route is now at the bottom of the mountain, we were shocked. But never once did we consider that the nearby campsite we were traveling towards might also have damage and not be open, silly really. So it was closed and so was the next, on we traveled until we arrived at Pilot Hill, Wairoa - a rather sketchy campsite that was littered with driftwood and beer cans.
The next campsites at Oraka and Oputama were much better, good places for us to hide away from the bad weather and they had short walks for us to explore when the sun did come out. From Oputama, we walked down the old disused railway line that hugged the coastline. It was surprisingly good for animal spotting, with some shags roosting in a tree, wild goats spying on us from the top of the cliff we walked under, and one lazy seal that we were convinced had died 'til it got too close and swam off.
When we, as we always did, eventually run out of supplies we headed to the nearest town; which in this case was Gisbourne. I don't know if it's just because of the grey skies that plagued us while we visited, but we both found Gisbourne to be a dull town with nothing going for it. We stayed for just the one night and that's because we couldn't decide on what to do next. Initially, we were planning to follow the shore and continue exploring along the more rural roads, but with the risk of shut campsites and hours of driving in horrid windy conditions would it be really worth it? In the end we decided it wasn't and headed up to Matawai Store campsite the next day.
From there we hopped from beach camp to beach camp, first visiting the beautiful Te Ahiaua reserve before checking out the free camping at Ohope. We only spent a single night at each, just enough time for one afternoon of fishing and one evening stroll along the beach to capture the sunset before moving on.
Then we came across the friendliest campsite we'd visited, the D.O.C campsite at Matata. It was fancier than what we'd become used to, a coded gate barred the entry and the toilets flushed. It was mainly just a long field of manicured grass, an ablutions block sat in the middle, and dotted trees provided shade. A small hill separated the camp from the beach, the going was easy when leaving but the sand had eroded away on the other side, leaving us to scramble our way up as our feet got buried in sand. We spent four days here, fishing, chatting to the camp guests and exploring the area. Maybe it was because the camp guests were mainly New Zealanders who often spent their summers here, but everyone seemed extra friendly, happy to share their day's catch and to give us some local food. It was nice contrast to everywhere else we'd been, where people would talk in the kitchens if at all, and rarely anywhere else.
When we eventually left Matata we decided to head inland for a change, specifically towards Rotorua, a town marketed as New Zealands "geothermal wonderland". In our first few weeks in New Zealand - long before we'd managed to get our selves our own transport - we were in a taxi and unfortunately for us our driver was bigoted. When we were talking about the spots we wanted to visit and we mentioned Rotorua, she went on a diatribe about how the Rotorua was rundown, and unsafe, and dangerous, a place that should be avoided at all costs, and it was all because of its inhabitants... who a high percentage of are Maori. This foolishly put us off visiting right away, not because we believed the frankly racist rubbish she was spouting, but because she kind of tainted the adventure of visiting for us.
We smelled Rotorua well before we could even see it, the sulphurous air from the many bubbling hot springs that surround the area, wafts a slightly eggy steam over the farmland for miles. By the time we actually arrived we started to go nose blind, unless we wandered through a particularly potent patch. The free camp in town where we parked up happened to sit in one of these patches, and the smell just wasn't going away - we were happy to park there for the day, but we also picked a camp outside of town for the night just to give our noses a break.
The town is dotted with parks, and the parks themselves are dotted with hot springs, places where boiling water pushes its way through the earth to create steaming ponds deviod of the ducks that you would usually see on them. These areas are roped off, just incase some idiot ignores the signs and thinks boiling means warm. There are places where the water has been diverted and cooled to a comfortable temperature to bathe in. Mostly, you have to pay for the luxury for a dip in these hotsprings but in the middle of Kuirau Park there is a public footbath. When we arrived there were quite a few people already dipping their toes in the water, protected from the drizzle by pergolas decorated with Maori motifs. The slightly murky water was on the hot side of warm, our feet coming out a slightly scalded pink at the end but ever so soft. We hadn't, of course, planned far ahead enough to think of bringing a towel, so after a quick shake off we stuck our feet into our now slightly soggy socks and continued our wander.
We wouldn't leave the Rotorua area without a proper visit to some hotsprings for a bathe, but first we headed to Lake Okareka to park up for the night and to go for a little walk. The route we chose was only 45 minutes in each direction, skirting round the lakes edge and bringing us to the nearby Boyes beach. Thankfully, the ever present rain we'd been recently plagued by managed to hold off enough that we only got a little wet instead of soaking.
The next morning, however, when we arrived at Rainbow Mountain for a proper 3 hour hike it was dry but unfortunately overcast. The summit track we followed led us through rare and regenerating plants - native to geothermal areas, we passed by stunning blue lakes that sit in volcanic craters, and over rainbow coloured rock from which steam seeps thorough. Although Ben managed to make it all the way to the top, I gave up on the last 15 minutes of the hike, the recent torrential rain making the track far too slippery for me to be comfortable on. The views I was left with were stunning, just not quite as impressive as the 360 views over the landscape that Ben was rewarded with.
After trudging back down the dormant volcano we were feeling pretty tired, luckily for us we'd already booked our campsite for the night and it was only 20 minutes away. What was even better was the hot springs that the campsite centered around, all included with the camp fees for the night. Waikite Valley campsite was fairly expensive as campsites go at $60 a night, but when you consider that most of the hot springs around Rotarua would cost that or more just for one persons admission, it was a steal.
When we arrived it was raining, and I mean bucketing it down, could hardly see where we were going raining - but that didn't stop us. As soon as we were checked in and we got the van parked up in it's home for the night, we stripped down to our swimmers and tried out the pools. The water that fills their 5 pools come from the nearby Te Manaroa boiling Spring, it is fed through a series of pipes until it is cooled to a managable 30 - 41 degrees celcius. Despite the weather it was pretty crowded when we first arrived, tourists and locals all mingling together, soaking in the steamy water and floating around. Once we were sufficiently prunish, we got out for the day, heading back to the van for an internet free evening of reading while the rain poured down around us.
The next morning before we headed off we made use of the pools again, in the morning from 6am till 10am it's campers only and when we got out there at 7 we had the place all to ourselves. Such a relaxing way to start the morning, watching the steam from the hotsprings dispersing over the surrounding farmland and the birds darting around, all while soaking in the perfectly hot water. Although it was pretty idyllic we couldnt stay forever, so we dried outselves off and hopped in the Van to drive to our next destination.
Our next campsite wasn't nearly as luxurious but Trout Pool Road freecamp was next to a 1 hour walk. The walk took us through a lush rainforset, our route meandering to and fro following the path of a rushing river far below. It was gorgeous, the palm trees high above leaving patterned shade along our way, the birds flitting to and fro and the Okere waterfall at the end, rushing down the river creating white foam.
From here we bounced from campsite to campsite, none of them were especially special but all unquie in their own ways. Maketu, was dreary but Spoonbills (a most ridiculous looking bird) waded through the mudflats voraciously eating. Huharua was next to a park with avocado and orange trees where we could forage, and a rather dangerous coastline that Ben almost drowned in when he was out fishing when a hailstorm swept in. Omokaroa was nearby to a passable pizza place and Pahoi Domain had friendly van neighbours who shared their catch when we were less than succesful. Our last two stops before walk where at Waihi beach, where we went on several walks along the beach and surrounding headlands and Athenree, which had a small but enjoyable hot spring.
None of those places were particularly picked for a reason, we just had some time to kill before we started work and didn't want to wander too far. It didn't help that it rained almost constantly, maybe we would have fitted more in if the weather wasn't so rubbish - knowing that we'd be working out in the elements for the next three months, we wanted to grab as much time relaxing in the van as possible! So our last few weeks flew by and before we knew it, it was time to drive the Tahuna and get settled into life as farmers.
Trip date: June 2023
Why not check out this Video of our walk to Okere Falls!
Trip Maps:
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