New Zealand: North Island
Feb 2015Days 1–9 of our 2015 trip taking in Bay of Islands, Leigh and Hamilton, Hobbiton and Rotorua, Tongariro National Park and Wellington
Days 1–9 of our 2015 trip taking in Bay of Islands, Leigh and Hamilton, Hobbiton and Rotorua, Tongariro National Park and Wellington
On a moody Melbourne afternoon in January we boarded our plane bound for Auckland. I’d toured New Zealand with a friend in 2005 but my memories of it were a little… hazy, so it was a good time to hit the road again.
The next morning we picked up our campervan and headed a few hours north to the sunny seaside town of Paihia, kayaking around the bay and filling our faces with barbecued ribs before driving further up the coastline to Taupo Bay. After a relaxing night and refreshing morning swim in the waves, we began the drive back down the coast before parking up for the night at the scenic Uretiti Campsite, Bream Bay.
The coastal community of Leigh lies an hour and a half north-west of Auckland. There we met up with our fellow Scottish countryman Andrew and his girlfriend Hiromi, cooling down in the waves at Tawharanui Regional Park before snorkelling at Goat Island Marine Reserve the next afternoon. It’s a beautiful family-friendly little area to spend the weekend.
Our next destination was New Zealand’s fourth largest city, Hamilton, to catch up with our old friend Amy over mexican dinner and frozen margaritas. Never a bad combination.
The Hobbiton movie set near Matamata is the setting for The Shire in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. The original set was dismantled after filming wrapped on The Lord of the Rings trilogy in late 2000, but was rebuilt permanently prior to the filming of The Hobbit in 2011. I’ve never really been a big fantasy fan so it’s taken me a while to get into the films, but Hobbiton really drew me in. It’s so well made and meticulously maintained — even the artificial Taiwanese leaves wired to the giant fake oak tree above Bag End are periodically repainted to match the surrounding trees. If you’re a fan of either trilogy, I’d highly recommend it.
Later that day we headed south-east to Rotorua for a tour of Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland. The hot sulphur stench can get a bit overwhelming, but the myriad of multi-coloured bubbling lakes and pools more than make up for it.
After a quiet night at Waihaha Valley campsite we began the journey down the spine of the North Island towards the capital, Wellington. This route passed through the expansive flat plains and volcanic peaks of Tongariro National Park, the oldest of New Zealand’s 14 national parks. Plenty of “STOP THE CAR!” moments.
We spent the next couple of days exploring Wellington’s winding streets and elegant, Painted Ladies-style houses. We hadn’t realised just how small the population of the capital was—less than 400,000—but the condensed city centre means it’s restaurants, bars and coffee shops (check out Customs and Flight) are all walkable. Locals said the erratic weather keeps the population down, but if that’s the case I’ve no idea how our Scotland has ended up with more than 5 million people. Good pubs, probably.
Read part two