New Zealand - North Island
Walking on a chilly day in Tongariro
Lower Tama Lake
Lake Taupo
Our Ride
New Zealand Feed
Waitomo, Coromandel and Northlands
We drove to Waitomo where we had booked to do a Black Water Rafting trip with ‘The Legendary Black Water Rafting Co.’ After kitting up in some uncomfortable and soggy wetsuits, we took a minibus to the Ruakuri cave where we descended via the ‘wet entrance’. It was quite good fun, although I think a little bit less adventurous than Pete was hoping for! We jumped off quite a few waterfalls underground and cruised along the underwater passages on our tubes (big rubber rings) viewing the glow worms which live up on the roofs of the passages. After the trip we had a much needed hot shower and soup and bagels! It was quite good fun, although rather pricey, considering we can cave for free at home!
Kaikoura and Blenheim
We headed north from Lake Ianthe then across to the east coast via Arthur’s Pass. We stopped off there to do a short walk to the Devil’s Punchbowl waterfall.
On the east coast we headed towards Hanmer Springs, stopping overnight just south of it. The next day we went into the town and spent a couple of hours enjoying the hot geothermal waters. The pools ranged in temperature, from 38 degrees (hot) to 41 degrees (too hot!). The hotter ones were also unfiltered so smelt a bit sulphurous.
Queenstown, Wanaka and Fox Glacier
We headed up to Queenstown for our Nevis Arc Swing, checked in for that and then got the bus to the canyon site. They also do the Nevis Bungy there, but we decided to go for the swing as it was cheaper for us both! It’s also the highest swing in the world, and you freefall 70m before swinging across the canyon.
Milford and Doubtful Sounds
After we left Queenstown we headed down to Te Anau which is the base in Fiordland for visiting the Fjords in the area (which they call “Sounds”). We went for a walk around Lake Te Anau then stayed in a proper campsite there, charged things up and had a shower (luxury!).
The following day we drove to Manipouri to catch our Doubtful Sound cruise. Doubtful is a little inaccessible - you take a boat across Lake Manipouri, which is in itself pretty impressive and takes about 45 minutes. That docks at the West Arm of the lake, where the hydroelectric power station is. From there a coach takes you over the Wilmot Pass road which was constructed for the power station and goes to Deep Cove on the sound.
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