New Zealand North Island March 1 - March 8

The morning of the ferry crossing it started raining and by the time we reached the North Island to pick up the RV, it was coming down pretty heavy. Pacific Horizon had a cab pick us up at the ferry and take us to their location so we could sign the paperwork and get an overview of how the van worked. By the time we left there it was probably about 7:30 at night and still raining. The best advice the guy told us is that it was about a one hour ride to the first mountain pass and he would probably stop before that so we weren't doing the first pass at night. Sounded smart. The one thing we figured out to late, is that there are towns on the map that you never know you are actually going thru them (not so much as a gas station) so before we knew it, there we were on the mountain pass. Driving at night, in the pouring rain over a pass was quite an introduction to driving the RV! Once we got over the pass we actually drove for a short distance and then pulled over and slept right on the side of the road. It's all good!

The next day we drove to Cape Kidnappers on Hawkes Bay which is an area famous as a wine producing area in New Zealand. We stopped at a winery the next day but we weren't impressed (maybe it was because it was 10:30 in the morning) and drove thru Napier, the famous Art Deco town which is nothing more than a South Beach, Miami, Florida wanna be and continued on to Lake Taupo. North of Lake Taupo is a place we were told to go to by a guy from the Netherlands, who currently lives on the North Island, that we hiked with on the Milford track.

He told us about a place called Kerosene Creek, which is a stream with pools and a small waterfall fed from a thermal spring. The water was like a hot bath, really cool. Around the waterfall was like a jacuzzi!That night we parked the van at the riverside just before Huka falls and ate Chinese take out that we had picked up in town. You should have seen Tom trying to negotiate for extra noodles and soy sauce.

Between Lake Taupo and Rotorua, which is a large thermal region with geysers, hot springs, spas and other tourist traps, there are many places to stop and view the geysers. After Kerosene Creek, we decided we had seen the best and it couldn't get any better, so after walking around Rotorua, we headed out and started towards the Coromondel Peninsula via the Bay of Plenty.That night we stayed at Pios Beach, a small cove on the Bay right next to the inlet from the Tasman. So far, we haven't been bowled over by the North Coast. Nice but not as dramatic as the South Island.

But then we hit the Coromandel Peninsula and it blew us away. You drive around the coast of the peninsula with breathtaking beaches on the East coast, rugged rocky beaches on the west coast with the Coromandel Forrest Park in the middle. It is an intense drive with long, steep, narrow hilly winding roads and both nights we were there, we parked the RV right on great beaches.

The first was Cooks Bay which is close to another wonderful beach called Hahei. Right past Hahei is where you start the hike to Cathedral Cove, which is an absolutely mystical place.











This is all in the vicinity of a beach called Hotwater Beach which is one of those things you have to see to believe. Everyone says to go there and what a mistake other than for comic relief. The lore is a thermal spring runs under the beach. Some ingenious person figured they could charge you $4 for a shovel so you could dig a hole in the sand at low tide and stick your buns in it. To our amazement, there were hundreds of people on the beach, all ages and sizes, doing this. Quite a site.
The next night we found a virtually deserted spot on Otama beach at the northeast point of the peninsula. We definitely did not want to leave that spot or the entire peninsula but we were on our way to Auckland. Even though we had not done well so far in big towns or cities, we were looking forward to spending the weekend there. We started towards the big city and spent the night at RV CO-OP City south in the Firth of Thames. After driving all day we were desperate to find a place to park the RV and ended up in Kaiaua which is a long, shelled strip of beach along the bay which is populated by locals in their RV's because they all fish for flounder there. They motor out in the bay, drop their nets, come back and have a few cocktails. The next morning they motor back out and pick up their nets with, hopefully, a few fish for dinner that night. We talked to one couple who live in Auckland and go there every other week for this ritual.


We arrived in Auckland, the self proclaimed city of sales, on a beautiful sunny day and walked along the wharf. The Auckland International Boat Shoe was going on and there were some beauties filling the harbor. We toured the city, watched someone jump off the skytower and drove out to Mission Bay, which is a great section right outside of town. After walking the beach, we stopped for a quick one at the Belguimxxxx and then got back in the RV and drove over the Harbor bridge to check out Devenport, a quaint little town at the end of the peninsula. Auckland was beautiful and has a lot going for it in terms of the sights, the beaches the harbor but after those things it was still a big city to us so we bugged out.



The rest of the slide show pictures will be added next time.....way to slow!