Wrapping Up New Zealand...The Rockies are Calling!
After nine (9) hours of travel split between ferry and car we reached our campsite in New Plymouth on the West side of the North Island. Jenna headed out to tour the town and eventually catch up with an old friend from a Vancouver soccer team they played for who now lives in New Plymouth. I took the much-advertised Coastal Walkway from the campsite into town finding a pizza joint called “Hell.” Now, I’ve made it a goal of mine to try pizza from as many countries as I can because, well… 1) pizza is awesome; 2) it seems that every country offers it; and 3) there are so many varieties to try as every place likes to put their unique mark on it. Before writing this section I had gone the entirety of New Zealand without finding a decent pizza joint to try out – that’s nearly four (4) weeks of misery with canned soup, PB and Nutella sammies, dry camping food, and the occasional chicken or pasta. Thankfully “Hell” came through with the 2nd-best pizza I’ve had on the trip so far! It was a mix between Lou Malnati’s (no one compares so don’t even try) and a thin crust pizza, but hit the spot. Not sure if they have more than one locale, but if you’re ever in New Plymouth TRY IT! The hostel I stayed at in Iguazo Falls, Argentina had the best pie if anyone was wondering. Took down a whole 14” pie by myself back-to-back nights. Not ashamed.
Piha Beach
The next morning was picture perfect besides gusty winds which allowed us to hike around the snow-capped Mt. Taranaki that towers over everything in the New Plymouth area at nearly 8,300 feet. We picked an easier route to the Pouakai Hut instead of a closer peak to Taranaki as that peak was covered in clouds, and well, what’s the point of hiking if your end-views are obscured? We took some good shots from an area above Pouakai Hut and headed back down and onto the Waitomo glowworm caves. I’m not sure it was worth the price of admission, but it was definitely a unique experience. NZ and Australia are the only places in the world that have these glowworms. After walking down into and around a cave that was fitted with lights for tours, we hopped into a boat to be moved along a river in pitch black through the cave. As we travelled along bright blue specks – the glowworms – lit up parts of the ceiling of the cave. They emit this light as a way to draw prey and disorient them into webs hanging down in the worms’ area, which they then eat. After nine (9) months of life they cocoon up and turn into flies without mouths or digestive systems so their sole purpose is to reproduce, starting the whole process over. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take video or pictures so I took a picture off Google for it…
Mt. Taranaki
Google Image of Waitomo Glowworm Caves
From Waitomo we continued Northward towards the popular surfing area of Raglan and called it a night. We woke up and headed off to a few different beaches in the area, but were disappointed to find that only Ngarunui Beach – the tamest of the spots called out – had decent enough waves for surfers that morning. We had a good vantage point to watch, but only stayed a few minutes as it was nothing to write home about. By midday we arrived back in Whangamata to drop Jenna off at her 5-day surf and yoga experience and I headed farther North to check out the rest of the Northland.
Ngarunui Beach in Raglan
Failing to catch the sunset back around Raglan I was determined to catch it at Piha Beach so I scoped out Lion Rock, finding that the top was inaccessible due to rock fall. Nbd, I just found another viewpoint with plenty of time to spare. Let’s just say the sunset didn’t disappoint.
Piha Beach Sunset with Lion Rock on the Right
If I had another day to spare I definitely would’ve picked staying in Piha Beach as it’s a great little town nestled down at the foot of the hills which one way in and out basically. A few different hikes, continuous waves, and plenty of beach to hang out around for a full day would’ve been relaxing, but I had a long day of driving to the Northern tip of New Zealand, Cape Reinga. Along the way I made stops at Waipoua Forest and some Kauri Tree Walks. The Kauri is a species of tree grown in New Zealand that the local Maori hold a special place for. These trees are the equivalent to the US’ Redwoods as the walks took me to the 7th and 2nd largest Kauri trees whose girths measured in at 12.3 (~40 feet) and 16.4 meters (~54 feet), respectively – even more impressive up close and in person! Despite the second straight day of 45+ minutes traffic delays I made it to Cape Reinga just in time for the sunset which was hidden by clouds, but still beautiful.
Under the 2nd Largest Kauri, Te Matua Ngahere
"Lord of the Forest" at ~2,000 years old, Tane Mahuta
Cape Reinga Sunset
Next up after a nice 5:00am wakeup to catch the sunrise at Cape Reinga was driving down the East coast of the Northland down to the Bay of Islands. The weather in the area wasn’t the greatest as it rained both days, but I was able to tour the Waitangi Treaty Grounds which explains the start of New Zealand, how the British/Maori (native people) first encounters went, and all the events leading up to the present basically. Essentially and unfortunately, I gathered the Maori treatment was quite similar to Native American treatment in the Americas. Fun fact though: New Zealand is the only country to have two (2) official country flags.
Cape Reinga Lighthouse Sunrise
Before the torrential downpour hit the second day I hiked up to an outlook over Paihia which turned out to be a disappointment so I kept searching for other viewpoints, but none were really that good. The Bay of Islands is exactly that: an area with a lot of inlets and some islands mixed in so finding an elevated view would've made for some good pictures on the clear skies. Oh well. All of the towns in the area are their own little beach towns and I feel like a requirement to live there is having a boat. Not a bad place to retire, honestly.
If a famous explorer claims an area is one of the top ten scuba diving sites in the world, well you figure out how to fit it in your schedule if you're in the area. Sorry, Mr. Jacques Cousteau, but I highly disagree with your assessment, sir. The Poor Knights Islands are about 20 kilometers East of New Zealand's coast and 150 kilometers North of Auckland. Maybe I went at the wrong time or just had bad timing in general, but besides a few different fish species, one (1) short-tail sting ray, and a lot of kelp there wasn't much to take in. The crew gave us stories of seeing mola mola, manta rays, orcas, dolphins, and sharks, but we didn't see them so I don't believe it! Anyways, the day was beautiful so after diving I headed over to the Mermaid Pools just North of where we took off from to dive. These pools form every time the high tide comes in and then recedes, leaving pools of crystal clear ocean water in carved out rock areas.
Perhaps the second best part of the New Zealand's Northland is the Whangarei Heads. Before heading back to pick up Jenna I climbed Mt. Manaia which is a short, 400ish-meter vertical hike that's a part of the Whangarei Heads. After reaching the top ridge "rock heads" jut out from the ridge which can be free-climbed for unrestricted 360-degree views of the gorgeous surrounding area - especially when it's sunny. Free-climbing the heads was a little nerve-wracking as winds had to be gusting in the 30-40 mph range creating the illusion when looking vertically up the heads that the heads were swaying. In fact, the low-hanging clouds were just moving quite fast. After scaling about one-third of the face I had to head back down to the initial landing and talk myself into making the whole climb. Eventually I made it to the top and stood around admiring the light blue bay waters and dense forests. Quite the beautiful area.
All good things must come to an end, however, so we hopped on 23 hours worth of flights and 30+ hours worth of travels in total to make it back to our families for Christmas. Stepping off the planes in Salt Lake City and Chicago were not exactly ideal as that involved nearly 50-degrees of temperature difference, but the negative temperatures that came a few day later were nothing compared to that and should help out when we head off to shred the slopes out West in a few days!
Looking Out into the Bay of Islands
If a famous explorer claims an area is one of the top ten scuba diving sites in the world, well you figure out how to fit it in your schedule if you're in the area. Sorry, Mr. Jacques Cousteau, but I highly disagree with your assessment, sir. The Poor Knights Islands are about 20 kilometers East of New Zealand's coast and 150 kilometers North of Auckland. Maybe I went at the wrong time or just had bad timing in general, but besides a few different fish species, one (1) short-tail sting ray, and a lot of kelp there wasn't much to take in. The crew gave us stories of seeing mola mola, manta rays, orcas, dolphins, and sharks, but we didn't see them so I don't believe it! Anyways, the day was beautiful so after diving I headed over to the Mermaid Pools just North of where we took off from to dive. These pools form every time the high tide comes in and then recedes, leaving pools of crystal clear ocean water in carved out rock areas.
Diving at Poor Knights Islands
Mermaid Pools
Perhaps the second best part of the New Zealand's Northland is the Whangarei Heads. Before heading back to pick up Jenna I climbed Mt. Manaia which is a short, 400ish-meter vertical hike that's a part of the Whangarei Heads. After reaching the top ridge "rock heads" jut out from the ridge which can be free-climbed for unrestricted 360-degree views of the gorgeous surrounding area - especially when it's sunny. Free-climbing the heads was a little nerve-wracking as winds had to be gusting in the 30-40 mph range creating the illusion when looking vertically up the heads that the heads were swaying. In fact, the low-hanging clouds were just moving quite fast. After scaling about one-third of the face I had to head back down to the initial landing and talk myself into making the whole climb. Eventually I made it to the top and stood around admiring the light blue bay waters and dense forests. Quite the beautiful area.
Mt. Manaia Views
Surf's up!
Sunset in Whangamata on our last day in NZ, donut island in the background
All good things must come to an end, however, so we hopped on 23 hours worth of flights and 30+ hours worth of travels in total to make it back to our families for Christmas. Stepping off the planes in Salt Lake City and Chicago were not exactly ideal as that involved nearly 50-degrees of temperature difference, but the negative temperatures that came a few day later were nothing compared to that and should help out when we head off to shred the slopes out West in a few days!
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