Raglan, Te Arhoa, Coromandel

Feb 22 – Rotorua to Cambridge to Raglan

It was still raining on and off this morning. We weren't too bright last night either and left our camp chairs under the tarp so they were quite wet. We ate breakfast out of the back of the car then got packed up while trying to dry things out. We headed into town and did a quick internet weather check at the McD's. The weather doesn't look promising anywhere. Then we got on the highway and were headed for Raglan. Along the way we stopped off in the little town of Cambridge. Mom and Dad had suggested we stop here in my charm hunt but alas we had no luck. We made ourselves lunch under a covered BBQ area since it was still raining out. We then drove onwards through Hamilton into quaint little Raglan. We checked out the info center and got the details of the holiday parks in the area. We had a little walk around the town, it didn't take very long, and discovered free wifi at the library. It seemed faster than McD's so we'll try it in the morning to see if Beau can successfully update his site. We headed down the road to the holiday parks on the map and decided to stay and the last one we checked. They had a sauna, hot showers and were the cheapest. We had a nice sweat in the sauna then took a hot shower. We made dinner and enjoyed the rest of our wine sitting outside, it was a rain free and warm evening.

Feb 23 – Bridal Veil Falls and Te Arhoa

It had rained all last night but let up when we woke up this morning. We had placed the tarp over the back windows to keep some light out of the car. It of course was soaked so we had to mess around trying to dry it out. We had our breakfast and after the tarp was reasonably dry we got on our way. The weather was very grey and dreary. Not conducive to going to the beach to check out the surfers. We headed to the Raglan library so Beau could up date his website. We hung out there for about an hour, I read, and then decided to leave town. On our way out we detoured to Bridal Veil Falls. It was a huge water fall falling 55 meters. There were several view points and about 20min to the bottom or 200 odd steps. While the falls were beautiful it would have been more incredible if the water had been a nicer colour. It was a brown muddy colour from all the farms in the area. After the falls we drove back into Hamilton. We were pretty hungry and needed to pick up some groceries. We saw a Countdown and pulled into the lot, but instead of shopping on an empty stomach we set up our camp chairs on a grassy median and had our lunch there. After that we picked up a few groceries and continued on through Hamilton towards Te Arhoa. We found a reasonably priced camp ground and step up in the car there. They had free wifi, a lounge, and a spa, but sadly the spa wasn't open. While we were cooking dinner Beau noticed the beautiful sunset and grabbed the camera for a photo. Also at the camp ground a bunch of construction workers were staying here and Beau had a chat with a few of them while I was cooking. We ended the evening watching Project Runway and writing up the events of the past few days.

Bridal Veil Falls

Us at the bottom

Our sunset in Te Arhoa

Feb 24 – Back to Coromandel Peninsula

For breakfast we had a nice change and enjoyed eggs and potatoes. We were a little late heading out of the park and got a dirty look from the owner for it. It's not like we were in the way or taking up space since the lot was pretty empty. Our plan was to head back to the Coromandel and Cathedral Cove. We stopped into the Karangahake Gold Mines along the way. We went for a really nice walk through the gorge and saw the ruins of some of the buildings that used to be here. We also got to walk through some of the tunnels that the miners carved into the hillside. One part was quite interesting as the miners had carved “windows” into the tunnels so they could dump the goldless rocks out of them. We spent about an hour or two walking around the mines and then hit the road. We stopped into Matamata and had our lunch by the harbour and wharf. We then had a quick peek at the beach but decided to get closer to Cathedral Cove before stopping for the day. We reached Hahei (the little town that Cathedral Cove is in) and checked out the local holiday park. We felt it was over priced so we drove over the Cooks Cove for a price comparison and were appalled by their prices too. We opted for the first place since it was really close to Cathedral Cove. On the way back we stopped in Mercury Bay Estates and shared a flight of wine. It was another board of 5 wines that was brought out to us but they were sizeable tastings and we got to enjoy the beautiful view overlooking Cooks Cove. I really liked their Sauvignon Blanc but we didn't feel like paying $20 for a bottle. We checked into the Hahei holiday park then had a little walk on the beach. We decided to make dinner using our camp stove since the kitchen was a little ways away and was also very busy. We had a nice cup of tea after dinner and clean up and read our books in the car for a little while since it was chilly out.

One of the old batteries

Looking out a "window"

Looking down the gorge

Old mining parts in the river

Taupo and Rotorua

Feb 19 – Taupo

Breakfast was as usual, oatmeal and coffee. We got to sleep in the tent last night since it wasn't rainy and it was a welcome change. It did mean that we had to dry all the condensation out of it. Once we packed up we headed off to see Huka Falls which had been suggested to us by Dan and Gabrielle as well as the receptionist at the holiday park. While the falls aren't particular high there was a massive amount of water flowing over them making them quite spectacular. Obviously the Kiwis have harnessed the awesome power of these falls with a dam downstream that provides 15% of NZ power. We checked out the falls from either side of the river and took a bunch of photos. We were planning on exploring Taupo today and on our way back into town from the falls we saw some signs for Reid's Farm. We stopped to check it out and it seemed to be a riverside campsite but we couldn't find anywhere that said the cost. We continued on to the Taupo i-Site and asked them about this place. Turns out it's a free camp ground, Sweet!! We got some info on a geothermal site called Craters of the Moon which had also been recommended to us by Dan and Gabrielle. We wandered around town a little bit then picked up some groceries before heading back to Reid's Farm. We enjoyed our lunch by the river with a beer in hand. It was still gorgeous out so we figured we should take advantage and check out Craters of the Moon while we had a nice day. We drove up to the thermal area and paid the $6/person entrance fee. All the workers are volunteers and the fee is to keep up the facilities. Previously it was free but there were a fair number of break-ins in the carpark. We had an hour long walk along a well marked path. We saw bubbling craters, mud pools and steam vents as well as explosion craters and colourful soils. It was pretty hot out but you could still see steam rising. We enjoyed the walk and seeing the thermal area but we were ready to head back to the river for a dip and a beer. We got back to the farm and set up the tent, then took our camp chairs down to the riverside. The wind cooled us off quickly so we didn't end up going for a swim, just read and enjoyed the scenery. We noticed the river level started rising quite quickly. We think this is due to the closing of the dam at the end of the river. We had to keep moving our chairs back from the water. Once the sun left us we made our dinner then just relaxed peacefully by our campsite for the rest of the evening.

Huka Falls

Lake Taupo

Craters of the Moon

Bubbling Mud Pools

Craters of the Moon

Feb 20 – Taupo and Rotorua

The day didn't start off too nice, it had rained last night. We eventually got dried out and packed up. The sun was playing hide and seek with the clouds. We started towards Rotorua but stopped off at a glass blowing studio. They were charging $5 a head to watch the glass blowers which I thought ridiculous as you can see them for free in Victoria. We just had a look around the show room and while there were some lovely things most were out of the common persons price range. Further along the highway was Aratiatia Rapids. There was a hydro electric dam at the start of the rapids and when we arrived there was only a tiny trickle going through. We had arrived with perfect timing as they open the gates for about 15min 4 times a day and it was almost time. It took only seconds for water to start raging through and only minutes for the rapids to fill to their natural capacity. It was fascinating to see the water over come all the rocks in the ravine. The gates were closed back up and it took no less time for the water to reduce to a trickle. At this point the sun had come back out so we decided to return to Reid's Farm and go for a swim. After a refreshing swim and bath we had some lunch. Our sun had hidden it's face behind some large grey clouds so we decided to try our drive to Rotorua again. It rained on us a bit on our drive and we had some window wiper malfunctions, which Beau fixed easily. We decided to check out Kerosene Creek, a free hot water steam about 20km outside of Rotorua. We chilled out in a pool area below a short waterfall for a little while. The creek was quite hot and a little bit smelly. We chatted with kiwi sitting next to us for a bit then we all decided we had had enough of the heat. Back at the car park we were approached by two guys who were hoping for a ride back into town. We were happy to oblige and gave the Dutch guy and Canadian a ride. We stopped into the towns i-Site, which is also where we let our hitchhikers out, in hopes of getting some info on what to do in the area. Unfortunately the i-Site also doubles as a booking agency and was very busy. We picked up some pamphlets and took a walk about the town. We walked through the central park which is also a thermal area. There were some smelly, bubbling lakes and mud bogs. We also walked by the lake which was quite pretty. After our walk we headed to the McDonald's for wifi and then to Pak 'n' Save for some essentials which included wine. We had a little trouble getting back on the road as there kept being medians in the way of our turns! We finally got where we wanted to go, after a few U turns, which was a lovely DOC site 15min out of town. I was quite thankful for the distance as Rotorua has quite the sulphurous smell. The DOC site was on Lake .... and was very full when we arrived. We got lucky with a primo spot at the end right next to a grassy area for the tent. We made some tinned potato and bacon soup for dinner with loads of extra veges added. Later while enjoying drinking chocolate and cookies we heard some rustling in the woods behind us. I shone my light over and we saw several wallabies! We weren't entirely sure what they were at first but it was obvious they weren't possums with their kangaroo like hind legs. We had confirmation later that they were indeed wallabies.

Aratiatia Rapids without water

Aratiatia Rapids with water

Bubbling Mud Hole

Steamy lake in Rotorua central park

Lake Rotorua

Feb 21 – Rotorua

It was a beautiful morning. We decided to stay another night in Rotorua since we had such a gorgeous day and chill by the lake. We had to nip into town for of course beer as well as fill our water bottles. While Beau went into Pak 'n' Save I went to McDonald's and updated my blog. We were happy to head back out to our DOC site, Rotorua has quite the stinky sulphurous smell. At the campsite almost everyone had left. We drank a couple of beers in the sunshine then went for a refreshing dip in the lake. After our swim we made up some guacamole to have with chips for our lunch. Once we started eating the heavens opened on us...noooooooooooo. Gone was our beautiful sunny day. We took refuge under the covered cooking area. The rain stopped and the sun came back out for a little bit. We made a judgement call so we packed up the tent once it dried. We figure if the weather cleared we could always reset up the tent. Glad we made that call since it rained on and off the rest of the afternoon. We concocted a way to set the tarp up with the car to give us more of a rain shelter. That evening the rain stopped but we didn't have high hopes for throughout the night.

The lake looking right

The lake looking left