Bridge the Travel Gap

Exploring a bit of the North Island

‘The world is my backyard.’

Tongariro hike

This week we went off on adventures outside Auckland, as John’s brother lends us his Ute (4-wheel drive truck.)

Neil’s Ute we borrowed

Our 1st stop is the National Park and hiking Tongariro – an active volcano. It’s a 19km (11.8 miles) hike with some difficult bits, but beautiful. Well worth the effort to see. (Some extra photos of the walk are at the bottom of the blog!)

After that, we deserve sometime in the thermal pools in Tokaamu – a very nice soak in our own private pool,

Tokaamu hot pools

then, a lovely drive through the countryside to see Huka Falls

Huka Falls

before arriving in Rotorua

Roturua Museum

for 2 nights camping by Blue Lake.

Rotorua

Rotorua is known for its hot sulfur baths and Maori culture evenings. The later I’d done on a previous trip and the former found us trying out the Art Deco ‘Blue Baths’, where we had the pools to ourselves.

Blue Baths – Rotorua

We did some shorter hikes in this area around Blue Lake,

Blue Lake

the Government Gardens

Government Park

and, the #1 attraction there, the Redwoods. They planted this forest in the mid-1800’s as an experiment, but found the trees grow too slowly, so these are the only ones you’ll find here.

Redwood Park – Rotorua

Then, our week ends, at a friend’s in Tauranga where we celebrate Julia’s 21st/30th/? Birthday and see a stingray by the restaurant,

Stingray

we swim in their beautiful pool,

John and Al swimming in the pool

love their cats – Cocoa and Leila

Burmese Beauties

and walk the Mount.

Walking the Mount

Then a drive back to Auckland with a quick stop at Karangahake Gorge

Karangahake Gorge

and Miranda hot pools.

Miranda Hot Pools

More photos of our Tongariro crossing hike: