The next and last part of our trip exploring the North Island after our visit to Taupo and Tongariro National Park was a bit different. During our Tongariro Crossing, we met Kendal and Kane from Adelaide and after several common stops on the track sharing all kinds of snacks, we realized we had similar plans for the remaining days in the North Island. And since we, hopefully mutually, found ourselves cool and fun, we decided to continue further together. And our new Australian friends had a car. Thus, we could ditch our favorite InterCity (bu)steed and join the more adult way of transportation. Our road trip from Taupo to Auckland was quite short, but very intense and full of adventure – we saw weirdly colored lakes close to Rotorua, did Black Water rafting in Waitomo, went to take some photos for Pepe’s mum in Hobbiton and gave our farewell to New Zealand in its biggest city – Auckland. Come to spend with us our last four days in the Land of the Long White Cloud.
- Rotorua – the Sulfur City
- Where the Hobbits live
- A bit of adrenaline in Waitomo
- Farewell from Auckland
- How to get around
Rotorua – the Sulfur City
Ladies and gentlemen, let us introduce you to the smelliest place in New Zealand! And The Smelliest Place we’ve ever visited so far. And we’ve been to The Tanneries in Fez, Morocco, so we’ve got strong competitors in our nose memory! It’s such a shame we don’t have the technology to share the smell with y’all… yet?
Because of all the geothermal activity in this area, it’s not unusual to see holes emitting hot vapor smelling like freshly cracked rotten eggs just about anywhere. After spending two days in the region we couldn’t get rid of the smell from our clothes – even after washing them three times! And yes, we’ve read all the hot tips about washing them in cold water, using baking soda… nothing helps!
Surprisingly this isn’t the only thing Rotorua is famous for! It’s the area with a big Maori population so here you can see and experience the rich Maori culture and architecture. It has a lot of attractions worth a visit, so we decided to visit the Maori village Te Puia, get some wellness in the Polynesian spa and check out the geothermal park Wai-o-tapu.
Wondering in Wai-o-tapu
This place is really crazy! Wai-o-tapu Thermal Wonderland isn’t located directly in Rotorua but it’s very close and we visited on our way from Taupo. The products of geothermal and volcanic activity visible here are spectacular. We’ve never seen such weird natural volcanic art pieces and colorful lakes like the Champagne Lake or neon green Devil’s Bath. And quite surprisingly, we also saw some critters who didn’t mind the sulfur in the air. Have a look at our pictures.
Traditional city walk
We like walking in every new town or city and Rotorua wasn’t an exception. Maybe it could’ve been, due to the smell. Maybe it should’ve been? Anyway, it’s a peaceful place with interesting architecture and a nice Rotorua lake. But the most fascinating thing were the random geysers and fumaroles we encountered while walking on the lakeside. Quite surreal – we bet your local sidewalks don’t do that!
Relax in the Polynesian Spa
As a perfect evening activity after a long day exploring we chose to jump into the hot and smelly waters of the Polynesian Spa. These beautiful and well known springs lie on the shore of the lake Rotorua and have 28 hot mineral pools with slightly acidic waters that should help relieve the muscles as well as pools with alkaline waters nourishing the skin. We reckon we’ll stay young and beautiful and relieved forever just as they promised. Interestingly enough, there were maybe 10 other people during our visit, so it felt we had the whole place for ourselves!
Having fun in Te Puia
The next morning we went to the Te Puia village – the center of Maori cultural experience in the Whakarewarewa geothermal park and supposedly a top attraction around. Honestly, we were a bit skeptical at the beginning, Pepe in particular, that it’s gonna be just a tourist trap. Seeing all the buses parked in front of the park and all the Asian tourists pouring out of them certainly didn’t help that feeling. But in the end it was really great and a lot of fun!
Pepe was chosen to be a Chief of our tourist tribe and as the Almighty Chief, he was given a Maori greeting by the warriors, who improved his Haka skills later. Regarding Haka – the ceremonial Maori dance – it may look funny at first but try and imagine a troop of massive bulky tattooed men making scary faces and dangerous noises and even more dangerous moves. If we were their enemy we would much rather run away!
In addition to the cultural experience and demonstration of Maori arts, Te Puia is also full of geothermal wonders. We were super fascinated looking at craters full of bubbling mud (used to be a hotel cellar until one of the guests reported there’s steam coming out of his floor), pools of boiling water still used for Maori cooking and several stunning geysers. Mainly the Pohutu geyser which explodes up to 20 times a day and can reach up to 30 metres. It’s quite a show!
Where the Hobbits live
Our next stop when leaving Rotorua was the Hobbiton Movie Set close to a town of Matamata. This place surely doesn’t need any introduction. We had to go there because we promised it to Pepe’s mum, probably one of the biggest LOTR fans. We must admit that this one really is a tourist trap, but quite a cute one. And it’s a showcase of what it means when crazy people do crazy things. Several highlights:
- You get beer in the Green Dragon pub at the end
- Less tourists in April than in their summer
- “We used to have a lot of orcs around here, but now it’s fine, since we moved them all to Auckland!” <ba dum tss>
A bit of adrenaline in Waitomo
There are several places in New Zealand where you can find mysterious glow worms. We met some in a forest in Fox Glacier, as we wrote here, but wanted to see also the ones in a cave in Waitomo. And since our Australian friends wanted to do the Black Water rafting, and resorted to DARING Pepe after several cans of pre-made ginger beer+whiskey beverage the night before, we had no choice but to join them. That meant that instead of a peaceful sail through cave on a packed boat full of older glowworm observing amateurs we opted for a more adventurous version in wet suits, helmets and inflated tires around our asses, freezing off said asses and jumping ass first from small waterfalls in the cave. It was quite cool (did we mention freezing?), especially for Mia, who was very scared of jumping into water. Like, ANY water. But there’s nothing like a nice dose of peer pressure while standing on some slippery stones with an underground river coursing around your blueish feet to help with your childhood fears, amirite?
Farewell from Auckland
The last night and day of our backpacking trip through New Zealand, we spent time in its biggest city. After the month in the wilderness or small towns it really felt like a huge metropolis. Together with the Australians we did a short bar crawl and had dinner at the local night market.
The next day we strolled a bit through the streets and then took a ferry to Devonport, a relaxed bay side village just opposite the Auckland city center. We visited the Navy Museum and had a relaxing lunch at the beach with our friends. Afterwards we did a small hike to Mount Victoria to feast our eyes on the views of the city and surrounding islands. And suddenly we needed to hurry to the airport… However, we all agreed that we definitely need to come back and spend more time in the city and the islands. Hopefully soon :)
How to get around
We did this journey by car with our Australian friends. However, it’s totally possible to do it by bus as well – at the website of the company, you can book these parts of the trip separately or as a package of several places, i.e. Hobbiton & Waitomo as a day trip from Auckland etc. And there are even more companies offering similar trips.
Moreover, there is Northern Explorer train connecting Wellington and Auckland with several stops in between, which are also well connected by bus services and will surely get you all the destinations we’ve visited and then some.
Auckland has the biggest international airport in the country serving also plenty of domestic flights. So if you are short on time you could consider this option as well.
Within Auckland you can use the public transportation network, consisting not only of trains and buses but also ferries to close islands.
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