Island-hopping RTW 2015 (2): Noble Nation New Zealand January 26 – February 10, 2015

North Island January 26-February 2, 2015

Waitangi Treaty Grounds-Birth of New Zealand

Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland

On my first visit to New Zealand in 2004, I spent over two weeks in the South Island. This time, I make my way from Northland to Rotorua in North Island and have a nice trip. January 26 Monday: Tonga – Auckland, New Zealand

The flight from Tonga to Auckland takes less than three hours. I arrived at the Auckland airport after 5pm. The city has good bus service: I paid $28 for a return ticket. I got off at Queen Street and walked to YMCA on Pitt Street without problem. 

The city was dead quiet as it was a public holiday. Only some eateries along K Road were open. The receptionist at YMCA however suggested me avoid the area which is ‘rough’ after dark. It was very hot and my room on the 5^th floor was like an oven.  I had no appetite and had instant noodles and two beers for dinner. 

In New Zealand (NZ), not many places provide free Wi-Fi. Hence, I had to pay $6 for a WiFi package in order to work on my website. So my whole evening was spent in uploading photos of the Bangkok trip. What a boring start of my visit!

January 27 Tuesday: Auckland

I booked a package of five bus trips and five nights of accommodation with Naked Bus last November. I am an IT idiot and spent the whole morning trying to log in to book bus and accommodation without success. Finally the YMCA receptionist called Naked Bus which gave me instructions on how to book online.

My travel plan is simple: I want to see Rotorua, Waitomo Caves and the northern part of the island. While I managed to book accommodation in Rotorua, I still could not book the bus trip. What’s the reason?  I later discovered that the password given did not match my log-in number.  Then, I asked online for a new password which was sent to my email address. (If one cannot use internet, one is stuck here!) I was relieved to be able to book my bus trips and accommodation with Naked Bus finally.  

Auckland with a population of over a million has a small commercial business district and historical centre. It was a nice sunny day and I spent the afternoon strolling in the city. I walked downhill to the Quay and waterfront. The harbour is full of yachts, sailing boats and tourists. I went to the fish market which is small and lifeless (totally different from the vibrant fish market in Sydney).

Time for lunch. I had a huge pot of delicious local mussels (1 kg) cooked with cream in a pub. After lunch I walked along Queen Street and visited the Art Gallery by the Albert Park. There are several exhibitions including one by Robert Ellis and Kathe Koolwitz. I find the building more interesting than the exhibits.  Had I not wasted the whole morning on online booking, I could have visited the Auckland Museum.

Art Gallery

Town Hall

Posing for wedding photos

Robert Ellis

Kathe Koolwitz

I walked back to YMCA passing by the Town Hall and the nearby civic and cultural hub of the city.  I missed dinner again as I was too busy uploading photos of my family trip to Sabah. 

January 28 Wednesday: Rotorua

The Naked Bus for Rotorua leaves daily at 7:30am from Quay Street opposite the Ferry Building. I left YMCA around 6:50am, walked downhill and arrived at the bus stop before 7:15am.  I showed the driver my confirmation number on my smart phone and he checked me in with his hand phone.

Rotorua and the surrounding districts encompass a chain of 16 lakes, is the homeland of the Maori and NZ’s iconic volcanic area. Rotorua attracts over three million visitors a year. There are over two dozens of tours one can join. I brought a combo (rafting and a Polynesian spa) for $107 and a half-day trip to Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland for $67. I stayed at X-Hot Rock Hostel which is neat, clean and spacious opposite the Kuirau Park.

At 2:30pm, I was on my way to rafting on the Kaituna River. The course is only 1.8km-long. But there are 13 rapids including a 7m-high fall. The river gorge is rocky and very narrow (the narrowest part may be 2-3m wide) with fast flowing water. We had 23 paddlers in four rafts. Our excellent guide steered the raft so skillfully that we had fun but no mishap.  One raft flipped over and the paddlers all said the flip was exciting. 

Tonight, I shared a room with Ashley, a nurse on working holiday from South Carolina, USA.  She gives me plenty of tips for searching cheap deals online. I am too lazy and have no patience to compare prices in order to save a few dollars.

At 7pm, I went to the Polynesian Spa by the lake. It is small with fairly basic facilities. That evening, over 70% of the visitors are Chinese (I am the only one from Hong Kong). After my spa experience in Japan and Costa Rica, I am not impressed at all. I was hungry and had a nice lamb curry in an Indian restaurant.

January 29 Thursday: Rotorua

The Wai-O-Tapu (Sacred Waters) thermal area is part of a scenic reserve covering some 18km² of collapsed craters, cold and boiling pools of mud, water and steaming fumaroles. On the way to the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland, we had a stop at a huge mud pool and the Lady Knox Geyser for a man-made show at 10:15am. Apparently, soaking powder can set a geyser in action. The spray can reach some 30m in height!

Mud Pool

We arrived at the wonderland around 10:30am. The thermal theme park which only takes up a very small portion of the nature reserve, is well-designed offering three tracks covering 25 scenic spots. I spent over two hours looking at all the attractions.

The most surreal and awesome ones are the Artist’s Palette (an expansive colourful pool formed with overflowing water from the Champagne Pool), Champagne Pool (a large spring measuring 65m in diameter and 62m deep with surface temperature of 74ºC) and Devil’s Bath (the colour which can change through green to yellow is associated with the amount of reflected light and cloud cover).

I have seen thermal and volcanic features in Japan, Chile and Kamchatka, Russia. But Wai-O-Tapu is truly a wonderland and worth seeing. This natural theme park has excellent signage, illustrations and safety measures.

Back in town by 1:15pm, I headed to the Prince Gate Hotel (the only 5-star boutique hotel in Rotorua) and had a delicious Moroccan lamb salad for $15. This is the best and cheapest lunch in Rotorua!

Prince Gate Hotel

In the afternoon, I visited the Rotorua Museum which stands on the former Bath House building opened in 1908. I joined a guided tour at 3pm. Unfortunately, the guide is long-winded: I do not get much info after a 100-minute tour. After watching a 15-minute film on the Tarawera Volcano eruption on June 10, 1886 which destroyed the renowned Pink and White Terraces, I spent another hour looking at the history and culture of the Te Arawa tribe which legend says that the people had come from Hawaiki to the area.

Instead of walking through the built-up town centre, I spent over an hour walking along the lakefront and through the Kuirau Park which has many interesting geothermal areas.

I went on to see the Thursday night market which is small and not interesting.  I could not sleep as a few reckless girls were talking loudly till 3am. The horrific traffic noises also kept me awake. Bad luck!

January 30 Friday: Waitomo Caves

I have seen glow worms at Te Anau in South Island. This time, I decide to join a 3-hour ‘Black Labyrinth Tour‘ ($115) which takes participants climbing, black water tubing, leaping and floating through the Ruakuri Cave. The caves are not too far from Rotorua. But I had to take the 7:25am bus and change at Hamilton. It was 11am when I arrived in Waitomo.

My group with a dozen participants met up at noon for briefing. We had to wear hamlet and put on a wet suit as the water is freezing. A minibus took us to the cave where we had to crawl through a very narrow tunnel before leaping over a waterfall. We all turned off the headlight once and floated through a totally dark tunnel with millions of glow worms lighting up the vaulted limestone galleries above my head or seemingly within my reach. It is an awesome experience!

Though the journey is only 800m-long, I felt I had a long journey going over several cascading waterfalls and floating down an underground river before coming out in the forest. I was ready to leave at 3pm. But there is only one Naked Bus a day leaving at 6:15pm.

There is no direct Naked Bus from Waitomo to the Bay of Islands. I had to return to Auckland and stay one night. What a waste of time! As there was a big cricket game over the weekend in Auckland, the city was swarmed with visitors.  YMCA was fully booked and hotel rates soared. I therefore stayed at ACB which is close to the Ferry Building.

January 31 Saturday: Auckland-Paihai, Bay of Islands

Poor weather

The bus was scheduled for departure at 7:30am. But the driver waited 15 minutes for a missing Caucasian passenger. We had a coffee break at Coffeepot just before 9am and the driver told us to be back by 9:15am. As the Wi-Fi on Naked Bus did not work, I was keen to use free Wi-Fi at the Coffeepot. I stood next to the bus and saw it pulling away at 9:13am. I yelled and ran after it. I was upset: the driver had definitely seen me and it was not yet 9:15am. Is this an act of sheer inadvertence or discrimination against an elderly Asian passenger?

The weather was poor with heavy showers at times. The driver said there was no little rainfall since Christmas and the island was in bad need of rain. The bus arrived in Paihia at 11am. I stayed two nights in a nice hostel sharing a cabin with several young girls. I booked a combo which includes a half-day cruise and a full-day to Cape Reinga for $195.

Bay of Islands Cruise The famous Bay of Islands has 144 islands. The boat left the pier at 1:30pm with over 100 tourists. We had clear blue sky and warm breezes. The captain pointed out the main attractions including Russell (Kororareka, a historic village opposite Paihai), Moturoa Island,  Black Rocks, Marsden Cross, Roberton Island and Moturua.

We had a fun time watching a school of playful dolphins (over a dozen) swimming and diving around the boat for over 15 minutes. There were two other boats and several people on ski-jets following the dolphins. I wish I had my Nikon SLR which was in the suitcase in Auckland.

The captain took us to Motukokako (Hole in the Rock) which had been named by Captain Cook as Piercy Island after the Lord of Admiralty of the time).  He took the boat through the impressive 148m-high hole without mishap! Opposite Motukokako is Cape Brett with a lighthouse. Then we had an hour free time at Otehei Bay on the picturesque Urupukapuka Island with an area of 520 acres. I walked up to the look-out point which affords fabulous panoramic views of the bay.

At 4:30pm, the boat departed for Paihia with a stop at Russell. I got off for a quick stroll along the Strand which is atmospheric. It was once a base for South Pacific whaling fleet in the 1830s. The Christ Church, the Pompallier House (once a French missionary), Duke of Marlborough Hotel, the police station are all heritage buildings. I hopped on the 6pm ferry to return to Paihia. I had a great day!

February 1 Sunday: Full-day tour to Cape Reinga

The tour bus departed at 7:15am and I had another fantastic day. The bus-driver is an English lady who gives clear explanations in a funny but informative way. She is warm, friendly as well as attentive to details. The weather was disappointing with overcast, rain and shower most of the day. However, we stayed dry as it stopped raining when we hopped off for sightseeing. Cape Reinga, the northernmost tip of NZ (50minutes)- This is a sacred place for the Maori people: the spirits of deceased Maori leap from the pohutukawa tree into the ocean to return to their ancestral homeland of Hawaiiki.

Tapotupotu Bay for lunch (30minutes)

Sand boarding at Te Paki- The hardest part for me is the walk up to the ridge. I did well and had two wonderful, fast and safe descents.

90 Mile Beach (10 minutes to take pictures of Matapia Island with a big hole in the rock)

Mangouin Fish Restaurant which is said to serve the best fish and chip in the world. I had a piece of fish for $5.60. It is indeed the best I have in my life! The white fish is fresh and tasty and the batter is thin and crispy.

Manginangina Forest (15 minutes to see gigantic kauri trees)

It was 6pm when the bus left the forest and I was back in the hostel at 7pm. I finished my wonderful day with a BBQ dinner at the hostel (a thick piece of steak, a pork sausage, half a baked potato, salad and a cold beer) for $12. This must be the best value-for-money dinner in NZ! 

February 2 Monday: Paihai- Auckland

My bus would be leaving at 12:30pm. In the morning, I walked 2km to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. I began my tour with a short film on the history of the Treaty of Waitangi which was signed between the British Crown and Maori chiefs in 1840. The small museum with several key buildings is worth visiting as it is the birthplace of the nation.

The Treaty House– the official British Residency from 1833 to 1840 where James Busby conducted his business as the British government’s first representative in NZ. The Treaty was drawn up here.

The Carved Meeting House with impressive Maori carving opened in 1940 to commemorate the centennial of the signing of the Treaty.

Carved Meeting Place

The Treaty House

The Flagstaff– the spot where the Treaty was signed on February 6, 1840- The Flag of the United Tribes of NZ (from 1834), the Union Flag (from 1840) and the NZ Flag (from 1902) are flying here today.

War Canoes– Ngātokimatawhaorua, the world’s largest 35m-long ceremonial war canoe requiring 76 paddlers.

It was a beautiful day with clear blue sky. The views of the bay and surrounding islands are stunning. By 5:15pm. I was back in YMCA in Auckland. I worked till midnight in order to upload photos of my Tonga trip.

I am glad my tour of the North Island ends at the Treaty Grounds which is NZ’s most significant historic site. I am impressed that the Maori people, colonisers and the NZ governments have gone a long way since the signing of the Treaty in rectifying injustice done to the natives and in building a new nation. Hence the heading ‘Noble Nation New Zealand’