The Road Trip - North Island (Part 1 )

Tuesday 16 January

So we had breakfast and checked out, leaving the hotel around 10am. It has been a good stay. We got a taxi to the hire car depot, sorted out all the paperwork and GPS and then picked up our Toyota Highlander beastie and hit the road to Waitomo, about a two and a half hour drive. Easy for us to adapt to the roads as it is left hand drive here and the roads are very similar to the UK (and far superior to those in Malta!). My turn to drive today, we are going to alternate it as we go through the trip so we both get a chance to sightsee when we are not driving. Very excited now!

Had a good drive then stopped off for a break at the Waitomo Glowworm caves but decided not to go on the tour as they wanted crazy money for a 30 min boat ride in the cave so we decided to give

it a miss. Mainly for children anyway in my view and with a 4-5 week road trip ahead, we can probably think of more suitable things for us to spend our cash on. Bah humbug.

We set off again and carried on driving to Rotorua and got there two hours later. Found our hotel which was an Ibis and very nice, great views from the room over the bay. We headed out for a walk after we had unpacked, and then had some drinks and a steak dinner which was fabulous and very welcome. Headed then back to the hotel after several attacks by the swarms of night flies, yuk!

Wednesday 17 January

This morning we decided to buy breakfast at the hotel as the room has no kitchenette. It was fine, lots of choice and hardly anyone else in the breakfast room. We then headed back to the room to sort out ourselves out, do some banking and update the blog. We will be heading down to see the geysers shortly (famed in Rotorua) and check out the Maori village, should be good. The geysers for those who do not know, are detailed by Wikipedia as being “characterized by intermittent discharges of water ejected turbulently and accompanied by steam. Generally all geyser field sites are located near active volcanic areas, and the geyser effect is due to the proximity of magma.” Just as well I didn’t give you my own description which would probably have been ‘a sudden shoot of water out of the ground’!

We got down to the geysers, paid a painful $54 each to enter the geyser park, then got completely soaked by one when we were caught in the crossfire, yuk! Funny looking back but not so much at the time, getting soaked to the bone. The whole experience was ok but we wouldn’t rush back, once you have seen one you have seen

then all really and the weather was cool and miserable so we were glad to get back to the hotel to get dry and changed.

We then did some shopping and went out to the Lone Star bar near the hotel around 5pm which we found on trip advisor and it was a great bar. Followed by a fabulous curry in the Indian Star restaurant, round the corner. Great evening, relaxing and fun. Be sorry to leave Rotorua tomorrow but now we have started the road trip, they are all short stays! On we go!

Thursday 18 January

We packed up the car after breakfast and headed off to Napier, next stop on the north island road trip. Dan drove today and we had a good drive down there with a coffee stop and a walk in Taupo.

Napier is on the coast and we arrived mid to late afternoon at the Pebble Beach Motel and it was fabulous. They had allocated us a suite with its own spa and balcony on to the seafront, makes me wish we were staying for a week! Our balcony looks straight across to the turquoise water and dark sand beach. I feel some good walks coming on!

We unpacked a bit, got ready then walked into Napier centre, about a mile from the hotel. We met up with Kerry (Dan’s other niece) and her partner Adrian in the Emporium bar for drinks and eats, great to meet them and catch up. Inevitably we ended up having lots of drinks and a few nibbles and lots of laughs. Dan’s elder brother Jim (Kerry and Nicola’s father) unfortunately (but expectedly) passed away from cancer in April last year so all our family reunions on this trip are laced with a little sadness and a lot of funny stories and memories. Jim would have been proud of us! Luckily Kerry and Adrian are also staying here tomorrow too so will be doing the same tomorrow night. Great fun.

Friday 19 January

Had a nice slow start today, did a few online jobs and then sat on the balcony for a while as the weather was good. Had quite a lot to drink last night so lots of water and rest was good this morning before starting again later! We walked into Napier centre around lunchtime as we were going to catch a small tourist train to take us around the bay but it wasn’t running so we settled for a walk instead. Met up with Kerry and Adrian later and went to a great Thai restaurant, fab food and good fun. Said our goodbyes then as we are both going our separate ways tomorrow, we very much enjoyed our time with them.

Saturday 20 January

Packed up again this morning and reluctantly said goodbye to the Pebble Beach Motel and its team, highly recommend this place. My turn to drive today so we got in the car to set up the sat nav and head to Wellington. However the sat nav unit had other ideas and refused to remain stuck to the window screen due to a faulty bracket. Marvellous. From this point on, our sat nav device is to be hand held by the passenger not on driving duty it seems! And so it was till the end of the trip.

Anyway it was about a five hour drive with a coffee stop on the way, and we encountered some stunning scenery but lots of roads closed so constant diverts which was a bit tedious. This country is truly amazing in terms of landscape and forestry but of course situated in a volcanic climate, there is inevitably lots of rockfall and damage to roads so teams of road workers are constantly around.

We arrived into Wellington city mid-afternoon and checked into the Ibis Hotel in the CBD area, oh dear! Not the finest choice of hotels for us (will definitely let our agent know!) and seemingly no parking anywhere except in $30 per day council car parks. Mmmmm. Not great. Our end of corridor room is tiny with minimal facilities and is hot and stuffy, yuk! Not good, and no air control either. Unpacked a few bits then went for a walk to check out the local vicinity.

We arrived back at the hotel having done that and had a snack and drinks in the hotel bar, which is actually really nice and friendly. Could turn out to be quite a bolt hole for us, away from the room! Even still, an early night is needed for me after all the driving.

Sunday 21 January

We went down to breakfast and decided to talk to Reception about the parking issue, having left our hire car on a road parking space overnight which now needed to be moved. I explained about our long holiday incorporating the road trip and all our luggage etc. and he eventually said we could have a space in the hotel car park for $25 per day. So we gladly took it, better than trawling the city for a car park with all our cases and belongings.

We decided to take the city cable car today and do the museum and botanical gardens as the weather is dull and dreary (just for a change!). The cable car up the hill was fab, short and sharp but great views, then we went round the museum, observatory and botanical gardens at the top. Very enjoyable. New Zealand has lots to offer

tourists in terms of educational and historic local knowledge as well as all the magnificent backdrops. We went back down the hillside to the hotel and then down to the bar later for eats and drinks with the cricket live on tv. Not a bad life!

Monday 22 January

We spent this morning pottering in the room and the hotel, mainly packing up for hitting the road again tomorrow. Dan did the washing too which was nice and easy as there was a laundry room on our floor with washers and dryers.

We then chilled out a bit before heading out to the waterfront via the history museum and spent an hour in there, interesting and really well done. Another example of the excellence of this country in sharing its history.

Back to the hotel bar for beer and wine, followed by a terrible steak in the restaurant! We had to complain in the end, and got the bill reduced and rightly so, it was badly cooked and very tough. Another early night, we need to be up at 6am tomorrow. South island here we come.