Cape Reinga to Wellington

We left Cape Reinga and headed the only way we could, south.  We have just over 4 weeks left (as of 10 Oct) and the intention is to hightail it to the South Island before returning to Wellington for the final week to cover the rest of the North Island.  As we journeyed south the rolling green hills, sheep and cattle and the very windy roads reminded us of Wales just without the Welsh.

The plan was to head to Piha a coastal town west of Auckland in one day, however instead of taking the most direct route we took the coastal road down the west side of the island.  The road was very windy and seemed to have been designed to follow the ridge of the mountain tops wherever possible thus making it slow going.  We reached the ferry dock at Rangiora just after 13:00 meaning we had to wait for the next ferry at 14:00.  As we sat and ate our lunch watching the growing collection of cars also waiting, a blue 4x4 came round the bend and continued up the road towards Motukaraka with a youth hanging out of the passenger window wielding a hand gun!  It could have been an air pistol however it was still not a good advert for the country.

As we crossed on the ferry we realised that we were still hundreds of kilometres from Auckland let alone Piha.  Our error was that we had applied the driving distances that we had achieved in Australia to New Zealand and they were not even close, especially as on some of the roads you are only able to drive at a maximum of 40km per hour.  After another hour or so we called it quits for the night and pulled off the main road towards Lake Wikere which had a sign showing that there were campsites.  The 11km road was a dead end and only went to the lakes and a small smattering of houses.  As we approached we saw that both the lake campsites were closed due to logging activity.  Tired and with the weather turning bad we found the toilets, parked the van and spent the night on the side of the road.  We both remarked that it would have been useful if they had signposted this back on the main road!

During the night the weather did indeed turn bad with high winds and torrential rain.  The wind was so gusty it shook the van like we were on an old fashioned wooden rollercoaster, unfortunately disrupting an otherwise good nights sleep.  We woke in the morning to a continuation of the nights weather and quickly got back on the road.  Driving the van along mountain roads in high wind is no fun especially one so high (both road and van) making it more like sailing a boat than driving a van.  I should have turned off the engine and tacked across the road….it would have been much easier.

We finally arrived in Piha 4 hours later with the rain easing but the wind still very gusty.  As we descended the mountain into the cove where Piha is established, we were presented with one of the most incredible sights we had seen so far.  A small(ish) bay with part of the ancient cliff remaining as a rock column in the middle of a tempestuous sea, surrounded by a beautiful black beach (the sand here is volcanic) and a stormy/sunny sky above.  Aided by the high winds coming off the sea, it gave the place a really dramatic edge to it.  The surrounding hills were filled with large expensive properties owned by the rich and famous of Auckland.

Piha is famous for three things, home to one of the brothers from Crowded House, the most dangerous beach in New Zealand due to the rip tides and just along the coast the beach that was famously featured in the film Piano.  If you come to New Zealand it’s a must see place!

We left Piha with a heavy heart wanting to stay longer and soak up more of the bracing atmosphere that this place exuded, but alas more adventures called.  We skirted around the suburbs of Auckland and got onto the southern motorway to head for the Waitomo Caves.  Waitomo is a small town in an area approximately 100x100 km square blessed with over 1000 caves, 300 of which have been mapped and 20 of these opened up for commercial operations.  After a quick look around at the different types and difficulty levels of the various adventures we finally settled on the TumuTuma TOObing with Waitomo Adventures as this would give us the most of the must see in one trip.  It also had the least amount of squeezing through tight spots as Emma suffers with a little bit of claustrophobia, so caving probably not the best thing to do then!  After a sleepless night for Emma we returned to the caving centre ready for our adventure.  Our guide Chris was an adrenalin junkie with dreadlocks from the South Island and the only other people on the trip were a couple from the US.  We got kitted out in our 15mm thick wet suites, hard hats with head lamps and white Wellington boots (yes, very fetching indeed) and walked to the cave entrance a few hundred metres up the hill.

The cave entrance was in a hollow in the hills covered with trees and was smaller than a man hole cover.  All you could see was a small hole and the top of a ladder.  This was Emma’s first big test and she came through with flying colours however a little less cursing next time would be nice!

Once properly in the cave it opened up and allowed you to walk freely without having to climb over things or stoop, more of that came later.  As we made our way down the tunnel our guide would pick out things to look at and explain how they were created.  Eventually the dry flat bottom began to give way to a rockier and wetter course as the river that flows through this cave system started to find its way.  It wasn’t long before we were up to our waists in cold, sandy water.  We then reached what seemed like a solid wall and a barrier for the water.  To the left was a small hole running horizontally into the cave wall, Emma’s second test.  The tube was about 3m long, had a kink at the end to return you to the main tunnel and was just wide enough to get your shoulders through.  There was a plan B if you did not want to do it, but wanting to conquer some of her fears, Emma decided to go for it.  Well after a little coaching and shouts of encouragement from all in the cave she got through.  They say a picture tells a thousand words and you would not be wrong when you look at this one as she emerges from the tube.

Once through Chris asked us to make a chain and put our hands on the back of the person in front and turn off our head torches.  He then walked us a few metres along the dark tunnel round a corner to be presented with what looked like a clear star filled sky, but were in fact thousands of Glow Worms.  The tunnel opened up into a wider and higher chamber still filled waist high water and even more tiny green lights on the ceiling.  As your eyes became accustomed to the dark the little blighters gave out just enough light for you to be able to start making out the sides of the cavern, the others in the group and the light shimmering on the water.  There were lots of ooohhs and ahhhs from the group as we looked upon this quite remarkable sight - really amazing.  We stayed in the dark for about 15 minutes fully taking in the grandeur of this secret place and the tiny creatures living down here.

Next we made our way further into the cave clambering over rocks and through more tight spots to where the water became an underground river.  Here, instead of wading through it we pulled ourselves along on a rope whilst floating on rubber rings, doing this again with the head torches off.  The narrow tunnel this time had what looked like a vaulted roof with the millions of glow worms randomly taking up space on the high roof giving the place a Christmas lights feel about it.  With the adventure nearly over we had one final obstacle, a 15m swim along a very deep part of the river and then out to freedom and the fresh air.  We spent nearly 2 hours underground seeing this magnificent place up close and personal and loved every minute of it.  Emma was a trooper and realised that she had actually enjoyed it once she was warm and in the sunlight again.  As a treat that night’s meal was a posh dinner and bottle of wine in one of NZ’s top restaurants, Huhu which just so happened to be next to the campsite where we were staying. 

The next day we left Waitomo to drive the 400km to Wellington where we would be catching the ferry to the South Island and where the real mountains are….very excited!  Thankfully, this road was much straighter and faster and so we were able to make good headway with little to distract us along the way.  The only sight worthy of note was as we motored round Tongariro National Park and we got our first view of three active volcanoes which briefly presented themselves through the thick low cloud.  This area was used as Mordor in the Lord of the Rings and you could see why.  We reached the outskirts of Wellington that evening ready for our ferry crossing at 8:25am the next morning.