A Million Miles From Here: Wellington to Rotorua

We now had 7 days left before returning the van to Auckland so with no time to waste we headed for Napier, a massive 6 hour drive north. The route was a major road for NZ and meandered through small towns that got smaller the further we travelled from Wellington.

We reached Napier in good time however wanting to keep clocking up the miles we did a drive by instead of stopping to look at the town centre and its Art Deco architecture. The place was re-built in the 1930’s after an earthquake all but destroyed the original city centre. With most of the buildings remade with concrete god help them the next time a major quake hits. We continued our journey north heading for Lake Waikaremoana and a DOC campsite that was on the way. At the end of a very long unsealed road was a overgrown plot of land next to a dirty river, not one of the best DOC sites we have stayed at. We left early the next day with plans to spend a day at Lake Waikaremoana doing some walking and then using the back roads to head to Taupo. After referring to two different maps and the bible they all confirmed that the road was sealed. After a 2hr drive to the turn off we were presented with a road sign warning us that there was 105km of unsealed road ahead - bugger. With no other road options we had no choice but to drive 3 hrs back to Napier and pick up the only other road over the mountains to Taupo. This unfortunate oversight cost us nearly ¾ of a tank of fuel and half a day, but this was the first time in all the miles we have done that we have had to retrace our steps so not bad going really.

We arrived in Taupo by late afternoon to a spectacular view of the lake and snow capped mountains in the background, with both of us saying “Mountains” in a Bilbo Baggins style (I got LOTR1 DVD for my birthday and have been watching it recently). Lake Taupo is the largest lake in New Zealand and another must see on the tourist trail. The town of Taupo was small but with lots of cool restaurants and pubs overlooking the lake and the 2500m high mountains beyond. After a little look around town we headed for Huka Falls, an impressive waterfall close to town and on the Waikato River. As we stood looking at the falls, a Kayaker came down the river and over the nearly 10m drop. The picture would have been amazing however by the time we worked out what he was doing and got the camera ready he was already safely over.

Our night stop was close to the falls and we appeared to be sharing it with what seemed like hundreds of other vans, many more than we usually see in these free spots. The sand flies that had plagued us on the South Island seemed to have gone allowing us to enjoy the warm spring evening.

The next morning we headed for our next big adventure, Jet Boating. Along with Bungee Jumping and Zorbing, Jetboats are a Kiwi invention. We selected a company called Rapids Jet as they actually went over some of the Aratiatia Rapids in the lower part of the river rather than just racing up and down the flat river throwing 360 degree turns. The boat held ten paying customers and for a change it was a sell out.

We jumped into the boat which due to the speed of the water racing down the river already seeming to be running just to stand still. The driver gave us the usual safety talk, turned round and then punched the throttle. The sensation was like being fired out of a cannon as the boat literally flew up the river against the strong current. Every now and then he would twirl his finger to indicate he was about to spin the boat and then on cue the boat would turn doing an almost 360 degree turn stopping the boat instantly to howls of screams and laughter as everyone got covered in water. Next we headed down the river towards to the rapids. He picked his line carefully avoiding any protruding rocks and changing direction at great speed to navigate the rapids. The biggest of the rapids were at the end of section of the river that we were travelling and he went back over them several times trying to get as much air as he could on one particular large drop off.

Did we mention the Dam? A few kilometres up the river was a Hydroelectric Dam which controlled the flow and controlled the water to the other 35 Hydroelectric stations further down stream. Just after our journey began the Dam gates were opened letting 85,000 litres of water per second into the narrow river. We raced back up the river to watch the rapids sink below the rising water. When we reached the dam we saw the water heading over some large rocks which were a few metres high creating a small waterfall with a white cauldron of foaming water at its base. Our driver edged the boat ever closer until the engine could not keep the boat stationary against the flow of the water. We have both been in some quick machines in our time but we have never experienced the sensation of speed so much as when we were in this boat - simply awesome.

After a little rest and some calming down we got back on the road and headed to Rotorua, one of the most geothermic active places on the planet. As we drove into town the pleasant pine tree smell that had accompanied us for most of the journey now gave way to the smell of rotten eggs - the very unpleasant smell of sulphur. That night we stayed in a paid campsite close to town and enjoyed the very strong smell which at times was quite uncomfortable to breathe causing coughing fits from not only us but also the surrounding tents and vans….is this actually OK to breathe??! The area is so volcanic that even the manhole covers had steam coming out of them.

The next morning we prepped for another adrenaline fuelled activity - White Water Rafting. Stupidly Emma had mentioned that she had never done it before and as I had done it several times I decided as part of her Christmas present to pay for a rafting trip. But not any old rafting trip, a grade 5 trip (the hardest you can do on a commercial trip) with a 7m waterfall to boot (before the hate mail begins, Emma picked it). We arrived at the rafting centre early with Emma visibly nervous. Our guide seeing our van popped out to say hi and explained that we were their only customers today and so we could start any time we liked. Well, the look on Emma’s face was a picture thinking that she had more time to mentally prepare.

With two guides and just us we had a private rafting experience. The first few rapids got Emma used to the idea and the instructions being shouted from the back. The first waterfall we encountered was small at only 3m high, but Emma was now very nervous. As we went over, Emma being the trooper she is, whopped and hollered especially on realising we had landed the right way up.

30m down the river was the next and big 7m high monster. We sat at the top just a few metres from the edge to be given the very serious talk about what to do if we fell out and got stuck under the masses of water that would be pushing us down. Trying to look over the edge and not being able to see the bottom even made me reconsider my options for a minute. Safety talk over, we were off and free falling nose first into the cauldron of white water at the bottom. The boat popped out the right way up but full of water and floated to the side. I looked round to see Emma beaming from ear to ear.

The rest of the trip was down a few more rapids with us stopping at the bigger ones to stick the boat’s nose back into them to get us properly wet and unable to breathe with the force of the water.

Great trip, short at 45 minutes but a perfect introduction for Emma to Rafting and she loved it (thank god). With our trip budget now almost spent and us now living on soup, we bought the obligatory pictures of our rafting experience for our loyal readers as they really give a sense of what we have done and there are some very funny pictures of me (as per usual).

We had one final place to see before leaving Rotorua which was Hells Gate Thermal Park. As part of the Rafting price we got free entry to this Geothermal park. The one hour walk around the alien landscape was certainly interesting. Created by the hot sulphurous water coming out of the ground, the place looked like it had been used in every SciFi film in the last 20 years.

The hottest pool was 140d complete with bubbling hot mud. It was weird to think that we were wandering around this place looking at the various volcanic formations like you would in a exhibition but potentially at any minute this place could actually erupt!