Road trip in North Island - Day 13

4 January 2017

Sunny day finally!!

I woke to a stunning morning, the view of the beach, outside the window, in the dazzling hot sun was a real stunner. I could hear the sound of the waves as I sat on my upper bunk bed. I dint want to move, for everything around was so beautiful and cozy. I scribbled something in my book and stayed in until I saw the girl below my bed was pulling out a placard to write her next destination.

Cape Kidnappers on a cloudy day

Cape Kidnappers on a sunny day

I asked her where she was heading. She said, she was doing the Cape Kidnappers walk and after 10 am there were low tides. I thought it would be a good idea to take a look at it again, on a sunny day like this. So we thought we could together. I checked out of the hotel and go into my car. Not far off, there were two boys waiting for a ride. They hoped in with their huge backpacks. The small car was now fully loaded and still doing quite well. They got off at Clive, not too far from where they joined but we had to turn left.

Lovely sky over Napier

From here, we parked our at the parking lot and started walking towards the beginning of the walk along the shore. The place looked completely different and so much more colorful than yesterday. The color of the sky and the water made all the difference. It's a shame, I could not do the walk as I had to drive a long way back to Turangi, but I was sure to come again to Napier and for this walk.

View along the drive from Napier to Taupo

I bid bye to my co-traveller from Canada but now a wellingtonian. I returned to Napier and then towards Taupo. I was soon joined by a french boy hitchhiking to go to Taupo. We started talking but soon realised that his English was like my French. We sat mute for the rest of the journey. The drive was so much smoother and lot more picturesque this time.

Back in Taupo, the mountains where clearly visible

Once again, I had time to stop at some lookout spots for a stretch and ate some food we had packed. I offered him some of my kichdi. Not sure if he liked it, he dint come back for more and ate his energy bar. We spoke once again, closer to Taupo, and figured out that he was also doing the Tongariro crossing and was staying in Turangi that night. I offered him to take him to the backpackers I was staying at and he was more than happy.

Taupo Lake

Back at the lodge, once again buzzing with more people this time. All the rooms were pretty booked out. We prepared some lunch for tomorrow's walk, had an early dinner and the plan was to start at 4 am from the lodge. We made groups of 8 people each, two cars, each one parked at both ends of the walk. We walk from one end to the other so that we have a car to ride back to the start and then reach back. You'd end up paying 30 NZD just for the ride otherwise.

We were off to bed super early.

Road trip in North Island - Day 12

3 January 2017

Another beautiful day in Napier!!

The sky was more clear this morning. I wanted to go easy today, nothing elaborate. Cooked breakfast, read and leisurely spent the morning in the Youth Hostel lounge. I booked in for another night in Napier than driving any further.

Injured penguins at the National Aquarium

 Visited the penguin feeding session at the aquarium. The little penguins were rescued from their habitats because of some injuries and are fed regularly by the staff. They were extremely cute creatures. Few too shy to come out of their nest and few others grabbing the food from your hands.

 Penguins are the National Aquarium 

It was so humid outside and I could go out in a T-shirt, finally felt like summer in New Zealand. I drove further south to Te Mata peak. It is a decent walk if you want to but I preferred driving all the way up and walked around from one hill to the other. The landscape was so unique with breathtaking views all around. On a clear day, one can see Mount Ruapehu towards West and Ruahine ranges down South. Not today though.

View from Te Mata peak

My next stop was at Cape Kidnappers, sounded interesting. It is a good idea to do this walk on a low tide day. The walk can get very risky and challenges when the waves get stronger. I preferred, once again to drive and walked to the beach. It wasn't an ideal day for the walk.

View from Te Mata peak

From hear I went searching for Tuki Tuki river, according to google maps it was 13 kms further South from Te Mata peak. When I actually reached the spot, I found myself stuck in a narrow road with no clue of any river what-so-ever. I couldn't even reverse the car, with some struggle I reached the paved road again and gave up the idea of locating Tuki Tuki river. Some misadventures!

View from Te Mata peak

I was back in Napier for another relaxed evening. Took a stroll in the city enjoying the warm breeze. Back in the room socialising with co-travellers, sharing stories across the table. Tomorrow I was heading back to Turangi.

View from Te Mata peak

Road trip in North Island - Day 11

2 January 2017

The most challenging day behind the wheels!!

It was very cloudy as expected the next morning. I dropped the American lady to Taupo and drove towards Napier. The drive was so beautiful that I stopped at most of the lookouts for a short stretch. Ian had also passed on a tip while driving, to take a stretch every 1 hour of driving to avoid soar muscles. I was applying that tip right away.

The view of the falls from the scenic lookout

I stopped at one of the lookouts to discover this gorgeous waterfall. It was raining by this time. The visibility as I headed higher altitudes got worse and I was struggling to keep pace with my driving. This was the most challenging one so far when it came to driving. The whole route was over an endless range of mountains and tall trees covering the sky above.

View on the way to Napier

I managed to stop at few more spots for a stretch when the rain gave break. It was post lunch when I reached Napier, another coastal city. It was light drizzles and as it was a public holiday, carpark wasn't an issue. I checked in at Youth Hostel on one of the main roads, located perfectly overlooking the beach.

View on the way from Taupo to Napier

I shedded my luggage at the hostel and got into my hiking shoes and did short walk just around the city, Bluff Hill walk. The sky was very cloud and the views weren't very colorful, yet the harbour looked stunning. Overlooking the city from the viewpoint, I realised, I had already fallen in love with yet another New Zealand city, Napier. The city has a vintage feel and flaunts its own character quite different from the rest of the country. It is also bestowed with lot of sunshine, warm weather and very old architectural structures.

From the bushes, I headed into the town for some grocery shopping. It being a holiday, the city was so quiet and not many people on the streets. It felt so homely here.

At the National Aquarium, Napier

I made a yummy dinner and sat around a table and struck a conversation with a japaneese girl across the table. She was writing a postcard to someone, I couldn't control the excitement and asked who was she writing the card for. She said it was for her granny in Japan. She continued her story and told that she was here doing a English course for past one year. She makes sure to drop atleast one card every month to her granny. I was glad to hear to her story. She was completely taken aback when I read, pointing at her card, are you writing Happy New year 2017, Ha Ha. She caught me in a bit when she realised that she had written the numbers 2017 in English.

At the National Aquarium, Napier

Later in the evening, I visited the National Aquarium. I'm always fascinated by places like Museums, planetariums and aquariums. For the reason that I get transported to another world when you are in there. I spent generous time going around and reading every bit. There live penguin feeding events were over for the day by then so I requested if I can revisit next days event on the same ticket. They were very kind to say yes.

At the National Aquarium, Napier

I was happy to have another day of hot shower back in the hostel. After enjoying a good meal, I went back to my books after a long time (about 2 days now). 

Road trip in North Island - Day 10

1 January 2017

Taupo was busy. 

I was in Turangi before 10 am. I was intending to do the Tongariro Alpine crossing the next day and Turangi is an ideal stay option. The start of the walk is less than 20 kms from here. I checked into a vintage-looking, characteristic backpacker lodge. 

At the backpackers

There were already a bunch of people who were also planning the walk next morning. However the weather wasn't very great and Tongariro is not a place to risk. The weather on mountains can change any moment and on a cloudy day, its no joke. I wasn't very happy about it but it is how it is. 

Walk along Tongariro river 

Ian, the host suggested to go see around other places and return in two days as there was a small window of weather getting clear. He drew out a plan for me to drive East coast to Napier. The moment he said Napier, it rang a bell. Though it din't sound convincing that I had to return to Turangi again in two days, the plan to visit Napier stuck with me.

Walk along Tongariro river 

We sat down and listed out the places I could check out on the East coast. Sounded exciting!!

I made some nachos for lunch and enjoyed the warm couch, large maps, birds chirping in the lounge, Candy (Yes!!! Candy it is, again), their pet dog lazing around. It was a perfect place to just stay in and read books all day. 

Walk along Tongariro river 

Later in the evening, I and another lady from America, travelling here for a month, did a walk along the Tongariro river. She talked about her Son and his girl friend as we walked. She was completely surprised to know that I was an Indian and was still unmarried at 29. 

Candy

At night, there was so much buzz in the hostel that we all sat around watching a movie on the TV and went to sleep only by midnight. 

Walk along Tongariro river