New Zealand Diary, Days 2 and 3

Day 2: Tongariro

We continued south along the shore of Lake Taupo until we got to Turangi, where we found a nice little bakery for "brekkie" (breakfast). Bless that English heritage, they had lots of little meat pies to choose from. I chose a steak, bacon, and cheese pie. DW had something less adventuresome, like a croissant with bacon and egg. The people there were so nice, and let us use their phone--several times--for some arrangements we had not yet made.

Just at the far edge of town was the highway that took us through the north fringe of Tongariro National Park: the Te Ponanga Saddle Road. We passed a couple of beautiful lakes (Rotopounamu and Rotoaira), and saw a small outdoor adventure shop. We had heard about the Tongariro Crossing walk, and stopped to find out what we could. They said it took about 6 hours one-way, and offered transportation from the shop to one trailhead, then back from the other end to the shop, for NZ$35/person. No guide, no food, nothing else; just transportation. We thought that was a little steep, so they recommended we drive about 15 minutes into Whakapapa (pronounced Fah-ka-pah-pa) village, which is similar to National Park villages in the US, such as at Yosemite or Zion. They told us that there we would find several smaller loop trails that would only take an hour or two apiece.

When we arrived there, we were a little surprised to find a relatively huge hotel (in the photo below, it's around 1-1½ km away from us), along with the expected information center, café, campground, and souvenir shops. At the info center, they told us the best trail for our limited time would be the Taranaki Falls track. It's about a 6 km loop, estimated for a 2-hour walk. It took us less than an hour-and-a-half.

Ruapehu from its base, looking south

Manawatu Valley, looking west

Silliness on return trail

Taranaki Falls

Upon finishing that walk, we had a look at the café in the village for lunch, but nothing appealed to us. We drove another 20 minutes to the town named "National Park" at the intersection with Hwy 4, and picked up a couple of sandwiches and ginger beers at the convenience store. The brand was Bundaberg, and it is excellent. The label suggests that one "invert gently before opening," to help distribute the bits of ginger.

Cascade in the beautiful
Wanganui Valley

A closer look at the cascade

We went on south, because we had a reservation on the ferry from Wellington to Picton, across the Cook Strait, for the next afternoon. We planned to spend the night in or around Wellington, the political capital of New Zealand. On the way, the highway followed the Wanganui River, at one point in which there was this cascade.

We arrived in Wellington at just about rush hour (lucky us), and drove around downtown for a bit until we reached the harbor and found the ferry terminal so we'd know where it was the next day. We then ventured back north a bit, along a slightly different route that took us a short way up the (Lower) Hutt Valley, to Petone. We started looking for lodging, and drove around the streets until I didn't know which way I was going--although I did know pretty much how to get back. We drove all the way out Seaview Road, which became Marine Drive, which finally turned into Muritai Road in Eastbourne, which ends about 5 km south of Petone. There were a few B&Bs and Homestays in the area, but they were all fully booked. It was a very nice drive, though, even if I did think I was going mostly north.

We ended up at a little motel in central Petone (I said I knew how to get back!): the Settlers Inn, whose proprietor told us was part of a network called "Host Hotels." He gave us a booklet and a stamp, so that if we stayed 11 nights in Host properties, we would get a 12th night free! Of course, there was no way we could use it. So if any of my readers plan to visit New Zealand, let me know and I'll send the booklet to the first one who wants it. It actually has two stamps now--we stayed in a Host property in Nelson the next night.

Day 3: Timekilling, Thai, & Transit

The Settlers proprietor was good enough to recommend a great little place for coffee and brekkie--Caffiend--and it was only a few blocks away, so we walked. They didn't open for another half-hour, so we walked one more long block down Queen Street to the waterfront, passing some charming older houses, some of which had been or were being renovated. The beach walk, or "Esplanade", is very nice in Petone.

Back at Caffiend, we glanced over a copy of the local newspaper. There was a story about a white kiwi chick that had recently hatched, and another headlined "Young Kiwis Migrating to Australia". We at first wondered how the flightless nocturnal birds were getting to Australia, then realized they were using the nickname for New Zealanders.

DW had picked up some brochures at the motel, and one was for a Thai restaurant in downtown Wellington. We were supposed to queue up for the ferry at 1:00, so we decided to have lunch at that restaurant. We saw a lot more of Wellington, and when we finally arrived at the restaurant, we learned they didn't open until 12:00, about a half-hour. So we walked across the street to the New World supermarket to see if there were any snacks we wanted to take on the ferry. Nah.

We went back to the restaurant at 11:55, and they let us in! But they told us they had a large party coming at 12:30, so they'd appreciate it if we could order right away. Hmm. Anyway, we were hungry by then, and we had our 1:00 check-in time at the ferry, so we did order quickly and the food arrived, not quite as quickly as I would expect if they were really rushed. It was very good, though, and other than acting rushed, the staff were very friendly.

We made it to check-in at just about 1:00, and we were in the first one-third of cars to board for the 3½ hour crossing. That didn't mean we were in the first one-third off, assurances by the check-in clerk to the contrary. *sigh* After disembarking from the ferry, we drove to Nelson, the gateway to the Abel Tasman National Park region. We passed vineyards, sheep,

green rolling hills dotted with sheep, mountain passes, 

lots of sheep, and even some deer being raised commercially.

We found out some days later that at least one of the pizza chains in Oz and NZ uses pepperoni made of venison. We also found out that what they call "pepperoni" tastes more like what I would call "salami." But I digress.

One of the rivers we had to cross was the Pelorus, which is spanned by a one-lane bridge at the bottom of a particularly steep and winding pass. Unfortunately, it was getting too dark by then to get good photos of this beautiful area. Oh, did I mention the sheep?

On the next day, we would begin our grand adventure in Abel Tasman National Park! We were excited, but exhausted from another day of travel, so when we found our Host motel in Nelson (and got our stamp), we went straight to the room to freshen up. We made a short trip down to the city center, featuring a pretty square on the hillside and lots of little shops and cafés that were mostly now closed, to pick up some spaghetti and garlic bread to take back to the room to eat. It was delicious, and with full tummies, we fell fast asleep to dream of hiking and boating.