Auckland and the volcanoes

From the Bay of Islands, we continued to Auckland. We were able to park our van right in the center. We walked to a well-known shopping street and then on to the television tower. Since Silvan always wants to go to observation towers, this one was also on the agenda. The view of the city and the bay was rewarding. We then went south to Waitomo via Mount Eden (another viewpoint).

There, we did black water rafting in the Waitomo Caves. Equipped with wetsuits, helmets, and rubber rings, we went to the entrance of a cave. After crawling into it, we floated through the cave on the rubber rings. The ceiling was filled with glowworms, so we could turn off our flashlights and enjoy the 'starry sky'. After about 1 and a half hours in the icy water, we had a hot shower and soup after the tour.
Strengthened, we continued inland with the van and arrived in the Tongariro National Park early in the afternoon.

The next morning, a shuttle bus took us to the starting point of the Tongariro Crossing, a very famous hike, at around 5 am. Since famous usually also means very crowded, we set off so early. And it paid off, we were almost alone on the approximately 6-hour hike. The path led through volcanic craters, past smoking sulfur springs and lakes. Since we were back at the campsite by 12 pm, we decided to visit the Taranaki Falls. The additional 1 and a half hour hike was rewarded with a swim under the cool waterfall. I voluntarily went in, Silvan just wanted to see how warm it is and slipped in the process, which made the decision for him to go in.

On Tuesday, the 'forgotten world highway' was on the agenda. Unfortunately, Silvan had something in his eye since the previous evening that wouldn't come out. Which meant that I had to drive the entire route myself. After a beautiful, very curvy and tiring 4 hours, we arrived in Stratford. From there, we quickly went to a lake where we spent the night.

The next day, we set off early again to hike to Fanthams Peak, a secondary peak of Mt. Taranaki. After a little over 2 hours, we had climbed the 1000 meters in altitude and were at the summit. Since it was only just after 9 am, Silvan wanted to climb Taranaki as well. The ascent was off the trail, steep, and through scree. Silvan ran up more or less, I walked comfortably almost to the top and then turned back when I saw Silvan descending. We spent the rest of the afternoon at a black beach in Patea, swimming and doing laundry.