Week 17 - Tongariro, Hawkes Bay and Birthday Week

Our night in the hostel was surprisingly good. The room and bathroom were clean. The 8-bed room was only half booked, but it was extremely warm because the heating was set to maximum throughout the entire hostel and couldn’t be adjusted. But better to sweat than freeze in the van. We would have definitely been freezing at this location, since when we went to the van in the morning at 8 AM, the window was thickly frozen. With Julian's old health insurance card, we painstakingly scraped the window clear. We drove to the Visitor Center because our hike to the Tama Lakes started there. 18 kilometers were ahead of us. The hike was one of the most beautiful we had done so far in New Zealand. We had perfect weather and great views of the volcanoes in the national park. The views from the lakes to the mountains were also particularly stunning. Thanks to the very good paths, the 18 kilometers felt much shorter. Overall, it was a perfect day.
After another night in the hostel, we wanted to take advantage of the next day in the national park and hiked 6 kilometers to Waihohonu Hut. This is located on the exact opposite side of the lakes, and we had great views of the volcanoes from the other side. In the national park, there's THE day hike of New Zealand - The Crossing from the Tongariro Volcano. The volcano covers a large area and because the main crater has collapsed, there are many small craters here. For several reasons, we did not do the hike... 1. It is partly alpine terrain with a lot of snow and ice in winter. We are simply not equipped for that. 2. We could only do the crossing with a guide, which is incredibly expensive. 3. The special views of Blue Lake and Red Crater are denied in winter because everything is buried under snow and ice.
However, the Tama Lakes compensated for everything!
Wednesday was the much-needed rest day, and we spent it in Palmerston North. We strolled through the streets, utilized the Wi-Fi of the Visitor Center, and visited the National Rugby Museum. Here, the history of rugby was described consecutively by decades, and there was a small experimental area. Here Julian could unleash his inner child. We spent the night at the Woodville Ferry Reserve, right by the river. Once again, we were able to admire a clear starry sky. Although most New Zealanders live on the North Island, it is still so rural here that the starry sky is often very clear.
The next morning, we took a walk in the Manawatu Gorge. Then we drove into the complete hinterland to the 'Place with the longest Name in the world'. I won't type out the name because it contains 92 characters. It’s named after a hill, which is 5 kilometers from the sign. In the middle of nowhere, there is a huge parking lot, a coffee cart, and the sign. By the way: The city with the longest name is Bangkok, with its ceremonial name. The sign is more of an Instagram thing; there’s really nothing else to see there. We spent the night in the next town at a restaurant. For dinner, we were allowed to stay overnight in their parking lot. Unfortunately, dinner was not worth it for Franzi. Vegetarian food is simply not a thing in New Zealand, and it's really challenging to eat out. After a disappointing burger, there was some muesli in the van. Julian, on the other hand, was very satisfied with his seafood platter. At least one of us was :)
The next morning, we continued towards Hastings to the Te Mata Trust Park. We hiked along a path that meandered through the rocky landscape. We crossed a redwood forest. These are the California Redwoods, which are considered the largest trees in the world. The hike was great, and the views were wonderful. At the Te Mata Peak, there was something like a summit cross. We finally spent the night again by the sea near Napier.
Since Franzi's birthday was coming up over the weekend and Julian wanted to plan the day for Franzi, he took over the planning for the entire weekend immediately so that she couldn't interfere with the plans. Therefore, on Saturday we headed to Napier. The city has the highest concentration of Art Deco houses in the world. The reason for this is an earthquake in 1931 that destroyed the entire city. Subsequently, the city was rebuilt as quickly as possible. This happened between 1932 and 1934, at a time when construction worldwide was very limited. The city tour was excellent; we would probably never have discovered all the houses on our own. Since we once again had perfect weather (20 degrees and no clouds in the sky), we strolled through the alleys with a coffee to-go along the promenade. The city-close Freedom camping site was perfect for Franzi's birthday the next day.
Julian took over the planning for Sunday, i.e., Franzi's birthday. In the morning, we first went to the National Aquarium of New Zealand. Because the weather was better than expected, we then played mini-golf. Franzi narrowly won against Julian. In the afternoon, we went to a lookout and then for wine tasting at New Zealand's oldest winery. The tasting was really good. Hawkes Bay is one of the few wine regions in New Zealand, and the wines are not as dry as in Germany. That suited our tastes ;-) To round off the day, we will go out for dinner.