Week 8 - On New Zealand's West Coast and Among the Giants of the Forest

The new week began with a travel day. However, we planned a few stops along the way to make the journey more enjoyable and visit a few small towns. We stopped at the Koutu Boulders, some nearly perfectly spherical stones on a small bay.

The next stop was a short walk at Omapere on the Signal Station Track Scenic Lookout with an exciting view of a large sand dune and the Tasman Sea. The subsequent drive took us through the Waipoua Forest, one of the largest forest areas on New Zealand's North Island, to our destination, the Trounson Kauri Park Campground. We had booked a stay for 3 nights (which are free with our DOC Camp Pass).

The next day was set for a hike to the Maunganui Bluff Summit. The hike started at the beach and tested our stamina with the nearly 500 meters of elevation gain. The path was very varied, taking us first along the cliff coastline, then through dense jungle, and finally alongside pasture fences to the summit. The view over the North Island's West Coast was unique. After a sufficient break and a great drone flight, we began our return journey. The subsequent, unfortunately, very cold shower (the hot water was broken that day) was well earned.

A hike around Lake Taharoa and the landscape of the Kai Iwi Lakes was the next highlight of the week. We completed the 8km hike around the largest of the three lakes under a beautifully blue sky and plenty of sunshine. Accordingly, the view over the lake and its tropical-looking blue water next to the white sand was beautiful. We took advantage of the nice weather for a longer break by the lake. The two campsites directly by the lake were deserted. In summer, however, there is certainly a lot happening here, and we would have likely spent a night there and enjoyed the lakes even more.

So Thursday brought another change of location, and we made our way back north. We had again planned two stops along the way. In the Waipoua Forest stands the largest Kauri tree in the world and New Zealand's largest tree, Tane Mahuta (God of the Forest). This truly impressive tree is located right by the main road and can be reached via a short, well-constructed path. When looking at the tree with its massive trunk (circumference 13.77m) and crown reaching up to 51.2m high, one feels quite small.

Only a few kilometers away is the second largest Kauri tree in New Zealand. We were lucky, as the hiking trail had just reopened. This tree, Te Matua Ngahere (Father of the Forest), has the most powerful trunk with a circumference of 16.41m. Additionally, about 50 other plant species grow on the tree. Considering that these trees are around 2000 years old, it is understandable why they are so significant to the Maori and are under special protection in New Zealand.

The next day was very rainy; we had planned a rest day anyway, so it bothered us little. We drove to the already familiar parking lot at Kawakawa (free parking, with everything a traveler's heart desires). Unfortunately, we received a phone call in the afternoon that our planned diving trip for Saturday could not take place due to weather conditions.

However, since we didn’t want to spend Saturday just in the van again, we quickly planned an alternative trip to Russell. We first drove to Paihia to take a small ferry for the short crossing to Russell. From the small harbor there, we initially headed to the Flagstaff Hill Historic Reserve. Our path continued to Tapeka View Point, where there is a lovely view over the many islands of the Bay of Islands. On our way back, we encountered a family of Wekas. Wekas are about chicken-sized flightless birds that some tourists confuse with Kiwis. Julian also discovered small wooden boxes that were hung on trees along the path. When we opened the wooden lids, we could see several large Wetas inside. This truly large species of grasshopper has lived in New Zealand since ancient times and was once also on the food menu of the Maori. Thus, Saturday was not as originally planned, but we could still enjoy the day.

As the first full month in New Zealand has passed, we took a look at our finances from the past weeks. We normally do not keep a household book, but we were curious about how much living here costs us and where we might have potential for savings.

In general, we focused on bargains while shopping and only buy vegetables that are cheap here (sweet potatoes, pumpkin, broccoli, ...). We completely avoid expensive vegetable varieties (zucchini, peppers, ...). We spent 484 NZD on groceries in June. If you break that down, it’s 16 NZD per day for 2 people. That’s about 8.50 €. It could certainly be cheaper, but we are surprised that it is actually that inexpensive since New Zealand is considered an expensive country. However, we feel that Germany has caught up well in recent years and the gap between the two countries is no longer so huge.

Furthermore, we spent 297 NZD on parking spaces. This actually surprised us because we pay attention to ensuring that parking spots are either free or included in the DOC Pass. However, this is not always possible. Nevertheless, we want to pay even better attention to this in the future.

Of course, we had other expenses such as fuel, laundry, and occasionally a coffee, but we are fully satisfied with this and cannot complain.

In total, we are managing quite well with our expenses. Still, we want to keep an eye on these, so that we can report back to you about them in some time.