About Waitomo to Raglan

After lazy beach days in New Plymouth, it was time to move on. We had just under a week until Auckland, which is only 400 km away on the direct route. So there was still time for a few detours and scenic routes.

First, we headed north along the coast on SH 3, then took a detour inland to Piopio. From there, we turned left onto a small country road, which led us back to the coast at Marokopa and then inland again through Te Anga until we reached Waitomo. The scenery was beautiful, and it's hard to believe that Auckland is so close.

The town of Waitomo has only 50 residents, but it attracts a multitude of tourists. The reason for this are the spectacular caves, where an abundance of glowworms sometimes even provide "light". And this natural spectacle is professionally marketed. There are various cave tours at typical Kiwi prices, and the crowds of visitors (likely many from Auckland) are brought in by buses.

We didn't want to be part of such a mass tour, so we stayed at the local campsite, which wasn't exactly cheap. Instead, we hiked the Ruakari Bushwalk, which is considered one of the most beautiful short hikes in New Zealand. And it was worth it - especially at the end of the trail, where there's a huge cave, partly collapsed, with a roaring stream flowing through it.

Our next destination was Raglan, a small seaside town on the west coast where many Aucklanders like to spend a few days at the beach. That was also our plan - to spend the last few days before returning to Auckland calmly by the sea. From Waitomo, we took a small road to Hauturu and then to Kawhia. From there, we followed a gravel road above Aotea Harbour as we headed north to Raglan.

Unfortunately, we (once again) had some bad luck with the weather - it wasn't exactly bathing weather. It was too chilly and (once again) quite windy. But luckily, it was at least dry, so we explored the area. The atmosphere here was very pleasant and relaxed. We could watch surfers riding the waves, go for walks on the beach, explore the coast by motorbike, or simply have a beer at the local pub. One day, I took a little trip to Hamilton to visit the largest KTM dealer in New Zealand. They did indeed have a lot of KTM bikes, but they also sold BMW and Suzuki. It was funny to see that they still had the beloved DRZ 400 for sale at a low price.

Even funnier was that we (once again) ran into some "acquaintances". This time it was cyclists from southern Germany on a world tour, whom we had already met on the South Island. We had been wondering why they were traveling so fast. The solution to the puzzle was that they had flown from Christchurch to New Plymouth because they were annoyed by the wind, and it was the only way they could make their return flight from Auckland. We were glad to be traveling on motorized two-wheelers - we haven't met any really happy cyclists on the whole tour.