North Island, Wellington - Auckland

We started on the North Island on 07.02. in Wellington. We had booked an Airbnb accommodation for 2 nights. What we especially liked in the city was the Te Papa Museum (admission is free). A very large, modern museum in which, among other things, a giant octopus is exhibited. There is a lot to see about the indigenous people, the history of New Zealand, earthquakes and animals, etc. This was the first museum that even Thomas (a museum skeptic) liked :). In Wellington, most of the action takes place on the waterfront and in Cuba Mall / Cuba Street. Especially in the evening, there is a lot going on here. Near our accommodation (Brooklyn district) we spontaneously followed the sign to the wind turbine on the first evening at sunset. You could walk to the wind turbine on foot. Unfortunately, there were several options and the path was poorly signposted. That's why we chose a somewhat creepy path through a forest in the twilight. After we were eventually very unsure, we turned around. At one point, the footpaths crossed with a road. Fortunately, we met a local couple here with whom we then walked up the direct path. You had a great view of the sea and Wellington.

The next morning we went to Mount Victoria Lookout. You can easily reach this viewpoint by car. Then we drove to The Weta Cave and took a one-hour tour. The Weta Cave is a film production company and also produces weapons, armor, masks, etc. for films. The first major project that made this company very famous was the Lord of the Rings films. The behind-the-scenes look was very interesting and worth it. Then we were still out and about in the city center.

The next morning we continued. On the way to our next stop (Taupo) we visited Tongariro National Park. In this area you can go hiking and skiing. Among other things, a hiking trail leads to one of the Lord of the Rings filming locations. Unfortunately, when we arrived, the mountains/volcanoes were completely covered in clouds and we couldn't go hiking anymore. Afterwards, we drove to the next Airbnb accommodation.

In Taupo we stayed for one night. The place is located on the largest lake on the North Island (Lake Taupo). Unfortunately, we didn't see much of it or the surroundings, as it rained almost constantly on both days. We went shopping in Taupo on Saturday morning and then drove on to Rotorua.

On the way there, we spontaneously stopped at Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Park. This is a geothermal area of ​​about 18 sq km with active geysers and small lakes and holes in the ground that constantly bubble and boil due to volcanic activity. Afterwards, Thomas went bathing in a thermal river nearby. The water here is pleasantly warm all year round because it is still in the thermal area.

Rotorua smells like rotten eggs... Jenny had already read this online and we both felt the same way on site. The smell of sulfur is omnipresent. Rotorua was built on a volcano, so there are hot springs, geysers, etc. distributed throughout the town. In general, the place doesn't have much to offer. There are some shops and restaurants. Unfortunately, we had bad weather again, with rain and strong wind. That's why we didn't do much there.

The next morning we headed to Matamata. On the way there, we had booked a white water rafting tour with Kaitiaki Adventures through Groupon. It was raining most of the time, which didn't bother us. We would have gotten wet anyway. The deepest waterfall was about 6 meters and after it had rained a lot in the past few days, we were quickly washed down the waterfalls by the boat. We both really enjoyed the tour. In the afternoon, we booked a Hobbiton tour. Here you can only visit the set of the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films on a guided tour. The tour lasted about 2 hours and was really cool, even though there are a lot of tourists here. We booked the tour in advance on the internet.

The next day we drove to Cathedral Cove in the Coromandel. The area is really beautiful. Those who are willing to walk the path to Cathedral Cove will also have a beautiful beach with a great photo opportunity. However, you have to share this beach area with some other tourists.

On the same day we drove to Ngunguru for accommodation. In this place we had booked an Airbnb accommodation near the beach for two nights. Unfortunately, we didn't see much of it as it rained almost continuously. Therefore, we drove to the nearest town of Whangarei and visited, among other things, the waterfall (Whangarei Falls).

On Wednesday we drove along the coast to Russell. A beautiful holiday resort located on a peninsula. We went swimming at the beach and strolled through the small town.

Then we went back to Whangarei. On the way there, we visited Waipoua Kauri Forest. Among other things, there is the tallest living kauri tree in New Zealand. When we arrived in Whangarei, we had good weather and went swimming in the late afternoon.

The following day we drove to Auckland and had to return the rental car around noon. Our accommodation was in Parnell and we spent our last days in New Zealand there. In Auckland, we explored everything on foot. We were in the city center, at the harbor, at the Sky Tower, and in the city areas closest to our accommodation.

On Monday morning we returned to Australia for almost a week to Sydney.