Spent the last few days of 2013 eating around Auckland. Final walk of the year was at North Head Historic Reserve, a short ferry ride from the city. Military guns and structures were built in anticipation of Russian attacks which never happened. There are good views of the coast, Rangitoto Island and Auckland skyline from the summit. A lovely way to mark the...
Taupo to Hahei via Auckland took nearly 10 hours by bus. By the time we got to Hahei, it was already 12 noon. We had been up since 1 am and with half a day left, we preferred to go dig a spa pool at Hot Water Beach but had missed the low tide so we went to Cathedral Cove that day. I...
Huka Falls is just a 10 mins drive from Taupo but we had to walk 1 hr 15 mins from where we stayed to get there passing through the Spa Thermal Park. The gush of water is due to the Waikato River being suddenly forced through a narrow channel and dropping 15-20m into a gorge. The river returns to a steady flow after...
We still have a few trips left on our nakedbus pass so we used them up for the year end holidays. After a long bus ride, we arrived at Whakapapa Village Holiday Park where we stayed for the night as it was near the start of the track. The first day was a short 3 hours walk so we started late at 11am....
