New Zealand - North Island Exploration

New Zealand North Island

Part 1

31 October 2025

I met Ness today, when she picked me up in her rental car. I had taken a bus from Whangerei to Waipu (heading back south towards Auckland), since she was heading out of Auckland to the north. Ness is from London and had landed in Auckland a day before my arrival. She is not new to traveling and is actually on a year long sabatical, from her job as a firefighter, to travel around the world. She plans to head to Australia in December to meet up with a friend.

Our first stop was almost immediately outside of town, at Waipu Caves. We did a little splunking and saw glowworms inside the cave. It was also a lovely moment when we walked in behind a group of young gentlemen who broke into an acapela version of Amazing Grace at one point.

Inside Waipu Caves.

Those little dots that look like constellations are the glowworms.

If you know as much as I did about these fascinating creatures as I did (...nothing) then maybe you'll find what I learned interesting too (from my quick Google search). Glowworms are not worms at all, in fact they're actually larvae of carnivorous fungus gnats. They are bioluminescent (glowing) in order to attract their prey (mayflies, moths, etc.) which then get caught in their vertical sticky silk maze (kind of like a spider's web).

We were on our way to a town called Paihia, so we set off for a day of travel, with a few places on the list to stop along the way.

Mangawhai Cliffs Walkway

Waipu Coastal Walkway

1 November 2025

We headed to Waitangi Treaty Grounds, the spot where the treaty between the British and Maori (New Zealand's aboriginal group) chiefs was signed in 1840. There were two museums there, full of so much interesting history, which I really enjoyed.

The cost of admission even included a guided tour and cultural performance.

We had a couple of other short stops that day, on our way to a town called Manganoui.

Beach view along our drive.

Rainbow Falls

2 November 2025

Today we headed for a town called Ngataki, with more stops along the way.

Walking around the Te Paki Sand Dunes

Cape Reigna Lighthouse

Cape Reigna is significant in the Māori culture, as it is considered the point where spirits of the dead depart for their ancestral home. It is also a stunning landscape and the point where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean.

We also took a walk on the Te Paki Coastal Track.

3 November 2025

A full day of driving today with more beautiful stops along the way!

Enormous Tane Mahuta Kauri tree!

Another Kauri tree called Te Matua Ngahere, which has the following impressive statistics: Girth 16.41 meters. Trunk volume 208.1 cubic meters. Total height 29.9 meters.

Piha Beach

4 November 2025

On our way from Auckland to Coromandel Peninsula, where we did the Pinnacles Walk.

View from the top.12 kilometers out and back, which took us about 6 hours total. It was a very fun walk, with ladder rungs built into some parts of the rocks towards the top. Much appreciated!

5 November 2025

Relaxing beach day at Hot Water Beach.

We sat in a pool that had already been dug by two couples from Australia, and they let us join them. They rented a small spade shovel for $10 New Zealand dollars (about $6 USD). So expensive! There were some very very hot spots of water that came into the pool, from underground, and then just next to it there was perfectly acceptable 'hot tub' temperature water in the hole that was dug. It was very unpredictable, but also very lovely to sit in, when it wasn't scalding. The signs at the beach warned that water temperatures could be between 140 - 147 degrees Fehrenheit. Yikes! We chatted with the Australians for about 20 minutes and then headed away from the specific spot for the hot pools and the people (in the picture) to enjoy a few hours of sun and beach time.

6 November 2025

I'm inside the Hobbit hole! It's from The Lord of the Rings, for all you you non-nerds!

We took a tour of the Hobbiton movie set today. Although I am not a mega fan of the books or movies, I have read and watched them. Apparently, this is the most-visited tourist attraction in the entire country! We boarded our bus for the 2.5 hours long tour, and then headed into the 1,250 acre farm where the Hobbiton movie set still stands. This is a working beef and sheep farm, with about 300 Angus beef cattle and 13,000 sheep, including so many adorable baby lambs that had been born only 5 or 6 weeks earlier.

Inside the Hobbit House!

We took a guided walk around the set and then ended our tour at the Green Dragon Inn for a complimentary drink.

From there, we headed to Te Waihou Walkway and Blue Spring.

Such clear, beautiful water!

We headed back to the city of Rotorua, where we were staying, and which is also known for its thermal pools (and distinctive smell of rotten eggs, due to the sulfur). We walked through Kuirau Park where there are thermal pools everywhere.

Thermal pools in the city park.

Then we headed a little bit out of town to the Redwoods - Whakarewarewa Forest. I've not yet been to the redwoods in California, so I'm not sure how it compares, but I thought it was amazing!

Our short walk through the redwoods.

Then we headed to Blue Lake (a.k.a. Lake Tikitapu) just to look and then to a lookout for Lake Tarawera.

7 November 2025

Today was a relaxed yet full day. Before leaving Rotorua, we took a walk to Sulfur Point.

Then we headed to Waiotapu Thermal Park.

On our way back to Rotorua, we stopped at Kerosene Creek to check out another local hot water spot!

Yes, it was warm and even free!

8 November 2025

Today we headed to visit Te Wairoa Buried Village. I didn't take pictures as we walked around, though, since it felt like a sacred place of the dead. It is literally a village that had been burieed by mud and ash when the nearby volcano erupted in June 1886. The walk around the grounds included a path to a waterfall, so I did take a picture of that.

Then we were off to Huka Falls. Not the tallest waterfall at all, but apparently very powerful. I read that it could filll an Olympic size swimming pool in eleven seconds.

Huka Falls. Powerful, rushing water that a picture couldn't quite capture.

We had planned to spend the next day hiking Tongariro Crossing, but as we drove into the town where we planned to stay, we passed a wildfire that had very recently started. We were informed later that night that our hike had been canceled. In fact, they ended up closing the track for an entire week due to the fire. This was a very unusual occurence, and we were sad to miss out on the opportunity to do the hike. But I was also happy to not be one of the forty hikers who had been rescued by helicopter the day we drove by because of the fire. That hike is already supposed to be hard enough, and then add in the stress at the end of a dangerous fire. No thanks! I am stiill debating if I'll try to do it later in my trip.

9 November 2025

Instead of hiking 8 hours today, we had a full day of planning. Ness made a plan of what she wants to do on the South Island, and I did the same. Then we compared plans, and it turns out we basically have the same plans, so we'll be sticking together even longer!

10 November 2025

We drove to Napier today, stopped by our hostel to eat a quick breakfast, and then got on a shuttle for a local wine tour. We were driven to four boutique wineries and also fed lunch at a brewery. It was such a great time!