Another day, another hike, or, as the Kiwis say, good time to tramp. The Wairere Falls are the highest waterfalls of the North Island. It is a nice, but quite steep track. It took us three attempts to see the falls: the first time we skipped the lookout intentionally, on our way down we missed the side-track but finally on third attempt we saw the falls. We also saw where we have been before: at the edge of the creek, just before the water falls 153 meters down.
Wairere Falls (153m)
We ended
the day in a hot-water pool near Matamata.
First stop today: Hot Water Beach. Well, that was literally hot! You need: low tide (plus/minus 2 hours), a shovel and you’re ready to dig your own hot water pool. The water pouring out is either cold, warm or boiling hot. But you’ll realize it soon enough.
Hot Water Beach
Close to it is the Cathedral Cove. Very picturesque – very touristy. But again, just do the side-walk to a lookout and you’re alone.
Sailing Rock
On partially unsealed roads we passed the Waiau Falls (good for a short swim) and reached our campground at Shelly Beach near Coromandel just before the nice sunset.
An obvious recommendation was to stop at Karangahake Gorge and to do the Windows Walk, where you walk along gold mining remnants and through a dark mine tunnel (torches highly recommended).
We just did a short morning hike (2h) to the Taranaki Falls before heading to Waitomo.
Taranaki Falls
It was a hot day (30°C) and we waited on the campground for an evening adventure. On the Ruakuri Walk you can also see glowworms after sunset. Yep, we spotted them – it was like walking in a fairytale forest. And it was for free! 🙂
Grey sky, clouds and even drizzling rain. Not a very promising beginning of the day. But we knew the forecast and hoped for better weather on our much-awaited hike: Tongariro Alpine Crossing, according to several sources one of the best day-hikes in the world:
“Trek across a volcanic alpine landscape of dramatic contrasts – steaming vents, glacial valleys, ancient lava flows, alpine vegetation and vivid crater lakes, all with stunning views.”
Tongariro Alpine Crossing map
A hike which also got a popularity boost after the screening of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, as the volcano Mount Ngauruhoe was used for Mount Doom of Mordor.
A shuttle bus took us to the start of the track and guess what? Sunshine! Ok, now it’s just 19.4km of hiking track, 1196m change of altitude and many other hikers with the same goal.
Elevation profile
It’s difficult to describe this track better than DOC has done it already (see above). So from our side just the confirmation, that this hike should really be on your bucket list for New Zealand. Wandering over not-so-old lava flows, seeing the stunning colors, smelling the sulfur scents, hearing the steam vents and overlooking crater landscapes out of this world was just… wow!
It took us almost exactly 6 hours (incl. breaks) to reach the end of the track and the bus stop. Guess what? We just arrived on time for one of our shuttle (they run every hour) and it had just four seats left.
To fill our day we first visited Mount Taranaki again in the morning, but from a different entrance. He was hidden within clouds but we enjoyed the short walks nevertheless.
Mount Taranaki – disguised
Stratford is the beginning (or end) of the Forgotten World Highway, an old scenic route with four “saddles”, a tunnel, little towns, a few detours and an unsealed section. A curvy (yep, New Zealand…) but enjoyable drive. A short walk to the Mount Damper Falls was a worthwhile break from driving.
Mount Damper Falls
Todays destination was Tongariro National Park Village where we booked the shuttle for tomorrow’s big hike.
After a rather boring ride towards Egmont National Park everything changed to the good. The impressive (and active) stratovolcano Mount Taranaki (2518m) – often hidden within clouds – got rid of his disguise.
Volcano Mount Taranaki
Mount Taranaki’s last major eruption was 1854, some scientists say the next one is overdue. From the visitor center we started to hike on the Wilkies Pools loop and extended it to the Waingongoro Hut. You walk within a “Goblin Forest” and we understood why. A forest from a fairytale, indeed.
A “Goblin Forest” from another world
Another highlight was the one-person-only swing bridge over a deep canyon, offering a view on Mount Taranaki.
Swing Bridge
Mount Taranaki
Before returning to the campervan we also visited the Dawson Falls.
Dawson Falls
We spent the night in Stratford, where we enjoyed a “Glockenspiel” (play of bells, but they used the German expression, too) and a walk in the park.
Just a short drive today to Picton, a small but important town, as the inter-island ferries drive from here to Wellington, North Island. So it’s our last day on the South Island, which we used to hike (again), doing the “Snout Track” along Queen Charlotte Sound to earn a good beer at “The Thirsty Pig”.
Time to use our legs again. We started with an easy walk to the Wainui Falls. Tipp: go early or late, on our return the parking lot was very busy.
Wainui Falls
Close to
the falls is the starting point for a few hikes. Actually, we wanted to do an
easy hike along the coast to Taupo Point but the track is flooded during high
tides. And somehow, we missed the alternative way, so at the end we walked up to
Gibbs Hill (405 m.a.s.l.). Sigh! At least we got a good view over the bay at
different tide heights.
Much easier was the last short walk to the Te Waikoropupu Springs, a sacred place with some of the purest water in the world.
Te Waikoropupū Springs
Oh yeah, the Kiwis say “tramping” instead of “hiking”. We camped in Pakawau at an old-fashioned campground (the host used a magnifying glass to find our booking).
A light rain woke us up, accordingly, our motivation to drive to Franz Josef Glacier and to do a small hike was not so high. Gray clouds everywhere. But with our arrival there a small blue hole appeared – right above the glacier. What a nice gift! Like Fox Glacier, Franz Josef Glacier is melting away with alerting speed.
Next stop was Hokitika Gorge, also worth the detour. Blue water, green rainforest, idyllic suspension bridge – what do you want more?
