Category: North Island

From Waitomo, we hopped back onto the daily InterCity bus, which took us south through beautiful countryside and small towns that looked like they were straight out of an NZ version of a Western.

Our bus left us within reach of Tongariro National Park in a village rather vaguely named ‘National Park’ and we settled into our accommodation, a simple cabin that had everything we needed except one glaring omission: firewood. We could have purchased some ourselves, but we were far too stubborn so we spent our remaining budget on a bottle of red wine and kept warm that way instead! In any case, having a volcano at the end of the road more than made up for our slightly chilly accommodation.

The following morning, we caught the 8am shuttle into the park ready for our day’s tramping (NZ lingo for hiking). We were a bit apprehensive as we had a 17.6 km hike ahead and the afternoon forecast was looking a little soggy, but for now the weather was utterly stunning. As we sped along the road on the approach to the National Park, with volcanos looming and the sun shining, it suddenly hit me that NOW we were in NZ! We’d been in the country for nearly a week already, but as much as Auckland and Waitomo had been a great start, they didn’t quite have the big-sky, outdoorsy vibe that I’d dreamed of before coming here. This was why we’d come, and we were feeling pretty excited to be here.

The park’s most famous hike is the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, a demanding day hike that ascends to a saddle between Mount Tongariro and Mount Ngauruhoe, passes two craters and several emerald crater lakes before descending again. We wanted to hike this, but we’d read enough warnings about the need for alpine experience and ice equipment at this time of year that we decided we’d best play it safe. Instead, we chose the Tama Lakes hike, which was only a little shorter but had 340 m elevation gain compared to the Crossing’s 1,196 m elevation gain. This turned out to be a great choice – we met very few people (whereas apparently the Crossing has up to 3,000 people per day!) and saw some spectacular scenery in exchange for relatively little climbing.

We began the hike in alpine woodland on a path running next to a river and before long reached a pretty waterfall where we had the first of our snacks.

Then we began our ascent, when the views really opened up and we had views of all three active volcanos that sit within the park. At times, the open heathland reminded us of Scotland (apart from that the sun was shining, obviously!). We’d read online that this was an ‘advanced’ route, but the paths were incredibly well-maintained, so progress was much easier than we were expecting. Then again, conditions are everything, and we were fortunate to have sunshine and blue skies.

After a couple of hours, we reached Lower Tama lake, which sits in an old explosion crater from the nearby volancos.

We’d provisionally planned to turn around here, but we knew that another 30 minutes’ climbing would bring us to Upper Tama lake and we just couldn’t resist. It was definitely worth the climb and it gave us a bit of ‘proper’ walking off the manicured footpaths and boardwalks on some loose scree and an exposed ridge.

The view at the top was spectacular and we settled down to eat our packed lunches, feeling very pleased with ourselves and life in general (if a little windswept).

We made good time on our return journey and after just four hours’ walking (six hours overall – we did have one or two snack breaks!) we made it back to our starting point. We couldn’t find anywhere to buy a victory drink so we headed to the National Park visitor centre in the hope that it would occupy us for the two hours until we were due to catch our return shuttle. It was actually fantastically engaging with lots of exhibits on seismic activity in the region, local flora and fauna, and more. But best of all, we discovered that there was a theatre with dangerously comfortable seats showing a (long) documentary about volcanos. So, nothing against the documentary, but I’m pretty sure we all had a bit of a nap while we were there. We did wonder how often the staff have to come and empty the theatre of tired hikers!

That evening, Mario insisted we just had to join him outside for a few minutes where he’d been stargazing (and fending off curious dogs, apparently). We’d just got cosy inside, but we’re glad he insisted as the sky was very dark and the stars were spectacular. From our position in the southern hemisphere, we could see the Milky Way stretching across the sky, as well as the Magellanic Clouds, two other galaxies that are only visible from south of the equator. It was pretty cool – and very handy to have an Astrophysicist on hand to give us a tour!

The next morning, we checked out of our little cabin with plans to sit in a local restaurant, slowly ordering coffees, lunch and more coffees until it was time for our afternoon train. However, we soon realised the flaw in this plan as there were only two local restaurants and neither opened for lunch! Thankfully, the sun was shining so we picked up some food from the only shop (which also served as a petrol station, souvenir shop, local meeting point…) and sat outside to eat. In a good indication of how much NZ likes coffee, there may not have been any restaurants or cafes, but there was a van serving excellent coffee. We’d just bought a pack of Tim Tams in the shop, so when combined with the coffee there was really only one option…our first Tim Tam Slam!

1. Bite off opposite ends of the Tim Tam
2. Dunk it in the coffee (or hot chocolate) as if it were a straw and slurp enthusiastically
3. Slam it into your mouth and enjoy the coffee, biscuit and melted chocolate medley. The trick is to eat the biscuit as soon as the coffee reaches your mouth, as you have just seconds before the Tim Tam self-destructs

We thought that this was just an NZ rite of passage that we had to try (even though confusingly, Tim Tams are actually Australian), but we had no idea the combo would be SO delicious! I’m sure the sunshine and volcano view helped too, so just to be thorough, we’ve repeated it several times since (with tea, hot water and we’ve even considered mulled wine) and haven’t yet been disappointed. For anyone that wants to eat along at home (highly recommended), we think the nearest UK alternative to a Tim Tam would be a Penguin bar.

This culinary triumph concluded our time in Tongariro National Park. Next time, we head to New Zealand’s capital, Wellington, for coffee, craft beer and cable cars.

From Auckland, we took a 2.5-hour coach to the village of Waitomo. For context, pretty much the only road-based public transport around New Zealand is provided by InterCity buses, the NZ equivalent of the UK’s National Express. Using these buses felt so straightforward compared to much of our transport across Asia. For example, our bus tickets had both the address and a Google Maps link of the departure location – in some places in SE Asia, we were given only the name of the city and were left to work out the rest ourselves!

Almost everyone who visits Waitomo is here to see one thing – the Glowworm Caves. However, arriving in Waitomo village was one thing, but getting to the meeting point for our glowworm cave tour was quite another. The meeting point was inexplicably 10 km out of town, and with no public transport links, we were faced with either a 3.5 hour walk on a busy highway or a 150 NZD (£75) taxi fare. After all three of us had spent hours trying desperately to find a better plan, the rafting company took pity on us and agreed to give us a lift. Phew! It turns out that trying to tour NZ on public transport isn’t quite as easy as we’d thought!

The cave-dwelling glowworms are mysterious creatures. They spend the majority of their existence in larvae form attached to the roof of pitch black caves, where they catch flies to eat and use the resulting energy to produce a cocoon and a faint green glow. When they finally emerge from their cocoons, they have a single day to mate, having been born without a mouth (no street food for them!). Still, it’s the light that they give off that we were here to see, but for that, we needed to get kitted up.

Our caving attire began with a full wetsuit, a jacket and special wetsuit socks. We then accessorised the outfit with a helmet, a head torch, and white rubber boots to complete the look. Putting on a wet and cold wetsuit is never an elegant process, which was good preparation, as it turns out that there’s nothing elegant about caving either. We spent the next hour crawling through tiny passages in the cave to reach an underground river.

Eventually, we reached the river and spent some time climbing, wading and floating through it, until we reached a waterfall. We were instructed that the best way to get over the waterfall was by jumping backwards off it and into our rubber rings. This took a real leap of faith (thankfully helped by our guide giving us a good shove to get us on our way), and ensured there was no turning back. We then floated through the cave, at times forming a “human eel” by holding on to each other’s boots to form a long chain. Finally, our guide challenged us to turn off our head torches and float our way out of the caves in the pitch black, using only the glowworms as a guide to the exit. The whole thing was both exhilarating and magical, and Sara was delighted to tick this off her NZ must-see list, even if she doesn’t look it in the picture below!

We weren’t allowed to take phones or cameras with us, but the guides generously snapped hundreds of photos as we gradually made our way through the cave. However, only three photos ever appeared on the online portal, but they just so happened to be of the three of us. I feel for the other members of our group who only have these super-flattering photos by which to remember their experience!

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The following day, we took a walk along the Waitomo Walkway through the lush countryside surrounding the caves. The scenery looked just like something from The Lord of the Rings, which I guess is unsurprising given that most of the filming took place here in New Zealand.

The route wasn’t exactly full of obstacles, although we did come across an ingenious style of gate that we’d never seen before. It took a little investigation before we figured out how to use it, as demonstrated expertly by Mario.

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After just 24 hours in Waitomo village, we continued south into the Tongariro National Park, home to three huge and active (!) volcanos.

We reunited with Mario over an eggs and sourdough brunch at a cafe on the famous Karangahape Road near our apartment. The food was a massive departure from what we’ve been eating over the past few months but it made us really excited – we’d read that NZ had great food and this was a strong start! You’ll just have to imagine that our plates are full in the picture below because we demolished them way too quickly for a photo.

Anyway, now seems like a good time to introduce Mario, one of Oli’s good friends and old colleagues who has used his (self-imposed) annual allowance of one long haul flight to join us for a month’s travel around NZ. He is into sustainable energy, low carbon travel, cats, hiking, and loves a good train or two, so he fits right in! While living in Berlin, he’s been working on a Restaurant World Tour, eating along with our travels at restaurants that serve the national cuisines of countries we’ve passed through on our trip – dedication!

We began our time together in Auckland with a walking tour to get a feel for the city, and found it to be full of handsome buildings, parks, and charming shopping arcades. Our walk ended at Viaduct Harbour, where a well-timed downpour gave us the perfect excuse to sample our first NZ wine and craft beers.

We then watched the sunset from the top of Auckland Domain, a large park that wraps around Pukekawa, an ancient volcano in the centre of the city.

The next morning, we caught the bus to Cornwall Park and climbed the 186-metre volcanic cone of One Tree Hill (which, contrary to popular belief, has more than one tree at the top – at least until 2026, when the last tree standing is due to be crowned in what the Lonely Planet describes as an “arboreal version of the X-Factor”). After a beautiful start to the day, it had clouded over by the time we reached the summit, but we still had a great view over the city and the sea on both sides. Being New Zealand, as well as standing on a volcano, we could also see several more on the horizon – after all, Auckland is built on 53 of them, not all extinct!

Our next stop was lunch, and we headed to the hipster enclave of Ponsonby, which was full of cafes, arty boutiques and beautiful people. It was also home to the Ponsonby Food Court, which I’d heard about on a podcast and was excited to visit. Unsurprisingly, we already miss Southeast Asian food, so we gravitated towards Thai (Oli and Mario) and Vietnamese food (me) for lunch.

Our guidebook also suggested that Ponsonby was a good place to get a feel for the city outside the commercial centre and to see some of the Victorian and Edwardian villas in the area. So, in a thinly veiled attempt at cat spotting, we set off for a wander. The villas were really beautiful and ornate wooden affairs and the area looked like a thoroughly nice place to live. More importantly, though, it didn’t take long before Mario spotted NZ cat number one behind a picket fence, although the cat seemed less pleased to see us peering over at him than we were to see him!

When the heavens opened, we headed for Auckland’s Museum of Transport and Technology. It soon became apparent that this was mostly aimed at children (particularly being the Easter holidays), but there was enough geeky stuff there split over two sites to keep us occupied for some time.

My favourite exhibit at the first site was this VW Beetle (below). At first glance, it might look unremarkable, but it had been on a grand adventure – twice! In 1961, Ivan and Beth Hodge drove it from where they were living in London to their home country of New Zealand on their honeymoon, crossing the USSR and the Middle East to India, where they took a container ship home to New Zealand. In 1996, they celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary by doing it all over again! It sounded like an absolutely epic adventure.

When it was time to travel between the two museum sites, we hopped on a heritage tram to make the 2 km journey. Here, surrounded by children on their Easter holidays, Oli and Mario tried (and failed) to play it cool at the prospect of riding on one of their favourite modes of transport.

At the second site was the aviation hall, where we saw a wide range of military aircraft, flying boats, and civilian aircraft. While I always love a flying boat (second photo), I think my favourite exhibit was the Lockheed 10A Electra (third photo). Not only did it have a very snazzy paintjob, it was also the first aircraft to run regular domestic services in New Zealand, during which time it was a handy timekeeper for farm workers under the flight path near Auckland: when it passed overhead at midday they knew it was time for lunch, and the returning flight from Wellington signalled time for afternoon milking!

This concluded our brief first visit to Auckland (we’ll be back at the end of May, when we’re due to fly to the United States). We liked the city a lot, but it felt very strange to be somewhere so far from home but so familiar – perhaps a little too comfortable? But anyway, we didn’t travel to New Zealand for its largest city, so we were soon on our way to visit some creatures far more elusive at home: the glowworms of Waitomo Caves!