New Zealand: Part 3

With our second week of camping upon us, we enjoyed our last day in civilisation for a while by treating ourselves to some lunch and a walk around Wellington.

Aunty Mena’s Vegetarian restaurant served a delicious range of Malaysian and Chinese dishes.

We then went for a walk along the promenade to get the most of the beautiful day.

Soon enough though, it was time for us to head back out into the wilderness. We had a campsite in mind which was a short drive away, however upon arrival we discovered it was closed. So we opted for a campsite further north, which was a long drive away.

We took a route further west than our journey down to Wellington had been and as we were tootling along, a beautiful mountain loomed over the road and commanded that we immediately find somewhere to stop and take in what we were seeing.

The road itself was pretty stunning too and it must have taken us quite a bit longer to get anywhere with us stopping every few minutes to take in a new view.

Once the mountain range was out of site and we were moving further north of Lake Taupo we were presented with more beautiful views as we were climbing higher.

The long journey and our regular pitstops meant we arrived at the campsite after dark. Cooking and setting up in the dark is an adventure in itself but we seemed to manage, and looked forward to the campsite reveal the next morning.

It turned out to be a quiet and pretty leafy area with a few other campers dotted around.

Keen to not repeat our race against the sun the day before we packed up, had breakfast and hit the road.

Wanting to explore as much of the island as we could, we decided to head further East and explore that wing before heading much further north again.

We found a lovely little campsite called Matata (James received my rendition of the Lion King soundtrack more than once) on the North East coast in the Bay of Plenty. We were mostly excited by this sites facilities of plenty. Including flushing toilets and a sink to wash dishes in. Cushty, we know!

Our campsite was right on the beachfront, so we pitched up and headed straight over the dunes to stretch our legs.

However just as we had decided to turn back, the heavens opened. Our comfortable stroll along the beach became more of a frantic, slippy-sandy power walk back to camp.

After drying off slightly, James got inventive with our tarp and managed to cook up a feast

With the weather closing in we opted for an early night (our feudal body clocks kicking back into gear anyway) and so we hit the hay.

Having missed our swimming sessions for a few days (and warm showers) we dipped into a local pool on our way further east the next day.

All swam and showered up, thus began our expedition to the eastern reaches of the North Island.

The road along the coast was incredible and provided breathtaking views.

When we finally arrived at the campsite we discovered that it may or may not have been open. But with the day wearing on we decided to pitch up anyway.

We were, once again, right next to a beach so we decided to make the most of our surroundings.

The sand squished beneath our feet like memory foam and we also found lots of stones which disintegrated and crumbled at our touch!

We once again settled in for an early night once we’d managed to tear ourselves away from the night sky, illuminated by the most stunning moon. (There’s no photos, you’ll just have to take our word for it)

The next morning we had packed up and were making breakfast when we had an unexpected guest join us.

The little guy wandered back home when his owner drove passed and he realised he wasn’t getting any food. So we took one last walk along the beach before heading off ourselves.

The road north to the Bay of Plenty was one of the most incredible I’ve ever seen. Travelling through valleys under cloud topped peaks was just breathtaking.

Soon enough, we were back in the Matata campground area as it served as a good stopping point before our onward journey, so we stopped for another dip in the pool and then set up our camp once more.

We enjoyed a couple of beers with dinner to relax in the dry before heading to bed to rest up for the exciting day ahead.

Hatti x