We managed to have a great few days on the North Island despite some rather lousy weather for much of it. Ambitious hiking plans generally gave way to relaxing hot spring soaks- the best way I know of enjoying cold and rainy weather. I was a bit hesitant to be driving a tourist campervan around, but was surprised by the drivability and power of our faithful home on wheels. The clutch was oddly close to the steering column, such that the instinct was to hit the brakes when I was really looking for the clutch. Once I got used to that, it was no worries, and we took on the winding roads through the Waitakeres to stay at Piha Beach for a night. The storm raged through the night with full blown van shaking thunder. The weather improved slightly in the morning so we took a short walk overlooking Mercer Bay where we enjoyed the clifftop views between pelting fronts of rain and wind.
Mercer Bay between fronts
We then drove south to sample some of the best hot springs the North Island has to offer, courtesy of the Taupo Volcanic Zone, a volcanically active backarc rift with thin, hot crust. All up we visited a half dozen hot springs including some of my favorites and one new one before driving around Lake Taupo to Waitomo. One of the mornings the back and side doors were frozen shut so we had to climb over into the cab to get out the front doors.
We were unfortunately pressed for time, having to be in Auckland at the end of the next day to catch a flight. We went for a night walk around the Ruakuri walkway, one of my very favorite short walks in New Zealand as the track meanders cleverly along cliffs, through caves and above a loud river. Being a dark night, we were treated to a galaxy of cliffhanging green glowworms contrasting against a tree-fern silhouetted starry sky. We drove the back way out of Waitomo (twice! oops!) to check out an area on Kawhia Harbour I had been drooling over on Google Earth. I pulled up to the farm house in our tourist campervan, dreading the farmer's response. Luckily he was a friendly sort despite a rough exterior and once he established that we were not lost, he was quite happy to let us hike across his paddocks to look at the strange rocks along the coast.
Marokopa Falls
Due to limited time we only got to see a small proportion of the coast, but what I saw greatly impressed me. The stylobedded limestone has been carved in fantastical shapes, in places isolated towers, in places forming archways, and in places forming mazes of rock. It was like a Pancake Rocks that you can walk through (and kayak through at high tide). We had a great time exploring the nooks and crannies. I'd love to spend several days here. We drove on to Auckland and bandit camped near the airport in anticipation for our morning flight to Niue.
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