My time in New Zealand is coming to an end. But before I head home, I’m taking one last road trip around the North Island, determined to make the most of every moment to tick off the last items on my bucket list. So I hope you’ll enjoy the ride!
Introduction
I left you in Lake Tekapo, after an epic road trip on New Zealand’s South Island.
Now, in an effort to keep up the momentum of my “writing flow” to finish publishing all of my New Zealand adventures before the end of 2024, I’m taking you on a final road trip around the North Island that will take us to epic landmarks such as
- The Waitomo Caves
- The Three Sisters
- Mount Taranaki and
- Wai O Ta Pu Thermal Wonders
This will be in two parts to make the reading a bit more digestible for you ;-)!
So I hope you enjoy it as much as I did, because you’re in for a treat!
The Road to New Plymouth
I chose New Plymouth as the destination for the first day of my road trip. According to my cousin, it was a nice little provincial town, close enough to Mont Taranaki National Park to make it a good base camp.
I had planned two stops on the way to New Plymouth. The first was the Waitomo Caves.
Known as one of New Zealand’s best natural attractions, the visit includes a boat ride through the Glowworm Grotto where you can see thousands of magical glowworms.
Although the price is a bit steep for just 45 minutes, in my opinion it was well worth the money. Those Caves, filled with thousands of worms, glowing in the dark were quite impressive to see.
Unfortunately I couldn’t take any pictures. Flash photography was forbidden for obvious reasons. And a long exposure shot on a moving boat would have led to questionable results 🙂 But you can have a look at the website to get an idea (here).
After the stop and a quick bite at a local fast food (the one with the yellow M), the journey went on.
Three Sisters and the Elephant Rock
Another thing my cousin urged me to see was the Three Sisters and Elephant Rock (map location here).
The site can only be visited at low tide, as you have to walk about 500m from the car park along an estuary.
So be sure to check the tide tables online before you go. As there is not much to see nearby, there is a good chance that you will come here just for that. It would be a shame to have to wait a couple of hours for low tide 😉
But once there, the site is quite impressive to see, and reminds me of other sight like this I could spot in Iceland for instance.
And with constant erosion due to the perpetual tides, we don’t know how long they’ll last.
Last stop before New Plymouth
The last bucket list item I wanted to do before heading to New Plymouth for the night was a famous viewpoint on Mont Taranaki.
I started using social networking sites, Instagram not to mention, to see what was trending online.
Trying to maintain a certain originality in my creative process, I thought it was a good strategy to avoid taking the pictures everyone else was taking.
But there was a reason this specific location was trending on Instagram.
The winding road leading to Taranaki, the green grass, the clouds, everything was here to add magnificence to the picture.
On top of that, the weather was quite good that day, but it was expected to get worse the next day, with clouds and possibly rain. So I had to take the pictures now. So see for yourself
New Plymouth: home for the night
I ended up the trip on day 1 in New Plymouth, quite town on the West Coast.
According to Wikipedia, “New Plymouth was awarded the most liveable city (for a population between 75,000–150,000) by the International Awards for Liveable Communities in 2021.”
Yet I didn’t do any sight seeing that day. Mostly because I was mainly interested by liveable cities for a population between 150’000-200’000 😀
Nope joke aside, I was a tad tired after all the effervescence and the discoveries of the day.
So, after a quick online search, I was able to find vacancies at a local motel within my budget. Funnily enough, there was no one at the front desk. Just a mobile phone with a speed dial number. You had to dial the number and on the other end of the line was a couple who ran several motels.
The process was quite simple, after swiping my card through the card terminal, they gave me a room number and directed me to a box with all the room key cards. All I had to do was choose mine and check into my room.
So the check-in was smooth but, well, a bit inhuman if you ask me. Not exactly the definition of hospitality service, but I had my room and was happy with the size/cleanliness.
I couldn’t tell you the name of the place, though. But frankly, in the district where I stayed for the night, there were a bunch of motels every 100m or so. And they all looked the same.
For dinner I was a bit more selective. And believe it or not, I was in the mood for some Asian food 😉
So I went to a local restaurant, Thai Chef’s Restaurant. The name was more than just a promise, and it had good reviews online. Whatever if it means anything nowadays. It’s so easy to buy fake reviews online.
But still, with a few rolls as a starter and a Pad Thai as the main course to take home, I knew I was in good hands ;-).
With our bellies full and our bodies cleansed of the day’s exertions, it was time to hit the sack.
Tomorrow would be another intense day.
I’ll see you soon for the next and last part of this adventure -> here <.