A (expletive deletive) Road Trip
After hunting around all across the internet, through pages of back packer guides and forums, we popped into Jucy campers as he happened across it in Auckland on Sunday. We went through all the spiel with the guy at the desk and came out with a quote for a 'budget camper' for $648 for ten days from Auckland to Queenstown. This we decided, though a little pricey seemed reasonable compared with every where else we looked. Still, we held off on booking until the following day. Que Josh, the aussie travel agent at Base. After spending an angry 20 mins on hold to Jucy he calls the boss and asks him to sort us out. 15 mins and a fag later we have a relocation camper for $9 dollars. Total. The only difference between this and the others was that it was missing a fridge and tv, and it wasnt painted the delighful Jucy Lime and Pink. Sold.
So we hang around Auckland for one more night, get an early one (after tequila at 5pm) and hit the road after 11am heading south. Mid afternoon on Monday we hit Rotarua, look at some steaming holes in the ground and choke on the sulphorous fumes. Then we head for Taupo and the glorious lake. New Zealand has a huge camping scene and as such there are tons of 'free camping' spots where you can park up and sleep without paying a penny. So we park in the wrong spot immediatly and get woken up at 11pm by the wardens.We wake up 3 m from the edge of lake Taupor, photograph some ducks then hike to Huka falls. Mindblowing waterfall.
We then take a dip under a thermal waterfall on the banks of the river. You would pay thousands for a jacuzzi and view like this at any resort
We hit the road, back onto the highway 1, the road that stretches from Auckland all the way to Wellington in the South. WE skirt lake Taupo and Alex nearly takes us into the water he's so taken by the view. We then get close to the mountains. A heavy mist decends and we can barely see anything around, though we can see looming shapes in the distance. We hit the desert road, a landscape reminiscent of Nevada, desolate and sandy brush. Slowly the mist begins to clear and to our left we see rolling hills covered in heatherish substance, and to the right....2500m of snow white mountains, Ruepehu, Tongariro and one i cant spell. The road then immediatly changed again and the landscape opens out into rolling green hills, undulating across the distance. The road takes us up and down, round and round, from valley bottom to mountain top in minutes. at every turn a breathtaking scene opens before us.The battery on my camera is rapidly flattening, every time i put the lense cap on something takes me breath away and i fight to get out teh window in time to capture it, often getting smacked in the head by the lense cap as it gets caught in the wind.
We reach Palmerston North and Robert and Alison kindly take us in for the night, feed and water us and give us a bed. Thank you both. We dont stay long and get back on the roadbefore 8am. WE decide the highway is boring so we take a 'detour' i assume is a cut through the mountains. Turns out to be a cut UP the mountains, taking us at least 1000m up and over the range, with sheer cliffs on one side and a single track road. oh and its pissing with rain which only gets worse once we get into the clouds. none the less, the view is incredible as always, except for the car we saw 200 ft bellow us buried in a tree in the ravine. made me a little nervous. Wellington today, Picton and the South Island tomorrow. 600k down, 800 to go...
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