Left Base Taupo at 9.15 am Monday 10th heading towards Tongariro National Park, where some of the background scenery for the Lord of the Rings was filmed in particular the background for Mordor and scenes of Gollum in the Falls.
The accommodation in River Valley was 29 $ for 6 bed dorm but the kitchen was quite basic. Also as we were in a Valley no phone signal and the internet was expensive and we were told quite choppy. The method of crossing the river which is optional to go for a trek was quite an experience. The trek once you cross is something but remember you gotta cross back the river the same way again on the pulley device. Part of the river was used as the Anguin River in The Fellowship of the Ring. As we were in the middle of no where, was a good opportunity to chat and interact with people on the tour.
The next morning the 11th we left at check out time 10am due to the weather. As the rain was so bad we had to get the rafting bus back up the hill instead of walking the short distance. Once everyone was back on the KiwiE bus we got on our way. We head from River Valley through Taihape, the Gumboot Capital. 2 hour into the journey towards Wellington we stopped for a pitstop and food at a place called Bulls, where every service building had Bull in the title like; Const-a-Bull.
The drive from here to Wellington is dominated by the Ruahine and Taraua Ranges. Not too far from the City , we pass along the Kapiti Coast, most of which was wrenched out of the sea by large earthquake in 1855. Kapiti Island which can be seen from the coast is a native bird sanctuary. Once we arrived into Wellington, we checked into the Nomads hostel on Wakefield street which we had pre-booked on hostel world for 29$ a night for a 4 bed dorm. The staff here are very friendly and helpful, and willing to aid you with booking your onward ferry to the South Island, which you need to book the night before if you want to get the discount, which cost us 52$ or with anyone other travel/tour bookings. Wellington is located itself directly on a major earthquake fault line, where a quake occurs under the city roughly once a week. The majority of the Museums, Botanic Gardens and House of Parliament are free to enter.
We spent Wednesday the 12th touring around Wellington, starting at 10am at the National Museum, Te Papa. This museum is well worth a visit, with its interactive elements and national treasures. From the Museum, we walked along the waterfront, where we turned onto Lambton Quay to gain entrance to Cable Car, on Cable Car Lane. The ride on the cable car is 3.50$ for a single ride up to the top, where the Botanic Gardens, and Carter Observatory are located. The Cable Car ride is worth it, as from the top of the hill, you are able to see picturesque views of Welly, the nickname of Wellington, the other been, the windy city and with good reason. I'd recommend with the cable car, to get a single journey up to the Botanic Gardens and take the downhill walk city.
It was a pleasant and peaceful journey down through the gardens to the bottom passing the Observatory, the Lady Norwood rose garden, and Roberston Way into the Bolton Street Memorial Park. When you reach the bottom and have time, head towards 'the Beehive' building, the executive wing of the parliament building, where a free tour of the executive wing, house of parliament and parliamentary library. The guided tour commences on the hour. Once the tour is over, you have the opportunity to enter the house of parliament gallery to witness the order of business, when we were there, it was general debate. Once we left here, went over to see Old Pauls Cathedral, which is totally constructed of wood, its a must-see experience when your in Wellington. After our visit to the Cathedral, we went down the same street to the New Zealand Archives where the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi and 1893 Women's Suffrage Petition are on show in the Constitution Room.
As you can imagine, we were a tad tired after the jam packed day of culture. So we returned to the hostel, where Mark in reception helped us book our Interislander ferry to the South Island and The Lord of the Rings Ultimate Movie Tour which is run by Movie Tours. After Dinner went for a short stroll to the Embassy Theatre, it was here where the premiere of Return of the King was held. This got us in the mood for the following morning for the tour.
The next morning at 10 am, we were collected at the hostel by our tour guide for the day, Alice, who is your typical sarcastic funny kiwi. For the first part of the day, we had a private tour where we went to see the film locations in Hutt Valley such as gardens of Isengard, Rivendell where we had lunch, Helms Deep and Minas Tirith. In the afternoon we saw the Dunharrow Plateau, shortcut to the Mushrooms, Get off the Road, and Village of Bree. Throughout the tour there was an opportunity to dress up as hobbits/elf and have fun. Towards the end of the tour we saw Park Road Post, Stone Street and Camperdown Studios. To round off the tour, we paid a visit to the Weta Cave - The home of Weta Studios. A fun and enjoyable experience was had throughout the tour.
Friday the 14
th, the kiwi bus collected us from
the hostel at 7.10 am and made our way towards the ferry terminal, where we check
in our luggage. Then we board the ferry and get comfort for the 3 and half hour
ferry from Wellington to Picton, crossing the Cook Strait. When we land,
collect our luggage from arrivals then board the new kiwi bus in Picton. We
made a pitstop in an area called Marlborough valley, where the option to do
wine tasting of 4 local wines for 2 dollars in wine cellar called Bouldevines.
Then made the onward journey towards Kaiteriteri, on the way we pass thru small
town called Havelock, whose claim to fame is the ‘Green lip mussel capital of
the world’. After brief food stop in Nelson we travel through to Kaiteriteri at
the doorstep of the Abel Tasman national park. We stayed at Kaiteriteri lodge
only few mins from the beach at 30 dollars for dorm room, with also a 20 dollar
refundable deposit for the key, our had an ensuite. There’s a bar next door
called the Beached Whale.
Check out time on Saturday 15
th was at 10am, so
after quick breakfast in their decent kitchen facilities, we left at 10.30. We
left Kaiteriteri and travel through to Murchison for a stop at tea rooms with
their famous ice cream. From Murchison we wind our way down the amazing Buller
gorge. Buller gorge is one of the south island’s lognest and most scenic
drives. We travel alongside the almight Buller River, which rises from Lake
Rotoitit and flows into the Tasman Sea at Westport. The accommodation for the
night was Bazil’s hostel, which was 25 dollars for a dorm room with our YHA
card, normally 28. Watched the rugby matches in a local bar called The
Cosmopolitan. Was quite a random funny sort of night, the local rugby team were
also in the bar, as they had played a northern island team, and won, so were
out celebrating.
We left about 9.30 the following morning, and
started making our route to Lake Mahinapua along highway 6 which stretches 435
km along the rugged Tasman shoreline from Westport in the north to the Haast
Junction in the south. The road winds through a diverse series of landscapes,
which include the snow-capped Southern Alps, sparsely populated towns, lush
green rainforests and deserted Goldfields. After a short drive, we stop for a
short walk, about 45 mins, at Cape Foulwind and Tauranga Bay, where there one
of New Zealand’s largest sea colonies. Tauranga
is New Zealand’s closest point to Australia.
On route we stop at Truman track, because the weather was really nice
and sunny, walked along the trek to the bay, barefoot, which itself was quite
an experience. When got to the bay strolled along the beach and got soaked by
the incoming tide, which was quite funny. Once back on the bus, made the short
journey to Punakaiki Pancake Rocks. Stopped here for lunch, and then walked
through the Pancake Rocks to the coast edge with our ice creams. The scenery and work of Mother Nature was
unbelieveably beautiful. Leaving Punakaiki, our next stop Greymouth, stopping
here to stock up on food and cash as there very little opportunities between
here and Wanaka. The Lake Mahinapua Hotel cost 21 dollars for the bed and 11/10 for the food. The owner Les who is the oldest publican in New Zealand is quite a character. The facilities are not bad at all for a building which is over 150 yrs old. There no phone service around the area. the nearby beach which is only a few mins walk away has dark sand and is lovely. The lake for which the area is called, is a short stroll from the Hotel and the conservation area quite scenic. Dinner was served at 7, was quite a feed and very tasty. After dinner everyone started getting ready for the fancy dress party which was in the hotel bar, the poo bar. The theme of the party was that the costumes had something to do with the letter P. There were some very imaginative costumes such as peodo, pimp, pile of rubbish, preschooler, posh spice, prostitute, present, playboy bunny, peacock, amongst others. It was quite a random interesting night. The local police officer made his routine stop at the hotel, he was quite funny, as I got him to pretend to arrest the guy dressed as a peodo and put him in the back of the police car. It was one of the funniest nights so far as also one of the guys on the tour it was his birthday.
We ate at a local chipper near the wharf. We decided to walked the 30 min or so back to the hostel down along Macquarie Street, passing the Botanic Gardens, State Library of New South Wales and such. We had an early night due jet lag.
Circular Quay looks so much different light up at night, especially the Opera House and the Sky tower. We gradually made our way back towards the hostel walking down George Street house to some of Sydney Designer stores including of course one of the Biggest Apple stores we've ever seen. We ate that night in an Irish Bar called Scruffy Murphys where if you buy a soft drink or alcoholic beverage you could get a meal for 7 dollars which was quite tasty. After this we went down stairs as there was a quiz one. The quizmaster was a unusual bred of entertainer, we ended staying here for a few hours good laugh..
We got up early the Friday morning and made our way to the train station, where we got a Day Multi Trip pass for 21 dollars (Bus, Train and Public ferries) to Bondi Junction and then the bus towards the beach. We spent a small while here, over crowded and over hyped. Once we made our way back into the city, we got the train over Harbour bridge to Milton Point and from here got the ferry back. Another reason the hostel annoyed me so much, was the fact the electrics blew yes I mean blew my good world travel adapter, so made the mad dash run around George Street, managed to get one in Woolworths for 10 dollars, which is still serving me well. It was a quiet after that due to the thunder and lightning during the night.
