Last week I was given the opportunity to do some more road tripping with the family through New Zealand's North Island. As usual we started our adventure in Wellington and then headed north to a place that was unknown to me but well known with the travelers from around the world.
As we switched on the gps it was giving us a rough estimate of 7 hours and that's on long windy snaking roads. Unlike when we were in the USA which are 4 to 8 lane massive highways that go reasonably straight for hours on end. So with the 4 of us and our tiny car packed to the roof with luggage we trekked on in intervals of a few hours at a time. The landscapes outside are always so pleasant to look at which helps you forgive the people that made the roads so meandering.
One mentionable stop I would like to discuss is Taupo, a rather decent sized place that resides beside the huge and very impressive Lake Taupo. The city has numerous places to eat and one which I thought was so cool is McDonalds. When I say cool I mean they are the only McDonalds restaurant that I know of that you can order your meal and eat it in a plane. We didn't however eat there as we went for Hell's Pizza because it had vegan options for our fellow travelers.
Now when your in NZ another thing your must do is visit some kind or natural hot pool to relax for about half an hour or if you want the whole day. When your in the Taupo you have a few options a drive away at numerous resorts or if you wish to keep travelling you can head to Rotorua or Waiwera. Waiwera has a nice little thermal pool with private rentals that in my opinion was the best hot pool that I had visited in all my trips to NZ and the picture below shows why. For $27 pp we got a private pool, towel hire and a bottle of water to keep fresh during our 40 min session, which is just the right amount of time to freshen you up for the any further daily activities.
After smashing down a sickening sweet Memphis Meltdown we jumped back into our overcrowded 4 cylinder and powered on to Raglan. It rained, it got hot, we got bored, we slept, we listened to music and then I just played on my iPad. Surely enough we got there and soon after retired to our sleeping quarters.
So what do you do when you wake up in a place and have little idea of what to do? Good idea is to either ask the people your staying with or the locals, for us we had family and they had some great ideas. Being budget conscience we decided on taking a little trip back from which we came to Bridal Veil Falls.
After a small detour of the main road and a 10 min walk on some easy going path you reach the top of the falls. The stream was busy from the downpour in the previous 24 hours which gave the falls a thunderous roar and a very heavy misting at the bottom of the 55m drop.
After staring down at the people below I found an information board that alerted me to how this wonder was created through volcanic streams and rocks. There was only one sign that I didn't really like the look of and that was the one that stated it was over 250 steps to the bottom. I thought 250 steps that's not far at all, but what I didn't realize was that it meant 250 stairs with a viewing platform around the middle and the bottom. So we huffed and we puffed but we made it to the bottom.
Once we sat down and regained our breath out came the phones and quickly started snapping pictures of the falls. The water was pounding down and casting droplets into the air which made their way to the bridge that we stood on. After taking a few photos and thinking about the history of the falls, I felt very inspired to get back into writing this blog.
Now if you ever go to the falls remember to enjoy yourself down the bottom because its one hell of a trip to get back to the top. You'll probably start of strong out of the gates then die in the ass about 100 steps in unless your super fit like that women that came running down the stairs as we ascended. My heart felt like it was trying to burst out my chest but we reached the top and took on last glimpse of the beauty before very slowly strolling back to the car and heading back to the camping grounds.
If your adventurous, family orientated or laid back Raglan can offer you various other activities to spend your time and money wisely on. Stores in town have organized surfing, swimming, fishing, eating, shooting, paintball and outdoor carts for visitors to enjoy.
We however just spent our time with the family and celebrated the 80th birthday of a very important women. With drinks, food, magic and music we partied till 10:30pm (camp rules) and then recovered with delicious breakfast the following day.
I really enjoyed my time in this new place and I could honestly do it all again with more time and money.
