New Zealand or Bust

[bobnick]

Yours and others threads on NZ have convinced me a NZ visit of more substance than we have already done is a must..................

 

[Two on Tour]

Now Martin and Jen are heading for home, I had better take up the reins.
We arrived at Taupo and went into town for an evening meal.
Not too much to see in Taupo itself, other than a nice area overlooking the lake where most people seem to chill out.
We are not big fans of McDonalds, but as the Taupo McDonalds has McDonalds DC3 aeroplane as part of the seating area, we ordered a milkshake and sat in the DC3.

 

[Two on Tour]

Next on our list were the Huka Falls.

Later that day we took a boat trip up to the falls and into the spray.

..... other were enjoying the falls and their ride in the jet boats.

Some views of the wildlife on the way to the falls.

 

[Silver-Fox]

With the long trip each way and so much to see I would think that a MH swap for a year might be a good idea. I am sure there are lots of Kiwis that would appeal to.

Problem is finding an equivalent MH in NZ with reliable owners.

If we went back that would be the approach I would take.

As you say it’s find the “right” owner out there

 

[funflair]

funflair Your posts on here have been very interesting and informative. I’ve learned a lot about places I didn’t know existed in my own backyard.
I have also made sure I tell as many people as possible not to use Maui or any Tourism Holdings rental companies.
I would be curious to know what response you got to your complaint about the motorhome you hired and whether you are satisfied with how they handled your complaint? Will you be taking the matter further?
Thank you for sharing your travels with us all. You’ve done a better job of promoting NZ than New Zealand Tourism.

Thanks for coming along for the ride, and your tips and advice as well, we have had a great time and it is indeed a fantastic country with such diverse range of sights and scenery.

Re THL Maui etc I wrote out a 3 page "end of term report" and gave it to the guy as we checked the van back in, he was very pleasant and seemed concerned and he knocked $100 off our road user charge fee but said that was all he was allowed to do but we should also email customer care so that is this mornings job while waiting for our flight up to Newcastle, to be fair though and to keep things in perspective the Maui vans are cheaper than the European alternatives from the likes of McRent, I could accept that except that a lot of the issues were with the preparation of the van rather than the design itself so really easily within their control, another time we would like something nicer and accept that it will cost us more, from the little we saw of the McRent vans at Zion in Auckland we were quite impressed with the general presentation but also the way the band seemed to have held up well to what is most likely a fair bit of abuse.

Again trying to be fair to THL I will say that when we reported issues on the road they were very proactive getting us to somebody to sort bits, still no excuse for poor prep though

Re road user charge? for anybody not familiar with this, basically diesel is a good bit cheaper than petrol as there isn't the same tax on it but to make up for this you pay a charge per km of something like $7.64 per 100 km, we did about 4500km so the charge was about $340 less the $100 the nice guy on returns knocked off.

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[funflair]

Thanks so much for sharing your trip, I’ve really enjoyed it. Our first big retirement trip 7 years ago was NZ to visit old friends. We absolutely loved it and recommend a visit to everyone. We must return.

You are most welcome Jen says she want to see whales from the air next time I blame you for that Dawn

 

[Two on Tour]

Not far from the Huka Falls is a geothermal park call Craters of the Moon. This was our first experience of the geothermal activity in New Zealand, which at the time seemed quite impressive, but much better was to come later at Rotorua.

There were supposed to be two bubbling mud pools in the park, but unfortunately both had dried up recently, but luckily the skipper on our Huka Falls boat trip had told us about a good free to visit mud pool a little up the road at Waiotapu.

 

[bobnick]

Not far from the Huka Falls is a geothermal park call Craters of the Moon. This was our first experience of the geothermal activity in New Zealand, which at the time seemed quite impressive, but much better was to come later at Rotorua.

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There were supposed to be two bubbling mud pools in the park, but unfortunately both had dried up recently, but luckily the skipper on our Huka Falls boat trip had told us about a good free to visit mud pool a little up the road at Waiotapu.

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When i see pictures like these i always have an urgent need to get back to Iceland. At least Iceland is only around the corner from us.....by comparison

 

[Two on Tour]

A few miles downstream from the Huka Falls, the river is dammed.
Below the dam are the Aratiatia Falls which just have a trickle of water going through them for most of the time, but each day every two hours between 10 am and 4pm the sluce gates are opened to let vast amounts of water through the falls. The only purpose of opening the sluce gates releasing of water is for the public to view the water running through the falls.

Before the water is released.

A few minutes after the water is released.

 

[Two on Tour]

Heading towards Rotorua, we stopped off at Kerosene Creek, where the water in the creek is heated as thermal water rises from the ground below. The water is not just warm but also rich in minerals. The water temperature at Kerosene Creek varies, but it's generally between 35°C and 38°C.

The warm water had attracted many that were bathing in the creek and pools.

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[nicholsong]

Thanks for coming along for the ride, and your tips and advice as well, we have had a great time and it is indeed a fantastic country with such diverse range of sights and scenery.

Re THL Maui etc I wrote out a 3 page "end of term report" and gave it to the guy as we checked the van back in, he was very pleasant and seemed concerned and he knocked $100 off our road user charge fee but said that was all he was allowed to do but we should also email customer care so that is this mornings job while waiting for our flight up to Newcastle, to be fair though and to keep things in perspective the Maui vans are cheaper than the European alternatives from the likes of McRent, I could accept that except that a lot of the issues were with the preparation of the van rather than the design itself so really easily within their control, another time we would like something nicer and accept that it will cost us more, from the little we saw of the McRent vans at Zion in Auckland we were quite impressed with the general presentation but also the way the band seemed to have held up well to what is most likely a fair bit of abuse.

Again trying to be fair to THL I will say that when we reported issues on the road they were very proactive getting us to somebody to sort bits, still no excuse for poor prep though

Re road user charge? for anybody not familiar with this, basically diesel is a good bit cheaper than petrol as there isn't the same tax on it but to make up for this you pay a charge per km of something like $7.64 per 100 km, we did about 4500km so the charge was about $340 less the $100 the nice guy on returns knocked off.

Martin is that 'road charge' charged by the hire company in the contract, or is it a government charge?

 

[funflair]

Martin is that 'road charge' charged by the hire company in the contract, or is it a government charge?

It's a government thing Geoff but administered by the hire company. It applies to Diesel and Electric vehicles vehicles only as the road user tax is already on Petrol at the pumps, the taxi driver we were talking with on our way into Auckland said this was basically why they all use Petrol hybrid rather than electric.

 

[nicholsong]

It's a government thing Geoff but administered by the hire company. It applies to Diesel and Electric vehicles vehicles only as the road user tax is already on Petrol at the pumps, the taxi driver we were talking with on our way into Auckland said this was basically why they all use Petrol hybrid rather than electric.

Interesting system. What do they charge, and how, for the LPG use of the petrol hybrid, if you meant petrol/lpg?

 

[funflair]

Interesting system. What do they charge, and how, for the LPG use of the petrol hybrid, if you meant petrol/lpg?

A bit of light reading here Geoff https://www.transport.govt.nz/area-of-interest/revenue/road-user-charges-system but basically we paid just under $8 per 100km, the hybrids that most taxis use are Petrol/Electric hybrids but not Plug in Hybrid as that is a different charge again.

 

[funflair]

A few miles downstream from the Huka Falls, the river is dammed.
Below the dam are the Aratiatia Falls which just have a trickle of water going through them for most of the time, but each day every two hours between 10 am and 4pm the sluce gates are opened to let vast amounts of water through the falls. The only purpose of opening the sluce gates releasing of water is for the public to view the water running through the falls.

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Before the water is released.
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A few minutes after the water is released.
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When we were the turbines were being maintained so all the water was coming down the rapids, all day.

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[nicholsong]

A bit of light reading here Geoff https://www.transport.govt.nz/area-of-interest/revenue/road-user-charges-system but basically we paid just under $8 per 100km, the hybrids that most taxis use are Petrol/Electric hybrids but not Plug in Hybrid as that is a different charge again.

I cannot see anything there about LPG or LPG Hybrid. Do they not have any?

 

[funflair]

I cannot see anything there about LPG or LPG Hybrid. Do they not have any?

I'm not sure where/why LPG keeps coming into this, but no I don't see it mentioned either.

 

[Two on Tour]

Arriving at Rotorua, we headed to the Redwoods Treewalk.
To be honest, when we saw that the walkway was only 6 metres off the ground, we decided that we could spend the $84 entry for the two of us on something better, as we had already done a couple of swingbridges over gorges earlier in our trip. We did go back in the evening to see it lit up, which was good but by no means spectacular in our view. If you do plan to do the Treewalk in the evening after dark, then leave yourself plenty of time as the queues to do the Treewalk were a good two hundred metres long and growing when we arrived at 8pm.

 

[Two on Tour]

To get a good view across the lake at Rotorua, then take the Skyline gondola to the hilltop.

 

[funflair]

Arriving at Rotorua, we headed to the Redwoods Treewalk.
To be honest, when we saw that the walkway was only 6 metres off the ground, we decided that we could spend the $84 entry for the two of us on something better, as we had already done a couple of swingbridges over gorges earlier in our trip. We did go back in the evening to see it lit up, which was good but by no means spectacular in our view. If you do plan to do the Treewalk in the evening after dark, then leave yourself plenty of time as the queues to do the Treewalk were a good two hundred metres long and growing when we arrived at 8pm.
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Yes we did the Redwoods walk in the daytime and wouldn't say that you missed much

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[Langtoftlad]

To get a good view across the lake at Rotorua, then take the Skyline gondola to the hilltop.

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Did you do the Luge... Great fun & fast, if you're brave enough

 

[Two on Tour]

We deliberated over which Maori experience we wanted to do whilst we were here and settled on the Whakarewarewa Living Village, as it seemed more authentic rather than entertainment.
We paid for an all day pass, which gave us full access to the geothermal walk, a guided tour and the cultural performance.
We started with the geothermal walk. It was quite eerie in places with all the steam blowing across. Seeing the bubbling mud and the boiling water in the pools and lakes and feeling the heat and the steam was certainly an experience. It's amazing to think that people are living amongst this landscape and working with it for their benefit. In the past if a new steam vent opened up near or in a house they used to take the house down but they have now learnt to put pipes in to channel the steam and either use it or just vent it off.
We then went to watch the cultural performance, which included a Haka as well as other performances. It was very good.
After the show had finished we met Jess, who was to be our guide on the tour of the village, along with his dog Jack, who seemed less than impressed at having to walk round the village again but was sensible enough to seek out shade whenever we stopped, as it was a hot day.
Jess was brilliant and we think we struck lucky with our guide. He grew up in the village but doesn't live there anymore and isn't sure he wants to move back in. He only lives 100 metres away so not too far. He was very interesting to listen to and to ask questions to and had a cheeky sense of humour.
The Maori who still live in the village use some of the hot water pools for cooking, as well as wooden ovens sunk into the hot ground that they use to cook in too. They are nice to slow cook meat in. As we were walking round Jess radioed through to a colleague who put some corn cobs into a hot pool for us. When we got round to that point the corns were ready to eat and very tasty they were too
The villagers also have pools that they use for bathing in, they drain water from one of the hot pools and leave it to cool during the day before using it in the evening. We put our hand in to feel the water at about 1.30 and it felt too hot to use at that time.
There is a hot pool there called Grumpy Old Man that is apparently very good at predicting when something is going to happen on the fault line that the village sits on as the water level in the pool suddenly drops. Amongst other things he predicted the Tsunami in Thailand a few years ago, the earthquake in Japan recently and also the Volcanic eruption in Hawaii that has happened recently. If the residents see the water level drop or rise they contact the seismic team who investigate what might be about to occur along the fault line.
When we had finished our tour we went to get a bite to eat in the café, they had Hangi pies there, which is Maori food, that had been cooked in one of the hot pools. After a quick lunch we went to watch the Geysers spouting and then walked through the geothermal area again before heading back to the accommodation.
We had a fantastic day, thoroughly enjoyed our time at the village and think we made the right choice on where to visit.
Oh and there were a couple of very friendly cats who enjoyed some cuddles and treats

 

[Two on Tour]

Did you do the Luge... Great fun & fast, if you're brave enough
View attachment 1037069

We thought about it Stephen, but we were a little tight on time at the Skyline what with having to return to the top to collect your gear.

 

[corconx]

We deliberated over which Maori experience we wanted to do whilst we were here and settled on the Whakarewarewa Living Village, as it seemed more authentic rather than entertainment.
We paid for an all day pass, which gave us full access to the geothermal walk, a guided tour and the cultural performance.
We started with the geothermal walk. It was quite eerie in places with all the steam blowing across. Seeing the bubbling mud and the boiling water in the pools and lakes and feeling the heat and the steam was certainly an experience. It's amazing to think that people are living amongst this landscape and working with it for their benefit. In the past if a new steam vent opened up near or in a house they used to take the house down but they have now learnt to put pipes in to channel the steam and either use it or just vent it off.
We then went to watch the cultural performance, which included a Haka as well as other performances. It was very good.
After the show had finished we met Jess, who was to be our guide on the tour of the village, along with his dog Jack, who seemed less than impressed at having to walk round the village again but was sensible enough to seek out shade whenever we stopped, as it was a hot day.
Jess was brilliant and we think we struck lucky with our guide. He grew up in the village but doesn't live there anymore and isn't sure he wants to move back in. He only lives 100 metres away so not too far. He was very interesting to listen to and to ask questions to and had a cheeky sense of humour.
The Maori who still live in the village use some of the hot water pools for cooking, as well as wooden ovens sunk into the hot ground that they use to cook in too. They are nice to slow cook meat in. As we were walking round Jess radioed through to a colleague who put some corn cobs into a hot pool for us. When we got round to that point the corns were ready to eat and very tasty they were too
The villagers also have pools that they use for bathing in, they drain water from one of the hot pools and leave it to cool during the day before using it in the evening. We put our hand in to feel the water at about 1.30 and it felt too hot to use at that time.
There is a hot pool there called Grumpy Old Man that is apparently very good at predicting when something is going to happen on the fault line that the village sits on as the water level in the pool suddenly drops. Amongst other things he predicted the Tsunami in Thailand a few years ago, the earthquake in Japan recently and also the Volcanic eruption in Hawaii that has happened recently. If the residents see the water level drop or rise they contact the seismic team who investigate what might be about to occur along the fault line.
When we had finished our tour we went to get a bite to eat in the café, they had Hangi pies there, which is Maori food, that had been cooked in one of the hot pools. After a quick lunch we went to watch the Geysers spouting and then walked through the geothermal area again before heading back to the accommodation.
We had a fantastic day, thoroughly enjoyed our time at the village and think we made the right choice on where to visit.
Oh and there were a couple of very friendly cats who enjoyed some cuddles and treats

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I noticed you didn’t mention it didn’t have a smell of rotten eggs type of thing? We’ve not visited New Zealand. My husband did when he was at sea back in the 60s and he went to Rotorua then.

Many years later we went to the states and visited Yosemite, where old faithful is and their boiling pools, we walk amongst them and the one thing that has remained in my memory is the awful stench!

Thanks for your photographs, as this is a place I always wanted to visit, the rest of my family have! And it is still on my bucket list should we ever win on Ernie?

 

[Two on Tour]

I noticed you didn’t mention it didn’t have a smell of rotten eggs type of thing? We’ve not visited New Zealand. My husband did when he was at sea back in the 60s and he went to Rotorua then.

Many years later we went to the states and visited Yosemite, where old faithful is and their boiling pools, we walk amongst them and the one thing that has remained in my memory is the awful stench!

Thanks for your photographs, as this is a place I always wanted to visit, the rest of my family have! And it is still on my bucket list should we ever win on Ernie?

Yes, the smell of rotten eggs is in the air, but to be honest it was not that pungent and after a day of wandering around Rotorua you hardly notice it, plus it depends on the wind direction as to when you get a waft.

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[Two on Tour]

A couple of other places we visited in Rotorua were the old paddle boat the Lakeland Queen and Sulphur Point which was fairly underwhelming after experiencing the Moari village.

On the way out of Rotorua we had a pleasant walk though the Redwood trees at Hamurana springs on the North side of the lake.

 

[funflair]

I noticed you didn’t mention it didn’t have a smell of rotten eggs type of thing? We’ve not visited New Zealand. My husband did when he was at sea back in the 60s and he went to Rotorua then.

Many years later we went to the states and visited Yosemite, where old faithful is and their boiling pools, we walk amongst them and the one thing that has remained in my memory is the awful stench!

Thanks for your photographs, as this is a place I always wanted to visit, the rest of my family have! And it is still on my bucket list should we ever win on Ernie?

We stayed on a POP in Rotorua (Park Over Property) basically its private property belonging to a NZMCA member (you also need to be a member) anyway we were on this guys front lawn and all the time there was quite a strong Sulphur smell and a gurgling sound a lot of the time as well, when outside I saw a 3 inch hole in the lawn so I asked what it was for, some months back he a had a guy in a caravan long term and he wanted somewhere to chuck his grey waste so the guy drilled a hole down into the pumice stone and hot ground water layer made a good vent as well.

 

[funflair]

We deliberated over which Maori experience we wanted to do whilst we were here and settled on the Whakarewarewa Living Village, as it seemed more authentic rather than entertainment.
We paid for an all day pass, which gave us full access to the geothermal walk, a guided tour and the cultural performance.
We started with the geothermal walk. It was quite eerie in places with all the steam blowing across. Seeing the bubbling mud and the boiling water in the pools and lakes and feeling the heat and the steam was certainly an experience. It's amazing to think that people are living amongst this landscape and working with it for their benefit. In the past if a new steam vent opened up near or in a house they used to take the house down but they have now learnt to put pipes in to channel the steam and either use it or just vent it off.
We then went to watch the cultural performance, which included a Haka as well as other performances. It was very good.
After the show had finished we met Jess, who was to be our guide on the tour of the village, along with his dog Jack, who seemed less than impressed at having to walk round the village again but was sensible enough to seek out shade whenever we stopped, as it was a hot day.
Jess was brilliant and we think we struck lucky with our guide. He grew up in the village but doesn't live there anymore and isn't sure he wants to move back in. He only lives 100 metres away so not too far. He was very interesting to listen to and to ask questions to and had a cheeky sense of humour.
The Maori who still live in the village use some of the hot water pools for cooking, as well as wooden ovens sunk into the hot ground that they use to cook in too. They are nice to slow cook meat in. As we were walking round Jess radioed through to a colleague who put some corn cobs into a hot pool for us. When we got round to that point the corns were ready to eat and very tasty they were too
The villagers also have pools that they use for bathing in, they drain water from one of the hot pools and leave it to cool during the day before using it in the evening. We put our hand in to feel the water at about 1.30 and it felt too hot to use at that time.
There is a hot pool there called Grumpy Old Man that is apparently very good at predicting when something is going to happen on the fault line that the village sits on as the water level in the pool suddenly drops. Amongst other things he predicted the Tsunami in Thailand a few years ago, the earthquake in Japan recently and also the Volcanic eruption in Hawaii that has happened recently. If the residents see the water level drop or rise they contact the seismic team who investigate what might be about to occur along the fault line.
When we had finished our tour we went to get a bite to eat in the café, they had Hangi pies there, which is Maori food, that had been cooked in one of the hot pools. After a quick lunch we went to watch the Geysers spouting and then walked through the geothermal area again before heading back to the accommodation.
We had a fantastic day, thoroughly enjoyed our time at the village and think we made the right choice on where to visit.
Oh and there were a couple of very friendly cats who enjoyed some cuddles and treats

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The sweetcorn was lovely we had a lady do our tour and she explained quite a lot about the face and body tattoos and their cultural meaning, it was interesting but my memory now prevents me from sharing. As we went a round the various hot pools used for cooking etc they all had names (and slightly different temperatures) and she addressed each pool in her native tongue before she told us about it.

 

[Holly's mum]

We stayed on a POP in Rotorua (Park Over Property) basically its private property belonging to a NZMCA member (you also need to be a member) anyway we were on this guys front lawn and all the time there was quite a strong Sulphur smell and a gurgling sound a lot of the time as well, when outside I saw a 3 inch hole in the lawn so I asked what it was for, some months back he a had a guy in a caravan long term and he wanted somewhere to chuck his grey waste so the guy drilled a hole down into the pumice stone and hot ground water layer made a good vent as well.

We stayed in an apartment slightly outside Rotorua and didn't get much of a smell of the sulphur there.
Our guide in the Maori village said that if you put a sprig of Manuka tree under your nose, rub it with your fingers and sniff it, it stops the smell of the sulphur. I did try it when we walked back round the pools after our tour and it did seem to work

 

[Langtoftlad]

When I stayed in Rotorua, at the end was a public park with bubbling mud pools, a steaming lake and even a small foot spa...

All free.

[ A Maori village "experience" was included in the tour... geysers, hangi, and haka show... but they also had Kiwis - no photos allowed ]

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