Kerosene Creek, Redwood Forest

We drove a half hour to Kerosene Creek, where a hot spring & freshwater creek meet. When it isn’t raining, the temperature of the water is a comfortable 36C. There’s a 2m tall waterfall, a severalRead more
We drove a half hour to Kerosene Creek, where a hot spring & freshwater creek meet. When it isn’t raining, the temperature of the water is a comfortable 36C. There’s a 2m tall waterfall, a severalRead more
Another day, another scenic hike! But first, we attended the Pasifica Festival on the downtown beachfront of Rotorua, which is the most culturally diverse city in New Zealand. On the outside of theRead more
This morning we drove from our VRBO in Tauranga to Rotorua. We drove through a number of gorges, including Gopi Gorge. Rotorua has a population of 77000, with is about half of Tauranga. The road wasRead more
We drove just over an hour to reach Karangahake Gorge. We had planned on hiking one of two trails, which were both blocked off part way along. One trail had a “slip” of a large tree, while theRead more
This morning we drove a short distance to Te Puna Quarry Park, which was used as a rock quarry until 1979. In 1993, a group of local volunteers proposed that they could plant native & non nativeRead more
This morning we walked around Mt Maunganui. We took our time & enjoyed the 5km walk. Others were doing the more difficult “summit walk.” They say the view from the summit is spectacular. We’llRead more
We left our Airbnb in Taupo at around 9am & drove, north, to Tauranga, where we spent some time walking on the beach, near Mt Manganui. At 2, we made our way to our new “home away from home” in aRead more
We left Taihape at 8:30 am & drove two hours to Lake Taupo in the interior of the north island of New Zealand. We passed by some fairly tall mountains with snow near their peaks. We saw Mount Ruapehu,Read more
This morning, we rented a small, Nissan, SUV & drove to Taihape, which claims to be the “gumboot capital of the world.” The town holds an annual festival in April to celebrate Rural living &Read more
We waited out the rain this morning, then walked to the National Museum of New Zealand, the Te Papa Museum. We saw exhibits entitled Gallipoli : The Scale of Our War, Nature, Blood, Earth, Fire,Read more