North Island in a Campervan

On April 7^th, I caught a flight to Auckland to spend my two week mid-semester break exploring the North Island of New Zealand.  With five other American friends we rented a campervan and took off.  We weren't quite sure what we would end up doing but we knew it would be great.

I traveled in the campervan for six days.  We visited Auckland, Tauranga, Mt. Maunganui, Rotorua, Waitomo Caves and New Plymouth.  Below are some highlights of our adventures.

Driving our campervan!

I checked another item off my bucket list by driving on the opposite side of the road!  Having been in New Zealand for a while I have gotten more use to the traffic pattern and don’t feel like I might be hit by a car every time I cross a street.  I had wanted to drive but when I had the opportunity I was still a bit hesitant.  Making turns and driving through the round-a-bouts, were a bit tricky.  At first, every time I would make a turn, the windshield wipers would start going because the hand controls are opposite.  I did get better at making turns without accidentally turning them on.  The hardest part was parking, simply because the campervan was quite big.  Overall, driving on the opposite side of the road was really fun and I am glad I got out of my comfort zone and did it.

Auckland: We stayed in Auckland the first night and saw the city by walking around downtown.

Traveling between Auckland and Tauranga, we stopped at the Karangahake Gorge.

Karangahake Gorge

Climbed on rocks in the river & explored the old gold mining caves at Karangahake

Tauranga:  We ate some really good food at the fresh fish market in Tauranga.  I had oysters, mussels and scallops.  The next day we climbed Mount Maunganui.

Beautiful view from where we parked for the night

Looking out from the top of Mt. Maunganui

Rotorua: This area is rich in Maori culture which are the native New Zealanders.  It also has lots of thermal pools that spell like rotten eggs because of the sulfur.

Rotorua Museum

A hot spring in Rotorua

One of the most fun things I have done in New Zealand so far is go Zorbing!  I felt like a hamster as I climbed inside a huge clear inflatable ball with some water in it.  It was exciting being thrown around inside as I rolled on a zig-zag path down the hill.  It's more intense than it looks.

Waitomo Caves: Waitomo Glowworm Cave and Aranui Cave

It looked like the peaceful night sky from the blue glow of the thousands of glowworms in the dark cave of Waitomo.  In the Arranui Cave we got to see magnificent limestone formations of the stalactites and stalagmites.

Ice Cream break at Waitomo Caves with the group

Limestone formations in Aranui Cave

New Plymouth: My final day in the campervan was spent in New Plymouth and in the Taranaki area.

 

New Plymouth

I'm really glad I was able to explore a lot of the North Island in a campervan with some awesome people.  We had so much fun and made some good memories from all the places we visited and cool things we saw.