It was a sad day to leave the South Island after spending 6 months down there. The South Island is where all the grand, expansive scenery is. It's bigger and less populated, more wild, it's where the Alps are. There's nothing wrong with the North Island- there's plenty of beauty and adventure if you know where to find it, but the two are definitely different.
Winter was setting in on the South. Starting in May in Fairlie we were getting some frosty mornings- although nothing like what we get in Ottawa, in can be difficult to live in a van when the temperature drops below 0C.
But since our home is on wheels, we have the luxury of running from the cold by heading north- same way Canadians escape by heading south to Florida!
New Zealand is a long, narrow country that stretches across several latitudes. The southernmost city Invercargill is at a similar latitude as Ottawa, but the northern tip of the North Island is in a sub-tropical zone, similar to southern California. So our destination for winter is the Bay of Islands, far north!
Along the way to our next workstay, we took a week to visit parts of the North Island we missed last go around.
After the ferry crossing, we drove north along the Kapiti coast to Taranaki.
Last time Mt. Taranaki was surrounded by cloud. We thought we would try again, but no, this time it was still a cloud magnet, so we gave up on trying to get a photo and bought a postcard!
We then drove to Rotorua to go Zorbing, and also have a hot-spring soak.
From a little internet research we found the most incredible natural hot spring hidden in the bush: a hot stream with an actual waterfall of boiling water! There can't be too many places in the world like that...
After Rotorua, a quick stop in Tauranga to see Mt. Manganui, a little former volcano, right in the middle of a city.
We then went to explore more of the Coromandel peninsula. We spent a night in Karangahake Gorge to see some of the best gold mine relics in the country- there are all sorts of long tunnels in the cliffs to walk through.
We also went to see the famous Cathedral Cove now that the crowds have died down.
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