My best friend Rachal and I decided we were going to try tackling the North Island of New Zealand in about a week.  The best way I could think to do that, was by campervan, duh.  I had seen pictures and posts about how easy and wonderful it is to rent a van and start working your way through this gorgeous country, so I got the approval from my travel buddy and I booked it.

Arrival

After our plane landed in Auckland, we planned to spend our first day in the city and leave for an all-day tour in the morning.  Turns out, the company gave us the wrong address (will never book with GetYourGuide ever again.) so Rachal convinced me to go skydiving for the first time ever!  Definitely turned my day around and I’m super glad I got to jump out of an airplane at 9,000 feet.  Even got to check “be inside of a cloud” off my bucket list too!

Early the next day we got to pick up our rental van from Rental Car Village which is located pretty close to the airport, and immediately drove it to the ferry station.

Waiheke Island

This isn’t technically a campervan stop, but after we picked up Bongo (our van), we parked it in a parking garage near the ferry station.  We boarded the ferry for our Waiheke Island day trip, where I booked us on a zipline and Native Forest Adventure with EcoZip Adventures.  After the ziplines, we stopped to get food in town with an incredible view, followed by some delicious ice cream.  While we waited at the ferry station at Waiheke, we met a local who had lived in a campervan, and he even drew us a map to his favorite spot, Kerosene Creek!  Once we got back from the island, we drove to our first stop.

Stop One: (Not So) Hot Water Beach

We stayed the night in the parking lot of Hot Water beach (for a small fee) which had a really clean bathroom.  It also had a changing room with a large bench that was cleaner than most beaches I’ve been to.  Being the gypsy-child that I am, I was stoked about throwing on a bathing suit and washing off under the beach shower (as I had seen done by a few people), but Rachal was not quite on board.  She didn’t seem to like being a hobo as much as I did.  Waking up for the sunrise was an incredible sight, even though it was fairly cloudy. So here was my major fail: the hot water comes from the ground after digging a hole…  Not the ocean.  Do your research, people!

TIP: bring a shovel/trowel to dig your own hot tub!

Stop Two: Rotorua Zorbing

This was super high up on both of our lists for things we wanted to do.  Unfortunately, when we showed up to the hill it was super gloomy and raining, so we thought we were going to have to wait or come back.  Turns out, it was still a blast!  They put warm water inside the zorb so you’re not flailing around in there AND freezing.  Plus, we had the added bonus of being the only two people there for a while.

TIP: If there are two of you, go down in the same zorb! More speed = More fun.

It just wasn’t the same going down the hill by myself, and I’m glad we paid for a couple more times to go rolling down together.  If you do go zorbing with another person, just know that your legs WILL get tangled together and you may catch an elbow to the face (worth it!).  They also have cubbies at the site to store your things (open squares with no lock though) and changing rooms.

TIP: leave your glasses in your car or cubby (not much to see anyways)

One of the gals working there advised me to take off and leave my glasses behind.  I didn’t regret having clean and not broken glasses while driving away.  I decided to put my bathing suit on with a shirt over top to try and keep myself decently warm (or because I’m self-conscious) and that seemed to be fine.  The water inside will definitely keep you from sticking or whatever else you think might happen.  Overall?  Worth it.  Even in the rain.

Stop Three: Fat Dog Restaurant

This was one of those “I’m starving, pull up Yelp! and find something good to eat” stops.  Let me tell you, we were not disappointed after working up an appetite while zorbing.  The atmosphere was super weird and cool, possibly considered hipster?  I’m not sure.  There were knickknacks everywhere and instead of numbers, they used small objects (ours was a heart-shaped book-end).  The staff was incredibly nice and the food was delicious.  Best of all?  The hot chocolate.  Just do yourself a favor and get some.  It’s simply amazing.

Stop Four: Kerosene Creek

If you remember, I mentioned this hot water creek when I was talking about Waiheke Island.  The guy drew us the map below and told us to make sure to go allllll the way down the path (some parts had trees to walk over or through).  He was definitely right when he said there were less people back there because there were hordes of them right when you first see it, but the further you get the less there are, and it’s just as awesome.  This creek is riddled with tiny waterfalls and thermal pools with easy access from the sandy shores, while being hidden amongst trees.  If I hadn’t gotten a tattoo on my leg a few days earlier, I would have definitely jumped in!

TIP: If you have any cuts or open skin, I recommend not submerging it in the water. It’s a thermal pool after all.

Stop Five: A Family-Ran Campsite about 15 mins from Waitomo Caves.

I seriously wish I wrote the name down, because this place was absolutely exceptional!  Rachal and I showed up last minute in the rain just to be met by some of the nicest people with incredibly well-behaved kids.  I’m pretty sure both of us wished we could have stayed a couple more days there.  While I finished up some picture organization, Rachal got taken by the kids to meet almost every farm animal at the site and to play in all the puddles (I know she missed her own kids and loved being able to interact with these ones).

The coolest part to me, was an old broken-down truck turned into a two-story apartment with a working shower and everything!  No one was staying inside because of some repairs they were in the middle of, but they let us shower there and walk around this awesome piece of construction before bed.

Stop Six: Waitomo Caves – Glowworms

So, there’s actually three caves that you can get guides for in a bundle, that go over the history and creation of each one.  We even had enough time in between the second and third to stop at KiwiPaka to get some grub (they have great pizza).  The main attraction is obviously the glowworms though.  If you’re extra interested in them, read about my glowworm experience here.  Seeing them in person and learning about their lifecycle and existence was pretty cool.  However, unless you have a super professional digital camera set up for them specifically, you’re not going to get any good pictures.

I was only slightly prepared, and the pictures below are what I captured with my Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III mirrorless camera (probably could have captured much better ones, but this was my first trip with my new camera and we all know practice makes perfect).  If you’re expecting to use your phone to get good images, just forget it.  On a side note, we saw the black water rafting going on in these caves and I REALLY wish we could have done it.  If you’ve gone or are going to go, let me know how it was!  Seriously need to go back and do that.  They sounded like they were having a blast!

Stop Seven: Hobbiton

I’m going to preface this with the fact that I have never seen or read any LOTR or Hobbit movies or books.  Now, Rachal is a huge fan and she was STOKED (total understatement), while I was slightly intrigued to see movie set design and props.  The basic things to know are this:

1. They only offer guided tours (as it’s on privately owned land).
2. There will be a LOT of people trying to wander (especially that don’t speak English).
3. Stay in front of your group if you actually want to hear what your guide is saying (and also to make sure the wanderers don’t get in your photos).
4. If you’ve never seen or read anything related (like me), you can still learn a lot and have a blast depending on #5.
5. Aidan, our tour guide, was AWESOME.
6. The pumpkins are real.
7. There’s free beer at the end!

I decided that I took way too many photos and such at this stop, so check out our full Hobbiton tour experience with even more photos!

Stop Eight: Tongariro

We met another pair of travelers while drinking beer at Hobbiton, who told us about Tongariro Crossing.  It would be an understatement to say I was SOLD on the beautiful views that came up during our Google search of the area.  The catch? It’s a six-hour hike.  While I was all about that, Rachal was not, so we decided to go for a couple hours to see how far we could get.  It was going to be a pretty long drive to get there, so we started immediately after we left Hobbiton and got to the Tongariro Crossing area after dark.

No camp sites were open, so we ended up parking at one that we were probably supposed to pay for, but we kind of just came and left.  Whoops.  The picture below of the two of us perfectly describes the level of wanting to be there.  I was so stoked and ready in shorts and sandals, while Rachal wanted to curl up in a ball and defrost.  This was definitely a huge regret of mine not knowing about (or being prepared) to do this full hike.  We made it to Soda Springs, but that wasn’t enough for me.  I wanted more!  After this debacle we needed food.

Stop Nine: Station Café

Another Yelp! search for food landed us at the Station Café.  It was everything we needed and more.  Incredible breakfast, pastries to die for, and such a wonderful staff!  If you’re in the area, I highly suggest stopping by.

Stop Ten: Piriaka Lookout

Just the driver (me) wanting to get out and look around. This stop was a sudden pull over with a small picnic table that looked out over a river surrounded by luscious green trees.  It was so nice to be able to stretch my legs and admire the scenery without having to spend all my focus on the road ahead.

Stop Eleven: back to Auckland at a holiday park to prepare for our flight the next day.

Our goal was to find a campsite/RV park close to the beach.  Unfortunately, we had to go a little more inland to find one with an open spot.  There were even restaurants across the street to have our last dinner in the city.  We were able to shower and relax before another long travel day.  With this, we reached the conclusion of our time on the beautiful North Island, New Zealand.  Watch our full roadtrip video here!

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