The New Zealand Chapters. V: Solscape, Raglan

Perfection, what we all strive for even when we know there is truly no such thing. Every once in awhile though, if you're lucky enough, you stumble across a place which comes pretty close. With Solscape, I think it's the closest I've come so far.

At the core, when I started this blog, I meant for it to be for reviews hence the name. It's morphed into more of a travel blog where I store my thoughts. However, I try to put an in-depth review out there every once in awhile when the time and place is right. This week, I'll take a break from my travel diary and review one of the coolest places I've lived at so far, Solscape.

Travelling and visiting Solscape and actually living and working there are two pretty different experiences in my view. Therefore, I am going to split the review into 2 parts. The first will be your traditional travel-blog review from the eyes of a traveller spending some time there. The second part will be more for the backpackers who are planning to do a little volunteering and have a bit more time to spend in Raglan.

one.

Solscape is designed as a place for rest, rejuvenation and playful inspiration, to nurture our connection with each other and the natural world.

That's what it says on the Solscape website. They are actually a BBH and YHA hostel although it bares almost no resemblance to any of the YHA and BBH backpackers I've stayed at before and after. At it's simplest form, owners Phil and Bernadette want to spread a positive message through the hostel. After acquiring the place over a decade ago, they figured that close to 30,000 tourists pass through Raglan through out the summer and decided that by using the hostel itself, they could spread a message of sustainability by having the entire place be a working model of sustainability and carbon footprint reduction.

That's the theme that you will find running through-out the entire place. Speaking of the place, Solscape is comprised of several forms of accommodation. Starting at the bottom, they have campsites, followed by cabooses, tipis/tents, earth domes, and fully self-contained houses. They also have an organic no-meat kitchen next to the reception called The Concious Kitchen and their own surf school which predictably also rents out surfboards. Rounding it off are a yoga space and a massage room.

Let's start with location. Any serviced-based business owner will preach location, location, location. If there's one thing Solscape has got locked down, it's location. Set into the side of Mt. Karioi, Solscape sits between Ngarunui Beach and the world famous Manu Bay, about 8 minutes drive from Raglan Town. Driving up the road which hugs the coastline, you could be forgiven for not knowing that a sprawling 10 acres worth of accommodation lies hidden above the myriad of cutbacks that form the Solscape driveway.

As soon as you get up there to reception though, do yourself a favour and turn around to drink in that view. A view to rival any other, treat your eyes to the crashing waves along Ngarunui beach that stretches into the horizon, flanked by lush green rolling hills on one side and nothing but blue sky on the other.

Your next task will be to pick your accommodation. Let me try and help you with that. As stated earlier, your cheapest option will be to rent a campsite to either sleep in your tent, or in your car. If you're a backpacker there's a good chance this will be your option. Unlike any other campsite or hostel I've lived at since, sleeping in your tent or car here does not take anything away whatsoever from the Solscape experience. With all the facilities like several kitchens, and bathrooms scattered around the place you're not far away from anything and because everyone hangs out in the central kitchen where there's a fireplace, I really think Solscape is one of the few places where sleeping in your tent or car takes nothing away from your experience.

Next up are the cabooses. They're repurposed train carriages and are the closest you'll get to the traditional multi-bed backpacker room. Each caboose holds from 3 to 8 people and I believe there are 12 carriages in all, including a huge overlander that is self contained. The majority of beds in Solscape are in cabooses and are the option I'd recommend to most people. Sleeping in a train carriage is definitely a novelty.

In the summer, Solscape opens up a tipi/tent section which is a small walk on gravel through the forest from the main area. The tipi area has it's own set of bathrooms and kitchen, including a really cool wood-fire pizza oven. Everything in the tipi area is built to be self-sustainable. The hot water runs on solar power and so do the lights. This also means there are no plug points but if you're looking for plug points whilst sleeping in a tipi I think you've missed the point. The tipi area definitely evokes the strongest opinions, especially from the volunteers who've been at Solscape for awhile. On one hand, it's the coolest area. Who wouldn't like to live in a tipi and make pizzas every night while lounging around in the open kitchen? On the other hand, if the weather is damp, things get rough pretty quickly. I could be wrong, but I believe tipis were not made for wet weather and this becomes very apparent very quickly. The interiors get very damp and there won't be hot water as it's purely solar-powered. Also, as it's about at 10 minute walk uphill and downhill from the main area, forgetting to take something becomes infuriating, especially when it's the third time in a day. It's still a really awesome option, you just maybe want to check on the weather before you book your tipi. Also, small tip to pack light. You are not be able to drive your car to the tipi area.

Inside a tipi.

I unfortunately did not manage to live in any of the self-contained options. However, the earth domes are extremely interesting. Built to be sustainable and sourced from the earth (hence the name), they're the only ones of their kind in the world. The walls were formed mainly by sacks if my memory serves then covered by clay. The houses, luxury options in Solscape, give you the best views. Instead of sitting in the area behind reception where it's relatively flat, the houses sit alongside the winding driveway up, giving unobstructed views of the ocean. There are interesting stories to how most the rooms and houses were conceptualised and built and if he has the time, ask Phil about them.

Attractions wise, the obvious one is the surf. I won't bother going into that as it's more a Raglan attraction instead of Solscape in particular. It is really convenient to be able to rent your board and walk down to the beach in about 10 minutes though walking back up is another matter. In fact, you can walk all the way to town on the beach when the tide is out. It'll take you about 2 hours probably. I also believe Solscape is the only backpackers that sits between Ngarunui and Manu Bay, giving you loads of options based on your ability level.

Almost as big an attraction though, are the yoga activities on offer. There's yoga sessions every morning and some evenings. I participated in a meditation session by Venu and it was an amazing experience. The fact that you step out onto the deck and have the ocean spread out in front of you when you're feeling super zen does not hurt at all. Even if you don't go for the actual classes, there'll be bodies littered all around the place in various states of yoga, more than happy for you to join in.

After your activities, make use of the huge open spaces and hopefully good weather, grab a huge pillow and just lounge in the sun. Book in hand, just relax away into the evenings, where on the colder nights there's usually a log fire in the kitchen. For the more social, you could just as easily replace the book with a guitar or cards or even drop it all and just talk to people. I had many an interesting conversation in my time there.

The only reason I would discourage you from staying at Solscape is if you are a party person. There is Karioi Lodge up the road for that. With the 10-11pm lights out / no alcohol policy, there are hardly any parties and if you're staggering around drunk, you will quickly be casted out anyway when compared to the chill vibes of everyone else. The other type of person that I would advise against staying at Solscape is the business type who's stuck to their laptops and emails. Whilst there's free wifi at reception, it closes at 8 so you'll be sitting outdoors to connect to the wifi. There are also very few plug points around the place and in most areas there's no wifi even if you want to pay for it. If you're that desperate for plug points and wifi though, you're probably missing the point, which is to disconnect from technology and reconnect with yourself and others for a while.

Rest, rejuvenate, inspire they say. I guarantee you, when you leave Solscape you'll have all 3 in bucketloads.

two.

Our volunteer programme has been designed for travellers who wish to spend time in this beautiful place in a meaningful way- contributing, learning, connecting to the place and people and enjoying what is on offer in a very affordable way.

Now is probably a time as good as any to put in a disclaimer about me having volunteered at Solscape which probably affected my views of the place. This is also where I review the volunteering experience there. If you're a backpacker going around New Zealand looking for wwoofing opportunities, this should be useful for you.

The policies Solscape have in place change over time and the woofing experience for me at the start and towards the end were quite different. I believe for a majority of the year, you work 2.5 hours, 6 days a week in return for accommodation. Solscape also seems to prefer you to be there from 2-4 weeks. This probably increases in the slower months like winter where the turnover is slightly lower.

Most of the work revolves around cleaning the place daily. You work alongside the full-time housekeeping staff cleaning up the kitchen and mainly the showers and bathrooms. The work is not difficult and at 2.5 hours a day, it breezes by, giving you a lot of time to indulge in the plethora of activities available or pick up another paying job in town. Apart from housekeeping, you can be rotated to be involved with gardening, laundry, or some maintenance around the place. Again, none of the work I would describe as difficult or back-breaking. It's all relatively enjoyable especially in the company of your fellow volunteers. More than that, learning about permaculture and how and why certain things work the way they do is great and if you spend an extended amount of time there, I believe even the staunchest of skeptics will slowly come round to seeing the logic. A little bonus from all the gardening and permaculture is you can use any of the herb, flowers or veg planted in the various gardens.

Amongst the benefits of being a volunteer is discounts at the Conscious Kitchen, where they serve up some incredible meat-free food and lots of interesting vegan and no-bake cakes and muffins alongside standard coffee fare and great fruit smoothies. You also get surf rentals at half price. Whilst I don't agree with companies charging their own staff for rental gear, it's better than nothing. Worth noting though that Raglan Backpackers in town gives their volunteers free rentals.

Now, if you've been reading my blog you'll have noticed that I mentioned I volunteered at Solscape for close to 7 weeks. Wait a minute, I just said 2 paragraphs ago the maximum period is 4 weeks. Towards the end of my time there, the policies changed to match the increase in occupancy. Instead of 2.5 hours a day, hours went up to 4 hours a day in exchange for breakfast in the cafe daily and dinners on what seemed like alternate nights. During my time we also had pretty fixed duties so everyone kind of knew what to expect. With the change though, I believe Phil wanted volunteers assigned to different tasks weekly for their 4 week period so they could experience all facets of the operation in their time there.

No pipi, sleeping doesn't count as a task.

4 hours of volunteering a day means finding a paying job in town becomes significantly more difficult, so you probably want to keep that in mind. Volunteering is a great way to base yourself when you're new in the area though and finding your feet. You'll meet loads of people and especially in small towns, someone always knows someone who has a room for rent or is looking for help and that's how you move on from your 4 weeks. You could even start working full-time in Solscape itself should the opportunity present itself. Housekeeping, barista, kitchen hand, maintenance crew, reception. Just some of the positions you may find yourself in.

Accommodation-wise, you usually start off pretty fancy in one of the cabooses for a night or 2 before moving into "real" staff lodging. Yes, we got moved around quite a bit and some of the volunteers actually preferred to sleep in their cars through-out but you'll soon find out that it does not matter. At the end of the day it's just a bed to rest on at the end of the day as you'll be spending all your waking hours outdoors anyway.

If you've made it this far through this post, you will probably enjoy volunteering at Solscape. Lots of fun in the sun, deep conversations, music sessions, group dinners, random celebrations, pizza nights, and just all around awesome people to surround yourself with. Personally, their mission of spreading a positive message worked for me. I tried out some stuff I never would have had I not spent time there and the sustainable and permaculture message definitely affected some fundamental thinking in me. If you're a creative, chilled-out person, you'll easily fit into the hippie commune that's Solscape and all the good that comes with it. Good times.

I still have at least a chapter left for Raglan where I explore more of Raglan Town and the activities that come with it. My adventures surfing, German lessons, jumping off a bridge to ill effect, and awesome live music. I shall see you then.

All the better looking pictures in this post, including the header are taken by the super-talented Kali Garbaczeski whom I'm blessed to call a friend and part of the Raglan squad. Check out her website http://www.kaligphotography.com/ for more insane shots from around the world.

If you don't know how hyperlinking works and want to check out the Solscape website, it is http://www.solscape.co.nz/

The New Zealand Chapters. IV: Raglan, Part I

The fog of sleep clears slowly as the world blurs into view. With a groan, I get up off the mattress, the fifth different bed I've slept in in 6 days. Sunlight streams into the bell-tent as the zip opening unravels and my toes step onto the dew-tipped grass. Every step towards the front brings a crunch from the gravel underfoot, my skin caressed by the warm morning sun. Stepping onto the deck, a smile involuntarily creeps across my face. Ocean as far as the eye can see, lush rolling hills, waves crashing onto the beach. The start of another day in paradise.

Oh Raglan, you sneaky little devil. Let me start this chapter with a public service announcement. If you're doing a working holiday or even just travelling New Zealand and happen to be on the North Island, do yourself a favour and spend some time in Raglan. The only thing I'd caution against is going there as your first destination. More than once have I seen people checking out Raglan and just never leaving. Heck, if I didn't have a deadline to leave and see the South Island, I would probably still be there right now. You think I'm exaggerating but there is an inside joke in Raglan where you ask people when they're leaving and the answer will always be tomorrow. Nobody leaves, and why would you when you've found paradise.

View from reception.

My love affair with Raglan didn't exactly start like a house on fire though. First of all, Raglan was never even part of my plans. Towards the end of my time in Ohakune, I spotted an ad for jobs in Raglan on the Facebook page. I sent the owner an email and she called me telling me I was hired and that she wanted me to help her set up the restaurant for the summer. After a bit of asking around, I found out that Raglan was a surf mecca filled with hippies and that a few of the winter staff from Ohakune were actually headed there for summer. That gave me my next destination and I let the owner know I would be there on the first of November after my North Island road trip.

First of November rolled around and I texted the owner, saying I would rock up pretty soon and that I was ready to start work. She replies with "I think I've hired too many staff and it's quieter than I thought, if you wait until December, I'll give you some hours." Does this sound familiar yet? It was the Powderkeg all over again. I told her to jog on, I didn't have nearly enough cash to live a month in Raglan without work. After doing so much research about Raglan though, I was determined to make it my next destination. You know that feeling when you're playing poker and you try to buy the pot so you raise-check everyone a ridiculous amount but there's that one bastard who calls your bluff, but you're in too deep now so you keep raising anyway and every time you do it, you ask yourself why, then you lose everything to that damn German who's now taken your laundry money for the week. You shrug it off and smile, a smile that is trying it's best to hold back a torrent of tears. Yeah, it kind of felt like that. I was committed now.

By research, of course I meant that I took a quick look on google maps to find out where Raglan was and that the backpackers closest to town was named Raglan Backpackers. Of course when I turned up, it was full. But I was in too deep now! The guy who owned the place gave me a few suggestions on where to sleep for the night. The first of which was Solscape, a 10 minute drive into the mountains. I headed there and obviously it was also full. With a stroke of luck, the owner, Phil, was in the back room and he poked his head out, saying he could give me a bed in the surf shack. It was just that, a shed that used to be a store room for surf boards. I wasn't so sure but it was a bed for the night. While walking up to the shed though, we walked pass caboose 8 (almost all of the rooms in Solscape are re-purposed train carriages but I'll go in to depth about that in the next chapter with my full review of the place). Caboose 8 was under maintenance but there were beds in there still. We poked our heads in and both decided it was good enough for the night. And that's how I spent my first night in Raglan, pure luck.

I did some walking around the place and one of the first things I saw whilst wandering around in the woods was a natural spring with a plaque that invited you to take a drink from the sacred space. Whoa... I thought the hippie thing was a joke, but as I was about to find out after, it wasn't. The train carriages, sacred spaces, tents and train station that served as the lounge had piqued my interest and I had a browse on their website to find out what the place was all about. Solscape at it's core tries to spread a message of sustainability, which again, I'll go into further in my full review. But anyway, at the corner of the website was a little button which said volunteers. At this point, cash was running pretty low so my thinking was volunteering for accommodation would be a good way to stop the cash from bleeding out too quickly.

The next morning, I walked to the reception to have some breakfast. Let me first say that the view you have from your table at breakfast will punch you in the gut with it's beauty. The kind of view that you sit at and pretend to write poetry and before you know it, a few hours have gone by. Solscape sits on Mt. Karioi so when you sit at the deck, the town of Raglan opens up beneath you alongside the sea and Ngarunui beach, which stretches on forever. With a good flat white, you could sit there forever with a glazed look in your eyes. Well at least until you finished your coffee anyway. They say a picture says a thousand words, this would be the kind of picture they're talking about, but it doesn't say a thousand words or I wouldn't be writing, would I.

At reception, I had a chat with Christian, the German receptionist who's been stuck in Raglan for 3 years, about volunteering. He said they were full at the moment but handed me an application in case something opened up. To his disbelief and my incredible luck, a volunteer left the next day and boom, I was in.

I spent a total of over 7 weeks in Raglan, volunteering at Solscape for 6 and a half. Let me begin to try and explain why Raglan remains very close to the top of places I've lived. First up, I lived in a fricking train carriage for a good 5 weeks. When was the last time you saw that sentence anywhere? If that wasn't good enough, I then moved into a tipi, then back into another train carriage, then into a huge belle tent, and finally into my car. Secondly, as a person who's grown up and lived most his life in cities and suburbs, it is incredibly refreshing to spend a majority of time lounging around outdoors, most of the time barefoot. For half the time we stayed at Solscape, our kitchen was outdoors and had 3 walls. Most of all though, it's the people. The core crew of volunteers we had obviously helped with the experience. Really cool, funny and chill people who just enjoyed life. Over the course of 7 weeks though, during which people come and go as is natural, I don't remember meeting any bad eggs. Anyone who stayed on longer or any new volunteers that replaced the old ones were just as cool and fit into the group just as easily. I suppose with a place like Raglan and Solscape, you get a very similar group of people who decide to stay on and anyone who doesn't like the vibes moves on pretty quickly.

3-sided kitchen.

On the volunteering and work front, a large part of it was housekeeping. Making beds, a little bit of gardening and maintenance, and a lot of toilet scrubbing. On days when you're feeling particularly high and mighty, I suggest you try wiping and scrubbing a toilet seat that's still warm. You'll be surprised how quickly that brings you crashing back down to earth. For work, I picked up a few hours here and there working in the cafe that was a part of the Solscape reception. Just basic waitering, although serving a wedding (I can't escape weddings no matter how far I run) was pretty fun, and we did have quite a few yoga retreats that had breakfast and lunches included.

I really didn't mind the work or volunteering though, working alongside friends with some banter and loads of good music is definitely a good recipe. Waking up and almost looking forward to work is such a foreign feeling especially when contrasted with my time in Singapore where every working day I woke up with a dread of the day ahead.

Good music and creativity is definitely healthily nourished at Solscape. In fact, in the time I was there, I played the guitar more than the past 3 years combined. Hanging out in the sun, playing the guitar with or without other people was a daily feature. The hippie vibes, alongside the sustainability, huge open spaces, sunshine, and mainly lack of internet or plug points led to a lot of drawing, colouring, reading, music discussion, and in my case, writing. Most of the chapters you've read so far were written in a stained, sun-kissed notebook during my time in Raglan before I bothered to transfer them here.

When I wasn't at Solscape, I was usually at the beach. That's the main attraction of Raglan, the beach and longest left hand break in the world at Manu Bay. I'll go into my adventures surfing, hiking, what I did for money, and the number of great bands I managed to catch in Raglan in the next chapter. Stay tuned, and see you next week.

The New Zealand Chapters. III: Hei konā rā Ohakune

"More so than the beauty and landmarks you see, it is the people you encounter that makes travelling what it is for me."

The amount of interesting people I've had the chance to meet and befriend over my years abroad, in their own ways, have shaped who I am today. For better or worse, usually better as most people you meet whilst travelling have open minds and similar mindsets, these connections and relationships are the key driving forces behind my travelling desires. Think about it this way, if I did not leave home, I would not have met some of my best friends today.

One such person is Mary Vu. Mary is another person I had the chance to meet in Japan, much like Sean. In fact, Mary and I were housemates for about 6 months in our lovely Octagon home. If you were ever housemates with me, there's a very good chance that you are British and Mary is no exception. Actually, despite constantly pointing out her Vietnamese roots to anyone new she meets, she's probably the most British person I know.

Mary was set to visit New Zealand for the second half of October, coinciding with both our birthdays. We decided it would be awesome to road trip around the North Island together. Her dates also lined up nicely with the end of the winter season in Ohakune and I decided our road trip would be my departure as well. Going back to my point about people you meet travelling, it's crazy how much of my New Zealand journey has been shaped and touched by the friends I met in Japan. Like I said, similar mindsets.

I'll eventually get to the road trip, but in Chapter 2, I promised to reveal more attractions around Ohakune so I'll do that first. Bear in mind that as it's relatively rural, you need a car to get to most place. First up, is Waiouru. The army museum is here and it's about 30 minutes drive from Ohakune. I enjoyed it and it shed a bit of light onto the ANZAC forces and World War 2. On the way to Waiouru, you also pass the Tangiwai memorial which was one of New Zealand's worst rail disasters. It's worth a look but if you're pressed for time, you could skip it. Just outside Ohakune is also the Ohakune carrot that is the town mascot because there's loads of carrot farming in 'Kune.

If you're keen on camping or hiking, the Waitonga falls half way up Turoa is a beautiful walk in any season but especially magical in winter with frozen pools and breathtaking views of Ruapehu dressed in white and painted in sunlight. It's part of a 4-day round the mountain great walk if you're keen on that. I could be wrong but I believe there is a freedom camping spot on the way up Turoa as well. Slightly further out of Ohakune is the Ruatiti Domain. It's another one of many free Department of Conservation (DOC) camp sites peppered around New Zealand. It takes awhile to get to but the drive there is beautiful, snaking around cliffs. It's one of the rare spots where having an open fire is allowed. I recommend visiting if you get the chance. Walk along the river, have a picnic or barbecue, and just hang out in its beauty. Like much of New Zealand, you'll feel like you've stepped into the set for Jurassic Park. Obviously there are loads more spots to see in the Ruapehu area such as National Park but I can only review what I have been to.

Waitonga walk

Ruatiti Domain

Alright then, back to the road trip. It was split in 2 parts as Mary visited the South Island in between while I chose to squeeze out a couple more hours of work to fund my trip. Little did I know, it would be the last of any steady work I would have in New Zealand. In part 1, we mostly hung out in an Ohakune which was slowly being evacuated due to the end of the winter season. It finished off in Taupo where we decided to spend a night to celebrate my 26th birthday. In a packed schedule, we started with white water rafting in Turangi. I found it pretty fun even if I expected slightly more from it. It's still great if you're new to rafting but I wouldn't do it again as you don't get any real sphincter-clenching moments.

We booked a bach in the DeBretts Hot Springs and got some dinner after checking in. Fish & Chips down by the great lake for the sunset. That's where I recorded the timelapse which is at the start of my Taupo video. Fun fact, you could fit Singapore inside Lake Taupo if you want a little sense of scale and have some pretty big tongs. We then went back to get baked in the hot springs after which you can hear Mary singing Happy Birthday in Sean's video. The next day, we hiked to Huka Falls then got baked again in some natural hot springs before enjoying the sunset on a different side of Lake Taupo.

Part 2 starts with the hiring of a Jucy camper van. Mary picked it up from Wellington and drove it back up to Ohakune. Note that if you're not present to collect the vehicle, you're not legally allowed to drive it. So as far as Jucy and the NZ Traffic Association is concerned, Mary did all the driving. Our itinerary started with black water rafting in the Waitomo Caves, followed by Hobbiton, Rotorua, Lake Tarawera, then Wellington. We slept in the camper every night.

I daresay black water rafting in Waitomo is a must-do if you're visiting New Zealand. After a quick intro, we changed into wetsuits and sexy pants then abseiled into the caves. Once down there, there's walking followed by crawling and then floating down the caves on a inflated tube before climbing back out of the caves at the end. Famous for the glow worms, the caves are a truly amazing sight when floating down in absolute darkness with the whole ceiling glowing like a infinite green galaxy of stars.

Sexy pants galore

Hobbiton, seems to be a strangely divisive topic in New Zealand. Speaking to most kiwis (the people, not the bird), they don't seem to be massive Lord of the Rings fans and seem to think visiting Hobbiton is a waste of time and money. Then again, maybe because they're constantly surrounded by greenery and rolling hills, it's not special anymore. If you're a fan of LOTR, I can assure you, it is special.

Hobbiton was initially built on a farm with very disposable materials, to be torn down after filming. However, because of storms, the crew could not tear it down and decided to only return to finish the job after 6 months. By then, the Fellowship had been released and locals recognised the hills in the horizon before working out which farm it was on. Needless to say, word got out and the rest is history. So Peter Jackson came back to film The Hobbit and this time, the farm owner agreed to let him use the grounds but on the condition that the structures were built to last and Hobbiton as we know it today was built.

Apart from the obvious appeal of being in the Shire, the fact that there are no visible modern structures like power lines as far as the eye can see is pretty amazing in this day and age. This is also what drew Peter Jackson to the area during location scouting. I have to note though that none of the hobbit holes have anything inside and are just doors cut into the side of hills.

Sulphur is the smell that will assault your senses as soon as you arrive in Rotorua, as well as the biggest i-Site I have seen so far. Known for it's geyser activity and subsequent hot pools, Rotorua is probably one of the bigger towns in the North. On our first night, we went to a Maori Show at Te Puia. Unlike many cultural shows I've been to, it was not over-the-top or gimmicky. The hangi buffet dinner was a nice touch as well. Again, I'd recommend going to a Maori show just for a glimpse into the principles that have shaped so much of New Zealand's history.

On day 2, we decided to drive to Lake Tarawera, mostly because I wanted Mary to do some proper camping. I wouldn't say the drive in is scenic but it was definitely interesting. A long drive on gravel roads past logging areas smothered out green camper in dust. With the Tarawera site, there is absolutely nothing there apart from a long drop which of course Mary loved. It was a 3 hour return hike to the Tarawera Falls which was a nice place to chill and have lunch. If tranquility and complete silence is what you're looking for, this is for you. Sit and watch the sunset reflect in the lake as long as you want with absolutely nobody else around.

We spent the last 2 days mainly driving and walking around Wellington. This chapter is long enough already so I won't bother with describing the city. I will say that I prefer it to Auckland and it is the windiest city in the world. After that, Mary flew off back to Japan and I prepared to start phase 2 of my New Zealand chapters. Easily the most interesting phase not just in New Zealand but maybe my entire travelling life, stay tuned for tales about my car, amazing Raglan and the hippie commune in the next few chapters.

Until then, thanks for reading.

On our trip I booked most of our activities through BookMe which is great if you're looking for discounts.

I also made a video of our road trip: