Jali's Journey: New Year and the road ahead

So with Christmas behind us and New Year upon us, we formed a rough plan to head to Rotorua to stay for a few days. Rotorua is an action-packed holiday town, full of things to do - mainly adventurous activities that involve exploring the local redwood forests or the thermal geography that the region is famous for. Hot springs, bubbling pools and boiling mud are around every corner, along with the whiffy eggy smell of sulfur. We naively arrived in Rotorua without booking ahead for a campsite at the busiest time of year - whoops. Most places were fully booked. However, fortune was upon us and when we arrived at one site the owner told us 'sorry - fully booked'. But Ali seemed to charm him / take pity on us because in the end he offered us a pitch on his 'emergency spot' - a smaller than usual pitch but which we though was great and overlooked the trout river that the campsite was next to (and could swim, kayak and fish on).

Actually, the kind owner - Michael - probably thought our two boys would 'boost' the numbers of the site because it really was a lovely family and child-friendly site, with many people returning each year for the Christmas/NY holidays. He had even organised sweet little treats and events for the children such as 'water games' on the river. A fun child and adult kayak race was won by Sam and Dad and we were treated to sweets and little toys as a prize. For NYE there were some 9pm fireworks - perfect for the kids and not too loud/scary either. Sweets and sparklers were handed out for the children. Sam and Ben both enjoyed staying up late for the display and watched whilst sipping mugs of hot chocolate on the river bank.

On New Year's Day we enjoyed a beautiful walk through woods full of huge redwood trees and then along a crystal-clear river to find the Hamurana Spring - a truly magical sight with the source of the spring eerily flowing upwards from a deep underwater cavern.

Jonny enjoyed a few hours mountain biking in one of NZ's top biking spots: The Redwoods - Whakarewarewa Forest. There's so many trails to explore. The bike hire company also lent Sam and Ben a couple of balance bikes so they could 'have a go' too!

Leaving Rotorua, we headed south to seek out a bit of thermal pool paradise. We found 'Kerosene Creek' - a great 'off the beaten track' find: a warm narrow river that flows through a beautiful forest and opens out into a pool so people can sit and soak in the relaxing and invigorating warm waters. We then camped for two nights at the Waikite Thermal Spa - a lovely place that utilises a boiling hot natural spring and channels the water to heat a variety of spa pools. There is even a 'child-friendly' pool so as not to upset visitors who are wanting total tranquility (which we took turns to achieve with some early morning and late visits to the pools, sans kids).

So, with January ahead of us, we took a good look at our dates and plans and decided we had time on our side. Time enough to plan a road trip around the East Coast Highway which we had always wanted to do but never thought we'd get chance. It's 327km of road in what is suppose to be some of NZ's North Island more isolated and remote spots. Here we go...