3 amazing weeks traveling on the North-Island of New Zealand

(Please don´t wonder that I start writing in English. I thought its time to start writing in English instead of German. :)   )

Hello my dears,
it has been a while since my last post.
I´m leaving now in Brisbane since beginning of February and even my holiday to New Zealand has happened already so long ago.
While I went through some pictures today I thought its time to upload some pictures and write some notes.

Martin and me met in Auckland where our journey begun. After one night in the BASE-Hostel in town we went by bus to the airport to pick up our car.

For the first 3 days we were driving north of Auckland and discovered the Northland. Our first night we stayed at a parking spot next to the beach and the Shakespear Regional Park which we discovered the next morning. Unfortunately the weather was not on our site. It was raining almost the hole day so we didn´t see really much and were driving most of the day. At least we had a stop in a small town with a really famous toilette. :) Why it is famous? Because of the Hundertwasser´s Kawakawa Toilets. Afterwards we had a stop at Kane Mahuta to have a look at HUGE trees.

Our next big destination after the Northland was the Coromandel region. The beaches there and the hole surrounding is just beautiful. Our first destination there were the Hot Water Beach which is famous for their natural underground spring. During low tide you have access to this part of the beach. You just dick a hole in the ground and hope you pick the right spot or the water is boiling hot or cold. :)
Martin and me spend a couple of hours on the beach but it was getting cooler and so we decided to drive further north to visit the Cathedral Cove. This spot has the most amazing beach... it is just gorgeous.
We had two brake down with our car because of a old batterieeand the first time happened when we were in the middle of nowhere between the Coromandel region and on the way to Rotorua. We stayed overnight on a rest area on the highway. It was actually a nice spot, quite and in the middle of a rain forest. We had dinner... I dont remember what it was... MacnCheese, Pasta with Pesto, Soup... and then we went to bed. We didnt hear music or had the lights on and still the next morning we couldn´t start the car. The battery was so flat that we had to call road assistance to tow us and bring us to the next garage. The mechanic told us that the battery is old and that we should get a new one when we would have a problem with the battery again.

On the way down to Rotorua we had a stop at Hobbiton. Right - the   the Movie Set of Lord of the Rings or The Hobbits. That was so much fun!

On the way to the Eastcoast we stopped Rotorua. It is really famous for their natural springs and mud pools and also the towncenter is really pretty. We stayed there overnight on a campground so we could enjoy 7 different Hot Pools. That was so weird. It was colder than in Australia at the moment, but warmer than in Germany. :)  When we were lucky and the sun was shining we had around 20°. But water was warmer than it was outside because the temperatures varied between 37°-42°. So you couldn´t stay long in the water but even the short time was so relaxing. :)
The next day we stopped at two amazing water falls on our way down to Napier. Napier is so beautiful because many buildings are build  in Art Deco Style... the houses in town are so colorful and the beach is covered in black stones. We spend the night straight on the beach which was located on the Highway  - yes it was loud at night... ) The next morning we drove to Hasting which is close to Napier and the hole region is really famous as a wine area. So we were looking for a winery to taste some wine. What we found was not just a good desert wine but also a funny looking car covered in bugs - and it was art...
What you need to do in Napier is drive up to Te Mata Peak, the view is just amazing!
  One evening on the way down to Wellington our battery was flat again in the evening. So we stopped at a garage the next morning and got a new one.

Our next big stop was Wellingston. Wellington is located far South of the Island and it is so much colder and windier there! I had a really warm sleeping bag but for 2 nights I was freezing even with an extra jacket, 2 pairs of socks and covered in my sleeping bag. I liked Wellington much more than Auckland because there was so much more going on. We went to the Weta Caves which animated and created the special effects for many famous movies, e.g. Lord of the Rings. Juhu... I got a picture with Gollum... :) As well we visit the Wellington Museum and the big national museum TE Papa is just incredible! I can understand why kids don´t like to go to museums! They are boring. But not this one! Videos, being interactive and feeling how a earthquake feels like.... who wouldnt like to experience a museum like that? And another sight-seeing spot of Wellington is the Cable Car which connect the CBD (town center) which the university and the Botanic Garden. It is really old and so cool to drive with... and when you are already up there, have a walk through the Botanic Garden. The one in Melbourne is already really beautiful but this one is even better! So time a few spare hours and browse through it!
So.. thats enough today... we are half way through the trip... the rest of the tour is following soon... :)