North Island Phase 1

Arriving back in sunny nelson marked the end of our north island tour...the first part anyways! W'll be heading back up again in 3 weeks to take on the Waitamo Caves, Matamata Hobbiton village, climb Transkei and lots more. We collected some interesting facts/stats and thoughts along the way which we thought we'd share with you...


1. In 23 days in the North Island we over 5020 kilometers. Added on to the miles we clocked up in the south means we've so far driven the equivalent distance from London to Delhi

2. Carterton is the daffodil capitol of New Zealand

3. New Zealand has the longest place name in the world

3. Lake Taupo has no eels because of the power of the Waikato river flow

4. The Waikato river produces 15% of NZ's power through hydro turbines

5. Mount Ruapehu erupts on average every 1-3 years - Mount St.Helens just every 700

6. Ohakune is famous for its giant carrot, erected in 1984, and the town is responsible for 2/3rds of the north islands carrot crop

7. If you happen to be caught in a live eruption DO NOY GO INTO VALLEYS AND NEVER TURN YOUR BACK UNTIL YOU ARE SURE YOU ARE CLEAR OF FLYING DEBRIS

8. Zorbing was founded in Rotarua in 1995

9. Waihi has NZ's largest gold mine and is home to a Cornish style pump house

10. Unfortunately there is no such thing as 1 million new zealand dollar note...just pretend ones printed by religious groups to trick you into reading their beliefs on the back

11. Hahei's population grows from 270 to 7000 in the summer months

12. US Dentists use approx 30 tonnes of gold a year in patients

13. Your star sign is not what you think it is astrologically 

14. The poor knight islands off the coast of whangerai are home to the worlds largest sea cave

15. Caption cook was apparently killed in Hawaii, eaten by locals on a place called sandwhich island

16. The naval gun atop devonport island built to defend Auckland if it came under attack was only ever fired once. The vibration was so loud it cracked the windows of residents houses...who duly complained

17. The hot water beach springs at the top of the coromandel reach between 60-65 degrees. just 2km below the ground is magma at 170.

18. The poor knights island have a tapu placed on them, which is a Maori curse following a massacre back in the 1800's. Since then it is forbidden to step foot on the islands, even climbing on the cliffs at the base of the island is punished with a $100,000 fine and up to 5 years in jail.

19. There are AT LEAST four giant, and i mean giant, wild turkeys crossing the roads throughout the top of the north island, four that we've seen anyway

20. Cape reinga is not actually the northern most point of NZ.

21. If you love corners, spending more time going sideways round bends than forwards, and roadworks signs enforcing low speed limits that have bee forgotten about when work seemingly packed up months ago, then you'll love driving in NZ

22. The worlds first pavlova was apparently made in NZ - though much disputed by Australian housewives