1/2/23 – Wellington and WiFi

Since last I wrote we have had several adventures and now we have WiFi😊. New Year’s Eve was spent in a Kiwi Campground. This proved to be quite the learning experience! We learned about a Kiwi Fob & Kiwi Cash for entering the campground, electric power, washing dishes, taking a shower, and exiting the campground! Took us a while to figure out the fob🧐. Our neighbors at the Kiwi Campground were newly weds from Israel❤️. Come to find out they were on the same flight with us from SFO to Auckland on Air New Zealand. They had just finished the 9+ hour hike – the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. After talking with them it confirmed for us what we wanted to do – a hike to the Soda Springs and back to the car park would give us a great experience in about 4-5 hours in the National Park. New Year’s Day we set off for Tongariro National Park. There are great views of 3 massive volcanoes – from left to right as we hiked – Tongariro, Ngauruhoe, & Ruapehu. Ngauruhoe & Ruapehu have both erupted in 1995, 1996, and 2007. After leaving Tongariro National Park we headed to the coastal town of Whanganui and stayed in a “Freedom Camping” site called Springdale Park. Freedom Camping as the name suggests is free (unlike Kiwi Cash Camping😜)! It was a great experience to be next to a park with little noise or distractions (except for the guy who parked right next to us and slept in his car when there were probably 30 other spaces from which to choose! Tuesday, 1/2/23, we took off for Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. We paid for a parking place in a paved lot that is referred to as a campsite next to a hotel called Capital Motor Lodge. Did some laundry, had dinner, and now it is early to bed to be ready to board the Wellington to Picton InterIslander ferry at 7:45 am. Leaving the north island and headed to the South Island for our next adventures.