After two weeks traveling through South Island, I've officially caught the travel bug. Without a weekend to spare, I was off again. Destination: Putaruru.
PS: Putaruru is pronounced "pit-are-oo".
Part 1 (April 24-26)
Putaruru is about three hours southeast of Auckland. My friend Ellie has relatives there, so on the first weekend after the break, we packed the car with some friends and headed down to the farmlands.
Around her family's farm lies the Te Waihou walkway, a previously family-owned trail that now has become a public attraction. Walking along the trail offers views of Blue Springs, which supplies 70% of New Zealand's water.
The water was crazy crystal clear.
We spent the first night in Putaruru with Ellie's grandparents, but we borrowed a 10-person tent on the second night and set up camp in the middle of cow country.
We stopped by Haymitch's farm and watched calves go ham on some milk.
On the third day, we went white water rafting in Rotorua and ZORBing in Ngongotaha, which is just outside of Rotorua.
After two weeks of travel, it was a nice, chill weekend with solid fun -- first time white water rafting!
Part 2 (May 9-10)
With every weekend in April spent traveling, it was time to take it easy and spend a weekend in Auckland. But, after spending the first weekend of May in, I was ready to go again. I headed back towards Putaruru with Ellie to check out places missed the first time and take the photos I was mad I didn't have my main camera for.
Suspension bridge at the Arapuni Dam near Putaruru. Photo taken by Ellie.
There were some scares as a few farmers were out hunting possums, but we hopped some fences and hiked up a tiny bit near Blue Springs to catch sunset.
On our way back to Auckland the second day, we stopped in Tirau. I leafed Ellie to do her thing.
Tirau also happened to have some of the most gorgeous fields.
Love finding these hidden gems on North Island, and can't wait to get out again and see more!