March 8th 2025 – Taupō, New Zealand

A visit to Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington taught us a lot about the country and its history. The highlight was a very impressive WWI exhibition focusing on the Kiwi’s involvement in the war.

While in town we got invited out to dinner by Liam whose daughter stayed at my sister’s place in Denmark as an exchange student a few years back. He treated us with good company and first class pizza at a restaurant by the docks.

We had rented a room at Amin’s house in the hills north of town. Amin was an Iranien emigrant now working for the New Zealand government. It was interesting to hear him talk about Iran. He regularly travels there to see friends and family. According to him the gulf between the religious regime and the population keeps growing and will lead to either comprehensive reforms or a revolution at some point.

Bringing Amin into the story gives me an opportunity to touch on New Zealand’s rather interesting demographic.
Amin had become a citizen and is now part of the 25% of Kiwis not born in the country.
70% of the population is of European descent (called Pākehā), 15% is Māori and 15% Asians. Add to that 9% Pacific Islanders known collectively as Pasifika. Apparently it is possible to belong to more than 1 ethnic group..?
We have talked extensively with both Pākehās and Asians, but haven’t had the chance to get to know any Māoris yet. There seems to be some tension between the different ethnic groups, revolving around who has the right to the land and its resources. I think the best answer to that would be that everyone identifying as a Kiwi today should have equal rights as all of them have migrated here from somewhere else in search of a better life – and the country seems to have more than enough resources to reward every Kiwi, that put in an effort, with a good life.

Hwy 1 took us north out of Wellington. On recommendation from Collin we stopped at Viv’s Kitchen in Sanson to try their cream horns. It was an experience and a fast-track to diabetes.

By the end of the day we reached New Plymouth on the west coast. The dormant volcano Mount Taranaki towered over the city as we pulled up in Michael and Leanne’s driveway. They had invited us to come and stay with them after having followed our exploits in the Americas.
We had only just arrived when Kevin, a retired farmer living across the street, came over with a bottle of rum. He did that every Friday when Michael came home from work.

Our visit aligned with a weekend. It allowed us to spend a couple of days with our hosts. We let them decide what to see and do.
Saturday they showed us around New Plymouth and the surrounding area. It was high summer and everyone was out enjoying the weather. Many enjoyed the surf at one of the black sand beaches while others were seaking shade in one of the city parks.

Sunday we were taken on a tour further afield. It was a very scenic ride across old bridges, past waterfalls, through hand dug tunnels along twisty and often unsealed roads.
We stopped for lunch in Whangamōmona on The Lost World Highway. The town became famous back in 1989 when it declared itself a republic. Since then it has had a string of rather peculiar presidents. Here is what Wikipedia has to say about them:

Ian Kjestrup (1989–1999)
After being put on the ballot without his knowledge, Kjestrup became the first elected president, serving 10 years.

Billy Gumboots the Goat (1999–2001)
Gumboots was the first elected animal. He won election by a landslide, although some residents speculate he ate the other challengers’ ballots in order to win. He died in office after serving for 18 months.

Tai the Poodle (2003–2004)
Tai retired after he was attacked by a mastiff, but some speculate it was an assassination attempt. Though he survived the attack, Tai was left unfit for service and died in 2010

Sir Murt “Murtle the Turtle” Kennard (2005–2015)
The local garage owner fought off strong competition from former president Kjestrup to become the 4th president. He was re-elected in 2009 by one vote, and again by a landslide in 2011. Kennard died at New Plymouth Hospice on 25 October 2015.

Vicki Pratt (2015–2017)
Pratt was the first female president appointed for the Whangamomona Republic.

John Herlihy (2017–present)
Herlihy was elected ahead of Jack Spearow, Lili Jiao (who wanted to be a cat) and Ted (who was already a cat), despite reported attempts by Spearow to steal ballots. On Republic Day 2019 (19 January) President Herlihy was re-elected for a second term, having fought off challenges from Maketoni the Teddy Bear, Sherman the Cockatoo, Eunice the Sheep, Griff Robb (who proposed that the land-locked nation should enter into maritime tourism) and a Mrs Brown look-alike at the polls. Controversy surrounded the election due to the disappearance of candidate Eunice the Sheep, with commentators noting that mutton sandwiches were for sale at the Republic Day barbecue.

Michael and Leanne introduced us to some interesting people during our stay.
One evening Mo and Anne came by the house. They are old friends who had lived in England for several years managing an estate. Mo was a passionate rider that had travelled far and wide on 2 wheels, so there was plenty to talk about.
Another evening we got invited to play pool at Kelvin and Elane’s house. The basement was one of the most impressive man caves I’ve ever seen. Besides the bar with a pool table, it contained several garages. One with a nice collection of motorcycles, another with a very well set up Seadoo Fish Pro and one furnished as a fully equipped workshop with a professional motorcycle lift and everything from a lathe to a sand blasting cabinet.

Between everything else I managed to squeeze in a bit of MotoGP watching. It was the first race weekend of the year and not to be missed. It seems like MM is back to terrifying form. As a Rossi fan I used to not like MM but had to admire his abilities as a racer. The way he has handled things since his injury in 2020 have made it impossible for me not to like him. I both hope and think he’ll put everyone in their place this season and win the championship.

After some very enjoyable days in New Plymouth it was time to move on.
The small section of The Lost World Highway we had done a few days earlier had made us want to drive all of it from Stratford to Taumarunui. The twisty road didn’t disappoint. It was nice in a car and would have been perfect on a motorcycle.
From Taumarunui we continued to Tawhai Falls that drops down into what has become known as Gollum’s Pool. After this little LoTR fix we headed south to Whanganui as the result of yet another invitation. We have a close friend back in Denmark named Sam. When he heard that we were visiting NZ he connected us with his old friend Knud who lives in Whanganui and insisted that we had to meet up. Knud then invited us to come and stay with him and his wife Karen.

Knud was born in NZ from Danish parents who migrated to the country in 1965. He has visited Denmark several times. It was during one of those visits back in the 80s while staying at Ollerup Gymnastics Folk High School he became friends with Sam. While in Denmark Knud also managed to become the Danish sheep shearing champion. Back in NZ he met Karen. Together they created a family and became successful real estate agents.

It came as no surprise that they lived in a nice house, but nice didn’t even come close to covering what met us when we arrived at the address they have provided us with. It was a well designed and tastefully furnished newly built house overlooking their 200 acres hilly property. The place was spectacular.
Knud and Karen were wonderful hosts. It was a pleasure to get to know them.
Katrine and I spent a day exploring Whanganui. It was a charming town with an interesting history.
After dinner on our second and last night as their guests, Knud took us on a tour of the property on his ATV. The majority is covered in newly planted trees but the land also sustains 150 sheep and 20 cows. Knud came from a farming background and he enjoys that it can still be a part of his life.
Him and Karen seemed to truly enjoy the life they had created for themselves and the slice of paradise they called home. It is a pleasure to see when hard work and dedication pays off.

From Whanganui we followed the river road by the same name north. It wound its way through a very rural area. We stopped at a well-preserved water mill from 1854. Back then the flour had been shipped down river on steam boats.
North of Mount Ruapehu, the biggest active volcano in NZ and the highest mountain on the north island, we took a 1 ½ hour stroll around Lake Rotopounamu. The Kiwis seem to prefer names that are not exactly straight forward.

The day’s destination was the town of Taupō by its namesake Lake. Its location by the biggest lake in the country and only little over an hour’s drive from Mount Ruapehu, that offers alpine skiing, makes the town a tourist hotspot year round. For accommodation we had booked a small caravan parked in a driveway behind a house. It was much nicer than expected. The caravan was old, but in perfect condition, tastefully decorated and offered a bed and a kitchen. Next to the caravan was a small garden and a deck with a lounge area. We liked the place so much that we decided to extend from 1 to 3 nights – the last 2 nights paid in cash and significantly cheaper than the first booked through Airbnb.

We spent the first full day in Taupō exploring the area. The biggest experience was by far Aratiatia Rapids. It looks impressive when the gates open to flood the canyon and recreate the rapids as they were before the dam was built. After that Huka Falls didn’t seem that spectacular but still worth a visit.
We also found time to visit Waipahihi Botanical Reserve located only 10 minutes walk from where we are staying.

Right now we are chilling in the lounge area next to our caravan before heading back into town for dinner.
Life is good!