Day 58 - Thursday 2nd August - Big Bay to Otorohanga

Today we have driven 300km (or approximate 190 miles).

We left Big Bay and drove south through the town Pukekohe which we had come in through yesterday.

En route to Pukekohe

From Pukekohe we headed to Port Waikato which may otherwise be known as "Weathertops" in the Lord of the Rings films. There are lots of huge limestone crags and rock formations. In some ways it reminded me of the Yorkshire Dales.

The drive from Port Waikato was along a gravel track road until we reached Nikau Caves. The views were fantastic. We had lunch at the caves cafe before continuing onto Raglan.

Nearing Port Waikato

Limestone rocks

"Weathertops" landscape

Limestone rock formations

Huge limestone crags

A limestone landscape

Raglan is on the east coast directly east of the city Hamilton. It is a surfers paradise, although we did not see any out there today! We had a wander around and a rest in Raglan before the last part of our journey south for today.

near Raglan

There were two ways to go from Raglan to Otorohanga, the more coastal gravel roads or the major highway. We opted for the scenic gravel road which seemed to take forever but was beautiful.

Sunsetting over the beautiful New Zealand countryside

Views from the scenic gravel roads towards the coast

A sunset view of the coast

In Otorohanga we are camping next to the Kiwi Park which we might visit in the morning.