DAY 3:

Wellington - Ohakune:

Fact: Breakfast is not a big event in New Zealand or Australia generally and will often cost between $10-20 for a basic to fully cooked breakfast. Coffee is normally ordered by asking for a “flat-white” or “long-black” etc and you get used to this ordering style as you go along! It is also often not bottomless so you pay per cup.

I picked up my rental car (ask me for my recommendations of car rental companies) around 10.00am and departed Wellington heading North-West in the driving winter rain.

It's easy to to get out of Wellington as they have a great motorway system and in minutes I was travelling the maximum speed limit of 100km and hour on the way up the North-East coast. I drove by the pretty seaside towns of Porirua and Paraparaumu and didn’t stop due to the very heavy rainfall. Many of the coastal towns along this route were prominent in the movie “The Last Samurai” filmed recetly. I continued up for about an hour and a half until I hit the inland city of Palmerston North. The city has a population of 75,000 and is New Zealand’s 5th largest city. It ‘s mainly good for it’s educational and research institutions. I parked in thye centre of town and went for a brief walk and thought it was a pleasant town but not overly exciting.

Main St - Palmerston North


It was getting late as I arrived into the town of Wanganui about an hour later. It was pouring with rain and getting dark however I could still see how pretty this town of 40,000 people was! It’s one of the oldest provincial cities in New Zealand and has many historic buildings and cute cafes and pubs and galleries on Victoria Avenue which is recognized as one of New Zealand’s most attractive main streets. Gaslights, wrought-iron garden seats, palm & plane trees line the downtown area. Wanganui in the Maori language means “expansive river mouth” and and it is nestled alongside the huge Whanganui River which houses a 100 year old paddle steamer. The river is the setting for the recently filmed New Zealand movie “The River Queen”. It’s also close to the ocean and really is only a 3 hour drive from Wellington! I loved this place which was totally unexpected and I was just a little upset that I couldn’t spend more than a brief tourist drive around it and a short stroll with my umbrella through the main street. I will recommend this town to anyone in this general area to at least overnight if not for a few days!

Victoria Ave - Wanganui



As I drove on towards Ohakune on Highway 4 it was getting darker and darker and this is not a trip I would recommend to do in the pouring rain and darkness. There was lots of flooding on the road as I drove over the mountain range however in the diminishing light I could still see how pretty this drive would be in daylight.

Road to Ohakune from Wanganui

I arrived at Tairoa Lodge, my hosted Guest House for the night around 6.30pm. The hosts of the property that is 5kms out of the town of Ohakune, Liz and Alec were awaiting my arrival and promptly offered me a glass of Red Wine and to join them for dinner. I immediately realised how hospitable they were and how comfortable the overnight would be in their lovely modern home. All the bedrooms have their own ensuite bathrooms with under floor heating (a feature I’m a huge fan of)! They have a large open planned lounge/dining room with a huge open fireplace and a large outdoor hot tub, both areas great for relaxing in! Liz and Alec really know the area and wont hesitate to show guests around whatever their interests.

I decided to decline my hosts kind offer to eat with them (accepted a glass of wine though) and decided instead to check out the town of Ohakune for dinner and entertainment considering I only had one night here.

I drove into the town of around 1400 people known as the carrot capital of New Zealand and in the winter, known as the apre’s ski capital of the North Island. It was fairly busy night despite the pouring rain as it was in the middle of the ski season and Mt Turoa Ski area was only a short drive away into the mountains. I had a great pizza in a small family run Italian Restaurant and then drove up to the Powderkeg Pub & Restaurant only a few minutes out of town where a great open bar setting with a fireplace was. Most of the younger people in the town come here and it’s where the Lord of The Rings crew stayed when they were filing scenes of “Mordor” (Mount Ruapehu) nearby. I enjoyed my evening there and drove back to Tairoa Lodge and enjoyed my heated blanket and a very nice and peaceful sleep.