West Coast Winter Roadtrip

Last updated 9 August 2026

Adventurers: Finn, Jen

This was our first outing with our recently purchased van (a 2003 Fiat Duacto)! Our plan here was to drive slowly down the west coast of Te Ika-a-Māui, The North Island from Raglan to approximately Taranaki. In this, we suceeded! Along the way we accidentally broke a solar panel and had to detour over to Te Kūiti, and I hald a cold. Still, we managed to enjoy ourselves greatly. Our days consisted of lazy mornings with plenty of coffee, walking to many waterfalls, an evenings with crosswords and books. What a delight.

• Saturday, July 4th: We spent much of the day packing the van and in the afternoon we dropped Korra to the kennels and drove out to Raglan. It was hard to find a spot to park along the coast! Not a very camper-friendly region.
• Sunday, July 5th: We left the van at the DOC carpark for the Karioi Track and hit the trail. It is quite steep from the get-go, but the bush is completely beautiful. The muddy section with a chain to hold on to was also entertaining. Unfortunately, the cloud was quite low and we lost the view as we reached the viewpoint. Still, very atmospheric in the forest with the cloud. Afterward, we drove south to Bridal Veil Falls which was very impressive, as was the track development around it. Very much a tourist spot, but we were glad we went! We finished up the day by driving to Kawhia, topping up the water, and parking out at Tom French Grove.
• Monday, July 6th: We had heard that Te Puia Hot Springs were out on the beach, so after a lazy start, we headed out to look. Unfortunately we had bad service and could not check the details online. It turns out that you need to go a low tide and bring a proper shovel! We dug around but couldn’t find them. Alas. Jen went for a run instead, and then we headed off to Te Kauri Park Scenic Reserve. We passed Te Kauri Lodge and entered Medium Gorge and Deverson’s Route Loop. It was very overgrown and we later found a sign saying the track was closed due to a slip. Whoops! Unfortunately, the closed sign was half way through the loop. That seemed a bit dumb. We perservered and although the light was dim by the time we reached the van, the track was okay! We finished the day by driving to Te Waitere and parking at the little reserve above the jetty.
• Tuesday, July 7th: We drove into Tawarau Forest to do the Tawarau Falls Loop Track, but unfortunately on the way into the forest we caught a large branch with the top of the van and it shattered one of our solar panels. Doh. Still, we headed off on the track and did greatly enjoy it. The track alongside the Tawarau River was magnificent, the small unnamed slot-falls were very cool, and Tawarau Falls themselves were also very impressive. Also on this day we visited Marokopa Falls, Piripiri Caves, and the Mangapohue Natural Bridge. A limestone bedrock does great things for scenery, it turns out! The day finished with a trip out to Marokopa (nowhere to park), and a little trip over the hill to Kiritehere Beach (don’t park at the cemetary!).
• Wednesday, July 8th: After a lovely morning walk on the beach we drove into Te Kūiti to see an electrician to get our broken solar panel disconnected. Jen had done some research and it seemed it might cause issues with our van’s electrical system since the panel was no longer water-tight. After that side trip we drove back to the coast via SH3 and parked in a sea-side carpark between Awakino and Mokau. Jen went for another run! So impressive.
• Thursday, July 9th: We drove down to Urenui to do a few van chores (toilet), do a little food shopping, get a coffee, and then we headed out to Pukearuhe to walk to White Cliffs. Unfortunately, the track was closed for lambing and there was essentially no good spots to park a van. So, we abandoned that task and went back to Urenui to park up next to the beach at Urenui Domain. Bit of a nothing-much kind of day. Oh well!
• Friday, July 10th: Having spent Thursday evening doing research on tramping tracks and hut availability on Taranaki Maunga, we headed off to do the Pouakai Circuit starting from North Egmont (visitor centre). See this different blog post for that trip!
• Saturday, July 11th: After finishing the tramp, we drove down to Lake Rotomanu in Taranaki and parked up for the evening. There was some cute horses and a few dogs at the reserve, which was cool.
• Sunday, July 12th: We drove all the way back to Hamilton today. We stopped twice on the way home. First, for a delicious second breakfast at Bratwurst Bros, and then in Te Kūiti for coffee and to read our books in the sun by the river. All very relaxing!

All in all, a great trip with lots of adventures. The van has some room for improvement, but it was all very functional! Can’t wait for the next trip.