New Zealand with Limited Mobility

New Zealand

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Itsabitblurry

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Once out of Auckland, much of New Zealand is rugged, remote, and best seen by car or RVing. Even with limited mobility, you can visit many off the beaten track locations with wheelchair accessible vehicles.

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Department of Conservation camps, Te Papa Atawhai, (DOC) camps are government reserves. If you really want to get back into untouched country, try a DOC camp. There are restrictions on maximum length of stay and type of vehicle-- RVs, buses, and other vehicles designed to sleep people are acceptable. Cars are not.

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Five thousand people per year visit Lake Waikaremoana. Many come to fish for brown and rainbow trout, kayak, or tramp the Lake Waikaremoana Track. Managed by DOC, this 46 km three to four day tramp which follows the lakeshore is part of the Great Walks.

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Te Urewera is the largest National Park in the North Island. Often called "Land of the Mist" it's a rain-forest with many native birds including Kiwi birds. Some of the comments from AA's Travel New Zealand site are:

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"It's amazing, quiet, untouched...well worth the drive over the dodgy roads!!!"

"The road trip is a bit shocking but once you are there, it is a must to stay a night or two."

"Thank goodness the roads in are aweful as it keeps it one of New Zealand's most beautiful but isolated areas."

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We thought so, too-- the beautiful and isolated part. The road didn't seem that much of a problem. We had a fairly large-- for New Zealand-- RV and usually dropped most of the water from our tanks before leaving Wairoa hoping we'd have a little more get up and go to get up the hill. We spent four to five months each year in our RV and carried more heavy stuff than the average visitor, but still worried about too much water.

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The road from Wairoa is mainly sealed. It seemed pretty tame compared to some we found in the South Island. We usually camped in one of the campgrounds along Hwy 38 which runs through the center of the park, or stayed in the HAPNZ Motorcamp. On the lake near the Aniwaniwa Visitor Centre, the Motorcamp is wheelchair friendly as are the lake side family cabins which sleep four or five people.

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If you're looking for a little more comfort, you might like the Lake Whakamarino Lodge on one of the smaller nearby lakes. While in the park, you can cruise the bays and inlets of Lake Waikaremoana in a charter boat, try you luck at trout fishing-- a 28.6 lb brown trout was caught recently-- or take a guided Eco-tour.

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AA Traveling New Zealand has more comments about Te Urewera and some nice photos of Lake Waikaremoana. If you've read the archives about AA, you know your U.S. AAA card is good for discounts in New Zealand.

(To be continued)

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Lyn Harris

www.rvinnz.com