Hitchhiking in New Zealand: Marokopa
2nd of July, 2025.
It takes sometime until someone finally stops. Fiona, a social worker, is going just until Te Ahora, another town on the way to Hamilton, but as I’m already waiting for sometime here, I decide to take it. She’s lovely and she’s half Maori and even though she lives here, she’s soon going to the Waipounamu (South Island), where her son already leaves. She’s taking her campervan South, so she can travel around there. We talk about where it would be the best place for me to stay waiting for a lift to Hamilton, and as I tell her I’m actually going towards New Plymouth, she tells me that the best place to be is Te Ahora.
Another lovely woman is the next person to take me outside Hamilton. Niki drives a bit out of her way, just so she can take me to Hamilton Airport, which is great for me! She also does volunteer work, and leaves nearby Te Ahora. Niki and her husband were also planning to go and live in Waipounamu, but they had to change their plans, as they now got grandchildren living here, and want to be around them. When Niki drops me off right in front of the entrance to the airport, which is some good hundred metres to the road leading straight from Auckland and Hamilton to New Plymouth, I wonder why was that? I get my answer soon.
When I open the door to Andrew’s car, I am so much take aback by his gorgeousness, that I lose my words for a moment. He’s so handsome that I feel a bit silly on talking to him, and get all confused. In anyhow, I manage to babble something, and he tells me he can take me a little further on the road. I think that, for the first time in my travels, I would’ve have accepted the lift even if he was going just one hundred metres ahead. Laugh.
Andrew is not only handsome, he’s super clever, eloquent, and loves nature and hiking too. As we talk about where I’m going, Andrew suggests for me to visit a natural stone bridge, called Mangapohue, which is a bit after a very tourist trap called Waitomo Caves, where you can see glowing worms. As I had imagined, these caves are expensive and just a trap for tourists, and many other locals, including Andrew, would tell me that you can see glowing worms in many different spots around this area, including New Plymouth, and all of them for free, while Waitomo Caves are damn expensive. My Greek God drops me off at Te Awamutu.
After sitting down to eat my egg salad with sliced bread, I carry on.
Louis stops for me and he’s going to Te Kuiti. I accept because this town is actually after my turn to Mangapohue Natural Bridge. Louis is also a very nice man, and he tells me that he used to live nearby MNB, but sold his farm and moved to Te Kuiti not long ago. He’s actually going that way later afternoon, and offered for me to come with him. As he has something to do middle time, I suggest that he drop me off on the road to MNB, where I will keep on trying hitchhiking. If I’m still there when he’s back, he just need to pick me up. And I am so glad that I did that!
Because I would be picked up by my adorable now good friend Trevor. Ah, Trevor! I miss him already. When I tell Trevor that I’m going to MNB, he says that he’s going all the way down to the coast, so he can drop me off there. Yay! I was expecting someone going at least to Waitomo Caves, and from there on I would’ve to hitchhike again, but Trevor came to save the day. The days.
As we start talking and I tell Trevor about my plans / needs of camping somewhere tonight, he immediately suggests that I stay at his place. More than that, at the same time he says that he can simply drop me off by MNB, and wait for me there while I admire it, and after that we just carry on to his place. I am already super happy with that, but Trevor would do more, but so much more for me, that I still cannot believe on how lucky I am for having him sent on my way.
Mangapohue Natural Bridge is a wonderful site to visit on Te Ika-a-Maui (North Island). It’s a short drive after Waitomo Caves (and even so, Trevor tells me that very few tourists take the drive to visit it), and even though been so gorgeous and unforgettable, it’s for FREE. It’s a short walk from the road, and they built walking platforms for an easier access to it. Don’t miss it!
After this beautiful place, Trevor drops me off at Piripiri Caves, which are small but nice, and as they are also easily accessible from the road, there’s really no reason to no stop by on your way down to the coast.
The next stop is an outstanding waterfall called Marokopa. It’s one of the biggest waterfalls in NZ, and it’s a must to visit. Now in Winter, they are at their full volume and are a gorgeous sight for the eyes. Trevor walks to them with me, and he tells me that during Summer, many people go down to the water, and even climb the rocks and swim.
Trevor been a very simple and modest man doesn’t make any comments on his home until we arrive, so I’m extremely surprised by it’s beauty when I first see it. He leaves in Marokopa, right by the shore, which gives an extraordinary view of the sea and the landscape. His house is adorable, and the view from the living room is what I named: interactive painting. That’s because the massive window, right open to the beautiful shore, looks exactly like a perfectly realistic painting, which is constantly changing colors and lights. And I get to sleep with this view. And wake up with this view.
Trevor is such a cool guy and has so much to teach me. He tells me a lot about the history of this region. The reason why he knows so much is not only because he has lived his entire life here, but also because the women in his family are all book writers, and their theme is this region. Marokopa is located in Kawhia South, and Trevor’s mother, Christina, wrote a huge book about all the families and the history of this region, to which she added hundreds of photos. And I read it, as Trevor has a copy. Then, his grandmother wrote a booklet about it, also with lovely and important photos and facts. I also read that one. Last but not the least, Trevor’s mother, Christine, wrote another book, this time about their whole lineage, all the way from their first ancestors, in Scotland. That’s right! Trevor’s ancestors are Scottish, and for some reason that doesn’t comes as a surprise to me at all. I actually suspected that, not only because of Trevor’s incredible kindness and generosity, but also because of the way he says: “Me mother… me father… me brothers and sister…” So cute! As I also read that book, Trevor would say that, by the time I leave his place, I would know more about his family then himself, because he never read any of these books, as he’s not a big fan of reading. And he was not entirely wrong, as I got to know the age and birthday of his great-grandparents, the first ones in his family to immigrate to New Zealand. Laugh.
We have a delicious soup for dinner, with white bread toasts. I missed white bread toasts. Then we have some delicious ice cream and peaches for dessert. Yummy!
Trevor checks the weather forecast and it’s the following: 1) tomorrow will be 100% chance rain; 2) the next two days will be 95 and 96% rain, respectively. Laugh. I did indeed laugh when I saw it. To the sight of this, Trevor very calmly and promptly says that, I’m more than welcomed to stay one more day in. How thoughtful! I gladly accept.
3rd of July, 2025.
We sleep in until after 8 a.m. Yay! Then Trevor prepares some delicious eggs on toasts, and we have it with coffee. The weather, which was already looking bad, turns into some strong winds and an unstoppable rain. It would continue like that, really, the whole day. So we make the most of it!
As Trevor has to go to town for some personal reasons, I finish reading his family books. When he comes back, we chat for a while. Then I start doing something I couldn’t help myself not to do: a jigsaw puzzle. Trevor actually has quite a few of them, including a great 1000 pieces one. But I do one of the 500 pieces, so I’m sure I can finish it in one day. I could’ve pass it if it wasn’t for Trevor arranging a proper jigsaw box arranging, and table, specially for me.
I keep doing the jigsaw puzzle for a few hours, and Trevor watches television. We keep on chatting in between. As I need a break, we keep up with a plan that I came up with it yesterday: I will bake something. I spot some over ripped bananas, so I decide to make banana muffins. It’s so exciting! And even more because Trevor has absolutely everything you might possibly need in a kitchen, including some of the coolest baking items and ingredients. If I was to stay here for a few days, I could bake some awesome things!
While the muffins are baking, we have an awesome cheese and crackers lunch. There are two amazing pluses to this: 1) some curry pickled onions, out of this world of good; and 2) citrus beer. Just fantastic!
As the afternoon folds in, I carry on with the jigsaw puzzle. As I’m almost finished, we decide that we should watch a movie or two tonight. Laugh. I like how Trevor’s mind works as he tells me what we will be eating in the next five to six hours: dinner will be pie with mashed potatoes and peas; dessert will be ice cream with peaches; and for supper we’ll have banana muffins with tea. Perfect!
The pie is actually my first NZ pie. They are SUPER popular here. And it’s very tasty. My mashed potatoes are not bad too. And we have another citrus beer with it.
I’m so excited with the movie we decide to watch: The Old Guard 2. I wasn’t so excited before, when I first heard bout it, but now seem available already to watch on Netflix, I though it would be a good idea. It’s not. As I expected (knew it), it sucks! It’s really, really bad, almost as they have done it on purpose.
The banana muffins don’t turn out as good as I wish, but they are OK.
Next we watch The Dig, and it’s entertainingly enough, mostly because it’s based on true facts.
I take a shower before going to sleep.
4th of July, 2025.
Next morning, I wake up to an extraordinary view of the sunrise. It’s magic! What a bless to wake up to such wonderful piece of landscape! Another great breakfast, and the news that the highway is actually closed due to the floods. All that rain from yesterday caused lots of damages around here. But as the weather prediction changed a bit, and now the skies actually look clear and good, we decide to carry on with my travel plans. Trevor kindly offers to take me to a further South town, Mokau, through the countryside road, which is possibly still open. All I have to do then is to hope for more people taking this same road to go further South, instead of simply waiting for the highway to reopen.
I pack some banana muffins and with my heart crushed I say goodbye to this beautiful and lovely house.
The drive to Mokau is gorgeous, and luckily it’s open all the way through.
Once we arrive there, we stop in a cafe, where Trevor kindly buys us some coffee and hot sandwiches. He helps a lot of people with his information about the optional route to go up North. So kind! Then he offers to take me all the way down to the Three Sisters, my next stop of the trip, as they are not more then 10 minutes driving from here.
We first drive all the way to the walkway to the Three Sisters. Because of the strong rain of yesterday, the tide is quite high, and I couldn’t go in without getting my feet completely wet. Plus the mud! Plus we can see the rain approaching on the horizon. So we drive to the viewpoint, which is located nearby. It’s an actual great viewpoint, even though with the strong wind. I’m so grateful for Trevor and all his kindness, as without them both, I would most likely not make it here and experienced this incredible view.
Trevor is brilliant and tells me I should go back and hitchhike by the cafe where we were, as the rain is coming soon. At least there I can hide myself from it and wait until it passes.
It doesn’t really seems like Trevor and I just met yesterday. It’s like saying goodbye to an old friend. Even though Trevor could be my father (he’s 65 years old), for me it actually feels like we are good friends. Afterwards, friends are the family we choose, right?
10 Years Around the World 