Hitchhiking in New Zealand: Lake Taupo
18th of July, 2025.
I start hitchhiking to Lake Taupō. Surprisingly (even though is a very short drive, I know, but this is still New Zealand), a lady stops soon and she’s going there.
Kathrine is a paramedic and she’s going to pick up her partner from a place after Taupō, and they will go to Hamilton to watch a rugby game. She’s very nice and drive all the way through town just to drop me off by the lake.
It’s a lovely and sunny afternoon, so I decide to take a walk around the lake first, before going look for a church to stay tonight. I drop off the Hulk in another sports shop (because it’s the same bullshit at the tourist info here), and then I sit by the lake and have my lunch, my leftovers from last night.
Lake Taupō is very beautiful. In a clear day you can see Mount Ngauruhoe in a distance, and it’s lovely. The color of the lake and the blue sky are amazing together. Even though the town is a bit busy, it’s not super annoying, and you can easily walk alongside the lake, enjoying the beautiful views. I sit in a bench and admire the spot for a while.
Unfortunately, what it follows is a lot of people denying to help me.
At the first church I ask for shelter, there’s a man working in the back, doing some construction work, and he tells me he’s from the church. But when I ask for help, he can’t really help me. His wife is not too keen on letting me staying in their campervan (yes, not inside their home, but in a campervan parked in their yard), and he doesn’t seem too keen to help by calling some other church members and trying to help.
I visit a few more churches after that, but in most of them there’s nobody, and in the only one in which I find some women, they also refuse to help me. Then I ask in a very artistic house, with a lovely garden and some political signs against the government and pro freedom. But the lady with whom I talk also refuses to help. She gives me an apple and a pear though.
Then I ask the universe – why can’t I get a sign, or a feeling about the right place where I should ask for help?
I ask in another building with some people, simply because they have a large garage, and even though she tells me they are an institution helping people with mental health, they cannot help me.
When I get to a Mormons church, it’s already getting late, and I’m exhausted. I’m considering to simply camp in the back of the church, where there’s a big garden, but by the weather I know that there will be a frost tomorrow morning, so my tent will freeze.
I take a few more steps, towards the last house on the road, and I didn’t know that I was actually walking towards heaven.
It’s a beautiful and charming green house, with a very tidy garden. I’m thinking that, if they let me camp in the garden, I can ask for some extra blankets, so at least I can survive the frost.
When I spot some people through the window, she makes a gesture that, don’t ask me how, I kind of understand that they are guests. So I wait until the owners to come out so I can talk with them. And that’s when I meet Janine.
Janine is so adorable at first site that she looks like a character coming out of one of those friendly tv shows, those characters who everybody loves. As I finish “explaining” everything to her, she immediately tells me to come inside. I’m so happy I can barely believe it. And that was just the beginning.
Janine and Mark have two friends over, Kay and Andrea, the two ladies I saw through the window. As I join them, I start telling them my story, they all get very surprised by it. They are having some wine, cheese, crackers, fruits and crispy fish, so they invite me for some. I can’t believe that about four hours ago I was having my leftovers from last night, and now I’m having a glass of Chardonnay and blue cheese. We also have some really nice pastry later. No need to say that everything is yummy!
Everybody is so nice, and when I start telling them about my adventures in NZ, the funniest thing for them is the fact that I’ve been to Marokopa, and want to visit Kaimanawa Wall. We laugh.
Janine used to play football professionally, and she has been a football coach for a long time now. She was such a good player that they retired her t-shirt when she stopped playing. Yeah, I feel like I’m in the presence of a celebrity now. And it’s so awesome to meet, for the first time, a woman who used to pay football and has actually lived for football her entire life.
The husbands of Kay and Andrea come over later on. They are a bit surprised on meeting me.
Our last treat of the night is an Irish Coffee made by Janine, and we have it with profiteroles. Delicious! I think this is actually my first Irish Coffee. Loved it!
Janine and Mark have two grown up kids, and both are living in Canada. I’m staying in what used to be the bedroom of one of them.
After taking a shower I made a decision. Instead of visiting Kaimanawa Wall tomorrow morning, I rather watching a football match with Janine (it’s the quarters of finals on the European Female Tournament, Spain vs Switzerland), because this is way more epic than the wall. I mean, what are the chances that I would have the opportunity to watch an important match in the presence of such an icon, competent figure of this sport, right?
But when I tell my plan to Janine and Mark, they say that they would like to take me to visit some beautiful and very famous waterfall nearby here, the Huka Falls, and a few more spots. Janine even offers to take me to Rotorura (how adorable!) but I tell her I cannot let her do that.
19th of July, 2025
Janine and I have a lot in common. Last night, she had a playlist going on with most of my favourite songs from the 60’s, 70’s, among others; she likes blue; during the breakfast, we have cereal and toasts (I though I was the only person to have both for breakfast); and when she made me a sandwich for lunch, she added my favourite green leaf: rocket. She also added two protein bars, and they also give me a chocolate bar of a famous New Zealand brand, Whittaker’s. Everything is so yummy!
Yep, so we watch the first half of the game, then we prepare our breakfast during the break, and have it while watching the second half. It’s so cool! I love it! They both spoil me so much that Mark even makes me a lovely coffee afterwards, while I’m still watching the game.
We get ready and leave the house soon after the match is finished. Spain won by far. They deserved. Janine says they are the best team at the moment. She also says that the best female player in History is Marta, from Brazil.
Huka Falls are impressive! I’m amazed by its power and beauty. So loud! There’s a significant number of tourists visiting too. Apparently, some people do kayaking here too, which is technically illegal, but they still do it. I cannot believe it! It seems like a suicidal mission to me. The power of the water is so strong!
Then we also visit a geothermal facility, which generates energy from steam. It’s a fascinating view, and I regret not have taken a photo. Not far from it you can see where is the energy converted to electricity.
Then it’s time to say goodbye to this fabulous couple, with whom I was so blessed to be able to spend some time with it. Janine and Mark took such a good care of me, being so lovely, generous and extremely kind all the time. Really extraordinary people! They drop me off in a perfect hitchhiking spot towards Tauranga, where my next adventure will start.
10 Years Around the World 