Day 1 of our road trip was rather uneventful and consisted of us doing a lot of driving.  

We drove 3 hours from Whangarei to Auckland. 

We  came to the city to drop off our vertical support legs for our arch to Bumper Replacements.

As you know from our previous post “Solar Arch Installation” the previous company who electropolished our arch damaged it. 

So, we decided to take the support legs to a new company.  They did a great job at a fraction of the price.

These support legs are 2.5m long and barely fit in the car.  They extended from the radio all the way to back of the hatch back!

We stopped for lunch and continued on our journey.  We had another 3+ hours to get to Tauranga.  Matt decided he wanted to drive along the coast for a more scenic route.

Tauranga

We arrived late in the afternoon and decided to go straight to Tauranga Harbor View (Air BnB).  This was a rather large two-story home with 3 bedrooms.  We certainly did not need the space, but it was cheap ($95 USD) and in the right neighborhood. 

I did not take any photos as there was nothing blog worthy.

We found downtown Maunganui which is a delightful, single road, epi-center.  We enjoyed cocktails at Saltwater and had dinner at Rising Tide (delicious dumplings).

DAY 2

We had hoped to hike Mount Maunganui, an extinct volcano and sacred Maori site. This 232 meter tall mountain offers amazing 360 degree views of the bay.  

However, a tragedy occurred just 11 days prior to our arrival.

We had massive amounts of rain and part of the hillside slipped smashing into a campsite and burying campervans, tents, and cars. 

Six people lost their lives and the entire mountain site has been closed.

So, we headed to Tauranga Marina to see the manager Greg Prescott.  We gave him the mold for our rain flashing so he could make some for our friends on Roam.

Greg showed us around his lovely yard and marina.  He also gave us a tour of his beautiful 43′ Catana “Seuss” and showed us the upgrades on “Roam”

And then we were off to drive to Taumarunui another 3+ hour drive.

Waituhi Lookout

Somewhere in the middle of nowhere, along our 2 lane highway we see a sign that reads “Waituhi Lookout.”  

We slowly go up the single lane road hoping for no other cars are coming down. 

It is super beautiful with overhanging lush trees and bushes.

After about 5 minutes we come to a rather unimpressive circular parking area and a metal staircase.  Hmmm, this is not what we expected at all.

But, we climb the stairs and to our surprise there is a lovely view of Waituhi.

Taumarunui

We stayed one night in this little town called Taumarunui.  This town was the start of our Forgotten World All-Day Rail Car Adventure.

We checked in to the Forgotten World Motel which was interesting. 

The exterior looks like a typical motel but the interior is rather modern and nice.

This little town is full of history. 

We found several information centers, monuments, and museums along the main road of Hakiaha Street. 

Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to explore everything.

I simply love this optical illusion clock!

On Day 3 we being our Forgotten World Rail Cart tour.  

Our blog posts run 6 weeks behind actual live events.

We began our road trip in early February 2026.