So I was mad at Auckland for the rain, wind, and not-so-impressive sights. To do anything worthwhile, it seemed you had to pay $100+ for a tour. I was really missing Sydney at this point because it was so easy (and cheap enough) to be a tourist there. In Auckland for example, the Waitakere Ranges are supposed to be beautiful with 250km of hiking trails. However, the closest public transportation will get you is 6kms away from the start of any trail so by the time you start the hike, you are already exhausted; tours were starting from $150…. I spent a lot of my time wandering Queen St., the waterfront, and the city’s parks and gardens. The Auckland War Memorial Museum was one of the highlights because it has something for everyone including Maori history, earthquake simulations, ecosystems of New Zealand, and a “Weird and Wonderful” exhibit that lets you get an up-close view of different (dead) bugs. (I found the bug part super fascinating!) I had the chance to reunite with the first of my truckmates from Africa – Matt! Together, we enjoyed the first sunshine I’d seen in New Zealand and fish and chips beachside in Mission Bay :)
On Pronunciation: New Zealand has its own special way of pronouncing things. I remember when I first met Matt and his wife Jen, they said “Gin” for Jen so I thought her name was Gin for the longest time. According to Matt, we had our fish and chips with “tar-tier” sauce lol Spellings and emphases can be difficult too: “Waitakere,” is why-TAK-uh-ree as opposed to why-tuh-KEE-ree like I thought. With Maori words, the “wh” is pronounced with an f sound so the name Whakarewarewa is “FUCK-uh-ray-wuh-ray-wuh.” Very confusing, but fun :) Kiwis also like to use the word "as" like we use "hella": cheap-as, sweet-as, smart-as, etc...
Rugby: Thanks to Oliver, I got to see my first rugby match: Blues v. Crusaders! I met Oliver in Bolivia – he was there for my first soccer game and now my first rugby experience. It was so exciting! The city provides free buses and trains to and from select matches – really nice! Oliver got us great tickets (!) that would be similar to 40-yard-line seats at a football game; we were close to the field too! I researched rugby rules and though I can’t say I understand everything, I was able to identify a scrum, ruck, and maul. Sometimes it still looks to me like the guys are just continually crashing into each other, but I definitely appreciate the sport more. The atmosphere is amusingly civilized too because if you hear young guys shouting anything remotely obscene or booing even, some of the older people start lecturing them about there being “no need for such language.” This was the kickoff game to the rugby season after the New Zealand All Blacks had won the 2011 Rugby World Cup and although the team I was rooting for (Blues) just barely lost, it was a really, really great night! Thanks, Oliver!
Waitomo: Stopped in Waitomo for an hour (literally) en route to Rotorua. I was off to see the famous glow worm caves! In the light of day, you can see thin strands dangling from the ceiling and in the dark, you basically look up in this pitch-black cave and see thousands of tiny lights. It was like getting to see a beautiful starry sky in the middle of the day – no Southern Cross or Milky Way though :)
Rotorua: They say that “Rotorua Stinks.” It is, in fact, one of the few places in the world you can get away with passing gas with no one being the wiser. It is a very thermally active area with tons of geysers, hot springs, and bubbling mud pools.
Walking around the Kuirau Park, Lake Rotorua , and the Government Gardens, I felt really happy… it was just so beautiful and peaceful (despite the occasional whiff of sulfur…)
Government Gardens
Tamaki Village: At the Tamaki Village near Rotorua, you can experience a taste of Maori culture.
They shuttle 100+ people over to the village each night, perform a welcoming ceremony (wherein the chief of the village throws down a peace challenge to the visiting ‘chief’), show you traditional games, weaving, and carvings, perform songs and a haka, and prepare a hangi feast.
Hangi: First Plate (my second plate was even more full...)
Hangi is a traditional meal cooked under the ground and the entire reason I wanted to visit the Tamaki Village. It was an opportunity to try hangi, New Zealand lamb, and the famous pavlova dessert! The lamb was surprisingly delicious – I think because it had earthy hangi flavors instead of gamey flavors. Pavlova is a cake made almost exclusively of egg-whites and sugar – it’s like a meringue, but even more rich and sweet. Kiwis and Aussies like to debate about where the dessert originated.
On Food: Fish and chips are widely popular in both Australia and New Zealand… having tried them numerous times, I can’t say they are especially good, they’re just regular fish and chips as far as I'm concerned; you can probably find better at Red’s in San Francisco :) Sushi has been fun in New Zealand though because a lot of places do takeaway sushi where you select what you want starting at $1 per piece. The pieces are pretty huge and well packed with fresh fish. Generally, it is expensive to eat out in New Zealand and I’ve been cooking often for fear of paying a lot for food and being disappointed with it. In Wellington, for example, I had the worst Indian food ever – my $18 curry tasted like tomato soup. :( Though I’ve been craving a burrito, I haven’t been able to bring myself to pay $18 for one so I ended up buying all the ingredients and making my own (for 5 meals) :)
Sweets: The other day I discovered the ice cream flavors “hokey pokey,” “goody goody gumdrops,” and “candy floss”: Hokey pokey is vanilla ice cream with bits of caramel in it – pretty good; Candy floss is kind of cotton-candy flavored – weird; Goody goody gumdrops, though, is basically bubblegum ice cream without the annoying bubblegum – it’s amazing!!! Mrs. Higgins is their version of Mrs. Fields – Mrs. Fields is way better! L&P (Lemon and Paeroa) is their famous soda – it’s like a carbonated lemon soda that’s nice while drinking, but has a funky aftertaste that gives you bad breath after.
Huka Falls, Taupo
Taupo: I took a bus from Rotorua into Taupo. Lake Taupo is massive and in total kilometers, is about the size of Singapore. The drive from Waitomo to Rotorua and Rotorua to Lake Taupo were incredible btw. New Zealand is blessed with so much beautiful scenery pretty much any direction you look. In Taupo, I walked to the famous Huka Falls and had a nice wander around town; I used the city as my base for doing the Tongariro Crossing.
Tongariro National Park: In the Tongariro National Park, you can do the famous 19.4km Tongariro Crossing, reputed to be one of the top ten day hikes in the world. It is a one way hike starting at one end of the park and finishing at the other. You see a ton of different landscapes as you hike up the devil’s staircase, stare in awe at Mt. Doom from Lord of the Rings, pass amazing lakes and mountains, and finish with a walk through a forest.
In the end, it was a good day and a good hike, though during parts of it, I was miserable... so miserable I almost would have rather been at work writing a viewpoints on RFID... almost. I discovered that my hydration pack doesn’t work – it leaks. When I picked it up off the floor of the bus, there was a puddle there. The water had soaked through the pack so when wearing it, I had a cold spot on my back. I didn’t have gloves or a hat, not knowing that it would be freezing(-2 to -5 degrees with windchill). At one point, my hands were like ice from dealing with the hydration pack, the wind was trying to knock me down blowing 50+km/hour, volcanic grit was flying in my face, and I was cursing my Buddy who had recommended the hike to me. I kept walking though and then suddenly it dawned on me how happy I felt: I had just had a brownie, the sun was getting warm, and everywhere I looked it was incredibly beautiful. Overall good hike, I’d do it again – just better prepared next time.
Wellington: To do the Tongariro Crossing, I got up around 5am… hiked fairly quickly (5 ½ hours)… and then caught a bus that night at 1am to Wellington. I slept horribly on the bus, arriving in town around 6:30am. I was exhausted all that day, but it was a good one spent with another friend from my Africa trip: Gary! I think we may have talked more this day than the entire time on the truck, but Gary was so kind as to show me the famous Te Papa museum and the view from Mt. Victoria, take me on an amazing drive down the coast to the red rocks, and introduce me to his very nice aunt. Thanks Gary! Despite being so cold and windy, I liked Wellington – there was a lot to see and do and it was a very walk-able city, rated #4 best city to visit according to Lonely Planet. :)
Driving along the Esplanade with Gary... (also got to see it from the other side on the ferry!)
Cook Strait: Rough. I don’t get seasick, I just fall asleep if the boat is rocking too much. So I got on the Interislander ferry with every intention of enjoying the scenery around me, but I woke up to discover that I’d been asleep for two hours. The seas were really rough getting out of Wellington with waves as high as nine meters. Coming in to Picton though, things calmed down and it was just beautiful entering the Marlborough Sounds. There was a pod of dolphins to escort us in too, awesome!
Picton: Nothing here except that it’s the gateway to the Marlborough Sounds and has a nice hostel (Sequoia Lodge) that does nightly free chocolate pudding and ice cream :)
Apparently it's too early for snow... (Kaikoura coast)
Kaikoura: The town is famous for whale watching/dolphin trips but the weather was pretty dire when I was here. Expensive boat trip in the cold? Not this time. I found out though that crayfish is famous here and thought I might try some. I thought that crayfish were those small little shrimp-like things… turns out, that’s crawfish. Crayfish is actually rock lobster, and therefore really expensive! Discouraged at the ridiculously high prices I saw in town, I thought I might have to give it a miss. But, I found out that there’s a seafood bbq place about 45 minutes away on foot that does half-crayfish. When I got there, the lady let me pick my crayfish (whole) and split it for me. It was amazing! By far, the nicest meal I’ve had in New Zealand: (and not too bad for rock lobster at $27.50)
Christchurch: I had heard that there’s nothing to do in Christchurch other than see the damage from the earthquakes in 2011. True.
Foreigners and locals alike stood watching demolitions and peering into fenced-off, deserted areas. Many of the stores have set themselves up in containers while the buildings are being evaluated for their safety/retrotfitted for earthquake safety - this might have been the coolest thing I saw in Christchurch:
I'm not sure I'd like the city even if all the main attractions weren't closed off.... It was cold and windy and I spent the majority of my time using the free internet at the library. (As a whole in New Zealand, I actually spent a lot of time visiting botanic gardens (free and beautiful) and city libraries ([usually] free internet)) :)
Basically I had two weeks in New Zealand and it was not nearly enough time (and a $32/day budget is not nearly enough money) to really enjoy yourself here. That said, I did what I could in the time I had and I think I made the most of it. :) Unlike Australia, where there were things I definitely wanted to do, I had no idea what was in store for me in New Zealand other than adventure activities (skydiving, bungy jumping, jetboating, etc…) that I had no interest in. (I’ve already been skydiving [once] and bungy jumping [three times].) When I did research on New Zealand, I made this list of places that all looked amazing. But, when I figured out how much it would cost to do them all, I had to cut out about half of the places in the interest of time and budget. I’ve seen several highlights of the North Island but pretty much none of the South Island which is said to be the best part. I’d like to come back to dedicate a lot of time to the South Island and all the places I missed. I also need a travel buddy willing to rent a car with me and drive on the wrong side of the road. :) The scenery I Did see was absolutely stunning and I’m very excited to get to see the rest someday. New Zealand, I’ll be back.
Waitomo River
(every body of water I saw had light colors that were especially stunning in the sunshine.... I like the deep blue of the Pacific Ocean, but this is so much prettier!)
*Sorry this was so long, but it was my entire two-week New Zealand experience.
Up next: A week in Australia with friends!!!
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