New Zealand #1: North Island

Truth be told we have just a few days left here in Kiwi land and have yet to blog about our weeks. Here is a quick run down of how these next few blogs will go...we spent a week in the north island, a week in the south island and our last week here WOOFing on the farm. First thing first let me tell you about the north island. We arrived in Auckland and Heathers high school friend picked us up from the airport and took us back to her house. Sarah and her husband Ken moved to Auckland, NZ a little over a year ago and offered to let us stay with them once they knew we were coming. Once we unpacked, Sarah took us out for a bite to eat and showed us around Auckland. We ate lunch down by the beach, shopped, and just roamed the streets near where she lived. Sadly we missed "thanksgiving dinner" which Sarah and Ken had enjoyed with some other American friends the night before we arrived, but as usual their were left overs which Heather greatly enjoyed. Before leaving Auckland, Ken drove us to Mount Eden, a view point (and extinct volcano crater) where you can see most if not all of Auckland city and its various volcano's. Afterwards he dropped us off near Parnell street where Heather and I then proceeded to walk the streets and see downtown Auckland. Parnell street/neighborhood is Auckland upscale neighborhood filled with boutique shops and Victorian homes. Not interested in the boutiques, Heather and I sat at a little chocolate shop and enjoyed a Flat White (NZ way of saying a latte) and a maple chocolate cake. Oh so good. Its great being back to western foods. After our sugar and coffee fix we proceeded on our tour through Auckland and visited the Auckland Domain (park), Auckland University, Albert park, Auckland Art Gallery, and the Waterfront. Aside from the many parks all of which I loved, the art gallery was great because it was free and had some interesting art on display.
Since time is precious we hoped on a bus early the next morning and headed to Rotorua to see the geysers and take in the oh so delicious sulfur air...or should i say the rotten hard boiled egg smell which makes you want to vomit. Luckily you only get the egg smell when the air blows it in your direction. The hostel we stayed in suggested to go and visit Te Puia a Te Whakarewarewa (Maori word) thermal reserve and Maori Cultural Center. Our visit was great because we got to see nature and culture in one. Our guide who is a Maori gave us a brief history lesson on the geysers and then showed us and told us about the Maori carving and weaving schools which they have there. We also visited the Kiwi house where we saw one kiwi moving around. did you know that kiwi's cannot fly and are nocturnal...i didn't until she told us...very interesting. After our tour around the grounds and our visit to the boiling mud pools and geysers we saw the Maori's perform some of their dances. The show lasted about 30 min. and it was all very interesting and beautiful but the part we most liked was the warrior dance. The men perform this and while dancing, they hit themselves on their chest, arms and legs and make their eyes freaky big and stick out their tongue. Oh so strange looking, but it is their traditional warrior face and you will see it carved into most wood carvings.
Disgusted by the smell, it was time to travel to our next stop which was Taupo to do the Tongariro Crossing. Upon our arrival into Taupo we made friends with Grant from Aussy. The three of us stayed in the same hostel and since we had some time left in the day we all ventured out for a quick hike to Huka Falls. Along the way we stumbled upon this spot were hot thermal water spills out into the Walkato River. Bummed that we didn't have our swimsuits we continued walking to the falls. The falls were beautiful with its blue/green water. Interesting enough it dumps enough water every second to fill two Olympic size swimming pools...crazy huh... also Taupo uses this fall as a hydro electric power station. Exhausted from traveling and our little hike we crashed early to rest up for our upcoming 20k hike. Since we are short on time we opted to do the day hike instead of the three day circuit around Tongariro. The bus picked us up at 6:20am and drove us out to where the hike begins. The fist part of the hike is up these steep steps called the devil stairs but once your at the top it dumps you at the bottom of Mt Ngauruhoe and Mt. Tongariro. Continuing on our way, some of the guys we were hiking with decided to climb the volcanic rock path up to the top of Ngauruhoe summit. Heather, Dino and myself continued walking on the path crossing the south crater, red crater and then up Tangariro summit. The view was amazing. We were able to see so much with the weather being so perfect. Once we descended down the summit, we stopped for our tomato and avocado sandwich lunch break. After refueling we passed the emerald lakes, central crater, blue lake, north crater and then proceeded along the never ending path to the finish point. The first half of the crossing was amazing and we saw so much, but the last half was long with switch backs down the mountain side and through the forest. I thought the end would never come but at last it did were we meet up with the rest of the gang and waited for the bus back to town. We made it back to our hostel, but since we were taking the overnight bus to Wellington, we had checked out and in essence were homeless for the evening. The hostel offered to let us use the showers for $10, but to save money we decided we would head back to the spot where the thermal water flowed into the river to bath. It ended up being a party with our new hiking friends, Grant, Carle, Ben and Dino. We all enjoyed soaking our sore muscles in the hot water with beers and music provided by Ben and Grant. It was the perfect end to a long day of hiking! After our party at the river, we went out for dinner and drinks to pass the time till our 1 am bus came and picked us up to take us to Wellington.
Last stop in the north island, Wellington, to visit our dear friend Craig whom we traveled with in Central America for a month. When we arrived we were tired yet excited to see Craig. He picked us up and took us in for the next few days. The kind man that Craig is, he drove us to two view points- Mt. Victoria, where we saw the panoramic views of the harbor, and the Carter Observatory, which has a great view of the city and its hills. We also visited the Botanic Gardens and took in all the wonderful smells of the roses. Oh so beautiful with its various colors and what delicious smells they each had. We loved it.
Craig is a sailor and works as a sailing instructor. On Fridays evenings they have sailing races and Craig happened to be taking out his current class, so he invited us on the boat to tag along. Unfortunately, many hours into the race, the race was sadly canceled do to no wind...bummer. Craig had to dock the boat at a different dock so he asked us to drive the car over. Nervous yet excited to drive I got to experience what it feels like to drive on the left hand side of the road. Lets just say it feels strange and a bit scary, but no worries we made it safely and with no near crashes.
For our second day in Wellington, Craig and his dad dropped us off at the New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa Museum, while they went sailing. The Museum was great for many reasons- first, it was free, but it also had interactive exhibits on NZ land, history and culture. It was very child friendly which is probably why we liked it, it kept us entertained. Later Craig took us off roading along the beautiful beach coast which was fun yet a bit car sickening. The coast was amazing with secluded beaches with bright turquoise water that was so clear you could see the bottom in parts!
To end our time in the north we sat down with Craig's family and enjoyed a delicious family dinner. Oh how wonderful it is to be in a house verses a hostel. Well that was our quick trip through the north...now we are just a ferry boat away from the south.