I have been in a constant debate with myself about whether or not to write this blog entry. Ultimately, I really want you tell everyone about my New Zealand trip in person. Therefore, I have come to a compromise: I will provide mostly general information about my trip, but save really good details for when I come home. I hope that works for everyone!
DAY 1: (April 9, 2009)
DAY 2: (April 10, 2009)
I woke up early with Cait, Frank and Matt. We took a taxi to the car rental place (Thrifty—highly recommend). Frank and I were the drivers in the north island. Matt and Cait were our navigators for the time being. I was nervous to drive on the left side of the road, but I embraced challenge. Before I knew it, I was used to turning on the opposite side of the road, looking to the left for the rear view mirror, turning over my left shoulder to reverse and turning on the turn-signals with my right hand. I drove back to the hotel and picked up the rest of the crew. We were on our way to The Waitomo Glow Worm Caves!
Waitomo Caves:
It was a 4 hour drive to the caves. There was heavy traffic because it was Easter weekend (Good Friday to be exact). It looked like we were driving in the shire…we kept our eyes open for Frodo Baggins.
You won’t believe what I did in the caves! I still can’t believe it! More details will be disclosed in person, but here is a general list of what I accomplished:
- Abseil into a hole in the ground that turned into a huge cave (it was pitch black, we had lights on the top of our helmets).
- Zip-lined in sheer darkness down the cave.
- Jump into black, freezing water on an inner tube.
- Black water rafting!
- See THOUSANDS of real glow worms! (They looked like stars in the night sky).
- Swim through the black cave water (There were eels in the water!)
- Crawl through spaces that I didn’t think I could fit through…even ones with rushing water forcing me the other way.
- Climbed two waterfalls in the cave (so intense! We were not strapped into anything, we had to pull our bodies up with our own strength and avoid the forceful water).
I can’t wait to share the full story. The Waitomo Caves were my favorite thing to do in New Zealand. I did things that I never knew that I could do. Furthermore, I have a fear of small spaces (mainly ones that I have to crawl through)…but I did it, and I survived. I felt empowered after doing something so challenging for myself.
DAY 3: (April 11, 2009)
Our day in Auckland did not go exactly how we planned. Cait, Jackie and I drove to the Otara Markets (Frommors described this to be a huge market, famous for its cloth and bone carvings). The market was a weekend market for locals. It was small and piddly. We felt out of place and not very safe. We left after about fifteen minutes.
We walked around Auckland for a little while. In my opinion, the city was unimpressive and anti-climactic. We then walked along Ponsonby Road, where Jackie got her hair cut while Cait and I went to the Museum. At the museum, we saw Sue, the world’s largest and most complete T-Rex! It was phenomenal! We also saw Maori (New Zealand’s indigenous people) art and artifacts.
We ended the night with one of the most delicious meals at Mecca on the Viaduct (down by the harbor).
DAY 4: (April 12, 2009)
Today we drove 4 hours to Rotorua. The scenery on the way to Rotorua is enchanting! The rolling, green hills are so inviting that all I wanted to do was stop the car and run down them! As soon as we entered the town of Rotorua, the pungent scent of sulfur surrounded us. Rotorua is home of sulfuric springs. After a couple of minutes, you got used to the rotten egg smell. Jackie, Steph and I spent the day at the Polynesian Spa. We sat in hot sulfuric springs and got massages. It was very relaxing.
DAY 5: (April 13, 2009)
We drove 30 minutes to Waimangu Volcanic Valley Thermal Attraction. On the way to the volcanic valley, we saw the most magnificent rolling hills. I couldn’t resist them. I pulled over the car, hopped a fence and ran through the hills with Cait, Jackie, Steph and ALL OF THE SHEEP! The air was so fresh and the grass: springy and green.
The thermal attraction was unlike anything I have ever seen. There was sulfuric steam rising from the lake and rocks. The water was so hot that you could hear the hissing and gurgling of the bubbles. We trekked for two hours, mostly uphill, around the valley. We finished at a bird watching site, where I saw black swans gracefully glide through the water.
We returned back to Rotorua, shopped around the town, ate dinner (Tunisian food = delicious!) and hung out in the lounge of the hostel. It was a very nice facility.
DAY 6: (April 14, 2009)
It was the day to leave beloved Rotorua and head to New Zealand’s capitol city, Wellington… but not before we experienced an activity that is ONLY done in Rotorua: ZORBING! In order to Zorb, you ride up a steep hill with a zigzag path carved into it, get into a huge rubber ball that is filled about a quarter of the way with water, and roll down the hill! You slosh around the ball as you go down! It is exhilarating and hilarious! I had a ton of fun Zorbing! So glad that I did it!
After Zorbing, we continued on our 6 hour drive to Wellington. Once again, the scenery during the drive was out of this world! If I had a dollar for every time someone in the car said “wow” I’d be rich…well, maybe I’d have about 50 bucks. At one point in the drive we saw the most peculiar attraction: a Segway riding farm! It was a big open field with people riding SEGWAYS! We thought it was so funny, that we just had to do it! I pulled over and rode a Segway for ten minutes.
Also along the way we saw our first snow-capped mountain! We had to stop and take pictures of it! We also stopped to make peanut butter sandwiches on the curb of a small town. We arrived in Wellington around 5pm and ate at the Flying Burrito Brothers for dinner (highly recommend!).
DAY 7: (April 15, 2009)
I spent the first half of the day at the Te Papa Museum, where there was an Impressionist exhibit featuring Monet. The pieces were exquisite!
Then Cait and I explored the great city! We went to the top of Mount Victoria for a 360 degree view of Wellington, which was surrounded by prominent mountains. We saw Town hall, the Library, Parliament, and the Royal Botanic Gardens. My favorite part of the gardens was the Herb garden, where you could touch the herbs then smell your fingers! It was a lot of fun. We also walked in and out of really cute shops.
That evening we caught the last flight out to Christchurch. It was a bit turbulent, but not too bad. We walked around the city for a little and ate dinner at a café.
DAY 8: (April 16, 2009)
We got up early and braced ourselves for a full day of driving to Fox Glacier. Fortunately, the longevity of the drive is pardoned due to the beauty of the landscape…UNFORTUNATELY, it was raining and foggy for most of the drive, so we didn’t get to see too much. What we did see of the mountains was breathtaking, however. There were waterfalls all around us… some even went over the road in a metal tube! After about seven hours of driving, we reached an area where the road was flooded. The road attendant told us that there was no way we could drive on this road and that we would need to turn around and go back to wherever we came from. Our accommodation for the night was in Fox Glacier. We had nowhere to stay and limited cell phone service. Apparently the road had been closed sinced the afternoon, and because of that, all of the hotels in the surrounding towns were at capacity. After about an hour of desperately calling random hotels, we found a cabin lodge in Hokitika (a small town about 40 minutes away) that could accommodate us. We drove there and slept for the night.
DAY 9 (April 17, 2009)
We woke up and called the police station to see if the road was open, it was not. Because New Zealand only has about two main roads, our only other option to Fox Glacier was a 14 hour drive. We decided that we were not supposed to go to the glaciers. Instead, we walked around Hokitika (the town is know for its Jade art, so we shopped for jade), then headed for our next destination: QUEENSTOWN.
DAY 10 : (April 18, 2009)
Queenstown was awesome. It was like a big sky town, except for extreme activities. There were stores dedicated to ONE activity. For example, you could walk down the street and see a store just for Bungie Jumping or another one just for White Water Rafting.
For my first day in Queenstown, I shopped around the morning market. Then I ventured to the Kiwi Birdlife Park (naturally, no one else in the program wanted to come with me, but I had an amazing time by my lonesome). I saw some spectacular birds, especially the Kiwi bird (which is nearing extinction—there are only 300 birds left in New Zealand). The Kiwi bird has no wings, and is the only bird with nostrils on the end of its beak.
After the birdlife park, I met up with Jackie and Steph to go Hang Gliding! Hang Gliding is my second favorite activity that I did in New Zealand! It basically simulated flying like a bird! I thought it was amazing! (More details about this experience to be shared in person).
DAY 11: (April 19, 2009)
Cait, Jackie, Lauren, Jesse and I got up early to go horseback riding through the Lord of the Rings landscape. We rode through the spots where they actually filmed the Lord of the Rings (as well as Narnia and Xmen). The view was unbelievable. I cannot begin to describe the beauty of the place! Our tour guide would stop and tell us which scenes were done at which destinations. It was very interesting. My horse’s name was Dooby. He used to be an award-winning jumping horse. Now he’s angry and bitter to be reduced to giving walking tours. Dooby had a big attitude and didn’t like when I’d tell him to walk or stop eating. Ultimately, we bonded and had a good time though.
After horseback riding, we ate lunch in Queenstown, then Frank, Jesse, Lauren, Tyler, Matt and I headed to Lake Wannaka to … … … SKYDIVE! Yes, I jumped out of a plane. Details about this experience will also be shared in person. Let’s just say that after skydiving, I bought a t-shirt that summed up my feelings exactly à Adrenaline is legal. J I thought that was clever.
Then we drove an hour or so to Milford Sound.
DAY 12: (April 20, 2009)
Milford Sound is an extremely small town with LITERALLY only one thing to do in it…. Boat Cruise. So that is exactly what we did. We took a boat cruise around Milford Sound where a glacier carved out the mountains. There were seals on the rocks! And the view was gorgeous, which made up for the cold weather! The boat stopped under a waterfall too. It was cool, but too cold to go out there and get wet.
After the cruise, we drove back to Queenstown to have a last celebratory dinner.
DAY 13: (April 21, 2009)
We had the morning to ourselves. I walked around the little shops in Queenstown, until we needed to head to the airport for our flight back to Sydney. I was sad that our amazing time in New Zealand had come to an end, but excited because I knew that Tina and Emily would be in Sydney the next day!
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