Black Water Rafting and Black Sand Beaches!

After an awesome stay in Rotorua, we drove west to Waitomo to check out the caves! We got set up with a cave tour in which you climb and tube down through the caves for several hours in frigid water, over waterfalls, and sometimes in the pitch black. It was awesome! We were happy we had wetsuits and helmets with lights…when we all turned off the lights, it was very eerie. We finally saw glowworms, which are actually gnat larvae that produce a bit of light to lure prey in the dark cave.
After surfacing from the cave tour, it was a hot and sunny day, so we headed to Raglan, the beach town! There was still plenty of daylight left so we relaxed on the black sand beach, then headed into town for some dinner. Our time in Raglan was spent watching the surfing and kiteboarding and catching some vitamin D. Before we left, we met up with my dad’s friend Tony Bruce! He owns the surf/kite/coffee shops in town. He showed us around his empire and we caught up on the happenings of the past 25 years. It was tough leaving Raglan, especially with such beautiful weather, but we still had much of the North Island to conquer.

The Town of Many Smells

When it was time to move on from Taupo, we headed north to a town called Rotorua, which Kent named the “Town of Many Smells.” All around Rotorua, the crust is very thin and the hydrogen sulphide can be smelled throughout the town. Yum! There is a ton of stuff to do there though, and we had a great time. Coincidentally, our visit coincided with a reggae festival called Raggamuffin, so we bought tickets and headed to the all day concert! Great reggae, great weather, what more could we ask for? Well a place to spend the night for one! We had been trying for the past week to find accommodation in or around Rotorua, but because of the festival, everything was booked solid! We drove 15 minutes outside of town, in the dark, to a camp ground, reclined the seats in the Corolla, and tried to catch a few hours of sleep!
While in Rotorua, we visited the world-renowned Polynesian Spa, where they have sulpher pools and mineral pools geothermally heated to different temperatures and supposed to heal physical ailments and sore muscles. The pools are outdoors overlooking Sulpher Bay. We also visited Wai-o-Tapu Thermal Wonderland where we saw a (fake) geyser, colored mineral pools (yellow, blue, green, red – from the different minerals dissolved in them), craters, boiling mud, hot springs, and waterfalls. Even though the geyser was induced to erupt, and I was very skeptical to go see it, in the end it was pretty impressive. Later that night, we had plans for a Maori cultural experience. The Maori are the indigenous people of New Zealand. Our group was picked up in a bus and taken to the Tamaki Village. After a warriors’ welcome that was both extraordinary and intimidating, we were led into the village to see how the Maori lived in the 1800’s. Next, we were given a musical dancing performance, and taken to the dining room to eat the hangi (a feast cooked by fire-hot rocks in an underground pit). Everything was delicious and we left with a belly full of food and wine, and knowledge of the Maori people. Before leaving Rotorua, we hit up the luge…a downhill track in which you sit in a little go-kart and hurtle down to the bottom where you catch a ski-lift back up to do it again! Good times!

The North Island Adventure Begins!

We had heard that the ferry from the South Island to the North Island is a beautiful journey on a 10-deck ship through Marlborough Sounds and the Cook Strait. Unfortunately, the storms caught up to us again and we had a rough day at sea. We were probably in the minority in that we managed to keep our lunch down, as they say (thank you Dramamine). After a long and arduous journey, we made it to Wellington to find the weather as cold and windy as the Cook Strait. We spent several days in Wellington, visited the local farmers’ market, Te Papa Museum, the harbor, and some eats. We also made plans on how to conquer the North Island.
Setting off from Wellington, we drove north in the rental car to do the Tongariro Crossing, a 7 hour 19.4 km walk through Tongariro National Park, on the rims of several volcano craters, over natural hot springs, and around hydrogen sulphide gas steaming through thin layers in the earth’s crust. What an incredible journey!
After that walk, our legs were tired, but our arms weren’t! So the next day we went for a canoe in the Whanganui River. We were jet-boated up the river and left to canoe down at our own pace and enjoy the sunny weather. The scenery was awesome; in some areas the river was glassier than any lake I have ever seen, with huge cliffs rising up on either side and wild mountain goats grazing. In other areas, there were rapids! We paddled through several areas of rapids, only having to bail out the canoe once….until we reached the final rapid, the fiercest rapid of all! Kent was gung-ho about tackling this head on, so we paddled as fast as we could though the highest and roughest part, right down the middle. We sliced right through each wave, and we were almost through, but the sides of the canoe were level with the river and we were sitting in a completely flooded canoe! We swam out of the canoe and hung on to it until we found a spot downriver to pull over and finish our ride.
After that adventure, we were on the hunt for something relaxing. Our next destination to spend a few days was Taupo, a cute little town on Lake Taupo, which is a lake in a volcano caldera and the largest lake (by surface area) in NZ. There were plenty of beautiful sights, a waterfall, and great bars in Taupo. Our highlight was when we found an aquatic center with geothermally heated pools and lap pools! We got some exercise, relaxed in the heated pools, and had a steam in the steam room. We found our relaxing destination!

Our last days on the South Island

We headed towards the west coast and booked a tour to hike on the Fox Glacier. It started off as a cloudy day, but nothing we weren’t used to by now. Then the rain started to fall, just as we were ascending 800 steps through the sub-temperate rainforest on our way to the ice. The glacier was enormous with a bluish tint and tons of deep crevices that could swallow you up with the slightest slip. By now it was starting to rain pretty hard, and we could hear the booms of ice on the terminal face breaking off. We hurried off the glacier and back towards the parking lot avoiding falling rocks and icy surge waves along the way. After drying off a bit, we found a basic campsite to spend the night and parked beneath a tree hoping that this would help prevent the van from leaking. The “daylight” woke us up early in the morning and the rain had not let up one bit. To make matters worse, a window had been left cracked open throughout the night and our van was infested with what seemed like hundreds of sleeping mosquitoes! We both freaked out and started driving towards shelter so we could open all the doors and windows without getting soaked in the process. Luckily, there was a gas station nearby with an awning…that was a close call and we both managed to escape with just a couple bites. The rain kept coming down and we decided to drive north until we found sunshine again. It was still raining a few days later, but we finally found nice weather in Nelson! Since the sun was shining, we decided to do some kayaking in the Golden Bay, which is part of Able Tasman National Park. We would paddle through glistening waters for a while, then pull up on the beach for a bit to catch some rays. In Nelson, we enjoyed a short hike to the center of NZ during the day and a delicious steak dinner at Lone Star in the evening (not the same as the American version….much better). After a couple days of city life, we had to make our way back to Christchurch, but not without a short stop in Havelock, which is apparently the green lipped mussel capital of the world. They were very big and tasty! While in Christchurch, we sadly said goodbye to the van and prepared for our early morning train ride to Picton where we would catch a ferry to the North Island.

Craft Beer, Snow-Capped Mountaintops, and a Leaky Van

We chugged along in our little home-on-wheels up to the famous Milford Sound. There was so much to be seen on the drive, we made several stops along the way to take it all in. We found a day walk that sounded nice, up to Lake Marian, and since the weather was beautiful, we took advantage of it. That was definitely worth the hike!! A 400m ascent lead us to a pristine lake filled by waterfalls flowing down the steep cliffs and snow-capped mountains in the background. Some of you might recognize my facebook photo. It was breathtaking.
As it was late when we got back to the van, we decided to find a place to camp for the night. We were awoken to heavy rains and thunderstorms on the outside (and inside!) of the van. Everything was soaked by morning and the rain was not letting up! All we could do was continue our journey up to Milford Sound. It poured the whole way, but one amazing aspect was that all the waterfalls were in full force and the drive in the alpine environment was just incredible. There was fresh show on the mountain tops, from what we could see between the clouds, and keas (alpine parrots) were hanging around the tourists waiting for some food scraps. We had done a cruise of Doubtful Sound several days before (which was just amazing – see the pics of the double rainbows with dolphins swimming beneath), so we left tourist-packed Milford Sound in search of some sunshine. It took a 4 hour drive to Queenstown to find some, but we were able to dry out our van and bedding!
Finally in civilization again, we decided to check out the nightlife in Queenstown. Walking around, we stumbled upon something right up our alley – Dux de Lux, a microbrew pub, with a reggae band playing that night! After 2 nights in Queenstown, and an unsuccessful search for free wifi, we headed to Arrowtown, a quaint little historic village, where we spent a night, and then it was off to Wanaka. Desley had gotten in touch with her brother who lives in Wanaka, and we went to visit Dale and Cherie and their family when we got there. They were just wonderful, offering their guest room and meals, and giving us local advice on things to do in the area. The best day was when we did the walk to see the Rob Roy hanging glacier. It wasn’t the best of weather, but we got as prepared as we could, and set off. It was definitely worth walking 3 hours in the rain! The first glacier I ever saw! It was still quite high and far, and since the sky was cloudy, the pictures didn’t come out as well as I wanted, but it was a great walk. We were soaked, cold, and tired when we got back to the van, but we changed into dry clothes and set back into town. We had a reservation at the theatre! You may be thinking, you went to a movie in NZ? Why, you can do that at home! This was a special theatre and we went on the advice of Caitlin! We saw Sherlock Holmes, but we sat in a couch like in our living room, and during intermission, snacked on freshly made cookies! Totally the best thing to do after a long cold walk in an alpine forest. The movie was good too =)

Memories of Monowai

Our new found friends, Desley & Tama, invited us to spend the holidays with them at their holiday home, or crib as the locals say, in a town called Monowai, near Fiordland National Park. Definitely off the beaten path, or in Deliverance Country, as Tama calls it, the crib in Monowai fronts on a small lagoon that’s part of Lake Monowai. We were fortunate enough to spend the holidays with loved ones and enjoyed an amazing Christmas feast of lamb roast, pork roast, chicken, potato salad, slaw, stuffing, and veggies, and (amongst others) a traditional kiwi dessert, pavlova, an egg white and sugar whipped cake of deliciousness. The next day, we began our trek called the HumpRidge Track. Kent, Desley, and I set off on a rainy cold morning to climb 900 meters to the first hut. We walked for 7 hours on the beach and through the beautiful wet moss- covered rainforests. It was a 19 mile trek that day, and all the uphill was after lunch, so we were dead tired by the time we reached the hut. The 2nd day was not much easier, although it was downhill, because it was just as steep. We finished the 55km trek in three days of walking. It was beautiful and rewarding, but when we finished, it would have been heavenly to have a spa or a masseuse waiting!! I really give props to Desley, who discovered she had been sold 2 different sized boots after 2 days of walking. That would explain the foot pain!!
New Years Eve in Monowai was another great time. Along with about 20 others, a bonfire was made. It was a chilly night, but the fire was toasty. It was a blue moon, and very windy. The wind was a bit scary when it was making the huge bonfire blow completely sideways, but everything was ok in the end, most likely thanks to the rainfall the day before. Beers, cheers, and loved ones made it a memorable way to ring in 2010.
Eventually, it was time to make our departure to explore the rest of the South Island. We packed up and loaded the van for more adventures.

Roadtrip to the deep South

After two weeks in Christchurch and thanks to a couple good connections, we got ourselves a big ol’ van! A 1997 white Ford Econovan that runs on pure Diesel. We packed up our gear, threw a mattress in the back and we were on our way. The plan was to head south along the coast with several stops along the way. Our first stop was Oamaru, but we didn’t stay long because everything was closed due to how late we arrived. Just enough time to see a penguin or two! We spent the night in Moeraki at a little camp ground run by a cranky Swiss lady in a bathrobe. She yelled at me because we arrived after she was already in bed, but we still managed to secure a sweet spot for the night. In the morning, we made a stop at the Moeraki boulders and then had a fresh caught seafood brunch at Fleur’s right on the coast. Then it was back on the road towards Dunedin. Dunedin is a beautiful city, but our favorite was the Speight’s brewery tour with unlimited samples at the end! The next day we made our way down to the Catlins and stayed at a holiday park in Pounawea and decided our next move. It’s hard to believe that it doesn’t get dark until aroun 11pm this close to the Antarctic. In the morning, we headed down the Catlins coast with a big day planned. Our stops included Nugget Point, Jacks Bay Blowhole, Purakauhui Falls and Curio Bay. The petrified forest in Curio Bay was by far the best for wildlife. We saw yellow-eyed penguins and a sea lion up close and got some good pics and video. The weather is crazy right now, as we are sitting in the van getting pelted by hail and strong winds. A massive “friendly” sea lion came right up to the office at the campsite, but while trying to take a picture Alison was charged at and managed to escape with her life. Invercargill was our next stop way at the bottom of the south island. It’s one of the bigger towns along our route, but it was rather quiet when we arrived. We had a very nice kiwi-style meal at the Speight’s Ale House and had the rare opportunity to watch some good old fashioned AMERICAN football on TV (I believe Green Bay was playing the Steelers in Pittsburgh). Before leaving town, we treated ourselves to some delicious Blue Cod fish & chips and continued on our way. The key is, dip everything in lots of mayo…. I’m sure you can tell that Kent wrote this post since the main highlights are beer and food….