New Zealand Day 5: It's a long trip to Wellington

Alright, so it's been ridiculously hard to keep this writing thing up with my uni work and life and everything, plus the fact that our New Zealand trip happened so long ago now it's just been really hard to finish. You've probably all lost interest in this by now, buuut I figured that now I've got some time on my hands, might as well finish what I started.

April 15th

Turns out that the guy who worked at OGO was also staying at Crank, our hostel, so I had a nice chat with him over breakfast before we checked out and got on the road for the day.

The plan for the day was to leave Rotorua and head south through Taupo to Wellington, with various stops along the way.

Stop #1 was Huka Falls, between Rotorua and Taupo. There was a bridge to walk overtop of the falls which was pretty cool.

Our second stop was at DeBretts Hot Spring Thermal Spa in Taupo. On our way through the town we passed by a pavilion that held an outdoor ice skating rink. People had on helmets and were skating in tank tops and shorts, it was pretty cool. We were able to get a really good price for the DeBretts mineral pools so we decided to relax there for an hour or two before continuing on.

We grabbed a bite to eat at the scenic lookout on Taupo Lake while watching people paragliding then started back on the long trip south to Wellington.

We decided to take a secondary highway down to Wellington to avoid taking the same route back the net day and to maximize on the amount of the country we would get to see. BIG MISTAKE. The one piece of advice that I give to you while travelling New Zealand is to stick to the main highways! When you hear people complaining about the crazy roads down there, they are 100% telling the truth.

Winding road from the safety of a lookout

I started out driving up this winding road that kept going up and up. The two land road suddenly dropped down to the size of a one lane, but still carried two directions of traffic. I couldn't see around any turns because of either bushes and trees, or sheer rock cliff. Driving ridiculously slow for fear of colliding into another car coming round the bend, we made it to a lookout where Heather, the most experienced driver of us all, took over. It was still slow going, and about halfway through we noticed a car on our rear. We pulled over to let him pass. Turns out it was a BMW convertible. We figured that there was no way that a Beemer would be up there without knowing exactly what he was doing, plus if we could follow behind him, then his brake lights would let us know when there was a car coming round the bend. We decided to keep up with him, and man, he was crazy! He obviously took this road a lot since he was going 50 most of the way though this crazy windy road through the mountains. One lane wide, vertical cliff up n one side, vertical cliff down on another. The plan worked remarkably well.   Terrified, we passed by a couple cars with the help of our warning car up front. On one particularly steep cliff, another car came whizzing by us in the opposite direction. We swear there could only have been inches between us and the tire was just about to go over the edge. Ali was in the passenger seat and happened to look over the edge. She shut up, went pale white, and stared straight ahead for the next few meters. After the car had passed and we were on slightly safer ground, she turned to us and told us what she had seen. A car. A car, off the cliff, held in the midst of tree branches like those crashed planes in the movies. THEN the only radio station that would come in clearly started playing Eye of the Tiger. We took that as a sign that we were going to get through this, so we pressed on. Ali was literally praying for our survival the whole way. The BMW guy was our hero. Eventually he pulled too far away from us, so we let him go. But thanks to him, we got out of that terrible terrible road just as it was getting dark. Icing on the cake? Bottom of the mountain was a cemetary. Juuuust awesome.

BMW guy who was our hero

Ali's drawing of what she saw over the cliff
(those are the tops of palm trees waaaay in the distance)

We got to Wellington soon after and found Trek Worldwide Backpackers, our hostel for the night. We did a quick McD's run for dinner (Every country has a slightly different McDonald's menu. In New Zealand they had Super large, full meals that you could buy. Ex: The Chicken Chomp: $9.90 for a McChicken, 10 McNugget bites, a sundae, small fries and a small drink). We were too exhausted to do anything that night, even socializing with our roommates took much effort, so we decided to be lepers, checked our internets, and went to bed.

New Zealand Days 1-4: Auckland to Rotorua

Driving route and overnight stays, days 1-4

We arrived super early the next day in Auckland. Dates got mixed up, so we no longer had a place to stay that night. We looked up some places in the airport and booked something though Expedia. Since check in wouldn’t be for several hours, we picked up our rental car, found the nearest public parking, and settled in for a much needed nap.

The hotel we booked had messed up our reservation, and claimed we only booked 2 people instead of 3. After a few calls, and a lot of arguing, they conceded that we were in the right so we moved our bags up to the room. We were cranky, still tired and very hungry, so we headed downtown in search for food. We discovered this amazingly good and super cheap indian place called Nite Spice and left feeling full and content. 

The next morning we wandered down for our included continental breakfast, but after being told that our package didn’t include this, when we knew it did, we decided it was time for us to leave.

On our way to Tauranga, we drove up the Coromandel. The roads were winding and the coast was beautiful. Heather kept repeating that she was going to die here, then we’d see an even more spectacular view of the ocean through the mountains and she would decide that she’d die there instead. As long is it wasn’t right then, she could die wherever she wanted.

Driving up the Coromandel

One of the many places Heather wants to die

Drivers on the right side of the car. Driving for the first time on the left hand side of the road

Unfortunately on our drive, we missed Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach, two famous New Zealand locations. We discovered this from a mechanic when we stopped in Waihi. We had first stopped there to park in the Hospital parking lot while we waited to see if that peanut filled granola bar that I almost ate (whoops!) had any ill affect (No worries, I was fine). Then when our car didn’t start we enlisted the help of a very friendly mechanic (luckily the battery connection just needed to be cleaned, and we were on our way). We made it through Tauragna and stayed at this neat place covered in murals called Pacific Coast Backpackers at Mount Maunganui. 

Pacific Coast Backpackers (forgot to take pictures of the murals inside)

We wandered up to the blowhole by the mountain the next day. It was gorgeous. Like this island of tress, growing on rocks that was connected to the mainland by a footpath. There were views of other islands from there. I wanted to spend all day just soaking it in. 

Mt. Maunganui in the background 

Island with the blowhole

From Mt. Maunganui, we travelled west through Te Puke to see Kiwi 360, the giant kiwi fruit, and even further to this small town called Maketu, where they make the Maketu meat pies. We picked up some meat pies for lunch, ate them on the beach, and turned south to Rotorua.

Giant kiwi fruit!

Eating meat pies by the water in Maketu

Rotorua was the one place in New Zealand where we spent 2 nights. We stayed at this cool place called Crank Backpackers, that was connected to a rock climbing gym and cinema, and also had pool and fooseball as well as really cheap drinks. What they say about Rotorua is true. It smells! The geothermal activity looks really cool. Steam billows from patches in the landscape, but the sulfur reeks.

Our room at Crank Backpackers

Steam coming out from the ground

We had an early start the next morning so we could catch the eruption of the Lady Knox Geyser. It was cool, but at $16.50 we concluded that it was overpriced for what you got, so instead of forking over more money to tour the rest of the Wai-O-Tapu Geothemal Wonderland, or Buried Alive, we decided to take a hike through the Redwood Forest. I think it was an awesome choice. The trees were huge, it smelled awesome and it was so pretty! Lunch was made back at Crank. We headed to the i-Site (a visitor’s centre) to book the remaining day’s activities at a discount, and we were off again. 

Lady Knox Geyser at Wai-O-Tapu Geothermal Wonderland

Hot mud pools near Lady Knox Geyser

Crystal clear pool in the Redwood forest

I’ve wanted to go Zorbing for years now. It’s when you climb inside this giant inflatable ball with some water and roll down a hill. It’s basically an awesome, glorified water slide.  The girls opted out due to the price, but it’s sort of always been on my bucket list, so they were happy to watch me become a human hamster. I ended up booking with OGO. It’s the exact same thing as Zorb (and by the original creators, who have since left the Zorb company), but has longer tracks. I was driven up to the top of the hill, and dove into the giant plastic sphere. You’re then told to walk towards the track, and you keep going until you start slip sliding away. It took me about 40 seconds to get to the bottom of the straight track, and let me tell you, it is FUN. Worth every penny as far as I’m concerned. You get twisted around and forget which end is up and it’s just a blast. I definitely recommend it. Included with my package was a free go in the Fisheye, which is the same ball, but you’re strapped in with a harness and this machine rotates the sphere while you’re inside. Honestly, this one was pretty dull. I got bored of it pretty quick, so if you’re wondering which to do, definitely go H2OGO.

Inside the OGO

After being thoroughly thrashed around, we drove down the street to the Skyline luge. We had picked up the gondola and 5 luge package, which gave us a gondola ride up the mountain (with an amazing view of the city and lake) as well as 5 luge rides. This is AWESOME and we just learned that there’s a Skyline Luge at Mont Tremblant in Canada (!!).

Basically when you get to the top of the lift, you grab a helmet and get in line. You’re ushered into this tiny plastic cart with handlebars and first-timers are sent down the scenic track. These things are awesome. Like go carting but better. You race down the track to the bottom around twists and turns and then catch a chairlift back up. There are 3 tracks: Scenic, Intermediate, and Advanced. 5 luge rides was perfect, it let us do everything once, and go a second time on our 2 favourite tracks. Any more than 5 and we probably would’ve started wiping out because we were pushing the speed limits, or gotten bored with the tracks. 

Exhausted, we headed back to Crank in preparation for the long trek South to Wellington the next day.

The Beginning of an Adventure

I’ve just gotten back from a 2 week venture to Melbourne and New Zealand over the Australian Easter holidays. The trip was fantastic. We stayed in hostels and drove all around the North Island in New Zealand. I’ll try and sum up a few of the highlights over the next couple blog posts but I most definitely will not be able to get everything in. Another quick note, I am waiting on some necessary equipment to move some pictures onto my computer, so after that has happened I’ll update this with some relevant photos :)

Melbourne

Our trip started out with an early, 11 hour train ride from Adelaide to Melbourne. We figured that seeing the Australian landscape by train would be a good beginning to our adventure. We had a nice chat with the nun that we were sitting beside, and ran though the pouring rain to Spencer Backpackers where we’d spend the next few nights. 

Cool undulating roof design in the Melbourne train station 

I’m not sure if you guys are familiar with hostels, but this was my first ever encounter with them. I don’t know what exactly I was expecting, but I discovered that over the next couple of weeks I’d be staying in rooms filled with bunk beds, with huge common kitchens and tv rooms. Altogether not too bad, and a really great way to meet people. I would definitely consider hosteling for future voyages.

First hostel stay :)

The next day was mostly spent wandering around the city. We went to Federation Square, Flinders Station, hopped the free City Circle tram to the harbour to check out the People’s Flea Market and do some shopping at Harbour Town, then had dinner at Maccaroni, an amazing little Italian restaurant on Metcalfe, off Collins St. After a few drinks on our hostel’s patio with a Korean guy and a German guy, we set out for Sorry Grandma! A club on Little Bourke that likes to put googley eyes on paintings and has a popcorn maker in the upstairs bar. The club was pretty sweet and we met some really nice guys that ended up inviting us out to the footy game the next day.

Flinders Station

People's Flea Market at the Docklands. Entirely made of shipping containers.

Harbour town for some outlet shopping

Amazing dinner at Maccaroni

After Easter Mass, we made our way to the Etihad Stadium to watch the St. Kilda Saints beat the Gold Coast Suns. We all were starving after the game, so headed back with the guys for some left-over chinese food and a couple of drinking games. After several attempts at finding a good place to go out and a couple rounds of Kings, we decided to call it a night.

Little kids playing in the oval at halftime

Melbourne day 4 was spent doing a design walk of the city, at the Aquarium and up on the 88th floor of the Eureka tower, the tallest building in the Southern hemisphere.

Penguins at the Aquarium

Eureka Tower (Gold one!)

For our last night in Melbourne we decided to stay at Hotel Discovery, another backpacker’s place. It was a pretty big place, with murals in the common areas and a really cheap, really good cafe in the lobby.

For our last day we decided to start off at Victoria Market, where you can get local wares as well as fruits and veggies. It was huge and a really cool place to shop. Next we headed over the the NGV: Ian Potter building to check out some Australian art before we took a walk through the Botanical Gardens to see the massive War Memorial.

Climbing sculpture at the botanical gardens

Sit in the lawn chairs and play Pac-man on the big screen in Federation Square

War Memorial

It's gigantic

One of the guys we had met in Melbourne happened to be flying out around the same time as us, so we met up at the airport bar to kill some time, then parted our ways and headed off to continue our adventures in New Zealand.