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.