Kia ora! That's Maori for hi/hello/be well. We made it to New Zealand! It was a nice and easy nonstop flight from Melbourne to Auckland. And so, we begin our journey in middle earth starting on the north island.
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| Kola says kia ora! |
Auckland
Auckland is the most populated city in NZ (Wellington is the capital though), and is based along two harbors. We seemed to have good timing for our arrival, the weekend we were there was Auckland's Anniversary weekend. Lots of festivals going on, which of course means marketplaces with homemade goods which I love. The city itself has a nice area along the water, further inland it tends to get a little touristy, but we enjoyed our time here. Our new favorite thing is turkish kebab style food, which we ate two nights in a row.
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| first picture in NZ, little harbor birdie wanting my kebab wrap! |
Walking around we ran into the Busker's festival, which was a street performer type event.
The next day we hit the shopping part... best markets so far! This building is called the Cloud :)
We also stopped by the
Tāmaki Herenga Waka Festival where we got to learn a little about Maori culture. The picture below shows the waka, a Maori watercraft that's like a canoe. Visitors could also try paddling while chanting on the waka, but it was really neat watching the professionals below!
Waiheke Island
Off the coast of Auckland is a charming island called Waiheke. Known for it's wineries, beautiful beaches, etc, it was definitely on the top of my list to see! I could easily see spending much longer here than we did... but it was a great day trip.
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| Penguin selfie :) |
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| View from one of the bigger towns |
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| Loved this little village! |
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| Neat photo Justin took on the ferry ride back |
And just like that, it was time to road trip to our next spot, Hikuai.
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| Auckland skyline from the Waiheke ferry |
Coromandel
We spent two nights in Auckland because I knew once we arrived in New Zealand I'd be anxious to get out into all the beautiful scenery NZ is known for. I was right, and the moment I saw the scene below while driving I knew I had to take a picture!
Hikuai
Hikaui is a quiet little farm town within the Coromandel peninsula. I chose this spot because of the airbnb, it was advertised as a "special place", and rightly so. While it was a bit rural for us, we definitely enjoyed coming home to the cute cows in the field, a yellow lab named Lily, and of course the views...
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| View from our doorstep |
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| Justin took this at sunrise |
It was a really nice reset, I found staying in a more rural area to be very peaceful and grounding. The cows are always doing the same thing, day in and day out (except when one got caught in the feeding trough which was really funny), life just goes about simply. I can see why our airbnb host said she just loves the calm and the low stress environment. Again, we were lucky to have such an amazing host... she gave us excellent recommendations and was always there to check in on us.
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| Trying to work on my night shots! |
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| Lily would bring us a bouncy ball, a sock, or multiple socks at one time |
Pauanui Beach
The farm may have felt remote, but several towns and lots of gorgeous beaches were only 15-30 minutes away. Our first stop was Pauanui, and let's just say NZ can give Australia a run for it's money with beaches.
Broken Hills, Collins Drive Track
In the airbnb description they had mentioned one of the great hikes of the Coromandel was literally at our doorstep, called the Broken Hills track. There are multiple tracks, but the Collins Drive part winds it's way over the broken hills and to an old gold mine with a 500 meter tunnel. Yes, 500 meters of pure darkness, which is about a 10 minute fast paced walk from experience, but there were glow worms!
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| NZ paths are no joke |
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| Saw some interesting creatures along the trail... :-P |
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| Views peeping through the rainforest |
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| Tunnel entrance... |
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| umm... we sure about this? |
It was actually really cool, although it was a little freaky when you lose site of the entrance and still can't see the exit...
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| glow worms! |
And finally, we reached the top!
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| Our aibnb is down there, along with Pauanui in the distance |
After taking in the views from the top, it was time to make our way back down, which was a feat in itself! haha.
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| yes, this is the trail. |
Our first hike in NZ was a success! This country is not joking around with hiking though, that was definitely challenging. BUT at the end of the hike, Justin
proclaimed he was "really glad we did it, and it was definitely worth it"... he even admitted he enjoys hiking now! Not saying I'm a big hiker, but I think people
reading this who know Justin will understand :) I am very happy to say the least, although he'll probably only do it in Australia and New Zealand... but... progress my friends.
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| I loved the lighting on the road on our way back |
Nice cool spring to take a dip in after the hike :)
Opoutere Beach
On arrival I asked our host immediately about Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach, the tourist hot spots. She said those are great and all, but that her favorite is Opoutere beach and it's only 30 minutes away. I think she was surprised when I had her point it out on the map, because if there's anything I've learned this trip it's to listen to the local recommendations! There are many a tourist trap, but the best finds have been the less talked about places... this was no exception.
How many people do you see in those pictures? There were maybe 8 people on this beach, and it was huge. I'm saying it now, this is my favorite beach of the whole trip so far. I loved that to reach it you had to follow a path through the forest, it just felt so special. We spent the afternoon here, and I wish I'd come back here instead of hot water beach later!
Cathedral Cove
I knew Cathedral Cove was a not to be missed part of the Coromandel, but a lot of pictures I saw of it had a bunch of people under the arch. I pitched my idea of waking up before dawn, driving 40 minutes in the dark, and walking the 30 minutes to Cathedral Cove in the dark to Justin... and he was down! When the alarm went off at 4:45am, we both kind of wondered what we were doing... but we were in the car by 5am headed to see a sunrise... best decision ever!
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| Along the walk to Cathedral Cove... the colors were amazing. |
The cove itself sits in the middle of a nice beach, you pass under the arch to get from one side to the other. Justin took some nice pre-sunrise pictures...
We have 250+ pictures, and it was difficult to choose which ones to include here! This is definitely one of our top experiences of the trip so far... it was magical. And there were maybe 5 other people on the beach with us, everyone got the empty Cathedral Cove shot!
I love these pictures with the cove in the foreground...
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| Life is such an adventure with you <3 |
Walking back... I think this camera does really well with close up pictures!
On the drive back we stopped at an outlook... wow.
Mt Paku
On the way to hot water beach, we decided to stop in Pauanui again to do the short walk up Mt Paku to the outlook. Our airbnb host had suggested this too, she was on point with her recommendations! It's kind of the opposite view of the Broken Hills hike, our airbnb is in the middle and the distance hills are the Broken Hills.
Hot Water Beach
This is a neat beach where at low tide you can dig holes to reach the natural hot springs underneath the sand. It's become a very popular tourist attraction, as you can see from the pics, but the uniqueness of it really is special. We brought a shovel our airbnb host provided, dug a hold, and they aren't joking when they call it HOT water beach. I mean the water is almost boiling. We couldn't figure out how to regular our little hole's temperature, so took turns sticking a toe in... but the experience in itself was worth doing. However, I would still rather go to Opoutere and have it all to myself :)
I did learn there's a hidden "hot water" beach on the western side of the north island, near Waitomo, called Kawhia... for anyone headed to NZ in the future! I suggest going there instead.
Rotorua
Well 5 nights on the Coromandel came and went, and we were ready to leave our farm and get back to the city scene. Our next stop was Rotorua, a city known for it's geothermal activity and Maori culture. And it's sulfur smell...
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| Rolling hills and cows, that's the northland landscape so far! |
On our first day here, I suggested going on a walk after dinner... didn't really know where we were headed but in the city center was a walk along the lake to a place called sulfur point. Why not? Umm...
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| my feelings about the walk... |
I tried to power through it, but I was almost gagging at some points. Come to find out later, this is probably the area with the strongest sulfur smell.... not the best "Welcome to Rotorua" walk, or maybe it was? I at least don't suggest walking there with a full tummy :)
Hobbiton Movie Set
!!!!!!!!
We were supposed to stop in Hobbiton on the way to Rotorua, but since it was rainy that day I moved it to the next and we did a day trip from Rotorua. I woke up so excited, we were going to the SHIRE!!!!
!!!!!!!!
It's in the middle of nowhere, near a town called Matamata which is about an hour from Rotorua, I think two from Auckland. Back in the 90s Peter Jackson had location scouts flying over New Zealand and this little farm happened to catch their eye. One of the scouts landed, knocked on the Alexander family's front door, and asked them to show him around the property. Well the family, not knowing how big of a deal this was, said sorry they were watching Sunday rugby, but feel free to walk around all you like! A few weeks later and Peter put a contract in front of them, the parents hadn't heard of Lord of the Rings, but their son said to just say yes and sign. Their lives were changed forever, and the Shire began construction!
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| Surreal to first walk in and see it |
Our tour guide let us take as many pictures as our hearts desired, the hobbit holes were so cool to see! Each one had it's own unique features, and different themes / props.
As you can see in the picture above, there isn't much inside a hobbit hole! The shire was used for all the outdoor shots, but the minute Frodo or Gandalf entered the circular door the shooting took place in a studio in Wellington. The homes were built for hobbits 5'4" and under, so if you were that height you could be an extra in the movie! Justin and I would not have a chance...
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| The party tree, lawn, and Green Dragon Inn in the distance |
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| Frodo's (and Bilbo's) house! |
We learned the tree above Frodo's house is completely fake, and each leaf (30,000 or something like that) were HAND TIED. Peter Jackson then decided he didn't like the shade of green the leaves were, and had them spray painted a brighter green... the details...
Near the end of the tour everyone gets a complimentary beer from the Green Dragon Inn. All four beer options are locally brewed which I thought was neat! I went with the apple cider, Justin chose the stout.
You can even have your wedding at the Shire! So, here's the tent for our future wedding reception Moms! hahaha... just kidding... I can dream :)
Polynesian Spa
Sulfur smells do come with benefits, natural hot springs! We took advantage one morning and enjoyed trying the different pools. Apparently the geothermal water has many benefits for your skin, tired muscles, and other aches and pains. This spa also had a nice view of lake Rotorua.
Wai-O-Tapu
As much as I was dreading the smell, we couldn't leave Rotorua without seeing a geothermal park. Once we got there, I realized the smell isn't all that bad... but it sure was funny watching kids react to it.
We chose to go to Wai-O-Tapu, which is known for the Lady Knox geyser that erupts every day at 10:15. It's so punctual! Just kidding, the guide adds a soap like product to the geyser, which reacts with the boiling water deep in the ground... and boom!
Check out my video of it:
https://youtu.be/rPOXQmQsLGE
Apparently a group of prisoners discovered these particular hot springs, and at that time they were on more of a ledge instead of in a cone shape. The prisoners decided to do their laundry to avoid having to boil water the usual way over the fire, they thought they'd save time. So, they stuck their clothes in the water, gave them a good scrub, added some soap.... and all of a sudden the hot spring exploded and their clothes went flying over the trees! Whoops!
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| Opal lake |
I mean, the earth is pretty wild (and weird) right? Example documentation:
https://youtu.be/sRGQFQcNn-I
At least that's what I was thinking while walking through this park... the smells, the colors, the steam... I can easily see why a lot of the spots were named after the devil haha.
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| Champagne pool |
A video of Champagne pool, where you can see the tiny bubbles that give it it's name:
https://youtu.be/cVY4A1JZZek
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| Yeah maybe don't step there... |
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| this made me smile :) a gecko carved of pine wood... in the middle of the park |
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| a butterfly stopped to say hi |
It was a decent walk, about 3k to walk all three paths with 25 "attractions" total.
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| walkin' in a geothermal wonderland... :-P |
And lastly, I present the devil's bath...
City Exploration
Another night we walked to the downtown area, I would rate this one higher than the sulfur one from the first night :) Rotorua is pretty cool, glad we got to see this side of it too.
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| Bobbin' duckies! |
You know you want to see more duckies:
https://youtu.be/FUxZnZ1BLGw
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| I dub this, "Bicycle Xmas Tree" and I dedicate it to Lnz :) |
ZORBING
And lastly, we definitely couldn't leave without trying zorbing (aka ball rolling... aka we went to a place called OGO but it's the same thing). Justin and I saw this on an episode of Departures if anyone is a fan, and thought it looked really fun. It was awesome! It only lasts a couple minutes, but we went down the straight track and it really picks up speed! They give you a gopro so we both have videos of going down the hill, I will have to upload those when we get back. They gave them to us on a disc and neither of our computers have cd slots... sad times! The videos are hilarious. OGO adds a little water to the inside of the ball so you get completely soaked while spinning around and around... so much fun.
Justin's turn!
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| they had you pose at the end, haha |
My turn!
So far we've really enjoyed the volcanic northland, while continuing to learn how we like to travel. Like I said, it's those unplanned moments and places with no expectations that I've found to be my favorite moments. Or turning something you've read about and seen many pictures of online into a completely memorable experience, like catching the sunrise at Cathedral Cove. Places aren't always how they appear in blogs or other people's pictures, part of the equation is your reaction to it, your mood that day, the weather, previous experiences, etc. One thing I can say for sure, is that I never regret going somewhere or trying something, it only carves away more at who you really are and reveals what you truly enjoy.
In a couple days we are taking on the big volcano itself, Mount Doom! Or rather, Mount Ngauruhoe. We'll be hiking the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. It's a 19.4km hike, the furthest either of us will have ever walked/hiked in one day (that's about 12 miles). It's supposed to take between 6-8 hours... so should be interesting! Hope Justin still likes hiking after this :)
Thanks for following along on our journey, miss you all!!
Sarah
"Twenty years from now
You will be more disappointed
By the things you didn't do
Than by the ones you did do.
So throw off the bowlines.
Sail away from the safe harbor.
Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore. Dream. Discover."
~ Mark Twain
p.s: This week in things Justin likes...
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| Emirates had a camera on the tail of the plane! Pretty neat for takeoff/landing |
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| Campers with funny captions (some are pretty graphic lol) |
p.p.s: Things Sarah doesn't love... so far coffee in NZ really is expensive :'(
