New Zealand Road Trip!!!
Trip Start
Aug 12, 2008
1
15
26
Trip End
Nov 21, 2008
Auckland,
New Zealand
Friday, October 10, 2008
Some highlights:
Auckland:
We stayed at what we thought was a bed n´ breakfast, it turned out to be just another "backpacker", or hostel. It was 56 NZ Dollars a night, so immediately we were aware things were definitely not going to be cheap as in the last 2 months. It was in Parnell, a cool, sort of upper-class neighborhood, right near the harbor. At night, it seemed to be the place (of few bars) where the nearby college students would come to grab a few drinks wearing something nice
Raglan Shot
. The sophisticated side of town, I guess. Needless to say, Lauren and I in our hiking shoes and cargo pants fit right in, it was perfect.Raglan (2 Oct):
I had my surfboard that I bought in Bali, so once we had the rental car, I wanted to surf. Raglan is a legendary left, and really the only surf spot I knew about before we were there. The drive from Auckland is beautiful. Very similar to the drives North of Santa Barbara in Cali, but as green as Ireland (or Oregon). Raglan is also a very charming town (that word will be abused describing the small towns we saw along the road). At first, it looks like just a huge lagoon that separates the beach from the town, but once you drive a bit north, you find all the surf spots. The setup of this place is probably one of the coolest I´ve ever seen for a beach break. It´s actually 3 different setups, and when the swell direction and size is right, they all connect. It seriously probably is the longest left-hander in the world. It has to be one of them. Although I think the full setup is a bit elusive.
Needless to say, when I was there, I got 1 of the 3 bays holding up it´s wall enough to put together the 3rd longest I´ve ever surfed (1st Impossibles, Bali, 2nd Lobitos, Peru)
Lauren will cook anywhere
. Unfortunately conditions were terrible, wind was howling and the swell dying. But I still had a blast, you always do when it´s new and that long of a wave...The rest of the day we just chilled in a few cafes, stuff closes really early in the rural parts of New Zealand, we soon found out. We parked the truck at Whale Bay (2nd of the 3 bays), and got ready for the next day.
Napier and Gisbourne (3 Oct):
The East Coast definitely trumps the west of New Zealand for beautiful drives in my novice opinion. Raglan is beautiful, but once we got north of Napier and into Gisbourne, things got more secluded, more wet and stormy, but just more magnificent. The mountains seem to separate everything there, and deep forests quickly turn into rolling hills of sheep and cows, into flat farms on the beach.
Napier´s a weekend vacation for anyone outside of it pretty much. Not a hustle-bustle type place, just a mellow city on the water, a long stretch of sand, and tons of boutique shops. We spent a few hours there, rolling around, and getting lost, ended up spending the night as well
Fellow Travellers?
. It was perfect.Gisbourne holds the East Coast´s best surf, Wainui Beach. This was heart-breaking, because while Raglan had swell and terrible conditions, this place was sunny, blowing perfectly offshore, but there was absolutely no swell to be found. Definitely nothing to get me up on my 6´6´´. Wainui´s a perfect setup, the mountains come right up to the sand (big mountains like in north Ventura County, but really green) and the road drives right down along the beach, a cliff point separates two different bays.
Whittianga (5 Oct):
We had half a tank and were driving to the most rural parts of the North Island. We were being adventurous on our route, but assumed that gas stations would be at least once an hour. Well, we weren´t exactly wrong, but the ones that were setup once ever 45 minutes or so, closed at around 3pm for some odd reason. At first it was comical, and then it got sort of unnerving. We knew we could sleep in our little camper van, but we were out of food at this point, and just wanted to have a settled place. At one town, another without a station open, we stopped at the police station, to ask where we could go. At 5pm the police station closes! What sort of town was this? Well a small one
Been working out...
. We had been driving with our Empty light showing red for over an hour, putting it in neutral to cruise down the mountains we steadily made up. At what was surely the last hope possible, we were saved in Whittianga, the 1st big town north of the East Cape. After typing, I realized how boring that story was, but at the time my friends, I was crying. Hard. Real hard.Coromandel (7 Oct):
If you´re in New Zealand and fly into Auckland but have say, 3 days. I´d say if you´re not into surfing, go to Coromandel. This place, just the drives around and the layout of the different bays, is totally stunning. Everything´s green, there are tons of mini islands offshore (similar to my description of Halong Bay, Vietnam), and the layout of the coastline is so erratic it makes for unpredictable views, and a very fun road trip.
Waiheke Island (8 Oct):
When we were in Halong Bay, in Vietnam, we met 2 Kiwis: Sam and Ferg. Within just the 2 nights on that cruise, we became pretty good friends, so when we were in NZ, we looked them up. Waiheke Island is located about 35 minutes by speed ferry off the coast of Auckland. Sam lived there.
A man with his thoughts
In fact, Sam had, or has, a clifftop, oceanfront cottage with views of the entire bay of which it lies, but also across to the Coromandel Peninsula, and even to Great Barrier Reef, both a good 20 miles across the giant Firth of Thames. So basically, unreal views. Sam also worked on a wine vineyard on the island, definitely the most beautiful vineyard I´ve ever seen, set in it´s own private bay, Cable Bay Vineyards, and makes a ridiculous Chardonnay, and Sauv Blanc. We spent our 24 hour trip with a start wine-tasting at his vineyard via private tour. Later that night, his neighbors came over, had a little dinner party, endless supply of wine.
The next morning, we took a hike across the bay to the small town of Oneroa. I vowed that if I ever became wealthy enough to afford turning one of those properties into a little studio, that would be my number 1 choice. It´s seriously perfect.
The great thing was, we met Sam in Vietnam, and only knew the guy for 2 nights. Here we were, 6 weeks later, and he´s driving us around, serving up bottles of wine, and giving us tours of his own vineyard. It was amazing how travelling puts you in these situations
Lauren´s view of Coromandel
. Definitely a friend we will have for a while, I know he´ll come our way soon, and by then hopefully we have something comparable to show him. If not, a night at Shannon´s will just have to do...Auckland (9 Oct):
Our last day and night, we ran all our errands, last minute gifts, and sending a 15 kilo package home with everything we picked up and/or dont need in South America.
Ferg lives in Ponsonby (Auckland) and works downtown. He put us up for the last night, as our flight was the next evening. This turned into a party like were at home. His two "flatmates" had a sort of social club that goes out on Thursday Nights. Full Throttle Thursdays. By the time we got situated, showered, and had our first 3 beers, these Kiwi girls were speaking at full volume, and I was blaring Iglu and Hartly for them (just for you Buch). The night turned typical. We went out in the heavy college circuit of bars there in Ponsonby. One in particular had an acoustic guy strumming it out. Of course I did. I played for like a half hour, and our mini crew of girls definitely made it look like I was a local star. It was the wine, but it was awesome. The night just went from there, better, and better.
Our company on the road
For a while there, I felt like I was at another bar back home. But then you go to cross the street and a taxi almost takes you out. Oh yeah, look to the right first before you cross, that´s right, we´re in New Zealand...So, I woke up very hungover, and with a 13 hour flight to Buenos Aires ahead of me. Ferg ended up buying my surfboard off of me, so all in all the trip rounded out perfectly.
Our favorite things about New Zealand:
Their public bathrooms are nicer than any of my friends´at home. Seriously. Thank God for that, because we slept in the camper van 6 of 8 nights, and it saved us.
The people on any part of the land are instantly friendly, and I´d say 3 out of 4 that you meed have travelled for a year or more. Consistently.
Coffee. I hate coffee, I loved New Zealand´s coffee, maybe cause I woke up in a van half the time, but it´s still real good.
The friends. You guys hooked us up, you know who you are, and we´re endlessly thankful. You´re welcome anytime to Cali. I´ll show you the Queen Mary and In n´Out. You will then owe me.
10 days, short but fun, if I go back I hope to score more surf and better weather, but you just can´t have it all. And there we were, off to Argentina...
