The North Island
Trip Start
Sep 12, 2007
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42
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Trip End
Feb 25, 2007
Hahei,
New Zealand
Monday, January 28, 2008
I arrived in Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, after a short drive from Taupo. I ventured out to see what's what in this largest city, and as expected, very quiet, as most New Zealand cities. It is, however strangely familiar, like it belongs in some corner of England. It lacks the brash vulgarity of many large Australian cities and even has English summer weather!
I spent my only day in Auckland taking in its major landmark, the Sky Tower. This was completed in 1999, but looks like it belongs in the 1970's. It's the tallest tower in the Southern Hemisphere, and certainly rivals the Sydney Tower for ugliness. I got the lift to the top for a dose of vertigo, walking over the glass floor it had in sections, looking down to the floor 150m below
Auckland 1
. I thought about doing the bungy jump from the top, but decided against it, before my adrenaline addiction starts to spiral out of control!The next day, the Dutch girls joined us from their expedition south, and we all joined Rob to celebrate his birthday, part of the original Stray group from the South Island. We had a great night, and Helen even managed to climb into the supermarket freezer on her way home, whilst looking for ice cream!
The following day we traveled to Hahei- another 7am start and certain members of our group were really feeling the morning air, and not looking forward to the bus journey! We arrived in Hahei later that day and decided to head straight for the beach to catch up on sleep. A day of recovery was needed! After a group barbeque, we all sat together and got to know the other members of the bus, who we would be traveling the north island with for the rest of the trip. Yet again we landed with a great group of people, mostly girls, with a few Irish thrown in for those who like to party! Later, we all headed down to the beach to check out the moon, which was incredibly bright, shining off the sea- an amazing sight!
From Hahei, it was another early start the following day to head down to Reglan, a small surfing town on the north coast. Here, we went for a 2 hour trek through the forest, as a build-up to the 8 hour trek we would shortly undertake for the Tongariro Crossing. In the evening, all the boys played poker together, which I was very close to winning- but as with many things, there's no prizes for second place- something to take note of before I get to Vegas next month
Auckland 2
!The subsequent day we were off again- this time to the Whitomo Caves, and home to the famous New Zealand glow worms. We decided to do the dry trip, ie. keeping yourself dry as opposed to abseiling and swimming through them- the crazy activities have to end somewhere! The guide we had was excellent- he even knew of Swindon's magic roundabout! The first cave we entered, the caves appeared as many I have seen before in Wookey Hole in Somerset. However, once the lights were turned off and my eyes became adjusted to the darkness, the true stars of the cave became apparent, in every sense! The ceiling of the cave was lit up like a night sky. We headed into a small boat and were pulled along by the guide into the depths of the cave, with only the light of the glow worms to guide our way- an amazing show! Unfortunately it was all far too dark for my camera, so you'll just have to take my word for it!
After, we went to see one of the strangest things I've seen in New Zealand- rabbit shearing! These were selectively bread rabbits developed in Germany (where else!) to develop a thick coat of hair that can be sheared, just like sheep. 30 of us stood around aghast as a rabbit was strapped down to something resembling a rack and sheared of half it's coat to be fashioned into jumpers!
The next day, it was all go again, this time to visit a Maori house to stay over for a 'Maori Experience'- and that's exactly what it was! We were welcomed in the traditional way, with the women first to show we were not a threat- beauty before age in this case! We were then welcomed by the elder with the Maori greeting- pressing the noses and foreheads together- a bit like an Eskimo kiss without the nose rubbing
Auckland 3
! We were then given a display of Maori dancing and the Hakka before the men were taken outside to learn it ourselves before giving a display to the girls! What we lacked in the correct dance moves, we made up for in gusto and noise- leaving the Maori elders to say that this had been one of the best displays he's ever seen (by foreign travelers on a Wednesday, over the past month). Anyway, we all really enjoyed it, and all 30 of us got to sleep in the same large hall that night- reminding me of my boarding school days. There was even talk of a pillow fight, but that failed to materialize due to sheer exhaustion! In the morning, we traveled Rotoura (it's been crazy). This is a spa town on the East of the North Island- fed by the hot waters of geothermal activity in the area. We visited the hot mud pools bubbling away before heading to a spa to take in the waters for ourselves- pretty good- and the first bath I've had since I've left home. (I have had showers, Mum!)
From Rotoura, we continues on to Taupo, which was to be out base as we undertake the Tongariro Crossing- one of the best treks to do in the world. As we had a few hours to kill, I did what came naturally, and jumped out of a plane from 12,000 feet, in my second skydive. (It's not a problem!) This time, I was far more relaxed and was able to take in the whole experience more, meaning I enjoyed it more
Moonlight 1
. Maybe the third time will be better still... Or maybe solo? :)After a big night out due to adrenaline overload, we were up at 5am for the bus to the start of the Tongariro Crossing. How I regretted staying up 'till 3 when I had an 8 hour trek in front of me! Still.. I'll sleep when I'm dead!
We started out for a 2 hour bus ride in the darkness, watching the sun rise as we approached (and watching the inside on my eyelids in between), and found ourselves at a cold, damp, rocky wilderness, with a 17km mountain trek in front of us. I may have wished Laura had not given me a wake up call at 5am at this stage.
However, that was quickly forgotten as the morning sun warmed us and we clambered up the aptly named 'Devil's Staircase' towards 'Mount Doom'. The climb may have been hard, but the views as we ascended were more than enough reward.
We broke for lunch by one of the bluest lakes I've seen at the top, before descending again at the other side to arrive at the final pick up point, exhausted, some 7 hours later, where we all promptly fell asleep on the grass!
The Dutch girls I have been traveling with are great fun and really genuinely nice people. They speak perfect English- the only time things get misunderstood it's in a fun way- for example, I thought I was asked for 'tea bags' the other night- when Annika was meaning 'tip-ex'. I almost asked her to make me a cup while she was at it!
