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Published: August 13th 2008
Hello again! Traveling hasn't left us any time for using the internet these past few days. We'll try to catch up here.
The day after we visited Tiritiri Matangi we rented a car (a Nissan Sunny) and drove south to Waitomo for a cave-themed day. We did the very touristy walk-through tour of the Waitomo Caves complete with a Disneyesque boat ride at the end into a pitch black cave with glow worms carpeting the ceiling. We even got up close and personal with some cave wetas, New Zealand's giant prehistoric crickets. After lunch it was time for something a little more adventurous: black water rafting. We donned wetsuits and fit ourselves for inner tubes (hint: if your rear end can't fit through an inner tube, that tube will not be an effective flotation device for you) (And yes, it is winter in New Zealand. No, we didn't really think that through until after we were wearing cold damp wetsuits). Our guides led us floating and scrambling through an underground creek/river, including leaping backwards off of waterfalls in our tubes.
Day 5: We lounged lakeside in a hot pool in Rotorua before checking out many of the area's geothermal
features. We wound up staying in Turangi that evening, just south of Taupo. We had wanted to hike the Tongariro Crossing, but the weather was so bad the guides wouldn't take us. We decided not to wait around for better weather in order to give ourselves plenty of time on the South Island.
Day 6: So, we drove south down highway 1 (past that cookie plane) and traveled all the way to Wellington by way of the Mt. Bruce preserve. It was pouring in Wellington that night, so we spent a long evening in a restaurant called the Matterhorn. I had some great fish, but Eric accidentally ordered rabbit jello. To his credit, he actually ate a fair amount of it.
Day 7: We dragged ourselves out of bed the next day to get on the ferry across the Cook Strait to Picton. The water was choppy; Eric puked; Eric felt better. Once on land we boarded the TransCoastal train to Christchurch. That evening we had the best meal so far of our trip at the Twisted Hops brewery and got to sample a number of their brews.
Day 8: We caught the 8:15 AM TransAlpine train
to Greymouth. Rented a car in Greymouth and drove up to Punakaiki. Checked out the Pancake Rocks and blowholes.
Day 9: Woke up to pouring rain, but decided to hike anyway and were rewarded with an almost empty trail and decent weather after a bit. The trail was a creek in some parts, but the dripping forest was beautiful. In the afternoon we checked into the Te Nikau retreat hostel just north of Punakaiki. If you ever find yourselves in this area, this place is worth a stay. We had a small but very bright and airy cabin surrounded and hidden from view by the forest. It felt very luxurious for a hostel. In the evening we drove up to see the seal colony and had a great dinner in Westport at the Denniston Dog. We got to warm up and dry off by their coal burning stove and watched some Olympics (the Kiwi angle, anyway).
Day 10: Today we woke up very early to drive to Greymouth to catch a 7:15 AM bus to Wanaka, and here we are. Wanaka is billed as the less commercial, more real alternative to Queenstown for the skiing/alpine adventure set. We
are planning to go cross country skiing tomorrow and stay in Wanaka for three nights total. (By the way, we are doing something other than eating. Sometimes.)
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Ned
non-member comment
Amazing!
What an adventure. You both look great. Have to try that rabbit jello. Ned