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Published: October 26th 2006
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9/15-9/24
*Small Caveat- Although New Zealand was absolutely incredible, we are falling behind in updating our blogs so we decided to consolidate all the towns we visited into a single North Island entry.*
Asia proved itself to be a wonderful journey with many challenges met and insights gained. We left Hong Kong with mixed emotions over what our next and last region of the world was going to be like, but hopeful since all the travellers we met raved about it. New Zealand far exceeded our expectations, and is undoubtedly one of the most impressive places in the world, at least in my humble opinion.
We arrived in Auckland via overnight flight and were welcomed by friendly people speaking our native tongue, which was exactly what we needed. We settled into a nice hostel in the Ponsonby district. Auckland is the biggest city in New Zealand and we found it to be very nice and clean but it wasn't exactly crowded or energized. Since the total population of the nation is only about 4 million people, most Kiwi's disdainfully think of it as an urban jungle. We thought it was peaceful with access to beautiful waterfront, and many
locals taking advantage of the perfect sailing conditions (more sailboats per capita then anywhere in the world). We spent much of our time enjoying incredible local cuisine (enthused to vary our Asian diet from the past few months) and walked through the artsy neighborhood we were staying in. This was our first introduction to pies. As it turns out New Zealand has done a fine job of making savory pies (not just for dessert) available at almost every corner. As popular as pizza is in New York, you never have to search too far in order to find a chicken pie, mince pie, or Andrew's favorite: steak and cheese pies. The pies made for irresistable snacks/meals, and we both managed to indulge almost daily...gaining back the weight we lost in China.
After renting a car, our next stop was Coromandel Peninsula. Andrew had a little trouble adjusting himself to driving on the left side of the road but after a few near collisions it seemed to sink in. At least my backseat driver mode was helpful this time, with constant reminders which side of the road to end up on when we had to make a turn. The drive
was our first peek into the natural beauty of the country. We passed mile after mile of farmland, with sheep outnumbering people 37 to 1 (in peak season), infinite acres of grazing fields made for a pretty impressive sight. Once reaching our destination we did some hiking and were amazed by how many tracks there were to choose from. We also visited a man who dedicated his life to replanting natural forest. He built a little environmental friendly train that took us to the top of the mountain so people could view the regrowth of vegetation previously cleared for farming or lumber. New Zealand has unique plant and animal species that man has come close to destroying and there seems to be a real effort to reverse the effects.
Next we headed to Rotorua which is a town famous for it's hot springs. It is a pretty hopping place with lots of visitor attractions. The only downside is that the whole place smells of sulfur or rotten eggs. You somewhat get use to it but every once in a while a breeze will come along and a waft will remind you. We took a dunk in the healing waters
Maori Ritual
He confirmed the tatoos on his legs were real. at a local spa, walked around town and went to a dinner show where we learned about the native Maori of New Zealand, descendants of the Polynesians. This was one of our favorite nights, gaining some understanding of the history and being shown some traditional dance and customs. The Maori appear to be a very proud group of people who are trying to keep their culture and language alive while living in the modern world. They have their own educational TV and Radio stations and many museums exhibitions.
We hit the road again and stopped in a little town called Turangi. From there we were able to see the amazing Lake Taupo and snowboard at Mount Ruapehu (our first time boarding on a volcano). I immediately enrolled myself in snow school since my last venture snowboarding was not exactly pretty. Our day went went well and I have no broken limbs to report on.
My tour of former colleagues continued with our stop in Napier. The town is a major tribute to art deco since the city was destroyed by an earthquake and rebuilt in the 1950's. We met up with my friend Sharon, who I worked with
in London, and her husband Tony. They treated us to a great dinner and more importantly wonderful company. They patiently explained meanings to all the new words we had heard or different customs we had seen along the way.
Our final stop on the North Island was the capital city of Wellington. My favorite story from our time there was from a visit to the Te Anu museum. They had many interactive and virtual games which Andrew couldn't resist. First he tried to sheer a virtual sheep and failed miserably. Then he decided to take up jet skiing. As soon as the virtual boat tugged forward his grip on the actual rope slammed him into the screen in front of him. He limped off the machine while 2 children laughed and scampered to take his place. No worries, he wasn't seriously hurt except for his ego of course. On a side note, this was otherwise a great stop with loads of information about the planet and the Maori culture. We really enjoyed Wellington and wish we had scheduled a bit more time there but our ferry tickets to the South Island were already purchased, so had to cut it
short.
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