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Published: December 21st 2011
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OK, I’m not going to lie. I almost let out big monkey tears when Nate and Jessie told me we had to leave the beautiful beaches and hot weather to go to New Zealand, but I still knew I was going to have a good time. As soon as I landed in Auckland on the north island in New Zealand, it was pretty easy to tell that this was sure going to be a lot different than Asia. Nate and Jessie even had to let someone spray off their hiking shoes so that they didn’t bring any diseases that might hurt the plants and animals here. Once we got through the airport, the first thing we would do was get a ride to pick up our campervan with a fold down bed we were renting the whole time we were here so we wouldn’t have to pay for a room. Plus, this way we’d be able to cook while we were traveling through the country since we had our own kitchen inside the van. Nate was going to have to get used to driving on the opposite side of the road and the opposite side of the car in a hurry!
Do you think it would be hard to get used to having your mom or dad driving on the other side of the road? I’ll tell you what, I was glad I wasn’t the one driving through the mountains pretty quick once we started out on the road.
There were so many things to see in New Zealand, we almost didn’t even know where to start, but we were glad we made our way north where we saw the Hokianga Sand Dune. Even though the wind made the sand look really neat when it was blowing, it was really cold! There was no WAY I was coming out of Nate’s jacket! Good thing a couple days later I was spending time digging a hole on hot water beach. Even though just feet away there was freezing cold water, because of the thermal activity going on underground, you could dig a hole that filled up with water under the sand that was as hot as water in a hot tub! Last one in is a rotten egg! I couldn’t get in there fast enough! It was a nice change from the freezing cold weather, especially after leaving the
nice, hot weather of the Philippines. Then it was time for a stop in the Cormandel area for some really nice hiking through the forest and a great camping spot. But, before we knew it, we were in a little town called Rotorua.
Now the first thing you’ll probably notice when you get out of the car in Rotorua is that the whole town smells just like rotten eggs! Yuck! It’s because all around the town is a thermal area and what you’re smelling is the sulfur being released into the air. We even went to a place called Wai-o-Tapu Thermal Park that was full of geysers, bubbling mud pits, and even some lime green colored water in one of the pools. At one point the steam was so think that I couldn’t even say Nate or Jessie when they were less than 5 feet away from me! I was like walking through the thickest fog you’ve ever seen! One of the biggest things other than being at the thermal park was that Nate had decided to get a new tattoo, one he had been wanting to get for many years while they were planning this trip.
I don’t know about you, but I was thinking, “Ouch! Isn’t that going to hurt!” The reason why Nate wanted to get one HERE is because he wanted a Maori tattoo, which is the native people of New Zealand who actually came over from Hawaii. They have a lot of meaning and symbols in their tattoos, and he really wanted some of that, too.
Our last stop on the north island was in the city of Wellington, even though there wasn’t much for a little monkey to do there besides go to the museum with Nate and Jessie for the day. We got to see a huge squid and learn about the giants of the deep sea but before we knew it, it was time to drive onto the ferry so we could make our way to the south island of the country. So many people had told us there were a LOT of things to do here that we couldn’t wait!
New Zealand is one country that has a couple of different glaciers you can go see, and that’s exactly what we did! The first one we would see was the Franz Joseph
Glacier. You can probably guess that it was SUPER cold here, but we really enjoyed it. The other thing New Zealand is known for is LOTS of adventure sports, like SKYDIVING (something Nate and Jessie have always wanted to do). I couldn’t even believe that when we got to Queenstown they were serious when they said to me, “Wylie, we’re going to go skydiving while we’re here.” I have to admit, I really thought they would chicken out, but when the time came…we were riding in a van to the “drop zone.” My mouth dropped when I saw Nate and Jessie suiting up in their gear to go skydiving. They were really doing it! My heart was pounding as I saw them talk to their instructors and get into the plane as they took off and made their way up to 15,000, the highest altitude you can jump from! Oh my goodness! As if you couldn’t have just jumped from 9,000 or maybe even 12,000 feet, but 15,000!!! They looked like tiny little ants as they started falling to the ground from so high up in the air. I don’t think I took a breath the entire time they fell
until they both landed safely back on the ground in front of me. Whew!!! I was just glad they were safe and they were just excited they really did it! Oh yeah, and if you’re wondering…no, I did NOT go skydiving with Nate and Jessie. I felt much more comfortable on the ground! Ha!
There were definitely a few more things I loved about the south island. After all, we got to see wild seals and sea lions, too! At one point as we were driving on the coast, we must have seen hundreds of seals! It was amazing! There was even a spot where the pups swam up a little river to a waterfall where they all swam around and played as much as they wanted. “Hey guys! Can I join?” I’m just kidding. You can’t get TOO close to the wildlife here. We found that out especially when we saw a HUGE male sea lion on the beach who got disturbed by a local farmer’s dogs who thought they could play with it. When some of the tourists who noticed tried to get closer to take pictures, he actually started to charge them! Can you
believe that one morning we woke up and were having breakfast inside the van while watching some sea lions on the beach right behind us? It was an amazing sight!
I still think one of my favorite sights in all of New Zealand was Lake Tekapo. Mt. Cook, the tallest mountain in all of New Zealand, was in the background of the most neon blue lake we’ve ever seen! The water is actually blue from what’s called rock flour, caused by particles of the rock brought down from the glaciers get suspended in the water. When the sun hits it, the water looks about as blue as the water you see in the most beautiful part of the ocean. I truly can’t think of a place I thought was more amazing in the entire country. This first year of our trip has gone by SO fast and I’ve had more fun than I could ever tell you, but it’s time now to stop home for a couple weeks before going to Central and South America, Europe, India and Nepal to name most of the places we’ll be traveling to next.
Talk to you again
soon everyone!
Wylie
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