Advertisement
Published: September 1st 2005
Edit Blog Post
What a great trip it has been so far! I'm done with the North Island of New Zealand. I certainly haven't seen it all but what i have been able to see has been amazing. Right now i am sitting looking at this gorgeous mountain at the base of another of Mt. Ruaperio, an active volcano that last erupted in 1997. the mountain i am looking at is Mt. Ngauruhoe which was Mt. Doom in Lord of the Rings. It is truly beautiful.
New Zealand is a wondrous country filled with so many different landscapes. It is very mountainous and hilly (having been made from volcanoes and all). It is actually winter now and a bit chilly. We are moving into spring and the lambs have been born so it is warming up by the day. and I've been told it has really been a mild winter so i suppose it could be worse. I really like being here now because the crowds are not so bad and we all know how i love a good crowd.
Anyway, on to the actual trip...started out a little slow in Auckland. the jet lag really got me and i was going
to bad at 5 in the afternoon and waking at 4 in the morning but i am all better now! Auckland was a pretty neat city with some interesting little neighborhoods!
After getting here on Wednesday i goofed off in the city walking and exploring until Saturday morning. i left Auckland then for the northeast coast and a town called Hahei in the Coromandel Peninsula. It is no more than a sleepy little beach town (very, very tiny!!).
Went on a two hour hike to this beautiful spot called Cathedral Cove. It was over two hills and valleys (thanks Jason for making me do all those lunges & bunny hops!! i would not be making it otherwise!) Anyway, it was a lovely little spot...that night was a big rugby match (New Zealand vs South Africa) so we went to the local pub and watched...still not understanding rugby but the New Zealand team does this Maoris Ritual (the Maoris are the native people of New Zealand) at the beginning and it was pretty awesome!It is called a Haku and is basically a war chant. It was awesome and still quite tthetalk of New Zealand because this was the first
Sheep!!
Sheep!! time the All Blacks (that is the name of the national team and my new favorite sports team since i won't have to buy any new clothes to support them!!) had changed the chant in over 100 years. Anyway local pub and rugby were cool. Go All Blacks (there's another big game this weekend against Australia).
Oh, forgot to mention that I decided to take a bus around the islands so it has been nice to not have to worry about where to go next and I've meet some really great people. so anyway, off the next day to Raglan! an awesome surfing village on the West Coast. My kind of place and i may end up back there once the weather warms up! oh stopped on the way at our driver's mom's house for tea and biscuits (the people are really friendly!). so took a surf lesson and it was awesome even if a bit cold (did i mention it was winter!!) I manged to stand up and ride a bunch of waves. I love surfing...new favorite hobby i think even with all the salt and sand! We stayed at this awesome lodge that was on the side
Zorbing
Me Zorbing!! of the mountain and it just had a really great vibe. Think i am going back. Off the next day to go black water rafting at Waitomo Caves and then to this little town called Rotorua...the black water rafting was a bit disappointing in that there really wasn't that much rafting...actually none...just some tubing but that was lame and we actually went caving and exploring and then looking at glow worms. it was very muddy and i really don't think I'll be taking caving up as a new hobby (now skydiving maybe but more on that later!). On the way to Rotorua we stopped and i went zorbing!! It is the only place in the world that you can do it and it is so much fun!! Basically you get into this giant plastic ball and they push you down a hill and you are tossed around like you are in a washing machine! loads of fun!
The next morning we went white water rafting and that was awesome!! we went over a 7 meter waterfall (which i think is about 20 feet!!!) of course we crashed and burned and flipped the boat on the way down for a
Sunset
Sunset in National Park let's just say cool and refreshing dip in the river!! The river we went down was gorgeous (very narrow and steep) with cliffs. It used to be used by the Maoris to place the bones of their dead in the caves along the sides.
After the rafting we headed off to Taupo which is a sleepy little lake town on the banks of Lake Taupo (go figure). and guess what!? i went SKYDIVING!!! went to 15,000 feet and free fell for over 1 min! It was crazy! The views were awesome of the lake and the surrounding mountains and it was a clear day so you could see for miles and miles. I've got a dvd of it (iI'msuch a suck sucker!) and it is pretty cool. Then we went off to the local pub (shannon, jaap, dave) and meet some locals (bob and mike) for some ccelebratorypints and a little dancing later. We are now in Tongarrio National Park. We are stayingin the park aata hotel that has some of the best views i have ever seen. Just gorgeous. As i mentioned there are 3 large mountains here...Mt. Ruapehu which is the main sky area in the North
Mt. Ngauruhoe
Mt. Ngauruhoe Island, then Mt. Tongariro which is an active volcano and looks like it just blow it's top off. the last one is Mt. Ngauruhoe (of LOTR fame). It is really stunning.
Today was an easy day for me. I'm taking it easy from all the activities and relaxing a little. May go to the spa and then cook dinner (we are doing it true backpacker style and going to the grocer and cooking meals and the hostels) Anyway, off to Wellington and then to the South Island. I was told the South Island is loads better than the North but i just can't image!
Hope all is well with everyone and please email. i love getting it. it may take me a few days to reply but i will!! take care!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.07s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 8; qc: 52; dbt: 0.0285s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Karen Keane
non-member comment
Wow! It sounds fantastic!
Stacie,