Trip around North Island- Part 1

---

Hello Everyone!
I am still alive and well living in Wellington, New Zealand. My family flew over to visit me in late May to early June. They were here for about 2 weeks and we got to travel all around the North Island which was excellent. We stayed in Wellington for a few days checking out the sites here, like going to Te Papa ( the New Zealand Muesum) and seeing the Lord of the Rings Exhibition, also we went to a couple of my favorite places that I was glad to be able to show to my Mom, Dad and Sister. I took lots of pictures and video footage while they were here. It was sad to say goodbye, it is very hard sometimes to be so far away from home. I was very lucky however because one of my best friends, Beth Saunders, flew in to visit me for 9 days in early July. Beth currently lives in New York City in Manhatten and works at Sotheby's as a registrar, which means she gets to touch priceless works of art on a daily basis which I will probably be eternally jealous over! It was great to have her here, and we kind of followed the same path around the North Island that my family and I had done a few weeks earlier.
Beth arrived on a friday and we hung around in Wellington until Monday. While we were in Wellington we went on the Red Rocks Coastal Seal walk which I went on with my parents. It is a gorgeous walk along the rocky/sandy beach. Huge mountains edge the coastline along with patches of the greenest grass ever. The walk takes about 3 hours total but if you can brave past the occasional rank spots where rotting seaweed dominates your every thought and sense you will be rewarded with the seal colony at the end of the walk. I have always thought that seals look like big furry slugs with puppy dog faces and tiny tiny ears. I love seals. The only unforunate aspect to a seal is their smell. Beth and I stayed for a while watching all the seals lounging in the dying sunlight on the rocks just above the shallow pools in the ocean. We would have stayed longer but the Eau de Seal was a bit to strong and I feared that it would somehow attach its unholy odor to our clothes. And explaining why I smell like seal is a conversation I hope never to have to have.
After our seal walk Beth and I ordered Hell Pizza and great pizza place that can be found all around New Zealand. All of the pizzas have names like Lust, Greed, Mordor, Grimm and so forth. The pizza box is black with white flames and can be folded into a coffin. Plus the delivery minions ride around on mopeds painted black with Hell's logo and flames on their bikes.
On Monday we set off to begin our North Island Adventure. We had arranged to rent an inexpensive car and the company was set to pick us up at 10 am at the base of Aro Street near my flat. After lugging our stuff to the pickup point I realized that even though I only had to pack for our 5 day trip I had still managed to pack more then Beth who was carrying her bag that she had packed for her entire 9 day trip in New Zealand. Oh well, I never have pretended to know how to pack light. I was proud of us because we got to the pickup point at 9:59 am. 1 hour 15 mins and 2 phone calls to Ace Rentals later we were finally picked up. The trip seemed to be getting off to a good start. But it was a beautiful day and we finally made it to the car rental place to meet our new friend for the next 5 days. Our lovely white Toyota Sprinter. Unlike my car, Thunder Bat, our rental car had electric locks, electric windows, a working defrost system, and it smelled pleasantly of sunscreen lotion. Both our bags easily fit into the trunk and we set off. Shortly after leaving we decided to name our lovely car. Because it was white and a toyota sprinter we thought that Pegasus would be a fabulous name. And so Pegasus was named, and only until we begin to drive up the first slight hill on the highway did we realize that Pegasus was the biggest misnomer in the history of car names. We roughly averaged 30 mph on hills, slower depending on the steepness and length of the hill, faster if the hill was short and we had just come down another hill and gained some speed. But we loved Pegasus and we didn't need to rush so it all worked out.
We arrived in Napier on Monday night, and stayed at a Backpackers called Stables Lodge which admittedly look alot better online. But there was only one other girl staying in our room with us and the place was close to the ocean, the downtown area of Napier, plus it had 2 cats which was good for me, because as I am sure you all know I love cats, but bad for beth who is allergic to cats. That night after wandering around taking in Napier we begin searching for somewhere to eat. We had to pass up an Indian restaurant because no one else was in it and we both felt odd about being the only people in a restaraunt. Then we wandered towards what to me looked like a restaraunt but turned out ironically to be an optomotrists office. We finally found a good place with cheap food and a nice atmosphere called Breakers. After dinner we hung out for a while in a really neat place called Rouge with a very art deco decor. We then went back to Stables Backpackers and zonked out.
In the morning we got up with a full day planned for us. We went to get breakfast at a really good bakery, then headed to OPOSSUM WORLD! Opossum world we agreed is one of the best places we went although it was slightly-to-very creepy. Opossum World is free to visit, upon entering you are greeted with many assorted products for sale, including but not limited to, Kiwi bird dolls with opossum fur, cow placenta lotion for your face, and opossum pelts galore. You follow the painted yellow footprints on the floor past the display of stuffed opossums dressed in costumes ( one was a flapper and the other was apparently woken from sleep 100 years ago because it had a nightdress, night cap, slippers, small glasses on the end of it's nose and was holding a little candle, a newspaper and yes a roll of toilet tissue.) You enter a room and cross a little bridge over an extremely dirty tarp with a small trickle of water "flowing" under the bridge. As you stand on the bridge you can enjoy the majesty of nature's animal sounds. There is a box with buttons to press and you can hear the glorious calls of many different birds, all the recordings sounded like they were done by someone who was fairly far away from whatever animal is was trying to record and using a dictaphone. No matter, follow the footsteps away from the bridge to a large display case showing the many stages of opossum development. Opossums are a large pest in New Zealand which is why so many of them are stuffed and reside in Opossum world or become pelts. After the display case you get to the best part of the opossum world. The first 'scene' is a backdrop of a road with a real car "driving" on the road. On top of the car are 5 stuffed opossums, their mouths open, holding songbooks. Attached to the fake tree on the side of the scene is a little box with a red button, press the button and the opossums sing 'On the Road Again' There is also a stuffed opossum next to the car with a sling and a crutch. If you move on to the next scene there is a log cabin with a tin roof. Guess who is on the roof?! You got it! An opossum is indeed playing a fiddle on the roof, he comes complete with a little hat and some money sticking out of his pouch. We then moved to the gift shop where beth got some Merino Wool and Opossum fur Gloves and I got some socks. Opossums here are not like the ones in the states, they are both considered pests but the ones here are cuter and incredibly soft. So the gloves and socks are very warm and soft. I also got an Opossum World keychain for myself and a pen for my boyfriend Shaun.
After the Opossum Adventure, we headed to Marineland to see the dolphin, and seal show. They had lots of seals and sea lions which we got to see them feeding, but the best part was the little blue penguins. They have alot of little blue penguins which live there at marineland and for a 6 NZ $ you can hold one on your knee, with your hands around it and get your picture taken. It was school holidays and there were lots of school children there, even so Beth and I managed to be first in line ( and oldest) but who cares?! We got to hold a little blue penguin! We each had a picture taken with Alfred, the penguin. He is very soft and warm which is surprising, he is also very small and cute which is not surprising. I wanted to run off with him but figured I couldn't make it past the entrance without being taken down.
After Marineland we grabbed lunch and then eagerly went off to our next adventure in Napier, it was called Bike D'Vine. There are lots of vineyards around Napier and this company rents bikes for people to go and bike around to the different vineyards. Beth and I were very excited because they offered a tandem bike which we both knew we had to try. So with our map to the vineyards and our backpacks and water bottles and helmets we set off. We decided the first hill was a bit to steep for our first attempt to bike down so we walked down away from the shop. This also let us avoid the embarressment of being seen struggling to get onto this monster tandem bike. We stopped by a fence outside someone's house and used it to help us get onto the bike. I am sure whoever lived in that house got a good show as we struggled with this bike which was clearly built for someone who was 6 feet tall not 5'4. So with our legs dangling and our helmuts securely on I am sure looked mentally challenged as we both screamed ( yes literally) down the last 1/2 of our first hill. We were wobbling up a storm, I was in front the 'Captain' worried at any moment that we were going to tip over onto traffic because yes we were on a fairly busy street. Beth was the 'stoker' who was probably freaking out because she has no brake controls and also has to trust my direction and map reading skills, both of which are laughably non-existant on my list of abilities. Within the first 10 minutes of terrifying tandem riding we were hopelessly lost and being passed by enormous trucks. So alot of time was spent walking the bike and asking directions. We finally made it onto the Esplanade which was a gorgeous bikes only ( thank god!) path next to the beach. It was beautiful and made the whole experience worthwhile, although it was hilarious to be on the tandem together. Most of the time we were either screaming in fear as trucks whoosed past close enough for me to be afraid the breeze coming off of them would knock us over or laughing our heads off. Alot of other people we passed were laughing too, I think it was combination of us being on a tandem and the running dialogue from me which sounded like this, Ok! Ok! Ok! We are Ok!yes we are fine, OK here we go, I am turning, I am slowing down a bit and we are turning, COASTING! Coasting! We are coasting now and turning, turning and coasting! Ok Ok this part looks flat we can do this, we are so doing this! yes! AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH! Dog ahead! Couple with Dog ahead! *Ring! Ring! Ring* ( from our bike's little bell) They didn't hear that! Omg! We are going to crash into them! -Beth- Ring it again! AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH! *RING!RING!RING!* ( Laughter of the people as we pass them) Ok! Ok! We are fine! Crisis averted!! And so forth. We had to ride on Highway 2 for a while which was terrfiying because there was a tiny shoulder and huge trucks going at maximum speed, but we finally made it to the Esk Vineyard where we tasted some wine and bought some bottles. Then we called the lady at Bike D'Vine and she came and got us. It had taken us 3 hours to get to the Vineyard and it was getting dark and there was no way we were getting back on the tandem in the dark! We stopped for coffee before heading out onto Taupo for our next adventure.
Part 2 coming tomorrow!!

---

Photos

Seal
Seal with tiny tiny ears from the walk to the seal colony

Waiting
Beth and I waiting for our ride to ace rentals and for our trip to begin!

Napier
Beth in Rouge on our first night in Napier

Napier 2
Me at Rouge

brekkie
Breakfast at a cafe in Napier

Crest
Beth with the Napier Crest

Costumed Opossums
Allow me to present the Flapper and the Old Man in a Nightgown Opossums from Opossum World

Singing Opossums
Singing Opossums on the top of the car, ' On the Road Again'

Roof Opossum
Fiddler Opossum on the roof!

Little Blue Penguin
Little Blue Penguin in his igloo ( not Alfred)

Tandem
Beth with our tandem bike ( note the little green flag!)

Tandem-tastic!
Our tandem bike huzzah!!

Comments

[Linda Downey]

Go Girls!
Hi Emily, just had a lot of laughs to start my day. Your journal makes for great reading - you decribe things in such an entertaining way. It was really nice catching up with you during your family holiday in Rotorua. Pity that I missed you and Beth on your second trip. Have you got back on a bike since? You should write a book about your experiences - just collect all your TravelBlogs together. Hope all's going well for you down in Wellington. Keep in touch, Love, Linda

[Marian Mom]

great travelblog !!!!!!!
Emmie I loved your writing and laughed so hard that tears were streaming down my face, and totally blurring my vision. Will write more later. Love, Mom

[rachel]

emily! its so great to hear about your adventures. i am truly jealous as i sit here at work pining away at being outside and not color correcting any more photographs! alas. i will say no more.