New Zealand: Travel Log
New Zealand’s known for a lot of things: sheep, extreme activities, gorgeous landscapes and sheep. The past two weeks, I had the pleasure of spending some time in that side of the planet, right under the ozone hole, to pass my Thanksgiving and celebrate my college room mate Sean’s wedding.
My trip was alternately comprised of densely packed activities and laid back days in cafes. Starting the journey, I arrived in Auckland from a San Francisco direct flight on Air New Zealand. As luck would have it, this was the one route which had their most up to date entertainment system, complete with 20+ movies and the ability to select, play, pause and fast forward the shows of your choice. A couple of Lord of the Rings, two meals and a nap later, the trip blew by even without the use of my laptop or DS Lite.
For those that don’t know (and I didn’t), New Zealand comprises of two islands - creatively named the North Island and South Island. Auckland is by far the largest city with a mere 1 million in population and is on the North Island. Near Auckland, just 3 hours south, is Rotorua, an activity center and a good home base for North Island exploration. My friend of 22 years Derek and his wife Cat started off my trip without any time to catch my breath - embarking immediately for Waitomo, a small detour towards Rotorua.
Waitomo offers one of the best Black Water Rafting experiences there is. What’s Black Water Rafting? It’s you, an inner tube, a headlamp, and a lot of dark caverns through which you trek, float and fall through, with the occasional sighting of glow worms on the ceiling to illuminate the caves like tiny constellations.
Derek and Cat had additional plans for the day upon arriving in Rotorua but I was pretty spent from travel fatigue but they made sure I was fed well at the Fat Dog Cafe, apparently a staple of Rotorua.
Sunday, I was introduced to all the offerings of Rotorua, and there were certainly more than I could handle in just a day but we managed to pack a lot in. There’s luging down a hill in a tiny cart, the geysers, the Maori traditional dances and a New Zealand original - Zorbing. Zorbing is where you put yourself inside a giant ball and roll yourself down a hill. I don’t know what it is in New Zealand that makes them compelled to come up with these activities and moreover, make them commercially viable and safe, but so far, I’m liking it.
Returning to Auckland, I spent a day exploring the city on foot by following the coast-to-coast walk provided in one of their walking guides at the tourist office (I swear they have more of these i-site offices than they do Starbucks). Starting first with some sightseeing in Devonport, just north of Auckland, I walked from the Auckland ferry terminal down to the Auckland Domain - a large park with numerous gardens and a rather busy duck pond. The walk continues down to Mt. Eden, which offers a great view of the city and a view of the perfectly shaped crater from the inactive volcano (you’ll find that much of Auckland surrounding area seems to consist of inactive volcanoes). I couldn’t complete the walk in time but it continues on to One Tree Hill, ironically a hill that lacks any tree at all because the ancient Maori tree it was named after was chopped down. That visit would have to come later.
Within the city, I dined at Orbit, the revolving restaurant on top of the landmark Sky Tower, which proudly advertises the opportunity to jump from the tower down 192m. Every city seems to have a landmark tower and bridge but trust the Kiwis to make it possible for you to climb or jump off both of these for a not-so-small fee. I thought about how the Golden Gate bridge has free bungee jumps and on average, one person does it every month - they juts forget to put on a bungy cord.
The majority of the first week was then spent on the South Island. First stop: Queenstown aka Earth’s extreme activity central. From one shop, you can book yourself on paragliding, skydiving, jet boats, sky swings, water safaris, windsurfing, luging and of course, the one item on my list, bungy jumping.
Queenstown itself is pretty small but interesting enough to walk around and explore. The perimeter of the Queenstown gardens gave some pretty spectacular views of the Remarkables, the Southern Hemisphere’s answer to the Rockies. I don’t know who gets to name these things but, “Remarkable” seems like a bit of an understatement. One great vantage point of said view is from the Coronation Bath House Restaurant which easily showed off just how good food can be in New Zealand if you’re not a vegetarian. The degustation menu included lamb, scallops, beef, venison, hare and local wines. I’m sure it would have been even better with company, if only that I can then indulge in their share of the food, too.
Weather grew progressively worse but not bad enough as it turned out. My first full day was spent on a full day trip to Milford Sound, a misnomer for a fiord offering many of the postcard pictures seen of New Zealand. You see, Milford is best seen either in calm sunny days when the landscape reflects perfectly off the water or when it rains, causing an atmospheric mist and an order of magnitude more waterfalls to flow down the rock faces. Not that I wasn’t treated to some waterfalls even on my overcast visit. I took the Real Journeys tour bus and cruise but the average age of that seemed to be around 60 so depending on what you’re looking for, it may be worth going with a different company.
The next day, as the weather worsened, I sadly wasn’t able to go on my horseback ride around Glenorchy, where much of the Lord of the Rings scenery resided. There’s even a Ride of the Rings tour specific to the sights though I’m sure it’s gimmicky. This cancellation gave me a chance to check out Vudu Cafe, though, and their ridiculously tasty blueberry and blackberry pancakes. Sadly, they did nothing to help me reconcile that I was about to jump off a bridge with nothing but an elastic band tied to me in a few short hours.
AJ Hackett. the pioneers of commercial bungying, took me out to the Kawarau Bridge, the first site they made public to bungy jumping. The other locations are the Ledge, overlooking the city and the Nevis Highwire, the tallest jump at 132m and 8.5 seconds of free fall. Kawarau is one of the shortest now at 43m (134ft). No problem. Okay, it was no problem until I stepped onto the platform and suddenly realized I was now in a position where I could choose between jumping into the abyss or looking really stupid. Jumping it was …
A healthy climax to the adventure capital, it was time to take leave and head to English influenced Christchurch. One could drive there from Queenstown in a hired car but getting a one way hire is difficult without a minimum of 7 days rental so I took a Newmans coach bus instead - one which stopped at several of the places I had intended to stopover at. The two major stops were Mt. Cook, the highest point in New Zealand and Edmund Hillary’s warm up before he took on Mt. Everest and Lake Tekapo, one of two lakes with a distinct turquoise color caused by the glacial flour that’s settles in the lakes.
Christchurch is a much larger city than Queenstown and like its namesake, is built around the central Cathedral Square. The city has a lot to offer in both indoor activities like shopping the local arts and crafts in the Arts Center or outdoors like the massive botanical gardens and the gondola that gives a 360 view of both Christchurch and nearby Lyttleton.
It’s also just a few hours away from Kaikoura, a small town with very close access to some of the most vibrant wild marine life. Apparently, there’s a sea canyon just off the shore there that causes a mix of cold and warm currents leading to a large amount of plankton which then leads to an entire food chain developing in the area. This food chain results in sightings of everything from pods of hundreds of dusky dolphins to colonies of albatross and sperm whales and even orcas.
An abundance of marine life equals an abundance of activities, the highest rated of which is the chance to swim with wild dolphins and swim with them I did. Dolphin Encounters takes you out on their boat and equips you with snorkeling equipment and wet suit as well as tips on how to interact with the dusky dolphins. Their philosophies are great: you’re there to entertain them and being with them is a privilege, not a right. I spent half an hour playing with the dolphins, having them circle around me and trying to keep up with them as they made tight laps around me.
On one particular instance, when I surfaced, I found my snorkel mask inches away from a bird resting on the water. We had a nice conversation about philosophy, war on terrorism and environmentalism before he grew tired of my shallow views.
Thus ended my South Island adventures. Sights I missed which I must return for include the Doubtful Sound, Glenorchy, the Franz Josef and Fox glaciers, the Marlborough Sounds up north and the Trans Alpine train from ChristChurch to Greymouth.
Returning to the North Island, it was time to head to what I came here for: the Wedding. The location of the wedding was Waheke Island, the largest island in the immediate Auckland vicinity. Another college roommate of mine, John, set up a fantastic place for the entire group to stay at called the Villa Pacifica. True to their word, the view from the villa was nothing less than stunning - at least when the weather was clear.
Sadly, large as the island is, there isn’t much to do there especially if you’re not terribly inclined towards vineyards. We visited the Stoneyridge vineyard for a great brunch but the one I wanted to visit for their reputed 360 views, Te Phau, was closed on the day we were available. The other main attraction, a set of World War 2 underground bunkers and tunnels called Stony Batter, was also inaccessible to us that day due to transportation limitations so we were left to wander the beaches and little towns on the island.
We thought the villa’s view was unbelievable but the view from the Estate, where Sean and Catherine had their wedding, was even more impressive - a perfect view of Auckland and Rangitoto volcano island. Cliche as it may sound, it really did seem like the clouds parted for the purposes of the wedding itself. The couple’s planning could only be described as immaculate in its details. Every little thing seemed to have been thought long and hard about and everyone had their role to play in helping make it a success whether it was coming up with the a decoration scheme, keeping everyone on schedule, or just bringing some champagne or wine over from North America.
With Sean’s epicurean reputation on the line i was no surprise that the reception meal was also finely tuned with scallops made in balsamic vinegar brought from Canada as a starter and matching wines literally spanning the globe for each course down to the ice wine to accompany the dessert.
The remaining days of my trip were much more laid back. I was beginning to feel a bit of burn out and sought something a bit more relaxed and yet New Zealand in flavour. What better activity, then, than to go fishing for some fresh New Zealand fishies? Elvon, yet another elementary school friend of mine, graciously woke up at 5am one morning for our drive to Taraunga for a full day expedition on a Blue Ocean Charters fishing boat. I was to embark on my first fishing experience ever (we’ll discount the vague memory I have of going as a little kid in Canada). Ever the trooper, Elvon not only made the trek out with me, he also endured a full day of unanticipated sea-sickness. For my part, I caught myself a nice sized kerahki and a couple of snappers, though one had to be returned due to size.
Nearing the end of my trip, Derek, Cat and Elvon took turns showing me various Auckland vicinity sites, including the “None Tree Hill” that I missed previously, the “K Road” alternative shopping area, High Street’s high fashion shopping and Ponsonby’s cafes and hipster stores. The last stop was Muriwai, one of the black sand beaches in Auckland. En route, we stopped for brunch at an isolated cafe called Bees Online. In spite of its location, Bee Online had flocks of people coming in and lining up for a table for brunch over the weekends.
Speaking of flocks, Muriwai also happened to be home of an ever growing (and protected) Gannet colony. The colonies were densely packed nests, resembling a parking garage in Manhattan on Friday night. It seems like even the most minor of attractions in New Zealand can’t help but carry immense natural beauty - at least to my LCD laden eyes.
All in all, the trip was not only an adventure but also a great opportunity to reconnect with old friends and play with my latest toy - my camera.
Photos: condensed | full | wedding
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