So I know I haven't kept up with my weekly update rule and I'm sorry! I'm trying, but here is a two week post. We cleaned up our apartment to ready it for move out when we return to Sydney, tried to sub lease it (unsuccessfully), and then boarded our plane for Auckland! They say it is good to spend 3 weeks to cover New Zealands hot spots at a leisurely pace, but our move out constraints have limited us to two, so we're busy!
We landed in Auckland at 11:30PM on the 8th, went straight to our hostel, crashed, awoke at 7:30AM the 9th and headed to pick up our rental car. The hostel was a little odd. The airport shuttle was beat up and had a different company logo on it and when we tried to get a taxi in the morning a guy came out from behind the desk and let us know he was our taxi... no ticker, no directional skills, but a few wrong streets and backtrackings later we made it to the car rental place. We signed some sheets, got the keys to our fabulous mid 1990's Nissan Pulsar equipped with cobwebs, a few dents, but brand new tires and we were off!
Our first stop was about four hours away at a place called Wai-o-Tapu. Right before arriving we made a quick halt at a ZORB farm where you can jump in a giant inflatable ball for $50 and roll down a hill... we opted to eat for another day rather than roll. We arrived at Wai-o-tapu 2 hours before the park closed, which was not a minute too soon. The walk around the park takes approximately an hour and thirty minutes, but we had to stop and photograph the place until they could have closed it. It was magnificent. It is a thermal area of pools of boiling mud, bright green lakes, steaming orange ponds, the craziest colored water you've ever seen. The waters get there colors from the minerals dissolved in them and they are truely a sight to see. I had now found the location of the picture on the cover of my New Zealand guide book. Fantastic! The park also has a geyser that goes off at 10:15AM every morning, but we had to be going on to our next adventure.
We drove down past Lake Taupo, which is absolutely gorgeous and arrive in Turangi. A full day indeed. We crashed right away and awoke at 5:15AM the next morning for our hike across the Tongariro Crossing. Our bus pulled up at 6AM and I inquired about footwear and clothing choices. The guy laughed his face off when I asked about wearing sandals and told us we'd better bundle up. He told us we were the kind of jerks that the rescue teams we're sent up for. He was the kind of jerk who told us he would pick us up when really it was another guy with a different bus that would leave us thinking we were stranded for 3 hours (later story though). We stepped off the van and started our 6-8 hour hike over a still active volcano. We must be the luckiest guys on earth because the weather was gorgeous. It was a little nipply on the top where the wind whipped around us as we ate our peanut butter and jelly on bagel and apples for lunch, but we could see forever which apparently happens on a total of about 2 total weeks a year (the following day there was snow at the top).
It was truely a trek and our bums and legs did not let us forget for the next few days. The tramp itself was awesome though. It started as you would think the base of a mountain would be, then near the top there is a giant crater that is completely flatland that you walk across, it's like being on another planet. After reaching the pinnacle the view is astounding on the other side. A few bright blue/turquoise lakes dot a lower part of the top of the mountain and one really big blue lake a little in the distance. Really just gorgeous like nothing I've ever seen. After crossing the lakes and starting the descent it looks like rolling grass plains with hot spring running down them. Off in the distance there are lakes and rolling hills across the landscape. Then after a grueling 14 kms you step into a jungle out of nowhere, it is ridicuouls. About 5 kms of jungle and we were finished! We fell asleep at the pick-up point, which we reached two hours early, and waited for our driver who never came. After an hour and a half past when he was supposed to arrive passed, we started asking other drivers and found out that one (who had already been by a few times) was supposed to pick us up. Grr. Anyway, great day. We picked up some groceries, made dinner, and headed to our next destination an hour up the road for our 3-Day Whanganui River Journey!
We awoke, ate, and jumped in the van headed for our river starting point. It was a little overcast, but not anything terrible. The starting point is down a long, very, very windy and narrow road past rolling green green green greeen greeeeeen hills with sheep all over them. Along the way a tractor came driving down the other way, our driver moved over to the side for him... a little too far. We got stuck in the ditch next to the road sandwiched into the mountainside (pictures will be up in a week or 2 when i get back). The tractor obviously didn't see and so did not stop. Luckily our driver knew the farmer who lived 10 minutes walk up the road. Before we knew it a little squirly fellow in a silver mitsubishi pulled up and rescued us from certain doom! He used his car to pull out the van, then we used the van to pull out the trailer with our canoes and once again we were rollin'!
We arrived at the river at 12ish and set into our canoes for a day of paddling. The river was aaaawwweeeesssooommmmeee. And but awesome I mean it was truely something that inspired awe. A low mist hung down and sprinkled us with showers every now and again as we gazed upon lucious rainforest at all sides. I've never seen so many waterfalls. Litterally every 100 meters there was one pouring down the mountainside into the river. We arrived at our hut 5 and a half hours later, completely satisfied with our trip and only having been on it for one day! The weather was disgusting all night and when we woke the next day, which was not too enthralling, but as we had learned earlier the New Zealand weather is not one to stick around for long. We tried to wait out the weather because it was supposed to clear up in the PM, but at 11AM we decided it was time to get started. We put our gear into the canoe, looked up and there was not a cloud in the sky. Truely remarkable.
We paddled for another 5 hour day, stopping at the next hut for relaxing, dinner, and sleep. By this time we had met all the people who were travelling down the river on the same agenda as we were. One guy was from Long Island so we told him we had family there (small world), a few germans, some frenchies, and two Israelis! Wherever you go there always is someone jewish as we have learned from camp songs. Very true indeed. Unbeknowest (is that a word?) to us it was the second night of Chanukah already! Our Israeli friends were obviously prepared for this and we lit a makeshift menorah with them and did the Chanukah blessings. It was a very warm and friendly evening.
We repeated again another wake up, breakfast, and 5 hour paddling to our final destination where we boarded our van back to the initial departure point. This time we made it on attempt one, no sticky ditch situations. As soon as we returned we packed our car back up and drove 5 hours down to Wellington in preparation for our morning date to crossover to the South Island.
Today we awoke, crossed over, and drove 6 hours to a town called Greymouth. Tomorrow we wake, drive 3 hours and head to the Glaciers. Needless to say, it's been a little crazy, but never dull. The scenery around here just awesome. This could be the first time I've ever driven the speed limit on a road trip. There is too much to see to want to push it any faster (mom I know you will be pleased to hear that). Check in in the next couple days and I shall update again with more goodies!
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