Reflections on New Zealand

First: Thank you for checking out this journal of our 2.5 week vacation to New Zealand! If you've just arrived on the site, we recommend going to the oldest post. Start from the beginning and read your way through our adventures. Cheers!


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A few reflections upon returning from New Zealand:

The first day or two we were back driving was funny. We both turned on the windshield wipers instead of the blinkers a few times, and almost turned the wrong way once or twice. We were so proud of ourselves for driving without incident in New Zealand, it didn't occur to us that it would be tricky to switch back!

Investing in GPS and roadside assistance totally paid off. The GPS was like a third family member by the time we parted. When we got a flat tire in Wellington we got quick roadside assistance at no incremental cost. Since returning from NZ we've signed up for AAA!

The time we put into planning the route, lodging, and activities for the trip was 110% useful. The time in New Zealand was precious, so the upfront time was worth it to have some stuff preset and planned efficiently. Lonely Planet and Trip Advisor were good resources. We feel lucky to have had great recommendations from our friends -- big thanks to M&M, Alex B., Katie and Josh, and Nic. Thanks also to our lodging hosts and other folks we met along the way.

And thank you for reading this journal of our New Zealand adventures!

01/9/2017 - Airport, plane, airport, plane

Day of Week: Monday

Cities visited: Auckland, Dreamliner, Los Angeles (airport), Seattle

Lodging: Traditional bed and breakfast in Cambridge

Monday was our last "day" of vacation, although thanks to the international date line we experienced almost two full Mondays! For example, our flight from Auckland left at 3:30pm Auckland time which is 6:30pm Sunday on the west coast of the U.S. So all references to Monday represent local time.

We considered squeezing in one last activity before going to the airport on Monday, but ultimately decided to be prudent and let Monday be a travel and take-care-of-business day. First though we had breakfast with our AirBnB host -- muesli with fresh berries. It seems to be the breakfast of choice for AirBnB hosts! Perhaps sensing Zach's profession, during breakfast our host asked Zach for tech support help with her Mac. 

We packed up and then the drive to Auckland airport. It was surprisingly easy to return the rental car, get our passports checked and go through security. After some waiting around at the airport we boarded our eleven hour flight on the Dreamliner to LAX. We landed around 5:45am Monday morning which was weird (landing before we took off!) and also a bit of a shame since neither of us slept much on the plane, especially Zach. After landing it was a quick skip through customs (thanks Global Entry!), then we settled in for what we thought would be an eight hour layover. Our flight to Seattle was about three hours delayed however, which meant about eleven hours in LAX post-customs. While this disrupted our original plan to grocery shop Monday evening, we did a lot of random housekeeping tasks by phone and internet and also got in plenty of reading. After more reading on the flight to SeaTac and the short ride back to our apartment (thanks Greg!) we were home. Home sweet home!

With about nine hours before the Tuesday workday began we did a small emergency load of laundry and then went to bed.

01/8/2017 - Waiheke Island

Day of Week: Sunday

Cities visited: Auckland, Waiheke Island

Lodging: Ponsonby AirBnB

On Sunday we had a nice sleep in, a quiet but still luxurious way to enjoy the last full day of vacation in New Zealand.

We took a day trip to Waiheke Island, the number one Lonely Planet suggestion for New Zealand. This included a ferry ride and then a hop-on-hop-off bus to help us get around the island. We did a little wine tasting over lunch, saw some beautiful vineyards and beaches, and ended up having a long conversation while lying on the grass above one of those gorgeous beaches.

After ferrying back over to Auckland we wandered around figuring out where to get dinner, and ultimately ended up back at Saan for the second night in a row! It was our last dinner in New Zealand and we knew we'd enjoy it. Unlike the packed, buzzing vibe on Saturday night, our Sunday dinner was in a much quieter space. We sat in the back where we could watch the kitchen at work, which was a reminder of great chefs make cooking artful.

We had a feeling it might be hard to sleep on the plane so we went to bed early.

01/7/2017 - Touring Auckland

Day of Week: Saturday

Cities visited: Auckland

Lodging: Ponsonby AirBnB

After a long sleep we woke up and talked over what we wanted to do for the day. We wanted to experience more of the local stuff so we drove over to a popular weekly flea market. The place was packed! And the cars are parked so tightly that we had to pull the side mirrors in just to fit into a spot. The car secure, we walked about and enjoyed seeing the local produce, handicrafts, and jewelry. There was also a strip of food carts with all different kinds of cuisine. We got a fresh mussel fritter and shared it while listening to a local band playing on a community stage. It was a nice experience all around, especially as we hardly saw anyone else who looked like tourists.

Soon after leaving the flea market we pulled over and ate some Paradise Indian leftovers for lunch. We drove over to our AirBnB to drop off our stuff and meet our host, who was friendly. Then we did the "City Centre Ramble" walking tour suggested by Lonely Planet. This was a nice walk around the city, including several parks, a courtyard celebrating 100 years since women won the right to vote, the Auckland Museum (free of course!) and a shopping district. We ended up along the waterfront before going home. Auckland seems like any other city in some ways, but still a nice one.

Photobombing an innocent tree

Courtyard commemorating women's suffrage

Shark ("elephant fish") at a fish market at the end of the tour

We went to dinner at Saan, a great experience because the restaurant had good food and atmosphere, not to mention delicious innovative food. The weather was so nice the whole day and we were able to eat outside. We had a fun conversation with some locals sitting next to us. The evening ended with a bit of ice cream and walk back to the AirBnB.

01/6/2017 - Auckland here we come!

Day of Week: Friday

Cities visited: Cambridge, Auckland

Lodging: AirBnB

When we woke up Friday morning we knew it was time to get Zach a doctor's appointment. So we got dressed, went downstairs, and enjoyed the B&B's two course breakfast feast of muesli followed by the traditional English breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, beans, and tomato. Zach also had tea with milk. With a little calling around we were able to make Zach a doctor's appointment in Auckland, then we hit the road for Auckland a day earlier than originally planned. We were originally going to Raglan for one night before getting to Auckland. Raglan, see you next time!

Our last multi-hour drive was that morning from Cambridge to Auckland and it was uneventful. First we picked up the contacts which was very quick, then Zach some prescription allergy medication with a friendly doctor who recommended some restaurants we could try. With Emma's sight and Zach's ease of breathing restored, we drove to our last-minute AirBnB in an outer neighborhood of Auckland.

We stayed with a family with two cute little kids. When we arrived at the house the little ones had just gotten out of the pool and were very cute. First Zach won over the 4-year-old daughter who enjoyed giving Zach high-fives. Once he saw his older sister doing it, the 2-year-old son overcame his shyness and got in a high five or two for himself.

One of the reasons we chose this AirBnB is because they have a sauna, which we enjoyed trying. After a shower we walked to dinner at Paradise Indian, which was recommended by our hosts and turned out to be one of Lonely Planet's suggested restaurants. The food was fantastic and opened our eyes (and taste buds) to how good biryani and a mango lassi can be.

After dinner Zach got a haircut. With Emma as his witness, Zach pointed to the middle aged Indian man just finishing up and said "I want what he has".

With a fully belly, sharp new haircut, and relieved lungs and throat, Zach fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. 

01/5/2017 - The Adventure Continues

Day of Week: Thursday

Cities visited: Tongariro National Park Village, Waitomo, Matamata, Cambridge

Lodging: Traditional bed and breakfast in Cambridge

We got up with an alarm for the second day in a row and hit the road early to get to the glow worms tour. Zach cleared the sleepys from his eyes to drive us since Emma's broken glasses were a liability. The ride was quick and quiet with hardly any cars on the road, so we arrived early and had breakfast on the patio outside the Spellbound tour's starting spot. 

To start the tour the 12 tourists were driven to a working farm where the farmer had discovered caves that had formed through sinkhole formations as his animals fell down the holes. Then he planted trees around the holes to help deter his livestock from the danger zones. 

We went through two caves about a 20 minute drive from the pickup point. The first cave was heavy on glow worms! The guide had us turn off the lights on our helmets and not use our phones. At first we couldn't see anything, then the eyes adjust and tiny green lights are everywhere on the ceilings and walls. With a flashlight the guide showed us the strings hanging down from the lights to catch flies and other flying food. Basically the lights are the glow worms themselves and the strings are created from the maggots' poop. The insects are attracted to the lights, get stuck in the sticky strings, then the maggots reel in the strings until they can eat their prey. After about ten months as a maggot they cocoon and emerge as a flying insect. As insects they have no mouths and have 2-3 days to mate and lay eggs before dying of starvation! The insects sometimes get eaten by their maggot cousins.

Glow worm strings visible with flashlight

The first cave also included calm boat ride on which we could see glow worm light reflection in the water after our eyes adjusted for a while. There was a tea break after first cave, then a short walk to second cave with a few glow worms but mostly different rock types and animal bones including moa. Moa are now extinct but were once massive dinosaur-sized, ostrich-ish looking flightless birds roaming the land.

We were glad we went on the less-touristy, small group, chill tour of the glow worms with a guide who grew up in Waitomo. The more popular alternatives may see bigger caves with more glow worms, but at the expense of the quiet and small group experience. We also learned that the larger Waitomo glow worm caves are experiencing a carbon dioxide problem from having too many people passing through. It got enough attention that the company running those tours now proactively addresses the carbon dioxide issue on their website.

After the tour ended we had lunch in Waitomo, a combination of leftovers and sharing a burger. In addition to British food, American style burgers are a staple here. After lunch we made our way to Matamata for the Hobbiton tour. Before we got there we stopped to hang with some cows who were hanging out behind a fence but very close to the side of the road. They were interested in us, and as we stood there for a few minutes more cows congregated at the fence line. They were afraid to get too close to us, except for one extra brave cow. They all won the staring contest. We got a sense of their daily lifestyle when within five minutes of watching them they started peeing freely and humping each other.

Cows cluster cordially

Courageous cow briefly makes contact

On to the Hobbiton tour. Definitely the most touristy place we've been, packed with people from around the world. We toured the gift shop and got, among other things, a welcome mat with a line from a LOTR poem saying "not all those who wander are lost" which was Zach's high school yearbook quote. Then we got in line for the tours which were very factory efficient, leaving every ten or so minutes with several tour groups on set at the same time. We agree with the Trip Advisor consensus -- it's very touristy and lots of people in the tour group, but you get to be on set which was pretty awesome. It was also fun to hear some of the insider trivia, such as how over 200,000 fake leaves were individually attached to a fake tree and then repainted -- on the tree! -- because Peter Jackson didn't like the color. We took a million photos, spurred on by the touristy vibe, so feel free to ask us if you'd like to see more (Zach's dad).

We were so excited we stopped to take a photo of the sign...

Because it's a movie set, they needed hobbit holes that were both regular sized...

... and hobbit holes that were smaller

Obligatory photo of Zach in front of Bilbo's hobbit hole

After the tour we checked in to our B&B, then went to dinner at nice Italian restaurant called Alpino, after which we went to bed.  

Throughout the day Zach's allergies were quite bad, worse than they had been so far on the trip. We knew something needed to change. We were both were also a bit sore following the alpine hike, though the two walking tours helped us stay limber. 

01/4/2017 - Tongariro Alpine Crossing

Day of week: Wednesday
Places visited: Tongariro National Park Village, Mordor
Lodging: Tongariro Crossing Lodge

The day of our big hike has finally arrived! This was one of few days we used an alarm to wake up early, and we got up with plenty of energy for the day. We had reserved a guided trip through Adrift Tongariro. They picked us up from our lodging and drove us over to their shop where we picked up some extra clothes and food, both of which we were grateful for later that day. Then we drove about 30 minutes to the start of the hike.

When we got out of the van we met our guide Sam (the name feels fitting for a guide leading us safely past Lord of the Rings filming locations). To start he showed us a map and gave us a preview of what was in store for our 12 mile (19k) hike.

It starts off pretty easy, gently uphill beside a shallow stream and tussocks. Then we come to the longest climb of the day which is called the Devil's Staircase. It takes us beyond where the grasses can grow via a twisting set of stairs built into the side of the mountain. We see some other hikers going our direction, and precious few coming the other way. Those hikers coming from the other direction are seasoned hikers as they got up very early to traverse the crossing in the more challenging direction without a guide. Maybe someday!

Ready to start!

Tussocks

Emma's confidence not hindered by sign

Post-tussocks on the Devil's Staircase

There's a nice flat section after the Devil's Staircase. Along that stretch we took a short break for the bathroom, and planned to continue hiking until lunch. However, shortly after we started walking again Emma's glasses snapped in half right across the bridge! This was unexpected and unfortunate since Emma's vision is pretty bad. The three of us had a pow wow to try to tape the two pieces together, then executed plan B of duct taping the glasses to Emma's face! There was no way we were turning back. Vision restored as much as the heavy fog allowed, we continued to the end of the flat stretch.

Walking to the end of the earth

We engaged the second long ascent towards the red crater. While shorter in distance, this one is much steeper and technical and at times had steep drop offs on both sides. It was a particularly windy and at times rainy day to begin with, and while were on the ridge line the wind was especially intense as it gets funneled up and over the ridge. Due to the fast wind we literally watched the clouds racing towards, around, and away from us as we climbed.

Pro tip - watch the wind whip over the ridge and a certain someone holding their glasses together

New Zealand guides are intense!

Last video of our long march up the hill

We stopped a few times during the second climb for Sam to point out where Mordor scenes were filmed, during which Zach grabbed some footage. Soon after conquering a short climbing chain we reached the peak of the second climb. There is a large rock right at the top and to our surprise, very warm air issued from vents in the rock. Our glasses fogged up as we walked past!

Mordor for reals

Take 2

After that we had a steep sliding descent through deep black "sand" which we traversed using a fun sideways slide-and-dig technique. On the way down, fleetingly when the fast-moving clouds allowed, we could see three bright teal pools of water called the Crystal Lakes. We walked up to one of the lakes and could smell the sulfurous water.

Crystal lakes at the bottom of the zig-zag descent

We came from up there

Lakes are cool (or warm), just don't drink from this one

From there we had another walk across an easy flat to Blue Lake. By walking down the hill towards the lake we found some shelter from the strong wind and took a break to eat lunch. After a nice break we resumed the flat, sometimes wet journey including walking level with huge, jet-black, long-hardened flow of lava. The final climb of the day, shorter and less challenging, gave us a good view of the lava from above.

Lunch at Blue Lake

We spent the next three hours mostly descending to the finish. Descending turned out to be just as hard in its own way due to bracing yourself every step, especially when the ground is soft dirt. That said, the descent comes with its own reward of many beautiful views: Lake Taupo and another lake; a planted pine forest; rolling hills; small craters where sulfurous bright yellow rocks landed after being shot into the air by volcanic eruption.

That's not the ocean in the distance, it's Lake Taupo

We walked by a former housing hut that had been hit multiple times with rocks from volcanic eruption. Multiple volcano-hot rocks literally hit the hut and pummeled through roof and floor. The hut hasn't been restored; instead of being used for shelter it's now an opportunity to see how easily Mother Nature dominates the humble man made structure.

After the hut was hit the Department of Conservation put out an official recommendation in case of eruption: stand still and attempt to dodge rocks. (This is not a joke.) Note that it took four seconds for the rocks that hit the hut to cover a mile from where they were launched. Also note that the leading scientist at the time said if he found himself in this situation he'd close his eyes and count to ten.

Once we moved on from the hut Sam gave us fair warning that the next 45 minutes is the most boring part as there are no major new sights or terrains. At the end of that time was another surprise: the landscape naturally shifts from dirt and small tussocks a foot high to a literally forest with high trees and dense bush. The transition happens in just a few minutes of walking. It was beautiful and also so nice to have our first real shade of the day (yes, Emma and Zach both got a little wind/sunburned).

The last 45 minutes were a fairly easy downhill through the forest. For about ten minutes we were alongside narrow but forceful stream of running water. Turns out this is a new water pathway born out of one of the volcanic eruptions which blocked the old path. As we walked Sam pointed out small dry valleys where the water once ran, and led us slightly off the path to a waterfall that didn't exist five years ago.

The very end of the trip was on a wide flat path, anticlimactic but still beautiful. When we reached the parking lot we saw the same map of the crossing that Sam talked us through at the start and were reminded of how far we'd come.

Happy hikers

In the end we were so grateful for the semi-inclement weather. Pros:

• Adventure! Sam said it was the windiest weather he's actually made the crossing in, as on windy days people sometimes choose to turn back on the steep ascents.
• Empty space! Apparently in nice weather 1,000s of people do the crossing each day so it was a blessing to have the trail mostly to ourselves.
• Opportunity! In inclement weather all trips are cancelled. The heavy rains the previous day caused all trips to be cancelled. We were fortunate as our itinerary was too tight to reschedule if the weather had been too bad.

Feeling proud, relieved, and not a little tired we were picked up and driven about 40min back to Adrift headquarters. (Funny how a day of hiking amounts to an extra ten minutes in a car...) During the ride we chatted with guide and Adrift owner Stewart, who explained why people like Sam are great guides and how he'd be guiding a snow hike the following day. 

After we returned the borrowed gear to Adrift and got back to our lodging, Emma napped while Zach read. Then we tried to tape Emma's glasses together using a couple kinds of tape and a little wire, with limited success. We rounded out the tour of Tongariro National Park Village restaurants by having a big dinner at Spiral in The Park hotel. Spurred on by our physical achievement we had the energy to talk more about our hopes and plans for 2017. In the end we didn't go to bed early, but once we did we slept deeply.