Our three week trip to New Zealand was a whirlwind of exploring city and scenery via hiking, biking, swimming, kayaking, bungying, rafting, strolling with ice cream in hand, cliff jumping, sailing, caving, and sheep watching,…not to mention casting the one ring into the fires of Mt. Doom. Needless to say, we didn’t have much time to relax, but that’s the way we like it- leaving us with much more time for adventure!
The North Island
Our journey began at 7am in the northern city of Auckland. After checking into our hostel in Mt. Eden, we immediately hiked up to the crater about a five minutes walk away. The crater is actually on the highest part of Mt. Eden, and a park with trees and running paths has been built around it, making it a great naturey place to be if you’re going to be in one of the largest cities in the country. From the top of the crater our pale wintery skin soaked in the summer rays and our eyes took in the city skyline with the ocean beyond. Not a bad first few hours!
While in Auckland we explored downtown Queen Street, where we enjoyed the cinema, tried a kebab, and discovered our favorite Kiwi Cookies that we always get from the French grocery store in Shanghai. We also took a ferry to the nearby volcanic island Rangitoto, where we did a little training for our big hike to come later that week. On the way back we stopped off in Devonport to experience a quaint seaside town, and to discover that milkshakes in New Zealand are interestingly, like milkshakes in many parts of the world: very milky but not very shaky (much more like chocolate milk than like ice cream). We still enjoyed it - goes great with trail mix! :)
Our next stop was the Coromandel Peninsula, which was incredible even before we arrived, thanks to the beautiful scenic drive! Bright green rolling hills dotted with dark green trees and specks of white sheep with blue ocean beyond…but why should I explain it when I can just show you a picture?
Once in Whitianga, we grabbed a shovel and hopped on over to Hot Water Beach. The whole idea at this beach is to dig a hole in the sand and create your own Jacuzzi, as there is a natural hot springs that fills your hole with hot water. So we picked up our shovel and began our treasure hunt. We quickly discovered that all of the abandoned holes were filled with cold water, and most of the holes with people lounging inside were filled with the good stuff. Our first hole was freezing, so we moved on. Our strategy was to find a hole filled with contented people, and dig right next to them, hoping that we could share the same underground hot water current. We kept digging, but the water was only slightly warmer than the first hole. Finally the lounging people abandoned their holes and we hopped in right away, only to be shocked that they had been sitting in cold water! We gave up and decided to take pictures in front of a giant spray rock in the water. As I was snapping shots of Steve, I realized that my feet were burning hot IN THE OCEAN! I looked down and realized that the spring was flowing right to my feet, and was actually so hot that my feet were burning even though I was standing in the shallow seawater!
As cool as that was, our favorite experience in Coromandel was hiking to Cathedral Cove. If you have ever seen the movie Prince Caspian, you will recognize the cove as the beach the Pevinsies found themselves when they realized they were in Narnia again. The hike to the cove was really pretty, with tropical green plants lining the path, cows, and views of distant hills to one side and seaside cliffs to the other. The cathedral aspect of the cove was probably my favorite part. It was a huge arch, with a dome-like top like a cave. It was enormous, and the beaches on either side were breathtaking! It’s probably my favorite beach in the world (which is saying a lot!).
Our next adventure was our first exposure to Middle Earth, (which Steve will tell you all about soon!) but I will say that on the night before our visit to Hobbiton, he was like a little kid the night before Christmas! I love being married to someone who enjoys life so much!
Our next stop was Rotorua, which is one of the 3rd biggest geothermal locations in the world (Yellowstone is #1 I think?). We weren’t as excited about the sulfur stuff though as we were about the chance to raft over the largest waterfall you can raft commercially! We went over a 23-foot waterfall and, as our guide put it, took it “smooth as.” It was quite a thrill! Here is a picture of us going over the waterfall, and here is a picture of Steve with a famous NZ soft drink, which happens to be the same height as the waterfall we rafted over.
Our next stop was Rotorua, which is one of the 3rd biggest geothermal locations in the world (Yellowstone is #1 I think?). We weren’t as excited about the sulfur stuff though as we were about the chance to raft over the largest waterfall you can raft commercially! We went over a 23-foot waterfall and, as our guide put it, took it “smooth as.” It was quite a thrill! Here is a picture of us going over the waterfall, and here is a picture of Steve with a famous NZ soft drink, which happens to be the same height as the waterfall we rafted over.
In Taupo, our bus driver arranged for a sailing and pizza night for us on the lake. When we signed up to use Magic Bus, we thought we were just getting cheap transportation from place to place. We were pleasantly surprised to find fun bus drivers who did everything possible to tell you about a place and arrange fun activities for everyone on board! Our whole bus had a good time getting to know each other as we sailed on a lake that is larger than all of Singapore. We saw some ancient Maori carvings and experienced rough winds on the way back. How fun for my first time sailing!
Our next adventure was Black Water Rafting in the Waitomo Glowworm Caves. While it didn’t exactly meet our expectations of rafting, the whole experience blew us away and is something that honestly seems more out of a movie than something that you can actually experience on earth. We took inner tubes into an underground network of small, pitch-black channels filled with water. We formed a single-file line, and held the feet of the person behind us so that we were floating together through the cave. That part alone was actually kind of creepy, as the cave channels were tight, the water was cold and brown and funny-smelling, and we were told about insects called Weta’s, which will jump on your face if you shine your headlamp on them….all of these things reminded us of the scary movie Prometheus.
What wiped all of that away though, was the thousands of blue-green glowworms, twinkling like stars on the ceiling above us. The glowworms have a light on the end of their tails to attract prey into the beautiful, dangling poisonous thread of beads that hangs from them. The glowing lights are ominous for insects, but very magical for us! It was quite peaceful to float under the glowworm milky way. Everyone there understood that the moment was too beautiful to interrupt by talking, so we all just floated there, marveling at what none of us had ever seen before. (Technically though, Steve and I had seen it before on the Caves section of Planet Earth, but it was WAY better in person!). The experience was made even more interesting by the waterslides and mini-waterfall we jumped off along the way.
What wiped all of that away though, was the thousands of blue-green glowworms, twinkling like stars on the ceiling above us. The glowworms have a light on the end of their tails to attract prey into the beautiful, dangling poisonous thread of beads that hangs from them. The glowing lights are ominous for insects, but very magical for us! It was quite peaceful to float under the glowworm milky way. Everyone there understood that the moment was too beautiful to interrupt by talking, so we all just floated there, marveling at what none of us had ever seen before. (Technically though, Steve and I had seen it before on the Caves section of Planet Earth, but it was WAY better in person!). The experience was made even more interesting by the waterslides and mini-waterfall we jumped off along the way.
Off we went to National Park, the small town that literally sits on two different national parks: Tongariro National Park and Whanganui National Park. This is where we embarked on NZ’s best one day trek: the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. It is supposed to be an actual crossing, where you start in one place and end in another, but one of the volcanoes that forms part of the trail actually erupted in August and was still not stable, so we ended up doing a round trip type of route. The hike itself was phenomenal. The rolling green hills that had become so familiar to us melted away to barren lava rock and expansive raw volcanic mountain. Alongside the path ran orange streams flowing with volcanic minerals, some of the only streams in NZ where you can’t drink from. We climbed through interesting rock formations, up Devil’s Staircase, and along a steep ridge that had such loose rock that for every one step up we took, we were forced two steps down again. It was so different and so fun! After heading up Mt. Doom (more on that later from Steve), we headed over to view the Emerald Lakes, whose turquoise color really popped in contrast to the barren moon type look of the landscape. It really was a great one day trek!
After hiking the National Park, we still hadn’t had enough, so we hopped on some bikes and rode through the park to a gorgeous waterfall for lunch. Steve jumped off of the waterfall six different times, and although I didn’t quite hit that number, I was very proud of myself for overcoming my fear and taking the leap myself!
In Wellington we caught the last quarter of the Super Bowl amidst a torrential rainstorm, and spent the rest of the day exploring and mourning the 49ers. We did some other fun things as well, but again, that’s Steve’s territory ;)
The South Island
Our time on the south island started with a quite different experience than we expected. On the three-hour ferry between islands, the swells were so large and the ferry was pitching so violently, that we found ourselves in a situation where being seasick was a real possibility. We were pretty confident in the strength of our own stomachs and were content to approach the experience as a fun ride, but we didn’t realize that not everyone around us would feel the same way. The ridiculousness of everyone throwing up around us would have been pretty comical if we weren’t trying to ignore it completely. Luckily for me, Steve demonstrated true love to me and gave me his noise-cancelling headphones while he took the brunt of the audio damage. Soon though we were out of the rough seas and into the nice calm Marlborough Sound :)
In Nelson we explored yet another national park, but this tropical one was quite different from the rocky barren national parks on the north island. In Abel Tasman National Park we hiked along the coast and cliffs to a small cove where we ate lamb kebabs and falafel prepared on a small stove right on the beach. Then we hopped into sea kayaks and explored the wetter part of the park. So fun!
PANCAKE ROCKS! Layers and layers and layers of thin slabs of rock piled high on each other. Scientists know that they are layers of limestone that formed under the sea, but the big mystery is why and how they formed layers upon layers upon each other. It’s fun to think that there are still mysteries we haven’t figured out yet! Whatever the reason, I’m glad it happened, because this big section of the west coast is SO COOL! Everything about Punakaiki is cool, from the pancake rocks, to the giant blow holes, and even to the plants surrounding the area….we loved it! To pump ourselves up for the experience, we enjoyed some pancakes ourselves, with a giant scoop of homemade whipped cream to top it off!
Our next trek was in Franz Josef, where we hiked up to the base of the Franz Josef Glacier, discovered immensely tall waterfalls, and enjoyed a cooler break in the middle of summer.
On our way to Lake Wanaka we took a jog around Mirror Lake, saw the Blue Pools, Steve successfully held his breath over the longest bridge on the west coast, and we killed about a hundred sandflies while only getting bitten once. Once in Wanaka, we took a swim, enjoyed the best ice cream cone we’ve ever had, (Patagonia! AMAZING!) and went on a dinner date (a nice break from noodles or PB and J at the hostel!).
Then SUDDENLY, it was Bungy Jumping day. I knew it was something I wanted to do, but I was completely terrified to do it. Steve and I have both been skydiving before, but something about the fact that you have to jump off of a bridge with only something tied around your ankles seemed much scarier to me than jumping out of an airplane with a professional skydiver strapped to your back. I was so nervous! I couldn’t eat anything all morning, and I was so excited to do it, but at the same time so looking forward to getting it over with. As a Valentine’s Day gift to me, Steve decided to do a tandem jump, even though he had already bungyed before.
The place we jumped was actually with the company who had invented bungy jumping, and on the bridge where it first began, so that was reassuring. It was also a very beautiful spot, over a turquoise river nestled between two tree covered canyon walls. The hardest part about it was waiting. We had to wait in line on the bridge, watching other people jump (or hesitating to jump, or really hesitating to jump) until it was actually our turn. Once we were up on the platform though, I wasn’t as scared. I was more focused on making sure that we jumped at the same time and in the way they told us to. Then came the countdown, 3,2,1, BUNGY!
We were FLYING! All I could see was the blue beneath me and all I could hear was Steve whooping beside me. It was really fun! After a few boings and bounces, it was over, and we were dangling headfirst over the river with the blood rushing to our heads. Yay! What a big fear to overcome!
The place we jumped was actually with the company who had invented bungy jumping, and on the bridge where it first began, so that was reassuring. It was also a very beautiful spot, over a turquoise river nestled between two tree covered canyon walls. The hardest part about it was waiting. We had to wait in line on the bridge, watching other people jump (or hesitating to jump, or really hesitating to jump) until it was actually our turn. Once we were up on the platform though, I wasn’t as scared. I was more focused on making sure that we jumped at the same time and in the way they told us to. Then came the countdown, 3,2,1, BUNGY!
We were FLYING! All I could see was the blue beneath me and all I could hear was Steve whooping beside me. It was really fun! After a few boings and bounces, it was over, and we were dangling headfirst over the river with the blood rushing to our heads. Yay! What a big fear to overcome!
Our Valentine’s Day continued in Queenstown, where we enjoyed Fergburgers and took the gondola up to the viewpoint for the sunset. It was breathtaking up there! We found a grassy hill on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Remarkables, the lakes, and the other mountain ranges around us. We felt so small and insignificant standing there at the edge of the world.
If we thought we felt small in Queenstown, our trip to Milford Sound really put us in our place. We drove through enormous cliffs and valleys, with dozens of waterfalls trickling down hundreds of feet down to us. It reminded me of standing in the meadow in Yosemite, only magnified. We saw a Kia bird on the way, which we learned is the largest parrot in the world and has the intelligence of a three year old. When we saw it, it was trying to pick away the rubber on the car window to try to get inside (would a 3yr old do that? I don’t know). Milford Sound, (which is actually a fiord, since it was formed by a glacier and not a river), was breathtaking. We took a boat ride out to see the seals on the rocks and the multitude of waterfalls cascading over the cliffs. It was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. We were pretty blessed too, because it had rained that morning, creating several more waterfalls than are usually there on a sunny day. Incredible!
As our journey neared to an end, we had one last exciting trek to look forward to….but of course I can’t tell you about that muahahaha….you’ll just have to wait in anticipation for Steve’s account of our foray into Middle Earth :)
Instead, I can mention a few of our favorite things about our trip finale. For one thing, we encountered several lakes and streams that had been mixed with what they call “glacial flour.” There are over fifty glaciers on the south island, so all of the rivers and lakes that are fed by glaciers end up a startling baby blue color. This is due to the minerals that get ground up so finely in the water that they never settle to the bottom, but continue to float around, making the refractions of the sunlight cause the color to appear so different. It is really amazing.
Instead, I can mention a few of our favorite things about our trip finale. For one thing, we encountered several lakes and streams that had been mixed with what they call “glacial flour.” There are over fifty glaciers on the south island, so all of the rivers and lakes that are fed by glaciers end up a startling baby blue color. This is due to the minerals that get ground up so finely in the water that they never settle to the bottom, but continue to float around, making the refractions of the sunlight cause the color to appear so different. It is really amazing.
We also enjoyed visiting Lake Tekapo, where we saw the famous little picturesque church and enjoyed a surprise hike overlooking the lake. It seemed that we were always finding little hiking trails and places to walk wherever we were. It was such a pleasant surprise to discover day after day that hiking was an option! Our favorite thing!
We ended our trip in Christchurch, where we found amazing Thai food takeaway, meandered through botanical gardens, and randomly met up with our Kidder Creek friend Ben Turley and his wife! We were staying in the same hostel on the same night in one of the biggest cities on the island. We had fun catching up and sharing NZ stories.
Overall, our dream trip to New Zealand turned out to be even greater than we had imagined. We loved every second of it, and feel so blessed that we were able to fulfill a dream that we had dreamed together. When we got back to our apartment we sang the lyrics, “Oh no, you never let go, in every high and every low.” We were so amazed to see how God had orchestrated all of the little details in our trip, from perfect weather to catching busses, ferries, and taxis on time, to bigger things like losing wallets and keys and getting them returned days later. It’s just so cool to know that we serve a God who loves us so much that he even cares about giving us a perfect vacation! We always knew he’d be there in the low times, but wow it’s so cool to see God so clearly in the highest of times as well :)
Stay tuned for Middle Earth.....