New Zealand - North Island
Friday, August 8th, 2008So I was looking back over New Zealand (NZ) and there was so much going on over the last 5 weeks I was trying to figure out how to cover the entire thing. So this is going to be a two post post if you will. This post will refer to the North Island. So we started out in Auckland please see the post below for information on that.
So we were starting on the Kiwi Experience for the first time, so up we got at the ungodly hour of 7 and went outside Base in Auckland waiting for the bus. We got on with our lovely driver for the next week or so Spud. So off we went to our first stop which was on a nice viewpoint of the city.
So then on we went for a while looking at the lovely NZ country side seeing everything there was to see on our way to Mercury Bay. We stopped at Catheral Cove, the hot pools (which is a very funny place) and rested our heads for the night in a place called Turtle Cove, where we bonded with some of the guys over the great game of pool and the beloved variation killer pool (mam its not as bad as it sounds, it just means its a knockout competition).
So next day we set off again and this was the day of activities, we went off and did a bit of walk through some caves, OHS is not that big in NZ I learned that day. Some sections of the caves were pitch dark and no warning at the start that a torch might be a good idea. So anyway off we went across some wire bridges which were endless sources of entertainment especially once we found the sign saying max 10 people. Next it was time for something a bit more enjoyable. ZORB, I do realise that the name is not very discriptive but what it is you are strapped into a big plastic ball and shoved down a hill. A lot of fun but not really worth the money that its costs (Travel Tip 1). After we regained some balance off we went on the bus again up a mountain and did some luging. Now this is fun, imagine a small piece of plastic and flying down a hill while sitting ontop of it, worst part being the illusion that you have some control over your craft but sadly you don’t if your over 6ft tall as then the brakes don’t work. After 5 near death experience in 1 hour we went and got a good Kodac moment (Please see below).
Next day we headed onto Rotorua for a bit of culture. This was an evening where we would see a Mauri village and be shown how the Mauri people traditionally greeted people, what was the food they ate and also how it was prepared. Now all of the group were picked up from the hostel and were brought to the village by a driver named “Nuttar”, his name was very descriptive of his personality. One big part of the Mauri Culture is for each group to have a chief. Low and behold guess who was made chief, yes you guessed it folks, me. Now some people might think that this is a privilage but sadly its not as you have to lead the group, you have to represent your group in front of Mauri Warriors (who take this stuff very seriously). So we had a lovely evening, food, talking, learning what more could some one want.
We went to a place called Waitomo to do some blackwater cave tubing, pretty much what it means is that you are going through caves in the pitch dark floating on a inner tube of a tire. Good fun but the water is around 8 degs and that is cold.
So whats next on the trip, Taupo! This is where I did the trip away from home right of passage, the Sky Dive. It was one of the most terrifing, trilling, tantalising experiences I have ever done (did you like the little bit of illeration). The the whole thing only took 30 minutes which was good because I didn’t have to thing about getting thrown out of a plane at 15,000ft. I did it with Jonny and a few others from the bus.
So next it was down to River Valley to do some rafting but there was a little problem, the river was 6ft higher that it should be and we couldn’t go out. So we had nothing better to do that hang around the lodge in a 30 man room and relax. It was a fun night of devilment, well what do you expect when you put 50 backpackers in a single place with access to booze. So after that fun evening it was down to Wellington for a few nights. This was where everyone broke up, some people were only doing the north Island, Some were doing further trips inlands but the majority of us were doing the south Island going on, so after catching up on some sleep we went off on the ferry onto the south Island for more fun. Please see more in the next post.