Our trip to New Zealand is almost done. While we have a few things left on our New Zealand bucket list (there’s always more to do here) – there is one thing we decided we had to get done – the Tongariro Crossing. This 19.4 km hike (close to 13 miles) is a popular hike in New Zealand especially since Mt Ngauruhoe (one of the active volcanoes in the national park) had an integral part in the Lord of the Rings movies – dress it up with some CGI lava and you have Mt. Doom. Haven’t seen Lord of the Rings yet?! *Sigh* Will hasn’t either. That’s right. We were able to watch two of the movies in Wellington and found the last movie that we watched in the campervan -it was kismet when we found out Jucy had free dvds and a dvd player in the van and the last Lord of the Rings movie was available. Sadly-the movie froze before Mt. Doom came on the screen. Somehow Will has not seen the volcano’s role in the movie. *This is me – still shaking my head.* The Tongariro Crossing is known to be one of the best day hikes in the world. *Warning* With the Lord of the Rings popularity – it has become even busier. Unless you’re going in winter, be prepared to meet people traffic jams on the Tongariro Highway – the term people use for the start of the hike when the path narrows and you’re basically walking in a line of people. Almost everyone we have talked to in New Zealand (at least on the North Island) have either done the hike or talked about wanting to do the hike. The terrain is varied with steep inclines, extreme temperature changes, volcanoes, brightly colored lakes – need we say more? We were in! We did a little research – figured out how to pronounce it (I can only say it like the video), found a place to stay in Taupo (hello again, beautiful lake town), and crossed our fingers for good weather. If the weather is bad – there is no walk. With only one day to get ‘er done, we were praying to the weather gods. Good news:...
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Wherever you go in New Zealand, there’s one thing you’re guaranteed to see eventually: the campervan. Whether in the car park near a big hike, in middle of a big city, or near a landmark – campervans are a great way to see it all. They come in all sizes from minivan to giant behemoth motor homes. And New Zealand has a plethora of camping grounds ranging from free sites for anyone to paid camp grounds with high end facilities. The down side – the campervans often come with a bit of a price tag and need a minimum of 2 weeks rental time. No worries – New Zealanders (being the considerate and brilliant folks they are) have thought of everything. Many of the car rental and campervan rental sites offer relocation deals. For a reduced price, you can get a vehicle for a few days (depending on the deal offered and where you’re it’s being relocated). Camping…in a van…while driving around New Zealand? Dreamy. So we stalked the relocation pages until a relocation deal from Christchurch to Auckland came up. Our Campervan Experience Begins Sue (our neighbor in Christchurch) was kind enough to drive us to the Jucy rental place to pick up our campervan. She even offered to wait with us (seriously Kiwis, you’re too kind), but we insisted she head out. Good thing. 2 1/2 hours later we were on the road. Jucy made it up to us by offering us a free tank of gas, saving us $100. The wait didn’t seem so bad after that). We were off. We hadn’t seen the north-western part of the southern island yet and had heard the Abel Tasman area was beautiful. Quick research on Rankers – the website showing tons of campsites including the cost, reviews, facilities, and whether or not they’re only for self-sustained vehicles (having a toilet on board), we found a free site that we could stay at about an hour south of Abel Tasman. There are always hikes and scenic points of interest to discover on the drives. A quick pit stop: this walk was about five minutes from the road. It also provided a good learning opportunity. I have a bad...
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Wellington has been our home for the past month. We’ll post a special Mt. Vic blogpost soon (31 days hiking to the top), but for now, we want to talk about the small big town, Wellington. It’s small. The population for New Zealand’s capitol is about 449,000 people. It has a small town vibe for it being a city. Considering we traveled around the world to get here, we’ve run in to a couple of people in Wellington. Will decided to rent a desk in a tech company downtown. Heather, the woman he rented the desk from, shouted hello as we passed her several times throughout the city. Then there was New Years. We had ventured to the harbor to watch fireworks (we can now say we rang in the New Year first) and ran into John, a guy Will used to work with in Denver. He ended up showing us a Japanese beer bar where we caught up with him over drinks. Then, a girl Will did study abroad with in college ended up renting a desk at the same office where Will did. Small world. Besides being a small, big city, Wellington is known for its culture and coffee (also it’s beer, but I’m pleading the fifth on that one). Cuba St. downtown is full of street artists, shopping, and sculptures. We passed by a jazz quartet jamming, then strolled further down to see two little girls playing Three Blind Mice into recorders. You never know what you’re going to find there. Not to mention there are outdoor stores similar to REI. We found some good deals there, but be forewarned, the prices change daily. Seriously. The workers there actually told us that they change the prices and sales daily, so keep an eye out and be patient, but not too patient. Some of the sites downtown. A street performer about to perform. This diving platform sits right next to Te Papa, the museum in town. The museum is free and a great way to spend the day. Watching people jump off the diving platform is pretty entertaining too. This day, it was too cold to jump, but we definitely saw some people jump before we left...
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There’s lots to do in Wellington, especially when the sun comes out. New Year’s marked the kick-off of Summer in the City in Wellington. February is when summer events go into full swing, but January still had enough fun things for us to do around town. The Botanic Gardens have a summer concert series with local musicians slated to play a few times during the week. We weren’t sure exactly what to expect, so we packed up some food and libations for a picnic and made the trek to the gardens. There’s a few ways to get to the gardens, all of them include up. After another uphill climb, we joined a packed lawn (we found a spot on the hill next to the lawn), laid down our blanket and enjoyed a picnic along with people watching. It was the first concert with blue skies. Bubbles floated above people’s heads as we took in the surrounding gardens. People watching was plentiful. We were surrounded by different accents and watched a group made up of one Gandolf hat wearer (must have gone to a LOTR or Weta Studios tour) and a bunny onesie suit. Wellington’s town motto: The place of the possible. The Botanic Gardens makes it feel like it’s true. Entry to the garden is free. We went to hear a country-folk band perform, but there’s a concert for almost everyone at the Botanic Gardens. You just have to check their schedule. After listening for a while, we strolled around the gardens at dusk, enjoying the light exhibits incorporated into the place of the possible. The lights in the stream are meant to signify the mutated fish that were a result of nuclear pollution. It made us think of the Simpson’s 3-eyed fish and glow worms. The stage. People didn’t stand up on the lawn. The bubbles were blown out from bubble machines located in a few places around the stage area. Definitely a fun way to experience some of Wellington’s culture. This past weekend, we decided we needed to venture outside the city a bit but was torn between Zealandia and the zoo. After looking at the map, it was an easy...
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When we first got to Wellington, we were warned that the weather is often cloudy, rainy and windy. If the weather was better, everyone would move to this gem of a city. After being in Wellington for about 2 weeks, there have only been a few cloudy days. Lots of wind, but mostly blue skies and sunshine. I guess this is pretty unheard of for “Windy Wellington.” We try to take advantage of the nice weather as much as possible (especially knowing it could change at any moment). The place we’re renting is on top of Majoribanks road at the edge of Wellington’s CBD. This means The Embassy theatre (Lord of the Rings:Return of the King premiered here) is at the bottom of the hill and Mt. Victoria is in our backyard. Wellington is a pretty small city and the downtown is very walkable. For those of you thinking about coming to Wellington, Mt. Victoria is a great ‘hood. It’s about a 5 min walk down the hill to town (about 10-15 on the way back up the hill). Wellington encourages people to get out and get walking. They have trails set up through all their parks/reserves and one that takes you all the way around Wellington, down to the coast, and back around to Wellington. The Southern Walkway. We’re planning on doing a big hike when we drive back through Taupo and Rotorua at some point, so we figured walking the Southern Walkway would be great training. If you cut west, off the Southern Walkway, there’s a Red Rocks Coastal Walkway where you can see seals (Aug-Oct). Since it’s January, we figured we wouldn’t see any seals. But, we’ve been to Red Rocks in Colorado, we had to know how this compared! Reading up about the trail, it seemed like it would take us about 4-6 hours. We couldn’t figure out if this was round trip or not. The Red Rocks Coastal Walkway supposedly takes about 2-3 hours. We’ve hiked fourteeners before (mountains at 14,000 ft). Which means we can easily handle a park and city hike. Right? Warned that some of the trail signs get confusing, we decided it would take us around 6 hours round trip for the whole thing....
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After a week in Auckland, we knew that New Zealand was a gem, but had really only seen the biggest city. Our next destination is Wellington where we’re staying a month. There are lots of ways to travel through New Zealand: short airplane ride, ferry, train, bus. We wanted to be able to see more of New Zealand. So, we figured out some destinations, rented a car and made our way south. Fun fact: Will had to work while I picked up the car in Auckland. The guy at the rental shop proceeded to tell me he was giving us a brand new Fiat, just off the boat with only 23 KM on it. *Gulp* Good thing we opted for the insurance. The fifteen minute drive turned into 40 where I decided Google Maps voice was not my friend as I learned to drive on the left side of the road while navigating traffic circles, city driving, and give way signs instead of stop signs. I picked up Will and we were off for our big adventure! New Zealand uses the metric system, unlike the U.S. It took a little adjusting to seeing the posted speed limit which is normally posted outside the city at 100. The 2 1/2 hour drive to our first stop, Waitomo passed quickly as we stared at the beautiful landscape on the first bright, sunny day we’d really experienced in New Zealand. Waitomo – Glow worms, Natural Bridges, and Caves, oh my After arriving in the small town of Waitomo, the owner of the hotel we stayed at (the Glow Worm Motel) gave us a few tips on places to go. He gave us a map, lent us a torch (flashlight), and we were on our way. We drove about 45 min on a windy, narrow road through the hills enjoying having a car instead of walking. Our first stop was the natural bridge. Originally a cave, the ceiling collapsed over a thousand years ago, leaving only a portion of the original ceiling in place, creating a natural bridge. We crossed over a suspension bridge to get to the natural bridge. Stalactites grow from the bottom of the bridge. It was beautiful....
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