We started off the journey in Auckland, at the very top of the north island. Being us meant we landed at half past 1 in the morning without actually having any kind of plan of how we were going to travel the country. We considered going on an organised group tour or renting a car but in the end, after spending a very long uncomfortable night in the airport, we made the snap decision of renting a campervan. As soon as daylight came we walked from the airport to the rental company and luckily enough they had a van available for us that very day.
It was perfect and we couldn't wait to get on the road but our first stop had to be the nearest campsite just so we could catch up on some much needed sleep!
The following day we spent sorting official business, applying for visas, booking trips and buying SIM cards, all sat in the comfort of McDonalds using the free wifi.
We decided our first stop would be The Shire. Being in the country known for The Lord of the Rings we couldn't miss the chance to go to The Hobbiton movie set and both of us being fans of the films, we had high expectations. The drive out there alone was amazing. Endless lush countryside, rolling hills and unexpected waterfalls.
It was a perfect day for it. The sun was out and we chose the right time to go as there were only about 6 people in our group compared to the 20+ filled with Chinese tourists before us. There was a short bus journey through the privately owned farm where it was set before we were led around the shire by our tour guide.
Delivering Bilbo's mail
Unfortunately you couldn't go in any of the houses but we did get a beer in the Green Dragon Inn. It turned out to be a really good day.
Our next stop was the town of Rotorua, a place known for its Maori culture and geothermal activity. As we only have a short amount of time we decided to kill two birds with one stone and do them both in one trip at place called Te Puia. The day started with a cultural performance, which involved some Maori people dressing up in the traditional clothes and putting on a show. It began with a kind of role play, where someone from the tour group was asked to be the 'chief'... Obviously no one volunteered so Sean bit the bullet and went for it. He had to first wait for the tribes people to come out where they put on a defensive show and left a leaf on the ground. Sean then had to then go pick up the leaf and slowly walk back as a sign to show we came in peace. Then we entered the hall where he had to go up on stage and great each of the tribes men by touching them nose to nose. So funny to watch, especially when Sean said afterwards that he accidentally head butted a couple of them.
They then went in to perform different songs, dances and the main the thing we both wanted to see, the Haka.
Nose to nose greeting
The rest of the afternoon we spent walking around the park looking at the exploding geysers and hot mud pools.
Keeping warm on the hot stone seat
We spent the night camping by the side of Lake Taupo with amazing views. What more could you wish to wake up to?
Before leaving Rotorua we did a quick walk around the Redwood forest and then made a stop at a 3D art gallery
That evening we drove to Waitamo, famous for glowworms and caving. We decided to do two caves. The first was the main glowworm one where you explore the cave in a boat, in the pitch black, and you see the lights all around you. Unfortunately you can't take photos of the glowworms so here's one off the Internet to show it better.
(Google)
The next cave we were supposed to go to was an adventure style trip where you are harnessed up and you scale the cave walls, go over suspended ladders and do rope swings etc. We'd spent the whole morning debating whether or not to do it because it definitely wasn't cheap, and climbing cave walls in the dark isn't really my kind of thing, but Sean was really excited about it so eventually we said ok and went off to book it. Fair to say he was more than a bit disappointed when they told us they didn't do that particular trip in the winter. :/
We went to see one more cave before moving on, and it turned out we were the last visitors of the day so we had a private tour all to ourselves. The guide was really nice and decided to make it interesting by turning all the lights off completely in parts to see if we could find our way through.
Unfortunately the next day wasn't exactly what we planned. We had both got an email from the Australian visa people telling us they needed more information of our plans, certified copies of our passports and the most annoying bit, a medical examination including a chest X-ray. They gave us 7 days to get it done, so that day was literally spent ringing doctors, finding the nearest library to use the scanners, finding a public notary to get our passport copies signed, and going to get the X-rays done. Needless to say it has been a very, very, expensive visa application.
We did manage to squeeze in one waterfall during the day though.
(Just for you Richard)
For our last excursion on the north island we decided to go all out and do the Tongariro Alpine crossing. We'd heard it was a must and it didn't fail.
As it is winter here, most of the hike once you get up near the top of the mountain is covered in snow so we had to do it part of a guided group which worked out great as you got all of the equipment and clothing included. The day began with perfect weather, the sun was out and the skies were clear which was essential for seeing the views once we were at the top. At the bottom everything was great. We were joking about how we regretted putting three pairs of socks on and how we had to many jumpers with us but oh how the jokes stopped. It wasn't until we were about 3 hours in, when we reached the first bit of snow, when suddenly the weather changed. It became almost a complete white out and the wind was unbelievably cold which made it so hard to breath at times! It felt like we were in a completely different country to where we had just been. We were about an hour from the peak and the only way to stay warm was to keep moving so we pushed on. We got to the top and as expected we could barely see anything which was a bit disappointing but still incredible!
Mount Doom
It came to lunch time and luckily our guide was well prepared for the weather and had a make shift shelter with him. It was fantastic. It was literally like a parachute where everyone stood around in a circle, lifted it up over there heads and then you sit down and tuck it under your bum and it makes a dome over everybody. I wish we'd got a photo because sitting there with the group eating ham sandwiches on a mountain, with a storm raging on the other side was bizarre.
The descent was much easier and we got the chance to have some fun in the snow by sliding our way down. You can imagine who was the first to do a big run and jump down.
It had been an amazing day and a great way to finish off the north island. Both of us were very sore the next day but with limited time we were still up at 5am and making the drive south to get the morning ferry across to the South Island.
:)
