ISSUE 69: North Island, New Zealand 2018

It was finally that time of year once again. My sister and I were ready and packed for our girls to New Zealand.

We left Phoenix on Halloween eager for our big adventure, and didn’t arrive in Aukland until the morning of November 2nd. After getting through customs we walked outside into the chilly air to wait for a representative from the rental car company to pick us up. After about ten minutes or so of waiting, she arrived. She was incredibly friends and chatty as we made our way to the rental car facility. We spent a good amount of time filling out the paperwork, but then the next thing we knew, we were trying to decide who was going to drive first. Erica took the lead, and I agreed to co-pilot.

I headed to our first lodging which ended up being a pain in the butt to get into. We were staying at a rental apartment on the outskirts of city, and for whatever reason could not get into the garage. We kept having to call the landlord, as we tried to figure it out. Eventually, though, we were in, and ready to get settled. We took our time configuring our things and getting changed before heading back to the car .

We drove down the viaduct waterfront to wander around and grab some lunch. We stop in at Dr. Rudi’s to grab a bite for eat, and found ourselves underwhelmed by the food. So, when we were through, we popped into an ice cream shop, and I had a delicious cookies and cream cone! We didn’t feel like there was more for us at the waterfront, so we grab our car and drove down the coast a little ways to visit some of the beaches and see what else existed in the area.

Exhaustion started to set in early after all the traveling, so we headed back to our apartment to rest and come up with a dinner plan. After careful deliberation, we headed back toward the viaduct and opted to have dinner at White + Wong’s. There was a long wait for a table, which was hard to endure considering the jet lag, but it was worth the wait. We were pleasantly surprised by the wonderful flavors that each dish added.

When we left the restaurant it was very cold out, so we just headed straight back to the apartment so we could go to bed early.

The next morning we were up, packed, and out by 11 AM. We wandered into one of the cute neighborhoods of Auckland and ended up stopping at Ponsonby Central. We wandered into the large indoor market, and loved everything about it. We grabbed some breakfast and drinks at the Foxtrot Parlour, and I snagged some additional snacks for the road. As we headed back to the car we came across Emmaline Bailey, a very friendly and talented local artist. Erica and I were absolutely enchanted by her colorful art pieces, we couldn’t leave them behind. We purchased five or six, and said goodbye to the sweet creative.

We were back on the road headed toward Coromandel, and so excited to visit a beach town. As made our way there through the rolling hills and along the coastline, somewhere along the way we stopped in at a small cafe in a small town, and had a great lunch! I ordered beef sliders, and Erica got a salad. We hung out for a little while, while a group of older women at a table near by got rowdy while singing Happy Birthday & shouting “Hip Hip Hurray” for one of their friends. Erica and I love every second of and vowed to be just like those ladies when we grow up. haha. After eating, we walked up and down the short main drag of the small town, but there wasn’t much for us, so back to the car we went.

Coromandel wasn’t far off, so we went straight to our hotel in Hahei, the Hahei Holiday Resort. After check in, we drove around the ground searching for our private “chalet”, but struggled to find. felt we were going in circles until, finally, there it was, number 47. The basic suite housed the bare essential. Nothing about it was elaborate or posh, only neutral tones in dim lighting. To say we were underwhelmed would be a vast understatement, but our lack of interest in spending more time there than we had to pushed out the door, and down to the beach below. We walked on the sand a little ways, and decided to head back so we could get our gear to head to Cathedral Cove, when we drove up toward the inlet, we were surprised to find the parking lot closed, so we drove back down the hill. Unsure what to do, we just too the car back to our lodging, and walked.

As we embarked on our journey on foot, we didn’t anticipate the stroll ahead. We thought that from the parking lot at the top, we would just hike down to the Cathedral Cove. Instead, it was easily an hour an half walk on a paved trail one way. We faced some misty weather as we scuttled along the trail. When we reach the cove we were pleasantly taken aback by the beauty that surrounded us on both sides. While Cathedral Cove was beautiful, I think I preferred its counterpart, Mares Leg cove. Both were stunning, and the turquoise water looked so inviting as it moved to and fro, but the cool wet weather held us back. When we had our share of the views, we hastened back toward town, stopping at a cafe at the end of the road called The Pour House, for some dinner. We enjoyed a hot meal after our mild workout, and then headed back to get in a good nights rest.

The following morning we loaded the car back up, and headed into the town to try and grab some snacks to hold us over until we got to Matamata, home to Hobbiton. With a light breakfast in hand, we began our two and half hour decent to the Hobbiton movie set from the The Lord of the Rings. When we arrived around 11:30 AM we parked in the grass lot and headed to the ticket counter for two tickets. The first tour was at 1:30 PM. We had nothing but time to kill, so we raided the gift shop where we posed in mini wizard hats and joked about getting Brad a map of Middle Earth for Christmas. Since it was also just about lunch time, we stopped into The Shire’s Rest cafe to order a light meal and some hot drinks for a little afternoon pick me. We sat at a picnic table outside along the posted fence and soaked in the warm sun.

When 1:15 PM rolled around we got in line, and waited for the bus to roll up. Shortly, after our guide came along, an adorably funny and petite red headed closely resembling Alyson Hannigan, aka Lily from How I Met Your Mother. She made her remarks and then loaded us onto the large tour bus that drove into a large and private working farm just up the street. It was a short drive through the farmlands as an brief video played along the drive. Eventually, we reached a dead end where the bus dropped us off, and turned around.

For the next couple of hours we wandered into the shire. We stood amongst the small garden, and visited the tiny homes built into the hills with their brightly painted round doors. We saw the homes of Bilbo Baggins & Samwise Gamgee, the custom manmade tree that sits atop Bilbo’s home, and the bench where Gandalf blew a ship from the smoke of his pipe. It was all there. We learned of the behind the scenes secrets, and enjoyed the perfect weather that had graced our visit to Hobbiton. We closed out our visit with a stop at The Green Dragon Pub. I sipped on the hard cider while we sat by the fire then wandered around the exterior grounds. It was an enchanting way to spend the afternoon.

After our visit to Hobbiton, we hopped back in the car to drive to Waitomo which was another hour and a half away. We decided to head straight for the bed and breakfast we were staying at, the Waitomo Orchard Estate B&B. I had never stayed at a bed and breakfast before, and its safe to say that I never will again if I don’t have to. While the place we stayed was decent, the thought of sharing a bathroom with 3 other couples was a little much for me. After we checked in, dropped our bags, and locked our bedroom door, we drove further down the main road to find dinner. Waitomo was quite quaint and our options were incredibly limited since it was Sunday! We ended up at the Huhu Cafe, which was possibly the only restaurant open where i proceeded to have one of the best fish and chip meals of my life. In fact, everything we ordered was delicious starting with the risotto balls that knocked our socks off and ending with the chocolate brownie that satisfied my chocolate cravings for the day. It was exactly the meal we needed after a long day of commuting from point A to point B to point C.

There was absolutely nothing left for us to do in Waitomo that night, so instead of spending a wild night on the town, we headed back to our B&B and posted up on my bed to watch a movie on my iPad. Shortly, after it was lights out in preparation for the next morning.

We arose the next morning to a crowded bathroom, that left me lingering behind waiting for everyone to clear out. I was the last one to brush my teeth, and the last one to pack. After a simple breakfast provided by our hosts, we loaded up our little red car and drove back toward the heart of town. It had arranged a black water rafting tour through the glow worm caves. We were instructed to be there early to fill out our paperwork, and so we were!

When we broke into ur groups, we were sized up and given our heavy duty wetsuits, water socks, boots, and helmets. The women went to one locker room, and the men toward another to gear up for the big outing. Sure enough we all appeared decked out in our borrowed attire. I’ll never forget the stench of the wetsuit. It was positively vile. The truth of the matter is that wet suits and fresh water are not compatible, eventually the natural odor of its borrower begins to wear off, and it gets passed from person to person to person, further increasing the stinkage of the neoprene. Anyways, we eventually loaded into a van, and were taken a little ways a way where we first did some spelunking training. I could not wait to lightly spelunk down into the caves. I was the last to go, and was a little on edge as it was about a 30 ft drop down to the floor, but I slowly lowered myself down through the tight crevices and into the open spaces below. This was just the beginning.

We spent hours in the caves, climbing, wading, jumping into freezing cold water, and slowly tubing down the underground rivers where we were able to see the incredible twinkling neon blue lights of thousands of tiny little glow worm butts. It was magical, at least as magical as little glow worm butts can be. We were having the best time underground! At one point our guides pulled us through one of the underground lakes thats home to the New Zealand Longfin Eel which a few of us were lucky enough to feel bump against our tuchuses.

On the other side, we emerged from a small rocky waterfall where the creek met the caves. The way out was not easy, and definitely required the assistance of our guides to climb out. When we all had risen back into daylight, we lightly hiked uphill along the creek until we met the road. We stood on a small cleared patch of ground waiting for our driver. While we waited, we talked to the nearby cows and soaked in the warmth of the day. We could not wait to change out of our nasty stinky wet suits, and rinse off.

After our big wet adventure we were wiped out, but we had just had one of the best times together! I twas an incredibly unique experience for us, and we loved every second of it.. except maybe the freezing water. After getting ourselves cleaned up, and buying the photo pack from our tour, we made the drive back to Auckland to close out the first leg of our trip.

When we reached Auckland we stayed at another apartment, but this time we were right on the Viaduct. Our location was wildly convenient, but getting the key was another story. When we finally found it, we headed upstairs to settle in, start some laundry, and then headed down for dinner. Just a very short walk away, we dined at Headquarters. We split a few things on the menu, including a filet, and it was exactly the luxurious quality meal we needed after the intense active day we had. We relaxed and took our time eating while we listened to the live music and enjoyed the modern bohemian atmosphere.

The following morning we go our things packed up, and returned the rental car. We were eager to get to the airport, so that we could make our way south toward Queenstown.

…to be continued.