New Zealand 30

 We checked out very early but not before spending an hour discussing the varied postage one must pay "for the exact same item" shipped from various destinations via Ebay purchase. We were also both educated on the "proper way" to package porcelain figurines when preparing for long distance shipments. UGH!!!! 

Anyway, we booked our passage to the south island this morning via ferry and were excited to get back into the countryside. Our ferry left at 2pm so we had awhile to see a bit more of Wellie- we decided to make our way over to Parliament and the official district. Took a few pics and then made our way to the ferry landing. The weather was not too good so we spent most of the 3 hour ferry ride below deck reading and sleeping. Arrived in Picton, South Island well rested and anxious to get on our way.

Matt and Cynthia (to be continued) 

New Zealand 29

 We reluctantly went back to our room and very quietly (so as not to alert Joe of our presence) made a hasty retreat to the Mongolian BBQ. It was pretty good, though not really as good as it could have been for obvious reasons. You see, it's one of those restaurants where you choose all of the ingredients and spices/seasonings for your dish and the chef grills it right in front of you. Matt and I are both awful cooks so.... you get the point. Still, it was a nice (late) evening.

Matt and Cynthia (to be continued) 

New Zealand 28 Really Cold

We finally got into the city and went to the "Te Papa" museum first. They had a special exhibit on Egyptian mummies that looked interesting so I went to the exhibit while Matt (who had no interest in aforementioned) went through the usual tour sections. After the museum, we walked around town to several of the local shops and the main drag, Cuba Street, where we ate lunch at a yummy Turkish kebab place. I had a pair of pearl earrings handmade while Matt waited patiently. We also bought a halogen lamp heater (strange that neither one of us knew that halogen meant it was a bright, glowing lamp...but I will get to this later). We knew the south island would be really cold and the $10 blanket we bought was not going to cut it.

Matt and Cynthia (to be continued) 

New Zealand 27 Kai in the City

 Our palace for the night was called the Booklovers B&B and it really was very cute and oh so comfy. The innkeeper was really friendly and she even made dinner reservations for us at an authentic Maori restaurant called "Kai in the City". In Maori, kai means "food". It was a great meal although I am glad I didn't bring much of an appetite because the portion sizes were pitiful. Right next door is a restaurant called "Mongolian BBQ" and we are definitely eating there tomorrow night.

Polynésie

 

Polynésie

 

Polynésie

 

Polynésie

New Zealand 26 Very, Very Scary

 There were so many fantastic places to stay but no where to park unless you want to pay to park by the hour. Of course, we did not want to drive around Wellie all day and night, it is much easier to see on foot. We checked out a couple of places that were listed in our guidebook as "reasonably priced". 

Maybe they were but we never found out because the outside looked very, very scary. So we decided to check out the one described as a "charming literary flavoured B&B in an Edwardian villa". It was definitely to our liking so Matt negotiated a price that we could live with.

Matt and Cynthia (to be continued) 

New Zealand 25 Wellington

 Very much like, with all of the houses perched on the edge of the hills just above the sea. We liked it immediately. Unfortunately, the parking really stinks (because there is none) and the streets are almost exclusively one way. 

You have to laugh because you can literally be looking at the place you want to go but there is absolutely no way to get there without taking four streets to get back to where you were to start with. Anyway, we needed a place to stay that had parking and this is easier said than done.

Matt and Cynthia (to be continued) 

New Zealand 24 Kicked That Guide's Ass

 We did make it back however, thankfully before dark and I have never, nor will ever, be so happy to see a dumpy old camper van as I was that day. Lesson learned- NEVER LEAVE MARKED TRAIL. If we had gotten back earlier, I am convinced Matt would have kicked that guide's ass. Oh, and by the way, it took us every minute of 8 hours. ...

Hello all! Sorry it has been awhile since last posting....we have been on the go. Here is what we have been up to:

We drove straight to Wellington and arrived mid-afternoon. Wellington is the capital of New Zealand and as we drove over the bridge we were struck by how much it resembled San Francisco.

Matt and Cynthia (to be continued) 

New Zealand 23 No Path

 But the fun had just begun. When we got to the top, the "path" completely disappeared, it was nowhere to be found. We really did not know what to do. But there was only one thing to do. Descend back down to the original path. 

With no path, we pretty much climbed down 3 separate ravines to get to the bottom. 3 separate ravines because no single one went straight to the bottom without a deadly drop-off. I do not mean to alarm you folks back home, but it was a bad scenario to find ourselves in with no food and very little water.

Matt and Cynthia (to be continued) 

Sulawesi

 

Sulawesi

 

Sulawesi

 

Sulawesi

 

New Zealand 22 Red Crater and Emerald Lakes

 
We saw that the path continued up and we were in it at this point so we decided to keep going. The payoff was Red Crater and Emerald Lakes. They were very nice, but truly, not worth it. After we ate our last snack we decided to head back. We saw the "trail" along the ridgline and it seemed well traveled so we decided to do it, why not? I will tell you why not. For one thing, it took us to the summit (this was not in the plan) of Mount Tongariro at a staggering, heart-breaking 6,600 feet. It was pure hell.

Matt and Cynthia (to be continued) 

New Zealand 21 What Mars Is Like

 
Finally pulled myself together and made it the rest of the way to the top. When we got to the top (what we thought was the top), there were no scenic views, no beautiful vistas, just desert-like mountain. It must be what Mars is like. And to add insult to injury, the people with the heavy laden packs were halfway up the adjoining mountain volcano, Mount Ngauruhoe. People actually hike to the top of this thing (three hours return) and continue on the original walk. No, thanks - we had just climbed 2,300 feet in an hour.

Matt and Cynthia (to be continued) 

New Zealand 20 Eyes Began To Burn

 
As I struggled up, barely moving, people were wizzing past with not a care, carrying huge, heavy laden packs. Obviously, they had done this before. About halfway up, my eyes began to burn as if they were on fire. I soon realized that my sun screen was sweating into my eyes and I could see nothing. 

Matt was very sympathetic, he helped me wash them out but it took awhile (and he was using our precious water supply...but that's okay right, because we had enough?).  

Matt and Cynthia (to be continued) 

New Zealand 19 Straight up

 We were bouncing along feeling light as a feather and then....I couldn't see the trail. There were plenty of people milling about and they didn't seem concerned but I could not figure out what had happened to the trail. And then I looked up. Straight up.

The trail path took us right over the damn mountain ridge to the base of the volcano. I was more than a little surprised but I took it well. After all, I had been walking non-stop for weeks before we left (on the beach, at sea level) and fancied myself to be in good shape. Let me tell you, the climb was absolutely grueling.

Matt and Cynthia (to be continued) 

New Zealand 18 Mount Ngauruhoe

The guide suggested that we take the mountain ridgeline back instead of covering the same ground and no, it was no problem that there was no marked trail, we couldn't miss it, he said. 

Great, we thought, so we bought some light snacks for lunch, stocked up on water and drove to the trail head. 

The trail began beautifully. It was very scenic and the walk took us up Soda Springs Stream along Mount Ngauruhoe. 

To be honest, I couldn't believe how easy the walk was, it is listed as one of the 8 Great Walks of New 
Zealand.

Matt and Cynthia (to be continued) 

New Zealand 17 Missed The Last Bus

 
Today we decided to tackle our first real hike. We were in good spirits; the van was running well and we had soaked in all sorts of hot pools of ick so we were both feeling a bit like gumby on valium. So we went to the park transit office to arrange to be picked up after the hike (it is one-way in). Unfortunately, we had just missed the last bus for drop-off. No problem, the guide said, just hike in to the highest point (about 2/3 of the way) and hike back out. It should take around 6 hours.

Matt and Cynthia (to be continued) 

New Zealand 16 Solar Shower

 I haven't mentioned it before but Matt decided to hire a solar shower with the van at the exorbitant rate of $30. I was skeptical from the first but he assured me it would be a nice, relaxing way to unwind after a hot day.

A solar shower works under the concept that you actually leave the water pouch in the sun for an entire day thus allowing the water to warm up nicely. We did not do this. I am still cold. The freaking water was freezing. Anyone would laugh to see us hopping around, naked, trying to wash vital areas at the back of the camper van. Alas, the evening was at an end.

Matt and Cynthia (to be continued) 

New Zealand 15 Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland

 By this time, it was after lunch so we drove around a bit and then headed for Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland. This was a much larger park, in the same vein as Hell's Gate but with LOTS of color from various minerals. Our fav was the Champagne Pool, a large mineral pool with bright blue/green water with an orange shelf around it. The walking was easy so we got through the park pretty quickly.

We decided to spend the night roadside at a lake and, as there was no electricity, it made for an early evening.

Matt and Cynthia (to be continued) 

New Zealand 14 Yikes!

We decided to really live it up (it is a holiday, after all) and spring for the private spa mud bath followed by a swim in the sulphur pools. The mud bath was great, it really did feel as if it was de-toxifying the skin. The girl told us not to wear any jewelry in the bath or for 24 hours after or it would turn black which sounded a bit ominous (yikes, this stuff dried on my skin!) but really it was great. 

The sulphur pool was very relaxing and very stinky. Mmmmm....just the way I like it.

 Matt and Cynthia (to be continued) 

New Zealand 13 Hot Sulphur Gurgling Up Through The Earth

 No one got hurt, apparently. That time, if you know what I mean! Anyway, we went to the visitor center where we decided which atttractions to visit and then headed out. Our first stop was Hell's Gate Thermal Park. Now, let me tell you, this place was cool. Well, not in the literal sense, it was actually hot as hell....but very neat. It took about an hour to get through the park and we toured an endless number of boiling mud pools, steaming mud volcanoes and fiery pits of hot sulphur gurgling up through the earth.

Matt and Cynthia (to be continued) 

New Zealand 12 The Whole Town Is Smoldering

 We left Fernland, sadly, and headed for the famous, thermal town of Rotorua. Now let me begin by saying that you smell the town of Rotorua LONG before you see it. I was asleep in the back of the van as we were driving along and Matt thought he was going to have to wake me to let me know there was something wrong with the van- he thought the brakes were burning. 

I thought Matt had bad gas from the Turkish kebab....we were both wrong. It was Rotorua. The first thing we noticed when we drove in is that the whole town appears to be smoldering. It is hard to describe but imagine looking out the window to see great puffs of smoke billowing out from, well, everywhere. It was a sight. The residents are certainly more brave than I am. I felt very uneasy, as if the whole thing would explode any minute. That is just what happened in 2001 according to a "not too re-assuring" signpost.

Matt and Cynthia (to be continued) 

New Zealand 11 Small Alcove Of Ferns

 He said it was unlike any other camp park we were likely to find. It certainly was. This place was far down in a small alcove of ferns and the only way to describe it is "lush tropics". We soon discovered it was a thermal hot spring and our fee for the night included unlimited use of the hot pool. The water is constant 52 degrees celcius and they just made a new bore in the earth so the minerals were concentrated. We decided to go one better and hire the private mineral pool with open sky roof for half an hour. It seemed a bit dirty, kind of like those seedy rent-by-the-hour motel rooms, but we just went along with it. I won't go into detail here but......wow! was it worth it!!

Matt and Cynthia (to be continued) 

New Zealand 10 Is This Guy, A Skinhead?

 I got a few pics of Matt with the interviewee though. He was sort of a Japanese Ian Wright (GlobeTrekker for those of you that don't follow) but not quite as outgoing. Really nice though, at least what we could understand seemed nice. He may have been saying "look at the American asses, what is this guy, a skinhead?"

We left Cathedral Cove after lunch and headed down towards Rotorua. When we got there, we stopped to eat at a Turkish kebab place (these are quite common here) and the food was excellent. We then went to a small convenience store and the Australian clerk chatted it up with us for awhile. He suggested that we spend the night at a local park called Fernland.

Matt and Cynthia (to be continued) 

New Zealand 9 When BAMMM!!!!

 It took about an hour and a half but was a very easy walk so we just took our time. When we got to the cove we soon discovered it was worth the walk. We layed down on the rocks for awhile and I was just falling asleep when a Japanese film crew came over to interview Matt. Yes, I am absolutely serious. The interviewee, a young Japanese man, spoke to Matt in Japanese while Matt waited for his translator to translate. They were going about it pretty well and I was just getting my camera out to get a shot of the actual interview when BAMMM!!!! ...... a HUGE wave crashed up and doused the film camera with salt water. You can imagine how upset the guy was, furiously trying to dry out the camera. Thank goodness I was a distance away.

Matt and Cynthia (to be continued) 

New Zealand 8 Hot Water Beach

 This time, we made it. We drove straight to Hot Water Beach, hired a spade and dug a hole to lay in. It was fabulous.

Really, really hot water in some places...so hot you could not even touch. But some pools were the perfect temperature. It was sooooo relaxing. The hot water pools cannot be accessed until low tide. The tide went out at 5pm so we did not leave the beach until about 6.30pm. 

We spent the night at a holiday park complete with hot showers, kitchen and full laundry ... We awoke a little late this morning. It was our first night spent in the camper van (first night spent in any camper van) and, all in all, it wasn't bad. It was chilly so we ate a quick breakfast, showered and began our walk to Cathedral Cove. It was a fantastic coastal walk with lots of pretty foliage and animals along the way.

Matt and Cynthia (to be continued) 

New Zealand 7 Fretful Night On The Phone

 Finally made it back to Auckland around 9.30, tired, more than a little agitated and with no place to stay. We decided not to be picky and checked into the Kiwi International, an establishment of less than desirable inhabitants (as many residents seemed to live there?) and very dirty carpets. But they had a shower, at this point, my only requirement. Spent a fretful night on the phone with the credit card company trying to halt transaction. Oh, joy.

This morning we made our way back to the rental company and after lengthy and exhausting discussions, we decided to take their offer of a refund for all of the time beyond 30 days plus an upgrade to their best vehicle (and I use the term "best" very loosely). It was a newer vehicle though and more spacious so, once again, we headed out of Auckland.

Matt and Cynthia (to be continued)