Hello friends & family,
I am excited to share my experiences so far in NEW ZEALAND, which has been everything I hoped & more. To start my adventure, I flew from Sydney to Auckland on Saturday, 4 April, arriving at 11 p.m. The airport has a 24-hour shuttle running to the city, so I hopped on with heaps of other travelers on my way to my Nomads-Auckland accommodation. Luckily for me, an English girl was on my shuttle & also staying in Auckland for the next two nights before departing on a Kiwi Experience bus. We dropped our bags off then got to know each other during the hunt for food & free Wi-Fi. Auckland was full of life when we arrived so late on a Saturday night, so we sat out in the city & chatted for several hours before returning to our rooms & agreeing to meet & explore the city on the next day.
Devonport was a sleepy seaside town (at least on Easter Sunday), & we followed the map in our brochure along the water then through the main strip of shops & cafes to the top of Mount Victoria for a great view of the Auckland skyline. We then went on to North Head, where we got to see lots of cannons & old battlegrounds. We returned to the ferry terminal to see the most beautiful stormy sunset over the city. Dinner that night was Chinese in the city then back to the hostel to watch Hitch & The Internship with others in the TV lounge. The following day, Sereena left on her tour, so I spent the day sleeping in & preparing for my departure on Stray bus on Tuesday, 7 April. After debate over whether or not I should spend the money, I decided to head to the Auckland Sky Tower, which is a prominent part of the city skyline. I have decided to collect views of cities from above, as I have really enjoyed going up in Eureka Sky Tower (Melbourne) & Sydney Tower. The Auckland view was lovely & relaxing to take in the views alone, as I mentally prepared for the excitement of the coming days.
On 7 April, I met a group of fellow travelers outside of Stray's office, just beside my hostel. We made pickups throughout town then headed to the larger Stray office for a brief presentation on how to book the legs of our travel passes & to pick up a magazine with more information about each of the stops. After that, we were on our way to our first stop in Raglan, which is known for its famous surf beaches, featured in The Endless Summer.
To make things easier to follow, my travel days on the North Island are as follows:
7 April - Auckland to Raglan
8 April - Raglan to Mourea (via Waitomo)
9 April - Mourea to Lake Aniwhenua (via Rotorua)
10 April - Lake Aniwhenua to Whakahoro - Blue Duck
11 April - no travel; stay in Blue Duck
12 April - Whakahoro - Blue Duck to Tongariro National Park
13 April - Tongariro National Park to Wellington
One of the things I love most about Stray (& the reason I opted for a Stray bus over other options) is the focus on the natural & cultural parts of New Zealand rather than a party trip - NOT that partying isn't a part of my trip...but I came to New Zealand to experience & appreciate the land, & Stray has been amazing so far with providing those opportunities & taking us places that the more "touristy" tours would never go.
So...in Raglan, we stayed at a Stray-only stop at a really amazing rainforest lodge. It truly was a hippie lodge. Our long-haired, barefoot host greeted us off of the bus & ran through important things to know. There was a general no-worries policy, including no keys for the door. 10MB of Wi-Fi was given to each guest but the purchase of more discouraged & interaction with others on the trip was encouraged. There were several hikes that could be completed from the lodge, a short walk full of glowworms by the driveway, & beautiful black sand beaches nearby. Surfing lessons were offered, & a Swedish-style sauna was available for use. After unloading our things, we headed to the beach to watch the surfers & relax. That night, we all pitched in to cook a group meal of sausages, steaks, green salad, sweet potato salad, & mash. Dessert was apple crumble & hokey pokey ice cream. We played games & drank until late in the night & took a short walk to see the glowworms. I really enjoyed the time spent in Raglan & would have loved to stay longer if I didn't want to save my spare time for the South Island.
On Day 2, we traveled toward our first cultural stop in Mourea, passing through Waitomo. Waitomo is known for the hundreds of caves, many of which are home to many thousands of glowworms, which light up the ceiling like a starry sky. I had originally signed up for an adventure tour to go tubing through a river in the caves & observe the glowworms from the tube but at the last-minute, I decided that I really just wanted to see the glowworms & wasn't hung up on it being an "adventure" so I opted for a more low-key & cheaper tour with Spellbound. Several others from my bus joined me for a walk through one of the glowworm caves to a raft, where our guide had us turn off our headlamps & guided us through the cave (in the raft) in the dark. The view of the glowworms was absolutely stunning. As our eyes adjusted, the entire cave came alive with light. I've never seen anything like it. After the boat tour, we walked through one more cave & learned about the rock formations & natural history. I really was happy with the tour I picked & enjoyed getting to soak in the lovely sight.
After picking up the tubers, we headed on to dine & stay with the ngati pikiao tribe (one of the Maori tribes near Rotorua & another Stray-only stop) in their beautiful marae (meeting house), which had incredible carvings, as old as 300 years old! We learned a lot about different customs & beliefs & had to enter the marae in a certain way (women first) after passing over the ground & pausing to ask for the spirits' blessings. We then heard spoken Maori for the first time in long succession as well as several songs to ask for blessings & welcome us. We then learned a Maori greeting where we touch noses twice with the person we are greeting & then shared in a delicious meal & desert with our hosts. After dinner, we were treated to a show of dancing & singing & the haka (war dance of Maori men, performed by the All Blacks before games). The guys in our group then got to learn the haka while the girls learned a dance. My favorite part of the evening was speaking with Ruth, our "head host." She shared traditional stories of the creation as well as ghost stories & stories about her children & their tribe. We all slept on mattress on the floor of the marae, & it was such a special experience to be guests in such a special place. **Note: Out of respect for the tribe's wishes, I will not post pictures from inside the marae.
The second part of the North Island will come soon!
Until next time,
Alli
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