After the night of the super moon, Rachelle and I woke up in our Couchsurfers’ driveway:
Where we (intentionally) woke up.
The guys had left early for work, but they were really nice and left the door open so that we could use their shower. We did and then she and I hit the road because we were still intrigued by this question: Do cows like carrots?
As we headed to Cape Palliser, we stopped to find out the answer.
On the way to the southern most point on the northern island
But first thing’s first.
Answer: Not all cows like carrots
Once we finished our research and found out that only some cows like carrots (is this an anticlimactic reveal?) , we hopped back into the car towards Cape Palliser to check out more wildlife (seal colony) and a lighthouse.
Coastin’
The Cape was so windy, it even rocked our car. Every time we got out to see the cute seals (including seal babies!!), we almost blew away. I was sort of surprised the seals were heavy enough to remain on land; I was expecting a seal cyclone (a sealclone?).
Forecast for the day: Wind, wind, and more wind
Seals hanging out, soaking in the view, not blowing away
There was a lighthouse that Rachel and I were heading to. As we ascended the stairs up, we had to hold onto the railing for dear life because… wind.
To the lighthouse!
Trying not to take a tumble down all.those.stairs.
The most lighthouse-y lighthouse
That evening, there were many incredible places to choose from to car camp for free. Yay!
Like here 🙂
My bedroom
A great evening
And a great morning!
The next day, we kept with our regularly scheduled programming and decided to drive back up north across the country (criss-cross or bust), and stopped for a strange hike amongst wild rock formations.
Does this scream ‘Lord of the Rings’?
Nature-made castles.
After our hike, we stopped in a small town (small as in, 1300 people live there) for some food and drinks. We found a place that was a “side of the road pub” with pure local vibes. We had some really delicious meat (the meat is good in NZ because it’s free range) but lamented about our craving for a really good salad; they were hard to come by in NZ. No one does a salad like the USA.
Anyway, because this was more of a local spot, we were excited for the cheaper prices… How silly of us — they still charged $18 for two glasses of wine… but when in New Zealand, I guess.
Foodtography: at it again
Rachel and I always made up for this with our cheap accommodation ($Free.99).
The next day, Rachelle and I woke up from a night in our free camping spot where we slept VERY soundly.
View from our bach bed. Notice those clutch black-out windows.
Rae and I had planned a super easy day. We deserved it since we’d (pretty much) been to the most beautiful depths of hell and back. We headed to Tui Brewery whose slogan was: “Yeah, right.”
For example:
Harsh
Or:
Weddings are more than Just free beer…yeah right! I’m really keen to see your mother again….yeah right! It was a legitimate business expense…yeah right! Trust me, I’ve done this before…..yeah right!
Some more brilliant examples… yeah right.
We also had a great time using their billboard in the back where you could build your own:
Shout out to my dolphins!
Getting caught, acting normal.
There’s a 90% chance Scott actually saw this… Yeah right.
Super bummed about spending the day drinking beer… Let’s say it together, shall we: “Yeah right!”
Rae and I spent a good portion of the day at Tui before we started back on the Old Up Down (which is what we called our whole trip since we went back and forth across the country so often) and headed south on the thermal explorer highway, or the self-named explorer highway, or the nonthermal highway. There were a lot of beautiful highways.
On our way to Wellington, we laughed about the rules of the New Zealand roads we’d grown accustomed to like learning what a Spillway is or a give-way versus yielding. Oh, and the crazy drivers. At one point on the trip, we’d seen a car tailgating a truck so closely that the car’s bumper was literally underneath the truck. Seemed safe…yeah right! But, we also remembered how when Rachelle and I were at the gas station, the car in front of us was being an idiot — I was frustrated so I honked my horn, and the passenger got out. Very calmly, the passenger said, “I understand why you might be frustrated” and explained the situation. It was still really annoying, but Rachelle and I were ULTA impressed with how calmly this man handled my road rage. I would love to take some more life lessons from him….and I mean that.
Getting along well in Wellington
When we finally made it to Wellington, we headed to a museum with trippy, indigenous art including paint drips on the wall. After, we drove along the coast, ate a chocolate fish that was more chocolate than fish, and went to Carlucci land, which was just a place full of rust, junk, and miniature golf.
Art-ppliances
Art + Rust = Golf
That night, we wanted to find a cool spot for the full super moon, so we found some Couchsurfers to hang out with. It was interesting but, unfortunately, where we wound up, there was a tree, fence, and clouds in our way. We’d seen it partly full last night though, so it wasn’t too much of a tragedy.
Pretty SUPER
Bonus reason it also wasn’t a tragedy: We had fun hanging out with our very kind and very local Couchsurfers (Hana, Matt, Danika, Brianna, and Aidan). Everyone hugged us when we got there (and when we left, we’d tried to visit one of the girls at BP, where she worked, but she wasn’t there that day).
Hanging with our new friends under a Super Moon.
We all shared some drinks, talked about the Super Moon, and participated in a bit of culture exchange. Matt also mentioned that festival I had talked about earlier — the one with the first sunrise in the world. It’s called Gisbourne. At this festival, apparently, they play R&B, and usually about 30,000 people attend. Right, so, apparently I didn’t react properly when Matt first told me the numbers so I had to redo it……30,000!! That VERY BIG (for NZ). WOW!!!!!
Rachelle and I had a great time, and thanks to her bragging, I even got to chat in Jamaican Patois. We told the Couchsurfers how much we loved their country– “you have volcanoes, forests, mountains, oceans… What’s not to love?!” Hana responded with, “Yeah, we have everything but nightlife.” Touche.
This group then taught us the correct NZ response to “How many drinks did you have?” Proper answer: “Just a quiet one in town.”
Towards the end of the night, I received a compliment that I didn’t know I wanted. Matt told me that his best friend’s name was Sam. Goodness do I love the words best friend. TRIGGERED!
After spending the evening with our hosts, Rachelle and I settled into bach ready for a good night’s sleep under the gorgeous super moon, which we couldn’t see completely, but which we knew was there, so it was awesome just the same.
Rachelle and I woke up – on purpose – at 4:30AM (much to the chagrin of Rachelle’s 8:54AM alarm)…. and feeling like we didn’t have food poisoning!!!! In fact, we felt great (thanks DoC!). So, we packed up our stuff, and dropped bach off in order to catch a shuttle to the Tongariro Alpine Crossing.
I had seriously considered hitchhiking (à la Louis) to the starting point, but looking back, I’m glad I didn’t. Rae and I added on our own, bonus hike, and I couldn’t imagine how much longer the day would’ve been with the extra woes (and joys) that come with hitching.
So thorough that we planned exactly where our shoes would be at 6:10AM
We stepped off the shuttle and happily realized… we were going to have absolutely gorgeous weather all.day.long.
The beginning of it all.
Early morning chill with purple mountain flowers.
A view to start off our day.
The sun trying to catch up with us
The sun definitely catching up with us.
A couple of hours into the hike, Rachelle’s alarm, like clockwork, went off at 8:54am. Where where you at 8:54AM on February 19th?
At first, we started on the path with lots of people — it was too crowded, so we tried to duck off onto every side path but their were still people were everywhere. Scott would have hated this place.
Soon, we made it to Soda Springs.
To clarify, there was no soda to be found.
Warning! Are they sure they didn’t mean ‘Warming!” ?
And then, something magical happened. While on the trail… we were beckoned to the dark side like Frodo to Mordor. Mt. Doom was calling our names.
“Rachel!!” – Mt. Doom
“Sammi!” — Mt. Doom
We couldn’t ignore the mountain, because as John Muir once suggested — when the mountains call you must go. So we decided to walk up to the base of Mt. Doom just to see if it was possible. We had heard that people used to hike up there but now it was off limits.
Just a little farther….
Mt. Doom pulls you in.
…Until you find yourself heading towards the top.
Gorgeous view — both the girl and the mountain
We decided to should just outright climb the mountain. We literally had to dig our heels into Mt. Doom; it was 100 percent rock scree, falling out from underneath us, which was a bit unexpected because the beginning was deceitfully easy. It was one of the scariest mountains I’ve ever climbed, and the ground was volcanically hot, which made it even scarier. We passed literal steaming vents on the ground we were walking on. I guess it’s why they call it Mt. Doom.
We played a game to distract ourselves. It was called “What the BLEEP would we do if this (clearly active) volcano erupted.” It was a short game because we both came up with the same answer: Die.
The Depths of Doom– 2,291 meters tall (7,516 feet)
Despite the adversities, Rachel and I plugged away, making prockgress (hehe. Get it?).
The brink of doom sure looks good…
On top of DOOM
The smile you (still) have when you haven’t realized you have to climb back down yet
At the top, Rachelle and I counted our lucky stars: We’d survived…and we’d packed some of the best hard boiled egg I’ve ever had.
Hard boiled eggs, cooked in natural hot springs, taste better when you were just living in fear.
Hiker babe.
Up at the top, while eating our hard boiled eggs, we made a few friends right when we needed them. Because. Well. we were about to have to hike back down…and that was going to be even scarier than going up. (Sidenote: Rachel, remember when we met that 70-year-old man at the top, and we were incredulous.)
On the way down, our new friends motivated us down for a little bit, past the scariest parts, but then, they left us behind. And I didn’t blame them! We were butt-surfing cautiously, to the point of having to stop (frequently) to empty our underwear.
While butt-crawling down (and thanking our morning selves for dropping the car off at the end of this trail so we wouldn’t have to wait for the shuttle. We were on our own time.), we watched in awe as thrillseekers (or lunatics) literally ran down the mountain.
We finally made it down! Our detour had taken us 3 hours and 20 minutes. We sat for a few more, emptied the remaining rocks from our shoes, socks, and underwear, and washed our feet with baby wipes to celebrate our major feat (or feet).
————————
We practiced gratitude once again. We thanked the universe for being back on solid ground and NOT on volcanic rock scree (a gratitude we did not realize we were going to be professing when we woke up that morning). The bright side (besides having this amazing experience with my road-dog) was that the rest of our Tongariro hike was easier. Much easier. (Except for those last 6 kilometers, which were just straight downhill, rough on the knees, and not super scenic.) We were SO thankful we’d started so early in the morning, that I didn’t hitchhike, that our car was waiting for us, that the weather was spectacular, and since we’d taken a detour, that we’d to avoided the huge crowd from earlier that day. New Zealand (and Tongariro) for the WIN.
Proud of us!
Red Crater (above) and Emerald Lakes (below)
12 hours of hiking, most definitely worth it
Celebrating the hike with another baby wipe! (we wanted to wash off in the water but we weren’t allowed because it’s sacred)
Active volcano and steaming vents: We like living on the edge (of volcanic activity)
On the way back down, I’d met a math teacher who was carrying his student’s books. They were on a class trip and one of the students misunderstood what she was supposed to bring. I shuddered at the thought of carrying books on this hike. After Mt. Doom, though, Rachelle and I were descent advocates and ew showed people how to bury their feet into the scree, books and all.
Stunning, stunning, stunning
And Emerald Pool, quite deserving of that name.
Last view of Mt. Doom before our tough decent.
After soaking up the last of the gorgeous views, we headed back down. The ground was hard on our joints, so to distract ourselves from the pain, Rachelle and I talked about how well we were going to sleep that night and mused “we even have extra daylight to find a free car lot to sleep in”.
Doom’s end.
At the end, Rachel kept saying, “its around the corner I promise. I’m saying that more for me. :)”
On the road practicing #GRATITUDE
Finally, to the car, we felt Triumphant! Tired! and SOOO thankful! We enjoyed the lovely sunset as we drove to find our sleeping place for the night.
I’m forever grateful that I have a friend whom I can venture with to Doom and back. Returning from the dark side, ‘mi
Just a disclaimer: This post will be the shortest of the bunch. (Haha, get it? Because hobbits?)
The next morning, we woke up at exactly 8:54AM (which we did every day thanks to Rachelle’s very specific alarm. Where were you at 8:54AM?) to head over to a small little town called … Hobbiton!!
Must be this tall to enter.
Hobbiton was super cool and well preserved. It looked just like how it did in the movies!
Little hobbit burrow
The Baggins’ residence… we were there on party business
We really fit in.
The flowers were taller than the residents.
I scanned the community board for a job.
After the tour we stopped at the Green Dragon bar for an actual beer.
Name of the bar seems fitting.
Chairs of an excellent size.
Beers of an excellent size, as well.
As we drove out of Hobbiton, I contemplated…instead of working on a kiwi farm… should I come work at the hobbit village before my visa runs out?? I love how traveling puts the craziest ideas in your head THAT ALL SEEM POSSIBLE!
When we reached Huka Falls (our next destination), I was absolutely stunned by the breathtaking view and the BRIGHT BLUE water.
#nofilter
If you were ever wondering how something could be crystal clear AND blue, here you go.
That night, Rachelle and I decided that we were going to sleep in a hotel (sorry, bach) because, the next day, we were going on a pretty strenuous hike. However, to keep costs low, we were going to make ourselves some dinner on the road (some HOT food, finally).
What was on the menu? Just a carton of eggs, naturally. And how were we gonna do it? Naturally.
So, we tied a plastic bag to a stick, stuck a bag full of eggs into a boiling hot geyser, and got to cookin’. Don’t worry, we’ve done this once before.
**Sammi and Rachelle’s Wild Boiled Egg Recipe (with pictures)
Step 1. Buy a carton of eggs (and Tabasco for extra flavor) and find a (literally) boiling hot body of water
Step 2. Place plastic bag on stick; place eggs gently in bag
Step 3. Let eggs cook.
Step 4. Contemplate various – terrifying – diseases you can get from unclean looking water.
Step 5. Rinse off and try to forget about said potential diseases. FULLY enjoy!
We followed the recipe steps to a T, including contemplating the diseases we might get from the sketchy looking water. So, sufficiently scared from our Google search but also equally determined not to waste our HOT FOOD, we decided to only avoid the ones that were cracked.
We washed off the rest of the nine eggs and NOM NOM NOM! While we ate, Rachelle and I audibly talked about how we hoped that our dinner wouldn’t wreak havoc on our stomachs before our 12-hour hike the following day.
All the while, I was posting to Instagram and keeping Collin updated. He wasn’t the only one who thought we were a bit crazy.
Normal is relative.
We ate most of our boiled eggs smothered in a a gourmet Tabasco glaze, packed a few for the next day, and headed to a hotel where we were treated very rudely. So, onto the next one. We got a room and set about doing prep work for our extremely early and very challenging tomorrow.
While our stomaches were full from our hot meal…
Rae and I decided to practice gratitude: We professed how thankful we were for the incredible weather we would experience AND for how healthy (and not sick) our bodies would be. I’ll tell you, despite that ugly looking water, gratitude practice must work because there are more eggselent adventures to come.
Previously on NZ Frenzy: Dashboard-cooked noodles, jurassic park walking, a wonderful friend named Louis who came and went and then came and went, iced coffee, a friend named Beel, and all to the comforting tunes of Nelly Furtado.
After dropping our dear friend back in Auckland, and after what had been our designated domestic day (highly recommended), Rachelle and I decided to drive by Rotura Lake to accidentally check out the Norfolk Island Palm Trees, which just so happened to become Rachelle’s favorite tree.
so peaceful!
I spy with my little eye…a potential travel-inspired tattoo?
After we hung out by the lake for a while, we decided to make some more friends via Couchsurfing.
“Cowabunga! Surf’s up, brah! Gnarly!” — things Couchsurfers (and real surfers) probably never say
We had a great time with our hosts, and Rachelle was being my total hype girl (like she is all the time), and was so proud of me when talking about all the places I’d traveled to. The group decided to play this egg carton game but it didn’t last too long because we were tired. And headed out to sleep in our car so that we could wake up early to take our American host, Andrew, to work.
After dropping him off, Rachelle and I spent the day traversing the (literal) steamy streets of Rotorua. And no, it wasn’t steamy because the people there were super attractive or anything (not that they weren’t, we didn’t notice), but literal steam rose from the ground because Rotorua was a volcanic field! A volcanic field with a FREE park….
You can’t tell in this picture, but there’s lots of steam.
Team Dream Steam
Standing by the lake with cool air blowing while simultaneously getting hit with wafts of steam coming from the underground was an exceptional feeling. It honestly gave me goosebumps, and I’m considering opening up a theme park where the only ride is a recreation of this sensation. I absolutely LOVE hot and cold combos especially when it comes to food, and this was like the skin version.
If pictures could give you feelings…
Soakin’ up the steam
5-star (FREE) spa experience. All natural. Highly recommended.
After that rejuvenating experience (Have I mentioned how GOOD the steam felt, right?), we were inspired to pretend (but not too hard) to be thermal explorers as we cruised down the Thermal Explorer Highway (actual name). It was pretty crazy– we saw Wai-o-tau, which was a crazy volcanic landscape. It was a thermal wonderland.
The primary colors in action
Going green.
Giving Yellowstone a run for its money.
#NoFilterNeeded.. Unless you’re gonna try to drink from it (not recommended)]
While we wandered around this thermal wonderland, we saw so many colors! Including the super purple berries (but not blueberries) that we saw at a place called Craters of the Moon. It was stunning, and not something you often see in nature.
Willy Wonka-colored purple berries
Bubbling captured in the video below.
I know that in cartoons, hell is supposed to be the place bubbling with fire and brimstone, but we were in HEAVEN in this gorgeous landscape. It got even better when we were driving to our next destination and passed a bunch of cows and LOTS of sheep.
“The hills are alive with the sound of moo-sic”– (these are sheep but just baa-ck me up on this one)
Actual footage of us while passing the animals
As we drove by, Rachelle asked Nani (our GPS/ Siri): “Do cows like carrots?”
[STAY TUNED FOR THE ANSWER]… creating intrigue and it’s not even the end of the post yet.
Anyway, we were in need of some more animals because, well, we didn’t need a reason. Rachelle and I stopped at a cat cafe, which was a first for both of us. But sweet Rachelle LOVES cats, so this was a real treat.
A catpuccino
After getting hyped up off of the kitties, we headed across the island (zig-zagging) to visit the first sunrise in the world (eastern, northern New Zealand). They even have a New Year’s festival there! How cool! On February 17, 2019 — technically, Rachelle and I were 3 minutes off but, sheesh, it would have taken 4 extra hours to drive to the tip — Rachelle and I saw, what we’re calling, the first sunrise in the world.
Rae, should we go there for the festival this year?? 🙂
We had driven down towards Napier, which is a town known for Art Deco, and the travel gods were smiling down on us because they were coincidentally having their biggest festival right when we got there! However, this also meant that the free car parks where we planned to sleep were already full.
We ran into a really kind police officer who nodded towards a place we could take a cat nap and avoid a $200 ticket. We ended up sleeping right on the water (gorgeous). Saturday night beach bach, bi*sh.
On our way back (and forth) across the town to settle in for the night, we passed by the same Mobile station five times because….we kept changing our minds and going the other direction. It was humiliating. The first time was alright– two male employees stood outside and motioned us in. It was sweet. We found a pizza food truck, filled our water bottles #youknowit, used their trash can and bathroom, and talked to the men. They were super nice, and Rachelle and I decided that if they’d been from Pittsburgh, we would’ve called them “Yinzers.” 5 times was excessive, but we got past it (again and again).
After a literal crack-of-dawn sunrise, Rachelle and I went to visit Shine Falls, which is perhaps the MOST beautiful waterfall I’ve ever seen in my life. At least, the most memorable. To get there, we took a long, gravel road and at the end, we reached a deserted parking lot, got ready for the day, and ate Indian food for breakfast. What a fun life my road dog and I were leading.
One stunner of a walk
Three best friends
On Scotts recommendation, and because I was in New Zealand, I got naked. LOOK AT THAT WATERFALL!
Shine Falls was way off the beaten path, aka, as you can see, skinny-dip style. It was EPIC. Rachelle and I had brought Beel on the hike so he could float in the water and enjoy himself too.
Refreshed, the three of us prepared for the drive zigging back across the country, where we followed the signs and “drove to the conditions”. And the conditions called for some new music (not that we didn’t love Nelly), so Rachelle graciously downloaded some Jack Johnson. Yay!
And then, at some point during the day, we stopped to go on a quick hike for this gorgeous view:
Reasons why I love to stop.
That night, we went bach camping (obviously) at what our map called “a romantic recreation spot with glow worms.” We bought hot cross buns m&m flavor (BDSM&M — it was a romantic recreation spot, after all). Before we settled in for the night, we used their shower and thought back to the cute love story about a boy and a girl we’d made up on our hike. We didn’t make the people up. But we did make their love story up. They’re probably still together now ❤
Rachelle and I got cozy in bach and started a really bad Netflix show called You. It was so bad that we switched over to a show called Sense8, which I became addicted to and have since finished both seasons.
So what comes next? Do cows, in fact, like carrots? ‘mi
The morning after our reunion, Rachelle, Louis, and I kicked off our adventures with a long hike to the top of a waterfall.
View-tiful
Life on the edge
We decided that for Louis’s last days in NZ, we would try and take him to the parts of the country he hadn’t seen yet… Like the place in LotR where Gollum is trying to catch a fish (allegedly).
Wairere Falls
While we hiked, we practiced all the French words we knew like “chauffeur” and “schmeigal.” We did a little trivia and tried to figure out which states were part of the 13 original colonies, and then after the hike, we participated in one of my favorite pastimes — talking to Helen on the phone.
Rachelle was all hiked out by the end of the day, so Louis and I went on another hike to see the treetops in a scenic reserve. And since the third time’s a charm (so were the first and second times), we decided to go on ANOTHER hike to one more waterfall. When we made it there, no one else was around. So, we took an actual bath with actual soap. It was idyllic, if not a bit chilly. At one point, one of our beloved collector’s items (water bottle) fell into the water, and I laughed so hard that I cried.
The thing about Wharatoa Falls (our bathing spot) was that there was a bunch of dense brush around it, and the trail took us waaayyy longer than Scott (the guidebook) suggested (Scott must be a very fast walker). So, we actually ended up walking back in the dark, and this became another moment where I was incredibly grateful that there weren’t any scary critters in NZ. It would’ve also been a prime moment to see a Kiwi. We didn’t, but it would have been cool.
Notice the soap
On the walk back to our car, Louis said “Warming!” at the end of some conversation. It took me a couple of seconds but I realized he hadn’t said “warning” but was literally “warming” back up (getting hot and sweaty) because the hike back to the car was hard. I relayed that sentiment back to Rachelle, and it soon became a thing. It should be an expression, it makes sense. Whenever one of us started to get hot, we’d yell “WARMING!”
When we finally got back to the car, we blasted Nelly Furtado (naturally), and she sang us into the campground at 10:30pm. It was a gorgeous campground (thanks DoC)!
WARMING up to each other.
The next day, we had some breakfast and decided to have a domestic day where we went to the bank, the grocery store, and picked up a new blow-up Kiwi friend, Uncle Bill (Unk Beel in French). We called him Beel for short.
Rachelle+ Beel= Racheel
Time for a candid.
During the trip to the store, we stocked up for Valentine’s Day, which was fast approaching. We bought chocolate that was most definitely going to melt before we could eat it and champagne.
We also bought a second lunch to eat in the park for a second time. We’d found some new sort of Indian food to eat (precooked packaged noodles and a separate, yummy Indian sauce). Spicing things up!
A car chef creation
After our second lunch, we needed some coffee, STAT, but the room temperature instant coffee just wasn’t cutting it. Since it was a domestic day anyway, we spent some time driving around looking for a good coffee shop (and wifi).
While Rachelle and Louis chilled in the coffee shop, I walked around the shopping center and tried an oyster and some salmon wings. The latter of which I’d never heard of but was exactly as described.
When we were all ready to get a move on, we headed off to a Jurassic Park walk (without the dinosaurs…that we know of) with more iced coffees in hand. And let me just say: YUM AND WOW.
98 degrees Celsius…208 Fahrenheit.
That’s hot.
Jurassic Park sans velociraptors
Most of the hot springs here were faaaar too hot to sit in, but we took a short walk to another creek that was safe (although really hot, and took some getting used to). I made a video for Bel telling her how hot I was– a callback to when #HenWasCooked. We grabbed some drinks and then went to see some bubbling mud. Bubbling, plopping, noisy mud.. So.much.fun.
We were WARMING, when we got back to the car though.
That night, I played musical porta-potties (so disgusting), remembered how “that possum and I were not involved” the night we went Kiwi searching, and mused over the possibility of working on an actual Kiwi farm when I come back (visa ‘til 2020, ya’ll!). It was a pretty eventful night, looking back on it, because I also learned how the South Island does get cold, and Louis told me his hitchhiking stories and tips (like hitchhiking in NZ was a game, and that when you have a tent, you up your game), which inspired me to travel and hitchhike more. I was also more inspired than ever to learn French, and Rachelle told that National Geographic elephant story that we share together from Thailand. Traveling with her is amazing for so many different reasons, but one of the reasons is that she serves as a shared memory bank. Thank you for that.
Before bed, the three of us also met a New Zealander traveling around her own country; she had locked herself out of her van (with a citronella candle burning inside). It was awesome to see how the whole campground banded together to help her get back inside.
Mission accomplished
The next day, we were all warming, but before finding a swimming hole, we ate Watties (with the bodies. an offshoot of Heinz! almost good, but not quite, Watties.) outside of a BP. Our favorite were the raviolis in a pouch with creamy mushroom or pumpkin. A biker gang pulled through, and we had fun watching them while also filling up our water bottles and emptying the trash from good ol’ bach.
Afterwards, we headed to the largest waterfall where people commercially raft (IN THE WORLD); however, we didn’t want to get pummeled by the potential raftage, so we decided to go further down the river to find a swimming spot.
I spy with my little eye something green…
Swimming hole.
The next day was our last full day with Louis and his last night in the tent. And nothing says a last full day in New Zealand like exercise. So the three of us found a park where we could all do an exercise routine. And even better? The park had a lake and a FREE SHOWER (and an entire eco system living on it’s curtain). Also a rooster, so it was the triple-threat of parks.
Why did the rooster cross the road? Trick question. It wasn’t crossing; it was just standing there.
As the day came to a close, we cried. When the tears dried, we headed to the airport in Auckland to drop Louis off. We said our goodbyes, and then Rachelle and I moped around and walked around random parking lots saying, “I hear New Zealand is beautiful.” We did this for so long that we ended up leaving Auckland at rush hour of all hours. On the drive, we would both sneak quick looks in the rear view mirror expecting to see Louis. We reminisced about our good times. Rachelle even said that she loved him so much, she’d let him eat crackers in bed, which is a beautiful compliment — especially when your home is a car.
I want to interrupt this program for a VERY special announcement. And that is: The day after the Kiwi search was another special moment– Victoria’s birthday!! And she opened her present ❤
Two halves of a whole.
And another special moment, although in a sad way, was when Louis had to leave us to head to the farm where he was going to do some work.
Guess this is goodbye!!! (…or is it?)
But Rachelle and I kept our heads high despite the mildly disappointing Kiwi search and saying goodbye to our new friend. Rachelle and I, at least in the back of our minds, were determined to come back with a stronger light to see some Kiwis.
That afternoon, however, we were ready to take on a new adventure and headed to the Waipu caves to see some radiant worms. So radiant, in fact, they were glowing (#EasyBreezyBeautiful). Once the rods in our eyes had adjusted (#science), and we marveled in the glow worms’ beauty, we decided to head farther south.
But there was a BIG GAPING HOLE the size of Louis in the backseat– no, really, the backseat was empty. So we decided to see if we could make some more new friends and we went couchsurfing in Hamilton. While we waited to see if we got any responses on our Couchsurfing messages (divide and conquer), we did – what else – trip planning. We read the entire book while we drank wine and talked to each other about the south parts of the north island.
And Luke responded on Couchsurfing. He and his Dutch roommate essentially said ‘come on over’. We were going to arrive at 10pm, but Rachelle and I were bringing the party.
These are our dress up clothes.
I forgot to tell you guys, but whole time we’d been in New Zealand, Rachelle and I had low-key looking for the city-equivalent of Greensburg in Pittsburgh. And when we got to Hamilton, we found it. We had a BLAST, with our Couchsurfing hosts. So much fun that the 4 of us didn’t go to bed until 4am. Pro tip: match the number of people to your bedtime (i.e., 4 people→ go to bed a 4am). We spent the night (and a good chunk of the wee morning) playing with a foam roller and an indoor soccer ball. I could tell he’d grown up with younger sisters because he was so nice, especially when I cut my toe being overly competitive.
The next day, all 4 of us were very hungover, but the bright side is that being hungover with someone all day is truly the best way to get to know them. We helped the guys with their weekend chores and Rachelle and I went to the store (barefoot of course) for some breakfast material.
Soup from Country Vic-toe-ria
When we got back from shopping Rachelle cooked and the Dutch roommate and I cleaned the entire kitchen. Rachelle and I also did some laundry. It was so hot outside that our laundry dried in 20 minutes, which meant we all had time to drive to Raglan, a surftown 40 minutes away. We spent a couple of hours there, and I was feeling particularly friendly saying hi to everyone that we passed.
And then, while hanging out in the water, I met Derek and his $1 surfboard from Canada. I got to play around in it and body surf on some small waves. Pretty fun.
Back on the shore, Rachelle told Luke he was a cool cat, and I couldn’t help but meow… I hoped someone would notice I was a cat too.
That night, we went to dinner at Chilli House; the guys had called ahead to order Szechwan, so when we got to the restaurant, the order was already cooked and at the table. Baller move. We had thick noodles with beef, and it was incredible.
Back in Hamilton, Rachelle and I were tempted to go to a speakeasy called The Book Club, but we settled for brushing our teeth together and falling fast asleep.
That night, and all the nights, I was so grateful for my wonderful, loyal, and kind friend Rachelle, who I still call Rachel.
The next morning, Rachelle and I said our goodbyes to the boys and filled up our water bottles (one of which we thought we’d lost– false alarm!) before heading on a grappling hike.
root for us.
The hike was super fun, turns out, we LOVE grappling. But at the end, it got gross. There was a very dense and intense locust section that Rachelle aptly called the “locust badlands”.
I spy with my little eye something gorgeous. Answer: it’s the whole picture
After the hike, she and I worked up an appetite (what else is new) so we ate food from a can (as we often did here in NZ). This was the moment when we learned that two spoons is too crowded for one can. And we started, logistically, sharing a spoon. If it’s not clear, Rachel and I became very close on this trip.
After our snack in a can, we drove to see another gorgeous waterfall that had an optical illusion, which you can’t really see in the picture, so it’s sort of like a double optical illusion.
All types of green.
While we were hanging around this beauty and watching the water fall, we texted with Louis and found out that his farming plans had fallen through and that he was currenlty Auckland bored and alone. Rachelle and I didn’t waste any time. We turned around and backtracked for several hours so that we could GO PICK UP LOUIS!
On the way, we realized we hadn’t taken any pictures with our Couchsurfing hosts. But, as Rachelle noted: “There’s no going back. Except for Louis!” We got ready to see him in the parking lot of a fast food restuarnat:
Q: How do you know you’re traveling? A: When you’re brushing your teeth and get ready in a KFC parking lot.
We laughed. We were essentially homeless in New Zealand, and we both thought about how traveling a few thousand miles to Southeast Asia would’ve made us high-rollers. Rich is relative.
Bench bartender, turned bench chef, turned car chef. Rachelle is moving up in her culinary career.
We made noodles in the car but found out that we needed actual hot water to cook the rice noodles. With ramen, you can fill it with any temperate water and let it cook on the dashboard, but rice noodles are a different story. They stay pretty hard; Scrappy couldn’t even finish them.
Dashboard Noodles
While we got ready in that fast food parking lot, we talked about how annoying this particular car lock was. We had to click the opener loads of times, continually clicking and unclicking it, just to open the door. Or to lock it. Which made going back and forth to fill up our water bottles and using the trash cans in the parking lots a bit difficult, but of course, we managed.
When we FINALLY reached Louis, he told us he loved us. WE LOVE YOU TOO. AND he had made (and then brought) dinner for us! (Classic French cuisine: Burritos) So sweet. We took it to a campground, about an hour away, to eat.
Our backseat lounge.
ReLOUnited and it feels so good
The next morning, without any shade, it was hot. But Rachelle, the matriarch, made us amazing homemade avocado toast to ease the pain. And it was less than $14, which made it extra special. Rachelle and Louis always bonded over food — the two of them were always talking about cooking whenever I left them alone. It was adorable.
That night, we met some amazing people; a family camper van with 7 homeschooled children, which I imagined would be a little rough. Louis was open-minded about it. In fact, he was open-minded about a lot of things. EXCEPT the gross coffee we drank (instant coffee with tap water) to save money. For Louie, the coffee had to be hot. But my Rachelle, SHE WAS SUCH A CHAMP! They both were. I had two amazing pals by my side– there’s nothing better than traveling with people with a strong constitution and a passion for always saying yes to an adventure.
So, if you remember from the last blog post, Rachel and I were heading up the Tutukaka coast, where we ended up at Matapouri bay. A little birdie (ok, it was Scott) told us that there were actual Mermaid Pools there.
We couldn’t find the mermaids.
Life’s a (hidden) beach.
Gorgeous shore = shore-geous
The bay also had great scuba diving spots; one was named Poor Knights Island, which I thought was ironic given that scuba diving is a very expensive activity.
Peaking through the trees.
Since we weren’t prepared to scuba dive, we decided to go on a lighthouse walk because we thought it was low tide (Spoiler alert: it wasn’t). So, we trekked through the water, got soaking wet, lost our shoes (and recovered them), and tied our keys securely to my bathing suit top so as not to literally be stranded on an island. Rachel and I did make it through to the other side but the lighthouse may or may not have been worth it… (it wasn’t). But hey, sometimes it’s the journey.
Made it in one piece AND with keys!
I could crack a joke, but I won’t
Cozy in the coves & caves
The walk through the high-tide was pretty harrowing, so we rewarded ourselves with a treat. Ice cream. And it was an extra special treat because the ice cream in New Zealand is particularly good– it’s extra creamy.
Don’t have to ask me twice
Rejuvenated by the ice cream, we went on another (shorter, less wet) hike later that evening, and ended up seeing a pretty gorgeous sunset.
Friends who hike/travel/sleep in baches together stay together
Just another stunning New Zealand moment
The next morning, we did some more hiking in Whangaruru. Rachel and I started at the campground where the nice DoC lady working there let us use their showers. THANKS, DOC. After the hike, we found an outdoor shower and then got all dressed up (literally put dresses on) because we were FINALLY CLEAN. It had been the first shower we’d found since leaving Auckland. We also filled up our faithful plastic water bottles–you remember, the New Zealand collector’s items – red, blue, and green. And then last but not least, we emptied our trash from the car, because a clean bach is a happy bach. #householdchores
Tale of two ru’s #whangaruru
Since our cold, wonderful, and free shower left us feeling fresh and with a new zeal (ha, get it?) for exploring, we decided to stop at a K-Mart (surprise! They still have K-mart in New Zealand) to buy a selfie stick before heading up the coast to visit a winery in Russel.
Lookin’ like a couple of girls who’d just showered.
Wearing a dress calls for some wining and dining
While we were at the winery, we filled up our water bottles (a theme) and contacted a CouchSurfer named Duncan who responded to our super last-minute Couch request and told us we could sleep in his driveway along with another Surfer who’d already staked claim. We were so grateful for his generosity.
But when we left the winery, “Naani,” (the name we gave to our GPS) took us down the path that led to the ferry, which was dumb because it was closed at that hour. Classic Naani. So we ended up getting to Duncan’s pretty late– sorry Duncan!
In the morning, we drove out quickly and got ready in a fast food restaurant before heading on a hike to Rainbow Falls (see stunning video) where I got a wet kiss from Mother Nature in the form of moss. The hike was gorgeous and we saw three black swans.
Just mossin’ around
Hiking to the caverns behind the falls like a moss (two video links, thanks to Rachel!)
A moss(t) see view!
Once we were done admiring the falls (and the gorgeous moss), we headed all the way up north to the tip of New Zealand, Cape Reinga. On the way there, we passed a hitchhiker, and a minute later, turned around to pick him up. We’d thought we recognized him as a French acquaintance we had made at one of our hostels. We were wrong. And right. Because he was French, but he wasn’t from our hostel. His name was Louie and he quickly became our very good friend.
French ambassador working on American relations.
When the three of us got to Cape Reinga, it was pouring rain, but luckily we had some provisions to wait out the storm. The storm also gave us more time to get to know each other, and the more we talked, the more we got along. Louis, with his french accent, called Rachel ‘Rachelle’ (so in this blog she will henceforth be called Rachelle).
When we finally got out of the car to walk to Cape Reinga, we watched the Tasman Sea (a man) and the Pacific (a woman) meet and crash into each other. In other words, we watched the opposite waves cross over into each other. It was hypnotic.
The lighthouse at the northernmost tip of New Zealand.
Journey to the edge of the earth
After our quick sojourn, we headed back to the car and found a campsite for the night. We unanimously decided that Louis would stay with us for the next few days, so he pitched his tent, we parked our car, and we all got ready for an epic hangout.
Well that escalated quickly…
#FreethePip
Team SandyFeet
Hey MTV, welcome to my crib
Seagulls by the bay shore
The next morning, we were in need of some culture, so we went to a museum where we saw various videos of Opo, the world’s friendliest dolphin who “captured the hearts of people.” Unfortunately, Opo is no longer with us. After the museum, we went for a leisurely stroll and stopped for a cup of coffee and bought ourselves the best roadside purchase for only $1.50– a 2006 Nelly Furtado CD with no less than 5 hit songs including Promiscuous and Maneater. We also ran into Jean from the museum, who was actually my patron for getting the Nelly Furtado CD (she lent me the money; she knew how much I needed Nelly).
‘shrooms on coffee.
So, of course, Nelly Furtado became the soundtrack to our drive. We blasted it and played every song… I may or may not have gotten a bit carried away by sticking my head so far out the window that my sunglasses went flying. We turned around to get them, but by the grace of Nelly, they hadn’t been smashed by any cars #InFurtado’sNameAmen.
We stopped to see some Kauri trees, which is the largest (by volume) species of tree in New Zealand.
Tane Mahuta tree 51.5 meters high; 13.8 meters girth units; 17.7 meters truck height
After checking out some trees, we bought some red cellophane for our Kiwi search. Now, this may sound strange, but Scott had told us that since Kiwis are endangered and hard to find, they only come out at dark. So since they hate light, the best way to find them is to put red cellophane over our phones because the light will go undetected.
Pre-cellophane pic
Rachelle found the cellophane at a box store in the gift wrap section. She cheered triumphantly once she grabbed it, while Louis and I listened to some guy tell us that we had to drive 20 more minutes to find it (WRONG). But it was still nice talking to him. Kiwi’s are so funny.
Once we had our super state-of-the-art spy cellophane, we headed to Trounson Kauri Park where the Kiwis supposedly come out at night. We had some more hours of daylight, so the three of us took the time to do impromptu exploring, which consisted of going down every road that had a “brown sign” denoting some sort of natural attraction that wasn’t in our book. So we went off-booking with a very calm Louis, who was always down for our escapades.
Eventually we made it to the Trounson campground, settled in, and decided to go to a nearby restaurant (the only restaurant, actually) for some burgers. There we met a dog named Bailey and encountered a hedgehog on the road.
Filled with food and excited by our new animal friends, we were inspired to go Kiwi hunting. And by hunting I mean trying to find a Kiwi and watching it with teary-eyed joy. We were so determined to find a Kiwi that I even wore Patrick’s lucky socks (spoiler alert: they didn’t help, but I STILL think they’re lucky). So we washed our shoes (a requirement to keep the trees safe) before heading out onto the trail. We made made sure to stay on the paths since the trees roots are shallow and delicate, we did not want to trample on them.
And the journey begins!!
Just call us Rip Van Crinkle
We spent our Friday night crinkling through the forest (the crinkle sound is from the cellophane) trying to find some Kiwis. And I wouldn’t have spent it any other way. I wish more Friday nights were spent in nature.
We could tell there were Kiwis close by, but our lights weren’t strong enough, so we got kind of frustrated. At one point, we heard the trees behind us rustling, and we turned around quickly only to find…. An opossum. Not a Kiwi. An opossum who ended up stalking us. Not what we expected.
An itsy-bitsy spider
By the end of the night, we hadn’t seen any Kiwis. We did have loads of fun, but we went to car-bed disappointed. However, there was still a ton of time left, and we weren’t giving up that easily.
…. so guess what happened? Remember? That’s where we left off from the last blog?
Well, on our way to the rental car, I met Roma, a deaf girl from Germany who was traveling on her own. what. I’ll say it again. A deaf girl. Who’s first language is certainly not english. Traveling ON HER OWN. Internationally. Solo. Deaf. Whoa, I could not believe it.
Luckily, I know some American Sign Language (it’s such a great language), so Roma and I were able to start chatting, and I soon found out that beyond her very clear and apparent bravery, she was also just a wonderful and charming woman. I was so impressed. I wanted to know more. Rachel suggested I invite her to lunch AND I DID.
Roma was SO cool. Have I mentioned? The more I learned about her, the more impressed I was; Roma has an insane life story. She told me that she didn’t learn sign language until she was 14 because her parents refused to teach her. They forced her to read lips. And that no one in her family (still) uses sign language to this day. Like, at all. In fact, Roma hadn’t even known that sign language existed until she was out and about in Germany, and happened to see two deaf people communicating with each other in public. I can.not.imagine. I get goosebumps, even now, thinking about her life story.
QUICK NOTE ABOUT SIGN LANGUAGE:
The thing about American Sign Language (ASL) is, it’s American. Which means that German sign language and American Sign Language are actually very different. Reminder: Roma is from Germany. So when a friend-ish of hers came to meet up with us (he was also deaf), I couldn’t communicate with him because he couldn’t sign ASL and I couldn’t sign GSL (assuming that’s how German Sign language is abbreviated. But it’s probably not.) AND THEN, the plot thickened when another one of Roma’s friend-ish joined us, also deaf, and this friend signed New Zealand Sign Language, which, I learned, WAS ALSO DIFFERENT FROM BOTH ASL AND GSL. My mind was continually blown by this girl, Roma. Reminder, Roma could speak with me in American Sign Language! She was so smart. She was fluent in at least 3 sign languages AND COULD READ LIPS!!! This is understandable because her parents forced her to until she was 14, but THEY SPEAK GERMAN! And Roma can lip read in both english AND German. SHE’S INCREDIBLE. Bonus Roma fact: At lunch I found out that Roma is vegan. Why? In order to be kind to animals who have no voice. ❤
You can tell, I LOVED chatting to Roma and her friends. I was impressed. Seriously. I want to direct everyone in my past (and my future) who is shocked and worried by my solo travels to this girl (or lots of other kick-ass women that I meet). THERE ARE PEOPLE OUT THERE DOING INCREDIBLE THINGS! PEOPLE WHO ARE JUST DOING THE DAMN THING! They are out there. And they are inspiring. I hope I always come back to this and to her, whenever I think I have it difficult on one of my solo travels. Roma is truly an inspiration. Rachel and I chatted with her for hours (as long as we could) before we finally had to head out and pick up our rental car.
Here’s a quick video detailing a few of our days in Auckland and Roma. Check.her.out.
———
Today was moving in day. Our new home, aka the rental car, aka our vacation home, aka The Bach (New Zealand word for beach house; pronounced “batch” and not like Bach, the composer) was ready for us; we found a place for the guidebook; a spot for the water bottles; a home for the tissues.
Before we left Auckland, to go traversing into the wilderness of New Zealand, Rae and I remembered to look up what scary critters lived out there. Luckily, the answer was NONE. The wildest thing was, as we pulled out of the parking lot, onto the road, we reminded ourselves to stay on the left side of the road (left side, left side). In New Zealand, they drive like they do in England. Rae and I also played Left Side of the Road: Roundabout edition. There were so many roundabouts on the island that our guidebook (henceforth known as Scott) told us that there was a NZ children’s story called The Magic Roundabout. So cute. So true — they were magical.
We were going to stay on the north island for the entire trip. I know, I know, “But the south island…!” However, Rachel and I found our fun and our adventure in the north. So to start off, we went farther north. It seemed fitting. Our plan was basically…No plan. We were going to read the book, take Scott’s advice, and see what happened.
On the first dirt road we hit outside of Auckland, we saw a Kiwi sign, and that was when we realized our dream: To see a real life KIWI.
we will find you!
The first time we ‘officially’ stopped, on Scott’s recommendation, it was a waterfall that was well-off the beaten track. It felt like our first Tinder swipe with him…and we liked what we saw; a hidden waterfall!
Stumbling into Lord of the Rings
Channeling our inner mythical creatures (the unicorn towel) because New Zealand is a fantasyland
The falls were gorgeous. It was a stunning introduction to the north of New Zealand. That night, we slept in our bach, which is actually made to sleep in — it came with a mattress, pillows, sheets, and a blanket; the front seats scooted forward and the back seat folded down flat. The back seat was made out of ply wood and a mattress laid on top. Rachel and I emptied the trunk into the front seat, which then allowed us to lay our legs out in front, like so. It didn’t take us long before we had a great system.
Bach in action
Chillin’ in the bach seat
The bach was comfortable. Rachel and I had a really good month sleeping like this, and we slept even more soundly when we thought about all the money we were saving.
Right, so the next morning, after that first night (of many) in the bach, we went to a Maori (pronounced Mouldy) town, called Whangarei (pronounced Fun-Gah-Ray; the WH in Maori makes an “F” sound).
The far north was the only place on the island that had toll roads, which was fine because we weren’t spending any money on hostels. We set an alarm for every three days so that we wouldn’t miss the (very small) payments.
After a few hours of hanging around, Rachel and I couldn’t help but notice that people were going barefoot in all sorts of public places — now, mind you, we weren’t even close to a beach, and yet people were wiggling their toes around nice grocery stores (like Countdown), restaurants, gas stations, etc. It seemed normal. And I love doing things that are normal. So we started asking around and learning that people do it in order soak up the earth’s energy. Not even hippies. Just regular people. SIGN. ME. UP. Rachel and I went barefoot at the grocery store a few times, you know, just to fit in (but also to soak up the earth’s energy). It was LIBERATING (except when we left and had to walk on the hot pavement outside). I loved it, from my head down to my toes.
Did somebody say Chee-toes?
Another revelation in a grocery store? :
You don’t have to refrigerate your eggs.
While Rae and I were in Whangarei hiking and getting acquainted with the area, we realized that the Super Bowl was coming up! We called several bars to see which one would be showing it. Touchdown! We drove back into town, and arrived at Donnelley Station, the New Zealand bar that would be playing the game. It was decked out with American decorations. They even played Jack Johnson when the game was over. Hole-in-one.
Baseball called; they want their cracker jacks back.
New Zealand: Home of Super Bowl LIII
The bar, beyond playing Jack Johnson and putting up colonial American flags, sold cracker jacks and root beer just for the game. Spoiler alert: they weren’t a big hit.
“Cracker Jacks are more of a baseball thing,” I told the bartender. “Would have been good to know, eh?” he responded, talking to his mate.
Fun and Friendzy in NZ
Later, I started chatting up a stranger at the bar and it came up that I’m a big fan of comedy. He immediately responded, with his New Zealand accent: “How sad is it about Chris Farley?!” Really sad.
These strangers at the bar also introduced us to some New Zealand slang; we heard the word “dag” for the first time (not dog), which is an affectionate insult for someone with poor social skills.
——–
The next day, we went on our first date. But not like that, Col. Not with strangers, but with Scott, our guidebook. We had referenced that hidden waterfall as Tinder, and now we were ready to hangout more with our perfect match. Thus, Breams Head Point was, metaphorically, our first date.
The hill we happily crossed MANY, MANY times to find wonderful hikes and free places to sleep.
Back to our home, in our bach, we spent nights underneath the most GORGEOUS sky. I could’ve stared up at that starry night for hours, but the next day, it was time for another beautiful hike, so it was always important to get some rest.
One of our hikes was called Whangarei Heads — it had bunkers and WWII history. It was pretty empty, although, ironically, we did see a Japanese couple.
New Zealand; where the views never get “old”.
Fresh and inviting
Does this make you want to visit New Zealand yet?
Hidden beach
When the rocks match your shoes.
Collecting treasures.
A beach all to ourselves.
Somewhere you’d find a mermaid sunbathing.
Bench bartender turned bench chef.
Sustenance for the hike made by NZ’s finest bench chef (and yes we were putting room temperature soup on seaweed crackers and eating them).
All the hikes were incredible, as you can see; the views were gorgeous, and we quickly realized that it’s really easy to find yourself on a deserted beach when you come to New Zealand. In a good way. Not Castaway more…well, see below.
The weather was perfect. Our days were perfect. One hike blended into another. No wonder we didn’t want to go south. Or east. Or anywhere, really. But, the call of travel beckoned. And Rachel and I did decide to keep going north. On the way up, we stopped by Whangarei Falls.
Literally chasing waterfalls.
This hike was a success in that we saw gorgeous falls. We kept going, past the waterfall (just as Scott had recommended – also sidenote, at this point we love Scott) and seriously discussed bathing in a waterfall. When was the last time we showered? Rachel and I mused, not for the last time, over the possibility of running into Scott. It wasn’t that far fetched, he loves New Zealand, and we were following his trail, so why not? We even passed a guy who could’ve fit Scott’s description. As we passed him he asked us if we were locals, and we BOTH thought, “wow, that’s a question Scott would ask!” So we asked him a question in return: “Is your name Scott?” He said, “Sadly, no,” either because he really did wish his name was Scott or because he could tell we would’ve been so excited if he had been Scott and was sad to let us down. But in true Scott fashion, he volunteered tips for us on where to go next, and sent us on a path with fern trees:
New Zealand? More like New Treeland #amIright?
And we saw our first ever Kauri trees (which make up some of the most ancient forests in the world). They are huge and old, which is not something I’d ever want you to say about me.
Rachel gave one a hug ❤
Sunglasses next to one, for scale.
The hike was awesome but after it was over, we had to talk to the police on the phone. There was a scary guy following some of us women on the trail, asking uncomfortable and inappropriate questions. Which is really creepy at any hour, but it’s sort of creepier at 10am. A local woman called the police and asked us to corroborate her story which we did but, once she was safe, we didn’t stick around to see what happened next.
Even though we probably wouldn’t have gone on the hike if we’d known about the creepy guy on the trail from the beginning, we saw a lot of cool stuff. This hike was when we started to learn about the DoC #DepartmentOfCorrections. Just kidding. But I do hope that gross man gets reprimanded by the law; however, DoC stands for Department of Conservation. And every letter is pronounced; D.O.C.
Their website says, “We are the government agency charged with conserving New Zealand’s natural and historic heritage.” And let us tell you, they do an IMPECCABLE job. Rachel and I constantly found ourselves saying, “Thank you, Doc.”
And still, there was more breath-taking, natural and historic heritage to see in New Zealand! Rachel and I happily piled back in the bach, and headed up the Tutukaka coast where we……….
My epic trip to New Zealand wrapped up in the beginning of March but, like usual, it has taken me awhile to process this spectacular adventure. I’ve compiled my thoughts, writings, memories, and photos into twelve bite-sized blog posts that I will be publishing over the next month, or so. Spoilers: NEW ZEALAND IS WONDERFUL!!
I had my year-long working visa (which I recommend); I had my great guidebook with an equally great title NZ Frenzy (which I also recommend); I had my best friend explain the necessity of pre-packing by way of mitosis (see below); I had my road-dog, Rachel, who was meeting me a few days after I landed (yippie for friendship!). I was all set for a thorough exploration of New Zealand where I planned on working (ok, maybe not, but I would apply to jobs) and doing what I do best — finding adventure the moment my feet hit the ground.
When your best friend is also a science teacher.
Friends & Family: “What are you gonna do in NZ?” Me: “I’m just gonna wing it.
I had flown out of LA and, due to some bad weather, the flight took longer than anticipated. But I kept myself busy by watching Shape of Water and other movies during the flight. Overall, it was 12 hours (the flight, not the movie). And on the plane ride over, New Zealand Air flight attendants were handing out free wine, and though I said ‘no thanks’ because I was trying to avoid jet lag, I thought it was a pretty good indicator as to the type of fun that would be in store for me when I landed.
And I was right– not that they were handing out free wine everywhere (in fact, the flight was the only place I’d find cheap food & drink in all of New Zealand), but just the process of getting through customs and out of the airport was easy, breezy, and casual. And the smooth sailing kept on from there. I took a bus from the airport to downtown Auckland; I put my bag down at my hostel; bought myself a SIM card so that I could call around for jobs ASAP, and took a trial barre class (aka a free barre class) because I’m a firm believer in the idea that exercise helps reduce the effects of switching time zones. But also because I’m a firm believer in free.
After the class, I was hungry (obviously), so I found myself at the cheapest restaurant I could find — a sushi joint serving warm sushi (and not because it was trendy). But, because it had been sitting out all day. Now, for those of you that know me, you’ll recognize that I like to live life on the edge (…of potential food poisoning). I find that it makes for a strong constitution. And I was fine. Better than fine! I had saved some money.
Anyone know where Old Zealand is?
My first night in NZ, I walked around the waterfront and got followed by a live, large band — sounds terrifying but, ever since Mexico, it was sort of like a dream come true. The next morning, I did hot yoga for 90 minutes, which, at any hour of the day feels like a really long time, but at 8AM feels impossible. Your protagonist stuck it out though, and rewarded herself by taking a shower with all of my clothes on (laundry and a shower all rolled into one, nice). My hostel was only a few doors down and I went there to change. After getting nice and dry, I went for a walk, found myself some $14 avocado toast — because NZ is hella expensive — and who can possibly remember what else. This went on for several days before, on February 1st, Rachel arrived. YAY!!!!! RACHEL WAS ALMOST HERE!!!!!!!! My New Zealand trip was about to change for the better 🙂
❤ She made it!!
We weren’t allowed to check into our new room yet, so we used the grossest hostel bathroom we were allowed to access. It was time to get ready — Rachel is such a champ — and we became veterans as we navigated the sludge and trenches of the disgusting conditions. Rachel’s comb, however, did get traumatized from falling into some unknown liquid behind the toilet while we were fixing ourselves up. But both of them are troopers, and they have since worked through the trauma.
Once we won the Battle of the Bathroom — we looked impressivly good, by the way — we found out that the cheapest drinks were from the corner store. So we went to grab some stuff, ate kebabs for lunch, and got hired.
When Rachel and I first emerged from the corner store, we looked for the perfect bench to hang out on. Our exploration was Goldie Locks style: “This bench is too small,” “This bench is too big”, and “This bench has no back.”
We finally found a bench that was just right. Rachel became the bench bartender, and we had a flavored water drink with “zero” sugar. It was horrible, but we kept the bottle. In fact, we kept the bottle for the entire trip because things were so expensive. Bonus reason: It was good for the environment. We had a red bottle, a blue bottle, and a green bottle.
A collector’s item.
When Rachel and I were finally able to check into our hostel (which was $28/ night for a 10-person room…. Good lord) we decided to leave again and continue our day by walking uphill to The White House, which was set up like Congress.
Downstairs, there was a spa with cheap champagne and upstairs there was a place where you could pay to play pool. We skipped out on all of that. We learned that the employees weren’t allowed to have their phones with them – at all – during their 9-hour shifts, and the manager we had wanted to talk to showed up 45 minutes late. During that waiting period, though, Rachel and I came up with a spoof idea called Buckingham Palace, and the name of the bar would just be “Oooo.”
Once we left, we headed a few blocks up the road to continue exploring, and we met a trans-woman named Jessica who liked to shop. After such a whirlwind of people and places, Rachel and I decided we’d had all we could handle for the night, as far as this genre went, and we decided to go out on the town…in the opposite direction, towards the water. We watched as couples shared Lime scooters and discussed how dangerous it would be if she and I ever attempted to do that.
But I was sort of tempted. Fast forward to the next day, instead of trying to ride it as a couple, I rode one by myself. But to add to the challenge, a kid offered to race me. He won, unsurprisingly. And I didn’t ride a scooter again for the rest of the trip.
Participating in a race that I did’t mean to enter.
But anyway, back to the night time activities. Sans children, of course. On our walk towards the water, Rachel and I ended up in the bumpin’ (expensive) part of town. As we continued to walk, we asked for a comparison of drink prices, and when it got to be $10.50 for a drink (far too rich for our taste), we turned around but not before stopping to talk to some gay guys, an uninterested American basketball player, to pet some buffalo hide with a Brazilian blowout (a chair), and mingling with a friendly bouncer.
Next, we checked out a bar, covered in astroturf, that was hosting a private party. But the theme in New Zealand was American determination (you’ll see it again), so we didn’t let the private party hinder us from joining in the fun and enjoying the rose petals on the floor or the bowls of chocolate, lollipops, and condoms. We didn’t stay for very long…just long enough to enjoy the rush of crashing a party. When we’d had enough, Rachel jail-broke us out through a gate, yet another rush. Not supposed to get in, and not supposed to leave.
The party-crashing made us hungry, as it tends to do, and so we headed to get some Turkish food because it was the cheapest, hot thing we could find in NZ. While we ate, we watched two teenagers makeout — but, like, not in a creepy way. Just think of it as dinner and a show. I certainly did. Anyway, when we were done with our food, we looked for mischief, couldn’t find it, and went back to our hostel to look at the inside of our eyelids instead.
Rachel crashed hard since she’d just arrived and had a very full day (she’s incredible), but I, on the other hand, had a difficult time sleeping because the room was like a sauna and the door (which we were sleeping right next to) opened and closed all night long.
The next morning, because I hadn’t spent enough time in the stagnant heat that was our hostel room, I decided to sweat even more in a hot yoga session. Sometimes burning energy gives you more. When I got back, Rachel and I went to a farmers’ market and bought some delicious kiwis. Strangely, most of them were imported from Italy, so we had to read the labels carefully. The ones grown in New Zealand were golden bodied on the inside (pro tip: for convenience, I eat them with the skin on). Rachel and I tried some other yummy food samples, and my road-dog bought a coffee before we went on a long walk to a grassy crater, which used to be a volcano.
Volcano crevice or grassy knoll?
New Zealand does not lack gorgeous views.
After our long walk, we grabbed lunch at a perfect Malaysian restaurant that Rachel had picked out, and my food was so good that, as soon as I finished my first helping, I ordered it again.
This is a before and after picture, except both plates are the ‘after.’
I couldn’t finish the second, identical plate. Raise your hand if you could have seen that coming. (Dad, I see you raising your hand.)
Rachel and I continued on to more adventures, like a wooden door interactive art exhibit (lame), and a sensory maze, which was in a mall and ironically difficult to find. The maze ended up being one of the coolest things we did in Auckland because it was so much fun and just, overall, a really unique experience. Here’s a link for those who want to check it out. Or, for us, when we go back.
That evening, Rachel and I rented a car.
The next day, we woke up and headed straight to the tourist office to get the directions to walk to our rental car. AND GUESS WHAT HAPPENED???? Well, since I’m trying to create intrigue, you won’t get an answer until you read the next post. 🙂
(More) New Zealand fun and frenzy coming your way soon, ‘mi
Adventuresam 