Travels through Kiwi Land

I am in New Zealand!

Oh my, this place is AMAZING! I am in love with Kiwi Land. I arrived on Wednesday and immediately headed out to downtown Auckland to check out the big city. New Zealand is immaculate! No trash in the streets, no cobwebs growing in the corners, and recycle bins all over.

The current style of clothes is adorable! In Auckland I did a lot of window shopping. I want to wear that cute stuff… can’t in Fiji though. So, my new plan is to go on a shopping spree in Australia when I get done! Doesn’t that sound like a little slice of heaven!
A unique symbol of Auckland, The Sky Tower
The beautiful train station in Britomart.

Two nights in Auckland, then on Friday I headed down to Taupo because I wanted to do the Tongariro Crossing. By the time I arrived at my hostel’s front desk they said the reservation office was closed and I would just have to come down in the morning, by 5:40 am, and see if they would let me get on. So, on Friday morning, I got up at the crack of dawn and waited for the bus. It pulls up, they tell everyone to get on, so I just follow the crowd. It worked out just fine, they didn’t even care that I didn’t have a reservation as there was plenty of room.

The person who sat next to me turned out to be a really cool Israeli girl who was heading back home the next day. We hiked the challenging Tongariro together (and even did dinner and the bar together). THE TONGARIRO IS BAD A$$. The return bus will cost you NZ$55, but the experience was priceless. The weather in the National Park is extremely changeable and you can experience very different weather to what has been forecasted, this weather can often be extreme and dangerous. The winds can be so great sometimes when people reach the peak they have been blown off the mountain. Our weather was perfect! There was a lot of fog, but we were patient and eventually the fog moved on and would leave us a 10 second window to snap a picture of the emerald lakes against the red crater.

The Tongariro Crossing
The trail around the hills.


Alpine shrub with Lake Taupo in the background.


So much natural beauty!

Amazing emerald lakes. I think they were so blue because of how cold they were.


The red crater.



The Tongariro Alpine Crossing allowed me the opportunity to experience some of the most scenic and active volcanic areas of the National Park. The track winds up the Mangatepopo Valley to the saddle between Tongariro and Ngauruhoe. It climbs to Red Crater (1886 m), then drops down to the vivid Emerald Lakes. After passing Blue Lake, the track descends around the northern slope of Tongariro, then descends further in a zig-zag to the Ketetahi Hut. From the hut, the track continues down the mountain through tussock plains, then into the native forest to the end of the track. A full 8 hours of walking. Absolutely amazing.


One of the rest points along the Tongariro. It reminded me of the sign at the top of Mt. Victoria in Fiji.
Growth in an apline shrub forest.


The vegetation of an alpine region.

The next day I headed on to Wellington!



As I was riding the bus a young girl from England sat beside me. As we came into the capital we began talking about where we were headed. We ended up becoming good friends, exploring Wellington together, sharing MEXICAN food (fajitas, oh, I have missed you!) and my favorite New Zealand ice cream. We toured the jaw-dropping museum of Te Papa – Our Place.

The trolley ride that takes you to a scenic overlook of Wellington.
The Beehive Parliament Building in Windy Welly.

New Zealand is on top of modern architecture and art! The streets are lined with sculptures, even the library is supported by palm trees. There are many museums, galleries, artistic shops and art auctions. Just beautiful!

Must talk about the food too! Mmmm Mmmmmm. They have the best bakeries I have ever seen. There is no Texas BBQ here, such a bummer, but they make up for it with lots of cheese, fruit, and yogurt. Slight disappointment, it’s not berry season. Strawberries just came in, but my grapes came from the USA and blueberries, raspberries, etc. are really expensive. It’s all good though, I have never seen such beautiful grocery stores. Instead of those serve yourself candy dispensers, they have serve yourself nuts and dried fruit. I had to make myself walk right passed. Same with the chocolate isle. Unless America has changed a lot, I would have to say New Zealand is ahead – in the cleanliness, environmentally friendly, healthy options, and food in restaurants. I am really impressed!

Interislander Ferry to Picton

Onlookers while riding the Interislander Ferry to the south island.

Picton

Anyways, so Olivia and I decided to travel on together across the Cook Strait on the Interislander Ferry and then on to Kaikoura to view seals and sea lions.

Bus ride to Kaikoura.


Orchards galore.


Kaikoura

A lot of the beaches in New Zealand are just pebbles.

Oh my. Picture perfect Kaikoura stole my heart away. Beautiful beaches with snow-capped mountains as the backdrop. A short walk along the peninsula and you can see sea lions and seals in their natural habitat. They would waddle onto the rocks, swim in angelic maneuvers, and bark at oncoming visitors. When I was working at Sea World a few years ago I never imagined getting the opportunity to see sea lions face-to-face in the wild. Such a treat! I was going to do a whale watching tour since there are blue whales, sperm whales, killer whales, dolphins, seals, penguins, and albatross, but I ran out of time.

Soooo cute! First seal encounter in the wild!
The girls: two Americans, one English.
Taking flight.






A seal that needs some sleep.


The first night we stayed at the Lazy Shag. We met an American named Alli who turned out to be really cool. She was down to Earth, helpful, and always looking at the bright side. Enlightening! So, we all had the same idea of switching backpackers on the second night so that we would have free bike rental. We changed the next morning and immediately set out towards the seal colony. It was excilerating to ride through the cute coastal town with crisp wind running over my body. Once we reached the coastal section we were in Heaven. Absolutely breathtaking. Scary, barking sea lions within 2 feet, seaweed coming in and out with the tide, cliffs against the cold, blue water, and snow-capped peaks in the background. I would highly recommend Kaikoura to anyone traveling the south island.

Kaikoura. My favorite beach town included a scenic walk/bike ride to seal colonies!



Famous Crayfish Patties at: the Original World Famous Kaikoura Seafood BBQ.

My enjoyable time ended too soon and I hopped on a bus to Queenstown. The really neat thing about Queenstown was the hostel I stayed at. While on the bus I met a really cool guy from the Netherlands who was going to the same backpackers, so we walked together. Paul was a really cool guy with great jokes! We got along great trying to read my Lonely Planet map and asking locals who had no idea where the jail or train station were (what is that all about?). We finally arrived and it was an old jail transformed into a backpackers. Fascinating idea! It was the cutest jail I have ever slept in (lol, the only one for that matter). It included “stripes” for mug shots, a few showcases of actual items used in the jail such as journals, Bibles, flood lights, and padlocks, a jail cell set up as it used to be, and a view of the solitary confinement cell. So cool!
The Jailhouse in Christchurch. Decommissioned in 1999.

I headed out of jail early in the morning to catch the TranzAlpine train to Greymouth. The views were stunning. I think this was the first time I have ever ridden a passenger train over a long distance. I really enjoyed it! I arrived thirty minutes before my bus departed for the Franz Josef glacier.
The TranzAlpine through Arthur's Pass











Trains and cars must share this bridge.

Bus stop in Hokitika. I saw my first live kiwi here! It was in a nature center though.
The small beach town of Hokitika. Capital of greenstone manufacturing.

Pounamu, a form of green nephrite jade found in the South Island of New Zealand.

Franz Josef Village. Hmmm. Cute place. I hope you have money though. Every tourist adventure in these parts costs a lot. Anything from sky diving, helicopter rides, glacier climbing, and guided tours. I was going to stay a day and to the glacier climbing, but, of course, running out of time. You need at least two months in this country! So, I started walking to the glacier. It was about 2 hours before sunset and the walk was 4 hours return. Well, thank goodness people have big hearts and are willing to pick me up. I had this amazing family from Malaysia offer me a ride after about 2 km. We took the trail to the glacier, snapped some pictures, and they brought me back to the Rainforest Retreat. It worked out so perfectly. Their children are adorable and they were an extremely intelligent couple. I have met some really awesome people on this trip.

So Franz Josef is one of three glaciers in New Zealand. It is advancing about 1-5m per day and is the only glacier in the world at this latitude to come so close to the ocean. I read somewhere that the entire city of Christchurch fits into the glacier. I bet a helicopter ride would be the best way to view this one!
Franz Josef Glacier.


At night a few new friends and I went on a hunt for glow worms. We found them for free! Up at the Waitomo Caves it costs over a hundred dollars to view these in a cave.

My glacier trip was also cut short because I felt that I was running out of time to explore The Fiordland National Park… the main reason I wanted to come to New Zealand!

Bus to Queenstown.








On the bus to Queenstown I met a German guy who wanted to rent a car. It worked out perfectly for me since he was heading up to Christchurch the same day as me and he wanted to do similar stuff around Queenstown. He rented a car, we shuffled ourselves to the Routeburn Track for a one day hike.

The start of the Routeburn Track.














The next day headed to Milford Sound for a scenic drive and boat trip. In a few parking lots that we stopped at there were unique birds. One was the Weka - looks like a kiwi with a smaller beak. He was so cute! We also spotted several Kea – Mountain Parrots. They are so inquisitive, curious, and colorful. We fed one chips (and probably shouldn’t have) so I could get a good picture. Then he just followed us around the parking lot. Drive to Milford Sound.
So many sheep in New Zealand. I guess this would be why they are so famous for wool products.
Famous ferns of New Zealand.
The curious Kea.
A weka or woodhen (Gallirallus australis). These are a flightless bird species of the rail family. It is endemic to New Zealand.

Another Kea. Beautiful mountain parrots!



It was definitely beautiful, but I think most people can skip the Milford Sound boat trip and be just as satisfied. Although, I did see two rare penguins and lots of seals (they call them seals, I need to do more research, but I really think they are sea lions). Milford Sound
The picturesque Milford Sound.









Queenstown at Sunset




We finally headed back up to Christchurch for my flight to Auckland. All in all, the trip was a little different than I expected, but none the less, absolutely beautiful.

More pictures to come in next blog.