Wellington-Rotorua

The ferry ride over to the North Island was lovely as it passed through the Sounds in the South island before sailing over the Cook Strait and into Wellington. By the time we arrived it was dark and we were met by John's son and his wife, Ian and Libby, who took us for a quick drink in a bar along the waterfront before heading back to their home for dinner. The next day we caught the local ferry into Wellington for a day looking round and planned to meet up with Ian and Libby later that evening for dinner. Ian and Libby are both in training for an ultra-marathon (100km- insane really!) and generally aimed to run for around 6 hours over the course of a weekend as part of their training programme! Nicknamed 'The Windy City', Wellington seemed to be living up to it's name as it was very windy and drizzly at times during our walk round the centre. Our first stop was at the Te Papa museum which was huge, with the prime exhibit being a Colossal Squid that was caught accidently by fishermen a few years ago. Asides from this we also learned about Maori history as well as how early settlers from the West arrived in New Zealand and began a new colony here. After a lovely lunch in a cute little café on Cuba Street we decided to have a look round some of the shops before making the hike up to the Botanical gardens right at the top of a very steep hill! We had a good look round the park before heading back into town where we met Ian and Libby again for a lovely dinner at a Japanese restaurant the knew of.

 Maori carving at Te Papa

 

 Wellington City Centre water feature on Cuba Street

 

The following day, Ian and Libby kindly offered to drive us out to a few attractions outside of Wellington city centre. Our first stop was at the Stonehenge imitation that had been built at Aotearoa. Whilst not quite as visually impressive as the original Stonehenge in Wiltshire, the tour that we joined on to proved to be very interesting and by far surpassed our expectations! Being out of the City we happened to be close to yet more vineyards so decided to go for lunch at one before driving down to Cape Palliser to see the lighthouse and some Seals up close. Unsure whether we would end up seeing any seals we were both pleasantly surprised to find that they were there in abundance and closer that we had ever seen seals before...literally a few metres from where we were walking! Most of them were just snoozing in the sun although I couldn't resist trying to get a close as possible and was shocked when the seal made a loud growl/burping noise at me! After a long but enjoyable day out we arrived back at Ian and Libby's and enjoyed a lovely fresh fish dinner before relaxing on the sofa! During our time in Wellington, we also experienced our first earthquake...a very strange experience, with the strongest reaching 6.5 on the Richter scale! Poppy seemed to be more aware of them than me as I only felt two during our stay (and even then only as Poppy pointed it out to me) and consisted of the shelves rattling a bit, however, some damage was done to buildings in the city centre and both Ian and Libby had the Monday off work as a result. Exciting for us but after seeing the aftermath in Christchurch I can't say I'd like to experience anything much stronger!

 

 The growler

Luckily our bus wasn't affected by the earthquakes and we set off up to Tongariro National Park with the intention of walking the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, rated as the best one day walk in New Zealand! We checked into our hostel and were surprised to find out that we would need to hire crampons due to large sections being covered in snow and ice during winter. We teamed up with three, equally inexperienced, French boys from the hostel who also wanted to do the walk. I think the hostel owner was a bit concerned that none of us had ever walked with crampons before and was a little apprehensive about letting us go alone if the weather was at all bad, however, to join a guided walk would have cost 165$ so we were keen to do it by ourselves so long as the weather was good. We woke very early the next morning and set off to the start of the walk. The first hour or so was nice and easy along a well trodden path and gave us fantastic views of Mt. Ngauruhoe, the volcano used as Mt. Doom from Lord Of The Rings, until eventually we reached the steeper icy slopes that required us to put on the crampons. Luckily the weather was fantastic almost all day and it wasn't until we were over half way that the sky became a bit cloudy. We did have one or two exposed sections that proved to be very cold and windy but we pushed through and finally came out on the other side of the mountain where it was significantly warmer and a lot less windy! After seven hours of walking (including a short stop for lunch) we had finished the walk and were ready to head back to the hostel for a hot shower and an early night. Still feeling a bit sore and tired the next day we packed our bags and jumped back on the bus up to Taupo.

 Mt. Ngauruhoe (aka. Mt. Doom)

 

 Chilly at the top!

 

We planned to stay in Taupo for four nights and it was nice to be able to stay in one place for a reasonable amount of time without having to keep packing out bags all the time! Still feeling a bit tired from the walk the day before we settled down to watch a film in the hostel and had a nice relaxing evening. The next day we decided to go for a short walk over to a nearby honey tasting shop and also see the Huka falls that were en route. At last it was time for us to do our skydive! The weather outside couldn't have been better with not a cloud in sight so we were picked up from our hostel and driven over to the skydiving drop zone. After kitting up and boarding the plane we took off and climbed for what seemed like an eternity to 12,000ft where we were to jump. I was the first out of the plane, with Poppy following not far behind me. The experience was fantastic and I would definitely do one again...although I think Poppy was content with doing it just the once! I think I would rate it over the bungy jump mainly because you were falling for a lot longer and could enjoy all the scenery on the way down. Following our skydive we decided to treat ourselves to a McDonalds at the proclaimed 'coolest McDonalds in the world', so called because you can eat inside the hull of an old aircraft! If anyone wants to watch the video of us you can see it here:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Rfd-qDQqns

 

 

 Hukka falls

 

 Worlds coolest McDonalds?

 

 Wooooo! (Ollie)

 

 Ollie

Ollie 

Poppy 

Poppy 

 

 



 

We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Taupo with the Skydive easily being one of the highlights of our trip so far! Moving on up to Rotorua, we were excited to look round some of the geysers and volcanic parks as well as experience the 'Hangi', a traditional Maori feast. A friend of Poppy's dad had emailed his daughter, Sheena, to ask if we could stay for a few nights and she kindly accepted. The first thing we noticed when we arrived was the sulphur smell (aka. rotton eggs!) that lingers around the town from all the volcanic activity nearby. On our first day in Rotorua we caught the bus into town to have a look round and have lunch at a restaurant that had been recommended to us. I opted for a burger and was in awe at the size of it when it arrived (it defeated me- what is happening to me?!)! After lunch we planned to visit the nearby luge track but were disappointed to find out that the main track was closed for repairs. We'd booked onto our Hangi experience for that evening and so killed some more time in town before being picked up and heading over to the Maori village. The evening started with the unveiling of the food which had been cooking in a pit in the ground for around 3 hours. We then walked over to a river where the Maori men paddled upstream in their canoe chanting before heading over to the main stage area to watch more chanting, including a rendition of the Huka, and to learn a bit about the Maori culture. Finally it was time to eat and we tucked in to a meal of chicken, lamb, various potato dishes, traditional kumara (sweet potato), vegetables and yummy pudding. Feeling very full up we walked out to see some glow worms that were living in the forest before getting the bus home. It was an interesting experience and we were glad we did it. The next day we woke up nice and early as we had booked onto a tour of the Wai-O-Tapu thermal park. Our first stop was at the Lady Knox geyser to watch it erupt, which was very impressive although we were a bit disappointed to find out the eruption was artificially induced by soup/washing powder. We then headed on to the Wai-O-Tapu park. Annoyingly there was a very thick fog (and it was bloomin' freezing!) for the first hour or so while we were there so it was difficult to see much, however, it did lift after a while and we were able to see all the different coloured pools in all their glory! We were glad we went and returned back to Sheena's to enjoy a fantastic seafood dinner including fresh crayfish that a friend of hers had caught! Our time in Rotorua has been very nice and we are now moving on to Waitomo to visit the infamous glow worm caves before heading over to Hahei beach for a short visit and then finishing up our time in New Zealand in Auckland!

 

 

 How about this for size?

 

 Unveiling the 'Hangi'

 Lady Knox eruption

 

 The 'Devils Bath' pool

 



The Rest of the South Island

The bus moving up the West Coast of the South Island only goes twice a week during the winter months meaning that we had to stay slightly longer than is probably needed in Punakaiki, an isolated town with a local population of around 50! Still, we checked into a comfortable hostel right on the beach (the only hostel actually in Punakaiki!) and were upgraded free of charge as the hostel was almost empty...one of the perks of travelling in the quieter winter months. The Pancake Rocks and Blowholes are the most famous attraction here and are best seen at high tide, when the Blowholes are most active. As high tide was in the afternoon, we went for a long walk along one of the trails before making our way over to the Pancake Rocks. The walk was lovely and the weather couldn't have been better! After a quick stop for lunch we wandered over to the Pancake Rocks and enjoyed the show the blowholes put on for us before heading back to the hostel. We had a relaxing time in Punakaiki although could have left a day or so earlier than we did.



Sunset outside our hostel

 

The Pancake Rocks

 Blowhole!

 

 

Carrying on with our journey up the West Coast we headed up to Richmond and were kindly put up for a couple of nights by Denis and Pat, friends of Sue. We were treated to a fantastic home cooked dinner and were able to leave some of our bags there while we headed out to Tasman for our stay in 'The Boot'. Poppy had found this B&B before we left but we never actually thought we would end up staying here, however, we were treated to a night here thanks to a very generous mummy Jones and John! We checked in early so as to make the most of our stay and quickly got comfortable in front of the warm open fire! We had a very relaxed morning before making use of the bikes available to cycle to nearby Mapua for a lovely lunch overlooking the harbour, before cycling back to enjoy a very cosy evening in front of the fire. The next morning we woke up eager to enjoy the breakfast that was included in the stay...I opted for a full fry up and Poppy treated herself to pancakes with maple sugar, butter, lemon and sugar. Safe to say we were not disappointed and both felt very full up (I'm embarrassed to say my fry up defeated me!). As no one had booked to stay that night we were able to spend almost another full day enjoying our time in 'The Boot' before having to pack up our things and make our way to the bus stop to head back to Richmond. We were sad to leave but both felt refreshed from a couple of days of luxury away from the usual nights in hostels! Arriving back in Richmond, we were picked up by Denis and Pat who kindly put us up again for the night and then dropped us over in Nelson for our bus to Picton the following morning.

 

 

 Cosy log fire in 'The Boot'!

 

 Lunch at Mapua

 

 

 

Picton itself isn't the most exciting of places and doesn't offer much other than the ferry over to the North Island. However, it is located very close to the Marlborough wine region in New Zealand and we decided to book onto a half day wine tasting tour. The region tended to specialise in Sauvignon Blanc and all of the cellar doors we visited had a house bottle of Sauvignon Blanc although we did also taste some other varieties of wine such as Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Reisling and Pinot Noir. Our first stop was a the Cloudy Bay cellar door, one of the only ones that I actually recognised, and we really enjoyed the Sauvignon Blanc as well as a vintage bottle of Pelorous. Annoyingly this being our first stop we were reluctant to buy anything just in case we found anything better later on and ended up having to return here at the end of our tour! We visited around six different cellar doors in total (as well as a brewery and a fudge shop!), tasting around five to six different wines at each...safe to say we felt a little tipsy by the end of the afternoon! Feeling pleased that we had done everything we wanted in the South Island, we were ready to catch the ferry up to the North Island and see what that had to offer.