My crossing was more eventful than Erin's
The ferry crossing was rough, which at first provided some entertainment, but Erin got a little seasick. To add to that, our ferry was delayed, so instead of meeting my friends Naima and Heidi in Wellington at 9, we didn't make it until close to 11, which put a bit of a damper on the festivities. But we met up again the next day at the Te Papa, the national museum.
After a sushi lunch with the girls we decided to make the most of the crap weather and drive as far both as we could. Unfortunately we made it too far, and had to spend the night in a hostel because there were no national parks en route…oh and the forecast called for hail. So instead we spent a night on overused children's mattresses while drunk boys played rugby in the hallway. YES. love hostels (can you see why we avoid them so?).
After a sushi lunch with the girls we decided to make the most of the crap weather and drive as far both as we could. Unfortunately we made it too far, and had to spend the night in a hostel because there were no national parks en route…oh and the forecast called for hail. So instead we spent a night on overused children's mattresses while drunk boys played rugby in the hallway. YES. love hostels (can you see why we avoid them so?).
We made it to Rotorua then next day and were amazed by how much steam was coming out of the ground. We hiked a bit, went to Hell's Gate geothermal park and a Hangi (traditional Maori underground bbq) and cultural show at a reconstructed pre-european Maori village. Although a little wary of the cheesiness of this type of packaged culture, it was better than going to a hotel show, and Erin wanted to try hangi. And I learned how to do the haka.
We sadly weren't able to do what I had hoped to do in NZ which was carve our own Jade necklaces (a friend of mine had done that a few years back). We had to head out to Waitomo Caves for our blackwater rafting tour. This was really cool. We got dressed up in thick wetsuits that were totally stretched out, ancient wetsuit booties, rubber boots and caving helmets, picked out tire inner tubes that snuggled our butts, and climbed into a cave with freezing water. several times we got to stand with our backs on a ledge of a little waterfall and jump back into the river. i was sometimes terrified and repeating to myself that this is safe, and always freezing (shivering by the end), which our guides told us to smile about because "that's what we paid for!". And over tomato soup and a bagel, we did smile about the freezing. Because it was awesome. Oh, and we saw glow-in-the-dark worms. which are actually cannibalistic gnat larvae. sweet.
We sadly weren't able to do what I had hoped to do in NZ which was carve our own Jade necklaces (a friend of mine had done that a few years back). We had to head out to Waitomo Caves for our blackwater rafting tour. This was really cool. We got dressed up in thick wetsuits that were totally stretched out, ancient wetsuit booties, rubber boots and caving helmets, picked out tire inner tubes that snuggled our butts, and climbed into a cave with freezing water. several times we got to stand with our backs on a ledge of a little waterfall and jump back into the river. i was sometimes terrified and repeating to myself that this is safe, and always freezing (shivering by the end), which our guides told us to smile about because "that's what we paid for!". And over tomato soup and a bagel, we did smile about the freezing. Because it was awesome. Oh, and we saw glow-in-the-dark worms. which are actually cannibalistic gnat larvae. sweet.
that's going to keep me warm. oh yeah.
After spending the night in the Coromandel peninsula (but not actually seeing anything), our five days with Betsy (our car. She was a grandma) were over and we had to get to Auckland to return her. So began our last adventure. the secret one that Erin had planned for my 30th. I was excited to finally know what it all was, although a bit sad that I'd no longer get to see her try to pretend like we weren't doing anything. She had rented us a car and gotten us a B&B about an hour north of the city. Our well-meaning but ADHD host ruined the surprised that we were going horseback-riding the next day.
We woke up bright and early for a special breakfast cooked by the B&B owners, and had an eventful two-hour ride with the horses' owner. None of the horses were especially well-behaved and the horse that Erin was riding had a power trip over the one I was riding and so I was always relegated to the back of the line. I am not all that practiced in riding horses (i.e. I've only ridden once). so it was pretty "exciting" when my horse just took off in the middle of a forest, with me hanging on for dear life, getting smacked in the face by branches while I tried to get my feet back in the stirrups. And then when he decided to jump over a puddle and i ended up on his neck. it was fantastic. Really, I think i got the hang of it by the end. I'm sure it'll be gone the next time i ride though.
We woke up bright and early for a special breakfast cooked by the B&B owners, and had an eventful two-hour ride with the horses' owner. None of the horses were especially well-behaved and the horse that Erin was riding had a power trip over the one I was riding and so I was always relegated to the back of the line. I am not all that practiced in riding horses (i.e. I've only ridden once). so it was pretty "exciting" when my horse just took off in the middle of a forest, with me hanging on for dear life, getting smacked in the face by branches while I tried to get my feet back in the stirrups. And then when he decided to jump over a puddle and i ended up on his neck. it was fantastic. Really, I think i got the hang of it by the end. I'm sure it'll be gone the next time i ride though.
born in the saddle... sort of
After a little rest, we went into the Auckand for a craft beer and a fairly decent cocktail made by an entertaining bartender, and headed over a bridge (a requisite for a proper date) to a cute restaurant in the north of the city for a great dinner. Only downside to the whole day was getting stuck for an hour on our way home due to a head-on car accident.
The next day, wooo were we sore. Talk about being 30. we packed up our bags, went downtown one more time for some last minute shopping (I bought myself a USA rugby cap, ha), and then headed to the airport for our flight.
I'm still trying to figure out the moral of our time in NZ. Two weeks was way too short and we missed seeing so much (I felt this here more than I did in any other country so far), but I'm glad that we got that we got to come and see as much as we did. I hope we come back. Hopefully during rugby season.
- SB
The next day, wooo were we sore. Talk about being 30. we packed up our bags, went downtown one more time for some last minute shopping (I bought myself a USA rugby cap, ha), and then headed to the airport for our flight.
I'm still trying to figure out the moral of our time in NZ. Two weeks was way too short and we missed seeing so much (I felt this here more than I did in any other country so far), but I'm glad that we got that we got to come and see as much as we did. I hope we come back. Hopefully during rugby season.
- SB
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