Day #3, Waipu Caves

On Sunday, Feb. 7, we left Auckland and headed to Northland, a long peninsula I suppose jutting up into the Tasman Sea. We caught our first glimpse of sheep and cows in extremely steep pastures. I saw what I thought was some sort of terracing, but realized that those grassy rows of ledges are how the animals get around to graze. The pastures are literally right up against the ocean and bays and beach towns. Tawny grasses made me think they were in a drought--came to find out that is normal, the sun being so strong as to literally scorch the vegetation.


We began our foray into the cheap-but-lots-of-fun exploration of the North Island thanks to an ab. fab. book Wendy bought called "NZ Frenzy" by Scott Cook. From now on, any of our adventures spurred on by said book will be acknowledged by a *SCRMW, short for Scott Cook Rocks My World. We would have missed a ton of cool adventures if not for Mr. Cook's little book. Best. Guide. Book. EVER.

Anyhoodle, as we made our way north, we took a detour on a very windy road through the hills, very rural, almost no other cars (yet we still saw recycling containers on the driveways--those Kiwis are super environmentalists!). We found our way to a little pasture valley with gorgeous rocks jutting out of the grass, over to Waipu caves at the edge of the pasture under some trees! *SCRMW


Wen and I walked in with our headlamps and flip flops (oh mighty flip flops, you persevered throughout our trip, in caves, gross showers, glaciers, and mineral pools, we are forever in your debt) and we soon found ourselves alone. My headlamp reflected the water droplets on the cave's ceiling and they looked like shiny mirror bubbles. There was a shallow river that we walked through and then turned off our headlamp and allowed our eyes to adjust.

It was perhaps the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Glowworms by the thousands glowed at various levels on the uneven cave ceiling. It was like being amidst the milky way, emerald green stars, points of light so close you could reach out and touch them. The worms has silk strings hanging down, I must figure out why this is. The sound of trickling water and the glow and the solace seemed like a peaceful experience from another Universe. Otherworldly and utterly amazing.

Other sights in Auckland

Auckland buses make me laugh

Day #2, Auckland

Ahhhh...sleep is good! Already adjusted to the 18-hour difference thanks to the sunny, warm weather. Wen and I put on our walking shoes and backpacks and off we went, city maps in hand, no real plan. We stopped at a breakfast/coffee shop, Wendy had an awesome quiche, I had toasted coconut bread with cream cheese and lime marmalade (must make and can that this year!), plus "black pudding" aka blood sausage. Amazingly tasty! Had some communication issues with coffee. The waiter looked annoyed at our asking, later I found out we should be asking for a "flat white," not coffee with cream. Oops! Not our first (or last) "we're tourists!" mistake.

We made our way through the city center and headed towards the Sky Tower, I believe it is the highest building in the Southern hemisphere at 220 m! Me, the one that is scared of heights, clutched the handrails and would not venture to the edge of the window. I was still able to see amazing views of Auckland, the bay and surrounding islands. People were bungee jumping from the top! Jinkies!


By around noontime, we headed out on a ferry to Rangitoto Island, a volcano island estimated at a mere 700 years old. All the volcanic rock is arranged from giant lava flows so long ago that created ridges and valleys every which way.


Lichens grew on some, allowing future and current growth of ferns, tea tree plants, the mangroves, plenty of other bushes and trees. It was amazing to see flora rooted in volcanic rock. We took a "safari" tour around the island, hiked 355 stairs (whew! Thank goodness we are in good shape!) to the volcano rim, crater and at the top was another 360-degree view of the surrounding islands and gorgeous aqua blue water. Why is the water so blue? I must find out.



The remainder of our day was spent walking around and relaxing, getting ready for the driving portion of our trip. Where will we go next? Stay tuned!

New Zealand, here we come!!

First of all, I am going to say that Wendy's blog about our New Zealand trip is WAY better than I will be able to put together, so I urge you to check out her blog at http://www.wendywordage.blogspot.com. It rules!

But I still want to give you my perspective on things. After all, when you have a major fever and cold, it gives you a very different perspective on traveling in a different country! LOL. Teasing. Well, only partly.

Let's start from the beginning: Wendy. Wendy rules. She is an awesome chick I met at the folk school as my roommate, and we were instant friends. Fast-forward three years later, I asked her to go to NZ instead of the folk school and I am so happy she agreed!!! What a great travel partner. She's outdoorsy like me, loves to do off-the-beaten-track types of things. We decided to rent a campervan--what amounts to a minivan with a bed in the back--to travel around the country and see and experience as much as possible. Wendy had 12 days, I had 18. We arrived in Auckland after a crazy two days in the air, yikes.

Fri. Feb. 5th in New Zealand was super sunny and quite warm--21 deg. C, somewhere in the 70s but the sun is way hot down there and the ozone thin. After some initial difficulties, I finally figured out (mostly) how to drive on the right-hand side of the vehicle and in the left-hand lane, in rush-hour traffic, wow!! What a feat, especially while delirious from the flights. There were a few close calls on the left-hand mirror (poor Wendy clutching the door, trying to kindly tell me I need to move to the right a bit more!!) but we made it intact to our first destination--the Barrycourt Hotel in the Parnell district of Auckland. Relatively cheap, clean, great balcony view of the skyline. We spent our first evening relaxing, walking around Parnell, purchasing wine to take to a Thai restaurant (it's byo at most restaurants), talking girly stuff. I like Auckland! Soon time for bed, thank goodness. I was beat.

Watch out for Update Whiplash

So...I've been extremely negligent in my blogging! I noticed that my last update was Aug. 6, a mere four days before I met The Buddhist Plumber...who ended up becoming my boyfriend and now my roommate. :-)

Jeff and I have experienced tons of fun times, hard times and silly times together since then and I am so grateful to have him and his dog Shelby in my life. But I digress...the main reason I am FINALLY updating is because I spent most of Feb. 2010 in New Zealand!! And there is so much to tell!! Look for upcoming posts about my trip.

diving in head-first

Literally.

The canning is coming along swimmingly, if messily...note: blueberries make a royal mess and syrup spatters! But, the results are definitely worth it. Next up: all things zucchini now that my garden is ready to harvest.

Also to note: I went surfing on Monday! As if I don't have enough hobbies. The sunset was gorgeous, out there on the water and feeling the wave energy flow through me and around me (and over me each time I was tossed off the board--never quite made it to standing position, but hey, it was my first time!), terns streamlining their bodies and plunging into the water in search of food...it was amazing to be part of that experience. I'm definitely hooked.