After our cave adventures, we grabbed a pb&j from the back of the mighty campervan and drove across to the western side of the peninsula. The landscape changed dramatically to more of the subtropical climate, very green and lush.
More windy roads and we were headed to the land of the Kauri trees (similar to a redwood, but cooler!) in the Waipoua Forest. The largest tree, named Tane Mahuta ("Lord of the Forest" in native Maori language) was protected by a fence. It measured 13.77 m across--larger than the General Sherman in California--and is more than 2,000 years old!! *SCRMW
I had been coughing for a few days, which I attributed to allergies from strange NZ pollen...but suddenly, as we were walking around, I was starting to not feel so good. I felt really cold and I knew it was nice and warm out...uh oh. Fever coming on? In any case, I tried to ignore it as best I could and focus on the awesome trees! We did a few other hikes *SCRMW to other Kauri trees, including the Four Sisters, Cathedral Grove--which really felt like worship, tall Kauri at the pulpit, the rest of the lush green vegetation nearby, warm sunlight suffused. We hiked to the 7th largest Kauri, "Yakas." I have always been called a treehugger, and finally we have physical evidence of it!
Also, the very cool koru fern, which symbolizes new life, new beginnings, a fresh start, etc. etc. Very cool! And so soft and furry, strangely enough. Kinda like a plant muppet.
Wendy took the wheel south, searching for gas (yikes, everything closes so early in this country!), found a nice local elderly man to show us exactly how to open the gas cap (geez, I feel really stupid) and gassed up. Onward south, we drove into the dark, me not feeling too well and Wendy made the executive decision (an excellent one) to stay at a motel due to my fever. I awoke to see the night sky full, I mean loaded, with stars. I told Wen she had to pull over and check it out (plus, hey, I kinda needed to pee, and it was dark so no one would see). I have never in my life seen so many stars, and I've been to western Maine where there is zero light pollution. Millions of stars, some brighter than others, the milky way arms, a full carpet of stars. No light pollution in Northland!
We ended up in Warkworth at a strange motel but it felt good to lay down on a bed and rest my weary bones. Lots of driving plus my fever and I was beat. Sleepy time...
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.
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!
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.
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.
