Saturday, August 20 – Wellington to Rotorua
Our first day of travel started with a 6 a.m. wake up to make sure we were on time for our bus. Bev and I walked to a backpackers (hostel) to catch our first bus. The driver was really friendly, and we learned throughout our trip that Magic Bus does a good job hiring personable, friendly, and knowledgeable drivers.
On the way to Rotorua, we stopped at a few places to take pictures and stretch our legs a bit. Unfortunately, I did not catch the names of every place we stopped, but I did get some of them. Two of the stops we made the first day were at Lake Taupo and the Haku Falls. We made these kinds of stops on all the legs of our journey, but I will not mention all of them.
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| Haku Falls |
We hadn’t anticipated this, but our bus driver was able to book our accommodation and certain activities that we wanted to do en route to our destination. It turned out to be very convenient and useful because we found out about a number of activities that we were not aware of previously that turned out to be really fun. One such event was a hangi (dinner) and concert at the Tamaki Maori Village. We were able to walk through a ‘village’ and talk to Maori about carving, housing, games, etc. After, we watched a concert of dancing and singing, and then enjoyed a delicious dinner.
For better or worse, I was again reminded that I look like an Asian foreigner and not an American foreigner. When Bev and I were walking around the village together, there was a man talking about carvings. He asked where we were from, and Bev said, “The States.” He turned to me and asked where I was from. I also told him I was from the States, and his response was, “Okay then.” Apparently that was not what he was expecting. Later, I was buying a souvenir from the gift shop. The woman at the cash register started explaining that she didn’t have enough bubble wrap for my purchase. She put it in a bag and said that it wouldn’t get damaged this way, but then she said, “Oh, you probably don’t understand anything I’m saying.” I told her that yes, I could understand her, but I’m not sure that she picked up on my American accent.
When Bev and I got back to the backpackers, we went in the thermal pool. It was really steamy and warm and felt really good after sitting on a bus all day.
Sunday, August 21 – Rotorua to Taupo
This morning, we got on our next bus with a different driver and rode down to Taupo. We’d actually passed Taupo on our way to Rotorua. Our original plan was to go to Rotorua and go zorbing (going down a hill in a giant hampster ball), but it ended up not working out.
On the way to Taupo, there was a place to go bungee jumping, and Bev decided to try it. I, on the other hand, am not keen to bungee jump. I agreed to go skydiving, and I am excited for that, but bungee jumping has no appeal to me whatsoever. Bev had a good time though, and she bought a shirt that says, “Why live life on the edge when you can jump off?” It suits Bev very well.
Once we got to Taupo, we walked around and found a few souvenir shops. One of the things I bought was an All Blacks shirt. I am excited to wear it during the World Cup (which starts this Friday) and also back at home where nobody follows rugby.
Monday, August 22 – Taupo to Waitomo Caves
Today our bus ride was very short, only a couple of hours. The Waitomo Caves are pretty isolated from big towns and cities because people only go there to go in the caves and look at glow-worms.
The backpackers we stayed at was really nice. It was on a farm, and walking up the driveway, we were greeted by a cow on one side and two pigs on the other. There were a couple tables outside and the weather was nice, so Bev and I spent the day outside. We even took our lunch outside to eat. It was so nice to be sitting in the sun and hear the birds.
Tuesday, August 23 – Waitomo Caves
Our first big planned activity was today. We went on the Black Abyss tour of the Waitomo Caves. It was a 5-hour trip, and there were seven of us plus two guides. Our guides were really energetic and fun. The trip was different than what Bev and I were expecting. We thought the majority of it would be black water tubing, but in reality, that was only a portion of the trip.
Before heading off, we were outfitted in a thermal top, a wetsuit, boots, and a helmet with a head torch. First, we abseiled down to the cave, and in the process, I managed to get a pretty nasty rope burn between my thumb and pointer finger on my right hand. It looked pretty impressive for a few days after that. We walked a bit through the caves and then did a mini zip line to where the tubes were. At this point, we were given hot chocolate and a cave cookie. After jumping off a platform on our tubes into the water, we tubed a short distance to see the glow-worms. That was probably the coldest point for me. Eventually, we were told to get out of our tubes, and they were thrown up on a ledge. We walked and swam a ways before stopping for hot tang and chocolate. Then we continued walking and ended by climbing up two waterfalls. When we got back, they gave us hot tomato soup and bagels. Our guides had taken pictures throughout the trip, and Bev and I bought a CD of the pictures to share (one of them is my profile picture on Facebook).
Back at the backpackers, we spent more time outside and also talked to the woman who was working there. She had some pretty funny stories about the people who have come through the backpackers. She told us that we were cool Americans, so that was good. Bev and I do not want to contribute to the dumb American stereotype.
Wednesday, August 24 – Waitomo Caves to National Park
We didn’t get picked up from our backpackers until after lunch, so in the morning, Bev and I walked to the Discovery Centre. We learned a bit more about the caves and glow-worms. For our last bit of time at the backpackers before we left, Bev and I played on a trampoline that was outside, and that was really fun.
It turned out that the bus that picked us up from the caves was the same one Bev and I had from Wellington to Rotorua. There were more people on the bus than when we left it in Rotorua, and we could tell immediately that this group had bonded more. We found out that a number of them would be on the same schedule as us until we reached Queenstown, and one girl, Nina, would be traveling with us until we reached Christchurch.
Thursday, August 25 – National Park to Wellington
Today we completed our loop of the North Island. We did not make it all the way up to Auckland, but that may happen during our study week before finals. I do not know how anyone could study for a whole week before finals, and both Bev and I do not have finals until the second week anyway.
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| View from Mt. Victoria |
When we got to Wellington, the driver took us up to Mount Victoria so we could take pictures. On the way down the mountain, he had to take a very tight corner because there were cars parked on one side of the road and a tree on the other. The side of the bus scraped against the tree. It ended up causing one window to spider-web and the two windows behind it break completely. Since it was safety glass, the whole window did not fall apart but chunks of it did. Bev and I felt really bad for the driver because it wasn’t his fault; there was just no room for him to drive.
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| One of the broken windows |
