New Zealand: North Island Pt 2
October 26: Picton to Wellington
We took the ferry early in the morning, and grabbed breakfast on the boat. It was tasty. Amy and I learned on the ferry down that we both get seasick so she went to see if there was a way that we could have a cabin to sleep. While she was gone, I saw a rainbow!
We slept for 2 hours on the ferry and avoided a lot of seasickness. Phew!
Upon arriving in Wellington, we dropped the car off at the house we were staying at and caught an Uber downtown to grab some pizza lunch, do some shopping along Cuba Street, and head to Te Papa Museum.
This is SUCH a cool museum. I really enjoyed it. The Gallipoli exhibit had HUGE and very realistic statues/art pieces. I really wanted to touch them to learn how they were made. It was so fantastic, and I learned a lot about a piece of war history that I knew nothing about.
October 28: Wellington
Woke up at a decent hour to head to Zany Zeus for the chocolate cake that Scarlett Johansson fell in love with. Twas a very big slice and a decent almond milk latte.
We parked downtown Wellington and had a super hipster day along Eva street: chocolate factory, peanut butter factory, soda shop, and then we went up a cable car to get a sweet view of the city. We were lucky to have such a gorgeous day!
We made our way to Mr. Go's for dinner. It was awarded the Best Burger 2017, but they were out when we arrived. So instead, we shared 5 dishes and I enjoyed incredible pineapple infused tequila. I like Wellington!
October 29: Wellington to Wanganui
We woke up early to grab breakfast with a friend of mine from CISV. I last saw Bronwyn in Bali in 2011, so it was really nice to get caught up.
We made our back to the family house in Wanganui, where Amy works, and suddenly there was a whole lot of energy all around. 4 kids aged 8-15, 2 dogs, 2 cats, 2 parents, Amy and I. Whoa. It did not take long to get organized/settled and as it turns out, the family is super sweet and hilarious.
October 30-November 3: Wanganui
It was really nice to be settled somewhere for a few days. I got to cook and bake for the family (they are REALLY big fans of my Grandmother's Carrot Cake), watch a bunch of Netflix and Grey's Anatomy, hang out with Amy, and just chill.
Even though Halloween isn't a huge thing in NZ, we still took kids out trick-or-treating. That was definitely an experience, and I totally understand why, after a certain age, parents prefer to let their kids go alone haha Amy and I dressed up as the Cat's Pyjamas, and since it rained, I wore a unicorn shower cap. It was a fun night.
November 4: Te Kuiti
We drove 3.5 hours to check out the Waitomo Glow Worm Caves, but all of the tours were booked up for the day so we made our way to an AirBnB on a farm in Te Kuiti. The drive was lovely. We were definitely not expecting to make our way through fields of cows and sheep to get to the house. It was so cool!!!
Cows are WAY bigger than I realized. Also, they're mostly afraid of humans and especially cars, but one of them stopped and stared at us, almost like a dare and I was definitely concerned. I rolled down my window and flapped my arm asking it to "MOVE, PLEASE!!!! COW, GO!" hahaha
We hung out on our beds for a bit, then went into town to grab dinner. Twas delicious. And we grabbed some baked goods for breakfast the next day.
November 5: Waitomo
Quick breakfast of some sub-par baked goods, then we said goodbye to the dog Roxie and hopped in the car to the Caves!
So, these Glow Worm Caves. They are so neat. Within a limestone cave, which comes up out of the sea and is made of old bones from sea creatures and calcite, glow worms live in complete darkness. I learned that they have 4 life stages: egg, larva, pupa, adult. Their bums glow when they are larvae, and are used with a dangly saliva string to attract prey. As adults, they stop eating and only live for about 3 days: long enough to mate and lay eggs. Bonkers! No photography was allowed within the cave as it disrupts the worms, but these photos totally do the place justice.
I'm so glad we went. We grabbed some snacks and got on the road back to Wanganui. I'm a big fan of being a passenger.
November 6-8: Wanganui
Amy and I cooked for the family, I went to a touch rugby game, and hung out with the dogs a bunch. Poor Tuppy is totally terrified of fireworks, so Guy Fawkes day was a bit of a disaster for her. Oh, and she ran away one night but came back the next morning, despite us looking for her for a while.
November 9: Wanganui to Auckland
Alas, I had to say goodbye to my road trip buddy. Amy is a rockstar and an incredible friend. I am so, super grateful to have spent the last month with her. Twas a solid road trip.
Turns out, the bus to Auckland went the same route as the Waitomo Caves .... so, half the ride was what we had done on the weekend! Bah. Oh, and I found the twisting roads to be difficult on a bus so I watched Netflix on my phone. Thank goodness!
Got into Auckland around 8pm and grabbed a cab to my hotel. It was like a dorm room, with a sink and desk, but shared toilet/shower. I had some snacks from the bus so I ate in my room, watched a Disney movie, and went to bed early.
November 10: Auckland
Woke up without an alarm and went to a super great queer-friendly coffee shop called Revel. I had a delicious breakfast (too much food), had a sweet lil flirtation with the barista, and was given a huge almond milk latte in a bowl.
I used the WiFi to have a video chat with Kandace, though something was weird with our connection and I couldn't hear her, so it ended up being an entertaining attempt. She wrote a bunch of things down and gestured rather vigorously.
I went back to my hotel because my ovaries were super angry. So I lay down for a bit and watched a Disney movie. Upon realizing that I needed to eat something, I went to the store across the street and grabbed a bunch of unhealthy snacks, some tuna and a cider.
This is a huge chocolate bar and I ate half of it. Oh, I got a popsicle and forgot about it until it was half melted. Still tasty, though.
November 11: Auckland
I didn't leave the hotel. I watched a lot of Disney movies, lamented the crappy Wifi while trying to have video chats with friends (Thank you for your patience, Alex!), and ate the rest of the my snacks. Thank goodness for Sudoku, the sink in my room, yummy foods, and my awesome colouring book.
There was a very pretty sunset out my window. And it was actually a good thing that the toilet was outside of my room, because at least I walked around a bit. Not only were my ovaries angry, I was also alone for an extended period for the first time in a very long time. I began to allow myself to feel the end of a romantic relationship to an incredible human, and it was difficult.
November 12: Auckland
Decided it was important to leave my room, and that I was ready. So I wandered down Queen street to find a sweet coffee and stumbled upon a cute shop. Cinnamon buns don't seem to be a thing over here, but cinnamon brioche definitely is ... it's almost the same thing but slightly different.
Across the street from my breakfast, I saw a young person sitting in a blanket, very clearly high out of their mind. I say this because I saw them smoke something from a pipe and proceed to essentially fall over. Also, a few other people came to use the pipe and/or cigarettes and then left. I had to wonder: what's this person's story? How did they get to this point? Are they okay? Is this normal, for street folk and addicts to share like this (and I say share because there wasn't really a fight or disagreement about it, but I am not certain that it was consensual)? I wanted to go have a conversation when I finished my breakfast, and I intended to take some food, but my potential friend left before I was able to get there.
Made my way, somewhat by accident, to the FREE art gallery. It was super cool. I definitely enjoyed it!
My ovaries continued to scream, though, so I had to leave earlier than I would have liked to go lie down. Good news: it was a nice day and extra strength ibuprofen works wonders for my body.
After a couple of hours in bed, I was hungry and had plans for a video chat with a friend in Philippines so went back to Revel for a vegan cake and a warm drink. I made my first Facebook Live video, and apparently the shop closed without me realizing. New Zealand shuts down early! Whoops.
November 13: Auckland
I woke up and walked down Queen street to find some brunch. It appears as though Auckland found Christmas recently. That is one HUGE Santa.
Sat on a patio at a pub on a second level and had a Lamb Fry, which was lamb liver, bacon, spinach, potato rosti and a jus. It was absolutely delicious but I could only eat half of it because it was so filling. I had some tea and it arrived in this cute lil cup with a timer. I've never seen a timer like this! It had 3 options: green, black, and dark black haha
Hopped on the ferry to get to Rangitoto, Auckland's biggest volcanic island. There are a few remaining holiday homes on the island. They do not have electricity and rely on rainwater collected from the roof. The last holiday home was built in 1935, and for many years they were owned by the city but now belong to individual families who have worked out some kind of deal. No one lives on the island permanently.
Rangitoto means Red Blood and the island used to be a work camp for prisoners. They built 18km of road in a ring around the island, and also quarried the porous basalt rock. There is not much soil, and no surface fresh water, so plants grow straight out of the lava rock. This photo is the summit station, which was used for research and for weaponry. It was 175 literal steps to the summit. It is so steep that they've built a very tourist-friendly stairwell. The crater is 60m deep and 200m wide, though it doesn't look like a volcano because of all of the plant life.
Behind me are the outskirts of Auckland, I think ... To be honest, I am really not sure what I was looking at at different points. I had a vague idea only. Any of the red rock is oxidized manganese and magnesium. The black is basalt.
We took a tractor around the island; it was extremely dusty in the front row. It is possible to take this tractor for a tour, or simply walk up the whole way.
Check out this basalt rock! It's just so neat. And we stopped at a lava field, my first ever. How rad. This is land is now a bird sanctuary, thanks to a rodent eradication programme. The island had been filled with rats, rabbits, and stoats, but they're all gone!
This is the lighthouse.
This is a view of Auckland from the ferry. The boat ride was quite nice and rather picturesque.
I got back to my hotel, grabbed a book, and went to a park to sit in the sun and read. Across the street was a little French place, so I popped in there thinking I would grab myself a crepe. They had ravioli, so I got that instead. It was a disappointing meal; should've gone with the crepe.
Went back to my hotel, watched a Disney movie, and went to bed after a really great day.
November 14: Auckland
Packed up all of my stuff, put it in storage at the hotel, and went to Revel for brunch. I really like the barista; he was super fun and came to sit with me to chat for a bit. Very entertaining. I had a lovely video chat with my friend Jare until the WiFi credit ran out, and then went back to my hotel to wait for my ride to the airport for my flight to Australia.
To sum up New Zealand: I am going to live here one day. It was the most beautiful country I've been to, which is saying something because I've been to Iceland and almost lost my mind there. Every single day was beautiful, magical, wondrous, and inspiring. I have to wonder if I found it so comforting because it was all in English, after spending 5 months in Southeast Asia.
I am incredibly grateful to Amy for planning everything, being the best road trip buddy I could've asked for, and to my family for supporting my travel whims. I have very good people in my life, and I am super fortunate to experience the world the way that I do.
I flew to Melbourne in the evening, and this was my final view of New Zealand:
We took the ferry early in the morning, and grabbed breakfast on the boat. It was tasty. Amy and I learned on the ferry down that we both get seasick so she went to see if there was a way that we could have a cabin to sleep. While she was gone, I saw a rainbow!
We slept for 2 hours on the ferry and avoided a lot of seasickness. Phew!
Upon arriving in Wellington, we dropped the car off at the house we were staying at and caught an Uber downtown to grab some pizza lunch, do some shopping along Cuba Street, and head to Te Papa Museum.
This is SUCH a cool museum. I really enjoyed it. The Gallipoli exhibit had HUGE and very realistic statues/art pieces. I really wanted to touch them to learn how they were made. It was so fantastic, and I learned a lot about a piece of war history that I knew nothing about.
October 28: Wellington
Woke up at a decent hour to head to Zany Zeus for the chocolate cake that Scarlett Johansson fell in love with. Twas a very big slice and a decent almond milk latte.
We parked downtown Wellington and had a super hipster day along Eva street: chocolate factory, peanut butter factory, soda shop, and then we went up a cable car to get a sweet view of the city. We were lucky to have such a gorgeous day!
We made our way to Mr. Go's for dinner. It was awarded the Best Burger 2017, but they were out when we arrived. So instead, we shared 5 dishes and I enjoyed incredible pineapple infused tequila. I like Wellington!
October 29: Wellington to Wanganui
We woke up early to grab breakfast with a friend of mine from CISV. I last saw Bronwyn in Bali in 2011, so it was really nice to get caught up.
We made our back to the family house in Wanganui, where Amy works, and suddenly there was a whole lot of energy all around. 4 kids aged 8-15, 2 dogs, 2 cats, 2 parents, Amy and I. Whoa. It did not take long to get organized/settled and as it turns out, the family is super sweet and hilarious.
October 30-November 3: Wanganui
It was really nice to be settled somewhere for a few days. I got to cook and bake for the family (they are REALLY big fans of my Grandmother's Carrot Cake), watch a bunch of Netflix and Grey's Anatomy, hang out with Amy, and just chill.
Even though Halloween isn't a huge thing in NZ, we still took kids out trick-or-treating. That was definitely an experience, and I totally understand why, after a certain age, parents prefer to let their kids go alone haha Amy and I dressed up as the Cat's Pyjamas, and since it rained, I wore a unicorn shower cap. It was a fun night.
November 4: Te Kuiti
We drove 3.5 hours to check out the Waitomo Glow Worm Caves, but all of the tours were booked up for the day so we made our way to an AirBnB on a farm in Te Kuiti. The drive was lovely. We were definitely not expecting to make our way through fields of cows and sheep to get to the house. It was so cool!!!
Cows are WAY bigger than I realized. Also, they're mostly afraid of humans and especially cars, but one of them stopped and stared at us, almost like a dare and I was definitely concerned. I rolled down my window and flapped my arm asking it to "MOVE, PLEASE!!!! COW, GO!" hahaha
We hung out on our beds for a bit, then went into town to grab dinner. Twas delicious. And we grabbed some baked goods for breakfast the next day.
November 5: Waitomo
Quick breakfast of some sub-par baked goods, then we said goodbye to the dog Roxie and hopped in the car to the Caves!
So, these Glow Worm Caves. They are so neat. Within a limestone cave, which comes up out of the sea and is made of old bones from sea creatures and calcite, glow worms live in complete darkness. I learned that they have 4 life stages: egg, larva, pupa, adult. Their bums glow when they are larvae, and are used with a dangly saliva string to attract prey. As adults, they stop eating and only live for about 3 days: long enough to mate and lay eggs. Bonkers! No photography was allowed within the cave as it disrupts the worms, but these photos totally do the place justice.
I'm so glad we went. We grabbed some snacks and got on the road back to Wanganui. I'm a big fan of being a passenger.
November 6-8: Wanganui
Amy and I cooked for the family, I went to a touch rugby game, and hung out with the dogs a bunch. Poor Tuppy is totally terrified of fireworks, so Guy Fawkes day was a bit of a disaster for her. Oh, and she ran away one night but came back the next morning, despite us looking for her for a while.
November 9: Wanganui to Auckland
Alas, I had to say goodbye to my road trip buddy. Amy is a rockstar and an incredible friend. I am so, super grateful to have spent the last month with her. Twas a solid road trip.
Turns out, the bus to Auckland went the same route as the Waitomo Caves .... so, half the ride was what we had done on the weekend! Bah. Oh, and I found the twisting roads to be difficult on a bus so I watched Netflix on my phone. Thank goodness!
Got into Auckland around 8pm and grabbed a cab to my hotel. It was like a dorm room, with a sink and desk, but shared toilet/shower. I had some snacks from the bus so I ate in my room, watched a Disney movie, and went to bed early.
November 10: Auckland
Woke up without an alarm and went to a super great queer-friendly coffee shop called Revel. I had a delicious breakfast (too much food), had a sweet lil flirtation with the barista, and was given a huge almond milk latte in a bowl.
I used the WiFi to have a video chat with Kandace, though something was weird with our connection and I couldn't hear her, so it ended up being an entertaining attempt. She wrote a bunch of things down and gestured rather vigorously.
I went back to my hotel because my ovaries were super angry. So I lay down for a bit and watched a Disney movie. Upon realizing that I needed to eat something, I went to the store across the street and grabbed a bunch of unhealthy snacks, some tuna and a cider.
This is a huge chocolate bar and I ate half of it. Oh, I got a popsicle and forgot about it until it was half melted. Still tasty, though.
November 11: Auckland
I didn't leave the hotel. I watched a lot of Disney movies, lamented the crappy Wifi while trying to have video chats with friends (Thank you for your patience, Alex!), and ate the rest of the my snacks. Thank goodness for Sudoku, the sink in my room, yummy foods, and my awesome colouring book.
There was a very pretty sunset out my window. And it was actually a good thing that the toilet was outside of my room, because at least I walked around a bit. Not only were my ovaries angry, I was also alone for an extended period for the first time in a very long time. I began to allow myself to feel the end of a romantic relationship to an incredible human, and it was difficult.
November 12: Auckland
Decided it was important to leave my room, and that I was ready. So I wandered down Queen street to find a sweet coffee and stumbled upon a cute shop. Cinnamon buns don't seem to be a thing over here, but cinnamon brioche definitely is ... it's almost the same thing but slightly different.
Across the street from my breakfast, I saw a young person sitting in a blanket, very clearly high out of their mind. I say this because I saw them smoke something from a pipe and proceed to essentially fall over. Also, a few other people came to use the pipe and/or cigarettes and then left. I had to wonder: what's this person's story? How did they get to this point? Are they okay? Is this normal, for street folk and addicts to share like this (and I say share because there wasn't really a fight or disagreement about it, but I am not certain that it was consensual)? I wanted to go have a conversation when I finished my breakfast, and I intended to take some food, but my potential friend left before I was able to get there.
Made my way, somewhat by accident, to the FREE art gallery. It was super cool. I definitely enjoyed it!
 |
| The art gallery is on Kitchener St. :) |
My ovaries continued to scream, though, so I had to leave earlier than I would have liked to go lie down. Good news: it was a nice day and extra strength ibuprofen works wonders for my body.
After a couple of hours in bed, I was hungry and had plans for a video chat with a friend in Philippines so went back to Revel for a vegan cake and a warm drink. I made my first Facebook Live video, and apparently the shop closed without me realizing. New Zealand shuts down early! Whoops.
November 13: Auckland
I woke up and walked down Queen street to find some brunch. It appears as though Auckland found Christmas recently. That is one HUGE Santa.
Sat on a patio at a pub on a second level and had a Lamb Fry, which was lamb liver, bacon, spinach, potato rosti and a jus. It was absolutely delicious but I could only eat half of it because it was so filling. I had some tea and it arrived in this cute lil cup with a timer. I've never seen a timer like this! It had 3 options: green, black, and dark black haha
Hopped on the ferry to get to Rangitoto, Auckland's biggest volcanic island. There are a few remaining holiday homes on the island. They do not have electricity and rely on rainwater collected from the roof. The last holiday home was built in 1935, and for many years they were owned by the city but now belong to individual families who have worked out some kind of deal. No one lives on the island permanently.
Rangitoto means Red Blood and the island used to be a work camp for prisoners. They built 18km of road in a ring around the island, and also quarried the porous basalt rock. There is not much soil, and no surface fresh water, so plants grow straight out of the lava rock. This photo is the summit station, which was used for research and for weaponry. It was 175 literal steps to the summit. It is so steep that they've built a very tourist-friendly stairwell. The crater is 60m deep and 200m wide, though it doesn't look like a volcano because of all of the plant life.
Behind me are the outskirts of Auckland, I think ... To be honest, I am really not sure what I was looking at at different points. I had a vague idea only. Any of the red rock is oxidized manganese and magnesium. The black is basalt.
We took a tractor around the island; it was extremely dusty in the front row. It is possible to take this tractor for a tour, or simply walk up the whole way.
Check out this basalt rock! It's just so neat. And we stopped at a lava field, my first ever. How rad. This is land is now a bird sanctuary, thanks to a rodent eradication programme. The island had been filled with rats, rabbits, and stoats, but they're all gone!
This is the lighthouse.
This is a view of Auckland from the ferry. The boat ride was quite nice and rather picturesque.
I got back to my hotel, grabbed a book, and went to a park to sit in the sun and read. Across the street was a little French place, so I popped in there thinking I would grab myself a crepe. They had ravioli, so I got that instead. It was a disappointing meal; should've gone with the crepe.
Went back to my hotel, watched a Disney movie, and went to bed after a really great day.
November 14: Auckland
Packed up all of my stuff, put it in storage at the hotel, and went to Revel for brunch. I really like the barista; he was super fun and came to sit with me to chat for a bit. Very entertaining. I had a lovely video chat with my friend Jare until the WiFi credit ran out, and then went back to my hotel to wait for my ride to the airport for my flight to Australia.
To sum up New Zealand: I am going to live here one day. It was the most beautiful country I've been to, which is saying something because I've been to Iceland and almost lost my mind there. Every single day was beautiful, magical, wondrous, and inspiring. I have to wonder if I found it so comforting because it was all in English, after spending 5 months in Southeast Asia.
I am incredibly grateful to Amy for planning everything, being the best road trip buddy I could've asked for, and to my family for supporting my travel whims. I have very good people in my life, and I am super fortunate to experience the world the way that I do.
I flew to Melbourne in the evening, and this was my final view of New Zealand:
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