New Zealand North Island Conclusion

October 12th Day 4, New Zealand

Woke up on Tiritiri after staying up the night before to look for penguins, tuatara (a prehistoric lizard-like reptile only found in New Zealand) and kiwis. We found penguins, so ⅓ of the goal. The penguins were amazing and walked right past our feet! Went to bed late and slept in, then went for a walk around the island again. Saw morepork (the local owl) and North Island Kokako, along with the birds we had seen the day before. It’s a beautiful island with amazing birds, very glad we stayed the night in the bunkhouse here. Caught the ferry back to Auckland and just meandered back to our hostel. Total expenses: $132.00 (Thai dinner, groceries, hostel).

North Island Kokako

October 13th, Day 5, New Zealand

Caught an early ride to the airport to pick up a rental car and drove to Hobbiton after learning to drive on the left side of the road. Hobbiton is set in the middle of farm country with limited cell coverage and no signs indicating you were getting close until you were there. After a nervous 2 hour drive we arrived, it was adorable! We moved with the tour group at our assigned time (it’s very organized) through the movie set area that has since been re-created for the tours. They had also recently added a hobbit hole you could go inside, and the attention to detail was impressive. The tour ended at the Green Dragon pub serving hard cider & ginger beer. Then we went to lunch which we had ordered separate from the tour - it was a huge buffet and we stuffed ourselves. We went out to wait by the lake in the center of the tour area when a young man of about age 5 came over to us and said “Ere’s an el!” After some time deciphering the accent (maybe Kiwi?) we realized he was pointing out 2 large eels in the lake. So cool! 

We got back in the car, eventually remembered to drive on the left side, and headed out to the Waitomo Glow Worm caves about an hour away. We stopped off at our hostel to check in. The owner was quite a character, inviting us to watch him feed the sheep and chickens later that day, but warning us to stay away from the pig who’s a “regular dick, that un”. Drove to the caves and got on the glow worm tour. It was very impressive although that was a lot of being herded around like cattle between the 2 tours. Had dinner of mixed grill served on salt slabs - one of the best meals ever, and headed back to the hostel. Total expenses: $458.95 (Hobbiton w/ lunch, glow worms, dinner, car rental, hostel)

Hobbiton

October 14th, Day 6, New Zealand

Went for a morning walk in Waitomo, pet the farm animals and walked on some local trails before heading out to Tongariro National Park to check in at the ranger station to see how the conditions were to attempt the Tongariro Crossing the next day. The ranger we met showed us the forecast saying it looked great for doing the trail the next day, so we booked transport as it’s a point-to-point trail and went to Turangi to check in to our hostel. On the way to town, the weather turned from rain to snow to hail. Temperatures were 5-17 centigrade so above freezing but still scary to drive through. Got to the hostel and found it had an open floor plan, doors and windows were open, similar to what you’d expect in a tropical resort. And the snow did stop but still, it was not exactly warm so we huddled in our tiny room with the heat blasting before we could do anything. It was early afternoon and the sun came out so we decided to go for a walk along the river. The little walk ended up being longer than expected (just over 10 miles) but was beautiful with rainbows and birds galore. Got food at the grocery store for dinner and tomorrow’s hike and were about to go to bed when the transport company contacted us, saying they were canceling the transport tomorrow out of fear of high winds making the trail unsafe. The woman was adamant that tourists must not be put at risk in New Zealand and she thought the trail was unsafe based on the weather report. I looked at the weather report again and still didn’t quite understand her concern but it was out of my hands, the trip was off. Total expenses: $219.24.00 (coffees, car rental, groceries, hostel).

October 15th, Day 7, New Zealand

After sleeping in since there seemed to be no hurry since our plans were cancelled, we decided to walk the lower part of the hike. The Tongariro Crossing is one of the top rated day hikes in the world so we were disappointed to miss it. In the summer as many as 5,000 people a day do the 12 mile hike, resulting in 2-3 resecues needed per week to help folks who get injured or just thought they were fit enough for the trail. We decided to just do the lower section in hopes of getting a taste of what all the fuss was about. We walked a few miles along a trail that ended at a little waterfall after veering off the main Tongariro Trail, which was packed with people clearly doing the whole trail. The weather was perfect, sunny and cool, it wasn’t very windy. I can't help but wonder if the transport company just wanted a day off or if they were really worried? 

Got back to town and went for a walk along a lake with lots of birds and through an area of thermal ponds. No one else was there and the ponds were beautiful, similar to ponds we’ve seen in Yellowstone; it was a lovely surprise after a disappointing day. 

Back at the hostel, there was a young French woman who was desperately trying to communicate with the owner of the hostel to explain changes she needed to make to her stay, but spoke almost no English, only French and Spanish. I speak a little French and Spanish so I offered to try and help. She started in French, if I didn’t understand a word she switched to Spanish, then I replied in French or Spanish and then in English to the manager. Pretty soon neither of us knew what language we were speaking - it was the strangest conversation I’ve ever had. Koji knows a bit of Spanish and said he was able to keep up a little but it was very weird. Total expenses: $171.88 (Car rental, hostel, groceries, gas)

October 16th, Day 8, New Zealand

Drove about an hour out of town to hike the Lake Rotokura Track, a little hike around a tiny lake. Then made the long drive to Masterton, our stop for the night. The 3 hour drive (made longer by various pit stops) went past beautiful countryside, along some of the worst roads I’ve ever driven. New Zealand highways are extremely narrow and windy, have no shoulder and spontaneously become one lane roads often. I understand why foreigners are often involved in car accidents here. Stopped at the Pukaha Wildlife Center to see kiwis and tuatara since seeing them in the wild was becoming more unlikely and walked around the park which had lovely walking trails. Made it to our AirBnB, a small room on a little family farm in Masterton. Total expenses: $168.77 (car rental, AirBnB, gas, wildlife reserve, coffee)

Lake Rotokura Track

October 17th, Day 9, New Zealand

Woke up to the sound of roosters crowing and headed down to Wellington. Stopped in a yarn store as the constant views of sheep were causing me to crave more yarn (I’m knitting hats during the trip). I found wool with possum fur - it was the softest yarn I’d ever felt! Dropped off the car and headed over to the ferry to cross over to South Island. The ferry was huge - 2 small theaters, play rooms, a large cafe, much bigger than I expected. The ship tipped from side to side more than I expected as well, causing crashing sounds in the kitchen and many passengers to look very queasy, including Koji. The sky was clear and cool and the trip was beautiful. Landed in Picton and settled into our hostel. It was across the street from a cemetery and tombstone themed throughout - one of the best hostels we stayed in. We walked around town and immediately regretted not being able to spend more time here, it was lovely. Total expenses: $356.69 (car rental, gas, hostel, yarn, lunch, groceries for dinner, ferry)

Wellington to Picton Ferry, goodbye North Island, Hello South!