New Zealand

With only two days of planning, we made our way to New Zealand! It is really difficult to prepare for a trip when you fly standby because if we were unable to make our flight, our whole vision would change-in this case my backup plan was to go to Greece. But luckily we made the flight! This was my first time in the south pacific and my boyfriends first trip out of the US! We boarded Air New Zealand flight number 7 departing at 9:45pm on Saturday and we arrived at 6am on Monday morning. Somehow we skipped a day, but more importantly, the day we skipped was my dad's birthday. Two days before the trip, I made a car reservation and googled some scenic spots around New Zealand's North island. With only one week off, there was no way to see both the north and south islands.

Once we arrived in Aukland, we breezed through customs and agriculture declaration and then was taken to retrieve our rental car. Luckily, Rico has T-Mobile which allows him to roam for free with his plan, and for Verizon, I can pay $10 a day to use my domestic plan abroad. This was worth it because of how much searching and navigating we planned on doing. We also booked our accommodation on a day by day basis.

The first region we explored was Northland. With its abundance of lush landscapes, we were looking forward to seeing beautiful coasts, waterfalls, and mountain ranges. Right off the bat, this country showed some real character. The architecture of small businesses and homes were quite different than home. The weather also had extreme changes, and at most times there was rain to one side and rainbows to the other. The most spectacular sight of New Zealand was definitely the green grass that covered every inch of dirt and the ginormous flora and fauna. I would name this place the garden country because of how landscaped the country is with beautiful native plants, EVERYWHERE!

Our first stop was Pakiri beach. Just over an hour outside of Aukland, this beach had blinding white sand, a beautiful long coast, and lush green hills. We also tried to eat as local as possible, so we made sure to stop for fish and chips. We had red snapper fried fish and salt and pepper squid. At one point, the most difficult change we experienced was the driving. I never even imagined myself road tripping around a country where they drove on the other side of the road! And that means everything in the car is in the opposite location as well. Basically, I had to stay to the left at all times-at roundabouts, turning corners, and at intersections. It was the most challenging part of the trip. As we headed away from the beach we spotted a winery and decided to check it out. New Zealand is pretty well known for its amazing wines. The winery had a modern European vibe which was really cool, because in the PNW it is more classic/homey feeling. This winery also had a sculpture trail that looked interesting but we decided to pass due to time constraints.

With my lack of planning came a nice surprise, New Zealand labels all towns and sights so it is really easy to explore. Although we had a general direction of where we were going, we often saw signs for waterfalls or view points and we stopped along the way. Maungaturoto Falls was a perfect example of this advertising. After a 13km detour, we arrived deep in a rain forest. A sign and trail had led us through the green and serene forest and down to a river and then the waterfall. This was the first stop that I actually was wow-ed.

Our next detour was Waipu caves. This was almost a fail for us. We had thought the caves were a few miles away, so we hiked up a mountain for 45 minutes until we ran into a girl that declared there were no caves if we were to keep walking. We believed her because she looked disappointed and sweaty. We made our way down to the bottom only to realize the caves were right where we started. Small groups of people, including us, walked and explored the large emptiness and creeks in the caves. We were excited to witness the caves, but we had wasted precious daylight and could not spend much more time out in the wilderness. We decided to drive to the closest city to find lodging for the night. As we got to Whangarei's city center, we pulled over by a marina to google for a place to rest. Little did we know there was a quaint looking hotel right there on the marina. We inquired within and decided to call it a night. We were finally able to shower and then enjoyed a nice dinner at a restaurant nearby. Rico had duck confit, I had lime infused fish, and we shared fried risotto balls. Right after our meal, we were more than exhausted and ready to sleep. The hotel was comfortable, but it did not have the American features we are used to. That is a given when traveling abroad, things are just different, I'm just glad we had a normal toilet and didn't have to turn a water heater on before using the shower like I'd do in Ghana (and that was luxury). I'm also glad we had a small car because the roads were tiny and curvy. My original idea was to rent a camper van and camp on the road, but that would have been way too stressful for our first time in New Zealand. It was also have been a better idea in the summer, when the days are longer.

Day 2:

Day 2 was an exciting day for us because we got great rest, and were in a location close to many places we wanted to see. We first went to the nearby Whangarei Falls which was beautiful. We had a small jog down to the bottom and spent at least 30 minutes taking pictures of every angle of the forested waterfall. After the falls, we didn't really have an agenda so we decided to drive towards Tutukaka and Paihia. Along the way we found a spot to view glow worms in caves. We made it just in time to join a tour through a long time family owned cave. The guide led us through the caves with lanterns and gave us more information on glow worms. These 2.5 cm bugs come through the caves rivers, make their way up to the ceilings, and then plant themselves there with their hanging web that catches food. Each little worm glows blue/green when they are hungry, and from what we saw, they are all hungry. It was amazing when we turned the lanterns off, it was pitch black and when our eyes adjusted, the ceiling of the caves were speckled with tiny dots of light. It was almost like looking at the Milky Way on a dark night. It was very cool to see for our eyes, but unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures, and I doubt it would even show up. After that, we stopped for food in a small town, we treated ourselves to sushi and Indian food. Both were quite delicious. We then explored the marinas along the coast before heading back down south. We had a long drive ahead of us, as we planned to conquer spots south of Aukland. We planned to go to Coromadel Peninsula for day 3, so I found a great airbnb about an hour south of Aukland. Located in Te Kauwhata, this detached studio apartment was located on a rural farm and the host provided an amazing New Zealand continental breakfast. We had local yogurt, milk, fruit, bread, cereals, and coffee and tea. We slept amazing and we woke up to a beautiful foggy morning with sights and sounds of the local cows.

Day 3

On day 3, June 7th, it was my birthday! We planned to go to Coromadel Peninsula so we left in the morning and took the coastal road to Coromadel. It was about an hours drive on a windy and ocean front motorway. We passed through Thames, and other cute villages. Once we got to Coromadel, we walked through the town, grabbing some goodies at a local smoker. We purchased smoked mussels, tuna, salmon, and other local fish. We then stopped at a recommended restaurant called, Lemon Pepper. We had amazing fresh caught oysters and fish and chips. We then took the scenic route to Cathedral Cove. Upon arrival at Cathedral Cove, the town was super updated and nice. There was a beach vibe and lots of young people. We had to walk 45 min down to the Cove, but it was a well maintained paved trail through the forest and then down to the beach. It was a bit people crowded but I couldn't imagine how crowded it would be in the summer. It was a beautiful large Cove with large rock structures in the ocean. We are glad we made sure to catch this spot, the surrounding area of this region is just beautiful. We then went over to hot water beach, only to realize you have to dig yourself a thermal pool during LOW tide. This beach has hot spots under the sand but is only exposed during low tide. We unfortunately missed the opportunity to dig ourselves a hot spring, so we stayed at a nearby airbnb only 20 min south of the beach. Our next location was absolutely amazing! It was on the top of the tallest mountain in Tairua, and far exceeded our expectations. We had an amazingly decorated studio, BBQ, patio, and an outdoor shower and bathtub. This was the perfect location for my birthday. We were able to check in during daylight so we went and grabbed some fresh local meat from the local butcher for dinner. Once we got back, we went on the nearby trail to head to the top of the mountain to get a 360 degree view of the city. It was a perfect sunset hike for my birthday. When we returned back home, we started to cook up the local meats on the BBQ, and let me tell you, our lamb and beef steaks were amazing! The lamb was probably the best I've ever had, it had almost an herb taste on the initial bite, and we only seasoned with salt and pepper. We ended the night with an outdoor bubble bath that took much convincing on Rico's side, but he had no regrets afterward. It was the perfect birthday night, we felt right at home and enjoyed all the amenities of this unique and creative airbnb.

Day 4:

Day four led us to Rotorua and this was Rico's most anticipated destination on our trip. It was a brisk 2.5 hour drive south and once we got close it was obvious we had arrived. The region of Rotorura is known for its active thermal landscape and driving into the region surprised us with collections of hot spring steam and a scent no other than, sulfur. This city had a great active vibe about it, many activities to do including bike trails, spas, extreme adventures, and hikes. I was also surprised how much colder the temperature was compared to the "winter-less north". We stopped by the main attraction in the city, Kuirau Park which housed at least over 20 varied geothermal springs right at the heart of the city. It was amazing to walk right up to them and feel the steam in our faces. It was a maintained and informational public park that was free to access and enjoy. Although Rico was hoping for a more rural experience of the thermal activity, I found a popular river heated by the thermal ground just 20 minutes out of the city. As we drove on the curvy road, we found our turnoff and headed down a gravel road for a few kilometers. Once we spotted a collection of a few cars, we knew we had made it. We jumped out of the car like kids at an amusement park because we could see the jungled river exposing steam from its surface. This was by far the coolest thing we had done. We started walking down the trail and spotting only a few people relaxing on the top of waterfalls. We wanted our own seclusion so we walked a little bit further to find an even larger Falls with a wading pool below it. Without hesitation, we worked our way in, completely indulging in the warm water. We spent at least 2 hours here taking pictures and relaxing. The water was the perfect temperature for the winter day we had. After the long soak, we stopped at a grocery store before heading back to Rotorua for our night at an Airbnb. We selected some fresh snapper and paired it with lemon garlic potatoes and pasta. Once we arrived we unpacked our things and started cooking. This is where things get weird. As the host was showing us around, he got a bit too comfortable with the conversation and confessed that his mom died in this self contained suite. I have selective hearing so I didn't hear what he had said, but it immediate started to bother Rico. As our host left through the connected garage door, Rico told me to lock it, I insisted I should wait so it doesn't appear rude to the host. Eventually we realized the door's lock won't connect with the hole and that instead there was a key on the other side. We resumed cooking, and Rico diligently cleaned as we went along. Our dinner was amazing but then when it came to relaxing, it was just a bit too quiet. There also wasn't a couch in the living room, so I laid out some blankets on the ground so we could watch tv. As rico went to put the wet clothes in the dryer in the garage, he noticed the exterior key was gone. Then, as Rico turned the light off in the garage we heard something fall, and it was loud. That's when we decided to get out of there. I instantly booked a new place on Airbnb and we gathered our things and bounced. We were truly spooked and Rico hadn't felt comfortable from the beginning. Rotorura is a small city so we got to the next place in 5 min, and the hosts were still getting it ready for us. We were in a little frenzy and explained to them what happened. When they finished cleaning we walked into a stylish 2 bedroom house. Very modern, very colorful, and very peaceful. We were able to unwind and enjoy our night before falling asleep.

Day 5:

We stayed up all night talking and laughing and ended up falling asleep on the couch, we woke feeling refreshed and renewed and excited to travel to Taupo. We ate our leftover pasta and snapper for breakfast and then took the two lane road to Lake Taupo. The drive was quite interesting, not only cold, but foggy and steamy. We passed multiple hot spots of the thermal ground which made the territory very interesting. When we arrived on the outskirts of Taupo, we we stopped at Haku river. The river is fed from the lake and is rushing with power. From there we stopped into the town, which was the probably the largest we have seen. It had endless streets of shops, cafes, and restaurants. We browsed the town for a few hours, trying to stay warm with local coffee. We then got lunch from a Japanese place to bring on our next excursion. I had arranged for a sailing trip to see the rock carvings of Taupo. Only visible from water, we boarded the sailboat with a few other couples, cozied up, drank warm red wine, and had our dinner. Once we pulled up to the rock carving, we were able to learn some history of the region, artist, and people. It was a truly unique carving on the rock. After the 2.5 hour lake cruise, we checked into our hot spring hotel. Our place had stunning views of Lake Taupo, and we had our own thermal heated hot tub and room. We decided to keep it easy and just get takeout for the night. We filled the tub and soaked all night. It was a lovely last night deep in a unique environment. We were sad to depart the next day but were missing our home in Seattle, our attentive jobs, and our furry guinea pigs. The last day, we had a 3.5 hour drive back to the city and we just decided to get to the airport early to check in and relax before our 12 hour flight. It was a splendid trip to the South Pacific, one that I am eternally grateful for. It was awesome to travel abroad with rico and experience a whole new lifestyle together.