New Zealand First Impressions

One full week in New Zealand. How do you find the words to describe a place like this?

So we flew out last Monday to the "city of sails" - Auckland. I heard that getting gear through their biosecurity was pretty tough, but as it turns out, I just got my boots and our tent cleaned by the workers and then we were on our merry way. We got a cab to our hostel, which turned out to be glorious and after six hours of sleep or so, we awoke to our first glimpses of New Zealand in the sunshine. After orienting ourselves, picking up our new home for five weeks (a luxuious 1995 white toyota corolla), picking up some kiwi cash and a cool claw apparatus that hooks up to a gas canister for cooking outdoors...we were off. We only spent a few hours in Auckland, then we were beach-bound.

A few hours later, we found ourselves in Ragland, a gorgeous harbourside town on the west coast of the north island, complete with an organic burger joint and grocers. We found a cozy place to camp with a view of the ocean in Pirongia Forest Park. Then we were set: beautiful view, tent up, new fancy cooking apparatus, corn tortillas/beans/corns/tomatos. Only one problem: on our first night camping out in the wilderness, neither of us college educated idiots remembered to bring a lighter or even matches. Luckily, Warren was able to flex his boyscout muscles and after 15 minutes or so we were seeing flames. We awoke to find ourselves still on the side of a beautiful hill overlooking the ocean and I just had to pinch myself....this place can't be real.

The next few days consisted on getting to know the north island a little better. What I've come to realize is that at any given location of New Zealand, you are likely not further than ten minutes or so from one of the most spectacular things you have ever seen. There was an incredible waterfall (50 meters high) not too far from our camping place near Ragland. We then headed inland from Raglan to Rotorua, which turns out to be awfully touristy, complete with mini-golf. Just outside of Rotorua, however, is a glorious geyser, Te Puia. She goes off about once per hour. You can tell when she's about to blow cause she starts sputtering a bit of water and steaming a lot more and then almost all at once, like fireworks, she's off, shooting 20 meters high!! It was such a beautiful, sulfer-smelling show. I've never seen anything like this. Te Puia is basically the northern most section of what is called "Thermal Explorer Highway." As you drive south of here, there are numerous hot springs, smaller geysers/thermal vents, mud pits, ect. This whole area is basically one big volcano and the signs are everywhere. We visited two amazing hot springs. One just like a regular little creek, running through the woods, except it's a hot water creek, complete with a small hot water water fall....AMAZING. The other which is called hot and cold (by the locals). The hot water spring actually meets up with a cold water creek, so you can move between the two zones until you find the perfect temperature for yourself. The romance of this scenery at second location was somewhat jaded by the old, friendly, naked guy that was there, but still magnificent. After finding a nice holiday park to stay at, we headed out for our Thanksgiving meal. We gorged ourselves on mussels, dory (a local fish), and chicken. The menu was somewhat non-traditional, but the typical spirit of overeating was very much present in our hearts.

The next stop was Taupo, further south. This is a gorgeous lake community, which is a lot like Tahoe. There was another amazing water fall near Taupo and we also managed to catch a dam (Aratiatia) being released. You can watch this show safely from a cliff above while the flood waters rush into the creek, rising the water probably at least 4-5 meters. Once the dam is closed, you can watch the water slowly receed down the creek. COOL! Further south we visited three active volcanoes. Due to inclement weather, we were not able to hike up them as planned, but instead we just camped at the base along a creek for the night.

Inclement weather followed us. Basically, the whole of New Zealand was bathing for a couple of days. We swallowed our losses and headed to Wanganui, found a nice hostel, got some takeaway fish and chips, played cards and drank beer for the night.

We are currently in Wellington. We arrived yesterday and did an awesome oceanside hike along a neat boulder/pebble beach. We are staying with some friends of Ms. Trista. They are incredibly friendly and welcoming and they happen to be outdoors/adventure enthusiasts. I don't think there is a single place/thing to be seen/done in New Zealand that they haven't explored. They are full of endless information and they are going to be very helpful in mapping out the next four weeks of our stay here.

All in all, my first impressions drastically exceed my expectations (which were unbelievably high). Every view, from every angle, in every place is amazing. The typical view from the car window includes huge rolling, grassy hills complete with sheep and/or cows roaming and beautiful trees/flowers and maybe the rare quaint cottage. This place is remote! The cities are small and dense and once you get out of them, within 10 minutes or less, you are back into this picturesque countryside scenery. It is incredibly traveler friendly. There are affordable hostels and what they call "holiday parks" everywhere, which are heaps nicer than any other budget accommodations I've ever seen. You can camp for next to nothing. The Department of Conservation has campsites all over the country that cost $3 to $8 dollars per night. You can also stay in hundreds of their back country huts throughout the country for these same prices.

Already, five weeks doesn't seem like nearly enough time to see all this place has to offer. New Zealand and I are getting along really well. I think we'll be best friends.