Hello everyone!  Here I am, week 1 out of 15 is suddenly gone, and its time for my first post.  I’ll be uploading pictures to Facebook soon, assuming the free wifi in this McDonald’s keeps working…

I should warn you that these are probably going to be long posts – I’m using this blog as a diary as well, so it might cover too much.

I should also mention that my GPS device has been really flaky, and has managed to drop about 75% of the markers I’ve tried to put down.  Grrr.  None of my markers from Rotorua and Taupo went through, so you’ll have to check out my trip map to get an idea of where I’ve been.

Alright, from the beginning: the flight from SF to Auckland was nice and easy, and empty – I had an entire bank of three seats all to myself.  Being such a lousy sleeper, though, I still only managed to get around 2 hours of sleep on the 12+ hour flight.  We landed around 5:30 in the morning, and by 7:30 I was wandering aimlessly (and sleepily) around Auckland; it was way to early to check in, so I left my bags at the hostel and started walking.  By the end of the day I’d scoped out a good chunk of downtown – I found a few good restaurants, a supermarket (where I bought some Gluten-Free breakfast bars), and even a GF pizzeria where I ultimately ate dinner.  I learned that getting wireless internet costs an arm and a leg, unless you go to a McDonald’s – every one of them in the country provides free wifi, though the connection is consistently lousy and flaky.  I also found out that the hostel I was staying at has a bar, up on the 6th floor, right next to my room.  Great.  Good thing I brought earplugs.

I kept myself awake the whole day, passed out after dinner, and woke up early to get on a Kiwi Experience bus tour – they run buses around the whole country, stopping off at almost every major point-of-interest.  The system they have is very convenient – on the way to the next city, the bus driver tells you about various activities in the area and passes around a sign-up sheet.  They take care of all the calling, booking, and transportation.  The same is true for hostels; they give you a few options, and pass around a sign-up sheet for the upcoming night.  All you have to do is show up – and pay.

The first day on my bus pass took me from Auckland to Whitianga (pronounced fitty-aing-uh – the “wh” in native NZ names is pronounced as an “f”).  Along the way we stopped at Mt. Eden for a skyline view back at Auckland, and at the small town of Thames for lunch.  Back on the bus, I got to know a guy named Iain Stanlake from England; more than three years younger than me, he’s in NZ as part of a gap year between high school and uni (college).  We decided to share a twin room at the hostel that night, and continued to do so for the next few days.

That afternoon we had our first chance to do an activity: sea kayaking at Hahei beach.  Iain and I shared a two-person kayak and enjoyed the gorgeous weather, water, and scenery.  We paddled to Cathedral Cove, one of the most photographed locations in all of NZ, and learned all about the early Maori (native Polynesian New Zealanders) settlements in the area.  After almost 3 hours on the water, we continued on to Whitianga for some fish and chips, and sleep.

Back on the bus the next morning, our first stop was at the Karangahake Gorge where we took a short, scenic hike.  Next was Mata Mata, which is very close to where they filmed the Lord of the Rings movies; I got my picture taken with the “Hobbiton” sign.  We then arrived in Rotorua, our destination for the day.  Rotorua is a major geothermal hot-spot; there are hot springs everywhere, and the entire city smells like sulfur (sp?).  We visited Te Whakarewarewa, the largest geyser in the area, and saw a Kiwi bird [LINK].  That night we went to a Maori cultural dinner-and-a-show event at a Maori Marae (village) – sort of like a Luau, with a performance and a Hangi feast (read: buffet).  At dinner I got to know a handful of other backpackers on our bus – Allie from Montreal, Rob from northern England, Ashley from Niagara Falls, and Elsa from Mexico. 

The next day we went straight to Waitomo, home to an extensive set of caves.  I went “black water rafting”, which is really just tubing in a cave.  The main attraction of the caves are the glow worms: maggots that hang on the ceiling and excrete glowing blue poo.  When you’re floating along in the water below, though, they look like little blue lights in the otherwise pitch-black cave – its beautiful.  The experience itself was great, but left me freezing cold – even in the full-body wetsuit they gave me, I couldn’t feel my toes at all.  Luckily I got sensation back in my toes just in time for dinner and some drinks at the bar next to our hostel.  I got to know Dana and Melissa, two American girls on our bus, and thoroughly botched (but enjoyed) a game of pool.

At this point the weather had started to turn sour – on the way to Taupo the next day it rained furiously.  All the activities for the day were canceled, so once we got to Taupo, Iain and I camped out at a McDonald’s and used the free wifi.  I was starting to feel a little sick after my frozen adventure in the caves, so it was good to have a “day off.”  By that night, though (a Saturday night), Iain and I and the whole crew were at the local bar, taking advantage of the 2-for-1 drink special and getting a little sloppy.  I had my first Jaeger bomb (actually two of them), thanks to Iain, and had a great time.

With the weather suddenly nice the next day, I decided to do something I had sworn I’d never do: I went skydiving.  I had secretly planned on doing it in NZ before I left, just because it seemed like a crazy “experience” to have, and I knew I’d only be able to bring myself to do it on a vacation. 

Boy was it ever an experience.  I cried for the entire 60 second freefall from 15,000 feet.  If you ever wanted to know what I’d look like when falling to my death, check out the video footage (I’ll try to get it up on youtube some time soon).  I wouldn’t do it again.  I just couldn’t get past the fear of detaching from the instructor, or the parachute not opening.  But I will say – the view is unbelievable, and it is an insane adrenaline rush… maybe too insane for me.  When I was finally back on the ground, I had a head full of pressure, shaky hands, and was sick to my stomach.  It took me hours to feel normal again.

That afternoon I decompressed by going to the local hot springs with Iain, Rob, Allie, Ashley, Elsa, and Stef (from Germany).  Iain, Rob, and I got Indian food afterward, and rejoined the group for a trivia night at the local bar.  I didn’t drink a drop, and went to bed early.

Then, yesterday, it was time to say goodbye to everyone.  Everyone else on the bus, including Iain, is continuing on to Wellington and the south island, while I’m starting to make my northward journey back to Auckland.  I spent last night back in Rotorua, doing some well-needed laundry and sleeping, and then continuing on to Auckland tomorrow in time for my flight to Sydney.  These last few days in NZ will be a lot less exciting, but that’s really okay – this first week has been exhausting enough, and I’m ready for a break.  Plus, now I have a chance to write this first post!

Like I did with my Australia notes last summer, I’ll conclude with a few interesting tidbits I’ve learned about NZ so far:

– The Kiwis (New Zealanders) say “sweet as” instead of “okay”.  They say it all the time, constantly, at every opportunity.  There’s a hefty slice of “dude-man-bro” vibe/attitude that comes with it too, if you know what I mean.  Anyway, its interesting.

– A couple of the small towns we’ve gone through have gaudy middle-America-like monuments to the things that make them semi-famous.  So far I’ve seen a giant statue of a guy shearing a sheep, and a giant soda bottle.

– Although you’d think Australia and NZ would look very similar, they don’t.  Australia has a much more varied landscape, unique plant life, etc, whereas NZ looks to me like a cross between rural England and Hawaii.  Everything here is green, lush, and beautiful; a mix of rolling green hills dotted with sheep, mountains and volcanoes, and tropical beaches.

– The Maori have only lived in NZ for about 1000 years – before that it was completely uninhabited.  The Maori are really just Polynesians, unlike the Aboriginals in Australia.  Also unlike Australia, the native people are by no means hidden or unseen – you’re almost as likely to see a Maori walking down the street as a European.  That’s in contrast to Australia (or the US), where an Aboriginal in downtown Sydney is rare.

– I’ve probably heard more British accents in my time here than Kiwi accents; about 80% of the backpackers on the Kiwi Experience buses are from England.  I’ve only met three other Americans in the past week – surprisingly enough, there are even more people here from Canada and Sweden than from the US. 

Until next time!

-Izaak