We touched down in Auckland yesterday. From the moment we stepped into the Air New Zealand terminal at LAX, we were reminded that we were heading on a middle-earth adventure. Everyone knows The Lord of the Rings trilogy and upcoming Hobbit movies were filmed here. What people may not know is how intrenched those movies are in the tourism industry here, at least from outside the borders of the country. Stepping up to the ticketing booth, the floor is painted with thick green Shire-grass and Hobbit feet. On the plane, the security announcement is delivered via a video starting a cast of a fake Aragorn, Legolas, orcs, elves, hobbits, and golems, and a very real Peter Jackson (ok, enough geeking out for now). Arriving in Auckland, the walls are lined with gorgeous photo-murals of fairy tale mountains, lakes, and forests - they are all real New Zealand, but the effect is that, with some imagination, you yourself feel like a Hobbit on the cusp of adventure (strong work, New Zealand tourism industry).
The funny thing is, when you step out of the airport and into the Auckland surroundings, it looks more like a quaint American suburb than anything else. Auckland, the largest and most cosmopolitan of the cities in New Zealand is far from the postcard middle-earth-inspiring setting. It is a nice, clean city, with some interesting features. Auckland sits atop a large Volcanic field that is "active", which basically means that in last 1000 years there has been some activity, but you wouldn't know it except for the countless number of hills. Auckland also lies on an isthmus of land that is surrounded by water on most sides. The climate and look of Auckland resemble San Francisco and the Pacific Northwest. It is mild in temperature, and at least on the day we arrived, overcast, rainy, and windy - they don't call it the "City of Sails" for nothing.
We arrived in the morning, having had a few hours of sleep on the plane (Vivi more than me - I was too busy watching the awesome selection of in flight TV/movies). We checked into our motel - it is on the outskirts of Auckland in a nice suburb, right next to the Eden Park Rugby Field (unfortunately no matches were being held). We strapped on our hiking boots and hit the city. We first walked to the top of Mt. Eden, one of the cities many "volcanic" peaks - I use quotes because it's not what you imagine a volcanic peak to look like - it is essentially a hill covered with grass and foliage, with a crater at the top. We stopped to get coffee along the way - coffee culture is apparently huge here and there are tons of these nice coffee shops everywhere. We then walked into the city center and to the wharf, stopping to have "Auckland's Best Fish and Chips" (according to the chalkboard outside the restaurant). We continued walking through the area of Ponsonby, a strip lined with interesting bars, restaurants, and hippie/hipster shops, and finally made it back to our motel, a round trip of around 8 miles for the day. For dinner we had Thai food - another thing we are starting to realize is that there seems to be know distinct New Zealand cuisine - which makes sense, as it is a relatively young island nation of largely European immigrants mixed with the native Maori and others.
We passed through Hamilton and reached our first destination, Taupo. Taupo rests on a massive inland lake in the Center of the North Island. It is a town that sees a lot adventure-travelers looking to skydive, bungee jump, and water-sport, but, being part of the volcanic plateau, also has its share of geothermal attractions which was our main purpose. We visited a thermal area deep into the outskirts of town called Orakei Koraki. It sits on private Maori Land and is stunning. You take a boat ride across a River to reach an area filled with hot springs, Sulphur pools, mud pits, silica terraces, and one of only two geothermal caves in the world. We felt like we were in the Lost World (minus the dinosaurs). Pictures hopefully to follow...
We ate lunch in Taupo and stocked up on protein bars, water, and "scroggin" (what Kiwis call trail-mix) in preparation for next day's main event: the Tongariro Alpine Crossing.
We stayed in small town called National Park, woke up early and reached the turn-off to the crossing a little before 7am. The morning was filled with dense fog as we slowly crept towards the start of the trail. I certain points it was difficult to see past a few yards in front of the car. It added to the air of mystery and excitement to the adventure - though also a little scary. A few minutes into the drive the fog burned off and we were greeted with incredible views of the three peaks and the volcanic landscape around them. We park and started in the trek.
We kept on and finally reached the end of what was open on the crossing: the emerald lakes. They are bright turquoise lakes that dot the inside of the crater. There is also a massive blue lake in the distance, Mt. Doom behind, and mysterious, primordial-looking volcanic mud fields below. To add to all of this, behind the lakes on the horizon you could see the steam bellowing up from the still-venting Te Maori crater - little bonus for the travelers who did not cancel their trip. It really felt other-worldly, like a distant planet, or the moon, and I've never seen any scenery on earth quite like it.
We completed the round trip exhausted, sore, and hungry after about 7hrs and 30min and returned back to town. I imagine we will be very sore in all types of place tomorrow. Fortunately, tomorrow is a "chill" day. We leave the North Island for good, and fly to the South Island where we will spend the bulk of our trip. We'll start in wine country .
We signed up for a swim with the wild dusky dolphins, of which there are around 2,000 in local waters. A short boat ride took us out around the or peninsula until a pod of dolphins was spotted. At this point we got on our snorkel gear and jumped in. Within minutes there were dozens of curious dolphins swimming around us, checking us out, and following our movements. It was incredible - amazing how, without any enticing, training, or persuasion (expect for us making lots of noise and movement to pique their interest), the dolphins would approach us. Using Vivi's parents spiffy waterproof GoPro video camera (thanks guys!), we were able to get some great HD footage of all this happening. After the swim, up on the boat, we followed around a pod of what appeared to be hundreds of dolphins who would race around the boat, sometimes performing impromptu jumps and tricks. Very cool.
We returned to town and grabbed lunch before heading further south and west, leaving the coast and heading inland to the South alpine Mountain region.
We stayed in a cabin and made some store bought ravioli in the communal kitchen for dinner. The next day we met our guide and began our preparation for the day of climbing. They suited us up with harness, climbing gloves, crampons, and, of course, badass ice axes, and we trekked up the face of the glacier, past gorgeous ice falls and ravines to a suitable spot to set up a climb.
We woke up the next morning and had breakfast at a cafe by the nearby Lake Matheson - a lake famous for its picturesque reflecting of Mount Cook (New Zealand's highest peak) in its still waters. We did a short walk around the lake and took in the view before jumping back in the car for one of our mega-drive days down the west coast and back inland to Queenstown.
From there the road leads inland, back through the Southern Alps. It gets windier, and the road passes around gorgeous, massive, deep blue mountain lakes. The camera was constantly firing. The road to Queenstown twists downhill through switch-backs with stunning green mountain valley below.
We checked into our hostel (with private bathrooms and a lakeside view!!), strolled around town, had dinner, and took in some of the active Queenstown nightlife - even a cover band that I swear stole my old band's setlist. The town dwarfs all others in terms of its international tourist cachet, which we found a little off-putting after spending so much time in the quiet serenity of the rest of New Zealand. There are hordes of 18-22 Brits and Aussies and East Asians prowling the streets, drunk, immature, inconsiderate, and energized post-skydive, bungee jump, or whatever other high-adrenaline activity they dared (man, I sound old now...). Bottom line is, being centrally located in town, we got very poor sleep the next two nights. On the other hand, the food was great and we had some great meals including sushi, fish, and middle eastern.
We also walked around the garden park. We left Queenstown after two days, thankful for the city-comforts but ready to jump back into the less-disturbed wilderness of New Zealand.
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