New Zealand- The North Island

Ok, ok we know it's been too long.  It's really crazy how fast time flies when you're having fun...well that and we haven't had the best internet connection to upload all the pictures we wanted to share.  We are going to try to post smaller events more frequently from now on.

Until this point we felt that we had timed everything quite well.  While we could’ve stayed longer in some places and forever in others, we felt we acquired a real feel for the towns and were ready to see what was in store for us next.  We have been leery about New Zealand since our time in Fiji when people told us, nicely of course, that there was no way 18 days would be enough time in New Zealand, especially not to see both islands fully.  So we made the conscious decision to see what we could and enjoy what time we did have, not exhausting ourselves tying to fit everything in.

That being said, we absolutely loved the North Island and our favorite part might have been the drives between cities where we were in the middle of nowhere and were the only humans within miles, surrounded by the most beautiful scenery you could ever imagine.

We started our journey in the city of Auckland where we enjoyed a steaming bowl of delicious, GINORMOUS mussels, and maybe a few Belgian beers.  We didn’t spend much time in the city proper but what time we did we liked the vibe.  We rented a camper car and continued on from Auckland about 2 hours south and inland a bit to the volcanic lake town of Rotorua.  Once in Rotorua we realized there was a large Maori (the local indigenous population) festival that weekend and every hotel room, hostel, and motel you could think of was booked.  Well, lucky for us our car doubles as a camper!  So yes, we actually spent the night in our car.  It was actually quite comfortable once we put the seats down and set up the mattresses.  The problem didn’t come until about 3:00am when we both woke up absolutely freezing!  We threw open our backpacks and put on as many clothes as we could and slept like babies after that.  The next day we were both a little creaky but took a nice walk around Lake Rotorua and the somewhat smelly but beautiful and steaming Sulfur Bay.  We then went to Waimangu Volcanic Valley and took a 2 hour hike throughout the stunning valley of volcanic and other geothermal features.

The next morning we drove an hour further south to the town of Taupo.  We drove right to Huka Falls Walkway and hiked about an hour to view the falls.  There are no words...just check these pictures out!

In Taupo we also took a sailing trip at sunset and saw both the sun set and the full moon rise, a rare occurrence and something we have never seen before!  On the sailing trip we also saw Maori carvings in the cliff side and Wes took a very chilly swim in the lake. 

We enjoyed coffee and a muffin by Lake Taupo the next morning and soaked in the stunning scenery and absolutely perfect weather.  Then we moved on to Turangi to go whitewater rafting!  Turangi is about an hour south of Taupo and by this point Wes has really gotten the hang of driving on the other side but he still struggles a bit with the windshield wipers and turn signal on opposite sides....lets just say we have some very clean windows!  We rafted the Tongariro River and had a blast!

We spent the night in the cute river town of Wanganui where we stayed in a large victorian home with our own private balcony overlooking the river.  The next morning we continued south to Wellington.  We enjoyed walking along the riverfront and a great meal at Sweet Mother’s, a New Orleans inspired restaurant. 

The following morning we took a car ferry to the south island.  I know you are sick of hearing it but the views and scenery were just unbelievable.  We landed in the town of Picton and we will update you later on our journeys in the south island of New Zealand!