Wednesday- We woke up to a beautiful morning in Wellington and had to make our way out of the hostel by 10:00 am. We sweet-talked the receptionist into letting us keep our car parked in their lot for the rest of the day- so we packed our belongings into Gloria and headed off to the Te Papa museum.
I wasn’t as excited as I should have been for the Te Papa museum. A local at the hostel the night before had mentioned how great it was- as she explained it… “the government basically just hands out heaps of money to this museum and tells them ‘find some cool stuff’ and they do… and then they put it in the museum”. The main attraction was the biggest Giant Squid ever caught. The story goes that a Kiwi was fishing in the Antarctic and he accidentally scooped out this huge squid with the fish he was trying to catch. He donated the discovery to the museum and they had it tested and frozen and on display. It seriously was impressively gigantic. The Te Papa museum also had 5 other floors filled with information about New Zealand’s history, culture, wildlife, and people. We had only allotted ourselves about an hour to spend, but we ran way over our time limit.
The next museum trip we had planned for the day was the Weta Cave. Weta is the company that does most of the special effects for big movies like Lord of the Rings. The museum was small and just had a lot of artifacts from all the movies they have helped create. The most interesting part was the 20 minute film they had playing on a loop that told of the history and progression of Weta. The company has only been around for a decade or two, but the advancement and progress of their technology was actually a pretty interesting story.
The rest of our day was a drive back north. We had plans to meet our friends Ana and Silvia in Rotorua on Thursday, so we knew we needed to make it back there by noon the next day. So, we hit the road, hoping we may stumble upon some interesting sights or experiences on the way. We stopped at an isite in a town called Levin to see if they had any ideas for us, unfortunately they didn’t. But, we did see a park across the road- and our experiences with New Zealand parks and playgrounds was pretty good up to this point, so we decided to take a gander.
A little stir-crazy from the car, we were excited to have the opportunity to climb and explore like little kids. The best part of this park was Brian and the hamster wheel. Much like the playground in my hometown, this park had two human-sized hamster wheels where kids can run inside the wheel and have it go around and around in circles. Brian, the athlete, thought it would be a smart decision to see if he could make it the whole way around standing up- so he pushed his hands up against the top of the wheel and pressed his feet to the floor and I started running. Needless to say, he fell on his face. Laughing at his attempted, the small group of children who had built up encouraged him to try again- obviously, I did not protest. Brain created a bit of a stir with the kids and had a group of fans, but after 2 or 3 more times of hitting his face on the wooden floor of the wheel, he gave up. Laura, Chris, and I had a pretty good time though and all of us got some of the pent-up energy out of our systems, so it was a lot easier to pile back into the Subaru and continue the trip north.
We drove past breathtaking mountains in the Tararua Forest and stopped in a little town called Hastings for a delicious dinner of fish and chips. We ended in Taupo for the night and decided to stay at the same campground we had spent the night earlier in the week. The boys slept in the tent while Laura and I tried to make ourselves at home in the backseat. It was easily one of the most uncomfortable nights of sleep I’ve ever had, but we made it though eventually.
Thursday- We woke up late in Taupo and had to rush to make it to Rotorua in time to pick up Ana and Silvia. We made it to the town just in time and then found out their bus was running late. Typical for our luck, we smiled and shrugged off the inconvenience and started the planning of our last weekend in New Zealand. A sidenote: I have continued to impress myself with my relaxed attitude- I used to be so hung up when things didn’t go to plan, I’ve become so much more relaxed through my travels and I am eternally grateful, I think it has made me a happier person- I’m loving it!
We made a rough plan to do three main activities: rafting, zorbing, and bungy jumping. Ana and Silvia made it into town about halfway through our planning session and it was like a 10 year reunion- their were hugs and huge hellos all the way around. Ana made it a point that she would much rather go skydiving than bungy jumping and Silvia wasn’t interested in either, so we all made our plans and got going. The six of us had also agreed on a hostel for the night that had a special dinner deal- so on our way out of town we stopped, checked in and dropped off our bags.
Laura, Chris, Brian, Silvia, Ana, and I all piled into the car and headed about 20 minutes out of town to Zorb! Zorbing can most easily be described as rolling down a giant hill in a rubber, blow up ball. Actually- you are surrounded by 2 rubber, blow up balls—the first is about 4 feet in diameter and we had to sit in it with a layer of warm water- then there was another ball surrounding it- probably about 15 feet in diameter- and this was the one that actually rolled down the hill. The first time I went I did it individually down a zig-zag track. It was so funny and so much fun- I was being thrown every which way inside my little bubble! We sweet-talked one of the guys that worked there into letting us go for a second round (normally it costs $40). The second time Laura, Ana, and I went in one down a straight track. All three of us could not stop laughing and accidentally kicking each other in the face. Overall, it was a pretty hilarious experience.
We had about an hour and a half to get ready after zorbing and we all rushed around to meet the bus that would take us to dinner. The traditional Maori meal is made underground and is smoked and is, if I do say so myself, incredibly delicious! Not only did we receive dinner, we also received an overview of Maori history, were taken on a bush walk to see some Maori traditions and the local glowworms, and were given a show of the traditional Maori dances and culture. The entire night was like a spectacular history lesson that no one could get enough of! All of the aspects of the show and the whole night were so well done and interesting and I feel like I am much more knowledgeable about New Zealand’s past and traditional culture.
After all of the activity of the day, I slept like a rock, but I woke up with butterflies in my stomach.
Friday- I woke up this morning knowing today was the day I would be jumping off a 43 meter structure… no big deal, right? As can be imagined, being afraid of heights and bungy jumping don’t normally mix real well. I can definitely attest to that! As I watched Brian and then Chris jump off the giant lift, my heart was in my throat- and when they called my name… I was nearly throwing it up! As the lift went up the guy in the chamber with me (named Puma) was trying to take my mind off of the situation- he was asking about our trip and how I was enjoying New Zealand. I just wanted him to shut up! Every answer I gave came out short, quiet, and shaky—I was a little busy watching my life flash before my eyes! The guy also tried to make a few jokes on the way up- ones like… “oh- that guy who set you up, he’s training today- pretty good for his first day, huh?” and “Steve didn’t you up, did he? (Checks my gear) He always does this stuff wrong” and finally- just he counted down to three and I leaped off of the lift he quietly went “NO!”. Obviously, his jokes were not very appreciated.
But I did jump! With tears in my eyes as I walked up to the edge of the platform, Puma gave me a hug and said that tears were all a part of the experience. He told me to swan dive when he counted to three- and I did- no hesitation at all! I screamed at the top of my lungs, but through all the fear, was also pride! I couldn’t believe I did it! I accomplished it! I conquered my fear, even for a moment, and I bungy jumped!
On a mental high- I basically floated through the rest of the trip. Chris, Brian, Laura, Silvia, and I headed back to the isite to meet up with Ana, who had gone sky diving that morning. Laura and I walked into the isite and don’t find her, though- we find Alaska!!! Her and Marius are sitting in the station waiting to figure out their next move. We let them know that we are going rafting that afternoon (something they had already done), but if they wanted to, they were more than welcome to join us on the rest of our travels. Ana and Silvia had rented a car and now we had more room to fit more people on our trip. Alaska and Marius weren’t sure exactly what their plans were, but said if they were still at the isite when we got back from our next adventure (rafting) that they would join us.
Rafting was basically insane- it was heaps of fun. We had two rafts- a girl raft with Laura, Ana, Silvia, and I and a boy raft with Chris, Brian, and two other guys from Australia. The river we went down had the tallest commercially rafted waterfall in the world- it was 7 meters high! The river also had a ton of rapids and mini waterfalls that we had a chance to tackle. The trip took under an hour, but it felt like it lasted ages. I fell out twice- once because the darn guide made us go over a rapid backwards with our hands in the air—what did he expect?!?! The other time Laura accidentally pushed me out a little bit. Both times I went careening down the river in total panic mode trying to grab onto anything solid. It was frightening, but I couldn’t help but laugh at myself and my clumsiness.
Wet and cold, the group headed back to the hostel to eat and pack up. We stumbled onto Alaska and Marius who had decided to join us on our trip to Mata Mata that night. The eight of us had some food and hit the road- switching up the car situation for the first time. Laura, Ana, Silvia, and I jumped in the new rental car and Chris, Brian, Alaska, and Marius piled into Gloria the Subaru.
We drove up to Mata Mata where the new Lord of the Rings movie is being filmed because Chris wanted to do a tour the next morning. We found a place to park and sleep down a back road that ended near a few farms and a walking trail. Chris and Brian had a dream (ever since hearing about Mike Stone’s adventures with farm stock) of tackling sheep. Since it was nearing the end of our trip and we were parked near a handful of farms- they were convinced that tonight was the night it would happen. Ana and Silvia stayed at the cars and the rest of the group headed out into the open field in front of us.
Stumbling over the dark and slippery grass, with only two flashlights between six of us, we made our way to a 3-foot wire fence. To our left were a cluster of cattle and the boys were pretty confident in the logic that if there were cows, there were sheep. I wasn’t quite as convinced, but I followed their lead as Chris and Marius stepped over the short fencing. As I literally was stepping over the fence Alaska asked the question I didn’t even think of: “Is this fence electric?” Chris answered a confident “No” just as I was zapped—directly between my legs. Yelping in agony, I finished my trip over, almost falling in pain—I warned “YES IT IS!” Through their fit of laughter the rest of the group asked if I was alright and I regained my composure after a minute or so. Turns out their was a gate about 50 yards down the stretch of wire that could have very easily been our entry point—figures.
We spent an hour or two more searching for sheep to tackle, but to no avail. Disheartened, we headed back to the cars to sleep- and for me to recover from a wild and painful night.
Saturday- We headed to the isite in Mata Mata where Chris was scheduled to be picked up by the Hobbiton (new Lord of the Rings movie) tour. Ana and Silvia weren’t interested in the hike the rest of the group were planning on doing as Chris was on his tour, so they stayed in town to check e-mails and run some errands. Alaska, Laura, Brian, Marius, and I headed back to the site we slept at (mostly because Laura forgot her shoes) and decided to hike the trail that was set up at that location.
The Wairere Falls hike was gorgeous, but very challenging. It was very steep and a lot longer than we expected. Marius and Brian started before us and decided to run the trail, but Laura, Alaska, and I took our time making our way to the waterfall lookout. The waterfall was a beautiful sight, but we were very far away from it—I think I had my best waterfall experience too early in my trip with Eli at Paradise Falls because no other waterfall has been able to live up to that moment. This waterfall was stunning and the three of us took a good block of time just to be able to view the beauty. But we did, eventually, have to make our way down the mountain so we could drive back to town and grab the rest of the group.
We spent a little time in town just puttering around and souvenir shopping and hopped back into the cars to head up north to the Coromandel Peninsula for the hot water beaches. The attraction behind these types of rare beaches is that at low tide you can bring a shovel and make a hole in the sand and hot water will fill the hole from underneath and create a natural hot tub. One of the isites had given us a list of approximate times for low tide so we could be there at a good time to dig our hole.
We arrived in Coromandel a little after six with plans of low tide around eight, but when we stopped at a hostel to enquire about prices, etc we ran into some problems. Turns out the isite had given us times for high tide instead of low tide… so the next low tide wasn’t until about three or four o’clock in the morning. Frustrated and a little annoyed, the eight of us sat in the street for some time just trying to figure out our next move.
Finally we decided to just make the drive back to Auckland. Marius decided to stay behind in Coromandel because he had a ferry ticket from that area back to Auckland for later in the week. So we said goodbye to our faithful German and I jumped in the Subaru with Alaska, Chris, and Brian.
The rest of the night was uneventful. We stopped by Mike Stone’s to let him know we had arrived back with his car and belongings intact. We made plans to meet in the morning and headed to our last night in a New Zealand hostel.
Sunday- We spent most of the day just packing up our stuff and returning Mike Stone’s trusty Subaru. Our flight was delayed three hours, so when we got to the airport just in the nick of time for our original flight time, we were relieved to find out, we were early by the airline’s standards. Later, I found out the entire IT system for the airline had failed and actually created huge delays and cancellations throughout their company, so we were very lucky our delay was only three hours.
Getting back to Melbourne was a huge relief. We had a great time, but the constant travel wore me out. Eli picked us up from the airport and we were so grateful for the ride and the good company. We made some great memories while we were in New Zealand and took some fantastic pictures. I’m so glad I had the opportunity to head all the way over to that area- I hope one day I can go back and explore the south island!
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