...it was so freaking beautiful you couldn't believe it.
that basically sums up the 4 weeks we experienced in new zealand.
well folks, this is officially our last and longest blog post (shall we add on a "for now"?). it has been an absolutely incredible adventure. and we definitely ended on a good note. new zealand was on our list for awhile and we are already planning our next trip there. it's jam-packed with awesome hiking trails, beers, beautiful landscapes, and friendly people. we learned to battle some fierce winds, drive on some crazy roads in a green and purple van while driving on the left (including one driven in the dark "not suitable for campervans"), spot hobbits, and roll down a hill in a human sized hamster ball. so, needless to say, we loved it. enjoy our photographic evidence of this amazing country...
our arrival was a little more solemn since we flew into christchurch. a great city (that we didn't get to experience) in disarray. for those unaware, they were hit by 2 major earthquakes in the past year. it's a strange scene...
beautiful churches that gave the city its namesake are just rubble here
buuuuuuut, an hour outside of the city and we are out of the destruction and into blue skies and the beautiful switchback roads of the banks peninsula.
yes it's winter here (a pretty legit winter on the south island - although NOTHING compared to boston or chicago!) and yes there are still beautiful orange flowers in bloom. that's new zealand for ya
the earthquake damage made its way all the way down here too (about 50 miles southeast of the city). they avoided a lot of damage to houses but these huge shipping containers were placed alongside some of the roads to avoid rockfalls from all the aftershocks. fyi: since the february earthquake, there have been about 12,000 more (most minor, but still a ridiculous figure)
after a night of frightful driving on a road that we should not have been driving on (especially on our first day of left-hand side driving), we made it to the wonderful banks peninsula
that's us and our awesome, obnoxious campervan :)
after a good day exploring the banks peninsula, we headed on farther south of christchurch to our first kiwi couchsurfing experience near methven. the next morning we awaken to some sweet cloudy skies just barely giving us a view of the mountains
that's a big tree!
whoa blue water, whoa. lake tekapo on a sunny day
off in the distance you can see mount cook, the tallest mountain in australasia (at about 12,300 feet). pretty decent height considering that you're never more than around 100 miles from the coast
cool, little town of wanaka, just north of queenstown. enjoying an early evening, winter sunset after a good beer
overlooking the mountains that surround wanaka after a quick little jaunt to the top of the hill
en route to queenstown! little did we know that we weren't going to make it much farther than this beautiful spot. shortly after we drove through this gorge we hit some snow head-on. normally (e.g., in the midwest or northeast) you would just suck it up and continue. but driving these roads requires average speeds of 25 mph and LOTS of turning. so, when we were told to not go further because there were 3 people in the ditch ahead, we decided to turn around. we're not messing with that crazy snow, yo
so, another night in wanaka and then off to drive through gorgeous haast pass. a california-born brewer we met in the 'north of the south' said that driving this road was what made him move to new zealand
and off to the beautiful blue pools for some trout viewin' and tramping (aka, hiking in kiwi terms)
hello beach!
one of our favorite spots in new zealand in terms of landscapes. breathtaking. wish the picture could do it justice
off to find some penguins on the beach!
although joe searched just about everywhere for about an hour, we found ourselves penguin-less. maybe next time...
ahhh...sunset
about to tackle the franz josef glacier, looming over us in the distance. yahoo!
the guides maintain an ever-changing (ever-melting) route of paths and ice stairs
ice cavin'
doing some ice slidin' tricks. we're pros
some of the amazing ice pockets hidden throughout the glacier
new zealand only has 1 native mammal (the bat), but it has an abundance of native birds that we've never even heard of before. this kea parrot hangs around in the south island.
our glacier hiking crew was pretty interesting. check out the guy's face in the front
although there is only 1 native mammal in new zealand, there are tons of introduced animal species. some accidentally introduced, some on purpose. the most notorious of the invasive animals is the possum. these guys snuck over from australia and thrive in new zealand. however, they are extremely disliked because they eat tons of native trees that should not be eaten and, at times, carry bovine TB. there is a ton of controversy about containing their population (i.e., toxic chemicals from bag traps have leaked into water sources to kill them off). this little shop we stopped at exhibits their true hatred of possums :)
west coast of new zealand = amazing. regarded as one of the best drives in the world (we can't argue with that statement)
preeeeety preeeeety good
and one more for good measure.
some of new zealand's unique plant-life - the nikau palm
and...rainbow time
joe was crossing his fingers hoping to see a penguin cross the road........
...... no such luck
yea yea, sunsets are pretty. enough already, eh?
the punakaiki pancake rocks. another shot that just doesn't look as cool by camera
check out the video to get a bit more clarity why they call them 'pancake rocks.' you will see some true pancake rock blowhole action. go!
and off to another one of joe's favorite activities, swing bridges!
hanging out on the swing bridge for a bit
so at least this sunset comes with some awesome hop fields in the foreground. they were everywhere! needless to say we were getting excited about our next destination :)
the bright green rolling hills and wonderful coastline of golden bay (and plenty of sheep, of course!)
our hikes here generally took longer than expected because we stopped every 5 minutes to take in the view and take more photos
lauren posing with her newly found driftwood on a beach overlooking farewell spit
some windswept trees, on the way to a very windswept hike...
the wind was fierce that day, simultaneously trying to blow you over and send some "high speed sand" your way - pretty extreme stuff
after this sandy experience, we spent a good 15 minutes trying (unsuccessfully) to rid ourselves of the sand that had made its way into every part of our clothing
we get back to the car, planning our next destination when suddenly, to our right, a huge, bright peacock magically appears from nothingness - maybe a sign of good things to come
to abel tasman national park we go! one of the best reasons to visit new zealand in the winter is that we are usually one of very few people at campsites (not many people want to sleep outside in slighter higher than freezing temperatures). this was the entrance to abel tasman's awesome campground for which we enjoyed a couple nights.
did we mention there were some sweet native birds here? check out that guys blue and yellow eye
when we saw this bird from far away we hoped it was a penguin. we were wrong (but still happy that we got to see this guy anyway :)
golden bay gorgeous-ness
why not one more?
some of the local, colorful shells - including this green-lipped mussel. soon enough you will witness a dish where we enjoyed these suckers... mmmmm mussels
dig it! (although not really because this is a crazy invasive species!)
one of the many tree ferns that we got to experience while in new zealand. before we got on the trails, we had no idea that new zealand was so famous for its ferns. it feels like you're constantly in some eerie rainforest with these guys looming overhead.
just hanging on the beach
back on the road towards nelson we stumbled upon a sweet little cave. we're spelunkers at heart so we ventured there. this was the landscape above the cave. marble-y rocks and little bits of sunken ground where there is an entrance to the cave
and...the cave was pretty sweet
cavin' it!
and this is when we went to a few breweries in one day. it was wonderful. first stop - golden bear brewing company. awesome, hoppy beers and a cool owner originally from california.
checking out a sweet beer bar where we tried some great kiwi beers!
joe starts off with a blonde ale at founders brewery. pinkies up!
mirror-like still waters just outside of nelson
amazing scenery along the queen charlotte drive in the north part of the south island
chillin dockside after munching on a mussel pie. mmmm.... mussels
just about every five minutes along this drive we stopped, got out of the car, and stared... beauty!
you guessed it! green-lipped mussel curry. mmmmm mussels
mountains, grapevines, and sheep. my idea of a perfect day
the vineyards just seemed to stretch on foreverrrrr
it's not possible to come to new zealand without trying wine, right? so...we took a detour from our beer tour and hit up some wineries in the "north of the south," around blenheim. it's the primo area for sauvignon blanc.
this dog's name was toast and he wanted our wine
ok, so we couldn't resist...we brought beer to a winery. eight wired's 'hopwired' is simply delicious
i hope this was a different day? (we drank a lot of beers in new zealand)
to the north we go! enjoying our ridiculously expensive ferry ride over to the north island
a trip to new zealand wouldn't be complete without stopping to chat with some elven folk at rivendell. don't get too excited - this isn't the actual rivendell - only the park where it was filmed. gotta love the sign, though
just a 'typical' new zealand road, no big deal
we journeyed to the end of a long coastal road to find this lighthouse perched upon a steep, rocky hill. if you look closely, you can see a narrow staircase coming down to the right of the lighthouse. 250 stairs later, we reached the top for some awesome views
definitely one of the best sunsets we've ever seen - fiery and magical
the putangirua pinnacles - one of the many lord of the rings shooting locations (part of the 'paths of the dead' sequence in return of the king was filmed here)
windy wellington, from the docks
'solace of the wind' statue on the windy welly waterfront
sculptures outside of te papa - an amazing natural history museum in wellington. and at $0.00, the price was right
so, we get to nelson (in the north of the south) and we hear the word "beervana." come to find out, a beer fest is happening in 3 days in wellington (the south of the north). we are there! and this was the winner of the night - epic brewing company's 'epic armaggedon IPA'
you guessed it - goat head on the side of the road! now that's a photo op! if you look at it quickly - maybe it's not a goat head, but a goat buried in the ground up to his neck... think about it...
we took a beautiful scenic drive along the winding whanganui river
two examples of things that make driving in new zealand constantly exciting.
1 - you encounter dozens, bordering on hundreds, of bridges that are one-lane. this sign tells you who has the right of way.
and, 2 - exclamation point road ahead!
the next few pics look like strange landscapes from distant planets - they're actually pictures from the orakei korako thermal park
this place had geysers, hot springs, gurgling mud pools and amazing silica terraces
the entire area was enveloped in steam, rising from the ground all around you
gurgle, gurgle, glug, glug, mud, mud
a fascinating thing about the orakei korako thermal area is that almost 1/3 of the area is underwater. you can see the edge of the thermal area here where it meets lake ohakuri
baby ferns are cute
a california redwood forest established in the heart of rotorua, a city well-known for its maori culture. the whakarewarewa forest (say that even one time slow and you are awesome) started as a test forest to see what non-native species could grow well in new zealand. now, it's a sweet place for biking, hiking, and enjoying these awesome trees
you can dig this one
st faith's church in rotorua blends the old with the new, mixing in maori and anglican traditions. if you look closely, you can see steam rising from the little pond in front of the church. you can see it even more here....
rotorua is a city literally built in the heart of a giant volcanic crater. it's extremely active in terms of hot springs and thermal areas. it's hard to ignore this when you see steam rising above the ground in someone's backyard (not to mention the smell of sulphur). so, you may be thinking, are these people crazy for living on top of a volcanic crater? their answer = as long as the steam keeps coming, it's fine. it's when it stops releasing that pressure that you start worrying. so reassuring :)
some black swans enjoying sulphury, lake rotorua
rotorua museum of art and history - a great museum in an old converted bath house. this old geothermic spa was a huge draw for tourists from around the world when it opened in 1908. they would come to enjoy the curative powers of the natural hot springs
one night in rotorua, we enjoyed a maori 'cultural experience'. to begin with, a traditional hangi dinner, cooked in a hot stone oven in the earth. mmmm lamb
then, a wonderful performance of many interesting maori dances, songs and...
the famous haka dance - in this case, a war haka, performed before a battle to invoke the god of war and intimidate the enemy.
how about another cave? this is a long spiral ramp descending to the entrance of ruakuri cave
cavin it
now you will learn about glowworms! fascinating creatures that are fairly unique to new zealand (i think only wales is the other country that has them?).
fact #1 - they are not worms. rather they are fly larvae.
fact #2 - the little "fishing line" hanging down is not the larvae. the larvae is actually parallel to the rock ceiling, perpendicular to the "fishing line." the line is put out from the body of the larvae to attract food
fact #3 - when the lights are out in the cave, they look like a star-filled sky and it is beautiful. the brighter they glow, the hungrier they are - trying to attract their prey. we couldn't get good photos of them actually glowing, so, if you're interested, go to new zealand's waitomo caves, or.... just go to this website - http://www.waitomo.com/glow-worm-lifecycle.aspx
final fact #4 - their lifecyle is approximately 11 months but they only live 3 days as adults because they can't eat (they don't have mouths)
if you want to comprehend what it's like to be pushed down a hill in a human-sized hamster ball filled with water, play part of this video. zorb!
the rolling green hills of the north island. nearby this area was where they filmed 'the shire' from the lord of the rings. we were itchin to go see the hobbit holes that they left in tact (though all of the set design was removed due to copyright...boo). but, $60 for a tour of hobbit holes wasn't really in our budget
the maori are very well known for their intricate wood carving and their face carvings. yes, carvings. not tattoos. today you don't see many, if any, maori with face carvings or tattoos (tattoos are a bit more popular than carvings today) but go back a few generations and men would undergo a series of carvings where a pattern is actually chiseled into the skin. social status was usually indicated by having face carvings and also by how complex and beautiful the carvings were
"i'm going to eat you!" that's what he means by his tongue sticking out
on to auckland! that crazy needle-looking thing you see is the sky tower, the tallest free-standing structure in the southern hemisphere (1076 ft)
a view of the city from across the harbor. our last kiwi sunset :(
dig this awesome tree. seriously, dig it. it's the last time you'll get to dig one of our dig-worthy plant pictures
the penguin search is over! we had to go to an aquarium to see a penguin :)
what better way to end our time in new zealand than a good winery 5 minutes from the airport? we didn't even think twice before stopping here. we had a long flight ahead of us back to the states!!!!!!!!
so, we shall say farewell for now. we've now started our next adventure = touring around the west to find a possible new place to call home. right now we're hanging out in wonderful northern colorado about to head into wyoming, checking out a few spots, visiting some old friends, and meeting more great people along the way. here's to finding a new home!
"I haven't been everywhere, but it's on my list" - Susan Sontang
tallyho,
lauren and joe
i'm going where there ain't no fear
i'm going where the spirit is near
i'm going where the living is easy
and the people are kind, a new state of mind...
