Milford Sound
In front of the MV Sinbad, our boat for the Milford Sound Cruise
Looking down into the valley from the top of Franz Josef glacier
Hell's Gate- Rotorua
Blackwater rafting and caving- Waitomo
Molly and I decided that we wanted to do New Zealand our way, which meant designing our own itinerary rather than signing up for an organized tour. We also wanted to go to both the north island and the south island, an ambitious plan which evoked questionable responses from our friends and travel advisors. While the north island doesn't have the same high-thrill, unashamedly touristy appeal as its southern sister does, I would make the same choice to go north a hundred times over.
Day 1: We discovered Sydney's darkest transportation secret and took the 400 bus to the airport instead of succumbing to outrageous cab fares. We thought we budgeted our time perfectly, arriving at the airport 2 hours before our scheduled flight time. As always, the airport had other plans. Upon arrival we were greeted by a menacing, 100-meter queue. We only just made it. Not good for our already anxious nerves. After a flight full of screaming babies, we landed safely in Auckland. We checked into our hostel then went up to the top of the Sky Tower for stunning views of Auckland at night.
Day 2: We took a bus from Auckland to Waitomo, a tiny town famous for its glow worm caves. Of course, we decided that walking through the caves would be too boring. Instead, we donned wetsuits and innertubed/crawled through them. This was hands down the coolest thing I did in New Zealand. We jumped off water falls and coasted through pitch black caves, with only the glow worms lighting the way. Nerdy side note: the glow things are not actually worms; they're fly larvae. They glow because their waste product is oxidized. So basically I got excited about shiny maggot shit. Cool. After our 3 hour "Black Labyrinth" tour, we dried off and hopped on the bus to Rotorua. Upon arrival, we were immediately greeted with the horrifying rotten-egg stench of the area's sulfur springs. Unfortunately, the stench didn't stay in Rotorua, it clung to us for the rest of the trip. In fact, some of my tshirts still have a hint of noxious gas... extra pleasant!
Day 3: After poking around Rotorua in the morning and finding nothing exciting besides a Costco-like grocery store, Molly and I went to Hell's Gate- an active geothermal site (and spa.) After walking around the various geysers, bubbling mud pits, and sulfur pools, we soaked in a sulfur mud bath.
Day 4: Hello south island! We flew to Christ Church then shuttled to our hostel, one of only a few left standing after the earthquake. We walked around where we could... the city was absolutely devastated. The entire CBD was fenced off. All the buildings inside were completely destroyed and most outside showed at least some damage. It was also Easter Sunday so literally nothing but the McDonald's and the Denny's (yes, Denny's!!!) was open. Molly and I treated ourselves to a lovely Easter dinner at Denny's.
Day 5: We spent all day bussing to Queenstown. The drive there was absolutely stunning. We arrived just in time to sign up for the hostel's pub crawl at 9. (Phew.)
Day 6: Today we headed up the west coast to the glacier town called Franz Josef... another very scenic drive. We had intentions of going to see the kiwi bird habitat down the road from our hostel, but instead we walked around town and went to bed early.
Day 7: All day glacier hike. SO COOL. We donned our crampons and trekked all over and through the Franz Josef glacier. The rushing water we found halfway up was so pure we could drink it straight from the ground. We crawled through tunnels, shimmied through crevices, and climbed up ice walls. Needless to say, our hostel's hot tub was much needed after 7 hours on the ice. After a full recovery we went "out" with friends to the hostel's bar for a fun evening of questionable Kiwi bar games, English hooliganism, and Swedish card tricks.
Day 8: This morning we took the bus back to Queenstown- again stunning. We arrived early enough to see some of Queenstown during the day... it really reminded me of Breckenridge (and I suppose most other North American ski villages.) We spent a low key night watching Zoolander in the hostel with some friends we met in Franz Josef.
Day 9: Day trip to Milford Sound. Easily the most beautiful scenery in all of New Zealand. We cruised along the sound (which is actually a fjord) all the way to the Tasman Sea. When we got back to Queenstown, we ate at the famous Fergburger and arrived at the hostel just in time to watch the Royal Wedding (Kate!!!) with about a hundred excited Brits. "Oh Queeeniieeeeeee!
Day 10: Bus back to Christ Church, officially entered home mode.
Day 11: We went to the airport a few hours early to satiate our nerdy tendencies and sit at a cafe to get some work done. After two flights and what seemed like the longest day in the world we finally arrived home in Coogee.
Yes, Coogee is officially home.
