New Zealand
part of the On the Road travelogue
 
 
New Zealand is far and away the best destination I've seen if you like to travel independently.  I think this goes double for women, since it is a very safe country.  The natural attractions are incredibly varied and rich, and the travelling infrastructure is fantastic for lodging and information (but less so for mass transportation).  It is my top recommendation for anyone looking for a fantastic travelling experience, with special emphasis on outdoor activites.  But be warned: you will be selling yourself short if you come for less than several months.  The best way to experience this country is to plan on 3-6 months and buy a car when you get here.  Hitching and cycling are other good options.  I guarantee you will enjoy it.  In two weeks here I only got the smallest taste of what the New Zealand experience is like - I plan to be back.

North Island

We flew into Aukland, near the tip of the North Island.  It is the country's largest city, housing a quarter of the 4 million New Zealanders.  It's a nice city, a bit hilly, with the main street rolling down to the sea.  It even has its requisite space needle to qualify as an international city.  There is plenty of nightlife here, with a three block area chock-full of clubs.  As soon as we arrived at the airport, I spotted an article on an upcoming road race: the Round the Bays Run.  It's a huge fun run held each year.  This year they were trying to get the record for most entrants in a road race - over 65,000.  I was there, man!  Of course it rained during the whole race, but it doesn't really matter once you get going.  And for after race refreshments?  Milo and chocolate and strawberry Quik.  Nu-tritious!

As we didn't have much time in the country, Jason and I decided to rent a car for a few days.  Our first stop was Waitoma.  This area contains a heavy concentration of underground cave systems, several open for guided tours.   The Kiwis, with their usual adventurous bent, have added an interesting twist to the standard tour: inner tubing down a subterrainean river in the pitch black.  And this, so called "black water rafting", is indeed what we did.  All I can say is that it was Awesome!   Particularly wading knee deep in mud, swimming above my head in ice cold water, and seeing the bioluminescent glowworms hanging from the ceilings.

After the caves, we continued on to Roturua, with a few side trips to see a huge arch (collapsed cave) and an impressive waterfall.  Rotorua itself is an area known for its geothermal activity.  Geysers aplenty - as well as bubling hot pools, sulfur stench, and hot springs.  Had a nice soak melting in 100 degree water, staring up at the stars.  We also found a series of excellent mountain biking trails just on the outskirts of town - shhh!  Don't tell the hostel owners what we did to their bikes!

From here we continued southwards to the center of the island.  We were planning to do one of the classic hikes (or tramps as they call them here).  This was the three day Tongariro circuit.  We would stay in rustic huts, packing in all of our food.  Unfortunately, the weather was not so cooperative.  We waited out a day of rain, and met a pair of Germans in the same predicament (Nadja and Pete).  The next day looked more promising, so the four of us headed out on the trail.  Unfortunately we ended up hiking through one day of drizzle and one day of gale force winds and pelting rain.  We were very glad for the gas heaters in the hut, and spent most of the time drying out our clothes over the grate!  But the third day was as nice as you could imagine, and made the whole thing worth while.  The scenery was the most spectacular of the whole track, with steep volcanic cones, irridescent lakes, craters, and lava flow.  A good day, though we were a bit tired at the end of it all.

From here Jason and I split.  I would continue on to the South Island, while he would take his time working his way down to the end of the North Island, then on to Fiji and home.  I took the overnighter to Wellington, and spent the morning walking around this interesting city.  Talking about planned cities: the civic center contains the visitor's information center, the art museum, a second gallery, ticket and event sales, and the public library.  Plus they have a brand spanking new National Museum (Feb'98) which totally kicks ass.  It's got a bit of many things, and is extremely well presented.  Unfortunately I didn't have enough time to do it justice - as it was I had to hustle to make my connecting ferry to the Southland.  Which I did with at least 20 seconds to spare.



 

South Island

 The ferry lands at a small coastal town called Picton.  Very picturesque, but I think a tad sleepy.  I didn't spend any time there; I hopped right on another bus and made my way west to Nelson.  Nelson is a nice little city, most know for its proximity to the Abel Tasman trail, the most popular tramp in New Zealand.  It's a coastal walk, and mostly flat.  I had intended to avoid it and the ensuing crowds, that is, until I found out you could kayak it.  It took a little work, as I couldn't find a guided tour going out at the right time, and the outfitters won't rent kayaks to less than 2 people.  However I managed to hook up with three girls travelling together, and we took out a pair of tandems.  Two of the girls were German (Meike and Andrea), and the other was English (Ruth).  Another German (Guido, believe it or not) tagged along with us.  First we got a morning full of instruction and shop talk.  Our instructor took us out to a shallow portion of the bay to make sure we would spontaneously drown.  Then about noon she let us go out on our own.  We had a great time paddling around, cruising the coastline and the small outlying islands.  We landed on secluded beaches for snacks, swims, and exploration.  We spent the night at one of the trail huts.  The next day we had the highlight of cruising around Tonga Island - a protected marine park host to a colony of seals.  We spent the morning kayaking among the cavorting animals.  We even got into a protected cove where the 5 month old pups were hanging out.  They cruised all around our boats, zooming around and generally acting curious.  At the end of the day I and the kayaks caught a water taxi back to the outfitter - the girls would walk the trail back.

I spent another night in Nelson, then made my way to Christchurch in the morning.  Here I rented a car for a few days and headed off to the Banks Penninsula, just south east of the city.  The main town here is Akaroa, where they have a funky war memorial.  I spent the night at a farm hostel, complete with cows, sheep, fowl, and resident brewmeister.  The hosts get up each morning, and weather permitting, take the group out sea kayaking in the harbor.  This was actually the big draw for me, and I was psyched to go out for a while.  We cruised down the coast, running into a small pod of Dusky Dolphins.  For a brief time they surfed around the kayaks before being chased off by passing motorboats.  Cool!  We paddled into a small sea cave, where there was just enough room to turn the boat around.  The best part was the echoing sound of the waves in the cave.  On the way back I even got out of the boat and harvested what they call a paua - otherwise know as abalone.  Someone had grabbed some mussel from the multitude hanging on the shore rocks and we had a nice seafood snack.  After this I took a hike up into the hills to a ridge trail with an incredible end view.  A very good day.

The following day I spent working my way back up to Christchurch to catch a plane to Singapore.  Christchurch has has a little bit more than a touch of English influence, but was a bit sprawling for me.  One of the coolest things was the old stone university campus they converted into artist studios and galleries.  Lots of tourist shops, and a big church in the center.  There is also a nice big park.  I ran across the 100 year old model sailboat racing club going at it - races every weekend!

Not even close to enough time in this country - but I had to meet my grandfather in China.  I reconciled myself with the fact that even another month wouldn't be enough time - besides it was turning to fall.  The rest of New Zealand would have to wait for another trip.

...next: Singapore


Recommended Reading:

If you're headed out this way, you might want to check out the following: