After leaving Marie and Dale at the airport, we got right down to business. Rental car? Check. Hotel room? Check. After two weeks of activities and accommodation fully planned by our capable travel guide Marie, we had to jump right back into doing things ourselves and found that we had a lot of planning to do. First item on the agenda: Where would we go after New Zealand? Once we decided on another week in New Zealand, followed by a flight to Bangkok, we were free to enjoy some of the sights of
Queenstown. After a tasty and celebratory lunch (Yeah! We had plans!) at Queenstown pizza institution The Cow, we took a ride up the Skyline Gondola, perched high above the city and enjoyed 220 degree views of the city, lake, and surrounding mountains. We indulged in a little of the adventure tourism Queenstown (and New Zealand) is famous for and took a couple luge rides down the hillside (ski lift up, luge down, repeat!).
Luging was a walk in the park compared to the adventure sport we partook in the following morning, rising early to meet our ride up the Coronet Peak to go para-gliding. It turned out that we could have slept in, low lying clouds meant that we would be "para-waiting" for the better part of two hours, waiting for the clouds to clear. The wait was worth it. Once we ran off the mountain top and drifted calmly down into the valley, picturesque mountains were all around. Surprisingly, neither of us got nervous either before, after, or during the ride. We conjectured that this was because a) we couldn't see the drop because of the clouds, b) your parachute has to be working to even take off, and c) since we were riding tandem with an experienced pro, we didn't have to do any of the hard work. Once we landed and were transported back to town, we jumped in our new rental, a stylish silver Hyandai hatchback and set off on the next leg of our New Zealand road trip. This time, sans parents.
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| A Moeraki Boulder |
We spent the next two days on the South Island, heading north. Our first stop, after a quick layover with the
Moeraki Boulders, was Omaru, a pleasant seaside town famous for its grand limestone buildings, where we were lucky enough to see the towns other famous feature - adorable yellow-eyed penguins, who we watched waddle their way onto shore toward their waiting chicks tucked up in the hills and cliffs. We then continued onto Kaikora and a freshwater stream and waterfall (ohau) chock full of playful seal pups. We hit a few wineries (and enjoyed some serious sauvignon blanc) on our way to Picton, a waterfront village home to the
Edwin Fox, the ninth oldest wooden ship
in the world, and the Picton-Wellington ferry. Our first and only travel snafu we experienced in NZ was the six hour delay of our ferry, due apparently, to a mechanical problem. Thus, we didn't arrive in Wellington until after 1:00 am and crashed upon arrival at our hotel, which luckily, we were smart enough to book in advance. Two games of the Rugby World Cup Semi-Finals were scheduled to take place in Wellington that weekend and we overheard many a concierge/booking agent telling people there weren't any rooms available in the city!
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| Omaru |
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| Seal pups waiting for their mums while getting some serious playtime in too |
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| Standing below the Edwin Fox |
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| The interior of the Edwin Fox |
We passed our first morning in
Wellington at the
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Highlights at this well-designed museum included interactive displays on earthquakes, geology, Maori culture and everything in-between, a fantastic Maori performance, some really exceptional Maori wood
carvings, and a very well-explained geologic and natural history section. The natural history section was transformed from good to incredible by the presence of the only giant squid on display in the world. This guy wasn't just ugly, he looked like an alien. And his proportions were amazing - his eyeball, for instance, was the size of a soccer ball. A temporary room had been built for the express purpose of teaching visitors about the Ke Mate, or Haka, which is the Maori war challenge that is also the famous ceremony
used by the All Blacks to intimidate their opponents before every match. Watching the All Blacks do the Haka is almost as much fun as doing it yourself in a room full of strangers as a digital coach teaches you the steps. The entire experience is video recorded so you
can watch how goofy, and un-intimidating, you look afterward. Adding to the excellent opportunities to see and learn about Maori culture at Te Papa was the unexpected performance of some traditional singing and dancing, which (to Jeff's delight) was much the same as the performance we saw in Rotorua with the Heddens. The performers maybe had a bit more energy and passion, and some of the best bits were when they came into the crowd to help teach certain portions and to touch noses (twice to say hello, three times to become married) as is the traditional Maori greeting. All in, Te Papa was one of the most interactive museums either of us can remember visiting in a long time. It may have, at times, sacrificed information and substance for style (like the useless 3D animated film showing a giant squid swim around for five minutes to some seriously cheesy music) here and there, but it was one really good looking, fun museum!
After a brief sit at one of Wellington's many terrific cafes, we took a stroll through the botanic gardens (which apparently every city of any fair size, besides Seattle, seems to have), followed by yet another coffee-sweet treat-sit. What are metropolitan cities for, if not their delicious food and coffee?! On our way out of Wellington the following day, we took the scenic Marine Drive, a coast-hugging road that twists and turns its way around the waterfront suburbs of the city. Along the way, we stopped by a local cafe for breakfast, with Annette indulging in her new favorite dish, creamy mushrooms on toast--yum! We reached the town of
Napier by mid-afternoon, and soon set out on a tour of the city's famed Art Deco architecture. Nearly leveled by the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake, much of Napier was rebuilt in the Art Deco style popular at the time and is considered one of the best preserved Art Deco towns in the world.
Our self-guided afternoon walking tour of Napier's Art Deco highlights had to be cut short, for we had
a very important engagement to attend to--rugby! We headed to the Napier watering hole The Thirsty Whale to belly up to the bar with the locals and watch Wales (thirsty only for victory, it seemed) beat Ireland and eat some tasty pub grub. The next morning, we finished our walking tour and packed ourselves into a new, yet equally as trusty, Hyandai for the long drive to Auckland. This would mark our third trip to the New Zealand capitol. We drove through Auckland twice with Annette's parents but didn't see much of the city proper. This time around, it was all Auckland, all the time. We stayed in the tony neighborhood of Parnell and, on our first night, ate dinner at the tony restaurant Igacu, where Jeff had the best lamb of the trip, a dish that was so good it almost brought Annette to tears (not an exaggeration).
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| The delicious lamb dish that made Annette (almost) cry. It was that good. |
Good food brings good sleep and after a night of peaceful slumber, we walked to the CBD refreshed and ready for the big city. Our first stop was the Sky Tower, another ubiquitous observation and telecommunications tower (we admit to a bias towards the better-than-all-the-rest Space Needle) which did have better-than-average views of the city and we could see for kilometers in every direction. One feature that the Sky Tower has that the Space Needle is lacking is a glass floor in some areas of the main observation deck, which gives a different, more exciting perspective to being that high up in the air. After a brief stop at the Official All Blacks Fanzone where we chowed down on a pie
and a coke, we walked and walked and walked, took a breather (and also inhaled some corn and feta fritters) at Melba's Cafe, and then headed out of the CBD to One Tree Hill. One of the many volcanic peaks that surround Auckland, One Tree Hill also provided a good vista of the city center as well as the chance to say farewell to New Zealand's largest ethnic group: sheep.
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| One Tree Hill |
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| One Tree Hill, plus one red head |
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| Two of hundreds of city sheep living on and near One Tree Hill Auckland's city limits |
Alas, our time in New Zealand was headed to a close. Our trip had come full circle. That evening we headed to the Airport Garden Inn, the same hotel we had stayed at the night before meeting Annette's parents three weeks earlier. The next day, it was our turn to board a plane and bid adieu to New Zealand. After nearly three months in the very Western worlds of Australia and NZ, we were headed back to Southeast Asia. More specifically, to Bangkok and the and the quickly rising waters of the Chao Phraya River...
After leaving Marie and Dale at the airport, we got right down to business. Rental car? Check. Hotel room? Check. After two weeks of activities and accommodation fully planned by our capable travel guide Marie, we had to jump right back into doing things ourselves and found that we had a lot of planning to do. First item on the agenda: Where would we go after New Zealand? Once we decided on another week in New Zealand, followed by a flight to Bangkok, we were free to enjoy some of the sights of Queenstown. After a tasty and celebratory lunch (Yeah! We had plans!) at Queenstown pizza institution The Cow, we took a ride up the Skyline Gondola, perched high above the city and enjoyed 220 degree views of the city, lake, and surrounding mountains. We indulged in a little of the adventure tourism Queenstown (and New Zealand) is famous for and took a couple luge rides down the hillside (ski lift up, luge down, repeat!).
in the world, and the Picton-Wellington ferry. Our first and only travel snafu we experienced in NZ was the six hour delay of our ferry, due apparently, to a mechanical problem. Thus, we didn't arrive in Wellington until after 1:00 am and crashed upon arrival at our hotel, which luckily, we were smart enough to book in advance. Two games of the Rugby World Cup Semi-Finals were scheduled to take place in Wellington that weekend and we overheard many a concierge/booking agent telling people there weren't any rooms available in the city!
We passed our first morning in Wellington at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Highlights at this well-designed museum included interactive displays on earthquakes, geology, Maori culture and everything in-between, a fantastic Maori performance, some really exceptional Maori wood
can watch how goofy, and un-intimidating, you look afterward. Adding to the excellent opportunities to see and learn about Maori culture at Te Papa was the unexpected performance of some traditional singing and dancing, which (to Jeff's delight) was much the same as the performance we saw in Rotorua with the Heddens. The performers maybe had a bit more energy and passion, and some of the best bits were when they came into the crowd to help teach certain portions and to touch noses (twice to say hello, three times to become married) as is the traditional Maori greeting. All in, Te Papa was one of the most interactive museums either of us can remember visiting in a long time. It may have, at times, sacrificed information and substance for style (like the useless 3D animated film showing a giant squid swim around for five minutes to some seriously cheesy music) here and there, but it was one really good looking, fun museum!
After a brief sit at one of Wellington's many terrific cafes, we took a stroll through the botanic gardens (which apparently every city of any fair size, besides Seattle, seems to have), followed by yet another coffee-sweet treat-sit. What are metropolitan cities for, if not their delicious food and coffee?! On our way out of Wellington the following day, we took the scenic Marine Drive, a coast-hugging road that twists and turns its way around the waterfront suburbs of the city. Along the way, we stopped by a local cafe for breakfast, with Annette indulging in her new favorite dish, creamy mushrooms on toast--yum! We reached the town of Napier by mid-afternoon, and soon set out on a tour of the city's famed Art Deco architecture. Nearly leveled by the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake, much of Napier was rebuilt in the Art Deco style popular at the time and is considered one of the best preserved Art Deco towns in the world.
a very important engagement to attend to--rugby! We headed to the Napier watering hole The Thirsty Whale to belly up to the bar with the locals and watch Wales (thirsty only for victory, it seemed) beat Ireland and eat some tasty pub grub. The next morning, we finished our walking tour and packed ourselves into a new, yet equally as trusty, Hyandai for the long drive to Auckland. This would mark our third trip to the New Zealand capitol. We drove through Auckland twice with Annette's parents but didn't see much of the city proper. This time around, it was all Auckland, all the time. We stayed in the tony neighborhood of Parnell and, on our first night, ate dinner at the tony restaurant Igacu, where Jeff had the best lamb of the trip, a dish that was so good it almost brought Annette to tears (not an exaggeration).
Good food brings good sleep and after a night of peaceful slumber, we walked to the CBD refreshed and ready for the big city. Our first stop was the Sky Tower, another ubiquitous observation and telecommunications tower (we admit to a bias towards the better-than-all-the-rest Space Needle) which did have better-than-average views of the city and we could see for kilometers in every direction. One feature that the Sky Tower has that the Space Needle is lacking is a glass floor in some areas of the main observation deck, which gives a different, more exciting perspective to being that high up in the air. After a brief stop at the Official All Blacks Fanzone where we chowed down on a pie 
and a coke, we walked and walked and walked, took a breather (and also inhaled some corn and feta fritters) at Melba's Cafe, and then headed out of the CBD to One Tree Hill. One of the many volcanic peaks that surround Auckland, One Tree Hill also provided a good vista of the city center as well as the chance to say farewell to New Zealand's largest ethnic group: sheep.
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