Nemo's New Zealand Vacation
Here’s all you need to know. We packed more into 14 days than would seem possible, and even though we did not have perfect weather, we loved New Zealand and if we had the option, we would go back and never return!! There is so much to adventure and fun to share, but I’ll try to just hit the highlights so you don’t come away from reading about the trip as tired as we are from actually experiencing it! I've inserted a few samples of pics below as well, but if you want to view more, go here:picasaweb.google.com/IronNemo/NewZealand2009
Saturday 11/21. After 27 hours of traveling we finally arrived in Auckland around 8:00am local time. We took a shuttle to our hotel and were very grateful that they allowed us to check in to our room early so we could shower up before heading out for a day of touring the city. The goal for this day was simply to keep mind and body moving until at least 9:00pm so we could adjust to local time. We grabbed some coffee (cappuccinos became a constant friend on this trip) and walked down to the harbor front where we found a huge Santa on the side of a department store with a bag over his head! It looked like the reindeer where holding Santa hostage! Apparently it was a marketing scheme- something about Santa getting a face lift with the big “reveal” happening on Sunday- but it looked kinda scary to us!
As soon as we reached the water front we stumbled upon the finish line to a 2.8k open water swim race! Now that’s Kismet! We’ve been in the country for less than 4 hours and I was already in love with the place and scheming ways we could move there!
We checked out the huge luxury and racing sailboats (including “Americas Cup” boats) and then hit up the Maritime Museum before finding an “i-Site” to exchange cash and grab lunch (greenlip muscles and seafood chowder of course!). The “i-Site” we discovered were offices located in just about every “tourist” town in NZ and were a great location to find lodging , arrange guided tours, get local maps, and get recommendations on places to eat or shop. We picked up a bus schedule which helped us make our way to the Auckland Museum where we spend a good part of the afternoon learning about NZ history and Maori culture. I had totally forgotten that Sir Edmond Hilary was a Kiwi until we reached the exhibit with his Ice Ax from climbing Mt Everest! Very cool!
Next up was a nice walk back to Parnell to visit the public gardens where the roses were in full bloom and simply gorgeous! So many different colors and varieties! We then walked back up to the Parnell main street (did I mention yet that New Zealand is REALLY hilly? Auckland makes San Francisco look flat!) for dinner at a Sushi restaurant where we confirmed with locals at the next table that you do not tip in NZ. That felt strange, but it made the prices at restaurants seem more reasonable.
Along our way we stumbled upon a Tri shop which unfortunately closed an hour earlier- bummer!! By 9:30 we were back at our hotel and more than ready to crash for the night!
Sunday 11/22
The hotel we were in was very nice and clean with a little mini kitchenette (stovetop but no oven) so you could make your own meals. We didn’t realize it would have this amenity when we booked it, but we would discover that most of the motels would have this type of “studio room” as an option and we took advantage of it by making many of our own dinners/breakfasts and shopping at grocery stores throughout our trip. Sunday was another travel day, but not before getting in a hike!! We took a ferry to the volcanic island of Rangitoto and did the 2 hour hike up the mountain with a side trip out to some caves. It was rainy and overcast so we didn’t get much view, but the volcanic terrain was interesting and the caves were pretty cool too. We returned to the bottom with just enough time to catch the ferry back to the waterfront and grab a cab to the airport for our 2 hour flight to Queenstown on the South Island. The weather was clear and we lucked out with seats on the left side of the plane so we could see the “Southern Alps” clearly as we neared Queenstown. Spectacular!
We picked up our rental car and began our adventure of driving on the left side of the road. Within 20 minutes of leaving the airport we were already pulling over to watch skydivers who were coming in for a landing. Joe was now also in love and joined my scheming efforts to move here!
The driving was scary at first but Joe did a great job (even with my “help”) and the 2 hour drive to Te Anu was beautiful! I’ve never seen so many sheep and green hills in my whole life. We arrived in Te Anu after the Park Office had closed (we discovered almost everything in NZ closes down at 5:00pm!) but gathered enough information to be fairly certain we could get our hike done the following day. After grabbing a late dinner we were both more than ready to crash!
Monday 11/23
Woke up early, grabbed breakfast, and headed down to arrange grab the early water taxi ride across Lake Te Anu to the start of our hike and to arrange for a shuttle pick-up ride when we reached the end of the 7 hour point to point adventure on the Luxmore and Rainbow Ridge Tracks. A beautiful rainbow greeted us at the start of the adventure which we took as a good sign (even though it does mean there is rain!).
The hike up to the Luxmore peak was steep and very windy at the top but the trails were well maintained and very easy to follow. The track back down and through Rainbow Ridge was beautiful with the scenery constantly changing. One minute you are in harsh windy and cold bush areas and the next you are in a tropical rain forest, then suddenly you in dry and hot open fields. You could easily see why they filmed much of Lord of the Rings here!
The hike ended with what would turn out to be the first of many trips across a swing bridge high above a raging river. It was a fantastic day and we were both exhausted again at bedtime!
Tuesday 11/24
Up early again for a 2 hour drive up to Milford Sound in the rain where we ooooohed and aaaaaahed all the way gawking at the incredible scenery of the Fiordland National Park and the thousands of waterfalls pouring over the high cliffs. Today’s adventure would be a boat ride out into Milford Sound and then a 4 hour sea kayaking trip on the sound to Sterling Falls and back to shore again. We saw some seals sleeping on the rocks and thousands upon thousands of beautiful waterfalls. It was as if the whole range of cliffs was one big waterfall at times. The weather changed constantly during our trip (sunny, foggy, rainy, windy, hot, cold) which made the trip even more fun. In fact, the rain made the waterfalls just that much more spectacular.
We saw a New Zealand White Heron which our guide said was pretty rare to see in the wild- but it looked like any other heron to us! He said local custom is that seeing one brings you good luck. I don’t know if he was pulling our chain or not- but we decided to take it as another sign that this would be a wonderful trip! The sky cleared so we took our time driving back to Te Anu taking a side trip to hike out to a really cool slot canyon and stopping to take some pictures along the way.
We cooked dinner for ourselves and took advantage of the “Holiday Park” laundry facilities before crashing again for the night.
Wednesday 11/25
Started the day with a trip to locate the Geo Cache we had picked out in the area to send off Joe’s Travel Bug “Adventure Joe”. We found the cache site without too much trouble and discovered it was not only overlooking a beautiful ridge for hang gliding, but it was also right next to a Surveyors marker- how perfect! We put Adventure Joe in the cache and crossed our fingers he would be picked up soon and sent on his journey.
We then continued the beautiful drive back through Queenstown (stopping just long enough to grab lunch and check out the world’s first ever bungee jumping site) and then over the highest pass in NZ (simply stunning views) to reach our next destination, Wanaka. We passed dozens of motorcyclists along this curvy and hilly route- it truly would be a magnificent place to ride! We found a hotel and then headed out for a 1.5 hour hike on Mount Iron for 360 degree views of the lakes, mountains, and surrounding towns.
We made dinner for ourselves and then road out towards Mt Aspiring to scope out our hikes for the next day and to peak at all the cows, sheep, and caribou(? ) that were on the farmlands along the way before going to sleep.
Thursday 11/26
Thanksgiving! Maybe?? We’re a full day ahead of the US so we were not sure if we were supposed to celebrate on Thursday in NZ or on Friday! Oh well, the way we decided to celebrate was to do a 5 hour roundtrip hike up to the top of Mt Roy! The weather was just perfect and the sky was crystal clear with views that went on forever.
Much of this hike goes through a sheep farm and we got very close to many of the adorable baby sheep (and sheep poop too).
We were able to get a clear view Mt Aspiring from the top and although it was cold and windy up there, we had to sit and just stare at it all for a little while before trekking our way back down again. We grabbed coffee in Wanaka after our hike and then began our drive along the Haast Pass eating PB&J sandwiches for our lunch as we drove. The drive to Haast was very pretty and we made several stops along the way to do several short hike/walks (5-30 min each) to see various waterfalls, peaks, blue pools, and swing bridges. We eventually reached our destination, Fox Glacier where we grabbed dinner, found a hotel room, and crashed.
Friday 11/27
We woke up early (are you getting the theme here?) and set out for the Fox Glacier Tours to arrange for a hike later that day on the Glacier itself. We then drove over to Frans Joseph Glacier to do Roberts Peak track, a 5 hour roundtrip hike up to a view above the glacier which we had to do in 4.5 hours in order to return in time for our scheduled trip on the Fox glacier later in the day! No problem!! The hike was fantastic! Great climbing, swing bridges, stream crossings, and a super scary bridge that looked like something out of the Exorcist! The view from the top was also fabulous as you could look down and see the waves in the Glacier and really get a perspective for how it’s really a moving living sorta thing as well as for how massive it is.
We made it back with just enough time to grab a cappuccino and egg pie for lunch before beginning our trip onto the Fox glacier.
The only way to hike on the glacier itself is through a guided tour, so we joined 12 other new friends for the trip. Our guide was knowledgeable and gave us lots of information about the glacier as well as instructions to keep us all safe while hiking up to an on the glacier. We were given crampons to walk on the glacier itself and were only on the ice for about 45 minutes. The guides use ice axes to cut steps which make walking on the glacier fairly easy. Kinda like walking on a big slushi.
I think the scary/riskiest part of the trip was actually a 30 meter “no stop” section along the hike to/from the Glacier. In this “no stop” zone, the guide watched a light hooked to a circuit wire that was stretched across an area where they anticipate a rock fall could occur. If the light went out, it meant the rocks broke the wire and were coming down so we’d all have to move fast! Afterwards we made dinner, washed some cloths in the sink, and went to bed good and tired.
Saturday 11/28
Started out with a very rainy day. We drove up the west coast and could tell the views would be amazing if only we could see them. We arrived in Punakaki to see the “Pancake Rocks” and found out the high tide would not come in until 8:30pm- which is when the blow holes would be at their peak. So we found a good 3 hour hike to do with a few river crossings along the way. Unfortunatly the first major river had two sections that were 20-30 feet across, 2-3 feet deep, 60 degrees max, and moving VERY fast from all the rain. We took off our socks to keep them dry and attempted to cross, but only got half way across the first section before we decided that dieing wasn’t part of our itinerary and so we turned back.
We grabbed dinner and then hit a short 30 min walk out to the beach to watch the tide and marveled at the big changes in the waves. As it neared 8:30 we dashed off to the pancake rocks and saw the spectacular blowholes spraying up huge volumes of water and mist. The sun sat shortly after high tide so we stuck around to watch it set over the Tazmen Sea for the very first time.
On our way back to the hotel we took a short side trip to walk through a cave which went 150 meters deep where we saw a few glow worms . Once again, our heads hit the pillows and we were out!
Sunday 11/29
The weather cleared and we had a beautiful drive to Picton for our 3 hour Ferry ride to the North Island. We drove through Buller Gorge and saw the longest swing bridge in New Zealand- a total tourist trap so we didn’t pay the $$ to cross it, but we did take a pic.
We had heard the Ferry ride across the Cook Strait could be quite roucous so I took some Dramamine just in case. Luckily however the weather was nice and although it was windy and a little wavy, it was clear and beautiful so we could stay on the top deck and enjoy the views.
The approach into Wellington was very pretty, but when we finally reached port we were perfectly happy to drive away from the city and make our way north towards Turangi and back into the country.
We reached the small town of Bulls where we stayed for the night.
Monday 11/30
The drive to Turangi was short but rainy and although the mountain peaks of Tongariro National Park were in view for a short while, they were eventually consumed by the clouds which rolled in. The helpful folks at the i-site told us it would not be possible to do the Tongariro Alpine Crossing due to the weather for a few days, so we quickly altered plans and chose to do a short hike instead and arrange for a cave tour the next day. As we reached the trail head for our 5 hour hike, we quickly changed plans again opting for the 2 hour version since the rain was now down pouring in bucket loads and it was only 50 degrees!
Despite the rain, it was a beautiful hike to a waterfall that was raging with the rain and we had a fantastic time! We took advantage of our extra time that evening to drive to Taupo Lake so I could see the site of Ironman New Zealand and to catch up on laundry.
Tuesday 12/1
We drove 2 hours to Waitomo for a caving tour with just 2 other couples (gotta love the small group stuff). It was a fun 4 hour trip where we assailed 25 meters down underground into a huge cave for some river hiking, caving through tight cave holes, rafting down the underground river in inner tubes, and stopping to turn off our headlamps to make the cave pitch black so we could see the glow worms which looked like stars on a moonless night. Finally we returned to the surface by rock climbing back up the 25 meter wall. It was a great trip with a little of everything!
When we reached the surface we found the weather had cleared a bit making our 2 hour drive to Raglan quite nice. But as we reached the surfing town the rain picked up again and we decided to cancel the short hike we had planned for that afternoon, opting instead to scope out the area beaches before the next day. We stayed at a “backpackers” that night- kinda like a youth hostel only quite a bit tidier and cleaner. We shared a bath, kitchen, and common rooms with the other guests- all 20 somethings who were somewhere in the middle of their “taking the year off to travel the world” adventure. We had a lot of fun cooking dinner and hanging out with them that evening- in fact I was ready to quit my job and join them! But one night of commune living was more than enough for Joe!
Wednesday 12/2
We ate breakfast with the 20 somethings and then headed to the beach with a rental board in tow for Joe to surf. I opted not to rent a board after seeing the waves crashing on the huge rocks during our preview of the beach the day before. That decision turned out to be my only regret in the entire trip. Although it was raining, the Tasman wasn’t too cold and the beach we ended up going to had perfect sets of waves breaking on a sandy beach. There was an outside set of big waves for the experienced surfers and an inside set of smaller waves for beginners. The volcanic beach was filled with black sand which made the whole place look like it was on another world! What a fantastic place!
After Joe wore himself out surfing we showered up, grabbed lunch, and then decided to head off to Turanga to see what the Pacific coast surf looked like. We arrived in Turanga 2 hours later and did a short easy 1 hour hike up Mount Managui which is a volcanic mountain that sits right on the shoreline. As we descended down the mountain we could see lifeguards in training on the white sandy beach and noted the waves were just perfect for surfing!
You just can’t help but fall in love with a country where you can surf on two opposite coastlines on the same day!
Thursday 12/3
We woke up early to rent surfboards for the morning but found the surf had gone flat overnight. So we did a short 1 hour hike instead out to a small island connected to the beach by a causeway where we had some nice views of Mt Managui and the Turanga coastline.
We then made our way 2 hours south to the thermal area of Rotura to view the bubbling, steaming, gurgling, hissing, sulfur springs and mud pits of Waiotapu. It took about 2 hours to view the whole Waiotapu area and we marveled at the crazy formations, beautiful pools, and horrible smells!
We then continued south to Taupo (yes, that’s the location of Ironman New Zealand so of course we had to stop on the way through!) and confirmed at the i-site there that the weather would be “fine” for attempting the Tongariro Crossing the next day (not perfect, but just fine- good enough!). We booked our transportation for the crossing (it’s a point to point trip and you can not park at the start of the trail, so transport is required) and headed on another hour south to stay in Turangi for the night once again.
Friday 12/4
It was cloudy, rainy, and cold when we woke up but we had hopes that the weather would clear even if just for a few brief moments so we could enjoy the 5-7 hour hike across Tongariro! The weather did improve quite a bit and we had clear sky for about the first 2 hours of the hike up the steep lava flow rock fields until reaching cloud base.
Beyond this point we were socked in by clouds, rain, and wind. Nonetheless, we were able to enjoy the surreal walk across the edge of huge craters and across huge flat planes at the top of the mountain. As we began our descent down the other side of the mountain we came to two beautiful turquoise colored pools- fantastic!
You could just imagine how amazing it must all look with the big expansive view on a clear day! We decided we will simply have to return to New Zealand to do this hike again on a better weather day! We finished the hike in a little over 5 hours (I think the other 2 hours are needed on beautiful days so you can spend more time ogling) and then drove back north towards the Coromandel Peninsula for our final day! We stopped in a little town for the night discovering only after we had stopped that it was “Hobbittown” where many of the Hobbit village scenes were filmed. Too funny! We didn’t do the tour, but we did grab a picture with Gollum.
Saturday 12/5
The longest Saturday of our lives! We started the day with a drive to Thames where we had a nice breakfast and toured the town streets at the local farmers market. We then made our way across a part of the Tapu-Coroglen road (a windy dirt road connecting 
both shores of the peninsula) to do the short but very steep walk up to see the Square Kauri which was the 15th largest Kauri in NZ.
Kauri trees are very old, sacred to the Maori, and unfortunately now very rare because of deforestation so seeing one was another one of those tourist must do’s! We then drove to the Kauaeranga Valley Forest park to do a short 2-3 hour hike only to find that the trails of that distance were all washed out from the flooding rains. So we opted to stitch together 3 shorter hikes/walks including one that took us to a model of an old dam system (kinda neat) and another that took us to the coolest walking swing bridge of the entire trip! This one was a 1 person max capacity bridge and very shaky as you walked across it! Very cool stuff.
At the end of our hike we enjoyed some fish-n-chips at a local take-a-way shop as the sun finally came out- just in time for our 2 hour drive back to Aukland where the plane was waiting for us! After watching 2 sunrises and 2 sunsets on that Saturday, we finally reached our hotel room in Norfolk where we would stay for the night before driving back to Nags Head, crossing the threshold at exactly midnight! A perfect way to end a perfect trip!
Comments
I can see why you would leave and never come back its gorgeous!
Nemo,
Amazing! Thanks for sharing.
Dave
Nemo,
My wife and I traveled to NZ last year and fell in love just like you two did. NZ has everything.....mountains, beaches, ocean access, beautiful clear lakes, and some of the friendliest people you will ever meet. Trust me, I have been trying to figure out a way to move there at least half the year.
Glad yall had a good time. Thanks for the report and pics.
Allan
I should mention that it is by an act of fate that I was born in the US and not New Zealand. My Dad's office in Canada closed and he was tagged as one of the folks to be relocated. Two choices, New York or New Zealand. My parents received the Christchurch Newspaper for a year before finally making the decision to go to New York (closer to "home" and with hopes they could return to Canada). Within 9 months of the transfer they were relocated back again to Canada (and I happened to be born in that short period of time we were in NY). So you see, somewhere in my heart I feel like I should have been a Kiwi and have always longed to return there!
Wow! Thanks for sharing. That's my kind of vacation, Nemo! So I'm thinking a bunch of us open a bike shop in Palau and a tri store in Queensland...
Great pictures! Looks so fun and adventurous! Makes me want to travel
Thanks for taking the time to share with all of us in the haus!
My Dad's best friend relocated there 15 years ago. He is raising deer outside of Aukland and absolutely loves being there. I keep trying to figure out how to visit!
Wow Nemo! That is fantastic. You and Joe did so much! That looks like my kind of trip for schizzle!
Seriously, could you ever see living there? For real? From the pix, looks like i could.
Chick-a Tri Shop (and Coaching) is waiting to be born. (Coaching via deal with EN, of course. 
)
Damn!! NZ is officially on my list of kick ass places I want to go. Looks like an amazing trip from start to finish and the smiles on you two say it all. Thx for sharing!!
Excellent Race Report....aaahhhhhh.....I mean Vacation Report!
Will you plan my wife's and my next vacation? You guys are GOOOOOOOOOOD! Thanks for sharing your vacation with us!
NZ is high on my wish list. Your pics confirm everything I ever imagined. Thank you so very much for sharing. I love the fact that every day was doing something. My kind of trip. Next time you'll have to stay longer! Think you'll try to do IMNZ next?
Alas, IMNZ is in March. Truly a crappy time of year to train for an Ironman if you live on this side of the equator. However, the Half Ironman New Zealand is in December (1 week following our trip). I intentionally did NOT include the race in this trip- I didn't want to be so dorked out about the race that I missed experiencing all I could about NZ. HOWEVER, I've already seeded the idea in Joe's head that next time we should dovetail the trip up with the Half- maybe putting it at the very end of the trip.
Thanks for sharing! Awesome pictures! NZ has always been on the list, but it just moved up several notches.
Brad
Now I am scheming! I was telling Max that in the future I want to go to Palau in December. Perhaps he and I could split it up. Bring the bike to Palau, then "hop" over to NZ for the 1/2! Oh Boy!
Wow. Awesome. Brings back memories. Wife and I backpacked across Europe when we were in college. Just talking last night about saddling up the kids and all 5 going on trip to see stuff!
Funny you should say that. Our original plan was to try and hike first, then drive in the evenings. But it stayed light so late in the evening (sunset around 8:30) that we were too tired at the end of each day to get in a car and drive to the next local!! Being able to change our plans like that and stay flexible really was a key to making it a great trip!
NZ had been on my must do list, you just moved it way up the list!!
Matt
@Matt- all I can say is, GO! Challenge Wanaka (an IM Distance race- but not M-dot) was last weekend. Man, I wish I were there for it! I think Wanaka was my favorite town.