We arrived in Auckland in the early morning after a smooth trip over. The weather is perfect and vegetation sub-tropical. Our hotel room was ready early upon arrival in to the city, so we tucked in, took a quick nap and headed out exploring along the waterfront. Mark visited a local car collector getting ready to hold an auction.
A rough night due to an emergency evacuation of the entire hotel due to fire alarms. Out on the street with firemen, babies in pajamas and party-ers. For our second day we hopped a ferry boat to Devonport, a Victorian style town, and hiked a tall hill for great views of the bay and Auckland.
Back to port we checked out an Ice Bar where everything, including chandeliers were sculpted from ice. At the space needle downtown we craned back watching people bungy falling from the top of the building.
Headed to Auckland outskirts for designer shopping, then to a preserved area called the Howick Historical Village. Howick had historical fencible buildings from the mid-1800's moved to the location. Caught our flight to Rotorua.
The sulfur-laden air in Rotorua is extremely pungent due to its volcanic history. The highlight was a couple of hours spent at Wai-O-Tapu, a thermal wonderland. This incredible preserve had various ancient formations, bubbling geysers, waterfalls, carved out caves, fern forests, boardwalks over steaming pools and vast prehistoric landscapes.
Afterwards we took a long, windy drive through dramatic countryside to the Art Deco style town of Napier.
Napier is the Art Deco capital of New Zealand and we saw plenty of architectural examples. Nathalie and Bridget went to a marine sanctuary while Lois and Mark checked out antiques. The beaches here are composed of tiny, smooth black pebbles with giant waves.
An early flight out of Napier landed us in Christchurch on the south island. Due to evacuations our hotel is on the outskirts, so we took a bus downtown to a basically deserted city. Construction workers and soldiers were the only ones allowed behind all the danger tape, and we wandered through the devastated areas in awe of the ruined and damaged historical buildings. We couldn't help gawking and photographing the earthquake's affect, from cracks in the ground to toppled steeples and chimneys.
Museums were closed but much of the incredible Botanic Gardens was open. We enjoyed the herb and vegetable gardens, floral areas, orchid house, fernery, cactus and tree specimans.
In the late afternoon Mark went to a car museum while the girls attended a Maori cultural experience. The tattoo'd singers and dancers involved the audience and we learned a poi. Following that, we took a tour of indigenous and endangered animals, mainly birds. The highlight was encountering nocturnal kiwi birds and learning about "Operation Nest Egg" to save the nearly extinct types of three kiwis.
The drive to Akaroa was pretty and Nathalie was so happy in the green hills set with ocean views. We walked around the town and beach and found shells and a piece of an ancient tea cup. The girls cooked dinner while Mark and Lois went out for wine, dinner and a movie where they were the only theater patrons.
On the way to Dunedin we visited a wallaby shelter, where you could feed and pet the wallabies. Some were friendly, while others were shy and hopped away. We accidentally let a wallaby wander into the wrong area, so we had Bridget keep her eye on him, while we fetched the owner. We had to corner him, and then she grabbed him by his tail and guided him back to his pen.
Later we stopped in Oamaru, a really interesting city that was practically deserted as we explored the empty streets. The incredible buildings signify the booming years of long ago, and the locals feature signage and retail themes that give homage to their history. Oamaru is also known for it’s penguin sightings. After patiently waiting a long time, we were able to spot a couple of rare yellow-eyed penguins.
A drizzly day in Dunedin, started with a walk around city center. The girls went to the Cadbury chocolate factory and we toured a vintage train station. The city was fairly big and bustling but we didn’t stay long before heading to the southern tip of the South Island. The day ended very windy and stormy.
Invercargill is the home of “the Worlds’ Fastest Indian” motorcycle and memorabilia, now housed in a fantastic hardware store with other vintage motorcycles and cars. We also visited the largest collection of Trucks in New Zealand. At the museum we learned a lot about the south pole, and were treated to seeing the prehistoric tuatara lizard. Then a drive to Te Anau where we jumped aboard a catamaran. The evening boat cruise took us past glacier formed fjords and domed islands. Off the boat we went through a dark cave to view glow worms!
This morning we had an early start for the drive to Milford Sound National Park. It was as breathtakingly beautiful- there were dramatic mountains, natural streaming waterfalls, a carved rock tunnel, powerful rivers, and reflective lakes. Then, because there are no tunnels or roads over the enormous mountains, we drove for a very long time around them to reach the other side. Once we reached Queenstown, a town known for its adventure opportunities, we settled down in our hotel for a rest. Later, Bridget and Kim decided to stay in the room while Nathalie and Mark drove through Glenorchy and Paradise to view Lord of the Rings film locations.
And so ends the Mitchell’s 2011 New Zealand Journey. Tomorrow we head home with our treasured memories – and photos!
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