5th February – 11th February 2017
Our introduction to New Zealand came through the city of Auckland. It was also our introduction into the world of hostel dorms; something we had avoided so far. It turned out Guns ‘N’ Roses were playing in Auckland the weekend we arrived, and almost all the affordable accommodation was booked out!
Auckland hasn’t got a great reputation. Several travellers we had spoken to had genuinely hated it, and told us to spend as little time there as possible. We didn’t really dislike it, although it’s not a place I think we will ever visit again. It’s a massive, sprawling city, isn’t particularly interesting or picturesque, and we felt it lacks a bit of character. However… it isn’t all bad! The neighbourhood of Ponsonby has lots of nice shops and cafes, and the walk up Mount Eden offered great views over the city. But by far the best thing we did whilst there was to take a trip to Waiheke Island.
Waiheke Island is a short ferry trip from Auckland. We got a ferry plus a hop on-hop off bus ticket, and used it to explore Waiheke. It has some great beaches, lots of wineries and is where lots of millionaires live (which is probably why Em loved it so much).
We visited just the one winery, and paid NZ $10 for a tasting of 4 wines. The guy who served us spent a lot of time discussing the various merits of each of the wines. I tried my best to follow him, nodding along as he talked about bouquets and hints of grapefruit and mango, but I didn’t get it. I don’t really know if he did either, or had just memorised the pretentious blurb the winery had written about each wine. The bottom line was that all the wines tasted great and I could easily have got smashed on any of them given half a chance.
We spent 3 nights in Auckland, which was plenty (and despite a mix up with some towels staying in the dorm was actually ok). We then hired a car and drove down to Raglan. On the way we stopped at Hobbiton!
Being a bit of a Lord of the Rings geek, I was very much looking forward to this. After the last Hobbit film, the film makers left the set they had built to represent the town of Hobbiton as it was, rather than disassemble it all. It was a smart idea; it has become a very popular tourist attraction. We really enjoyed walking round the set (the attention to detail on all the hobbit holes was unbelievable) and our complementary beer and cider in the Green Dragon pub at the end.
Em and I had chosen to stay at Raglan as it is touted as the surf capital of New Zealand. We had hoped to catch some waves whilst there, but we ran out of time!
We used Raglan as a base to visit the famous Waitomo caves. Why are they famous? Glowworms! The caves are full of these little creatures, which actually aren’t worms at all. They are the larvae of a gnat, which glow in the dark to attract insects towards them. These insects then get entangled in sticky threads secreted by the larvae, and are reeled in and then eaten by the larvae.
Although they sound disgusting, in a dark cave they look like the stars of the night sky. However we decided (I decided) that I didn’t really want to just walk through the caves with a guide and instead wanted to do something a little more adventurous; I signed us up for black water rafting!
Em wasn’t convinced at all (even less so when she found out there were eels in the water, something I may have neglected to mention before booking) but we both really enjoyed it. It wasn’t quite as adrenalin fuelled as I’d hoped but was still fun. After donning a thick black wet suit, you got to float along through the caves in a big black rubber ring; there were some small waterfalls to jump over and some small holes to crawl through, and you got to see lots of glowworms!
From Raglan, we headed to Lake Taupo. Apart from spending some time in a thermal spa (Em’s treat after she had braved the eel invested caves) we used this as a base to complete the epic Tongariro Alpine Crossing, one of the top walks in New Zealand (thanks to Mike R for the tip).
The walk took us 7 hours, but was absolutely brilliant. The scenery was stunning; the first section took in almost alien landscapes as we passed Mt Ngauaruhoe. This starred as ‘Mount Doom’ from Lord of the Rings, which meant that when Em stopped talking I could look at it and pretend I was in the films. The walk was exhausting, but definitely worth it for the views! I also got to eat lots of high energy foods (sugary treats) without worrying that I’m setting myself up for type 2 diabetes.
Mike; I still can’t believe you did it in flip flops.
(Posted by Ben)
Emma & Ben... Far From Home 