The KIWI Experience, similar to the OZ Experience I travelled with in January 2009 but better. New Zealand is a lot smaller and so this company can operate more successfully. It's basically a bus pass taking you around the whole country. You book segments of your journey as you need. On the bus, the driver provides information on the local areas and organises activities and accommodation so you don't have to worry about sorting all that out.
We met lots of great people on our trip, even the welsh! Most of the north island we were with different people, but on the west coast of the south island we had the same bus full and got to know some people quite well. The rest of this blog gives a bit more in depth information on the highlights of the trip.
Whangarei and Pahia
On February 12th, I left Flora in Auckland and headed north to visit Rachel (Christian Ed Director, camp 2006) and her husband. I had not seen Rachel in over 3 years but it was great to catch up and see her hometown. We visited a few beaches and while I was in Whangarei I stayed with Dan, a friend from Auckland in his beach house. I then headed up to Pahia where the Waitangi treaty was signed, and Russell, the first capital of New Zealand.
Rotorua, Waitomo, Taupo and Wellington
Before heading south down the north island we spent one last night in Auckland and what a night to remember! It went so well we slept in and missed our bus out of Auckland and ended up staying in the city for another night.
We made a trip to Cathedral cove, a picturesque beach before arriving at Rotorua. Rotorua is the cultural capital of New Zealand. We took advantage of this by visiting a Maori Cultural evening. We saw how the Maoris used to live and enjoyed a show before digging into a buffet dinner. YUM! Our time in Rotorua was also spent white water rafting. Rotorua is home to the worlds highest commercially rafted waterfall at 7 metres. That was great fun, check out the photos!
Our next stop was Waitomo where we went tubing in the underground caves. In the very depths we switched off all torches and looked up to see hundreds of glow worms. Cool stuff!
Then onto Taupo where we intended on doing the Tongariro crossing (one of the top 10 1 day walks in the world) but weather denied us this opportunity! Our aim was to try it again on the way back up to Auckland at the end of our trip, but weather caused it to cancel once again.
Wellington was our next stop where we enjoyed our last taste of city life before heading to the south island. Wellington situated on a harbour is just a standard city housing the Te Papa museum which needs approximately 2 1/2 days to complete and a few beaches. We met up with a few people we had met at the beginning of our kiwi trip for a round of pub golf. It was an excellent evening. =)
West Coast of South Island
It took a four hour ferry trip from Wellington to Picton to get us to the south island. The west coast of the south island is absolutely amazing. The scenery is out of this world and the further south we went, the better it got. We started in Nelson visiting the centre of New Zealand before heading to Nelson lakes, Westport, and a stop at the Poo Pub. This is home to New Zealand's oldest landlord at 86. This is dress up night for the kiwi experience. This old guy closes his pub every evening for kiwi goers and hosts a dress up party. Our theme was hollywood red carpet. Flora and I went as Mickey and Minnie Mouse along side the likes of Titanic, Ghostbusters and the fresh prince of Bel Air.
Our next stop was Franz Josef. We took a one day hike onto the Franz Josef glacier which could possibly be one of the most amazing things I have ever done. The weather was beautiful for the day, no rain which is uncommon and breathtaking views.
Queenstown
The adrenaline capital of New Zealand if not the world. Home of the bungy jump. As I already bungeed in Las Vegas in 2004 and vowed never to do it again, a different adventure was required. This came in the form of a canyon swing. Swings in the park are good fun but how about 109 metres high over a canyon, 90 metre free-fall with speeds of up to 150kph. Sounds fun! This was awesome. I did it going backwards and loved it so much I did it again, from a handstand! I have the act on DVD... just ask to see it. The adrenaline was pumping hard and that evening we embarked on the Queenstown pub crawl. Another great night.
We took a day trip to Milford Sound, a national park and world heritage site. Surrounded by the Southern Alps, this trip was breathtakingly stunning. There are links to photos below but they do not do it the justice if deserves. A lot like New Zealand. I would recommend New Zealand to anyone, if you can get there, its worth it and can only be experienced properly first hand.
Christchurch and back to Auckland
As our time in Queenstown ended, a 7 hour bus trip landed us in Christchurch where we met up with Chris and Gemma, our friends from Melbourne. It was great to catch up after 10 months since we worked and lived in Melbourne. After visiting the rest of the south island, the south alps and all its glory, a city didn't really match up. Our time in Christchurch was short but I wasn't worried about that.
We then flew to Wellington and quickly made our way back up the north island to Auckland.
Photos
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