New Zealand--North Island--Te Ika A Maui

New Zealand--North Island--Te Ika A Maui 

Wellington

2 nights

I arrived in Wellington after a long ferry ride from Pickton. All I really wanted to do was make dinner, take a shower and go to bed. I made my dinner and was eating in the common room and overheard a couple of people next to me speaking Spanish so I asked them where they were from since I had not met many people who spoke Spanish while traveling. The girl was from Argentina and the guy was from Brazil another from Uruguay. I ended up going out with them to a couple of bars where we enjoyed live music.
On my full day there I went to the Te Papa Tongarewa museum. It was a huge museum with very well put together exhibits. As I was wandering around the local Maori exhibit a strange thing happened that I don't entirely understand. A Maori guy who was dressed in a suit and tie came up to me, stopped directly in front of me, said a long phrase in Maori, bowed and walked away. I will never know what he said, however, I felt a mutual sense of respect and somehow honored that he said whatever it was to me. 

National Park Village

3 nights

I could tell just how small National Park Village was when I arrived and the bus driver told me that the table next to the road was the bus stop. It had all the basics with a cafe, a bar with an ATM and a small grocery store in the town. I stayed at Plateau Lodge which had a great vibe to it. Everyone that was staying there had the intention of doing the crossing which immediately created a common interest. This was nice because you immediately had something to talk about with everyone without having to search for conversation topics. However, coming up with conversation topics never seemed to be an issue with the group of people that were there. Everyone was extremely friendly and easy to talk to. Of all the hostels I have stayed at it is one of a handful that has really felt like a home for the three nights I was there because of the simplest things. For example, every morning people would get up to make breakfast and prepare lunches for the afternoon and even if you didn't know the person you would say good morning. This happens in a lot of hostels but there was something more sincere about this one. Anyway, while I was there I did two hikes for the two full days I was there. On the first full day I was there I did the Tongararo crossing and summited Mt Tongariro (6,490 feet) also known as Mt. Doom. In total I hiked 25k that day with Scott from the US who I met through my hostel and a Canadian guy Spencer and a British guy Harry. It was a vary fun group to hike with.

The following I quickly realized that not many people hike Ruapehu on their own. The lady at my hostel who was arraigning transportation and other details for me strongly suggested I do it with a tour group because there is no trail to follow and the weather can drastically change and become dangerous quickly. After a long conversation she had convinced me to do the tour, however, later that evening I was told there were not enough people signed up so I would not be able to do the tour. Darn, now I had a full day to figure out what to with. I decided that I would take the shuttle to the ski lift and see what I thought about the hike from there. The next day, when I got dropped off at the bottom of the mountain and tried to take a shuttle to the ski lift the man in the visitors center said there would not be another shuttle for several hours. I was surprised because the information I was given said there should have been a shuttle every 30min. Now I had another problem, figuring out how to get to the ski lift because if I waited for the shuttle I would not have enough time to do any hiking. I decided I would just walk to the ski lift thinking it would take me the same amount of time if I were to wait for the shuttle and it would allow me to walk some and not be bored sitting around waiting for a shuttle. As I was walking I realized I had taken the wrong turn off the main road because I reached a dead end. Luckily it wasn't too far back to the correct road. I was walking for about 20 to 30 minutes when I could hear a car coming up behind me and I decided to stick my thumb out and get a ride the rest of the way up. An older retired couple gave me a ride to the ski field at the top. It was really nice talking to them on the way up, they had told me that they were here 20 years prior and had skied down the mountain in the winter and could see steam come off the mountain from the volcanic activity. There was still noticeable activity, however, they said that it was a lot more prominent when they had been there 20 years ago. When I got to the ski field I went to the visitors center where you buy lift tickets. While I was in the visitors center I asked about the hike to the top of Ruapehu. They suggested strongly against it so I asked about other hikes that they would recommend. Either way I had to take the ski lift up part of the mountain, so I did and at the top I wandered around a bit deciding what to do and I noticed another girl and a couple that were also wandering around looking for what appeared to be a way to the top. I walked over and talked to them and we decided to all hike to the top together. We hiked, scrambled, and climbed our way to the summit. We took a few photos and then noticed that we were surrounded by clouds that were causing a white out. This was concerning because somehow we had to make our way safely down. Luckily, after waiting a little the clouds passed over and we were able to make our way back down to the bottom. It was another successful hike with some great people.  

Taupo

3 nights

When we arrived in Taupo I realized that the hostel I booked was a 40 minute drive out of the city center. Luckily I was able to cancel my reservation and book another hostel in the city center. On February 28th and March 1st I I volunteered for Ironman New Zealand.

I really enjoyed doing this for multiple reasons. First of all I was able to give back to a community that I was traveling through. Secondly, I was able to contribute to the running/Ironman community which I identify with. In all the races I have done from 5k fun runs to marathons and Ironman 70.3 I have appreciated the volunteers but this allowed me to experience it from the other side. I enjoyed it because I was being productive in a way that contributed to a community I was traveling through in a positive way. I also now appreciate more than ever all the volunteers and work that people put into setting up, tearing down and getting together support crews for any type of race. 

       

           
                                         Swim 2.4mi                                                 Bike 112mi                                                     Run 26.2mi
Rotarura 

2 nights

In Rotarura I went to a Maori living village which allowed me to see some of the Maori culture as well as geothermal geysers, hot pools, and mud pits. Overall, it was an enjoyable experience that allowed me to see nature and culture in the same place.

Gisbourne

2 nights

Gisbourne was a planning city for me because at this point I had a plane ticket out of Auckland to Indonesia but still had few days and stops left to use on my Naked Bus Pass. I spent my full day there at the I-site using their wifi and resources to plan where I wanted my final stops to be. When I was not planning I relaxed by walking along the river and sitting by the beach.

Mount Maunganui (Tauranga) 

2 nights

Another beautiful town on the North Island. Here I spent both nights walking up Mt Maunganui to watch the sunset and the full day I was there on the beach.

Throughout my travels I have not only been rejuvenated and exhilarated by water and the ocean which I wrote about in the South Island post but also amazing sunsets everywhere I went.  

Whitianga
2 nights

Here I spent the afternoon walking by the beach and the next day hiking by some beautiful cliffs next to the ocean. In the evenings I enjoyed chatting with others in the hostel. 

Paihia
2 nights

While in Paihia I did a day trip to Cape Reinga which is the northern most point of New Zealand where the the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean collide. It was a beautiful place that I wish I could have spent more time in.

I also went sand boarding just next to the 90 mile beach and Te Paki stream bed which was more fun than I initially expected. I hiked up the biggest sand hill I could find and actually picked up quite a bit of speed going downhill.

On my final day in Paihia I went kayaking with a guy I met in my hostel. We went by a couple of islands and to a waterfall.
The next day we traveled together to Auckland.  

Auckland

2 nights

Upon arriving in Auckland I had dinner in the hostel bar. I was told about a pub crawl that was happening that night but decided against it. As I was eating I met some locals that were there for the pub crawl and they tried to convince me to go and were eventually successful. 
It was a good night until I returned to the hostel where I dropped my phone down the elevator shaft. I went to the front desk and told them what had happened. The guy working opened a basement door that was under the elevator but when we looked there was a cement wall that appeared to be blocking where my phone had probably landed. I then had to accept the fact that my thousands of travel photos were gone. I was devastated but somehow came to accept it and move on. The next morning I was supposed to wake up and check out at 10am. However, I no longer had a phone to use as an alarm so the guy that was helping me at the front desk said that he could wake me up in the morning before I had to check out. The next morning I woke up to a lady in my dorm room asking for Laura King. She then told me I was supposed to check out 2 hours ago whoops. I quickly got out if bed, packed my things, and made my way downstairs to check out. I was told that I would need to pay 20 euro for late check out. I explained what had happened the night before and that the guy working the night before said he would wake me up in time to check out. I was then told that the maintenance man in charge of the building had managed to get my phone!! I was ecstatic! I would have all my travel pictures back. Woo! Oh, but I still needed to pay a 20 euro late fee. I had planned out using my money pretty well and knew 

that day didn't need to buy anything so had no more cash. I told the lady I would need to go to an ATM and put my bags in the common room. Instead of going to an ATM though I wandered around the city and hung out with Jellis and Cosima who I met and worked with on Kangaroo Island in Australia. Once it was time for me to make my way to the airport I went back to the hostel, gathered my things and left without paying the extra fee. I made it to the airport where I found a carpeted dark room where I spent the night. I had a few hours of sleep before waking up for my early flight back to Indonesia.