New Zealand - the North Island

For 2 weeks I traveled the country of New Zealand with 7 classmates. We lived out of out 2 spaceship rental vehicles. We slept in random spots all around the country -sometimes at popular campsites, other times at secluded campsites, some nights just on the side of the highway. And we did so many different activities/excursions. It was a trip to remember and one I look forward to trying to top in the coming years.

We spent the first 6 days in the North Island. The North Island is filled with extinct volcanoes, rolling green hills, and some rainforest-ish regions. We spent a day/night in Auckland and then headed to the Coromandel Peninsula to experience the Hot Water Beach. Here we rented a "spade" to dig a hole in the sand. The hole filled up with natural hot water that we could lay in like a spa. (crazy!!) In some areas the water was lava-boiling HOT and gave me a controversial 2nd degree burn.


The following two days were excursion filled. First we went Black Water Rafting in the Waitomo Caves. We abseiled down about 150 ft into cave and then spent the next 4 hrs in the cave. In the cave we swam for awhile when our feet could not touch the ground, cruised on inner tubes as we enjoyed the Glowworm "Light Show" at the top of the cave, jumped off a cliff, and climbed 2 waterfalls. I was even lucky enough to be so close to an eel that I could touch it. It was arguable my favorite activity on the trip. Afterwards, we packed up the spaceship and headed to Rotorua where we camped out on the side of the highway....no joke! In Rotorua we visited Thermal Wonderland, and we were fortunate enough to watch a geyser erupt and walk through the eerie boiling pools park. At times I felt like I was on the moon. In the afternoon we ZORBED! Zorbing is essentially rolling down a grass hill in a hamster ball. Check it all out below!

Pre-Black Water Rafting

In the cave

Thermal Wonderland

Or the moon??

Geyser!


Zorbing!

On our 5th day in the North Island, the group split up. Four decided to fish and bungy jump and the other four of us went on a rainy hike in the Tongariro National Park. We had hoped to do the 9-hour Tongariro Crossing trek through Mt. Doom (Lord of the Rings), but weather conditions were not permitting...Fortunately, we found an awesome alternative trek in the rain. This hike included 5 waterfalls in increasing size and finished with the one to the right. We were all drenched by the end!

Our final day in the North Island was in its capitol city Wellington. The city is located on the harbour and had an enjoyable downtown area. In the afternoon, we loaded our spaceships onto the Inter-Islander Ferry and headed to the South Island. This ferry ride was one of my favorite moments during the trip. The North Island was gorgeous and impressive....but then we crossed to the South! I felt like I entered a completely new world -a world where King Kong would exist! The weather was again cloudy and rainy, but this only added to the ferry ride. The clouds hung low enough to cover some of the massive mountains that emerged from the sea, but the tops of the mountains remained visible. The ferry ride had a dark, yet impressive feel to it. Half of me felt like I was on a luxurious ship ride like the Titanic, and the other half of me felt as if our end was near in the coming moments like Titanic! I stood alone on the bow in rain and just took everything in. I was mesmerized by the feeling. Luckily, the ferry was not exactly like the Titanic and we ended up making it to the South Island alive.

Wellington

The Ferry ride