From December 21, 2003 to January 5, 2004, my husband and I explored the amazing landscape of New Zealand and have concluded that it must be one of the most breathtaking places on Earth. Whether you are into adventure sports, calm tours, athletic endeavors, jumping off of really high places, or going to luxury resorts, New Zealand will be one of the places to visit where you are already planning your next trip before you ever get on the plane to come back to the States. Here is a brief glimpse of our travels:

The North Island

Auckland:

New Zealand's largest cityis home to more than a quarter of the four million inhabitants of the country. Large and bustling, yet small enough to feel cozy, Auckland is quite reminiscent of Boston while driving on the left side of the road. A very unique feature is a number of dormant volcanic mounds throughout the city that one can drive up and secure great views of the surrounding metropolis. Even more unique is the fact that sheep graze on the hills in the middle of a bustling city. We were only able to stay in Auckland for one day before moving on, but definitely have plans to go back and explore on our next trip.

Waitomo:

Waitomo is a very special tourist destination that houses some of the largest glowworm caves in New Zealand. We ventured on a cave-tubing tour with Blackwater Rafting Company. Our guide (who's name I won't attempt...it was of Maori origin and had about 40 letters in it) successfully manuevered us through the glacial waters and through series of underwater rapids to arrive in a cavern that had millions of pinpoints of fluorescent green lights on the ceiling. The glowworms looked similar to the neon stars that teenagers put on the ceiling of their bedrooms, but we were advised to keep our mouths from gaping at them because their lives mainly consist of eating and excretion.

Rotorua:

Rotorua is the largest geothermal city in New Zealand. The public park is filled with boiling pits of mud and steam with flimsy gates around them. For someone who hails from New England where volcanos and hot springs are nonexsistent, it was amazing to see steam coming out of random cracks in sidewalks. Our hosts at the Westminster B&B also told us of a secret swimming hole unknown to most tourists that was off a logging path outside the city. A short walk to us to a steaming river that led to a naturally heated swimming pool of sorts with waterfalls around it. Unfortunately, the warning sign for aemoebic meningitis kept me from swimming under the waterfall, but it was a gorgeous site either way.

While in Rotorua, we also visited Hell's Gate Thermal Spa for an "Ultimud Experience" including a thermal mud bath, thermal spring soak, and Maori massage. The best part? It only cost about 1/4 of what it would cost around Metro Boston for a full day of pampering.

Rotorua is also where Zorbing was invented. What is Zorbing you ask? It is the human hampster ball essentially: a person is put in a giant plastic ball with or without a bucket of water and rolled down a sizeable hill. Quite ridiculous, but oh so much fun.

To top it all off, Rotorua is also a great place to participate in a Maori Hangi, which is a feast cooked in the ground and a performance incorporating some of the traditional Maori stories and dances. We chose the Metai tribe's concert based on reputation and were definitely impressed by their lively display of cultural dance and the fabulous food.

South Island

Arthurs Pass

We landed in Christchurch on the 28th of December and immediately made our way towards the west coast of the South Island in our crazy European car, the Holden Vectra. The road that leads to Route 6 (the only road going down the West Coast) is called Arthur's Pass, and is an incredible drive with magnificent mountains and wild works of civil engineering with bridges attached to mountsides and diverted waterfalls with cement outlets. It is a great way to start off the trip on the South Island because it just hints at all the amazing things in store. The town Arthur's Pass is also quite lovely and a great place to stop for one of New Zealand's famous meat pies.

Hokitika

The Jade Capital of the World, Hokitika is a quaint little tourist town at the intersection of Arthur's Pass Highway and Route 6. Dozens of gold and jade stores line the main road and it is definitely the place to go if you are in the market for great deals on jewelry.

Franz Josef

Franz Josef is home to two of New Zealand's very unique glaciers, Franz Josef Glacier and Fox Glacier. They are unique because there is only one other place in the world where the glacier is surrounded by a tropical rainforest climate. The town of Franz Josef is a lovely little tourist town with some fantastic restaurants and coffee shops.

Our mission while in town was to heli-hike up the glacier. Unfortunately, the heli-hike was postponed due to poor weather conditions at the top, so we settled for a 1/2 day guided hike instead. On our trek, we managed to hike just past the first major icefall and were able to get some great views of ice caves and the valley below. Although the heli-hike is now on our list for 'what to do next time', the day hike was a great way to get on the ice and roam around with ice picks and crampons.

Haast

What a wacky place. Haast is a tiny town 1/2 way between Franz Josef and Queenstown that consists of the Haast Heritage Hotel, a pub attached to the hotel, and a gas station. And it was pouring sheets of rain when we arrived so it was a bit like a weird horror movie actually. Speaking of which, the hotel only showed horror movies on the TV. But alas, the good news. The pub was fantastic. Really interesting menu items such as fresh venison sausages and whitebait omelettes, and of course, the ever-so-tasty New Zealand beer (Speight's really needs to export their Distinction Ale) made this halfway point very worthwhile.

Queenstown

I really want to live here...no, really. We started out our adventures in Queenstown with a four vineyard winery tour which, if you look at our wine collection now, was definitely a trip worth taking. Granted, after so much tasting, the number of bottles purchased increases after every location, but hey, we were on our honeymoon so why not? We visited Gibbston Valley, Peregrine, Amisfield, and Lake Hayes vineyards...keep an eye out for a wine review in the near future.

The next day we went on a safari tour in a Landrover to different sites used in Lord of the Rings. We saw Isengaard, the Misty Mountains, the places where they put those way-cool beacons in Return of the King, and much more. It was nice not to drive ourselves around for a day in any case.

On New Year's Eve day we went on a Jetboat/Mountain Bike/ Helicopter Ride tour. Shotover Canyon Jet Ride is a must-do for anyone going to Queenstown. The crazy little hover boat whips you around doing 360 degree spins at speeds of 85km/hr in water that gets to be a mere 4 inches deep. It is very amusing for all ages. Then we headed up to Skipper's Canyon Road, the SCARIEST road in the world, for our mountain bike tour. Supposedly this road is a Class B highway that allows two cars to pass, but we doubt it. Actually, on New Year's Day we went on the road by bus to a whitewater rafting trip, and the bus driver actually had to let the back wheels on one side hang over the canyon in order not to scratch the bus. I almost peed myself on that ride. Either way, the bike trip was very scenic and then we hopped in a helicopter to go back to town.

That evening we helped the Kiwi's celebrate the New Year...18 hours before Boston got to start up the fireworks.

Well, like I said before, we went whitewater rafting on New Year's Day. Our trip began on the Shotover River at the bottom of Skipper's Canyon Road (ie. scary freakin' road). After a little instruction from our guide we were off braving the rapids and then trying to rescue those who didn't brave them well enough to remain in the boat. While rafting, we passed under the new Canyon Swing, an entity that is sure to be the next bungy craze, but I will get to that. The end of the rafting tour was through a man-made mining tunnel and through some crazy rapids...definitely a great end to the journey.

Te Anau

Our next destination was Te Anau, the "gateway to the fiordlands". We visited Milford Sound on the second of January and took a nice leisurely cruise through the sound. I would show you some pictures, but seeing that Milford is one of the most rainy places in the world with upwards of 8 meters of rain a year, well, it was raining and we didn't see too much. Nice cruise though and we met some lovely Kiwis from Auckland.

On the third we journeyed to Doubtful Sound for a day long kayaking adventure. Doubtful Sound is an ideal place for those of us that like the less tourist bound desitinations. There is only one way to get there aside from flying. Take the boat across Lake Manapouri and then a rusty old van through a wilderness pass to the sound. Doubtful Sound is a glacial fiord that empties into the Tasman Sea, which is a very unforgiving body of water. Although it took our group a while to get control of the kayaks in the rough waters, we were able to do quite a bit of touring and sight seeing around the sound. The fog that surrounded us made the whole experience and the pictures seem a little surreal as well. We also met some great people on that trip from several different countries and ended up bumping into them again back in Queenstown.

Back to Queenstown

The Canyon Swing- Poised 109 meters above Shotover Canyon is one of New Zealand's newest extreme sport crazes. For $109NZ you can jump of the ledge for a 60m freefall (you hit 3G's) before the swing rope kicks in to send you another 49 meters down in a giant arc over the canyon. When I saw this while rafting, I knew it was a must. For your first jump, the operators recommend that you run and jump off face first just for the feeling of accomplishment. After that, they'll let you do one of their other inventive jumps for a small extra fee. Some of their wild ideas include Gimp Boy Goes to Hollywood (tied up hanging upside down over the canyon while holding a teddy bear), The Chair (they attach you to a chair and kick you off backwards), the Elvis Cutaway (they harness you in at your stomach so you fall watching the platform move away from you before flipping upside down), or the Bin Laden (the put a trash bucket on your head and a young goat...yes, a live one...kicks you off the edge). I opted for the Elvis for my second jump.

Kuwara Bridge Bungy Jumping- The Original Site of Bungy

Invented by A.J. Hackett in 1985, bungy is one of New Zealand's best inventions. We journeyed on our last day in the country to the Kuwara Bridge where bungy began to end the honeymoon with a tandem bungy jump. Mr. Hackett is very good at marketing as well, and you can purchase pictures and a video of your jump as well as tons of bungy tees, jackets, etc. I truly believe I would have regretted it if I hadn't bungied off something while in New Zealand!

Well, I hope you enjoyed my trip report and are inspired to visit this fantastic country. And, I just might move there after residency, so look me up if you need a guide!

For a glimpse at all of our pictures of New Zealand click on this link to Ofoto:

New Zealand Album