Joe’s travel blog

Auckland is A-OKland

At first, I thought Auckland was a pretty cool city with some really great food options, but the more time I spent there (2 days at the start, and 2 more at the end), it’s no wonder there’s a love-hate relationship with it - as the majority of the jobs are there, but also it’s not all that interesting upon further investigation.

After a day of sleeping, and eating while I recover from the red-eye flight from Melbourne, I took the bus to Achilles Point, and then walked back westwards through Mission Bay, finishing my walk at Okahu Bay before hopping on the bus back to the city. It was a lovely blue-skied day, in comparison to the day before when it was misty, and grey - this is a pattern of things to come in the next week or so while we make our way through the north island.

Tour starts here

Sometimes I join a tour if the country/countries I want to visit might not be easy to travel around, or in this case, as with Morocco in 2019, I want to spend Christmas, and New Years with strangers. However, unlike Morocco, where there aren’t many “optional” activities, and less free personal time, we spent almost all of our time together. Given what happened in the 16 days that followed, it was probably better that throughout this NZ tour, we had plenty of free time and choices of activities that sometimes we barely see each other. For the sake of keeping my recaps brief (and not naming names), I won’t be detailing the drama that transpired over the 2 weeks. I also won’t bother with talking in too much detail about the people on the tour unless they factor in the story - with one exception, of course.

Oh my mouth, it’s probably Hebs

If you don’t understand the heading, it’s because they are in-jokes we established over our time together, and while we would have no issues explaining the backstory of these “jokes” to anyone who cared to ask, it’s more fun to keep them as such. Most importantly, and almost certainly; the explanations would not be very funny…at all.

Since Hebs became my travel buddy for nearly 4 weeks, and will thus feature quite a bit in these posts, it’s best to get his introduction out of the way now. On the first week of the tour, we were split into boys’ and girls’ dorms for anyone who didn’t fork out for private rooms, which left me with Hebs, and Taylor sharing a room together. Taylor, a nearly-adult American man, was actually travelling with his mum, Mandy, which meant that Hebs and I were about to spend a lot of time together.

That’s not to imply that we were forced to become friends due to our living situation, but we genuinely got along, and quite quickly, too. The tour started on the morning of the 17th of December, and by the morning of the 19th, we were basically a couple of friends travelling together as if we weren’t strangers 2 days ago. He’s around my age, arriving in the world only a year and 5 days later, so we share similar mentalities, and certain commonalities. It also helps that we’re both goofballs.

Hebs, or Herbert, is from Italy, but speaks predominantly German, because he lives in South Tyrol (Südtirol), where it used to be a part of Austria-Hungary, until it was annexed by Italy after WW1. You can read about the history of the region on your own later; or if you have the pleasure of meeting Hebs, you can ask him yourself as he loves parting any knowledge about the region (but also ask him about Bora stoves, and ovens). He can speak English, but we often have to resort to the translator.

To put a face to the name, here is a photo of Hebs that was taken in Taupo (which you’ll read about later).

The sheer size of The Shire

Now that we got that out of the way, let’s rewind a little bit to when we visited Hobbiton. This was surprisingly fun experience for me, as I had thought that the set would be a bunch of disconnected Hobbit homes, when it’s actually a whole village in one area. I’m not an avid fan of the Lord of the Rings franchise, but is a fan of movies, so it was interesting to see and learn the production side of making The Hobbit which this was used for, as the original set was torn down after the original trilogy. I guess this was the silver lining coming out of The Hobbit trilogy, because I couldn’t even muster enough energy to watch the last film.

OK, let’s rewind even more to how I found out that it wasn’t an Intrepid Travel tour that I booked. Normally, I book with them, as they offer a “basix” option (“cheaper”). However, when the tour started, I found out that it was actually a resold Haka Tours tour. This is generally fine, but the difference here is that I was never given an option to pre-book any activities, much like booking flights through an agent, and not being able to amend the booking directly with the airline. So there were a couple of us that weren’t sure that we were able to go on The Hobbit tour with the rest of the group until that day. That said, I wouldn’t have pre-booked anyway, because that’s not the sort of traveller I am.

SIDENOTE

I’ve been using less of my big and heavy DSLR camera while I’m out and about; only bringing it out for when I know it deserves the effort. It’s cumbersome to carry, and the camera on the phones these days can take pretty good shots, especially with some editing afterwards, and I’m mostly just going to be posting them on Instagram/Facebook. Therefore, you’ll be seeing a mix of DSLR, and iPhone photos (which you can see above for the photos of Hobbiton). I’ve been thinking of only travelling with the phone in the future to reduce the weight, but I still enjoy the act of taking a photograph with a DSLR camera. The other possible option for me is to change to a mirrorless camera that is usually smaller and lighter, but that’ll require some more 💷!

Rotorua, or Sulphur City

We get a full day to explore Rotorua (and beyonds) - the city is littered with hot mud pools, and thermal springs - making the place smell of sulphur all day and all night round, including when I’m asleep, but then would wake up suddenly after inhaling the odour.

In the morning, we walked to the treetop walk, which I thought would be scary for me as someone with acrophobia, but it ended up being a fine experience - probably not worth the price of admission, but it was something to do. Also, as a solo traveller 80% of the time, it was novel to now have another person taking photos for me, with me in them.

After we grabbed a light lunch, and probably a little rest, we spent some time in town to see the various springs and mud pools, and then finally hopped into a van at 8pm to take us out for some kayaking to see glow worms.

I had done canoeing before, not kayaking, but they’re similar in many ways. This was our first test in a very new budding friendship as Hebs and I had coordinate ourselves to navigate the waters as a team. We did ok, given that it got darker and darker, but with me sitting in front, to enter in the caves to see the glow worms, it generally involved us hitting the wall and then using my hands to steer the head of the kayak in.

I tried to take some photos of what we saw, but they don’t give it justice, so I think it’s best to leave them out, but I’ll say that they were wonderful, and there’s a calmness to the experience as we lean back on the kayak, looking up and around at what seem like a sky full of stars.

P.S. I also bought a yellow buff at the treetop walk souvenir shop/cafe, which I will continue to wear for the rest of my trip in NZ. You will probably see a green one that I later acquired. I am determined to keep wearing in all my subsequent trips, but also around London town when summertime hits - will I look like a weirdo? Who cares! It’s a part of my identity now!

Getting caught up in culture

Before we depart for our next destination, we stopped at Te Puia Maori Village to learn a little of the Maori culture, where we also got to see a big geyser, and a glimpse of the kiwi bird in the dark (they are nocturnal). The kiwi bird is much bigger than I thought it’d be, like a foot long - maybe the fruit had made me thinking that it should be much smaller; akin to the size of a guinea pig.

Afterwards, our tour guide, Grant, asked us if we wanted to have a group lunch back in Rotorua, in which all but 1 agreed. Well, given the size of the group, and the restaurant chosen only had 1 cook - we waited a long long long time for our food to arrive, and had to leave before everyone got what they ordered, and included a moment where Meghan (one of the “3 Aussie girls” on the tour) dropped her takeaway box after waiting for more than an hour. I didn’t get my smoothie, but did get a nice steak sandwich, so not all was lost.

We had to hurry off, because we were meeting someone in Murupara as one of the included activities to see some rock carvings, before arriving at the lodge for some more Maori-related activities. We played a couple of games where the first one they’ll call out a stance in the Maori language to hold a long staff that’s supposed to represent a taiaha, and if we don’t do it (in time), we’re out. The second game was similar but we’re standing in a circle, and they’ll call left and right, and you have to move to the stick left or right of you before the stick falls flat on the ground. The winner was Matthew, from Singapore, and husband of Eva.

Before we have hangi for dinner, a method of cooking using heated rocks buried in a pit oven - very similar to curanto I had in Argentina, we learnt how to do the haka. There’s a better video out there of us performing it, but I don’t know where that is, but you get the gist of it here.

Let’s get back to talking about food, though. I was disappointed by the offering that was given, especially in comparison to what I had experienced in Argentina - the chicken was dry, but the pork and potatoes were good (enough), while the rest were forgettable. This was also usually one of my favourite parts of the tour, having had great home-cooked during the tour of Cambodia years ago.

After dinner, we were told to assemble back in the living room, where we learnt the haka, to briefly introduce ourselves to each other and were then also given the opportunity to ask our host any questions we had about the Maori culture. Our host was obviously very proud of her culture, which is great, but to the point that there was definitely an “our culture is the best, and what I say isn’t up for discussion” attitude, which was off-putting.

Ten minutes into it, I already wanted to escape, but was waiting for an opportune moment to make the dash. I, always the hero, led the group by leaving first, and my fellow travellers followed my example not long after.

I’m on Taupo the world

We dropped by Huka Falls on our way to the hostel in Taupo to take some happy snaps (above), and then had some free time in the afternoon. Hebs and I went our separate ways, after I told him that cycling isn’t my strong suit, and he should go with those who want to do mountain biking.

Back in solo mode once more, I made my way towards Otumuheke, where there’s supposed to be hot thermal pools - spoiler alert - it does not. Despite that, the walk was pleasant and afforded me a great view of the emerald-coloured river, lined with lush greenery that I don’t get to see in London. Even without the supposed “thermal pools”, I tend to deal with acclimatising with cold water quite well once I submerge my head in the water. The weather in the north island had ranged from ok to terrible, and given the dreadfully wet day before, I took advantage of the sunny-ish, but cloudy day by sunbathing on a bit of grass next to the river.

Taking a leap of faith…well, I didn’t, but others did.

Hebs had a similar problem as me by booking the tour via a third party, so he was not able to book bungee jumping beforehand. We looked up online at their next availability, which was around noon, but we took a punt by heading there earlier to see if they can squeeze him in when an online system can’t.

Alas, no, they gave him the same time slot as the online booking system.

There were others from the group already there who had their bookings, and were waiting for their turns. So while we wait, we watched and cheered as they each took the jump, with one particularly hesitant Aussie girl (I don’t remember which one - sorry if any of the girls are reading this! 😂😅), who despite being scared, kept looking down, acerbating her fear. However, she managed to do it, so they’re all fearless in my eyes.

I had always personally thought bungee was not interesting, and would be too scary for me, meanwhile having no issues with the idea of skydiving; that the incomprehensibility of the height would not affect my acrophobia. And, that the main crux of it was always more money- and location-related - choosing the right place to justify the cost. That opportunity will arise soon enough.

Around noon time, Hebs was geared up and ready to go, and without fear or hesitation, jumped down towards the river. When he came back up, I could see that he was pumped up with adrenaline as he gave me a two-handed high five.

A lazy afternoon

After grabbing (yet another) pie for lunch, and with the weather now clearing up, we went to the beach to relax and unwind, only for it to bucket down an hour or so later, so had to run to the nearest pub to take refuge - poor us. By the time we downed our pints of beer, the skies had cleared once more, because that was just the kind of weather we were dealing with in the north island.

For dinner, there happened to be a local food market going on, and we both grabbed a masala dosa, which was also the most popular stand there, but standing in queue waiting for food is basically my superhero skill. Then at about 8pm, we cross the road to the lakefront to watch the sunset on Taupo, ending our stint there.

All’s Wellington that ends Wellington

We didn’t have much time in Wellington, barely having the time to go up the Wellington Cable Car and walk around the Botanical Garden, before we needed to make haste back to the hostel in time for check-in.

For some in the group, Wellington is where they depart, so we had a group dinner at a very average restaurant next to the hostel, but then ended up drinking and dancing at an old man’s pub playing live music of old hits (or rather, music of my generation).

While those leaving the group may continue to travel around New Zealand, or simply return home, the rest of us will take to the seas for the south island the next day.