North Island, New Zealand, Part I
One of the worst things I can do while traveling is NOT write in my journal. At 31 I have a horrible memory, sometimes not remembering what I had for breakfast that day. The next best thing to that is to just take as many photos as I can of all the places and events I've been. The photos are somewhat of a reminder of the different things I went through and more important an easy reminder of all the things that happened that day and so on.
From Adelaide, South Australia, New Zealand is an easy flight at around 4.5 hours or so. Landing in Auckland gave me a little scare as the runway was built right into the ocean, so when landing I thought we were actually landing in the water. Customs was a breeze, and although I usually wing it I actually had a place booked out for the first night. A 45 min ride to the city via the airbus plopped me in the center of Auckland city. I checked in to my hostel, Queens Street Backpackers, I got a 8 bedroom dorm which deemed to be pretty horrible as 8 dudes, their dirty laundry and dishes were pretty smelly, not to mention we were right next to the main street with the windows open. I was unsure of my plans for NZ, so I emailed a few people and looked into various deals on gumtree. To my surprise I got a message back from "Kim" from the Great Barrier Island north of Auckland. Kim and his wife (plus 5 kids) run a small outdoor furniture business and "employ woofers" from time to time. They said a spot will open if I am interested in about 9 days. I agreed and decided with the time in between to take a guided bus trip with other backpackers through the north island. Day 2 I booked a single room to get my stuff sorted and take care of my laundry. Day 3 I boarded the Stray bus (that's the company the holds the trips) and headed into the unknown with now 30 or so other backpackers from around the world.
I was stoked to be around other people, I feel it's hard to meet people when you are always on the go and not settled anywhere for more than a day or so. Plus the social anxiety of traveling by yourself can sometimes get the best of you. The driver Kea was a local Kiwi and was full of life. Once out of the city my eyes where glued to the scenery. Our first stop was a bit North East of Auckland and a good 2 hours away, Hahei was the town and we stayed at a little holiday park with rooms for backpackers. A bunch of us did a small hike to Cathedral Cove and went swimming and rock jumping. After the hike we had a communal BBQ of steak, sausage and salad, and of course some local brews.
The main event for the night was the hot pools. So we all piled in the bus at around 8PM and headed to the beach. This beach is one of only a few in the world where the tectonic plates have shifted which actually heats the water from the ground in the sand. It was a strange site to see, imagine 100 or so people grouped together on a beach during low tide, sitting in "pools" of steaming dirty water. We headed out with some shovels and once finding a couple spots dug our way to a nice warm sitting pool to lounge in for the night.
7AM, back on the bus, out for another adventure. This time we headed to the coast South West of Auckland, the trip was awesome and soon our bus pulled up a steep gravel road, the sign read "Karioi Lodge and outdoor center". It felt well off the beaten path, almost as if we were in Vietnam or something. The hostel lodge was built into the side of the hill, almost like steps. We all got our rooms, 4 people to each one, I was happy to get a bottom bunk this time. Once settled we did a small hike to the beach and tried to swim on the rocky coast, no bueno, so I came back as the sun was nuking me. PB&J tonight, one of my all time favorites, a good bunch of us stayed up later until around one, joking and having some cocktails, it was great to be with people around the world hearing stores of travel and adventure, politics and what not.
One of the worst things I can do while traveling is NOT write in my journal. At 31 I have a horrible memory, sometimes not remembering what I had for breakfast that day. The next best thing to that is to just take as many photos as I can of all the places and events I've been. The photos are somewhat of a reminder of the different things I went through and more important an easy reminder of all the things that happened that day and so on.
From Adelaide, South Australia, New Zealand is an easy flight at around 4.5 hours or so. Landing in Auckland gave me a little scare as the runway was built right into the ocean, so when landing I thought we were actually landing in the water. Customs was a breeze, and although I usually wing it I actually had a place booked out for the first night. A 45 min ride to the city via the airbus plopped me in the center of Auckland city. I checked in to my hostel, Queens Street Backpackers, I got a 8 bedroom dorm which deemed to be pretty horrible as 8 dudes, their dirty laundry and dishes were pretty smelly, not to mention we were right next to the main street with the windows open. I was unsure of my plans for NZ, so I emailed a few people and looked into various deals on gumtree. To my surprise I got a message back from "Kim" from the Great Barrier Island north of Auckland. Kim and his wife (plus 5 kids) run a small outdoor furniture business and "employ woofers" from time to time. They said a spot will open if I am interested in about 9 days. I agreed and decided with the time in between to take a guided bus trip with other backpackers through the north island. Day 2 I booked a single room to get my stuff sorted and take care of my laundry. Day 3 I boarded the Stray bus (that's the company the holds the trips) and headed into the unknown with now 30 or so other backpackers from around the world.
I was stoked to be around other people, I feel it's hard to meet people when you are always on the go and not settled anywhere for more than a day or so. Plus the social anxiety of traveling by yourself can sometimes get the best of you. The driver Kea was a local Kiwi and was full of life. Once out of the city my eyes where glued to the scenery. Our first stop was a bit North East of Auckland and a good 2 hours away, Hahei was the town and we stayed at a little holiday park with rooms for backpackers. A bunch of us did a small hike to Cathedral Cove and went swimming and rock jumping. After the hike we had a communal BBQ of steak, sausage and salad, and of course some local brews.
The main event for the night was the hot pools. So we all piled in the bus at around 8PM and headed to the beach. This beach is one of only a few in the world where the tectonic plates have shifted which actually heats the water from the ground in the sand. It was a strange site to see, imagine 100 or so people grouped together on a beach during low tide, sitting in "pools" of steaming dirty water. We headed out with some shovels and once finding a couple spots dug our way to a nice warm sitting pool to lounge in for the night.
7AM, back on the bus, out for another adventure. This time we headed to the coast South West of Auckland, the trip was awesome and soon our bus pulled up a steep gravel road, the sign read "Karioi Lodge and outdoor center". It felt well off the beaten path, almost as if we were in Vietnam or something. The hostel lodge was built into the side of the hill, almost like steps. We all got our rooms, 4 people to each one, I was happy to get a bottom bunk this time. Once settled we did a small hike to the beach and tried to swim on the rocky coast, no bueno, so I came back as the sun was nuking me. PB&J tonight, one of my all time favorites, a good bunch of us stayed up later until around one, joking and having some cocktails, it was great to be with people around the world hearing stores of travel and adventure, politics and what not.
