New Zealand part 1

After an overnight flight (and resultant recovery time), we checked out downtown Auckland and found a domain garden

and museum and stayed the day there,

along with the harbour area.

We found a free book swap and piano shelter made from shipping containers. We stayed there a little while and found some interesting books to read. In the next box hut there was a random piano inside it and Aaron played beautiful music. Then Aaron went to see the skytower which looks similar to the CN Tower, and coincidentaly arrived exactly on time for some Chinese new years fireworks and a ceremonial bunjee jump off of the tower. We checked out Devonport across the harbour by ferry and climbed a hill with a fantastic outlook of the city lighted at night.

The next day we went on the ferry to an island called Waiheke. We had a short tour and then headed to a really nice big beach.

In case you're wondering what we look like at the beach :)

In the afternoon we went to a winery and did some tasting with an ocean view. Becky had the the best tasting peach ice tea she ever had!

We headed back to the ferry and Aaron went for a hike around the penininsula area and Becky enjoyed reading and relaxing from the bay.


On Sunday we went to a big modern church. We enjoyed their worship as it reminded us of Hillsong United music and Bethel Church music. After service we met a nice family who gave us great advice on the tourist attractions on the island and they gave us a ride back to our hostel. The following day we picked up our rental car

No gravel roads allowed with the rental :s

and drove to the North island (on the left side of the road - Aaron's first time!). We stopped at many different beaches during the day including Pakiri (had a nice tidal pool), Mangawhai, Langs Beach, Uretiti Beach,

and past Whangarei to a beautiful Park with Smuggler's Cove for sunset. Becky enjoyed Smuggler's Cove the best. It was a nice mix of country side hills, island, beach and harbour. Just a gorgeous, beautiful paradise on the tip of New Zealand.

When we started our first rental car road trip, we got lost and came upon a sign pointing towards Hana waterfall, so we cheecked it out and it was great!

Our next stop on our road trip was in the Coromandel peninsula (where we stayed for a day) called Karangahake Gorge a historical mining area with a river there.

On our third stop we went to a huge active open mining pit (super cool!).

Then our fourth stop was at a Hot Water Beach where people would dig a big hole in the sand and you could feel the hot water springs under your feet! It was so hot at one point that the hot water would burn your feet from the springs under the sand, so you had to mix in the ocean water.

After that we headed to our country hostel cottage in Whitianga. It was a peaceful relaxing environment that reminded me of our cottage or Spring Bay Manitoulin Camp. Aaron drove a young couple to the grocery store because they lost their keys. Then the next day we drove and hiked to Cathedral Cove. It was a beautiful beach with a cave like cove.

After we drove to Rotura and went to another hostel for the night and went for a walk beside the lake and had some icecream. Then we drove south to Waiotapu Thermal Geyser.

(Almost done erupting)

They had many hot pools, some with many different colours such as green, yellow and orange from the chemicals  that also smelt like rotten eggs (sulfur).

 After that we went to Waikite Thermal Hot Pools for 3 or 4 hours, it was really nice!

They are fed by a hot spring at the thermal hot pools, where the water comes out of the ground boiling! Then we drove to Taupo and stopped at another waterfall called Huka Falls with some huge rapids.

We stayed at a hostel in Taupo for the night. On our way out of Taupo we stopped at an outdoor hot pool (fully natural and free) with a stream of hot water flowing into the cool river.

After this we went to Waitomo Glowworm Caves which were huge, and glided in a boat in the cave and saw the glowing worms on the ceiling. It was a cool interesting sight, very amazing. Then we headed to the Otorohanga Kiwi House and bird sanctuary. We saw New Zealands National bird the Kiwi. They are very cute looking with their fluffy body and long beak. Kiwis have nostrils at the end of their beak that is why they make a loud noise like someone blowing their nose when they blow air out of their beak from dirt.

After that we headed to our farm hostel and cooked dinner. The next day we woke really early and drove through the sunrise back to Auckland to drop off the rental car. We waited the day for our flight so we walked to the main downtown city park and there they had a really big Chinese Lantern Festival going on. They had a musical stage and a martial arts stage. There were were blow up characters and lanterns hung beautifully in the trees.

Stay tuned for New Zealand part 2!