North Island Roadtrip!

Hi all!

As hard as it is to believe I am writing to you during my last week in New Zealand! I can't believe how quickly my time in New Zealand has gone! However, rather than spend this posting going on about how sad I am and how much I am going to miss it here (which I am!) I will instead tell you all about my travels around the North Island this past week!!

I had my exam on Saturday 12 June (apparently they give exams on Saturday here?) and since it ended I am officially on NZ Winter (or US Summer) break! Meaning..I am a college senior! How crazy is that? Anyways after finishing my exam I went back to my apartment and packed up for our North Island roadtrip. While one of my friends got the car, I helped solve a lodging crisis (apparently there had been some miscommunication and we had no place to stay that night. No worries, I figured it out). Then we all loaded our stuff in the car and were off and away down the west coast of North Island on Route 1 to Wanganui. Five hours later, we got to Wanganui and were met with a really cool hostel. There were two bedrooms and a living area and our own bathroom with a stocked fridge with milk. It was really nice but I was way too tired to enjoy it, and went to sleep pretty soon.

On Sunday 13 June We drove a half hour to Whanganui National Park. It was raining a bit, but that didn't stop the beautiful views we got on our two hour hike - it was so awesome!! As we were leaving Whanganui National Park we were met with an incredible rainbow. We then went back to the town of Wanganui, got some lunch, and then set off for Wellington. Wellington was about a 4 hour drive away and we made it to the capital of New Zealand in time for dinner. We were staying at a YHA and it was well equipped with a good kitchen, and we stayed in a room just for the 6 of us which was great. Wellington is a beautiful city with an incredible harbour and Cook Strait which connects it to the South Island. Approaching Wellington, it definitely felt like we were approaching a US city and it felt way more like a highway than anywhere else in New Zealand (kind of similar to Auckland).

Monday 14 June was our first full day in Wellington and we completely took advantage of it! It was a beautiful day (rare for Wellington during the winter - Wellington is known for wind, rain and cold). But the sun was shining and it was a great day to explore! We took the cable car up to the Botanic Gardens and were rewarded with an incredible view of the city and harbour. Wellington definitely has more of a South Island feel with incredible mountains surounding it. We then explore the Botanic Gardens which was a lot of fun. Then we had lunch up at the lookout and took the cable car back down to the city. Then we walked around the city (which is pretty small and easy to manage) stopping by Cuba St and other cool areas. Wellington just has so much more culture and character than Auckland - it is filled with cool art stuff everywhere! Then it was my friend's birthday so we split off and 3 of us went to get her presents and a cake. We then got ready and went to "The Library" which was a really cool bar attached to "Chow" where we went for dinner. Chow is a asian-tapas place that has really good food and is half-price on Monday. There is a Chow in Auckland that I had been to once before, and it was just as delicious this time.

Tuesday 15 June was kind of rainy so we went to Te Papa. Te Papa is the national museum of New Zealand and is honestly one of the coolest museums I have ever been to in my life! It is all interactive and has such a variety of exhibitions that you can (and we did) literally spend all day there! There were exhibits on the structure of New Zealand, NZ's history, Maori history, animals, volcanoes all with tons of movies and activities. There was one movie which told New Zealander's stories which was really cool. There were also earthquake simulators and even a ride taking you into the center of a volcano! My favorite exhibit was called the "Mixing Room" which was an interactive area that told the stories of the refugees of New Zealand. It was such an interesting exhibit and I could have spent much longer there if the museum wasn't closing! So after staying at Te Papa all day, we then went to thhe Wellington art gallery which was okay. After glancing around, I realized that the sun was about to set and decided to walk along the harbour. The sunset was absolutely beautiful and I got to see the city lights on the hill light up (there are 2 hills surrounding Wellington). It was a great way to end the day.

Wednesday 16 June was another beautiful day in Wellington so we decided to wake up early and make the drive to Upper and Lower Hutt (about a half hour outside of the city). We first went to Upper Hutt and went to the Kaitoke Regional Park. We spent a couple hours just wandering and hiking around and it was so much fun! We saw beautiful sights and incredible trees. Kaitoke is the location of "Rivendell" in Lord of the Rings and we got to see the actual spot that they filmed in. It looks completely different now, but is still a beautiful spot. After having lunch in Kaitoke, we continued on to Lower Hutt. In Lower Hutt some people wanted to shop, but I wanted to hike some more so we split off. I went to Belmont Regional Park and hiked to the Korokoro dam which was really beautiful. There were these incredible mountains filled with trees and it was a really awesome hike. We then met back up and went back to Wellington. That night we went to "Alice" which is an "Alice in Wonderland" themed bar where they serve everything in teapots - it was a really cute place.

Thursday 17 June was yet another beautiful sunny day in Wellington. My friends slept in, but I woke up early and climbed Mt Victoria - a mountain in Wellington. It was a short steep climb to the top, and the views were spectacular! I hung out up there for a while and ate my lunch. From Mt Victoria it shows how close you actually are to Antarctica which is pretty cool. From Mt Victoria I took the Southern Walkway down which was really pretty and ended up on Oriental Parade along the harbour. I then walked away from Wellington and had a great walk along the harbour and the beaches embracing the sunshine. Then I went back to city centre to go Parliament. New Zealand Parliament is in Wellington and they give free tours everyday! So I went on one and it was SO interesting! Parliament itself is beautiful with 3 wings: the main one, the "Beehive" and the library. The library has km of shelf space than they have very impressive archives. Throughout the tour I kept thinking about how much more accessible and open the government is than in the US. They are very focused on direct communication between the people of NZ and the government. In law making they like people to be directly involved so they place ads in local papers about an upcoming law and if you have an input you can send a letter to parliament (for free) with your ideas and can even appear in front of the lawmakers in Wellington to tell them your thoughts (anyone can do this - even me!). It was very interesting. They even have the NZ flag from 9/11 which was really intense for me to see. After the tour we could go into the debating chambers to hear actual MPs (Member of Parliaments) debating over issues. I went and heard them talking about an agricultural issue. It was so interesting and cool to be able to witness the government at work.

Friday 18 June we woke up at 5 am to hit the road towards Napier. After a 4 hour drive (with a beautiful sunrise!) we made it to Napier. Napier is well known as the wine region in New Zealand and for it's awesome art deco. We first walked around the town and admired the art deco and fountains. Then we walked along the water and played on the beach. Then we piled in the car and set off to Mission Estate Winery which is the oldest winery in New Zealand! We had a free tasting there and it was really fun. We then went to a chocolate factory which was very delicious. Then we went back in the car and set out on another 4 hour drive to Gisborne. We stopped along the way to see the beautiful sights which included awesome forests, rivers and beaches. We made it to Gisborne for dinner and stayed at another YHA.

Saturday 19 June some of us woke up early again for the sunrise because Gisborne is the first city in the world to see the sun rise each day!! We got into the car around seven and got to a beautiful beach on Poverty Bay to see the sun rise. The sun rise was different than any I had seen before because the sun seemed to be coming from the side rather than up. It was a beautiful sunrise and so rejuvenating. It was a great way to start the day! We then went back, packed up and went to explore Gisborne. We went to a farmer's market which was great where I got manuka honey brie and manuka honey and walnut ciabatta bread which I had as a delicious lunch! Then we went to Gray's Reserve where we did a bush walk and saw incredible trees and a farm with lots of sheep! From there we drove on to Tauranga, which was about another 4 hours away. Along the way we stopped by more awesome views and the infamous Bay of Plenty beaches.

Sunday 20 June we woke up to a kind of rainy day in Tauranga but decided we still needed to go exploring. Even though it was filled with clouds we decided to hike Mt Maunganui or "the mount" anyways. The hike wasn't that bad and was really beautiful. There were tons of sheep all around! About halfway up it started to clear and we were able to see the scene shift from purely clouds to awesome views right before our eyes! By the time we reached the top we were rewarded with amazing views!! We could see so much from the top! Then we went down and explored the beach as it became a sunny day. There were these awesome rocks off the beach which we explored and saw more incredible views. After lunch we headed back to Auckland.

It was a really amazing trip and I got to see so many great sights! I feel now that I have seen the majority of New Zealand and can honestly say that I love every part of it! Here are the pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/LSOL817/NorthIslandRoadtrip?feat=directlink

This week I don't have much going on besides taking in Auckland and packing up. My family comes on Friday and I am SO excited!!!! Can't wait to see you all soon!

Sending lots of love from the whole North Island!