New Zealand 2017
We planned this trip in Spring 2017 for our family and a friend family. In total, eight people - four adults and four teenagers. Our trip started and ended in Tokyo. From there, it’s about a 10 and a half hour flight to Auckland - I’ll leave that part out of this.
NOTE: In order to include several pictures without making this take a long time to load, I greatly reduced the resolution - use your imagination :smile:
Summary and Recommendations
Awesome. Scenery. Open.
Those are the words that I felt most described what I saw of New Zealand. This is coming from Tokyo, so folks coming from, say, Nepal may have a different perspective. We packed our trip with activities (see details below), but we could have seen almost all of the same stuff by just driving to the desired destinations.
- Budget minded travelers may want to avoid most activities and just plan targeted spots.
- Every lodging place will give you milk. Go ahead and get the cereal.
- Coffee drinkers be prepared for no drip coffee. You may have access to hot water and a french press or instant coffee granules in accommodations. When out and about, you can pretty much only get espresso drinks. Go for the long black; it is kind of like an Americano.
- Bring sunscreen and bug protection. The sun is pretty powerful, and sand flies are a real pain in the @$$.
- Pack towels. There are so many places where you may want to jump in water.
- If jumping in the mud baths at any of the geothermal spots, like around Rotarua, rent their swimsuits - don’t ruin yours.
- Go ahead and try the pineapple lumps.
- Be prepared for limited connectivity. At the time we were there, you could have 45 minutes of free wifi at the Auckland airport per day per device. That was pretty typical of places where we went. Most accommodation allowed for enough wifi to post pictures and get the directions to the next place.
- Google maps will keep directions going if you start them before turning off wifi.
- There are a few toll roads, but no toll stands. You can pay tolls after the fact easy peasy. Just sign into the government website with your vehicle details.
- By far, the worst (only) traffic we found was in and around Auckland. If you can avoid it, do so.
- There should probably be a windy road sign on the New Zealand flag. Due to mountainous terrain and many rivers and lakes, most of the roads we traveled were windy. The 100 kmh speed limit is just that - many places where that speed limit is posted are not safe at even half that speed. Be alert.
- It’s really easy to be gluten free in New Zealand.
Day by Day
Day 1 - The arrival and first drive (12-16)
Our flight landed in the morning. We got some coffee and snacks at the airport and headed out to get our rental. Of course, our flight had changed since we booked it, and we forgot to call the rental company to set up an earlier pickup, so we didn’t get the van then. Always update your rental to match your flight!
With a few hours to kill, we walked around the Auckland airport area. There were a grocery store, some fast food joints, and several amusements within walking distance. We set the kids loose on the ropes course at Rocket Ropes. It was a perfect way to spend a few hours and get the kids settled for what would be a long drive. The bigger course takes a couple of hours to complete (or did for our kids).
Finally, the car was ready. We picked up some groceries - for lunch, snacks, and breakfast and headed north. The trip from Auckland to Kaitaia is mostly farmland and rolling hills, but our path also included a super windy and rather steep mountain pass. It’s about 333 km and took us maybe 5 hours. We were surprised then, but got used to it, when our lodging check in included getting fresh milk. We stayed at the Loredo which was roomy and clean…and has excellent customer service (plus wifi, a trampoline, and a pool).
In Kaitaia, we had a little trouble finding a place to eat dinner. It was Saturday, and many places were closed or crowded. We found Bushmans Hut and enjoyed a delicious meal. I highly recommend it. Everyone was happy with their food.
Day 2 - The Far North (12-17)
We woke up to the sound of birds and fumbled with our unfamiliar coffee situation. Today was our first tour - one that I recommend whole heartedly - it was definitely worth it. We took the Harrison’s Cape Runner trip up to the top of Cape Reinga. They picked us up right from Loredo. One thing to note - when you book with Harrison’s, it is just a hold until you call and give you credit card information - they do not take reservations via email or web except as a hold. Go ahead and call from wherever you are for peace of mind that you actually have a reservation.
The Cape Runner tour included a very short bathroom stop (don’t be fooled, that coffee place will not be open) in a beautiful local, another stop for ice cream (I didn’t like any of it, but you may), enough time at the Lighthouse to drink up the views, simple lunch (pack snacks if you are picky), a brief time to swim for the brave or very warm, sand boarding, and a drive along 90 mile beach. Our guide was Maori, and he kept up an enthusiastic and interesting commentary on the things and places we could see from the bus.
The highlight of the tour is really the time at the lighthouse at the top of the Cape. This place is truly magical. You can see where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean and ponder the extent of the world. Sandboarding is thrilling - try it even if you might be a little scared; the hardest part is hauling that board up the mega hot sand dune with the wind trying to knock you down. I still can’t quite accept the desolation and beauty of 90 mile beach - it’s so unlike any beach I’ve ever seen before visiting New Zealand…mostly because there were no houses or hotels or anything the whole length of it.
Cape Runner dropped us back off at our hotel around 1700. We had time to clean up, do a little laundry (ask at the office), and get dinner. We made the mistake of going to the Town and Country deli; don’t do that.
Day 3 - Drive from Kaitaia to Hahei Beach (12-18)
This day was the worst of the driving for us because we got stuck in some super terrible traffic trying to get back through Auckland. It’s about 488 km and took us maybe 9 hours. We tried to stop at Sheep world, but it was an unreasonable charge for what you got out of it (in our collective opinion). Plus, there were sheep painted red near the entrance that really creeped us out.
We stayed at Tatahi Lodge - using the Villa (sleeps 6) and two backpacker bunks to accommodate our group. The showers were hot, the place was clean, and I’d recommend it as a place to stay. If you don’t have a full travel schedule, this quaint beach town might be a good place to stay for a few days or a week - there were plenty of hiking trails we never touched and there looked to be a few local wineries to check out. We arrived just before dinner and found delicious food at The Pour House. The guys were happy with the beer selection there also.
After dinner, we walked down and enjoyed the beach. Our brave kiddos even swam in the chilly water.
Day 4 - Cathedral Cove (12-19)
We got up before the sun and drove to the Cathedral Cove parking area. From the parking area it is about a 40 minute walk to the Cove. We arrived around sunrise, and it was perfect. We nearly had the place to ourselves. NOTE: don’t worry about the tide times for Cathedral Cove - you can get out there, but you are more likely to get wet at high tide.
Since one of my kids forgot his flip flops, we looked for some at the local shop. There, we met the captain of a boat tour around the area. Since we had a little time, we booked ourselves on the trip for 1000. It was just our group and one lovely lady from Germany in the boat. The boat tour included different rock formations than what you can see from the beach and a good look at schools of snapper. We also saw that Cathedral Cove was crowded and thanked our good fortune to have gone early in the morning.
We headed up to Hot Water Beach and had lunch at Hot Waves Cafe (based on the boat captain’s suggestion). With the crowds at the beach, we were surprised that the cafe was nearly empty. Everyone enjoyed the food; we had to wait a while, but we sat outside and enjoyed the birds and gardens in peace. After lunch, we marched down to the beach to dig ourselves a little sauna. You can rent shovels at the local art center across the street from the beach - no deposit! At first, we had no luck. I asked the lifeguard about tips to find a good spot, and he said to dig a little with your toes. We walked around and discovered many a hot spot. Thank goodness for the chilly ocean water to counteract it. It is a unique experience to nearly scald your feet digging in the sand and then cool down with a wave. We spent maybe an hour screwing around at the beach. I don’t think anyone would want to spend too much more time there - it is pretty crowded.
After the beach, we had another long drive ~ 325 km to Turangi. Our lodging there was weird, the town felt unsafe, and I’d not recommend going to or staying in Turangi to anyone. I would recommend staying at the park…see Day 5. One thing good about our time in Turangi is that we learned about the wifi at the New World grocery store and got a rewards card to save cash on groceries. :)
Day 5 - Tongariro National Park (12-20)
We set out very early to get started with the Alpine Crossing. When we found the parking at Mangatepopo, the attendant discouraged us from doing the crossing. Our plan had been to drop most of us there and then take the van back to another parking area and get a shuttle. However, the attendant’s statement was really all the encouragement we needed to just park and see what we could see. He gave us just over four hours to return to our van. The beginning of the hike was cold and then not cold…and we had to add and remove layers many times. For the first hour or so, the walk is mostly flat, and then there is a short detour (maybe 5 minutes) out to falls.
At that point, our group split between those who didn’t want to start climbing up (and returned to the van) and those who did. The up was intense - stairs interspersed with less organized uphill. I made it to the old crater or something - a big flat expanse - before I reached the point where I needed to go back to make the time limit. A few of our group reached the top of the red crater, and they said it was awesome and worth it. For my part, this was a fairly unenjoyable hike, and I don’t know why it is a top hike in New Zealand - the scenery was not as beautiful as many other places, the weather was changing, and the effort was just not worth it. We saw pretty much the same scenery with much less effort on the walk to Taranaki Falls (later).
After we all assembled, we had a delicious lunch of sandwiches and tuna fish standing around the outside of our van. I think we even had apples, crackers, and hummus…so it was a pretty fancy spread. Filled up, we headed to Whakapapa village to find out more about the area and try to do a few short hikes.
In Whakapapa Village, we went to the iSight (NZ tourist guidance - they are nearly everywhere). This one had museum information about volcanic activity, rocks, and even local birds. We found out about two relatively short hikes to waterfalls and decided to do them. The first was Taranaki Falls - which the guides said was a short walk, maybe 20 minutes, from either the North or South starting point. We took the north starting point…about 45 minutes later through fairly ugly alpine terrain, we found the top of the falls. We went down, watched some folks rappel down the side of the falls and appreciated the power of the waterfall. Then, we continued through the south part of the loop. The south part is forested with lots of song birds, follows the river/stream, and took another 45 minutes or so; this was my favorite walk in all of our time in Tongariro, and I recommend going in and out on the south path.
Next, we went to Tawhei Falls (advised to us as a 20 minute in and out) - it barely took 5 minutes from the parking to the Falls. While the water was cold, we took the chance to relax on the rocks and soak our feet. Definitely do this one. Bonus - from the Tahwei Falls parking area, which is quite small, you can easily walk up the highway a bit to get a picture of a Kiwi Crossing sign with Mt Ruhepehu in the background.
For doing anything around Tongariro National Park, I’d recommend starting out from Whakapapa Village (go to the iSight and get some maps!!). There are tons of short hikes all around, plus food and restrooms in the village. You can even stay in cabins or backpackers or even a fancy hotel right there in the village. Do that. Remember what I said about not going to Turangi?
Day 6 - Huka Falls and Tongariro Whitewater Rafting (12-21)
Today was a little silly because our plan for the day ended up involving driving up to Taupo, back to Turangi, and then back to Taupo. If you book the H2Oh trip including the jet boat to Huka Falls and Whitewater rafting…it works great if your itinerary is heading south; if you are headed north, see if you can do the rafting first and the jetboating later.
We set out north for the drive along Lake Taupo. The day was clear from the morning (unlike our hiking day), and we had stunning views of the volcanoes in Tongariro National Park with Lake Taupo in the foreground as we drove north. We arrived at the Huka Falls jetboating and waited. Our time had been confirmed in an email a couple of days earlier, but we were given a new time (and a long wait there). I was not super impressed with the customer service that we had at the jetboating place. Time eventually came around, and we lifejacketed up and got on the boat. Our driver/captain? zoomed us around and right up to the falls. Now, Huka Falls is not really pretty or tall, but it is massive in flow (> 220k liters per second). Coolest part of jetboating? You get to go right up to one of the first geothermal power plants in the world, which sits on the river. Also, you get pretty close to lots of black swans and some ducks; I felt pretty bad for the birds trying to get out of our way. The jetboating is a fairly short experience - maybe 20 minutes on the water; fine by me - flinging around in circles was not my idea of a good time. I’d just go up to one of the bridges and look at the falls if I got to do it over again.
Time to head back south. We stopped for a picnic along Lake Taupo (the water was cold, no surprise) and enjoyed the break before finishing the drive back down to Turangi for rafting. The Tongariro River Rafting building is conveniently just outside of Turangi, and we were able to relax in their open customer lounge area while our trip was set up. They have coffee, chocolate, tea, and hot water set out for customers who are waiting. Once our group was assembled, they set us up with wetsuits and thermals - we could change and store our stuff right in their building..easy peasy. We waddled out all wet-suited to buses and headed to the drop off point; it was pretty hot at this point all suited up. We were dropped off and split into groups of 7 and got our rafts in the water. The whole trip down the river was lovely and fun. We stopped once to jump off of a rock (super fun) and another time for a swim and hot chocolate. I’d recommend doing this trip if you want to go white water rafting - the water flow is nearly constant throughout the year because of an agreement with a local hydroelectric plant, so the guides can ensure that your ride is safe and easy. At the end of the trip, we were treated with a spread of snacks (lots of veggies…and sandwich fillings) while we changed and got ready to leave.
And…we drove back north again. In the afternoon, we could not even see the peaks from Tongariro volcanoes, so I’d recommend hitting up Lake Taupo in the morning for the best views.
We finally arrived at our hotel - Silver Oaks Geyserland to find that the place had had a “geothermal” event the day before and the main building was not safe. We were put up for the night in the old building and the whole place was going to be condemned the next day. While the hotel was shoddy, I simply cannot describe the view - right below our balcony was a huge boiling mud pool - blup, blup, blup, and there was a geyser. We left the window open to enjoy the noise all night. Turns out that our view was of Te Puia Thermal reserve, which is a Maori attraction in Taupo; we did not check it out from the ground.
Day 7 - Geothermal craziness (12-22)
Since basically living over a boiling mud pool for the night wasn’t enough for us, we had two geothermal adventures planned for the day. We headed out to Wai-o-taupo in the morning and explored all they had to see, like the Champagne Pools, a hot waterfall, and a big old mud pot. I was not impressed, really, with Wai-o-taupo, and I’d certainly not recommend anyone join the massive crowds there and walk around their loop or go to the geyser (goes off at 1015). I would recommend going to the mud pot that is off the road on the left as you drive in to see Wai-o-taupo. It’s not part of the park, and you don’t need to pay a fee. There is a very short walk up a hill as you go around the pot where you can see from up above.
Then, we fought amongst ourselves about lunch in very crowded Taupo and ended up at Carls Jr for a quick lunch before heading to Hell’s Gate. It was another thermal park with some stinky acidic pools and mud pots. We got a tour of the grounds, some Maori culture lessons, and mud and sulfur baths. It was a very stinky spa experience. Supposedly, it was good for us. I personally enjoyed the hot shower under the sun (with soap) afterwards.
Surprise, surprise, we had a bit of a drive - about 160 km to Whakatane, just up 30. It was a surprisingly flat-ish ride. We had just booked our lodging for the night the day before (when we found out our hotel was condemned) and we were pleased with the Alton Lodge which would have been a great place to spend a few days - it was plenty roomy, close enough to walk to the Strand, but far enough away to be quiet.
We were feeling spry and took the map from our lodge host and marched into town in search of dinner. We were delighted with Spice Junction; we waited quite awhile for service, but the food was delicious. After dinner, a few of us walked up some stairs downtown and found a stunning view of the town and Whale Island. We nearly fell of a cliff, but that’s not something on which to dwell. There is also a little waterfall downtown - the water is pretty dirty (or was during our trip), but the falls were neat for right inside town.
Day 8 - White Island and bonus Tarawera Falls (12-23)
We had a boat tour scheduled to White Island in the morning, but the sailing time isn’t nailed down before hand. We had breakfast in their little shop and then got on the boat. The ride was chilly and a little long, but we saw some dolphins! At the island, we got gas masks - that was very encouraging. White Island is an active volcano, and we walked around inside the crater - beyond nuts. The only other tours there were arriving via helicopter, so there were not very many people all in all. It smelled fairly intense, and our neat guides handed out hard candies to help keep the smell from bothering us. The kids really took advantage and ate tons of candies on the island and the ride back.
Aside - the name Whakatane means “Like a man” because one time when the Maori came there, the men went ashore and left the women and children in the boats (waka). Women were not supposed to row boats, and they started going out to sea. One smart woman decided that she would rather be like a man than die, so she started rowing the boat.
We got to see some nearly pure sulfur rock which was very smooth and surreal. The guides told us about the miners who used to live on White Island and their efforts to separate sulfur from much less pure rock sources. A few of the mining ruins were still there. The old campsite was just full of birds, though.
One of the most curious things was the water. Our guides advised us to try a drop of water (from our fingers) from two separate streams and consider their tastes. They were fairly close together, but one was salty and the other tasted like lemon concentrate. I guess they were not toxic since we are all still around.
After the tour, we had a little time, so we made the hair-raising drive on a logging road to Tarawera Falls. You have to stop in Kawerau to get a permit to drive on the logging road…just follow signs to the iSight because Google Maps will lead you astray. It was just a short walk from the parking to the falls. We are crazy, so most of our group was in the cold water playing around. One of my monkeys and I even jumped into the river from a tree a few times and let the current zoom us to the next tree to get back out. Bring towels!
Day 9 - Bay of Plenty drive (12-24)
Today, we were supposed to tour Whale Island, but that was cancelled by the captains for some reason or another, so we took the drive back to Auckland at a more relaxed pace and threw in a couple of hikes that we hadn’t planned previously - we really hadn’t thought we would have the time.
First, we stopped at Mount Maunganui and most of us hiked to the top. This was a fairly crowded hike for our experience in New Zealand, but it was just an hour or so to the top, and the views were impressive. I understand why so many other people wanted to make the journey. We had lunch from our grocery bags at a picnic bench in town and treated ourselves with ice cream.
A little farther down the road, we stopped in Waihi to learn more about the places to go regarding gold mining that we had heard about on our trip to White Island. Armed with information, we drove down to Karangahake, saw Owharoa Falls (it is right off the road, go ahead and stop), and walked through an old train tunnel (1 km in a tunnel!) and saw a water fall and some old gold stuff and another super clear river. A fine activity for getting out of the car and moving the old legs.
Our journey for the day ended up at the Novatel at the Auckland Airport, and we found dinner at a little Indian restaurant in Papatoetoe before returning the van and heading to bed.
Day 10 - Queenstown and Nomad Safari (12-25)
We had a short flight from Auckland to Queenstown (it’s in packing for this that we lost the avocados). We luckily snagged a van cab from the airport to our lodging - Reavers Lodge (a backpacker, but we had rooms for each family). After checking in early and storing our bags, we set out to the town for a quick exploration and lunch.
We headed back to the lodge where our Nomad Safari guys picked us up for an exciting tour of the rural surrounds and a lot of discussion of Lord of the Rings. We even got to pan for gold in the Shotover River. Our guide was funny and the ride was on “roads” that we wouldn’t have wanted to drive on ourselves.
If you want to see the area around Queenstown, Nomad Safari is a fine way to do it. Our trip maybe lasted a few hours. I’m not thrill seeking enough to really have enjoyed some of the mountain passes we covered, but I liked seeing elephant rock, hell’s gate, and heaven’s gate. I also enjoy the Lord of the Rings enough to appreciate some of the information about the actual shooting of the movie.
Most of the group went to the Queenstown gondola and luge for evening entertainment. I stayed back and did laundry because I’m cool like that. We managed to find some decent food for dinner by splitting up. I recommend Caribe.
Day 11 - Milford Sound (12-26)
As far as we could tell, some kind of Fiordland National Park something needed to be on our New Zealand itinerary. I’m so happy that my friend found The BBQ Bus. We saw lots of other bus tours, but our bus was smaller, our stops more like car stops, and our guide was very knowledgeable, funny, and kind. Also, the food was good - more than we all could eat.
After a few hours drive, and several stops for pictures and one for lunch, we arrived in Milford Sound and took a cruise around the sound. The mountains, fiords, I dunno, were huge, and waterfalls seemed to cascade down from everywhere. It was windy when we went, so I didn’t see the mirror reflection of the sound like I’ve seen all over instagram. However, the sound was still beautiful and immense. Bonus - there is coffee on the boat; get it when you board to warm up.
Part of our group took a little plane back from Milford Sound, but the rest of us returned with the bus. We saw a little Kea on the side of the road while waiting for our turn through the tunnel. The ride back was very quiet because the guide let folks sleep. I sat at the front of the bus and watched the landscape (and thousands of farm animals) unfold in front of me.
The drive to and from Milford sound is beautiful and peaceful. I especially was enamored with the domesticated deer - New Zealand farms deer. Beyond the farmed animals, I saw tons of wild hare (I guess they are a problem) and many a raptor. The mountains and rivers were also lovely. Once in Fiordland National Park, the scenery is much more intense and also stark. You may get a bit of a neck cramp from trying to look up so much. It was dry on our trip, but we could tell that just a little bit of rain would create a wonderland of waterfalls.
Day 12 - Amazing drive from Queenstown to Franz Josef (12-27)
I’ll be honest - All in all, I wasn’t particularly taken with Queenstown. It was crowded - people everywhere. Of course, we were there on Christmas day which I guess is a huge party day for kiwis. Maybe if we had had more time, we could have walked around the botanical gardens or enjoyed some of the other scenery. The coolest part of the town itself was a little chocolate place on the water (you can watch them make chocolates from the second floor) and some street art. On our drive north, we stopped briefly in Wanaka, which is supposedly like a little uncrowded Queenstown, and it was crowded as well. We didn’t spend enough time there for me to give any advice.
There are simply not English words to describe the myriad of views that you get to see between Queenstown and Franz Josef. The trip starts out pretty much vertical, and its interesting to see the farms layer below you with Queenstown, mountains, and Lake Wakatipu below. Then, you sail through rural mountain scrub and come out surrounded by crystal clear rivers and lakes and cute little towns and mountains…lovely.
My absolute favorite place of the whole trip had to be Lake Hawea. This crystal clear lake is nearly a reflection of the nearby Lake Wanaka, surrounded by mountains and almost completely void of other humans as far as we could see. We stopped a few times to admire it and once to skip some stones and enjoy the place. Wow. Just Wow.
There were a number of must stops on the drive, including Fantail Falls and the Blue Pools. Go ahead and stop, even if there is barely parking. These are stunning places, and stopping gives a little time to walk around. There are no services or food or water or anything at these places, plan accordingly. We did find bathrooms at stops along the route a few kilometers from the popular attractions.
We took the short walk to Fox Glacier and saw tons of waterfalls, a glacier (the glacier), and roaring glacial melt. Not super exciting, but the scale was so large that it was kinda hard to tell how big things really were. I felt small anyways. The landscape was impressive, but we were mostly all out of oohs and aahs at this point. Thankfully, we were nearly finished with the day’s trek.
As an exhausted group, we checked into the Franz Josef YHA, started laundry and found some dinner. We never actually saw Franz Josef glacier. I’m assuming it was a lot like Fox Glacier.
Day 13 - Pancake Rocks and Glowworms (12-28)
Nothing is open in Franz Josef early in the morning - even the gas station does not open until 0730 or something. Unfortunately, our YHA was out of coffee or someone hid the jar, so we started the day sorely lacking caffeine. Luckily, we found a little shop on the side of the road (maybe in Ross or Pukekura - I don’t remember) that was just opening. The owners were kind enough to accommodate our raucus group of eight and worked quickly to whip up breakfast sandwiches and coffee to get us going.
We continued our drive north along windy mountainous roads with glimpses of the Tasman Sea. I wouldn’t want to be the driver, but as a rider, I enjoyed the views. As usual, sheep had the best grazing spots. The town of Hokitika is worth stopping in for a bit. It’s a cute little beach town. We stopped to get a shot of the river and mountains, but I think you could stay for a while. Later, I saw a review of the town in the in flight magazine…so that’s saying something.
The pancake rocks and blowholes barely had enough parking for us to get in, but we found a place to stop and took the little walkway along the rocks. We missed high tide, but we couldn’t do anything about that. Without high tide, we didn’t get to see the (supposedly) awesome power of the blowholes. The pancake rocks - stacked up as they are, looked just like they had on the little video that I saw on the treadmill. It’s pretty impressive geology. Just a little north and south, the rock structure is different, so the wear pattern is unique just there. We spent maybe an hour at that stop - walk, pictures, and even waiting for snacks and drinks at the gift shops. I’m not sure you could spend any more time there; there’s not much else to do.
Our journey continued up the coast to Charleston (it’s a super small town, but I guess it used to be big during the gold rush) for our rafting with glowworms tour. Underworld Adventures is pretty much the only thing going on in town. They have a cafe (which is important, due to the aforementioned nothing going on in the town). Our tour was delayed because the earlier one was late coming back. We were all suited up - wetsuits, again, and sent to the bus. The bus took us to a tiny train…which took us through the forest. Then, we walked for a bit and picked up our innertubes and walked for a bit more before arriving at a cave. The cave had lots of neat stalactite and stalagmite formations, and the little drops of water looked like diamonds in our helmet lights. It was kind of magical. The real treat came from the main point of the show, though. We laid back on our tubes and paddled/floated backwards under a constellation of glowworm lights (helmet lights off) before coming out into a river and returning nearly to where we had picked up the tubes. If you don’t want to take the caving tour, there are plenty of hiking trails in the area; I’m not sure if any of them are worth taking, but I saw paths. While the glowworms were cool, the most surreal part of this tour was just the absurdity of sitting on a little train, wearing a wetsuit, while sheep jumped out of the way.
We got back later than imagined (since we started later) which wouldn’t have been a big deal, but we still had a few hours drive. I was able to call the park and make sure they knew we were coming but that we would be late. We arrived at the Old Macdonald Farm Holiday Park at nearly 2200, but a call got us a nice man with a truck to take us to our cabins for the night. We were so tired that no one realized we did not have keys until the next morning.
Day 14 - Canyoning Torrent River (12-29)
Our first morning in Abel Tasman country started with breakfast at the group kitchens. Thankfully, we had plenty to eat and new coffee. We needed to be at our canyoning tour before the holiday park office was supposed to open, but I figured they might open up for us since we owed them money. I stopped in and managed to give a key deposit and get our keys, but we were not officially settled until after we returned from the tour - craziness.
The Abel Tasman Canyons tour started at the Aqua taxi point, and we tried on all of our gear. Note - you have to wear shoes for the canyoning trip, and they will get soaked. If your shoes are not the right kind or maybe you didn’t bring a spare, ask the guides to let you see the spare shoe bin - they might just have your size. After we were sorted, we were loaded up on boats attached to tractors and hauled to the water. A short boat ride brought us to Anchorage - the starting point for lots of different trips. We tied up our gear and threw it over our shoulders and started our hike to the top of the canyon. We walked (mostly uphill) for about 1.5 hours. The views were truly spectacular, the quad workout was a bonus.
Once we reached the right point, we got lunch and got into our gear. We looked super cool. The hardest part of the trip was when we first had to get into the cold water. For the next few hours, we absailed, jumped, swam, walked, and ziplined our way down the Torrent River. It was scary at times, but mostly fun. Thank goodness for those wetsuits that kept us sorta warm. When we got to the bottom, our kindly guides (Oscar and Adrien) gave us chocolate and made us feel super brave. Then, we trudged across the mouth of the river and the beach to get to our base and get ready for the aqua taxi back to Marahau. They took pictures and posted some on their facebook page and sent us a link to the rest. It was a relief not to have to worry about taking pictures.
We waited, patiently, for our highly recommended burgers from the Fat Tui. I had the vegetarian one; I’m still not sure what was on it, but it was delicious. After dinner, we walked down part of the Abel Tasman Coast Track…even spotting a couple of eels in the water. The small part of the track we covered was a delight - hugged by trees, with birds chirping and waves crashing. I’d love to go for a run there.
Day 15 - Kayak Abel Tasman (12-30)
We got up early, packed, and checked out of our cabins. We reported to Abel Tasman Kayaks by 0800 ready for our trip. There was a little food stand there, but we had breakfast in the kitchen house before checking out. The kayak place also has showers and bathrooms (in case you need them). We got briefed and took a bus down to the water, near where we had launched the day before for canyoning. A different water taxi hauled us about 30 minutes down the coast, well past where we had seen the day before. Our guide got us ready to go (although somehow our kayak jackets/shirts never arrived with us). We pushed off and began paddling.
Soon after we started, I saw a little blue penguin but did not get a picture. The little guy was there, and I got confirmation from our guide that it was a penguin before it disappeared. We saw plenty of fur seals and pied comorants but no more penguins. A few fur seals swam very close to our kayaks.
Indeed, we had lunch with a fur seal, who rested on a rock near where we ate. We all remained far enough away to not bother him. Our guide said that they can move faster than humans on the beach, so there is no sense risking injury. During our lunch stop, our guide also got out some Maori instruments and showed us how to make sounds with them. The kids had a ton of fun with them. I thought they were all fairly difficult.
We were on the water for at least 5 hours. I loved it, but I’d wear a long sleeve sun shirt if I were to go again. With several sunscreen applications, I still got burned. Folks who want to see Abel Tasman but not kayak or canyon could easily enjoy days of hiking and relaxing on the beach. There were so many places to go.
After kayaking, we headed northeast to Nelson (fairly short drive) to find our lodging - which turned out to be lovely. We stayed at the Grand Mercure property - Monaco. I’d happily stay in that little cottage for weeks. There is a lovely little walking trail nearby that seemed to stretch on and on. We had dinner at an “English” pub across the street from our lodging and tried to wait out the sun. I think we caved around 2230, and we still didn’t get the whole sunset.
Day 16 - Auckland City (12-31)
The trip is nearly over. We flew out of Nelson to Auckland - a short flight - and explored the city. Little tip: Nelson airport check in does not open until 0600. Don’t bother getting their earlier; you will not need to worry about lines.
Everyone was pretty worn down. A full day of exploration and souvenir shopping in the sun was about all we could handle. We had breakfast on the water, lunch at a food court downtown, and played 18 holes of indoor mini golf. We saw the SKY tower, but it wasn’t all that exciting in person, and none of us were feeling like jumping off of it.
For us, this last day was New Years Eve. We had planned to ring in the New Year on Mt Eden, with a good view of the fireworks but away from the likely rowdy downtown crowds. Instead, we decided to head back to the hotel and watched the fireworks on the TV (and out the window - you can see them from the Auckland Airport Novatel…not super well, but we saw several separate shows out the window). It was exciting to be amongst the first in the world to celebrate the new year. Welcome, 2018!