Welp, here's what I wrote during our adventures in New Zealand. Hope you enjoy!
January 23rd
We're on a ferry to the south island and I finally have some time to write.
Our trip is full of driving, but at every turn of the road there is a
new and stunningly beautiful landscape to see. We rented a caravan
which is modified with a bed in the back. Unfortunately
for Andy, it's a manual and, although I am ok at driving a stick, adding
the stress of driving on the left side of the road makes me basically
useless as a driving partner. Andy's a champ, though, and with the help
of music, podcasts and plenty of stops to soak up the view, we're having a
safe and enjoyable drive across the country.
Our first full day in NZ was a resounding success. We went to Waitomo
caves for a tubing trip. The water in the caves is quite cold so we
needed to wear wetsuits. If you've never put one on before, imagine
stretching a pair of thick, incredibly elastic tights over your enitre
body. I was pulling and jumping all over the place to try and get that
snug thing on. I couldn't believe how warm it kept me while we floated
through the chilly waters.
Once we had all of our equipment on, we headed to the caves.
We took the Black Labrynth tour and it was an experience I would
recommend for anyone visiting New Zealand. We saw an eel swiming around,
jumped backwards off of cliffs into pools of chilling water, and
floated calmly through the caves while gazing up at beautiful clusters
of glowworms. It was as if they were forming constellations on the
ceilings.
I wish I could say that our second day was as exciting and enjoyable.
Andy and I made our way to the Whanganui river for a half day canoeing
trip. We had some trouble finding the place we had rented our canoe
from, which made the beginning of this experience a little stressful.
After buckling up our lifejackets, we hopped into our two person canoe
and started off for our adventure.
Our first mistake was getting a two person canoe. After much
bickering about the proper way to paddle, we slowly made progress,
constantly having to correct our movement, often zigzagging over the
river. It has been a long time since either of us have gone kayaking
/canoing, and it was evident from the start that we had probably bitten
off more than we could chew. Why either of us felt we were experts in
proper paddling technique(myself in particular), I'll never know.
We had also greatly underestimated how long the journey would take
us. Although it was clearly advertised as a half day trip, I figured it
would be a few hours, maybe three. Granted, I never bothered to say
"Hey, about how long does it take for people to do this?" 5 hours later,
we see the lading point ahead and desparately paddle to the end
so it could all be over.
Now, dont let me give the impression that it was all bad and we hated
the experience. The ride was absolutely beautiful. When we took time to
just drift, watch, and listen, it was very calming. Andy, always
findnig the humor in things, found plenty of ways to make me laugh along
the way. In any vacation, you'll make plans that don't go perfectly
well or carry out in a way you hadn't expected. This was just one of those plans. If I had
to do it agian, I would book a shorter trip, get our own kayaks, or just
go for the jetboat tour so we can sit and be lazy.
Now, were on the ferry to the south island. We have the day to make our
way to Christchurch and tomorrow we swim with dolphins. And so, the
adventures continues.
January 25th
Yesterday was a fantastic experience. We made our way from Christchurch to Akaroa Harbor for our swim with Hectors dolphins.
First, some information about these little guys. Hector's dolphins are
the smallest in the world, only getting to be about 4 feet in length.
There are only about 7,000 left and, when you consider that there used
be a population of about 30,000 in the 1970s, it's no wonder they're on
the endangered species list. This decline is, in large part, due to the
use of fine nylon nets for fishing which the dolphins cannot see. When
they get caught in the nets, they cannot swim backwards to escape and
they drown within minutes.
Fortunately, conservationists are working hard to protect them and
the company we booked through donates money from each person's ticket to
organizations who study and work to protect them. Akaroa is a marine
sanctuary and they have seen a slow rise in the dolphin population
there. They continue to petition for sanctuaries in the other areas of New Zealand where these beautiful creatures live.
Since its so important to protect these dolphins, the government only
gives a few permits for dolphin watching/swimming. The companies who
provide these experiences follow strict guidelines, such as never using
bait to attract the dolphins and never swimming with pods who have
calves. Andy and I booked through Black Cat, and it was clear that the
staff was quite passionate about educating the public and
protecting the Hectors dolphins.
That being said, we were excited to get our first glimpse of the
dolphins. After squeezing into wet suits and hearing our safety brief,
we were off into the harbor for our encounter. Our first stop near a
pod wasn't very successful. I slid backwards into the water, which was
quite cold and very salty, and used my snorkel to make noises in the
water. After about ten minutes with little interaction, we climbed back
into the boat to find more dolphins.
On our second attempt, our group must have found a magic patch of
water and made the perfect noises because within minutes dolphins were
weaving between us and curiously popping up nearby. The first dolphin
came up within a foot of me, and the startle was enough to make me squeek with
surprise.
Words cannot do justice to the remarkable experience we had. We saw
dolphins almost constantly, never having more than a few minutes between
interactions. I felt so much joy and wonderment during our swim and I
feel so blessed to have had the chance to see these gorgeous dolphins so
closely. I still feel happy and bubbly. Our guides said that we had an
amazing swim. On any given tour, guest may swim with an average of 2-10
dolphins. We saw at least 20 from perhaps 2-4 different pods.
I would tell anyone visiting NZthat this is a must-do, and if we ever return, I will certainly do it again.
January 31st
The rest of our vacation was full of small challenges and plenty of wandering off the beaten path.
Within days of our beginning, we realized we had planned ENTIRELY too much driving. So, we cancelled the rest of our itinerary and turned around, heading toward the North Island and stopping whenever we saw something interesting.
On Friday, a woman clipped the front of Bernie (that was the name the company gave our van) in the parking lot of a grocery store. Since no one was hurt, we had to drive to the police station to get a report and now the company will hold our 1,600nzd insurance deposit until the insurance companies clear up the situation. Hopefully they're quick about it because we want our money back!
It was around that time that I developed a nasty cold that held on strong for about 5 days (though I still have a bit of a stuffy nose even now). I felt like someone was crushing my head and my nose was as stuffed as my belly at the end of Thanksgiving dinner. Andy was a good doctor, and he made sure we picked up some decongestant and stopped for plenty of rest along the road. Fortunately for me, the main parts of our itinerary were over before cold was its worst.
We made stops at Wellington, Wanganui, and Tongariro National Park. It was here that we went horseback riding. The scenery was beautiful. My horse was a bossy little thing named Dot Com and Andy's trusty steed, Rutger, fit his personality perfectly. Rutger was an older chap who bumbled along at an easy going pace. There were plenty of times when we had to stop until they could catch up.
We only had an hour and a half trip but our bums were feeling it when that ride was over! That soreness is something you forget about when you romanticize horseback riding.
After exploring Tongariro National Park, we spent a day and a half to drive back to Auckland, making stops in places like Hamilton. The second part of our vacation was very relaxed and free, which enabled us to find fun corners of New Zealand we otherwise would have missed.
On our last day, we spent time in Auckland and I went bungy jumping. This was the most terrifying and exhilarating experience of my life. Everything in your body is telling you to stop but once you let yourself go it's an incredible feeling. I would love to do it again.
New Zealand was amazing and we would love to return someday.
To see our photos, follow this link.
