littlebitsofdebbie

[littlebitsofdebbie]

North Island Venture

Arrival

After traveling 39 hours with a 16 hour layover in Fiji and a transfer in Auckland I finally reached my destination, Napier, New Zealand. I went from an Airbus A332 to a Boeing 737 and finally to a Q300; my planes kept getting smaller and smaller but boy was I happy to finally be done with planes, for now. I was greeted with an adorable sign “Welcome Martinez” ahhh yes, let the adventure begin! 

Day 1  Napier/Hastings

Our first stop was, next to the Napier Port, Thirsty Whale Restaurant and Bar. I had a delicious Creamy Seafood Chowder followed by a stout, priorities were definitely in order. Then we headed next door to Shed 2 where we grabbed a quick brew. It happened that while we were there the bicyclists we saw on the way over had finished their competition and were being handed their medals. One winner was a no show and Chris was tempted to take his medal, tsk tsk.  

Since it was a beautiful sunny day we decided to head to the beach. There we came across FishBike and decided to rent a tandem bike. We set off at a whopping 13.9 km/h and rode along the coast admiring the gorgeous view. We passed the Ocean Spa Hot Pools, War Memorial Centre, Tom Parker Fountain,  Marine Parade viewing platform (under construction) Soundshell, Sunken Gardens (pictured below), playground, bike track, and the NZ Aquarium. As we kept riding along I thought wow we really have the hang of this, this is great! But leave it to Chris to spice things up. He decided riding along the path was boring so he rode off of the sidewalk and along the rugged grass. Then he saw a hill up ahead and yelled “pedal faster!! lets get this jump” and he sent us flying into the air. Luckily we only fell once and no one got hurt. This team building exercise pretty much outlined how i would spend the following days, nothing short of breathtaking.  

The day ended by watching the long awaited Star Wars: Episode VIII at Focal Point Cinema.

    Not sure why I’m not on the bike, I’m going to go with he kicked me off ;) 

Day 2 Napier

The National Aquarium of New Zealand was calling our name so we headed its way. Our first stop was the Dinosaur Discovery Room, then South American Exhibit that led to a zen like koi fish walkway. After pausing to pet the fish we walked passed the piranhas, which a few hours later we would see being fed! Next were the Australian Water Dragon, alligators, beautiful tropical fish, and tuataras! 'peaks on the back' in Maori.  That walk way led to a dark one, with signs emphasizing no flash if you take a picture and to please keep your voice down, we were entering the Kiwi House. .Granted the kiwi wasn’t in the wild but it was still very exciting to see him in his fabricated habitat. Next were the sea turtle, HUGE and small, the sea horse display (almost missed it, its pretty small) and squid display which led to the Oceanarium (contains about 1 million liters of water). We hopped on the travelator and enjoyed the view, the sting ray and sharks were my favorite. A few hours later they had the shark feeding which we returned for. Last we saw the penguins, all rescued. 

After a stroll through town we headed to Elephant Hill for a quick wine tasting. Chris had his dose of red wines while i sampled the whites. 

Next we headed back to town and spent the rest of the day exploring Hastings and dragging Chris into all the cute little shops. 

                                              Turtle power! 

                   We made sure not to miss the penguin feeding

Day 3 Hastings

Started the day off at the park by walking to see the beautiful bird cages. I cant believe something so pretty and cool is in the middle of a park! They have love birds, parrots, cockatoos, and many more with brightly colored feathers. 

Our next stop was the Silky Oak Chocolate Museum and Shop. We started our chocolate journey by learning how ancient Mayans used the bean. Spent the next hour or so seeing how chocolate evolved in the following hundreds of years and all the cool paraphernalia that came out of it. We couldn’t leave without getting a treat so we stopped by the cafe and picked up some tasty fudge, raspberry & white chocolate, cookies & cream, and >>> I FORGOT

Our next stop was the Ocean Spa Hot Pools which has a passive pool, toddler pool, lap pool, spa, and  an active pool  We hopped from the passive pool, to the steam room, to the sauna, to the spa and all over again. I eventually decided to take advantage of the spa and its view while Chris kept making his rounds. 

We ended the night on the beach sipping on wine, that is until one of us ran out and the other one wouldn’t share.

             Birds birds and more birds!  One became very fond of Chris.

Silky Oak Chocolate Museum is keeping track of where its visitors are from so we put our little pin and represented Los Angeles and New York. 

Day 4 Taupo and Tangariro

It was time to hit the road Jack! We packed our things and decided to head 225 km north west to our destination Tangariro, but first we made a few pit stops.

After passing several roadside fruit markets we made our first stop. The homemade ice cream was calling Chris’s name and the apricot/plum box was calling mine. Don’t get me wrong, i had my share of ice cream but it was the apricots i was looking forward to. After we were back on the road Chris asked me how many apricots i had ate, i sheepishly said 2-3? when in reality i had probably devoured twice as many. After that i tried to sneak each apricot in my mouth, but he still saw me. 

150 km into our trip we made another pit stop, Huka, ‘foam’ in Maori, Falls in Taupo. As we stood on the bridge we could hear and see the roaring water blasting through  heading toward us.. We walked alongside the river for 3 km and ran into the spa park.  Unfortunately, we weren’t prepared for it and couldn’t jump in so instead we took in the scenery for a few minutes before heading back.  

Our next stop was down the road, Craters of the Moon. COM is a region of geothermal activity which consists of 3 types of thermal features: craters, fumaroles, and mudpools. COM has a boardwalk trail which adds a nice decor touch to the landscape. Our first viewing platform overlooked a huge crater, due to the warm weather the craters steam wasn’t as visible. What we could see were the heaps of colors and pumice stone. The following viewing platforms were mud craters, now we were talking, clouds of steam and you could really feel the heat! As we trailed along to the next lookout we saw multiple fumaroles alongside. Again, the weather was warm so the steam clouds were relatively small. We decided to take the steep climb to the upper lookout and boy was it worth it! All the fumaroles looked tiny but the landscape was gorgeous! 

We got back on the road and after 100 km we finally reached our destination, Discovery Lodge. This would be our home for the next two nights. We decided to called it an early night as we needed to be up early the next morning. 

                                                 They were tasty! 

                         You could feel the power of the bursting water

                                Craters of the Moon Geothermal Walk

                                     The sky always looks gorgeous 

Day 5  Tongariro - Christmas Eve

RING RING RING! our alarm sounded off at 5 AM, which meant we had 30 minutes to get changed, pack a lunch and snacks, fill our water reservoirs and get our butts to the bus that would take us to the start of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. We were the last of 6 couples to board the bus and made it just in time for departure. Before we left our driver reiterated the weather conditions we’d be facing during the hike, 80% chance we’d get rained on, and the temperature,  4°C. After a few minutes he discouraged 3 couples from taking the hike and they headed back to camp. As we sat there, we could hear the other two couples debating whether they should go or stay. I looked at Chris and said, well its now or never right? so lets just do it, he nodded and replied, that’s what i wanted to hear. Hearing his response only reassured me that we were making the right decision or at least we were on the same page. Finally, we set off on the 10 minute ride to the start of the trail and arrived a little before 6 AM. The bus driver didn’t let us off before reminding us a few more times what the weather conditions were going to be like and said we still had a chance to change our minds. We paid no attention, passed the other two couples and took off! 

The first few kilometers were a breeze, all flat land, dirt, or wooden boardwalk showing us the path. The next set of kilometers were not fun, at least not for me, they were what felt like endless stairs and they don’t call it the Devil’s Staircase in vain.  After conquering the strenuous stairs and ascending 200 m (1600 m above sea level) we finally reached a flat surface which was covered by a thick white cloud. We could barely see up ahead, let alone on the sides. Chris kept stating that there was a huge mount “right there!, it’s right there!” but because of the clouds we couldn’t see it.Then I saw a tiny opening in the clouds that showed the blue sky, trying to stay positive i blew toward the opening. As i kept blowing I told Chris, I’m blowing the clouds away so we can see.  We kept trekking along and a few minutes later Chris turned around and said “look!!, turn around” There it was, practically in our face, Mt. Ngauruhoe. WOW! it was huge! and slightly covered with snow. I couldn’t believe how close it was and how thick the clouds were that prevented us from seeing it. I felt very fortunate to have seen it as the clouds only cleared up for a minute before rolling back in. After we said good bye to the mount we reached the red crater. Luckily the clouds surrounded it and didn’t block our view. Standing at the top and looking down at this massive crater made me feel like an ant but the deep red and black colors were a sight for sore eyes. We were standing at the highest point of our hike, 1886 meters. After that we slowly began to descend but not before saying hello to the Emerald Lakes. Hardly noticeable due to the clouds but there it was, looking amazing!  We weren’t able to see the Blue Lake a little further ahead as the clouds insisted on staying and blocking our view. So we kept hustling on, it was time to put our hoodies on and overcome the gusty winds and the moisture in the air. All i could think of was please don’t rain! The last thing I wanted was to turn this great hike into something i would dread. After going up and over rocks, and finally descending again we got passed the worst weather we’d encounter on our hike. A few kilometers later we reached Ketetahi Hut where we were thinking of having lunch. We were on such a good roll that we decided to just keep going. A few kilometers after leaving the hut we ran into an acquaintance of Chris, Bruce. Bruce with all his energy and good spirit gave me my second wind. Off we set to finish the last few kilometers left, most of it descending until finally reaching another flat surface that lead us to the finish. 5 hours and 45 minutes after starting we had finished, with 45 minutes to spare before our bus picked us up. 

Being the couple that lead the way and going through the fog, drizzle, and super cold weather, I felt like we were in the Amazing Race, in it to win it! The entire hike was remarkably beautiful and nothing short of an amazing experience that i’ll never forget. 

After impatiently waiting we could see our bus in the far distance! YES! it was time to go ‘home’. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and enjoying my new read, I Am Pilgrim. 

                                                  The beginning 

                          Taking a break from the stairs to enjoy the view

                          Chris where are you!? Where is Mt. Ngauruhoe?

                                      Emerald Lakes i see you! 

                                Finally, around the corner was the end! 

Day 6 Tongariro  to New Plymouth - Merry Christmas

Woke up to a nice cold Christmas day and to my surprise a present too! Chris gifted me an adorable kiwi stuffy which we named Bruce, after the famous badass on the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. 

We didn’t waste any time before Chris, Bruce, and I were back on the road headed to New Plymouth, 210 km west. Along the way we got a Christmas treat, we came across a reindeer farm! It was amusing to watch them chase a flock of birds. As much as I would have liked to stay we had a long way to go so we hit the road. As we got closer to New Plymouth we realized that we had ran out of brews, oh and food too, so we started to look for a supermarket. The first town hardly had anything open, the second town zero, and then it dawned on us that we’d be SOL, its Christmas and nothing was going to be open! New Plymouth was no exception and to distract ourselves after royally screwing up we took a walk along the New Plymouth Coastal Walkway. The warm sun warming up my back was a nice change from the cold Tongariro weather but we still had to find something to eat so we drove around town. After desperately looking for something, anything to be open we realized it was inevitable, our Christmas dinner was going to be McDonald's. It could definitely have been worse but i couldn’t help but crave a Oaxacan, Salvadorean or Guatemalan tamale. 

Since not much was open we headed back to camp, ditched the car and took a little stroll along the dock. I was so thankful to have a warm sunny Christmas, my kind of weather. The next few hours were spent back at camp, I continued to read I Am Pilgrim while Chris watched The Sound of Music. By the time the sun set, around 9 PM, the movie was almost over which meant we could head out to the only thing going on in town, the Festival of Lights. The Festival of Lights was held at the local botanical garden and it was gorgeous. Since we got there a few minutes before they closed we zoomed through as many trails as we could. Running through the garden added to the experience and made it that much more fascinating. It had multi colored lights hanging from trees, a water show in the lake, a glow zone, lit up waterfall, stunning jellyfish and so much more! The whole thing was spectacular, a sea of bright colors that popped in the dark. My pictures don’t do it any justice at how beautiful everything looked. 

                                    Bruce, welcome to the road trip

                                                       Reindeers

                          Festival of Lights, Jelly Fish hanging over the lake

                                           Glow in the dark zone 

Day 7 New Plymouth to Waitomo

A new day a new destination, this time we were headed 180 km north to the Waitomo Glowworm Caves or as my Spanish pamphlet said Cuevas Luminosas de Waitmo. The cave consists of three levels, starting off with catacombs. Unfortunately, their were several tours going on at the same time that the first level was a tight squeeze so we zoomed through the first and second level and straight to the third, Cathedral. This was a great decision made by our tour guide as it put us ahead of the other tours tailing us and gave us plenty of time to get the full experience of the Cathedral. The Cathedral is enclosed and its so well known for its great acoustics that famous singers have recorded and performed in it. This was the only part of the tour where i wish i had a jacket, it was so cold! Our tour guide turned off the lights to give us a sense of how pitch dark it is and to motivate a few brave souls to start singing so we can get the full experience of how it sounds in there. Next we walked to a small platform in the dark and once we squatted down WOW we could see them, glowworms everywhere!  Last, we walked over to the best part of the tour, the boat ride. The boat ride took us through the Glowworm Grotto and it was the most amazing view. The glowworms on the ceiling were glowing like a a little night sky full of stars. to my utter disappointment we weren’t allowed to take pictures on the tour. 

                                  Picture courtesy of google 

        Went on a small hike, Chris the caveman, not sure where sorry

Day 8 Raglan

We hit the road, 17 km north for a pit stop at the Otorohanga Kiwi House & Native Bird Park. The tour started with a walk through the Nocturnal House where they housed several kiwis which were nearly impossible to spot. We started along the path and walked along the main pond, then the wetlands and came upon Karearea (NZ falcon), Morepork, Kingfisher, and Pateke- Brown Teal. Next was the eel pond but the water was so muggy we didn’t spot any. Our next set of colorful friends were the  Whio - Blue duck, Torea-pango - Oystercatcher, Parera- Grey Duck, Kaka, Kea, Teal, and little owl which for the life of us we  could not find in the cage. Last was the Forest Birds Aviary, which was so amazing to walk through while the birds flew all around. After we exited we realized that the short cut Chris led us through actually skipped past the Gecko Displays and Rock Garden. So we zoomed through everything we already had seen and directly to the geckos, we couldn’t leave without seeing them. I personally liked the gecko displays because it was so challenging to find these little suckers. They camouflaged so well and Chris kept beating me at finding them! Our little detour actually ended up being a good thing because as we were going through the Forest Birds Aviary again we were just in time for Kakariki - parakeet feeding. It was so cool and so much fun, all you had to do was hold out your hand with seeds and they all flocked over. Some parakeets were a little more aggressive than others fighting for the hand that had the food.  Alas, all the food was gone and we had to go on our merry way, 103 km north bound to Raglan. 

Many kilometers later we finally arrived. Sunny as can be, the beach full of people, the cool black sand, the kids jumping off of the bridge, yes it was all calling our name but first we had to stuff our belly. I only bring this up because I couldn’t believe at how big the fish and chips i ordered were. I could have fed a small village with it. Any who, the next adventure was on a kayak. Just like my monkey bar problem that some of you wont let me forget, I failed in being the fearless front person thanks to my puny arms . All the grunt work had to be done by Chris in the back, sorry about that but the waves were rough! None the less it was pretty awesome being out on the water. Too bad we didnt end up catching the crabs we saw crawling along the rocks, would have made for a nice dinner. 

We ended the night by watching Big Hero 6 courtesy of the holiday park we were staying at. 

Why so serious? 

cute baby duck

Come to the dark side, i have sunflower seeds!

Love all the kiwis 

Georgeous Raglan sunset

Day 9 Raglan

Another day in Raglan was upon us. Chris got to hit the waves he was dying to ride and I got to dig deeper in the adventures of Bradley in I Am Pilgrim. A few hours later Chris came to my rescue just in time, the book was getting so intense I was about to start crying on the beach. I was so upset by what I had been reading that I was ready to dig a hole and bury the book. Of course i wouldn’t do that but I did end up putting down the book for a day or two. Instead we decided to go back to  camp and cook up a feast. 

Day 10  Rotorua

Before heading to our next destination we made a quick detour South west, 19 km, to Bridal Veil Falls. The fall measures 55 m and has my favorite! hundreds of steps that lead you to two different platforms, including one at the bottom that overlooks the pool. The view from the bottom was a little misty but gorgeous, the time the water spent in the air before crashing down was fascinating. The fall has a platform at the  very top but the picture below was my favorite view. You could really capture the intensity of the fall and the angle yielded the best view. 

157 km south east we smelled the sulfur which meant we were in Rotorua. We played footgolf, i think chris won but who knows if thats true, he was keeping track so who knows if he shaved some numbers off lol, it was pretty cool. Footgolf is pretty much golf but played with a soccer ball vs club and golf ball. I got to show off my Mexican skills. Actually i was just excited that I was able to kick the ball straight.  It was really fun, we had a nice ocean view while playing and ducks running amock on the course. Chris’s skills at kicking the ball straight weren’t as great as mine, he kicked the ball and instead of it going straight he sent it flying to the left of the course and hit a poor duck right in the keister startling it. The poor duck ran off, i was relieved that it didn’t come after us. 

Headed to dinner at Capers Epicurean where I had the most delicious solomon accmpanied but a glass of tasty white wine followed but a cheesecake  Chris had a steak. 

Ended the day by watching Daddy’s home. 

 read in the park while listeing to a street performer

Bridal Veil Falls, couldn’t get the rainbow in the picture

A healthy rivarly of foot golf, thanks Ball Busters

Day 11 Rotorua

Redwoods Whakarewarewa Forest  

tracks for walkers, mountain bikers and horse riders open to the public.

6 different walks, 2 short, 3 long, and 1 tramp route

The largest Redwood in Whakarewarewa is approximately 72 metres tall and 169 centimetres in diameter. In its natural habitat of California, these Redwoods grow as tall as 110 metres and the average lifespan is 600 years. However, they can survive for over 2000 years.

We took a stroll through a local public park, Kuirau Park, that is known for its mud pools, foot baths, and boiling lakes. The walking path leads to several geothermal activities. walked around and looked at all the pools, the steam wasn’t as bisible bc it was a warm day. Crossed over a cute bridge that had a canopy of wisterias that surrounded the wooden bridge , had pretty flowers that formed a tunnel on the bridge. 

Walked around town and made our way to Pig & Whistle Historic Pub. it is known for being an old police station from 1940-1969 and eventually turned into a pub. Pig and Whistle has been mistaken for several thins such as a post office or bank but never for a pub.  

back to camp for a guitar session

bowling?  

Kuirau Park mud pools 

Day 12 New Years Eve! 

Mt Maunganui 

Day 13 New Years Day

woke up to a raining first day of the year. Tried to grab mcdonalds breakfast but luck was not on our side. After waiting what felt like hours in drive thru it was finally our turn to order! and then they changed the menu from breakfast to everday food, NOOOO! the last thing we wanted was to eat mcdonalds burgers again.  Went to watch Good Dinosaur.  Headed to the park in front of the theatter and they had a little food festival going on and even though the music was great the rain and cold weather deterred us from wanting to spend any more time in Mt. Maunganui so we headed for Auckland! 

Day 14 My Birthday

ate sushi, thanks dad! rained in

Day 15

visited Sky Tower

ate yum char

cool bar,Brewing Co, also was an old police station

mount Eden

Day 16 -Day 17 

Chris and I went out for lunch on Monday and low and behold! Not only was it yummy pizza, the place had a tv with American Football, but of course! its Sunday football back home, boy were we delighted! 

at alas, my departure date has come. I will forever cherish my NZ memories.

Notes for my ending... 

closing thought and map tracking our movements

many parks everywhere with the best playgrounds! huge spider webs, rock climbing structures, and work out circuit next to it. 

 the landscape while on the road, the mesmerizing clouds that I loved to get lost in.... farmland, heaps of sheep, long days, sunsets at 9 pm, sunrise at ?? 

Clearly, I never finished my blog but felt it was still worth posting what I had, two years later. 

...