The North Island

I have arrive back in the beautiful country they call OZ. I didn’t realize how much I fell in love with Australia until I got back. New Zealand was amazing. I am really glad I went. I was able to do things that I have never done (and may never again) mostly outdoor activities. The best activity for me was the wine tasting…obvi. It is a beautiful wine region and they have some great Sauv Blancs. My tour consisted of 2 couples, a Kiwi older couple and a younger British couple. We went to 5 wineries and had a brilliant lunch at one of the vineyards. It was a really nice way to see the wine region and taste what they have to offer.

I do have to say that 5 weeks was a bit too long for me. I got a little tired of all the nature (I know that is horrible to say) it was just too much for me. I was very excited to get to Auckland and be in a city again. Before I got to Auckland I did a very fast tour of the North Island. I took the ferry between islands and it was like no other ferry I have ever been on. The ride takes three and a half hours and there are tons of people on it. The boat has eight different levels that have a food court, bar, outdoor decks, gift shops (2), kids play area, and two movie theatres. I went and saw Monsters vs. Aliens, very cute, the other option was Slumdog Millionaire which I saw in Queenstown (go see it if you haven’t it is fantastic!) Once I arrived in Wellington I went to their Te Papa museum for the morning. It was a great museum that was a combination of natural and New Zealand history. It was one of the better museums I have been to on this side of the world. It was a raining and it was ANZAC day (their version of Memorial Day) so everything was closed. I did a quick tour around the city and then headed to my hostel.

The next day I got back in the car and made my way up to the middle of the North Island to Turangi, the self proclaimed trout fishing capital of the world! I decided to stop off at Turangi so I could attempt to do the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, a 17 km hike up and over one of the volcanic mountains. Unfortunately, when I arrived in Turangi it was raining and it was planning to rain for the next 3 days. I am not really a hiker and I am especially not a hiker when it is raining. So instead I took a trip up to the Lake Taupo and saw some of the geothermal activity that is going on up there. It was sort of cool mostly it smelled like rotten eggs. This wasn’t the best stop on my NZ itinerary. Next stop the Waitomo Caves!

At my hostel in Turangi I made friends with Ingmar, German, and Noa, Israeli, both of who wanted to do the crossing but couldn’t due to weather. As a group we decided to head off to the Waitomo Caves to do Backwater rafting. The idea behind Blackwater rafting is that you go down into one of the caves and float through it on an inner tube. It took us about 2 hours to make our way through the caves to the spot where we could float. We were able to see glow worms and some pretty cool cave sights. Def worth it!

After blackwater rafting I was in desperate need of a city. I made my way to Auckland a very underrated city. I spent the next 2 days walking around seeing what Auckland had to offer. I spoiled myself and rented an actual hotel room. I was in a mood and didn’t want to have to share a room with up to 7 other people. I needed my own space. It was worth it. I didn’t do too much exciting stuff in Auckland I just enjoyed being in a city.

My flight back to Australia was at 7 am on May 1st because I had to be at the airport super early I decided that I was going to save some money and sleep there. I had to check out of the hotel at 10 am and had until 11 pm when I needed to return my rental car to find something to do with my day. I talked to Annie for over an hour, checked my email, and drove around to some of the different beaches. Unfortunately, it wasn’t warm enough to sit on any of them…bummer. I went to the Auckland Aquarium and then headed towards the airport. There is no better way of killing time when you are alone then going to the movies. I took in a double feature, The International and Notorious, before heading to the airport. I wasn’t the only one sleeping in the airport and this wasn’t the first airport I have slept in. It is commonplace to sleep in airports in Europe. Here is a picture of my airport bed (this is for you Annie):

That brings us to Sydney. Delightfully for me the weather here has been very sunny and warm. I have spent the days walking around seeing everything that I didn’t get to see the last time I was here. I spent Saturday on the beach and Saturday night at the Opera House seeing a ballet. Tomorrow is my last day in Australia and I hope to spend it like I have spent so many other days here soaking in the sun on the beach.

I am filled with mixed emotions about coming home. I am very excited to see everyone, to be settled in one place again, for a wardrobe the consists of more than what is in my backpack, to be able to give the backpack back to Peter and never see it again, and for not having to try and figure out what time it is in the states – we never really figured out what the time difference was especially C’Nuts. I am sad that my much anticipated trip is over and that Australia is very far away from the States. I fell in love with this country more than I thought I would. This has been an amazing experience for me. I can’t thank Bernardo enough for asking me to come until I said I would. My trip has been everything I needed and wanted it to be.

Missing and loving everyone!

See you soon

Kate