The north island of New Zealand was a lot more exciting than people give it credit for. Danielle and had some really amazing experiences that you have (hopefully) already read about. From Waitomo, to Hobbiton, Rotorua and Tongariro, it has definitely been an adventure. It's not quite over yet though.
From Ohakune (the sleepy adorable mountain town it was) we thought we should make our way to The Surf Highway. Picturing an amazing coastal drive we were sorely disappointed. The Surf Highway is amazing ....if you're a surfer, which we sadly are not. There were numerous access points to what we can imagine are some really beautiful beaches. We did stop and stay at the beach for a few days though. (When life gives you a beach make a sand castle right?) We stopped in Opunake on the west coast where we had a private beachside cabin for two and a half days and took a break from our vacation. We were super productive too! We work on our tans, read a lot, wished Emma a happy birthday from the other side of the world, and watched the surf rescuers do practice drills. (Surf life guarding is way different than good ol' Clear Lake!)After all our hard work.....haha kidding! After lounging around all day we packed up Hattie and continued down The Surf Highway to Wellington! After driving through the many back roads of the north island it was an adjustment driving in a big city!
Wellington is the beautiful capital of New Zealand and let me tell you it has many confusing, backward, upside down, one way streets! (Okay it's not that bad but we got stuck in this crazy roundabout thing for like an hour because we kept ending up in the Mount Victoria Tunnel.) Once in the city it was time to ditch Hattie. We loved her, but not enough to pay for parking. Thank you again friend for teaching us the ways of driving on the left side of the road and being so good on gas! Anyway, before arriving in Wellington we tried to book accommodation. For some inexplicable reason it was next to impossible! How is it that a city so large could possibly not have any room for two little Canadian girls? Well maybe if the Rugby World 7s weren't that weekend Wellington could have found some room for us! When we finally got a room (private room with ensuite bathroom for three nights....it cost us a king's ransom.....by poor student hostel living standards) we realized our mistake. Poor foresight on our part, but we were going to the south island around then anyway so no avoiding it.
Wellington was phenomenal though! It was full of life, art and colour! (Way better than Auckland.) We hung out on Cuba Street, the harbour, and even found out where the rugby teams were staying! We made a feeble attempt at stalking the Canadian team, but only ended up seeing the New Zealand team load into a van once. We were also there during Waitangi Day (a holiday remembering the treaty between the crown and Maori people). On Waitangi Day we also visited Te Paupa, the national museum. It was the coolest! There was so much to learn about the history of New Zealand, politically, geographically, culturally, and naturally. It really helped us understand a lot of New Zealand, and it's free! We also went to the Weta Cave which is the studio that did the technical work for Avatar, Tin Tin, The Chronicles of Narnia, a for course Lord of the Rings! It was cool but also kind of disappointing. I think I wish there was just more to see, but really enjoyed what I did see and learn.
After all that it was time to move south, and hope it would live up to the magic of the north island!
