NZ Two weeks of adventure

October and November were somewhere between a fury and a flurry of activity. Vacation came more quickly than expected and though we were READY for it, we were fairly unprepared. Our travel guides were impatiently waiting to have the covers cracked. They were stowed in the carry on as we hurriedly packed the night before, leaving little time for sleep.

The 4:00 a.m. alarm signalled the start of our trip after a few hours sleep for me and scarcely an hour for Guy. Arriving at the Denver Airport we discovered our 8 a.m. flight was cancelled, leaving us hours to wait before our departure.

Needless to say, our short eight hours to explore Vancouver BC was cut too short to actually leave the airport. Not to worry, the airport was interesting enough to keep us awake for a few more hours. It is under constuction and they have created an impressive array of glassed in pasages with life-sized, zoo-like habitat dioramas including waterponds, etc. The international section has a large saltwater aqarium with beautiful sea life.

While in the airport, we sought directions from one of the many informative people. Attempting to take out our passports and travel documents, I discovered that a truffle candy bar doesn’t do well with altitude changes. The truffle centers had all exploded from the chocolate outer portion and our books and magazines were now quite yummy. Next stop was the airport bar for a snack and beer, which morphed into dinner later. We also caught up on our viewing of extreme sports on the TV bar before boarding our flight to Auckland to hibernate all the way from winter to summer.

After sleeping most of the flight, we awakened in the Southern hemisphere. We had nearly an hour until a spectacular sunrise, so we watched the in-flight videos of what to see in New Zealand. You don’t want to plan these kinds of things too early.

Auckland was a back and forth adventure of driving across town for the rental car, a Jucy Crib, then lunch, and back to the airport to pick up Alice. First the crib: it’s a converted minivan with a small cooler/fridge, a gas cooker, and a pump sink. The bed is made of “cabinets” around the edges and a board that you can slide into the middle. Cushions cover the whole top and it’s really quite comfy. It was painted M&M Green with purple trim, cheesy quotes and ads on the outside. It was a subtle sign to the locals that we were tourons, as if driving on the wrong side of the road wasn’t warning enough.

Our first meal in New Zealand came after a little wandering around downtown Auckland trying to find a restaurant recommended by a lady on the street. The menu looked good but was more than we wanted. So we opted for a doner kebab at Istanbul Kebab stand. Scrumptious. Thus began the foodie tour of NZ.

Alice Prescott is a dear friend from medical school and residency. For some reason she didn’t find Colorado Springs quite adventurous enough and headed to New Zealand to work. She lives in Gisborne on the East coast of the North Island. Although all of NZ is beautiful, we had decided on a short tour of the North Island and a longer stint on the South. This did not allow for an 8 hr drive to Gisborne so Alice met us in Auckland. It was wonderful to see her lovely face!

Piling back in the car again we set out for several days of adventure. The first was to find the motorway north. Highways in New Zealand are much different than those in the US. Four lane highwy exists for only a few km in and out of Auckland. The rest are two-lane with scarce shoulders. They are known for twists and turns even where you expect straight roads. In the mountains they actually seem to corkscrew. One lane bridges are common even on major highways. They are marked by a sign indicating who has the right of way. Some even have railway tracks down the middle. Add to that our unfamiliarity with driving on the lef and you have a recipe for constant backseat driving and teasing. The difference is the backseat driving is appreciated. Fortunately, NZ drivers are usually patient and courteous… or at least it appears so from a neon green tourist van.

As we travelled from Auckland toward the Bay of Islnds, we marvelled at the luch green landscape. It seemed virtually every type of tree was straight out of a Dr. Seuss book. Alice was able to educate us on a few of them. The rest we still need to find on Google.

Our first stop was in Puhoi, a small town whose sign had the welcoming icon of a mand and woman (restroom). We picked up Alice’s lingo and for the rest of the trip called them “man/woman rooms.” There was a multi-sprt event going on; mtn bike, road bike, and kayak. Puhoi was the transition from bike to kayak. We watched the athletes flying through while sipping a couple NZ beers. Several beefy guys were practicing for upcoming lumberjack competitions. Just watching thei effots made our Tui and Monteiths taste even better. One last stop to the local dairy (their name for a convenience store) got us supplied with water and a delicious Moritz Chocolate brownie ice cream bar. Alice has discovered much of the best of NZ.

We continued North to Whangari (wh is pronounced F) where we stopped at an iSite. No, this is not where you load your iPod with local music… it’s an information site. Tourism is the number 2 industry in NZ, right behind farming. Apparently, 1 in 4 New Zealanders is a farmer; andother 1 in 4 is not in the country as travel to the rest of the world is a common pasttime. The other 2 million people are largely involved in tourism in one way or another. I digress.

An iSite is an information shop. Virtually every town with a popuation of >45 has one. Smaller areas have info kiosks. Staff at the iSite can tell you all the local attractions, places to stay, restaurants, and more. They can also book most of your arrangements for you. The Whangari iSite booked the next day’s adventures, gave us tips for lodging and dinner, and pointed us to a grocery to stock up.

Lodging is another great thing in NZ. Nearly every town has several Holiday Parks (campgrounds) or Backpackers (hostels). You can select from dorm accomodations to single, double, and triples with shared baths, ‘en suite” rooms which have their own bath, or “self-contained” with baths and kitchenettes (often cabins). In addition, most have areas for camper vans and tents. All have central kitchens, some with coin up barbeques and refrigerators in which you can rent a basket.

We drove northeast to the coast to Tutukaka and rented a self-contained unit before checking out the two restaurants. We selected the marina so we could sit on the deck and linger over dinner. We also located the meeting point for our first real adventure, Dive Tutukaka.