Thursday, October 5, 2017

New Zealand Week 1


Who is crazy enough to take a 3 month old and a 2 year old on a one month campervan trip around the north and south islands of New Zealand?  We are, that's who.  We decided that it will be many years until we have a month off to spend the time as a family and explore.  With buying a house, visiting family and "life" we ran short on planning time for the trip, so we set off with a campervan rental, international flights and a mind set of being flexible.  Armed with a travel book and phone apps we hit the road.

Day 1:



                We started off the day at our cabin in Welches, Oregon.  We had dropped off most of our stuff to storage the day before, and after a breakfast of yogurt and coffee and a little running around in the yard, we were off!  Mac took the dogs and the last run of stuff to the storage unit and dog-sitters, while Crystal, Wes and Elliot followed after nap time.  We met in the PDX parking lot and checked in for our “awake” plane ride to SFO.  Following a slight delay in taking off, we landed and discovered that transferring to the international terminal at SFO required you to exit security, take a train and re-enter security.  We barely made our flight.  We ran and were the last people on before they shut the doors. 

                The kids did great during the flight, Elliot actually slept 7-8 hours (a first on a plane) and Wes slept at least 9.  We had spent the week prior convincing Elliot that this was a "sleeping" airplane where she couldn't watch the ipad...it worked!  We had a bassinet for Wes, bulkrow seats with plenty of leg room and 2 blow up leg rests that stretched out to an Elli bed.  Crystal and Mac managed to grab a few hours rest until we landed in Aukland at 5am, two days after we left PDX (we crossed the international date line going west).   






Day 2

                We landed in Aukland after a surprisingly restful flight and were excited to get rolling on our adventure.  Until catastrophe struck.  The customs line was INCREDIBLY long which, with a 2 year old who has just been traveling for ~20 hours, is very trying.  We finally made it through immigration only to discover that, in our tight connection, our bags hadn’t made it onto the plane and were still in San Francisco.  Crystal negotiated an extra NZD 400 from the baggae agent to cover diapers / kids clothes etc. We were on our way out the door for a shower, snack and nap at the hotel across the street, when the grape police with their grape sniffing dog tagged us.

                Bio security in NZ is apparently a very big deal and there are signs every where saying that if you get through immigration without declaring your fruit – you face an immediate NZD 400 penalty.  Turns out they enforce this with dogs, who are very good at smelling grapes, and excuses like “my husband forgot to take them out of the bag” actually don’t work.   When the dog initially smelled out the bag and they found grapes, we thought it would be no big deal and we sent Mac and Elliot on there way to pick up the cash voucher for the lost bags.  Wes and Crystal sat and waited for the nice officer who "only wanted to copy the passport."  After waiting 30 minutes and seeing the people in front of us get a $400 fine for an orange it became clear what was happening.  The officer told Crystal how to pay the ticket then went to write it. True catastrophe was narrowly avoided as Wes began to cry and Crystal’s look of desperation between the long flight, lost bags, crying baby and ticket must have been so much – that they ripped up the ticket and let us go with a warning.  They are NOT kidding around, however, as the people in front of us got a NZD 400 (about $280 US) ticket for a single forgotten orange. 

                We then crashed in the hotel across the road for a nap, shower and a coffee.  Thank goodness for having booked a hotel a walk across the street! Crystal ran to the store for diapers and some extra kids clothes, while Mac and Elliot took a nap.  After everyone was refreshed, we headed into Auckland city. 

                Taking a relatively inexpensive bus, we got off in downtown Auckland.  After a relaxing walk along the water front looking at boats (and a bagpiper), we grabbed burgers for lunch and then went to the sky tower.  A cousin of the Space Needle, this is a landmark in Auckland.  50+ stories up to a glass observation deck with glass paneled floors.  Mac and Crystal loved the views, while Elliot loved the Wild West theme (?) and couldn’t get enough of the hats, coloring and hula hoops. We then grabbed a kebab lunch that we ate in a park by the Univeristy of Aukland and then back to the hotel for some much needed rest. 






Day 3

                We awoke to news, after some confusion, that our bags were indeed in Aukland!!  We grabbed a quick breakfast at the airport (nowhere else to eat) and then our camper company picked us up.  As we got settled in the camper and started to get the kids ready to travel, the bags arrived!!  We tossed them in the back and headed out for shopping.  While Mac set up the cell phone and the mobile hot spot, Crystal went mega-shopping.  It was, of course, raining and in the absence of a camper parking spot – we just tossed all the groceries in the back seat, buckled the kids in and started driving (on the left).    It took great cooperation between us to make sure we drove on the left side of the road!

                We were heading for the Coromandel peninsula and Cathedral cove.  We arrived after a 2.5 hour drive to rain, wind and a setting sun. The roads were twisty and turning, hard to navigate with the rain and everyone was fairly stressed when we arrived. We arrived to Cathedral Cove car park to great views but rainy weather.  Great thing about a camper...we cooked dinner and settled in for a warm nights sleep.









Day 4

                We woke up early, packed up the family and took the 30-45 minute hike from the free-camping spot overlooking the beach to Cathedral cove.  This is a beach with fabulous wind and water carved caves and arches and, because it was 7:30am, we were the only people there.  We had at least 30 minutes on this amazing beach all to ourselves and Elliot loved running through the “tunnel” made by the huge rock sea arch. 

                After a quick breakfast, we packed up for hot water beach.  A unique hot spring that comes out of the ground below the high tide line, but above the low tide line – hot water beach is a hot spring you can visit only +/- 2 hours of low tide.  As the water comes out scalding hot, you rent a shovel, dig a little hole and mix just the right amount of hot spring water and cold ocean water for your tastes.  Elliot and Crystal got to appreciate the waves in a warm bath, while Mac got to indulge his inner child and build elaborate bulwarks against waves and to control the amount of hot water coming in.  Wes slept like a baby (unsurprisingly). 
Next we did the Tunnels walk in the Karanghaki Gorge.  You can walk through old mining tunnels with windows out into the gorge to over look the river.  Lots of cool mining history, Elli loved the tunnels, great scenery and added bonus...GLOWORMS!  We didn't realize they were in the tunnels at first, then the ceiling started light up with them!  They are pretty amazing.

                We spent the night at a Macadamia nut farm that hosts visitor on the edge of the eastern coast of the North Island through a program called Okay2Stay.  The host texted us “help yourself to oranges” and he wasn’t kidding!  The road into the site was lined with at least 20-30 orange trees, all loaded with fruit.  We picked and ate until our hearts content.  The host was so welcoming!  Elliot loved picked the off the trees and even found a few lemons for mom to make lemon water with.  We bedded down for a quiet night after a dinner of fajitas. 
































Day 5.

                We woke up and, after picking more oranges, headed down to Rotorua – a hot spring and Maori cultural city.  We stopped at the Agrodome where we got to watch a sheep show and go on a farm tour.  Elliot LOVED the sheep show.  A very entertaining host brought on 15 or so different types of sheep to show us all and then selected one for a shearing.  It was amazing to watch him shear the sheep with such ease and Elliot could barely contain herself.  When the cow, lambs and sheep dogs came out, she was jumping up and down with excitement, screaming along with the rest of the kids. 

                The tour, if its possible, was even better.  We stopped several times to feed sheep and alpacas and, while they were a little pushy, Elliot couldn’t get enough.  She would chase them down to try and get them to eat more treats.  While entertaining with adult sheep, when she decided that two lambs hadn’t eaten enough treats – all bets were off.  She chased these poor lambs shouting “hey guys….hey guys…come here…hey..come here” for several minutes that resulted in peals of laughter from all of us and perhaps one of the best Elliot videos to date.  Even the Korean tourists thought it was a hoot.

                After the farm tour, we headed to the Zorbing center.  This is an event where they put you inside a gigantic plastic ball and then roll you down a zig-zag hill course.  While Wes, Elliot and Mac watched, Crystal took two rides, emerging laughing, wet and happy each time!  Elliot was greatly disappointed that she couldn't go in the ball and we assured her when she was 5 she could.

                We next headed to the Redwoods forest in downtown Rotorua for a family walk. A quiet walk in the woods punctuated by sulfur tinged team clouds from the ever present hot springs.  That night we spent at a Holiday park (think fancy RV park) in downtown Rotorua, where Crystal and Mac took turns taking hot showers.  















Day 6

                Waking up the holiday park, we had a breakfast of eggs and toast before heading to Whakaterewarewa, a living Maori village perched on top of hot springs.  I hadn’t appreciated this before, but Maori history is recent enough that individual tribes still trace their lineages to individual voyaging canoes that arrived in the 13th century, and they know the names of those canoes! 

                The experience at the village started out with a song and dance performance. Elliot, again, was enthralled!  She loved the Haka and the welcome challenge but was really taken by signing the Hoky-Poky with Maori names for body parts.  During one song, Mac asked her a question, she turned to him, put her hand on her lips and said “daddy – you have to be quite” before turning back to the music.  So little and so opinionated.  This show was followed by a tour of the village, where they cook in communal ovens built of steam vents and bath in communal baths fed by geysers.  A snack of corn cooked in the hot spring and then we were off!  A side benefit of this trip was that while we were loading the car, we got to watch the Rotorua fire department practice with their ladder engine – opening and closing the ladder and moving it all around.  Elliot and Mac were in heaven!

                We spent the night along the shores of Lake Taupo, the largest lake in NZ at 5 mile recreation site.  A windy shore made grilling steaks and asparagus difficult, but it was more than made up for by the blustery and beautiful walk along the lake shore.  We had stopped earlier in the day to grab Elliot some toys and while Mac carried a sleeping Wes, Crystal and Elliot took turns throwing and chasing a bouncing ball along the shores of the lake.  Sometimes the most fun is the simplest!  It was a relaxing night enjoying the views of the lake with the mountains in the background.  We settled in for a nights sleep, Mac convinced that the camper was going to tip over from the wind.











Day 7
When we awoke the wind had settled and again there were beautiful views of the lake and mountains as we drank our coffee.  We were able to re-supply groceries and we were off to Tongoriro National Park.  We are starting to get the routing of when to drive to coordinate with naps for maximum kid and adult tranquility and happiness.  On arrival to the Whakapapa Village we found a lovely spot at the Whakapapa Holiday Park between the beech trees where we could hear the stream below.  Its was a lovely holiday park, and to boot at check in we were given 8 GB of wife....hence why we can update the blog right now!  

The visitors center and DOC center were right next door and had lovely information on the active volcanos in the park.  We took a great 2 mile hike from the village to Taranaki Waterfalls.  A light and easy hike for the day.  On return we took Elli on a nature walk, played with Elliot's new toys with some other children in the holiday park, enjoyed hot showers.  


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