Onetangi Beach, Waiheke Island
Fourteen hours on an Air New Zealand flight, and we exchange the snowy landscape of Tahoe for this lovely green country in the middle of summer. This is Mark’s first time to New Zealand, and a return trip for me. I lived here for a year on a school exchange program, in the ag/college town of Palmerston North, affectionately known as “Palmie” and sometimes referred to as “the armpit of New Zealand”. Sort of like Bakersfield for Californians.
We are here for six weeks, visiting friends and seeing the country. New Zealand is roughly the size of California but with only 4.4 million people. And 20 million sheep. And according to our bus driver, there are now even more cattle than sheep.
We are renting a car for most of our time here, something we haven’t done on any of our other travels. Kiwis (New Zealanders) drive on the other (or as Mark says, “wrong”) side of the road. This takes some getting used to, and has already caused a few minor panics as we get used to there being a lot of car to the left of the driver, and the windshield wipers swish once every time we prepare to make a turn.
After our flight we picked up our slightly rusted Nissan Sunny and drove into Auckland with the morning rush hour. I drove, since I’ve had a little experience driving here before. I believe Mark loses a few months off his life continuously warning me to “Stay right, Stay Right, STAY RIGHT!” in the lane as I venture too close to parked or moving cars on the left. So far, only a curb has been hurt, and we were able to pop the hubcap right back on, good as new. Stay tuned for more adventures on Kiwi roads.
Auckland skyline from the ferry
We spent our first three days in Auckland, the most memorable of which is the day we took a ferry to Waiheke Island, a small island about 40 minutes away from downtown Auckland. Waiheke is primarily a summer holiday island, and is known for its beaches, wineries and art. As day-trippers, we had to focus: we chose wine. We hopped on a bus and visited three wineries, our favorite being Peacock Sky Vineyard. The terrain and views here are amazingly similar to those of Marin and Sonoma, but with vineyards all the way down to the sea, and hibiscus and banana plants mixed in to remind us that we’re not really in California after all.
Marin? Nope, Waiheke Island NZ
Today we drive south and west, to the Taranaki region. We are meeting our friend Craig and his girlfriend Adi there, and hanging out with them for the weekend. The next few days are our chance to go climb movie mountains – Mt. Taranaki on Monday (Mt. Fuji in “The Last Samurai”) followed by tramping along Mt. Ngauruhoe (Mt. Doom in “Lord of the Rings”) in Tongariro National Park. Two months after returning Nepal, it’s time to see if our legs remember how to go trek up a big mountain. Ibuprofen, work your magic!
Beautiful hibiscus-like flower
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I hope you were not near Christchurch. Trust you guys are OK?
We’re okay, luckily we are still on the North Island. Just learning about the extent of damage – such a tragedy.