Just a note about this absolutely crazy week...It's not often that you can kayak the Pacific coast, go glowworm caving, visit the Shire and a Maori village, stand next to geysers, jump out of a plane, hike around huge volcanoes, and go grade 5 white water rafting all in 7 days, but it's a lot to soak in, and you learn pretty quickly how the spirit of adventure can overpower comfort levels and you end up sitting down at the end just still processing what you've just done. It's not about a bucket list or bragging rights, though it's a crazy story to tell, and amongst new friends and fellow travelers is the best way to do it. This adventure isn't over yet, and I certainly won't try to top this week, but it has inspired in me a new drive to go with whatever and enjoy the ride, soak in the scenery, and reflect on the experience.
6-April
6-April
It’s a new group of friends that I’m departing Auckland with, and quite a change in scenery as well as we drive through the fertile farmland and rolling hills of the Waikato region. Soon enough we were driving through the bush-covered hills of the Coromandel Peninsula, and to our destination at Hot Water Beach. There’s plenty of volcanic history in the region, along with relic hot springs seeping out at the beaches, hence the name. We were picked up straight away to begin our kayaking adventure along the coastline to Cathedral Cove, past huge white cliffs, sea-stacks, through the Te Whanganui-A-Hei Marine Reserve. It’s not often that your tattooed and muscular kayak guide turns into a beach barista serving cappuccinos. We kayaked through archways in the warm Pacific waters, and managed to beach ourselves successfully, before heading back to our private Kiwi Ex lodges at the Hot Water Beach Holiday Park.
For real this time, enjoyed my last sunrise over the Pacific, and we’re off again. We visited the town of Paeroa to sample the World-Famous in NZ L&P soda, and see their giant L&P statue. Most towns famous for anything will probably have a giant rendition somewhere to proclaim it. This evening I suited up with my new mates in wetsuits and harnesses for our glowworm caving adventure with the guides at the Blackwater Rafting Co. It was my first time abseiling into the black hole in the ground, but nerve-racking as it was, I made it 35 meters down pro-style. Our adventure continued with a flying fox (aka zip-line) through the abyss under glowworms on the ceiling, and a 9 meter jump into the underground river with our inner-tubes. After floating around under what appeared to be a galaxy in the night sky of blue glow worms, we explored into the depths of the caves, with some very cold swimming, eel encounters, and climbing up roaring waterfalls. We emerged from the black depths some hours later, but not realizing it until the cave walls turned suddenly into tree trunks, glowworms still glowing in the tree canopy. 
Yes, today is the day we’ve all been waiting for. The day to explore the Shire! Hobbiton village looks just as it did in the movies, and despite the overcast skies everything is so bright! From the painted doors to the gardens full of flowers and vegetables, it’s the place I’ve always dreamed of! The attention to detail was incredible, down to the fake moss on the fence posts. Yes, I geeked out quite a bit, but from Bag End over the bridge by the mill house to the Green Dragon, this place is just magical. And so is the pork pie and ale. Not far away is Rotorua, the cultural hotspot of New Zealand, and home to a thriving Maori culture. It also smells like sulfur though. Tonight our small group was welcomed to the Tamaki Maori Village, where we were led to our own traditional style sleeping house, introduced to flax weaving and stick games, and practiced a bit of song for performance later. Rejoined by the Kiwi Ex crew, formalities were held to enter the village itself and we engaged in cultural activities from learning the haka to watching poi performances. We stuffed ourselves at the hangi, which we watched get pulled from the cooking pits and served. Our special treatment at the overnight stay included our own hot pools and bonfire.
9-April
Very sad to leave our beautiful accommodation at Tamki, but we got to explore the thermal wonderland of Rotorua at Te Puia. Here was Austral-Asia’s highest geyser, sulfur and boiling mud pools, and the chance to hard-cook some eggs in a hot pool. The geeking out continued. It’s not far to Lake Taupo, and the rain didn’t detract from the amazing Huka Falls, where the Waikato River has carved a dramatic channel through the bedrock. The Waikato River is the longest river in NZ, and has 9 hydroelectric plants powering the region. There’s geothermal power too, and plumes of steam are regular across the landscape.
11-April
The rain from yesterday has cleared, and the clear skies outside my window fill me with dread. Preceded by much anticipation, today I put myself to the test, and passed! Hard to believe as it is, I managed to stomach the nerve-racking flight up to 15,000 feet and jump tandem out of a plane! What's crazy is, for about 10 seconds you don't even realize what's happened, and after that you're falling at terminal velocity towards the ground, which doesn't appear to get any closer. Because you've stopped accelerating, it doesn't even really feel like falling, and is therefore much more enjoyable.
I managed to be really psyched the whole way down, and enjoy the unnatural feeling of free-fall and the scenery around Lake Taupo on our parachute ride down. The realization of what I'd just done continued to dawn later in the day, which was filled with more excitement as we did a small hike in the Tongariro National Park, on the flanks Mt Ruapehu to the Taranaki Falls. Eventually the high clouds cleared for views of Mt Ngarahoe and Tongariro, and the sun illuminated the alpine desert landscape and autumn colors. Summer may be on it's way out, but it's just as beautiful.
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| Rangitikei River, photo: River Valley Adventure Lodge (not my boat) |
As if I haven't already done enough this week including 'blackwater rafting' my mates and I staying at the River Valley Adventure Lodge donned wetsuits and thermals for some white water rafting. The rains of the last few days has driven the Rangitikei river into flood stage, and it had only slightly calmed down by this morning, at about 25 cumecs (almost 900 cfs!). Our group had a few 8-person rafts; mine with my friends Luke Heidi and Harriet, and our estimable bus driver Josh. The trip progressed from grades 1 to 4, from the Calm Before the Storm and The Storm rapids, including some perilous grade 5 rapids requiring precision maneuvering and teamwork in our paddling. We actually managed to keep the raft upright the whole time through the Fulcrum and Dog Leg rapids, though we weren't the least bit dry. It was a total blast though, and our raft fared pretty successfully over the trip, which ended far to soon. Alas, it seems too soon to be moving on again, but it's time to leave the Manawatu region for Wellington, the glorious capital city! With any luck, I can catch up on sleep from this week!
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