Warning: Any apparent misspellings are due to me typing in New Zealand English on my Microsoft word.

The second week of my Easter Break has been spent traveling around the North Island. Two of my flat mates and I hit 5 cities in 10 days. So of course I have to break the North Island down city by city.

Auckland

 Thursday the 12^th we took a flight out of Christchurch to Auckland. It only took an hour and cost about $60 NZD. It was pretty expensive to stay in Auckland but we managed to find some pretty decent logging with YHA. YHA hostels are all over the country and always have really great reviews. I would suggest getting a membership if you plan on coming here and backpacking. It’ll save you a lot of money.

We only spent a day in Auckland but the city was immaculate. It reminded me of New York, bustling and full of people. First we headed to The Sky Tower. It was built as a tourist attraction and stands at 328 meters. You can go up to two different levels to look down on the city and you can also either pay to walk around the perimeter (on the outside of course) or jump off its highest accessible point (192 meters up.) We decided to just go up and look down on the city. It was very pretty and very quiet.

 

 

From there we decided to take a journey to the Auckland Museum. It ended up being much farther away than we expected so we got to see a lot of the city being lost. We got a good look at Auckland University and we stopped in a park with the most eclectic looking trees and a huge water fountain. We hung out/ slept there for a while and got to see a group of people dressed up doing a scavenger hunt. The best costume was of course Pikachu.

 

 

Once we got to the museum we spent a few hours checking it out. Needless to say it had to be one of the oddest museums I have ever been in. Every floor and every section had a different theme so it was hard to see a thread or a central idea going through all of it. Mostly it just seemed like a complete mess. There were heaps of cool artefacts but there were few explanations for them so usually I had no idea what they were. There were a lot of Māori artefacts and stuff from wars. Including a Japanese plane which they never explained where it came from. The weirdest thing of them all had to be the stuffed elephant in the childrens section. It was creepy and I jut could not bring myself to photograph it.

 

 

 

The following day we took a bus to Hamilton.

Hamilton

 When you first get off the bus in Hamilton the city feels really drab. I said to my friends that it felt as if it were dying even though we had been told that it had the best shopping in all of New Zealand. Unable to find this shopping district we decided to head to the local zoo after dropping off our things.

The Hamilton Zoo was rather extensive and had plenty of exhibits. Most of these sorts of places you can get into with a student discount so it’s advantageous to carry around your student id. My favourite animal is the giraffe so naturally most of my pictures and attention was spent on them but there were plenty of other interesting animals to see like chimps, baby rhinos and oddly enough piglets (on sale for $50).

 

 

My friend also got chased by a particularly territorial duck who would poke is beak through the fence to try to bite her shoes. Of course we may have teased it a bit and kept walking by over and over again to get its attention but it made for a good laugh and funny photos.

 

The following day we were determined to find this shopping district. So after a bit of wondering and asking around we found a questionably white washed Narnia-esk side lane that led into a French Quarter feeling patio surrounded by shops. It immediately held a feeling of elegance with its concrete horse caped water fountain, hanging gardens and wrought iron tables. We knew we had finally found it. Every shop window displayed the products of elegant boutiques and trendy cafés. It was a place where even a paperback book would run you $30. Through the lane and back out into the open on the other side lead way to a many others stores, eateries and a mall full of people.

 

 

We managed to spend the whole day shopping before catching the 7pm bus to Rotorua, the spa capital of New Zealand.

Rotorua

Be forewarned that due to the plethora of natural hot springs in Rotorua, that have high sulphur content, the entire city smells like rotting eggs.

But don’t be deterred because eventually the smell becomes tolerable and the place is quite wonderful. There are plenty of sulphur spas within walking distance of city centre and a lovely museum. There are also plenty of places for backpackers to stay. My mates and I decided to stay at CRANK; an oddly constructed accommodation that mirrors a warehouse and has a rock climbing wall in part of the building. They also get their customers great deals with local attractions including “Hells Gate”.

The first day there we were attracted to a Wild Life Refuge that boasted the ability to allow tourist to “pat the lion cubs.” The brochure showcased a young girl holding a lion cub in her arms so of course in pure excitement we got their as soon as possible only to discover we were literally only allowed to pat them through chicken wire cages with a plethora of other people around. Though it is still pretty cool to say we were able to touch lions it was not nearly as interactive as we had hoped but they were super cute.

 

 

The rest of the refuge was still quite charming despite the first upset. It was more of a nature walk that was set up so strategically that it made me feel like we were discovering some of the animals in the wild. And toward the end it turned into a petting zoo style with goats, sheep and mini horses that children (and I) loved.

 

Day two was explore the town day. We hunted for the beach and any interesting shops just to stumble upon a life size chess set in a park. After the current game finished we played a few games the reigning park champion and only beat him once. The pieces came up to the middle of my thigh, were solid wood and King was heavy enough to warrant dragging it across the board. It felt like Wizards Chess from Harry Potter even though the pierces didn’t move on their own.

 

The following and last day in Rotorua was spent at the thermal spa “Hells Gate”. We got a great deal through CRANK (a tour, mud spa and sulphur spa for $60) and I had a pretty good time. Hells Gate is a large plot of land that is the thinnest layer of crust in all of New Zealand. Thus allowing the magma to heat the water table above it hot enough in some places that it could kill a man if he fell in. It was incredibility fascinating to learn about how it was discovered and what the products that came from the land were used for then and now. Maori used the different pools for everything from healing to throwing their enemies bodies into for disposal. Since each pool is fuelled by a different water source they all have different sulphur content and temperatures. The muds there are also rich in all sorts of minerals that they package and sell. They have a unique mineral content that opens the pours and removes oils with ease and can even level out skin tone and increase circulation.

 

 

After the tour we were finally able to indulge in the magic of the mud bath (but only for 20 minutes since extensive exposure can remove too high levels of vital fluids from opened pours.) Everyone is reduced to a 5 year old boy smearing mud all over their bodies and throwing it at each other.

 

After were removed from the mud we had to take a mandatory cold shower to close the pours and remove mud before the sulphur spa. It was less then enjoyable and we did it quickly. The last spa section was a sulphur tub that mimicked a hot tub but smelled like eggs. Once you get in the water makes your skin tingle and is supposed to decrease muscle pain and make you relax. To be honest it was quite fantastic.

Napier

The Art Deco Capital of the world.

This place has a classic 1930s feel that you just cannot miss. The buildings, statues and cars all flash back to that definitive period and possess such a friendly atmosphere.

 

 

We spent most of our time here wondering around the lovely town, popping in and out of boutiques, resale shops and book stores. It’s one of the best places to go to buy unique gifts for friends.

It is also right on the water, so it was nice to be able to go down and get some sand between my toes and feel the ocean breeze.

Though we didn’t do much else there it was one of my favourite places on the trip.

Wellington

The great capital of New Zealand.

Though it does not have the hustle and bustle of Auckland it is still a rather busy place to be.

There is constant movement and always people on the streets, which I love.

We had a lazy first day (since we got there in the afternoon) there and hung around the YHA, did a little walking around and site seeing. This town is filled with all sorts of random sculptures and art depicting everything from rugby to just a giant ball of wire hanging in the air.

The following day we headed down to the Parliament building to do a tour. The most striking building is called The Bee Hive for obvious reasons.

 

Oddly enough there are two other buildings attached to the Bee Hive that look nothing like each other. And by the way, the Bee Hive is not even the Parliament Building. It is just used for organization dinners and things of that sort. But the building next to it is the Parliament Building and the building next to that is the Parliament Library. It was weird for me to see such inconsistency and living so close to Washington DC where there is a clear theme running through all of the architecture. It really felt like they just developed the buildings in different time periods and went with the popular design of the decade and didn’t think about them blending together. Then just plopped them in the middle of the city on top of a hill. They just look…random.

 

 

But despite this the tour was rather nice. Sadly they did not allow you to take pictures so just take my word for it that it was a pretty cool tour and I actually learned things about the NZ government. Like the fact that they dissolved their upper house in 1950. Now the room where it meetings were held for the upper house is used for formal occasions.

From there we headed to the cable car. The car will take you up the side of a hill so you can get to the gardens and so you can look out over Wellington. Different ones can take you all over the city and some people use it like we use the Metro in DC. The view was really spectacular.

 

 

 

The last thing we did was go to the national museum, Tepapa. It is a huge museum that covers everything from contemporary art to women’s revolution in New Zealand. (Which reminds me that on my tour of Parliament I learn that NZ was the first country to give women the right to vote) I was personally partial to the entire contemporary art floor and spent most of my time there. And I got a cool picture of an exhibit before I saw a sign that told us not to take pictures. But I really like it so I’ll post it anyway.

 

 

 

 

Though it was a lot to undetake in just 10 days I had such a good time on the North Island. I’m really looking forward to some more adventures.

Until then, cheers.

 

 

 

Location: Auckland, New Zealand