Thailand.. Errr Uhh...New Zealand

I have seen the most beautiful place in the world. I spent this whole trip just stunned at what I was seeing. Every inch of land we covered in New Zealand was picturesque and lovely, ridiculously so. A post card around every corner. We have lots of fun tales to tell about our two-week adventure, but how we ended up in New Zealand is a somewhat interesting tale in itself...

So the original plan was to visit Thailand in December and New Zealand in late January/early February. We were committed to visiting these places at these times because it would be the peak season for both, and because, come May, traveling's taking a backseat to the little adventure that's now kicking me on a daily basis. Little did we know that the political unrest that had been building in Thailand, especially over the last few months, would climax with bombings of both Bangkok airports, gunfire, and breaking of police lines the very morning we were due to arrive in Bangkok. Let me be clear that I support the Thai people or any people in asserting themselves against a corrupt government entity. However, I'm not gonna lie...we were pretty miffed and disappointed that it meant we had to postpone a long-awaited venture to what's been described to us as an amazing, unforgettable place to visit.

Here's what happened in a nutshell: early on November 26, we arrived at the Tokyo airport and awaited our connecting flight to Bangkok. After having our flight delayed 1 hour, 3 hours, and then indefinitely (awesome!), we deemed it wise to embark on a little internet investigation to find out what the heck was going on. Once we learned how out of control the situation was in Bangkok and subsequently realized that it would probably not be our smartest move to put ourselves in the midst of such precarious circumstances, our first response was 'crap'. We practically had the word 'crap' written on our faces in bold type. We were so disappointed. Several desperate moments later, Matt says, "Ok, I say we either go to Malaysia and Singapore or New Zealand". Although going to New Zealand was the furthest thing from our minds this time of year, another brief internet search revealed the surprising fact that Dec. 1 is the beginning of summer for New Zealand, and therefore maybe not a bad time to visit. I was pretty sure this was our best bet, but Matt was a hard sell at first due to our Chile experience, in which case we visited during the off-season to 'avoid the crowds' and were rewarded with empty trails that were empty for a reason...they were snow-covered and impassable. After back and forth-ing for about an hour, we decided to take a chance and go for it. By 10 o'clock that night we were on a flight bound for Sydney, where we would then connect to Aukland. Did I mention that on our 10 hour flight from Tokyo to Sydney we were engulfed by upwards of 250 uniformed Japanese high school students? Avoid this experience if at all possible.

So we arrived at the Sydney airport early Nov. 27, bought a travel book on New Zealand, and four hours later we were in Aukland, near the top of the North Island. We spent a day exploring Aukland (and stressfully planning this last-minute voyage), then rented a campervan for the rest of our journey. Over the next 14 days, we traveled south, stopping in Rotorua, Taupo, Tongariro National Park, and Martinborough in the North Island, and continuing via ferry onto Picton, Motueka, Franz Josef, Wanaka, Te Anau, and Queenstown in the South Island. Somehow we totally lucked out and were blessed with gorgeous late spring-like weather and lots of great trails, lakes, streams, and beaches all to ourselves. With only a little over two weeks to take in this vast landscape, at times we felt we were viewing the breathtaking scenary in fast forward, but we also ended the trip feeling as if we had gotten an eyefull of this awesome country. Here is a map of the main stops along the way:

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Aukland was a great little city...lots of cafes and fancy eateries right on the water...your typical happenin port city. A lot like San Fransisco. A great aspect of it that we got only a little taste of is all the fantastic day trips that surround it. By car or by ferry, there's lots of little islands and hamlets to discover. We took a 15 minute ferry to Devonport one evening for dinner and were instantly jealous of everyone who lives there. Gently sloping streets, cottage style houses and gardens, sailboats gliding by...you get the picture. The Aukland museum is now my favorite museum in the world--an awesome display of native South Pacific cultures--just really, really cool stuff...100 ft. long intricately carved canoes, spears, jade jewelry and weapons, body ornamentation made of every imaginable material from elaborate, colorful feathers and beading to boar tusks and dogs teeth. We caught a performance there of a traditional Maori pre-war "dance" called the haka, which was probably the most intimidating display I've ever witnessed. It's performed by both men and women, and involves lots of rhythmic loud chanting and a variety of threatening stances, motions and facial expressions (widened eyeballs that look like they're about to pop out of the head, tongues extended down to the chin, baring of teeth)--5 seconds of this and you're quite convinced these people could tear you up. I mean, it was just a performance, but even still I felt like screaming for the exit more than once. Apparently if a haka was successful, there would never even be a war.

Above are some masks from the museum in Aukland where we learned a lot about the native Maori culture. They have lots of intricate carvings, it's common to use embedded paua (abalone) shells.

The next city we based ourselves in was Rotorua, an attractive little city filled with geothermal springs, set against rolling green hills (very eggy-smelling due to the sulfur...New Zealand sits over the meeting point of two tectonic plates--the Indo-Australian and the Pacific--hence all the geothermal springs, boiling mud pools, volcanoes, and mountains). Our campervan park even had its own springs that you could enjoy for free. Probably my favorite memory from visiting this area was riding the Zorb (see picture below). I'd seen this thing on the Today show and on the Amazing Race, and I knew one day I too would Zorb. Pretty fun splashin and slidin around in there with Matt. You always hear New Zealand described as a thrill-seekers paradise--pretty much everywhere you go you can find all kinds of opportunities to scare the piss out of yourself (canyoning, white water rafting, sky diving, bungee jumping, hang gliding, sledging--white water body boarding, base jumping, etc.).

Most of NZ looks like this, just add 40 million sheep and you'll get the picture.

NZ has a Redwood Forrest like Yosemite, just smaller. This is just outside Rotorua. Vicki is such a tree hugger.

Zorbing is one of those ridiculous things that you have to try when presented with the opportunity--you jump superman-style through a hole in the side and then they send you rolling down the hill. We had to lie about Vic being preggers, it was pretty harmless in the end and quite fun. We're pretty sure we now have a good idea of what baby Welton is experiencing.

The Lake Taupo region and Tongariro National Park in the middle of the North Island were our next destinations. Here are some pics (complete with commentary compliments of Matt):

What set out to be a little jaunt to a po dunk waterfall turned out to be a 7+ hr trek to the Tema Lakes, arguably the best hike of the trip.

Vicki with "Mt. Doom" looming over her shoulder. We felt bound together as we hiked closer and closer to its base. Exhaustion overcame us as we reached its shadow. Our vests and polar fleece were no cover for its ever watchful eye. We ate lunch while always feeling like we were being followed. Some how we were able to escape its grips with all our fingers intact.

The day after this hike we woke up to a downpour, even though the forecast had promised "clearing skies", so we nixed a hike we had planned for that day and instead headed down to the Wairarapa wine region an hour east of Wellington. We must have passed a hundred wineries throughout our trip, but this area is known for its Pinot Noirs and gourmet eateries, and you guys know me and food...I practically made love to a picnic lunch of sheep's milk gouda, assorted scrumptious olives, fresh-baked asiago rolls and half a glass of a fruity and luscious Pinot. Heaven. Sheer heaven.

The next day we caught a morning ferry across Cook Strait to the Southern Island. Although the North Island is beyond beautiful, the Southern Island is known to be the place to witness jaw-dropping scenery like the stuff out of dreams, and let me tell you, they aren't lyin. The further south we drove, the more unbelievable the views became. It's impossible to describe just how magnificent it is, but imagine: rays of yellow-white sunlight streaming down from imposing, jagged dark mountain peaks onto a huge deep turquoise lake covered in white-tip waves; green and lush mountain valley meadows of spiky alpine flowers in shades of blue, magenta, pink, white, yellow that extend as far as your eye can see; bright green rolling hills dotted with sheep, set against foothills covered in yellow-gold blooms with a backdrop of snowy peaks. As you drive along, you see these types of images over and over again. It's seriously ridiculous how gorgeous the place is.

We spent the last days of our trip hiking up a glacier (we got to wear crampons!) in Franz Josef, visiting Milford Sound (which is actually a fjord apparently, since it was carved by a glacier), and enjoying a few more breathtaking (literally) hikes. Matt and I agree--best trip of our lives so far. You guys have to go!!!

The northern beaches of the South Island reminded us of Oregon.

NZ's "major" highways are nothing more than two lane country roads. A large portion of our trip involved navigating the extremely curvy and narrow roads.

Sneaky Vicki snagged a shot of me while we waited for an accident to clear on the west coast of the south island. Even though we had overcast weather, the drive was still impressive.

One of Matt's favorite pictures of the trip. Climbing the Glacier was one of the definite highlights for both of us. Did you know that in NZ glacier is pronounced with 3 syllables? (glay see err) and color is spelled colour and that they use torches instead of flash lights. The Queens English still has a tight grip in NZ.

The Franz Joseph Glacier, the fastest moving glacier in the world.

Modern sheep herder. We didn't mind waiting.

A strenuous hike like this one, towering over Wanaka, deserves a good view. With no one around to share it with except your partner for life we really savored our time on top of this little mountain.

Just outside Wanaka lies the heaven of Vicki's dreams. We found this little river valley just driving out of town.

Milford Sound on a rare cloudless day, we were very lucky.

Another one of our favorite hikes. The scenery kept getting better as we traveled south.

Another valley full of lupines. Could Vicki have been more excited.

Wanaka and surrounding lakes on the short flight between Queenstown and Christchurch.