New Zealand -- Before The S*** Hit the Fan
Above: the mesmerizing Chicken/Man at Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū.
The following entry was written before any of us knew how widespread the Covid-19 pandemic was. We were supposedly on a 10-week trip beginning in New Zealand then continuing on to Australia, ending with a 2 week stay in Bali. But, just a few weeks into the Australia part of our journey, it became apparent that we had to make a decision to either abandon our plans and head home immediately, or be prepared to spend an indefinite period of time in Australia, something that was regrettably not possible due to our obligations back home.
As we reflect on past trips and dream of future travels, here is our view of New Zealand, which, if you are not already familiar with this unique part of the world, you might want to take a look at these photos. For now we are just hoping that the time will come sooner than later when we can again pack our bags and explore the world.
View from Mudbrick Winery on Waiheke Island. The island has many opportunities for first-class wine tasting.
So here we are, in the last corner of the world that we had set out to explore. We come with mixed feelings. We never had any overwhelming desire to visit either New Zealand or Australia, figuring the experience would strike us as a little too tame for our tastes as this point. But, after many years of holding out, we were motivated more by the word-of-mouth recommendations from various friends, than by any keen desire to see Oceania. Upon further questioning, all of these friends became rather vague and amorphous about why we should take this trip. “You just have to see it.” “It’s like going back in time many years to a kinder, gentler place.” “It’s all about the scenery, especially in New Zealand.” In other words, there is no pilgrimage to be made to the Louvre, no leaning tower of Pisa to photograph while pretending to hold it up, no Angkor Wat or Manchu Picchu, no foreign language or exotic culture to experience, not even promises of regional culinary delights like paella or spanakopita, couscous, or pho. “The lamb and the seafood are worth trying” is about the extent of the food recommendations. Well, we already buy great Australian lamb and New Zealand mussels at our local Costco in LA, so why take a 13+ hour Ambien-laced flight to Auckland to begin this journey for a piece of mutton and a bowl of steamed shellfish? As we had been told, it’s all about the scenery.
Downtown Auckland. Nice. Clean. Manageable. Hard to say much more.
When traveling almost halfway around the world, we feel the need to make this a very long trip in order to knock off not only both islands of New Zealand and the sub-continent of Australia but also to include Bali, a place we had always intended to see, on the same trip and that means a long time commitment in order to see just some of the many highlights. In our case, we have booked 10 solid weeks of being constantly on the go, with the first 3+ weeks devoted to New Zealand.
New Zealand is divided into two islands, simply named, with typically New Zealand unpretentiousness, the North Island and the South Island. We land on the North Island and, before getting a rental car, we recover from jet lag in Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city with a population of about 1.6 million which accounts for about 1/3 of the population of the entire country. While Auckland is definitely not noteworthy to write about beyond being a remarkably clean city, our first impressions are of the climate. For Bill, it’s as if you put Washington State’s Puget Sound in a bag with the Hawaiian islands and mixed them up. Evergreens grow alongside palm trees and succulents in this very hilly city. We went from winter in Los Angeles to late summer in New Zealand, and the weather has a soporific effect upon us with temperatures in the mid-70s, mild humidity and with a constant gentle breeze.
Auckland could be any city in America except for the driving which is decidedly on the wrong side of the street. The only thing that seems to differentiate it from most American cities of similar size is the low population density and the mostly low-rise buildings instead of skyscrapers and the low key mellowness that is everywhere.
Chandeliers in a tasting room on Waiheke Island.
Since there is nothing in Auckland to hold our interest, we take our first adventure out to Waiheke Island, which is about an hour ferry ride from Auckland. Once there, we rent e-bikes and set out to do some wine tasting. We had been told that the island was mostly flat and that we only needed unpowered bikes, but that opinion was from a New Zealander, for whom 500-foot hills are not considered much more than speed bumps. Situated between the Australian and the Pacific Plates, New Zealand has an exciting geological history, resulting in plenty of geothermal activity, earthquakes, and lots and lots of very steep hills. Our e-bikes allow us to appreciate the wines of the island, which would probably be rated world-class if they ever made it to the outside world. But producing only about 1 percent of the world’s wine, New Zealand is not a huge wine exporter. We are happily surprised to find a fantastic and thriving wine industry throughout New Zealand but, alas, “the good stuff” never leaves the country.
We had to go to a museum to see a kiwi. We talked to several New Zealanders who, despite going out late at night with flashlights, had never seen the nocturnal bird in the wild, so we didn’t feel so deprived.
People, particularly 20- to 40-somethings, come from all over the world to backpack throughout the country. Backpacker hotels are abundant and advertised throughout Auckland and in every town we pass through. One car rental company named Juicy specializes in renting out well-equipped camper vans for those wanting to hit the road and explore the great outdoors on their own. At the scenic stops, we hear French, German, Spanish, Japanese and plenty of Slavic languages that we aren’t quite able to identify. In some towns, it looks as though many of these vagabonds have settled here, working in the hotels and restaurants or as street vendors selling lots of handmade crafts to the summer tourists. Noticeably absent are the hordes of Chinese tourists who typically bombard New Zealand in the summer. Having arrived on February 15th, the news of Coronavirus still sounds like a faint distress signal very much in the background although the Chinese tourists are eerily missing.
So few people! We stop for lunch at a beautiful beach that is practically deserted. There are hardly any other bicyclists on the road, and we frequently have to ask motorists or pedestrians for directions since signage is sporadic, erratic, and does not correspond to our map. Just about everyone is incredibly friendly and effusive and more than willing to help us even if they don’t know exactly where to direct us. Simple questions like, “Which way to the ferry?” seem to lead inevitably to 15-minute long conversations. This is without a doubt the land of extremely friendly folks who are in absolutely no hurry whatsoever!
Many beaches, few people!
Happy to be on the road, even if on the wrong side, we leave Auckland in our little Nissan with its Chinese radio controls (we gave up trying to figure out how it worked) and head for the Waitomo Caves, the North Island’s top attraction, to look at worms. Actually, they are fluorescent glowworms that live primarily in caves. Although this is one of the top attractions for tourists and definitely worth a visit, everything is quite chill, and we do not have to battle Disneyland-size crowds. It’s hard not to over emphasize the significance of the low density population here. Coming from a major metropolitan area like Los Angeles, the effect of having much fewer people around has no doubt lessened our general anxiety level while increasing our happiness quotient. Apparently, this must have the same effect on everybody since we find the New Zealanders to be some of the friendliest and most talkative people we have ever encountered. We are also struck by how relaxed and unpretentious everyone seems to be.
Among the largest insects in the world, we found this Weta in a cave while on our nighttime viewing of glow worms. We also took many pictures of the glow worms, but deleted them since they just looked like pictures of blackness with tiny specs of shiny dust here and there.
The night before our official tour of the caves, the hosts at our B&B hand us flashlights (known as “torches” here) and a map to a walk where we can see the glowworms in the wild, albeit without the aid of any light other than what we are carrying. Fortunately, we happen across a few other worm enthusiasts along what would otherwise be a very spooky walk out in the dark forest in the dead of night. We weren’t terribly worried however, since New Zealand, unlike its neighboring island, Australia, does not have poisonous critters lurking around every corner such as snakes, spiders, or crocodiles. The only thing we need to fear is the dreaded but totally harmless Weta, basically the world’s largest cockroach. Nonetheless, Ellen shrieks when her torch suddenly illuminates a Cave Weta right above her head.
Wild colors and a variety of geothermal activity at the Wai-OTapu thermal park make for a surrealistic landscape and experience.
Our next destination heading south is Rotorua, fascinating to tourists for its geothermal activity. There are plenty of places catering to tourists that have trails that pass by geysers, bubbling hot mud, fluorescent green pools, and steaming streams. We book one of these self-guided hikes (known as “tramps” here) about a 1/2-hour drive from Rotorua and away from the car parks full of tour buses visiting other sites. It is conveniently located near an outdoor hot springs spa where we spend a few hours after our tramp, soaking up the minerals along with the views.
Afterwards, we head on over to soak in the Waikite thermal pools, about 1 km down the road. Afterwards we took a walk up this steaming river that feeds the pools.
A surprising find near our Airbnb in Rotorua is a redwood forest. Lots of trails here for serious mountain bikers and first-timers such as ourselves. Notice those giant ferns!
Traveling on down to Hawkes Bay, we stay on a farm, which seems appropriate since so much of New Zealand is rural. Everywhere are honor boxes selling peaches and potatoes, apples and avocados. At the farmer’s market we buy wonderfully sweet corn, juicy asian pears, and lettuce that actually has some flavor to it.
We arrive just in time to experience some of the festivities at the annual Art Deco festival in Napier. Lots of music and food and many people in costume partying late into the night.
On the way to our farm stay, we can’t resist stopping in at a local chocolate shop before visiting a cider brewery for a tasting of eight different hard ciders (like watermelon, cherry, ginger, guava, rosé and, of course, some apple varieties). We became hard cider fans when we visited the UK and Ireland a few years ago where they are on tap at the pubs, alongside the beers. Hard ciders are very popular here, too, and we soon discover many cider micro-breweries all over the country. Our drives take us through kilometer after kilometer of vineyards that would seem sufficient to produce enough wine for every man, woman, and alcoholic in the world. Bill is just happy that this translates in to full-bodied Pinot Gris and Merlots at what seem like fire-sale prices to us in the grocery stores.
We combine many winery visits with plenty of bicycling. Loaded down with several bottles from our tastings, we often bike on until dusk.
Many New Zealanders run small businesses out of their homes. Our bike rental “shop” is no exception. As we drive to this bike rental house (you call up, a 5-year-old answers, and after you get her to put her mommy on the phone, you arrange for someone to be at the house when you plan to drop by), we pass by neighborhood after neighborhood of boxy, utilitarian British-looking houses that seem designed to quash any attempt at an aesthetic vision. We never feel like we wander into the wealthy part of town or the poor part of town, no matter which town we are in. The impression we get is that the middle class here is predominant and much broader and more secure than in the U.S. Maybe this relative economic prosperity has something to do with the sometimes startling and disarming friendliness of the New Zealanders whom we meet. But then maybe this also has something to do with the minimum wage here being nearly $19 NZD/hour and having subsidized public healthcare and free tuition for universities for the first year and then substantially subsidized tuition beyond the first year. When talking to a vintner about expanding his operations, he rubs his chin and gives us food for thought, “Yeah, I’ve thought about that, but it would be a lot more work with a lot bigger headaches, and life’s too short. Besides, I have a good life/work balance now that makes me happy, something others ought to consider.” Hmmm.
Wellington. Had we known what a wonderful city this is, we probably would have booked a few more nights here.
We regret not allowing enough time in Wellington. Located on the water and surrounded by steep hills at the southern tip of the North Island, the Capital of New Zealand is a real beauty of a city with a very cosmopolitan vibe, reminding us a lot of San Francisco, though much smaller in size. New Zealanders embrace all kinds of world flavors. The small towns here often have plenty of options for Thai, Chinese, Indian, Turkish, and Japanese restaurants, while Wellington has dozens more choices. Less than a 5-minute walk from our rental apartment, we even find a vegan Mexican restaurant serving brilliantly concocted original recipes.
Alison and Ellen, sad that the tide is out.
Moving on to the South Island, we meet our good friend Alison, who is also one of Ellen’s theatrical managers, at the ferry dock and, over the next four days, she plays chauffeur extraordinaire and shows us some of the most spectacular scenery in New Zealand. A few hours away from the city of Nelson, her “backyard” looks much like Norway with jaw-dropping views from the mountains of fertile valleys, rugged coastlines and deep fjords. It’s no wonder that we see many camper vans in the parking areas alongside the road. Alison lives with her spry 90 year old dad on a big farm complete with an orchard where we pick ripe plums, grapefruit, oranges and peaches for our breakfast. One of our “cheats” that seems well worth the calories is a stop by a local ice cream stand that smashes fresh fruits right into soft serve vanilla ice cream—in this case, fresh cherries. This is done with lots of different summer fruits at ice cream stands all over the country and it’s Yummy!
This is what we came to New Zealand for. Our photo file goes on and on with incredible shots of the natural beauty of the South Island. This shot was taken outside of Dunedin on the Otago Peninsula, heading for the Royal Albatross Centre. The journey was breathtaking.
We didn’t see any Albatross in flight, but with a 3 meter wing span (almost 10 feet!), they are supposed to be quite a sight.
Cape Farewell at the northernmost tip of the South Island.
The final leg of our New Zealand trip is at the southern end of the South Island in Fjordland where much of Lord of the Rings was filmed. Again we flash back to memories of Norway with steep mountains, fjords and waterfalls dropping dramatically down to the sea. Because of violent storms that hit this Milford Sound area the previous month, cars can no longer drive into the national park here. But, luckily, tour buses have recently been allowed to drive back in to the prettiest areas of the park and, fortunately, the hosts at our motel also run bus tours so they booked the front seat for us on a bus tour and a boat ride on what turns out to be the only sunny day of our stay in Te Anau.
Front seat on our tour bus convoy.
Our early morning bus ride stops for a coffee break and picture taking.
At the end of the road, we board a boat tour of the fjords.
Eventually, we hope to post photos of our very abbreviated Australia trip (before we bailed out and raced back home to wait out the pandemic), but meanwhile, a wish for you all to stay safe and healthy. We look forward to that day when we can all be exploring again!