North Island, New Zealand

After our night in the hostel with the big scary man, we were ready to get out and explore Auckland. Honestly, it was pretty much like every city we’ve been to. Some shops, some restaurants, etc. It reminded me a lot of Brisbane in the way it looked and the way it was set up. So after spending like an hour wandering around and getting breakfast, we decided to head out early and drive to Rotorua. It was a really pretty drive and despite being told the town would smell horrible, I was super pumped to get the adventure going. We checked into our hostel and were sent to an 8 person room. Now, the three of us are sort of divas and demand to be outnumbering the other people in the room. So, after throwing a small fit and calling our lovely travel agent, we were put into the 4 person room we were originally supposed to be in. That didn’t exactly make us friends with the receptionist but hostels are scary things and we don’t like being the minority. Once we got all of that sorted, we wandered around Rotorua, a fairly small town, and got dinner. Then we returned to the hostel and hung out, getting ready for the next big day ahead of us.

Sunday was Easter, so we woke up nice and early to go to church. It was a pretty small church comprised mostly of older people, but it was still really nice to go to mass. Being gone this lent has really made it feel like it wasn’t even happening, especially since Holy Week masses are usually my favorites to go to at home. After mass, we headed to start our big day. First thing on the agenda was Rainbow Springs Kiwi Park. The Kiwi is the national bird of New Zealand and it’s so so cute. Unfortunately the ones they had at the park were all inside in a nocturnal shelter so I couldn’t get any good pictures. The park had all sorts of other birds and things as well though, which was cool.
From there, we headed to zorbing. Ever since doing my sophomore country report on New Zealand, I’ve wanted to go zorbing. Basically, you climb inside this giant inflatable hamster ball that has some water in it and bounce down a winding hillside track. Of the three of us, I was the only one who wanted to do it, so I went alone. It was so cold outside but I stood in my swimsuit like a champ waiting for my turn. It was definitely worth it. I can’t even describe it. You get bounced around like crazy and can’t tell which way is up and which way is down. After drying off and warming up, we proceeded to lunch at a burger place and then were off to Hell’s Gate.

Rotorua itself is known for its natural hot springs and sulfur pools. Hell’s Gate is basically a big geothermal area with lots of both of these things, and some mud pools. We were able to go into the mud pools and sulfur baths. If you know me at all you’ll know that public pools aren’t really my thing and the fact that these were brown and yellow respectively and that I couldn’t see the bottom skeeved me out quite a bit. There were a lot of other tourists there but Alex, Christy and I were able to secure a private mud pool. The mud is incredibly good for your skin, so we were able to rub it all over and then sit in it. After our 20 minutes there were up, we moved to the sulfur pool, but it smelled so badly that we didn’t last there very long. We then headed back to the hostel to shower and clean all the nasty mud off our bodies. That night, we splurged and went out for a nice Easter dinner, which was actually incredible. It was an early night then because we had a big morning on Monday.

We had to wake up early to drive from Rotorua to Whakatane, about an hour and a half, which is where we got on the boat to go to White Island. After a brief stop at McDonald’s for breakfast, we were on our way, this time with Alex at the wheel, meaning I got to sleep some more. Once we got to Whakatane and saw the boat, we knew it would be a rough ride. White Island is about another hour and a half from the coast and this was not a big boat and the ocean was very choppy. Within minutes of the boat being in motion, people starting getting sea sick. By the time we got to White Island, three quarters of the boat was sitting with barf bags in hand. Thankfully I have an iron stomach and had no issues. The island is New Zealand’s only active marine volcano, so we could see it smoking even off in the distance. As we approached, they handed out hard hats and gas masks for us to use during the tour. Let me tell you, it was not a good look for me. But it was totally worth it as we got to peer into the crater and explore the huge volacano that could theoretically blow up at any minute. There were smaller weak spots that you could see the steam rising up through too and it was terrifying to know that with one wrong step, you could end up stuck in one of them. After our tour, we got on the boat back and took a lovely nap and then headed back on our drive to our hostel. Back in Rotorua, we went to the Polynesian Spa where we had a private mineral bath waiting for us after our long day.

Our last day on the North Island was just a travel day. We got up early, loaded up Maria, our trusty rental car and headed back towards the Auckland airport. After going through airport security, we realized the airport had zero food on the terminal side and had to go back out, get lunch and carry it with us through security again. The security guards just laughed at us, which was lovely.

We have now safely arrived in Dunedin on the South Island where we will be for the next day and a half before continuing our escapades. Although we initially had some issues with the car, everyone here has been so nice in helping us get things figured out.

As my time in the southern hemisphere comes to an end, I get more and more sad to be leaving, but also more and more excited to see all of you! I’ll be home for a month before I leave for my summer job so please make sure I get to see your face!! Love you all so much!! xoxo