On the road (again)

After a one-month respite in Wellington, we recently hit the road for a 2-week trip covering several of the North Island’s major destinations. We finally welcomed our first visitor when Broghan landed on December 4. Although we considered spending the majority of her trip in and around Wellington, we quickly came to our senses. When a best friend travels across the world for a once-in-a-lifetime vacation there is only one right way to ensure you make the most of the visit….ROAD TRIP!!!

our trusty steed – The Erl of Wellington

What follows is an overview of each stop we made along the winding “highways” of New Zealand; highlights, lowlights, and lots of pictures. As always, you can re-trace our footsteps here.

New Plymouth

The coolest thing about NZ’s west coast, in my opinion, is the black sand that covers every beach. It’s as fine and smooth as typical white sand, but it comes from volcanic sediment, hence the black.

someone got some air

New Plymouth is a small city (closer to a large town) known for its proximity to Mt. Taranaki, an active yet quiet volcano. Hiking Mt. Taranaki was supposed to be the highlight of our two days in New Plymouth. But here’s the view as we drove up the mountain:

has anyone seen the movie “The 13th Warrior”?

So we didn’t hike Mt. Taranaki. In fact, we didn’t even see it. But we did visit a bizarre contemporary art gallery and spent lots of quality time in our hostel, Ducks and Drakes, which we give two big thumbs up. We met two young Americans and a handful of other colorful characters who we stayed up late playing a NZ version of monopoly with. Needless to say, Meg won.

We left New Plymouth disappointed in our failed hiking expedition. However, one thing we’ve learned is the importance of never passing up a spontaneous opportunity, which led to the highlight of the first leg of our trip. On the way out of town we passed an unassuming sign for “the whitecliff walkway.”

white cliffs, black sand, red jackets

After a worthy detour along the scenic white cliffs (we also passed fornicating cattle, which was interesting) we drove two hours north to our second stop.

Waitomo

This is one of those places that would be insignificant if it didn’t have a MAJOR tourist draw. Waitomo is famous for deep underground caves that are illuminated by glow worms. In truth, the glow worms are a marketing ploy. The caves are lined with decaying maggots covered in glowing feces and fluids, but that doesn’t make good copy for a brochure. Nevertheless, our three-hour journey floating through the caves on inflatable tubes was worth every penny.

4 americans, 3 israelis, 1 brit, 1 swiss miss

The caves are dark, wet and cold. The company we toured with provided soup and hot showers after the trip. We enjoyed socializing with a highly international group and met another American (the bearded beast in the front row) who was heading to the same place as us. So we gave him a lift- our very first hitchhiker.

Raglan

By far our favorite stop. It helps when the sky is cloudless and the mercury is pushing 80 degrees, but I suspect we would have loved Raglan in a blizzard. It’s a sleepy surfing town peopled with a mix of hippies, foreigners and young families.

cooling off with a New Zealand Lager (the unofficial sponsor of the brogtrip)

The Raglan Backpackers is the town’s most popular hostel and it’s not hard to see why. It’s situated on a tranquil estuary next to the center of town and features a green courtyard with a large hot tub. Fortunately we booked ahead because our hitchhiker friend was turned away at the door. Our first night we stayed up late yarning with a crazy but endearing older lady who was visiting Raglan for a 7-hour hike. We think her name was Varushka. On our second day we hit the beach.

blue crush the sequel

Later that night we brought America to Raglan. We made hamburgers the size of mangos and tested the elasticity of our stomaches. Then we scoped out Raglan’s surprisingly vibrant night life at a watering hole called Yot Club and watched a talented kiwi rock band.

Rotorua

Arguably the adventure hub of the North Island. While Broghan is a self-proclaimed adrenaline junkie, Meg and I are a bit more timid. So we didn’t sky dive or bungy jump, but we made sure to try some new experiences.

meg was throwing banana peels like Bowser

Rotorua is famous for its preservation of Maori culture and infamous for a loitering sulfur odor. It’s actually nicknamed Sulfur City, but it’s not a totally undesirable trait. While the odor is the most obvious indicator of Rotorua’s geothermal activity, we managed to enjoy some additional evidence.

soaking in a thermal pool at the polynesian spa

After three relaxing days in Rotorua – including 3.5 hours watching the Patriots dismantle the Texans at a local pub – we headed south to our last stop before Wellington.

Napier

The Hawke’s Bay region is known for its fertile soil and chardonnay grapes. Napier, the region’s primary city, is famous for its architecture and bills itself as the art deco capital of the world. A massive earthquake leveled the city in 1931 and the rebuilding efforts mimicked the style of the era. We could have paid $40 for the deco walking tour, but we opted for a more alternative self-guided tour.

8 wheels beat 2 feet 7 days a week

The lowlight of this destination (and quite possibly the entire trip) was our hostel. The Sleepy Sheep was cheap, filthy and loud. Fortunately we didn’t spend much time there so it wasn’t a game-changer. During the day we roller bladed along the Napier boardwalk, explored the beaches of Cape Kidnappers, and best of all, sampled the finest of Hawke’s Bay viticulture during a 5-hour wine tour.

we solemnly swear this background is not fake

At night we avoided spending time in the hostel by sitting in the town square and passing a bottle of wine around like it was our freshmen year of college. After an action-packed stint in Napier we loaded the car and returned to where it all started.

Wellington (take two)

We can’t say enough about our 2-week “Brogtrip.” It was actually so inspiring that some hot-shot producers want to make a movie about it.  And we had so much fun with Broghan – ate well, drank well and shared so many new experiences and laughs – that we’re already having withdrawal symptoms as we return to a slower, more sedentary pace.

The silver lining is that (at least for the next 3-weeks) we aren’t spending every night in a hostel. We’re currently house sitting for a Wellington family we met last month and have a spacious 2-bedroom home to ourselves for the holidays. The best part is that we have two new companions to celebrate with.

seasons greetings!

Speaking of celebrations….today is Meg’s 24th birthday!!!

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