Journey to Rotorua

After my adventures on the South Island, I flew into Auckland, the largest and most metropolitan city on the North Island. From here I took a day trip via tour bus to Rotorua. Of course, as per NZ bus trip standards, the bus trip was quite an adventure in itself.

First stop on the way to Rotorua was the Glow worm caves in Waitomo. I’ve never been in such a big cave before. Actually I don’t think I’ve EVER been in a cave. It seemed kinda fake (it wasn’t) and more like a ride at Disney world. Anyway, glow worms are actually larvae, which glow on cave ceilings to attract other bugs who think they’re flying towards the heavens. They then trap these bugs in their webs so they can suck out all their yummy bug juices. They’re also cannibals and eat even their own brothers and sisters once they hatch. (Unbeknownst to me at the time, once they hatch, these rare little creatures look remarkably like mosquitoes. I killed a couple in the bathroom right before the tour and prior to my glow worm education. Oops.) So we weren’t allowed to take any photos or even talk above a whisper once we were in the caves. Apparently these cannibalistic-mosquito-like-larvae are quite light and sound sensitive and we shouldn’t disturb them. And of course, they took advantage of this and tried to sell us a crappy photo. But they forgot about Start>Programs>Accessories>Paint. Suckers!

We were allowed to take photos once we were out of the cave. I got a few awful shots, reminiscent of the 2girls1cup phenomena. Gross.




Next stop on the journey was a real live sheep farm. I had so much fun on the farm – way more than I was expecting (but no, I will not play “farmville” with you on facebook). First, we went around and were constantly bombarded by animals apparently expecting us to feed them. Of course there were tons of sheep, but also ostriches, deer, pigs, and cows. (Side note – they actually farm deer in New Zealand for the venison. Bizarre. I saw quite a few deer farms just travelling, and also saw some stuffed baby deer in a Auckland souvenir shop window. Shudder. )








After petting lots of cute and stinky animals, we watched a muzzled, skinny, and probably very hungry little cattle dog chase some sheep around. Dog was so skinny it reminded me of our best childhood pal Wolfe (RIP lil buddy). But apparently that’s how collies are supposed to look when they’re actually working, and not overfed and pinned up in suburban yards. Or so they said on the farm. I prefer a chunkier collie myself.



Next up on the farm tour was a sheep shearing exhibit. I’ve seen this done on tv, but seeing it in real life, was…uuhhh shocking. and a bit scary. Kinda gave me the heebie jeebies…like when you see a woman give birth on PBS or something. Minus the miracle of life. Yuck.





Finally, at the end of our journey we arrived in Rotorua. Rotorua is a town situated on a live geothermic site, resulting in lots of geysers and lots of sulphur stinkiness. The word Rotorua, I believe, comes from the ancient Maori term roughly translating to “Fart City", and reminded me of a traditional Colby family reunion. (I kid, I kid.) All the geysers we saw were located on a Maori Arts and Crafts Institute where we were treated with AMAZING traditional song and dance. And of course, a gift shop.

Coolest thing EVER!

There are two glaciers (pronounced gal-cee-urhs) on the south island in New Zealand on every backpacker's to-do list - Fox Glacier, and the Franz Josef Glacier. From what I know, they are both pretty similar. Each are situated in towns which are pretty much built on tourism to the actual glaciers and each are friggin big, cold, and beautiful monstrosities. I opted for a full day hike on the Fox glacier. You can also do half day hikes, or heli-hikes where you take a helicopter ride and land on the glacier. What they don't tell you about hiking on a glacier - it requires a MAJOR hike (600ish "stairs") through a rain forest before you get to the glacier. This day it was actually raining in the rain forest and on the glacier. In fact, the weather was down right awful; all heli hikes were cancelled and my full day hike wasn't exactly a complete full day. But all was well - you're told to dress in at least 3 layers so you're prepared for any weather. This happened to be ALL of the warm clothes I brought with me and all of them ended up VERY soaked.

The contrast in temperature between the rain forest and glacier was unbelievable. Climbing up over 600 stairs which are much steeper and higher than standard stairs, you warm up very quickly. Once you're on the glacier though, its absolutely freezing. The colors in the glacier are absolutely beautiful- every shade of blue imaginable. But the most astounding thing about the day was the fitness of the tour guide. As he leads you through the glacier, he has a giant pick-axe and literally carves out steps in the ice as you go. It was a bizarre, cold, wet, exhausting experience I will never forget.

(unfortunately, due to unforeseen hungover circumstances, I had temporarily lost my digital camera and was stuck with crappy 1990s style disposables. I used my pictures up way too quickly, as everything was such a beautiful site.)

*thanks to the super sweet German girl Katrina who was nice enough to share HQ digital photos.

coming soon....

As the end of my Australian adventure nears, it was recently mentioned that I should provide some closure via my blog. But before providing closure, I should probably provide some actual filler. I never did post the rest of my New Zealand adventure – glaciers, volcanoes, geysers, and of course beer. And I’ve have had a few additional Queensland adventures as well. I first started this blog in an effort to procrastinate the unpacking process, so it only makes sense that I finish it in an effort to procrastinate the packing process. The agonizing, painstaking, and excruciating packing process. (Seriously, how did I manage to do so much shopping in between all of my adventures??? Maybe I need an entry on all of my new favourite Australian brands…)

So please come back soon.

Best thing EVER!!!!

Ever wonder what I'd look like crapping my pants 12,000ft in the air???


















...And did you ever wonder what i'd look like crapping my pants at 12,000ft to the sweet sweet tunes of bon jovi?




You can now sleep peacefully at night, my friends.

Queenstown Wineries

Wine in New Zealand is evidently spectacular, so I signed up for a winery tour in the Queenstown Region. Apparently this was a senior citizen tour, and the only other person close to my age was an American girl who was only 20. Luckily for me, she didn’t have quite as a sophisticated pallet as me and kept giving me the remains of her glass. (score!) Wine tours are so educational. I'm always amazed at how much work it takes just to get me drunk.