Auckland and closing thoughts - Last Day

Hey Ya

Yes this is the end please start from the bottom and work your way up.

Well I'm sitting back on my computer with my New Zealand All blacks shirt with old style version black with the white collar,with some extra weight and a new appreciation with high speed unlimited wifi internet trying to finish this blog on my last day off before we zoom back into life in Vancouver

Our last flight from Queenstown took us to the big city, Auckaland city of Sails. We decided to skip the Musuem and park and hang out by the watefront area downtown. We gave in to a high priced lunch at a restaurant called Degree upon recommendation from one of the local sports stores that there steak was just excellent. I got the $30NZ dollar fillet with chips, which gave me a 22G raw juicy looking fillet cooked on the stone similar to the stone grill here. It was delicious.

We decided to hit up the infamous Skytower, a 1076 ft tall tower that is touted as one of the tallest standing structures in the Southern Hemisphere. I tapped into the student discount for about $18 and that gave me a pass to the Skydesk which gave unbelievable 360 unobstructed views of Auckland. Part of the floors were constructed of glass that they claimed were as strong as concrete. It gave me the a cheap thrill to jump on the glass portion being able to see the ground from 1000 ft high with some slight chance that I could fall. We took some creative shorts against the glass.

Everything closed at 5pm and we walked past the Duty Free store Galleria (wished I stopped in) and back to the waterfront. I nejoyed my last mince pie in front of the water front and enjoyed the awesome day in front of the water and the boats and imagined as one of the fortunate people that get to wake up everyday from the condo patios and enjoy that view.

We enjoyed the hospitality of a co-workers parents for the night where we enjoyed an awesome view of downtown in the Northshore neighborhood.

We had only spent 11 days in New Zealand, but it had made an impression on me as a beautiful unspoiled Country with beautiful areas that have to be seen to be fully enjoyed. Great steaks, food, Sauvignon Blanc, Land of many cows/lamb, great pies, beautiful stylish women with sexy, accents, adventure, and a similar life and culture to Vancouver on the other side of the world.

This is Greg signing off on my first travel blog.

Milford Sound, Te-Anau some of the most beautiful pictures and back to Auckland

We dropped off our luggage at the Barnyard backpackers lodge in Te Anau where we ere staying for the night for $70nz on a recommendation from a classmate Neal and Lonely planet. Its a charming place, but dreadfully dark at night. We dropped off our bags there and drove to Milford Sound.

We took the cruise and the weather was a sunny 15-17 degrees and was gorgeous. The Captain stopped under the waterfalls and we got some great shots and were lucky enough to spot some whales. I forgot my camera so my sister Candice took some great shots.

The surprise was the next morning at 5am inthe morning on our rush back to Queenstown when we took what I consider to be some of the most inspiring pictures of the trip. It was pitch black and I was driving like a mad man at at 130km/hr in our Mazda ford Focus when I noticed the sun starting to rise behind the mountains. I instructed Candice to get her camera ready, but they seems to come out really well on the 3.2mb iphone

Queenstown here we come

Queenstown is known as one of the most popular tourist attractions in New Zealand known as the adrenaline capital of the world and where the bungy jump was invented. Tennis greats Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi were also spotted here recently with the their kids on vacation. We arrived first day in Queenstown after an early 1 hour flight that left at 8:30am and saved us driving 6.5 hours over 483 km for a cool $108 CDN. Another smooth flight from jet star. We arrived at our swanky hotel, Novatel, by the lake. I got a great deal $43 NZ a day for 3 days and two double beds. Our room wasn't ready until lunch so we walked around and upon recommendation by our concierge and Lonely planet we tried our a cafe called Halo and had one of the best breakfast burritos I've had paired with Glen Valley Sauvignon Blanc.

We then lined up our first adventure the Jet Boat River Ride by Shotover for $100. The ride on the quarter million dollar 540 hp speed boat went up to 70km/h and was a lot of fun. Didn't get the same type of adrenaline rush as the zipline during the olympics, but it had to be the most thrilling water based boat ride I've done. We did 360's and just missed crashing into sharp edged rocks and hopped over ferocious water currents. It was definately our driver, Mike that provided the thrills during the ride. We didn't get the pictures and video they took of us for another $60NZ.

I booked hang gliding coming up this Saturday morning as my next adventure activity and I'm looking forward to it. Dinner at @ Thai. Coconut prawns, coconut rice, red curry beef, and yellow curry chicken was amazing and an authentic Thai experience.

Updated: Hang Gliding was a great experience finally got to experience flight. I capped the day by hunting around for a free wifi connection without a download limit so I could download the VCL player to play my hang gliding video.

Tip: Patagonia is a chocolate cafe near the Warf with unlimited internet. Halo is another awesome cafe for breakfast that offers free wifi. I was fortunate that we went to Halo for our first meal in Queenstown so had a hotspot to update my mailbox when we walked by.

It was hard to top off hang gliding, but Candice and I topped off the last night in Qtown with 30 minutes at -5 a club made of ice and a free vodka cocktail , delicious burgers at Ferg Burger (Veras of Qtown), and inspired by Iron Man one Sky movies the previous night saw Iron Man 2 (highly recommended).

Greg's Queenstown tips:

• @Thai is an excellent authentic Thai experience
  


• Book your adrenaline adventure as soon as possible to get the time you want and check the weather beforehand. Hanggliding with Skytrek was highly recommended
  


• Gondola - recommended. You can do the luge or Paragliding while you are up there
  


• Skip -5 club. It is a Novelty you can do without
  


• Winnies Pizzeria

• 
  
• Halos for the Breakfast Burrito. They have free Wifi and there is no time limit. I'm not promoting anything here but free unlimited Wifi is hard to come by.


• Ferg Berger


• Go to the foodcourt for cheap eats for $10 or less.
  

This morning we are off to for a 2.5 hour drive to Te Anau in a Hertz rented Ford Focus before moving on to Milford Sound.

Back to civilization in ChristChurch

We caught the JetStar plane from Wellington to Christchurch and saved ourselves a ferry trip and 10 hours driving 444 km. We took an airport shuttle to downtown Christchurch for $21 NZ bartering it down from $25 for two people. We arrived at Hotel So, a modern space aged hotel situated in the inner city at Christchurch. I didn't realized the the $50 a night was for one double bed I negotiated a $40 upgrade for two double beds for the 2 nights. Good value considering the fitness room, sauna, free bottled water, and free wifi.

Tip: Jet Star trip cost us $102 NZ for the flight and allowed us to avoid 10 hours of driving and probably over $70 worth of gas

This hotel was a glimpse at the future with its fast and the furious neon lighting, mood lighting, futuristic styling, and compact space design.



Went for a 15 minute walk past some interesting restaurants until we came to a Burmese restaurant called the Bodhi Tree, a top pick from Lonely planet. It was delicious. We got the lamb curry and the pot stickers. The next morning we wondered around to a trendy area and took a look tattoo store http://zealandtattoo.co.nz/new-zealand-tattoo-gallery/shauns-gallery/. Interestingly we wondered down an alley and discovered some interesting stores and a cafe with an alley cafe. Interesting concept.

I decided to hold off on a spontaneous decision that I would have to live with for a long time. We decided against surfing or an adventure to Mount Cook and decided to explore the city using the free shuttle and the $15 tram. The tram was good as it provided a good overview of the city with some commentary. The wrapped up our last night getting some of the best spaghetti bolognese I've had in ages for $25 at the Honey Pot.

Monday May 3rd 2010 - Culture in Rotorua and a 6 hour hike completed at the Tongariro Alphine Crossing

Yesterday we had a fun filled day. We exchanged our agile blue compact for what I thought was a Jeep Liberty, but instead got a Hyundai Tusan 4 wheel drive SUV. Still a more powerful spacious car.

Tip: Try not to deal with Europcar in small towns. I found out they didn't even have a counter at the airport. I had to call them and dealt with a hotel cleaner lady that was filling in. Thankfully she was nice and I got the transaction done. I had a good experience with Hertz, but found out after the fact that Hertz will charge you an extra day for being 1 hour past the time you took out the car, but Avis will charge you an hourly rate for 3 hours over the time you took it.

Last night the Maori Village experience at Takami was good, but the dance and the experience reminded me of the the Hawaiin Luaua with the dancing and the buffet at the end. In fact, skipping ahead I learned the Tao Pei park that the Maori and Hawain people may share a similar origin and culture so there is something to that.

Tip: Use a student discount to save $25 on the ticket price ($75) and get a coupon from the AA booklet for 50% off all drinks at the hangi (buffet). I got a bottle of sauvingnon blanc for $15NZ!.

We went to see the Geo Thermal Park and Geysers at Tao Pei for about $40 (sorry no student discount) We had a knowledgeable well spoken guide, which made a difference. We learned about Maori history, geothermal power, saw a kiwi, and got to see an actual geyser. In short, its worth the visit.

After we decided to fit in some time at the Polynesian Spa for some time in the 7 hot baths for about $20. Not bad, bad but if pressed for time I recommend the Geo Thermal park.

The Best 1 day Hike in New Zealand ?

We took the 3 hour drive to Howards Lodge at the Tangariro National Park for what has been called the "best day hike in New Zealand" We stopped at lake Taupo for a coffee as I was sleepy after the hot water spa and discovered a good and cheap thai takeout restaurant. We got the chicken panang rice for $9NZ. We arrive at Howard Lodge and decided to spend two nights.

I was anxious and excited and woke up early at 6:45am for our 7:30am egg, sausage, bacon, toast, and coffee breakfast. We got the combo which includes 2 nights, breakfast, lunch, transport to the hiking area for about $129 NZ. Tip: come prepared with your hiking boots, sunscreen, hikin poles, dry fit sweat shirt, wind proof jacket, and gloves.

We finished breakfast and bus took off at 8am. This was my first hike since Peru and wasn't sure what expect. To sum the hike at the Tongariro Alphine Crossing. It's a challenging 1 day hike with plenty of adventure, and mixture of terrain, and inspiring background. The trail had everything. We saw everything from volcanic rocks, steep windy mountain summits at 2000M, a beautiful emerald lake, scenic trails with views of the lake, and forest terrain. Oh and I could see some terrain and landscape that would be fitting for a movie. I didn't have a chance to see Lord of the Rings before, but I understand some of the terrain was backdrop during the movie. Our bus was to pick us up at 4:30pm and we barely made it because of too many breaks and horsing around the the camera video function and free styling on my tpain program on my iphone. I was proud of my sister Candice for finishing her first challenging hike. Rest up and stretch the legs for a drive to Wellington to take our Jetstar flight to ChristChurch tomorrow. I recommend trying the hike once in your lifetime if you are in New Zealand

Saturday May 1st 2010 - The Drive to Rotorua

Tip: bring the appropriate power adaptor for your electronics (camera, laptop, iphone). My Eddie Bauer adaptor didn't work but the Lodge Manager Sally was nice enough to give hers to us

Tip: I found out that even Road Star Plus auto insurance coverage does not cover international driving outside of Canada and the US so after trying 3 different 3rd party insurance providers b/c Eurocar wouldn't let me insure it after the fact I found out that I can return the car for a full refund and take it out again. So get the insurance during time of booking and don't make my mistake

Tip: To convert to Canadian multiply the amount by .75 approximatlely. A well price beer is $5 which is $3.75!

On a recommendation had a good breakfast at the Cogill. Had a Eggs Florentine with bacon ($14 NZ) with a New Zealand style late ($4). It had a nice covered deck that worked for a Saturday morning. It was surprised to see the same international CD's that I see in a Cigar store in Yaletown called revoluction. I was tempted to get an Arabian CD for $32 NZ because I knew that we had 4 hours drive to Rotorua and many more for our next stops, but I ended up getting an connection for my iphone

We had a pleasant surprise when Candice, my younger sister and I found a South African store along the highway to Rotorua and stopped for some Spiced Biltong, Guava juice, and other snacks for the ride. Thanks to the Navman GPS we arrived at the Ventura Inn and have booked a Maori Tour for tonight. I'm tempted to book out a bmw or sports car to enjoy these windy roads it's a lot of fun, but I think Candices luggage is slowing down our small compact 4 banger

April 30th - Coromendel Peninsula

So 14 hours elapsed from our 8:30pm Wednesday flight on April 28th and we arrived on Friday April 30th 5:30am. Had a surprise delay at Eurocar. I forgot to check whether my Roadstar plus provided auto insurance while in New Zealand. I just found out minutes ago from ICBC that it covers only Canada and the US :( .
tip: New Zealand is 19 hours ahead of Vancouver BC in the Pacific Time Zone.

Coromendel Peninsula Highlights:

• Beautiful Beaches and Sea Rock formations at Cathederal Cove



• Hot Water Beach



• Location: North Eastern part of the North Island
  
  

The drive to the Coromandel Peninsula took us about 2 hours. We check in our lodge at the beach and was told that low tide was at 2:30pm and we had to be there if we wanted to enjoy the hot water beach. We stopped by for lunch in town and off to the Hot Water Beach. We took our spades there and arrived 30 minutes before 2:30pm there was already a crowd of people gathered around a particular rocky area at the beach. We took a couple of shots at digging a hot water pool, but this wasn't possible with the tide. The earth heats up the sand beneath the beach and heats up specific areas along the beach. We found a couple of pockets if we dug deep enough and scolded our feet.


I was chatting to a friendly gal at the Hot Water beach cafe about our disapointment of the hot water beach when she mentioned that the Cathederal Cove might be closing permanently. We quickly took a short drive to Hahei beach after to take the 45min hike to the Cathederal Cove beach. The hike briefly reminded me of the Peru inka trail as I haven't done a hike since Dec 2009. Cathederal Cove was a small intimate beach with postcard picture ops and beautiful and inspiring backdrop that was worth the hike. You have to see the pictures to understand as my words are not do it
justice